Bookmarked

emorse:

Funny guy.
Obi goofed on something that Google helped you verify. Even vanguard newspaper made the same error yet no one is calling them out. Na Obi case you dey carry for head like head pan. Bro abeg relax. Elections season go soon end.

Peter Obi has deleted his false tweet, you still dey here dey foam.

emorse:

Funny guy.
Obi goofed on something that Google helped you verify. Even vanguard newspaper made the same error yet no one is calling them out. Na Obi case you dey carry for head like head pan. Bro abeg relax. Elections season go soon end.

If I did not know it, how would I have typed her name on Google?

I am surprised Obi is calling Senator elect Ireti Kingibe as the first elected female senator of the FCT. This is not true. The First elected female senator for the FCT is Senator Khairat AbdulRazaq- Gwadabe, the sister of the current Kwara State Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.
Obi needs to gather quality advisers around him to avoid making very embarrassing comments like this.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly Worldwide Congratulates President-Elect Tinubu
By Politics Digest -March 5, 2023

POLITICS DIGEST- The Igbo socio-cultural organisation, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly Worldwide, has described the success of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President-elect from the February 25, 2023 presidential election in Nigeria as one that is gladdening to the heart.

A statement signed by Amb Tony Chiemelu Obizoba, Director General, Implementation and Strategic Planning, says the group visualises success of the APC flagbearer in the election contest as one that will lead to unifying Nigerians for a focused development plan that will follow.

Tinubu is capable and we have no doubt in his capacity to ensuring continuity on the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari, which are obvious, indisputably correct and will continue to stand as good legacies for generations of leaders to come.

The Ohanaeze Nndigbo, while also congratulating Peter Obi for creating what has become unprecedented commitment to changing the status quo with a hitherto unpopular political party, making remarkable sweeps of votes across all regions but North West of Nigeria, to finish an “unputdownable” third position.

This Igbo umbrella body will continue to remember Obi, former Governor of Anambra State, as one who despite all odds laboured hard to actualise a Nigerian President from the Igbo Land, although God has not destined it to happen in 2023. It is possible it will happen later. God spares the life of everybody.

It will not be out of place to also congratulate the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s Presidential Candidate, His Excellency Alhaji Atiku Abubakar GCON, on his effort that ended with second position. Across the top three political parties were Igbo sons and daughters, who made frantic effort because as APC, PDP and LP there are Igbo people who notably campaigned and voted.

The bloc votes for Peter Obi in the South East should, however, not be seen by anyone as anti-other Nigerians. It is more to show that the Igbo do not really hate themselves as some Nigerians tend to say. In all, general performances of the candidates across parties have given this group the confidence to agree that the emergence of one of them, who is Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as President-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is well deserved and we say congratulations!

We also want to seize this opportunity to call on some elements in Lagos State, who see the vote for Labour Party’s Peter Obi as hate by Igbo people and who are therefore now threatening the lives of Igbo. It should not be so. From the investigations by the Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly Worldwide, the votes in Lagos was not solely an Igbo thing but a decisive voting system by a rainbow movement of people from across the tribes, who live and do businesses in Lagos State.

It should be seen more as Nigerians across tribes exercising their franchise to freely vote to choose their leaders in a democracy as enshrined and guaranteed in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Those who are circulating videos, threatening and drumming the sounds of war over the coming Governorship and House of Assembly elections of March 11, 2023 in Lagos State because of Igbo people, should stop it in the national interest of Nigeria and collective good of the masses of the Nigerian people.

We would not end this press statement without having to extol the grand performance of President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, the General Lucky Irabor-led Nigerian Armed Forces, the IGP Usman Alkali Baba-led Nigeria Police Force and the Alhaji Yusuf Magaji Bichi-led Department of State Service (DSS) as well as the leadership of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for their neutrality that brought whatever challenges emanating from the recent voting exercise to the barest minimum.

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly Worldwide, therefore, call on the President, the security forces and security/intelligence agencies to improve on the performances of the last election to make the governorship and national assembly elections of March 11 more commendable.

Bookmarked

This prediction makes a lot of sense to me. Unlike one very senseless prediction I saw yesterday telling me Obi will score 25% in Kwara state.

Fitch Solutions Country Risk and Industry Research, a renowned international body has predicted the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to win this month’s presidential election in Nigeria.

The report released by Fitch on 1 February, 2023, did not also ruled out run-off possibility, which it said is rising.

The three main presidential candidate in Nigeria’s 25 February, 2023 presidential election are Tinubu (APC), Atiku Abubakar (PDP) and Peter Obi (LP).


“At Fitch Solutions, we maintain our view that the All Progressives Congress’s Bola Ahmed Tinubu is most likely to win Nigeria’s February 2023 presidential election,” the report said.

“We anticipate that domestic insecurity will rise following the election as the vote will likely aggravate existing security challenges. In addition, a Tinubu victory would end Christian-Muslim alternation of the presidency and thereby increase social instability,” it added.

The report also foreclosed protests and a divided legislature that will prevent a Tinubu presidency from implementing significant economic reforms, such as a removal of fuel subsidies or a simplification of the exchange rate system.

Fitch said while the election has traditionally been between the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the 2023 presidential vote would be three-horse race for the first time since Nigeria’s 1999 return to democracy.

This, it said, was due to the popularity of the Labour Party’s Peter Obi, especially among Nigeria’s urban and affluent voters.


“We believe that the Labour Party’s rise in popularity is likely to split the opposition vote, favouring the ruling APC. Indeed, we expect that Obi — a Christian from the South East — will do well in states in Nigeria’s South East and South South regions, which traditionally have been PDP strongholds.

