The Congress of Nigerian University Academics has said that its members are not part of the ongoing nationwide strike declared  by the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress.

According to a statement signed by  the National President, Niyi Sunmonu, , and made available to The PUNCH on Tuesday, the union said that it is not part of the strike as it was not consulted by the organising bodies NLC and TUC.

The statement read, “As at the moment of putting together this release, the TUC with whom CONUA submitted affiliation request has not communicated this position on strike action to it.

“Distinguished comrades should therefore note that CONUA cannot be part of the strike action that is not communicated to it. In addition, the affiliation process with the TUC has not been officially established.”

The labour unions on Monday ordered their affiliates to withdraw their services nationwide from midnight on November 14, 2023.

[Punch]

Nollywood actress Wunmi Toriola has revealed that she is open to becoming a second wife after her first marriage crashed.

The mother of one, while appearing on the latest episode of the ‘Exciting Moment With Debbie’ with actress Debbie Shokoya, stated that her mindset towards marriage has changed.

Her words: “I used to have the mindset that I couldn’t be a second or third wife, but that has changed because I have a child now.

“If I meet a man who has a child like me or a widower, I will marry him. What matters is my happiness.”

Speaking earlier during the interview, she stated that she believed she could work things out with her estranged husband.

At that point, when I got married, I had the option of becoming the second or third wife; however, I didn’t have the mind to compete, but that was then

“I got married to a young man, and we had our lives coming up. I used to believe that we could work things out, but there was a point where we were having issues, and he kept telling me, ‘you are the one with the fame.”

She also stated that, after her marriage crashed, she channeled all her energy into her acting career.

[Vanguard]

There is an increasing consensus that the American form of liberal democracy that we currently practice in the country does not quite work for us. As far back as 2011, then President Goodluck Jonathan proposed a single tenure of six years for president and governors in the country, beginning from 2015. Suspicions over his motive meant that the proposal was shot down without any rigorous interrogation of its merits and demerits. In September 2023, amid fears of the resurgence of military coups in Africa, former President Olusegun Obasanjo opined that the current brand of liberal democracy will not work in Africa and that “we have to put our heads together” to fashion out what will best work for our environment. Kayode Fayemi, former Governor of Ekiti State and former Chairman of Nigerian Governors Forum echoed the same sentiment on September 5 while delivering a key note address at a national dialogue organised to celebrate the 60th birthday of Prof Udenta Udenta, founding national secretary of Alliance for Democracy (AD).

While speaking at the event, the ex-governor criticized the “winner-takes-all” nature of Nigerian democracy and called for the adoption of proportional representation, where election rewards are distributed among contestants based on their share of the vote. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, in a world press conference in October 2023 after the Supreme Court affirmed Tinubu as President, proposed a 6–year single tenure – earlier suggested by Goodluck Jonathan. Peter Obi, Presidential candidate of the Labour party in the 2023 presidential election suggested that the country should adopt a rotational presidency of five years for each geopolitical zone or in the alternative a hybrid form of parliamentary and presidential system of government, but one in which the President or Prime Minister should be responsible to parliament and would defend his/herpolicies in parliament as is the practice in the United Kingdom.

What is clear from these suggestions is not just an increasing frustration with our elections but with our entire system of governance. With INEC once more living up to its infamy in the recent off-cycle elections in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo States –promising much and under-delivering – frustrations with our elections and governance system have reached sky-high.

Let me briefly interrogate some of the current proposals on the way forward:

One, I believe that any proposal on the way forward mustintentionally seek to find answers to some critical questions. These must include: How can we make our elections less expensive and anarchic? How can we ensure that elections do not deepen the distrust and widen the social distance among the different constituents of the country? How can we make the elections truly reflect the will of the electorate? How do we ensure that elections do not lead to majority tyranny or the despotism of the minority? How do we routinize elections such that we do not need to impose curfews or restrict movements whenever elections are conducted? How do we ensure that elections are not mere rituals but credible mechanisms for leadership selection? How do we ensure that those in power do not abuse their offices including using state power to privilege their in-groups while disadvantaging the others? How can we have an electoral empire that is truly independent, unbiased and impartial and seen by all to be so? How do we ensure effective checks and balances among the three arms of government? How can we effectively use our democracy to advance the nation-building process and promote economic development?

