Politics

Fubara was an error, Wike bombs Gov’s camp

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2 years ago

May 12, 2024

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The Minister of the Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said backing Governor Siminalayi Fubara was a mistake he would correct at the appropriate time.

The FCT Minister insisted he made mistakes in his judgement of Fubara and asked the people of the LGA and political family to forgive him.

He said at the appropriate time they would correct the mistake insisting that he would continue to make his detractors angry so they would keep making mistakes.

Wike said: ” I want to say this clearly, in life we have made a mistake. I have made a mistake. I own it up and I say God forgive me. I have said all of you forgive me. But we will correct it at the appropriate time. I am a human, I am bound to make a mistake. So forgive me for making a wrong judgement. So nobody should kill”.

He also responded to some developments and actions from the camp of Rivers Governor Siminalayi Fubara, on the ongoing political crisis in the State.

Wike spoke on Saturday at the grand Civic reception held at Ogu-Bolo in honour of Chief George Thompson Sekibo to celebrate his 20 years of service at the National and 36 years of his life in public service.

The former Rivers Governor told Fubara’s camp that no injunctions obtained at 2am or 4am would stop the law and due process from taking its course in the state.

“If they like they can go to anybody by 2am or 4am to get injunction. The law will take its course. We must follow due process,” Wike said.

Reacting to Fubara’s remarks that he would not worship anybody, Wike said he had never asked anybody to worship him.

He said: “It is not easy to be a public officer and the people decide to honour you. Let me thank the Ogu council of chiefs and the entire community who insisted that their son should be honoured.

“You have refused politics to divide you. It shows that you have the interest of your community in mind. I came because I respect people, who appreciate what God has used people to do for them.

“God uses people to help others. So when you have been helped, you appreciate them. God will know you have appreciated him. Nobody can worship man. All of us believe that it is only God we will worship.

“As politicians we appreciate people who have helped us. When I came to ask you to support me, you supported me. Did I worship you? Did I ask you to worship me. If you had not supported me, I would not have been where I am. Did you tell me to worship you? So where does the issue of worship come from?”

Most political associates of Wike such as Senator Magnus Abe; Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Dr. Samuel Ogbuku; NDDC Director, Finance and Administration, Boma Iyayi, House of Assembly members, local government chairmen, senators amonf others attended the event

Wike told the lawmakers not to be afraid saying nobody would remove them as assembly members.

*Don’t be afraid nobody will remove you as a lawmaker. Most of you don’t understand. This is our work. Our business is to make them to fear. That is what I am doing. We will make them to be angry everyday and they will continue to make mistakes”.

The former Governor said he would continue to maintain peace in the state and called on his supporters to pursue peace.

He said: “So don’t worry yourselves. We won’t give money to anybody to go and buy arms to kill anybody. I have maintained peace and I want to beg all you to continue to maintain peace. Nobody will tell me that I can’t live in my house or go to my house. But all of you should maintain the peace. Follow law and sue process, we will get to the end.

“As you see me I stand straight. I think well. I came with senator Magnus Abe. I work with people that have brains. On politics, when people with brains agree they disagree. Those, who don’t know what to do but said they would bring me down, who born them? They are nowhere. When you are in charge, you are in charge.

“Everything will calm down. All these people running around, they would come down. Boma worked for his appointment, he showed loyalty and commitment and that is why God placed him there. Don’t worry.

“Let me also advised you, forget about how they abuse us. You must be alive for people to abuse you. If you are dead, will they abuse you? At the appropriate time when the results will be announced, we will know who is who. We have defeated them severally.

“Some of them ran to Abuja but when I went to Abuja, they ran back here. Have you not seen the way Abuja is moving? No amount of propaganda can help you. Ogu people have shown loyalty and I want to thank you”.

Reflecting on his political journey, Wike said: “In 2014 to 2015, we didn’t have anybody. I came here and you said you would work for it and you worked for it. We had nobody in government. Did we not win? What are you afraid of?

“While in a government I had a problem, I had a federal government that was hostile to me, did we not succeed? They are giving excuses. If you know you. When somebody cannot do something, say you cannot do it.

“At the appropriate time, people will speak of the projects in the state. They will tell you who did what. It is not people who come now and claim what they didn’t do. Ogu continue to support your people, your politicians have done well. Sekibo has done well.

“Don’t mind these buccaneers, I know how to handle them. Leave them for me..they have been my children. I will continue to handle them. Let’s work together”.

The former governor added: ” It is not easy to be in power and begin to give excuses. You continue to run away from promises you made to people. Look at all the council chairmen, the assembly members, these were people I spoke to for the interest of all of us.

“They all responded but today somebody said they are nobody. Will you accept that? Assembly people sat down in their various constituencies. You never brought a dime. I never knew you were rich that your father was a managing director of shell before and now you are paying their school fees. It is unfortunate.

“But Ogu people I will never abandon you. There are some chiefs I wanted to recognise as traditional rulers. Their people said no. But I dared it and I did it. Nobody bothered to recognise the traditional rulers from 1999 down to 2014. It was me that came and recognize most of them. I did what I did because it believed it was the right thing to do. It takes he who has the balls to talk.

