The Super Eagles of Nigeria are battle reedy for their 2023 African Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sierra Leone on Thursday, June 9th 2022, at the Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola Stadium, Abuja, as preparation for the cracker intensifies.
Coach Jose Peseiro is not leaving any stone unturned in his team’s quest to warm their way back into the hearts of Nigerians who are still disappointed and yet to come to terms that the three-time African Cup of Nations Champions will not be at the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup in November.
Having lost two previous matches in charge of the African giant, against Mexico and Ecuador in the United States of America Friendlies, Peseiro said the team is set to get back to wining ways and put smiles on the faces of their teeming fans again.
All the 27 invited players are already in training in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Skipper Ahmed Musa led the playing body that included goalkeepers Francis Uzoho, Adewale Adeyinka and Adebayo Adeleye, and defenders Olaoluwa Aina, William Ekong, Zaidu Sanusi, Chidozie Awaziem, Oluwasemilogo Ajayi, Leon Balogun, Sani Faisal and Kenneth Omeruo. There were also midfielders Alex Iwobi, Oghenekaro Etebo, Innocent Bonke and Frank Onyeka, and forwards Samuel Chukwueze, Moses Simon, Victor Osimhen, Cyriel Dessers, Ademola Lookman, Sadiq Umar, Terem Moffi and Emmanuel Dennis.
Abdullahi Shehu and Calvin Bassey, and midfielder Joseph Ayodele-Aribo are already in camp.
During breakfast and lunch periods, Peseiro was able to meet and familiarize with invited players who were unable to make it to the United States for the friendlies, including skipper Musa, defenders Sanusi and Balogun, midfielder Etebo and forwards Chukwueze, Umar and Lookman.
He also met with defender Omeruo, midfielder Onyeka and forward Osimhen, as well as Israel –based goal-tender Adeleye, who were not invited to the friendlies in America but have been called for the AFCON fray.
The Eagles confront familiar foes Sierra Leone at the MKO Abiola National Stadium on Thursday evening, in one of the Day 1 matches of Group A of the qualification series. On Saturday, they will fly to Marrakech for a Day 2 game against São Tomé and Príncipe that will take place on Monday, 13th June.
Meanwhile, the Confederation of African Football has appointed Ivorian officials to take charge of Thursday’s encounter in Abuja, with Ibrahim Kalilou Traore as referee. His compatriots Adou Desire N’goh, Nouhou Ouattara and Kouassi Francois Biro will serve as assistant referee 1, assistant referee 2 and fourth official respectively.
Moukaila Nassam Adam from Ghana will be match commissioner while Serge Paulin Samuel from Burkina Faso will serve as referee assessor.
SUPER EAGLES INVITED PLAYERS FOR SIERRA LEONE AND SÃO TOMÉ & PRÍNCIPE
Leon Balogun (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland); Kenneth Omeruo (CD Leganes, Spain)
Midfielders: Joseph Ayodele-Aribo (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland); Alex Iwobi (Everton FC, England); Oghenekaro Etebo (Watford FC, England); Innocent Bonke (FC Lorient, France); Frank Onyeka (Brentford FC, England)
Forwards: Ahmed Musa (Fatih Karagumruk, Turkey); Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal CF, Spain); Moses Simon (FC Nantes, France); Victor Osimhen (SSC Napoli, Italy); Cyriel Dessers (Feyenoord FC, The Netherlands); Ademola Lookman (Leicester City, England); Sadiq Umar (UD Almeria, Spain); Terem Moffi (FC Lorient, France); Emmanuel Dennis (Watford FC, England)
The Prof. Mahmood Yakubu – led Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has pledged that the 2023 Election will be all inclusive, with the electoral umpire not leaving anyone out in the electoral process. In view of this, INEC, in conjunction with European Union and Yiaga Africa has commenced the Second Series of “Youth Vote Count Mega Concert.”
The initiative which is targeted at encouraging youths to troop out in large numbers and register for the Permanent Voters Cards, PVC, in order to exercise their franchise as the 2023 Election gathers momentum.
