₦airaland Forum

The Nigerian Presidency has been told to remain silent rather than lie to the public that President Muhammadu Buhari is embarking on a private visit to a foreign land.

The advise is coming from Inibehe Effiong, a legal practitioner based in Nigeria’s commercial capital.

Early Thursday morning, the presidency told the nation that Mr Buhari will embark on a private visit to the United Kingdom, the European country where he goes for medical treatment and check ups.

However, the journey is to begin after the president’s official visit to Borno State where he is expected to “inaugurate some developmental projects.”



The notification is what the legal practitioner is not finding funny. He argued that the president cannot be embarking on a private visit to a foreign land with public funds.

He also said the office which Buhari occupies is not a private one, advising the presidency to either be truthful or remain silent.

“President Buhari cannot travel on a private visit outside of Nigeria,” Effiong said.

“There is nothing private about the office of the president of Nigeria. Buhari cannot claim to be going to the United Kingdom for a private with public funds, official aircraft and other public benefits.

“The President’s vacation cannot be a private visit, the Constitution regulates the vacation of the president. It is even ludicrous to suggest that Buhari will visit a foreign country for “a private visit”. It would have probably made a little sense if Buhari is visiting Daura.

“Rather than lie to the public, the President’s handlers should just remain silent. This sickening opacity will not help us,” the lawyer said.

In 2017, the president spent almost two months in the foreign country treating an undisclosed ailment.

During his absence, Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President, took over power in acting capacity.

President Muhammadu Buhari will on Thursday, jet out to the United Kingdom (UK) on a private visit.

This was made known by Femi Adesina, the media aide of the president.

The president will leave the shores of the country after visiting Borno State where he is expected to “inaugurate developmental projects especially in the sectors of education, healthcare and roads,” according to Mr Adesina.

He is expected back in the country from the “private visit” on May 5.

The European country is where the president normally goes for his medical vacation and check ups.

The Federal Government has vowed to ensure what happened during the formation of the 8th Senate in 2015 do not repeat itself.

Lai Mohammed, Information Minister, stated this when he appeared on a programme on Nigeria Television Authority.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the minister said the All Progressive Congress-led federal government would ensure the emergence of a National Assembly that will work in accordance with its progressive policies.

“As far as we respect the independence of the legislative arm of government, we also believe that, especially when a party has done very well in both legislative and executive elections, there should be a synergy between the legislative and the executive arms of government,” Mohammed said.





“I want to assure you that we are doing the right thing this time and we will not end up with the kind of situation that we had from 2015 to 2019.

“We will not have a situation where it will seem that the leadership of the National Assembly is working for the opposition or where members of the same party are working at cross-purposes.

“This time, we will get it right. We will have a good relationship with the National Assembly and we will work very well with the legislature,” the minister added.

During the formation of the current leadership of the National Assembly, the principal officers, though members of the APC, emerged against the wish of their party.

This was made possible due to an alliance they formed with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The same scenario is about to play out again as the formation of the 9th National Assembly is slated for June.

Already, Senate President, Bukola Saraki has warned that what happened in 2015 might repeat itself.

Those adopted by the ruling party for various seats at the forthcoming assembly are been threatened by their colleagues who are not backing down on their ambition to clinch the positions.

The House of Representatives has adjourned sitting on Wednesday over the invasion of the National Assembly by members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN).

Members of the movement are said to be protesting against the continued detention of their leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.

Mr El-Zakzaky has been detained by the federal government despite court orders that he be released. He was taken into custody after members of the IMN clashed with the military in 2015.

Yusuf Lasun, deputy speaker of the house, presided over plenary when the protesters struck overpowering the security agencies and pulling down the first gate of the legislative arm of government.

They were heading to pull down the second gate and gain entrance into the lower chamber when the House hurriedly adjourned.

President Muhammadu Buhari has created about 8 million jobs since he took over power, Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour has said.

Mr Ngige made the claim when he appeared on Channels Television on Wednesday. His principal, Mr Buhari took over power in 2015, that was the first time an opposition candidate trounced an incumbent president in the country.

The minister said the creation of jobs could be traced to the agriculture and vocational skills training embarked upon by the Buhari administration noting that rice production in the country has created new groups of millionaires.

