Category: Lead

• Justices to decide contempt of court, jurisdiction, use of old notes, others

• Apex court’s ruling on use of old notes side-by-side with new notes subsists, say SANs

The Supreme Court has fixed judgment for March 3 in the suits filed by 17 states to challenge the propriety of the naira swap policy of the Federal Government.

A nine-member panel of the court presided over by Justice John Okoro chose the date after lawyers to parties made their final submissions.

The states that filed cases against the Federal Government, in the name of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), are: Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara, Katsina, Lagos, Cross River, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo, Sokoto, Rivers, Kano, Niger, Jigawa, Nasarawa, Plateau and Abia states.

Upon an application by Bayelsa and Edo states, the court on February 15, joined the two states as co-defendants with the AGF.

But senior lawyers said yesterday’s development will not in any way affect the apex court’s interim order of February 8 by the Supreme Court.

According to the Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), who  spoke with The Nation, the order that the old currencies remained as legal tender until the determination of the suit before the court subsists.

Before the hearing of the suits yesterday, the Attorney-General of Lagos, Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), noted that it may be impossible for the case to be heard yesterday because he was just served with some documents by some of the respondents.

Onigbanjo added that Lagos has, along with its originating summons, filed an application on February 20 to bar the AGF from continuing to defend the suit because he was in contempt of court.

He argued that it was the position of the law that a party in contempt of court cannot appear to seek any relief.

At that point, Justice Okoro interjected and announced that the court was willing to hear the case yesterday and would not accommodate any issue that could prevent it from achieving that goal.

The Justice noted that everyone in the case seemed to want to make the Judiciary a scapegoat on the issue, adding that the way things were going, the Judiciary could be made the scapegoat.

He said: “We don’t want a situation where the judiciary is made a scapegoat,” adding that the court did not want to delay the hearing of the case any longer.

The judge further said the court would not waste its time on whether or not its order is obeyed but would hear the case.

Another member of the panel, Justice Amina Augie, spoke in a similar vein and insisted that the court was determined to hear the case.

Justice Okoro then called on the lawyer of the first and second defendants (Kaduna and Kogi states), Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN), to identify his processes and adopt them.

Mustapha identified the documents he filed, including an affidavit he filed on February 22 on the AGF’s alleged non-compliance with the order of the court.

He urged the court to grant all the reliefs being sought in his clients and dismiss the notices of objection filed by the AGF and Bayelsa State.

Lawyer to Zamfara State, Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN), who adopted the arguments by Mustapha, said his client also filed an application on February 17 praying the court to set aside the directive issued by President Muhammadu Buhari on February 16 directing that only N200 notes should be in use, in disregard of the pending order of the court.

Owonikoko added that the naira redesign policy of the Federal Government was at variance with the provision of Section 17(2)(c) of the Constitution, which says that governmental actions shall be humane.

He added that the policy has occasioned hardship on the people.

Onigbanjo said his state filed several documents in the case.

One of such documents, he said, is a motion seeking an order prohibiting the defendant/respondent (the AGF) from being granted an audience before this court until the defendant or his principal, the President, complies with the order made by the court on February 8 directing that the old notes remain legal tender until the determination of the suit.

Onigbanjo said the suit by Lagos was distinct from the one filed by other states in that it seeks reliefs pertaining to Lagos and not the people of the state.

He said the suit was informed by the fact that the naira redesign was affecting the government of Lagos State in the performance of its functions and meeting its responsibilities.

The Lagos A-G urged the court to refuse audience to the AGF and grant the prayers sought in the suit.

Samuel Ologunorisa (SAN), who represented Katsina; Shuaibu Abuwa (SAN) for Cross River; Tunde Afe Babalola SAN, for Ogun; O. O. Olowolafe SAN for Ekiti; Charles Titiloye SAN for Ondo and Georgina Udeh for Sokoto State, all urged the court to dismiss the objection raise against the suit by the AGF and Bayelsa State and grant all the reliefs sought in the suit by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states.

