Politics
Insecurity: How Buhari was deceived – Shehu Sani
The immediate past senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Senator Shehu Sani, has revealed how President Muhammadu Buhari’s friends deceived him about the state of insecurity in the country.
Sani who spoke exclusively with Sunday Sun in Abuja, said that the deception by the president’s allies led to the current state of insecurity in the North, particularly in Kaduna State where bandits now unleash evil, kill and spill blood of innocent people.
The activist and public commentator while saying that Nigeria is moving towards a failed state, maintained that if kidnapping, banditry, farmers-herders crisis continue across the country, the nation would certainly be heading for anarchy. Excerpt:
Looking back, how would you assess your outing during the 8th Senate?
The 8th Senate has gone down in history as one of the most independent, principled, dogged, reformist and revolutional National Assembly that has performed its function without fear or favour; that has been able to hold the executive to account and gave courage and hope to Nigerians. It was a Senate that defended democracy, that defended the sanctity of the parliament and the independence of the parliament. The parliament is the bastion of democracy. Without the parliament, you simply have a dictatorship. When you have a subservient parliament, you will have the whole democratic process surrendered into the hands of one man. Man is tempted to be dictatorial, to be oppressive when given the levers of power and the National Assembly or the parliament stands as a break, as a check and also as a filter. The most dangerous thing as a nation is to have a National Assembly that is docile and dormant and one that has completely no focus other than what the president of a country wants them to do. So, as far as we are concerned, the four years of the National Assembly under the leadership of former Senate President Bukola Saraki was the full expression of democracy at its best in Nigeria.
Was that why the 8th Senate was always at loggerheads with the executive?
Well, the parliament is not a parastatal of the executive. It is also not a department or a unit of the executive. And the people in the parliament are not presidential aides or ministers. They are co-equal, elected into the government to perform the functions that are clearly stated in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In Nigeria’s political parlance, people are subservient to the president when they are in government, while the constitution is supposed to be the guiding principle. It is supposed to be the priest and the oracle of the nation that can be consulted to address the problems of the country. If the executive veers off from what the constitution mandated it to do, it is in order to be at loggerheads. I like being at loggerheads with people who are intoxicated with power and try to oppress, marginalised or subvert or undermine the constitution of the country. So, it is good for the executive to even know that we can be on collusion course, at loggerheads with them when they try anything that undermines the constitution of the country which we all belong.
What is your take on the 9th Senate?
As far as the 9th Senate is concerned, they will be judged by the people. I am not to judge them. It is the people that judge them and now, you can see that the people are the ones who are judging us whether what we did was right or wrong; whether we did well or we didn’t do well. So, it is the people that will judge you. But there are standards to which you will be judged. The first is that how do you relate with the executive and at the same time, defend and protect your independence as an organ of government? How do you relate with the executive as far as protecting and defending the constitution of the country is concerned? How do you relate with the executive, putting into standard, the interest, the wishes and aspirations of the people? When you have an executive that consistently breaches on the constitution and you don’t confront them and bring them to order, you are bound to lose your integrity, honour and dignity. If you have an executive that implements unpopular policies and have no respect for the constitution of the country or the parliament of the country and you simply fold your arms and see the nation adrift, then it is your reputation that is at stake. So, the people will judge the 9th Senate based on the standards of democracy, the independence of the parliament and the sacrosanctity of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
But can’t there be a healthy relationship between the legislative and the executive arms of government, while also maintaining their independence?
Healthy relationship is that everyone should respect the constitution. If the constitution is violated by the executive and in the interest of peace and harmony, you decided to keep quiet, then it is not healthy. It is poisonous; it is destructive to the constitution of the country and even the democracy itself.
If given another chance, are there mistakes you made while in the 8th Senate which you would like to correct?
I don’t think that there are any mistakes I have made that I think that now… I think what would only be more exact is that I would do more than I have done in the past in everything I have done.
