Tag: Yemi Osinbajo
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What Buhari, Osinbajo said about Owo terrorists attack
President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the Sunday’s heinous killing of worshippers at the St Francis Catholic Church, Owa-luwa Street, Owo Kingdom, in Ondo State.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports President Buhari made the condemnation in a statement released by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity.
“The President says only fiends from the nether region could have conceived and carried out such dastardly act, adding that eternal sorrow awaits them both on earth here, and ultimately in the hereafter.
“President Buhari mourns the dead, condoles with their families, the Catholic Church, and the Government of Ondo State, charging emergency agencies to swing into action, and bring succor to the wounded.
“No matter what, this country shall never give in to evil and wicked people, and darkness will never overcome light. Nigeria will eventually win,” the statement reads.
Meanwhile, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has joined President Buhari in condemning the mass killing, describing it as atrocious.
Osinbajo stated: “I join President Muhammadu Buhari to condemn in strongest terms, the atrocious killing of worshippers Sunday at the St Francis Catholic Church, Owa-luwa Street, Owo Kingdom, in Ondo State.
“This saddens inexplicably, and I mourn the dead from this very unfortunate event. Also, my thoughts and my prayers goes to the victims and their families, the Catholic Church, and the government of Ondo state.
“We will not cower to the whims of elements who lurk in darkness to unleash inconceivable wickedness on our citizens. We will keep standing against evil and Nigeria will win.
“As the President has charged, emergency agencies are to swing into action to bring succor to the wounded.
“We stand in utter solidarity with the people of Owo and Ondo state in this terrible moment”.
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APC SOUTH-WEST/SOUTH-EAST PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANTS: Who takes the bow?
As the heat over choice of person to be the flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) gets hotter, the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and other presidential aspirants of the party from the region are to meet today (Saturday), to ensure that they produce the next President.
The presidential aspirants from the South-west geopolitical zone are Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State; Senator Ibikunle Amosun; Deputy Majority Leader of the Senate, Ajayi Boroffice; Former House of Representatives Speaker, Dimeji Bankole; and Pastor Tunde Bakare.
Also expected at the meeting are governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Gboyega Oyetola (Osun) and Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo) and some ministers from the region.
South-west Presidential aspirants of APC The South West meeting will hold at the Abuja, residence of former governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, around 8pm.
Sources informed TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) that the discussion would border on ensuring that the South West goes into June 6 presidential primaries as a united front. A consensus candidate from the region will also be discussed.
“We will all be meeting at Chief Osoba’s home by 8pm in Abuja. Everyone is expected to be present. We will all sit together and discuss the need to ensure that the South West gets the ticket.
“However, all of us will be asked to be truthful with one another and see who among us has the best chance of winning the primary. Then if anyone is willing to step down to boost the chances of the South West, then this will be encouraged,” an aspirant said.
It was gathered on Friday that there is intense lobbying by some northern governors to ensure that the APC gives its presidential ticket to a northerner, which had unsettled the South West bloc of the party.
This was said to have caused Tinubu’s outburst at a meeting with Ogun State delegates on Thursday, where he insisted that the APC must give its ticket to a Yoruba man and that he must be the favoured candidate.
Okorocha, Ohaneye, Onu, other South-east aspirants meet
In the same vein, Presidential aspirants from the South-East had an emergency meeting on Friday to deliberate on a consensus aspirant for the region.The aspirants from the region are Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi; a former Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba; former Imo State Governor, Senator Rochas Okorocha; the only APC female in the race, Mrs Uju Ken-Ohanenye; former Senate President, Ken Nnamani; former Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu; and Ikeobasi Mokelu.
Although their last meeting took place at the Maitama home of Okorocha days before his house was raided by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the venue of their Friday meeting was unknown.
South-east Presidential aspirants of APC A source said the Igbo aspirants had resolved to consider throwing their weight behind one of their own ahead of the convention. The source disclosed that all the presidential hopefuls in the region were meeting almost on a daily basis.
Ohaneye confirmed the report in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents on Friday.
Asked if the South-East aspirants agreed on any form of consensus yet, she stated that it would form the highlight of their meeting by evening. “That is actually what we are doing today (Friday). We are looking at getting a consensus representative,” she added.
