Politics
PDP, Atiku condemn Kagara abduction
The Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday expressed worry over the spate of abduction in the country.
It particularly condemned the killing of a student and kidnapping of 42 other persons at the Government Science Secondary School, Kagara, Niger states by bandits.
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, also called on the Federal Government to rise to the occasion and defend Nigerians from assault by bandits and kidnappers.
The PDP in a statement signed by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, urged security forces to rescue the schoolchildren unhurt.
The statement read in part, “Nigerians were jolted by Tuesday’s coordinated bandit attacks, kidnapping and killings in several communities in Niger state.
“Bandits were reported to have on Tuesday, moved from village to village, supported by a helicopter, as they pillaged our compatriots, sacked major highways and held communities in Niger State hostage for several hours without any counter attack.
“The PDP describes as revealing that while the people of Niger state and Nigerians in other states were under attack by bandits, All Progressives Congress, APC leaders, including those in Niger state, were busy pursuing their party’s phony membership re-registration exercise, instead of rallying security and rescue efforts for the people.
“The lethargic stance of the APC administration towards the fight against banditry further validates reports in the public space that the bandits are connected to the APC and enjoying cover under the ruling party.
“This probably explains why the APC never raised a strong voice against what has become a national calamity. Instead, APC leaders are patronizing the bandits and making excuses for them.
“The public space is awash with reports that many of these bandits terrorizing Nigerians were political mercenaries brought in by the APC from neighbouring countries to help it enforce the rigging of the 2019 elections, but which the APC and its leaders failed to settle after the elections, leaving them to unleash their frustrations on innocent Nigerians.
“Our party charges the APC to speak out on these reports and take immediate steps to settle their political mercenaries, return them to wherever they brought them from and bring an end to these gruesome attacks on Nigerians. “While commiserating with the victims of the Niger attacks, the PDP tasks the security forces to go after the bandits as well as rescue the Kagara school children before any harm comes upon them.”
Meanwhile, Atiku has also condemned the Kagara abduction, saying in a statement he personally signed that “the spate of insecurity in Nigeria is now beyond alarming. It has got to crisis levels, especially when it involves children and other minors.”
He said, “Now is not the time for fingers to point in blame. Our nation needs solutions. And we have now seen that paying ransoms and allowing criminals to profit from their criminality is not a solution. When you reward crimes, the end result is more crime.
“The only long term solution to the insecurity challenge Nigeria is facing is to end the reign of impunity. The Federal Government must enforce the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria against abductions and kidnappings, by apprehending the criminals, trying them and making an example of those convicted, to serve as a deterrent to others.
“Also, we must be proactive. We cannot wait for these abductions to happen and then go into reactive mode.
“I therefore call on the Federal Government to declare all secondary and primary schools in the affected states and zones, as federal protected zones, and post armed military personnel at all schools for 24/7 protection.
“If it is not feasible to have armed military guards in all schools, then each state should as a matter of urgency replicate the civilian Joint Task Force idea that has worked so well in Borno, and deploy them to each school, along with men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
“What we must not do is do nothing. History may forgive us for making wrong decisions, but we will never be forgiven if we carry on business as usual.
“As a nation, we must be willing to provide the same level of security that we provide for the schools that the children of the elite attend, for schools that the children of other classes of Nigerians attend.”
Politics
No candidate can win presidential election without the North – Hakeem Baba-Ahmed
No candidate can win presidential election without the North – Hakeem Baba-Ahmed
Former Special Adviser on Political Matters to President Bola Tinubu, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has declared that no politician can win the Nigerian presidency in 2027 without the support of the northern region.
Speaking in a video interview in Kaduna, Baba-Ahmed, who appeared alongside Professor Usman Yusuf, former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), emphasized that the North would soon define its political direction.
“In the next six months, the North will decide where it stands. If the rest of the country wants to join us, fine. If not, we will go our own way. One thing is clear: nobody can become president of Nigeria without northern support,” he asserted.
He lamented the state of the nation and urged northerners to resist divisive and deceptive politicians ahead of the next general elections.
“We want a government that understands our problems and can address them. After Buhari’s eight years, we became wiser. Now, we are in another government, and we are still crying. Is crying all we know how to do?” Baba-Ahmed asked.
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Reflecting on past experiences, he said the North had suffered greatly during the Boko Haram insurgency, which affected all groups Muslims, Christians, Fulani, Baju, and others highlighting the need for unity.
“Before Buhari became president, Boko Haram was bombing mosques, churches, Abuja, and Lagos. That was a time northerners had to unite. Today, no politician can just show up and expect northerners to fall in line. Who are you?” he questioned.
He warned against further marginalization of the North, noting that continued disregard for the region would have consequences.
“If they plan to rig the election, they should be careful. It won’t be good for Nigeria. The North is watching. Elders, masses, and interest groups will soon say ‘enough is enough.’ The injustice and sidelining must stop,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed also urged the region to look beyond identity politics, stressing that competence and integrity should guide voter decisions.
