₦airaland Forum

Legitnews247:
Details
https://www.legitnews247.com/2019/05/no-me-no-apc-in-south-east-rochas.html

Abdulazeez99:
Organising Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa State, Ahmad Lawan, has declared that the South-West zone will produce the next president on the platform of the party in 2023.

Igbere TV reports that Lawan, who is currently vying for the vacant position of National Secretary of the APC, promised to canvass for the region to produce the next president during his campaigns.

He claimed that the zone had sacrificed enough for the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari, hence, should be compensated with the ticket.

Igbere TV reports that Lawan made the remarks over the weekend during an interactive session with newsmen in Yola, the Adamawa state capital.

His words: “APC’s 2023 presidential ticket belongs to the South-West and every APC member interested in the progress of the country should work towards making it a reality.

“In 2015 general elections, the South-West shelved its interest for the North and its candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, and did the same thing in the 2019 general elections. That is a friendship and partnership that the north must maintain and a kindness that must be repaid.”

Lamenting the defeat suffered by the APC in Adamawa state and other parts of the North in the February 23 presidential election, Lawan said: “It should even be considered an inordinate ambition for any Northerner to attempt to contest for the presidential ticket of the party in 2023 against candidates from South-West in view of the immense sacrifice they made for the progress of the country.”

He maintained that APC has a stronger chance of retaining power in 2023, if it fields a South-West candidate.

Source: http://igberetvnews.com/692597/2023-south-west-will-produce-the-next-president-of-nigeria-ahmad-lawan/

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mrvitalis:
Really ?? So my igbo brothers made the right choice

And the few igbos like me who supported APC are fools then ....smile

U should know political alignment are not static ....everyone has his time

Ekpeitut:
See this fool trying to hard to steal my identity. There's only one Ekpeitut. Any other is a shiit eating and ass licking sycophant and yes you are dumb and very dull for stealing my moniker and trying to impersonate me.

Disclaimer: This APC/Buhari apologist right here with the moniker "Ekpeitit" is an impersonator with sinister motives, his views are directly opposite to mine and what I stand for and believe. Watch him closely!

mrvitalis:
The buhari and nigerian present condition is your heart desire ?

What did buhari do to win igbos over , we all saw how jonathan built alot to win over the north

What did buhari do to win the igbos over ....APC are treating igbos like fools now in 2023 they would say vote for us so we treat u better ...does that make sense ?

Curlieweed:
[s][/s]

You people are not serious. By 2023, after Mumuharri’s disastrous next level, Nigeria will be officially a failed state.

The signs are everywhere. You don’t need a prophet to tell you that any more than you need a meteorologist to tell you it will rain when the sky is overcast. And that is the time you want one poor Igboman to become president?

Thanks but no thanks.

Thandiubani:
The Igbos have long been marginalized in Nigeria's political equation and must come 2023 produce the next president, writes Alexander Thandi Ubani.

Since the beginning of Nigeria's fourth republic in 1999, no Igbo man or woman has ever been elevated to the position of President or Vice President of Nigeria. From 1999 till date, the country has been ruled by a Yoruba man for 8 years (Olusegun Obasanjo), Ijaw man for 4 years + (Goodluck Jonathan) and Hausa/Fulani for 7 years and counting (Umaru Musa Yar'Adua & Muhammadu Buhari). It is like a grand plan is in place to shut out the Igbos from ascending to these two elevated positions.

If truth must be told, this aspect of our political history is one of the many reasons there is serious distrust and bad blood between the Igbos and the two other major ethnic groups in the country.

There is no gainsaying the fact that when a heterogeneous country like Nigeria marginalizes one of the biggest ethnic groups in the country using bitter political maneuverings, it is preparing itself for a catastrophic implosion.

