Ali Bongo has been released from house arrest by the military junta in Gabon, eight days after he was deposed as president. 

The new military leaders in the Central African nation said Bongo is free to leave the country for medical treatment.

Bongo was toppled on the morning the electoral umpire announced that he had been re-elected to a third term in office.

On Monday, Brice Nguema, an army general who led the coup, was sworn in as interim president.

Nguema who is Bongo’s cousin, served as a bodyguard to Bongo’s late father and also headed the country’s republican guard, an elite military unit.

The statement announcing Bongo’s release from house arrest was signed by Nguema.

“Given his state of health, the former President of the Republic Ali Bongo Ondimba is free to move about,” Ulrich Manfoumbi, the military spokesperson, said in the statement read on national television on Wednesday evening.

“He may, if he wishes, travel abroad for medical checkups.”

Bongo became president when Omar, his father, died after ruling from 1967 to 2009.

The military is yet to announce a transition to civilian rule programme.

[TheCable]

It’s more than one year to the next governorship election in Edo State, which prides itself on being the “heartbeat of the nation”. But in a maelstrom that has forced the state’s heart to beat faster than is good for it, you would be forgiven to think the election is tomorrow.

The bad blood between Governor Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Philip Shaibu, is so bitter and so strong it has spilled beyond Osadebe House in Benin, splattering as far as Abuja courts, and daily smearing the front pages of newspapers. 

Reports last week said the governor, fed up of seeing his deputy’s face, is preparing an isolation centre for him in the precincts of the Government House, but far enough to keep him out of sight.

One cynical way to look at it is to say Shaibu is getting what he deserves for trying to do what Napoleon could not do. In Nigeria’s 24 years of unbroken civilian rule there are few examples of deputy governors who have succeeded their bosses by election, and only two of them – Mahmud Shinkafi (Zamfara); and Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano) – did so by mutual consent. The others, whether in Bayelsa, Kaduna, Sokoto, Ebonyi, Yobe or Oyo, were either by default or defiance. 

Except Shaibu intends to make his luck, which will not only include raiding the vote bank in Edo South, but also subverting the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) structure in the state, and overthrowing Obaseki’s ego, history is not on his side. 

Making his luck? 

How can Shaibu make his luck when he is throwing everything into battle at once, the very opposite of Napoleon’s famous manoeuvre sur les derrie ‘res or the strategy of inferiority? He doesn’t even enjoy support in his Edo North home base, where the rival All Progressives Congress (APC) could have thrown him a lifeline.

Senator Adams Oshiomhole, APC leader in Edo and Shaibu’s former staunch backer, has told him that APC has no room for internally displaced politicians (IDP) in search of a rehabilitation camp. That may sound harsh, but I’m sure that Shaibu knows he deserves his current misery. Loyalty is not a virtue in politics, sadly. But if Oshiomhole is dressing Shaibu down, he has earned the right to do so. 

Of course, Oshiomhole’s snake may have its hand buried in its womb, but it was this man, for all his hubris, that extended a helping hand to Shaibu, a former Prisons Service officer, after an electoral defeat in his early political career in 2003 nearly left him for dead. 

That helping hand, which he would later turn round to bite, was the hand that paved the way for him not only to later become the majority leader in the Edo House of Assembly, but also to represent Estako Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives in 2015. 

According to one account, in the good old days of comradery conviviality, the infernal idea of inaugurating a minority House of Assembly of 10 members in 2019 after which the majority of 14 (APC) were locked out for entire four years was suggested by Shaibu, who was House Leader between 2009 and 2015. It was a coup that benefited all the plotters.

Yet, however deserving he may be of his current misery, it would be unfair to ignore the circumstances under which Shaibu parted ways with Oshiomhole in 2020. Oshiomhole who was then party chairman of the APC had supervised shambolic primaries in a number of states. 

Things fall apart 

The primaries in Edo were obviously meant to settle scores with his protegee, Obaseki, who had developed a mind of his own. Shaibu joined the train of “conscientious objectors,” ostensibly led by Obaseki, who were obliged to part ways with the APC, taking refuge under PDP’s umbrella provided by the former Governor Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike. 

