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IN the run-up to the 2023 general elections, the relationship between Nyesom Wike, then governor of Rivers State and Siminalayi Fubara, the state Accountant-General, as he then was, was like that of a father and son.
Wike, at the twilight of his administration, did everything to ensure that he installed a loyal successor, which he found in Fubara, against the wishes of many party bigwigs and faithful in the state, who argued that the latter, being a political rookie and having not contributed anything to the Peoples Democratic Party, should not have been given the plum job.
Wike, however, appealed to the heavyweights to accept Fubara for reasons best known to him. His plea was received with mixed feelings among party men and women, especially among the majority of the aspirants seeking the party’s ticket ahead of the election.
The likes of former governor of the state, Celestine Omehia, erstwhile deputy governor, Tele Ikuru, former Minister of Transport, Dr Abiye Sekibo, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Austin Opara, Senator Lee Maeba, among others, were party stalwarts Wike locked horns with and stepped on their toes before having his way, causing a major crack in the party fold.
Even before Fubara was declared winner of the primary, it was said that some of the aspirants, including Dr Sekibo, in objection, walked out of the Dr Obi Wali International Conference Centre, the venue of the exercise where Fubara was elected as the party’s standard-bearer.
One of the fallouts of the disagreement was that Dr Sekibo, Senator Maeba, and Chief Opara, who were governorship aspirants of the party, along with Sir Omehia and other chieftains of the party, like former Commissioner for Employment and Economic Generation, Dr Leloonu Nwibubasa, turned their backs on Wike.
Needless to say, the aggrieved party stalwarts also opposed the group of five governors, known as the G-5, aka Integrity Group, led by Wike, who rejected the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate and former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, as the political permutations then gathered momentum for the poll.
While Wike saw them as state enemies for aligning with Atiku, one of them and former senator, Maeba, voiced his concerns bluntly thus, “A candidate has emerged for our party. So we don’t need anybody to tell us who to support for the president in the coming election. What we should do is to come together and support the candidate that has emerged.”
Fubara contested the election, won by a landslide and was sworn in as governor in a well-attended ceremony, held at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Elekahia, in Port Harcourt, on May 29, 2023, after Wike had handed over state power and authority to him in the public glare.
Within the first three to four months of the new administration, things were going smoothly between the godfather, Wike, and his godson, Fubara, until somewhere down the line, when some strange developments were noticed.
Like a bolt from the blues, Wike and Fubara were no longer seen together exchanging the usual banters, even at important state functions. Tongues started wagging and, as it is said, the walls have ears, so that from within there were whispers that the house was falling.
Noticeably among the cracks in the wall was the former governor ensuring that four commissioners – Works, Education, Attorney-General/Justice, and Finance, who worked under him when he held sway, were reappointed and assigned the same portfolios by his successor.
Subsequent appointments of commissioners were, according to the ‘whispers,’ determined by Wike, while the incumbent governor was limited to appointing special advisers and related aides, coupled with the fact that he hardly took any major decision without the express approval of his predecessor, which he (Fubara) began to find nauseating.
An elder statesman and pioneer spokesperson of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, High Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe, during an interview with The PUNCH correspondent, bare it that Governor Fubara had expressed worry over the trend and had dared to resign from office following the high-handedness of his predecessor, which he considered a mouthful.
In search of a breath of fresh air, Fubara resorted to relating his travails to some top politicians, including known political foes of his predecessor and followed it up with a private visit to Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State in Yenagoa, and his Edo State counterpart, Governor Godwin Obaseki in Benin.
Again, it was said that Governor Fubara, against his godfather’s advice, started attending PDP stakeholders’ meetings outside the state and interacted with bigwigs and heavyweights, a development that Wike neither found funny nor palatable.
The result was the commencement of the moves to unseat the governor, who was barely six months in office, by the state House of Assembly, led by Wike’s kinsman from Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Martin Amaewhule.
After the move to impeach the governor failed, Wike, who was already the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, himself had alleged that there was a move by Fubara to change the leadership of the state legislature and install one loyal to him in a bold effort to start building his political structure as a sitting state chief executive.
“You want to remove an Obio/Akpor man, you will go first,” Wike was quoted as saying during one of his famous outings in the media.
While the unfolding political drama had set the stage for 27 members of the state House of Assembly loyal to the FCT minister to execute their plan, the night before the planned impeachment proceeding, precisely on October 30, 2023, an explosion rocked the state House of Assembly and destroyed the hallowed chamber.
Not deterred, the 27 lawmakers went into the bombed chamber under heavy security and announced a notice of impeachment against the governor, who demanded to know the sin he committed to warrant the plan by the lawmakers, amid all the hullabaloo and pandemonium that occurred, including teargas and water shelling on Fubara.
According to Newton’s Third Law of Motion, ‘every action has an equal and opposite reaction’. A day after, on December 13, 2023, Governor Fubara supervised the demolition of the imposing Assembly complex with several earthmoving equipment and the complex has since then been under lock and key to date.
Justifying the demolition, the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, at a news briefing in his office, said the facility had integrity issues, made worse by the bombing, adding that engineers had advised that the facility was no longer safe for legislative business due to the structural defects.
During the melee, former House Leader, Edison Ehie, who had earlier been removed and suspended, claimed that he had been elected Speaker by his colleagues and announced the suspension of some of his colleagues, including Martin Amaewhule.
A few days afterwards, Fubara presented an appropriation bill of over N800bn to four members of the state Assembly loyal to him at the Government House, Port Harcourt and 24 hours after, the bill was passed into law and assented to by the governor, going down in the annals of democracy as the fastest in the country.
In the heat of the political crisis, President Bola Tinubu stepped in and intervened, inviting warring parties to Abuja, a development which culminated in an eight-point peace agreement, which directed Fubara to represent the budget to the whole House and reappoint about nine commissioners loyal to Wike who had resigned from his cabinet in the wake of the faceoff between godfather and godson.
Back home and across the country, the presidential truce was greeted with disapproval and outright rejection by a plethora of Governor Fubara’s supporters, including the Rivers State Council of Elders. However, amid several youth and group protests, Fubara pledged his commitment to implementing the agreement, saying, “It is not a death sentence,” though Rivers’ elders argued that it was.
The governor went ahead and fulfilled almost all the terms of the Abuja peace agreements, including payment of allowances due to the lawmakers and reinstating the resigned pro-Wike commissioners.
However, the governor had yet to represent the budget to the Amaewhule-led Assembly, the centre of a lingering faceoff with the majority lawmakers and the state caretaker committee of the All Progressives Congress, led by Chief Tony Okocha.
Chief Okocha had, at a media interaction, said, “The governor cannot be cherry-picking which agreement to implement when he appended his signature to the document before Mr President.”
On December 22, a mother-of-all-all protest by various groups, including the Ijaw National Congress, led by its President, Prof Benjamin Okaba, the Ijaw Youths Council, Eastern zone, the Nigeria Labour Congress, Rivers State branch, National Youths Council of Nigeria and the National Association of Nigerian Students, South-South zone, grounded the state with a clear message of rejecting the presidential peace agreement, which they said favoured Wike.
One of the leaders of the protesters and the state chairman of the NYCN, Chijioke Ihunwo, put it succinctly thus, “We reject the eight-point agenda because it was not written by Rivers people who gave the governor their mandate. We, therefore, warn that if the governor makes the mistake of trying to represent the budget, we will occupy the Government House.”
While the issues of representing the budget, the status of the lawmakers and the presidential intervention are currently before the court awaiting adjudication, Governor Fubara, at a recent public function, reiterated his commitment to the peace accord, saying his honest decision to implement the pact was because of his respect for President Tinubu.
Fubara stated, “Mr President invited all the parties to Abuja and came out with a resolution that we should go and implement. That resolution, I am implementing. It is not a constitutional implementation. It is a political solution to a problem. And I’m doing it out of the respect I have for Mr President.”
He, however, warned that he would surprise those who thought his decision to implement the agreement was a sign of weakness.
In analysing the political situation, some pundits said Fubara’s refusal to represent the budget was in order, emphasising that it would be a grave tactical error for him to do so. They further averred that Fubara would be stepping on a minefield planted by the pro-Wike lawmakers to enable them to finally nail him if he attempted to represent the budget.
But be that as it may, the recent outburst of the FCT minister ruling out any reconciliation with his estranged political godson seems to sound the death knell on any hope of reconciliation between the duo. This was just as Fubara himself was proving to be a good student of diplomacy, preaching peace and practising war.
But the pro-Wike lawmakers are not backing down, as they have vetoed the governor to amend some extant laws in the state, including the Rivers State Local Government Law, the state Advertising and Signage Law and the Rivers State Assembly Commission Law, which limits the powers of the governor in more ways than one if allowed to sail through
Only recently, on March 30 precisely, the 27 lawmakers threatened Governor Fubara with impeachment, saying they would be compelled to do so as a last resort if it would take to enforce their responsibilities and uphold the constitution of the land.
