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Tag: Abdullahi Adamu

  • Abdullahi Adamu incorrigible, remorseless

    Abdullahi Adamu incorrigible, remorseless

    Two disturbing facts came out of the interview former All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, granted Daily Trust newspaper last week. Despite governing Nasarawa State for eight years, and was for about five years chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), and also senator for about 10 years, all qualities expected to have broadened his horizon and made him an urbane and cosmopolitan Nigerian politician, Mr Adamu not only became more narrow-minded, he also revelled in his insularity. The first thing he revealed, and of course the country remembers, is that he was nearly president of Nigeria had ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo backed his ambition for the 2007 election. It is evident that he was not averse to the former president’s support, even if it violated democratic principles. In fact he benefited from a similar support from ex-president Muhammadu Buhari to become APC chairman. Again, he saw nothing untoward in how democratic principles were abridged in his favour.

    The second thing he revealed is his fanatical and unrepentant North-first approach to politics, particularly in the contest for power. He was asked to throw light on the mystifying manner his preferred nominee for the February 25, 2023 presidential election, Ahmad Lawan, former senate president, was defeated. He regretted the defeat, he whined, because as a northerner, and a proud and unrepentant northerner for that matter, he preferred and supported a northern aspirant for the top office. He saw nothing wrong in a northerner succeeding another northerner, and indeed gave indication that that kind of warped succession should be done in perpetuity. He blamed the defeat of his preferred nominee on some misguided northern governors who were neither proud of their identity nor understood Nigeria’s power dynamics. According to him, southern governors, unlike northern politicians, were always proud of their region. “From my consultations, and from the advice I was getting, I am a northerner and I would go for a northerner; and no apologies for that. I have never hidden this.”

    Read Also: Kogi 2023: Ex-federal lawmaker, women leaders, supporters dump PDP for APC

    Mr Adamu said much worse about his uncompromising insularity and lack of respect for democratic values. Said he: “I am an established person from my root, right from birth. I come from a royal family and I am proud of it. I was born at a time when there was a northern Nigeria. I was brought into its values even though I worked mainly in the private sector. I saw myself first and foremost as a northerner in Nigeria and I have no apologies to anybody on this. But times are changing, if you want to take a count of people with the same feeling, attitude, commitment and loyalty to the North, you would have a problem. But go down South, especially the Southwest, and you would see that people are not ashamed of beating their chests and telling you who they are and where they come from and what they stand for. Go to the East, till today, we are losing lives in the East for what they believe in, not here.” Mr Adamu has never hidden his political prejudices, leaving many Nigerians to wonder how farther and deeper his kind of prejudices permeated the body politic, and whether he would be willing to undermine the law to advance his preferences as he attempted to do in undermining both intraparty elections and the 2023 elections.

    Read Also: I have no hand in Al-Makura, Abdullahi Adamu’s political misfortune, says Sule

    Some politicians indulge shifting alliances and convictions in politics, and can sometimes be persuaded to sacrifice personal gain for the cause of national unity and stability. It is disturbing that Mr Adamu does not subscribe to such niceties, let alone the principles that define national leadership. By his admission, his ethnic and regional biases remain inflexible, and he will not let them be attenuated by age or education. He has contempt for his regional compatriots who compromise in their effort to build a rallying point and forge consensuses around the country. But here was a man who nearly became president, who became NGF chairman, who sat as senator for a decade, and who incredibly led a national party into a national election, and claiming that he fought the 2023 polls with all he had. And he expected to be believed or liked or respected? However, the major problem is not that he occupied many lofty offices, for which his ideological rigidity and reactionary politics probably qualified him; the problem is that among his many ambitions, he sought to lead a multicultural nation and a national political party both to which his ideas have proved him eminently unqualified.

    There are many like him playing their dangerous and demagogic politics in regional closets. In fact, there are ongoing debates suggesting that former president Muhammadu Buhari was one such politician. Former vice president Atiku Abubakar is probably another one, perhaps a little cleverer. Whenever such men take office or rise to any kind of prominence, politics, not to say the entire system, is worse for it. President Bola Tinubu showed by the coalition he built to prosecute the last presidential poll that politicians like Mr Adamu have become anachronistic. They may, like Alhaji Atiku, deploy clever and populist methods to achieve their ambitions, but in sum, they may never again rise to national prominence in tandem with their lofty ambitions.

