Human Rights Activist and Lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, has described former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai as an unrepentant tyrant and oppressor.
He said if El-Rufai is given another opportunity to get into power, he would do worse than when he was Governor.
Making this remarks on his X handle (former Twitter), Adeyanju said El-Rufai deserves his current fate because he was worst to critics during his time in the saddle as Governor of Kaduna State.
He wrote: “El-Rufai is an unrepentant tyrant and oppressor. If given another opportunity to get access to power, he will do worse than he did in the past.
“Anyone supporting him is a hungry cretin and a desperate unprincipled politician who wants to grab power at all costs.
Nasir El-Rufai
“During COVID-19 when Sheikh Bello Yabo, an Islamic Cleric, criticized him, El-Rufai waited until the eve of Sallah, then sent Police from Kaduna all the way to Sokoto to arrest and detain him.
“The current oppressors of El-Rufai are nicer to him than he was to his critics. El-Rufai deserves the karma he is getting.”
He added that the African Democratic Congress, ADC, chieftain needs not be pitied as he is being paid back in his own coin.
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Friday, March 6, 2026, granted former Attorney General of the Federation AGF and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, wife Asabe Bashir, and son Abdulaziz Malami, bail to the tune of N200 million each , with two sureties in like sum.
The Source reports that the Malamis were on February 27 ,2026 re-arraigned for the third time by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, before Honourable Justice Joyce Abdul-Malik, on an amended 16-count charge bordering on alleged diversion of public funds, money laundering, and abuse of office to the tune of over N8.7billion.
The arraignment before Justice Abdul-Malik followed the sudden withdrawal of Honourable Justice Obiora Egwuatu who, on February 12, 2026, recused himself from the case citing personal considerations as a major reason.
Before him, vacation Judge, Honourable Justice Emeka Nwite had, on January 7, 2026 granted the defendants bail to the tune of N500 million each , with two sureties in like sum.
However , with the fresh arraignment on February 27, presiding Judge Justice Abdul-Malik ruled to revoke the earlier bail on the grounds that the case has commenced a fresh.
The defendants were subsequently returned to custody.
In the fresh bail to the defendants ( Malami ,wife and son) the Court ordered that one of the two sureties must tender to the Court title deeds of properties located in high brow districts of Maitama or Asokoro, Abuja.
The court also ordered the defendants to deposit their international passports and other travel documents with the court Registrar.
Until the perfection of the bail conditions the defendants, the court held, are to remain in custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service.
The Court, subsequently, adjourned proceedings to March 16, 2026.
Last Friday, the well spoken Abia State governor caused a ruckus. Gov. Alex Otti barred his teeth at a journalist he considered impetuous and irresponsible. Mr. Otti’s public shower of invectives on an innocent journalist and the ensuing conversations that trailed the event has thrown up the need to take a bit more look at the duties of governors in Nigeria, their attitude to journalism practice and their impact on the society at large.
First, more background: Journalist Chuka Nwabueze who represents BON Media Group was at the Abia State government monthly media chat last Friday. As the story went, it was his turn to pose his question to Gov. Otti.
His query went thus: “Sir, can you provide concrete quantifiable evidence – beyond visible infrastructure projects – to demonstrate how your policies have impacted the lives of the average Abian since you got to office.”
Yours truly was not at the media chat but can feel the deadly silence that may have ensued.
When the governor “reacted”, it was like a tornado.
“You cannot come to a media chat and ask me to provide data about measurable impact on work that’s being done in the state that you live in. It’s irresponsible,” the governor bellowed.
He dug in: “That we throw this open for people to ask questions doesn’t mean that people should be stupid. So let’s take this very seriously. So when you come to my media chat, you must be prepared: if you don’t have a question then you don’t raise your hand,” the governor surmised, seething with self righteous anger, as reported.
This column avers straightaway that that’s a most intelligent question. One wonders why Governor Alex Otti, himself a very brilliant and, highly cerebral mind couldn’t see it as such.
Perhaps it’s the political atmosphere in the state which is so charged that the incumbent seems perpetually on edge. He alluded to it that the interviewer was pandering to the opposition.
But even if it were so, a governor is not allowed to show such a level of emotionality which borders on tantrums, in public, in the purview of life telecast.
There are a thousand and one ways Otti could have responded with utmost dignity and equanimity.
One: I pass. I would rather not answer that question because I consider it tendentious.
Two: sorry, we don’t have such data yet.
