₦airaland Forum

Suspense was enveloping the political space in Abuja on Friday ahead of the 8.00 pm meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and governors of the All Progressives Congress, APC where the issue of a consensus presidential candidate for the party was expected to be discussed.


On the shadows of the meeting, the fate of one of the presidential aspirants, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was also featured prominently after his outburst on Thursday in Abeokuta.

At that meeting with APC stakeholders in Abeokuta, Tinubu had spoken of seeming frustrations after what he described as his leading role in making Buhari President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo vice president and Mr Dapo Abiodun governor of Ogun State.

There were fears in the camp of Tinubu of a possible backlash arising from the outburst with fears that the presidency could now fully come out against the national leader even beyond the presidential primaries. While the result of the screening results was yet to be made public there were fears within the Tinubu Camp that the presidency could now muster judicial and extra-judicial powers to curtail Tinubu with his home base in Lagos a likely target.

A source in the Tinubu camp feared yesterday that the decision of one of the aspirants for the governorship ticket of the APC in Lagos State, Abdul-Ahmed Olorunfemi Mustapha, a former Permanent Secretary, to go to court over his disqualification from the Lagos State primary may be used to hound the APC national leader if the court grants Mustaph’s prayers.

“The decision of Mustapha to go to court looks foreboding and whatever anyone is plotting, no one should hurt Asiwaju’s life,” a source embedded in the camp of the National leader and leading presidential aspirant said yesterday.

Meanwhile, anxiety was pulling away at the camp of the major presidential contenders with the insinuation that the seeming decision by President Buhari to head South for a successor was locking away several of the other contestants outside the Southwest.

“If the president heads South he will be limited to the Southwest which is the only region that can produce the kind of bloc votes that can be needed to square up victory for the party,” a source involved in strategy with one of the Southwest aspirants told Saturday Vanguard.

“The Southeast has already been split by Peter Obi and Rotimi Amaechi will be at pains to unite the South-South behind him,” the source added.

Meanwhile, whatever are the intentions of the president, the governors, it was gathered, were ahead of the meeting preparing their own strategies but unity among the governors was still not possible unlike the March national convention when they were able to come up with a unity list.

“Don’t forget there is no list this time, it is one candidate and the interests among the governors differ,” another strategist who spoke on the condition of anonymity said.

Saturday Vanguard reports that while the majority of governors are determined to produce one of their own as a successor, a few of them are rooting for Tinubu.

President Buhari had earlier before his trip to Spain pleaded with the governors to allow him come up with his successor in the same way that all the second term governors have been coming up with their individual successors unhindered.

A presidential aide speaking on the condition of anonymity simply told Saturday Vanguard that all the intrigues would be resolved in a matter of days if not hours.

“Everything will be over in a matter of four days at most. Let us watch,” as he claimed ignorance of the inclination of the president.

APC national leader Bola Tinubu is doubling down on his credentials as a bona fide aspirant that should be selected as the All Progressives Congress’ presidential candidate, citing instances of his political exploits and apparent sagacity.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time. Give me the position. It’s my turn,” Mr Tinubu said.

While casting himself as a political saviour and Nigeria’s possible messiah, Mr Tinubu on Thursday in Ogun declared that it was his turn to be Nigeria’s next president because of his vast experience getting the likes of ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former chair of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission out of trouble.

The former Lagos governor stated that he saved Mr Abubakar, Mr Ribadu and a former senator, Ganiyu Solomon, from their oppressive principals.

He reminded the Ogun APC stakeholders that he still has the wherewithal to govern Nigeria. While many acknowledge his vast political and financial base, there are concerns about his health, which Mr Tinubu has always dismissed.

“When Atiku’s party ganged up against him, and Obasanjo brutalised him, he ran to me for help. It was I who saved him. It is my turn now,” Mr Tinubu told APC members in the Yoruba language.

The former Lagos governor reminded party members that his political intelligence saved Mr Ribadu when witch-hunted by then-President Umaru Yar’Adua, who demoted him from the EFCC chair to a deputy commissioner of police before dismissing him from the force.

“When Nuhu Ribadu was chased with an axe (during Mr Yar’Adua’s administration), this is not a matter of axe. It’s a matter of wisdom,” recounted Mr Tinubu while taking credit for resolving the crisis that beset the former EFCC chairman.

Mr Tinubu dubbed a political godfather to many elected officials, insisted it was his turn to be the country’s president and succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, whose eight-year tenure would expire in 2023.

