Acting President Yemi Osinbajo aborted his reschedule visit to Ondo State today, Friday due to what his media aide, Laolu Akande described as dusty and very poor visibility.
Laolu, in a statement, said that Osinbajo had set out on the trip in continuation of his tour of the oil-producing communities which earlier took him to Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Imo States. He said that Professor Osinbajo was already air-borne when weather reports indicated dusty haze and very poor visibility at the Akure Airport and other alternative airports nearby. “The presidential jet therefore had to return to Abuja following which the weather condition was closely monitored until about 2:30 pm, when it became abundantly clear that the situation would not change in time for the Acting President to achieve the purposes of the visit.”
The statement said that the visit has been rescheduled for Monday, the 20th of February, adding that the presidency apologized to the State Governor, the Governor-elect, traditional rulers and the generality of the people of Ondo State who had been awaiting the Acting President’s visit. [myad]
The Supreme Court today, Friday, affirmed the conviction and sentencing to two months in prison of Professor Festus Kolo, a lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria for enticing a married woman. The court did not give the Porfessor an option of fine.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Clara Ogunbiyi held that the appellant had failed to dispel the prosecution evidence that linked him to the offence.
“It is ironical and intriguing that a Counsel for the appellant, who described the act of his client as condemnable and detestable, could in another tone dismiss the same act simply as mere allegation.
“It was stated that the appellant had been warned severally by the husband of the woman both face to face and on phone to stay away from her.
“He had refused to heed until he was caught red handed with the woman in a hotel room.
“The appellant according to the evidence before the court had left his place and travelled for up to four hundred kilometres from Zaria to Dutse to pursue his illicit sexual act,’’ she said.
Ogunbiyi said: “it was alleged further that the appellant was arrested by the Police in the hotel room and later charged to court for enticing the married woman.
“This alleged offence is contrary to Section 389 of the Penal Code’’.
The judge said: “ for purpose of recapitulation, a critical analysis of the behaviour pattern exhibited by the appellant will give a reasonable assessment of his character and intention.
“This is well depicted in his persistent refusal to stay away from another man’s wife despite several warnings by her husband.
“In addition to the foregoing, the open confession made by the appellant to the commission of the offence during police investigation is a further reason to discountenance the submission put forward by the appellant.
“I have stated the position of this court earlier in the course of this judgment wherein it holds that the confession is the best form of evidence.
“And an accused person can be convicted on his confessional statement alone’’.
Ogunbiyi held that: “consequently, the lower court could not be faulted when it went ahead to affirm the conviction and sentence of the appellant.
“This was done according to strict compliance with summary trial procedure by the successive lower courts’’.
The judge, therefore, held that the appeal at hand was devoid of any merit.
“The concurrent judgments of the lower courts are endorsed while the conviction and sentence of the appellant by the lower court is also affirmed by me.
“The appeal is dismissed and the judgment of the lower court is affirmed by this court,’’ she said.
NAN reports that it was an appeal against the decision of the appellate session of Jigawa State High Court delivered on Sept.17, 2013 in appeal No. JDU/14/CA/2013.
The court had affirmed the judgment of the trial Magistrate Court, Kiyawa, Jigawa state wherein the appellant was convicted summarily for the offence.
Upon this conviction and sentence by the Magistrate, the appellant was dissatisfied and lodged an appeal before the appellate division of the Jigawa state High Court.
Kolo had asked the court to decide whether or not the lower trial Magistrate, “Senior Magistrate’’ had the jurisdiction to try and determine the offence under Section 389 of the penal code laws of the state.
After hearing argument from both sides, the High Court in its judgment delivered on Sept. 17, 2013 dismissed the appeal and upheld the decision of the trial court.
NAN reports that the statement of facts indicated that Kolo was a professor and lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria while the victim was his student at the University.
It was stated in the face of the First Information Report (FIR) that the appellant had been sending love messages via his phone number to the married woman through her phone number.
The FIR also said that the convict had defied all warnings, adding that he was thereafter caught in the near sexual act with the victim in a hotel by the police.
The convict had described the entire incident and trial as a set up.
Wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, has distributed foodstuffs and baby kits to nursing mothers and patients in some hospitals in the FCT as part of a goodwill to mark her birthday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a delegation sent by the wife of the President visited the Asokoro, Garki, Wuse, and Maitama District Hospitals.
