Politics
Those fighting for Biafra, Oduduwa Republic are irritants –Tanko Yakassai
12 min read
Elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai has carpeted those groups and individuals seeking self- determination as well as those agitating for the creation of Biafra and Oduduwa Republic.
In an interview with VINCENT KALU, the 96-year-old founding member of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) described the Oduduwa Republic and Biafra agitators as irritants, even as he insisted that the debate about true and fiscal federalism is absolute nonsense.
Nigeria is troubled on many fronts: – Boko Haram in the North-East, bandits in the Northwest, herders- farmers clashes in most states, kidnapping, armed robbery and other crimes. What gave rise to these?
It is poverty occasioned by unemployment brought about by lack of programmes by the rulers.
Are you satisfied with the manner the government is handling the insecurity in the country?
No, no. I made a recommendation that the government should hold a meeting of experienced security operators – retired military, police, and other security agencies. When this large number of experienced people comes together, they will be able to develop some ideas on how to tackle all the security problems. But if the government feels that they alone have the solution to the problem, they will always be in trouble.
Some people are suggesting granting amnesty to the bandits as a way of halting their criminal activities. Do you agree with that?
Remember that the late President Yar’Adua was advised to speak to the Niger Delta militants. He appointed a minister who made recommendations, which were accepted by both the president and the militants. Then, a meeting took place. Then through the process of the meeting, the militants made their points, and the president accepted parts of their points, like giving them jobs, giving them scholarship overseas for studies, giving them some allowances, etc. He implemented it, and we don’t hear any war by the militants. Get a national meeting of people experienced in security issues to discuss these insecurity problems and come up with ideas. They will definitely give some leeway to government on how to tackle the problem and solve it. Two heads are better than one and ten are better nine.
When you talk of amnesty, it is only an aspect of the problem. If you are going to talk of amnesty, it has happened before with the Niger Delta militants. It was part of the recommendation; not just one item. If you gather the security experts, they will make a number of recommendations and from there the government chooses the ones that will solve the problems and then the conditions will be put to the bandits and if they accept, then the government goes into action.
Besides the security challenges, there are also the Biafra and Oduduwa Republic agitators. Some groups in the South-South have given the international oil companies notice to vacate the region. What does all this portend for the country?
These separatist agitators by whatever name they are called are irritants. Anybody, who doesn’t want to stay in Nigeria or who doesn’t want Nigeria as it is, is free to bring his own ideas or alternatives. Nobody has proffered alternatives to Nigeria. It is simple to make complaints, but what is the way out? People should come up with solutions. When you break up Nigeria, it is the same Nigerians that will retire into some units, and that will not solve the problem. If you know the reality or the background of the problem, then you see how you to solve it. Doctors will diagnose your problem and find out the type of disease you are suffering from and prescribe the medicine that will make you better. I hope there will be more Nigerians who proffer solutions to Nigerian problems than complaining. Complaining is not a positive thing.
How do we arrive at solutions to all these complaints?
I told you right from the beginning that it is poverty, unemployment and what have you. I will tell you my own little thinking. By the time this government assumed office, if they had come up with a programme of power; because the biggest problem in Nigeria which brought about all these is lack of electricity power, which is supposed to jump start the growth of small, medium and large industries. Now we are talking of power in a locality, when you provide modular power, either at local government level, a state level, at zonal level, people will create industries ranging from small to big ones left, right and centre and that will create employment for unemployed people. Employment will bring income to the unemployed and then they begin to attend to their various needs, and then their problems will begin to be solved bit by bit until they are solved fully. We have a country where you can grow any type of crop, and if we have a very good agriculture programme, we will be able to engage millions of people overnight because agriculture is the biggest avenue of engaging the largest number of people. It is a question of a programme by the government and all these programmes will help them. We have our previous National Development Plans, if we can take them and look at the ones we have not tackled and which one we have tackled and we didn’t succeed, gradually we will be sorting out our problems and all these problems will disappear because people are attacking others and robbing them of their things because they don’t have money. Have you seen anybody who is gainfully employed and still engaged in banditry? Most of the bandits are unemployed and if you can get them employment, they stop banditry. There is a lot we can do in this country about this problem; but we have to put heads together.