“We are tired of being deceived into voting based on religion or ethnicity. That era is over. We just want a right leader let him falls from heaven, we just want someone who will solve our problems,” he said.
He concluded by asserting that the northern electorate had learned hard lessons from past choices and would approach 2027 with a new mindset.
No candidate can win presidential election without the North – Hakeem Baba-Ahmed
Politics
Malami, others in CPC started plotting against Tinubu in 2024 — Obono-Obla
Malami, others in CPC started plotting against Tinubu in 2024 — Obono-Obla
Okoi Obono-Obla, former special adviser on public prosecution to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, says members of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) bloc led by Abubakar Malami have been plotting against President Bola Tinubu since April 2024.
He said some members of the bloc recently criticized the president and their purported plan to dump the ruling All Progressives Congress started less than a year into Tinubu’s administration.
Obono-Obla accused Malami of initiating the plan, adding that the former Attorney-General of the Federation should not be speaking for the CPC because he is not a founding member of the bloc.
“He has no right. Malami cannot speak for CPC. He came from PDP. He had even ran for election in 2007 under the platform of PDP,” Obono-Obla.
Recounting the early days of the CPC, he said, “I was among the people who put the political association known as CPC together.
“When we went to register that association as a political party, I was among the national officers who went to INEC to register that political association as a political party. That was in 2008. He was not there.
“I became the national interim adviser from 2008 to 30th December 2010. And then the party was already registered by INEC in 2010. We were going to have our first national convention.
“So they asked those of us who were interim officers and interested in contesting in the national convention to resign, and I resigned.”
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After the party was registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 2010, Obono-Obla said he held the national deputy secretary in 2011, while Malami served as the party’s national legal adviser until the CPC was dissolved.
How Malami’s plot against Tinubu started
Obono-Obla revealed that some members of the CPC bloc started a move to undermine Tinubu’s government at a dinner in a hotel in Abuja.
“This thing did not start because President Bola Tinubu is not doing well,” he said.
“Last year, 28th of April, Emeka Nwajiuba, who was minister of state for education, he was also a member of the CPC merger committee.
“He’s from Imo state. He invited me for a meeting. He said, ‘Obla, come, we want to have dinner in a hotel in Maitama, Abuja, to celebrate Sallah.
“So I went, innocently. I didn’t know what they were going to do. I just went to have dinner.”
He said Malami, former CPC state chairmen, and individuals previously expelled attended the dinner.
“All those people were there, and something told me that this thing is political.”
According to him, the dinner quickly turned political as Nwajiuba and Malami criticised the Tinubu administration.
“That government was not yet up to one year in office. It was on the 28th of April, 2024. Then Malami spoke. Then the people they invited, some of them were very unhappy, they were angry.
“They said, ‘Look, we put you in government, ministers for eight years; you were very powerful.
“Somebody like Abubakar Malami, he was very powerful. ‘What did you do to help CPC as a party? What did you do to ensure that CPC is not marginalised? Why are you now coming to us?”
He said it became clear to him that the grievance was longstanding and politically motivated.
“They couldn’t say anything, and so they started planning this thing since last year. It’s not today,” he added.
Obono-Obla maintained that the recent move by some CPC bloc members against the President was planned.
“It’s planned, it’s not because the current president is not doing well. They have something that is disturbing them, and we don’t like it.”
Meanwhile, founding members of the CPCP, Farouk Aliyu, former minority leader of the House of Representatives and Osita Okechukwu, former director-general of the Voice of Nigeria, have refuted the claim that the CPC bloc within the ruling party plans to defect ahead of the 2027 elections.
The ruling party chieftains said the CPC bloc remains committed to supporting Tinubu’s second-term bid.
Malami, others in CPC started plotting against Tinubu in 2024 — Obono-Obla
Politics
Fayose threatens to work against Atiku in 2027
Fayose threatens to work against Atiku in 2027
Former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has repeated his opposition to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s presidential ambition, stating that if Atiku runs in the 2027 presidential election, he will work against him once more.
Fayose, a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), made the announcement in an interview with Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday.
“I publicly worked against Atiku, and I am saying for the second time, if Atiku comes again, I will work against him. It is time to learn our lesson,” Fayose said.
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He blamed the internal crisis currently facing the PDP on the party’s failure to adhere to its zoning arrangement, which he claimed was disregarded in favour of Atiku’s candidacy in the 2023 presidential election.
“After eight years of a Northerner, it is the turn of a Southerner, which could involve someone from the East, South West or South South,” he stated. “Those who gave or zoned power back to the North caused all these problems.”
Fayose stressed the importance of respecting power rotation, even if informally agreed upon, arguing that the refusal to support a Southern candidate undermined the unity of the party.
“You don’t have to like a Nyesom Wike or a Peter Obi, but there should be an unwritten, respected gentleman understanding of powershift,” he said.
Fayose threatens to work against Atiku in 2027
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