Jubril Gawat, a Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state on New Media, has defended All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu after a Bloomberg article about him.
Bloomberg had shared an article titled “Graft Allegations Dog Nigeria’s Main Presidential Hopefuls”, centered of Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu.
In the article, it was stated that Tinubu who is a former Governor of Lagos state, “fought a lawsuit in which the US accused him of laundering proceeds of heroin trafficking and eventually reached a settlement”.
It read;
Front-runner Bola Tinubu, who secured the ruling party’s nomination earlier this month, was being investigated by the country’s anti-corruption agency as recently as last June. Three decades ago he fought a lawsuit in which the US government accused him of laundering the proceeds of heroin trafficking and eventually reached a settlement.
In July 1993, when Tinubu briefly served as a Nigerian senator, the US government filed a forfeiture lawsuit in Chicago against bank accounts in his name, claiming there was “probable cause” to believe they held the proceeds of heroin dealing. The case followed a probe by the Internal Revenue Service and other agencies into a trafficking network involving Nigerian suppliers.
The IRS secured warrants in January 1992 to seize almost $2 million, according to court filings. While living in Chicago between 1989 and 1991, Tinubu had deposited more than $1.8 million into one of the accounts, before transferring large sums to another bank, according to the US government’s complaint. While disputing the US’s reason for targeting the accounts, Tinubu settled in September 1993, agreeing to give up $460,000 to the US government in exchange for the release of the rest of the money. Tinubu wasn’t indicted over the matter.
Gawat who reacted to the article, shared a screenshot of the part which stated that Tinubu was never indicted. He tweeted “Tinubu was never indicted over the matter”.
The screening took place at the PDP national headquarters in Abuja.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Wednesday, commenced the screening of nominees for deputy governorship positions for the 2023 general elections.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the screening took place at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja.
The Deputy Governorship Candidates Screening Committee chaired by a former National Chairman of the PDP, Okwesilieze Nwodo, also has Akilu Indabawa as secretary and Sunday Omobo as the administrative secretary.
A nominee for deputy governor for Akwa-Ibom-State, Akon Eyakenyi, speaking to journalists shortly after her interview, commended the state governor, his wife, party leaders and the people of the state for nominating her.
Ms Eyakenyi, the senator representing Akwa-Ibom South Senatorial District, who was cheered by women groups from the state, said that women of the state had every right to be excited over the slot of the deputy governor given to them for the first time.
“I am going there as a mother for the 31 local governments of Akwa Ibom State covering women, men, youth and the elderly.
“I am going there to serve, to set a standard and ensure that after me, another woman can pick up the position.
“I will also ensure that women have their due and right at the executive, legislative and party levels.
“I am also going to be a model and standard to every woman in Akwa-Ibom State,” Ms Eyakenyi said.
The PDP Governorship Candidate for Lagos, Olajide Adediran, who was also at the PDP national secretariat, also spoke with journalists about his potential running mate.
Mr Adediran, who is popularly known as Jandor, said the nomination of five persons for his running mate shows that Lagos as a centre of excellence has many qualified persons for the position.
“Every one of the five nominees is qualified to be my deputy governor,” he said.
He gave assurance that his running mate would be as popular or more popular than him.
“We represent a breath of fresh air in Lagos State. You have seen that in me and my running mate as well,” he said.
The northern region is the stronghold of the ruling APC, as it governs 14 of its 19 states. But this is the first time the party is presenting a southerner as its presidential flag bearer.
What fate awaits the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, in the northern states in the 2023 election?
The question is of interest to political observers because the region is the stronghold of the ruling party, as it governs 14 of its 19 states, but this is the first time the party is presenting a southerner as its flag bearer.
Mr Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, polled 1,271 votes at the APC primary on June 8, defeating 13 aspirants after seven others stepped down for him at the convention ground.
He will slug it out with the candidates of 16 other parties in the February 25, 2023, general election, including Atiku Abubakar of the People Democratic Party (PDP), Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
Patient courtship
Before declaring his intention to run for president in January, Mr Tinubu had been the leader of the APC in the South-west zone, where he had been influential since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999. However, northern state governors provided the most critical support that helped him to win the party’s nomination.
This did not come as a surprise to close observers because Mr Tinubu in recent years had taken deliberate steps to build alliances with political leaders in the region.
Initially, some northern APC governors did not support Mr Tinubu because of their own ambitions. But he eventually won them over, helped no doubt by the position of a majority of them that the South should produce the successor to President Muhammadu Buhari next year. But he had also deliberately courted many of them over the years.
One of the governors, Muhammad Badaru of Jigawa, who eventually stepped down for Mr Tinubu at the primary, narrated how the former Lagos governor helped him to win his election as governor.
Mr Tinubu announced his presidential bid in January, after numerous engagements with northern leaders. He was the Guest Speaker at the prestigious Arewa House lecture series in Kaduna last year, an event he preceded with visits to Kano and Katsina states within a week.
While in Katsina, last March 24, he donated N50 million to victims of a fire disaster at the city’s central market.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Tinubu said: “For the fire disaster, I am personally most touched because I am a son of a market woman leader. My late mother was the president of the Nigerian Men and Women Market Association.
“We, together with my mother, had been to Katsina several times for political rallies and Durbar. Coming to Katsina, it is not only to celebrate but to share the joy and sorrow, particularly in this period where Nigerians need each other both in pain and joy. We will continue to pray that Nigeria will be peaceful,” the former governor said.
Arewa House Lecture
Speaking at the opening of the 2021 annual Arewa House Lectures, which he chaired in Kaduna on March 27 that year, Mr Tinubue called for massive investment in job creation to address the economic and security challenges of the region.
The theme of the lecture was “Reduction of the Cost of Governance for Inclusive Growth and Youth Development in Northern Nigeria in a Post- COVID-19 Era”.
He said the government must think outside of the box in finding solutions to the challenges posed by unemployment. According to him, frustration and despair among the youth were largely caused by chronic poverty and the breakdown of social institutions.
“Building vital infrastructures such as irrigation and water catchment systems will help agriculture, arrest desertification, and provide jobs.
“Another readily available area primed for investment is the agro-allied industry which, for the northern region, is particularly advantageous,” he said.
On the herder/farmer dispute, he said the government “must appreciate that martial security measures alone will not suffice.
“We cannot resolve this problem by holding on to one-dimensional answers. We must all be dispassionate in our search for solutions. These challenges are multi-faceted and so the solutions must be.
“The issue of insecurity, unemployment, and extremism has many things to do with governance, over time. We must tackle our deep and widespread poverty.
“If we limit the government’s role under the erroneous assumption that government spending is intrinsically unproductive, then we tether ourselves to failure.
“The development of any populous nation has always been dependent on the ability of the government to allocate sufficient funds to projects and programs that create and encourage enduring growth and employment,” Mr Tinubu said.
The 12th Colloquium in Kano.
Mr Tinubu held the 12th edition of his annual Colloquium in Kano in 2021 under the theme, “Our Common Bond, Our Common Wealth.” The colloquium is a lecture series held on his birthdays since 2009, two years after he left government.
At the event, during which he inaugurated the headquarters of the state’s anti-graft agency, Mr Tinubu lauded Governor Abdullahi Ganduje for strengthening the anti-corruption institutions in his state.