Aisha Buhari, who was represented by her Senior Special Assistant (Administration), Dr. Hajo Sani, on Friday in Abuja, said the gesture was an expression of kindness to the less privileged in the society.
“This is not the first time Mrs. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, is celebrating her birthday. I remember we had a similar event in the orphanage where she presented a humanitarian gift to orphans in Karu.
“As you are all aware, today is her birthday and we are also glad and most importantly, that whoever we give this gift, they are very excited, happy and wish her excellency many happy returns.”
The wife of the President also prayed to God to heal the patients and to cater for their families.
While receiving the delegation, the Medical Director of Maitama District Hospital, Dr. Adetoun Sotimehin, expressed her appreciation for the kind gesture and wished Mrs. Buhari a happy birthday.
Some of the patients, who spoke with NAN during the visit, expressed their happiness for the kind gesture of the President’s wife.
Also speaking, Mrs. Ummi Abbas, who is one of the nursing mothers at the Garki Hospital, expressed gratitude to Aisha Buhari for the gifts and prayed to God to grant the President Muhammadu Buhari administration the wisdom and capacity to succeed.
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has inaugurated a 10-member boundary committee during which time he cautioned communities having boundary disputes in the FCT not to take the laws into their hands but follow due process to get them resolved amicably in the interest of peace.
The Committee has the FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye as Chairman, with representatives of the Attorney General of the Federation, FCT Directors of Urban & Regional Planning, Economic Planning Research & Statistics, FCT Police Commissioner, Director of FCT Command of DSS, FCT Comptroller of Immigration Services, Isa Dara, and Musa Yahaya, former Chairmen of Bwari and Abaji Area Councils respectively as members, while the Director of FCT Survey and Mapping will serve as Secretary.
The Minister rolled out the terms of reference of the committee, which include dealing with inter and intra Area Council Boundary disputes within the FCT; define and delimit Inter Area Council Boundaries in accordance with the delimitation instrument or document established for that purpose as well as identify and intervene in areas of potential disputes in the FCT.
Other areas to be covered by the committee include holding quarterly meetings to ensure maintenance of peace and order in border areas; liaise with State Boundary Committees of neighboring States with a view of taking joint measures that promote good inter-community relationship; and arranging with other State Boundary Committees for joint utilization of shared resources and facilities along the common borders, in addition, encouraging and promoting joint inter-community development ventures among border dwellers.
He also advised the Committee to work harmoniously and in full cooperation and communication with the National Boundary Commission as well as similar bodies in the States that surround the FCT.
The Minister warned that the FCT Administration will not hesitate to sanction community or political leaders in the FCT who allow boundary disputes in their domain to escalate into a breakdown of law and order. He said that any community or political leader who fuel crisis would be made to face the full wrath of the law
“I want to state here very clearly, in all the communities, whether it is inside the FCT or at the bordering communities, any community that takes the law into its hands or tries to create misunderstanding that results into violence, the traditional rulers of that community and the relevant political and administrative officers of that community will be held fully and squarely responsible.”
In his response, the Chairman of the Boundary Committee, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye, assured that the committee would ensure that the task of government of maintaining peace and security is provided.
“We are going to do this professionally and dispassionately. The committee will not take sides. The committee will ensure that everything is done particularly with the fear of God because it is God that gives absolute peace.” [myad]
A Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has ruled that former Borno State Governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff is the substantive Chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Two out of the three members of the Panel held that Senator Ali Modu Sheriff is the legitimate Chairman of the Party, while one, in a minority Judgement held that he has no business being Chairman of the Party. It would be recalled that Senators Ahmed Makarfi and Ali Modu Sheriff had tested the legal waters in several courts in Nigeria (Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt), with each getting favourable orders and directives with the attendant effect on stability in the party. Both Makarfi and Sheriff have been operating from satellite offices, following the closure of the national headquarters of the party at Wadata Plaza in Abuja. The crisis in the PDP has divided the party in many states where Makarfi and Sheriff share the loyalty of members. It has also incapacitated the PDP, thereby making it incapable of actively playing the role of opposition in the country.
Meanwhile, Senator Ahmed Muhammad Makarfi has describedruling of the Court of Appeal which gave judgment in favour of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as a temporary set-back.
Addressing newsmen in his Kaduna residence in reaction to the ruling, Makarfi stressed that his party would overcome this set back politically and legally and would come out of it stronger and bigger.