  • Al-Makura: Why I am probing Abdullahi Adamu

    Adamu fires back

    Nasarawa state governor, Tanko Al-Makura on Thursday said he decided to Institute a probe into the activities of one of his predecessor and Senator representing Nasarawa West, Abdullahi Adamu, after eleven years, saying “certain issues take a long time before they come up.”

    But in a sharp reaction, the former governor said he welcome the decision by the governor to set up of a 9-man Committee by to investigate certain activities carried out during his stewardship as governor of the State.

    Senator Adamu had governed the state between 1999 to 2007 before heading for the senate.

    Governor Al-Makura had on Wednesday set up a panel headed by the State Commissioner of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr. Ayuba Dogara Ayenajeh, to investigate the handling of the Farin Ruwa Independent Hydro-Power Project, the Zimbabwean Farmers Project, as well as concession arrangements for some Nasarawa State properties during Senator Adamu’s tenure as governor of the state.

    Al-Makura told newsmen after his screening for the Senatorial seat in Nasarawa State that he set up the panel of enquiry issues that have taken many years but necessary for investigation.

    “You see, government is dynamic. Operation of government is also dynamic. Certain things propose certain things. Certain actions precipitate certain actions and as far as governance is concerned, the gestation period for a number of issues don’t come at the same time. Certain issues take a long time before they come up themselves that is the case with the commission of enquiry I constituted yesterday.

    “Issues that were at stake, were issues that have taken many years to culminate to need and necessity for investigation.”

    Reacting to Development, the former governor said he will not succumb to “blackmail” and “intimidation” over his political differences with the governor.

    Speaking through his legislative aide, Jibrin Abdullahi, the former governor said “everything we did while I was governor of Nasarawa State were done openly and transparently, and the records are there for public scrutiny”, adding that the Farin Ruwa Project was never “abandoned” as insinuated but that since government is a continuum, he expected his successors to complete the project after his two terms in Office.

    “It’s in view of the viability of that project that the Federal Ministry of Water Resources has now taken over not only with the intention of completing the proposed 20MW power component, but is also considering the possibility of incorporating other components like irrigation and water supply”, he said.

    He said the Farin Ruwa dam project had reached over 60% completion stage by 2007 when he left Office, stressing that this was duly acknowledged by Governor Al-Makura when the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources visited him in Lafia barely two months ago to announce the Federal Government’s decision to take over the project.

    “It is therefore pure mischief and an attempted blackmail for him (Governor Al-Makura) to turn round and say he is investigating the handling of that project under my watch”, he said.

    On the lease agreement for management of Keffi Hotels, Senator Adamu said a private company with which he is associated, Pan-Afric Resources Limited, entered into a lease agreement with the then Plateau State Military Administration of Col. Joshua Madaki (now late) in 1990-91, five years before Nasarawa State was created

    He said “I believe the great value addition that we’ve done to the hotel made successive governments in our state, including Umaru’s which is due to leave Office in a few months, to allow us to continue as concessionaires in the hotel. “I think the fact that Pan-Afric Resources has complied with the terms of the lease agreement and has turned the abandoned property to what it now, appears to have become a source of jealousy for Governor Al-Makura, who has now turned into a hotelier since becoming governor”, Adamu said, adding that “he might wish to spread his authority as governor to investigate Lafia Hotel, which his government inherited, and make the report of his finding also public”.

    The senator reiterated his decision to welcome the setting up of the probe panel, which he described as “a political misadventure” and “an exercise in futility that was clearly misguided”.

    According to Senator Adamu: “Barely one month ago, I led a delegation of House of Assembly members, present and former commissioners, LGA chairmen, and APC local government chairmen to the Government House in Lafia to pay Sallah Homage to him (Governor Al-Makura) and he used that opportunity to assure people aspiring to all political offices of level playing field during the primaries of our party, the APC.

