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  • Lekki property suit adjourned till February 26

    Lekki property suit adjourned till February 26

    A Magistrates’ Court sitting at Tinubu, Lagos, has adjourned the suit filed by one Mercy Ogbonna against one Fuad Oloto over the recovery of possession of a four-bedroom terrace duplex in Ikate Elegushi, Lekki, to February 26, 2026, for cross-examination and defence.

    The case, presided over by Magistrate Paul Albert, was adjourned following an application by defence counsel, A.D. Lasisi, after the claimant closed her case.

    At the resumed hearing, counsel to the claimant, Ayodeji Fasehun, informed the court that the matter had been fixed for trial and that the claimant was ready to proceed.

    A witness, lawyer Siji Agbadaola, testified on behalf of the claimant and adopted his Witness Statement on Oath dated July 4, 2025, which was admitted as Exhibit A.

    During examination-in-chief, the witness identified and tendered several documents in support of the claimant’s case. These included a Power of Attorney dated May 28, 2025, which he confirmed he witnessed, and which was admitted as Exhibit B, as well as the Tenancy Agreement admitted as Exhibit C.

    The witness also identified payment receipts issued by the claimant in favour of the defendant. Although he told the court that the original copies were with the tenant, the receipts were admitted as Exhibits D1 to D5.

    Further documents tendered and admitted included reminder letters dated February 1, March 3, and April 3, 2025, all relating to the expiration of the tenancy notice period. The documents were admitted as Exhibits F1, F2, and F3 respectively.

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    In addition, a 7-day Notice of Owner’s Intention to Recover Possession dated May 1, 2025 was admitted as Exhibit G, while a Memorandum of Claim dated May 1, 2025 was admitted as Exhibit H.

    The witness also tendered a printout showing electronic service of notices via WhatsApp, which was admitted as Exhibit I. He told the court that the notices were served electronically without any form of obstruction.

    At the conclusion of the testimony, claimant’s counsel urged the court to adopt the documents tendered and grant the reliefs sought by the claimant.

    However, defence counsel applied for an adjournment to enable him to cross-examine the witness and present the defence’s case.

    Magistrate Albert granted the application and adjourned the matter to February 26, 2026, for cross-examination and defence.

    The claimant, Mrs. Mercy Ogbonna, is seeking recovery of possession of a four-bedroom terrace duplex with boys’ quarters located at Unit 2, No. 10 Eru-Ile Street, Ikate Elegushi, Lekki, Lagos State, which she said was let to the defendant at an annual rent of N4.5 million.

    She is also claiming mesne profit of N375,000 per month from May 1, 2025, until possession is delivered, N5million as general damages for alleged inconvenience, and N1 million as cost of the action.

  • Falana decries medical doctor’s three-year detention without trial

    Falana decries medical doctor’s three-year detention without trial

    Rights activist, Femi Falana (SAN), has condemned the prolonged detention of a medical doctor, Dr Kenneth Nwafor for over three years.

    Speaking during a visit  by Uturu Development Association of Nigeria (UDAN) Worldwide on behalf of Nwafor, Falana described the detention as a gross violation of the constitution and other extant laws protecting personal liberty and human dignity.

    He stressed that no citizen should be detained without access to family members, legal counsel or proper judicial oversight.

    The learned silk said the doctor, a first class graduate and a lecturer in Abia State University was held in a facility without formal charge or trial in contravention of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) and constitutional provisions on the rights of suspects.

    “For our friends in the media, this doctor was detained for over three years, following his unlawful arrest in July 29, 2022.

    “Under Nigerian law, you cannot keep a citizen in detention for such a period without trial, contact with family or access to a lawyer,” he said.

    Falana explained that the law mandated the police to inform detainees of the reasons for their arrest, their right to remain silent and their right to legal representation before any statement was taken.

    According to him, where a suspect wishes to make a confessional statement, such must be video-recorded, in line with the law, to prevent abuse and coercion.

    He added that certain offences were not legally detainable, adding that no citizen should be held beyond 24 or 48 hours, depending on the availability of a court, without being charged.

    Falana also kicked against the practice of extorting money from detainees, especially during weekend arrests, stressing that bail is free and that demanding payment for bail is illegal.

    “Bail is free in Nigeria. Nobody is permitted to demand money for bail.

    “Any officer who does so is acting outside the law,” he said.

    Falana announced plans for a nationwide sensitisation campaign to educate citizens on their rights and empower communities to challenge unlawful arrests and detentions.

    According to him, lawyers will be mobilised to visit police stations regularly to ensure detainees’ rights are respected and to provide free legal assistance where necessary.

    The human rights activist urged citizens to make the protection of human rights a collective responsibility, calling on communities to engage human rights committees and report abuses by security agencies.

    He thanked members of the public for their solidarity and pledged continued legal action against all forms of unlawful detention and rights violations.

