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Why Buhari’s Impeachment threat by the Senate remains a joke

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By John Danjuma

The recent threat by Nigeria’s upper legislative chamber to commence impeachment proceedings against Nigeria’s president, Mr. Muhammadu Buhari is nothing short of a ridiculous joke on the unassuming Nigerian populace, who may see this move as a positive step in the right direction, and a sign that the Senate is finally on the side of the people.

However, Biztellers can authoritatively reveal that neither the APC led Presidency nor the political watchers were amused let alone impressed by the move as they watch the senators storming out of a plenary session, claiming to be protesting against the President’s weakness in dealing with the worsening insecurity bedeviling the country, and that has crept into every geo-political zone of the country.

Biztellers investigations reveal that the Presidency strongly believe that the threat by the senators is just an empty charade to hoodwink members of the public into seeing them as an ally of the people, and this is going by the fact that the move was coming when the senate was almost at the verge of its yearly recess which usually lasts for two months, a period long enough for the president to deploy every means at his disposal into calming frayed nerves amongst his own party men and launching a counter and almost fatal attack at the opposition.

Another factor according to our source deep inside the presidency is that this is happening at a time many of the senators had already lost out in their return bid as more than 80 percent of the members of the 9th senate lost to retain their seat at the primary elections of their various political parties.

Hence, their claim that they were terribly dissatisfied with the high-level insecurity in the country does not hold water. The Senators across political parties, had towards the end of July, given President Muhammadu Buhari six weeks ultimatum to properly address worsening insecurity or face immediate impeachment.
The minority leader Philip Aduda had tried to raise a motion to that effect on the Senate floor but was frustrated by Senate President, Ahmed Lawan just before they embarked on this year’s recess.

However, Nigerian political watchers were also not impressed by this move. Some of them who spoke with this writer on the condition of anonymity recalled the fact that the insecurity in Nigeria had been there before the 9th senate was inaugurated a little more than 3years ago, thereby wondering why they are now just waking up from their slumber when it is almost too late, and the president has less than a year to finish is second term and handover to a new government.

Another thought was that the reason for the senators seeming action was the fact that the insecurity situation in Nigeria was beginning to threaten the peace of the federal capital territory where they all resided and work, especially with recent threats from the bandits and terrorists to kidnap the person of the President himself, after they have shot severely and fatally at his convoy in Katsina, his home state, and attacked members of his brigade of guards, in Bwari area, on the outskirts of Abuja afterwards.

“All the while, when they were supposed to play their role as legislators, they had claimed to be on the same page with the executive only to turn around at the twilight of the President’s second tenure to start flying a kite that they know cannot even take off at the end.

To start with, the process of impeaching a president, especially one whose party retains control of both houses of the legislature is complex and not easy.

The removal of the President according to the Constitution must follow the following procedures:
Section 143 of the Constitution reads:

(1) The President or Vice-President may be removed from office in accordance with the provisions of this section.

(2) Whenever a notice of any allegation in writing signed by not less than one-third of the members of the National Assembly: –

(a) is presented to the President of the Senate;

(b) stating that the holder of the office of President or Vice-President is guilty of gross misconduct in the performance of the functions of his office, detailed particulars of which shall be specified, the President of the Senate shall within seven days of the receipt of the notice cause a copy thereof to be served on the holder of the office and on each member of the National Assembly, and shall also cause any statement made in reply to the allegation by the holder of the office to be served on each member of the National Assembly.

(3) Within fourteen days of the presentation of the notice to the President of the Senate (whether or not any statement was made by the holder of the office in reply to the allegation contained in the notice) each House of the National Assembly member shall resolve by motion without any debate whether or not the allegation shall be investigated.

(4) A motion of the National Assembly that the allegation be investigated shall not be declared as having been passed, unless it is supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds majority of all the members of each House of the National Assembly.

(5) Within seven days of the passing of a motion under the foregoing provisions, the Chief Justice of Nigeria shall at the request of the President of the Senate appoint a Panel of seven persons who in his opinion are of unquestionable integrity, not being members of any public service, legislative house or political party, to investigate the allegation as provide in this section.

(6) The holder of an office whose conduct is being investigated under this section shall have the right to defend himself in person and be represented before the Panel by legal practitioners of his own choice.

