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The Department of State Services (DSS) says it will not condone fake news, incendiary or hate speeches “designed to whip up dangerous ethnic, religious and/or political sentiments capable of stoking the embers of violence” during the 2019 elections.

This was contained in a statement issued on Monday, signed by Peter Afunanya, the DSS Public Relations Officer.

“Prospective law breakers” were also forewarned to “steer clear of acts capable of undermining national security and stability”, as the DSS would bring them to book.

The statement read: “As Nigerians go to the polls to elect their leaders at the national and state levels, the Department of State Services (DSS) enjoins all stakeholders — politicians, citizens, voters, observers, electoral officers, the media, Civil Society Organizations and security operatives — to be law abiding and observe the rules of engagement as doing so is germane to the success of the exercise. The Service commits itself to the provision of adequate security throughout the period of the electoral process.

“Politicians and the youth are expected to shun all acts of violence the same way observers are urged to keep to the fundamentals and principles of election monitoring as allowed by law and global best practice. Without doubt, the Electoral Act is clear on the roles of stakeholders. The common aim of all and sundry should be for Nigeria to hold successful elections that will be adjudged free, fair, transparent and credible and accepted nationally and internationally. Everyone is urged to conduct themselves properly before, during and after the elections and avoid actions that may cause breakdown of law and order

“On its part, the DSS will professionally discharge its statutory mandate which, among others, is to detect and prevent threats and crimes against the internal security of Nigeria. Also, it will appropriately engage stakeholders. This is for the protection and success of the elections. Therefore, ensuring security that will make the electoral process noble and acceptable to participants and their supporters is uppermost to the Service. In this regard, the Service is determined to identify and arrest criminals and their collaborators whose activities are counter to the national objective of achieving peaceful and orderly elections.

“Similarly, the Service will not condone fake news, incendiary or hate speeches designed to whip up dangerous ethnic, religious and/or political sentiments capable of stoking the embers of violence. Consequently, prospective law breakers are forewarned to steer clear of acts capable of undermining national security and stability. The Service will, however, not stand idly and watch miscreants and mischief makers bring avoidable chaos and disorder upon the nation.”

The DSS also called on the public for support to ensure smooth conduct of the elections.

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Bill Clinton, a former President of the United States of America, has cancelled his trip to Nigeria on the premise that it could be “politicised”.

Clinton had been named one of the dignitaries to deliver goodwill messages at the signing of a National Peace Accord scheduled to take place at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, on Wednesday, February 13, 2019.

According to CNN, a press release signed by his spokesman Angel Ureña, read: “Over the course of the last several days, and after various conversations with the different stakeholders, it’s become apparent that President Clinton’s visit to Nigeria has the potential to be politicised in a way that is not in line with the goals of the Committee. Therefore, he will not be travelling to Abuja.”

The statement also noted that he will speak later during the week with President Muhammadu Buhari.

The scheduled trip was facilitated by the Kofi Annan Foundation and the National Peace Committee.

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Nine people lost their lives, while 15 others sustained injuries during a ghastly auto crash that occurred in Takai Local Government Area of Kano State.

The accident was said to have occurred at 9:30am on Monday at Dinyarmadiga village in Takai LGA.

Nasiru Abu Faragai, the Council’s Information Officer, said the accident involved a VW Sharon bus with registration number BUJ 389 AA – Jigawa and a Toyota Sienna vehicle with registration number YLA 389 PK – Adamawa.

He said the VW Sharon bus from Jos, heading to Kano was on high speed and was trying to avoid a pothole. However, the vehicle veered into the lane of the Toyota Sienna coming from Kano and heading to Yola, the Adamawa State capital.

“The two vehicles had a head-on collision and the driver of the Toyota Sienna died on the spot with eight other passengers,” he said.

The injured persons were immediately taken to Takai General Hospital for treatment.

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An advocacy group, #FreeDejiAdeyanju Campaign Organisation, has marked 58 days of the detention of Deji Adeyanju, a human rights crusader.

A press statement made available to the journalists in Abuja on Sunday, stressed that Adeyanju’s detention is illegal, and accused the present administration of lacking conscience.

The group also handed over Adeyanju’s case to God.

The statement read: “Today marks the 58th day since our brother and comrade, Deji Adeyanju, has been in a hellhole induced by the conscienceless regime of Buhari-Osinbajo in Kano State.

“Although he is presently confined within an extremely unpleasant environment and under the harshest conditions anyone could live in, he would like the tyrants in Aso Rock to know that his spirit remains firm and unbroken.

