Within a year of the President Bola Tinubu’s administration, the Amnesty International (AI), said its record of performance in the area of human rights and rule of law fell below expectations.
The human rights body pointed out that its findings have raised significant concerns about the Nigerian government’s commitment to protecting its citizens and ensuring justice and accountability for human rights abuses.
It particularly noted what it described as the severe human rights violations being committed with impunity across the country in the past one year under President Tinubu’s watch.
The organization specifically said that the abuses were not isolated incidents but, part of a broader pattern of systemic human rights failures under President Tinubu’s administration.
Amnesty International, which stated these while giving a scathing assessment of Nigeria under President Tinubu, pointedly accused his administration of failing to uphold human rights and the rule of law after one year in office.
These were contained on its verified social media accounts, entitled “Human Rights Through Tinubu’s One Year in Office,” in which Amnesty International stressed that the persistent and alarming issue of frequent attacks and abductions by armed groups, known locally as bandits were worrisome.
“These incidents have been particularly rampant in the states of Plateau, Niger, Katsina, Zamfara, and several areas within Sokoto state, creating an atmosphere of fear and instability among rural communities and travellers.”
Amnesty International stated that its report should serve as a call to action for the Tinubu’s administration to address these critical issues and to take concrete steps towards safeguarding human rights and upholding the rule of law in Nigeria
Tension and palpable apprehension have enveloped some parts of Aba, the commercial nerve centre of Abia state,.
This followed the kïllïng of unspecified number of soldiers by gunmen at a military check point/post at the Obikabia Junction in Obingwa Local Councils of Abia state.
It is not known if the attack is connected to the warning given by, allegedly, members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, warning people in the South- east to stay indoors on the 29, 30, and 31 of May in memory of the dead and to mark Biafra Day. Earlier, they had asked the West African Examination Council, WAEC, to reschedule the West African School Certificate Examination scheduled for March 30. WAEC ignored the request, triggering the fear that about 300,000 candidates in the Zone could miss the Mathematics examination scheduled for that day.
Witnesses said the gunmen, early Thursday, May 30, 2024, stormed the military post ,and started shooting sporadically at the military operatives on duty.
At the end, some of the soldiers were reportedly killed ,with the attackers razing the military post.
At the time of reporting, there were heightened tension and anxiety, in the Ogbohill part of Aba fand adjourning areas ,with reports indicating that military operatives who are not happy with the development have laid siege on Obikabia and environs .
It would be recalled that only early this month ,some unknown gunmen killed a soldier and injured one at a military post at the Aba main park ,following a purported disagreement.
Frantic messages are being sent by some people to friends,relations and others to avoid the areas which are all parts of the commercial hub of Aba .
But ,it is not yet known if the suspected gunmen and the incident are linked with the Biafra Day celebration called by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra IPOB andor an isolated case of hoodlums attack .
The Source reports that the IPOB had set aside May 30 every year to observe the Biafra Day in the Southeast region.
But despite the stiff opposition that trailed this year’s edition of the sit at home order ,as directed by IPOB ,many of the region’s cities remain relatively deserted.
Many had raised concerns and openly called for the celebration of the Day without locking down the region owing to the ongoing West Africa Examination Council WAEC examinations .
Also as at the time of reporting, police ,Military and Abia state authorities were yet to react to the development.
The Souh-east Region, Imo State, Owerri North, and the Egbu Community in particular, has lost one of their great sons.
Sir Sylvanus Oleru, a Knight of St Christopher, Egbu Diocese, Anglican Communion has passed on.
The renowned Meteorologist, Labour Unionist and Community leader, passed on April 6, 2024 at the enviable age of 96.
His remains will be laid to rest on June 7, 2024 after a funeral service which will be led by the Anglican Bishop of Egbu Diocese, His Lordship, the Rt. Honourable Geoffrey Okorafor.
In his active years, Sir Oleru rose to the rank of the Chairman, Labour Congress of the Eastern States of Nigeria. At the National level, he worked as the National Secretary of the Labour Congress during the tenure of late Comrade Wahaab Goodluck.
According to one of his sons, Chairman of Medical City Hospital, Egbu, Dr. Chima Oleru, the burial of Sir Oleru will be a celebration of a life well spent instead of mourning for, he lived a very fruitful life, and was blessed with seven children, all University graduates, many grandchildren, great-grandchildrend.
In those active years, Sir Oleru worked in different parts of Nigeria and outside the country, practicing his chosen career at the same time fighting the cause of workers. He pioneered the establishment of Meteorological Departments in the capital cities of the then Eastern States in Nigeria.
Sir Oleru, also, served in different capacities in the Aviation industry.
He, finally, retired as the Zonal Inspector of Meteorology, Eastern Nigeria.
For the deposed Kano Emir, Aminu Bayero, it was not a matter of if but when. The moment the Supreme Court upheld Governor Abba Yusuf’s election in January, Bayero knew the governor would need the throne to pay his debt.
