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Tag: Coalition

  • Coalition of northern groups condemns deadly attacks in Kwara, Katsina

    Coalition of northern groups condemns deadly attacks in Kwara, Katsina

    • …calls for urgent security reforms

    The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has condemned the deadly terrorist attacks carried out between 3 and 4 February 2026 in Woro and Nuku communities of Kaiama Local Government Area, Kwara State.

    The Coalition also condemned another grave attack in Katsina State, where over 20 people were killed by suspected bandits in Doma community, Tafoki Ward of Faskari Local Government Area.

    In a statement issued on Friday by its National Coordinator, Comrade Jamilu Aliyu Charanchi, the CNG said credible reports from local authorities and community sources indicate that scores of residents were killed in the Kwara attacks, with casualty figures running into over 100, while many others sustained serious injuries.

    According to the statement, homes, shops and farmlands were destroyed during the attacks, forcing survivors, mostly women, children and the elderly, to flee their communities in fear for their lives.

    Charanchi said: “The attackers reportedly stormed the community in a coordinated assault, unleashing violence on residents, destroying homes, and forcing survivors to flee, once again exposing the persistent vulnerability of rural communities to armed criminal groups.

    “The Coalition extends its deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those brutally murdered in this senseless attack. We also express our heartfelt sympathy to the injured and to all residents who have been displaced and traumatised by this act of terror. 

    “The pain, grief and insecurity inflicted on these communities are unacceptable and must not be normalised. The people and communities, like all Nigerians, have the fundamental right to live in safety and dignity. 

    “The scale and brutality of this attack highlight the growing threat of terrorism and banditry spreading, and expose the dangerous gaps in the country’s security architecture, particularly in rural and border communities”.

    The CNG calls on the Federal Government to ensure speedy widespread recruitment and training of the Forest Guards to complement security forces across the frontline areas. 

    Read Also: Terrorists ‘killed Kwara villagers for refusing strange belief’

    The Coalition finally called on Nigerians to remain united, resilient and peaceful in the face of provocation, while urging leaders at all levels to rise to the gravity of the moment.

    He stressed that the protection of citizens remains the primary responsibility of the government.

    Charanchi said: “We welcome the approach as we believe those guards that would be drawn from the communities would be instrumental in combating terrorists and bandits in every nooks and crannies of our communities.

    “While the Coalition acknowledges the sacrifices and efforts of security personnel on the front lines, the persistence of such deadly attacks shows that current responses remain inadequate. 

    “There is an urgent need for a more decisive, intelligence-driven and people-centred security strategy that prioritises the protection of lives over reactive damage control.

    “The CNG therefore renews its call on the Federal Government and the Kwara State Government to take immediate and concrete steps to secure vulnerable communities, strengthen intelligence gathering, improve early warning systems, and ensure visible security presence in high-risk areas”.

    He urge the authorities to provide timely relief, medical care and other support for victims and displaced families, while ensuring that those responsible for this atrocity are swiftly identified and brought to justice.

    “Beyond immediate security measures, this tragedy underscores the need to confront the deeper drivers of insecurity, including poverty, unemployment, social exclusion and governance failures that allow violent groups to thrive,“ the added.

  • Uncertainties envelope opposition coalition

    Uncertainties envelope opposition coalition

    The defection of Enugu State governor Peter Mbah does not just reflect his personal desire to join the ruling party and win more federal concessions for his state, it is also probably an indication that he and many like him have given up on his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and any thought that an opposition coalition can wrest power from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027. While angry commentators and some party chieftains accuse defectors of sabotage and selfishness, the defectors see their migrations as realistic appraisals of the shifting dynamics of contemporary Nigerian politics. If they do not adapt quickly, the defectors ruminate, they could fade into irrelevance prematurely. They recognise the worrisome internal dynamics of the main opposition party far more comprehensively than armchair critics who still bandy superficial analysis of the PDP’s prospects or make moralistic evaluation of what defection presupposes.

    In one fell swoop, Mr Mbah got rid of the uncertainties clogging his movement and stymying his politics. To him, the PDP was too weakened by internal rancour that it had become difficult to calculate options. The PDP candidate in the 2023 presidential election had also jettisoned the party and moved on to spearhead a new coalition of aggrieved parties. Labour Party’s Peter Obi, a presidential candidate in the last elections, had also leapt into the void by trying to straddle the Labour Party (LP) and the coalition platform, the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Until he lands, neither his supporters nor he can tell whether he has landed well or not. But he was also at a time a member of the PDP. Other than the interim leaders of the ADC led by former senate president David Mark and former Osun governor Rauf Aregbesola, few other party chieftains are sure who really is an ADC member.

    READ ALSO; MC Mbakara, wife open up on daughter’s nine-year cerebral palsy struggle

    Despite the initial razzmatazz of coming together for a public presentation of the ADC and letting the public know that their souls are knitted with the adopted party, presumptive party chieftains have engaged in protracted formalisation of their membership of the party. Former vice president Atiku Abubakar announced through his spokesmen that the process of registering with the ADC was ongoing. It takes less than 24 hours to register with any party, but Alhaji Atiku is taking months. It takes just a moment to register with the coalition platform, but Mr Obi has engaged in sophistry and unabashedly declared he was still an LP member while his soul drew to the ADC. Their dithering is unlikely to be because of their lack of certainty in winning the presidential ticket nomination. Alhaji Atiku knows no one can upstage him in a party he has invested his personality and money on a significant scale. Conversely, Mr Obi knows he cannot win the ADC ticket under any circumstance.

    So, why are they still pussyfooting? In the next few months, the parties will hold their primaries. And possibly before the end of 2026, going by the speculations about the scope of the legislative amendment being proposed to the Electoral Act, the elections might conceivably be held next year, and not 2027 as previously determined. Given the tightness of the electoral schedule ahead, party leaders and aspirants to various offices ought to demonstrate urgency and perspicacity in their political calculations. Instead, both Alhaji Atiku and Mr Obi have been formulaic and lethargic. Their seemingly detached approach is, however, unlikely to be a result of their excessive caution in watching which way the cat jumps. Their lethargy is in fact a function of two factors intrinsic to their politics. One, both men worry over what other banana peels are strewn across their paths, hobbled it seems by the unpredictability of their self-willed colleagues within a fractious party.

    Two, having never founded any party before but had thrived reaping where they did not sow, the two gentlemen a lack of capacity in running anything but trading concerns and one-man businesses where their word is law. Asking them to engage in perspective thinking and modeling will be asking them to deconstruct a black hole or expound the latest advances in particle physics. Alhaji Atiku is adept at picking holes in other leaders’ policies and scorning their achievements, while Mr Obi is brilliant at sermonising and drawing distinctions between black and white, not other colour spectrums. Both gentlemen have imposed their inadequacies and uncertainties on the coalition force. But they know that after 2027 or 2026, they would no longer be in currency, especially given the superficiality of their ideas and the insubstantiality of their persons. So, it is now or never, with no room for mistakes. But their best political years are behind them, whether they recognise it or not.