In their separate cases that were consolidated with the case by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states, Rivers, Kano, Jigawa, Nasarawa and Abia argued that the policy was unconstitutional and should be voided.

Sunnusi Musa (SAN) for Kano argued that President Buhari violated constitutional provisions when he sidelined members of the National Economic Council, who ought to be consulted before such a monumental economic policy could be implemented.

Sunnusi argued that President Buhari only worked with the CBN governor, who is just a member of the council in deciding to adopt the policy that brought suffering to the people.

He urged the court to intervene to save the nation’s democracy as it had done in the past.

Musa Aliyu, who is the A-G of Jigawa State, argued that President Buhari violated the provision of Section 148(3) of the Constitution, requiring him to first seek the advice of the National Economic Council on any economic policy.

Abdulkarim Kana, the A-G of Nasarawa State, argued that his state and the governor were among the victims of the naira policy.

He prayed the court to grant the reliefs sought in the suit by his state and dismiss the objection by the respondents.

Kanu Agabi (SAN), Tijani Gazali (SAN), Kenneth Mozia (SAN) and Audu Anuga (SAN) who represented the AGF, Bayelsa and Edo states urged the court to dismiss the suit for want of jurisdiction and for being incompetent.

Agabi, who also argued that necessary parties were not before the court, faulted the exclusion of the governor of the CBN as a party in the suit.

He noted that references were made to the CBN 32 times in the plaintiffs’ originating summons and supporting affidavit, while seven reliefs were sought against the apex bank, which was not made a party in the suit.

Agabi, who said his client filed a motion on notice seeking the dismissal of the Form 48 issued on the AGF and the Governor of CBN, added that an affidavit to show cause why Form 48 should be set aside has also been filed.

He argued that President Buhari did not flout the order of the court in his February 16 broadcast, insisting that it was a necessary intervention.

Agabi said: “Long before the court made the order, Nigerians were already rejecting the old notes. Even this court’s Registry was not accepting them.

“The Present felt it was necessary to prevent this anomaly. Then, he gave the directive and said, to stop rejecting them. Take them to the CBN. The president did not disobey the order made by this court,” Agabi said.

Other members of the Supreme Court’s panel are Justices Amina Augie, Mohammed Lawal Garba, Ibrahim Saulawa, Adamu Jauro, Tijani Abubakar and Emmanuel Agim.”  

• APC candidate writes Nigerians

• 155 North’s Christian leaders pledge support

• Alake: Opponents will be shocked

• 4 parties, 5 governorship candidates back bid  

All Progressives Congress (APC) standard bearer Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu yesterday urged Nigerians to troop out enmass to vote for him at Saturday’s poll. 

He explained why he should succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, saying that he will work for the good and happiness of the greatest number of Nigerians. 

Also yesterday, 155 North’s Christian leaders backed the APC candidate, describing him as the best for the country. 

The Director of the Strategic Communication of the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Mr. Dele Alake, said Tinubu’s opponents will be shocked on poll day. 

Four parties and five governorship candidates from the Southwest also pledged their support for Tinubu.

In a statement titled:’Why I seek your mandate to be president of Nigeria,’ Tinubu said he will build on the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The statement reads: “Fellow Nigerians, it is with a tremendous sense of history and an immense awareness of the challenges ahead of us as a country that I address you today. For the past few months, my running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima and I and other leaders of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) have traversed the length and breadth of our country in the course of our campaigns for the forthcoming presidential, governorship and legislative elections at all levels.

“I have been overwhelmed by the enthusiastic crowds that have trooped out to receive us in all the states we visited. On Tuesday, we had the grand finale of our rally in Lagos State. It is obvious to me from my interaction with our people across the country that, despite our challenges, the APC enjoys tremendous goodwill among the vast majority of our people.

