Tag: Politics

Opinion: Portrait of the Tiger Ambode Rode by Yinka Odumakin
News, Nigeria

Opinion: Portrait of the Tiger Ambode Rode by Yinka Odumakin

LOUIS XIV was King of France for 72 years and 110 days and became the most powerful French monarch who consolidated a system of absolute monarchical rule that endured until the French Revolution. At the peak of his maniac, he said: “L’Etat c’est moi”(I am the state). I am not aware Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is given to so much reading to have come across Louis’ declaration but I once heard him making the same declaration as he got up from his seat and said “Eko fe lo sun”(Lagos wants to sleep). The embodiment of the current pathetic Lagos by the man who rode to power in 1999 largely on account of his association with NADECO abroad is an interesting study for some of us who are eyewitnesses to recent history. It’s all coming back to me now from 1998 in a rush. Dr. Bunmi Omoseyindemi and I h...
Opinion: 2019 – The Only Option Available to Buhari is Rigging  by Reuben Abati
News, Nigeria

Opinion: 2019 – The Only Option Available to Buhari is Rigging by Reuben Abati

There has been some clarity about Nigeria’s 2019 Presidential election, with the end of the October 7 deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the conduct of party primaries at all levels. On Saturday, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at its convention held in Abuja, ratified the choice of incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari as its flagbearer, with a curious vote tally of 14. 8 million. President Buhari and his supporters have continuously left no one in doubt that they intend to have a second shot at power and office. The number of party members across Nigeria who endorsed the Buhari candidacy has however raised eyebrows. 14. 8 million! In the 2015 elections, that was a little less than the same number of total votes that the incumbent got in ...
Opinion: PDP/Atiku Need SS/SE to Win, We Demand Regional Autonomy for Our Support
News, Nigeria

Opinion: PDP/Atiku Need SS/SE to Win, We Demand Regional Autonomy for Our Support

A Facebook user Baron Roy has opined his view that PDP and Atiku need the South-South and South-East to stand a chance of winning the 2019 elections. His position is that this is an opportunity to place specific demands to offer them this support. He has called on Nigerians from this regions not to throw their support at PDP/Atiku but to use this as a bargaining chip. His position is stated clearly in his post published below: "Don't get it twisted "Let us assume votes would count and INEC would do the right thing by some inexplicable miracle... "The Northern Gambit Despite all, Buhari and his APC would still take at least 65% of the votes in the 12 states of the core North. In the Middle Belt, APC/Buhari and PDP/Atiku shall go head to head. If those are the only regions wh...
Nigeria: Why I am Running for President – Oby Ezekwesili
News, Nigeria

Nigeria: Why I am Running for President – Oby Ezekwesili

Why I am running for President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Ladies and gentlemen, it is with profound gratitude, humility and a deep sense of responsibility that I accept this nomination for the presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Let me express my thanks to the leadership and members of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) for your belief and wholehearted response to my vision for Nigeria, which has brought us here today. To the love of my life, Pastor Nedu Ezekwesili, and my children, I would not be taking this step without your support and inspiration. Your love makes me a stronger and better person everyday. I am grateful to God for the Divine Providence that has brought us to this point and placed us in this nation in this season of great opportunit...
Cameroon: 85 Year Old Biya Seeks 7th Term in Office as Polls Open Today
Africa, Cameroon, News

Cameroon: 85 Year Old Biya Seeks 7th Term in Office as Polls Open Today

Polls have opened in Cameroon with President Paul Biya seeking a seventh term. Polling stations opened at 8am (07:00GMT) and will close at 6pm (17:00GMT) with more than six million people eligible to cast their ballots. Biya, 85, faces an attempt by the opposition parties to forge a unified front under Maurice Kamto, leader of the Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC). Biya has been in power since 1982, making him one of Africa's longest-serving rulers. Al Jazeera's Hiba Morgan reporting from the capital, Yaounde said many voters were staying away from polling stations. "Not many voters have showed up at the polling station where the president is expected to cast his vote shortly. Election observers and officials we spoke to have also told us they are not seeing a high voter tur...
Nigeria: PDP Elects Atiku as its Presidential Flag Bearer
News, Nigeria