What about the loan request by Governor Nasir el-Rufai which was to have impact on the people, which did not see the light of the day during your time in the Senate? Don’t you see that as a mistake?
It is not a mistake. It is the right thing to do and I have done it as fully as I should do it.
So, there is no regret?
I can never regret in what I have used my right senses to do. It is the right thing to do.
Your problem with el-Rufai, don’t you have any regret?
No, at all. I can never regret it.
Some people were taken aback that both of you who are intellectually inclined, were always at each other’s throat. What is your reaction to that?
I don’t think I have been on any person’s throat. And I don’t think anybody is in my throat, and if any person thinks I am in his throat, I think that is his own business. I am done with it, and I have left the Senate and he is the governor of Kaduna State and he presides over the affairs of Kaduna State and I preside over the affairs of my office and when the time of politicking comes certainly, we make our views known.
Any hope of reconciliation between you and the governor?
We are in different political parties, so which reconciliation are you talking about? I am in Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and they are in APC. So, I am not aware that there is going to be a merger between PRP and APC.
On a personal level, will you reconcile with the governor?
My problem is not personal. It is political and I’m done with it, and he is the governor and I am the former senator and I am off. I have no reason to raise issues about him. The people voted him into office and what he wants to do, he does it, and it is only when a person calls my name personally, then I have the right to make sure that before his mouth closes, I respond to it.
Have you foreclosed your going back to APC?
Well, I don’t know what could happen tomorrow. But for the moment which we are talking about now, I am in Peoples Redemption Party and the chairman of my party has just left this office and he is coming back later before you leave.
Since you are someone who loves the masses, why didn’t you throw away ego and defer to el-Rufai for the good of the people?
If you know my history, my history did not begin from the APC. I have always been an activist and I have always expressed my opinion in the last 35 years in the struggle. So, when I expressed my opinion, it is part of my conviction, it is part of my principle and part of my ideology. I have always expressed my opinion before being a senator and I am known to be an activist and well as a senator, I have also expressed my independent opinion and after being a senator, I am still expressing my opinion. So, my world did not begin and end with the ruling party, the APC or any person who is part of that political party.
Banditry, kidnapping, farmers-herders crisis are ravaging the country and Kaduna is at the receiving end also. How can this be nipped in the bud in the state?
Seriously, in Kaduna, we need help. Bandits are unleashing evil, killing people and spilling blood of innocent people in our state. Many parts of our rural areas are under the control of bandits. Even people living at the outskirts of the city itself, they are not safe. Families have been displaced in millions; millions of naira have been paid as ransom and there is an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. Bandits have become a state within a state. Today, there are local governments in my state where the people there are suffering and they are paying heavy price for this banditry. These bandits kill people, extort ransom, rape women, raze villages, and make it impossible for farmers to go to their farms. We are virtually under siege and Kaduna is one of the top five states in the North today that are under the siege of these bandits. And it is important that the Federal Government, the security agencies, stand up to their responsibility and protect our people from this disaster and tragedy.
How did Kaduna find itself in this situation?
I think President Muhammdu Buhari has been made to believe that we were his enemies in the last Senate when we were raising issues of banditry, kidnapping, bloodletting and violence. Time and again, I stood on the floor of the Senate to bring to the attention of the president and the conscience of the country, the killings in Kaduna, in Zamfara, in parts of Katsina State and Niger State. But many of the ppresident’s friends dismissed what we have said as either exaggeration or outright lies or we were simply trying to tarnish or rubbish the image of the government. And as such, Buhari’s friends gave Buhari wrong information about the state of security in northern Nigeria and he was made to believe that things are well and he is doing good and that it is not as tragic as we are portraying it to be. Today, the cart has become a monster. Our country is now beleaguered and bewailed because of the activities of these bandits. Kaduna happens to be surrounded by states that are deeply into this banditry – Niger, to Zamfara, to Katsina State. So, we are almost at the epicentre of it. And the banditry used to be in Birnin Gwari Local Government, but now, it has moved to Chikun, to Kajuru, to Igabi Local Governments and even bandits now storm houses in Zaria and pick professors and take them to the bush. This is how banditry has become. As for the Southern Kaduna, it is a different case. Herdsmen and bandits sneak around to kill people and if we don’t do anything about it, this is seriously not only about the havoc it is creating in rural communities, but it is also threatening the peace, order, stability and unity of Nigeria.
