₦airaland Forum

By Levinus Nwabughiogu-Abuja


As the race for the leadership of the incoming 10th National Assembly in both the Senate and the House of Representatives gathers momentum, strong indication has emerged Senator Godswill Akpabio may have dropped his ambition to run for Senate President.

In the alternative, Akpabio has decided to pursue a ministerial appointment in the cabinet of the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

It will be recalled that Akpabio, a former Minority Leader of the Senate and immediate past minister of Niger Delta Affairs in the government of President Muhammadu Buhari resigned his portfolio following the provision of section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act of 2022 to contest the presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

But at the convention ground, Akpabio stepped down for Tinubu’s who later won the party’s ticket and also went ahead to win the keenly co-tested February 25, 2023 presidential election.


Vanguard gathered from reliable sources within the party hierarchy and the National Assembly on Sunday Akpabio’s decision to drop his Senate presidential ambition was informed by the decision of the party to zone the slot to the South East.

One of the sources who pleaded anonymity said that barring any last minute eventuality, the party leadership will soon announce the zoning arrangements of all the presiding and principal offices both in the Senate and the House.

The source said that Akpabio who was also a former Akwa-Ibom State Governor has since escalated consultations to return his ministerial position specifically the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs where he resigned from in May 2022 to contest for the APC Presidential primaries.

Another possible push is also in the Ministry of petroleum where it was learnt the governor minister had vested interest too.

It was learnt that the Senate-elect has since informed his loyalists to tone down their campaign for his senate presidential ambition in the media to soften the ground to achieve his ministerial reappointment in Tinubu’s cabinet.

Tinubu will be sworn in as president on May 29, 2023, barely two months from now and he is mandated by a new law signed by President Buhari in the constitutional alterations to form his cabinet within 60 days of assumption of office.

While some have publicly declared their intention to vie for the office of the Senate President, others were yet to do so.

Some of the contenders for the President of the Senate included a former Governor of Abia State and current Chief Whip, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, Senators Jibrin Barau (APC, Kano North); Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South).

Also speculated to be in the list against the ranking standing rule are former Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari (APC, Zamfara West); the outgoing Governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. David Umahi (APC, Ebonyi South), and a former Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North).

The source said: “To avoid losing out Akpabio has since begun reaching out to Bola Tinubu personally and through his allies to return to any of the plum ministries which appears to be more favourable to the former two-time Governor when compared to the Senate President position.

“His chances are very dim and he knows this, our Party and the President-Elect are committed to forming a Government of National unity and quell restiveness in geo-political zones in the country beginning with the Southeast by giving them the opportunity to produce the next Senate President”.

Similarly, another source told the paper that the party was also seriously considering between the north west and central for the office of the speaker of the House of Representatives.

The office has at least 10 aspirants and these include, Rep. Ahmed Idris Wase from Plateau State, Rep. Makki Yalleman from Jigawa State, Rep. Adamu Yusuf Gagdi from Plateau State, Rep. Benjamin Kalu from Abia State, Rep. Peter Akpatason from Edo State, Rep. Muktar Aliyu Betara from Borno State, Rep. Sada Soli Jibia from Katsina State, Rep. Tunji Olawuyi from Kwara State, Rep. Abbas Tajuddeen from Kaduna State and Rep. Aminu Sani Jaji from Zamfara State.

Last Friday, the outgoing Speaker, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila held a private meeting with the aspirants except the only female aspirant, Hon. Mariam Onuoha from Imo State who was absent.

While there was no press statement as to what transpired in the meeting but a picture of the aspirants with the speaker released by his media office, one of the aspirants, Gagdi who was present said that the issue of preference for Rep. Tajueed Abbas came up.


“The Speaker did not call us to ask anybody to step down, as it’s being said. One, there are insinuations and accusations that he is supporting one Candidate, that is Tajudeen Abbas.

“He called that meeting first to know how we are campaigning as individuals and whether we have problems among us the Aspirants which we said no, we don’t have any problem.

“Then, some of the aspirants raised an issue that Speaker’s boys are using the Speaker’s name for that Aspirant (Tajudeen Abbas), that the Speaker asked them to campaign for him. And it has begun to create apprehension and tension.

“So, some people raised that observation for Speaker to call the attention of one of his staff that is parading himself that he’s under the instruction of Mr. Speaker to support one candidate. That was sorted out.

“Secondly, Speaker emphasized to us that he is a partyman and being the Speaker, he has never done anti-party. So, he assured us that any day, any time the party zones, he will be supporting the zone that the party zoned to. This is the only thing that happened. So, anybody that tells you anything outside that, is not true”, Gagdi said.

Similarly, a former chairman of the House committee on Appropriations, Hon. Jubrin Abdulmumuni, now a retuning lawmaker from the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in an interview published by Sunday Vanguard but earlier aired on Channels TV said two aspiration Wase and Betara were not likely to step down for anyone but would want to run to the end of the contest irrespective of zoning.

He said: “Two candidates will not respect zoning even if they are zoned out and that is Wase and Betara. They will go because I’ve had conversation with them. They will go to the floor and test it and now, I tell you something, the party should not be upset with them. It is not largely because of what they want, it is because of the history of support base they’ve always had and is so massive and if you ask me point block today, no matter where the party do the zoning and you ask me who is going to, I’ll tell you that Betara is going to have 90% of the vote cast. I have also told you that two candidates have already gone far away beyond zoning. They’ve gone far. They’ve gone too far. Wase and of course, Betara and it is not only because I understand the history of where they came from. The volume of support that they have from members and the rest, I’ve also had conversation with them”.

Adedayo Akinwale and Emameh Gabriel in Abuja


In a bid to avert any possible impact of the lingering crisis in the Labour Party (LP) in his petition at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, the presidential candidate of the party, Mr. Peter Obi has reached out to some of the principal actors to sheathe their swords, THISDAY has learnt.

This is coming as the acting National Chairman of the party, Mr. Lamidi Bashir Apapa, has debunked speculations that he was being sponsored by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to hijack the party’s leadership and withdraw its petition before the presidential election petition tribunal.He declared that as a founding member of the party, there was no way he could betray the party or its presidential candidate, Obi.However, the 36 state chairmen have insisted that the embattled National Chairman, Julius Abure, who was sacked by the court remains the substantive National Chairman of the party.

But Apapa has insisted that only the court can reinstate Abure.Following the fears that the crisis could affect the party’s election petition, THISDAY gathered that Obi will for the first time intervene to resolve the differences between the warring factions to prevent external elements from infiltrating the party.

Obi’s aloofness from issues concerning the running of the Labour Party is believed to be responsible for the lingering crisis which started in July 2022.“Obi didn’t want to be caught in the crossfire, especially when his eyes were fixed on winning the presidential election. He didn’t want to get involved in an internal party crisis”, a member of the party’s NEC told THISDAY.

He said with the current circumstances, Obi “is already in talks with both factions of the party to address the situation and allow for a smooth running of the party’s affairs. This period is critical, he will not allow things to get out of hand.”According to him, Obi has reached out to the warring factions and prevailed on them not to escalate the crisis.

As the jostle for the leadership of both chambers of the National Assembly intensifies, some senators have commenced moves to prevent a crisis by conceding the Senate presidency to the ruling All Progressives Congress, which has majority of members in the Red chamber.

This is coming as indications emerged on Saturday that the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, might cut short his foreign trip and return to the country on Monday to take charge of things with regards to the National Assembly leadership tussle.

Similarly, aspirants jostling to succeed Femi Gbajabiamila as the Speaker of the House of Representatives are said to be employing conventional and unconventional methods to gain the support of their colleagues, especially those who are newly elected and will take their seats in June upon the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly.

The senator representing Benue-South in the upper chamber, Abba Moro, noted that although it was true that there was no stated rule that the party with the majority of members must lead the Senate, it had become a convention to leave the leadership to the party with the majority members.

The presiding officers in the Senate are produced by the majority caucus made up of the party with the highest members, and the minority caucus consisting members of the other parties.

According to results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission for the February 25 National Assembly election, the APC won 57 Senate seats, while the major opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party, has 29 seats.

The All Progressives Grand Alliance has one seat; Labour Party, eight; New Nigeria People’s Party, two; Social Democratic Party, two; and the Young Progressive Party, one seat.

Some states like Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara will have supplementary elections before the June inauguration of the 10th Assembly for the remaining members of the Red chamber.

Having won the majority of the seats, according to parliamentary tradition and convention, the APC is expected to form the majority caucus and produce the presiding officers.

No fewer than eight senators in the APC have joined the race for the Senate presidency.

They include Jibrin Barau (Kano Central), Sani Musa (Niger East), Orji Kalu (Abia North) and Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom North West).

Others are Osita Izunaso (Imo West), Peter Ndubuze (Imo North), Abdul’Aziz Yari (Zamfara West) and the incumbent Senate President, Ahmad Lawan (Yobe North).

Despite the convention, the National Assembly experienced some ruckus last week when opposition members in the House of Representatives threatened to upset the ruling party over the seat of the Speaker.

The opposition lawmakers-elect met in Abuja on Tuesday where they fine-tuned strategies for using their number as a bargaining power in negotiations with the speakership aspirants.

It was gathered that the opposition lawmakers-elect resolved to work together to influence the election of the House leadership.

Speaking on the issue, Moro told Sunday PUNCH that the upper legislative chamber would likely not take the route of upstaging the party with the absolute majority in order to avoid acrimony.

He said, “It is not out of place for the House of Representatives to do that as there is no written rule on which party leads either chamber. But the members at a convention agreed to always let the ruling party take the leadership seats.

“As a member of the Peoples Democratic Party and having seen the crisis that zoning can cause, I will say we should let things remain the way they are.

“If I were to choose, I will go with staying with the convention that we all agreed to. So, I will say that the party with the majority members should take the leadership seats.”

The Benue Senator, however, emphasized that although the APC could have the leadership seats, it was important that it ran an administration that would be for all and sundry.

Moro said, “That being said, the leadership must be that which considers all; it must be an inclusive one that allows for the system to work.

“The current leadership of the ninth Senate is rather political than system-oriented. We will want things to be better for an all-inclusive leadership.”

Another lawmaker from Kebbi State, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was not unaware of plans by opposition senators to upstage the ruling party.

He said it was not necessary to cause chaos where there was none.

The lawmaker stated, “I am not aware of any such plans and I don’t think such is necessary. The nation is going through a lot and to cause another chaos in the National Assembly is obviously not needed.

“I believe that we can manage things amicably and we trust the ruling party to do what is right.”

An opposition lawmaker from the South-East told one of our correspondents that the House of Representatives comprised younger people who were vibrant and could take a certain risk.

He noted that because of the gap between the majority members in the House, such could be possible, but in the Senate, the APC already had a simple majority.

The lawmaker said, “You know that the House of Representatives is different; the Senate consists of more elder statesmen and people who are experienced. We won’t want to spend more time dragging issues.

“Nigeria is currently bleeding and the best we can do is to salvage the country. The APC already has the simple majority. So, it’s better to leave things as they are.

“We will just hope that the leadership of the APC will be fair to all, while we do our jobs as legislators.”


President-elect’s return

Reports emanating from the camp of the president-elect on Friday suggested that Tinubu might return to the country on Monday ahead of his May 29 inauguration.

A reliable source told one of our correspondents that Tinubu might have called off his scheduled trip to London and Saudi Arabia for Umrah to discuss with the leadership of the APC on the zoning of principal offices in the 10th National Assembly.

In the last three weeks, several aspirants in the Senate and House of Representatives had been lobbying their fellow lawmakers and members of the National Working Committee of the ruling party.

The source stated, “The camp of the president-elect is presently bubbling with excitement. We heard that Asiwaju has cancelled his Umrah trip and may return to Nigeria on Monday.

“Although we were not told the reason, I suspect that it must be in connection with the manner in which Kalu, Akpabio and (Jibrin) Barau are giving the APC sleepless nights with their lobbying campaigns.”

It was gathered that Tinubu was planning to meet with the leaders of the APC and the aspirants for the National Assembly leadership upon his return.

Tinubu had on March 18 jetted out of Nigeria to spend some time in Paris and London.

His sudden decision to travel out of the country one week after March 11 governorship and state assemblies’ polls raised eyebrows and fuelled speculations that he was flown abroad for medical attention.

Hours after the rumour gained ground, his media officer, Tunde Rahman, said in a statement that his principal embarked on the trip to rest and plan his transition programme ahead of his inauguration on May 29.

Rahman added that the president-elect would head for Saudi Arabia from Europe to partake in the lesser Hajj and Ramadan fasting.

A week after he left the country, the media was again awash with reports of a clandestine meeting in London between Tinubu and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola.

The report has since been denied by the media teams of both the president-elect and the CJN.

Reacting to the report of Tinubu’s imminent return, the Director of Media and Publicity for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, said there was a likelihood he might breeze into the country at the weekend or Monday.

“Yes, I understand that Asiwaju may not be attending the lesser Hajj again. He is likely to return this weekend or latest Monday,” Onanuga stated.

But the Special Adviser to the president-elect on Communication, Dele Alake, denied that Tinubu’s absence might be the reason for the delay in talks over the leadership of the 10th National Assembly.

This is even as he expressed reservation that his principal would return to the country as reported.

He said, “How does the leadership of the National Assembly affect his coming and going? It is a global world. You can conduct your meetings and business from anywhere. For instance, I can be in New York and have an interview with anybody across the world. How does Asiwaju’s absence affect discussion on the leadership of the National Assembly?

“I cannot really tell if he is returning this weekend. He has the freedom to decide when he will return. If he decides to come back tomorrow or next week, who am I to determine when he should?”


Dollar rain for Reps-elect

The leading contenders in the race for the seat of Speaker of the House of Representatives are doling out cash in foreign and local currencies to woo members-elect, Sunday PUNCH has learnt.

It was reliably gathered that some of the contestants were not only giving cash gifts to the various caucuses of the House, but were also providing accommodation for newly elected members of the parliament.

The number of returning members of the House is said to be far less than that of first timers, a situation that has made the new members attractive to the aspirants for bloc votes.

While the House has 360 members, those returning in the next Assembly are said to be less than 90.

Aspirants for the office of the Speaker in the 10th Assembly are now over 10.

Sunday PUNCH had reported that the aspirants included the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase; embattled Majority Leader, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa; Chairman of the House Committee on Navy, Yusuf Gagdi; Chairman, House Committee on Appropriations, Aliyu Betara; Chairman, House Committee on Science Research Institutes, Olaide Akinremi; and Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Benjamin Kalu.

Others are Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Land Transport, Tajudeen Abbas; Chairman, House Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness, Abdulraheem Olawuyi; Chairman, House Committee on Water Resources, Sada Soli; and Sani Jaji.

Last Thursday, the National Vice Chairman (North-West) of the APC, Salihu Lukman, called on the leadership of the party to impose an ethical code of conduct that would automatically disqualify any lawmaker who attempted to bribe his way into becoming the next President of the Senate or Speaker of the House.

Lukman’s appeal came in the wake of reports that members of the National Assembly eyeing leadership seats had turned the national secretariat of the APC into a warehouse where several trucks were offloading bags of rice and sugar for party leaders and members of the NWC.

While stating that the unsolicited gesture reeked of corruption and a deliberate attempt to bribe decision makers in the party, the Kaduna politician described the act as “unethical and disrespectful.”

The NWC member stated that though they had watched some senators and House of Representatives members lobby colleagues and stakeholders with impunity, the ruling party had not zoned any of the principal offices to any region.

A lawmaker, who is campaigning for one of the top contenders, informed one of our correspondents about the donations being made by the aspirants, a situation which he said was now becoming another competition among them.

The lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being reprimanded by the House and the affected aspirants, also disclosed that the newly-elected lawmakers, many of who are now relocating to the Federal Capital Territory, were being lodged in hotels across the city.

“That is very true (gifts). They (aspirants) are meeting with the newly-elected members. In fact, they are the aspirants’ main target because of their number. They are more than the returning members by far. All of us who are returning are not up to 90,” the source stated.


Speaking about mobilisation, the lawmaker also said, “That is true. They (aspirants) are meeting them (new members) and making donations to them, and making all manner of financial offers.”

The lawmaker went ahead to name the biggest spenders among the aspirants.

The source named a particular aspirant whom he said “is banking on his financial muscle.”

The source disclosed that one of the contestants from the North-Central geopolitical zone gave the members-elect $200,000 (about N150m), while another aspirant from the North-West gave them N200m.

“What happened was that he (the lawmaker from the North-West) is challenging the one from the North-East. The first one went there before him and gave them $200,000, which was converted to about N150m. So, when he came after, he also announced N200m. They are about to bastardise the system,” the lawmaker said.

The source also confessed that his choice aspirant also donated to the new members-elect but disputed the N150m said to have been donated by the aspirant, adding, “He wouldn’t do up to that at all.”

When asked about accommodation, including at Transcorp Hilton, the lawmaker also confirmed our correspondent’s findings.

“I am not aware of Transcorp, but I know that there are pockets of hotels here and there that they have booked for them. I know that almost all the aspirants have one hotel or the other that they have booked in different parts – all for the first-timers,” the source said.

The incumbent Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Thursday met with those aspiring for his seat in the 10th House.

The media office of the Speaker released photos of Gbajabiamila with the aspirants and principal officers of the House on Friday.

Aspirants who met with the Speaker included Ahmed Wase, Makki Yalleman, Yusuf Gagdi, Benjamin Kalu, Peter Akpatason, Aliyu Betara, Sada Soli Jibia, Tunji Olawuyi, Abbas Tajuddeen and Sani Jaji.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Kalu, has stated that anybody who plans to be a leader in the House must negotiate with the minority caucus.

Kalu, a member of the APC from Abia State, argued that majority status was determined by the number of lawmakers a party had and not a coalition of parties.

The House spokesman was reacting to the formation of a coalition by members-elect from minority parties.


Members-elect on the platform of opposition parties had formed an alliance ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly with the aim of determining not only the leadership of the minority caucus but also the House.

The lawmakers-elect had met in Abuja on Tuesday night where they mooted using their number as a bargaining power in negotiations with the members seeking to be Speaker of the House in the coming Assembly.

The lawmakers had unanimously adopted the slogan, ‘10th Assembly: Greater Majority’, at the meeting.

Sources at the meeting, part of which was held behind closed doors, said the coalition of minority parties might wrestle power from the APC.

At the meeting were old and newly-elected members of the House on the platforms of seven opposition parties namely; the PDP, Labour Party, APGA, SDP, African Democratic Congress, YPP and NNPP.

While the Independent National Electoral Commission has scheduled supplementary 2023 general elections for April 15, from the results of the 325 seats in the House so far declared, the APC has won 162 seats, while the seven opposition parties have a total of 163 seats.

Kalu noted that the minority caucus could only adopt a candidate from among the aspirants in the APC.

According to him, majority status is determined by the number of a particular party and not a coalition of parties.

He said, “It does not mean that they cannot put themselves together and have a candidate they have in mind. Since it is about numbers, what they are going to do is to have a candidate within the majority party.

“I know they are now calling themselves ‘greater majority,’ which is the coming together of the various single minorities to become greater in number. The House rule is looking at the political party, not the caucus. It is looking at the political party that has the majority votes and, in this case, we qualify as the single political party that has the majority vote.”

Gagdi, one of the aspirants at the meeting with the Speaker, disclosed some of the details of their discussions to journalists.

The lawmaker said Gbajabiamila denied backing any of the aspirants, especially Abbas, the suspected candidate of Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State.

He said, “The Speaker did not call us to ask anybody to step down as it is being speculated. One, there are insinuations and accusations that he is supporting one candidate; that is Tajudeen Abbas. He called that meeting first to know how we are campaigning as individuals and whether we have problems among us – the aspirants – to which we said, ‘No, we don’t have any problem’.

“Then, some of the aspirants raised an issue that the Speaker’s boys were using his name for that aspirant (Abbas); that the Speaker asked them to campaign for him and it was creating apprehension and tension.

“So, some people raised that observation for the Speaker to call the attention of one of his aides parading himself that he’s under the instruction of Mr Speaker to support one candidate. That was sorted out.”

Gagdi added, “Secondly, the Speaker emphasised to us that he is a party man; and being the Speaker, he has never done anti-party (activities). So, he assured us that any day and any time the party zoned the leadership positions, he would be supporting the zone that the party zoned (a position) to. This is the only thing that happened. So, anybody that tells you anything outside that, it is not true.”

Responding to a question whether the APC had communicated its zoning formula to the caucus, the lawmaker stated, “You can’t have any communication from the party at this time. The party chairman (Abdullahi Adamu) is out of the country on official assignment with some members of the National Working Committee. The president-elect is equally out of the country. Everybody knows that the president-elect is in France. So, how will the party sit and agree on zoning if the president-elect, who has a major stake in this thing, is not considered?”

Some serving councillors elected under the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress yesterday threatened legal action against Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, the running mate of the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

The local council lawmakers also issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the LP vice presidential candidate to withdraw the statement made on national television that the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, and his vice should not be sworn-in on May 29.

Daily Trust Saturday reports that Baba-Ahmed had in a recent interview on a national television asked the Chief Justice of Nigeria not to swear in the President-elect on May 29 while some of their supporters had called for the interim national government.

Addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, the national chairman of the National Progressive Councillors Forum (NPCF), Muslihu Yusuf Ali, described Obi and his running mate as “enemy of unity, peace and democracy”.

Ali said, “We will like to use this medium to strongly condemn a provocative statement made by the Labour Party vice presidential candidate, Sen. Datti Baba-Ahmed on Channels TV last week, attacking the integrity of the 25th February 2023 presidential election.

“Therefore, we call him to quickly withdraw his comments within 48 hours and apologise to the good people of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, President Buhari, the judiciary under the leadership of Chief Judge of Nigeria, else, legal action will be taken against him,” he said.

With the emergence of members elect at the recently held general elections, jostle for the leadership of the National Assembly seems to be gathering steam, CHUKWU DAVID, examines the battle for the soul of the 10th Assembly at the upper chambers by ex-raying contenders, their chances based on Senate ranking principle and the zoning arrangements the ruling All Progressives Congress is likely to adopt.Excerpts:

After the conduct of the February 25, 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections, there has been so much politicking and horse trading among Senators-elect and their supporters, particularly amongst those nursing ambition to occupy the leadership of the 10th Senate when it commences work in June, this year.

Traditionally, it’s not every Senator- elect that is qualified to occupy leadership positions, especially when it comes to the two presiding offices namely; the President of the Senate and his Deputy. Like in every human organization governed by rules of engagements and code of conduct, the National Assembly has certain rules and standards, which are placed as condition precedent for the emergence of its presiding officers which aspiring members must meet as basic qualifications before assuming office. In the Senate, Order 3, Rule 2 of its Standing Orders 2022 (as amended) the process for nominating and electing principal officers and other officers of the Senate, which prescribes those to be elected shall be in accordance with the ranking of members.

For clarity, ranking is determined by the following order: (i) Senators returning based on number of times re-elected; (ii) Senators who had been members of the House of Representatives, (iii) Senators elected as Senators for the first time. Going by these considerations, senators-elect who have served in the House of Representatives and now have been elected to the Red Chambers, and those who are re-elected back to the Senate are all recognised as ranking members and are therefore, qualified to contest for posts as presiding officers.

In the forthcoming 10th Senate, some of the contenders for the President of the Senate include a former Governor of Abia State and current Chief Whip, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu. Other ranking Senators who are also jostling for the office are Senators Jibrin Barau (APC, Kano North); Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), Godswill Akpabio (APC, Akwa-Ibom North West), Osita Izunaso (APC, Imo West), Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South), who lately indicated interest to run for the office of the President of the Senate.

Similarly, the incumbent President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan is also said to be eyeing a return though he is yet to make public his interest. However, those close to him say he might likely throw his hat into the ring when the chips are down. Also in the race is a former Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari (APC, Zamfara West), who has also declared his intention. Two non-ranking members-elect, outgoing Governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. David Umahi (APC, Ebonyi South), and a former Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North), have also joined the race with passionate pleas to convince the Senate, to amend its laws to accommodate their ambition, arguing that they are also suitable materials for the job.

Orji Uzor Kalu

Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, who won the Abia North Senatorial District seat for a second term is said to be the preferred choice. By ranking and by zoning, he is eminently qualified to occupy the seat. His supporters argue that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s emergence as president-elect has opened the window for the South-East to produce the President of the Senate as it was done during the Fourth and Fifth Assemblies under Olusegun Obasanjo as President. The position of most political analysts is that, Tinubu hails from South- West and the Vice President-elect, Kashim Shettima, is from the North- East, for equity and justice to reign, the APC should cede the position to the South-East to give the region a sense of belonging in the coming regime. A number of factors are working for Kalu. He is seen as a trusted party man. Those who hold this view point to the way he has defended the interest of the APC in the South-East.

He also supported the party’s same faith presidential ticket, not minding opposition raised against it by the leadership of the Christian faith and the pan-Igbo socio- cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo. It is also believed that Kalu has the legislative and executive experience coming with him. As a member of the House of Representatives between 1992 and 1993, he moved the famous Dual- Citizenship Rights Bill. He was elected the Governor of Abia State in 1999 during which time he brought a lot of human cum infrastructural developments to the state. The APC’s distribution of leadership positions in the National Assembly since 2015 has not gone down well with the various tendencies in the APC and stakeholders have advised that all the ruling party needs to do this time is to bring the various interest groups on the same page as Nigerians cannot afford to go through the experience of 8th National Assembly, which many believe, was responsible for the executive- legislative rift that impeded governance at that time. Apart from campaigns by his supporters across ethno-religious divides, Kalu, has publicly declared his intention, saying that it is his turn to occupy the exalted office. He has also rejected the idea of a Muslim Senate President, arguing that since Nigeria is a secular State, it would not be right for persons of the same religious faith to occupy the first three highest political offices in the country.

Godswill Akpabio

Godswill Akpabio is a ranking member who is also striving to occupy the plum seat. After serving out his second term as Governor of Akwa-Ibom State in 2015, he joined the Senate in the same year, on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). In that dispensation, the Senate, under Senator Bukola Saraki relaxed its ranking principle, which made it possible for Akpabio to be nominated for the position of the Senate Minority Leader by the South-South Caucus of the party, which was ratified by the Caucus of the PDP prompting his announcement by Saraki as Minority Leader on 28 July 2015. Although the leadership of the APC has not officially announced its zoning arrangement for the leadership of the National Assembly, Saturday Telegraph learnt from party insiders, that leadership of the APC is considering allocating the number three office to the South East. If this happens, it means that Akpabio will be shut out of the race.

Jibrin Barau

Senator Jibrin Barau, is a cognate member of the National Assembly, having served in the House of Representatives and now serving in the Senate. Barau is a third-term Senator who has shown capacity by winning the Kano North Senatorial seat three consecutive times. He is the current Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations. Therefore, by experience, he is well qualified but his aspiration might be dealt a serious blow by zoning that may not favour him since the party is already considering zoning the position to the South East for a balance of power. Barau at a press briefing recently in Abuja, declared his intention, insisting that he is the most qualified amongst other prospective contenders. He also stressed that ethno-religious sentiments should be jettisoned in choosing the person that would occupy the office. He pointed out that in the previous Assembly David Mark was the President of the Senate while Ike Ekweremadu was his Deputy, noting that nobody raised eyebrows about the two presiding officers being of the same faith.

Osita Izunaso

Another serious contender is Osita Izunaso, who was elected to represent Imo West Senatorial District. He is a ranking member having served in the House of Representatives and the Red Chambers previously. Therefore, by ranking, he is eminently qualified , however, feelers have it that both the national leadership of the APC and most Senators-elect are not favourably disposed to letting him into the exalted office. Meanwhile, Izunaso has gone to visit President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, where he called for the zoning of the Senate Presidency to the South-East, insisting that doing so will ensure fairness and equity. He declared that no Senator on the platform of the APC in South-East and South-South ranks higher than him.

Sani Musa

Senator Sani Musa who is representing Niger-East is another contender, although he has openly declared his zonintention, he however said that he would go for the Deputy President of the Senate position on religious consideration. According to him, he is ready to do so if the leadership of the APC wishes to address the agitations provoked by the same faith presidential arrangement to zone the office away from his reach. That notwithstanding, numerous civil society groups and individual politicians have been pushing for his emergence as the 10th Senate President.

Lawan and Ndume

It’s true that the incumbent, Ahmad Lawan and Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, are two of the longest serving members of the National Assembly, their aspirations may be hampered by the fact that they are both from the North East, which is the region of the Vice President-elect. This is even so since the leadership positions are limited and the APC would want to be seen as fair and equitable to avoid ethno-religious agitations after swearing in of the new administration.

Oshiomhole and Umahi

For Adams Oshiomhole and David Umahi, they are naturally encumbered by the ranking principle, which might not be jettisoned at this time because there won’t be any need for such. Although they believe that they might be able to get the Senate to bend the ranking rule for them, leading to their persistent push, it’s not certain if the ranking members will allow that to happen. In choosing the presiding officers of the Senate, the final decision is within the jurisdiction of the 109 Senators elected across the country. All the pre-inauguration horse trading notwithstanding, the elected lawmakers have the final say on the floor of the Senate, on who should be the head of the 10th National Assembly.

Mr Johnnie Carson, American Diplomat and a foreign observer in the just concluded 2023 general elections says three factors are responsible for the victory of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu.

Carson, an Executive Officer of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) spoke in Washington DC when the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed paid an official visit to the institute to engage on the concluded elections.

The diplomat said he co-led National Democratic Institute (NDI) and International Republican Institute (IRI), International Election Observation Mission to Nigeria during the elections.

According to him, Tinubu, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, undoubtedly won the polls and will be sworn-in come May 29, except something happens dramatically with the court.

“Do you know why he won, he got the money, he had the best national organisation that worked for him and the ground game,’’ he said.

Carson emphasised that for a candidate to win an election in Nigeria, like a lot of democracy in the globe, the three things, including substantial and significant financial resources were needed.

Others, according to him, are a national working organisation and a grass-root acceptance.

He said while Tinubu had all the three criteria in his kitty during the polls, the other major contenders did not have all.

Speaking specifically on the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Carson said, “on the part of Mr Peter Obi, he did not have the ground game and a national organisation.

“Obi is, however, very popular, particularly among the young, educated, urban and sophisticated,’’ he said.

Carson said that the presidential election was one of the most competitive polls in Nigeria and in Africa.

He, however, observed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) needed to up its game.

“Nigeria deserves the very best electoral process.

“To me, the problem is not with Tinubu and the other candidates,’’ he said.

Carson hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for his commitment in delivering a free and fair election for Nigeria.

He said the president “is a man of outstanding integrity’’ and he demonstrated the attribute in the past elections.

On his part, the minister said considering where INEC was coming from and where it were today, there were massive improvements in the conduct of the 2023 polls.

Conceding that there was room for improvements, the minister said the introduction of a new technology Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) by INEC underpinned the credibility of the elections.