Meanwhile, Mr Buhari has insisted on a consensus candidate for the party, a move Mr Tinubu has long opposed. The former Lagos governor has also reportedly learnt that he will not be Mr Buhari’s favourite, prompting him to embark on an open confrontation few days to the presidential primary.

Ahead of the ruling party’s convention on June 6, Mr Tinubu has made headlines for being the least likely (due to a possible consensus arrangement) to clinch the presidential ticket despite being the most prolific politician amongst the aspirants.

One of the frontline presidential aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, says he led political struggle that produced President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.

Tinubu also categorically said he nominated Prof Yemi Osinbajo as Buhari’s running mate.

He spoke at presidential lodge in Abeokuta, the state capital, while addressing the APC delegates ahead of the party’s primaries.

Tinubu was in company with Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, his Kano counterpart, Umar Ganduje, and former Borno State Governor, Kasim Shettima.

The former Governor of Lagos State said he made the revelations for the first time in Ogun State, home state of Osinbajo, one of his rivals for the APC presidential ticket.

He said Buhari had offered him a running mate ticket, but some blocs rose against him, fanning ember of Muslim-Muslim ticket.

The former governor also said when he was asked to submit three names for running mate, he pencilled down Yemi Kadoso, Wale Edun and Yemi Osinbajo.

He added that he later settled for Osinbajo as running mate.

“You have not heard this from me before. This is the first place I am saying this,” Tinubu who addressed the delegates in Yoruba said.

Speaking on Buhari’s emergence, he said “If not me that led the war front, Buhari wouldn’t have emerged. He contested first, second and third times, but lost. He even said on television that he won’t contest again.

“But I went to his home in Katsina. I told him you would contest and win, but you won’t joke with the matters of the Yorubas. Since he has emerged I have not been appointed minister. I didn’t get contract.

“This time, it’s Yoruba turn and in Yorubaland, it’s my tenure.”

Tinubu also said without God and him, Governor Dapo Abiodun would not have emerged in 2019 election.

“Dapo that’s sitting down here, could he have become Governor without me? We were at the stadium, they tore all his posters. Even the party flag, they didn’t want to hand over it to him, I was the one who brought it.

“If he wants to meet God at the right place, he must know that without God and me, he would not have become Governor.”

In his remarks, Abiodun who had earlier declared his support for Osinbajo’s candidature, refused to endorse Tinubu.

He told Tinubu that delegates from the state would do “the right thing” at the convention.

Abiodun described Tinubu as a political warrior, serial winner and strategist.

A former chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) Chief Chekwas Okorie on Wednesday said that frustrations by those who hijacked the party from him forced the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu to join Radio Biafra.

Okorie, who rejoined APGA under the leadership of Chief Edozie Njoku in Enugu from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), disclosed that under him as the national chairman of APGA, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Uche Mefor, Egemba, among others were the party leaders in diaspora.

He said when he left the party to found the United Progressive Party(UPP) in 2012, Kanu and others quit politics to join Radio Biafra.

Okorie stated that he did not abandon APGA but was forced out after several attempts to reconcile both parties were rejected by one party

“Things happened in APGA barely two years after it was founded, just barely a year after it triggered off a revolution in Nigeria.

“We didn’t abandon the ship. We struggled to save the sole of APGA. We struggled for eight years. And the Supreme Court up to three times and no court ever ruled that APGA had a new national chairman.

“We tried reconciliation. There were over 20 attempts to have peace; to reconcile with one another. But it was frustrated by only one side.

“So, when we left to form another party, the UPP, it was with a heavy heart. But we had to. We felt there was no point continuing fighting. We needed to try our hands elsewhere.

“In 2012, we founded UPP. In the same 2012, all our leaders from diaspora, including Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Uche Mefor, Egemba, all of them said they were tired of the political process in Nigeria and they moved on to join Radio Biafra.

“When that UPP couldn’t move forward, in 2020, we decided to try our hands with the ruling party, the APC.

“We collapsed our structure into the APC. That was a difficult decision for us to make. But, at the end of the day, we weren’t too comfortable in APC. Having been in opposition, fighting a particular course for several decades, it was not so easy to change from the characteristics that you have.

“There was pressure everywhere that we should return to APGA and help to rebuild APGA and help bring it back to the part of that revolution.

“But I told my associates that we cannot return to APGA from a backyard.

“So, when the Supreme Court in its wisdom, corrected an error they accepted they made in October last year, and affirmed Chief Edozie Njoku as the authentic national chairman of APGA, and the panel headed by now retired Justice Mary Odili, corrected themselves which is allowed under Nigerian laws. And the beneficiary of that judgement, Chief Edozie Njoku is here.