“We have utmost respect for the judiciary. So we are not going to take the laws into our hands. We might not agree with the judgment but there is a process and procedure if you did not agree with something.
“As an individual, I cannot decide for the party until the party stakeholders meet and take a definite decision.
“The party will meet on Monday to take a decision of the Court of Appeal Judgement. Every person concerned had been notified. The governors, members of the National Assembly, members of the Board of trustees and Party officials.”
He therefore called on party members to remain calm, urging them to remember that PDP is in opposition. “We have to accept this temporary set-back,” he reiterated.
He maintained that since he took over the party, the party had done a lot of things to remain afloat, pointing out, “We will not allow opposition to be killed. We must strive to ensure that we survive for the sake of democracy and the country.
Asked if on Monday, the Ali Modu sheriff faction might occupied the party secretariat based on the judgment, he said he is not in position to tell the world what Sheriff will do.
However, he would be surprised if the security will allow him (Sheriff) access to the party secretariat.
“When a court ruled in our favour sometimes ago, we were not allowed to occupy the secretariat. So, we are going to see what happens this time around.” [myad]
I have watched with amusement the hollow rituals of “comic tragedy” or tragicomedy, which the defection of politicians from one political party to another typifies. The polity has witnessed, in recent times, movements by some politicians who were, doubtless, respected leaders of their people up until their sudden volte-face and gravitation to other political parties, characteristically for obvious reasons.
Anytime I see them on television or read about them in the print media announcing, with glee, their decision to jump ship because they have suddenly realized how bad their original party has been and how disciplined and forward-looking their newfound party is, they cut a pathetic picture to the sight and create a sardonic impression in the mind.
What they, perhaps, know but which they do not give a heck about is that they do not enjoy the respect of well-meaning Nigerians, including, most of the times, their followers, especially those of them who can hold their own without the usual compromising handouts from “the lords of the manors.” This dimension reinforces the age-long subjugating notion of stomach infrastructure, which has, only recently, been so elegantly described and tagged in the aftermath of the 2014 Ekiti governorship election that swept Ayodele Fayose into power.
Nevertheless, political leaders’ movements have characteristically thrown up the loyalty question. As supposed leaders, they have failed the critical test of loyalty by wavering in their commitment to the party on which platform they have been voted into elective offices. Rather than consistently and persistently inspire confidence in their followers, they have disconcerted them, dealing a strong blow to their pristine sense of conservative attachment to the party.
It thus becomes crystal clear that the followership that has remained unwavering in its support is, indeed, the nucleus of the tribe of enthusiastic and enchanted party faithful, not the opportunistic political elites who, always wanting to be politically correct, lack the discipline to promote and embrace any well-defined ideological standpoint, which the followership can relate with or approximate under their tutelage. Like a reed, they are tossed about by the winds of political considerations and correctness.
Whenever a political leader decides to defect, he is always propelled by selfish interest. He is either battling for survival or groveling for relevance, hence the instinct and wisdom to strategically reposition. He rationalises his decision and couches his action in elegant dictions- that is, if he is gifted with the oratorical power. Sans the power of oration, he deploys the allurement of lucre, thus taking advantage of the followers’ poverty to further degrade their sensibilities.
But then, the people are wont to see through the chicanery of political leadership in a background that is traditionally conservative; which brings me to the conquistador’s temperament that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is exhibiting in the southeast zone, apparently in defiance of the affection the people have had for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since 1999. The zone is a traditional PDP enclave. It may, therefore, be pretty difficult to suddenly shear the people of the sentimental affection they have for the party.
Even in Imo state where there is an APC government in place, the PDP’s presence is pervasive and the structure on ground is, arguably, formidable. The party’s potential to dislodge the APC has always been there. But for the outcome of the 2015 presidential election, which saw the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, defeat President Goodluck Jonathan, the PDP’s whirlwind would have swept Governor Rochas Okorocha of the APC out of office and, thus, truncated his second term bid.
The bandwagon effects of Buhari’s victory, in addition to the deployment of necessary stratagems, ensured that Okorocha survived the onslaught by the PDP candidate, Emeka Ihedioha. That tension-soaked electoral contestation, perhaps, explains the strategic move by Okorocha and the APC to begin the process of dismantling the PDP stronghold in the southeast from Owerri, with the recent conclave during which some political juggernauts and business moguls, who were hitherto associated with the PDP, defected to the APC. It is needless to mention here the dramatis personae at the Owerri circus. They are all facts of recent history.