Talking about putting heads together, some people hold the view that most of the country’s problem will be solved if we restructure the country to true federalism, fiscal federalism, as we had in the First Republic?
There is nothing like true federalism. I attended a seminar way back in 1956 at the University College, Ibadan. It was a seminar on ‘Federalism’. Experts on constitutional federalism all over the world were invited. The record is there. All of them said there was no instance where two constitutions were similar. Every federal constitution is unique. There is nothing like true federalism. Every federalism is true, and it is done according to the constitution of the country where it is adopted.
So, all this talk of fiscal federalism and true federalism is nonsense. Nobody ever produced a paper to say what they are. Because of lack of what to say, some people pick it as a slogan and spread it all over the place and the younger people who didn’t know the problem will pick it and begin to talk about it. There is nothing called true federalism because every federalism is true federalism to the people that adopted the system.
Nigeria federalism is true to our people. We started with three regions and then an additional region, the Mid West. Then Gowon created 12 states and people said it was not enough and agitated for more and we went to 19 and 21 until we are now 36. Now they are saying we should go back to three regions. I hope when we go back to three regions people will stop agitating for more states. South-East and South-South should all be merged as one region, the entire South-West should merge as one region and the entire North becomes one region. The condition should be that once we go there, it is the end of agitations for more regions or states.
What they suggest is that even if the states are the federating units, that the centre is over-concentrated with power. They want the way it was in the First Republic where most of the items on the Exclusive List are moved to the Concurrent List?
Like what in the Exclusive List?
Education, Police, Prison, etc.
Education in the First Republic wasn’t exclusive. Police is excusive, but education is not, as you have state universities and federal universities. You have state colleges as well as federal colleges.
If education is not on the Exclusive List, why are states running the educational system, the curricular, etc based on federal government directives?
Who stopped them from changing the system and adopting theirs? Each state has its own legislature as well as executive council. Each state has elected governors, whose functions are defined by the constitution. However, you cannot exclude the federal government from any sector, but you can expand and allow state to participate in it. Definitely, you cannot deny the federal government because it is the government.
On the police, we started with the Native Authority Police in the North, State Police in the West, and people cried against it and I was a victim way back in 1953. Because of the way the local police was being run, everybody was crying. The military at the time of Gowon decided to merge the police to have a single police for Nigeria.
Those who are asking for Regional or State Police are only looking for an opportunity to recruit their party members. The day you create state or local police is the day you end democracy in Nigeria because they will recruit their party members into the police and they will not allow any opposition to exist. We have seen it in practical terms today. No opposition can win election conducted by a State Electoral Commission. Tell me where opposition party won majority in local government election conducted by state electoral commission. The moment you create a state or local government police, this is what is going to happen. Everybody will be force to belong to the party in power in the state. How many policemen did we have when we had three or four regions? What was the revenue allocated to policing at that time? How many policemen do we have now in the country? What is the percentage of the revenue that you are now allocating to policing in Nigeria? Our problem is how to increase the number of policemen in Nigeria. We are not increasing the number of policemen corresponding with the number of problems of security in the country. I will never support State Police or Local Government Police because that will be the end of democracy in Nigeria. I want democracy; there is no system of government in the world today that is accepted to the people of the world other than democracy. Anything that will erode it is a taboo and we shouldn’t attempt that. State police will kill democracy in Nigeria or any country that adopted it. Don’t let us kill democracy because without it we cannot develop.
Still on federalism, during the First Republic, each region produced and gave the centre. But now every state produces and sends to the centre and the centre dishes out to them. At that time the revenue allocation formulae was based on the Raisman Commission which stipulated 50 per cent to the producing region and 50 per cent to the centre. That is part of the restructuring they are talking about.
