₦airaland Forum

2027: Falana, Adams predict one-candidate presidential poll

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, and the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, on Thursday, warned that Nigeria could end up having only one presidential candidate in the 2027 election if the judiciary continues to interfere in political party affairs.

They spoke at the fifth Comrade Yinka Odumakin Memorial Lecture held at the Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.

The event had in attendance the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero; activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore; and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olumide Fusika.

It was hosted by the President of the Oluyinka Odumakin Foundation, Dr Joe Odumakin, and was also attended by the Executive Director of the International Press Centre, Mr Lanre Arogundade; other activists, including Agba Jalingo and Richard Akinola.

Delivering the memorial lecture, Falana asserted that court orders and conflicting judgments were being used to destabilise political parties and could lead to a situation where only one political party would present a presidential candidate in the 2027 election.

He spoke against the backdrop of Wednesday’s pronouncement of the Independent National Electoral Commission that it would no longer recognise the factions of the African Democratic Congress led by David Mark or Rafiu Bala.

The INEC based its decision on a Court of Appeal judgment, which directed the commission to maintain the status quo pending the determination of a suit challenging the legality of David Mark’s leadership of the opposition party.

Speaking, Falana criticised the judiciary for interfering in the internal affairs of political parties despite provisions of the Electoral Act prohibiting such interference.

Falana said, “Through the manipulation of Nigerian courts and senior lawyers, you may have only one candidate contesting the presidential election in this country.

If that happens, Nigeria may not even need to spend money on a presidential election.”

Falana warned that actions capable of undermining democracy could provoke unrest if Nigerians felt they no longer had a genuine electoral choice.

He urged civil society groups, labour unions and political activists to organise and defend democratic values, warning that unorganised protests could lead to anarchy rather than meaningful change.

“We must stop agonising and start organising in the interest of our people and democracy,” he said.

Speaking in the same vein, Adams warned that Nigeria was gradually drifting towards a one-party system, accusing those in power of using the judiciary to suppress opposition parties and the will of the people.

According to him, Nigeria operated more like a federal system in the First Republic when regions controlled the police, courts and local governments, but the 1999 Constitution returned the country to a unitary system with more items on the Exclusive Legislative List.

He said, “In 1963, there were about 45 items on the Exclusive List, but today we have about 68 items. Practically everything is controlled by Abuja. What we have now is more of a unitary system than a federal system.”

Falana explained that some powers had been taken from the Federal Government through court cases filed by states, particularly on issues such as local government administration, Value Added Tax, and control of land.

He noted that despite the agitation for restructuring, many state governments had failed to utilise the powers already granted to them, especially in areas like electricity generation, railways and prisons, which were moved from the Exclusive List.

He said, “Some of those who shout restructuring don’t believe in it. Electricity, railways and prisons were removed from the Exclusive List, but how many states have generated electricity, built rail lines or established prisons? None.”

Speaking on the debate over state police, Falana warned that the system could be abused by state governors to suppress political opponents, citing abuses recorded during the First Republic when regional governments controlled the police.

He said the Police Council, which includes the President, Inspector-General of Police, Chairman of the Police Service Commission and state governors, was supposed to manage the Federal Police collectively, but the body hardly met, leaving policing effectively in the hands of the President.

Falana also criticised the political class for cornering the country’s resources, especially oil blocks and solid minerals, alleging that a few individuals had become extremely wealthy through government allocations of oil blocks and mining licences.

He said illegal mining and smuggling of minerals were also contributing to insecurity in some parts of the country, as unemployed youths were being recruited into illegal mining operations and criminal activities.

Fusika (SAN) warned that the nation was approaching a dangerous end, especially with pervasive insecurity.

He, however, rallied all Nigerians to unite to tackle the issues facing the country.

Human rights activist Akinola decried what he described as the “incestuous relationship” between the executive and the judiciary.

“Politicians have hijacked the judiciary, and it is dangerous,” he said.

Speaking, NLC President Ajaero argued that Nigeria has been hijacked by a few persons benefitting from the present centralised structure.

He spoke in favour of restructuring, devolution of powers, localising resources to decouple the present centralised structure and state police.

On calls for revolution, Ajaero warned that such a move must be organised so that it does not lead to anarchy.