    Read Also: Al-Makura orders probe of predecessor’s tenure

    “In fact, he even used the opportunity to congratulate me on my elevation to the title of the Turakin Keffi, expressing delight in the honour which he said was a result of my commitment, loyalty and adherence to the establishment, besides also explaining to some of the young people at the meeting that he and I have come a long way since the days of NPN when we were both part of the Executive Council long before most of the politicians of today ventured into politics.

    “Over and above that, we’ve had at least three separate stakeholders meetings in his Office in Lafia, in the past eight weeks, during which he said publicly that he had no anointed candidate, only for him to now turn round and instruct public office holders and political appointees under him to line up behind a particular person. Now, I’m tempted to wonder what has changed within these four weeks that he (Governor Al-Makura) is busy trying to muzzle any person opposed to his attempted imposition of an aspirant on the APC in Nasarawa State?”, the senator asked.

    The former governor said that as a law abiding citizen, he will continue to accord Al-Makura due respect as governor of his home state, saying however, that “as a firm believer in the democratic tenets of freedom of association and the freedom to hold opinion, I’m entitled to support the aspiration of the person I believe will serve the best interest of my people”

  • PDP Reps to keep vigilance on NASS to prevent Saraki’s impeachment

    Following the formal defection of the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki from the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the caucus of PDP in the House of Representatives has vowed to resist the impeachment plot against him.

    The caucus said it is currently keeping vigilance over the Senate Chamber to prevent it being forcefully accessed by APC Senators.

    The decision of the lawmakers followed an alleged plot to impeach Saraki by some APC senators said to have perfected plans to force their ways into the chamber with the connivance of security agencies.

    The National Assembly is currently on a two-month annual recess.

    The Deputy Minority Leader of the House Chukwuka Onyema briefed reporters at the National Assembly yesterday evening where he said PDP lawmakers in the House would scuttle the plot by watching over the National Assembly.

    Read Also: Saraki, Senators, Reps’ defection immature – Cleric

    Onyema, who was flanked by about 10 members alleged senators, Abdullahi Adamu, Ovie Omo-Agege and Ali Ndume as being the arrowheads of the forceful takeover of the Senate chamber and the impeachment plot while the federal lawmakers are on their annual vacation.

    He said: “The aim of their invasion while other senators are on recess is to come and sit illegally when everybody is on recess to impeach the senate president.

    “We also have it on good authority that they are planning to come back this night and tomorrow morning aided by security forces; our own security forces whose job is to protect the lives of Nigerians.

    “They are the ones leading these dissident senators to come and truncate our democracy. We might think they want to take over the senate; that’s not what they want to do.

    “They want to truncate this democracy of ours. But we the PDP caucus has decided to stay here to keep vigil and wait to s what’s going to happen tonight and tomorrow night”.

    He however said it was time for Nigerians to rise up and defend the nation’s democracy, “This is not a rape on the National Assembly, it’s a rape on democracy which concerns all of us.

    “If we allow this to happen, then we can as well go back to when we use to have a military junta.

    “We also have some information that some policemen have arrived. We want to find out what they are doing here,” he added

     

  • Between Saraki and Abdullahi Adamu

    The last time our politics was suffused with eventful occurrences in this 4th Republic was during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s time when we had a gale of governorship impeachments engineered by the ruling party itself against its own.  Then, we did not have a loud opposition as such but a strong leader that was fully in charge and whom it is said, many of his party members dared not look in the eye. There were also intrigues over the so-called ‘Third Term’ agenda. Umaru Yar’Adua’s time was not as eventful because of his rather short tenure except that it led to the proclamation of the ‘doctrine of necessity’ by a National Assembly that surprisingly rose to the occasion  and that has now resulted to a constitutional amendment that sets limits for succession of their principals by a vice president/governor.

    Goodluck Jonathan’s era was also less eventful save for the famous defection of the five ruling party governors and lawmakers to the amalgamated opposition party, the APC in 2014.  As seemingly weak as former President Jonathan was, he was still able to keep the National Assembly in check somehow as they still largely toed his and the party’s line. In brief, there had been relative stability in the National Assembly with both the executive and legislative arms of government working hand in hand and largely following same path. Now the National Assembly is sharply divided down the line, exacerbated by the recent public carpet-crossings, with two distinct groups emerging, each apparently pulling in different directions.