It was the time the centre was not producing anything. Now the bulk of the national revenue is coming through the centre because of oil. This is the reason you get from the centre, but that doesn’t stop all this huge amount of money the states are spending on building houses and so on. If they had used it in developing agriculture; if they had devoted them to small-scale industries, it would have been a different thing altogether. Go to every state, check their budget, see how much is spent to run the office of the governor, the office of the secretary to the government, commissioners, permanent secretaries and bureaucracy. Records show that bureaucracy in Nigeria consumes about 70 per cent of our revenue and they are only left with 30 per cent. In those times they are talking about, it was not the case. Now the main revenue is oil and everybody is thinking of how to get his own share of the oil. The federal government before didn’t have much money as it is getting today. We have two or three major sources of revenue – oil and tax. Now, all of them you have 13 per cent derivation. From the money you collected from oil, you give 13 per cent to the states generating the oil. How many states that are taking 13 per cent are using it to generate employment for the people? What they do is to build big mansion; they are not addressing problem of unemployment. This is what we need.
President Buhari, before he jetted out on Tuesday, directed the security chiefs to identify where the bandits are and go after them. Why is it that the security chiefs claim not to know where the bandits are, but somebody like Sheikh Gumi knows where they are and have met with them?
Go to Buhari media advisers and ask them this question. I have nothing to do with the government; I’m a layman like you. I’m not a government man and I have nothing to do with the government, so I cannot answer this question. You have to direct this question to the government.
Or to Sheikh Gumi himself?
Gumi was invited.
Was he invited or maybe he took the initiative as his own way of finding solutions to the problem?
He was invited. Are you not reading the papers? He was invited by the governor and they decided on where and where to go and he provided security and he went and met the people and so on and so forth. He was invited.
It was Zamfara State that he first of all went?
Yes. He was received by the governor. He didn’t go there on his own. They provided transportation, security for him, accommodation, etc. You better find out.
2023 is fast approaching, and the tempo of the debate over where the presidency should come from is high. Some argue that power should remain in the North; the Southerners say it must rotate to the South. In the South, the South-East says, if there is equity, justice and fair play. As one of the few remaining titans of the Nigeria project, what is your position on this thorny issue?
We have a multi-party system in this country. The APC zoned the presidency to the North, now they say they are going to change it. When they decide where to zone it to, the PDP is not bound by that decision, so also other parties. Let them do it; it is their own business, but I will tell you nothing will change unless we change the whole system. The political parties we have in this country today are not committed to any programme. They hire intellectuals to write manifestoes for them. The manifestoes in their constitution didn’t emanate from the need of the people or the situation on the ground. In our days, we would appoint some members of our party, provide funds to them to go round the country and find out what were the problems confronting people; problems bedevilling the country. They would come back and itemise them. We would appoint people who would go through those programmes and make recommendations on how the party was going to tackle the programmes. We put that thinking into manifestoes to show that we know the problems and these are how we are going to solve them. None of the political parties that we have in this country went round the country or appointed people specifically to find out the problem in every part of the country and come up with a national policy, and how the party should tackle those problems. Nobody is doing it. Members of a party looking for power are looking for opportunity to make money. Look at people contesting election, look at their position before contesting election; go to their houses and see the type of cars they are driving. Then a year after the election, go to their houses, look at the cars they are now driving and their houses. Are they the same as before?
So, anywhere the presidency comes from is immaterial now?
Nothing will change unless the parties have programmes, not programmes that editors write in good English for them, but programmes after finding out what is bedevilling the country. Let them get experts to draw programmes on how to tackle the problems and solve them. In England or even America, President Biden during his electioneering campaigns, he identified problems and promised what he would do to solve them and that is what he is going about doing. We don’t do that in this country. In 2015, APC made three promises. One of them was to tackle insurgency in the country. Go and see how many of them the party has been able to solve within the period it has been in power for six years.
Chief Sir OAU Onyema, a senatorial aspirant for Enugu West in the 2027 elections, has announced his resignation from the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), citing alleged lack of transparency, internal manipulation, and attempts by party leaders to impose candidates on the electorate.
Speaking during a media briefing, Onyema accused influential figures within the party of abandoning democratic principles by allegedly sidelining popular aspirants in favour of loyalists and personal associates.