When reminded that politicians like Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, and Orji Uzor Kalu had thrown their weight behind Lawan, she insisted that they were not at the forefront of the campaign.
“We are talking about APC aspirants. Those people you mentioned are not. We are focusing only on the South-East aspirants. On what grounds are they standing for the South-East?”
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that with the power struggle being displayed by both sides (South-east and South-west) of the ruling APC party, who takes the bow over the issue flagbearer?
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Why Bola Tinubu lost the 2023 presidential election
By Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo
In his article, “Osinbajo’s Road to Abuja: The Untold Story,” Olawale Olaleye told how Osinbajo ‘defeated’ Bola Tinubu to become Muhammadu Buhari’s vice-presidential candidate.
According to the story, early in 2015, as soon as Buhari became the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu set up a committee to come up with a way to justify to the nation his inevitable choice as Buhari’s running mate. That was because the Buhari-Tinubu ticket would have imposed Muslim-Muslim candidates on Nigeria. One of the committee members was Yemi Osinbajo, the current Vice President of Nigeria. As the story went, Osinbajo expressed to the committee members that it would be difficult for him to go back to his constituency and explain the potential Muslim-Muslim ticket. Osinbajo’s discontent got to Bola Tinubu, and he held it as a grudge against his former Attorney-General when he was the governor of Lagos State.
While this was going on, Muhammadu Buhari’s committee set up to shortlist his possible Vice Presidential candidates arrived at three names. One of the names was Yemi Osinbajo. When Buhari took the three names to Bola Tinubu to give him the honor of picking one in recognition of his contribution to Buhari’s campaign, Tinubu flared up when he did not see his name on the list. In the intriguing negotiations and permutations that followed, despite Bola Tinubu’s initial rejection, Osinbajo ended up as the Vice Presidential candidate of Buhari instead of Tinubu.
That was how Tinubu lost out in his quest to be Buhari’s running mate in 2015. Of course, if Bola Tinubu had been Vice President for the last six years, a different conversation would be going on in Nigeria today.
Now, here is how Tinubu will lose out in his quest to become the President of Nigeria in 2023.
Undoubtedly, amongst those who have declared their interest in running for president in the 2023 election, Bola Tinubu is the most formidable. It was not a secret that he had nursed the ambition of being president since he left the governorship of Lagos State in 2007. He has invested a lot of political capital in building a humongous political structure across Nigeria. As the political season opens up, he hopes to deploy all his resources to attain his ultimate political goal.
The troubles with Bola Tinubu’s candidacy are enormous. Some are within his control, while others are not. No candidate for the presidency of Nigeria has ever come into the campaign with much political baggage as Tinubu, not even Muhammadu Buhari.
We can find in three folds everything wrong with Muhammadu Buhari in Bola Tinubu. In 2015, there was the myth that Buhari’s abbreviated performance in 1984 as the military Head of State was what Nigeria needed. We cannot say the same about Tinubu. Nobody can say that Tinubu’s abysmal performance as governor in Lagos State from 1999 – 2007 displayed any spark of brilliance that can make a dent in Nigeria’s precarious situation today. In 2015, some thought Buhari was disciplined. In 2022, everyone knows that Tinubu is not disciplined. In 2015, some saw Buhari as incorruptible. In 2022, everyone knows Tinubu as the epitome of bullion-van-level corruption in Nigeria. In 2015, some looked at Buhari as healthy and agile. In 2022, everyone knows Tinubu is ill and sluggish. In 2015, some perceived Buhari as someone that commanded respect within military circles. In 2022, everyone knows that the only military wings that respect Tinubu are the touts, alayes and the area boys.
Unlike Buhari, who had several opportunities to try, Tinubu has just one chance – 2023. It is a do-or-die situation for him. He has no second chance. If he doesn’t win, he goes home without fulfilling his dream. That puts tremendous pressure on the man.
So, we expect a vigorous campaign from Bola Tinubu. And as the first week of his one-shot campaign shows, it won’t be an easy ride for the self-described “kingmaker” who wants to be a king.
The self-inflicted personal baggage of Tinubu is well known to all. His inability to present a straight biography is one of them. Nothing about him is straightforward – his age, his name, his certificates, his schools (primary, secondary, university), his parents, his source of wealth, the state of his health, his ever-changing ideology, etc. Even his classmates are unknown. At least, Buhari has been taking pictures with his secondary school classmates as proof that he went to secondary school.
