Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday declared that he made “successful” mistakes as Military Head of State and civilian president.
Obasanjo, who ruled the country between 1976 and 1979 as a military head and between 1999 and 2007 as a civilian President, however, took responsibility for all his actions.
He spoke in Ibadan, Oyo State during the 50th anniversary lecture to commemorate the call to the Bar of Chief Afe Babalola (SAN).
A civil war veteran and former Chief of Staff of the 3rd Marine Commando Division, Nigeria Army, Gen. Alabi Isama (retd), had recently accused Obasanjo of committing numerous blunders during his reign in government.
Obasanjo said, “One mistake I made that turned out to be successful was when I was looking for somebody to give leadership of the University of Lagos to and I chose Babalola. Some people said I made a mistake but it turned out to be a successful mistake.
“My mistakes as people say were mostly in appointments. I appointed the UNILAG Pro-Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor and the university became the best. The Vice-Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor that I appointed were acknowledged as the best at the time.
“The mother of all the mistakes was that the exposure and involvement of Babalola in the affairs of UNILAG led to the establishment of the Afe Babalola University in Ado-Ekiti.
“If you have not seen ‘instant wonder’, go to ABUAD. Babalola used his experience as the Pro-Chancellor of UNILAG to build what today is the best and fast growing private university in the country.”
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The recent endorsement of the Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, by some of the major institutions in the state may have become a subject of controversy
Campaign activities for the governorship election coming up in Osun State in 2014, is subtly gaining momentum. Trending now is a rising wave of endorsement for Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the state.
At many fora, traditional rulers, market women, artisans and other groups have openly declared support for the governor’s bid to return next year. Recently, in Ibokun, the headquarters of the council area, the birthday celebration of the Assistant Director (Community Forum), Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Office of the Governor, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, became an open ground for public endorsement of the governor.
Traditional rulers were for instance favourably disposed to the continuation of the Aregbesola administration. The Olufon of Ifon, Oba Al-Maroof Magbagbeola and the Alademore of Ibokun, Oba Festus Awogboro, who spoke on behalf of other obas, said the developmental programmes and policies of the Aregbesola administration would influence on his re-election in 2014. Magbagbeola noted that Aregbesola's administration has impacted positively on the lives of the people within the two and a half years of assuming office as a governor.
On his part, Awogboro said "being a governor that has demonstrated commitment to the transformation of the state and its people, there is need for the people to give him a second term." Former Chief of Staff to Oyinlola's administration, Elder Peter Babalola, also confirmed that Osun has witnessed rapid development under Aregbesola.
"Giving him another chance to govern the state would further enrich the state and make it a model of development all over the world." The guest speaker at the event, Sheik Mustapha Mubarak, stressed that the performance of a government can only be said to be good if it affects the lives of the people positively, a move he said the Aregbesola administration has achieved.
There were also a gale of endorsements for the government from the Osun State Council of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), and the Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) in Osogbo. They jointly approved Aregbesola for a second term. But the development has not gone down well with the state’s chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which alleged that the pledge of approval and solidarity must be cohesively attained.
PDP publicity secretary, Mr. Bola Ajao, pointed out that the workers were only rail-roading Aregbesola to meet their demands for improved welfare and minimum wage across board, adding that he was just buying time as he was on his way out because the people are itching for a change.
Also, Mr. Ayo Aluko-Olokun, Director Media and Publicity for the Senator Olasunkanmi Akinlabi Rasheed (SOAR) Campaign Organisation, queried the basis for Aregbesola’s endorsement for a second term. "If you are contesting election for the first time, people may vote for you based on the promises you make but when you want a second term promises would not suffice again, only concrete achievements which the people can see or have benefitted from in your first term could earn you another term."
Aluko-Olokun contended that the wave of endorsements was staged-managed. "It is all propaganda. When you say labour endorses you for instance, who in labour endorsed you? Where did they hold a congress to endorse him? More than 90 percent of the workforce in the state cannot wait to see Aregbesola’s back."
That, however, was a deflation of the view of the trade unions that reportedly registered their interest in the continuity of the administration. This was visible in the banners they displayed at strategic positions in the State capital.
The workers, happily dressed in vests even had match-past at a ceremony held at the Technical College playing ground, Osogbo, sporting vests that bore the inscription: “Argbesola for Second Term-Osun Labour.”
Perhaps, in appreciation of the endorsement, Aregbesola also donated a bus each to the three endorsing unions to boost the image of the government.
But some critics had described such a gesture as inducing, somewhat for the second term campaign. While the grumbling subsisted, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Osun Central Senatorial District at a meeting held at the house of the party’s senatorial leader in Ikirun, Alhaji Gbadamosi Lawal, and attended by elders from all the council areas, moved the motion for the endorsement of Aregbesola.
They observed that the "jet-speed with which Osun is witnessing developmental projects during Aregbesola's era would fast-track its placing among developed states in the federation." They therefore expressed pleasure in the resolve of organised labour unions to support the administration.
Following this, Aregbesola has vowed that his administration would continue to support for all categories of workers. He called for their continuous support and noted that their support would enable the government achieve its six-point integration action plan.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The penchant for acquiring private jet, especially by governors, may have put the country in a bad light in the face of rising poverty
Nigeria’s billionaire club of governors, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), has been in the news lately, occupying prominent space in public discourse, in effect, distracting Nigerians from the propriety and morality of some of their endeavours in the name of public office. Their tenures have been dogged with wild ticket profligacy, immoral extravagance, ostentatious lifestyles all paid for with public funds and crass insensitivity to the sufferings and yearnings of the people.
This, ideally, should form the core of public review of the activities of public officials and where necessary, deliver a public rebuke to the official/s whose conduct fail public expectations.
But what should otherwise cause public outrage has been marginalised and condemned to the fringes. The scandalous acquisition of private jets with all the associated cost of maintenance, take off, landing and parking levies, by state governors has been subsumed in the foul atmosphere of politics with its partisan loyalties.
