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The Choice Before Edo Voters!

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Why I Won't Withdraw Pre-Election Suits Against Obaseki - Ize-Iyamu

By Unoigbokhai Adamu

The people of Edo State will next month head to the poll to take a decision on who will be the next governor of the state. A decision that observers have described as one of the most important in a generation.

The state has got more than its fair share of the news in recent days and weeks, with the governor, Godwin Obaseki, who is contesting under the umbrella of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) constantly in a scuffle with his opponent, Pastor Osaze Iyamu of the All Progressive Congress, (APC). And most of the news coming out of the Heartbeat state have not palatable.

It’s either the former governor of the state and former National Chairman of the ruling APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole is exhibiting his usual comical acts and talking with both sides of the mouth or the APC supporters are engaging in violent acts while law enforcement agents are looking helplessly. The governor too has not helped matters with his ungubernatorial postures and uncalculated moves.

I thought by now the electorate should have adequate information about what the various parties stand for and what they want to offer. I’m not sure the candidates have come up with concrete programmes and what the people should expect. If at all they have any, the issues are not resonating with the people. Rather, the APC is trying to make the election a referendum on the incumbent governor.

The feeling out there is that the APC apparatchik, of course with the help of federal might, is hell-bent in removing Obaseki for daring to challenge the establishment. Indeed, feelers on the streets few days ago do not seem to favour the opposition APC and that was presumably why, critics argued, the supporters resorted to violence and in the process disturbing the peace in the state.

“My brother, what we are seeing in Edo State is a fight between the masses of the people who have queued behind Governor Obaseki and vowed to prevent the state from being overrun by forces loyal to Oshiomhole and the elite who are not comfortable with the style of Obaseki and are therefore determined to make sure he does not come back. We are determine to protect our votes. Our votes must count. Edo no be Lagos o”, says a cab driver last at the Benin Airport.

It is however very unlikely that forces against the governor are going to back down with just few weeks to the election. They are indeed going keep on acting on their script of creating crisis thereby making the state ungovernable. Or how does one reconcile the move by members-elect of the Edo State House of Assembly, most of whom are yet to be legally inaugurated to impeach a properly elected and inaugurated Speaker and his deputy.

It is illegal and unconstitutional for lawmakers that were not inaugurated by the governor to meet in a private residence and be sworn in. It is even laughable that they moved to remove the Speaker and his deputy. Hence, their action was a nullity and should be condemned by all lovers of democracy and constitutionalism. What is however worrisome was the rush by the nation’s chief law officer to direct the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, to assist the pro-Oshiomhole members-elect to enter the Assembly after a purported petition from their counsel.

What do the parties and their candidates really stand for? what are their cardinal programmes as per education, health care delivery, security, rural development, infrastructure, social security, economy, youth unemployment, agriculture and so on? These are the core issues affecting the state and these are what should dominate the campaign currently going on across the state.

Rather, what we are seeing is a campaign of calumny and violence perpetrated by the parties, using our restless youths who are always veritable tools in the hands of politicians at times of elections. Sadly, these youths who are supposed to shape the future are the ones self destroying the collective aspirations of people of the state.

Without a doubt, next month’s election should be an opportunity for the people to show their disapproval on the state of the state and pass a judgment, either for Obaseki to continue for another four years or for Ize-Iyamu to take over. But what is more important is for the voters to have the final say. There should be no room for manipulation of the process or usage of instrumentality of federal power to favour any of the candidates. Voters MUST be allowed to vote for their preferred candidate without fear or favour.

We all saw what took place in Bayelsa and Kogi States governorship elections. Where the elections were characterised by violence and thuggery. Where there was visible unholy trinity between the Police, the ruling party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). It’s still of concern to me why our politicians are so mean and wicked. They so much believe in the end justifies the means that they have less concern about the effects of what they are doing and its implications to the future of democracy in our country. Sadly, the occupant of Aso Villa, who is supposed to be the symbol of this increasingly fragile democracy does give a damn about the various infractions.

Thus, this politics of do or die is never going to put food on the table of majority of Edo electorate; its never going to provide the needed employment for our graduates roaming the streets; its never going to expand the social security by bringing more people into safety net and it is never going to provide the atmosphere where meaningful progress and development can take place.