"The prolonged unlawful detention of Deji Adeyanju by the incumbent regime calls to question the humanity quotient of both the man who touts himself as a Law Professor cum Pastor and the other who is touted as a reformed democrat.

"Adeyanju’s family and associates know that his life is in danger, but we all are hanging our hopes on the Almighty God; the God of Elijah and Abraham; the one who strikes when he wishes; who wins all battles without even an ounce of defeat.”

Noting that his family and associates were worried about his safety, the statement continued: “These concerns stem from the consistent display of disrespect for human lives and dignity by the Buhari-Osinbajo’s cancerous and divisive regime. But, we must re-emphasize that we the comrades of Deji Adeyanju are undaunted, unperturbed and highly hopeful — both in the power of God and in the power of the good people of our great country, those who are ready to have their mouths severed from their heads — if that’s what it takes to flay tyranny and speak truth to power.

“The continued persecution of Deji Adeyanju is the last indication of the doom that awaits tyrants and their praise singers.”

The statement was jointly signed by Ariyo-Dare Atoye, Convener, Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution; Raphael Adebayo, Co-Convener, Free Nigeria Movement, and Moses Paul, Convener, MADConnect.

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has accused Hajiya Bola Shagaya, a businesswoman and socialite, of frustrating its efforts to conclude its investigation into a “suspicious” Unity Bank account with a balance of N1,902,673,399.93.

The anti-graft agency said it invited Shagaya but she refused to honour the invitation.

Her refusal to show up made the commission “unable to conclude investigation and file a charge against her”.

Oghare Ogbole, a female operative of the EFCC, stated this in a counter-affidavit which the anti-graft agency filed to oppose a suit filed by Shagaya to challenge the freezing of the Unity Bank account.

The EFCC had placed a ‘No Debit Order’ on the account, following an interim order given by Justice Muslim Hassan of the Federal High Court in Lagos on December 29, 2016.

The businesswoman, however, filed an application, urging the judge to lift the freezing order, saying she was not given fair hearing before her account was frozen.

The EFCC opposed her, insisting that the freezing order was lawfully obtained.

The anti-graft agency claimed that the N1.9billion found in the Unity Bank account was the balance of a total of N3,305,150,000, which Shagaya received as “founder fees” on behalf of an organisation, ‘Women for Change’, spearheaded by Patience Jonathan, a former First Lady.

The EFCC claimed that the N3.3billion was realised through Shagaya’s “fraudulent activities in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation,” where she allegedly “influenced the fraudulent allocation of Dual Purpose Kerosene to Index Petrolube Africa Ltd., with the aid of the former First Lady, Mrs Dame Patience Jonathan”.

According to the EFCC, the N3.3billion was paid by Index Petrolube Africa Ltd. and its sister company, Autodex Nigeria Limited. The two companies, it said, belong to one Honourable Ezeani ThankGod, adding that the reason for the N3.3billion payment was to “fraudulently facilitate Dual Purpose Kerosene to ThankGod’s company, Index Petrolube Africa Ltd”.

The anti-graft agency claimed that out of the N3.3billion, Shagaya had “paid a cumulative sum of N1,212,000,000 to the former First Lady, Mrs Dame Patience Jonathan, through her ‘Women for Change Initiative’ account domiciled in Diamond Bank, to which the former First Lady is the sole signatory".

It said after paying N1.2billion to Mrs. Jonathan, Shagaya kept the balance of N1.9billion for herself by “warehousing” same in her personal bank account in Unity Bank.

The EFCC said it was on this basis that it secured an order by Justice Muslim Hassan of the Federal High Court in Lagos on December 29, 2016, to freeze the account.

It said Shagaya would have been charged to court, but she had not honoured its invitation to enable it conclude its investigation.

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Tajudeen Adefisoye, the House of Representatives candidate for Ifedore/Idanre Federal Constituency in Ondo State, contesting on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), has denied his arrest after an attack on his convoy.

Adefisoye said the claim that he was arrested by security agencies was sponsored by the members of the All Progressives Congress (APC). 

He disclosed this on Monday, while addressing journalists in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

The SDP candidate specifically accused Honourable Bamidele Baderinwa, the incumbent APC House of Representatives member of being behind the attack on his campaign train in Ipogun town.

SaharaReporters had reported that Adefisoye escaped death on Friday, when hoodlums unleashed terror on the campaign vehicles in his convoy.

According to him, the thugs were believed to be working for the APC to frustrate his chances of winning the February 16 general election.

He noted that his rising popularity among other contestants had become a “big threat”, noting that he is still optimistic of winning the election. 

