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Tag: Asiwaju Bola Tinubu

  • APC raises fresh alarm over planned clampdown on Tinubu, other leaders

    APC raises fresh alarm over planned clampdown on Tinubu, other leaders

    •Alleges plot by govt to unleash fake Shekau

     The All Progressives Congress (APC) alleged yesterday that the Peoples Democratic Party  (PDP) was bent on decimating the opposition in the build up to the coming elections due to start next Saturday with the  Presidential/National Assembly elections.

    The APC said the ruling party was proceeding with its  planned arrest of   its  National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on trumped-up charges anytime from now.

    The plot, according to the APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, is for the PDP to gain an undue advantage ahead of the elections.

    The APC also alleged plot by the federal government and the PDP to unleash a fake leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, on the opposition party.

    Alhaji Mohammed told reporters at a press conference in Lagos that also to be arrested by the authorities is   anyone who is suspected of being a financier of the APC “all in efforts to decapitate the main opposition party which is undoubtedly cruising to victory in the forthcoming elections.”

    Also on the PDP cards, APC said, “is a plan to freeze the accounts of companies, individuals and organisations believed to be financing the party, with the ultimate objective of crippling the party so it won’t be able to sustain its activities, like paying its agents on Election Day and other logistics.”

    Alhaji Mohammed said: “I am sure the question playing on your lips are: Why would anyone want to arrest APC leaders at this time? What have they done to warrant their arrest? Will there still be a level playing field for the elections if the main opposition party is decimated just days to the polls?

    “Well, we can tell you that this planned arrest is orchestrated by the same people who have sponsored a series of protests to the EFCC, on the basis of the same documentary against Asiwaju which they also masterminded. It may sound like an intrigue, but that is exactly what it is.”

    He recalled that the PDP had dismissed as a rumour the first alarm raised by the APC on March 9th  about a clampdown on APC leaders only for Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State to say a day later that  “all that needs to be done to break the APC is to ‘kidnap’ two of its leaders, apparently referring to Asiwaju and our presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.”

    He added: “Definitely, the current move to arrest Asiwaju and anyone they suspect to be a financier of our party fits into the alarm we raised and the open threat by Gov. Lamido. How predictable can a government be?

    “It is clear that the momentum has swung to the side of our party, with just a little over a week before the Presidential and National Assembly elections. It is clear that Nigerians have rejected the PDP and have embraced our party, the APC, as the agent of the change that they (Nigerians) so much desire.

    “That explains the desperation being exhibited by the PDP-led Jonathan Administration to arrest Asiwaju, whom they see as the arrowhead of the opposition, believing that this will cripple our party and stop the momentum we have gained.

    “Of course it is no longer news that the six-week postponement of the elections, which the Jonathan Administration orchestrated with the objective of slowing down our party’s momentum and giving the Jonathan Administration time to regain lost ground, has failed to achieve that objective, hence the resort to more dirty tactics of framing up our leaders just to put them away.”

    The APC spokesman similarly denied that the party is sponsoring a pirate radio.

    His party, he declared, has “nothing to do with that radio station.”

    He said the radio could be “the handiwork of the same people who are accusing us of establishing it. Their main reason for setting up the station is simple: To use it as another excuse to clamp down on our leaders.

    “They are the ones who set up the station. They are the ones who announced its establishment to the whole country and now they are the ones who are trying to leverage it to arrest our leaders.”

    He accused the PDP-led Jonathan Administration of serially abusing federal institutions, including the police, the military and the regulatory agencies, to “harass and intimidate the opposition,” pointing out that  this  is “a  reflection of the desperation of the Jonathan government to make sure that Nigeria is plunged into chaos by sabotaging the elections.”

    He asked the international community to call President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP to order and prevent them from leading Nigeria “ on the road to Kigali and Laurent Gbagbo’s post-election Ivory Coast in the days ahead.”

    “Election is not war, but a celebration of democracy. Nigeria must not be allowed to be plunged into crisis for whatever reason. This is because the consequences will be dire, not just for our country and her citizens but for the entire West African region and indeed all of Africa,” the party said.

    Nigeria’s estimated population of 170 million is over 56 per cent of the ECOWAS’ population of 300 million. Therefore, a destabilized Nigeria is a destabilized West Africa.

    And in a statement in Abuja, the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation said the federal government and the PDP were in the process of unleashing a fake leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau on the opposition party.

    The APCPCO, however, urged Nigerians not to be deceived by “the dubious, wicked and desperate plans of the drowning PDP and its candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan to win the Presidential election.”

    Mallam Garba Shehu, Director of Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign, said in the statement that  any purported “capture” of Abubakar Shekau, would            conflict with three previous claims by the federal government and its operatives that the insurgent leader had been killed.

