The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sentry

  • How sharks in govt plotted Southern governor’s defeat in 2023

    How sharks in govt plotted Southern governor’s defeat in 2023

    Fresh facts have emerged to the effect that one of the governors in the southern states lost his re-election bid in 2023 because many government officials considered him too prudent and meticulous in his handling of the state’s finances.

    Many of his political associates were also said to have complained about his style of governance, saying that he conducted government business like a private enterprise.

    The former governor was said to be in the habit of spending long hours perusing files that were brought to him for signing and never hesitated to return such files if he noticed any defects.

    READ ALSO: Policy flip-flops, power crisis behind North’s stunted growth, rising insecurity — Dangote

    “Some government officials even used to remind him that he was now the governor and no longer in his previous office where he served as an aide to the governor.

    “But he would thank them for reminding him and also tell them that he was taking his time to go through files because he did not want a situation where a hundred thousand naira expenditure would be presented to him as one million naira,” a source said.

    Consequent on the foregoing, many of his supposed aides were said to have either worked against him when the time came for his re-election or simply stood aloof, resulting in his loss of the election.

  • Why ex-governor is lying low

    Why ex-governor is lying low

    Not a few Nigerians have noticed the absence from public glare of a once ubiquitous former governor of a prominent state and chieftain of the opposition parties, in recent times.

    Until recently, the former governor was as visible as he was vocal, acting as the face of a would-be coalition of political parties.

    But the vocal former governor is hardly seen or heard in recent times, leaving political observers to wonder why he has chosen to lie low after the initial gragra. Close associates of the opposition chief, however, told Sentry that he decided to slow down for two reasons.

    The first, according to them, is that despondency has set in for the politician just like some others in his new party because it is not making the instant impact they had anticipated.

    READ ALSO: Only Nigerians can save the country, not Trump – Ex-Foreign Affairs Minister

    Secondly, the former governor is said to have been jolted by recent threats from the US to deal with Nigerian leaders who had indulged the characters responsible for the poor security situation in the country in any way.

    It will be recalled that the governor once granted an interview while he held sway as state chief excutive wherein he admitted pacifying killer herdsmen with huge sums of money so they could live in piece with farmers.

    Besides, he is said not to be in the good books of the predominantly Christian inhabitants of a section of his state who accuse him of encouraging their persecution while he wielded power.

  • Day wife ordered powerful general to enter rain

    Day wife ordered powerful general to enter rain

    Among men who are yet to be caught in the web of woman’s power, there is a tendency to underestimate the influence of the feminine gender on their spouses.

    History is replete with cases of great rulers whose kingdoms were ruined by their inability to rein in their spouses when their influence becomes overbearing. In Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, the story is told of how Mark Antony, the co-ruler of Roman Empire with Octavius Caesar and Lepidus, who was needed urgently in Rome as Pompey, another military leader, sought to take control of the empire, remained stuck with Cleopatra in Egypt

    In the middle of the hot battle for the control of the empire, he abandoned his army and ran after Cleopatra.

    In the bible, there are numerous examples of supposedly powerful men genuflecting before their wives or pandering to their promptings like Adam did with Eve, Samson with Delilah and Ahab with Jezebel, to mention a few.

    Read Also: Igbobi, IGOT train surgeons to save limbs, improve trauma care in Nigeria

    Within our clime, army generals and even heads of state are reputed for bowing to the whims and caprices of their female partners no matter how discomforting.

    An aide to a former head of state once recalled how the head of state in question was lefty in torn uniform and injured face after a violent attack by his wife and First Lady, in his office! So much so that he had to be ferried back home by his aides to change his torn uniform.

    In yet another case of woman power, another widely respected General from the north was said to have gone to a social function with his wife, who was young enough to be his daughter behind the wheel.

    However, a heavy rain had started by the time the party was over and they needed to depart the venue but the car was parked at a distance. The woman, mindful of the prospects of her dress getting drenched or her facial powder messed up, turned to the elderly husband, handed him the key and commanded: “Go and bring the car”.

    Like an obedient servant, the elderly general jumped into the rain and walked gingerly towards the car.