    The ADC itself, or whatever is left of it, having morphed so badly that it has become unrecognisable even as a special purpose vehicle for political journeymen, is in a quandary. Party chieftains await the decisions of their notables. Until those putative leaders make up their minds, the party will remain in the doldrums. Fiery chieftains like former Kaduna governor Nasir el-Rufai will loath such inertia; but there is little he can do, having burnt his fingers in other issues and decisions because of shortage of funds and lack of sound judgement. Other chieftains like Rotimi Amaechi will continue to nurse his bilious rage, but there is little else he can do until both Alhaji Atiku and Mr Obi make up their minds. Other less calculating chieftains like Gen. Mark and the obstreperous Mr Aregbesola will squirm beneath the surface until someone puts them out of their misery. The ADC will hope that the former vice president and the former Anambra governor will never return to the PDP, for from such devastation, should it happen, no politician, no matter how gifted and principled, has ever recovered.

  • A different coalition

    A different coalition

    Ever since his famous lamentation that rang across the country regarding his joining the coalition of opposition politicians against the re-election of President Bola Tinubu for a second term because he is hungry, not much has been heard along that line from former two-term governor of Rivers State and admittedly activist former Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi.  It may be that the leading chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has realised that his not inconsiderable bulging paunch may not be compatible with a tale of personal famishment by a man who had the privilege of holding key political offices at State and national levels for an unbroken period of nearly two and a half decades.

    Leading actors in the ADC are noticeably now less boisterous than they were at the outing of the hijacked party about the presumed ease with which they would eject President Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from power in 2027. There has been no significant response so far to the party’s recent directive that its leading lights who are yet to leave their former parties and formally register with the ADC do so forthwith, indicating a general lack of confidence in the future of the opposition’s Special Purpose Vehicle to oust the APC from power. The party has not been helped by the outcome of by-elections in which it has participated, which suggests that its grand strategy of capitalising on the hardships attendant on the drastic economic reforms undertaken by the Tinubu administration has not borne fruit, as the APC remains not only electorally dominant but continues to receive defecting opposition politicians into its ranks on an unprecedented scale.

    Even as it struggles to get itself effectively organised as a potent political and electoral force, the ADC has not come up with concrete economic policy proposals different from the reforms currently being implemented under Tinubu’s leadership despite its strident criticism that the latter have imposed avoidable hardships on Nigerians. Were such reforms as the removal of fuel subsidy and the merger of the parallel foreign exchange markets introduced at the inception of the Tinubu administration avoidable? There was a consensus among all presidential candidates going into the 2023 elections that these far-reaching policy changes had become imperative.

    Some contend that they could have been implemented in gradual, phased-out stages to limit the pain. But the argument has also been made that the kind of decisive, frontal action taken by President Tinubu on fuel subsidy and exchange rate harmonisation was critical to guarantee the success of the reforms. Half-hearted and indecisive actions in this regard by previous administrations were responsible for the persistence of the structural distortions that had virtually plunged the economy into a state indistinguishable from coma before the present administration’s surgical intervention.

    Leading lights of the ADC coalition and other critics of the reforms are yet to avail us of the magic by which they would have implemented reforms without pain, which would have been tantamount to extracting a decayed tooth without discomfort to the patient or preparing a delicious omelet without breaking eggs. Just as the coalition of opposition politicians in the ADC are motivated primarily by a desire to terminate President Tinubu’s tenancy at the Presidential Villa at the end of his first term and seek to utilize the hardships engendered by his reforms as a propaganda weapon to achieve this objective, there is a coalition of other forces who have commended the reforms, testified that they are working and beginning to yield results and contend that they must be sustained in the best long term interest of the Nigerian economy. The latter coalition is not partisan, not even political. It is not consciously organized and accommodates interests both domestic and external to the Nigerian economy.

    Furthermore, the components of the latter coalition are in a better position than the ADC anti-Tinubu coalition opposition politicians to pronounce on the health of the economy and the efficacy or otherwise of economic policy. In its 2025 World Economic Outlook (WEO) report released this week at the annual IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington, DC, United States, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reflected the verdict of this non-partisan coalition on the impact and consequences of the reform policies of the Tinubu administration thus far. As this newspaper reported the event, “The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised upward its Nigeria’s growth forecast to 3.9 per cent in 2025 and 4.1 per cent in 2026, citing improvements in the country’s macroeconomic outlook. The IMF stated that the upgrade of its national growth projection for Nigeria was also based on a favourable domestic situation… “.

    The report continues, “Nigeria’s upgrade was significant as many other economies saw significant downward revisions because of the changing international trade and official aid landscape. At a press briefing on the WEO, IMF Economic Counselor, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said the Fund based its outlook for Nigeria on several improving macroeconomic indicators and supportive domestic factors. He said factors responsible for the higher growth revision include higher oil production, improved investor confidence, a supportive fiscal stance in 2026, and limited exposure to higher US tariffs. He added that the fund also considered stability in the exchange rate, rising foreign reserves and rebasing of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as significant factors expected to propel the Nigerian economy forward in 2026.”

    And speaking during the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-four (G-24) press briefing in Washington, the Central Bank Governor, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, gave an insight into the extent to which the Tinubu administration’s reforms had gone in restructuring the economy, resulting in its greater resilience and lessened vulnerability to global shocks, including unpredictability in international tariffs. He noted that a positive trend in the economy is the increasing transition by large businesses from imports to exports of locally produced goods and commodities.

    READ ALSO: Nigeria to add about 130 million people by 2050, says World Bank

    In his words, “We now have a more competitive currency with the results that, for once, we have a situation where we have a positive balance of trade surplus, and we expect it to be six per cent in GDP for some time. So basically, what is happening is a complete restructuring of the economy, where we are encouraging people to go into domestic production, and, of course, discouraging imports. And I think we were very fortunate, because a lot of the things that were needed to have been done, we did them much earlier, and as a result of that, we’re able to create resilience and buffers against potential shocks “.

    Aligning with this growing coalescence of positive affirmation of the Tinubu administration’s economic policies, billionaire Chairman of First HoldCo, Mr Femi Otedola, recently revealed that his decision to invest personally over N320 billion in First Bank “all in cash, without borrowing a single Naira” was partly inspired by the economic reforms of the Tinubu administration. His investment journey, according to him, “aligns closely with the bold and visionary leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who deserves credit for championing the tough but necessary reforms in our economy. I also commend the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Yemi Cardoso, for his courageous and pragmatic policy reforms. His actions are restoring credibility to the financial system and giving investors like me the confidence to commit long-term capital to this country”.

    Also commenting on the tax reform bills of the administration, which will take effect as of January next year, Otedola stated on his X handle that they were a “bold, necessary step toward a more transparent, efficient, and investment-friendly economy,” asserting that “I am inspired to invest more, and many other investors share the same sentiment”. According to a report on the online medium, Nairametrics, Otedola “believes that the reforms will reduce complexity and promote fairness in tax collection; restore confidence in the use of public resources; fund infrastructure and unlock productivity; and fuel inclusive growth”.

    READ ALSO: Nigeria to add about 130 million people by 2050, says World Bank

    The President and Chief Executive of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, is a key actor in the Nigerian economy whose views and perspectives on economic and business policy cannot be taken with levity. Dangote has on several occasions identified with the coalition of thought on the positive import of the ongoing reforms for the economy. For instance, when he received the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, recently, Dangote did not mince words in applauding the administration’s economic policies. “I believe we must sincerely thank His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for ensuring that there have been improvements in the supply of crude oil,” he said, noting that “His insistence that all crude oil transactions be conducted in Naira has been particularly commendable. For us to effectively meet market demand – which we can do – it is essential that crude is priced and purchased in our local currency.”