In his remarks, Sowore opined that the President Bola Tinubu administration was driving Nigerians to push for a revolution.

Sowore said, “These are revolutionary times if we take advantage of them. I predicted, when President Bola Tinubu came to power, that he was the one who would lead us to a revolution in Nigeria. It is up to the Nigerian people to take charge of the moment and the opportunity he has provided for the revolution.

“Tinubu is on a highway driving you to a revolution, and you still have not got the message. But he will make it happen because this country cannot escape a revolution.

“Tinubu’s most important duty as President is to drive this country in a revolutionary direction where he, the rest of his colleagues, ministers, and friends will be strangers to the system that they think they brought about, where they think everybody is foolish and in need of handouts.

https://punchng.com/2027-falana-adams-predict-one-candidate-presidential-poll/I'm

Sowore will certainly contest

lawani:
Sowore will certainly contest

The Aso Rock dictator will soon find something against him.

They are calling for breakdown of law and order… Nigeria needs only 2 things , free and fair elections or Biafra so that Igbos can run a prosperous free and fair country built on merit and hardwork while the rest of Nigeria deals with rigged elections, religious crises, nepotism, leadership failure etc

But it will not happen

Xx

Judiciary in Nigeria today is a laughing stock

30 Governors and lots of others yet there is palpable fear and anxiety. A classical case of the wicked flee when no one pursues....

lawani:
Sowore will certainly contest

When they are talking about animals with horns, should a snail be counted

How many votes has he ever scored in any election?

If he is the only person contesting against Tinubu, he will only be helping to legitimise the reelection of the budding dictator's pretence of being a democrat. It's the way that serial party hopper Utomi helped Tinubu become president three years ago.

Utomi was the first presidential candidate of ADC, 19 years ago.

lexylaw40:
The “president-elect” saw in Obi's presidential bid, a good chance to reduce the winning chances of the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar.

The governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Oyo State, Tawfiq Akinwale, [/b]on Wednesday [b]stated that the “President-elect” Bola Tinubu asked popular economist, Prof Pat Utomi to step down for Peter Obi in the buildup to the 2023 general elections.

Akinwale made this revelation while he appeared as a guest on a radio programme on 101.7 YES FM, Ibadan, Oyo State, while alleging that Obi received campaign funds from Utomi, whom he described as Tinubu's "son."

The LP aspirant, who spoke in Yoruba language, said "In the buildup to the 2023 elections, Obi who had purchased the nomination form of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), suddenly announced his exit from the party.

"Initially, Pat Utomi had secured the LP's presidential ticket, but when Peter Obi said he resigned from the PDP and joined the LP. Bola Tinubu, a master political strategist, quickly told Utomi, that everyone knows to be his son to step down for Obi.

"The “president-elect” saw in Obi's presidential bid, a good chance to reduce the winning chances of the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar.

"What Peter Obi didn't know is much more that what he knows, he started collecting campaign funds from Utomi, while Tinubu was giving the money to Utomi.

"This went on until Obi's presidential campaign got to a stage it went beyond target. Obi was used without him knowing," Akinwale said after announcing his departure from the party.

Obi defected to the LP after resigning his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and also withdrawing from the presidential race under the party.

The former governor consequently joined the race for the party’s presidential ticket, while Professor Pat Utomi, in June 2022 stepped down for him to emerge as the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, unopposed in Asaba, Delta State.

https://saharareporters.com/2023/05/24/how-president-elect-tinubu-funded-peter-obis-campaign-reduce-winning-chances-atiku-oyo

This is not funny any more. Let's wake up Nigeria!!

Revolution now. No waiting.

Racoon:
30 Governors and lots of others yet there is palpable fear and anxiety.

A classical case of the wicked flee when no one pursues....

There is no palpable or non-palpable fear in Tinubu's camp.

The opposition are the ones who are fumbling instead of humbling themselves to get behind a strong candidate who can restore PDP's 16 years of deregulation and privatisation prosperity.

Femeto:
Revolution now. No waiting.

