₦airaland Forum

Streetinvestor2:
When I say u have nothing up it will look like n insult. Are Catholics not Christians to attend pentecostal programmes. Do you know how many pentecostal that attend mbaka programmes. Do you know how many Catholics that attend shiloh and redeem programmes even Muslims.
You won't go and look for a skill to learn instead of wasting on NL What is preached in Christian gathering beside the gospel of christ.walahi sense is far from u

😂 And once again, an Obidient heroically defeats an argument nobody made.

WHO said Catholics cannot attend Pentecostal programmes? Certainly not me. If not that you have serious comprehension problem, you will know the argument is about POLITICAL OPTICS AND TIMING.

Peter Obi is a politician and prospective presidential candidate. Presidential campaigning has begun, and he appears at one of Nigeria's most influential Pentecostal gatherings. He is recognised publicly, invited forward, receives an enthusiastic reception and tells us: “We all came here for prayers.”

Your response? “Catholics attend Pentecostal churches!” Brilliant discovery. 😂

That is like asking why a politician suddenly visits a crowded market during campaign season and you reply: “Are politicians not allowed to buy tomatoes?” Nobody said they aren't.

I raised a POLITICAL question about a POLITICIAN making a conspicuous appearance during a POLITICAL season.

Then came your insults: “You have nothing upstairs.” “Go and learn a skill.” “Sense is far from you.”

My brother, insults are usually what people withdraw from the intellectual ATM when the argument has insufficient funds.

And the “learn a skill” line is particularly hilarious. Here you are spending your own time on Nairaland, reading my post, composing a response and advising ME not to waste time on Nairaland. 😂 Physician, heal thy browsing history.

Finally, “what is preached in Christian gatherings besides the Gospel?” Again, irrelevant. Nobody criticised the sermon. Nobody criticised Christianity. Nobody prohibited Catholics from Pentecostal programmes.

I raised a POLITICAL question about a POLITICIAN making a conspicuous appearance during a POLITICAL season.
You answered a religious question nobody asked and then decorated the non-answer with insults.

So before announcing that “sense is far” from somebody else, first locate the argument. You appear to have travelled quite some distance from it.

ATIKU’S “OPEN NORTHERN BORDERS” AGENDA: IF THEY ARE ALREADY OPEN FOR LEGITIMATE TRADE, WHAT DOES HE WANT OPENED TO GUNS, SMUGGLERS AND BANDITS?

Atiku Abubakar appears so desperate to find another issue with which to attack Tinubu that he is now promising northern Nigerians:“I am going to reopen the borders.” But which borders?

Nigeria reopened its land border with Niger Republic in March 2024. Kamba and Tsamiya in Kebbi have also been reopened, while government says the country's major land borders are already open for legitimate commerce.

So cattle can cross legally. Onions can cross. Grains can cross. Traders can trade. What exactly does Atiku want made MORE “open”?

That question becomes frighteningly important when you remember which borders he is specifically talking about: Nigeria's NORTHERN borders with Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Atiku himself centred his argument on northern trans-border commerce.

These are not ordinary frontiers.
The Federal Government officially designated Lakurawa a terrorist organisation after it established operations in Sokoto and Kebbi, including Illela, Tangaza, Gudu, Binji and other communities. The official designation describes foreign fighters from Niger and Mali exploiting porous borders.

Illela! One of the very northern commercial corridors Atiku wants Nigerians to believe needs “opening.”
Someone needs to ask :Does OPEN mean easier movement through hundreds of kilometres of territory already challenged by banditry, arms trafficking and transnational terrorism?

Because borders do not recognise good intentions. The same route that carries a bag of onions can carry ammunition. The same corridor that moves cattle can move rustled livestock. The same uncontrolled crossing available to a trader is available to a gunrunner or terrorist courier.

This is why Nigeria Customs describes its current policy differently: facilitate legitimate trade while maintaining “strict compliance protocols” and stronger border governance.That is what responsible government should do.

OPEN FOR LEGITIMATE TRADE. CLOSED TO GUNS, SMUGGLERS, BANDITS AND TERRORISTS.

Atiku has not identified the major northern border he says Tinubu has closed. He has not identified the control he wants removed. He has not explained the additional security architecture that would accompany his proposed “opening.”

Yet he is already campaigning on it. This is becoming an uncomfortable pattern.

Subsidy? Announce it first; explain who pays later. Borders? Promise to open them first; explain which ones later.

A fixation so consuming that every grievance becomes a campaign promise, every hardship becomes an electoral weapon.

Atiku’s presidential ambition is beginning to look less like persistence and more like a marabout-inspired obsession with Aso Rock — the kind of fixation that turns every national problem into a campaign prop and every reckless idea into a “policy” so long as it sounds capable of moving him one inch closer to the presidency.

At some point, desperation stops looking like determination. It starts looking dangerous.

PETER OBI “JUST CAME TO PRAY” AT KOINONIA? HIS SPIRITUAL GPS HAS AN AMAZING SENSE OF ELECTION TIMING

Peter Obi is a Catholic. Yet there is something wonderfully ecumenical about Nigerian presidential elections: once campaign season begins, Obi’s spiritual GPS suddenly becomes remarkably good at locating some of Nigeria’s largest Pentecostal auditoriums.

This time, it was Apostle Joshua Selman’s Koinonia. And the most interesting question is surprisingly simple:

WHO INVITED PETER OBI? From Apostle Selman’s own words, Obi does not sound like somebody originally scheduled to address the congregation.
Selman said Obi had “just came and just sat quietly.” He then said he felt “stirred” to invite him forward for “a minute or two” merely to “bring greetings.”

Obi himself supplied the perfect explanation: “I believe we all came here for prayers.”

Very convenient. A Catholic presidential candidate simply attends one of Nigeria’s most influential Pentecostal gatherings eleven days after presidential campaigning officially began.

For prayers. Then the pastor notices him. The congregation cheers. The presidential candidate gets the microphone. And the “greetings” become: “We are the problem of the country.” “What is wrong in Nigeria is the leadership.” “Let God touch our hearts to use public money for public good.” “Let God touch us to stop stealing.”

Apparently the prayer meeting had acquired a brief State of the Nation address.

Perhaps everything happened exactly as Selman described it. But this is where Peter Obi’s history becomes relevant.

Because Nigerians saw something remarkably similar before the 2023 election.

The formula was almost perfect: Enter as a worshipper. Get recognised as Peter Obi. Receive thunderous applause. Get photographed before thousands of Christians. Let the clip go viral.

And afterwards insist: “I only went to church.” No party flag. No campaign jingle. No “vote for me.”

Yet everybody in the auditorium knows the man holding the microphone is asking Nigerians to make him President.AMAZING SENSE OF ELECTION TIMING.

Very soon Dunamis follows… Then Winners… Then RCCG… Then another major Pentecostal gathering… Nigerians should start keeping count.

Because Peter Obi may be Catholic.

But whenever presidential elections approach, his campaign calendar has historically displayed a remarkable Pentecostal awakening.

emkz:
https://www.thecable.ng/last-kick-of-a-dying-horse-tinubus-aide-tackles-atiku-over-presidents-age-claim/

ATIKU’S “OPEN NORTHERN BORDERS” AGENDA: WILL OPEN THE BORDERS TO GUNS, SMUGGLERS, BANDITS AND TERRORISTS? By CharlesCNG

ATIKU’S “OPEN NORTHERN BORDERS” AGENDA: IF THEY ARE ALREADY OPEN FOR LEGITIMATE TRADE, WHAT DOES HE WANT OPENED TO GUNS, SMUGGLERS AND BANDITS?

Atiku Abubakar appears so desperate to find another issue with which to attack Tinubu that he is now promising northern Nigerians:“I am going to reopen the borders.” But which borders?

Nigeria reopened its land border with Niger Republic in March 2024. Kamba and Tsamiya in Kebbi have also been reopened, while government says the country's major land borders are already open for legitimate commerce.

So cattle can cross legally. Onions can cross. Grains can cross. Traders can trade. What exactly does Atiku want made MORE “open”?

That question becomes frighteningly important when you remember which borders he is specifically talking about: Nigeria's NORTHERN borders with Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Atiku himself centred his argument on northern trans-border commerce.

These are not ordinary frontiers.

The Federal Government officially designated Lakurawa a terrorist organisation after it established operations in Sokoto and Kebbi, including Illela, Tangaza, Gudu, Binji and other communities. The official designation describes foreign fighters from Niger and Mali exploiting porous borders.

Illela! One of the very northern commercial corridors Atiku wants Nigerians to believe needs “opening.”
Someone needs to ask :Does OPEN mean easier movement through hundreds of kilometres of territory already challenged by banditry, arms trafficking and transnational terrorism?

Because borders do not recognise good intentions. The same route that carries a bag of onions can carry ammunition. The same corridor that moves cattle can move rustled livestock. The same uncontrolled crossing available to a trader is available to a gunrunner or terrorist courier.

This is why Nigeria Customs describes its current policy differently: facilitate legitimate trade while maintaining “strict compliance protocols” and stronger border governance.That is what responsible government should do.

OPEN FOR LEGITIMATE TRADE. CLOSED TO GUNS, SMUGGLERS, BANDITS AND TERRORISTS.

Atiku has not identified the major northern border he says Tinubu has closed. He has not identified the control he wants removed. He has not explained the additional security architecture that would accompany his proposed “opening.”

Yet he is already campaigning on it. This is becoming an uncomfortable pattern.

Subsidy? Announce it first; explain who pays later. Borders? Promise to open them first; explain which ones later.

A fixation so consuming that every grievance becomes a campaign promise, every hardship becomes an electoral weapon.

Atiku’s presidential ambition is beginning to look less like persistence and more like a marabout-inspired obsession with Aso Rock — the kind of fixation that turns every national problem into a campaign prop and every reckless idea into a “policy” so long as it sounds capable of moving him one inch closer to the presidency.

At some point, desperation stops looking like determination. It starts looking dangerous.

Ritchiee:
Those people are proving that they are illiterates.
Trump was convicted and he is a confirmed criminal,he is the president of the USA today.
President Tinubu has never been convicted by any court of law.He is clean.

Which brings us to an important point. pls read and share this

IF NIGERIANS HAVE ALREADY REJECTED TINUBU, WHY IS THE OPPOSITION STILL SEARCHING WASHINGTON FOR A SILVER BULLET?
By CharlesCNG

There is a contradiction at the heart of the opposition's 2027 messaging. We are repeatedly told Nigerians have rejected Bola Tinubu. That hardship has finished him. That he cannot win a credible election.

Why this extraordinary effort to avoid campaigning on the very issues they say have already doomed Tinubu — hardship, inflation, jobs and cost of living — while dissipating so much energy on a 33-year-old investigation and a disqualification argument that already travelled through Nigeria’s courts and died at the Supreme Court?

If Tinubu has truly been rejected on performance, why keep searching Washington for a silver bullet?

Atiku Abubakar has hired Washington firm Von Batten-Montague-York under a 12-month agreement worth $1.2 million. The registered mandate includes reputational strategy, congressional outreach and engagement with the U.S. government.

The firm has subsequently circulated Tinubu's old American forfeiture documents to U.S. officials and Congress, while Atiku himself has publicly urged the FBI to release whatever records can lawfully be disclosed.

Peter Obi is not part of Atiku's lobbying contract and they are rival candidates. But Obi too has opened his 2027 campaign by demanding scrutiny of candidates' backgrounds, credentials and records, with Tinubu's controversies plainly back in the political conversation.

What do they hope to gain? Simple: a political earthquake.

A genuinely damaging new disclosure could dominate headlines, revive old character questions, unsettle undecided voters, depress soft Tinubu support and move the 2027 campaign away from roads, reforms, inflation, wages and government performance towards one devastating question: WHAT IS INSIDE THE FILE?

That is legitimate politics. If new evidence exists, Nigerians are entitled to see what American law permits.

But politically, the strategy increasingly resembles a student who discovers three months before an examination that he has not covered enough of the syllabus.

Instead of relying entirely on studying harder, he begins hoping for a leaked question paper, an examiner scandal—or something dramatic that changes the examination itself.

Because if Tinubu is already as comprehensively rejected as his opponents insist, why does anyone need a $1.2 million Washington operation to help finish him?

A candidate who is already politically dead does not require an FBI file to kill him.

And that may be the most revealing thing about this entire campaign:

PERHAPS THE OPPOSITION'S ACTIONS SHOW MORE RESPECT FOR TINUBU'S ELECTORAL STRENGTH THAN ITS RHETORIC DOES.

aswani:
Morning, have you got any proof at all that this went past a glomar response?

Have you got any documentation showing this ruling against the "blanket" glomar response as I have searched high and low and asked repeatedly?

Also when did the US government publicly acknowledge this "subject of a wider criminal offence" thing, was it at a press conference or via a press release?

I am genuinely int in these information and my dear friend Ottersberger is too as it would help our ongoing discussion on another thread.

Thank you for your anticipated help.

Morning. Yes — and thank you for asking because the documentary proof is actually quite explicit.

First, on whether this ever went beyond a Glomar response:

On April 8, 2025, U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell ruled in Greenspan v. Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, Civil Action No. 23-1816, that the FBI and DEA’s Glomar responses concerning Tinubu were IMPROPER and “must be lifted.”

Even more importantly, her conclusion ordered: “The FBI and DEA must search for and process non-exempt records responsive to the FOIA requests.”

The CIA’s Glomar response, by contrast, was upheld. So there is really no ambiguity here: the FBI/DEA matter went beyond Glomar by express order of the federal court.

Here is the judgment itself:
[Judge Beryl Howell’s April 8, 2025 memorandum opinion](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1:2023cv01816/256792/48/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

Secondly, you asked an excellent question: when exactly did the U.S. Government “publicly acknowledge” that Tinubu was a subject of the wider investigation? Was there a press conference?

No. And this is where the legal meaning of “official acknowledgment” matters. The acknowledgment came through OFFICIAL U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE COURT FILINGS in 1993.

On July 26, 1993, DOJ filed a verified civil forfeiture complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. That complaint expressly incorporated by reference the affidavit of IRS Special Agent Kevin Moss.

Judge Howell ruled that because DOJ incorporated the Moss affidavit into its own complaint, DOJ legally adopted the affidavit’s statements as its own. She further explained that public DOJ court filings constitute official acknowledgment binding DOJ components such as the FBI and DEA.