"I am the most popular candidate in Ifedore/Idanre federal constituency. As you are aware, a few weeks ago, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo came to Idanre. During his visit, the incumbent House of Reps member, Baderinwa, was beaten by the youth who accused him of poor representation at the lower chamber.

"So, what happened now was a reprisal attack by his supporters, because those who attacked my convoy were putting on APC caps. So my number one suspect is no other person but the incumbent House of Reps member for the attack.

"Before the ugly incident, we were at Ikota, Ero, Ilara, Igbara-Oke, all in the same Ifedore Local Government Area, but on getting to Ipogun, we started hearing gunshots and I saw my party members running for safety.

"I turned my car and went straight to Ilara-Mokin Police station to make a formal report of the ugly incident. From there, the DPO and I moved straight to the Police Area Command, before coming down to the state headquarters in Akure. I was never arrested nor detained by the Police, as being spread by our opponents. SDP remains the most popular party in the federal constituency today.”

He also denied report that one Benjamin Falusi, one of his political supporters, was shot dead by the policemen in his convoy. 

"As a philanthropist who has given scholarships to more than 100 students in Ifedore alone, how would I be angry when I see young guys asking for money or favours from me? The attacked was sponsored by those who think I am a threat to their aspirations.

"There is also this rumour that it was one of the policemen in my convoy that killed the late Kayode, which is totally untrue. They have done the autopsy and it was a local bullet that was found in his body.

"I hereby use this medium to publicly commiserate with the family of the deceased, the people of Ipogun and Ifedore LGA in general.”

In his remarks, Korede Duyile, the state SDP Chairman, commiserated with the family of the deceased, adding that the party doesn't engage in violence. 

"We are peaceful persons in SDP. We don't condone violence in our party at all. The incident was not organised by our party. What people are spreading around is not true at all; it was just mere rumour,” he said.

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Nigerians have been charged to compel politicians to sign affidavits on their electoral promises with the view to holding them accountable.

 

Sam Amadi, a human rights lawyer and former Chairman of the National Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC), said this in Abuja on Monday, at the public presentation of a document tagged: 'The Nigerian Social Contract', organised by OurMumuDonDo Movement, a civil society organisation.

He said the document is aimed at refocusing governance towards dealing with issues that would commit Nigerian leaders to fulfilling their promises to the electorate, who voted them into office.

He noted that the project would help to create a consensus around key drivers of peace, stability, economic and social development of Nigerians.

Amadi asked Nigerians to confront politicians who come to solicit for votes with the document, and ask them to declare on honour and even sign an affidavit, that they would do those things they have promised. He added that social contract will help to monitor and identify those that do not perform in office.

His words: "The missing point here is that governance is not oriented toward the Section 2 of the Constitution that talks about the welfare of Nigerians. This document will help to monitor, advocate and evaluate governance at the grassroots, state and national level.

“We are giving tools to the people to know what government does, to know what the government is not doing and to know what should be done to make government do them. These documents create for them clarity on what they ought to do.”

On his part, Raphael Adebayo, National Secretary of OurMumuDonDo Movement, said the social contract is the real ‘next level’ that Nigerians need, noting that “Nigeria is not on any level, but on the level of poverty, recession and bad governance.

He explained further that the social contract would focus more on women and youth, adding that when women and youth are empowered, Nigerians would be liberated from the shackles of poverty.

Adebayo noted that the electorate and voting population must be able to understand and reconstruct their engagement with the democratic process as the “real owners” of government and the Nigerian project, people’s participation and commitment to the electoral and political processes would continue to depreciate.

“As an organisation advocating for social change, we believe that for there to be a stable and progressive society, there must be some established norms guiding the relationship between the people and the government of the state. These established norms will define mutual obligations between the people and their leaders at the national and subnational levels of government. These mutual obligations will form the nucleus of the agreement that we call the Social Contract,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, Moses Paul, Convener of MADConnect, said the project would help Nigerians hold their leaders accountable for transparency and accountability.

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Despite the resurgence of Boko Haram attacks in parts of Adamawa State, the Nigerian Army has assured residents that elections would hold successfully in all parts of the state.

Brigadier General Mohammad Bello gave the assurance in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, on Monday, at a sensitisation training for troops on the conduct of elections, organised by the 23 Brigade.

Renewed violence by Boko Haram insurgents in Michika and Madagali Local Government Areas of the state had raised concerns among some stakeholders about the possibility of not holding elections in the area.

Just last Saturday, the terror group struck in Madagali town, leading to the death of a village head in the area, as confirmed by authorities.

Bello, however, cautioned troops under his command against taking part in partisan politicking that can tarnish the image of the military. He also warned that "the military high command will deal with any soldier found culpable".

