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Tag: 2027 elections

  • Lawmakers, INEC chart path for credible 2027 elections

    Lawmakers, INEC chart path for credible 2027 elections

    Lawmakers, electoral officials, and civil society stakeholders yesterday commenced deliberations on the 2025 Electoral Bill to strengthen Nigeria’s democratic process further.

    A three-day retreat in Lagos, jointly organised by the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Electoral Matters, in collaboration with the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) and supported by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), brought together INEC officials, legislators, civil society representatives, and governance experts.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, Senator Simon Bako Lalong, described the review as a “pivotal moment in Nigeria’s democratic journey,” noting that credible elections were indispensable to public trust and stability.

    “A credible electoral system is the bedrock of democracy. Without it, participation diminishes, and governance loses legitimacy. We must evolve our laws to reflect emerging realities and the lessons of past elections,” he said.

    Key issues under review include the electronic transmission of results, early voting for security personnel and journalists, and stronger gender inclusion provisions.

    Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi (Bauchi Central) said lawmakers had held multiple consultations nationwide, gathering inputs for more than a year and a half.

    “We are determined to deliver a law that ensures every vote counts,” he said.

    A legislator, Tolulope Akande-Sadipe, called for mandatory inclusion of women in party leadership structures, arguing that “democracy cannot thrive while excluding half of the population.”

    Representatives of PLAC and FCDO commended the National Assembly for sustaining the reform momentum, urging lawmakers to prioritise transparency and citizen participation.

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    INEC’s Festus Okoye presented citizens’ proposals for the 2025 Electoral Bill, highlighting the need for efficiency, accountability, and the protection of voter rights.

    Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen—represented by Senator Abdulaziz Musa Yar’Adua—reaffirmed the legislature’s resolve to “deliver an electoral framework that stands the test of time and truly reflects the will of the Nigerian people.”

    As deliberations continue, one message echoed among participants: the credibility of elections remains central to the survival of Nigeria’s democracy.

    “Our democracy must evolve beyond rhetoric,” Senator Lalong concluded. “This is not just about passing another law—it’s about protecting the voice of every Nigerian voter.”

  • How gains from Lagos council polls could shape 2027 elections

    How gains from Lagos council polls could shape 2027 elections

    The last local governments’ election in Lagos State was a huge improvement compare to the one held in 2021. TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO takes a look at factors that led to it and how it could set tone for 2027 general elections.

    Many had already tagged the last Local Government elections in Lagos State as the worse in the history of the council polls until the body assigned to organise the election came out with a shocking report.

    The report, according to the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), showed that the turn out did not only supersede 2021 edition, the poll recorded more than 100 per cent increase.

    In an interview with reporters, the LASIEC Chairman, Justice Bola Okikiolu-Ighile (rtd), stated that over 24 per cent voters’ turnout was recorded in the poll as against 10 percent recorded in 2021.

    This, she said, was unprecedented and a substantial improvement from the past editions.

    Justice Okikiolu-Ighile said: “This is unprecedented, meaning that people came out more than they did in 2021. The increase is due to our robust voter awareness campaigns that utilized public transport branding and billboards across the state. Favorable weather conditions, with no excessive heat or rain, also contributed to voters’ comfort on the Election Day. Despite some initial difficulties for voters in locating their units, LASIEC provided vehicles to transport them to the correct polling stations after verification, ensuring all eligible voters had the opportunity to cast their ballots.”

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    According to her, the number of polling units that was increased from about 8,000 in 2021 to 13,325 in 2025, helped reduce crowding and streamline the voting process.

    In 2021, 678,324 out of 6,563,790 Registered Voters representing 10.3 per cent came out to vote.

    Whereas, this year’s council election saw 1,715,076 out of 7,060,195 which represents 24.3 per cent exercised their civic duties. Although, the number of Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) collected were 6,214,970 while the number of PVCs uncollected were put at 845,225.

    While 14 political parties participated in the 2021 local government election, 15 political parties took part in this year’s council poll

    The results saw the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) recorded a total number of 1,625,157 votes, leaving the remaining 89,919 votes for the 14 opposition parties to share.

