Politics

Presidential Race: Osinbajo’s Campaign Trips’ Funding Raises Dust

Published

4 years ago

May 27, 2022

Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo

The funding of the trips of the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo to states for his presidential campaigns ahead of the primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has continued to attract mixed reactions in the polity.

Osinbajo, one of the 23 aspirants eyeing the ticket of the ruling party has gone to 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to woo delegates and other stakeholders of the APC ahead of the presidential primary slated for May 29 and 30.

Daily Trust had reported how nine serving governors, who are also aspiring for the presidency have spent millions of naira to charter private jets to move around the country.

The vice president, who declared for the presidential race on April 11, has been going about to meet delegates using the 16-seater presidential jet across the country.

The Boeing 727-2N6 with registration no. 5N-FGN aircraft was used to Maiduguri, Borno State on Monday as part of his consultation.

It was not clear from which airport Osinbajo left for Maiduguri, a flight from Abuja to the Borno State capital, which is 710km takes about one hour and 10 minutes on the Boeing Jet used by the vice-president.

The aircraft consumes at least 4,500 litres per hour of flight. As at today, a litre of aviation fuel known as Jet A1, which has been on a steady increase in recent times, presently costs between N550 and N600 depending on the location.

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For instance, at the cost of N600 per litre, it implies that it would be costing the federal government about N2.7m to fuel the aircraft on each one-way trip embarked upon by the president and over N5m for a return trip.

Aides, others get DTA from government coffers

Aside from the use of a presidential jet, it was gathered that the vice president also travelled with a retinue of aides tagged Protocol, Security and Press (PSP).

Daily Trust reports that the vice president by virtue of his office as number two citizen travels with a retinue of aides drawn from different departments including the protocol, security, and media among others who are officially entitled to Duty Tour Allowance (DTA) of about N12,000 per day after each trip.

A source in the presidency told this paper that no fewer than 40 members of the PSP are on the entourage of the vice president.

Asked who pays the aides their Duty Tour Allowance (DTA), the source, who is familiar with the workings of the presidency, said they are being paid from the government coffers.

“You need to understand this, he is not an appointee, he was elected together with the president. He is eligible for all the entitlements of his office as the vice president.

“Who else will pay for their allowance? They are attached to the office of the vice president and as such, they will draw their allowances from the coffers,” he said,” pleading not to be named.

But another source said the allowances of aides on the vice president’s team are not being paid from the government coffers.

“Osinbajo was conscious of the implication of using the government’s fund to finance his campaign trips, hence he has been using donations from his movement and friends to fund his campaigns,” the source said.

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Use of presidential jet paid for in US – Aviation analyst

Aviation analyst, Group Capt. John Ojikutu said Nigerian leaders are thoughtless in the use of public facilities.

He said in the US, any unofficial use of the presidential jet is paid for.

In a chat with our correspondent, he said, “In the US, unofficial use of the presidential jet is paid for; the cost is the fare of a business class for each person on board including the media personnel.

“Trump would rather use his personal aircraft to go to Palm Beach in Miami on holidays when he was president. Unfortunately, our leaders in the administration of our government are reckless in the use of our public facilities including the use of security personnel.”

Our correspondents report that President Muhammadu Buhari also used Presidential Jet during his 2015 re-election campaign.

It’s an act of corruption – Kari

According to an associate Professor of Political Sociology, University of Abuja, Dr Abubakar Umar Kari, the use of state resources by government officials for campaigns was an act of corruption.

“Government officials using state resources for political campaigns were morally reprehensible, legally unjustifiable and logically unacceptable. It is an act of corruption and a clear abuse of office. No impunity is greater.

“In saner climes, it is enough to put the offending officer in trouble – and that’s how it ought to be here.

“It’s regrettable that our moral and political values are so low and so loose that we do not even seem to realise that such a thing is wrong. Beyond being a misnomer, it also confers an unfair advantage on the officer over and above his opponents who are not so opportune.

“It personalises things that are public and makes strictly the property of the state to become or be used as booty by virtue of being in power or in office. But let’s face it: Osinbajo is not alone in this. Everyone from the president to councillor, and even their wives, children and friends, are engaged in it,” he said.

VP hasn’t breached law, conduct raises moral questions – Lawyers

Lawyers have said that Osinbajo’s use of official jets, vehicles and other facilities for his 2023 presidential campaigns has not breached any law, but could pose some moral issues.