    He said: “President Jonathan and the PDP have concluded plans to release the fake Shekau as a final campaign gimmick to gain cheap votes and inadvertently subvert the will of Nigerians in the 28th of March 2015 Presidential election.

    “The drowning PDP and its presidential candidate who are looking for straws to hold unto will then claim to have arrested the leader of Boko Haram, who would be paraded before the media and induced to mention the names of some notable members of the opposition APC including our presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari as the sponsors of their murderous insurgency.”

    Shehu said it is shocking that the President and his party could resort to cheap and wicked blackmail against the opposition just to remain in office.

    He, however, enthused that “no evil plan fashioned by the PDP and its ruinous ruling government against the electoral wishes of the Nigerian people will prosper, because the people of Nigeria have resolved on their own accord to vote for change in 2015.”

    “This Party Deceiving People has wasted 16 precious years of the nation’s democratic life and therefore Nigerian people will not hesitate to give them a red card in next weekend’s election. So, manufacturing a Shekau whom they claimed to have killed three times previously will not help them in any way.”

  • Jonathan releases N100m naira to social media to fight Tinubu

    •Sponsored street protests to start tomorrow

    ASIWAJU Bola Tinubu’s media office yesterday raised an alarm that President Goodluck Jonathan met with a select group of social media practitioners and unemployed youths to finalise plans on how to attack the former governor of Lagos State and All Progressives Congress (APC) National leader.

    The President approved the plan to mobilise street protests against Tinubu on tomorrow in Lagos. The protest will be the focus of the social media platforms, the office said.

    He summarily approved the sum of N100 million naira for the project. “A visibly angry Jonathan complained about the bashing he continues to receive from the social media, blaming the APC social media machine for his negative image.

    For the first time, the president is funding directly his social media plan but this one directed at fighting an individual, Tinubu, not to address national issues.

    We reliable gathered that Jonathan wanted street protests against Tinubu which can be fed into the social media in a desperate effort to tarnish Tinubu;s image.

  • Don’t yield to campaign of division, Tinubu tells Ndigbo

    Don’t yield to campaign of division, Tinubu tells Ndigbo

    The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday  urged Nigerians not to yield to any  campaign designed to  divide the country along religious and ethnic lines.

    Addressing party supporters at the Ndigbo APC rally held at Onikan Stadium, Lagos, Tinubu accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of fanning the embers of division with a view to pulling the country down.

    Tinubu described the Igbos in Lagos as dedicated and committed people who have made significant contributions to the development of the state and Nigeria in general.

    He said: “Some of you have been here for over 50 years, doing your businesses unmolested. Nobody can discriminate against you. Nobody will fight you because of your language.

    “Now, they have been coming to Lagos, calling you group by group or giving  you dollars, even ‘dollarised’ rice, ‘dollarised akpu’ , but can this translate any of these into school fees for your children? Can this open business opportunities for you in Lagos? The APC government has opened several opportunities for Igbo and we will continue to do so.”

    Tinubu said the PDP only remembers the people of the approach of elections.

    He said when Nigerians voted for President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011, it was not done on the basis of where he came from, but in the belief that he would deliver on his electoral promises.

    The president, he alleged, has failed to fulfill his promises, and has even made life more difficult for the people.

    He recalled that when the president assumed the leadership of the country, the dollar sold for N120.

    “Today, the naira has fallen; it is now N340 to a pound, the cost of living has hit the ceiling, traders are finding it difficult to replace their stocks. The business community is suffering and Nigerians need a saviour to bail us out.”

    He said General Muhammadu Buhari saved the country in the past when it was facing socio-economic challenges, noting that the majority of Nigerians now look forward to him to bail the country out of its predicament.

    He said those campaigning that age was not on Buhari’s side miss the point.

    “Chief Obafemi Awolowo contested his last election at the age of 74, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe of blessed memory contested his last election at the age of 79, Nelson Mandela ruled South Africa at 74.

    “Buhari is a soldier and a patriot, when America needed the greatest patriot to rescue it from economic challenges; they chose a retired soldier Dwight Eisenhower. When France was invaded by Soviet communists, the French went to General Charles De Gaulle. When Britain was in trouble they invited Winston Churchill to save them

    “This is the time we need General Buhari who has done it before to rescue us from this elephantiasis.”

    Also speaking, the Lagos State governorship candidate of APC, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode said the Igbo in Lagos have everything to gain if he is voted into office.

    “Lagos has stood for all of us, it is time for the people to stand for Lagos,” he said.

    “I know that economic hardship does not discriminate; we are all facing a difficult time and if something is not done Nigeria will go bankrupt”.

    He promised to consolidate on the achievements of Governor Babatunde Fashola.

