Headline

The Second Coming of Buhari: Kleptocracy in High Places

Published

2 years ago

December 2, 2023

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

Listening to the Chip Whip of the 10th Senate, who is representing Borno South senatorial zone, Senator Ali Ndume, during a live interview on Friday, one cannot help but reminisce on the colossal looting that was reported during the eight inglorious years of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Ndume, also a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), had in no hidden terms alluded to the ineptitude that existed while Buhari held sway as president, stressing that the country was run aground, even as the president showed little or no supervisory role, as result of the massive corruption and thievery of commonwealth, which became rampant among public officers and their cronies, and unchecked.

Speaking on the live TV show, Ndume claimed that the Buhari administration was replete with men and women, who were kleptomaniacs in nature.

He said, while making an attempt to defend the present hardship under President Bola Tinubu, “The President here is in charge. He takes charge, unlike our former President. That President will just give you an assignment, he will not look over you,”

He added, “That is where the problem is and he (Buhari) knows that. That was the mistake President Buhari made. He ended up confessing these days that he had more kleptocrats in his government. I said it before, and now he admitted it that there were some kinds of people that took over power to themselves.”

Ndume, however, is not the only APC stalwart that has criticised the administration of Buhari, regarding it as a failed venture. Earlier in November, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, said the past administration, led by Buhari bankrupted the nation.

Ribadu spoke during the Chief of Defence Intelligence annual conference, saying that the incumbent government inherited a “bankrupt country”, adding that the federal government is “paying back what was taken” by Buhari and officials, their cronies and family members.

Buhari had been foisted on Nigerians following the 2015 general election as a saint; glorious, incorruptible, above board and disciplined. However, the former military ruler, who was making a comeback to the Nigerian seat of power, practically frittered all the goodwill and integrity away in an eight years, many stakeholders have described as clueless, topsy-turvy and devoid of administration mechanism.

While Buhari came as the one, who was supposedly going to fix alleged maladministration of the 16 years of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rule, reports available to The Boss shows that massive corruption and looting took root in the government with members of the first having a substantial dose of the inanities.

In 2018, it was reported that a scandal brewed.within the household of Buhari, when the Aide De Camp of Buhari’s wife Aisha Buhari, was accused of fraud to the tune of N2.5 billion

Mrs. Buhari alleged that her ADC, Sani Baba-Inna, a Chief Superintendent of Police, received huge donations from politicians and business people on her behalf and then kept the cash to himself, and went ahead to request the then Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to arrest and compel him to refund the money. The officer in question however, denied the allegation.

Immediately the police received the petition from Mrs Buhari, the ADC was arrested on Friday last week and investigation launched.

The IG said the matter must be investigated immediately and the house of the ADC was raided,” one of our sources said.

“Shockingly, investigators only found N1,200 cash in the House. His bank account was also investigated and had only a balance of N30,000 while the transaction records showed that most credits to the account were his salaries and allowances.”

The police, it was gathered, concluded that Mrs Buhari must have been wrongly informed as there was nothing to show or prove that such huge sums of money was in the custody of Mr Baba-Inna.

An associate of Mr. Baba-Inna said the police contacted those named as donors of the controversial funds but that they all denied making the donations attributed to them.

“For instance, one of those named was the IG of Police himself,” the source said. “But the IG said he has never passed any money through Baba-Inna.”

When Mrs Buhari was informed of the outcome of police investigation, the source said the first lady flared up and accused the police of colluding “to protect one of their own”.

She then reportedly asked the State Security Service (SSS) to take over the case and get her money back”.

A stakeholder told the Boss that that was corruption worked as at the time with stringent alibis, supported by some law enforcement agencies.

The case of Buhari’s nephew, Sadie Yisuf, also know as Tunde Idiagbon, who is the son of Mamman Daura’s immediate younger sister, Hajia Halima, who died in 2018, was also widely reported regarding his ‘looting’ tendencies.

Known as billionaire (some even refer to him as a trillionaire, Yusuf was said to be previously a recharge card seller before his uncle hit limelight in Aso Rock.

According to reports, the youngman, who is in his 30s, quietly retired to the Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA) supposedly with the biggest retirement benefit from loot said to run into billions of dollars.

According to SaharaReporters, Yusuf, said to be the youngest wealthiest men, secured a form of diplomatic immunity from prosecution through his appointment to the National Intelligence Agency, according to sources in the Presidency, an appointment he got despite not attending the compulsory training for cadets.

The paper also reported that Yusuf spent $100 million to help Kano-born oil billionaire Alhaji Auwalu Abdullahi Rano, the executive chairman and CEO of holding company A. A. Rano Group, start Rano Air.

Rano Air is a licensed airline, incorporated in 2021 with its operational base in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. When it started, it proposed to operate in Nigeria and beyond but start with eight local stations – Abuja, Kano, Lagos, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Kaduna, Yola and Asaba.