“The judgement did not change in content. It only changed in terms of the beneficiary of that judgement.

“We saw the judgement. We saw the certification and we saw the signature of Justice Mary Odili.

“We also saw an earlier judgement by the Federal High Court confirming that the convention done in Owerri, Imo State was the authentic and lawful convention of the party.

“When they got the judgement, their first point of call was here. They were here to appeal to me to return back to the party. The appeal was emotional.

“How could I resist when I have been given the front door to return to the party I built? I couldn’t resist. So, I accepted immediately. I consulted my associates and they said it was a good idea”.

He disclosed before rejoining APGA, he had last month resigned his membership of APC in his Alai ward in Abia State.

ABUJA – The audacious step of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to elect a former Senator representing Anambra Central, Ebenezer Ikeyina on Tuesday may have eliminated the possibility of Senator Ahmed Tinubu using it as a viable alternative to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Daily Independent can report.

Sources in the camp of the APC chieftain had hinted on the possibility of former Lagos state governor flying the flag of the opposition party, in the event that he fails to get the ticket of his current party.

However, the Tuesday event apparently necessitated by the need to meet deadlines in INEC guidelines, and the fact that the ruling party has been dilly-dallying about its presidential primaries have invariably foreclosed the availability of alternative platforms such as the SDP.

While addressing all the Delegates from the 36 States of the Federation and FCT in Abuja during the SDP National Convention, the Acting SDP National Chairman, Chief Supo Shonibare expressed optimism that the party’s candidates seeking various elective positions at Federal and State will be victorious at all levels during the 2023 general elections.

According to the Chairman of the National Convention Organising Committee, Chief Mike Odunrinde who presided over the election, out of the 311 Delegates accredited, 308 voted in favour of Senator Ikeniya, two voted against while only one vote was voided.

Chief Shonibare disclosed that after the National Convention and the final determination of the Court case, the party will have an extraordinary convention which is expected to involve members of the factional group, adding that the SDP leadership is “particularly mindful of the fate of our candidates.”

According to him, some of the Aspirants who emerged as Candidates at all levels who are not aware of the ongoing internal crisis will be protected from all forms of jeopardy that may happen in the nearest future.

He assured that the party being led by himself in an acting capacity until the next convention is “very confident will be victorious. It may not be as quickly as we wanted but I’m assuring you that we will be victorious.”

As I traveled to Anambra yesterday, When I got to Awka heading to Onitsha, the only song in my heart was that posterity will surely be kind to @MBuhari The quality of the road he is building heading to Enugu can best be described as magnificent. He is simply a man of taste.

ABUJA – A member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working Committee (NWC) has raised the red flag on what he says is a subtle attempt by some presidential aspirants to intimidate members of the NWC, other presidential Aspirants and the indeed the party in the build to the party’s Special Convention.

Making reference to the congratulatory message sent to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the PDP standard-bearer by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, wherein the former Lagos State governor invited Atiku to the presidential contest proper, the APC chieftain who does not want to be named in print argued that such invitation was uncalled for since Tinubu is yet to emerge as the APC flagbearer.

Lauding the PDP presidential primary at the weekend, Tinubu had commended Atiku as Conduct of the primary and expressed confidence that both Political gladiators will square up in the presidential election proper.

However, the party chieftain opined that until Asiwaju Tinubu emerges at the party’s Convention any attempt by him to presumptuously invite a candidate of another party to a duel amounts to intimidation of the APC, the NWC and therefore uncalled for.

He maintained that the party and NWC will not be intimidated by anyone and urged members to remain committed to electing a candidate that will serve the interest of the party

“The NWC is here to serve members and the interest of the party. We must not allow any aspirant to intimidate us or create the impression that he is ordained to pick the ticket of the party.

“For many of us in the NWC the statement credited to one of the Aspirants, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is unnecessary and from my point of view, is aimed to intimidate the NWC, and to some extent the delegates and Aspirants as well.

“With that said, it is important that all Aspirants be reminded that the NWC is committed to ensuring that the best among the Aspirants emerge in a process that suits the peculiar need of the party and aspiration of its members beyond the President Mohammadu Buhari era.

“For starters, let me say that the interest of all the Aspirants are represented in the NWC and therefore there’s no need to worry”.

Independent learnt that the comment credit to Tinubu cost a steer among presidential aspirants with some expressing concern that the NWC may have sold out ahead of the special Convention.