Speaker Amaewhule, flanked by 26 of his colleagues, while issuing the threat at a news briefing at his official residence, accused the governor of refusing to implement all the agreements reached in Abuja, adding that he (Fubara) had continued to act outside the law, including running the state without an approved budget.
Amaewhule also took a swipe at the former Director General of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council in the state, Dr Abiye Sekibo, for casting aspersions on the FCT minister in a bid to paint him black before President Tinubu, knowing well that the president is happy with the good works Wike is doing in Abuja.
Speaking directly to Dr Sekibo and his pro-Atiku supporters, he said, “They must not forget that the Rivers State House of Assembly has the mandate of the people and that we swore an oath of allegiance to the constitution to do the needful, including the impeachment of the governor as a last resort.”
There is no gainsaying the fact that in the coming weeks and months, it will be needless to peep into the star to predict the impending outcome of the political imbroglio in Rivers State. It is also an open secret that as of today, the Abuja peace agreement, which led to a semblance of temporary peace (of the graveyard) in the state, had crumbled.
Though Fubara has been talking tough lately, acting with aplomb and gaining the support of many stakeholders, a cursory look shows that Wike still holds the aces, as he still controls the political structure, especially of the PDP in the state.
The former governor still commands the loyalty of all chairmen of the 23 local government areas of the state, who were elected during his tenure as governor. Similarly, the three senators, including Senator Barry Mpigi of the Rivers South-East, the district of the incumbent governor, remain Wike’s loyalists any day.
Similarly, the FCT Minister still enjoys the support of the majority of the 13 members of the green chamber of the National Assembly from the state, save for three dissenters.
However, Fubara is not unaware of the challenges ahead as he is gradually endearing himself to the people, especially civil servants and the labour unions. The approval for payment of salaries arrears, promotion of workers who had been stagnant for about nine years, and approval of N100,000 as a Christmas bonus for workers last December lends credence to this.
Some groups, including members of the ‘Grassroots Development Initiative,’ a political arm of the PDP set up before the 2015 general election, and which has the FCT minister as its grand patron, paid visits to the governor at the Government House, Port Harcourt, to pledge their loyalty and support for his administration.
A case in point was on March 10, 2024, when former coordinators of the GDI in 12 local council areas of the state pledged their support for Governor Fubara. The coordinators represented Obio/Akpor, Ogu/Bolo, Port Harcourt City, Opobo/Nkoro, Gokana, Bonny, Ahoada West, Ahoada East, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Oyigbo, Asari-Toru, and Akuku-Toru local government areas, according to a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Nelson Chukwudi.
The former coordinator in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Collins Onunwo, led the delegation of former members of the GDI All Coordinators’ Forum on the solidarity visit to Fubara, where they explained that their decision to resign from their positions in GDI to join the Simplified Movement was in the interest of the Rivers people.
The governor thus continues to entrench his hold on the party, with the recent redeployment of two loyalists of the FCT minister in his cabinet, namely, Prof Zacchaeus Adangor, SAN, the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, and Isaac Kamalu, the state
Commissioner for Finance, to whom the governor redeployed to the Ministries of Special Duty (Governor’s Office) and Employment Generation and Economic Empowerments, respectively.
Watchers of political events in the state described the deployments as attempts by Fubara to whittle down their powers and influence in his administration and render them somewhat redundant.
Prof.Adangor and Kamalu’s rejection of their deployment and consequent resignation from the cabinet a day after their deployments, to all intent and purposes, thus achieved what political analysts described as a subtle way of asking them to take a bow and leave without necessarily firing them, which otherwise would have been a violation of the Abuja peace treaty.
But another school of thought said that aside from the commissioner for youths and that of information and communications, and perhaps one or two others believed to be his staunch supporters, the governor may still be eating with the devil as other known loyalists of the FCT minister are still in his cabinet.
The appointment of 16 new Permanent Secretaries with gifts of new Sports Utility Vehicles in January this year, was said to be a masterstroke to enable him to work with those he feels comfortable with, while the commissioners in those ministries may be the mere status of symbols or ceremonial heads going forward, especially as it may be difficult for him to appoint new commissioners, knowing full well that they would be subjected to screening and confirmation by a legislature which is not his best of friends.
Another twist to the tale is the list of the state PDP caretaker committee members, released over a fortnight ago by the party’s national secretariat, which was populated by Wike’s men, suggesting that the former governor still has a handful grip on the party in the state and at the national level.
Of particular importance and interest is the fact that while the state publicity secretary of the PDP, Sydney Gbara, is working with Governor Fubara, the chairman of the ruling party in the state, Aaron Chukwuemeka, is loyal to Wike.
It is also noteworthy that in his bid to keep his loyalist base secure and intact, and maintain his stranglehold on the party in the state, the FCT minister has influenced the appointment of some of his confidants into key positions at the federal level so that they don’t change their minds and become ‘SIMPLIFIED’.
Some of the appointments are that of the former state PDP chairman, Amb. Desmond Akawor, who is now a federal commissioner of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission; his predecessor, Mr Felix Obuah, is now the coordinator of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council.
Also, the former commissioner for works under Governor Fubara, Dr Des George Kelly, was appointed the Director-General of the Border Communities Development Agency, and Prof. Henry Ogiri was appointed as federal commissioner in the National Population Commission, among others approved by President Tinubu himself.
Meanwhile, with the tenure of the current LG chairmen winding down, it is yet unknown whether Governor Fubara will conduct local government election as the state, just APC caretaker committee chairman, Chief Okocha, has alleged plans by Fubara to install council administrators at the expiration of the tenure of the council chairmen.
Also, the state legislature had amended the local government law by fiat, empowering the government to extend the tenure of the council chairmen by not more than six months, if the governor fails to conduct council elections.
Wike’s camp is however, unsettled with the recent support Governor Fubara received from Atiku’s loyalists in the state, including Dr Sekibo, Secondus, Opara, Sir Omehia, Senator Meaba, Dr Nwibubasa, all of whom Wike recently described as ‘expired politicians,’ and a couple of others who openly declared loyalty and support for Governor Fubara and chided Wike.
[Punch]
The Vice Chairman South-South of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dan Orbih; former Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu; former Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly, Kabiru Adjoto, and several other bigwigs and followers of the party in Edo North senatorial district, weekend, said they were displeased with the way Governor Godwin Obaseki was going about the September 21 Edo governorship poll.
The event was a meeting of the Legacy Group of the PDP at Orbih’s country home, Ogbona, Etsako Central Local Government Area, where Orbih also denounced his membership of the PDP campaign council for the election.
They said the current PDP led by Governor Obaseki and his chosen candidate, Asue Ighodalo, cannot lead Edo, adding that the PDP Legacy Group will vote for a candidate who would represent the good people of the state.
The gang-up is coming as Deputy Governor, Marvellous Omobayo, said that his Akoko-Edo Local Government Area would deliver not less than 80 per cent of its votes to the PDP.
Obaseki abandoned those who worked for him — Orbih
Orbih said they are the foundation of PDP which is anchored on unity, fairness, justice and equity, saying that Governor Obaseki came into the party in 2020 and abandoned the group that worked and voted for his re-election.
His words: “I am not part and parcel of the PDP campaign council. In 2020, we came out in Edo North supporting the election and re-election of Gov Godwin Obaseki. I, Dan Orbih, worked with Governor Obaseki to deliver him. People ask me questions: where are we today, what is the way forward?
“Today, I can boldly tell you, all is not well with the Edo State PDP. As we prepare and move forward for the upcoming election we will do all we can to let Edo people know that this election is about Edo and the future of Edo.
“Let me send a powerful message to PDP, we the Edo PDP can tell you that it is not well with Edo PDP. I hereby denounce my membership as a member of PDP Edo campaign council. Obaseki and his chosen candidate is not the way forward.”
Legacy group’s behind Shaibu
Orbih also condemned the impeachment of Shaibu and said that the Legacy Group was behind him.
He said: “The present predicament of Philip Shaibu is that some people are saying you have no right to contest the election. We are here today to let the good people of Edo North know that we support you, appreciate you and in the matter between you and the Edo State government, we stand by you. As for the PDP legacy group, we are proud of Philip Shaibu.”
Edo people won’t vote for an outsider —Shaibu
On his part, Shaibu said Edo people cannot vote for a candidate who does not know their problems and challenges.
“We will not vote for an outsider. Edo State needs a home grown person, I want to assure you that we are in support of Dan Orbih’s Legacy Group. We will not support Asue Ighodalo. WE will wait for the direction of the PDP Legacy group on who to vote for,” Shaibu said.
Obaseki could not manage our 2020 success — Adjoto
In like manner, Adjoto said PDP under the leadership of Obaseki could not manage the success of its victory in 2020.
He said that instead of consolidating on the victory recorded in 2020 election by rewarding those who worked for his re-election, Obaseki opted for others in the party who did not work for the party.
