The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Tag: tinubu

  • I’m still searching for a running mate –Tinubu

    Tinubu, yesterday, said he was still searching for a running mate. The former Lagos State governor, who spoke at the public presentation of the book: “Mr Speaker” in honour of Femi Gbajabiamila, on the occasion of his 60th birthday, however, did not say to what extent he had gone in the search.

    Director of Media and Communications, Bola Ahmed Tinubu Campaign Organisation, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, in a chat with Daily Sun, confirmed that Tinubu is still consulting.

    He said the APC presidential candidate cannott do the selection alone.

    “Tinubu isn’t having any issues with Northern APC governors or in any fix. He’s consulting with the party and will decide soon. So, there’s no problem at all,” he said.

    APC spokesman, Felix Morka, did not respond to calls or a message from our correspondent on the issue.

    Meanwhile, Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, has dismissed reports of abandoning the state to lobby for the vice presidential slot in Lagos.

    His media aide, Makut Macham, said he had never been desperate for any elective or political position.

    “If God says he will be the next vice president Nigeria, nobody can stop it. It is up to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the APC family to decide. Lalong together with his colleagues have done their part in insisting that power goes to the South. Let everyone remember that it is God who gives power to whomsoever he pleases. No amount of paid propaganda can change anything. Head or tail, Lalong wins,” he said.

    He also refuted the claim that the governor was spending billions of the state’s funds for the said endeavour.

    He said the story was “anchored completely on a fathom anonymous source that provided wonderfully packaged fiction and lies claiming that Governor Simon Lalong abandoned governance in Plateau State and relocated to Lagos in search of being nominated as Asiwaju Tinubu’s running mate.”

    He said Lalong has not been to Lagos in the last couple of months, the last, being the inauguration of the Dangote Fertilizer Plant and new Murtala Mohammed International Airport Terminal by President Muhammadu Buhari and attended by many governors.

    “We wonder where the so-called “source” got his imagination from about Governor Lalong relocating to Lagos, but could not provide the date, time, mode of movement or address where he allegedly relocated to in Lagos. Of course, he cannot provide such details because they do not exist even in his fictional contraption.”

    (Sun)

  • Northern govs stall selection of Tinubu’s running mate

    Northern govs stall selection of Tinubu’s running mate

    ­Weeks after Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Lagos State governor emerged as presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), intrigues and infightings within the party has stalled efforts to select his substantive running mate.

    Tinubu had chosen a placeholder, Kabiru Masari, in order to beat the deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). However, the choice of a substantive running mate has proved Herculean given mounting pressure by northern governors under the party platform to have him cede the position to one of them.

    Daily Sun learnt that though President Muhammadu Buhari had instructed the leadership of the party, led by its national chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, to steer clear and allow Tinubu the free hand to select his running mate, the governors are unwilling to concede that right to the presidential flag bearer.

    It was also learnt that Tinubu’s headache is further compounded by the growing opposition to his planned Muslim-Muslim ticket by Northern Christians and the leaderships of various churches in Nigeria. The APC presidential flag bearer, it was learnt, has however narrowed his option to the North East and North West.

    Multiple sources familiar with the development, however, said Tinubu in recent weeks has been having a running battle with northern governors, believed to have worked for him during the presidential primary, who are insisting he must honour the gentleman agreement to pick one of them as running mate.

    A source said Tinubu was in a dilemma that the governors may work against him if he failed to honour the agreement reached with them ahead of the primary to pick one of them as his substantive running mate.

    One of the sources who hails from the North East and who doesn’t want to be named because he’s not authorised to speak, said there is also the dilemma of choosing between the North West and North East which also explains why the party candidate is yet to name his vice.

    He said beside the governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, the other two APC governors from the North East, are unwilling to risk their second term tickets for the position.

    “Tinubu has been given the free hands to pick a running mate. From what we’ve seen, he will possibly settle for a Muslim-Muslim ticket. Many party leaders are against this option, including President Buhari. But since Buhari has also instructed that Tinubu should be allowed to pick his running mate, he has no choice, but to respect his choice. But governors from the North who are APC members, are not willing to give up that position. They’re insisting that a running mate should be produced by them.

    “If Tinubu must win in the North, he needs these governors. If he ignores them and picks someone outside their circle, there will be trouble. But the issues are beyond that. North West has six APC governors and the highest in the party. The geopolitical zone also has the highest number of registered voters. That gives them the bargaining power.

    “So, they’re dictating and pushing that a governor from the geopolitical zone be picked. But North Central is equally important. But it appears that Tinubu isn’t unwilling to gamble with votes from the North West and that’s part of the reasons why the party has no substantive running mate right now,” he said.

    Another source lamented that the leadership of APC that should have handled this critical assignment had been completely sidelined.

