Government Of Lies, By Liars And For Liars!

 By Kenneth Okonkwo

On 1st March, 2023, Prof Yakubu Mahmood, Chairman Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at about 4:30am, while most Nigerians were asleep, proclaimed Bola Tinubu as winner of the presidential election held on the 25th of February, 2023, in apparent disregard of the laws and rules of collation of results which he made for himself and for INEC.

*Yakubu and Tinubu

He even boasted that there will be a big television screen revealing the electronically transmitted election results for the whole world to see to confirm and corroborate the manually collated presidential election results which he will be announcing. He failed woefully and deceitfully announced presidential election results without following due process he made for himself, and blamed technical glitch for failing to obey the laws. Till date nobody has been held responsible for the glitch that purportedly occurred that day. The people in charge of the systems then have been said to have been handsomely rewarded with promotion.

What you compromise to get, you compromise to keep. This regime was born on the wings of disregard to the rule of law. It was born on the caprice of rule of man – the rule of Mahmood, not the rule of INEC. The regime has not failed the people by continuing on the trajectory of the rule of man, devoid of any appearance of rule of law. Our laws are clear on how to establish the government of Nigeria by any regime.

The government must be composed in such a manner as to reflect our federal character and conduct its affairs in such a manner as to ensure that every federating unit has a sense of belonging and guarantee that no federating unit dominates the others (Section 14(3)(4) of the 1999 Constitution). The INEC proclaimed President even admonished that Nigerians should embrace their diversity. Great! In embracing our diversity, the government of Nigeria under Tinubu looks like this: President, Head of Service, Chief of Staff, Chief Justice of Nigeria, Attorney General of the Federation, Minister of Finance, Central Bank Governor, Federal Inland Revenue Service Chairman, Controller General Customs, Controller General of Immigration, Accountant General of the Federation, Chairman Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Minister of Interior, Minister of Power, Minister of Petroleum, Inspector-General of Police, Chief of Army Staff are all Yoruba. 

The implication of this is that the entire economy, the judiciary, and the interior security arrangement is centered on one ethnic group. All agencies that receive the revenue from Nigerians, all agencies that make policies on how to spend the revenue realised by the revenue agencies, the agencies that arrest people who corruptly enrich themselves, the agencies who prosecute corrupt people, the agencies who punish the corrupt people, are all in one ethnic stock. This government is embracing our diversity indeed.

The President told the first lie when he admonished Nigerians to embrace our diversity when his government is doing the exact opposite. Another danger is that impunity will be rampant in this government because the government officials that come from the same part of the country as the President will believe that they can do whatever they like and get away with it since their people is in charge of every major part of the economy.

And they are actually getting away with it because the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry that was milked dry by some Ministers from the President’s Zone, who are free enjoying their loot, while the unfortunate Minister, herself, though rightly, is sent out alone to carry her cross. Are you surprised then that our economy is now the worst since independence? Yet the lying tongues of the Spokespersons, with their innumerable number of deleted tweets, are saying we are the best economy in the world. No thanks to government for the liars. 

Let us face the fact, Yoruba people are not to blame in the least. If for anything, they are even suffering more than others. The incumbent leader did not consult the Yoruba to choose his cabinet. Some Yoruba have even openly expressed their embarrassment in the lopsidedness of this government’s appointment. He chose people he believes will assist him tell all the lies and help him cover them up in governance. We must learn to stop blaming the people of any leader involved in maladministration because he is not governing in their name. To buttress this point, the President of the Yoruba Council Worldwide, Oladotun Hassan, speaking on Arise TV Morning Show on 7th May, 2024, detested the dishonesty with which this government is handling the issue of the Lagos – Calabar coastal expressway.

He made it clear that the expressway is not about Peter Obi or any politician, but the clandestine and lack of transparency with which the project was being handled. In his words, everything about this project “came as a rapture”. Date of rapture is the most closely held secret by God which he didn’t even disclose to Jesus, His only begotten son. This government didn’t do any competitive bidding, it just overnight announced that it has awarded a N15 trillion contract to a foreign company, in which the son of the President has interest, to construct a 700km coastal expressway in which the helpless property of Nigerians were demolished. He berated the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, for describing and disrespecting the Yoruba coastal line ancestral dwellers’ houses as shanties. 

Of course Umahi has become notorious for arrogantly disparaging people with very insulting and condescending comments. He wanted to belittle a journalist who asked a question on whether the environmental impact assessment on the road has been made before commencement as required by law. Umahi lied that he didn’t understand the girl’s “phone” (accent), yet he answered the question. How can a man who didn’t understand someone’s question end up answering it without an interpreter which he claimed he needed. As Umahi always ends up, he ended up belittling himself.

The Minister also lied that Peter Obi was playing politics with the road by saying it was not a priority, and was trying to take the people of South East away from this government. He alleged that Peter Obi built roads in Anambra State and said he won’t pay compensation. First, Peter Obi didn’t build new roads there, he was only repairing existing roads and made it clear that he will remove every illegal structures built on the existing roads without compensation. This is exactly what the law says.

Those people were even supposed to be punished. Umahi, on the other hand, said that the people that illegally grabbed land along the coastal line will also be compensated. This is not surprising in a government that levies innocent Nigerians in everything, but rewards thieves in everything, provided that the thieves are part of their own. South East did not vote for this leader, I wonder how Obi will take out a people from a government that they never belonged to from day one. Which people will even vote for someone who promised them only a soaked slice of bread and didn’t believe it was necessary to visit their Geo-Political Zone when he was contesting to be the candidate of his party in the primary election. Even the people that voted for this government are openly regretting doing so now. No thanks to government by liars. 

If you want to understand the level of impunity and dishonesty that this government is displaying, just remember how this President treated the Rivers State crisis between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and Governor Siminalayi Fubara, of Rivers State. Twenty five members of the Rivers State House of Assembly defected from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in total breach of Section 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution.

The law states that they shall lose their seats. But this President prepared an agreement between the Governor and the members, compelling the Governor to accept this illegality. He surprisingly declared that it will be irresponsible for him as a father to reject children born to him from Rivers State. The honest truth is that it is most irresponsible for any President to use his powers to convert children born to other parents in the country. 

The only way political legislative children are born to a party is by the will of the Nigerian people through free, fair and credible elections or by adoption, if they are orphans, and their political parents, which are their political parties, are dead. That the President will openly admit to converting the political children of the PDP, while PDP is alive, though not kicking, and even reduced such illegal act in writing, which he supervised, shows that when it comes to the disrespect of the rule of law, this government is irredeemable.

The law is that illegal contracts are void. Little wonder, his children in the Rivers State HOA have been churning out illegal and unconstitutional laws to Rivers people, including extending the tenure of an existing Local Government council. As it is with every other thing this government has handled, the illegal peace accord and illegal conversion of the children of PDP, has broken to pieces. Fubara rightly said that it was not a legal solution, but a political one. He declared, rightly or wrongly, that the House of Assembly members are not in existence, and that they are existing at his pleasure. In 48 hours, after his speech, another Speaker of the House of Assembly has appeared with three members.

Anarchy now looms in Rivers State, no thanks to a Government of lies. No need boring you with “fuel subsidy is gone”, but the government is still paying trillions in subsidy. Naira is floated, but the government is still protecting naira with borrowed dollars. Dubai visa ban has been lifted, but it’s still in place. Maersk has pledged to invest $600m in Nigeria, when Maersk never did. It’s obvious that this government will not make heaven because no liar will make heaven.

*Okonkwo is a commentator on public issues