₦airaland Forum

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is nursing an ambition to illegally remain in office beyond May 29, 2023.

The PDP in a statement on Sunday signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba said the APC is planning to destabilize the polity, cause insecurity, and use the excuse to extend the stay in office of President Muhammadu Buhari beyond May 29, 2023.

It however cautioned that such a plan won’t work and the APC should start packing its bags as Nigerians are tired of the party and its policies.

It alleged that President Buhari is yet to sign the amended 2022 Electoral Act because it is part of their plans to remain in office beyond what is constitutionally allowed.

The PDP statement said the plan of the APC is to undermine the 2023 electoral process so it can extend the tenure of President Buhari.

It however warned that any plan to extend the tenure of President Buhari beyond what the constitution allwd will be firmly resisted by the PDP and Nigerians at large.

“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) cautions the All Progressives Congress (APC) to perish the thoughts of subverting the electoral process as part of its desperation to elongate its abysmal tenure beyond May 29, 2023.

The Party alerts Nigerians of the plot by the APC to use orchestrated insecurity and political uncertainty to derail the electoral process, stall the 2023 general election and create a situation to justify a tenure elongation.

There are revelations that desperate APC leaders are behind the delay by President Muhammadu Buhari in signing the amendment to the Electoral Act 2022 so as to frustrate the smooth conduct of primaries by political parties and derail the entire electoral process.

It is not surprising to the PDP that Mr. President was again “absent” having travelled to the United Arab Emirates and abandoned his constitutional duty of signing the crucial amendment to the Electoral Act.

This attitude of Mr. President to an issue that is critical to our electoral system is consistent with APC’s plot to cause confusion in the polity, orchestrate an unconducive environment for elections, stall the 2023 general elections and achieve a rumoured third term agenda.

The regularity of the electoral process as well as the confidence of the people in the certainty of timelines and outcomes of elections are the hallmarks of democracy, which the APC has been dislocating apparently with the view to undermining the electoral process,” it claimed.

The PDP statement accused the APC-led federal government of intentionally refusing to swear in its candidates who won elections into the FCT Area Council but attempting to obtain court orders to install an undemocratic government.

“It is clear that the APC has already commenced this ignoble plot with its desperation to use the Court to overthrow the outcome of the FCT Area Council election held on Saturday, February 12, 2022 which was overwhelmingly won by candidates of the PDP halt the swearing-in of the newly elected Chairmen and Councilors and impose an undemocratic government in the FCT.

The PDP is concerned about APC’s exposed plot to deploy such despicable underhand methods to subvert elections in 2023 where they do not favour APC candidates,” the statement added.

The PDP statement went ahead to accuse the current administration led by the APC of intentionally promoting and supporting insecurity in Nigeria as a way to perpetuate itself in office.

“Moreover, it is now clear that the APC’s administration has been compromising our security system, opening our nation up to attacks and permitting shared sovereignty with terrorists over large portions of the territory of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, apparently to further orchestrate a security situation that will justify the stalling of elections in 2023.

“This probably explains why President Muhammadu Buhari has failed to confront terrorists, contrary to his promise to lead the fight against terrorism from the front and why he remains “absent” and “weak” as terrorists pillage our citizens in various parts of the country.

“This is in addition to the provocative comments that have promoted disunity, agitations and restiveness in various parts of our country, including tagging a particular part of the country as “a dot in a circle”

“Our Party cautions the APC to note that its plans have been exposed and that Nigerians will never allow it to perpetrate its misrule through an orchestrated tenure elongation.

“Nigerians are determined to vote out the APC and return our nation to the path of unity, stability and economic prosperity under the PDP. No amount of shenanigan can keep the APC in power beyond May 29, 2023,” the PDP alleged.

https://www./2022/05/22/2023-apc-planning-3rd-term-agenda-for-buhari-pdp-alleges-in-fresh-alarm/

The Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum, has enthused that irrespective of competence of the APC presidential aspirants and the strength of their manifestos, the anointed candidate of the president, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), will most likely fly the party’s flag in the 2023 presidential election.

Zulum made this disclosure on Sunday in Maiduguri while receiving the campaign team of Rotimi Ameachi, which was led by the aspirant’s campaign Director General, Ali Ndume, and members of the campaign team in a meeting with delegates and members of the APC in Borno State.

Zulum said Borno delegates have no preferred aspirant at the moment but the delegates will vote for a credible candidate based on the preference of the president and their convictions.

“Borno State delegates will vote based on their conscience. But again, our leader, General Muhammadu Buhari, is very important in this political equation. We are still waiting for him to tell us what to do and we will follow. His advice is very important so we have to wait for his advice.

“Nigerians should pray for a good candidate to emerge irrespective of tribe, region or ethnic background but a candidate that will ensure the APC forms the central government come 2023,” Zulum remarked.

In his speech, the APC presidential hopeful, Rotimi Ameachi, who had a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Yusuf Buratai (retd.), and former Inspector-General of Police, Abba Suleiman, in his entourage, pledged for the votes of the delegates from Borno in order to bring an end to insurgency and all forms of insecurity in the country as, according to him, he brought about peace, safety, security and stability being enjoyed today in Rivers State when he was the governor and he would do same if allowed to fly the APC flag in the 2023 elections.

