Politics
Governance And Buhari’s Re-Election Bid
That 2018 is a pre-election year and therefore expected to be loaded with intense political activities is not lost on political watchers and Nigerians in general. However, many Nigerians were jolted when only on the second day of the year news filtered in that President Muhammadu Buhari had re-appointed his Minister of Transportation and former Rivers State Governor, Mr Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi as Director-General of 2019 re-election campaign.
Only last year, the president hinted of his intention to run for a second term in office at least twice. One was in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivore, during a regional security summit hosted by the West African country. The other was during his official visit to Kano, capital of Kano State.
While the president’s action may not be strange or novel as many before him had not acted much differently, there are many Nigerians who are disappointed as they had expected a different standard from him. Of course, apart from removing every shade of doubt around his willingness to seek re-election, news of the appointment marks the kick-off of high level political activities in the country. This, in the estimation of many, will not be without grave consequences for governance.
The displeasure of some other Nigerians about the kick-starting of election campaign activities less than three years into his tenure is anchored on the fact that the development re-enforces the notion that only two years of a four-year tenure are usually utilised for governance in Nigeria – a situation that shortchanges the people.
Reactions have since started trailing the announcement. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is reported to have declined putting his weight behind President Buhari’s re-election bid at this stage.
Answering reporters’ questions at the University of Oxford, last Monday, Chief Obasanjo who did not hold back anything in his support for Buhari in his 2015 election said it was too early for him to say he would support the President’s 2019 re-election bid or not.
In its own reaction, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has called for the resignation of the transportation minister following the appointment.
According to the publicity secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan “under the constitution of Nigeria, Mr Amaechi cannot combine the job of a minister of the Federal Republic with another responsibility such as the Director General of a campaign organisation.”
He said “Amaechi’s action in accepting the job while still holding office as minister is in clear breach of the oath of office and the oath of allegiance which he swore in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (As Amended). He should, therefore, resign as minister with immediate effect,”.
Mr Ologbondiyan recalled that under similar circumstances, Chief Tony Anenih resigned as Minister of Works under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, adding that the development was an indication that “the APC have not the littlest agenda on governance for our people and do not have the interest of Nigerians at heart. They have shown that all they care for is their selfish political and pecuniary interests.”
Speaking with The Tide on the subject matter in his office in Port Harcourt, a public affairs commentator, Dr Andy Akportiveh expressed displeasure at the turn of events.
According to Dr Akportiveh, the standard of democracy practice in the country was unacceptable in many respects, arguing that it would be best for us to adopt a form of democracy that is best suited for our peculiar situation if we cannot copy wholesale from the developed world.
“In America, for instance, do you see a president who has just finished a second year of a four-year tenure coming out to kick the ball for a second term?” he quarried, stressing that our institutions were too weak to support the system of government we have chosen to operate.
“If you check our electoral law, you will find that there are provisions there that make it impossible for some of the things that are being done today from being done,” he said, pointing out that “this is because we have not had leadership that can give direction to these institutions to work in a democracy the way they should work.”
Dr Akportiveh who is also a medical administrator called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rise up to its constitutional duties and individual Nigerians and the general public to also closely monitor and call erring government officials to order at all times.
He said it was intolerable that Nigerians have found themselves in “a vicious circle where you have a president who has a four-year tenure and two years into his administration, he has started campaigning again; he has lobbied a few persons to say he is the only one that can lead the country; he is the one that we have not seen before (and) making government and governance weak.”
While urging some public-spirited legal practitioners to challenge some of the issues in court, Dr Akportiveh also charged the general public not to remain docile but rise up and demand accountability from those they have given their mandate. “I’m sure that if Gani Fawehinmi were alive today, he would have tested a lot of these things in court to find out whether an incumbent can spend State fund to run his campaign or even leave his country and going abroad and suggesting that he is interested in running for a second term even though the first term that he was given has not expired. Somebody should go to court and ask the court go give judgement for or against that thing,” he said.
“In another three or four months, you will see that indeed governance has come to a halt. What will be happening is alignment, what will be happening is making travels and this portends danger for the citizens of the country. This insults our collective intelligence as Nigerians,” he lamented.
Opaka Dokubo
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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