The Nation Newspaper

Category: Lead

  • 24 reasons that explain Tinubu’s victory

    24 reasons that explain Tinubu’s victory

    In this succinct piece, IBIBA ADOKIYE compiles 24 convincing reasons that explain why only the All Progressives Congress (APC) – and not the fragmented Peoples Democratic Party or the Labour Party that was merely popular amongst the Christian population of the country – would have won the February 25 presidential election

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) could not have won the election because it was badly fractured into four groups, namely the Peter Obi/Labour Party (LP), the Rabiu Kwankwaso/New Nigeria Peoples Party, Governor Nyesome Wike-led G5 governors and the Atiku Abubakar/Iyorchia Ayu led group. Thinking that PDP could still beat APC after it had been dismembered is like imagining a man with fractured limbs winning a boxing bout. 

    (2). Despite its dismemberment, the new units in the PDP were abusing themselves up to the election proper and hardly focused on any meaningful campaign other than state capital-based rallies, where Dino Melaye will abuse Tinubu and then they’ll disperse.

    (3). Atiku was more concerned about hiring talkatives as his spokesmen, rather than talkers. While talkatives can talk from now until next year, making no impact and sense, talkers are exactly the opposite, because they deliver messages as and when due, and achieve the purpose.

     (4). Atiku relied too heavily on Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa. Funding from Delta was unfortunately not enough for a presidential election, considering that Okowa also had a battle of his life to fight back home.

    (5). Atiku arrogantly believes he could still be President, faced with an outgoing Hausa/Fulani President, and also condescending in his thinking that it is only through him that a South-easterner can be president. Who is he? What is he?

     (6). While the PDP campaign concentrated more on the personality of Asiwaju, APC was more concerned about selling their party and their promises, rather than the personalities of their opponent’s parties.

     (7). Labour Party could not have won the election too because Peter Obi was only popular amongst the Christian population of the country. He was hardly known in the core North of West and East. How can you become president of Nigeria, without winning votes in those two regions?

     (8). The question about winning Abuja that Labour Party (LP) is canvassing is just nonsense. They simply see it as a straw to hold on to, because they won it. Abuja is like every other state, nothing special, nothing sacrosanct about it. There is nowhere in the world where we have that kind of law.

     (9). Labour Party was never serious about this election. They were only waiting to lose it and then head to court. Otherwise, why would they not be concerned about hiring party agents, mobilising them and about the polling unit results meant to emanate from the agents?

     (10). Much as Peter Obi tried, his supporters didn’t. They were very abusive and insulting and cursing. Obi’s efforts might be rewarding in another four of eight years, but not now, otherwise why did he not pick more than one state in the governorship if he was that popular to win a presidential election?

     (11). In this election, I saw no reports in the media of thugs snatching ballot boxes and stuffing them. I saw no reports of security agents cordoning off whole polling stations while ballot boxes were being stuffed. There was no story of soldiers scattering voters in any place.

    (12). Where is the mother of all rigging, when Supreme Court ruled in 1983 that UPN’s Bisi Onabanjo got 1.2million votes, NPN’s Akin Omoboriowo got 500,000 votes but the returning officer added 1 behind the figure and it became N1.5million?

     (13). This year, the President did not declare the election a do-or-die. I saw no story of armed hooded security agents descending on a state, as in Ekiti in 2014. There was no story of an opposition governor’s plane denied landing rights at any airport.

     (14). In 2023, we didn’t have a Police Commissioner (Mbu) denying an opposition party governor entry into his own Government House. Pray, where in Nigeria in 2023 did we have Police Commissioner (Tahir Jidda) denying Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe entry into Maiduguri and firing tear gas at Zik, even though Borno State Governor Muhammadu Goni stood beside him?

     (15). Even the party primaries of last year lacked drama because we saw nothing like the Babalawo who tried to enter the UPN state congress in Ibadan in 1983 with a live tortoise strapped to his waist.

     (16). The general African attitude to elections is that the outcome justifies the process. The credible outcome, in African eyes, is usually when the incumbent ruler or party is defeated. Hence, to most Africans, the best elections ever held in Africa were when Morgan Tsvangirai’s party defeated Robert Mugabe’s; when Adama Barrow defeated Yahaya Jammeh in Gambia; when Mohammed Morsi triumphed in Egypt against Hosni Mubarak’s premier; when Jerry Rawlings’ party was defeated in Ghana; when Macky Sall defeated Abdoulaye Wade in Senegal; when Wade himself earlier defeated Abdou Diouf; when Alassane Ouattara defeated Laurent Gbagbo in Ivory Coast; and more recently, when William Ruto triumphed in Kenya despite outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta’s support for Raila Odinga.

     (17). African style, let us walk backwards from the result to the credibility question. First, the voter turnout. There were 87 million voters with PVCs in the 2023 election but only 24 million voted, or 27%. Now, the starting point of rigging elections is to take advantage of the number of registered voters. Why leave 63 million blank names on the register if you really desire to rig up results?

     (18). Undoubtedly, the technological innovations adopted over the years greatly helped clean up our elections. Up until 2007, those absent voters will simply have their votes cast for them by a coalition of party agents, election officials and security officers.

     (19). The winner of this election, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, got only 37% of the vote, down from the 56% that Buhari got in 2019. Now, while 2019 was a two-horse race between the APC and PDP candidates, 2023 was at least a four-horse race between APC, PDP, LP and NNPP candidates. It was the first time since 2007 that we had more than two major candidates in a presidential election and the first time since 1983 that we had up to four major candidates in such a race. The top four candidates in this election got 37%, 29%, 25% and 6% respectively. This compares closely with 1979 when Shagari got 34%, Awo got 29%, Zik got 16%, Aminu Kano got 10.28 and Waziri Ibrahim got 10%. The top three runners-up in this race got a combined 60% of the vote. That is impressive, but then, they only have themselves to blame that they did not present a united front before the election.

