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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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 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.”
An angry, hard-hitting and hard-fighting Lawyer to Peter Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Dr Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, has said that his client lost at the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, because the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, made it difficult for Obi’s Legal Team to prove their case. He said that the obstacles INEC deliberately placed on the way were difficult to surmount.
Uzoukwu, who decried the PEPC September 6 judgement which affirmed the victory of the APC candidate, Bola Tinubu, in the February 25, 2023, Presidential Election, said he and his team are headed to the Supreme Court to seek redress.
By placing of obstacles, Government institutions, like INEC, Uzoukwu said, litigants are gradually being forced to resort to self-help, which may not be legal to get justice.
The respected Lawyer, also, worried that if care was not taken, solid and sound “electoral jurisprudence would disappear in the country.”
Dr Uzoukwu who spoke after Tinubu’s victory at PEPC, said: “If we are not careful, our electoral jurisprudence will eventually disappear. I am saying this with every amount of sincerity because when the litigant, when those who contested the election continue to find it very difficult to establish their case due to obstacles on the way, starting with INEC, certainly they may resort to some other means of trying to get justice, which may not be lawful.
“Also, I commend the Court of Appeal for introducing live streaming. You may recall that we applied to the court to have live streaming of all the proceedings, but the court, in its wisdom did not grant the application.
“So, I will hope and pray that this time, it will be continuous, starting from the beginning of a case.
“That is the only way that you can guarantee transparency because when something is open, Nigerians will see things for themselves and they will make up their minds, one way or the other.”
The cases filed against the declaration of Tinubu as President, by the LP, PDP and AMP, were dismissed by the five-man Panel of the PEPC for lacking in merit.
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Osita Okechukwu, has said that but for Atiku Abubakar’s greediness, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, could have won the 2023 Presidency.
Okechukwu, who is a founding member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Director General of the Voice of Nigeria, VON, said the PDP had a bright chance of retaking the Presidency, but ruined it because Atiku refused to cede the Presidential ticket to the South, and especially, to the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi.
Obi was a member of the PDP and Atiku’s running mate in 2019. He was, also, a Presidential aspirant under PDP in 2023, but quit the Party for the LP, a couple of days to the Presidential Primary, when he found out that the PDP had set up all the Southern Candidates for a thorough defeat.
Okechukwu, who spoke in Abuja after President Bola Tinubu’s victory at the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, said Atiku dealt the PDP a deadly blow from which the Party may not recover, by clinging to the ticket.
He said: “Atiku dealt PDP a huge blow from which it might be difficult to recover.
” If Atiku had obeyed the zoning convention, supported Peter Obi, or any other southern presidential candidate, it could been simply an all southern bout.
“The Wike Masquerade couldn’t have emerged.
“That would have meant that the bulk of votes he garnered could have been credited to PDP.
“Atiku divided PDP’s votes irreparably.
“All the votes Labour Party garnered were from the party’s stronghold, minus votes warehoused by the former Vice President, who naively forgot that Northern voters are one of the most sophisticated in the country, but believed that Northern electorate would behave like children in a dormitory waiting for directives on how to vote.”
Okechukwu praised Tinubu “for rescuing the zoning convention, which guarantees equity, and natural justice between the north and South.”
He said: “First and foremost, let me congratulate Tinubu for rescuing the zoning convention, a ligament binding north and south from unprecedented assault.
“To be honest, my take is that the opposition lost the election that day in 2022, when Atiku Abubakar trampled on the Presidential zoning convention, which governed the Fourth Republic Nigeria and was also embedded in his party’s Constitution.
“Recall that Atiku earned accolades when he stormed out of PDP Convention in 2014 in protest that President Goodluck Jonathan was breaching the zoning convention.
“And, in 2018, Governor Nyesom Wike hosted PDP Convention in Port Harcourt and ensured that only Northern Presidential aspirants contested for the Presidential ticket as a way of honouring the zoning convention.
“So, it is obvious that when Atiku sacrificed statesmanship on the altar of narrow political ambition, one concluded that he had wittingly or unwittingly fatally wounded the fabric of PDP.
“And, going by the time worn cliché, a divided house cannot stand, Nigerians should recognise that Atiku, by his greed, denied PDP a possible victory.”
There is hope of possible return for a traditional ruler in Ekiti state that was chased away from the throne by his people for five years.
The Ekiti State Government, has brought back to the throne the embattled Obasaoye of Isaoye, Moba Local Government Area of the state, Oba Damilare Olajide Gabriel after tendering apology to his Chiefs.
The monarch had been having a battle with his chiefs, since 2018, for allegedly taking step to exterminate all traditional festivals in the community, which prompted the chiefs to commence a process of deposing him and install a successor.
Oba Damilare, in the heat of the crisis, had abdicated the throne and stood his ground not to participate in worshipping of deities on the strength of his religious belief.
The matter was resolved in Ado Ekiti, on Friday, by the Deputy Governor, Monisade Afuye, during a peace parley with the two warring factions to resolve the lingering crisis.
Mrs Afuye, in a statement by his Media Aide, Victor Ogunje, described as inappropriate, a statement allegedly made by Oba Damilare at a peace meeting, that he would not participate personally and financially in any traditional festival.
Based on his pledge to change and partake in all traditional activities being held by the community, Mrs Afuye pleaded with the Chiefs to allow the monarch to return, saying this remains the best way to foster peace and development at Isaoye.
The deputy governor, also directed the embattled monarch to sign a document that would lend credence to his readiness to support traditional festivals.
“The government will watch our Kabiyesi for six months before realeasing his outstanding salaries to him.
“If he doesn’t cooperate with the town, then we can begin a process of deposition, but I know that things will not get to this level. Please, give him this second chance.
“The monarchs are the custodians of our culture and tradition . The essence of being a monarch is to be leader of all religions, particularly the traditional one. You can’t be a king and be working against your subjects’ wishes and interests, you must cooperate with them.
“If you are removed from this throne, it will affect your lineage. Try and mend fences by cooperating with your chiefs to celebrate your culture and tradition.”
While apologising to his Chiefs, the monarch promised to sign a document compiled by his chiefs indicating his readiness to embrace tradition.
“Let me also appeal that they should forgive all my past mistakes and cooperate with me to move the town forward. As a sitting Obasaoye, I have a date with history and I don’t want anything that will affect my lineage in the future.
“I am ready to cooperate with you by doing all your requests. I also thank the state government for intervening severally in this matter”.
The Obaisa of Isaoye and second in command, Chief Joseph Ogidi, said the town had no issue with the monarch other than for him to rescind his decision to obliterate all traditional deities in the town.
Ogidi promised that the Chiefs and the town will be ready to cooperate with the monarch if he change his earlier posture and demonstrate his readiness to abide by their demands.
