₦airaland Forum

Convener of the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, Professor Ango Abdullahi, has said the present crop of presidential candidates cannot fix Nigeria.

Though he gave what would pass for a fair assessment of the presidential candidates of Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi and that of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Abdullahi was emphatic about the presidential candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, saying they had nothing to offer.

He argued that they had been around the political climate for a long time without commensurate positives to show for it but noted, however, that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who contested the primaries in APC and a former banker, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, who also aspired for the ticket in the PDP would have made better President as technocrats.

To this end, Abdullahi, who was also former Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria, said he would not queue behind any of the candidates in terms of providing support.

Abdullahi said he would rather tell Nigerians to brace up for the trouble ahead of them, should any of the candidates become the next President.

The elderststesman bared his mind on major contemporary national issues via a phone chat with Vanguard weekend.

He said: “No, we still haven’t got the man who we think will fix Nigeria. What we have on ground is not good enough. How can you look at Tinubu and Atiku to say they are the ones who will fix this country?

”They have been on the ground for the last 25, 30 years and so on. What have they done? What are we looking for? I was the one who encouraged a technocrat to join this consensus. You probably had seen Mohammed Hayatu Deen in the group of people going around looking for a consensus arrangements in PDP. I was one of those who encouraged him. We haven’t got the materials on the ground unfortunately.

“Peter Obi, unfortunately, I don’t know him that much. He is a young man, he was the former governor of Anambra State and he is a businessman.

“He (Kwankwaso) is a good, young man. He started his politics with us and he is quite smart. No doubt about it. Of course, he had some of these debts that he acquired or he must have picked in other political formations and so on but clearly, he is one of the bright ones around. No doubt about that.

“I believe we have not had good array of politicians. With due respect to some of them that one saw contesting, I am not being selfish here by referring to certain people like Prof. Osinbajo. He is a quality material but the political system will not tolerate him.”

Asked if what Osinbajo did by running against his political godfather, Tinubu, was not tantamount to betrayal of loyalty and trust, Abdullahi said those were not what the country needed.

“What has it got to do with what Nigeria wants? Is he a slave to the former governor? I don’t understand this kind of analogy. Professor Osinbajo is a human being entirely on his own merit and his accomplishments are entirely his own and people should assess him as such. ”Those who needed his services asked for his services.

When he served as the attorney general of Lagos State, he was invited by the political system of Lagos State. This is the way I look at it and when he became vice president, I understand it is the president/party that identified him as qualified and competent enough to be the vice president in the current dispensation.

”Why shouldn’t he be because he served under XYZ. He should be identified as an individual for leadership in the country,” he said.

While asking Nigerians to prepare for the troubled days ahead should any of the candidates become president in 2023, Abdullahi said: “What I will tell Nigerians is that we are in trouble and the way out is for Nigerians to agree that Nigeria is in trouble and that the machineries that are on ground today, that are expected to find solution to the challenges facing Nigeria are not appropriate and we have to go back to the drawing board to see what we can do to save the Nigeria of the future.

“I believe the politicians have failed. My belief is that the political class has over the years failed to produce the kind of quality leadership we require to deal with the problems of Nigeria and which means that we should look for quality materials, not necessarily within the mainstream political parties, from outside and there have been a lot of discussions in Nigeria recently about technocrats.”

Abdulahi also decried the N100 million cost of presidential nomination forms by the APC before the primary elections.

He regretted that the country’s elders had either gone to sleep or joined the politicians, rather than working to rescue the country from imminent collapse.

“How can you pick a form for N100 million, for what? I mean this is a clear sign of irresponsible corruption because somebody whose total salary in four years, assuming he is president, his total legitimate salary in four years will be, I think, N34 million, even with the current salary that is being given to president.

”Why should you pick a form for N100 million and you are not even sure you are going to win the election. So, these are signs that the entire political system is corrupt and unless we go back to the drawing board and do the correct things that will make Nigerians participate in the process, there will never be a time we will have good candidates from the grassroots.

How can you say it is only one person from my local government who can represent me to elect the president? How?

“The elders have relaxed themselves in the crowd of irresponsible political class and they are just shouting like all the politicians are shouting during campaigns. There is no difference between the elders now and the politicians on ground as far as I am concerned.

”But what I thought the elders should do is to agree that this country needs real fixing and, therefore, we should sit down and seriously look at all the issues and objectively and honestly and truthfully agree that these issues facing Nigeria; not the issues facing northeast, northwest or north central or southeast, southwest or south-south, should be tackled head-on.”