Among other things the Jagaban had said:
” I welcome the victory of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the just concluded primary. I look forward to squaring up with him as a worthy opponent in the coming election.

“I have known the former Vice President as a formidable politician and a patriot who believes in the unity and progress of our dear country.

“As we move further into the election season, I charge the PDP presidential candidate and all political actors across party lines that we should make this election season one that is devoid of bitterness, rancour and strife.

“We should make our campaigns peaceful and issue-based. Election season should be a festival of ideas that will uplift our country and improve the living condition of all our people.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan says he is “constitutionally” qualified to contest for president in 2023, adding that Section 137 sub-sections 1(b) and 3 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as amended doesn’t have an effect on him.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on June 4, 2018, signed a constitutional amendment that stops a Vice President who completes the term of a President from contesting for the office of the President more than one more time.

The law also stops a deputy governor who completes the term of a governor from seeking a second term in office as a governor.

A President’s term can be cut short by reasons of death, resignation, or death to pave the way for the Vice President to complete the term of the departed President.

Following the death of then-President Umaru Yar’Adua on May 5, 2010, Jonathan as the then Vice President, took a new oath of office to complete Yar’Adua’s term as President.

He was also sworn in for another term on May 29, 2011, after he won the presidential poll of that year.

The first defendant has argued that since he acquired his right to contest and if successful, be sworn in as President after he lost his re-election bid in 2015 to the current President -President Muhammadu Buhari – it would be unethical to the spirit and intendment of the legislature to take away the right he acquired in 2015 on the basis of a law that came into effect in 2018.

Jonathan, in a counter-affidavit deposed by his assistant, Peletiri John Debetimi to a suit marked FHC/YNG/CS/86/2022, calling for his disqualification, said the law can’t be applied to his case.

Andy Solomon and Idibiye Abraham had approached a Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State that the former President should be disqualified from contesting the 2023 presidential election.

They listed Jonathan, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as first, second, and third defendants respectively.

The duo argued that by virtue of the introduction of Section 137 sub-sections 1(b) and 3 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as amended, the former president was no longer eligible to vie for the office of the president because he had taken an oath to that office on two previous occasions.

But responding, Jonathan said it would be unethical to the spirit and intendment of the legislature to take away the right he acquired in 2015 when he lost to President Buhari on the basis of a law that came into effect in 2018.

“Upon being served with the plaintiffs’ originating processes, the first defendant, through his counsel, E.K. Omare & Co. filed his counter-affidavit ad written address both of which are dated 19th May, 2022. The first defendant’s counter-affidavit is of 12 paragraphs and is deposed to by one Engr. Peletiri John Debetimi who described himself as an Assistant to the first defendant,” court documents seen by SaharaReporters read.

“One exhibit marked as Exhibit EKOI (i.e ‘Exhibit A) was annexed to the said counter-affidavit. Exhibit EKOI (i.e. Exhibit A) is a copy of the official gazette containing the 4th alteration to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

“In summary, the first defendant’s response, as stated in his counter-affidavit is that he has never been ‘elected’ into the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on two previous occasions. The first defendant stated that the oath of office he took on the 6th of May, 2010 was taken upon his ‘election’ as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The first defendant further asserted that he took the said oath to complete the aborted tenure of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

“The first defendant has argued that since he acquired his right to contest and if successful, be sworn in as President after he lost his re-election bid in 2015 to the current President -President Muhammadu Buhari – it would be unethical to the spirit and intendment of the legislature to take away the right he acquired in year 2015 on the basis of a law that came into effect in 2018.

“Now the position of the law on retroactive or retrospective application of laws is quite settled. Retroactive laws are which relate or cover matters or acts which occurred before its commencement date.”


Background


Jonathan had recently rejected the presidential form of the ruling APC purchased for him, purportedly by a group of supporters from the northern region.


Speaking through his Media Adviser, Ikechukwu Eze, the former president said it was an insult for the group to have bought him the forms without his permission.


However, sources had told SaharaReporters that claims by the former President that he did not authorise the purchase of multi-million-naira presidential nomination and expression of interest forms were far from the truth.


SaharaReporters broke the story of how a cabal in the ruling APC had pushed for Jonathan to succeed Buhari, after being impressed by how the former President never openly criticised Buhari's government despite its ineptitude and the insults the APC, as an opposition party, hurled at him (Jonathan) ahead of the 2015 presidential election.