     (20). They only tried to present a united front to contest the results. It is a case of locking the stables after the horses have bolted. Would they have made 60% of the vote if they had united behind a single candidate? Nobody will ever know the answer for certain.

     (21). Tinubu’s party went into this election controlling the Federal and 21 state governments. In the event, he won only 12 states outright. PDP’s Atiku Abubakar also won 12 states, LP’s Peter Obi won 12 states outright [FCT included] while NNPP’s Kwankwaso won outright in one state. So how did Tinubu win the race? Simple. The number of states that a candidate wins outright is important. Equally important is the number of states in which he came second. Also very important is, if he came second with only a narrow margin in most of them. Tinubu won 12 states outright [Zamfara, Jigawa, Borno, Niger, Kwara, Kogi, Benue, Ekiti, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo and Rivers]. He came second in 19 states (Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna, Katsina, Kano, Gombe, Bauchi, Yobe, Taraba, Nasarawa, Plateau, Adamawa, Osun, Lagos, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Imo and Ebonyi). In many cases the margins of loss were very small, with only 3,000 votes in Sokoto, 12,000 in Katsina and equally narrow margins in Osun and Lagos. Very important, Tinubu came second to Kwankwaso in Kano, second to Atiku in most of the states the latter won and second to Obi in Lagos, Ebonyi, Imo and Edo.

     (22). This was exactly how Alhaji Shehu Shagari won the presidency in 1979. He won outright in nine states out of 19 (Sokoto, Kaduna, Niger, Bauchi, Gongola, Benue, Kwara, Rivers and Cross River). He won in Kaduna and Gongola even though his party lost the governorship elections there two weeks earlier, what in those days was called “the bandwagon effect.” Of the remaining ten states in Nigeria at the time, Shagari came second in 9 (Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Bendel, Anambra, Imo, Borno, Plateau and Kano). Shagari came third only in Lagos, after Awo and Zik. Like Shagari, like Tinubu; you are victorious if your party is either first or second in almost every state.

     (23). Allegations that APC rigged the election also fall flat because it lost the biggest states, namely Lagos, Kaduna, Kano and Katsina, even though all of them have APC state governors, all of whom are staunchly loyal to Tinubu. In terms of vote banks, what is Imo, Edo or Adamawa to these states? Why should anyone go rigging elections in some small states when he could rig up figures in the biggest ones and win by a large margin?

     (24). If they could help it, why should ten APC governors, APC National Chairman and Director General of the APC campaign suffer the embarrassment of failing to deliver their states? Why should Tinubu himself suffer the embarrassment of failing to win outright in Lagos, long alleged to be his political fiefdom?

  • Tinubu at 71: a celebration of fulfilment

    Tinubu at 71: a celebration of fulfilment

    As President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu celebrates his 71st birthday today, Deputy Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the ideas, struggles, exploits, and ascendancy of the political colossus at a critical time in national history

    In the hierarchy of earthly needs, self-actualisation is the highest. For many great men, it is often an elusive goal, especially if it is associated with the struggle for the ultimate power, which is never served ‘al a carte.’

    In this rare, difficult and extremely challenging terrain, a titanic battle was fought and won by Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Asiwaju of Lagos and President-elect of Nigeria. He has excelled as a first timer in the historic race, achieving a feat that eluded the illustrious pathfinder and undisputed role model, the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and billionaire business mogul, Bashorun Moshood Abiola, Aare Ona Kankanfo of Yorubaland.

    Having groomed many followers for leadership at local, state and federal levels, and successfully led the All Progressives Congress (APC) to tedious presidential battles in 2015 and 2019, the kingmaker is now king.

    “It is my turn,” he retorted in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, during his consultative meeting with political leaders there. He put everything he had into the contest, winning the primary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)and defeating an old timer, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP, and a noisy green horn, Peter Obi of the Labour Party(LP).

    Those who may aspire for future leadership at any of the tiers have instructive lessons to learn from. Tinubu. He had planned ahead and worked towards achieving his personal goals. He never lost focus. But, he invested in forming political parties along with compatriots. He groomed many Nigerians and aided them as they climbed the ladder of power.

    For over 30 years, had started the journey that took him to the top. From the Third Republic when he took his seat in the Senate, he set out. The era was shortlived. Tinubu joined a company of brave and bold men in the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) to query the truncation of the transition programme through the criminal annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by his political elder, the late Chief Moshood Abiola. When his life was in danger, he fled abroad, only to bounce back in 1999 as governor of Lagos State.

    Disowned by the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, in 2003, he thrived in adversity, surviving the federal might under which his Alliance for Democracy (AD) crashed.

    Tinubu was the best governor of his time. His achievements across the srctirs-education, health, security, judicial reforms, infrastructural development, expansion of the revenue base, e.t.c have remained indelible.

    Under his leadership, Lagos was a mini-country.  He fostered inclusion by appointing competent Nigerians from other ethnic groups into the State

    Conscious of the internal contradiction in AD, which had become a weak vessel, Tinubu and like-minded people floated the Action Congress (AC), which later became the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN. Tinubu started building bridges and nurturing networks across the six geo-political zones. He made friends with those that mattered.