The choice before Edo voters therefore is to choose between a governor who has been tested and the other candidate who was accused of being inept and corrupt by the very person who is now his chief cheer leader; they have to choose between a technocrat, who has shown that he can stand on his own and get the job done and a known inconsistent politician, who is now the bride of a desperate political class. The voters indeed have a choice to make. Either to embrace a future that is unpredictable or go back to a past that from all indications, would return the state to the Oshiomhole era.

More importantly however is for INEC to be truly independent and provide a level playing field. There should be no room for Nigerians to doubt the outcome of an election that has become a sign of what to come in 2023. The Police should restrict itself to the laws guiding elections and the candidates should play by the rules. They should remember that there must a state before you can govern. The interests of the people should be paramount in whatever they are doing.

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What’s Emefiele Up To?

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By Unoigbokhai Adamu

The name of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has been in the news lately. Not for anything to do micro or macro-economics or even how the depleting Naira can add more value and appreciate against other major world currencies.

Yet, the name of Emefiele was not being variously mentioned in political circles because the economy has shown appreciable signs of improvement. Rather; his name has been on the radar because some people, somewhere, believe he should be our next president. They don’t care if he has the pedigree or credentials to manage a complex country like Nigeria. Hence, the push has been intensified for him to declare for any of the major political parties and join the presidential race. But he cannot continue to keep his job while this surreptitious campaign goes on.

I have not seen convincing arguments from any of the people promoting this agenda; neither have they told us the imperative of the Emefiele option at this critical juncture of our history, when the country is facing myriad of challenges on all fronts. And from what I can deduce, the objectives of those involved might not be so altruistic. It has indeed, been geared towards protecting and promoting their selfish interests, which are at the very least, at variance with that of the majority of Nigerians.

The CBN governor was totally unknown when he was at the helm in Zenith Bank. It was when former President, Goodluck Jonathan removed the increasingly ‘recalcitrant’ Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as CBN governor and replaced him with Emefiele that his unassuming personality began to be noticed beyond the business world. The Naira has continued to nose-dive under his leadership and the economy has not fare any better in the last few years.

Even though his intervention in the diversification of the economy has started to yield fruits, it is yet to positively affect the pockets of the averaged Nigerians, because prices of essential goods are still on the high sides. Some had even questioned his needless interventions in some sectors, (Arts and entertainment) describing it as unnecessary.

Given what I have painted above, what then is Emefiele going to base his candidacy upon? And how easy would it be for his handlers to sell him to the Nigerian electorate, who are growing increasingly tasty of good leadership after the not too impressive presidency of Muhammadu Buhari.

Another perspective that cropped up last week was that it might not be impossible that the Emefiele kite was been flown by the so called cabal in Aso rock to checkmate the ambition of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the perceived interest of Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo in the race. The reason behind this, according to sources, was to put to rest the increasing agitation of the Southeast that it was their turn to produce the president.

Hence, an Emefiele presidency in their opinion would therefore put to rest this agitation. The CBN governor is from Delta State (Agbor), but largely seen as an Ibo man. It is however yet to be seen how this consideration will be received in the core North, a region that still has a lot of suspicion for people in the Southeast. The weeks ahead will be decisive in the future of the head of the Apex bank, as he either comes out to run or stays put at his post.

But more worrisome in all these is the silence of Emefiele, to either deny or give credence to growing speculations, that he harbors presidential ambition. I don’t think there has been any categorical statement from him to either deny or confirm what we are hearing. There was only a report from a so-called Group of Friends that quoted him as saying his faith is firmly in God’s hands.

A group tagged “Friends of Godwin Emefiele” had visited the CBN Governor a few days ago to discuss the controversy over his rumoured presidential ambition in 2023.

In a statement signed by the group, the CBN governor said it’s the prerogative of President Muhammadu Buhari to map out his succession plan. The statement reads partly: “Only yesterday, as the speculation became widespread, a group of his friends under the aegis of FRIENDS OF GODWIN EMEFIELE met with him to clarify his position.

“Mr Emefiele told us that he believes it’s the prerogative of President Muhammadu Buhari to plan his succession in line with global best practices for good governance for the continuing peace and progress of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as such he will play his part to stabilise the economy for an orderly transition.

