Headline

Pendulum: Let’s Beg Buhari for a One Party State

Published

7 years ago

November 23, 2019

Eric

By Dele Momodu

Fellow Nigerians, let me confess right away that I’m a realist. If you like, call me chicken-hearted or lily-livered. No worries. All I know is that I was taught many lessons by the wisdom of the ancients. Let me share a few of them with you. One. If we cannot move forward, we must know when to turn backwards. Two. If you have not yet grabbed the sword, you cannot risk asking what manner of death killed your Dad. Three. Even the Bible teaches us how to be meek and humble. “If your right cheek is slapped, turn the left cheek…” It may sound stupid to a lot of people but it might just save you a lot of headache.

The purpose of my sermon in this epistle to you today should be obvious by now. I wish to admit and publicly acknowledge that President Muhammadu Buhari has finally achieved what no democratically elected Nigerian President ever attempted to do. All tiers and arms of government have been virtually grabbed and cowed. Even the Fourth Estate of the Realm is about to be guillotined via a retrogressive and preposterous law stipulating death sentences for any rascally writing… The public have been shown to be timorous, timid and cowardly upon hell being let loose! No resistance from them either!

Let me summarise my thoughts thus. The ruling APC government makes no pretence to being a party of nice or decorous people. A few of their members may fall into this category, but they are the exception, an aberration. It is your business, if you think otherwise but that is the hard-nosed truth. If the President Goodluck Jonathan-led PDP government succumbed to pressure and lost power in the name of decency and decorum, the Buhari-led administration is not ashamed or afraid to being labelled haughty, brutal, brutish and reckless. Indeed, they revel in and relish the appellation. They like the idea that they take no prisoners and accept surrender only if you join their ranks. The recent gale of resignations that swept Bayelsa State in the wake of the contrived victory of the Lion-tamer, David Lyon Perewonrimi epitomised this new cult of no surrender, no matter how abject and plaintive, and no prisoners! Once a State or Local Government is targeted, no Jupiter can stop its blistering annihilation.

Since 2015, when President Muhammadu Buhari miraculously returned to power, things have not been at ease for his opponents or the opposition. Those who warned us Buhari will never practice true Democracy were rebuffed by us. We sold him at a premium to Nigerians and the world as a “born again Democrat…” We called him “the people’s General…” We romanticised about a leader who was coming to turn Nigeria into an Eldorado with his magic wand because we earnestly and sincerely believed in him. It would have been sad if we did not give Buhari a second chance. Pls forgive my blasphemy, Buhari’s second coming was almost tantamount to a parousia, like the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And to add to his perceived saintliness, he had chosen a revered and respected man of God, Professor Yemi Osinbajo as his Deputy. Needless to say, we thank God that he came, he saw and he is currently conquering. While it may be too early to judge his performance or non-performance, the signs are ominously visible. But that’s not the purpose of this missive.

My worry stems from the new electoral template being enforced by APC, an extremely dangerous and volatile one at that. Except to the willing and grateful beneficiaries, what we’ve been witnessing is a monumental charade, a farce and a travesty which is an unfortunate trend indeed. While I will never say with any degree of certainty that PDP candidates would have defeated their opponents in all those elections, I would still have expected the ruling party to conduct the elections in a more transparent and honest manner and not in the kangarooistic banana republic fashion we’ve witnessed in recent times with our arms akimbo and mouths agape and ajar.

With the armed forces, the police, the other security agencies, the judiciary, the thugs and other nebulous, unseen or unknown characters in the kitty, it is almost impossible to defeat APC in any election in the near future, unless the people resist and say no, and this I don’t see happening on account of money, ethnicity and religion. I have no apologies for my pessimism. And I believe the game is just starting. These ones aren’t kidding. Only God can remove them ultimately from power. The tell-tale signs are too pungent to ignore. Very soon, writers like me would only be writing about trips to Afghanistan, a sad reminder of the 1984-85 era, when the Sonala Olumhenses had to write about far flung places in order to avoid the wrath of Sango Olukoso, the god of thunder! What then is the solution? My answer, no easy way out. As a matter of fact, I see a long walk to Freedom, with apologies to Nelson Mandela. When a Lion has tasted blood, it would be difficult to appease it with corn meal.

All would-be troublemakers should be warned before it is too late that Nigeria does not need, and can’t afford, another civil war. My suggestion is simple and straightforward, what Nigeria desperately needs today is a one party State. It will save us at least three major things. The first is the acrimonious clashes between the mainstream parties. The battles would be limited to intraparty squabbles. The second is money. Too much resources are currently being expended on campaigns and elections proper. It is unimaginable how much is being wasted by the gladiators. Let’s even say that’s their own cup of tea, what of the billions being wasted on INEC that has failed to deliver on its high falutin and grandiloquent rigmaroles. The third is the most serious and absolutely important, safety of lives and property. Our elections have become the most dangerous in the whole world. You cannot guarantee that you will return home alive after casting your votes, or indeed that days after the election you won’t become a victim of a malevolent maelstrom of anarchical and mindless violence, arson and destruction. Are we Barbarians or what manner of human beings are we?