    A document obtained from the LASIEC showed that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is the only party fielded candidates in all chairmanship and councillorship seats across the 57 councils and 376 wards.

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) followed by having contestants in 45 local councils and 259 wards.

    The Labour Party (LP) fielded 22 chairmanship and 130 councillorship candidates while the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) had six chairmanship candidates and 21 councillorship candidates.

    Other parties that scaled through the registration of candidates’ deadline released in LASIEC guidelines for the election are Accord; African Action Congress (AAC); Action Allaiance (AA); Allied People’s Movement (APM); All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA); Social Democratic party (SDP); National Rescue Movement (NRM); Young Progressive party (YPP); Youth Party (YP); Action Peoples Party (APP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC).

    The improvement in this year’s Local Government elections did not happen by chance. Many believed it was the outcome of deliberate reforms, sustained civic pressure, and a changing political culture.

    For instance, during the campaigns, the Chairman of the APC Lagos State Chapter, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, warned all candidates to embark on aggressive

    To the ruling party, the council poll was a way of showing their recovered strength and grip on the State of Excellence after a dismal outing in the 2023 presidential election where the Labour Party won in the state.

    Many of the APC stalwarts believed that the council poll was a dress rehearsal for the 2027 general elections.

    Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, during campaign said the local government elections would to be a preparatory ground for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election.

    Sanwo-Olu called on residents of the state to demonstrate their loyalty to the president and APC by using the local government elections to show their support for Tinubu.

    “The local government election is coming, it’s just one month away. I want you to use the election to prove your worth so that by 2027, it will be a smooth sail for Mr. President.”

    The senator representing Lagos-West Senatorial District, Dr Idiat Oluranti Adebule, who donated N150 million to support the APC candidates Lagos-West, said the gesture was to ensure the party records sweeping success across board.

    Adebule stressed that a victory in the senatorial district would significantly strengthen APC’s dominance both in Lagos and nationally.

    She also reminded attendees of the unique position Lagos-West holds as the senatorial home district of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, urging candidates not to disappoint the party’s national leader and founding father.

    “Governor Sanwo-Olu is looking up to you. Our father and national leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is looking up to you to carry the torch of the political movement of Lagos with courage and conviction. We cannot afford to let them down,” Adebule said.

    While challenges remain—particularly around voter turnout compared to general elections—the progress recorded in this year’s council poll marked a promising step toward deepening grassroots democracy in Nigeria’s commercial capital.

    The challenge now is sustainability. If the lessons of 2025 are institutionalized and further refined, Lagos State may finally overcome the cycle of apathy and skepticism that has long haunted its local government elections. But if reforms are allowed to slip, the state risks sliding back to the uninspiring experiences of the past.

    For now, however, Lagosians can look back at the 2025 polls as a watershed moment that showed improvement is not only possible but achievable with the right blend of political will, civic participation, and institutional accountability.

  • How to lose Nigeria’s 2027 elections

    How to lose Nigeria’s 2027 elections

    Recently, there’s been much hair-splitting over ‘early campaigning’ ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections. Officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have been moaning about how parties are violating the law by engaging in overt political activities which should only begin 150 days to polling day.

    But the commission is powerless to do anything about the infractions because of the silence of the law as to what constitutes campaign activity. All the same, evidence of intensifying politicking litter the landscape e.g. posters, billboards, rallies, interviews and press statements promoting one party or aspirant. Well-known figures are hopping from one television station to another putting themselves on display. It would be this way until polling day in 2027.

    If there’s anything I know about politics, it is that those who desire victory must know what’s important to voters. So, presumably, parties would be doing research and polling to find out the red button issues that matter to people.

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    Some of these concerns are so obvious you don’t need much effort to identify them. Way back in early 1991, then United States President, George H. W. Bush, basking in the afterglow of leading allies to a crushing victory over Saddam Hussein and Iraq in the Gulf War, was riding a wave of popularity. 

    It was a display of America’s military might at its most glorious in Operation Desert Storm. Many assumed that having asserted himself as a hairy-chested Commander-in-Chief, folks back home would be sufficiently impressed and hand him a second term in the White House.

