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President Has Failed Nigeria -Ozekhome …Ambition Dead On Arrival -Fayose

Condemnation has continued to trail Monday’s declaration by President Muhammadu Buhari to contest the 2019 presidential election.
In a chat with The Tide, yesterday, a member of the National Assembly representing Degema/ Bonny Federal Constituency, Hon Randolph Brown said Buhari’s performance so far was abysmal, and as such, he should shelve his ambition.
“Nobody can deny him the right to contest, but his performance is below average,” Brown said, adding, “security is getting worse, rule of law is nothing to write home about”.
Brown said he was sure Nigerians would definitely not vote Buhari again, since he has not added value to their lives in the past three years.
The House of Representatives member called on the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to re-strategise on how to take over power at the centre in 2019, reasoning that the party has bright chances if it puts its house in order.
On his part, Head of Department of Political Science in the state-owned Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Prof. Alafuro Epelle opined that Buhari’s chances in 2019 elections were slim, considering his performance so far.
“If you ask me my objective view, he has scored very low in terms of performance,” Epelle stated, stressing “he has not added value to our lives”.
The professor of Political Science further said, “If you ask me to advise him, I would say he should not contest.”
Epelle also pointed out that contrary to public opinion, Buhari may not enjoy the huge support he had in 2015, noting that “there is likely to be a division among the Hausa-Fulani in the upcoming elections”.
He advised the PDP to exploit the shortcomings at the federal level by fielding a candidate that has the pedigree and popularity to balkanise the North and defeat APC in 2019.
Meanwhile, barely 24 hours after President Muhammadu Buhari made his intention to seek re-election in 2019 known, a constitutional lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, has said that President Buhari has failed Nigeria having performed abysmally and disastrously between 2015 and 2018.
Ozekhome, also a human rights activist, thus asked Nigerians to reject him at the polls, saying Buhari had failed to deliver his electoral promises to restore economy, fight corruption and ensure security.
He made the call yesterday in a statement he issued in response to Buhari’s declaration to seek re-election in 2019, noting that the speculation that the ruling APC “is banking on massive rigging of the 2019 election to win is merely illusory”.
According to him, “The plan to rig cannot work. Nigerians are more enlightened today than ever before. They will use their PVCs to vote wisely, notwithstanding any acts of intimidation or coercion. 2019 is just 10 months away. I will keep my fingers crossed to see how it all plays out.”
Ozekhome lamented that the economy “is in an all time low,” noting that from an over $500 billion rebased economy he inherited, Buhari led Nigeria into recession and now claimed to have taken it out.
Sadly enough, Ozekhome wondered that the president could call for celebration “to take Nigeria back from recession. But the figures do not tally, nor does the story jell. Nigerians are hungrier today than they were three years ago. They have been rendered destitute and impecunious”.
Citing the impact of the economic recession, Ozekhome said many resorted “to going to Libya and attempting to cross the seas to European countries to escape from hunger and squalor, thereby dying in the process. More Nigerians have taken to prostitution across European nations more than ever before”.
In their quest for greener pasture in Europe, the constitutional lawyer lamented that many of them “are gang-raped, sodomised, enslaved and bestialised. The youths have taken up arms, committing more heinous crimes, such as robberies and kidnap, more than ever in the history of this country”.
He pointed out that Buhari promised three million new jobs per annum. However, according to him, Buhari and the APC have caused Nigerians to, paradoxically, lose about 3.5 million jobs annually, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
He said the price of fuel alternates between N145 per litre and N400, whenever available, whereas the APC-led federal government met it at N87 per litre.
Ozekhome explained that a bag of rice “now sells for between N15,000 and N20,000. He met it at N7,500. Prices of goods and consumables have gone out of the reach of the common man, with Nigerians literally feeding from dust bins. So, on the economic front, one of his tripodal promises, he has failed Nigeria and Nigerians. Is this why they will vote for him again? I want to see”.
Under Buhari, Ozekhome said Boko Haram “is stronger today, more potent and more deadly than it ever was. We are regaled daily (check online, print and electronic media), with tales of Boko Haram’s blood-letting exploits, maiming, killing and burning houses across the North-east.
“With apparent government collusion, the military in Dapchi were hurriedly posted out. Chibok was re-enacted in Dapchi, where over 110 secondary school girls were viciously abducted. They were later released in a Hollywood style, in broad daylight, by the same Boko Haram after mind bungling sums were said to have been paid to them as ransom”.
Ozekhome said: “If Boko Haram regarded as one of the four leading terrorist groups in the world were considered deadly enough, the rampaging herdsmen has become more murderous.
“Day-in-day-out, they kill innocent Nigerians in their homes, their farms, burn others, lay siege to whole communities, rape their wives and daughters, and kidnap their males. Never has Nigeria witnessed more insecurity than it is today.”
He said although Boko Haram was limited to the North-east, Fulani herdsmen menace “spread across all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria. Federal government does not even pretend to want to curb the insurgency. Not a single herdsman has been arrested or prosecuted by the government.