    Now we are being told that the National Assembly is an independent body that should call its own shots and check the “excesses” of the executive in the true sense of democracy. We now have a National Assembly where its head, the senate president as the number three citizen of the country is not always seen with the president at public events as used to be the case and should be the norm; a National Assembly that is seemingly working  at cross purposes with the executive and the party – party members opposing their own; a National Assembly which majority members neither the president nor the party’s chairman can control; a National Assembly that is making the president with his executive authority look like a lame duck; a National Assembly whose leader feels he is being haunted and hounded by the presidency, believing rightly that in a presidential system as ours where the president exercises executive powers, nothing can happen without the president’s knowledge and consent; a National Assembly whose leader is convinced that the executive wants to ridicule and shame him by putting him in the dock and levelling serious charges against him via its agencies; a senate president who is supported in this view by many lawmakers and who together with his supporters is bent on wriggling himself out of the quagmire by all means, even if it means ‘dining with the devil’ so to speak.

    Really testy times await the National Assembly when it resumes from its long, two months recess, especially as Saraki has hinted at his defection in words and deeds.

    Can he still morally remain senate president should he quit the ruling APC on which basis he ostensibly got the seat? Both groups in the National Assembly should be strategising on how to deal with this rather anomalous situation should it happen.  Senator Abdullahi Adamu who heads the Parliamentary Support Group that opposes Saraki and his supporters and who is also the Senate Committee’s chairman on Agriculture and Rural Development, gave his reason for spearheading the group thus: “You are an APC man, your party has got a national mandate and you have a president and you are still working by the day, every one day against the president, Muhammadu Buhari. It is a betrayal”.

    Saraki has taken umbrage to Adamu’s rather short interview with the Daily Trust, denying that he once called Senator Dino Melaye a clown as alleged. His response was laced with vituperations. His ‘outburst’ is perhaps understandable given that the carpet has literally been taken off his feet by the ruling party with the dissolution of the APC executives in his home state of Kwara, thereby boxing him in and making him to let off his emotions. Still, Saraki should realise that as senate president, he bears more responsibility than the others; he is obligated to have a rather thick skin and to exhibit decorum in his speech whether verbal or written.

    In comparison Adamu’s interview which elicited Saraki’s fiery reply was relatively temperate. He did not mention the senate president by name personally while Saraki’s was more direct. Also while Adamu’s statements were limited to the newspaper that spoke to him, Saraki distributed his reply to virtually all newspapers and online media. Now the exchange is getting hotter as Adamu has responded to Saraki’s response saying he has no case with the EFCC as his case with it terminated on June 28, 2015. He also alleged that the senate president plotted to take over from the president when he was sick, thinking Buhari would not survive.

    My appeal is for both distinguished senators to spare us further personal attacks on each other.

    They are leaders in their own rights. They are both former governors and former chairmen of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Senator Adamu having been its pioneer chairman. Saraki is from a political dynasty of a sort, built by his father, Oloye Olusola Saraki. Whereas the senate president learnt his political skills in the comfort of his father’s political feet, Senator Adamu garnered his political experience from the murky, reality political waters dating back from the erstwhile Benue-Plateau region to the old Plateau State and now Nasarawa State, being the state’s first democratically elected governor. The political battles he has had to fight over these long years have fortified him and moulded him into a political strategist of no mean repute. He is an avid reader and a good student of international and world affairs with friends across geo-political divides and able to speak, understand a little of some other Nigerian languages other than his native Hausa and Afor languages. The cap fits him to restore unity in the National Assembly as its leader after this apparently chaotic senate.

     

    • Ikeano writes from Lafia, Nasarawa State.

  • PDP to Buhari, APC: ignore our request at your own risk

    Says We can’t be Intimidated

     

    The Kawu Baraje led new PDP that merged with other parties to form the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday told President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of the party to ignore the letter containing their ultimatum for talks on the way forward at their own peril.

