Category: Politics

Nigeria’s 2023 presidential hopeful, Bola Tinubu, says he is currently in London for his presidential campaign as the country gears towards its general election.

Mr Tinubu who spoke through his media aide, Tunde Rahman, said he was in London to consult with stakeholders on his 2023 presidential ambition.

“HE Asíwájú Tinubu is engaged in meetings and consultations over his presidential interest. Some of these consultations are holding abroad. So if in The UK at present, this is why!” Mr Rahman stated in a tweet.

The presidential hopeful has been heavily criticised for embarking on the trip barely three weeks after he informed President Muhammadu Buhari of his ambition to contest for president.

In an attempt to quell criticisms against his principal, Mr Rahman said the APC chieftain is expected back into the country next week.

Ahead of next year’s presidential election, the former Lagos state governor has continued to engage top Nigerian political elites.

Although there is no single definition of fraud, the online definitions that come to mind as one reads Nasir el-Rufai’s book (The Accidental Public Servant) is “fraud as course of deception, an intentional concealment, omission, or perversion of truth”, or “an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual”.

I know el-Rufai as a brilliant fellow and I certainly expected a definitive book. His stated objective was to “tell the story of my public service years…” but it turned out a very bad example of how to write a memoir. It is more of wild concoctions and commentaries on imagined events outside of his “public service years”.

As I read parts of the book that relate to things that I should know about, I shook my head in disbelief. I could not believe that el-Rufai could descend so low. While I will surely correct many of his wrong narratives in my book, I thought I have a duty to make a preliminary response – for public records!

Contrary to his narrative, most of us in government knew that el-Rufai desperately wanted to succeed President Olusegun Obasanjo as president. He plotted and schemed, destroying anyone perceived to be potentially in his way.

Obasanjo scorned him; the scheme through the PDP Reform Forum failed; and with the bid to replace Major General Muhammadu Buhari in Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) still a work in progress, it is understandable that the bitterness would find succor in a book to smear and destroy any known potential threat.

The only good person in the whole book is el-Rufai, and perhaps also my dear sister, Oby Ezekwesili. For him, it is either that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was power hungry or that “Charles was not grateful”.

We understand his motives, but for him to also fabricate stories about Obasanjo, Atiku Abubakar, and Mallam Nuhu Ribadu the way he did (the three persons that literally made him tick in government) speaks volumes. What a very grateful person!

My people have a proverb that when a foolish and disrespectful child utters abomination before his elders, he beats his chest that he has exhibited uncommon courage.

The book is grossly dishonest. It is amusing to read the purported conversations he had with President Obasanjo on the third term bid. One reads almost two or three pages as quotes from the conversation and most parts of the book are replete with similar long quotes of purported conversations (all in inverted commas).

This tactic was deceptively employed to give the impression of authenticity to the claims of such conversations. Surely, it is impossible to report the proceedings of a meeting or conversation verbatim after the meeting.

It would therefore mean either that he was tape-recording every private conversation he had with people or that he simply fabricated those long quotes. If he cannot produce the tape recordings of those conversations (which I believe he doesn’t have), he should be honest enough to admit that he made up those stories/quotes.

It is too cheap of him to fabricate those quotes and seek to exploit the gullibility of the reading public to damage other people.

I was amused by el-Rufai’s disingenuous attempt to frame stories about the Economic Management Team, which he forced himself upon and probably destroyed.

As pertains to me, he lied all the way in an attempt to concoct a mischievous narrative or plot. He calls Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala “Ngozi”. I call her “Madam”. He tells a fairy tale of how I was a student or protégé of Ngozi’s father. Sorry el-Rufai, the respected Prof. Okonjo had left University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) before I became a student, and our paths did not cross until the mid-1990s (while my Ph.D was in 1989).

If you even called Ngozi on the phone, she would have confirmed to you that she never got any consulting contract for me at the World Bank or any multilateral institution as you claimed.