During the campaign, the governor promised that if he were elected, he would revoke the sharing of the Kano Municipal Emirate between two Bayeros among the four new emirs and restore the throne’s singular pre-eminence.
Of course, he won. But before the ruling of the Supreme Court in January affirming his election, two lower courts had ruled in favour of the APC candidate, increasing the probability that Yusuf might not get it.
But Yusuf defied the trend and got it. Since then, Aminu Ado Bayero has taken his case to virtually all notable traditional rulers in the country, begging them to beg President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to save him. His last visit was to the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba SikuruAdetona. Neither the Awujale, the Sultan, nor any other traditional rulers he had visited could help.
The throne would be used to pay a debt foretold.
Nearly there
But the re-instated Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, is not sitting pretty yet. Not even one side of his royal buttocks is hugging the throne in the main palace yet. He’s currently in a holding room, besieged by orders and counter-court orders about what should happen next.
A young man genuinely surprised by the drama in Kano asked what the fuss was about. Why should the country almost come to grief over who of two cousins – with ties and friendships that run deep – would become the emir? It’s a fair point.
There was a time in this country when the business of chiefs, obas, emirs—or any traditional rulers, by whatever description or name—was the concern of local governments.
How they were appointed, kept or removed was local. Their relevance or longevity depended mainly on how their communities perceived their compliance with the customs and traditions.
Burden of a legacy
Colonial rule exploited and undermined the system. However, the more significant damage was inflicted by the long years of military rule, which emasculated the states and local governments through a centralised system of administration that left the units bereft. Successive politicians have only paid lip service to federalism.
After the civil war and the national trauma that followed it, the military recruited traditional rulers, amongst others, to help heal the country and deepen their own legitimacy. They courted the institutions, propped them up, and invested them with responsibilities that made them more prestigious, prominent, and powerful.
A number of soldiers, especially from the North, where the traditional institution had grown from colonial rule to become something of a vital centre of political and religious authority, soon took traditional titles to reinvent and perpetuate their control, complete with the feudal and anachronistic levers of power.
Game of Thrones pro-max
A young man born into a modern world of merit, innovation and competence is right to question the sense in a country that advertises itself as a republic but is still obsessing over a wayward, neo-medieval concept called monarchy. The only thing that imitates what is happening in Kano is the fantasy TV series, “Game of Thrones”, based on George R. R. Martin’s book, A Song of Ice and Fire.
But that’s precisely the point about the pathology of the monarchy. Throne rule may be extinct in France and parts of Europe where monarchs paid for feudalism with their heads hoisted on spikes by wild mobs or it may be seriously challenged in a few remaining bastions like Britain, but the drama, the complex themes of power, loyalty and betrayal, remains a reality of our daily existence. That’s why Kano obsesses.
Powers behind the throne
Sanusi and Bayero fancy themselves as the centre of the drama. They’re not. Both men and their supporters are grist in a vast and complex power mill grinding through the heart of the politics of 2027 and beyond in the North. Whoever wins now will still yield the throne to pay a future debt.
It’s not Sanusi v Bayero. Or some karmic payback either way. It’s the leader of the NNPP Rabiu Kwankwaso v Abdullahi Ganduje and a few key members of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s cabinet who want to lead the North in 2027.
One insider described what is happening as a “skirmish”, insisting that the battle, which obviously consumed former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, is only just beginning.
Coming war
After President Muhammdu Buhari’s catastrophic tenure and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s serial futile attempts at taking the presidency, the North has been asking itself if this is indeed the best it can offer. That soul-searching is at the heart of the jostling to produce credible leadership that can rally the region, if not for the next four years, then certainly for the next general election cycle.
In this coming battle, any potential contender who shows his hand early on may not be politically alive to tell the story. But that will not stop politicians from trying to succeed where El-Rufai was ambushed.
Kwankwaso is one such politician. With the victory at the governorship polls, he regained his political footing in Kano, the largest vote bank in the North-West, where his successor betrayed him. He has been trying, without much success, so far, to trash Ganduje, the chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
What Kwankwaso may need to reinforce his grip as the potential pre-eminent political leader in the North, is to secure control of the Kano emirate. Whether given Sanusi’s own volatile history Kwankwaso would find him serviceable in this task is another matter. What is clear is that of the two devils, one is preferred.
Once the emirate is settled, Kwankwaso will return to the immediate task of worming his way into the ruling party. Why would he prefer the ruling party to the prospects of a mega-merger of PDP, LP and others? Because it’s a joke that offers no serious pathway to power, and those mooting the idea know it. Kwankwaso, too, knows it.
Why this skirmish matters
But he also knows that the only thing more combustible than having FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and Rivers State Governor Simi Fubara in one room is having Kwankwaso and Ganduje in one room. The combatants, with the referee and spectators, are guaranteed a bloody ending. That’s why, after lining his political and monarchical ducks in a row, Kwankwaso’s next stop is Abuja.
Ganduje knows that this is a fight for his political life. And even though forces around the president detest Ganduje, they are united on the matter of blocking any potential leader from the North who is currently outside Tinubu’s inner circle. There’s no guarantee they would succeed but they won’t fail for lack of effort.