    As this newspaper reported the event, “The leading industrialist noted that these initiatives, along with other economic reforms, have brought a measure of stability to the naira-to-dollar exchange rate. He expressed optimism that the Naira would continue to strengthen in the coming weeks as the effects of the reforms become visible. According to him, the improved market predictability has helped investors make sound business decisions and restored confidence in the investment climate. We are also beginning to see some stability in the naira-to-dollar exchange rate, which has had a positive impact. There is now less fluctuation, and this has brought a degree of predictability to the market. For those of us in the business sector, this is a welcome development, as it allows us to plan more effectively. Looking ahead, as conditions continue to improve, we can expect to see a more favourable exchange rate.”

    Another business and industry giant, President of BUA Group, Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu, shares Dangote’s optimism. Interacting with journalists at the Presidential Villa in Abuja in September, Rabiu commended what he described as the bold and decisive economic reforms of the President, pointing out that the policy changes are already yielding positive results for businesses and the currency. He told the reporters that “I expect that the exchange rate is going to strengthen even further. I expect that the rate should come down to maybe N1,300, N1,400 before the end of the year. And this is something that we should all celebrate”.

    According to a newspaper report, “Explaining the impact of recent reforms, the BUA Chairman noted that businesses no longer rely solely on the Central Bank of Nigeria for foreign exchange as many are now able to source FX independently through credit cards and international banking channels  “So, really, for all these, we must give full credit to His Excellency and the government. Their bold reforms and decisive policies are creating the foundation for a stronger economy, a more stable currency and a better future for businesses and Nigerians alike”.

    From the aviation sector, the Chairman of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema, echoes the coalition of support for the President’s economic policies and their impact on business viability. Speaking earlier in the year during an interaction between President Tinubu and stakeholders of corporate Nigeria, Onyema applauded what he described as the President’s ‘forward-thinking approach to Nigeria’s economic development’, especially by easing challenges faced by business owners. As reported in the media, Onyema said, “President Bola Tinubu is thinking of the Nigeria of the future. The ease of doing business is coming back gradually. I can attest to that in the aviation sector because of the people he appointed to head that sector”. Onyema also attested to efforts made by the High Commission in the United Kingdom in making Air Peace flights into Gatwick Airport a possibility, including proudly publicising it.”

    Some may contend that all the foregoing only show that the ongoing economic reforms favour and are being lauded by wealthy business owners. But Nigeria runs a capitalist system, and a key measure of the health of capitalist economies is the viability and success of businesses and business owners, on which depend millions of jobs, considerable tax revenue for the government and an economy’s global competitiveness. Others argue that statistics showing improvements in such indices as inflation rate, trade surpluses, exchange rate stability or rising foreign reserves are meaningless if they do not reflect the concrete existential conditions of the majority of people. But there is no other way to measure the performance trend of an economy or the appropriateness or otherwise of economic policies. In any case, if current data had indicated a worsening of these statistical indices, the coalition of anti-Tinubu politicians would have been exuberantly jubilant.

  • The coalition gambit

    The coalition gambit

    Various opposition parties have been striving to replace the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at the national level in Nigeria. Notable among these are the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Labour Party (LP) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC).   

    To enhance their chances and defeat incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 elections, some members of the opposition have formed a coalition. The coalition is based on their belief that none of the individual parties could, on its own, defeat the APC and its candidate at the polls. Accordingly, coalition members, some of whom are disaffected members of the ruling APC, have been resigning from their existing parties and joining the ADC, which was deemed more stable and more accommodating than other opposition options.

    Some of the most prominent entrants into the party include former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar from PDP, former Governor of Kaduna State, who is also a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, from APC, and former Governor of Rivers State who is also a former Minister of Transport, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, from APC. It is worthy of note that the new entrants into the ADC seem to be predominantly from PDP.

       Senator David Mark, a former Senate President, who is also a former officer of the Nigerian Army, has been appointed the Interim Chairman of the ADC and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, a former Governor of Osun State and former Minister of Interior, has been appointed the Interim National Secretary of the party. As expected, the ADC coalition has been upbeat about its chances of defeating APC and President Tinubu in 2027.

    In fact, the Interim National Publicity Secretary of ADC, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, said in a statement reported in the 6 July, 2025 issue of The Punch: “On Saturday, when Bayo Onanuga [Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy] tweeted before the world that, moving forward, all bottlenecks hindering ‘the realisation of the Tinubu administration’s potential’ would be removed to enable food sovereignty and export, he didn’t just issue a statement, he issued a confession. A confession that this government had, by design, been sitting on its hands while Nigerians starved.”

    Read Also: Tinubu, Oyetola have not anointed any Gov aspirant—NIWA boss

    Malam Abdullahi went further: “Now, under mounting political pressure, they want applause for doing the bare minimum? This is not reform. This is not leadership. This is a scramble for survival by an administration that has been cornered by its own failures. Let us make one thing clear, it took the emergence of the ADC and the growing momentum of a united opposition to push this government into action.” And he continued: “It wasn’t the hunger of hundreds of millions of Nigerians that moved them, it was fear. Fear of the 2027 elections. Fear that Nigerians have woken up. Fear that, with a united opposition, 2027 will be a clear-cut election between the APC and the Nigerian people.”

    Malam Nasir El-Rufai had also declared on 27 May, 2025: “Anybody that thinks that it is possible for President Bola Tinubu to get re-elected is living in another country, not Nigeria. It is impossible for Bola Tinubu to get re-elected. I don’t see a pathway for him no matter how disorganised the opposition [might be.] Who would vote for him?”

    On the contrary, some, such as Professor Okey Okechukwu, the Executive Director of Development Specs Academy, see the likelihood of the ADC coalition being an exercise in futility. In a 2 July, 2025 ARISE News interview, he noted that, in view of the problematic profile and disgruntled nature of some of the leaders of the coalition, and in the absence of a clear ideology, developmental policy alternatives, realistic implementation strategies, and an organic, broad-based engagement of the populace, “to keep coming on air and saying we are doing coalition to remove Tinubu … is just entertainment. … It will peter out.”

    Moreover, in an 11 July, 2025 Channels TV interview, Felix Morka, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, described the politicians converging in the ADC as “a coalition of … political villains … many of [whom], through our history, … dictated the poverty, the underdevelopment, the misery that our people have felt over the years.” 

    The ADC has also started to encounter concrete problems. According to the Benue State Chairman of the party, Honourable Adikwu Abu Elias, in a 4 August, 2025 interview with TVC News, “what is happening in the party is like a mirage, and the whole thing is caused by Ralph Nwosu, the former National Chairman. He says that the party is his own property and that he can do anything he wants … with it.”

    Elias added: “When you talk to him, he will tell you that if you [are not pleased], you can go away from the party. … I’m elected as Chairman, Benue State, into the NEC [National Executive Committee], but once you … answer him, he will tell you that you are suspended; [and say] ‘You are no more a member of the party. Don’t you know I’m the one that registered the party? The certificate is with me.’”

