Politics
How we killed Obasanjo’s third term, says Nnamani, Buhari hails ex-Senate President
A former Minister of Defence, General Theophilus Danjuma, has hailed the book, ‘Standing Strong’, authored by a former President of the Senate, Ken Nnamani, which focuses on the alleged attempts by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to extend his tenure in office.
Danjuma, who served as defence minister in Obasanjo’s cabinet in the early 2000s, was also part of the supreme military council in the late 1970s.
The former minister, who was the chairman at the book launch in Abuja on Thursday, stated that the publication was “classic history.”
While congratulating Nnamani, he said, “The book is a classic history of a country and we have the unfortunate habit of not valuing and preserving our history. The result is that the lies and the distortions that hit the headlines survive.
“So, I want all of you if you forget everything this morning, you mustn’t forget the fact that the records of what really happened have been documented and everybody should try and possess it, read it and look out for witnesses.”
In his speech, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), praised Nnamani and the Senate for helping to preserve democracy.
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Buhari, who was represented by the Minister for Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, said but for the courage of Nnamani and his colleagues, the seamless transfer of power in 2007 would have been difficult, if not impossible.
He stated, “We thank Senator Nnamani and his colleagues at the National Assembly for standing strong in carrying out their constitutional duty in the defence of democracy in our dear country, Nigeria.
“We have had a President hand over power to another President elected on the platform of the same political party. In 2015, an opposition political party defeated a sitting President and our democracy witnessed a smooth transfer of power from one political party to another. Our democracy is growing and can be said to be matured.”
Also speaking, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo saluted Nnamani, saying, “He (Nnamani) is a man that truly loves the nation. He wants to serve but he is not desperate, which informs why at the risk of losing his Senate presidency, he stood his ground. Your role in our national life is just beginning.”
The former Senate President recalled how he thwarted Obasanjo’s third term agenda.
Nnamani said he wrote the book to remind Nigerians of the dangerous path it could have taken but for the vigilance and courage of some legislators, and to challenge the citizens never to abandon the responsibility of protecting due process for democracy to survive
He added, “Our democracy was tested in 2006 and it passed. It was tested again in 2015 and passed. This has culminated in the Buhari presidency. The crucial 2015 test would not have been if we failed the 2006 test.
“The 2006 test was a test of if leaders will rise above fear and the politics of the strongman to strengthen democracy by upholding due process. It was a test of the solidity of our legislature. The 2015 test was a test of whether a ruling political party and an incumbent president will have the grace and patriotism to accept political defeat and allow the opposition to form a new government. This was not a simple test.
Punch
Politics
Obi: We’ve not agreed on merger with any political party
Obi: We’ve not agreed on merger with any political party
The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in the 2023 general elections, Mr. Peter Obi has said there was currently no agreement between the party and any other opposition party for a merger.
The former Anambra State governor spoke against speculations that the LP had entered into a merger deal with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP.
Obi, who addressed newsmen on the state of the nation in Abuja, yesterday, however, didn’t admit or deny the existence of merger talks, but he was emphatic that there was “no agreement yet.”
He appealed to all lovers of Nigeria irrespective of political affiliation to unite because it was only in unity that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, whom he said has “mismanaged” the nation’s resources can be defeated.
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Obi described Nigeria’s security situation as unfortunate. He expressed sadness that Nigerians were needlessly being sent to their early graves on account of banditry, terrorism, and kidnapping-for-ransom.
He also faulted the current administration’s claims of fighting corruption.
Obi argued that the level of corruption in Nigeria remained high just as the cost of governance which he said has led to an astronomical increase in public debt.
Obi stressed that the situation was worsened because government officials willfully mismanaged public funds in 2024 through incessant foreign travels.
Obi: We’ve not agreed on merger with any political party
Politics
How Tinubu outsmarted Buhari to become president – Ojudu
How Tinubu outsmarted Buhari to become president – Ojudu
Babafemi Ojudu, a former Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, has claimed that ex-President Muhammadu Buhari did not endorse the presidential aspirations of his former Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, or his political ally, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Speaking on Edmund Obilo’s State Affairs podcast on Monday, Ojudu stated that Buhari withheld his support from Osinbajo, despite the latter’s qualifications, and also refrained from backing Tinubu.
According to him, Tinubu managed to secure the presidency by “outmaneuvering” Buhari in various ways.
Ojudu, who previously worked in Osinbajo’s office, expressed confidence in his former principal’s ability to lead, asserting that Osinbajo could have delivered a more effective administration than the current leadership.
His words: “I knew Osinbajo was going to lose the primary, I saw it coming.
“Because of the system we operated and still operating, I kept saying at our meeting that all of the efforts we are making like traveling around, convincing people, and addressing delegates is only 40 percent.
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“60 percent of it lies in Buhari’s hands unless and until Buhari mobilizes people around him, the governors, his aides, we are going nowhere.
“I used to refer to Buhari as a one-man majority and he never mobilized his team towards Osinbajo and I think Tinubu outsmarted him in so many different ways.”
Speaking further, he likened the failure to elect Professor Yemi Osinbajo during the last presidential election to missing a second chance at the leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
“I supported Osinbajo to be president. I was convinced because having seen him up close,” Ojudu said.