The fact that Jonathan cannot spend more than one term in office, if they can manage to get him there, is also not lost on the cabal. However, SaharaReporters has also reported how Jonathan was later called a betrayer by the cabal after he failed to fulfil some of the conditions given to him, including convincing some PDP governors to defect to the APC.


Following speculations that Jonathan was preparing to defect to the ruling APC and seek the presidential ticket of the party, some Nigerians, including human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN), argued that his candidature will breach the constitution. Other Nigerians have also expressed different opinions on the issue.


Falana had based his position on Section 137 (3) of the Constitution, which provides as follows: “A person who was sworn in to complete the term for which another person was elected as president shall not be elected to such office for more than a single term.”


Falana had said, “Some people have said that the amendment is not retrospective and therefore cannot apply to Dr Jonathan.


Assuming without conceding that the amendment is not retrospective it is submitted that under the current Constitution a President or Governor cannot spend more than two terms of eight years.


“In other words, the Constitution will not allow anyone to be in office for more than a cumulative period of 8 years. In Marwa v. Nyako (2012) 6 NWLR (Pt.1296) 199 at 387 the Supreme Court stated that Section 180 (1) and (2)(a) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has prescribed a single term of 4 years and if a second term, another period of 4 years and not a day longer.


“In the case of Governor Ladoja v INEC (2008)40 WRN 1 the Supreme Court rejected the prayer of Governor Ladoja for 11 months’ extension to cover the period he was kept out of office through illegal impeachment. The Supreme Court rejected the prayer on the ground that a Governor is entitled to spend a maximum period of eight years or less and not more than eight years.


“It is not in dispute that Dr. Jonathan became the President of Nigeria in 2010 following the sudden death of President Umaru Yar’Adua. He later contested and won the 2011 presidential election. Having spent five years in office as President, Dr. Jonathan is disqualified from contesting the 2023 presidential election. The reason is that if he wins the election, he will spend an additional term of four years. It means that he would spend a cumulative period of 9 years as President of Nigeria in utter breach of Section 137 of the Constitution which provides for a maximum two terms of eight years.”

I’ve realised the love I have for my family & those I consider family but we just share different parents can get rather unhealthy sometimes & make me quite vicious & cruel when I feel threatened or I feel they are threatened in any way. I don’t take it well. I am working on it.

So if ever insulted you, your mother, your parents, ancestors please forgive me. We grow, we re-learn. I have un-learned a lot too. Experience & realities have shown me first hand that I’m above that at this point & also make I talk true na Madam wey give me ultimatum. Forgive me.

And I beg, please be a little patient with me. This is in my genes, I must chook mouth & my opinion on issues (which some I don’t intend in ceasing) everything bedevilling my beloved country literally triggers me & it’s when that Bashir, the one misunderstood on Twitter emerges.

Dear @RotimiAkeredolu politics is not by threats, its a game of give and take, its a game of patience and tactics. Upon all your empty threads & verbal assaults, a Northerner still got the PDP ticket & if you're not lucky, that of APC too, and there's nothing you can do about it.

If these ones (PDP) decide to elect a Northerner as their Presidential flagbearer they are literally telling Nigerians that the country solely belongs to Northerners alone. A figurative ‘F*** you’ to their Southern supporters & a betrayal of their own Constitution.

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano has assured his Ekiti State counterpart, Kayode Fayemi, of his support to actualise his presidential aspiration.

Femi Ige, the spokesperson of Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation, said in a statement on Friday in Abuja, that Mr Ganduje gave the assurance when Mr Fayemi’s campaign team visited him.

Mr Fayemi is contesting the 2023 Presidential Election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The spokesperson said Mr Ganduje, who was represented by his Deputy, Nasiru Gawuna, said that Mr Fayemi’s management and leadership qualities were apparent to all.

“Your leadership qualities are not hidden, the way you have led the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) for two terms with unity of purpose, and with no dissent is a testament to your leadership skills.

“You have led 36 governors from across different parties effectively; you have actually been president without having ministers, and have discharged your duties creditably.

“So, we have no fears about supporting you because the morning tells how the day will look like,” Mr Ganduje was quoted to have said.

He recalled Fayemi’s support during his trying times, adding that it was not in his character to repay good with evil. “During the Kano State governorship re-run election in 2019 when everyone left us, you stood by our government.

“In fact you were the only governor who came here and fought until victory was achieved, so we owe you on that front too,” Mr Ganduje stressed.

naptu2:
It's deception. He is deceiving people into believing that the party's statement is directed specifically at Peter Obi, meanwhile they did not direct their statement specifically at Peter Obi. He placed a quote in the title of the thread and attributed the quote to a party, but the party did not make that statement. (I hope you know the difference between quoting someone and paraphrasing).