We pray and sing 'one nation bound in freedom, peace and unity' in our national anthem, yet we continue to undermine it through calculated political misgivings. For instance, Buhari's four years as President (2016-2019) has so far been characterized by a highly ethnic-bigoted appointments which caused serious friction in the polity. Although he argued that his decision was as a result of the number of votes he got from the south in 2015 election, such thinking to say the least, is primitive. Without mincing words, this bitter political scheme watered the ground for serious ethnic disharmony. Many felt that other ethnic groups were purposely left out by his government because the North has a hidden agenda it is yet to achieve.

The bitterness existing between the three major ethnic groups has continued to grow as the Igbos feel isolated from reaching the highest position in the land because of an unwritten agreement between the two other major ethnic groups. By their alliance, the two ethnic groups have continued to produce people who have so far failed in taking Nigeria to the promise land - but because of their numbers, we have continued to settle for mediocre.

The power-hungry-ethnic-champions who have held sway for many years have refused to understand that shutting out one of its three major ethnic groups from power fosters a spirit of rebellion, which in turn results in hostility among the ethnic groups. More so, this act doesn't encourage a peaceful and harmonious co-existence.

Interestingly, a feeling of marginalization as this, is one of the reasons why the country has refused to move forward. This is because the ethnic groups have failed to work together as one. Instead, the individuals who have at various times occupied the highest position in the land over the years made themselves ethnic warriors instead of looking out for the interest of the nation.

Because all ethnic groups in the country are equal and must have same equal political opportunities, at no time should Nigerians ever be given that impression that a particular ethnic group is born to rule over others.

On the part of the Igbos, there should be a conscientious effort to harmonize the existing relationship between them and other ethnic groups, if this dream must come true. The pockets of discord being sown by enemies of the people who have continued to exploit fault-lines to cause disunity must be spotted and erased.

Now and again, I see people debating whether those from Delta, Ebonyi etc have the 'true blood of Igboness' flowing in them. What kind of nonsensically divisive argument is that? It is like we are intentionally playing right into the hands of our ex-military rulers who planted the seed of discord by ripping us apart many years ago. The southeast and southsouth are brothers and must not allow their enemies to continue to dictate their political steps.

Southeast and southsouth politicians who are happy to play second fiddle after selling their rights must be reminded that history will always remember them with a frown. All illustrious sons and daughters of Ndigbo must as a matter of urgency begin now to lobby their counterparts from other ethnic groups for an Igbo Presidency come 2023.

If the dream of Igbo presidency must be achieved in 2023, the high rate of voter apathy in the southeast and Southsouth must be reversed. Ndigbo must come out en masse to vote instead of sitting back at home hoping for a miracle.

The absence of a leadership figure from the southeast and southsouth capable of uniting the two groups has been a clog in the wheel of progress. However, progress must be made with what is available. Illustrious sons and daughters (politicians, businessmen/women, intellectuals, writers and like minds) of southeast and southsouth extraction must come together as one for the purpose of producing an Igbo presidency in 2023.

We must upset the balance to forge a formidable force and take what is rightfully ours.

In order to correct the current unsavory political equation in Nigeria, foster peace & unity and conceive the idea in the hearts of all that Nigeria belongs to all, the Igbos must produce the President come 2023. This way, equity and justice would have been served.

Alexander Thandi Ubani
Political analyst and journalist.
thandiubani@yahoo.com

Source: https://www.tori.ng/news/122733/why-igbos-must-produce-the-next-president-in-2023.html

Dancoco555:
Acclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari is not in Makkah, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Kanu alleged that pictures of the President and his wife Aisha performing Umrah (lesser Hajj) at the Masjid Haram (the Grand Mosque) in Makkah that surfaced online were taken in 2016.

akelicious:
A former Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Mr Amaechi Nwoha, has expressed his optimism that President Muhammadu Buhari will give his backing to a Nigerian of Igbo extraction to become the next speaker of the House of Representatives.

“The president is a detribalized leader, who sees every part of the country as one people,” Nwoha said this on Saturday in Abuja.