He noted that this was achieved through the promotion of blue collar jobs embarked upon by the present administration.





“We did food security arrangements, tackled agriculture. The government went into agriculture, started encouraging farmers,” Ngige said.

“Government programmes have yielded a lot of fruits if you go to the Agric belts of Nigeria; Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, Anambra, Enugu, Ogun, Kebbi states. Rice production created a new group of millionaires, the farmers.

“And there is the backward integration of the rice mills, jute bag manufacturers and the rest of them all, a lot of jobs have been created numbering about 8 million now.

“We did advocacy and told people not to look at white collar jobs, there are blue collar jobs, skills. You have to train your hands, you have to do plumbing, carpentry, tailoring.

“We have a mini in collaboration with the state government, we send people to the skills centre to train them and people come in there as an apprentice and after we finish with them, we empower them. But the problem is that how many people are ready to come here and train?

“The responses to the programmes are low, they regard those jobs as unbefitting to people’s status, but it is not true,” the minister said.

The claim by the minister comes months after the country continued to cement its status as the poverty capital of the world with more people slipping into extreme poverty.

An estimated 90.8 million Nigerians are living in extreme poverty as 2018 winds down to a close.

Yakubu Dogara, the Speaker of the 8th House of Representatives, has said Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the All Progressive Congress is not loyal to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mr Dogara stated this while responding to the attack on him by the former governor of Lagos State.

Mr Tinubu had on Sunday accused the lawmaker alongside Bokula Saraki, Senate President, of padding and delaying the passage of the nation’s budget.

But in his response on Tuesday, the Speaker said those who delayed the budget are agents of the executive arm headed by President Buhari.



In a statement signed by his Media Aide, Turaki Hassan, the lawmaker stated that the loyalty of the APC chieftain should be doubted as he is only pretending.

“When the history of Buhari’s administration is written by those who know the truth of what really transpired in the last four years, Asiwaju’s pretentious loyalty to President Buhari will then be exposed. We won’t say more but no matter how long it may last, the truth will one day overtake lies,” Dogara said.

He said the former governor was still bitter about his emergence as the speaker of the lower chamber.

“Asiwaju is still bitter about the leadership contest for Speakership of the 8th Assembly, even though the actors have moved on culminating in Speaker Dogara magnanimously facilitating the appointment of his opponent in the race and Tinubu’s protege as House Majority leader,” he said.

The speaker also described the former governor who was once a Senator as one who is ignorant of the budgetary process.

Yakubu Dogara, the Speaker of the 8th House of Representatives, has said Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the All Progressive Congress is not loyal to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mr Dogara stated this while responding to the attack on him by the former governor of Lagos State.

Mr Tinubu had on Sunday accused the lawmaker alongside Bokula Saraki, Senate President, of padding and delaying the passage of the nation’s budget.

But in his response on Tuesday, the Speaker said those who delayed the budget are agents of the executive arm headed by President Buhari.



In a statement signed by his Media Aide, Turaki Hassan, the lawmaker stated that the loyalty of the APC chieftain should be doubted as he is only pretending.

“When the history of Buhari’s administration is written by those who know the truth of what really transpired in the last four years, Asiwaju’s pretentious loyalty to President Buhari will then be exposed. We won’t say more but no matter how long it may last, the truth will one day overtake lies,” Dogara said.

He said the former governor was still bitter about his emergence as the speaker of the lower chamber.

“Asiwaju is still bitter about the leadership contest for Speakership of the 8th Assembly, even though the actors have moved on culminating in Speaker Dogara magnanimously facilitating the appointment of his opponent in the race and Tinubu’s protege as House Majority leader,” he said.

The speaker also described the former governor who was once a Senator as one who is ignorant of the budgetary process.

Yakubu Dogara, the Speaker of the 8th House of Representatives, has lambasted Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC) over the latter’s claim on Budget Padding.

Mr Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, on Sunday renewed his attack on the 8th National Assembly, alleging that the legislative chambers under the present leadership were padding the Budget of the country.

While Senator Bukola Saraki heads the legislative arm of government and the Senate, Yakubu Dogara pilots the affairs of the green chamber.