    Between 2003 and 2015, he was the opposition arrowhead, and the main issue in national politics. From Lagos, the lone APC state, the progressives spread their tentacles regained Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Oyo and Ekiti. Later, it installed a governor in Edo.

    ACN and other parties-All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), a section of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and PDP-later fused, giving birth to APC. Tinubu became its national leader.

    Twice, he led the party to victory in 2015 and 2019. When he stormed Aso Villa, seat of government in Abuja to inform President Muhammadu Buhari about his intention to succeed him, keen observers knew he was the man to watch; the candidate to beat.

    A courageous politician, Tinubu braced the odds. Having prepared to face the vicissitudes, he placed his hand on the plough without looking back. A very tolerant and accommodating leader,  was prepared for betrayals. Yet, as he never held grudges because he planned for forgiveness. Through the cooperation of dependable APC governors, he triumphed over the zoning hurdle. The coast was clear. Tinubu became unstoppable.

    The detractors swung into action. Social media miscreants teamed up to distract his attention. He was painted as a frail-looking old man; a spent force who could hardly walk alone unsupported, and a drug pusher. Although he was never indicted for sleaze, his foes branded him as a corrupt person. He is speeches were misquoted and misinterpreted. Some elite conspired against him. But, his support base waxed stronger.

    Some even went to court before and after the primary and general election to stop him. It was futile. Tinubu won all the cases. More legal battles lay ahead.

    Ahead of the historic presidential poll, he acknowledged those running along with him, although he said he did not know where they were heading. But, he was clear in his own mind that he was going to Aso Rock.

    At the primary in Eagle Square, Abuja, scores of aspirants stepped down for him. At the close of shadow poll, he carried the day.

    Then, the social media manipulators intensified their campaign of calumny. A strategist and tactician, he was ready to take decisive steps. One of them was the choice of a Muslim running mate. If Tinubu had committed the mistake of picking a Christian, he could not have won. He is a realist.

    During the campaigns, the APC candidate approached Nigerians with the best blueprint. He never promised to sell Nigeria and its commonwealth, but to increase the wealth and foster good governance.

    His mandate, despite the virtuperation by the opposition, has the prospects of uniting the country. Tinubu had the highest number of votes in the Northwest, Northcentral, and Southwest. He came second in the Southsouth and Southeast. PDP and LP candidates were jolted out of their delusion. They have not overcome the shock. The candidate they had sought to demarket and disparage stole the show.

    On May 29, a democrat, pro-democracy crusader, financial surgeon, astute administrator, strategist, humanist, philanthropist, and statesman will assume the reins as president of African most populous country. The continent expect him to be a Commander-in-Chief with a difference.

    As the Jagaban Borgu, celebrates his 71st birthday today, Nigerians are locked in deep reflection about the metamorphosis of a man of destiny.

    Tinubu stands out among members of the political class. Courage, determination, resilience, devotion to principles and commitment to the high ideals of democracy are the virtues that have defined and shaped the character of the enigma and icon in his 33 years of his sojourn in politics.

    For the Jagaban Borgu, the road to fame was long and tortuous. Tinubu is not a politician without a second address. He had a rich curriculum vitae before venturing into politics, which he embraced as a vocation. He had worked hard and made fortunes in the accounting profession as an auditor in Mobil, a thriving oil company. He relishes his professional calling as a financial surgeon; an accountant of note and worth; the legendary treasurer.

    His former boss, Otunba Solomon Oladunnni, former Mobil Oil vice chairman, said Tinubu was captivating to the oil giant during the interview session. He displayed confidence, competence, skill, experience and capacity, which made him indispensable.

    He was destined to be the man of the future, undeterred by his troubled childhood and other obstacles on the way of a struggling youth. He confronted life difficulties with uncommon courage, converting the obstacles into an opportunity to struggle, work hard and excel. His life became a lesson.

    A promising young man, Tinubu left Nigeria for the United States of America in search of the proverbial golden fleece in 1975. He carried on his head the bow of fate and destiny, trusting that his maker will order his footsteps. If any youth travels to Europe or America today to do menial job, including being a gateman or a teacher, let him know that Tinubu had passed through the same layers of life.

    His next point of call was the Richard Daley College, Illinois, where he was on the college’s Honours’ List, and later, Chicago State University, Chigaco where he acquired a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, with specialization in Accounting and Management. Studying in the institution was not a child’s play.

    Tinubu shone like a star in the tertiary institution. In his second year, he was accorded the honour of teaching remedial tutorial classes on part-time basis to the students of the faculty. He was focused and serious. He was on the Dean’s List throughout his undergraduate years. His awards included the Outstanding Students’ Award, University Scholar’s Award and Certificate of Merit in Accounting and Finance in his first year.

    Politics was in his blood. Apart from his academic prowess, he was also a campus politician. He was elected as the President of the Accounting Society in his final year. The episode marked his journey to statesmanship.

    It was possible that he had also observed and participated in the political activities of his illustrious adopted mother, Iyaloja Abibat Mogaji, a strong women leader in the defunct Action Group (AG) and Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), led by the indomitable Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

    After his university education, Tinubu worked with the American based-accounting firm, Arthur Anderson. Later, he moved to ‘Deloitte Haskins and Sells’, now Deloitte Haskins and Touche, for his professional training. He was always interested in learning for the purpose of professional fortification.

    The young accountant also received professional training in other prominent firms, including General Motors, First National Bank of ChicagoProcter and Gamble, International Harvester, Fortune 50 Firms, and DEC, the largest communication and utility company in the United States.

