Please explain using Ariana Grande as a specific example.
twilliamx: Hollywood eats it's own. A very evil and vile place filled with drug addicts, cannibals, pedophiles, satanists and all imaginable and unimaginable evil.
You are funny. There is nothing wrong with making the best of a bad situation.
Most of the other regions have thugs who have become terrible and are showing their people pepper. Where are you from? Be honest.
The Agberos/thugs are people that have been mostly neglected by the society, government and policies that didn’t take care of the grassroots, hence a bad situation across the entire country. The area boys in Lagos and especially the southwest have in a way been engaged and integrated through their nurtw Union in a manner that ensures that they do not become criminals and a menace to the society. Hence the threat of breakdown of law and order has been significantly reduced. If not this then it would have been mostly other atrocities.
This is why the individuals, mostly girls who posted their experiences on social media can relate and tell useful stories about how they got help and felt secured even at odd hours because of Agberos presence at places that would have been described as very dangerous. Same thing happens when there is an accident or any other security issue in any locality.
The Agberos are known and engaged and therefore protect their territories. They do not need to be criminals- at least not in their numbers. THAT IS WHAT IT TAKES TO BE FIRST RESPONDERS. Free and volunteered help in these cases shared via the social media posts screenshots. Not the most ideal or desired but it works for the society helping to create a balance while the government works out other interventions like free education, drug raids, vocational trainings to help self sufficiency and take more thugs off the streets.
Contrast that with Agberos/thugs in Onitsha who have been reported to show people hell and restricting movement from certain hours of the day once it gets slightly dark, or other regions where you have all sorts of bandits, insurgents, attacks, kidnappings, molestations, sit at home orders (with violence) and demands for ransoms that has not abated.
I hope you get the gist now. Nobody is eulogizing agero or thugs, we are just saying it is better to manage and engage the thugs meaningfully to prevent them from becoming a menace to the society or else…
Gilgil: And that's the megacity for you - Touts are first responders!
May all of you praising this terrible thing grow to be Agberos and let your children take upthe role as a generational business, can you say Amen?
The Lagos Agberos are the reason a lot of people can move around at odd hours and very late in Lagos. They are the first responders when there is any emergency usually like one of the posts said.
It will also shock a lot of people that those guys are as regimented almost like the military with order and respect across their rank and file in terms of sincerity and loyalty.
It appears motorcycle riders are another breed when it comes to violence. How is it that nobody was able to intervene but pictures and videos were of utmost importance to the witnesses.
Their reportage is different from your interpretation of compulsory 25% in Abuja.
NothingDoMe: And the capital? Tinubu got 25% in FCT?
I don't believe this crap is from the USA. Sounds more like Tinubu media write up. Even people who watched NTA knew that TInubu did not get 25% in FCT.
I suspect the advent of tv and news casting may have helped to reshape the world. People had to start pretending to be good and nice to avoid bad press.
I was awed throughout the project, how those folks kept records of all that was significant for their progenies....I really learnt big on wars, escapes, deportations, re-entry, religious intimidations, outbreak of diseases etc that happen through those centuries.
I came off with the knowledge that no matter how Britiain wants to look prim and proper today, their ancestors were baddos as them show present day US and Canada shege!
It was the first time I was seeing sitting Governor losing election to the Senate. Seven serving Governors who wanted to become Senators lost elections woefully. That couldn't have been possible without credible election; where a Personal Assistant was elected Senator in Edo State, an Okada rider defeating a popular musician in Lagos, where Asiwaju Tinubu was defeated in Lagos by the Labour Party candidate, how much of credibility do you want to see? I think the two major candidates, Atiku and Obi are bad losers. They need to wake up and take a patriotic position by congratulating the winner in the spirit of sportsmanship. We need to stabilise the polity for the new President-elect to be able to deliver his promises. As per the tribunal, there is nothing that will come out of it, because the President-elect got votes across the country, to enjoy enough spread. It will help enrich our legal jurisprudence, but it won't be the responsibility of the Judiciary to generate fresh votes when the people have spoken on the 25th February. We should never speak of another annulment after the unfortunate incident of 1993. The election has been won and lost.
But this the general norm with sentiments expressed by most tribes in Nigeria.
Same reason Yorubas don’t like Obasanjo much. Same reason Igbos don’t like Rochas much. Same reason Atiku doesn’t have cult followership in the North unlike Buhari etc.
Their people see them as sell-outs.