He also preached peace, unity, and tolerance among Nigerians and then held a closed-door meeting with clerics and the five first-class emirs in the state at the Government House in Kano.
These engagements probably contributed to the support that the former Lagos governor received from northern state governors at the APC National Convention. But now that he is the party’s presidential candidate, has he done enough to connect with the voters in the region?
Courtship
Habu Muhammad, a former head of Aminu Kano Centre for Democratic Research and Training (Mambayya House), a research and training unit of the Bayero University, Kano, said Mr Tinubu’s visits to Northwest states were in promotion of his ambition to succeed President Buhari come 2023.
“Tinubu is an astute politician who believes that with the support from Kano in particular and the northern states, he will actualise his ambition of becoming the next Nigerian president,” Mr Muhammad, a professor of political science, told PREMIUM TIMES.
He said if Mr Tinubu’s tours of northern states were solely to preach unity, he should have gathered southern leaders to preach the same message to them too.
“Since he started celebrating his birthday in 2009, I can’t recall the celebration taking place in the north. Holding it in the north now is political. But there is nothing wrong with that because it is politics. In politics, someone must indicate interest and that person must lobby for support. Tinubu has political relevance, he has people and supporters across Nigeria. In the end, Nigerians will decide whether he is the right person or not,” Mr Muhammad said.
However, Mr Muhammad warned that Mr Tinubu may encounter challenges in the north if leaders in his South-west region continue to be silent about the alleged persecution of Hausa/Fulani groups over the farmers/herders crisis.
He said Mr Tinubu himself had not spoken out against the attacks on northern businesses and Fulani communities in his home region.
But the candidate faces other challenges as well.
Kano: NNPP’s challenge, Ganduje’s record
Kano is the most populous state in Northern Nigeria. The APC got its highest votes, about 1.9 million, in the state in 2015, a feat it also repeated in the 2019 presidential election.
However, Governor Ganduje appears to have mismanaged the party in Kano. Many of its important stakeholders have left the party in anger and frustration. This may affect the support that the APC presidential candidate may get in the state at the poll.
A former governor Ibrahim Shekarau, a former presidential aide, Kawu Sumaila; and a former federal lawmaker, Abdulmumini Jibrin; are among those who have defected to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) brought to the state by a former governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, who is also running for president.
Both Messrs Sumaila and Jibrin are formidable politicians in the Kano South Senatorial district, which has 15 local government areas (LGAs). Rano LGA, which had 71,641 in the last elections, will be one of the battlefields in the zone for the APC, NNPP and PDP.
Other council areas in Kano South like Kiru, Wudil, Gaya, Tudun Wada, and Doguwa will also see close contests. However, the Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, has vowed to deliver the Kano South Senatorial district to the APC as he did previously.
Luckily for the APC too, Barau Jibrin, the senator representing Kano North District, which has 14 LGAs, remains in the party. Mr Jibrin, who is the Senate Appropriations Committee chairman and is seeking re-election, and Abubakar Kabir, who is the member representing Bichi in the House of Representatives, are popular in the district. With the influence of the Emir of Bichi, Nasiru Ado-Bayero, who is an in-law to President Buhari, the APC may sweep the poll in this zone.
But the ruling party will face stiff opposition in Kano Central Senatorial District where Messrs Kwankwaso and Shekarau hail from. Mr Kwankwaso’s followers (members of the Kwankwasiyya Movement) are numerous in the city.
The unresolved APC crisis emanating from the primary election in some of the metropolitan council areas, like Fagge, is an added advantage to the opposition parties.
The member representing Fagge at the House of Representatives, Aminu Suleiman, won the APC primary election despite complaints of alleged poor representation made against him by some residents. Mr Suleiman, however, dismissed the allegation as politically motivated, saying he secured hundreds of jobs for his constituents.
In addition, many APC supporters are disenchanted over the poor performance of the APC-led federal government in the last seven years.
Overall, APC needs a lot of hard work to harvest the usual humongous votes it has been getting in Kano central. However, many residents commend the Ganduje administration for executing landmark projects in the Kano metropolis.
The NNPP is unlikely to win in Kano but may play the spoiler for Mr Tinubu and his opponent of the other major party, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP.
Keen contests
The contests in other Northwest states will be keen between the APC and PDP. The ruling party will likely maintain its grip on Kaduna and Katsina states. In the former, Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i is widely adjudged to have performed well but the animosity against him in the southern part of the state means the PDP also remains strong in the state.
In Katsina, the home state of President Buhari, despite the challenges of insecurity, Governor Masari has also executed many projects and addressed the security challenges in rural communities.
But Sokoto and Kebbi will be battlefields for the two parties.
The APC has bright chances in the North Central Niger State, as the structure of the PDP seems to have collapsed in the state over the years. A former governor, Babangida Aliyu, who ought to be the leader of the party in the state, has been silent, perhaps because he is battling corruption charges.
With the absence of the PDP structure, APC chieftains in banditry-prone Shiroro, Munya, Rafi, and other council areas are noticeably supporting the victims of attacks. Those politicians are more likely to influence the elections even in communities displaced by terrorists.
The APC states and APC ruling states
The APC controls 14 states in the North. Yobe, Borno, and Zamfara are traditional APC states – the PDP has not won a governorship election in the three states since the beginning of the Fourth Republic, and there is a high tendency that Mr Tinubu will win those states hands down.
But the APC presidential candidate will suffer from the perceived sins of some of the governors in states like Jigawa and Kebbi, who have either been accused of hijacking the party structures or abandoning governance for their personal businesses.
Abdullahi Tsoho, a labour union leader and governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Jigawa, said over 9,000 teachers retired from the state civil service in the last seven years, but the government has not recruited to fill the vacancies.
Instead, Mr Tsoho said the government has focused on building new classroom blocks without teachers to teach.
Even his party members had complained that Governor Badaru has never done empowerment programmes for residents in the last seven years, while farmers also complained that farming inputs, machines and agrochemicals he reportedly imported from China were never sold to them at subsidised rates. Some farmers lamented that farm inputs are cheaper in the open market than from the state-controlled Agricultural Supply Company (JASCO), managed by a confidant of the governor.
Also, farmers alleged that Mr Badaru’s role as head of the presidential task force on fertiliser did not benefit farmers in his state as the price and availability of fertilizer in Jigawa remain a concern.
However, unlike in Kebbi where aggrieved APC members defected to the opposition PDP, they have refused to leave in Jigawa. A party member said many of them are instead waiting for the elections to pay back for the alleged wrongdoings of the governor.
Meanwhile, a former lawmaker, Farouk Aliyu, is challenging the governor in court over the alleged imposition of candidates of the party.
Thus, the unresolved party crisis and perceived political sins of the Jigawa governor may affect the support for his party’s presidential candidate in the state.
50/50 in the Northeast – Don
A professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Maiduguri, Umara Ibrahim, agreed that the APC presidential candidate may win three of the six states in the North East.
He told PREMIUM TIMES that it would be difficult for the PDP to win in Borno and Yobe states and that APC, being in government in Gombe, is also most likely to take the state. The PDP is in government in Adamawa, Taraba and Bauchi states.
The don said the APC may gain more influence in the zone if it picks its vice-presidential candidate from the zone.
Mr Ibrahim said Atiku has a large following in Bauchi State, which would make the state difficult to win for the presidential candidate of the APC. He added that though the governor, Bala Mohammed, lost in the PDP presidential primary, he will still support his party to win the state.
