Category: Lead

Wike: ex-president’s endorsement of Obi stain on Atiku

‘Backing for LP presidential candidate inconsequential’

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is frustrated, the Presidency said yesterday.

The Presidency, which reacted to the ex-leader’s endorsement of Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and his attack on President Muhammadu Buhari, said Obasanjo’s constant attacks were borne out of jealousy.

Also taking an exception to Obi’s endorsement, Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike described it as a stain on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Dr. Segun Abraham, said Obasanjo’s support for Obi is inconsequential.

Also, the Adviser, Media, Communications and Public Affairs of the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Dele Alake, chided Obasanjo for what he described as his false claim of mentorship.

He also berated the former president for prescribing a direction for 2023 while his antecedent showed a disdain for democratic tenets, promotion for garrison politics and his failed third term agenda.

‘Obasanjo jealous of Buhari’

The Presidency flayed Obasanjo for attempting to denigrate the Buhari administration, recalling his records of assault on democracy and litany of failures in office.

Obasanjo had, in his New Year message, described the current administration as “a hell on earth”, adding that Nigerians have “moved from frying pan to fire”.

However, in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, the Presidency attributed Obasanjo’s comments to jealousy, pointing out that Buhari has succeeded where he failed.

According to the statement titled: “Morally Squalid Obasanjo Attacks Leaders Out of Frustration”, the Presidency gave four reasons why Obasanjo has perpetually been on the offensive against President Buhari.

It said Obasanjo is unhappy that Buhari has set a new record in the nation’s development.

The Presidency also said that Buhari, unlike Obasanjo, has been forthright, obeyed the constitution and fought against corruption.

It said that the former president played politics with national development and, at some point, blatantly lied to Nigerians with respect to some critical projects, one of which was the recently completed Second Niger Bridge in the Southeast.

The statement reads: “Former President Obasanjo is so well known to all that no one needs to describe who he is.

“But, four things we will like to say:

“One is that he will not stop attacking President Muhammadu Buhari because the former President won’t stop being jealous of anyone who beats him to a new record in the nation’s development process.

“President Buhari is ahead of Chief Obasanjo in all fields of national development and to do that is cardinal sin to Obasanjo whose hallucinations tell him that he is the best ever to lead Nigeria and there will never be another one better than him.

“President Buhari just completed the world class edifice that is the Second Niger Bridge after three decades of failed promises. It is now awaiting commissioning.

“Obasanjo laid the sod for the bridge in his first term as elected President and work never started.

“When he sought re-election for his second term in office, he returned to the site to turn the sod for the bridge the second time. When the Obi of Onitsha, forthright and scholarly, reminded him that he had done this in the past, Obasanjo told the foremost Southeast traditional ruler that he was a liar, in the full presence of the Chiefs and Oracles in his palace.

“Obasanjo lied to the Southeast to get their votes. President Buhari didn’t get their votes but built the bridge because he believed it is the right thing to do.”

The Presidency, also pointed out that Buhari has been globally honoured as a true fighter of corruption, going by the track record of the successes achieved in the anti-corruption campaigns since he assumed office.

It recalled the failed projects under the Obasanjo administration, which were linked to corrupt practices.

It said: “President Buhari had been bagging awards and encomiums for trying to do that which the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria says a leader should do: serve one, or a maximum of two terms and go.

“President Buhari has been stating and restating that he will supervise a better election than the one that brought him to office and to leave as and when due.

“Having tried tenure elongation and failed, Obasanjo’s fictitious mind must be telling him that he is the one under attack.

“But he is not on President Buhari’s radar because experience has shown, especially lately in West Africa where there have been at least three successful coups and many other failed attempts, that third term or tenure elongation is a recipe for political instability.

“Furthermore, the totality of African leaders appointed President Buhari the Anti-Corruption Champion of the continent.

“You can’t be an anti-corruption champion if ‘you meddled and bent the rules’, carrying the putrid responsibility of what happened to national assets in the name of privatization as documented by the Nigerian Senate in 2011.

“As an insight, the Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria, ALSCON, which was set up with $3.2 billion, was sold to a Russian firm, Russal, for a paltry $130million. Delta Steel, which was set up in 2005, at a cost of $1.5billion, was sold to Global Infrastructure for just $30million.

“ALSCON got back $120million for the dredging of the Imo River, which was never carried out,” the recalled.