Though possession of a crooked biography has never stopped anyone from being the president of Nigeria, the case of Tinubu is so egregious. They are coming at a point when Nigerians are less tolerant of such character flaws. It does not help that more and more Nigerians are beginning to see the correlation between such flaws and the performance of the bearer, as Muhammadu Buhari exemplified. It does not help Tinubu that Nigerians are coming into a new awareness of how personal things affect professional things and how individual faults impact the collective interest of we, the people.
Of course, in Nigeria’s crooked democracy, the people have little say on who will ultimately become their president. The power brokers are the most significant determinants of who will emerge as president.
Here is what is working for Bola Tinubu.
If APC fields Tinubu as its presidential candidate, APC is finished. If APC does not field Tinubu as its presidential candidate, APC is finished. As a result of that reality, APC is trying, but it has not found a way to extricate itself from that quagmire.
In 2015, when Nigeria was still at its innocent stage, Buhari was forced to pick a pastor as his running mate to deflect the perception of him as an Islamist. In almost seven years in office, Buhari’s obscene mismanagement of Nigeria’s diversity raises the stake so high for Bola Tinubu. The heightened ethno-religious tension in Nigeria complicates Tinubu’s life on so many levels.
If Tinubu were to become the presidential candidate of the APC, his first challenge is finding a Vice Presidential candidate that will be satisfactory to Northern leaders. As we have seen in the past, a Northern Christian is not satisfactory to the North as a vice presidential candidate when the presidential candidate is a Southern. It doesn’t matter if the Southern is a Muslim because, in the North, a Southern Muslim is not seen as authentic as a Northern Muslim. The North would rather have a Southern Christian president with a Muslim vice president than a Southern Muslim president with a Northern Christian vice president.
While a Muslim-Muslim ticket could win the presidency in 1993, it was unacceptable in 2015. And that was why Bola Tinubu was not named the Vice President to Buhari then. Buhari’s performance makes it ten times more difficult to sell a Muslim-Muslim ticket to Nigerians in 2023. Of course, Bola Tinubu thinks he can sell it, another indication that he lives in a world of those who have taken mkpurummiri. Tinubu thinks his Southwest base, known to care less about whether their leader is Muslim or Christian, will abide by him. This is so 1993.
But the truth is that the power brokers in the North are not going to take that chance. They instead back another candidate that will not bring about so many complications to their interest. And that is why they are leaving the room for a Northern candidate to be the presidential candidate of the PDP, just in case they need to default to supporting the party in 2023.
Another thing not working for Bola Tinubu is that in northern power circles, nobody trusts him. He is not an Obasanjo. In the past, he had expressed his distaste for one-Nigeria. Coming out of NADECO, he once flirted with the campaign for a radical restructuring of Nigeria in ways the North detests. The bottom line is that Tinubu does not fit into the character that either the North or the South will want for president. No wonder the Southwest-based cultural group, Afenifere quickly disassociated themselves from his campaign for president.
When it is all said and done, history will record that Bola Tinubu used the first part of his life to destroy the last. He was not the first to do so. And he will not be the last. That realization should console him. And irrespective of who becomes the president of Nigeria in 2023, Nigeria would be better off than the country would have been if it were to be Bola Tinubu.
Okonkwo teaches Post-Colonial African History at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He is also the host of Dr. Damages Show. His books include “This American Life Sef”, “Children of a Retired God” among others.
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BREAKING: I made Buhari, Osinbajo President, VP – Tinubu
APC strongman, Bola Ahmed Tinubu says he he made Muhammadu Buhari Nigeria’s President and nominated Prof Yemi Osinbajo as his Vice President.
This is coming few days to the ruling party’s special National Convention.
He stated this at the Presidential Lodge in Abeokuta, the state capital, while addressing the APC delegates ahead of the party’s primary.
Tinubu also claimed that the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, would not have been the governor in 2019 without his support.
He went down memory lane to narrate what led to the emergence of Osinbajo as vice president, saying Buhari had offered him a running mate ticket, but some blocs rose against it, on the excuse of a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Tinubu used the opportunity to state that when he was asked to submit three names for running mate, he penciled down Yemi Kadoso, Wale Edun, and Yemi Osinbajo and later settled for Osinbajo.