INEC has made available over 50 Machines for Voters’ Registration at the Tafawa Balewa Square, TBS, Lagos, for those who want to register newly for their PVCs, those seeking transfer to another State and those that have damaged or lost their PVCs.
The Lagos State INEC, Resident Electoral Commissioner, Olusegun Agbaje, said that the initiative is targeted at encouraging youths to register for their PVCs, by organizing a Mega Concert where A -List Artistes, Musicians will be brought to thrill the crowds after the week long exercise.
Agbaje said that the Youths make the large chunk of voters, and it is necessary to engage them and change the orientation and mindset they have that there votes don’t count.
“INEC will not extend the Voters Registration Exercise when it elapse by June 30th, this is an opportunity for Youths to come and register for their PVCs. This week long exercise in TBS, Lagos is made possible by European Union and Yiaga Africa, who are out major partners in this sensitization and awareness campaign exercise, as we are opened here from Monday, June 6th to June 11th, 2022, where we are going to have a Mega Concert, with top Musicians coming to thrill the crowd. Your PVCs and Temporary Voters Card, TVC, will the gate pass for you to have access to see this stars and have fun from 2pm-6pm on Saturday”, he said.
Laolu Olawunmi, Programme Manager, European Union, said that INEC commitment to inclusiveness and transparency has made the EU to collaborate with the commission, and that the Youth Vote Count Initiative is a non partisan campaign for youths to participate in the electoral process.
Olawunmi stressed that there is need for Nigerian youths to get involved in the policy making of the nation and choose the leaders they want to rule them by getting their PVCs and bring an end to the voters apathy the nation has been witnessing in previous elections.
“This initiative will give every Nigerian youth a voice, as this is a platform where the youths will mobilize and engage the center of authorities”.
Yiaga Africa Executive Director, Stanley Itodo, said that the initiative was launched in 2018 and it was held in Six geopolitical Universities in Nigeria, which was a flagship program by the EU, and the decision to start the Second series in Lagos was because the huge population of youth is in Lagos and been the commercial hub of the nation.
Itodo added that Youths needs to come out in large numbers to get their PVCs and decided their future, rather than sitting back and complaining.
He said the Mega Concert will see the likes of MI Abaga, Kiss Daniel, 2Face Idibia, Teni, Omawunmi, Pasuma, Small Doctor, Mayokun and a lot of Nollywood Stars coming to sensitize the youths on the need of having their PVCs and to have fun to the senerous lyrics of their idols.
Lending his voice, the Executive Director of International Press Center, IPC, Lanre Arogundade, said the initiative was apt and with the youths coming out to get their PVCs, it will give an effective answer to some cynical questions that Nigerian youths are not politically inclined, and it will further give the youths the power to decide who they want to rule them.
More confusion regarding the consensus candidacy of the All Progressives Congress arose Tuesday afternoon when aspirants from the Southeast and South-south Geopolitical zones who were not part of the chosen ones rejected the “so-called”, as they termed it, consensus list said to have been submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari for approval.
Buhari was expected to choose one person from the list.
Reports have been rife about the list of five aspirants from the three geopolitical zones of the south-South east, Southwest, and South-south who had made the final shortlist.
The list included Kayode Fayemi, Ekiti state governor; Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State, Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President, Rotimi Amechi, former minister of transport; and David Umahi, governor of Ebonyi state.
Further pruning of the list was said to have dropped Umahi and Fayemi, thereby leaving the South-east out of the equation.
But other aspirants that felt short-changed from South-east and out South-south rejected the consensus list, instead opting to back Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, who was announced as the consensus candidate of the party by the party Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu.
The group, represented by Ogbonnaya Onu, former Minister of Science and Technology, in a press briefing in Abuja Tuesday, described the list as a charade.
“In the past few hours, we have been bombarded with calls and messages from my supporters and concerned Nigerians on a list of five Presidential aspirants submitted to President Buhari to choose from”, he said.
“As long as we are concerned no list has been submitted to Mr. President, the move by the Governors is considered a joke taken to the extreme to play with the intellect of Nigerians particularly us from the South-East.