“And given that it’s God that anoints leaders, he will leave his faith firmly in the hands of God.”

I don’t think the above statement in any way clarified what people wanted to know. It’s neither here nor there. The onus is on the banker to come out clearly and tell us what is on his mind. He has a moral responsibility, given his highly influential position in the country, to put to rest this rumour and stop this unnecessary distraction. An economy that is already fragile and susceptible to various global unpredictabilities cannot afford a distracted figure at the helm of its Apex bank.

For sure, Emefiele, like other qualified Nigerians, reserves the right to contest the highest office in the land, but we equally have a duty to thoroughly scrutinize those who are coming forward to manage the affairs of this great nation. Therefore, he cannot continue to keep quiet. He either comes out now to denounce those propping him to enter the ring or restate his commitment to serve the country by working with others to revamp our economy.

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Nigeria And The Danger Of One Party State

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Barely two months after the governor of Cross River State, Professor Ben Ayade surprised observers in his conservative state by defecting to the ruling All Peoples Congress, (APC), his counterpart in Zamfara, Governor Bello Matawalle followed suit on Tuesday by also dumping the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC.

Before now, and just last year, the governor of Ebonyi State, Mr. Dave Umahi also surprised many in the Southeast and the country at large, when he came out to tell the world that he would be leaving the PDP to the APC. Not a few people were dumfounded because the region has been a predominantly PDP geopolitical zone and were wondering if the governor was not committing political suicide through his action.

Even so, there were speculations that Umahi jumped the fence because he was promised a juicy position or office in a post 2023 politics. Yet, others were of the view that the governor’s audacity to jump ship, when he was not too sure of landing in a comfortable place, was a product of deep political pragmatism and not that he was being unnecessarily opportunistic.

But what are the reasons being adduced by both Ayade and Matawalle for leaving the party that gave them the tickets and structures to contest election? While Ayade justified his defection on the basis of ‘helping’ President Muhammadu Buhari in his quest to give the country the needed leadership, Matawalle is yet to give the PDP, the people of Zamfara and Nigerians any cogent reason for his defection.

Speaking during the defection, Ayade had said, “We need to join hands with President Buhari in his determination to enhance the fortunes of the country. I need all governors to similarly join me and understand my decision to join the APC.

“We need to work ahead with the president for the future and unity of Nigeria. We all need to sit at the same dining table with Mr Presidential to save Nigeria. It is my responsibility to bring back Cross River to the centre in order to enhance her fortunes”.

Whether the above reason was tenable or not remain to be seen, but for a governor that has performed below expectations and whose political future is uncertain, his opponents have accused him of dumping the PDP because strong forces in the party are rallying against him and are determined to decimate him before the 2023 elections.

In the case of Matawalle, while announcing his defection to the APC at a special grand rally in Gusau, the governor said: “As from today, I Bello Matawalle Maradun, governor of Zamfara, I am happy to announce my defection from the PDP to the APC.

“As from today, I am a full APC member and leader of APC in Zamfara. I am calling on all APC stakeholders in the state to join hands with me to build the party and move the state forward.”

This is simply nonsensical and idiotic. One would have expected Matawalle to, at least, lie or say something reasonable to justify the reason why he decided to betray the trust of his party. A party that stood by him when the Supreme Court pronounced him as the governor in the middle of the crisis that engulfed the ruling APC and made it impossible for them to have a candidate at the 2019 governorship election.

The PDP has however been quick to react to a development that is a danger signal and drawback to its plans and attempt to defeat the ruling APC in 2023. The party indeed accused the APC of intimidating and blackmailing its governors to defect to their camp. The party therefore vowed to use every legal instrument at its disposal to put a break to these decampments. How far they can go remains to be seen in a country that is devoid of strong political ideology and values; where politics has become a cash and carry business.

Beyond this lack of discipline, ideology and pragmatic politics is the danger of the country becoming a one party state. With the three PDP governors jumping ship when there is no shipwreck and speculations that others may follow suit, what is staring us in the face is the possibility of the nation becoming a one party state. The fear of one party dominating the political space is no longer impossible. What is even more troubling is that one would have expected the ruling APC to be losing steam and support, both among the masses and the political elite with the current state of the nation, but the reverse seems to be the case.

