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Tag: 2023 Elections

  • Why 2023 elections may not hold – Ex-Ohanaeze Ndigbo President

    Why 2023 elections may not hold – Ex-Ohanaeze Ndigbo President

    John Nwodo, former president-general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has stated that the delay in restructuring the country may lead to a mass boycott or disruption of the 2023 elections.

    Speaking at the 14th Anthony Cardinal Okogie Foundation (ACOF) annual lecture themed, ‘Whither Nigeria: Restructuring, Secession or Status Quo’, organised by Knights of St. John International and Ladies Auxiliary (KSJI), Nwodo said restructuring is needed for the unity and development of the country.

    He said the independence and post-independence constitution were anchored on regional differences, which gave each region a preference to develop along its revenue capability and needs.

    He added that, sadly after the 1966 coup, the military created a unitary system for the country to suit its command structure.

    He said this structure which should have been discarded was firmly established in the 1999 constitution.

    Speaking further, Nwodo said Nigeria’s fundamental problem has remained so because the 1999 constitution is not a people centred document, but a military imposition that gave the north undue advantages over other federating units in the country.

    He said for the country to make progress, the military imposed constitution must be replaced with a more people-inclusive document.

    “Our expectation now is that our president, will address the situation by constituting a nationwide conversation of all ethnic nationalities to look into the 2014 national conference report and other trending views on this subject matter so as to come up with a consensus proposal,” he said.

    He said the present APC-led leadership and other political stakeholders must do all they can “to restructure before the next election in 2023, because the level of dissatisfaction in the country as evidenced by the last ENDSARS protest gives one the impression that any delay may lead to a mass boycott or disruption of the next elections to the point that we may have a more serious constitutional crisis of a nation without a government”.

  • Interesting times ahead for Bola Tinubu and his 2023 presidential conquest – By Mideno Bayagbon

    Interesting times ahead for Bola Tinubu and his 2023 presidential conquest – By Mideno Bayagbon

    By Mideno Bayagbon

    Email: mideno@thenewsguru.ng

    Understandably, the return of the medical tourist, the Jagaban of South West politics and acclaimed leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu to Nigeria has dominated the news for two weeks.

    A master of media ‘puppetry’, the well orchestrated, manicured return and the attendant media deployment is quintessentially Tinubu! How his political opponents must be green with envy.

    Apart from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, no other politician in Nigeria has mastered the act of tailoring the media to enhance their image, like the current lord of South West political space. His tentacles are spread wide; and deep. And this is not just because he owns his own media empire, which cuts across the full traditional media spectra of newspapers, radio and television. It predates his foray into media entrepreneurship.

    As Governor, and subsequently as the grandmaster of Lagos, Tinubu made sure he had media helmsmen in his corner. At a time, what used to be called the Lagos Ibadan media were all fully at his beck and call, especially during the bruising fight he had with the federal might of a President Olusegun Obasanjo. Oftentimes the media is always on the side of the weak. In this fight Tinubu was the victim and the weak. He had lots of people on his corner of the ring.​

    In every medium, he had his men, from the middle to the topmost ranks. And he was and is good to them. He positions himself as a friend of the media. And a lot of friends he has among the retired and serving journalists.

    The online media space, where anyone with a phone and N100 data is an emergency journalist is of course a different kettle of fish.

    That does not mean some of the mega online stars are not within the nodding gaze of Tinubu. This perhaps informed the unjust vitriol of some of his opponents, in the aftermath of the EndSars protests last year where they insinuated that Bola Tinubu knew a thing or two about the massive youth protest. Even the protesters turning against Tinubu’s media empire did little to assuage the hardliners.

    But then, has anyone noticed the conspiratorial silence of the media when it comes to the Pandora box exposures consigning Tinubu?

    The allegation was that Bola Tinubu’s nephew, the Governor of Osun state, Gboyega Oyetola, used shell companies to buy the Jagaban’s current London home for him from an ally of Dieziani Madueke, an alleged fugitive who has since fled Nigeria to avoid corruption charges by this administration.

    It is in this same house Bola Tinubu received President Muhammadu Buhari and all those who flooded London to visit him recently when he was recuperating from an undisclosed surgical operation.

    Tinubu’s romance with them is perhaps why he is likely going to ride on the cushion of the media to bamboozle his way into pole position among the aspirants who want to succeed President Mohammadu Buhari in the APC.

    This, nevertheless, is in spite of the major handicaps ahead of him. It is taken for granted, for example, that he has enough financial dunlop to water the pockets of the deciding APC delegates across the 36 states and Abuja.