Two, the proposal for a single term of six-years is premised on the assumptions that costs will be saved from organizing elections every six years rather than the current practice of twoelections every eight years. It also assumes that because the incumbent will not have to worry about re-election, he or she will focus on the job at hand and take necessary risks that will benefit the people. This option however does not take into account the possibility that an unscrupulous leader can, after the six-year period, connive with the National Assembly for yet another amendment that will elongate his/her tenure. Similarly,the idea that a single term tenure will enable the incumbent to focus on governance without having to worry about re-election does not seem to reflect our current experience where incumbents (presidents or governors) have shown acute interest in who succeeds them and have often spent as much resources in ensuring that their handpicked successors get ‘elected’ as much as they would have done if they were themselves running for another term.

Three, Dr Fayemi’s proposal for a proportional representation – away from the current practice of winner takes all – could solve some of the problems of our elections but will also create other problems of their own. For instance it could lead to the emergence of parochial political parties which will tap into local sentiments to win some seats in the legislature where they will pursue their own agenda such as separatism. Besides, in multi ethnic constituencies which have for example only 2-3representations on the basis of   their population, proportional representation could aggravate local acrimonies as more populated ethnic groups may enthrone majority tyranny. Additionally, proportional representation will be inadequate to solve other problems of our elections such as its commodification and capture by political godfathers, the issue of a deeply distrusted electoral umpire and the use of statepower to privilege the leaders’ in-groups and disadvantage the others.

Four, calls for a reversion to the Parliamentary (or Westminster) model of democracy which we started with at independence has been as old as the practice of the current American-style presidential system of government. A parliamentary form of government is a system where the executive power is vested in the elected parliament or legislature and Ministers, including the Prime Minister are first of all members of the Parliament (in the UK, they are usually from the lower chamber or House of Commons). A presidential form of government on the other hand is a system where executive power is vested in a separatelyelected president, who serves as the head of state and head of government. In a presidential system, there is a separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches, with each branch having distinct responsibilities and authorities.

Though in theory a Parliamentary system will be less expensivethan a Presidential system of governance, it will create its own problems. For instance, in a parliamentary system of government, a simple vote of no confidence leads to the government of the day collapsing. Given the Nigerian environment and the way many speakers of Houses of Assembly have been impeached on a whim, one can surmise that a parliamentary system of government will be quite unstable and will be susceptible to capture by actors like the Prime Minister (using the power of the purse and executive incumbency), political god fathers and powerful traditional rulers and religious leaders. Similarly, since there is usually no term limit in a parliamentary system of government, and the Prime Minister can call for elections at any time, it is possible to compromise other members of the legislature and ensure the perpetuation of the rule of a strong man. I also do not believe that in our type of environment having the Prime Minister or President defend his/her policies in the parliament will necessarily make the government more responsible. On the contrary, it may turn members of the parliament into rubber stamps because many will be afraid of frontally opposing the Prime Minister with all the possible dire consequences.

Five, fixing our democracy requires both fixing the rules governing the operations of the democratic process such as elections and fixing the conduct of the human agents that operate the democracy. It is akin to the structure versus agency debate. I will propose another Constitutional Conference to fashion a hybrid form of presidential and parliamentary systems of government that will be most suitable for our environment. I will also recommend an integration of a rotational collegial presidency made up of 6 people, (one from each of the six geopolitical zones) into any form of governance system that is recommended. The six members of the Presidential Council willtake turns of two years each to be President of the Council while the others will be Vice Presidents with constitutionally designated powers. The tenure of the Council will be a single term of twelve years – a period long enough to give everyone a break from elections and their tendency to divide Nigerians along certain fault lines. With respect to the electoral umpire, given how religious the country is and how much we respect some of our religious leaders, I would also propose a co-optationof some well-respected religious leaders, from across the main religions, to be part of the leadership of INEC as well as the election petition tribunals.