It is amazing how some spin agents have tried to defend and rationalise this scandalous misuse of public funds in a vain attempt to hoodwink the public that the governors need the airplanes “to attend meetings at short notices”.
Fortunately, the harder they try to convince the people, the more hollow their argument becomes when juxtaposed against all development indices that countries are rated by and in which Nigeria has continued to fare very badly.
Consider a recent report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) which has ranked Nigeria high among nations where a large population of schoolchildren are not in the classrooms, then you can begin to appreciate our elected officials’ propensity to waste, indulgence in needless self-aggrandisement and hold a total contempt for public resources.
The report shows that one out of every five Nigerian children is out of school. The UNESCO Education for All Global Monitoring Report (EAGMR) said Nigeria holds the world record of having the highest number of its young people out of school, according to the report published recently by an online news medium, Premium Times.
With approximately 10.5 million kids out of school, Nigeria tops the table of 12 other countries with which it accounts for 47 per cent of the global out-of-school population.
are Pakistan (5.1 million); Ethiopia (2.4 million); India (2.3 million); Philippines (1.5 million); Cote d’Ivoire (1.2 million); Burkina Faso (1million); Niger (1 million); Kenya (1 million); Yemen (0.9 million); Mali (0.8 million); and South Africa (0.7 million). Of all the countries, according to UNESCO, Nigeria is among the four that have experienced the highest increase since 1999.
“It (Nigeria) is one of only four among of these twelve countries where the number increased in absolute terms,” observed the report. “It now accounts for almost one in five out-of-school children in the world.”
A large percentage of the population lives on less than one dollar a day despite strong economic growth, according to data released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The percentage of Nigerians living in absolute poverty – those who cannot afford only the bare essentials of food, shelter and clothing – rose to 60.9 percent in 2010, compared with 54.7 percent in 2004, the national bureau of statistics said.
Following quickly on the above depressing statistics is the report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which indicated that an estimated N400 billion to 600 billion dollars had been looted from the Nigerian treasury between independence and 1999. And that stolen funds stashed in foreign accounts rose to $170 billion annually in 2003 from $110 billion dollars in 1999.
Nigeria is potentially Africa’s richest country. It is the ninth largest producer of crude oil in the world. Yet poverty is at a record high, unemployment has reached a frightening level with no serious efforts by our leaders, from the president to elected governors and down to local government chairmen to challenge it head on.
According to Professor Festus Iyayi of the University of Benin who recently revealed that research had shown that the current level of unemployment in Nigeria was above 40 per cent and would rise to 50 per cent at the end of this year.
While noting that the looted sums would have created millions of jobs, Iyayi quoted UNODC in 1999 as stating: “That is a staggering – almost astronomical amount of money because if you were to put $400 billion bills end-to-end, you could make 75 round trips to the moon!
“Concretely, those $400 billion (looted funds) could have translated into millions of vaccinations for children; thousands of kilometres of roads; hundreds of schools, hospitals and water treatment facilities that never came to be.
“Maternal mortality rate is still very high with 350 deaths in every 100,000 live births as a result of complications during child birth. Polio, a disease that the United Nations spent hundreds of millions of dollars to eliminate around the world, has reared its ugly head again in the northern parts of the country. “Only recently, the Bill Gates Foundation announced it is pumping hundreds of millions of dollars to help fend off the disease in Nigeria. Water-borne diseases are on the rise as a result of lack of access to potable water. In a nutshell, the country ranks high in all human indicators of underdevelopment and rank very poorly on the chart of human progress,” he said. And just before you think you have heard the worst, a new UN report just revealed that Nigeria has the highest number of HIV children worldwide. The number of children infected with the virus is higher than that of any other country in the world. The UN report titled “2013 Progress Report on The Global Plan: Towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive” is the most recent on the global plan which seeks an elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015. “In several countries, the pace of decline in the numbers of children newly infected has been slow and the numbers have actually risen in Angola. Nigeria has the largest number of children acquiring HIV infection – nearly 60,000 in 2012, a number that has remained largely unchanged since 2009,” the report stated.
The UN said it was worried about the prevalence rate of HIV among Nigerian children and warned that if Nigeria was not serious about curbing HIV in children, part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will not be realised by 2015.
With all these depressing statistics, those saddled with public trust of holding offices and managing taxpayers money have either not the slightest inclinations about how terrible things are for the ordinary people or are totally unmoved by their sufferings. Critics say these greedy cruel officials have become so pompous and daring that they now even openly accuse the public of being incapable of waging a revolt against them.
The state of public roads across the country is a crying shame on the Nigerian leaders who frequently dash to other countries for medical checkups at the slightest headache or fever while failing to set up standard health centres here in their state. They send their children to schools abroad to get better quality education while neglecting to build schools for the children of the ordinary man on the street.
The quantum of money the nation has earned from natural resources and taxes since 1999 when matched against the poor state of infrastructure across the country should ordinarily have triggered righteous anger leading to violent revolt on the streets. But that hasn’t happened and there is no hope it will happen any time soon. So our elected officials have continued in their impunity and mindless fleecing of the public treasury.
Instead of channeling resources to development and alleviating poverty, what is seen and continues to be seen is an unceasing propensity for waste, primitive acquisitions of wealth, ego-massaging expeditions and outright plundering of public funds. What has lately been in vogue for the governors is the acquisition of private jets. At the last count, four state governments had acquired different types of private jets, which is the new status symbol in the country for governors who have arrived.
Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State leads the pack with his grounded $57 million jet and two helicopters (that are yet to be delivered courtesy of local politics) in a state, supposedly still in need of many things. Rivers State is Nigeria’s third biggest economy and one of its most troubled.
Amaechi as the sitting governor receives a total revenue of N22 billion monthly from federal allocation and derivation fund. In all, the state could be raking in as much as N30 billion every month including internal generated revenue, IGR. Yet, the state cannot be said to be done with development. Almost $60 million was spent on a jet just to junket across the country to attend “meetings” and other vanities that do not have direct bearing on the people, but drain the state of vital resources.