  • Sympathy for IDPs

    Sympathy for IDPs

    One of the most cutting taunts in Nigerian politics right now is to be referred to as an Internally Displaced Politician (IDP). That is the tag that has been hung around the necks of some of the leading lights of the opposition African Democratic congress (ADC).

    Among the most prominent of this new species is former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who left the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with so much hype, but is yet to formally join the over-inflated platform that we were all told was going to topple the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and send President Bola Tinubu back to Lagos in a hurry.

    In this group belongs the fire-spitting former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, who regular bulletins on X have somehow lost their earlier menace. Now he mournfully bewails the calamity that awaits Nigerian democracy if the president is allowed to cruise to victory in two years’ time.

    In the meantime, he’s floating around in political purgatory – somewhere between the Social Democratic Party (SDP) where he has received an icy welcome and his ADC promised land, trying to conjure some sort of magic potion that would banish Tinubu and deliever him from irrelevance.

    Read Also: CSOs call for dedicated humanitarian fund to support IDPs, refugees

    Part of this band is a certain Rotimi Amaechi, one-time Minister of Transportation who briefly flirted with something called the All Democratic Alliance (ADA). It was a brief and spectacular flop. The former governor of Rivers State who still fancies himself something of a political lion has been huffing and puffing – wondering why Nigerians haven’t revolted against the government of the day.

    When that trick didn’t work he began moaning about hunger. Again, not too many were sympathetic given his ample midriff.

    And then there’s Peter Obi who seems to be doing his level best not to jump into the ADC bed and whilst still pretending to be a member of the troubled Labour Party (LP).

    You really have to feel for the politically homeless are they trun round and round in circles not having the courage of their convictions but always willing to believe that their accommodation problems are caused by the all-powerful occupant of Aso Rock – and not by their own dithering.

  • Rivers still waiting for Fubara’s new cabinet

    Rivers still waiting for Fubara’s new cabinet

    Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has spent about 50 days in office since his second coming after the six months emergency rule in the state. The governor has been trying to bounce back; picking the gauntlet and pushing through all frontiers of development. But uncertainties still hover around his administration. He could not hit the ground running.

    The obstacles posed by the conditions for peace might have prevented the governor from hitting the ground running. Fubara wants to appease his core loyalists and diplomatically disengage some of them seen as the faces and progenitors of the crisis. He looks like a man carefully charting a new path but conscious of not stepping on toes.

    Many observers are curious that the governor after about 50 days has yet to have a fully constituted cabinet. The administration seems to lack the steam, the enthusiasm, the agility and activities that characterised its beginning.

    Some issues have been left in the cooler unattended to as the governor appears to be biding his time. While the governor showed the exit door to his former Secretary to the State Government Dr. Tammy Danagogo by appointing his replacement, Benibo Anabraba, uncertainties still surround the office of his Chief of Staff (CoS).

    Obviously, his political family does not want Edison Ehie to remain as his Chief of Staff. However, Fubara has not specifically said anything about his fate. It is unclear whether the man considered as the king of the youths is still performing his functions as the chief of staff.

    READ ALSO; FULL LIST: Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido, Ayra Starr, others nominated for 2026 Grammy awards

    During his return, Ehie was seen with Fubara in almost all the events. In fact, he was in the company of Fubara on the aircraft that flew him back to office.

    Suddenly, Ehie disappeared from public glare and went out of circulation. He has not been seen in the entourage of Fubara in most of the events, spiraling speculation on whether he is still the Chief of Staff. Fubara is widely expected to define these offices. Will he retain Ehie as Chief of Staff or assign him a new role in his government?

    Apart from the position of the Chief of Staff, many ministries are yet to have commissioners and the governor has not reappointed some of the agencies he dissolved shortly after his return.

    Where is the new commissioners’ list? What Fubara has so far done was to disengage about 19 commissioners sacked by the Supreme Court’s judgment without replacing them.

    But the governor reportedly carried a minor reshuffle of commissioners not affected by the judgment. He redeployed the Commissioner for Information, Joe Johnson, to the Ministry of Commerce and left Johnson’s former office vacant.

