Politics
2023: Why Nigerians should shun APC, PDP – Sani, ADP chairman
National Chairman of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Dr Yagbaji Sani, has said that rotational presidency, otherwise known as zoning, has not provided the needed economic development for the country, rather it has broadened the gap of division and nepotism.
He, therefore, suggested in this interview that political parties should always throw the contest open so that those with the needed administrative acumen would not be disenfranchised because of where they come from.
The former presidential candidate also joined the clamour for the sacking of the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, sequel to his utterances on insurgency in the past.
He maintained that the spate of killings and kidnapping perpetrated by Boko Haram insurgents is a by-products of Pantami’s teachings.
He, however, backed the Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi, for facilitating negotiations with bandits and parents of kidnapped children, adding that he has not done anything wrong.
He also encouraged political leaders to judiciously utilise resources in their possession to create employment, build schools, hospitals and roads, in order to keep the youth busy. Except:
What is your take on the spate of insecurity in the country?
If truth must be told, I believe it is the consequences of leadership failure. Because when there is leadership failure, definitely, you will see that even the most basic things that should be taken care of will not be addressed properly. Because when you look at democracy or any form of government at all, in fact, even in constitution, the two fundamental responsibilities of the government is the issue of security and the welfare of the people. That is what the constitution says. Any government that cannot provide the two things for its citizens has no moral rights to expect respect from the citizens. And if care is not taken it might even get to a revolt; the people may rebel against you because you have not been able to take care of the basic requirements. So, I believe that why what is happening is happening is because we have leadership failure. Period.
While the PDP is pushing for a summit to discuss the way forward on insecurity, the APC is not seeing the need for such a meeting. How do we address the problem?
Both the APC and PDP are one and the same. It is six and half a dozen. That is what it is. You see, when you look at APC and you throw back your attention and recollect what happened during the PDP era, it is just a re-enactment of what happened during the PDP era only that this time around it is more endemic. There seems to be a total collapse of the situation today. We are just afraid that the whole thing will collapse under the PDP. But PDP was not better than what we are seeing under APC. Under PDP, Boko Haram insurgents were even coming to Abuja attacking people, and exploding everywhere. People were afraid just like what we have now. People were not free to move around. But the case we have today is worse; which means that the situation has been degrading from the PDP time till now. So, it is like a case of a kettle calling the pot black. There is nothing that the PDP is accusing the APC today that it did not do. There was leadership failure under the PDP too. And what we are running away is for Nigeria to run away from the situation we have found ourselves today. So, the issue is that Nigerians must start to think and look away from these two parties. Nigeria is bigger than PDP and APC because we transcend those parties. Nigeria does not start and end with APC and PDP. And, when you look at it, the same people that were in PDP in which we were having the problem are the same people today that are in APC. So, it is not as if outside these people you do not have Nigerians that can take care of this country. The situation we have in this country is that Nigerians do not want to rise to the occasion themselves. We must begin to see the futility of continuing to support these two parties in government because they do not have what Nigeria needs. And what Nigeria needs today are people who have this country at heart and have the competence and capability to deliver this 21st Century economy that we have which is a promise of greatness. There is nothing that we need in this economy to make it great that is not there. What is lacking is leadership. What is lacking is the fact that our process of the recruitment of leadership is still at that stage of people manipulating the levers of power and rigging elections to bring in people that cannot deliver. So, if you have your process of recruitment of leadership as corrupt as it is, there is no way you can dream of having people that would live up to expectations or be ready to give this country the kind of leadership that it deserves. So, this is why we are just in a vicious cycle. And both the APC and PDP, believing in me, everybody in this country knows that they are one and the same. It is the same bad dream that we had during the last administration that we are having today. Nigerians never thought that we will be where we are in this country today. Why because we have competent people. We have the resources. We have the statute as a nation which is respected across the globe. That is why anywhere you go Nigerians are respected because they know what you are worth; in terms of resources, leadership and capacity. So, when you talk about PDP or APC, believing in me, it is those that what you can call failure of our circumstances. We just found ourselves in almost a failed state. Look at what happened during Jonathan, the international community had come to rescue Nigeria. It is because Nigeria was almost failing as a nation. Today, we are in a worse situation that we need to be rescued that is why some people are saying that we should look for foreign assistance. It is because Nigeria was almost failing. The political class you have today that are in charge of the affairs of this country have failed. The truth is that they do not have what Nigeria needs so they cannot give that leadership. That is why people should look at the direction of ADP. God knows why he put parties like ours in this country today. It