    As a technocrat, Tinubu was devoted to the goals of organisational efficiency. The key was efficient performance. He knew that the white men he worked with will never condone indolence, idleness and laziness. He was an outstanding staff traveling across the globe with huge responsibilities on his shoulders. He learned new things travelling across the globe.

    Between 1981 and 1982, Tinubu was a member of the Deloitte team that established the financial sytem of ARAMCO, the giant oil company. He was even retained by the firm to supervise the implementation of its financial system.

    However, his employment with the Mobil Producing Nigeria as a senior auditor marked a turning point. He rose to the position of the Audit Manager, and later, Treasurer of the Mobil Producing, Nigeria. Under his leadership, there were prudent financial management, aggressive corporate think-tank for the reorganisation of the company’s financial system and treasury activities, the integration of staff development, cost saving and fraud detection and prevention. The experience made Tinubu to describe himself as a financial surgeon; a wizard.

    Reflecting on Tinubu’s contributions to the growth and development of the company, Oladunni said his audit report on indicted the managing director of the company. Tinubu was brave, bold and fearless.

    Oladunnni also recalled that Tinubu played a prominent role in the building of the Mobil House in Lekki, Lagos.

    In Lagos of 70s and 80s, he rocked Lagos social circles. It was reminiscent of how he followed a DJ to Ado-Ekiti because of his love for entertainment. He is a lover of crowd; the masses, poor and indigent, who are in the majority in the society.

    In the Third Republic, Tinubu entered politics as a new breed. His senior colleagues in Mobil were taken aback that he was leaving a lucrative job for an uncertain career in politics. He was a founding member of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), on which platform he contested for the Senate in Lagos West District. The senatorial form was purchased on his behalf by Chief Kola Oseni, his relation. He was supported by the powerful political group, Primose, led By Chief Dapo Sarunmi. The group was locked in supremacy battle with the ‘Ase,’ a group, led by former Lagos State Governor Lateef Jakande, in the Lagos SDP. During the screening, the chairman of the panel, Alhaji Lanre Rasak, was surprised that Tinubu answered critical questions with much intelligence, despite being perceived as a green horn. He predicted that he will go far in politics. 

    Tinubu meant business. He had developed the slogan:’Power is not served a la carte.’ He put all he had into the political process, seizing the politics of Lagos West by storm.

    Tinubu’s opponent at the senatorial  poll was the late Mrs. Kemi Nelson of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), who he defeated, emerging as the senator that polled the highest number of votes in the country. He had wanted to vie for Senate President, but was persuaded to step down for Dr, Iyorcha Ayu. Tinubu was not a bench warmer. He was the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Finance, Appropriation and Currency.

    In those days, he spoke authoritatively and forcefully to power, daring the military on the floor of the National Assembly. It was distressing to him that the military later boxed the country into an avoidable crisis, following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by the late  Abiola.

    Tinubu joined the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which fought the military to a standstill. When his life was threatened, he left the country and became the major financier and pillar of the pro-democracy movement abroad. It was almost a lost battle. Although the military surrendered power to civilians, the mandate was not restored to Abiola, who died in detention.

    In 1999, Tinubu bounced back. He returned home to participate in the Abdulsalami transition programme. Although he wanted to return to the Senate, the leaders of Afenifere/NADECO believed that he will be a good governor. They were right. Their words had a predictive value. The Justice Forum was rooting for him. The only dissenting voice was the late Chief Ganiyu Dawodu, who had pitched his tent with Funso Williams, former Works Commissioner. Reflecting on the struggle for the Alliance for Democracy (AD) ticket, a party elder, the late Oba Olatunji Hamzat, said: “Dawodu’s preference for Williams who had served in Abacha’s government over his own comrades who suffered in the trenches with him remains a puzzle.”

  • Ministerial aides condemn calls for interim govt

    Ministerial aides condemn calls for interim govt

    Many aides to Ministers under the aegis of the Network of Ministerial Aides (NETMA) have condemned the calls for an interim government.

    They said the calls against the inauguration of President-Elect Asiwaju Bola Tinubu for an Interim Government were condemnable and treasonable.

    The aides accused the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, of inciting Nigerians, particularly the youths, for a repeat of #EndSARS protests.

    NETMA, in an online statement by its leader, Dr. Philip Ugbodaga, declared that it was absurd for Atiku and Obi to claim they won the presidential election and incite Nigerians through massive protests while being in court.

    The aides said: “We note with grave concern, the current orchestrated actions of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr. Peter Obi, in attempting to subject our democratic institutions to ridicule and opprobrium.

    “High-profile elections in which the processes and results were brutally questioned, such as in Kenya, Venezuela and Myanmar have often fueled instability and distrust among the major ethnic groups.

    “In a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country like ours, allowing the present situation to fester, after the announcement of the winner of the presidential election, is not only antithetical to democratic consolidation, but to the peaceful transfer of power from the present administration to the incoming one.

    “The actions of Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi are jeopardising the integrity of the 2023 elections. We are particularly troubled that young, impressionable and innocent young people and some non-discerning adults are going along with Obi/Atiku post-election rhetoric and incendiary remarks.”

    NETMA’s members also stated that Atiku, Obi and their supporters were attempting to delegitimise the nation’s democracy through their unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud.

    They said: “Their (Atiku and Obi’s) action is one more step in delegitimising not just the incoming Asiwaju/Shettima administration, but Nigerian democracy generally. We consider this to be a dangerous path to thread.

    “Their consistent statements and remarks in their staged-managed protests and media interviews are laced with misleading statements and outright falsehoods, which amount to an assault on the democratic process which has been running without interruptions since 1999.