    But his Democratic Party challenger, a certain Bill Clinton, sussed out that as prestigious as it was to be seen as a global superpower, what ultimately mattered to the average man was how to navigate daily existence. His campaign team boiled down their focus to a pithy phrase: ‘It’s the economy, stupid! It was close, concise, and swept the little known mid-Western state governor to power in Washington. Bush’s war time popularity was of no use one year after.

    That wouldn’t be the first election where economics would be the deciding factor neither would it be the last. In the United Kingdom’s 1979 general elections, the Conservative Party played on high unemployment under Jim Callaghan’s Labour Party government. They hired the famous Saatchi & Saatchi advertising firm which came up with the killer line ‘Labour Isn’t Working’ imposed on an image of a snaking line of unemployed people.

    Voters agreed with the sentiment and swept the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, into power.

    But we’ve also seen instances where incumbent governments battling economic challenges prevailed due to the way they made their case to voters. Two years ago in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, led his Justice and Development Party (AKP) to victory despite the country’s difficulties.

    The AKP’s strong showing left many Turks baffled as to how their nation’s dire economic crisis didn’t hurt the president’s electoral prospects. Analysts say it all came down to the way the ruling party handled its campaign. Its machine was very effective and succeeded in convincing voters that the incumbent would do a better job of managing the economy.

    The removal of fuel subsidies and implementation of foreign exchange reforms triggered a cost of living crisis which the Bola Tinubu administration has been battling to rein in over the last two years.

    I have always argued that the wise course for anyone looking to carry out painful reforms is to start early. With luck on their side, the results would start appearing and much of the initial pains would have receded at the point of the next election.

    Tinubu started early – declaring on the inauguration podium that ‘subsidy was gone.’ Fortunately for him, all his major rivals from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, all pledged to scrap the subsidies immediately they took office. While it’s been expedient politically for them to attack the incumbent on this issue, none has offered a credible alternative policy path.

    By starting early, the administration has made time its ally. Inflation is moderating and its other interventions are ensuring that present pains aren’t as grievous as past ones. It can do a better job of celebrating some of its populist measures like student loans. It can talk more about the ease with which businesses now access foreign exchange as opposed to the corruption-ridden processes in the past that made the Central Bank a toll gate of sorts.

    Of course, the opposition knows that their most potent attack is to amplify the pains arising from the reforms. But not all voters are gullible or simpleminded. They aren’t going to hand you power just because you stated the obvious. The question remains what would you have done differently.

    Another emerging theme in the early campaigning is the demonisation of foes. By returning to this tack, many politicians show they haven’t learnt much from their 2023 misadventures. Two years ago, Tinubu was painted as this fiend who was about to Islamise the country by the agency of the Muslim-Muslim ticket. He was caricatured as infirm, barely able to walk. Some even made out that a man who rose to be Treasurer of the multinational Mobil was barely literate.

    Despite the failure of those attacks, his rivals are back at it with renewed fervour. Take the example of the increasingly unhinged former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who has made it his raison d’etre to topple Tinubu. 

    In his latest diatribe, he told his ally Atiku that the incumbent was plotting a life presidency modelled after the one perfected by Paul Biya in next door Cameroun. His claim comes at a time when Nigerians are being reminded of how Olusegun Obasanjo’s modest bid to secure an additional four years in office – the so-called Third Term Agenda – came a cropper.

    To now imagine that a Tinubu would set out to implement an even more ambitious take down of the constitution in a polarised environment such as ours beggars belief.

    Rather than sound convincing, the claim draws attention to the state of mind of the accusers and their motivation. It shows how out-of-touch some are. Is this the most important concern of the man in the street? Life presidency may be something that alarms certain of our idle elite but it’s hardly a vote winner for people who never heard of Paul Biya. 

    Berating Tinubu for not being the perfect democrat hardly matters to people who are quick to solicit military intervention against a regime some of them despise. These are the sorts of people who looked longingly at the recent chaos in Nepal wishing it was the lot of their country.

    Many Nigerians don’t care whether you are a dictator or democrat, so long as daily living isn’t stressful for them. If the economy keeps improving Tinubu would be re-elected – never mind the name-calling. His record would be evidence that he’s the safer pair of hands than those who want to seize the controls.