    “It can’t recommend or decide; it has become a toothless bulldog. I’m aware that Tinubu has given a deadline within which governors and other leaders from the North will recommend at least three names to him. Tinubu is then expected to pick from these names. Whether or not the governors will shift their selfish positions and carry others along, time will tell,” he said.

    (Sun)

  • 2023 Presidential Election Amidst Crippling Inflation Crisis and Devaluation of the Naira

    2023 Presidential Election Amidst Crippling Inflation Crisis and Devaluation of the Naira

    By Ikenna Igwe

    For the most part in Nigerian politics, candidates have been known to play the identity politics game, where the focus is largely on ethnic affiliation, political parties and defacement of an opponent’s name and reputation. We hardly see election candidates debate on things in the line of a sustainable economic goal.

    In July 2009, Boko Haram stared its insurgency against the Federal Republic of Nigeria and since then, the major national issue has been the case of Insecurity and rightly so, but with the dollar at 450 as at 30th May 2022, inflation eating up the value of the Naira, poverty becoming the reality of many Nigerians and essential commodities becoming even harder for the average Nigerian to get, big economic questions have been asked of the government and as the general election is approaching, the majority of the populace have tossed out party affiliation and ethnic difference. Financial experts have cited the need for diversification of the economy. As things stand currently, the GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT(GDP) is too low for a country of the size and population of Nigeria. Exchange rate of the dollar and other foreign currencies have made the economy more volatile and the country almost at risk of another recession.

    And If there is anything Nigerians want to understand so badly, it is why and how exactly the same amount of money tends to be able to buy less and less than it used to be able to buy just few months ago. Prices of commodities keep rising without any corresponding rise in wages or income. The process and cause as to why a currency might lose its value and purchasing power is what majority of the populace don’t understand.

    Economists and Financial analysts always focus on inflation as the major reason why a currency over time tends to lose its value and purchasing power. In this piece, we will understand the basics as regards to inflation, the causes, the control measures and its impact on the whole economy.

    UNDERSTANDING INFLATION

    Inflation is the upward movement in the average price of general goods and commodities. A rise in inflation means an increase in the overall cost of living.

    Inflation affects your ability to purchase goods and services, making them costlier over time. For example, a crate of egg sold for 900 naira in March rose in May to 1350 naira, that is essentially a 50% increase in the cost. Similar prices rose across various other commodities such as milk, bread, oil, petrol etc .This simply means that people tend to spend more to buy for less. Inflation largely occurs when an economy grows due to increased spending without any accompanying increase in the production of goods and service.

    When this happens, prices rise and the currency within the economy loses its value and when it loses worth, its exchange rate weakens when compared to other currencies. However this depends on whether other countries are inflating less than yours; this is a key point because if they are inflating faster than your country, your currency will be strengthened against theirs.

    According to STATISTA, in 2022, Nigeria’s inflation rate reached 16.1%. As at March 2022, the inflation rate in the urban area of Nigeria grew by 16.44% compared to the prior year, while the rural inflation rate experienced an increase of 15.49%.

    Experts recorded Nigeria as one of the highest inflated economies in the world in 2020 and no wonder, for a country that relies heavily on importation, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic affected the economy harshly because exporting countries were essentially on lockdown. As the economy was in recovery against the impact of the pandemic as at the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, the prices of petroleum products such as diesel increased sharply. Putting into account the Russia-Ukraine war, the stability of oil prices is a long way and experts around the world are alerting the public to prepare for more heavy hit on oil price.

    IMPACT OF INFLATION ON THE ECONOMY

    Human beings tend to see everything around it in twos-either good or bad. In most cases, this is not actually the whole truth. Something can be good and only becomes bad when it is out of control. That is the case with inflation.

    Sometimes, inflation is good for the economy. Mild inflation has a healthy side effect. Once people start to expect inflation, they spend now rather than later because they know prices will be higher in the future and you know that consumer spending is what drives economic growth. In fact the federal reserve sets an inflation target, they expect a healthy core inflation rate of at least 2% every year. The Central Bank wants a little inflation which also leads consumers to believe prices will continue rising and this triggers spending.

    For consumers, inflation means filling up gas cylinders, stocking up food stuffs and bucking up the cupboard with essentials.

    For businesses, it means making CAPITAL INVESTMENT that under different circumstances might be put off until later. For some it means to buy Gold and other precious stones in order to hedge them from inflation.

    Unfortunately, the urge to spend and invest in the face of inflation tends to boost inflation, in turn creating a potentially catastrophic feedback loop. As people and businesses spend more quickly in an effort to reduce the time they hold their depreciating currency, the economy finds itself awash in cash no one particularly wants. In other words, the supply of money outstrips the demand and the purchasing power of the currency falls at an even faster rate.

