Two recent events in Nigeria demonstrate state governors’ overlordship and self-absorbed nature. And with what we saw in Edo and Ogun States, it is also clear that the totalitarian tendencies of governors transcend party affiliations.

The governor of Edo state, Godwin Obaseki, momentarily turned his deputy, Philip Shuaibu, into a destitute, even though they were elected on the same ticket. Obaseki won elections on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). His Ogun state counterpart, Dapo Abiodun, who sat like an emperor while people’s fathers prostrated before him for their subsistence, is of the All Progressive Congress (APC). The men of authority in Nigeria are united in their misuse of power and state resources, even against the people’s interest.

In Edo State, the first two citizens fell out because the deputy governor reportedly aspired for the party’s gubernatorial ticket. Like most governors, Obaseki seemed to have other plans, so all hell broke loose.

Before the intervention of some respected citizens of the state this week, Shuaibu had filed a court action against the state house of assembly, which allegedly had the governor’s push to impeach him. That audacity infuriated Obaseki, so he went all out against his deputy without any care about the optics.

His security detail at a recent state function stopped the deputy governor from speaking with his boss! Obaseki’s aides later came up with the ridiculous excuse that their principal was oblivious to his deputy’s move, even though pictures from the event showed the proximity between the parties.

Not just that. Obaseki ordered the withdrawal of his deputy’s press crew and directed that the latter must, subsequently, write to request for coverage from the governor’s office. You can only imagine the humiliation awaiting Shuaibu in the event of such requests. That is not to speak of other actions targeted at diminishing his influence and rubbishing his office, but for external intervention that led to the withdrawal of the court case.

So, what are the issues here? The desperate scramble for power, the unbridled deployment of state resources against political opponents, and the total disregard for the welfare of the people while this is going on.

The situation in Ogun state is more explicit. Chairman of the Ijebu East local government of the state, Wale Adedayo, had accused the governor of withholding funds belonging to the local government for the second year running.

In addition to sending petitions to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Adedayo also sought the intervention of a former governor of the state and party elder, Chief Segun Osoba. He indicated that local government chairmen got no allocations since their election in 2021 and attributed the lack of development in the rural areas to the governor’s actions.

On the surface, his petition, which has gone viral, appears altruistic and motivated by nothing else but the welfare and well-being of citizens. For instance, a part of it read: “Revenue sources, which the local governments should benefit from, have mostly been taken over by the state government. Motor parks and attendant dues, which should go to each local government, are centrally managed by the state government. Primary school administration and control have been taken over, too… In Ijebu East local government area, we are a complete rural section. Our people need roads, especially in the interior. They need water. The health centres are nothing to write home about. The primary schools are something else. It is a crying shame that, in 2023, some of our people still depend on water from the stream to drink!”

This part of the petition presents a grim picture that should worry everyone, especially a governor who swore to improve the people’s condition. Suppose Adedayo’s plea is untrue or presumptuous in any respect; the man accused should show due regard for the electorate, clarify, and then start to address the developmental issues raised in the petition. But that is not the way of the Nigerian governor.

First, considering himself a tin god and justifiably so, the average state governor would rather than address issues dissipating energy on crushing anyone who dares confront him. His irritation is more when the “offender” is a member of his party or someone he profiles as a beneficiary of his grace.

Now, this is what almost all elected representatives are to governors. From the wards to the national assembly, most governors decide who contests for what position, striking out and replacing names without regard to the people’s preference. From party officials to councillors, local government presiding officers, house of assembly members, members of the house of representatives, and senators (except when the senatorial candidate is an outgoing governor), state governors decide who gets what and enforce the same without mercy or consideration for any other factor.

Although they deploy state resources for the execution of this venture, their main aim is self-preservation. This is how state governors got members of state houses of assembly to reject their autonomy for so many years! The role that governors play in appointing judges in their states is also why many Nigerians cannot be sure of getting justice against the state government. The absolute tendency of governors is unending.

Adedayo’s colleagues’ decision to beg the governor stemmed from this realisation. Although he claims that all chairmen agreed to write the petition, his colleagues preferred throwing him under the bus, siding with the governor to protect their offices and livelihood. Politics and political offices are like business for many people, so they would sacrifice the general good for survival.

The fate awaiting them otherwise is evident in Adedayo’s travails in the last few days. First was the attempt to impeach him by members of his legislative council. Ultimately, he was suspended for six months based on accusations of maladministration and financial mismanagement. We do not know whether there is any substance in these accusations, but why did the legislators wait until the current crisis ensued before bringing up the charges?