Muslim-Muslim
Mr Tinubu, a Southern Muslim, is under pressure from Nigerian Christian leaders to pick a Northern Christian as his running mate. But Sa’idu Dukawa, a professor of Political Science at Bayero University, Kano, said fielding a Muslim-Muslim ticket will serve his electoral interest better in conservative Northern states.
Mr Dukawa believes that Mr Tinubu’s choice of a running mate will influence the support he gets from the average voters in Kano and other conservative Muslim states in the region.
“If Tinubu picks a Muslim running mate from the North, the APC may win all the states it now controls, and even get additional states. But if they chose otherwise, the party may lose some of their states. There is no doubt about this because religion will definitely influence the voting pattern,” Mr Dukawa said.
He said the predominantly Muslim population in the North is now interpreting the calls by religious groups on Mr Tinubu not to pick a Muslim running mate as a plot against their religion.
“The simple arithmetic is that only three of the 19 Northern states are being governed by Christian governors. The Muslim population will want one of their own to represent them as the vice president,” he added.
However, he said Mr Tinubu may also face a backlash from this arrangement with the majority of Christians not voting for him both in the North and in the South. The don said the aim of any political party is to win an election, and that politicians will always adopt the option they think will make them win.
The APC has named Kabir Masari, a Muslim from Katsina State, as his running mate but many believe he is not the final choice and would be substituted before July 15.
That notwithstanding, Mr Dukawa said voters should always consider competence over religion and vote for the candidate that will address the security and economic challenges, irrespective of their regions and religions.
The majority control of the All Progressives Congress in the Senate is currently under threat as no fewer than 20 APC senators have concluded plans to defect to the Peoples Democratic Party, Labour Party, New Nigeria Peoples Party and others.
The PUNCH learnt that the APC, which had earlier lost 13 senators to the opposition parties, might lose more parliamentarians aggrieved for losing their return tickets to the National Assembly during the party primaries.
It was gathered that the party leaders were worried that if the rate of defections continued and the opposition PDP gained more members, the ruling party might lose its majority status in the Senate.
During Wednesday’s plenary, Senator Dauda Jika representing Bauchi Central, announced his defection to the NNPP, bringing the number of APC senators to 67.
Currently, the five minority parties in the upper chamber have 43 senators with the PDP boasting 39 senators, while the Young Peoples Party, All Progressives Grand Alliance, Labour Party and the New Nigeria People’s Party have four senators.
To stem the gale of defections, the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu, met with the APC senators behind closed doors at the National Assembly complex, Abuja, some minutes past 2 pm on Wednesday
Adamu, who first went to the office of the President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, for a brief meeting before the general meeting, said that the party was worried by the wave of the defections among the APC senators.
Speaking to journalists after his meeting with the APC caucus, he noted that it was a usual occurrence during the election period but it was enough for any leader to worry over the loss of any member.
He stated, “The meeting with the senators was most fruitful. The issue of defection is an unfortunate development when it happens but this is a season where there are all sorts of behaviour in the political space and ours is not an exception.
“In every election year, this kind of thing gives cause for stakeholders to sneeze and Nigeria is not an exception so is the APC, not an exception. I don’t care about what is happening in other parties, my focus is on the APC. But we all know that the occurrence is not only happening in the APC, it’s happening across other political parties too. And because we are the ruling party, our problems are exaggerated before the public.”
Adamu also said he did not know if the problem of defection would persist in the party but he had met with his colleagues at the National Assembly and he believed the issue was surmountable.
He added, “There is no responsible leader that would not be worried when he loses one member not to talk of two. At the moment we are faced with the stark reality of our problems. I have committed my colleagues at the National Assembly to face the problem squarely and see the problem as solvable. We are in politics, I don’t know what would happen tomorrow, and nobody does.”
Meanwhile, a lawmaker who spoke to one of our correspondents on the condition of anonymity, stated that the party chairman had to come down to the National Assembly to dissuade the senators from defecting from the ruling APC.
According to the source, not lesser than 20 senators intend to leave the APC to other parties, particularly the PDP within the next week.
The source said, “The party chairman came to have a meeting with the APC senators because he said that they learnt through intelligence that not lesser than 20 more senators were planning to defect to other parties within the next one week.
“The chairman asked each of the aggrieved senators to lay bare their grievances which we all did one after the other. Having heard our problems, the chairman instructed that we put them into writing.”
The lawmaker also stated that Adamu promised that the party would look into the issues raised and do something about it as it was a dangerous time for lawmakers in the party to defect because it was the election year and such moves were grave for any political party.
The source added, “The chairman asked us all to put all of our complaints into writing after which the APC caucus leaders would sit with the National Working Committee and look into the issues raised.
“Senator Adamu further stated the party would then see what it can do to help the situation. He, however, stated that lawmakers who do not feel comfortable with the help provided by the parties can then leave. But leaving without proper consultations with the party sends a wrong signal of discord. It presents the party as if in disarray and without proper leadership.”
“This is an election year and it’s not good to present the party as having leadership issues,” the source quoted Adamu to have said.
The PUNCH reports that there has been a wave of defections across the APC senatorial seats.
A number of the APC senators had cross-carpeted to other parties due to their failure to secure a return ticket to the NASS with many of them alleging that their states’ governors hijacked the senatorial primary elections.
In the past week since the resumption of the plenary, not less than six senators have sent their defection letters to the Senate President.
They include the Majority Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi representing Kebbi North senatorial district, who defected to the PDP.
Abdullahi alleged that the democratic challenges and deficits in Kebbi State did not just start from the last congresses, but from July last year “when the governor illegally decapitated the state leadership of the party, imposed unelected ward, local government and state executives of the party.”
He stated in his defection letter to the Senate, “At a point, I thought of resort to the courts, but decided against that course of action after realising that political challenges require political solutions in the democratic arena where it is the people and not the judges who are the final arbiters.
“I came to this decision after a very hard struggle with my conscience and emotions. It is either to remain on the side of my people or to selfishly look the other way. All politics is local. I cannot therefore in good conscience, continue to work for the success of this administration at the centre while the people of my state, my primary constituency, continue to wallow in abject poverty and destitution under the misrule and manipulation of a despot.
“I have, therefore, decided to pitch my tent with the Peoples Democratic Party to join forces with my compatriots at home who are struggling against incompetence, imposition and violation of democratic norms, principles and practices.”
Also former governor of Kebbi State, Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central), defected from the ruling APC to the PDP stating that his “predicated on the fact that there is no internal democracy in the APC.”
He alleged that the state’s governor, Atiku Bagudu, had “bastardised, the party and electoral processes in the state which are now characterised by high-handedness and unfairness.”
Similarly, Senators Ahmad Babba-Kaita (Katsina North), Lawal Gumau (Bauchi South), and Francis Alimikhena (Edo North) also announced their defection from the ruling party on Tuesday at the plenary.
While Babba Kaita and Alimikhena defected to the opposition PDP, Gumau on the other hand, defected to the NNNP.
The notice of their resignation and defection was contained in three separate letters read during plenary by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, on the floor.
But, the senator representing Oyo South Senatorial district, elected on the platform of the PDP, Senator Kola Balogun, Tuesday formally defected to the APC.