He reminded the troops of their constitutional role of "providing security aid to civil authorities in election matters only when called upon".

"Commanders are hereby reminded to ensure that soldiers under their command display high sense of discipline during the election, and to also comply strictly with the code of conduct. Any violation of the code must be reported immediately through the appropriate channel for disciplinary action,” he added.

The sensitisation training drew participants from all security agencies in the state and other critical stakeholders, in the effort to synergise for peaceful conduct of the polls.

Jamil Jibril, an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), spelt out the modus operandi of the electoral process and warned security agencies against the implications of using brute force and abuse of power on the electorate.

Accordingly, the Army has launched the 'Egwu Eke', better known as Python Dance III, in Adamawa and Taraba states to guarantee the safety during the elections.

On whether the resurgence of Boko Haram activities, particularly in the far northern axis of Adamawa State, may affect the conduct of the polls, Bello said: "Absolutely no."

He stressed that the Army, in collaboration with other security agencies, had mapped out operational plans to contain any security challenge that may arise around the period.

In the Adamawa theatre, operations have been stepped up in flash points like "Gombi and Garkida, on the borders of the dreaded Sambisa hideout of the outlawed Islamist sect".

On the Taraba side of the engagement, Wukari and Gembu towns are receiving strategic military attention to ensure violence-free conduct of the elections.

"Egwu Eke (Python Dance III) is aimed at creating enabling environment for safe conduct of the 2019 elections. To underscore the seriousness of the operation, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, had personally toured the units and formations to evaluate performance on the exercise,” he said.

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Dele Belgore, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has debunked the allegation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that he laundered the sum of N450million in 2015.

The EFCC is prosecuting him before the Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly benefiting N450million from the sum of $115.01million, which Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, allegedly doled out to influence the 2015 elections.

The EFCC said Belgore, alongside a former Minister of National Planning, Professor Abubakar Sulaiman, went to a branch of Fidelity Bank in Ilorin on March 26, 2015, to sign for and collect the N450million cash.

However, while testifying in his defence on Monday, Belgore admitted being invited by the bank manager on March 26, 2015, to take delivery of the N450million cash, but said he left the bank without the money.

The SAN, who said he was the Kwara State Coordinator of then President Goodluck Jonathan reelection campaign, said he did not collect the N450million because on getting to the bank, he realised that the money was too huge for his Toyota Prado jeep.

Belgore said: “I indicated to PW1 (bank manager) that I could not collect the money and I gave two reasons. First, I said this money was coming two days before the election; all the stakeholders and party members were aware of the arrival of the money and therefore, I did not consider it safe to move such a huge amount of money out of the bank in the middle of the night.

“The second reason was that I did not come prepared to receive and take away such a large amount of money, as I came only in my vehicle, a Toyota Prado jeep.

“As I said earlier, the heap of cash that I saw in the bank’s loading bay was at least three to four feet high. So, I told PW1 that if it took a bullion van to transport the cash from the Central Bank of Nigeria to Fidelity Bank, there was no way I would be able to evacuate those funds with my Toyota Prado.”

Belgore said following a long argument between him, Suleiman and the bank manager, the bank manager told them to sign for the money and agreed to keep the money in the bank’s vault.

“After signing the document, I left the bank without the money. I did not take a penny out of the bank; I left the bank empty-handed,” he said.

Justice Rilwan Aikawa adjourned further proceedings till February 28, 2019, at the instance of Ebun Shofunde (SAN), Belgore’s lawyer, who said he needed time to preview the CCTV footage of the events that took place within the banking hall on March 26, 2015, when Belgore and Suleiman visited.

In the charges against them, the EFCC insisted that Belgore and Suleiman received N450million from Diezani and laundered same.

The anti-graft agency said they ought to have “reasonably known” that the N450million was part of proceeds of unlawful activities, adding that they handled the money without going through any financial institution, contrary to the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.

The duo pleaded not guilty to the charges.

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Adams Oshiomhole, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has questioned the morality of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s alarm over alleged plans of the ruling party to rig the election.

Speaking in Ilorin, Kwara State, during the APC rally on Monday, Oshiomhole said he had evidence of Obasanjo’s use of policemen to snatch ballot boxes. However, he didn’t say if this happened during the election that made Obasanjo President in 1999 or the one that secured his re-election in 2003.

“He [Obasanjo] said he was warning that INEC, Police, Army, every government institution, should not be destroyed… I have the pictures where Obasanjo used policemen to snatch ballot boxes, even here in Kwara State,” Oshiomhole said.

“In Kwara, they used arm robbers to terrorise the people on election day. Those who have been arrested for killing 32 people have confessed who gave them the arms. So, who is using the produce or unarmed armed robbers to terrorise people other than PDP?