But Obaseki, the other significant party in this pathetic drama playing out in Edo, is a man of infinite contradictions, whose chameleonic gifts are matched only by his ruthless deployment of power. Against the run of fair play, Oshiomhole imposed him as his successor in 2016, in a self-aggrandising bid to copy the Tinubu-Fashola model in Lagos; he being the Tinubu of Edo, and Obaseki, the former stockbroker from Afrivest, Edo’s Fashola.

The experiment turned out to be a catastrophic fiasco. Barely two years after take-off, the falcon began to defy the falconer and the monster created in the process now threatens not only the creator but also the supplicant who has dared to challenge it.

Birds of a feather

Obaseki and Shaibu deserve each other. And Oshiomhole, the father of this incorrigible pair and high priest of their shenanigans, must be sorry at what his experiment has brought upon the people of Edo. In all of this, my heart goes out to the people who must now endure 12 months of a government in disarray, hampered by in-fighting and back-stabbing.

The deputy governor has been stripped of his responsibilities of monitoring and reporting the collection of Internally Generated Revenue and also benched from supervising the Sports Ministry.

But it gets even pettier. Shaibu’s sister-in-law, Sabina Chikere, who was until recently permanent secretary of the Sports Ministry, has been redeployed to “Central Administration”, an administrative wasteland. She was lucky not to have been lynched by a politically motivated mob as she tried to retrieve her personal effects from her former office.

And to asphyxiate his deputy, Obaseki sacked media aides attached to that office in a vendetta straight out of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s playbook during his face-off with Atiku Abubakar.

A resident, Edosa Okunbo, described the fight as “selfish, shameful and diversionary at a time when the state is bedeviled by bad roads and daily killings by rival cult gangs.” Another resident, Isaac Olamikan, said, “The people will be the worse for this in-fighting.”

Even as videos of the governor’s convoy stranded in flooded Benin roads trend, there is still something he manages to do well: calling out the Federal Government’s profligacy. How a governor can superintend over a shambles at home, call out Abuja with a straight face, and also win local elections overwhelmingly at the height of his hubris are part of the inexplicable alchemy of Nigeria’s politics. I don’t get it.

But it doesn’t matter. The emergence of Obaseki in 2016 propped by political heavyweights and supported by some of Nigeria’s high and mighty, including Aliko Dangote, must feel like an investment in junk bonds now. And the governor’s union with Shaibu, must feel like a marriage made in hell. 

I can imagine that folks in Edo Central who have been hard done by over the years must be fancying the clash between Obaseki who is from the South, and Shaibu who is from the North, with extraordinary amusement. It may well be the argument that advances their case for a shot at power in 2024.

I hope, however, for the sake of the long-suffering people of the state that the governor and his deputy will sheathe the sword, let common sense prevail and serve the people they have sworn to serve for their remaining time in office. 

I have seen what appears to be a letter of rapprochement by the deputy governor addressed to the DSS, the governor and the chief judge, on official letterhead and was pleased that Shaibu still has access to his letterhead. I hope the truce holds. As things are now, apart from the two contenders, the only people profiting from this ego-fest are political opportunists and assorted jobbers.

Edo people deserve far, far better than being spectators in a pointless, diversionary ego war.

The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) has just delivered its excoriating judgement on the petitions flowing from the Presidential Elections of February 25th 2023.

Majority of the followers of the Labour Party (LP) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), including their candidates who have often tacitly expressed their lack of confidence that the Tribunal would deliver justice are not surprised at the judgment because they never truly believed they would get a fair the courts in the long run.

They accused the judiciary of rapacious interference of hire wired corruption and a highly influential establishment that is against them in a game where they are no match. Yet they played on thinking that the Almighty God would touch the hearts of the Justices to be patriotic by the awakening of a new populist consciousness driven by the campaign of “All Eyes on the Judiciary“.

The “All Eyes….” campaign did not only fail with sleepy eyes on the bar but it availed nothing but additional misery when the Learned Justices of the Court of Appeal decided to validate the election of President Bola Tinubu in such a stoic judgment that has stunned the legal teams of the petitioners, making them to wonder if the law they thought they understood was written in the English language.

To the chagrin of the LP and PDP supporters who had really hoped otherwise against their singsong of utter lack of confidence in the courts, yet in their fatalism, they thought the Tribunal would rule in their favour but lawyers understand that when a court has decided to follow a particular course, it would employ every relevant Supreme Court authority to support its position just to make it very difficult to fault its judgment and nearly impossible to overturn it on appeal. Thus it is not the fault of those brilliant lawyers who represented PDP and LP. And becomes ridiculous to suggest to Peter Obi to demand a refund of the legal fees he paid to them.