“The way he worked, his philosophy, his breadth of knowledge and the kind of patriotic verve in him I just think that he was the best person at that time to govern Nigeria that I have seen up close to be on the part of danger.
“Osinbajo would have been good for this country. For me, it is like losing Awolowo for a second time because he was at Awolowo’s level in terms of capacity, ability, dedication and commitment.”
During the APC primary in the buildup to the 2023 elections, Bola Tinubu secured 1,271 votes to clinch the party’s presidential ticket, while former Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi garnered 316 votes. Former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo received 235 votes, finishing third, while Senate President Ahmed Lawan obtained 152 votes.
How Tinubu outsmarted Buhari to become president – Ojudu
(Vanguard)
Politics
Seyi Tinubu death threat: Court fixes Jan 6 on Olamide bail application
Seyi Tinubu death threat: Court fixes Jan 6 on Olamide bail application
A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, fixed Jan. 6, for ruling in a bail application filed by Olamide Thomas, who allegedly threatened Seyi Tinubu with death threat on social media.
Justice Emeka Nwite fixed the date after T.J. Aondo, who appeared for Thomas, and the lawyer to the prosecution, Victor Okoye, made their submissions for and against the bail application.
Upon resumed hearing, Okoye told the court that the matter was slated for the hearing of the bail application and that he had filed and served his counter affidavit on the applicant’s lawyer.
Moving the bail motion, Aondo said the application, dated Dec. 20, was served on same date.
He said it was brought pursuant to the 1999 Constitution and Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.
The lawyer said the application prayed the court for an order admitting Thomas to bail pending the hearing and determination of the charge before the court.
He urged the court to admit his client to bail on liberal terms, assuring that she would not jump bail.
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But Okoye, who said a counter affidavit was filed on Dec. 30, prayed the court to refuse Thomas bail application.
Okoye equally urged the court to discountenance the exhibits attached to the bail request.
He argued that the documents were extracted from the internet in contradiction with Section 84 of the Evidence Act.
He further argued that any newspaper publication sought to be rendered in court ought to be certified by the National Library.
“We submit that those printouts are not worth admitting as evidence,” he said.
Okoye also argued that Thomas claimed that she was suffering from an ailment without attaching any medical report.
He urged the court to discountenance the submission.
But Aondo interjected, arguing that Okoye cannot orally speak on Thomas ill-health, having failed to state this in their counter affifavit.
The senior lawyer also argued that the entire affidavit filed by the prosecution did not meet the requirements of Section 115 of the Evidence Act.
He cited Paragraph 17 of the affidavit which he said equally fell short of Section 115 of Evidence Act.
He said the prosecution argument cannot stop the court from exercising its discretionary power under Section 6(6) of the constitution to grant his client bail.
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He said the power of the court to admit the defendant to bail cannot even be premised on her production of medical report, citing Sections 35 and 36 of the 1999 Constitution.
Also citing a Supreme Court decision on the admissibility of newspaper publications, Aondo argued that an affidavit presumed to be on oath is already certified.
He said the prosecution did not raised any issue on whether Thomas will not escape if granted bail.
Aondo, therefore, prayed the court to exercise its discretionary power in favour of Thomas.
Justice Nwite adjourned the matter until Jan. 6, 2025 for ruling.
The judge, who hinted that the case file would be remitted back to the chief judge after the ruling, said his duty as vacation judge would end on the date.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Thomas was, on Dec. 20, arraigned and remanded at Suleja Correctional Centre after she pleaded not guilty to the three-count charge preferred against her by the Inspector-General (I-G) of Police.
Thomas was arrested on allegations bordering on harassing and threatening Seyi Tinubu; the I-G, Kayode Egbetokun and the Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, in a viral social media post
In the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/636/2024 dated and filed on Dec 18 by the police team of lawyers led by A.A. Egwu, Olamide was sued as sole defendant.
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NAN reports that in count one, Olamide was alleged to have, sometime in 2024, knowingly and intentionally transmitted communication in the form of video recording through computer system or network on her social media platforms wherein she made remarks in Yoruba Language.
In the video, she was alleged to have stated “that Mr Seyi Tinubu would die this year, and misfortune and calamity had befallen the Tinubu family, with intent to bully, threaten, harass the person of Mr Seyi Tinubu.”
The communication was said to have placed Seyi in fear of death, violence or bodily harm.
The offence is contrary to and punishable under Section 24 (2) (a) of Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024.
In count two, the defendant was alleged to have intentionally transmitted communication in the form of video recording wherein she made remarks in Yoruba Language to bully, threaten, harass the person of Mr Egbetokun.
The communication was said to have placed Egbetokun in fear of death, violence or bodily harm.
The offence is contrary to and punishable under Section 24 (2) (a) of Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024.
In count three, Olamide was accused of intentionally transmitting or causing the transmission of communication in the form of video recording wherein she made remarks in Yoruba Language, stating that the children of Adejobi would all die before his eyes.
She was quoted to have also said that “he (Adejobi) will bury all his children in a single day, with Intent to bully, threaten, harass the person of Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi.”
The communication was said to have placed Adejobi in fear of death of his loved ones.
The offence is said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 24 (2) (a) of Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024
Seyi Tinubu death threat: Court fixes Jan 6 on Olamide bail application
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