    As strategic as the Ministry of Information is, it has no commissioner. But the governor has been running the ministry and others like it with permanent secretaries. Will the governor run the ministries with permanent secretaries till the end of his first tenure?

    It will be recalled that the House of Assembly, during its first sitting, asked the governor to send his list of commissioners-nominee for screening and confirmation, but he has yet to do so.

  • Amaechi’s presidential dream goes awry

    Amaechi’s presidential dream goes awry

    Former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, recently stirred controversy by declaring himself a hungry man. His claim did not sit well with many Nigerians who are conscious of his antecedents as an eight-year Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, eight-year governor of Rivers State and eight-year super minister in charge of transportation during the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    If a man who has held very prominent positions in government for 24 years is starving just because he is out of office for two years, then something is fundamentally wrong, they argued.

    But fresh information about the former Minister of Transportation is that he is not only hungry, he is also angry. His present rage stems from goings on in the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the party of former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former Kaduna State governor Nasir el-Rufai, former Osun State governor Rauf Aregbesola and other disgruntled politicians whose sole mission is to stop the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.

    Amaechi, who had lost the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to Tinubu in the build-up to the 2023 elections and had been unable to hide his anger over the latter’s victory as the party’s candidate and eventually as the President, had pitched his tent with the sworn enemies of the President in ADC in the hope of securing the party’s ticket to contest the presidential election against Tinubu in 2027.

    Excited at his membership of the party, he had boasted about the pivotal role he played in the formation of the party together with former Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi. His excitement has, however, turned into frustration as reality finally hit him that the party touted as a coalition and its main actors are nothing more than pawns on Atiku’s string.

    Read Also: Peterside  calls for credible administrators in NFF

    Amaechi was said to have become dispirited lately after realising that the party’s presidential ticket is designed for Atiku, wondering what use it would be to chase out Tinubu only to replace him with the former VP whose status in the party is not even clear. The ex-minister was also said to have been exasperated that only him and Aregbesola heeded the party’s instruction that members should go to their respective states to hold rallies aimed at wooing people into the party, while Atiku the man they are working for has done nothing more than push out occasional press releases through his media aides.

    Amaechi is also frustrated that the hope of the party to attract political heavyweights remains unfulfilled; a situation compounded by APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda’s,  recent declaration that some ADC members were on the verge of defecting to APC.

  • Governor, Police Commissioner in silent war

    Governor, Police Commissioner in silent war

    A quiet but bruising war is raging between the governor of a northern state and the Commissioner of Police in the state following the governor’s party’s loss of a by-election that took place in the state recently.

    Prior to the by-elections, the warring parties had enjoyed a very cordial relationship, fueling the governor’s assumption that the police would only pander to his promptings during the election.

    READ ALSO: FULL PROFILE: Meet Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. General Olufemi Oluyede

    To his surprise and disappointment, however, the police chose to be neutral during the exercise, consequent upon which the governor’s party and preferred candidate lost.

    Their once cordial relationship has since turned sour while the governor is doing everything he can to antagonise the police in the state.

  • Jonathan’s headaches over 2027 presidential election

    Jonathan’s headaches over 2027 presidential election

    President Goodluck Jonathan has kept the speculations about his plan to contest the presidential election in 2027 alive with the consultations he has been making with some prominent Nigerians he believes could help his cause. Among them are former military president Ibrahim Babangida, the current Chairman of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Gen. David Mark (rtd) and most recently the Chairman of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, High Chief Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo popularly known as Tompolo.

    But the more consultations he makes the more his hope of returning to the Aso Rock Presidential Villa appears to dim. Reports said his visit to Gen. Babangida at his Hilltop mansion in Minna, Niger State was met with a candid advice from the General that he should not risk his reputation with another bid for the presidency because he would be “messed up”. In Abuja, Gen. Mark told him point blank that there would be no automatic ticket from the ADC as the former president would have to contest the party’s presidential primary with other interested members.

    Another shocker has come from Tompolo, a former political ally of Jonathan once reputed for his unflinching support for the former president. Perhaps unknown to Jonathan, a lot has changed since he lost power in 2015 and the loyalty of the Tantita boss is now to someone else.

