₦airaland Forum

Raiders:
APC should expel Saraki out of their party now because he is a saboteur. its better he leaves now than in 2019 because people like him will cause trouble in 2019. Saraki is greedy and selfish and only cares about his interest

kaybams1:
Nigeria Politics is a Time Bomb and Saraki is the Judas Iscariot by Wunmi Akintide- Sahara Reporters

President Buhari‘s insistence that he was not
going to interfere on the affairs of the Parliament
is a major gaffe any way you slice it. The
Parliament, as stipulated in the Nigerian
Constitution, would determine whether or not his
change agenda would fail or succeed in Nigeria.

As a Political Science major with a deep passion
for politics, I can tell you that.
The PDP began to irredeemably fall apart the day
their own Speaker of the House,
Tambuwal began to show more loyalty and
favoritism for the opposition party, and there was
nothing the PDP could do to bring him to order
before the situation got out of control.

Only in
Nigeria is that kind of disloyalty tolerated in a
party official. It is true that the Speaker of the
House must be neutral in his dealings with
members as much as humanly possible, but the
‘river that forgets its source or origin’ as
reminded us by Elemure Ogunyemi, the Ekiti
country music idol, is bound to dry up sooner
than later.

Tambuwal got away with his disloyalty because
he figured out that he could only be removed as
Speaker by a majority of members in his
Chamber, and nobody else, as stipulated by the
obnoxious Nigerian Constitution. Unwritten ‘laws
of decency’ should have required the Speaker to
do the right thing without being told, but
because politics in Nigeria is all about self rather
than the ultimate interest of the Nation and the
institution, Tambuwal got away with his perfidy.
Not only that, he went on to be called a hero and
a consummate politician in a country where
corruption has become a virtue and a way of life.

Everybody in the PDP knew he was to all intent
and purposes an APC member, but the PDP and
President Jonathan were in total
denial. Tambuwal kept that advantage until the
very last moment when he publicly admitted he
was going to be the APC Governorship candidate
in Sokoto since he could not run for President. He
won the governorship election by a landslide.
That could only mean he had been rooting for
the APC long before he made it official.
Even though Goodluck Jonathan tried to shake
Tambuwal up by using the Inspector General of
Police, Abubakar Abba by withdrawing his
security details and the official cars and drivers
assigned to him as Speaker. Tambuwal went to
Court to challenge the move and won on legal
technicalities. The PDP went into the last
elections totally embarrassed and humiliated by
their own Speaker, legislators like Bukola Saraki
and Governors like Kwankwanso and Amaechi
who openly decamped into the opposition APC.

In his own case, Tambuwal only stopped short of
openly crossing carpet into the APC. He was
widely known to have been holding nocturnal
meetings with the APC Caucus while still claiming
allegiance to the PDP.

The House of Assembly in Abuja under the PDP
was a House of Commotion, Intrigues, Horse-
trading and Bribery if you get my point. Even
though Nigerians massively voted for change on
March 28 and April 11, I can assure you that
nothing has changed and nothing is going to
change in Nigeria for two important reasons.

First, neither of the two major political parties in
Nigeria today have any verifiable ideology that
explains their value system and political leanings.
Neither of them operates the kind of party
supremacy that is so critical in every Democracy.
Once the Party takes a decision, no member,
however powerful or rich can change it, whether
on the floor of the Parliament or anywhere else in
Nigeria

The Action Group under Obafemi Awolowo
became the powerhouse that made the Western
Region the pace setter in Nigeria among its peers
like the NPC and the NCNC. Rich individuals like
Pa Alfred Rewani, late Pa Ajao and Pa Shonibare
of Lagos were moneybags in the same Action
Group, but they all had to abide by what the
Party says.

Even Awolowo, arguably the most
conscientious politician and strategist among our
leaders, knew he could not achieve anything as
party leader without party discipline and
supremacy.
Awolowo initially wanted to make free education
in the Old Western region both ‘universal’ and
‘compulsory’ but the party settled for universal
only. Awolowo had no other choice because the
party was supreme. If Awolowo, the party leader,
could do that, no other member could challenge
the party and remain in the Action Group.
Awolowo was that strict. It was not like the
“animal farm” of today where a deserter from the
PDP like Bukola Saraki would not take no for an
answer because he is hell bent on becoming
Senate President to gain immunity from public
prosecution for atrocities he committed with
“Societe-Generale Bank“ a public institution he
plundered.

I don’t blame the APC for accepting “leprous”
Saraki into their fold. The APC was like a
drowning man that would cling to a snake at the
time it accepted Saraki, and the gamble paid off
big time in Kwara State, if not the whole of
Nigeria. They must now deal with and tame the
monster or suffer the same fate as the PDP
suffered in Kwara. Saraki is a true son of his
father. He is in politics not to help humanity but
to laugh all the way to the Bank for his own
benefit. As Saraki has become Senate President,
forget it. That is the end of Buhari’s anti-
corruption agenda.