“Mr. President’s directive is very simple, that all Presidential aspirants including those from the North should meet and harmonize to produce a single candidate. As it stands we have not been consulted or attended a meeting where it was agreed that such names be sent to Mr. President.
“In the so-called list out of the five names only one was selected from the South-East and we are talking about fairness and justice to the South. What the Governors have done is a mere picnic in the park. These are the same Governors talking about Equity, justice, and fairness yet in a clandestine manner purportedly sidelined the South East.
“In the absence of any harmonized agreement no list has been submitted to Mr. President, what they have done is just nothing but a charade which is bound to fail.
“We also have it on good authority that the majority of these Governors have been promised and also given various forms of gratifications to thwart the process in favor of one aspirant and such grand plot will fail woefully.
“Moreso, the party led by Senator Abdullahi Adamu remains the official organ of the party through which decisions taken by stakeholders in the party will be communicated and acted upon, in the absence of that any other move remains null and void.
“We urge all well-meaning Nigerians to disregard such information, as we remain in the race hence no consensus agreement has been reached amongst all contestants.
“The names, according to the source, included that of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti State), Rotimi Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation, and Governor Dave Umahi (Ebonyi State).
“The Governors after meeting with the President said they will return to the villa after meeting with the party’s National Working Committee(NWC) and other stakeholders.
“They picked one from South-East, one from South-South, and three from South-West geopolitical zones in line with their position that power should shift to the South,” he said.
The ding dong game of choosing the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, continues Tuesday with the further pruning of the number of short-listed aspirants to three.
After a series of meetings and consultations, the party hierarchy has narrowed the list of contestants to the South-south and South-west Geopolitical Zones.
As such, Rotimi Amaechi, former Minister of Transport represents the South-south; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, and Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu for the Southwest.
News had filtered in earlier that the list of contestants had been narrowed to five, which included the aforementioned three and Kayode Fayemi, Ekiti state governor. Dave Umahi, governor of Ebonyi state who represented Southeast.
Both Fayemi and Umahi have been dropped, leaving the Southeast out of the equation.
Tension had heightened when the Northern APC Governors insisted on a Southern Presidency. But out of the blues, party Chairman Adamu announced the choice of Senate President Ahmed Lawan as the consensus Candidate.
This elicited uproar among the contestants, with National leader Ahmed Tinubu saying that such imposition is unconstitutional.
Tinubu has been alleged to unilaterally impose every successive Governor after him in Lagos State.
This magazine was told that President Muhammadu Buhari had hopes of using former president Goodluck Jonathan as the consensus candidate of the party. It was claimed that Jonathan played along with them until the last minute. Still full of hope that Jonathan had accepted, Buhari asked the Governors to allow him to choose his successor. By then, Jonathan had jetted out to Europe. When it became clear that Jonathan was not interested, Buhari asked the contestants to go and chose a consensus candidate among themselves. It could not work as no one wanted to step down for the other.
Buhari, this magazine was told, sent emissaries to Tinubu to try and prevail on him to step down from the race. Tinubu was said to be visibly angry. “Why didn’t he call me directly or talk to me face to face?”, he retorted.
He was to take show his anger with his outburst in Abeokuta where he said he was responsible for Buhari becoming president.
But that faux pax was to be an Albatross. While his handlers were busy trying to do damage control by claiming his speech was misinterpreted because it was made in Yoruba, Tinubu rushed to Sokoto to consult and explain to the Sultan. They both went to the mosque to pray together.
It is not clear who may finally emerge out of the three, but pointers indicate the choice may be pruned down to Tinubu and Osinbajo. It is speculated that if Osinbajo emerges, Tinubu, who is quoted as saying that he would fight till the last, may fall back on the Social Democratic Party, SDP, to realize his ambition. He is said to already have one leg there.
The Lagos State government has signed an agreement with Oando Clean Energy Limited for the rollout of electric mass transit buses in the state. According to a Memorandum of Understanding, MOU signed between Oando and the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, LAMATA, the private firm will also provide charging infrastructure and service centers for the buses.
