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Opinion: Political class and Conspiracy of Silence -Muiz Banire

Published

5 years ago

July 25, 2021

Editor

By Dr.Muiz Banire

The security situation in Nigeria has become wholly intractable. What started as an isolated case of insurgency in some parts of Borno State has become a national malaise rapidly expanding and threatening the fragile fabric of the nation called Nigeria. The human losses at present have befuddled our capacity to take records and there is hardly an accurate account of people already consumed by the violence of the men of the gun. Thousands of lives have been snuffed out by Boko Haram bombs and guns in the northeastern parts of the country. Suddenly, the North-West caught the fever of banditry, which is operating in a most deadly fashion, leaving behind sorrow, tears and blood everywhere the unscrupulous young agents of death have chosen to carry out their nefarious businesses. Katsina State, the home state of the President, has not been spared the horrors of banditry, killing and kidnap.

The volumes of death, maiming and rape of women by violent herders have left the whole of the North Central states of Niger, Nasarawa and Benue a wide expanse of gnashing teeth and fearsome living. The macabre of death enacted by the orgy of violence by bandits in Niger State has divided the state under two sovereignties as the victims of banditry and Boko Haram campaigns have submitted to the regime of the men of the underworld in order to purchase their peace. Boko Haram now levies and collects taxes from the hapless citizens whose fate is better procured by self-help rather than the constitutional protection that the government ought to guarantee. Bandits have made Zamfara a deadly zone and the allures of gold that the government allowed to be exploited illegally have become a source of destruction and wanton loss of life and property. Kaduna State under El-Rufai has become a theatre of war.

Thousands of lives have been lost in the internecine conflicts between the southern and northern Kaduna characterized by ethno-religious dimensions. Now the bandits have made a beautiful Kaduna another home of kidnapping and huge ransom collection. The raging fire of destruction and devastation has spread to the otherwise peaceful areas of Oyo State as the whole of the divisions of Ibarapaland have been invaded by people referred to as foreign Fulani herders who are in search of land to graze, a home to call their own notwithstanding that any part they visit is not terra nullius, not hitherto occupied by anybody. Forceful eviction of the traditional and original landowners, killing and maiming of dissenting indigenes, kidnapping and laying of siege have combined to make the food-producing parts of Oyo State a place of terror.

The dark and lonely forests of Ondo and Ekiti states where D.O. Fagunwa created the entertaining fables of brave hunters of Igbo Elegbeje, Igbo Eledumare and Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmale have today become real forests of horrors as gun-wielding herdsmen have replaced the gnomes, leprechauns and pterodactyls of Fagunwa’s fertile imagination. The nobility associated with the sojourn of the ancient characters of the creative mind of the writer is, however, foreign to the current occupiers of the forests as their articles of trade are kidnapping for ransom, killing and maiming of their victims. The Niger Delta with its characteristic violence birthed under the struggle for resource control in the fate of environmental degradation, has assumed another dimension as the lords of today are those youths born into squalor and violence in the ’90s and who have been deprived of any meaningful future by the terrible system that sees nothing good in good governance. The whole of the South-East today has bolstered itself ready for another civil war in the secessionist struggles of Indigeneous People of Biafra (IPOB) whose agitations have assumed a more dangerous dimension. The whole of Nigeria is witnessing all sorts of violent agitations and destructive elimination by dangerous fighters of no noble cause.

In the midst of the conflagration, a new business was born: mass abduction of schoolgirls and boys. Starting with Chibok, later Dapchi and Kagara, the records of mass kidnap today have assumed an unprecedented dimension. Schoolchildren and adults are kidnapped in their hundreds and ransoms are collected by bandits in millions of naira and dollars. A most conniving government has given fillip to all these undesirable elements by paying ransom to purchase freedom for victims.