  • Cleric urges Nigerians to prioritise credibility in 2027 elections

    Cleric urges Nigerians to prioritise credibility in 2027 elections

    The President and Setman of Word Communication Ministries (WOCOM), Apostle Sunday Popoola, has called on Nigerians to prioritise the credibility of politicians before casting their votes in the 2027 general elections.

    Speaking in Ibadan ahead of WOCOM’s triple celebrations, the annual Power of Faith Convention, the ministry’s 40th anniversary, and his 70th birthday, Popoola lamented that Nigerians have repeatedly fallen victim to desperate politicians. 

    He stressed the need for citizens to begin questioning the legitimacy and track record of those seeking public office.

    He warned against electing individuals with no proven record of service or leadership, saying, “When somebody just comes from nowhere, with nothing to show for what they have done in life, and we vote for them, what do you expect from such people?”

    His remarks follow a similar caution by the Archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province and Bishop of the Ibadan North Anglican Diocese, Most Rev. Williams Aladekugbe, who, during the burial service of the late 43rd Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Owolabi Olakulehin, criticised politicians already jostling for positions in 2027, warning that desperation would not yield results.

    “It is an unfortunate trend in our nation, no matter the bastardisation, the impunity, we keep doing same thing and then we are crying for a change.

    “It is not going to happen. The change in our hands is our votes. We cannot keep casting our votes for some politicians who come every four years and play on our intelligence and take our votes but deliver nothing.”

    Popoola however said all hope was not lost as he declared that the Church would play a very critical role in the 2027 elections across the country.

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    “The Bible says if the righteous are in power, the people rejoice. If the wicked bears rule, the people mourn. That is a matter of if.

    “It took years of speaking out for people to begin to believe that a Godly person can play politics. Today, we are beginning to see well-meaning Christians, born again Christians going into politics.

    “We are not as we may ought to be, but, at least, we have been able to improve on what it was. Now, you see the Church taking interest in politics, speaking out.

    “And, then, we are also involved in trying to raise Christians who have that calling in ways that when they get into government, they will be able to maintain their faith, walk in truth, in righteousness and lead in a way that will be a blessing to the people and in a way that will lead the nation in the oath of progress.

    “We are raising Christians that will walk in a way that will lead in the oath to justice, fairplay, equity and inclusion. These are the things that will make a nation to move forward.

    “We have been able to do that and I have even gone further to look for a way to look at those who are contesting elections, particularly in this state. We want to look for the best and give them spiritual support and advised. And God has helped us in this respect.”

    Popoola noted that activities of WOCOM since it began include impacting lives through several mass evangelistic crusades, believers and leadership conferences and leadership programmes.

    The cleric while reeling out the week-long 2025 edition of the WOCOM Annual Convention activities said, “It will start with a youth outreach on 16th and 17th August, tagged ‘SPRINGNOW’ The main convention will commence on August 18. There will be morning and evening sessions each day.”

  • My take on PDP, 2027 elections, Amaechi, Fubara, by Wike

    My take on PDP, 2027 elections, Amaechi, Fubara, by Wike

    Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike yesterday made his position known on many national issues, such as the crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the 2027 presidential election and the crisis between him and suspended Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

    Fielding questions from a group of journalists on a special television programme in Abuja, Wike pledged to lead President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2027 reelection campaign in Rivers State.

    He reacted to the “I am hungry” comment by his predecessor and immediate past Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi.

    Amaechi made the remark last week during his 60th birthday celebration.

    On the 2027 election, Wike said: “I am not a liability. I am an asset, whether you agree or not. I will ensure that President Tinubu wins a second term, and I will lead the campaign in Rivers.”

    The minister offered a challenge to the coalition forces, saying: “Let them form their coalition and start from Rivers. We’ll be waiting.”

    He recalled that he was instrumental in making the PDP a dominant political force in the country, adding that he has the right to support any candidate of his choice.

    Wike rejected the allegations of anti-party activities by PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) member Chief Bode George and Amaechi, saying he remains a political “asset,” and not a liability.

    He stressed:  “I built PDP into a political force. I did not play anti-party politics in 2023.”

    Wike defended his legacy in the PDP, arguing that his efforts in Rivers and across the country made the party gain national relevance.