Speaking on the MoU the state Commissioner for Transportation, Lagos State, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde said the state government is poised to cutting greenhouse gases and replacing them with cleaner energy resources.
Oladeine said the state government is developing a multi – modal transport system which include land, rail and water transportation to serve over 25 million commuters in the state.
According to him, “With an understanding that transportation is a key emitter of greenhouse gases in Nigeria, we developed a strategy to cut greenhouse gases by 50%. A key component of this strategy was identifying and developing a more robust mass transit system for Lagos that would include rail and waterways amongst others. Using electricity to power mass transit is a step in the right direction, and from there we would gradually transit to private cars.
“This is just the beginning, there is still a lot more to come on stream. I commend LAMATA and Oando on this MoU signing, and both parties can be rest assured that they have my full backing to ensure success.
Also speaking on the MoU the Managing Director, LAMATA, Abimbola Akinajo said the government is working at building a transportation ecosystem to serve Lagosians.
“We began this journey late last year, and for us, this has been a rapid development. It speaks to the energy and zeal of both organizations, and that is commendable.
“Oando Clean Energy came to us with a comprehensive solution that went beyond electric mass transit buses to include supporting infrastructure, and this was key for us, as the full remit of an EV support ecosystem is the only way to achieve success.
“This initiative will not only accelerate the Government’s transportation agenda, but also positively impact the health of Lagosians and the environment. The magnitude of its impact is far-reaching, and when you start to look at it as more than a transport initiative, you will see how laudable a project it is.
“The Oando brand comes with know-how and experience, and we are relying on this to successfully move from MoU signing to actual implementation that will in the medium to long term benefit over 22 million Lagos commuters. We look forward to a very robust and fruitful partnership,” Akinajo said.
In the face of the confusion that has engulfed the All Progressives Congress, APC, destabilized the Presidential ambition of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and reduced him to a very embattled aspirant, former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose has weighed in.
Fayose says he sees nothing but danger and humiliation strewn the path of Tinubu’s ambition.
In an open letter to the former two-time Governor of Lagos State, Fayose reminded Tinubu of the fate that befell the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the late Chief MKO Abiola. He has an advice for Tinubu: Tarry awhile.
Hereunder, Fayose’s letter titled:
OPEN LETTER TO ASIWAJU BOLA AHMED TINUBU
“My dear Asiwaju.
“Let me start this letter to your good self whom I considered as one of the leading lights of the Yoruba Nation, as a letter that may not be patrionising, especially for the content based on the subjective views I will express here as a Yoruba man and not as a politician.
” I equally want to state that I am not an APC man, and will never be.
“I am writing based on my observed views and the attached possible dangers about your good self against tomorrow ( today Tuesday).
“One of the undeniable facts is your outburst in Abeokuta which is a clear indication that you clearly saw a political danger to which you reacted. This informed the basis of my writing to you now.
“I equally read the reactions of your political allies both in the North and in the South. The reactions gave me great cause of concern for you and your life. Again, I see danger!
“As a knowledgeable student of history whom you are, our greatest late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the celebrated winner of the June 12, 1993 general election, Alhaji Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, were led to the Golgotha by self exclaimed “champions of democracy”, I am sure the same people may advise you to ignore my advice.
“Going by the handwriting that are now clearly on the wall, if I may comment Sir, I see you as one that may be swimming against the political tide of the cabal in your party. They are equally preparing for your actions and reactions and are fully set to contain same as they did to both Awolowo and Abiola.
“Unfortunately, your kingdom has been badly balkanized if what happened in Abeokuta is anything to go by.
“My advice
“The book of Proverbs, chapter 22, verse 3 (The Good News Translations) “sensible people will see trouble coming and avoid it, but unthinking people will walk into it.”
“Again, Asiwaju, for reasons of not being misrepresented, I will like to stop here and allow you to take your decisions, good or bad as a wise full-grown adult whom you are.”
The APC Presidential Primaries is taking place in Abuja, today, June 7, 2022.