A poor herder making a few thousands of naira monthly in the business of herding cattle from Kano to Lagos has discovered a more profitable venture in kidnap of Nigerians, terrorizing them until their relatives or the government pay. Thousands of lives have been snuffed out in their glory when these rapacious elements lay siege on our roads and force hapless citizens into forests. The government complains that the violent and dangerous herders who graze animals openly and kill the farm owners are foreign Fulani herders and yet it is not ready to enforce the criminal laws against these foreigners. This lends credence to the accusation that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is pro-Fulani and is only trying to eliminate other tribes to create a huge territorial home for Fulani invaders across Africa. The long silence from the President and his occasional warnings to bandits and Boko Haram elements paint the picture of a eunuch who only gives verbal expressions to his potency to impress women.

The worst aspect of it all is the average demented Nigerian politician who carries on campaigning for power grab in 2023 as if the whole security crisis in the nation is a tea party. We have seen them junketing from one local government to another mouthing their insane promises and wild projections. They keep quiet whenever the horrors being perpetrated by Fulani herders are being discussed. They maintain a tied tongue anytime their opinions would conflict with the sentiments of the Presidency. Their people are daily subjected to bloodshed and devastations and yet the Nigerian politician is insouciant in his reckless ambition to govern a burning entity. They are keeping quiet, except for a few whose conscience would not allow them to give further inordinate protection to party loyalty and collective insanity. It was quite impressive to hear Smart Adeyemi, the senator representing the Kogi West Senatorial District, the other day lamenting the security situation in the country. His genuine emotions could not contain his manliness when he burst out in tears calling on his comrades on the floor of the Senate to rise up in defence of the land. Ali Ndume has been heard on a number of occasions condemning the conspiracy of government and the elite in what is otherwise a consuming conflagration that is herding us towards Somalia, Liberia and Rwanda. Instead of the various political gladiators coming together to find a solution to the challenge of this vanishing country, they are busy strategizing over election into an office that is appearing to be a mirage. The elite in Nigeria, the civil society inclusive, have given all manner of justification in defence of Buhari’s government, from the sensible to the ridiculous.

At first, the body language of the President was dangled as the magic wand that would cure Nigeria of all ailments. Later they relied on the ignorance of the President and the man too was never aware of any evil happening around him. An excuse at a time was the incompetence and corruption of President Goodluck Jonathan’s government, as if that was not what prompted us to elect Buhari. The elite community and the political class has forgotten that when Nigeria finally descends into Rwanda, they themselves would be dislodged from their Don Quixote horse and be made to worship the miscreants that would be in charge of the various streets. Many believe they would run away from Nigeria with their families, forgetting that no one can carry both linear and extended families into safety when the threatening war finally begins.

The sentiments against the Igbo have made many to see the demand for Biafra as a ranting of some lunatics. They have forgotten that to still such voices of secession, we need to have restructured the country genuinely to cater for all interests and the present government is too docile and criminally conniving to save the fragile entity that is about to explode.

The politicians have been carrying on as if nothing mattered except securing a place at the top; 2023 is too much of a paradise to jeopardize by the present hell of calling for the country to be preserved. One wonders if there would be anything to govern when Nigeria finally descends into the steaming cauldron of civil war with its unceasingly flowing currency of bloodshed. One wonders if there would be a President effectively in charge of different parts of the country under various warlords the number of which is sufficient in Nigeria of today to make every street a sovereign state under its own government of hoodlums and miscreants. The multitudes of thugs we have produced, sufficiently armed and deployed in the past to unsettle democratic process through rigging and violence, are enough to make Rwanda a child’s play. The last EndSARS protest with the aftermath takeover by vagrants in Lagos and many other cities is a pointer to the lugubrious imminence of government of the thugs, by the thugs and for the thugs.

This is the time for the Nigerian politicians and elder statesmen to rise up. This is the time to call a spade a spade and let the devil both home and abroad be shamed. This is the time for the civil society to jettison its silly and empty sloganeering of fighting corruption in its roundtable approach and call for the government to do something serious about the insecurity in the land. While politicians can afford to run away, the question is where will you run to when the crisis finally embraces the entire land. Few peaceful spots in Nigeria that have not been effectively visited by these so-called foreign invaders are already under the spy gaze of their agents who are only waiting for the call to action.