If you cared for the facts, you would have known that I began to interact with Ngozi in late 1999, in the fourth month of my 18-month consulting assignment at the World Bank (an assignment to which I was nominated by three pan-African Institutions – ADB, UNECA, and AERC – for the project on “Can Africa Claim the 21st Century”). You don’t lie about matters that have records.

For your information el-Rufai, before I met anyone of you at the original Economic Management Team, I had (for a decade) lived in Ethiopia, United Kingdom, and United States of America (USA) and traveled to 45 other countries as an itinerant scholar and consultant; worked at the United Nations; been to Oxford, Cambridge and Warwick Universities; was a visiting professor at Swarthmore, USA; and consultant to 18 international organisations including the World Bank, IMF, OECD, EU, ADB, various UN agencies, etc.

I have been consultant to different departments of the World Bank at different times, including being on the Chief Economist Advisory Council (CEAC) for the period 2005 – 2012 and no Nigerian had anything to do with any of them. I spent 19 months at the Brookings Institution, USA (January 1991 – July 1992; and three months in 1998) but according to el-Rufai,

I went to Brookings after a consulting job at the World Bank (which would then mean ‘after 2000’?). According to el-Rufai, I became Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in “mid 2005” instead of May 2004. He manufactures both the facts as well as the comments.

By el-Rufai’s own account in the book, the approval to embark on the demolition of properties in Abuja was obtained on 30th August, 2003. I state (and challenge him to prove otherwise) that Ngozi was no longer staying at Bolingo Hotel by the time he started his demolition programme.

How can you then fabricate a story that we met at her suite in Bolingo Hotel and also fabricate a purported quotation of what I told you, which among other things, referred to your demolition programme?

I thought you were smart enough el-Rufai to at least lie consistently. Is this not fool proof that you made up all the quotations in the book?

As at the last count, no less than 15 persons claimed to have recommended me as Chief Economic Adviser or Central Bank Governor. My simple response to all is: thank you! Thank you also el-Rufai if indeed you played the role I have just read from your book that you played in my appointment as Chief Economic Adviser.

Of course, President Obasanjo is still alive and several of the actors are also alive. In my own memoir, I will detail how I joined President Obasanjo’s government. I have also heard fantastic claims of some people that they literally appointed me governor of CBN.
In a recent chat with President Obasanjo, he for the umpteenth time insisted that nobody can ever claim to have advised him to appoint me as governor of CBN. He reminded me that even I did not know—which is a fact!

El-Rufai also conveniently forgot that he first met me in late 2000 when I came from the US to help the federal government prepare for the IMF Article IV consultations and also train senior staff of CBN, Ministry of Finance and National Planning on the macroeconomic and technical computations involved (paid for by USAID).

El-Rufai chose to forget that he pleaded for my technical assistance to Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) as a consultant but I told him I was too busy with my international assignments. I rather offered to attend any of his privatisation committee meetings anytime I was in the country and to offer my services free of charge.

He forgot that I wrote several technical notes to help him succeed, including being the sole author of the initial draft “Anti-trust and Competition Policy” – all free of charge!

El-Rufai seemed unhappy that I gave every credit of our achievement to President Obasanjo. Well, I am informed enough to know that in a presidential system of government, only the president is elected with the mandate to govern and every appointed person in the executive branch has a delegated responsibility to assist him.

Only in Nigeria would you see a minister or appointed official write books to take credit for achievements in office. As governor of the central bank, I made it clear that I received every award or recognition on behalf of the president. I have no apologies for that.

Interestingly, el-Rufai tells the story of the great achievements of President Obasanjo in restoring the Abuja masterplan, using him as an assistant. I thank him for at least acknowledging that the idea to restore the masterplan was Obasanjo’s and that he drove it all the way.

What he did not tell is the story of how el-Rufai’s vindictiveness almost ruined the exercise as well as the monumental fraud associated with it. This is for another day!

Of course, el-Rufai could not hide his opposition to the banking sector consolidation. Unfortunately as we say in my place, you cannot cover the moon with your palms.