DMerciful: Obi will be president! The reason you like Soludo now is because the generality of Igbos don't like him. If Igbos rally round Soludo in the future, you'll look for a fault why he should not be president. We know una
A few years ago I saw first hand how those upper iweka along owerri road boys behave. I felt so sorry for the keke drivers who were being man-handled by some very young but fierce boys. The commuters (mostly females) were visibly scared and scurried to board the kekes while clinging to their goods and purses with concern. It was a sorry sight tbh.
That changed my perception a bit about the area boys in Lagos who are gentlemen by Onitsha standards.
When I see people complaining about Lagos Agbero, I just wonder if they've been to Onisha. Those guys will harass passengers. You'd pay for buying goods and they will collect from the drivers as well.
Guess what, if the state governments in the North had done something similar to this for their teeming population of jobless youths, maybe banditry would have been prevented. Who knows maybe even boko haram would have been prevented.
There are socially neglected people everywhere due to policy and implementation failures, however, the government must find a way to engage them meaningfully or else…
MasterTeeUSA: I was speaking to someone about this issue of Agberos, and I told the person...Governance is like whac-a-mole. If you solve one problem, another rises. That is why I was praying GRV does not win because he would have turned Lagos into chaos...even those in Lekki would not be able to stay clear of major issues.
If you eliminate Agberos, what will you do with thousands of guys? Retrain then...some of them are drug addicts and drunkards...there is a reason they are doing agberos and I doubt they can do any formal education. What about artisan work? Have you seen some of these guys..you think they will learn plumbing or agriculture and wait for harvest and yields or for someone to call them for work before they can eat?
Lock them up in Jail...how many prisons will you build, how many staff, cost of feeding them and getting all of them through the court systems would be a major disaster.
So should we just accept this norm...NO
1. You normalize them like Lagos agreed to do...Lagos should print the tickets
2. Allow these guys to sell them - maybe 500 tickets @ N1000 = N50,000; Private vehicles can pay N100 per day...that is N2k - N3k per month and it will be used to pay for people to maintain roads, clean gutters, and so on.
3. Pay them daily - like N5000 (N100,000 weekdays) which is 10% of the total take in and their Ogas will take N2500 (5%) per person
4. Create a hierarchy of leadership - One oga will have like 10 guys under in covering major areas...so Oga will cash in N500,000 monthly
5. This process for this Team will generate N42,500 per person (85%) which is N8.5million monthly (Salary N1.5m from Revenue intake of N10m monthly) for one area...Lagos can easily have 500 of these areas raking in N5billion and N60 billion annually. Anambra, Onitsha can do the same and the money will be channels to fix roads, drainages and revamp the markets.
6. Give or take the Govt can play with the figures and bring in 70-75% and increase the payment for Oga or boys or Ticket sale
7. You can also sell Morning, Afternoon, and Evening and use different sets of boys so you generate 3 times the revenue, multiply the employment by 3 and use 2 sets of Ogas or Same...
8. They will have distinct wears that they pick up at the Oga in the morning, afternoon or evening and they can switch them so it will be difficult for copycats to make them or have companies that will supply them these wears with random colors weekly.
9. These will eliminate the fake agberos and also provide employment chain for the uniform or vest suppliers...they will also take care of the dry cleaning needs.
10. Youths need employment..money must flow...you need to cater to different types of people. Eliminating them is not the answer.
This was the height of it all tbh. It was unbelievable.
Epistasis: Obidients can do anything, just anything. I would not have believed this, but for the way they dragged RCCG and Baba Adeboye online because he didn't endorse their candidate......
Some Lawyers can be understandably funny based on technicalities.
Tomorrow when the Supreme Court determines that it is disingenuous to ascribe to Abuja a bigger than the rest status in determining who wins a presidential election, the losing side will feign an artificial surprise.
How can you even assume or suggest that Abuja be counted separately from the 36 states, which gives it (Abuja) a weighted score 50%, while the remainder 36 states share the other 50%?
AAEEI: Continued THE DEFINITION OF THE FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY, ABUJA
The Federal Capital Territory is defined in Part II of the First Schedule to the Constitution. The definition is in relation to Sections 3 (Chapter I) and 297 (Chapter VIII) of the Constitution. Section 299 of the 1999 Constitution which is in Chapter VIII, flows directly from the provisions of Section 297 of the Constitution. Section 299 of the Constitution states that “the provisions of this Constitution shall apply to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja as if it were one of the States of the Federation.” Part 11 of the Constitution also defines the FCT as a land area of its own, separate and distract from the land mass of any other State.
Consequently, the 1999 Constitution has introduced a new dimension different from the 1979 Constitution, by adding a further requirement of 25% in “and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.”