The attorney-general of the federation (AGF) has asked the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) to obey the court order restraining them from embarking on a strike action.

The unions announced that the strike would commence by midnight on Tuesday.

The planned nationwide strike is a protest against the alleged brutality of Joe Ajaero, president of the NLC, in Imo state.

Reacting in a statement on Monday, Kamarudeen Ogundele, AGF’s spokesperson, said going ahead with the strike action would amount to contempt of court.

“We wish to remind the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress that there is a subsisting court order stopping the unions and their affiliates from embarking on the strike,” the statement reads.

“The interim order was granted on November 10 by the President of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Justice B. B. Kanyip.

“The unions have been served the court order and, therefore, must surrender themselves to the authority of the court which is already seized with the facts of the case.

“Any action taken contrary to the order will be tantamount to contempt of court.

“We use this medium to urge the unions to respect the court order and adhere to the principle of the rule of law. There is no need to resort to self-help.

“We urge workers to report for duties and not to entertain any fear as their safety is guaranteed and will be protected within the ambit of law.”

[TheCable]

Off-cycle elections in Nigeria are elections that are held outside the usual timetable for general elections. When Nigeria returned to democratic, civilian rule in 1999, the expectation was that elections would be held regularly across the federation in a four-year-cycle, but after the 1999 elections, many candidates went to court to protest the outcome of the elections in many states. The result was that the election petition tribunals removed some Governors and ordered re-elections. After the 1999 elections, off-cycle elections were held in eight states of the Federation. Thus, the decision of the courts which usually comes months after a Governor or a legislator may have been sworn in is the reason for the off-cycle elections. In 2003, in Anambra State, Dr. Chris Ngige had been sworn in as the Governor, on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but Peter Obi of the All-Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) objected to the results all the way to the Court of Appeal which ruled in his favour in March 2006. Ngige v. Obi went from the Tribunal to the Court of Appeal for over 34 months! It was possible given the position of the law at the time that the process could have gone on four years, and justice would not have been done.

Obi had to begin a fresh four-year term of four years, automatically pushing Anambra State out of the regular 4-year cycle. For this reason, Anambra’s next Gubernatorial election, going by the four-year cycle, would be in 2025 whereas Nigeria is due to hold general elections in 2027. Bayelsa is yet another example. Other examples include Edo State, Ekiti State, Kogi, Ondo, Osun, and Imo states. In Rauf Aregbesola and 2 ors v. Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Ors, in the 2007 elections, the petitioner did not get justice until three years later in 2010. There was hence a felt need for the review of the 2010 Electoral Act, especially with regard to the time frame for determining election petitions. Off-cycle elections have their roots in this regard.

President Goodluck Jonathan, after voting in Bayelsa state during the current off-cycle elections in Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi states has been quoted as having now expressed the view that the National Assembly should consider an amendment of the Constitution to put an end to off-cycle elections in Nigeria. With the off-cycle pattern already in place, post-1999, and the decisions of the courts on various election petitions, it would be difficult to see how that can be done without violating sections of the Constitution which obligatorily state the tenure for elected officers as four years, renewable every four years for the President and Governors, with a limit of two terms, and open-ended for legislators. The extension of that tenure by a day would be a gross violation of Section 135 (2) for the Presidential position, and Section 180 with regard to Governors. Besides, it was the case previously that election petition cases used to be heard in some cases, for three years as already indicated, creating room for grave injustices and limited access to justice. The 2002 Electoral Act and the 2006 Electoral Act did not specify time limitations for election petitions. This was the mischief that the amendment of Section 285(6) of the 1999 Constitution (by the First Amendment Act No 1 of 2010) sought to correct by limiting the hearing and disposal of petitions to 180 days, and 60 days for the appeals arising therefrom. These amendments arose from petitions to the 6th National Assembly to amend the Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution.

