₦airaland Forum

SPECIAL REPORT BY DR DELE SOBOWALE

‘In all fairness to Tinubu, several of the promises were not meant to be fulfilled in the first year. They remain work-in-process.

Nigerians can only hope that the pledges will eventually be redeemed. Despite that caveat, it is clear that those scheduled for the first year have suffered the fate of politicians’ promises from time immemorial.

‘To crown it all, Nigeria, by the end of this year will decline from the largest economy in Africa to number four’.

“Tinubu wants to build a Nigeria that is confident and competitive on the global stage. Because of this, we can no longer afford certain ways of doing things. We must push past the false comfort of certain ingrained habits and practices, and endure inevitable but temporary discomfort because we are certain that ahead of us lies lasting reward.”

Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation. May 8, 2024.

Mohammed Idris, in an article titled: “Tinubu first anniversary: Propelling Nigeria towards renewal”, presented a truthful summary of the first anniversary of the administration which would have been difficult to beat if it was written by Tinubu’s worst political enemies. Published in all the major newspapers, as well as, online media, it was erudite, logical, good reading and self-damning for the Federal Government. In the entire 13 paragraphs of the article, only four figures were dropped – “we have seen investment commitments over $300bn, across various sectors” and “disbursement has since commenced of the nano-grants of N50,000 each for one million Nigerians, part of a larger N200bn MSME’s credit programme.”

Since readers were not told what these figures mean in terms of the promises made under the RENEWED HOPE agenda, readers have been left to figure out the implications themselves. Here is one interpretation of what the Minister said – in light of facts available to those diligent enough to search for economic and financial data.

Most often, “commitments” are nothing more than Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, which Nigerian leaders have announced as firm commitments. The recent embarrassment with the $600 million MAERSK proposed investment in Nigerian ports development, should serve as a warning that government pronouncements about secured Foreign Direct Investment are not always reliable.

Nigerians will believe there are $300 billion in investment commitments when the funds arrive here. And, nobody knows how long that would take. Certainly, it will not all come into the country in 2024 and even 2025. A lot of the pledges might never be redeemed. Eight years of Buhari administration and several trips abroad, followed by announcements of investments secured ended with very little to show for the effort.

Touting the N50,000 nano-grants which the FG has started to pay to one million, out of 133 million poor in Nigeria, could not have come at a worse time for the government. The World Bank in a recent report declared Buhari’s efforts in that regard as a waste – which failed to achieve its stated objectives of alleviating poverty stimulating consumption and increasing aggregate employment. Nothing suggests that Tinubu will succeed where Buhari failed. The same woolly-headed economics still underlies the initiative. In a world in which earning less than $2 per day is regarded as living in poverty, N50,000 amounts to $1.2 for one person; and $0.30 for a family of four. Self-deception has never been so elegantly proclaimed by a minister of government.

The rest of the article was a mere repetition of promises for the future – without a single achievement being mentioned. Nothing was said about the hastily improvised palliatives programme, the Portharcourt and Dangote refineries which were supposed to have started pumping out fuel, the gas-operated buses which would crash road transport fares and the housing units which would have doubled available housing. That is understandable. Like most politicians’ promises, they were never really intended to be fulfilled.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE RENEWED HOPE AGENDA?

“Every country has the government it deserves.” Joseph de Maistre, 1753-1821.
VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ p 80.

And, the people should be ready to suffer the consequences of having the government – especially if it is elected. It is too late in the day to waste time on who won the 2023. Power belongs to the people; not even the Supreme Court. We have a government elected by us. The repercussions are now manifesting.

But, long before the elections, there was a document titled RENEWED HOPE in which candidate Bola Tinubu laid out hundreds of promises; telling us what he would do as President. It is one year this month. Below are a few reminders of what Fellow Nigerians were supposed to expect.

SECURITY: peaceful communities, secure borders, safe forests (p 9); reposition Police, no more VIP assignments (p 10).

ECONOMY: our cities and towns will witness a level of industrial activity unprecedented in our nation’s history (p 12); 10% GDP growth rate based on 2021 World Bank data; 2024 GDP — $586.7bn.; National Infrastructure Campaign, the government can hire millions of unemployed Nigerians to modernise infrastructure (p14), import substitution (p16), fight corruption and inefficiency, Exchange Rate Management: Our economic policies shall be guided by our desire for a stronger, more stable Naira founded upon a vibrant and productive real economy (p19), Inflation Targeting and Management: To impose the usual anti-inflation medicine of higher interest rates and tighter money-supply will only weaken the patient (p20); Foreign Debt Obligations: Our policy will be such that new foreign currency debt obligations will be linked to projects that generate cash flows from which the debt can be repaid (p21).

INDUSTRIAL POLICY: Our government will make it a priority to encourage industries vital to national development. This means growing our industrial base to provide jobs to an expanding urban population (p22).