“In all the states we have visited, there are visible landmarks of the huge impact the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has made in terms of infrastructural development in the form of rural and urban roads and expressways, modern railway tracks, as well as improved airport facilities,  among others.

“Millions of our poor and vulnerable people have benefitted from the various social intervention programmes of the Buhari administration. The amounts disbursed to these categories of our people are unprecedented in terms of the sheer transfer of resources to the less privileged sections of the population not only in our country but in Africa. It is remarkable and ironical that those who were in power for 16 years earned far higher revenues from petroleum than we did and yet were unable to effectively tackle neither infrastructure nor poverty. They now have the temerity to cast aspersions on the APC administration. 

“Our campaign tours demonstrated clearly to us that you, our people, are not deceived.

“Of course, we are aware of the hardships suffered by our people and the challenges confronting our country. Some of these could have been mitigated by better conceptualized and articulated policies. The truth is that there can be no perfect government in any human community. 

“Some of the problems are also of global origin such as the unanticipated COVID-19 pandemic that disrupted economies worldwide or the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war that has disrupted global food and fuel supply chains.

“It is clear to me that there is a lot that the Buhari administration has done that are laudable in the areas of infrastructure, agriculture and poverty alleviation. We must build upon these achievements. 

“There are also some sectors where we must adopt new approaches and stress new priorities. 

“What is clear is that the Office of the President of Nigeria is not one of pleasure. Rather, it will demand the highest standard of hard work, discipline, focus, determination and commitment on the part of the next President. 

“I pledge solemnly that my Vice-President and I will dedicate ourselves wholeheartedly to working for the greatest good and happiness of the greatest number of Nigerians.

“Senator Shettima and I have outstanding records  of high performance in public office as Governors of our states. In Lagos, where I served as Governor for 8 remarkable years, I  led a team of talented, hardworking, creative, intelligent and purposeful people that recalibrated governance and set new standard in good governance that continues to propel the state to greater growth and development till date. That Lagos State is the 5th largest economy in Africa didn’t happen by chance. It is a product of consistent hardwork and creative leadership. 

“We seek to demonstrate on national scale  that energy and capacity that transformed our state  to bring prosperity to all Nigerians.

“Our administration will work to ensure not just a farewell to poverty but also usher in an era of prosperity in our country. To achieve this, we will re-engineer our security architecture to enhance the capacity of our armed forces and security agencies to guarantee the safety of the lives and properties of our people. This will enable our farmers to return fully to their farms with the resultant increase in food production and affordability. We will initiate measures to boost the revenue earnings of our farmers and improve the standard of living in our rural areas, home to the vast majority of our people.

“We will task our ingenuity to drastically enhance the country’s revenue generating capacity so that we can adequately fund and fundamentally improve the quality of social services in education, healthcare  and housing,  among others. We are determined to ensure that incessant strikes by unions in our public universities become a thing of the past. We will make facilities and welfare packages in our health sector compare with the best in the world so that many of those health professionals who have migrated to other lands will be attracted back home.

“Ensuring adequate and uninterrupted electricity will be one of our cardinal priorities. This will help boost the performance of the industrial sector and create jobs on a massive scale for our teeming youths. We shall put in place a robust and virile credit system so that more people can acquire the basics of life such as housing, cars and household equipment and pay gradually. That will have the immediate effect of reducing the motivation to resort to corrupt means of wealth accumulation.

“To fight corruption, we will also provide better welfare and motivation to the judiciary to perform its functions with integrity while we will also enhance the autonomy of the anti-graft agencies and provide them the necessary incentives to make them less vulnerable to corrupt in ducement.

“We are of the firm belief that Nigeria is too endowed and blessed for any of our citizens to live in abject poverty. We are a hardworking and talented people destined for greatness. We are determined to offer the visionary and creative leadership to help actualize Nigeria’s immense potentials. We do not delude ourselves that we are supermen with the magic wand to miraculously solve all our country’s problems. But what I solemnly pledge is the determination to select the best and brightest talents in Nigeria to help our country achieve her manifest destiny for the good of her people and the glory and pride of the black man.