    The frequency at which this is happening is what results in a case of HYPERINFLATION, which was seen in Zimbabwe [2000s], where consumers were known to be hauling around wheelbarrow loads of millions and billons of “ZIM DOLLAR” notes. That is the same with Venezuela [2010s], where thieves were practically refusing to even steal their local currency, the “BOLIVARES”, and this is essentially what brought about the destabilization of Germany in the 1920s where the inflation rate rose up to 29,525% in one month.

    As the case of inflation is growing around the world and in Nigeria more so, it is paramount that the government and other regulatory bodies in the country put in place control measures on how to curb this trend.

    CONTROL MEASURES TO CURBING INFLATION

    It is the major responsibility of the government and different financial agencies to control and regulate inflation. There are two major ways governments regulate and curb inflation in its economy.

    -Contractionary Monetary Policy: This has to be the most popular method used to control inflation. The goal of this policy is to reduce the MONEY SUPPLY within an economy by decreasing the price of government ‘TREASURY BONDS’ and increasing the ‘INTEREST RATES’. Decreasing the price placed on Treasury Bonds is meant to encourage citizens to buy government bonds which helps in reducing the money in circulation. Removing as much money from the public hands is the goal of this control measure. Increasing the interest gain on bonds is meant to encourage more investors to buy.

    These are all ways employed to essentially reduce the liquid cash in the economy. Calling in debts that are owed to government are all geared towards collecting money from the public and give to government who tries to regulate the cash flow.

    Policies that mandate banks and other financial agencies to increase its interest on loans are all engineered towards ensuring that people borrow less and spend less. As the news of increasing price of commodities have been all over the news, we have seen several countries hike their interest rates in order to curb inflation.

    The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised their interest rate to as high as 4.4% for the first time in two years. With US inflation at a 40 year high, the US Federal Reserve raised its interest rate up by 1% and with the rate of inflation still soaring high, further hikes are expected. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced on 4th May, 2022, that it had lifted its cash rate to 0.35%, a move designed to combat rising inflation, which is at a 21 year high.

    According to a report from the BBC, The Bank of England warned that inflation in the UK would be over 10% by the end of the year, something not seen since 1982.

    In Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria, on 24th May, 2022, jacked up the bench market interest rate to 13% from 11%, the first change in almost a year and the first hike in six years.

    CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, at the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) 142nd meeting said that the action of increasing interest rates was geared towards taming the rising inflation rate in the country.

    -Reserve Requirement: Another effective tool used is to increase the reserve requirement on the amount of money banks are legally required to keep on hand to cover withdrawals.

    The more money banks are required to hold back, the less they have to lend consumers, which will decrease spending and by a huge margin reduce the direct impact of inflation. The CBN by regulation mandates bank to deposit up to 30% of their total capital as CASH RESERVE REQUIREMENT(CRR). Funds deposited are not accessed by the banks for loans and advances. It is noteworthy that Nigeria has the highest reserve requirement in Sub Saharan Africa. South Africa, Kenya and Ghana all have CRRs of below 10% . The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, admitted that the high CRR was part of efforts to curb excess liquidity in the banking system and check inflationary pressure.

    CONCLUSION

    As the general election is fast approaching, the need for Nigerians to place issues regarding the sustainability of the economy at the forefront is so important, because we can’t get it wrong with another administration in power. Let’s do away with ethnic bias and party affiliation over everything else but rather look for competency and integrity.

    The importance of exporting more and having a larger stack in another country’s economy cannot be overemphasized because that is the most effective way to strengthen the Naira against inflation or devaluation. This is a call for the country’s central bank to enact a functioning monetary policy that will curb this growing rate of inflation.

  • 2023: I’ll work towards the success of APC, Tinubu–Kalu

    2023: I’ll work towards the success of APC, Tinubu–Kalu

    Chief Whip of the Senate, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, yesterday, pledged to work towards the success of the All Progressive’s Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu, in the 2023 elections.

    The former Abia State governor told newsmen in Abuja that he would make for Tinubu the same level of efforts he devoted to the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, before and during the party’s primary election.

    The former governor of Lagos State emerged winner at the special presidential convention of the APC held at the Eagles Square in Abuja, beating 22 other presidential aspirants. Prior to Tinubu’s emergence, Kalu led a sturdy campaign for Lawan to emerge as the party’s flag bearer via consensus.

    Kalu said he was satisfied that the party held the primary poll.

    “I am very satisfied with the primary. Without that kind of primary, there could have been a lot of factions. Although my group was prepared for consensus, not a primary election, when it came suddenly, we had to abide by it . So, I’m very happy that at the end APC won. We won and won resoundingly.

    “The next is to work for the APC and to work for the APC candidate. We have no alternative. I’m a party man which most of you here can testify to. I’m a very strong party man and I don’t shy away from issues. Now, the way I fought for Lawan is the same way I’ll fight for Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” he said.

    While applauding President Muhammadu Buhari for not endorsing any presidential candidate, the former governor expressed optimism that South East would vote APC in 2023.