“A January 2023 study conducted by SBM Intelligence — a local firm — showed a notable rise in new voters in Edo, Ebonyi and Anambra, all South Eastern states where we expect Obi will obtain a large share of the vote. This suggests that the Labour party is likely to win these states at the expense of the PDP — thus Splitting the opposition vote,” the report analysed.

Fitch said it expected that the demographic dominance of Nigeria’s Muslim-majority, as the North would benefit the APC.

“Northern votes accounted for 64.7% of total votes in the 2019 presidential election and given that the APC will likely remain popular in Northern states — in part due to Tinubu’s dual Muslim ticket — this will give Tinubu an advantage over other candidates. In addition, we expect that Tinubu will benefit from the APC’s incumbency advantages and his political experience,” it added.

Meanwhile, Fitch said it believed that domestic insecurity would increase in the run-up and aftermath of the election.

“This view is informed by two key reasons. First, public safety and security have worsened in recent years, especially in the North West due to bandit-related violence and the South East due to separatist activity. Anti-government sentiment has been on the rise, illustrated by protests against fuel scarcity across the country in January 2023.


“We believe that a closely fought election will likely aggravate these existing security challenges and amplify partisan and factional tensions. Second, a Tinubu victory would break with the unwritten tradition that Nigeria’s presidency rotates between Muslims and Christians.

“As such, we expect that a Tinubu win will increase perceived marginalisation among Christians, while Obi supporters are likely to question the fairness of the electoral process, especially after online polls have predicted a win for Obi,” it predicted.

The Fitch’s report also expected the APC to retain its majority in both Senate and the House of Representatives in legislative elections, which are held on the same day as the presidential vote.


“This view is largely informed by the fact that split-ticket voting (voting for candidates from different political parties) remains uncommon in Nigeria. Indeed, in previous elections, the presidential vote share was roughly in line with the distribution of seats in both the House of Representatives and Senate.

“As such, the party that won the presidency has always obtained the most seats in both houses of the assembly. Even so, we expect that policymaking will remain slow given ongoing divisions within the APC, which is reflected in Nigeria’s low “Policy-making process” score of 36.7 in our STPRI,” Fitch argued.

It further believed that reform progress would remain weak under a Tinubu presidency, saying despite Tinubu’s claims that he would phase out Nigeria’s costly fuel subsidy and reform the exchange rate regime, “we believe that high inflation — which we will average 18.0% y-o-y in 2023 — and limited appetite within the APC will prevent him from doing so in the short term. In addition, the expected increase in anti-government protests following a Tinubu victory will likely discourage policymakers from implementing unpopular reforms in 2023.”

On the Risks To Outlook, Fitch noted that there is a growing risk that the presidential election would, for the first time in Nigerian history, go to a run-off.

It said due to Obi’s popularity, there is a possibility that none of the candidates meet the electoral threshold that stipulated that a president could only be elected if they both received the majority of overall votes and over 25.0% of votes in at least 24 of Nigeria’s 36 states.

“A run-off would probably pit Tinubu against the PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, and would likely be very close. In this scenario, we would expect the supporters of the third-placed candidate to question the integrity and fairness of the electoral process, which would likely lead to largescale protests which could challenge Nigeria’s already precarious security situation.

“Given that the second round would have to be conducted within three weeks after the first vote, social unrest and insecurity would persist for a longer period of time, which we believe would have negative implications for economic activity,” Fitch foreclosed.

Source: pmnewsnigeria.com

Bookmarked, February 25th is not far again.

This is a good material for the archive.

Aufbauh:
Tinubu will win with a landslide and there won't be any runoff or second ballot.

Eyaaa.... I can feel your pain and tears as the reality has set in that the pandemic Obituary is in the race but not in the game.

If Thisday that's anti-Tinubu and pro PDP/LP can accept the reality to this extent then Asiwaju has no match in the election.

However giving Atiku 35% each in Borno and Yobe state respectively as against Atiku 2019 earning of 7% and 8% in those states is the most ridiculous projection I've heard in this millennium.

I also disagree with the Borno and Yobe projections. I don't see Atiku making more than 10% in those states.i think Tinubu will win in Kwara with about 40%.

aariwa:
Most of the northerners that stole Nigeria’s money for years don’t believe in banks and they have stored monies that can last up to their 10th generation while rest of north live in poverty. I remember a military administrator that died in the 90s and Abacha came for condolence visit the illiterate wife told Abacha the late husband was having bullion vans bring in money weekly for Abacha she believed. Shocked Abacha ordered his security to search the whole houses and they discovered billions of naira (1996/97 period) stashed in GP tanks, soak away, underground etc Glad Abacha ordered the monies to be taken away and thanked the illiterate woman

Governor Abdullahi Wase of Plateau state.

Some Governors are reported to be planning to pay salaries in cash to offload the money they have in their warehouses.

CBN decision to redesign the Naira is forcing people to bring out money hoarded in their homes.
A Twitter user has reported bales of money wrapped with Oceanic bank wrappers now in circulation. Remember, Oceanic bank was acquired by Eco bank 11 years ago.

Peter Obi Unlikely To Win Presidential Election, Tinubu’s Presidency Will Increase Social Instability In Nigeria –Global Rating Company, Fitch






October 28, 2022

NEWS

The company in its report however said protests and social discontent are likely to increase in the aftermath of a Tinubu win.

Fitch, the global rating company has tipped Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress to win the 2023 election.

The company in its report however said protests and social discontent are likely to increase in the aftermath of a Tinubu win.

It said a win for the APC candidate would likely fuel sentiments of perceived marginalisation among Christians while supporters of his opponents may take to the streets to question the fairness of the electoral process.

The statement said “comments or data are solely derived from Fitch Solutions Country Risk & Industry Research and independent sources”.

