Politics
Let Our Policies Be Consistent
Every president, Governor or elected public officer always comes during campaigns with a box full of promises, but in reality most of these promises are either gimmicks, not well researched or it could be just general statements another person makes to get elected into office.
This is because you can hardly see coherent policies presented by them when they kick-start their administration as all what we get are inconsistencies in their execution of programmes or projects. Sometimes what we get are policy somersaults with different statements on just one single project by different spokesmen for the government. This is not just queer but has become the order of the day under this present federal government.
Between 2015 to 2018, every problem or challenge faced by the Buhari administration had been attributed to the previous administration or enemies, especially opposition parties.
Even the bad monetary policies that led to capital flight which resulted in the recession we experienced had different interpretations by various government officials.
But one thing still remains constant and that is the problem of selective amnesia on happenings within the country especially in the areas of policy execution or pronouncements by spokes- persons for government.
For example when the former Chief Justice was being harassed, the presidency said it was not aware of the plot to remove him, but events later proved that everything was orchestrated by people in the corridor of power, who were given the necessary go –ahead order to do the ground work.
Where this selective amnesia also reared its ugly head was in 2018 when the president was said to had directed the immediate past inspector general of police to relocate to Markurdi and take full charge of the fight against the herdsmen menace in Benue State which he refused to do. And what was the response. “I am not aware,” was the refrain the nation got as explanation.
This penchant for being not aware to some observers of the country’s development strides could be interpreted to either those at the helm of affairs are pretending or are just churning out policies which they are not sure will be widely accepted; but where this fails suddenly the symptom of amnesia comes in.
Half truth disinformation and total denial of reality are just the symptons that are in vogue now. At the height of the herdsmen rampage in the country, we were told that these killers were not Nigerians but foreigners, and when indigenes of the various communities wanted to retaliate, we got another song that they were Nigerians and even the army was said to have been giving them protection.
In 2019, another series of political drama unfolded called RUGA which the average Nigerian, who can read and write cannot see in the dictionary. Again, while the president said he was not aware of the project, monies were already earmarked for the project.
So the question is who is really in charge of this country? Is it a faceless group out to cause mischief or someone or group of people are out there playing games or toying with the unity of the country?
This question is vital because if the president’s spokesman in the person of Garba Shehu will be harping on Ruga and the office of the vice president, Professor Yomi Osinbajo, is saying another thing, who then is playing mischief with our collective commonwealth?
Whenever there is a discordant tune and verbal somersault in government policy, know that something is seriously wrong. No president should allow this to continue once a clear-cut policy is pronounced, no government official should give it a different interpretation unless we are led to believe that it is either, the president is not in full control of his government or he has a hidden agenda which is known to only a few previledged hangers-on.
Governance should not be likened to a football game where even in full glare of your screen you will see footballers who commit foul yet deny that they committed such offence. Even to a ten year old child, the person denying such offence is not only lying but looks funny and ridiculous.
To make matters even more hilarious, INEC, which announced the use of computerised card readers for the 2019 elections in 2018 suddenly discovered that it had no central server to record votes scored during the presidential election. So who are they fooling in this country?
Is lying and forget fullness now part of our culture? If it has become so let us make it a subject in our universities so that we can train future generations in the art of lying. Lying will be made so attractive that foreigners will come to Nigeria to under study our experts. People will also be discouraged to tell the truth.
I see a future where lying will be accepted if this present situation of selective amnesia is allowed to become a virus that affects only top government official. Religious leaders will also have less preaching to do as they will be helpless on the issue of morality and truthfulness.
It is rather sad that our emotions and sentiments have blinded us to the dangers coming our way. Any country where sentiment replaces sound intellectual reasoning is on the path to destruction. Why is it that people who call themselves fathers and mothers will continue to believe that they can govern Nigeria by lying and feel that other Nigerians are illiterates and uninformed?
Consistency and truthfulness have always been a driving force of any country’s development. When investors see that a government is not only consistent with its policies but its officials also don’t dance different dance-steps to one drumbeat then their confidence can be sustained and people will be ready to say Nigeria’s development policies are consistent.
Basically, people who rely on lies to sell a producer have inferiority complex and uses such device to step up their acts. So such devices can only be used as a cover up to what they never expected will come their way especially, their being elected or appointed into office.
Governance is all about trust and when that trust is gone, no matter what is done subsequently to remedy the mistakes or harm that must have been done to the nation’s psyche will take a long time to heal.
Nigeria is a multi-cultural society and no individual can have all the wisdom or solution to solve its diverse problems. So whenever a government makes a policy statement it should always strive to harness the views of experts and opinion leaders across the ethnic divide before making those policies or programmes public.
Yesterday was Onoghen, today it is “RUGA” or cattle colonies, what will it be tomorrow? Nigerians are watching as four more years of this administration will eventually come to an end. What then will be the legacies it will leave behind, will it be sufucation, information mishandling or just propaganda against its opponents? Only time will tell.
Tonye Ikiroma-Owiye
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.