Then comes Howell’s crucial finding:
Taken together, she held, those materials constituted an “official acknowledgment that Tinubu was one subject of a criminal investigation” involving, among others, the FBI and DEA.

That is why the FBI and DEA could no longer say: “We can neither confirm nor deny that such an investigation existed.”

DOJ itself had already confirmed it through its own public court filing. One important qualification, however:“Subject of an investigation” is NOT “criminally convicted.”

The ruling establishes that an investigation existed and defeats the FBI/DEA’s blanket Glomar response. It does NOT magically convert an investigation into a criminal conviction of Tinubu.

And none of this is unusual in American law. That is precisely why I cited the Donald Trump Mar-a-Lago case: courts can compel disclosure, reject blanket secrecy, and still permit lawful redactions protecting privacy, witnesses or investigative methods.

FOIA opens files. It does not pronounce guilt. So the documentary position is actually very clear:

YES — FBI and DEA originally issued Glomar responses. YES — Judge Howell expressly ruled those Glomar responses improper and ordered them lifted.

YES — Judge Howell held that DOJ had officially acknowledged Tinubu as one subject of the wider investigation and ordered the FBI and DEA to process responsive non-exempt records. But keep the calendar in view.

We are talking about an investigation dating back to 1992–93 — roughly 33 to 34 YEARS AGO — not a fresh FBI investigation of Tinubu in 2025 or 2026.

And about a decade after that investigation, in February 2003, the U.S. Consulate in Lagos responded to an inquiry from Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police after an FBI National Crime Information Center check. The result was negative for any criminal arrest record, want or warrant concerning Bola Tinubu.

That 2003 letter does NOT prove there was never an investigation — Judge Howell’s ruling now confirms there was one. But it does make an important distinction: INVESTIGATED IN THE EARLY 1990s does not mean ARRESTED, WANTED OR A FUGITIVE.

And today's FOIA litigation is about disclosure of records from that decades-old investigation. It is not evidence that the FBI has suddenly reopened a criminal case against Tinubu 33 years later.

NO — that official acknowledgment did not come from a press conference. It came from DOJ’s own publicly filed 1993 forfeiture complaint incorporating the Moss affidavit.

And NO — none of that is itself a criminal conviction.

I hope that helps your discussion with Ottersberger. The judgment itself is the best evidence because we don't have to rely on what either Tinubu’s supporters or opponents say. Judge Howell wrote it in black and white.

Penguin2:
Update: Last night, the @FBI and @DEAHQ presented the court with new filings concerning the alleged heroin-trafficking records involving President Bola Tinubu (@officialABAT). What is shocking is that we learned the FBI’s Tinubu-responsive search produced 399 pages of documents related to #Nigerian President Bola #Tinubu.

Within those records are materials tied to a drug-trafficking investigation involving #heroin-residue laboratory testing, controlled drug purchases by a cooperating witness, confidential informants, federal grand-jury activity, prosecutorial reports and meetings, surveillance, undercover operations, financial seizures, bank-account seizure warrants, IRS criminal-investigation material, and international investigative coordination.

President Bola #Tinubu's lies are falling apart; this case was never about a civil forfeiture case. The long speculation about whether serious law-enforcement records concerning President Tinubu exist is over. They do exist. The question now is simple: What is contained in those 399 pages that President Tinubu does not want the American and Nigerian people to see?

This is Dr. Von Batten. When my amazing team told me that there were 399 pages of @FBI and @DEAHQ documents linked to Nigeria's President Tinubu (@OfficialABAT), I thought I had heard wrong. 399 pages is a book. What was President Bola #Tinubu’s connection to the reported heroin-trafficking organization to warrant 399 pages of responsive FBI records?

I want to thank President @realDonaldTrump and the entire administration for being this transparent, unlike the @JoeBiden administration, which refused to even admit that it had files on Tinubu. The #Trump #DOJ has shown that it takes Tinubu’s claims that his life will be in danger seriously and is following the law, while at the same time making it known that the records concerning #Tinubu are tied to a serious drug-trafficking investigation.

https://x.com/batten_von/status/2093840800282988658?s=46

Nlfpmod
Mynd44
Fergie001

399 FBI PAGES ON TINUBU? 399 PAGES OF WHAT? By CharlesCNG

Suddenly, 399 has become the new magic number.

Atiku Abubakar's Washington lobbyist, Von Batten-Montague-York, says an FBI search produced 399 pages responsive to FOIA requests concerning Bola Tinubu.

Then comes the political leap: “399 pages is a book! What did Tinubu do to warrant 399 pages?”

Slow down.First, the public August 28 court notice does NOT say the FBI delivered “a 399-page Tinubu criminal dossier” to Judge Beryl Howell.

It confirms that confidential, ex parte, in-camera declarations were hand-delivered to the judge so the FBI can justify disputed REDACTIONS and WITHHOLDINGS. The 399-page figure and dramatic description of their contents are presently being promoted by Von Batten-Montague-York — Atiku's registered $1.2 million Washington lobbying firm.

That does not automatically make the number false. It means ATTRIBUTE IT CORRECTLY.

Second, “responsive record” does not mean “399 pages proving Tinubu trafficked heroin.”

FBI files naturally contain laboratory reports, informants, surveillance, grand-jury material, controlled purchases, financial records and investigative techniques concerning the INVESTIGATION AS A WHOLE.

Until the documents are released, nobody can honestly tell us how many of those 399 pages describe Tinubu personally, merely mention him, duplicate other records, discuss other suspects, or concern investigative procedure.

And the FBI itself—not Tinubu—is currently arguing that some information must remain withheld because disclosure could expose investigative techniques or endanger individuals.

Then comes the funniest line: “399 pages is a book.” Indeed. So is a telephone directory.

PAGE COUNT IS NOT A CONVICTION.

The FBI investigation was real. The $460,000 civil forfeiture was real. FBI records are real. But after thirty-three years, the missing documents remain remarkably simple: No Tinubu criminal indictment. No Tinubu drug-trafficking trial. No Tinubu criminal conviction.

So release whatever American law says should be released. Let Nigerians read it.

But until then, please don't convert 399 responsive pages into 399 pages of guilt.

That isn't a fact-check. That is a campaign brochure with page numbers.
Next ATIKU’S LOBBYIST SAYS “THIS WAS NEVER ABOUT CIVIL FORFEITURE.” JUDGE HOWELL’S OWN RULING SAYS OTHERWISE bY CharlesCNG

ProfesawFred:
By Prof. Fred — Writer, Political Analyst & Social Commentator

A fresh development has emerged in the long-running legal battle over US government records relating to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Tinubu has reportedly asked a United States federal court to prevent the public release of records held by American law-enforcement agencies, including the FBI and DEA, concerning historical investigations involving him. The request was made in a 16-page filing submitted in an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit.

The case was initiated by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who has been seeking records from US government agencies relating to investigations involving Tinubu dating back to the 1990s.

The records sought include FBI and DEA materials connected to those historical investigations.

The FBI has opposed the release of some of the records. The bureau has argued that revealing certain information could expose sensitive law-enforcement information and potentially put individuals at risk. It has therefore asked the court to allow some of its explanations and supporting material to be considered privately.

Tinubu has now formally intervened in the case.

His lawyers are asking the court to reject the request for the release of unredacted records, arguing that the documents are protected by privacy provisions under US law and that there is insufficient public interest to justify releasing the information.

The latest development is that the FBI has submitted disputed records to US District Judge Beryl Howell for private judicial review.

This is an important distinction: the records have not been released publicly.

Claims circulating on social media that the FBI has already released Tinubu's complete files therefore need to be treated with caution.

The controversy has its roots in events from the 1990s, including a 1993 US civil-forfeiture case involving approximately $460,000 connected to accounts associated with Tinubu.

However, readers should distinguish between an investigation, allegations, civil proceedings and a criminal conviction. The existence of an investigation or the withholding of records does not, by itself, establish that a person committed a crime.

The current legal battle is essentially about whether additional government records should be released under the US Freedom of Information Act and whether certain information should remain protected under applicable exemptions and privacy laws.

The case has attracted considerable attention in Nigeria because the documents being sought relate to a period in Tinubu's past that has been the subject of political controversy for years.

For now, the most important question is what Judge Beryl Howell will ultimately decide after reviewing the disputed material.

Will the court order the release of more records?

Will some of the documents remain sealed or redacted?

And what, if anything, will the records reveal?

Those questions remain unanswered.

What is your opinion?

Should Tinubu's FBI and DEA records be made public in the interest of transparency, or should his privacy be protected?

YES or NO — and why?

Let's hear your views in the comments. 👇


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXvYGdxn1Ps?si=Hb6umqdwJqJmN8UD

THE $460,000 TRUTH: DRUG-RELATED CIVIL FORFEITURE, YES. CRIMINAL CONVICTION, NO. By CharlesCNG

Let us stop insulting the documents.
One side says Bola Tinubu's $460,000 American forfeiture was basically “a tax issue.” The other says: “Tinubu was convicted in America for drug trafficking.”

Neither formulation accurately describes what happened.

The 1993 case was a CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE proceeding. The United States filed against MONEY IN BANK ACCOUNTS—not a criminal indictment charging Bola Tinubu with drug trafficking.
.
And the allegations were serious.
The Justice Department's complaint incorporated an IRS agent's affidavit stating that investigators had probable cause to believe funds in accounts controlled by Tinubu represented proceeds of drug trafficking or were involved in transactions violating U.S. money-laundering laws.
Judge Beryl Howell's 2025 FOIA judgment confirms that these filings officially acknowledged Tinubu as one subject of the wider criminal investigation involving the FBI and DEA. So no, I will not tell you “nothing happened.” Something happened.

But now read the settlement.

The First Heritage account itself held approximately $980,967 according to the government's affidavit, yet only $460,000 was ultimately forfeited; the roughly $521,000 balance was ordered released.

The Citibank funds were also released and the actions against them dismissed with prejudice. Why only $460,000? The documents do not give a specific evidentiary explanation. What they do show is a negotiated settlement: Tinubu and the other claimants DISPUTED that probable cause existed for the seizures, while the U.S. government agreed to return the rest in exchange for the $460,000 forfeiture and settlement of the case.
So it would be wrong to say a court found the remaining money “clean”—but equally wrong to pretend the U.S. government successfully forfeited the entire account.
“The government alleged the accounts were forfeitable. Yet of approximately $980,967 sitting in First Heritage alone, it settled for $460,000 and released the rest. That is another reason to describe the case as what it was: a negotiated civil forfeiture settlement, not a criminal conviction after trial.

There was no criminal plea. No criminal indictment against Tinubu. No criminal trial. No jury verdict finding him guilty. No criminal conviction.

That distinction later reached Nigeria's Presidential Election Petition Court when Peter Obi and Labour Party attempted to use the forfeiture as a criminal conviction disqualifying Tinubu. The court rejected it. The supreme upheld the court judgement. End of Legal Story.

It held that the case was a civil forfeiture proceeding against property—not a criminal prosecution of Tinubu—and that no indictment, arraignment, trial or criminal conviction had been established.

So the honest conclusion is uncomfortable for BOTH camps:

Drug-related civil forfeiture? YES. Criminal conviction for drug trafficking? NO.

The opposition cannot convert a forfeiture decree into a criminal conviction by typing “drug baron” in capital letters. And WE Tinubu's defenders should not try to wash a narcotics-related forfeiture proceeding into an innocent tax receipt.

The documents are serious enough. They don't need anybody's fiction.

Switruth:
You'll learn a bigger lesson. Kid.

Mad people everywhere

EVEN TRUMP'S FBI FILES WERE REDACTED: WHY BLACK INK IS NOT A CONFESSION By CharlesCNG

Apparently, in Nigerian politics, a blacked-out FBI paragraph has acquired magical powers. If information concerning Bola Tinubu is redacted, some immediately shout:

“WHAT ARE THEY HIDING?” Perhaps American law. Consider Donald Trump.

In August 2022, media organisations fought to obtain the affidavit the FBI used to search Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence. A federal judge agreed that the public should see it. Did he therefore order every word released? NO.

Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart permitted extensive redactions after the Justice Department argued that disclosure could expose witnesses, investigative methods, agents and information capable of damaging an ongoing investigation.

The released 38-page affidavit was heavily blacked out. Nobody sensible argued: “Look at all that black ink. Trump has therefore confessed.”

Now comes the delicious part. The SAME Judge Beryl Howell currently handling Aaron Greenspan's Tinubu FOIA litigation dealt with FBI records concerning Trump's Mar-a-Lago investigation in February 2025.

Howell rejected the FBI's attempt to withhold the investigative file wholesale under FOIA Exemption 7(A). Why?

Because the investigation had ended and the enforcement proceedings relied upon to justify that particular blanket exemption were no longer pending or reasonably anticipated.

Notice what American law did. 2022: PUBLIC INTEREST justified releasing Trump's affidavit — WITH REDACTIONS.

2025: PUBLIC INTEREST defeated the FBI's attempt to keep an entire Trump investigative file categorically secret under one exemption.

Those positions are not contradictory. FOIA is not an ON/OFF switch. A judge can say: “Process the records.” “Release what the law requires.”

“Justify what you withhold.” And still permit legitimate redactions protecting privacy, confidential sources, investigative techniques or other legally exempt information.

That is exactly why Tinubu's current argument over redactions should be decided on the individual exemptions and documents — not by Twitter psychology.

America did not abolish privacy law when the name on the file was Donald Trump. Why should we pretend it disappears when the name is Bola Tinubu?

Even Trump's Mar-a-Lago affidavit came out looking like a zebra. BLACK INK IS NOT A GUILTY VERDICT.

Switruth:
You have never read any article or write up here. You just grab things from the tail.... Oppositions wants to use your paymaster's drug issue for campaign... You should be worrying about the US not releasing the file cos Una go cry tire if they do.


Mad people everywhere

TINUBU'S FBI FILE: WHAT JUDGE BERYL HOWELL ACTUALLY RULED — AND WHAT SHE DIDN'T By CharlesCNG

There is a sentence circulating around the Tinubu-FBI controversy that sounds devastating: “A U.S. judge ordered the FBI to release Tinubu's files.” Close. But legally incomplete.