    Like one of his opponents recently noted, with a N1 billion budget per state and Abuja, which is considered chicken feed for the Jagaban, some of the perceived hurdles ahead of the man, who created for himself the position of National Leader of the APC, a strange appellation to the party’s constitution, might be easily crushed. None of his assumed opponents have the financial fire power to rival him.

    We have to wait to see, however, how he will confront the few remaining hurdles. The first of these is the Aso Rock mafia, the kitchen cabinet of President Buhari, who want to do one of two things. They want to retain the Presidency in the north and they want one of their own to be the one to succeed President Buhari.

    There is also the little problem of the feeling among some top northern leaders that a Tinubu as President might not serve the interest of these leaders. He is considered by some of them to be too strong-willed, too independent, too crafty, too corrupt, to be trusted to serve their interest.

    Add to this the fact that the current lords of northern politics are of the moslem faith who definitely are not willing to have Tinubu, a fellow moslem as President, and his northern vice president, a Christian.

    They would rather, if the presidency must shift to the south, have one of their own as a strong vice president to a Southern Christian as President.

    Though the Tinubu camp are telling all that care to listen, that the Abiola and Kingibe fomula of a moslem-moslem ticket can still sail through in the turbulent religious landscape that the government of President Buhari has foistered on the country.

    The palpable fear among the strategic thinkers is that today’s Nigeria is too troubled, too divided, to accept such a coupling.

    More troubling to the Tinubu camp is the fact that those close to Buhari and his style, know of his seeming indifference and aloofness, his seeming unwillingness to assist those who might expect him to play the deciding card on who succeeds him. The Tinubu camp knows this and fear that his opponents can use the EFCC to truncate his ambition.

    Buhari cannot be relied on to push for a Tinubu presidency and stand by it. While he is not expected to be against Tinubu vying for the position, insiders already know that the new “born again democratic” Buhari will not lift a finger to help Tinubu or any other contestant before the primaries. Which leaves the field open for the Jagaban to roam and possibly conquer. But then, there are other formidable roadblocks.

    For example, there is the seeming irritant, the problem of those prodding Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, to jump into the race and transit from number two to number one citizen of Nigeria.

    Not a few groups have sprung up, and are springing up, to canvas for an Osinbajo presidency. Surprisingly, most of them are fronted by northerners.

    Osinbajo’s recent body language and public posturing seems to suggest he might be interested in throwing his hat into the ring. But observers are consigned that the loyal Osinbajo, a protege of Bola Tinubu political group, cannot go against and contest the APC primaries if Tinubu is in the race.

    But should the contrary be the case, how will his godfather, Tinubu, who himself has been preparing for this day, for years now, for enthronement as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, handle it?

    Though the vice president cannot be said to have any significant political base, either in the South West or nationally, can he galvanise some of the disenchanted but mute voices in the South West to his side?

    Also, who, for example, will people like Raji Fashola, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, Dr Kayode Fayemi, (also nursing a presidential or vice presidential ambition); loud, empty mouth Femi Fani-Kayode and a host of others support? Who between them will the Afenifere, the Yoruba Social Cultural group, for example, support?

    Tinubu’s cup is further compounded by the perceived ambition of Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, the gadfly with a shaky home base but solid national tentacles, to contend with.

    As most political pundits speculate, in the final analysis, Tinubu’s main opponent for the decisive vote for the candidature of the APC will be Amaechi who has more support base among the northern political leaders, especially those who were speakers of the houses of assembly, members of the governors forum and the strategic groups, who all pulled their strengths to bring about the Buhari presidency.

    Close watchers already know that the turmoil in the APC, which threw out the pro-Tinubu Adams Oshiomhole national leadership, was an in-fighting among groups loyal to Tinubu and those seemingly loyal to Amaechi. Situate this too with last weekend’s imbroglio which engulfed the APC state congresses mostly in the southern states.

    But then, Amaechi, who is the two term Transportation Minister under the Buhari government also comes with his own basket load of hurdles which will come under the microscope next.

    Interesting times are truly ahead.

     

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  • The race to Asaba: Top PDP contenders and the burst to come (I) – Mideno Bayagbon

    The race to Asaba: Top PDP contenders and the burst to come (I) – Mideno Bayagbon

    By Mideno Bayagbon

    It is no news that Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, Governor of Delta state, is currently winding down his reign even as the race to succeed him gathers frenetic fervour.

    With just 20 months left on the calendar before a new helmsman mounts the saddle to govern the state, a collage of people are traversing the state consulting and trying to sell themselves to the party leaders and indeed members of the party across the three senatorial zones as the fit and proper persons to take over from him.

    It is indeed a crowded field. From the self important to the downright humble; from the truly serious, to jokers, wannabes who want to be able to boast in future that they were once gubernatorial aspirants.

    For most, positioning as an aspirant is a means to an end: it is a bargaining chip for positions and recognition when the real candidate emerges.