Unless a miracle happens, Tinubu, who was, until a couple of days ago, the frontline runner, is not expected to win.
The National Chairman of the Party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, on Monday, surprisingly, announced Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan as the Party’s consensus Presidential candidate to the anger and objection of not a few people including Tinubu, many stakeholders, and majority of Governors from both the North and the South.
Trouble may reign at the APC Presidential Primaries today.
The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, is reeling in an unprecedented crisis. It is not yet confirmed who is singing the tune its National Chairman is dancing to. But he has scattered the Party, literally. And the Presidential Primaries is under threat.
Adamu woke up Monday morning to shock not only the Presidential aspirants under the APC who had paid a whopping N100m, each, to purchase both the Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms, but he shocked most APC stakeholders and Nigerians who believe in democracy.
While Nigerians waited for who the APC would produce as its Presidential aspirant to face former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, at the February 2023 Presidential Election, Adamu became a one man riot squad. He became a dictator and, without carrying members of the National Working Committee, NWC, along, announced who the Party’s candidate will be.
The Primaries have not been held. It is scheduled to begin in earnest today, Tuesday, June 7, 2022. But Adamu, like an Emperor announced who the candidate will be.
In a majestic manner, Adamu told the NWC members that the Party’s consensus candidate is the Senate President, Dr Ahmed Lawan. Overwhelmed, the members wondered how he came about Lawan. Adamu had a ready answer.
He flaunted President Muhammadu Buhari’s name. He said he had consulted with Buhari. And, as far as Adamu is concerned, nobody else matters. Nobody else needed to be consulted.
Since Adamu’s endorsement of Lawan, things have not been the same in the APC. There is a raging fire on the mountain.
And reactions have been coming like claps of thunder.
The NWC members have disowned Adamu. They said that he neither consulted them, nor discussed it at the meeting on Monday. Adamu, they said, simply dropped it on them like a bomb. And there was no other discussion on it.
President Buhari, perhaps, taken aback at the reaction, distanced himself from Senator Lawan’s endorsement. He said he had no particular aspirant in mind, and that he had an open mind. But not true, say not a few people.
They disbelieve him. They argue that Adamu could not have brazenly flaunted President Buhari’s name if the two of them had not discussed it; if the President had not given him a go-ahead order.
Since the news broke, mum has been the word from Adamu. He has uttered nothing. But not so frontline Presidential aspirant, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Not so the mourning Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, SAB, who doubles as the Chairman of the Southern Governors Forum. Akeredolu, in a statement, dismissed Adamu as a joker. And not so I1 Northern APC Governors and Stakeholders who, a few days ago, in an advisory, urged Buhari to endorse the rotation of the seat of the President to Southern Nigeria after Buhari’s eight years in office.
At a meeting with Buhari Monday evening after Adamu had announced Lawan as the Party’s consensus candidate, the Governors told the President that they stood by their statement that the Presidential seat should go to Southern Nigeria.
Tinubu Spoils For War
Upset over the endorsement of Lawan as the consensus candidate without any consultation with even the aspirants, or he, as the National Leader of the APC, Tinubu has authorized the Legal Adviser of his Campaign Organisation, Babatunde Ogala, SAN, to issue a statement on points of law, denouncing and disagreeing with Adamu and the consensus arrangement. It is a legal impossibility, the statement said.
Bola Tinubu
Quoting the relevant sections of especially the extant laws, the statement asked Tinubu’s teeming supporters to ignore Adamu’s consensus pronouncement. “Any declaration of a consensus candidate would be premature and a violation of extant provisions of the law. We are confident that as a law-abiding entity, the APC will not be part of such.
“We are further persuaded to urge our supporters to disregard this report considering that the overwhelming majority of the APC Northern Governors who, after meeting with the President, re-affirmed their preference for a president from the Southern part of Nigeria. This patriotic decision is widely accepted by all Nigerians as a demonstration of deep understanding of the nuanced fault lines of our nation.” It emphasised that the idea of a consensus candidate is a legal impossibility.