In BABA-PANYA V. PRESIDENT, FRN (2018) 15 NWLR (Pt 1643), 423), it was held that the FCT is to be treated like a State and that it is not superior or inferior to any State in the Federation. The facts of this case are that the Appellant had filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, asking the court to determine whether by the combined provisions of Section 147(1), (3),(14) and 299 of the 1999 Constitution, the indigenes of the FCT, Abuja, are entitled to Ministerial appointment and whether the continued refusal or failure by previous and current Presidents to so appoint an indigene of FCT, Abuja, as Minister of the Federation was tantamount to a flagrant violation of the Constitution. The court held that:
“By the combined effect of the provisions of Sections 299, 147(1) and (3) and 14(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, it is obligatory or mandatory for the president of Nigeria to appoint at least one Minister from the indigenes of FCT, Abuja as a Minister to represent them in the Federal Executive Cabinet of the Federation. Failure to appoint any Minister from amongst the indigenes of FCT, Abuja, is a fragrant violation of the Constitution. The provisions are aimed at ensuring equal and fair participation of all States in the recognition of the diversity of the people of this country and the need to forge national unity, promote a sense of belonging among all the peoples in the Federation. …”
The gravamen of this judgment is simply that whatever is applicable to States in the Federation shall equally be applied to the FCT. If the Constitution therefore requires votes cast in at least two-thirds States in the Federation “and the FCT, Abuja,” it is compulsory that every candidate must meet that requirement of “and the FCT, Abuja,” before he is declared the winner. Tinubu did not. It was therefore unconstitutional and illegal for him to have been declared President-elect and presented with a Certificate of Return by INEC.
THE STATUS OF THE FCT IN THE CONSTITUTION
Flowing from the above, let us now examine section 299 of the 1999 Constitution.
In BAKARI V. OGUNDIPE (2021) 5 NWLR (Pt. 1768) 1, the apex court of the land held: “By virtue of section 299(a), (b), of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the provisions of the Constitution shall apply to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, as if it were one of the States of the Federation; and accordingly all the Legislative powers, the executive powers and the judicial powers vested in the House of Assembly, the Governor of a State and in the courts of a State shall respectively, vest in the National Assembly, the President of the Federation and in the courts which by virtue of the provisions are courts established for the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; all the powers referred to in paragraph of the section shall be exercised in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution; and the provisions of the Constitution pertaining to the matters aforesaid shall be read with such modifications and adaptations as may be reasonably necessary to bring them into conformity with the provisions of the section. By virtue of the provisions of section 299 of the Constitution, it is so clear that Abuja, the Federal Capital of Nigeria, has the status of a State. It is as if it is one of the States of the Federation.” (Pp. 36-37, paras. E-A). See also, with approval, the following authorities; NEPA vs. ENDEGERO (2002) LPELR-1957(SC). BABA-PANYA vs. PRESIDENT, FRN (2018) 15 NWLR (pt. 1643)395; (2018) LPELR-44573(CA), IBORI V. OGBORU (2005) 6 NWLR (Pt. 920) 102.
There is no ruckus or brouhaha with the clear position of the courts as stated above. This is because the Constitution is clear on the separate and distinct status of the FCT. It is treated as any other State in Nigeria.
Consequently, a community reading of sections 2(2), 3(1)(4), 297, 299, 301 and 302, shows that the contemplation of the draftsman was indeed to consider FCT as separate and distinct from any other State in the Federation. It must be borne in mind that, "Judex est lex loquens", (i.e, the Judge is the speaking law". In other words, the law is what the courts say it is, and “nothing more pretentious” – Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. We must note that, the primary responsibility of the Judiciary is "jus decere"; and not "jus devere" (to interpret laws and not to make laws). We are constrained, at this juncture, not to dabble into some jurisprudential schools of thoughts.
CANONS OF INTERPRETATION VIS-A-VIS THE 25% CONUNDRUM
Let us now examine some canons of interpretation as they pertain to this analysis.
The primary canon of interpretation of the Constitution is the “literal rule” as held by the apex court in A.G, ABIA STATE V. A.G FEDERATION (2022) 16 NWLR (PT. 1856) 205. SEE ALSO N.P.A PLC V. LOTUS PLASTIC LTD. (2005) 19 NWLR (PT. 959)158; GANA V. S.D.P (2019) 11 NWLR (PT. 1684) 510; A.G, LAGOS STATE V. A.G, ABIA STATE V. A-G FED. (2018) 17 NWLR (PT. 1648) 299 AT 412; MARWA & ORS V. NYAKO & ORS (2012) LPELR-7837(SC).
