Politics
Ex-presidential candidate knocks Tinubu, tags him ‘civilian dictator’
Former presidential candidate of the African Renaissance Party, Alhaji Yahaya Ndu, has strongly criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic policies, describing them as thoughtless and detrimental to Nigeria’s economy.
In an interview Ndu expressed concerns that these policies have pushed many Nigerians into extreme poverty.
He also criticised Tinubu’s leadership style, labelling it a “civilian dictatorship.”
Ndu emphasised the need for a mass participatory approach to address the country’s challenges, arguing that democracy should be about active citizen engagement, not just electing leaders.
He pointed out that the combined votes of Tinubu, Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar, and Rabi’u Kwankwaso didn’t even reach 20 per cent of Nigeria’s population, highlighting the disconnect between the government and the people.
Ndu said, “People said that President Tinubu is just in power a little over a year and that he should be given the opportunity to turn things around, but when they said this thing, I got worried because we are supposed to be practising party democracy and his party has been in power since 2015. The President was the leader of APC. So many of the top functionaries of the party were nominated by him or tutored by him.
“For instance, the current Chief of Staff was then Speaker of the House of Representatives and so on. In any case, when he came on board, he said he was coming to continue from where Buhari stopped. The point I was trying to make is that it is dishonest to say that he just met the trouble, and he is trying to fix it because he has always been part of the team led by Buhari since 2015.”
Ndu explained that party democracy means that you are collectively responsible for the actions of your party, insisting that the President’s henchmen should better stop pulling the wool over the eyes of Nigerians by saying he just came on board because he has always been there.
“In any case, I am not even surprised that he is not able to handle the situation because shortly before the election I stated in a press conference that it is either he does not have the solutions or that he is not patriotic. If he had the solutions all along he would have given the solutions to his party to implement even before coming to be President and if he didn’t have the solutions that meant he didn’t have them, if he had them and he refused to put them on board for his party to implement, that means he was not patriotic. You don’t get the solution simply because you became President.
“In any case, even during the electioneering campaign to become President he consistently refused to answer any question. Remember even when he went to Chatham House, when questions were put to him, he delegated others around him like Nasir el-Rufai to answer the questions for him. During rallies when he was supposed to address people on his programmes he was holding broom and dancing.
“So, I am not surprised that things are getting worse under him, but I am not blaming him as a person, I am blaming all of us for agreeing to be so fooled, not just by him but by the whole polity we are operating. If you put all the votes that Tinubu had in the election, whether rigged or unrigged, together and add that one of Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar and Rabi’u Kwankwaso, they don’t come up to 20 per cent of the population of the people of Nigeria; and if you said as for those who voted, it is still an extremely negligible percentage. Democracy is supposed to be about mass participation.
“The solution to our problems can be found in a mass participatory approach, in other words, if we are trying to involve programmes for technological advancement, you must create a system that will outsource all our engineers, all our technologists whether at home or in diaspora to contribute together, to collate and marshall out what should be our technological advancement blueprint, likewise for health. Our medical doctors, our pharmacists, and all those in the health industry should put their heads together. Thank God for information technology; they don’t need to leave their bases to be able to reason together.
“This is the process we need to undertake to move this country forward. Nobody should pretend to be more Nigerian than the other. And nobody has any monopoly on knowledge. When all of us come together and work as one that is only when we can move this country forward.”
On fuel subsidy, Ndu stated that the removal of subsidies on Premium Motor Spirit was the worst decision of the Tinubu administration. My
He said, “To start with, even if it was supposed to be the best decision, it was removed in the most wrong possible way.
“You remember that he removed the fuel subsidy even before he had a cabinet during his swearing-in that more than anything is the most eloquent, graphic explanation that this was a civilian dictatorship, and if I were in his position, if I think that the best decision is to remove the fuel subsidy the most common thing or the basics thing my administration would have done is to, first of all, encourage all those young boys and girls who are operating what our country prefers to call illegal refineries who we send our Air Force, soldiers and Navy to destroy their refineries; my administration will encourage them, regulate their products, make sure that they don’t pollute the environment, help them to get the crude oil at the cheapest possible price and suffocate everywhere with properly refined oil; incidentally information reaching us now says that Libya, as of this moment is selling one litre of PMS at N52.
“If Libya, an African nation can be selling PMS at N52 a litre and we are selling our own officially at more than a thousand naira a litre, something is wrong with us.
“Everybody knows that it was a terrible decision, even he and his administration have realized that it was a terrible decision and that is why they are now talking about CNG, which if they realised that they were doing something terrible would have come before the removal of subsidies the way it was done.”
PUNCH
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By Okey Maduforo, Awka
Ahead of the 2027 National Assembly elections, a mass protest voting movement may be building up in Anambra South Senatorial District, following reported moves by members of major political parties to support the candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Chief Ebuka Onunkwo.
The development is said to be linked to grievances among some members of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), All Progressives Congress (APC), African Democratic Congress (ADC) and remnants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the treatment allegedly meted out to Onunkwo during previous political contests.
Onunkwo, who had previously contested the Anambra South senatorial seat under APGA, later emerged as the NDC candidate for the 2027 election.
Although the ADC is currently embroiled in legal disputes over the authentic candidates and the conduct of its primary elections, some members of the APC and APGA are also reportedly dissatisfied with developments within their respective parties.
It was gathered that a section of APGA members, in particular, are backing Onunkwo as a form of protest over the conduct of the party’s senatorial primary, while some members of other parties are also believed to be considering voting for him irrespective of their party affiliations.
Confirming the growing support for Onunkwo, the Chief Executive Officer of NOWAS Oil and Gas Limited and a major stakeholder in Anambra South politics, Chief Ignesus Ikechukwudere Nnubia, said the NDC candidate currently enjoys widespread acceptability across party lines.