According to him, party leaders have failed to release the results of screening exercises and purported primary elections, raising concerns that the process is being manipulated to favour preferred candidates before names are submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The former aspirant specifically alleged that a prominent political figure from Delta State was working with some NDC leaders to undermine the wishes of the people of Enugu West Senatorial District by promoting a personal aide for the senatorial ticket despite lacking grassroots political support in the district.
Onyema said such moves would be resisted through lawful and democratic means, insisting that the people of Enugu West deserve candidates with established political relevance and local acceptance.
He further claimed that efforts to integrate political structures built around Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, into the NDC were frustrated, resulting in what he described as weak and ineffective party structures at the ward level.
The politician also alleged financial irregularities within the party, including what he termed the undue collection of funds from members, though he did not provide specific evidence during the briefing.
Expressing disappointment with the party’s operations, Onyema declared that the NDC had failed to live up to expectations of transparency, fairness, and sincerity.
He vowed to work towards providing voters in Enugu West with credible alternatives ahead of the 2027 elections, regardless of political party affiliation.
“We remain committed to the ideals of justice, fairness, democracy, and the will of the people,” Onyema stated, adding that while he still believes a new Nigeria is possible, he has lost confidence in the NDC and is formally exiting the party.
He maintained that the 2027 elections would be “interesting” and expressed confidence that voters would increasingly focus on the quality of candidates rather than political party platforms.
In the now-controversial post shared on his social media page, Osborne wrote: “In a sane clime president Bola Ahmed Tinubu would’ve respectfully and honourably resigned. I’m of APC but truth be told.”
The comment quickly generated reactions online before the Akwa Ibom State Government moved to terminate his appointment.
In a letter dated June 2, 2026, the Office of the Political Adviser to the Governor announced his immediate disengagement.
The termination letter, signed by the Political Adviser to the Governor, Prince Godwin Ntuk Udeh, stated that Osborne Ubong Okon had been relieved of his duties with immediate effect.Politics
According to the letter, the decision was taken over actions the office described as disloyal.
“You are hereby relieved of your engagement as a Media Aide to the Political Adviser to His Excellency the Governor, with immediate effect and from today, 2nd June 2026,” the memo read.
The letter further cited “actions bordering on disloyalty” and the need to keep the office “purified” as reasons for the dismissal.
The office also issued a warning to members of the public and government officials regarding future dealings with the former aide.
“Any person having dealings with the above-mentioned former Media Aide in relation to this office of his former engagement does so on his/her own peril,” the statement added.
The development has sparked fresh conversations about the limits of political expression for government appointees and the expectations of loyalty within public service, particularly when comments are directed at the presidency.
Neither Osborne nor the Presidency had publicly responded to the development as of the time of filing this report.
The decision was taken during plenary on Tuesday at the Assembly complex in Dutse, the state capital, as the party continues to deal with the fallout from recent primaries.
The action comes amid a wave of suspensions across Jigawa APC following the recently conducted primary election.
Several special advisers and special assistants have already been suspended statewide over alleged anti-party activities from state level down to local government level.
Maigari, who doubles as the councillor representing Auyo Ward, was suspended after the House considered a motion by the Majority Leader, Lawan Dansure.
The motion sought disciplinary action against the lawmaker for conduct deemed harmful to party cohesion.
Moving the motion during the Assembly’s plenary session on Tuesday, Dansure urged members to support the suspension.
He said the House must act to protect the integrity of the ruling party ahead of 2027.
According to him, the actions of the Speaker of Auyo Legislative Council are detrimental to the unity, stability, and progress of the All Progressives Congress in the state.
“His actions are detrimental to the unity, stability, and progress of the All Progressives Congress,” Dansure told the House.
He argued that anti-party conduct at the grassroots level could undermine APC’s performance in future elections.
He said the House could not fold its arms while party discipline was being tested.
“Hon. Haruna Maigari is hereby suspended as Speaker of Auyo Legislative Council over alleged anti-party activities,” Dangyatin announced during plenary.
The Speaker also said the House remains committed to party discipline at all levels of governance in the state.