Akoko-Edo’ll deliver 80% votes to Ighodalo—Omobayo
However, Deputy Governor, Omobayo, said the PDP would win the election, assuring that his Akoko-Edo people would deliver at least 80 per cent of their votes to Ighodalo.
He stated this at a reception organised by the Akoko-Edo Forum, AEF, in collaboration with the local government area and the traditional institution where the AEF requested the National Assembly Constitution Review Committee to create two additional local government areas of the council in view of its landmass to engender development.
Omobayo, who said he did not lobby for deputy governorship, said Governor Obaseki’s sense of equity and justice should be rewarded.
“Governor Obaseki has a very fair sense of justice, fairness and equity. This informed his, permit me to use the word, ‘stubborn’ decisions that the next governor must come from Edo Central. We must deliberately and consciously liberate ourselves. Governor Obaseki has broken a generational curse, and to whom much is given, much is expected.
“The job description is to deliver 70 per cent of Edo North for Asue Ighodalo and I do not expect less than 80 percent from Akoko-Edo. If you look at the combination of Ighodalo and Osarodion Ogie, without bias, you can’t compare them to the others. When you look at them, they are even more pro-masses than Governor Obaseki and when the drums begin to beat, you will see more of them.
“The governor has designed a deliberate master plan that will usher us up to 2050 and for those who care to listen, the masterplan is amazing. The governor is setting up a system that will lead to the state revolving around the youth in the state.”
In his address, President of AEF, Dr Charles Jagun, who was represented by Steven Dania, said AEF had been at the forefront of presenting the case of the Akoko-Edo LGA to the world and “as development partners interested in the development of our local government area, we are calling for the establishment of a tertiary institution in this area which will bring development. We are equally in the process of submitting a memorandum to the National Assembly Constitution Review Committee for the creation of additional two local government areas from Akoko-Edo and also calling on the State House of Assembly to create LCDAs.”
On his part, chairman of the local government area, Tajudeen Alade, said: “We have been witnessing high levels of marginalization, oppression, suppression, and deprivation that have led to our frustration and despondency and that is the more reason we like speaking out. But now, we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel, the Akoko-Edo of our dream is here today.”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said the fuel subsidy removal and foreign exchange liberation policies have put Nigeria at the forefront of economic growth.
In a statement by Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokesperson, he said Tinubu highlighted this during a high-level panel session at the World Economic Forum, WEF, Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday.
Ngelale quoted the president as saying that he had to take tough but essential decisions like removing fuel subsidy – with its attendant perils – to reposition Nigeria’s economy.
“Concerning the question of subsidy removal, there is no doubt that it was a necessary action for my country not to go bankrupt and to reset the economy and the pathway to growth. It was going to be difficult, but the hallmark of leadership is making difficult decisions when they need to be made.
“That was necessary for the country. Yes, there have been drawbacks. Yes, there was an expectation that more people would feel the difficulty. But, of course, our people’s interest was the government’s primary focus.
“Along the line, there was an arrangement to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal on the country’s vulnerable population. We shared the pain across the board. We cannot but include those who are very vulnerable.
“Luckily, we have a very vibrant youth population interested in innovation and highly ready to leverage technology and good education, and they remain committed to growth.
“We managed that and partitioned the economic drawback and the fallout of the subsidy removal equally, engendering transparency, accountability, and fiscal discipline for the country. And that is most important, focusing on what direction we should head in. I will pursue that rigorously,” he said.
Tinubu explained that the government under his leadership manages the nation’s currency and effectively removes corruption-laden arbitrage.
“Currency management was necessary to remove the artificial value element in our currency. Hence, our local currency finds its level and competes with the rest of the world’s currencies as we remove corrupt arbitrage and opaqueness.
“That we did. At the same time, that is a two-engine problem that is a very turbulent situation for the government.
“But we can manage that turbulence because we prepared for this with inclusivity in governance and rapid communication with the public,” the president said.
Recall that in June last year, Tinubu’s administration removed subsidies on petrol and liberalized the FX market.
The development had led to soaring inflation in Nigeria, which stood at 33.20 per cent in March, and currency fluctuation.
The Returning Officer of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Supare Akoko, South West council area of Ondo state, in the just concluded governorship primary election, Alaba Abe, aka Excel, has reportedly been assassinated.
Abe, who was also the ward 10 coordinator of the party in the council area, served as the returning officer for Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa in the governorship primary election on April 20.
The victims death was confirmed by his elder brother, Samuel Abbey.
Samuel said that his brother was assassinated on Saturday at about 9 pm in front of his house.
In a swift reaction, the governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Group, has appealed to the police authorities in the state to protect its members against implacable opponents.
While decrying the gruesome murder of the ward coordinator, the campaign group in a statement issued by its State Information Director of the organisation, Mr. Kayode Fasua, said that “the late Excel, was a resourceful coordinator, campaigning for the election of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa until he was gruesomely murdered.
Fasua said that “he was shot in his Supare home on April 27.
He described the incident as a rude shock to members of the party in the council area, working for the election of the governor, come November, this year.
Also reacting, the Akoko Southwest Local Government Director-General for the campaign group, David Ajobiewe, equally described the incident as a rude shock.
“Excel had been a resourceful coordinator for the Aiyedatiwa campaign organisation in Ward 10 of Supare and was never known to be violent and never had any history of local or domestic dispute.
“We urge the police authorities to step up investigations into his gruesome murder and bring the perpetrators of the dastardly act to book.
Meanwhile, the Convener of the campaign group Dr. Oladipupo Okeyomi, has expressed the heartfelt condolences of Governor Aiyedatiwa, as well as the lamentation of the campaign group and the leadership of the APC in Ondo State, on the tragic loss.
He described the incident as terrible and uncalled for, expressing his sympathy with the family members, friends, and associates of the late Excel.
Contacted, the spokesperson for the state police command, Funmi Odunlami, said that ” In brief, the command is aware of the incident at Supare, investigation is ongoing to unravel all that happened.
The judicial commission of inquiry on public properties and assets established by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State to probe the previous administration led by former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has scheduled its inaugural session for today.
The commission’s secretary, Salisu Mustapha, said this in a letter addressed to the director-general media and publicity, Kano State Government House on Saturday.
The session will take place at High Court No. 3 within the Audu Bako Secretariat by 10am prompt.
Earlier this month, Governor Yusuf inaugurated two judicial commissions of inquiry (JCI) to investigate instances of misappropriation of public properties and assets, political violence, and missing persons between 2015 and 2023.
During the inauguration of the JCI members, Governor Yusuf pledged to hold accountable anyone found culpable, emphasizing his commitment to uncovering and prosecuting those responsible for political violence in the state before and during previous elections.
The governor urged the commission to thoroughly investigate cases of misappropriated public properties and assets during the tenure of immediate past administration.
He instructed the commission members to uphold their integrity, remain true to their oath, and serve the people of Kano State by ensuring justice is served.
Governor Yusuf clarified that the initiative was not politically motivated or directed at any individual but rather a response to the mandate of the people of Kano State.
Justices of the State High Courts, Farouq Adamu and Zuwaira Yusuf along with other eminent personalities were selected and appointed as chairmen and members of the two commissions of inquiry respectively.
Nigeria’s listed banking stocks’ value declined by N2.069 trillion in 16 trading days following the announcement of the recapitalisation exercise by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
This is as the April 30, 2024 deadline that the CBN gave banks in the country to submit their recapitalisation plans and strategies expires tomorrow.
The sector on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) has witnessed massive sell-off since the beginning of April, thereby triggering a huge loss of N2.069 trillion. The banking stocks comprise Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), Fidelity Bank, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), Jaiz Bank, Sterling Financial Holdings Company, Unity Bank, Wema Bank, FCMB Group, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Zenith Bank, Access Holdings and FBN Holdings (FBNH).
Recall that on March 28, 2024, CBN had revised the minimum capital requirements for banks and, according to data compiled by LEADERSHIP, the overall total market value of the banking stocks dropped by N2.069 trillion to N6.013 trillion as of April 26, 2024 from N8.082 trillion on March 28, 2024.
Also, the NGX Banking Index within the period under review recorded a decline of 25.75 per cent from 1,029.63 points on March 28, 2024 to 764.50 points when it closed trading on April 26, 2024.
Of the 13 banking stocks between March 28, 2024 and April 26, 2024, only ETI recorded a gain of 16.12 per cent. On the other hand, FBNH recorded the biggest loss of 42.76 per cent, while GTCO followed with a decline of 32.38 per cent.
Access Holdings was down by 32.24 per cent, Sterling Financial Holdings Company (-29.26 per cent), Zenith Bank (-26.74 per cent), Wema Bank (-26.47 per cent), FCMB Group (-19.41 per cent), Unity Bank (-18.36 per cent), UBA (-17.86 per cent), Jaiz Bank (-15.83 per cent), Stanbic IBTC Holdings (-11.61 per cent) and Fidelity Bank (-6.00 per cent).