    Igbo leader, Chris Nwakobia, said the PDP has failed the country and declared that the Igbo, are not articles of trade to be used and dumped.

    He said the destiny of the Southeast is tied to that of the other geo-political zones, hence the need for all of them to work together.

    “We repudiate those who tinker with the idea of dividing us along religious and ethnic lines. We believe that together we can make Nigeria work. That is why the Igbo are for change. We believe that with the Yoruba and Hausa we shall make Nigeria better,” he said.

  • Don’t bow to PDP’s deceit, Tinubu urges Lagosians

    Don’t bow to PDP’s deceit, Tinubu urges Lagosians

    The national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday urged Lagosians to guide against the manipulation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Addressing the crowd at the party rally at Volkswagen, Ojo, he said the desperation of the PDP was amplified during its Lagos governorship primaries which produced Jimi Agbaje.

    He said in a free contest Agbaje could not defeat Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, noting that the shadow election was rigged in favour of Agbaje to achieve the PDP’s dubious agenda.

    Tinubu urged the electorate to be watchful, adding that all the promises made by the PDP were empty.

    He said: “A vote for Jimi Agbaje is a vote for Bode George in Lagos State. Jimi Agbaje could not beat Obanikoro in that contest; it was rigged in favour of Agbaje so that they can annex Lagos. If Lagos comes under PDP, it will get Lagos State off the track of progress.”

    The APC chieftain said Lagos had made remarkable progress under the APC, urging them to vote the party to continue the good work started under his administration.

    He said the APC governorship candidate Akinwunmi Ambode is a financial wizard, who is in a better position to manage the state’s resources.

    Tinubu said: “I gave Lagosians Governor Babatunde Fashola, if he had not performed Lagosians will blame me, but the man has excelled in his duties. Therefore, I am a silent seeker, a silent finder and a human resource expert. I therefore urge you this time around to vote Ambode.

    “The candidature of Ambode will take Lagos to the next level of development. He is tested, trusted, reliable and forthright. He is one of the most brilliant minds in financial accounting, one of the most intelligent in financial management, one of the most reliable and responsible gurus.”

    The APC leader recalled that when the 57 local governments were created, it took the genius of Ambode to put Lagos on course, to overcome the challenges created by the PDP government.

    “Through his expertise on financial creativity, Lagos State survived, succeeded, performed better and made progress in the hands of this young man.

    “At the moment, Nigeria needs great visionary leaders, who are capable and intelligent to turn the economy around, a disciplined Muhammadu Buhari and a visionary Ambode will work to create a better economy for Nigeria.”

    He said the PDP government in the past 16 years has made life difficult for the people, stressing that the economy is now in shamble.

    Tinubu added that the government of President Goodluck Jonathan was not smart enough to take advantage of the boundary between Nigeria and Benin Republic to open up the economy.

    He said a government that is creative will construct good roads linking Badagry and Republic of Benin to take charge of the West African economy.

    “I must say thanks to Fashola, Federal Government or no Federal Government; we are presently working on the project to open up the economy.

    “I am proud to say today that I, Bola Tinubu, started the journey to break the monopoly of electricity generation in this country. If they had listened to what we proposed, what the country is facing in term of electricity would have been addressed.

    “Our coal in Enugu,   Nasarawa, Niger Delta would have been used to generate electricity for the country and we will have industrial revolution. But they cannot think, they cannot do it,” he said.

    Tinubu urged Lagosians to obtain their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to enable them carry out the common sense revolution which will take place this month.

    “You are the only one who can do that common sense revolution. The revolution is to rescue the country from poverty; the second is for corporation and individuals to do well, the third is the reform of our institutions to work for the people.

    “Are you ready for the common sense revolution? Therefore the revolution is about reform, release and rescue. We will create jobs, we will use your resources for the benefit of your future,” he said.

    Governor Fashola said Lagosians should disregard the campaign of calumny embarked upon by the PDP, whipping religious sentiment in order to secure votes.

    He said: “The issue here is not about religion, it not about ethnicity, it not about the language you speak. It is about prosperity and poverty. Poverty has no religion; bad roads do not discriminate against faith.

    “The purpose of government is to check poverty and promote prosperity. For 16 years at the federal level has PDP made life better for the people? The answer is no. We should vote APC to make our country better.”

  • Huge crowd as Buhari campaigns in Kano

    Huge crowd as Buhari campaigns in Kano

    HUGE crowd yesterday received All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign team to the Northwest. Kano, the North’s commercial heart and Dutse, the Jigawa State capital, were throbbing with people as APC candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari sold his party’s programme.

    The Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano was filled to capacity. There were more people in the foreground than in the arena.

    Supporters climbed different platforms, including telecom masts, to sight the APC leaders.

