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Governor Yahaya Bello

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Yahaya Bello Bans use of Facemasks, Shuts Brothels in Kogi

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello has banned the wearing of facemasks in public places to ensure the proper identification of persons in the state.

The governor disclosed this in an emergency security meeting in Lokoja on Tuesday.

Bello gave the order during a meeting with all first and second-class traditional rulers, including local government council chairmen in the state.

He urged all traditional rulers to guard their domain and ensured all the nooks and crannies of their areas are cleansed.

“Ensuring peaceful coexistence in your domain is your exclusive responsibility. You have the exclusive responsibility to ensure that all nooks and crannies of your areas are free from criminality of all sorts,” said Bello.

The governor also ordered the closure of all brothels harbouring prostitutes in the state.

He urged the State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Local Government Chairmen, union leaders, and security agencies to meet with tricycle and motorcycle riders for proper documentation.

The governor also ordered the removal and demolition of shanties in Lokoja, Osara, Zango, Itobe, Obajana, and all other areas in the state.

Bello sent a strong warning to politicians not to be involved in anything that could disrupt the peace of the people and the security they presently enjoy.

“Let me sound a note of warnings to all politicians irrespective of political persuations to desist from anything that could disrupt the peace we are currently enjoying in the state,” he added.

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Is N100m for presidential nomination not prohibitive?

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters

By Tonnie Iredia

It is futile to argue with some Nigerians on any matter in which they have an interest or which they have cause to suspect might favour them even if tangentially. All that those in doubt of this conclusion need to do is to watch people on television marshaling points in support of any subject. They forcefully leave no stone unturned.

Those who do this are usually talented in public speaking or are senior lawyers especially those who have firm knowledge not only of the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution but the exact sections, subsections and schedules of relevant provisions. For instance, when the issue of defector-governors arose, they argued in support of the defectors eloquently sermonizing on the difference between law and morality adding that what matters is law. Those of us who often drew attention to the spirit of the law in querying unwholesome political behaviours were shocked a few days ago to see the pro-technicality analysts taking sides with us to condemn the decision of government to pardon convicted former governors Dariye and Nyame. It was as if no one remembered that our Constitution provides for state pardon. So, is it all about winning an argument or publicity consciousness?

Against this backdrop, my immediate reaction to the decision of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC to sell its nomination forms to presidential aspirants at the cost of One hundred million naira (N100m), was that it would not be difficult at all to find Nigerians who would instantly generate reasons to justify the apparent prohibitive cost. No surprises as the defences have since begun. To start with, there is already the argument that politics is capital intensive and that anyone who cannot raise the amount would not be strong enough to be President of the largest country in Africa. In fact, the argument that the funds can be raised with ease has already been proven. For example, two Abia state businessmen – Ukaegbu James and Nnanna Kalu have signified their intention to provide N200m to buy forms for two federal legislators, namely, Senate President Ahmad Lawan and the Chief Whip of the Senate, Orji Uzor Kalu. However, the public perception is that the two beneficiaries can afford to buy their own forms because as senators they are among the richest public office holders in the country

One candidate who is not likely to have any problem whatsoever in getting the form is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu whose supporters are now competing for who will be the first to raise the amount. As soon as the figure was announced, the Asiwaju Project Beyond 2023 reportedly raised the amount and announced that “we will be storming the secretariat soon to get the form for him.” On his part, the Director General of the Tinubu Support Organization (TSO) Aminu Suleiman said he had already signed a cheque for the amount rendering unnecessary, the previous pledge of N10m made by some youths under the aegis of the Tinubulate Nigeria Agenda (TINA). Senator Kabiru Gaya, Chairman of the Progressive Project (TPP), the umbrella organization of Osinbajo support groups had similarly vowed to purchase the nomination form for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. A pro-youth group, the North Central Coalition for Leadership (NCCL) had also planned to buy a form for another APC presidential aspirant, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state. It is therefore obvious that the strategy which all the aspirants used in getting different groups to earnestly beg them to show interest in next year’s presidential contest, would be deployed again to make the same support groups to announce their readiness to buy forms for their preferred aspirants. Such donors or perceived fronts are aiming to be the next set of cabals in the corridors of power come 2023.