Three: we are still grappling with an acute infrastructure deficit neglected since 1999.
Four: Most Abians can feel the impact of our work in such a short time and I would rather you ask them directly, etc.
In other words, the question doesn’t call for abuse or insults. It doesn’t need to raise the hackles of the governor. It’s a question he could have dismissed with a gentle smile especially if he was sure, it was being orchestrated by the opposition. At Alex’s level and his walk through life, no question, whatsoever should unsettle him, even if it were on HARDtalk, the inimitable BBC interview show.
A LOOK AT OTTI IN ABIA: There’s no doubt Governor Otti is the shining star among his peers and contemporaries today. He hit the ground running on May 29, 2023. He has never looked back since then. Otti’s trick was that he may have vowed to himself to deploy Abia’s resources for the good of the people. He has lived up to that credo to the admiration of the world.
Alex Otti, Abia State Governor
Abia had been a wasteland worsted by unconscionable leaders like Orji Uzo Kalu and Okezie Ikpeazu who was the immediate past.
Aba particularly, the potentially most viable commercial cum industrial city in the southeast was left in ruins until Otti came along. He has done in Abia State, so many things people thought couldn’t be done. Most important, he has rendered most governors in Nigeria shamefaced, making many look stupid and out of sorts.
ANOTHER LOOK AT OTTI: Back to that touchy question about data and impact by that ‘annoying’ fellow, Chika Nwabueze.
As pointed out earlier, it’s by miles, the smartest question on the day and shorn of political underpinnings, Gov. Otti knows it. His background and trajectory point to the fact that he knows about data and digital governance. The question is simply about the Human Development Index (HDI) of Abia State.
NO GOVERNOR IN NIGERIA CAN STAND DATA POWER: Every state in Nigeria ought to have a well established Statistics Office. But because most Nigerian governors are wired roguishly, they make sure that all important office is not only nonexistent, they obliterate traces of it. Why. No governor in Nigeria can stand accurate data generation in his state. Data is power. It eliminates rubbish. It even cures madness in governance! It is the pristine and rarefied level of modern work, administration and governance.
GOV OTTI THE BRICKLAYER: Until the day a state government can produce and publish monthly/quarterly HDI reports of activities, what’s going on today can still be called child’s play.
This is why Governor Otti, in all his exertions and glowing performance, he can still be described as a bricklayer because his work is not data-backed.
This column therefore seizes this space, this day and this opportunity to proffer that if he didn’t have a statistics bureau, he must have one ready by the end of Q2.26. If he does, it would be his badge of honour, his bona fides as a true pacesetter and his defining place in history as the man who broke the rules and reset them.
For instance, what’s the current population of Abia? How valid is that figure? Can the government plan with it? What is the birth rate in Abia, the death rate, male-female ratio? Infant mortality? What’s the current school enrollment at all levels? What shall it be five years down the line. How many students are in primary school in Abia today? How many primary schools are there? How many primary schools teachers are there? What exactly is the overall income of LGAs in Abia State? What percentage is deployed to education, health, agriculture and human development?
This is the whole gamut of the social impacts question Journalist Nwabueze asked Governor Otti. Again and again, it was a most brilliant question. Otti simply needs to put a proper Bureau of Statistics in place to mine these enormous data and deploy them.
Mr Nwabueze is not stupid nor irresponsible, Otti was the one actually responding like a bricklayer.
Nigerian governors must begin to benchmark against the world’s best standards and govern with impact and planned outcomes.
Finally, this column suggests that Gov Otti should make a show of apologising to. Mr Nwabueze, his wife and children; his employers and and the NUJ in Abia State generally for the public assault on a journalist carrying out his Legitimate duty. We were taught in journalism school that no question is stupid. It’s actually answers to questions that get murky.
A generous apology as espoused above would hold up Otti as truly the statesman he is aspiring to right now.
Lastly, we also look forward to reading monthly reports of ASBS: Abia State Bureau of Statistics.That would be the day for this column and indeed, for Nigeria!
LASTLINE: UPDATE ON SUPERTANKER SKIPPER, PLEASE
Some stories don’t die, they merely bide their time. One such example is the crude-laden supertanker, Skipper which was arrested by the US Coast Guards and Navy , December 10th, 2025.
The very large crude carrier (VLCC) was believed to be hauling about 1.8 million barrels of stolen crude oil suspected to emanate from Nigeria.