Speaking to LEADERSHIP on the current banking stock performances, the managing director of HighCap Securities Limited, David Adonri said “after the announcement by the CBN directing banks to recapitalise, the market started declining, but we cannot see for sure that, that policy is behind the decline in the prices of banks’ stock since that announcement was made.
“I think the major factor should be the second announcement that restrained banks from paying out good dividends in line with their extraordinary income within the financial year.”
Another reason he associated with the situation was the contractionary monetary policy of the Central
Bank wherein the interest rate had been hiked heavily in the last MPC meeting. So, this has caused a migration of financial assets away from equities to debt, he stressed.
Adonri explained that the recapitalisation structure, as directed by CBN, is predicated on the flow of fresh capital to the banks.
“The banks will have to raise fresh capital from all the sources where they can raise. But we are presuming that a lot of them will have to leave the capital market. They will come to the primary market to raise fresh capital. Judging by historical antecedents, that is likely to cause some price movement in the banking sector before the banks hit the market to float their public offerings,” he said.
On mergers and acquisitions, he said “there is no need because banks are segregated into different segments. Some are regional banks, some are national Banks, and some are international banks. So, any bank that is unable to meet the minimum requirement for a segment will drop down to the lower segment instead of going to a forced merger or offering itself for acquisition.
“But banks have been given about two years to raise fresh capital. What will happen is that there will be a timetable in the capital market that will make them come one after the other so that the market will not be fatigued if all of them are to swamp the market at a fair swoop. I believe that the SEC will come up with a timetable that will give space for each of the listed banks to come to the market via a public offering so that the success rate will be very high.”
The head of Investment Management at STL Asset Management Limited, Oluwaseun Magreola said this bearish sentiment was beyond banking stocks.
Magreola said “since the MPR was jerked up by 400 basis points by the CBN governor in February, the whole equity market has been at risk of a negative turnout. Over the years, there’s been a strong inverse correlation between the fixed income market and the equities market.
Magreola asserted that the reaction to the high yields in the fixed income market was ‘quite slow’, noting that most investors were waiting to earn their dividends.
Former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has tackled Northern governors over their recent trip to the United States.
Daily Trust had reported how the Northern governors recently traveled to the US to attend a peace summit organized by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).
Reacting to the development, Lamido, in a Facebook post, said the trip exposed the governors’ ignorance of the country’s constitution.
The former governor said security is solely the responsibility of the federal government because it is on the executive-legislative list.
The statement, titled, ‘Advancing our shame and embarrassment beyond our frontiers!’ reads: “Our Northern Governors as concerned leaders traveled all the way to the United States of America to attend a lecture at the American Institute for Peace titled ADVANCING STABLITY IN NORTHERN NIGERIA as to find a lasting solution to the intractable problems of insecurity bedeveling their respective states.
“Their concern commendable as it were, ended up exposing their ignorance at understanding the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria the very instrument which gave them the legitimacy and the authority to be Governors!
“If the Governors had traveled to the US to engage on how to boost agriculture or health issues or any other pressing local problems listed on the Concurrent List of our Constitution this could be quite understandable! But to engage on issues which are on the Exclusive Legislative List such as Security says a lot of the substance they are made of.
“Security is a very wide subject which their Excellencies must have capacity to grasp. Most urban towns in their State lack portable drinking water, refuse dumps have taken over some streets; all these have precipitous Security health hazards. Our children attend primary schools under the trees and where there are built classes, they take their lessons sitting on the floor, yet the Security implications of this can not be discerned by their Excellencies. Deliberate and harshly induced poverty by unplanned government policies have made citizens lose their esteem, honor and self worth by lining up scrambling to collect palliative from patronizing and condescending leaders yet the Insecurity of this is of no worry or concern to them.
“You have Governors with no human empathy or respect for dignity or decency in an open show of shame throwing money like confetti from an open Jeep and people scrambling to pick it like the Governor of Niger State. Yet they fail to see the security implications of all these!
“If the Governors were serious and wanted to have a lecture on security, they needed not have embarked on such a wasteful journey with the accompanying expenditure of flight tickets, hotels with all their aides and above all the valuable time wasted at the expense of running their States.
“Certainly they could have gotten more than they wanted from our resourceful institutions such as NIPSS in Kuru Jos or ASCON in Badagry or even NIA! These three Institutions have more than enough materials, essays and templates on the problems on Security in Nigeria more than the far fetched American Institute.”
[DailyTrust]
President Bola Tinubu has secured an additional $600 million foreign investment for the expansion of the nation’s ports infrastructure to accommodate more container shipping services in Nigeria’s ports.
The new $600 million investment, which was offered from the Danish shipping and logistics company, A.P Moller-Maersk, would be complementing the $1 billion already being invested by the administration into seaport reconstruction across the eastern and western flanks of the country.
The new investment decision was disclosed on Sunday by the Chairman of A.P Moller-Maersk, Mr. Robert Maersk Uggla, during a meeting with President Tinubu on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The president added that it would further support the country’s port modernization efforts and port process automation through his administration’s implementation of the national single window project, which is aimed at enhancing trade facilitation, easing import/export flow, reducing corruption at the ports, while improving the efficiency and transparency of port processes in Nigeria.
“We appreciate your business and the contribution you have made and continue to make to our country’s economy over time. We do not take our partners for granted. A bet on Nigeria is a winning bet. It is also a bet that rewards beyond what is obtainable elsewhere.
“More investment opportunities are available, and my government has worked on various reforms to encourage investments. We need to encourage more opportunities for revenue expansion and minimize trans-shipments from larger ships to smaller ships,” he said.
The president assured Maersk of his administration’s commitment to collaborating and creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the country.
He cited Maersk’s previous partnership in the development of the Ogun State container terminal as a testament to fruitful partnerships with the reputable logistics company.
Highlighting Maersk’s longstanding engagement in Africa’s most populous nation and his belief in the future of Nigeria, Chairman of A.P Moller-Maersk, Mr. Robert Maersk Uggla said his company had made significant investments of over $2 billion in Nigerian ports and other activities.
He emphasized the potential for Nigerian ports to accommodate larger container ships and stressed the need for expanding port infrastructure to meet this demand while reducing the cost of logistics.
”We have seen a significant opportunity for Nigeria to cater for larger container ships. Historically, most of the West African coasts are already served by smaller ships. Currently, we see an opportunity to deploy larger ships to Nigeria. To achieve this, we need to expand the port infrastructure, especially in Lagos, where we need a bigger hub for logistics services. The growth potential is hard to quantify.
”We believe in Nigeria, and we will invest $600 million in existing facilities and make the ports accommodating for bigger ships.
”In my humble view, given that Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria should have the best and biggest port and we are very eager to invest, and we will continue that dialogue with the relevant Nigerian authorities to explore further investment opportunities,” the Maersk Chairman said.
[TheNation]
A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress in Osun State Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has lauded President Bola Tinubu for the N200 billion Presidential Intervention Fund recently launched for Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises and manufacturers in the country.
Oyintiloye, who stated this on Sunday while addressing newsmen in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, equally advised the President to monitor the distribution of the funds to meet the required targets.
The Federal Government, through the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, on April 22, announced the launch of the Fund.
(https://punchng.com/fg-unveils-n200bn-intervention-fund-for-msmes-manufacturers/)
However, Oyintiloye, while harping on the economic contributions of MSMEs to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, urged Tinubu to “personally” carry out “integrity checks on the process to prevent sabotage.”
He said, “By creating jobs, MSMEs help to reduce unemployment rates, promote innovation, stimulate economic growth and diversification.
“And that is the more reason we have to give it to the President for this initiative. It will in no small way boost the economy through the creation of open new markets because MSMEs are vital to the economic growth of any nation. But there must be a close watch on the distribution of the funds. The President must ensure that he is personally carrying out integrity checks on the process to prevent sabotage.”
The APC chieftain added that “MSMEs contribute over 45 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with 98.8 per cent of them in the micro cadre.
“They account for nearly 90 per cent of the jobs in the country.
“Therefore, as MSMEs grow, they create more jobs, contribute to GDP by producing goods and services for domestic consumption and export, which will lead to prosperity for more, and less insecurity across the country.”
Oyintiloye, a former lawmaker and a former member of the defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council, said that the intervention fund would also boost the manufacturing industries in the country, adding that no modern economy could be developed without a strong industrial base.
He, however, urged Nigerians to continue to support the President for the delivery of more dividends of democracy.
[Punch]
As acute petrol supply challenges enter its second week, independent marketers have explained that issues that led to the scarcity of the product would take another two weeks to be fully resolved.
Checks around Abuja on Sunday showed that most stations were out of stock with very few major marketers dispensing the product in Abuja city centre. At the suburbs, the few stations opened to motorists jacked up their pump price from N680 per litre to N870 per litre.
Speaking to Vanguard on the situation, the Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Chief Chinedu Ukadike said the product was not available in-country.
Chief Ukadike blamed the acute shortage in supply of importation bottlenecks and the slow pace of marketers licence renewal by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA.