The merit in President Jonathan’s statement is not that off-cycle elections would end, they have come to stay, but that there is indeed a need for amendments of the Constitution and the reform of the Electoral Act to deepen our electoral system. There are two arguments on the table: by those who argue that the time limitation in Section 285(6) of the 1999 Constitution often limits the intendment of Section 36 on fair hearing, and hence should be further extended, and the second by those who argue that in fact the time limitation should be reviewed to ensure that all election petitions should be determined within a shorter period and before anyone is sworn into office. In other words, it would amount to a miscarriage of justice for a person to enjoy the benefits of an undeserved victory only to be removed months later as in again Ngige vs Obi, or for the court to have its hands tied by the limitation of time as in Senator Adeleke v. Gov. Oyetola (2019). The prevalent opinion is that election petitions should be determined before anyone assumes office as is done in Kenya. Perhaps when this happens, the number of off-cycle elections would be reduced considerably. After every general election many issues are thrown up for further consideration and reform, and there are many that have been thrown up in such manner in recent times after the 2023 General election including time limits for election petitions, electronic transmission of results, the burden of proof, and whether or not our courts in determining election cases, should rely less on technicalities and lean more towards judicial activism as in Marbury vs. Madison, and Adegbenro vs. Akintola.

However, with regard to off-cycle elections, I recall that after the 1999 and 2003 elections, the dominant impression at the time was that such elections were necessarily good for the country’s “fledgling” (once upon a time, a famous phrase) electoral system. It was thought that they would provide the Electoral Commission and other stakeholders in the process an opportunity to correct whatever mistakes that they may have made in the main elections and respond also to omissions identified by the courts and the general public. Unfortunately, this has never been the case. Every off-cycle election is as bad as the main election, in many cases worse. Nigerian politicians and the various stakeholders are obsessed with their own greed, ambition and limitations. Nobody shows any capacity to learn any lessons, making every election the same of the same: the same incredulous pattern of criminality, conflict and capture. This is what the current off-season elections in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa states have demonstrated. As usual, the various stakeholders observed the established pattern, elections having become hollow rituals in Nigeria.

Ahead of the elections, the National Peace Committee chaired by General Abdusalami Abubakar invited the gubernatorial candidates in the three states to a peace accord signing event. Out of the 16 candidates in Bayelsa State, 15 showed up, the only one who was absent, Udengs Eradiri of the Labour Party (LP) said his own party people hid the invitation away from him, so he did not know about the event and that in any case, even if he was invited, he was not interested in signing any peace accord in the company of the same perpetrators of violence, attending accord signing ceremonies they do not believe in. Indeed, in Bayelsa state, shortly after the signing of the peace accord, Bayelsa Governor Douye Diri (PDP), and his APC counterpart, Chief Timipre Sylva engaged in a war of words blaming each other for promoting violence.

In Imo State, 17 political parties signed the accord, but conspicuously absent were the candidates of the APC, the incumbent Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, the Labour Party candidate, Senator Athan Achonu, and Senator Samuel Anyanwu, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate who by the way, arrived the venue and not sighting the candidates of the other two major parties decided to leave. He obviously considered voting for peace a matter of ego and status. Also absent were the candidates of the All-Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Tony Ejiogu, and Ben Odunze of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP). The running mates to the Gubernatorial candidates (APC, LP, and PDP) who were sent to represent their principals were not allowed to sign the accord. Party Chairmen were allowed to do so though. In Kogi State, 18 Gubernatorial candidates signed the peace accord, with John Cardinal Onaiyekan appealing to the conscience of the political parties and their candidates, urging them to play according to the rules of the game.

Apart from the signing of the peace accord, other stakeholders in the process assured Nigerians that they were ready. This was going to be an election in three senatorial zones (South South, South East and North Central) with a total of 5.169, 992 voters, in 10, 470 polling units across 649 wards in 56 Local Government Areas. INEC deployed 27 Resident Electoral Commissioners, 2 National Commissioners and 46, 084 regular and ad hoc staff. The police mobilized a total of 92, 565 personnel, including 27, 000 in Bayelsa, 25, 565 in Imo and 40, 000 in Kogi, with a Deputy Inspector General of Police leading the operation in each state assisted by AIGs and CPs, helicopters and 15 gunboats in Bayelsa. The political parties on their part deployed 137, 934 agents to cover the polling and collation centres. An off-cycle election in three states, limited only to Gubernatorial elections, would seem to be easier to manage than a general election in 33 states of the Federation. Everything also seemed set on the eve of the November 11 elections, but what happened?

Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), one of the many Civil Society Organizations that covered the election drew attention to the spate of violence, armed thuggery, and electoral fraud in the three states. HURIWA went further to advise losers not to bother to go to the courts to challenge the outcome of the polls in the three states because the judiciary cannot guarantee justice. HURIWA is wrong on that score. The judiciary is still the best forum for aggrieved persons in the electoral process, no matter how flawed to seek redress. Petitioners must always be encouraged to address their concerns through a recourse to due process and the rule of law, never through self-help. But as for violence, this was widespread in Imo where party Chairman of the Labour Party and an agent of the party were beaten up, in Bayelsa there were reports of shootings and killings before and during the election in Nembe, Basambiri, Brass, Southern Ijaw and Kolokuma-Opokuma.

In Brass LG, INEC officials were held hostage; in Yenagoa, there were street protests over results from APC strongholds in Nembe. The more astonishing report was the revelation that in Kogi state that certain persons were found with pre-filled election results forms even before the election commenced in five Local Government Areas, resulting in INEC’s decision to cancel the election in some polling units in the affected LGAs and to reschedule the elections for Saturday November 18 as follows: Ogoro-Magongo (9 wards), Adavi (5), Ajaokuta (5) Okehi (7) and Okene (5). The Civil Society Situation Room has asked that this should be investigated by INEC – how did sensitive election results forms get into the hands of unauthorized persons ahead of the election? Who did it? My fear is that the investigations may lead to nowhere.

Other election observers including Watching the Vote Initiative - YIAGA Africa, EU-sponsored TAF Africa and the Centre for Democracy and Development Election Analysis Centre (CDD-EAC) have all reported logistics challenges, vote-buying, and collusion between state government officials, security agents and electoral officials. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested 14 vote buyers in all three states. Udengs Eradiri in Bayelsa and Dino Melayein Kogi both further protested that indeed the level of vote buying was so overwhelming but they were not part of it. In many places, voting materials arrived late and the BVAS did not work as Senator Achonu claims. There were reports of discrepancies between the results at polling units and the data posted on the IREV portal. Even more bewildering is the report by YIAGA that INEC uploaded results for polling units where elections did not take place. How?

In all the three states, incumbency was a major factor, with Hope Uzodinma of Imo State winning by a wide margin of 540, 308 votes, his closest challenger, Samuel Anyanwu of the PDP- 71, 503 votes. Uzodinma has claimed this as a vindication of the fact that he truly won in 2019, and has won again leading in all the state’s 27 Local Governments. In Bayelsa state, incumbent Governor Douye Diri was declared winner with 175, 196 votes to defeat his closest rival, Sylva of the APC who polled 110, 108 votes (not so wide a margin in this case). In Kogi State, Usman Ododo, the anointed candidate of the incumbent and outgoing Governor, got 446, 237 votes to beat Muri Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) who scored 259, 052 votes. But there is something even more noteworthy in the Kogi election. The people voted strictly along ethnic lines, with the people of Kogi West (the Okun people) playing the beautiful bride by pitching their tent with Kogi Central (the Ebira) to prevent the Igala (Kogi East), who had ruled the state for so long, and to prove to this dominant group that they do not have the advantage of the numerical strength that they claim. Usman Ododo is not necessarily a product of any grand strategy, but the Okun and the Ebira conspiring against the Igala, in the hope that if the Ebira end up spending 16 years in power as the Igalas did, they too, the Okun people will in the future be supported by the Ebira. This ethnic sub-text to Nigerian politics which rears its head at every cycle portends danger for the polity.

On the whole, there isn’t much to cheer about the conduct of the just-concluded off-season elections. The various stakeholders seem not to have learnt the right lessons. In all the three states, the opposition parties have called for the cancellation of the elections. Nigeria remains a work in progress.

Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode George, has reacted to the rising debt profile of Nigeria under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and plans to borrow more.

Naija News reports that the PDP chieftain, in an interview with the Sun, said it was time for governance and management of the country’s resources for the benefit of the masses.