On April 8, 2025, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell handed Aaron Greenspan - David Hundeyin Partner- an important victory. She ruled that the FBI and DEA could no longer use a blanket “Glomar” response — refusing even to confirm or deny whether investigative records concerning Bola Tinubu existed. Why?

Because the U.S. Justice Department had already publicly acknowledged, through the old 1993 forfeiture filings, that Tinubu was one subject of a wider criminal investigation involving the FBI and DEA.
Once government itself had acknowledged the investigation, pretending that merely confirming its existence would invade Tinubu's privacy no longer made sense.

That is what Judge Howell ruled. But now observe what she DID NOT rule.

She did not rule that every page must be released unredacted. She did not say Tinubu had no privacy rights whatsoever.

In fact, Howell explicitly distinguished between two different things: Keeping secret THE FACT that somebody was investigated; and protecting particular CONTENTS inside investigative files.

The first argument had collapsed because the investigation was already officially acknowledged. The second could still support specific FOIA redactions and exemptions.

That distinction is precisely what Tinubu's lawyers are now arguing in their August 2026 filing. They are asking Howell to preserve FBI and DEA redactions protecting information they say remains exempt under U.S. privacy and law-enforcement provisions.

Greenspan can challenge those redactions. The judge can reject some. She can uphold others.

That is hardly unusual in American law.

When the affidavit supporting the[b] FBI's 2022 search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence[/b] was ordered released,

Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart allowed extensive REDACTIONS after the Justice Department argued that disclosure could endanger witnesses, expose investigative methods and compromise an ongoing investigation; more than half of the released affidavit was obscured.

Redaction did not magically become proof of Trump's guilt. Even more relevantly, in February 2025 the SAME Judge Beryl Howell now handling the Tinubu FOIA dispute rejected the FBI's attempt to withhold Trump's Mar-a-Lago investigative file categorically under FOIA Exemption 7(A), because the investigation and relevant enforcement proceedings had ended.
But Howell's ruling dealt with that blanket exemption; it did not establish some rule that every FBI page must always be published without lawful redactions.
The principle is simple: PUBLIC INTEREST CAN DEFEAT BLANKET SECRECY WITHOUT ABOLISHING PRIVACY AND LAW-ENFORCEMENT EXEMPTIONS.

So when somebody tells you: “Judge Howell already ordered EVERYTHING released and Tinubu is now desperately blocking the judgment,” ask them to show you where Howell wrote “everything.” They won't.

America did not abolish privacy law when the name was Donald Trump. It does not disappear because the name is Bola Tinubu. FOIA can force disclosure. It does not forbid lawful redactions.

Even Trump's Mar-a-Lago affidavit came out looking like a zebra. BLACK INK IS NOT A GUILTY VERDICT.

Kuginzi:
Nathaniel Shaibu and Yusuf Oketola

President Bola Tinubu has given the United States District Court for the District of Columbia four reasons why his unredacted records with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Agency should not be released to the public.

The President, in fillings made by his lawyers and published on Saturday, noted that the US Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act precluded disclosure and there was no public interest in the matter.

Tinubu also said there was no public interest to balance and the plaintiff had ulterior motives for demanding documents with his name on them.

His lawyers were identified as Christopher Carmichael, Victor Henderson and Oluwole Afolabi.

The President’s submission was in response to a request by an American transparency activist, Aaron Greenspan, which sought the disclosure of the records under the US Freedom of Information Act.

But opposition parties in the country kicked against the move, saying Nigerians deserved to know about the President’s past.

The controversy

The controversy surrounding Tinubu’s US law-enforcement history became a major issue in the build up to the February 25, 2023 presidential election after documents relating to a 1993 US civil forfeiture proceeding surfaced.

A US District Court in Illinois had ordered the forfeiture of $460,000 held in an account in Tinubu’s name after the US alleged that the funds represented proceeds of narcotics trafficking or were involved in prohibited financial transactions.

The All Progressives Congress, however, maintained during the presidential election petition proceedings that the case was a civil forfeiture proceeding and not a criminal conviction.

The Labour Party and then presidential candidate Peter Obi argued that the forfeiture amounted to a disqualifying conviction under the Constitution.

The Presidential Election Petition Court held in September 2023 that the petitioners had failed to establish that Tinubu was arrested, arraigned, convicted or sentenced in a criminal case in the US.

Ever since, the opposition and other interested parties have been making moves to get official information relating to Tinubu from the US.

The President’s reasons

Greenspan had argued that his requests concerned the “sitting President of Nigeria…” and “a nation of over 230 million people whose daily lives are directly affected by President Tinubu’s decisions”.

In his rejection of the FOIA request, Tinubu, according to the filings by his lawyer, urged the US District Court to reject the bid because it amounted to an attempt to obtain private information for political purposes in Nigeria.

The President’s lawyers noted that the request was made to provide access to information about government activities.

They specifically rejected the argument that the interest of Nigerians in Tinubu’s background constituted public interest recognised by US laws.

The team also rejected an argument on the President’s fitness for office, stating that “the asserted ‘public interest in Tinubu’s own fitness for office’ is not an interest FOIA recognises or one that needs to be balanced.”

The lawyers further argued that the records sought were protected by privacy provisions under FOIA and the US Privacy Act.

“The redacted information sought by the plaintiff is exempt from disclosure,” they stated, citing Exemption 7(C), which protects personal information contained in law-enforcement records.

The President’s legal team relied on a 1989 US Supreme Court decision, Department of Justice v Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, to argue that FOIA was designed to allow the public to know “what the government is up to” rather than provide access to information about private citizens.

They argued that Greenspan was seeking “disclosure of information about private citizens that is accumulated in various governmental files,” which, they said, “reveals little or nothing about an agency’s own conduct.”

'Records being sought for Nigerian politics’

Tinubu’s lawyers also challenged what they described as the political dimension of the request, arguing that Greenspan’s filings demonstrated a focus on obtaining documents containing the President’s name.

"All of plaintiff’s other critiques should be viewed in the context of plaintiff’s overarching goal,” the lawyers stated.

They added that Greenspan’s filings “overwhelmingly demonstrate that his singular focus is obtaining documents with intervenor’s ‘name on them.’”

The President’s legal team urged the court not to allow the FOIA process to become a means of obtaining information about a private individual simply because of his political position.

“If this court finds that the plaintiff cannot use FOIA to mine information in government files about a private individual, he should not be able to access documents with the intervenor’s name on them,’” the lawyers stated.

They further challenged claims that the records could reveal a secret prosecution or an agreement by US authorities not to prosecute Tinubu.

The team described such claims as speculative and unsupported by evidence.

The lawyers added, “Unsubstantiated allegations are easy to assert in filings, but insufficient to justify a request for information about an individual.”

They stated that Greenspan had failed to provide evidence capable of establishing that alleged government wrongdoing had occurred, as required by US case law.

“Plaintiff has not carried his burden to obtain law enforcement records that mention or identify a private individual,” they stated.

Tinubu seeks continued withholding

The President’s legal team also disputed the argument that his privacy interests had been extinguished because some information relating to the historical investigation had previously become public.

Greenspan had argued that the general nature of the investigation had been in the public domain since 1993.

But Tinubu’s lawyers said the 1993 forfeiture proceeding, including an affidavit filed in the case, did not disclose details or the outcome of any possible criminal investigation involving the President.

The lawyers maintained that even where portions of information had previously appeared in public records, an individual could retain a privacy interest in details that remained undisclosed.

They consequently asked the court to deny Greenspan’s motion for summary judgment and allow the FBI and DEA to maintain their redactions and withholding of the records.

Among the records sought are the “entire FBI file” on Tinubu and FBI Form 302 interview records involving him from 1992 to 1993.

In April 2025, US District Judge Beryl Howell ordered the FBI and DEA to lift their “Glomar” responses, under which the agencies had refused to confirm or deny whether responsive records existed, and directed them to process the requested records subject to applicable exemptions.

The FBI has subsequently sought to keep portions of the records from public disclosure, citing exemptions relating to law-enforcement information, privacy, investigative techniques and the potential safety of individuals.

The ongoing FOIA case concerns access to US government records and does not itself constitute a criminal prosecution or a finding that Tinubu committed a drug-trafficking offence.

https://punchng.com/four-reasons-us-shouldnt-release-my-fbi-records-tinubu/

TINUBU'S FBI FILE: WHAT JUDGE BERYL HOWELL ACTUALLY RULED — AND WHAT SHE DIDN'T By CharlesCNG

There is a sentence circulating around the Tinubu-FBI controversy that sounds devastating: “A U.S. judge ordered the FBI to release Tinubu's files.” Close. But legally incomplete.

On April 8, 2025, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell handed Aaron Greenspan - David Hundeyin Partner- an important victory. She ruled that the FBI and DEA could no longer use a blanket “Glomar” response — refusing even to confirm or deny whether investigative records concerning Bola Tinubu existed. Why?

Because the U.S. Justice Department had already publicly acknowledged, through the old 1993 forfeiture filings, that Tinubu was one subject of a wider criminal investigation involving the FBI and DEA.
Once government itself had acknowledged the investigation, pretending that merely confirming its existence would invade Tinubu's privacy no longer made sense.

That is what Judge Howell ruled. But now observe what she DID NOT rule.

She did not rule that every page must be released unredacted. She did not say Tinubu had no privacy rights whatsoever.

In fact, Howell explicitly distinguished between two different things: Keeping secret THE FACT that somebody was investigated; and protecting particular CONTENTS inside investigative files.

The first argument had collapsed because the investigation was already officially acknowledged. The second could still support specific FOIA redactions and exemptions.

That distinction is precisely what Tinubu's lawyers are now arguing in their August 2026 filing. They are asking Howell to preserve FBI and DEA redactions protecting information they say remains exempt under U.S. privacy and law-enforcement provisions.

Greenspan can challenge those redactions. The judge can reject some. She can uphold others.

That is hardly unusual in American law.

When the affidavit supporting the[b] FBI's 2022 search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence[/b] was ordered released,

Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart allowed extensive REDACTIONS after the Justice Department argued that disclosure could endanger witnesses, expose investigative methods and compromise an ongoing investigation; more than half of the released affidavit was obscured.

Redaction did not magically become proof of Trump's guilt. Even more relevantly, in February 2025 the SAME Judge Beryl Howell now handling the Tinubu FOIA dispute rejected the FBI's attempt to withhold Trump's Mar-a-Lago investigative file categorically under FOIA Exemption 7(A), because the investigation and relevant enforcement proceedings had ended.
But Howell's ruling dealt with that blanket exemption; it did not establish some rule that every FBI page must always be published without lawful redactions.
The principle is simple: PUBLIC INTEREST CAN DEFEAT BLANKET SECRECY WITHOUT ABOLISHING PRIVACY AND LAW-ENFORCEMENT EXEMPTIONS.

So when somebody tells you: “Judge Howell already ordered EVERYTHING released and Tinubu is now desperately blocking the judgment,” ask them to show you where Howell wrote “everything.” They won't.

America did not abolish privacy law when the name was Donald Trump. It does not disappear because the name is Bola Tinubu. FOIA can force disclosure. It does not forbid lawful redactions.

Even Trump's Mar-a-Lago affidavit came out looking like a zebra. BLACK INK IS NOT A GUILTY VERDICT.

ProfesawFred:
By Prof. Fred — Writer, Political Analyst & Social Commentator

A fresh development has emerged in the long-running legal battle over US government records relating to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Tinubu has reportedly asked a United States federal court to prevent the public release of records held by American law-enforcement agencies, including the FBI and DEA, concerning historical investigations involving him. The request was made in a 16-page filing submitted in an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit.

The case was initiated by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who has been seeking records from US government agencies relating to investigations involving Tinubu dating back to the 1990s.

The records sought include FBI and DEA materials connected to those historical investigations.

The FBI has opposed the release of some of the records. The bureau has argued that revealing certain information could expose sensitive law-enforcement information and potentially put individuals at risk. It has therefore asked the court to allow some of its explanations and supporting material to be considered privately.

Tinubu has now formally intervened in the case.

His lawyers are asking the court to reject the request for the release of unredacted records, arguing that the documents are protected by privacy provisions under US law and that there is insufficient public interest to justify releasing the information.

The latest development is that the FBI has submitted disputed records to US District Judge Beryl Howell for private judicial review.

This is an important distinction: the records have not been released publicly.

Claims circulating on social media that the FBI has already released Tinubu's complete files therefore need to be treated with caution.

The controversy has its roots in events from the 1990s, including a 1993 US civil-forfeiture case involving approximately $460,000 connected to accounts associated with Tinubu.

However, readers should distinguish between an investigation, allegations, civil proceedings and a criminal conviction. The existence of an investigation or the withholding of records does not, by itself, establish that a person committed a crime.

The current legal battle is essentially about whether additional government records should be released under the US Freedom of Information Act and whether certain information should remain protected under applicable exemptions and privacy laws.

The case has attracted considerable attention in Nigeria because the documents being sought relate to a period in Tinubu's past that has been the subject of political controversy for years.

For now, the most important question is what Judge Beryl Howell will ultimately decide after reviewing the disputed material.

Will the court order the release of more records?

Will some of the documents remain sealed or redacted?

And what, if anything, will the records reveal?

Those questions remain unanswered.

What is your opinion?

Should Tinubu's FBI and DEA records be made public in the interest of transparency, or should his privacy be protected?

YES or NO — and why?

Let's hear your views in the comments. 👇


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXvYGdxn1Ps?si=Hb6umqdwJqJmN8UD

THE AMAZING FUGITIVE WHO KEPT RETURNING TO AMERICA: TINUBU'S “ESCAPE FROM THE US” STORY MEETS A CALENDAR
By CharlesCNG

Professor Fred has introduced us to perhaps the most relaxed fugitive in American history.

According to his YouTube narration, Bola Tinubu was arrested and investigated in America, then somehow “managed to escape and return back to Nigeria.” There is one tiny problem.

Apparently, nobody remembered to tell America that Tinubu had escaped. Let us begin with something stronger than partisan argument.

In 2003, following inquiries from Nigeria, a U.S. Consulate response based on an FBI National Crime Information Center check reportedly found nothing indicating that Tinubu had ever been arrested or was wanted for a crime in the United States. That does NOT mean there was no investigation. We now know there was.