    There are also those stewing in self delusion, buoyed by their perceived self importance and huge ego.

    There are of course those who are being egged on, fully deceived by some party “big men” who are using them as their meal tickets, knowing full well that the aspirants they are calling “your excellency” stand no chance in hell of making it.

    But like most things Nigerian, this is the season they feather their nest on the stupidity of egomaniacs, duplicitous persons who see the exalted position of Governor as their road to instant billionaireship.

    That so many people have thrown their hats into the ring is no big surprise.

    Until now, the state, since the advent of the current democratic rule which began some 21 years ago, has been under the firm grip of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The assumption among its members is that history will repeat itself and another member of the party will be sworn in on May 29, 2023 as governor of the state.

    From close observations, however, there are three contending forces currently at play in the state. They are positioning themselves as the go to group, the dominant group to produce the new king of the manor.

    These are the James Ibori political family, the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa emerging political group and the Senator James Manager/Tompolo Ijaw group.

    Most of the candidates identify either openly or subtly with any of these political formations; except perhaps Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi who positions as non-aligned but is hoping that Governor Okowa will somehow gift him the candidacy of the party.

    An X-ray of the chances of these groups will be made in a subsequent article.

    What is, however, very obvious is the preponderance of candidates from Delta Central, home to the majority Urhobo ethnic group. In fact, apart from Senator James Manager, an Ijaw from Delta South, who is currently positioning to rock the seeming tight agreement in the Delta State PDP that the gubernatorial seat should be rotated among the three senatorial zones.

    By the time Ifeanyi Okowa completes his tenure in 2023, the three senatorial zones, would each have taken a shot at ruling the state.

    Ibori represented the Urhobo of Delta Central in kicking off the arrangement. Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, an Itsekiri of Delta South, followed while Okowa of Delta North is completing the turn of his zone.

    The expectation is that it is now the turn of Delta Central to present the PDP candidate for the office in 2023.

    But Manager and his group say no.

    With the threat potentials of militant Tompolo, (Chief Government Ekpemukpolo), the seeming active connivance of Governor Okowa, Manager has mobilised the Ijaw ethnic group, one of the three that constitute the Delta South senatorial zone, to challenge for the governorship seat against the ruling grain in the state PDP.

    The four term senator, who like Kenneth Gbagi, is a foundation member of the party, on whose crest he was commissioner for works under the James Ibori foundation government between 1999-2003, and a senator thereafter till now, has decided to seize the opportunity of running for the office now because he might be considered too old, should he wait till the Urhobo ethnic group, whose turn it is by the perceived PDP rotation, to take their eight year turn now.

    At over 60 years, Manager will be in his early 70s when it will be the turn of Delta South in 2031.

    Maternally of the Isoko ethnic group, one of the three groups in Delta South, Manager is soldering on and supporters are said to be increasing in his camp daily.

    Manager and his group position was given a shot in the arm when early this year, Governor Okowa, decided to ruffle the feathers of the party by publicly declaring that there is no agreement to rotate the governorship position among the three ethnic group.

    This was greeted with anger and vitriol at his person with some even campaigning that he should be impeached to teach him a lesson.

    Nevertheless, that was the signal the James Manager group needed to fire on.

    Surprisingly, Manager is perceived today as one of the top contenders.

    But those who hold the reins in the party caution: when we get to the bridge, we will cross it.

    James Ibori, the main political godfather who until now ruled the roost without challenge has cautiously kept a sealed lip.

    But his army of supporters are angered that one of the major beneficiaries of the group, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, who rode seemingly on the wings of the James ibori political family to political relevance and position, could turn around, to be a turn coat and stab Ibori and the group in the back.

    Okowa, some of Ibori’s inner team confess, was always going to turn coat in a quest to build his own political empire. He wants to be a man of his own, with his own grip on power in the state.

    This, observers are already saying, is taking firm root as Okowa, has over the last six years built a formidable grassroots support base across the state. He has deftly used bread and butter politics to undermine the Ibori political structure in the state.

    Understandably, even major beneficiaries like the one they call Ejele, (Michael Diden), have jumped on the Okowa train and is pushing the Okowa agenda full time. His case is understandable: he supports any government in power that empowers him. He was once a rabid supporter of Governors James Ibori and Emmanuel Uduaghan.

    “We told Ibori this will happen but he never believed us”, they tell whoever cares to listen.

    “Now see how Okowa is planning to supplant him.”

     

    Watch out for Part II!!!

  • 2023: We are waiting for Tinubu’s return to take important decisions – Akeredolu

    2023: We are waiting for Tinubu’s return to take important decisions – Akeredolu

    Governor of Ondo State, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, who is also Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Southern Nigeria is waiting for the return of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu from London to take important decisions.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Akeredolu, while maintaining that the next President of Nigeria should come from the Southern region, made this known during an interview on Arise Television.