(7) A Panel appointed under this section shall –

(a) have such powers and exercise its functions in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed by the National Assembly; and

(b) within three months of its appointment report its findings to each House of the National Assembly.

(8) Where the Panel reports to each House of the National Assembly that the allegation has not been proven, no further proceedings shall be taken in respect of the matter.

(9) Where the report of the Panel is that the allegation against the holder of the office has been proven and duly established, then within fourteen days of the receipt of the report, both the House and the Senate shall consider the report, and if by a resolution of both chambers supported by not less than two-thirds majority of all its members, the report of the Panel is adopted, then the holder of the office shall stand removed from office as from the date of the adoption of the report.

(10) No proceedings or determination of the Panel or of the National Assembly or any matter relating thereto shall be entertained or questioned in any court.

(11) In this section -“gross misconduct” means a grave violation or breach of the provisions of this Constitution or a misconduct of such nature as amounts in the opinion of the National Assembly to gross misconduct.”

Some political pundits have also opined that for senators to issue a threat, just as they were embarking on a six-week break amounts to a non-issue as the Presidency would have perfected its lobbying for the senators to drop their threat.
Not long after, some senators started denouncing the impeachment threat which Nigerians were made to believe was a collective decision

For instance, the Chairman Senate Committee on Information and National Orientation, Senator Danladi Sankara had dissociated himself from the alleged plot by some senators to impeach Senate President Dr. Ahmad Lawan in order to pave way for eventual impeachment proceedings against President Muhammadu Buhari.

Senator Sankara who is representing Jigawa North West in the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly refuted claims by certain online news publications linking him to the plot by some senators to impeach the Senate President
In his reaction to the reports, he said at no time was he consulted or co-opted into such plan by the eleven other senators alleged to be masterminding the plot. He said “It is just the figment of the imagination of the online publications and the others who are linking me to such a move”
“I was present throughout the plenary sessions of last Tuesday and Wednesday, nobody approached me or sought my consent to join any move to impeach the Senate President or the President Muhammadu Buhari ”

According to him, what is required at this time is maturity and understanding of leaders and people to ensure that Nigeria overcome the challenges of insecurity and economic downturn.

He said, “It is very important for leaders to explore workable methods to address the issues of insecurity. It is not proper for us to further heat up the polity when we should put heads together to explore workable solutions to the issues of the economy and insecurity.
“It is a collective responsibility on the part of the leaders and the people ” Senator Sankara emphasized.

Senator Smart Adeyemi representing Kogi East on the other hand said it was the decision of the senate saying it is wrong to attribute it to the opposition

“It was a collective decision of the senate, to give an ultimatum, the only difference from what the opposition are eventually saying is a matter of semantics.

“we say we are giving the President six weeks, they said they are serving impeachment notice, after six weeks we move, we come and sit down and start a discussion.

“The opposition said we must give notice, but we say it has to be six weeks ultimatum, they said after six weeks what happens, we said they should wait till after six weeks first
I don’t see any difference.”

According to him, when Sarduana was premier of the Northern region there was no discrimination, the Yorubas of Kogi and Kwara Forgot that they were Yoruba because there was no need to talk about their tribe as he was free and fair to everybody, Just like Awolowo was free and fair to everyone.

“There are people who see themselves as kings, my background as a journalist would not allow me to swallow bitter pills, I cannot see injustice and keep quiet. “I cannot see marginalization; our economy cannot be going down and I say I am happy. I am proud to be an APC man but that will not stop me from criticizing APC but that is not saying I condemn the party.

“Today Nigeria is in big trouble, our economy is nosediving at a very terrible speed, why is it so? How can anybody justify a nation that produces crude oil in trillions of volumes but imports finished product?”

Senator Alex Kadiri who represented Kogi East from 1999 to 2003 in the Senate described the recent impeachment threats against President Muhammadu Buhari as coming a little too late because of the many ‘idiots in the majority at the upper legislative chamber.
Senator Kadiri who spoke through a telephone interview with Biztellers, said the senators have reached a point where they are all now ashamed.

“Every election, every outcome of every election has an implication. If you put a lot of idiots in the majority, then they will behave idiotically to the end. “The day you vote the Assembly people, either state House of Assembly or National Assembly, the result you get has far reaching implications.