In a country where there is massive unemployment; where insecurity has become a recurring decimal; where the debt portfolio has been rising with no hope of any respite; where youth restiveness has become a routine and a constant feature; where the ruling party has shown lack of capacity and leadership in tacking myriads of problems facing the country and in a country where the future is becoming increasingly bleak, the natural course of events would have been for the ruling party to be losing support.

There is however no doubt that the APC is desperate to remain in power beyond 2023 and its doing everything, including using the instrumentality of state to either coarse, intimidate or blackmail political opponents to its corner of the ring. This is wrong in its entirety and should be condemned by all lovers of democracy and good governance in the country. And the PDP should wake up from slumber and do more to put the ruling party on its toes. The party should go beyond issuing press releases and strategically put its house in order, unify its members and act as a veritable alternative to the ruling party.

For sure, a one party state is in the interest of the hegemonic tendencies within the ruling party, but this will be against the interest of democracy and future of this country. I can’t remember any time during the PDP years in Aso rock when the party stifled the opposition or try to strangle the democratic space. Of course, there was a time its former chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor boasted that the party will rule for 60 years uninterrupted, but it all came to naught when the party mismanaged its political capital and trust of the people and was beaten by the APC.

What is even more befuddling is the role of President Buhari in all these. It appears Buhari is less perturbed if the country becomes a one party state. With the presidential statements that have been following the defections and the red carpet the governors have been receiving in Aso rock, it’s all too glaring that the attempt to stifle the democratic space has a presidential seal.

For all lovers of democracy and those who love this country, this is not the time to keep quiet. The civil society should not sleep over this and the various stakeholders in the democratic process should open their eyes to the danger ahead. It’s not impossible that the ruling party is working on a script with these defections and with the benefit of hindsight, Nigerians must rise up and stop this tide towards a one party state before it is too late.

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Nigeria: Will Lawan, Gbajabiamila Come To The Rescue?

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By Habib Aruna

In January 2010, the nation was on the verge of a constitutional crisis that nearly tore it apart. The then President, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was battling with a life-threatening illness and thus failed to transmit a letter to the National Assembly as required by section 145 of the 1999 constitution, to enable the Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to act as Acting President.

With the fear that the power vacuum created by the long absence of Yar’Adua could lead to anarchy or even a military takeover, the then-Senate President, David Mark, galvanized other lawmakers and reached a compromise by adopting the Doctrine of Necessity. This doctrine pre-supposes that the adoptions of extra-legal actions by state actors, which are designed to restore order, are constitutional.

Hence, on Thursday, February 9, 2010, the National Assembly came together and passed a resolution that empowered the Vice President, Jonathan as the Acting President and Commander In Chief of the Armed forces. With the convocation of this doctrine, Senator Mark and the federal lawmakers saved the nation from political logjam and stabilized the polity.

We are again in a similar scenario when the clamour for the country to be restructured to reflect its diversity is becoming louder, given the current security situation and other socio-economy and political challenges facing it. The debate is indeed, beginning to shift to the National Assembly for its leadership to act in a decisive way to save the fragile Nigerian union. Will the Senate President, Dr. Ahmed Lawan, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, realize the urgency of the time and seize the moment? Only time will tell!

But time is fast running out, not only because it is evident and discernible that the union that was cobbled together by the British in 1914 has not been working, but also because the nation cannot attain its potentials with the current structure. A structure that puts more than seventy percent of country’s resources in the hand of the central government is not sustainable; a structure that does not allow our best eleven to be in charge of the management of our commonwealth and affairs is not acceptable; a structure that centralizes the enforcement of laws and order cannot work in a society that is very diverse and more importantly, a structure that is too centralized, which gives a lot of powers to Abuja thereby making the states to be too subservient has become an anathema.

But the situation was not like this when we gained our independence in 1960. The constitution that birthed our new country was regionally based and it well outlined the fiscal responsibility of the various regions vis-à-vis the central government. It also defined the functions of the central government and made the central less attractive for ambitious politicians. Have we forgotten so easily why the late Saudauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello preferred to stay in Kaduna as a regional leader than going to Lagos to be Prime Minister when his party, Northern People’s Congress (NPC) won the majority of seats in the parliament?