    Earlier, the President-General, of UDAN Dr Chidi Slessor and the Secretary, Mr Titus Eleweke, in a letter, expressed gratitude to Falana for securing the release of Nwafor, popularly known as “Onye Army”.

    The association praised the lawyer’s “exceptional courage, resilience and unwavering commitment to justice” in defending and securing  the doctor’s elease.

    According to UDAN, Falana’s doggedness in pursuing the case of Dr.Nwafor  despite obvious challenges and prolonged legal hurdles,” is a testament to a “lifelong dedication to the rule of law, protection of fundamental human rights and defence of the oppressed.

    “Dr Nwafor, a former President-General of Uturu, is a worthy son whose prolonged detention deeply pained the Uturu people of Abia State.

    “The intervention by the senior advocate restored his liberty and rekindled confidence in the justice system,” they both argued.

    UDAN also appealed for assistance to secure the release of another indigene, Mr Nduka Onyeani, who was arrested the same day with Nwafor and has since remained in detention.

    Narrating his experience, Dr. Kenneth Nwafor said he was sleeping in his house with his wife and children  on July 29, 2023 when officials of the DSS stormed his house at 2:35am and pointed guns at him in his bedroom and was whisked away with only the short boxers on his body.

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    “ My parlour was filled up with DSS and soldiers with over 30 Hilux vans outside in front of my house.

    “ I was handcuffed, my eyes tied and I was beaten. At a stage on the way, I heard one of them say, let’s waste this man and go away. But a DSS official, I guess, prevailed on them from killing me at that moment.

    “When I got to DSS office, I was made to face the wall till dawn. The following day, torture started. They used hammer to smash my head, blood gushed out and when my assailant wanted to repeat the feat, a senior officer stepped in and asked why he is hitting a man who has been talking voluntarily to them. So he stopped him”.

    “They said I belong to IPOB, I told them no”, that I am former soldier, First Class Scholar and lecturer at Abia State University.”

    He continued: “On the 3rd of August, they asked me to prepare that I am going home. What followed was that the man cocked his gun and released a shot into the air.

    My phone was collected and they took me in their car until they passed Okigwe  and we arrived Abuja at 5. 00pm. I entered the DSS headquarters.

    “On  October 7, I was very sick, they woke me up and I came out with 35 others. They handcuffed us and gave us water bottles to urinate on the way. They took us to Wawa Cantonment in Niger State. There I saw hellfire on earth. I found thousands of people, youths, suicide bombers, and bandits all classified according to events in each region.

    “Everyone from the East is regarded as a member of IPOB. Here they charged you as they desired and force you to enter a guilty plea. One guy who refused to plead guilty was beaten until he fainted.

    “While there, I kept praying everyday because I didn’t know I would l come out alive. Some have spent 15 years there without  be trial”, he said.

    Turning to Falana, he said: “ May God continue to replenish you. The God who saved me through you will not allow you to encounter any problem”.

  • Olanipekun to govt: enforce Cybercrime Act against social media abuse

    Olanipekun to govt: enforce Cybercrime Act against social media abuse

    •UNILAG Pro-Chancellor admonishes graduates on character

    Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), has urged the Federal Government to enforce the provisions of the 2024 Cybercrime Act to protect citizens and society from the dangers  of an unregulated social media space.

    Speaking at the 56th convocation ceremonies of UNILAG, the legal giant stressed the imperative of regulation and the need to protect citizens from constant harassment and cyber-bullying.

    He referred to the recent fine of £100,000 imposed on a blogger by a court in the United Kingdom as a measure to regulate the social media space.

    “Citizens are not protected from harassment, from banditry, from assassinations on social media. We are not aware; we are not learning. We don’t know what the law is.

    “And those of us who have a master’s degree in cybercrime, in cyber-protection, please let us look at the law.

    “An occasion like this provides an opportunity for Nigerians to have an idea of the type of protection they have under the law,” he said.

    He berated the desire to denigrate people and spoil their reputation through the internet, especially bloggers.

    The SAN said: “We must not put this country down. It will be a shame. Who will succeed us?

    “Do you disagree with any person, and the next thing you do is to sponsor bloggers to accuse someone falsely? Reputation is so sacrosanct.

    “It’s the duty of the police, the duty of the government, to protect us from bullying.”

    He advised the graduates not to join those who misuse social media for blackmail and reputation-soiling.

    “And thank you, my daughters, my sons. Please don’t be bullied. Don’t join them.

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    “Make a positive impact on society. You are going to shine. You are going to tower. You are going to soar.

    “And when others fail, you will succeed. Don’t be part of the negative people. Don’t be. And don’t let us fall away,” the legal titan added.

    On the recent settlement of the 2009 Agreement, he lauded President Bola Tinubu and Education Minister Dr Tunji Alausa, stressing that the agreement should not be breached.