The Presidency also recalled how the democratic process was constantly inhibited by Chief Obasanjo his tenure, allegedly masterminding the upstaging of democratically elected governors who had dared to assert their executive rights.

“Three, which is linked to the one above is the growing profile of President Buhari as the Champion of Democracy not only at home and in the West African subregion but the African continent as whole.

“As President, Obasanjo destabilized internal democracy by orchestrating impeachment after impeachment of governors who were not compliant with his highly imperial administration.

“As we said sometime back, Mr. Obasanjo’s tenure, 1999-2007, represented the dark days of Nigeria’s democracy due to a slew of assaults on the constitution.

“The former president deployed federal machinery to remove Governors Joshua Dariye, Rashidi Ladoja, Peter Obi, Chris Ngige and Ayo Fayose from office. They were the then governors of Plateau, Oyo, Anambra, Anambra and Ekiti, respectively, unjustly removed, using the police and secret service under his control.

“Under him, a five-man legislature met at 6:00 am and ‘impeached’ Governor Dariye in Plateau; 18 members out of 32 removed Governor Ladoja of Oyo from office; in Anambra, APGA’s Governor Obi was equally impeached at 5:00 a.m. by members who did not meet the two-thirds required by the constitution.

“Under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), lawmaking powers of the Rivers State legislature were transferred to the federal parliament to punish Governor Amaechi for shifting his political alliance.”

Moreover, Obasanjo damned the Supreme Court and unlawfully held back Lagos State revenues due from federal sources on account of his pettiness against Governor Bola Tinubu.

“On the other hand, in Washington a few weeks ago, the US President Joe Biden at a meeting with African Heads of States and Government described President Buhari as a champion of democracy and role model for the leaders of African states.

“Clearly, Obasanjo has become even more jealous by adopting a vengeful attitude.

“”Four, to say that “frying pan to fire” is the situation in Nigeria at this time should be read to mean a personal experience to him and we know what that means.

“‘Hell’ for Obasanjo is when a President, any President that comes after him refuses to be his own puppet, to do as he wishes on all matters and at all times.

“He then keeps attacking out of frustration.

“Obasanjo’s vengeful attitude towards President Buhari is the height of selfishness and little short of moral squalor.”

Alake, in a piece titled: ‘Lest Nigerian Youths Be Deceived by Obasanjo’s Sanctimony and Revisionism’, said while Obasanjo was wasteful in power, Buhari has been prudent.

He also blamed Obasanjo for institutionalising corruption by inducing federal lawmakers to actualise his third term project.

In Rivers State, Wike said Obasanjo’s endorsement of Obi showed that there was something fundamentally wrong with Atiku.

The governor asked Atiku, who was Obasanjo’s vice-president for eight years, and his co-travellers to leave him and other members of the G-5   out of their problems.

Wike spoke yesterday at Itu Bridge Head, the venue of the flag-off of the Akpabu – Odido Road in Emohua Local Government Area.   

He said: “I was praying that Obasanjo should not say anything. When I saw the letter last night, I was touched. If your principal cannot recommend you, then, there is something fundamentally wrong.

“After all, you people went to see your principal to lobby him to recommend you. It took your principal a long time before he now wrote a letter to all Nigerians, saying, ‘Look, I am not too comfortable.

“I am not bothered about other people, but this one worked with you and he knows.”

Arguing that a bad product is always difficult to sell, he noted why Obasanjo could not recommend Atiku for the nation’s topmost position.

 Wike asked Atiku to be more concerned about the loss of confidence from his former boss and the forthcoming election.

Also yesterday, Tinubu, through the Director of Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, said he pitied Obi for the endorsement by Obasanjo.

Tinubu said Obasanjo cannot win his polling unit; hence, Obi is at risk for associating with the former president.

He added in a statement by Onanuga that nobody in Ogun State could rely on Obasanjo to become governor or councillor.

The statement by Onanuga reads: “From our records, President Obasanjo has not successfully made anyone win an election in Nigeria since then.

“Not even in Ogun State can anyone rely on his support or endorsement to become a governor or councillor.

“We pity Peter Obi as we are confident that Chief Obasanjo cannot win his polling unit and ward in Abeokuta for Obi in the coming Presidential election on 25 February 2023.”

Tinubu said Obasanjo’s endorsement of Obi was not a “political currency” that the LP presidential candidate can spend in the country.

He stressed that the former president was not “a political force” in Nigeria.