As it was in the “Game of Thrones”, expect more surprises, more twists and turns, more convenient alliances, treachery and betrayals. The monarchy may be damaging itself either from within or from outside pressure, but the lessons it teaches about power, about its absolutism and ephemerality, remain for all who have eyes to see.
Ishiekwene, Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP, is the author of the new book Writing for Media and Monetising It.
In Rivers State, a miracle has taken place. It is a miracle different from the every second miracles often claimed by some “men of God”. We don’t see those miracles. We don’t watch them unfold. They just noisily claim they are performing miracles; that they have performed miracles; that the deaf is suddenly hearing; that the cripple has just leaped and began to walk. We have no proof. It is like magic, more magic than African Magic. And some people believe.
But what is happening in Rivers State is different. It is real. It is unfolding, as they say, “before our very eyes.” It is a miracle unprecedented. Suddenly, the dumb is not just speaking, he is screaming and roaring. The cripple is not just walking, he is galloping. The weak is not just strong, he could challenge our own Anthony Joshua to a boxing bout. And, boy, not a few people are excited. And clapping. And cheering.
Short of a miracle, I don’t know how else to describe the just unraveled Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara. This Fubara is so different from the Fubara Nigerians saw in the months leading to his election as a Governor. He is different from the Fubara we saw on the day he was sworn-in, the Fubara who told the crowd, literally, that he would be incapable of governing the State without his predecessor. He is different from the Fubara we saw in the first three months of his Governorship. He is different from the Fubara we saw during the Governorship campaign. Then, he was hardly seen. He was even a fugitive. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had declared him wanted. So, he was in hiding over allegations not a few people felt he did not commit. They felt he was not the main target. They felt his boss then, Nyesom Wike, was the target. Afterall, Fubara was a civil servant, answerable to his Governor, not just any Governor, but a Wike.
Unlike the scenario at the Federal level where we are told that the signature of then President Muhammadu Buhari was, atimes, allegedly forged, and hundreds of millions of Naira and Dollars signed away and stolen without his knowledge, or the scenario just unfolded in Imo State which alleges that the Governor’s signature had, on a number of times, been forged for land allocation racketeering, nobody would try that with Wike. The person “wan die?”
Without an express order or approval, people argued, Fubara, then the Accountant General of the State, would not dare release funds, a point he emphasized the other day.
With Wike, the EFCC was helpless. As a Governor Wike had immunity. So he took over Fubara’s Governorship campaign. The very few times Fubara managed to appear at campaign grounds, he looked as dull as dodo. Quiet. Face, expressionless. Unsure of himself. The Fubara we saw then looked weak. He could hardly campaign for himself. It was Wike, the powerful, the roaring lion, who was all over the place. Nothing was too much, too bad, too controversial, or too sacred for him to say. Even confidences he shared with a couple of people were thrown to the dogs.
And why not?
Wike is a powerful man. One doubts that at one’s peril. He walks where Angels fear to walk on. He oozes power. He stamps it; so much so that not a few people call him terror and/or emperor. They run when he approaches. They cower when he talks. He once, publicly, (and to his face), referred to aTraditional Ruler as “this small boy.” That insult was for nodding in agreement with what Wike was saying. The Governor lashed him for trying to impress him by nodding his head!
Siminalayi Fubara , Governor of Rivers State
Examples of Wike’s power abound. And for the records, his power was obvious long before he became a Governor. In 2015, as a Minister of State, Education, under the Goodluck Jonathan Administration, he ran incumbent Governor Chibuike Amaechi out of town, almost, and defeated his candidate in the Governorship Election. Don’t forget that at the time, aside from being the Governor in full control of Rivers State treasury, Amaechi was, also, the Director General of then Candidate Muhammadu Buhari’s Presidential Campaign. So, Amaechi had much money to throw around. Yet Wike gave him a bloody nose. If you thought it was because of Federal might, since the PDP was in power then at the centre, Wike performed the same feat in 2019. With Amaechi’s Party at the Centre, with Amaechi as the Minister for Transportation, with Amaechi as, again, the DG of President Buhari’s Presidential Campaign, Wike gave Amaechi’s Candidate a technical knock-out. He proceeded to “banish” Amaechi, almost, from the State. He went after him, and finally set up a Panel of Inquiry to look into a couple of Amaechi’s actions as Governor of the State. (By the way, what’s the status of the outcome of that probe?)
But it was in early 2023 that Wike raised the ante of his powers. He weilded it with decisive precision both in his State and National levels. In Rivers State, he made all contestants under the banner of the PDP, from Governorship, State House of Assembly, Federal House of Representatives to the Senate look stupid by purchasing the forms on their behalf. It ran into an obscene amount of money. He went after those who insisted on paying for the forms from their own pockets. At least, one of them was arrested, and detained till after the Primaries. A couple of them alleged he went after their businesses. And Wike never failed to shout from the roof tops that he paid for their forms each time they dared say any “pim”, or make any “gra-gra”. And as if they are under a spell, or they “swore for them”, none of them has had the courage to ask if Wike used his personal money to buy the forms for them. Or, if that is even allowed, morally right, or appropriate. Would that happen in any civilized climes without consequences?