    ADC members like Dumebi Kachikwu, the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, similarly allege that Ralph Nwosu unilaterally, illegally and without due process claimed to have dissolved the Executive Committees of the party at all levels, expelled the leadership of the party and handed it over to coalition members who have never been members of the ADC.  Elias likened this to “a man who has a home with his family and everything, decided to sell his house, his household, his children, and become a floor member in another person’s compound.”

    Understandably, Kachikwu is among those ‘expelled’ from the ADC, and the expulsion as well as the legitimacy of the interim leadership are being challenged in various ways, including in court. Most strikingly, Nafi’u Bala, a former Gombe State governorship candidate and ex-Deputy National Chairman, declared himself, on 30 July, 2025, as the authentic National Chairman of the party. As at 7 August, 2025, the Independent National Electoral Commission website had Mr. Ralph Nwosu as the National Chairman of ADC; but the ADC website had Senator David Mark as the National Chairman, and Ralph Nwosu as the “Founder” of the party.

    Interestingly, in a 5 August, 2025 ARISE News interview, asked whether he was a member of ADC, former Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, who had in the past been reported to have said “I am part of the coalition”, responded: “I’m in PDP. I can’t go into a smaller thing, because like I say, … I swim in an ocean where there are sharks.”

    On 25 June, 2025 in Nassarawa State, President Tinubu described the coalition members as “political IDPs” [Internally Displaced People] and gangsters “forming a coalition to unseat themselves”; and on 25 July, 2025 at the NEC meeting of the APC in Abuja, he called them the “coalition of confusion”. Indeed, the confusion is underscored by the fact that some of its patrons are not confident enough of its prospects to be able to give up their pre-existing membership of other political parties.

    In fact, in his 6 July, 2025 response to Channels TV’s Seun Okinbaloye’s question, “Does it mean you are an ADC member or a Labour Party member?”, Peter Obi answered: “Today, I’m a Labour Party member and I remain in Labour Party, but we have all agreed to work in coalition for 2027 election, and for that, we’ve just adopted ADC.” The confusion is further worsened by the fact that it is difficult to identify clearly the prospective consensus candidate and rallying point among the foremost leaders of the coalition.

      This uncertainty has led to the potential presidential candidates of the coalition offering curious concessions. Most notably, Mr. Peter Obi who was the LP’s presidential candidate in 2023 has said that he would spend only one term of four years, if he is given the presidential ticket of the ADC coalition and wins the election. This pledge is a means of assuring the North that it would have its turn to occupy the presidency in 2031 just as would be the case, if President Tinubu, who is also a Southerner, wins a second term in office in 2027, in compliance with an informal North-South 8-year rotational principle.

    Similar kinds of pledges by politicians in Anambra State have been condemned by the Governor, Professor Charles Soludo, who belongs to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). According to Governor Soludo, “Some of them want to come to lie to us. How can anybody, anybody with brain [say that]? You think you are talking to fools? You come to people and say ‘I will do only one term.’ … Anybody who is saying ‘I’m going to do one term’ needs a psychiatric examination, because you are taking everybody else to be a fool.”

    Though this condemnation did not refer explicitly to Mr. Peter Obi, he responded to it swiftly, as follows: “I will serve only one term of four years if elected President. And that vow is sacrosanct.” However, Mr. Bayo Onanuga countered: “You talk about keeping your promises or your vow being your bond, but you and I know that’s not true. You have broken previous promises and usually lie with reckless abandon.” Onanuga also queried: “You talk about trust, but how do you expect people to trust someone who can’t keep a simple promise not to leave a political party?”

    This charge alludes to a trending 4 March, 2023 YouTube video in which Obi said: “In the year 2002, I said I will stay on. I will not leave. We will die with APGA.” In the video, the National Chairman of APGA at the time, Mr. Victor Oye, declared: “Unless Peter Obi, my brother, returns to APGA, he will not achieve anything politically. He knows, because he took a vow that he will never leave APGA. … He left APGA and joined PDP. He was Vice-President to Atiku. Now he’s going for President [on the platform of LP]. It will be a catastrophic exercise. It will not work.”

    Meanwhile, on 4 August, 2025, a group named Concerned State Chairmen of African Democratic Congress addressed a World Press Conference at which they stated: “If the coalition led by Senator David Mark and their agents are determined to pursue their ambitions, they are advised to create their own party or look elsewhere. The ADC is not for sale, not for hijack, and certainly not a dumping ground for discredited power brokers. … We, the legitimate custodians of the ADC structure across all states of the federation, reject this illegitimate junta.”

    So, what, really, do we have on our hands? A coalition gambit or a coalition gamble?

  • We’re not part of coalition – Southwest SDP

    We’re not part of coalition – Southwest SDP

    The Social Democratic Party (SDP) in South-West region has distanced itself from coalition of opposition political parties.

    It said no part of the party in Southwest region has joined coalition with any party ahead of the 2027 general elections.

    A coalition of opposition parties adopted African Democratic Congress (ADC) as its platform for the 2027 general elections.

    This decision was arrived at a meeting which attracted former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; Presidential candidate of Labour Party Peter Obi; former Senate President David Mark; former Osun Governor Rauf Aregbesola; former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi among others.

    Speaking in Ibadan during the Southwest stakeholders meeting of the party, the Chairman of chairmen in the 36 states of the federation and FCT, Abuja, Hon. Femi Olaniyi, otherwise known as ‘Ferrari’ maintained that nobody can take any decision on behalf of the party concerning joining the coalition except directive from the party National Working Committee (NWC). 

    He noted that SDP in Southwest region still await NWC of the party to come up with its own stand and everything regarding the coalition. 

    Olaniyi said: “As it’s stand now, there is nothing like coalition in SDP.”

    He allayed the fear of party members on various challenges confronting them in their respective states, saying “The NWC has promised to guide us and assist each state with membership cards, register and every other thing at the appropriate time.”

    Olaniyi maintained that there is unity among leaders and all stakeholders in the region as they always speak with one voice for the progress of the party.

    “In 2027, we will rescue Nigeria from the current administration, bring a formidable government and show all Nigerians a true and real democracy.”

    Olaniyi, who also doubles as Lagos chairman of the party, said: “We discussed about the challenges, progress and the coalition at our meeting.

    “We have seen how everything is being played out in our party. So, we need to brief our members, especially our stakeholders in the region.

    “In the six states of Ondo, Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti and Oyo, respectively. We have been asking series of questions regarding this so called coalition, and we just called our people to intimate our resolves not to be part of any coalition at the moment.”

    Lawmaker representing Ise-Orun Constituency in the Ekiti House of Assembly under SDP, Hon. Babatunde Omotayo, said: “We are here to resolve some issues. We resolved issues and dialogued for the development of our party- SDP.

    “The most important among what we discussed was how we can remain one and speak with one voice to move the party forward in the region. So, SDP as a political party doesn’t have plan to join the so called coalition.”

    Dignitaries at the meeting include the the host Chairman (Oyo), Hon Okunlade Michael (Ondo), Barrister Gbenga Akinbuli; (Ogun), Otunba Yinka Ola-Williams; (Osun), Alhaji Yinus Gbadamosi; (Ekiti), Hon Ayodele Bamikole, and the Deputy National Woman Leader of SDP, Hon. Bosede Ilesanmi among others.