“Kidnappings, murders, suicides and rape cases have since increased geometrically, rather than arithmetically. Consequently on the insecurity front, Buhari has scored below average. Is this why Nigerians will vote for him?”
He noted that Buhari’s greatest failing “is perhaps in this anti-corruption context. He had promised to fight corruption. Three years down the line, he has not secured a single conviction of any high profile, politically exposed person. Rather, Nigerians have been treated to ludicrous media trial”.
In desperation, the constitutional lawyer added that the government “has now released names of opposition members whom they have charged to court, but cannot prove their cases against as ‘looters’, without any court conviction or judicial pronouncement to that effect”.
“This is in sync with the government’s now infamous disregard for due process, rule of law, independence of the judiciary and disobedience to court orders. Impunity reigns supreme. In appointments, cronyism, nepotism, tribalism, clannishness and favouritism triumph over merit and competence.
“Transparency International, in its recent corruption perception index, has rated Nigeria as one of the most corrupt countries in Africa, beaten to the second position in West African by only one country. Nigeria placed 148th globally, out of 180 countries freedom of speech, press freedom, NGO’s freedom, and sundry liberties are seriously curbed, leading to a reign of fear and terror,” he said.
According to him, “Where the government fights ‘corruption’ amongst opposition and critics with pesticides, herbicides and insecticides, it caresses and deodorises its own corrupt officials, ministers, serving military generals and kitchen cabinet members with sweet smelling sasarabia cologne.
“Corruption reeks everywhere in the government, with many Pandora boxes of oozing gates: Mainagate, Babachirgate, health sectorgate and NNPC gate. The Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, revealed to a shocked nation how $23 billion contracts, were irregularly awarded and signed by Buhari on his sick bed abroad, at a time Osibanjo was already the acting president.”
He, therefore, noted that the $2.1 billion Dasukigate, which the federal government “has pegged its anti–corruption fight is less than 10 per cent of the NNPCgate. Corruption now struts around and about proudly, unrestrained, walking on its fours, head and even buttocks”.
Also reacting, Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has dismissed President Muhammadu Buhari’s chances of securing a second term in 2019, insisting that the President’s re-election bid was dead on arrival.
Fayose said this in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital in reaction to the declaration by the President earlier, last Monday that he would run for re-election.
The President had declared his intention during the All Progressives Congress National Executive Council meeting in Abuja before departing the country for London, where he is also expected to meet UK Prime Minister, Theresa May.
While several members of the APC and the President’s close allies have welcomed the news, Fayose told journalists that Nigeria would not need him as President in 2019.
The governor said not only would President Buhari be too old to lead the country then, he had failed to utilise the opportunity given to him in 2015.
“That ambition is dead on arrival. We don’t need grandpa as President anymore; Nigeria does not deserve a Buhari as President in 2019. Buhari is too old and tired. When people don’t know when to take their leave and say bye, Nigerians will show them the exit door,” the governor was quoted as saying in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi.
The governor further accused the President of failing “on all fronts” including the fight against corruption.
He added, “He has failed in the economic front and he has not done well in terms of security.”
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FG To Seize Retirees’ Property Over Unpaid Housing Loans

The Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board says it has begun the compilation of list of retired civil servants who have defaulted on the full repayment of housing loans obtained.
Head of Information and Public Relations, FGSHLB, Mrs Ngozi Obiechina, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja, yesterday.
Obiechina quoted the Executive Secretary of the Board, Mrs Salamatu Ahmed, as saying that the move was aimed at recovering mortgaged properties from retirees who failed to meet their loan obligations.
Ahmed noted that the decision followed a recent memo issued by Mrs Patience Oyekunle, Permanent Secretary, Career Management Office, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
According to her, the memo reminded public servants of the mandatory requirement to obtain a Certificate of Non-Indebtedness to the FGSHLB and MDA Staff Multipurpose Cooperative Society as a precondition for retirement.
The Executive Secretary said that the board would take necessary legal steps to repossess properties where applicable, in line with the terms of the loan agreements.
She said this was in line with the provisions of the Public Service Rules 021002 (p), issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
“I am directed to bring to your attention the provision of Public Service Rule (PSR) 021002 (p), which mandates all public servants to obtain a Certificate of Non-Indebtedness as a prerequisite for retirement.
“The Federal Government will commence the seizure of mortgaged properties belonging to retiring federal public servants who have failed to fully repay housing loans obtained from the board,” she said.
Ahmed explained that the FGSHLB reserves the legal right to repossess any mortgaged property in cases where a public servant exits service without fully repaying the loan.
She reiterated that the directive also applied to already retired officers who were still indebted.
She urged all affected public servants to regularise their loan status and obtain the required clearance certificate without delay.
“The board is currently compiling a list of such retirees, which will be forwarded to relevant regulatory agencies for debt recovery.
“The FGSHLB remains committed to enforcing compliance and ensuring proper loan recovery procedures are followed, “ she added.