Therefore the Labour Party and the People’s Democratic Party will be inviting more misery and disappointment on their supporters if they choose to go on appeal to a Supreme Court that they don’t trust or consider able to engender any confidence to deliver justice.

A better course would be to consider the future of Nigeria with a better strategy of unity. The LP and PDP lost the 2023 presidential elections when they failed to realize that only a coalition of true unity of their political parties could have defeated the All Progressives Congress that was in charge of government at that time.

LP and PDP must simply wake up to the reality!

The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Mr Shubham Chaudhuri, has said that public spending in the country is among the lowest globally.

He said this while making his keynote address at the annual banking and finance conference in Abuja on Tuesday.

His presentation noted that “Nigeria’s government expenditures are the lowest globally.”

According to Chaudhuri, “Public spending by the Nigerian government, both the federal and subnational levels, have been very low.”

He added that government spending is insufficient to close the infrastructure gap.

His presentation document read, “At the current rate of capital spending, it would take 300 years to close Nigeria’s infrastructure gap.”

The World Bank leader for Nigeria also noted that public investment spending in Nigeria lags those in other countries like Indonesia, Ghana, Egypt, and Kenya, and this has led to poor quality of and access to infrastructure.

Chaudhuri also said that government revenues are one of the lowest in the world between 2015 and 2021, and low revenues are the key risk to fiscal and debt sustainability.

He further noted that access to finance is abysmally low, which further restricts the private sector’s ability to invest, grow, and generate jobs.

In his keynote address, Chaudhuri emphasised that for Nigeria to achieve steady growth and prosperity, both federal and state governments must take critical steps to ensure the country’s security, political stability, and the rule of law.

The bank also called on authorities to invest in human capital, particularly in children, unleash the potential of private investment, promote job creation, and ensure access to finance.

Also, at the conference, some stakeholders reiterated the need for the financial sector to make deliberate efforts towards increasing its contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, challenged the financial sector to move from 3.6 to about nine per cent growth of GDP.

Bagudu said, “To grow Nigeria’s economy, we must empower our youthful population and this can only be achieved by having an inclusive and sustainable financial services industry, adding that the biggest threat to retaining our best brains today is emigration and our country’s talent is being sought after in the more developed countries in Europe and North America.

‘’Emigration is a personal choice for the person and his family, our country cannot and will not forcefully stop anyone from legally pursuing their dreams and ambitions. If they choose to leave Nigeria, all we can ask is for them to be good ambassadors for our country in their adopted homes’’.

Also, the acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Folashodun Shonubi, said the sector’s economic contribution to the nation was low and needed improvement.

“Can we promise them that instead of 3.6 per cent, we will be contributing a lot more than that. And we will sit down and find what the drivers are that we can influence and do.

“I don’t want to put a number in front of us but it is what I will like to see at the end of the conference.  I don’t think we contribute a lot of ourselves , we as bankers need to be more conscious, a bit more active on advocacies that are actionable,” he said.

Similarly, the Chairman, Body of Banks’ CEOs, Mr Ebenezer Onyeagwu, urged for a deliberate effort by the stakeholders towards growing the country’s economy.

He said, “We have enormous potential, the biggest potential we have is in our market. Our market is depleted by the number of people we have.

In his remarks, the President of the Chattered Institute of Bankers, Mr Ken Opara said the event which has grown to become the largest gathering of banking and finance professionals in Africa, provides the platform for professionals to come together to drive conversation on topical issues that are critical to the growth of the Nigerian economy.

He praised the reform initiatives of President Bola Tinubu, noting that “the reform initiatives such as subsidy removal, unifying the foreign exchange regime, investing in infrastructure, promoting agriculture, supporting SMEs and tax reforms, among others, if well implemented will unlock the economic potentials of the country.”

[Punch]

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has ended its two-day warning strike, directing its members to resume work today.

The congress described the participation of its affiliate unions in the warning strike as a “show of undaunted and resilient commitment to defend Nigerian workers and citizens against man-made economic hardship”.

It urged the affiliate unions to stand by for the indefinite strike, should the Federal Government refuse to take effective action to ameliorate the suffering of workers occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy.