It means “investigated” and “arrested fugitive” are two completely different English expressions.

Then our fugitive apparently developed a strange hobby: RETURNING TO AMERICA.

In January 2009, Tinubu travelled to Washington during Barack Obama's inauguration. In 2012, he spent roughly a week in the United States, with documented engagements in WASHINGTON, CHICAGO and CHARLOTTE.

He delivered a lecture at the Wilson Center. He participated in events in Chicago. He attended the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. Apparently America's fugitive desk was on lunch break for the entire trip.

Then came September 2023. Tinubu flew openly into NEW YORK as President of Nigeria for the United Nations General Assembly. Not through a bush path. Not disguised as someone's hand luggage. He addressed the UN General Assembly and held meetings in New York.

Still no handcuffs. Still no U.S. marshal shouting: “STOP THAT MAN! HE ESCAPED IN 1993!”

And then comes my favourite. August 2025. The Nigerian Presidency officially announced Tinubu's arrival in Brazil and stated that he had flown there from LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES.

So let us review our extraordinary fugitive: 1993: supposedly escapes America. 2003: FBI-related criminal-record check reportedly finds no record that he was arrested or wanted. 2009: Washington. 2012: Washington. 2012: Chicago. 2012: Charlotte. 2023: New York. 2025: Los Angeles.

At some point we must ask: WHAT EXACTLY DOES “ESCAPE” MEAN IN THIS STORY?

Because fugitives normally avoid the jurisdiction from which they supposedly escaped. This particular fugitive appears to collect American cities.

And the legal history makes the story even more difficult. Yes, Tinubu was one subject of a wider American narcotics-related investigation.
Yes, $460,000 connected with an account in his name was forfeited in a 1993 CIVIL forfeiture proceeding. Yes, FBI and DEA records relating to that investigation exist.

Those are uncomfortable facts. They should not be denied. But none of them automatically creates an arrest. None establishes a criminal prosecution. None produces a criminal conviction. And none proves an escape from American custody.

In 2023, Peter Obi and the Labour Party placed the American forfeiture documents before Nigeria's Presidential Election Petition Court and attempted to use them to establish a criminal conviction capable of disqualifying Tinubu. The tribunal rejected that argument, holding that no U.S. criminal arrest, charge, trial or conviction against Tinubu had been established.

Then came the part that should not disappear from the story. OBI APPEALED. ATIKU APPEALED.

On October 26, 2023, a seven-member panel of the SUPREME COURT unanimously dismissed the presidential-election appeals and affirmed Tinubu's election.

Under Section 235 of Nigeria's Constitution, decisions of the Supreme Court are final. That does not stop American courts from deciding what FBI documents must be released under FOIA. It does not prevent journalists from investigating Tinubu's past.

But the attempt to turn the $460,000 civil forfeiture into a criminal conviction disqualifying Tinubu from the 2023 presidency travelled through Nigeria's courts all the way to the final court. IT LOST.

You can reopen an FBI filing cabinet. You cannot pretend that means the 2023 Supreme Court judgment never happened.

And there is another chronological problem. Tinubu's documented political “escape” occurred in the OPPOSITE direction.

He was elected a Nigerian senator in 1992. After the June 12 crisis and Abacha's crackdown on pro-democracy activists, Tinubu went into exile from NIGERIA in 1994.

So Professor Fred somehow transformed: TINUBU ESCAPED ABACHA'S NIGERIA INTO EXILE into: TINUBU ESCAPED AMERICAN CUSTODY BACK TO NIGERIA.

That is not a small factual error. That is a U-turn across the Atlantic Ocean.

The test is therefore remarkably simple. If Tinubu was arrested in America: SHOW US THE ARREST RECORD. If he was detained:SHOW US THE CUSTODY RECORD. If he escaped: SHOW US THE ESCAPE RECORD.

If America wanted its fugitive back: SHOW US THE WARRANT.

Because “Tinubu escaped” does not become historical fact merely because somebody says it dramatically on YouTube.

After Washington, Chicago, Charlotte, New York and Los Angeles, the United States appears to have had an extraordinary number of opportunities to recapture its supposedly missing prisoner.

Perhaps the fugitive was simply too easy to find.

Obogidi:
This mindset can't forward country progress, go and get your PVC, the of you, and your generation lies with how you vote,

They know there is NO realistic pathway for Peter Obi in 2027.
2023 was probably his perfect political storm: the element of surprise, massive youth enthusiasm, fresh packaging and widespread protest votes.
And even that wasn't enough.

Now the surprise is gone. The packaging has been opened, examined and scrutinised. Worse, Obi himself has spent the years since 2023 demarketing parts of the carefully constructed image that powered his campaign.

bigpicture001:
Yesufu does not seem to understand OBi..

He doesn't want to be any form of Godfather or power broker..

He just want to be a simple man who brings his suitcase to ur office..u tell him what is required of him to be your candidate, he does it..ND do his job and go..

He doesn't want all this midnight political meetings, and meetings and maneauvaring..

He doesn't want to be calling the shots in party matters, controlling every event or candidates that seek political post..Obi believes, he isn't different from an aspiring councillor in his party..that they are all seeking same thing but at different level..

Aisha, just didn't know Obi rightly, she thought he has cornered a man she can tell the world is different but inside inside the man will still b the same on code and be a power broker in intra politicical affairs..

He just doesn't want control of people or system aside that he is elected to supervise...Obi also didn't use any of the slot he was assigned in the entire southeast..it's not about just Aisha..

In the southeast, most politicians feels Obi called the shot of the consensus candidates..that's why one went to headquaters to complain and was told to meet OBi since he has been allocated the influence of all candidates in the southeast...

Them call obi tire to come organize primaries..he refused and told them to.meet their respective chairmen..who has the structural right to organize elections


But trust politicians, they want to be favoured, so they rushed to kwankwaso who like our normal politicians played God on their affairs and cashed out...

Aisha should practice what she preaches, OBI is truly different for real..not just to the press!

In a nutshell,the man does not want any problems at all. If there is a problem ,he just moves on.
Poor Aisha.

CharlesCNG:
ATIKU ABUBAKAR’S TWITTER SUPPORTER WRITES OPEN LETTER TO PETER OBI: PLEASE STEP DOWN AND HELP ATIKU

Now we are getting somewhere. For months, the great opposition buzzword has been: UNITY.
G100 says the opposition must unite behind ONE candidate because fragmentation could hand Tinubu another victory. Its August 31 summit is explicitly intended to explore a common presidential candidate.

But eventually, “one candidate” requires answering the question everybody has been carefully walking around like a puddle in white trousers: WHO STEPS DOWN? And suddenly, an open appeal attributed to prominent Atiku supporter Jamilu Sufi provides an interesting answer:PETER OBI. 😂

The letter acknowledges Obi’s 6.1 million votes in 2023, acknowledges his political base — and then essentially says: “Wonderful movement you have there, Peter. Now kindly pack it up and bring it to Atiku.” 😂

So apparently the mathematics of “opposition unity” is: ATIKU + OBI = TINUBU DEFEATED.
But curiously, the equation is NEVER: OBI + ATIKU = OBI.

Somehow: OBI + ATIKU = ATIKU. Every time!

This is beginning to look less like coalition mathematics and more like a restaurant where everybody is invited to contribute ingredients — but Atiku must always eat the food. 😂 And this is where G100 deserves scrutiny.

G100 officially says no individual has an inherent right to lead and that personal ambition must be subordinated to national interest. Beautiful principle. But among its prominent signatories are Dr Ladan Salihu — Atiku’s 2023 presidential campaign media adviser — and Salihu Lukman, alongside other opposition figures and known Atiku supporters.

So everybody must surrender personal ambition. Excellent. WHO GOES FIRST? Because coalition negotiations cannot resemble two men lying politely to each other:

ATIKU CAMP: “We only want what is best for Nigeria.”

OBI CAMP: “Wonderful. So Atiku will step down?”

ATIKU CAMP: “Ah... when we said Nigeria, we meant Atiku.” 😂

And former Atiku adviser Umar Ardo in an arise interview last weekend, has supplied perhaps the most revealing diagnosis of all:Atiku is unlikely to step down. Obi might. But Obi may not be able to carry his supporters with him.

There lies the entire comedy. They are discussing Obi’s 6.1 million voters as though they are six million bags of rice sitting in a warehouse waiting for somebody to change the delivery address. OBI SUPPORTERS ARE VOTERS, NOT LUGGAGE.

Peter Obi can endorse Atiku tomorrow morning. That does not mean millions of Nigerians automatically climb into his political wheelbarrow and allow themselves to be pushed to Atiku.

And underneath all this sits the opposition’s bigger problem: YOU CANNOT DEFEAT SOMEBODY WITH NOBODY.

“Tinubu must go” is not a presidential candidate. “The opposition” is not on the ballot. “Coalition” has no INEC logo. Eventually somebody must have a name.

And the moment that name emerges, all this beautiful poetry about sacrifice suddenly meets the brutal prose of personal ambition. So before G100’s August 31 summit produces its magical SINGLE CANDIDATE, perhaps somebody should answer one small question: WHY IS THE SACRIFICE ALWAYS SOMEBODY ELSE’S AMBITION?

Because “opposition unity” cannot mean:EVERYBODY PUT NIGERIA FIRST! ...and then, in very small print underneath:

BY “NIGERIA,” WE MEAN ATIKU. 😂

ATIKU’S “OPEN NORTHERN BORDERS” AGENDA: WILL OPEN THE BORDERS TO GUNS, SMUGGLERS, BANDITS AND TERRORISTS?

ATIKU’S “OPEN NORTHERN BORDERS” AGENDA: IF THEY ARE ALREADY OPEN FOR LEGITIMATE TRADE, WHAT DOES HE WANT OPENED TO GUNS, SMUGGLERS AND BANDITS?

Atiku Abubakar appears so desperate to find another issue with which to attack Tinubu that he is now promising northern Nigerians:“I am going to reopen the borders.” But which borders?

Nigeria reopened its land border with Niger Republic in March 2024. Kamba and Tsamiya in Kebbi have also been reopened, while government says the country's major land borders are already open for legitimate commerce.

So cattle can cross legally. Onions can cross. Grains can cross. Traders can trade. What exactly does Atiku want made MORE “open”?

That question becomes frighteningly important when you remember which borders he is specifically talking about: Nigeria's NORTHERN borders with Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Atiku himself centred his argument on northern trans-border commerce.

These are not ordinary frontiers.

The Federal Government officially designated Lakurawa a terrorist organisation after it established operations in Sokoto and Kebbi, including Illela, Tangaza, Gudu, Binji and other communities. The official designation describes foreign fighters from Niger and Mali exploiting porous borders.

Illela! One of the very northern commercial corridors Atiku wants Nigerians to believe needs “opening.”
Someone needs to ask :Does OPEN mean easier movement through hundreds of kilometres of territory already challenged by banditry, arms trafficking and transnational terrorism?

Because borders do not recognise good intentions. The same route that carries a bag of onions can carry ammunition. The same corridor that moves cattle can move rustled livestock. The same uncontrolled crossing available to a trader is available to a gunrunner or terrorist courier.

This is why Nigeria Customs describes its current policy differently: facilitate legitimate trade while maintaining “strict compliance protocols” and stronger border governance.That is what responsible government should do.

OPEN FOR LEGITIMATE TRADE. CLOSED TO GUNS, SMUGGLERS, BANDITS AND TERRORISTS.

Atiku has not identified the major northern border he says Tinubu has closed. He has not identified the control he wants removed. He has not explained the additional security architecture that would accompany his proposed “opening.”

Yet he is already campaigning on it. This is becoming an uncomfortable pattern.

Subsidy? Announce it first; explain who pays later. Borders? Promise to open them first; explain which ones later.

A fixation so consuming that every grievance becomes a campaign promise, every hardship becomes an electoral weapon.

Atiku’s presidential ambition is beginning to look less like persistence and more like a marabout-inspired obsession with Aso Rock — the kind of fixation that turns every national problem into a campaign prop and every reckless idea into a “policy” so long as it sounds capable of moving him one inch closer to the presidency.

At some point, desperation stops looking like determination. It starts looking dangerous.

FSBoperator:
Giringori is a useless and failed politician

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1DkgmkGo7C/
Mama Pee or mama poo has taken over from Aisha yesufu. So if Aisha says she will not be part of the 2027 campaign team, Mama poo will play the role Aisha played in 2023.
Click on the link for a trailer

Before anybody calls NDLEA, calm down. I am NOT suggesting that David Umahi takes cocaine, Indian hemp, tramadol or anything remotely illegal.

I am asking a different question: WHAT EXACTLY IS PUMPING THIS MAN'S ADRENALINE?

David Nweze Umahi is 62 years old. He comes from Umunaga, Uburu, in Ohaozara LGA of Ebonyi State, the son of Elder Joseph Umahi Nwaze and Margaret Umahi.
He attended Umunaga Primary School, Ishiagu High School and Government Secondary School, Afikpo, before studying Civil Engineering at the university now known as Enugu State University of Science and Technology, graduating in 1987.

Then came construction. Before politics swallowed him, Umahi had spent years in engineering and construction businesses. Perhaps that explains something.

Because watch this man's movements. On July 31, he was in Onueke, Ebonyi State, inspecting the Calabar–Ebonyi–Benue–Nasarawa–Abuja Superhighway. [b ]August 4 [/b]: Kaduna State, flagging off the 122km Mando–Birnin Gwari Road.

August 5/6 : he was inspecting the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway works in Ondo, discussing the 28km Ogun section, 52km Ondo section, difficult terrain, waterways, concrete pavement and construction timetable. August 10: back at the Federal Ministry of Works headquarters in Abuja.

August 24: Ibadan, flagging off the dualisation of the Ibadan–Ijebu Ode Road.
Then Nigerians began screaming about the nightmare on the Benin–Agbor–Asaba corridor. August 25: Umahi headed for Benin.

Not a press release from Abuja. HE WENT TO THE ROAD.He met stakeholders, inspected the mess and apologised to stranded motorists.

Then he continued along the corridor.
By August 28, he was inspecting the Agbor–Asaba–Onitsha axis and was so furious with the state of an 11km contract that he ordered the arrest of the managing director of the contractor, alleging that roughly ₦14 billion had been paid while only about 40% of the agreed work had been delivered.