Accordingly, where words are clear and unambiguous, the court must so interpret them without any further ado; or going outside them. In KASSIM V. SADIKU (2021) 18 NWLR (pt. 1807) 123, the Supreme Court held that:
"where a statute of the Constitution or a subsidiary legislation,…prescribes a procedure for seeking remedy or the doing if anything or act, and the language used is clear and unambiguous, that is the only procedure open to the parties concerned, and any departure therefrom will be an exercise in futility. See also INAKOJU V. ADELEKE (2007) 4 NWLR (PT. 1025) 427; S.B.N LTD V. AJILO (1989) 1 NWLR (pt. 97) 305.
A court is not to go on a voyage of discovery when words are clear in Statute. See ARAKA V. EGBUE (2003) 17 NWLR (PT. 848)1; ABACHA V. FRN (2014) 6 NWLR (PT. 1402) 43; KRAUS THOMPSON ORGANIZATION V. N.I.P.S.S (2004) 17 NWLR (pt. 901) 44.
It is thus trite law that where a provision of a statute is clear and unambiguous, only its natural meaning, and not any other, is to be given to its interpretation. See A-G., ABIA STATE V. A-G., FEDERATION (2002) 17 WRN 1; (2002) 6 NWLR (PT. 763) 264 AT 485 – 486, TEXACO PANAMA INC. V. SHELL P.D.C.N. LTD. (2002) 14 WRN 121; (2002) 5 NWLR (PT. 759) 209 AT 227 – 228, TASHA V. U.B.N. PLC. (2003) 36 WRN 64; (2002) 3 NWLR (PT. 753) PAGE 99 AT 106, O.A.U. ILE-IFE V. R. A. OLIYIDE AND SONS LTD. (2001) 7 NWLR (PT. 712) PAGE 456 AT 473, AKPAN V. UMALI (2002) 23 WRN 52; (2002) 7 NWLR (Pt.767).
It is only where the literal interpretation of a section is impossible without doing violence to the law that the court should start engaging other rules of interpretation. There is none here.
Happily, the word "AND" and "EACH" have enjoyed judicial pronouncements with great erudition. In BUHARI V. INEC (2008) 19 NWLR (PT.1120) 246, the Supreme Court held, per Tobi JSC,:
“The final word I should examine briefly is the conjunction “and” joining the larger part of the Subsection with the smaller part of “that the non-compliance did not affect substantially the result of the election.” The word “and”, being a conjunction, performing the function of joining two expressions or sentences which could be inseparable, integrated, joint or matched…” See Ndoma-Egba v. Chukwuogor (2004) 2 S.C. (Pt. I) 107; (2004) 6 NWLR (Pt. 869) 382.”
On the word, "EACH", on the other hand, the Supreme Court in EYISI & ORS v. STATE (2000) LPELR-1186(SC), held:
"each" means being one of two or more distinct individuals; each one. See Black's Law Dictionary (sixth Edition) where "each" is defined as "a distributive adjective pronoun, which denotes or refers to every one of the persons or things mentioned; every one or two or more persons or things, composing the whole, separately considered”. Per SYLVESTER UMARU ONU, JSC (Pp 15 - 15).
The “Mischief Rule” is only employed where the old law did not provide for a matter and an interpretation is to cure or remedy that mischief. See UGWU V. ARARUME (2007) 12 NWLR (PT. 1048) 365; WILSON V. A.G. BENDEL STATE (1985) 1 NWLR (PT. 4) 572; GLOBAL EXCELLENCE COMMUNICATIONS LTD. V. DUKE (2007) 16 NWLR (PT. 1059) 22, 47-48; AGBAJE V. FASHOLA (SUPRA) @ 1338 C-E; A.G. LAGOS STATE V. A.G. FEDERATION (2003) 12 NWLR (Pt. 833) 1.
The argument of those who have misconstrued section 134(2)(b) of the Constitution is to the effect that the use of the word “ALL” in the first limb of the said provision treats the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, as one of the component states of the Federation. The proponents of the view erroneously believe that since the FCT is treated as a State of the Federation, it means there is no additional requirement to meet the 25% constitutional requirement therein. They surprisingly find solace in several decisions of the apex court where the FCT was treated and referred to as a State of the Federation, including OKOYODE V. FCDA (2005) LPELR-41123(CA) (PP. 7-13 PARAS. A-A). With due respect, these cases actually firm up the FCT, Abuja, as a separate state that must be accorded every respect and status accorded the other 36 states.