Governor Godwills Akpabio is a man after the hearts of many Nigerians. It is no longer news that the state is a mini-Dubai of sorts. But the governor’s proclivity for waste is only matched by his arrogance of power. Only recently, he acquired a private jet worth over $50 million to attend to his vanities. He doles state funds like an inebriated lottery winner while many of his people still go to bed hungry. If he is not giving two Toyota Prado jeeps to Tuface Idibia, he is doling out “N1 million “chop money” to party men who pay him visits”. Cash-strapped Cross River State which Governor Liyel Imoke superintends ostensibly joined the club of governors that have “arrived”. He acquired from Rivers State the jet which Governor Amaechi inherited from former Governor Peter Odili but which the former considered no longer befitting.
Ailing Governor Dambaba Suntai had two jets as poor as Taraba State is. Unfortunately, in a daredevil attempt to pilot himself, even when reports had it that he had a flying certificate, he flew the plane to the forests in Yola, waking up in a German hospital after a near fatal crash from which he is yet to recover.
Most governors, as Nigerians have come to find out, are in the habit of chartering aircrafts and helicopters at a huge cost to the public purse when traveling within and outside the country.
Many of them appear to have not only lost all connections with the ordinary people they claim to be serving but spend precious tax payers’ money with reckless disdain for prudence and frugality.
The only time they mingle with the people is when seeking for votes. Immediately afterwards, they keep a safe distance, removing themselves from the reality of a suffering nation. This may explain the mad rush for the construction of airports or airstrips in almost every state of the federation by state governors essentially to cater to their personal pleasure contrary to any genuine motivation to attract investments to their states.
While leaders in other countries, especially Middle East and South America are busy undertaking ambitious and audacious projects to put their people on the world stage, Nigeria’s leaders at all levels of political offices are busy stealing taxpayers’ money and ironically hiding their loot in these countries. The tiny Arab country of Qatar has been transformed into a major international business destination by one man with a vision.
People only need to go to Dubai and see how one man has continuously challenged the boundaries of human possibilities; the result is a world class city where only the best of anything is good enough. Strangely, it is now the playground of the rich and famous including Nigeria’s treasury looters. And you begin to wonder if these leaders are human beings.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Bassey Ekpeyong pays tribute to Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State who is 52 years today How indeed, time flies! Fifty-two years ago is as if it was just yesterday. As swiftly as it is about to roll by, today, it has by no means, been a carefully charted journey of life for Governor Liyel Imoke. Life, they say begins at 40. But for the Cross River State governor, there is an element of freshness about him even at 52 years. Freshness of spirit, freshness of ideas, freshness of vision and mission for him as a person, as a leader and for the state he has superintended in the last six years.
With just two years past half a century already, Imoke has unarguably, run a dazzling race of his life as a politician, an administrator and a leader, having braced the tape with an outstanding flourish. Despite the howling success he has made of all of his end
avours, he exudes, yet a seeming urgency to reach the finish line in his chase to get his faithful subjects to the ‘Promised Land’. Born into what undoubtedly was an aristocratic family, to his debonair and highly educated father, late Dr. Samuel Imoke, on July 10, 1961, Liyel’s passage into adulthood was without airs and graces. For Imoke, nobility of birth in a predominantly peasant milieu was more of a challenge than the ‘comfort’ it provided. In fact, it was this outlook that formed the canvass on which his life and leadership style has remained oiled.
With the burden of leadership thrust upon his ‘slender’ shoulders at barely 30 years as senator representing his Cross River Central Senatorial Zone, Imoke was under no illusion that his work of providing quality, functional and responsible leadership was cut out for him.
And 22 years later, Imoke would turn the biblical Joshua who would ultimately berth his people at the ‘Promised Land’. With long years of Cross River State literally marooned in ‘wilderness’, Imoke became the biblical Joshua God had had to thrust upon the state to lead it out of its economic, social and political doldrums.
A silent but diligent servant of the people, while many of his ilk would brashly play to the gallery with their measly performance in office, and vaingloriously proclaim to the whole wide world that their state is working, Imoke, typical of his calm and reticent mien, has continued to demystify governance by demonstrating that good wine, indeed, needs no bush with his eye-popping, history-making and groundbreaking developmental strides.
In his reticence, he has not left anyone in doubt that his leadership is very much in a hurry to conquer all that there is to conquer for the state, developmentally.
Six years ago, he set the momentum going by building on his predecessor’s developmental framework. Methodically, he set about laying the necessary foundation for Cross River State to attain its potential by building bridges and consensus through collaborations. As an astute husbandry of resources, Imoke sees plenty, even in the face of paucity. It is his rare determination to make the most out of nothing that he has been able to ensure that his state, Cross River is growing in leaps and bounds and raising the bar and setting standard for others. That Cross River has become a template and a reference point for most of the states today is not owed to Imoke’s complacency or passivity in governance but more to his conscientiousness and forthrightness.
Hitting more than a half century mark is enough for many a man in his position to roll out the drums, but there is scarcely time for the unassuming governor to contemplate any such mundane celebration.
In a clime where life expectancy has continued to shrink and regress inexorably, it is amazing how this great figure has continued to wax stronger and stronger and making great exploits. As a leader and an administrator, Imoke has made several impressions in the hearts of millions of his subjects, very much as he has also steered his reign as governor into Nigeria’s leadership folklore with his people-oriented policies and programmes. No doubt, Governor Imoke deserves everyone’s standing ovation.
A man with an overdose of humility, intelligence, forthrightness and humanity, he has laboured tirelessly for the past six years to ensure that the disconnect that has fostered alienation between the rulers and the ruled in the past is corrected. Today, the hitherto ‘Berlin Wall’ which for long prevented the people from having a glimpse into happenings in government has completely been pulled down for good. Today, no state, I stand to be corrected boasts so many youths in their 30s and 40s in government like Cross River State.