    The Pro-Chancellor said from next year, he would gift any male student who comes out tops in any faculty a cash prize of N500,000.

    He noted that under his watch, the Governing Council has been trying for the past 18 months to work seamlessly and change the face of the university.

    Olanipekun admonished the graduates to be good and worthy ambassadors of the university wherever they find themselves.

    “As you step into the world outside these gates today, remember: education has prepared you for a living, but character will determine who you become in life.

    “The world you enter will test your convictions before it rewards your competence. It will question your integrity before it celebrates your success. You must, therefore, stand firm.

    “Carry your learning with humility. Wear your achievements with restraint. Exercise your influence with empathy.

    “Wherever you go, let your presence add value. Let your words bring clarity. Let your conduct command trust. Do not merely seek a place in history. Earn one.

    “And when your name is spoken in rooms you may never enter, may it be said, solemnly, and without contention, that here stood a product of the University of Lagos, who lived with purpose, led with courage, and served with honour,” he said.

  • Key messages in 2027 elections

    Key messages in 2027 elections

    Whether the ordinary folks like it or not, the main issue that will be in the front burner of the national discourse henceforth shall be the politics of 2027 general elections. Politicians understand that the few months of campaign period, approved by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in its guidelines, in accordance with the Electoral Act, are not enough. INEC’s guideline usually provides for a period of 90 days, as the campaign period before elections. For this column, as the campaign ramps up, the core issue should be which of the presidential candidate has the best competence to grow the national economy, which will reduce the poverty level in the country, which will in turn substantially abate the ravaging insecurity across the country.

    So, the core issues should be who has the best competence to improve the national economy and the capacity to deal with the mutating insecurity across the country. Obviously the frontrunner is the incumbent, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT). Amongst the contenders, the two with some chance of giving the president a run for his money, remains, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, now both of the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Their former parties, the PDP and the Labour Party are in disarray and instead of waiting to see whether the political carcasses would fall on them, have joined other aggrieved politicians to seek refuge in ADC.     

    Before Tinubu took over from President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023, this column had argued on occasions that amongst the then three leading candidates (same as now), Tinubu had the best credentials to deal with the staggering national economy. The fact is that he has not disappointed on that score. The twin challenges haemorrhaging the national economy before the 2023 general elections, were the fuel subsidy scam and the multiple foreign exchange platforms. To the shock of many Nigerians, PBAT confronted them head on, and after the initial headwinds, no one can doubt that the national economy is stronger since then.

    The other two candidates, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, agreed with the need to tackle those twin challenges, albeit with a caveat that they would have done it differently. Obi argued that the government should have put forward some palliative before slaying the dragons. I am not sure what Atiku said he would have done differently, apart from the claim that the timing was wrong. Since the deed had been done, the duo should come up with what they can do better to quicken the healing process of the very necessary economic operation the nation went through in 2023. The Tinubu administration would on its part push for stability, through a re-election, to achieve full recuperation for the patient.    

    But to keep themselves in the mind of the electorates, politicians design all manner of subterfuge to engage in campaign well ahead of the period provided by the laws. Of interest, despite the provision of section 977(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022, the campaigns oscillate around religion and tribe. That section provides: “A candidate, person or association who engages in campaigning or broadcasting based on religion, tribal, or section reason for the purpose of promoting or opposing a particular political party or the election of a particular candidate, commits an offence under this Act and is liable on conviction – (a) to a maximum fine of N1,000,000 or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both; and (b) in the case of political party to a minimum of N10,000,000.”  

    Despite the clear provision of section 97(1) of the Electoral Act, most of the campaign materials and argument, especially on the presidential election, have been based “on religious, tribal, or sectional reason”. For many Nigerians, it will be very absurd, if a presidential candidate from the southern part of the country is not allowed to complete eight years as president, when the immediate past president, from the northern part of the country, late President Buhari, spent full eight years, in power. The issue of religion is also on the front burner, the candidates and their supporters have always pushed that issue, especially if they have a presidential and vice presidential candidates from the two main religions in the country. 

    Even the constitution of some political parties, are reputed to provide for rotating the presidency between the north and south, and governorship election between the senatorial zones. Section 7(2)(c) of the constitution of the PDP, provides “The Party shall pursue these aims and objectives – adhering to the policy of the rotation and zoning of Party and Public elective offices in pursuance of the principle of equity, justice and fairness.” On its part, Article 20(iv)(e) of the constitution of the APC, provides: “Procedure for Nomination of Candidates – Without prejudice to Article 20(u) and (iii) of this Constitution, the National Working Committee shall subject to the approval of the National Executive Committee make Rules and Regulations for the nomination of candidates through primary elections. All such Rules, Regulations and Guidelines shall take into consideration and uphold the principle of federal character, gender balance, geo-political spread and rotation of offices, so as to as much as possible ensure balance within the constituency covered.”