He described Buhari as father of modern Nigeria, who could not leave any section of the country behind in his administration of the nation, noting that the country’s unity and progress were top priorities for the president.

Nwoha said Buhari is a nationalist and man of integrity, whose love for Nigeria has been a compelling reason for his decision to run an inclusive government.

The former lawmaker restated the need to support a south easterner as speaker of the House of Representatives, saying that this would be in tune with Buhari’s vision for a united Nigeria.

He also urged leaders of the APC to support a south easterner for the position, noting that such action would make the party more popular in the South East.

According to him, it is time for Nigerians to show the South East a sense of belonging by supporting a credible lawmaker from the area for the House of Representatives top job.

Buhari in his 2019 election victory speech, promised that his new administration would strengthen Nigeria’s unity and inclusiveness so that no section or group would feel left out.

https://www.akelicious.net/2019/05/9th-assembly-buhari-will-back-south.html

Nkemakonam62:
Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, has come a long way in building himself into an irresistible political brand, having served as two-time Speaker Rivers State House of Assembly, two-time governor of Rivers before his appointment into his current position in the federal cabinet. Speaking to Akelicious in this no holds barred exclusive interview during a railway project inspection recently, he went down memory lane on his political journey. He equally commented on the fate of the South-east geopolitical zone ahead of the 2023 presidential election, what awaits the ruling APC, the impact President Muhammadu Buhari-led government has had on the country and essentially why he did not fancy the position of SGF as touted by many.

The election victory of the APC has come and gone, but Nigerians are asking what to expect from the party in the next four years?

If we get revenue, we will deliver on all our promises. The problem is not whether we have the capacity to deliver on our promises, the problem we have is the issue of revenue. Are we able to manage the economy, the answer is yes but to manage the economy, there are basic instruments that must be in place to manage it very well.


There has to be power to create jobs, otherwise, we will be exporting labour or development to countries like Ghana where they have power. The goods produced in Nigeria are not as competitive as the ones produced in other countries because the forces of production are cheaper there.

Here we have cheap labour, they have it there but they have power and we don’t have it here. They have security and we don’t have. The man producing here pays for water, security, power while the man producing in Ghana pays for little because he has water, power, and security.

So, it is cheaper to produce in Ghana and transport to Nigeria than to produce in Nigeria and sell there. For us to move forward, those forces of production must be put in place for our goods to be competitive.

How true is the impression that Amaechi has borrowed so much for railway project?

There is no iota of truth in that impression. That is not correct. Don’t forget that former President Goodluck Jonathan borrowed the loan for the Abuja-Kaduna project. He borrowed $500 million. For Lagos-Ibadan rail project, it was $1.6 billion out of which we were given $1.4 billion while the federal government paid $200 million. That is all we borrowed.

What they hear that make them reach the conclusion that I have borrowed so much is because we said that Lagos-Kano will cost $1.8 billion but nobody has given us that money. Lagos-Calabar rail project will cost $11 billion, yet nobody has given us that money. We said that Port Harcourt-Maiduguri rail line would cost $12 billion, yet nobody has given us this money.

I have said that the total requirement for the completion of these three or four rail lines, including Abuja-Itakpe comprising a seaport in Warri, will amount to about $36 billion. We will transform the country if we have $36 billion.

Considering what you did for Buhari during the 2015 presidential election, many felt that Minister of Transportation is not rewarding enough for you; do you feel that SGF would have been better?


I am a hands-on person and probably would not have been a good Secretary to the Government of the Federation. But essentially, I did not reach any agreement with the President. He found me suitable in the transport sector, fine, let me go and deliver there. It is not a thing to worry about. What is important is that this is where I have been called to service.

Will you likely continue in the same ministry in Buhari’s second tenure?

I don’t know and perhaps you may go and ask Mr President that question. If the President reappoints me, I will be glad to serve, but I am not in position to tell you whether he will reappoint me or not. That is at the discretion of Mr President.