  • Coalition of politicians without existential and humanistic philosophy

    Coalition of politicians without existential and humanistic philosophy

    • By Bamidele Atoyebi

    A new political front has emerged loud, self-righteous, and curiously united. But what binds them isn’t ideology. It isn’t patriotism. It certainly isn’t love for the people. Their only shared ambition is to stop President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by any means necessary. Welcome to the African Democratic Congress (ADC): a shelter for politicians who failed Nigeria and now hope Nigerians have forgotten.

    Let’s not be fooled. This is not a coalition of hope. It is a coalition of men with no existential meaning and no humanistic legacy, just bruised egos, recycled bitterness, and a desperate grab for relevance.

    When we talk about existential philosophy, we speak of the idea that life has no built-in, meaning that people must create value through their actions. Humanistic philosophy, in contrast, teaches that leadership should centre on compassion, dignity, and respect for human worth. It believes people are inherently good and should be served with empathy, not manipulated with power.

    So, what meaning did these politicians make out of the offices they once held? What good did they offer? What humanity did they leave behind?

    Atiku Abubakar was Vice President of Nigeria for eight years under President Obasanjo. During that time, he chaired Nigeria’s privatization program, but many state assets were sold to cronies at giveaway prices. A Senate report linked him to the diversion of Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) money to companies connected to him. Even Obasanjo himself warned Nigerians, saying, “If you hand over Nigeria to Atiku, he will sell it.” That wasn’t just political rivalry it was firsthand regret. Atiku once openly declared he would sell public assets to his friends. This wasn’t a gaffe; it was a glimpse into his mindset. His legacy is not one of progress but of plunder. Let him name just five roads that were started and completed under his watch. He cannot because there aren’t any.

    Peter Obi, on the other hand, likes to present himself as the monk of governance frugal, modest, incorruptible. But under his watch as Governor of Anambra State, health workers went on strike while he was busy saving billions. He refused to conduct local government elections, choosing instead to run the grassroots with caretaker committees loyal to him. He handed over public schools to Catholic and Anglican missions without building consensus or establishing inclusive oversight. And security? It was nothing to write home about.

    Obi often speaks of savings. But governance is not banking it is service. He existed in power but did not create meaning for those who needed government most. Should we talk about Awkuzu SARS, where many Anambra youths were allegedly killed and dumped in rivers under his watch? Or the Pandora Papers scandal, where he was indicted for failing to declare offshore assets and companies to the Code of Conduct Bureau? This wasn’t mere oversight it was a serial violation of the law, as reported by Premium Times on October 4, 2021.

    Read Also: Opposition coalition good development for democracy — Gbajabiamila

    Even his academic records are questionable. While it is widely known that he studied philosophy and reportedly graduated with a third class from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, it came as a shock when he submitted only his O’Level results as his highest qualification to INEC. These are not the traits of the transparent technocrat he claims to be. There is much more to be said, but this is not the time to go into greater detail.

    David Mark had the privilege of serving as Senate President for eight uninterrupted years. With that power, he oversaw national budgets and had the capacity to direct development to his region and beyond. Yet the Abuja–Makurdi Otukpo road, which leads directly to his home, remained a death trap. Meanwhile, under his leadership, National Assembly salaries and allowances skyrocketed while poverty deepened nationwide.

    His detachment was once summed up in a now-infamous quote: “Telephones are not for the poor.” For a man who had all the tools to write a legacy, what did he leave behind? Empty budgets, rich senators, and forgotten constituents. Lest we forget, he was also Governor of Niger State and Minister of Information. We must also remember his crucial role in the June 12 annulment and his disdain for Moshood Abiola and all his supporters.

    Then there is Nasir El-Rufai, a man whose governance of Kaduna State deepened existing wounds. Southern Kaduna was repeatedly attacked under his watch, leading to the deaths of hundreds and displacement of thousands. Rather than prosecute the attackers or offer justice to the victims, El-Rufai admitted to paying Fulani herdsmen to stop reprisal attacks, a policy widely condemned as rewarding violence.

    Local leaders, elders, and clergy accused his government of pursuing a silent war against Christian communities, dismantling their traditional structures and blocking development. He refused to conduct local government elections for over seven years, appointing loyalists instead and shutting down grassroots democracy. He was accused of jailing critics and ruling with a sense of entitlement confusing authoritarian control for leadership.

    An elder in Southern Kaduna once said, “We are not at war with the government, but the government acts like it is at war with us.” El-Rufai’s tenure was not one of reconciliation, justice, or peace. It was marked by calculated dominance and emotional detachment. Few of his old ways came back to haunt him when his nomination as minister was rejected during Senate screening. Instead of reconciling with his past, he now sees President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the weapon fashioned against him. But “the wicked runneth when no one pursueth.”

    And then we have Abubakar Malami, the former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. He had one sacred duty: to defend the Constitution. Instead, he turned the law into a weapon against political opponents and a shield for the politically connected.

    He disobeyed court orders on multiple high-profile cases, including those involving Dasuki and El-Zakzaky. He interfered with anti-corruption investigations, especially when allies were involved. Asset recovery became opaque and full of out-of-court settlements that smelled of backdoor deals. Malami’s time in office was tainted by allegations of self-enrichment, suspicious property acquisitions, and a blatant disregard for the rule of law. He didn’t just fail in his duty he reversed it.

    So here we are. A coalition of former vice presidents, governors, senators, and ministers who had every opportunity to transform Nigeria but chose instead to serve themselves. These are not the victims of a broken system. They are the architects of our brokenness.

    They have no shared ideology, no policy clarity, and no philosophical vision. *Their only mission is to stop Tinubu because his success reminds Nigerians of their failures.*

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for all his imperfections, is doing what these men never had the courage to do: making tough reforms, absorbing the backlash, and laying the foundation for real national renew He is building where they destroyed. Reforming what they corrupted. Stabilizing what they neglected.

    *And that is why they hate him. Because he is a mirror to their mediocrity.*

    Leadership is not about saving money while hospitals collapse. It’s not about selling public assets to friends. It’s not about neglecting your people and preaching unity only after you’ve left office. If leadership is about meaning, these men created none. If it’s about humanity, they left it bleeding.

    The ADC is not a forward-thinking party. It is a coalition of expired ambition, dressed up as a movement. Nigerians must see it for what it is and move forward. Let us not allow those who wasted our past to define our future.

    • Atoyebi, the Convenor of the BAT Ideological Group, engages in accountability and policy monitoring while also serving as a social worker, criminologist, maritime administrator, and philanthropist. 
  • 2027: Southwest PDP rejects Atiku, Obi, El-Rufai coalition

    2027: Southwest PDP rejects Atiku, Obi, El-Rufai coalition

    • Osun chair dares three Senators, eight Reps to defect; rains curses on those who leave

    The South West Caucus of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, insisted that it would not be part of the coalition being put together by some politicians, including prominent members of the party such as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

    The caucus, comprising Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, former Osun State Governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Deputy National Chairman (South) of the party, Taofeek Arapaja, among others, reaffirmed its unwavering loyalty to the PDP and commitment to its unity, stability, progress and success at all levels.