A silent transformer, ever since assuming the reins of power as governor, six years ago, he has quietly and purposefully transformed both the political and economic landscape as well as impacted positively on the lives of several millions of people of the state. In every direction one turns in the state, the marks of good governance these past six years are all too striking: good roads, electricity, transformed schools, rehabilitated and well equipped hospitals, peace and security, economic empowerment and agricultural transformation.
With hundreds new school blocks built across the state, laboratory equipment in all the public secondary schools across the state, ten thousand teachers provided with laptops to enhance e-learning in schools, Imoke has continued to breathe a new lease of life in the education and health sectors.
In 2007 when Imoke took over the reins in Calabar, the state's pass rate in external examinations was merely 5 per cent. Today, Cross River has emerged as of one seven best performing states in national examinations.
Only recently, the Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation, owned by Bill Gate, severally the world's richest man, gave Imoke award for leadership in healthcare delivery. Cross River is rated the best in the South-south and one of three best performing states in the country in the delivery of healthcare.
Two local governments in the state have recorded zero infant/maternal mortality in the last two years even as over 30,000 have benefited from the state's free eye surgery programme
Having lost what obviously was its paltry share of oil wells, Imoke, refusing to weep over spilled milk, had to devise an ingenious means to navigate the state out of a looming economic morass by initiating an economic blueprint on investment, agriculture, wealth creation and human capital development.
Instructively, he has transformed the once “civil service state” to an enviable platform for investment, translating into job and economic empowerment for thousands of youths across the state. Imoke’s Investment Promotion Bureau which he introduced as a one-stop investment centre has in the last few years brought into the state three hundred new private investments, culminating in a portfolio of investment in excess of two billion U.S dollars for last year alone.
It is the result of his creative thinking that has berthed mega investors like WILMAR, General Electric, (GE), Dangote Cement, Artii Group, Godilogo Farms, Oriental Energy Resources, Essar Power. These giant investors have all taken advantage of the clement investment climate by investing in excess of over US$2 billion in the state.
This has effectively turned the state to not just the preferred destination for tourism but also a good hunting ground or goldmine for investors. The Investment Promotion Bureau has also created the Micro Enterprise and Small Scale Businesses Department through which over 500 million naira has been disbursed to small business operators and medium scale entrepreneurs in the state, effectively positioning those with business ideas in the right pedestal to become big business owners in the long run.
Wilmar, which is Asia’s leading Agribusiness Group, has taken over the CALARO and Ibiaye palm plantations. Wilmar is investing $400 million in agro-cultivation and processing, with an anticipated 20 thousand jobs to be created for Cross River State citizens. Already, over 1000 people are currently engaged by the company.
General Electric which recently carried out its groundbreaking ceremony at the Export Processing Zones Authority has an investment portfolio of over US$1 billion in a manufacturing and assembling plant. Similarly, over two thousand jobs would be generated. A Chinese consortium has also announced it plans to build a truck manufacturing plant in the state even as over 50 other Chinese firms have indicated interest in investing in the state.
As well, General Electric, Light Orientals Energy Resources Limited, is building a factory to manufacture pipe mills and is investing US$300 million and over a thousand jobs would accrue from this investment alongside ensuring internally generated revenue to the tune of US$120 million.
Just as Governor Imoke has turned Cross River into a ‘battleground’ for both foreign investors, local ones are not waiting to be outdone either. For instance, Nigeria’s major industrial conglomerate, Dangote Group, is also anchoring in the state with the establishment of cement manufacturing plant worth over US$800 million, while Essar Power, has concluded arrangement to establish an energy and power plant with a capacity to generate 250 megawatts of electricity.
Allied to these feats is the enthronement of calm and consensus building in the political spectrum. Through consensus, processes like the election and choosing of candidates for various offices have become free of tumult, acrimony and bad blood which hitherto characterised the process. Governor Imoke has transposed his calm persona on the system by entrenching such core values of trust, selflessness, integrity and passion for the people and effectively earning their confidence and abiding followership. He has re-defined the concept of leadership and effective governance by effectively re-orientating the mindset of the political class to see politics as a call to service.
It is often said that when a man does what everyone else is doing, he remains just an ordinary man, if he does what nobody has done, he is a man with an excellent mind but if he does what nobody can do, he is a genius and an asset. For sure, Imoke is doing what nobody has been able to do in Cross River State and thus, he is not just an asset to the state alone but to Nigeria as a whole.
As he clocks 52 years today, his high-octane performance in governance and in the leadership of his state in the last six years sure sets him apart as an extraordinary, selfless and passionate leader who burns to put his state on the world developmental map. Happy birthday our gentle governor!
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The National Assembly Tuesday said there was no cause for alarm in the ongoing process to amend the 1999 Constitution, despite the divergence in the reports of the Constitution Review Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The explanation came amidst the submission of two different reports on the proposed amendments to the constitution. The two chambers differed on issues such as tenure of office and immunity for the President, Vice-President, Governors and deputy governors. They also made varying recommendations on the autonomy of local government councils, state police and other contentious constitutional matters.
There have been speculations that the exercise had failed because of these differences in the positions of the two chambers.
But the parliament Tuesday said the process of altering the provisions of the constitution was still on course and the legislature would deploy its internal mechanisms to reach a middle ground before transmitting a harmonised report to the 36 state Houses of Assembly.
Deputy Senate President and Chairman, Senate Ad hoc Commitee on Constitution Review, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, said the differences in the two reports was normal in the legislature.
“It is normal for versions of Bills passed by one chamber of the National Assembly on a subject matter to differ from that of the other chamber. In any case, what we have now in both the Senate and the House of Representatives are Bills embodying the recommendations of the Constitution Review Committees of both chambers. Neither the report or Bill submitted by the Committee I head or that submitted by the House Committee headed by the Deputy Speaker represents the views of the Senate or House yet.