The Owerri outing represents, in the main, Rochas’s bragging rights and APC’s gambit to appropriate the southeast zone, reposition it and guide it on a trajectory that is northward ahead of the 2019 general elections. Whereas, movements of some PDP leaders to the APC in the northern part do not have the potential to upset any conventional arrangement due to the localization and reduction of presidential power politics within the context of northern ownership, such movements, against the backdrop of Rochas-APC initiative, become tendentious for the same reason that underscores southern Nigeria’s quest for the big prize.
The inter-party movements, sans ideological footings and justifications, continue to stimulate fears and create tension in the polity, especially now that the political map is being tinkered with and redrawn ahead of 2019. There are gainers and there are losers in quantitative terms. But the greatest beneficiary of the on-going circus of defections has been the governing APC and this is understandable. There has been a change of baton and the party has become the new power base. Not anymore the PDP. That is the way the cookie crumbles.
For the PDP leaders, especially those holding elective offices, that have already jumped ship, such act of abandoning the party on whose platform they won election, has only exposed their weak points as spineless politicians whose god is, perhaps, their bellies. They really do not care about what the rest of us think of them. For them, the end justifies the means, which is surviving the intriguing world of cloak-and- dagger politics. Therefore, they attach little importance to the leadership-followership system that underpins interactions in the context of political party administration on the basis of essential ideologies.
Whereas, they are supposed to provide unwavering leadership, they have become the exact opposite of that assumption. They have deliberately failed the test of faithfulness to their parties and what they stand for. The followers, on the other hand, are left to relate with the culture of leadership infidelity that cumulatively leads to atrophy of the party spirit.
To be sure, defection is not a new reality. It has been on, for the sake of this treatise, and restrictively speaking, since the advent of this Fourth Republic. The PDP had once benefitted from it. It is not malapropos that it is losing to it. What goes round comes round. Since none of the parties can lay claim to any guiding ideology, they may be somewhat excused, but the individual politicians are inexcusable. To define their individuality, they should dare to be different by standing for something so that they do not fall for everything.
A few of them have remained unwavering in their commitment to their political platforms since 1999, not changing parties even in defeat as has now been typified by the PDP. But what rankles, as its former Board of Trustees chair, Chief Tony Anenih, recently confessed, is that those who have defected to the APC were those who benefitted so much from the PDP.
They have acted smart, so it seems, by using and dumping the party in dishonest circus and manifest political duplicity; but, then, they have created an impression of themselves in the minds of their new landlords who will deal with them wisely, considering the fact that they are rangers in quest for insular political return. This is, indeed, unconscionable and sad.
The press is not the enemy; democrats are not the enemy; Black Caucus is not the enemy; Liberals are not the enemy; Intellectuals in our universities and elsewhere are not the enemy; competition with China is not the enemy; Mexicans and illegal immigration are not the enemy; and others. These people have different ideas of how to keep America great. They have always been around and will always be around. I have seen the enemy and it is us; it is poverty; it is unequal distribution of wealth and opportunities; it is blindness to see the bigger picture. We need friends like NATO, like Australia, like Africa, and Mideast, like Japan, like Korea, Like Nigeria, like South Africa Like UN and other World Organizations. These are what we need to be successful.
Benjamin Obiajulu Aduba of Boston, Massachusetts writes, in an open letter to President Donald Trump. Read on:
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington DC
Dear President Donald J. Trump,
I am one of your subjects and a proud American along with over 300 million others plus additional 11 million (or so) illegal aliens. We all love our America. But our love pales in comparison to your love which you have demonstrated in the many years you have invested in American politics, albeit from the sidelines. You devoted less than your full attention to the Trump Empire of billions of dollars in 2015-2016 and now you have practically abandoned your empire to serve the country at a penny a year.
Greater love has no man for his country.
Mr. President we all love America and want it to remain great.
You are now in charge and your full attention, your undivided attention and loyalty, are required for the job of number one headmaster of the world. I suspect that small things are distracting your attention. I suggest the following:
That you give up your twitter account. You cannot be responding to every Tom, Dick and Harry as you seem to be doing. You have surrogates, let them do their work. Not every comment deserves a presidential response.
