Politics
FG making it difficult for South-East leaders to pacify aggrieved youths –Mbamara, retired army captain
A retired army captain and founder, Fair Haven Security Nigeria Limited, David Mbamara, bares his mind on the incessant attacks on security formations in Imo State in this interview with CHIDIEBUBE OKEOMA
There have been attacks on security formations in the South-East, particularly Imo State. What are the implications of these attacks?
The security implications are not far-fetched. This ugly development should be properly investigated by the security agencies instead of jumping to the conclusion and hastily labelling any group as the mastermind of the attacks. The security challenges posed by IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) cannot be overlooked, though, but there are other non-governmental actors and people who could be hiding under the security challenges and trying to destabilise the government.
It is important that the security agencies look deeper and come up with solutions to this disturbing development. It is not just IPOB. There is also the Biafran Nations League that spoke sometimes ago in Calabar. They gave their members five days to avenge the Fulani herdsmen attacks on their people. It is a potential target group and you can’t wish that away. We also know that in Imo State, there is political tension between the governor and some political actors.
So it will be infantile to politicise the attacks by hastily linking them to IPOB without proper investigation. Doing so portends great danger to our society, and if we go this way, we may lose focus. Therefore, it is very important for the security agencies to do their homework and identify those behind the attacks. It is important that the Federal Government starts looking at issues from a solution perspective because there is no good general who opens the frontier of war without seeking ways to bring lasting solutions.
If any army general engages in open confrontation without dialogue, it will drag him down. What is happening in Imo State is regrettable and it’s important that the Federal Government takes measures because from what I am reading, this is just the beginning. Because when you have a domestic subversive organisation operational in a state and they start kidnapping people for ransom, the essence of that is to get money for logistics. The next move is to start attacking security personnel to demoralise them, collect their weapon and reduce the security forces’ capacity.
My younger colleagues who are still in service should look at these trends and not be hasty in saying the attacks are by IPOB. It could be diversionary. It could be any other organisation that is interested in pulling down the system. Having said that, the reaction of the Governor of Imo State (Hope Uzodinma) is good. This is not the time for the usual grammar and semantics by the government. The Federal Government should sit up. In security, there is no sacred cow. All domestic insurgents in Imo State should be dealt with.
Do you suspect any political undertone in the attacks as the governor has alleged?
Well, I would not know until security agencies have done their job. We have read about some political battles between the governor and some political big boys in the state. It is important that this suspicion should not also be swept under the carpet. The issue should be analysed from the macro and not micro perspective so that every thread of likely threat can be captured. If any thread is missing, it is easy for those who may be hiding under IPOB due to its agitation for Biafra to explore.
The real enemies of the government may be operating freely, knowing full well that the government’s attention is on IPOB. It is also important that the recent attacks on the Nigerian Correctional Centre and police stations in Imo State should draw the Federal Government’s attention to the state. Last month, the National Bureau of Statistics, in its report, ranked Imo State as the unemployment capital of Nigeria with over 56 per cent unemployment rate. We are not talking about the under-employed.
Most of these unemployed people are graduates. The greatest check against insecurity is the good welfare of the people. The Federal Government and the Imo State Government should look into this. The government should look into the plight of the citizens. The situation is terrible. The cost of living is high, people have no jobs, the situation is dangerous. It is important the Federal Government tell itself the truth. This is no time for politics.
Do you support the Federal Government’s amnesty for the fleeing inmates as a result of the recent jailbreak in Owerri?
Well, I am happy to hear that the Federal Government has offered the fleeing inmates amnesty as a way of making them return because some of them are hardened criminals. Some of us are conversant with the nature of the judiciary system that we have. Most inmates are there without trial. I understand that some of them have been on the awaiting trial list for about 10 years.
It is urgent – the Federal Government, in conjunction with state governments, should use this opportunity to investigate the fleeing inmates. Those who have been in prison without trial should be given considerable attention. This is the essence of decongesting the prison. When you put innocent people with criminals in the prisons, you overload the prisons, and this has consequences for society.
It is important that the Federal Government stop holding people without trial because the law says even a criminal is said to be innocent until proven guilty. Why put someone behind bars and is awaiting trial for 10 years? The prison is meant to correct people with bad characters and not to make them hardened. In short, those with criminal backgrounds should be brought back urgently. I support the amnesty declaration by the Federal Government.
