Author: The Nation

By Temitope Ajayi

In his recent article on possible aspirants ahead of the 2023 presidential race from the Southwest, Dr. Reuben Abati saw a problem that only he can probably solve on behalf of the 50 million or so people of the arguably most politically sophisticated people of Nigeria. He problematised the contest for All Progressives Congress (APC) into a kind of Gordian knot that will require special brain power to solve.

In trying to untie this imaginary Gordian knot, Dr. Abati then acquired a god-complex as the ultimate decider of destiny. While the article in question would pass as a good preview of the presidential hopefuls from the Southwest, it was very unpretentious in its set objective, which is to unjustifiably hack down Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former Governor of Lagos State and a chieftain of the APC

Abati X-rayed the possibility of a presidential contest involving five outstanding politicians from the Southwest within same political party with Asiwaju Tinubu. In the opinion piece, titled: ‘The Southwest Presidential Hopefuls’, first published by Thisday Newspaper and later syndicated to other online news platforms, the former Presidential spokesperson lined up the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), former Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Ekiti State Governor who is also the chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and Asiwaju Tinubu as the gladiators that will fight for the soul of the APC and by extension the support of the Yoruba people. While he raised a very feeble argument for and against each of the other three men that made his cut, it was apparent that Tinubu is the object of his direct attack and take down. The entire article reeked of intellectual arrogance and was needlessly magisterial. It should be stated that Abati diminished Vice President Osinbajo and Senator Amosun, two outstanding political figures in their own right by not thinking much of them as remarkable aspirants to the highest office in our country.

The point can be made that Abati only mentioned Professor Osinbajo and Senator Amosun as a mere décor piece to hide his real intention which was to pillory Asiwaju Tinubu. Many Peoples Democratic Party’s operatives, which include Abati, have not forgiven Tinubu for his mortal sin of 2015. Tinubu led a formidable opposition party and worked very hard with others to send Peoples Democratic Party packing from the apex of our national political leadership after the mess the party made of the country for 16 years. The worst being the last four years of which Abati was an active role player as a Presidential Adviser. It is therefore understandable that he is still bitter that Tinubu and other politicians that formed the APC prematurely ended PDP’s gravy train ahead of the projection by Chief Vincent Ogbulafor, its erstwhile National Chairman.  In 2008, at the height of his reckless exuberance, Ogbulafor triumphantly proclaimed to a bewildered nation that his party will rule Nigeria for 60 unbroken years.

Abati seems to have taken it upon himself the unenviable task of helping the South West and APC in particular to make a sellable choice among likely contenders. The only way he thinks he can achieve that is to delegitimize Tinubu and declare his ambition, if it exists at all, as ‘unpopular’ and ‘dead on arrival’ while ‘his own Yoruba people have not bought into it, despite the pretensions of a vocal minority.” Now that we know Abati is imbued with omnipresent power and the power of life and death over the ambition of a fellow human, we should ask him if an ambition is popular and alive only when he says so.  In the absence of any evidence-based survey carried out among the Yoruba people that reveals Tinubu is unpopular, can we, therefore, say that Abati’s prowess as an established columnist is enough to arrive at such a jaundiced conclusion? It is intellectual arrogance carried too far for anyone to magisterially claim that a yet to be declared presidential ambition has not gained traction among Yoruba people.

To further his intellectual indulgence, Abati stretched his illogical permutations beyond the frontiers of the South West he set for himself when he wrote that Tinubu’s only problem, “is that other Nigerians would not want to hand over Nigeria to him so he can run it with the same kind of totalitarian grip that he has over Lagos. His presidential ambition, for that reason alone, is dead on arrival.”

Contrary to this assertion, Nigeria will immensely benefit from the intellect, economic wizardry and political sagacity of Tinubu should he decide to seek the Presidency of this great country. Since the death of late Chief MKO Abiola, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Presidential candidate who won the June 12, 1993 Presidential election, Nigeria has not gotten any well-educated, cosmopolitan, detribalized and extraordinary political mobiliser and organizer like Tinubu with his kind of national appeal. His performance as the governor of Lagos in 8 years and the success his successors have made of the state as the most progressively run state of the Nigerian federation recommends him for the highest office in the land. He was a governor in 1999 who met a state that was in comatose. He brought on board the most dynamic cabinet of that era made up of brilliant young men and women who were highly accomplished to help him govern the state. In no time they re-organised the finances of the state, reformed the civil service with automation, embarked on massive infrastructural upgrade the state did not see in the previous 30 years before his tenure with Oregun road, Awolowo Road in Ikoyi, Itire-Lawanson Road, Igando Road among several others. The durability of these roads almost 20 years after attests to the enduring vision of Tinubu as a man who builds to last. In year 2000, he saw well ahead of his peers when he started the first Enron Independent Power Project in the country before IPP became popular with the Federal Government and other states.

