₦airaland Forum

By 'Suyi Ayodele


A group of Russian-linked hackers claimed to have hacked Coca-Cola and put rucks of data up for sale.

Stormous said it stole 161 gigabytes of financial data, passwords and accounts before putting the information on the market for $640,000 or 16 million Bitcoin.

The team revealed on Monday it had infiltrated the drinks company and got out ‘without their knowledge. Coca-Cola said it has launched an urgent investigation and already contacted the police.

‘You will win and we will win,’ read an apparent message from the group, which was later posted on Twitter. ’You will also contact us! We will explain more,’ the message, in apparently broken English, continues. ‘Good deal, we’ll give you the right to pay the amount you want depending on the amount of data you want.’

It said the group downloaded 161 gigabytes from the company, which it would sell for more than $640,000 or more than 16 million in Bitcoin.

Among the stolen files, according to CISO Advisor, are financial data, passwords and commercial accounts.

The group had previously made waves for expressing its support of Russian forces in its invasion of Ukraine.

It also previously posted a poll on the Telegram messaging service asking which company it should go after. After 103 votes were cast, Security Affairs reports, Coca-Cola received 72 per cent.

Stormous is a relative newcomer in the hacking world but gained attention at the beginning of the year.

They said they had stolen 200 gigabytes of data from Epic Games and later made headlines when it announced its support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

It remains unclear where the group is based, with The Record reporting most of its messages are in Arabic.

It wrote in English at the beginning of March: ‘The Stromous team has officially announced its support for the Russian governments.

‘And if any party in different parts of the world decides to organize a cyber attack or cyberattacks against Russia, we will be in the right direction, will make all our efforts to abandon the supplication of the West, especially the infrastructure.

‘Perhaps the hacking operation that our team carried out for the government of Ukraine and a Ukrainian airline was just a simple operation, but what is coming will be bigger,’ the group warned.

It also issued a warning against ‘western unions’ and US-based companies, after it said it was ‘attacked’ by US companies that shut down their site.

Just a few days after the group’s announcement, on March 8, Coca-Cola announced it was suspending its operations in Russia in opposition to its invasion.

The company said: ‘Our hearts are with the people who are enduring unconscionable effects from these tragic events in Ukraine.’

It added: ‘We will continue to monitor and assess the situation as circumstances evolve.’

Coca-Cola executives estimate the decision will tentatively reduce the corporation’s net revenue and operating profit for the year by 1 to 2 per cent.

Its net profit has already decreased by 23.5 per cent, compared to the same period last year, according to its first-quarter report, issued on Monday.

But its quarterly revenue rose by 5 per cent to $9.02 billion from $8.6 billion. The firm is trading at $65.69, down nearly half a percentage point from the day before.

But it is continuing to double down on its support for Ukraine, noting in its filing it will provide $15billion in aid to the country.

It wrote: ‘This funding will support further relief efforts by the Red Cross and other organizations operating in Ukraine and neighbouring countries, heling millions of displaced people.’

A spokesman for Coca-Cola said they are investigating the claims of stolen data, and have already contacted law enforcement.

‘We are aware of this matter and are investigating to determine the validity of the claim,’ communications vice president Scott Leith told The Record.

By Ibrahim Musa Giginyu


Famous Hausa singer, Dauda Kahutu Rarara, known for his numerous songs in honour of President Muhammadu Buhari and other key northern politicians, spoke against what he perceived as the shortcoming of the current administration in a new song.

In the song, he led a group of other prominent Hausa singers under the 13-13 Kannywood.

The development generated a debate on whether the diehard supporter of Buhari is no longer with him.

The news of the new song went viral when his spokesperson, Rabi’u Garba Gaya, posted it on his Facebook page.

Early last year, the Buhari singer had begun a movement asking Nigerians to sponsor his next album (harp-song) with a token of N1000 each.

The singer said he wanted the public to sponsor a song that will highlight the achievement of the Buhari-led administration.

Ever since he made that announcement public, fans have been waiting for the release of the song as it was reported that millions of Naira was realized.

But some people condemned the singer’s demand, describing it as fraudulent while others swore that he will not realize much to sponsor the intended song.

Ironically, the singer’s fans were astonished when instead of a praise song for Buhari, the singer sang against insecurity.

According to those in the know, in the song, Buhari was criticised for “failing” in his promise to protect lives and property.

A stanza in the songs goes like this, “Only few people now reason with you, insecurity has been on the increase both in cities and villages. What started as a hear-say has become reality. Our wish is to see that we have put things back on track,”

Those who featured in the songs are Aminu Ladan Ala, Nura M Inuwa, Ali Isa Jita, among other prominent Hausa singers.

A15-year-old girl, Happy David, has allegedly clubbed an 85-year old woman, Gama Jatau, to death in Adamawa State, SaharaReporters has learnt.

David took the law into her own hands and clubbed the octogenarian to death after accusing her of casting spells on her to slow down her academic progress and also frequently inflicting her with diseases.

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The incident happened on April 8, 2022, in Tambo village in the Girei Local Government Area of the state.

As gathered, David armed with a stick, stormed the residence of the deceased by 1pm on the fateful day and hit her on the head repeatedly.

The victim was later pronounced death at the Jabbi-Lamba clinic.

David has been arrested, charged to court on a count of murder, an offence contrary to Section 191 of the Penal Code Law of Adamawa 2018.

She pleaded guilty as charged.

The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, who joined his ancestors on Friday, had many plans shattered by his passage.

One of them is the eminent monarch’s wish to visit the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi.

The Ooni broke the ice in the frosty relationship between the Ife and Oyo monarchs by visiting the Alaafin during a cultural festival two years ago.

In his tribute, Ooni Ogunwusi, confirmed the Alaafin’s promise to visit him before the middle of this year.

Oba Adeyemi was also said to have concluded plans to present houses to two of his wives.

Another unfulfilled plan, was the installation of House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila as Baamofin of Oyo.

Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola, also spoke yesterday of the aborted plan by the late monarch to settle the rift between him and his principal.

According to a source, the monarch was to hand over two new houses to two of his wives as gifts before end this month.

The source said: “Kabiyesi was waiting to get well. He planned to hand over a gift of new houses to two of the queens. But, death has made that impossible now. The houses have been completed. They were just to be handed over to the wives.”

The monarch, who was the consenting authority to obas in Oyo and Oke-Ogun communities, had also initiated plans to confront the Oyo State Government over the elevation of some chiefs and bales into obas without his consent, and in violation of chieftaincy laws.

A source said Oba Adeyemi had written former Governors Rashidi Ladoja and Abiola Ajimobi on the issue. But, they did not take any action.

Oba Adeyemi was said to have initiated moves to complain to Governor Seyi Makinde on the issue. It was learnt that the monarch had painstakingly gathered relevant documents, which he planned to launch by end of April before death came.

In a 2017 letter to the late Ajimobi, the Alaafin had listed baales who elevated themselves to Obas and those who gave themselves non-existing titles. Aside the traditional ruler of Aawe, a community that borders Oyo, other communities in the list are in Oke-Ogun.

Adeyemi stated: “One seemed to believe that with these and host of legislations on chieftaincy matters, both the administrators, prescribed authorities and the beneficiaries would be guided alright. It was very disappointing that self-esteem, corrupt practices, negligence, and carefree attitude by those concerned have led to great abuse and bastardization of the important culture. Dubious characters in our society now found acquisition of chieftaincy titles at all costs a safe haven since the anointment is honourable for life. They manipulated their ways to the highest position, sometimes, to the disadvantage of some families. Criminals have invaded the culture.”

In his condolence message, Aregbesola said Oba Adeyemi was one of the strong supporters of his administration while he was the governor of Osun State.

He said: “Oba Adeyemi was an elegant and colourful monarch. He was a bridge between the ancient and the modern. He encapsulated the totality of the recorded Yoruba history dating back to the 11th Century.”

He added: “He was a major player in the effort to settle the rift between me and my principal and he was still working on it till he passed on.”

Gbajabiamila cancels conferment
Gbajabiamila has cancelled arrangement for the conferment of the title of Baasofin of Yorubaland on him.

The cancellation of the ceremony which was scheduled for May 27, is due to the death of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Adeyemi who was to preside over the event.

Shortly after the death of the royal father, already printed invitation cards for the event emerged on the internet.

A statement by the Special Adviser to the Speaker on Media and Publicity, Lanre Lasisi, explained that while the Oba’s letter communicating the award of the title to the Speaker was delivered on September 30, 2021, the event could not take place earlier than schedule.

By Omeiza Ajayi and Kennedy Mbele

The claim that some governors are pushing for an idea that one of them should succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023 is creating anxiety in the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Whereas two of the party’s governors – Yahaya Bello of Kogi State and his Ebonyi counterpart, Mr Dave Umehi – have already signified their intention to vie for the APC presidential ticket ahead of the 2023 general elections, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State was expected to conclude his consultations last week preparatory to publicly declaring his presidential bid.

Fayemi is the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), the umbrella body for governors, regardless of party, in the country.

2023 Presidency: Group wants Buratai to join race, vows to purchase N100m APC Ticket
The idea was said to have been floated within the NGF that, with the experience the members serving their second term have garnered, any of them is as good as any of the veteran politicians also aspiring to succeed Buhari.

Other front runners in the race for the presidential ticket in the APC are Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi and Labour Minister Chris Ngige, all from southern Nigeria.

The propenderance of the presidential aspirants of southern origin appears to be so in the APC following the understanding that since the incumbent is from the North, the successor should be from the South.

The North/South rotation of the presidency has gained traction since 1999.

While Yahaya Bello, according to sources, is being supported by the immediate-past National Chairman of the defunct Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee CECPC, Gov. Mai Mala Buni, among others, Fayemi is said to be making further consultations across the country while a group aligned to him, The Nigerian Agenda, TNA, has also been visiting stakeholders and staging pro-democracy events.

And whereas, the governors of Lagos, Osun and Kano, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Mr Gboyega Oyetola and Dr Abdullahi Gandoje respectively, are said to be in bed with Tinubu, the same cannot be said of Osinbajo.

Rather than lose out, some of the governors, it was learnt, are considering the possibility of having a meeting within the next two weeks to deliberate on the subject matter.

“The division among the governors is due to competing loyalties. The fact is that while majority of them want President Muhammadu Buhari to keep to the pre-National Convention agreement to allow them nominate from among themselves, a handful of them have their primary loyalties. You have Bello and Fayemi who are contestants and you have those who are aligned to Asiwaju and the vice president respectively”, a source told this paper.

“However, they don’t want to be ‘ambushed’ like it happened during the National Convention where their inability to present a common front from the word go made Mr President to pick for them”.

Already, Fayemi is said to be in quiet consultations with critical stakeholders. Sources in the know said the consultations are largely driven by some political and corporate players.

“He is at present meeting with his colleague governors to get their buy- in.

Even though, as NGF Chairman, it could be assumed that he could access his colleagues using the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and or the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) platforms, JKF has chosen to go meet them in their respective states, while he met some in Abuja”.

Plot

Meanwhile, some strategists in APC, Sunday Vanguard learnt at the weekend, have launched a fresh plot against the understanding that the 2023 presidency has been zoned to the South.

The strategists are believed to be scared stiff that the oppositon Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may pick its candidate from the North and, should that be the case, the outcome of the 2023 presidential election may not be favourable to the APC.

They are, therefore, seriously considering drafting a northern governor in their party into the race”, a leader of the APC close to the development told Sunday Vanguard.

“If they succeed, the governor may announce his aspiration anytime from now as the plan was to unveil him immediately after Sallah. They are keeping their choice secret. Yahaya Bello from Kogi State is in the race but the strategists are looking beyond him. They believe he has no electoral value”.

“According to the source, the strategists are also looking at Gbenga Olawepo- Hashim from Kebbi.

“The name came from the blues but they are attracted to him because of his South-West connections and his youthfulness. Until recently, he claimed Kwara as state of origin, but he now says he has traced his roots to Kebbi State. How this plays out is left to be seen”, he said.

“Former President Goodluck Jonathan is also being considered as a viable option. There is renewed pressure on him. They do not mind him if that will pacify the South. For cooperating with the Buhari government, they believe he should be considered. Another factor they are considering is that he will do only one term and power will revert to the North”.

Explosive

The month of May, observers believe, may witness explosive politics the nation has never seen.

Candidates who have declared for the presidency are either pressing on with their campaigns, meeting and wooing delegates to the primaries scheduled for May 30 to June 1, or oiling their campaign machines.

In a related development, there are indications that the emergence of another APC presidential aspirant from Rivers State could impinge on the chances of Amaechi.

Founder and President of Belemaoil Producing Limited, operators of Oil Mining Lease 55, Mr Tein T. S. Jack-Rich, who is also from the state, just declared his intent to run for President.

A member of the South-South APC, who did not want his name mentioned for fear of possible backlash, accused some unnamed forces of trying to whittle down the chances of Amaechi by pushing the aspiration of Jack-Rich.

“Already, you know that Rivers State governor, who is of the opposition, is also contesting. While that may not really affect Amaechi, Jack-Rich’s aspiration has been welcomed by some anti-Amaechi forces who see him as capable of deploying his huge war-chest to split delegates from the zone in the primary election”, he said.

Politicians react

On the reason why politicians engage in such histrionics, the Special Adviser to Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun State on Political Affairs, Sunday Akere, said some politicians indeed have deep connection with the grass roots while some others do such things to deceive the voters.

Akere, who is a former Commissioner for Information in the state, told our correspondent in an interview, “As a politician, my view is that whoever does things like that during election period only is being deceitful; it’s a ploy to deceive the populace. As a politician, you should let people know who you are and what you stand for. What you will not do when you are in office, you don’t need to start doing it when you are preparing for elections.

“I live within my people, I relate and socialise with them and whatever I know I won’t do while in office, I won’t do because of elections. Nobody holds a position for life because power is transient. You should not lord it over people because you are in public office and during election time you become compassionate. I see it as being deceitful, and the majority of the people who do it don’t really mean well. If you cannot eat corn with your people when there is no election, I don’t think you should do that during electioneering.


Also, the National Chairman, African Democratic Congress, Chief Ralph Nwosu, said voters were getting wiser and could not be easily deceived with such things.

He said in a telephone interview on Saturday, “I think our voters are getting wiser. They are getting to know the politicians and those who intend to trick them. Ordinarily, when people get into politics, they strive to become role models for modesty, leadership, deep thinking and compassion. Unfortunately, that has not been the case in Nigeria.

“Perhaps our past with the military is largely responsible for that, because the moment someone gets into public office, the next thing is long convoys, armed security men and so on. A lot of the current political players didn’t experience the apprenticeship needed to live a good public service life. So, they believe it’s about power. A lot of young politicians would start to emulate such practices and this is very scary.

“That is why our party has an Aspirants Academy. When people aspire to public office on our platforms, they are taught about the public service spirit on one part and the requirement for them to conduct themselves and win elections on the other part.

TUNDE AJAJA examines several deceitful ploys politicians employ in the buildup to elections and how the gimmicks have yet to bridge the inequality gap or solve the country’s myriads of problems

The viral picture of former governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, devouring a plate of Amala at a bukateria in Abuja after obtaining his presidential nomination and expression of interest forms few weeks ago gives a memorable insight into what typifies a pre-election season in Nigeria’s nascent democracy.

After acknowledging greetings from the motley crew of supporters within and outside the party secretariat, Fayose’s aides and drivers knew the next stop: Wuye area of Abuja where their principal would relish his regular plate of amala, garnished with all kinds of assorted meat; one of his usual ways of ‘identifying with the people’.

Some would excuse Fayose, having made such his stock-in-trade since early 2000s when he was running for the governorship of Ekiti State in 2003, a poll he eventually won. Such theatrics by many politicians, which some people described as pretentious displays, have become a permanent feature during electioneering in Nigeria.

Ideally, the months and year preceding an election should be a time for rigorous, intellectual engagements – debates, scrutiny of candidates’ profiles, achievements and other matters crucial to leadership recruitment – between the electorate and candidates on the latter’s programmes if voted into office. In Nigeria, however, these are downplayed. Some candidates even shun debates, contemptuously.

It becomes a season for politicians, who are accustomed to being driven in armoured, exotic vehicles tucked in long, heavily guarded convoys, to patronise roadside corn sellers, enter public transport, visit a beauty salon to plait women’s hair, assist the aged woman on the street in roasting yam among other things that seek to depict them as being men or women of the people.