Though stateless, the ship was traced to a Nigeria registered firm, Thomarose Global Ventures.
Though Nigeria’s government through NIMASA had rushed to deny knowledge of the supertanker, the story lingers and versions continue to emerge daily fingering NNPC, the Nigerian state oil firm, as well as security agents, including the pipelines security guards.
While we await results of a thorough investigation by NNPC, this column suggests that time is now to establish a proper coast guard army to secure our pipelines and our enormous coasts. Enough said.
The immediate past Minister for Information and National Orientation, Lai Mohammed, has said that Peter Obi would have been Nigeria’s Vice President today if he had stayed back in the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and ran for the Presidency on same ticket with Atiku Abubakar in the 2023 General Elections. “I think that if he had stayed with Atiku, PDP would have won”, said Mohammed.
Mohammed who served under the Administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, also, said that Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, did not win the 2023 Election as is strongly still being speculated in some quarters, and could not have won even if he had 10 million votes. He emphasised that Obi was not rigged out but lost. “He
did not constitute a headache during the election.”
The former Minister who has been on the quiet side since he left Government spoke when he featured
on Edmund Obilo’s Podcast, State Affairs.
Recall that Obi suddenly resigned from the PDP a few days to the Party’s Presidential Primaries, defected to the Labour Party, and picked its Presidential ticket. He not only instilled life into the LP, but he took Nigeria’s political space by storm and shocked most people by his sterling and unprecedented performance at the polls, especially, for a first timer who contested under a little known political party.
It was his performance, countrywide, that sparked the controversy, till date, over who really won the election and, according to Mohammed, pushed him and his team to travel abroad to educate the international community that Obi did not win the election.
Lai Mohammed: “Even if Peter Obi had won 10 million votes, he could not have become president.
“After the election, its legitimacy was being questioned, if you remember. As a matter of fact, the Labour Party, if you go to social media in 2023, you would feel it won the election; they were everywhere on social media.
“And they did not win the election. Unfortunately, the perception out there was that they won and were rigged out. They did not win and were not rigged out.
Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar
“I took it upon myself and my team to meet think- tanks in the US, UK, and international media, and we explained to them why Peter Obi could not have won the presidential election.
“The constitution of Nigeria is very clear: you need two requirements to win the presidential election. First, you must have scored the highest number of votes; second, you must also have scored at least one-quarter of the votes cast in two-thirds of the states.
“The results are there: Obi did not come first, he did not even come second; he came a close third to Atiku.
“However, he scored one-quarter of the votes cast in 15 states, Atiku scored one-quarter of the votes cast in 21 states, and only Asiwaju had the majority of votes and one-quarter of votes cast in 29 states of the federation.
“Obi was not the biggest headache, and I think that if he had stayed with Atiku, PDP would have won.”
Despite promise of possible retention, Frank Mba, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Training and Development at Force Headquarters, has voluntarily retired from the Nigeria Police Force after 34 years of service.
Mba’s retirement comes alongside those of some other senior officers following the recent retirement of former Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and the appointment of Olatunji Rilwan Disu as the new IGP.
Mba, in a farewell message, expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu for the opportunity to serve the nation during his administration.
“I am deeply grateful to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the privilege of serving our great nation during his administration. The confidence reposed in the Nigeria Police leadership and the support given to the institution during this period have been invaluable..
“It has been a great honour for me to contribute my quota to the security and stability of our country,” he said.
He also thanked Nigerians for their support throughout his years in service.
“I want to sincerely thank the good people of Nigeria for the trust, encouragement and cooperation they extended to me throughout my 34 years in service.
“Policing is a difficult but noble profession, and whatever success we recorded was made possible by the understanding and support of Nigerians. I leave the service with a heart full of gratitude and pride for having had the opportunity to serve,” Mba said.
DIG Mba, a former Force Public Relations Officer and Lagos State Police Command spokesman, joined the Nigeria Police Force in May 1992 as a cadet officer. He distinguished himself early in his career by graduating as the best cadet in academics at the Nigeria Police Academy, Kano.
A frontline member of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mba obtained a law degree from the University of Lagos and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2002 after attending the Nigerian Law School in Abuja. He later earned a Master’s degree in Law with distinction from the University of Dundee in Scotland.
Over the years, he also attended several international professional programmes, including the FBI National Academy in Quantico, United States, as well as leadership courses at Harvard University and the University of Oxford.
Mba represented Nigeria in international assignments, including the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Liberia between 2006 and 2007.