“When I was governor of Rivers State, Buratai was a brigade commander while Abba Suleiman was the police commissioner. We ensured we engaged the teeming and idle youths by giving them jobs that kept them from the street. By so doing we forestalled peace to the creeks in the state.

“I urge you, Borno State delegates, to vote by your conscience, to vote for me based on the belief that I will guarantee safety of lives and property in Borno, the North-East and the nation,” Amaechi said.

https://punchng.com/buhari-sole-determinant-of-apc-presidential-candidate-zulum/

Time for a...........

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A.nother

P.athetic

C.ongregation

Na so?

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P.eople

D.emanding

P.eter?

koo

Facial scarification was once popular across Nigeria.

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Deep cuts, usually on both cheeks or the forehead, were carved on children by families and communities, mostly as a mark of identity.

The marks also held stories of pain, reincarnations and beauty.

The practice, however, has been fading away since a federal law banned all forms of child mutilation in 2003.

So the current bearers of facial marks are the last generation - their facial stripes as varied as Nigeria's many ethnic groups.


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The 15 slashes on the face of Inaolaji Akeem (above) identify him as someone from the Owu kingdom in Nigeria's south-western Ogun state.

Mr Akeem is royal-born, so he has long stripes on his face.

"It is like a football jersey," he quips, adding that they made him popular in the local market.

On a serious note, Mr Akeem says he regards the scars as sacred, and does not believe people should mark their faces just for beautification.

This need for identification through facial marks was also strong in northern Nigeria, especially among the Gobir people of Sokoto state.

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Ibrahim Makkuwana's ancestors, pastoralists from Gubur in present-day Sokoto, did not have facial marks. But, he said, as they moved around looking for farming land, "they fought many battles and conquered many places".

They then decided to make distinctive marks on their cheeks, "akin to the ones their animals had, which would help them in identifying their kinsmen during battles", Mr Makkuwana says.

"That was the origin of our marks," he tells the BBC.

But there is also a distinction between the Gobirawas.

Those with six scars on one cheek and seven on the other have both parents from royalty. Those with six marks on both sides have only their mothers from the royal family.

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Then there are the children of butchers, with nine scars on one side and 11 on the other, while those with five and six marks on either side trace their lineage to hunters.

As for fishermen, they have distinct marks drawn up to their ears.

Meanwhile, among the Yorubas and Igbos of southern Nigeria, some marks are linked to life and death.

There was a belief in their communities that some children were destined to die before puberty.

Known as Abiku and Ogbanje respectively by the two ethnic groups, these children were believed, by the Yoruba, to belong to a coven of demons living in large iroko and baobab trees.

It was common for women to lose several children at a young age in succession, and it was thought it was the same child, reappearing again and again to torment their mother.

Such children were then marked to make them unrecognisable to their spirit mates so they would stay alive.

Many of these infant deaths are now known to be caused by sickle cell anaemia, an inherited disorder common among black people.

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Yakub Lawal in Ibadan in south-western Oyo state, was marked as an Abiku.

"This is not my first sojourn to earth, I have been here before," he says.

"I died thrice, and on my fourth return I was given these marks to stop me from returning to the spirit world," he adds.

Closely related to stories of the Abiku and Ogbanje are those whose marks are in memory of a departed family member or one who has been "reborn".

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Olawale Fatunbi's four horizontal and three vertical marks were inscribed by his grandmother, who said he was a reincarnation of her late husband, who had those facial scars.

But Mr Fatunbi wishes he didn't have them.

"I don't really like them because I see it as child abuse but it is our culture," he says.

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With 16 marks on her face, it is hard to miss Khafiat Adeleke. Even harder to miss is the huge signboard at her shop in Ibadan, where she has taken the moniker, Mejo Mejo (Eight Eight) - to represent the scars on her cheeks.

"People call me Mejo Mejo from here to Lagos.

"My grandmother gave them to me because I am an only child," she says.

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Some scars are for beauty.

Foluke Akinyemi was marked as a child, a deep gorge on each cheek supervised by her dad at the hands of a local circumciser, who also did facial scarring.

"My father made a decision to give me a mark just for the sake of it and because he thought it was beautiful.

"It makes me stand out and I thank my parents for giving it to me," she says.

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Ms Akinyemi's story is similar to that of Ramatu Ishyaku from Bauchi, north-east Nigeria, who has tiny whisker-like lacerations on both sides of her mouth.

"It is for beauty," she says, adding that she also tattooed her face at about the same time.

As a girl, the whisker-like markings and tattoos were popular in her village and she and her friends went to the local barber to have them, she adds.

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The marks on the face of Taiwo, who only gave her first name, are now fading but the memory of why she was carved still lingers.

When her twin sister died within weeks of her birth, Taiwo became ill and a traditional healer recommended marking her face to prevent her from joining her twin.

She became better within days of the scarification, she says, but that has not made her love the marks on her face.

"It makes you look different from anyone else - I'd rather not have any marks on my face," she said.

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There are also those like Murtala Mohammed in Abuja who don't know the story behind their marks.

"Almost everyone in my village in Niger state had one, so I never bothered to ask," he says.

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Facial marks were inscribed by local circumcisers and barbers like Umar Wanzam using sharp blades.

He describes it as a painful experience done without anaesthetics.

Most of those like Mr Akeem, who were marked as children, agree it was right to stop facial scarification.

He did not pass on the tradition to his children even before it was outlawed.

"I love the marks but they belong to a different time and age," he says.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-61229617