“The Bills will be debated and voted on, clause by clause, to come up with the positions of each of the two chambers. In the process, maybe some items may be dropped and maybe all the recommendations in the Bills will go through.
“It is after this that both chambers, likely the two Committees will meet in a conference to harmonise our positions before sending it to the state assemblies.
“As I said, the harmonisation would be done after passage of the Bills for Constitution Amendment in both Chambers of the National Assembly. But note, as I earlier said, you can’t say this or that is the position of the Senate or House on any issue at the moment,” Ekweremadu said.
In the House, the position is not different as the lower chamber said there was nothing unusual in the process at the moment.
Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Afamefuna Ogene said that the report submitted by the House Ad hoc Committee on Constitution Review was derived from the verdict of the people during the public hearings held in the 360 constituencies of the country.
Ogene explained that the report was meticulous in gathering the views of Nigerians during the hearings and has refrained from the temptation of allowing the personal opinions of members to overshadow the voice of the people at the grassroots.
According to him, it would have been abnormal if both chambers of the National Assembly had worked separately on the constitution and submitted identical reports at the end of the exercise.
“There is no way you could have expected us to have come out with exactly the same position on these issues. If that happened, ab initio, people would have said it was an arranged report. The report of the House is the outcome of our Peoples Public Sessions and that goes to prove its veracity. You will recall that the public sessions were held across all the 360 federal constituencies; even in areas where there were security concerns, the people found a way round the challenge and ensured the people met to deliberate on the issues on the template.
"So largely, what has come out of our own Ad hoc Committee on Constitution Review is a reflection of the voting pattern from that exercise. As much as possible we did not inject our own opinions either as members of the House or as members of the Ad hoc Committee on Constitution Review.
“As for the differences in the reports, you will recall that the Senate held its hearings at the zonal level; so people who attended their sessions may or may not have attended ours but the fact remains that we met different.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Tuesday said the Anambra State governorship election would hold on November 16, this year.
This is coming as the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also called for the amendment of the party’s constitution during the forthcoming mini National Convention of the party to grant automatic ticket to President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2015 presidential election.
The election date, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), was contained in the election timetable released by the commission in Awka Tuesday.
According to the election notice made available to journalists by INEC’s Assistant Director, Public Relations, Mr. Frank Egbo, electioneering campaigns by political parties would commence on August 18.
“In exercise of the powers conferred on the Independent National Electoral commission by the Electoral Act 2010, as amended and all other powers enabling it, the commission hereby issues the time table and schedule of activities for the governorship election 2013 in Anambra State.
“Activities for the election will commence on August 13, while the ban on campaigns by political parties in public is hereby lifted with effect from August 13.
“The Anambra State governorship election will hold on November 16, and in accordance with Section 179 of the 1999 Constitution, run-off election (if any), would be held within seven days of the announcement of the result of the election,” INEC said.
Meanwhile, the move to ensure that Jonathan gets an automatic ticket was part of the resolutions reached at an extra-ordinary meeting by the leaderships of the 326 wards, local governments and the State Executive Committee (SEC) of the party, which was presented to its National Working Committee (NWC) at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja Tuesday.
Chairman of Anambra State chapter of PDP, Mr. Ken Emeakayi, while briefing journalists, after the presentation which was received on behalf of the NWC by the acting National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Tony, Caesar, said the party adopted President Jonathan for the 2015 presidential race.
The party, it was gathered, also: “Recommended further amendment of the PDP Constitution 2012 (as amended) in the forthcoming PDP National Convention to allow for the right of first refusal (automatic ticket) as PDP candidates, to serving and performing PDP, president, governors, national and state assembly members, to reduce infighting associated with our party primary elections.”
The party said by the amendment of the PDP constitution, to include the right of first refusal, it would automatically give President Jonathan the party’s presidential ticket at an affirmation national convention.
Based on this, the party stated that it was also seeking for automatic tickets for all “performing” PDP governors, members of the national and state assemblies as a way to reduce friction in the run up to the elections.
Emeakayi said the state chapter had resolved “that we urge President Jonathan to accept to contest for a second term and we hereby adopt him as our candidate for the 2015 presidential elections."
The state chapter of PDP also threw its weight behind the former National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, to be return to the post as the only candidate from Anambra State to which the post is zoned.
The Chairman of PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih and a group known as the PDP Democrats have been championing the right of first refusal to enable President Jonathan emerge as presidential candidate without presidential primary election.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, Tuesday in Abuja, said the by-election in Oguta, Imo State, would have to wait until the safety of the commission's members of staff was guaranteed.
Speaking at the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room Meeting organised by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Jega explained that INEC had to declare the election inclusive because the votes yet to be cast could sway the result of the election. He said unless those participating in the election guaranteed the security of INEC's staff, the election would remain inconclusive as the commission was not prepared to put the lives of its workers in jeopardy.
He said: "There were polling units where election did not take place due to violence. After tabulating the results, it was discovered that a candidate scored 9,000 plus while another had 7,000 plus. There are about 4,000 votes at polling units where election has not taken place. That can sway the result.
"In the circumstance, the necessary thing to do is to declare it as inconclusive. The election is a very bad election because the politicians decided to make so.
"We will not conduct the election unless the safety of our staff is guaranteed. When the atmosphere is right, we will go there and conclude the election. We cannot subject the lives of our staff to jeopardy. They must guarantee the safety of our staff."
Speaking on preparation for the next general election, Jega said security remained a challenge.
He said lack of capacity to prosecute those arrested for electoral offence encourages violence.
The INEC boss said the commission was overwhelmed by electoral violence even as he said the commission lacked the capacity to prosecute those who violated the electoral law.
He said: "We have prosecuted over 200 offenders. But that is a drop in the ocean. But INEC lacks the capacity to prosecute."