This is essentially ONE MONTH in the diary of a 62-year-old man. Ebonyi Kaduna. Ondo. Abuja Oyo. Edo. Delta.

Road sites. Contractors. Engineers. National Assembly committees. Flag-offs. Inspections. Meetings. Arguments over concrete thickness. Drainage. Bridges. Failed contractors. Concessionaires. And repeat.

President Tinubu recently said something revealing about him: Umahi, he said, does not simply sit in his office and depend on reports from subordinates. He is constantly travelling around the country personally monitoring construction.

So I return to my question: WHAT DRUGS DOES DAVID UMAHI TAKE?

Maybe the first drug is ENGINEERING. This is not a lawyer supervising engineers or a career politician learning road construction from briefing notes. The man is a civil engineer who spent decades around construction before becoming Minister of Works.

Put him beside a failed pavement and he starts talking about water tables. Mention asphalt and he wants to discuss concrete. Show him a flooded highway and he starts talking drainage. Show him a contractor moving too slowly and suddenly everybody's blood pressure rises.

Maybe the second drug is OBSESSION. Umahi appears to approach the Works Ministry less like a politician occupying a portfolio and more like an engineer who has somehow been handed the keys to Nigeria's entire road network.

Maybe the third is COMPETITION. He clearly wants roads constructed under his watch to become physical monuments that Nigerians will still be driving on decades from now.

And perhaps the strongest drug is PATRIOTISM.
But there is another obligation in public commentary: WHEN A MAN IS WORKING, ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HE IS WORKING.

I have followed Nigerian Ministers of Works for years. I cannot remember many occasions when Nigerians could so easily follow a Works Minister from construction site to construction site across the federation.

Tinubu gave an ENGINEER the Works Ministry. And whatever else history eventually says about that decision, nobody can reasonably accuse David Umahi of treating the job as a retirement posting.

So, Minister... WHAT DRUGS DO YOU TAKE? Because if the answer is engineering, passion, competition and patriotism...

Please don't stop the medication.

CharlesCNG:
TINUBU INFRASTRUCTURE FILES — PART 3 OF 10 LAGOS–CALABAR: STOP CALLING IT A “LAGOS ROAD” By CharlesCNG

One criticism of the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway has aged particularly badly: “It is just another Lagos road.”

Some even predicted that the project would never get beyond Epe. Well, there is now a simple problem with that argument: THE ROAD HAS ALREADY GONE BEYOND EPE.

The Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway is designed as an approximately 750km economic corridor spanning nine states:Lagos. Ogun. Ondo.
Edo. Delta. Bayelsa. Rivers. Akwa Ibom. Cross River.

That is not a Lagos road. That is a national coastal highway.And construction is no longer confined to Lagos.

In August 2026, Works Minister David Umahi inspected Section 4B in Ondo and gave an unusually detailed update.

According to the ministry, work was progressing on approximately 28km in Ogun and 52km in Ondo. At the opposite end of the country, approximately 27km was under construction around Calabar, while the first Akwa Ibom section was approximately 47km.

The ministry reported the latter sections at more than 60 percent progress. Then comes an even bigger Akwa Ibom component.

In May 2026, the Federal Government signed an agreement covering a new Section 5 alignment of approximately 82.8km of dual carriageway in Akwa Ibom. So how exactly is this a “Lagos road”?

There is another reason Akwa Ibom and Cross River matter. TERRAIN.

These are not simply bulldozers driving across convenient dry land.

Sections 3A and 3B through Akwa Ibom and Cross River cover about 71.4km and involve substantial earthworks through difficult terrain. The alignment was even adjusted to avoid an approximately 19km swamp.

This is precisely why comparing the cost of a coastal superhighway kilometre with an ordinary inland road kilometre can become misleading.
You are dealing with bridges, drainage, earthworks, swamp conditions, shoreline considerations and enormous quantities of fill.

Meanwhile, Lagos itself has moved beyond artistic renderings.Thirty kilometres of Section 1 were opened to traffic in December 2025. Section 2 towards covering ogun state ,with a new port schedule for the waterside area, has continued advancing.

Ogun is active. Ondo is active. Akwa Ibom is active. Cross River is active.

And further sections are being prepared. The engineering is also significant.

The highway is being constructed using rigid concrete pavement rather than conventional flexible asphalt on major stretches — part of the Tinubu administration’s wider experiment with longer-life concrete highways.

Now, none of this means Nigerians should stop asking questions. Ask about cost.Ask about procurement. ask about compensation.

Ask about environmental impact. Ask about financing. Ask whether deadlines will be met.

Those are legitimate questions involving a project of this magnitude.

But “it will end in Epe” is no longer serious criticism.

You cannot stand in Lagos and declare that a road does not exist in Akwa Ibom while construction equipment is physically working there.

And this is the larger point. The Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway should ultimately be judged not by Tinubu’s speeches or his critics’ predictions, but by kilometres actually delivered.

Lagos. Ogun.Ondo.Edo. Delta. Bayelsa. Rivers. Akwa Ibom. Cross River. That is the test.

And kilometre by kilometre, the evidence is beginning to answer the argument. Pls wait the video evidence of all will soon be released.

NEXT: Sokoto–Badagry — The Other Superhighway Nobody Talks About.

CharlesCNG

WHAT DRUGS DOES DAVID UMAHI TAKE? By CharlesCNG

Before anybody calls NDLEA, calm down. I am NOT suggesting that David Umahi takes cocaine, Indian hemp, tramadol or anything remotely illegal.

I am asking a different question: WHAT EXACTLY IS PUMPING THIS MAN'S ADRENALINE?

David Nweze Umahi is 62 years old. He comes from Umunaga, Uburu, in Ohaozara LGA of Ebonyi State, the son of Elder Joseph Umahi Nwaze and Margaret Umahi.
He attended Umunaga Primary School, Ishiagu High School and Government Secondary School, Afikpo, before studying Civil Engineering at the university now known as Enugu State University of Science and Technology, graduating in 1987.

Then came construction. Before politics swallowed him, Umahi had spent years in engineering and construction businesses. Perhaps that explains something.

Because watch this man's movements. On July 31, he was in Onueke, Ebonyi State, inspecting the Calabar–Ebonyi–Benue–Nasarawa–Abuja Superhighway. August 4: Kaduna State, flagging off the 122km Mando–Birnin Gwari Road.

August 5/6: he was inspecting the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway works in Ondo, discussing the 28km Ogun section, 52km Ondo section, difficult terrain, waterways, concrete pavement and construction timetable. August 10: back at the Federal Ministry of Works headquarters in Abuja.

August 24: Ibadan, flagging off the dualisation of the Ibadan–Ijebu Ode Road.
Then Nigerians began screaming about the nightmare on the Benin–Agbor–Asaba corridor. August 25: Umahi headed for Benin.

Not a press release from Abuja. HE WENT TO THE ROAD.He met stakeholders, inspected the mess and apologised to stranded motorists.

Then he continued along the corridor.
By August 28, he was inspecting the Agbor–Asaba–Onitsha axis and was so furious with the state of an 11km contract that he ordered the arrest of the managing director of the contractor, alleging that roughly ₦14 billion had been paid while only about 40% of the agreed work had been delivered.

This is essentially ONE MONTH in the diary of a 62-year-old man. Ebonyi Kaduna. Ondo. Abuja Oyo. Edo. Delta.

Road sites. Contractors. Engineers. National Assembly committees. Flag-offs. Inspections. Meetings. Arguments over concrete thickness. Drainage. Bridges. Failed contractors. Concessionaires. And repeat.

President Tinubu recently said something revealing about him: Umahi, he said, does not simply sit in his office and depend on reports from subordinates. He is constantly travelling around the country personally monitoring construction.

So I return to my question: WHAT DRUGS DOES DAVID UMAHI TAKE?

Maybe the first drug is ENGINEERING. This is not a lawyer supervising engineers or a career politician learning road construction from briefing notes. The man is a civil engineer who spent decades around construction before becoming Minister of Works.

Put him beside a failed pavement and he starts talking about water tables. Mention asphalt and he wants to discuss concrete. Show him a flooded highway and he starts talking drainage. Show him a contractor moving too slowly and suddenly everybody's blood pressure rises.

Maybe the second drug is OBSESSION. Umahi appears to approach the Works Ministry less like a politician occupying a portfolio and more like an engineer who has somehow been handed the keys to Nigeria's entire road network.

Maybe the third is COMPETITION. He clearly wants roads constructed under his watch to become physical monuments that Nigerians will still be driving on decades from now.

And perhaps the strongest drug is PATRIOTISM.
But there is another obligation in public commentary: WHEN A MAN IS WORKING, ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HE IS WORKING.

I have followed Nigerian Ministers of Works for years. I cannot remember many occasions when Nigerians could so easily follow a Works Minister from construction site to construction site across the federation.

Tinubu gave an ENGINEER the Works Ministry. And whatever else history eventually says about that decision, nobody can reasonably accuse David Umahi of treating the job as a retirement posting.

So, Minister... WHAT DRUGS DO YOU TAKE? Because if the answer is engineering, passion, competition and patriotism...

Please don't stop the medication.

Mynd44:
I doubt Bello will respond publicly, he seems to be the cool-headed one and Bahir is more vocal.

Just Vocal? No. The guy is a stark raving lunatic!!

Being vocal means expressing strong opinions fearlessly. It does not mean threatening people. It does not mean dragging wives, children, fertility and private family matters into disagreements. It does not mean responding to insults with threats of death.

And it certainly does not mean repeatedly saying outrageous things, deleting them after public outrage and later admitting that your own words were reckless.

Bashir once responded to an X user who insulted his mother by threatening to find the man and “unalive” both him and his family.

In March 2026, he described Vice-President Kashim Shettima as “painfully spineless.” Weeks later, Bashir apologised. His own description of the tweet? “It was a reckless tweet.” mentally unstable guy!

Now look at what has happened with his own brother Bello.

A potentially legitimate political disagreement about loyalty to their father quickly descended into allegations of cocaine and alcohol abuse and extraordinarily intimate attacks on Bello’s private life. Those drug allegations remain unverified.

This is why I refuse to romanticise this behaviour as merely “speaking his mind.” Speaking your mind requires courage.
Controlling your mouth requires character.

Like Father , like Son.
Thank God . Bello took after his gentle Mother.

CharlesCNG:
TINUBU INFRASTRUCTURE FILES — PART 4 OF 10 SOKOTO–BADAGRY: THE OTHER SUPERHIGHWAY NOBODY TALKS ABOUT
By CharlesCNG

Everybody knows Lagos–Calabar. But ask the average Nigerian about the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway and you may get a blank stare.

Yet this may ultimately become one of the most consequential roads in Nigeria. Approximately 1,068 kilometres.

Six lanes. Three lanes in each direction. Concrete pavement. Street lighting.And a route stretching from Illela in Sokoto State, near Nigeria’s border with Niger Republic, through: Sokoto. Kebbi. Niger. Kwara. Oyo. Ogun. And finally Lagos.

Think about that geography for a moment. This is essentially a massive NORTH–SOUTH economic artery. And here is the fascinating part: The idea is more than FOUR DECADES OLD.

The Sokoto–Badagry corridor was conceived during the Shehu Shagari era but never became reality on anything approaching today's scale.
Tinubu revived it.

And unlike some grand Nigerian infrastructure announcements, construction is physically underway. The longest state section is in Kebbi — approximately 258km.

By May 2026, engineers reported that concrete pavement had already been laid across approximately 19km of the Kebbi section, alongside earthworks, stone base, filling and street-light installation.

Section 2A was reported at approximately 40 percent completion. Section 2B: approximately 16 percent.
In Sokoto, construction activity has also been reported around communities including Silame, Katame, Gade and Binji.

And the engineering itself matters. This is not being designed as another narrow interstate road patched every few years.
The highway is being constructed as a three-lane-per-direction dual carriageway using continuously reinforced concrete pavement.

The design also incorporates street lighting, modern digital signage and CCTV surveillance. But the biggest story is not concrete. It is ECONOMICS.

Consider what northern Nigeria produces. Rice. Tomatoes. Onions. Livestock. Grains. And enormous quantities of other agricultural products.

Now consider the cost of moving those products across Nigeria on slow, deteriorated roads. Transport time becomes food inflation. Vehicle damage becomes food inflation. Spoilage becomes food inflation. Logistics inefficiency eventually appears in the price Nigerians pay at the market.

A high-capacity corridor from the far North-West towards major southern markets and the Lagos/Badagry axis changes that equation.
Kebbi officials have specifically highlighted the potential for tomatoes, onions and other perishables to reach distant markets faster, reducing losses.

There is another dimension. AGRICULTURE.

Government officials say the broader corridor interacts with numerous dams and irrigation opportunities, potentially supporting year-round agricultural production along parts of the route. And another: REGIONAL TRADE.

The highway begins around Illela, one of Nigeria’s important gateways towards Niger Republic and the wider Sahel.At the opposite end sits the Lagos/Badagry commercial corridor and access towards Atlantic trade.

So when somebody tells you Tinubu is building infrastructure only in Lagos, don't argue for twenty paragraphs. Ask one question:

WHERE DOES THE 1,068KM SOKOTO–BADAGRY SUPERHIGHWAY START? Sokoto. Then bring the construction figures from Kebbi.

This is what I mean when I say Nigeria should stop discussing roads merely as political gifts to individual states.

A serious highway is an economic corridor. A tomato farmer in Kebbi benefits. A transporter benefits. A trader in Oyo benefits.
A logistics company benefits. A port-bound exporter benefits. And ultimately, the consumer benefits.

The real question is therefore not whether Sokoto–Badagry sounds impressive. It is whether Tinubu can FINISH it.

That is the standard Nigerians should hold him to.

Because if Nigeria actually completes a 1,068km high-capacity concrete highway linking the Sahel-facing North-West with the Atlantic-facing South-West, nobody will need a government spokesman to explain its significance.

The road itself will make the argument.

NEXT: Why Tinubu And Umahi Are Betting On Concrete.

WHY TINUBU AND UMAHI ARE BETTING ON CONCRETE By CharlesCNG.

Tinubu is not merely changing Nigeria's roads. His government is gradually changing WHAT Nigerian roads are made of.