Dangyatin then constituted an investigative committee to look into the matter and report back within two weeks.
“The committee is expected to establish facts and recommend further action based on its findings,” he said.
The Speaker also directed the suspended lawmaker to hand over all official documents in his possession to the Deputy Speaker of Auyo Legislative Council.
He said the handover must be done immediately to ensure continuity of council business.
Meanwhile, the House also received a formal notification from Governor Umar Namadi regarding an official trip.
“The governor is billed to attend a two-day West African Rice Investment Roundtable in Accra, Ghana,” the Speaker said during the plenary session of the Assembly.
Dangyatin, who explained that the governor’s foreign engagement will hold between June 2 and June 3, 2026, added that “the governor’s participation is aimed at attracting investment to Jigawa’s rice value chain.”
By Chinedu Sabastine
Mr. Samson Chukwu Nnamani has declared that he remains the authentic governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State ahead of the 2027 election.
Nnamani made this known on Friday during a press briefing held at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre, Enugu.
Reacting to allegations that he was suspended from the party before the PDP governorship primary election, Nnamani dismissed the claim, questioning how a supposedly suspended aspirant could participate in the exercise and secure votes.
“The purported claim that I was suspended is very funny. If I was suspended as they claim, how can they attribute votes for me during their kangaroo primary,” Nnamani questioned.
Represented by his Media Director, Dr. Buchi Nnaji, the PDP chieftain said his authenticity derives from the present recognition of the Abdulrahman-led faction of the PDP by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), of which he is a member.
The clarification followed the emergence of multiple claimants to the PDP governorship ticket in Enugu State.
Nnamani insisted that the party was no longer factionalised following INEC’s recognition of the Abdulrahman-led PDP leadership, noting that the panel which declared him winner where sent from their headquaters, Abuja.
Nnamani expressed gratitude to PDP leaders and supporters whom he said turned out massively on Sunday, May 24, 2026, to elect him as the party’s governorship candidate.
He pledged to reposition Enugu State through infrastructure development, job creation and people-oriented policies.
“As the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in Enugu State, I remain committed to the ideals of good governance, inclusive leadership, economic development, youth empowerment, quality education, improved healthcare and enhanced security for all residents,” he said.
He added that his aspiration was to build “a greater Enugu State where opportunities abound for every citizen, irrespective of political affiliation, religion or social status.”
According to him, his administration would prioritise infrastructure development, industrialisation, support for small businesses and welfare programmes aimed at improving the lives of the people.
“We shall also review and remove policies and practices that are truncating the wellbeing, economic survival and social advancement of the citizens,” he stated.
Nnamani further called on stakeholders, party faithful, youths, women, traditional rulers and the people of Enugu State to join hands in building “a united, peaceful and progressive state.”
“Together, we can achieve the Enugu of our dreams,” he added.
The Presidency has reacted following the circulation of an alleged WhatsApp voice note in which President Bola Tinubu reportedly claims he begged opposition figure Peter Obi to step down ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The reaction came on Wednesday from Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President.
Onanuga condemned the audio file, labeling it a fabrication and called for legal action against popular social media critic VeryDarkMan who shared it.
“This VDM needs to face the weight of the law for being the conveyor and disseminator of a fake audio of President Tinubu. This is a clear case of an egregious abuse of the social media platform.,” Onanuga tweeted.
In the viral video, VeryDarkMan used the alleged leaked audio to urge Nigerians to vote against President Tinubu’s reelection bid in the upcoming 2027 polls.
Recall that just days ago, on Saturday, May 23, 2026, President Tinubu secured the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in a landslide nationwide direct primary election.
During that contest, Tinubu faced a lone challenger, Edo State businessman and APC chieftain Stanley Osifo. The President won with 10,999,162 votes from the 12,643,306 registered party members, while Osifo secured 16,503 votes.
Meanwhile, Peter Obi, who finished third in the 2023 election, is widely expected to fly the flag for the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC). Both Obi and Tinubu hail from the southern region of Nigeria and are set to face last year’s runner-up, Atiku Abubakar, who is expected to lead the ticket for the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
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