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Deadly Earthquake Hits Morocco, As Over 600 People already Dead

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Morocco Earthquake

By Akinwale Kasali

Terrified Moroccan fled their homes in the middle of the night in Marrakesh following a powerful earthquake that shook the North African country. It left over 600 people dead.

A United States of America Geological Survey disclosed that the quake was about 6.8-magnitude, and struck a mountainous area 72 kilometres (45 miles) southwest of tourist hotspot Marrakesh at 11:11 pm (2211 GMT) on Friday.

Strong tremors were also felt in the coastal cities of Rabat, Casablanca and Essaouira.

Moroccan media reported it was the most powerful quake to ever hit the country.

“We felt a very violent tremor, and I realised it was an earthquake,” Abdelhak El Amrani, 33, told AFP by telephone from Marrakesh.

“I could see buildings moving,” said Amrani who went outside, joining many other people, “all in shock and panic. The children were crying and the parents were distraught.

“The power went out for 10 minutes, and so did the (telephone) network, but then it came back on,” he added. “Everyone decided to stay outside.”

Updated Interior Ministry figures on Saturday showed the quake killed 632 people, more than half of them in Al-Haouz and Taroudant provinces. The Ministry said deaths were, also,  recorded  in Ouarzazate, Chichaoua, Azilal and Youssoufia provinces, as well as in Marrakesh, Agadir, and the Casablanca area.

Another 329 people were injured, 51 in critical condition, the ministry said.

An eyewitness, Faisal Baddour, an engineer, said he felt the earthquake three times in his building.

“There are families who are still sleeping outside because we were so scared of the force of this earthquake,” he said. “It was as if a train was passing close to our houses.”

Frenchman Michael Bizet, 43, who owns three traditional riad houses in Marrakesh’s old town, told AFP that he was in bed when the quake struck.

“I thought my bed was going to fly away. I went out into the street half-naked and immediately went to see my riads. It was chaos, a real catastrophe, madness,” he said.

Bizet shared a video of piles of rubble from collapsed walls in the streets.

Other footage on social media showed part of a minaret collapsed on Jemaa el-Fna Square in the historic city.

An AFP correspondent saw hundreds of people flocking to the square to spend the night for fear of aftershocks, some with blankets while others slept on the ground.

Houda Outassaf, a resident, told AFP he was walking around the square when the ground began to shake.

“It was a truly staggering sensation. We’re safe and sound, but I’m still in shock,” he said.

“I have at least 10 members of my family who died… I can hardly believe it, as I was with them no more than two days ago.”

Fayssal Badour, another Marrakesh resident, told AFP the earthquake hit while he was driving.

“I stopped and realised what a disaster it was… The screaming and crying was unbearable,” he said.

The earthquake was also said to be felt in neighbouring Algeria, where the Algerian Civil Defence said it had not caused any damage or casualties.

In 2004, at least 628 people were killed and 926 injured when a quake hit Al Hoceima in North-eastern Morocco, and in 1960 a magnitude 6.7 quake in Agadir killed more than 12,000.

The 7.3-magnitude El Asnam earthquake in neighbouring Algeria in 1980 killed 2,500 people and left at least 300,000 homeless.

INEC Has Broken The Trust Of The Nigerian People-Osinbajo’s Spokesman

By
Tosin Olatokunbo
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A former presidential spokesman, Laolu Akande says the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, ‘damaged’ its reputation over its failure to upload the presidential results on its INEC Result Viewing Portal, IREV.

Akande was the Senior Special Assistant to former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

He spoke on Friday on a Channels Television programme Politics Today, saying INEC destroyed the trust Nigerians had in the electoral umpire because Prof. Yakub Mahmood its Chairman had earlier promised to upload the result on its website.

The former presidential spokesman spoke less than 48 hours after the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, declared Bola Ahmed Tinubu the winner of the February 25 presidential election.

The five-man panel of the Court of Appeal had in their judgment upheld INEC’s power to decide the modality for announcing the election results.

INEC management, the PEPC said, did not break the law by its decision to transmit the results electronically.

Not a few Nigerians have however expressed their dissatisfaction with the judgment, saying it fell short of their expectations.

The Prof. Mahmood-led electoral body should have lived up to its promise to Nigerians, they insist.

Reacting Akande said, “It is important to establish something we cannot basically run away from. INEC came out of this election as a damaged good.