It is also noteworthy that governors take all their arsenals to war when matters get to this head. As a state correspondent for The PUNCH years back,  a state governor went as far as instigating armed robbery and gun-running charges against a council chairman just to remove him from office. The extent to which these people go is confounding.

So, at junctures like this, it should not surprise you that policemen and “political thugs” will collaborate to achieve one purpose. Hence, reading about a similar scenario in the matter under discussion was not surprising.

However, it is worrisome that state institutions would lend themselves to the oppression of ordinary Nigerians in these circumstances.

Reports indicate that the Department of State Services (DSS) detained Adedayo for three days. His detention was reportedly based on allegations of defamation and planning a protest by the governor. One wonders why the chairman was not released immediately after his interrogation. Why deny him his freedom for three days? But it isn’t out of the character of many state agencies whose loyalty is with the government of the day instead of the country and its people!

Avoiding the consequences (which are still ongoing) that Adedayo faced is the reason local government chairmen across the country (most of whom have the same fate) are too frightened to complain about their governors. After all, most of them aspired for the office for what they could gain; why should they jeopardise that by confronting the conquering lion that their governor is? But will Nigeria ever attain sustainable development without paying attention to local governments?

There is a temptation to attribute the problems that local government administrators face to the creation of the state joint local government account by S.162 (6) of the 1999 Constitution, and there may be a point there. But wouldn’t things be better if governors had more fidelity to their oaths? Wouldn’t Nigeria be better if everyone elected to public office were more committed to the people’s welfare and a legacy of achievement?

The week was ushered in with a gross and temperamental preview by retired supreme court Justice Mary Odili wherein she took direct aim at a party (and its surrogates) to the dispute before the Presidential Elections Petitions Court, PEPC. Her speech at a ceremony in honour of a lawyer, Mr J.K Gadzama was a study in the chauvinistic triumphalist celebration of a judicial victory in view and was remarkably badly written and poorly delivered. At the fairly partisan gathering, she assumed the posture of an aggressive agenda setting partisan privy to the judgement that would be delivered in the course of the week. There appears to be the ulterior motive of preempting the judgement of the PEPC and harangue the potential loser to take it or shove it. 

The missive was deliberately provocative and commensurately elicited a severe backlash. She courted a renewed critical attention on her pedigree including, especially, the watershed judgement given in favour of her husband, Dr Peter Odili, former governor of Rivers state by the supreme court. Whenever her tenure at the supreme court is up for discussion, this controversial judgement is guaranteed the pride of place. The practical import of the unprecedented judgement was to render her spouse, Dr Odili legally untouchable and unquestionable on his stewardship as governor between 1999 and 2007. He was granted “a perpetual injunction barring the federal government and its agencies from probing, arresting or prosecuting him”. It is curious that no other Nigerian public official of comparable circumstances had similarly availed himself of this royal exculpation, prompting the poser, if the law is personally made for Odili and should never be cited as a judicial precedent. 

Here is Justice Odili “It is no doubt appropriate that the theme is: “The Nigeria of Our Dreams, A Call to The Patriots”. 

I say so in the light of the prevailing situation in Nigeria as a result of the 2023 General Elections which has generated a lot of storm, necessitating the conversation which we are about to indulge in, as there seems to be moves to throw the nation into chaos or conflagration. This may be brought about by some individuals and groups, who fanning the ambers of hatred, bigotry, and tribalism fails to see the possible outcomes of the utterances without caution that are being thrown around.

It is human to feel cheated, or having the short-end of the stick, but one who is not declared the winner at any of the electoral contests, such emotions however grim does not justify bringing the 

roof down, the roof of our nation”.

“The situation does not call for the blackmail of the judges, or the posting of speculatory hypothesis, giving them such a life of their own, which run riot and accepted by the hapless and innocent in the society as the truth.

Knowing the quality of participants at this colloquium, and I am happy professional, those who are well equipped in litigation matters or electoral disputes – Chief Olanipekun is a master, and our Attorney General recently sworn in. These are experts. I am confident that having such persons here, including our Chief Host, Chief J. K. Gadzama, there is confidence that at the end of the day, a resetting of the mind would be taking place and we would keep things in perspective 

in the full knowledge that elections are seasonal, and litigation relating to thereto of the same vein” 

If any intervention can be more offensive than the statement itself, it is another statement from the same source purporting to blame the reading public for a distorted misunderstanding of the missive. If the point Mrs Odili labours to make is that some people are purportedly intimidating the judiciary, she appears to be a rather poor messenger for the message. I can hardly recollect any time I came across such an outrageous message of intimidation from a Judge. And maybe the judiciary (as represented by Odili), should be wary of the hypocrisy of frantically calling attention to the speck in another man’s eyes while hosting a beam in her own.