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    Can it be argued that section 97(1) of the Electoral Act, which prohibits campaigning, based on ethnic or sectional reason offends the principle of federal character, as enshrined in the 1999 constitution? Section 14(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, (as amended), provides: “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few state or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.”

    Perhaps, it is the superiority of the constitution over the Electoral Act that makes the candidates and their supporters to significantly ignore the warning as provided in section 97(1) of the Electoral Act. While section 14(3) is silent on religion, it was explicit on banning persons from a few states, few ethnic or other sectional groups from dominating the government or any of its agencies.

    This column believes that apart from the twin challenges of economy and security, upon which most other things revolve, the question whether it would be fair for northern part of the country to produce another president, when the southern part of the country has not completed eight years, after the eight years of Buhari, would be a fair campaign issue. So, inevitably, the issue of religion, ethnicity and what section of the country, a presidential candidate comes from, would all play a part in shaping the 2027 elections.

  • Still on the tax laws matter

    Still on the tax laws matter

    From all indications, the last has not been heard on the alleged alteration of the tax laws. By this I do not mean its status in the books given that the law is already fully operative. Rather, I refer to the latest wave of offensive to shred it of any iota of legitimacy by a self-proclaimed Ad-hoc Committee on Tax Laws put up by a minority caucus in the National Assembly, led by Afam Ogene, the individual who represents Ogbaru Federal Constituency of Anambra State in the National Assembly.

    Even for those who choose to see politics as the art of the possible, the latest intervention, far from being the typical legislative petulance speaks to something graver –more like a dangerous play in deliberate, institutional subversion.

    Two weeks ago on this page, I had raised the poser – what next – in the background of the still strident opposition to the tax laws. Talk of legislations, which in their draft form, had survived a well-laid ambush by the National Economic Council (NEC) – a body of 36 governors chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima. They also survived the ferocious tackles by regional hegemons and their allies of various hues, and then the legion of opponents for whom every initiative by the Bola Tinubu administration, no matter how well meaning, must be shot down. And then the laws – four of them in all – waded through the legislative mill to emerge – again against the run of play so to speak – as the most consequential pieces of legislations under the current dispensation. And that is discounting the sustained campaign of misinformation launched against it by vested interests, all in the bid to render it toxic.

    Just like the saying of the old Volkswagen Beetle advert, there appears to be no killing this particular Bettle!  

    Still, those expecting the losers in the earlier plot to truncate its implementation to keep their peace and thus allow the law to run seamlessly have proven to be grossly mistaken.  Forget the well-timed intervention by the leaderships of the National Assembly; this has failed to douse the fires of their artfully crafted mischief.  And so they move on.

    Remember the initial dusts thrown up by a member of the House of Representatives, Abdulsamad Dasuki alleging discrepancies between the versions of the tax laws passed by the National Assembly and those circulated to the public. Most Nigerians would have ordinarily considered the allegations unsettling were it not for the needless drama that attended to it and the palpable bad faith by the sponsors. More than a month after the setting up of a seven-man committee composed of Muktar Aliyu Betara, former Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Idris Wase, Sada Soli, James Abiodun Faleke, Fred Agbedi, Babajimi Benson and Iduma Igariwey by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas to examine the issues; there are no indications of the muddying ending anytime soon.

    And just when one imagines that the findings of the committee are being prepped for plenary, a so-called Ad-hoc Committee on Tax Laws, perhaps unknown to the National Assembly as a body, said to have been set up by the minority caucus led by Afam Ogene, would emerge from the shadows to take things up from where their colleague – Dasuki stopped, throwing muck around. Needless to state that his committee all but confirmed the group’s hare-brained hypothesis that discrepancies indeed existed between the versions of the tax reform Acts passed. More specifically, the committee alleged that reporting thresholds were lowered, that mandatory deposits were introduced as conditions for tax appeals, and that enforcement powers were expanded to include arrest and the disposal of seized assets without court orders. It also alleged changes to the National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, including the removal of provisions that guarantee the National Assembly’s oversight powers.

    By the way, it didn’t help that Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen and Senate President Godswill Akpabio took the wind from their sail with the public release of the certified true copies of the laws. That changed nothing or could it? In any case, it seems unlikely that anything – short of keeping the law in perpetual abeyance – could mollify or appease those for whom the texts of the laws, being so patently embossed in satanic calligraphy, could have been anything but good!

    Now that the project to make the laws inoperable if not to put the integrity of the entire architecture of governance into peril by any means fair or foul, has since moved into an entirely new chapter, not only are citizens forced to relearn the distinction between good and bad faith, but questions about their next move have become inevitable.

    By the way, it helps that the so-called minority caucus recognises that the work of the Muktar Betara-led bipartisan committee is still on-going. This of course begs the question of why the minority committee couldn’t wait to see the process through before jumping the gun. Was it a case of not trusting his colleagues to do a thorough job?

