Politics

2023 Presidency And Rumbles In APC

Published

4 years ago

March 19, 2021

Yahaya Bello, the Governor of Kogi State is perhaps, the highest ranking stalwart of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from the North that has so far indicated a presidential ambition come 2023. While some members of the party have expressed their desire for the presidential ticket of the party to be conceded to the Southern part of the country, the two term Kogi State Chief executive insists that he would not be breaching any rule of the party if he contests for the ticket, even though he comes from the same Northern region of the country as the present occupant of the number one office of the land, Muhammadu Buhari.

The APC is yet to make any official statement with regard to the zoning of the presidential seat in view of the forthcoming 2023 presidential election. However, equally high-ranking and powerful figures in the party as Governor Bello and from the same regional extraction as himself have also been openly canversing their preference for a presidential candidate from the South to fly the flag of the party.

One of such notable figures is Ali Ndume, the chairman, senate committee on Army.

Speaking with newsmen last Saturday in Abuja, the senator representing Borno South Senatorial District categorically spoke against any chance of zoning the presidency to the North ahead of the 2023 election by the party.

The federal lawmaker said any move in the direction of the North retaining the office of the president would offend the spirit of fairness, equity and justice, insisting that any part of the South should produce the next presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress.

According to him, it would amount to remaining in office for a third term if another candidate from the North emerges after President Buhari completes his second term.

“I am against APC producing its presidential candidate from the North. The APC presidential candidate should come from the South. I have said it before and will still say it again that if we have a Northerner as APC presidential candidate, to me, it is tantamount to third term, and it is not constitutional.

“The (APC) constitution says the president shall serve two terms, and we said then that the North should serve two terms. If you say the North should produce the presidential candidate again, it means you are going for third term which is not fair and I believe in fairness, justice and equality. Let candidate from the South, and that means South-South, South-East and South-West clinch the ticket”, he said.

On this part, governor of Kano State, North-West Nigeria, appearing on a television network last month described zoning as a strategy for winning election in the country and advised his party to strongly consider the unwritten code in its planning towards the 2023 election.

He said though contestants from all parts of the country jostled for the prized ticket with Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, he believes the current president clinched the ticket because of the understanding that the position had been conceded to the North. He added that the situation became clearer in 2019, coupled with the fact that the party, was already in power and Buhari in office.

“The zoning system, even though it is not in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but it is a strategy for winning election. I think APC as a party should do a lot of research and planning to see what is the best option to win election. But from my understanding, zoning is a strategy for winning election and zoning has been adopted in the party”, he affirmed.

Governor Ganduje said, “when Buhari contested in 2015, he did not contest alone, he contested with people from the North, he contested with people from the South-East. So, if zoning was adopted, one hundred per cent, then only Northerners would have been allowed to contest. But there was still the understanding of zoning even though the party did not prevent others from contesting as it happened in 2015”.

He expressed the hope that though the party may not restrict or sanction anyone for indicating interest and taking part in the contest for the ticket, it would reach a consensus as regards the part of the country it would prefer its presidential candidate to come from.

“In this 2023, I believe there will be a consensus, even if people are allowed to contest from all parts of the country, but I know there will be a consensus on who should be allowed to contest. I think the zoning should be respected as strategy for winning election”, he said, adding that he would personally prefer that the ticket is zoned to “the southern part of the country but that should be a consensus of the members”.

Recently, the Arewa Youth Forum (AYF) paid Governor Bello a courtesy visit at Government House in Lokoja with the singular purpose of asking him to consider presenting himself for election as president in 2023 under the platform of the APC.

Led by Comrade Gambo Gunjungu , president of the AYF, the youth body, said “after thorough research and evidence of the numerous antecedents” of Bello, they decided to call on him to run for president, adding that they were tired of “recycled leaders” and that they needed a youth to take over the country’s leadership “like many other young Nigerians wanting to change the narrative of political bandwagon and recycled politicians, we are looking up to him as the hope of the Nigerian youth. We are discussing with our patrons and we already have the network it would take to propagate their message all over the nation”, Gunjungu was quoted to have said.

In his response, Governor Bello is reported to have only told his guests that the discussions and events ahead of 2023 presidential election were in the hands of God to decide.

In spite of initial denials by his Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, last year when his campaign poster first surfaced in some Northern states, the 45-year-old governor’s political associates had gone ahead to further canvass the presidential agenda.

Shortly after the governor presented his 2021 budget proposal to the Kogi State House of Assembly, the lawmakers passed a resolution, urging him to run for president and early this year, they took the message to their counter parts in Plateau State for support. They have since also visited Kawara State lawmakers and also interfaced with Governor AbdulRazaq AbdulRahman on the need to support Bello to become Nigeria’s president come 2023.