In contemporary Nigeria, no one could match the capacity to wreak damage on the Judiciary more than the power couple, Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa and her spouse Justice Bulkachuwa. Yet, we never heard nor expected a word of condemnation from the chairperson of the body of benchers namely, JusticeOdili. Two days later, it was the turn of the tribunal judges at the subsequent occasion of the delivery of judgement by the PEPC. The Judges practically took a cue from the Odili playbook in the proclivity for partisan bombast and the censure of divergent opinions. The Judges liberally indulged in malicious language and adversarial partisan demeanour. They kept swearing to the infallibility of INEC and insinuating insinuating a common purpose with the electoral agency. 

If we agree that Obi and Atiku leaning partisans were provocatively breathing down the necks of the judges, the question is are there no extenuating circumstances for assuming the worst of the judiciary? Is this a justification for the display of raw partisan distemper in dispensing the law?. If Senator Bulkachuwa is to be believed, regarding the conduct of the administration of justice by the immediate past president of the court of appeal (PCA), who happens to be his wife, is such Judiciary deserving of the benefit of the doubt where there are talks of corruption?.

Yet they affect the posture of righteous indignation as if there is no basis to doubt their integrity. These are Judges over whom the spouse of Bulkachuwa presided, as the president of the court of appeal. For that matter, did the president himself, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, not adopt the common belief that Judges are corrupt “You don’t expect your judges to live in squalor, to operate in squalor and dispense justice in squalor. If you don’t want your judges to be corrupt, you got to pay attention to their welfare” rationalised the president. 

What crimes have the international observers, especially the European Union, EU, committed to warrant their victimisation?. Do their reports not connote the international standard we aspire to attain?. These are expert monitors whose professional calling is informed, unjaundiced assessment of elections worldwide. In the course of this they had been in this country several months before the election.They contributed millions of dollars to support the successful conduct of the elections and have thereby earned their seat at the table. Above all is the lack of partisan interest in who wins the elections. If it is absurd to contemplate that the observers will know better about the law than the Judges, so it is illogical of any judge to presume to know more about the Nigerian elections than these observers. 

Systemic Crisis

My understanding of the contemporary Nigerian perversion is that it is a systemic crisis 

where you can establish the lapse of a part thereof from what ails the whole. If Nigeria is sick and corrupt, there is no reason to disbelieve that the executive, legislature or the judiciary are any less afflicted, especially in the absence of any evidence to the contrary. Inspired by the culture of judicial activism (‘that the courts can and should go beyond the applicable law to consider broader societal implications of its decisions’), I get repeatedly asked by anxious Nigerians whether they can expect the judiciary to do what is right by Nigeria. 

My default position is to patiently explain that Nigeria is in a systemic crisis in which none of the indwellers of the system is immune to catching the pathogen of the crisis. If the Nigerian judiciary is typically Nigerian, it is unrealistic to expect the institution to behave exceptionally. If a country regularly tops the chart of the most corrupt countries in the world, what is the probability of finding an exceptional oasis of integrity? It is impossible to isolate any institution of government from the implication of Nigeria as a failed state. A failed state is indicative of systemic crisis and collapse where no part can be individually salvaged for remedial attention. It is a case of we float and sink together. 

In almost all societies governed by law and have not lapsed into dysfunction, there is a positive correlation in the behaviour of the three organs of government, legislature, executive and the judiciary. And the obverse is equally true. Nigeria is a typical example. To its potential destruction, the Nigerian judiciary is now badly implicated in the enthronement of presidents. It remains true that power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. More than any other factor, the over centralisation of power, (personified by the president) is the most subversive agent provocateur of political crisis and instability in Nigeria. In its pursuit, nothing is spared, no prisoners are taken (not the legislature, neither the judiciary nor INEC etc) It is what drove Nigeria to seek escapism in the palliative of the rotation of power which has hardly fulfilled its aspiration as an instrument of tempering the trend towards the winner takes all politics. 