“To help actualize this, I urge you to turn out in large numbers on Saturday to vote for Kashim Shettima and I on the platform of the APC.”

155 North’s Christian leaders pledge support

One hundred and fifty-five Christian leaders from the North have thrown their weight behind the ticket of the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima.

Among them are serving and former governors, incumbent and one-time federal and state lawmakers, academics and captains of industry.

Their endorsement was contained a message titled: “The Patriotic Voice of Northern Christian Minorities.”

The message was signed by Minister of Special Duties Senator George Akume. The former Benue State governor signed in his capacity as Convener.

Other signatories are Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong, former Governors Jolly Nyame (Taraba) and Joshua Dariye (Plateau).

The endorsement came as a boost to the chances of the APC standard bearer at Saturday’s poll.

The leaders urged Nigerians, particularly in the North, to shun ethnicity, religion or regional bias while exercising their civic duty.

They said that the duo on the APC ticket have track records of performance when they held sway as governors in their respective states of Lagos and Borno and as representatives of their senatorial districts in the National Assembly.

They said their decision, which came from careful and extensive consultations, was based on their passion and determination to move the country forward.

According to them, Nigeria needs performers like Tinubu and Shettima, hence, their resolve to support their ticket without any hesitation.

They said: “As we approach the 2023 Presidential election, Nigerians need to see the candidates, not with eyes of ethnicity, religion, or regional bias. Rather, our focus should be on who is better qualified in terms of capacity and patriotism to build on the achievements of the out-going administration and deliver a better tomorrow.

“The APC presidential candidate, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is a completely detribalized Nigerian, religiously tolerant, and productively matchless.

“As a former governor of Lagos State, he was able to harness the human potential of the State, irrespective of tribe and religion, to draw up a blueprint for Lagos State and began the implementation of the same.

“Today, Lagos State is recognized as the fourth largest economy on the African continent. It is our firm belief and conviction that what Asiwaju did for Lagos can be replicated for the entire nation.

“We, the Christian minorities of the North affirm our belief in the ability and competence of this ticket to deliver to Nigerians the blueprint it has presented for the prosperity of all. After all, we did it in 1993 with the Abiola/Kingibe ticket with huge success.

“We appeal to all Nigerian voters who believe in the principles of our heroes’ past, to vote these proven performers into office on the 25th of February, 2023.

“Let us not be distracted by those who believe that the way to victory is to tear Nigeria apart on the basis of tribe and religion. If you want the best, you have to vote for the best.

“Our collective responsibility to a greater Nigeria for our children is by standing shoulder to shoulder with the most experienced Tinubu/Shettima combination. Nigeria deserves a purposeful, innovative, decisive, determined, dependable, and progressive leadership.

“The cap for good governance fits Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Nigeria needs the Tinubu/Shettima winning team of excellence through experience for service to our country.”

‘Tinubu’s opponents will be shocked’

APC-PCC has said opponents of its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will be in shock when the results of Saturday’s election are fully announced.

The campaign council said it was confident that with the hard work the ruling party put into its campaigns and the widespread acceptance and endorsements its candidate enjoys across the country, other flag bearers would be roundly defeated.

It particularly expressed worry about the conduct of Labour Party (LP) supporters, saying they have shown the propensity for violence.

The APC also expressed fears that LP supporters, popularly called “Obidients”, may be shocked by the defeat of their presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, when realities nullify the pollsters that projected him as the preferred winner.

The Special Adviser on Media and Strategic Communications to the PCC, Mr. Dele Alake, stated this at the APC campaign headquarters yesterday in Abuja.

The former Lagos State Information and Strategy commissioner said pre-election polls conducted by pro-Obi pollsters, which projected their candidate as the winner of the forthcoming presidential election, were simply setting the stage for violence.