Thus, section 134(2)(b) of the Constitution after generally stating all the States of the Federation where the 25% requirement is a sine qua non for a presidential candidate to be deemed duly elected, rather than exclude the FCT, Abuja, as one of the States of the Federation where the 25% is a requirement for a presidential candidate, went further to specifically use the word “and”, to include the FCT as one of the States of the Federation where the 25% constitutional requirement is a sine qua non. It is settled law that the use of the word “and” is conjunctive in interpretation of Statutes. The implication is that after meeting the 25% requirements in 2/3 of the States of the Federation, the candidate must go further to meet the said 25% requirement in the FCT, Abuja, before he can be deemed duly elected.
GENERAL AND SPECIFIC PROVISIONS OF A STATUTE
Assuming, but not conceding, that the use of the word “ALL” encompasses the FCT, Abuja, as one of the component States of the Federation, it becomes an issue of whether a general provision of a statute can override a specific provision in the statute. The specific mention of the FCT, Abuja, overrides the general mention of all the other States of the Federation in the said provision. SEKANDE & ORS V. ARUBIELU & ORS (2013) LPELR-22801(CA) (PP. 22 PARAS. E), it was held thus:
"The law is that where specific provisions of a statute are subsequent to general provisions, the specific provisions will prevail. See AKPAN VS. STATE (1986) 3 NWLR part 27 p.225." Per DANIEL-KALIO, J.C.A.
In BUHARI V. OBASANJO (2003) All N.L.R. 168, the apex Court, without, directly deciding on the issue of “And” used in section 134, held thus:
"This provision appears clear to me. Where a candidate wins the highest number of votes cast in at least two thirds of the 36 States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, he is deemed to be elected ..., I do not appreciate any ambiguity in the provision and even if there was one, this Court is bound to adopt a construction which is just, reasonable and sensible. (See Maxwell on the Interpretation of Statutes, 12th Edition, Chapter 10)."
Thus, their Lordships merely made general statement on the section which has been an enigma. They recognised that a candidate must score 25% votes in 24 states in Nigeria; “and the FCT, Abuja”.
It is to be noted that the 36 states can be collectively called “states” without mentioning their individual names, just like section 134 did. This is because in all respects, they share the same characteristics of being states. However, the FCT, Abuja, differs in character, form and content, from the 36 states. That is why it is specifically mentioned by name.
CONCLUSION
Section 299 of the CFRN states that the provisions of this Constitution shall apply to the FCT, Abuja, “AS IF IT WERE ONE OF THE STATES OF THE FEDERATION”. The careful and indeed, unambiguous, wording of this section suggests that the FCT is NOT a State, but should rather be treated as if it were one. Thus, in seeking 25% in 2/3 of ALL THE STATES of the Federation AND the FCT, the Constitution clearly distinguished the FCT as a separate entity or a special territory, wherein the Presidential candidate need obtain at least 25% of the total votes cast in the election.
The reason for this is not far-fetched, as Abuja is the melting pot which unites all ethnic groups, tribes, religions, backgrounds, and other distinct qualities and characteristics in our plural society. It is indeed a conglomerate of the different and distinct peoples in Nigeria, which according to Prof Onigu Otite, has about 474 ethnic groups; that speak over 350 languages. Abuja is regarded as the “Centre of Unity”, which is testament to its inclusiveness of all tribes, religions, backgrounds and ethnicity. Simply put, Abuja is a territory or land mass made up of individuals from every State and virtually from all Local Government Areas in the country. It is itself made up of 6 Area Councils distinct from the 768 LGCs in Nigeria, thus bringing the total to 774 LGCs in Nigeria. Therefore, scoring 25% of votes cast in the FCT is a Presidential candidate’s testament to being widely accepted by majority of the Nigerian people.
The framers of the Constitution certainly desired for Nigeria, a President that is widely accepted with a national spread and not one that has only the support of his tribe or region. Hence they provided in the Constitution the sections relating to the election of the President because of our peculiarities as a multi-diverse, multi-facetted nation. The provisions contained in Section 134 of the Constitution are meant to reflect this. In the same light, the framers of the Constitution viewed the FCT as a melting pot, a sort of mini-Nigeria. Thus, like a commentator posited, the position or status of the FCT assumes that of a COMPULSORY question that a presidential candidate must answer in the electoral examination.