He disclosed that only 1,050 marketers out of 15,000 have had their licences renewed by the NMDPRA.
He said: “The situation is that there is no product. Once there is lack of supply or inadequate supply, what you will see is scarcity and queues will emerge at filling stations. On the part of NNPCL, which is the sole supplier of petroleum products in Nigeria, they have attributed the challenge to logistics and vessel problems.
“Once there is breech in the international supply chain, it will have an impact of domestic supply because we depend on import. I also have it good authority that most of the refineries in Europe are undergoing turn around maintenance. So sourcing of petroleum products has become a bit difficult.
“NNPC Group CEO has assured us that there will be improvement in the supply chain because their vessels are arriving. Once that is done, normalcy will return. This is because once the 30 days supply sufficiency distrusted, it takes two to three months to restore it. We expect that by next week or so, NNPC should be able to restore supply and with another one week, normalcy should return”.
The challenges faced by marketers in renewing their licences, he said: “NNPC has said the marketers who have not been able to renew their licences will not be allowed to remain on their portal which has been shut for sometime now. Because of this we have not been able to request for new products.
“At this nascent period of deregulation, you will discover that this leads to scarcity even when the product arrives. As it is now, even by their own data, out of 15,000 marketers that are on the portal with licences, only 1,050 renewed their licences. And the requirement for renewal by NMDPRA is so much. Marketers are facing hostile environment. NNPC placed a deadline of April 15, 2024, for marketers to renew their licences.
“We are therefore appealing to NNPC extend this deadline and also to NMDPRA to hasten the release of marketers licences who have completed their processes, and also reduce the bottlenecks around licence renewals”.
[Vanguard]
More...
President Bola Tinubu says the removal of the petrol subsidy was necessary to prevent Nigeria from going bankrupt.
Tinubu had announced the removal of the subsidy on May 29, 2023 — a development that immediately led to a spike in the price of the product and stoked inflation across the board.
Speaking on Sunday during the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Saudi Arabia, the president said the decision was to reset the economy and create a pathway for growth in the country.
He acknowledged the difficulty associated with the decision, stressing that it was in the best interest of the people.
“Concerning the question of the subsidy removal, there is no doubt that it was a necessary action for my country not to go bankrupt, to reset the economy and pathway to growth,” Tinubu said.
“It is going to be difficult, but the hallmark of leadership is taking difficult decisions at the time it ought to be taken decisively. That was necessary for the country.
“Yes, there will be blowback, there is expectation that the difficulty in it will be felt by a greater number of the people, but once I believe it is their interest that is the focus of the government, it is easier to manage and explain the difficulties.”
Tinubu, however, said there is an arrangement to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal policy on Nigeria’s vulnerable population.
He said Nigeria has a vibrant youthful population interested in discoveries, “highly ready for technology, prioritising education and committed to growth”.
“We are able to manage that and partition the economic drawback and the fallout of the subsidy removal,” the president.
Tinubu said the petrol subsidy removal equally engendered accountability, transparency and fiscal discipline for the country.
Here are pictures of the president at the WEF.
[TheCable]
[PRESS RELEASE] ECOWAS Deploys Some Forty Observers to Monitor Togo's Parliamentary and Regional Elections
AdminThe President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, Dr Omar Alieu Touray, has deployed an Election Observation Mission of forty (40) observers to Togo to monitor the legislative and regional elections scheduled for 29 April 2024.
This mission is in line with the provisions of Article 12 of the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and constitutes support from the regional organisation to its Member States for the conduct of their elections. The mission is led by the former Vice-President of The Gambia, Mrs Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang.
The mission is made up of Ambassadors from Member States accredited to ECOWAS; representatives of the ECOWAS Court of Justice and Parliament; Civil Society Organisations; media professionals and election observation specialists from the West African region.
This observation mission is being deployed following the recommendations of a pre-election fact-finding mission that visited Togo from 15 to 20 April 2024 to assess the preparatory phases of the elections.
During its stay in Togo, the observation mission will hold consultations with the main stakeholders in the electoral process and monitor the voting process up to 29 April 2024.
---------------END-----------------
For further information, please contact
Communication Directorate, ECOWAS Commission
X: @ecowas_cedeao – Facebook: Ecowas-Cedeao
Ambassador Aminu Bashir Wali, 83, has left footprints in business, politics and diplomacy. He served in many positions such as Permanent Representative of Nigeria in the United Nations, Nigeria’s Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, and between 2014 and 2015, Minister of Foreign Affairs. In this interview, he shares his experiences, including his close relationship with the late former Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed.
Can we start with a bit of your background in Kano?
I was born in Dawakin Tofa Local Government because my father was a judge in Dawakin Tofa in 1941. But he eventually came back to Kano and became the Chief Alkali of Kano, and later, Wali of Kano.
Wali means chief judge?
No; Alkali is the chief judge. Wali is more like the person in charge of all legal issues, all the judges in Kano Emirate. That’s my background.
I wanted to be a lawyer, but somehow, by virtue of whatever, I was unable to achieve that dream. I even got admission to read a legal course. I attended primary school and Kofar Kudu Elementary School.
In Kano or Dawaki?
In Kano. We left Dawaki when I was only one year old. I also attended Gidan Makama Elementary School for one year and went to Kano Middle School in 1952/1953. My father died in December 1952 and I will always remember that the following year, in January, I went to the middle school. It was a boarding school.
From middle school, we were technically the first set in Kano Provincial Secondary School, which is today called Rumfa College. I got into the college in 1955 and was there till I got my school certificate. From there, I moved to the School for Arabic Studies.
My first choice was to go and read Law, so I applied to the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) for a legal course that had 9-month duration. It was for intermediates. And when you finished you would go to the United Kingdom and study for the Bar.
I filled my forms and I sent to Kaduna, but when the results came out, I was never called for interview. Based on my West African School Certificate result, they just offered me a place at Kongo, ABU, Zaria, and I never knew. They communicated to Kano Provincial Secondary School and the school forwarded it to the School of Arabic Studies in Kano for me to be informed.
The School of Arabic Studies (SAS) was the nucleus of Bayero College, which ended up as Bayero University, Kano (BUK).
The secondary school forwarded the letter of admission to Kongo in Zaria and the School of Arabic Studies, but the principal was trying to build his own school, and in our class, a lot of our mates failed the school certificate examination and he was rather protective of the good materials. So I never knew that I got admission in Zaria.
You never knew until when?
After I went to Lagos. I went to the SAS and started my A-level in Arabic, Islamic History and English Literature. And of course, when I left, I was not happy with the prospect of being a teacher because the combination I had for Higher School Certificate (HSC) was that automatically, wherever you went you would eventually end up as a teacher. And in those days, Northern Nigeria was looking for teachers. Whatever you did, they always sent you to be a teacher. I eventually became comfortable being a teacher.
In the First Republic, there was one parliamentary secretary, Abdulkadir Koguna, who was the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Establishment in Lagos. He came touring northern states to recruit young people to join the Civil Service of the Federation.
He came to the SAS and gave us lecture and I was one of the people that volunteered to go to Lagos. So, I left the SAS after about six months and went to the Federal Training Centre (FTC), Lagos. I had no idea what was being taught there.
It was only when I got to the Federal Training Centre, Lagos that I found out that they were training us (to be) stenographers, Grade 2.
To become secretaries?
Yes. I remember one episode in my class in FTC when Shehu Shagari was the Minister of Establishment, where the school was domiciled.
When he came to visit, he stopped at my desk and asked: “Where are you from?” I said I was from Kano. He asked about the school I attended and I told him. He continued: “What grade do you have? Who brought you here?” I told him. He said I was not supposed to be there. I found out that when we got there, some of our classmates from the South were from secondary, class 3.
And you already had Higher School Certificate?
I started HSC and finished my school certificate Grade 2 with a lot of distinctions and what have you.
Shagari said that since I had been there and had gone a little bit far, there was no point telling me to pull out. So, I went ahead and completed the course.
It was in FTC, Lagos that one fellow, who was given admission at Kongo to read Law met me and asked what I was doing there. He said I was supposed to be in my house in Kongo. He said so because we were given houses.
As students?
Yes. He said my house was at Kongo and I was nowhere to be seen. I told him that I did not have an idea.
Was he a student?
Yes.
Did you feel tempted to leave and pursue your dream of becoming a lawyer?
No. They had gone a bit far, so there was no way I could go and join them. So I decided to just finish the programme.
I finished and qualified as a stenographer, grade 2. My first boss was one white man, Mr Wally, an Englishman. He was the senior assistant secretary in the Federal Ministry of Works.
I was posted to the Ministry of Works. I was later posted to work with the secretary, Federal Tenders Board. I was the secretary.
One Mr Erunse called me and said, “From what I read about you, you are not supposed to be doing this job. Why don’t you go and pursue higher education?” I said, “Well, this is where I am.” He said, alright.