The PDP chairmen of the 20 local governments in Lagos state have endorsed Gbadebo Rhodes Vivour (GRV) as the Deputy Gubernatorial Candidate for the party in the 2023 Lagos state gubernatorial election.

The Chairmen noted that GRV who is not just an MIT trained architect but is also a public policy expert who would bring his wealth of knowledge and expertise to bear in effectively governing Lagos, especially giving several years of misgovernance by the ruling party.

This endorsement comes a day after the Lagos Island Chairmen forum of the PDP, signed a joint letter endorsing GRV as the preferred Deputy Governorship candidate of the PDP. In their endorsement of GRV, who hails from No. 38 Igbosere street in Lagos Island, the Lagos Island Chairmen Forum noted that “there is no gainsaying the political priviledge our party stand to benefit by presenting a Jandor/GRV candidacy. The candidacy will be a force to recon with by 60% of the registered voters in Lagos.”

The PDP Local Government Chairmen said in a signed letter that “as the Chairmen and Managers of our great Party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, we consider it to be well within our rights and obligations to play a major – nay, a leading – role in guiding our Party in the choice of its flagbearers for elective positions at various levels in the state as we begin the countdown to the 2023 General Elections.”

The Chairmen further noted that several electoral benefits and criteria were considered before their endorsement. Some of the criteria listed were “that the Deputy-Governorship candidate should be a young person who can also be relied upon in terms of galvanizing electoral value across the length and breadth of the state.

Also, he must be someone with an already-established electoral value and therefore needs no introduction to our teeming supporters and electorate across the state. He must be a dedicated party loyalist endowed with the qualities of empathy and utmost respect for the leaders and members, and high regard for the Party structure and its supremacy.

Finally, the prospective Deputy Governorship candidate must come to the table with an unimpeachable character, credibility and sincerity of purpose capable of gaining universal acceptance across the various divides and factions in the Party. By his very character, utterances and engagements with various stakeholders in the Party, he must be able to aggregate opinions and compel desired outcomes.”

Considering the criteria, the Chairmen stated that “we hereby endorse Architect Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour (fondly known as GRV among his teeming admirers), as the absolute best option among those that have indicated their interest in becoming the Deputy-Governorship candidate of our great Party in the 2023 polls.

The Chairmen further proceeded to back their decision to endorse GRV by stating that ‘in the 2019 elections, GRV scored 37,375 votes more than that of the Governorship Candidate of our Party in that election cycle, which he recorded in 4767 out of the 8462 polling units in Lagos State.

GRV recorded the highest number of votes among all the PDP candidates in Lagos State in 2019, except for our Presidential candidate in that election cycle, former vice-president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Worth noting also is that the total number of votes scored by the PDP, APC and all other parties that participated in the 2019 Lagos East Senatorial Zone Election, were the exact sum of what Arc. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour ALONE scored in the Lagos West Senatorial Zone.

Equally important is that considering the increasing recognition for the principle of the ‘non-indigene’ factor which plays a major role in our elections, GRV also comes in for consideration, as his mother is Igbo, from Abia State, while his wife is from Anambra State – a situation that accounts for his cosmopolitan and pan-Nigerian outlook which complements his educational background, as well as his youth, personability and ability to reach across ethnic divides in no small way.”

The Chairmen pleaded with the party to avoid dissenting in their rank if they hope to defeat the APC at the polls in 2023. He also urged members of the party to rise above personal and factional interest but to work towards the overall interest and victory of the party.

There appear to be renewed plots in political circles around the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s camp to draft Osinbajo back into the 2023 presidential race.

Although close aides of the Vice President described this as mere speculation, arguing that their principal won’t be leaving the All Progressives Congress, APC, sources insisted at the weekend that there were active suggestions going on regarding the possibility of an Osinbajo/Kwankwaso ticket on the platform of the NNDP.

Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State, is the presidential candidate of NNPP, a new party that seems to resonate with political elements across many northern states.

Meanwhile, there is insinuation of Mr Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, also running with Kwankwaso on the platform of what their fans called ‘Third Force’.

“One of the factors driving the push for an Osinbajo/Kwankwaso ticket is the need to give vent to what is clearly a nationwide yearning for a different kind of political leadership, something that the VP has come to represent to Nigerians,” one of the sources said.

“On the other hand, Kwankwaso is known to be an accomplished grassroots politician in the North-West who can easily complement the VP”.