Senator Ahmad Lawn belongs to the party of the president, they are in the majority in the National Assembly, so you will expect that they will continue to protect the President for as long as it is possible for them to do so. That is the implication of their being in the majority.

“But they have reached a point now where everybody is ashamed. The opposition people are taking the bull by the horn now. I can assure you that the majority of APC members in the National Assembly will support them. They cannot say it now until it comes to voting.”

He said as Former chairman of the Senators Forum, he is still in touch with his colleagues, saying that “when the matter comes to voting in the National Assembly, those calling for the impeachment of the President will win, no amount of bribery can change it because the shame on them now, most of them have children and it will go in our history that when they saw the country crumbling they did nothing.

“The reason for their anger is there; the schools are closed, and the universities have not reopened in the past five months. My party sold nomination forms for N100m for those aspiring to be President. They collected twenty nine billion naira, almost the money ASUU is asking for in order to return to the classroom.

“Less than one quarter of the money individuals pay to the party. The same ruling party running this government, just to participate in the primaries not the election itself. Look at the jamboree during the APC and PDP convention in Abuja here, it was a national shame. “We have a government in place which sits and watch all these things happen and nothing is done to check it.
Look at the killings going on in the country, whereby Nigerians are killed like fowls, non-State actors have taken over some segments of this country unchallenged.

“They are approaching Abuja. recently they fought the soldiers at the roadblock near Zuma rock. Soldiers were killed, three days earlier soldiers were also killed on the Abuja-Kaduna road near Bwari.

Soldiers that belonged to the Presidential guard at the Presidency, are under attack in our nation’s capital, and our people seem helpless, nobody has been apprehended and nobody has been prosecuted, why would the senators not call for the impeachment of the man at the helm of affairs?

On whether he thinks the senators are on a vengeance mission he said,

“No, when you elect somebody into the State Assembly or the National Assembly his mandate is for four years. Anything they want to do they can do within the four years.

“If they want to extend their vengeance to anybody that is the person’s business. Okay If they remove the President how does that give them back their mandates?

“Was it Buhari that stopped them from getting the mandate or the people they represent?

“Let the truth be told that if there is a free and fair election today 90% of the people in the national Assembly would not come back including the leadership because they have disappointed the people, so it is not a question of vengeance, they just have to do their work, the government is run until their tenure ends.

“While they are still in the National Assembly they must act according to the constitution of the country.
The President has demonstrated his ‘unfitness’ for the job. Let us not pretend about it, it is my party.”

Senator Kadiri also indicated that the senators have done their best in engagement with the President, “In other climes even without the prodding from the National Assembly, or the trade unions or any CSO, the media ought to have highlighted the weaknesses in this government.

“It is the media that is supposed to have even chased them out of office not the National Assembly. There is nothing like vengeance, what is it, you mean the National Assembly should not do its work again because some of them lost out in the primary election?
“It is always the tradition, more than half of the people never come back, that does not mean they are no longer leaders in their respective places, they are!”

“A lot of things befuddle me in this country. When I was in the Senate, everybody knew me and where I stood on issues, and I still stand there today almost 20 years after I left the National Assembly.

“The National Assembly budgeted money for the military, but it is not the National Assembly that releases money to security. The money budgeted was released to the security operatives? Was the release lopsided? These are the questions to ask.

“Apart from some money used for military purposes, what of the University the former Chief of Army Staff built in Biu his hometown? What of the Air Force man who built something else in Bauchi? was that part of the security budget?

“There are many things wrong with this government. I voted to bring this man to power, I challenged my Brother Idris Wada who was a governor under PDP from my village, I voted him out of power but I am sad about what I am passing through. I regret voting for my party in 2015 and repeating the same mistake in 2019, thinking that there would be change.

“No, I am not happy. So don’t blame the military. Was the money voted for them all released to them? and if it was released was it used for the purposes for which it was budgeted?

“I don’t believe that building a University in Biu and another one in Bauchi are part of the military duties. Those are duties of the Ministry; it is that of the ministry of education.

“So, the monies used by the former Chief of Army Staff, and Air staff was it money from the Ministry of defense or is it that the Ministry of Education decided to establish those universities in their homes? We really don’t ask questions.”