He referred me to a school in the UK, North Western Polytechnic, which is today the North London University. I applied and they replied me based on my submission. They replied that I had been given admission.
I went to the Northern Nigeria Scholarship Board, Kaduna and presented my letter of admission. I was to study at the Chatham Institute of Secretaries because not many universities or polytechnics were doing Business Administration. Chatham Institute of Secretaries was a professional body. People like the late Ibrahim Damcida graduated from that school.
Tell me about your experience as a young man from Kano going to Lagos to study and work in the early 1960s.
I was lucky because I had relatives in Lagos. When I arrived in Lagos, it was Abdulkadir Koguna that accommodated us because he recruited four of us from Kano. There was one Mahmud Salim, now late, and Umaru Salihi, who later left us and went into the military. There was also Bello Farouk. We stayed in Koguna’s house.
One Friday, I went to Inuwa Wada’s house; we are cousins, same with his wife. But Wada had travelled.
Was he a minister then?
He was a minister of works. I think he had some eye problems, so he went for treatment.
So, you were very comfortable because you had relatives in Lagos?
Wada’s wife was my big sister, so, she said I should come although her husband was not around. So, I moved to his house.
Socially, how was it for you as a young man in Lagos? Did you experience any unpleasant aspect of life while integrating?
No. In those days, most young people in the North, particularly the young educated ones, were more inclined to politics. They were supporters of the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU).
In Lagos?
No; in Kano and other parts of the North. In the politics of those days, anybody from the North was in the Northern People’s Congress (NPC). I also got involved; I mean, I got a lot of friends who came from various parts of northern Nigeria, such as the late Shehu Kangiwa. That was where I first met him in Lagos.
From Sokoto?
Yes. Also, Alu Ambursa from Kebbi. A lot of people from Adamawa.
What of soldiers?
Yes.
Your name is always linked with Murtala Mohammed, how are you connected to him?
Well, Murtala Mohammed was also my cousin. My father was at one time the head of the family. I was close to Murtala, right from secondary school. He was at Barewa College, while I was at Rumfa.
Every time they came for long holidays we were always together. Our parents had died, so we tended to be together most of the time throughout the holidays. I and Murtala were very close while growing up. He was three years my senior. He finished in 1957 in Barewa, Zaria and I finished in 1960.
By the time I got to Lagos, he was already an officer; I think a full lieutenant. He later became a captain.
Were you still close while in Lagos?
Yes; it was kind of a family affair.
Through him, I got to know a lot of military officers. Funny enough, he was going for a course as a captain at the School of Signals, Yorkshire in the UK.
On my first trip to UK to join my school, we were on the same flight. He showed me the way around in London. I got a room in North London. He showed me around before he went to his own school.
How was London for you?
I would say I was fairly spoilt because I had Murtala with me, who was already a captain in the military. And I met my elder brother, Justice Abubakar Wali, may his soul rest in peace. I met him when he was about to finish his law studies in the UK. I was with him for about one and a half years before he left. So, I didn’t find it difficult at all.
I also enjoyed my stay there because I was one of the fairly wealthy students. I was able to get in with the BBC and get a programme every week (Sunday) to produce a programme called London Calling. I was paid £5 a week for each programme. So I had £20 extra. My allowance from the Northern Nigeria Government was £39 a month and I was able to get another £20.
What gave you the idea to go to the BBC and suddenly become a broadcaster?
While I was in secondary school, another elder brother of mine, Ambassador Umar Bashir Wali, was the first within our family to go to the UK. He studied Comparative Law in the London School of Oriental and African Studies.
While he was there, I was in secondary school and I always ran around three 3o’clock to get a radio and listen to him because he was a Hausa contributor in the BBC programme.
So, he was also broadcasting as a student?
Exactly.
Abubakar Wali also did the same thing?
Yes.
So, it ran in the family?
Exactly. When I got there, I also found a way of making extra money.
Inuwa Wada had a house in London. In fact, when the1966 coup happened, fortunately, he was in Switzerland for an eye operation. He was the Minister of Defence. He was lucky because if he had been in Nigeria, he would have been the first target.
When he finished his treatment in Switzerland, he crossed over to London. He had one small house. I moved into the house before he came. And when he came, I moved out of my bedroom and he stayed there.
My closest friend and classmate right from Form One to Form Six, Mohammed Ibrahim, came to meet me in London.
The broadcaster?
Yes.
He came to London to be a broadcaster?
Yes, BBC. We lived in the same house for all the years until I left him there.
My horizon was widened when I was in London. I came across a lot of people from all parts of Nigeria. I became very close to a lot of them.
In my college, funny enough, most of the Nigerians in the North Western Polytechnic were from Adamawa. That’s where I met Bamanga Tukur and Hassan Adamu.
Wakilin Adamawa?
That’s right; and his younger brother, Gambo of blessed memory, as well as Mahmud Waziri. Most of my mates in North Western Polytechnic were from Adamawa.
I remember that Bamanga Tukur had about three months before he left. He was the one that took me to his bank, close to the college to be my guarantor. He introduced me to the bank to open my account. We have been very close, up to today.
It was a very challenging time. We were very young and wanted to do all the things that young people would want to do. But when one thought that one was coming back home, one would have to try and do what one was supposed to do because one would not come back home empty-handed.
So, you came home with a degree or diploma?
It was CIS.
A certification?
Yes; associate with the Chatham Institute of Secretaries.
Did you go back to Lagos to continue your work?
No. I came back in 1968 and landed in Kano. The first port of call was Inuwa Wada’s house. Some of them were crying, and when I asked what happened, they said the police came and took him away. I asked why and my cousin, the eldest wife, told me that it was Gambo Jimeta. Ironically, we were together with him in Lagos before I went to the UK. Now, it was Gambo that came to the house and carried him.
Was he in Kano as a senior police officer?
Yes; he was a DSP. The very day I arrived was the day they carried Wada away.
That singular action was the opening for me not to go into the civil service but the private sector.
I went to the police headquarters in Kano and saw Wada sitting in the outer office. I greeted him and I went to see Gambo. I and Gambo fought, because I couldn’t understand why he could do that kind of nonsense. He was shouting and I was shouting. He said he would lock me and I told him to go ahead.
Murtala was already in Dodan Barracks and there was an allegation that Inuwa Wada, his cousin, was funding him to stage a coup.
Was that the basis of his arrest?
Yes. They went into the house, searched everywhere, and carried all the papers and some trinkets for the women. That’s why I fought with Gambo.
Murtala then marched into Dodan Barracks. But Gen Gowon asked who was messing up with Murtala and ordered them to bring him. He told him about the allegation and said they were locking his cousin up in Kano. Immediately, Yakubu Gowon called Audu Bako, the then governor of Kano, and said they should let Inuwa Wada go home.
When that happened, I thought that after about a week I would go to Kaduna and report that I was back and the Interim Common Services would send me back with my paper to Kano State.
Because they funded your studies in London?
Yes. I told Wada that I was going. They carried him along with Ado Kurawa, the Sarkin Fadan Kano now. He was the manager of SAYEN NAGARI, Wada’s company – transportation and few other things.
So, as part of the attempt to probe Wada, they arrested his manager?
Yes; they took him away. Wada came home, but they kept Kurawa.
When I told Wada that I was going to Kaduna and they would post me to wherever they wanted, he said I should not do that to him, because the children were not yet fully grown. He pleaded that I should stay and look after his business.
As manager?
Yes; up to when Kurawa would come out. I said okay because I could not turn him down. That was the beginning of the end of civil service for me.
So, you left the civil service?
I never got into the civil service.
You never did? And they didn’t complain that you disappeared after training you?
No. I didn’t disappear. I went to Kaduna and said I had finished and this is what I was doing, and they didn’t have any problem with that.
Let’s talk about your years in business. I think you became a very wealthy businessman. How long did it take you to do that?
As I said, I started with Inuwa Wada’s outfit, a transportation company. We were also selling quite a few things in some parts of Kano.
Later, Wada got a Chinese partner to set up a match manufacturing company. When they came, he decided that since Ado Kurawa was out, I was probably better placed to work with the Chinese. I said okay and became the general manager of the Nigeria Match and Chemical Industries. You know the old Daily Mail building, close to Plaza Cinema in Kano?
The Daily Mail newspaper?
Yes. It was owned by the Northern People’s Congress. Daily Comet was being printed in Kano. It was a NEPU/NCNC thing. The NPC did not have any voice anywhere, so they set up the Daily Mail. It was a big building next to Plaza Cinema.
So, I joined the Nigeria Match and Chemical Industries as general manager with the Chinese managing director.
It was me that went and negotiated with the Kano State Government to lease the premises of Daily Mail because after the coup, the thing just reverted to Kano State. We were producing matches.
I was all over the place—Kaduna to print the labels and Lagos to clear our imported raw materials and what have you. So I was there with Inuwa Wada.