“Now you said you are making them first class. Who made them second class and third class before you are making him first class? Be grateful to whatever God has given to you. Anywhere you are as a traditional ruler, check your conscience, who lifted you up. They said the list of caretaker committee was released but it was fake. Everything is fake with them”.

Politics

FBI records: I’m ready for scrutiny, unlike you, Atiku tells Tinubu

Published

11 hours ago

September 5, 2026

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Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has challenged President Bola Tinubu to open up his records for public scrutiny, just as he has done, insisting that the renewed circulation of decades-old allegations against him is a distraction from the president’s own reluctance to submit to similar examination.

In a statement issued on Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president, described the resurfacing of allegations rooted in the political battles of the President Olusegun Obasanjo era as the convulsion of political opponents cornered by their own failures, unable to defend the hardship Nigerians are enduring and now desperately searching for an Atiku controversy because they cannot survive scrutiny of their own economic record.

“At some point, desperation announces itself. When those defending this government can no longer explain why food, transportation, electricity, rent, education, insecurity and healthcare are increasingly beyond the reach of ordinary families, they rummage through twenty-year-old files looking for an escape route. This is panic dressed up as accountability,” the statement read.

Atiku maintained that the allegations had already been tested through the full machinery of the state during his political disagreement with the Obasanjo administration, and none resulted in a conviction. “Let us not rewrite history. The Obasanjo administration did not protect me. At the height of our political disagreement, these matters travelled through the EFCC, an administrative panel, the National Assembly and the courts. The machinery of the state was fully deployed, and the political hostility was public. Yet no court convicted me on these allegations. That is the record.”

He questioned what new evidence had emerged to justify reviving the allegations nearly two decades later.

According to him, “A petition is not a conviction, an acknowledgement stamp is not evidence of guilt, and repetition cannot magically become a judgment of court.” Anyone with credible evidence against me should bring it out and test it before the law. I have issued that challenge before, and I repeat it today without hesitation.”

Drawing a contrast with the President, Atiku pointed to Tinubu’s intervention in an American court case seeking the release of FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration DEA records concerning him.

“While I am saying, ‘bring out your evidence,’ Tinubu actually went to an American court to intervene in a case seeking FBI and DEA records concerning him, citing privacy interests in records he argued should not be disclosed. It is like a man ordering his neighbour to empty his pockets while keeping his own firmly zipped.

A man seeking protection for his own records has no business waving petitions at somebody else. My challenge is simple: let every lawful record be opened and every allegation tested. Let Nigerians see who welcomes scrutiny and who reaches for privacy arguments when the files concern him,” he said.

He argued, however, that the exchange of allegations does little to address the everyday economic struggles of Nigerians.

Atiku also cautioned against the use of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC as a tool for political battles, stressing that the agency belongs to the country and not to any individual or party.

He said no amount of recycled allegations could substitute for governance that improves the lives of ordinary Nigerians.

According to him, the coming elections would ultimately be decided on record and performance, not on old political battles. “The old script did not stop me then, and it will not stop me now. In 2027, Nigerians will judge us by our records, the lives they are living and the future we offer them. Those afraid of that judgment may continue rummaging through the archives. We are facing the Nigerian people.”

Politics

(FULL LIST) 2027: ADC unveils governorship, deputy candidates in 28 states

Published

12 hours ago

September 5, 2026

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The African Democratic Congress has unveiled its governorship and deputy governorship candidates for the 2027 general elections in 28 states, including former presidential aide Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour in Lagos, former Kaduna State governorship candidate Isa Ashiru and former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.

The party also fielded former Delta State governorship candidate Great Ogboru, Senator Ahmad Babba Kaita in Katsina.

The candidates were announced in a statement on Friday, with the party saying they would carry its banner and commitment to providing Nigerians with credible leadership and a “real alternative” in the 2027 elections.

A release by the party’s spokesperson, Bolaji Abdullahi also shared on X disclosed this.

Other notable candidates include Senator Halliru Dauda Jika in Bauchi, former House of Representatives member Herman Iorwase Hembe in Benue, former House of Representatives member Zakari Mohammed in Kwara and former Nigerian Army officer Brigadier General John Sunday Sura in Plateau.

The party also fielded candidates in Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Borno, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.

In Lagos, Rhodes-Vivour will contest the governorship with Gbadamosi Babatunde Olalere as his running mate, while Ashiru will fly the party’s ticket in Kaduna alongside Kantiok Irmiya Ishaku.

Ogboru is paired with Afiari Gloria in Delta, while Kaita will contest in Katsina with Aminu Yar’adua Ahmed as his running mate.

In Kebbi, Malami will contest alongside Zagi Musa Mohammed.

The ADC said the candidates represented its commitment to offering Nigerians an alternative ahead of the 2027 elections.

ADC unveiled the candidates ahead of the February 6, 2027 governorship elections.

Also, governorship campaigns are scheduled to begin on September 9, 2026.