This brings to mind one of the quotes by American historian, James Robinson, who said, “political campaigns are designedly made into emotional orgies, which endeavour to distract attention from the real issues involved, and they actually paralyse what slight powers of celebration man can normally muster.”

In Nigeria, there is a huge economic inequality between the political elite and the electorate, but it is largely obscure during the election period. The examples of these fake displays by politicians abound and some of them are captured below:

Obaseki’s corn munching

It’s difficult not to laugh aloud seeing the picture of how Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State and his predecessor and estranged political godfather, Adams Oshiomhole, chewed corn as they moved from one street to another during Obaseki’s campaign in Benin in 2016.

The then state chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Anselm Ojesua, and one other supporter also displayed their corn as a form of identity as they marched with their party members in unison. They had bought the corn from a roadside seller during the campaign that preceded the election that brought in Obaseki for his first term in office.

Taking bites at intervals and chewing a mouthful of the corn, evident in their protruding chin, they engaged their supporters as they marched from one street to the other.

Interestingly, corn is not a food for the poor; it’s a seasonal staple food enjoyed by all. However, many believe the way politicians take to the streets to buy and eat it openly among their supporters, given the wide gap between the political elite and the citizens, is usually an attempt to entice the electorate and be seen as ‘leaders’ who share the masses’ concerns. Symbolically, corn has become a unifying food exploited for political gains.


Oshiomhole’s return to corn solution

In the run-up to the 2020 election, when Obaseki was seeking a second term, Obaseki and Oshiomhole had fallen out irreconcilably, leading to his defection from the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party. Obaseki eventually became the PDP candidate while Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu was the candidate of the APC.

As a party man, Oshiomhole, who had just been sacked by the party’s National Executive Committee, campaigned openly for his party’s candidate. And again, the corn ‘solution’ came handy. A viral video showed his supporters chanting ‘Osho baba’ as he bought roasted corn and started eating same to the delight of a cheering crowd.

Funnily enough, Obaseki later used the ‘corn’, which they both paraded like a symbol of unity, to deride Oshiomhole. Speaking in Oredo, his native local government, Obaseki stated, “The sacked APC national chairman has no regard for Benin people; he can’t dictate to the majority; he has no regard for us in Oredo. Benin people are not like chickens that run after corn thrown at them and will render the former national chairman politically irrelevant for disrespecting Benin people.”

Omisore takes corn to a new level

Again, one would need to exercise a lot of restraint so as not to roar with laughter on sighting the picture where Chief Iyiola Omisore, the incumbent National Secretary of the APC, held two sticks of corn with his two hands and looked at them as if he was scared to eat them. Many people said it was a testament that he wasn’t used to such but had to do it for the camera.

Unlike Obaseki and Oshiomhole who were devouring the corn openly as they moved from one street to another, Omisore stood through the sunroof of his SUV and stared almost repulsively at the corn in his hands. Beyond the corn initiative, other pictures of him emerged where he posed for the camera while buying popcorn and another where he was on a motorcycle in the bush.

APC’s spokesperson at the time, Lai Mohammed, attacked Omisore who was the PDP candidate, saying, “Being a people’s governor goes beyond a made-for-television eating of roasted corn or riding Okada.”

Again in 2017 when he was campaigning for the 2018 governorship election as the candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Omisore was pictured among some residents eating a plate of rice. Omisore, who sat in the middle, only held the spoon and posed for the camera. Having served as Osun State deputy governor for four years and later as a senator for eight years, many people argued those were gimmicks to warm himself into the hearts of the unsuspicious people.

Sanwo-Olu’s drama inside salon

Before becoming the governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, became many personalities in one. During the electioneering that brought him into office in 2019, Sanwo-Olu, accompanied by his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, was pictured plaiting a woman’s hair at Computer Village in Ikeja. In another photo, the duo adorned with backward-facing face caps, were learning how to repair phones in the same Computer Village. And before they made it to the Government House, they visited a mechanic village and joined in pouring engine oil in a vehicle, all captured in pictures, ostensibly to court the electorate.

Meanwhile, Sanwo-Olu had before then served the state at different levels, including being a commissioner at several times before he was appointed as the MD/CEO of the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation, a position he held till he resigned to contest the governorship seat in 2019.

When in February 2021 a picture of him emerged buying roasted plantain within the metropolis, many people described it as a renewed ploy to strengthen his grass roots connection. The camera captured him collecting boli, as it’s popularly called, while his ADC and another aide watched him.

Atiku’s show at IDPs camp

The picture of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar eating with children in an internally displaced persons’ camp also lent credence to many things politicians do to present themselves as being connected to the plight of the poor. In the picture, he sat on a blue plastic chair like the children, holding a plate of rice and sachet water. He was captured as he made to put the spoon in his mouth.

Responding to criticisms that he did it for election purposes, Atiku tweeted, “This photo was taken two years ago (around 2017), to promote a feed & read project for IDP girls in Yola. I ate to encourage parents that the food was good. I ate food with these girls to show the food was safe. I do this every time I visit. It might be a joke for some, but not for these girls.”

He added, “As a public person, I’m used to insults, but before you make jokes, remember that for these young girls, this programme was their only hope.”

His defence notwithstanding, many people insisted it was a political move.

Melaye in hawking stunt

In 2016, the picture emerged of former senator Dino Melaye with a tray of groundnuts on his head like someone hawking on the street. The background view of the picture showed he took the picture at a decent neighbourhood and not the usual marketplace. While some people attacked him for attempting to deceive the people, Melaye was quoted as saying he used to hawk as a youth.

Udom goes to market

The Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel, is one of those who exhibit a lot of decorum in public office. First elected in 2015, the governor was re-elected in 2019. In 2017, however, a picture of him emerged where he was ‘pricing’ gaari, okro and crayfish. And on another occasion, he was seen in 2018 buying peers from a seller by the roadside at Ikot Etobo.

Chauffeured in his black official BMW saloon car and surrounded by aides and supporters, many people argued that it was one of the many ways politicians like him tried to deepen their ties with the ‘people on the street’.

Al-Makura’s pose on tattered mattress

Of all the pictures of governors presenting themselves as friends of the people, the picture of the then governor of Nasarawa State, Tanko Al-Makura, at a school hostel is like an intended comic post. Attempting to lay on a tattered mattress in the hostel of a public school, perhaps to have a first-hand feeling, the governor cautiously leaned on one side and rested on his elbow until the picture was taken and then stood up.

His discomfort was obvious from his looks, and one could tell that it was an unusual occasion for him. After serving as a two-term governor, he’s currently the senator representing Nasarawa South at the upper chamber of the National Assembly. He was a national chairmanship aspirant of the APC in the March 26 convention.

Osinbajo’s electioneering inside BRT

In December 2014, the then vice-presidential candidate of the APC, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, took his campaign to a BRT bus station in Lagos. He later tweeted a picture of him speaking with some people on the bus.

He wrote, “Rode on the bus earlier today and spoke to my fellow citizens, it was better than a thousand seminars!” Many have argued that persons seeking political office would do anything necessary, including what they weren’t used to, in a bid to woo voters. They insisted that was one of them.

Okorocha’s corn show

It would seem there is a deep nexus between corn and elections in Nigeria. The former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, famous for introducing slangs like ‘Iberiberism’ and ‘my people, my people’, is one man who also knows how to connect with the people at auspicious moments. Several pictures of him roasting corn and buying roasted plantain are everywhere on the internet. In one of the pictures, he was seen carrying the child of the corn seller on his laps while helping the woman to roast the corn. While many argued that he had always been close to the people, some others said for him to have been recorded and the picture posted on the internet meant it was to gain attention.

Amaechi turns ‘hairstylist’

The Minister of Transportation and former governor of Rivers State, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, is also on the list. Towards the 2015 presidential election, he was seen plaiting a woman’s hair somewhere in his home state, Rivers. He was one of those who worked hard for Buhari’s victory in 2015. Now a presidential aspirant under the ruling APC, the minister is also believed to have done that as a way of connecting with the electorate and courting their support.

Meanwhile, these are a reflection of some of the activities that characterise election season in Nigeria. But in spite of all the staged romance and attempts to socialise with the people, many politicians across the country steal public funds, and end up with corruption cases after leaving office.


Charting a decent course

Sadly, the money some of them steal plunge the people they claim to care about into deeper poverty and misery. This explains Nigeria’s high inequality and poverty rates.

“After eating the amala, roasted corn or plantain, what do they do when they get back to the office?” a public affairs analyst and Lagos-based lawyer, Mr Jiti Ogunye queried. “Does it make them to be above board like Caesar’s wife? They go into the office to steal money. Even if everything is done to make them accountable by the fledgling anti-corruption agencies, they get pardoned.”

Notably also, during campaigns, especially for the presidential election, many of the candidates dress in the native attire of the state they are visiting. Even at campaign grounds, it’s more of chanting party slogans and deriding the other parties, instead of reeling out actionable promises.

According to Ogunye, it is almost a norm in other democracies for politicians to engage in all sorts of intellectual ways they feel could enable them to warm themselves into the heart of the voters. However, he said the difference in the Nigerian scenario is the ridiculous things politicians do.

He said but for the people’s commitment and sacrifices, the political class had done everything to undermine the consolidation of the democracy by undermining its ethos and values.

He said, “In the United States where we copied our presidential system of government from, politicians go out during primaries and major elections, shaking hands with people, taking children from their mothers and caressing their heads, such that they would be regarded as not only popular but as being in touch with the electorate.

“The ridiculous thing here (in Nigeria) is that we engage in the most ridiculous theatrics to get connected to the electorate. This outlandish self-selling approach is ridiculous. What I see is that they engage in all these to deceive Nigerians deliberately.

“It’s not of no interest to Nigerians if you can chew roasted corn, or you can eat five wraps of amala or you can eat roasted plantain with groundnut. They are interested in things that can better their lives.”

He pointed out that people like the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who launched free education that revolutionised education in the Western region, were never found eating corn, amala or roasted plantain.

“These are inanities and if they truly care about the people, why is there so much misery in the land,” he queried. “They do this because they lack respect for our people; the voters. They engage in these theatrics during campaigns, and during elections they offer the same people N500 or N1,000 to buy their conscience and votes. So, they think we are not worth more being entertained by eating corn and puff-puff.

“Those who are supposed to be purveyors of policy issues and be chewing ideas and discussing where our country is headed are chewing puff-puff. It’s tragic that in the 21st century, the way our politicians can appeal to our reasoning, court our endearment and support is for us to behold them eating corn, eating amala in public and then boast about it that they are ordinary people.”

On the way forward, he said, “We should be having endless debates. Democracy is about discussion and action. The action would start when those elected take the oath of office, but before that stage, we should have a lot of discussions.

“What are they telling us about how to secure the country, the economy, social security, welfare service, social provisioning, crimes and punishment, ethno-religious relation and harmony and the sanctity of the Nigerian state? However, we need to face the future with optimism, but we can’t be foolishly optimistic. The optimism must come from what they are able to tell us and what we can demand of them.”

Beyond the theatrics, the Senior Pastor of Trinity House, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, said there were basic qualities Nigerians should look out for in selecting their next set of leaders.

Speaking on Channels TV on Wednesday night, he stated, “What do you need in a good leader? The first thing is vision. The leader must have an idea of where he’s going and where he’s taking the people to. The second is the capacity to work hard.

“Three; he must be exposed and knowledgeable. You are not going to have somebody leading Nigeria who would not understand the rudiments of economics, issues around power and the value of education, etc. He doesn’t need to know everything but he needs to know enough to be able to make a good decision on what people have suggested to him.”

He said people should also look out for a compassionate leader and an honest person who doesn’t have to be a moneybag. “If you’ve lived and worked in Nigeria and you have been honest and sincere, it’s unlikely you would be a great moneybag,” he added.

“It means of course that you must have no corruption charges or accusations of corruption or you have unexplainable wealth. There is nothing wrong with being very wealthy but you must be able to explain your wealth.”

He stressed the need to recruit leaders who are not desperate but one who is ready to contribute and add value to Nigerians and one who is largely acceptable to the generality of Nigerians.

He noted, “The person must be totally detribalised and be able to attract foreign direct investment to Nigeria, because what we need in Nigeria is investment, technology and hard work. The fundamentals are there.

“The coffee, cocoa, soya bean, tin, coal, crude oil, palm oil and palm kernel are still there and gas is being wasted every day. What has happened over the last 40 years? Nobody has paid them any attention and what we need is to pay them attention and have the right kind of laws. Nigeria needs a leader who is sincere.”

Also, a public affairs analyst, Bala Zakka, told Sunday PUNCH that it was high time people stopped being deceived by such display of seasonal friendliness. He said they should rather look out for individuals with good qualities.

He added, “Any person that is aspiring for political leadership in Nigeria must first of all be a good economic manager, because the main thing that puts Nigeria in a position of security vulnerability is too many idle people. This time round, we are not only talking about idle youths, there are people that since they became adults, they never had quality jobs.

“So, when you talk about calamities of dysfunctional economy, which so many Nigerians have experienced, any person aspiring to lead in Nigeria must be a very good economic manager. A leader must be somebody that the citizens have collectively resolved to entrust with their economic, political and social destiny. Some elements of conscience should come in when they are dealing with us.”

NwaAmaikpe:




I'd have been damned if his bride wasn't as busty as 'Mummy Wa'

Written By Khalid Idris Doya


A member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Khamis Musa Darazo, has sacrificed his monthly allowances to the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and 2023 presidential hopeful, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as his contribution to the actualisation of the latter’s presidential aspiration.

The Corps member said that his first allowance for the month of April will be handed to Tinubu as his contribution to the N100m cost of purchasing the APC’s expression of interest and nomination forms to contest for the party’s presidential ticket.

Darazo, who is currently serving in Gombe State, announced his decision to journalists in Bauchi on Friday, saying that he was supporting Tinubu because he possesses the leadership qualities that can salvage the nation from its current predicaments.

The Batch A Stream II Corps member with NYSC call-up number: NYSC/80B/2022/060482 and state code GM/22A/3185, said, “Tinubu has no idea of my intention, he does not even know me and we have never met before, but I am doing this out of pure love for him. Nigeria as a country is facing so many challenges and we need people like Tinubu who has all the international connections to turn around the fortunes of this nation.

“We all saw when he was governor of Lagos State, he spent two years without receiving allocation from the federation account, but he recorded many achievements in all sectors of Lagos State.

“If he can do this in Lagos State, he can do even more when he becomes President of Nigeria. This is why I am sacrificing my monthly allowances to this great person,” Darazo said.

He also said that he would be meeting with Tinubu on May 15, 2022 where he would show him his love and hand over his April allowance of N33,500 to him personally.

He called on supporters of Tinubu from all parts of the country to support and appreciate his gesture in order to motivate other good spirited individuals to emulate him.

Ibori’s dominance threatened in Delta, Okowa moves to stamp authority

In Delta State, it is believed that Governor Ifeanyi Okowa is supporting the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mr Sheriff Oborewori, who hails from Delta Central, although the governor had said openly that he had no preferred candidate.

A major political godfather in the state, Chief James Ibori, was said to have canvassed for his preference, Olorogun David Edevbie, a former finance commissioner, to be the sole aspirant, a request that was allegedly rejected by many stakeholders. The governor had also insisted that all the aspirants must take part in the primary.

It was gathered that the refusal to accept Ibori’s choice as the consensus candidate had created bad blood between Oborewori and Edevbie’s supporters.

Given the influence of Ibori in the state’s politics, many people believe that the road to securing the party’s ticket would be laced with hiccups for Okowa’s candidate.

The Chairman, PDP Leaders and Stakeholders’ Forum in Delta South, Chief Mike Loyibo, said, “We have agreed to go with the Speaker and ensure that he clinches the ticket of the party.” But the Urhobo Progress Union Worldwide in a statement by its President General, Olorogun Taiga, and others endorsed Edevbie’s aspitation.

Meanwhile, Okowa’s deputy, Mr Kingsley Otuaro, who hails from Delta South and once claimed to be the governor’s anointed aspirant, said having completed the zoning arrangement among the three districts, any zone could produce the next governor.

In Niger State, the seat is said to have been zoned to Niger South, comprising eight local governments, and no fewer than 15 aspirants from the zone have indicated interest to become the next governor of the state. The aspirants include Governor Sani Bello’s deputy, Ahmed Ketso, and the Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Zakari Abubakar.