    “I’ll always take my stand on any issue, whether I agree or disagree. I’ve accepted that Bola Tinubu won and the whole party agreed there’s no doubt about his victory and when there’s no doubt about his victory, we just have to go to the field to work for our party’s victory.

    “I pray that my constituency in the South-East will give us the same belief that they gave to President Buhari in 2019 which gave him 68 per cent of votes. I hope they’ll be able to give APC the same number of votes.

    “I told people that President Buhari would not take sides and that was what happened. He asked everybody to go to the field to try their luck and the message is that it is good for the Nigerian President and the Nigerian leaders not to take sides. It’s good for our democracy and it also goes to the governors to stop taking sides,” Kalu said.

    (Sun)

  • Fayemi, Akpabio, Amosun, Bankole, 3 others step down for Tinubu

    Fayemi, Akpabio, Amosun, Bankole, 3 others step down for Tinubu

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential aspirants have continued to talk tough, claiming that they are the best aspirant to reposition Nigeria if given the presidential ticket of the party.

    Interestingly, no fewer than seven aspirants including the governors of Ekiti and Jigawa States, Kayode Fayemi, Abubakar Badaru, former governors of Akwa-Ibom and Ogun States, Godswill Akpabio and Ibikunle Amosun respectively, and former Speaker House of Representatives, Demeji Bankole, and the only female aspirant, Uju Ken Ohanenye, stepped down for former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    Delivering their speeches at the party’s manifesto at Eagle Square, venue of the presidential primary in Abuja, they, others claimed that though they possess the qualities to represent the country, they have to sacrifice their ambitions for Asiwaju.

    It was not however a walk into the park for the National Leader of the ruling party as other aspirants, especially Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who refused to step down, claimed that they are the best persons for the job.

    In his speech, former governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, had urged the delegates to collect the money other aspirants have to them but vote for him, insisting that he has rich experience more than any other aspirant.

    According to him; “don’t vote for me if I am not qualified. I am the most experienced among the aspirants. I built schools as governor of Rivers State and made it free. I built 150 health centres, employed 400 youth doctors and bought 600 cars for them.

    “We build an alternative training centre to combat crime and our efforts reduces crime. I urge you to judge me by my work especially in the railway sector. We must question the source of the money we are spending on the delegates.

    “I want to tell the delegates that they will recover the money they spent on you. I will take the country from agrarian economy to value added economy. As President, we will rebuild our universities and there will be law and order in the country. There are few of the aspirants that are honest. I urge you to collect their money but vote for me,” he charged.

    On his side, the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, claimed that he is more qualified than other aspirants, insisting that parliamentarians are ruling the developed economy.

    “We are making history today. The APC is making history. This is a special event to elect the person to fly the party’s flag for next year’s election.

    President Buhari has done so much for the party and has laid the foundation and we are very proud of that. He has provided leadership including when we thought the situation has become hopeless.

    “I am running for the office of the president because I believe that this party has been built well around ideals that all of us will share. Despite the difficulties in the world, we have put in place mechanisms to ensure we did not feel it. “We have dealt with insurgency in the North East even though we still have some small challenges, we will still deal with banditry.

    “To the delegates, I appeal to you to look very closely to ensure we elect someone that can consolidate on our achievements in the past seven years. I have wealth of legislative experience and I am eminently qualified and as you know, most developed democracies are governed by parliamentarians. The present and past US Presidents are of parliamentary backgrounds.

    “I have acquired sufficient legislative experiences working closely with President Buhari and if you elect me, I will consolidate on those experiences,” he noted.

    The duo of former Senate President, Ken Nnamani and former governor of Abia State, Ogbonnaya Onu, had decried the marginalisation of the South East in the failure to give automatic ticket to the aspirants, with Onu stressing that he was even the one who paid for the registration of the party.

    On his part, former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, said that he is more qualified than other aspirants, arguing that he is the only aspirant that is self made while others were made by government.

    “I depend on the people and the delegates to be elected. Power is a trust to be used for the benefit of the common man. I urge you to search your conscience so that you will not go back to perpetual poverty.

    “My heart is still bleeding for the victims of insurgence. Destiny has bestowed on you the delegates to decide who becomes the president but don’t sacrifice it on the altar of temptation for money. Let me say that government made every aspirant, but I remain the one who made and created wealth before joining government,” he said.

    (Sun)

  • Tinubu meets APC Gov after Osinbajo declares

    The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress and presidential aspirant, Bola Tinubu, is currently meeting with members of the Progressives Governors Forum at the Kebbi State Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja.

    The meeting is coming less than 24 hours after Vice President Yemi Osinbajo hosted the governors at his Aguda House residence on Sunday evening; where he disclosed his intention to run for the APC presidential ticket.

    Although Tinubu is yet to officially declare for office, he had in January informed the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), of his intention to succeed him.

    At the time of filing this report, 14 governors were already seated with the presidential hopeful.