When those he bought forms for protested that he gave them false hope, and sent them on a wild goose chase when he knew he already settled for who his successor would be, he declared them enemies. He said they had no political clout; that they were 10 for a kobo. Cheap. That they didn’t matter; that they had since expired as politicians. And, no jokes, all of them, big men, true to Wike’s boasts, he made them politically irrelevant in the State. Combined, they hardly had enough political clout to challenge him.
One of them, Celestine Omehia, Governor of the State, until sacked by the Supreme Court in favour of Amaechi, Wike set out for a special humiliation. He told him, I should add, rightly, that he was no longer to be referred to as a former Governor. He stripped Omehia of the State Honour he, Wike, conferred on him. To rub it in, Wike made a show of personally removing Omehia’s portrait from the photo gallery of past Governors at Government House. Then, he did the unbelievable. Omehia was asked to refund pensions and all allowances paid to him as a “former Governor”. The Court saved him that refund ordeal.
Here’s the irony.
Amaechi, as a Governor, rightly, did not recognize Omehia as a former Governor. If you are sacked, you have lost title. But not in Nigeria. They cling to it.
It was Wike, to spite Amaechi, who recognized Omehia as a former Governor as soon as he was sworn-in. And then, suddenly, he woke up one morning, and stripped Omehia of all.
Wike’s power and influence peaked in 2023. It was the year he destroyed the Political Party which made him what he is today.
It was Wike who rubbished any chances the PDP had of winning the Presidential election in 2023. To the disbelief of not a few people, Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and then National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, held unto their pride and ego and allowed Wike retire them from politics. He factionalized the Party, took four Governors along, as well as a number of top Party members, formed a formidable opposition within the Party, and made sure PDP went to the election a divided house. He prevailed in a style that would make Nollywood green with envy. And, he did more.
Nyesom Wike
Only a Wike would perform the magic that happened on the day of the Presidential and National Assembly Elections where the Electorate voted, same day, for an APC Presidential candidate, and PDP National Assembly Candidates. But that is the Wike power.
With Wike’s installation of Fubara as Governor, and his own appointment as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, not a few people thought Wike couldn’t ask for more. Everybody thought he was now on a gravy ride. With his State Governor completely subservient to him, with the President treating him like an egg, a special child, Wike could have been walking like he had springs attached to his heels.
At a time, Wike owned Rivers State, literally. Before him, Governor Fubara was dumb. Looked very docile. Wouldn’t talk. Took orders from him. Fubara’s job was to answer “Yes Sir”. No questions. No arguments. No suggestions. If Wike asked him to jump, he would ask: “How high Sir?” He appointed all his political appointees for him. Chief of Staff. Commissioners. Special Advisers, Special Assistants. And more. He dictated who occupied which position in the State House of Assembly. And more.
Money was not an issue between him and Fubara. Unconfirmed sources alleged that Fubara, as agreed, parted with N2.5b every month for the boss. Even without that, Wike is rich, very rich. He is wealthy, very wealthy. He had Fubara in his pocket. Unconfirmed sources said even when Wike, allegedly, ordered Fubara not to allow his wife play the role of a First Lady, the Governor said “Yes Sir” – to the extent, it is alleged, that once, when Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, invited Wives of 36 State Governors to a meeting in Abuja, Fubara was forced to ask his wife, who was already at the Airport, to return to Government House Port Harcourt because Wike allegedly said so. If true, Mrs Fubara must be a good woman. I know a number of other First Ladies who would have ignored that order and proceeded to Abuja. Let the heavens fall thereafter. And let the scandalous story leak.
So, what was the problem? What destroyed the Master- servant relationship between Wike and Fubara? Like a fowl, people now say, Wike has scattered everything he labored to gather. They say he has destroyed the house he labored to build. Just imagine, if the relationship had not gone sour, Wike could have been entering Rivers State like a king. Each time he came to Rivers State, Fubara would have been at the Airport to receive his lord and master.
Neither Wike nor Fubara has said, exactly, what the problem is. All we heard from Wike is: “I don’t want my structure tampered with. I need to keep my structure.” Now, if money was not the problem since the alleged N2.5b deal was not threatened, one can only conclude that excessive control of the Governor was the problem. He says he regrets picking Fubara to succeed him. He made a mistake, he says. He has threatened to throw him out from office, and so.
correct his mistake.
From Fubara, nothing has been heard as such, not even now that he has miraculously been cured of his “dumbness.” But it has since been garnered from here and there that the main cardinal sin Fubara committed was to dare appoint one Commissioner -Information – without Wike’s permission. So, Wike hit the roof. And so, for that, Rivers State has been turned inside out, upside down. Anybody that dared ask Wike to thread “softly-softly, or let “your boy be”, became an enemy. Big mistake.