A statement yesterday in Abuja by NLC President Joe Ajaero reads: “We write to extend our heartfelt gratitude to all our dedicated affiliates, state councils, and esteemed members for their unwavering support and active participation in the recent two-day nationwide warning strike.

“This collective effort was undertaken to emphasise our strong conviction that the government should prioritise the welfare of our citizens and adhere to our established statutes.

“We are pleased to report that, thanks to your resolute commitment, we have made significant strides in achieving the goals set during our National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, which prompted the initiation of this warning strike. It is abundantly clear that our united message has resonated loudly with the government, and it would take a truly inattentive ear not to hear it.

“As we mark the end of the two-day nationwide warning strike today, at the stroke of midnight, we earnestly call upon you all to gracefully conclude the strike and return to work tomorrow (today), in accordance with our initial agreement…”

Our correspondents report that the warning strike was successful in some states but flopped in others.

In Sokoto State, the NLC hailed its members for complying with the two-day warning strike.

Addressing reporters yesterday in Sokoto, the State NLC Chairman Abdullahi Aliyu said: “Our workers and other affiliates of the NLC have shown dedication and commitment toward ensuring the success of our struggle for better living condition for all.

“We will continue to remain on our oath to support the government to achieve the desired economy that will provide food on the table of the poor and the general public.”

In Enugu State, the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC) said the warning strike caused the loss of supply in parts of its network.

The distribution company said this resulted in the shutdown of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) dtations feeding its injection substations.

EEDC’s Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Emeka Ezeh, announced this yesterday in Enugu.

He said the affected TCN stations are: New Haven, Ohiya, and Egbu transmission stations.

According to him, the development affected power supply to EEDC’s customers under Ogui, Abakpa, Umuahia, Owerri, New Owerri, Orlu, and Mbaise districts, feeding from the affected TCN stations.

In Ogun State, the warning strike prevented the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta, the state capital, from delivering its judgment on the senatorial election petition for Ogun West.

The state’s judicial workers locked out the tribunal members.

In Lagos State, most workers ignored the warning strike as they went about their businesses.

Banks, schools and other business concerns opened fully to customers and the state secretariat in Ikeja was fully open for work.

The Ikeja Under-Bridge axis to the House of Assembly, the usual starting and terminal spots for protests, did not have the usual large crowd.

Traffic was smooth except for the usually “go-slow” in some areas across the state.

Also, the Plateau State NLC Chairman Eugene Manji said the warning strike achieved its aim.

Manji, who spoke with The Nation yesterday in Jos, the state capital, said: “Every arm of the labour force complied: the state and federal secretariats’ workers complied. Banks and corporate organisations across the state also complied. We went round to enforce compliance, where necessary. So, it was successful in the state.”

In Adamawa State, a task force set up by the state chapter of the NLC shut down many offices that opened yesterday, mostly in Yola, the state capital.

The task force, which was led by NLC State Vice Chairman Usman Babbada, also had leaders of some affiliates of the umbrella union.

They ensured that members of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) did not work at their offices.

The task force locked up the two High Court complexes in the town, forcing the Election Petitions Tribunal in the state to suspend activities.

The enforcement team also stormed the state secretariat complex where the few workers on duty were chased out.

Members of the team parleyed with some permanent secretaries on why they too should comply with the warning strike.

In Abia State, government offices and public institutions across the 17 local government areas shut down operations.

Our correspondent, who monitored compliance in Aba and Umuahia, reports that affiliate members of the NLC as well as some financial institutions closed down their services.

Residents who needed money used the Automated Teller Machines (ATM).

Commercial bus drivers had low patronage as government workers, especially, did not come out to report for work.

This led to lower number of commuters during the period of the warning strike.

In Kwara State, there was partial compliance with the warning strike.

Banks, which opened in the morning, shut their gates, while junior civil servants joined the strike action.

The State NLC Chairman Muritala Olayinka did not answer his calls or reply to messages sent to his mobile phone for comments.

But the state Chairman of National Union of Agriculture and Allied Employees, Kayode Ehindero, said his union supported the action.

[Nation]

Former Bayelsa East Senator, Ben Murray-Bruce, has advised the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and his Labour Party (LP) counterpart, Peter Obi, to accept President Bola Tinubu’s leadership.