According to him, BVAS cut out fraudulent votes, ghost voters and multiple votes.

Mohammed said the election was conducted against the backdrop of fuel shortage, mounting insecurity and poorly timed cash swap policy.

The minister also had engagements with the Council on Foreign Relations, a well versed think-tank on African affairs and foreign relations chaired by a Nigerian, Dr Ebenezer Obadare.

He was also at the Reuters News Agency; The Politico, an international political newspaper, and Zenger News, a channel that publishes its contents on Forbes.

During his respective interactions with the Think-tanks and international media, the minister presented the facts of the just concluded polls as against skewed narratives of the opposition and naysayers.

Anita Ofili, the lady who was arrested on March 26 for allegedly stabbing her friend, Glory Okon, to death in her apartment at Greenville Estate, Ajah area of Lagos, has revealed that she waited for 10 years to have her pound of flesh.

She further revealed that she committed the act because the deceased snatched her boyfriend about 10 years ago.

Occupants of the building were alerted by a shout for help from Ofili’s one-room self-contain apartment at 1.20p.m., penultimate Sunday.

They reportedly forced the door open, only to discover Ofili thrusting a kitchen knife into Okon’s neck.

Unfortunately, the victim, who was rushed to the General Hospital on Lagos Island, was confirmed dead, having lost so much blood.

One of the tenants of the building, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to Vanguard, explained that “the landlord’s daughter was the one that heard the scream.

“She peeped through the window and saw a masked person stabbing a lady. She rushed and called her father, who alerted other tenants that forced the door open, only to discover that the masked person was Anita Ofili.

“The whole room was filled with blood. We discovered that the victim was still breathing. We had to tie Ofili’s legs and hands to prevent her from escaping.

“Before the arrival of the Police, Ofili did not show any sign of remorse. She said she would explain to the Police what happened.

“She claimed the lady in question was her friend and that her action was in revenge for what her friend did to her.”


‘Why I killed her’

Vanguard gathered that the suspect and the deceased had been friends for close to two decades and had attended the same tertiary institution.

They were said to have had a misunderstanding that tore them part for close to 10 years before they reconciled two weeks ago.

Vanguard further gathered that both of them returned from a party penultimate Sunday.

Explaining why she committed the act, Ofili said: “Glory and I had been good friends for years, but she betrayed that friendship by snatching my boyfriend.

“I had the intention of marrying him. Her action strained the relationship and we went our separate ways for 10 years.

“We only reconciled two weeks ago. I invited her to my house and the rest you know.”

Meanwhile, Vanguard was informed that family members of the suspect distanced themselves from Ofili over her action.

One of them, who visited the State Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Department, SCIID, yesterday, was heard telling others that “I knew Anita was troublesome, but I never knew she could go to this extent.

“I stopped visiting her over 12 years ago because of her character flaws.”

Meanwhile, a team of detectives visited Ofili’s apartment, yesterday.

Police sources said tramadol suspected to have been used to drug the deceased was recovered.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the arrest of the suspect.

He said: “At 5.50p.m., on March 26, a resident of Greenville Estate came to the station to report that he heard someone screaming from the room of one Annie Ofili, that himself and other tenants quickly rushed to the room, forced the door opened only to meet Annie on top of Glory Okon, who came to visit her.”

He said Ofili held Glory Okon’s throat and stabbed her on the neck and back with a kitchen knife, that they rushed Okon to the hospital, where she was confirmed dead.

“Upon the information, a team of detectives moved to the scene. The suspect was arrested, the knife recovered, while the corpse was deposited at the Mainland General Hospital mortuary, Yaba, for autopsy and preservation.

“The suspect has been transferred to the SCIID, Yaba, for discreet investigation.”

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has failed to account for oil delivery to Warri and Kaduna refineries amounting to N102bn, according to a Senate report.

The Senate yesterday considered and adopted the report of its Committee on Public Accounts which probed the spendings of government agencies using the 2016 audit report.

The report said in 2016, the NNPC delivered crude oil to Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) and Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company without details of what was delivered to the two firms.

The report, presented by Senator Matthew Urhoghide, said: “From the review and examination of domestic crude oil lifting sales profile presented for audit verification, it was noted that several deliveries were stated to be jointly lifted by or delivered to WRPC and Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company without necessary details or breakdown of what was delivered to respective companies.”

It said from the examination carried out, a total oil sales value of $376, 655,589 (N102.6bn) was stated to have been lifted jointly by these two companies.

“The failure to properly separate these deliveries and charge directly to each company makes it difficult to reconcile and account for each lifting,” the report added.

The senate adopted the recommendation of committee urging the head of the NNPC to provide specific details of crude delivered to the two refineries for audit.

Meanwhile, the Senate upheld the indictment of 37 MDAs for violation of financial procedure in their spendings

It also resolved to submit the report on the indicted agencies to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of Federation for further action.

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, says the Lagos-Ibadan expressway will be completed by April 30 but the Abuja-Kano one will not be completed before the transition to the next administration.

Mr Fashola said this at the pre-inspection of the completed Loko-Oweto Bridge in Nasarawa State on Wednesday.

“I want to appeal to commuters on that road for continuous patience and understanding: it is a difficult project to execute because it is perhaps one of the busiest roads in the country.

“Building through 40,000 vehicular traffic daily is not an easy undertaking, we cannot shut down the road. So, we have to manage and divert traffic for the safety of those involved in the construction.

“So, I want to implore that forbearance continues because the deadline date we have for completion now is April 30.

“In about four weeks, 26 days, plus or minus, that road should also be fully completed, open to traffic from Lagos to Ibadan, and beyond the toll gate up to kilometre 116.”

According to him, what will be left is nine kilometres from Kilometres 17 to 27.

Mr Fashola said the reason that would be left was that the Oyo State Government is constructing drainage across the road, adding that the drainage was necessary to help address the issue of excessive flooding and climate change in the state.

“We believe that it is better to wait for them to finish that project, and then complete the remaining nine kilometres, instead of building it now and then having them cut it up again.”

Speaking also about the Abuja-Kano expressway, to be completed on 30 April as well, Mr Fashola said it was the biggest of all the road projects in terms of scope and budget.

“Abuja-Kano is the biggest of the three projects in terms of scope, in terms of size, in terms of budget; it is 375 kilometres.

”It encompasses 41 bridges of different sizes. It was the last to start, so it cannot finish at the same time. That is the honest truth.

“But we have made progress from Zaria to Kano, that is, 137 kilometres, and the contractors tell us that by May 15 that site should be fully completed.

“Then, we have Kaduna to Zaria, which is about 70-something kilometres. That side of course, they say will be completed on the 30th of this month, fully open to traffic,” he said.

Mr Fashola, however, said the Abuja-Kaduna road which is one of the projects embarked upon by the Buhari administration, would not be finished in the life of the administration

“The eye of the storm, the most difficult part and that is the busiest part, is the Kaduna to Abuja side. That has suffered all kinds of delays and it would not be finished in the life of this administration.

“It is the most trafficked side. It has almost 40,000 vehicles in traffic every day. But those are not just the problems; the problems are that the right of way has been severely encroached on between FCT, Niger and Kaduna states.

“We are working with the governors to help relocate all the obstructions, otherwise, we cannot fully build it.

“Apart from that, the project is also delayed by the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline project. We need that gas pipeline project as a major boost for our energy security.”

The minister said these were some of the challenges unseen to members of the public, adding that both the road and the pipeline were important, hence they had to be taken in sequence and order.

“We lost almost a year and a half to security challenges or sometimes contractors had to move from that section completely – they could not work.

“Thankfully, we must acknowledge the work that has been done by the law enforcement agencies, especially the Chief of Defense Staff and his team.

“They have made the return to that site easier and possible for our contractors. So, those are no longer an existent problem now. It is just the manhours now to do the work.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Government has also finished the Loko-Oweto Bridge in Nasarawa State and the Second Niger Bridge both to be inaugurated soon. (NAN)

Not one who is comfortable with mediocrity, it is an indisputable fact that Nigeria’s president-elect, Bola Tinubu, will not condone incompetence and mediocrity in his incoming cabinet. Going by his antecedents, those who knew his style of governance when he was governor of Lagos State have described him as a leader with a knack for headhunting the best of brains and those with the requisite competence and capacity to pilot the affairs of key government establishments.

Hinting recently about the appointments he is set to make, the president-elect stated categorically that he was out to constitute a government of national competence, which he said would form the basis for his appointments.

With ethnic and religious sentiments being weaved into the lobby for appointments into his cabinet, Tinubu said religion, ethnicity and other similar considerations would not determine appointments in his government.

“In selecting my government, I shall not be weighed down by considerations extraneous to ability and performance. The day for political gamesmanship is long gone. I shall assemble competent men and women and young people from across Nigeria to build a safer, more prosperous and just Nigeria. To secure our nation and to make it prosperous must be our top priorities. We cannot sacrifice these goals to political expediency. The whims of politics must take a backseat to the imperatives of governance,” he said in a statement he personally signed.

Sources close to the incoming president of Nigeria told LEADERSHIP that even though he does not spare thought in rewarding loyalty and hard work, Tinubu has also penciled some Nigerians who are not members of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) but are also talented, experienced and capable for appointment into his cabinet.

According to the sources that should know, the following persons have been shortlisted and considered to make his cabinet:

Sanusi

It was learnt that a powerful lobby pushes for the return of the 14th Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Sanusi whose forte is risk management in banking, enjoys the blessing of Governor Nasiru El Rufai of Kaduna State who has the ears of the president-elect.

As CBN governor between 2009 and 2014, Sanusi’s strong, independent leadership of the apex bank ensured relative stability of the financial market, especially after the turbulence of the global financial crisis of 2008/2009. Naira’s value stabilised around N155 to $1 for four years.

Tinubu, a seasoned accountant, is said to be predisposed to a new monetary management template synergised with sound fiscal policy to immediately revitalise the national economy on assumption of office May 29.

It is almost certain Godwin Emefiele will exit the government with President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29. Insiders at CBN hinted that he may even take a convenient “sick leave” abroad any time soon before Buhari’s scheduled hand over to avoid “embarrassment”.

Sanusi, according to our source, is considered as a credible technocrat with strong character to sanitise the banking/financial sector now left limping following Emefiele’s bungled Naira swap policy. Tinubu camp, believed to be fiercely opposed to Emefiele not only because of the Naira redesign policy alleged to be targeted against the APC in the February 25 presidential poll, hold strongly that the nation’s economy is worse off after Emefiele’s policy as indicators suggest.

According to the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, a think tank, the Nigerian economy is estimated to have lost N20 trillion between January and March 2023 due to Emefiele’s bungled Naira redesign policy.

Gbajabiamila

Current speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, is strongly being touted as the chief of staff to the president elect.

LEADERSHIP had exclusively reported that the Speaker had declined to collect his certificate of return after the recent election because he was poised to emerge Tinubu’s chief of staff.

Amid speculations that the Speaker has already begun to function in the capacity he is being projected for, Gbajabiamila was among few Tinubu loyalists who broke fast with the president elect in France last Saturday.

El-Rufai

The governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, is one APC stalwart that has endeared himself to Tinubu. The president-elect himself told the former director-general of the Bureau for Public Enterprises and FCT minister last year that he was not go out of the country after his tenure but stay to serve the country with him.

It was gathered that El-Rufai has been penciled to serve in Tinubu’s cabinet as secretary to government of the federation (SGF).

“You know that the office of the SGF is more or less the coordinating point for ministers in any federal cabinet. Tinubu believes that the Kaduna governor who once served as minister has the capacity to galvanise ministers to effectively implement government policies. This, coupled with his unalloyed loyalty to Tinubu, is the credentials giving him the qualities to become the next SGF. Don’t forget the confrontational manner in which he engaged the Aso Rock cabal at the peak of the cash crunch occasioned by the Naira swap policy,” one of the sources told this paper.

Alake

Dele Alake, commissioner for information and strategy to the then governor of Lagos, Tinubu, between 1999 and 2007, has remained with him as media aide. Alake who is the special adviser on media and communication of the APC presidential campaign council has been shortlisted as the next minister of Information and Culture. The ace journalist has again earned the trust and confidence of his boss considering the way and manner the media directorate of the campaign team took on the opposition with the ferocity of a wounded lion in defence of Tinubu and the governing party.

“For Alake, it is the parliamentary ‘take a bow’ and go, as the president-elect believes that there can’t be a better choice than to replicate the feat of the campaign media team in his cabinet as government’s mouthpiece,” an impeccable source to LEADERSHIP.

Besides, it was gathered that Alake’s loyalty is not in doubt, as he has been steadfast in working with Tinubu even after leaving office almost two decades ago.

Akume

Former governor of Benue State and current minister of special duties and intergovernmental affairs, George Akume, has been tipped to take over from Sen Abdullahi Adamu as national chairman of the APC. It is quite obvious that Adamu is on his way out as helmsman of the governing party following the post-election crisis that is gradually consuming him and putting the party on the precipice.

It was gathered that Akume who has been a political ally of Tinubu since 2011 when he joined the defunct Action Congress, one of the legacies that formed the APC, is seen as the man fit to take over from Adamu due to his vast knowledge of party politics.

Besides, Akume delivered for Tinubu and the APC in Benue State where the party displaced the governing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), stopping the incumbent governor, Samuel Ortom, from retiring to the Senate

Fashola

Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, is also on the list, though he is merely being considered because of his role during the 2023 campaigns. Like Gbajabiamila, the former Lagos governor is also being considered for the office of the Chief of Staff to the president due to his vast experience, age and strength of character.

As a former commissioner and chief of staff to Tinubu who was Lagos state governor from 1999 to 2007, it is believed that Fashola would do well if he is allowed to wear the same old chain. After his tenure as governor, Fashola was appointed first as minister of power, works and housing during the first term of President Muhammadu Buhari and then as minister of works and housing in 2019.

Fashola was the director, election planning and monitoring of the presidential campaign council of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

“They see him as a key part of Tinubu’s success story in Lagos and it is believed that his wealth of experience at the federal level as minister will be of immense benefit to the incoming Tinubu administration.

Fayemi

Indications have emerged that immediate past Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi is likely going to be picked as foreign affairs minister.

Fayemi who has served as minister of Solid Minerals Development during President Muhammadu Buhari’s first term, might secure the foreign affairs ministerial portfolio because of his extensive network with non governmental organisations and his robust rapport with foreign organisations.

He was a key member of Tinubu’s interface with the international community during the campaign for the recent elections. He was also said to have played a strategic role when former African heads of state paid a visit to Tinubu shortly after the presidential election.

However he would have to slug it out with some other key figures from Ekiti state who are also being considered for ministerial position.

Adeyeye

The former minister of state for Works and former journalists is also being considered for a ministerial position in Tinubu’s cabinet.

It is gathered that he might be penned for the minister of information and culture portfolio because of his journalism background and having served as spokesman of a political party in the past.

But he is also from Ekiti State like Fayemi, which makes the possibility of his emergence as a minister dicey.

There was a mild drama at the main entrance to the Rivers State headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Port Harcourt on Tuesday morning when protesting members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) resumed their protest along with a pot of charms (Juju) and an herbalist.

The protesters, who also came with palm fronds, were on their second day of protest to demand a joint inspection of 2023 election materials at the INEC office.

They had on Monday attacked the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tonye Cole, and prevented him from accessing the office of the electoral umpire where he was scheduled to meet with the officials of the commission.

When the protest resumed on Tuesday, the chairman of Ikwerre local government area of the State, Samuel Nwanosike, who dressed in a white attire and a traditional cap to match, was seen making incantations in his native Ikwerre language.

