Northern Nigeria Development: Riding on Inuwa Yahaya’s wings

“Good governance is the art of putting wise thought into prudent action in a way that advances the well-being of those governed”. – Diane Kalen-Sukra The above submission aptly captures the colour and character of the current leadership of States in the Northern geopolitical zone of Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria. Northern Nigeria is about to begin a journey unprecedented. But predictably a journey of joy and jubilant expectations. Not because of certainty of facts, since no man is certain of the future except the maker of man, the Almighty God. But certainty of expectations because of the man that is leading this journey. He is a man who has not only demonstrated that he breeds brilliant ideas, but has also exhibited consistently his capacity for successful public policy implementation. That man is no other person than Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, the Governor of Gombe State and incumbent Chairman of The Northern Governors’ Forum. Inuwa’s antecedents in policy formulation and clinical implementation of same into action which has been very beneficial to his state citizenry is about to impact progressively on the leadership of the Northern Nigerian States. Someone once said that we must eradicate ignorance and illiteracy from our nations and continent to the nearest minimum for us to have a good development. Inuwa Yahaya’s successful education sector reforms in Gombe State is a compass for a rapid transformation of the education system and structure in Northern Nigeria judging by the successes he posted in Gombe State. In his first term as a Governor, more than 300000 (three hundred thousand) out of school children returned joyfully to school with a model learning environment compared to the best schools in the developed not only that, from a comatose education sector and exam success ratio of below 27% , Inuwa’s radical overhaul, including declaration of a state of emergency in the sector, brought back the glory of education in the state. By the end of his third year in office, exam success ratio has increased to 78%. This model will be fascinating to other Northern states if the Governors are ready for same. While not relegating the importance of Quranic education to the background, Inuwa has integrated the two together in a way that both the children and parents are happy with the policy. Although, there are still many Almajiri children on the streets of Northern Nigeria, Inuwa Yahaya is one of the strongest voices on the plan to integrate these children who roam the streets into foster homes where they can be given a fresh orientation for a better lifestyle. The Northern Nigeria is sure to have a huge reduction of the Almajiri population during the era of Inuwa Yahaya. In agriculture, the mainstay of Northern Nigeria, the farmer- herder clashes is another area the region stands to benefit a lot with the incumbent Chairman. Agriculture has been a top agenda on the mind of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and same with Governor Inuwa Yahaya. I recall during Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Presidential Campaign trip to Gombe how he eulogized Inuwa Yahaya’s Agricultural Revolution in Gombe State with a promise to imbibe and replicate same on a national level. A tech-driven agricultural hub is evolving already in the Jewel in the Savannah as Gombe is fondly called. Gombe State also prides itself in having the largest grazing reserves in Nigeria with vast hectares of land for herders and other pastoralists.The grazing reserve template can be duplicated in other Northern Nigerian States and serve as a panacea to the archaic nomadic style of cattle grazing. If Inuwa’s template is adopted, transregional migration of herdsmen which often causes infringements and resultant clashes with farmers will be drastically reduced. Let’s look at infrastructure and economic development template in Gombe State and how that will rub off on sister states in the North. Gombe under Governor Inuwa Yahaya came up with the first development plan since the creation of the State. It is a 10 Year Development Agenda tagged DEVAGOM. It has a blueprint for sectoral development of the state with timelines and means of funding, clearly defined. With a development blueprint such as this, and shared experiences, a wide spectrum of cross-sectional development is imminent in Northern Nigeria. Look at the 1000 hectares Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park in Dadinkowa, Gombe State. This is a theme park for rapid industrialization of the state. It is a business enterprise hub that will fire up development of all sectors taking advantage of the huge economy of scale that comes with such development model. Imagine all the states in the geopolitical zone firing up their development turbines at full speed. Employment galore for citizens will be the concomitant end. A vibrant industrial economy that will catalyse sporadic expansion of the individual state’s economic growth is in sight. The dynamic road network expansion witnessed during Inuwa Yahaya’s first four years in office is highly instructive for other Governors in the subregion. Gombe enjoyed a road network program tagged Network 11-100.Via this agenda, Inuwa is constructing 100km roads in all the eleven local government areas that make up Gombe State. What does this portend for economic growth? First, the rural communities are linked up with good roads thereby making ease of movement a pleasant experience for both traders and travellers especially rural farmers who will like to sell produce to the urban dwellers. The smooth roads also mean a reduction in travel time and increased production turnover. The transportation sector in the subregion is also open to emulation of the Gombe template. Gombe Line, state owned transport company has been vigorously rejigged by Inuwa with regular additional fleet. Inuwa Yahaya  has also attracted a few more airlines to the State and also brought in the Federal Might to bear on the state. The State Airport has been put under the Federal Airport Authority to take advantage of more funding. Now, if infrastructure is available and there are no serious investors, it will be a negation of efforts and denied success.