    Gen. Buhari and his team, including Campaign Director-General Governor Rotimi Amaechi, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, Senator Bukola Saraki, Governor Aliyu Wamakko, Senator Kabir Gaya, party Deputy Chairman Lawal Shuaibu, Chief Bisi Akande and party Chair Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, were received by Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso and his deputy, Umar Ganduje. Ganduje is the APC governorship candidate.

    Presenting the party’s candidate to the enthusiastic supporters, Tambuwal said: “I want to tell you that God is with us, for He has given us Buhari who will end corruption in Nigeria…If you come out and vote for us, by God’s grace, we will achieve all we have set to do.”

    Gen. Buhari, overwhelmed by the massive crowds, slowly made his way to the stage and addressed the supporters in Hausa, reaffirming his commitment to restoring security, power supply, education and infrastructure. He also spoke on the vital importance of collecting the permanent voter cards and ensuring that votes are defended. “Ensure you stay behind and defend your votes,” he said to an enthusiastic audience who replied, screaming: Sai Buhari! Baba oyoyo!

    Kwankwaso said he was optimistic that Gen. Buhari would be sworn in as  the president.

    Tinubu said:  Nigeria sai Buhari, Kano sai Ganduje, Kano  Central Senatorial district, sai Kwankwaso. Thank you. God bless you.”

    The team moved to Jigawa at about 4:30pm.

    In Dutse. Gen. Buhari said his administration would utilise aviation, seaport and railways to generate revenue and job opportunities as alternative to oil.

    He promised to revive the agricultural sector, if elected, to provide food and enough raw material to agro-allied companies.

    He said: “As I have been saying wherever I go, if elected into office, my government will revitalise agriculture from subsistence to commercial through provision of modern techniques of farming.”

    He said the devaluation of the Naira, socio -economic backwardness, insecurity, and lack of social amenities will be a thing of the past

    Gen. Buhari said he would fight corruption headlong and would give opportunity to the less privileged to enjoy free education.

    Odigie-Oyegun said Nigeria must be brought back to life again.

    “What we are saying is that there will be peace in Nigeria, once more, if Buhari wins.”

    The gubernatorial candidate of the APC in Jigawa, Alhaji Muhammadu Badaru Talamis, said once Gen. Buhari is voted in as the president, there woulf be no more corruption.

  • Tinubu to Nigerians: glorious dawn beckons

    Tinubu to Nigerians: glorious dawn beckons

    All Progressives Congress (APC) National leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has urged Nigerians to look forward to a glorious dawn as opposed to the poor governance being offered by President Goodluck Jonathan.

     In his New Year message yesterday, Asiwaju Tinubu also expressed worries about “the ever-widening inequality between the wealthy minority and the impoverished majority fuelled largely by a scale of corruption and outright theft of public funds that have reached unprecedented heights in today’s Nigeria.”

    According to him: “All of these are responsible for the large-scale manifestation of sundry forms of violence and insecurity across the country undermining the very foundation of the Nigerian state.”

    He urged Nigerians to be vigilant when exercising their votes at next year’s elections.

    Tinubu also spoke on the need for the citizens to protect their “sacred mandates” at the polls.

     Assessing the Jonathan administration, Tinubu said it is “a catastrophic disaster.”

    The former Lagos State Governor urged the electorate to utilise the power of vote to take back the country “from the predators and scavengers in the corridors and bedrooms of power” holding it hostage.

    He noted that as the nation enters a new year, it was easy to give in to despair and despondency, owing to the country’s state.

    Tinubu assured that after “darkness, a glorious, new dawn for Nigeria is possible.”

    However, the APC leader said the needed change would not occur by chance.

    “It can only be the result of deliberate and purposeful action on the part of our people to utilise democracy and popular power to achieve national liberation and transformation,” Tinubu said.

    He said:  ”The gap between our tremendous potentials as a country and our actual attainments is depressing and disheartening.

    “For a country as endowed with human, material and natural resources as Nigeria, the level of poverty in which the vast majority of our people live is appalling and unacceptable. 

    “The voodoo statistics of illusory growth and progress peddled by those in charge of Nigeria’s affairs do not reflect the dire material circumstances of millions of Nigerians.

     ”Yet, the growing impunity of an arrogant, imperious and complacent presidency weakens the rule of law and prevents the purposeful and responsible governance necessary to tackle Nigeria’s severe challenges.”

    He warned that “despair is a luxury” Nigerians could ill-afford at this time.”

    Despair, Tinubu added, breeds depression and a sense of hopelessness, adding: “This can only result in a paralysis of the popular will that will benefit those who want to lull us into collective inaction so they can perpetuate their misrule of our much-abused country.”

    According to him, next year will be one of the critical and momentous years in the country’s history.