After about three years, I realised my limitations, so I went to Wada and told him that I wanted to move to Lagos because when I was in SAYEN NAGARI we had an office in Apapa, where trucks were loaded to Kano and I was shuttling between Kano and Lagos. There was an office in Lagos also for the match factory, so I told him that I wanted to go and stay there. He asked why and I said I was going to continue serving the Match and Chemical Industry and the SAYEN NAGARI Company and I didn’t want any remuneration.
I wanted to go and start doing something and my job at the same time. I would try to look for an opportunity where I could also be doing something that was mine.
Finally, we agreed and I went to Lagos. I was staying in his house in Apapa. And of course, Murtala was already settled.
Where was he then? Was he a minister?
No.
Was this in the early 1970s?
Yes. I went there and eventually got involved with one businessman, Alhaji Amadu Yaro, who was from Kano.
I was in my office in Apapa when he called me and said there were some investors from the United States and he wanted me to meet them and discuss business because he was not that educated. But he did a lot of businesses, including Bureau de Change.
When I was in Lagos, I picked one contract here and there and made £100, £150 and £200. I was staying in Murtala’s house.
Eventually, I and that person ( Amadu Yaro) were able to start doing serious business with a lot of Indians and Lebanese because he knew a lot of them.
But these Americans that came in triggered my being with him. They were fraudsters. They came in a private aircraft, but I think they duped him, took his money and left. That was the beginning of my business as an individual.
I got married when I was in SAYEN NAGARI. So, I was living with my family in Lagos.
I knew a lot of military officers who were my contemporaries, even though Murtala was three years ahead of me. Most of the senior officers were my contemporaries.
I first met Babangida when he was a lieutenant in Kano when I came on holidays from the UK in 1965.
In those days, not much opportunity existed outside the government, so, I got involved in dealing with certain materials for the military.
I remember that one General from Shendam; I have forgotten his name, gave me an order to bring what they put in the ear for artillery.
Eardrums?
Yes.
To protect them from sound?
Exactly. He gave me the contract to supply a very small thing. Each pair was N8 or N10.
I went to the UK where they were doing it. The quotation they gave me was N9 per thing. I went and found out that it wasn’t more than N1 per thing. The officer was the late Martin Adamu.
The GOC?
The one that bought everything – Quartermaster-general.
I went to him and said that I didn’t want this thing. I said I was given N9 but it was not more than N1, so, I didn’t want anybody to come after me and say that I was a thief. I said they should review it, but he said they could not review it, explaining that it was the standard. I said they should keep it if that was the standard because I had always been conscious of what was legitimate and illegitimate.
As we got along, I and Amadu started doing some construction here and there. And we started growing.
Eventually, we got one Dutch company to have partnership them. I was able to get the contract for 1004 in Victoria Island in Lagos. That was long after Murtala had died.
The late Air Vice Marshal Mukhtar Muhammad was the Federal Commissioner for Housing. I went to him and he told me what they intend to do in Victoria Island, 1004 units.
I told him that one Dutch company would do the job at N120 million. I called the Dutch people and we sat down and looked at it and they said they would do it at N80 million. I went back to Mukhtar and he thanked me, saying I saved him an embarrassment. He said I could go on and have a good start in that area. So, the first major project I was involved in was 1004 in Lagos.
Are you aware that people think you became rich because of your link with Murtala?
Well, I don’t know. Murtala was very careful in what he did. He never looked for money; it was not his business.
When he was head of state, I told him that people were pushing and asking for favours. He asked for what and I said they were talking about oil blocs. People were talking to me about it.
Because they knew you were close to him?
Yes. He asked if I knew where they came from and I said no. He said I should go and see Gaddafi.
Gaddafi?
Yes. He said he would send me to Gaddafi if that was what I wanted and if I was able to succeed in getting any oil, that was my business because nobody would say he was taking Nigeria’s wealth. That’s what transpired between me and Murtala.
Did he send you to Gaddafi?
Unfortunately, no. He died before that.
Is it true that Murtala, at some point, returned some money to the government and cleaned himself up?
Of all the relatives we have, I was the closest person to Murtala. We were closer than my own siblings.
A lot of times, just before he became the head of state, he would come to the house and say there was no money to pay for children’s school fees, and it was either we paid or they would kick them out of school.
And he was not ashamed, neither would he hesitate to tell me or any of our friends what he did not have or what he could not afford to do. And sometimes he would sit down and say that as human, he would like to do what his colleagues were doing, but he could not because he didn’t want anybody to tell him to return anything. He treasured his pride. I am telling you that Murtala didn’t have anything.
Even as head of state?
Not at all.
Where were you when he was killed?
I was in Lagos. The last time I saw him was on a Thursday night. Normally, every day we went for Asr prayer, then Maghrib and Ishah.
When we left his house on Second Avenue he would get into my car and we would drive. Whoever was coming behind us would follow me to Dodan Barracks, where we would go and sit in ADC’S House.
He didn’t go into the main house?
He didn’t go into the house. He would go to the ADC’s house and a lot of friends close friends. We would play cards and discuss issues etc.
That Thursday, in the afternoon, there was one Igbo friend of mine. We were together in the UK. He was successful in the oil business. He came to my house crying and saying? “Aminu look at what Sunday Awoniyi is doing to me; Asiodu is being kicked out of the Ministry of Petroleum.”
Awoniyi replaced Asiodu as a permanent secretary?
Yes. He came holding documents and was crying. He pleaded that I should help him because we were students in the UK. I said no problem and asked to see the documents. He gave me the documents that Thursday and I went to Murtala’s house.
We went to the ADC’s house at Dodan Barracks around 9 o’clock. He knew him as my friend. I told him what they were doing to him and we went and fought them.
He said we should meet him the following day after prayers at the mosque so that we would sort it out. He never went.
Was he going to office in the morning?
The last time I saw him was about 10pm that Thursday, with the understanding that I would go after mosque and meet him.
People say he was casual with his security. What do you think about this?
As I said, I was probably the closest person to Murtala. Every afternoon, if I were in town, I would go to the house. After Asr prayers, he would enter my vehicle, which was a two-door car. He would come out, go around and look at some projects, just me and him, even as head of state.
You were a fairly successful businessman in Lagos. Was that the motivation for you to go into politics?
My going into politics was not accidental. I was in school politics. I was a minister of games and drama. We had a parliamentary system in the faculty where every student was a member of parliament. Then they elected their ministers, so I was elected. I was minister of games and drama because I was very active sports-wise.
Also, I and (Prof Dandatti) Abdulkadir used to go and listen to NEPU lectures in town, where Aminu Kano and co would be talking. And of course, you know that Aminu Kano was an uncle of mine. He and my father were first cousins.
Usman Dantata (may his soul rest in peace) and Isyaku Ibrahim, came to my house in Kano and said they were coming out of a national movement meeting, where they gave my name as a member of the finance committee. I asked who told them to do that, but they kept pushing.
Because they knew you had some money?
They left me but they would always come in and out. They kept pushing. And of course, eventually, a lot of my friends like Shehu kangiwa of blessed memory stepped in and said I should better come.
So, you made an attempt to become the governor of Kano State in 1983?
Oh yes.
How was the experience?
It was a very tough thing because politics then was what it is supposed to be. If you were a member of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), for example, no matter what anybody would give you, you would never vote for them, and vice versa because you believed solidly in your party, its principles and what it promised.
For me, I came in by accident. I had a group that asked me to go for the chairmanship of the party in the state. I and Muhammadu Maude contested, and at the end of the day, they said I lost.
So, I packed my things and went back to Lagos to build my business. One day, I was sitting in my house and Isyaku Rabiu appeared, saying although there was no provision for the position of a deputy chairman, those in Kano created one and I had to come because if I didn’t, everything would not be normal.
Members of my team were all professionals and independent people, such as Bashir Tofa, Bashir Dalhatu, Usman Alhaji, Isyaku Mohammed. They were educated and could take care of themselves.
I led a team to go and look for a candidate for the governorship of Kano State.
The first port of call was the then managing director of the UBA, Suleiman Baffa because we were together in the Kano Middle School. I was the person that said he was the best person to run for the governorship of Kano State. We flew all the way to Lagos to present our case.
So, at that time people would approach those they thought were the best for political positions?
Yes. We decided to pick the best person.
Do you regret the experience of trying to be a governor?
I have no regrets. I think I just felt sorry for Kano for not returning either me or Rimi at that time.
You were offered ambassadorship to China, then the United Nations; how did you get into diplomatic positions?
It was equally accidental. I had never dreamt of going into diplomacy.
During the military dispensation, I held quite a few positions. I remember that I was the chairman of the Nigerian Engineering and Construction Company (NECO), which the Federal Government of Nigeria owned 60 per cent and Yugoslavia, 40 per cent. I was in Brazil doing my own thing when (Gen Shehu) Yar’adua called me and said they needed to replace the chairman who died and he had already submitted my name.
Was that part of your military network?
Exactly. I and Shehu met in Sokoto in January 1960, my last year in senior secondary school when we went for inter-provincial sports and became friends.