A second argument put forward in support of the rather high figure of N100m is that the calculation took into account the current realities in which everything has increased. Petroleum products especially kerosene and diesel, foodstuffs, government loans, bandits’ attacks, ASUU strikes, petroleum subsidy, poverty etc. have all gone up astronomically. The fear in some quarters however is that the exorbitant cost of nomination forms for elections can be counter-productive. If nothing else, it will shut out some aspirants with good ideas which are greatly needed for national development. Politicians are probably the only ones comfortable with heavy expenses on politics and elections. Indeed, those of them in the legislature had earlier ensured that they legalized huge election expenses. In the new Electoral Act, they jacked up spending ceilings from between 150 to 400 per cent. Yet, nothing was done to halt the old order where political parties always breached the rule requiring them to disclose their electoral expenditures to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). This brands the advocacy for high cost of nomination forms as self-serving.

Party leaders in particular are quite comfortable with the high cost of nomination forms because it gives them opportunity to generate ample funds for running their political parties. Putting it aptly, the new publicity secretary of the ruling party, Felix Morka had argued that Nigeria was yet to get to the level where party members would faithfully pay membership dues for running the party. It would therefore mean that the costs of nomination forms across board are that high because this is the ideal time for collecting revenues from elusive members. The truth therefore is that party leaders are anxious to secure huge party finances to put an end to the practice of going cap in hand to beg elected office holders to come to their rescue on a monthly basis. The situation could be worse where a party loses an election and would therefore have no elected office holders in their party to look up to for assistance.

The debate on whether the huge cost of nomination forms is prohibitive or not is fruitless because for quite some time nothing has shown that an increase in finances affects our people positively. Even the revenue from nomination forms could be squandered because some party members believe that the struggle for party offices is usually influenced by the desire of party leaders to help themselves to such funds. The same is true of government finances. Only last week, the House of Representatives’ Adhoc Committee investigating the state of the nation’s refineries had to raise an alarm over suspected sharp practices on the subject. The Committee is bothered that after allegedly spending $3.7 billion on repairs, none of the refineries has been restored to any level of functionality. Yet, neither the Minister of State for Petroleum Resource, Timipre Sylva nor the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari responded to calls by the Committee to throw light on the situation What the above narrative suggests is that instead of bickering over the cost of nomination forms, our civil society groups should rise up now to vote against non-performers. I

t is time to stop playing the victim and behaving as if citizens are hopeless and helpless the way Ekiti state pensioners projected themselves the other day. With an unpaid N37.8billion gratuities and pensions, Ekiti pensioners last Thursday began a prayer session seeking God’s face for swift intervention for the payment of their entitlements. If the pensioners come together to vote against the political party that placed them in their present predicament in the next governorship elections holding two months away, no state government would toy with them in the future. In other words, this is not a time to bother about the cost of nomination forms; it is also not the time for protests concerning poor governance, rather it is time to use the ballot to tell political leaders that they are elected to represent the people and not to turn them into objects instead of the subject of democracy. It is certainly not a time to beg leaders who previously failed to institute good governance to once more join the next race. Nigerians must take their nation’s destiny in their own hands.
April 24, 2022.

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Many have already missed the road to 2023

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters

By Tonnie Iredia

The next general elections in Nigeria are less than a year away, yet it is still difficult to put a finger on its prospects. Many politicians and their supporters are making noise about 2023, but no one knows if they are on the right path. There are people whose dispositions and utterances give the impression that they are still in 2019 which the nation departed from close to four years ago. One of the common commentaries is that political parties should pick their presidential candidates from the zones that can win election.

Even if the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the originator of zoning is for the wrong reason no longer certain of the efficacy of the arrangement, I hope those supporting good candidates like Governor Aminu Tambuwal are influenced by his liberal mind and capacity to embrace innovation and not where is from. Those supporting anyone only because of his/her zone are travelling backwards beyond 2015.

If Nigeria must get out of its stunted growth and face brighter days, unnecessary attacks on aspirants should stop. The criticism that Atiku Abubakar is forever a contestant is irrelevant if he is qualified and competent. Those who say Asiwaju Bola Tinubu does not appear strong enough for the office of president should review his response that he is not seeking the office of a brick-layer that calls for physical strength.

Those who are visibly angry that someone has the courage to aspire to contest the 2023 election along with his ‘godfather’ should note that the contest is not reserved for godfathers. When Yemi Osinbajo acted as President in 2017, many who affirmed that he did excellently well are surprisingly against him now as if the man is only good as acting President. In any case, the godfather sentiments cannot be sustained in many parts of Nigeria where tradition behooves a man to be happy if his grandson surpasses his own achievements. Although Tinubu, the acclaimed godfather has publicly testified that he has no son old enough to aspire to be president, the godson is still under fire.