is to rescue this country. There is nothing we will do today that will give this country the kind of progress, peace and unity that are required under another APC or PDP government. It will never happen. Because when they come in instead of concentrating on building the nation they will just be talking about things that are not relevant. The issue is that we have come to the stage where another set of people should be allowed to run the affairs of this country. We can do it. It has been proven that things cannot change unless we the followership change. And change is an option. If it is a situation where we do not have an option that would be a different thing entirely. So, the blame game is all because we do not want to change. So, the press has a lot to do here. The press can make this country work by ensuring that it changes the narrative. It should not be about PDP and APC. Nigerians should begin to understand that there is an option or alternative that is more credible that can give this country a leadership that would provide new path to progress, prosperity, unity and pragmatic leadership that will unleash this huge potential that we have as a country. Everybody knows that we are a country that is of promise of greatness by everything that we need to have. Look at the leadership we have today that is not even engaged with the people. As bad as the situation is you should have a kind of interaction with your people. But that is not happening. Money is given out and nobody is accounting for it even for the insecurity you are talking about. Billions of naira have been given to this people, nobody is telling us what happened to those monies, how it was spent. If it was their own money, none of them would allow things like this to happen; that you spent billions and there is nothing to show for it. There is evidence of arms purchased, no money in the account and to the extent that they are even asking for more money. They want to be given more budget to fight this war as if we are people that have saw-dust in our brains. We need to break from this rigmarole and the narrative of PDP and APC. We still have two years to go. It can be done. The press can lead. Every country where meaningful change happened, it is the press that leads the way.
Do you also subscribe to the sacking of the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, following his utterances on insurgency?
I have told you about leadership failure. Where you have leadership, government will not wait for this thing to happen whether wrong of right. The man is not denying what he said or didn’t say. He did. So, the issue is that government, particularly the president, should realise the fact that he was elected by the people of this country and he swore by the Quran that he was going to protect the interest of this country; that he was going to exert fear or favour. So, when you have discovered that in one reason or the other you have a minister in your cabinet that has been accused of most of the things that are happening today in terms of insecurity, whether remotely or anyhow you want to look it, at least, to demonstrate to the nation that he is representing them and that he is living up to his responsibility, this man should be eased out because he did not deny it. Why are we having the problem we are having today? It is because of people that had, or still have those kind of mentality, and their ideology is not in tune with the modern way of doing things. He said he did, but he is recanting that he is not in that kind of belief anymore. But, we are suffering from the by-products. That is what snowballed into what we are having today. It is those people that you taught, those radical thinking that are still in the bush. Even though you have now said that you have renowned that ideology, we are still suffering from the damage in this country. Because that is why we still have the likes of Boko Haram people that are thinking differently. Yes, he has apologised. If the country wants, it can forgive him or allow the law to take its course. But, the right thing to be done is for the government to relief him of his duties and responsibilities, and then let him understand that what he did, the country is still suffering from it. In other climes, if you are in government of a high school, and they discovered that you raped a girl or smoked marijuana, you would be in trouble. There was a judge of a Supreme Court that was supposed to be appointed in America, you can see the extent they went because a woman came out and said the man took advantage of her in a high school. It became an issue. So, it is not enough to come out and apologise. He should not be allowed to continue in office in all fairness given the circumstances we are in today, and given the fact that we cannot divorce those radical ideologies we are having today. So, he is responsible.
Are you comfortable with the role being played by Sheikh Gumi in negotiating with bandits?
Under this circumstance or the situation we are in, it is the right thing to do. Do you know why? The government has denied people money they are supposed to use to build hospitals, schools and roads. They come to Abuja, collect the money, sit down in a room and divide the money among themselves, thinking that the people are stupid or they do not know what is happening. If they are using the billions collected from the federation account to build schools, hospitals and good roads you would not have bandits. If some have jobs and leave their houses at 8:00a.m to go to work, would they have time to go into the bush? That is why they are taking it by force. So, under this scenario, it is right. Let them sit up. Let them stop stealing. Let them use the money to create employment and not to buy houses in Dubai or Europe and always going for vacation. They have exhausted all the civil ways of doing things, that is why they are in the bush. Gumi is right. When Buhari came to power he said 70 per cent of the budget is being stolen. But what did he do about it? And you want the people to just fold their hands and be watching you?
Though we still have two years to the next general election, there has been this agitation for the Southeast to produce the next president. What is your take?
