Politics
Falae Expresses Fear Over 2023 Polls
Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, has expressed fear about the forthcoming 2023 general elections in the country.
Falae, who noted that the country was precariously on the edge of a precipice, expressed doubt on whether elections will hold come next year.
He disclosed that the country needed someone who understands that Nigeria is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and very complex country as a President.
He said ethnic campaign as currently seen in the country was inevitable “when you have a government that does not present itself as a government for all the people. If a government presents itself to be a champion of a section of the people, naturally the others will begin to defend themselves.”
Speaking with The Tide source in Akure, the Ondo State capital on Monday, Falae, a former Finance Minister, said: “I am praying that the terrorists will allow elections to take place in Nigeria.”
According to him, “a few days ago, they still burn down one of the INEC offices in the South-East and they have been doing that for a long time. We hope the elections will be possible.”
The elder statesman further stated that if elections would take place at all, they may not be credible and the outcome may not be acceptable to the general public.
He added, “If during voting, shooting takes place and riots, the outcome will not be credible. I am hoping that we would not be able to have an election next year.
“I am praying that if we would have elections, God Almighty will intervene and pick a president and government that can lead us out of the crisis that we are in. Nigeria is precariously on the edge of a precipice. I hope it would not be toppled with her bees below.”
While saying Nigeria is not a difficult country to govern, Falae said, “we need a president who shows genuinely that he is for all Nigerians, he does not just say it, he acts it in all his decisions and shows that he cares for all Nigerians and Nigerians will worship him.”
He, however, called on the communities in the country to mobilise and defend themselves from those attacking them.
Falae said, “Once every village is secure, then Nigeria is secure. Let the individual communities, families arrange their defence.
“Security is a local matter. Every community should mobilise its people for its security. Every village, every hamlet should mobilise its people to defend themselves. The police would do their work, and DSS would do what they can do, but every community must have their security.
“For example in my community at Ilu Abo where I am the Olu of the town, we have our vigilante group and they have the instructions to comb all the surrounding forest. If you see any strange person, arrest him and bring him to the police station.
“Let the individual community, families arrange their defence. Security doesn’t necessarily mean shooting. A critical part of security is prevention, information, monitoring and intelligence. Before terrorists can strike in any community, they must have been mobilising and hanging around the place for some time.
“So, people must be vigilant and continuously monitor their environment. If they notice anything strange person, they should go after the person. If anybody attacks you, you have a right to self-defence.
“Let the individual communities, families arrange their defence. Security doesn’t necessarily mean shooting. A critical part of security is prevention, information, monitoring and intelligence. Before terrorists can strike in any community, they must have been mobilising and hanging around the place for some time.
“So, people must be vigilant and continuously monitor their environment. If they notice anything strange person, they should go after the person. If anybody attacks you, you have a right to self-defence.
“If anybody attacks me, I will attack the person back with whatever I have. But I will not be the first to attack anybody. Because self-preservation is the first order of creation. The most important part is the surveillance, intelligence, monitoring of your environment and keeping strange elements out of your area.”
Speaking on the issue of ethnic agenda, Falae said, “It is stupid to be sectional as president. Because that is an invitation to the crisis. We need a president that knows and acts that Nigeria belongs to all of us and that knows that it doesn’t please all Nigerians, he is destroying the country.
“That is what Nigerians want. A fear-minded person. It does not matter where he comes from. After all whoever is Nigeria’s president must come from one particular family, one particular tribe and one particular town.
“All he needs to do is to know that apart from his people there are also other tribes as well that have equal claim to the Nigeria patrimony. If he acts accordingly, Nigerians will hail him.
“Unfortunately, most politicians we have now are tribalistic and they are not exposed at all to still be thinking that they are from Kanuri, Ibo, Fulani or Yoruba. But if we have a Nigerian who sees all has Nigerians, that is the way out of our problem.”
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed, through a second reading, a bill seeking to retain immunity for the Office of the President and remove immunity from the Vice President, the Governors and the Deputy Governors.
The bill was one of the 42 considered and passed through the second reading stage during plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Benjamin Kalu, in Abuja.