Who is stopping you from starting - behind your keyboard

HIGHESTPOPORI:
Judiciary in Nigeria today is a laughing stock

The ones in FCT are indeed laughing to their new houses, thanks to wicked Wike, who prioritised that over paying teachers' salary and keeping children in schools.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqFMCgRREXg

It so sad that people's that have voice in this country chose to keep silent and face their business

If you're not aware that Sowore has been and still working for Tinubu then you're still sitting on a long thing.

lawani:
Sowore will certainly contest

The fear of defeat is making Tinubu do stupid things. The good thinking Yorubas should not allow Tinubu to get away with this. If it does, the Yoruba nation at large will suffer the consequences. Thiefnibuu is so afraid that he wants only him to be on the ballot. Yet some mo*Ron's are hailing him claiming he can win any election. You all can see the mandate thief stole Obi's mandate. The reason why he is preventing him from getting any party ticket. 😂😂😂😂
The fall of Tinubu will be so sweetest. Let him taste his own medicine

lawani:
Sowore will certainly contest

with his 14k votes from 2023 hw is not relevant

Aside that we are yet to have any opposition party in Nigeria, all i can see is cracks that will soon crumble.

Instead of that, let the military reset the system.

The Fourth Republic has collapsed
It is will be on record that this was orchestrated by the Yorubas.

Not possible.

Tinubu is gonna run against Sowore next year.

anonimi:
When they are talking about animals with horns, should a snail be counted

How many votes has he ever scored in any election?

If he is the only person contesting against Tinubu, he will only be helping to legitimise the reelection of the budding dictator's pretence of being a democrat. It's the way that serial party hopper Utomi helped Tinubu become president three years ago.

Utomi was the first presidential candidate of ADC, 19 years ago.

Of course many others will contest. I was only joking. The ADC should rearrange themselves. A party is not a cult group. They should reabsorb the old members. It does not change any thing significantly

Melezenawii:
2027: Falana, Adams predict one-candidate presidential poll



https://punchng.com/2027-falana-adams-predict-one-candidate-presidential-poll/I'm

Lol....😁😁😁
In the next presidential election,there will probably be only two candidates on the ballot.
Bola Tinubu and Yele Sowore.
These are the two dictators ruling their political parties with a fist of iron.
Tinubu versus Sowore.
It should be interesting,because the two of them do not allow any opposition.

And that will president of oduduwa republic if this is the plan of Yoruba people in 2027

This will definitely lead to anarchy and a revolution.

Tinubu should remember that his breathe is only on his nostrils. If he eventually succeeds in this one party agenda, he won't last to enjoy it.

“Tinubu’s most important duty as President is to drive this country in a revolutionary direction where he, the rest of his colleagues, ministers, and friends will be strangers to the system that they think they brought about, where they think everybody is foolish and in need of handouts."


June 12, 2013 by The Nation

PDP, Jonathan have failed Nigerians, says Tinubu

ACN leader lashes govt on economy, security
President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration is confused about how to tackle Nigeria’s challenges, especially poverty and insecurity, a leader of the newly-formed All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has said.

He said the Federal Government promised peace and security, but under its “unwatchful eye” insecurity has grown and Boko Haram “has turned large tracts of northern Nigeria into no man’s land”.


But, a bright future, he said, is on the horizon as the APC, which he called “the government in-waiting”, would rescue Nigeria from its confused state.


“As leaders of the new party and government in-waiting, we intend to pursue dynamic, time-tested and bold policies that will liberate our people by making sure our wealth works for us,” Tinubu said.

Nigerians, said Tinubu, have become increasingly divided as a people because the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government continues to take faulty steps in addressing poverty and injustice.

“They have ignored the cause and gone after the symptoms,” the former Lagos State Governor told a packed audience inside the Grand Committee Ballroom, Westminster Hall, House of Parliament, London on Monday. He identified failed policies on power, employment, economy and security as evidence of bad leadership.


Tinubu, the keynote speaker at the British African Diaspora Conference, spoke on “Leadership, national development and the people”.

He urged the Federal Government to apply a consistent policy of targeted law enforcement operations along with an active programme of economic development, negotiations and potential amnesty for penitent Boko Haram members.

He said rather than take this step, the nation has been treated to series of government inaction and indiscriminate use of force, which culminated in the declaration of a state of emergency in three states.


“The Jonathan government set up a special Committee on Boko Haram and Security matters, but sadly before they could perform, he declared State of Emergency in three Northern states: Yobe, Borno and Adamawa.