Court halts Obaseki’s move to impeach Deputy Gov, Shuaib

Justice Ahmed Mohammed of a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki’s Deputy, Comrade Phillip Shuaib to maintain status quo in a suit seeking to sack the latter. The order is following a motion on notice filed by Shuaib praying the court to stop the move to ease him out of office by his principal over their irreconcilable differences. In the ruling on the motion argued by Moses Ebute SAN from the Chambers of Chief Ogwu James Onoja SAN in Abuja, Justice Mohammed directed the parties in the suit to maintain “Status Quo Ante Bellum”. The order for the status quo ante bellum  released on Friday, is to be in force till the time the defendants shall show cause as directed in another ruling of of the Court made on July 27th, 2023. By the order of ‘status quo ante bellum’, parties are to remain in the positions  they were before Shuaib’s suit marked FHC/ABJ/ CS/1027/2023  was instituted against the defendants. The defendants are the Inspector General of Police (IGP), State Security Service (SSS), Edo Governor, Godwin Obaseki, Speaker, Edo State House of Assembly and the Chief Judge, Edo State as 1st to 5th respondents, respectfully. At the Friday’s proceedings, the Speaker, Edo State House of Assembly was represented by his counsel, Okotie Eboh while the Chief Judge was represented by  Francis Ogbe both who opposed granting of Shuaib’s request but lost in the Court’s ruling. Justice Mohammed after the ruling shifted hearing in the matter till August 10 and ordered that the IGP, SSS and Obaseki who were not represented in court be served with hearing notices. Shaibu, in his originating simmons prayed the Court to determine whether in view of the provisions of sections 186 and 193 of the 1999 Constitution, Governor Obaseki has power to instigate the IGP and SSS to harass, intimidate, molest and prevent him from accessing his office to carry out his Constitutionally guaranteed duties. He also asked the court to ascertain whether the Governor has power to instigate the Speaker and the Chief Judge to commence impeachment proceedings against him with a view to remove him from office on any other ground other than allegations of misconduct as contained in section 188 of the 1999 Constitution. The Deputy Governor further prayed the Court to decide whether in view of the provisions of section 193 of the 1999 Constitution, Obaseki can deliberately refuse to carry him along or informing him of the State Executive Council (SEC) Meeting or any other meetings or functions within and outside Edo without violating the express provision of the law. Upon positive resolutions of the issues in his favour, Shuaib asked the court to declare that the IGP, SSS and Obaseki lacked power to intimidate, harass, embarrass or molest him. He also sought Court’s declaration that Obaseki, Speaker and the Chief Judge lacked power to impeach him on any ground other than gross misconduct and that the Speaker and the Chief Judge at the same time,  lacked requisite power to set up a 7-Man panel of Inquiry on the same ground. Among others, Shuaib requested for order of injunction restraining IGP, SSS and Obaseki and their agents and privies from harassing, embarrassing,, intimidating and preventing them from stopping him to carry out his legitimate functions. He further prayed for an order of injunction restraining Obaseki, Speaker and Chief Judge from taking any action, plan or step on the impeachment plan and another order specifically stopping the Chief Judge from taking instructions from Obaseki and the Speaker to set up any panel of Inquiry for the purpose of impeaching him.