APC Senate spokesman
The Chairman of the Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Ajibola Basiru, in an interview with Channels Television, allayed fears of the party losing its majority status.
Basiru noted that despite the gale of defections that had the APC caucus in the chamber, it had gained more members.
He said, “I want to first say that all politics are local. The politics of the State of Osun is different from national politics. I don’t know any of the existing National Assembly members in the State of Osun that has defected. So, if the argument is based on defection, I don’t see how the defections of somebody in Kebbi State or Katsina State will affect the fortune of my party in the State of Osun. ”
He claimed that the number of the APC senators had increased to 67.
On why the lawmakers were defecting, Basiru said, “As to the question of the people who have been defecting, they may have their reasons, some of them may be because they have lost their popularity in their party; it may be because of the peculiar challenges or what they faced in their state.
“All I know is that the South-West has spoken in Ekiti and will speak louder in Osun, to say that the PDP, to the extent that it does not even have regard for the cohesion and federal character nature of the country, and it does not even care about the feeling of the people of southern Nigeria in terms of power shift, would be roundly rejected in the election of July 16, 2022.”
The APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, did not respond to calls or attempted to answer the questions sent via WhatsApp.
However, a member of the National Working Committee, who craved anonymity, said that defection was normal in politics.
“It doesn’t mean that it will hamper the chances of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
“The real electioneering starts from September. We are not under any form of pressure or panic mode,” he said.
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, described the defections as a welcome development.
He said “What happened today is a welcome development; it shows that Nigerians will begin to have legislators that will formulate laws that will change the narratives of insecurity, lack of employment and a purposeful representation. It shows that the party is the only hope for the people. We are hoping that more will still join our party.”
In his reaction, the National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, Yabagi Sani, said the senators’ action did not come as a surprise.
“It is democracy in action. People have the right to associate with whoever they want to associate with. The moment people see that their interests will not be advanced where they are, of course, they will change. There is nothing strange about what is happening. It happened before to the PDP when five chieftains including governors moved to the APC. I don’t think it is anything that is unheard of in this country. It is now left for APC to put its house in order,” he submitted.
‘APC defections ominous’
Prof Sylvester Odion-Akhaine, a political science lecturer at Lagos State University, believed the recent defection is an ominous sign the APC must checkmate.
He added, “What we are looking at is a very complex 2023. In this case, we cannot assume that the APC and PDP, being dominant parties, will carry the day. We are also seeing a very high power politics by the ruling oligarchy in Nigeria, realigning the way that undermines the power shift to the South.
“This is the indication because when people move from one political party to the other in the Nigerian context, it is unhealthy and symptomatic of the fact that we don’t have institutionalised political parties in Nigeria.
The permutation of either of them getting victory will be quite complex and tough. The current defection from Tinubu’s party is ominous for the APC,” he argued.
Also speaking, Mr Tonye Isokariari, said the defections were not unusual, adding, “People cross-carpet when they feel the party is not working for them. But is not the right thing, more people will also join the APC as much as people in the APC are leaving.”
Meanwhile, no fewer than 15 APC members in Kano State have defected to the NNNP.
They include a former governor of the state and now the Senator of Kano Central, Ibrahim Shekarau; a member representing Rano/Bunkure/Kibiya Federal, Constituency, Alhassan Rurum; member representing Takai/Sumaila Federal constituency, Shamsudden Dambazau and former member representing Kiru/Bebeji and former Executive Director of the Federal Housing Authority, Jibrin Kofa.
The former Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, it was gathered, was considering joining the NNPP.
Labour Party’s (LP’s) presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, and Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, have met behind closed-doors with Rivers State Governor and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart, Nyesom Wike.
Obi, a former Anambra State governor, arrived the Government House in Port Harcourt yesterday and was received by Wike.
Both of them were said to have gone into the office of the Rivers State governor where they discussed briefly.
They came out after the discussion but refused to comment on any issue as Wike bade his visitor goodbye.
There were indications that their discussions centred on the development in the PDP and the unfair treatment the party meted out to Wike during the presidential primaries.
It was learnt that the process that led to the choice of Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as the running mate to the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, was part of the discussion.
Obi was also said to have solicited Wike’s support for his presidential ambition ahead of the 2023 general election.
It was gathered that Mohammed, who was among PDP’s presidential aspirants, came shortly after Obi departed the Government House.
Like in Obi’s case, Wike reportedly ushered in Mohammed to his private office, where only two of them held secret discussions.
Sources said Mohammed, who refused to speak on the motive behind his visit, came out of the meeting and hurried into his vehicle.
But it was learnt that Mohammed’s visit was on the heels of the controversies that trailed the process that led to the selection of Atiku’s running mate.
The Bauchi governor’s visit was said to be part of the fence-mending efforts to placate Wike to enable the party address his grievances.
Though M9ohammed is a known friend of Wike, it could not be ascertain whether he came on his own accord or he was sent by Atiku.
Also, the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly (SNPA) yesterday warned former Vice President Atiku Abukakar that ex-Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu was damaging the chances of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of winning the 2023 presidential election by his “malicious attitude” towards Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike.
It described as “ungraceful cum uncomplimentary” Aliyu’s view in a TV interview on Tuesday that the Rivers governor lacks the capacity, character and temperament to be Atiku’s running mate.
The group, in a statement by its Leader, Livingstone Wechie, said: “The assertions by the former governor of Niger State raise a lot of concern, even if it fails the sensitivity test completely. As a matter of fact, his view of Nyesom Wike – an illustrious and highly celebrated Ikwerre son – is an affront not only to his ethnicity and region but the Nigerian state particularly in the face of the current political and economic disputations and contradictions bedevilling the Nigerian State today.”
It said Aliyu acted “far below dignity” and un-statesman-like, adding that his comments appeared to be aimed at fuelling a crisis and fanning the embers of avoidable conflict within the ranks of the PDP “at a time the party should be mending walls and begging for peace after a fierce and sharp contest which shook the political atmosphere almost to a negative trajectory”.
According to the group, the former governor’s impact and role in the development of the PDP “is very scanty and non-existent”.
SNPA noted that Aliyu’s claim that Wike hijacked the PDP and chased members away, was “very timid”.
It stressed that such utterances “are not only aimed at further dividing the party, but putting it at the risk of losing the undeniable cult followership and votes from the over 230 local government areas that voted Nyesom Wike at the presidential primaries. This garrulous and flippant move is possibly to the detriment of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in 2023, if not arrested now”.
Apostle Anselm Madubuko has reacted to former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu’s claim of South-East voting for People’s Democratic Party and not Labour Party’s Peter Obi.
The lawmaker from Enugu state who acknowledged that Peter Obi is a credible candidate and “their son”, had said that the South-East needs to be dynamic and also know that Obi who is a former Governor of Anambra state can’t win the presidential election.
He averred that people from the region should not make decisions they will regret later. Ekweremadu also likened voting for Peter Obi as “throwing away votes”.
Reacting to this, Madubuko stated that “it will soon be time for another new yam festival ol boy”, in reference to Ekweremadu being beaten up in Germany after he turned up for a New Yam Festival he was invited for in 2019.
In the video shared online at the time, Ekweremadu was attacked by a mob as he attempted to enter the venue of the event in Nuremberg, Germany. In the one-minute video, the mob chanted ‘go back’ while trying to deny Mr Ekweremadu entry.