    “It must be a time to renew our hope in the possibilities of our country. Hope enables us to generate the strength to take the positive action as citizens to achieve the positive change Nigeria so badly needs today,” the former governor said.

    He believes another Nigeria, “where focused, visionary and competent governance vigorously tackles corruption, insecurity, poverty and promotes peace, progress and prosperity for” all is attainable.

    The politician also warned that the “stratospheric level of hunger, deprivation and inequality in the land will inevitably provoke a violent revolution,” if not urgently addressed.

    But he claimed that Nigerians were already facing a situation difficult to distinguish from bloody revolution, adding: “It manifests in the armed robbery, kidnapping, communal conflicts, religious extremism, terrorism and ritual killings rampant in Nigeria today.”

    However, the APC leader warned: “We have no choice but to be active participants in the common sense democratic revolution needed to salvage our country. It is a common sense revolution that must insist that legitimate power flows from the will of the people duly expressed in free and fair elections.

    “Governments must assume and remain in power only at the pleasure of the people. That is the only way that democracy can promote development by ensuring that government is responsible and accountable to the people.

     ”My message to our fellow countrymen and women is thus simple: this year must be one of eternal vigilance on the part of us all. This is the price we must pay for our democratic rights and liberties as citizens. Let us make no mistake about it.

    “The traumatic experience of the over 200 Chibok girls, who have remained in captivity for over six months, shows that plaintive cries to an impotent government to ‘bring back our girls’ have become insufficient.

    “Rather, we must utilise the power of our vote to take back our country from the predators and scavengers in the corridors and bedrooms of power that currently hold her hostage. This calls for eternal vigilance to exercise our vote and protect out sacred mandate at the polls.

    “As the careless, reckless, irresponsible and highly suspicious handling of the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has shown, every effort will be made to disempower voters by a sinking and desperate administration.

    “Millions of voters across the country have been disenfranchised in the flawed process. This subtle coup against the very foundation of democracy, voters’ power, must be challenged and resisted. Flaws in the process must be corrected.

    “All eligible citizens must be enabled to exercise their inalienable right to vote for a government of their choice.

    “This can only be achieved through eternal vigilance and persistence by the populace in insisting that the entire electoral process must be free, fair, transparent and credible.

    “Nigerians face a critical choice at the polls this year. We must vote for either continuity of the present decadent order or change. Yes, many state governments across the country have performed creditably in diverse sectors despite the meagre resources at their disposal, compared to the Federal Government.

    “However, the PDP-controlled Federal Government, which controls the bulk of the country’s resources, has been an abysmal failure. It has failed to provide the necessary leadership for accelerated national development commensurate with its immense resources and its phenomenal powers under the present corruption. The Dr. Goodluck Jonathan Presidency in particular has been a catastrophic disaster.

    “The country today has degenerated to unprecedented levels of global obloquy as a result of the prevalent repellent levels of corruption, impunity, insecurity and leadership mediocrity.

    “The greatest need of the hour is a drastic change of direction at the national level. It is the emergence of a visionary, responsible, patriotic, purposeful and competent Federal Government that will diligently pursue the path of transparency, accountability, respect for the rule of law, true federalism and justice without which there can be no national transformation.

    “As I wish the good people of Nigeria a Happy New Year, I urge us to rededicate ourselves to the realisation of the positive change on which the very survival of the country depends. Eternal vigilance must be our watchword this year.”

  • Asiwaju and fiends

    Asiwaju and fiends

    Then 4th Republic history is written, a good part of it will focus on Asiwaju Bola Tinubu versus a concert of fiends, united in spite.

    If not brilliant, this ensemble has been persistent and deadly.

    A scant three years ago, Tinubu was a media angel, seemingly fated to eternal good press; despite these implacable foes.

    But some three years down the line — in the media at least — it appears some Pauline re-conversion: Paul, the immaculate apostle just slid back to Saul the horrible anti-Christ!

    Is this the same Tinubu about everyone hailed for his sound contributions to the June 12 struggle, which paved the way for the present 4th Republic?

    His pivotal tenure as Lagos governor, that laid the foundation for much of the fundamental re-jigging Lagos has experienced?

    His gubernatorial and post-gubernatorial activism for fiscal federalism and political restructuring; and the imperative for sound opposition in a democracy, which has eventually crystallized in the mergers that birthed the All Progressives Congress (APC)?

    To be sure, Tinubu has his fair share of lionisers, perhaps as passionate as the huge column in the demonising camp.  But both camps are bad for him.

    Lionisers destroy the hero because they always tell him what he wants to hear.  If the difference between hero and anti-hero is no thicker than a spider’s web, uncritical adulations and ululations often prompt a fatal slip across the divide.