AGRICULTURE: Only 35% of arable land in Nigeria is presently cultivated. Our target shall be to increase this number to 65% in four years;
COMMODITY BOARDS: We shall introduce commodity boards to establish minimum prices for strategic crops (p26); we will develop a plan to open heretofore uncultivated land to both small and large scale farming and vertically integrated agri-business (p28).
POWER: Eliminate Estimated Billing, we will end this unpopular and harmful practice and ensure that all electricity bills are meter-based (p30).
OIL AND GAS: Ensure Stability of Petroleum Products Supply (p37).

EDUCATION: ensure the abundance of qualified capable educators; prioritise the use of computers (p41); introduce new accreditation standards; establish curriculum committee; improve teacher training (p42); reform Technical and Vocational (p43) ; introduce students loan and Special education loan Fund (p44)

HEALTH: invest greatly in health care; introduce universal health care (p45); healthcare will target poor and marginalised communities (p46); deliberate policy to retain skilled manpower, introduce incentives (p47); improve our public health response to health emergencies (p48).
We will also explore how Nigeria can take greater advantage of relatively recent innovations such as blockchain technology. Blockchain, because of its security and accountability features, has the inherent potential to make daily interactions easier, faster and more convenient (p50).

SPORT, ENTERTINMENT AND CULTURE: Build a modern Media City modelled on the Dubai Media City; introduce hospitality training programme (p55).
The return of schools sports and grassroots sports will be made the cornerstone of our sports development policy; create Athletes’ Welfare Fund (p56).
YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Tinubu administration shall aim to cut youth unemployment in half within four years (p57).
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT: Commercial banks will be encouraged to support women owned businesses nationwide through the use of concessionary loans and incentives (p60).
OUT OF SCHOOL CHILDREN: Raise to the highest priority the growing problem of out of school children throughout the country….This will also reduce the numbers of disaffected youth who might fall prey to recruitment by terrorist and violent groups (p63).
FEDERALISM AND DECENTRALISATION OF POWER: A Tinubu administration will rebalance the responsibilities and authorities of the different tiers of government (p68).
RESOURCE ALLOCATION: Embark on a review of the federation revenue allocation to recalibrate the division of funds among the three tiers of government (p69).
FOREIGN POLICY: Enhance Nigeria’s political leadership on the continent by establishing a G-5 among major African nations to develop common positions on issues of continental and global importance (p72). COMMENTS In all fairness to Tinubu, several of the promises were not meant to be fulfilled in the first year. They remain work-in-process. Nigerians can only hope that the pledges will eventually be redeemed. Despite that caveat, it is clear that those scheduled for the first year have suffered the fate of politicians’ promises from time immemorial. There is no need to appraise all the promises seriatim. Readers can easily observe that among others, Tinubu vowed to impose the age-long remedy of high interest rates and tighter money supply policies in the fight against inflation in the RENEWED HOPE document.
Surprisingly, he was not prescient enough to have created a committee or task force to start working on how to manage inflation after being declared the winner of the 2023 election. Obviously, now, he established no Think Tank to study the economic debacle he would inherit, to anticipate the problems likely to be associated with fuel subsidy removal and to devise the policies and programmes to minimise the negative impacts of “fuel subsidy is gone”. From the first day in office, his government has been playing catch-up to events which have taken control of Nigeria.

Today, the government is not in control of the major indices of measuring social and economic welfare. CRUDE OIL production and export, for reasons unclear to Nigerians, have stayed below 1.5 million barrels per day since January.

Right now in May, it has dropped below 1.3mbpd – leaving a daily negative variance of about 400,000 bpd and so many millions of dollars in revenue. Despite the promise that external loans would be tied to self-liquidating projects, none of the debts incurred since January fulfilled that condition. Like Buhari, Tinubu is now borrowing to cover current expenditure obligations.

Consequently, 91 per cent of dollar revenue in the first quarter, Q1, went into debt repayment. Forget capital expenditure. From the information available, Q2 dollar revenue will be less than Q1. That likely decline in dollar revenue is the cardinal reason the CBN’s efforts aimed at crashing exchange rates had become a fleeting mirage.

Exchange rates are trending up again. After going down close to N1000/US$ in late March and early April, it was up to N1505/US$ on May 11. The immediate future is not promising. The government’s response, as can be determined rests on two loan packages: a $2.5 billion loan package from the World Bank and a domestic dollar-denominated bond issue. In other words, more loans will be taken.
Regarding the promises on employment and housing, even the least informed Nigerian knows that more houses and working places have been demolished between May last year and today than in the last four years put together. More people are now jobless and homeless than at any time in our history.

Manufacturers have either closed down or scaled down operations since May 29 last year. More global manufacturers are getting ready to leave any time soon,
Food scarcity is more acute; palliatives by governments made a bad situation worse because corrupt government agents paid more than private individuals acting on their own. Some of the food palliatives promised by Tinubu are just arriving in the States – invariably less than promised.