    Speaking on his visit to Tinubu and the 2023 elections, Akeredolu said his visit to Tinubu in the United Kingdom has nothing to do with the 2023 election.

    “APC is a party. APC will decide who the candidate will be. I have made the point everywhere; I’m going nowhere. I’m not going to leave APC. If I leave APC, I am going back to my chamber where I am more comfortable. For me, whatever APC decides, I will follow.

    “We went to visit our national leader and I was there, because there were a lot of rumours here and there, it was important for us to go and see for ourselves, and I was there, I have seen for myself and there is nothing alarming about his health.

    “We are praying that he returns back on time, He’s the capo for us here in the south west and south south. So we are waiting for him to come, so that by the time he comes, we can make some important decisions and he’ll support us,” he said.

  • 2023: Lobby for presidential slot thickens

    2023: Lobby for presidential slot thickens

    Barely 19 months to Nigeria’s high-stakes 2023 presidential elections, intense lobbying and permutations have heightened among political actors on who or which geo-political zone should produce the next president.

    In “A Message to Nigerians,’’ released in Abuja on Sunday, elder statesman, Dr Nnamdi Onochie, wrote that the political class should “toe the path of reason above other considerations in their search for the man or woman to take over from incumbent President Muhammed Buhari’’.

    Nigeria is scheduled to go to the polls in 2023 for another round of general elections, since the return of democratic rule in 1999.

    He said that political parties should embrace consensus, equity, justice and fair play and give due attention to the demands of “relegated geo-political zones or ethnic nationalities that have not been given opportunity to produce a president over the years’’.

    Onochie, a chieftain of the PDP, argued that it had become compelling for a politician of southern Nigeria extraction, especially from the Igbo-speaking areas to produce the president in 2023.

    The former diplomat said that allegations of marginalization by Igbo-speaking people would continue to ring loud and promote national instability and disunity, unless their persistent demands were addressed.

    Re-echoing the request made by southern governors last month for the south to produce the next president, Onochie said that equity, fair play and justice should serve as yardsticks in choosing the president of a heterogeneous and federal system as practiced in Nigeria.

    He argued that the principle of fairness had made it compelling that the top job should be zoned to a Nigerian of Igbo extraction, whether from the Igbo heartland or from the Igbo-speaking communities in other states in the federation.

    “As a leading member of the PDP in Delta State and now a PDP 2023 presidential aspirant, I began the defence of the Igbo stand on the 2023 presidency at Wadata Plaza in Abuja.

    “I stood my ground that the 2019 presidential slot should be zoned to the North because it was their time. This makes it untenable for any politician from the North in the PDP to grandstand to run for the position in 2023.’’

    The former diplomat said that he was delighted that PDP governors re-affirmed that position in their recent meeting on July 28 in Bauchi, recalling that the Yoruba, having also had a fair share of holding the top job should support the Igbo, to produce a presidential candidate in 2023.

    Onochie also faulted arguments in some quarters that the 2023 presidency should go strictly to South East Igbos, pointing out that the position should be zoned to an Igbo-speaking person without dividing Igbo land as east or west.

    “There are Igbos west and east of the River Niger and this cannot be disputed or denied,’’ he said, citing the heroic roles played by Asaba people in ensuring the survival of the Igbos, particularly the exploits of a renowned retired soldier, Col. Joe Achuzia and other indigenes of Igbo-speaking communities in Delta State during the Nigerian civil war.

    “The imperfections of Nigeria today make it unacceptable, pitting millions of Igbos against each other and herding them into second-class citizens in Nigeria, where a new classification has Igbos as different from Ibos.

    According to him, Chief Ralph Uwechie and Ochiaya Achuzia, a few years back served as president and secretary-general of the Ohaneze Ndi Igbo, respectively with both hailing from Delta State “but in 2021 others who are Ibo from west of the Niger must now defer to the South East Igbo for the 2023 presidency.

    “We are all Igbo and none is more Igbo than the other. Our resilience moving forward is to seek peace, cohesion and stability in Nigeria that must make this congenial transfer of political power in Nigeria realizable.

    “Every Igbo person and indeed, all Nigerians, must seek a better Nigeria in which all citizens are equal and can prosper to be whatever they want to be.

    “I am passionate that we can achieve this and I can provide that quintessential presidential leadership. We can accommodate every shade and creed of our diversity, to the glory of God,’’ said Onochie.

  • 2023: How Nigerian youths can wrestle power from Nigeria’s elders – Yahaya Bello

    2023: How Nigerian youths can wrestle power from Nigeria’s elders – Yahaya Bello

    Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi on Tuesday called on the youth to make conscious efforts at “wrestling” power from the elders in order to assume the mantle of the country’s leadership in 2023.