“At Fitch Solutions, we believe that recent polls are significantly overstating support for Peter Obi, the Labour Party candidate running in Nigeria’s February 2023 presidential election. Indeed, we maintain our view that the ruling party’s Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the candidate most likely to win the presidential election as a split opposition vote will favour the All Progressives Congress.

“Protests and social discontent are likely to ramp up in the aftermath of a Tinubu win since this would end the recent trend of the presidency alternating between Muslims and Christians. At Fitch Solutions, we believe that recent polls are significantly overstating support for Peter Obi, the Labour Party candidate running in Nigeria’s February 2023 presidential election.

“Surveys showing that Obi is ahead of his opponents Bola Tinubu (All Progressives Congress; APC) and Atiku Abubakar (People’s Democratic Party; PDP) were mostly based on responses gathered online. Since only 36.0% of Nigerians use the Internet (World Bank, 2020), we believe that these results are skewed towards urban, affluent voters who are most likely to support Obi. We also highlight that these polls suggest that a large share of voters remain undecided.

“Even if these surveys were accurate at a national level, Obi’s lack of support in Nigeria’s Muslim-majority North would make it difficult for him to win next year’s election. Indeed, the North is home to the majority of all voters and turnout in this part of the country tends to be relatively high, underscoring the importance of the Northern electorate.

“According to Nigeria's 1999 constitution, a candidate can only be elected if they both receive the majority of overall votes and over 25.0% of votes in at least 24 of the country's 36 states. Given that Obi’s Labour Party has limited infrastructure in the North, he will struggle to meet this second voting requirement.

“Indeed, the Labour Party is not even running candidates for the Senate and House of Representatives in many northern constituencies. Furthermore, the northern electorate historically tends to vote for presidential candidates from their region. With Obi being a Christian from the South (Anambra State), increasing his voter share in the North will prove challenging.”

Fitch added that Peter Obi is unlikely to win the presidential election.

It said, “While we believe Obi is unlikely to win the election, he will probably do well for a third-party candidate. Indeed, a third-party candidate has never reached more than 7.5% of votes in Nigeria. However, due to his frugal reputation and large social media following, we expect Obi to get a higher share of the vote than previous third-party candidates.

“As such, we believe that Obi’s popularity will most likely split the opposition vote, at the expense of the PDP. The PDP’s candidate (Atiku Abubakar) is a Northerner and we believe that the party’s only route to victory is expanding its vote in the South West and North Central states, while retaining large majorities in the South South and South East.

“However, given Obi’s popularity in the south – especially the South South and South East – we believe it is unlikely the main opposition party will be able to gain more votes in these parts of the country.

“Indeed, we maintain our view that the APC’s Tinubu is best placed to win the presidential election. We expect that the party, which has nominated a Muslim-Muslim ticket, will repeat its strong performance in the North. Given that Tinubu is a former governor of Lagos, the party is also likely to improve on its performance in the South West. Furthermore, we expect Tinubu to benefit from incumbency advantages, with the APC having been in power since 2015.

“Protests and social discontent are likely to increase in the aftermath of a Tinubu win. Since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, there has been an informal agreement that resulted in the presidency alternating between Northern and Southern states as well as between Christians and Muslims.

“A win for Tinubu would break with this unwritten tradition and likely fuel sentiment of perceived marginalisation among Christians. In addition, Obi’s supporters – mostly young, urban voters – are likely to question the fairness of the electoral process, especially after recent polls have predicted a win for Obi.

“These dynamics are likely to engender political unrest following the February vote. As a result, we have revised down the Social Stability component of our proprietary Short-Term Political Risk Index (STPRI) from 30.0 to 25.0 previously (scores out of 100; lower score implies higher risk). This brings Nigeria’s overall STPRI score from 46.3 to 45.0.”

The global rating company said it does not expect significant policy changes under a Tinubu presidency.

“While Tinubu has stated that he would phase out Nigeria’s costly fuel subsidy, we are sceptical this will happen in the short term. There appears to be limited appetite within the APC to remove the subsidy, and with inflation remaining elevated in 2023 – due to high food prices – the cancellation of the subsidy would negatively affect the new president’s popularity. Indeed, the PDP tried to remove the subsidy in 2012, but had to back down after large-scale protests,” it said.

“In addition, we believe that Tinubu’s aim to raise oil production is unfeasible in the short term. Crude production has declined significantly to 1.1mn barrels per day in September – a multidecade low – due to rising oil theft and previous underinvestment. Given the country’s weak fiscal position, we believe that there will be limited room for more security and social spending to combat oil theft and attract more investment.

“While not our core view, factions within the APC could weigh on Tinubu's popularity in Northern states. In addition, should public concerns about Tinubu's health become more pronounced in the run-up to the election, we would expect his chances of winning to become smaller. There remains a possibility that a three-way race results in no candidate passing the electoral threshold. This would prompt a second round for the first time in Nigerian history, likely heightening political instability.”

SOURCE: Saharareporters.com

May God forbid That PDP will ever rule this country again.

Peter Obi's testimonial 9 years ago.

A criminal is a criminal, whether fulani, yoruba, ebira igbo or Hausa. Do not criminalize a whole ethnic group because of a few.

Published By: Nimot Sulaimon

11th August, 2022

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has urged Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to compensate the Fulani residents of Ondo State for the losses they suffered in the reprisal attack which followed massacre of worshippers at a Owo Catholic Church.

MURIC said this in a statement issued by it director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, on Thursday commending security agencies for the arrest of those behind the Owo church massacre, which claimed about 40 lives.

He noted that the Nigerian Army arrested suspected terrorists who attacked over 40 churchgoers at the St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, on Sunday, June 5.