    Governor Makinde dismissed the coalition as incapable of constituting any threat to PDP.

    Chairman of the party in Osun State Chairman, Hon. Sunday Bisi, warned PDP federal lawmakers from the state against dumping the party ahead of the 2027 elections.

    The PDP Caucus, in a communiqué at the end of a meeting in Ibadan, said the party remained intact in the Southwest.

    It urged all its organs and relevant bodies to remain focused and continue to work assiduously toward the successful conduct of the scheduled National Convention to further strengthen and reposition the PDP for the task ahead.

    “The Caucus states in that it is not part of the reported coalition and urges all members of the PDP to remain united, steadfast and continue to stand behind our leaders in the Zone in navigating through all issues at the zonal and national levels,” it said.

    But it expressed support for the position of the National Working Committee (NWC) that “our Party remains open to working with other well-meaning like-minded citizens in the collective effort to rescue our nation from the stranglehold of the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

    It also resolved to intensify efforts to ensure “the victory of our great Party in the upcoming bye-elections in Oyo and Ogun States as well as Local Government Council election in Lagos State. The Caucus is confident that the PDP as a party of choice in the Southwest and Nigeria at large will record a sweeping victory in the coming elections.”

    It demanded the immediate release, by the federal government, of “the withheld Osun State Local Government allocation. The withholding of the Osun State Local Government allocation by the Federal Government is unconstitutional, unwarranted and a violation of the rights and wellbeing of the people of Osun State.

    Fielding questions from reporters at the end of the meeting, Makinde said the brains behind the coalition have always been known as people with antecedents of moving from one party to another.

    He said any serious party leader should address whatever challenge is facing his party head on, instead of jumping ship at the slightest opportunity.

    He said the question people should be asking is what such defectors have to offer.

    On the caucus meeting, he said: “We want the whole world, the entire country to know that the PDP in the Southwest is united, we are together.

    “Coalition is not a threat to PDP. Who are these people in this coalition? They have been in some parties before, whether PDP or APC. What are their antecedents? Does it mean that every time they move from one party to the other, they repented or changed or they have something new to offer the people?

    “Those are salient questions. If this building here, the roof is leaking, as leaders of PDP in the Southwest, are we going to abandon the building and go somewhere else to take refuge? We will stay inside here and fix it and let the people know that we are responsible leaders and we have the interest of the people at heart. That will be my own expectation for anybody that has anything against this party.”

    On the threat by some members of the coalition that they will remain in the PDP but work for the coalition, the governor said people were entitled to their opinions but the party as an institution with laid down structure has its own way of dealing with such issues at the right time.

    His words: “People can say whatever they like. But in a party like PDP, that is an institution, we have our own ways and means of dealing with such issues. And when we get to the point where we have to deal with such issues, I give you the assurance, we will.”

    Addressing the delegates earlier, the governor recalled how the refusal of the party’s presidential flag bearer in the 2023 election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to allow the office of the party’s national chairman to go to the South resulted in the formation of the G5.

    The meeting had in attendance leaders, delegates and stakeholders of the party from Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti and Lagos State.

    Osun State governor, Ademola Adeleken, was represented at the meeting by his deputy, Prince Kola Adewusi.

    PDP dares Osun Senators, Reps over dumping party

    Hon. Sunday Bisi, in a video which has gone viral, warned PDP senators and Reps to be careful of their actions as the 2027 elections draw near.

    Bisi who spoke in Yoruba at a gathering of party stakeholders said: “those of us who are close to our senators and Reps, let’s advise them; their mandate is for four years. You did not mandate them to spend two years and cross to another political party.

    Read Also: 2027: Southwest PDP rejects Atiku, Obi, El-Rufai coalition

    “Whoever does that is a betrayer and he will also be betrayed. And it will not be well for such a person.

    “I am saying this because we built this party with our sweat and tears and got them elected. Now that the party’s flame is shining, anyone who tries to extinguish it will have his own flame extinguished instead.

    “Talk to them because some of them are acting like they will not return home again and need the party again. We’re monitoring their every move in Abuja. Help us warn them seriously to desist from any untoward action.

    “We worked for this party, and we want to warn Wole Oke; he wants to destroy the PDP finally after he used the platform for 24 years. He forgot God and the future, I won’t say more than this.”

  • Comic coalition of confusion (1)

    Comic coalition of confusion (1)

    It all started with the diminutive former governor of Kaduna State for eight years, Mallam Nasir ‘El Rufai, bitterly resigning his membership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and joining the Social Democratic Party (SDP) amid a flurry of media interviews in which he stridently denounced the President Bola Tinubu administration, which he accused of being the most incompetent and corrupt in the country’s history and inflicting hardships on the Nigerian people through its economic reforms. Coming from a man who as Director- General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) under the former President Olusegun Obasanjo administration was implicated in the corruption -ridden privatization of public enterprises at give away prices to political cronies and hangers on; as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) exposed residents of Abuja to mindless hardship in the name of implementing the city’s master plan and as Kaduna State governor has been accused by the succeeding government of financial recklessness leading to the state’s huge debt burden, alleged misappropriation of funds and rampant human rights abuses, his accusations against the Tinubu administration were utterly laughable to large numbers of Nigerians.

    Many people were thus quick to conclude that El’Rufai’s real grouse against the administration was President Tinubu’s failure to appoint him into his Federal Executive Council (FEC) as he had promised due to unfavorable security reports during the screening of prospective Ministers. Although El’Rufai is now  quick to assert in his increasingly boring media interviews that he never sought to be a Minister under Tinubu, it is instructive that he put off his announced plans to pursue his PhD programme after his tenure as governor in the expectation that he would be offered an appointment. Urging disgruntled politicians within and outside the APC to join him in the SDP to pursue the project of unseating Tinubu and the APC from power at the centre in 2027, El’Rufai was disappointed that the response to his call was hugely underwhelming. Beyond this, in a Kaduna State where he sat astride the apex political authority for eight years, he left the APC like a solitary orphan as no notable member of the party followed in his footsteps.

    Even more dishearteningly for him, the founding leadership cadre of the SDP were clearly unenthusiastic about the prospects of their party being hijacked for the purpose of ganging up against Tinubu or anybody although they had also been critical of the APC government’s performance in office. Thus, El’Rufai found himself joining other aggrieved politicians like former Vice-president Atiku Abubakar, former two-term Rivers State governor and Minister of Transportation for eight years, Rotimi Amaechi, among others pursuing the efforts to register a new political party, the All Democratic Alliance (ADA) as the platform to actualize their obsession with unseating President Tinubu at the next election. Not being adept at the back-breaking hard work involved in the formation, nurturing and organization of a new political party, that effort floundered and this week, the group described by the APC as comprising Internally Displaced Politicians (IDPs), at last found a political party willing to be hijacked and thus landed in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) the leadership of which they promptly dislodged and took over.