    READ ALSO: FULL PROFILE: Meet Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. General Olufemi Oluyede

    But yet the biggest shocker is the recent defection of Governor Douye Diri of Jonathan’s Bayelsa State from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with speculations that he may pitch his tent with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The question on the lips of observers now is how the former president hopes to pursue his ambition even without the vital support of his state governor. 

    On his own, Jonathan is not a political heavyweight and has not been in politics since he was voted out of power in 2015. The political interest of Tompolo, who used to be his staunch supporter, has changed while Chief I.K. Clark, the Niger Delta leader who used to rally support for him in the region is late. Many other Ijaw activists are also of the view that the former president should not waste his time and resources on an impossible mission.

  • Day wife ordered powerful general to enter rain

    Day wife ordered powerful general to enter rain

    Among men who are yet to be caught in the web of woman’s power, there is a tendency to underestimate the influence of the feminine gender on their spouses.

    History is replete with cases of great rulers whose kingdoms were ruined by their inability to rein in their spouses when their influence becomes overbearing. In Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, the story is told of how Mark Antony, the co-ruler of Roman Empire with Octavius Caesar and Lepidus, who was needed urgently in Rome as Pompey, another military leader, sought to take control of the empire, remained stuck with Cleopatra in Egypt

    In the middle of the hot battle for the control of the empire, he abandoned his army and ran after Cleopatra.

    In the bible, there are numerous examples of supposedly powerful men genuflecting before their wives or pandering to their promptings like Adam did with Eve, Samson with Delilah and Ahab with Jezebel, to mention a few.

    Within our clime, army generals and even heads of state are reputed for bowing to the whims and caprices of their female partners no matter how discomforting.

    READ ALSO: No plans to join APC, says Lawal

    An aide to a former head of state once recalled how the head of state in question was lefty in torn uniform and injured face after a violent attack by his wife and First Lady, in his office! So much so that he had to be ferried back home by his aides to change his torn uniform.

    In yet another case of woman power, another widely respected General from the north was said to have gone to a social function with his wife, who was young enough to be his daughter behind the wheel.

    However, a heavy rain had started by the time the party was over and they needed to depart the venue but the car was parked at a distance. The woman, mindful of the prospects of her dress getting drenched or her facial powder messed up, turned to the elderly husband, handed him the key and commanded: “Go and bring the car”.

    Like an obedient servant, the elderly general jumped into the rain and walked gingerly towards the car.

  • Sympathy for IDPs

    Sympathy for IDPs

    One of the most cutting taunts in Nigerian politics right now is to be referred to as an Internally Displaced Politician (IDP). That is the tag that has been hung around the necks of some of the leading lights of the opposition African Democratic congress (ADC).

    Among the most prominent of this new species is former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who left the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with so much hype, but is yet to formally join the over-inflated platform that we were all told was going to topple the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and send President Bola Tinubu back to Lagos in a hurry.

    In this group belongs the fire-spitting former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, who regular bulletins on X have somehow lost their earlier menace. Now he mournfully bewails the calamity that awaits Nigerian democracy if the president is allowed to cruise to victory in two years’ time.

    In the meantime, he’s floating around in political purgatory – somewhere between the Social Democratic Party (SDP) where he has received an icy welcome and his ADC promised land, trying to conjure some sort of magic potion that would banish Tinubu and deliever him from irrelevance.

    READ ALSO; What inspired me to write ‘Joromi’ song – Simi

    Part of this band is a certain Rotimi Amaechi, one-time Minister of Transportation who briefly flirted with something called the All Democratic Alliance (ADA). It was a brief and spectacular flop. The former governor of Rivers State who still fancies himself something of a political lion has been huffing and puffing – wondering why Nigerians haven’t revolted against the government of the day.

    When that trick didn’t work he began moaning about hunger. Again, not too many were sympathetic given his ample midriff.

    And then there’s Peter Obi who seems to be doing his level best not to jump into the ADC bed and whilst still pretending to be a member of the troubled Labour Party (LP).

    You really have to feel for the politically homeless are they trun round and round in circles not having the courage of their convictions but always willing to believe that their accommodation problems are caused by the all-powerful occupant of Aso Rock – and not by their own dithering.