Speaking on the matter, Paul Ananaba (SAN) said it is not illegal because even the American president and vice president use their official vehicles while going for campaigns.

“Their securities are not bifurcated because they are now going for campaigns. The Airforce One is what they use. So, those are part of the appurtenances of democracy. So, there is nothing wrong with that,” he said.

However, E.M.D. Umukoro Esq said although there is no law specifically prohibiting a sitting vice president from the use of public resources for campaigns, moral questions are bound to be raised.

He, therefore, called for inclusion into the statutes a law prohibiting the use of government jets, vehicles and others for campaigns.

“Unless there is a law that specifically puts that into contemplation, issues about it cannot be raised. Whether we like it or not, it gives the person an edge. It’s just like the president or governor seeking a second term using state apparatus and machinery.

“People need to raise this and when it is raised, we begin to look at the state and federal level and streamline it. This is why they talk about the power of incumbency,” he said.

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‘Fix Oyo First’ – Presidency Tackles Makinde Over Attack on Tinubu

Published

3 hours ago

May 29, 2026

Trends Admin

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde

‘Fix Oyo First’ – Presidency Tackles Makinde Over Attack on Tinubu

ABUJA, Nigeria – The Nigerian Presidency has fired back at Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde following his criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s administration regarding the proposed implementation of state police, telling the governor to “fix Oyo first” before lecturing the federal government on security matters. The presidency’s response was contained in a statement on Friday by the President’s Special Adviser on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, who accused Governor Makinde of using the federal government as a scapegoat to deflect from the rising insecurity and underfunding plaguing his own state. The exchange marks the latest escalation in a war of words between the Tinubu administration and the Oyo governor, who formally declared his intention to contest the 2027 presidential election just one day before his criticism of the President.

Recall that on Thursday, Governor Seyi Makinde urged the federal government to stop deceiving Nigerians over the creation of state police. He insisted that state governments already possess the power to establish their own policing structures through local legislation. Makinde made the assertions during the governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives, and House of Assembly primaries of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) held at the Watershed Celebration Centre in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. Addressing party members and delegates at the event, the governor reflected on the establishment of the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun, across the South-west, describing the outfit as a fallback option after initial efforts to establish state police failed. According to him, the regional security outfit was created by South-west states through laws passed by their respective Houses of Assembly—a legislative process he argued could also be adopted for establishing full state police.

“Some people will know insecurity was one of the major pillars of this administration when we established Omitutun phase one and phase two, and it will remain a major pillar. Before this government’s emergence, there was nothing like Amotekun in Oyo State. We wanted state police. It was because we couldn’t get the state police that we established Amotekun as a stopgap. They should stop wasting Nigerians’ time,” Governor Makinde stated. “We know how we established Amotekun. The Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly is here. We passed a common law in the whole of the Southwest. The whole Houses of Assembly in all states in the Southwest passed the law, and that led to the creation of Amotekun. The only state that didn’t create Amotekun is Lagos State, and we know it is because their boss didn’t want Amotekun,” he said.

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Governor Makinde’s renewed call for state police comes in the wake of a major security crisis in Oyo State. On May 15, 2026, gunmen invaded three schools in Esiele Community, Oriire Local Government Area, abducting seven teachers and 39 students from Community Grammar School, Baptist Nursery and Primary School, and L.A. Primary School. During the attack, a mathematics teacher was beheaded by the gunmen, while a motorcyclist and a security personnel also lost their lives. The Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, subsequently visited the affected communities and ordered intensified rescue operations.

Replying via a post on his X handle, presidential aide Dada Olusegun accused Governor Makinde of playing politics with the challenges of insecurity, describing his outburst as “a masterclass in deflection.” Olusegun wrote: “Gov. Seyi Makinde’s recent outburst accusing President Tinubu of ‘wasting time’ on State Police and claiming Lagos boycotted Amotekun for political points is just a masterclass in deflection. When a Governor is grappling with rising insecurity in his own state, the instinct to scapegoat the center is predictable.” He denied Makinde’s claim that Lagos boycotted Amotekun due to Tinubu’s influence, stating it is “entirely false,” adding that President Tinubu was himself “one of the voices that clamoured for a local security network to aid the federal efforts on Security.”