After what appears as a lull in their murderous activities during the general elections and cash crunch that hit the country, bandits and gunmen are back to their criminal acts.

Yesterday, they unleashed mayhem in at least five states, including Niger, Kaduna, Kogi, Adamawa and Bayelsa, killing scores of people and kidnapping no fewer than 34 people, including two police officers. They also carted away arms and ammunition.

Bandits kill 2 villagers, abduct 34, escape with arms in Niger

Seven days after killing seven people and abducting 26 persons, bandits on Sunday evening invaded Mashegu Local Government Area of Niger State.

This time, they killed two villagers and kidnapped two policemen and no fewer than 32 villagers.

The bandits were said to have gone straight to Ibbi Police station in Mashegu, attacked those on duty and whisked away two of the Policemen.

After sacking the Policemen on duty, the bandits were said to have ransacked the armoury in the station and carted away some arms and ammunition.

A dependable source from the area told Vanguard that no fewer than 32 persons were abducted from different villages in the community. All the abducted villagers were taken into the Ibbi forest.

“This incident happened about 24 hours after an unidentified aircraft hovered around the community and the police station. Some of the areas raided include Ibbi and Mazakuka towns.

‘’Statistics show that 15 of those abducted are from Mazakuka town, while nine are from Ibbi town and all of them, including the policemen abducted, were led into the forest and they are yet to be traced till now,” the source revealed.

Vanguard gathered that local vigilantes from Mokwa and New Bussa trailed the bandits into the forest and engaged them in a gun battle which lasted for hours.

Unfortunately, the commander of the vigilante was killed by the bandits and some of the bandits were also reported to have been killed by the vigilante members.

The remains of the commander had been taken to his village and buried.

All efforts to reach the Commissioner for Internal Security and Humanitarian Affairs, Mr. Emmanuel Umar, proved abortive, just as the spokesman of the State Police Command, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, could not be reached on his telephone line.

Chairman of Mashegu LGA, Alhaji Umar Igede, had cried out over incessant attacks on the local government in the past two months and called on the government to come to their rescue as the villagers are fleeing their ancestral homes to take refuge in the Internal Displaced Peoples Camps (IDP) thereby increasing the population of the camp geometrically.

How gunmen killed APC ward chairman, others in Kogi

In Kogi, gunmen on Saturday stormed the Oganenugu community in Dekina LGA and killed scores of villagers.

The gunmen were said to have entered the village in the dead hours of the night and started shooting at everyone in sight.
The ward chairman of All Progressive Congress, APC, Mr. James Adah, was among those shot dead.

Governor Bello mourns, vows not to surrender to gunmen

Reacting to the development, Governor ,Yahaya Bello called for calm over the attacks on communities in Oganenugu Ward of Dekina LGA by suspected herdsmen.

Describing the attacks as “vile and satanic” the governor said the attacks were “calculated assault on the peace-loving people of Oganenugu who have enjoyed relative peace and security.”

Bello said his administration would continue to phase out crisis entrepreneurs from the state and ensure that those involved shall be brought to book under the laws.

He said the attacks were shocking, and that “government will never bow to the machinations of heartless elements in its resolves to rid the state of criminals.”

He commiserated with the people, particularly the families of James Adah and others affected by the “ugly and unfortunate attacks.”
Governor Bello advised the people not to take laws into their hands as security agencies had been deployed to the troubled areas to ensure safety and restore normalcy.

Rep decries slow response of security operatives

Meanwhile, the member representing Yagba Federal Constituency of Kogi State and Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise, Elder Leke Abejide, expressed displeasure over the herdsmen attack on the people of Oganenigwu.

Abejide, a front-line governorship aspirant on the platform of African Democratic Congress, ADC, said he was saddened over the “satanic attack” on the people of Edede, Aloko, Ojapata and other communities in Oganeniugu which led to loss of lives and burning of properties in the area.

Commiserating with the people, he said: “This is the reason I’m clamouring for local government to be given full autonomy to be able to secure their environment and know who are within the community and more importantly, those living within their farms and forests.

“If the resources are with them, they should have adequate number of those in town, bushes, farms and forests via a local census to determine immigrants into the communities and farms, with the help of traditional rulers and chiefs.

‘’They will issue permits and mode of operation within their domain on how to live in peace both within and outside the community.

“Whoever breaches the agreement will know there is a problem for him or her and this can be perfected with the state government.
“I urge the state government to fish out the perpetrators, at least to give a bit of comfort to the families of the bereaved.”

Suspected assassins kill construction worker in Bayelsa

In Bayelsa, suspected assassins reportedly killed a construction worker, identified as Wale, and dumped his corpse along Gloryland Drive on the outskirts of Yenagoa, the state capital.

The body of the deceased, a resident of the Akenpai suburb of Yenagoa, was said to have been found on Saturday.

Sources told Vanguard that the late Wale was ambushed by his assailants, on Friday night, on his way home, along School Road, Akenpai, and was ordered to drive them in his car to an unknown destination.

It was learned that the deceased had earlier called his wife to inform her that he was on his way home but failed to turn up. The lifeless body of the late Wale was spotted, Saturday morning along the usually quiet Gloryland Drive expressway by passersby.

The victim was said to have been shot in the head with his arms tied to his back.

Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer PPRO, Asinim Butswat, confirmed the development.

He said: “We are suspecting the murder is cult-related. The deceased has been identified as one Wale with surname unknown. The corpse has been evacuated to the mortuary for autopsy. An investigation is ongoing.”

Two killed in Kaduna violence

In Kaduna, a 24-hour curfew has been imposed by the state government on Sabon Garin Nasarawa-Tirkaniya area of Chikun LGA to restore order in the area, following clashes among local armed gangs that claimed two lives.

In a terse statement yesterday, the Commissioner for Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, said: “The Kaduna State Government hereby announces the immediate imposition of 24-hour curfew on Sabon Garin Nassarawa-Tirkaniya area of Chikun LGA.

“This decision was reached following a breakdown of law and order which led to the killing of two citizens in an incident of urban gang violence.

“Security agencies have been directed to enforce the curfew in the said location, to restore order as investigations proceed. Citizens are therefore urged to strictly observe the curfew in this location, which takes effect immediately.”

Also, the state government after a thorough appraisal of the security situation by the military, police and Department of State Services, DSS, as well as an emergency meeting with traditional and religious leaders of the area at the 312 Artillery Regiment, Kaduna, banned social activities in the area.

Aruwan said: “The social activities observed in the community, which are now prohibited with immediate effect are listed as follows: Kidan Bishi, Kidan Gala and Hunting expeditions .”

“The government has also directed the arrest of anyone linked with the peddling of hard drugs in Nasarawa and Sabon Garin Nasarawa.

Three suspects arrested

“Furthermore, three suspects have been arrested in connection with the violence. In addition to the killing of two citizens, six persons were injured and are currently receiving medical attention. Several vehicles and properties were also destroyed.

“Governor Nasir El-Rufai has commended the prompt action of the military and police in preventing the violence from escalating beyond the area.

“The governor also allayed the fears of the families that lost their loved ones, affirming that the matter would be investigated conclusively.’’

Gunmen invade Adamawa community, kill 3

Gunmen also yesterday attack Dabna community in Hong Local Government Area of Adamawa State, killing three people and destroying properties worth millions of naira.

Dabna is a village in Hong LGA of the state and shares a boundary with Hawul LGA, Borno State.

Reacting to the development, Adamawa State Commissioner of Police, CP Afolabi Babatola, ordered the deployment of operational assets for the immediate arrest of culprits.

A statement by the command’s spokesman SP Suleiman Nguroje, said investigations into the attack had been ordered by the CP while assuring the restoration of peace to the troubled community.

The statement read: “The CP warns that attacks on innocent souls would no longer be tolerated under whatsoever guise, as the command holds the lives of citizens sacrosanct, and such unwarranted attitude would be strictly treated in accordance with extant laws.”

“He equally reiterated the commitment of the Command to the protection of lives and property in the state, while promising to do so in collaboration with other sister security agencies.”

Ahead of the resumption of the 10 National Assembly, opposition political parties are gearing up for a fight to ensure credible people emerge as presiding and principal officers.

Some lawmakers both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate have already declared their interest in the positions of Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Those who have declared for the office of the Senate President are Orji Uzor Kalu, Barau Bibrin, Godswill Akpabio, Adams Oshiomhole, Abdul-Aziz Yari, Dave Umahi and Sani Musa who will not mind dropping to the position of the deputy Senate president.

In the House of Representatives, those who have declared interest to be speaker are former Speaker of Plateau House of Assembly, Yusuf Gagdi; incumbent Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Ahmed Wase, Tunji Olawuyi, Aliyu Betara and Benjamin Kalu.

But acknowledging the fact that their individual political parties did not make the majority, opposition political parties are now scheming to ensure that they are not left out in the composition of the leadership of the 10th Assembly.

“We don’t have the numbers because the politics of the National Assembly is different,” the national publicity secretary of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Major Agbo, said, insisting that they will work with other political parties that share its ideology.

We will monitor to see the right thing is done – LP

Also speaking, the Labour Party said that since it did not constitute the majority in the National Assembly, the party will monitor the development to ensure that the right thing is done.

Responding to our question, the national chairman of the Labour Party, Barr Julius Abure, said the party will watch what other political parties will do before taking a stand.

“Today, I can announce to you that we have eight senators and 34 House of Representatives seats. As of today, we do not control the majority but we will watch and see what other parties will do before we take a stand,” Abure said, adding that the party’s lawmakers will not be infiltrated.

“They have the capacity to resist infiltration. We will build on the successes recorded by the party and we will monitor what other parties will be doing at the National Assembly before we take a stand,” Abure added.

Meanwhile, the plot by the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to mobilise its numbers and other minority parties for relevance ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly, especially in the House of Representatives, appears to have suffered a major setback.

Two leading figures in the PDP, Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, and former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, yesterday, threw their weight behind the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Idris Wase.

Equally, former Governor Segun Osoba also described the deputy speaker as his beloved son whose zone, the north central, deserved the position of speaker.

The trio gave their support to Wase as he embarked on a three-leg trip from Abuja to Lagos-Port Harcourt-Abuja yesterday.

These developments came on the heels of alliance talks between the PDP House of Representatives members and an aspirant for the speakership, Aliyu Betara, on one hand, and the PDP and other minority parties on the other.

Sensing that his party, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) might zone the position of speaker outside his region, the north east, Betara was said to have opened talks with leading lights of the PDP to add their numbers to his handful of supporters ahead of the contest.

But unknown to Betara, influential leaders of the PDP, especially returning members of the House, had an alternative plan to join forces with other parties to outsmart the APC which, expectedly, might go into the contest divided.

The number of the opposition parties put together is more than APC’s 162. PDP has 102 seats; Labour Party (LP) 34 seats, New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) 18 seats, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) four seats, while the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC) have two seats each.

And without recourse to the outcome of the April 15 supplementary poll across some states, the opposition parties have a total of 163 seats. A total of 33 constituencies across the country are to take part in the supplementary poll.

Ibori, while receiving the deputy speaker, said he had made up his mind to direct his supporters who are members of the House, to support and vote for Wase.

“I’m with you; I have done my checks on you and I’m convinced you are well prepared for the job and I am happy you are here even though I had sent words to you through our Rep members that they should go with you. I wish you all the best.

“Don’t hesitate to come to me anytime you are in need of whatever thing that will enhance this project. I will help you speak to all my friends, as many as I have. Many are waiting to put the right things properly to make Nigeria the envy of Africa and the world. You are good to go, you are in that mood,” the former Delta governor told Wase and his team.


Osoba, who said the north central deserves the speaker slot, described Wase as his “experienced and beloved son.”

“This is your home; you are an experienced and beloved son of mine. North Central has been very crucial in APC electoral victories. North Central deserves to be a speaker even by performance. Awo said: ‘we must reward performance’ and allocation was based on performance in those days.

“So, in the case of North Central, that should be done, rest assured. It will be zoned to north central and then we go into the next stage. Wase, you are my beloved son, I repeat”.

On his part, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, affirmed that Rivers State will support any candidate unanimously presented by the national leadership of the APC for the position of the Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives.

While welcoming Wase and his delegation to Government House, Port Harcourt, Wike reiterated his resolve to collaborate with the government at the centre.

He, however, insisted that those to be nominated as principal officers of the 10th House of Representatives must be individuals with requisite experience to chair the affairs of the legislature.

“I have no apologies to make to anyone; I have said it several times that I will support your party at the national level. You are an experienced person, our people will support you. You will stabilise the House and we need you. We will give necessary support and ensure your victory; count on us.”

“The way we are now, the truth must be told that we are going to support the leadership of your party at the national level. I am not going to support anybody that is coming from anywhere.

“You (Wase) are an experienced person. What we require now is experience as far as the legislature is concerned. Experience will stabilise the house. So you don’t require a green horn.”

The governor said the PDP won 11 of the 13 federal constituencies in the state, and lawmakers-elect will back whoever the national leadership of the ruling APC presents as their sole candidate for the exalted office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

He reiterated that he remains grateful to the APC governors and other leaders of the party for zoning the party’s presidential ticket to the South, saying that by the decision, the APC leaders have demonstrated their firm belief in the inclusivity of every section of Nigeria in the scheme of things.

Wike said: “I thank your party for coming out openly to say power has to rotate. Everybody now knows that whoever finishes for eight years, goes to another area and that will be inclusiveness, it will bring unity. That is what will stabilise this country.”

The governor maintained that the decision of the APC to zone the presidency to the South is in sync with the fundamental objectives of the PDP G-5 governors for equity, fairness and justice.

In his remarks, Wase, told Wike that he was in Port Harcourt with his delegation that cut across various political parties, to solicit his support ahead of the election of the Speaker of the 10th House.

He said, “Your excellency, we just finished the national and presidential election, we are about to go into the National Assembly politics and that is why are here to seek for your support, to seek for your prayers and blessing, by the grace of God so that we can have a unified country, stabilised system.”

The deputy speaker commended the governor for his stance on power shift to the South, saying that by that action, the governor has distinguished himself as a man of character and firm believer in the unity of the country.


We’ll Consult before taking a position on National Assembly leadership tussle – PDP

The national publicity secretary of PDP, Hon Debo Ologunagba, however, said the party leadership will consult all its stakeholders before taking a position on how to engage in the tussle for leadership of the National Assembly.

He told LEADERSHIP yesterday that the lobby for leadership positions in the National Assembly is normal, adding that it is naturally expected that the ruling party will produce the majority leadership while the opposition party will produce the minority leadership in the chambers.

“People are free to lobby. But like I said, we will not reveal our strategy,” he said.


’North Central, South West Senators Will Be The Decider’

Meanwhile, the Amalgamation of the APC Northern Forum has urged the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to consider the North Central geopolitical zone for the position of the deputy Senate president of the 10th National Assembly.

The forum declared that senators from the North Central and the South West will determine who emerges the Senate President of the 10th assembly.

The pressure group said since the Senate and Deputy Senate President positions must be shared between the North and the South, the North Central stood a better chance to produce a presiding officer of the red chamber.

The coordinator of the coalition, Alhaji Habibu Salau, made the appeal in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja yesterday.

He said: “If the leadership of the APC decides to zone the position to the South, the deputy Senate President should automatically go to the North Central.

“In fairness, the North Central deserves to produce the next Senate President or Deputy because of the impressive performance of the APC in the zone in the last election going by the numbers of APC senators produced from different geopolitical zones.

“Aside from party politics, it is obvious that the South West and North Central senators-elect would determine the next presiding officers of the red chamber of the National Assembly. The APC national working committee should therefore consider all these factors before embarking on the zoning arrangements for the next leadership of the 10th Senate.”