During his career, he served in several strategic roles across operations, investigations, administration and public relations.
His postings included Area Commander in Ajah and Festac in Lagos, Commissioner of Police in Ogun State, Commissioner of Police in charge of the Border Patrol Force at Force Headquarters, and Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) Annex, Panti, Lagos.
Meanwhile, the Police Service Commission (PSC) has invited seven Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIGs) for promotion interviews to the rank of Deputy Inspectors-General of Police (DIGs), ahead of their possible elevation to the Force Management Team that will work with the new Inspector-General.
The AIGs invited for the promotion interviews are Margareth Ochalla, Kenechukwu Onwuemelie, Ishiaku Mohammed, Zacharia Fera Achinyan, Zango Ibrahim Baba, Mohammed Abdul Sulaiman, and Umar Shehu Nadada.
According to the PSC, the officers are expected to appear for the interview at the commission’s office on Friday.
Pro-Iranian marches have taken place in major northern cities in Nigeria as thousands of students and radical youths flooded the streets trampling on and denigrating American and Israeli flags in a massive show of solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
This is just as Islamic groups and leaders from the southern part of the country called for caution, advising the protesters, mainly students to focus on Nigeria’s domestic problems.
The coordinated demonstrations, which paralyzed major northern capitals including Kano, Kaduna, and Sokoto, followed reports of a joint U.S.-Israeli strike in the Middle East.
The protesters, many of whom are members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), transformed university campuses and city centers into sea of Iranian flags and portraits of Tehran’s leadership.
The atmosphere turned volatile in Kano as students from various tertiary institutions led a procession through the city’s ancient gates.
In a choreographed display of defiance, protesters laid large replicas of the U.S. Stars and Stripes and the Israeli Star of David across major intersections, inviting the marching crowds to stomp on them.
“We are here to tell the world that the assassination of the Supreme Leader is an attack on every Muslim,” shouted Ibrahim Musa, a student leader at the Kano rally.
“America and Israel must know that their footprints in the Middle East will be met with resistance even here in Africa.”
The sheer scale of the marches triggered an immediate security lockdown. In Abuja, the U.S. Embassy took the unprecedented step of canceling all consular appointments and advising American citizens to remain indoors.
The Inspector-General of Police, (IGP), Tunji Disu, confirmed that tactical teams had been deployed to “strategic flashpoints” to prevent the protests from escalating into direct attacks on foreign interests.
Despite the heavy presence of the Nigeria Police Force, the students remained undeterred, burning effigies and chanting anti-Western slogans for several hours.
While the northern states saw a surge in pro-Iranian sentiment, religious leaders in the south have urged for restraint.
The League of Imams issued a statement calling on Nigerians to focus on domestic challenges, including the biting economic hardship and local insecurity, rather than being drawn into a foreign war.
“Our children should be in classrooms studying how to fix Nigeria, not on the streets fighting for Tehran,” said a Lagos-based cleric. “We have enough fire in our own house to be looking for smoke in the Persian Gulf.”
As of Wednesday evening, the protests had largely dispersed, though student groups have threatened “continuous action” if the U.S. military presence in Qatar and the UAE is not withdrawn.
Nasir El-Rufai, a former Governor of Kaduna State, and members of his family have demanded the sum of N15.6 billion from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, its chairman, and other officials over his arrest, detention in damages.
The action stems from what he and his family described
as false public statements issued against him.
It follows claims by the ICPC that “wiretapping equipment” was found at the residence of the chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
El-Rufai’s legal team, in a letter dated March 4, 2026, described a press statement issued by the ICPC on March 2, 2026, as defamatory and misleading. The letter argued that it has caused significant reputational harm to the former Governor.
El-Rufai, in a legal notice accused the ICPC of actions that violated his fundamental rights and listed several demands for grounds of compensation. They include N5 billion as compensatory damages, N5 billion as exemplary and punitive damages intended to deter similar conduct, and another N5 billion as aggravated damages.
He, also, in the notice, seek N500 million for injurious falsehood and N100 million as legal costs, all totalling N15.6 billion.
The legal team gave the commission 24 hours to meet the demands, warning that failure to comply would trigger further legal action.
The legal notice disclosed that planned steps include, “filing contempt proceedings against the ICPC chairman at the Federal High Court, expediting pending fundamental rights enforcement and bail applications at the Federal Capital Territory High Court, and initiating civil suits for malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, defamation, and abuse of office”.