Now, Fubara has suddenly woken up. He has been pushed to the wall. The humiliation was too much, watchers say. For him now, all is fair in war. From his favorite song “Dey your lane, I dey my lane”, he has jumped to the centre of the lane.
The worst thing that happened to Wike is the “awakening” of Fubara. It is Fubara “wisening” up. It is the untying of Fubara’s tongue. It is Fubara’s realization of the powers he has, the powers of a Governor. An Executive one for that matter. Governors like to prefix their offices with “Executive” so no one doubts their powers and reach. Powerful office!
So now, Fubara knows all that. And he is enjoying it. Who could have believed that Fubara could threaten to probe Wike’s administration? Who could have believed that Fubara could face members of the State House of Assembly, headlong, and tell them they “no longer exist”, or that they are there at his own discretion. Just imagine that Fubara has, on his own, appointed his own Commissioners, those that would be loyal to him and the people of Rivers State, and not to Wike?
I mean, just look at this: Fubara has become so independent that he is even now using “ungubernatorial” language. “The jungle has matured”; “the wind will blow, and we’ll see the ‘nyash’ of the fowl”; “there is a rat in the house eating our garri and I have the ‘otapiapia’ for it.”
And Fubara is now sure-footed. He is winning souls everyday. And he flaunts them. To those who tell him: “If you probe Wike, you are probing yourself.” The Governor has an answer: “I am ready. Bring it on. I have all the papers for approvals from him. I kept them.” Fubara kee? Interesting.
So, has Wike finally met his nemesis? His waterloo? Not a few people think so. It is an irony that this could come from a man he mercilessly stumped on other people’s feet to install a Governor.
So, what to do?
A number of people think Wike should surprise himself and make peace with his “boy.” Call him in and remind him of the early beginnings, of how two of them worked together. They also advice he should pay a nocturnal visit ta a couple of others, especially, the Odilis and make peace. Money is good, they say, and so is flaunting of power, but they are not everything.
Yet, others advice that Wike should have a conversation with himself; that he should interrogate himself. And ask himself questions like:
Why is it that I always end up quarreling with those I was close to – the Odilis, Amaechi, Dr Abiye Sekibo, Austin Opara, Lee Maeba, Prince Uche Secondus, Celestine Omehia and more?
Why is it that, right now, I don’t get on with any of my predecessors in office?
How come I think that everybody is wrong and I am the only person right.
At the Party level, why is it that I fell out with all the National Chairmen I helped bring into office – Ali Modu Sheriff, Prince Uche Secondus, Dr Iyorchia Ayu? How come I install them and pull them down?
Why is it that anything I don’t get, I tend to destroy? See what I did to PDP because I was not picked as Atiku’s running mate after I was defeated at the Party Primary.
Why do I go back on my promises? For instance, insulting and mocking the Odilis when I had publicly acknowledged their positive roles in my life, and promised to stick to them forever?
I had also said I would never interfere in the Government of my predecessor. So why am I giving Fubara a breathing space? Must I be in control of everything?
I had called APC cancer, and said I would have nothing to do with it. Yet, now, not only am I serving in an APC Government at the Federal level, all loyalists of mine in the Rivers State House of Assembly decamped same day from the PDP to the APC because of me. What does the future hold for them if the Constitution is followed to the letter?
I kind of like Wike. He is strong. Bold. Courageous.I have no use for weak men. He did quite some good job as Rivers State Governor. He opened up Port Harcourt, forget that we now hear that he did not pay for most of the projects he commissioned. At least, the projects are there. They are in Rivers State.
Wike was one of the reasons I stayed glued to the television and social media during the campaigns for the 2023 General Elections even when I was battling for my life outside our shores at the time. Watching him dance and sing and talk made me laugh and helped me handle my low moments. Watching him made me yearn to get back home quick and be part of the action. I would, therefore, hate to see him, one day, struggling to breathe – politically.
So, my unsolicited advice: Wike should get up and clean up untidy surroundings. He had done it before with the Odilis. Nothing stops him from toeing same path again.
Ade Dosumu, a former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has applauded the decision of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi to sue state governments over the management of local gov funds.
The federal government through the AGF dragged the 36 state governments to the Supreme court recently, praying the court to free local government funds from the stranglehold of state governors.
In the suit, marked SC/CV/343/2024, the federal government is seeking the apex Court order to prohibit governors from unlawfully dissolving democratically elected local government councils.
Not a few Nigerians have condemned the mismanagement of funds belonging to local governments by governors through the State/ Local government Account created by state governments in the country.
The situation has led to underdevelopment at the grassroots level because funds required to provide amenities and critical infrastructure has been lacking as a result of governors’ manipulation.
According to Dosumu, serious minded administrators will be attracted to the local governments if fund are available to run them efficiently.
Freeing up funds from the state governments, he said, will also expand the provision of dividend of democracy at the grassroots level.
He explained that financial and political autonomy for LGAs will be a “game changer” at the local government level, adding that this will allow federal and state governments to focus on more “broader issues”.
