News
Kill your 2027 election, PDP, LP chieftains advise Atiku
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
A member of the National Executive Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, Diran Odeyemi, and a chieftain of the Labour Party, Anslem Eragbe, have advised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to kill his 2027 presidential election ambition.
Both Odeyemi and Eragbe said the South should be allowed to rule for eight years.
They said the 2027 southern president might not necessarily be President Bola Tinubu.
Eragbe, in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, argued that Atiku should not have contested the 2023 presidential election because it was the turn of the South to produce a president.
He said, “Atiku was not supposed to contest the 2023 presidential election because it was the turn of southern Nigeria. It is the turn of the South till 2031.
“Being a former Vice President of Nigeria for eight years; Atiku knows Nigeria’s power drill and equation. He should support younger Nigerians to power and provide guidance in 2027.”
Asked if the former Vice President would breach any law if he chooses to run for the nation’s highest office in 2027, Eragbe said the PDP stalwart “is entitled to his ambition and aspirations, adding however that “2027 – 2031 is for southern Nigeria.”
According to him, the 2027 presidency shall remain in southern Nigeria and should be zoned to the South-South region.
“It should be further micro-zoned to the (defunct) mid-Western region. I mean the defunct Bendel, now Edo and Delta states. We expect the major political parties to do this for equity, justice, fairness and parity.
“However, should President Bola Tinubu, win the 2027 presidential election and continue till 2031, power shall return to Northern Nigeria,” he added.
The former President of the Student Union Government of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, added that when compared with other geo-political zones in the country, the South-South had spent the least number of years on the presidential seat.
“The region that has ruled the least in Nigeria is the South-South with only five years under Goodluck Jonathan and should rule Nigeria again beginning from 2027.
“When put together, the North-Central spent a total of 17 years and 11 months, North-West, 17 years, three months; North-East, 10 years, three months; South-West, 15 years, four months by the time Tinubu finishes his term in May 2027; South East spent five years and nine months and the South-South, the only region to spend five years only on the presidential seat,” he added.
Eragbe called on the political parties to identify credible politicians, regardless of their financial status, to fly their flags for the various elective offices, stressing that 2027 would be another opportunity to right the wrongs of the past.
Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, Odeyemi stated that the ex-vice president’s participation in the 2023 presidential election and his perceived ambitions for 2027 were the causes of PDP crisis.
He charged Atiku to bury his ambition, adding that once the former vice president failed to declare interest in 2027, the crisis in the party would be over.
The 2023 election was originally supposed to be between southerners, as former President Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner, had just completed eight years in office. However, Atiku insisted on exercising his rights, which is why there is a crisis in the PDP,” he stated.
Dr Emomotimi Agama, the Director General of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), has explained that there is nothing the Commission can do to help victims of the CBEX scam recover their lost investments.
CBEX or Crypto Bridge Exchange, an unregistered online trading platform vanished last Monday with about N1.3 trillion invested by about 600,000 investors.
CBEX which had operated under ST Technologies International Ltd lured its victims with a 100 percent returns on investment after 30 days.
Asked by Sunday Vanguard if there is anything the Commission can do to help victims recover their money in part or in full, Dr Agama said: “There is nothing the Commission can do”.
He however expressed concern that Nigerians continued to invest in an unregistered digital entity without drawing the attention of the Commission.
“We are worried that this went on for long without anyone drawing our attention to it. That is why we are doing more enlightenment and asking people to come forward to report this for early detection.
How Nigerians can identify a Ponzi Scheme
He warned Nigerians against investing their money in Ponzi Schemes, saying such schemes make promises that are not real.
“You can identify a Ponzi Scheme when an entity makes offers that appear certainly untrue and are bogus. The definition we have in the ISA (Investments and Securities Act, 2025) clearly tells you that when an investment firm makes any promise that is almost totally unattainable, you will know that that is clearly a Ponzi scheme”.
SEC disclosed that preliminary investigations have revealed that CBEX engaged in promotional activities to create a false perception of legitimacy, in order to entice unsuspecting members of the public into investing monies, with the promise of implausibly high guaranteed returns within a short timeframe.
The Commission stated that CBEX, which also operates under the corporate identity of ST Technologies International Ltd, Smart Treasure/Super Technology, had held itself out as a digital asset-trading platform, offering high returns to investors in Nigeria.
According to the SEC, “The Commission hereby clarifies that neither CBEX nor its affiliates were granted registration by the Commission at any time to operate as a Digital Assets Exchange, solicit investments from the public or perform any other function within the Nigerian capital market.
The SEC emphasised that pursuant to the provisions of Section 196 of the Investments and Securities Act 2025, the Commission would collaborate with relevant law enforcement agencies to take appropriate enforcement action against the CBEX, its affiliates and promoters.
“The Commission uses this medium to remind the public to refrain from investing in or dealing with any entity offering unrealistic returns or employing similar recruitment-based investment models. Prospective investors are advised to verify the registration status of investment platforms via the Commission’s dedicated portal: www.sec.gov.ng/cmos before transacting with them”, the SEC added.
How I lost N500,000 in 7 days – Victim
Narrating how he got involved in the doomed platform, an Abuja based journalist told Sunday Vanguard that he invested N500,000 on April 4, 2025 with the hope of receiving N1 million after 30 days.
The journalist who requested not be named said: “I was involved for just seven days and lost N500,000 to the scam. I have a friend who has been pressuring me to invest on CBEX since December last year and I actually have been resisting because of my past experience with MMM.
“But he kept telling me and showing me how much he was making. So, I decided to give it a try and I got involved and finally transferred N500,000 on April 4. I was admitted into a Telegram group chat. Then the story began. The only luck I have is that my wife refused to be involved after I asked her to. I would have been in serious trouble by now.
“Immediately I got wind of troubles especially when people were locked out of the Telegram group, I tried to withdraw my money which had risen to N616,000 but I couldn’t”, he narrated.
A truck driver driving on one way has killed a father and his three children along with their maid in a road accident along Ife-Ilesa express road in Osun State.
The incident, which occurred on Saturday morning, involving a Mark trailer and the family’s Toyota Hilux vehicle, left the wife critically injured.
A statement issued by Osun State sector command of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Taofeek Tokunbo and made available to newsmen by the spokesperson, Agnes Ogungbemi, indicated that the accident was caused by the truck driver who drove on the wrong lane.
She added that the bodies of the deceased were taken to the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital in Ile-Ife, while the injured woman was taken to a private hospital in Ipetumodu for treatment.
The statement added that the truck driver is presently in police custody for prosecution.
The FRSC sector commander, Taofeek Adeyemi, added that the cash of N508,900 and other items recovered from the scene were handed over to relatives of the deceased in the presence of police operatives.
He then warned road users to stop driving on wrong lanes and adhere strictly to road traffic rules to curb unnecessary death on the roads.
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