Opinion is that Tinubu is likely to go to Court to challenge any consensus arrangement.
Following, the full text of Tinubu’s Statement.
Consensus Candidate A Legal Impossibility
“The media is inundated with reports that the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (“APC”) has unilaterally announced the purported adoption of a certain candidate as the consensus presidential candidate of the APC for the forth coming presidential election in 2023.
“While the National Chairman is yet to deny or offer any clarification on the alleged declaration, it is necessary to state that such a declaration is a legal impossibility. This is because the under the regime of the Electoral Act 2022, consensus, though provided for as one of the means by which a political party may produce its candidate, must specifically occur in a precise form.
Section 84(9) (10) and (11) of the Electoral Act 2022 are the relevant provisions and they state as follows:
‘(9) A political party that adopts a consensus candidate shall secure the written consent of all cleared aspirant for the position, indicating their voluntary withdrawal from the race and their endorsement of the consensus candidate’.
“(10) Where a political party is unable to secure a written consent of all cleared aspirants for the purpose of a consensus candidate, it shall revert to the choice of direct or indirect primaries for the nomination of candidates for the aforesaid elective position.
“(11) A special convention or nomination congress shall be held to ratify the choice of consensus candidates at designated centers at the National, State, Senatorial, Federal and State Constituencies, as the case may be”.
Instructively, none of the above conditions have occurred in respect of producing the presidential candidate of the APC. Therefore, any declaration of a consensus candidate would be premature and a violation of extant provisions of the law. We are confident that as a law-abiding entity, the APC will not be part of such.
We are further persuaded to urge our supporters to disregard this report considering that the overwhelming majority of the APC Northern Governors who, after meeting with the President, re-affirmed their preference for a president from the Southern part of Nigeria. This patriotic decision is widely accepted by all Nigerians as a demonstration of deep understanding of the nuanced fault lines of our nation.
“In the circumstance, a unilateral declaration by the National Chairman of a consensus presidential candidate for the party will not only violate the law, but set the party on collision cause with its Governors who are critical stakeholders in the party.”
Akeredolu’s Anger Boils Over
From Ondo State, a mourning Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, said Adamu is on a frolick. A shocked Akeredolu, who is also the Chairman of the Southern Governors Forum, said Adamu was joking.
In the months running to the Party Primaries, the Forum had taken a stand that the Presidential seat must go South. And even though the PDP refused to adhere to it when they chose Atiku, Akeredolu was confident APC will not toe the line of the PDP.
His confidence rose to high heavens when the 11 Northern APC Governors and Stakeholders issued a statement in support of a Southern candidate.
It was, therefore, an outraged Akeredolu who read Adamu’s utterances endorsing Lawan as the APC consensus candidate.
Rotimi Akeredolu: Adamu is a Joker
In a statement titled Abdullahi Adamu On A Frolic Of His Own, Akeredolu said that Adamu’s pronouncement is contrary to the position of majority of Northern Governors in APC and their counterparts in the South.
Said he: “Let it be known that the Chairman or anyone who holds a contrary opinion does so at a personal level. He is at best embarking on a frolic which reasonable people will consider dangerous.”
And he emphasised, not forgetting the tragedy that befell his State on Sunday thst; “We are grieving but have not forgotten that Power MUST shift to the South. On this we stand.”
Following is his statement.
Abdullahi Adamu On A Frolic Of His Own
“My attention has just been drawn to the expensive joke purportedly enacted by the National Chairman of APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu. The speculation is rife that the Chairman took a flight of fancy and decided to make a pronouncement beyond his competence. He has, allegedly, made public his preferred choice as the candidate of the APC for the Office of the President in the next general elections.
“This alleged pronouncement runs contrary to the position of majority of Northern Governors in APC and their counterparts in the South. Our agreement is unanimous on this issue.
“The office of the President should be contested for by qualified persons from the Southern part of the country if the move to get a consensus candidate fails. There has been no shift from this settled issue.
“Let it be known that the Chairman or anyone who holds a contrary opinion does so at a personal level. He is at best embarking on a frolic which reasonable people will consider dangerous.