    The demonising camp, on the other hand, are eventually as much danger to themselves, as they are to their target.  Not unlike a deranged visceral hater, they often end up falling upon their own swords of spite.  Before they do, however, they muddy the waters; and confound the polity.

    That is the danger now, vis-a-vis the Asiwaju public persona, and its implacable column of bashers.

    Still, the man is not faultless.  For a start, he would appear a tad too driven toward his goal.  So,  he is to Nigerian politics what Bill Gates is to global computing software.

    That plants resentment, if not outright hatred, in the  heart of his competitors.

    Then, having highly charged himself to attain his goals, he insists on his fair share of the results.  His opponents call this “over-bearing” and a penchant to dominate.  But the Asiwaju and his camp counter it’s equitability — the chef that sweats the most must savour the sweetest part of the gravy!

    Fair enough?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  But it breeds no less spite from the enemy camp; and idolisers from the friendly camp.

    Both sides played out at the emergence of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, as the APC vice-presidential pick.

    Olisa Metuh, PDP national spokesperson, weighed in with his usual janja-weed sentiments: Osinbajo was just any of the thousands of former state commissioners, aside being just another Tinubu crony!

    But that was sour grape.  Any rigorous commentator would know that aside from the Lagos judicial reforms: improved judges’ welfare and work atmosphere, digitalisation of court proceedings and records, arbitration to curb litigation, the Office of the Public Defender (OPD), all of which bore Prof. Osinbajo’s imprint, the law professor was also central to the Tinubu government’s judicial mauling of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s imperial presidency, which put fascism at bay.

    The same Metuh, on the Osinbajo pick, dismissed Major-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as “weak” for meekly surrendering his presidential ticket to the Tinubu establishment, the same way he ceded governance to his late deputy, Major-Gen. Tunde Idiagbon, during his brief military rule stint.

    That surface comparison may resonate as an emotional weapon — with the gullible.  But again, it was just bluff and bluster, covering blind panic.  With Prof. Osinbajo, the PDP emotive grand theorem of pitching Christians against Muslims, in their janja-weed strategy, just collapsed!  Cursed are those who approach a crucial election with nothing but emotive bomb!

    But what if Buhari conceded to Tinubu because, perhaps more than any individual, the Asiwaju worked hardest to realise the APC dream?

    The Tinubu camp has, of course, hailed the professor’s choice as a master-stroke.  From neutralising the PDP appeal to base religious passion, it is.

    But not so from name recognition for — let’s face it — Prof. Osinbajo is no heavyweight politician, though he is a legal titan.  Indeed, last week, Ripples pushed for Rivers Governor, Rotimi Amaechi (regional electoral stratagem), in the absence of Lagos Governor, Babatunde Fashola, SAN (political arithmetic).

    However, the professor would make a model vice-president: he would not compete for attention with the president; but add rare value in depth and competence.  Indeed, federalists would be especially excited, with him on the ticket.

    And the rich bonus: Osinbajo’s rich integrity, coupled with Buhari’s Spartan probity, is a dire reproach to the Jonathan-Sambo ticket: with the president still cooking his unfortunate theory of a dichotomy between stealing and corruption!

    But most importantly, the Osinbajo pick has underscored the futility of raw spite as effective political weapon, with the fond hope that hot hatred would melt cold facts.

    Tinubu is “rotten”, claim his traducers; yet only he could “warehouse” and present the polity with Osinbajo, a rare combination of sound learning and unimpeachable character; not to talk of the tiny needle that punctured the big PDP balloon of religious spite!

    This same Tinubu produced Fashola, no doubt the grand revelation of the 4th Republic, aside from inspiring, in the South West, a quad of gubernatorial performers, that give the region some hope, after the stagnation of the Obasanjo-inspired South West mainstream years.

    Yeah, Kayode Fayemi lost in the Ekiti electoral sweepstakes.  But even that would appear more of an Ekiti loss, with Ayo Fayose, post-haste, rushing his people back to the Stone Age.

    By the way, faced with the same succession situation, what did Obasanjo deliver?  Imagine: a Fashola after a Tinubu at the national level — would Nigeria today suffer this paralysis?

    In this age of seamless defection, Tinubu should perhaps have “ported” to PDP, after the 2003 South West electoral tsunami.  But he didn’t.  From the sole Alliance for Democracy (AD) surviving governor, he not only marshalled a South West progressive comeback, he was also pivotal to APC’s formation — APC that now strikes mortal fear in PDP, at the virtual eve of the 2015 election.

    Tough luck to those who think Tinubu’s life equates their own instant death: Afenifere grandees that, Rip Van Winkle-fashion, hawk Awo’s franchise, like Chaucer’s Pardoner hawking papal indulgences; their younger generation collaborators-in-spite; the Bode George camp with their me-too syndrome;  Tinubu’s gubernatorial comrades turned adversaries, and other equal opportunity visceral haters.