So, I came back and became the chairman of NECO. But I quit because I didn’t want injustice; I didn’t want thieves. I worked hard for whatever I have; I never involved the government.
How were you appointed a permanent representative in the United Nations?
After the election of Obasanjo for a second term, he had opposition within the party – the Peoples Democratic Party – and I was his advisor.
I was the special adviser to the president on National Assembly matters from 1999 to 2003.
I told him that his weakest point was the North West. I also told him what to do to get everybody. And he knew how much I put into his second term.
He also knew my closeness to people in the diplomatic area and my trip in and out of New York and a lot of other ambassadors I knew.
Two or three days after he was sworn in for a second term, he told me that he knew I had done a lot and he really appreciated it. So he asked what I wanted. I told him that if he wanted me to serve, I would like to do that outside because I had stepped on many people’s toes.
He asked where I wanted and I said anywhere. He asked if I wanted the United States but I told him that I didn’t like the face of Bush; therefore I would not want to go to Washington.
He suggested the United Nations and I said I was okay with that. He said he thought I would like to go to some of the countries where I would rest, but I told him that I didn’t want to go to any embassy to rest. I wanted something that would really help me to be active.
Did the UN come before China? Were you an ambassador in China?
No; UN first.
China was from (President Umaru) Yar’adua. In the UN I put in four years. After Yar’adua was sworn in, by July, I packed my things because my mandate was from Obasanjo.
The best thing I could do was to move out to allow the incoming president, Yar’adua send whoever he wanted without waiting until one was recalled. So I left.
After about 30 days back in Nigeria, my phone rang and President Yar’adua wanted to see me. When I went, he said he wanted a favour from me. He knew my relationship with his brother.
He wanted me to go to China, but I told him that in the diplomatic parlance, the position of a permanent representative of one’s country to the UN was the height of diplomacy. The next thing you would probably accept was to be a foreign minister. However, I told him that I would do whatever he wanted me to do. That was how I went to China.
How was the experience?
It was marvelous.
Did you play any role in the Buhari government?
No. Although we were friends, the only time I saw Buhari as a president was on Remembrance Day for Murtala on February 13, 2016 at Hilton.
Tell us about the private Aminu Wali. What is your family life like?
I have one wife and four children. My wife is from Kebbi; we met when we were students in the UK.
Have you retired? What do you do?
I have retired because my son is taking over.
Politics and business, or everything handed over?
I am withdrawing.
It looks like you have given up Kano politics to Kwankwaso and his people after all the tussle; is that correct?
Well, Kwankwaso is somebody I cannot continue to tussle with. After all, basically in the PDP, I brought him in. God knows that I made him as governor because if I had said no, he couldn’t have gotten that position.
What did you see in him?
I didn’t see anything in him. The first person that brought Kwankwaso to me was Senator Hamisu Musa, who said he was a very nice boy. So I said I had no problem. But Rimi wanted me to run for the governorship position. He went all the way to my elder brothers in the city to force me to come and run for the position. But I said it was time for young people.
About two months ago, I went to see Iyorchia Ayu and he recalled how all of us founded the PDP. He added that we made a very big mistake because none of us went for an elective office but rather brought rookies who didn’t even believe in what we believed.
I told him that if he had become the governor of Benue State, we wouldn’t have ruffians in government. If we had people who appreciated the values we believed in, all this nonsense won’t be happening.
But some of you became ministers and all that; what did you do?
That’s true, but the survival of democracy, to me, is the function of the National Assembly because they can put a brake on the president. They can refuse so many things or they can pass laws, such that if he likes it or not, they can override him, according to the constitution and it becomes law.
So, if most of us had gone into the legislature, either at the federal level or government houses in the states, we wouldn’t have been in this mess today.
As a veteran politician, how do you feel now seeing what is going on in the country?
What is going on today, from my perception, is not the politics I know. The perception of the common man in the street is that all politicians are thieves. So it is not good now for one to be called a politician. Before now, it was an honour to be a politician, to represent your people. They have destroyed that respect that politics brings to people.
You are 83 years old and you are still healthy; what do you do?
Oh, not really healthy, I am just trying to survive.
How do you spend your time?
I spend my time here. That house is my office, where I go to sit down and people come and we greet each other. I spend maybe an hour there and come back.
But you are mostly in Abuja, no more in Kano?
I go to Kano, but it is a very difficult place to be now, particularly being a former politician. I mean there may be about 500,000 people who have my number. That’s why it is always switched off. The situation in Kano today is impossible because of the level of poverty.
[DailyTrust]
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has described as very unfortunate the fire incident caused by a tanker conveying premium motor spirit otherwise known as petrol which burnt motorists and commuters beyond recognition and destroyed several vehicles on Friday night.
The incident occurred between the Indorama Petro-Chemical Company Gate and the Aleto Bridge on the popular and ever busy Eleme section of the East-West Road now undergoing major reconstruction by the Federal Government.
The governor expressed sadness at the gory sights that he saw when he visited the scene of the incident, accompanied by the State Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, and the State Commissioner for Energy and Natural Resources, Uchechukwu Nwafor, on Saturday morning.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Nelson Chukwudi, and sent to newsmen.
The governor also spoke about the tanker inferno that had become a sad episode in the State with over 120 vehicles razed and about five lives lost, describing it as “great tragedy”.
“It is a very sad day in our dear State. Something happened in Eleme, along the route of Indorama Petrochemical and Fertiliser Company Limited. A tanker had an issue with a tipper, and there was an unfortunate situation that caused the State a very devastating loss.
“I went there this morning to see for myself what happened, and I can tell you, I’ve not been happy since then. With all the dramas in our State, it is not even proper for us to add that to it.
“But it wasn’t our fault. It was just what impatience caused. The tanker driver, knowing the state of that road, was not patient, and it resulted in that colossal loss. Over 120 vehicles were completely burnt, and five lives were lost. It was very unfortunate.”
Governor Fubara spoke at the country home of Sir Celestine Omehia in Ubima community, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State on Saturday.
Earlier, Fubara explained that he got a call from the Managing Director of Indorama Petrochemical and Fertilizer Company Limited in Eleme Local Government Area, informing him of the incident.
At the news of the incident, the governor said he immediately routed a call to the security agencies and instructed that they visit the scene to take charge of the security of the area to avoid escalation of the situation.
Governor Fubara stated, “We are here to see for ourselves and get first-hand information of the incident of what happened yesterday night.
“About 7.30 – 8pm, we got information of the gravity of the incident. I was told that it was caused by a tanker vehicle that was conveying Premium Motor Spirit.
“In fact, I got the information through the MD of Indorama, and I immediately alerted the security agencies to make sure they take control of the security situation in the area.
“And from what we are seeing this morning, it was not a pleasant case. We recorded a huge number of vehicles destroyed and lives lost.”
The governor explained that he had already requested the relevant government agencies to provide him a detailed account of their findings to enable the State Government to take appropriate decisions and actions to significantly remedy the situation and reduce the negative effects on the affected people.
“I have already asked the relevant agencies to give us a full brief so that we can come into the situation fully by seeing to how much we can support the families that are bereaved, and also cushion the effect of the losses, which I believe, is no fault of a good number of them.
“We all know the situation of this road. It is really unfortunate. Most of our people, when plying this road, should ply it with caution.
“I believe very strongly that this situation would have been avoidable, if the motorists had behaved properly. But it is late already. The damage has happened. This is the situation we have found ourselves in. We will see how we can control the aftermath,” he added.
Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, in a statement said four bodies, including that of a pregnant woman were seen at the scene of the inferno.
The statement read, “At approximately 8:30 p.m. on Friday, April 26, 2024, the Rivers State Police Command received a distress call regarding a fire incident along East-West Road near Indorama Gate, Eleme, caused by a tanker explosion. Immediate action was taken by contacting the fire department and mobilizing operatives to the scene.
“Upon arrival, a joint operation of the Police and Firefighters successfully extinguished the fire by 10:30pm. However, over 70 cars were engulfed, and several individuals were trapped. Efforts led to the rescue of many, though the total casualties are yet to be determined.
“Regrettably, four individuals, including a pregnant woman, have been confirmed dead, and those injured are receiving treatment at nearby hospitals.”
When contacted, the Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps, Rivers State Command, Christopher Kuje. Corroborated the casualty figure by the police, saying the charred remains were bagged and taken to the Military Hospital in Port Harcourt.
Kuje added, “We counted four bodies that were burnt beyond recognition. So, we use body bags to carry them to the Military Hospital. The vehicles we counted that got burnt were 60.”
An eyewitness who gave his name as Precious, said, “Some people were running when the fire caught them and they died,” he explained, even as he blamed the tragedy on the reconstruction of the road which, according to him, had worsened the gridlock.
“Yes, they are working the road, which is good, but they should also create access. Not the way they are doing it. One they should be fast about it and secondly the contractor should know that vehicles are using the road. Otherwise, this would not have happened. It is unfortunate,” he added.