“There is no doubt about that. INEC itself set up a standard. INEC determined the guidelines. INEC committed to the people of Nigeria that this is how we are going to declare the result of this election.

“In fact, the chairman of INEC went abroad and said, ‘What we are going to do is that these results, when we get it, we would put it on IReV in real time.

“But guess what? When it was time for INEC to fulfill its guidelines — for certain reasons…we could talk about that–  INEC failed to do what it said it would do.

“Now, it is right that if you look at the law, and I think the judges also affirmed, INEC has not really broken the law. But INEC has broken the trust of the Nigerian people.

“It is a problem for political legitimacy for people who came out of that system. So, there is a lot of cynicism, there is a lot of distrust [about those declared winners].”

Meanwhile, the two major candidates in the election Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Peoples Democratic Party, and Labour Party, respectively have challenged the PETC decision at the Supreme Court.

IREV porter.

Akande was the Senior Special Assistant to former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

He spoke on Friday on a Channels Television programme Politics Today, saying INEC destroyed the trust Nigerians had in the electoral umpire because Prof. Yakub Mahmood its Chairman had earlier promised to upload the result on its website.

The former presidential spokesman spoke less than 48 hours after the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, declared Bola Ahmed Tinubu the winner of the February 25 presidential election.

The five-man panel of the Court of Appeal had in their judgment upheld INEC’s power to decide the modality for announcing the election results.

INEC management, the PEPC said, did not break the law by its decision to transmit the results electronically.

Not a few Nigerians have however expressed their dissatisfaction with the judgment, saying it fell short of their expectations.

The Prof. Mahmood-led electoral body should have lived up to its promise to Nigerians, they insist.

Reacting Akande said, “It is important to establish something we cannot basically run away from. INEC came out of this election as a damaged good.

“There is no doubt about that. INEC itself set up a standard. INEC determined the guidelines. INEC committed to the people of Nigeria that this is how we are going to declare the result of this election.

“In fact, the chairman of INEC went abroad and said, ‘What we are going to do is that these results, when we get it, we would put it on IReV in real time.

“But guess what? When it was time for INEC to fulfill its guidelines — for certain reasons…we could talk about that–  INEC failed to do what it said it would do.

“Now, it is right that if you look at the law, and I think the judges also affirmed, INEC has not really broken the law. But INEC has broken the trust of the Nigerian people.

“It is a problem for political legitimacy for people who came out of that system. So, there is a lot of cynicism, there is a lot of distrust [about those declared winners].”

Meanwhile, the two major candidates in the election Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Peoples Democratic Party, and Labour Party, respectively have challenged the PETC decision at the Supreme Court.

CBN: Nigeria’s Forex Reserves Not $33bn, Fitch Backs JP Morgan

By
Tosin Olatokunbo
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Barely a month after a US-based financial service firm JP Morgan slammed the Central bank of Nigeria, CBN over Nigeria’s forex reserve, Fitch Ratings has picked holes in the estimation by the apex bank that the country’s net forex reserves is around $33 billion.

A country’s Net forex reserves is the deduction of its foreign currency liabilities from gross foreign currencies reserves.

Recall that JP Morgan had in a report released in August claimed that Nigeria’s forex reserve stood at less than $4 billion.

“Based on partial information from the audited financial accounts, we estimate that CBN’s net FX reserves were around US$3.7bn at the end of last year, from US$14.0bn at end-2021,” the firm said in a report last month.

The apex bank however picked holes in the report insisting that the country’s forex reserves is way beyond what JP Morgan estimated. Nigeria’s forex reserves stand at over $33 billion, the apex bank said.

According to the clarification provided by Hassan Mahmud, Director, Monetary Policy Department, CBN, the fluctuations, liabilities, and encumbrances have not really affected the country’s reserve contrary to JP Morgan’s claim that the reserves have crashed to less than $4 billion from $11 billion by the of 2021.

“We also read the JP Morgan numbers in-house and we didn’t panic over that. That’s not the first time we are seeing people, institutions reeling out numbers; they must have their intentions to do that, whether to rouse market sentiments, whether to mislead the public,” Mahmud said.

He stated further, “But the central bank has tried as much as possible to be transparent. What I will say about those numbers is that it is just funny in the sense that number one, reserves like any account balance, is a flow; there are changes that go within it at any particular time.