That's the reason why people on this thread have been insulting the party, because they have been deceived into believing that the statement was addressed specifically to Peter Obi (it wasn't).

Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) has said its doors are shut to any presidential aspirant defecting from any of the major parties after the primaries.

Chairman of the party in Imo State, Levi Ekeh stated this yesterday during the House of Assembly primaries in Owerri. He said it will amount to ‘recycling old and corrupt politicians which ZLP is against’.

According to him, ZLP has rejected names of prominent politicians because ‘they lacked integrity’.

Ekeh added that the party’s primaries will hold its presidential primaries on June 1.

“Zenith Labour Party is peaceful; we have all it takes to win the state; we have many presidential candidates carefully selected already, and we have rejected prominent names, we don’t need moneybags, all we are interested in is to return the glory lost by the state and nation.

“That is why we have said we would look at our conscience, anybody who is defecting from any of the major political parties who is corrupt would not be allowed, we do not want corrupt politicians.

“The most important thing is whoever that we will accept and allow to join the party must be have character and track record of responsibility, not somebody that has filthy things in his closet, because the public office is a public trust,” he said.

Ekeh added that the ZLP is giving out its ticket to women, youths and physically challenged free to encourage all-inclusiveness.

Presidential aspirant under the platform of the New Nigeria People’s Party, Olufemi Ajadi, on Thursday, stepped down his bid, and has agreed to be the running mate of Rabiu Kwankwaso.

Ajadi announced the stepping down before a mammoth crowd of party supporters and other Nigerians at Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

In a statement made available to The PUNCH on Thursday, Ajadi noted that his decision was a move to emancipate Nigeria from bad leadership.

He said, “Ladies and gentlemen, that is why, I, Olufemi Ajadi Oguntoyinbo, having considered many things, and in the interest of our great party and beloved country, today, relinquish my presidential ambition, to support the presidential candidacy of Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.

“It is all in the interest of our party and our country. You know Senator Kwakwanso is a great Nigerian, accomplished politician and administrator who will lift this country.

“I pledge my loyalty at all times to the course of serving our party and country first as a presidential running mate and eventually vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Ogun State chairman of the party, Olaposi Oginni, had earlier described Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso as God-sent for the purpose of rescuing Nigeria.

He also extolled Ajadi’s qualities, saying that all along he had been propagating the party positively, and also believed fervently about the unity of Nigeria.

Oginni said, “Ajadi has arranged today’s event on how to move the party forward with the support of the national leader, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and with other South-West leaders.”

He added that all the South-West members had met and reconciled with the aggrieved individuals to move the party forward.

“In the meeting which all the southwest party chairmen held, we had unanimously agreed to maintain the Southwest present position in Nigeria’s government which is the position of Vice President of the nation,” Oginni said.

A popular sociopolitical activist, Reno Omokri, has berated South East leaders for refusing to condemn the murder of pregnant Harira Fatima and her four children.

A Hausa woman, identified as Fatima, together with her three children was murdered in Anambra State at the weekend.

Fatima and her little kids were brutally murdered on Sunday, 22nd May 2022 by yet-to-be-identified men.

But instead of killing the way and manner, those lives were wasted, Reno Omokri noted that most people from the South East, on social media especially, are more interested in the arrest of former Imo State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Specifically, Omokri called out the former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, for failing to condemn the killings the way did for hours after Deborah Samuel Yakubu was murdered by Islamic extremists in Sokoto.

“See people who have not condemned the murder of pregnant Harira and her 4 children rushed out statements calling for heads to roll in EFCC over the siege and arrest of Okorocha. Is this how low we have descended in Nigeria? Okorocha is still alive. Harira is DEAD!” He tweeted.

“Day 4, and @ObyEzeks has not said ANYTHING about the brutal murder of pregnant Harira and her 4 children in Anambra by unknown gunmen. Oby is from Anambra. But it took Oby only an hour to condemn Deborah’s murder in Sokoto and withdraw her conference attendance!

“4 days after the murder of pregnant Harira and her 4 children in Anambra, how many prominent leaders from Anambra have condemned the killings or offered condolences to her family? Have you guys all forgotten so soon what you said about Northern leaders over Deborah?”

Anambra State Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo had condemned the murder some days after the news went viral but Omokri feels the Governor was running late in speaking against the dastardly act.