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    Surely, if the world took interest in the establishment of the Betara committee given the uproar that the allegations generated at the time, the same could not be said of the secret committee of the minority caucus, which from all appearances, seem designed to undermine the work of the former. Little wonder they could not afford the luxury of taking their colleagues into confidence before inundating the media space with what could only have been a hatchet job. Now that that they have made their presentations in television studios in what is at best an exercise in showmanship, Nigerians wait to see how what impact it would make on the proceedings in the house.

    Fortunately, the house through its spokesman, Akin Rotimi has responded with a tutorial: “The House recognises the legitimate role of the minority caucus within parliamentary democracy and affirms its right to express dissenting opinions, engage in policy advocacy, and raise public concerns.

    “However, it is necessary to distinguish clearly between political activities and the formal parliamentary processes of the House.

    “The Standing Orders of the House (Eleventh Edition) vest the power to constitute ad hoc committees solely in the House acting in plenary or in the Speaker exercising powers conferred under the Standing Orders”.

    Well spoken – I dare say!

    But then that is merely the preliminary. Considering that the parliamentary privileges of the members appear to have been breached, the next step should be a call for full accounting for the delinquency.

    I rise!!!

  • January 15: tragic cabal, lronsi mess

    January 15: tragic cabal, lronsi mess

    By Azubike Nass

    I am a seeker after facts in historical matters. I have read, and continue to read books and commentaries on the events of January 1966; and the developments that followed, leading to the 30 months civil war of 1967-1970.

    I have also sought and had personal discussions with three of the active planners and participants in that coup, asking frank and uncomfortable questions. I have tried to keep aside emotions and sentiments, to confront the naked facts.

    The fact is that about 90% of the original planners of that coup were officers of Igbo extraction. Among the prominent victims of the coup included: Sir Ahmadu Bello (Premier of Northern Region), Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola (Premier of Western Region), Sir Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa (Prime Minister),  Brigadier Samuel Adesujo Ademulegun (Commander, 1 Brigade Kaduna); Brigadier Zakariya Maimalari (Commander, 2 Brigade Lagos); Col. Raphael Shodeinde (Commandant NDA, Kaduna).

    The others were Lt-Cols James Pam, Kur Mohammed, Abogo Legema and Arthur Unegbe.  Unegbe was the Quartermaster-General: an Igbo who was shot when the coup was already on.  Some of the plotters got to him and demanded more arms and ammo from the arms store.  He got shot when he attempted to notify Ironsi on the phone, of what was happening). 

    Though there were other lesser known victims, the officers that led the teams that executed the killings were virtually all of Igbo extraction.

    Who were Nigeria’s Five Majors — the title of a book, by Ben Gbulie — that originally hatched the 15 January 1966 coup? Majors Chukwuma Nzeogwu,  Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Donald Okafor, Chris Anuforo and Humphrey Chukwuka.  They were all of Igbo extraction. 

    There were other officers, though, mostly captains and lieutenants.  They included Capts Ben Gbulie and Emmanuel Nwobosi — both again, Igbo.

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    But there were also Capt. Adewale Ademoyega: a Yoruba and signal officer based in Lagos, who was mostly communicating the timing with the groups in Lagos, Ibadan and Kaduna, and some others.

    There were yet some other coup participants who were not really part of the planning, such as Lt Harris Eghagha: an Urhobo native, who had turned out for a programmed training exercise in the Nigerian Army Training School, Jaji, Kaduna, only to discover that Major Nzeogwu and other Igbo officers had turned it into a coup plot; and had secured live ammo.

    He was briefed on the spot and asked to declare his position. He paused for a moment and declared to go along. It was obvious he would be eliminated if he did otherwise.

    After any failed coup, there would be multiple arrests, which would include identified plotters and any officer whose movement at that time could attract suspicion, whether you travelled on official pass, or you attended a night party somewhere. The Special Investigating Panel (SIP) would sift through the arrested people and decide who to free and who to indict to face trial for what offence. That’s the normal thing.

    From this perspective, the number of officers arrested and detained for the coup may not be a good indication of those actually involved in the coup. And in the January 1966 coup, the benefitting Head of State, Major-Gen Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi, flatly ignored persistent calls to investigate and try the coup plotters, in accordance with standard military law.

    Was it an Igbo coup? Semantics of language may come in here, but certain facts remain sacred.

    The Igbos as an ethnic group never sat down in a meeting or had any consensus to plan a coup. The coup, which was very bloody, was a military boys’ affair.  But the killings were skewed against other regions and ethnic groups. Every military officer planning a coup knows the consequences of failure.

    The coup had failed and was causing much anger and bitterness among those who bore the brunt of the killings. And Ironsi, who became a beneficiary of the coup, flatly ignored all calls to try the coup plotters, as if he didn’t even want them to lose their ranks and commission. 