“Two, even if you have outstanding liabilities, you don’t mark the outstanding liabilities to market on a day and say this is your net balance.

“We have the numbers there. The central bank’s reserves are on our bank net. Yes, the figure you see today may not be exactly to the last decimal point but you have that picture that you are seeing there.

“We have $33bn, there is IMF facility there, the SDR is also there, we have the JP Morgan numbers that you mentioned, we have forwards, they are all there.”

Fitch however estimates in its report that Nigeria’s currency swaps represent 30 percent of its total reserve worth between $10 billion and $12 billion as of the end of 2022.

The report stated, “Fitch estimates, partly based on our survey data, that CBN swaps with domestic banks were $10bn – $12bn at end-2022, and are likely to remain close to that level, but there is less visibility on swaps it may have with international counterparties.

“We anticipate that most of these domestic swaps will continue to be rolled over, reflecting incentives for banks to invest the naira received in high-yielding sovereign securities and the sector’s limited reliance on swaps for foreign-currency liquidity given its sizeable foreign-currency placements with international banks.”

The firm said further, “When we affirmed Nigeria’s rating at ‘B-’ with a Stable Outlook in May, we stated that external finances were a key rating sensitivity. We estimated that around 30 per cent of Nigeria’s gross reserves (which were $37bn at end-2022) comprised swaps with domestic banks, although we considered that some other reserves could well be encumbered.”

The firm’s warning that the continued depletion of the forex portends serious danger to the country’s economy resonates with analysts’ opinion that the free fall of the Naira in recent weeks is due to the high fluctuations in its foreign reserves.

While the CBN blames forex traders for the naira’s continued fall in value to other international currencies, experts insist that the problem will continue as long as nothing concrete is done by the country’s fiscal and monetary managers to shore up the forex reserves.

The Nigeria National Petroleum Company, NNPC Limited recently secured a $3 billion emergency crude repayment loan from the African Export-Import Bank, Afreximbank, to support the naira and stabilise the foreign exchange market in the country.

Experts applauded the measure but insisted that such only amounts to flogging the problem without dealing with the root cause.

Lagos Reinstates Oluomo As NURTW Boss

By
James Orji
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Musiliu Akinsanya aka MC Oluomo has been reinstated as the chairman of the Lagos State Chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW.

This followed the reconciliation of all the feuding parties in the Union at both the state and national chapters.

Recall that Oluomo was suspended by the Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa-led national body in March 2022 and was later appointed as the General Manager of the Lagos State Park and Gardens Agency, LSPGA by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

The new management of the union at the national level led by Tajudeen Agbede has now reconciled all the warring parties, leading to the reinstatement of Akinsanya as Chairman of the council in the state.

This was made known by NURTW leaders when they paid a courtesy visit to the Ministry of Transportation

Speaking, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Abdulhafiz Toriola, said the state government has done everything on its path to ensure peaceful co-existence among members of the union, he urged them to work together in harmony.

He explained that the state government has now lifted the ban placed on the union.

The newly elected chairman of the union, Tajudeen Agbede had last month lifted the suspension slammed on Oluomo, blaming his predecessor for the NURTW crisis in Lagos state.

Agbede said, “One of the main problems created by Baruwa was the arbitrary suspension and expulsion of members perceived as his enemies. Through this, he destroyed the union, especially in the southwest. So, I, Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede, on behalf of other members of my executive, leaders and members of our union throughout the country, hereby lift the illegal suspension of our esteemed members throughout the country.

“Of particular concern is the suspension of Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya, the Lagos state chairman of f our union. He was unfairly treated by Alhaji Baruwa. It was a pure case of misuse of power. We hereby appeal to Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya to come back home. NURTW is one big family and that is where you belong.”

Meanwhile, those familiar with the union said the reconciliation and reinstatement of Oluomo could not be totally alienated from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The Lagos NURTW is a close ally of the president.

PEPC Judgement: Again, The Judiciary Indicts Itself

By
The Source
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0

By Steve Osuji

JUDGMENT WITHOUT JUSTICE: It was an unduly long and tiresome pronouncement last Wednesday,  6th of September. One couldn’t help but feel for lead justice,  Simon Tsammani.

For over 12 hours,  he rattled on and on like a cranky molue. The old jurist hurtled endlessly over a rough terrain of arcane legalese. Half the time, half his audience was tired and weary and the other half  dozed. Hardly any one in the hallowed courtroom or without seemed to have jy listening to the labourous proceedings.