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    He said: “Bode George said PDP gave me a national profile, and I agree. But the party doesn’t make you win elections; it is your commitment that does.

    “Ask Bode George what PDP has achieved in Lagos since 1999.

    “I have campaigned, built, and defended the party to make it a strong political force.”

    Wike dismissed George’s remarks about the recent sealing of the PDP’s national secretariat by the FCT authorities due to unpaid ground rent.

    He said: “If an elderly man has no job, he should sit at home and read his newspapers.”

    The minister also rejected George’s advice that he should pay the rent as a PDP chieftain, stressing that neither he nor the PDP could pay it because the building was not registered in their names.

    He stressed: “I cannot pay because it is not in my name. They cannot pay because it is not in their name.”

    Wike said his support for President Tinubu in 2023 was based on principles of equity, justice, and fairness.

    He insisted that the PDP leadership violated the internal agreement to support a Southern presidential candidate.

    Wike said: “In 2023, I said I wouldn’t support Atiku Abubakar because it was wrong to have both the presidential candidate and the national chairman come from the North. I stood on that principle.

    “If I were playing anti-party, how come Rivers State delivered the PDP governorship, Senate, and House of Representatives seats 100 per cent?”

    Wike said other PDP leaders, including George, quietly supported the Labour Party (LP), wondering why he had remained the target of criticism.

    Recalling his warning to George about his support for the LP candidate, he said: “I told George, Obi couldn’t win, and I was right.”

    ‘Amaechi hungry for power’

    Wike took a swipe at Amaechi over his comment that he became hungry due to the worsening economic conditions.

    Amaechi had said: “We’re all hungry, all of us are. If you’re not hungry, I am. For us, the opposition, if you want us to remove the man in power, we can remove him from this power.”

    However, the FCT minister said Amaechi is claiming to be hungry because he is no more in power.

    He said: “Amaechi is not hungry for food; he is hungry for power. He was Speaker from 1999 to 2007, governor from 2007 to 2015, and minister from 2015 to 2023. He never talked about hunger until now.”

    Wike accused Amaechi of attempting to manipulate public sentiment, saying: “From 1999 to 2023, he was in power. He is only angry because he can’t stay out of power. He trivialises national hardship and makes it about himself.”

    The minister also chided Amaechi over his call for the removal of the President, saying that such language is reminiscent of a dictatorship and akin to a military coup.

    Wike said: “I don’t know how a man will choose his 60th birthday to tell lies. It’s unfortunate. Of all time, it’s your 60th birthday, when people are celebrating you, that you chose to tell lies to Nigerians. You are hungry.

    “Let us tell ourselves this. He was Speaker from 1999 to 2007, and if anybody knows, he was the most pompous Speaker. Then, he was reading law in London as a Speaker from 1999 to 2007. He became a governor – 2007 to 2015;  he was still reading law in London. Eight years as Speaker of the Rivers State Assembly, eight years as governor – he never talked about hunger.

    “He became a minister from 2015 to 2023, eight years, super minister of transportation, where you are borrowing money for Afreximbank, he didn’t talk about hunger.

    “Two years, you have left office – ‘I’m in coalition because I’m hungry’. You’re only hungry for power. And that shows failure on his part. How do you look at this? How do you insult Nigerians?

    “How do you trivialise the issue of hunger or poverty? Why do you do that? You’re insulting Nigerians. You join Atiku, you join El-Rufai because you are hungry. Have you not insulted Nigerians? It’s just that you can’t stay out of power. That’s hunger. You can’t stay out of power. How would a man who served from 1999 to 2023 stand before Nigerians, who presided over billions of naira…

    “This was the same man who, on national television, told Nigerians he doesn’t like money. Meanwhile, the dollar was showing…; you are carrying dollars, and you are telling Nigerians you don’t like money. What kind of country is this? And we are listening to that.

    “And you said, he is influential? What is influence? You know, we overrate people. When he was governor in 2015, he couldn’t produce a successor.

    “He couldn’t give his candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, a common 25 per cent. He was a sitting minister in 2019 – no president had ever moved with soldiers the way he came with soldiers. He said he produced the governor. He couldn’t produce a candidate.