It will be recalled that the Presidency in its official reaction to the move by the Senators had responded harshly dismissing the move as performative and babyish.

Mr. Garuba Shehu, spokesman to President Buhari made this known in his reaction. “The performative and babyish antics of those senators staging a walk out notwithstanding, Senate President Ahmad Lawan’s refusal on Wednesday to entertain the ridiculous motion to impeach our President was quite appropriate and correct,” Mr. Shehu wrote.

“Rather than making a mockery out of voters by trying to imitate what they see in America, the opposition would be well advised that their time would be better spent tackling the pressing issues Nigerians face, such as the current global cost of living crisis. “Their continued failure to do so goes some way to explaining why they remain in opposition. He enthused.

Culled from the Biztellersnews

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Opinion

The Labour strike and FG’S Inertia – The way forward

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By Prof. Mike A. A. Ozekhom, SAN, CON , OFR, FCIArb, LL.M, Ph.D, LL.D, D.Litt, D.SC, DA, DHL

Labour has literally grounded Nigeria – from airports, hospitals, tertiary institutions, to electricity which has plunged the biggest black nation on earth into total darkness. I am in full, complete and total support of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress’ (TUC)’s current national strike for upward review of the FG’s proposed minimum wage of N60,000 per month. NLC and TUC had also demanded that the government reverses the increase in electricity tariff to N65/KWH. When talks broke down with none of the parties shifting grounds, Labour commenced a strike action on the midnight of Sunday 2nd June, 2024. FG’s proposed meagre salary is certainly not a living wage in today’s Nigeria. At the current parallel market exchange rate of N1,470 to one dollar, the wage being conceded by the Federal Government to labour is a mere $40.82 per month (N60,000), while the NLC and TUC are asking for a whooping N615,500 per month.

By way of comparative analysis with some other countries globally, the monthly minimum wage in the United States is US$1,160 ( N1,705,200); UK  £1,376 (N2,528,950); Canada 2,464 CAD (N2,710,400); France £1,539.42 (N2,847,927); Ghana GHC 2,904 (N292,548.96) Rwanda RWF 56,668 (N64,602); South Africa R4,067.2 – R4,412.8 (N322,406.944 –  N349,802.656); Botswana P1,168 (N122,056); Germany £1,985.6 (N3,673,360) Australia AUD3531.2 (N 3,490,414.64); Kenya is KES15,201 (N172,683.36). In UAE, there is no general minimum wage as it differs from profession to profession. However, for skilled Labourers AED 5,000 (N2,019,435); people with University degrees AED12,000 (N4,846,644); qualified technicians AED 7,000 (N2,827,209); South Korea is 2,010,580 Won (N2,161,574.558). China differs from city to city. However, Shanghai is RMB 2,690 per month (N551,181) and Heilongjiang RMB 1,450 (N 297,105). Singapore does not prescribe a general minimum wage for all its workers. However, the minimum Singaporean wage is averaged at 6,792SGD/Month = N7,464,408).

Even though Rwanda and Botswana’s minimum wage per month which is RWF 56,668 (N64,602) and P1,168 (N122,056), respectively, appears meagre, the two countries have since put in place social services that cushion the masses’ suffering and put them on a developmental path. Imdeed, they are two of the fastest growing economies not only in Africa, but also in the world. We do not have such in Nigeria. Nigeria is perhaps the only country in the world that brazenly defies Isaac Newton’s Law of Motion to the effect that “what goes up must come down”. In Nigeria, once prices of good go up, they never come down.

Are these countries and us not living on the same Planet earth? We are, of course.

With the present spirally inflation, N60,000 cannot even buy one bag of rice which today sells for between N80,000 and N120,000 depending on the grade and quality.

What is the way forward from this FG-Labour face-off and stalemate? Part of the solution lies in steering a middle course between labour’s N615,500 per month demand and the FG’s proposal of N60,000 per month. This is more so having regard to the impossibility of the private sector, especially small scale businesses and private professions, having the capacity and economic wherewithal to pay such exorbitant wage. Another solution lies in public office holders making deliberate sacrifices in the midst of public angst and disenchantment by cutting down their ostentatiously vulgar lifestyle of ugly display of opulence and their sheer exhibitionism of wealth in mindless convoys of vehicles in the midst of grinding poverty and wretchedness of the masses. The Nigerian people are not happy at all. Anyone who advises the government to the contrary is nothing but a fawner, bootlicker, ego masseur, toady flatterer and clapper.