Where do you situate the problem of Southern Kaduna?
The problem of Southern Kaduna is both historic and also political. First of all, that part of the state is treated as a minority part of the state and it is the Christian part of the state. And the issues of marginalisation against the people of that part of the state are true. Many people in that state don’t consider them as full-blood indigenes and citizens of that state and they have been treated with contempt and treated as if they are second class citizens of the state. And because of that, it created a feeling of hostility which now metamorphosed into conflicts. When we were young, when we were children, we grew up in a society where those of us from northern part and those from southern part, we attended the same class and we prayed together. They are Christians and we are Moslems and during Christmas time, they take food to us and during Sallah time, we take food to them. Many of the primary schools in Kaduna were built by the Catholics, the Baptists, and the ECWAs for generations and were all living together. But in the last 40 years, there were ethno-religious conflicts that dragged on to the 21st Century. And politically, you can see how they have also been marginalised. The chances of someone from Southern Kaduna becoming or holding any serious position as far as things are concerned now are very low. So, there is an institutionalised injustice and political injustice perpetrated against those people which need to be corrected.
But do you see the kidnapping, banditry, farmers-herders crisis and the Southern Kaduna crisis abating soon?
Nothing has been done seriously now to say that it is abating because people are still being killed, people are still being kidnapped and the bandits are moving in group of hundreds, two hundreds on motorcycles, wielding AK-47 and you can even see that recently, they even attacked a military garrison in Katsina State. And they are becoming so audacious and fierce and more violent than they have ever been. So, it is time I think we should use technology to deal with them.
Where do you think all these issues are leading us to?
If we want to keep this country one, if we want to protect and preserve our dignity as a people, we must take the security challenge very seriously. You can see how the herdsmen violence in the Southwest has now threatened the political solidarity and the unity that exists between the North and the South. If these killings continue certainly, we would be heading for anarchy. Bandits, herdsmen and terrorists have become a state within a state and our security apparatus has failed consistently in exploiting, in using technology to gather information and deal with these bandits. What are the symptoms of a failing state? One of the symptoms of a failing state is the loss of control of the government and its inability to use state apparatus to enforce law and protect and defend territories and also ensure that impunity does not have a breathing space. So, if you look at it, we are heading towards a failed state. It is incumbent on a president of a country to stand up, to protect this country, to defend this country because that was the promise they made for which Nigerians voted them in 2015.
What is your next political move?
My next political move will be evident by God’s grace as the time goes by. For now, we will watch events. And I come from a very small political party, but we are still having some of our members in the parliament. So, whatever may happen tomorrow will be left for the realities of tomorrow.
Tags: insecurityKaduna Central Senatorial Districtpresident muhammadu buharisenator shehu saniwas deceived
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has come under criticism following its decision to alter the list of candidates that emerged from its National Assembly primaries, sparking fresh concerns over internal democracy and the credibility of its candidate selection process ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Opposition parties condemned the move, with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) accusing the ruling party of descending into confusion, the Labour Party (LP) describing the substitutions as undemocratic, and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) branding the action reckless.
The APC, however, defended the changes, insisting they reflected fairness and the wishes of party members. It also urged opposition parties to focus on resolving their own internal crises rather than commenting on its affairs.
The controversy followed the APC’s directive to its state chapters to submit the final list of candidates for the 2027 elections while issuing Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) nomination forms for completion.
Several aspirants who were initially declared winners alleged that they were replaced after the party’s May Primary Election Appeal Commission reviewed petitions arising from the primaries.