Murray-Bruce gave the advice in a post on his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday while reacting to the final outcome of the 2023 presidential election tribunal.

He stated that the tribunal verdict had cleared all doubts about the strength and validity of Tinubu’s mandate, adding that the former Lagos Governor is the duly elected and undisputed President of Nigeria.

The Chairman of SilverBird Group, however, called on Atiku and Obi to eschew their selfish considerations and work with the Tinubu government to move the nation forward.

He wrote: “Our elections don’t have to end in the courts. But now that we have found ourselves in this position, and the courts have spoken, let us put national interest above self-interest, accept the verdict, and move on so the nation can advance.

“Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the duly elected and undisputed President of Nigeria, and this judgment should settle all questions and erase all doubts.”

Murray-Bruce, an ally of Atiku, said his party’s presidential candidate should demonstrate his statesmanship by conceding defeat like former President Goodluck Jonathan in the interest of democracy and the nation.

“Once elections have been held and a winner is announced, we must follow the Jonathan doctrine and accept the people’s verdict in the interest of democracy and the nation,” he said.

He also commended the judges for doing a good job of strengthening the country’s democracy, especially since they said no sufficient evidence was tendered proving fraud and widespread non-compliance with electoral regulations.

“I commend the judges of the Presidential Election Petition Court for doing a challenging job exceptionally well. It was democracy that won. So, I commend both the President and his challengers.

“Coincidentally, this verdict is coming as the President marks a hundred days in office, days that have been eventful, effective and decisive. And now, without this unnecessary uncertainty hanging over his head, we can expect even better days.

“Finally, I call on supporters of all the parties to this now settled case to be mindful of recent events on our continent and thus tailor their words and actions to promote the peace, progress and prosperity of Nigeria as one democratic and united nation under God,” he said.

[NaijaNews]

Al-Nassr striker, Cristiano Ronaldo has said his rivalry with Lionel Messi “is gone” having both already “changed the history of football.”

The two footballers have dominated for over a decade.

Between themselves, Ronaldo and Messi have won a combined 79 trophies and are the only two players to have scored over 800 goals each.

“I don’t see things like that, the rivalry is gone,” Ronaldo said.

“It was good, the spectators liked it.

“Those who like Cristiano Ronaldo don’t have to hate Messi and vice versa. We’ve done well, we have changed the history of football. We are respected all over the world, that’s the most important thing,” he added.

Ronaldo left European football for Saudi Arabia in January this year, after his contract at Manchester United was terminated.

Messi, who won the 2022 World Cup, joined Inter Miami CF in June as a free agent after two seasons at Paris Saint-Germain.

He became the most decorated football player when he won his 44th trophy after helping the MLS club lift the 2023 Leagues Cup in August.

[DailyPost]

ON Wednesday, September 6, the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, PEPT, delivered judgement in the petitions filed by Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Peter Obi and the Labour Party, and the Allied Peoples Movement, APM, challenging the declaration of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, winner of the February 25 presidential poll.

It is instructive that the ruling came exactly on the day the respondent, Bola Tinubu, marked his 100th day in office as President. It is also worth noting that as the judgement was being delivered in Abuja, Tinubu who ordinarily should be in the eye of the storm, was in far-away New Delhi, India, where he is representing Nigeria on an observer status at the summit of the group of 20 most industrialised nations, G20, the premier forum for international economic cooperation, on the invitation of the incumbent chairman, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India.

I doubt if there is any Nigerian who was in doubt what the outcome of the case would be. Before he left Nigeria for India on Monday, Tinubu’s spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, told Nigerians that his principal was “not worried” about the outcome of the court matter. The braggadocio of the Tinubu loyalists in the week leading up to the judgement day pointed to the fact that they were sure of the outcome.

As the PEPT was delivering its judgement on Wednesday, a friend of mine, a senior lawyer, sent me a text enquiring if I was watching it on television. He said the judges couldn’t even have done a better job as defence attorneys. I asked him if the judiciary can ever be redeemed and his answer was a categorical No!

I was saddened. Make no mistake about it. I have never believed that Nigerian courts are capable of delivering justice particularly in matters of high-octane political value like this one. So, I was not saddened because I was disappointed. No! But to realise that many lawyers are increasingly losing faith in the ability of the courts to deliver justice is a bad omen.