A 23-year-old girl, Destiny Benjamin, has been reported dead four days after a hip surgery, popularly known as Brazilian Butt Lift, BBL, at Cynosure Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Lagos.

Various social media platforms have been awash with the viral video of the procedure since her death.

Confirming the development, owner of Cynosure Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Dr. Ogbe Omoruyi, denied the allegation that the lady died in the hospital during the surgery.

Omoruyi, who spoke to Vanguard, explained that the deceased underwent the surgery on March 8, and had complained of difficulty in breathing before she was referred to the Genesis Specialists Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, where she gave up the ghost.

Omoruyi, who is also a plastic surgeon, further told Vanguard that the deceased was 23 years old and not 20.

He said: “She is a 23 years old girl according to what she wrote on documents. She had a surgery and after that she was fine, her surgery went well.

“I can show you in our case note to show that everything was fine.

“However, after days she was having difficulty breathing. We placed her on oxygen and she was stabilised before we referred her to an intensive care unit, which is 10 minutes away from our facility.

“Unfortunately, as we all know, surgery has its own risk, and if you ask any professional doctor or surgeon, who knows about life consumptions and tractions, it is very easy to think that she could have fat embolism or clot embolism, but she had difficulty breathing.

“A very important investigation was done. It is called CT Pulmonary Angiogram. This can detect any clot that is present within the pulmonary system.

“The test was done in the facility where she was referred to. When I was informed and showed the results, it was said that she didn’t have an embolism.

“Her cousin, Sunset, was with her after her surgery. They went around because they were together. She came here to see her and they took pictures together, moving around the clinic compound two days later.

“This is to let you know that she was fine after the surgery.

“However or unfortunately, an autopsy hasn’t been done; I don’t know if the family is going to consent to that.”

Contrary to social media reports that the medical clinic recorded five deaths in a year, Ogbe said only two deaths have been recorded in the clinic, noting that it happened in the year 2018 and 2021.

He said: “This can be verified with the Local Government because all local governments have primary health centres where practitioners give reports on the death toll.

“So, we have only two recorded deaths.”

When the Lagos Police Command spokesman, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, was contacted, he said: “To the best of my knowledge, I am not aware of the incident.

“The family of the deceased have not reported to the police authorities.”

However, efforts to get Genesis Specialist Hospital’s reaction proved abortive.

But the person who answered Vanguard’s call at press time said he does not know what happened.

By Abdullateef Aliyu


Minister of State for Labour and Spokesperson of Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, has reacted to the leaked audio conversation between the Labour Party (LP) Presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi and the Founder of Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo.

The audio clip released by online newspaper, Peoples Gazzete, has set the social media on fire since Saturday.

In the audio, Obi was heard begging Oyedepo to help him mobilise Christian voters ahead of the election especially those in the North Central states of Kwara, Kogi and Niger, declaring the election was a religious war.

Obi was repeatedly heard saying, ‘Yes Daddy”, while the conversation lasted.

Keyamo while reacting to the conversation, said God has exposed Obi for declaring a religious war in a multi-religious and multi-ethnic country, declaring his dream to become a President one day is dead.

In a statement, Keyamo said, “Having confirmed the authenticity of what is now known as the Peter Obi ‘Yes-daddy’ audio, I think the real culprit here are the so-called ‘men of God’ who allowed themselves to be used by an unscrupulous politician to seek to inflame religious passions in our dear country in the name of politics.

“So, when they were telling their hapless adherents that they heard the voice of the Lord, it was actually Peter Obi’s telephone calls they heard and not God’s voice. This is deceitful, shameful and disgusting. Imagine a so-called ‘man of God’ comparing notes with a politician as to what he said or what he would say on the pulpit in order to get him votes.

“I hope this sufficiently embarrasses the ‘men of God’ in Nigeria to forthwith desist from using the pulpit for politics and the Church-goers to stop being teleguided by their self-serving ‘men of God’.

“As for Peter Obi who declared an election a ‘religious war’ in a multi-religious and multi-ethnic country like ours, the real God has just exposed him and his dream to be Nigeria’s President one day has just died a natural death. ‘Yes-daddy’ is now permanently etched in the consciousness of the nation and we will NEVER forget!”

INEC Chairman, Commissioners Failed Nigeria

Chukwunonso Daniel Ogbe, the Governorship candidate of Action Alliance in the last election in Enugu State also expressed disappointment over the failure of the INEC Chair­man, Prof Mahmood Yakubu and his team of National Commissioners to conduct a free and fair election. An Enugu-based lawyer, Ogbe expressed disappointment because INEC failed to implement the process of BVAS technology in ensuring a credible election.

He said “I’ve been a member of the electoral team and I believe to conduct an election is not a child’s play and INEC chairman alone cannot be able to perform the entire magic to conduct a fair and free election but he has a big role to play to ensure that all involve performed credibly. Unfortunately, some of the professors that conducted the 2023 election were alleged to have committed electoral malpractice; one may be a professor without having the integrity to perform a given task or not having courage amidst pressure by po­litical actors.”


INEC Performance

As to whether professors as chair­man of INEC have performed above board, Professor Odoba Achegbulu has this to say: “We have had 13 INEC Chairmen from pre-independence to date (1956 to 2023) but only five were Professors. The performances of Pro­fessors Humphrey Nwosu and Atta­hiru Jega were exemplary and out­standing and there was also general public acclamation of their landmark achievements in quality electoral de­livery.”

While stressing the de-monetisa­tion of political offices, he said the emoluments and privileges of polit­ical office holders in Nigeria are too attractive and overboard compared to other developing economies. This he said has raised their propensity for do-or-die politics and predisposes them to I-must-win-at all costs. This has cul­minated in thuggery, ballot snatching, violence, rigging and vote-buying.

The 2023 general elections may have been conducted but the dust it kicked up is yet to settle with many Nigerians, local and international observers describing it as “shambolic elections” due to the poor conduct of the exercise by the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). While the widespread violence that beclouded the elections is yet to settle, some of the academics who officiated in the elections now carry credibility baggage as they are accused of aiding rigging. ROLAND OGBONNAYA, APATA OYENIRAN, JOSEPH UNDU, ATABOR JULIUS, UCHE NWOSU, RAJI ADEBAYO, PATIENCE OGBODO-IWUAGWU, TITILOPE JOSEPH

As the country tries to settle down for business after the chaotic elections, coupled with CBN’s poor implemen­tation of the cashless policy, there are several agitations and pockets of pro­tests across the nation, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for the prosecution of electoral offenders and visa ban on the Independent Na­tional Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC), Returning Officers and many other political actors whose infamous actions or inactions contravened the Electoral Act and Guidelines.

This is even as the Inspector Gener­al of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba has assured of effective collaboration with INEC to “expeditiously and transparently” prosecute 781 electoral offenders apprehended from a total of 489 major electoral infractions across the nation, as all Commands were tasked with submitting case files cen­trally at the Electoral Offences Desk, Office of the IGP, Force Headquarters, Abuja, for coordinated processing to INEC Legal Section.

However, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (In­tersociety) told the world last week that it found out that no fewer than 50 top Nigerian university professors who played various conspiratorial roles in rigging and voter suppression in the 25th February Presidential/National Assembly and the 18th March 2023 Governorship/State Houses of As­sembly elections have been identified.

About 50 university professors con­spiratorially or vicariously involved are 34 Vice Chancellors and a Deputy Vice-Chancellor drawn from Federal, State and Private Universities across the country. Apart from the 50 culpably or conspiratorially involved Nigerian University Professors, there are also 34 others involved; including ten Doc­torate Degree holders and another former top military, police and spy police officers and former ministers and Government Commissioners in­cluding Engineer Olufemi Odunbiyi, former Commissioner for Science and Technology in Lagos State and APC chieftain who was recently placed in charge of INEC ICT as Director.

The group alerted that “there are also 17 university professors among the 37 INEC’s Resident Electoral Com­missioners and 12 National Commis­sioners widely or publicly accused of coordinating the 2023 armada of electoral fraud. Generally speaking, a total of 88 university professors and other experts were found to be conspir­atorially or vicariously involved out of the number, only four are exempted and worthy to be celebrated as heroes of Democracy in Nigeria or any part thereof,” in a statement issued in Onit­sha, Eastern Nigeria.

The frontline rights group in the statement signed by Board Chair, Eme­ka Umeagbalasi; Head, Campaign and Publicity Department, Chidinma Udegbunam Esquire; Head, Contacts and Mobilisation Department, Osita­dinma Agu; and Head, International Justice and Human Rights, Ndidiama­ka Chinaza Bernard Esquire, howev­er, exonerated some of the academics who oversaw the controversial 2023 elections.

According to it, “Exempted from the culpability list are Vice-Chancel­lors of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Universi­ty, Awka, Anambra State, Prof Charles Esimone, Federal University of Tech­nology, Owerri, Imo State, Prof Nnen­na Otti, Michael Okpara the Federal University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, Prof Maduebibisi Ofo Iwe and Resident Electoral Commissioner for Abia State, Prof Ike Uzochukwu.


“VC Esimone of UNIZIK was ex­empted on account of his doggedness and refusal to compromise the results of the Presidential Poll in Imo State where he served as the ‘State Collation Officer’. His refusal to compromise also pitched him against the State Government and the Commissioner of Police. VC Nnenna Otti of the Feder­al University of Technology (FUTO), Owerri was outstanding in her han­dling of the Abia State Governorship Election of 18th March 2023 where she served as ‘Collation Officer’.

“Even at the risk of her life and liberty, she remained adamant about truth and in the end, her resilience and resistance triumphed. VC Maduebibi­si Iwe of Umudike Agric University was exempted for being resolute and refusing to compromise the Nkanu East doctored results in the Enugu State Governorship of 18th March 2023 where he served as ‘Collation Officer.’” Intersociety also gathered that the erudite and courageous VC held his ground at INEC Headquar­ters during the “review” and back in Enugu; he still held his ground until the results were corruptly announced against his will.

REC Prof Ike Uzochukwu as Abia REC is singled out for exemption on account of his courage and refusal to compromise the results of the State’s Senatorial and House of Reps poll leading to ‘his executive captivity’ until after the announcement of the results at gunpoint using an INEC Admin offi­cial. Abia REC’s ‘executive abduction’ was blamed on the Abia State Police Command and the State DSS Direc­torate.

On regaining his liberty, Abia REC Prof Uzochukwu addressed the media and disclosed that “some candidates announced as winners were not the real winners of the poll”. Intersociety noted in the statement that “a society where university VCs/professors have become election riggers is irreparably doomed”.

Condemning the ignominious roles played by his colleagues in the elec­tion, Professor Patrick Ukase, Head, Department of History and Interna­tional Studies, Kogi State University, Anyigba, told Saturday INDEPEN­DENT that, “Election malpractice is treason and should be treated as such. It is akin to a coup when you deny the electorate the opportunity to choose their leaders.”

According to Prof. Ukase, “Elec­tions are significant as they legitimise or delegitimise government. Those who are involved in rigging elections should be made to face the full wrath of the law. The country must radically address this problem forthwith or else we may regret this soon.

“We must take steps at home and allow the international community or the respective nations to intervene in any manner they deem fit. Why must we always wait for the international community to take action for us? We must look inwards and punish those who break our laws.

He stated that “Personally, as a pro­fessor, I have resolved never to partic­ipate in any election duty in Nigeria until such a time that we are ready to get things right. I doubt if there is any law enacted which states that state re­turning officers must be VCs. Howev­er, when this idea was initially muted, it was felt that because of their high ethical standard, character, learning and knowledge, VCs who are mostly professors will do well. And they did well initially. But recently, I have heard a number of allegations against VCs and professors involved in election duties.”

Alternatively, Ukase suggested that the electoral team should be selected “based on high ethical standards – not just on the basis of being a professor or VC. INEC can set up the machinery to guide this process across universities.”

According to Comrade Abdul Idris Miliki, Executive Director, Conscience for Human Rights and Conflict Resolu­tions CHRCR and a member of Kogi State Election Situation Room, differs sharply from the Right groups, saying, despite the low performance of INEC, there is a channel to forward their reports and recommendations for appropriate sanctions and commen­dation and not rushing to the press to implicate officials to recommend punishment.

He said, INEC, being the employer of the officials both permanent and Adhoc, has a rule of engagement. He disclosed that both the Returning of­ficers and collation officers as far as they are not on the payroll of INEC are classified as ad-hoc staff irrespective of qualifications. “The Constitution and electoral Act empowers INEC to determine how and when to conduct and transmit the results.

“There is no way international ob­servers would call on the international community or local authorities to im­pose sanctions, the best they could do is to submit their findings to INEC to take appropriate actions. Yes, in their own opinions, the conduct of some officials may have fallen below their standards, but the right thing to do is to submit their report and if that is done, they should wait for the outcome from INEC.

“A mere press release or confer­ence is not a justification that some officials have committed infractions and should be punished. Those who made the comments, were they at the 774 local Governments Areas across the country and 239 wards in Kogi and I don’t think they have a presence in all these?” Miliki posited.

Meanwhile, Professor Odoba Achegbulu of the Public Administra­tion, Prince Abubakar Audu Univer­sity Anyigba seems to have a varied opinion as to continuing with the involvement of Professors and Vice Chancellors in future elections. Ac­cording to the don, Professors should continue to be relevant in elections because their training and expertise could best deliver credible and trans­parent elections.

“The Vice Chancellors on the other hand are politically exposed persons by virtue of their appointments and may play to the gallery as ‘he who plays the Piper dictates the tune’ as they are most likely to cave into pres­sures from their principals, that is, President or Governors and the party in power, hence, they should be exclud­ed,” he said.

In Abia State, the story was a little bit different because the Returning Of­ficer for the state, Professor Nnenna Oti, revealed that she rejected millions of naira and other monies in foreign currency given to her to announce the wrong candidate as the winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election in the state.

Speaking generally, a human rights and pro-democracy activist in the state, Dr. Charles Chinekezie wondered why a highly placed person in the rank of a Vice Chancellor of a university could descend so low to do something that would truncate democracy. He argued that since highly placed persons like VCs have proven incapable of sailing above board as umpires in election matters, the electoral commission should look elsewhere in future selec­tion/appointment of those to conduct elections. “Those we want are people who can do that job without blemish, men and women of integrity and not necessarily those with high academic backgrounds; those that speak highfa­lutin words with low morals.”

Lagos-based lawyer and human rights activist, Kabir Akingbolu, while sharing his view said: “it is shameful and highly disturbing that the university dons can be involved in dirty deals or criminalities like the one in question here. However, I don’t see anything wrong in al­lowing academics to be involved or engaged in the process as they do only that the INEC should do proper background checks on the integrity of the would-be INEC returning offi­cers. I know for sure that the reason for using them is to give credibility to the process but alas it has proved otherwise.

“But that is not to jettison the idea because using anyhow person who has no integrity to protect like the academics may be more disastrous. Therefore, the present style is still bet­ter but should be overhauled.

“If, however, the INEC does not want to use the professors and others in the academic, then they should probably use their own staffers as done in other jurisdictions, and in fact in Nigeria before the coming of Pro­fessor Jega who thought that the best way to get credibility for the process is by using these men in the academic world on one hand and on the other hand, to empower the academics in a way financially being his colleagues. In all fairness, the practice worked magic in the past save few lapses but now it’s getting worse. During Prof. Maurice Iwu’s period, the returning officers are usually the state resident electoral commissioners and I don’t think anything is wrong with that. In fact, it reduces the cost of gover­nance.”