President Muhammadu Buhari has insisted that only his government has implemented the solution to decades-long herder/farmer conflicts, exacerbated by desertification and demographic growth.
In an interview with Bloomberg, the President said the National Livestock Transformation Plan, putting ranching at its core, is the only way to deplete the competition for resources at the core of the clashes.
Buhari however alleged that Governors from some individual states have sought to play politics where ranches have been established; even though disputes have dramatically reduced.
Buhari
On war against terror, President Buhari said that in 2015, Boko Haram held a territory the size of Belgium within the borders of Nigeria. He however said today, the terrorists are close to being extinct as a military force.
Buhari while reaffirming that a leader of ISWAP was eliminated by a Nigerian Airforce airstrike in March, noted that the jets acquired from the US and intelligence shared by the British were not provided to previous administrations and stand as testament to renewed trust re-built between Nigeria and our traditional western allies under my government.
He said;
“Terrorists no longer hold any territory in Nigeria, and their leaders are deceased; and vast infrastructure development sets the country on course for sustainable and equitable growth.”
A popular social media influencer and good governance advocate, Victor Israel has taken to his social media platform (Twitter) to disclose what transpired between him and some market traders in Agege, Lagos, when he approached them to speak concerning the Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi.
According to Victor, the market traders said they only know about the ruling All Progressive Congress’ candidate, Ahmed Bola Tinubu and haven’t heard of Peter Obi.
“We told market women in Agege about Peter Obi, they said its Tinubu they know. We went ahead to show them the cost of cooking gas now, the prices of food now and the number of children at home because of ASUU strike. They were sober by the time we left…“
Take a Look at the Screenshot of His Post Below:
The Influencer’s post generated several reactions as Nigerians aired different thoughts concerning the presidential candidate. Checkout some feedbacks his post gathered below:
The Nigerian senate has raised an alarm of terrorist enclaves being identified within three local government areas of Kwara and Niger States.
Channels Television reported that this formed part of discussions raised after the upper chamber considered a motion on the worsening insecurity in Kainji Lake National Park and threat to communities in Kaima, Baruten and Borgu Local Government in Kwara and Niger states.
Sponsor of the motion, Senator Sadiq Umar said kidnapping and other forms of criminality have now become prevalent in communities close to Kainji Lake National Park and this has led to palpable fear in the communities.
Umar said;
“Many are leaving their villages and farms to seek refuge in the towns that will soon be threatened as well if nothing is done about this insecurity situation. In fact, some communities have started paying the criminals some sort of tax to be allowed to stay safe.”
After the motion was deliberated on, the senate asked the military to carry out a comprehensive onslaught of bandits and criminal elements within the Kainji Lake National Park and the identified communities.
Over 500 supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party from the Boripe Local Government Area of Osun State, have defected to the All Progressives Congress.
The defectors were received into the APC at a campaign rally held in Iragbiji, the hometown of Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Ismail Omipidan, on Tuesday, said the defectors attributed their defection to the convincing manner Oyetola has been managing the affairs of the state.
They also restated readiness to support Oyetola with their votes in the July 16 governorship election.
Addressing crowd that attended the rally, Oyetola commended them for supporting his administration.
He then assured that if re-elected, his second term “would be more rewarding and resourceful, as the first term was a foundation for a brighter future.”
Oyetola also urged citizens who were yet to collect their Permanent Voter Cards to do so, to enable them exercise their civic duty during the forthcoming governorship election.
The Director-General (D-G) of the Budget Office, Mr. Ben Akabueze, has called for timely release of federal government audit reports by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation.
Speaking at the presentation of the 2021 Open Budget Survey report, in Abuja yesterday, Akabueze said releasing audit reports of many years behind, “is useless in terms of utilization.”
According to him the current administration had undertaken several Public Finance Reform (PFR) initiatives which were yielding results and was encouraged to do more, to ensure greater transparency in budget implementation.
His words, “Government has over the past several years undertaken a number of reforms in the public finance space which have culminated in the significant improvements we can now report.
“Nigeria posted its best performance in the Open Budget Survey, improving by 24 points for transparency in the latest Open Budget Survey. The total transparency score of 45 in the 2021 survey, is a significant leap from the 21 scored in the 2019 survey.
“The outcome of the 2021 Open Budget Survey is one that signposts our commitment to continuous reform efforts.
The committee has been saddled with the responsibility to ensure the re-election of Gboyega Oyetola on July 16
Nigeria’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), has announced an 86-member campaign council for the Osun State governorship election.
The council will be co-chaired by the governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and Governor Umar Ganduje of Kano State.
According to the list released by the National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu, on Tuesday, the committee has been saddled with the responsibility to ensure the re-election of Gboyega Oyetola.
Mr Oyetola faces challenges from Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and 13 other candidates at the July 16 election.
The ruling party has enlisted the services of all state governors alongside the Senate President Ahmad Lawan and Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila as deputies to Messrs Sanwo-Olu and Ganduje.
The committee will be inaugurated on Thursday at the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja.
The APC performed beyond expectations. It only fell a little short of the famed Ayo Fayose’s 16-0 feat in which the former governor won in all the local government areas in the 2014 governorship election. Mr Fayose’s main opponent then was the incumbent governor, Kayode Fayemi of the APC.
The ruling party on Saturday won in15 of the 16 local government areas of the state with huge margins. Interestingly, the winner’s closest rival, SDP’s Segun Oni, did not win in any of the local government areas. He even lost his own Ido-Osi to the APC.
Only the PDP’s Bisi Kolawole managed to secure his own Efon Local Government Area to prevent a clean sweep by the APC. The noise of the people prior to the actual election seemed to have misled many analysts who predicted the fall of the APC and a possible victory for the SDP.
What the figures say
At the final tally, Mr Oyebanji recorded 187,057 votes, while Mr Oni polled 82,211 votes. Although he won in his local government area, Mr Kolawole of the PDP came third with 67,457 votes.
The figures show that in all the local government areas won by the APC, it polled over 50 per cent of the valid votes cast,. which means that it polled higher votes than the PDP and SDP votes put together. This was replicated in the final tally, as the combined votes of the two parties amounted to 149,668 votes.
The APC also showed its dominance in the areas supposedly controlled by the opposition, especially in Ekiti North and Ekiti Central. While the SDP candidate managed to win his PU 006, in Ward 04, Ifaki, in Ido-Osi LGA, convincingly, he failed to replicate that wide margin in nearly all the wards in the area, except in Ifaki II, which is his home.
The PDP candidate was on a high ground in Efon, beating the rest neatly to come tops in the local government area. Besides Efon, he simply trailed the other two parties.
Set back for opposition
The election on Saturday showed how the opposition had fallen far behind, and failed to rework its structures to be able to win elections.
For example, the APC’s margin of victory in 2018 was not so wide, as it defeated the PDP, which was then the ruling party, with about 19,000 votes. Mr Fayemi had won the election with 197,459 votes to defeat the PDP which had 178,121 votes. In Saturday’s election, however, the two main opposition parties did not receive up to the number of the votes garnered by PDP alone in 2018.
Despite the hype of improvements in the electoral process, the turn out also fell far below what obtained in the 2018 governorship election.
In 2018, the total registered voters was 909,585, out of which 405,861 voters were accredited on election day. But on Saturday, despite an increased voter registration which totalled 989,224, only 365,438 voters were accredited.