    Bello made the call on Tuesday in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun, at a conference, themed: “Youths Own The Power”, organised by a group known as Afenifere for Collective Transformation (ACT).

    Bello, who spoke through the Secretary to the Kogi State Government, Mrs Folasade Ayoade, urged the youth to be more organised for a united front ahead of 2023 polls.

    According to him, youths have generally demonstrated non-challant attitude toward assuming the nation’s headship and advised them to be courageous and be ready to wrestle power from the older generation.

    Bello also urged the youth to shun passivity and numbness concerning sensitive leadership positions in the country.

    “Nigerian youths have for long been indifferent and have not shown serious and strong determination to take over the presidency and have continued to abandon it to the elders who have turned the position to exclusive right.

    “Our elders have continued to be at ease during the presidential polls because the youths seemed to have ceded the position to them,” he said.

    The Director-General of ACT, Tolu Ajayi, in his remarks, described Bello as “ a detribalised Nigerian youth who could be trusted with powers.”

    He expressed the hope that Bello would take the nation to an enviable heights if given a chance in 2023.

  • Why there might be no 2023 elections – Dele Sobowale

    Why there might be no 2023 elections – Dele Sobowale

    B Dele Sobowale

    “All political parties die, at last, of swallowing their own lies.”

    J. Arbuthnot, 1667-1735, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ p 191.

    The sermon last week was about PDP reaping the whirl-wind of elected members decamping from the wind Obasanjo sowed from 2001 to 2007. Anybody in the All Progressives Congress, APC, who is rejoicing is akin to a man whose boat, unknown to him, has sprung a big leak, who is laughing at occupants of another boat bailing out water. Only providence can prevent the two boats from sinking. PDP and APC have, in many respects, become two sides of the same fake dollar bill. Many of those now shouting at the top of their voices in APC today were once proud card-carrying members of PDP. Granted, only few current PDP chieftains crossed over from APC, yet, Governor Obaseki decamped from APC and moved straight to the top of the PDP structure in Edo State.

    Only a dunce will waste too much time or thought on which party our politicians belong to. Perhaps, it might help if we regard all of them belonging to a party called APPDPC. Don’t ask me what those letters stand for. When you live in a country whose political leadership consists of people who mostly cling to “Politics without principles”, then the labels mean very little. In fact they dont mean anything – except an excuse to seize power and loot the treasury.

    The PDP lasted only sixteen years in government despite the desperate effort to receive stolen mandates in a bid to secure a devilish third term. The plan ended in ignominious defeat. The main architect and expected beneficiary is now sitting on a hill top mansion dispensing advice and wisdom which he failed to practice when in Aso Rock – consulting with demons who Reuben Abati informed us are resident there. The APC is sinking so fast that it is a safe bet that it might not survive beyond the Buhari presidency. At any rate, after eight years of atrocious performance by the FG what will APC have to tell Nigerians to win in a free and fair election? Obviously, unless elections are rigged in 2023, APC has very little chance for survival. Buhari, who provided the glue holding the party together, is going home. So, with defeat starring them in the face, the temptation will be strong to scuttle the 2023 elections altogether. Don’t dismiss it.

    APC: A HOUSE SAVAGELY DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF.

    “APC national convention under threat, party postpones congresses indefinitely.” News Report, July 11, 2021.

    Behind that report buried inside a national newspaper lies the fact that the alliance of incompatible political elements which formed the APC in 2013 has been destroyed; and the semblance of a party exists now only on paper. The APC conceived and given birth in 2013 is dead. The parties to the coalition merely lack the guts, the wisdom and the exit plans for it to crumble.

    The Caretaker Committee, a body which is not recognised by the party’s constitution, masks the fact that the APC had finally become a one-man show. President Buhari calls all the shots. He unilaterally appointed the members of the Committee and approves their measures with scant regard for the views of anybody else in the party. That was not how the APC was supposed to be run. But, APC did not become a one-man show after the fall of Adams Oshiomole. It became a sole property of Buhari right from the minute former President Jonathan called to congratulate the newly-elected President. Right there and then, APC members started swallowing the first of several lies. Here are is one.

    LIE 1: “The Party is supreme..” That would imply that the framers of the APC constitution expected the President to consult widely, at least with the leaders of the party, when making very important decisions. I recollect asking four of the leaders in 2014 if the members actually believed that Buhari would accept party supremacy if elected. The answer was the same. The man has accepted democratic rule and party politics. He promised he will be guided by the party. And, we believe him. He is a man of integrity.” Or words to that effect.