What is the way forward, to bring peace to the ruling party, the APC?

I don’t really know how to answer that question because the National Chairman of the party and Mr President are in the best position to answer it because they lead the party. I will however say that the APC needs to do a lot of reengineering and put the party together.

There are lots of meetings that are supposed to be going on in APC like we used to hold those meetings when we were in the PDP. They need to bring caucus together, set up structures at the states and local government levels that will be meeting regularly. They also need to fund those structures.

If these things happen, APC will continue to rule the country but I have a problem with the fact that everybody is not completely involved. When I say that everybody is not completely involved, it is not that because people are holding meetings, there are not anywhere people are holding meetings more than the other, but just that we need to play more party politics.

Why did you sing war song during presidential campaign in the South East and South-South?

I don’t see anything wrong with those war songs I sang during the presidential campaign. Those songs are the traditional songs those people are known with. If you go to Aba, for example and don’t sing Nsogbu Nsogbu, you have not started. Even though the other song was an Ohafia war song, it is better known as Owerri song. They are traditional and artistic.


Again, the songs are to let the Igbo know that it is high time they came into the national politics. They are completely out of the national politics and it will pay them. If Igbo are not found in the national politics, it will be to the detriment of their children.

As the first to dangle the 2023 president carrot to the Igbo, what is the situation now?

I was the first to do that but I don’t know what the situation is now. I don’t know what they will do now for voting against the APC. For refusing to support the APC, they cannot come to the table to demand the presidency slot.

For people like us in the APC, if the Igbo had come and voted Buhari, they would boldly tell Mr President and the National Chairman of the party that presidency should go the Southeast since the South-south; South-west and North-west have produced president. What argument would the Southeast come up with now to convince anybody that they deserve the slot for 2023 president?

What do you advise the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, for dragging President Buhari to court?

I won’t give him any other advice because everybody wants to crucify me over the one I gave to him previously. I had told him that it was unnecessary to drag President Buhari to court. That he should rather allow him do his remaining four years for the interest of the country since 2023 is already here with us. Some persons felt that it was an unnecessary advice and I stopped.

Can you dispel or confirm it that you are strategizing for 2023 and that you may go for President or Vice President?

I am not up to age of those contesting for the positions because the president is for those that are 70 years and above. It is implied in the constitution that you must be 70 years and above to be the President and you must be 68 years to be the Vice President. I am just 54 years this month, May. And since I am not qualified by age, how can anyone say that I am going for the positions.

Did it occur to the APC-led federal government that things are getting very difficult for Nigerians now?

They are lying to say that things are getting difficult for Nigerians. It is not true and people are not being fair to the President to say that things are getting more and more difficult. The story of Nigeria is the story of the pyramid. Nigeria had like 10,000 rich men and 10 million poor people before Buhari came in. Starting from the former military Heads of State to the civilian presidents, big men were created here and there.

They used instrument of authorities to create those wealthy men but as they created those rich men, people were getting poorer. Creating poverty cannot be under one year, it is over the years. They allowed the rich to acquire wealth to the detriment of the poor. Public institutions were not strengthened, schools were not built, and not much was done about primary health centres.

Don’t forget that when we came in, the dollar was already bouncing and running, forcing many to take the position to devalue the currency and remove oil subsidy as a way of securing the economy. And when the president tried it, and saw dollar ran to N500 per dollar, he got frightened and said no more devaluation.

That is why it now came down to N300 per dollar. If we had continued with that, we would have been in trouble. That was why I said that the intervention of Buhari stopped the Nigeria revolution. If we had continued, people would have started eating themselves.

What we are doing now is to manage what would have happened earlier. What the president is doing now is to get the economy trickle down to the base. If it successfully gets to the base, there will be no revolution. But it will not be easy.

What will you say is the most striking achievement in Buhari’s first four-year tenure and where he needs to improve in his second term?