On social infrastructure, he introduced LASTMA to untangle the chaotic traffic management in the state, revamped LAWMA and launched PSP to make waste collection better while creating thousands of jobs in the process. He also created LAMATA, a fit-for-purpose agency and one of his enduring legacies in Lagos to integrate road, rail and water transportation infrastructure. Successive administrations after Tinubu in Lagos are only executing the grand vision he incubated. Perhaps, his biggest achievement in Lagos is the quality of the three men that have governed the state after him. Abati himself in his article testified that “Tinubu’s greatest strength is in identifying and building talent. He is exceptional in that regard in contemporary Yoruba politics.”  As President of Nigeria, Tinubu will bring our best and brightest to work and make Nigeria a better country than it is. He did it in Lagos and Nigeria will only provide him a bigger platform.

It then beats commonsense, if Nigeria should not have the benefit of the service of a man who turned around the fortune of Lagos to be one of the world’s functional megacities, where every governor after him has improved the performance index. With almost N50 billion monthly Internally Generated Revenue, Lagos is the only state in Nigeria today that can function and meet all its obligations without recourse to the monthly Federal allocation, all thanks to Tinubu who found the path for his successors to thrive. Should he decide to run for the presidency of Nigeria, he will sure have a good story to tell Nigerians. The story of the success he made of Lagos – a mini Nigeria will sure be a compelling one.

Interestingly for Tinubu, the three other possible Presidential hopefuls from the South West that made Abati’s list are people who owe whatever they have become today, that makes them possible consideration for the presidency, to God and Tinubu, who invested his time and resources into their political career the same way he helped countless of other Nigerians across different ethnic, religious and political persuasions.

Without taking anything away from the credentials and qualifications of Dr. Kayode Fayemi and his right to aspire to any office in the country, including the Presidency, it appears to me that Abati’s opinion piece was deliberately written to endorse Fayemi out of his possible hopefuls from the South West and to set him up against Tinubu for no just reason. The article is an unfair repudiation of Tinubu who is at liberty to aspire to the Presidency of Nigeria as a free born. Whether Tinubu will find favour and support from the Yoruba people and Nigerians at large is a moot point which no columnist can legislate upon regardless of whatever self-importance he arrogates to himself. To write that Tinubu’s ambition is not popular and dead on arrival is playing God. There is no way Abati, however potent he may think his pen is, can use it to whimsically write off the political future of any man and least of all, a towering political master planner like Tinubu. In any case, Abati also wrote off Buhari in 2015 until the electoral tsunami swept off the Presidency where he was a spokesman. It is obvious Abati has not forgiven Tinubu for the role he played in uprooting the very ineffectual and corrupt government led by his former principal. His anger against Tinubu should be understood from that standpoint.

By Emmanuel Oladesu, Deputy Editor

No fewer than 1,000 aspirants are warming for the local government primary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State.

The sale of forms ends tomorrow, according to party secretary, Lanre Ogunyemi, who doubted the possibility of extention.

The shadow poll takes place on May 29 while the chairmanship and councillorship elections will hold in July as scheduled by the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), led by Justice Ayo Philips.

The commission had announced that 18 political parties are participating at the poll

Aspirants have embarked on intense lobbying, mobilisation and sensitisation at he local level. They are also seeking the endorsement of party leaders, traditional rulers, community leaders and other critical stakeholders

The guidelines released by the chapter have induced greater youth participation.

Also, the assurance of transparent primary has rekindled confidence in the process by contenders

Ogunyemi said the shadow election will be free and fair across the 57 councils and 377 wards.

He explained that the selection of candidates may follow the three modes spelt out in the APC constitution, namely consensus, direct and indirect system, based on the circumstances and peculiarities of the councils.

The secretary said women aspirants would also be encouraged in the spirit of gender affirmation

Ogunyemi, who is also the secretary of the Obafemi Hamzat-led Primary Committee,, said the primary will throw up the best candidates for the elections

He maintained that the integrity of the process will not be compromised, assuring that there will be no imposition of flag bearers.

He commended party faithful for their enthusiasm and demonstration of eagerness ahead of the grassroots poll.

However, Ogunyemi was silent on the mode of campaign in view of the COVID-19 Pandemic, saying that the details will be worked out.

Ogunyemi has described the massive response and show of interest in the purchase of nomination forms by aspirants ss a good omen.