You may not like Soludo or Obasanjo, but in the last 27 years, there are two fundamental structural transformations of the Nigerian economy that have taken place – the telecommunications revolution, and the banking sector revolution (consolidation). Ours was not a mere reform, it was a revolution! Nigeria’s only transnational corporations were built in three years.

We put two Nigerian banks in the top 300 banks in the world and they remain there, and nine others in the top 1,000 (there was none before my tenure). The Nigerian private sector as we know it today (especially the new economy in oil and gas and emerging big businesses) largely owes its wealth to our revolution.

The world acknowledges that without our foresight and courage, the Nigerian financial system and economy would have collapsed during the global financial crisis. We developed a robust, transparent and no-nonsense regulatory and supervisory regime before the global crisis, and left behind one of the strongest banking systems that was globally rated in the same league as those of Israel, India, China, and Russia.

You chose to forget that we revoked the licenses of 14 banks in one day (unprecedented in our history), including banks owned by my friends. This is a story for another day!

The story of how we built the world’s fastest growing financial system and Nigeria’s largest transnational corporations in three years, rescued the entire system from collapse despite the unprecedented four shocks that buffeted the system during the global crisis, on course to fully restructure the few ailing banks before the end of 2009 with or without a penny from government; and designed the comprehensive roadmap for sustainability and growth (under FSS 2020) is told in my book.

Our Financial System Strategy (FSS 2020) remains the roadmap till date. Sorry el-Rufai, there is little you can do about this record. Even with ten 234NEXT newspapers, and 20 other books, you cannot re-write history!

Since el-Rufai takes pleasure in reporting what ordinarily should be private conversations, let me also take the liberty to report that he admitted to me on April 28, 2013 that what he wrote about me were the “impressions” he was given.

That for me summed it up. My advice to el-Rufai, is that you don’t collect some hair dressing salon gossip, hearsay, ‘impressions’, and wild imaginations – all intentionally designed to damage others, and bind them into a book without crosschecking the facts.

That is intellectual fraud!

The former Head of State, Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar has disclosed that late Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, winner of the June 12 1993 Presidential election in Nigeria, was not killed but died after falling ill.

“So, it was at this meeting when the American team was meeting Abiola he fell sick and suddenly the security officers called the medical team to come and attend to him, and when they saw the situation they said it was severe and they needed to take him to the medical centre. So it was the medical team plus the American team that took him to the medical centre, unfortunately at the medical centre he gave up.”

“Then my security chief called and said “I have bad news for you”, I asked what it was, he said “Abiola is dead”. I was shocked. He told me he was there with the American team, at that time I was staying in the barracks, I had not moved to the villa, so I said okay, let him take the American team to my house, I will meet them at the house; so I closed from the office, and went there.”

“The issue now was how do I break the news to Abiola’s family and how do we tell the world Abiola had passed on. I must be thankful to God and again to Ambassador Kingibe because we called on him and asked him to bring the family of Abiola. So when they came I broke the news, that unfortunately this is what has happened.”

President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesman, Garba Shehu has returned to Twitter after the government suspended the ban on the microblogging site.

“I join the leaders of government in appreciating all Nigerians, “especially the vibrant Nigerian youths who have borne with the long wait to resolve this impasse”

“We hope that this is appreciated by all. The nation comes first. Once again, welcome back!”

Two of the leading aspirants in the 2023 presidential election, Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar will be in their 70s by 2023.

Mr Tinubu will be 71 years old in 2023, while Atiku Abubakar will be 77 at the same time. The recent comment by President Muhammadu Buhari that at his age, he is struggling with the rigour of the office, has brought the question of age into the front burner of the national discourse on the 2023 race.

The 79-year-old President had said, “And about my age, yes, I see my colleagues, they are now resting and I assure you that I’m looking forward to the next 17 months when I too would have to be less busy.

“The age is telling on me. Working now for 6, 7, 8 hours a day in the office is no joke.”

In previous elections, rotation and religion were two predominant factors during elections. But the experience of Nigerians with President Buhari, who has had a series of visits to the hospital and long delays in government response which earned him the nickname “Baba go slow” have made age a focal point.