In some commentaries, people suggested that Osinbajo was already a loser for wearing black on the day he declared his interest in the 2023 contest. To such commentators of the stone age, black is meant for burial. One wonders what burial ceremonies are holding in courts everyday across the globe where black is the official colour. What the several criticisms against aspirants suggests is that the authors have missed their way to 2023.

In the new scheme of things, Nigerians who seek to hold political offices should be subjected to intense scrutiny but without being parochial. The only viable criticism against the Vice President was the one made by Prof Farooq Kperogi who felt Osinbajo was part of an RCCG plot for theocratic state capture. The prolific writer scored high by providing verifiable evidence in support of his allegation. Those who have points against any aspirant should do same.

Unfortunately, tangible criticisms which can strengthen democracy are palpably scanty while the media is replete with cosmetic issues of zero value. For example, to attack Rotimi Amaechi for making his declaration public at a crowded stadium under the guise of thanksgiving is no point because there is no standard place for declaration. The same is true of those attacking Nyesom Wike, Rivers state governor as too aggressive as if timidity is a more relevant virtue for political ambition. Going by the current state of the nation, an aggressive leader may be needed. While it is true that some aspirants can easily pass for jokers, it is uncharitable to add Peter Obi, former Anambra state governor to such a list simply because he does not ‘have a bullion van.’ What such contemptible attacks show is that not many are set to positively move to 2023 because it is hard to ignore the visible capability of Obi to manage a troubled economy. Having indicated his current preoccupation, attacks on Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele are superfluous

Mindful that a person coerced into an office is not likely to perform well because he could not have prepared for it, this column had earlier sought to identify the political aspirants who bought nomination forms themselves to contest the 2015 general elections. Findings showed that former Governor Godswill Akpabio’s nomination form was allegedly bought for him by some youths to represent the Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District. It was the Benue Youth in Diaspora Association (BYDA) that pledged to provide money to purchase the senatorial nomination form for former Governor Gabriel Suswam. Some other Youth leaders from Ado Local Government Area of Benue State allegedly besieged Senator David Mark’s home to put pressure on him to contest the Benue South Senatorial seat. Similarly, it was Enugu Professional Forum that kept pushing former Governor Sullivan Chime to contest his senatorial seat against Senator Ike Ekweremadu who was himself pressured by Enugu Concerned Professionals Worldwide.

The implication of this narrative is that the locomotive heading towards 2023 is the same one that has been conveying people to cajole politicians to contest elections since 1979 when a reluctant Shehu Shagari was persuaded to become President. Little wonder that the tricks have not changed. Misguided able-bodied Nigerians are still acting as fronts for old politicians, publicly begging them to show interest in elective positions. More than two years to the end of his first tenure, the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria were on the streets distracting President Jonathan with pleas to seek reelection. At other times such as now, unemployed youths argue that they had to put together the little they had to buy nomination forms for billionaire politicians. Whither the new Nigeria of our dreams?

Two weeks ago, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State formally announced his Presidential ambition naming two Nigerians that would help him coast to victory like M.K.O. Abiola did in 1993. First, he picked Senator Jonathan Zwingina former Director General of the Abiola Campaign Organization as his national coordinator. He then named Hafsat Abiola, daughter of the June 12 hero as the Director General of his campaign. A week later, Abiola’s eldest son, Kola, joined politics. With the Social Democratic Party, (SDP) which bears same name as MKO’s winning party, busy acting as the rejuvenated party to beat, the true representative of the legend is no longer clear more so as Kola declared under another platform – the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP). What is clear is that no one has the MKO Abiola’s political spirit of a true patriot and humanitarian warrior who helped all and sundry. The man donated to every good cause unlike now that people donate only close to elections, competing with the trader money scheme.

Nigeria is thus far from the ideals of the past just as her movement ahead is retarded by lethargy in governance and political materialism. Declarations have remained patently promissory – a trend which can do Nigeria no good in 2023. What is needed now is not who can announce what he intends to do, instead all aspirants should be interrogated to explain how they intend to fulfil their electioneering promises. Indeed, when aspirants become candidates ample time must be spent on the details of how each promise would be fulfilled. No one should be allowed to evade election debate, so that each person’s capacity can be sufficiently visible for voters to make informed choices. The strategy, would nullify arguments such as that the true decadence of the nation was not clear when the promises were made.