Whilst it is true that a literal reading of section 299 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic shows that the Federal Capital Territory is not a State, but from the words, “as if it were one”, contained in the provision, section 229 actually indeed grants the FCT benefits accruing to states in Nigeria and ensures its treatment as such with respect to legislative, judicial and executive powers. Section 299 does not for the purpose of section 134 confer on the FCT the status of a subordinate of a State. The provision – like most in the Constitution – displays the Federal Capital Territory as distinct from any other state; and as such requires a Presidential candidate to not only attain 25% (a quarter) of the votes in two-third of the 36 states in Nigeria but also attain 25% (a quarter) of the votes in the FCT in order to be duly elected as such.
To me, the only logical conclusion is that sections 134 and 299 are not mutually exclusive or contradictory. Rather, section 299 actually supports and complements section 134. To show this distinctiveness, FCT has never conducted any elections, either for Gubernatorial candidates, or for State Houses of Assembly Members as done by States. Rather, in accordance with section 301 of the Constitution, the FCT is governed by the President with an appointed Minister as his proxy in the form of Minister of the FCT. Likewise, the FCT does not have its own State House of Assembly, but rather legislates through the National Assembly. This therefore speaks to its distinct status, which is not affected by section 299.
Whether Abuja is regarded as a full State, pseudo-State, quasi-State, or semi-State, is immaterial. Even if it is none of these, what matters is the intention of the Constitution-makers. If, in their wisdom, they decided to reckon with the votes cast in even a single LGA in Nigeria, along with votes cast in the 36 States recognized under the 1999 Constitution, for the purpose of deciding the winner of a Presidential election, then the 6 Area Councils in the FCT cannot be treated lesser or ignored..
Once that intention can be deduced from the plain, simple and ordinary grammatical meaning of the WORDS USED then, as in the present scenario, then they have to be followed. See EZE v. UNIJOS (2021) 2 NWLR Pt. 1760 pg. 208 SC; KASSIM v. ADESEMOWO (2021) 18 NWLR Pt. 1807 pg. 67 SC; N.U.P v. INEC (2021) 17 NWLR Pt. 1805 pg. 305 SC; A.P.C v. E. S. I. E (2021) 16 NWLR Pt 180 pg. 1 SC and AGUMA v. A. P. C (2021) 14 NWLR Pt. 1796 pg. 351, S.C.
There can be no room to resort to other aids of interpretation which only become necessary and resorted to in the event of ambiguity in the words used in the Statutes. I respectfully submit that none exists in the provisions of section 134(2)(b). Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu having not met the 25% votes threshold in the FCT, Abuja, was definitely not qualified to have been declared President-elect by INEC.
Thus, INEC ought not to have declared Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 Presidential election. Doing so Nicodemously, especially as it did in the wee hours of the morning of 1st March, 2023, when innocent Nigerians were fast asleep, puts a bigger question mark on the integrity and credibility of the said declaration. Presenting Tinubu with a Certificate of Return, was, I humbly submit, odious and putrid. Tinubu therefore carries with him and on his neck, a very heavy moral burden in the form of an albatross.
Governing a country of 219.7 million people (as at 3rd March, 2023), goes well beyond mere legal calisthenics. It borders more on the process’ credibility, acceptability, legitimacy and the high moral grounds of the candidate. The current eerie, and mournful mood in Nigeria, without any form of celebration or jubilation, represents nothing but peace of the graveyard. It is ominous and foreboding. It requires no violent street protests, demonstrations, barricades, rallies, pamphleteering or leafleteering. It is a loud silence. I so humbly submit.
Has anyone considered that rotational presidency to the south would not have gained a resounding momentum this time around if Buhari had not done a second term.
Only Tinubu without much support from even his own base seemed to believe in what he was doing during 2019 elections, not that it made much sense at the time. Just a thought…
JaskanFactor: United Nations is complaining about the Indian Scamming capital of the world in KolKata India
Where they are pretending to be from google, amazon Microsoft etc calling people in Europe and America trying to scam them
it is now an international problem , since this scammers have access to customer data since many Indians work in this high tech companies able to pass them information
And its the same problem for the stock exchange as many Indian do insider trading, reporting secret company financial data to stock brokers.
It’s sad to see how Governor Peter Obi of Anambra has made himself a bewildering figure. That a man whose political stock was once solid would so abjectly fail to rise to people’s expectations is – there’s no other way to put it – a matter of profound tragedy.
Mr. Obi rose to the nation’s admiration when he rejected all entreaties to forego the gubernatorial mandate that the people of Anambra had given him in 2003, and which the PDP and its candidate, Chris Ngige, had usurped. Spurning misguided pleas to “leave everything to God,” he sought the reclamation of his mandate with a stubbornness that was refreshing to encounter in a Nigerian politician. In the end, he (and the people of Anambra) secured victory. His profile rose even further when he persuaded the Supreme Court to dismiss Andy Uba, a former presidential aide, from Government House, Awka. Mr. Uba, thanks to Obasanjo and Maurice Iwu, had been enthroned as Anambra governor.