“I commend Soludo for condemning the murder of pregnant Harira and her 4 kids. But why did it take him 4 days? It took Soludo hours to condemn Okoye’s murder. He also offered a ₦10 million reward to anyone who can identify Okoye’s killers. Why this double standard?” He added.

IPOB’s Full-Blown Barbarous Terrorism Must be Stopped.

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which also masquerades as Eastern Security Network (ESN) or Unknown Gun Men (UGM), has stepped up premeditated mass murders of innocent, unarmed northerners in the Southeast in the last few days, the tear-jerking murder of a pregnant northern Nigerian Muslim woman by the name of Fatima and her 4 children being the latest.

The group had been murdering Igbo people who don’t buy into its twisted ideology and making life a living hell through its birdbrained sit-at-home orders for everyday folks who just want to live. Now, they’re transforming into an indiscriminate murdering machine of northerners who live in the Southeast.

A few days ago, members of the group murdered a Hausa Suya seller and gave out his suya for free to passersby.

They also murdered a couple of northerners who turned out to be Christians. It’s obvious that the group’s plan is to provoke northerners to retaliate, which would precipitate another civil war that the group, in its naivety, hopes to cash in on to declare a Biafra Republic.

A few weeks ago, the group’s social media propagandists circulated the false news that the Obi of Onitsha had asked all Igbos in the North to return to the Southeast. This was promptly debunked by the Obi. Now the group wants to achieve through senseless violence what it couldn’t achieve through mendacious propaganda.

It must not be allowed to succeed, certainly not through the spilling of the blood of innocent people. Sadly, I don’t see a groundswell condemnation of IPOB’s murderous violence from Igbo leaders.

They are as much in dread of the group as northern Muslim elites are of the holy warriors who murder to avenge blasphemy. But it’s only northern Muslim leaders who get pilloried for their moral cowardice.

Anambra State governor Charles Soludo, in fact, visited Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB’s violent, foul-mouthed terrorist linchpin standing trial for all kinds of transgressions. He proudly shared photos he took with Kanu to shore up his bona fides.

No one condemned this symbolic pampering of a barefaced terrorist. It’s akin to a northern governor visiting Boko Haram’s Abubakar Shekau in jail and taking photos with him.

I took my time to listen to Kanu on Radio Biafra from 2015 to 2016. He is clearly the author of the bloodstained violence that now grips the Southeast. That's the materialization of his vision. Yet, leaders from the region worship him.

Since leaders of the Southeast are scared of IPOB, the Federal Government must act fast and decisively both to stop IPOB’s murderous madness and to prevent retaliatory killings in the North.

Yesterday, a pregnant Adamawa woman and her 4 children were killed in Anambra. Look at how we were all SILENT on social media. If Northerners kill a pregnant Southerner and her 4 children in Kano, we would have broken the Internet. Am I lying? We must be balanced!

#TableShaker

See how people are either denying or justifying the murder of the pregnant Adamawa woman and her 4 kids. We are so ethnically biased in Nigeria. Tufiakwa! Do we fear God at all? We defend evil when it concerns our region and condemn it when it happens in elsewhere!

#TableShaker

Dear @Joeywrites1,

I’ve moved on from Leah Sharibu? Is that how desperate you are to justify the murder of Fatima and her 4 kids in Anambra? Today I have talked about Leah over 10 times. In February I produced a song with Onyeka for her and I have forgotten her?

#TableShaker

The pregnant Adamawa woman who was killed in Anambra with her 4 kids has been identified as Fatima. I wonder why Twitter is silent. Close your eye. Imagine if instead of Fatima her name was Faith and she and her kids were killed in Sokoto. Would we still be silent?

#TableShaker

Since this pregnant Adamawa woman and her four children were killed in Anambra, how many Southern influencers have condemned the killing or even offered condolences to her family? If it were a Southerner killed with her kids in Kano, ww would have been everywhere!

#TableShaker

Members of the Boko Haram sect have killed four Fulani herders in Borno state.

Zagazola Makama, a Counter-insurgency Expert and Security Analyst disclosed this in a tweet on Monday.

“BHT/ISWAP terrorists have reportedly killed four herdsmen in the axis of Abujan Gorgi after accusing them of spying on the terror group,” he tweeted.

“The insurgents especially Boko Haram faction have constantly targeted the Fulani men, especially those living within their enclaves.”

Boko Haram has increasingly targeted farmers, herders and loggers, accusing them of spying and passing information to the Nigerian military.

They have also been raiding herding communities and stealing cattle, a valuable commodity in the region to fund their operations.