    “With a fragile polity such as ours, it is our fear that their current actions have the potential of pouring fuel into our democracy, which may be ignited as soon a match is lit. They are also preparing to strike the match any moment from now.

    “It is the height of absurdity for anyone to suggest the formation of an interim government in Nigeria, which Atiku, Obi and their supporters are clamouring for. Such a call has no place in our constitution and even common sense. No lover of Nigeria should call for the formation of an interim administration, simply because an opposition party failed to win the general election.”

    The aides also wondered why the presidential candidates of PDP and LP were not calling for the formation of interim administrations in the States where their parties won.

    Members of NETMA condemned the attempts by Atiku and Obi to demarket the President-elect (Tinubu), while urging them to continue to pursue their petitions in court.

  • BREAKING: NLC, TUC shelve proposed strike over cash scarcity

    BREAKING: NLC, TUC shelve proposed strike over cash scarcity

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have suspended their planned strike slated for Wednesday over the unavailability of naira notes.

    The two Labour bodies said they would monitor the availability of cash in commercial banks for two weeks before deciding on the next line of action.

    Presidents of NLC, Joe Ajaero and TUC Festus Osifo said this during a joint press conference on Tuesday in Abuja at the end of their National Executive Council meetings.

    Ajaero said after receiving briefings from its State councils in the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory, the NLC decided to defer the planned stay-at-home directive issued to workers last week.

    He said the NLC would resume the planned protest if naira notes become unavailable to Nigerians by the end of the two weeks.

    The NLC president said a committee has been set up to monitor situations in banks and report to it at the end of the two weeks extension.

    Details shortly…

  • BREAKING: PDP replaces Ayu, names Acting Chair

    BREAKING: PDP replaces Ayu, names Acting Chair

    The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has replaced its suspended National Chairman Iyorchia Ayu with one of his deputies, Amb Umar Damagum.

    Damagum, who was the Deputy National Chairman (North), will occupy the seat in an acting capacity pending the determination of the substantive suit restraining Ayu from parading himself as National Chairman.

    A Benue High Court sitting in Makurdi on Monday ordered Ayu to step aside following a suit filed by his
    Igyorov Council Ward in Gboko local government area, Benue State.

    The Ward Executive Committee suspended Ayu for alleged anti-party activities and failing to pay his membership dues.

    …. Details Shortly

  • JUST IN: We’ve arrested NLC’s protest threat – FG

    JUST IN: We’ve arrested NLC’s protest threat – FG

    Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige has assured the threat of protest by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over naira scarcity has been arrested.

    The NLC gave the Federal Government a seven-day ultimatum to cause the CBN and the commercial banks to end the cash scarcity, failure of which it warned of a nationwide protest and the picketing of the apex bank’s branches.

    But appearing on the weekly Ministerial Briefing organised by the Presidential Communication Team at the State House, Abuja, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Ngige said dialogues, coordinated by his ministry, took place making the CBN take steps to remedy the situation.

    The Minister, who was accompanied by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, and other senior officials of the Ministry, said as at the moment, the issue to be discussed by NLC in its National Executive Council meeting would no longer be issues of protest, which he said had already been apprehended.

    “Now they have all answered our calls because we are the Chief Conciliators. In my opening remark, I said I’ve noticed that there’s already a dialogue going on and there’s also implementation and the Nigerian Labour Congress agreed that there was some thawing at the surface of the icing that was there.

    “They said they will call up their National Executive Council meeting because the initial decision to give that ultimatum was given by this same Council. Members of the Council reside in the states and in the local governments so they will come up today, which is Tuesday, the 28th, to review the situation because much as it is, the important thing is that we have emphasised to them that we have apprehended this dispute.

    “By Section 7:8 of Trade Dispute Act, once the Minister apprehends and starts conciliation on it, you maintain status quo ante bellum. So they have gone back now to review the situation. If they’re not satisfied with what they’re see, they will come back to me and I’ll invite the CBN again.

    “But for now, the issue of discussion is no longer strike, the issue of discussion is implementation and how far it’s gone and how far it affects Nigerian workers and the general population.

    “So that is it, the final decision will be done today by NEC and they will then do a resolution, of course, inform me and CBN what their resolution is. But like I said, we have apprehended and we are now conciliating,” he assured.

    Details Shortly…

  • BREAKING: Fire guts five-storey building in Balogun market

    BREAKING: Fire guts five-storey building in Balogun market

    Fire has gutted a section of a five-storey building in popular Balogun Market, Lagos Island.

    The incident occurred Tuesday morning. However, the cause and magnitude of the fire are yet unknown.

    No causality was also not recorded.

    Emergency responders, including Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Police and other security agencies have arrived and cordoned off the area for an effective rescue operation.

    Confirming the incident, Jubril Gawat, a media aide Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said: “The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service is currently attending to a Fire outbreak at the famous Balogun Market which involved the topmost floor of a five storey building.

    “The Fire is however under control as mitigation are on to limits it spread.”

  • Court order restraining Ayu deepens PDP’s post-poll crisis

    Court order restraining Ayu deepens PDP’s post-poll crisis

    • National chair dismisses suspension
    • Wike backs action

    By Emmanuel Badejo, Assistant Editor; Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi; Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja and Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt

    The protracted crisis that has hit the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took a legal dimension yesterday.

    A Makurdi High Court in Benue State issued an interim injunction restraining Dr Iyorchia Ayu from parading himself as the national chairman.

    The order came a day after Ayu was suspended by the executive committee of his native Igyorov Ward in the Gboko Local Government Area of Benue.