“This is symptomatic of a confused leadership. If there is security in this jumbled policy, neither I nor the majority of Nigerians can find it!”

To the fomer Lagos governor, if Nigeria is to mature as a democracy, its electoral system must be improved. He decried the fact that those who control the system manipulate elections with such impunity that they now see misconduct without sanction as a normal way of life.


Said he: “Look at the recent controversy surrounding election of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) chairman… A group comprising all the nations’ governors could not even conduct a simple 35-person election without a disputed outcome.

“With this recent experience, I fear the length those in power would go and the means they would employ to manipulate results when the battleground is the entire nation and the stakes are the general elections in 2015.

“The NGF debacle symbolises a disdain for democracy and the popular will. If we are to save Nigeria, we must rescue the electoral process from its abusers,” Tinubu said.

In his view, a great philosophical gulf separates the government from the progressives. “This current Nigerian government is a retrogressive one. Much of what they claim as growth is but the harsh redistribution of wealth from the bottom to the top. The bottom gets squeezed while the top expands. They are serving us the salad of corruption.

“They consume our today and squander the nation’s tomorrow. For 14 years, the PDP-led government cannot turn anything around. A new leadership is required to put a stop to this.”

Tinubu criticised Nigeria’s economic policies, saying the economy is being reconstructed “as an oasis for a small few and a stark desert for the many” while the government pretends to endorse the same budget-cutting austerity policies as much of Europe.

“We are not Europe; we are a Third World economy. That these policies have failed in European nations with higher standards of living than Nigeria gives our leaders no concern.”

Tinubu said the people live in dire straits, yet the government would rather waste the money than spend it on public benefit because they do not believe the people deserve it.

He said the progressives would bring pragmatic solution to the country’s woes because in their approach to the political economy, they do not rely on textbook answers as they do not “live in textbooks.

He said: “We live in the real world and thus seek answers from real world experiences. Here is a real world fact: No large nation has ever attained sustained growth without government running budget deficits to build the required infrastructure and without other government policies promoting development of the key industries that would become the spine of national development.

“Here is another such fact: No populous nation ever attains prosperity solely by extracting its raw material to exchange them for the finished goods of other large nations. We must industrialise and diversify our economy

“It is for this reason – to save the nation from the stranglehold of permanent poverty and poor governance – that the members of the progressive opposition political parties have decided to put aside personal ambition (including my own ambition) to form a new party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). We do this because Nigeria has entered a critical state of economic depression.”

According to Tinubu, because of the unfair nature of the electoral processes and the gross imbalance of its political economy, the people have been props in a drama for which they should have been the main characters. “We must change this,” he said.

He said the progressives must move Nigeria away from a place where the whims and narrow wishes of self-centered reactionary elite dictate the fate of over 150 million people.

“On our side, we will take our chances with a free and fair election, for we shall offer the people an innovative programme consisting of a national industrial policy that includes radical infrastructural development and employment targets,” he said.

The former Lagos governor spoke of “the Glorious Nigerian Revolution”, which he said has nothing to do with force of arms.

His words: “The Revolution of which I speak has two major parts. First, is the peaceful conversion of our quasi-democracy into a full-fledged one. Second, is the implementation of policies turning the political economy away from its retrogressive, elitist bearings.

“We seek policies pointing in a progressive direction affording the average person a chance at a dignified life. This will be through the provision of gainful employment, quality education and essential social services for those who need the helping hand of government to survive.

“I see no shame in believing progressive government can improve the political economy and the lives of the people.”

APC has thrown more Nigerians into poverty.

Any genuine Nigerian supporting this government is a hypocrite ( suffering & smiling according to Fela).

APC has created more private & corporate beggars in the history of Nigeria.

Vote APC & remain hungry & poor.
Vote Tinubu & have no hope of prosperity.

Use your head Nigerians and take your eyes off any tribal or religious sentiment and think freely.

lawani:
Sowore will certainly contest

Sowore is my candidate. Let’s rally around his candidacy. Those who have been tested so far have failed. Let’s give a chance to someone who hasn’t held political office before

Yes, the Lord is showing them visions. Tinubu will not help PDP or LP or ADC or HIV to organise their party