    They have their democratic right to want to unhorse the man.  But mere hatred just won’t do!

    Still, the Asiwaju himself must nuance his tactics, while not letting go of his strategies; and work very hard on his weak points.

    On that score, the Muiz Banires of this world are friendly fires to be treasured, not brainless rebels to be crushed, even if Mr. Banire himself could do with more tact.

     

    Merry Christmas to everyone.  But as you enjoy Christmas turkey washed down with choice wine, just pray for the Chibok girls.  Last year, they celebrated Christmas with their parents.  Now, they are in Boko Haram dungeon, and the Jonathan Presidency appears too incompetent to spring them.

  • Tinubu blames Fed Govt for insecurity

    Tinubu blames Fed Govt for insecurity

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has blamed President Goodluck Jonathan for the insurgency in parts of the country.

    The frontline politician noted that the Federal Government’s failure to tackle the problem had wrecked the socio-economic and political well-being of Nigerians.

    Tinubu spoke yesterday at the palace of the Emir of Kano when he led APC chieftains to condole with the monarch on last week’s multiple bombing at the city’s central mosque.

    Addressing reporters after a closed-door meeting with the emir, Tinubu blamed President Jonathan for the intractable insecurity in the North.

    The former Lagos State governor called for the overall of the nation’s security intelligence.

    He said the Federal Government had failed from inception to tackle insurgency, adding that the problem had escalated beyond control.

    According to him, the government’s failure to properly handle the security challenge had caused untold hardship among innocent Nigerians.

    Tinubu said: “The Federal Government has failed the nation in its entrusted responsibility to track insurgency. It is a leadership failure and it is an embarrassment to the nation. We must rebuild our intelligence and make it work properly and efficiently to bring lasting peace to this country. The current insecurity in the country has nothing to do with religion. It is rather an issue of leadership deficiency and we must not allow this to continue.”

    He said APC leaders were in Kano to show compassion to the government and the people and to pray for peace and unity in the country.

    Tinubu got to the Emir’s palace at 4pm with former Osun State governor and APC Interim National Chairman Bisi Akande.

    They were received by Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, his deputy, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II.

    The emir urged the Federal Government to tighten security and curb the activities of the Boko Haram sect.

    He advised the government to proffer permanent solution to security challenges bedevilling the nation.

     

  • The implosion that never was

    The implosion that never was

    Of the gubernatorial primaries that took place across the country last weekend, the one in Lagos was decidedly the most watched.

    The news media framed it not as a contest among the 12 aspirants seeking the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket, but as a titanic clash of wills between former Lagos State Governor and National Leader of the APC Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and his successor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN).

    Tinubu, the media reported unequivocally, had chosen and was set to impose a candidate on the party in the person of former Lagos State Accountant-General Akinwunmi Ambode, and Lagos being the stronghold of the APC, all that remained was the coronation.  Yes, a primary would be held, but it would be a mere formality; the result was already known.

    APC’s National Legal Adviser, Dr Muiz Banire, appeared to have given some impetus to the “imposition”  in a rambling interview he gave the online journal Premium Times several weeks ago, leading some to quip that, with a legal adviser like Banire, which political party needs a well-placed insider to foul its nest?

    Ambode himself unwittingly gave stories of his alleged preferment some credence when, on the the eve of the primaries, he was reported to have urged other contestants to withdraw from the race because he had already won.

    Fashola, the media reported just as unequivocally, was seething with resentment that, whereas it was left to governors in other states to handpick their successors, he was allowed no say in determining who would take over from him.  There was no better time than now, at the end of his non-renewable tenure, to assert himself.

    To that end, the reports went on, he had picked his own candidate from among the aspirants, to do battle with Tinubu’s candidate at the primaries.  He would match Tinubu Naira for Naira, dollar for dollar, and Lagosians, nay Nigerians, would get to see the real Fashola, not the person who had been forced to operate in Tinubu’s shadow for roughly eight years.

    If he was persuaded that his candidate had been cheated out of victory by hook or crook, Fashola would not hesitate to dump the APC and take shelter under Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) umbrella, not minding the consequences. If that happened, the PDP would capture Lagos. Fashola, many media outlets  reported breezily, was set to beard the Lion of Bourdillon in his redoubt.

    I don’t know how Tinubu came to be called the Lion of Bourdillon.  To be sure, there is an agreeable cadence to the title, and he does live on Bourdillon Avenue, in Ikoyi, Lagos. Other than that, the term would seem misplaced.  He does not have the muscular build of a lion.  He does not roar. More often than not, he is soft-spoken

    But I digress.

    Just to show that he meant business, Fashola, it was said, had dispatched state officials to Ambode’s residence on the eve of the primaries to bundle him out of the place on the grounds that, as a private individual, he was not entitled to live in government quarters.