Make peace not war for you cannot govern this country alone. The country is designed not to produce a dictator. You cannot rule USA as the North Korean Leader can. You saw with your own eyes as Senator Rick McConnell rejected, singlehandedly, Mr. Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court. Many legislators can do such things. Messrs.’ McCain, Bill Graham, Speaker Ryan, et all. And even combined Democratic senators. Make peace for it is a sign of strength not weakness.
You are making so many people nervous. EU, China, NATO Allies, Iran, even Russia etc., are afraid. Fear is what leads to actions that lead to wars. Calm things down before somebody makes a precipitous mistake. With nuclear war heads all over the place, WWIII will not be anything like WWII or WWI. There too much at risk in 2017. The America that we all love, even though it has superior military apparatus, will not get out of this one free like it did in WWII or WWI. Of course, USA did not get out of either war free what with over 500,000 dead soldiers. In WWII alone.
The press is not the enemy; democrats are not the enemy; Black Caucus is not the enemy; Liberals are not the enemy; Intellectuals in our universities and elsewhere are not the enemy; competition with China is not the enemy; Mexicans and illegal immigration are not the enemy; and others. These people have different ideas of how to keep America great. They have always been around and will always be around. I have seen the enemy and it is us; it is poverty; it is unequal distribution of wealth and opportunities; it is blindness to see the bigger picture. We need friends like NATO, like Australia, like Africa, and Mideast, like Japan, like Korea, Like Nigeria, like South Africa Like UN and other World Organizations. These are what we need to be successful.
Mr. President the above suggestions are from a plebian. But they are offered because of my ernest desire that you succeed for if you succeed, we all gain; if you fail we all pay the huge price your failure would bring. Let’s not behave like Senator McConnell who prayed for Obama’s failure and did his best to see him fail. Obama did not fail because the strength of his character would not allow it, but he could have succeeded much more if Mr. McConnell had not been a stumbling block.
In the interest of full disclosure, yes, I did not vote for you but I believe that you are still my President.
The Nigerian Presidency and governors of the 36 states have expressed concern over the rising rate of Dollar against the local currency, the Naira, and insisted that urgent measures should be taken by relevant stakeholders to arrest the drift. The concern was expressed today at the meeting, in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, of the National Economic Councils (NEC), which has all the governors as members and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as chairman. The concern came on the heels of a brief presentation by the governor of the Central Banak of Nigeria Mr. Godwin Emefiele, on Forex Policy options. Members were openly worried over the current situation of the exchange rate and called for an urgent review of the current Forex Policy, especially the gap between interbank and the parallel market rates. This was even as the CBN Governor assuaged the fears by members, calling for patience and understanding. He gave assurance that the situation is being closely managed. This was even as the minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, assured the Council members that Federal Government has a recovery plan that will take Nigeria out of the woods. He said that consultations on the plan are ongoing to firm-up the plan with clear roles for all the stakeholders and the States. He told the Council that the plan will address the following: Agriculture and food security Energy sufficiency-power and petroleum availability Improving transportation infrastructure Industrialization, SMEs, and manufacturing Stabilization of the macro-economic environment Also, the minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, reported that eight Accounting Firms have been appointed to start the verification process of the monthly Budget Support Loan Facility based on the approved Fiscal Sustainability Plan by the States. The agric minister, Audu Ogbe, informed the Council of the massive wheat production in the States of Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi and Zamfara among others. He said that the States are appealing to the Federal Government to make plans for the purchase of excess wheat to ensure price stability and sustainable production. Council, thereafter, agreed to discuss and make adequate buy-back arrangements in order to support price stability. [myad]
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that it had disbursed the sum of $2.83 billion for utilization in the critical sectors of the economy between December 2016 and January 2017. A statement by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Mr. Isaac Okorafor said that manufacturing, raw material and agriculture among others topped the disbursements which were targeted at employment generating and wealth creating sectors of the economy. The CBN promised to continue to ease the foreign exchange pressure on critical sectors, even as it also said that in December last year and January this year, the sum of $609 million and $228 million were released for raw materials. The statement added manufacturing also attracted the sum $53 million and $71 million respectively during the same period. It said that the sums of $1.839 billion and $0.989 billion respectively were extended to critical sectors like manufacturing, agriculture, petroleum products and airlines among others in December 2016 and January 2017. It will be recalled that the CBN, in the month of November 2016, supported critical sectors with $1,070,175,392.04 equivalent of foreign exchange for agricultural machinery, industrial raw materials, education and personal travel allowances to source industrial raw materials and spare-parts through the interbank foreign market. [myad]