It was easy for him to send his protégé, Sir Tafawa Balewa, who later became the Prime Minister to be the head of government because the regions were to a large extent autonomous. There were independence and inter-independence between the regions and the central government. There was indeed, healthy rivalry and competition among the regions and this in-turn contributed in large measure, to the growth and development of the country.

Sadly, the federal structure was however cut short when the military intervened. The long interregnum by the military caused a lot of damage to the fabric of our country and the federal system that we are yet to recover. The country is in fact still bleeding from this assault and until the right thing is done by going back to the drawing board, by recognizing the unity in our diversity; by being bold enough to go back to our independent constitution and spell out the uniqueness of each of the regions, we would be going round in one place like a barber chair. Needless to say that the current 1999 constitution is a product of ‘military arrangement’ and political pundits have variously blamed its architects for the problems bedeviling the country.

Before now, many had thought that the ruling All Progressive Party (APC), will fulfill its promise to Nigerians about restructuring. One of APC campaign promises was that it would restructure the country when voted into power. The party actually set up a committee headed by the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai to look into it when the clamour was so strong, but the recommendation is still gathering dust in the drawer.

The presidency that since 2015 find it difficult to tell Nigerians its agenda on restructuring, however came out to dash any hope that the Buhari presidency was looking in that direction when it stated that anyone agitating for restructuring should approach the National Assembly to make their case. The Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said the Presidency is not against restructuring of the country, but maintained that the move could not be spearheaded by President Muhammadu Buhari, adding that only the National Assembly had been empowered to restructure the country.

He advised proponents of restructuring to approach the legislature with their request. Shehu said, “Our position on the call for restructuring has not changed. “People are calling it restructuring; the ruling party, APC, and the government calls it devolution. “Whichever name you call it, the government is not opposed to it. What we are saying is that the parliament is the body empowered by law to effect any change in the nation’s structure.

“The process of constitution review is ongoing in the National Assembly now. We advise proponents of restructuring to approach the parliament and take advantage of the opportunity that the ongoing process offers.”

The above position of the presidency clearly put the ball in the court of the National Assembly. And that is why in recent times prominent Nigerians have called on the leadership of NASS to take up the responsibility of addressing the visible shortcomings in our federal structure. Professor Wole Soyinka added his voice just few days ago and challenged Lawan and Gbajabiamila to be on the right side of history.

The Nobel Laureate urged the National Assembly to listen to calls for the restructuring of Nigeria and should take responsibility towards that effect.

He said the lawmakers had the powers and moral authority to respond to the calls if the Presidency is not doing so. “The Presidency is saying it is not my responsibility. On the other hand, the National Assembly keeps saying it wants the President to take action. When that happens, why doesn’t the National Assembly say ‘fine, we take this as our responsibility and we are obliged to the people who elected us here”, Soyinka said.

Becoming more forceful, Soyinka said: “If the Presidency is not responding, then the National Assembly has the powers and moral authority to respond to the desire of the populace”. Yet, other Nigerians have joined the chorus in the wake of the crisis generated by the killer herdsmen, to call on our elected officials to see the restructuring of the country as a call to duty to save the country.

From Chief Audu Ogbeh to the Governor of Taraba State, Darius Ishaku; to even the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the call for another look at our political structure is gaining momentum. Obasanjo joined Ishaku to demand for state police, arguing that the nation is ripe for it. Obasanjo said he supported a statement credited to the Governor of Taraba State, Ishaku, that the country would know no peace until it instituted state police.

His words, “Why can’t we now have state police? I have been to a country like Colombia, in the last five years, at least a dozen times. They did exactly what we did. They moved from local and state police to national police. But now, they have gone back to state police or provincial police. Why can’t we do that? If we do that, there will be no need for Amotekun”.

So, the nation eagerly awaits the needed intervention of the Senate President and Speaker and it is imperative that they provide the leadership and save us from an impending catastrophe.

For sure, they have not given us any reason to be hopeful going by their antecedents since 2019, but we have to keep up the pressure and give them no option. As leaders of representatives of the people, the onus is on them to be the veritable vehicle of the change we are all looking for. All eyes are on Lawan and Gbajabiamila to take the chance and save us from this avoidable quandary!


Aruna, a journalist lives in Ikeja, Lagos

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