    The group said they were yet to receive any information from either the Presidency of the party in response to their letter, pointing out that they will be meeting in the next few days to decide on their next line of action which it said will be in the best interest of Nigeria and democracy in the country.

    The seven day ultimatum given by the group the party and President Muhammadu Buhari to invite them to a meeting elapsed on Tuesday without any positive response from the party as at the time of compiling this report.

    Spokesman of the group, Comrade Timi Frank who spoke with newsmen in Abuja while reacting to Monday’s counter letter to the leadership of the party by another group of ex-PDP leaders however however dismissed the Senator Abdullahi Adamu led Buhari Supporters in the group saying Nigerians should not take them serious as they were mere noise makers.

    Read Also: I won’t allow anybody to cheat Nigerians – Buhari

    Frank said they were not surprised at the decision of Senator Abdullahi Adamu and his group in opposing their letter to the party, saying the Senator was is known t9 have supported Abacha’s bid to succeed himself and former President Obasanjo’s third term bid.

    He dismissed the existence of a faction within the group saying over 95 percent of members of the group have given their leader, Alhaji Kawu Baraje the right to speak on their behalf, adding that Senator Abdullahi Adamu only joined them in the new PDP when it became obvious to him that they were meeting with the APC.

    He reminded the party that the same steps being taken to mend fences were taken by them while in the PDP, but were ignored, stressing that the singular mistake of ignoring them was responsible for the exit of the Jonathan government f and the coming into power of the APC.

    Frank said: “I want to use this opportunity to remind my party that this is same way we were trying to correct the wrongs of the Jonathan’s government while in the PDP, but they never listened to us. We told them why we were aggrieved. Our leaders moved round the states to talk to party members, to ask the government at that time to listen to our views, but at the end of the day, they refused, they ignored us, that is how we left.

    “When we left, we join the APC and that was how today, we are enjoying this so called change agenda we are talking about. So, if today, 95 per cent of us, who came from the new PDP are aggrieved and they felt they are going to undermine us, or they are going to ignore our group, so be it.

    “But at the end of the day, we believe we are going to take a decision that will benefit the Nigerian people because we believe that democracy should be all inclusive. Democracy should not be a situation where when you speak the truth, you will be harassed, you will be intimidated and so on.

    “Today, everyone that is being harassed within the APC, came from the new PDP. We have not seen anybody from the ACN or the CPC or the ANPP or the section of APGA that join us that is being intimidated or harassed. It is clear. So, we are not going to be intimidated.

    “We believe we are going to be doing the right thing. We believe we are going to do everything possible to rescue Nigeria the same way we rescued Nigeria from the PDP. So, if today, we decided to lay our complaints to the party and they feel it is not important for them to attend to our issues, we will leave them to God. God will someday judge.”

    While insisting that there was no faction within the group, Frank who is the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC said: “I am here to clarify issues and debunk some of the lies from some of our members led by Sen. Abdullahi Adamu and Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, who were in my party secretariat yesterday to oppose the view of the majority, to oppose what our leaders have said. The chairman of our group, Alhaji Kawu Baraje was at the secretariat to submit a letter informing the party of our grievances as the new PDP that joined the merger that brought the APC into power.

    “In all of these, I want to make it very clear that we have no faction in our group. I saw in some of the papers that there is cracked in the new PDP. There is no crack as far as we are concerned. We only have one group, we have only one leader and that leader remains only Alh. Kawu Baraje and I can tell you clearly that without fear or favour.

    “I want to make it known to all of you that Alhaji Kawu Baraje is not alone in that letter. He has the mandate of over 95% of some of us that joined the new PDP into the APC that make new victories successful in 2015.”

    He emphasis that the participation of the new PDP in the affairs of the APC was responsible for the victory of the party in the 2015 general election saying “everybody knows that it was because of our participation to join the APC that practically brought the victory we are all enjoying today.

    “So, when people like Sen. Abdullahi Adamu who used to be one of us came up with some of his positions yesterday, he must have forgotten history and I want to make it known to you that whatever they’ve said to counter our move, are total lies.