Power supply remains the same; with only one major difference. All Nigerians will henceforth pay more for the same atrocious service. Hope dimmed.

But, why go on? Nobody in his right senses will dispute the obvious fact that close to 99 per cent of Nigerians are worse off today than last year. Tinubu has managed to achieve what most of us thought was impossible last year. He has performed worse than Buhari. To crown it all, Nigeria, by the end of this year will decline from the largest economy in Africa to number four.

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM – BINANCE AND BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY.
“We will reform government policy to encourage the prudent use of blockchain technology in finance and banking, identity management, revenue collection and the use of crypto assets.

As part of our reforms, we will establish an advisory committee to review the existing regulatory environment governing blockchain technology and virtual asset services and, where necessary, suggest changes to create a more efficient and business-friendly regulatory framework. We will also encourage the CBN to expand the use of our digital currency, the E-naira.” (p52).

Earlier before that, the RENEWED HOPE document had offered this reason for getting the Tinubu government deeply involved in blockchain technology – if elected.

“Blockchain technology, because of its security and accountability features, has the inherent potential to make daily transactions easier, faster and more convenient….” (p50).

I was alarmed in 2022 when my copy of RENEWED HOPE was delivered to me; and when those pages were reached for several reasons. To begin with, by 2022, blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies had already been revealed as platforms used mainly by criminals – international drug cartels and king pins, corrupt public and private sector operatives, arms traffickers, financiers of terrorist organisations, human traffickers, tax evaders and money launderers.


Furthermore, while it made transactions easier and faster, it was untrue that it possessed security and accountability. By late 2022, several nations were already clamping down on cryptocurrency – which after an initial surge was declining. Countries like China, whose citizens were among the originators of blockchain technology were aware of its potential to destabilise economies. It was certainly not accountable to ant government or any constituted authority.

Young men and some women in Lagos were the first to latch on to cryptocurrency; and being in Lagos, I was very curious. The logical step was to locate those involved and obtain information about the new technology. I also went on the internet to learn more. My discovery was alarming enough to advise my tutors in Lagos to be very careful about this new technology; which to me is a two-edged sword. It can make or break you.

I also discovered that some individuals who knew about the drafting of the RENEWED HOPE campaign were already heavily invested in crypto. It was therefore not surprising that blockchain technology was so seriously promoted. Victory at the elections provided the winners the opportunity to bring in crypto platforms like BINANCE to help the FG institute crypto in Nigeria. It was akin to inviting an unruly elephant into your living room.

Nigeria’s current court case against BINANCE might not be about protecting national interest at all. Information reaching me from the crypto community indicates that a few friends of people in corridors of power had their multi-million dollar accounts looted by international hackers without trace, and there is no legal way of getting the money back.

Because cryptocurrency platforms are technological conspiracies, the looters of a Nigerian’s account might be based in Russia or North Korea. The stolen funds might be lodged in Peru – without the South American nation knowing about it. Thus, it is almost impossible for the owner to obtain redress for the theft. He can’t go to court in Peru; have the looter repatriated from North Korea, and he dares not report to the Nigerian authorities without explaining how he got the money.

Neither the Nigerian authorities nor BINANCE is telling us what happened. One thing, however, is certain, the government might have inadvertently allowed BINANCE, a global outlaw crypto platform to come into the country; and the entire country is suffering from the consequences of that poor error of judgment.

The Nigerian economy is bedevilled by scarcities – of dollars, naira, regular power and fuel supply, food, housing, jobs and sound economic policies. Tinubu’s Lagos Boys are still missing the point. Supply-side inflation can never be cured by increasing interest rates but by increasing the supply of commodities.

Hope has not been renewed; at best, it has been deferred.

The Federal Government on Thursday denied an allegation that it intended to borrow the N20tn pension fund for infrastructure development.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, in a statement in Abuja, said the government would comply with the established rules and regulations governing the pension fund.

The minister was reported to have told journalists, after a two-day Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday, that the government would unveil a plan to harness local funds, including the fund, to finance infrastructure development.

However, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, Edun noted that the pension industry, similar to other sectors in the financial industry, is strictly regulated by specific legal frameworks.


He said the Federal Government did not plan to exceed these legal boundaries, emphasising that the government was committed to protecting workers’ pensions.

“It has come to my notice that stories are making the round that the Federal Government plans to illegally access the hard-earned savings and pension contributions of workers. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Highly regulated

“The pension industry, like most the financial industries, is highly regulated. There are rules. There are limitations about what pension money can be invested in and what it cannot be invested in.

“The Federal Government has no intention whatsoever to go beyond those limitations and go outside those bounds which are there to safeguard the pensions of workers.

“What was announced to the Federal Executive Council was that there was an ongoing initiative drawing in all the major stakeholders in the long-term saving industry, those that handle funds that are available over a long period to see how, within the regulations and the laws; these funds could be used maximally to drive investment in key growth areas,” Edun clarified.