Even Tsammani who projected some humour during the months of trial now sounded sombre and dry with no mirth in his voice anymore. No spark of eloquence lit the long rendition. It’s apparent that Tsammani is not a man naturally given to erudition and as he stumbled over the tome of text, it appeared he didn’t prepare the  ruling therefore didn’t internalize it for he had much too much difficulty reading it. From his veiled position, he came out like a man under duress, probably with a gun to his head as he read the judgment.

It should have been Tsammani’s moment in the sun and our judiciary’s finest day in history.  But both Tsammani and his judiciary family chose to convene under an incubus. They couldn’t rise above the mundane and hobbled histrionics. They refused to transcend the movement. It was a day made especially for the likes of Chukwudifu Oputa, Akinola Aguda and Kayode Eso; they would be sneering from the other side of the divide wondering  – what a wasted day in an epoch!

TSAMMANI’S SEANCE SESSION: The Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) had ruled out live television streaming during the long trial. Now why the volte face to allow live television during ruling? Many more Nigerians would have understood this judgment better if they had seen the process leading to it. In the UK, India and even Kenya the other day, livestreaming activities in the court is becoming the norm. Way back in 1973, 40 years ago, the US had put the famous Watergate trials live on television for the world to see and follow. It was live television that gave wings to the fall of President Richard Nixon.

During covid in 2020, most trials were online real time. UK has a bustling YouTube where anyone in the world could go view causes going on live or check the archives. In a few years, judiciaries across the world would have set up online video channels for airing and documenting all courtroom proceedings.

Unless a court has something to hide, live broadcast coverage of proceedings makes it open and transparent. The benefits of this to study, research and practice is unquantifiable. Further, institutions and government systems must increasingly breakdown the old barricades against openness and accountability.

Why would a court adjudicating over a cause of presidential magnitude bulk at showing the world the how and howtofores of reaching what would be an earth-shaking decision? It is for the foregoing reasons that Tsammani’s so-called live ruling on the 6th was as eerie as a séance in a coven of cultists: a noxious voice ululating in a large high-ceilinged chamber filled mostly with people in cultic uniform. It was a surreal environment that produced a spooky result.

JUDICIARY IN SELF-ANNIHILATION: In the days Nigeria’s judiciary acquitted itself well as the pristine and unassailable third Estate of the realm, hardly any ordinary citizen dared to publicly discuss a major court ruling much more discount it openly. But in the last decade or so, every major ruling from our Appellate and Supreme Court has been matters of open debate and public angst. Judges have opened themselves to odium and public abuse for perverse pronouncements and rogue rulings. We have witnessed the total absence of integrity and the reign of mediocrity.

While rigour, high learning, erudition and gravitas were the hallmarks of great jurists, today we see Supreme Court justices looking scruffy and carrying an unkempt visage. They seem at home in raucous parties and they crave social functions.

Today, corruption has taken over the soul of the judiciary to the point that finding a ‘clean’ person on the bench is an exception rather than the rule.  This is why they have become naked. Even a kindergarten can see through their sham of rulings. Every layman at the street corner can second-guess them, see through their suborned rulings almost always.

JUDGMENT WITHOUT JUSTICE: This explains why where petitioners pray for simple justice, their causes are subverted with legal jargons. These days, you cannot win a high stake petition anymore  (especially election cases), unless you go through the stomach of the judges. They forget that they live in our midst and we know how stupendously affluent many are; especially some of the election tribunal judges since 1999. You will never get justice on the merits of your case – that has almost become the norm in election matters.

Apparently, this PEPC didn’t disappoint. That’s why ruling against Peter Obi and Abubakar Atiku and  in favour of incumbent President Bola Tinubu didn’t surprise many Nigerians. There are so many audaciously incongruous points,  many jagged edges and commonsensical issues made obtuse and  flying against logic. One is the requirement for 25% of votes in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. There are over three precedents laid by the Supreme Court settling this constitutional point. Almost every Nigerian who can read has this information. Yet our eminent jurists threw this issue out with nary a mention of these prior rulings by the apex court. Another small point is the matter of electronic transmission of election results. For about a decade, Nigerians clamoured for constitution review to accommodate this vital ingredient for ensuring transparency and vastly improving the voting process. Hundreds of billions of naira was released to INEC to equip itself and its processes and ensure electronic transmission of results in the 2023 general elections. Prior to election,  INEC assured the whole world it was not only ready to do so, that it would indeed adopt and deploy the technology without fail. But there we were,  one of the jurist unashamedly donned the garb of a defence lawyer and tried to convince the world that INEC was under no obligation to deploy electronic transmission. Even INEC dared not tell us that,  it tells us about a phantom glitch. So what was the purpose of the electoral law review? So much for neutral arbiters!