He said development at the local levels have been very slow due to the governors’ manipulation, calling for immediate amendment of extant laws to stop the problem.
Dosumu said, “There is no doubt that our Democratic journey has been very slow due to lack of autonomy for the third tier of government as practised in other Democratic climes,” he said.
To correct the anomaly, he said, the National Assembly must amend necessary laws to enable financial and political autonomy at the local government level.
“This and other contradictory clauses need to be amended to reflect the complete financial and administrative autonomy as it’s been operated in other federal systems.
“I commend the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, for this bold step and urge him to go all out to break this jinx by removing the clog in the wheel of our development and progress.
“You can imagine the impact that will be created if 774 local governments are independent and free from the apron spring of the state governments.
“In summary, granting full autonomy to local governments in Nigeria will lead to better governance, increased citizen participation, improved service delivery, and accelerated development at the grassroots level,” he stated.
The Source magazine reported that The Supreme Court has fixed today May 30 for the hearing of the suit.
No fewer than 12 persons have been reported killed in Kaduna state by suspected terrörists.
The incident occured on Wednesday
at Maro Junction, a weekly Market in Maro Ward, Kajuru Local Government Area of the state, one of the epicenters of terrörists enclaves in the country.
According to eye witnesses account, who said the bodies of those killed have been recovered, close to 20 persons have also sustained various degrees of injuries from yesterday’s attack.
Also, a former chairman of the local government, Cafra Caino, who spoke to journalists on the issue stated that the hoodlums opened fire as soon as they invaded the market, sending people into panic mode.
The former LGA boss said security forces appeared to have abandoned the community thereby allowing the criminals to have a free rein, appealing to the government to ensure that security is provided.
He said yesterday’s incident was the second time the hoodlums had attacked the market, describing the current situation in the community as very “critical”.
Caino explaned: “The situation is critical and has thrown residents around the area into confusion while they scampered for safety in neighbouring villages.
“Security operatives drafted to the area have already left. We are appealing to the government to deploy security operatives to help restore normalcy.”
The Opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Abia State has described the Governor Alex Otti led Labour Party, LP, administration in the state as a huge disappointment, insisting that the regime only thrives on deceit and half truths.
A statement issued by the Abia PDP spokesperson Comrade Abraham Amah on Wednesday, May 29, 2024, said the State has, in the last one year of Governor Otti in office, become like a vehicle on motion but without movement.
The PDP said its honest and sincere assessment of the present administration is that Governor Otti has failed Abians because he has governed by the rules of autocracy, executive high- handedness, disobedience to the rule of law, deceit, visible lies, and ruthless propaganda.
Below is the full text of the statement.
“Abia PDP has seen the usual display of deceit orchestrated by Alex Otti to celebrate the one year anniversary of his administration.
“As he celebrates with weary Abians who are distraught about the directionless government that is in office, the honest and sincere assessment of this government by the Abia PDP, is that Alex Otti has failed Abians because he has governed by the rules of autocracy, executive highhandedness, disobedience to the rule of law, deceit, visible lies, and ruthless propaganda.
“The inevitable conclusion is that Abia has made motion without movement, and the people are worse than when Alex Otti met them.
“Our position is the true position of things, and any other alternative story is prominently powered by three sets of people: Alex Otti’s well-oiled propaganda machinery funded with taxpayer money, the ‘yes men’ of the Labour Party who know the truth and are ashamed to admit it, and the horde of netizens who have never visited Abia in their lifetime but rely on doctored social media clips to make their judgement.
“Beyond the re-asphalting of roads, which he has promoted endlessly, Abians must understand that under the cosmetics he used to make-up his record achievements for one year lie the catalogue of deceit and falsehood that not only characterise his government but eminently define its behaviour.
“To buttress our position, we have made a litany of Alex Otti’s conscious missteps, which clearly show that he set out to deceive Abians right from the electioneering campaign to his days in government, because he has always said one thing and done another, in a brazen disregard for the consequences of his actions on the very people he swore an oath to protect.
“1. Non-use of Abia Government House
“He has not packed into the State Government House, despite having an existing Government House, a Government House Annex at Aba and a state-of-the-art government house handed over to him by the immediate past governor, Dr.Okezie Ikpaezu.
“2. High cost of governance
“He excels in high cost of governance like using N5.6b to run the Governor’s office while operating from his personal house, N456m for information dissemination and N2.7b for security votes in just one quarter of the year, July to September, 2023.
“3. Sacking of Abia civil servants without due process
“He has sacked more than 15,000 Abia civil servants including Permanent Secretaries even when he denied saying such during the campaigns. In all the sackings, he never followed due process in relieving gainfully employed Abians from their positions.
“4. Owing of salaries/endless verification
“During his days in opposition, Alex Otti made a song of how the previous administration owed workers salaries. One year down the line, after sacking more than 15,000 Abia workers and subjecting the existing ones to endless biometric6 verification exercises, Alex Otti owes thousands of Abia workers 12 months salary, despite the quantum leap in the amount of money the State and local governments receive from the Federation Allocation Account Committee, FAAC every month.
