Politics
Booby-Traps On The Roads To 2011
As the countdown to the 2011 general elections in Nigeria begins, political parties are yet to announce plans for ward congresses which many believe, would provide the platform for the election of candidates that will fly the party flags come next year’s general polls.
Investigations conducted by The Tide indicate that majority of the political parties are waiting for directives from their national offices before swinging into action, but the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) appears to be pre-occupied with sensitisation of party members, wooing others into its fold and reshuffling its political cards for future political gains.
While awareness of party members on ward congresses is at its lowest ebb, feelers indicate that many party faithfuls may be caught up when the lid for the congresses is removed by INEC.
Rivers State Chairman of National Movement of Progressives, Hon Ronarth Dappa told The Tide that there was no way the party would organise ward congress without official directive from its national office, noting that the moment the national body of the party came out with a timetable, the party would go ahead with the congress.
Since the party is relatively new, he said it had commenced grassroots mobilisation to woo members into the party. Dappa noted that the ward congress would be a major launching pad for his party.
Similarly, Hon Christian Finebone of the National Majority Democratic Party (NMDP), said it was too early to organise ward congresses.
The Rivers State Secretary of NMDP declared that machineries needed to be put in place before holding the exercise, assuring that before the year runs out, it would conduct its ward congress elections.
The Tide learnt that the posture of most of the political parties may not be in connection with the plans of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to make public its election time table in March.
INEC chairman, Prof Maurice Iwu, said in Abuja at an interactive session with newsmen that the commission would release the timetable for the 2011 general election in March, thsis year.
Iwu justified the measure on the need for political parties and aspirants to have enough time to plan their activities.
On what would happen to the timetable if the National Assembly amended the constitution especially, the sections that deal with election timetable, Iwu said INEC was ready to make necessary changes to take care of such developments.
On speculations that 2011 general election would be shifted to November, the INEC boss said that this would only be possible if the constitution and other relevant laws were amended before then.
However, since the inception the of the Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi administration in Rivers State, party politics may have been kept in a cooler in order not to distract the administration’s lauded development agenda in the state.
Two years into his administration, and with enviable record of remarkable service delivery of good governance, the PDP government of the state appears to be set to swing into action of party politics.
In line with this, the chairman of PDP in Obio/Akpor Local Government area, Chukwuemeka Aaron said the party has begun grassroot sensitisation to shape party members and other faithfuls into action for election.
Aaron, in a telephone chat with The Tide said the success of the sensitisation programme of the party would be a litmus test for the PDP to re-enact its success story in the LGs and the State elections. He advised party men and women including the youths in respective areas to close rank and work with a common purpose to take PDP to the next level of democratic success.
Aaron’s counterpart in Eleme Local Government area, Hon Abel Onungwe, agreed that PDP had swung into action on the sensitisation of party members and electorate in the area, preparatory to the congresses and the general elections in 2011.
A PDP chieftain in Gokana LGA, Hon Baiate Giadom said waiting was the name of the political game for now. “We are patiently waiting on the directive of our party on the congresses,” he said, adding that as soon as the directive was given from the national body, all other things would be put into shape for action.
Giadom, a former councillor, said there was no negative implication on the waiting game, arguing that each political party, had internal mechanism in organising party activities.
He, however, advised Rivers people to remain supportive of Amaechi administration in the efforts to re-position the state and deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.
Perhaps, it is the waiting game that has influenced the docile activities of the parties at their respective secretariats, and this The Tide learnt may have far-reaching implications on the political development of the parties ahead of the 2011 general elections.
A chieftain of the Hope Democratic Party (HDP), Igoniwari Haliday said the hope of HDP to relaunch itself into political reckoning was being kept alive with its grassroots moblisation.
Halliday said HDP was recording successes in its mobilisation drive, but declined comments on the speculation that a governorship aspirant of HDP was warming up to wrest power from Governor Amaechi. Sources described the HDP female governorship hopeful as an Amazon that has all it takes to make a statement in the political history of the state.
Philip-Wuwu Okparaji & Enoch Epelle
Politics
Reps Constitution Review Committee Holds Zonal Hearing For Rivers, C’River, Akwa Ibom In Calabar
A press statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Cross River State Governor, Mr Linus Obogo, disclosed that the Calabar Centre — designated as Centre B — will host representatives and stakeholders from Cross River, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom States.
The public hearing is scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 19, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at the Transcorp (Metropolitan) Hotel, Calabar.
The initiative, according to the statement, is designed to promote inclusive dialogue and capture the aspirations of Nigerians from all regions.
It aims to serve as a platform for citizens to contribute meaningfully to the ongoing national efforts to refine and strengthen the country’s legal and institutional frameworks.
“Citizens, civil society groups, professional bodies, traditional rulers, and other interest blocs are invited to participate in this landmark engagement aimed at advancing a more just, equitable, and responsive Nigerian Constitution,” the statement read.