We must reset our political values to restructure Nigeria -Prof Odinkalu

The former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Chidi Anslem Odinkalu, has called for a resetting of the country’s value system which, according to him, will culminate in a restructuring of Nigeria. Odinkalu argues that the process of resetting Nigeria must start with addressing the country’s values problem, which requires a new kind of leadership that is national in outlook. Odinkalu, who is a visiting professor at Harvard University, maintained that for effective resetting to be accomplished, the process must begin with paying attention to political values that underpin coexistence in the country. The human rights activist, made these submissions in Abuja while speaking as a guest lecturer at the 10th-anniversary lecture of Just Friends Club of Nigeria. Speaking on the topic “Resetting Nigeria” he posited that if we cannot restructure our values, we cannot restructure a Nigeria that is equitable and just. The Prof emphasized that the theme, “Resetting Nigeria” is pregnant with more questions than illumination. First, it implies that Nigeria was already set without disclosing who did so. Secondly, it suggests also that the initial setting is flawed, imperiled, or spent, without indicating why, when or how this happened. Thirdly, it suggests that this old setting now needs reworking but does not say who will do it, why they are qualified for that task or from whence they derive their mandate to do so. He submitted that as a leader, we got to understand the diversity of this country and chose leaders who understand the diversity. “Many explanations have been proffered for Nigeria’s current unhappy condition: corruption, violence, impunity, among others. I want to suggest that these are symptoms, not the underlying problem. “Two decades ago, Chinua Achebe declared that ‘the trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership’, and argued that ‘Nigerians are corrupt because the system under which they live today makes corruption easy and profitable. “As a supplement or complement to this, I propose shortly to suggest that we have a structural crisis in our political economy indexed as it is on allocation rather than production. “This is an important point to make to a gathering of professionals. The defects of this fundamentally flawed political economy are compounded by a long-established ethics of deliberate political innumeracy”.  “As a political economy, we specialize in fraudulent counting and accounting, legitimized post-hoc by the instruments and skills of the law. “To preserve our innumeracy of public accounts, we have used everything from coercive instruments to commissions of inquiry whose reports have never been seen. In over half a century as a country, we have never held a credible census. “To legitimize the outcome without addressing the underlying malfeasances, we establish Census Tribunals. In the same period, we have struggled to undertake credible elections. For each flawed election, we establish an Election Petitions Tribunal, procuring judicial legitimacy for returns that have been – in most cases – fundamentally flawed,” he lamented. Odinakalu recalled various past avoided trajectories of the country and the deliberate choice of her leaders not to do the right things and warned of dire consequences. “The only way to avoid those consequences is to come to terms with the reality that the country needs to be re-set. That re-setting, however, must begin with attention to the political values that underpin coexistence in the country. “But addressing this values problem requires a new kind of leadership that is national in outlook. That is where we must begin and in this, associations like the JFCN have a significant role to play,” he stated.

APC NEC elects Ganduje National Chairman, Basiru as Secretary

In a significant development for the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) convened on Thursday to elect key officials. The former Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, emerged as the newly elected National Chairman, while Ajibola Basiru, the former Senate spokesman from Osun State, secured the position of National Secretary. The 12th NEC meeting of the APC took place at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton in Abuja, where party leaders and delegates gathered to witness the election. After his victory, Ganduje expressed gratitude to the President and assured the party that internal democracy would be upheld during his tenure. Ganduje further committed to establishing a scientific register of party members, prioritizing election management, and effectively resolving conflicts within the party. He emphasized providing a level playing field for all members during party primaries to strengthen the party’s democratic principles. Prominent figures such as President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, members of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, and party chieftains in the National Assembly were in attendance at the NEC meeting. During the meeting, President Buhari emphasized the party’s responsibility to fulfill the promises of good governance made to the Nigerian people following successful electoral victories. He praised the 2023 elections as the best in Nigeria’s history. Notably, former President Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo were absent from the NEC meeting, while the first National Chairman of the party, Bisi Akande, was present. This NEC meeting followed a previous session of the APC national caucus, indicating the party’s commitment to addressing critical matters within its ranks. Earlier in mid-July, two members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu and Senator Iyiola Omisore, resigned from their positions as National Chairman and National Secretary, respectively. The election of Ganduje and Basiru marks a new chapter in the APC’s leadership, as they take on the task of steering the party towards success in the upcoming governorship elections.