Sponsored by Hon. Solomon Bob (Rivers PDP), the bill is seeking the amendment of Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution to guard against abuse of office and to ensure transparency in governance.
The long title of the proposed legislation read: “A Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to qualify the immunity conferred on the President, remove the immunity conferred on the Vice President, the Governors and their deputies, in order to curb corruption, eradicate impunity and enhance accountability in public office and for related matters.”
Key amendments include changes to Section 308 of the Constitution, which currently grants immunity to the president, vice president, governors, and deputy governors while in office.
The proposed bill will amend subsection 3 to ensure that immunity only applies to the President and the vice president when acting as President under Section 145 of the Constitution.
Additionally, a new subsection 4 will be introduced to make the immunity clause inapplicable if the office holder is acting in an unofficial capacity, engaging in actions beyond the powers of the office, or involved in criminal conduct.
“The bill seeks to foster transparency and strengthen the fight against corruption by making public officials more accountable for their actions, both in and out of office.”
“Section 308 of the principal Act is amended by:(a) substituting a new subsection (3) as follows: “(3) This section applies to a person holding the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Vice President only when acting as President, in line with Section 145 of this Constitution.
Creating sub section (4) thereto as follows:”(4) The foregoing provisions of this section shall be inapplicable where the person to whom this section applies is acting in an unofficial capacity or where the conduct of the person is beyond the powers of his office or the conduct is criminal in nature.
“This Bill may be cited as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) Act 2024.
The bill is currently awaiting further debate and consideration by the National Assembly.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has written to notify Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central, about the petition by constituents seeking her recall from the national assembly.
INEC said it has also received the contact details of the petitioners.
“Pursuant to section 69 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, I write to notify you of the receipt of a petition from representatives of registered voters in your constituency seeking your recall from the senate.
“The notification is in line with the provisions of clause 2 (a) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.
“This letter is also copied to the presiding officer of the senate and simultaneously published on the commission’s website. Thank you”, the letter read.
The letter was signed by Ruth Oriaran Anthony, secretary to the commission.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Wednesday, INEC said it has now received the updated contact details from representatives of petitioners seeking to recall the senator.
In the statement, Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education, said a letter notifying the senator of the petition has been delivered to her official address, copied to the senate presiding officer, and published on the commission’s website.
“The next step is to scrutinise the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to ascertain that the petition is signed by more than one half (over 50%) of the registered voters in the constituency. This will be done in the coming days.
“The outcome, which will be made public, shall determine the next step to be taken by the Commission. We once again reassure Nigerians that the process will be open and transparent”, Mr Olumekun said.
Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan had recently accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexually harassing her.
The allegation came in the wake of seating arrangement related altercation between Senator. Akpabio and the Kogi Central senator at the red chamber
She was subsequently suspended from the senate for six months for “gross misconduct” over the incident.
The constituents behind the recall move also accused her of “gross misconduct, abuse of office, and deceitful behaviour”.
The senator has denied wrongdoing and called the recall effort a “coordinated suppression” of her voice.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the second reading of a bill to upgrade the Lagos State 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to full-fledged Local Government Areas (LGAs ).
The bill, was sponsored by James Faleke, Babajimi Benson, Enitan Badru, and 19 other lawmakers.
The bill is titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to Accommodate the Thirty-Seven (37) Development Area Councils of Lagos State as Full-Fledged Local Government Areas, Increasing the Total Number of Local Government Areas in the Federation to Eight Hundred and Eleven (811), and for Related Matters (HB. 1498),”
Once fully enacted, Nigeria’s total number of LGAs will rise from 774 to 811, with Lagos overtaking Kano and Katsina, which currently have 44 and 34 LGAs, respectively.
Proponents of the bill argue that granting full LGA status to the LCDAs would bring governance closer to the people. The 37 LCDAs were created by President Bola Tinubu in 2003 when he was governor of Lagos State.
However, it’s worth noting that the Lagos State House of Assembly has been working on a bill to replace the 37 LCDAs with newly designated administrative areas.