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Rivers political crisis: Fubara raves as Wike likely retreats (5)

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Wike, Fubara

By Ehichioya Ezomon 

Has the political heat in Rivers State simmered in the past week to suggest perhaps – just perhaps – that conventional wisdom has taken hold of the dramatis personae in the crisis to pull back from the precipice they’ve pushed the state in the last eight months? 
There’s nothing on the ground to suggest otherwise, even as Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nyesom Wike, played their brand of politics at separate locations, trying to undo each other in showcasing achievements in their official jurisdictions, to mark one-year in the saddles in Rivers and Abuja, respectively.
 Amid “all the distractions from those that want to draw Rivers State backward,” Fubara invited prominent persons from within and outside Rivers – including Abia State Governor Alex Otti of the rival Labour Party (LP), and former Rivers Governor Peter Odili – to launch projects he “executed in record time, and with full payments to the contractors” – an obvious dig at Wike for allegedly failing to pay contractors for their services.
 As is the routine in Rivers governance, especially since the Wike’s helm, Fubara, using his “State of the State” address to render account of his one-year stewardship, revealed the “huge debts to contractors” that Wike left behind for his government.
At the Dr. Obi Wali International Conference Centre in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, May 29, Fubara said his administration “inherited 34 uncompleted projects, valued at over N225.279bn in 13 local government areas of the state,” adding that the contractors, who executed the 34 projects, have come to him for payments.
Fubara stated that though he inherited a state, “whose economy was on a declining trajectory despite its growth potential,” his government has changed the narrative for the better by “increasing astronomically internally-generated revenue from N12 billion to between N17 billion in off-peak periods and N28 billion during the peak months.”
 “Our liberalized business-friendly economic policies and programmes are boosting confidence and attracting local and international investors and investments into the State, judging by the expression of interest offers we receive every month.” Fubara said.
 “We have kept our taxes low, frozen the imposing of taxes on small businesses across the State, and increased the ease of doing business by eliminating bureaucratic bottlenecks. No request for the signing of a certificate of occupancy (CoO) remains in my office beyond two days, except if I am otherwise engaged beyond two days or out of town.
 “We have established a N4 billion matching fund with the Bank of Industry (BOI), to support existing and new micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) to grow their businesses to drive economic growth and create jobs and wealth for citizens. Over 3,000 citizens and residents have applied to access this loan to fund their businesses at a single-digit interest rate, and a repayment period of up to five years.”
Commissioning the completed projects – mostly inherited from the Wike administration (2015-2023) – the invited guests heaped praises on Fubara, not only for achieving commendable strides within a short time, but also for “liberating Rivers State” from Wike’s stranglehold – the same Wike that some of the invitees had praised to the heavens barely a year ago. 
  For instance, Dr Odili, an erstwhile ally of Wike, noted that Fubara “has taken full control of governance in the State,” stressing that the governor is “focusing on the people” in line with his chosen mantra: ‘People First’. It’s on Saturday, May 25, at the inauguration of the dualised Omoku-Egbema road in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government area (ONELGA) of the state.
 An elated Odili even predicted a seamless second-term election for Fubara in 2027, and urged him to remain focused on the people, giving succour to the less-privileged and hope to those who do not have anyone to help them go through life’s challenges.
 “I can tell our people that the next election is very far, but what the Governor has done so far, is enough to secure the support of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area going forward,” Odili said. “Thank you, Your Excellency, because the greatest assets of the State remain the people, not oil and gas.
 “The people of Rivers are behind you, rallying support for you because they trust you, believing in what you say and convinced that you mean whatever you say,” Odili said, adding, “I want to agree with you that the sky would become the takeoff point of your administration.”
Relatedly in Abuja, it’s Wike’s days in the sky. Though he didn’t have the luxury of throwing brickbats at Fubara – and there’s no surrogates to do same for him – Wike had the rare privilege of enlisting President Bola Tinubu to launch some of the projects that were “abandoned for decades,” and received applause from Tinubu for returning and restoring Abuja’s Master Plan, and transforming the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
On Tuesday, May 28, at the commissioning of the Southern Parkway, which Wike proclaimed as “Bola Ahmed Tinubu Way” – a crucial infrastructure project that’s dormant for 13 years before Wike’s intervention – the President described the minister’s vision as “inspiring many and yielding remarkable results in the FCT.”
Tinubu said: “Barr Nyesom Wike, ‘Mr. Project,’ thank you for giving us this home and for your sincere commitment to shared values. Your revolutionary vision is inspiring many and yielding remarkable results in the FCT.”
Highlighting the significance of the road, the President said, “The Southern Parkway not only connects vital areas within the FCT, but also symbolises our collective aspirations for connectivity, ease of livelihood, and progress. This road will enhance mobility, ease traffic congestion, and spur economic development for residents and visitors alike.
“Infrastructure is an enabler of jobs, economic growth, and prosperity. We are committed to building a world-class capital city, and the completion of this road is a testament to that commitment. Making our citizens the central focus of our development is crucial for Nigeria’s success,” Tinubu stated.
Earlier, Wike noted: “This landmark project is the first amongst nine visionary projects scheduled for commissioning by Mr. President in the coming days. It represents a significant milestone in our collective efforts to enhance the infrastructure and livability of our great capital and her inhabitants.
“As we mark the first year of your transformative leadership, Mr. President, this event underscores our shared commitment to progress, innovation, and the enduring prosperity of Nigeria.”