Despite the issue of rotation, Atiku, a northerner is expected to clinch the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party, while Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State already has political machinery mobilizing for him across the country. If these two are given the ticket, one of them would be replacing Mr Buhari who would be in his 80s by the time he leaves office.

Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani Kayode, an ally of governor Yahaya Bello, last Friday raised the issue of age during an interview on Channels TV.

“Of course, you have some that are younger than one another, you have some that are more dynamic than others. You have some that are more focused than others, you have some that are stronger and more decisive—I am a friend and believer of Yahaya Bello—there are others there,” the controversial politician had said,” he said.

This view on age is not only shared by Mr Fani-Kayode. Osita Okechukwu, a staunch supporter of President Buhari had in December appealed to Tinubu to back a “young Southeastern for 2023”, which will unite the south and the entire country.

The 69th birthday of Mr Tinubu became controversial in 2021, as many Nigerian expressed doubt on his real age. Wikipedia had to remove the editing option on Tinubu’s page.

Not just age that has become important, pandering to youths has become more important. As it stands, most of the candidates are above 50 years, hence, there has been a concerted effort to appeal to youths, particularly on social media.

The position of the present government on Twitter and cryptocurrency, in which the government placed different forms of restrictions, has spurred the desire to have a young President or someone who understands these issues.

In this review, Daily Post looks at the aspirants in the 2023 presidential race

Atiku Abubakar (75)

The former vice president will be riding on his market economy stance.

Perhaps to deflate from the issue of age, Mr Atiku has been very active on Twitter, commenting on issues that appeal to the youths. And sometimes, jump on trending lingos and slangs despite being 75 years old. In the last election, he had Peter Obi as running mate.

Mr Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, was really popular among youths because of his pro-market stance.

Bola Tinubu (69 years)

At 69 years old, coupled with the recent hospitalization and the EndSARS resentment, Mr Tinubu appears to be unpopular on social media, however, his political structure remains strong.

The recruitment of Abdulmumin Jibrin, a former member of the House of Representatives from Kano seems to be paying off in terms of mobilization.

But recently, there appears to have been division within the APC supporters on Twitter. The group, popularly known as BMC or E-BMC are divided between those supporting Tinubu and those supporting Yemi Osinbajo, the Vice President.

Bukola Saraki (59 years)

No politician within the 2023 race has pandered to youths like the former Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

Mr Saraki, a former governor of Kwara State remains popular among the youths, mostly for his record as Senate President where he opposed Buhari’s administration.

His ability to relate with social media influencers have played well. In 2021, his meeting with Chinonso Egemba, popularly known as Dr Aproko, a popular influencer with over a 1.2million followers, trended for a whole day.

Yemi Osinbajo (64)

The Vice President is another name on the 2023 possible running list. While he is just 5years younger than Mr Tinubu, the law professor is popular with young people on social media.

While his continued loyalty to President Buhari could have earned him some backlash, he is still popular.

Yahaya Bello (46)

The governor of Kogi State is currently one of the youngest persons in the possible list of aspirants.

Mr Bello’s proxies, like Fani Kayode, have predicated Bello’s interest in youthfulness. It is unknown if youthfulness will make up for the allegations of lack of performance as governor of Kogi State.

We must blend youthfulness and competence….

Bashir Madandola, Leader of Kwara South Youth Stakeholders’ Forum, said it is not enough for the next president to be a youth, but must have the required track record and experience.

“Nigerian youths have the requisite experience and competence to rule this country. After 8years of Buhari’s rudderless leadership, we need a young and dynamic leadership. Take, for instance, former Senate President, Bukola Saraki has both the youthfulness, competency and exposure.

“For us, this blend is important as we plan for 2023,” he stated.

Video Southwest Governors: Police Officer’s Disrespect To
Sanwo-Olu An Unacceptable Intrusion, .say Lagos must deploy Amotekun now.