It is unclear who the governor is supporting, but sources in the government said he might support Abubakar. A stakeholder from the southern district, Musa Abdullahi, said he was sure the governor would have someone he preferred as a successor as is usually the practice with politicians.

“One thing we are sure of is that the person the governor is supporting may be revealed at the last minute,” he added.

In Abia State, there were expectations that power would shift to the North, but the party was said to have zoned the seat to Abia North and Abia Central, a move believed to favour an aspirant.

Based on alleged plans by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to anoint his kinsman and former university vice-chancellor from the Central, an aspirant, Ncheta Omerekpe, said such a move would fail.


Aspirants whose participation may change the dynamics of the primary include the Senate Minority Leader and senator representing Abia South, Enyinnaya Abaribe; a former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara; and a former Secretary to the State Government, Dr Eme Okoro.

Abaribe said in a statement, “My attention has been drawn to a document signed by the state Chairman of the PDP, Dr Alwell Asiforo, purporting that the Abia State PDP has zoned the governorship seat to Abia North and Abia Central. I wish to assure all Abians, who are desirous of an end to imposition in Abia State, to disregard the purported zoning. It is only Abians that will decide who will be their governor in 2023.”

Wabara advised the governor to emulate the openness of his predecessors, who left no one in doubt as to where their preferred successors would come from. He added, “The governor cannot unilaterally zone the position. The state party chairman does not also have the power. It’s only in Abia that things are turned upside down. If things are not done the right way, the PDP will lose Abia State.”

Eme also said attempts to deny the North would not be tolerated, adding, “Abia North will resist any attempt to change the goal post in the middle of the game.”

Another aspirant and former member of the state House of Assembly, Sampson Orji, said the only way to get out of the imposition syndrome was for the PDP to organise a free, fair and credible primary.

The natives of Ngwa in the United States have also advised the governor to ensure that power shifts to the North, while the founder of the Gregory University and former governorship aspirant, who recently defected to APGA, Prof Greg Ibe, said he left the party due to its inability to honour its zoning arrangement.

The Abia Youth Vanguard, in a statement by its Chairman, David Onwuneme, said it was the turn of the North. But members of the Aba Divisional Forum vowed to produce their kinsman’s successor for another eight years. It called on the immediate past Vice-Chancellor of the Abia State University, Uturu, Prof Uche Ikonne, to accept their invitation to vie for the seat.

Ikonne, however, said he would consult stakeholders.

In Ebonyi State, the APC stakeholders of the Izzi clan, comprising Ebonyi, Abakaliki and Izzi local government areas, disagreed over who would succeed Dave Umahi in 2023. They expressed their opposition to the rumoured support of the governor for the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Francis Nwifuru.

Umahi had penultimate week convened a meeting of the stakeholders with the aim of harmonising and choosing two prospective candidates on the platform of the party for the governorship as well as for other positions.

In Plateau State, it is also not yet clear who will succeed Governor Simon Lalong, even though more than 30 aspirants, who have so far declared their interest to contest the election come from the Central zone, where power is expected to shift to after the tenure of the incumbent, who comes from the South.

The aspirants include a serving Permanent Secretary, Sunday Biggs; a former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bagudu Hirse; a former local government chairman, Caleb Mutfwang; an ex-Secretary to the State Government, Prof Shedrack Best; Mr Aminu Jonathan; Mr Satu Jatau; a former governorship aspirant, Alex Ladan; and a retired military officer, Brig.-Gen. John Sura.

Sura said zoning had come to stay in the state, adding, “We have decided to respect an unwritten agreement on zoning of the governorship position among the three senatorial districts and the 2023 election won’t be different.”

As of now, it is not yet clear who the governor will support among the aspirants, or whether he has a preferred aspirant from another zone.

In Benue State, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr Titus Uba, emerged as the consensus PDP aspirant for the 14 local government areas in the Tiv speaking areas. Governor Samuel Ortom and his predecessor, Gabriel Suswam, spearheaded the exercise.

Meanwhile, some other aspirants, including a former Director-General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Dr Paul Angya, have expressed opposition to the consensus option. Angya said the process lacked merit and transparency, and did not reflect the popular will of the people.

Ahead of the governorship primaries of the major political parties, efforts by some governors to hand-pick or influence who emerges as their successors in 2023 are facing serious resistance by party loyalists and other aspirants, Saturday PUNCH has learnt.

Our correspondents gathered that attempts to violate the unwritten zoning arrangements by some of the governors in favour of their preferred successors were central to the brewing rancour being generated ahead of the primaries.

Over the years, it has become a practice for outgoing governors to produce their successors.

In some states, the governors have openly rallied stakeholders’ support for their preferred successors, while some are said to be making silent moves, including subtle persuasion and coercion, to have their way.

The All Progressives Congress said its governorship aspirants would be screened on May 12 and the primary scheduled for May 18, while the Peoples Democratic Party fixed April 26 for the screening of its governorship aspirants and the primary would hold on April 28.

The states, where such intrigues are playing out, include Enugu, Kano, Akwa Ibom, Taraba, Katsina, Delta, Rivers, Niger, Abia, Ebonyi, Plateau and Cross River.

In states like Osun, Ekiti, Anambra, Imo, Bayelsa, Kogi, Ondo and Edo, their governorship elections are held off-season.

In Enugu State, the battle over who succeeds Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in May 2023 has pit stakeholders against one another. As of April 20, no fewer than 18 aspirants have indicated their interest to contest the election.

Although there is no written zoning arrangement, it is said to exist in principle. Between 1999 and now, the governorship seat has rotated between the three senatorial districts, and many believe the position should revert to Enugu East that first produced the governor.

Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, from Enugu East, was the governor between 1999 and 2007. He was succeeded by Mr Sullivan Chime from Enugu West, while the incumbent governor, Ugwuanyi, from Enugu North, will complete his second term in 2023.

While many persons argued that Enugu East should produce the next governor, the ambition of the senator representing Enugu West at the upper chamber of the National Assembly and former deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, is said to be disrupting the plan.

One of correspondents gathered that most of the 17 other aspirants, including a former Minister of Power, Prof Barth Nnaji, were from the six local governments that constitute the Enugu East Senatorial District.

The governor has yet to make known his preferred aspirant, but sources close to him said he would likely support Mr Chijioke Edeoga, who once served as his Commissioner for Local Government Affairs and lately as the Commissioner for Environment before he resigned to pursue his ambition. He is from Enugu East Senatorial District.


A political analyst, Chief Chuka Nweze, said ordinarily competence should supersede zoning, but that since that was Nigeria’s reality, it was better if it reverted to Enugu East. “Without controversy, the next one, being 2023, should come from the Enugu East Senatorial zone and I think it should be respected in the interest of peace,” he added.

Also, a former Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Mr Ray Nnaji, said the rotation could not be done in an anti-clockwise manner. “It ought to go back to Enugu East where it started from, but Ekweremadu knows that by the time Enugu East will finish its eight years, he may not be politically relevant to contest,” he stated.

In spite of opposition to his ambition, it was gathered that Ekweremadu was deploying resources to ensure he emerges as the party’s candidate.

Meanwhile, three aspirants, a former Minister of Information, Mr Frank Nweke (Jnr.); Chief Dons Udeh and Mr Jeff Nnamani, have indicated interest on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, while only Dr Dave Nnamani has indicated interest on the APC platform to govern Enugu State.

In Kano State, no fewer than 13 APC aspirants are in the race to succeed Governor Abdullahi Ganduje next year. Prominent among them are the deputy governor, Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna; a former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Kabiru Rurun; Senator Bala Maliya; a former governor of the state, Senator Kabiru Gaya; a former Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Murtala Garo; and a former Chairman of the state’s Anti-Corruption Commission, Muhuyi Magaji Rimin Gado.

Ganduje is from Kano North, while former governors Rabiu Kwankwaso and Ibrahim Shekarau are from Kano Central. Many aspirants are, therefore, insisting that it’s the turn of the South to produce the next governor, but Garo, who is also from Kano North, is said to be the governor’s choice. Many stakeholders are said to be uncomfortable with Ganduje’s choice.

A member of the New Nigerian Peoples Party, Sanusi Bature, who is an aspirant for the House of Representatives, said the governor would not be able to produce his successor because both the APC and PDP would lose the election.

“Never again will any politician be allowed to deceive or pull the wool over the eyes of the Kano electorate. The APC leadership disappointed the good people of Kano, who earlier gave them the mandate and failed to deliver the dividends of democracy as anticipated. For now, the NNPP will take over the reins of power in Kano come 2023,” he stated.

In Akwa Ibom State, the succession crisis came to the fore when Governor Udom Emmanuel at the PDP stakeholders’ meeting held on January 30 in the Government House announced his Commissioner for Lands and Water Resources, Pastor Umo Eno, as his preferred man for the 2023 governorship election.

A former governor of the state, Obong Victor Attah, reportedly presented Eno as Emmanuel’s anointed successor.

Some governorship aspirants alleged that they were invited to the meeting without being told the agenda. Some members of the State Executive Council were also said to be missing at the event.

A governorship aspirant, Mr Onofiok Luke, who is the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary, took to his Facebook page to register his grievances after the event. He said he was neither against the choice of the governor nor the aspiration of Eno, who hails from the same local government as him, but that his quest to become the state’s chief executive officer, remained on course.

A former National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Senator Anietie Okon, also expressed his dissatisfaction with the governor’s choice, saying his Ibiono/Itu Federal Constituency, which should have produced the next governor, had again been sidelined.

“Governor Emmanuel selected some people and defied the constitution of the party. Things are not done that way. I was not consulted; they knew that the meeting would have been grounded if I was invited. What they did there was a charade. We will ensure that the issue is addressed,” he stated.

In Taraba State, Governor Darius Ishaku had during the last PDP stakeholders’ meeting in Jalingo, the state capital, told party members through his deputy, Mr Haruna Manu, that the northern zone should be allowed to produce his successor since it last produced the governor in 2007.

Though the governor did not mention any name, some people close to him said the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Joseph Kunini, and a member of the House of Representatives, Mr Danladi Baido, were his preferred aspirants.

An aide to the governor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “We have not been officially informed to mobilise delegates for Kunini, but we understand that’s Ishaku’s preferred successor. I think the governor is confused as to who to support, because of the pressure on him.

“At the end of the day, when they go to see General T. Y. Danjuma sometime next month, a preferred aspirant will emerge and we will all work for the person.”

Meanwhile, the southern zone, where Ishaku hails from is threatening to support someone from the zone or he (the governor) should forfeit his senatorial ambition. Mr Agbu Tikon from the zone told one of our correspondents that the governor should allow the southern zone to produce his successor, having waited for long to produce the governor since the creation of the state in 1991.

But the member representing the Donga/Takum/Usaa Federal Constituency from the southern zone, disagreed with this position, saying it had never been an issue of one side waiting patiently for its turn and getting it on a platter.

“It will be better for us to make some compromise in the interest of our party, the PDP, rather than scatter the party because of this issue. There is no indication that if the governor is from your place, you will be better off than others,” he stated.


The Chairman of the PDP Elders’ Forum, Taraba Northern Zone, Alhaji Abdulrazaq Musa, called on the aspirants to work together to return power to the zone.

A governorship aspirant in the state under the APC, Chief David Kente, said the party was not concerned with zoning but competence.

In Rivers State, it is still unclear the aspirant being supported by Governor Nyesom Wike, but there are strong indications that he is tilting towards the state’s accountant-general, whom he is said to have a close relationship with.

Four cabinet members, including the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Tammy Danagogo, have expressed interest in the top job and have resigned their appointments. Some other bigwigs in the APC have also shown interest to deliver the state for their party.

Meanwhile, no fewer than 10 aspirants from the riverside part of the state have expressed interest in the plum job and have signed a pact to unite and support whoever gets the party’s ticket.

A former President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, Legborsi Pyagbara, said it was the turn Ogoni people, having been unable to produce the governor, deputy governor, Speaker and the Chief Judge of the state.

A top source close to the governor told Saturday PUNCH that the contest would be a tough one and that Wike was doing everything possible to ensure that the PDP retained the seat.

He said, “To ensure a smooth transition, the governor has hired a renowned Senior Advocate of Nigeria to draft a bond for all the aspirants in his party. The agreement, which if signed, bars any aspirant from challenging the outcome of the primary or consensus, will determine whether an aspirant will get the form or not.

“Most of the PDP aspirants are his stooges, who will step down for his choice, but the agreement is targeted at a few rebellious ones, who are challenging his decision.

“I can tell you that the seat is already reserved for a non-politician, the accountant-general of the state. The man was the treasurer when the governor was the Chairman of the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area and who he brought into the state structure when Amaechi appointed him as his Chief of Staff.

“When Wike became the governor, he put the man in charge of virtually everything finance and he was promoted from being the Director of Finance, Government House, to Permanent Secretary and now account-general. Wike believes he is the only one who knows his financial records and it will be safer to hand over to him than anyone else who will come and look into his records.

“There are allegations that he is using state funds to fund his party and his presidential campaign, so he needs someone he can trust. Political watchers of Rivers politics see Wike’s choice of the account-general of the state as a third term for him as the choice means a continuation of his administration.”

In Katsina State, there is agitation from Katsina North that the zone has not produced the governor before and should be allowed this time. The incumbent, Aminu Masari, has, however, not shown preference for any aspirant.

A Daura-based lawyer, Ado Lalu, said despite having the highest number of local governments at 12, the zone should be allowed to produce Masari’s successor. The Chairman of the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations in the state, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdullahi, however, believed that more emphasis should be placed on the quality of the next governor than zoning.

Masari recently declared publicly in a statement by his Director-General, New Media, Al-Amin Isa, that the APC had not zoned the governorship position to any part of the state. The aspirants include the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Mustapha Inuwa; the Deputy Governor, Mannir Yakubu ; the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Alhaji Faruk Jobe; the Managing Director, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Ahmed Dangiwa; and the Director-General, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, Dikko Radda.

The defection of the senator representing the Katsina North Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Ahmed Baba-Kaita, from the APC to the PDP during the week is also believed to add new intrigues to the contest. Other aspirants in the PDP include Alhaji Salisu Majigiri, and the party’s candidate in the 2019 election, Senator Yakubu Lado.

The Katsina and Daura emirates are believed to have strong influence in political choices in the state.

By Daily Trust


The Lagos State government has reopened Chrisland School, which was shut amid the scandal involving some of its pupils.

Video of a 10-year-old pupil involved in immorality with her colleague during a trip to Dubai, had gone viral.

The incident had sparked a nationwide outrage, with many accusing the school and parents of the kids of poor mentoring.

The Lagos state government had announced a closure of all branches of Chrisland School pending outcome of investigation on the issue.

In a statement, Mrs Folasade Adefisayo, Commissioner of of Education, directed reopening of the school from Monday.

“The Lagos State Ministry of Education has directed that all Chrisland Schools shut for alleged misconduct of some students in Dubai be reopened from Monday April 25th, 2022.”

“The directive follows a review of the ongoing administrative investigation into the incident. Besides, it is to ensure that students are not denied access to learning when the new term begins on Monday 25th April, 2022.
The State Government shut the schools for safety of students and the staff and to ensure unhindered investigation of the incident.

“The Ministry of Education and other relevant agencies of the State, in conjunction with the school’s Parent Teachers Association, will be working on a scheduled psychosocial support for the students. An extensive assessment of the school’s procedure, especially on external trips and excursions, is being made to identify safety gaps and prevent such incidents.

“Besides, the Ministry will launch the reviewed guidelines/protocols governing private and public schools across the State within the next one month.”

Meanwhile, the police are still investigating staff of the school and parents of the pupils involved in the misconduct.

Daily Trust understands that they are currently being at the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department in Panti, Yaba, Lagos.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, in an interview with our correspondent, said those invited were already in Panti.

He had said, “The invited people have shown up and as I speak to you (around 7.30pm), they are at State CIID, Panti. They are still giving their statements.”

Chairman of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has assured that the Dangote Refinery will be ready for commissioning before the end of President Muhammadu Buhari administration in 2023.

He gave the assurance Friday while fielding questions from State House reporters after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday.

Dangote, who was asked about the time when the refinery would be ready for operations, said “by the grace of God, Mr. President will come and commission before the end of his tenure”.

According to Africa richest man, when operational, the refinery would create jobs and generate more tax money, which would be used by government to develop the country further.