PDP’s internal crisis eclipsed SDP
The signs became obvious at the start of the campaigns. Not many crowd pullers were seen either in the PDP or the SDP campaigns. Many sympathisers believe they would have done better working together.
The setting of that calamity was the struggle for the control of the party, begining with the aspirations for the governorship ticket of the party.
A chieftain of the PDP, Ayo Fadaka, said the problem began with the faulty primaries over which Mr Oni left the party to the SDP.
“The signs of failure began with the party primaries when Segun Oni left for the SDP with a good number of members of the party,” he said.
“Some key members of the party also quietly left the party for the APC before the election.”
Mr Fadaka said the PDP needed to rediscover itself and must ensure that it does not weave its structures around a single personality, if it wants to be strong as a party again.
However, the National Secretary of the SDP, Olu Agunloye, said the loss of his party was due mainly to irregularities in the election. The irregularities, according to him, bordered on voter inducement by the two leading political parties.
Mr Agunloye said it was on record that voters were coerced to vote against their conscience by being offered as much as N15,000 to vote for a particular candidate.
He said with such development, it was not possible to have a free and fair election.
“Those who voted for us voted with their conscience and without inducements,” he said.
The APC candidate had earlier said those who voted for him did so in expression of their wishes, and thanked them for entrusting him with the mandate of administering the state for the next four years.
Taiwo Olatunbosun, the spokesperson for the Biodun Oyebanji Campaign Organisation, described the APC landslide victory as “remarkable, iconic and unprecedented in the annals of the state.”
He said the icing on the cake for the governor-elect was breaking the jinx of ruling parties never recording back-to-back victory in the state.
He also said the victory at the poll was an endorsement of the good works of the administration of Governor Fayemi in which Mr Oyebanji served as the SSG.
APC’s post primary recovery
The deep cut inflicted by the shenanigans of the governorship primaries that sprouted Mr Oyebanji has not healed. However, insiders said that the decision of the agreived parties to work together was informed by a common self-interest.
Most of those adversely affected by the outcome of the primaries were in the pro-Tinubu group associated with the South West Agenda for Asiwaju (SWAGA). There were fears that they would ruin the game for the party. But after Bola Tinubu became the presidential candidate of the APC, he went to join the campaign and said an APC victory in Ekiti was necessary to boost his presidential ambition.
That was enough to make his supporters close ranks with the others and work together. The conflicts are now kept in abbeyance until the agenda is fully realised.
Moses Agbaje, a resident of Ado Ekiti, is convinced that singular interest suspended the fight which earlier threatened the party.
Some have reasoned that the effect of vote buying was a mere incident in the current election, and the APC could have won squarely even without it.
Oluwole Kolawole, a civil servant, argued that in Ekiti, the voters who truly are in support of the SDP could not be swayed with money, noting that the people are yet to get the enlightenment on the implications of selling their votes.
“We are in such a big trouble in this country,” he said. “But one thing I know is that although there was so much noise about Segun Oni, the people were not really serious about voting him into office, otherwise, no amount of vote buying will result in such a huge gap in the results.”
He said although Mr Oni was popular, he needed to match the APC and PDP with money to emerge as governor. “That is another sad story about our situation,” he lamented. “Our road to prosperity is still far away so long as we are collecting money from politicians before we cast our votes. There is no hope.”
Saturday’s governorship election, however, posted an excellent result with regards to security of the ballots and election violence. Although isolated cases of disruptions were recorded in Ilawe and Ikere, there was no widespread occurence.
There is an outcry against vote buying, yet some observers have noted that the act was drastically reduced compared to what obtained in the last governorship election.
What was disappointing in the exercise was INEC’s failure to design the voting area to discourage the act. Most of the cubicles were still open to view by anyone seeking to perpetrate vote buying.
Police officers, as usual, turned a blind eye, while the inducers continued their trade close to the polling units.
Opposition parties’ agents at the state collation centre expressed their grievances over the phenomenon, saying it took away the credibility of the election.
“What we had yesterday were vote-buying centres and not polling units,” one of the agents said. Although they indirectly accused the ruling party of perpetrating the act, election observers asserted that all the leading parties were involved in the malpractice.
There is no let up in the corruption that bedevils the nation’s electoral process. Even with the EFCC’s intervention during the election, there is no sign of the political will to stamp out the malaise. As Mr Kolawole said, only the people themselves can change the narrative.
The Presidential Candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has revealed that he turned to God in prayers, when he perceived that there was a gang-up against him and his ambition to be president (Vanguard news).
The APC National Leader who made this revelation during his homecoming visit to the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, recently, noted that the battle to secure the APC ticket was hard.
According to Tinubu: “When I was almost fed up, I resorted to prayers. I also poured out my mind when I felt there was a gang-up against my person.” The APC candidate who also alluded to the fact that Lagos indigenes have never had the opportunity to become president, noted that he took up the fight to change the narrative.
Nevertheless, Tinubu acknowledged that the major challenge ahead, was now to get Nigerians to vote him as president in the 2023 general elections.
A Nigerian televangelist, senior pastor and the founder of Household of God Church International Ministries, Christopher Oghenebrorie Okotie known as Rev. Chris Okotie has asked other aspirants to step down for him, that it his turn to Succeed president Muhammadu Buhari.
Addressing journalists at his Church in Oregun, Ikeja while celebrating his 63rd birthday anniversary, Okotie said he is the right person to correct the wrongs in the country.
Okotie appealed to all presidential candidates to withdraw from the race and allow him to come in as the interim president. He asked Bola Ahmed Tinubu to support his government for the betterment of the country.
He told Peter Obi that the system that introduced him cannot take him anywhere, because he cannot operate in the system we have now.
Okotie said if he becomes president, his government will be a transparent one and he will empower youths who are into internet fraud. He said he will provide funds to youths who are technology inclined. Okotie said his government will be that of National Reconciliation and Reconstruction.
He finally appealed to all the presidential candidates to support him to succeed President Buhari as the interim president.
The Presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC party, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has disclosed that Masari Kabiru was nominated as his running mate after due consultations were made contrary to the speculations that he was picked as a placeholder. He also mentioned that if Kabiru decides to step down within the time frame, it wouldn’t be a breach of any kind.
Tinubu made the statement while reacting to speculations making rounds that the presidential candidates picked the names of their running mates as placeholders to bit the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC‘s June 17th deadline.
Tinubu also stated that consultations were still ongoing and should his running mate, Kaburu decides to step down within the speculated time frame allowed by the law, it wouldn’t be a breach of the law at all.
However, INEC has issued a statement saying the idea of the placeholder is a Nigerian factor that doesn’t have a place or recognition within the law.
ABOUT eight months to the general elections, the All Progressives Congress, APC, seems to be waltzing into another wave of crises that may hinder its electoral chances in many constituencies across the country.
The arbitrary replacement of duly nominated candidates by officials at the National Headquarters of the party with those that did not even participate in the primaries is generating disillusionment within the party and creating legal loopholes that could be exploited by the opposition as in the case of Zamfara State.
In Yobe North Senatorial District, Bashir Machina who was duly nominated unopposed as the senatorial candidate has been replaced by Ahmed Lawan, the Senate president, who did not even participate in the primary. Lawan, we recall, was only interested in the presidential ticket of the party and not the Senate seat which he had occupied for three terms now. In Idah/Igalamela/Ibaji/Ofu federal constituency of Kogi State, the duly nominated candidate, David Zachariah, has been arbitrarily replaced by Mustapha Mona, who did not even participate the primary.