We are in possession of a video which has gone viral on the social media concerning the disgraceful exchange between a police officer, a CSP, and the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwoolu, the supposed Chief Security Officer of the State, at the Magodo Residential Estate.

The content of the video is very disconcerting, and this is being charitable. The utter disrespect, which underlines the response of the officer to the Governor establishes, beyond doubt, the impracticability of the current system, dubiously christened “Federalism”. An arrangement, which compels the Governor of a State to seek clarifications on security issues in his jurisdiction from totally extraneous bodies or persons, is a sure recipe for anarchy.

We condemn, very strongly, this brazen assault on decency. We call on the IG to explain the justification for this intrusion. This is not acceptable. Any expectations of rapprochement between so called federating units and federal security agencies are becoming forlorn, progressively, due to deliberate acts which mock our very avowal to ethics and professionalism.

We condemn, in very clear terms, the role of the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami SAN in this act of gross moral turpitude.

We, on our part, will continue to interrogate the current system, which treats elected representatives of the people as mere prefects, while appointed office holders ride rough shod over them as Lords of the Manor. If the purported Chief Security Officers of the States of the Federation require clearance from the office of the IG on matters within their areas of jurisdictions, only hypocrites will wonder why the current security crisis deepens and there appears to be no solution in the foreseeable future.

We stand by our brother, the Governor of Lagos State. We advise him to deploy the Regional security outfit in the State to protect the lives and property of the people.

We call on the President and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces to rein in the excesses of certain elements bent on acting in a manner capable of eroding the bond of trust existing between the people and the Federal Government. It is preposterous for political appointees to seek to undermine the very structure of service upon which their appointments rest.

Signed:
Arakunrin Oluwarotimi O. Akeredolu SAN
Chairman South West Governors Forum.

Watch the full video

https://fb.watch/amsEdLMDEt/

President Buhari Appoints Dr Doyin Salami As Chief Economic Adviser….

A Chief Economic Adviser to the President (CEAP) has been appointed.

He is Dr Doyin Salami, up till now Chairman of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC).

A 1989 doctorate degree graduate in Economics of Queen Mary College, University of London, Doyin Salami, 59, is Managing Director and Head Markets Practice at KAINOS Edge Consulting Limited, and member of the Adjunct Faculty at the Lagos Business School (LBS), Pan-Atlantic University, where he recently attained the rank of Senior Fellow/Associate Professor.

The Chief Economic Adviser to the President is expected to address all issues on the domestic economy and present views on them to the President; closely monitor national and international developments, trends and develop appropriate policy responses; develop and recommend to the President national economic policies to foster macro-economic stability, promote growth, create jobs, and eradicate poverty, among others.

Abdulmumin Jibrin, a former house of representatives member, says Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos, will contest for the office of the presidency in 2023.

Speaking with journalists on Saturday in Kano, Jibrin who is the director-general of the Bola Tinubu support group council, said arrangements for the former governor to declare his presidential bid are underway.
The former lawmaker said Tinubu is competent to be president of the country.
“I can confirm to you that Tinubu will contest the 2023 elections. The aspect of the decision is done; it’s a done deal,” he said.

“Arrangements to publicly declare will soon be known. I’m talking to you officially that he (Tinubu) will contest the presidential seat.
“We need somebody who can carry along everybody and I believe that Tinubu is the best option for Nigeria. He is not a religious fanatic and has massive networks across all the boundaries in the country.

“Asiwaju has worked extensively for the APC and never shifted ground. He is competent to be the president of this country.
Nigerians always go for quality and I believe that issue is purely on the quality of the person
“I don’t see a dark horse coming in 2023. It will take s super miracle in APC and God willing, Mr Tinubu will emerge as president.

“Asiwaju has an edge ahead of others. He will not lose the ticket and will be the president of this great country under the APC.”

Chairman of South East Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, at the weekend, appealed to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to support the geo-political zone to produce next president of the country in 2023.

Umahi assured that any Igbo man, who mounts the presidency would fix the problems of the country in four years and make the nation proud.