Debo Adeniran, Executive Director, Centre for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL), in his argument said “We cannot say the 2023 election was rigged until a court of competent jurisdiction says so. I’m glad a couple of candidates who contested in that election have approached the court for adjudication on the merits of their suspicions that the election could have been rigged.

“So for now, we cannot say the elec­tions were truly rigged but there have been complaints here and there that figures were altered and over-voting in some places and that figures that were recorded on form EC 8 were not what was submitted to the final coalition centers. The issues were beyond the university vice-chancellors that were involved in the electoral process.

“It is the process itself that needs total overhauling such that it will be impossible for anybody to change the figures that have been collated at each polling unit. Now, remember that chairmen of the electoral body from the days of Prof Attahiru Jega and others before him for so long have been mostly University professors.

“Talking about Profs ENwosu, Iwu, and others. I think the assump­tion is that these professors are thor­oughbred professionals. The assump­tion is that they are not so malleable, not easy to manipulate, or that the culture and their integrity is pro­tected such that they would not want anything or anybody to soil their image. As a matter of fact, some of them lived a Spartan king of life and would not be attracted to the lure of corruption that usually pervaded the electoral environment. We have also found that university professors even vice-chancellors that are being indict­ed are found culpable for corruption both moral and financial and even political corruption.

“Some of them actually got to posi­tions of vice-chancellors through the rigging of the selection process. So, we cannot isolate them as people of higher integrity.”

In his own opinion, Dr. Victor Mathew, Executive Director, Kingdom Advocacy Network (KAN) said it was a mere allegation.

“It’s a mere allegation with no em­pirical evidence to substantiate it. I am not, however, holding brief for them. The 2023 election has been marred largely with irregularities in both the national and state elections. These irregularities have put a big dent in the credibility and acceptability of the elections by most Nigerians which is clearly manifesting in the litigations instituted by a myriad of political parties.

“There are a lot of stakeholders in the electoral value chain of ad hoc per­sonnel engaged by INEC to persecute elections of which the Vice Chancel­lors and other lecturers are part.

“Nigeria is facing corruption chal­lenges in its national life and the Ivory Tower personnel engaged by INEC are Nigerians so it’s not surprising since some of them have compromised, this is the sad reality.

“Some of our VCs have not lived above board on how they run the uni­versities, so expecting them to perform miracles is expecting too much.

“I think if some VCs have corrupt­ed the electoral process, they should be excused and only if they must be used, only engage those with proven integrity.”

Dr. Rexkennedy Saltlove, a clergy/ Civil Society Advocate and Public Affairs Analyst and Immediate Past Secretary of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Ikeja Central Province, warned those calling for the heads of the vice chancellors not to be senti­mental.

“Despite the damning report, in­dicting lots of guardians in the citadel of learning, I believe that we should not throw the baby with the bath water away, regarding VCs and Professors playing their part in the Electoral pro­cess. Nigeria is a work in progress and the malfeasance by academic dons is part of the cross we have to carry in building toward nationhood while do­ing all we can to strengthen the process that produces those chosen from that sector.

“My submission on this is based on a couple of reasons… The premise The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, under Prof. Atta­hiru Jega introduced people from the university sector into election-relat­ed matters was well thought of; and that was/is the fact that “they were people with a track record of credi­bility.” And Jega himself a Universi­ty don, in a dinner honour organised for him in 2015, summarising his words said “that university centers are places where ready-made, men and women of integrity should be gotten from as they would not like to dent the record they have created for themselves”

“However, it is evident that the cor­ruption associated with Nigeria as a nation is pervasive and endemic also affecting the university sector.

“The report by the international so­ciety of civil liberties and rule of law did not give a blanket report fingering all dons as being corrupt, as some were credible. It thus becomes necessary to strengthen the mechanisms and process through which Returning Of­ficers chosen from the university are strengthened.

“Some of such mechanisms are that each University Don nominated for electoral purposes, must do the fol­lowing: (1) Get a letter from a first-class traditional ruler and a well-known cleric. (2) A court affidavit, that will strip him/her of his/her academic records, qualification or benefits associated with his/her position if found wanting and fingered. (3) An undertaking to name them and shame them in nothing less than 3 national dailies and other electronic media and social media platforms. (4) From the polling units, ward and state, presiding officers MUST be made to know they must write reports of what transpires in their terrains.”

A lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Fountain Uni­versity, Osogbo, Ridwan Kolawole is of the opinion that Vice Chancellors don’t rig elections, but the process involved in the elections did not give room or allow any VC to manipulate the results of elections. He said they are mere collation officers who collate and announce results from the polling units. “Personally, the job is demean­ing given the kind of treatment the VCs are subjected to.”

Also speaking, Dr. Busari Dauda of the Department of Sociology, Uni­versity of Ibadan said the Vice Chan­cellors should continue to be involved notwithstanding the reported bad per­formances of some of them. He noted that “beheading cannot be an antidote to headaches. Giving the background that some INEC officials are involved in malpractice during elections, do we say we should resort to sacking all of them because of that?”

The leader of Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo has slammed the Department of State Services (DSS) for its “suspicious statement” adding that the DSS has become an appendage of the ruling All Progressives Congress.

Adebanjo, who spoke while featuring on Arise TV programme in Friday, stated categorically that the recent DSS statement in which it alleged that some people were planning to install an interim government by May 29 and truncate the democratic process in the country was a plan and an agenda to arrest opposition leaders.

The Afenifere leader wondered where the DSS was when threats were made against a section of this country in Lagos and the threats later executed without preventing it or even arresting anyone till date.

While condemning the DSS for causing panic within the nation rather than taking action, following its statement on a potential uprising that may lead to an interim government, Pa Adebanjo said "The announcement is suspect."

"They (DSS) have an agenda they have not told us. My view is that it’s an attempt to arrest leaders of the opposition who are trying to do protests, which is constitutional.”

"If you see anybody who wants to do anything anti-government, produce the facts and charge them to court,” he challenged the DSS.

Speaking on the purported faction in Afenifere, the nonagenarian stated categorically that there were no factions and explained that Afenifere is a political party ab initio, not just a socio-political group in the western region.

He disassociated himself from any talk of factions within the party, stating that it is a thing of the past and that Afenifere is united.

In further conversation, Chief Adebanjo expressed his political standing by stating that he doesn’t stand against any politician but is fighting for a mandate which founding fathers of the independent Nigeria fought for.

He clearly stated that he does not stand against any political leader but condemns malicious means of taking political positions in the nation.

On whether he has confidence on judiciary to deliver justice in the election petitions before them, Adebanjo, said he believes that judiciary system will do the right thing against those responsible for the cause of electoral violence.

He unambiguously stated his support for the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Peter Obi in choosing to take proper legal actions to recover the mandate Nigerians freely gave him to lead the country at this point in time.

The suspended National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, may find it difficult to return to office as some prominent members of the party are against his reinstatement.

Drawn from both the National Working Committee and the National Executive Committee, the PDP chieftains blamed Ayu for the party’s inability to win the 2023 presidential election and expressed their resolve not to allow him return to office following his decision to step aside on Tuesday.

A few days after Ayu was suspended by his Igyorov Ward in the Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State, Justice Wilfred Kpochi of the state High Court in Makurdi granted an ex parte injunction barring him from parading himself as the chairman of the party.

In obedience to the court order, Ayu stepped aside on Tuesday and the Deputy National Chairman of the party (North), Umar Damagum, stepped in as the acting national chairman pending the resolution of the leadership crisis or emergence of a substantive chairman.

Loyalists of the suspended national chairman have vowed that he will soon be back to reclaim his seat.

“After a careful consideration of the court order and in line with Section 45 (2) of the Constitution of the PDP (as amended in 2017), the National Working Committee resolved that the Deputy National Chairman (North), Umar Damagum, assumes the national chairmanship of our party in acting capacity with effect from today, Tuesday, March 28, 2023,” the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, had said in a statement.

Before the court order, the Ayu-led NWC had announced the suspension of some party chieftains including a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Pius Anyim; former Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose; and ex-Katsina State governor, Ibrahim Shema. It also referred Gov Samuel Ortom of Benue State to the PDP National Disciplinary Committee for alleged anti-party activities. The actions were condemned by the affected people.

The Rivers State Governor, Nysem Wike, who led an onslaught against the national chairman in the build up to the general election, mocked Ayu and noted that he lacked the powers to suspend the party chieftains. Wike noted that Ayu, like some other party stakeholders, failed to win Benue State for the PDP, wondering why he would sanction fellow party members for not living up to expectations.

Barely 24 hours after stepping aside, Ayu’s successor, Damagum, reversed the suspension of Anyim, Shema, Fayose and others, stressing, “The NWC recognised the imperativeness of a total reconciliation among party leaders and critical stakeholders for a more cohesive party in the overall interest of our teeming members and Nigerians in general.”

Saturday PUNCH gathered that the decision to lift the suspension might not be unconnected with Ayu’s fading popularity among party leaders, with speculations rife that some NWC members did not want him back as the national chairman of the party.

Although Damagum declined to comment on whether the committee was divided on if Ayu should return to his seat or not, he told Saturday PUNCH that the action he took in reversing the suspension of the PDP leaders had not gone down well with some party members.

“Some people are not happy, but we hope that they will be,” he said, adding that the decision was taken in the best interest of the party.

Damagum’s argument was reiterated by a member of the NWC, Setoji Koshoedo, who blamed Ayu for failing to do the right thing shortly after the PDP lost the presidential election.

According to him, Ayu ought to avoid the path of war and think of a way that the party will bounce back.

Koshoedo, who is the party’s Deputy National Secretary said, “The party, the PDP ought to have been in a sober mood having lost an election. It was an error to walk the warpath in the first place. So, the Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum has taken steps toward bringing peace back into the party and this is the way it should be.”

A member of the NWC told one of our correspondents in confidence that Ayu’s return would “not sit well with the majority of us because of his handling of the G5 crisis, which led to these issues we are discussing today.”

The NWC member said, “Some of us told him (Ayu) privately to resign so that Governor Wike and his group would return to the campaign council and work for the party and our candidate. I don’t know what was going on in his mind, but I think he believed the lies circulating in the media then that some All Progressives Congress governors were working with Atiku Abubakar to give him victory.

“Even if he stood a chance of winning his state for the party, which we knew he could not without Governor Ortom’s support, he should have given way so that the four other governors would team up with Atiku.

“We can’t openly come out and speak now, but the truth is that we are happy with the acting national chairman. I don’t know what will become of Ayu, but Damagum has the support of the majority of the NWC members.”

On his part, a National Executive Committee member and immediate past Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Diran Odeyemi, blamed what he called “Ayu’s stubbornness” for the crisis rocking the PDP.

He stated, “Ayu knew he had nothing big to give the party by way of votes, but he stayed on. Even when the aggrieved governors warned that they would swing votes in favour of another party and candidate, he wasn’t worried. Perhaps, he believed that as chairman, he could easily tell Nigerians to go and vote for Atiku Abubakar and they would file out in obedience.

“But Atiku is not without his blame too. He should have prioritised between Ayu and the G-5 governors. We would have won this election, but Ayu and Atiku did what they did and that is why we are here. It is too late to cry now over the crisis sweeping Ayu away. His stubbornness is his biggest personal problem.”


‘Damagum, a placeholder’

However, Ayu’s loyalist and Deputy National Youth Leader of the PDP, Timothy Osadolor, described Damagum as a placeholder even as he commended the steps taken to stabilise the party since he became the acting chairman.

In a telephone conversation with Saturday PUNCH, Osadolor faulted those blaming Ayu for suspending Anyim, Fayose, Shema and others, noting that the decision to suspend them in the first place was a collective one.

He said, “We all sat down and agreed that those leaders should be suspended. We all agreed that they were engaged in anti-party activities. I am not aware of any NWC member who objected to their suspension. It is surprising that some of them are now singing a different song.

“But the decision to reverse the suspension is very good for the party. Our leaders and elders advised that the suspension should be lifted because we cannot be fighting to reclaim our mandate in court and be engaged in another internal fight.

“Like I said, the acting national chairman has done very well and he will continue to do well, because he is a very compassionate and competent leader. We will continue to support him till the national chairman returns to his seat, because whether we like it or not, Ambassador Damagum is a placeholder for Ayu.


Nwuke forecloses Ayu’s return

Meanwhile, a chieftain of the party in Rivers State and former member of the House of Representatives, Chief Ogbonna Nwuke, has said any attempt to return Ayu to his seat will signal the end of the party.

Nwuke, who represented the Etche-Omuma Federal Constituency in the green chamber of the National Assembly, said the G-5 governors and mainstream members of the party would not allow Ayu to return as the chairman of the party.

Nwuke, who was the Director, Publicity and Communications, Rivers State PDP Campaign Council and an ally of Wike, blamed Ayu for the “colossal defeat” suffered by the party in the February 25 presidential election.

The former Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications said it was unfortunate that Ayu could not offer constructive leadership while he held sway as the PDP national chairman.

“Supporting Ayu’s return to power is out of the question. How can we support that? See what Ayu’s ill-luck has done to the fortunes of the PDP. This man could not offer constructive leadership. He could not stabilise the party; he could not do anything. Ayu is simply responsible for the colossal defeat that our party suffered. Those rooting for Ayu to return want to bury the PDP. God will not allow him to return as the national chairman,” he said.

Asked what the state was doing to prevent Ayu’s return to power, Nwuke said, “The man is already on the way out. He is challenging the suspension delivered at his door post by his ward.

“Most mainstream members of our party do not want Ayu. People in Southern Nigeria are not and will not be comfortable with Ayu. The PDP deserves a strong leader, who is passionate about the job. People are talking among themselves and the consensus that is emerging from ongoing discussions show that Ayu isn’t the messiah that the PDP needs currently.

“Many Nigerians are hailing the G-5 governors. There is no way those governors will allow Ayu to occupy the chairmanship seat again. We will fight until Ayu gives back the party to all those who have laboured for the PDP.”

Similarly, the Rivers State Publicity Secretary of the party, Sydney Gbara, explained that the outcome of the February 25 and March 18 elections were proof that Ayu was not the right man for the job.

Gbara said Wike had been vindicated for pushing for Ayu’s removal before the elections.

He commended Damagum for his bold move in reversing the suspension of some chieftains even as he pointed out that those working behind the scene for Ayu’s return to power did not mean well for the party and Nigerians.


Ohuabunwa on suspension

A member of the party’s NEC, Sam Ohuabunwa, described the suspension of the embattled national chairman as a step in the right direction.

Ohuabunwa stated this in an exclusive interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja.

He said, “The suspension of Ayu followed due process as he was alleged to have been suspended by his ward. Again, somebody went to court to say that since he was suspended, he was no longer a member of the party. The order was served on the NWC. They looked at it and decided to do the right thing.

“Nobody is above the law and things must follow due process. All that we know in the world is that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So, whatever you do, expect that there will be repercussions.”

Another NEC member, Babandi Gumel, noted, “The matter of suspension of the national chairman is an order of the court and if any court rules, there is nothing else except to wait for what will follow. So, there is nothing to comment other than to abide by what the court says.”

Governors have accused the Department Of State Services (DSS) of overheating the polity by not arresting those it claimed were plotting to foist an interim government on the nation.

The governors under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), therefore, called on the DSS to arrest those behind the plot as a matter of urgency.

Chairman of NGF and Sokoto State governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, disclosed this on Thursday night after a meeting of the Forum in Abuja.

According to him, the Forum deliberated extensively on the alleged plot by some unscrupulous elements to install an interim government, as contained in the recent statement issued by the DSS.