I have had discussions in recent times with many politicians who have been in courts either defending their “mandates” as declared by the electoral umpire or trying to retrieve their alleged “stolen mandates”. It has been a tale of woes on both sides. The only determinant factor is money – loads of money.

But the outcome of this case should worry any well-meaning Nigerian because it impugns on our so-called democracy. For democracy to be “government of the people, by the people, for the people” as former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, noted in his famous Gettysburg address on November 19, 1863, the votes of the people must be the sole determinant of who gets elected. That is not the case in Nigeria, as indeed it is not in many other African countries, where elections are not free and fair.

In every milieu where might is right, and those who are powerful can do what they wish unchallenged, even if their action is, in fact, unjustified, woe betides anyone who stands in their way. That is clearly the case with our dear country where a few people have totally captured the state. There is everything wrong with our democracy. In a country where there is no difference between private and public purse, swearing in “winners” of a contentious election before the final determination is made in court is injurious not only to the so-called losers but the Nigerian state itself.

All the odds are against the petitioners. Attempt by the National Assembly in 2014 to make a law that would make the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, take the responsibility of proving the conduct and regularity of elections in the country before the election petitions tribunal or the court failed. If that Bill had scaled through, the resultant Act would have placed the burden of proof on the INEC, instead of the litigants. It would have also reduced the difficulties petitioners normally face while trying to get the necessary documentary evidence in support of their petitions.

In their ruling, yesterday, the five Justices blamed the petitioners for not producing enough evidence of electoral malfeasance even when they were well aware that the Professor Mahmoud Yakubu-led INEC blatantly refused to avail them those documents, flagrantly disobeying the Tribunal’s order. While the alleged losers who, for all I care, may indeed be the winners are further stretched financially in courts, those that have been declared winners, who may indeed be the losers, make use of public funds in defending their “mandates” in court.

Not only that, they deploy the resources of the state – human and material – maximally. As it is the case in this instant case, Tinubu has been using the enormous privileges and powers conferred on him by the office of the presidency to consolidate power and entrench himself. He sacked the Service Chiefs and appointed his loyalists. In a country where the military swear allegiance to the President rather than the Constitution, and are only interested in regime protection rather than protection of the Nigerian state, wielding the coercive powers of the state makes all the difference.

Immediately the PEPT announced the judgement date, the Department of State Services, DSS, issued an ominous warning against anyone who may have the appetite to protest the ruling. Before Tinubu jetted out to India, he had a meeting with all the Service Chiefs behind closed doors. The military top brass came out of the meeting to warn would-be “troublemakers”.

While the petitioners were finding it difficult to make a headway in the case, the President was busy making juicy appointments and dispensing political patronages. Prince Lateef Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, one of Tinubu’s lawyers at the tribunal, is now the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice. Even presidential candidates of some political parties are seriously lobbying President Tinubu for a slice of the national cake and pledging their unalloyed loyalty.

I doubt if there is any Nigerian who sincerely believed that the PEPT will sack Tinubu. And yesterday’s judgement will only be a fait accompli at the Supreme Court should the petitioners decide to go on appeal. Those who insist that what happened at the Tribunal on Wednesday is evidence that Nigeria is still groping in the dark, may not be wrong after all. Someone quipped: “After seeing this, do you still want to waste time on Nigeria’s judiciary and questionable politicians?” Some do but I don’t. Tinubu has wangled his way to the presidency and used the judiciary to legitimise his position.

Ours is a democracy where the people have no say. As a pall of silence descends on Nigeria once again as it was the case when Prof Yakubu declared the presidential election result in the wee hours of the morning when most people were asleep, highly distraught but subdued Nigerians will pick the pieces of their lives and move on. But I foresee danger. Aside Nigerians like myself who have vowed never to vote again in any Nigerian election and the attendant voter apathy, those who are still foolhardy to throw their hat into the electoral ring may decide that henceforth every electoral battle must be waged, won or lost at the polling booth rather than waiting for INEC to make a declaration and embark on a wild goose chase at the courts. When the judiciary wittingly or unwillingly takes the role of democracy undertakers, that is a recipe for anarchy!

Super Eagles forward, Victor Osimhen has become the first Nigerian male footballer in 24 years to get nominated for the prestigious Ballon d’Or award as Super Falcons star, Asisat Oshoala also got nominated for the 2023 Ballon d’Or women’s player of the year award for the second successive year.