Yet, the make-for-the-cameras pomp and ceremony, razzmatazz, accolades, hand-pumping and backslapping by politicians in Port Harcourt and Abuja are but a temporary relief or diversion to mask the “real politic” in Rivers, where Governor Fubara’s fighting the battle of his life to cage Chief Wike, and save his governorship and political career heading into the 2027 General Election. 
The fourth installment of this article on Monday, May 27, 2024, examined two strategies that Fubara could adopt to handle Wike and his sacked loyal members of the Rivers Assembly, and local council chairmen, whose tenure ends in June 2024, but have vowed to remain in office until “elected officials” were installed in the Rivers local councils. Below’s a recap:

First, Fubara could evict the lawmakers from the Rivers State House of Assembly Residential Quarters in Port Harcourt – where they and their families domicile, and use as a legislative chamber – to deny them the venue and avenue to make laws and/or plot his impeachment.
Second, Fubara could copy his counterparts, and withhold the lawmakers’ emoluments, and allocations to the legislature – as he’s allegedly done to the April 2024 allocations to the councils – to checkmate the legislators, whose seats have lately been redeclared “vacant” by a Rivers High Court.
Let’s now proceed to interrogate the remaining measures, beginning with the Third, as follows: When push comes to shove, Fubara could muscle the pro-Wike lawmakers by physical attacks on them, their homes and businesses, the aim being to overraw, and hound them, to sabotage their plans to make his government ungovernable, and pave the way for his impeachment – the aim of the lawmakers from onset of the Rivers crisis.
Recall Fubara’s declaration about the lawmakers early in 2024: “I think it has gotten to a time when I need to make a statement on this thing, so that they (lawmakers) understand that they are not existing. Their existence and whatever they have been doing is because I allowed them to do so. If I don’t recognise them, they are nowhere. That is the truth.
“I can say here, with all amount of boldness, I have never called any police man anywhere to go and harass anybody. I have never gone anywhere to ask anybody to do anything against anybody. 

“Even when I have all the instruments of State powers, I have shown restraint, I have acted as a big brother in the course of this crisis. I have not acted like a young man that may want the house to be destroyed but, I have behaved like a mature young man that I am.
 “This is because I know that no meaningful development will be achieved in an atmosphere of crisis. And because our intention for Rivers State is to build on the foundation that had been laid by our past leaders, it will be wrong for me to take the path of promoting crisis.”
Interpreted, the pro-Wike lawmakers – already in the lurch over series of court rulings sacking and re-sacking them, and voiding all legislative actions they took in the course of the Rivers crisis – shouldn’t underrate Fubara’s powers and resolve – if pushed against the wall – to roar like the lion, attack like the hyena and bite like the crocodile!
Barring any “political earthquake” this week in the Rivers crisis, the remaining measures Fubara could deploy to arrest Wike’s alleged hegemonic hold on Rivers State will be interrogated in the next installment of this running header!

  • Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria

Sent from my iPad. Ehichioya
Ezomon.

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Opinion

Nemesis as a short distance runner

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Mammoth crowd with Emir Sanusi in Kano Today after Juma'at prayer

By Tunde Olusunle

When he flung Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, (SLS) out of the window of the Emir’s palace in Kano four years ago, Abdullahi Ganduje would have least imagined what is playing out today. Ganduje was the “Lord of the Manor” in Kano State, the all-powerful chief executive. Recall video clips of Ganduje allegedly stuffing wads and packs of crisp, mint-fresh dollar bills into the bottomless pocket of his babanriga ahead of the 2019 general elections. They were reportedly gifted to him by some contractor ally of the erstwhile Kano governor who was repaying a good turn. Graphic and unassailable as that short motion picture was, former President Muhammadu Buhari who rode into office on the camelback of now suspect integrity in 2015, volunteered a baffling defence for Ganduje. He swore Ganduje was most probably participating in a Kannywood movie, the way the film industry up North is described. Buhari who has never been known to operate a tablet, nay a notepad, suggested that advanced technology could actually simulate what we all saw in that short clip!

Ganduje was the prototype alagbara ma m’ero as we say in Yoruba. This interpretes as the “maximally muscular, minimally reasonable.” He fought a few other prominent Kano leaders during his heydays in Government House. Recall he carried his unabated squabbles with one of his predecessors, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to the State House, Aso Villa, during the early weeks of the Bola Tinubu government. Told on one occasion that Kwankwaso was in a particular section of Aso Rock same time as he was in the complex, a vexed Ganduje said Kwankwaso should consider himself fortunate. He said he, Ganduje would have slapped Kwankwaso if he sighted him in the Villa! That would have caused a scene in Nigeria’s seat of power. I’m now just imagining how Tinubu would be trying to restrain Ganduje, in the forecourt of the office of the President, while Vice President Kashim Shettima will be pulling at Kwankwaso’s agbada in a bid to manage the situation.

Ganduje reportedly considered Sanusi too independent-minded and outspoken for a natural ruler. Sanusi was governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), before being appointed Emir in 2014. He had always had a radical streak about him which culminated in his suspension as CBN head in 2014 for blowing the whistle on the theft of $20 Billion in accruals from crude oil sales. As Emir he considered aspects of the religious and cultural practices of his emirate repugnant. He opposed the “ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam” in some parts of northern Nigeria, which discouraged girl-child education, family planning, even inoculation against potential healthcare afflictions. He had reservations about the style of Ganduje as governor and didn’t put a veil over his dislike for the return of Ganduje to Government House in 2019.

He believed Ganduje shouldn’t have made it back if the poll was fairly and transparently conducted. March 9, 2020, Ganduje upended Sanusi. He was accused of negatively impacting the sanctity, culture, tradition, religion and prestige of the Kano emirate, and disrespecting the governor’s office. He was also alleged to have disposed of property belonging to the state and the misappropriated of the proceeds. It was a case of digging several manholes for a prey in a bid to ensure he falls into one of the several traps. He was summarily banished to Nasarawa State for effect. Sanusi sought reprieve in the courts which ruled it was an overkill to fling him to a remote community faraway from his family and more accustomed home in Lagos. Within a few days, Nasir El Rufai, Sanusi’s longstanding friend who was governor of Kaduna State, personally enforced the evacuation of Sanusi from Awe local government area in Nasarawa State.

For whatever his contributions were to the emergence of Tinubu as president after the 2023 polls, Ganduje believed he would be compensated with a ministerial slot in the former’s regime. Like Nyesom Wike, David Umahi, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, Atiku Bagudu, Simon Lalong, former governors of Rivers, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Kebbi and Plateau states, Ganduje dusted his curriculum vitae to pitch for a slot on Tinubu’s federal executive council. His five colleagues in the “2015 – 2019- 2023 class of governors” made the cut, not Ganduje. Tinubu spontaneously made him chairman of the All Progressives Congress, (APC], the vehicle which delivered him as president. Abdullahi Adamu his predecessor and former governor of Nasarawa State was, as has become standard practice in Nigeria’s notorious political rule book, schemed out and compelled to resign from office.