For decades, asphalt has dominated Nigerian highway construction. Asphalt itself is not the enemy. Properly designed asphalt roads, with good drainage, correct materials, axle-load control and proper maintenance, can perform very well.

Nigeria's problem is the environment in which many of our roads operate. Heavy rainfall. High water tables. Failed drainage. Flooding. Extreme heat. Petroleum tankers and overloaded trucks. Then years of inadequate maintenance.

Water gets beneath weakened pavement, heavy trucks repeatedly load it, potholes develop, and government eventually returns to reconstruct portions of the same highway.

Tinubu and Works Minister David Umahi are increasingly betting on another solution for major corridors: CONTINUOUSLY REINFORCED CONCRETE PAVEMENT — CRCP.
Unlike ordinary concrete slabs separated by frequent joints, CRCP contains continuous steel reinforcement. Small cracks are deliberately controlled and held tightly together by the reinforcement, producing a rigid pavement designed to withstand enormous repetitive loads.

The objective is to build roads capable of serving Nigerians for 50–100 years, although actual lifespan will ultimately depend on design, construction quality, drainage, loading and maintenance.

And this is no longer confined to the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway.The 700km Akwanga–Jos–Bauchi–Gombe–Biu–Maiduguri Superhighway is designed as a six-lane CRCP highway.
The Abuja–Kaduna section of the Abuja–Kaduna–Zaria–Kano Expressway has been redesigned around reinforced concrete, with completed concrete stretches already carrying traffic.

And in May 2026, the Federal Government signed another ₦690 BILLION-plus package of contracts: Mando–Birnin Gwari — 122km, ₦178.1bn.
Ibadan–Ijebu Ode — 114.5km single-carriageway equivalent, ₦296bn.

Osogbo–Ikirun–Akoda — 70km equivalent, ₦101.8bn. Osogbo–Iwo–Ibadan — 73km, ₦114.9bn. ALL FOUR are to be constructed using continuously reinforced concrete pavement. This is becoming a POLICY, not an experiment.

The real test, of course, will not be speeches about 50-year or 100-year roads.
It will be whether these roads are properly engineered, whether drainage works, whether construction standards are enforced, whether overloaded trucks are controlled and whether the promised durability survives Nigerian conditions.

But the direction is unmistakable. For perhaps the first time on this scale, Nigeria is systematically asking a different question:

Instead of reconstructing the same strategic highways again and again, CAN WE BUILD THEM DIFFERENTLY?

That is the concrete revolution quietly taking place under Tinubu and that tireless first class engineer from Umunaga, Uburu, in Ohaozara LGA of Ebonyi State called Dave.

CharlesCNG

judatech:
This is nice...
But when you are hungry and someone shows a beautiful expanse of road from Lagos to Heaven, made out of concrete and Gold how would you react?
This is the major question majority of Nigerians are asking your man, Tinubu.
He should be creative in his policies to better the quality of life of the average Nigerian.
Roads are beautiful... They can score political points... Like you are doing but he did not steal the election to come and create roads

NATIONAL FOOD INFLATION IS HIDING 37 DIFFERENT STORIES By CharlesCNG

Nigeria's July food inflation was 20.31%. That number is serious. In fact, food inflation has risen every month this year, from 8.89% in January to 20.31% in July. But underneath that ONE national number are 37 very different stories.

Adamawa: 51.36%. Katsina: 30.84%. Zamfara: 30.65%. Delta: 28.08%. Lagos: 26.83%. Now look at the other end:

Osun: 12.92%. Ebonyi: 12.79%. Kebbi: 12.50%. Nasarawa: 6.88%. Borno: -0.31%. Seventeen states were ABOVE the national food-inflation rate.
Twenty were BELOW it.

Same President. Same naira. Same Central Bank. Same Federal Government. Yet food inflation ranges from -0.31% to 51.36%. That should tell us something enormously important before 2027: NIGERIA DOES NOT HAVE ONE FOOD CRISIS. It has dozens of interconnected LOCAL food problems.

Lagos depends heavily on food transported from elsewhere, so logistics, storage and distribution become critical. Benue may produce plenty of food yet struggle with storage, processing, insecurity and getting farmers profitable prices.

Kaduna and Kano face their own production and supply-chain challenges.And Nasarawa's problem can even become the opposite: farmers enjoying good harvests but complaining that produce has become TOO CHEAP locally.

Seasonality differs. Security differs. Harvests differ. Roads differ. Storage differs. Local government policies differ.

Even July alone demonstrates this beautifully. Food prices jumped 17.02% in Adamawa and 13.48% in Lagos.But they actually FELL 3.68% in Jigawa, 3.67% in Kebbi and 1.85% in Bauchi. So our political debate needs to mature.

Yes, Tinubu must answer for national policy. The Federal Government controls crucial parts of the food-security architecture: national security, interstate highways and rail, dams and irrigation, agricultural finance, fertiliser policy, trade policy and strategic interventions.

BUT GOVERNORS CANNOT BE SPECTATORS. A governor cannot sit in his state capital, watch food inflation explode in his own markets, then point towards Abuja as though the Presidential Villa sells tomatoes.

States control or influence agriculture programmes, extension services, local markets, feeder roads, storage, land administration and many other parts of the food chain. Therefore, before 2027, whenever somebody asks: “WHAT IS TINUBU DOING ABOUT FOOD?”

Excellent question. But I am adding another: GOVERNOR, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Because Abuja can build the national backbone. But ultimately, food is produced, transported, stored, traded and EATEN somewhere.

Food inflation may be national. THE FIGHT AGAINST IT MUST ALSO BE LOCAL.

CharlesCNG FOOD PRICE & FOOD SECURITY WATCH

Prices • Policy • Proof

CharlesCNG:
As 2027 approaches, perhaps the easiest political statement to make is: “FOOD IS TOO EXPENSIVE UNDER TINUBU.” And it is true that food remains painfully expensive for millions of Nigerians.
TINUBU, FOOD PRICES AND 2027: WHAT’S THE OPPOSITION’S ALTERNATIVE?
But identifying a problem is not the same thing as presenting a solution. Forget inflation charts for a moment.

LET US ENTER THE NIGERIAN KITCHEN. SBM Intelligence's Jollof Index tracks the cost of preparing a pot of jollof rice using familiar ingredients: rice, tomatoes, pepper, onions, vegetable oil and seasoning. Its Q2 2026 figures tell an important political story.

Trade Fair Market, Lagos: +49.6%. , Calabar Municipal: +36.3%. , Bayside Mbakpa: +35.9%. , Port Harcourt: +18.2%.

Same President.Same naira. Same jollof rice. VERY DIFFERENT PAIN. That tells us immediately that Nigeria does not have ONE uniform food-price problem.

Food does not teleport from farm to kitchen. It travels through production, aggregation, roads, haulage, storage, spoilage, insecurity, market charges and distribution.

And different states have different bottlenecks. That is why the Tinubu government's approach matters.

At the federal level, we can see the policy being attempted: fertiliser support, irrigation, mechanisation, agricultural finance, farm security, strategic reserves, storage, processing and transport infrastructure.

At state level, different solutions are emerging. Lagos is developing Fresh Food Hubs to tackle aggregation, storage and distribution.

Kaduna is investing heavily in agriculture and farmer support. Sokoto is distributing fertiliser while operating affordability interventions. Benue is supporting production while targeting storage, processing and market linkages. Nasarawa is supporting farmers through fertiliser, inputs and mechanisation.

ARE THESE POLICIES WORKING FAST ENOUGH? That is a legitimate question. Ultimately, Tinubu and the governors must be judged by what Nigerians actually pay for food. But here is my problem with the opposition.

We already know what Tinubu is doing. WHERE IS YOUR BETTER PLAN? If Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar or any other challenger believes these policies are wrong, then put the alternative on the table.

How will YOU make that Jollof pot cheaper? More production? Fine. HOW?

Farm security? Irrigation? Fertiliser? Storage? Cold chains? Transportation? Post-harvest losses? Wholesale-market reform? And crucially, what responsibilities belong to the Federal Government and what should Nigeria's 36 governors be doing?

Because “Tinubu has failed” is a campaign slogan. IT IS NOT A FOOD-SECURITY POLICY.

The opposition is entitled to point at the Nigerian cooking pot and say: “LOOK HOW EXPENSIVE THIS HAS BECOME.” But the next question must be: WHAT EXACTLY WILL YOU DO DIFFERENTLY?

Put Tinubu's programme on one side. Put your alternative beside it. LET NIGERIANS COMPARE. Because Nigerians don't eat political slogans.

THEY EAT JOLLOF RICE.


CharlesCNG FOOD PRICE & FOOD SECURITY WATCH
Prices • Policy • Proof

THE HUNGRY MAN AND 2027: TELLING HIM TINUBU FAILED IS NOT A FOOD POLICY By CharlesCNG

Imagine two politicians approaching the same hungry Nigerian. His problem is immediate. Food is expensive. His income is stretched. His family needs to eat TODAY.

The first politician points at his empty cooking pot and says: “Look at how Tinubu has failed you. Remove him in 2027, elect me, and I will make things better.” Fair enough. But then the government approaches the same man and says: “Yes, food is too expensive. We acknowledge the problem. Here is immediate relief to help you through today.

But we also know that SHARING RICE CANNOT BE THE PERMANENT SOLUTION. So here is what we are doing about insecurity preventing farmers from reaching their farms. Here is OUR fertiliser programme. Here is the mechanisation programme. Here is the irrigation programme. Here is what we are doing about storage, processing, transportation and market access.

Here is the push for State Police and stronger local security. Don't just listen to us. JUDGE US BY THE RESULTS.”
Now ask yourself: WHICH OF THESE TWO POLITICAL PROPOSITIONS IS STRONGER?

This is where I believe Nigeria's opposition is making a serious political mistake. TELLING A HUNGRY MAN THAT HE IS HUNGRY IS NOT A FOOD POLICY. He already knows.

Telling him Tinubu caused his suffering may win applause. But if you want Tinubu's job, Nigerians deserve to know what YOU would do differently.

Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar and every other presidential aspirant should therefore be pressed on specifics.

How would you secure Nigeria's farming communities? Do you support State Police? How would you secure the forests where criminal groups operate? What is your fertiliser policy? What is your irrigation plan? Your mechanisation strategy?

Your storage and processing programme? How will you reduce the cost of moving food from Benue, Nasarawa, Niger and Kaduna into Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt?

Most importantly: WHILE ALL THESE LONG-TERM POLICIES ARE WORKING, WHAT DO YOU GIVE THE FAMILY THAT CANNOT AFFORD DINNER TONIGHT? That is the food-security debate Nigeria should be having before 2027.

Government must do TWO things simultaneously:RELIEVE THE PAIN TODAY. TREAT THE DISEASE FOR TOMORROW. And the opposition must offer something more substantial than:

“Reject what Tinubu is doing today and trust what I promise to do tomorrow.” Perhaps their alternative is genuinely better. If so, SHOW US.

Put Tinubu's programme on the table.Put Obi's programme beside it. Put Atiku's programme beside it.Put every serious contender's programme beside it.

Then let Nigerians compare policy, implementation and results. Because when a man's cooking pot is empty, condemning the person currently trying to fill it is easy. THE HARDER QUESTION IS: WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU BRINGING TO THE POT?


CharlesCNG FOOD PRICE & FOOD SECURITY WATCH

Prices • Policy • Proof

DID TINUBU LAUNCH $1BN HOPE BECAUSE ATIKU REVIVED SUBSIDY? THE TIMELINE SAYS NO

Chika Mbonu made an interesting insinuation on ARISE News.

Discussing the Federal Government's newly launched $1 billion HOPE-SP social-protection programme, he noted the opposition's renewed campaign to restore petrol subsidy and invoked the old proverb: the witch cried at night, the child died in the morning.

In other words: perhaps the politics of subsidy helped produce the sudden poverty programme. Great line. Weak chronology.

Atiku Abubakar's latest subsidy offensive exploded publicly in August 2026. On August 25, he categorically insisted that if elected president, “I will” restore subsidy. But HOPE-SP was not conceived last week.

A World Bank agreement dated September 30, 2025 — almost eleven months earlier — provided a preparation grant specifically for the “Household Prosperity and Empowerment (HOPE) – Social Protection” programme. Its objective was to prepare a proposed programme supporting Nigeria's social-safety-net system for the ultra-poor.

Then, on April 17, 2026, the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs inaugurated a Grant Implementation Team specifically to prepare HOPE-SP. That was four months before the current subsidy argument erupted.

Could government exploit the launch politically? Of course. Governments advertise programmes. Opposition parties advertise hardship.
But that is different from claiming the programme itself was hurriedly created because Atiku started shouting subsidy.

Politics may explain the timing of a microphone. It does not rewrite the date on a World Bank document.

There is plenty to interrogate about HOPE-SP: who gets the money, how beneficiaries are selected, whether corruption is prevented and whether households actually escape poverty.

Those are strong questions. We don't need a conspiracy that the calendar has already disproved.

Tenses:
It's refreshing to learn from you people that 2015 promises were all "FAIRY TALES"

What about 2023 promises like "24hrs constant electricity?" Or workers earning Living wages instead of survival and minimum wages?

Are they also FAIRY TALES?

Nice try, but you are mixing two completely different arguments.

What I called the 2015 “fairy tale” was the idea that electing a personally austere, incorruptible President would somehow make SYSTEMIC corruption disappear. That theory failed because corruption is institutional, not magical.

Now, if Tinubu promised 24-hour electricity and a living wage, then judge him on those promises. Absolutely.But don’t confuse “a promise has not yet been fully achieved” with “the underlying idea was structurally impossible.”

Nigeria can expand electricity supply. Workers can earn better real wages. Those are policy outcomes that can be measured against generation, transmission, distribution, inflation, productivity and wage growth.

The Buhari anti-corruption fantasy was different: “Put one honest man in Aso Rock and corruption will vanish.”
That is like appointing one clean traffic officer and expecting every road in Nigeria to become orderly.


But if your defence of Buhari’s anti-corruption mythology is now to say, “Tinubu also made promises,” you haven’t rebutted the point. You have simply changed the subject.

One fairy tale does not become true because another politician may also have overpromised.