In 2020, the insurgents invaded a rice plantation in Zabarmari, a community in the Jere Local Government Area, killing at least 43 farmers.

Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province, have become more ferocious in recent times.

The Nigerian Army has repeatedly claimed that the insurgency has been largely defeated and it frequently underplays any losses.

The terror group has caused the death of thousands of people and displaced millions of others mainly in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.

We're witnessing the transition from "freedom fighter" to "brutal dictator" in real-time. Started out "defending" your people, now you're killing them.

A "freedom fight" that is highly centralised and not directed democratically is just a dictatorship waiting to happen.

God forbid that Nnamdi Kanu or Simon Ekpa should actually become "Supreme Leader" in an independent Biafra (they certainly won't work together, one of them will assassinate the other).

Meles Zenawi and Robert Mugabe will be child's play. Hope it never happens sha.

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) says it will welcome APC national leader Bola Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and other aspirants willing to contest elective positions in 2023 on the party’s platform.

SDP acting national chairman Supo Shonibare, who stated this at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday, however, said aggrieved aspirants from other parties must not come to the party with “baggage.”

Mr Shonibare said while those who felt cheated in other political parties could come and join the SDP to pursue their political ambitions in 2023, they should be ready to submit themselves to stringent conditions, including integrity tests.

He also clarified that Mr Tinubu was not a registered member of the SDP.

“On the issue of Asiwaju Tinubu, the last time I checked, he is not a member of the SDP. I checked on the list because the membership list of our party as INEC has required, has already been submitted by our state chapters to us in Abuja,” said the SDP leader. “His name is not among those who are members of our party in Lagos State. That’s all I can say, he’s not a member of SDP.”

He, however, said the APC national leader or any other aspirant from other registered political parties interested to join the party was welcome.

“Yes, we welcome anyone felt cheated by another political party, but must be consistent with integrity. If he (Tinubu) comes, it won’t be automatic. What we would emphasise is consistency with integrity within the public officer,” explained Mr Shonibare. “Also anyone who is controversial, rated low or with baggage, who doesn’t have integrity will not be allowed. SDP leadership does not want the party to be an opportunistic vehicle.”

Mr Shonibare also maintained that the party would only give consideration to individuals cheated by his party but not in controversial circumstances.

“In instances where we’ve seen great injustices to an individual, who we feel is not coming to us with baggage, yes that individual will be welcome to SDP,” he noted. “But we won’t welcome anyone who we feel has a pending court case. We won’t welcome anyone that has been convicted, even if the person is actually now appealing that conviction.”

He said the SDP would pay attention to defectors with integrity and honour.

On the party leadership crisis, Mr Shonibare maintained that INEC lacked the powers to determine the authentic leadership of SDP.

“INEC is not the court of law, so it cannot determine which fact is the rightful leadership of the party. It is the constitution of the party, the rules of the party and the determination of the court that will determine who is the legitimate leadership of the party. It is that process that INEC will oblige to accept,” he said. “We shall resist the machinations of the burgeoning usurpers.”

The police in Sokoto on Thursday said two suspects have been taken into custody in connection with the lynching earlier in the day of Deborah Samuel, a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education.

Sokoto police spokesman Sanusi Abubakar said in a statement Thursday evening that the mob overpowered campus security before killing the female student and setting her remains on fire.

The security outpost was also burnt in a violent outbreak that forced school authorities to shut down the campus immediately and sent students home.

“At about 0900hrs, a distress call was received from Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, stating that students were rioting over one female student named Deborah Samuel, a level two student, who was accused of making a social media post that blasphemed the holy prophet Muhammad (SAW).

“Students forcefully removed the victim from the security room where she was hidden by the school authorities, killed her and burnt the building. The students banded together with miscreants and barricaded the Sokoto/Jega road.

“Upon receiving the information, the DC Operations led a team of policemen and all other operational commanders in the state to the school where the road was cleared and the situation was brought under control. Two students were arrested in connection with the crime committed. The school has been closed down by the school authority, and policemen were deployed to give tight security coverage.

“The Commissioner of Police, Sokoto State Command, CP Kamaldeen Okunlola fdc,mnim, is appealing to members of the public to go about their lawful activities and should not panic as the situation is under control.

“Meanwhile, the suspects in the viral video on Twitter were spotted and will be nailed soon,” Mr Abubakar, an assistant superintendent of police, said.

Yanxu yanxu An qone wata kahira a shehu shagari college of education saboda ta zagi Manzon Allah S.A.W.