    “Again, in 2023, he came, okay, this time around, I’m going to support Atiku in the PDP. Thank God, we did not support the PDP. If I supported PDP and they won, you would have taken the glory, but we say, okay, we will not support PDP. They failed. They didn’t even get 10 per cent. So, what is his influence?

    “Look, I thank God he is in a coalition. I’ve told Nigerians. I don’t like this talking, talking, talking. Let this coalition form a team.

    “When you say you will remove, they should start from their home to remove him by making sure the President loses the election.

    “How could somebody come out on national television and tell Nigerians: ‘If we want to remove the President, we can.’ Is it a military coup? The word removal means dictatorship in the military.

    “You only use the word ‘remove’ when there’s a coup. I would have thought he would say: ‘We will vote him out.’

    “Let’s see how he plans to remove the president. Is it through election or some other means?”

    Wike clarified his earlier position on backing out of the PDP agreement, saying that he never accused Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde of wrongdoing.

    He said: “I never accused Makinde of breaking promises. I only said agreements reached by the G5 were broken.”

    The minister recently vacated about 5,000 land titles in Abuja for unpaid fees, of which one of these plots belongs to George.

    He said: “Bode George is number 3092 on the list. His land was listed for not paying fees for 10 years. At his level? At his level?”

    ‘I weep over betrayal by Fubara’

    Wike said he is moved to tears whenever he reflects on the “betrayal” by suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

    The minister said Fubara offered himself as a “tool” for those who wanted to fight him when they could not do so directly.

    He said although he played a major role in his emergence as governor, Fubara “betrayed” him by working with those who wanted his downfall.

    Wike likened the situation to a son who connived with armed robbers to rob his father.

    He said the resolution of the Rivers crisis rests with Fubara, adding that he is ready for reconciliation if the suspended governor wants “genuine peace”.

    Wike said: “He (Fubara) gave himself as a tool for those who could not fight me directly. Sometimes, when I go back in my quiet moment, I play the video of the speeches of the governor — what he said and did to me, I weep. Was it necessary?

    “This is somebody who brought you, gave you food and everything. Then, you became a tool for his enemies to fight him. We are all humans. When people say there should be peace… Nobody said there should not be peace.

    “How will you feel? You know what you passed through by sending your son to school and making him a human being.

    “All of a sudden, your son came in with other people, armed with a gun to shoot you. Is it something that you will just forget?

    “I have told people who do not understand what betrayal means that they may be betrayed 10 times more than this. That is my prayer.

    “I have said I want peace, but you must show that the peace you want is genuine, and you must have taken steps.”

    Wike said he was at a loss as to why Fubara was talking about an ongoing peace process in Rivers.

    He said Fubara came to him with Governors Dapo Abiodun (Ogun) and Francis Nwifuru (Ebonyi) and an elder of the APC to discuss peace.

    He said since then, he has not seen the suspended governor and he is not aware that he is meeting with the elders in the state and lawmakers.

    ‘I derive joy stepping on toes of big men’

    Wike said he derives joy from stepping on the toes of ‘big men,’ warning that property owners in Abuja who are yet to pay their ground rent must do so or face the music.

    He insisted that the PDP must pay the ground rent for its secretariat in the FCT.

    The FCT authorities had published the details of 9,000 debtors in newspapers, asking them to pay their ground rents to avoid the risk of forfeiture.

    The administration subsequently announced on May 23 that it would take possession of about 5,000 affected properties owing ground rents between 10 and 43 years.

    Wike said his predecessors in the FCT, including Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, lacked the courage to compel political bigwigs who own structures in the nation’s capital to pay their annual ground rent.

    He said: “Look at what we are doing differently. People have said that FCT was not working. Now, it is working, which means I’m doing things that they refused to do.

    “I found out that most of them didn’t have the courage to annoy people, to step on toes, but I take joy when I step on the toes of big men; those who say nothing will happen, but I say something will happen. It makes me happy.

    “All they want me to do is to make decisions against only poor people, saying nothing will happen to them (powerful people).

    “But I say something will happen. That is why we are making results. If you don’t do the right thing, too bad. I don’t care.”