    Those described as ‘political heavy weights’ by sections of the media that converged at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja to announce their membership of the ADC with funfare include Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Mr Peter Obi of still indeterminate party identity, Nasir El’Rufai, hungry Mr Rotimi Amaechi, former Edo State governor and National Chairman of the APC, Chief Odigie Oyegun, former President of the Senate and a key actor in the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election won by the late Chief M.K. O Abiola, Mr David Mark, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation in the Buhari administration, Alhaji Abubakar Malami, former governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, former governor of Cross River State, Mr Liyel Imoke, former Minister of Sports, Mr Solomon Dalung, General Tunde Ogbeha (rtd), former National Chairman of the PDP, Mr Uche Secondus, former Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Mr Bolaji Abdullahi, Senator Dino Melaye and two-term governor of Osun State and Minister of the Interior also in the Buhari administration, Ogbeni Rauff Aregbesola. General David Mark became the Interim National Chairman of the emergent, still inchoate coalition, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola its interim National Secretary and Bolaji Abdullahi its protem Publicity Secretary.

    The swan song of virtually all the speakers at the event was their determination to oust President Tinubu from power at the next polls in 2027, which is apparently the only issue on which they are united. But even then, the architects of what is difficult to differentiate from a hostile takeover of the ADC by the anti-Tinubu coalition do not appear to have undertaken a thorough due diligence of their new preferred party platform before their invasion and capture of the party. For, the presidential candidate of the ADC in the 2023 presidential election, Chief Dumebi kachukwu, and a number of the Party’s State Chairmen have condemned the arbitrary emergence of the new national helmsmen of the ADC without adherence to due process, which they describe as a violation of the party’s constitution. The Chairperson of the ADC in Plateau State, Mrs Hanatu Gagara, who supports the new coalition arrangement argued that the former Chairman who stepped down voluntarily for David Mark, Mr Ralph Nwosu, had been the sole financier of the ADC over the last two decades. But does that make the party his private property which he can handover to outsiders at will?

    Those who are opposed to the emergent coalition arrangement within the ADC contend that, according to the party’s constitution, a new member cannot contest for party positions except he has been a member for at least two years. They argue further that national party officers can only be elected at a duly convened national convention and that the former party national Chairman, who purportedly voluntarily handed over to Senator David Mark has since ceased to occupy the position since 2022 when his tenure expired. If the aggrieved members of the ADC decide to seek legal redress in court, the complicated and most likely protracted judicial process may have injurious consequences for the coalition right from inception.

    Read Also: Ayo Maff’s debut album ‘Prince of the Street’ tops Nigerian Apple Music chart

    Even if the feuding  ADC members eventually unite behind the new coalition arrangement, there are other possibly impeding factors which the aspiring coalition members must contend with and overcome. There is no doubt that Atiku is the main driving force behind the coalition as he seeks a new platform to actualize his ambition since it is obvious that the PDP are unlikely to concede their presidential ticket to him for a consecutive third election cycle. But Peter Obi and Rotimi Amaechi also clearly still harbour presidential ambitions as both men have reportedly expressed their desire to contest the 2027 elections promising that they would serve for one term only if elected. Such a pledge many see as the height of deception and reflection of desperation since an incumbent once elected can easily renege on any pledge to serve for one term This has been only too common a story in our political history and experience. The implication is that even if the coalition suceeds in holding together, the ADC will have very contentious presidential primaries ahead of it and the outcome may be as destructive and disruptive for the party as the 2023 presidential primaries was for the now gravely enfeebled PDP.

    Those opposed to President Tinubu’s re-election for a second term strive to play on people’s emotions by blaming current inflationary spirals on the economic reforms of the administration without stating if there are viable alternatives to these reforms and clearly articulating what these may be. Furthermore, in their various media interviews, the leading lights of the coalition such as Atiku, Obi, El’Rufai and Amaechi assert that the administration has no achievements whatsoever to showcase in its two years in office so far. This is intellectually dishonest. While the gullible may be carried away by such emotional and irrational rhetoric, many discerning members of the electorate will also most certainly be put off by such reckless and fraudulent generalizations.

    In its 2025 Article IV Mission with Nigeria released on July 2, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded that “The Nigerian authorities have implemented major reforms over the last two years which have improved macroeconomic stability and enhanced resilience. The authorities have removed costly fuel subsidies, stopped monetary financing of the fiscal deficit and improved the functioning of the foreign exchange market. Investor confidence has strengthened, helping Nigeria successfully tap the Euro bond market and leading to a resumption of portfolio inflows… Growth accelerated to 3.4 percent in 2024, driven mainly by increased hydrocarbon output and vibrant services sector. Real GDP is expected to expand by 3.4 percent in 2025, supported by the new domestic refinery, higher oil production and robust services. Against a complex and uncertain external environment, medium-term growth is projected to hover around three and a half percent supported by domestic reform gains”.

    Of course, the IMF acknowledged subsisting challenges and recommended greater efforts to bridge current infrastructure gaps, boost agricultural productivity to address poverty and food insecurity, tackle red tape, boost electricity supply as well as enhance health and education spending. But this is a far cry from claiming falsely that the administration has not achieved anything in two years just for reasons of partisan animosity. In any case, leading members of the emergent coalition have been in critical public offices at the federal and sub-national levels for considerable periods since 1999. They are no less culpable for the grave economic crisis caused by elite corruption, incompetence and lack of vision that the Tinubu administration is trying to tackle. Is there any evidence in their political trajectory that they will offer Nigerians better governance than the Tinubu administration? The answer is clearly in the negative.

  • Confusion reigns supreme in coalition, opposition

    Confusion reigns supreme in coalition, opposition

    Rather than bestride the Nigerian political firmament, the promised coalition to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027 is being trampled under feet. The inspirers of the coalition have tried to make their teams indistinguishable from the opposition, but opposition political parties, many of them scornful of the domineering roles being played by coalition leaders, have resented such equivalence. They do not think they can win on their own, but they seem uninterested in joining forces with anyone simply to unseat the president. They want a programme, not emotions; a sensible plan of action, not hysteria; an altruistic and probably younger leadership, not old, jaded and bellicose assemblage; and a sound vision of the country, not eclectic ideas about its future.

    By early last week, it seemed to the public that coalition leaders, among whom were former vice president Atiku Abubakar, ex-governors Rotimi Amaechi and Nasir el-Rufai, and the indecisive ex-Anambra governor Peter Obi, had virtually made up their minds to abandon the merger idea in favour of founding a new party. Before the week was over, however, the overcautious Alhaji Atiku was vacillating, and Mr Obi was silent and dithering. The coalition appeared dangerously poised to unravel. Yet, Messrs Amaechi and el-Rufai stuck to their guns. They were of course no longer as euphoric as when they first announced the proposal to form the All Democratic Alliance (ADA) and were met with exultant newspaper headlines beatifying their tactics, but they kept hope alive even in the face of the electoral commission pouring cold water on their efforts. They had not begun to take concrete steps to form a party, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) told them after enumerating a long process of things they must do to get the attention of the electoral body.

    Knowing them for who they are, and regardless of their inappropriately acronymed party, ADA, they will hope to bluff and bluster their way into quick registration. Their success will be qualified, and the process tasking, but they are not known to be quitters. In any case, just as adrenalin rush fuels an athlete, the coalition leaders retain enough amperage of vengeful distaste for President Tinubu to be discouraged by any administrative hurdles placed in their path. For now, Mr Obi, who is still nominally in the Labour Party (LP), has remained fairly reticent about the coalition, declining to summarily repudiate them, especially he being a cautious man and an opportunist. Alhaji Atiku was a little strident in his view of the proposed new party, ADA. Known for his versatility in running with the hare and hunting with the hounds, the former vice president insisted his group was yet to adopt the unregistered ADA. His group might be amorphous, but many analysts are bewildered, having long associated him with the brains behind the ADA registration efforts.