    “Scepticism is the first attribute of a good critic.” Lowell, 1819-1891.

    I was not convinced. It is one of the most abiding lessons of history that habit is usually stronger than reason – especially after the age of 50. All the members of the coalition were hanging their hopes on the possibility that a 70+ years old man would discard his deeply ingrained instincts and become a born again apostle of democracy. The first twenty appointments Buhari made, could not have been so lopsided in Northern, Fulani, Daura appointees if the party was consulted. Thus, on the very first important decision he made, it was clear that party supremacy had been thrown into the dust bin even before the government got underway.

    LIE 2: “He will change his approach as he progresses towards implementing the party’s manifesto.” That was the response of two of the Southern leaders when I asked if they were consulted before the lopsided first appointments. They were wrong. Buhari paid only lip-service to the manifesto.

    LIE 3. “A political party deserves the approbation of [Nigerians] only as it represents the ideals, the aspirations and the hopes of [the people]. If it is anything else, it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.”

    US President Dwight Eisenhower, November 7, 1956. (Amended).

    The APC, in its manifesto, deceived Nigerians in 2015 and 2019 that it would represent their ideals and hopes for a better society. Among the false promises made in its manifesto were the following:

    · to create at least one million new jobs every year….Create additional middle class of at least 1 million home owners in our first year in government and 1 million annually there after….

    · Reintroduce the teaching of Nigerian History and Civics in all secondary schools…Offer free and quantitative primary and secondary education to all.

    · Increase the quality of all Federal Government owned hospitals to world class standard within five years…

    (Source: FROM OPPOSITION TO GOVERNING PARTY: NIGERIA’S APC MERGER STORY by Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, APC Founding Father.)

    No need to list seriatim all the other lies packed into the manifesto. All Nigerians need to know is that Buhari, after building “world class hospitals” at home, now patronises “inferior hospitals” in London every time. Furthermore, instead of creating one million additional middle class annually, Buhari has been creating approximately 5 million more destitutes annually. Under his watch, roughly 40 million more people will sink below the global poverty line. If only half of the promises made on security in the deceptive manifesto were redeemed bandits and kidnappers would not be holding 1000 kids and driving farmers from the land. And, nobody would have dared to shoot down an Air Force jet.

    Nigeria is now being governed as if this is a Banana Republic headed by a Confusionist-In-Chief. Yeye dey smell!!

    The failure of this government is so colossal that it will require two other governments to clean up the mess and get us out of the debt trap into which they have led us. Only the most incorrigible liars, in a party full of them, can reasonably expect the party to win a free and fair election in 2023. Here is why.

    LIE 4. “A secret is best kept if it is between two people with one dead.”

    The greatest threat to the existence of APC was revealed recently by Alhaji Hanga, an ex-Chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, headed by Buhari. According to Hanga, “there was implicit agreement Buhari will hand over to Tinubu.” That conspiracy formed the basis of their forming the coalition which others joined. Buhari had sought to discharge his obligations under the agreement when he first proposed Tinubu as his running mate in 2014. It was the national outcry against a Muslim-Muslim ticket which scuttled that plan.

    Tinubu mostly bank-rolled the APC for the 2015 elections; and his print and electronic media, as well as his political organisation delivered the South West votes massively. It is widely believed that he intends to hold Buhari to his promise. That, however, is one of the reasons why there might be no election in 2023. Anybody supported by Buhari will be difficult to “sell” to voters – after the atrocious performance of the last six years – and fears of worse to come. Yet, Buhari will not endorse any candidate who is not prepared to lie about his performance in office. Buhari’s endorsement will amount to a kiss of death.

    LIE 5. “The most obstinate illusions are ultimately broken by facts.”

    T. Roper, 1914-2003, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ p 100.

    Perhaps the most important reason why there might be no election in 2023 lies in the inescapable break-up of the APC. The Interim Caretaker Committee has done its best; but it has failed to repair the cracks within the party in every state. Kwara State serves as proxy for most other states where congresses might not be concluded peacefully. Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information, is now an outcast from the mainstream of the party in Kwara. For him, it is a matter of life or death. As things stand right now, political death stares Lai in the face. He will not go down quietly without a brutal fight — in any form imaginable.

    Federal Ministers from at least ten states are also at war with the rank and file of the party in their states. APC will most likely repeat the mistakes which led to the loss of Rivers and Zamfara in 2019 – all over Nigeria.

    Lastly, there can be no credible congresses or conventions or elections in Borno, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Niger, Kebbi and perhaps Yobe states – among others. Unless there is a drastic change in security, INEC will find it difficult to recruit officers to conduct elections in several states. The combination of imminent APC defeat and insecurity points to the fact that no credible election can be held in 2023. Rather than lose honourably, the APC will throw the country into confusion. There after, anything can happen.