Nigeria: PDP Elects Atiku as its Presidential Flag Bearer

Former Vice President under the Obasanjo administration has emerged PDP's Presidential candidate. In a keenly contested primaries which saw heavy weights like Tambuwal, Dakwambo, Saraki and others, he garnered 1500 votes to emerge the winner. Below is the result of the polls in ascending order: Datti Baba Ahmed - 5 Votes Jonah Jang - 19 votes David Mark - 35 votes Attahiru Bafarawa - 48 votes Tanumu Turaki - 65 votes Ahmed Makarfi - 74 votes Sule Lamido - 96 votes Ibrahim Dankwambo - 111 votes Rabiu Kwankwanso - 158 votes Bukola Saraki - 317 votes Aminu Tambuwal - 693 votes Atiku Abubakar - 1500 votes There were a total of 68 voided votes. With this result, the speculations that the PDP will have a tough time choosing its candidate has been put to rest.
Opinion: Ten Years After Lamidi Adedibu  by Reuben Abati
News, Nigeria

Opinion: Ten Years After Lamidi Adedibu by Reuben Abati

It has been ten years since the self-styled “strong man of Ibadan politics”, Chief Lamidi Ariyibi Akanji Adedibu, died. He died on June 11, 2008. I do not recall seeing many tributes or advertisements in the newspapers or other media commemorating his life and legacy. There was no public lecture or any important statements from those who were his protégés. That this is so is a useful lesson to today’s political Godfathers and henchmen in Nigerian politics who behave as if history has already assigned to them an immortal space on its pages. Lamidi Adedibu was a colossal presence in the politics of Ibadan, and Oyo state for more than 50 years. Ibadan has a tradition of colourful politicians who wielded enormous influence: Adegoke Adelabu, the brilliant orator and intellectually gifted per...
Nigeria: Popular Nigerian Presenter Diplomatic OPJ Resigns Following Government Pressure On Wazobia FM
Human Rights, Justice, News, Nigeria, Press Statement

Nigeria: Popular Nigerian Presenter Diplomatic OPJ Resigns Following Government Pressure On Wazobia FM

I Opute Pius Junior popularly known as DIPLOMATIC OPJ hereby wield this medium to officially announce to the public and our teeming fans that I and my radio TEAM that comprises of FISAYO, NAJITE AND VANESSA are no longer with WAZOBIA FM nor with any other sister station under AIM GROUP. It had been a wonderful and very interesting TEN-YEAR experience with WAZOBIA FM LAGOS. For avoidance of undue speculations and suspicions I chose to advance reasons for my EXIT here. It should be kindly noted that my employers ordinarily wouldn't have let me go but was pressured to pressure me to ask for the termination of my EMPLOYMENT. It should also be known that I am not in the list of BOUGHT-OVER JOURNALISTS and never been known to have been receiving Brown envelopes from politicians to sing t...
Nigeria: Ben Bruce Bows Out of Senatorial Race to Allows Others Run
News, Nigeria

Nigeria: Ben Bruce Bows Out of Senatorial Race to Allows Others Run

As the Bayelsa State chapter of the People's Democratic Party goes in for its primaries today, Senator Ben-Murray Bruce has decided not to contest to return to the Senate. According to the senator, his decision not to run was to honour the rotational arrangement existing in the 3 local governments that make up his senatorial district. His letter to the this effect is published in full below: “I thank God and the good people of Brass, Bayelsa East Senatorial District,  who offered me the golden opportunity four years ago to represent them and the state in the Senate, Nigeria’s highest lawmaking chamber. “It is without a doubt that I have tried to discharge my duties as a legislator and representative of my people creditably to the best of my ability so far. “My voice has been ve...
Opinion: Extricating Lagos from the Captivity of Bola Tinubu by Femi Aribisala
News, Nigeria

Opinion: Extricating Lagos from the Captivity of Bola Tinubu by Femi Aribisala

The drama currently going on in APC over who will be the party’s flag-bearer in the coming gubernatorial election in Lagos is as fascinating as it is disturbing. The same party that schemed to ensure that Buhari is the sole APC presidential candidate for 2019, is determined that Akinwumi Ambode, the current Governor of Lagos State, is not the APC candidate in the gubernatorial election in 2019. If Buhari who has performed abysmally, is given an automatic second-term ticket, why not Ambode? Godfather-cracy All this turns on the whims and caprices of one man, Bola Tinubu; the self-styled “godfather” of Lagos and even South-west politics. Tinubu is determined that Ambode must be unseated, and he has refused the entreaties of the president, the vice-president and other APC stalwarts outs...