“The polls were whipping up the sentiments of Obi supporters and putting them on the tenterhooks, on a leash, so that when they lose the elections, they can resort to violence.

“This is why we have alerted the security agencies to the possibility of ‘Obidients’ taking to violence after losing the election,” he said.

The APC PCC said the contest is between Asiwaju Tinubu and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

It added that even Atiku, a former Vice President, would be roundly defeated on Saturday.

Alake, who described the activities of the pollsters as a “cocktail of nebulous opinion polls”, argued that the polls had oscillated between the sublime and the most ridiculous.

“We want to state categorically here that those polls will only lead to despair, despondency, utter shame and disappointment because the pollsters only took a flight of fancy.

“There is no evidence and reality on the ground anywhere in Nigeria as far as the presidential election is concerned that supports Mr. Obi winning this election. Labour Party has no pathway to victory.

“This presidential election is going to be a straight contest between the candidates of APC and PDP. And, from more studious and rational polling, our candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is coasting home to victory, despite the current challenges in the implementation of the currency swap and fuel scarcity that have caused some difficulties for almost all Nigerians, regardless of social and economic status.

“We particularly find amusing the ANAP/NOI and Nextier polls that projected Mr. Obi as the winner or preferred candidate to win the presidential election. We have had cause to alert the security agencies to keep these pollsters under watch because they intend to prepare grounds for unrest by giving false hopes of winning to Mr. Obi’s motley crowd of supporters who have a predilection for violence with the way they bully, harass, intimidate and insult anyone who thinks differently from them,” he said.

Four parties, five governorship candidates pledge support

Political parties in four states in the Southwest have collapsed their structures to work for the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in Saturday’s election.

The political parties – Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Young Progressives Party (YPP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), and Action Democratic Party (ADP), which are members of the Southwest Alliance of Registered Political Parties – said they had agreed to work for Asiwaju Tinubu’s electoral victory.

The Lagos State Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Mobolaji Olusegun, of the YPP, announced this during the Lagos Youth Stakeholders’ Parley organised by the Office of the Lagos APC Youth Leader yesterday in Ikeja.

He was accompanied by Osun State IPAC Chairman Simon Adebayo, of APM; his Ogun State counterpart, Samson Okusanya of PRP; and IPAC Chairman in Oyo State, Apostle Dare Ojo of ADP.

The Lagos IPAC Chairman, who addressed reporters on behalf of his colleagues, said the parties’ resolution was based on their conviction that Asiwaju Tinubu is the best among all the candidates in this year’s presidential election.

At the event, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu urged the youths and other Nigerians, especially those with their Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs), to vote en masse for Asiwaju Tinubu.

Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamazat, said Nigeria needs a bold and courageous man, like Asiwaju Tinubu, to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said: “To rebuild this country, we need somebody who has vision, boldness, courage, and is ready to fight for the interest of the people. We need credible leaders in our country. “What we need is a man like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who has the courage and boldness to make decisions and stand by them. Asiwaju is taller than all the other presidential candidates because of his vision. We need somebody who can think outside the box to protect all of us.”

Also, five governorship candidates of different political parties yesterday adopted Asiwaju Tinubu as their preferred presidential candidate in Saturday’s election.

The governorship candidates said they were confident Asiwaju Tinubu’s presidency would unite Nigeria, develop its component parts and usher in greater prosperity for the nation and its people.

They are: Olaniyi Ajekiigbe of the Action Alliance (AA), Mojeed Okedara of the African Action Congress (AAC), Dr. Kazeem Ayandoye of the Action Peoples Party (APP) and Tunde Olukade of the Booth Party.

The Oyo State Young Peoples Party (YPP) Chairman, Prince Adedeji Adeyemi, was represented by his vice, Chief Adesola Adedeji, at a media briefing where the governorship candidates endorsed the APC flag bearer.

The five governorship candidates, who were guests of an Ibadan-born billionaire businessman and frontline promoter of the Tinubu presidency, Chief Dotun Sanusi, addressed reporters yesterday in Ibadan, the state capital.