Nigerian politicians in their elite conspiracy have been in soulful silence of an irresponsible egoism. They dare not voice out their concerns, they do not want to be regarded as an enemy of the government. Remember that when the chips are down, when the die is finally cast, the money you have kept, the offices you currently occupy, the privileges you fear to lose will not be available to save you and the nation. The time to speak out is now.

Headline

ADC Tells Tinubu to Resign As World Bank Reveals 139million Nigerians Live in Poverty

Published

1 day ago

July 20, 2026

Eric

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Saturday asked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to resign rather than seek re-election, asserting that the World Bank’s recent report showing that 139 million Nigerians live below the poverty line is his scorecard.

“The evidence of 139 million people living in poverty and 17 million at risk of starvation is President Tinubu’s scorecard,” the party said. “On account of this catastrophic failure alone, President Tinubu should be contemplating resigning from office rather than seeking re-election.”

It decried that the “catastrophic” situation was occasioned by the Tinubu administration’s policies, which it said, “have favoured money over people and statistics over survival.”

The opposition party maintained that the economic growth Mr Tinubu’s government has repeatedly boasted of as a result of its economic reforms is “meaningless” if the livelihoods of people at the grassroots have yet to improve since 2023, when he assumed office.

“Instead of changing course, the government has stubbornly stuck with its ruinous economic policies and even continues to market recklessness as courage and wickedness as ‘necessary pains.’

“However, three years down the line, it is now clear that the chicken has come home to roost,” the ADC said.

According to the party, Nigeria desperately needs a leader who truly cares about citizens’ well-being and understands that economic reforms should improve citizens’ lives, not worsen their misery.

“A president whose government is not openly feasting while asking the people to continue fasting. A government that does not wallow in profligacy while handing the people palliatives,” it added.

The party condemned the ruling APC’s social intervention programmes aimed at cushioning the effects of its economic policies, adding, “Poverty cannot be defeated through palliatives.”

The ADC pledged that if elected in 2027, it would tackle the root causes of hunger by reducing energy costs, enhancing food production, and ensuring that farmers returned to their farmlands.

It also vowed to rehabilitate the 264 abandoned dams, improve access to fertilisers and quality seeds, and invest in storage facilities.

According to the party, transportation, waste, and food prices would be reduced while creating productive jobs.

“Hunger cannot be separated from poverty, education, or healthcare. That is why an ADC government will prioritise nutrition, primary healthcare, quality basic education, and skills development because no nation can build a prosperous economy while millions of its children are hungry, out of school, or cannot read simple texts,” the party said.

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‘Punishment Before Trial’: The Travails of Nasir El-Rufai

Published

2 days ago

July 19, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

For 150 days and counting, a former Governor of Kaduna State, and one time Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has remained in the custody of various security agencies including the Department of State Services (DSS), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for alleged offences ranging from fund misappropriation, wiretapping and eavesdropping on security information among others. El-Rufai has not been found of any offence though he has spent over 150 days in custody.

The former governor’s plight was brought back to the fore weekend, when his wife, Asia Ahmad El-Rufai, made a passionate appeal to the international community to intervene over what she described as her husband’s prolonged detention and alleged denial of due process.

Mrs El-Rufai argued that the former governor’s continued incarceration amounted to “punishment before trial” and posed a threat to Nigeria’s democratic institutions. She noted that her husband has not been fairly treated even as she alleged that the former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) may have taken ill in custody, bleeding from both nose and mouth. She wondered how someone, could made to undergo such severe punishment even when he is not undergone any trial, let alone being found guilty.

In a statement she signed herself, released his social media handles to mark what she described as the 150th day of El-Rufai’s detention, El-Rufai’s wife called on foreign governments, multilateral and multinational organisations and international human rights groups to closely monitor the legal proceedings involving her husband.

She acknowledged not speaking as a political actor but as a wife and mother seeking fairness for a member of her family.

The woman was of the opinion that the period of her husband’s incarceration without trial, has taken a significant emotional and physical toll on the former governor, members of his family and close associates.

“On the 150th day of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai’s detention, I ask readers outside Nigeria to pause over what that number means. One hundred and fifty days is not a legal phrase.

“It is five months of missed meals, missed prayers, missed proper mourning of his deceased mother, missed family conversations, interrupted medical care and moments we can never recover,” she said.