The duo emerged leaders of the chambers in 2015 against the wish of the APC even though they belonged to the party at the time.



Messrs Saraki and Dogara defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last year. Lawmakers of the opposition party help them clinch the position on the basis that every lawmaker be carried along against the ‘winner takes all’ being canvassed the the APC.

Their emergence did not augur well with Tinubu who has been ceaselessly attacking the lawmaking arm.

Renewing his attack on Sunday, the former governor said the leadership of the 8th assembly has been padding budgets sent to it for approval.

Responding in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Turaki Hassan, the speaker of the green chamber lashed out at Tinubu describing him as being “ignorant of the budgetary process.”

“Only the ignorant with dubious academic certificates will say the maker of a document has padded the document that only he can constitutionally make,” the statement by lawmaker partly read.

“Finally, we advise Asiwaju Tinubu to be circumspect in his use of language.

“In this case, he spoke as a spokesperson of depravity. Our reaction must therefore be seen as a provoked counter-punch.

“Any one can descend into the gutter if he so wishes; but no one has a monopoly of gutter language.

“We won’t run an adult day care centre anymore on matters like this,” Dogara said.

Bukola Saraki, President of the 8th Senate, has said the All Progressive Congress (APC) might lose hold of the incoming 9th National Assembly if care is not taken as what happened in 2015 might play out again.

Mr Saraki during the formation of the 8th Senate in 2015 emerged Senate President against the wish of the APC even though he belonged to the party at the time. He defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last year.

Lawmakers at the National Assembly are to elect principal officers of the legislative arm of government.

His emergence was possible due to his alliance with lawmakers of the PDP. This angered the APC which severally failed in series of plot to oust the top lawmaker.



Although he lost his bid to return to the red chamber, Saraki has warned leaders of the ruling party to behave matured or risk enforcing what played out in 2015 when the 8th Senate was inaugurated.

His outburst is contained in a statement signed by Yusuph Olaniyonu, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity.

One of those he warned is the national leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu, who recently attacked the leadership of the National Assembly.

“It is now clear that those who took Senators away from the chambers contrary to the directive contained in the proclamation signed by President Muhammadu Buhari on June 9, 2015 are ‘mistake personified’, Saraki said.

“It is obvious that if they repeat that arrogance during the inauguration of the Ninth National Assembly, they will fail again because Nigeria is greater than them. The institution of the legislature is bigger than the over-bloated egos of these power mongers and dirty schemers,” the top lawmaker warned.

Saraki also blasted Mr Tinubu for attacking the National Assembly under his leadership. He said the former Lagos governor has formed the habit of attacking the legislature quarterly.

He restated insinuations in some quarters that the former governor is strategically planning to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari when the tenure of the latter hopefully winds down in 2023.

“Let us repeat again that we know that a Machiavellian politician like Tinubu will forever agonize over his erroneous belief that Dr. Saraki frustrated his ambition from becoming running mate to President Muhammadu Buhari through a Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2015.

“In his usual cavalier manner, he will stop at nothing to punish Saraki for that. We know that this attack is not about the interest of the nation or that of President Muhammadu Buhari. It is about his 2023 ambition and it is obvious in the statement as he struggled to explain this away,” the lawmaker stated.

While stating that the achievements of the 8th assembly surpasses that of previous administration, he said under him, the Senate has achieved a lot by passing atleast 282 bills surpassing that of the 5th Senate which passed 129 bills.

He denied allegations of budget padding under his leadership saying, “despite all the underhanded tactics to undermine the legislature by outsiders and the public posturing, members have always worked as a team on critical issues that benefit our nation.”

Meanwhile, the adoption of Ahmed Lawan as the candidate of the APC to succeed Saraki is being threatened by members of his party who are rumored to have chosen to display the same pattern that saw the top lawmaker piloting the affairs of the red chamber.

President Muhammadu Buhari has no constitutional right to reject the resignation of Walter Onnoghen, former Chief Justice of Nigeria, a legal practitioner, Inibehe Effiong has said.

Mr Onnoghen who was suspended by the president, stepped down from his position last week in a resignation letter he wrote to Mr Buhari.