Every elected candidate must recognize that he/she was voted in to solve problems and not to itemize challenges. In truth, Professor Kingsley Moghalu was a delight to watch on national television two days ago explaining that if elected he would ensure that facilities like good transportation are available before withdrawing on installmental basis, our unsustainable fuel subsidy. That is the narrative for 2023 and those who cannot cope must fall out of the race now.

April 17, 2022

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Aso Rock 2023: 12 Politicians Who Want To Replace Buhari

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters

The 2023 elections are two years and two months away. Already, notable politicians from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have begun discreet campaigns to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.

Also Read: There is Shortage of Leaders

While a few of them, like Senator Ahmed Yarima, have openly declared their presidential ambition, others have been using allies to test the waters.

Because of the uncertainty over zoning, some presidential hopefuls are being cautious, biding their time to see which way the pendulum would swing. 

But as we go into 2021, it is expected that the agitation for the presidential ticket in the two major parties would set off a chain of events expected to culminate in who becomes president in 2023.

Let’s look at 12 political heavyweights believed to be warming up to enter the ring in 2023.

1.Atiku Abubakar

He was Vice President from 1999 to 2007 during the reign of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

He was the PDP presidential candidate in the 2019 general elections but lost to APC’s Muhammadu Buhari.

Atiku, a business mogul and political heavyweight, is thought to have a deep pocket with political machinery and structures spread across the country. He ran for governor of Adamawa State first in 1990 and again in 1998 (when he won, before being picked as VP candidate) and was a presidential candidate of the defunct Action Congress (AC) in the 2007 presidential elections.

He contested the PDP presidential ticket before the 2011 general elections but did not make it.

In 2014, he joined the APC ahead of the 2015 presidential elections and contested the presidential primaries but lost to Buhari. He would later support Buhari’s run to Aso Rock. After being sidelined by the APC, he returned to the PDP in 2017 and secured the party’s presidential ticket for the 2019 general elections.

Though Atiku has not openly declared his intention to contest in 2023, indications show that he would. He has been a constant critic of the Buhari administration and his son,  Adamu Atiku, had in June 2020, said that his father would contest again in 2023.

Adamu, who spoke at the presentation of his scorecard as Commissioner for Works and Energy in Adamawa State, said, “I don’t see anything wrong with my father contesting for the presidency.

“In 2023, my father will be aspiring to the Number One office in the land because he has been an astute, strategic, master politician for almost four decades,” he said. 

2. Bola Ahmed Tinubu

The APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has not openly declared his intention to run for the 2023 presidency but his allies, loyalists and supporters have commenced early campaigns for him to succeed President Buhari.

Though Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, has at every forum reiterated that the time is not yet ripe for 2023 electioneering, those around him have already started mobilizing.

Immediately after the 2019 elections, a group in Lagos, Tinubu 2023 Non-Negotiable (TNN), began actively campaigning for him nationwide.

Only last week, a new group, South West Agenda (SWAGA), led by Senator Dayo Adeyeye, comprising of former lawmakers and other politicians, asked Tinubu to make a run for 2023.

Tinubu has also recently embarked on a national tour, which analysts say are surreptitious moves to sell himself to the people and invigorate his national appeal.

But his 2023 ambitions are being challenged by forces within the party and he would have to overcome this threat to secure the party’s ticket.

Also, a group of young Nigerian professionals recently unveiled a political movement in Abuja to work for the actualisation of Tinubu’s perceived presidential aspiration.

The movement known as Young Professionals for Tinubu 2023, with membership across the 36 states of the federation and the FCT, said it had been in existence for almost two years, noting that the occasion was to mark its formal inauguration.

The National Coordinator of the group, Mr. Ahmed Muhammed Ibrahim, noted that Tinubu’s leadership qualities and knack for development informed the group’s resolve to work for his emergence as the APC candidate, as well as his success in the 2023 presidential election.

Tinubu has easily dominated South-West politics since 1999 and had been a thorn in the sides of the then ruling PDP.

He battled then President Obasanjo to a standstill and has managed to install every governor in Lagos since 2007, and many others in the South West. His biggest challenge yet might just be surviving the APC, a party he helped form and still leads, to make his presidential ambition a reality in 2023. 