OLD ORDER: NO DISLODGING THE LEVATHAN: So much is wrong with the PEPC ruling as apparent to even a novice. So much is wrong with our judiciary and so much more is wrong with Nigeria. Of course it all boils down with the old, corrupt order. They are holding Nigeria and all her institutions to ransom. The old order is mortally wounded and has been boxed to a corner. It’s in its last throes of death. For instance,  with the miasma that’s President Tinubu’s educational background (and lack thereof), his serial perjury and dalliance with drugs, he would never be able to stand any election in the US or any decent country.  Yet in Nigeria, the judiciary has continuously propped him up each time his barefaced perjury and mendacity  are challenged in court since 1999. Some judiciary!

GOING FORWARD: The obviously short-changed litigants have proceeded to the apex court. But whichever way this goes, there’s much more to be done if Nigeria must be liberated from the stranglehold of anarchists and kakistocrats. Our electoral laws must be fine tuned some more to entrench more devices that imbue transparency. Electoral matters must be concluded before swearing in; the electoral umpire must go to jail if he’s seen to deliberately  subvert the process, etc. The judiciary must be reformed and fortified to enjoy true independence.

Lastly, it is hoped that the Supreme Court would rally to redeem the situation as the petitioners approach its sanctuary.

Osuji, former Media Adviser to former Governor Emeka Ihedioha, is an accomplished Journalist and Columnist.

Uzodimma Inaugurates Oguta General Hospital, Names It After Arthur Nzeribe, Commissions Bridge Linking His House To Oguta Town

By
The Source
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Governor Hope Uzodimma on Friday honoured late Sen. Francis Arthur Nzeribe, a great son of Imo State and Nigeria of Oguta extraction, naming the newly inaugurated 42 bed General Hospital in Oguta after the maverick politician and appealing to the traditional rulers and stakeholders from the area to ensure that the facility in protected.

Besides naming the hospital Senator Arthur Nzeribe Memorial General Hospital, Oguta,  the Governor of Imo State also used the opportunity of the inauguration to commission a bridge linking the Oguta community to the late politician’s house as part of the honour done him.

In an elaborate ceremony at the old Oguta General hospital where the brand new one  established by the Governor is sitting, Governor Uzodimma said honouring past heroes of Imo State like Senator Arthur Nzeribe became necessary since he “showed the way and others followed.”

Addressing the Mammoth crowd that graced the occasion, the Governor expressed joy that “for once the three Local Governments Oil Producing areas of Ohaji/Egbema, Oguta and Oru East are having General hospitals built through the 13% oil derivation as enshrined in the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic as amended.”

The Governor regretted that instead of the 13% Oil derivation money becoming a blessing to the communities, “the reverse is the case, as more often than not, the inhabitants of oil producing areas are not well taken care of.”

He decried the fact that for more than 24 years of the birth of the 13% oil derivation law “evidence has shown that in all the years, nothing in terms of development of the environment and the people is pointed at anywhere, rather the people are allowed to suffer and the youths blackmailed and neglected and even tagged criminals.”

He explained: “As a result of the neglect of the youths, all we get from the areas are thuggery, banditry, and nobody bothers to know the root cause of the bad behaviours of the young men.

“Instead of the leaders in the areas coming out clean and being vocal to give reasonable answers on the bad behaviours of the youth, they hide under the peanuts they receive from the oil companies to deny their people their rights.

“Any nation that is not interested to provide sufficient welfare for her youths upbringing and development, that nation is doomed to fail.”

He reiterated that when he became Governor of Imo State in 2020 he looked at the parlous situation and vowed that the narrative must change, insisting that “our young men and women must be carried along and the oil producing communities deserving of the best and must get it.”