Furthermore, Edun clarified that the government had no intention of increasing the risk associated with the pension funds or allowing their investments to become less secure.

Earlier on Thursday, the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria asked the Federal Government to refrain from tampering with the pension fund.

The NLC President, Joe Ajaero and the TUC Deputy President, Tommy Okon, in a joint statement on Thursday, advised the government not to risk the future of workers by borrowing the money to fund infrastructure development.

They stated, “Nigerian workers have entrusted their hard-earned savings for retirement security, not as a means for government projects. It is imperative to halt any further plans to tap into these funds, especially given the lack of transparency and accountability in past government borrowing practices.’’


The unions demanded assurances from the government that workers retirement funds [b]“would not fall victim to further Federal Government borrowing, especially when the PENCOM Board has not been constituted as envisaged by the statutes,’’ [/b]arguing further that any plan to borrow the funds is not backed by the Pension Act.

Labour expressed regrets that despite the government’s assurances of widespread consultation with major stakeholders in the pension industry, the NLC and TUC, representing the owners of the entire pension fund contributions, had neither been consulted nor informed about the government’s intentions.

According to the unions, the lack of transparency undermined the sanctity of pension funds, which it said should always be treated with the utmost reverence and protection.

Similarly, the Head of Information, Nigerian Union of Pensioners, Bunmi Ogunkolade, urged the government to find an alternative source to fund its infrastructure development plan, noting that the pension fund did not belong to pensioners but to workers.

He said, “Simply put, we are not in support. We have told the government to go and look for where to get their money. We have appealed to them that they should please look for where to get money to fund infrastructure or whatever.

On its part, the Nigeria Union of Pension in Kaduna State also advised the Federal Government against using the money for infrastructure development.

The state Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Mallam Alhassan Balarabe Musa, who stated this in an interview with The PUNCH, said, “The Federal Government under former President Muhammadu Buhari attempted a similar thing but failed.’’

“For us we are not happy about that. As of now, our national headquarters are trying everything to ensure that the fund is not going to be accessible.

“Now, we have so many retirees under contributory pension who are unable to get their gratuities. So, why will the Federal Government take that kind of amount? I think it’s going to be unfortunate and unacceptable.”

The NUP Pensioners, Ogun State Council, gave a similar warning.

The Secretary of the union, Dr Bola Lawal, said “I am sure if you have the opportunity to ask every pensioner none will accept this move of the government. Where is the assurance that this money will be paid back on time?

Osun pensioners

When contacted, the Coordinator, Osun State Contributory Pensioners, Mr Toyin Ayinde, warned the government against tampering with the contributions of retirees.

He said, “The government must not touch our money. What exactly is the matter with them? We don’t want anyone to touch our money under any guise. We are not interested in any proposal from them.”

The Federal Government has asked the organised Labour not to derail its transformation plan for the electricity sector.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) had picketed offices of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Distribution Companies nationwide over the hike in electricity tariff.

The unions had described the upward review, demanding outright cancellation.

Addressing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Tuesday, Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said labour had the right to protest.


“We cannot stop them from organizing peaceful protest or laying down their demands. Let me make that clear. President Bola Tinubu’s administration is also a listening government.”

“We have heard their demands, we’re going to look at it, we’ll make further engagements and I believe we’re going to reach a peaceful resolution with the labor because no government can succeed without the cooperation, collaboration and partnership with the Labour unions. So we welcome the peaceful protest and I’m happy that it was not a violent protest. They’ve made their positions known and government has taken in their demands and we’re looking at it.


“But one thing that I want to state here is from the statistics of those affected by the hike in tariff, the people on the road yesterday, who embarked on the peaceful protests, more than 95% of them are not affected by the increase in the tariff of electricity. They still enjoy almost 70% government subsidy in the tariff they pay because the average costs of generating, transmitting and distributing electricity is not less than N180 today.

“A lot of them are paying below N60 so they still enjoy government’s subsidy. So when they say we should reverse the recently increased tariff, sincerely it’s not affecting them. That’s one position.


“My appeal again is that they should please not derail or distract our transformation plan for the industry. We have a clearly documented reform roadmap to take us to our desired destination, where we’re going to have reliable, functional, cost-effective and affordable electricity in Nigeria. It cannot be achieved overnight because this is a decay of almost 60 years, which we are trying to correct.”

He said there was the need for sacrifice from everybody, “from the government’s side, from the people’s side, from the private sector side. So we must bear this sacrifice for us to have a permanent gain”.

“I don’t want us to go back to the situation we were in February and March, where we had very low generation. We all felt the impact of this whereby electricity supply was very low and every household, every company, every institution, felt it. From the little reform that we’ve embarked upon since the beginning of April, we have seen the impact that electricity has improved and it can only get better.”

The federal government is making a move to rev up economic growth by unlocking N20 trillion from the nation’s pension funds to finance critical infrastructure projects across the country.