The presidential aide then turned his attention to the operational challenges facing Amotekun in Oyo State. “Makinde praises Amotekun as his glorious ‘stop-gap,’ yet the reality in Oyo is tragic underfunding. While Lagos mobilizes billions for the welfare and resources of all security apparatus in Lagos state, Oyo sends brave Amotekun operatives into forests with pump-action rifles to fight AK-47-wielding syndicates. Press conferences don’t buy ballistic vests.” Historical records show that in August 2020, the Oyo State Government approved N59.78 million as a takeoff grant for Amotekun. However, critics argue this initial funding has proven inadequate for sustained operations against heavily armed criminal gangs. In contrast, Lagos State has consistently allocated billions of naira annually to security infrastructure across various agencies.

Olusegun questioned Makinde’s capacity to manage a full-fledged state police given his perceived inability to adequately fund the regional security outfit. “If Gov. Makinde cannot adequately finance, equip, and manage his own regional vigilante group, how does he plan to shoulder the colossal financial burden of a full-fledged State Police? State policing requires forensic labs, armories, pensions, and unassailable funding, not just loud rhetoric.” He further emphasized that President Tinubu understands that constitutional security reform “requires meticulous legality and rigid economic frameworks, not rushed politics to distract from local failures.”

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Olusegun concluded his statement by directly challenging the Oyo governor: “Before lecturing the architect of Nigeria’s most successful security funding model, Gov. Makinde owes the people of Oyo State a duty of care. Elevate Amotekun from a poorly funded political prop into a tactically superior force. Until then, the lectures remain hollow. Fix Oyo first!!! “

The exchange comes against the backdrop of a major security crisis in Oyo State. The abducted principal of Community Grammar School, Alamu Folawe, made a fresh appeal from captivity, urging President Tinubu and Governor Makinde to pursue dialogue over force to secure the release of herself and other abductees. “We are in the cold, we are under the sun, we are under the rain, the children and the adults as well. Please, we are begging you, don’t let them waste our lives,” she said in a video that has since gone viral. President Tinubu had earlier condemned the attack and renewed his call for the establishment of state police, with security agencies stepping up efforts to rescue the victims. In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President said security agencies were stepping up efforts to rescue the victims and that the Inspector-General of Police was personally coordinating a technology-driven operation aimed at securing their release.

The latest verbal confrontation between the Presidency and Governor Makinde also carries significant political undertones. On May 14, 2026, just one day before the school abduction and two days before his APM primaries address, Makinde formally declared his intention to contest the 2027 presidential election under an alliance involving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM). At his declaration rally held at Mapo Hall, Ibadan, he launched the “Reset Nigeria Movement,” describing it as a platform for policy engagement, volunteer registration, grassroots coordination, and diaspora participation. Speaking at the rally, Makinde warned that Nigeria was drifting dangerously towards a one-party state, insisting that democracy itself was under threat if opposition forces failed to unite against what he described as systematic attempts to weaken alternative political voices. He declared, “Today, I, Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde, FNSE, announce my candidacy for the position of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the PDP/APM alliance.”

The Oyo governor has been actively building opposition alliances, hosting a major opposition summit in Ibadan in April 2026 that brought together former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, former Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and several other opposition figures. With his declaration, Makinde joined Atiku Abubakar, Rotimi Amaechi, Peter Obi, and Adewole Adebayo among those expected to challenge President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election. This political context adds another layer to the ongoing war of words, as Makinde positions himself as a leading opposition figure while the Presidency seeks to portray him as a governor failing to address security challenges in his own state. The battle lines are increasingly drawn ahead of 2027, with security governance emerging as a central theme of the emerging political contest.

‘Fix Oyo First’ – Presidency Tackles Makinde Over Attack on Tinubu

Politics

Ganduje counters Kwankwaso, says political mentorship not a ‘master-boy’ relationship

Published

3 hours ago

May 29, 2026

Trends Admin

Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje

Ganduje counters Kwankwaso, says political mentorship not a ‘master-boy’ relationship

Former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has fired back at comments allegedly made by Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, insisting that political relationships should not be reduced to “master-boy” narratives.

Ganduje, who is currently performing the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, reacted through a statement issued on Friday by his Chief of Staff, Comrade Muhammad Garba, amid renewed political tension between the two former allies in Kano State.

The former Kano State governor described Kwankwaso’s alleged “political boy” remark as unnecessary and dismissive of the complex political history they shared, stressing that political success is often shaped by mentorship, strategic alliances and mutual support.