If Ganduje ever thought his chairmanship of the APC was going to be a walk in the park, he was thoroughly mistaken. Indeed, he’s grossed sufficient experience in his present office to know that there are sharp differences between wholesale insulation in Government House, and the inevitable overexposure of party leadership. Last April, a faction of the APC in Ganduje’s primary “Ganduje ward” in Dawakin Tofa local government area of his home state, Kano, suspended him from the party. Haladu Gwanjo, legal adviser of Ganduje’s ward led some party leaders to pronounce the suspension. They advocated the return of the national chairmanship of the APC to the north central zone, where Ganduje’s predecessor, Adamu, hails from. The young Turks canvassed due process in party administration, consistent with the “renewed hope” mantra of the APC. Ganduje made a hurried recourse to the law courts for momentary reprieve.

Thursday May 23, 2024, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was reinstated as Emir of Kano by Ganduje’s successor in Kano State, Abba Yusuf. His cousin and successor, Aminu Ado-Bayero, was unceremoniously removed from office. The splinter emirates created by Ganduje in his bid to whittle down Sanusi’s authority as prime monarch in Kano, were similarly dissolved. The edifice which Ganduje built four years ago was apparently built of straw and spittle. Governor Abba Yusuf is a product of the Kwankwasiya political tendency in Kano politics, a creation of Rabiu Kwankwaso. Those who know a little about Nigerian politics will recall that Kwankwaso’s emergence in our politics, predates the fourth republic. He was an ardent student of the talakawa political orientation, pioneered by the venerable Kano-born leader, Aminu Kano. Kwankwaso was Deputy Speaker in the House of Representatives of the Ibrahim Babangida political experimentation of 1992 to 1993.

Whereas the Kwankwasiya movement had long been entrenched, it was not until the run-up to the 2023 elections that Kwankwaso adopted a new platform, the Nigeria National People’s Party, (NNPP), on which he is espousing the populist philosophy of the Kwankwasiya brigade. Abba Yusuf rode to office on the back of this invention. It was the same way Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu the famous Biafran war lord, established the All Progressives Grand Alliance, (APGA) in Anambra State. The party has remained a force in the politics of the state and indeed the south east. It has produced three Anambra governors in succession, notably Peter Obi, Willie Obiano and the incumbent Chukwuma Soludo.

Abba Yusuf has made no pretences about his disdain for Ganduje and everything he represents. Much as some of Yusuf’s early actions in office were generally perceived as wasteful, he nonetheless brought down as many edifices in Kano as bore the imprimatur of Ganduje. The “Kano golden jubilee roundabout” built to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the creation of Kano State and structures built inside the filin sukuwa, (Kano race course), were hewn on Yusuf’s orders. The hajj camp which was reportedly bastardised by Ganduje who allegedly parcelled parts of it to his friends and associates was equally felled. There were suggestions that the value of the demolitions carried out by Yusuf could be in excess of N200Billion. Such is the anti-Ganduje sentiment in contemporary Kano State.

The way and manner the legacies of Abdullahi Ganduje are unravelling in Kano State should serve as a lesson to the shortsighted, incapable of seeing beyond the bridges of their nose. History is replete with the deconstruction of many leaders after their rulership and indeed keeps repeating itself in our sociopolitical experience. Those who are not circumspect, however, are too distracted by the allure and bliss of their immediate office, to think. They continue to drift, blunder and flounder, unmindful that time is their ultimate nemesis. Ganduje is just one year out of office, yet many of the decisions he made while in power for eight years are being unmade and thrown at his face like rotten tomatoes.

Until I joined him on the table he was seated at a wedding reception we both attended in Lagos a few weeks back, Rotimi Amaechi, governor of the oil-affluent Rivers State for eight years and Transportation Minister for another eight years was a lonely man. It turned out we flew back to Abuja on the same flight same evening after the event and sat not too far from each other. He opened the overhead locker atop his seat to bring out his luggage himself. Is anyone following the Yahaya Bello saga? He mindlessly trampled upon the hapless heads of his constituents in Kogi State for eight unbroken years? He left office last January and life has not been the same again. He has been declared wanted by at least one anti-graft agency. He will be arraigned in the rectangular, wood-panelled cubicle of the courtroom in a fortnight. A lesson for all.

Tunde Olusunle, PhD, is a Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (FANA)

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