But he added that it was interesting that none of the attackers was a Fulani man, contrary to the general belief that the attackers were Fulani people.

“However, it is interesting to discover that contrary to the gargantuan mountain of blame heaped on Fulani herders over the attack, none of those arrested was a Fulani man. Rather, they are all from Okene, Kogi State.

“For instance, Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu blamed the trilogy of Fulani, bandits and ISWAP. The U.S Institute, Knoxville News Sentinel, swallowed Akeredolu’s bait by accusing the Nigerian Government of shielding herdsmen involved in the attack on worshippers in Owo church.

“The International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) was not left out as it blamed Fulani terrorists and accused FG of shielding herdsmen by accusing ISWAP of the horrendous attack.

“Next came the Yoruba Alliance who said that President Muhammadu Buhari should be held responsible saying he invited Fulani terrorists from across Africa into Nigeria,” he said.

“Also the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) linked the attack to ‘Fulani terrorists. Even Nairaland’s online media came out with a screaming headline, ‘Fulani terrorists behind Owo Church attack Arrested’.

“But surprisingly, none of those arrested is a Fulani as announced and paraded by the army on Tuesday, Aug. 9.

“We recall the spontaneous attacks on Northerners and their property immediately after the church massacre, particularly in Ogwatoghose and Ikare areas of Ondo State. Now we can all see that the wrong and innocent people were attacked while the criminals got away.”

Akintola urged the Ondo State Government to compensate the victims of the reprisal attacks caused by the wrong accusation of the Fulani people for the attack.

“It behoves Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu to appease the Fulani victims of the reprisal attacks. Those who lost property should be compensated. Some form of relief should also be provided for families of those who were killed among them.

“MURIC appeals to Nigerians to be circumspect, to avoid jumping to conclusions and, most importantly, to stop ethnic profiling and hasty judgement. There are criminals in all tribes just as there are decent people everywhere. Tribes do not commit a crime. It is individuals who do.

“MURIC commends the security agencies for unmasking those behind the massacre. Their task was herculean, yet they did Nigeria proud by getting results within a reasonable time. They proved beyond any reasonable doubt that no arm of the security agencies is sleeping.

“We charge cynics to rekindle the fire of hope in Nigeria. We will get positive results if our attitude to our soldiers, the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) is positive. We can only reap what we sow. The security agencies need our cooperation because they are not magicians. They need information,” he said.

https://pmnewsnigeria.com/2022/08/11/owo-attack-muric-seeks-compensation-for-fulani-people-in-ondo/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

This is the man being projected as the solution to Nigeria's problems.

Police Apprehend Three INEC Officers For Creating Illegal PVC Registration Unit In Church Hall
July 29, 2022

Officers of the Ijeshatedo police station have apprehended three Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) staff for conspiring with a parish priest of St Brigigs Catholic Church, Ijeshatedo, Lagos, to create an illegal permanent voter’s card registration unit in the church auditorium for members.

The INEC staff including Mrs Rita, Mr Ikechukwu Izuchukwu and Miss Agbokhna Ebigun, were arrested following a complaint by the Chairman, Residents Association, Raji Azeem, to the police about ploys by the church to disenfranchise some members of the public.

According to Azeem, residents have waited to no avail at the INEC recognised registration centre only to discover that electoral officers have been camped at Catholic Church hall attending to members of the church.

He said, “The INEC registration officers, according to INEC provision should be stationed at 9A, Imam Thanni but this was not to be. We have been here awaiting their arrival but when we discovered that they were not forthcoming,
we were worried.

Only for us to discover that they have been camped at the St Brigigs Catholic Church auditorium on the influence of the parish priest registering only members of the church while we were in the queue waiting. It was a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise us.

The House 9A Imam Thanni registration centre has remained a constant polling unit since 1983. But the priest decided to play the religious cards by inducing the electoral officers to register only his church members.

The church members have been around since 5 am but we were unaware of their plan until we busted them in action and handed them over to the police at the Ijeshatedo police station. The arrested INEC officers have been crying and begging for their misdeeds.

But they were granted bail by the IPO, Inspector Shola so that they can continue with the registration. He instructed them to return after the exercise and that they should discontinue the exercise at the church hall and move to the venue approved by INEC.”

Another resident, Omolabake Ishola, said the news that political thugs invaded the venue of the registration exercise is false.
According to her, the media platforms are deliberately distorting the truth of the matter.

According to her, “There were no thugs at the registering venue contrary to what is being reported by some media houses. The fact of the matter is that the INEC officers have been compromised and they decided to register only members of the Catholic Church while other residents were left out.

We have been around since 8 am only to discover that INEC officers are at the church hall registering church members. This isn’t fair enough. From what we heard, the Parishioner had announced that he had made arrangements for the electoral officers to come to the church hall to register all members. But we should ask ourselves, is there a registration centre at the church hall? We have to be truthful with ourselves.”

Confirming the arrest of the three INEC staff, the Spokesman of the Lagos state police command, SP Benjamin Hundeyin said they were found within the church premises registering members.

He said, “The INEC officials were assigned to Imam Thanni Street by House 9A for today’s exercise. They were, however, found within the church premises. Residents raised concerns and informed the police. The DPO Ijeshatedo swung into action and brought the INEC officials to the station.”

* Credit: Nigerian Tribune

I am expecting Obi's supporters to counter all these allegations with pictures and videos of Obi's legacies as Governor for 8 years.

Continued.

Why did you say so?

Not only that the government is not performing, it is elevating the art of deception to a tool of governance. How will Peter Obi’s government package itself as performing when it is not? And use our hard earned money and scarce resources to project achievements that are un-existing or, at best, white elephant projects and procuring pseudo activists to parrot its so-called achievements. If the totality of what the governor and his so-called activists supporters are parroting constitute the achievements which cannot be up to N20billion then we must hold him to account for the over 120billion that has accrued so far to the state since he came into office.