In his words, “You have not heard this from me before. This is the first place I am saying this,” the former Lagos Governor stated.
ALSO READ:Tinubu, Sanwo-olu, others converge in Ibadan to meet delegates
On Buhari’s emergence, he said “If not for me that led the war front, Buhari won’t have emerged. He contested first, second and third times, but lost. He even said on television that he won’t contest again.
“But I went to his home in Katsina, I told him you would contest and win, but you won’t joke with the matters of the Yorubas.
“Since he has emerged I have not been appointed Minister. I didn’t get nor request a contract. This time; it’s Yoruba turn and in Yorubaland, it’s my tenure.”Tinubu also said without God and him, The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, would not have emerged as APC candidate and the eventual winner of the 2019 governorship election in the state.
Referring to Abiodun in his remarks, Tinubu said, “this one sitting behind me here could not have become governor without me. We were at the stadium, they tore all his posters. Even the party flag, they didn’t want to hand it over to him.
“If he wants to meet God at the right place, he must know that without God and me, he would not have become governor.”
He added, “since the time we started with the Action Congress, Action Congress of Nigeria, and now the All Progressives Congress, I wanted to contest for president that time.“This is me telling you between me and God Almighty, Buhari called me to be his Vice President. He said because the first time he contested, he picked Okadigbo, flamboyant, catholic, but Nigerians didn’t vote for him.
“The second time, he picked another Igbo, Umezeoke, Nigerians didn’t vote for him; that if he goes to bring the Pope to run as his vice, Nigerians won’t vote for him. But you, Bola Tinubu, you have six governors, you have never lost an election before, come and be my vice”.
“He knew all the calculations then favoured us, that is why he wanted me as his vice, but I told him to let us build the party first. And when we finished building the party after we brought in people from the PDP, Saraki now saw that those from the PDP will not get anything if Buhari, a Muslim becomes the president and me, also a Muslim becomes his vice, he won’t get the senate president and the senate president cannot also be a Muslim. That was how they started the campaign of calumny against me.
“And I told them that I have a candidate that is a Christan that I can nominate so that the party will not break. That was how I nominated Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. I surrendered my right to him (Osinbajo).
“I was asked to submit three names, Yemi Cardozo, Wale Edun, and Yemi Osinbajo, but I told them if I submit three names, they will play a game, they may make it four and pick the fourth one. I gave them one name and that was Osinbajo.”
Speaking on why he is the best choice among other aspirants in South West, he said, “it is my time, I’m educated, I’m experienced. I have been serving people for a long time. Bring me the presidency, it is my turn.
“When Atiku was being dragged out of PDP by Obasanjo, he ran to me for help. I let him have the ticket. Nuhu Ribadu came to me and I backed him.“It has been over 25 years now that I have been serving them. This one sitting behind me, Dapo, can he say he can be the governor without me? We were together at the MKO Abiola Stadium, he was intimidated. They didn’t want to give him the party’s flag. I was the one that handed the flag to him. He knows that he cannot be the governor without the help of God and my support.
“If not for me that stood behind Buhari he wouldn’t have become the president. He tried the first time, he failed. The second time, he failed. The third, he failed. He even wept on national television and vowed never to contest again but I went to meet him in Kaduna and told him he will run again: I will stand by you and you will win, but you must not joke with Yorubas and he agreed.
“Since he became the president, I have never got ministerial slots; I didn’t collect any contract, I have never begged for anything from him. It is the turn of Yoruba; it is my turn.”
In his remarks, Governor Abiodun who had earlier declared his support for Osinbajo’s candidature refused to endorse Tinubu.
He told Tinubu that delegates from the state would do “the right thing” at the convention.
Abiodun described Tinubu as a political warrior, serial winner, and strategist.
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FEC: Prof. Yemi Osinbajo presides over meeting
Professor Yemi Osinbajo presided over the meeting of the Federal Executive Council(FEC) on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
In attendance at the council meeting were the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha and Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.
Other Ministers present at the meeting are those of Education, Adamu Adamu, Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello, Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, Labour, Chris Ngige, Police Affairs, Muhammadu Dingyadi and Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen.