Four APC chieftains – Adamu Garba, Dr. Segun Abraham, Ade Adetimehin and Taofeeq Salam—also flayed Obasanjo’s position, saying that the former president was envious of Tinubu.

Garba, in a post, said Tinubu worked hard for democracy and earned his position, unlike Obasanjo.

Abraham, Adetimehin and Salam said that one thing people must understand is that no one can take away Tinubu’s records.

But, the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Council said Obasanjo’s endorsement of   Obi would make the team to work harder.

Stressing that Atiku was not ruffled by the development, the council pointed out that the PDP would not begrudge Obasanjo for making his choice of a candidate known. 

A spokesman for the council, Charles Aniagwu, stated this on an AIT public affairs programme, Kakaaki.

Aniagwu said: “The PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, his running mate, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa and indeed, our presidential campaign council are not ruffled because we do realise from the beginning that we are going into a contest.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be a roller-coaster and that is why we have continued to interface with Nigerians across the six geopolitical zones.

“In this contest, nobody is an underdog and we do have respect for all candidates contesting this election but we do believe that we stand taller than any of the contestants.

“We are convinced that Nigerians would likely look in our direction because our presidential candidate and his running mate have got the credentials to be able to position our country and recover it from where we are at the moment.

“So, if a former President under the PDP has decided to pitch his tent with another person is not something that will ruffle us, it will only strengthen us to further deepen our interface with Nigerians for them to understand that where we are headed that Atiku-Okowa is the only ones that have what it takes to lead Nigeria out of the woods.

“Atiku has got the reach both nationally and internationally to unify Nigeria and put it on a strong pedestal in the comity of nations.

“We are very much convinced that Atiku towers far above other presidential candidates and that is why we are looking forward to Nigerians endorsing us because theirs is the ultimate.”

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike yesterday alleged that Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Candidate Atiku Abubakar frustrated the opposition party’s zoning arrangement.

Wike, at the flag-off of the Akpabu- Odido Road in Emohua Local Government Area at   Itu Bridge Head, lambasted persons accusing him and Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State of scuttling the micro-zoning of the presidential ticket of the PDP to Southeast.

 He unequivocally told the people that their council chairman, Chidi Lloyd, would brief them on the presidential candidate to vote for.

The governor, who, however, advised the people to cast their votes for other  PDP candidates for the general elections next month,  said he had always been an advocate of zoning the presidency to the South, unlike Atiku and others.

His words: “I was one of those who led the campaign that the party’s chairmanship should go to the North because I believed the presidency should go to the South.

“I attended meetings of southern governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC),  PDP and other parties from Delta to Lagos to Enugu states, where we agreed that presidency should come to the South.”

Wike recalled that while  Southern cross-party consultations were going on, there were people in the PDP who were bent on frustrating the zoning of the presidential ticket to the South.

He said such persons could not turn around to blame him and  Ortom.

He said: “I woke up this morning and read where they said, how Wike and Ortom frustrated PDP’s micro-zoning of the presidential ticket to South East. That was what the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku said.

“I keep on saying, they’ll be contradicting themselves, telling lies up and down, thinking that Nigerians don’t know. How can they say that I influenced Ortom, told him to allow it, and throw the ticket open?

“Nigerians know those who are opposed to the zoning of the party’s chairmanship first. And when the zoning committee was set up, this time, Atiku had gone to buy form to frustrate the recommendation of the zoning committee.” 

Wike said their plot was hunting them because they were unfair to Nigerians.

“Yes, you don’t like Ortom, no problems. I know my own, you don’t like me, no problems. But I, my state gave you the highest support in 2019 both with logistics and by votes. You can’t deceive every Nigerian again. What I have stood for is equity, fairness, and justice.

“So, saying that I and Ortom frustrated PDP micro-zoning to South East is neither here nor there. They know that they don’t want the presidency to come to the South.”

 On the road project, Wike expressed gratitude to God that the Odido community would get a modern road for the first time in their history during his administration.

The governor boasted that given the overwhelming joy expressed by the people, they would not cast their votes for state candidates of another party except the PDP.

In his address, Lloyd said the Odido community is an island that has never seen asphalted roads and is not linked to any neighboring community.

A third of the global economy will face recession this year, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, has warned.

Georgieva, who gave the warning at the weekend in a chat with CBS, an American broadcast television and radio network, noted that economic activities in the United States (U.S.), the European Union and China are crawling simultaneously.