Governor Peter Obi has always prided his administration as following due process and the rule of law. So, how would you reconcile the abuse by his agencies and these instances you have mentioned?

Peter Obi has never prided himself as one whose governance is predicated on the rule of law. It is President Yar’Adua who claims and, in fact, trumpets that. It is beyond dispute, however, that the present governor is a beneficiary of the rule of law. But in the three years of his governance, he has done the opposite. Where will I start?

Let me start from the markets. Go to all the markets and their associations, which in the main, are Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), the governor has directly interfered and ensured that elections are not conducted in the market associations on the flimsy, lame and provocative excuse that the conditions are not conducive. Peter Obi is so unpopular that any time the elections are held, his preferred candidates whom he hopes to use for his second term campaign would be trounced. Like in the case of Local Government Election, he has imposed interim committees on all the markets. As I speak, the situation is very tense in the markets. I believe any moment from now the markets may close down in protest against the governor’s direct interference with the markets. I have lost count of the number of court orders which directed Peter Obi’s government to hold council elections in the state and restrained his appropriation of the council funds. I must be frank: am hugely disappointed by the governor. Is there any due process in a governor who uses all the state apparatus and resources personnel and properties of the State to campaign for his second term in office? The other day it was reported that Governor Peter Obi’s wife spends about N10m from the budget of the Ministry of Women Affairs on each of her tours out of the 177 communities. What I want the EFCC to immediately move in to investigate is if such an expenditure of public funds by one who is neither elected nor appointed into a government is allowed under the law. If not, the tour and the attendant expenditure must stop and a refund made. Multiply N10m by 177, it gives us over N1.7billion wasted on a second term tour! Let me be frank with you, EFCC needs to investigate the current notorious allegations of round tripping of government’s funds between contractors, some top government officials and Fidelity and Intercontinental Banks. EFCC should investigate the flying allegations of massive embezzlement of local government funds by the executive arm.


On a final note, Peter Obi has come, and like Mbadinuju, will soon pass away, only leaving behind bad memories for Ndi Anambra. My other worry is that Peter Obi will end up worse than Mbadinuju. What a tragedy!

Continued.

What could be said to be the origin of this face-off between you and Governor Obi.

The much he did upon his return from his unlawful removal was to call me on the phone offering N5m to be a plaintiff in a suit he wanted filed to have Andy Uba disqualified from contesting. I felt insulted and told him off. He told me he had arranged and paid Abuja based lawyers who would file the papers in my name because his lead lawyer was campaigning for Andi Uba to become governor and that he did not trust him. He called the President of ASA –USA and top APGA leadership to persuade me which also failed. I do not want to say, for now, the many ugly propositions of the Peter Obi which I rejected.

It is my hope that the next governor will probe and determine who burnt the Governor’s Lodge at Onitsha. But one thing is certain: the governor’s allegation that it was burnt by Andi Uba is absolute falsehood.

When the Water Corporation pensioners brought their predicament to me, I wrote the governor but he gave no heed. When I heard his argument on the matter on television, it flew in the face. I suspected he was playing pranks.

I took the matter before the House of Assembly for investigation. I was shocked to learn that the House had approved, in 2006, the sum of N805million naira for the payment of all arrears of salaries and pensions of the affected workers and retirees in 2007. To my greatest shock, on the floor of the house, the governor’s special adviser, Engineer Nick Obi, admitted that the N805m was kept in the bank since, and that the Governor was arranging to give out the money as a loan to a private federal contractor to revive the Water Corporation. It will surprise you to learn that till date that money is still lying in the bank accumulating interest and the loan is yet to be given and the workers are dying everyday. And the interests are yet to be accounted for. And the bank is trading with this money.

Over 40 staff and pensioners have died since 2006. A woman staff starved to death in her room. Over 14 are bedridden, lacking money to buy medication.

There was a case of the woman shot by soldiers who were ordered by the Governor Obi to shoot and kill members of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) for which he (Obi), on television, promised that his government would pay compensation. I wrote him in connection with that, but he started playing pranks after replying my letter. It became apparent that he wanted to either create the impression to the widower that I was the cause of his non payment or here was a con man at his worst.

What are other instances of your disagreements with Peter Obi’s government?

As months went into years I observed the propaganda inclination of the government. Let me put it on public record that the only demand I made of the present government when it took office were four, namely, Good governance, comprehensive take over by the state of the upkeep and education of the three orphans of my chairman, B.C. and A.B. Igwe, re-naming of the street where they were butchered to death by Mbadinuju’s Bakkassi Boys, and recommending them for a posthumous national award. This was in March 2006 when he sent an emissary inviting me and then Chairperson of Civil Liberties Organization (CLO), Emeka Umeagbalasi, to the lodge to make an offer of appointment which, of course, I turned down. In fact, I had also requested him to empower the CLO Chairperson whose business had virtually collapsed as a result of his commitment towards retrieving the stolen mandate. Prior to this, in fact three days to the Court of Appeal Judgment, the governor sent his confidant, a reputed Agulu man, to sound me out on taking the A.G. appointment. I flatly rejected it and gave my reasons. The man asked me to recommend who the A.G would be. My question on how Obi knew he was going to win even before the day slated for judgment was never answered to my satisfaction. The same reasons I gave to his confidant was accepted by the governor when we met him in the lodge.

I am hugely disappointed with Obi’s government because everywhere I go I am embarrassed by our people who verbally assault me for what they consider as my sin in contributing to its emergence.