    “Nigerians are there to testify. They said the new PDP group has benefitted massively from this government. That is one of their claims which is not true. But, I want to make it very clear that we are not here to respond to individuals, we are here to make it known that our letter is to the party. So, it is left for the party to either take it seriously or not. But I believe any serious party will take whatever position or decision we have brought them to look into.

    “Today makes it seven days from the day our group brought this letter to the party. But as it stands, we’ve not gotten any response yet from them. As we’ve said, whatever we must have said in that letter, it is not an empty threat. If they decide to ignore us, so, be it.

    “But at the appropriate time, we are going to respond and make our position known to Nigerians based on what we’ve said. It is not just a mere threat; it is not just a mere ultimatum. But I will tell you clearly that we are meeting with our leaders and we are going to come up with clear positions on our next step if finally they don’t attend to us.

    On the claim by the Senator Adamu led group that they have benefitted from the government, he said “I want go back to some of the benefits that they said our group has benefitted. The Senator and Jibrin said yesterday that we benefited by getting the office of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Some senators,  governors and so on.  For God’s sake, these are elected positions.

    “Nigerians are aware of how we succeed in getting the Senate President and the Speaker from the new PDP. They were not supported by our party, neither were they supported by the executive arm of government. We managed to get these two positions by the grace of God and by the support of Nigerian people.

    “We also got those positions through the support of senators and members of the House of Representatives that believed and had confidence in the leadership of Senator Bukola Saraki and Hon. Yakubu Dogara and chose to stand by these two people because they believe these two people will take the party and Nigerians to the promise land.

    “So far so good, we are very happy with them, they’ve done very well despite challenges and the circumstances and hurdles they passed and they are still passing through till today.

    “So, nobody should give credit to neither the party nor anybody to say that they gave us anything from the new PDP. We fought to get these two positions and the senators, governors and others they talk about were elected from their various states.

    “They never got there based on the fact that the new PDP. They should be able to benefit from the APC because of their Labour because they contributed in bringing the change and government of today. Therefore, let’s reward them with these positions. So, this is not true.

    “The only two beneficiaries in our group is Rotimi Ameachi who finally became Minister of Transportation and Sen. Aisha Alhassan who is the minister for women affairs. These are the two people we can remember. So, I want to make it very clear that we are not going to be intimidated by anybody as long as the Nigerian people are happy with us.”

  • North’s senators replace Adamu

    North’s senators replace Adamu

    The Northern Senators Forum yesterday sacked its chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, for alleged  “financial mismanagement and misadministration”.

    Adamu, a third time Senator and an ally of President Muhammadu Buhari  represents Nasarawa West in the upper chamber.

    The senators announced Senator Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto North) as replacement for Adamu.

    A letter addressed to “The President of the Senate, Federal Republic of Nigeria,” and signed by Senator Dino Melaye (Director of Publicity, Northern Senators Forum), stated  reasons for Adamu’s removal.

    The letter was read by Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over plenary yesterday.

    Entitled “Announcement of removal of Senator Abdullahi Adamu as chairman Northern Senators Forum”, the letter reads:

    “This is to inform the Senate that the majority signatories of members of the Northern Senators Forum; We have removed Senator Abdullahi Adamu as chairman of the Northern Senators Forum for financial mismanagement and misadministration. We announce his replacement with Senator Aliyu Wamakko immediately. Find the attached names and signatories of members. Signed, Senator Dino Melaye, Director of Publicity Northern Senators Forum.”

    At a press briefing by Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi in company with Senators Shehu Sani (Kaduna Central) Isah Hamman Misau (Bauchi Central) the drama of Adamu’s removal as Northern Senators Forum further played out.

    Asked to explain the meaning of “financial mismanagement and misadministration” leveled against Adamu, Abdullahi asked Sani to throw more light on the allegation.

    The Kaduna Central lawmaker in trademark dramatic fashion said: “Abdullahi Adamu is a distinguished senator and an elder statesman. There are some things that some of my colleagues cannot say but I’m not used to holding back what is the truth.