He is also said to be the proud owner of several mansions in Abuja, sources available to the paper confided.

In 2020, there allegations of high scale stealing by members of the Buhari family including Sabiu Yusuf.

Reports monitored on the media space said that authorities in the United States commenced investigations into the massive looting of Nigeria’s treasury by members of President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabal.

The report claimed that sources at the U.S State Department and the Department of Justice, DOJ, tracked money laundering activities of Buhari’s Personal Assistant and Private Secretary, Sabiu ‘Tunde’ Yusuf, Senior Special Assistant, Domestic, Sarki Abba, Mamman Daura, and Ismaila Isa and Abubakar Isa Funtua from 2016 to 2019 in the United Arab Emirate and the United Kingdom.

The embattled former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has also been fingered as one of those who supervised looting of the economy under the watch of former President Buhari. His emergence as governor in 2014, according to a columnist, created a ‘powerful three-man cabal and it quickly designed a roundtripping scheme and made billions under President Buhari. Again, Emefiele was a willing tool in their hands because they too kept telling him that “the president is in the know and he is part of it”. It was a big bazaar!’

“All they did was roundtripping the dollars from one market to the other. Every morning, they would wake up with calculators to compute the billions of naira they were making in profit.” The columnist added that “these people were so wealthy that one of them bought a bank and a mobile telecommunications company without moving from his chair.”

Rumors had it that one of Buhari’s uncles, Mamman Daura, took ill immediately it was announced that Emefiele has been arrested by the DSS on June 14, 2023. It’s not hard to imagine as the so called member of the powerful Aso Rock cabal, was in cohort with the apex bank on the FX trade scandal.

Adding a new twist to the Emefiele and Buhari administration corruption scandal saga, aformer member of the house of representatives, representing the Kazaure, Roni, Gwiwa, Yankwashi Constituency of Jigawa State, fingered 12 persons to be investigated in order to “recover Nigeria’s stolen money”.

As captured by TheCable, he described the former CBN governor is the most powerful person in the country, who could make anyone a billionaire within an hour.

“If he wants to make you a billionaire, you’ll be in less than 1hr; he’ll just give you $10m at the official rate and you sell at the black market,” he said.

“There are twelve people the president should investigate. The first person, if we want to bring back the economy of this country, we have to arrest and investigate CBN governor who is now under investigation.

“Thirdly, the GMD of the NNPC. Number four, the former minister of justice, Malami. Number five, Sabiu Tunde, who was the personal private secretary to former President Buhari.

“Number six, the chairman of FIRS. Then there is Jamoh, the NIMASA DG. Then there is Koko from the NPA, and Hadiza Bala, the former NPA chairman.

“All present CBN deputy governors that are working with Emefiele should come and open their eyes and mouths and tell what they know, if we are serious and want to restore the economy.

“Then number ten, we have to arrest and investigate Sadiya Umar Farouk, former minister of humanitarian affairs, because when you invite her, many of her colleagues will come into the investigation.

“Then the entire leaders of National Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS). The entire leaders and the ICT officers are supposed to be investigated because they are the ones who will tell you where all the bank charges and the stamp duty went. Because it’s from there the money goes to CBN.”

Kazaure also said the way corruption is fought in the country has become known to individuals who embezzle money.

Again, following the failed Air Nigeria project, a former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Srika, is said to pocketed a whopping N15.9 billion, for doing nothing. A wholesome others are also enameled in this odious cycle of kleptocracy.

A very sad development to the corruption saga involving the Buhari administration is that most of the public officers suspected to be enemies of the Nigerian economy are still walking free except for Emefiele. This is a story that does not only say that Buhari did not just made a second coming of proven kleptocracy, but everything is pointing to the fact that the present administration is looking like the third coming of Buhari.

Headline

Attorney-General Asks Court to Deregister ADC, Accord, Three Other Parties

Published

2 days ago

April 30, 2026

Eric

The Attorney-General of the Federation has urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister five political parties, arguing that their continued existence violates constitutional provisions and undermines Nigeria’s electoral integrity.

In court filings, the Attorney General contended that unless the court intervenes, INEC would “continue to act in breach of its constitutional duty” by retaining parties that have failed to meet the minimum requirements prescribed by law.

The filing stressed that the right to associate as a political party is not absolute and must be exercised within constitutional limits. It further argued that it is in the interest of justice for the court to grant the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026 and filed at the Abuja Judicial Division of the Federal High Court, lists the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators as the plaintiff.

The defendants include INEC as the first defendant and the Attorney General of the Federation as the second defendant, alongside five political parties: African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), Accord (A), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

At the center of the issue in the case is whether INEC has a constitutional obligation to remove parties that fail to meet electoral performance thresholds set out in Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and reinforced by the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC’s own regulations.

The plaintiffs argue that the affected parties have persistently failed to satisfy the constitutional benchmarks required to retain their registration. These include winning at least 25 per cent of votes in a state during a presidential election or securing at least one elective seat at the national, state or local government level.

