Headline

Pendulum: Why That Popular APC Song is Getting Stale and Boring

Published

7 years ago

December 22, 2018

Eric

By Dele Momodu

Fellow Nigerians, let me say on this page what I have been saying privately to my friends in Nigeria’s ruling party, APC. I must confess that I have much more friends in APC than in any other party. It is also frustrating to me that some of my preferred Presidential candidates are not in either of the two major parties, APC and PDP. Unfortunately, for whatever reason these talented politicians shun the main stream political parties and thus reduce their electability to almost zero. The truth is that, logically, if you find APC disappointing and must try another party, you must, necessarily, end up with PDP. That is the same party many of us worked hard to sack from power just over three years ago, accusing it of atrocious and abominable sins. This is the dilemma many normal Nigerians face. How can we go back to swallow the same vomit that we spewed out only a short while ago because of the odious bile that it had become in our guts? However, these are abnormal times. And it seems that we have been presented with a situation where we must scoop up our own faeces and eat it, in order to survive as a nation. The question I keep asking myself is how did we get to this sorry impasse in so short a time? I simply have no answers. Where then do we go from here? Do we allow APC to run away with gross incompetence or gobble up our puke by allowing PDP to come back with the attendant risks of returning to those incredibly profligate days? This obviously is a Catch 22 situation. No easy answer, no simple solution.

What are people saying on the streets? There are many factions, but let me reflect on what several of them think. One. Those who want APC to continue. You may wish to call them Buharists (I was once one of them, they are gentle, mild-mannered and reasonably rational) or the Buharideens (the Buhari fanatics who will never see anything wrong with Buhari or his party no matter how terrible and horrible the facts laid before them are). But they both have some things in common, their unassailable love for Brand Buhari. The deification of Buhari was one of the first miracles of the 21^stcentury. Many have asked, how did a man who was sacked from power in 1985 in a military coup amidst accusations of atrocious misadventures, integrity issues surrounding his aides and friends and colleagues, not to mention horrendous human rights abuses, comatose economy due to voodoonomics (voodoo economics), religious fanaticism and ethnic jingoism, bounce back to become the last saint standing? Buhari must be praised for a job well done. What has made Buhari so attractive to his die-hard acolytes are his supposed incorruptibility, simplicity, and ascetic discipline. Can you argue with them? Not necessary. You can’t win.

Do we allow APC to run away with gross incompetence or gobble up our puke by allowing PDP to come back with the attendant risks of returning to those incredibly profligate days? This obviously is a Catch 22 situation. No easy answer, no simple solution.

Two. We have the supporters of PDP who remained steadfast despite the defeat and disgrace they suffered in the hands of APC in 2015. Notwithstanding the tag of fraudulent and corrupt persons placed on them, these are principled and loyal people because they have stuck to their guns in the face of great adversity and challenges. Indeed, some of them have had cause to jump ship and head for shallow waters at the slightest hint of trouble. They have not been able to withstand the heat.

Three. There are those who migrated from both parties at different times and crisscrossed into one or the other. There is no feeling or sense of altruism in their bones.

Four. There are those who vowed never to be in either of the two leading parties. Ask them for their reason though and you immediately can see why Nigeria is in the state that it is in. The truth is that these groups of people have a great deal of complex and fear of the unknown which, makes it difficult to do those things which can make them thrive in the circles in which they find themselves.

5. There are radical parties, like those that want to take Nigeria back from the slave masters. Sadly, whilst these parties are probably part of the ultimate solution for the country, they have little crossover appeal to the very people that will benefit from them if they win an election. They are brusque, brash, brazen and brutal. They do not speak the language of the people they seek to represent. They are so driven by anger that their judgment has been beclouded and impaired.

6. There are those that just want to be seen or heard, and so on. But I’m under no illusion that we have more than two political parties and that these parties can retain or produce the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The fringe parties are just too weak and disunited for them to make any appreciable inroads into the fortunes of the two largest parties who hold sway in the political landscape of Nigeria.

Back to the main contenders. The APC believes the only way to retain power is to continue pummelling the PDP into a tight corner from which it cannot emerge, by accusing it of looting and destroying Nigeria in 16 useless years.