Governor Uzodimma said that to achieve common good it occurred to him that “the only way to provide a proper welfare package to the oil producing youths, men and women is by teaching them how to fish and not by dashing them fish.”

The Governor said on understanding the root cause of the problem, “a comprehensive assessment of all that is concerned is to establish and reduce the infrastructural deficit in the area,” noting that “this can only be by establishing those things that will elongate their lives and make them feel that actually oil is being produced in their area.”

“Many of the youths are addressed as touts because government, their leaders and Stakeholders have not been able to speak for them,” a narrative he said he is determined to change.

He said globally today, “there is a new world order, and the new world order is about creative thinking and evolution of progress and success hinged on the fact that ideas rule the world.

“This implies that it is better for you to know the problem of the people and how to solve it, and only then the society will thank you and you become their hero.

“There is need to create heroes with enterprising spirit which an average Igbo man is known for and which is gradually disappearing and must be reawakened.

“The enterprising spirit is what our fathers and forefathers is known for.”

Governor Uzodimma charged every politician in Orlu zone who believes that politics is about welfare as well as the people, to “emulate the late Senator Arthur Nzeribe who exemplified quality leadership and a role model while on earth.”

He informed the audience that the reason for establishing the hospitals in the affected communities is because “75 percent of deaths in the oil producing areas are avoidable, hence the people of the areas must be allowed access to good and quality health facilities.”

On a lighter note, the Governor said that “God who singled out the three LGAs out of the 27 LGAs and gave them oil did not make mistakes.”

He said for them to fully gain the advantage of the natural endowment he has “decided to use the 13 percent oil derivation to develop the people and their environment.

He then charged the Traditional Rulers and Town Union Presidents in the areas hosting the Hospitals to own them up and protect them from vandalism, even as he urged all to work hard to protect their common heritage “no matter the political party because they are for all of us.”

Also, Governor Uzodimma called on the youths to shun violence and all forms of vices that will put them in trouble, insisting that “our destiny is in our hands and what we call our dog is what it will answer.”

Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman of  ISOPADEC Board, HRH Eze (Professor) Dele Amuzienwa Odigbo thanked Governor Uzodimma for remembering the people when it mattered most.

He said that with the new hospitals the Governor has provided affordable health care facilities for both preventive and curative medical services to the host communities.

Eze Odigbo added that the people of Oguta will compensate the Governor with their votes come November 11, 2023, to further demonstrate their love for him.

The Managing Director and CEO of ISOPADEC, Chief Charles Orie did not only pour encomia on Governor Uzodimma for rewriting the history of the oil bearing communities but reminded them of the need to massively vote for the Governor and the All Progressives Congress.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Proper Success-Ohayagha also thanked Governor Uzodimma for what he is doing in the health sector in Imo State, particularly in the primary healthcare and informed the audience that the Sen. Nzeribe Memorial General Hospital is fitted with state of the art equipment that can deal with all community based health challenges.

Governor Uzodimma had inspected the facilities in the hospital accompanied by some top government officials and Oguta stakeholders.

NAIJA Paralysis – Donu Kogbara

By
The Source
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0

When the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Bola Tinubu the winner of a presidential election that had been tarnished by widespread fraud, unconcealed violence, shameless tribalism and crude voter suppression tactics, Tinubu’s camp advised his opponents to go to court if they felt cheated.

An anonymous wag wryly observed, via a WhatsApp post that went viral, that (I paraphrase) when someone with whom you are having a dispute cheerfully advises you to take an obviously valid grievance to court, you should know that the judge is probably his uncle.

When 5 Appeal Court judges firmly rejected Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar’s petitions, there was a distinctly avuncular atmosphere in the election tribunal chamber. And complaints immediately ensued.

Tinubu and his cohorts are understandably thrilled. But despite the substantial support the President received from INEC officials and other state actors, he only got 37% of the vote, which means that 63% of the electorate did not choose him; and millions of Nigerians, knowledgeable lawyers included, are accusing the tribunal chair (Justice Harunna Tsammani) and his colleagues of blatant bias.

While the President and his allies slap each other on the back, crack open bottles of celebratory champagne and thank their bewigged saviours for sparing them the humiliation of defeat, many onlookers are incandescent with rage or just plain depressed and bewildered.

Some of the more cynical critics of yesterday’s verdicts are even saying that all branches of the Nigerian judiciary are a sick joke and so irredeemably corrupt that Atiku and Obi should abandon hope now and not bother to elevate their petitions to the Supreme Court.