Finance Minister and coordinating minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, disclosed this to State House correspondents after a two-day Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday.

Finance Minister and coordinating minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, disclosed this to State House correspondents after a two-day Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday.

He said the initiative forms a key part of Tinubu’s broader reforms to stabilise the economy amid high inflation and interest rates.

To this end, he said the government will collaborate closely with private sector players to tap into the over N20 trillion pool of long-term funds available with Nigeria’s pension, life insurance and investment funds.

The Minister said, “and one of the key drivers of economic growth is investment in infrastructure, in housing, power, rail, roads, water transport, even technology.

“These are key drivers of economic growth, they increase product when you invest in them, you get increased productivity, you get economic growth, and you get job creation, which reduces poverty.


“And that is the strategy, so it’s two-pronged and we’re not pivoting towards this all-important growth and you say where were the resources coming from? Nigeria is resilient, Nigerians are resilient.


“And the fact is that even before we start looking to foreign investors, we start looking to foreign funding, there is available in Nigeria, long term funds to fund infrastructure projects, and it’s within the pension.

“The life insurance and investment fund industry. Generally, there is offers of 20 trillion Naira available, or much of it is in short-term funding that doesn’t need to be quite sure money is long term. People save over their lifetime for their pension.

“And so in conversation, in consultation, collaboration and cooperation with the private sector, we are now able to announce and with the full knowledge and support of all parties, that there will be an initiative to fund growth through investment in infrastructure, including housing provision of mortgages, long term mortgages, 25 year mortgages at relatively low interest rates.

“Initially, of course, the government will standby and provide some support, particularly in this era of high interest rates but eventually as interest rates come down, there should be less room for the government through providing, for example, guarantees and so forth.”


He said this large corpus will be deployed to finance housing, power plants, rail, highways, and cutting-edge technology infrastructure.

The model envisions the government providing enablers like guarantees initially to facilitate affordable 25-year mortgages at low interest rates.

While drawing on domestic savings was the immediate focus, the initiative is expected to attract foreign investment interest over time by demonstrating Nigeria’s commitment to infrastructure development.

The Finance Minister exuded confidence, stating that: “The best minds have committed to realising this ambitious vision that leverages our own resources to build a prosperous future.”

The naira continued its depreciation against the US dollar in the foreign exchange market.


Data from the parallel market section and FMDQ showed further depreciation against the dollar on Monday.

At the parallel market, a Bureau De Change operator in Wuse Zone 4, Mistila Dayyabu, told DAILY POST that the naira was sold as high as N1,517 per dollar on Monday before settling at N1,500 per dollar.


“On Monday morning, the dollar was sold at N1,517 per dollar. However, on hearing the information about the coming of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission operatives, we started selling at N1,500 this evening, ” he said.

The figure increased from the N1, 450 per dollar it traded at the weekend.

Similarly, at the official market, FMDQ data showed that they dipped to N1478.11 per dollar on Monday from N1466.31 last Friday.


This represents an N11.8 drop from the N1466.31 recorded last Friday.

Earlier, the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, said the apex bank’s Monetary Policy Committee will do everything to bring down soaring Nigeria’s inflation, which stood at 33.22 per cent in March 2024.

Sleekfingers:
And why did Atiku contested in the primary? PDP made a terrible mistake for not zoning their presidential ticket to the South.



Atiku wanted to use Peter Obi as his running mate. It would be unwise for Peter Obi or Wike to allow such nonsense. But that useless formal governor okowa with horse teeth , accepted the running mate ticket from Atiku.
Wike was also eyeing the seat. So it is normal for him to frustrate his adversaries.....And peter was among his opponent.


Peter Obi couldn't stand the heat in the kitchen, that was why he chickened out.

Paul Ibe, the spokesperson of the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has disclosed that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, was instrumental in the exit of Peter Obi from the party.

Ibe said Atiku wanted the PDP to zone the 2023 presidential ticket to the Southeast but Wike worked against it.

Obi was the vice presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2019 presidential election but dumped the party for the Labour Party, LP, ahead of the 2023 presidential election.

He later became a force in the last general election, securing over six million votes.

Since the PDP and LP lost to the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2023 election, the leading opposition party has yet to resolve its internal crisis.

However, Ibe said Atiku was ready to zone the PDP presidential ticket to the Southeast.

In an interview on Seun Okinbaloye’s Mic On podcast, Ibe said Wike frustrated the move to zone PDP’s ticket to the Southeast.

He said: “Atiku did not force Peter Obi out of the party, Wike was instrumental in the exit of Obi because Wike had promoted the zoning of the presidency to the south.

“Atiku Abubakar had said that he was prepared to get himself off the ticket if the party zoned the ticket to the Southeast.

“Wike frustrated that effort because he believed that if it was zoned to the south, not the southeast, he would be in the best position to be able to get the ticket.”