Federal Ministry of Finance has described as a lie, claim by the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, that the ministry is withholding statutory allocation due to Ekiti State. In a statement today, Thursday by the Director of Information, Salisu Na’Inna Dambatta, the ministry categorically denied the claim, saying that the governor’s claim is incorrect. The statement added that the ministry had never withheld any statutory allocation due to Ekiti State or any other State in the country. “The fact is that, the Ekiti State Government failed to comply with the necessary requirements for participating in the Budget Support Facility (BSF), which is a Conditional Loan Programme to State Governments, introduced with the view to enhancing fiscal prudence and designed particularly to enhance transparency, efficiency in public expenditure and payment of salaries. “This is not the first time of non-compliance by the Ekiti State Government. His administration defaulted in meeting the conditions specified and agreed upon by the 35 State Governments that are participating in the programme as contained in the Fiscal Sustainability Plan (FSP) and the Ekiti State Government was warned formally of its failure to comply with the full requirements, vide a letter on August 5, 2016, with reference number HMF/FMF/ASG/1/2016. “The failure of Ekiti State Government to comply with the requirements and conditions for the Budget Support Facility (BSF) resulted in a letter sent to the Chief of Staff to notify him of the suspension of BSF for Ekiti State and it was conveyed to Mr. President before payment to the Ekiti State Government was reinstated. “The Ekiti State Government and all the other participating States are aware of the consequence of failure to comply with the full conditions and it is not the first time that a State would be stopped from accessing the Facility due to non-compliance. In the course of its normal duties, the Ministry of Finance has the right to query, suspend or withhold funds as part of the conditions of the Budget Support Facility. “The process is for the Commissioner of Finance of any State or the Governor having issues to contact the Federal Ministry of Finance and resolve the issues without resorting to the media because such issues are of a financial nature and therefore, confidential; they are routinely resolved amicably by the parties involved. “The Federal Ministry of Finance wishes to restate very strongly that the Budget Support Facility is a conditional programme and the Federal Government would not be intimidated or threatened in the discharge of its duties.” [myad]
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo aborted his reschedule visit to Ondo State today, Friday due to what his media aide, Laolu Akande described as dusty and very poor visibility.
A Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has ruled that former Borno State Governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff is the substantive Chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that it had disbursed the sum of $2.83 billion for utilization in the critical sectors of the economy between December 2016 and January 2017.
Federal Ministry of Finance has described as a lie, claim by the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, that the ministry is withholding statutory allocation due to Ekiti State.
Rolling Nigerian Politicians That Gather No Morse, By Sufuyan Ojeifo
I have watched with amusement the hollow rituals of “comic tragedy” or tragicomedy, which the defection of politicians from one political party to another typifies. The polity has witnessed, in recent times, movements by some politicians who were, doubtless, respected leaders of their people up until their sudden volte-face and gravitation to other political parties, characteristically for obvious reasons.
Anytime I see them on television or read about them in the print media announcing, with glee, their decision to jump ship because they have suddenly realized how bad their original party has been and how disciplined and forward-looking their newfound party is, they cut a pathetic picture to the sight and create a sardonic impression in the mind.
What they, perhaps, know but which they do not give a heck about is that they do not enjoy the respect of well-meaning Nigerians, including, most of the times, their followers, especially those of them who can hold their own without the usual compromising handouts from “the lords of the manors.” This dimension reinforces the age-long subjugating notion of stomach infrastructure, which has, only recently, been so elegantly described and tagged in the aftermath of the 2014 Ekiti governorship election that swept Ayodele Fayose into power.
Nevertheless, political leaders’ movements have characteristically thrown up the loyalty question. As supposed leaders, they have failed the critical test of loyalty by wavering in their commitment to the party on which platform they have been voted into elective offices. Rather than consistently and persistently inspire confidence in their followers, they have disconcerted them, dealing a strong blow to their pristine sense of conservative attachment to the party.
It thus becomes crystal clear that the followership that has remained unwavering in its support is, indeed, the nucleus of the tribe of enthusiastic and enchanted party faithful, not the opportunistic political elites who, always wanting to be politically correct, lack the discipline to promote and embrace any well-defined ideological standpoint, which the followership can relate with or approximate under their tutelage. Like a reed, they are tossed about by the winds of political considerations and correctness.
