Headline

2023: Why Power Must Move to the South

Published

4 years ago

April 9, 2022

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

It is no longer news that the two major political parties in Nigeria; the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have concluded plans to throw open to all comers their presidential ticket, jettisoning the much preferred and sustained zoning system.

While the opposition PDP has made it clear that every aspirant is free to contest for the party’s ticket, the APC is still using body language to express its decision. Many observers believe that theirs won’t be any different considering that aspirants across the geopolitical regions have signified their interest to run, and went ahead to purchased both the expression of interest and nomination forms without any form of hindrance or dissuasion from party hierarchy.

It must be recalled however, that over the months, politicians of southern extraction, especially governors from the region, have unanimously expressed their concern over who becomes the president of Nigeria come 2023, saying unequivocally that it must be a southerner, hinting that it would not be in the interest of the survival of Nigeria as a nation if another northerner succeeds President Muhammadu Buhari.

At two separate conferences held in Asaba and Lagos in 2021, the 17 southern governors unanimously agreed that power must move to the south in 2023 in the spirit of equity since the outgoing president, Buhari, is a northerner, who will serving out his complete eight years by May 29, 2022.

In the light of the situation, two serving governors of northern extraction, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, and his Borno State counterpart, Babagana Umara Zulum, have publicly lent their weights behind the country producing a southern president in 2023 with Zulum stressing that “the presidency should go to the South in 2023 because the unity of our country is very important” on more than one occasion

As a result of the governors’ resolution, many politicians of southern extraction have thrown their hats in the ring with impetus, hoping for the materialisation of the covenanted convention. It is believed that it is such mandate that emboldened the likes of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers and former governor Donald Duke of Cross River State to join the fray. Some others of southern origin who has joined the race across the two political parties or are noted to show signs of joining the fray are the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo; APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Ekiti State Governor, and Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Dr. Kayode Fayemi; former Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; Minister of Transport, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, who made his much awaited declaration this Saturday and Ebonyi State governor, Dave Umahi. All from the ruling APC.

From the PDP however, are former chairman, Pfizer Nigeria Ltd. Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa; former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi; former deputy governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Kingsley Moghalu; Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonna Onu; former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzo Kalu; former Ebonyi State Governor, Anyim Pius Anyim, and veteran journalist and Chairman Ovation Media Group, Aare Dele Momodu.

However, much to the displeasure of the southern aspirants and the south as a whole, many political figures from the north rejected the call for southern president in 2023, and by inference, zoning by joining the race, even as the political parties danced to their tunes by throwing the contest open. These politicians include Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello of Kogi State from the APC and others from the PDP including former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Anubakar, former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, Governor of Sokoto State, and Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal. In addition, The Boss learnt that some key northern political figures have been strategising to ensure that the presidency remains in the north even as Buhari would have completed his eight years tenure in 2023.

But most political stakeholders have expressed untold fear of what may likely befell the nation if power fails to move south in 2023 including a sustained disunity, distrust and ethno-inclination that have characterised the body polity of the nation, especially in the last seven years that Buhari has held sway.

Observers have also noted that more secession agitations are likely to intensify, dwarfing what must have been the positions of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu led Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and Sunday Igboho’s Yoruba Nation if power fails to move to the south in 2023.

A northern president in 2023, it has been reasoned will somersault the political equilibrium of the totally diversed nation like Nigeria where power is shared among the fragmented parts – in other words the six geo-political zones, and in a more compressed form, the north and the south.

The inability of power to move south in 2023 may also call the question the much respected quota and federal character systems, which the country has practiced over the years to create a form of equity and equality. Here, the south has mortgaged its best brains to accommodate its educationally backward north. It is worthy of note that a child from Anambra State, who score 134/200 can be denied admission into any of the Unity Schools in preference of his counterpart from Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto or Borno state who scored a paltry 10.

An analyst told The Boss that “if the north feels that zoning cannot be used to share power among the north and south, then it should be prepared to toe the line of the survival of the fittest in the education sector where the quota system would be done away with. The same should be the case with the civil service where the federal character convention is also expected to dumped into the thrash can of history.”