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FG Begins Induction For New Permanent Secretaries, Accountant-General

The Federal Government has kicked off a three-day induction programme for newly appointed Permanent Secretaries and the Accountant-General of the Federation, aimed at equipping them for strategic leadership and effective policy implementation.
The induction, according to a statement yesterday by the Director, Information and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, Eno Olotu, which commenced on Wednesday, is being held at the National Counter Terrorism Centre in Abuja.
Speaking at the opening session, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, congratulated the new appointees and described their roles as pivotal to governance and national development.
“Permanent Secretaries are the engine room of the government. They are critical to driving policy implementation, institutional performance, and reform across the service”, she said.
The Federal Government has kicked off a three-day induction programme for newly appointed Permanent Secretaries and the Accountant-General of the Federation, aimed at equipping them for strategic leadership and effective policy implementation.
The induction, according to a statement yesterday by the Director, Information and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, Eno Olotu, which commenced on Wednesday, is being held at the National Counter Terrorism Centre in Abuja.
Speaking at the opening session, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, congratulated the new appointees and described their roles as pivotal to governance and national development.
“Permanent Secretaries are the engine room of the government. They are critical to driving policy implementation, institutional performance, and reform across the service”, she said.
“The expectations are high, and the responsibility is immense. But with commitment and teamwork, we can deliver a more efficient, accountable, and citizen-centred public service.
“This final lap of FCSSIP 25 calls for urgency, accountability, and strategic focus. You must translate vision into measurable results,” she stated.
In her welcome address, the Permanent Secretary, Career Management Office, Mrs. Fatima Sugra Tabi’a Mahmood, described the programme as a strategic investment in leadership capacity and institutional effectiveness.
The sessions featured expert-led discussions, simulations, and strategic briefings facilitated by a distinguished faculty, including Engr. Suleiman Adamu, former Minister of Water Resources; Dr. Hadiza Bala Usman, Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination; Mrs. Beatrice Jedy-Agba, Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice; Alh. Yusuf Addy, retired Federal Director; Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji, former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation; Amb. Mustapha Lawal Suleiman, Mr. Adesola Olusade, and Dr. Ifeoma Anagbogu, all retired Permanent Secretaries.
Participants include Dr. Obi Emeka Vitalis, Mrs. Fatima Sugra Tabi’a Mahmood, Mr. Danjuma Mohammed Sanusi, Mr. Olusanya Olubunmi, Dr. Keshinro Maryam Ismaila, Dr. Akujobi Chinyere Ijeoma, Dr. Umobong Emanso Okop, Dr. Isokpunwu Christopher Osaruwanmwen, Mrs. Oyekunle N. Patience, Dr. Kalba U. Danjuma, Mr. Nadungu Gagare, Mr. Onwusoro I. Maduka, Dr. Usman Salihu Aminu, Mr. Ogbodo Chinasa Nnam, Mr. Ndiomu Ebiogeh Philip, Dr. Anuma N. Ogbonnaya, Mr. Adeladan Rafiu Olaninre, and Mr. Mukhtar Yawale Muhammed, alongside the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Shamseldeen Babatunde Ogunjimi.
The induction programme will feature sessions on public sector leadership, policy delivery, ethics in service, digital transformation, and performance management.
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NNPCL To Undergo Forensic Audit Soon -FG

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has announced that a forensic audit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) will begin soon.
Edun revealed this at the ongoing Nigerian Investor Forum, held alongside the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington DC.
The minister explained that the recent changes in the NNPCL management are part of a broader effort by the Federal Government to clean up and examine the company closely.
While addressing top global investors, including representatives from J.P. Morgan, Edun shared key reforms the government has introduced to revive the economy and restore investor confidence.
He told the investors that the government’s bold economic steps have laid a strong foundation to attract private investment.
He stated, “Our goal is not just to maintain this momentum, but to accelerate it. We are targeting seven per cent annual growth, and we believe the policies we have implemented have laid the groundwork to achieve this.”
Edun highlighted that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has rolled out major reforms that are already making a difference.
He added that the Nigerian economy grew by 3.84 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024 and recorded a 3.4 per cent growth for the year.
Edun further stressed the importance of the reforms, describing them as “unprecedented,” adding that, “We said we would do it, and now we have done it. This time, we’re staying the course.”
He pointed out signs of progress such as lower budget deficits, a better trade balance, and a more stable exchange rate.
He also said that the focus is now on growing key sectors, especially agriculture.
According to Edun, agriculture is at the top of the government’s agenda, with the aim of improving food supply and increasing productivity.
“We aim to close the food supply gap, not by importing more, but by enabling domestic producers to scale and innovate,” he said.
On infrastructure, Edun revealed that the government has rolled out 90,000km of fibre optic cable to improve internet access.
He said this move is crucial for supporting young Nigerians and tech startups.
He also noted that 4,000km of roads have been offered for private sector participation, with the first 1,000km already approved for construction.
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