The strategy seems very effective, but it is beginning to wear off for certain reasons. While it is true that PDP fumbled, APC cannot make an evergreen song of that. The reason APC is in power is because of promises made that it would do a much better job than PDP. Nearly four years after, nothing drastic has changed from the time PDP was sacked. The argument that the problems caused in 16 years cannot be cleared and settled in four years is not tenable. At the current speed, and attitude, I’m convinced that APC may not be able to do much even if given an open cheque of 20 years.

My favourite analogy is that of someone suffering from chronic ulcer who goes to his Doctor. The usual practice is to quickly check the condition of the patient, check his blood pressure, sugar level, and stabilise him, if need be, before prescribing remedies and administering drugs. A Doctor should never make his condition worse than when he arrived the hospital. In Buhari’s case, he took about six months to assemble a medical team. He took several more months to diagnose the ailments of the patient. Since then, the medical team has never stopped talking about the condition under which the patient was received at the ward. The patient keeps trying to tell the doctors that he is dying in the midst of this unending tirade by the Doctors about the things he did to bring the aliments upon himself. He tries to tell the Doctors that now he has been informed countless times about his deathwish lifestyle, all that he now requires is treatment. However, his pleas and entreaties fall upon deaf ears. The discordant noises being made by the medical team is all that they and the patient hear! By now the medical team should have known what to do to bring the patient’s condition under control, but their obsession with how he was the cause of his medical misfortune makes it impossible for them to offer any prognosis, much less commence the therapy. This is the tragedy of the APC strategy. No one is ever in doubt that Nigeria was in critical condition when it was rushed to the APC intensive care. The PDP Doctors were accused of cluelessness, gross incompetence and grand larceny. No one expected the APC to make matters worse. But, this is what it seems that they have done. One example is the excuse that Nigeria would have collapsed totally if PDP was not sacked but this is mere hypothesis. The Naira was much stronger, but it has collapsed since APC took over and no one knows if and when it would ever recover or whether it will even get worse.

Those who oppose APC have been promoting the following narratives. One. There is no marked difference between APC and PDP. Many of those who were in PDP are now in APC and not one of them has been rejected or sent packing for past misdemeanours. Two. It is uncharitable for APC to say PDP achieved nothing in the 16 years that Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan reigned. If nothing else, they laid the framework and backbone upon which the achievements of the Buhari government are built. 3. If PDP was peopled by devils, who are the saints in APC to which the PDP devils have migrated and welcomed with warm embrace? 4. If PDP did nothing, how come APC is today commissioning so many projects said to have been abandoned by the previous government? 5. APC promised to abolish the fuel subsidy, but it has since increased the subsidy astronomically without any plausible explanation. APC promised to fix refineries, but petroleum products are still being imported heavily and the common man is groaning. APC has increased pump prices and is still paying much more on subsidies. 6. APC promised to cancel medical tourism but the Chief Culprit has been the President himself who has lived abroad intermittently. 7. APC promised not to devalue the Naira yet the Nigerian currency has nose-dived in a kamikaze fall. Its future is uncertain!

The APC on the other hand has its own version of attack against PDP. One. PDP is a party of looters and criminals who ruined Nigeria in 16 years. Two. Anyone who supports PDP is a looter who’s not happy that Buhari has stopped corruption. 3. Most of the companies that collapsed thrived on corruption. 4. APC prefers to complete projects abandoned by PDP, the reason it is yet to start new projects. 5. APC is blocking thieves from looting. 6. No one can accuse Buhari of looting. 7. Buhari is building a new Nigeria.

My prediction is that the popular song and refrain of “looting, looting, looting” may backfire if APC continues to chant the same song repeatedly. Nigerians want action plans and real action time. They would have left PDP in power if they thought the party was doing fine. Two, Atiku Abubakar should not be underrated. I see a lot of similarities in the process that brought Buhari to power. People were simply fed up with Jonathan and his government and this led to a groundswell of opposition against him. It seems Buhari has attracted a worse opprobrium to himself and his government and is following the same path of perdition from which Jonathan never recovered or returned. It is my prayer and fervent hope that Buhari can see the huge chasm ahead and make the necessary adjustments and corrections so that he does not fall and plunge headlong into that similar gaping hole from which he may never surface!

My beloved, that popular APC song is getting stale and boring…

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.