I do not like to indulge in what I call a very high intelligent way of looking at issues in the country. The problem we have in this country transcends zoning. They are more serious than where the president of Nigeria should come from. Why are we where we are today? It is because of the issue of zoning. You can take it from the Jonathan’s time to now. It is just because they did not allow the best material to emerge as the president of this country; it was always handpicked. It has always taken religious dimension as if when it comes to the issues of the country the person can do better. We should wake up and begin to think about this country as a serious business. If in your private business you start bringing in sentiments like employing your brothers even when they are not competent, what would happen to the business? Definitely, it will fail. For God sake, let us be serious. The position of the president requires more than what we are attributing to it. I look at it as lazy and people who are not serious in their way of thinking. In social club you can do that, but when it comes to the issue of president, we should have a checklist as a nation. We should look at track records and performances that will matter. This is doable. The leaders of thoughts are there to do it. The press is there. It can set the agenda and change the narrative. Look at where we are today. We are a laughing stock simply because there is a leadership failure and because we did not do the right thing. If zoning is working, why are people in Katsina being killed like chicken? Why is the whole North on fire? The business of running the country is a very serious business. It is not about this man is a Yoruba man, or Hausa man or an Igbo man. Let us begin to look at tract records. If you look at countries that have gone passed us like Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia, most of them jettisoned the idea of where a person is coming from. Because when you do that you have completely disjointed the whole issue of running the country from what it should be to what has no relevance in the governance itself. And that is why we are always failing.
What is the prospect of ADP in the next general election?
It is very bright. Do not mind the ballooning of membership they are telling people. Believe me, by the time the two parties will explode you will see what will happen. We believe that the ADP has a very unique opportunity in 2023 because Nigerians will wake up. And sane people who have the country at heart will look for a party like ADP to begin to build Nigeria and not themselves or tribes because that is what we represent. We are the Noah’s Ark that will take the country to the Promised Land.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld a Federal High Court judgment restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising state congresses conducted by committees appointed by the David Mark-led caretaker leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In a split decision of two to one, the three-member panel affirmed the earlier ruling of the Federal High Court, holding that the congresses organised under the caretaker committee violated an existing court order.
Justice Okon Abang, who delivered the lead judgment, ruled that there was no basis to set aside the restraining order issued by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik on April 29.
The appellate court also upheld the lower court’s decision barring the caretaker leadership from interfering with the functions and tenure of the party’s duly elected state executive committees.
According to the court, the ADC Constitution vests the responsibility for conducting state congresses in the elected state executive committees, not the national caretaker leadership.
Justice Donatus Okorowo concurred with the lead judgment, while Justice Abba Mohammed dissented, arguing that the matter was an internal affair of the political party and therefore outside the jurisdiction of the courts.
The suit was filed by aggrieved members of the ADC, who challenged the legality of committees established by the David Mark-led caretaker leadership to conduct state congresses. They argued that the appointments breached the party’s constitution, insisting that only duly elected party organs had the authority to organise state congresses.
In its earlier ruling, the Federal High Court held that the four-year tenure of the ADC’s State Working Committees and State Executive Committees remained valid until fresh congresses and a national convention were properly conducted.
Justice Abdulmalik further ruled that neither the 1999 Constitution nor the ADC Constitution empowered the caretaker committee to appoint committees to conduct state congresses.
While noting that courts generally refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of political parties, the judge held that judicial intervention is justified where constitutional or statutory provisions are alleged to have been breached.
Affirming the lower court’s decision, the Court of Appeal declared the state congresses and national convention conducted by the David Mark-led caretaker leadership null and void for being carried out in defiance of an existing court order.
The appellate court stressed that once a dispute raises constitutional issues, it ceases to be merely an internal party matter and becomes subject to judicial review.
Consequently, the court dismissed the ADC’s appeal, upheld all the orders of the Federal High Court, and awarded ₦10 million in costs against the party.
By Chinedu Sabastine
A pro-Yoruba women group, operating under the banner of Yoruba Women in Politics (YWIP), has applauded the Deputy National Chairman (South) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Benjamin Obi Nwoye, for strengthening the party across the Southern part of Nigeria barely three months he assumed office.
They said: “Dr. Benjamin Obi Nwoye is a very honest and open person. He has done considerably well,” the group said.
He was also praised for displaying high democratic ideals and delivering electoral victories for the ruling party in Southern Nigeria.
Chairperson of the women group Mrs. Dorothy Akinyele, in a statement issued in Akure, the Ondo state capital on Saturday applauded Nwoye “for his loyalty, strength of character, and consistency of purpose to the cause of democracy.”