“5. Lies About Abia Pension Arrears
“In what appears to be the worst display of official recklessness, Alex Otti said that he has cleared 9 or 10 years- (the inconsistency even triggers the suspicion of his ‘yes men’) pension arrears in Abia State. To puncture a hole in his lies about pension arrears, the Abia State chapter of the National Union of Pensioners, NUP duly acknowledges that its members were owed 45 months arrears before Alex Otti became the governor.
“6. The Abia Forensic Audit that Never was
“Last month, Alex Otti ran to the United States to tell the world that he commissioned one of the best accounting firms in the world, KPMG to carry out a forensic audit on Abia’s financial accounts between May 2015 and May 2023 and that the audit discovered over N118b that was stolen by the previous government, particularly, a said N10b which was paid out to contractors to build a non-existent Abia airport. When Alex Otti was pressured by Abians to make the records of the forensic audit available, he released a financial process review document which even showed how the said N10b was utilised for road contracts.
“7. “I met an empty treasury” but Dr. Ikpeazu left N3.49b in Abia treasury
“One of Alex Otti’s songs that filled the air waves in Nigeria moments after he was sworn into office was, ‘I met an empty treasury in Abia’. The Abia financial process review was in fact, fortuitous for the Abia PDP and the former governor Dr.Okezie Ikpeazu because it exposed one of many of Alex Otti’s wicked lies. The process review he commissioned revealed that Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu left N3.49b in the State coffers, excluding the FAAC money for the month of May 2023 that was paid in June 2023.
“8. Disobedience to the rule: the Case of Aaaron Uzodike
“In November 2023, the Appeal Court which sat in Lagos upheld the mandate of the PDP candidate Hon. Uzodike of Aba North State constituency and removed the Labour Party candidate, Destiny Nwagwu. For over six months, the speaker of the State House of Assembly, Emmanuel Emeruwa, under the instructions of governor Alex Otti has refused to swear in Hon. Aaron Uzodike, despite having all the requisites, including presenting a valid Certificate of Return issued to him by the election umpire, INEC.
“9. Non-Conduct of Local Government Elections
“During his days in opposition, Alex Otti vehemently criticised the use of transition committees to run the local government tier and swore that he would never govern for one day without elected council officials. One year into office, Alex Otti is using Transition Council Chairmen whom he illegally renamed as ‘mayors’ to run the local councils, and only appointed them six months after he assumed office and does not give them the full money that accrues to them from the Joint Allocation Account Committee, JAAC, jointly owned by the State and local councils. Just last week, Alex Otti said that he would only conduct local council elections when he has retrofitted the council secretariats with the transition chairmen. Isn’t that putting logic upside down and taking Abians for fools?
“10. Security votes and the spike in insecurity
“Before Alex Otti became the governor, he told Abains that he would not take any security vote, but the first quarter expenditure of his government July to September 2023 shows that he took a whooping N2.7b, amounting to N927m each month, in a State that was made peaceful for him by the previous administration.
“11. Opaque and direct award of contracts without due process
“Since he became governor of Abia State, Alex Otti has never followed the Abia State Public procurement Act to award contracts. The good people of Abia have never seen any publication inviting contractors to bid for any road or infrastructure contract. They have never heard that the State Executive Council which meets illegally in his private home sat to approve any road or infrastructure contract. The only thing they hear is that contracts for roads have been awarded without telling Abians which contractors bidded for the jobs, the costs and how the valuations were arrived at.
“12. Abia Has no Investment in Geometric Power Plant Limited
“Then comes the mother of lies that embarrassed Abains more than the government itself. After claiming that he built the Geometric Power Plant in just nine months in office, he publicly denied on national television that Abia State has no investment in the power plant even when the promoter of the business, Prof. Barth Nnaji had written to him days ahead of his public appearance that the former Abia government had invested N1.5b in the plant. Governing by lies is nothing but ineffective propaganda and today, Abians are aware that their investment in the Geometric Power plant is valued at over N28b.
“13. Abia Tower-Ossah six lane Road
Abians are clearly aware that the road leading from the Abia Tower at the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway was already existing as a four-lane road. Always claiming credit for what others did, Alex Otti said that he was building a six-lane road from the Abia Tower through Ossah to the city centre. In all the noise he made and the attendant huge sum at which it was awarded without due process, Alex Otti just demolished properties along the road and added a walkway that he claims will make the road a six-lane road.
“14. Abandonment of shoe and garment factory
“In staying true to his pledge of not touching anything left behind by the PDP, Alex Otti has abandoned the multi-million naira shoe and garment factories and the modern hospital in Aba, that were built, equipped with state-of-the-art machines and computerised equipment and commissioned for use in the twilight of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s administration. One year after they were commissioned, those investments have been under lock and key.