He also questioned the economist in Aso Rock considering the amount of debt the country owes, adding PDP will continue to play the role of an opposition party and keep Tinubu on his toes to ensure that the right thing is done.

He said, “I don’t know who is the voodoo economist in the Villa because the amount of money we owe now is N88 trillion. Are we joking? This is the time for governance and managing the resources of this country for the betterment of the people,ple but is that what they are doing? I want to appeal to the President, it is not a matter of joining his party, we must have a solid opposition to put them on their toes and as long as I live, in the next four years that will be the role that we are going to play.

“And it is good for them because if everybody is telling them that they are doing well, they will be the first to condemn them once they get out. Tinubu is not a young man, he has been there, so he knows whether people are polishing him and pretending that he is the best fellow.”

Speaking on Tinubu’s plan to form a unity government for the progress of Nigeria, George said it is a collective effort from other political parties and not about an individual.

He said, “Well, if he says he wants to have a unity government, it cannot be from me as an individual. Each party will sit down, look at the situation, and open it to people to contribute for and against before you start jumping.

“There is no individualism in political organisation and it is not the property of any individual, collectively you decide. If you are a real party man, you don’t work outside your party. The party will look for and against you and make an appropriate decision. So, it depends because these are the kind of things we will look at internally in our inner chamber and tell ourselves some serious home truth if we want to come back to power.

“It is not a matter of just coming and signing up as an individual because it doesn’t make sense. We have been in government before and the first time, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo won that election, he opened the gate for all the parties to nominate people but it is not done individually; the party must give the support. But like I said, this is the end of the electoral process, we are now starting governance.

“What is the state of this nation in terms of the economy, the fiscal and monetary policies, and the cost of basic needs for the people. You hear people trying to commit suicide, you see able-bodied women scavenging the dustbins in public and the greatest joke was the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs set up by General Muhammadu Buhari. They had to bring that woman to come and explain how she distributed cash every month.”

The Nigerian Navy has disclosed that its Ship Beecroft intercepted a fibre boat containing 90 drums of 250 litres each of Petrol Motor Spirit, PMS, valued at about N15 million at the current pump price.

The Navy explained that the arrest was conducted by Operation Water Guard NNS BEECROFT’s patrol team and occurred in the early hours of November 11.

Speaking via a statement on Monday, the spokesperson of the Base, Sub-Lieutenant H. A Collins said that the large fibre boat was illegally transporting drums of PMS, approximated at 22,500 litres, when it was intercepted.

Quoting its Commander, Commodore Kolawole Oguntuga, the Navy said, “The team acted on credible intelligence and discovered the vessel abandoned near the Ijegun community.”

According to the commander, the oil thieves abandoned the loot and fled when they sighted the NNS patrol team.

He noted, “The prevention of illicit acquisition of such volatile products does not only curb economic sabotage but also prevents the outbreak of fire, which may have dire consequences on life and property.

“This proactive operation underscores the Nigerian Navy’s unweaving commitment under the leadership of the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral EI Ogalla, to safeguarding the nation’s petroleum resources for the benefit of Nigerians.”

Peter Obi is not desperate for power and is not frustrated to want to leave Nigeria because he lost an election, says the Director-General of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Akin Osuntokun, while speaking during a recent interview.

The Labour Party (LP) chieftain, who was speaking on the 2023 presidential election and the 171-day legal battle seeking to nullify the election of President Bola Tinubu, debunked the speculations that Obi is considering leaving the country. According to him, the LP presidential candidate has achieved all that anyone can dream of having.

Laughing to a question by journalists on whether the rumour that Obi may dump Nigeria following his loss at the Supreme Court was true, Osuntokun said: “Then you obviously don’t know Peter Obi. Why will he be frustrated? Tell me. After all, he is not desperate for power. He has virtually everything anybody can wish for in life. The status he has achieved is a big bonus in his life. Personally, as a person, he has grown a lot in stature for the majority of Nigerians to look to as a role model. That to me, is a big deal. Why should any of that get him frustrated enough to want to make him turn his back on his country? Not at all.