“Why waste time and money on further legal action when we all know what the result will be?” is a bitter question I’ve heard repeatedly from demoralised Obi and Atiku supporters.

I’m tempted to share this pessimism. But here is the thing: Nigeria is in a mess precisely because of Naija Paralysis…which basically means that the average Nigerian gives up too easily.

The Supreme Court justices will be far less likely to misbehave if they know that all this talk about “ALL EYES ON THE JUDICIARY” is not just talk. And that there will, for example, be a prolonged general strike that includes professionals as well as ordinary folks if judges cannot morally or intellectually justify a pro-Tinubu verdict.

I am a student of world history and can confidently tell you, my dear Vanguard readers, that societies can only become truly self-respecting, democratically robust and socio-economically strong if citizens make the right kind of sacrifices in the short-term…with solid medium- and long-term progress being the ultimate goal.

But, sadly, most of us are wallowing in grossly inadequate comfort zones and suffering yet smiling. Most of us settle for crumbs that are tossed at us from high tables populated by greedy cabalistic mandarins who can barely hide their scorn for the majority.

Most of us are extremely reluctant to boldly say “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”, demand a fair slice of the pie, doggedly stand by any principle and persistently fight for anything worthwhile.

We are quick to grumble and slow to embark on meaningful protests. We constantly denounce our lousy leaders but refuse to insist on better governance because we are pathetically risk-averse.

We are, in a nutshell, too cowardly, too materialistic, too indolent, too flimsy and too eager to sheepishly tolerate unacceptable situations. We are masters of shoddy compromises. We specialise in caving in. We masochistically betray OURSELVES on a daily basis.

This is why I have tons of respect for exceptions to the rule: Activist lawyers, outspoken journalists, feisty campaigners and Twitter warriors like Aisha Yesufu, Dele Farotimi, Chidi Odinkalu, Lloyd Ukwu, David Hundeyin, Farooq Kperogi and Jackson Ude.

I do not always agree with them. But I am on the same page as them most of the time and absolutely love the fact that they are not afraid of lashing out at powerful politicians who deserve flak.

Truth is important; and if Nigeria eventually improves, it will be because there are Nigerians who courageously said “hell no!” to toxic rubbish and wouldn’t cravenly cower in a corner or collect juicy bribes from VIPs who are keen to generously silence them.

I have a few friends who initially opposed Tinubu but now think that we should “move on as a nation” and let him get on with presidential duties without any further ado. But I am not ready to move on.

I want to hear from the Supreme Court justices first. And who knows? Despite my profound scepticism, they might come up with sound arguments that will persuade me to move on.

Until then, I will seethe alongside other Obidients.

And, by the way, the odds are too heavily stacked against petitioners; and we really need to stop allowing people to be sworn in as heads of state when their alleged victories are being contested.

Tinubu is already the head honcho at ECOWAS. Tinubu is representing us at the G20 Summit in India and has just secured investment deals worth $14.3 billion. Tinubu will fly the flag at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.

Judges are, on the whole, conservative by nature and even the most honest of judges might be reluctant to upset the apple cart and unseat a man who is already so deeply entrenched!

Kogbara is an accomplished International Journalist and Columnist

“In Nigerian Politics, Ethnicity, Religion More Important Than Competence”  – Wike On Why Obi Lost

By
The Source
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Nyesom Wike and Peter Obi

By Gideon Njoku

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike said he knew the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi, was going to lose the February 25, 2023, Presidential Election.

He gave two reasons why he knew. Firstly, the immediate past Governor of Rivers State said, Obi’s supporters are not vast in politics; they do not know how to play politics.

Secondly, according to Wike, in Nigerian politics, competence does not matter as much as ethnicity and religion. For Wike, ethnicity and religion are more important than competence.

Wike disclosed these in an interview with Channels Television on Thursday, the day after the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, dismissed the case brought before it by Obi and LP, to challenge the declaration of the Candidate  of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, as the winner of the Election.

In a unanimous judgment on Wednesday, September 6, 2023, the five-member Panel of Judges said Obi and LP’s case was without merit.

On why Obi lost the Presidential Election, Wike said: “I knew that he won’t win the elections. Let me tell you the truth. I am a realist.

“For me, the way the election went, it was a tough election. I give it to INEC.