3. Rotimi Amaechi

Recently, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, a former two-term governor of Rivers State and current minister of transportation, stressed the need for the APC to respect the gentleman agreement to zone the presidency to the South in 2023.

This, pundits say, suggests he has ambitions for the seat.

Amaechi is one of the most visible ministers in Buhari’s government. He served as the Director-General of Buhari’s Campaign in 2015 and 2019.

He has experience as a former speaker in Rivers State, a two-term governor, former chairman of the NGF and now a minister driving a critical ministry in the present government.

But there are odds stacked against him as he may have to battle former President Goodluck Jonathan for the soul of the South-South.

He is also going to contend with the infighting in his home state, which has left the party deeply divided in recent times.

While he has not also declared interest in the presidency, people around him say he has his eyes firmly fixed on the seat and he is not leaving anything to chance. 

4. Kayode Fayemi

Though Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State has not declared for president in 2023, remarks made recently by a leader of the APC in his state suggest that the former minister of mines and steel development may be gearing up for the exalted seat.

Penultimate Saturday, the Paul Omotoso-led APC caretaker committee endorsed the governor for the presidency in 2023.

Omotoso, who spoke through Ade Ajayi, the APC caretaker publicity secretary, at an event organised by Olusegun Osinkolu in Ayede Ekiti, Oye Local Government Area of the state, said the party would drag Mr Fayemi into the presidential battle forcefully if he refuses to join willingly.

“On the 2023 presidency, the time has come for the president to come from Ekiti. That is why we are pleading with you to support Governor Fayemi.

“Though Governor Fayemi has never said he wanted to contest, we will force him to plunge into the race because of his competence, dedication and loyalty to [the] APC,” he added.

Fayemi can also leverage on his current position as the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) to pursue this ambition with the support of governors in the ruling party. 

5. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso

Pundits believe Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, a two-term former governor of Kano State, is likely to pursue his presidential ambition again in 2023.

Though the former minister of defence has not declared interest yet, he has, at different times, sought the presidential ticket of both the APC and the PDP but lost to President Buhari and former Vice President Atiku respectively.

Kwankwaso, who enjoys widespread support in Kano, is the leader of the Kwankwasiyya political movement.

He was in the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 1990s, rubbing shoulders with the likes of the late General Shehu Yar’adua, his former boss Senator Magaji Abdullahi, Babagana Kingibe, Atiku Abubakar, Bola Tinubu, late Tony Anenih, late Chuba Okadigbo, Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila and late Lamidi Adedibu amongst others. 

6. Donald Duke

Donald Duke was the governor of Cross River State and the SDP presidential candidate in 2019.

He left the PDP, where he had served as a two-term governor to run for the presidential seat on the platform of the SDP.

Duke had initially declared his intention to run for president in 2007 but stepped aside in favour of the late Umaru Yar’Adua.

Analysts say his ambition to become president remains alive with his constant engagements at important occasions across the country.

Already, there are some social media groups like Team Donald Duke which has over 40,000 members reportedly from the South-South, South East and South Western parts of the country championing the 2023 presidential ambition of the former governor. 

7. Owelle Rochas Okorocha

With the deafening agitation for a Southern presidency in 2023,  Rochas Okorocha, the former Imo State governor and Senator representing Imo West, qualifies as one of the candidates to fly the APC’s flag.

As a former chairman of the NGF, he may enjoy a nationwide reach and with the Igbo fighting tooth and nail to get the presidency, he might enjoy some advantage.

But the argument in some quarters has been that his influence appears to be limited in Igboland.

He, therefore, might not be accepted as the face of the Igbo and the right candidate to champion that course.

Okorocha should be ready to face even tougher challenges than he did in 2019 when he could not secure the APC ticket for his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu. 

8. Ahmed Sani Yarima

He was governor of Zamfara State from 1999 to 2007.

He represented Zamfara West in the National Assembly and equally served as Deputy Minority Leader in the Senate.

He is currently a member of the ruling APC.

Yarima is the only person to have declared his ambition to be president in 2023.

He had attempted before in 2007 but later stepped aside for Buhari.

Recently, he told reporters in his Abuja residence that he would contest the 2023 presidency, insisting that the APC leaders did not reach any agreement before the 2015 general elections that there would be power rotation to the South at the expiration of President Buhari’s tenure in 2023.

