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From Prison to Palace: Behold Senegal’s New President, Bassirou Faye

Published

2 years ago

March 31, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The story of the newest Africa’s president-elect, who is due to become full-fledged president in a few days, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, is a that of focus, determination and commitment to a course set to benefit mankind in general, and the good people of Senegal in particular.

Faye has undertaken a journey of hope, scaling every known political obstacle to arrive at his destination of victory for his countrymen, defeating the old order, and taking by the storm the seat of Presidency at 44 years, after a sojourn in the dark side of political incarceration.

An analyst, By Ibrahim Abdukarim, who told the story of Faye as a wake call for Nigerians, has the following as the trajectory that melted down at the seat of power.

Read below:

In 2014, Ousmane Sonko (then 39 years) invited his friend and fellow tax worker, Diomaye Faye (then 34 years), and other political newbies to form a political party, PASTEF. The Party was led by Sonko and dominated by young Senegalese. Faye was the Secretary General while Sonko was the leader.

In 2017, PASTEF competed for the legislative election, but they only got 1 seat out of 165.

In 2019, Sonko stood as the Presidential candidate of PASTEF, while Faye was his campaign manager. At the Presidential election, Sonko finished third with 687,523 (15.67%) votes, behind President Macky Sall (1st) and former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck (2nd).

In 2022, PASTEF participated in the National Assembly election and won 56 out of 165 seats. It became clear that Sonko was in strong position to win the 2024 Presidential election.

In 2023, President Sall’s government convicted Sonko on a trumped-up charge just to block him from running for President. The Government equally arrested Faye and imprisoned him just to keep them out. By July 2023, the Government disbanded PASTEF as a political party. Later that year, the government disqualified Sonko from running for President citing the conviction. But Sonko and PASTEF had a backup plan, Faye. Faye was sponsored as a backup candidate for President while Sonko challenged his disqualification at the court. Though the court reversed it, the government didn’t implement the reversal.

The election was scheduled for March 24 after the opposition resisted its proposed postponement.

On March 14 (10 days before the election), the government released Sonko and Faye from jail. Immediately after they were released, Sonko and PASTEF announced Faye as their candidate. They campaigned for just 9 days and were backed by the young people of Senegal.

At the election that was held on March 24, Faye polled 2, 434, 110 votes (54.34%), defeating the immediate past Prime Minister Amadou Ba who polled 1, 603, p713 votes (35.8%). Mr Ba was the candidate of President Sall ruling coalition.

On April 2nd, Faye and Sonko will form the next Government of Senegal. I predict that Sonko will be named the Prime Minister of Faye’s Government. I wish them success.

Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye was born on March 25 1980, of Senegalese parents. He is commonly known as “Diomaye”, and was a former tax inspector. He was the general secretary of banned PASTEF before he won the 2024 Senegalese presidential election in place of his disqualified associate, Ousmane Sonko.

Faye started his primary education in his village and then undertook middle and high school in Mbour. In 2000, he earned his baccalaureate, and successfully attained a master’s degree in law in Dakar Cheikh Anta Diop University and subsequently cleared both competitive exams, enrolling at the National School of Administration of Senegal (ENA) and the magistracy in 2004.

After graduation, Faye opted to become a tax inspector in the Tax and Estates department, where he befriended Sonko, a fellow alumus from the same school. In 2014, Faye and Sonko’s relationship grew closer in the Taxes and Estates Union, created by Sonko, the leader of newly founded PASTEF. During his time at the head of the union, Faye campaigned to facilitate homeownership for tax and property agents.

Initially a guest when the party was founded, Faye swiftly ascended to become one of the most prominent figures within the party. He would go on to become one of the ideologues and designers of Sonko’s program for his candidacy in the 2019 Senegalese presidential election. Sonko gained almost 16% of the vote and came third. In February 2021, Faye became the general secretary of PASTEF after Sonko was arrested, being accused of repeated rape by a massage parlor employee. As part of its strategy to win power, Faye attempted to unite the opposition for the 2022 elections, winning 56 seats under the alliance Liberate the People.

On 20 January 2024, the Senegalese Constitutional Council published the final list of candidates for the presidential election and Sonko did not appear there after several legal battles. Faye’s candidacy was validated because he was never convicted although remaining detained. Sonko quickly announced his support to Faye for the election.

On 15 March 2024, a day after Faye’s release from jail, he gathered hundreds of supporters at his first public appearance as a presidential contender. Former president Abdoulaye Wade and his Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) endorsed Faye on the same day, in a boost to his chances of winning election. The move came after PDS candidate Karim Wade was disqualified from contesting the race because he was a dual citizen at the time he submitted his candidacy. Cheikh Tidiane Dieye, another candidate in the presidential election, withdrew in favor of Faye.

During the presidential campaign, he has promised to create jobs, campaigned strongly against corruption, and vowed to reexamine energy contracts. He ran under the slogan “Diomaye mooy Ousmane”, which means “Diomaye is Ousmane” in Wolof, and is hoping Sonko’s charisma and popular appeal amongst Senegal’s youth will boost his campaign. Faye’s program is similar with Sonko’s for 2019. During the campaign, Faye released a declaration of his assets and called on other candidates to follow suit.

Faye is married to two wives: Marie Khone Faye and Absa Faye. Marie Khone is a close relative of her husband, and together they have had four children: three boys and a girl. He has not had any children with Absa. Faye and Ousmane Sonko are close friends, even naming one of his sons Ousmane in honor of their friendship. He had a traditional village upbringing and is Muslim.