I have cited the above examples to show that
neither the PDP, nor the APC that dethroned the
PDP for the first time in more than 55 years in
Nigeria has anything other than selfish interest at
heart. It is a complete outrage that Bukola
Saraki, who destroyed the PDP for his own selfish
gain is attempting the same thing in the APC.

Saraki is just like his twin brother in crime, Ayo
Fayose, the current Governor of Ekiti. He is the
Judas Iscariot of Nigerian Politics.
Ayo Fayose, the outlaw Governor has got away
with murder in Nigeria, so to speak, because
Goodluck Jonathan’s policy was to join the rotten
eggs of Nigerian Politics rather than beat
them. Fayose openly encouraged the PDP
members in the new Senate and the House of
Representatives to muddy the waters for the APC
and cause confusion by voting en masse for Sola
Saraki as Senate President.

He has the effrontery to do that because, under
the Jonathan government, he completely
outmaneuvered the 19 APC legislators he drove
out of Ekiti so that the 7 PDP legislators could
continue to do as they liked with him as the
overall boss. One would have expected the new
APC Government to have paid more attention to
Fayose and what he was doing in Ekiti prior to
the APC’s victory in the last election. The APC
dropped the ball on Fayose, who took advantage
of the APC’s silence and ineptitude to wait out
the 19 legislators till June 6th when his new set
of PDP legislators took over the Ekiti House of
Assembly.

I have completely lost confidence in the APC and
President Buhari for being so sluggish and slow
at doing what was expected of them. I could not
understand the strategy of the APC to put Ayo
Fayose on notice that his antics in Ekiti would no
longer be tolerated by Buhari. They were
supposed to hit the ground running, but grew so
careless that Ayo Fayose treated them like
amateurs in Politics. The man beat the APC arms
down in Ekiti, if the truth must be told. He
definitely put “Okaraba Baba Edi“ on the APC and
juggernauts like Ahmed Tinubu. The wizardry of
Ahmed Tinubu has been rubbished by Ayo
Fayose.
I agree that it is true that there are more urgent
problems to tackle than facing Ayo Fayose, but I condemn the APC, President Buhari and Vice-
President Osinbajo for completely taking their eye
off the ball in reference to Ayo Fayose and the
ugly developments in Ekiti.

I am also amazed, if not totally shocked, that one
week after Buhari’s inauguration he still has not
found the time to issue a statement on the 60
Nigerian officers and soldiers awaiting execution
for not fighting Boko Haram with their “bare
hands”. Boko Haram was fighting Nigeria with
tanks, armored vehicles, AK-47 rifles and other
deadly improvised bombs like what Biafrans call
“Ugbunigwe” during the 1967 to 1970 civil war.
These soldiers were expected to face this people
with prayer and fasting. That is just wicked.

It is unconscionable that Buhari, a retired 4-star
General has not seen the need to issue a
statement on the fate of those brave soldiers
within a week of his inauguration. The cowardly
Chief of Defense Staff and the other heads of the
Army, the Navy, and the Air Force who worked
with Goodluck Jonathan are still there, enjoying
their loot from Jonathan. Buhari looks insane to
me right now to keep quiet and not say a word.
Many, if not all, of those officers should have
been let go immediately.

It also beats my imagination that the same
Buhari, up till now, has not said a word on the
fate of Captain Sagir Koli, who blew the whistle
on the covert operations that helped Fayose rig
the election in Ekiti on June 21. Brigadier-General
Aliyu Momoh, the commanding officer of the
operation is still in the Military, while Sagir Koli
has had to runaway from Nigeria to avoid
assassination or victimization by his commanding
officer. Yet, Buhari still wants Nigeria to believe
he is the Messiah, coming to save Nigeria. If you
believe that crap, I have an island to sell to you
in the Pacific. Time is of the essence. Buhari is
damaging himself irredeemably in the court of
public opinion for all of the above.

I was one of the strongest supporters of General
Buhari during the election and I still support him,
but disillusionment has set in for many of his
supporters across Nigeria and for me. I am not so
sure any more from what he has done in his first
two weeks in office. I am more worried today
about his silence than anything else. I know
there is a limit to how much he could have done
in 2 weeks but he should at least have issued
some statements to assure Nigerians that he is
not totally lost or overwhelmed by the sheer
enormity of the problems he has to confront.