He said the quest for nomination forms reflected continued public interest in the party, adding that it attested to the party’s grassroots appeal.

Ogunyemi said: “Over the years, our party has remained the party to beat owing to our people-centred policies.“

“As you know, the local government is the closest tier of government to the people and our party is determined to produce credible hands who can further deliver on democracy dividends in these most challenging times”.

He added: “We have also deliberately encouraged more youth, women and people living with disabilities to come on board by giving special consideration to them in our guidelines. ”

The need for more women to be elected into legislative houses has continued to be a subject of intense debate. The number of women in parliament at the state and the federal levels has continued to be on the downward slide over the years. Similarly, the number of women serving in both state and federal executive council has also been far less than the 35 per cent affirmative action recommended. In this report, TONY AKOWE examines the bill currently before the House of Representatives to create special seats for women in parliament

The Beijing conference of 1988 brought to the fore serious agitation for more involvement of women in governance and business activities. After the conference, there arose the agitation of what is today regarded as affirmative action which required that 35 per cent of appointments in government be reserved for women. Perhaps, the outcome of the conference led to the creation of a Ministry for Women Affairs in states across the country. But, over the years, especially since the return to civilian rule in 1999, the number of women in elective offices have continued to dwindle. While no woman has been elected president, vice president or governors, a handful of them has however emerged as deputy governors across the country. In the North, for example, only two women have emerged as deputy governors. These are in Plateau and Kaduna.

While only Patricia Etteh has had the privilege of emerging Speaker of the House of Representatives, only a handful of women have had the opportunity of emerging as speakers of state Houses of Assembly. They include Mrs Margaret Itche (Benue), Jumoke Akindele (Ondo), and Elizabeth Ative (Edo). Lagos has, however, had two female deputy speakers who served in the sixth Assembly (from 2011 to 2015). Ironically, the current National Assembly has only 18 women representing a mere 3.3 per cent of the 469 members. At the inauguration of the 9th Assembly, only seven women made the list out of 109 senators. But one of them, Senator Rose Okoh died and has been replaced by a male senator. In the same vein, 11 women made it to the House of Representatives, before Mariam Onuoha was added as a result of a tribunal judgment, bringing the number to a meagre 12 out of 360 members.

Women and advocates of women’s right are not finding it funny that the number of women in elective positions in the country has continued to be on the decline, especially at a time when the world is preaching equal right for women. To this end, they are seeking an amendment to the 1999 Constitution to create special seats for women in the Senate, the House of Representatives and state Houses of Assembly.

Interestingly, the Justice Mohammed Uwais Committee on Electoral Reform had highlighted the near exclusion of women in some critical sectors of the population such as governance, as one of the major problems of the nation’s electoral system. It stressed the urgent need to evolve an electoral system that ensures that while elections are free, fair and acceptable, all major stakeholders in the electoral process, especially the political parties that perform creditably, women and other interest groups are not sidelined. It recommended that political parties should ensure that women have equal access to leadership opportunities within the party organisation.

Over the years, women have complained of marginalization in the scheme of things in the nation’s polity, especially in elective positions and the House of Representatives recognized the fact that a constitutional amendment as a way of improving women representation in the political space. The Speaker of the House Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila wants the constitutional amendment to reflect the issue of gender in the Federal Character principles in other to give women their pride of place in the country. He said unless women are given the opportunity to achieve their full potentials, Nigeria may not attain the much-desired successes. He said the nation should take another look at laws of the land and abolish any provision that might prevent women from achieving their full potential. He also believed that sections of the law that talks about discrimination based on sex should also be expunged from the law books.

The Speaker is not unaware of the fact that there will be those who will argue that creating a special seat for women will amount to discrimination against the male folks. He said: “Many have argued that while there is a provision that there shall be no discrimination based on sex, to now gives a certain percentage to women is discriminatory against men. Some called it inverted discrimination. So, we must add that proviso that speaks to specifics. We have to make sure that girls across the country have access to education and healthcare. We have to create opportunities for women to thrive in politics and commerce, and we must make sure that the laws of our land do not take away the rights of Nigerian women to participate fully in every sector of our national life.

“It is for this latter reason that we have gathered here today to explore the options available to make sure that through the current amendment of the Electoral Act, and our nation’s constitution, we can first identify and excise any discriminatory provisions that might exist, and then take active measures to include provisions that guarantee a more equal society for all. I have noted in the past a possible constitutional amendment that will have the definition of Federal Character to include gender. I have also muted the idea that will add a proviso that those sections of the constitution that still claim that there should be no discrimination based on sex. There is no better time than now to achieve our objectives in this regard.”

Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen said having a gender-sensitive constitution is a prerequisite for national development and asked the house to make history by supporting the constitutional review process so that Nigeria can step into her rightful place in the comity of nations. The minister said even though Nigeria is called the giant of Africa, but the figures and statistics of women participation are heartbreaking. She said: “How do we call ourselves giant of Africa and yet Nigeria is the least represented in the entire political process. In the parliament presently, we have only 3.8 per  cent women representation at the federal and state levels, while constituting only 16.2 per cent in appointive positions at the Federal Executive Council of Nigeria, despite constituting nearly half of the population. This is unacceptable and I call on the House of Representatives to address these issues quickly to remove Nigeria from this shameful position.”

Deputy Representative of the United Nations Women in Nigeria, Mr Lasana Wonneh said the figures on women representation in government is a thing of concern, adding that women in Nigeria were not in minority and should be given the opportunity to fulfil their potential and participate fully in political activities. He said: “It goes without saying that the ongoing constitutional review process represents a unique and valuable opportunity for reforms to promote women’s right and gender equality in this great nation. The level of women representation in politics in Nigeria remains a course for concern. Indeed, the number of women elected into national and state assemblies has seen a continuous downwards trend.

“As of today, despite the efforts, women in Nigeria only occupy 3.8 per cent of elective positions at both federal and state level, while constituting 16.2 per cent of positions in the Federal Executive cabinet in Nigeria. Women are not minorities in Nigeria and therefore deserve equal reward at all levels of governance. Women need political participation, to make a political decision and create opportunity for more progressive participation towards economic development. It is therefore important that international and regional instrument ratified by Nigeria are domiciled within Nigeria’s legislative framework. It is important to note that some other countries, including South Africa, Uganda, and Botswana among others are making significant progress.”

Some female parliamentarians from the House are seeking a constitutional amendment to create special seats for the women in both the national and state Houses of Assembly. The women, led by the Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, Nkiruka Onyejeocha and supported by the Speaker and some other men in the House have laid a constitutional amendment bill before the House. The bill seeks to create one special senatorial seat for women in each state of the federation, two seats in the House of Representatives each state and two special seats in each senatorial district also for women in the state assemblies. At a time when Nigerians are agitating for a unicameral system of government to reduce the number of lawmakers at the federal level, the new bill, if passed will increase the number of lawmakers in the National Assembly to 579 from the current 469. At the time when the bill was passed for Second Reading, 85 lawmakers have signed up for it, even though the Speaker did not subject it to intense debate by those present.

Onyejeocha said the new law will mandate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to divide the state into two federal constituencies to be occupied by women, while the entire state will form the senatorial zone to be occupied by women. The objective of the bill, she said is to remedy the low representation of women in legislative houses, by providing for the creation of additional separate seats to be contested and filled by only women in the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly as a temporary measure to promote women’s representation. She said: “Currently, women have only 4.4 per cent representation in the 9th National Assembly. Nigeria has been identified as the worst performer in women representation in parliaments in the West African region and one of the lowest in the whole of Africa.”

The Deputy Chief Whip said: “Eritrea is the only African country ranked lower than Nigeria and this is because there have not been national elections since its independence in 1993. The situation is worse at the state level, where a good number of states do not have a single woman in their assemblies. In some of these states, men chair the Women Affairs Committee because there is no woman available to take the role.”

Onyejeocha added: “In Algeria, the proportion of female members of parliament (MPs) tripled, from eight to 32 per cent in line with a quota introduced in 2012. In Afghanistan, women now makeup about 27 per cent of the upper and lower houses of parliament and were active in drafting the country’s new constitution. This was facilitated by a male president who signed and supported declarations of women’s rights and in 2005 appointed the first female governor. Our West African neighbour, Senegal, adopted a parity law in their constitution in 2012. This was facilitated by then-president, Abdoulaye Wade and resulted in an almost 50-50 balance between men and women in the Senegalese parliament. Nigerian women are not even asking for 50-50 but 35 per cent, which is what is indicated in our National Gender Policy and several international treaties that we are signatory to. The number is identified as the “critical mass/number” of women required to achieve impactful results.”

The bill which has been referred to the constitutional review committee headed by Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Idris Wase is recommending an amendment to Sections 48, 49,71,77,91 and 117. It is also making it mandatory for women to be allowed to contest other offices alongside the men folks. For example, the new Section 48, Subsection Two states that “notwithstanding the provision of Subsection One of this section, nothing shall prevent a woman from contesting for any of the senatorial seats referred to in Subsection 1A.”