“15. I’m building an airport for Abia
Last week, Alex Otti gleefully announced to Abians and Nigerians that he is making plans to build an airport in Abia because it is the only State that does not have an airport in the South East and one of the two in Nigeria. According to Alex Otti, the federal government approved an airstrip for Abia and he is ready to upgrade it to an airport with Abia funds but he cannot fix just one of the dilapidated federal roads that dot Abia, like the Arochukwu-Ohafia road that is reputed to be the worst road in Nigeria and put up an invoice for refund from the FG if he can partner with them to do an airport upgrade.
“16. Borrowing of funds and putting Abia into debt
Since the creation of Abia 32 years ago, the total indebtedness of the State to local and foreign creditors is put at N90b. As an opposition figure, Alex Otti jacked the figure up to N190b and up till today nobody, except himself knows how he manufactured that figure. Already, he has borrowed over N100b secretly with the State House of Assembly under his thumb and without Abians knowing it. If he continues at this rate, Abia would become the most indebted State in Nigeria in just four years of his administration.
“17. Aimless and unproductive foreign trips
In the last 365 days, Alex otti has embarked on fruitless foreign trips to different parts of the world at the cost of over N1b. He went to Hungary, a poor Eastern European country to look for foreign investors and showcased “Made-in-Aba ” shoes and clothes when he kept the shoe and garment factory governor Okezie Ikpeazu built under lock and key. The Abia PDP challenges Alex Otti to mention just one company that has opened a shop or factory in Abia since he started globetrotting in search of foreign investors.
“All considered, it is very obvious that Alex Otti is not who he pretends to be and the PDP is using his one year in office to open a small window into the mind of the man who presented himself as a messiah and saint to Abians. As we step into the next year of the Alex Otti administration, the Abia PDP calls on Abians to watch Alex Otti closely, very closely, because his agenda might not pay Abia in the end and the only thing we can tell Abians is to continuously hold him to account and ask him to be what he promised to be.”
Abuja residents would be allowed to enjoy the light rail service for free till the end of the year, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared.
The president said on Wednesday that this is part of the dividends of democracy he promised Nigerians.
It’s also part of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the All Progressives Congress, APC, government under his watch, Tinubu said.
Tinubu made the pronouncement today in Abuja, the nation’s capital while commissioning the Abuja Light rail project as part of the activities to mark his one year in office.
He was sworn in exactly a year ago on May 29, 2023 to succeed Muhammadu Buhari.
The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike had earlier announced that the free ride would last for two months.
President Tinubu however appealed to the minister to extend the bounty for another six months, to end in December.
Tinubu said, “Our dear landlord and his team had initially proposed two months of free rides.
“However, I appeal to extend this until the end of the year, providing the people with hope and reason to celebrate.”
The rail project had earlier being commissioned by former President Buhari but had not been functional due to vandalism by hoodlums.
Not a few residents in the nation’s capital said the rail will improve transportation in the city, and have welcome it.
The Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has lauded the courage, resilience and doggedness of the citizens and residents of the State for playing a pivotal role in the march towards changing the hitherto ugly narratives of the State.
According to him, but for the commitments and huge sacrifices made by the state electorate during the 2023 General Elections, Abia State would have continued its wayward journey in the wilderness 32 years after creation.
The modest transformation so far recorded ,Governor Otti, insisted are the fallouts from the heroic efforts of the State’s electorate who ,strongly displayed their belief in the potency of the ballot in engineering social and economic transformation.
“I want to thank you, the good people of Abia state, for your unyielding faith in democracy, for believing that the power of the ballot is the strongest force for social and economic transformation of a society.
“You are the real heroes of the new Abia and deserve the admiration of the world for what we have collectively achieved.
“You refused to give in to despair and the cynicism that would normally follow a long period of disappointment.
“It has been 12 long months, and today presents us two unique opportunities ; one ,to pat ourselves on the back for moving away from the old system that pauperized the majority to a new order that places the interests and welfare of the people at the centre of decision making.
“This day also presents us the opportunity to take stock, evaluate what has been achieved, identify where mistakes have been made because ultimately there are no human endeavours without errors, and then plan for another twelve months.”
Governor Otti assured of a better future ahead as his administration has garnered enough experience from the mistakes of the last one year.
“The beauty of democracy, beyond the demands of periodic elections, is the opportunity it affords leaders to regularly interface with the people and feel their pulse.
“In the last one week we have toured all the three Senatorial Districts. of the state to talk to, and learn from our people at the grassroots.
“The interests and enthusiasm shown by Abians across the zones point to the evolution and expansion of the democratic space in our dear State.
“It is heartwarming to know that our people have become passionate about democracy,using every available opportunity to make their views and sentiments on the important issues of the day known.
“The last 12 months have presented a special learning opportunity for us because leadership is essentially about learning.Ours so far has been the story of the man in the area as Theodore Roosevelt captured it.
“We do not seek perfection,but to make things better for the ordinary Abian who first believe in the beauty and prospects of democracy .
“We strive valiantly but again and again, we come short,not because we so desire but because it is the nature of human endeavours .
“Our modest success in the last one year has come from waking up with new enthusiasm each morning,believing that we shall achieve better outcomes in the new day having learnt from the mistakes of yesterday”