“I want to assure the international community… our victory will be transparent; we do not need to steal what belongs to us. We have travelled round the country; we have seen the people; they want Buhari.”

He described the campaign rally as a celebration of the end of Senate President Bukola Saraki, whom Tinubu had also hurled abusive words at minutes earlier. See Also Sahara Reporters At APC Rally, Tinubu Describes Saraki As A Self-Centred 'Traitor, Thief' 0 Comments 3 Hours Ago

“We have come to celebrate the end of Bukola Saraki. When I listen to what the people are saying, I know for Bukola, it is finished. Those who stole money… Kwara funds, he embezzled them; Senate funds, he embezzled them; Societe Generale Bank’s funds, he embezzled them,” Oshiomhole said.

“I cannot wait for Saturday, so that Kwara people can celebrate their newfound freedom. It will be a day for Kwara people and for Nigerians, particularly younger politicians, to realise that the evil that the political son has done to a political father, that evil must not be awakened. That will be the story of Bukola.

“For 26 years, Bukola has over-pushed your indebtedness. He has underdeveloped Kwara; he has controlled governors much more than a man shall control his cook, and he has reduced Kwarans to mere observers in their own political life and their own economic life.

“There is nothing that exposes Bukola’s love for money and self-interest than the confession he made the day we saw his back out of APC. He said Buhari gave out over 200 juicy and he didn’t give to him or Dogara. For him, politics is about juicy jobs; Kwara is about Kwara juice for Saraki to take away. That is why I am so happy to see the actual translation of ‘enough is enough’. Everything that has a beginning has an end.”

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Mohammad Wakili, the new Commissioner of Police in Kano, has confirmed the arrest of 28 thugs in connection with the destruction of public property during the presidential campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kano on Sunday.

Over the past 24 hours, Kano has witnessed an upsurge in violence as a result of an attack on the residence of Prince Abdullahi Abbas, the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano, and a reprisal attack on the house of Abba Kabiru Yusuf, the PDP governorship candidate.

Addressing journalists on Monday at the Police Command, Wakili revealed that those arrested were found with dangerous weapons aimed at frustrating public peace during the PDP presidential campaign rally. He said the incident would be thoroughly investigated and prosecuted.

Wakili, who just assumed duty after his deployment from Katsina, told journalists that the Police would not allow any person, regardless of personality or political affiliation, take laws into his or her hands.

He said the Police would do everything humanly possible to ensure security of lives and properties, as well as peaceful elections in the state.

He said: "Some people, yesterday, took laws into their hands during the campaign of one of the political parties, where property was destroyed. Let me make it abundantly clear; no such act will be allowed to happen again in Kano.

"We would leave no stone unturned to bring sanity to Kano. Brandishing arms, weapons, thuggery during rallies and elections, are against our laws. A peace accord was signed by political parties and they must abide by it. When a life is lost, it is as if the entire humanity is at a loss, and we will not allow that to happen anymore before, during and after the elections.”

Wakili stressed that the Force would not be partisan, but do its job with utmost neutrality.

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Tinubu Flings APC Flag Away At Presidential Campaign Rally In Ogun

Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), seemed so visibly upset on Monday that he flung his party’s flag to the ground during the presidential rally in Ogun State.

His probable anger was not far-fetched. The rally was threatening to descend into a free-for-all as members of the Allied People’s Movement (APM) took over the campaign rally.

They crowd also hurled various objects at President Muhammadu Buhari, when he attempted to endorse Dapo Abiodun as the party’s governorship candidate in Ogun State.

Adams Oshiomhole, the APC National Chairman, was also not spared as the crowd booed him and Abiodun during the presentation of the party's flag to the governorship candidate.

Ibikunle Amosun, Governor of Ogun State, has publicly expressed his displeasure with the candidature of Abiodun as the APC candidate in Ogun State, and instead chosen to pitch his tent with Adekunle Akinlade of the APM.

On Monday, after Oshiomhole endorsed Abiodun’s candidature, the crowd went into a frenzy and hurled various objects at the stage.

During the fracas, as Oshiomhole walked towards Tinubu, probably as part of efforts to regain control, Tinubu, who seemed very angry, and did not speak at the event, was seen flinging the party's flag (time 1:25 in the video) to the ground.

It was, however, not clear what he was aiming the flag at, as Oshiomhole simply walked past.

The rally ended abruptly as security operatives led the party leaders off the stage.

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It was a festival of boos at the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign rally held in Ogun State on Monday, as President Muhammadu Buhari barely escaped being the target of an angry crowd.