I suggested to him more than a year ago, that he
needed to set up a Rapid Response Team to draw
attention to many of these lapses, since he was
not avid reader of briefs sent to him. He should
have had somebody looking into social media to
compile information and advice he needs. The
Sahara Reporters of New York is a major resource
that he cannot afford to ignore. If he is in any
doubt, he should talk to his friend, Pastor Tunde
Bakare, who visits the website every day before
breakfast. Buhari is losing momentum and I deeply regret that.
Buhari has told us enough about Nigerian
problems. What Nigerians want to hear now are
his solutions to these problems. I am not talking
of solutions that would require the involvement
of the Senate or the House of Representative or
the Judiciary. I am talking of solutions that he is
able to do with executive orders. He should make
himself and his Vice President a shining example
of the change he wants to see in Nigeria just like
El Rufai and his Deputy Governor have done in
Kaduna State. They both declared in their
inaugural address that they would both accept a
50 percent salary cut until further notice.

That Buhari is yet to name a single member of
his cabinet and principal officers close to 2 weeks
after inauguration is proof that the man is not
ready for prime time. I am saying it out loud
because I want the man to succeed. I can tell
you right now that what Buhari has promised to
do in Nigeria cannot be achieved with the level of
sloppiness and lethargy he has shown in his first
two weeks in office.
He offered Nigerians a sartorial list of the
problems he wants to tackle but he has not
articulated the ends, the ways and the means for
solving those problems with any comprehensive
strategy. What he is trying to do cannot be done
with his current level of commitment and drive.
It is sad to say but it is the truth.

I fully understand that Buhari is trying to
convince his critics he is no longer the maximum
dictator he used to be as a military ruler but he is
doing it the wrong way by looking weak and
incompetent. By openly telling Nigerian he would
not interfere in what is going on in the
Parliament, he became spineless.

I would not be complaining this much if I saw
some convincing evidence he really wants to
strengthen the supremacy of the APC. I see no
evidence of a guiding ideology that should
influence all of Buhari’s decisions. I see none of
that and I think the observation should be of
concern to all Nigerians like me who voted for
change on March 28 and April 11.
The APC won 59 seats in the Senate and the PDP
won 49 in the new Parliament. The APC won 213
out of the 360 seats in the House of
Representatives leaving the remaining 147 to the
PDP, the APGA and the other parties in Nigeria. If
you compare that margin of victory with what
normally obtains in stable Democracies like the
United States, Britain and the State of Israel, you
will all see that the APC has a majority that is
comfortable enough to be able to effectively and
successfully govern Nigeria. What if the margin
of victory for the APC was much smaller? The APC
has no excuse to give right now. If it fails it will
have nobody but itself to blame.

makzeze:
What happened today in NASS would most likely boomerang and hurt APC in the near future, and by extension the President and his policies. In power play, you don't allow those who do not share your ideals and their cohorts in the opposition to hijack important organ of government as the legislature, and expect smooth sail of your policies - anti corruption, auterity measures and sociopolitical reforms.

PMB must act fast..the forces against the power blocks that gave him the APC ticket are getting stronger. They may decide to slow his progress in the face of high expectations from Nigerians, and before you know it, 2019 is around the corner. They could push their luck further by working with the opposition PDP in the countdown to next general elections.

makzeze:
What happened today in NASS would most likely boomerang and hurt APC in the near future, and by extension the President and his policies. In power play, you don't allow those who do not share your ideals and their cohorts in the opposition to hijack important organ of government as the legislature, and expect smooth sail of your policies - anti corruption, auterity measures and sociopolitical reforms.

PMB must act fast..the forces against the power blocks that gave him the APC ticket are getting stronger. They may decide to slow his progress in the face of high expectations from Nigerians, and before you know it, 2019 is around the corner. They could push their luck further by working with the opposition PDP in the countdown to next general elections.

adeekiti:
Na wa sha, what has politic turn to in naija, our leaders acting like kids and turning the nation with remote controls

millionboi:
if u dnt knw wat to say shoutup,dis is politics,I mean dis is wie d fun is......shieee una nid change

passionate88:
Me think the tag 'Daura President' aptly define the old man

shammah1:
This useless Sahara reporters again. They're so clueless and got no brains like Buhari. Cc Barcanista

Ezenwammadu:
Smart politics

simplynola:
The same Dino Melaye that couldn't hold his own home, caused chaos for PDP in the last dispensation, now he is in APC to scatter them. Anyways, i blame APC, when all of them were defecting to APC, they were clapping hands and raising flags, here is the result now. House divided against itself.

DauraDullard:
So "deceive" is what they term it, eh? It's game, people. We have accepted ur CHANGE!

millionboi:
if u dnt knw wat to say shoutup,dis is politics,I mean dis is wie d fun is......shieee una nid change

shomutuski:
Politics is one of the dirtiest thing on earth, more than porn sef...

mohisi:
that's politic 4 which I PDP 2 leard 4r becos if is PDP nw,they will start useing d police DSS and army on their members and opposition

adeekiti:
Na wa sha, what has politic turn to in naija, our leaders acting like kids and turning the nation with remote controls