I learnt Obi has budgeted over N60million to print leaflets and produce tapes to sustain their smear campaigns against me. It is as bad as that. It shows the level of the person who calls himself a governor. My happiness is that my strident criticism is compelling him to rehabilitate, even though poorly, some roads in Onitsha city, to award contracts for the upgrading of his Pentium 1 Pcs to Pentium 3 and to reverse himself that he would not pay water corporation staff and so on. But we must watch him on the water corporation matter so that it will not be a conduit for any diversion of Anambra money.

Even his Agulu people have vented their spleen by destroying one of his campaign billboards and completely defacing another all located in the heart of the town. This government is an unmitigated disaster. My greatest worry is that this government is becoming a huge fraud.

KlinReports

Friday, January 30, 2009
Obi’s government is a disaster- Obele Chuka

It is no longer news that there is no love lost between Peter Obi government in Anambra state and Chuka Obele Chuka, the fiery Onitsha legal practitioner and former chairman of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) in the state.

It is common knowledge that Obele Chuka, among other activists, doggedly fought for the restoration of Obi’s stolen mandate, a gesture which Obi himself never seizes to admit. But the centre no longer holds between the two erstwhile soul-mates. The past few weeks have witnessed an unprecedented media warfare (in which the duo had hauled verbal grenades at each other).

What has gone wrong between these two former ‘good friends’? And where is this face-off leading the state?

It has to be pointed out that Obele Chuka Obele is no stranger to political fights like this. On the platform of his Onitsha bar between 2002 and 2003, Obele battled former Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju to a stand-still. Indeed, Obele’s anti-Mbadinuju’s crusades, especially, wth regards to his (Mbadinuju)’s alleged killing of the Igwes stands as a major reason Mbadinuju lost out in his second term bid in 2003.

Is a similar scenario playing out in Obele, Governor Obi feud? Only time will tell! Recently, Obele gave an insight into his face-off with Governor Obi of All People’s Grand Alliance (APGA). Obele, among other things, alleges that the administration of Obi is both a disaster and a huge fraud. You must not have read this elsewhere.

Having been in the fore front of human rights activism, how would you assess the state of human rights in Nigeria, particularly, in Anambra state?

Let me limit myself to issues of Anambra state for now. We have a crucial battle to rescue our people from the misgovernance of Governor Peter Obi of Anambra state- Nigeria. In Anambra, the present government did not only embargo employment, it is not also creating jobs it covenanted in his campaign brochures to use to fight crimes. The only attempt at creating jobs is the purchase of few mass transit mini buses and the terror machine known as Anambra State Traffic Agency (ASTA). Obi’s government unleashes the agency on hapless citizens to extort sundry illegal levies. ASTA and other Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) agents have constituted themselves into monsters which employ Gestapo tactics to terrify the citizens in the name of generating and hitting the N1billion monthly revenue benchmark set out by the state government.

Health wise, the situation is alarming. Doctors in Anambra are on strike, the second time in 9 months. And our Governor says he does not know why they are strike. Only God knows the number of persons who have lost their lives as a result of the doctors’ strike. Primary health-care in the state has virtually collapsed, and that is part of the reason the doctors went on strike. Go to the General Hospital and see the huge fraud that Peter Obi calls kidney dialysis centre. The building is collapsing and no single equipment is there.

People are trapped daily in horrible traffic snarls as a result of neglect of our road networks or shoddy rehabilitation of roads.

The lives of Anambra citizens have become, if you do not mind, miserable, nasty and brutish.

Education in the state is parlous. Even Agulu Boys Secondary School, located in the governor’s hometown, and his alma mater, St Joseph’s Boys Secondary School in Aguleri, are in a decrepit state. Agulu Boys was the best college in infrastructure some years back. Take a visit to the school and you will shed tears. Number of students per class is averaging 55. None of the workers was paid his/her salary last December.

Water Corporation workers are yet to be paid since Peter Obi came into office, and they are starving to death. Over 40 have died, over 20 bedridden by stroke.

Anambra State Environmental Protection Agency (ANSEPA) workers are owed over 22 months salary arrears, as well as other entitlements.

Awka, Nnewi and Onitsha are dirtier than Peter Obi met them.

And it is obvious that there is no pipe borne water in this state.

But why attack a Government you risked your life to recover its stolen mandate and to enthrone. KlinReports remember that you led a city wide protest in 2003 in Awka during which you miraculously escaped being killed by soldiers guarding the INEC office at Awka. In 2006, you dared a large number of mobile policemen and soldiers to confront and object to the former Chief Judge Chuka Okoli’s inauguration of the impeachment panel. Why the sudden turn around?

I risked my life for our society which includes me, my children, you and your kids. But I am, also, a strong believer that one is a true friend if one looks you in the face and tell you where you err. All that I am saying now, I have told the Governor Peter Obi in private. In 2008, I walked out of his work plan presentation at Sharon Hall, Onitsha and told him to leave former Governor Chris Ngige alone and go to work. Immediately this was published, he sent emissaries who came to my office. Some others called me on the phone – all to arrange a meeting with the governor, for settlement. My response was consistent: ‘Please ask him to go to work and use our money to give us quality development’. I was getting embarrassed on a daily basis everywhere I went by glaring evidence of wishy washy jobs being celebrated as achievements. I never knew Peter Obi or even heard his name in any circle until he entered the governorship race in 2002. I was never his friend in the real sense of the word, but what, perhaps, brought us together was the false declaration made by INEC that Ngige won the 2003 governorship election and my personal resolve, as had always been the case, not to allow that false declaration stand.

Could you respond to the allegation by Peter Obi’s government and its agents that you’ve taken up this fight against the Governor because he refused to appoint you attorney general and commissioner for justice of the state as compensation for your role in working for his emergence and sustenance in office?