The top jurist convicted on Thursday was accused of not declaring some assets traced to him. Delivering its judgement, the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) where he was arraigned claimed to have jurisdiction over the matter against its earlier claim of otherwise in another case involving the Federal Government and Justice Ngwuta.

The CCT under the chairmanship of Danladi Umar, sacked and banned Onnoghen from holding any public office in the country until after a period of 10 years.

Although the jurist resigned before the judgement was given, Some Nigerians are of the opinion that the president has the right to reject the resignation letter of the jurist thereby denying him of his entitlements after leaving office.

Similarly some reports in the media said State governors from the South South region, where the top jurist hail from, were pleading with Mr Buhari to accept the resignation letter on the basis of a soft landing for their ‘son.’

But accessing the claim, Mr Effiong in an interview aired on Arise Television at the weekend said Buhari has no constitutional rights to reject any resignation letter addressed to him once his office is the appointing authority.

He argued that the resignation of anyone appointed by the office of the president takes effect whenever the authority involved takes delivery of the epistle.

Effiong said if the office of the president has acknowledged to have received such letter, there is no need contemplating whether the head of the executive arm of government has right to reject it because the resignation has already taken effect.

“I want to first correct the perception in the public domain that the president has the discretion to accept or reject his (Onnoghen) resignation letter,” the lawyer said.

“That is wrong, it is unsubstantiated, it is untenable in law because by virtue of Section 306 of the (Nigerian) constitution, resignation takes effect when the notice of resignation is received by the appointing authority.

“The moment Onnoghen submitted his letter, he has resigned,” Effiong said while admitting that the jurist should have taken the bold step earlier when the allegation against him was made public.

A perusal of the constitution by POLITICS TIMES showed the lawyer is right with his submission. Subsection 2 of Section 306 of the Nigerian Constitution says, “The resignation of any person from any office established by this Constitution shall take effect when the writing signifying the resignation is received by the authority or person to whom it is addressed or by any person authorised by that authority or person to receive it.”

Effiong also lashed out at the CCT over the manner with which the tribunal became a judge in its own case.

He said a petition filed by Onnoghen at the appellate court challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal to try him without recourse to the National Judicial Council (NJC) was yet to be decided but the CCT went on to rule it had jurisdiction after acknowledging the petition at the higher court.

Buba Galadima, estranged ally of President Muhammadu Buhari has stated why the president could not be defeated during the 2019 general election.

Mr Galadima who heads a faction of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) had led his group to form alliance with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The group named Reformed-APC (R-APC) comprised of those who were unhappy with the emergence of Adams Oshiomhole, as the national chairman of the ruling party.

The coalition between the parties worked for Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the PDP for the presidential election but that did not oust the president.

The former vice president was trounced with about 4 million votes despite being backed up by two former presidents, paving way for Mr Buhari to actualize his second term ambition.

Stating why the opposition parties could not withstand the president at the poll, Galadima said this was because the exercise was militarised and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was intimidated.

He said the president and his administration were good at deploying military for election rather than the constitutional duty of the force which is to restore peace in troubled areas in the country.

“The election was not free and fair as I said earlier. APC and Buhari lost the election but INEC, the military and the police were used to declare APC the winner,” Galadima said in an interview he granted Sun Newspaper.

Knowing fully well their plans to rig the elections, some months before the polls Buhari deployed the military to some states like Rivers, Benue, Plateau, and others under the guise of tackling insecurity and armed banditry but the actual plan was to use the military rig the elections and this is what they did eventually. The military was used to help APC manipulate the elections. But legally, this is wrong. It is also immoral.

“Since 2003, the apex court, the Supreme Court had ruled that the military should not be drafted for elections but in defiance of the court ruling, APC deployed the military for this election .Military personnel were visible all over the country at polling centres.

“But what is even annoying is that while the government was deploying the military for the election, armed robbers and bandits were having a field day killing Nigerians from Abuja to Kaduna to Zamfara. In Zamfara state alone the bandits have killed over 1000 people. Why can’t government deploy the military to these places? Why can’t they deploy the military to tackle these hoodlums, bandits and armed robbers? But they didn’t do so. They find it more convenient to deploy soldiers for election duty, diverting them away from where their attention and energy is required, all because of their personal interests.