These are the real reasons I wish to appeal, most passionately, to the powers that be in Abuja, that we have agreed that Buhari is our Messiah, that he can do no wrong and we are willing to support him warts and all. Serving one’s fatherland should never be a matter of life and death or an invitation to suicide and perdition.

For once, we should be prepared to let Buhari and his sagacious band of chorus singers think for us. There is no point allowing some fellow Nigerians to turn us into defenceless chickens or rams to be slaughtered on the altar of an orgiastic bloodfest. When it is God’s time to liberate us, we won’t have to lift a finger or fire a single shot. Examples abound all over the world and most of us are witnesses to God’s mysterious ways.

For now, since Buhari came to save us from ourselves, we must allow him do his job unhindered. We must dance to the ‘kpalongo’ beat and wait for the madness which it heralds to manifest, take root and consume its originators.

May God’s will be done!

Tribute To Dr Ore Falomo (September 1940 – November 9 2019)

My path and that of Dr Oluwatamilore Akinlade Falomo crossed nearly three decades ago. As a personal physician to my adopted father, Chief Moshood Abiola, it was impossible not to meet and know him reasonably well.

The first thing that fascinated me about Dr Falomo was his dress sense. He was always impeccably turned out, clean and debonair. He was a successful medical practitioner who was well known beyond his industry.

What fascinated me the more about him was his love for Chief Abiola. Theirs was not a Doctor/Patient relationship. They were like brothers. Abiola was born in August 1937 and Dr Falomo was born in September 1940, but they interacted like brothers separated by only months in age, not 3 years. They lived like they were children from the same family. Interestingly, three of Chief Abiola’s children, Kolawole, Ayodeji and Agboola lived on the same road with Dr Falomo, just a stone throw away in Anthony Village.

The most unforgettable things about Dr Falomo were his uncommon courage and powers of elocution and elucidation. He was such a brave and powerful speaker and he remained one of the few Nigerians that had the audacity to rant and rail endlessly against the dreaded General Sani Abacha regime. Perhaps if there were more of him now, our nation would be a better place. I often wondered how Dr Falomo escaped Abacha’s snipers or detention. He spoke passionately and vociferously against the detention of Chief Abiola. As Abiola’s Medical Doctor, he regularly told the Dictators, Abacha and General Abdulsalami Abubakar, of that insane period, who detained Abiola about his patient’s worsening health conditions and warned that he might be damaged beyond redemption if his wrongful incarceration continued. And his prophecy came to pass within a few years. Whether Chief Abiola died of natural causes or not, the great African businessman and philanthropist died in detention on July 7, 1998.

I later met with Dr Falomo a couple of times

at the functions of Capitalfield Group Limited of which he was the indefatigable and tireless Chairman. His integrity was remarkable as attested to by many who knew him and interacted with him, hence it wasn’t difficult for his colleagues to make him Chairman of this pre-eminent financial conglomerate.

We spoke a few times about writing an authoritative book on the Abiola and June 12 saga. I was willing and ready and in his own way, so was he, but our hectic schedules meant we were unable to find a convenient time for both of us. Not too long ago, I decided to take the bull by the horns and sent the head of Ovation Books and Publishing, Mr Sola Ojewusi, to book appointments with Dr Falomo in order to kickstart the laudable and necessary project by getting background information. However our attempts bore no fruit for a variety of reasons.

As I received the news of Dr Falomo’s demise, the first thing I said was “my God, we have lost a goldmine of contemporary history…” It is always painful to me when we lose such great men and women. Documenting history is extremely important and necessary.

Like all extraordinary and sentient icons, Falomo seems to have had a premonition of his death. He went on a 2 week holiday to the UK and America with his young friend and Group Managing Director of Capitalfield Group, Raphael Lewu, and shared several stories with him. One of these was the fact that having marked his 79th birthday, the month before in September 2019, he was prepared to join his Maker because he had done at least one year better than his late father.

Dr Ore Falomo came to this world to serve humanity. It reflected in his everyday life as he was larger than life. His physical frame belied his great stature in all facets of his social, economic and political life, not to mention his medical career where he simply excelled. Dr Falomo gave hope and succour to the rich and the poor. He touched the lives of almost all those he came into contact with for the better. May his soul rest in perfect peace.

Good night to an eminent, noble and revered personality…

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.