“We are grieving but have not forgotten that Power MUST shift to the south. On this we stand.”
Will the APC survive this storm? Today, June 7, will decide.
Big Brother is a fictional character in George Orwell’s dystopian 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. He is the leader of Oceania, a totalitarian state wherein the ruling party, Ingsoc, wields total power “for its own sake” over the inhabitants.
Big Brother hardly speaks. He is a man of few words. But he watches. And when he gives instructions, especially political ones, he follows to the latter.
Our own Big Brother, President Muhammadu, as we all know hardly speaks. No matter the situation of the country or his political party, he is known more for silence. In 2015, when it took him about seven months to appoint his ministers, some called it incompetence, while others who believed he wanted to appoint angels called him “Baba go slow”.
Buhari always has a penchant for leaving us guessing. He appears to be straightforward but his actions betray his appearance. Although he has been at the helm of affairs for seven years, not many can beat their chest to say they truly understand him or what he plans to do. Again, is it incompetence like some people say or does he know what he is doing?
From the appointment of his ministers in 2015 to the emergence the new chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adamu Abdullahi, (who just announced the endorsement of Senate President Ahmed Lawan as the party’s consensus presidential candidate) I think Buhari has given political analysts more headache than any other Nigerian president in history.
Some of us have grown white hair due to observations and calculations this season.
This is the kind of time my former boss, Prince Emeka Obasi, would have been very alive. He lived for moments like this. He would have have invited me severally to his house to get my predictions.
But this is beyond me and every other political guru out there. I am very sure that even Octopus Paul would find this very difficult to predict. What a season!
Even our men of God who claim to be seers have been silent. It seems God hasn’t spoken to them.
It got to a point where political writers and analysts needed something concrete as the basis of their analysis. We needed a turning point. What was the president’s position?
In 1999, we knew Olusegun Obasanjo was the man the establishment wanted. In 2007, Obasanjo made it clear from the beginning that Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was his choice.
When Buhari himself wanted to be president in 2015, it was clear that former Lagos governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu had his back 100%. Right from the beginning (2013) when the party was formed, he threw his weight behind him.
But in this era, it has been from one speculation to the other. Nothing really concrete.
The turning point, however, was last week, when the president held a meeting with governors asking them to support him when he chooses a successor, arguing that in their respective states, they choose their own successors.
That was a sign that Buhari had his candidate. The question on the lips of everyone was: Who is Buhari’s man?
A few days ago, Buhari bowed to pressure by agreeing that a southerner should emerge as the presidential candidate of the party for fairness and equity.
As a result of that declaration, the south-west presidential aspirants and governors from Yorubaland under the APC met for the sole aim of choosing a consensus. According to a reliable source, the meeting didn’t end well because majority of the politicians in that meeting wanted the rest of them, to step down for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; a decision that didn’t go down well with some of the aspirants.
Reports had it that Osinbajo walked out of the meeting.
Failure to choose a consensus has given rise to reports about Lawan being the consensus candidate of the party.
This isn’t the first time something like this is happening. In 2015 after Prince Abubakar Audu who was from Kogi East (Igala land) died, when he was leading in the governorship election in Kogi state, aspirants from Igala land were asked to choose a consensus who would replace Audu to continue the race against Idris Wada, the incumbent governor at the time.
At the end, they all failed to back a candidate. Tinubu himself who was backing an Igala aspirant before Audu’s death, abandoned the person for James Faleke.
When those who were backing Yahaya Bello at the Villa realized that the other aspirants couldn’t close ranks, they saw it as an opportunity to field Bello as Audu’s replacement. The rest is history.
Is Adamu Abdullahi acting alone? Would he announce Lawan as the choice of the party without the backing of his benefactor, Buhari?
In politics, 24 hours is very long. The primaries hold tomorrow and there is enough room for the story to change.
There was a time it was looking like Asiwaju would be the man. Later, it was looking like Osinbajo. Now, Lawan is in the picture as a favourite according to the the party chairman’s statement.