If there is a zoning arrangement, it would most likely scuttle Yarima’s ambition, but the former governor seems determined to plod through, arguing that zoning was alien to the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) and the APC’s Constitution.

He insists that no one could force him out of the race on grounds of zoning.

“You see, I don’t think there is anything like agreement. You can ask Mr President.

“He led the group. Asiwaju was there. I was part of it. There was no meeting I didn’t attend or any meeting that I attended that there was such an agreement.

“Agreements can’t be verbal, [they have] to be written. In any case, any agreement that is contrary to the laws of this country is not an agreement.

“The Constitution is very clear, the Constitution of the political parties, the Electoral Act.

“We are in a democracy and democracy is governed by processes and procedures and bylaws.

“The Constitution of Nigeria doesn’t recognize anything called zoning and likewise, the APC’s Constitution. If there is that agreement, why didn’t we put it in the Constitution?” he said. 

9. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal

The incumbent Sokoto State governor clinched the governorship seat in 2015 using the APC ticket.

He was a founding member of the APC, after he and some other governors defected from the PDP and helped form the coalition that became the APC.

He would later return to the PDP, vie for the presidential ticket in 2019 and after losing that to Atiku Abubakar, secure a second term as governor of Sokoto State on the party’s ticket.

Tambuwal served as the 10th speaker of the House of Representatives and represented the Tambuwal/Kebbe Federal Constituency of Sokoto State at the National Assembly.

He is currently the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum (PDPGF).

The governor has started consulting some notable political leaders across the six geo-political zones over his presidential ambition.

On August 22, 2020, Tambuwal held a closed-door meeting with a former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, in Abeokuta, Ogun State at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library Pent House.

The Special Assistant on Media to the former President, Kehinde Akinyemi, confirmed the closed-door meeting in a statement he issued the following day.

The statement titled “Obasanjo still relevant for consultations on issues of governance and challenges” described the visit by Tambuwal as an unscheduled one.

The statement also quoted the governor as saying he visited Obasanjo for consultation on governance and other issues.

The governor also consulted former Senate President David Mark, former Defence Minister, Gen TY Danjuma (retd) and many other prominent politicians.

Pundits say Tambuwal is counting on his age, political experience in the legislative and executive arms of governments, his clout, and political pedigree to become president. 

10. Yahaya Bello

There are strong signals that Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State is among those eyeing Buhari’s seat in 2023.

Already, giant billboards have been erected in strategic locations in the state, urging him to run for president in 2023.

Recently, the Kogi State House of Assembly, at its plenary, passed a resolution calling on the governor to run for president.

House Majority Leader, Hassan Abdullahi, while moving the motion said the call was predicated on the ‘sterling performance’ of the governor since he assumed office in 2016.

Besides the resolution by the state lawmakers, the governor’s foot soldiers and loyalists, including commissioners and special advisers in his cabinet, have all been drumming support for his (Bello’s) presidency in 2023 through various social and traditional media platforms.

According to them, it is now the turn of the North Central geopolitical zone to produce the next president. 

11. David Umahi

Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State is also one of the politicians from the South East believed to be interested in Buhari’s plum seat in 2023.

Umahi, who has been a top chieftain of the PDP for many years, recently defected to the ruling APC in a strategic move to position him for the 2023 presidency.

Although Umahi has said that his defection had nothing to do with any presidential ambition in 2023, pundits and political watchers are of the view that the Ebonyi governor was being economical with the truth.

In the fullness of time, it would be clear whether Umahi would throw his hat in the ring for the presidency or not. 

12. Bala Mohammed

Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed of Bauchi State is a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from 2010 to 2015.

Senator Mohammed of the PDP defeated an incumbent APC governor in the 2019 elections, thereby creating a major upset in a key State that has always voted for President Buhari.

The governor of Bauchi State has not shown any interest to run for the presidency but a civic group, Abuja Coalition of Youth and Women, has called on him to contest the elections.

The group made the call in a communique issued at the end of its meeting in Abuja and signed by Aminu Zakari and Christiana Jacob, president and secretary-general respectively.According to the group, by 2023, Nigeria would be in dire need of a competent, transparent and resourceful leader to pilot the affairs of the nation and save it from chaos and disintegration.The names of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Ahmad Lawan (APC, Yobe), Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State and Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State are being mentioned in certain quarters, but it is not yet clear if they would contest.Sources said they are being circumspect about their ambition because of the zoning factor and would most likely contest when the cloud gets clearer.