Although the Kwara State governor did not give an outright endorsement, he is said to have nevertheless offered a clue that Bello can always count on him. As the rumbles continue and conflicting signals emanate from the ranks of the APC, the leadership of the party has maintained a studied silence on the issue of the zoning of the 2023 presidential election. The feeling in certain quarters is that the APC is waiting for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to make its move in this regard in order for it to take its own bearing.

However, there is another school of thought that strongly believes that the ruling party is simply confused and does not have the ideological strength to boldly make decisions based on its own convictions.

They say the party is so afraid and uncertain about its probable disastrous outcome of the forthcoming 2023 presidential election, especially without a rallying figure like Muhammadu Buhari that achieving the consensus talked about by governor Ganduja will be an order too tall for it to attain.

By: Opaka Dokubo

Politics

Why I Won’t Help Tinubu’s Govt Overcome Economic Challenges – Sanusi

Published

4 days ago

January 17, 2025

The Tide

The 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, says he would not help President Bola Tinubu’s administration to correct the administration’s policies affecting the citizens.

Emir Sanusi spoke on Wednesday in Lagos as the chairman of the 21st Anniversary of Fawehinmiism (Gani Fawehinmi Annual Lecture 2025).

The emir stated that while there were “a few points” he could offer to explain the trajectory the administration had taken and how such decisions were predictable, he chose not to do so because “they don’t behave like friends.”

He said explaining the government’s policies would help the government, but he did not intend to assist them due to the way they had treated him.

“I can give a few points that are contrary, that explain perhaps what we’re going through and how it was totally predictable, most of it, and maybe avoidable. But I am not going to do that.

“I have chosen not to speak about the economy or the reforms or to even explain anything because if I explain, it would help this government, but I don’t want to help this government,” the emir said while addressing some of the points made by speakers about the economy.

He added: “You know they’re my friends, but if they don’t behave like friends, I don’t behave like a friend. So I watch them being stooges. And they don’t even have people with credibility who can come and explain what they are doing. I am not going to help. I started out helping, but I am not going to help. I am not going to discuss it. Let them come and explain to Nigerians why the policies that are being pursued are being pursued.

“Meanwhile, I’m watching a very nice movie with popcorn in my hands. But I will say one thing: What we are going through today is, at least in part, not totally, but at least in part, a necessary consequence of decades of irresponsible economic management.

“People were told decades ago that if you continue along this path, this is where you’re going to end up, and they refused to open their eyes. Now, is everything being done today correct? No.”

Emir Sanusi, who was deposed as the 14th Emir of Kano in 2020 by then-Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the current national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), was reinstated as the 16th Emir of Kano in 2024 by the New Nigeria People’s Party-led Kano State Government.

His emirship has faced ongoing challenges from forces believed to be backed by the federal government, including federal officials’ continued recognition of his predecessor, Emir Aminu Ado Bayero.

Last month, the police barricaded his palace, with the state government accusing the federal government of orchestrating the action to stir unrest in the peaceful state.

Politics

Reps Loses Deputy Chief Whip

Published

4 days ago

January 17, 2025

The Tide

The Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon. Oriyomi Onanuga, is dead.

Also known as Ijaya, Rt Hon. Onanuga, who was the member representing Ikenne/Sagamu/Remo North Federal Constituency, is said to have died following a brief illness.

This was confirmed in a tweet on the official X (formerly Twitter) account of the House of Representatives, on Wednesday night.

Rt Hon Onanuga, who was born in Hammersmith, London, to Nigerian parents on December 2, 1965, was a politician and entrepreneur. She held the position of Deputy Chief Whip in the Nigerian House of Representatives since 2023.

She contested and won a seat in the House of Representatives under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019. She also served as the Chairperson of the House Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development.

Politics

Aiyedatiwa Dissolves Cabinet, Retains Finance Commissioner, Attorney-General

Published

4 days ago

January 17, 2025

The Tide

Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State has dissolved the State Executive Council.

The State Executive Council members include commissioners, Special Advisers and the Secretary to the State Government, SSG.

Gov. Aiyedatiwa, however, exempted two members of the cabinet from the dissolution due to the critical nature of their duties.

The two commissioners exempted include the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Dr Kayode Ajulo, SAN, and the Commissioner for Finance, Mrs. Omowunmi Isaac.

This was contained in a statement issued by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Ebenezer Adeniyan, in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

Mr Adeniyan said in the statement that “All the affected cabinet members are to hand over all government properties in their care to the accounting officers of their respective ministries.

Gov. Aiyedatiwa thanked the executive council members “for their service and contributions to the development of Ondo State under his administration and wished them well in their future endeavours”.