    A resolution passed at the end of the Igyorov Ward meeting and read by its Secretary, Mr. Banger Dooyum, accused Ayu of causing PDP to lose the general election at the state, local government and ward levels.

    The ward executives also passed a vote of no confidence in him.

    The applicant, Conrad Utaan, in the case before Justice W. I. Kpochi, cited Ayu’s suspension in filing the motion.

    The suit, numbered HC/85/2023, with Ayu and the PDP as defendants, has been adjourned to April 17 for a hearing.

    Ayu yesterday dismissed his suspension, saying the ward executives lacked the powers to so act.

    He cited Article 57(7) of the PDP Constitution which prohibits any organ from taking any disciplinary measure against a National Executive Committee (NEC) member.

    Besides, 16 PDP ward officials in Ingyorov disassociated themselves from Ayu’s suspension and the vote of no confidence passed in him.

    But, Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike asked Ayu to get ready because the war against him was just beginning.

    The governor said it was unthinkable for someone who could not deliver his polling unit, ward, local government or state to the PDP during the last general election to preside over the party and control states won by the PDP, such as Rivers.

    Former PDP Deputy National Chairman, Chief Olabode Goerge, blamed Ayu for the crisis that has engulfed the party.

    “This is a dirty politics which Ayu started,” he said in reference to the court injunction.

    Ayu restrained 

    Ruling on the application to restrain Ayu, Justice Kpochi said: “Upon hearing Mr. M. T. Assoh and upon a dispassionate consideration of the facts placed before me in the pool of the affidavit evidence, and again, upon the consideration of the issues distilled in the written address by M. T. Assoh, it is my candid view that this is a proper case to grant the interim injunction as craved.

    “Consequently, this application is hereby granted in terms of the reliefs captured in the motion papers as herein before reproduced. It is so ordered.”

    The applicant had sought an order of interim injunction restraining Ayu from parading himself as national chairman having lost his membership.

    He prayed that the order should subsist, pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice.

    Ayu: ward can’t suspend me 

    But, Ayu has told the executive committee of his ward that it lacked the power to suspend him.

    He said those who purportedly suspended him were illiterates and ignorant of the PDP constitution.

    In a statement by his media aide, Simon Imobo-Tswam, the PDP national chairman said some of those who suspended him were forced to sign the resolution.

    He also said they were being teleguided by those he described as political gamblers “to cause mischief and nothing more”.

    According to him, some of the Exco members who refused to sign the resolution were being held hostage in an unnamed location in Makurdi, the Benue capital.

    “The purported suspension is, therefore, an exercise in futility as it derives its strength majorly from gross illiteracy, ignorance, gambling and desperation. 

    “It has only mischief, drama and propaganda value,” Ayu declared.

    The statement adds: “We wish to state categorically and with all emphasis at our disposal thus:

    “For starters, Article 57(7) of the PDP Constitution as Amended in 2017 expressly prohibits any organ of the party or executive committee of the party at the Ward or State Level from taking any disciplinary measure against any member of the party’s National Executive Committee.

    “The purported suspension is, therefore, an exercise in futility as it derives its strength majorly from gross illiteracy, ignorance, gambling and desperation. 

    “It has only mischief, drama and propaganda value.

    “But more than this, the so-called suspension letter was written by an illiterate beforehand, and only given to the coerced members to sign somewhere in Makurdi.

    “This is why the original date is ‘tipexed’ and 24 March imposed on it. And this is also why it states that the presidential/National Assembly and Governorship/State Assembly elections were held on the 25th and 18th March 2023 respectively.

    “From what we know, the document itself is fraudulent as the signatures of the ward executives were forged or obtained under duress.

    “The (ward) chairman, his deputy and legal adviser didn’t sign. The 14th person on the list didn’t sign too. She was at NKST Ambighir for the Holy Communion.

    “In fact, the same applies to Nos. 5, 8 and 16. At the time, they were supposed to be in Makurdi with the other coerced, intimidated and induced members of the exco, they were actually in their villages, going about their normal businesses.

    “Up till now, about nine members of the Ward Exco are still being held hostage in a location in Makurdi for obvious reasons. 

    “And expectedly, their mobile numbers have been switched off. It is instructive.

    “The general public is hereby advised to ignore rumours to this heinous effect. 

    “Those behind the plot are only investing in expensive illusions.”

    16 PDP ward EXCO disassociate selves

    No fewer than 16 Ingyorov PDP ward officials disassociated themselves from Ayu’s suspension.

    They informed the PDP chairman in Gboko that they were neither part of the meeting nor did they sign the resolution.

    They stated: “The Executive Committee never discussed in any of our meetings prior to elections or post-2023 general elections about the conduct of the national chairman, Dr. Ayu.

    “The Executive Committee has no knowledge of the letter of suspension and has not authorised anybody to generate such a mischievous letter on behalf of the Executive Committee.

    “The purported signatures on the letter were forged and no Executive Committee member of Ingrorov PDP Council ward signed the letter, just as all their names were wrongly spelt.

    “We, therefore, pass a vote of confidence on the PDP National Chairman Dr Iyorchia Ayu and urge members of the public to disregard the purported suspension.”

    Wike to Ayu: the war against you has just started 

    Wike, who spoke during the inauguration of the remodelled Community Secondary School in Okoro-nu-Odo, in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers, accused Ayu of being responsible for PDP’s colossal failure in Benue and across the country during the general election.

    He said: “Ask them, those who want to be chairman of this party (PDP), what do you have to give to the party now?

