It is becoming increasingly clear that the 2027 general elections may have been won and lost even before the first ballot is cast. Nine months before the polls, the 2026 Electoral Act Amendment Bill, signed into Law on February 18 this year by President Bola Tinubu, contains several ‘landmines’ that those in opposition political parties were either too busy to detect or were ignorant of while the bill was before members of the National Assembly.

Months before the Electoral Bill was signed into law, many of those in opposition were so consumed by the need to insert a clause into the bill that would allow for real-time transmission of results that they failed to notice several loopholes in the bill. Yet, many of them are Lawyers and Senior Advocates, but they could not take the time to go through the details of what the National Assembly, dominated by members of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), were cooking against them.

Few months to the conduct of the 2027 general elections, some of the opposition political figures have now woken up from their slumber and are calling for a fresh amendment of a law that has just recently been passed.

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, raised the red flag against some of the provisions of the Electoral Act last week when he called for an urgent amendment of the Act, with a warning that a critical provision poses a threat to the integrity of future elections in the country. Atiku, in a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, raised concerns over Section 63 of the Act, particularly the clause that allows a ballot paper without an official mark to be counted at the discretion of a Returning officer. Describing the provision as a “grave and dangerous ambiguity’’, Atiku said it creates room for manipulation and could undermine the credibility of the electoral process. “This is not a minor technical issue – it is a direct threat to electoral integrity,” he said, stressing that any system that leaves ballot validation to subjective judgment invites dispute and potential abuse. “A democracy cannot survive on ambiguity. A ballot must either meet the standard, or it does not. The moment such a critical decision is left to discretion, it opens the door to manipulation and chaos,” he added.

While noting that the provision may have been intended to prevent voter disenfranchisement, Atiku argued that its current wording is overly broad and weakens public confidence in the system. “At a time when Nigerians demand transparency and credibility, it is risky to retain a clause that undermines trust in the very foundation of democracy – the vote,” he said. Atiku is not alone in the call for a fresh amendment to the 2026 Electoral Act.

But the blame for that rest squarely with the opposition political parties, whose members at the National Assembly failed them by lack of due diligence, and they should bear the brunt of their own short-sightedness.

A former Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mike Igini, has also raised concerns that Nigeria’s 2027 general elections could be undermined if key provisions of the Electoral Act are not urgently reviewed. Igini, again, pointed to Sections 63, 137, and 138 of the Law as major vulnerabilities that could enable electoral manipulation, weaken accountability, and shift election outcomes from polling units to the courtrooms.

According to him, Section 63 of the Electoral Act 2026, which deals with the rejection of ballot papers without official marks, grants excessive discretion to electoral officers. He pointed specifically to subsection 2, which states that a ballot paper without an official security feature of INEC should be counted if the Returning Officer is “satisfied” that it originated from the appropriate ballot book. Let me quote Igini: “With that Section of the Act, the presiding officer has been given the discretion to accept a ballot paper notwithstanding the absence of an official mark and to count that ballot paper. What that means is that before this election, politicians who have access to the security features of INEC ballots are going to print their ballot papers.” He described the provision as “dangerous.”

Igini also criticised Section 137, which outlines persons entitled to present election petitions, arguing that it shields electoral officials from direct accountability. The provision states that where a petitioner complains about the conduct of an electoral officer, it is not necessary to join that officer in the petition, as INEC would defend the case on their behalf. According to Igini, this framework weakens accountability mechanisms. “Some unscrupulous members of our Commission gave the security features of ballot papers to politicians. When INEC went to the court to say that the document is not its document, the tribunal upheld a forged document.”

Commenting on Section 138, which states that: “An act or omission which may be contrary to an instruction or directive of the commission or of an officer appointed for the purpose of election but which is not contrary to the provision of this Act shall not of itself be a ground for questioning the election.” Igini said Section 138 has been “one of the rigging provisions that we have cried out to be removed,” adding that the instructions and directives of INEC are contained in its regulations and guidelines.