Jega called for the implementation of the Justice Mohammed Uwais committee's recommendation that a special agency be created to prosecute electoral offenders.
"We are overwhelmed by the enormity of cases that needed to be prosecuted. But we are doing our best. But we need help. We have to rely on police investigation while court is very slow," he said.
He called on the National Assembly to amend the Electoral Act so as to correct the anomaly created by section 31.
The section required INEC to accept any candidate the political parties sent to it whereas the Electoral Act also required parties to conduct primaries to select candidates.
He said the commission did not have a choice but to accept the candidates sent to it by parties even though those candidates might not have emerged through primaries.
Jega said during the 2015 elections, voters would only be able to vote at the polling units where they registered. He said the commission did not have the infrastructure to allow people to vote at anywhere they choose.
"You can only vote where you register. That is the law. There are challenges with technological constraints. Like real time internet. It is not possible to do multiple voting," he added.
He also said the card reader to be deployed during the next general election will have a voice.
He said: "If your voter card is verified, it will say so and if not it will say not verified. We are borrowing this from Ghana. Anyone whose card was not verified should not be allowed to vote. Party agents must support electoral staff to ensure compliance."
He also said it was not true that directors in INEC were skewed in favour of his geographical zone.
The INEC Chairman said the commission had complied with the Federal Character Commission Act in the distribution of appointments.
He said the restructuring of the commission had been concluded and that there were nine departments, 10 directorates and four autonomous units.
The INEC chairman said one of the most significant innovations introduced in the electoral process as the country moved towards 2015 was the permanent voters' card (PVC) that had a microchip with a bio data of each voter and which would be read on presentation to officials by Card Readers at each polling unit.
He said: "While each card has information unique only to a specific voter, voters will be required to authenticate that information by scanning their finger prints on the card readers. Thus, the PVC is easily electronically verifiable using networked smart card readers that will be deployed to each polling unit."
Jega said there were other benefits of the smart card reader. They include equipment and material checklists, notification of when accreditation starts, total number of people accredited at a polling unit and vote collation.
He said: "Already 20 million permanent voters’ cards have been delivered and the rest will be delivered according to a set agreement by mid 2014. Since we recognize that distribution has always been a challenge, we have taken appropriate steps to develop a distribution plan for the cards to ensure tat registrants get their cards on time. With this arrangement quite a number of irregularities and challenges noticed by observers and our own officials during voting would be addressed."
On continuous voters’ registration exercise, the INEC chairman pointed out that "while the commission had planned the continuous voter registration exercise to begin in the first part of the second quarter of this year, certain logistic reasons had prevented us from doing so. However, the planning and logistic arrangements for the continuous voters’ registration exercise have been concluded and will commence before the end of this quarter.
"It will begin with the display of the current voters register in both print and electronic forms. Persons wishing to be added, changed or moved will be required to fill a disclaimer form and will then be issued with a queue ticket indicating the time, date and bio-data on DDCs. The continuous voters’ registration will take place at ward levels where two DDCs will be stationed with our officials.
One of the DDCs together with the printed register for that ward will be used to check whether a prospective registrant is already on our database, while the other will be used to register those that were not. Clear guidelines will be issued shortly," he declared.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The House of Representatives Tuesday asked the Federal Ministry of Education to prevail on universities not to apply arbitrary cut-off marks for candidates of the recent Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The House also mandated its Committee on Banking and Currency to investigate the operations of Union Bank of Nigeria over alleged unwholesome practices.
In the second motion sponsored by Hon. Afamefuna Ogene, the attention of the House was drawn to the alleged disregard of government’s directive on cut-off marks for admission into federal universities in Nigeria.
Ogene said although the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruquayatu Ahmed Rufa’i, recently announced the approved cut-off marks for universities as 180 and polytechnics/ Colleges of Education at 150 respectively, in the current 2013/2014 admission exercise in Nigeria, some universities were in breach of the directive.
He said while 180 marks was approved by government, eligibility for post-UTME entrance examination into federal universities and institutions such as the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), University of Lagos (UNILAG), University of Benin (UNIBEN), Obafemi Awolowo University ( OAU), University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), have pegged theirs cut off points at 200 and above.
Similarly, he said the Federal University of Technology, Minna and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka (UNIZIK), put theirs at 190 and 200 for science courses respectively.
Ogene said unless the government guideline of 180 marks for universities and 150 for polytechnics and colleges of education were strictly adhered to by these federal institutions, many Nigerian youths who scored less than 200 marks, but met the government approved cut-off marks of 180 and 150 respectively, would be denied admission into their chosen tertiary institutions.
The House resolved to mandate the House Committee on Education to interface with both the Ministry of Education and the authorities of federal universities and allied institutions, with regard to ensuring strict adherence to government policy on education, especially when it is not in conflict with the provisions of the Nigerian constitution.
Meanwhile, the probe by the Committee on Banking and Currency into the operations of Union Bank followed a motion sponsored by Hon. Akpan Umoh, in which the lawmaker alleged that the tenure of Funke Osibodu as Managing Director was fraught with a lot of malpractices.
Umoh disclosed that in spite of all genuine efforts by the government to sanitise the banking sector, the management of some of the banks engaged in practices that undermined the interest of shareholders and the goals of the reforms in the sector.
Umoh said it was ironical that the Central Bank of Nigeria's intervention in UBN in 2009 was premised on the charges of inadequate liquidity, poor corporate governance and inadequate capital, while some Chief Executives that came in the course of the reform embarked on a voyage along the same path of ruin including skewed book keeping to create the false impression that the bank was run down.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced statutory investigation of all claims and documentations submitted to it by the three opposition political parties, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) applying for merger.
Tuesday’s inspection visit by INEC, came just as the Interim National Chairman of APC, Alhaji Bisi Akande, maintained that the registration of the new coalition party was forgone concluded and that no one could prevent it.