Others ministers present at the meeting are those of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouk, Health, Osagie Ehanire, Power, Abubakar Aliyu and Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu.
Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva and his counterparts in Health, Olorunnimbe Mamora and Labour, Festus Keyamo are also at the meeting.
At the last meeting on May 18, FEC approved N169.7billion for the reconstruction of four roads under the tax credit scheme.
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2023: Tinubu, other APC aspirants asked to step down for Osinbajo
A political group, The Osinbajo Think Tank (TOTT), has called on Sen. Bola Tinubu and other APC presidential aspirants on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) to drop their aspirations and support Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, to flag the party’s ticket for 2023 race.
Spokesperson of TOTT, Mr Olugbenga Olaoye made the call on Friday in Ibadan in a statement, following the end of a one-day strategic meeting of its members.
Olaoye, on behalf of the group, appealed to Tinubu and others to consider the strategic role Osinbajo would play in developing the country after the 2023 elections.
“No doubt, Osinbajo presents an intimidating credential that can guarantee electoral success for the APC in the presidential elections.
“We, therefore, appealed to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and other stakeholders to rally support for the presidential aspiration of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in the overall interest of the party and Nigeria.”
The group spokesperson said that they had followed with keen interest, the presidential aspiration of Osinbajo and his efforts at reaching out to stakeholders nationwide on his presidential ambition.
Olaoye said that the vice president’s commitment to ensuring sustainable growth and development in the nation could not go unnoticed.
He said that Osinbajo, at this time, had served as a bridge-builder, desirous of one Nigeria, adding that supporting his aspiration would unite the South, ahead of the 2023 elections.
According to him, the level of support the vice president had garnered over the past two weeks of consultation across the nation speaks volume of his level of acceptance by Nigerians.
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What if it is an Osinbajo vs Obi or Amaechi/Tinubu vs Atiku race? – By Mideno Bayagbon
By Mideno Bayagbon
(mideno@thenewsguru.ng)
It is the week of primaries across the two major political parties, nationwide. Already, candidates are beginning to emerge for all the roles that need filling up in May 2023. States Houses of Assembly, House of Representatives, and Senate candidates, except in places where exigencies led to the postponement of the primaries, are now known. As at press time, across the country, it has been surprisingly calm. Only one fatality, in Ogbia local government of Bayelsa state, has been reported. Very unlike the usual fare where thuggery and bloodshed are the common denominator.
We have even had the rare privilege of seeing a defeated candidate, Orode Uduaghan, daughter of former Delta State Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, congratulating her opponent who beat her at the primaries. A commendable gesture.
But all our eyes are on the big one: the presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress, APC; and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Whoever emerges in any of the parties will give us an indication of what 2023 and after holds in stock for Nigeria and Nigerians. For now however, the two parties are playing hide and seek with each other. They each want the other to conduct their primaries first. So in this game of the mind, it might come to the last minute before we eventually get to know who each party has selected to carry its flag. The suspicion is that both of them want to field candidates from the same geographical zone; but, if only they think they have a better candidate who can floor the opponent in the election from that same zone.
In this calculations, for example, if PDP were to pick Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as its flag bearer, the fear within the APC will be that there is no Southern candidate who can match him in the north. So APC will not want to field an Alhaji Bola Tinubu who may want to present a Moslem-Moslem ticket: Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu and an Alhaji Abdullahi Umar Ganduje pair, which was on the card before Kwankwaso and Shekarau tore Ganduje’s remaining political capital to shreds, recently.
There will be great revulsion in the South and Christian north against a Tinubu Moslem-Moslem ticket even though Tinubu has always believed that it can be managed, that he can swing it. Yet it was because Buhari and his minders did not believe, despite Tinubu’s assurances, that it can sail through in today’s religious, geographically and ethnically fractured Nigeria, that an Osinbajo, and not Tinubu ended up as Vice President to Buhari.
Nevertheless, were he to present the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, a Christian, or even the current one, Boss Mustapha, another Christian, the fear will be that the average Northern Moslem does not consider a Moslem from the South as a proper Moslem so will be suspicious of a Tinubu candidacy parading a Northern Christian. Again the average Northern Moslem may not feel comfortable enough to cast their vote for a Northern Christian as their Vice Presidential representative. Not if blood thirsty radicals like Isa Ali Pantami, Buhari’s Aso Rock imam and minister for Communication and Digital Economy, and his bunch have a say.