Sanusi had organised series of rallies in Ibadan for Asiwaju Tinubu’s presidential ambition.

Okedara said: “I am giving my support to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and I have directed my people to do same. Our supporters are to vote en masse for Asiwaju Tinubu on Saturday because he shares our manifestos in terms of infrastructures, youth empowerment, education, health care delivery and security for all Nigerians.

“The APC leaders have reviewed my manifestos online and they expressed willingness to adopt them in line with the APC agenda to transform Nigeria. So, we are voting the Asiwaju Tinubu and Senator Kashim Shettima ticket on Saturday.”

All the other governorship candidates affirmed their resolve to work for Asiwaju Tinubu’s victory.

Next tomorrow, Nigerians will elect President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor. Also, new members of the National Assembly will be elected.

Many factors will shape the contest across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The states differ. The influence of the presidential candidates and their parties also differ. 

Since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) flagged off the campaigns in September last year, many issues have been thrown up. The campaigns have been dominated by ethnicity, religious sentiments, personal attacks and fake news on social media. These factors are not constant. They change, based on how they have been exploited by the diverse political parties, the candidates, sympathisers and other influential blocs. 

The campaigns have been long and tortuous; time consuming, energy sapping and financially involving. Many observers have described the campaign as one of the tedious ever. There is less focus on critical issues,  including the economy and insecurity.

According to analysts, prospective voters appeared to have made up their minds on who to vote. But, there is also the feeling that new converts can be made and new grounds broken because, as it is said, 24 hours is a long time in politics and change is a constant thing. 

Some estimates say that percentage of the electorate who are undecided could be as low as five percent. However, there may also be a relationship between campaigns and poll outcome in some states. 

The campaigns, particularly of the Big Four – Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP)- have been effective. 

The campaigns were characterised by persuasion, appeals, negotiations, alliance building and pacts. The next two days will be the climax. There are also intervening factors. 

Tinubu has toured all the states to sell his blueprint to the people. In the North, more Christians have gravitated towards him. Yesterday, Christian leaders across the Northern states met to endorse him. Signatories to the endorsement are big names and credible leaders who cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand. 

In the last few weeks,  the intractable fuel scarcity and the bungled naira swap, which has plunged millions of people across the country into unprecedented hardship, became unexpected factors. 

Although the fuel situation in key cities like Lagos and Abuja has normalised, there is considerable tension and uncertainty over the currency situation. This has been compounded by President Buhari’s announcement that the old N500 and N1,000 notes were no longer legal tender in the country. In his broadcast to the nation on Thursday, he permitted the old N200 to remain in use till April 10.

His intervention has been widely condemned as gross disrespect of the Supreme Court which had put on hold the February 10 deadline, which the Central Bank had set for retiring the old notes.

The president’s action rather than douse tension, has sparked more outrage – especially from governors of the ruling party who fear the currency crisis could negatively impact their chances at the polls. Several have defiantly announced that the old bills remain legal tender in their domains until the Supreme Court decides otherwise.

The air of intrigue has also thickened on the back of charges that the fuel and cash scarcities were deliberately contrived by Fifth Columnists within the corridors of power to create an environment to scuttle the elections and introduced extra-constitutional devices like an Interim Government.

Suffice it to say that every electoral cycle is characterised by intrigue as schemers trying every trick in the book to either thwart the process, or prevent certain candidates from emerging winners.

Two days to the poll,  it remains to be seen whether those who have made up their minds about candidates to back, would made a U-turn on account of the aforementioned factors.

In our report last Sunday, our team of editors and correspondents made projections on the likely outcome of the presidential election based on their reporting across the states of the federation. Our findings showed that Tinubu was likely to secure outright wins in the following states: Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Oyo, Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Kebbi, Katsina, Jigawa, Zamfara, Kano, Yobe, Gombe, Borno and Rivers.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is expected to take Adamawa, Taraba, Bayelsa, Delta and Akwa Ibom States.