“Yes, as a young man, people would have preferred  that he won, but look at how the votes went.

“There is this generational change. The young people were tired. So, for them, the only hope they had was to vote for Obi as a younger person compared to other candidates. But unknown to them, that is not the reality of Nigerian politics.

“They didn’t take into cognizance that ethnicity is a factor. They didn’t take into cognizance that religion is a factor. It is not only competence. That is the reality of Nigerian politics.”

Wike, a Peoples Democratic Party Governor at the time of the Presidential election, worked for Tinubu against his Party’s Candidate, Atiku Abubakar. He was rewarded with a Ministerial slot – Federal Capital  Territory’s Minister.

How Gunmen Captured And Butchered DPO in Rivers State

By
The Source
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Kayode Egbetokun - IGP

By Charles Igbo

It was a tragic Friday evening, September 8, 2023, in Rivers State.

An unknown number of gunmen captured a Divisional Police Officer, DPO, Bako Amgbanshin, and killed him in a most gruesome manner. They beheaded him, caught off his hand and private part from his body, inflicted deep matchet cuts on other parts of his body,  made a video of the blood cuddling scene, and posted it.

In the video which they posted, one of them  focused a torchlight on the face of DPO Agbanshin, and taunted him. “DPO, finally na you be this. Now, how far?”

The gunmen are believed to be cultist – Iceland.  The one who taunted the DPO in the video confirmed their identity. He said to the cut-off head of the DPO: “You dey challenge Iceland. Who are those men? Iceland, are they dangerous?”

The story of how the DPO was killed by the cultists is mind-boggling. Reports said that the DPO Amgbanshin and his boys went for an operation to raid a criminal hideout around the Ahoada East Area. But they were ambushed by the cultists. Speculations are that an insider must have tipped the cultists off about the planned operation. On ambush, a shoot-out between the Police, led by the DPO, and the cultists ensued.

Inexplicably, the Police were outgunned when they reportedly into an ambush by the cultists. According to reports, they ran out of bullets and ammunition, which gave the cultists an upper hand.

As the Policemen ran away, the DPO, allegedly, suffered a cramp on the legs and fell down. That was when the cultists captured him.

On capture, they took him away, and a few hours later, his slaughtered and dismembered body surfaced on the Social Media.

It is not known if DPO Amgbanshin’s body has been recovered, but Grace Iringe-Koko, Spokesperson for the Rivers State Police Command confirmed the tragic incident.

Ondo: Gov Akeredolu Resumes, Meets Stakeholders

By
Ayodele Oni
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0
Rotimi Akeredolu Resumes

By Ayodele Oni

Ondo State Governor , Rotimi Akeredolu, has forwarded a letter of his resumption from medical vacation to the State House of Assembly.

Receiving the letter on behalf of other lawmakers, the Speaker of the House, Olamide Oladiji, said the Governor’s action is in line with Section 190(1)of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

According to the letter, which was received on Friday during Plenary, the Governor said his resumption is effective from Friday, 8th September,2023.

Oladiji, who expressed appreciation to God for bringing the Governor back home hail and hearty, said the entire people of Ondo State are glad to see him back in office.

The Governor had, on 4th June,2023, embarked on a medical leave and later extended it on 4th July, 2023.

The Governor in his letter, expressed gratitude to the Lawmakers for their good wishes.

Meanwhile, Governor Akeredolu, convened a meeting with key stakeholders from Ondo State in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, on Friday.

Stakeholders present at the meeting included members of the State House of Assembly, led by the Speaker, Oladiji Olamide; Members of the State Executive Council, led by the Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa; National Assembly members; led by Senator Jide Ipinsagba; and Members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) State Working Committee, led by the Chairman, Engr. Ade Adetimehin.

The wife of the Governor, Chief Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, also joined the Governor to receive the guests.

During the meeting, Governor Akeredolu formally handed over his resumption letter to the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Olamide, and also provided a copy to the Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who was in attendance.

Governor Akeredolu said: ”I came back yesterday, and as you know, it was a long journey. I decided that I must meet with you today. God has answered our prayers, and we give Him all the glory.

“I can assure you that our return is to the glory of God and the prayers of all of you here, and those who wished us well,

“I thank you very much. God has done what the majority of our people wanted. Majority of our people here knelt down and prayed for our return, and we have returned.”

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