Kukutente23:
How do you formulate policy without study and without the statistics
Among all the candidates, Obi is still the most statistically astute
Your god famously asked if na statistics we go chop
Today, he's brandishing statistics as evidence his reforms are working
Obi does not claim to have all the answers
What he's saying is that he's asking the right questions and looking for comparative analysis to arrive at a solution
That's what intelligent people do not just to blindly implement imf policies and be feeling funky about it

You have actually walked straight into the point of my article.

Of course you need study and statistics to formulate policy. The problem is that Peter Obi repeatedly presents THE STUDY as though it were THE POLICY.

You say he is “looking for comparative analysis to arrive at a solution.” Excellent. WHEN DOES HE ARRIVE? 😂

We have been travelling for years with statistically PERIPATHETIC PETER. Malaysia. Indonesia. China. Vietnam. Bangladesh. Netherlands. Ghana. At some point, sir, BLUEPRINTLESS PETER needs to LAND THE PLANE AND SHOW US THE NIGERIAN BLUEPRINT.

What exactly is Obi's alternative economic programme? What will he do differently? You cannot answer legitimate demands for a blueprint by saying, “But he knows Ghana's health statistics.”!
That is like praising a medical student who has memorised every symptom in the textbook but never gets around to writing the prescription.

And the recent gaffes illustrate precisely why I use the word CRAMMING. $1.2 billion divided by 31 million somehow became “$41 million per head.” At the NBA conference, he rounded 8,809 wards UP to 10,000, multiplied by ₦100 million each and somehow got ₦800 billion DOWN.
10,000 × ₦100 million is ₦1 TRILLION.
Then came the reported $10 billion sovereign wealth fund producing about $10 billion “every month.”

Those are exactly the kinds of slips you get when political communication becomes a rapid-fire recital of memorised numbers. CRAMMING PETER!

And please spare me the “that's what intelligent people do” chest-beating. Intelligence is not measured by how many foreign statistics you can discharge per minute. Intelligence is taking information, understanding context, identifying constraints and converting knowledge into a workable solution. CRAMMING IS NOT STUDYING TO UNDERSTAND.

Otherwise, the contestant who memorises the entire Guinness World Records should automatically become President.

And Tinubu saying “na statistics we go chop?” doesn't rescue Obi either. If Tinubu now uses statistics to defend his policies, GOOD. Statistics should be used to MEASURE POLICY. They should not be mistaken for policy.

Nor does shouting “IMF!” answer the question. If Tinubu's programme is wrong, wonderful: PRESENT THE ALTERNATIVE.

Exchange rate: what exactly would Obi do? Fuel pricing: what exactly would Obi do? Debt: what exactly would Obi do? Power: what exactly would Obi do? Taxation: what exactly would Obi do? And show us the numbers behind HIS solution.

Because after three years of Ghana today, Malaysia tomorrow and Netherlands before dinner, “Peter Obi is asking the right questions” is becoming a rather creative way of admitting: PETER OBI STILL HASN'T PROVIDED THE ANSWERS.

That isn't superior intelligence. That is an unfinished assignment with excellent references.

WRITE IT DOWN: UBA SANI SAYS TINUBU WILL TURN 29% INTO 70–80% IN KADUNA

Governor Uba Sani has made one of the boldest predictions of 2027. “Write it down,” he told Seun Okinbaloye on Channels Television: Tinubu will get 70–80% of Kaduna's votes. Consider it written.

But first, the arithmetic. In 2023, Tinubu scored 399,293 votes in Kaduna — just 29.36% of 1,360,153 valid votes. Atiku got 554,360, Peter Obi 294,494 and Kwankwaso 92,969. Tinubu won only TWO of Kaduna's 23 LGAs. PDP won 14; Labour seven.

So Uba Sani isn't predicting improvement. HE IS PREDICTING AN ELECTORAL EARTHQUAKE. At 2023 turnout levels, 70% means roughly 952,000 votes; 80% about 1.09 million. Impossible? Not necessarily. But certainly Himalayan.

So what has changed? START WITH ACTUAL ELECTIONS. In February 2024, five INEC rerun/by-election contests were held — four State Assembly seats and one House of Representatives seat. APC won Makera, Chikun and Chawai/Kauru State Constituencies.

PDP won Kudan State Constituency and Igabi Federal Constituency. SCORE: APC 3. PDP 2.

Then came August 2025. APC swept ALL THREE by-elections: Chikun/Kajuru FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY: APC 34,580; PDP 11,491. Channels reported it as APC's first victory in southern Kaduna and chikun since 1999.

Zaria Kewaye STATE CONSTITUENCY: APC 26,613; SDP 5,721; PDP 5,331. Basawa STATE CONSTITUENCY: APC 10,926; PDP 5,499. Across those eight post-2023 INEC contests: APC 6. PDP 2. And the trajectory moved from a competitive 3–2 in 2024 to a clean 3–0 sweep in 2025.

BUT NOW COMES THE COMPLICATION: ATIKU'S ADC. In 2023, PDP swept ALL THREE Kaduna Senate seats. APC had ZERO. Today, PDP has NONE of those three senators. But they did not all move to APC. Kaduna South Senator Sunday Katung joined APC. Kaduna Central Senator Lawal Adamu Usman and Kaduna North Senator Ibrahim Khalid Mustapha joined Atiku Abubakar's ADC.

So:2023 SENATE: PDP 3. APC 0. ADC 0. NOW: ADC 2. APC 1. PDP 0.

And ADC has collected federal legislators too, including Bello El-Rufai from APC and Umar Ajilo and Suleiman Richifa from PDP. That is crucial.
Kaduna's old PDP structure has not simply migrated to APC. IT HAS FRACTURED IN TWO DIRECTIONS.

APC has grown. But Atiku's ADC has been eating too. That makes Uba Sani's 70–80% prediction even more extraordinary.

Then comes SOUTHERN KADUNA. Tinubu approved the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, now operational, while a Federal Medical Centre has been established in Kafanchan. Politicians followed the projects. Senator Katung, Rep Daniel Amos and other legislators joined APC, with Katung citing development and greater inclusion of Southern Kaduna.

Then there is security. Kaduna is NOT insecurity-free. The murderous Naridon attack in July 2026 proves that brutally.

But improvement has been acknowledged beyond government messaging. Defence Minister Christopher Musa has noted Kaduna's improved security situation, while even HURIWA, condemning the Naridon killings, recognised efforts to rebuild trust among Kaduna's communities.

The religious temperature has changed too. Christian and Muslim clerics and traditional rulers have increasingly worked together for peace. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, visiting in 2026, noted the relative peace and unity compared with the Kaduna he remembered during recurrent ethno-religious violence.

Add roads, vocational training, free CNG buses, education investment, improved Southern Kaduna relations and rebuilt APC grassroots structures, and Uba Sani's confidence becomes easier to understand.

But there is an important warning: DEFECTIONS ARE NOT VOTES. A senator cannot carry 500,000 constituents into another party in his pocket.
That is why the actual elections matter.

And those elections show APC has genuinely strengthened. So do the projects. So does Southern Kaduna.So does the changing security and religious atmosphere. But ADC's emergence means APC does not have the field to itself.

In fact, Kaduna may be evolving from the 2023 APC-PDP-LP contest into something very different: UBA SANI'S REBUILT APC versus ATIKU'S ADC, which is attempting to inherit substantial pieces of the old PDP opposition machinery.

That makes the real question fascinating. Can Tinubu's 29.36% become 70–80%?

The evidence says APC is considerably stronger than it was in 2023. IT DOES NOT YET SAY 80%.

The by-elections show movement. The defections show movement — in BOTH directions. Southern Kaduna shows movement. The security and religious atmosphere show movement.

But movement is not 80%. The megaphone can announce 80%. ONLY THE BALLOT BOX CAN COUNT IT.

Governor, you told us to write it down. We have. CHARLESCNG HAS WRITTEN IT DOWN.

Tenses:
That same dey the Airport will be hyper busy cos corrupt politicians and Nigerians will leave Nigeria.

But tinubu will not excspe

Like Nigerians did with Buhari in 2015? That is exactly the lesson.

Buhari was probably the strongest anti-corruption political brand Nigeria had produced in decades.

He campaigned explicitly on fighting corruption, won partly because millions believed his personal integrity could cleanse the system, and then spent eight years discovering that CORRUPTION IS NOT SOMETHING ONE PRESIDENT DEFEATS BY PERSONAL RIGHTEOUSNESS.

That is the point people keep refusing to learn. Corruption is embedded in procurement systems, civil-service processes, state and local governments, policing, courts, political financing and thousands of everyday transactions.

Anyone selling you the fantasy that “elect me because I am personally incorruptible and corruption will disappear” is selling another 2015 fairy tale.

Kukutente23:
I think Peter obi should be commended for applying himself to study, research and actually cramming numbers. This shows the seriousness he puts into preparing for the job of becoming president and the respect he has fur his Nigerian audience that he feels the need to meet them on an intellectual, Boardroom level instead of roforofo conversation of Muslim Muslim or turn of the South we see from the Bola Tinubu camp.
One of the biggest problems of leadership in Africa has always been an unwillingness to do the hard work of personal study and preparation for the position. That's why most African leaders get into office and start wobbling and fumbling with policy reversal and confusion the likes of what we witnessed between 2023-2024.
Obi should be the standard we expect of aspiring leaders going forward. It should be ingrained in our leadership recruitment culture that leaders show acquaintance and familiarity with the statistics that will confront them when they take office and let the numbers guide the solutions they propose

You have spectacularly missed my point.

Nobody criticised Peter Obi for STUDYING. The criticism is that CRAMMING NUMBERS IS NOT THE SAME AS UNDERSTANDING OR GOVERNING WITH THEM.

In fact, your defence makes my point beautifully. You praise Obi for knowing the statistics. Wonderful. Then explain this: 8,809 wards × ₦100 million = ₦880.9 billion. Obi rounded 8,809 UP to 10,000 and somehow arrived at ₦800 billion DOWN. 10,000 × ₦100 million = ₦1 TRILLION.

Then he suggested that putting $10 billion into a sovereign wealth fund could generate about $10 billion EVERY MONTH. Does that not look like someone that is STUDYING but not UNDERSTANDING.

So please don't turn an arithmetic error into evidence of intellectual superiority. 😂A serious leader absolutely should know Nigeria's statistics.

But the examination doesn't end with: “How many hospital beds does Ghana have?” The next questions are: WHAT IS YOUR POLICY? HOW MUCH WILL IT COST? WHO PAYS? HOW WILL IT BE IMPLEMENTED? WHAT ARE THE TRADE-OFFS? WHAT LEGISLATION IS REQUIRED?

THAT was my argument. You completely dodged it and instead awarded Obi first prize for memorising the question paper.

And the Manchester City analogy remains unanswered: A man can memorise Haaland's goals, Guardiola's formations and City's possession statistics. That proves he watches football. It does NOT prove he can manage Manchester City.
Peter obi , in my opinion DOES NOT HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE NIGERIA'S PRESIDENT. Honestly.

PETER OBI, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF STATISTICS: GHANA TODAY, MALAYSIA TOMORROW, NETHERLANDS BEFORE DINNER

Peter Obi has travelled again. Not physically. Statistically.

Today we are in Ghana. Tomorrow Malaysia. By lunchtime, Indonesia. Before evening prayers, we may land in the Netherlands.

And somewhere during this international tour of randomly selected statistics, Nigerians are expected to conclude that a blueprint for governing Nigeria has emerged.

The latest viral clip attributed to Obi has him saying: “Ghana's health budget is $1.2 billion. If you divide it by 31 million Ghanaians, that is $41 million per head.” Wonderful. Except that $1.2 billion divided by 31 million is approximately $39 PER PERSON. Not $41 million. That is not merely missing a decimal point. That decimal point has applied for political asylum.

But perhaps we should forgive it as a slip of the tongue. Unfortunately, the tongue travelled again at the Nigerian Bar Association conference in Port Harcourt. Obi told the audience Nigeria had 8,809 wards. Correct. He then said: call it 10,000 wards. Fine.

He proposed spending ₦100 million on a primary healthcare centre in each ward. Then came the Obi Calculator: Total cost?
₦800 billion. Sir, please return the calculator to whoever borrowed it to you. 8,809 × ₦100 million is ₦880.9 billion. If you round 8,809 UP to 10,000 as Obi himself did, it becomes ₦1 TRILLION.
Somehow, Obi rounded the number of wards upward and the cost downward simultaneously. That is advanced political mathematics.

Then came the sovereign wealth miracle. Obi suggested that if $10 billion had been added to Nigeria's sovereign wealth fund, it could be producing about $10 billion every month.

Please, somebody locate this investment immediately. Forget oil. Forget Dangote Refinery. Forget solid minerals.

If Peter Obi knows an investment that turns $10 billion into another $10 billion EVERY MONTH, Nigeria should borrow the entire IMF and invest there before breakfast. 😂😂😂

And this gets to the more serious Peter Obi problem. I don't doubt that Obi reads.He obviously consumes statistics voraciously.

Many of the underlying healthcare figures he cited at the NBA conference were, in fact, broadly defensible. But CRAMMING STATISTICS IS NOT GOVERNANCE.

For years we have heard: “Malaysia…” “Indonesia…” “China…” “Vietnam…” “Look at the Netherlands…” “Go to Bangladesh…”

Wonderful. But Nigeria is not an international comparative-government examination where the candidate receives marks for remembering what Malaysia did. The important question is: WHAT EXACTLY WILL PETER OBI DO IN NIGERIA?

What legislation? What fiscal framework? What institutional reforms? Which level of government is responsible? What is the cost?

Where does the money come from? What happens when the assumptions fail? What are the trade-offs?

How do you overcome Nigeria’s peculiar security, power, logistics, federalism and institutional constraints? Those are the questions of governance.

A man can memorise Manchester City's possession statistics, Haaland's goals, Guardiola's formations and every Champions League result since 1992. That does not qualify him to manage Manchester City.

Yet this has become a peculiar feature of Obi's politics.

Mention Nigerian agriculture and Malaysia appears. Mention education and Finland boards the flight. Mention healthcare and Ghana arrives.

Mention productivity and suddenly we are touring Vietnam. Nigeria meanwhile remains standing at the departure lounge asking: “Sir, where is YOUR blueprint?”