On arrival at about 10 am, the verification team led by the Director of Political Party Monitoring and Liaison, Alhaji Shittu Ibrahim, held closed door meeting with the interim national leadership of the APC at the headquarters, Zone 6 Wuse, in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
THISDAY gathered from sources at the meeting that apart from trying to match the leaders’ names with their faces, the commission’s officials tried to verify all documents relating to the tenancy of the new party office.
The team which declined to speak to journalists on their findings later went round the various compartments of the two office building before leaving.
Addressing journalist shortly after the inspection, APC National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, expressed satisfaction at the tone of exchanges between the parties and the electoral body, describing it as very good.
He said the meeting with the INEC went well and that the expectations of the merging parties were that APC would scale through the registration hurdle.
“From the beginning of these merger negotiations, we have gone to various conventions, we have made joint applications and we have been exchanging correspondence with INEC, but they have never visited us before. So today INEC came to see us in our home, and they are happy we have got a home. When INEC team met us through our attendance register, they discovered that we belonged to a party of gentlemen, the APC.
“We have always been confident that no power under the sun will stop us from becoming a political party. On how soon the coalition expects APC to be registered, Akande said the law was clear about it, adding that the party is already registered.
“INEC has never faulted what we did, when we wrote the first joint application, we have completed the merger phase of the exercise. INEC now needs administrative investigation to show that what we have done was according to their own laid down procedures and because they kept writing to us and we were replying them.
“Today they came for verifications as to whether we exist, and where do we exist? We have proven to them that we exist like gentlemen and in a befitting accommodation.
The National Secretary of APC, Alhaji Tijani Tunmsa, who conducted INEC officials round the offices in the party headquarters, told journalists that everything about the new party was in good shape.
“My impression of the commission’s visit is a good one. It confirms the confidence that I had in the formation of APC. The commission came expecting to see some things which we were able to deliver today, and I think everything is in good shape,” he said
INEC spokesman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, told THISDAY Tuesday evening on the telephone that the processing of the application for party registration submitted by the merging opposition parties are still ongoing.
He confirmed that what the commission’s team that visited the merger group’s APC office Tuesday did was to verify the claim contained in their application and to report back their findings, adding that the registration process was not concluded yet.
“The application for APC’s registration is still going through routine processing and that process has not yet been concluded, “ he said
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The insistence of a House of Representatives member and chairman, House Committee on Budget and Research, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele, to pursue his governorship ambition despite the intervention of the Action Congress of Nigeria leadership may have foreclosed possible reconciliation between him and the Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.
Barely, a year to the conduct of the 2014 governorship election in Ekiti State, political activities in the state are getting more and more interesting by the day. And until the election has come and gone, political permutations would continue, while individual interest would continue to dominate the scene.
As it is in the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), so also in the camp of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), both of whom are battling with internal wrangling. No one of the parties in the state is free of one crisis or the other over various ambitions, intrigues and personal interest. Expectedly, the development has literally polarised all the concerned parties.
While the PDP is still under the heavy yoke of primary election to decide its candidate, the home of ACN, the ruling party, is almost in disarray, perfectly heading towards disintegration, somewhat.
It is no longer news that a member of the House of Representatives and Chairman, House Committee on Budget and Research, Hon Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, a prominent member of ACN, is one whose ambition is seems to be tearing the party apart, since the 2011 National Assembly election, in which he sought to be senator but side-stepped for Senator Babafemi Ojudu. He was later pacified with the House of Representatives ticket.
But there and then, he began to nurse the ambition for greater position, and since then, it appeared the centre of the party in the state can no longer hold. However, Bamidele's problems became more compounded in last December, when the leadership of the party endorsed the incumbent governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, for a second term in office.
At a meeting held in the Iyin-Ekiti country home of the first executive governor of the state, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, prominent leaders of the party including Senator Tony Adeniyi, Hon Ife Arowosoge, Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Dr Adewale Omirin, and several others, mooted the idea and sanctioned it. It did not however go down well with Bamidele, who immediately opposed and dismissed the endorsement, which he said was the position of the party, and promised to fight it to the last. Since then, he has not rested in the pursuit of his ambition.
Unfortunately, this development has generated bad blood amongst members, with those in Fayemi’s camp not wanting to see others as allies, while those in the other camp too would not want to see those in Bamidele’s group as friends of the governor.
The ugly situation has continueddespite being members of the same party, who ordinarily should have the same desire, aspiration and goal, meant to sustain and maintain their victory. But the reverse is the case. It is a case of people of one big family fighting one another, displaying needless political strength and muscle-flexing, all in the name of position and ambition with naked attacks against one another.
On several occasions, Bamidele had raised alarm over alleged attack on him anywhere he went in the state, alleging sponsored political thugs. This, he said, has forced him to go about with a retinue of security men to protect his life. But government and the party have consistently dismissed such alarm as figments of his imagination, saying it is not their stock in trade but Bamidele should check the list of his new friends.
That aside, posters of his alleged governorship ambition at a time flooded Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, on the Labour Party. While no one could explain how they came about, those close to Bamidele accused supporters of Fayemi while those loyal to the governor dismissed anything that would elevate his alleged inordinate ambition.
It therefore got to the point that observers expressed concern that if the party leaders failed to intervene in time, there is the bpossibility that the opposition might cash-in on the crisis to unloose the state from the hold of the ACN as the 2014 election approaches.
This, perhaps, formed the basis for the intervention by the party’s national leadership led by Senator Bola Tinubu, the national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, former governor of the old Ondo State, Evangelist Bamidele Olumilua, state Chairman of the party, Chief Jide Awe and National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who stormed the state for what they described as a stakeholders’ parley.
Others at the meeting included Senator Ojudu, Hon Tunde Ojo, Mr. Dele Alake, Hon Bimbo Daramola, as well as other members of the state cabinet led by Fayemi.
The meeting which held at Lady Jibowu Hall, New Government House, Ado-Ekiti did go ahead but with a major snag; it failed to include one of the main actors in the crisis, Bamidele. He was absent and not represented in any capacity at the meeting.