    These were the tales doing the rounds in newspaper newsrooms, in gossip magazines and on the misnamed social media, all travelling at the speed of the Internet, not forgetting peppersoup  joints and commuter buses,  all of them claiming to derive from “authoritative” or “informed” or “reliable” sources, and all of them “speaking on condition of anonymity.”

    Thus was the stage for a titanic clash of wills between Fashola who, reports said, had resolved grimly to bring down the house down if his candidate did not emerge from the primaries clutching the APC’s gubernatorial ticket, and Tinubu who was just as determined to take out any obstacle in the way of his candidate securing the same ticket

    The die was cast.

    I was troubled and conflicted.

    Troubled, because my mind raced back to the impasse arising from the selection of the SDP gubernatorial candidate for Lagos State, in 1991. That conflict paved the way for the NRC candidate Michael Otedola to win the governorship by default.

    With Lagos State in the hands of the NRC that had called for the annulment of the 1993 presidential election won by the SDP candidate Bashorun Moshood Abiola and supported it enthusiastically, the resistance to that infamy was less than optimal.

    Could that happen again, and perhaps throw up an Obanikoro who as Minister of  State for the Army routinely deployed soldiers to terrorize crews working on public projects in Lagos, or horrible thought, a rampaging Fayose who operates on the principle that statesmanship consists in smashing things up and turning the clock back?

    Having lived in Lagos on and off since 1963, I found those prospects really troubling

    I was also conflicted because, as one who has identified with the progressive cause in all his adult years and can claim some familiarity with Tinubu and Fashola, what should I do amidst reports that the twain were at daggers-drawn, with frightful consequences for the progressive agenda?

    Pretend that I had no inkling of all the tales that were being peddled – tales that might well turn out to contain a grain or two of truth?  Call their senior aides to find out what was going on, given that Tinubu and Fashola may not be reachable in the charged political atmosphere?  Or call them, hoping that you might be lucky to get through and that they would open up.

    When you reach a certain age in our culture, it translates into generational capital you can draw on. If in addition you have acquired some professional standing, you feel entitled to raise issues, confident that in those circles that really count, your bona fides would not be questioned.

    So I called Tinubu and Fashola.

    Tinubu’s position is already on the public record.  I have nothing to add to it.

    What Fashola told me — and this was before Tinubu’s statement was published— tallied in all essentials with that statement.

    The contest, they have said, was never about individuals.  It was about Lagos State, its future, and the well-being of its residents.  No aspirant was shut out of the contest.  The process was fair, and the outcome unexceptionable.  The clash of wills on which the imminent implosion of the APC was grounded was the confection of talebearers.

    The loser in this narrative is the PDP that had stoked the fire assiduously with help from its proxies, persuaded that an implosion in the APC would be its sure path to power in Lagos State.

    Now, Chief Olabode George and company will have to devise another battle plan.

  • Lagos APC primaries: My relationship with Fashola is intact, says Tinubu

    Lagos APC primaries: My relationship with Fashola is intact, says Tinubu

    National leader  of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday, dismissed suggestions of a clash between him and Governor Babatunde Fashola on account of the just concluded governorship primaries of the party.

    Asiwaju Tinubu declared in a statement in Lagos that the insinuation and similar ones about  Lagos politics and the personalities involved are “pure conjectures or outright falsehood.”

    He blamed those he called political charlatans and enemies for “fuelling unnecessary rumour and insinuations and seeking to drive a wedge in an otherwise cordial and respectful political relationship.”

    Citing one such newspaper story yesterday, he said: “My relationship with Governor Fashola remains cordial both at the personal level and at the level of commitment to ensuring Lagos State remains on the path of political stability, growth and development

    “Whether Governor Fashola had a specific candidate or not isn’t the issue here. What is important is to have a transparent process in the spirit of democracy to which we both subscribe.

    “We often debate, agree or disagree. But when it comes to concluding on the interest of Lagos State, we are on the same page. The current situation and issues around the Lagos Gubernatorial primary are been overblown.

    “What we have done is ensure that no one is denied his or her rights to participate and compete for any elective position. Such a disposition should not translate into anger and divisiveness of the party as it is being peddled.

    “Conflicts and disagreements are part of every political process. The capacity to solve these conflicts in-house and not on the pages of newspaper is a tradition in Lagos.

    “At my age and with my level of political experience, I am expected to seek for solutions, work for reconciliations and find a common ground where disagreements exist. That is what I have dedicated myself to in the larger interest of Lagos State and Nigeria at large. That is what Governor Babatunde Fashola and myself are about. That is what Lagos State deserves as Nigeria’s pacesetter in terms of democracy and development.”