Nnubia said the growing support for Onunkwo had made his party affiliation less significant, arguing that voters would ultimately vote according to their conscience and assessment of the candidates.
He said, “At the moment, the number of APGA members with him and supporting him makes one wonder what is left of that party. Even the remnants of the PDP have pitched their tents with him, while members of the ruling APC at the national level are also behind him.
“So, the party that he belongs to is not a factor at all. You know that it is a game of numbers, and people are going to vote according to their conscience and not necessarily because of the political party they belong to.
“People are not bound to vote for their party, and some of them are ready and willing to vote for him.
“We are not talking about the party because he will surely get votes from the NDC, APGA, APC and even other political parties that are already closing ranks to support him as their candidate.”
Nnubia further described Onunkwo as the candidate currently standing tall among the contenders for the Anambra South senatorial seat, expressing confidence that his emergence would usher in what he described as a “new dawn” for the district.
He said political parties should not be the major consideration for voters, stressing that what matters most is the ability of elected representatives to improve the lives of their constituents.
According to him, political parties exist because of the people, and therefore the influence of party structures and incumbency has its limits during elections.
Nnubia said those factors would ultimately be tested by the electorate in the 2027 election, which he described as a contest in which voters’ choices would determine the outcome.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for the 2027 Ebonyi State election, Chief Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii, has pledged to attract more than ₦2 trillion in private-sector investment to the state within six months of assuming office if elected.
Odii made the pledge while addressing supporters in Lagos ahead of the formal commencement of his campaign.
He said his investment strategy would cover key sectors of the Ebonyi economy, including mining, hospitality, real estate and manufacturing.
According to the PDP candidate, he has identified more than 2,000 prospective investors, each capable of investing about ₦1 billion in the state.
“I have over 2,000 people who can invest ₦1 billion each. When you multiply it, you will get over ₦2 trillion. This has been structured in such a way that all aspects of the economy will be involved,” Odii said.
He said the proposed investment drive was designed not only to inject capital into the state but also to create jobs, expand the productive base of the economy and provide opportunities for young people and entrepreneurs.
Odii said Ebonyi’s natural resources and strategic location placed it in a strong position to attract large-scale investments if its economic potential was properly harnessed.
He promised that his administration would prioritise private-sector participation, industrialisation and job creation while creating an enabling environment for both local and foreign investors.
The candidate also said existing businesses in the state would be supported to expand, while new investors would be encouraged to establish operations across various sectors.
His pledge comes amid growing political activities ahead of the 2027 governorship election, with economic development, employment generation and wealth creation featuring prominently in his campaign message.
The proposed ₦2 trillion investment target within six months, if achieved, would represent a significant boost to Ebonyi’s economy and rank among the most ambitious private-sector investment mobilisation plans proposed in the state.
By Okey Maduforo, Awka
The planned visit of the First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, to Anambra State has sparked controversy following a protest by the state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Emma Anosike, that the party was not informed about the visit.
Anosike said the APC in Anambra was never consulted or briefed about the proposed visit, adding that the party was taken aback by reports that the wife of the party’s national leader and presidential candidate, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, would be visiting the state without recourse to the state chapter.
He said, “It is indeed strange that the First Lady of our presidential candidate is visiting Anambra State without recourse to the party in the state.
“The party wishes to state categorically that we are not part of the arrangements for the reception of our First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, because the party was never put in the picture.”
Anosike also dismissed the mantra that “The Progressives Are Working Together”, being canvassed by the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), describing it as a smokescreen by the ruling party in Anambra to hijack President Tinubu’s re-election from the APC.
He said, “For instance, the APGA-led government in Anambra State did not interface with us on the organisation of the visit, and the party wonders if the progressives are indeed working together.”
The APC chairman, however, said the development would not compromise the First Lady’s visit, urging all APC members and supporters in the state to turn out and give Senator Oluremi Tinubu a warm welcome.
He stressed that despite the party’s reservations over the arrangements, APC members remained committed to welcoming the First Lady to Anambra State.
Former Deputy Governor of Bauchi State, Sagir Saleh, has resigned his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Saleh, who served as deputy governor under former Governor Isa Yuguda, announced his resignation in a letter submitted to the party leadership in Katagum Local Government Area.
He cited personal reasons for his decision but did not provide further details.
His exit comes amid growing disagreements within the Bauchi APC following the party’s 2027 governorship primary. Other prominent members, including former governorship aspirant Bala Jibrin and Sunusi Kunde, an associate of Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, have also reportedly left the party.
Jibrin, a former National Auditor of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), resigned on August 31, 2026, following his opposition to the emergence of former Bauchi Governor Muhammad Abubakar as the APC’s 2027 governorship candidate.
He had criticised the primary process and questioned how the candidate emerged.
Kunde also resigned from the APC in August, submitting his resignation to the party chairman of Beti Ward in Misau Local Government Area.
The latest departures are coming as efforts continue to resolve internal disputes and disagreements among APC members in the state.
The Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has raised the alarm over an alleged plot to assassinate former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar ahead of the 2027 general election.
Ayodele issued the warning in a video shared on his verified X account on Sunday, urging both opposition figures to strengthen their security and remain vigilant.
The cleric did not identify those allegedly behind the purported plot but claimed that attempts were being made to eliminate Obi and Atiku.
According to him, divine intervention would prevent the alleged plan from succeeding.
“Obi and Atiku, be very conscious of your security. They are looking for any means to eliminate Obi and Atiku.
“But God will never allow it to happen. Watch out and be cautious about your security,” he said.
Ayodele also urged President Bola Tinubu to reconsider travelling to the United States, alleging that there were forces in America working against his political fortunes.
The claims come as political activities and realignments intensify ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.
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