The political crisis in Rivers State may gradually gallop into a state of anarchy. In less than one year, the administration of Governor Siminalayi Fubara since its inauguration last year May 29, 2023, has produced three Speakers, a clear indication that all is not well in the state.

What began like a mere misunderstanding between a political godfather, Nyesom Wike and his godson, Governor Fubara, is merely a few steps away from snowballing into a catastrophic dimension that may result in the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers.

With the emergence of a new Speaker, Rt Hon Victor Oko Jumbo from Bonny state constituency among a 3-member Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, lawmakers, and political watchers are on feverish edge waiting for what will happen next. Credible sources volunteered that the immediate assignment of the new Speaker will be, among other things, the swearing-in of caretaker committee chairmen for the twenty-three local government areas of the state.

Recall that the tenure of the present council chairmen expires next month. It presupposes that either an election is conducted or caretaker chairmen are appointed to fill up those positions across the state. Of course, for obvious reasons, the Governor will not dare to conduct any election under the present circumstances because he does not have any solid structure to carry out such a sensitive political exercise, at least for now.

In the recent past, the House of Assembly led by Martins Amaewhule as Speaker had passed a law extending the tenure of the council chairmen by six months. This legislative scheme was carried out at the same time the Rivers state chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was mounting pressure on the Governor to conduct a local government election in the state. The party frowned at any attempt by the Governor to appoint caretaker chairmen into those councils.

But with the emergence of Rt Hon Jumbo as the new Speaker of the divided Assembly, all is now set for caretaker chairmen to be sworn in to replace the outgoing chairmen whose tenure elapses next month. When this is successfully done, Governor Fubara may now have some respite knowing that only those loyal to him would be appointed as caretaker chairmen into the twenty-three LGAs.

However, the lingering crisis in Rivers State has been attributed to the deliberate refusal or otherwise of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to conduct elections to fill the vacant positions of the 27 lawmakers who defected from the PDP to APC.

The then factional speaker of the House, Edison Ehie had declared the seats of the 27 lawmakers vacant. This was immediately followed by the decision of the High Court in Port Harcourt which barred the Amaewhule-led lawmakers from gaining access to the Assembly complex under any guise or form.

Concerned stakeholders in the state including the PDP had informed INEC, as a matter of constitutional necessity, to conduct an election to fill up the vacant positions of the defected lawmakers, but to no avail. The electoral body has yet to make any public statement about the matter since the political crisis broke out in the state in October last year.

INEC’s silence has compelled Nigerians to ask whose interest the Commission is serving in a sensitive matter like that of Rivers State.

Recall that in 2022, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had sacked 17 members of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly who defected from the PDP to the APC in a similar circumstance. The lawmakers had on November 17, 2020, joined Governor David Umahi and his Deputy, Dr Eric Kelechi Igwe to move over to the APC.

The court, in a judgement delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo, held that the lawmakers, having abandoned the political party that sponsored them, could not transfer the mandate they obtained from the ballot to another political party.

The court held that section 109(1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution was purposely couched to ensure that defectors were not allowed to retain their seats in the House unless such defectors could justify their action.

The court also made an order of mandatory injunction compelling the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to accept from the PDP, a list of its candidates to replace the sacked lawmakers, as well as to issue a Certificate of Return to them.

In the same vein, the High Court in Rivers state presided over by Justice M.W. Danagogo gave an order barring Martins Amaewhule and his group from accessing the Assembly complex. This was followed by a letter from the national working committee, NWC, of the PDP notifying INEC of 27 vacant seats in the Assembly.

It follows that the action or inaction of INEC will determine how long the crisis in Rivers State will last. Nigerians expect that INEC being the creation of the constitution must abide by the tenets of the statute book that created it in the first place.

Until last Monday when a powerful delegation led by the former Governor of Bayelsa state, Seriake Dickson visited Governor Fubara in Government House Port Harcourt, everywhere wore a similitude of quietness when the Governor suddenly declared that the 27 APC lawmakers were no longer recognised by law.

That statement also ignited a corresponding reaction from the state APC which called on the lawmakers to commence an impeachment process on the governor or face sanctions from the party. Chief Tony Okocha, caretaker chairman of the party in Rivers state said the Governor was fast becoming a “dictator” and APC as a major opposition party in the state will not sit and watch Rivers state become a mockery in the comity of states.

Okocha faulted the Governor when he recalled that in a letter dated December 11, 2023, Governor Fubara addressed Amaewhule as “Rt. Hon Martins Chike Amawhule, DSSRS, Speaker, Rivers state House of Assembly” in a letter requesting for re-screening and reconfirmation of commissioner nominees. And therefore wondered when the same Speaker and his group ceased to exist as lawmakers.

Okocha’s quest for the immediate impeachment of the Governor elicited contrary reactions within his own APC with some saying that such order was a mere vocal expression which is not backed by any legal instrument. They argue that politics is subject to law and not the reverse.