Trouble started when the President mounted the stage to present his speech.

He spoke on the achievements of the APC administration, and although he was initially greeted with boos, the people later cheered him when he told them to vote for whomever they liked in the forthcoming elections.

“That is your civic right to come out next Saturday and on the 2nd of March, and choose whoever you like in the parties. This is your right. So, there is no problem about it,” he said to the loud cheering of the people.

Afterwards, it was time to endorse Dapo Abiodun as the APC governorship candidate.

Abiodun stood to the left of the President and he was asked to move to Buhari’s right. However, as the President raised his left arm to endorse him as the APC candidate, the crowd went wild and hurled various objects at the stage where Buhari stood.

The situation required the intervention of security operatives, who swiftly shielded the President from the attack.

The rally ended abruptly as security operatives led Buhari and other party members off the stage.

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It was a festival of boos at the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign rally held in Ogun State on Monday, as President Muhammadu Buhari barely escaped being the target of an angry crowd.

Trouble started when the President mounted the stage to present his speech.

He spoke on the achievements of the APC administration, and although he was initially greeted with boos, the people later cheered him when he told them to vote for whomever they liked in the forthcoming elections.

“That is your civic right to come out next Saturday and on the 2nd of March, and choose whoever you like in the parties. This is your right. So, there is no problem about it,” he said to the loud cheering of the people.

Afterwards, it was time to endorse Dapo Abiodun as the APC governorship candidate.

Abiodun stood to the left of the President and he was asked to move to Buhari’s right. However, as the President raised his left arm to endorse him as the APC candidate, the crowd went wild and hurled various objects at the stage where Buhari stood.

The situation required the intervention of security operatives, who swiftly shielded the President from the attack.

The rally ended abruptly as security operatives led Buhari and other party members off the stage.

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There is tension in Ogun State as supporters of the Allied People's Movement (APM) have taken over the presidential rally of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The rally has just ended in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, with President Muhammadu Buhari; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Bola Tinubu, APC National Leader; Adams Oshiomhole, APC National Chairman, among others in attendance.

Trouble started when Rotimi Amaechi, Director General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation, told the people not to make any error during the forthcoming election and support the APC for all contested positions in the state.

However, when Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Governor of Ogun State, took the stage, he appealed to the party supporters to support Buhari’s reelection bid, but leave the matter of the governorship election till later.

“When it’s March 2nd, we know what we’re going to do. The other one, on March 2nd, we will resolve it. This one is for President Muhammadu Buhari. Please I beg you in the name of God, please don’t be angry,” Amosun pleaded with the supporters.

However, as Adams Oshiomhole took to the stage to present the flag of the party to Dapo Abiodun, the APC governorship candidate, the crowd went wild and hurled various objects at the Oshiomhole and Abiodun.

Security operatives had to rush to shield the President from the objects.

Osinbajo tried to pacify the crowd to initial success, but the crowd soon went so berserk that Oshiomhole, traditionally the longest speaker at APC rallies, spoke for less than a minute after being boed and shouted down for close to five minutes.

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There is tension in Ogun State as supporters of the Allied People's Movement (APM) have taken over the presidential rally of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The rally has just ended in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, with President Muhammadu Buhari; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Bola Tinubu, APC National Leader; Adams Oshiomhole, APC National Chairman, among others in attendance.

Trouble started when Rotimi Amaechi, Director General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation, told the people not to make any error during the forthcoming election and support the APC for all contested positions in the state.

However, when Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Governor of Ogun State, took the stage, he appealed to the party supporters to support Buhari’s reelection bid, but leave the matter of the governorship election till later.

“When it’s March 2nd, we know what we’re going to do. The other one, on March 2nd, we will resolve it. This one is for President Muhammadu Buhari. Please I beg you in the name of God, please don’t be angry,” Amosun pleaded with the supporters.

However, as Adams Oshiomhole took to the stage to present the flag of the party to Dapo Abiodun, the APC governorship candidate, the crowd went wild and hurled various objects at the Oshiomhole and Abiodun.

Security operatives had to rush to shield the President from the objects.

Osinbajo tried to pacify the crowd to initial success, but the crowd soon went so berserk that Oshiomhole, traditionally the longest speaker at APC rallies, spoke for less than a minute after being boed and shouted down for close to five minutes.

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In the course of the 2015 general elections, I travelled through the peril of bad roads to Ekpoma to cast my vote in the presidential election. Truly, I voted for Buhari. Despite the irregularities of the process, he won though with an implicit Carter clause, which is that though there were obvious irregularities, they were not enough to warrant an annulment. Many of us who were impatient with President Jonathan and the contradictions of his administration felt change was indeed required. One singular reason that made me vote for Buhari was the thinking that he would be anti-imperialist and exercise national autonomy in key policies.