But in a show of solidarity, some northern groups such as the Plateau Liberation Movement (PLM), have said that the South East should be allowed to produce the president in 2023 in order to sustain the indivisibility of the nation.

Most stakeholders have also argued that for the south to wrest power, they must show solidarity from within, and from there extend to the other region. To this end, a former National Chairman of the United Progressives Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie, maintains that southern governors, and by extention, southern politicians can achieve power shift by capitalising on the general mood of the nation and taking their resolve away from their various political parties.

To this end, the some south east presidential aspirants from the PDP have taken the bull by the horn to pull their resources together, and forge a common ground to demand that the party’s presidential ticket for 2023 be zoned to their area.

The aspirants who attended the meeting in Abuja on Saturday were Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, Mr Peter Obi, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa and Dr Nwachukwu Anakwenze.

“We have agreed to work together as a team and that we will work together to ensure that a South Easterner emerges as PDP flag bearer. We intend to consult with other zones on this issue and it is based on fairness and equity.

“In doing so, it is important to note that we have always supported other zones and we now expect them to reciprocate.

“It is to our knowledge that more aspirants may have obtained forms under PDP and we hope they will join us later,” Anyim, who read the communique said

A source, who craved anonymity confided in The Boss that clandestine meetings are continually held in the North between some key members of the Buhari-led government and some prominent politicians of northern extraction, a situation the south has said would have a boomerang repercussion in the long run.

The quest of the North to retain power in 2023, according to source is not only residing with the APC as the Buhari administration is said to be making all plans to look elsewhere even among the opposition PDP. The bottomline is that power must remain in the north.

But with major groups in the south including Ohanaeze Ndi’gbo, Afenifere, and the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) rooting for a shift in power to the south, it is a believed that a cataclysmic repercussion in the offing for Nigeria should the north made good its threat to curry power back to the north.

Time will surely tell.

Headline

Akpabio Lashes Out at Tinubu’s Critics, Says Nigeria Safe Despite Insecurity

Published

3 days ago

June 10, 2026

Eric

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has urged Nigerians to be careful of those trying to kidnap for ransom.

Akpabio argued on Tuesday that those behind kidnapping are perpetuating the activity to create an impression that Nigeria is not safe.

Speaking in Abuja during the commissioning of road projects to mark President Bola Tinubu’s third year anniversary, Akpabio said some of the president’s critics have resorted to paying youths to cause mayhem.

Akpabio accused Tinubu’s critics of focusing on insecurity instead of policy and infrastructure.

“Minister you said that people claimed that nothing is happening in Nigeria under the administration of President Tinubu. If they did not say that, how will they go for election? he asked rhetorically.

“If you realize what is happening recently, when they realized that they can’t talk about projects, performance, good laws, transformation in the Petroleum industry, subsidy removal that have been promised Nigerians for decades, they can no longer talk about the high-rise buildings in Abuja such as the NRS building, they resorted to paying young people and recruiting them to cause mayhem in the country.

“Be very vigilant and be careful about people trying to kidnap for ransom. They are kidnapping in order to give the impression that Nigeria is not safe.

“Our men and women in uniform have done tremendously well but many people will not know and that is why I keep saying that the devil you see today, you will soon see them no more.

“Elections will come and go; elections will never be our end; we will see the end of elections; it will never see our end,” he said.

Headline

The Search for Justice: ADC vs Tsoho

Published

5 days ago

June 8, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

From the first day the African Democratic Congress (ADC) took a new shape in July, 2025, in readiness to wrest power from the government of the day, crises, allegedly engineered by the President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC), have remained its lot.

From the struggle for leadership positions to the fight to save itself from deregistration, the hitherto coalition and main opposition party, has remained in a battle for its life and existence. And has not relented in the search for lasting justice. This time, it has taken the law itself to court to ensure that justice is not only done, but seen to have been done.