Federalism 

The policy prescription of the adoption of the systemic crisis perspective to the Nigerian crisis is the holistic constitutional review towards the restoration of federalism. It may be an unintended consequence but a return to federalism will relieve the judiciary of its attendant implication in the destructive tendency inherent in the over centralisation of powers. Wherever it occurs, the abnormal implication of the judiciary in the determination of political power has proven a present and direct threat to the integrity and stability of the polity. Not without its shortcomings, federalism, as such, ‘is a response to political conflict, not an optimal strategy that a nation with a unified political identity is likely to enthusiastically embrace.; it is a suboptimal compromise designed to resolve situations that threaten to descend into even less attractive possibilities’

It is admitted that ‘countries with ethnic, linguistic, or religious divisions that substantially coincide with territorial boundaries confront special problems in making democracy work. They are vulnerable to intense intergroup conflict, which all too often leads to violence or to attempts at secession.. In large states that must contend with geographically based ethnic, religious, or linguistic cleavages, some form of regional autonomy is inevitable. And one institutional device intended to mitigate such strains is federalism’. Unfortunately, rather than face up to solve our political problems, we have been adjusting and coming to terms with them as the new normal. 

At least, thirty people have been reportedly killed in a landslide caused by the activities of illegal miners in Kuje area council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

This is just as 19 persons were also kidnapped yesterday in the Bwari area council of the FCT.

The twin incidents were disclosed at a maiden meeting between FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, and the six area council chairmen.

The minister who was surprised at the development said he would summon the FCT director of State Services as well as the commissioner of Police to receive adequate briefings on the kidnap incident and facilitate rescue operations.

Wike asked the council bosses to set up a surveillance task force in their areas to monitor mining activities, just as he promised to meet with his counterpart in Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, to begin talks on the elimination of illegal mining in the FCT.

Also, the minister of state for FCT, Dr Mariya Mahmoud, and the permanent secretary in the FCTA, Olusade Adesola, expressed the willingness of the administration to continue to partner with the area councils to ensure even development of the territory.

Speaking on the challenges confronting the councils, Kwali area council chairman, Danladi Chiya, appealed to the minister and the minister of state to come to their aid.

“When we heard about your appointment, we were happy because you have been a council chairman and, therefore, understand our challenges. Our challenges are inadequate funding of the local government system.

“We have the major challenge of insecurity across the six area councils. Just today (Thursday), about 19 people were kidnapped in the Bwari area council. I just received about five in my council who were in captivity for about six days.

“The next is the development of satellite towns. The issue of sanitation is one of the major challenges confronting us. There is also no efficient transport facility. The Abuja Urban Mass Transit buses are no longer functional.

“Then there is the issue of land allocation. You sit in your council, and your backyard will be allocated to someone you do not even know. Your graveyards and worship centres would be allocated and we are saying that we should be carried along in terms of land allocation,” Chiya said.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike on Thursday said he knew the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi will not win the February 25, 2023 presidential election.

Wike claimed that the youth settled for Obi because he was the youngest among the top politicians who contested.

He noted that even though the youths were tired of the situation in the country, they did not take into cognisance a lot of things.

The Minister stated this during an interview on Channels TV.

Wike said, “I know that he won’t win the election. Let me tell you the truth, I am a realist.

“For me, the way the election went, it was a tough election. I give it to INEC (the Independent National Electoral Commission).

“Obi couldn’t have won the election. “Yes, as a young man, people would have preferred that but look at how the votes went.

“There is this generational change, the young people were tired. So, for them, the only hope they had was to vote for Obi as a younger person compared to other candidates.

“But unknown to them, that is not the reality of Nigerian politics. They didn’t take into cognisance that ethnicity is a factor. They didn’t take into cognisance that religion is a factor, not only competence; that is the reality of Nigerian politics.”

Speaking on the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on Wednesday, Wike said some believe the judiciary was right when Obi reclaimed his mandate as governor of Anambra State in 2007 but the judiciary was wrong when he lost at the presidential Tribunal.

He said, “Did Peter Obi not win at the Supreme Court when he was removed as governor? Did he pay a bribe? Let him tell the world now.

“When he was removed as a governor, did he not reclaim his mandate at the Supreme Court? Judiciary was right but now that the decision happened, the judiciary is wrong.”

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi State has suffered a setback ahead of the governorship election in the state.

The crisis rocking the party has seen a former Deputy Governor of the State, Yomi Awoniyi, officially dumped the party.

Awoniyi, who served as Deputy to former Governor Idris Wada addressed his resignation letter to the Chairman of PDP in Mopamuro Local Government Area of Kogi State, dated 31st August 2023.

