Headline

How Tinubu Plans to Consolidate Power

Published

3 years ago

June 17, 2023

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

With the presidential candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, battling to legally upturn the results of the February 25, 2023 Presidential Elections at the Tribunal, President Bola Tinubu is devising plans to ensure that his declared victory remains sacrosanct.

Tinubu has not hidden his intention to ensure his four years stewardship runs smoothly without legal interruption, considering that all the parties at the tribunal seem to have a 50/50 chance of coming out victorious.

With the camp of Peter Obi, who alone scored a ‘mandatory’ 25% victory in the Federal Capital Territory, believing that the election victory is theirs, and Atiku proving that most of his legitimate votes were allocated to Tinubu especially in the North, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Tinubu have a lot of defence to put up to convince the judges that his election is legit. So far, the camps of Atiku and Peter Obi have submitted exhibits, which have been admitted by the tribunal as well as tons of paper evidences and witnesses to help them prove the election of Tinubu is as discredited as many organisations and governments have testified.

But Tinubu is not lying down or leaving matters to chance. The President has from the day of inauguration began a massive policy re-engineering, reorientation and somersault that he believes will sway public sympathy to his side in anticipation of the Tribunal’s verdict at the end of the sitting. While many applauded his inauguration ground of removal of subsidy from fuel products, a lot of Nigerians have said that the timing was both wrong and anti-people. The President is hoping the long, cumbersome, expensive and windy process of the Tribunal will provide an opportunity for him to win the hearts of majority of Nigerians, who supposedly voted against him, gain legitimacy and somehow achieve a kind of backdoor referendum instead of election.

Consequently, he is moving at the speed of light to win Nigerians over; Nigerians who may easily give up on the judicial process. For that purpose, he has turned Aso Rock an Okija of some sort for as many that are willing to share in the national privilege, and help him consolidate his position should there be a rerun or referendum, and so all manner of visitors have flooded the villa since he assumed office. He has therefore, also succeeded in installing leaders of the National Assembly across board beginning with Senator Godswill Akpabio as Senate president and Tajudeen Abass as Speaker, House of Representatives, and open the doors of the villa to all and sundry who will easilyrespond to his whims and caprice.

Among those who have visited the presidential villa in the past weeks Tinubu became president are governors elected on the platform of the APC, former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, former governors of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso and Abdullahi Ganduje, Chairman of Dangote Industries, Aliko Dangote, Niger Delta militant, Asari Dokubo, service chiefs, and a host of others.

The duo of Emefiele and Bawa also visited the Villa before the hammer of sack fell on them.

Tinubu, who lost his homebase, Lagos, by a slim margin to the LP candidate, according to the results released by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) though still being contested in Lagos, fired the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele, knowing it will tickle the fancy of Nigerians if the challenges of the naira redesign policy is anything to go by. It would be recalled that Emefiele’s naira redesign policy had led to scarcity of naira, plunging families into untold sufferings and leading to deaths of many. Tinubu was quick to capitalise on Emefiele’s fall to gain sympathy. It is on record that seven days, after, Emefiele is still in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), which arrested him shortly after he was removed.

Days later, Tinubu followed up with the removal of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa for alleged abuse of office. Bawa has also been arrested.

Willie Bassey, Director, Information, office of the SGF, who revealed the information to journalists noted that, Bawa’s suspension was to enable security agents conduct proper investigation into his conduct while in office.

There has been several allegations against Bawa since he assumed office as EFCC chair, including a former governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, accusing him of demanding $2 million bribe from him.

Bawa denied the allegation, asking the former governor to provide evidence to back his claim.

Tinubu, according to stakeholders, is riding on what late afrobeat king, Fela, will call Initial gra gra; IGG for short.

“What he is doing is not governance; he is only struggling to gain sympathy from Nigerians towards assuming relevance, knowing that the verdict of the presidential election tribunal can go anyway. The initial idea of this government is to try within the shortest time to gain sympathy with the tribunal,” a political stakeholder, who crave anonymity said, adding that “the only way this nation can move forward is through the rule of law, and not sympathy.”

Tinubu has followed up his ‘good gestures’ with the signing of Students Loan Bill, which has continued to get support from interested stakeholders, including the National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS). The association, which has also visited the presidential villa, praised Tinubu for its signing while urging him to review the constitution of the special committee that will oversee the new Nigerian Education Loan Fund to include student representatives.

“We are here to congratulate you and to thank you for what you have been doing for the country since you assumed responsibility as the president. We want to equally thank you for the Students Loan Bill,” NANS president, Umar Barambu, who led other student leaders on a visit to Tinubu in his office, said.