Igini also raised concerns about Section 138(2) of the Act, which limits the grounds upon which election results can be challenged. “They (the law) are saying that presiding officers and assistant presiding officers can abandon it,” he said, referring to INEC’s regulations and guidelines, which, he argued, are effectively weakened by the provision. According to him, the section implies that violations of INEC guidelines alone may not be sufficient grounds to question election outcomes – a situation he described as one of the long-standing “rigging provisions” that had been resisted in the past.

My friend and brother, Yemi Adebowale, a former Editor at This Day Newspaper, has also had cause to examine critically, the 2026 Electoral Act and has identified Section 77 (2) of the Law as another bizarre one that was deliberately inserted to deal with opposition political parties. That aspect of the law mandates political parties to submit a comprehensive digital membership register to INEC at least 21 days before their primaries.

Indeed, Section 77 (2) of the Electoral Act 2026 states that membership registers to be submitted must contain the name, sex, date of birth, address, state, local government, ward, polling unit, national identity number, and photograph of members. Section 77 (5) added: “Only members whose names are contained in the register shall be eligible to vote and be voted for in party primaries, congresses, and conventions of the political parties.” This also means that once your name is not in the register submitted to INEC, you cannot be nominated for any position in the general election.

According to section 77(7), a party that fails to submit the membership register within the stipulated time “shall not be eligible to field candidates” in all elections to be conducted by INEC. The game plan became clearer when INEC recently unveiled its revised timetable for the 2027 general election and directed political parties to comply with section 77(2) of the law by submitting their membership registers by April 21. This was later extended to May 10, a clear eight months before the general election.

Those who packaged this Section 77 of the Electoral Act 2026 clearly had an agenda. They openly say that it is to make last-minute defections between political parties more difficult. While this may be correct, it may also be targeted at the former Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, who recently dumped the Labour Party after the protracted leadership tussle that polarised the party following the 2023 general elections. While there is the Lamidi Apapa faction of the party, another faction is led by Julius Abure, while the Senator Nenadi Usman faction is now the faction recognised by law and the INEC.

Despite several setbacks in court, the Abure-led faction has not yet given up, and has directed his lawyers to file the necessary papers at the Supreme Court.

Nenadi Usman, who spoke last week, also alluded to Section 77 of the Electoral Act when she stated that Obi may not be able to contest the 2027 presidential election under the banner of the party even if he is willing, as there is no certainty that he would pick the presidential ticket of the ADC coalition.

Why must political parties submit names of their members to INEC?  The global standard is for political parties to maintain their membership registers. They can continue to admit new members until the date for the submission of nominated candidates set by the umpire. The umpire focuses on the register of voters; updating and revalidating it. With this Section 77 (2) of the Electoral Act 2026, political parties must stop admitting members nine clear months before the 2027 general election. Once the membership register is submitted on May 10, 2026, as directed by INEC, the political parties can’t take new members until after the 2027 general election.

With the way things stand, political parties battling internal crisis may not meet INEC’s May 10 deadline for submission of membership register. The law states that any party that fails to submit its membership register within the stipulated time will not be allowed to field candidates for that election. It simply means that the main opposition party, ADC, may not field candidates in the 2027 general election as the party’s case is still at the Supreme Court. It is the same scenario with the PDP, and with the Abure-led faction of the Labour Party also heading in the same direction.

I am still at a loss as to how Section 77 of the Electoral Act 2026 eluded many of the opposition figures while the draft was still at the National Assembly. They could not detect the danger in it then. They were busy demanding for real time transmission of election results.