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Salome Acheju and the reality of our die trowey system.

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters

The case of the barbaric murder and the gruesome cremation (if you like) of late madam Salome Acheju Abuh has been done and dusted. Acheju Abuh was until her death, the women leader of Nigeria’s major(?) opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party also popularly called PDP.

So, it happened that the gubernatorial elections in Kogi State which held in November of 2019 could only be remembered for its gross violence, savagery and cannibalistic proclivities. People were maimed, injured and killed. Allegations floated in the atmosphere, and still do, as to whose camp orchestrated the violence.

There were three major candidates in that election. They include the incumbent governor Yahaya Bello of the All Progressives Congress, Natasha Akpoti of the Social Democratic Party  and Musa Wada of the People’s Democratic  Party.

The percussion to violence began in the build up to the elections. It came to a head when even during the Peace meeting convened at the instance of the Inspector General of Police in Lokoja, one of the contenders for the elections was openly harassed. The security agents watched helplessly as the woman was shamed, bullied, harassed and assaulted.

Another incidence that made it clear that the elections were going to be a catalogue of savagery was when Akpoti’s office in the state capital was torched. To make the matter worse, the office was close to a security facility. No one went to salvage the situation.

Gradually but steadily, violence spread across the state as the D-day drew closer. Scary tales of armed thugs openly assaulting law abiding citizens rent the air. There was palpable fear in the entire State as nobody knew who was next in line. The marauders were everywhere.

Every youth was a potential thug, and was ready, at the site of as paltry as five thousand Naira, to unleash terror on the already pauperised and traumatised people. The stories were gory, scary and demoralising. One wondered if we were practising democracy or ‘gangsterocracy’.

In mobilising her people to vote for her party, late madam Acheju Abuh was killed in cold blood, and by her own kinsmen in her home town! How else can inhumanity and the sublime case of brazen animalism be defined?

I know the quiet village of Ochadamu, in Ofu local government area of Kogi State. I am not sure the votes from that place would be enough to swing the results of an election, even if al the votes went to a single candidate. One wonders how anyone in such a small town could kill another person from the same town.

But Ocholi Edicha did it! He it was that led the gang of blood thirsty savages that cut down the woman in cold blood. It sends a chill down my spine to imagine that the ethics and gravity with which the Igala tradition frowns at murder are being eroded by culture contact, greed and the proliferation of urban gangs among our youths.

Secondly, I am amazed that the law in Nigeria doesn’t find such sinister violations of the sanctity of life an offence worth a life sentence. Twelve years behind bars could be enough for manslaughter but deliberate murder, and a callous attempt to cover evidence by burning up the corpse, property and the house of the victim is too deliberate to wave away with a 12year jail sentence.

This is why robbers, kidnappers, bandits and other criminals are becoming bolder by the day. In some case they are even pardoned, given amnesty and given the tax payers money as a rebuke. We have witnessed in this same country how Boko Haram fighters, who murdered thousands, destroyed livelihoods and created orphans in their wake, ‘repented’, were hosted by government, given millions of Naira and patted on the back.

According to the governor of Borno State, Prof Zulum, these ‘pardoned’ boys find their ways back into their organisation again. Who wouldn’t? What else would excite a criminal than knowing he couldn’t care how many times he was caught? As a matter of fact, he gets richer as he gets caught.

It is in this light that the Igala Vanguard rejects the judgement. To the organisation, it is more like a pat on the back of the perpetrator of such a heinous crime. It is a sacrilege to the Igala people. It is an insult to the sensibilities of the Igala conscience. It will further enforce the bourgeoning industry of thuggery in Kogi State. Politicians in Kogi state have weaponized hunger and destitution. The lives of the youths are being condemned by the avant garde in Kogi state. If the law is not stern on this, there would be a time when guns would be cheaper than rice in Kogi State.

The Igala Vanguard has the chance to rewrite the history of the land and redirect its ship. The judgement would be hopefully reversed and Mr Edachi would be made a scapegoat for those who think that Nigeria is home to lawless people.

Congratulations to the Igala Vanguard for the bold attempt at confronting the monster being bred in some quarters which might consume, in the long run, the owners, the community and everyone. Nigerians better wake up.

Alex Agbo is a writer and researcher based in Lagos.

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