Politics
Who Is After Buhari?
As 2014 general
elections draw closer, Nigerian politicians have been strategizing to outsmart one another. It appears they will stop at nothing to achieve their ambitions given the recent happenings in the country. The political atmosphere is tense and Nigerians are obviously apprehensive that the political class might destabilize the country. The gale of impeachment that is being experienced in some states is ominous and detrimental to the sustenance of the nation’s democracy.
But more worrisome is the fact that some prominent politicians have been allegedly marked for elimination as was the case of former Head of State and chieftain of All Progressive Congress (APC), General Mohammadu Buhari (rtd). Buhari escaped death by the whiskers when his convoy was attacked by a lone suicide bomber in Kaduna State recently on his way to his home town, Daura, Katsina State.
On that same day, a renowned Islamic cleric, Sheik Dahiru Bauchi had also narrowly escaped death in the first explosion which occurred at Isa Kaita Road, Kaduna State, where a suspected suicide bomber who was said to be trailing him on a motorcycle detonated the bomb, killing scores of hapless Nigerians.
In a statement he personally signed shortly after the incident, Gen. Buhari said: “I am personally involved in a clearly targeted bomb attack today at about 2.30p.m on my way to Daura.”
“The unfortunate event, clearly an assassination attempt, came from a fast-moving vehicle that made attempt to overtake my security car, but was blocked by the escort vehicle.
“We reached the market area of Kawo where he took advantage of our slowing down and attempted to ram into my car. He instantly detonated the bomb which destroyed all the three cars in our convoy.
“Unfortunately, when I came out of my vehicle, I saw bodies littered around. They were innocent people going about their daily business, who became victims of mass murder.
“Thank God for His mercy, I came out unhurt, but with three of my security staff sustaining minor injuries. They have since been treated in hospital and discharged.”
It would be recalled that two days before the attempt on his life, Gen. Buhari had expressed his discomfiture over the political situation in the country, saying “the dangerous clouds are beginning to gather and the vultures are circling.
He said, “whether or not President Goodluck Jonathan is behind the gale of impeachment or utilisation of the desperate tactics to suffocate the opposition and turn Nigeria into a one-party state, what cannot be denied is that they are happening under his watch, and he cannot pretend not to know, since that will be akin to hiding behind one finger.
“In my capacity as former Head of State, rather than a politician, I have spoken to President Jonathan in private over these issues but indications are that the strategy has not yielded positive results.
“I cannot, just because I am an opposition politician, fail to do what is expected of me as a former Head of State to help rescue our nation in times of great trouble and palpable uncertainty.
“History will not be kind to me if I sit back while things turn bad, just so that no one will accuse me of partisanship.
“Yes, I am a politician . Yes, I am in the opposition. Yes, there is the tendency for my statement to be misconstrued as that of a politician rather than a statesman. But I owe it as a matter of duty and honour and in the interest of our nation, to speak out on the dangerous trajectory that our nation is heading.
“I can say, in all sincerity, that I have seen it all, as an ordinary citizen, a military officer, a state governor, a minister, a Head of State, a man who has occupied many sensitive posts and a politician. I have been a close participant and witness to Nigeria’s political history since independence in 1960.
“Our country has gone through several rough patches, but never before have I seen a Nigerian President declare war on his country as we are seeing now.
“Never before have I seen a Nigerian President deploy federal institutions in the service of partisanship as we are witnessing now. Never before have I seen a Nigerian President utilize the commonwealth to subvert the system and punish the opposition, all in the name of politics.
“Our nation had suffered serious consequences in the past for egregious acts that are not even close to what we are seeing now. It is time to pull brakes.
“The dangerous clouds are beginning to gather and the vultures are circling and they have manifested in Nasarawa where the ordinary people have defied guns and tanks to protest the plan to impeach Governor Umar Tanko Al-Makura in a repeat of the bitter medicine forced down the throat of Governor Murtala Nyako.
“The people’s protest in Nasarawa is a sign of what to come if the federal authorities continue to target opposition state governor for impeachment.
“In the long run, the impeachment weapon will be blunted. Positions will become more hardened on both sides and Nigeria and Nigerians will become the victims of arrested governance and possible anarchy.
“I, along with many other patriotic Nigerians fought for the unity and survival of this country. Hundreds of patriotic souls perished in the battle to keep Nigeria one. The blood of many of our compatriots helped to ensure the birth of the democracy we are practicing today.