Nigeria does not need a President of Comparative Statistics. It needs somebody who can take Nigeria's actual institutions, actual [/b]revenues, [b]actual population, actual federal structure and actual problems and show precisely how he intends to change them.

Because eventually the examination changes from: “Mention three things Malaysia did.” to: “Mr President, what are YOU going to do?”

blamingthedevil:
Ghana's health budget is 1.2 billion dollars, their population is 31 million Ghanaians, that will give you 41 million dollars per citizen.

Peter Obi, HOW?

Ghana's health budget is 1.2 billion dollars, their population is 31 million Ghanaians, that will give you 41 million dollars per citizen.

Peter Obi, HOW? pic.twitter.com/m5VpIqXN3N

— Senior Pst Okezie James Atañi. (@Onsogbu) August 27, 2026

PETER OBI, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF STATISTICS: GHANA TODAY, MALAYSIA TOMORROW, NETHERLANDS BEFORE DINNER By CharlesCNG

Peter Obi has travelled again. Not physically. Statistically.

Today we are in Ghana. Tomorrow Malaysia. By lunchtime, Indonesia. Before evening prayers, we may land in the Netherlands.

And somewhere during this international tour of randomly selected statistics, Nigerians are expected to conclude that a blueprint for governing Nigeria has emerged.

The latest viral clip attributed to Obi has him saying: “Ghana's health budget is $1.2 billion. If you divide it by 31 million Ghanaians, that is $41 million per head.” Wonderful. Except that $1.2 billion divided by 31 million is approximately $39 PER PERSON. Not $41 million. That is not merely missing a decimal point. That decimal point has applied for political asylum.

But perhaps we should forgive it as a slip of the tongue. Unfortunately, the tongue travelled again at the Nigerian Bar Association conference in Port Harcourt. Obi told the audience Nigeria had 8,809 wards. Correct. He then said: call it 10,000 wards. Fine.

He proposed spending ₦100 million on a primary healthcare centre in each ward. Then came the Obi Calculator: Total cost?
₦800 billion. Sir, please return the calculator to whoever borrowed it to you. 8,809 × ₦100 million is ₦880.9 billion. If you round 8,809 UP to 10,000 as Obi himself did, it becomes ₦1 TRILLION.
Somehow, Obi rounded the number of wards upward and the cost downward simultaneously. That is advanced political mathematics.

Then came the sovereign wealth miracle. Obi suggested that if $10 billion had been added to Nigeria's sovereign wealth fund, it could be producing about $10 billion every month.

Please, somebody locate this investment immediately. Forget oil. Forget Dangote Refinery. Forget solid minerals.

If Peter Obi knows an investment that turns $10 billion into another $10 billion EVERY MONTH, Nigeria should borrow the entire IMF and invest there before breakfast. 😂😂😂

And this gets to the more serious Peter Obi problem. I don't doubt that Obi reads.He obviously consumes statistics voraciously.

Many of the underlying healthcare figures he cited at the NBA conference were, in fact, broadly defensible. But CRAMMING STATISTICS IS NOT GOVERNANCE.

For years we have heard: “Malaysia…” “Indonesia…” “China…” “Vietnam…” “Look at the Netherlands…” “Go to Bangladesh…”

Wonderful. But Nigeria is not an international comparative-government examination where the candidate receives marks for remembering what Malaysia did. The important question is: WHAT EXACTLY WILL PETER OBI DO IN NIGERIA?

What legislation? What fiscal framework? What institutional reforms? Which level of government is responsible? What is the cost?

Where does the money come from? What happens when the assumptions fail? What are the trade-offs?

How do you overcome Nigeria’s peculiar security, power, logistics, federalism and institutional constraints? Those are the questions of governance.

A man can memorise Manchester City's possession statistics, Haaland's goals, Guardiola's formations and every Champions League result since 1992. That does not qualify him to manage Manchester City.

Yet this has become a peculiar feature of Obi's politics.

Mention Nigerian agriculture and Malaysia appears. Mention education and Finland boards the flight. Mention healthcare and Ghana arrives.

Mention productivity and suddenly we are touring Vietnam. Nigeria meanwhile remains standing at the departure lounge asking: “Sir, where is YOUR blueprint?”

Nigeria does not need a President of Comparative Statistics. It needs somebody who can take Nigeria's actual institutions, actual [/b]revenues, [b]actual population, actual federal structure and actual problems and show precisely how he intends to change them.

Because eventually the examination changes from: “Mention three things Malaysia did.” to: “Mr President, what are YOU going to do?”

As 2027 approaches, perhaps the easiest political statement to make is: “FOOD IS TOO EXPENSIVE UNDER TINUBU.” And it is true that food remains painfully expensive for millions of Nigerians.
TINUBU, FOOD PRICES AND 2027: WHAT’S THE OPPOSITION’S ALTERNATIVE?
But identifying a problem is not the same thing as presenting a solution. Forget inflation charts for a moment.

LET US ENTER THE NIGERIAN KITCHEN. SBM Intelligence's Jollof Index tracks the cost of preparing a pot of jollof rice using familiar ingredients: rice, tomatoes, pepper, onions, vegetable oil and seasoning. Its Q2 2026 figures tell an important political story.

Trade Fair Market, Lagos: +49.6%. , Calabar Municipal: +36.3%. , Bayside Mbakpa: +35.9%. , Port Harcourt: +18.2%.

Same President.Same naira. Same jollof rice. VERY DIFFERENT PAIN. That tells us immediately that Nigeria does not have ONE uniform food-price problem.

Food does not teleport from farm to kitchen. It travels through production, aggregation, roads, haulage, storage, spoilage, insecurity, market charges and distribution.

And different states have different bottlenecks. That is why the Tinubu government's approach matters.

At the federal level, we can see the policy being attempted: fertiliser support, irrigation, mechanisation, agricultural finance, farm security, strategic reserves, storage, processing and transport infrastructure.

At state level, different solutions are emerging. Lagos is developing Fresh Food Hubs to tackle aggregation, storage and distribution.

Kaduna is investing heavily in agriculture and farmer support. Sokoto is distributing fertiliser while operating affordability interventions. Benue is supporting production while targeting storage, processing and market linkages. Nasarawa is supporting farmers through fertiliser, inputs and mechanisation.

ARE THESE POLICIES WORKING FAST ENOUGH? That is a legitimate question. Ultimately, Tinubu and the governors must be judged by what Nigerians actually pay for food. But here is my problem with the opposition.

We already know what Tinubu is doing. WHERE IS YOUR BETTER PLAN? If Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar or any other challenger believes these policies are wrong, then put the alternative on the table.

How will YOU make that Jollof pot cheaper? More production? Fine. HOW?

Farm security? Irrigation? Fertiliser? Storage? Cold chains? Transportation? Post-harvest losses? Wholesale-market reform? And crucially, what responsibilities belong to the Federal Government and what should Nigeria's 36 governors be doing?

Because “Tinubu has failed” is a campaign slogan. IT IS NOT A FOOD-SECURITY POLICY.

The opposition is entitled to point at the Nigerian cooking pot and say: “LOOK HOW EXPENSIVE THIS HAS BECOME.” But the next question must be: WHAT EXACTLY WILL YOU DO DIFFERENTLY?

Put Tinubu's programme on one side. Put your alternative beside it. LET NIGERIANS COMPARE. Because Nigerians don't eat political slogans.

THEY EAT JOLLOF RICE.


CharlesCNG FOOD PRICE & FOOD SECURITY WATCH
Prices • Policy • Proof

CharlesCNG:
TINUBU INFRASTRUCTURE FILES — PART 3 OF 10 LAGOS–CALABAR: STOP CALLING IT A “LAGOS ROAD” By CharlesCNG

One criticism of the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway has aged particularly badly: “It is just another Lagos road.”

Some even predicted that the project would never get beyond Epe. Well, there is now a simple problem with that argument: THE ROAD HAS ALREADY GONE BEYOND EPE.

The Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway is designed as an approximately 750km economic corridor spanning nine states:Lagos. Ogun. Ondo.
Edo. Delta. Bayelsa. Rivers. Akwa Ibom. Cross River.

That is not a Lagos road. That is a national coastal highway.And construction is no longer confined to Lagos.

In August 2026, Works Minister David Umahi inspected Section 4B in Ondo and gave an unusually detailed update.

According to the ministry, work was progressing on approximately 28km in Ogun and 52km in Ondo. At the opposite end of the country, approximately 27km was under construction around Calabar, while the first Akwa Ibom section was approximately 47km.

The ministry reported the latter sections at more than 60 percent progress. Then comes an even bigger Akwa Ibom component.

In May 2026, the Federal Government signed an agreement covering a new Section 5 alignment of approximately 82.8km of dual carriageway in Akwa Ibom. So how exactly is this a “Lagos road”?

There is another reason Akwa Ibom and Cross River matter. TERRAIN.

These are not simply bulldozers driving across convenient dry land.

Sections 3A and 3B through Akwa Ibom and Cross River cover about 71.4km and involve substantial earthworks through difficult terrain. The alignment was even adjusted to avoid an approximately 19km swamp.

This is precisely why comparing the cost of a coastal superhighway kilometre with an ordinary inland road kilometre can become misleading.
You are dealing with bridges, drainage, earthworks, swamp conditions, shoreline considerations and enormous quantities of fill.

Meanwhile, Lagos itself has moved beyond artistic renderings.Thirty kilometres of Section 1 were opened to traffic in December 2025. Section 2 towards covering ogun state ,with a new port schedule for the waterside area, has continued advancing.

Ogun is active. Ondo is active. Akwa Ibom is active. Cross River is active.

And further sections are being prepared. The engineering is also significant.

The highway is being constructed using rigid concrete pavement rather than conventional flexible asphalt on major stretches — part of the Tinubu administration’s wider experiment with longer-life concrete highways.

Now, none of this means Nigerians should stop asking questions. Ask about cost.Ask about procurement. ask about compensation.

Ask about environmental impact. Ask about financing. Ask whether deadlines will be met.

Those are legitimate questions involving a project of this magnitude.

But “it will end in Epe” is no longer serious criticism.

You cannot stand in Lagos and declare that a road does not exist in Akwa Ibom while construction equipment is physically working there.

And this is the larger point. The Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway should ultimately be judged not by Tinubu’s speeches or his critics’ predictions, but by kilometres actually delivered.

Lagos. Ogun.Ondo.Edo. Delta. Bayelsa. Rivers. Akwa Ibom. Cross River. That is the test.

And kilometre by kilometre, the evidence is beginning to answer the argument. Pls wait the video evidence of all will soon be released.

NEXT: Sokoto–Badagry — The Other Superhighway Nobody Talks About.

CharlesCNG

TINUBU INFRASTRUCTURE FILES — PART 4 OF 10 SOKOTO–BADAGRY: THE OTHER SUPERHIGHWAY NOBODY TALKS ABOUT
By CharlesCNG

Everybody knows Lagos–Calabar. But ask the average Nigerian about the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway and you may get a blank stare.

Yet this may ultimately become one of the most consequential roads in Nigeria. Approximately 1,068 kilometres.

Six lanes. Three lanes in each direction. Concrete pavement. Street lighting.And a route stretching from Illela in Sokoto State, near Nigeria’s border with Niger Republic, through: Sokoto. Kebbi. Niger. Kwara. Oyo. Ogun. And finally Lagos.

Think about that geography for a moment. This is essentially a massive NORTH–SOUTH economic artery. And here is the fascinating part: The idea is more than FOUR DECADES OLD.

The Sokoto–Badagry corridor was conceived during the Shehu Shagari era but never became reality on anything approaching today's scale.
Tinubu revived it.

And unlike some grand Nigerian infrastructure announcements, construction is physically underway. The longest state section is in Kebbi — approximately 258km.

By May 2026, engineers reported that concrete pavement had already been laid across approximately 19km of the Kebbi section, alongside earthworks, stone base, filling and street-light installation.

Section 2A was reported at approximately 40 percent completion. Section 2B: approximately 16 percent.
In Sokoto, construction activity has also been reported around communities including Silame, Katame, Gade and Binji.

And the engineering itself matters. This is not being designed as another narrow interstate road patched every few years.
The highway is being constructed as a three-lane-per-direction dual carriageway using continuously reinforced concrete pavement.

The design also incorporates street lighting, modern digital signage and CCTV surveillance. But the biggest story is not concrete. It is ECONOMICS.

Consider what northern Nigeria produces. Rice. Tomatoes. Onions. Livestock. Grains. And enormous quantities of other agricultural products.

Now consider the cost of moving those products across Nigeria on slow, deteriorated roads. Transport time becomes food inflation. Vehicle damage becomes food inflation. Spoilage becomes food inflation. Logistics inefficiency eventually appears in the price Nigerians pay at the market.

A high-capacity corridor from the far North-West towards major southern markets and the Lagos/Badagry axis changes that equation.
Kebbi officials have specifically highlighted the potential for tomatoes, onions and other perishables to reach distant markets faster, reducing losses.

There is another dimension. AGRICULTURE.

Government officials say the broader corridor interacts with numerous dams and irrigation opportunities, potentially supporting year-round agricultural production along parts of the route. And another: REGIONAL TRADE.

The highway begins around Illela, one of Nigeria’s important gateways towards Niger Republic and the wider Sahel.At the opposite end sits the Lagos/Badagry commercial corridor and access towards Atlantic trade.

So when somebody tells you Tinubu is building infrastructure only in Lagos, don't argue for twenty paragraphs. Ask one question:

WHERE DOES THE 1,068KM SOKOTO–BADAGRY SUPERHIGHWAY START? Sokoto. Then bring the construction figures from Kebbi.

This is what I mean when I say Nigeria should stop discussing roads merely as political gifts to individual states.

A serious highway is an economic corridor. A tomato farmer in Kebbi benefits. A transporter benefits. A trader in Oyo benefits.
A logistics company benefits. A port-bound exporter benefits. And ultimately, the consumer benefits.

The real question is therefore not whether Sokoto–Badagry sounds impressive. It is whether Tinubu can FINISH it.

That is the standard Nigerians should hold him to.

Because if Nigeria actually completes a 1,068km high-capacity concrete highway linking the Sahel-facing North-West with the Atlantic-facing South-West, nobody will need a government spokesman to explain its significance.

The road itself will make the argument.

NEXT: Why Tinubu And Umahi Are Betting On Concrete.