    “When we resumed as senators, when we assumed office, Senator Ahmed Lawan (Senate Leader) tendered the sum of N70 million to the 8th Senate that is, N70 million was monies gathered by Northern Senators from the 7th Senate. So it was handed over to the 8th senators from Northern Nigeria under the 8th Senate.

    “The rumours going round whether it is true but I believe most of the Senators know is the fact. There were allegations that some monkeys raided the farm house of some of the executives in Northern Senators Forum and carted away some of these monies.

    “I think this country is becoming a huge joke, first of all it was the rodent that drove away the President,  we now have snakes consuming about N36 million, and now you have monkeys carting away N70 million from a farm house.”

    Sani who stressed the necessity for Adamu to speak on the issue said “I support that it is very important that the distinguished senator who is a respected elder statesman should be around to protect and defend his integrity.”

    Also speaking on what informed the removal of Adamu, Melaye said, “All I will just say is simple, that the decision of the majority of the Northern Senators’ Forum is that they want to have a change of leadership.

    “The allegations investigated and found out to be true are that there was financial mismanagement; that monies were spent without consent of members and Excos were not contacted; and that the organisation is becoming moribund and ineffective.

    “We are not doing the things that we are supposed to do and we need to inject some vibrancy into the organisation, and that many positions have been taken without consulting with the Exco and other members of the organisation.”

    Efforts to find out Adamu’s side of the story were unsuccessful.

    He was said to have insisted that the time was not ripe for him to speak on the issue.

    Reporters who trooped to Adamu’s office for his reaction were disappointed as he was quoted to have said that he would speak at the appropriate time.

    A source said that the allegation of financial mismanagement leveled against Adamu may be a smoke screen to cover up the real issue.

    The source recalled that Adamu led nine other senators last Wednesday to oppose the amendment of the Electoral Act which reordered the sequence of elections in the country.

    According to the source “The attack on Adamu is just the beginning. Information available to some of us is that all those who participated in the walk out to address the press on the amendment of the Electoral Act may not escape sanction one way or the other. Recall that Omo-Agege has been referred to the Ethics committee for investigation. His apology may not save him.”

  • Adamu removed as Senate Northern Forum chair

    Adamu removed as Senate Northern Forum chair

    Senator Abdullahi Adamu has been replaced as chairman of the Northern Senators Forum.

    He was replaced with Senator Aliyu Wamakko.

    His replacement was announced by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, on Wednesday.

    Adamu was allegedly replaced over his inability to account for some money in his custody.

    He had last week led nine other senators to criticise the amendment to the Electoral Act seeking to ‎reorder the sequence of polls during general elections.

    Details later…

  • Primary education should be compulsory – Northern Senators

    Primary education should be compulsory – Northern Senators

    The Northern Senators Forum ( NSF ), has called for the amendment of the section four of the 1999 constitution to make primary school education compulsory in the country.

    This is contained in a communiqué signed by the Forum ‘s Chairman, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, and issued to newsmen on Wednesday in Katsina at the end of their two-day retreat.

    The Forum also called for the establishment, equipping, and provision of adequate staffing of more learning centers as well as promotion of girl-child education in the region.

    They said that the region should strive to reduce the number of out-of-school children roaming the streets.

    “The alarming rate of out-of-school children and less number of learning institutions in the region explains why the North is both educationally and economically backward,’’ it said.

    The communiqué also called for the revival of agricultural sector, industrial as well as manufacturing sectors so that teeming unemployed youths in the region could be actively engaged and empowered to keep them away from crimes.

    It urged state governments in the region to start planning for post-oil era by improving their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and revive moribund industries to provide employment opportunities to their people.

    The communiqué assured that the National Assembly would continue to perform their oversight functions seriously to ensure meaningful implementation of all federal budget provisions as it affects the three zones in the region.

    It further stated that the North shall take a well articulated, firm and common position on the issue of restructuring.

    “Northern members of the National Assembly would be an integral part of achieving that common platform that should also include devolution of power to states and local governments,’’ it said.

    Read also: Restructuring: Northern Senators, governors to meet in Katsina

    The forum also called for the amendment of the constitution to accommodate the traditional institution by prescribing specific roles and responsibility for them as they are the custodians of peace in their domain.