He said, “governors condemned in the strongest terms, any unconstitutional means of regime change and pledged its commitment to continue to defend Nigeria’s democracy as elected leaders.

“In addition, the Forum believes that issuing statements without arrests is akin to heating up the polity and causing unwarranted tension in the country.

“It called on the DSS to do its job by immediately arresting and prosecuting all those involved in the plot as a matter of urgency.”

While admitting that the 2023 general election was not perfect, the governors said: “we will take advantage of the learning points to strengthen our democracy and electoral processes.”

Regarding the refund of backlog of stamp duties due to state governments, Tambuwal said the Forum restated its commitment to engaging with all stakeholders and exploring all legal channels available to it in ensuring that monies which ought to have since been used for development projects are duly refunded to the States.

On the implementation of the National Development Plan (2021-2025), he said the Forum nominated six Governors to represent the six geopolitical zones of the country in the National Steering Committee.

He said for North-Central – Governor of Kwara State, North-East – Governor of Bauchi State, North-West – Governor of Zamfara State, South-South – Governor of Edo State, South-East – Governor of Anambra State and South-West – Governor of Ekiti State were nominated.

Tambuwal said the Forum received a briefing on the cancellation of the proposed privatization of five National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs) by National Council on Privatization (NCP).

He said, “and the withdrawal of the matter at the Federal High Court between the 36 States of the Federation Vs the Federal Government of Nigeria which was instituted to halt the process to enable stakeholders address the concerns by States and Local Governments who collectively own a joint stake of 53% in the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC).

“Members applauded this move by the NCP which appears to have taken into consideration the recommendation of the States to halt the process due to ill-timing amongst other reasons.”

The Chief of Defence Space Administration, Air Vice Marshall Ayo Jolasinmi, has disclosed that Nigeria will launch Satellite II and III into space soon.

Jolasinmi made this known on Friday during a courtesy call on the Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi (retd), in Abuja, noting that the agency was better placed to use the space products that the first satellite offered.

Jolasinmi in a statement by the Special Assistant to the Minister on Media and Publicity, Mohammad Abdulkadri on Friday also said the orbit was working perfectly, adding that it would need the support of the ministry to service its frequency.

The statement read in part; “The Chief of the Defence Space Administration thanked the Minister for approving his appointment and for ensuring the timely release of intervention funds which he said is cushioning the effects of the minimal budgetary allocation.

“Jolasinmi said DSA is better positioned to use Space products with the Launch of the first Satellite while Satellite two and three will be launched soon.”

“The Chief of the Defence Space Administration briefed the Minister that the Orbit is working well while the servicing of its frequency has been a work in progress requiring continuous support by the Ministry.”

However, the Minister of Defence while speaking also challenged the new management of the Defence Space Administration to raise the bar of technological advancement to tackle national insecurity.

He urged the DSA to deploy new technology to unlock space resources and satellites to compete favourably with the advanced technologies around the World.

He, however, assured the management of his continuous support towards mitigating the challenge of funding facing DSA.

Policemen attached to the Alagbado police command have reportedly shot at drivers protesting illegal increments of taxes by the agberos.

One of the drivers told FIJ that the police shot at them on the orders of the agberos who were not pleased with their strike action.

“We were all at Agbado Kola protesting that we would not work if the agberos did not get off our backs when Azeez Abiola, one of the agbero leaders, arrived,” the driver said.

“He addressed us and we all agreed we needed to stop being slaves to the agberos. Thirty minutes later, the police who had been monitoring the protest came and began to shoot at us on the order of the agberos.

“They fired teargas cannisters and everyone started running. We were not fighting or obstructing traffic. They just started shooting at us because they thought we were helpless.”

https://i0.wp.com/fij.ng/article/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Bullets-.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1Bullets from the shooting scene

https://i0.wp.com/fij.ng/article/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Bullet-2.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1

https://i0.wp.com/fij.ng/article/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Bullets-3.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1Bullets from the shooting scene


He further stated that the team of police officers was led by a policeman who was followed by a mob of agberos with machetes.

“The policeman who shot at us is known as Yaro. He is the SO of the Alagbado police station. The agberos also went to reinforce in Kola. They chased us into the streets with cutlasses,” the driver said.

“What do the agberos want from us? They won’t allow us to work and won’t even allow us to protest in peace. We work for them to eat and they still want to kill us.

“At NCMS filling station in Tollgate, Fashola, another agbero leader, led thugs to arrest us, and they picked up 10, just because we were protesting.

“They brandished their cutlasses over our heads and forced us into vehicles.”

FIJ’s phone calls to Benjamin Hundeyin, the spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, and text messages had not been responded to at press time.

FIJ had reported how commercial drivers in the state went on a strike action to protest a sharp increase in the amount of taxes imposed by the agberos.

Residents were, on Wednesday morning, stranded in several parts of Lagos as Danfo drivers protested against exorbitant fees being collected by officials of the Lagos State Park and Gardens Management Committee headed by Musiliu Akinsanya popularly known as MC Oluomo.

The protest, which started at the Toll Gate end of the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway, was fast spreading to other parts of Lagos State.

Commuters were seen trekking long distances to their various destinations as the bus drivers refused to operate, citing extortions and alleged brutality by the state-backed officials.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the bus drivers and their assistants were seen carrying various placards protesting against the alleged extortion.

The inscriptions on the placards read, “we are tired of Agberos extortion”, “we can’t continue working for Agberos”, “we pay over N25,000 daily to agberos extortion”, “Extortion killing us,” among others.

One of the drivers, Musiliu Onafowokan, said extortions Agberos was killing drivers in Lagos as their profit margin was being eroded on a daily basis.

Onafowokan said, “As drivers, we can’t meet daily responsibilities anymore, we pay so much to agberos on a daily basis and we can’t make ends meat again. We can’t meet our responsibilities at home as well.

“Our children can’t go to school anymore, we are working for the agberos. They destroy our vehicles if we don’t pay on time, it’s better government do something about it so fast because we won’t stop protesting until something is done.”

Also speaking, Sikiru Mustapha urged the government of Lagos State to stop the extortion of drivers in the state.

He said the activities of Agberos led Musiliu Akinsanya known as MC Oluomo should be called to order.

His words, “The burden on us is too much. We pay through our nose on daily basis. If government refuse to see to this hardship, we won’t stop protesting. They use their touts to disturb us, they threaten our investment, we are at their mercy on a daily basis.

“They collect money from us from all bus-stops. The suffering is too much, we can’t continue like this. We can’t be working and be like beggars.”

A Zimbabwean woman caught her husband cheating on him with another lady and she descended on him mercilessly.

The businesswoman reportedly got information that he was at home with an unknown lady and she quickly left her shop.

On reaching her matrimonial home, she pounced on him and beat him to mercilessly and it was gathered that he passed out on the bed.

An eyewitness said she did not pay attention to the lady he was with and she was able to run out of the house while holding her clothes in her hand.

In a video shared by Zim Celebs on Instagram, the angry wife gave her husband and punches without pause as he was begging and trying to defend himself.

He began to bleed from his nose but that did not stop her from the assault, it was outsiders that had to intervene and separate them.

CorrectNG is unable to post the video due to the strong nature of his content.

In other news, a Nigerian man identified as Akin has narrated how he caused his ex-girlfriend’s marriage to crash after she played him and stole his properties.

He shared his story online and revealed that he started an affair with his ex three months after he divorced his wife whom he had been with for five years.

According to the 37-year-old man, he was aware that she was married but that did not deter him instead he tried everything possible to make her leave her husband for him.

However, in June, Akin traveled to Abuja nd gave his married lover the keys to his house in case she wanted to visit in his absence.

To his utmost surprise, he returned to see that she had emptied his house and fled back to her matrimonial home.

He said he saw his properties in his ex-girlfriend’s home when she celebrated her birthday and a mutual friend posted photos n her status.

Akin said his ex posed with her husband in the images and he saw his TV set as wellas curtains that used to be in his house hanging.

The man said he then reported their love affair to her husband and sent proof to him which led to a separation.

In his words; I was married for 5 years before I got divorced from my wife. Three months later, I started dating one of my exes. Of course, she was married but I didn’t mind because I’ve always wanted to hit since we only dated then without dated then without doing.

Two months into our relationship, I started doing everything to get her divorced so she could be mine again. I had to attend to something in Abuja in June, and as usual, I gave her my house keys in case she needed to come while I was away.

My two weeks trip ended only for me to come back home and met my house completely empty. She carried all my belongings and fled. She celebrated her birthday last month and I stumbled upon her pictures on a mutual friend’s status. She posed with her husband and children with my TV and my curtains behind them. I found her husband’s contact, sent him evidence of our affairs and my stolen properties. They are now separated.

Chief Bode George, a former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said he would wait for the presidential election petition tribunal to make a judgment on the election outcome before he could decide to leave the country.

Bode made the statement on Tuesday while fielding questions on Arise Television’s Morning Show program.

Recall that he had pledged to relocate to a foreign country, specifically Togo, if Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, won the presidential election.

Following the declaration of Tinubu as the president-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Bode had been continuously pressed by Nigerians to disclose when he would make good his threat to leave the country.

However, he said he was going to wait on the judiciary to make decision on the outcome of the election.

Bode said, “I am almost eighty years old, I can decide to live the rest of my life in peace. Remember, I was in the navy, I have been in almost all parts of the world, and I can still decide to go back to any place and live my life in peace; a place where water, electricity, security and food would be available; that is all I need for my children and grandchildren to be well.

All I need to do very soon is to quit and get out of partisan politics because all of my 25 years I have been struggling, fighting, trying to make this country work.

“When I will go I will decide, that’s my choice. The game is not yet over. We are going to wait on the outcome of the judiciary. I have relations here, it doesn’t mean I will never come back to Nigeria. If I said I am going to be out, that I am not going to be here, am I going to look for another job now? Nobody will employ me now.”

No fewer than 1,000 hackers have invaded the National Population Commission (NPC) server, as the commission prepares for the 2023 Population and Housing Census (PHC).

This was revealed over the weekend by the Manager, NPC, Dr. Inuwa Jalingo, at ‘Bloggers/Social Media Interactive Workshop For A Successful 2023 Population and Housing Census’ in Abuja.

Fielding questions after presenting his paper entitled: ‘Enumeration Area Demarcation/Process and Methodology of the 2023 Population and Housing Census’, Jalingo said the situation was put under control through “specialised workforce, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) classes and mop-up phase.”

According to him, the United Nations (UN) recommendations for the 2020 round of censuses specify that countries should leverage digital tool for the conduct of censuses.

“The 2023 PHC – Nigeria’s first Digital Census – will employ innovative digital tools and procedures to improve the census-taking process. These tools have been adopted and integrated into the census processes, including in the Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD), pretesting of tools, recruitment, data quality management, monitoring and evaluation, project management, communications, main data collection fieldwork monitoring and dissemination.”

He explained that the goals of adopting technology in the 2023 PHC include to track and ensure complete coverage of the country during the census; reduce errors in the entire census process including in field data collection; facilitate real-time data transfer for quality checks within the census fieldwork period; reduce timelines and facilitate efficient deployment of resources improve field management and facilitate monitoring of workflows; ensure timely publication of census results.

“The key 2023 Nigeria PHC tools that are digital or technology-aided include Census Mapping Tools, Census Field Data Collection Tools, Recruitment Portal, Enumeration Dashboard, Logistics Management Data Quality Management, Quality Assurance (QA), Monitoring and Evaluation Training, Project Management, Call Centre and Situation Room.

“Mapping for the 2023 PHC was firmly anchored on technology and innovation. The EADPad developed in-country was used for the EAD. It provided improved Geographic Information System (GIS) data capture and processing functionality. The QA Pad, also developed for the exercise, provided a technology-based approach to ensure real time QA of the EAD process. The improved digital EA frame produced from the EAD is a major tool for the 2023 PHC, as it will determine the enumerators’ assignment areas and will form a basis for distribution of human and materials resources during the census.”

As the federal government prepares to completely deregulate the downstream sector of the Nigerian oil and gas industry in the coming months, stakeholders in the sector have told Nigerians to be ready to pay as much as N750 per litre of petrol at filling stations. This was the highpoint of stakeholders’ interventions during an online workshop, with the theme, “Deregulation of the Nigerian Downstream Sector: The Day After.”

The workshop was organised by industry stakeholders, in collaboration with the African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA).

The downstream players, in conjunction with economic policy analysts and relevant government agencies, also outlined strategies and measures that should be deployed to ensure sustainable removal of petrol subsidy.

It emerged, yesterday, also, that Nigeria was struggling to find buyers for its crude oil, as strikes in the French refining sector and seasonal maintenance at plants elsewhere in Europe cut into the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) producer’s sales.

In another development, former Chief of Policy and Plans, Nigerian Navy, Rear Admiral Henry Babalola (rtd), called on the federal government to prosecute persons involved in oil theft for treason. Babalola expressed disappointment with the government’s poor handling of the oil theft issue. He said government was not doing enough to eradicate the menace destroying the country’s revenue base.

The federal government, through the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, recently hinted that it would end the wasteful petrol subsidy regime before the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure on May 29, 2023.

But, in their separate interventions during the online workshop, stakeholders emphasised the need for the government to address the challenges facing the sector.

Participants at the workshop included representatives of the ARDA, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), and Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).

Others were NNPC Retail Limited (NRL), Petroleum Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and CITAC Africa, among others.

Speaking at the session, National President of IPMAN, Mr. Chinedu Okoronkwo, who was represented by IPMAN’s National Operations Controller, Mr. Mike Osatuyi, revealed that the marketers were in full support of the government’s plan to embark on full deregulation of the downstream sector.

Okoronkwo warned Nigerians to prepare to pay up to N750 for every litre of petrol after the full implementation of the subsidy removal. He however, pointed out that the projected pump price was likely to drop to around N500 if the government encouraged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to provide foreign exchange for marketers at the official rate.

Okoronkwo also urged the government to channel expected savings from subsidy removal to provision of palliatives for the masses. He advised the government to be alert and sensitive to resentment from Nigerians.

The industry stakeholders at the workshop called on the government to implement appropriate palliatives in the form of public transportation and freight of agricultural produce, ensure transparent and effective communication, and improve access to foreign exchange. They also urged the government to address issues around trade finance, guarantee strategic stock, and provide access to crude oil for refineries ahead of the plan to embark on the total removal of petrol subsidy.

They stressed the need for operators in the industry to institutionalise professionalism in the midstream and downstream petroleum sectors ahead of the take-off of full deregulation.

In his goodwill message, Chief Executive Officer, NMDPRA, Mr. Farouk Ahmed, told industry players that the authority would allow a free market-pricing regime to prevail in the petroleum marketing business in the country once the sector was fully deregulated.

National President of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Lawal Yusuf Othman, stated that the full deregulation of the downstream sector and complete removal of petrol subsidy would introduce a mix of opportunities and challenges into the operating environment.

In his presentation, Managing Director, CITAC Africa, Mr. Gary Still, explained that market liberalisation meant the removal of government subsidies and price controls on petroleum products and allowing market forces to determine the price and supply of petroleum products.

Still advised the Nigerian government to completely deregulate the downstream oil sector and free the market from the existing price fixing and control to allow investments to flow into the sector.

Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader at PwC, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, charged the government and the regulators to identify potential pitfalls that could trigger resentment from citizens before, during, and after the removal of the petrol subsidy.

Oyedele said deliberate public sensitisation, industry engagement, and collaboration with civil society organisations were needed to aid public buy-in during the implementation of full deregulation by the government. He added that in the course of implementation of the policies, the government’s interpretation of its strategy must be issues-based and not confrontational.