Barrister Sogbeye Eli, former spokesman of the campaign council of the APC in the 2023 governorship elections said "In the eye of the law, the 27 lawmakers do not exist. Who is he (Okocha) calling to impeach the governor? They don’t have such rights because the law does not even recognize them as lawmakers having defected from their party to another party.

”INEC had since been asked to conduct an election to fill the 27 vacant seats and it said no. They said the peace pact overrides the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, how? Tinubu was a Governor, he knew very well that this could not fly. So, as far as the law is concerned, the Rivers State House of Assembly has three members and they can form a quorum with two.

“Right now, the constituents of the 27 lawmakers are suffering because they need adequate and lawful representation in the House. And INEC must conduct elections to fill those positions so that the constituents can now have a sense of belonging”,[/b] he said.

Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, another chieftain of the APC said the emergence of Rt. Hon Jumbo as the new Speaker of the Assembly was very lawful because, in the absence of other rightful Lawmakers, the very few that are remaining there constitute the State Assembly.

“This action is informed by the absence of 27lawmakers who have by their defections ceased to be Lawmakers and in their absence the few Lawmakers remaining will have to elect their Speaker pending when INEC will conduct an election to elect new representatives from the areas the former 27lawmakers come from. That is the Law and in line with the Supreme Court and our constitution”.

Also, Hon. Azubuike Wanjoku, a former lawmaker said, “Those in the PDP constitute the authentic house, and it does not matter who is picked as a speaker whether he sleeps on the same bed with the Governor. When the 27 others decided to switch parties, they automatically lost their seats. The question we should ask ourselves is, what exactly happened to Martins Amaewhule when he threw away the gavel of authority into the pit?

“I know that as an independent arm of government, the Rivers State House of Assembly, as presently constituted, is representative of all 32 constituencies until such a time when fresh elections are conducted. The house makes its rules and regulations, and no one can stop its functions, no matter how you interpret their actions”.

With the Thanksgiving program now being held in virtually all the LGAs in the state, Governor Fubara appears to be creating his political structure across the state. The opposition APC alleges that the Governor spends about N120 million for each of such outings. “I heard that about N120 million is spent in each of those jamborees”, Okocha alleged.

Observers reason that this is a wasteful venture at a time when hardship has eaten deep into the fibre of the society and the indigent citizens are in search of what to eat.

Petty traders in the creeks of the Niger Delta are not smiling. Heavy blows of pump price increase and naira depreciation both results of unfriendly economic policies of the Nigerian government are their torment.

Although her children are grown up and married, Mrs Pat Amajatoja has her retired husband and herself to cater for. Being in her late 50s, she also has to keep body and soul together by engaging in one trade or the other. She sells articles like biscuits, groundnuts, sweets, and the like under an umbrella in the heart of Warri.


“My name is Pat Amajatoja, I’m from Warri South Local Government Area, Delta State. I am married and have six grown up children. I am close to 60 years.

“I just started this business about a year ago. I was previously selling fish in the market and I also owned a provision shop at Ekpan, Uvwie Local Government Area.

“I had to leave Ekpan and my business because of the incessant crisis in the community. I don’t have a small child, as all my children are married with kids.


“I am living with my husband here in Warri. My husband is very old and he has retired, so this business is what we are using to sustain ourselves. But the business is tiring with the increase of prices of things in the market,” she lamented.

With her aged husband and herself to cater for, the economic downturn in the country is threatening their means of livelihood and she cannot keep sealed lips.


“You can see the things I am selling which include groundnuts, mangoes, tapioca and biscuits. With these wares, you will agree that what I make a day is very meager, but I have no choice.

“I cannot sit at home idle, and that is why I am out here hustling. I put money into this business every month, but it seems the more I am putting money, the more unprofitable it is becoming because of the increase in prices of every commodity in the market.


“Sometimes, I buy cartons of biscuits and I will make only N100 profit. As for the tapioca, this size (holding a small-size tapioca) was not up to N20 before, but now, it is sold for N100. Eat 10 wraps of this, you won’t be satisfied!

“As a trader, what I spend is more than what I make from my business. I buy a carton of biscuits for N4,000 today and a month later, the cost price rises to N6,000.

“When I complain, the person I complain to will also complain that that was the price she bought it,” Mrs Amajatoja further lamented.

She wondered why the government at various levels hardly paid attention to the suffering and cry of the common man.

“Government is well aware of what to do to ease the suffering of the masses. People complain everyday, but they have chosen to pay deaf ears to people’s complaints and tears.


“Even with that, I will still plead with them to have mercy on the poor.

“How can I take N6,000 to the market to buy foodstuff and come back home with a sad expression because I can’t make sense of what I spent my money on?

“So, tell the government to please do something, and urgently, too, before things get out of hand. The poor are dying in instalments out of hunger and privation. Tell them ordinary Nigerians are dying by the day,” she pleaded.