She said: “We expect one-third of the world economy to be in recession. Half of the European Union (EU) will be in a recession this year.”

Georgieva further explained that the rapid spread of COVID-19 in China, especially now that the government has dropped its severe containment policy, means that the country faces a fresh economic blow in the short term.

The IMF boss said the next couple of months will be “tough for China” due to the spread of the deadly virus.

The projection of the IMF boss aligns with that of Goldman Sachs, a multinational investment bank that global economic growth will slow to 1.8 per cent in 2023.

The IMF, had in October, cut its 2023 outlook for global economic growth, citing the continuing drag from the war in Ukraine as well as inflation pressures and interest rate hikes by major central banks.

Georgieva said: “For the next couple of months, it would be tough for China. And the impact on Chinese growth would be negative, the impact on the region will be negative, the impact on global growth will be negative.

“For the first time in 40 years, China’s annual growth is likely to be at or below global growth, meaning it could drag down worldwide economic activity rather than propelling it. That has never happened before.”

Georgieva noted that the U.S. may likely escape the worst of the downturn, adding that its strong labour market might help it to outperform most other majors.

She said. “The U.S. may avoid a recession because its unemployment is so low. If that resilience holds in 2023, the U.S. would help the world to get through a very difficult year. The U.S. economy is remarkably resilient.”

Last year, the bank of England said the United Kingdom (UK) economy was set for a five-quarter recession starting at the end of 2022 — with the gross domestic product (GDP) shrinking.

All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has restated his readiness to end fuel subsidy if elected President next month.

Tinubu, in a brief interview at the weekend with Freedom Radio in Saudi Arabia for Lesser Hajj, described subsidy regime as anti-poor.

He told the Kaduna-based radio station that subsidy payments by successive governments were nothing but a waste of resources that ought to have been used to meet the needs of the people.

Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor,  argued that subsidy payments were most beneficial to the rich and, therefore, ought to be stopped,

“I will ensure we end the wastage and re-channel the money to the people who truly need it,” he promised.

The APC standard bearer had earlier disclosed his plan to scrap subsidy being paid on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) while unveiling his 82-page manifesto tagged “Renewed Hope 2023 – Action Plan for a better Nigeria.”

He said during the ceremony  that the oil sector has been caged by “subsidy” and therefore, must be “unbundled.”

Also at an interactive session with captains of industry tagged: “Business Forward” in Lagos, Tinubu rejected oil subsidy payments, saying: “The era when petrol subsidy was fashionable is gone.

He added: “The Petroleum Act is there for us to take a second look at to meet our obligations and no matter how much or long the protest, we will remove petrol subsidy. We will take tough decisions, but it will be done, and that is the truth. The era when fuel subsidy was fashionable is gone. So, it must be removed.

“We can invest the money wisely, for instance in health, as some of you have said. No matter how long you protest, we will remove the subsidy. We can do it. We are educated enough. How can we subsidise the fuel consumption of Cameroon, Niger, Benin Republic, and some others?”

“Other economies are already building charged stations, but we are yet to generate electricity to even roast plantain. Electricity is the most important discovery for humanity in the last 1,000 years and so, we must have electricity whichever way and by all means possible. I can also promise you will not pay for estimated billing. We will talk and walk our talk.

“Please let us do it, we can do it, we are educated enough, we are courageous enough, we are great people. A promise made will be a promise kept.”

The Federal Government is reported to have spent N1.9 trillion on subsidy between January and July 2022.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has said that the endorsement of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has shown that there was something fundamentally wrong with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

Wike said: “I was praying that Obasanjo should not say anything. When I saw the letter last night, I was touched.

“If your principal cannot recommend you, then there is something fundamentally wrong.

“After all, you people went to see your principal to lobby him to recommend you.

“It took your principal a long time before he now wrote a letter to all Nigerians, saying, ‘Look, I am not too comfortable’. This person worked with you and he knows.”

The governor asked Atiku, who was Obasanjo’s Vice for eight years, and his co-travellers to leave him and the G-5 governors out of their problems and face the failure of his former principal to recommend him to Nigerians.

The governor spoke at Itu Bridge Head, the venue of the flag-off of the Akpabu- Odido Road in Emohua Local Government Area on Monday.

Wike argued that a bad product was always difficult to sell and wondered why Obasanjo after working with Atiku could not recommend him to Nigerians.