“What Obi has achieved, even in the little time he spent with the party, is still there. How can he then abandon all he has done because he didn’t get a judgment from the Supreme Court? Obi has no reason to be frustrated. He is not one who sees the aspiration to become the president of Nigeria as a personal acquisition. It is not a personal loss for him. It is a loss for the country. God has raised him far beyond what he was before. There is no logical basis to expect him to be alienated from Nigeria.”

On how the Labour Party plans to rebuild the party following the events of the general 2023 elections, Osuntokun said: “Well, we have just completed the court case and have not really sat to brainstorm on the next step. But for a party that has come out strongly to establish credibility for itself in the last election, I will expect Nigerians who have been frustrated with the status quo to find sanctuary in the Labour Party, especially members of the young generation. I don’t see what the youth will be looking for in the APC, which represents all that people cannot wish for in this country. I mean it is unimaginable that some people at the National Assembly can say they want to buy N160m Range Rover for each member in this present circumstance.

“At a time like this when desperate measures are needed to tackle our challenges, we are hearing some people using the same loan borrowed to buy SUVs and their excuse was that the ministers have three or more. You can see the sickness we are battling. They are not even admitting that they are doing anything wrong. Instead, they are reminding you there is a bigger sinner out there. The public itself has a role to play.”

A popular praise singer in the North, Dauda Kahutu, also known as Rarara, has been sued over alleged inciteful comments and public disturbance.

Recall that Rarara, during a press conference recently in Abuja, accused former President Muhammadu Buhari of destroying the country before handing it over to President Bola Tinubu.

The praise singer, therefore, expressed regret in supporting the former Nigerian leader.

Following the development, a resident of Maraba town in Nasarawa State, Muhammed Sani Zangina, instituted a court against the singer for inciting the public against Buhari.

In a court affidavit on Monday, the complainant, through his lawyer, Muhammed Barde Abdullahi, said Rarara’s action was capable of breaching public peace, as well as causing disturbance, contrary to Section 114 of the Penal Code.

The case, which was filed in a Nasarawa State magistrates’ court sitting in Lafia, could not, however, be held on Monday, November 13, due to the absence of the defendant.

The court’s bailiff explained that the summons issued by the court could not be served on the defendant.

Barrister Abdullahi, thereafter, applied that a substrate service be effected against the defendant, a request the court granted.

The Magistrate, Maryam Nadabo, adjourned the case to December 4.

A fish seller at Oyingbo market, Lagos state, has lamented the harsh economic reality she and other Nigerians have faced since Bola Tinubu‘s assumption as President.

Naija News reports that the aged woman in the video making the rounds online complained about the high cost of fish, and the inability to send her children to school.

The woman also accused President Tinubu and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of causing Nigerians and Lagosians pain, adding that things would have been better if the Igbos who contested during the election had won.

Speaking in Yoruba, she said,“Government please help us. You said we should vote for you Now we have voted for you, you are now suffering us. Fish that we buy at N30, 000 before is now N70, 000. Kote fish that was N15, 000 is now N40, 000. Please have mercy on you. We are hungry. Please don’t us through this pain. We can’t go out again nor even eat.

“This is the fish we sell to train our children. We can’t send our kids to school anymore. We can’t eat again.

“This period is causing everyone pain. Don’t cause us pain. We can’t go out anymore. We don’t have money to sell goods nor eat. Have mercy on us Tinubu. Lagos state government, Sanwo-Olu have mercy on us.

“We have voted for you. You shouldn’t be doing us this way. Al the promises you made you have revoked. You have cause us so much pain. You have not made us happy. Fish that we sell to save money and also send our kids to school, you have made us to stop selling them. Look upon us with the eyes of mercy. Have mercy on us. You are causing us pain.

“We are selling fish, we are in pain, the people buying from us are also in pain. Please have mercy on us. Tinubu and Sanwo-Olu have mercy on us. We have voted for you. You Yoruba children, you have entered office now and you are now causing us pain.

“Why didn’t you allow Igbo to enter office. If Igbo entered office, things will not be like this. You people said you will do something. You have not done anything. You are causing us pain.”