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Don Knocks Rivers Elders Over Letter To Buhari …Urges INEC To Act Within The Law

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A university teacher and Co-convener, Initiative for Credible Elections, Dr. Sofiri Peterside has criticised some Rivers elders over a letter they wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari for him to intervene in the election crisis in Rivers State.
The Tide recalls that the elders in the said letter said that ‘Mr. President should note that INEC going ahead to collate and announce results of 17 areas unnamed local government after two weeks of suspension of electoral process could precipitate public disorder’.
The letter also said that ‘no moral justification to continue with the suspended electoral process, as the outcome will be prejudicial and contentious’, among others.
But Dr. Peterside while appearing as guest on a radio programme in Port Harcourt monitored by The Tide said the elders letter calling for the intervention of the President is belated, accusing them of failing to speak up before the elections, like other organizations and groups who had called for peaceful polls in the crude oil and gas rich state.
This is as Peterside, who is a senior lecturer, Department of Sociology at the University of Port Harcourt called on the electoral body to be open and douse tension by providing the necessary information in the public domain and act within the dictates of the law
He stated, “I read the letter by the elders in the newspapers. My position on it is that the letter is belated. These elders ought to have spoken on the road to the elections. Every organization and civil society were calling for peaceful elections and the elders of this state refused to speak.
“At the point in time when we were already in crisis, even when people were being killed, the elders also lose their voices. So this kind of intervention if you ask me is very belated.
“What is required actually is for INEC to act within the ambit of the law. What is it that the law has said? Why should INEC give an announcement and tell citizens of this country, including Rivers State people that by Wednesday (last week) details of what is going to happen will be made public.
“Journalists went to INEC office in Port Harcourt and they did not get any information. They (newsmen) were not allowed entry. At the national level, no information. And when you do that kind of thing is that you create tension and people are soaked in tension,” Peterside said.
The University don stated further, “So the right thing to do is to douse this tension by stating clearly and keep the citizens informed. I am aware and we have read that there were cases in court and the court declined to grant the ex parte motion by saying that INEC be notified and let them return on the 25th.
“So INEC needs to keep the citizens informed of what is happening otherwise when you leave people in that state when there is no information, anything can happen. So there is need to douse the tension in the state.
“From the analysis of what the elders want even though they did not come out to say so clearly. My own understanding and reading of their statement is that the election be cancelled. Now what I support is that need not to keep that information because they said that they have reports of about 17 LGA’s in their kitty.
“We need to know those LGA’s so that the citizens can begin to know whether these LGA’s are listed amongst those LGA’s where men in uniform actually intervened and took results away or where political thugs actually intervened and hijack electoral materials.
“So what is required is to put that kind of information in the public domain. Perhaps INEC is hiding under the cover that election results need to be announced by INEC and it should be a process when they are announcing the results.
“But I think that that information should be in the public domain so that people will know which local governments are these. And so if these are local government where these kind of situation never took place, collation and all that, then people should come out and say so. I think that is the way forward in this process. Openness,” the university don admonished.

Dennis Naku

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Reps Constitution Review Committee Holds Zonal Hearing For Rivers, C’River, Akwa Ibom In Calabar

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In a renewed effort to deepen Nigeria’s constitutional democracy, the House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution has announced the commencement of its Zonal and National Public Hearings across the country.

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.

 

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Tinubu’s Contribution To Buhari’s Presidency Marginal – Ex-SGF

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Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, has stirred fresh political controversy by dismissing claims that President Bola Tinubu was highly instrumental to former President Muhammadu Buhari’s emergence in 2015 after the merger of political parties that formed the All Progressives Congress (APC).

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”.

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Your Lies Chasing Investors From Nigeria, Omokri Slams Obi

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Former Presidential aide, Mr Reno Omokri, has accused Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, of spreading false information about Nigeria’s debt profile, claiming it is deterring foreign investors from the country.

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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