For decades, Nigeria’s elections have been marred by allegations of manipulation during the collation of results. While voting often proceeds peacefully at most polling units, disputes usually arise later, when results are moved from one collation centre to another. To address this, INEC introduced technological tools such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), and the INEC result-viewing portal (IReV) ahead of the 2023 elections. The goal was to ensure that once the results are counted and signed at polling units, they should be uploaded online for everyone to see. This would reduce human interference, improve transparency, and allow citizens to verify results independently, no matter their location. However, because these tools were not clearly entrenched in law, their use remained discretionary. That legal lacuna became a major problem in 2023. Although, the opposition political parties succeeded in ensuring that it was included in the 2026 Electoral Act, the lawmakers also succeeded in adding another proviso into the Act – manual transmission, in case real-time transmission was not possible.

While there are several provisions in the 2026 Electoral Act that should be commended, the several ‘landmines’ identified above may skew the election in favour of the ruling APC. But the blame for that rest squarely with the opposition political parties, whose members at the National Assembly failed them by lack of due diligence, and they should bear the brunt of their own short-sightedness. Perhaps, they should start preparing for the 2031 general elections, as that of 2027 seems to have been won and lost already.

See you next week.

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The Public Relations Officer of the university, Mr. Abiodun Olarewaju, made this known on Sunday in a press statement.

He stated that the students’ group that proposed the lecture did not duly inform the university authorities of “the status and calibre of the invited guest until Friday, just a day before the scheduled programme.”

The university spokesperson emphasised that it was important to note that events involving high-profile personalities of Obi’s status required adequate prior notification to the university authorities.

The notice, he said, was to enable the institution to make necessary logistical and security arrangements, including proper liaison with relevant security agencies such as the Nigeria Police and the Department of State Services, DSS, in order to ensure the safety of the guest, members of the university community and the general public.

The spokesperson said consequently, given the short notice and the attendant inability to complete the critical arrangements, the university authorities could not approve the use of Oduduwa Hall for the event as requested by the organisers.

Olarewaju stated that the decision was taken purely in the interest of safety, orderliness and adherence to established protocols governing the use of university facilities, adding that it was not, “in any way, a reflection of disregard for the person or status of His Excellency, Peter Obi, whom the University holds in high esteem.”

He said the vice-chancellor of the university, Professor Adebayo Simeon Bamire was, and remained committed to supporting intellectual engagements and hosting distinguished personalities, provided that due process was followed and adequate notice was given.

“Members of the University community, students and the general public are therefore enjoined to always comply with laid-down procedures in planning events within the University because we all are partners in progress for the overall development of the University,” the spokesperson said.

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The post Why we didn’t allow Peter Obi lecture in our facility –OAU appeared first on Frontpageng.

“There is one person Nigerians, especially the youths, believe will make a difference if he comes to power on the platform of ADC… “

“And who is that person, if I may ask?

”Peter Obi, of course!”

“You mean ‘Yes, Daddy’?”

“Oh my God! Has that become his name?”

“Of course! Just like we have ‘Eleyi of Ogun state’ and ‘Emilokan of Nigeria’!”

“And ‘Olu’le’ of what-should-we-call-it now?“

“Forget about O-lu’le! He has finally ‘lu’le’ and the rest, as they say, is history”

“Judging from reports, history has not smiled on him…”

“Did the man himself smile on us when he was alive – except on his Fulani tribesmen? But don’t divert our topic to past tense…”

“Sorry about that! But we cannot adequately address the present and apprehend the future if we do not have a right perspective of the past”

“The present, properly addressed, will help us to ameliorate the disastrous impacts of the past, which is why I am deeply worried that the prognosis does not look bright at all…”

“What do you mean? Another opportunity beckons in two years’ time…”

“With ‘Yes, Daddy’?“

“Of course! Don’t you think he will act differently from the present president?“

“Sure, he will!”

“Exactly! Nigeria will be on its road to El-Dorado…”

“Eldo-what? Did you forget what he told the Bishop on the run-down to the last presidential election? That it was a religious war…“

“Who can forget that? But religious war between who and who?”

“Your guess is as good as mine!”

“That is Armageddon! When Christians and Muslims fight one another…”

“That will even be tidier than a religious war without borders and without boundaries, the war of one against all…”

“That will be akin to Thomas Hobbes’s state of nature! Why did you think such a perilous path awaits us under Yes, Daddy?”