The lawyers also threatened to report the alleged forgery of a remand order for criminal investigation, petition the Federal Capital Territory Judicial Service Commission for disciplinary action against the magistrate involved, and to file a complaint before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights over alleged violations of El-Rufai’s fundamental rights.
Unless a miracle happens, both the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party are out of the Osun State Governorship Election scheduled for August.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has yanked both parties off in its released the final list of candidates for the August 8, 2026 which it released on Thursday March 5, 2026.
INEC Public Relations Officer in Osun, Musa Olurode, in a statement Thursday listed candidates from 14 political parties who were cleared to participate in the election.
The parties include Accord, Action Alliance, AA; African Action Congress, AAC; African Democratic Congress, ADC; Action Democratic Party, ADP; All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA; All Progressives Congress, APC; Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Action Peoples Party (APP), Boot Party (BP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Young Progressive Party (YPP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
He further said that the publication of the final list is “in line with the timetable and schedule of activities released by the commission ahead of the poll.”
In February, Olurode said only 14 parties successfully completed their primaries and uploaded the names and particulars of their candidates as stipulated in the INEC guidelines.
Outspoken Senator Henry Seriake Dickson has dumped the Party under which he was a State Commissioner, House of Representatives Member, two-term Governor, and a ranking Senator.
Along with his loyalists, the Bayelsa State grassroot politician finally, on Thursday, March 5, dumped the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, a Party without much root in the State.
However, with his entry into the Party, Dickson who was issued number 001, will bring some freshness into the party as well as visibility.
Addressing a press conference, Dickson described himself as a man of conviction. The state of the PDP at the moment, is like one who is in the in the Intensive Care Unit, ICU. One of the reasons he refused to join the All Progressive Congress, APC, is because he does not believe a one-party system is good for the country. It is a dangerous gambit, he noted.
He said: “The PDP is sick and presently in the ICU”.
He put the blame on some PDP Governors who undermined the party by aligning with the All Progressives Congress, APC.
This action Dickson said, worsened the party’s crisis and position as a viable opposition platform.
“This is why I decided to chart a new political path by joining the NDC.”
The leadership of his new Party welcomed him enthusiastically and presented him with the official flag of the NDC and a membership card bearing the number “001”.
For, allegedly, battering his wife, the Cross River state House of Assembly on Thursday March 5, 2026, voted to slam an indefinite suspension on the law maker representing Obubra state constituency, Dickson Agbor.
This is as the battered wife, Glory Agbor ironically tendered unreserved apology to her sanctioned husband, appealing for public respect for her family privacy in the present circumstance.
Moving the motion for the suspension, Davies Etta described the alleged violent conduct by Agbo as unbecoming of a Lawmaker, and in utter disagreement with the ethical standards expected of members of the legislative branch of Government.
He, therefore, urged the House to take all necessary steps towards ensuring the redemption of the integrity and reputation of the Assembly.
“We must ensure that members conduct themselves in a manner that reflects the values and responsibilities entrusted to us by the people”, Hon Etta stated.
The House after extensively deliberating on the matter resolved to suspend the erring Lawmaker indefinitely, pending further investigations into the alleged family feud and the subsequently violent attack.
The Lawmakers also agreed to set up an adhoc Committee to conduct an unfettered inquest into the unfortunate incident.
In his remarks, the Speaker of the House, Rt Hon Elvert Ayambem, expressed the unflinching commitment of the legislative body to upholding discipline, dignity, and the integrity of the House.
He affirmed the resolve of the legislative arm not to condone any acts capable of impugning its reputation.
“The House will not condone any form of misconduct capable of bringing the legislature into disrepute . We must continue to uphold the dignity of this institution” the Speaker warned.
But in a twist of irony, Glory , Agbor’s wife to expressed her disagreement with the decision of the Lawmakers to suspend her husband. She announced her withdrawal from the Legislators Wives Association
She accused some people of trying to capitalize on a minor family and matrimonial dispute to divide her family.
She, therefore, urged the public, including the Lawmakers to view whatever problems that existed between her and the husband as a mere family affair which have been amicably resolved.
“There is no doubt that some people have tried to paint the name of my family in a bad light, but I stand here to vehemently debunk that view against my family, and state it clearly that my husband and I are at peace with each other.
“Even though issues arose ,we have been able to amicably resolve our differences. As I said, this is my family, and no marriage is totally perfect. Please leave my family alone” Glory pleaded.