    Alhaji Atiku is also nominally still a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). But he knows that the doors seemed to have been shut against his aspiration to run for president on their platform. Squabbling PDP leaders expect him to leave the party, and are waiting anxiously for the announcement so that they can start to find their way through Nigeria’s political thicket. But for now they must rein in their apprehensions. The former vice president also knows he will have to leave if the former ruling party can’t put its house in order and remains disdainful of and resolute against his presidential aspiration. He will take his exit when he judges the time right, especially if he thinks he stands the chance of carrying out a scorched-earth action against the party for spurning his advances. Overall, while he can endure all forms of indignities thrown at him, he can’t stand being ‘partyless’, a prospect enticingly possible should he leave the PDP in a huff and the proposed new party, ADA, runs into a storm over registration.

    ADA promoters have been told in no uncertain terms that their ordeal is just beginning. To begin to apply for registration, there was still much to be done, INEC stunned them. They will, therefore, be frantic about fulfilling the preconditions for registration, while those who publicly decline to associate with them might secretly funnel funds to them. But it remains to be seen just how far they can go, especially in the face of public derision against them from, of all places, the core North. While coalition leaders are mired in confusion, the PDP, which remains the main opposition party with sizable presence in states and the National Assembly, is also encrusted in bigger confusion. In their fact-finding meeting with the INEC leadership early last week, they were subjected to facetious remarks by the INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, who could barely stop himself from snorting at their inability to follow due process and sort out their administrative mess. They had wanted to know why INEC appeared to disavow their June 30 National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting where they hoped to straighten out their secretariat logjam, a precondition for holding a lawful meeting. The party has finally and lawfully, but of curse reluctantly, reinstated Samuel Anyanwu as the party’s national secretary. But their problems are just beginning, quite apart from the defection gale that has scrambled their reasoning.

    READ ALSO: My biggest challenges in office, by Dapo Abiodun

    No one knows how far or deep the confusion in the coalition and opposition is. But if it is much deeper and entrenched than appears on the surface, then they are in big trouble. For if they cannot restore peace in their ranks or provide the leadership and ingenuity their parties require for survival, they will have a harder time, as some northern commentators have sighed, in proving they can find the mettle to govern Nigeria. Worse, if they cannot resolve the crises that dog them before early next year, then they will stand no chance of offering the ruling party any opposition, let alone winning the next presidential poll, their main and shameless fixation. The stasis that afflicts them, which they appear unable to resolve in the short run, may explain why they make a recourse to savaging the president’s image in order to weaken him considerably and make a coalition party both appealing and electorally potent.

  • Coalition pushes for transparency in health security financing, vaccine equity

    Coalition pushes for transparency in health security financing, vaccine equity

    In a concerted push to strengthen Nigeria’s health security architecture, a coalition of civil society organizations (CSOs) has called for increased transparency and accountability in the allocation and utilization of public funds for health emergencies and vaccine access.

    The stakeholders said achieving health security and equitable vaccine access in Nigeria requires more than funding, as it demands transparency, data integrity, youth inclusion, and multi-sector collaboration.

    They said in an era of global uncertainty, these elements are not optional but foundational to safeguarding public health.

    The call was made during a high-level validation meeting for the Health Security Accountability Framework and Scorecard held in Abuja on Thursday, themed ‘Strengthening Accountability for Health Security Financing and Vaccine Equity Access in Nigeria’.

    The event brought together representatives from government ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), civil society groups, and the media to assess Nigeria’s progress in financing health security and ensuring equitable access to life-saving vaccines.

    The initiative was implemented by the Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria (HERFON), Vaccine Network for Disease Control (VNDC), and the GEM Hub Initiative, with support from the Africa Health Budget Network (AHBN).

    Dr. Celestine Okorie, Executive Secretary of HERFON, described the gathering as “a significant milestone in our collective effort to promote responsible financing and ensure equitable access to vaccine and health security.”

    He noted that over the past 20 months, the project has brought together stakeholders to monitor investments in health security and evaluate how effectively public funds are used to reach vulnerable populations.

    “This initiative represents a bold collaborative stride towards building a resilient and accountable health system. As we validate the findings of the scorecard, we are not only examining data but the lived realities these numbers reflect.

    Read Also: Coalition canvasses Youth capital development officers in regional development commissions

    Let us use this platform to refine strategies and reaffirm our commitment to sustainable health financing,” Okorie said.

    Presenting key findings, VNDC’s Head of Programs, Chika Nwankwo, highlighted the challenges encountered while tracking budget allocations and expenditures. She pointed to discrepancies between data found online and those obtained directly from MDAs.

    “Most expenditures and financial reports are not publicly accessible. Even when available, they are often limited to projects supported by development partners.

    “This lack of openness makes it difficult to hold institutions accountable,” she explained.

    Nwankwo underscored the importance of the scorecard validation meeting, noting that “Some indicators had to rely on information from agency websites, which often differed from what we received during direct engagements.”

    She emphasized the need for a transparent data ecosystem, especially when it comes to monitoring spending on health security pillars such as disease surveillance, infection prevention, and antimicrobial resistance.

    HERFON’s Program Manager, Dr. Opeyemi Adeosun, stressed that knowing how much is spent on critical areas of health security is vital to benchmarking Nigeria’s progress against global standards.

    He criticized the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) for not publishing its 2024 financial report, while emphasizing that citizens have a right to access information funded by taxpayer money.

    Adding a youth perspective, Zulaihatt Aminu of the GEM Hub Initiative urged that the scorecard be digitized and made accessible to young people.

    “Preparedness is not just a policy, it is a practice. Youth represent the largest segment of our population and must be integrated into accountability processes. We are ready to contribute, not just as observers but as active participants in strengthening our health system,” she said.

    From the public health emergency response perspective, Dr. Fatima Abubakar of NCDC, while welcoming the accountability initiative, said it aligns with the center’s goals.

    “Platforms like this improve funding outcomes, particularly in areas such as preparedness and budgeting. We’ve seen progress and expect more impactful results over time,” she explained.

    Dr. Agha Ukpai of the National Biosecurity Management Agency (NBMA) also stressed the critical role of biosecurity in Nigeria’s health landscape, saying, “Anything you do in biosafety and biosecurity should be inclusive. Collaborative efforts are essential to building a biosecure Nigeria,” he said.

    Representing the Budget Office of the Federation (BOF), Dr. Anayo Ike said the initiative supports the government’s approach to integrated budgeting.

    “Health security cuts across prevention, treatment, environment, and immunization. We are exploring how to adapt specific budget lines for health security to simplify tracking and performance assessment,” he said.

    Also, Sadiq Sani, Budget Associate at AHBN, reiterated the network’s support for promoting fiscal transparency and citizen engagement, saying, “Our mandate is accountability.

    “This initiative reflects our commitment to ensuring public funds translate into better healthcare access”.