“Consider his antecedents! When he was the governor of his home state, they said he favoured Catholics against the other Christian denominations…”

“Really? Then, he will most likely instigate Christian against Christian religious war…”

“Worse than that! Even within his Catholic denomination, he is said to belong to the Jesuits…”

“Jesuits? Who is that?“

“Google it! Jesuits, because of their politics and pursuits, are said not to be very much loved even by fellow Catholics…”

“Why?”

“I said, Google it!” A scatter-scatter religious war will not only up-end Nigeria, it will also engulf the entire sub-region and beyond.”

“And my mind went straight to the Middle East, where blood flows like a river…”

“Aa-ah! And with the short-man devil also in the same ADC boat…”

“And who can that be?“

“Excuse me for not mentioning his name! Like Wole Soyinka described another such politician in his prison notes, “The Man Died”, this pint-sized man’s name leaves a sour taste in the mouth!”

“Oh my! But not many will know who you are referring to if you refuse to mention his name”

“They will! My people have a tradition: They don’t announce the death of a man by mentioning his name; it is when they start singing his praise names that people will know who just died”

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“I see! Except that the generation of today knows nothing about praise names. They only know how to press phones…”

“Which is sad, but that is a topic for another day. When the man we are talking about here was the governor of one of the north-western states, blood flowed freely as a result of his sectarian policies and divide-and-rule politics. The minorities who did not belong to his tribal Fulani stock saw hell…”

“I now know! Peace has since returned to the state under a level-headed, responsible, and responsive governor…”

“Oh-ooh! That is the godson he reportedly helped enthrone, who is now said to have turned against him…”

“But why do godsons always turn against godfathers? Isn’t that betrayal of the highest order”?

“Generally and on the surface of it, yes; but specific cases may leave the godson with little or no choice; especially when the devil insists you dine with him with a short spoon…”

“Oh-no! That is dangerous! We are advised to dine with the devil with a long spoon”

“Exactly! When the short-man devil insisted that his successor must use a short spoon, that one wisely voted with his feet…”

“He did well or else, he could find himself in a kiss of death or hot embrace with a bear”

“Exactly! Imagine a combination of ‘Yes Daddy’ and short-man devil: The bloodletting of today will be a child’s play compared to what they have the capacity to unleash on the country. Can you still remember how many times Peter Obi was booted out of office when he was Anambra governor, with the courts coming to his rescue? A man who could not master a small monolithic state wants to rule a complex country like Nigeria! From where did he garner the experience and expertise? From ‘Container dey high sea’?”

“I see! They say charity begins from home and experience is the best teacher…”

“In the case of the short-man devil, do you think he can deliver his home state in the present circumstance where he does not see eye-to-eye with his state governor? ”

“I even understand that his son has refused to follow him into ADC…”

“Are you surprised? Who can know Osho’s mother more than Osho himself? I understand that the short-man devil is a serial betrayer, selfish, and self-conceited. Maybe his son does not want to be tainted. This GenZ generation, as they are called, no send person whenever they choose to call a spade, a spade”

“Talking of betrayers, godfathers and godsons, what is your take on Rauf…?’

“You mean the former Commissioner, former governor, and former Minister that the ADC has put in charge of its engine room? Who could better fill the position than him? They are birds of a feather. Peter Obi swore he would never leave APGA; he left. A few days after Atiku’s aides vowed he would not leave PDP, the serial presidential candidate announced his exit. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo told us that the short-man devil would betray anyone. Atiku brought him into the Obasanjo administration but when both parted ways, he ditched Atiku and went along with Obasanjo.                    Aminu Tambuwal is another ADC top-wig: Towards the 2019 presidential election, Gov. Nyesom Wike and Gov Ayo Fayose put their necks on the chopping block for Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto, to clinch the PDP presidential ticket but Atiku outsmarted them all, snatched and ran with the ticket. Towards the 2023 presidential election when Wike was the front-runner in the quest for the PDP flag and everyone had expected Tambuwal in Wike’s corner, the same Tambuwal ditched Wike right there at the PDP Convention ground by lining his delegates behind Atiku, leaving Wike shivering in the            cold…”

“Enough! It’s in their DNA!”