Today, it has turned out that I made a mistake. I apologise. The very reason for voting for him was the first casualty.  For him to be president he had to be sold to the Americans who bought his candidacy and who subsequently asked him to open the economy for foreign investment, a euphemism for external control. Christine Lagarde, the Empress of IMF visited and gave the administration a cocktail of slave driving tools to further impoverish Nigerians struggling to eke out a bare living. Her recipes were subsidy removal, flexible currency, increased value added tax and stamp duty among others.

Truly, the state of the nation pre-2015 was saddening and Nigerians truly deserved a lease from the overwhelming national problems. Jonathan Administration inherited a paralysed state structure even though he was the vice president to President Yar’adua. The business of state took the backstage as a result of the illness of the president and its politicization.  

Jonathan did not understand the historical forces that shaped events in the country. He felt obligated to the cabal of retired military generals whom he credited with ushering in democracy. Overwhelmed by the problem of governance, he ran his government through committees read as being a product of cluelessness than an act of inclusivity. He was unable to tame the oil cabal and oil subsidy became a national scandal warranting a major inquisition by the National Assembly. Petroleum products were short in supply and its prices were jerked up from N65 to N141 thereby deepening the misery of the people, notwithstanding the subsequent reversals. Boko Haram intensified their activities and much of the north-east was under sect’s occupation.  

While his government was engaged with the insurgents and with mercenaries to boot, the war itself spawned an armament profiteers who reportedly bought second rate weapons for the soldiers in ways that the war became an Automated Teller Machine (ATM). Money ostensibly meant for purchase of arms was seized in far away South Africa. The president was seen by the impatient public as slow and weak. He did not help matters when he said he was not a general thereby eliciting the question of who he was— a Goliath or David?  Nonetheless, his administration rebased the national economy upping the country to the status of the biggest economy in the continent. Although, he privatised the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, he did not resolve the electricity problem and the country remained world importer of power generating set.  

Corruption was widespread with varied free riders dotting his administration. His government embarked on various infrastructure rehabilitation projects including airports and railway. To his credit, he fulfilled aspect of the electoral reform and brought credibility to the electoral umpire. He secured the lid on the Niger–Delta militants and ensured steady export of crude. He, however, squandered a historical opportunity of restructuring the country after organizing a National Conference in 2014 by neglecting to action aspects of the report to unbundle the over-centralised state. He did the unimaginable in a continent in which incumbents do not organise elections to lose (apologies to Pascal Lissouba of Congo Brazzaville).  He handed over power to a successor and accepting the results of the presidential election before the final tally.

Under the watch of President Buhari, economic misfortune is continuing under the slavish economic policies of neoliberalism—those economic principles that privilege the market and its integral privatisation programme through divestment of the public sector.  There are no economic laws that say that the private sector is superior to public sector. This is not borne by historical records. Its current version being pursued by the Nigerian government is Medium Term Economic Framework (MTEF). It is being implemented outside the rule book because the minders of the Nigerian state don’t understand it and naturally it can’t work in country that is badly divided without a common national creed. It is least surprising that the policies therefrom are hardly being contested despite their deleterious effect on the national wellbeing. Indeed, they have become normalised. Besides, economic mismanagement has led to a rapidly increasing debt burden.  

The country is already thrown back to pre-2006 era of debt overhang with external debt hovering around $22 billion. As though nothing is amiss, the state actors are still comforting themselves with an elusive debt-to GDP ratio of 21 percent and a credit threshold of about 51 percent. They forgot that the country does not have a patriotic and discipline elite that can utilise credit facilities for the purpose they are meant for.  The naira, its currency, weighted against that of many developing countries is worthless.

Add up. The consequence of a disarticulated economy is the acceleration of social vices, namely, kidnapping, ritually killings, 419, armed robbery, killings by security forces, bribe–taking, misappropriation of resources, subsidy scam, vending of fake products, prostitution and illegal migration across the Sahara desert to Libya enroute to Europe. These combined with structural violence such as the hike in prices of petroleum products, multiple taxes and attacks on the rule of of law have aggravated the misery of the Nigerian people.

Blood-letting has become the order of the day. The entire Middle-belt has become the open killing field of land-grabbing Fulani herdsmen whose murderous activities are countenanced by current wielders of state power. We are all living witnesses to the spectacle of mass burial in Benue state and plateau. Historians say it is a repetition of the massacres of the Tivs in the riots of the early 1960s.  