In Akwa Ibom State, the replacement is large scale in scope. All the three senatorial candidates that emerged from duly conducted and INEC-monitored primaries have been replaced by a new set that did not even participate in the monitored primaries. Among the new nominees is Senator Godswill Akpabio who had featured prominently in his party’s presidential nomination process.
Along with Akpabio, Dr. Emaeyak Ukpong and Mr. Martin Udo-Inyang have also been forwarded to INEC as senatorial nominees to replace persons earlier nominated in an INEC-monitored primaries. I understand that federal constituency nominees are also being replaced. In the case of Akpabio, a new primary was conducted, but INEC is insisting that it did not monitor it and the former minister ought not to be a candidate since he did not participate in the first one.
These are just a few of the constituencies where APC officials in Abuja have succumbed to pressures to replace duly nominated candidates, thus violating the 2022 Electoral Act.
Just as the affected candidates are threatening court action to protect their mandates, I urge INEC to stamp its feet down and protect the sanctity of our electoral process. If we allow powerful men to keep trampling on the rights of the average citizens, especially in a manner that flagrantly subjugates the electoral process, we would be putting our democracy in a danger. We should not continue to behave as if Nigeria is the impunity capital of the world!
At the core of this abuse is the inability of party officials to appreciate the difference between the 2010 Electoral Act and the new 2022 Electoral Act, especially in relations to substitution of names. By Section 33 of the 2022 Act, a political party cannot change or substitute a candidate unless by reason of death or voluntary withdrawal.
Where a candidate has voluntarily and properly withdrawn his candidacy according to the law, the candidate is required to directly inform INEC in writing within 14 days and the party must conduct a fresh primary to produce a new candidate.
Only those who participated in the first primary would be allowed to participate in the rerun primary. This is different from the 2010 Act which allowed political parties to replace candidates if they had reasons to, even if the replaced candidates were not in support of their replacement. The 2022 Act in Section 29(1) further provides that candidates to be submitted by political parties “must have emerged from valid primaries conducted by political parties”.
Now here is where INEC derives its power(s). Section 84(13) of the 2022 Electoral Act states that… “Where a political party fails to comply with the provisions of this Act in the conduct of its primaries, its candidate for election shall not be included in the election for the particular position”. Compliance with the Act entails, among others, having INEC monitor all primaries.
So, it is clear that Ahmed Lawan cannot be a senatorial candidate in the 2023 election because he did not emerge from “a valid primary”. In fact, he did not emerge from any primary at all. The same applies for many other cases of replacements across the country, some of which I have listed above.
I am, therefore, surprised that Lawan, a ranking senator who presided over the Senate when this law was passed, is leading the onslaught against the law. Lawan ran for presidency and failed. He now wants to contest for the Senate even though he did not participate in the senatorial primary. It is notable that Bashir Machina is threatening court action to protect his mandate.
Lawan is not alone. The problem exists in both APC and PDP. Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto and Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi are just a few examples of those who are caught up by Section 33 because they had initially participated in the presidential primaries of their parties and are now seeking to go to the Senate (in the case of Umahi and Tambuwal) and return to the State House as governor (in the case of Bala Mohammed).
It is also for this reason that Adams Oshiomhole refused to participate in the APC presidential primary despite his initial declaration. He foresaw the danger and today, he is a duly nominated senatorial candidate for Edo North District.
To save our democracy, INEC must live up to its name as an independent electoral umpire and reject any candidate that did not emerge through a legitimate process. APC would be thrown into another round of crises if we allow this impunity to stand.
UK prime minister Boris Johnson underwent a scheduled operation on his sinuses on Monday morning, June 20, Downing Street has said.
It was described as a “very minor routine operation” under general anesthetic at a London hospital.
Mr. Johnson, who turned 58 on Sunday, is resting at home and is planning to chair Tuesday morning’s Cabinet meeting and travel to a gathering of Commonwealth leaders in Rwanda later this week.
“He went to hospital around 6am and the operation was carried out first thing this morning,” the prime minister’s official spokesman said. “He was back in Downing Street shortly after 10am.”
Asked how Mr. Johnson was feeling, the spokesman said he had not spoken to him since his return to his official residence but that he was resting there.
The timing of Mr. Johnson’s return to work would depend on how he feels, said the spokesman.
Asked who was in charge of the UK nuclear accounts during the procedure, the spokesman said Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case were aware in advance and that Mr. Johnson was under for a “relatively brief time”.
Procedures were in place so that any significant decisions could be deferred to Mr. Raab before Mr. Johnson resumed duties, the spokesman said.
The operation was by the UK’s state-funded National Health Service and was scheduled “for a while”, he said, without specifying at which hospital it took place.
Mr. Johnson’s sinus issue was not said to be related to his Covid illness two years ago.
The prime minister spent several days in hospital intensive care in April 2020 after contracting Covid, calling it “a tough old moment” that “could have gone either way”.
Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon of the Federal High Court in Abuja has stopped the Independent National Electoral Commission from ending voter registration on June 30, 2022.
She gave the order of interim injunction following the hearing of an argument on motion exparte by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project. SERAP and 185 concerned Nigerians had earlier in the month filed the lawsuit against INEC asking the court to “declare unconstitutional, illegal, and incompatible with international standards the failure of the electoral body to extend the deadline for voter registration to allow eligible Nigerians to exercise their rights.”
In the suit, SERAP had asked the court for “an order restraining INEC, its agents, privies, assigns, or any other person(s) claiming through it from discontinuing the continuous voters’ registration exercise from the 30th June 2022 or any other date pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.”
The suit is adjourned to 29th June, 2022 for the hearing of the Motion on Notice for interlocutory injunction.
The suit followed the decision by INEC to extend the deadline for the conduct of primaries by political parties by six days, from June 3 to June 9. But the commission failed to also extend the online pre-registration which ended May 30 2022 and the Continuous Voter Registration ending June 30, 2022.
In the suit number FHC/L/CS/1034/2022 filed at the Federal High Court, Lagos, and transferred to Abuja, SERAP said
“Voters are also critical stakeholders in the electoral process. Treating all eligible Nigerian voters fairly would advance the people’s right to vote and to participate in their own government. INEC must not only be independent and impartial in the exercise of its constitutional and statutory responsibilities, but must also be seen to be independent and impartial.
Extending the voter registration exercise would also bolster voter confidence in the electoral process. One of the people’s most sacred rights is the right to vote. The commission has a constitutional and statutory responsibility to ensure the effective exercise of the right of all eligible voters to participate in their own government.
Extending the deadline for party primaries without providing adequate time and opportunity for eligible voters to register and participate in the 2023 general elections would amount to an unfair and discriminatory treatment of Nigerian voters, and violate other human rights.
Extending the voter registration deadline would provide more time for eligible voters, including young people, the elderly, people living with disability, as well as those resident in states facing security challenges and living in IDP camps to participate in the 2023 elections.
Extending the deadline for voter registration would be entirely consistent with constitutional and international standards, and the Electoral Act. Any such extension would also not impact negatively on INEC’s election calendar and activities.