    READ ABOUT TWO FABLES BY APC: THEY JUST CAN’T STOP LYING.

    “FG created, saved 2m jobs through economic sustainability plan –OSINBAJO.

    News Report, July 7, 2021.

    Nobody can take politics as a profession and be honest – not even if you were once a Pastor. Two million jobs mean 54,000 jobs per state and the Federal Capital Territory. Just ask the Vice President to provide the list of beneficiaries of this plan; and wait for the response. You will receive no reply and no list to substantiate the claim. I just wish that men of God will stay in the churches or mosques. Everyone venturing into Nigerian politics gets stained. It is difficult to spend so much time with Devil’s Angels without losing virtue.

    “Agric subsidy: Farmers fault FG, govt claims six million operators registered.”

    The FG claimed to have registered six million farmers. The All Farmers Association of Nigeria’s President said: “I am not aware of any of such and we have not been registered. We are not part of what they are doing.” I asked at least 24 bid time farmers if they were registered. None has heard of the exercise. End of story. “Liars ought to have good memories.” Algernon Sidney, 1622-1683.

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  • 2023: We will pick a consensus presidential candidate soon – APC National Secretary

    2023: We will pick a consensus presidential candidate soon – APC National Secretary

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that at the appropriate time it will come up with a consensus and agreeable presidential candidate that will fly its flag in 2023.

    Sen. John Akpanudoehede, National Secretary, APC Caretaker and Extra-ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), stated this in a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja.

    The statement was in reaction to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) recent allegation that President Muhammadu Buhari had a self-succession plan.

    The APC scribe, however, stressed that the party would not allow individual ambitions to derail the Buhari administration, ahead of the 2023 presidential poll.

    He said unlike the opposition PDP, the APC was a disciplined party, noting that the former was just been haunted by its past.

    Akpanudoedehe recalled the third term agenda of the PDP while it was in power, pointing that the APC would surprise it with the outcome of its planned congresses scheduled to commence on July 31.

    “After our congresses and the National Convention we will shock them (PDP) by bringing a consensus and an agreeable candidate that will fly the flag of the party come 2023.

    “APC has no third term agenda like PDP. What we are doing now is to stabilise the party and not allow individual ambitions to derail President Buhari’s administration,” he said.

  • NCFront alleges ‘thickening plot’ in some quarters to rig 2023 elections, calls for amended Electoral Act

    NCFront alleges ‘thickening plot’ in some quarters to rig 2023 elections, calls for amended Electoral Act

    The National Consultative Front has alleged that there is an ongoing plot to scuttle the 2023 general elections while calling on stakeholders across party lines, civil society groups, labour unions, youths and women groups to unite against the “thickening plot.”

     

    The NCF on Sunday stated that there is a conspiracy against the pending electoral act, 2021 by a few politicians in power, who are hell bent on suppressing the popular will of Nigerians for an improved electoral system in Nigeria.

     

    In a release signed by its Head of Public Affairs Bureau, Dr Tanko Yunusa, the group said it advocates that Section 3 (3) of the proposed electoral act, which deals with the Independent National Electoral Commission’s finance, Section 50 (2), and others should be revisited so as to improve the integrity of the Nigerian electoral process.

    He said, “The Front believes it is time for all concerned Nigerians and political stakeholders, irrespective of divide and affinity to come together to demand a formidable, inclusive, improved and sustainable electoral act that can build the trust and confidence of Nigerians in the electoral system as it pertains to future elections, beginning with the fast approaching 2023 elections so as to give Nigerians the opportunity and desired voting power to elect their leaders.

     

    “However, in taking up this historical challenge of rallying all concerned forces to come together and salvage the situation, It is the considered view of our Front that Nigerians, especially the principal characters in this amendment process especially in the legislative and executive arms of government and the leadership of INEC need to understand that they should not be blinded by the immediate percuniary benefits they stand to make which at best may not be for more than eight years but to stand on the side of good conscience and give Nigerians the power to choose their leadership by themselves unhindered.

     

    “The import of our clarion call and mobilisation for a common voice of Nigerian Stakeholders and Politicians of Conscience is to demand for credible elections in 2023 by putting in place a new inclusive and improved electoral frame work through the proposed electoral act that must be gotten right from its roots in terms of electronic and diaspora voting, among others

     

    “Finally, based on the foregoing, NCFront Leaders of Conscience are convening an all inclusive stakeholders’ Consultative Parley in Abuja this week to rally against a situation, where opportunistic politicians, power mongers and mischief makers will continue to exploit our flawed and inadequate electoral laws as weapons of manipulation, exploitation and destruction of the Nigerian People. A major plan of action for this new engagement shall be announced at the end of this high powered convergence of political stakeholders in Nigeria.”