    The governors in attendance include Governors Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State, Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Bababjide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano, Gboyega Oyetola of Osun, Mai Mala Binu of Yobe, Simon Lalong of Plateau, Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa, amongst others.

    Details later…

    (Punch)

  • 2023 Presidency: APC leaders split over Tinubu

    2023 Presidency: APC leaders split over Tinubu

     

    Governors and top leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, are split over the presidential aspiration of the party’s National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    The division is affecting zoning of National Working Committee, NWC, and National Executive Committee, NEC, offices ahead of the February 26 National Convention.

    A top party source told Vanguard, weekend that contrary to perception, Asiwaju Tinubu is not desperate to become president in 2023 but wants agreements to be honoured.

    “Top founders of the party know that President Buhari promised to hand over to Tinubu in 2023. Now if they don’t want to fulfill that promise, they have to sit down with Tinubu and discuss.

    “Tinubu has to be respected. You can’t treat him as nobody and expect him to keep quiet and do nothing. He is a democrat,” the source said.

    Although the APC governors have taken charge of the party, they are yet to agree on Tinubu and a chairmanship candidate. “Some of the governors are for Tinubu and are watching to see how things unfold.”

    According to the source, President Buhari is not averse to a South-easterner succeeding him and may be eyeing a minister from the zone as his successor.

    President Buhari, penultimate week, said his choice of ‘favoured successor’ would shock people, a reason he said he would keep the identify of the person secret.

    ‘Likely successors’

    Some names have been mentioned as the likely favoured successor. They include former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan; Transportation Minister, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi; Labour and Employment Minister, Dr Chris Ngige; Dr Akinwunmi Adesina; Timipre Sylva and Mr Emeka Nwajiuba, among others.

    On 2023 presidency, the source said the party must find a way to assuage the feelings of Tinubu and some founders of the party, who are gunning for the presidential ticket because “promises were made to them during the formation of the party.

    “If the party cannot fulfil the promises in 2023, the party has to meet and plead with them.

    “If the party treats them with contempt, they are ready to stand their ground and it will affect the party in 2023 elections.”

    APC no longer a political party, but election platform, ex-PGF DG laments

    Meanwhile, the immediate past Director General of the Progressive Governors’ Forum PGF, Salihu Moh. Lukman, has lamented the dwindling democratic fortunes of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC, saying the party was now more of an election platform without any ideological bent.

    Lukman in a statement in Abuja yesterday, described the reality as very disturbing, noting that “APC today, wasn’t the APC of the period 2013 to 2015.”

    He said outside President Muhammadu Buhari, there were very few elected leaders in APC who were still committed to the founding vision of the party to provide leadership to change Nigerian politics.

    He said: “Given where the nation is coming from under PDP, changing Nigerian politics would require departure from requiring citizens to be blindly loyal to elected leaders.

    ‘’It should require that citizens and party members are free to disagree and criticise elected leaders.

    “In other words, politics of change should produce elected leaders who should be highly tolerant and where possible even accommodate disagreements and criticisms as part the process of decision making.

    “These may sound like wishful thoughts. The truth however is that our dear APC is being held captive by some few leaders whose interest is only about imposing themselves as candidates for elections.

    “So long as that is the case, it means what we have as APC today wasn’t the party negotiated and produced out of our legacy parties.

    “Rather than the envisioned party, which allows for internal debates and disagreements among party leaders and members, based on which there could be negotiations and agreements, APC today has been diminished to only an election platform, which is what the founding leaders and members wanted to change.

    ‘’The commitment to change the profile of political parties beyond being election platforms was precisely part of why Nigerians supported the APC in 2015″, he stated.

    He said unlike the case of the PDP, APC was extremely lucky to have a leader in President Muhammadu Buhari who does not meddle in the affairs of the party.

    Lukman added: “Sadly, this became the license for party leaders to abuse the trust of both the President and majority of party leaders and members.

    “Overtime, this has damaged the profile of the APC to the point whereby, based on the conduct of leaders and some elected representatives of the party, it is difficult to associate the APC with its founding vision of change.

    ‘’Problems of intolerance to disagreements and criticisms, with some leaders expecting members to be blindly loyal is becoming a common attribute.

    ‘’Views of party leaders become dominantly decisions of party organs.

    “Even when consultations take place and there is a clear decision, so long as the decisions are not what some few party leaders want, those decisions will not be implemented.

    ‘’It doesn’t matter whether President Buhari was part of the consultations, and in agreement with the decision.

    “Propensity to disrespect decisions and party leaders, including the President, is very high today in APC.

    “Every founding leader and member of the APC must rise to challenge of arresting the drift in the party.

    “Few individual leaders of the party must not be allowed to continue to impose themselves and destroy a party with potentials to provide the needed democratic platform for negotiated resolutions of all the problems of Nigeria.