The Super Eagles star striker, who has scored 17 goals in 25 international appearances, becomes the first Nigerian to be nominated for the prestigious prize since Nwankwo Kanu in 1999.

The Napoli forward also becomes the 7th Nigerian male footballer and 8th Nigerian player to earn a Ballon D’Or award nomination after Finidi George (1995), Austin Jay-Jay Okocha (1995), Daniel Amokachi (1995), Nwankwo Kanu (1996, 1999), Victor Ikpeba (1997), Sunday Oliseh (1998), and Asisat Oshoala(2022, 2023).

It was a historic day for Nigeria as Osimhen restored the glory of the Super Eagles since 1999 and Oshoala continued to stamp her feet as the best African player after she wrote her name in the history books by becoming the first female African player to get the Ballon d’Or nomination in 2022, finishing in the 16th position among the shortlisted 30 players.

Oshoala, who is the reigning Africa women’s player of the year, scored 21 goals in just 28 games to lead FC Barcelona to the 2022/23 Spanish league title and was the Spanish club’s top-scorer with 27 goals in all competitions.

The 28-year-old was instrumental as Barcelona retained their domestic title and won the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

At the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, 5-time record African Player of the Year award winner Oshoala made history as the first Nigerian and first female African player to score at three different editions of the FIFA World Cup. She has now scored 31 goals and won the Women’s African Cup of nations three times with the Super Falcons.

Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen makes the list of 30 star players nominated for the 2023 Ballon d’Or men’s award alongside Inter Miami forward, Lionel Messi and Man City forward Erling Haaland.

The Napoli striker scored 26 Serie A goals last season to guide the Partenopei to the Scudetto for the first time in more than three decades.

Nigerian forward, Victor Osimhen has been nominated alongside Inter Miami forward, Lionel Messi and Man City forward Erling Haaland for the 2023 Ballon d’Or men’s award.

Osimhen is currently one of the best players in Europe and he is in superb form, continuing his goalscoring form at Napoli where he has now scored 62 goals in 103 appearances.

The Nigerian striker scored 26 goals and added 4 assists in 32 league appearances to emerge as the highest goal scorer and lead Partenopei to their first Serie A title in 33 years.

The 24-year-old was the first African player to achieve the feat he is also currently the highest-scoring African in the Italian top flight after eclipsing the old record set by former Cameroon legend Samuel Eto’o.

Osimhen will compete with favourite and seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi and a plethora of other European superstars.

The Ballon d’Or ceremony will take place at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on October 30.

The winners of the Ballon d’Or 2023 will be announced on this day.

Anyone who has seen enough of Nigerian history and politics would have known beforehand how Wednesday would unfold. Despite all the build-up of anticipation in some quarters, the procedure of presidential electoral petition tribunals is standard: they deliver their judgment (expectedly in favour of the incumbent), analysts will dissect the verdict for days (maximum, a week), and all the while regular life will go on without missing a tempo. Every presidential election since 1999 has been a subject of litigation, and each has unfurled in virtually the same way. If the tribunal does not rule on substance, they will do so on technicalities. Either way, there was no dislodging an incumbent.

Going to the tribunal for Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party was thus tricky right from the start. There is virtually no reasonable person who did not see the defectiveness of the election. Nigerians saw it; foreign observers affirmed as much. Yet, going to court does not mean a receiver of stolen goods would be dispossessed of their loot. Presidential election petitions are adjudged, not based on the integrity of their conduct, but on the presumption that the declared winner would still have won despite the irregularities. Contesting an election in court, even when you are unsure of victory, does no more than officially register your discontent. If you do not formalise your grievance, the declared winner (and their followers) will take the acquiescence as proof of the legitimacy of the election. They would have publicly reasoned that if their opponents had any worthwhile evidence to the contrary, they would have challenged the results in the courts. At the same time, by litigating, contenders risk looking like bitter losers. My attitude to these things is that if it does not matter either way, you might as well do it anyway.

Yet one wonders why this time feels so different that some members of the judiciary and government officials thought it was worth undercutting the public expectations one way or the other. Partisans would, of course, write off the dissidence of a section of the public as mere delusions but discerning minds will probe why people became overly invested in the election petition process even when our history is instructive enough. My thought is that what people are looking for is not just judgment but justice, a sense that is wrong with the polity can still be righted. But what about the present political atmosphere is making people look for a breakdown of the existing order?