This allegation is the surest sign of a dying regime. It has never been my habit to seek favors. I am an iconoclast of sorts. No doubt, Obi was always courting me, laboring always to tell people that I am his friend because he was the direct beneficiary of my modest struggle, alongside other activists and well meaning Ndi Anambra, to reclaim the stolen mandate. Then, I was a huge role model to him whose integrity was unimpeachable, and he never sponsored me and my integrity rubbed off on him. Today, I have become little Chuka Obele, that is how the advertorials he sponsors against me in the papers describe me, because according to him, Ngige is sponsoring me. I do not blame Peter Obi because it shows how petty he is, and that explains the pedestrian level he has brought down governance. I had rejected even gifts he offered me including cash before he became Governor.

When did you start observing these alleged short-comings of Governor Obi?

I must say that I started noticing some of these character traits of Peter Obi before the impeachment saga. Three months in office, I called him and expressed my dismay over his abandonment of roads started by Ngige. He claimed he knew what he was doing. But the notice of impeachment was a turning point. When I saw the items of offences listed by the pro-impeachment lawmakers and met the governor, I told him that he was guilty of most items in the impeachment notice which included what most of us who stood for the people’s mandate had been telling him in private- do not abandon roads started by your predecessor; stop giving preference to Fidelity Bank; do not save our funds in the banks while our people suffer; release allowances of members of the state legislature (N3m naira approved by his predecessor); stop awarding sensitive contracts to your friends who have no capacity to execute them; stop smearing your predecessor even on church pulpits; cease eulogizing former President Olusegun Obasanjo to high heavens. In fact, during the church service for the late justice Egbuna at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Onitsha (this was before his impeachment), I stood up to leave the church when he mounted the pulpit and started ‘bad mouthing’ former Governor Ngige in spite of my advice. It took the intervention of a senior colleague in the Bar who is his lawyer to hold me back even as he, also, said he had advised him against it. I remember I reminded Governor Obi of his campaign vow to do 100 km of road annually. In fact, a coalition of human rights groups under my co-leadership had sent him a comprehensive memo detailing our misgivings with what we thought was his slow pace of governance. I ensured that the memo was delivered to him personally, because had it leaked, we would have been accused of supplying the ammunition for his impeachment. I told him pointedly even as I rejected a suspicious N500, 000.00 he offered me as a condolence token for my father’s burial in the night of October 16, 2006 (the day the notice of impeachment broke), that he was the one who provided the ammunition for the enemies of the state to annul our mandate, and that he should fight the battle alone. He assured me he had the total support of Obasanjo which made me laugh. The same night, I pondered over my decision not to be involved in the looming skirmish and told myself that posterity would never forgive me if I stood by and watched the lawmakers who had ulterior motives to succeed. I told the Governor the condolence token was an inducement to help him fight against his impeachment, because when he paid his condolence visit the previous day, he never gave nor promised to give me any such token. The governor gave either N5, 000.00 or N10, 000.00 condolence token to my family. I pointedly told him off for thinking he could cheapen and reduce my decision to fight against the impeachment in naira and kobo. In fact, I was so angry that I stopped taking his calls. So, it is surreptitious for the governor to sponsor his party chairman to do advertorials in newspapers, claiming that I rejected the N500, 000.00 because I considered it too meager for what I did at inauguration of the Kangaroo panel. Or, that I became angry because the governor refused to make me attorney general of the state as compensation for what the government described as my unsolicited grandstanding during the inauguration of the panel. My father was buried on October 13, 2006 and the rites ended on Sunday October 15. The Governor paid his condolence visit on that last day being October 15. A day after, 0ctober 16, the impeachment notice was initiated by the House. It was the same Monday that the governor called me after the solidarity rally and offered me the N500, 000.00 which I rejected as constituting an inducement. Even the Governor knows that I have a wider interpretation of the words, ‘bribe, gratification and inducement’. The Kangaroo panel was inaugurated on October 30. It was, therefore, absolutely impossible for me to have rejected the N500, 000.00 offered on October 16, as being meager for a condolence token in view of what the governor called my unsolicited act that took place on October 30. Again, by the time the panel was being inaugurated there was a sitting attorney general who had been appointed with my support because the governor called me to make a choice between two candidates. While I chose one, the governor preferred the other but later accepted my choice. And this attorney general was performing the duties of that office well for only four months by the time the impeachment saga broke. The governor was removed about four days after my so-called grandstanding. So the question is, would I have expected the governor to dissolve his about four month old cabinet to remove his A.G. whom I proposed and insisted on his appointment, for the him now to appoint me into the same office? Or would I have been expecting a governor who was impeached about four days after my grandstanding and who remained in political wilderness until February the next year to have appointed me his attorney general in exile? How can N500, 000.00 be a meager sum for a burial token. Even by the time I set out to filibuster the inauguration of the kangaroo panel, I was not on talking terms with him as I discovered gradually that he was always talking ill of people around him.

How do you mean?