He insisted that if Obasanjo, who understood Atiku very well could not endorse him for president, then something must be fundamentally wrong with the PDP candidate.

Wike asked Atiku to be more concerned about the loss of confidence from his former boss and the forthcoming election.

The governor lambasted persons accusing him and Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State of frustrating the micro-zoning of the presidential ticket of the PDP to Southeast.

Wike said he had always been the advocate of zoning the presidency to the South unlike Atiku and others, who took steps to frustrate it.

He said: “I was one of those who led the campaign that the party’s chairmanship should go to the North because I believed the presidency should go to the South.

“I attended meetings of southern governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other parties from Delta to Lagos to Enugu states, where we agreed that presidency should come to the south.”

Wike recalled that while southern cross-party consultations were going on, there were people in the PDP who were bent on frustrating the zoning of the party’s presidential ticket to the South.

He said such persons could not turn around to cast the blame on him and Governor Ortom to hide their scheme thinking they could deceive the people.

He said: “I woke up this morning and read where they said, how Wike and Ortom frustrated PDP’s micro-zoning of the presidential ticket to Southeast. That was what the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku said.

“I keep on saying, they’ll be contradicting themselves, telling lies up and down, thinking that Nigerians don’t know. How can they say that I influenced Ortom, told him to allow and throw the ticket open?

“Nigerians know those who are opposed to the zoning of the party’s chairmanship first.

“And when the zoning committee was set up, this time, Atiku had gone to buy form to frustrate the recommendation of the zoning committee.

“So that when they have bought form, they could say, oh, there is no need of zoning, will you tell people to withdraw?”

Wike said their plot was haunting them because they were unfair to Nigerians.

All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Monday said he was very fit to be president.

He said he was in Saudi Arabia where he performed Umrah (Lesser Hajj) and successfully carried out energy-sapping religious exercises that no ailing person can.

In an interview with a Kano-based independent radio station, Freedom Radio, in Saudi Arabia shortly before he returned, Tinubu said: “I just finished performing the Umrah.

“I did the seven rounds of Tawaf and the seven trips between Safa and Marwa by myself. Can a sick person do that? That is stale news, my brother.

“People who are making those insinuations have nothing else to say but lies and rubbish.

“I have moved around, spoken on different platforms and stood for hours to address different audiences.

“Before, they said I could not walk. They said I could not stand but they are shamed.

“Since the campaign started, I have marshalled more original ideas than anyone else.

“I have demonstrated knowledge, experience and a great capacity to be on top of issues in the country.

“And this job is about ideas and issues regarding the leadership of our country.

“I have all it takes to be the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“I am asking people of the country to have confidence and respect for that, look at my background and my previous assignments.

“I want to serve the country and serve the country very well.”

The APC standard bearer said his Umrah trip allowed him to pray for the country.

“It is a trip for spiritual rebirth. I like coming to perform the Umrah now and then. It is an opportunity to connect with Almighty Allah, Lam ya lid wa lam yulad.

“We need his guidance. Nigeria needs prayers and that is why we are here praying for our country, self and society.”

A former governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim, on Monday escaped death by the whiskers.

But four of his police orderlies were feared dead in an attack by gunmen.

The gunmen attacked his convoy and threw explosives at it when they could not capture Ohakim.

The former governor (2007-2011) was attacked at Oriagu in the Ehime Mbano Local Government Area on Monday evening.

Ohakim’s backup vehicle was bombed, which resulted in the death of the four security detail.

It was learnt that Ohakim was with two of his children and was returning from a visit when the gunmen struck.

A source said: “His Excellency was the main target but his brave driver was smart enough to beat them because they were driving to block him.

“Disappointed that their main target had escaped, they blocked his backup vehicle and burnt it. The four policemen with him were feared killed.”

Ohakim’s media aide, Emma Chukwu, said: “I will comment on the issue later.”

Police spokesman Michael Abattam did not pick up his calls.

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on Monday said it had no plan to call for the boycott of this year’s general election.

The group maintained that it has no interest in Nigerian politics.

It insisted that its agitation remained the total freedom of Ndigbo through a referendum.

In a statement by its spokesman Emma Powerful, the group said: “Even though we have consistently said that IPOB is not interested in Nigerian politics, (they)…link IPOB to their plot to select Nigeria’s leaders in the 2023 selection they call an election.

“They are just preparing ignorant people’s minds to blame IPOB for their failure in an already rigged election.”