    “Presidential election; you lost in your unit, lost in your ward, lost in your local government and lost in your state. Which party will you preside over now?”

    Wike said it was God who hardened Ayu’s heart not to resign when the G-5 governors and members of Integrity Group demanded his resignation after the emergence of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the PDP presidential candidate.

    He said if Ayu had resigned then, his cohorts, who were vehemently opposed to the zoning of elective and appointive offices, would have used that as an excuse for the party’s abysmal performance in the just-concluded general elections.

    The governor said it would be morally offensive for Ayu to remain as the national chairman after the catastrophic defeat of the party under his watch in his unit, ward, local government, state and national levels.

    Wike insisted that Ayu’s suspension was the beginning of the battle to save the party.

    He said: “Those of you who are fighting his suspension, you have not seen anything yet. The fight has started. Ayu, the fight has just started.

    “If you know him, those of you who are close to him, tell him, Iyorchia Ayu, the fight has just started.”

    According to Wike, instead of Ayu using his position to strengthen PDP’s grip on Benue, he let it slip.

    He said: “Will you preside over the one (Rivers PDP) I have secured victory for? 

    “You want to come and preside over this state (Rivers) so that we will begin to donate money to the party?

    “You, bring your own state to the party too, so that your state can contribute money to the national. 

    “If you don’t deliver your state, you can’t preside over us. You cannot.”

    Wike noted that already, some persons within the party were thinking of siding with Ayu to challenge his suspension.

    “Somebody who engaged in anti-party activities is suspending people. 

    “The chief priest of anti-party, native doctor of anti-party suspending those who have worked hard for this party.

    “All of you who are joining Ayu, be prepared. Now, I have no other job.

    “The job I have now is to put more heat on them and I will continue to do that,” the governor said.

    Wike pointed out the nullity of the purported summoning of members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of PDP to Abuja to meet and pronounce the suspension as illegal.

    He said: “If you like, let the national secretary rush to Abuja. 

    “Let them meet this afternoon and say the suspension is illegal, you will see what you will face. 

    “You are calling us small boys, you will see what small boys can do to you.”

    George: Ayu began what he can’t finish 

    Goerge, who faulted the gale of suspensions rocking the party, said it was wrong for Ayu to begin a process he cannot end.

    The PDP chieftain, who spoke on Channels Politics Today, called for caution lest the party becomes history.

    George, who noted that Ayu’s ward was not right to have suspended him, asked the PDP National Legal Adviser to approach the court to undo the order.

    He said: “As a life BoT member of this party, when issues like this keep hitting your party, it is the right time for the elders in the party, I mean, the BoT, to come in and douse the tension.

    “We warned very early as we were preparing for the national elections. You know two wrongs don’t make a right.

    “So many mistakes have been made that completely differed from the perceptions of the founding fathers of this party.

    “My appeal to all sides is to cool tempers. I believe that mistakes were made.

    “If the ship of the PDP keeps taking in water and as an old sailor, I don’t want the ship to go down.

    “This is not a military organisation and when you continue to act in whatever way you like because you are the executive chairman and whatever you say is the final, where are we heading to?

    “These fellows in the chairman’s ward said they suspended him and they have now gone to the court where they claimed to have gotten an order.

    “Normally, it is the NEC that can suspend or expel any member of the NEC. So, I am pleading with all the people to do the needful.

    “I expect our National Legal Officer to approach the court and ventilate the party’s points to vacate the said order. 

    “But if you don’t do that, you are also laying the foundation for disobeying a lawful order of the court.

    “This is a dirty politics which Ayu started. So, if people are now throwing stones at him to make him feel as if he does not know what he’s doing, it is because he has begun a process that is now negatively affecting other members.”

  • U.S.’ $100m for 5 W/Africa nations

    U.S.’ $100m for 5 W/Africa nations

    To battle insecurity and terrorism, five West African countries will get $100 million aid from United States (U.S.), Vice President Kamala Harris announced yesterday in Ghana.

    The other four nations that will benefit were not named.

    Harris is on a weeklong three-nation African tour, which kicked off in Ghana.

    The is to counter growing Chinese and Russian influence on the continent.

    “President [Joe] Biden and I have made clear the United States is strengthening our partnerships across the continent of Africa,” Harris said during a joint news conference with Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo.

    China has invested heavily in Africa in the past two decades, particularly in infrastructure, mining, timber and fishing while Russia’s private military contractor Wagner Group is providing security assistance in several countries.

    Akufo-Addo, who alleged in December that its embattled neighbour Burkina Faso had hired the mercenaries, reiterated that he was concerned about Wagner’s presence in West Africa.

    “It raises the very real possibility … that once again our continent is going to become the playground for great power conflict,” he said.

    Several countries across West Africa and the Sahel region have been struggling to quell violence by armed groups that have caused humanitarian disasters and fuelled discontent, which contributed to military coups in Mali and Burkina Faso.

    “We appreciate your leadership in response to recent democratic back-sliding in West Africa,” Harris told Akufo-Addo.

    “To help address the threats of violent extremism and instability, today I am pleased to announce $100m in support of Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire and Togo,” she said.

    That money is in addition to $139m in assistance that the US intends to provide Ghana in the 2024 fiscal year, according to Harris’s office.

    After Ghana, Harris will head to Tanzania and Zambia.

    Harris was asked during the news conference whether she would be promoting LGBT rights during her tour, including in Ghana where a bill that would severely restrict those rights is going through parliament.