A group of 60 federal lawmakers on Wednesday said the 27 lawmakers of the Rivers State House of Assembly whose seats were declared vacant in December 2023 following their defection to the All Progressives Congress from the Peoples Democratic Party, lack the powers to serve Governor Siminalayi Fubara impeachment notice.

In a telephone interview with PUNCH Online on Wednesday night, the spokesman for the group and member representing Ideato South/North Federal Constituency, Ikenga Ugochinyere, slammed the lawmakers for calling for Fubara’s impeachment.

“The call for the impeachment of the governor is a call to anarchy that will lead to the collapse of democracy if the President doesn’t call them to order.

“Unless there is a supreme order of the court, these 27 lawmakers have lost their seats. We cannot allow this absurdity because the APC Minister is working with the president and you now want to overthrow a legitimate Governor.


“The President needs to intervene because it is issues like these that led to the collapse of democracy in the 70s and 80s. If they are popular, they should contest fresh elections,” he said.

According to the G-60 lawmakers, the purported veto of the powers of the governor by the group of 27 persons “Parading themselves as Rivers State lawmakers” was nothing but legislative rascality taken too far.

The 60 federal lawmakers stated this in a formal reaction to the alleged overriding of the assent of Governor Fubara to pass the Rivers State Public Procurement (Amendment) Bill 2024.


Fubara has been involved in a fierce political battle with the lawmakers since falling out with his political godfather and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr Nyesom Wike.


In a statement signed by the spokesman for the group, Ugochinyere, the group described the veto as null and void.

Ugochinyere said, “These clowns as far as we are concerned, are still moving about freely parading themselves because of Governor Fubara’s mercy and largely in obedience to the peace accord brokered by President Bola Tinubu to end the political crisis in Rivers tate. However, while the Governor has stuck to the accord, his predecessor and Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike has not, with what his loyalists are doing.

“One of such evidence is the purported veto of Rivers procurement law which is an unenforceable legislative madness by impostors who are scared of the impact of Fubara’s infrastructure revolution.

“If not, how can people worth calling lawmakers even think that mobilisation fee of not more than 20 per cent of any contract sum is enough for suppliers or contractors to move to the site or provide goods and services in the present economic quagmire masterminded by their allies in the federal government?

“It is also on notice that these persons who sit in some hotel rooms in Abuja or anywhere their paymasters take them to, make such pronouncements, have lost the status of lawmakers ever since they dumped the party, the PDP which was a vehicle that brought them to power and joined APC.”

He added that their action “Violated Section 109 (1) (g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) which states that a member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected.


“To this end, these people are not lawmakers and the Independent National Electoral Commission should rise to the occasion and conduct elections to fill those vacant seats and save Rivers State and Nigeria this continuous illegality that the embarrassment that non-existing lawmakers are causing too often.”

“We reiterate that the so-called veto will not be enforced, it is madness taken too far by crowns whose existence under the banner they claim is made possible by the mercy of Governor Fubara who chooses to respect the President and promote peace which to him is sin qua non for the development he is committed to bringing to Rivers State.”

sirchim:
In addition could you kindly give him one bitter OBI?

StOla:
Yes, he must measure up to the standard.

StOla:
African leadership by Obi.

If only the student knew the charlatan that stood before them, they wouldn't have wasted their time listening to a hypocrite.

Is Obi proud to show them his borehole project?

Lizzysamuel:
See how Reno has faded himself by himself 😂. Playing Opposition to a supposed 3rd party😂

We all were expecting him to attack Obi because of his comments.

But this one is the weakest comeback

For reasonable NIGERIANs, the attached below is the picture of Peter Obi walking out majestically from tax office in Onitsha after clearing himself when he was accused of tax evasion...

Scarrr:
Nigeria was saved from the monumental failure aka Bitter Obi u mean.

opamoses1:
You mean people are liking the fact that he is demarketing Peter Obi. LMAO.

Slytiger:
Reno Omokri. One man mopol

Almost 1000 comment on Facebook alone and 3,000 like on Facebook and Twitter. If we add instagram, e go reach like 4,000 🤣

jude79:
He can't afford this expensive brand their's a local unbranded one sold by his uncle at oshogbo park, its not as effective as the original, but it can restore his bateria infested dead brain by at least 1.5%

PressMyButton:
Pastor Reno, the tormentor of Bitter Obi.

GBTYO:
Import duties have been slashed for essential goods and food imports.


Corporate taxes are either being waived or reduced.


Govt stimulus spending directly into infrastructure are being mapped out as against the previous unaccountable welfare system.


As for this Obi, in one of his yearly budgetary breakdown as Anambra govt, he factored fines totalling up to over a billion as part of his IGR.

Now you know why Anambra especially Onitsha was hit with multiple ticketing touts during his tenure.

Most of those funds ended up in the pockets of his touts and the vast majority went to his Pandora account.