He, however, did not state the reason for dumping the opposition party in the state.

The letter titled, “Letter of Resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party”, was released to the media on Thursday.

He wrote, “I hereby write to tender my letter of resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party after 25 unbroken years of loyal and dedicated membership and service.

“With this resignation, I cease to be a member of the PDP. Kindly convey my sincere gratitude to the party faithful in Mopamuro LGA, Kogi West Senatorial District, and indeed the entire state, through your fellow LGA Party chairmen, for their support and camaraderie, over the years.

“I look forward to our continued friendship despite no longer being members of the same political party.”

The governorship candidate of the party in the forthcoming governorship election in the state is Dino Melaye, who at a time represented Kogi West Senatorial District in the National Assembly.

People Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has said the only legacy of Vice-President Kashim Shettima is transforming Borno State from ‘the Home of Peace’ to hell fire.

Atiku said this in a statement by special assistant on Public Communications, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, while reacting to Shettima’s joke about him shortly after the verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).

Following the tribunal judgment in favour of President Bola Tinubu and Shettima, had said “Atiku Abubakar is an elder statesman that I hold in very high esteem, and anybody who knows the social-cultural interaction between the Fulanis and the Kanuris in the North will know that I have the liberty to haul all insults at him, and he will bear,” said Mr Shettima on Wednesday, fielding questions after tribunal’s ruling.

“We are not going to retire him to Dubai or Morocco. I will retire him to Fombina. I will buy him goats, broilers and layers so that he can spend his days rearing goats and broilers, but on a joking side,” the Vice President said.

Responding however, Atiku, a former vice president, said Shettima failed abysmally as governor and chief security officer of Borno State.

The statement said it was laughable that Shettima who has the most woeful governance record in Nigerian history and could not lift the people of Borno State from poverty was planning on investing in Atiku.

It added, “He (Shettima) loves to crack lackluster jokes at every given opportunity. Last year, he said Vice-President Osinbajo should have been an ice cream man instead of a politician. Later on, he said Nigeria needed a leader like Sani Abacha.

“As part of his circus act, he visited the annual general conference of the Nigerian Bar Association in an oversize suit, a pair of sneakers and a poorly knotted tie. Shettima needs to decide if he wants to be a statesman or Baba Sala of blessed memory .

His behaviour is certainly unbefitting for a man who currently holds the exalted office of Vice-President, even if temporarily.”

Shaibu said it had become Shettima’s stock in trade to deride others because he had nothing worthwhile to say about himself or his principal, Bola Tinubu, whose three months in office have only worsened poverty and inflation.

He recalled that Shettima was appointed as commissioner for finance and later became governor of Borno State, adding that those who brought him into government had high expectations for him having come from the banking sector.

“During his tenure as governor between 2011 and 2019, Borno State was taken over by terrorists completely. He ignored a security report about an impending attack on Chibok which ultimately led to the abduction of over 250 schoolgirls.

“Specifically, the head of WAEC’s National Office in Nigeria, Charles Eguridu, stated in 2014 that WAEC had informed Shettima about the danger of holding exams in Chibok and advised that the students be relocated to Maidguri which was relatively safer. Shettima refused to relocate the students and they were abducted, half of whom have not been seen again till today.

“Even though he left government four years ago, the millions of residents of Borno State have yet to recover from the mistake called Shettima. Rather than be penitent, he continues to move about like a clown, making unsolicited dry jokes about others.”

Shaibu advised the Vice-President to stick to praying to God for forgiveness for thwarting the destiny of the millions of people of Borno State.

“We advise Kashim Shettima to spend the remainder of his days praying to God everyday for forgiveness for destroying the lives of the millions of people of Borno State rather than making dry and insipid jokes at those who have actually bettered the lives of people.

“His lack of sophistication is eroding the elegance of the Office of the Vice-President. Men of honour have held that position in the past and Shettima should learn from the examples they led in public decency. In any case, he would do well by attending a finishing school on Atiku’s scholarship and learn how to behave like a polished statesman,” Shaibu said.

Managing Director of National Inland Waterways, Dr. George Moghalu, in this interview speaks on a lot of national issues including the recent crisis that engulfed the ruling All Progressives Congress and his assessment of President Bola Tinubu since he assumed office. Adedayo Akinwale brings excerpts.

What is your assessment of the current government at the centre?

I’m one of those people who don’t believe in this 100 days thing. President BolaTinubu-led administration, in fairness, is still too young for anybody to think of an honest assessment. This, our administration is three months plus.