    ‘’As it is today, APC is the only party where contestation is taking place. Again, thanks to President Buhari who is providing unbiased leadership to the party, it is possible for ordinary members to express themselves, including disagreeing with decisions of leaders of the party.

    ‘’This unique leadership of President Buhari has helped a lot to sustain the hope of both party leaders, members and Nigerians desirous of political change.

    “Beyond the unbiased leadership of President Buhari, there is the need for all party leaders and members committed to the politics of change to ensure the emergence of party leaders at the February 26, 2022 National Convention who must be tolerant to criticisms and disagreements and should not expect members to be blindly loyal.

    ‘’Above all, if APC is to return to its founding vision of driving the process of change in Nigeria, it must produce leaders who would be able to compel elected representatives produced by the party to be accountable to Nigerians.’’

     

    (Vanguard)

  • Uncertainty hovers over Osinbajo, Tinubu

     

    Uncertainties within the All Progressives Congress, APC as to the direction ahead of the 2023 General Election was at the weekend beginning to clear with postulations of Nigeria’s powerful governors increasingly emerging to drive the process.

    The coming out of the governors, it was gathered, and the seeming unwillingness of President Muhammadu Buhari to identify with either Vice President Yemi Osinbajo or national APC leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has put the two potential successors in a quandary.

    The prospect of both campaigns consuming one another in a mutual war of destruction it was learnt, was now making their strategists pull back after initial gestures of war. Osinbajo’s fate is not helped by the claim of a ‘trust deficit’ that arose from his time as Acting President in 2018. Since then, President Buhari has not again transferred presidential powers to his deputy.

    Though Osinbajo has not formally declared a presidential bid, signs of a national mobilisation with political actors seemingly working to set up structures for him across the country continue to echo here and there.

    After the seemingly easy effort of the governors’ pointsman, Dr Kayode Fayemi in projecting his nominee, Biodun Oyebanji as the party’s candidate in the 2022 Ekiti State governorship candidate, it was gathered that their next step would be in determining the party’s national chairman and other executive positions. Fayemi’s man beat two aspirants allegedly linked to Tinubu: Senators Opeyemi Bamidele and Dayo Adeyeye.

    Normally confidential sources in the APC disclosed that the contest for national chairman of the ruling party was at weekend narrowing to a two-man race with former Governor Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State and erstwhile minister of solid minerals, Alhaji Bawa Bwari as the main contenders.

    The governors, it was learnt, we’re now waiting on President Buhari for a final choice between the two men.

    The determination of the governors to frame the National Executive and then determine the presidential candidate was despite the seeming visibility of the campaigns for Osinbajo and Tinubu. A high-level presidential source speaking on the condition of anonymity while underlining the trust deficit was quick to also note the influence of the governors who he said would determine the direction.

    “Yes, the trust issue is not something that can be swept away easily, it is there, but you cannot remove the role of the governors who are the ones laying the bed. You don’t expect them to lay the bed for someone else to come and lie on,” the source said.

    On how the vice-president is drawing his strength, the presidential aide said:

    “Well, you know he meets with the governors monthly for the NEC (National Economic Committee) and maybe he is deriving his strength from that. He meets with them and goes to commission their projects, even projects of opposition governors and maybe he is depending on that,” the high-level source said with a dose of sarcasm.

    The trust issue that is being weaved around Osinbajo flows from his actions as Acting President when he sacked Lawal Daura as Director-General of the Department of State Services, DSS and also forwarded the nomination of Walter Onnoghen as Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN.

     

    (Vanguard)

  • Sanwo-olu drums support for the Tinubu Candidacy

     

    Progressives Congress National Leader, Bola Tinubu, is the most capable candidate to succeed the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) in May 2023.

    The governor said this on Thursday when he drummed support for the Tinubu candidacy during the formal inauguration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Movement’s Working Committees in Ikeja GRA.

    The movement was conceived and set up by members of Governor’s Advisory Council in Lagos for the actualisation of the presidential ambition of the former Lagos governor.

    In 2023, Sanwo-Olu said the country was in need of a capable leader with progressive ideas to succeed Buhari and build on the progress recorded by the current administration.

    According to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Gboyega Akosile, Sanwo-Olu said, “Our country is the most populous black nation in the world and the responsibility that comes with that is enormous. No doubt that the destiny of the entire black race is tied to the greatness of Nigeria. If our country must be great, we have the responsibility to choose the leadership that will bring about true transformation across every facet of our national life. Who is that rallying figure that should lead us in this journey?

    “The answer is deeply connected to our mission and purpose here today. That person must be a detribalised Nigerian and a bridge builder, who has been tested and trusted. A thinker who must sustain the legacy our current president is leaving behind. That person is the reason we are inaugurating this Movement for the actualisation of his presidential ambition. That person is our great leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    “Let us tell the naysayers and those who are still in doubt that we are ready to work for the realisation of this ambition, because Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the Number one salable candidate for the president. We will preach this gospel with diligence, dedication and high sense of commitment. Asiwaju is an unfolding success story our nation deserves at this time.”