    He acted as if they were welcome revolutionaries who had committed no serious crime. He had hawkish Igbo advisers, in control of national authority, preening in their Igbo exceptionalism.

    Besides, Ironsi was enjoying the glamour of unexpectedly acquiring national authority.  Clannish advice from his close Igbo aides drummed into his head that it was his golden turn.

    In the heat of the explosive anger, created by the actions and inactions of the Ironsi military government, more related actions were adding salt to the injuries of those adversely affected.

    Just one sample: in the annual Army promotion exercise of April 1966, out of 21 officers promoted from Major to Lt-Colonel, 18 were Igbo-speaking.  Only three were non-Igbo. That was the height of insensitivity to the sensibilities of other members of the Nigerian space. The fuse of the time bomb was burning fast.  Soon, it exploded in catastrophe — a catastrophe that consumed Ironsi’s military government with no remedy.

    I remain blunt and fearless in condemnation of such stupid and insensitive actions of the past. I remain convinced that if one refuses to learn from past stupid actions, he/she would remain incapable of making correction and will be condemned to cycles of disaster, always pointing accusing fingers elsewhere, and blaming the gods for misfortunes, when the gods are really not to blame.

    It’s from this perspective that I repeatedly condemn the shenanigans of some of our Igbo leaders on the matter of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

    He and his group have committed every imaginable form of bestial criminality and hate violence, in the name of fighting to re-establish the dead and decayed Biafra Republic, which was a misery better forgotten.

    It has been an explosive cocktail: wild claims of marginalisation without any rigour of verifiable evidence to prove the case. Endless propaganda and hate against other members of the Nigerian space. No apology, no remorse, no repentance. Clearly curting disaster in many ways!

    I have told some of my Igbo close friends that if President Tinubu ever made the mistake of releasing Nnamdi Kanu — just like that — he would have faced a negative whiplash from the military and other law-enforcement institutions; just as there would be a furious reaction from the North, who were the primary victims of Kanu’s hate propaganda and gun attacks.

    I remain unapologetically stubborn to my conviction on this matter. I fear no evil. “Death is a necessary end which will come when it will”.

    •Azubike Nass, Enugu, 19 January 2026.

  • 2027 Guber: Can Senator Buba Shehu win Bauchi?

    2027 Guber: Can Senator Buba Shehu win Bauchi?

    Sir: As Nigeria inches closer to the 2027 general elections, the political temperature across the Northeast is steadily rising. Of the six states in the region, the All Progressives Congress (APC) currently governs four, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe, while the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) controls Adamawa and Bauchi. For the APC, reclaiming Bauchi is not merely a state contest; it is a strategic necessity in consolidating dominance in the Northeast.

    Political analysts often remind us that all politics is local. Nowhere is this truer than in Bauchi State, where history, identity, and grassroots connection frequently outweigh elite credentials and federal influence. As the race for 2027 gathers momentum, the central question is not just whether the APC can win Bauchi, but who within the party has the capacity to deliver that victory.

    Within the Bauchi APC, the contest is shaping up as a high-stakes battleground involving heavyweight figures: Minister of Health, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar; Senator Shehu Buba Umar of Bauchi South; and former NAPIMS Managing Director, Bala Wunti. Each brings distinct strengths, yet Bauchi’s political history suggests that not all strengths translate into electoral success.

    Bauchi’s politics is unique, even by Nigerian standards. Since 1999, power has changed hands regularly after eight years, as seen in the transitions from Adamu Mu’azu to Isa Yuguda, and later to Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar. This swinging pattern reflects a politically conscious electorate shaped by the enduring NEPU legacy, the sensitive Katagum–Bauchi balance, and an unwavering demand for grassroots leadership.

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    While Professor Ali Pate boasts international exposure and technocratic depth, his political challenge lies at home. Among many Bauchi voters, he is perceived as distant from local political struggles, earning the nickname “Wakilin Turawa”, a subtle but powerful reflection of weak grassroots resonance. Similarly, Bala Wunti is widely regarded as competent and capable, yet Bauchi APC’s recent history with political newcomers raises red flags. In 2023, Air Vice Marshal Saddique Abubakar emerged suddenly to clinch the party ticket, only to suffer a resounding defeat at the polls. A similar pattern played out in 2015 when M.A. Abubakar rode the Buhari wave to victory but failed to secure a second term in 2019.

    Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, though a seasoned political actor, faces another challenge common in Bauchi politics: perceived aloofness from the grassroots. In a state where political success depends on daily engagement with local realities, distance; real or imagined, can be costly.

    Against this backdrop, Senator Shehu Buba Umar stands out as a politically grounded contender. Several critical factors tilt the scale in his favour. Notably, all Bauchi governors since 1999 have emerged from Bauchi South, aligning squarely with Senator Buba’s constituency. The enduring Katagum–Bauchi political factor further strengthens his position, as does his deep-rooted grassroots network across the state.