“Let no one, whether the leader or the led, the high or the low, a member of the ruling or the opposition do anything to torpedo the system.
“Let no one, whether on the altar of personal ambition or pretension to higher patriotic tendencies, do anything that can detonate the keg of gunpowder on which the nation is sitting.
“It is time for all concerned to spare a thought for the ordinary citizens who have yet to see their hopes, dreams and aspirations come to reality within the general context of nationhood.”
While Buhari’s statement could be taken to be a serious warning on the dangers lurking around, as well as a subtle indictment on the nation’s leadership for its failure to protect lives and property of the citizenry, the APC governors were unparing in pointing accusing fingers to President Goodluck Jonathan.
The governors under the aegis of Progressive Governors forum (PGF) said that President Goodluck Jonathan should be held responsible for the attempt on the life of one of its national leaders and former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
The governors, in a statement titled: “PGF Condemns Attempt On Buhari, Holds Jonathan Responsible,” noted that the incident happened two days after Buhari urged Jonathan to stop waging war on Nigerians.
According to them, “the double bomb explosions in Kaduna, the loss of innocent lives and what was clearly an attempt to assassinate former Head of State and leader of the APC, General Huhammadu Buhari were not coincidences.
“We call on the Federal Government to take urgent and radical steps to investigate the assassination attempt and make its findings public. In the meantime, we urge President Jonathan to manage his obsession with power and work for the citizens of this country.”
But the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was not happy over the utterances attributed to of the APC on the Kaduna bomb blasts.
The PDP in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, cautioned the APC leaders to be careful with their utterances regarding the unfortunate incidents and thanked God for saving the lives of General Muhammadu Buhari and Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi.
“We sincerely sympathise with General Buhari. Our hearts go out to him and all those affected in these wicked attacks.
“It has become clear that anybody could be a target.”
From the recent happenings in the country, it is clear that all is not well with the Nigerian State. These are warnings of impending danger. While waiting for the Federal Government and its agencies to unravel the sources of attack on Buhari, it is expected that the nation’s leadership would be alive to its responsibility by ensuring the security of lives and property.
Reward Akwu
Gen. Buhari
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday brushed aside the order of the Court of Appeal in Abuja which ordered him to stay proceedings in a suit that sought deregistration of the African Democratic Party (ADC), Accord Party and three others.
The Court of Appeal in a unanimous decision of a panel of three Justices had on May 22, 2026 directed the Federal High Court Judge not to proceed with the suit until an appeal pending before them and filed by Accord Party is resolved.
In a Certified True Copy Enrol Order of the Superior Court, Justices Mohammed Danjuma, Adebukola Banjoko and Oyejoju Oyewumi asked the lower Court Judge to stay proceedings until all issues on the appeal filed by the Accord Party were resolved
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State had, through the Accord Party, applied to justice Lifu to join him as a defendant in the deregistration legal battle instituted by a group of former legislators.
The contention of the Osun State governor was that he had a stake in the Accord Party, being the platform he was seeking re-election in the August 15 gubernatorial poll in the state.
In his ruling, Justice Lifu on April 27 ruled against the Osun State governor, rejecting his request to be joined in the suit to defend his own position and interest.
Not satisfied with the Federal High Court decision, the Osun State governor, through his lawyer, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), moved to the Court of Appeal in Abuja where he challenged the Justice Lifu decision to refuse to allow him join the suit.
After listening to the argument canvassed, especially that he has interest to protect as Accord Party gubernatorial candidate for Osun State governorship election, the three Justices of the Court of Appeal, unanimously directed Justice Lifu to allow them look into the grievances of the governor.
In specific terms, the Court of Appeal Justices directed Justice Lifu not to proceed further with the matter and fixed October 27 to determine the interlocutory appeal of the appellant.
However, when the certified enroll order and notice of appeal were served on Justice Peter Lifu by Mr Adetunbi (SAN), the judge rejected it on the ground that it was a ploy to arrest his judgment in the matter.
Although the judge had adjourned his judgment delivery in the matter indefinitely, he finally made a dramatic turn around on Monday and proceeded to deliver the judgment that has now proscribed the five political parties.
Actor turned politician, Mr Kenneth Okonkwo, has rejected the choice of former Rivers State Governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, as the running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In a statement on Monday, Mallam Bolaji Abdulllahi, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, announced the party’s choice of Mr Amaechi.
However in a statement, Mr Okonkwo said that the choice of Mr Amaechi from the South South strengthens the continued marginalization of people from the South East.