“In the near future, they are expect to see more employment, they are expected to see more prosperity. We keep doing new things and good things and also we keep paying our taxes, which will complement the government’s effort in providing education, good health and the rest,” he said.

Asked if he was worried about potash scarcity as a result of the Russian/Ukrainian conflict, Dangote said there was no need for worry as only 26% of the world’s potash supply comes from the two countries.

“No, we are not concerned. Well, there are some few other countries that have it, it’s not only Ukraine that has it. Yes, Ukraine and Russia have about 26% of the world’s potash, but it does not mean that you cannot source potash elsewhere. So, I’m not really very concerned, the concern is just about price,” he said.

On the reason behind the visit of his team to the State House, he said “we came here on a courtesy call and also a ‘thank you visit’, to thank him for personally coming to commission our fertilizer plant. This is just on the 22nd of March, about four weeks ago. So, I’m here with my board of directors, just to show gratitude to Mr. President and he received us very well.”

By IKECHUKWU AMAECHI



ON Monday, April 11, Nigeria’s Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, declared his intention to contest the 2023 presidential election. In a short broadcast via his Twitter handle after months of speculation, Osinbajo said having served as Vice President “under a true Nigerian patriot, a servant of the nation in war and peace, and a man of integrity, President Muhammadu Buhari,” he had acquired enough cognate experience to formally declare his “intention to run for the Office of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria,” on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

And all hell broke loose. Even if no other aspirant is to be vigorously interrogated on his record in public office in this election cycle, Vice President Osinbajo should. The fact that he is not distancing himself from the Buhari-led administration as some others in his shoes would have done is commendable and at the same time makes it easier for the electorate to decide his fate at the polls.

In fact, Osinbajo is running on the records of the Buhari-Osinbajo administration. “We have, together, worked through some of the most difficult times in the history of our nation, but we have remained focused on securing the country, providing infrastructure and growing our economy,” he said in his declaration speech. One would have thought that going forward, the issues around Osinbajo’s presidential aspiration will be the ones he raised himself. To what extent has the government in which he is the second-in-command been able to secure the lives and property of Nigerians and the territorial integrity of the country?

Even as the regime, as he claimed, remained focused on growing Nigeria’s economy, what is the scorecard? What about the provision of infrastructure? Do the infrastructure which the Buhari-Osinbajo government claims to have provided in the last seven years justify the level of indebtedness the country has been plunged into? Osinbajo said he has visited our gallant troops in the North-East and our brothers and sisters in the IDP camps and felt the pain and anguish of victims of violent conflicts, terrorist attacks, flooding, fire and other disasters, without saying what the government did or is doing to lessen the pain of the distressed.

When did the Vice President say he stood where victims of violent conflicts stood and sat where they sat, what did he really mean? When he claims that he knows their hopes, aspirations and fears; and ululates in his belief that those hopes and aspirations are the seeds for the great Nigeria that we all desire, Nigerians should be able to ask him what that belief, is beyond the sophistry and rhetoric, means.

Did Osinbajo hear that the terrorists who attacked the Abuja-Kaduna train and abducted dozens of innocent citizens are claiming that Buhari knows what they want? Does he know what his principal, the person he calls a patriot, knows? Can Osinbajo vouch for Buhari? These are the issues that should dominate public discourse. The questions are legion. But rather than talk about issues, Osinbajo’s kinsmen are busy lamenting how the Vice President betrayed their benefactor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as if what is at stake is the Federal Republic of Tinubu, rather than the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

How does the decision of a member of the Tinubu political family to go rogue, assuming, without conceding that is what happened, concern other Nigerians who are not members of that political family? It is obvious that Tinubu is livid with rage that Osinbajo threw his hat into the presidential ring. His rabid supporters have labelled the Vice President a ‘Judas Iscariot’. Ever since he made that declaration, he has been trolled endlessly on social media. Some have called him a Yoruba quisling, warning that his fate will be worse than that of Ladoke Akintola should Tinubu lose the APC presidential ticket.

But what crime did Osinbajo, in real terms, commit against Tinubu? Perhaps, the former Lagos State governor wanted to go into the race with the façade of a united South-West and Osinbajo’s arrival at the scene has put a lie to all that. So, how did Osinbajo betray Tinubu? Was there an agreement between them that because Tinubu appointed him Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice when he was elected governor of Lagos State in 1999, therefore, Osinbajo should not dare aspire for any high office unless he clears with Tinubu?

Tinubu’s supporters talk about how he single-handedly made Osinbajo Vice President. Even if that narrative is true, to be sure, it does not seem to be, but even if it is, so what? What on earth qualifies Tinubu to aspire to be president of Nigeria that disqualifies Osinbajo? At the time the newly elected governor of Lagos tapped him to be the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in 1999, Osinbajo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, who began his public career in 1988 as a Special Adviser to the then Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola, was already a Professor of Law and Head of Department of Public Law, University of Lagos.


So, he was not a nonentity, an insignificant person. He was a staff member in the justice division of the United Nations Operations in Somalia, UNOSOM II. Even while serving Lagos State in 2006, he was appointed a member of the United Nations Secretary General’s Committee of Experts on Conduct and Discipline of UN Peacekeeping Personnel around the globe.

Unlike most professional politicians without a second address, Osinbajo returned to the University of Lagos to teach law after his stint in public office even as he became the Senior Partner, SimmonsCooper Partners (Barristers Solicitors). If such a man is not qualified to run for the highest office in the country, who else qualifies?

In any case, at 65 years, Osinbajo is no spring chicken anymore. If Tinubu is 70 years as he claims, he is only five years older than Osinbajo. They are contemporaries in a sense. And if Tinubu, whose highest political office is being governor of Lagos State, can aspire to be President of Nigeria, then what disqualifies a man who is holding a superior political office by virtue of election, not appointment, from doing so? Should the country’s number two citizen be stopped from aspiring for Nigeria’s political diadem simply because he was at a time a political appointee of someone?

Tinubu and his co-travellers are feeling so bad about Osinbajo’s aspiration because deep down and in truth, they are pseudo-democrats, who abhor freedom of choice which is the hallmark of democracy.

Theirs is politics of imposition that brooks no opposition of whatever hue. But they forget that even in this country, children have run for elections against their biological parents. Prior to independence, Mazi Samuel Goomsu Ikoku, popularly called SG, a trusted lieutenant of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, with whom he co-authored Forward with Democratic Socialism, astoundingly defeated his biological father, Alvan Ikoku, at the South-Eastern House of Assembly in the late 1950s.

Alvan Ikoku, the man who was defeated by his ideologically-leaning son, was an intellectual giant, a man who had his Bachelor of Arts, BA, a degree in 1928, long before Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief Obafemi Awolowo, an astute politician who was nominated to the House of Assembly (Eastern Nigeria) where he sat on the Board of Education in 1946, and a year later, was a member of the Legislative Council in Lagos representing the Eastern Region from 1947 to 1951.

Though SG’s victory shocked many, including his father, he did not disown him or see his son’s victory as an abomination, unlike Tinubu, who in anger, quipped: “I have no son old enough to declare for President,” when journalists asked him about Osinbajo’s declaration. Rather than travel the route of bitterness that Tinubu has chosen, Ikoku gave his son, SG, his full support and even provided funds for his re-election in 1961.

That is the Igbo way of playing politics. It is a game played on the turf of ideas and not godfatherism. At the end of the day, those who deride Ndigbo as being politically naïve but brook no opposition whatsoever are the real problems of Nigeria’s democracy.

By aspiring for the highest political office in Nigeria, Osinbajo has committed no crime – not against Tinubu or anyone else. It is high time the Jagaban of the Borgu Kingdom and Asiwaju of Lagos politics stopped whining over Osinbajo’s aspiration. Let the people decide. That is the beauty of democracy.

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja and Francis Sardauna in Katsina


A leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) representing Katsina North Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Ahmad Babba- Kaita, yesterday, commenced moves to join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Kaita, who was a member of the House of Representatives, and represented the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the Kankia/Ingawa/Kusada constituency of Katsina State, in 2011, is currently representing the senatorial district of President Muhammadu Buhari in the 9th Senate.

The senator had first met behind closed-doors with the state PDP leader and former governor of the state, Ibrahim Shehu Shema, in Abuja yesterday.

Other PDP bigwigs, who attended the meeting held at Shema’s office were the PDP governorship aspirant, Hon. Salisu Yusuf Majigiri; the 2015 PDP governorship running mate to Musa Nashuni, Gambo Bakori; former state Chairman of Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Hon. Ibrahim Lawal Dankaba, state PDP Youths leader, and Hamza Jibia, among others.

A credible source privy to the meeting that lasted about two hours, told THISDAY that the senator had reached agreement with the PDP stalwarts and that his formal declaration would happen soon.

According to the source, “Yes, Senator Ahmed Babba Kaita met with us in the official office of our party Leader and former Governor of our state Ibrahim Shehu Shema.

“During the meeting, the Senator (Kaita) reached an agreement with the leaders of our great party the PDP. He has agreed to join the party and his membership card will be given to him after his official declaration.

“He told us during the meeting that he has an empowerment programme to be done in Daura soon. So, after the programme, he will officially decamp to PDP with thousands of his supporters. Not only Babba Kaita, there are more senators and House of Representatives members in the state that will soon join the party.”

Asked whether the senator discussed his governorship ambition during the meeting, the source said, “We didn’t discuss that with him but I think after his defection, the issue will be discussed.”

In the same vein, an official of the PDP in Katsina State, who spoke with THISDAY on the conditions of anonymity, confirmed that Babba-Kaita was already discussing with party leaders in the state.

The source said the senator, who is representing Buhari’s Daura Local Government Area, in the northwestern state, had almost completed the process of leaving the ruling APC.

“It is true that the Senator flew in to Katsina this morning and met with top PDP leaders in the state. I can assure you that he has nearly completed his movement to the PDP by 70 per cent. We would have formally made the announcement today but the chairman was not around.

“Our chairman in Katsina State is also a governorship aspirant and he was in Abuja as of the time Babba-Kaita flew in around 10am. What I can tell you is that, he is already discussing with us. We needed to perfect the arrangement, because he is representing President Buhari’s constituency in the National Assembly,” the PDP official added.

Babba-Kaita has, in recent time, been vocal in his opposition to the unabated insecurity in his senatorial district and the worsening economic situation in the country.

There were unconfirmed information that Babba-Kaita was also planning to contest the governorship election in the state, next year.

Several attempts to speak with Babba-Kaita on phone were not successful as his number was perpetually engaged.

The Senator had also yet to reply to the text messages sent to him as of the time of filing this report.

However, when contacted, his colleague in the red chamber, who is representing Katsina South, Senator Bello Mandiya, said he had no information about Babba-Kaitta’s rumoured defection.

“I have no information about what you are asking me. I am also reading it and seeing the pictures like every other person. I have not spoken with him on the matter,” Mandiya said.

IBADAN – The launch of the national agenda by the National Prosperity Movement aimed at drumming support for the aspiration of Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi for president in 2023 suffered a major setback as prominent leaders of the ruling All Progressive Congress ( APC) in the South West shunned the gathering.

The APC leaders in Ibadan and other Southwest states, according to some who spoke on why they stayed away from the group, described Governor Fayemi’s aspiration for president as dead on arrival.

It was learnt that the gathering, which was organised to ostensibly mobilise support for Fayemi’s aspiration for President in 2023, saw leaders of the APC in the region distance themselves from the meeting in a show of sympathy for the APC National leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who has declared intention to contest for President in 2023 election.

The venue of the event, the International Conference Centre University of Ibadan ( UI) was however largely occupied by attendees mainly from Ekiti state who were conveyed to the place by buses and cars belonging to the Ekiti state government.

Also present at the event held on Tuesday at the International Conference Centre, ICC, are political aides of Governor Fayemi, and some politicians from Osun state as well as supporters of Kayode Fayemi for President lasted for about three hours.

The Director General, Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) dedicated technocratic institution for sustainable development of the Southwest region, Mr Seye Oyeleye in his paper delivered at the event said the unity and progress of Nigeria as a Nation has been heavily marred by the systemic and structural deficiencies evident in the country prior to independence which was subsequently worsened by the intervention of the military.

He explained the need to establish a relationship between the Nigeria Agenda, Civic Nationalism and Leadership, while also harping on the need for a broad-based constitutional development process for the sustainable development of the country.

Expatiating on the issue of the national question, Oyeleye told the gathering that the national agenda is inconsequential without thoroughly investigating the ‘national question’.

He stated, “The national question in this context simply refers to deliberating on the efforts that will accommodate the competing and often, diverse interests and ideologies of several ethnicities, tribes, religions, cultures and some would say class, existing within one geographical entity. It is the debate as to the order of the relations between the different ethnic, linguistic and cultural groupings so that they have the same rights and freedoms, access to power and an equitable share of resources.”

While bemoaning the present Nigerian structure, the DAWN Commission boss noted that Nigeria’s present and future need to be determined by the will of the people, adding that the country is currently being run against the will of the people, as the constitution serves as the social contract of the country is illegitimate without any input from Nigerians.

Addressing Nigeria’s constitutional deficiency, he added that the first step to addressing the national question and consequently pursuing the Nigeria Agenda.

“All other efforts aimed at solving our challenges are tantamount to putting the horse before the cart. The structural and systemic inefficiencies would continue to stall progress and breed disunity,” he stated.

Tope Omogbolagun


Muhammadu Buhari and Matthew Kukah
The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) and Bishop Matthew Kukah

The Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah, has said that Aisha Buhari, the wife of the Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), also agrees with what he said about her husband.

Kukah made this known in an interview on Arise TV on Tuesday morning monitored by our correspondent.

The Bishop while echoing his points said that he has nothing personal against the president but he his policies which Aisha also disagrees with.

Kukah said, “All those saying I attacked the president, I have never attacked his person. All I have spoken about is his inability to manage diversities effectively and efficiently. I have studied diversity as a subject and I know what I am talking about.

“Those who think these things are personal would see that I have never talked about his person or character; I believe he is a gentleman but as far as being the president is concerned, he has done a bad job, even his wife has also disagreed with his policies.

“So, those guys should not sit in their air-conditioned office drinking coffee and think everything is honky-donkey. Let them disagree with the text of my message.”

According to him, he has great respect for the president and his person who he considers a gentleman but when he accesses him as a president, he has failed woefully in the delivery of his job.

He said, “Let me set the record straight, I delivered my sermon to my congregation and the message. The bearers of the message are directed primarily to the good people of Sokoto dioceses.

“The president knows that I have great respect for him and he is a gentleman, but he has done a terribly bad job as the president of Nigeria.

“There is nothing I am saying that is new, all the pastors who preached yesterday during the Easter service said the same thing. Tell me one thing about the message that I preached that you disagree with and let’s discuss.”

Kukah who affirmed that he speaks directly with the president said that his criticism of the government is nothing personal but the zeal to see things get better in the country.

He added, “For a Muslim (Garba Shehu) to sit down and tell me what an Easter message should contain is something.

“Buhari himself knows that there is nothing personal in what I say. One thing the president has said that humbled me is that he told me ‘Bishop Kukah, I know where you stand on any issue that has to do with Nigeria.’

“What connected me with Buhari and a lot of Muslims is not the catholic church, it is my public position on a lot of things. And I am not saying it so that you must agree with me. But Nigerians have been extraordinarily magnanimous because I have not had many people saying we disagree with you and I have not spoken because I know the issue. The primary beneficiary of what I say is me and I speak for myself. If you have any issues with me, let’s clarify the issue.”

In line with section 84 (12) of the amended Electoral Act, no fewer than 53 commissioners and other aides of state governors have resigned in states to contest for elective positions ahead of the 2023 general elections.

This is just as ministers at the federal level including Rotimi Amaechi (Transportation), Senator Chris Ngige (Labour & Employment), Abubakar Malami (Attorney General of the Federation/ Justice) and other heads of federal agencies who are eying elective positions are yet to tender resignation.

While Amaechi has since declared for the presidency, Ngige, barring any last minute-change, will today declare for the same position. Malami, on his part, according to sources around him, is set to contest the governorship election of his home state, Kebbi.

Daily Trust reports that many heads of federal agencies have indicated interest in contesting governorship, senatorial and House of Representatives elections. The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Safety and Administration Agency (NIMASA), Bashir Yusuf Jamoh, at the weekend commenced consultations for the Kaduna State governorship seat.


Contentious clause

Section 84 (12) says that “No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the nomination of candidates for any election.”