Technical Consultant to the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of FCCPC, Mrs. Morayo Adisa, in her presentation, emphasised the need for the industry regulator to establish quality and safety standards for petroleum products, including fuel quality standards, safety regulations for storage and transportation, and environmental regulations.

Chairman of MOMAN and Managing Director of Ardova Plc, Mr. Olumide Adeosun, stressed that the virtual workshop was aimed at addressing key challenges and outlining strategies to ensure a sustainable future for the petroleum downstream sector. Adeosun added that safeguarding consumer interest in a deregulated environment was also underscored.

The workshop offered the industry regulator and all players across the midstream and downstream value chain the opportunity to deliberate on measures that needed to be put in place ahead of the full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.

The workshop provided data-driven insights into the sector’s growth potential, as stakeholders emphasised the need for continuous industry engagement, collaboration, and public sensitisation to aid public buy-in on new policies by the government.

It emphasised the importance of connecting to regional markets, positioning Nigeria as the regional refining hub, and fostering relationships with international service providers, including rating agencies, finance and governance institutions, and aligning with the goals of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP).

Ultimately, the collaborative workshop provided a platform for stakeholders to share knowledge and develop strategies to ensure the Nigerian Petroleum Downstream Industry remained a strong, competitive force, while transitioning to a more sustainable future.


25 Nigerian Crude Shipments Struggle to Find Buyers in Europe as French Strike Continues

Nigeria is struggling to find buyers for its crude oil as strikes in the French refining sector and seasonal maintenance at plants in Europe cut into the OPEC producer’s sales.

Between 20 and 25 shipments of Nigerian crude for April loading were still searching for buyers, according to four traders specialising in the West African market. That was a much weaker position than normal for this time of the month — when trade should be moving on to May’s barrels — and the prices the shipments could fetch were dropping, they said. Each cargo was about a million barrels of crude, Bloomberg reported.

Typically, one of Nigeria’s biggest buyers, France, took an average of 110,000 barrels a day of Nigeria’s oil over the past year, according to tanker-tracking data compiled by the medium.

But that demand shrivelled this month, with France’s overall crude imports dropping by half in March as the nationwide dispute over pension reforms escalated, according to Wood MacKenzie.

Well over 80 per cent of France’s 1.1 million-barrels-a-day processing capacity is halted or in the process of shutting down because of the industrial action, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

In addition to the impact of the strikes, other plants in Europe are also buying less crude because of seasonal maintenance, according to the traders.Capacity is offline at some typical destinations for Nigerian crude, such as Spain’s San Roque refinery and Italy’s Sarroch plant, Bloomberg said. Facilities that have halted capacity for work also include Shell’s Pernis refinery near Rotterdam, Europe’s biggest plant.

“The Nigerian backlog is a combination of higher freight costs, lower tanker availability — specifically into Europe — as well as lower overall demand for West Africa light sweet as crude from other regions is deluging markets,” said Viktor Katona, lead crude analyst at Kpler.

Northwest Europe’s reduced buying matters for West Africa because alternative outlets are limited, traders said.

Mediterranean refiners can choose to skip Nigerian supply in favour of cheap North African barrels that ship more quickly to the region, or they can process some of the large volumes of US West Texas Intermediate crude that have been arriving in Europe in recent months, the report said.

Long-haul buyers, like Indian Oil and Indonesia’s Pertamina, have been taking more discounted Russian volumes this year, easing their need for Nigerian supply. China’s UNIPEC favours processing oil from Angola, where only around five April shipments are still available, the traders said.

Another driver of the unsold glut has been Nigeria’s revival of crude production that was shuttered in recent months by theft and technical issues, such as the nation’s Bonny Light stream.

Nigerian export capacity may now exceed what the market needs in April and May, according to Katona, as more oil tankers have diverted away from France and strikes disrupt the country’s petroleum industry.

Crude oil carriers, Primero and Elisabeth Maersk, had both been anchored off Le Havre until Wednesday, before changing their destination to Rotterdam, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. That was on top of several refined fuel carriers that moved away from the French port recently to go elsewhere.

The effects of French strikes to protest against pension reform are rippling across global oil markets. The nation is estimated to see a hit of about 500,000 barrels a day to the amount of crude that gets turned into fuels in March.

France released strategic stockpiles of oil products this month to avoid fuel shortages as the strikes blocked fuel movements from many local refineries.French transport networks, oil refineries and schools have been hit by widespread disruption, as workers staged a national strike to protest an increase in the retirement age that was pushed through parliament without a vote.

Sporadic demonstrations had popped up in Paris and other cities after the French government forced the bill through last week, being the ninth day of strikes since the bill was introduced in January.

Only two out of 14 metro lines in Paris now operate a normal service even as the nationwide strike has also affected air traffic, with 30 per cent of flights impacted at Paris Orly airport.

Unionised workers blockaded a major oil refinery in Normandy and another one in Fos-sur-Mer in the south of France, according to a government spokesperson.“We are intervening in a targeted manner to unblock oil storage tanks that are blocked by demonstrators,” the Minister of Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacherin, said in a statement.

“If the strike is a fundamental constitutional right, blockading is not one… The police is mobilised in difficult conditions and has my full support,” the statement said.

The government’s plan to raise the retirement age for most workers by two years was opposed by huge numbers of people. But despite protests that drew more than a million people onto streets across the country, President Emmanuel Macron’s government did not back down.

It rammed the legislation through the French National Assembly last week using a constitutional clause that allows the government to bypass a vote.The country’s generous pension system and early retirement have been a point of pride since they were enacted after World War II. Under the new law, the retirement age for most workers will be 64, still one of the lowest in the industrialised world.

The 25 million barrels of crude oil, which are seeking buyers in Europe, are more than half of the country’s production that was roughly 40 million barrels in February.


Try Oil Thieves for Treason, Ex-Naval Policy Chief Urges FG

Babalola called on the federal government to try criminals involved in oil theft for treason.

Speaking at a seminar organised by the Defence Correspondents Association of Nigeria (DECAN), with the theme, “Achieving Presidential Mandate in Curbing Oil Theft and Securing the Nation’s Wealth,” in Abuja, Babalola recommended that those caught stealing the country’s crude should be charged with treason. He called on the government to identify the supply chain of oil theft and the individuals involved, and bring the culprits to justice.

He said, “It is high time the government treated the menace with urgency. Oil theft will destroy the nation’s economy should the government fail to act fast.”In his remarks, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said the order given by President Muhammadu Buhari on the eradication of oil theft was yielding result.

Sylva stated, “Before that directive, oil production went down to 900, 000 barrels per day, but today it is gradually picking up and oscillating between 1.5 million and 1.6 million barrels per day.”

Represented by his aide, Horatius Egua, Sylva said the problems confronting the oil and gas industry were caused by years of neglect by past administrations.He said, “The oil and gas industry is the most complex sector in this country. That is why some allege that in the sector, the more you look, the less you see. However, in the last 12 months, the order by the president to end oil theft in the country is beginning to yield results.

“Apart from stealing, past governments did not invest in infrastructure in the oil and gas sector for a very long time. You find pipelines rupturing.“We could not get what we wanted, but this administration has done much to restore infrastructure.

“The president directed that the refineries must work and as it is presently, the Port Harcourt refinery is at 65-70 per cent. Hopefully, before the end of the second quarter of the year, I believe something will come out of that refinery.”

In his remarks, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Dr. Ibrahim Kana, disclosed that the country’s effort to achieve the presidential mandate handed to the ministry was successful due to the adaptation of synergy among the tri-services, especially in planning, coordination, and implementation of actionable programmes and projects.

Kana, who was represented by Director, Army, in the ministry, Mr. Sunday Attah, said, “No doubt, the Nigerian Armed Forces and agencies of the ministry now enjoy wider public support and understanding, which have resulted in positive attitudinal change among Nigerians.

“Nigerians are now very familiar with the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari in securing the country and guaranteeing the safety of Nigerians against banditry, kidnapping and terrorism.”

The permanent secretary commended Buhari for the special attention accorded the ministry in providing for the needs of the armed forces of Nigeria, promptly, and the guidance in the discharge of “our constitutional responsibilities.”

He stated, “Mr. President has ensured that the tri-services are rebranded with modern equipment as well as military and civilian personnel are being trained and retrained regularly, to enhance proficiency and efficiency in service delivery.

“Wellbeing and welfare of personnel by the federal government have continued to provide ideal accommodation for the comfort of soldiers and their families.”

Kana stated that recently, the ministry commenced the upgrading of primary and secondary schools, in addition to ensuring security and safety of teachers, pupils and the school environment.

He said, “On this matter of oil theft before us as a nation, I call on all hands to be on deck, especially the media, in the fight against this deadly menace.

“It is necessary to remind you that the expectations of Nigerians on the media is high and as such, you must live up to that expectation. Every story must be accurate, verifiable, credible and, most importantly, be relayed with high sense of patriotism and professionalism.”

At the event, Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, was represented by Chief of Training and Operations at Defence Headquarters, Major General Solomon Udounwa.

Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, was represented by Director of Operations, Nigerian Navy, Rear Admiral OK Oluwagbire,.

In attendance also were Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Musa Danmadami, and Director, Naval Information, Commodore Ayo-Vaughan.

A former Minister of Aviation and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, may face Visa sanction from the United Kingdom (UK) Government following his alleged inciting comments against the Igbo ethnic group, which triggered violence against mostly members of the Igbo ethnic group during the March 18 Governorship and State House of Assembly elections in Nigeria.

British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ben Llellwelling Jones, disclosed this during an interview with Nigeria Info FM in Lagos on Sunday.

Speaking on the violence that rocked the elections, especially in Lagos State, the British envoy condemned Fani-Kayode for his negative utterances against the Igbo race because of their choice in a multi-party democracy.

The former Aviation Minister reportedly joined the call to stop the Igbo from “taking over Yoruba land”, which later manifested in violence and ethnic slur against the Igbo in Lagos.

Jones said, “Yes, let’s be specific, there were some people, like Femi Fani-Kayode, what is he saying and why is he saying it? I don’t understand. It is wrong from my perspective that he will speak on behalf of a party and that party does not distance itself from him and say stop doing that. It is wrong to say that.

“I have said it before on this show, that if you live in London, you are a Londoner, a British-Pakistan, is a Londoner. The British Prime Minister lives in London. My boss, the British Foreign Secretary is clearly British-Sierra Leone and lives in London, they are Londoners.

“So, why is it that people who pay taxes, who work, who provide teachers, who built businesses, who create jobs, who live in Lagos, who happen to be from a different ethnicity to some other people are not Lagosians? Of course, they are.

“The strength of Lagos is its diversity, and if Lagos can’t be that kind of cosmopolitan melting pot of culture and language and all the things it should be, then really how is Lagos going to succeed?

“I think the right question to people who have been driving these ethnic kind of languages would be, when you go to cities around the world like London, what do you see when you see the success of those places? Because the success of those places are not built upon division but upon unity. I think there are people who are still using that kind of language should stop, and the party they represent should be saying to them stop now, this is not in our name and you are wrong.”

The envoy called on the APC to take firm position on the matter and proper action against this behaviour.

“To me it is really important, people who have said ‘I am part of a party’s press and media campaign’, well the party itself should say no you are not, and you should stop and we do not agree. I know that some leaders very clearly said we are about unity, and that is good, I encourage that. The problem is if you get the other people over here, who are very clearly associated with the party and giving you another message, and there isn’t any kind of calling out of that. What would you take from that as a voter?

“Certainly the people who were chanting anti-Igbo messages on Saturday, they certainly took something from what they read and what they saw, and what they heard. And that is wrong. So to me, I am not being an idealist about this, I recognize that people have different views on these things, but it is about the incitement, the kind of ethnic incitement, and that needs to stop.

On the visa ban threat, which the UK government issued against electoral offenders, Jones said “We have a list, we are working through our list but we don’t publish those names I know people say we should, but we have laws, and the law prevents us from doing that.

“The UK is a rule bound society, we don’t do that, but we do have a list, which we are working it through. We said we will do this and we will do this. And we are gathering the kind of information that will enable us do this, on specific individuals.

“We watched very closely, I was in Lagos the whole time, we have people on the ground in key places. The stuff is in the public domain as well, it is not difficult to find. So we won’t publish the names, we don’t do that, we can’t do that.”

He said that at the moment the list is between 5 and 10 and it is growing.”

Recall that the UK Government had earlier issued a statement after the March 18 Governorship and State House of Assembly elections condemning the violence and threatening to impose sanctions on election offenders.

From 2015 till date, sitting presidents have been losing the polling units located inside the vicinity of the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja, to candidates of opposition political parties.

Although the results of the elections in these polling units do not translate to overall victory for the winners, the news has always been received with mixed feelings by supporters of the leading presidential candidates, who do not even cast their votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

Supporters of the winners, in most cases, have always seen the outcomes as good signs ahead of the announcement of the final results of presidential elections.

The situation was not different in the February 25, 2023 presidential election. The results of 10 polling units collated showed Mr Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), emerging winner in the designated centres inside and around the Presidential Villa.

Obi polled 809 votes to defeat Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), who was the candidate of the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, who cast his vote same day with aides and family members in Daura, Katsina State.

Tinubu got 318 votes to come second, while Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) garnered 258 votes to emerge second runner-up in the polling units inside the Presidential Villa.

In all the polling units, including 121, Kofo Abayomi Street, beside Officers’ Mess and 131, opposite Pilot Gate, State House, Obi defeated his opponents.

The story was not different in the 2019 presidential election as Atiku, the presidential candidate of the PDP, secured more votes than President Buhari, who was the flag bearer of the APC at the election, inside the Presidential Villa.

While the PDP candidate garnered 525 votes, Buhari trailed with 465 at unit polling 022.

However, Buhari polled more votes than his rival at unit 021, getting 548 as against Atiku’s 505.

In all, the PDP presidential candidate secured 1,030 votes against the president’s 1,013, with a difference of 17 votes

In 2015, the PDP presidential candidate, former President Goodluck Jonathan, who was in office at the time, lost one of the two polling units inside the Presidential Villa to his APC challenger, Muhammadu Buhari.

In unit 022, Buhari garnered 348 votes against Jonathan’s 302.

Jonathan polled 293 votes while Buhari got 265 at the second polling unit inside the Villa, 021.

In the final result announced at the two polling units, Jonathan lost to Buhari, who ran for the fourth time at the time, as he polled a total of 595 votes to Buhari’s 613. The announcement of the final result sparked a wide jubilation from APC supporters.

Jonathan had won the election at the two polling units in 2011. He defeated Buhari, who was then the presidential candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), with more than half of the votes cast.

In one of the polling stations, which is less than 100 meters from the Pilot Gate, Jonathan polled 630 votes against Buhari’s 318 votes.

Why presidents fail to win in Villa

Daily Trust on Sunday reports that voters in the State House are usually believed to be aides, Presidential villa staff and loyalists.

One of the villa staff members who preferred anonymity said majority of the people who registered to vote in that vicinity were truly staff while some of the voters were equally residents who occupy residential buildings in the area.

It was gathered that the outcomes of presidential elections in the villa were usually determined by the perceived low or poor performance of the government at the centre.

One of the staff said, “They voted against the APC in 2023 because people were suffering. Majority of voters around the State House were from members of staff who felt the APC government performed below expectation, especially in the midst of cash crunch and scarcity of petrol.”

Another staff recalled that Jonathan lost at the Villa in 2015 because people were unhappy with the security situation in the country at the time.

“People believed he should not be allowed to continue in office,” the source said.

Daily Trust on Sunday gathered from another source that results also indicated that some of the people in the area were not happy with the government in power.