It would be recalled that shortly after the the party ratified the election of Senator David Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as Chairman and Secretary of the party respectively, skirmishes were noticed among the rank and file of the party as a supposedly former deputy national chairman of the party, Nafiu Bala Gombe, claimed chairmanship of party, saying that since the founding chairman had resigned, it is constitutionally incumbent upon him to automatically assume the chairmanship role.

Gombe’s claims came on the heels of his ‘resignation’ from office, which paved the way for a new national executive of the party to be constituted. But his claims did not deter the party from carrying on with the formation and running of the party, including holding a keenly contested presidential primary election, which produced His Excellency, the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. So Gombe went to court. Yet, Mark and Aregbesola carried on the running of the party.

As a result, Gombe had approached a court for an order restraining Mark leadership from parading themselves as leaders of the ADC pending the hearing and determination of his suit challenging their leadership.

He had also asked the court to issue another order against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), restraining it from recognizing the Mark leadership.

But in his ruling in the interlocutory application, Justice Emeka Nwite ordered Gombe to put the defendants on notice so that they appear before the court to show cause, why the application should not be granted.

Rather than appearing before the trial court to show cause, the defendant appealed to the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal, challenging the jurisdiction of the trial court to dabble into the matter they described as internal matters of the ADC.

The appellate court in dismissing the appeal for lacking in merit, ordered accelerated hearing in the suit and further ordered all parties to maintain status quo ante bellum.

Dissatisfied, Mark had approached the appellate court but, his appeal was dismissed and the matter returned to the trial court.

With the to and from nature of the cases involving the ADC leadership crisis, the party has accused judges of bias in favoring party detractors and disobedience to court rules among other malice, the party has taken a new route to obtain the much eluded justice, and that involves charging the custodians of the law to court.

Consequently, the ADC has filed a lawsuit before a High Court in Abuja involving the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, over concerns arising from the ongoing leadership dispute within the party.

Also joined in the suit is the National Judicial Council (NJC), which the party said had not addressed issues it raised regarding the handling of a case challenging the leadership of former Senate President, Senator David Mark, within the ADC.

The lawsuit, dated June 4, 2026, was filed by the National Welfare Secretary of the ADC, Nkemakolam Ukandu, who is seeking to be joined in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025 instituted by Nafiu Bala Gombe against the Mark-led leadership of the party.

According to the suit, Ukandu expressed concerns about the handling of the matter and alleged that the actions of both Justice Tsoho and Justice Peter Lifu, the judge assigned to hear the case, could affect confidence in the proceedings.

The lawsuit further stated that the assignment of the case to Justice Lifu stirred concerns among some members of the party, who believe the process may not guarantee a fair hearing.

The legal action marks a fresh twist in the leadership dispute within the ADC, which has attracted significant political attention ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Aside Justice John Tsoho, other defendants are the National Judicial Council (NJC), and Justice Peter Lifu, a judge newly assigned to hear the suit challenging the Senator David Mark-led leadership of ADC.

The plaintiff, who was seeking to be joined in the Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, brought by Nafiu Bala Gombe against the Mark-led leadership, accused the chief judge and Lifu of manifest bias, and willingness to do the biddings of persons against the interest of the party.

Ukandu, in the suit he personally filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, faulted the chief judge for reassigning the suit to Lifu, in alleged disregard of the orders of the Supreme Court as well as Justice Emeka Nwite of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court, who initially heard the suit brought by Gombe against the party.

The plaintiff, in the suit marked FHC/ ABJ/ CS/ 1165/2026, recalled that an appeal from an interlocutory decision of Nwite rose to the Supreme Court, wherein the apex court on April 30, 2026, “made an order of remittance of Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025: Nafiu Bala Gombe VS. ADC & 4 ORS back to Justice Emeka Nwite for continuation of hearing of pending applications challenging the jurisdiction of the trial court.”

He stated that upon resumption of hearing before Nwite, the plaintiff wrote to the chief judge praying for a reassignment of the matter to another judge of the Honourable Court.