There is no way anyone can ignore Mr President in the area of infrastructure and he is among the two presidents you cannot ignore. Buhari and Gowon did very well in provision of infrastructural facilities in every part of the country.

Babangida equally tried especially in Abuja and building of the Third Mainland bridge in Lagos State. Buhari equally did well in agriculture and security. In terms of security, it is not about how many policemen deployed in the field, but essentially how you address poverty and hunger.

It is all about employment and that is why he has been shouting that we must create employment. An unemployed must look for food even if you put policeman at his door.

The best way to address insecurity is to create employment and create avenue where income can come to the people. We build infrastructure to create employment. Once contractors are paid and they pay workers, wealth will trickle down to the masses.

What is your take on the impression that President Buhari’s appointments have been sectional?

I don’t have comment. I have said that I don’t understand what people describe as sectional appointment. President will appoint people he knows. You don’t expect him to appoint his enemies. In fact, let us situate this, 60 to 70 per cent of the economy, budget are in the hands of two people from the south, Fashola and Amaechi.

So, why are the northerners not complaining that he gave those key economic positions to the southerners? If I were a northerner, I would tell Mr President to give the South everything and give them those two key positions.

Did it occur to you that you created too many enemies in Rivers like Magnus Abe and others?

Ordinarily, I would not want to comment on that but let us take Magnus, who wants to be governor, for example. I told him that since both of us come from upland, he should allow riverine to go. But he said that I abused him before his wife.

As an Ikwerre man, the assumption in Ikwerre is that if nobody can control a man, his wife should and that was why I called his wife to beg her husband not to run. To show how much he is not a Christian, he told the world that I told the wife that I would finish him if he runs. Is that possible and can you do that to even a mad man?

Most Christians take God for granted because of the principle of forgiveness. It is like what I told Peter Obi after I had won the chairmanship of the Governorship Forum, 19 to 16. I saw him in the Catholic Church after watching him campaigning round the media that I did not win.

I challenged him to kneel down before the Blessed Sacrament in the altar to swear that I did not win that election and I will resign there and then. But he told me that it is politics and I should not bring religion into politics.

So, Magnus, and others rose from my hands politically. God used me as a tool to spring all of them. During the APC presidential campaign in Rivers State, I told Mr President and the crowd that 80 per cent of the current Rivers politicians passed through me. I nominated Austin Opara, the Deputy Speaker for House of Representatives. I put my cousin Celestine Omeha as Commissioner under Rufus Ada George. Magnus and many others passed through me.

Is it true that you cannot walk freely on the streets of Port Harcourt now?

I am surprised you did not see a video of where my people were falling on each other to touch me. The security had a rough day stopping people to allow me pass. I was running and they were chasing me.

I went into a market that would have been very dangerous for anybody like me to prove a point. My security did not even anticipate it. As dangerous as Port Harcourt may be, I can go to anywhere I want to go. I still go out with one car in Port Harcourt.

https://www.akelicious.net/2019/05/igbo-have-nothing-to-bargain-for-2023.html

godlyguy:
The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, has declared that anyone who refuses to sit at home on May 30 deserves to be stoned to death.

Nnamdi Kanu expressed anger that the Nigerian Government passed a bill recognizing June 12 as Democracy Day in honour of MKO Abiola but turned against the remembrance of millions of Igbo killed during the war.

According to him, Biafrans are going to sit at home on 30th May to remember and honour over 3.5m Biafrans killed by Britain through Nigeria.

Kanu said this in a live broadcast from London, UK on Thursday, adding, “They passed a bill today to recognise and honour June 12 because of one man, then turn against IPOB for honouring 6 million victims of genocide and those that fought to save those of us who are alive today.

“They must be mad and insane. Anybody who fails to sit at home on May 30th deserves to be stoned to death.