    More importantly, Senator Buba is widely viewed as the only aspirant within the APC with the political reach and local acceptance required to confront and defeat an incumbent party. His long-standing engagement with party structures, traditional institutions, and grassroots actors has earned him the quiet support of many political stakeholders. In Bauchi, where elections are often won long before polling day through alliances and local trust, this advantage cannot be overstated.

    In a highly competitive state like Bauchi, emotion must give way to strategy, and strategy demands choosing a candidate who aligns with the state’s political realities.

    For the APC, winning Bauchi in 2027 is part of a broader objective: securing all six Northeast states in both the gubernatorial and presidential elections. Achieving this requires a deliberate, state-by-state approach that prioritizes grassroots candidates and addresses genuine local agitations. In Bauchi, the choice of governorship candidate will not only determine the fate of the state election but could significantly influence the party’s presidential performance.

    As history has repeatedly shown, Bauchi does not reward political experiments. It rewards familiarity, structure, and grassroots connection. In that equation, Senator Shehu Buba Umar appears not just as a contender, but as the APC’s most viable pathway to victory in 2027.

    •Zayyad Mohammed,Abuja.

  • Nigeria’s mines of blood

    Nigeria’s mines of blood

    Sir: It is a blood-curdling aberration that in Nigerian mines where minerals should be mined and minded, blood often flows. More damning is the reality that a country rich beyond measure in minerals is reluctant to clean up its often bloody mines.

    On January 22, gunmen attacked and killed about seven miners at a mining site in Kuru, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State. According to the reports, they arrived at the mine and started shooting indiscriminately, leading to the death of the miners. The youngest of the slain was just about 15 years old.

    With Nigeria’s vast landscape awash in mineral resources, the government has in recent times talked up mining and the resultant mineral resources as a way to diversify its economy and reduce the emphasis on oil. As a result, the government has recently started seemingly paying more attention to Nigeria’s minerals sector and what happens in the mines.

    For so long as Nigeria paid disproportionate and disastrous attention to oil as its chief source of revenue and major driver of its economy, other sectors of the Nigerian economy were largely neglected. These included the solid minerals sector, which has largely suffered neglect and exploitation.

    In most countries of the world awash with mineral resources, conflict is never far away, with the race to exploit the mineral resources often resulting in violent instability and insecurity for the immediate communities. Unfortunately, Africa has been a blood-soaked experiment in how mineral resources can spin countries into an unending and bloody cycle of bone-chilling violence.

    It Is no secret that the brutal civil wars fought in Liberia and neighbouring Sierra Leone were inextricably  linked to the mineral resources in those countries, specifically   the huge diamond reserves in those countries. The atrocities committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo remain well-documented, with the country remaining a heart-breaking example of what happens when the government fails to adequately regulate the mineral resources ecosystem within a country.

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    Similarly, the rush for Sudan’s gold has played a stirring role in the conflict that is reducing one of Africa’s most iconic countries to its knees, taking a particularly crushing toll on women and children.

    It is no coincidence that in Nigeria, the poorly regulated solid minerals sector has contributed to rising insecurity. Gold reserves in some states in the North have largely fuelled insecurity in those areas, with foreigners, bandits, locals, and government officials all locked in the race to make the most profits.

    For those who fuel Nigeria’s grave security crisis, it is no surprise that they find solid minerals an attractive proposition, as selling them on the black market would give them the financial resources they dearly need to keep their deadly activities going.

    Nigeria continues to lose humongous amounts of money in revenue because of the activities of illegal miners. Many of these illegal miners are just unemployed young people seeking to earn a living. But a good number of them include those fuelling insecurity in Nigeria. The toll their activities take on their immediate communities, the environment, and the country as a whole is huge.

    It is clear that Nigeria can by no means continue to tolerate their excesses. While it is crucial to protect Nigeria’s mineral resources to boost revenue, it is even more important that those who drench Nigeria’s mines in blood are made to face the full wrath of the law.

    • Ike Willie-Nwobu, Ikewilly9@gmail.com

  • On the matter of gold refinery in Lagos

    On the matter of gold refinery in Lagos

    Sir: Recently, the Northern Elders Forum came up with another allegation which painted it as a champion of regionalism. The body faulted the decision of the federal government to site a gold refinery in Lagos State.

    According to NEF, “The decision to locate Nigeria’s gold refinery in Lagos while gold is mined from northern soil is not a policy error. It is not an oversight.  It is a deliberate act of economic dispossession. It strips value addition from northern communities….”

    I think it is high time for Nigerians to begin to scrutinize the sincerity of purpose of regional leaders. These people parade themselves as leaders of the North but they are not accountable to anybody. They talk of the North as If the North is a sovereign entity. Unwisely, they deepen disunity and mistrust.