The gale of defection in states, Daily Trust reports was not unconnected with the directives by state governors to that effect. The president is yet to make any statement in this direction. Buhari had written the parliament requesting that the section be deleted. The lawmakers rejected the president’s request. The matter went to the Federal High Court, Umuahia, where Justice Evelyn Anyadike voided the clause, on the ground that it violates the 1999 Constitution. Daily Trust reports that the parliament has since appealed the judgement.


‘It’s wrong for office holders to play politics’

Reacting, Professor Kamilu Sani Fage of Bayero University, Kano, opined that the ministers and other federal political appointees going ahead to campaign without resigning are “Violating the laws of the land even though they still have some few days or weeks before the ultimatum but in spite of that, it is against the law and politically wrong for somebody who is holding a position and knows the law to try to test the law by not obeying it. I think that is not right.”

Fage, a renowned political scientist, said this act has grave implications “Because leaders are supposed to lead by example otherwise they will be setting bad precedents for the country.”

He said although they may say they still have the case before a court of law, they are making a “political gamble”.

Fage believed that President Buhari made a mistake in his approach on the matter, saying the way they handled it is a little bit wrong.

On his part, an associate Professor of Political Sociology, University of Abuja, Dr Abubakar Umar Kari, said it was not a big deal that no minister has resigned.

“That no minister has resigned yet is no big deal, because my layman understanding of Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act 2022 is that political appointees are free to remain in office up to the eve of the primaries if they are desirous of partaking in the primaries either as delegates or aspirants. They are only prohibited from participating during the primaries. Therefore, there is a little time left for them,” he said.

According to the university don, the president’s appointees are emboldened by the judgement of the federal high court on the matter.

When contacted, some close allies of the ministers and other top government officials eying elective offices said there was nothing wrong in what they were doing.

“There is a marked difference between what is happening in the states and the reality at the national level…You people are just trying to push our principals out,” one of them said.

When told that there was the likelihood that their continued stay would affect governance, he said, “It is not true, the governance is not affected in any way.”

Another aide of one of the ministers said, “A court of competent jurisdiction has settled the matter, you people should wait for the outcome of the appeal.”


Resignation galore in states[

No fewer than 12 commissioners and aides of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State have so far tendered their resignations to contest for various elective positions come 2023.

They include the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Hajia Sa’adatu Modibbo-Kawu and her counterpart in the Ministry of Enterprise, Hajia Fatimah Arinola Lawal.

Sa’adatu and Aisha, wife of former NBC boss and daughter of former governor of Kwara State respectively are both in the race for the Ilorin East/Ilorin South Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives.

On their part, Special Adviser to the Governor on Special Duties, Alhaji Yinka Aluko has resigned to contest the Kwara Central Senatorial seat while Dr Mohammed Abubakar, Special Assistant to the Governor on Solid Minerals Development, left the cabinet to contest the Edu seat at the Kwara State House of Assembly.

Top judiciary officials told Daily Trust that the Commissioner for Justice, Salman Jawondo (SAN) has resigned to pursue his House of Representatives ambition in Ilorin West/Asa while the Commissioner for Mining, Harriet Afolabi-Oshatimehin as well as Mr Kayode Oyin-Zubair, SSA on Community Intervention have both thrown in the towel.

Oyin-Zubair and Harriet are both seeking election into the House of Representatives seat in Ifelodun/Offa/Oyun Federal Constituency.

General Manager of the Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP), Mohammed Brimah has reportedly resigned to join the race for the Ilorin East/Ilorin South seat in the House of Representatives and Dr Raji Razak, the state Commissioner for Health is said to be seeking election into the Irepodun/Isin/Ekiti/Oke-Ero Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.

Alhaji Abdulateef Alakawa, Special Adviser to the governor on Politics is also eyeing the Ilorin West/Asa Federal Constituency of the state while the Commissioner for Agriculture, Sabba Yisa Gideon is reportedly contesting for the state assembly.

In Kano, at least ten commissioners have resigned their appointment to be able to pursue their individual political careers, with nine of them resigning a few hours after the 48-hours ultimatum given to them by the state Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.

While the Commissioner for Water Resources, Sadiq Wali was the first to throw in the towel earlier in the month, nine other commissioners joined him from Sunday to Monday, which was the last day of the 48-hour ultimatum given by the governor.

Among those that recently resigned is the Deputy Governor, Nasir Gawuna, who resigned his portfolio as the Commissioner for Agriculture. Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Murtala Sule Garo’s resignation put paid to insinuations that he may be the most favoured to get the party’s governorship ticket. This is because of his close relationship with the governor’s wife, Hafsat Ganduje.

Although Garo is yet to officially declare for the position, the first lady had caused some ripples some months ago when she was reported to have stated at one political event that Kano State would be in good hands if Garo is to take over from her husband. However, the state government had quickly issued a statement to say the first lady’s statement should not be misconstrued as Garo’s anointment to take over from the governor because several other cabinet members, including the Deputy Governor, Nasir Gawuna and other loyalists of the governor are believed to be eyeing the highest political seat in the state.

Other cabinet members who have resigned their appointments to contest the House of Representatives election are the Commissioners for Budget and Planning, Education, Tourism, Special Duties, Rural Development, Transport and Health, Alhaji Nura Muhammed Dankade, Sanusi Said Kiru, Ibrahim Ahmad Karaye, Mukhtar Ishaq Yakasai, Iliyasu Kwankwaso, Mahmoud Muhammad Santsi and Dr. Aminu Tsanyawa respectively.

The Chief of Staff to the governor, Ali Haruna Makoda as well as a host of other political appointees have also resigned their appointments to pursue their personal political careers.

In Delta, it was reported that Ovie Agas, the Chief of Staff to the state governor, and nine commissioners have resigned their appointments.

The Commissioner for Information in the state, Charles Aniagwu, disclosed this at a press conference recently in Asaba. He said the resignation was in compliance with the provision of Section 84, subsection (12) of the Electoral Law on political appointees seeking elective positions.

Similarly, six commissioners in the cabinet of the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel have so far resigned their position to pursue their different political ambitions.

They include the Commissioner for Economic Development and Ibom Deep Seaport, Mr Akan Okon; Dr Glory Edet, Commissioner for Agriculture; Barr Prince Akpabio, Commissioner for Trade and Investment; Mr Okpulupm Etteh, Commissioner for Special Duties and Aviation; Prof Enoh Ibanga, Commissioner for Works and Mr Umo Eno, Commissioner for Lands and Water Resources.

Governor Emmanuel has already appointed new commissioners to fill the vacant positions.

In Benue State, four commissioners resigned from office to enable them to face their 2023 political ambitions.

Also, the Chief of Staff to the Benue State Governor, Pastor Terwase Orbunde and the Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase.

The commissioners include; Information, Culture and Tourism, Mrs Ngunan Addingi; Environment and Water Resources, Engr Dondo Ahire; Education, Professor Dennis Ityavyar and that of Youth and Sports, Comrade Ojemba Ojotu.

While the former Chief of staff, Orbunde, former environment commissioner and the former education commissioner are eyeing the seat of their principal in the coming election, Addingi, who exited the information and her counterpart of Youth and Sports, Ojotu are warming up for House of Representatives in their various localities.

The former commissioners turned governorship aspirants however lost out in the ongoing consensus arrangement.

Daily Trust reports that Rivers State is not left out of the gale of resignation as the Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Dr Tammy Danagogo; the Commissioner for Finance, Isaac Kamalu; Commissioner for Sports, Hon. Boma Iyayi; Special Adviser to Governor Nyesome Wike on Special Projects, George Kelly and the Accountant General of the state, Asimilaye Fubara, have all resigned in a bid to take over Brick House in Port Harcourt.

Daily Trust reports that in Kaduna, only the Commissioner for a Budget and Planning, Mohammed Sani Abdullahi, popularly known as Dattijo has resigned his appointment to pursue his gubernatorial ambition.

Dattijo has since been replaced by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Umma Aboki, who was screened and confirmed by the Kaduna State House of Assembly last week Tuesday.


Secrecy beclouds Abiodun’s appointees’ resignation in Ogun

In Ogun State, our correspondent reports that the resignation of the cabinet members has been shrouded in secrecy.

Apart from the Commissioner for Rural Development, Taiwo Oludotun who resigned his appointment in February to join the House of Representatives race, other appointees eyeing elective positions have stayed put.

The former Special Adviser on Information, Modele Sarafa-Yusuf had equally resigned to join the governorship race against her boss, Governor Dapo Abiodun.

The Secretary to the State Government, Tokunbo Talabi, Chief of Staff, Shuaib Salis, more than 10 commissioners and the special advisers who are reportedly seeking various positions in next year’s election have not resigned.

Insiders told our correspondent that a number of them have “secretly resigned” their positions without making it public. The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Kunle Somorin told Daily Trust that he did not have records of those who have resigned from the government.

With the time ticking rapidly against the timetable of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for activities leading to the 2023 polls, compelling the All Progressives Congress (APC) to engage in a rapid fire approach towards its presidential primary, the presidency is yet to take a stand on who should clinch the presidential ticket of the party.

LEADERSHIP gathered yesterday that President Muhammadu Buhari is still studying the manner in which the presidential aspirants are engaging party stakeholders on the race for the presidential ticket as well as feedback from party faithful and the great mass of Nigerians in respect of who appears to be the popular choice.

So far those who have declared interest in the race are Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; former Lagos State governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Ebonyi State governor, Dave Umahi; former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha; Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and Senate majority whip, Orji Uzor Kalu.

Others expected to declare are minister of Labour, Senator Chris Ngige and his minister of State for Education counterpart, Emeka Nwajibua.

According to reports, the party would likely fix its presidential primary for May 30/31.

Those familiar with events within Aso Rock, the country’s seat of power, confided in LEADERSHIP that President Buhari is yet to openly give his nod to any of contenders scrambling to succeed him at the moment.

A top presidency official told our correspondent last night that “the president is yet to open up on who is his preferred aspirant at the moment.”

Another reliable presidency source however told this paper that the president seems inclined to the aspiration of his deputy, Osinbajo, who appears to be the popular choice, noting that this explains why the vice president was bold a enough to openly declare his interest in the presidential race.

“You are aware that it is unprecedented in the country’s political history to see a deputy to either a president or a governor coming to declare to contest his principal’s. Vice President Osinbajo wouldn’t have made his declaration without the blessings of his boss. Even though Buhari has not openly said anything, some of in Ado Rock are thinking that he might the preferred candidate President Buhari declined to disclose for security reasons, though it is still within the realm of speculation,” the source who did not want his name in print said.

LEADERSHIP recalls that President Buhari had in January this year declined to reveal the identity of the preferred candidate to succeed him on grounds of the safety of such a person.

While responding to a question about who his preferred candidate, he simply said, “It is (a) secret.

“No, I wouldn’t say because he may be eliminated if I mention. I better keep it,” the president added, grinning jocularly.

There are high expectations that the leaning of President Buhari would sway the outcome of the forthcoming presidential primary of the governing, if the outcome of the last party’s national convention is anything to go by.

Meanwhile, there is high powered politicking, horse trading and scheming within the party for the consensus option to be adopted as was the case in 2019 where only Buhari emerged the consensus candidate as an incumbent.

But those opposed to the consensus idea are of the view that since the incumbent won’t be on the ballot, the party should hold a presidential primary just like it did in 2015.

Meanwhile, LEADERSHIP learnt that aspirants are running from pillar to post to ramp up consultations for the country’s top seat, with last minute meetings with strategic stakeholders in the party.

The APC had announced on Friday that it would hold its first post-national convention meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) on Wednesday, April 20, 2022.

The emergency NEC meeting which is expected to hold at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja at 10am is expected to finalise arrangement for the party’s presidential primary subject to NEC’s approval.


Amaechi Visits Adamu In Nasarawa

Meanwhile, ahead of the party’s presidential primary, minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has intensified consultations in his bid to clinch the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket for the 2023 polls.

The former governor of Rivers State yesterday met behind closed doors with national chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu, at his residence in Keffi, Nasarawa State.

Former chairman of the APC caretaker committee and Yobe State governor, Mai Mala Buni, was also in Keffi yesterday in a separate visit to the APC chairman.

Although details of Amaechi’s meeting with Adamu were still sketchy at the time of filing this report, LEADERSHIP gathered however that discussions at the meeting bordered on Amaechi’s presidential bid.

“You are aware that the honourable minister is a presidential aspirant of the APC. It is only normal that in pursuing such an ambition, Amaechi would definitely consult with party big wigs and the APC national chairman cannot be an exception,” an aide to the APC chairman who did not want his name in print told our correspondent.

Amaechi had penultimate Saturday announced his intention to contest the presidential election in 2023.

Addressing a crowd of supporters and leaders of the APC at Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, the minister said, “Fellow Nigerians, I stand before you today to declare my intention and submit my application to serve as your next president. I did not come to this decision lightly, I have served our nation for the last seven years as minister of transportation.”


I’m Not Stepping Down For Anyone, Says Umahi

Meanwhile, Ebony State governor, Chief David Umahi, said yesterday that his presidential ambition remains unwavered and he will not step down for anyone.

Speaking through his commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Barr Uchenna Orji, the governor that noted that anyone saying that he will step down is simply being mischievous.

Orji said the governor has an intimidating record of achievements that has put him forward as a frontline presidential material that can win the hearts of Nigerians in the 2023 general election.

“Governor Umahi’s presidential ambition is unwavering and is alive in the hearts of Nigerians and will never step down for any other candidate”.

“We urge those spreading the falsehood that Governor Umahi will step down to desist from such rumour as the governor through his infrastructural development has endeared himself to the hearts of Nigerians,” Orji said.

He further stated that come 2023, Nigerians will vote for performance, integrity, probity and track records, adding that the infrastructural development in the state has spoken volume of what Governor Umahi will do when elected as the President of the country come 2023.

Orji urged the general public to discountenance the insinuation that the governor will step down adding that when elected, he would build Nigeria of our pride.


Show Nigerians Your Legacies, Kukah Tells Aspirants

Meanwhile, as the 2023 elections beckons, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, has challenged presidential aspirants to show evidence from their legacies and antecedents that they know the country well enough and its severe wounds.

Bishop Kukah, in his Easter message, posited that whoever wants to govern us must illustrate that he or she understands what has turned our nation into a national hospital and show us plans for our discharge from this horror.

He said it was no longer necessary to ask how the country got to where it is, as Nigerians can no longer recognise their country which has been battered and buffeted by men and women from the dark womb of time.

He said rather, the real challenge is how to find the slippery rungs on the ladder of ascent so we can climb out.

Countering being labelled an avowed critic of the present administration, Kukah insisted that his messages in the last few years had been borne out of a sense of moral revulsion over how life has been destroyed in the country.

He said no country anywhere in the world is undergoing these self-inflicted wounds and citizens randomly murdering innocent citizens and getting away with it.

The fiery cleric said, “The government has slid into hibernation mode. It is hard to know whether the problem is that those in power do not hear, see, feel, know, or just don’t care. Either way, from this crossroad, we must make a choice, to go forward, turn left or right or return home. None of these choices are easy, yet, we can reclaim our country from its impending slide to anarchy.

“Our challenge now is how to begin a process of reconstructing our nation hoping that we can hang on and survive the 2023 elections. The real challenge before us now is to look beyond politics and face the challenge of forming character and faith in our country.

“Here, leaders of religion, Christianity and Islam, need to truthfully face the role of religion in the survival of our country. The Nigerian Constitution has very clearly delineated the fine boundaries between religion and politics. Yet many politicians continue to behave as if they are presiding over both the political and the spiritual realms in their states rather than governing in a Democracy.

“The greatest challenge for Nigeria is not even the 2023 elections. It is the prospect for the reconciliation of our people. Here, the Buhari administration sadly has divided our people on the basis of ethnicity, religion, and region, in a way that we have never witnessed in our history.

“Today, the values of Interfaith dialogue have come under severe strain and pressure with extremists from both sides of our faiths denigrating the idea of dialogue with their counterparts of other faiths. With so many ill equipped fraudsters posing as religious leaders, there is an obsession with defaming others and widening our differences.”

Bishop Kukah reiterated the need to start thinking of a Nigeria beyond banditry and kidnapping and the endless circles of violence that have engulfed our communities and nation adding that, we cannot continue to pretend that there are no religious undertones to the increased violence.