Labour Party was projected to with in the following Southeastern states: Abia, Ebonyi, Anambra and Enugu.

We reported a race too close to call in Sokoto, Bauchi, Plateau, Benue, FCT, Cross River, Edo and Imo.

One week after there have been several developments that result in last minute swings – but not too much. In Benue, Governor Samuel Ortom, has come out to endorse Labour’s Peter Obi – setting the stage for a three-cornered battle for votes and confirming our earlier projection of its battleground status.

 Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, who has led the G-5 campaign against PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has ruled out any last-minute reconciliation. During the week he warmly welcomed Tinubu who was in Port Harcourt for campaigns.

Although, he didn’t give much away, it is widely expected that he and his men would back the APC candidate who enjoys cross-party support in the state. Tinubu visited the governor when he was in the state for campaign. 

Also, his aspiration is also backed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Accord Party candidates in the state. But it didn’t go unnoticed that former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, was conspicuously absent when his party’s flagbearer came to town. His close allies, however, attended the event.

Rivers has long been a PDP state. But, things are changing. Labour’s Obi seems to enjoy support in the urban areas like Port Harcourt. But, the initial projection has changed.

Atiku could not even campaign in Rivers State. He only held skeletal meetings with his few supporters from Rivers in Abuja. 

The oil-rich Rivers State has 23 local government areas, 319 electoral wards and 4,442 polling units. With 3,532,990 voters, Rivers has the highest number of registered voters in the South-South.

On the 25th of February, Tinubu; Atiku and Obi, will compete for votes in the state. 

Rivers has always been the stronghold of the PDP and since 1999 no presidential candidate of the party had lost any election in the state. In the last two presidential elections, the PDP won the state by wide margin. In 2015, out of the 1,565, 461 vote cast, APC got 69,238 representing 4.42 per cent votes while the PDP scored 1,487,075 representing 94.99 per cent votes.

In 2019, the APC tried to increase its momentum in the state and out of the 666,585 votes, the APC secured 150,710 (22.61%) while the PDP, whose candidate scored 473,971 votes (71.10%).

But such dominance has become a mirage ahead of this Saturday’s  poll, following the worsening feud between the state PDP and its parent party at the national level. While the local party is strong and determined to win all state electoral offices, it had since declared that it would not work for Atiku.

Wike, a political tactician and one-man riot squad, has insulated the Rivers PDP from the parent party and vowed to deliver another presidential candidate on February 25th instead of Atiku.

Wike, who leads the G-5, a group of five PDP governors seeking equity, justice and fairness, has all structures of the local party in his pocket and has been able to convince them to work for his preferred presidential candidate.

Obviously in Rivers, without Wike, Atiku seems to be going nowhere and the PDP may not stand a chance to win the presidential election in Rivers,

It has become an open secret that Wike has settled for the APC presidential candidate and communicated his decision to all PDP structures in Rivers. Recently, the Rivers chapter of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, confirmed that the governor directed all his aides and all party leaders loyal to him to work for Tinubu.

Wike’s continual highlight of the injustices in the National PDP had compelled many residents to see Atiku as the enemy of Rivers. Sometimes angry Rivers youths are seen removing Atiku-Okowa campaign posters in their domains.

Some PDP leaders, who revolted against Wike such as Sir Celestine Omehia, Austine Okpara, Lee Maeba, Abiye Sekibo, Prince Uche Secondus and Chinyere Igwe, are finding it difficult to campaign for Atiku in the state. Most of them have since relocated from Rivers out of fear of the unknown. Besides, there is general consciousness in Rivers that power must shift to the South.

Though the Rivers APC is polarised between pro-Rotimi Amaechi and anti-Amaechi camps, all of them seem to be on the same page for Tinubu because of the decentralised campaign system adopted by the presidential candidate.