The public perception of the independence and impartiality of INEC is essential for building public confidence in the electoral process, and ensuring the credibility and legitimacy of the 2023 elections.
Where Nigerians have doubts about the independence and impartiality of INEC, they are more likely to have less confidence in the electoral process thereby undermining democracy.
Extending the deadline for voter registration would also be justified, given reports of challenges in the voter registration exercise, especially for young people, the elderly, persons living with disabilities, and those resident in states facing security challenges and living in internally displaced persons camps.”
Until a combination of punches breaks the jaw and smashes the face into a massive mess, the fleet-footed boxer shuffles on confidence and charisma.
Like the hyped June 27, 1988 heavyweight superfight in which Iron Mike Tyson demolished Michael Spinks in just 91 seconds, the hyped June 7, 2022 All Progressives Congress presidential primary in Abuja, similarly ended in a humiliating defeat for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Before I proceed any further, I must apologise to my readers for not concluding this two-part article last Monday due to unforeseen circumstances. Gladly, the one-week hiatus has provided me with the opportunity to view the APC delegate primary election through a multidimensional prism of insight, foresight and hindsight.
Armed with the benefit of hindsight, saddened by the failed outcome of the presidential primary, and faced with a gloomy political future, I’m almost certain the vice president would today wish for three things: to turn back the hands of time, remain unblemished and not to have contested against Tinubu.
Uncle Yemi lulé
At the end of hostilities, Osinbajo, despite an eloquent political speech and the trademark Awo cap on his silvern head, scored a scanty 235 votes against the staggering 1, 271 votes polled by his former boss and godfather, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, whose symbolic cap, since 1999, bears broken chains signifying freedom whereas governance in Lagos, nay Nigeria remains perpetually shackled with unbroken chains.
Shockingly, the erudite vice president also fell face-down yakata at the feet of a former Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, who got 316 votes just as Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, got 152 votes, trailing Osinbajo with 83 votes.
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity, says Roman philosopher, Lucius Annaeus Seneca. Verily, the APC presidential primary has come and gone, but long-lasting scars, suspicion and regrets persist.
Shortly after the vice president contested and crashed at the primary, Dolapo, his wife, tried to assuage the pain of defeat in an Instagram post to her husband, calling him, “Oluyemi, Oluleke, Omoluabi, Omo oko, Oninu re, Oniwa pele, Oniwa tutu, Ologbon, Olododo, Alaanu,” and added, “I’m proud of you.” I’m very proud of ‘Deputy Olule’, too.
The law professor wasn’t only roundly beaten, the senior pastor stands the risk of his name going down in the book of political oblivion for committing the commonest ‘sin’ in Nigerian politics – challenging a godfather, and being politically naive not to throw in the towel when a dirge was being sung for the failed ‘palace coup’.
And every man is the architect of his own fortune. During my undergraduate days in the late 1980s, I returned home from school one day and quickly headed to a friend’s house nearby. Busola Akintunde is the name of my friend. He’s currently a lawyer based in Lagos.
Back in the day, the Akintundes’ three-bedroomed flat along the Old Ota Road, Orile Agege, Lagos State, was a rendezvous for boys in the hood to engage in mischievous things when Lanre’s hard-working parent, the late Alhaja Wosilat, a single mother, was away to work.
On that particular day at the Akintundes’ ever bubbly house, I met some friends who were yet to gain admission into tertiary schools. They began to talk in low tones as soon as I walked in, indicative that they were keeping a secret. I left the house soon afterwards and never inquired to know the secret. But I had a hunch the whispers were about the ongoing school certificate examination.
A few weeks later, the bubble burst and the dam broke. So, they came to my house to tell me what Messiah did. One of them, Laja, (not real name) narrated their ordeal: “A white-garment church prophet in Oko Oba area of Agege has swindled us, Tunde. The prophet, popularly called Messiah, promised us resounding success in our WAEC. He said we didn’t need to read, that we were going to see a hand, which would be invisible to others, writing correct answers on the chalkboard. He gave us white handkerchiefs to wipe our faces during the exams. He also gave us spiritual pens.
“He said if we didn’t see the invisible hand writing on the chalkboard because of our sins, angels would go and fetch our answer scripts from WAEC and write correct answers for us.”
The narrator, who is a multimillionaire today, scored ‘F9 parallel’ in the exam. ‘F9 parallel’ was a jocular term for undiluted failure when the student couldn’t record an ordinary pass, let alone a credit. Incidentally, however, all the victims of Messiah are today successful family men.
The fate that befell my friends was similar to the fate that befell the vice president, who waited in vain for Buhari to favourably deal his mighty hand in battle, and make the sun stand still at the Eagle Square, but night fell and darkness engulfed Osinbajo, his popcorn and ice cream while victory song broke out in Tinubu’s camp.
While serious students burnt the midnight oil, my friends didn’t. While Tinubu held his destiny in his hands and strategised, Osinbajo, the purported anointed candidate of Buhari, expected the President to announce him as consensus candidate. Even God helps those who help themselves.
For Osinbajo, the unending human traffic to his office would soon dwindle, calls to his ever-busy lines would reduce, and the charm that power imbues would fade off gradually like the moon disappearing behind the clouds on its way back to the East at dawn. Sadly, Osinbajo’s name, not his backers’, would be mentioned whenever a lesson in godfather-godson tussle is taught in Nigeria. It is what it is.
As the value of Osinbajo’s stocks depreciates in the dusk of Buhari’s administration, those of Tinubu would appreciate as the APC prepares for the 2023 general election. The lionet will take backstage for the lion to roar on centrestage.
Profiting from the power of insight and foresight, I wouldn’t contest the APC presidential ticket with Tinubu, if I were Osinbajo, for the simple reasons that he brought me from classroom to stateroom, from relative obscurity to stardom, from middle class to upper class.
During the build-up to the primary, Tinubu was called greedy, very well; but I’m yet to see any Nigerian politician whose bank deposit, after their tenure, remained the same it was when they assumed public office. There’s a Tinubu in every Nigerian politician. A certain Baptist politician who allegedly had less than N20,000 in his account before assuming power, retired into a life of opulence.
Osinbajo supporters vehemently pinned corruption on Tinubu, but the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. If someone’s been eating from Tinubu’s largesse in the past 23 years, and never complained about his excesses, you must be unhinged to suddenly wake up and accuse him of corruption because the biggest cake in the land is up for grabs, and you have a stake in it.
I believe Tinubu never helped those he ever helped for altruistic reasons, but for his own selfish political reasons. That’s not good. However, it’s also sickening for latter-day turncoats of Tinubu empire, who cheered while Jagaban dispensed positions and favours their way, to now cry foul when the Landlord of Lagos decides to spread his prebendal favours elsewhere.
Since the owner of bullion vans, Tinubu, who lives in Bourdillon, laid the issue of who nominated Osinbajo as vice president to rest, nobody has come forward to contradict him. I had wondered how anyone in their right senses would say Osinbajo was picked as vice president without the knowledge of Tinubu.
I also heard the argument that Osinbajo added value to Tinubu, and I agree. But Osinbajo wasn’t the best graduating law student in his undergraduate set, neither was he the professor with the highest ResearchGate score or citation in UNILAG before Tinubu handpicked him in 1999. When Tinubu nominated him above Yemi Cardoso and Wale Edun as vice president, it was for self-preservation, and not to come and topple the applecart.
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