“Now the same band of God forsaken Fulani slaves in our midst is telling us not to honour over 3.5 million victims of genocide and the brave men that fought to keep us alive.

“What a bunch of soulless evil men? They are telling us not to honour our own people because an Igbo man or any Biafra for that matter is not worthy to be honoured in Nigeria.

“These are the same people whose politics of acquisance and compromise put us in the mess IPOB is trying to fix today. We must send a clear, unambiguous message to these Fulani slaves in our land that we must honour our brave fathers and mothers that fought for us.

“We are going to sit at home on 30th May to remember and honour over 3.5m Biafrans killed by Britain through Nigeria.”

https://dailypost.ng/2019/05/17/biafra-anyone-refuses-sit-home-may-30-deserves-death-nnamdi-kanu/?fbclid=IwAR0hLISFWV-L8VzaxkalGPjSv_3Fd8HTGAf5Tj1WIlLfiaDsgHbZSikGm-g

https://ebeanonews..com/2019/05/biafra-anyone-who-refuses-to-sit-at.html?m=1

BeautifulMind2:
Op I'm still searching where he said Igbo have nothing to bargain in 2023, he only mentioned Southeast not Igbo

MetaPhysical:
If this is not marginalization I dont know how to describe it.
Shut down an airport for abattoir...nama business!

Osagyefo98:
FG to shut down, downgrade Enugu international airport

The Federal government is to downgrade the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu from its international status to a local airport following safety concerns from airlines.
Minister of State for Aviation, Mr. Hadi Sirik, who stated this at a Stakeholders Forum held in Lagos late Friday also said the government was also considering a temporary shutdown of the Enugu Airport to address safety challenges raised by airline operators flying into the airport.
“We have issues with the Enugu Airport and we may downgrade Enugu Airport in terms of international status and I have discussed it with the Federal Government,” said Sirika.
Sirika listed the major challenges hampering the smooth operation of the airport to include the poor state of the airport runway, the presence of a state radio mast on the flight path of airlines that threatens the safety of incoming aircraft, the siting of a Free Trade Zone at the end of the runway, as well as incessant bird strikes affecting airlines and occasioned by the presence of an abattoir at proximity to the airport. Sirika said he had held discussions with the Enugu state Governor, Mr. Ifenyi Ugwanyi on the need to relocate the market, pull down the radio mast and relocate the Free Trade Zone in the interest of safety of aircraft and passengers.
“I am afraid that Enugu Airport might have to be closed down. I have told the governor that we have to move the market, FTZ, and take the radio mast away so that we can move in and fix things and clear the runway so that we can improve on safety and save lives,” he added


https://www.facebook.com/378378918890631/posts/2333799286681908/


Read more at:

https://punchng.com/market-location-abattoir-make-akanu-ibiam-airport-unfit-for-international-operations-sirika/


lalasticlala.

OEPHIUS:
https://i0.wp.com/leaders.ng/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Tinubu-and-Buhari.jpg?zoom=2&resize=560%2C238

Over time, former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu have shown a keen understanding of human nature thereby consistently manipulating such to reach for power. When he tried to down play his interest in the 2023 Presidency over the weekend, his intention was well written all over him.

The self-acclaimed National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is fond of throwing up issues, not through rational argument, analysis and truth-telling but rather manipulating people's imperfect reasoning and emotions. While this attitude are mostly exhibited by politicians, Tinubu's mastery of the trick has oftentimes been confused by the people as genuineness and patriotism.

Funny enough, he has developed a means of constantly pushing out deceptive tales on what the people want to hear and cleverly disguise his intention as what is right or just. That was the same approach he took in answering his subtle but budding 2023 presidential bid.

Despite the fact that he has tried endlessly to wave off his interest, the signs are too obvious for anyone to fall for his usual antics. This was the same tactics he deployed to join Muhammadu Buhari on the APC ticket in 2015 until he was stopped by those who feared a Muslim-Muslim ticket would hurt the chance of the party in the poll.