While the state party controlled by Amaechi leads the APC Presidential Campaign Council, the anti-Amaechi camp led by his former Chief of Staff, Tony Okocha, heads the Independent Campaign Council (ICC).

Though Senator Magnus Abe, a former leader of anti-Amaechi camp in Rivers APC defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and became the party’s governorship candidate, he had since adopted Tinubu as his presidential candidate. Abe in all his rallies has been mobilising support for Tinubu.

In fact, the APC presidential candidate will be the direct beneficiary of the crisis in the PDP. With Wike working for him and almost all the structures of the APC closing their ranks to campaign for him, Tinubu is heading for victory in Rivers.

For the Labour Party, it has remained a new entrant in the presidential race. In Rivers, no prominent and influential politician has identified publicly with the party. It still lacks enough structures in units, wards and local government areas required to cause serious upset for the two big parties in the presidential poll. It resonates more among the traders of Igbo extraction, who dominate the Rivers city centre.

A popular Nollywood actress, Hilda Dokubo, though not a politician, is one of the leaders of LP and she mobilises for Peter Obi in the state. The Chairperson of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Rivers State chapter, Beatrice Itubo, doubles as the governorship candidate of LP in the state. She has vowed to sway Rivers votes to Obi. 

But such assurances are believed not to be enough without corresponding vigorous campaigns to reach voters in grassroots. LP’s structure is still weak in Rivers.

The National Security Council (NSC) yesterday dismissed fears of a likely postponement of the Presidential and National Assembly elections on Saturday.

It said the security atmosphere was right for the poll going by the level of security across the country.

Anger and violence in some parts of the country over the naira swap policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the attendant cash scarcity had led to speculations in some quarters that the general election might not be shifted.

At the end of its meeting in Abuja, the NSC said it was satisfied with the level of preparedness by the Police and other security agencies that would play supportive roles to make the polls secure and peaceful.

It, however, said personnel of the security outfits had been given  the marching orders to check those that might want to thwart the poll “within the quickest possible means.”

Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami and the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali made these known to reporters after the meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.  

Malami said the meeting was fully briefed by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor; the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno;  the three service chiefs, Alkali and heads of other security agencies about their readiness for the polls.

He said flowing from this, the council gave a marching order for the elections to commence on Saturday. 

Malami added: “Now, out of a desire to further consolidate and appraise the comprehensive and general preparation of the system, relating to the conduct of the elections, this meeting, which is the third in a series of appraising and reviewing the state of preparedness was called by the President.

“The summary and conclusion of all submissions were to the effect that the system is wholeheartedly ready for the conduct of the election and arising therefrom, the position of the government, the position of the President is to the effect that the election is holding on the 25th day of February 2023.”

“Mr President and the National Security Council are happy with the preparations on the ground and wholehearted arrangements are put in place in that direction.”

IGP Alkali reeled out the instructions given to the security agencies to make the elections credible, peaceful and acceptable. 

His words: “  The specific instruction is that we must ensure that Nigerians are allowed to come out and exercise their franchise or vote the leaders of their choice and for that, we must create a conducive environment or atmosphere for Nigerians to exercise their right.

“We must also provide protection for Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC),  materials and officials to do their work. We must ensure that before, during and after the elections, whatever fallback it is, we do not have people who will take the laws into their hands and if there is any, we should be able to check within the quickest possible means to ensure that it does not snowball into a bigger crisis.”

Asked to respond to the allegation that some governors were inciting violence over cash scarcity, the IGP replied: “We are investigating. Whoever does anything can be investigated, but for him to be prosecuted, there are people who have immunity. But  that will not stop us from cautioning or  warning them .”

On the presence of military men on some streets in  Lagos and Abeokuta,  Ogun State,  Alkali said: “They are on joint operations aimed at stabilising the internal security order before the elections.

There are no operations targeted at the elections but there are those targeted at stabilising the situation, especially the one that came up as a result of the currency swap.  

“You know some   people went  vandalising, destroying and even committing arson.”