He continued: “Only last week, as if in delayed solidarity, the Jama’atu Nasril Islam, JNI, in a statement stated that: ‘It appears that the continuous callous acts of mayhem, killings and arson happening almost on daily or weekly bases around us; either within communities or on the roads we ply, has automatically reset our human psyche that we now have accepted such dastardly acts as part of our lives, to the extent that we no longer feel it.

“Any government that is incapable of protecting the lives of its citizens has lost the moral justification of being there in the first place….our humanity is being eroded and that erosion is become a new normal.”

APC Urges Nigerians To Pray For Peace, Security At Easter

Meanwhile, the APC yesterday felicitated with Christian faithful as they celebrate this year’s Easter, imploring Nigerians to pray for sustained peace, unity and security in the country.

“As we celebrate, we implore Nigerians to pray for, and work towards, sustained peace, unity and security in our land. And May the Risen Christ bless and protect our troops as they fight in valiant defense of our cherished fundamental freedoms”, a statement issued by the party’s spokesman, Barr Felix Morka noted.

Noting that Easter is a celebration which reminds humanity of the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ during his crucifixion, death and resurrection for the redemption of mankind, APC urged “all patriotic and well-meaning Nigerians, irrespective of religious affiliations, to use the occasion of Easter to rededicate themselves to making our society a better place for us all.”

By Philip Shimnom Clement


A picture showing the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi and the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, with some ‘Ghana-Must-Go’ bags in-between their seats is currently circulating on social media.

The picture is being circulated on different social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, suggesting that Amaechi took bags of cash to the party chairman.

For instance, one Twitter user, T’Challa, commented that the nation’s resources were being used to play politics.

“You see the loan Buhari and Amaechi have been incurring from China for railway stored in those 3 Ghana-Must-Go bags,” T’Challa tweeted.

“See Amaechi that said he does not like money. Behind them are bags of money which @ChibukeAmaechi brought to APC Chairman,” one Ogochukwu also wrote on Twitter.

Verification: Daily Trust gathered that indeed the minister of transportation who is a presidential aspirant on the platform of the APC visited Adamu in the chairman’s Keffi residence in Nasarawa State on Sunday.

The visit may not be unconnected with the fact that the minister’s consultation with the party’s helmsman as the race for the party’s ticket gains momentum.

However, it could not be ascertained whether the bags were brought by Amaechi. Also, it is not clear if the bags seen in the picture indeed contained cash.

One Habeebah Suleiman, who claimed to be in the entourage of the minister during the visit, confirmed that Amaechi met with the APC chairman but did not stay more than 20 minutes and did not go with any bag of money.

In a social media post, Suleiman said, “Very unfair. I was there yesterday (Saturday) at the Keffi residence of the APC national Chairman the whole day. When Amaechi walked in, he just stayed for 20 minutes and left. Not even 1 security detail escorted him into the house and certainly he wasn’t accompanied by any Ghana Must Go bag, not even a “Man handbag.”

A Google reverse image search on the photo generated on Twitter did not reveal where the photo originated from. Hence, it could not be established whether the picture was actually taken during the visit or doctored.

The picture is not also included among the ones that the party released after Amaechi’s visit.

When contacted, an APC official, who spoke off the record described the picture as “social media gibberish”, adding that, “There is nothing to it.”

Conclusion: Although, Ghana Must Go bags were seen in the picture of Amaechi and the APC national Chairman, there is no evidence to show that they contained money brought by the presidential aspirant.

A bride, Tina Moses, has been kidnapped in Kaduna State, only 24 hours to her wedding.

Tina and her fiance, Elisha Koje, were set to wed on Saturday, April 16 in the Sanga Local Government Area of the state.

According to Esther Attah Asheri, her sister-in-law in a Facebook post, the woman was kidnapped on Friday, April 15, on her way to the salon to make her hair in Kaduna town.

“My sister in-law has been kidnapped in Kaduna town today was supposed to be our happy day as she would be walking down the aisle today but some people has choose to make it a sad day for us all. Please join us pray for her safe return,” she said.

Esther further revealed that the kidnappers have contacted the family but are yet to demand ransom.

In recent months, Kaduna has witnessed a spate of violent attacks which has led to killings and abduction of residents.

On March 28, a Kaduna-bound train was attacked by gunmen, which led to the death of eight people and several persons missing.
Some of the abducted people are currently in the custody of the gunmen.

Days after the train attack, 11 soldiers were killed in an attack by gunmen on a military base in Birnin Gwari LGA of Kaduna state.

A middle-aged man, simply identified as Kuryanga, has allegedly burnt his estranged wife in Adamawa State, SaharaReporters learnt.

The incident happened last Thursday, in Guyuk town in the Guyuk Local Government Area of the state.

Armed with Premium Motor Spirit, also called petrol and matches, Kuryanga, reportedly attacked and set ablaze his estranged wife, Janet John, while she was asleep.

"It was terrifying to wake up to see the burning; it was like a typical horror movie scene. It was more torture to hear my niece's cry for help while she burnt," John's aunt, Noyina, tearfully recounted in Hausa.

John and Kuryanga ended their 7-year marriage three years ago, with a court order prohibiting him from seeing her due to his violent behaviour, according to family sources.
"Despite getting married to another lady coupled with the court verdict, Kuryanga still refused to let go of her (my niece). Since then, he's been jealous, threatening her life and those of her suitors.

"After he eventually struck, he still joined sympathisers at my niece's bedside in the hospital the following day. He almost got away with it, fortunately, his pregnant wife later confirmed that a container of petrol left at the crime scene belonged to their family.

"He tiptoed to her sleeping area within our compound in the dead of night, poured petrol, struck the matches and fled; leaving her in flames. He got her because of the scourging hot weather; we all sleep in the open," Noyina further narrated.

Kuryanga has confessed to the crime and pleaded for understanding, according to Noyina.

However, when our correspondent called the spokesperson for the police in the state, DSP Suleiman Nguroje, he could not confirm the incident.

By Dayo Johnson


Mr. Tolu Babaleye is Director-General of Ondo State Network for Bola Tinubu. In this interview, Babaleye says Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has dared his destiny helper with his presidential ambition, saying he lacks electoral value in Lagos.

At what point did Tinubu, Osinbajo break ties?

I am not aware that the ties broke. I don’t think Tinubu is disappointed with what Osinbajo did but many of his supporters are. Ambition is a very difficult thing and there is no way you can suppress a man with ambition. The Vice President has his ambition and feels he can dare anyone including his destiny helper and highest promoter.

Reports suggest Osinbajo quietly moved his membership of Lagos APC to Ogun APC in 2021. Was that the beginning of the breaking of ties with Tinubu?

This is not correct. The truth is that Osinbajo had no electoral value in Lagos where he used to vote because the place is dominated by the Igbo.

It was Tinubu who even advised him to relocate his PVC to Ogun. Nobody will suspend anyone for declaring to contest an election. If Osinbajo wins in the primary, he will still need Tinubu to fly.

People shouldn’t create unnecessary tension and enmity that may be difficult to settle. The truth is that Osinbajo has no electoral value in Lagos. Attached is the result of the last election from the unit where Osinbajo voted in Lagos.

Relocating to Ogun is a political calculation to bring better results and not because anyone will suspend him for exercising his constitutional right.

This is the result of Osinbajo’s unit in the 2019 presidential poll: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (VP) Polling Unit Code 33, Unit 2 Victoria Garden City, Lagos: Presidential: APC – 229, PDP – 425; senatorial: APC – 261, PDP – 414, Rep: APC -190, PDP -268.

Why was the step necessary?

The step was necessary to make sure he wins his unit and ward in the next elections because a politician that fails to win his unit and ward is irrelevant in politics.

Was it in anticipation of running for President or some other reasons?

It was not, but to give him a base. For instance, it was also at that period that Osinbajo built his first house in Ikenne.

How are All Progressives Congress, APC, governors and National Assembly, NASS, members divided by Tinubu, Osinbajo, Amaechi, Umahi and others’ ambitions?

The result of the primary election will show that but what I know is that Tinubu is well prepared for the primary election. If you also know the history of the 9th National Assembly, you will know the role Tinubu played in birthing its leadership, all these will work for him.

You also saw the way he was received when he visited the NASS complex about three weeks ago. Tinubu has really laboured and deserves the ticket of APC.

What options are open to Tinubu now that he has very powerful forces to contend with? It is suggested in some quarters that he may head to Social Democratic Party, SDP, if he doesn’t pick the APC ticket…There is only one option available and it is to win the APC presidential ticket. What is SDP?

Did you see anyone that went to SDP in Ondo State? The people who went to SDP in Kwara have nothing to do with Tinubu. They have their issues with Kwara State governor.

Tinubu has even appealed to them to return to APC because you don’t abandon your house in the name of anger. Those linking Tinubu with SDP are fifth columnists working with a particular candidate who cannot even smell the ticket of APC because Tinubu is everywhere.

Those people working for that candidate are majorly PDP members who do not want Tinubu to emerge but they want a weak candidate that can be defeated easily. We know their game plan and we shall beat them to it.

But some of Tinubu’s men in Ondo and Kwara were said to have gone to the SDP following the crisis in APC in their states…This is not true.

TUNDE AJAJA examines how the All Progressives Congress-led government forgives the ‘sins’ of many politicians that defect to the party vis-a-vis the fight against corruption

Barely two months into his regime in 2015, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), sent a strong message to Nigerians when he said in an interview with the CNN on July 21 that there would be no sacred cows in his regime’s fight against corruption. He boasted, rather assuredly, that even party members wouldn’t be spared if found wanting.

“It is not the issue of party members; if you have stolen, no party member can escape justice,” he declared boastfully.

That was good news to many Nigerians, who believed that those who allegedly stole public funds under previous governments would pay for their crimes, especially bearing in mind Nigerian politicians’ penchant for swiftly defecting to the ruling party to seek cover from facing the consequences of their misdemeanor; and for political patronage of course.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former member of the House of Representatives, Dr Ehiogie West-Idahosa, summarised it this way, “In many countries, it’s not this common for people to defect to other political parties, and when it happens it’s largely on policy differences. But here, the usual reasons for defecting are to protect the loot, in the case of those who have looted, and to be able to loot, in the case of those who have not looted.”

Months and years into the regime, however, Buhari, his appointees and the ruling APC repeatedly took turns to blame the Peoples Democratic Party-led government for everything possible; from the perennial power failure to crumbling public infrastructure, decrepit health care system, poor human capital development, damaged global reputation, empty treasury, and running the country aground for the 16 years it was in power. Many Nigerians, hopeful for a new dawn, believed the PDP deserved the knocks as they expected the diligent prosecution of anyone found wanting of corruption.

Interestingly, however, the APC itself soon became a haven for these PDP members it vilified in the press as being overly corrupt.

More importantly, many people argue that when PDP members, especially heavyweights with huge electoral value and ‘deep pocket,’ defect to the APC, their ‘sins’ are ‘forgiven’, and in some instances, the corruption cases against them quietly take the back seat. This is independent of the fact that some of APC’s founding members were former members of the same PDP.

Arguably, these did not only create the impression that the APC merely demonised the PDP to wrest power and make excuses for its failings, it also deeply made a mockery of the President’s promise to deal with any corrupt person, regardless of political affiliation.

For example, the withdrawal of the N5bn corruption case against Senator Danjuma Goje by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, in 2019 reminds one of the statement made by APC former National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, that when people join the APC, their sins would be forgiven.

Oshiomhole said at an event on January 17, 2019, “We have some PDP defectors. They are Henry Tenebe, Iluobe….Iluobe means I have done something wrong. Yes, once you join the APC, your sins are forgiven.”

Indeed, Goje’s ‘sin’ was forgiven. The AGF withdrew the case about 29 days after Goje met with the President and agreed to step down for Ahmad Lawan – the President’s preferred candidate – in the race for the President of the Senate. Goje was a two-term governor of Gombe State under PDP but later defected to the APC. He’s one of those whose sins were forgiven by the ruling party. He did not make any restitution.

Another example was the N7.9bn corruption case against former Minister of Aviation, Senator Stella Oduah, and how Malami is believed to have frustrated the case through a letter in November 2021 to the EFCC to remit the case file to his office. Oduah had earlier joined the APC in August. And like Oshiomhole said, her sins were probably forgiven.

Understandably, many Nigerians have lamented that these were in contrast to Buhari’s promise to fight corruption to a standstill.

But again, it reminds one of that Biblical verse in Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”

Among several other instances, the emergence of 11 former PDP members as APC national officers – out of about 77 officers – at its March 26 convention reinforced many people’s belief that the PDP, whose members were part of the rot the APC complained bitterly about, has somewhat become some of its foremost leaders.

The Key NWC positions occupied by former PDP members include the national chairman, national vice chairmen for North-West and North-Central, national secretary, deputy national secretary, national welfare secretary, national legal adviser, deputy national organising secretary, national treasurer, national women leader and national auditor.

Interestingly, two of the strongest positions – the national chairman (Senator Abdullahi Adamu) and national secretary (Senator Iyiola Omisore) – are occupied by former PDP members previously arrested and accused of corruption while they were members of the PDP.

Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa State on the platform of the PDP between 1999 and 2007, was arrested and arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over N15bn fraud allegations. He was subsequently arraigned on a 149-count charge.

In 2013, Adamu defected to the ruling APC, the same year his son, Nuraini, was prosecuted for N92m fraud. As of now, not much is heard about the cases.

Similarly, Omisore, who served as the deputy governor of Osun State and ex-senator under the PDP umbrella, was arrested by the EFCC in 2016 for allegedly receiving N1.3bn from the Office of the National Security Adviser under the Goodluck Jonathan government. He later defected to the APC in 2021.

The latest episode in the ‘cleansing’ of sinful defectors by the APC, which deeply runs contrary to the promise made by the President, was a statement by presidential spokesperson, Mallam Garba Shehu, after the APC convention.

Shehu, responding to criticisms that some key leaders in APC’s newly formed NWC were members of the PDP, argued that those who repent by defecting to the APC and never went back were better than those who remained in the PDP, who according to him, should not be entrusted with public office.

He wrote, “That some of the APC’s new leadership were once in the opposition was the new line to take to the media, somehow suggesting that those who have left one party should not hold positions in another. Yet, do the scriptures not teach us of the virtue of sinners who repent and change their ways?

“What the scriptures say less is of sinners who repent, change their tune, and then choose to re-sin in full public view by returning to their former ways. Given that most important leaders of the opposition PDP first left the party before they returned to it, we might expect the media to ensure criticism of them is damning and absolute. It is incredulous that anyone would consider them trustworthy or acceptable candidates for any public office.”

It is noteworthy that some of these defectors-turned-party leaders in the APC were top members in the PDP in the period the APC described as Nigeria’s dark days.

Sadly however, while this cleansing and defections continue, the country, according to some analysts, is crumbling under the overwhelming weight of corruption and its consequences.

From 1999 till date, for instance, trillions of naira of public funds have been stolen from Nigeria, and this has contributed significantly to the country’s myriad of challenges.

Therefore, it seems helpful to cursorily examine the damage corruption does to a country and its people, perhaps this would help to situate the devastating impact of the esprit de corps politicians seem to adopt when their partymen are found wanting, regardless of the amount of money stolen and how it affects millions of Nigerians.

A professor of Law at Harvard Law School, Matthew Stephenson, told participating journalists during the Virtual Reporting Tour on United States Anti-Corruption Efforts, which held recently, that it is misleading, and wrong even, to see corruption as an individual’s mere abuse of entrusted power for private gain.

At the event organised by the Foreign Press Centres under the US Department of State, Stephenson said, “Corruption is a major impediment to sustainable and inclusive development. There is evidence that widespread corruption is correlated with higher levels of poverty, income inequality, lack of access to education and health care and it can undermine national security through a variety of channels as well as undermine people’s confidence in government or in systems of government like democracy.

“There is just a welter of evidence that corruption not only harms the people who might be directly affected by a particular corrupt transaction but that widespread corruption, especially when taken in the aggregate, has serious adverse social, political and economic consequences.”

Sadly, while politicians and anti-corruption agencies look away, to protect loyal party members, the country seems to be drowning under the heavy weight of these adverse consequences of corruption.

That said, another speaker at the event, Ms Chandana Ravindranath, who is the Director for Anti-Corruption at the National Security Council at the White House, pointed out that corruption “enables all forms of criminality, particularly transnational crime; erodes good governance; stifles investment and economic growth; exacerbates inequality; impedes government services; and allows for criminality to flourish.”