    The NEF and ACF have never published an audited report of their accounts. They never bother to explain to any northerner how they generate and utilise their fund in running their organizations.

    The accusation against the federal government is misleading. The federal government has said that the gold refinery is a private company.

    “There is no iota of truth in the allegation. The new gold refinery is the initiative of Kian Smith, a 100 percent privately owned mining company which aims to facilitate the development of the local gold industry through innovative practices”, said Segun Tomori,Special Assistant on Media to the minister of Solid Minerals Development.

    “We are shocked at the debilitating degeneration in the quality of leadership of the NEF, an organisation that used to act as a think tank of serious discourse decades ago, which, by its recent utterances, has become a parody of its pioneers”, he further said.

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    It is time we stop propaganda and face the reality.

    The Northern State Governors should emulate Governor Dikko Radda on how to woo private investors to their states. For example, last year, Katsina State government hosted Katsina Economic and Investment Summit 2025. One of the fruits of the summit is the investment of $3.5 Million by TORQ Agro Nigeria Limited.

    The company is establishing an integrated farm and hatcher in Batagarawa Local Government Area. This would create 2,000 jobs. Also the company will invest another N42 billion in Soya beans processing and oil refinery.

    Bauchi State government also hosted an economic summit last year.

    Again on the propaganda of marginalization, last year at the government-citizens engagement held at Arewa House, Kaduna, the chairman of ACF board of trustees, Bashir Dalhatu commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the ongoing roads construction across the North. Among these are the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Road, Sokoto-Badagry Super-highway, Kano-Maradi Rail line, AKK gas project among others.

    •Comrade Bishir Dauda Sabuwar, Unguwa Katsina.

  • The Diezani trial

    The Diezani trial

    •That the duration of the trial is known even before it starts is something our judiciary ought to learn from

     Today, hopefully, the trial of Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, for alleged acts of corruption during her tenure in office between 2010 and 2015, will begin in London. During her appearance last week before a Southwark Crown Court in London for the preliminary hearing, which deliberated on technical matters and the issue of jury selection before the full process, it was specified that the trial would last from 10 to 12 weeks.

    This is indeed a major interesting feature of the case whereby the duration of the legal process, which will not exceed three months, is known beforehand. This contrasts with the situation in Nigeria where a cumbersome judicial system permits cases to drag interminably for years. The British system obviously does not allow lawyers to utilise technicalities to prolong cases unduly while indulgent judges feign helplessness.

    The Diezani trial also raises the pertinent and recurrent point that allegations of wrongdoing in public office, including suspected corrupt enrichment, have no gender bias. Female occupants of offices of trust in the public or private sectors are as open to alleged corrupt entrapment as their male counterparts.

    Among the indictments against Alison-Madueke are that she received at least £100,000 ($134,000) in cash, flights on private jets, payment for chauffeur-driven cars and use of multiple properties in London while in office in Nigeria.

    Along with two other accomplices, Doye Agama and Olatimbo Ayinde, she also faces charges of illicitly receiving rewards such as furniture; renovation work, members of the staff for maintenance of properties, gifts from designer shops and payment of private school fees, contrary to her oath of office as public officer in Nigeria.

    A court in Nigeria had earlier ordered the forfeiture to the Federal Government of properties allegedly linked to Diezani but which no one had come forward to claim after advertisements in the media within legally specified time-frames.

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    Can’t the British authorities be accused of crying more than the bereaved when they appear more determined to bring errant Nigerian public officers to book under their laws for the latter’s infractions in Nigeria, when we tend to treat such cases with kid gloves here? That would be a most unfair conclusion. For one, rampant corruption in countries like Nigeria compounds the problems of underdevelopment and poverty that fuel the mass migration to advanced countries that has become a major social problem in those societies.

    Again, illicit financial flows through corruption and other crimes help fund terrorists, dangerous drugs and human trafficking networks that constitute a threat to multiple countries across the globe, irrespective of where the original crime was committed. Furthermore, the accommodation of ill- acquired funds in the financial systems of recipient countries corrupts, weakens and undermines the integrity of their systems and processes with negative security implications.

    First arrested in London in October 2015, Diezani had been on bail until she was formally charged in 2023 by the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) for accepting bribes between 2011 and 2015. Some legal experts have attributed the long delay between her first apprehension and formal charge to the protracted nature of the investigations spanning the UK, USA and Nigeria, as well as the desire to build a watertight case before commencement of trial.

    The thorough investigative process is certainly a key factor in the speedy completion of cases after opening of trial in jurisdictions like the UK, and this is something anti-corruption and judicial authorities in Nigeria can learn from and emulate.

    Since the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) is evidently not facilitating greater efficiency, effectiveness and promptness in justice delivery in Nigeria, it is imperative that the relevant laws be further amended to make it more difficult for allegedly corrupt persons facing trial in Nigeria to complicate and extend their trials almost indefinitely.