The hearing forms part of the broader review process of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and is seen as a strategic move toward fostering national unity and addressing structural legal issues within the federation.
For the first time since 2022, when then-presidential aspirant Alhaji Bola Tinubu declared he made former President Buhari Nigeria’s President in 2015, Mr Mustapha dismissed the claims, stressing that the merger only contributed about three million votes in addition to Buhari’s existing 12 million votes in the North.
He insisted that former President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to the breakthrough, not the three million votes from the merging parties, which he described as insignificant.
Speaking on the role of the merging parties, particularly President Tinubu, the leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Mr Mustapha, who was the keynote speaker at the launch of the book ‘According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesman’s Experience’ authored by Mallam Garba Shehu, described the impact of the votes from other merging parties as very insignificant.
In attendance were former Head of State Yakubu Gowon, chair of the event; immediate past Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; SGF George Akume, who represented President Tinubu; PDP’s 2023 presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar; former Chief of Staff to Buhari Ibrahim Gambari; elder statesman Babagana Kingibe; former governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Chris Ngige (Anambra), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Raji Babatunde Fashola (Lagos); former ministers Solomon Dalung and Sunday Dare; former Army Chief Tukur Buratai, and Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu’s spokesman, among others.
According to Mr Mustapha, “I do not intend to stir up any controversy. The merger in 2013 was midwifed to create a Buhari presidency. Let us look at the statistics. In the 2003 election, it was the Obasanjo-Buhari presidential contest where Buhari recorded 12.7 million votes. In 2007, it came to 6.6 million, and it went back to 12.2 million in 2011.
“When we were conceptualising the merger, what would give us a headstart? Obviously, it was at the back of our consciousness that the merger with the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), though it had only one state, the ACN had six states, ANPP three states, and when you sum up the total votes that we had as the presidency in 2015, the aggregate of the total votes was 15.4 million.
“So, basically, what we brought to the table after the merger outside the Buhari 12.5 million votes was three million. Before turning to that presidency, it is important to recognise the former President’s role in reshaping Nigeria’s political trajectory.
“In early 2013, as the leader of the CPC, Buhari formally requested and supported the creation of a CPC merger committee, part of a broader coalition-building process that brought together the ACN, ANPP, APGA faction, and elements of the ruling party through the breakaway ‘new PDP’ group. His endorsement and participation, along with other party leaders such as President Tinubu and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, lent credibility and direction to the merger, helping to unify disparate party factions under the banner of the APC. That coalition-building paved the way for the first democratic defeat of an incumbent ruling party in Nigeria’s history.
“President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to that breakthrough. No account of President Buhari’s tenure would be complete without acknowledging the extended periods he spent on medical leave. These moments, while politically delicate, were also telling of his leadership philosophy and personality,” he said.
In his remarks, President Tinubu promised to build on the legacies of former President Buhari, stressing that “nation-building is a relay. The efforts of one administration lay the foundation for the next.
“In this regard, I acknowledge the efforts of my predecessor, President Buhari, and assure all Nigerians that the reform-oriented path he initiated will be consolidated and strengthened under this administration. Our Renewed Hope Agenda is inspired by the desire to build a resilient, just, and inclusive Nigeria—a nation that delivers dividends of democracy to all its citizens”.
Speaking during an appearance on live television on Wednesday, Mr Omokri alleged that Mr Obi’s statements were misleading and damaging to the country’s economic prospects.
Mr Omokri said some investors currently operating in Nigeria were considering exiting the market due to Mr Obi’s remarks.
“That is not true. He doesn’t rile me up. I rile him up. The reason why I came here is because I’m a patriot. Peter Obi lied. You know, foreign direct investors are watching your programme, who are making investment decisions not to come to Nigeria. There are foreign investors in Nigeria that are making investment decisions to leave Nigeria because of the lie he told.
“One of the lies he told is that President Tinubu has borrowed more than the administrations of Yar’Adua, Jonathan, Buhari. That is a blatant lie”, Mr Omokri said.
To buttress his claims, Mr Omokri referenced figures from the Debt Management Office (DMO), maintaining that President Tinubu had actually reduced Nigeria’s external debt burden since assuming office.
“I have here with me data from the Debt Management Office, and Nigerians who are watching can go to DMO.com and search Debt Management Office, Nigeria State of Indebtedness 2015.
“As of 2015, Nigeria was owing a total of $63 billion. When Buhari was leaving office, Nigeria was owing $113 billion. Today, from the DMO, our debt has gone from $113 billion to $97 billion, meaning that Tinubu has reduced our debt by over $14 billion.
“We should be appreciating this man. Yet Peter Obi came here and lied to the Nigerian people. He took the debts and translated them into naira to make it look like the debts have increased”, he said.
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