The statistics are chilling and simultaneously infuriating. Figures from Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) put the number of persons killed by Fulani militias in the Middle Belt in the first quarter of 2018 at 1,061. In its survey, Amnesty International put the number of deaths across 17 states since the beginning of the 2018 at 1, 8143. In a summing up covering June 2015- to date, US Council on Foreign Relations earlier put the figure of those killed  at 19, 890. About  54,595 lives were lost due to the activities of the insurgents between 2011 and 2018. These figures don’t tell the whole story. Add the gory tales of Fulani herdsmen activities in your respective states; you have a sense of scale.  

These killings earned the country a non-enviable third place ranking in the 2018 Global Index on Terrorism (GIT).  Anyone not disgusted by the shedding of innocent blood cross the country most probably has lost his or her humanity. These days, the perception outside the country which is the truth is that Nigeria is a war zone. In about 2000, at the turn of the century, the economist of London observed that, Nigeria was badly divided as a country. It noted further that the football team, the only entity that momentarily unites the people, despite the talent of individual player; do not play as a team.  

If that was the perception in 2000, now the unity does not exist, as the incumbent administration has completely eroded it mainstreaming the domination of a tiny migrant community over the rest component parts of the country. Happy with its temporal hegemony, it is impervious to the logic of restructuring the country.  Indeed, we are at the crossroads reached by the makers of July 1966 counter-coup with the conclusion that there is no basis for unity.

Under the current administration whose leadership the insurgents were ready to choose as a mediator while he was yet to be elected into office is unable to handle the insurgents that have now grown into a hydra-headed monster. The daring attacks on national security formations are debilitating. Need we search for the logic of reversal? The security forces of the country are not cohesive as it is divided by ethnic appointments in which of over 75 percent of leadership positions are occupied by a single ethnic nationality in a multinational country; deployment of men to frontline is also ethnically skewed while there is a loud absence of a coordinating national security agency where intelligence is sieved for the benefit of national wellbeing. This is as a result of unbridled incompetence and hegemonic delusion. In a rather intriguing way, the country is being encircled by insurgents. Carnage is on-going in Zamfara; Sokoto was breached by jihadists labeled by the outgone Inspector General of Police as Malian herdsmen. This is certainly not the country of our dream.

The above problems require solutions. On the contrary, President Buhari and his team have reinforced them weaving into the complex a benumbing hopelessness. The litany is endless and saddening: 87 million living in extreme poverty (Brookings institution, 2018) and 13.2 million out of school, highest globally.

Clearly, the resolution of these sundry crises of the Nigerian state is beyond the current president. Weakened by ill-health, devoid of vision and intellectual capacity to navigate the wide field of our national problems, he cannot provide solutions. However, the president has failed to read the national mood and understand the lie of the state. Browbeating his party into nominating him as the presidential candidate instead of paving way for a brand new candidate within his party reeks of ego and spiritual poverty. I can only wish Mr President good luck. I should note that it is his right as a Nigerian citizen to vote and be voted for.  

But what the presidential chat has revealed is that country is drifting and the extant leadership can only endure in a banana republic which Nigeria has become. Should he force himself on Nigerians through a corrupt use of the security forces and manipulation of the electoral process, a reality already being foreshadowed by signals from these vital institutions of state, it will be unacceptable.  

Indeed the leadership of the country has become a major contradiction to be resolved at least for now through the ballot. Nigerians may be slow in acting, but they can never be taken for granted. I refuse to be a bondsman in my fatherland. For me, my choice is clear: it is goodbye to illusions.  

Akhaine, an Associate Professor with the Lagos State University is a Visiting member of the Guardian Editorial Board.

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Bola Tinubu, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Monday described Senate President Bukola Saraki with some unpalatable words.

Speaking at the APC presidential rally in Ilorin, Kwara State, Tinubu, in Yoruba language loosely translated to English, said Saraki had been stealing from his people and betraying them for his own selfish interests.

“He is a traitor… someone who takes his people’s belongings and sells them off,” Tinubu said. “He is self-centred. Bukola Saraki is the one I’m talking about. He can’t beat you, or will he?”

Tinubu said he was earnestly looking forward to the 2019 elections, saying: “I know, this is the celebration of your freedom; this is the celebration of the falling of the berlin wall. This is the celebration of the end to oligarchy…”

After Ilorin, the APC campaign train moved to Abeokuta, capital of Ogun State, for a rally that turned out the most dramatic so far since the campaign started touring the country last month. See Also Breaking News BREAKING: Buhari Pelted With Objects At APC Rally In Ogun 0 Comments 1 Hour Ago

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