So it won’t be fair to start making a proper assessment of the administration.

However, I must be honest enough to say that the initial steps taken are quite courageous. He points to the direction of an administration that is committed to delivering on its promises. Because in these times, for you to run an administration, one thing you must have is courage to take very strong and hard decisions.

So I must say the government has started well, but requires all the citizens to keep supporting the government, keep encouraging the government, because we’re all part of the system.

Perhaps I should ask you if you have reconciled with APC?

I never quarrelled with APC. There was a disagreement, which was on principle. And the moment the issue was resolved by the court, I moved on. I was injured, I felt disrespected, I felt humiliated in a party I can boldly claim to be one of the founders of.

I’m not a joiner. So I had to follow the judiciary route as a Nigerian who believes that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man. And fortunately enough, the three stages – we went to the High Court, to the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court – they all gave judgment in my favor. So I made my point. So for me, that phase has passed. Then we continued with our party.

What is your assessment of the new national leadership of the APC and the chances of the party winning the staggered elections in three states?

The new leadership of Dr. Umar Ganduje, it is not up to one month. So what basis are you going to assess him? The point is that he’s experienced, you can’t take that away from him. Somebody who has been special advisor, somebody who’s been Commissioner, somebody who’s been deputy governor, somebody who’s been governor.

I think if there’s any experience that is required to hold any public office, I think Dr. Ganduje has enough of it. But to whom much is given much is also expected. Everybody is expecting him to lead the party well, and like you rightly observed too, and there is a staggered election in three states, which provides his current leadership of the party an opportunity to demonstrate capacity.

So we have three states’ elections in November. So I expect that he will work very hard to deliver. Get everybody on board, and see to it that the party wins the elections in the three states that are going to be contested for in November.

The APC has had six national chairmen in 10 years. Most of them were sacked following internal crisis that bedevilled the party. What do you think should be done to stop this trend?*

That goes to show that it is a human organisation. Because, like I keep telling people, wherever there’s a human organisation, interests certainly would clash. Whenever there’s a human organisation, there are developments that may require you to change the way you are. You are not apt, you’re not fixated on a particular position, and that may have been what has happened in the issue of Chairmen of APC.

Don’t forget that it is only in this last instance that it involved the Chairman and Secretary. Usually, you find out that it is only the chairman because the box stops on the table of the chairman. He is the leader of the party. So, any failure in leadership or any feeling of such will now be pointed at the chairman just as the way he will get all the glory if the party wins any election or scores any positive feat. So changing up our chairmen for me, it doesn’t matter so much. It’s about getting the right people at the right time to do the right job. So if it requires changes till will get the best, to God be the glory.

One of the reasons why Senator Abdulahi Adamu was asked to go was based on alleged corruption. And, surprisingly, Ganduje that was brought to replace him reportedly has a corruption case against him. Is that an indication that the present government is corruption-friendly?

The point here is, are we not living on speculation? Is there any judgement, any indictment of Ganduje? There’s none. It is all about what is being said. We have strong anti-corruption agencies. Nobody has come out to say, Ganduje is corrupt. Nobody has taken him to court. No judgement is pronounced. I am confident that our party wouldn’t have allowed him to be chairman if there’s a conviction or if there’s a pronouncement over him.

As of now, it is still in the realm of speculation. Even the one we are talking about, Adamu, is still in the realm of speculation because it has not been proven. You know, we’re very quick in this country in sentencing people to prison without even hearing them out. But meanwhile, the truth still remains that you don’t have evidence to prove that these people committed these offenses they’ve been accused of because if you had evidence, you go to court and the judiciary is there. If they find you guilty, they pronounce you guilty, and it is only at that stage, that you can boldly come out and say that somebody is corrupt. Otherwise, you’re living in the realm of speculation.

For 2023 presidential poll, your party fielded a muslim-muslim ticket, after the ouster of Adamu, the party still fielded a chairman who is a muslim and the National Secretary who is also a muslim. Do you think your party is sensitive enough to the Christians in the party like yourself and the general public?

I think the party is sensitive. It is not about the sensitivity of the party now. When the party fielded muslim-muslim ticket, Nigerians ignored that and then chose competence, chose capacity to deliver. Yes! muslim-muslim ticket was presented, but it did not override the other benefits. People felt that it’s better for them to deal with so-so and so-so persons based on their capacity and the belief they have in them in the ability to deliver and the expectation.