Reports indicate that the APC National Working Committee (NWC), acting on the appeal committee’s recommendations, overturned the victories of several senatorial candidates in nine states and restored six serving senators to the party’s final list.
Those reinstated include Sunday Karimi (Kogi West), Emmanuel Udende (Benue North-East), Titus Zam (Benue North-West), Shuaibu Isa Lau (Taraba North), Adeniyi Adegbonmire (Ondo Central), and Olajide Ipinsagba (Ondo North). In Abia South, Prince Paul Ikonne replaced Edinburgh Erondu.
Among those affected was former Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam, whose earlier victory in the Benue North-East primary was nullified in favour of incumbent Senator Emmanuel Udende.
The revised list has since generated internal disagreements and raised legal questions, particularly in light of INEC’s warning that it would reject the names of candidates who did not emerge from primaries monitored by the commission.
Reacting to the development, PDP National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Mohammed, described the changes as evidence of growing confusion within the APC, saying the opposition would take advantage of the situation ahead of the elections.
“With the change of the candidate list, there is confusion in the APC. Let them remain in confusion so that we can take advantage of it and reclaim power. It is not our duty to advise them on how to put their house in order,” he said.
The Labour Party also criticised the substitutions, insisting that candidates who emerge from valid primaries should not be replaced.
LP National Publicity Secretary, Ken Asogwa, said the party had consistently respected the outcome of its primaries, describing the APC’s action as a mockery of the Electoral Act and democratic principles.
“For us in the Labour Party, we have never removed the names of people who won our primaries and replaced them with those who did not. That is how democracy should be practised,” Asogwa said.
However, the National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, argued that political parties have the constitutional right to determine their candidates through internal mechanisms.
He noted that the Supreme Court had affirmed the authority of political parties to nominate candidates and stressed the need for aggrieved members to pursue available internal appeal and reconciliation processes.
Similarly, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) defended the APC’s action. Its National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, said the Electoral Act empowers political parties to manage their candidate selection process, including addressing irregularities through internal mechanisms.
He maintained that if a party identifies flaws in its primary process and opts to make adjustments in line with its constitution, it is within its rights to do so, while denying allegations that the NDC had imposed candidates.
The Oyo State Government has denied reports claiming it paid ransom to secure the release of pupils and teachers abducted by bandits in Oriire Local Government Area, describing the allegation as false and misleading.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Commissioner for Information, Dotun Oyelade, said the claim was “far from the truth” and accused “irresponsible bloggers” of deliberately spreading misinformation to confuse the public.
“Although both the Oyo State and Federal Governments have been making concerted efforts to secure the safe release of the abducted children and their teachers, no ransom has been paid to the bandits, either directly or indirectly,” Oyelade stated.
He urged residents to disregard the reports and rely only on information released through official government channels.
The commissioner added that the Oyo State Government is working closely with security agencies to ensure the safe release of the abductees and bring the incident to a successful conclusion.
The pupils and teachers were abducted on May 15 when armed bandits attacked three schools in the Yawota and Ahoro-Esienle communities of Oriire Local Government Area. The coordinated attack also claimed the life of a teacher.
The victims have remained in captivity since the attack, while the Oyo State Government, the Federal Government, and security agencies continue efforts to secure their freedom.
By Okey Maduforo, Awka
The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has dismissed reports that aggrieved aspirants who lost the party’s primary elections are plotting to work against its candidates in the 2027 general elections.
Following the conclusion of the party’s primaries a few weeks ago, reports had alleged that some unsuccessful aspirants were considering supporting candidates of other political parties in protest, with the aim of undermining APGA’s chances at the polls.
However, APGA National Publicity Secretary, Mazi Ejimofor Opara, described the claims as false, insisting that the party remains united after a reconciliation meeting convened by Governor Charles Soludo.