She noted that corruption tends to tilt the economic playing field against hardworking citizens, making it harder for them to provide for their families, which is equally evident in the level of poverty and inequality in Nigeria today.

Meanwhile, West-Idahosa argued that in the final analysis, corrupt actors deplete national resources, divert income from budget targets, make the country to maintain a high profile of borrowing – currently at N39.56tn and projected to reach N45tn by year end – and ultimately lead the country into political paralysis.”

Speaking on the impact of this trend, he described the beneficial defection as the biggest setback for the Nigerian political system, saying it’s for reasons like this that corruption remained one of the biggest factors militating against the progress of the country.

He noted, “Naturally, it takes time for a political party to grow but what has happened is that they are now suffering from stunted growth because of the indiscriminate movement from one platform to another, due to the willingness of the receiving platform to ever receive without regard to the reason for defection or the credibility of the defector.”

Asked if he hoped to see a time when parties would scrutinise the profile and record of a defector or a new member, he said, “It may happen but many of us may not witness that, because when you look at successive generations, you see the desperation.”

A former President of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Mr Malachy Ugwummadu, said beyond the party reneging on what it claimed to stand for, the inaction over the malfeasance previously committed by the defectors should be blamed on the relevant institutions and collapse of values.

He stated, “I like to put it this way; rather than seeing it as hypocrisy, it should be understood as a very sad tale of institutional failure in Nigeria, because we do not need political party affiliation for institutions to perform at optimal levels such that even if someone moves from Party A to Party B, the issues and credible evidence would sustain the case.

“It must be seen that way because it is not peculiar to the APC government; the same happened under the PDP government. It is a very strong indication of a total collapse of values and principles in our political system and a weak institutional framework where the institutions that are meant to tackle cases of corruption or malfeasance objectively become ineffective simply because a suspect has jumped ship.”

Meanwhile, PDP spokesperson, Debo Ologunagba, said his party believes in institutions and that corrupt persons were never shielded during its administration, regardless of political affiliation.

He said, “You recall that PDP established the Indepdent Corrupt Practises and other related offences Commission, EFCC and other institutions and under the PDP, an Inspector-General of Police went to jail, ministers were sacked for corruption – remember the then Minister of Internal Affairs, the late Sunday Afolabi. So, the PDP was never a sanctuary for corruption.

“Let them mention the names of public officials accused of enriching themselves illegally and have been jailed in the ruling party under this regime. The grass-cutting scandal is still there, the fraud discovered in Federal Inland Revenue Service and other agencies are there. Their chairman had a 149-count corruption case against him. The APC has made it a policy to encourage people accused of crime to come in and they would be shielded.

“It is the APC that brought chaos into our lives and value system. It is better to look at a party’s history so that all the parties are not put in one basket as being the same, because we are not the same. Our party created institutions while they destroyed the institutions.”

Responding, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, noted that citizens have constitutionally-guaranteed freedom to associate and join any party of their choice. He said the APC manifesto had its defined ideology but that for Nigeria’s nascent democracy, people tend to defect from one party to another.

Morka said, “Until there is clear evidence that certain persons defected to the ruling party to be exculpated from any wrongdoing, it may be wrong to conclude that was the motivation. Besides, institutions are there to do their jobs.

“I would hope that in time, our electorate would also begin to hold people accountable to some standards. That won’t come until we also evolve in the direction of building ideological identity for our political parties.

“In the United States for example, it’s harder for a democrat to wake up and dump the Democratic Party for the Republican Party. These parties are defined by very strong ideological differences and proclivities. But if we are not up to that level of specificity yet, it becomes a lot easier for people to move. But our party has its core beliefs, principles and ideologies.

Ravindranath concluded, “Corruption is at the root of many citizens’ dissatisfaction with their government and institutional leaders. Addressing corruption builds confidence that our public and private institutions are fair, impartial, and effective. When people see laws applied and enforced equally to everyone, belief and trust in government and society can begin to rebuild.”

Meanwhile, with the latest pardon of two former governors convicted of corruption; Joshua Dariye (Plateau) and Jolly Nyame (Taraba), who have since defected from the PDP to the ruling APC, some civil society organisations and analysts argue that even though the President is empowered by law to pardon convicts, the Buhari-led regime has shown consistency in embracing politicians who could wield the party’s broom, regardless of how corrupt they are.

Police in Ogun State have arrested a 65-year-old landlord for alleged child abuse and physical molestation of 11 years old twin brothers, Taiwo and Kehinde Olishe.

The suspect reportedly tied down and beat the twin brothers for defecating in the compound in Ijebu-Ode.

He was said to have been arrested after the twins’ mother, Gbenisola Olishe, lodged a complaint at Ijebu Ode Area Command of Nigeria Police Force.

The mother had told the police that while she was away from home, a good Samaritan informed her over the phone that the landlord “tied her twins’ hands and legs with rope like goat and dragged them on ground.”

She said the twin brothers were beaten by the landlord, who also made a video record of the “heinous act.”

According to her, the twins sustained varying degrees of injuries as a result of the wicked act of the landlord.

The Police Spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, in a statement on Friday, said following the report, the Area commander ijebu Ode, Adeniyi Omosanyin, detailed some policemen to the scene.

He said the operatives who met the two boys being tied down, rescued and took them to the hospital for treatment.

He said the landord was immediately arrested and taken into custody.

“During the interrogation, the suspect explained to the police that he was informed that one of the twins excreted within the compound despite his warning that the compound must be be kept clean always.”

“When asked to take policemen to where it was, he said the boy had already washed it. One of the twins is currently on admission at Ijebu Ode general hospital due to injury he sustained while he was being dragged on ground by the suspect,” Oyeyemi said.

He quoted the Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, to have ordered a thorough investigation and prosecution of the suspect.

National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has said Nigeria needs a courageous leader to effect drastic changes that will bring revenue and build the nation.

He described himself as that man Nigeria needs to take charge of the wheel of progress.

Tinubu spoke at one-day parley between current Speakers and Deputy Speakers of the APC-led States.

The theme was ‘The Legislature, Changing times and Nigeria’s Democratic Journey’.


Tinubu said: “Nigeria needs me even as I need Nigeria. Nigeria needs drastic courageous changes that will bring revenue and I am that courageous one it needs.

“I was raised to be courageous and this has been working for me. I want to bring same to bear as president of Nigeria.

” Accelerated development of our nation is about thinking and doing, and I am ready to do that again because I am a thinker and doer.”

There is uncertainty in the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the second term bid of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, as his political godfather, Bola Tinubu, appears to be considering “other options” for the 2023 governorship race.

Findings by Daily Trust revealed that contrary to reports that Sanwo-Olu had been endorsed by the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), the highest decision making organ of the APC, the governor is still awaiting its nod.

Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu
This is why the governor has not made his intention known to seek a second term, it was learnt, amidst fears in some quarters that he might be denied.

SaharaReporters had on March 19 reported that there was anxiety in Sanwo-Olu’s camp as Tinubu, also National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, appears not to be interested in his (Sanwo-Olu’s) second term bid.

SaharaReporters had learnt that Sanwo-Olu and his camp are presently worried about Tinubu’s indifference and much more after the state government is “heavily funding” Tinubu’s 2023 presidential ambition.

“Tinubu is yet to endorse Jide Sanwo-Olu as governorship candidate. This is causing panic. The governor is worried. He is telling people that despite funding Tinubu’s candidacy, he’s yet to hear from him.

“N1.7billion monthly is siphoned through the Office of the Speaker (of the State House of Assembly) alone to fund Tinubu’s campaign. The EFCC has transferred all the officers handling the Speaker’s case,” a top source had said.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Daily Trust learnt that the GAC is yet to meet on the second term of Sanwo-Olu and until it takes a final decision on the matter, the fate of Sanwo-Olu is unclear.

There has been widespread speculation that Sanwo-Olu might not get a second term ticket paving way for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to offer its ticket to him.

The APC immediately kicked and rejected what it called a Greek gift, saying the platform that offered him the ticket in 2019 is still very much available.

The speculation followed a report alleging that another member of the ruling oligarchy in the state might have been anointed.

But findings indicated that there is uncertainty in Lagos over the fate of Sanwo-Olu.

“I can tell you this is what is responsible for the lull in the party. Aspirants have been coming out for other positions but not the governorship. Aspirants are reading the lips of the GAC before indicating interest, especially in the governorship. Definitely, people will still come out to contest the position. It is not automatic,” the source said.

A prominent GAC member who spoke on Monday confirmed that they are yet to meet on the issue of the second term for Sanwo-Olu.

“I am surprised to read a report that GAC has endorsed Sanwo-Olu for a second term. There is absolutely nothing like that. GAC has not met for some time now on the issue of the second term,” he said on the condition of anonymity.

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja


The federal government yesterday admitted that some security personnel deployed to fight oil theft were heavily involved in collaborating with those stealing the commodity in the Niger Delta.

Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, who spoke on a national television during a programme tagged “Eagle Eye” last night, noted that the government was planning various layers to monitor the personnel paid to halt the menace.

“Definitely, there are collaborators. Even during militancy, we had this issue within the military. So the government could not really enforce the law effectively because of the activities of these collaborators.

“If you have something like a crime that has gone on for this long and a joint task force is in place to actually exterminate this crime and the crime has even gone worse, then definitely whoever is in charge is probably not doing their job.

“But at this time, the federal government is giving a note of warning and there will be other layers on top of those who are actually operating to monitor them, because the problem is to send people to take care of the crime and if you just leave them on their own, then in many cases they become part of the crime,” he contended.

Sylva stated that the current incessant vandalism of oil and gas pipelines was a metamorphosis of the militancy in the Niger Delta region, which although led to the training of several youths in the region, has extended to the ongoing challenge.

The minister noted that oil theft was not a creation of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, stressing that it has been in Nigeria for decades. He said that at a time there was some sympathy for the culprits, which aggravated the matter.

The minister stated that the situation is no longer sustainable, pointing out that Nigeria is currently losing a lot of its production, a development that spurred the president to act on the matter.

On the recent allegation by a businessman and Founder Heir Holdings, Tony Elumelu, that more than 95 per cent of total oil production is stolen, Sylva said that the business leader was probably talking about his (Tony’s) asset and not the generality of the industry losses.

“I saw that tweet from Tony and I would say that Tony doesn’t have an overview of the whole industry. He is pumping his production into one particular pipeline, the TNP line and that is actually one of the most majorly impacted of our pipelines.

“There are other pipelines that are not as impacted as the TNP, so he was speaking from his own perspective and he is not in a position to speak for the industry. So if you said he lost 90 per cent of his production I understand, which is a very small production compared to the national production, but that figure does not apply to the whole country,” he declared.

He stated that although he couldn’t say exactly how much oil is stolen, since many conditions impact how much is taken at every point in time, it could be up to 200,000 bpd one day and change the next.

Describing the inability of Nigeria to meet its Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota, as a sad topic for discussion, he said that it was a combination of factors that were responsible, including lack of new investment as a result of the delay in passing the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
In addition, he listed sabotage, vandalism and the challenge of restarting oil wells that were shut down to align with OPEC cuts in 2020.

“In trying to shut down 200,000 barrels, you might shut down up to 300,000 barrels because the production is not really mathematical,” he explained, adding that bringing back the pressure to begin pumping has become difficult.

He reiterated that there’s been some improvement , stressing that by the end of this year, production will be ramped up to pre-pandemic levels.

Sylva stated that the negative belief that people could sit down in their homes and have free money introduced by some members of the elite in the Niger Delta was also to blame for the current challenge.

He maintained that it was wrong to equate oil theft to artisanal mining in the north because those miners in the north dig for the commodities while the oil thieves break into readymade and already operational pipelines.
Insisting that it is purely a criminal activity, he made it clear that the government should not just go about destroying the facilities, but should target the arrest of individuals that are involved.

“It’s very misplaced and sometimes people equate it with artisanal mining. These are two different activities. Artisanal mining is a situation where men will go down with shovels and head pans and dig for the gold and they find it,” he noted.

He explained that the monster created by the elite was coming back to haunt them in the form of kidnapping, noting that they have now realised the impact of the wrong values inculcated in the youths of the Niger Delta.

Sylva argued that when the federal government sought the help of some leaders in the Niger to tackle the problem, they were rebuffed, but said that the recent efforts by the Governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike, had brought to the fore the magnitude of the problem and how it affects everyone.

“It’s the same thing with the issue of soot in Port Harcourt. But initially, the state government was not very interested in resolving the issue. Because we tried to approach them but of course, at every point in time, they rebuffed us. They said, this is their way of also getting access to the oil wealth.

“But today, the chicken has gone home to roost. Everybody knows that this problem is a problem that will kill all of us. So all hands are coming together to fight the problem,” he added.

By Abdullateef Salau


Tongues continue to wag among Nigerians in various fora over the seriousness with which President Muhammadu Buhari handled and resolved the crisis in his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the run off to its national convention last month.

The convention, which held on March 26 at the Eagle Square, Abuja, amid fanfare, was preceded by near-boat-rocking internal wrangling.

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The event came at a time killings, kidnapping and other forms of attacks by terrorists and other criminal groups on hapless communities in Kaduna, Niger and other places across the country reached a crescendo.

Aside security challenges, Nigerians are also battling with a number of economic difficulties including a grueling energy crisis which almost brought the country to a halt due to a long drawn fuel scarcity. Buhari, who also doubles as minister of petroleum was lampooned for allegedly giving lip service to the problem.

Events leading to the party’s convention raised questions about President Buhari’s claim that the security of the country took priority over any other issues for his administration.

The ruling party was also embroiled in leadership crises at a time terrorists were menacing Niger, Kaduna and other northwestern states almost unchallenged.

However, President Buhari, in a quick intervention, asserted his influence as the leader of the party and saved it from collapse, even as insecurity and other pressing national issues needed similar decisive intervention.

The president met with governors several times, gave orders and ensured that they were implemented. Even while on a medical vacation in London, he continued hosting party leaders in a deft move to prevent implosion within the ruling party.

The president also cut short the trip and on his returned continued series of meetings that ensured a seamless transition in the party.

Many believe that if the president had deployed the same leadership, energy and commitment he had shown in resolving the APC crisis to addressing insecurity in the country, the situation would not be as worse as it is.


How Buhari saved party from the brinks

The ruling party, in its eight years of existence, has had four national chairmen – Bisi Akande, John Oyegun, Adams Oshiomhole and Mai Mala Buni.

After Oshiomhole’s unceremonious exit as the party’s chairman, President Buhari’s intervention produced a Buni-led caretaker committee, which was given the mandate to hold a convention in six months. The convention was held after 21 months, following two postponements.

After maintaining studied silence on the state of affairs of the party, Buhari, in January, told the APC to take the issue of convention seriously, warning that it risked losing power to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He, thereafter, met with the party’s governors ahead of the national convention earlier slated for February 26. President Buhari again hosted governors on the platform of the party the following month after the postponement of the February convention created tension and uncertainty over its future, with many stalwarts engaging in mudslinging.

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State had accused Buni of working with some governors and “yahoo yahoo politicians” to prevent the convention from taking place.

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State also claimed that the president had approved the removal of Buni as the caretaker chairman.

There were also reports that the caretaker committee was served with a court order barring it from organising the convention which the committee however, allegedly, hid from alerting key Stakeholders.

Also, the moves to produce a consensus candidate for the chairmanship position and other party offices unsettled aspirants, further heightening tension.

While the Yobe governor was away in the United Arab Emirate for medical attention, the Niger State governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, took over the party’s leadership and presided over the caretaker committee’s meeting, giving credence to speculation that Buni had been removed.

The crisis worsened when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) rejected the notice of the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party unless Buni signed the letter of notification.

Amid the imbroglio, Buhari waded in again, warning that the APC was drifting towards the path of the PDP, a party he said failed for 16 years and also failed in opposition.

The president, in a statement by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, warned the leaders (and membership) of the party to desist from name-calling and backstabbing, remain steadfast and maintain its unity if the party was to continue on the path of victory and its dominance at all levels throughout the country.

Also, after meeting with Buni during his London medical trip, Buhari warned party leaders to desist from attacking the Yobe governor, and called for the immediate return of all members of the party’s interim committee to their respective positions.

In a letter to the chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, Abubakar Bagudu, President Buhari gave three clear instructions for the party’s leadership ahead of the convention and ensured that they were fully implemented.