    Sanwo-Olu further quoted as saying, “We must see ourselves in line with Asiwaju’s political ideals. To be open to all, tolerate various interests and embrace everyone. We must reflect those ideas of our leader in our utterances and actions. You cannot afford to disappoint us on this mission.”

    The governor was at the event with his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat; Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa; and all members of the State Executive Council.

    Also, APC leaders across the State’s 57 local councils and a large number of party supporters thronged the event’s venue to lend their support.

     

    (Punch)

  • Bola Tinubu and his 2023 ambition

     

     

    The candidacy of Chief Bola Tinubu for the presidency in 2023 was bound to attract not just interest but also controversy. So far it has lived up to expectations.

    Of all the presidential aspirants, barring former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Tinubu’s candidacy was destined to elicit the most passionate reactions for the very reason that his has been what he has rightly called a ‘lifelong’ ambition.

    He has been in the public eye far longer than any of the present aspirants to the office of president – again with the singular exception of Atiku Abubakar.

    He was in the first generation of governors that ushered Nigeria into the Fourth Republic during which he served two four-year terms as governor of Lagos State. As a member then of the Alliance for Democracy, AD, he was one of five governors that championed political activities in the immediate post-military years in the Yoruba country.

    While all the others were swept out of office in the political gale initiated by President Olusegun Obasanjo in his bid to take over and consolidate his hold on politics in the South West, in an election he had memorably called a do-or-die affair between 2004 and 2007, Tinubu became the sole survivor of the retired general’s barnstorming.

    This, in addition to being the governor of Nigeria’s most prosperous state, the country’s commercial capital, further brought him into limelight and head-on collision with an Obasanjo that would be pacified by nothing but the total extirpation of all vestiges of AD as a political organisation and its cry for fiscal federalism and restructuring, among other anathema subjects of socio-political engineering, it propounded.

    It was indeed a do-or-die affair between Tinubu and Obasanjo who did everything in his power to bring Lagos State under Tinubu to its knees, at one time withholding its allocation for 17 whole months.

    During this time, Tinubu’s status, first earned as a pro-democracy advocate in the NADECO years, was amplified as he was lionised as the David punching above his weight in his often-bruising encounters with Obasanjo’s Goliath-like federal might. Since leaving office as governor in 2007, Tinubu has remained something of a kingmaker, installing and dethroning political proteges and associates, whose allegiance he commands with all attention.

    One and a half decades (2007-2022) is quite a long time to have been out of power, either doing next to nothing or mapping one’s way back to power. During this time, two relative dark horses, Umar Yar’ Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, would emerge from obscurity into presidential limelight.

    Yet Tinubu remained on the sideline. And just when it seemed it was his time to shine in 2014 having midwifed a political merger that would transform a perennial presidential aspirant in the person of Muhammadu Buhari into the seat of power, just when he could have taken the decisive step to Aguda House, a door away from the inviting ambience of Aso Rock Villa, then did Nigeria’s geopolitical permutations rear its ugly head to upend a well-nursed ambition to have been vice president if not the president.

    To add insult to injury it was his own protégé, a latecomer to the game of power, Yemi Osinbajo, that was asked to take his place beside Muhammadu Buhari, the main beneficiary of the new party in town that had displaced and cut short the imagined 60-year reign of the Peoples Democratic Party.

    Eight years since that occurrence, it is also the same Yemi Osinbajo that Tinubu’s opponents are bent on using against him in his quest to occupy Aso Villa. Up until about two weeks ago, Tinubu had chosen to tantalise Nigerians with details of his political plans, recoiling from making any definite statement on whether he would be standing for president or not.

    Nigerians were left guessing, wondering when he would actually give voice to his ambition with an open declaration of intent. All of this until two weeks ago when the one who is putatively seen as the “main issue” in Nigerian politics took off his veneer and announced his interest in the presidency, post-2023.

    He did this by making a beeline to Abuja to, like a dutiful political son, inform his political father of his covetous plan to replace him as the leader and godfather of the All Progressives Congress party. Since then, all hell has been let loose. The attacks have been coming fast, thick and furious as both foes and friends alike take their place behind his opponents and supporters.

    Buhari who at the best of times feigns disinterest in the murky details of party politics has taken a back seat to watch from the sides as the hounds of hell go after Tinubu. He is father to all and father of none. He would welcome all aspirants with neither love nor hate even as Tinubu fights to keep afloat.

    While many are predicting that Tinubu’s ambition to be president is dead on arrival, others are waxing lyrical about the brightness of his chances. He has continued his visits to the so-called owners of Nigeria and the attacks on him have not abated.

    While he may yet hold out against the attacks of his opponents, the known hounds of the political realm, the unkindest cut may be that of his closest friends and associates that appear to be leading the charge against him.