If I tell you what the governor said of certain persons including current members of his cabinet and his legal team you will never respond to salutations from them. He was literally painting everybody black only to deny it if confronted in the presence of his victim. At one time after his return he invited me to Agulu and I went with my former partner who was to contest for the house of Assembly election. At Agulu, he flaunted a document claiming to be evidence of Etiaba’s embezzlement of N38 billion he saved, and employment of more than 2000 Nnewi indigenes into the government in her three months as governor and solicited our organization’s support to convey the information to Anambra people and to publicly support his tenure determination suit. When I requested for a copy of the document, he merely read out typical Nnewi names and said it was a sensitive document. During a particular period, I stopped taking Peter Obi’s calls because I was growing weary of his dishonesty, and as a result of my growing concern of his capacity to deliver on the huge expectations of people like us. It took the call made by the governor through the cell phone of his friend who was then my client, Chief Chris Emoka, and the latter’s pleas, for me to talk to him after a long while. This was during the impeachment saga. By that time, he was broken physically, spiritually and emotionally, and had discovered that Obasanjo and Andi Uba were behind his impeachment. That was when he made another wrong move by reaching out to the pro impeachment lawmakers to offer them money to avert the impeachment. I advised him, when he sought my view, against it knowing that it had gone beyond the lawmakers demand for their N3 million entitlements, but he said the lawmakers interest was money and their demand was N20 million each, and that he had also settled the Chief Judge with N60 million which he (C.J) demanded. About four days after delivering the second and last installment of N20 million per legislator, our governor was impeached. When I visited him in his hotel he was weeping and apologizing that he never heeded the advice of well meaning persons like me. He swore in the presence of a friend I took along, but who he is now using to malign me, that should he return back to office, he would depart from his old ways. Peter Obi broke down in tears. Sadly, when he returned he persisted in his old ways and, in fact, grew worse day by day. The same man who asked his deputy, Ma Etiaba, to take over to avoid the then Speaker from taking over as Acting Governor, turned round to accuse the old woman of betrayal, and went on to sponsor stories in the papers that she embezzled N38 billion he saved before his impeachment. He, also, refused to file the tenure determination suit as soon as he took office. I only discovered the reason when I learnt that he had entered into a pact with Andy Uba and Obasanjo to have Ngige removed through the courts with an understanding that he would serve for the unexpired residue of that four year term and make way for Andy Uba in 2007.

It is laughable for Peter Obi to allege that he offered me N500,000.00 as compensation, a man who gives all his security details N200.00 daily for their meals and who is alleged to be taking the entire so-called monthly security vote of N150 million to his personal account.

I really do not think that Peter Obi knows what he is doing. How can he fall so low as to sponsor adverts that I belong to secret societies and occult church, when he attended the opening of our church branch in Awka. Let me tell you, each time I hear people discuss Peter Obi’s membership of Seadogs and Ogboni Fraternity as the cause of his poor governance, I rebuke them on the ground that there is freedom of association and religion. Secondly, I know of members of Ogboni Fraternity who were honest and competent administrators, governors and premiers.

CAN and MURIC will soon send Nigeria on fire if we don't do something about them. They are poisoning the whole country with religious bigotry.

Gratitudes081:


Yoruba gives bloc votes when their son is on the ballot my brother.

Right from 1979 and 1983 elections, Chief Obafemi Awolowo got nothing less than 70% from each states in Yoruba land.

Fast forward to 1993 elections, the support for Abiola in SW was beyond massive.

In 1999, virtually all the Yoruba people went for Olu Falae because they saw him as their candidate and Obasanjo as Northern Candidate. SW rejected Obasanjo massively, but still gave massive supports to Olu Falae then. Even the entire 6 Governors of the SW in 1999 were all AD, no PDP.

But When Obasanjo was the only Yoruba on the ballot in 2003, Yoruba voted massively for him and gave him bloc votes.

Going by history, don't expect 2023 to be different since Tinubu is the only Yoruba on the ballot and considering APC controls 5 of the 6 states in SW. Tinubu will receive bloc votes. Even Oyo state which is the only state being rule by PDP currently has all the 3 Senators to be APC and majority of the House of Reps members are APC.

Now going to Abubakar Atiku, he has not really being an acceptable politician in the North. Even in his Zone, NE, Atiku can't confidently win elections there.

As Presidential candidate in 2019 he lost Borno, Yobe, Gombe and Bauchi. He only won in Taraba and Adamawa. It will interest you that Atiku won his home state with 410k votes while Buhari had 378k votes. That's partly 51% in his home state. Ordinarily Atiku should had gotten nothing less than 80% in his state. You might argue that its because of Buhari cult following, but if Atiku cannot comfortably defeat any opponent with 70:30 ratio in his home state, then he can't be rated that high. In 2007 against Yaradua, Atiku of ACN couldn't deliver his zone again.

In 2023, he is having Kwankwaso to contend with there too.

The point of all these narrative is to let you know that Atiku is not sure of bloc votes anywhere. His major bloc votes and PDP bloc votes are SE and SS, but it will be affected with Peter Obi movement. He might not get his bloc votes this time around.

The same thing Yaradua and Buhari candidacy worked against him in 2007 and 2019, Kwankwaso will be a spoiler for him too in the North.


The funniest part is that Kwankwaso will be more than willing to support Tinubu than supporting Atiku.

Though I don't see him stepping down for anyone but if it get to that stage, trust me, he will give Tinubu is backing.

This is the most scientific analysis I have read on the 2023 election. Kudos to the author.

Jd10k:
*Political Facts:*
1. Are you aware that there is only one Muslim governor in the whole southern Nigeria, Gov. Oyetola of Osun out of 17 states.

2. Are you aware that there are only two Muslim Deputy Gov. in the whole southern Nigeria.

3. In the North there are four Christian Governors out of 19 states.

4. Eight Christian deputy Governors out of 19 states.

5. Are you aware there are 20 Christian Governors and 16 Muslim Governors in Nigeria.

6. Do you know there are 23 Christian Deputy Governors and 13 Muslim Deputy Governors in Nigeria.

Despite this *CAN* is still shouting of Islamization agenda. But is this Christianization agenda of the south? No, because southern Muslims are more liberal and won't shout or make noise but if it is the opposite *CAN* would raise hell.

Wao, never thought of this.

This is the man being promoted to become the President of Nigeria.

Whatever you're doing or saying now, you will reap it in the future. It is harvest time for Peter Obi.

Peter Obi will harvest bountifully from his previous anti North rhetoric.