Acknowledging that her husband had been a controversial figure during his more than two decades in public service, as well as how rule of law and democracy should play out, she observed that “My husband is no stranger to controversy or public scrutiny. He has been praised, criticised, loved and opposed. That is democracy.

“But what is happening to him today is not democracy, and it is not accountability. It is punishment before trial,” she said.

Continuing and reflecting on the origin of the travails of her husband, Mrs El-Rufai traced his confrontation with the law to when am attempt was first made to arrest him at the airport on his way back from Egypt. The embarrassing situation at the airport culminated in his appearance for questioning, and ever since he has been allowed except when he was momentarily permitted to go and bury his dead mother.

She said, “There was the sudden invitation, his voluntary appearance before the authorities, and the promise of bail that existed on paper but not in freedom.

“There was the night he was moved between locations without warning and without the dignity of allowing his family to know where he was being taken,” she stated.

Asia also alleged that the former governor became seriously ill while in custody and experienced bleeding from his nose and mouth.

She claimed that officials were reluctant to provide him with adequate medical attention or allow his family to deliver his prescribed medication.

“I still remember the helplessness of hearing that he had fallen gravely ill in custody, bleeding from his nose and mouth, while those responsible for his welfare were reluctant to provide the care any person deserves.

“I remember the anxiety of trying to get his medication to him and wondering whether officials would accept it,” she said.

According to her, the detention had inflicted emotional distress on the family, which continued to wait for the legal process to take its course.

“These are not abstract violations. They are the moments that chip away at a family’s resolve and hope,” she added.

While not requesting that her husband be placed above the law, or escape investigation as a public officer, she insisted that such investigations must be conducted transparently, and in accordance with constitutional safeguards.

“If the state believes it has evidence, let it be presented before an impartial court, openly and fairly.

“But justice cannot be selective. It cannot be pursued through overlapping charges, repeated detention, impossible bail conditions and public humiliation designed to persuade the nation of guilt before a judge has heard the case,” she said.

She accused the government of the day of orchestrating the gory details of the situation, including stringent bail conditions to deprive her husband of freedom, even as the election approaches, stressing that Nigeria was drifting from legitimate accountability towards “lawfare,” which she described as the deployment of legal institutions and judicial procedures as political weapons. She believes that El-Rufai’s problems are the consequence of his disagreement with President Bola Tinubu, and his eventual decanting from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“The concern is not whether former officials may be investigated; they can and should be.

“The concern is whether the law is being applied neutrally or deployed against those who have fallen out of political favour,” she said.

“His political rupture with President Bola Tinubu’s ruling All Progressives Congress and his refusal to surrender his independent voice should not make him a target for indefinite punishment or detention disguised as prosecution,” she said.

“The legal architecture”, she continued, “surrounding him is bewildering even to trained observers: multiple charges in different courts, overlapping allegations, shifting statutory theories and duplicated claims arising from the same alleged events.

“If one application for bail is made and the conditions are met, another accusation can be filed the next day. If one judge must consider freedom, another process can be used to delay it,” she alleged, querying why such procedures was allowed to turn the judicial process into a form of punishment before conviction.

In March 2026, the ICPC arraigned El-Rufai, alongside one Joel Adoga, before Honourable Justice A.I. Aikawa of the Federal High Court, Kaduna Division, on a 10-count charge bordering on abuse of office, money laundering and fraud.

According to the charge sheet marked FHC/KD/73/2026, the former governor was accused of unlawfully receiving multiple sums of money in naira and foreign currencies while serving as a public officer.

Specifically, the Commission alleged that El-Rufai, in September 2020 and January 2023, received the sum of N289,826,998.12 on each occasion as severance allowance, far exceeding the legally entitled sum of N20,013,245.00, being 300 percent of his annual basic salary.

The ICPC charge further revealed that between 2016 and 2023, the former governor allegedly took control of various sums in United States Dollars through his domiciliary account with Guaranty Trust Bank. These include $320,800 allegedly paid in tranches by Joel Adoga, as well as other deposits amounting to $155,800, $305,300, and several smaller sums from different individuals, all reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.