Tinubu, CBN, and Nigeria’s economy

The resurgence of the Gestapo era last witnessed during General Sani Abacha’s jackboot regime is gradually staging a comeback in our democratic dispensation. Nigeria witnessed the abrasive invasion of the National Assembly by the Nigerian secret police, the Department of State Security Service (DSS), under former President Muhammadu Buhari. The President though was not in the saddle at the time, was away on medical treatment abroad. His Vice President, who acted as the President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo held sway. The Vice President didn’t blink an eyelid sacking the Director General of the agency, Lawal Daura, for the assault, and desecration of the symbol of democracy. The vice president considered the incident a misnomer that should not be allowed to fester. The northern political elite never forgave Osinbajo for that singular action. Their oligarchical chauvinism made sure Osinbajo never acted in presidential capacity till the regime timed out. Power was no longer transmitted to him even when the president was on official or medical trips. July 25, 2023, reenacted the ugly DNA of the DSS. The agency had arraigned Godwin Emefiele, the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, in a high court in Lagos, accused of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition by the Federal Government. Recall that the DSS in November/December 2022 had declared Godwin Emefiele wanted for terrorism sponsorship. The hide and seek game came to a temporary halt after the DSS withdrew their operatives from the security details of the governor, making him vulnerable, but the former Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, provided him a succour, replacing his security details with military personnel. We all know it was just a temporary reprieve as those who wanted their pound of flesh of Emefiele were waiting. About a week ago, a court of competent jurisdiction ruled and ordered the DSS to either arraign Emefiele or release him from their detention. Emefiele until his arraignment has been incarcerated for 36 days. The agency, a few hours after the court order, announced that Godwin Emefiele has been charged to court. However, on the day of arraignment, the DSS threw decency to the winds, engaging a sister agency in supremacy. It was not only deplorable, but condemnable. The judge had ruled and committed Godwin Emefiele to bail of N20m and one surety with landed property within the jurisdiction of the court. The judge also ordered that Emefiele be kept in the custody of the Correctional Service pending when the accused will perfect his bail. The DSS opposed that, claiming to have been directed by ‘orders from the above’ to take Emefiele back into custody. Correctional Service personnel were disallowed from carrying out the court order, as the squadron leader of the Correctional operatives was forcefully rough-handled. It took the directive of the Comptroller General of the Service who ordered his operatives to stand down and leave the court premises to bring a semblance of sanity after securing Emefiele.  The charges against Emefiele are purely civil which does not warrant the show of force and shame exhibited by the DSS. Many non-state actors have been seen brazenly brandishing sophisticated weapons, but none has been seen treated as Emefiele. This is not defending Godwin Emefiele for whatever allegation brought against him, but the treatment meted out to a public officer of his stature, who has meritoriously served his country is unbefitting. Is Godwin Emefiele’s sins more than a pistol and 123 rounds of ammunition found in his house? Are these exhibits enough to make him a terrorist or a sponsor of terrorism? Godwin Emefiele may have erred while doing his tenure at the CBN, but the treatment being meted out to him does not justify the weight of the allegation. It is also obvious that some politicians have sworn not to forgive Emefiele and are bent on destroying him. From the bestial behavior of the DSS operatives, it was obvious that Emefiele had been marked for destruction for daring to redesign the Naira at the onset of the 2022/23 political campaigns. President Bola Tinubu while campaigning had cried foul, accusing the suspended CBN governor of targeting him for failure with the redesign. He never hid his disdain for Emefiele’s actions. Peradventure Godwin Emefiele had not dabbled into politics, would President Tinubu have felt that way? But the President on every occasion labeled the CBN as a mess under the suspended governor. He alleged Emefiele had perpetrated arbitrage and rent-seeking. It was therefore obvious; he would not work with Emefiele. Godwin Emefiele too may have probably resigned, knowing that the political class, particularly President Tinubu, viewed his Naira redesign policy as a vendetta against his frustrated political ambition, thus it is now their time to take their pound of flesh. He should have resigned immediately when President Tinubu won the election. Whether his resignation would have been honoured or not is another debate altogether. The political class should have exercised restraint considering the economic implication of what Emefiele symbolises, the CBN. How would the international investing community see us – disobedient to court rules? A CBN governor humiliated because of petty political miscalculation or skirmish? Yet, we are a nation hungrily looking for investors. The economy is on its knees, the Naira is battered, and insecurity is devouring us. Emefiele’s intransigence is inconsequential to the barrage of challenges facing the nation. President Tinubu who is acclaimed to possess a large political heart of forgiveness should thread softly about Godwin Emefiele. He promised renewed hope, and to rule Nigeria with the rule of law. The Incident at the Lagos High court was barbaric, anti-rule of law, and despotic. President Tinubu’s golden silence while the drama lasted is suspect, belying his promise. His silence affirms the saying going around now: ‘Baba so pe’, meaning Baba said so. The economy is troubled, citizens are agonised by his economic reforms. Assuaging and giving Nigerians comfort should be his paramount desire, not missteps of an individual. The show of shame by the DSS operatives, witnessed globally,