True, Tinubu says it has always been his life ambition to be President of Nigeria. True, too, he and his camp believe this is his God ordained time to achieve that feat. There is no doubt that he is one of the top three, if not the top candidate for the APC ticket. With his wealth, pedigree and political connections in the north, perhaps but for a few attenuating factors, this could actually be his time. But close watchers of his ambitious foray, aver that Tinubu’s boisterous optimism is hiding three critical fears. First, his age. This is perhaps the last and only opportunity the one his admirers fondly call Jagaban or Asiwaju, has to claim the presidency of NIgeria. He will be well into his 80s before another opportunity presents itself.
Moreover, the President’s notorious body language, and schemings by his close associates, do not seem to suggest that Tinubu has the President’s critical support. To put it mildly, he is not the Villa’s candidate. He would have to deploy massive counter offensives, which some reckon in Naira, Dollars and Pound Sterling to make a headway.
Then there is the little matter of his health. Should he miss it this time, it is mostly likely the end of the road for his ambition to rule Nigeria. By the time another opportunity knocks, he will be too old, too frail to be of any contention. So for Asiwaju, this primaries is a do or die affair.
So comes in Senate President Ahmed Lawan. He is from the same North East like Atiku Abubakar and a Moslem like him. Seemingly drafted into the race, in the last minute, he is the openly hidden hands of the die hard irredentists who want power to remain in the North, at all cost. No doubt, he can easily get one of the so called Southern aspirants to kowtow to him as vice presidential candidate. Black sheep like Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, whose South Eastern region has been clamouring for the presidential slot of the parties to be zoned to them, has already jumped ship, hoping to be the one, despite the heavy political baggage he carries, who will be selected to be Vice Presidential candidate to Lawan. But this is politics in Nigeria where a bunch of people with criminal codes are among those who make laws and determine the future of the country.
Like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is on his last leg as an aspirant for the exalted position. He is about 76 years old currently. This is for him too a-do-or-die affair. Yet of all the candidates, in both parties, he is the one who has wanted it the most. He is the most prepared but age and zoning sentiments are not looking good for him. He is giving it his all but whether his all will convince Southern leaders and delegates to make him, yet again, PDP’s candidate is the waiting game we all have to participate in.
Lets stretch the permutation further. Lets say APC comes up with an Osinbajo or an Amaechi, with potential of having a strong Northern Moslem as Vice. Will the PDP retaliate with a Peter Obi, who is currently riding high in the public mind, but is relatively unknown in the north; or a Nyesom Wike, the self-acclaimed mad man ready to fix the country? Of course they will go for a strong Moslem Vice Presidential candidate.
What an interesting time it would be if the choices were Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo (APC), versus a Peter Obi (PDP); or Rotimi Amaechi (APC) vs Nyesom Wike or Bala Mohammed, or Anyim Pius Anyim (PDP). Seemingly possible scenario: Atiku Abubakar versus Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Well I am commenting as an outsider not privy to the last minute horse trading going on in the conclaves of the two parties. But one thing is sure: no Nigerian alive today can conveniently predict who will emerge the candidates of the two parties. It is that fluid. But a wild guess: Atiku Abubakar (PDP) versus Ahmed Lawan (APC). Rotimi Amaechi for President is a very high possibility.
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Osinbajo visits scene of Kano explosion
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday afternoon arrived in Kano state and immediately headed to the scene of an explosion that happened in the morning.
Osinbajo was accompanied to the scene by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state as response teams continue to restore normalcy.
The Vice President is expected to hold a number of meetings while he is in Kano. In a tweet by his spokesperson, Laolu Akande, he said, “VP Osinbajo accompanied by Kano Gov. expresses condolences with victims of the explosion and their relatives, while also wishing the injured speedy recovery. He is now departing the scene of the explosion in Sabon Gari, focusing on the planned consultations in Kano for the day.”
According to National Emergency Management Agency and Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development have both confirmed that nine persons have been confirmed dead.
“Nine dead bodies have been recovered so far from the rubble of a collapsed building beside a primary school following explosions from gas cylinder at Aba Road in Sabon Gari area of Kano,” the Humanitarian ministry said.