Whenever a political leader decides to defect, he is always propelled by selfish interest. He is either battling for survival or groveling for relevance, hence the instinct and wisdom to strategically reposition. He rationalises his decision and couches his action in elegant dictions- that is, if he is gifted with the oratorical power. Sans the power of oration, he deploys the allurement of lucre, thus taking advantage of the followers’ poverty to further degrade their sensibilities.
But then, the people are wont to see through the chicanery of political leadership in a background that is traditionally conservative; which brings me to the conquistador’s temperament that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is exhibiting in the southeast zone, apparently in defiance of the affection the people have had for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since 1999. The zone is a traditional PDP enclave. It may, therefore, be pretty difficult to suddenly shear the people of the sentimental affection they have for the party.
Even in Imo state where there is an APC government in place, the PDP’s presence is pervasive and the structure on ground is, arguably, formidable. The party’s potential to dislodge the APC has always been there. But for the outcome of the 2015 presidential election, which saw the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, defeat President Goodluck Jonathan, the PDP’s whirlwind would have swept Governor Rochas Okorocha of the APC out of office and, thus, truncated his second term bid.
The bandwagon effects of Buhari’s victory, in addition to the deployment of necessary stratagems, ensured that Okorocha survived the onslaught by the PDP candidate, Emeka Ihedioha. That tension-soaked electoral contestation, perhaps, explains the strategic move by Okorocha and the APC to begin the process of dismantling the PDP stronghold in the southeast from Owerri, with the recent conclave during which some political juggernauts and business moguls, who were hitherto associated with the PDP, defected to the APC. It is needless to mention here the dramatis personae at the Owerri circus. They are all facts of recent history.
The Owerri outing represents, in the main, Rochas’s bragging rights and APC’s gambit to appropriate the southeast zone, reposition it and guide it on a trajectory that is northward ahead of the 2019 general elections. Whereas, movements of some PDP leaders to the APC in the northern part do not have the potential to upset any conventional arrangement due to the localization and reduction of presidential power politics within the context of northern ownership, such movements, against the backdrop of Rochas-APC initiative, become tendentious for the same reason that underscores southern Nigeria’s quest for the big prize.
The inter-party movements, sans ideological footings and justifications, continue to stimulate fears and create tension in the polity, especially now that the political map is being tinkered with and redrawn ahead of 2019. There are gainers and there are losers in quantitative terms. But the greatest beneficiary of the on-going circus of defections has been the governing APC and this is understandable. There has been a change of baton and the party has become the new power base. Not anymore the PDP. That is the way the cookie crumbles.
For the PDP leaders, especially those holding elective offices, that have already jumped ship, such act of abandoning the party on whose platform they won election, has only exposed their weak points as spineless politicians whose god is, perhaps, their bellies. They really do not care about what the rest of us think of them. For them, the end justifies the means, which is surviving the intriguing world of cloak-and- dagger politics. Therefore, they attach little importance to the leadership-followership system that underpins interactions in the context of political party administration on the basis of essential ideologies.
Whereas, they are supposed to provide unwavering leadership, they have become the exact opposite of that assumption. They have deliberately failed the test of faithfulness to their parties and what they stand for. The followers, on the other hand, are left to relate with the culture of leadership infidelity that cumulatively leads to atrophy of the party spirit.
To be sure, defection is not a new reality. It has been on, for the sake of this treatise, and restrictively speaking, since the advent of this Fourth Republic. The PDP had once benefitted from it. It is not malapropos that it is losing to it. What goes round comes round. Since none of the parties can lay claim to any guiding ideology, they may be somewhat excused, but the individual politicians are inexcusable. To define their individuality, they should dare to be different by standing for something so that they do not fall for everything.
A few of them have remained unwavering in their commitment to their political platforms since 1999, not changing parties even in defeat as has now been typified by the PDP. But what rankles, as its former Board of Trustees chair, Chief Tony Anenih, recently confessed, is that those who have defected to the APC were those who benefitted so much from the PDP.
They have acted smart, so it seems, by using and dumping the party in dishonest circus and manifest political duplicity; but, then, they have created an impression of themselves in the minds of their new landlords who will deal with them wisely, considering the fact that they are rangers in quest for insular political return. This is, indeed, unconscionable and sad.
Mr. Ojeifo, the Editor-in-Chief of The Congresswatch magazine, sent this piece via ojwonderngr@yahoo.com. [myad]