The president has also promised to review worker’s salary as a way of cushioning the effect for the just removed subsidy on fuel.

Recall that Tinubu was announced winner of the election, garnering a total of 8,794,726 votes, the highest of all the candidates, thus meeting the first constitutional requirement to be declared the winner.

Atiku polled a total of 6,984,520 votes in the election while Peter Obi of the Labour Party came third with a total of 6,101,533 votes and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP came fourth with 1,496,687 votes.

Meanwhile, the duo of Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar are at the tribunal, attempting to legally upturn the outcome of the February 25 presidential election, claiming that irregularities, harassment, violence and vote stealing marred the election.

Tinubu, according to a cross section of Nigerians, is positioning himself for a possible rerun or referendum, should the judgment of the Tribunal goes against his election.

Headline

Why Nigerians Must Reject INEC’s Revised Timetable – ADC

Published

4 days ago

February 28, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), during the week, released a fresh elections timetable, with major amendments to accommodate the just passed and signed Electoral Act 2026 by the National Assembly and President Bola Tinubu respectively.

Following the repeal of the Electoral Act, 2022 and the enactment of the Electoral Act, 2026, which introduced adjustments to statutory timelines governing pre-election and electoral activities, the Commission has reviewed and realigned the Schedule to ensure full compliance with the new legal framework.

Accordingly, the Commission has resolved as follows:

Presidential and National Assembly Elections will now hold on Saturday, 16th January 2027 as against the earlier stated February 20, 2027
Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Elections will now hold on Saturday, 6th February 2027 as against the former date of March 6, 2027

Also in accordance with the approved Schedule of Activities, the electoral bidy noted in the revised timetable that:

Conduct of Party Primaries, including resolution of disputes arising from primaries, will commence on 23rd April 2026 and end on 30th May 2026.

Presidential and National Assembly campaigns will commence on 19th August 2026.

Governorship and State Houses of Assembly campaigns will commence on 9th September 2026.

As provided by law, campaigns shall end 24 hours before Election Day. Political parties are strongly advised to adhere strictly to these timelines. The Commission will enforce compliance with the law.

But in a swift reaction, the opposition coalition, African Democratic Congress (ADC), rejected the revised 2026–2027 general election timetable, describing it as a politically biased schedule designed to favour the re-election agenda of President Bola Tinubu, and calling on all Nigerians to speak up enmasse to reject the revised timetable.

The ADC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, on Friday argued that the new deadlines and compliance requirements under the Electoral Act 2026 create near-impossible hurdles for opposition parties seeking to field candidates.

On February 13, INEC initially scheduled the 2027 Presidential and National Assembly elections for February 20, 2027, while the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections were fixed for March 6, 2027.

The timetable, however, faced objections from some Muslim stakeholders who noted that the dates coincided with the 2027 Ramadan period.

Following the concerns, the National Assembly amended Clause 28 of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, reducing the required election notice period from 360 to 300 days, allowing INEC to adjust the election dates.

Subsequently, INEC released a revised schedule on Thursday, signed by its Chairman, Joash Amupitan, moving the Presidential and National Assembly elections to January 16, 2027, and the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections to February 6, 2027.

Reacting, the ADC said the requirement that political parties submit a comprehensive digital membership register by April 2, 2026, effectively bars opposition parties from participating.

The party stated: “The African Democratic Congress rejects the updated 2026–2027 electoral timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission. What has been presented as a routine administrative schedule of the upcoming general elections is, in fact, a political instrument carefully structured to narrow democratic space and strengthen the incumbent administration ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“According to the timetable, party primaries are to be conducted between April 23 and May 30, 2026, just 55 to 92 days from today. However, more significant is that, pursuant to Section 77(4) of the Electoral Act 2026, political parties are required to submit their digital membership registers to INEC not later than April 2, 2026.

“That is only about 34 days away. Section 77(7) further provides that any party that fails to submit its membership register within the stipulated time shall not be eligible to field a candidate. These are not routine administrative rules but are deliberately constructed barriers designed to exclude the opposition from participating in the election.”

The party further noted that Section 77(2) of the Electoral Act 2026 requires the digital register of members to contain name, sex, date of birth, address, state, local government, ward, polling unit, National Identification Number (NIN) and photograph in both hard and soft copies, while Section 77(6) prohibits the use of any pre-existing register that does not contain the specified information. It warned that failure to meet these requirements would lead to disqualification.