According to the former spokesperson of the Labour Party, any arrangement that would not factor a person from the South East either as president or vice president in the party is anti-Igbo.
He contended that Chief Raph Nwosu, who founded the ADC in 2005 and willingly surrendered it’s leadership to Senator David Mark did not do so to entrench Igbo marginalization in the party.
The former actor said: “I heard from the social media that ADC has picked its vice presidential candidate from the South-South. If this is true, it is unfortunate, as this will continue the crude marginalisation of the South-East.
“This geo-political zone has neither produced a president or vice president since 1999. To deny the South-East the opportunity to produce the president or vice president in the ADC in 2027, will amount to perpetuating the marginalisation.
“The ADC was founded by Ralphs Nwosu from the South-East in 2005. He made the sacrifice to give up the party in 2025 for the coalition to usher in a better Nigeria. He couldn’t have made that sacrifice to marginalise his own people.
“I did not join the coalition to assist in marginalisation of my own people further. I am of the opinion that if we made a sacrifice to give up the national chairman and the president, it will amount to unpardonable injustice to deny us the vice president in 2027.
“I joined politics to fight for a better Nigeria where no region, geo-political zone, or person will be marginalised.
“The only favour I asked Atiku Abubakar, who openly declared that he is the pathway to the presidency of the South-East, is to show it by choosing someone from the South-East to be his vice.
“If it is confirmed that he has chosen a candidate from the South-South, I wish him well. I am not favourably disposed to campaigning for any presidential ticket that does not have a person of South-East origin as president or vice in 2027”
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, on Monday said that the numerous projects being executed by President Bola Tinubu across the states in the southeast will give him upper hand over other presidential candidates during next year’s general elections.
Prof. Yilwatda stated this at the Abakaliki Township Stadium during a mega rally organized by the Ebonyi State government and Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, during which President Tinubu and other APC candidates for the 2027 general elections were adopted.
According to the APC National Chairman, no President had done for the southeast region what President Tinubu has done for them and expressed the confidence that the president would not only win in Ebonyi State but in the entire South East.
Prof. Yilwatda also used the occasion to address growing insinuations in some quarters that Ebonyi State had been conceded to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Dismissing the claim, Prof. Yilwatda said the state would not allow the PDP to win any position in the forthcoming general election.
“We will return President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Francis Nwifuru as Governor of Ebonyi State in 2027.
“We want to return all APC senators, members of the House of Representatives and House of Assembly candidates in 2027.
“Nobody has conceded Ebonyi to the PDP. Therefore, there is no vacancy in Ebonyi State. Ebonyi PDP has no place, and there is no vacancy at all in the Government House come 2027,” the APC National Chairman declared.
He commended the people of the state for their support for President Tinubu and urged them to re-elect him in the next presidential election in appreciation of what he has done for the state and the entire South-East through infrastructural transformation and human capital development.
Governor Francis Nwifuru, who also spoke at the event, said the state had no other presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections apart from President Tinubu.
He declared that Ebonyi remained a stronghold of the APC and vowed that the party would deliver the President in the state.
Gov. Nwifuru said President Tinubu had shown exceptional commitment to the state and deserved total support for appointing Senator Umahi as Minister of Works, a role he said Senator Umahi had performed creditably.
“Ebonyi has no other presidential candidate apart from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and we will return him in the presidential election.
“We are standing here today to tell the whole world, especially those using the President’s name to orchestrate division and confusion in this great state, that we have only one party, and that is the APC.
“This statement became necessary because some people are going around claiming they have discussed with Mr President and that he has handed Ebonyi over to the PDP. They are also saying that Chief Nyesom Wike is their leader and that Wike said the President has given Ebonyi to him.
“Ebonyi is not for sale. We are restraining ourselves because the people are with us. Nobody should push us because we have what it takes to confront anyone trying to destabilise us.
“We want to tell Mr President that he has earned our votes. He gave us what we had never had in Eastern Nigeria — the office of the Minister of Works. And this Minister of Works is not sitting idle; he is working,” he stated.
Senator Umahi, in his remarks, said President Tinubu had done what no other President had done for Ebonyi State and the entire South-East by executing numerous projects across the state and the region.
“Ebonyi State is a one-party state under Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru. We are not going to repeat the mistakes of the past.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done a lot, not just for Ebonyi State but for the entire South-East and other geopolitical zones,” he said.