“The military should have no role to play in the electoral process at all. If the election has been free and fair, there is no way Buhari would have won the election. To me Buhari is an usurper. He imposed himself on Nigerians. He took power by force, and not through the free will of Nigerians,” the politician said.

The election that produced the president for a second term in office is currently being challenged the presidential election tribunal by the former vice president.

Buba Galadima, former ally of President Muhammadu Buhari has said the Nigerian leader has become one of the problems the country has.

Mr Galadima, a close friend of the president during their days in the opposition parted ways with Mr Buhari after their political party was factionalised.

Buhari had sought the position he is now occupying since 2003 but failed to actualize his ambition until his then party, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and other parties came together and birthed the now ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) in 2013.

When he emerged the presidential candidate of the opposition in 2014, many saw Buhari as the solution to the problems facing the country and voted massively for him.

But while forming a faction of the party known as Reformed-APC last year, Galadima alleged that the president and the APC has deviated from core objectives of the masses. He condemned the emergence of Adams Oshiomhole as the national chairman of the party, saying the party institutionalised the same vices the previous administrations under the now opposing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was punished for during the 2015 election.

As the 2019 election drew near, the faction of the ruling party pitched its tent with the opposition but the PDP failed to reclaim power by losing to the president who sought a second term in office.

Describing the leaders of the APC as imposters, Galadima said he will never work with the president again because the country has not made any progress under his administration.

He said Buhari is one of the problem the country has because he knows nothing about governance.

“I can never work with Buhari. I can never work with him or any of these APC people including Oshiomhole,” he said in an interview with The Sun Newspaper.

“How can I work with Buhari? Is Nigeria making progress under him? No. Nigeria is going back to the stone age under Buhari. He doesn’t know anything about governance. He has become part of Nigeria’s problem and the solution is to vote him out of power with his party. These people are impostors,” Galadima was quoted to have said.

He said the 2019 election that produced Buhari as the winner was militarised, alleging that Buhari’s war on corruption is a propaganda and has been one sided mainly targeted at opposition politicians.

“Sincerely speaking Buhari is not fighting corruption. Many Ministers in Buhari’s cabinet have mansions all over Abuja and he has been shielding them.

“Do these people think Nigerians are fools? Look at what Oshiomhole himself publicly said sometime ago that any looter or corrupt element that joins APC will be automatically protected in the party, and you are saying that these people are fighting corruption. The government’s so called anti-corruption war is a deceit. It is a propaganda to deceive Nigerians,” he added.

Walter Onnoghen, the embattled Chief Justice of Nigeria, has reacted to the tribunal judgement banning him from public office.

Mr Onnoghen, accused of failing to declare some assets traced to him was convicted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) in Abuja on Thursday.



Home National
Onnoghen Reacts To CCT Judgement Banning Him From Public Office
By Politics Times - April 18, 20190

Walter Onnoghen, embattled Chief Justice of Nigeria.
Walter Onnoghen, the embattled Chief Justice of Nigeria, has reacted to the tribunal judgement banning him from public office.

Mr Onnoghen, accused of failing to declare some assets traced to him was convicted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) in Abuja on Thursday.



In convicting the top jurist, the tribunal invoked the full provision of Section 23 of the code of conduct law which allows it to remove Mr Onnoghen from office.

When urged by the tribunal chairman, Danladi Umar, to react to the judgement of the offence of which he was found guilty of, Onnoghen stood up in the dock, bowed and simply replied, “No comment.”

After his reply, Mr Umar gave the ruling that he is being prevented from holding public office for a duration of ten (10) years adding the assets traced to him be forfeited to the federal government.

The defendant is hereby removed from office as the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Chairman of the National Judicial Council and the Chairman of the Federal Judicial Service Commission,” the judge said.

“The defendant is hereby banned from holding public office for 10 years.

“The money in the five accounts which the defendant has failed to declare and disclose its source is hereby confiscated, seized and forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria as the money was acquired illegally and the defendant has failed to adduce any evidence how he acquired the money,” the judgement read.

The judgement comes weeks after Onnoghen willingly stepped down as the Chief Justice of the Federation after he was recommended for a compulsory retirement.