Here is the full list:

ADC governor & deputy governor candidates

Abia: Governor – Kalu Kalu Agu; Deputy Governor – Alozie Ogidimma Darlington.

Adamawa: Governor – Modibbo Hammantukur Ribadu; Deputy Governor – Aguwa Kevin Iliya.

Akwa Ibom: Governor – Akpanudoedehe John James; Deputy Governor – Nsien Mkpombuk Tommy.

Bauchi: Governor – Sen. Halliru Dauda Jika; Deputy Governor – Sama’ila Mohammed Kabir.

Benue: Governor – Rt. Hon. Herman Iorwase Hembe; Deputy Governor – Abba John Abba.

Borno: Governor – Babagana Buhari; Deputy Governor – Mamman Dauda.

Cross River: Governor – Nkoyo Toyo; Deputy Governor – Okwoche Andrew Adagbor.

Delta: Governor – Chief Great Ogboru; Deputy Governor – Afiari Gloria.

Ebonyi: Governor – Ukpai Mba Udeh; Deputy Governor – Onwe Daniel Ede.

Enugu: Governor – Ocho Obodoze Chukwuma; Deputy Governor – Eze Arinze Christopher.

Gombe: Governor – Bala Bello; Deputy Governor – Bala Sani Isa.

Jigawa: Governor – Sabo Mohammed Nakudu; Deputy Governor – Musa Ya’u Balarabe.

Kaduna: Governor – Isa Mohammed Ashiru; Deputy Governor – Kantiok Irmiya Ishaku.

Kano: Governor – Ibrahim Ali Amin; Deputy Governor – Shehu Abdulkadir Bari.

Kastina: Governor – Sen. Ahmad Babba Kaita; Deputy Governor – Aminu Yar’adua Ahmed.

Kebbi: Governor – Abubakar Malami; Deputy Governor – Zagi Musa Mohammed.

Kwara: Governor – Zakari Mohammed; Deputy Governor – Olawuyi Julius Olayide.

Lagos State: Governor – Gbadebo Rhodes Vivour; Deputy Governor – Gbadamosi Babatunde Olalere.

Nasarawa: Nuhu Angbazo — Governor; Ahmed Yusuf — Deputy Governor

Niger: Dr. Mohammed Kpautagi — Governor; Musa Mamman — Deputy Governor

Ogun: Biodun Collins Ogundipe — Governor; Muraina Oluwaranti Oluyemi — Deputy Governor

Oyo: Taofeek Adegboyega Adegoke — Governor; Wahab Adeniyi — Deputy Governor

Plateau: Brig. Gen. John Sunday Sura — Governor; Pwajok-Kele Chundung Bitrus — Deputy Governor

Rivers: Gabriel Pidomson — Governor; Okumgba David Amapakaye — Deputy Governor

Sokoto: Manir Mohammad Daniya — Governor; Isah Bello Ambarura — Deputy Governor

Taraba: Abubakar Umar Tutare — Governor; Kwetishe Haruna Kwenyan — Deputy Governor

Yobe: Kassim G. Gaidam — Governor; Kori Lawan Mohammed — Deputy Governor

Zamfara: Shinkafi Bilyaminu Yusuf — Governor; Muhammad Abdulmuddalib Auwal — Deputy Governor

Politics

Lere Olayinka: Some Presidential Candidates Are Not Contesting To Win 2027 Election But To Make An Impression

Published

21 hours ago

September 4, 2026

Austin Ojomah

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Lere Olayinka, spokesperson to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has said some presidential candidates in the 2027 election are not contesting with the intention of winning but to register their presence and make an impression.

Olayinka stated this during an interview on Arise News on Friday while discussing the political landscape ahead of the 2027 general election.

He said the number of presidential candidates on the ballot did not necessarily mean that all of them were contesting with the mindset of winning.

“So it is not everybody that contests elections that wants to win. There are people that contest elections just to register their presence. For instance, in this 2027 election, we have 19 presidential candidates.

“Can we say honestly that all the 19 are contesting with the mindset of winning? The answer is no.”

Olayinka cited the 2023 performance of the African Action Congress presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, as an example of why he believed some candidates could not realistically win the presidential election.

“For instance, the candidate of AAC, Omoyele Sowore, had 14,600 votes in 2023. How would that person win the election next year? They know that they cannot win.

“They are just contesting.”

He also extended his argument to the party of former Anambra State governor and 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi.

“Even NDC, the party of Peter Obi, they know they cannot win the election. They are just contesting to try to register their presence.”

According to Olayinka, a party’s grassroots structure and presence across states would also be critical to its ability to compete effectively in a presidential election.

“You don’t have a governorship candidate in 15 states. You only have it in 13. There was an election in Ekiti and Osun recently.

“NDC did not fit candidates. How do you win an election when you don’t have people on ground to canvass votes for you, to manage elections for you?”

He said political parties needed substantial personnel at polling units to effectively manage their operations on election day.

“In Nigeria today, there are 176,846 polling units. To make good impression on election day, you need at least five people to manage each polling unit for you.

“At least. You need five people. We have done elections before, so we know what it is.

“It is not about making noise.”