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Opinion: Celebrating Democracy Day with Election Rigmarole by Femi Aribisala.

18Jun

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News, Nigeria

Opinion: Celebrating Democracy Day with Election Rigmarole by Femi Aribisala.

What we have in Nigeria is government of the government by the government and for the government. The Nigeria of today is stranger than fiction. The government has just legally declared June 12 “Democracy Day” and proclaimed that, henceforth, it will be a public holiday when we will celebrate Nigeria’s hard-won democracy. Except that this celebration of democracy is at the instance of an undemocratic government that has done a lot in the past few months to destroy democracy in Nigeria. June 12 is in remembrance of that day in 1993, when one of Nigeria’s freest elections was maliciously annulled because the powers-that-be did not like the result. President Buhari is now trying to make political capital out of the matter by proclaiming government remorse over that act of brazen ille...

Opinion: Who Is Afraid of Atiku Abubakar? by Femi Aribisala.

28May

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News, Nigeria

Opinion: Who Is Afraid of Atiku Abubakar? by Femi Aribisala.

There are indications today’s APC government is not averse to using the Shugaba playbook on Atiku. These are very interesting times in Nigeria. The APC government has reportedly won a major election, but it is finding it difficult, if not impossible, to celebrate and enjoy its victory. Before the champagne could be uncorked, Atiku Abubakar filed a case in court challenging the result, claiming it was fraudulent from start to finish. But this was a challenge unlike any other that Nigeria has seen before. Out of the blue, Atiku produced another set of results different from the one declared by INEC showing that he had actually won the election. Except that this other result also came from INEC. As a matter of fact, it was retrieved from the INEC server and it was authenticated by ...

Opinion: Nigeria Will not Survive the 2019 Presidential Election – Femi Aribisala

16Apr

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News, Nigeria

Opinion: Nigeria Will not Survive the 2019 Presidential Election – Femi Aribisala

What we witnessed in the recently concluded election was the death knell of democracy in Nigeria. For those of us who had hoped against hope, the 2019 presidential election has proved to be the last straw. We are now convinced that Nigeria is a hopeless case. This country is not just a major disappointment; it is decidedly firmly on the trajectory of a future break up. Today, the silence in the Nigerian political space is deafening. Just look back to 2015 and before, when there was vibrant debate about almost everything under the sun. But now it is “siddon look.” We just had an election that was no election and more like selection. It was even more a mini civil-war, characterized by killings, voter-suppression and intimidation, ballot-snatching and falsification of results. ...

Opinion: Crisis and the Visibility of PMB by Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde

9Apr

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News, Nigeria, Security

Opinion: Crisis and the Visibility of PMB by Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde

When King Edward VIII abdicated the British throne and his brother, Albert, took over as King George VI in 1937, it dawned on the new King and his wife, Princess Elizabeth Lyon, that his stammer would impede his role as a King, a position that will require him to communicate directly with his subjects whenever the need arises. She sought for him the services of Leonel Logue, whose lessons immensely improved the speech condition of the initially reluctant student. The need arose two years later in 1939 when Britain joined World War II under Winston Churchill (another stammarer) and the King needed to speak to the public. His therapy was handy because he was able to deliver his proclamation speech without the impossible hindrances of before. The British public was happy to listen to their...

Nigeria: Atiku Lost Our Support Because He Promised Restructuring – Arewa Consultative Forum

24Mar

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News, Nigeria

Nigeria: Atiku Lost Our Support Because He Promised Restructuring – Arewa Consultative Forum

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has stated that it did not support Atiku because he promised to restructure Nigeria. This revelation among others were revealed when Punch's reporter Godwin Isenyo interviewed Anthony Sani, the group's Secretary-General. Below is a transcript of the interview: What is your view on the just concluded general elections in the country? I think there was a kind of improvement over the past elections. Nigerians, who have become more enlightened, helped to change what used to hold sway in the previous elections in which only big names called the shots. In a way, plutocracy and kleptocracy are giving way to democracy that is premised on triple foundation of justice, liberty and decency. Did you see what happened to those who defected from their politica...

Opinion: How the 2019 Presidential Election in Nigeria was Massively Rigged – Femi Aribisala.

5Mar

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Corruption, News, Nigeria

Opinion: How the 2019 Presidential Election in Nigeria was Massively Rigged – Femi Aribisala.