    “I have raised this issue,” Harris said, adding that she felt very strongly about supporting freedom and equality for all people and that LGBT rights were a human rights issue.

    Ghana’s draft bill would make it a crime to be gay, bisexual or transgender. Gay sex is already punishable by up to three years in prison under Ghanaian law although no one has been prosecuted in years.

    The new bill would lengthen jail terms and force people to undergo “conversion therapy”, practises intended to change their sexual orientation. Parliament held public hearings on the bill starting in 2021. It is unclear when it will be put to a vote.

    Akufo-Addo responded to a question about the bill from a US reporter by saying that it was not official government policy but rather had been put forward by legislators acting in a private capacity.

    He also said the attorney general had submitted opinions to a parliamentary committee about “the constitutionality or otherwise of several of its provisions”.

    “My understanding … is that substantial elements of the bill have already been modified as a result of the intervention of the attorney general,” he said without giving details.

    “I have no doubt that the parliament of Ghana will show as it has done in the past … its sensitivity to human rights issues as well as to the feelings of our population and will come out with a responsible response to the proposed legislation,” the president said.

  • Supplementary polls hold April 15 in Oyo, Imo, Edo, others

    Supplementary polls hold April 15 in Oyo, Imo, Edo, others

    The All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP) and other political parties are stepping up campaigns to increase their lawmakers in the 10th National Assembly.

    The development followed an announcement yesterday by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that supplementary polls will hold on April 15 in two states (governorship); seven senatorial districts; 32 federal constituencies and some state constituencies.

    According to the electoral umpire, the governorship rerun will hold in Adamawa and Kebbi states; senatorial polls in Kebbi (Kebbi North); Plateau (Plateau Central); Yobe (Yobe South); Zamfara (Zamfara Central); Sokoto (Sokoto East, North and South) districts.

    Elections were declared inconclusive in the affected states, senatorial zones and constituencies by INEC after the February 25 Presidential/National Assembly polls and the March 18 Governorship/State Assembly elections following some infractions.

    The April 15 supplementary polls will drop the curtain on the 2023 election cycle.

    The governorship rerun in Adamawa will be a straight contest between incumbent Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the PDP and APC female candidate Senator Aishatu Binani.

    Before the Adamawa governorship election was declared inconclusive, Fintiri of the PDP had polled 421, 524 votes. His APC challenger Senator Binani garnered 390, 275.

    The results tallied from 20 local government areas, showed Fintiri winning in 13 and the senator taking seven.

    But the INEC suspended the collation of the results from Fufore Local Government Area, following reports that thugs had snatched the results sheet.

    Both parties have been trading accusations of attempts to manipulate the results.

    INEC said the difference between what he scored and what Binani scored was less than the number of registered voters in the area where the election was cancelled.

    In Kebbi, APC candidate, Dr. Nasir Idris was ahead of the PDP contender Aminu Bande with 388,258 votes to 342,980.

    So far, the APC has won governorship seats in 15 states, PDP, nine and LP and the NNPP in one state each.

    In the Senate, the APC has 56 seats, PDP (32) and the LP (seven), Young Peoples Party (YPP) has one, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) got two; All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) has one and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has two.

    In the House of Representatives, the APC has the majority of 162 seats, while the PDP has 102 and the LP,   34.

    INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee,  Festus Okoye, announced the supplementary elections  in Abuja yesterday.

    Elections will hold in two federal constituencies in Akwa Ibom (Abak/Etim Ekpo/Ika and Ikono/Ini); Edo (Orhionmwon/Uhunmwode); Imo (Ikeduru/Mbaitoli and Isu/Njaba/Nkwere/Nwangele);  Kano (Doguwa/Tudun Wada and Fagge); Kebbi (Arewa/Dandi and Koko/Besse/Maiyoma);  Oyo (Ibadan North East/Ibadan South East and Oluyole); Rivers (Gokana/Khana and Port Harcourt II) as well as Zamfara (Gummi/Bukkuyum and Gusau/Tsafe).

    There will also be supplementary polls in one federal constituency in Taraba (Takum/Donga/Ussa);  Kogi (Bassa/Dekina); Jigawa (Gumel/Maigatari/Sule Tankarkar/Gagarawa), Ebonyi (Ezza North/Ishielu), Bayelsa (Southern Ijaw) and Anambra (Igbaru).

    Although House Leader, Alhassan Ado Doguwa was initially declared the winner of the Doguwa/Tudun Wada federal constituency, INEC withdrew the announcement, saying the results were declared under duress.

     Okoye explained in the statement that the commission met and reviewed the areas where supplementary elections were required to conclude the outstanding governorship, and national and state assembly elections across the country.

    He recalled that 26 state governorship, 104 senatorial, 329 federal and 935 state constituency elections were concluded and winners declared.

    The statement reads in part: “Supplementary governorship elections will be held in Adamawa and Kebbi, five Senatorial Districts, 31 Federal and 58 State Assembly constituencies.

    “Owing to the competitive nature of the elections, especially for legislative seats, supplementary elections will be held in just a few polling units in some constituencies,” he said.

    Okoye said the comprehensive list of the polling units by state, local government, registration area, registered voters and Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) collected would be published on the INEC website on or before Wednesday.

    He appealed to all political parties, candidates and stakeholders to note the date and locations of the supplementary elections.

    Okoye said the earlier accreditation for polling and collation agents, observers and the media still subsisted for the supplementary elections.

    “The commission once again urges political parties, candidates and their supporters to see the exercise as an election and not war.

    “They should avoid incendiary statements and negative mobilisation so that the elections can be conducted and concluded as scheduled.”