Atiku’s insistence on FCT 25% votes illogical, absurd – INEC, Tinubu 

*25% votes mandatory, Atiku insists  President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have described the 25 percent of votes in the country’s capital insistence as absurd and illogical. At the resumed sitting of the presidential tribunal for the adoption of final addresses by different parties, the Respondents urged the court to dismiss Peter Obi and Atiku Atiku’s petitions as completely lacking in merit. The Petitioner Atiku Abubakar had urged the court to hold that he scored the majority of lawful votes cast in the February 25 polls while declaring that Tinubu’s alleged academic, court, and diplomatic records were enough to disqualify him from running for office. Responding, INEC maintained that the petitioners failed completely to discharge the burden placed on them by law against President Bola Tinubu’s victory. INEC’s lead counsel, Abubakar Mahmoud SAN, argued that the arguments of the petitioner’s case are non-compliance with the Electoral Act, INEC Regulations and Guidelines, and the use of technology in the election. On the 25% votes of the FCT, INEC insisted that the claim is illogical and absurd, adding that it will create a situation where FCT voters would be given special status above other Nigerians living in other states. Further in his adumbration, Mahmoud submitted that in evidence shows that accreditation and authentication of voters was effective and that the technical glitches cited by Atiku happened for about 4 hours but were resolved. Concluding, INEC added that the technical glitches did not affect the outcome of the presidential election. “Pieces of evidence adduced by the Petitioners showed that the BVAS actually did the work of capturing the image of the results band transmission to the INEC IREV. “They have failed woefully to establish that there was human interference in the technical glitches that happened on Election Day.” “The petitioners constructed certain things in their minds to which they failed to prove,” Mahmoud. President Tinubu on his part asked the court to dismiss Atiku’s petition for lacking in merit. Adopting his final addresses, Tinubu, through his counsel Wole Olanipekun SAN, insisted that uploading of polling unit results to INEC Results Viewing Portal, IReV, places no obligation on INEC regarding collation of results but was just for public view. Specifically, Tinubu submitted that there was no line in the Atiku’s’ final address stating how many votes Atiku Abubakar actually scored, adding that documents PDP tendered were dumped on the court and it is not the duty of the court to do an investigation of those documents. Therefore, he urged the court to dismiss Atiku’s petition and uphold Tinubu’s victory. “Your Lordships are not Father Christmas” to give parties whatever they want. Olanipekun also argued that it will lead to “absurdity” to interpret the 1999 Constitution without looking at all the sections talking about FCT. “FCT is the 37 state in Nigeria for the purpose of the presidential election,” Olanipekun said. Meantime, Justice Haruna Tsammani, reserved judgement for a later date that will be communicated to the parties.

Presidential Tribunal: Atiku, Obi, Tinubu to present final addresses

The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja is nearing the conclusion of its proceedings, with Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) set to adopt their final written addresses on Tuesday. These addresses precede the judgment date for all petitions related to the February 25 presidential election, including the challenge against President Bola Tinubu’s victory. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election, with 8,794,726 votes, defeating Atiku Abubakar who secured 6,984,520 votes and Mr. Obi with 6,101,533 votes. Disputing the results, both Atiku and Obi filed separate petitions, claiming victory and challenging Tinubu’s eligibility to run for the presidency. The petitioners seek to have the court declare that President Tinubu did not obtain the majority of lawful votes and to withdraw his Certificate of Return. They are also calling for a fresh presidential election, excluding Tinubu, whom they contend was ineligible to participate in the first place. Obi presented 13 witnesses and various documentary exhibits, while Atiku produced 27 witnesses and additional evidence before the court. INEC and President Tinubu each had one witness in their defense, and the APC did not produce any witnesses. The Respondents, including INEC, President Tinubu, and APC, have all submitted written addresses urging the court to dismiss the petitions for lack of merit. They argue that the petitioners failed to prove their allegations beyond reasonable doubt, as required by the law. Atiku’s joint petition with the PDP (marked: CA/PEPC/05/2023) asserts that Tinubu’s declaration as the winner of the presidential election was invalid due to non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022, and contends that he was not duly elected by the majority of lawful votes. The proceedings continue as the nation awaits the judgment that will determine the outcome of the closely contested presidential election.