Ukandu stated, “All the defendants’ counsel, including counsel to the applicants seeking to be joined in this matter, opposed the said application by the plaintiff’s counsel and Hon. Justice Emeka Nwite thereafter adjourned the matter sine die pending the service of the said letter by the plaintiff’s on all the parties in the matter, outcome of the letter by the 2nd defendant and the furnishing of the CTC of the judgement of the Supreme Court to the court.

“Without complying with the orders of the Supreme Court and Hon. Justice Emeka Nwite, the 2nd Defendant in abuse of his judicial powers reassigned this matter,” to Lifu.

He added that the third defendant, on his part, pretending not to see the order of Nwite, went ahead and fixed the matter for hearing for June 3, 2026.

Ukandu further recalled that ADC had on May 7 informed the public through a press release that the chief judge had planned to reassign the case to another judge favourable to the plaintiff.

He said the party had “warned against such unethical practice but the 2nd Defendant despite the public outcry reassigned the suit to the 3rd Defendant who have been nick-named as ‘Wike Judges’.”

He stated that the third defendant had started presiding over the matter, despite taking judicial notice of the orders of the Supreme Court and Nwite, and that the matter came up for hearing before the third defendant.

Though neither the Federal High Court nor the National Judicial Council had publicly responded to the issues raised so far, it is imperative to to state that the ADC appears to have lost interest in both the judiciary, which it believe is kowtowing to the dictates of Gombe, and by extension the body language of the Federal Government.

The ADC appears to have managed to draw the sympathy of the public as a group known as the Grassroots Mobilization Network (GMN), has lent their voice to the supposed injustice leveled against the Mark-led ADC, raising concerns about the handling of the matter, and calling for transparency in the judicial process.

The group alleged that the judiciary was being used to target opposition parties.

The group expressed concern over what it described as growing public distrust in the judiciary and called on relevant authorities to ensure fairness and transparency in the handling of politically sensitive cases.

While Nigerians await the outcome of the litigation, and other resolution of other sundry issues arising from the ADC and the judiciary, the party is going ahead making last minute transparent efforts to nominate a suitable running mate to bear the presidential flag with the presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

Among the party’s shortlists are the first runner-up in the presidential primary, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Akinwumi Adesina, Emeka Ihedioha, Emeka Nwajiuba and Chief Dele Momodu.

Headline

Gunmen Abduct Ex-Power Minister Adelabu’s Sister, Her Two Sons in Ibadan

Published

1 week ago

June 3, 2026

Eric

Suspected gunmen have abducted the sister of a former Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The family of former minister and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) confirmed the abduction, disclosing that Mrs. Olaide John-Paul and her 12-year-old twin sons were kidnapped by the gunmen on Wednesday, June 3, 2026.

According to a statement issued by Adelabu’s media aide, Femi Awogboro, the victims were kidnapped at about 7:30am while Mrs. John-Paul was taking her children to school.

Mrs. John-Paul, the youngest of five children of Mrs. Olufunmilayo Aduke Adegoke Adelabu, reportedly retired voluntarily from her career at First Bank Pension Custodian in 2025 before relocating to Ibadan with her children.

She was said to be making arrangements to join her husband, who had earlier relocated to the US.

The family expressed deep concern over the development but stated that security agencies had already commenced efforts to rescue the victims and apprehend those responsible.

“We are pleased to confirm that security operatives have swung into action and preliminary investigations have commenced in earnest,” the statement partly read.

While appealing for calm, the family urged members of the public to refrain from spreading unverified information that could undermine ongoing rescue operations.

“We are deeply distressed by this unfortunate incident, but remain hopeful that the victims will be rescued safely. We appeal to the public to remain calm, avoid speculation and support ongoing efforts with prayers,” the statement added.

The family also called on anyone with useful information that could aid the rescue operation to promptly share such intelligence with security agencies through the appropriate channels.

It assured that it would continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement authorities and provide updates as investigations and rescue efforts progress.