“I am hearing this from you. As a party, we have not received any report of such a plot. Let me state clearly that all the aspirants have resolved to work for the success of the party in the 2027 general elections,” Opara said.
He explained that during the meeting held at the Light House in Awka, aspirants and candidates openly discussed issues arising from the primaries, stressing that none of the participants accused the party of conducting an unfair or non-transparent process.
“Everyone expressed their views about the primary elections. No one alleged that the process lacked transparency. The only concern expressed was that each aspirant had hoped to emerge victorious.
“At the end of the meeting, every misunderstanding, anxiety and misgiving surrounding the primaries was resolved, and the party remains one united family,” he added.
Opara also warned opposition parties against what he described as deliberate attempts to spread falsehoods and create disaffection within APGA.
He cautioned individuals engaging in cyberbullying and name-dropping for political purposes to desist, warning that the party would not hesitate to pursue legal action against anyone found defaming its members.
“This is nothing but cheap blackmail by the opposition. They should be mindful of the legal consequences of cyberbullying and name-dropping. We urge our party faithful and the general public to disregard these spurious reports,” he said.
This version improves grammar, flow, attribution, and readability while preserving the substance of the original report.
Former Minister Uche Nnaji
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has secured a court order permitting it to detain former Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Geoffrey Uchechukwu Nnaji, for an initial 14 days as investigations into alleged certificate forgery continue.
The remand order followed Nnaji’s arrest on Wednesday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, shortly after he arrived from Enugu aboard a chartered flight.
According to an official of the anti-graft agency, the court-approved remand will enable investigators to interrogate the former minister over the allegations, with the possibility of seeking an extension should further investigation require additional time.
Nnaji was apprehended following the execution of a bench warrant earlier issued by the Federal High Court after he allegedly failed to honour several invitations extended by the commission.
The ICPC subsequently confirmed the arrest in an official statement signed by its spokesperson, John Odey, stating that the former minister is in the commission’s custody as investigations continue into allegations bordering on the forgery of academic credentials and a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate allegedly submitted during his ministerial screening process.
By Okey Maduforo Awka
Despite the Federal High Court pronouncement against the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC ) in Anambra state, the National Working Committee( NWC) of the party has issued nomination forms to candidates of the National and state Assemblies of the party .
Recall that the Federal High Court Abuja had ruled that Sen Emma Anosike is not the Chairman of the party; a judgement that is unsettling party in the area which the plaintiffs denied knowledge of the suit insisting that it is a kangaroo pronouncement.
The affected state executive members, Bright Osemeka, Mrs Ify Chinwoko Nzekwe and Amaechi Chinweze had contended that they never filed any action challenging the leadership of Sen Emma Anosike adding that they remain loyal to the Anosike led executive.
According to the Deputy National Organizing Secretary of the party Mr Emeka Okafor ;
“The Federal High Court pronounent did not mention the nominated candidates of the party for the National and state Assembly elections and we have issued nomination forms to the candidates”
“Again the matter neither joined the nominated candidates nor had any legal position on the primary elections of the party in Anambra state hence the nominated candidates remain our candidates for Anambra state ” he said.
Recall that Sen Emma Anosike as at the period of the primary elections was the Chairman of the party an exercise that was adjudged peaceful and transparent by the National Working Committee of the party and the Election Committee sent to the state by the Leadership of the party in Abuja .
Similarly, the expelled members of the party did not take part in the election following the suit filed by them against the party in Anambra state.
They were suspended by the party because the party found out that they did not explore the laid down avenues of conflict or dispute resolutions before heading to the Court which the party stated that it is against the constitution of the party which also stipulates outright expulsion.
Meanwhile it is not clear if the said Chairman of the party who the Court endorsed has taken over the party Secretarate in Awka , nor has he convened any meeting of the party; a development that has deepened the unsettled state of affairs of the party .
It is however gathered that sustained legal battle is on in Abuja over the said judgement as the crisis lasts .
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