Osinbajo had, among others, lost the presidential ticket of the APC to Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu at the Special Convention of the party held at the Eagle Square, Abuja, on June 8.

Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, scooped 1,271 delegate votes to emerge as the party’s candidate in next year’s presidential poll while Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, a former Minister of Transportation, polled 316 votes to come second. Osinbajo polled 235 votes to finish third.

This latest move, according to sources, is being championed by some of the VP’s associates in collaboration with some influential northern politicians.

Regardless of the outcome of the primary, the group has now commenced a move to secure the ticket of the NNPP for the VP.

According to the sources, the plan is to substitute Kwankwaso, whose name has already been submitted by the party as its presidential flag bearer, using the window of substitution which opens until August.

Although close aides of the VP have dismissed the report, describing it as mere speculation, the sources spoke of the possibility of an Osinbajo/Kwankwaso ticket on the platform of the NNPP.

The calculation, one of the sources said, is that religion would play a major role in who succeeds President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023 and that fielding the VP, a southern Christian, would ensure that the North is freely allowed to choose a Muslim running mate, and as such, Kwankwaso is suitably qualified to deputize Osinbajo.

Owologbo:
did umahi partake in the primary?

Mfetenang:
Osibanjo should be running mate to Kwankwaso

garfield1:
I thought you will say otherwise.he seems more popular than gawuna

fergie001:
Vicdom Ojuntana garfield1.....where do you think the pendulum will swing?

Personally, I don't think Sharada will win.

The Supreme Court has struck out the suit by President Muhammadu Buhari and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami seeking to void the provision of Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act 2022.

In a judgment on Friday, a seven-member panel of the apex court, headed by Justice Musa Dattijo Mohammed, was unanimous in holding that Buhari, having participated in the making of the law by assenting to it, could not turn around to fault its provisions.

The court, which upheld the objections raised by the National Assembly and other defendants against the suit, declined to determine it on the merit but declared that the Supreme Court lacked the jurisdiction to hear it and that the suit was an abuse of court process.

At least three residents of Bakiyawa village in Batagarawa Local Government Area of Katsina State have been reportedly shot dead by gunmen suspected to be bandits.

Vanguard also learnt that one other villager was shot on the leg while a married woman identified as Hawawu Yusuf of Ungwan Makera was abducted by the assailants.

A resident of the community, Marwan Zayyana, who confirmed the incident to Vanguard said the attackers who stormed the village around 4:00pm on Monday, riding on motorcycles operated until about 4:30pm in the community.

Marwan gave the names of the three villagers killed as Aminu Abdulwahab, Musa Abubakar and Sadiq Lawal.

While Sadiq Lawal was killed inside his compound in Ungwan Tsugune, Abubakar Musa was killed right in front of his house at Ungwan Jageme. The third victim was killed on his farm while trying to flee from the marauding bandits, Marwan said

“Lately we have been witnessing series of bandits attack in our area. Exactly one week ago around 2.30 pm, bandits attacked our community and kidnapped six persons. The victims are still in the forest as none of them has been released.

“On Sunday too, one of the youths in the community was also kidnapped and he’s yet to be released. Yesterday, Monday between 4-4:30 pm, the hoodlums stormed the community again and killed three of our people.

“Aside the three villagers killed, the assailants were not given room to rob the community due to some level of resistance from youths in the community,” Marwan noted.

Marwan also observed that due to community efforts in conjunction with the vigilantes, the assailants no longer come to attack late night anymore. He said, “they now prefer to attack in the afternoon knowing that a lot of people would have gone to the farm, market to seek for their daily bread.”

On wether they contacted the police of the attack, Marwan said: “Yes, We did but we are tired of complaining to the police because we have been battling this issue for a long time now. A lot of time when we call to alert them, the days we are lucky, they come and days we are not, they don’t show up.”

When contacted, the spokesperson of the Katsina Police Command, SP Gambo Isah said he was yet to receive any report on the attack, promising to revert to our correspondent as soon as he gets the information.

fergie001:
Matic, Mata, Lingard, Pogba have left yet they haven't signed anyone.

How can any club with Maguire & Rashford be a serious club. When I left United almost 9 years ago, I always knew they will continually face these problems...

fergie001:
hahahahahahahaha
Very funny. He joined the squad last and is more of a politician than a football enthusiast like the others.

I have just been laughing, see where you carried me to
...

SenatePresdo:
Look at the kind of people I'm sharing cyber space with.
Black man with an epileptic thinking

How he forgets his history and statistics so quickly.