  • 2023: Okowa speaks on presidential ambition, opens up on zoning in Delta

    2023: Okowa speaks on presidential ambition, opens up on zoning in Delta

    The Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa on Wednesday while addressing the issue of zoning in the State, opened up on running as a vice presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Governor Okowa was addressing journalists in a quarterly media interaction in Asaba, the State capital when he said he was still praying to God on whether to run as a vice presidential candidate in the elections.

    He revealed that God was yet to lead him to where He wants him to be, expressing confidence that he knows that God will give him an answer at His timing.

    Speaking on the rumour that he is planning to handover power to an Ijaw man come 2023 when there is a gentleman agreement within the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for power to rotate within the three senatorial districts, Okowa said only God knows who will be Governor after him.

    Recall that Governor Okowa from Delta North Senatorial District in 2015 took over from former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, who is from Delta South. Before them, Chief James Ibori was Governor from Delta Central.

    The rotation of the governorship seat among the various senatorial districts gave rise to a zoning pattern in the PDP of the State in what seems to be a gentleman’s agreement.

    This gives the impression that the next Governor of the State should come from Delta Central come 2023, owing to the arrangement and where the rotation started in 1999 with Ibori.

    No fewer than five Urhobo in Delta Central, including Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, Olorogun Emmanuel Aguariavwodo, Olorogun David Edevbie and Chief James Augoye had indicated interest to contest the governorship seat under the PDP in 2023.

    However, it has been rumoured that Okowa had already reached an agreement with Ijaw leaders to ensure that his successor comes from the Ijaw ethnic nationality in Delta South Senatorial District as a payback for their support to his administration.

    Among the Ijaw jostling to succeed Governor Okowa is his deputy, Deacon Kingsley Otuaro and the current senator representing Delta South, Senator James Manager.

    “A gentleman agreement is an agreement that is not written. I want to believe that that is what it is supposed to be. But, whether there was any further meeting in which a gentleman agreement was reached, there has been no formal meeting in which a gentleman agreement was reached as at today.

    “It means that whatever we are doing and talking about today, it is about what is fair, what is equitable, and how to define what is fair, and to define what is equitable, and justiciable.

    “Hearing about me handing over to an Ijaw man, it is only God Almighty that knows who will be Governor after me. I cannot pretend to be God, for I am not. I don’t know who God is going to bring. I do not have an intention of playing the role of God.

    “Just as they say I want to hand over to an Ijaw man, that is how they say I want to hand over to an Urhobo. You will hear so many things. I do not think I have the strength to play God.

    “But the real truth is, when the politics starts, politics will be played. But I know that God Almighty will take the decision of who will be Governor.

    “At some point in time, as a party, we will sit down to look at issues, to find out what truly is fair, what truly is justiciable, and what should equity really mean. Where is the Governorship going? I think if you pray, and you ask God, God may reveal it.

    “Concerning myself and 2023, I am still praying. I am still praying, and God has not yet led me to where He wants me to be. But, pray for me depending on what you want me to do but I know that God will give me an answer at his timing,” he said.

    Meanwhile, during the media interaction, the Delta State Governor also opened up on why he fired his Chief of Staff, 25 Commissioners, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), chief strategist of the Government, all special advisers, the senior political adviser, and dissolved the State Executive Council.

    Recall that the now former Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu announced the dissolution of the State Executive Council on Tuesday.

    Announcing the dissolution of the State Executive Council, Aniagwu said Okowa also fired all his 25 commissioners, directing them to hand over to permanent secretaries with immediate effect.

    The immediate past information commissioner also revealed that the SSG, Chief of Staff, all special advisers, including the chief strategist of the Government and the senior political adviser were also affected.

    Speaking at the media interaction with journalists in Asaba, Governor Okowa himself said the decision to dissolve the cabinet was made to reduce the level of distraction in the governance of the State in his last two years in office.

    “At some point in time in the course of an administration, there are always reasons to take some actions. I’ve been in this administration in the past 6 years, but two years in this tenure. We have two years to go.

    “Obviously there have been a lot of distractions among some members of Exco. In the last two years we need to be able ensure that we reduce the level of distraction in governance.

    “If we do not take that action, I may have an Exco that stays permanently divided in the next two years, and that will not enable me to achieve my vision.

    “So, I thought that there was a need to rework the Exco in such a manner that we operate within the least stress, where those in Exco will know that their mind is fixated more at what we are able to achieve in the next two years, rather than in their private ambitions and beliefs.

    “That was the key factor. Otherwise the gentlemen that worked with me, which also includes the ladies, were very efficient. They worked hard, they meant well for the administration and I can’t really thank them enough for all they have done,” Okowa said.