Tinubu was obviously hurt that he was denied that opportunity as contained in 'Against the Run of Play', a book that chronicles the first electoral defeat of a sitting president in Nigeria written by Olusegun Adeniyi, former Presidential Spokesman and editorial board chairman of ThisDay Newspapers. In the book, Tinubu accused Bukola Saraki and others of “going behind to instigate Buhari and some other people in the party against me on the pretext of religion. That was not right. They were canvassing arguments that the Christians in the North would not vote for a Muslim-Muslim ticket."

This apparently sparked off hostility of Tinubu towards Saraki, including attempt to block the latter’s emergence as President of the Senate in 2015. But Tinubu as usual, pretended he has not "tried to insinuate himself into any major office" since he last contested for re-election as Lagos state governor in 2003. Tinubu's clever spins illustrate a deep-rooted "mind games" because he's actually trying to foist an imagination of himself that doesn't exist on Nigerians.

Perusing the statement released by Tinubu’s media aide, Tunde Rahman, it was obvious the former governor was pricking emotions of Nigerians and trying to lure them into conclusion that he could be the best for them. Just like the 'incorruptible' toga wrapped around Buhari in the build up to the 2015 presidential poll, Tinubu is trying to project himself as someone who isn't "obsessed with power" thereby pushing a narrative that those who do not understands him are people that "have nothing to contribute regarding statecraft or providing actual solutions to actual problems, their minds remain forever mired in political machinations."

But far from his words, Tinubu is the one flaring political machinations ahead of 2023, including his mind games on Nigerians. As aptly suspected by Saraki and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, Tinubu’s interest in the leadership of the 9th National Assembly is nothing but to fuel his 2023 presidential bid.

Saraki and Dogara had in a separate response to barrage of accusations against their leadership of the National Assembly, pointedly linked Tinubu's insistence in determining who lead the legislative arm in the next dispensation to his presidential bid in 2023. While Saraki asked Tinubu to leave him "out of his schemes and manipulations towards 2023", Dogara went a step further as he plainly said his "nocturnal agenda has no parallel in the history of any democracy."

Interestingly, he continues to shield his real intentions while presenting himself as one whose only mission is to support Buhari to make sure the country and its citizens regained the stature they had lost. Perhaps, trying to lure the president to secure his support when he must have eventually made his aspiration known. His media aide cleverly declared that his (Asiwaju's) "mind, heart and efforts are focused on supporting the President in achieving their shared vision of a flourishing economy and a prosperous people. He is committed to doing what he can to help President Buhari surmount the challenges in order to achieve the economic reform the nation sorely needs."

Indeed, Tinubu is well versed in this mind game. While he puts attention away from himself, He has craftily perfect permutations that would give him an edge for the 2023 race. In part, he pushes for his loyalists to occupy political offices, most especially governors, in his Southwest region. Likewise, his vicious upstaging of Saraki in Kwara and making sure his loyalists take up the saddle, extended his reach to the North Central zone. There are insinuations that he is propping up another loyalist to replace Yahaya Bello in Kogi this November, hence, giving him a bit more edge in that zone considering his strong affinity to the Niger state governor, whose father is a long-time ally.

While 2023 is four years away but a Machiavellian politician like Tinubu quite understood that getting a sit as big as Nigeria presidential seat does not just happen overnight and expectedly, he is building the phase to leverage on. Probably, Tinubu drew inspiration from Portuguese trainer Jose Mourinho, who is fond of playing mind games on his opponents in his rewarding career. But will the mind game deliver what Tinubu covets to him? Time will tell

Oke Umurhohwo is a Political Analyst and Strategist. He tweets via @OkeStalyf and can be reached via oke.umu@gmail.com

http://leaders.ng/2023-tinubu-and-his-mind-game-by-oke-umurhohwo-okestalyf/

Awol1:
Sorry!

But I still don't believe in juju.