Wasn't Umahi in APC during 2019 elections?
Why didn't APC win Ebonyi.

You thinks it's by the Governor of the state? You are a mumu man

Kyase:
Till then
But the state that will truely bury Atiku is Borno

miftaudeen:
CAN will says anything on Ekiti Governorship candidates "Christian Christian "
All the 16 candidates are Christians

garfield1:
My brother a serious party will contest everywhere moreover ekiti has always been a 50 50 state

garfield1:
It will end the same way

garfield1:
Pdp wins its first polling unit.atiku will come third...cc fergie001, kyase,engineerboat,vicdom

garfield1:
Pdp wins its first polling unit.atiku will come third...cc fergie001, kyase,engineerboat,vicdom

NgeneUkwenu:
Okay

DEmejioba1:
Result from Ado ward 13
unit 22,

APC. 18
PDP. 0
SDP. 28

Bashir Machina has vowed to seek legal redress after his name was substituted with that of Senate President Ahmad Lawan as the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate for Yobe North.

According to a signed list of candidates sighted by Channels Television, the Senate President’s name was listed as the APC flag bearer for the seat.

The recent move comes after Machina, who clinched the APC ticket for the district, vowed not to step down for Lawan.

Lawan had contested but lost the party’s presidential primary held earlier in the month with Machina claiming he was being pressured to relinquish his ticket for the lawmaker.

But in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today earlier in the week, he vowed not to step down. According to him, the Senate President did not have plans to contest for the post.

“I’m sure he did not plan to go back to the National Assembly. That is why he contested for the presidency and lost. This is democracy. The space is free,” Machina said.

“A certain period of time was given for people to want to contest. Timetables were set, guidelines were produced by the parties, and eventually, elections were held.”

fergie001:
I have updated by adding Niger & Kaduna....should be 36+FCT.....

Credit me ooooo

LIST OF SENATORS SUBMITTED BY APC TO INEC

ABIA STATE
Chief Hon. Emeka Atuma (Abia Central)
Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia North)
Hon. Blessing Nwagba (Abia South)

ADAMAWA STATE
Abdulaziz Nyako (Adamawa Central)
Elisha Cliff Ishaku (Adamawa North)
Adamu Ismaila (Adamawa South)

AKWA IBOM STATE
Emaeyak Ukpong (Akwa Ibom North East)
Sen. Godswill Obot Akpabio (Akwa Ibom North West)
Martins Udo-Inyang (Akwa Ibom South)

ANAMBRA STATE
Okelekwe E. Boniface (Anambra Central)
Ify E. Anaozuonwu (Anambra North)
Hon. Chukwuma Umeoji (Anambra South)

BAUCHI STATE
Uba Nana Umar (Bauchi Central)
Sirajo Tanko Mohammed (Bauchi North)
Shehu Buba Umar (Bauchi South)

BAYELSA STATE
Timipa Orunimighe (Bayelsa Central)
Degi-Eremienyo (Bayelsa East) *****
Wilson Dauyegha (Bayelsa West)

BENUE STATE
Hon. Emmanuel Udende (Benue North East)
Titus Zam (Benue North West)
Daniel Onjeh (Benue South)

BORNO STATE
Kashim Shettima (Borno Central)
Mohammed Tahir Monguno (Borno North)
Mohammed Ali Ndume (Borno South)

CROSS-RIVER STATE
Hon. Eteng J. Williams (Cross-River Central)
Hon. Martin Orim (Cross-River North)
Asuquo Ekpeyong (Cross-River South)

DELTA STATE
Ede Dafinone (Delta Central)
Peter Nwaoboshi (Delta North)
Joel Onowakpo Thomas (Delta South)

EBONYI STATE
Emeka Kenneth Eze (Ebonyi Central)
Onyeka Nwaebonyi Peter (Ebonyi North)
Dave Nweze Umahi (Ebonyi South)

EDO STATE
Monday Okpebholo (Edo Central)
Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North)
Valentine Asuen (Edo South)

EKITI STATE
Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (Ekiti Central)
Cyril Oluwole Fasuyi (Ekiti North)
Adaramodu Adeyemo (Ekiti South)

ENUGU STATE
Adaku Ogbu Aguocha (Enugu East)
Simon Ejike Eze (Enugu North)
Oby Nwofor (Enugu South)

GOMBE STATE
Mohammed Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central)
Sa'idu Ahmed Alkali (Gombe North)
Joshua M. Lidani (Gombe South)