“You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32). In the 2015 presidential election, Muhammadu Buhari of the APC was awarded 15,424,921 votes by Attahiru Jega’s INEC; while Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP was awarded 12,853,162 votes. In that election, Buhari presided like a colossus over the North, which was stoked up to insist on a Northern presidency. Bola Tinubu presided over the South-west, in coalition with Buhari; while President Goodluck Jonathan prevailed in the South-south as its native-son. Suppression of South-eastern votes However, the South-eastern states were regarded as orphans, they had no real godfather. As a result, APC succeeded essentially through INEC suppression of the votes of the South-east; and the exaggeration of the votes of the North;...

Opinion: Integrity – The True Loser of 2019 Presidential Polls

27Feb

By admin6 Comments

News, Nigeria

Opinion: Integrity – The True Loser of 2019 Presidential Polls

Even before the polls were counted, president Muhammadu Buhari was 100% confident he was going to win. From where will that confidence be in a nation hardly thriving from division, disunity and economic woes? It’s definitely not from his performance and competency. The Economy, security and corruption in the nation have been worst in relative terms and places. The nation is plagued with more youth unemployment, more ethnic killings, more kidnappings nationwide, more poverty and widespread corruption in every small corner. The only source of his assurance therefore remains the INCUMBENCY FACTOR or precisely the offical corruption. From TraderMoni implemented in few months to election, to EFCC harassment of opposition finances, vote buying, use of public funds in mobilization for ca...

Opinion: Can we Escape this Gathering Storm? – John Nnia Nwodo

25Feb

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News, Nigeria

Opinion: Can we Escape this Gathering Storm? – John Nnia Nwodo

Forty-eight hours after our elections, we still have no results. There is hardly any voter in Nigeria, who does not know the results of elections in his polling booth. The INEC server is down, yanked off by INEC. Conflicting results dominate the social media. The two major national parties claim contradictory victories. Returning officers in Rivers and Imo claim to be under siege, being executed by a minister and a governor respectively. Igbos in Lagos are being threatened for exercising their civic rights to vote. This morning, they were stopped from opening their market stalls in Oshodi. The Acting Inspector General of Police refused to pick my three calls to him. The Oba of Lagos remains quiet. The Governor of Lagos State makes no broadcast. The safety of more than four milli...

Opinion: Obasanjo’s Expired Milk And A Slave Dealer Called Bola Tinubu by Femi Fani Kayode

13Feb

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News, Nigeria

Opinion: Obasanjo’s Expired Milk And A Slave Dealer Called Bola Tinubu by Femi Fani Kayode

Bola Ahmed Tinubu is an ugly and repugnant little creature who lives in and presides over the affairs of Lagos state. He comes from a long line of slave-dealers even though he is of questionable parentage. He hails from a small town in Osun state called Iragbiji and many claim that his real name is not Bola Ahmed Tinubu but rather Hameed Sangodele or Yekini Amoda Ogunlere or Bobo Chicago Whatever his real name is or whatever anyone chooses to call him, at every available opportunity this creature insists on insulting President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan accusing them of deceit, theft, incompetence, graft, corruption and all manner of atrocities. He claims to be holier and better than them yet the truth is that he is not fit to be used as toilet paper to clea...

Opinion: Forget Onnoghen; Let’s Talk about Buhari’s Asset Declaration Fraud by Farooq Kperogi

12Feb

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Corruption, Justice, News, Nigeria

Opinion: Forget Onnoghen; Let’s Talk about Buhari’s Asset Declaration Fraud by Farooq Kperogi

Buhari’s asset declaration fraud is more damning than Onnoghen's, yet it is Onnoghen who has been illegally “suspended” and pilloried in the media. In this piece I’ll show you why Buhari is a double-dyed scammer who should be in jail. First, it was Buhari who voluntarily said he would publicly declare his assets. The Punch of February 20, 2015 reported him to have said: “I pledge to PUBLICLY declare my assets and liabilities, encourage all my appointees to publicity declare their assets and liabilities as a pre-condition for appointment.” However, several months after getting into power, he refused to declare his assets publicly. In the early days of the regime, I frantically reached out to many people in the president’s inner circle with whom I have a personal relationship and begge...