Joel Adoga was also accused of conspiring with the former governor in July 2019 to disguise the origin of $10,000 deposited into the said account.

One of the counts reads that both defendants, in July 2019 at Wuse, Abuja, allegedly conspired to disguise the origin of $10,000 paid into the former governor’s domiciliary account, knowing or reasonably ought to have known that the funds formed part of the proceeds of unlawful activity, contrary to and punishable under relevant provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

When the charges were read, both defendants pleaded not guilty to all counts, but they were ordered to be remanded in ICPC custody.

The ICPC further violated the court-ordered access to the former governor, saying that the order did not override the agency’s internal security rules.

In May 2026, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja granted El-Rufai N100 million bail in the trial over the alleged unlawful interception of the phone communications of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. However, he was re-arrested right at the court premises by the DSS, prompting the family to raise alarm.

EL-RUFAI’S STRINGENT BAIL CONDITIONS

Much as the embattled former Kaduna governor was granted bail, the conditions have appeared too stringent and tough to meet, the situation that prompted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) among many other concerned Nigerians to react.

In its immediate reaction, the ADC accused the Federal Government of turning El-Rufai into a political prisoner, describing his ordeal as “political persecution dressed up as prosecution.”

El-Rufai’s family also condemned the re-arrest.

El-Rufai’s second wife, Hasiat, who addressed journalists outside the DSS facility, said the family was traumatised by the development and lived daily under the shadow of threats and surveillance.

“We now live in constant fear. Every day we get a threat — DSS is coming to raid your house, ICPC is coming to raid your house, police are coming to raid your house. You are being followed. Our phones are tapped,” she said.

As part of the bail conditions, the trial judge, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik ordered the defendant to produce a surety who must be a federal civil servant not below Grade Level 17.

According to the court, the surety must not only be resident in either Maitama or Asokoro highbrow districts of Abuja, but must also deposit the original Certificate of Occupancy of a landed property not valued below the bail sum.

It held that the surety must also provide evidence of receipt of salary for at least three months, with an authenticated letter from the manager of a bank within the jurisdiction of the court.

It added that a verification letter from the surety’s immediate department must be submitted alongside a tax clearance certificate covering the last six months.

The defendant was further mandated to surrender his valid international passports and directed not to travel out of the country without permission.

Justice Abdulmalik ordered the defendant to report to the headquarters of the Department of State Services, DSS, every last Friday of the month by 10 a.m. to sign an attendance register, pending the determination of the case. The former governor was also directed to submit a letter of attestation from the Chairman of the Kaduna Traditional Council.

The trial judge warned that failure to comply with any of the conditions would lead to an automatic revocation of the bail.

Expressing its position on the travails of the former governor, the ADC, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said “What is happening to Mallam El-Rufai confirms beyond all doubt that this detention is no longer about justice, it is about politics.

“It also confirms our fears that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is deploying the instruments of state power to keep one of the leading opposition figures out of circulation. This is political persecution dressed up as prosecution.”

ADC also drew comparisons between El-Rufai’s case and those involving former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, and former Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, both facing separate corruption allegations.

“When placed beside other high-profile cases, the contrast becomes stark and shameful. Yahaya Bello, former governor of Kogi State, has been accused in an alleged N80.2 billion money laundering case.

‘’Ifeanyi Okowa, former governor of Delta State, was arrested over the alleged diversion of N1.3 trillion in derivation funds. But today, they are walking around free, singing President Tinubu’s campaign song,” the ADC statement noted.

However, unconfirmed feelers reaching The Boss have it that El-Rufai’s incarceration has a lot to do with keeping him away from the face politics till after the 2027 General elections. The truth, or otherwise behind the postulation remains to be seen. Nigerians have to wait till the former governor’s next appearance in court by September 2026, to determine the direction of his freedom.

Headline

Mary Habila’s Death: Tinubu Has Failed Comprehensively, Disgracefully – Atiku

Published

5 days ago

July 16, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

A former Vice President, and Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has lashed out at the administration of President Bola Tinubu over its prolonged silence on the death of a medical practitioner, Mary Habila, who died at the residence of the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi.