Given his history, Mr. Obi’s political currency ought to lie in how jealously he guards his reputation as an espouser and defender of electoral integrity. Instead, with former Information Minister Dora Akunyili as his accomplice, Governor Obi has all but wasted this particular currency. And he has squandered this resource, paradoxically, in pursuit of power by all means. This particular obsession has magnified the governor’s shockingly small-minded statecraft.
For a man who has been a victim of electoral fraud, Mr. Obi’s conduct in the April 9 National Assembly elections is, quite simply, appalling.
1. (Campaign) - Steep fees, Alienation, Treachery Let’s begin with the campaigns. Mr. Obi and his team of handpicked candidates had entered the campaigns on a huge deficit. The governor’s political crisis was self-inflicted.
First, the governor’s party, the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), had alienated party faithful by handing its tickets to elements that had just landed – expediently – from the PDP planet. As I wrote here a few weeks ago, Mr. Obi (along with APGA’s chairman, Mr. Victor Umeh) betrayed Anambra when he invited Chuma Nzeribe, an unpalatable political figure, to take one of the party’s senatorial tickets.[/b] Mr. Nzeribe was a prominent – and to this day unapologetic – member of the cabal that was empowered by former President Obasanjo to turn Anambra into what I once called a theater of absurdity.
It was bad enough that APGA fielded the likes of Nzeribe. That treachery was then compounded by the fact that, before choosing the PDP turncoats, the party had collected steep fees from longtime party members interested in the various elective posts. Is it not repellent conduct to collect fees from would-be candidates when the party’s plan was to embrace an all-PDP slate?
2. (Religion) - Catholics, Strikes, Minimum wage What’s more, Mr. Obi’s political capital in the state had become terribly meager. In the state’s governorship election of February 2010, many Catholic priests had made the deplorable blunder of proclaiming from the pulpit that Mr. Obi was the beloved political son both of God and the Pope. But soon after the election was concluded, many of Mr. Obi’s ecclesiastical supporters began to regret ever championing him. They suddenly beheld a man who is in the main self-absorbed, with scant concern for the well being of the governed. As I write, medical doctors as well as judiciary workers in the state have been on strike for several weeks. Yet, a governor who was sold to voters as commissioned by God and the pope has not deigned to enter into serious negotiations in order to resolve issues. Does the governor derive perverse pleasure from watching patients go through agonizing pain and even death because he’s too preoccupied to talk with striking doctors? How about the fact that he’s treated with disdain the state workers’ demand for the implementation of minimum wage standards?[/b]
If his nonchalance towards striking workers is ghastly, the way he conducted the campaigns for his legislative candidates was unbecoming of a man and governor. In fact, I was so ashamed of the governor’s reported utterances that I made efforts to ring him up and tell him that he ought to know better.
3. (Insultive) - Short Ngige Several witnesses told me how, at campaign stumps with Mrs. Akunyili, Governor Obi told his audience not to vote for Mr. Ngige because the man is too short. It beggars belief that a governor, any governor, would see fit to make his opponent’s height a campaign issue. Such an untoward focus on somebody’s physique is utterly immature and speaks to a bankruptcy of ideas. Does it mean that Mr. Obi believes a person’s height to correlate to ability? Does he consider himself more intelligent, more capable or morally astute than everybody who’s shorter than he? For that matter, does he believe himself to be inferior to all taller people? For if height is a criterion of stellar leadership, then we must wonder how Mr. Obi became a governor. Alas, Anambra boasts many, many men and women who are taller than he is.
4. (Tribalistic Campaign) - Awolowo, Tinubu, Azikwe, Ojukwu Then he permitted campaign posters to be circulated in which the image of Mr. Ngige, a medical doctor and candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), was aligned with those of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and former Governor Bola Tinubu. By contrast, the governor’s candidates were lined up with the late Owelle Nnamdi Azikiwe and Ikemba Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. The sordid idea was to portray Ngige as belonging to a “Yoruba team.”
It is similarly appalling that a governor who reportedly has ambitions for higher political office could not restrain himself from disparaging Mr. Ngige as a Yoruba candidate. Even if we accepted the silly argument that the ACN was a Yoruba party – so what? Is the governor allergic to forging political alliances with the Yoruba? Is he not aware that such appeals to base, ethnic sentiments would return to haunt him if he ever seeks to be a political player at the national level? At any rate, was Mr. Obi not chastened by the fact that the ACN is sweeping the southwest and making inroads elsewhere in the nation, while he and his cohorts have left APGA bereft of electoral prospects anywhere? If any proof is needed, it suffices to see how Andy Uba trounced Obi’s man, Chuma Nzeribe.
