Kwankwaso Makes Me Laugh

 By Ochereome Nnanna

“I’m bigger than Peter Obi politically, I’m his elder brother, I’m a PhD holder, I performed better than him when I was a governor of my state. I’ve no problem with deputising Peter Obi, but only if certain conditions are met…” – Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, in a recent interview.

Let us analytically examine the above statement, and you will see why Kwankwaso makes me laugh. The former governor of Kano State and leader of the New Nigerian People’s Party, NNPP, betrays his confused state of mind, egotism and delusion in making this spurious claim. He claims he is “bigger” than Mr Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, during the 2023 elections, without justifying his claim. He cannot justify it because it is a blatant lie. Let us look at the official figures as released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Elections: Presidency Has Fooled Nigerians

 By Casmir Igbokwe

The senior military officer looked with pity on some citizens marching enthusiastically to go and cast their votes. “You are wasting your time,” he said. It was in Lagos on the day of the presidential and National Assembly elections. When prodded, this officer alleged that a security report came shortly before the election, indicating who the powers that be wanted as President. This supposedly meant that the security men would have to cooperate to deliver the anointed one. I dismissed this information. But when President Muhammadu Buhari illegally raised his ballot paper to show that he voted for his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), I became suspicious.

It was then that what Reverend Father Emmanuel (surname withheld) told me five days to the election dawned on me. This priest said he was highly afraid the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, might not make it to Aso Rock. “The cabals are highly against him. I have been praying about this, but God can’t do for human beings what they can do for themselves,” he added. This was actually his reaction to my article titled, “Electing Nigeria’s miraculous President,” published on Monday, February 20, 2023.

Nigeria: Emerging Dangers Ahead Of 2019

By Ariyo-Dare Atoye

Against the backdrop of rising political threats in the polity, Nigeria may be in for yet another rough, vexatious and grueling prelude to another ritual of elections in 2019. The signs are no less ominous: from the destruction of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) secretariat in Borno State to the shamefully organised threats that forced a two-time governor of Kano, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, to suspend his visit to the state for his scheduled series of political rallies.

*Buhari

Palpable tension is gradually building up and at the centre of it all, is the ruling All Progressives Congress.  At a rally held by the APC faction of Kano Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje in the state on Tuesday, January 30, 2018, hundreds of youth were seen brandishing various kinds of weapons.  

Joining The APC Was A Mistake; We Fell For A Mirage! – Atiku

Press Release

Statement of resignation of His Excellency Atiku Abubakar (Waziri Adamawa) Vice President of Nigeria, 1999-2007 from the All Progressives Congress

On the 19th of December, 2013, I received members of the All Progressives Congress at my house in Abuja. They had come to appeal to me to join their party after my party, the Peoples Democratic Party, had become factionalized as a result of the special convention of August 31, 2013. 

The fractionalization of the Peoples Democratic Party on August 31, 2013, had left me in a situation where I was, with several other loyal party members, in limbo, not knowing which of the parallel executives of the party was the legitimate leadership.

Gov Okorocha’s Christmas Tree And Other Tales Of Political Vanity

By Moses Ochonu

Political vanity is a particularly Nigerian affliction and has been an ancillary scholarly interest of mine. I published an academic article in 2004 on the subject, citing several examples from Nigeria’s then fledgling experiment with civilian rule. The article dwelled extensively but not exclusively on the cases of late former governors Abubakar Audu of Kogi State and Mohammed Lawal of Kwara State.

*Okorocha

The former had an obnoxious penchant for naming every government project after himself and his family members. The latter was so consumed by a need to personalize his power that all mass transit buses belonging to the Kwara State government during his tenure were boldly marked with the moniker “UP LAWAL.”

Since the publication of that article, similar examples of personalized power and political vanities in high places have proliferated. I am reliably informed that in Kayode Fayemi’s Ekiti State, a remarkable record of infrastructural investments was marred by an inexplicable insistence on naming all projects after the former governor and his wife.

Public office holders in Nigeria adorn their offices with all manner of silly award plaques. One former minister, God rest her soul, had an entire wall of her office covered in awards from all manner of organizations — some of them concrete, others clearly made up by sycophants to curry her favor. She liked to take pictures against the background of this wall of vanity. The pictures made it to newspapers and then to the Internet, where they live to date. It was a vulgar form of political narcissism, a kind of self-deification.

The said former minister was so in love with her own image that she invested energy, time, and resources feting and garnishing herself in awards and other accouterments of self-validation. She built a shrine to herself, reveling in her own proclaimed greatness. Fortunately, she was a largely effective, achieving public servant, so her political vanities didn't matter that much. She could be forgiven for her vain indulgences.

Why I Quit The Presidential Race - Tambuwal

By Aminu Waziri Tambuwal 

A few days ago, precisely on Friday the 14th of November,2014 a group of friends, associates, colleagues and admirers cutting across all ages, ethnic, social, religious, political and geographical divides presented to me the Expression of Interest and Nomination forms for me to participate in the presidential primaries of the All Progressive Congress (APC) for the 2015 Presidential Election. 

On that auspicious occasion, being profoundly humbled, I requested for a little more time to conclude my last round of the series of nationwide consultations which indeed I was just about to conclude.

Let me state that the 14th November event was neither an accidental nor sudden happenstance, rather it was another high point of similar goodwill surprises I had experienced in the last two years when I started receiving in audience, colleagues, individuals, groups and delegations of prominent Nigerians on this subject matter

I wish to seize this occasion to commend, most highly, these patriotic and selfless colleagues, admirers, individuals and groups for their sacrifice, diligence and single-mindedness in the pursuit of what they honestly believe is in the best interest of our fatherland. I am fully aware of the physical, financial and intellectual resources all of you have expended in this regard besides the sheer volume of valuable time and the travel risk of crisscrossing to compare notes and confirm projections. Indeed I can not thank you enough.