Atiku condemned the inability of the Tinubu-led government from making any pronouncements or instituting any form of probe to unravel the cause of death since the sad incident occurred on June 27, 2026, saying the administration has failed comprehensively and disgracefully.

Atiku’s remarks are contained in a statement he released on his social platforms endorsed with his regular AA.

While not casting any blame on any particular person or entity, Atiku maintained that condolences are not enough,but must be accompanied by thorough investigation into the circumstances that led to the death of the 26 years old medical practitioner in her prime.

The former Vice President therefore called for a “credible, independent, and transparent investigation” to establish the truth, noting that “it is the refusal of the Federal Government to guarantee such an investigation that constitutes the scandal before us”.

The statement in full:

I have followed with deep sorrow and mounting concern the reports surrounding the death of Miss Mary Habila, a 26-year-old Nigerian from Nok, Southern Kaduna, who died on June 27, 2026, within the private residence of the Honourable Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, in Uburu, Ebonyi State.

First, I extend my heartfelt condolences to the Habila family. No family should have to mourn a daughter taken in the prime of her life while also fighting simply to learn the truth of how she died.

But condolences are not enough. Nigerians deserve answers, and it is on this score that the Tinubu administration has failed, comprehensively and disgracefully.

Consider the facts that are not in dispute. A young woman died in the residence of a serving Federal Minister. For nearly two weeks, neither the Minister, nor the police, nor any arm of government said a word to the Nigerian people. It took the courage of Sahara Reporters to bring this death into public view. Three weeks after her death, no autopsy has been performed. No cause of death has been established. The investigation remains domiciled in the very state where the Minister served two terms as Governor and where his influence is beyond question.

And through all of this, silence from the Presidency. Silence from the Federal Executive Council. Silence from the Inspector-General of Police. Silence from the National Assembly. Not one word. Not one directive. Not one gesture to assure Nigerians that the life of Mary Habila matters to this government.

Instead, the Minister has been permitted to manage the narrative of a death that occurred under his own roof: issuing statements through his personal aides, deploying his private lawyers to correspond with the police, and continuing his official duties as though nothing has happened, while civil society groups, youth organisations, and the family’s own community cry out for an independent inquiry.

Let me be clear: I make no pronouncement on anyone’s guilt or innocence. That is precisely the point. Only a credible, independent, and transparent investigation can establish the truth, and it is the refusal of the Federal Government to guarantee such an investigation that constitutes the scandal before us.

A government’s first duty is the protection of life. Where a life is lost in circumstances touching a high official of state, the burden on government to act transparently is at its heaviest.

President Tinubu’s administration has instead treated this tragedy as an inconvenience to be waited out. If the death of a young Nigerian woman in a Minister’s residence cannot stir this government to act, then Nigerians must ask: whose life, exactly, does this government value?

I therefore demand the following: One, President Bola Tinubu must direct the Honourable Minister of Works to step aside immediately, pending the conclusion of investigations. This is not a punishment; it is the minimum standard of public accountability in any serious democracy. No official under this cloud should preside over a federal ministry as though it were business as usual.

Two, the Inspector-General of Police must immediately transfer the investigation from the Ebonyi State Command to Force Headquarters, with the involvement of independent forensic experts. No investigation conducted in the shadow of the Minister’s home-state influence can command public confidence.

Three, a full, independent, and internationally credible autopsy must be conducted without further delay, with the findings made public. The stalemate over the post-mortem, three weeks after this young woman’s death is an indictment of every institution involved.

Four, the family of Mary Habila must be protected from any pressure, inducement, or intimidation, and must be guaranteed unfettered access to the facts of their daughter’s death.

The measure of a nation is how it responds when the powerful are touched by tragedy and the powerless demand truth. Mary Habila was somebody’s daughter, somebody’s sister, a young professional with her life ahead of her. She was a Nigerian. Her death must not be reduced to a footnote of political convenience.

Nigeria will work again, but only when the life of every Nigerian counts, and when no one, however highly placed, stands beyond the reach of accountability.

May the soul of Mary Habila rest in peace. May her family find justice. -AA