They expressed delight and satisfaction “with the high degree of determination so far exhibited by Nwoye to applying the principle of fair play in treating all party members and asserting independence and neutrality in most cases.”
The highly revered South West women body also commended Nwoye “for deepening the party’s structures in the South-west, South-South and South-East, empowering women and youth and building a stronger APC and a more inclusive future for Nigeria.”
In particular, the women lauded Nwoye “for mobilizing support for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election, preserving the progressive ideals upon which the APC was built and curtailing the abuse of democratic norms in the ruling party.”
According to them, “Dr. Benjamin Obi Nwoye is level headed, has milk of human kindness flowing in his veins and committed to the success of President Tinubu and the party in 2027 and beyond,” YWIP said.
It therefore, described Dr. Nwoye as “the influential exponent of national unity,” extolling him for ensuring a smooth internal
Democratic process in his home state Enugu, the coal city state.
The Presidential Candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has dismissed a public debate challenge from the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, saying the minister must first become a presidential candidate before seeking such an engagement.
Obi made the remark during an interview with media entrepreneur Chude Jideonwo, where he responded to Umahi’s challenge following his criticism of the condition of Nigerian road.
The former Anambra State governor argued that presidential debates are reserved for candidates seeking the nation’s highest office, insisting that Umahi does not fit that category.
According to Obi, the controversy over the poor state of the roads had already produced results, noting that his criticism prompted repairs.
“If he is inviting me to a debate as a presidential candidate, then he has to become a presidential candidate first,” Obi said.
Drawing an analogy with international football, the NDC presidential flagbearer likened Umahi’s challenge to a team that failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup inviting a qualified team to a match.“The World Cup is going on now. You cannot stay outside and invite a team that qualified for the World Cup to come and play against you simply because you think you are good. No. There is a qualification process,” he added.
Obi maintained that leadership should be measured by performance rather than rhetoric, suggesting that the repairs carried out after his criticism underscored the importance of holding public officials accountable.
His response comes days after Umahi declared that Obi posed no political threat to President Bola Tinubu or the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), while challenging him to a public debate over the state of federal roads and infrastructure across the country.
Ada Ogbu, who made the clarification in a statement posted on her official X account on Saturday, was responding to Keyamo’s ultimatum demanding that Obi apologise to airport officials, pay a ₦25,000 parking fine or face action by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).Executive Branch
Ogbu, who described herself as an eyewitness, maintained that she was among those who accompanied Obi to the airport on Saturday, July 4, and categorically denied the minister’s claim that the politician was driven by a police officer.
“As a member of the team that accompanied His Excellency @PeterObi to the Abuja airport on Saturday, July 4, I can state categorically that he does not have a police officer as his driver in Abuja. Therefore, if airport CCTV captured a police officer entering the driver’s seat of a vehicle, that vehicle could not have been Mr. Obi’s,” she stated.
She further argued that the incident highlighted by Keyamo was different from the one Obi narrated during his interview with media personality Chude Jideonwo.
According to her, Obi’s frequent travels across the country have exposed him and his aides to repeated hostile treatment by airport personnel.Government
“It is also important to note that Mr. Obi travels through as many as ten Nigerian airports every week. Over time, there have been several acts of hostility directed at him and members of his team by airport personnel across different locations,” Ogbu said.
She concluded that the aviation minister had referenced an entirely separate incident.
“Based on the account shared by the Honourable Minister, it is clear that the incident Mr. Obi referenced during his interview with @Chude did not occur on the date or at the airport cited by the Minister. They are plainly two different incidents.”
Her reaction comes hours after Keyamo released CCTV-based findings from an internal inquiry into the airport incident, insisting Obi must publicly apologise to airport workers and pay the prescribed parking fine within one week or risk further action by FAAN.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday formally retained Vice President Kashim Shettima as his running mate for the 2027 presidential election.
This was as political parties made last-minute moves to beat the Independent National Electoral Commission’s deadline for the submission of presidential and National Assembly candidates.
The ruling All Progressives Congress presented the nomination forms of Tinubu and Shettima to its National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, in Abuja for onward transmission to INEC, effectively ending months of speculation that the President could replace his deputy with a northern Christian.
The development came as INEC confirmed that it had received the presidential and vice-presidential nominations of the African Democratic Congress, Nigeria Democratic Congress, Social Democratic Party, Action Alliance, African Action Congress, Peoples Redemption Party and Young Progressives Party.
Meanwhile, several other political parties continued uploading the names of their candidates ahead of the commission’s Saturday midnight deadline.