They contend that the parties performed poorly in the 2023 general elections and subsequent by-elections, failing to win seats across key tiers of government, yet continue to be recognised by INEC as eligible political platforms.

The plaintiffs maintain that this continued recognition is unlawful and undermines the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral system.

In the affidavit supporting the suit, the forum’s national coordinator, Igbokwe Raphael Nnanna, states that allowing parties that have not met constitutional requirements to remain on the register “is unconstitutional, illegal and a violation” of the governing legal framework.

The suit asks the court to declare that INEC is duty-bound to deregister such parties and to compel the commission to do so before preparations for the 2027 elections advance further.

Beyond declaratory reliefs, the plaintiffs are also seeking far-reaching orders that would bar the affected parties from participating in the next general elections or engaging in political activities such as campaigns, rallies and primaries. They further request injunctions restraining INEC from recognising or dealing with the parties in any official capacity unless and until they comply strictly with constitutional provisions.

Central to the plaintiffs’ argument is their interpretation of the law as imposing a mandatory duty on INEC. They argue that the use of the word “shall” in the Constitution leaves no room for discretion once a party fails to meet the stipulated thresholds.

In their written address, they rely on statutory provisions and judicial precedents to contend that electoral performance is an objective condition that must be enforced to maintain discipline, transparency, and accountability in the political system.

Tribune

Headline

Supreme Court to Rule on ADC, PDP Leadership Crises Today

Published

2 days ago

April 30, 2026

Eric

Attention has shifted to the Supreme Court, which has fixed April 30 (today) for judgment in the leadership tussle within the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

A five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba will resolve the appeal filed by the David Mark-led faction concerning the authentic leadership of the party.

Also on Thursday, the court is expected to determine the leadership dispute rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Two PDP factions—one led by Kabir Turaki and the other by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike—are laying claim to the leadership of the party.

The Supreme Court had on April 22 reserved judgment in the ADC crisis to a date to be communicated to the parties involved in the tussle.

However, on Tuesday, the ADC formally wrote to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, pleading for the quick delivery of judgment in the leadership tussle at the national level.

The party claimed it would suffer irreparable harm if judgment in the protracted battle was not delivered within the period allowed by the Electoral Act for fielding candidates for the 2027 general elections.

It stated in part: “Without the delivery of judgment within the next three days from the date of this letter, the ADC stands the grave and irreversible risk of being excluded from participating in the 2027 general elections.

“This would disenfranchise millions of Nigerians who have subscribed to the ideals of the ADC and deny them their constitutional right to freely associate and contest elections through a political party of their choice.”

At the April 22 hearing, Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, who represented David Mark, urged the Supreme Court to allow the appeal, arguing that the apex court had earlier, on March 21, 2025, held that “no court has jurisdiction to entertain matters bordering on the internal affairs of political parties.”

During the hearing, Okutepa urged the apex court to hold that the Federal High Court in Abuja lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

However, Robert Emukperu, SAN, who represented the first respondent, Nafiu Gombe, urged the court to dismiss the appeal and affirm the judgment of the lower court, which held that the suit was premature.

It will be recalled that a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal dismissed Mark’s appeal, ruling that it was premature and filed without leave of the trial court.

In the PDP matter, the first appeal, marked SC/CV/164/2026, stems from a decision of Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, who restrained the party from proceeding with its planned convention pending the determination of a suit filed by former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido.

On November 14, the court issued a final order restraining the PDP from conducting its national convention.

Justice Lifu held that Lamido was “unjustly denied” the opportunity to obtain a nomination form to contest for national chairman, in violation of the PDP constitution and internal regulations.

The Court of Appeal later upheld the decision on March 9, prompting the PDP to appeal.

The second appeal, SC/CV/166/2026, was filed by the PDP, its National Working Committee (NWC), and National Executive Committee (NEC).

It arose from a judgment delivered by Justice James Omotosho, which stopped the party from holding its Ibadan national convention.

The Court of Appeal upheld that decision, agreeing that INEC should not validate the outcome of the convention.

After hearing all arguments, the Supreme Court reserved judgment, stating that the date would be communicated to the parties.

Headline

Obasanjo Knocks Tinubu’s Govt over Inability to Protect Lives, Property

Published

5 days ago

April 27, 2026

Eric

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has lambasted the administration of President Bola Tinubu over insecurity bedeviling the country.

In an interview with News Central, Obasanjo said any government that cannot protect lives and property of its citizens has no basis to exist.

The former leader was reacting to the recent wave of insecurity, which has confronted Nigeria, resulting in the killing of several citizens and abduction of others.

“Let me tell you, the government that cannot give security of life and property of its citizen has no right of existence.

“The elected members of our National Assembly have no right to fix their own salary and their own emolument.

“It’s not in our constitution for them to do that. It’s the revenue mobilization and allocation commission that should do it,” he said.