5. Cheap Blackmail Campaigning for Mrs. Akunyili, Governor Obi often reached for cheap blackmail. He threatened to deny, or pull projects as political appointments from communities that failed to vote for his candidates. In making these threats, he forgot that the people hired him for the job – and that he serves at their pleasure.
Apparently, the people of Anambra were determined to take the risk. Most of the governor’s candidates were thrashed. Many people in Anambra are certain that Mrs. Akunyili, the candidate most after the governor’s heart, was also decisively defeated. The haste with which she’s seeking a re-run of the senatorial race with Mr. Ngige suggests that she knows, deep down, that she was roundly beaten on April 9. It would amount to a monumental injustice to the voters of Anambra to revisit an election that became competitive only after the shameless manipulation that took place in Anaocha Local Government Area. The APGA team should not be rewarded with an undeserved re-run. INEC chairman Attahiru Jega should insist that the investigative panel he set up deploy forensic technology to probe the votes in Anaocha. I believe such a test would unmask a narrative of stuffed ballots.
It’s odd and disturbing that Chukwuemeka Onukaogu, the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Anambra, would appoint Charles Esinone, a professor of pharmacy, as the new returning officer for the Anambra Central senatorial zone. The fact that Mr. Esinone and Mrs. Akunyili were colleagues in the same department at the University of Nigeria casts serious doubt about the returning officer’s impartiality.
Mr. Obi’s less than inspiring performance as a governor is, ultimately, responsible for his candidates’ electoral misfortunes. Rededicating himself to the service of the people of Anambra – rather than gubernatorial threats to his employers and obtuse politicking – is the only way to rebuild his tarnished political career.
The person who was shot was described as a thug who went to disrupt the elections in Okota.
The spare parts market may or may not have been torched by thugs as have been alleged. This is where the police is needed to help unravel the cause of the incident. All available data or information should be compiled and used to pursue a legal inquiry and redress.
I say this because I have seen some attempts at sensational reporting geared towards inciting violence. Rather suspiciously, there were a few fires in different regions around the elections period.
Your second video (which I had seen earlier) did not show grave bodily harm to the victims recorded. Mostly because back and side views were captured instead of the front or actual parts where there may be the blood and injuries.
This is why I challenged the Rwanda analogy as being sensational.
Nonetheless, it is advisable that those planning attacks whether Yoruba thugs or others who may be trying to incite violence should be reminded that when trouble is forced to start, it cannot be controlled to affect only your perceived enemies, not even by those that started it, hence their loved ones and interests may fall victim. The DSS should be proactive and start picking and cross examining people who are spoiling for post election violence. A few examples, and things will return to normal quickly.
Looks like you’re living in a bubble. Oga people were shot n Lagos . Not everybody is as peaceful minded as you. Were you not here when an Igbo spare parts market was burnt down ? And they shot the security .
Meanwhile the worst is yet to come. Your brothers are planning something .
Was anyone that you know killed? Or are you just imagining things and wishing for all you wrote to happen?
If you have evidence about any non-indigenes killed over the elections in Lagos, kindly share. If not, stop imagining and wishing for evil just for propaganda purposes please.
Strafudeen: They showed their true character, Christians among them pointed fellow Christians of other tribes to killers...like in Rwanda
Is Baba (Chief Bisi Akande) agile and a technocrat capable of efficiently administering tons of information, documents and scheduling seamlessly while under pressure?
johnmartus: Baba ewe as he fondly called Chief bisi Akande the first governor of osun state and a close ally of president elect chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Chief bisi Akande still the best governor of osun state and his achievements is second to none .
Oloye bisi Akande is a Nigerian politician, who was the governor of Osun State from 1999 to 2003, as a member of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) party, and was the first interim Chairman of the All Progressives Congress.
Politics / Re: Federal Gov’t Denies Bailing Peter Obi Out Of Detention In UK by 9gerian: 2:07am On Apr 14, 2023 
speaking
. In other words, the law is what the courts say it is, and “nothing more pretentious” – Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. We must note that, the primary responsibility of the Judiciary is "jus decere"; and not "jus devere" (to interpret laws and not to make laws). We are constrained, at this juncture, not to dabble into some jurisprudential schools of thoughts.