The electoral commission had fixed July 11, 2026, as the deadline for political parties to upload the nomination forms of their presidential and National Assembly candidates through its online nomination portal in accordance with Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026.
The submission exercise, which commenced on June 27, covers Forms EC9 and EC9A to EC9E for presidential, vice-presidential, Senate and House of Representatives candidates.
According to the timetable released by the commission, political parties are expected to begin uploading the names of governorship and State House of Assembly candidates from July 18, with the exercise ending on August 8.
INEC is scheduled to publish the personal particulars of presidential and National Assembly candidates on August 1, while those of governorship and state assembly candidates will be displayed on August 29 to allow members of the public raise objections where necessary.
The commission also fixed August 22 as the deadline for the withdrawal and substitution of presidential and National Assembly candidates, while governorship and state assembly candidates have until September 19 for withdrawal or replacement in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
The July 11 deadline marks one of the most critical stages in the build-up to the 2027 general elections, as only candidates validly nominated by political parties through primaries monitored by INEC are eligible for submission.
The commission had repeatedly warned political parties against submitting the names of candidates different from those who emerged from duly monitored primaries, insisting that any nomination outside the provisions of the Electoral Act and its regulations would be rejected.
Against this backdrop, the APC used Friday’s presentation ceremony to publicly affirm its presidential ticket, signalling that it would head into the 2027 contest without altering the Muslim-Muslim ticket that secured victory in the 2023 presidential election.
Following President Tinubu’s emergence as the APC’s presidential candidate during the party’s convention, political discussions had intensified over whether the President would retain Shettima or opt for another running mate to broaden the party’s electoral appeal.
Those speculations gathered momentum in recent months amid reports that the ruling party was considering a northern Christian as vice-presidential candidate to address concerns over religious balancing.
Friday’s submission, however, ended the uncertainty, with the APC formally presenting Tinubu and Shettima as its flag bearers for the 2027 election.
The nomination documents were presented on behalf of the President by his Special Adviser on Political Matters, Ibrahim Masari, during a ceremony attended by members of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, the National Assembly, the Federal Executive Council, the APC National Working Committee, state chairmen of the party and APC governorship candidates.
Earlier, the APC National Organising Secretary, Sulaiman Argungu, described the event as the formal presentation of the duly completed nomination forms of the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
Argungu noted that President Tinubu had earlier secured the party’s presidential ticket through what he described as a transparent primary election, and urged party members to remain united ahead of the 2027 polls.
He also commended the President for what he described as the achievements of his administration before formally handing over the nomination documents to the APC National Chairman for onward submission to INEC.
Speaking on behalf of APC governors, Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, reaffirmed the governors’ support for President Tinubu and the party leadership.
“We are delighted that this event is coming after a well-organised and thoroughly supervised primary process. We reiterate our commitment to continue supporting President Tinubu and the party,” he said.
Uzodimma said the APC remained committed to internal democracy and inclusiveness, adding that the governors would continue mobilising support for the President across the country.
“We will continue to support him in the larger interest of Nigerians and to take the country to greater heights. To the National Working Committee, we reaffirm our support. Together, we are going to deliver victory for President Tinubu and ensure the party wins all elective positions, including the National and State Assemblies,” he added.
Receiving the nomination forms, APC National Chairman, Prof. Yilwatda, described the event as a reflection of the confidence reposed in President Tinubu by millions of party members across the country.
According to him, the President’s endorsement by members of the party demonstrated widespread support for his administration and its policies.
He stated, “Today is a reflection of the wishes of over 12 million members of the APC who overwhelmingly voted for Mr. President as the party’s candidate for the 2027 presidential election. We are proud that APC members across the country cast over 12 million votes for Mr. President and overwhelmingly endorsed him.
-
News4 days agoUS based Catholic Priest commits suicide to avoid being sent back to Nigeria
-
Politics4 days ago
2027: Shettima retained as running mate as parties race to meet INEC deadline
-
Foreign4 days agoIsrael Exposes Plot to assassinate Donald Trump
-
Crime4 days ago56 days in captivity: How the Oyo school children were rescued
-
News4 days agoBREAKING: Kidnapped Oyo pupils, teachers regain freedom
-
Crime3 days agoAnambara Underworld: 25 Years After Onitsha was liberated from Deri Nwamama
-
Politics3 days ago
Keyamo’s Lies Exposed As Eyewitness Faults Claims Against Obi
-
News1 day agoAlleged Certificate Forgery: Ex-Minister Uche Nnaji Pleads Not Guilty, Gets ₦20m Bail