His absence, therefore, raised questions. Observers thought that for him not to be in attendance at such a crucial meeting could make or mar the peace process. Although there was no official statement to establish whether he was invited or not, his media aide, Hammed Salami, also had no clue on whether or not an invitation was extended to his boss.
Analysts therefore thought that such an important meeting should have brought together all the concerned parties if the aim was to achieve a genuine reconciliation.
This notwithstanding, kudos was given to Tinubu, for not only convening the meeting, but for being down-to-earth in his approach to the issues as they affect individuals in the crisis. Although, the meeting was originally meant to settle rift, it turned out to be another forum to endorse the governor for second term in office, in due recognition of his unprecedented achievements and performance.
But Tinubu had quickly added that another occasion would be announced later where the second term ambition of the governor would be made official. He was also said to have noted that the essence of the meeting was to mend the cracks in the party, and that it must be done urgently before the 2014 governorship election in the state.
Sources at the meeting said Tinubu described the endorsement as necessary in order to douse raging tension and rumour that he had been the one sponsoring Bamidele against Fayemi since the feud started.
“This is not the official endorsement; we are coming for official endorsement of Governor Kayode Fayemi soon. I have heard a lot of people saying I am the sponsor, the endorser and financier of Bamidele, but I am here now to clarify issue to all our members.”
The ACN leader, who was said to have spoken elaborately on the 2014 election, according to sources, warned the party against bickering which the Peoples Democratic Party might cash-in on to fight with the party.
Tinubu was said to have specifically told Fayemi to mend fences with all the aggrieved members, particularly Bamidele for the next election in the state to be an easy ride. He also did not allegedly mince his words when he told Bamidele to accept the olive branch from the Governor, and drop his governorship ambition for the party to come out victorious in all future elections. According to the source, Tinubu described Bamidele as his 'son', whom he can talk to at any time, and if it warrants beating him, he can do so, "but he (Bamidele) should be told to go and sit down for now."
He then warned all the party members, in both camps to desist from fanning embers of disunity. “You should not see the Governor as your own property. He belongs to all the members of the party and no one should claim to love him more than others,” he noted. For proper illustration, Tinubu who used his experience in handling Lagos crisis as example, was said to have disclosed that “during my own time in Lagos, I had a very harrowing experiences when I was about to install Governor Babatunde Fashola as my successor. Some of my cabinet members rose against me, but with maturity, I was able to bring them on board and Governor Fashola won. “As a politician, there is nothing I have not seen in my life. I have seen politicians playing sycophancy just to get what they wanted. But, as a leader, you have to be very smart to be able to know sincere advice from mere sycophancy. “This is what I want Governor Fayemi to display in this game. I want you Excellency to bring everybody close to yourself, particularly Hon Bamidele and ensure that you have a united house to confront the opposition.”
Those who also spoke on the occasion, were said to have toed the same line with their national leader including Akande and Olumilua, who were said to have called for a genuine truce among the warriors. They were said to have charged Governor Fayemi to look for a way of bringing Bamidele back to the main stream of the party, if the party would want to sail through in the coming election. But Bamidele dropped the bombshell at the weekend when he reportedly said Tinubu was in no position to determine how and when he would realize his ambition. The lawmaker who met with the press in Ado-Ekiti was quoted as saying he did not get the invitation to the meeting until a day after it had held, thus rubbishing whatever success the move by the ACN leaders would have been seen to have recorded.
Bamidele, according to reports, said he was not ready to step down for Fayemi and vowed to forge ahead with his ambition. The lawmaker, who will turn 50 on July 29, said he had decided to shelve his 50th birthday celebration in honour of Ekiti people, whom, he said, are still languishing in poverty. “I cannot be celebrating a birthday in the midst of poverty,” he said. Speaking at his office on the platform of Ekiti Bibiire Coalition, Bamidele, who represents Ado-Irepodun/Ifelodun Federal Constituency, said nobody, could stop him from contesting against Fayemi, adding that he remained unperturbed despite Fayemi’s endorsement. “It is only God that crowns the king.”
On the peace parley, Bamidele, said: “I was invited for the meeting, but I got the text message late. But my argument still remains that Tinubu did not endorse Fayemi at the meeting. The Tinubu that I know will not take any step that will undermine democracy. So, what was reported was not what Tinubu said. The Tinubu I know wants Ekiti people to take their own decision and not be imposed upon.” Although, he did not mention the political party under which he would advance his political ambition, saying the platform will be known soon, he, however, said he has enormous respect for the ACN leader, under whom he served as Special Adviser in Lagos State, revealing that he is not contesting the coming governorship election out of his own personal conviction, but on the request of Ekiti people. He said he would not be desperate in his bid to become the governor of the state by carrying lethal weapons to hunt his political opponents in the name of politics.
Facing his supporters, Bamidele asked: “Were you not the one that called me to come and contest?” They answered: “We were the ones!” He appealed to them to be civil in the face of provocation. He also urged Fayemi to stop dropping Tinubu’s names in his campaign, saying he should be man enough to carry his own political cross. “I will always respect my benefactor and Senator Tinubu is my benefactor whom I respect so well. But Ekiti is first on my agenda. The Tinubu I know wants the best for Ekiti. If I could work for him for eleven and half years to make Lagos State a model, then I know he will want somebody, like me, to work with the people to make Ekiti a model. Nobody can stop me from contesting the governorship election. I cannot fight with Tinubu, just like it is not compulsory that we should agree on everything at all times,” Bamidele said.
There is no doubting the fact that the reconciliation parley was an effort in futility. But can Bamidele face Tinubu as the fight may have become one between him and Tinubu since he has publicly discountenanced the orders of his benefactor? These are the new undercurrents that will start evolving in the coming weeks and how that will shape the tide of developments within the context of the subsisting equation remains a hard nut to crack.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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