IMO STATE
Prince Alex Mbata (Imo East)
Hon. Patrick Ndubueze (Imo North)
Sen. Osita Izunaso (Imo West)

JIGAWA STATE
Ahmed Abdulhamid (Jigawa North-East)
Babangida Hussaini (Jigawa North-West)
Tijjani Ibrahim Kiyawa (Jigawa South-West)

KADUNA STATE
Muhammad Sani Abdullahi (Kaduna Central)
Suleiman Abdu Kwari (Kaduna North)
Bulus Audu (Kaduna South)

KANO STATE
Abdulsalam Zaura (Kano Central)
Sen. Barau Jibrin (Kano North)
Sen. Kabiru Gaya (Kano South)

KATSINA STATE
AbdulAziz Musa Yar'Adua (Katsina Central)
Nasiru Sani Zangon Daura (Katsina North)
Mukhtar Muhammed Dandutse (Katsina South)

KEBBI STATE
Sen. Atiku Abubakar Bagudu (Kebbi Central)
Hussaini Sulaiman Kangiwa (Kebbi North)
Sen. Bala Ibn Na'Allah (Kebbi South)

KOGI STATE
Ohere Abubakar (Kogi Central)
Sen Isah Jibrin (Kogi East)
Karimi Sunday Steve (Kogi West)

KWARA STATE
Saliu Mustapha (Kwara Central)
Sadiq Suleiman Umar (Kwara North)
Sen. Lola Issa Ashiru (Kwara South)

LAGOS STATE
Hon. Eshilokun Wasiu Sanni (Lagos Central)
Sen. Mukhail A. Abiru (Lagos East)
Idiat Oluranti Adebule (Lagos West)

NASARAWA STATE
Danladi Halilu ESQ (Nasarawa North)
Tanko Almakura (Nasarawa South)
Shehu Tukur (Nasarawa West)

NIGER STATE
Mohammed Sani Musa (Niger East)
Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger North)
Bima Muhammad Enagi (Niger South)

OGUN STATE
Shuaib Salisu (Ogun Central)
Olugbenga Daniel (Ogun East)
Sen. Olamilekan Adeola (Ogun West)

ONDO SOUTH
Adeniyi Adegbonire SAN (Ondo Central)
Ipinsagba Olajide (Ondo North)
Jimoh Ibrahim (Ondo South)

OSUN STATE
Ajibola Basiru (Osun Central)
Israel Famurewa (Osun East)
Amidu Tadese Raheem (Osun West)

OYO STATE
Dr. Yunus Akintunde (Oyo Central)
Sen. Fatai Buhari (Oyo North)
Sarafa Ali (Oyo South)

PLATEAU STATE
Hon. Diiket Satso Plang (Plateau Central)
Christopher Giwa (Plateau North)
Rt. Hon. Simon B. Lalong (Plateau South)

RIVERS STATE
Ndubuisi U. Nwankwo (Rivers East)
Oji N. Ngofa (Rivers South East)
Asita Honourable O. (Rivers West)

SOKOTO STATE
Ibrahim Lamido (Sokoto East)
Sen. Aliyu Magatakarda Wammako (Sokoto North)
Ibrahim Danbaba Abdullahi (Sokoto South)

TARABA STATE
Marafa Bashir Abba (Taraba Central)
Sani Danladi Abubakar (Taraba North)
Danjuma Usman Shiddi (Taraba South)

YOBE STATE
Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe East)
Sen. Ahmad Lawan (Yobe North)
Sen. Mohammed Bomai (Yobe South)

ZAMFARA STATE
Sen. Kabiru Marafa (Zamfara Central)
Sen. Sahabi Alhaji Ya'u (Zamfara North)
AbdulAziz Yari Abubakar (Zamfara West)

FCT
Hon. Zakaria Angulu

fergie001:
Akpabio, it's the first thread on fp

fergie001:
I am done.........Open a thread for it and mention snake-man.

fergie001:
LIST OF SENATORS SUBMITTED BY APC TO INEC
Lol

StainlessCup:
you are right and the rerun is only for those that participated in the first primary and also,a candidate cannot participate in more than one primary say presidential and senatorial.

IamWonderful:
If you believe Atiku or Kwakwaso will win the north, you need a brain check, what an I even saying, IPOB miscreants cannibals don't have brain, they have submitted their brains to Kanu, because when you are talking about north, do you still include Kwara and Kogi state.