    They are not stopping at shredding his eligibility to contest the presidency, they are questioning the basis of his personhood, his social and political make-up as a Nigerian of verifiable identity. Some of these opponents have expressed open preference for some of Tinubu’s less influential associates who, in fact, owe their prominence or emergence in the political sphere to their association with the Jagaba Borgu.

    The one whose loyalty has been most sorely tested in the last few days has been Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who many supporters of Bola Tinubu now choose to see as a traitor even for his strategic silence, saying nothing about his future plans concerning the presidency.

    His supporters see him as a more viable candidate than his erstwhile political leader and he seems doomed anywhere he turns.

    These cannot be the best of times for the vice president as he is pitched against Bola Tinubu. But who can yet say what the pregnant silence of Yemi Osinbajo portends? Does his silence not tell us that he may after all be in the same boat as Tinubu and that despite the loud denunciation of his political benefactor (never mind who made who, where and when), this is one bandwagon he cannot join.

    And after all is said and done,Osinbajo may remain not just a close ally of Bola Tinubu but one of his staunchest supporters in the no-man’s land of the 2023 presidential contest.

     

    (Vanguard)

  • Kalu announces that he has all that it takes to match Tinubu grit for grit in the APC presidential race

     

    Former Abia State governor and Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has said he will be ready to contest the All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential ticket with former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu if the party zones it to the South.

     

    Speaking in an interview, yesterday, Kalu said that while he has nothing against the aspiration of Tinubu, he believes that his own South East is ripe for the Presidency and that it should be the turn of the region to produce the next President and that should be him

    Kalu said that he has all that it takes to match Tinubu grit for grit and campaign for the campaign if need be for the APC ticket in 2023.

     

    Tinubu had on Monday, declared his ambition to take the reins of power as Nigeria’s next President; a move many believe may have foreclosed the clamour for Igbo Presidency.

     

    Tinubu had last November visited Kalu in his villa mansion where he intimated the federal lawmaker about his Presidential ambition.

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.vanguardngr.com

     

  • Bola Tinubu notifies the nation of possible occurrence of tribal religious war

    National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu yesterday broke his silence over the current security challenges facing the country.

    Tinubu who attended the 8-day fidau prayer of the first civilian governor of Lagos state, Alhaji Lateef Jakande alongside other South West political leaders, like Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, ex-Ogun State Governor, Olusegun Osoba, former Inspector General of Police, Musiliu Smith, traditional rulers, religious leaders and others, was moved to speak after the National Chief Missioner, Ansar-ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, Sheikh Abdurrahman Hamad challenged them to rise up to the issue of insecurity in the country.

    The Islamic cleric, Hamad in his preaching, specifically called on Tinubu to speak up on the issue of insecurity. He also called on Governors Fayemi, Sanwo-Olu and others who were present at the occasion to do the needful.

    The event was also attended by former governor of Zamfara State, Senator Ahmed Sanni Yerima. Hamad while eulogising the late Jakande said, if he was alive, he would have done something about the security challenges facing his domain.

    He implored all the leaders to emulate the lifestyle of Jakande, noting that he dedicated all his life to serve humanity. Hamad said that demise of Jakande has given the leaders opportunity to prove their worth and surpass his achievements if they are ready to serve humanity as Jakande did.

    Tinubu in his remarks, said nobody can beat the record of the late Jakande because he was immortal. He narrated how the deceased mentored and tutored him on politics and service to humanity. Besides, the former Lagos governor also revealed how Jakande turned them down when they pressurised him to contest for president.

    In his words, “We have listened to the cleric, to our father who has gone to answer the call of Almighty Allah, we pray that God will forgive all his sins, accept him into Aljannah firdaus. It is not your loss but our loss. We cannot be all alive forever, Allah had destined the date that we will depart. To all of us in Lagos, we have been extremely lucky to have him, extremely lucky to draw from the fountain of his knowledge, Nigeria equally is lucky but when the crisis of military and many others arose, we met him, we said, we want Jakande but he said, he is no longer interested in becoming the president in the midst of chaos, we told him, we wanted him to come and lead, he said no, the field is left for us, he has left an open field.

    There is no way, one can say, we will beat his record. Nigeria is currently facing crisis; crisis of insurgency, banditry in all aspects of security but God almighty, that made this country as one of the largest and most resourceful country, will protect us. I appeal, in his memory today, for us not to turn whatever challenges we are facing right now, to ethnic, tribal and religious crisis. I heard when I came in, if there is crisis, where do we go, we will submerge the entire West Africa, there will be no enough space to accommodate us, those who have seen the effect of war, the effect of tribal conflict, effect of religious conflict, will never want it for Nigeria, we pray to God to strengthen our minds, guide our faith, put peace and bring peace unto this land, may Allah bless all of us”

    Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu who also eulogised the late Jakande, disclosed that the state government had made arrangements to immortalise him.