Looking beyond Nigeria for a moment, one finds that the “miracle” of bringing an abrupt end to the existing oppressive political order that people wanted the presidential election tribunal to perform is what the coups springing up on the continent are currently achieving. There is a good reason no one, except political elites of course, is bemoaning the erosion of democracy in different parts of Africa where the military has taken over. The ousted President of Gabon, Ali Bongo, gave himself away as another out-of-touch-with-reality political elite when he made a video asking people to protest on his behalf. Other than himself and his cronies, for whom is the coup that has stripped him of his privilege and power a loss? Say what you choose about the abomination of coups, but they satiate the desire of those who want cosmic justice in a socio-political arrangement that does nothing more than diminish them. Take away the partisanship of religious and tribal sentiments in Nigeria, and you will find that most of us are similarly disillusioned.

That is because our politics no longer represent our political identities or aspirations. It has morphed into a monstrosity, feeding on our hopes, dreams, and collective potential, all the while acquiring a strength that makes it difficult to dislodge. That ordinary citizens saw judicial intervention as a means to end the present political arrangement suggests they are yearning for—as far as democratic institutions go anyway—a force of power that can upturn the ongoing oppressive order. I wonder if the judiciary, in writing Wednesday’s judgment, apprehended the nature of the discontent or this all was just for them a technical procedure of interpreting the law?

Judging by how retired Supreme Court judge Mary Odili tried to school everyone on the issue at a Sunday event, I am unsure this reads to them as anything more than what subsists in a day’s work. While speaking regarding the presidential election tribunal, she expressed hope that “when the seasons (of elections and attendant litigations) are gone, the court gets back to their natural and regular duties of adjudication regarding the affairs, and rights of all persons irrespective of their status in life.” Well, while the people her speech targeted will expectedly move past the verdict, the cynicism with which they have regarded the judiciary in the past months (and which culminated in the “all eyes on the judiciary” campaign the government tried to repress) will keep corroding trust in the institution. There is really no “moving on” here.

Some other examples do not show that judicial officers are taking the public criticism they have received in good faith. In February for instance, when some critics took up the Supreme Court on some curious judgments it had delivered in recent times, the institution responded with an arrogant, condescending, and—unfortunately too—a tawdrily written piece that called the professionalism of that institution into judgment.

Roughly a month ago too, the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria ordered that the “all eyes on the judiciary” billboards be pulled down. ARCON went as far as suspending top officials who approved the billboards and disbanding their unit. The overkill suggests that the moral pressuring the billboard sought to achieve was effective. The ARCON director-general who ordered the measures, Olalekan Fadolapo, claimed that the campaign is “considered a blackmail against the Nigerian judiciary, the presidential election petition tribunal and particularly the justices of the tribunal who are expected to discharge their judicial functions without fear or favour over a matter that is currently jus pendis.”

In a society where government agencies and officials routinely flaunt court directives, who really is in a better position to “blackmail” judges? Is it the faceless people who put up a billboard or those with actual political power who can cow judges to submission? Fadolapo must have been on vacation out of the planet when a senator, Adamu Bulkachuwa, stood up in the hollowed chamber of the National Assembly and indiscreetly confessed that, as Appeal Court president, his wife extended favours to his lawmaker colleagues.

Senator Bulkachawa openly admitted what everyone knew all along: judicial outcomes are about the network of influence and not necessarily the law. Female judges, especially the ones married to politicians, are particularly vulnerable in this respect because there is a limit to which they can resist political pressure from their own husbands. Mrs Bulkachawa, of course, disowned her husband’s loose mouth but his unprompted statement already gave them away as influence peddlers.

In a country where the law is studiously observed that faux pas would end their careers. She would face a judicial panel, and every case she ever presided over would be subjected to review. In Nigeria, nothing happened. Mind you, the people who got away with such egregiousness are those Fadolapo thinks can be “blackmailed” by a mere billboard!

Rather than merely moving on, the judiciary owes it to itself to at least make some effort to understand that setting all eyes on the judiciary is a search for justice, for meaning, and for righteousness. Ignoring it will not make it go away. It just means a time will come when they take their eyes off the judiciary and become a law unto themselves.