  • Presidency to Atiku, El-Rufai, Obi, others: we’ll meet in 2027

    Presidency to Atiku, El-Rufai, Obi, others: we’ll meet in 2027

    • No alternative to APC, says Masari
    • Why opposition leaders can’t be president, by Lukman

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is ready for any challenge from opposition leaders during the 2027 general election, the Presidency said yesterday.

    It faulted comments by the political opponents against the administration, describing them as “distracting” and “Machiavellian.”

    The Presidency advised the leading opposition figures and other critics – Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Mr. Peter Obi, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and Mr. Rotimi Amaechi – to wait till the next poll before they flex muscles.

    According to the Presidency, the activities of the opposition leaders are premature.

    “This is 2025, not 2027. Let those who want to test their popularity with Nigerians wait for the next election,” Sunday Dare, Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications, said.

    Also peeping into the future, former House of Representatives Speaker and ex-governor of Katsina State, Bello Masari, said there was no alternative to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Former member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, Salihu Lukman, said some of the opposition figures lacked the quality of leadership, urging them to drop their presidential ambitions.

    He said: “Based on their records, they exhibit intolerant dispositions and poor relationships on account of which they have mismanaged their transitions and are today hardly in control of political structures in their states.”

    At a two-day democracy conference in Abuja, Atiku, 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), his Labour Party (LP) counterpart, Obi, and former Katsina State Governor El-Rufai fired salvos at the Federal Government, saying that it was not living to expectation.

    Atiku alleged that the ruling party had doled out N50 million as a bribe to each of the opposition parties to disorganise and silence their leadership.

    El-Rufai, a chieftain of APC, alleged a lack of internal democracy and active party structures within the ruling party.

    “I no longer recognise the APC. No party organ has met in two years—no caucus, no NEC, nothing. You don’t even know if it is a one-man show; it’s a zero-man show,” he said.

    Amaechi called for “brutal force” to take from President Tinubu in 2027, adding that if he had been president, he would have run the country differently.

    Taking an exception to the comments, Dare, in a post on his verified X handle, urged Nigerians to scrutinise the antecedents of these politicians.

    He described the attacks on the Tinubu Administration as predictable attempts to stir controversy while the President was away in Tanzania addressing Nigeria’s energy challenges.

    “While the President was seeking solutions to Nigeria’s energy problems in Dar es Salaam, some ‘wannabes’ were heating up the polity,” Dare added.

    The Special Adviser described the recent Abuja gathering as an effort to spread ill will, noting that some participants resorted to undemocratic rhetoric.

    “Expectedly, it was a gathering convened to further spread ill will.

    “Nothing new came out of the gathering different from the opposition script we are used to,” Dare stressed.

    He urged Nigerians to scrutinise the antecedents of these “political gladiators” and choose between “political hecklers and real progressives.”

    Dare emphasised that President Tinubu remains focused on his mandate to improve the lives of Nigerians and build a resilient economy, despite the distractions.

    “The only conversation he wants to have now is how to improve the lives of Nigerian citizens and constructive discourse on building a resilient economy,” he said.

    Dare assured Nigerians that President Tinubu, an “avowed democrat,” remains “undistracted and unperturbed” by the opposition’s tactics.

    Masari: No credible alternative to APC

    Masari said that there was no credible alternative to the APC administration.

    He spoke in Kafur, Kafur Local Government Area, during the flag-off of the campaign for the Katsina State local government elections scheduled for February 15.

    He said: “The news making rounds in the social media that some politicians are teaming up for merger is nothing but regrouping of those who lost political favours in the APC, in terms of appointments or patronage.

    “Their attempt to form an alliance will not divert the attention of APC from conceiving and implementing programmes that could assuage the pains of the common man.”

    Masari urged Nigerians to exercise more patience with the APC administration, adding that the harsh economic hardship is a global phenomenon.

    He added: “I am in APC today, tomorrow and always because I am not in the party for any political position or appointment.”

    The former governor urged  APC loyalists to propagate the good works and ideals of the party, pleading with them to take any shortcoming as a human error.