“First, the issue of the leadership of the Caretaker Extra Ordinary Convention Committee (CECOC) should immediately return to status quo ante; secondly, all the members of the Governors’ Forum and their followers should desist from any behaviour or utterance that will likely lead to disunity in the ranks of the party, and ultimately jeopardise the transition to the convention; thirdly, the Mai Mala Buni-led CECC should, accordingly, be allowed to proceed with all the necessary preparations to hold the convention as planned, unfailingly on March 26, 2022,” Buhari stated in the letter.

Few days before the convention, Buhari also held separate meetings with the party’s governors and chairmanship aspirants to sway them to back his choice candidate, Senator Abdullahi Adamu.

The governors, after the meeting, told reporters that they had resolved to support whoever the president supported at the convention.

He also held separate meeting with leadership of the National Assembly and another one with what the Presidency called “founding fathers of the party” all in his bid to save the APC.


Endless attacks by terrorists

Many communities in the North and other parts of the country are steeped in mourning over almost daily violent attacks by terrorists, who murder, maim and kidnap citizens mostly unchallenged.

Even military formations are not spared from the unrelenting attacks of the terrorists.

In the week the governing APC held its convention, dozens of people, including security personnel, were killed and abducted in Kaduna, Niger and other parts of the North.

The hardest hit was Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State, which suffered four different attacks within the week. The attacks left over 70 persons killed and many others kidnapped in several communities.

The latest killing of 15 soldiers, three vigilantes and two civilians in Kaduna happened few days after terrorists bombed the Abuja-Kaduna train on March 28, killing nine persons, while dozens of others were injured and scores still unaccounted for.

Few days before then, the insurgents struck at the Kaduna airport and killed one person. The incident had forced some airlines to suspend flight operations to the airport.

In Zamfara, terrorists on March 27 attacked several communities in Talata Mafara and Bakura local government areas, killing four persons.

In another attack, they killed at least 35 people, including a village head, after they raided five communities in Anka Local Government Area of the state last week.

Gunmen, on March 28, killed five persons and wounded three in communities of Irigwe chiefdom of Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau. Same day, six soldiers were killed while several others were injured after bandits stormed a village in Suleja, near Abuja.

In Taraba, terrorists also attacked a mosque while worshippers were breaking their fast on Tuesday, killing three persons, while many worshippers were abducted in Baba Juli village, Bali Local Government Area.

Some Nigerians said the occurrence of these brazen attacks in quick succession under the government’s watch called for concern.


‘Show seriousness in tackling insecurity the way you resolved APC crisis’

The Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and head of the Transparency International (Nigeria), Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, said the kind of leadership and resources Buhari deployed to resolve the APC crisis was also needed to arrest insecurity.

He said even when situations pointed to a crisis-filled convention, with varying interests within the party at loggerhead, the president single-handedly steered the leadership of the party and the numerous candidates vying for different positions to build consensus and ultimately achieved a peaceful party convention.

“It is this kind of leadership that is expected of the president to demonstrate in arresting insecurity in the country,” he said.

Rafsanjani expressed worry that insecurity in Nigeria had taken a severe dimension, with terror groups becoming even bolder in their dastardly acts.

He said, “Life in Nigeria has indeed become too brute, too short and too uncertain for citizens, especially as the activities of these terrorist groups remain unchecked.

“The Kaduna State governor has been left helpless and has continually called on the federal government to deploy the full strength of security apparatus in flushing out the groups. His proposal for recruiting foreign mercenaries also suggests lack of capability by the Nigerian forces to deal with the situation.

“The occasional summoning of security chiefs to the Presidential Villa after every attack and issuance of directives has not yielded any visible result; hence, it is expected of the president to go to the full extent of halting insecurity in the country.

“As we approach the 2023 general elections, it is paramount for the country to attain security stability for peaceful, inclusive and participatory elections.

“As much as it is expected of citizens to participate en masse, it is vital for security agencies to assure citizens of their safety during the elections.

“The president must, therefore, ensure that the safety of Nigerians is given the same importance that was accorded to the stability of his political party by pulling every resource within his powers to entrench security in the country.”


Nigerians free to air their views – Presidency

When contacted, a presidential spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu declined to comment.

However, a senior presidency source said Nigerians are entitled to hold opinions on the country’s security situation.

He said, “People are holding opinions, and we cannot stop people from holding opinions. People are entitled to hold their own opinions.”

Worried by the incessant killing of soldiers by terrorists and other criminals in some parts of the country, especially the North, some retired army generals have called on the concerned authorities to urgently halt the dangerous trend.

Findings by Sunday PUNCH however revealed that no fewer than 714 soldiers had been killed by terrorists in the last 18 months, while several others had suffered varying degrees of injury. This, coupled with the worsening insecurity in the country, was described by the ex-generals as disturbing.

They stressed that the killing of soldiers, who were grossly inadequate to confront the widespread insecurity in the country and should be protecting civilians and the territorial integrity of Nigeria, could not be allowed to continue.

A report by a geopolitical intelligence platform, SBM Intelligence, revealed that no fewer than 642 soldiers were killed between the fourth quarter of 2020 and the third quarter of 2021. While about 72 soldiers have so far been killed by terrorists this year.

A retired Brigadier General, John Sura, described as unacceptable the way soldiers were being killed by terrorists, saying there was a need for the troops to be equipped with modern technologies to protect themselves and win the war. He also stressed the need for synergy between the security agencies.

Sura stated, “It’s pathetic and terrible; the troops are doing their best because they have no equipment to notice terrorists from afar before they come under attack. It is painful and it is discouraging. I think the Federal Government must help them with modern technologies that can be able to detect and take these people up.


“They (the terrorists) are already taking the battle to the armed forces, which is not too good. Nobody is happy that people, who have risen to protect Nigerians, are losing their lives. As retired military officers, we are not happy with what is happening in the country in terms of security, because the institution of the military, which we served selflessly and what has given us a name as a country, is being seen as failing in its responsibility. As it is, the country is almost being consumed by insecurity.

“What has happened to the A-29 Super Tucano fighter jets purchased by the Federal Government? Why have they not deployed the fighter jets to neutralise the insurgents so that Nigerians can have peace?

“Yes, the military cannot be everywhere and that is why we have the National Intelligence Agency, the Department of State Services and others, who should network, synergise and provide intelligence that will help to track these people wherever they may be.”

He said the Federal Government should reconsider hiring mercenaries like the previous government did.

“The previous administration hired foreign mercenaries and they were almost winning the war against terrorists, but that approach was dropped when the present administration came on board. I think that rather than waste resources that may not get the desired results, why not bring these mercenaries back, pay them and let them trash the terrorists in Nigeria. They may be able to deliver on the task because they will be paid for it,” Sura added.

Another retired officer, Brig.-Gen. Jon Temlong, said it was disturbing that soldiers and civilians were being killed, but that soldiers losing their lives could be tied to the asymmetric nature of the war.

Temlong, who is a former Commander, 23 Armoured Brigade, Yola in Adamawa State, expressed dissatisfaction over the attitude of some Nigerians towards assisting the military to overcome the security situation in the country.

He said, “What some people don’t know is that the military is fighting an asymmetric warfare. In this kind of warfare, you don’t know the enemy. The enemy can even greet you and pass, and because you don’t know him as the enemy, you can’t deal with him as such. The same people who greeted you and went their way can assemble themselves and come back to attack you.

“It pains me what the military is going through and nobody cares, forgetting that they are also Nigerians with families, who are daily putting their lives on the line for the sake of the country. So, it is the citizens who have taken arms against the people. They know them.”

The retired general, who was once the Commander, Multinational Joint Task Force, Baga, said unless the citizens started isolating the terrorists, the solution to the problem might not be in sight, adding, “So, there is the need for synergy, especially between the federal, state and the local governments. The strategy in dealing with the security situation we are facing is government and civil approach.”

Similarly, a former Military Administrator of the defunct Western State, Major General David Jemibewon (retd.), described the development as worrisome and advised the government to launch a high-powered investigation.

He told one of our correspondents in an interview, “My reaction here is most similar to the reaction of anybody who likes peace and order in the society. Those in authority should know that we have to tighten our belt and ensure that the country is more secure than before.”

He said contrary to the belief of the perpetrators, the attacks would not portray them as courageous but stupid, adding, “I wouldn’t say that it is an act of courage, I will say it is stupidity,” noting that the attackers must have been under the influence of drugs.

Speaking on how to prevent further attacks, Jemibewon stated, “The government should carry out a high-powered investigation and the military needs to raise the level of alertness. We must be alert and prepared to salvage our country from irresponsible people and we must take up that responsibility.”


The Commandant, Amotekun Corps, Osun State, Brig.-Gen. Bashir Adewinbi (retd.) also described the killing of soldiers as worrisome, saying there was a need to increase intelligence gathering to address the situation. He expressed confidence that Nigerian soldiers were properly trained and would perform creditably if they had better equipment.

He said, “It is a very worrisome situation and the Chief of Defence Staff and the President are taking drastic measures. I believe there will be an improvement. They are strategising and are doing everything possible to secure the country.

“However, they need to gather more intelligence to enable them to ameliorate the situation. I know they are brainstorming on this and I believe something positive will come out of this.

“I am worried, but it is one of those things in a democratic set-up. If you look at it, there could be political, economic and other social reasons for the insecurity. The problem is not peculiar to the Nigerian Armed Forces, but they are rising up to the task.”

Meanwhile, the SB Morgen Intelligence report indicated that 642 military personnel were killed. It noted that within the period under review, 322 police, 11 personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, five Customs officers, two operatives of the Department of State Services, two Immigration officials and an official of the Federal Road Safety Corps were killed by criminals.

As of 2021, reports said there were about 30,000 bandits – now designated terrorists – across the North. But according to the SBM report, 1,989 bandits and 973 Boko Haram fighters were killed within the period.

Among the series of attacks against troops, on April 6, 2022, it was reported that terrorists killed 17 soldiers during an attack on a military base in Pole Wire, Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

“About 40 fatally wounded soldiers were brought in to the 44 Army Reference Hospital and 17 of them were confirmed dead,” a source told The PUNCH.

On the night of Thursday, March 31, terrorists also killed six soldiers in the Suleija-Zuma area of Niger State.

On March 9, bandits killed 19 security personnel, including 13 soldiers, in Kanya, a village in the Danko-Wasagu area of Kebbi State.

In February 2021, 20 soldiers were killed by the Islamic State West Africa Province-backed faction of Boko Haram in Marte town.

Among several others, in April 2021, 11 soldiers were killed in the Bonta community, Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue State, by bandits. They were buried in the state capital by the military.


AGF office keeps mum over naming of terrorism financiers

Meanwhile, despite the rising insecurity in the country, the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has yet to name the financiers of terrorism in Nigeria.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has been under pressure to name and shame the financiers of terrorism in the country.

When asked recently during an interview on Channels Television, Malami promised that in a few weeks Nigerians would “get something tangible” from him in that regard, but he has yet to do so.

Similarly, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed at a press conference in Abuja on February 4 that the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit had uncovered 96 financiers of terrorism as well as 424 associates and supporters of the alleged financiers. Their identities were also not disclosed.

While the Nigerian authorities refused to name the financiers despite the worsening insecurity, the United States Government, on March 25, named six Nigerians for their support for the Boko Haram terrorist group.

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control gave the names as Abdurrahman Ado Musa, Salihu Yusuf Adamu, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan and Surajo Abubakar Muhammad.

The Special Assistant to the AGF, Dr Umar Gwandu, had earlier told one of our correspondents that the financiers of terrorism would be unveiled in court, but he refused to state when that would be done.

Despite multiple calls and messages sent to his WhatsApp number, which were read, Gwandu declined commenting on the issue.


Delay in prosecuting terrorists, a bad signal – SANs

Speaking to the issue, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, said shielding the financiers of terrorism would not help in the fight against insecurity.

He said, “The challenge we have is the manner in which the government is treating the issue of terrorism with seeming preferential treatment. We know that in the case of the Indigenous People of Biafra, the AGF quickly got the Federal High Court to declare the members as terrorists.

“As we speak today, the United Arab Emirates has listed some people, who are said to be sponsors of Boko Haram, and they are Nigerians, and this has not been denied by the Federal Government.

“If we do not take steps to combat terrorism, with all the Tucano jets that are not being used, it will create an impression that this regime is producing terrorists, either to foment violence during elections or for the purpose of keeping itself in power after 2023.

“Otherwise, there is no justification why they are yet to be tried in court and why their identities have not been revealed. I believe it is dangerous for us and it has emboldened the terrorists. Not naming them will not help the matter at all.”

Another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Lekan Ojo, said unmasking the financiers of terrorism would convince Nigerians that the government was serious about combating insecurity.

He stated, “The government should unmask and bring these financiers to justice as soon as possible. That will assuage the feelings of Nigerians, who have rightly or wrongly contended that the government is not dealing decisively with the terrorists and their financiers.

“The financiers are as guilty as those they are financing. I am sure no responsible government will arrest these people and refuse to arraign them before a court of law.”

However, Adewinbi said the Federal Government could have its reasons for the delay, noting that investigation could still be ongoing.

“If they think that prosecuting them now will scale up other activities, they will want to conclude their activities before they do anything,” he added.

Sura was, however, of the view that the financiers must be punished to put an end to the crime, while calling on the Federal Government to hasten their prosecution.

He added, “In any society, when someone has not been seen to have been punished for a crime, it will encourage other people to go ahead and commit that crime, but when you punish an offender, it serves as a deterrent to others.

“For me, I will suggest that the Federal Government or whoever is responsible should expedite action and ensure it is seen by everyone. It will discourage people from committing the offence.”

Senate President Ahmad Lawan has pleaded with Nigerians to give the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) another opportunity.

He said this at a town hall meeting organised by the Senator representing Kwara Central Senatorial District, Dr Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe, on Saturday.

At the meeting, which held in Ilorin, the state capital, Oloriegbe declared his intention to run for another term.

The senate president had earlier performed the ground breaking of a rehabilitation centre at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Budo-Egba, Asa Local Government Area, and commissioned Idi-Isin Community Heatlh Centre, Okolowo Area of Ilorin, both of which Oloriegbe facilitated.

Lawan, however, cautioned Kwarans against returning past leadership in the state.

He told those at the town hall meeting that the performance of Oloriegbe in the National Assembly has dwarfed all those who occupied the senatorial seat before him.

Former Senate President Bukola Saraki, Lawan’s predecessor, is among those who occupied the senatorial seat before Oloriegbe.

“I also want to call on all Nigerians to give APC another chance at all levels beyond 2023. We have promised Nigerians to continue to do our best and we would not renege on our promises”, Lawan said.

“I will like to remind you here, those people that you chased out will never get tired of trying to come back. You have only one more of “Otoge” and they will never come back.

“In 2023, just chase them far away from Kwara, and they will never find their way to Kwara. Don’t take it for granted. They are smart people. You know that. Chase them far away, if you can, up to the Atlantic Ocean if you chose to chase them to the South. If you wish, chase them up to Niger Republic. Chase them far away from here.

“The people of Kwara, you have gotten what you deserve from 2019. You have a state Governor that is for you. You have your National Assembly members that are for you. You have your state Assembly members that are for you and council chairmen and councillors.

“Don’t ever take that for granted. Less than three years, what our state Governor in Kwara has done, what our members of National Assembly, our Distinguished Senators, all the three of them, Senator Yahaya Oloriegbe from Kwara Central, Senator Sadiq Suleiman Umar of Kwara North, Senator Lola Ashiru of Kwara South, have given every time that they need to give for us in the Senate to achieve what we have been able to achieve in the Senate.

“You don’t need to think twice. Vote for them more than you did in 2019. Make the gap more than convincing. Vote massively. Don’t assume, well we have win in 2019, this people, send them far away from Kwara so that we can maintain the trajectory of what you have been able to get today because, Nigerians, having gone through 16 years of deprivation, of mis-governance between 1999 and 2015, deserve the Progressives to continue to provide leadership in Nigeria.”

Also speaking, Oloriegbe reminded the people of Kwara that the ‘O to ge’ struggle that ousted the then political dynasty was targeted at poor governance and pauperization of the masses that were the hallmarks of the last administration.

He said his representation at the National Assembly has set a template for the people of Kwara Central since 2019.

Oloriegbe urged the people of Kwara Central to rally round him in his quest for re-election in 2023.