On the attacks on the Owerri correction centre, reports have it that security agencies neglected intelligence report before the attacks. What do you make of this?
Definitely, it shows the failure of intelligence gathering by security agencies in Imo state. For the attackers to have a field day attacking the correctional centre, the police headquarters and army checkpoint on the same day, it shows that security agencies in the state are not doing enough. You don’t need to be told that there is a failure of security and intelligence gathering in Imo State. Those in charge should know what to do because uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.
Many say that marginalisation is the cause of incessant attacks on federal facilities in the South-East. Do you agree with this assertion?
That is the major reason, you do not need to be told. Imo State indigenes usually perform excellently at the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, but when they graduate, they don’t get jobs whereas those who got into tertiary institutions using low UTME scores end up getting jobs. How will you then say that the country is fair to them? ‘One Nigeria’ should not just be a slogan, it should be practised.
This is the time to rise up and build Nigeria. The civil war ended over 60 years ago. I didn’t experience the war, I was a year old when the massacre took place. For how long will ethnic and tribal considerations end in this country? How can you build a country based on injustice, knowing that there is a reaction to every injustice? You cannot slap a child and tell him not to cry. It is not possible. How can you appoint over 60 judges, yet no Igbo man made the list. You appointed 24 directors at the NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation), yet no Igbo man is there.
Also, look at the recent appointment of the acting Inspector General of Police. The Federal Government is making it difficult for South-East leaders to have anything to tell these aggrieved youths. Nigeria stands on a tripod – the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. If you eliminate any of the stands, it is no longer Nigeria. The Federal Government should take measures; the South-East is the easiest place to control.
There is poor electricity, there are bad roads and no jobs for the Igbo people. As elders, there are limits to what we can tell a young man who is hungry. Even if he’s educated, he will definitely be angry if he has no job definitely. South-East does not have a small population; we have a huge population and, therefore, we should not be neglected. I am pleading with the Federal Government to give the South-East elders what they could use to talk to these young people because they are looking down on their leaders as failures. They no longer have respect for Ohanaeze and the governors; they don’t see themselves as part of this country because of the Federal Government policies of marginalisation and exclusion of the South-East region.
What’s your take on regional security outfits?
There is no basis in law for the continuous existence of the federal police. It is not seen anywhere. How will the federal police be the one to enforce laws made by the state governments as enacted by the state Houses of Assembly? We are talking about unemployment in this country when if we have the state police, they can create between 500,000 and one million jobs for the youths.
There should also be neighbourhood police. Nigeria is a country of laws, we are not in a jungle. The issue of security should be properly addressed. Our fathers in the 60s had regional police. Some people are talking about community policing. What is community police? How much are they paid as salary? What is their strength? Do they have arms? Do they have powers to charge anybody to court? Are they recognised under the law? The issue is that we are a funny country. We deceive ourselves a lot. It is time to stand up and build Nigeria.
What is your take on the activities of the Eastern Security Network?
It is an attempt by the people to obey the law of nature because the South-East governors created a void and the Federal Government refused to call the herdsmen to order. No one can stand and watch their women being raped. It is time for the government to be alive to its responsibility of providing security and welfare for the citizens. The Federal Government should as matter of urgency call the Fulani herdsmen to order.
Do you support Nnamdi Kanu’s approach to self-determination?
Well, I am not an IPOB member. I don’t know how he operates. I initially saw him as a rabble-rouser but I am beginning to take him seriously because of the faulty steps the Federal Government is taking. Everything is not about shoot and kill. There are things you will do and you will cage certain elements. The Igbo want Nigeria to succeed.
There is no village in Nigeria you will not see an Igbo man. It is very easy to control this situation before it gets out of hand. Nnamdi Kanu is the creation of the actions of this government. It is the actions of this government that is giving him the impetus to be controlling a large number of people. How can we keep quiet and allow a country as beautiful as Nigeria to go down?
How can the tension everywhere be reduced quickly?
I want to use this opportunity to appeal to the Federal Government to do the needful before it is too late. The government should address the issues of insecurity by addressing injustice in the country. Merit should not be sacrificed on the altar of ethnic sentiments. Injustice is fuelling the insecurity we are facing.
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.
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