    Read Also: You’ve lost direction, stop blaming Tinubu for your woes, LP tells PDP, Atiku

    The Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Political Matters, Alhaji Ibrahim Kabir-Masari, urged APC members to close ranks and work assiduously to ensure the success of the party at all times.

    He said the president had awarded a contract for the reconstruction and upgrading of  the Zaria/Malumfashi/Funtua/Yashe Roads, in a bid to facilitate socio-economic activities.

    The presidential aide also said the president had approved the establishment of a Federal College of Agricultural at Nabanje, Masari.

    He added: “I can assure you that more developmental projects will be awarded to the people of the area in due course.”

    ‘Amaechi’s remarks inflammatory’

    The Arewa Youths Consultative Forum (AYCF) chided Amaechi for making inflammatory remarks about the Tinubu administration.

    It hailed the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Mohammed Matawalle, who warned the former Rivers governor against rhetorics.

    AYCF President-General, Yerima Shettima, said Amaechi incited violence to destabilise the country.

    Shettima said Matawalle had sent a clear message that such behaviour would not be tolerated and that those who engage in it would face consequences.

    He said leaders at all levels should take a firm stand against any form of speech that could lead to violence or civil unrest.

    Shettima said Amaechi’s comment constituted a threat to national security, adding that his action undermined the democratic process.

    Lukman: Atiku, Obi should drop ambitions

    Lukman advised Atiku, Obi, Senator Kwankwaso and El-Rufai to drop their presidential ambitions and provide leadership for the proposed opposition political party.

    Lukman, former APC National Vice Chairman (Northcentral), said in a statement: “Based on laypersons legal knowledge, many of these politicians would be adjudged to being accessories, whether before or after, to our current political travesty.

    “Some of them, on account of their influential roles in past administrations and the failures of those administrations should be humble enough to take a backseat to build a strong coalition to strengthen Nigerian politics.

    “Instead, it is more like a case of unrepentant show of shame.”

    Lukman lamented that the mindset of most opposition leaders is more inclined towards blocking political competition in the country.

    He stressed: “The truth is that any political leader who is prioritising the debate about power shift over and above building a strong political party, which can set the rules and enforce it, may only be hiding behind such arguments to impose himself/herself and perhaps invariably continue the political practice of emperors and dictators.”

    Atiku kicks

    YESTERDAY’S reaction to opposition leaders’ criticisms of the Federal Government by the Presidency is an attack on democracy, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s Media Adviser Paul Ibe, has said.

    The one-time vice president, former governors Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) and Nasir El-Rufai have been under attack for condemning the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.

    In a statement, Ibe claimed that Dare’s statement showed “the Tinubu administration plans to take the next election in the country as ‘a combat and a fight”.

    He said the Tinubu government should unite and heal the nation and desist from making careless remarks about other countries.

    The statement reads: “It therefore, becomes pertinent to tell the Tinubu administration that last week’s gathering of political leaders across the country is aimed at fostering the ethos of democracy in Nigeria, making sure that elections in Nigeria are credible, and that democracy is the vehicle for progress and social justice in the country.

    “We find it curious that the Tinubu government would react to these noble ideals as ‘Machiavellian inclinations

  • Tinubu focused on delivering campaign promises, not 2027 election — Bwala

    Tinubu focused on delivering campaign promises, not 2027 election — Bwala

    Daniel Bwala, special adviser on public communications and media to president Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has affirmed that the president is fully committed to fulfilling his campaign promises and is not distracted by discussions about the next election cycle.

    Speaking to journalists at the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday, Bwala emphasized that “the time for politicking is not yet here. When that time comes, we will be ready for everyone.”

    He also expressed confidence that Tinubu’s achievements in office would naturally attract widespread support for a second term.

    He said: “The president’s agenda, which is yielding positive results, will naturally endear Nigerians to vote for him again. He is constitutionally more than qualified to contest for a second term. And, God willing, if he has the life and health, we hope he will pursue his mandate as provided by the Constitution.” 

    Bwala further described Tinubu’s leadership as transformative and committed to national progress. 

    Addressing concerns about the APC’s potential unease following the ruling party’s defeat in Ghana’s recent presidential election, he dismissed any parallels, asserting that “Nigerians have seen the progress being made under President Tinubu’s leadership.”