On April 2, Faye will officially ascend the Presidency of Senegal, and it is left to be seen what positive changes his youthful, candour, experience and Africanism can do to make Senegal better than it is at the moment.

Additional information: Wikipedia

Headline

Tenure Policy: India, Others Reject Tinubu’s Ambassadors

Published

5 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Eric

Some countries, including India, have reportedly declined to accept a number of ambassadors recently nominated by Bola Tinubu, citing diplomatic policies tied to the remaining tenure of the sending government.

Sources within Nigeria’s Presidency and the foreign service disclosed that India has a standing practice of not accepting ambassadors from administrations with less than two years left in office.

One of those affected is career diplomat Ambassador Muhammad Dahiru, who was nominated to serve in New Delhi.

According to officials familiar with the matter, the Asian country is exercising its discretion to delay or reject the request from Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Dahiru’s acceptance.

“They don’t accept an ambassador from an administration that has less than two years in office. So they are giving us that body language already,” a Presidency source said.

The development follows earlier concerns that several of Tinubu’s ambassador-designates could face resistance from host countries due to the limited time left in the administration’s current tenure.

Under diplomatic protocol, countries must grant formal approval known as agrément before a nominated envoy can assume duties. Without this consent, ambassadors cannot be officially deployed.

Officials say while India’s position is the most explicit so far, other countries may adopt similar approaches, potentially delaying Nigeria’s plan to fully restore ambassadorial representation across its foreign missions.

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Adenuga, Dangote, Otedola, Rabiu Make 2026 Forbes Africa Billionaires List

Published

19 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Eric

Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Femi Otedola, and Abdulsamad Rabiu have been named among Africa’s richest individuals in 2026.

According to the latest Africa Billionaires ranking released by Forbes, Dangote retained his position as Africa’s richest man, with an estimated net worth of $28.5 billion. He added about $4.6 billion to his fortune over the past year, largely driven by the strong performance of Dangote Cement on the Nigerian Exchange Limited.

Telecommunications magnate Adenuga also retained his place among Africa’s billionaires.

The founder of Globacom and chairman of Conoil Producing remains one of Nigeria’s most influential entrepreneurs with diversified interests spanning telecoms, oil and gas, and banking.

Otedola, chairman of Geregu Power Plc, also featured on the list despite a slight dip in his wealth over the past year. Forbes estimates that the billionaire investor lost about $200 million following the sale of a majority stake in the power generation company at a discount to its market price.

The increase in Rabiu’s net worth was largely driven by the performance of BUA Cement, whose shares rose 135% over the past year, outperforming the broader rally on the Nigerian stock market.

The 23 billionaires on the continent are now worth a combined $126.7 billion, representing a 21% increase from 2025 after they collectively added $20.3 billion to their net worth.

Across the continent, billionaire fortunes were boosted by strong equity market performance, record corporate profits, and improving currency stability in several African economies.

South Africa remains the highest number of billionaires on the list, with seven individuals, followed by Egypt with five, Nigeria with four, and Morocco with three.

No female billionaires from Africa appeared on the 2026 ranking list.

Headline

Israeli Ambassador Accuses Iran of Spreading Terror, Sponsoring Extremist Activities in Nigeria

Published

5 days ago

March 6, 2026

Eric

Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Michael Freeman, has accused Iran of sponsoring extremist activities in Nigeria and other parts of the world, alleging that Tehran supports groups aimed at destabilising countries while pursuing its hostility against Israel.

Freeman made the remarks on Friday while speaking during an interview on The Morning Show on Arise News.

The envoy claimed that Iran is the only country within the United Nations that openly expresses a desire to destroy another sovereign state, referring to repeated threats against Israel.

According to him, the Iranian government has, over several decades, supported militant groups and terror organisations around the world in pursuit of that objective.

Freeman alleged that Iran has backed groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, adding that Tehran was also behind the October 7 attack carried out by Hamas against Israel.

He further claimed that Iranian activities aimed at spreading instability have been observed across several regions, including Europe, Australia, and parts of Africa.

Speaking specifically about Nigeria, the Israeli ambassador alleged that the Islamic Movement of Nigeria receives backing from the Iranian government.

According to Freeman, statements of support from Iran’s leadership, including posts by Ali Khamenei on social media, have openly indicated such ties.

He said: “The issue here is about Iran. Iran is the only country in the world, in the United Nations, who expressly desires to wipe another country off the face of the earth. Iran has stated its very policy is to destroy Israel. Is to wipe Israel off the map is to make sure they kill every single person and no regime, no country that has an express desire to destroy Israel, and it’s not only an expressed desire.

“We’ve seen over 47 years, they’ve taken all the actions they can in order for that to happen. We’ve seen them sponsor terror organizations. They were behind October the seventh massacre of Hamas. We’ve seen them sponsoring Hezbollah. We’ve seen them acting in Europe. We’ve seen them acting in Australia. We’ve seen them acting in Nigeria.

“We’ve seen these people acting all across the world in order to spread disturbance for them to try and carry out their aim of destroying Israel, and Israel will not allow another country to have nuclear weapons when they’ve expressly stated they want those weapons to destroy Israel”.

“I think that it is well documented. We know that there are certain movements, for example, the Islamic movement of Nigeria is sponsored and is backed by the Iranian regime. This is not me saying this, we’ve seen that documented by the Iranian regime.

The Supreme Leader posted on X his support and his backing there. So that’s very open. And there are other areas as well that Iran is working for, destabilizing, not only Nigeria, but all of West Africa.”