So for me, that did not matter at all. Because it has happened it has happened. We had an opportunity to say we don’t accept it. And then when you look at the party, it was circumstantial.

For political expediency, the presidency is in the south, a Chairman has to come from the North. In the north today, truth be told, we have more muslims than we have Christians. Just like we have more christians in the south than we have in the north. So I wouldn’t be surprised that the person who emerges from the north is a muslim. Then coming to the south, the Secretary emerging became also circumstantial because from the area where he comes from, there are families that they have christians and muslims together.

In fact, I didn’t even know the Secretary is a muslim until recently and you don’t even need to go too far to find out. Our president in his house, the president is a Muslim, the wife is not only a Christian but a pastor. So how do you balance that? He goes to show that the issue of religion does not matter even in the homes. So let the emphasis be on the capacity and the ability of the people to deliver on the responsibilities assigned to them. Because if they do very well, nobody will remember whether they are christians or muslims. It is when the person now fails, you start looking for other problems to bring up.

I keep telling people, there is no supermarket in Abuja, for example or a market in Abuja that only muslims go to. There is also no market here in Abuja that only christians go to. There are no shops here you can say you must come from the north to buy from them or you must come from the south to buy from them. These things are not necessary.

The important thing is what do we do as a people to better the living condition of our people so that government can impact on them and I think that’s where the emphasis is for now.

You are coasting to the finish line, looking back now, how would you assess yourself? What would you beat your chest for and say I’m a satisfied person and what are those unfulfilled dreams?

Let me put it this way. I would rather find it very difficult to start assessing myself by saying I did very well or I did not do well.

But I would rather prefer a situation where those who worked with me, those in NIWA who worked with me from the date I came in up to the date I will be leaving to the glory of God, for them to be in a position to say this man who came here did well or he did not do well. But what I am going to do is to avail you of a brochure that contains all our projects from 2019 that I came in up to this month, by the 29th, my first term will end.

So that you can be able to look at the projects, you can be able to see them, you can be able to see the list so that when you’re speaking or when you’re writing, you write authoritatively. But I feel satisfied and I sincerely appreciate the former president, my former ministers, the two of them, who provided me the opportunity, who gave me this platform to serve. I also appreciate my colleagues in NIWA from the least person to the highest person, I’m eternally grateful, but most importantly, I thank God Almighty, who literally gave me good health, protected me, guided me and assisted me through to this point.

But I am very satisfied with the little I have contributed in building that agency. If nothing else you will say today, the NIWA you know today was not the same NIWA in 2019.

Four years is very small for you to achieve all, what are those things you wished were completed under your watch?

There is quite a lot that still has to be done. But don’t forget that this is a relay race. You do your bit, you hand over the baton to somebody else to do. Just like somebody handed over the baton to me.

Even if I do a second term, I would still certainly one day hand the baton over to somebody. There is still quite a lot to do in NIWA because I believe very strongly that the potential in the riverine sector, the maritime economy is enormous and we need to explore it.

The government needs to invest further in that sector to be able to reap the benefits that abound in that sector.

Like I always say, Nigeria has the advantage of over 10,000 kilometres of inland waterways, though it’s only about 3,000 and some fractions that are all year round navigable. You can also access 28 states of our country by water if our channels are all open.

So even if it is this we achieve, then we have achieved a milestone. If nothing else, by the time we move bulk cargo by water, you remove them from the road, we save our road infrastructure.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has said the country lost about $46 billion (N16.25 trillion) to crude oil theft between 2009 and 2020.

This is even as a committee of the House summoned the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, and Ministry of Petroleum Resources, among others, for failing to honour its invitation.

The speaker, who spoke yesterday in Abuja while inaugurating the ad hoc committee to investigate crude oil theft and loss of revenue, said the menace of crude oil theft has drastically hampered the growth of the country’s oil production, with Nigeria losing between five and 30 per cent of daily crude oil production.

He, however, expressed shock that critical agencies in the oil and gas sector had refused to honour the committees’ invite, adding that the agencies were not doing the nation any good by refusing to appear before the parliament to answer questions on the critical aspect of the economy.

Represented by chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Upstream, Al Hassan Ado Doguwa, the speaker said if decisive action was not taken to address the issue, the country might be thrown into a deeper fiscal crisis due to dwindling revenue from the oil and gas sector.

Quoting data from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, the speaker said Nigeria’s oil production declined from 2.51 million barrels per day in 2005 to 1.77 million barrels per day in 2020.