Time will tell if the national chairman of the ruling party made the pronouncement on his own or had the backing of the president.
The realignment of forces and interests in the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC has started in earnest following the controversial naming, a day to its Presidential Primaries, of Senate President, Ahmed Lawan as the party’s consensus Presidential candidate for next year’s election.
In a move that shocked many party chieftains, APC’s National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu Monday afternoon announced, during the National Working Committee, NWC meeting of the party, Lawan as President Buhari’s preferred candidate.
Despite later attempts to downplay or outrightly deny the report, a source quoting the APC National Youth Leader, Dayo Isreal, who was at the meeting, affirmed that Adamu did announce Lawan as Buhari’s anointed candidate amidst sharp disagreement from other NWC members.
However, less than 24 hours to the formal unveiling of Lawan, various interests and forces in the party have started pushing for a slice of the expected Lawan presidency.
Forces and interests in the party are reportedly realgnining for the plum offices of VP, Senate President and Speaker of the House of Reps.
For example, TheSource (Magazine) gathered that South east caucus of the party held an emergency meeting Monday afternoon and resolved to lay claim to the Vice Presidency slot.
Their argument is that Northeast (where Lawan hails from) and Southeast are the only two regions in Nigeria that are yet to produce President in the past 56 years hence it was only fair that a South-easterner pairs with Lawan in the coming election.
It was gathered that, top South east APC chiefs were in the know before now that Lawan was Buhari’s choice.
Consequently, some Presidential aspirants from the region were said to have secretly assured the Senate President of their preparedness to announce their withdrawal to support him at the primaries ground should there be voting.
Meanwhile, Imo state Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, former Education Minister and one of the frontline Presidential aspirant, Dr. Emeka Nwajiuba, former Abia state Governor and the Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzo kalu and Ebonyi state Governor, Engr. Dave Umahi are among other South east APC heavy weight reportedly in the race for the VP slot.
However, a bloc within the party sympathetic to the immediate past Transport Minister and a leading presidential aspirant, Chibuike Amaechi, is insisting that the former Rivers I state government has paid his dues and demonstrated enough loyalty to the party and the president to be rewarded with the VP slot.
In the same vein another APC interest group is also pushing for Governor Ben Ayade, the lone APC governor in the South-South for the VP slot.
They insist that the governor, having achieved monumental industrialisation and job creation drive in Cross River will be invaluable to Lawan as VP and head of the Economic team to pull Nigeria’s economy from the doldrums.
There is equally an interest group within the party from the Southwest gunning for the Senate presidency, aware that the region may not produce the VP after Professor Osinbajo’s eight years in that office.
Another interest group in the party from the South-south is however insisting that the region must produce the next Speaker of the House of Reps, a position currently held by the Southwest.
Amidst report that National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, (APC), Alhaji Adamu has announced Ahmed Lawan as the consensus candidate for the party, President Muhammadu Buhari, Monday afternoon cleared all doubts about where he stands on the choice of a Presidential candidate for the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC).
This is coming just as Northern Governors insist that time is now for power to shift to the South.
Buhari declared before the party’s 14 governors of Northern States that he has “no preferred candidate,” and has “anointed no one,” and is determined to ensure that “there shall be no imposition of any candidate on the party.”
A statement by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity stated that the President spoke at a meeting with the Governors at the State House, Abuja.
According to the statement, President Buhari said the party is important and its members must be respected, and made to feel they are important.
The President said he had a clear mind about what he was doing and asked the APC Governors to feel the same way:
“You were elected as I was. Have a clear mind as I have. God gave us the chance; we have no reason to complain.
“We must be ready to take pain as we take the joy. Allow the delegates to decide. The Party must participate, nobody will appoint anybody.”
Earlier in their addresses, the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Governor Simon Bako Lalong and Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of the Progressive Governors Forum, said they had come to affirm the position of the Northern Governors that the party’s candidate in the Presidential election shall come from the southern part of the country.
They apologised to the President for the leakage of their signed memorandum which was not in support of any particular candidate and gave assurances to the President on their readiness to accept his leadership on the matter.