Adding that, “NEMA DG, Mustapha Habib Ahmed is at the site of the incident and coordinated the rescue operations.”
“Two persons injured by the explosion were taken for treatment at Airforce Hospital, Kano. The rescue operation has been concluded following the complete removal of the rubble from the location.”
The Kano state government in its reaction by the commissioner for information, Malam Muhammad Garba said the incident happened at an animal feed store opposite the school along Aba Road, Sabon Gari area of Fagge local government.
He said while the cause of the explosion and the damage it had done is yet to be officially ascertained, the investigation has since commenced to determining the cause, impact and measures to be taken.
Malam Garba called on the people in the state, particularly those living in the area where the incident occurred to remain calm while the government in collaboration with relevant agencies are working on the matter.
The commissioner assured that government would keep the public abreast of any development and warned people to desist from spreading unsubstantiated news.
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Osinbajo receives Leadership Man of the Year award
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday at the ICC Abuja received his award as the Leadership Newspaper Man of the Year after he was named in January of 2022.
The newspaper said it was awarding Prof. Osinbajo the award because of his key role in steadying the ship of state through the storms as well as laying the foundation for the social intervention programmes of the current administration.
Leadership Newspaper said, “The stability and leadership he has provided in the last one year to keep Nigeria’s many factions from tearing one another apart would have been enough to name Yemi Osinbajo LEADERSHIP’s Person of the Year.
“But our reasons go beyond that. The idea that Nigeria, a developing country with scarce resources, could deliver financial aid and social interventions to the poorest Nigerians is what will stand Osinbajo out from other political leaders, maybe for the foreseeable future. But among the subgoals of the Sustainable Development Goals are the provision of social protection systems for everyone and reducing the impacts of economic and social shocks on the poor. How Nigeria, a country of 200 million people, most living in poverty, could even attempt to achieve such goals was a mystery.
“Yes, the All Progressives Congress, in its campaign promises in 2015, pledged to pay N5,000 to the poorest Nigerians. A good number of people scoffed at the idea, and at a point the opposition leaders taunted the APC for not living up to its promise. Yet, the party probably did not know how to fulfil this campaign promise and it fell on Vice President Osinbajo to see it through — build a blueprint and, for a whole year, a social register of the most vulnerable and poorest Nigerians.
“Two aspects of the Social Intervention Programme designed by the office of the vice president stood out: the Conditional Cash Transfer and the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, which helped enroll and keep millions of children in school. If these did not impact the lives of the poorest Nigerians, those in rural areas, then maybe nothing governments do ever will.“Some of these programmes suffered setbacks after the outbreak of COVID-19, while independent assessments of their impact on the most vulnerable are openly available. But by the assessment of the president himself, and his late chief of staff Abba Kyari, the social intervention schemes that were conceptualised and implemented by the office of the vice president were successful enough to have carved out an entire ministry for this purpose.
“In August 2019 when the Buhari government created the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, it was in part an acknowledgement of the extent of Osinbajo’s success in designing programmes to meet the needs of some of the country’s poorest and make their issues a priority of the government. The ministry has been active for two years. Its activities are less pronounced now, but for every life it has touched in those two years, we see hands of Yemi Osinbajo. More importantly, the idea that the government, in some way, should meet the most basic needs of the poor and vulnerable citizens with social safety nets and intervention programmes is no longer up for debate.
“He is not the top economic expert in the government. He has seen one plan through, Now, the president has him leading the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS), which aims to achieve the difficult task of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty over the next 10 years. It is a taxing assignment that has once again seen him going back to the drawing board. Planning diligently and laying the groundwork for success is what the vice president has shown glimpses of in the first steering committee meeting of NPRGS held in July 2021. He promised a considerable amount of paperwork and a lot of commonsense approach.
“Osinbajo may not be getting credit for a lot of the work he is doing; neither is he blowing his own trumpet, even when it is politically expedient to do so. And whether his name will be remembered 10 years down the line if Nigeria succeeds in lifting millions out of poverty or not, the impact of his leadership, now and then, will be felt.
“That is why he is the LEADERSHIP Person of the Year 2021,” the Leadership Newspaper said.