The ADC questioned the fairness of the digital membership requirement, noting that the ruling All Progressives Congress began its registration process in February 2025, long before the requirement became mandatory.

“It is not a product of foresight but insider advantage. They knew what was coming. They therefore had one full year to carry out an exercise that other political parties are expected to complete in one month, during which they must collect, process, collate and transmit large volumes of digital data to INEC under the threat of exclusion. This is practically impossible.

“Democratic competition is based on a level playing field that does not give any contestant an undue advantage. A system where one party exploits incumbency to gain a one-year head start on a requirement that other parties only became aware of when it was nearly too late is a rigged system.”

The ADC said it has joined other opposition parties in rejecting the Electoral Act 2026, adding that the INEC timetable is equally rejected as it appears designed to serve what it described as a self-succession agenda.

“Let it be clear that ADC will not take any action that appears to confer legitimacy on a fraudulent system. We are reviewing our options and will make our position known in the coming days,” the party said.

The party also called on civil society organisations, democratic stakeholders and Nigerians to scrutinise the timetable and demand fairness, stressing that democracy cannot survive when electoral rules are structured to produce predetermined outcomes.

The party has consistently accused the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) of scheming to silence the opposition as the 2027 General Elections draw closer, citing his manipulation of state governors and Assembly members from jumping ship, and settling with the ruling party.

Presently, the president’s party has a total of 31 out of 36 states governors, more than majority of the national and states Houses of Assembly.

A frontline publisher and chieftain of the ADC, Chief Dele Momodu, has warned that Tinubu is gradually transforming into full-blown dictatorship, stressing that his second term in office would turn state governors into ‘total slaves’.

Headline

Second Term for Tinubu Will Turn Governors into Total Slaves, Dele Momodu Warns

Published

4 days ago

February 28, 2026

Eric

Chairman, Ovation Media Group, and former presidential aspirant, Aare Dele Momodu, has expressed strong concern over what he described as growing political support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu among state governors across the country.

Speaking during an interview on News Central TV, Momodu said he was shocked by the level of backing the president is reportedly receiving, warning that Nigeria’s democracy could face serious risks if the current political trend continues.

The media entrepreneur cautioned that allowing Tinubu to secure a second term in 2027 could, in his view, lead to excessive concentration of power. He particularly criticized what he described as a growing wave of opposition figures aligning with the ruling All Progressives Congress> (APC).

Momodu referenced reports of opposition governors, including Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, allegedly moving closer to the ruling party, describing the development as politically troubling.

According to him, some governors are allegedly competing to demonstrate loyalty to the president ahead of future elections.

“The governors are fighting to ensure Tinubu wins a second term, fighting to be the biggest thug for him. If a man in his first term can capture the bodies and souls of Nigerians this way, imagine what he would do with a second term. It will be a full-blown dictatorship, and the governors will regret it as they become total slaves to him,” Momodu said.

He concluded by urging Nigerians to remain vigilant and actively protect democratic institutions, warning that unchecked consolidation of political power could threaten the nation’s democracy and future stability.

Gistmania

Headline

Court Validates PDP 2025 Convention in Ibadan, Affirms Turaki-led NWC

Published

5 days ago

February 27, 2026

Eric

The Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan has affirmed the validity of the 2025 Elective Convention of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), which produced Dr. Kabiru Turaki as the substantive National Chairman of the party.

Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Ladiran Akintola upheld the convention in its entirety, ruling that it was conducted in full compliance with the relevant constitutional and statutory provisions governing party elections in Nigeria.

The decision marked a significant legal victory for the party’s leadership and brought clarity to the dispute surrounding the convention’s legitimacy.

The ruling followed an amended originating summons filed by Misibau Adetunmbi (SAN) on behalf of the claimant, Folahan Malomo Adelabi, in Suit No. I/1336/2025.

In a comprehensive judgment, the court granted all 13 reliefs sought by the claimant, effectively endorsing the processes and outcomes of the Ibadan convention.

Justice Akintola held that the convention, organised by the recognised leadership of the party, satisfied all laid-down legal requirements as stipulated in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Electoral Act 2022 (as amended), and the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.

The court found no breach of due process or statutory non-compliance in the conduct of the exercise.

In the same proceedings, the court dismissed the Motion on Notice seeking a stay of proceedings and suspension of the ruling, filed by Sunday Ibrahim (SAN) on behalf of Austin Nwachukwu and two others. The applications were described as lacking merit.

Earlier in the proceedings, the court had also rejected a bid by Ibrahim to have his clients joined in the suit.

Justice Akintola ruled at the time that the joinder application was unsubstantiated and consequently dismissed it.