According to the statement, Ganduje played a significant role in Kwankwaso’s early political rise, particularly during the National Assembly elections that paved the way for Kwankwaso’s emergence as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Second Republic era.

“At that time, Ganduje could confidently have referred to Kwankwaso as his political boy, having supported him morally, financially and stood by him during that period,” the statement said.

Ganduje further recalled that before both men attained greater political prominence, Kwankwaso frequently visited him while he served as a senior civil servant in the Federal Capital Territory and later as Commissioner for Works, Housing and Transport in Kano State.

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The statement also revisited the 1998 governorship primaries in Kano, claiming Ganduje was widely believed by stakeholders to have won the contest before he was persuaded by party leaders to step down in the interest of unity and accept the deputy governorship slot alongside Kwankwaso.

Despite their subsequent political disagreements, Ganduje noted that both men worked closely between 1999 and 2003, and again from 2011 to 2015, describing those periods as productive years that delivered key developmental strides for Kano State.

The former APC chairman also referenced incumbent Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, noting that although he once served as Kwankwaso’s Personal Assistant, he is today the duly elected governor and deserves respect from all political actors.

“Politics should not be about who is superior to the other. A father can nurture a child who eventually becomes greater in status and influence. That is the natural progression of leadership and human relationships,” Ganduje was quoted as saying.

He warned against inflammatory political rhetoric capable of deepening divisions in Kano’s political landscape, urging leaders across party lines to focus on governance, peace and development rather than personal attacks.

The renewed exchange highlights the lingering political rivalry between Ganduje and Kwankwaso, whose once-close alliance collapsed after Ganduje succeeded Kwankwaso as governor in 2015.

Their fallout eventually birthed rival political blocs, with Kwankwaso leading the New Nigeria Peoples Party political movement, while Ganduje remained a prominent figure within the ruling APC.

Political observers believe the latest war of words signals renewed realignments ahead of future electoral contests in Kano, widely regarded as one of Nigeria’s most politically strategic states.

Ganduje concluded by appealing to supporters of both camps to remain calm and avoid actions capable of escalating political tensions in the state.

Ganduje counters Kwankwaso, says political mentorship not a ‘master-boy’ relationship

Politics

What I Discussed With Amaechi During Abuja Visit — Atiku

Published

23 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Trends Admin

Atiku Abubakar and Rotimi Amaechi

What I Discussed With Amaechi During Abuja Visit — Atiku

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has disclosed details of his meeting with former Rivers State Governor and ex-Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, during a visit to his Abuja residence on Thursday.

The meeting comes amid the lingering controversy surrounding the ADC presidential primaries, which Amaechi recently dismissed as lacking credibility and described as “concocted.”

Atiku arrived at Amaechi’s residence alongside prominent party figures, including former Sokoto State Governor, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, former ADC National Chairman, Chief Ralph Nwosu, and other top stakeholders within the party.

Speaking after the closed-door meeting via a post on his verified Facebook page, Atiku said discussions focused largely on the state of the nation and the urgent need for collective efforts to address Nigeria’s growing challenges.

“This afternoon, I visited my brother and compatriot, former Governor of Rivers State and ex-Minister of Transportation, Chief Rotimi Amaechi, at his Abuja residence,” Atiku wrote.

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“Beyond the warmth and camaraderie, we had deep and honest conversations about the troubling state of our nation, the growing economic pain, insecurity, and the urgent responsibility on patriotic Nigerians to continue engaging in the search for solutions that can rescue our country from drift and despair.”

The former vice president said he also used the opportunity to celebrate Amaechi’s birthday, while sharing light-hearted banter over football.

“I also felicitated with him on the occasion of his birthday yesterday and teased that Arsenal’s historic triumph could not have arrived at a better time.

“Chief Amaechi, a thoroughly well-loaded Gunner, took the banter in very good spirits.”

Atiku further revealed that Amaechi jokingly apologised for not having enough time to prepare Fisherman Soup, a delicacy associated with Rivers State hospitality.

“In true Rivers hospitality, he apologised for not having enough time to prepare Fisherman Soup, a delicacy I have now been promised on our return for the second leg,” he added.

The meeting has sparked political interest, particularly given recent tensions within the ADC following Amaechi’s criticism of the party’s primary process.