He said: “NEITI reports also show that 619 million barrels of crude valued at $46 billion were stolen in the period 2009-2020”, adding that “Nigeria has continually failed to meet its daily production quota as set by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC.”

Abbas explained further that “recently, Nigeria’s OPEC quota was reduced from 1.742 million barrels per day to 1.38 million barrels per day.
”Yet, the country is still struggling to meet this quota as daily production output was 1.184 million barrels per day and 1.249 million barrels per day in May and June 2023 respectively.

“On average, current daily production output is a far cry from the budget assumption of 1.69 million per day. The implication is clearly manifest in the economic crisis that the country is facing.”

While noting that the nation faced a major fiscal crisis, the speaker said global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine had continued to cast a cloud of uncertainty on the oil and gas industry in the country.

He said: “While the average international price for Brent crude oil has hovered slightly above the set benchmark price since January, Nigeria’s daily oil production has performed poorly due to a number of reasons.

“It is common knowledge that investment in the oil and gas sector has declined in the past few years, owing to global financing constraints and the overall response to energy transition considerations.

“However, we must agree that the greatest challenge to optimizing crude oil production in Nigeria is the grand scale oil theft that has plagued the sector for the past 2 decades.”

Abbas said the House was aware of several efforts by past administrations to address the menace of crude oil theft with a number of task forces, special committees and investigative panels set up in the past, each with a wide range of findings and recommendations

He said: “NEITI provides yearly updates on the amount of crude oil stolen or lost through sabotage. Yet, the menace of oil theft has continued unabated despite the enormous resources already committed to addressing it.”

In his remark, chairman of the committee, Alhassa Usman Rumrum, said the volume of losses occasioned by oil theft in the country and its associated impact on the economy were completely unacceptable and could not be tolerated by any government that sincerely loved its citizens.

He said: “The manner this act of sabotage and breach on our national security and sovereignty is carried out daily makes a caricature of our pride as a nation and even a mockery of the acclaimed status of our armed forces.

“It is an affront to government and its institutions which must be tackled without further delay.

It is in the light of these that the House constituted this committee and is determined to bring this ugly trend to an end, otherwise there may be no future for our remaining children who have not yet Japa to other countries in search of survival.

“To members of the armed forces/security agencies, all Nigerians in the various states, host communities and even in the diaspora who are involved in this practice, I challenge you all to have a rethink. We have no other country to call our own, let , therefore, not push this madness to a point of no return where we may find nowhere to run to.”

While commending the President for the courageous steps so far taken to rebuild the country, Rumrum said: “These efforts will be in vain unless we make a resolute statement and send a powerful message through both words and actions, declaring that oil theft and all form of hydrocarbon unaccountability will not be tolerated under this administration.

“Only then can our people confidently and joyfully embrace a renewed sense of hope and purpose.”

Also speaking, a representative of the Nigeria Police Force, Mr Alabi Abiodun, said the police had put in place a task force to assist other security agencies in arresting those attacking oil facilities.

In addressing the menace, Abiodun said perpetrators of the act should be handed over to the Nigerian police to prosecute them effectively.

Former Rivers State Governor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike has renewed his onslaught against fellow members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, loyal it’s Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

This time, around, Wike is calling on the party’s National Working Committee to suspend Atiku, erstwhile Director General of the PDP Presidential Campaign, Senator Waziri Tambuwal among others from the party.

Wike made the call in an interview on a Channels Television political programme, Politis Today, on Thursday.

He also dismissed former PDP presidential aspirant, Dele Momodu, as politically irrelevant noting that Momodu can’t win an election in his local government area.

The former Rivers State Governor also used the opportunity to commend the Justices of the Presidential Election Petition Court for a job well done.

According to him, the judgment which affirmed President Bola Tinubu victory was profound as it was based on sound judgment in terms of technicality and practicality.

In response to a question on the subject, Wike said, The will of the people is determined through the ballot box. How could PDP have won the election when you consider the mood of the nation at that time?

“Look at the areas that the PDP did not win because of high-handedness, because of greed because of impunity. If the PDP had done what they were supposed to do, then you could have talked about that.

“There should be equity, there should be justice, there should be fairness and that is why I am calling on the National Working Committee they should suspend the presidential candidate, suspend people like Aminu Tambuwal so that they can rebuild the party (PDP).”

Attempts to get an official response from the PDP leadership were futile. However, a member of the party’s National Executive Committee who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “ Wike is desperate for attention, we will not indulge him, at the appropriate time he will hear from the party.”