    It also called for unity among people in the region irrespective of their political, ethnic and religious differences.

    The senators resolved to partner with their counterparts in the House of Representatives and Northern Governors Forum to design a plan for the Northern region development.

    NAN

  • Restructuring: Northern senators, governors to meet in Katsina

    Restructuring: Northern senators, governors to meet in Katsina

    The Northern Senators’ Forum and the 19 Northern governors would on Monday converge in Katsina for a three-day retreat to deliberate on the agitations for restructuring of the country.

    Chairman of the forum, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, said in Abuja that the retreat would also focus on how to improve the security situation in the country.

    Adamu said that the Forum had written letters of invitation to the 19 governors, leading traditional rulers, top politicians and ex-senators from the region to make presentations at the retreat.

    He said that the gathering would enable the senators, as the peoples’ representatives, to take a common position on restructuring.

    “Northern governors will be attending in solidarity and very eminent traditional rulers, including the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, will attend.

    Read also: Masari presents N211.4bn appropriation for Katsina

    “Essentially, we will be discussing the impact of budget in the north, the issue of restructuring which is now the main issue in politics.

    “The issue of restructuring that the Senate can develop a position on. It is part of preparing ourselves to face that challenge.

    “The issue of security will also be discussed,” Adamu said.

    He pointed out that as representatives of the people, it would be expected that with the retreat, they would be better educated, better placed to consider issues related to the subject-matter.

    “We will be better prepared to face the matter and legislate and make laws over them for the good governance of Nigeria.

    “We believe we are there to educate ourselves to be better informed, to exchange ideas on the subject matter, because we make laws, we don’t make laws out of ignorance.

    “We have to be better informed on anything we are talking about,” Adamu said.

    He explained that meeting in Katsina was not necessarily because of the economic impact it would have on the city and state or how it would energise Nigeria’s politics, “but for some sort of our presence will make’’.

    “There hasn’t been this retreat over time. We are trying to bring back the culture.

    “It makes us have touch with our bases; people who elected us and feel our pulse, we will relate with them in a better way,” he said.

    NAN

  • APC is making good what PDP made bad – Sen. Adamu

    APC is making good what PDP made bad – Sen. Adamu

    A National Assembly member, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu (APC-Nasarawa), says the All Progressives Congress ( APC ) is making good what the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) made bad during its 16-year rule.

    Adamu, who made this known in an interview in Abuja on Tuesday, said that the rot accumulated between 1999 and 2015 that PDP held sway in governance was much.

    “What it took them 16 years to damage, we cannot take just one year of some magical works to get everything corrected,” he said.

    According to him, the PDP fails to realise deliberately that the APC cannot just perform magic within this short period, because they have nothing on their agenda but mere propaganda.

    “They have not been doing enough work and spending enough time to plan what is called opposition in the real sense of democracy. They feel calling people names, abusing people and propaganda is opposition, this is wrong.

    “They will not get the desired result out of that.

    “For instance, the propaganda that Monkey Pox was induced by vaccines from the military, what can be more absurd than that and they have kept quiet because it is an agenda.

    “This negativity is from the PDP stable; this is a smear campaign, I pity their strategy,” Adamu said.

    On the recent comment by the PDP Senate Caucus that it would dislodge the ruling party, the lawmaker said that they were only giving the impression that they were still relevant in the political arena.

    He, however, said that the political space was big enough for associations wanting to be recognised like the PDP, to impact on the Nigerian polity.

    “PDP is no longer what it used to be. PDP is a party that had 16 years and then toward the end, they got so strong and got a bit power drunk.

    “Unfortunately, through intoxication they lost everything that there was in political fortunes, they had to go back to the table to start all over,” he said.

    Adamu, who is a former governor of Nasarawa, lauded Gov. Umaru Al-Makura, for his efforts at developing the state, saying “given the circumstances, he has given the best he can’’.

    “I support the government of Nasarawa. I believe no administration is perfect; no administration provides everything that the populace requires; I believe that he is doing well enough,” he said.

    NAN