“So there is nothing unusual in what Rauf has done. And he could not have pitched his tents in a better environment than ADC’s.”

“As they say, birds of a feather flock together”

“These ones are not even birds of a feather; they are fair-weather friends! Treachery brought them together; in the fullness of time the same treachery will scatter them!”

“That is weighty!”

“It is the Law of Karma! The ‘Rain Doctor, Majek Fashek, of blessed memory said no one plants cassava and reaps cocoyam… “

“You mean even a Rasta musician knows that much – people whose heads we say are not correct…”

“Whenever I reflect on the talents that get wasted as a result of bad behaviour – all the great talents whose lives were cut short by drug abuse and crime – I feel extremely sad”

“Not only you! Talents like…”

“Let that be a topic for another day! Rotimi Amaechi ran round a football field and was sweating like a he-goat. He must have thought the Presidency was lined up for men like Mighty Igor, Mascara, and Mike Tyson!

“He wanted to demonstrate that he was healthy, physically fit and able…”

“He missed the point! If that was what Nigerians wanted, they knew where to go in search of the likes of Power Mike! Oyingbo and Mile 12 markets are there! A common bridge between him and his successor he could not build. How, then, can he build bridges all over the country? Do you know what he will build if his party, ADC, wins in 2027?”

“Bridges, of course!”

“No! He will ensure he diverts all development projects to the President’s home state, like he did for Buhari!”

“Only to be rebuffed by the same Buhari!”

“Exactly! Blinded by morbid ambition, they never learn! But the greatest disaster that will befall this country if ADC wins is the return to power of the Buhari cabals. Malami, ‘Grass-cutter’ Babachir Lawal…

“They must have learnt their lessons by now…”

“For where! Half-killed poisonous snakes! They will release Emefiele from detention, reinstate him as CBN governor, return his seized assets, including the 753 Abuja duplexes seized by the EFCC, offer him public apology and dash him a national award to boot…!”

“Armageddon!”

*NOW CONCLUDED

*Bolawole (turnpot@gmail.com 0807 552 5533), former Editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-chief, was also the Managing Director/ Editor-in-chief of the Westerner newsmagazine. He writes the “ON THE LORD’S DAY” column in the Sunday Tribune and “TREASURES” column in the New Telegraph newspapers. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.

The post What ADC will do differently from APC… (II), By Bola Bolawole appeared first on Frontpageng.

A few days ago, outgoing AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina claimed that Nigerians today are worse off than in 1960, basing his conclusion on figures that do not align with available data.

According to Nairametrics, he claimed that Nigeria’s GDP per capita in 1960 was $1847 and that it is $824 today.  The quoted figures are not correct.

According to available data, our country’s GDP was $4.2 billion in 1960, and per capita income for a population of 44.9 million was $93, not even one hundred dollars.

Our country’s GDP did not rise remarkably until the 1970s, when crude earnings ballooned. In 1970, our GDP rose to $12.55 billion. In 1975, it was $27.7 billion, $64.2 billion in 1980, and $164 billion in 1981. Up until 1980, per capita income did not exceed $880. It rose to $2187 in 1981 and dropped to $1844 in 1982. In 2014, after rebasing, it reached an all-time high of $3,200.

These facts raise questions about the source of Dr Adesina’s figures.

But my mission in this response is not to poke holes in the erudite African banking president’s figures. The more substantive issue lies in Dr. Adesina’s conclusion based on these numbers.

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Dr Adesina should know that GDP per capita is not the only criterion used to determine whether people live better lives now than in the past. Indeed, it is a poor tool for assessing living standards.

Its primary usefulness is in giving us the metrics to compare economic output in a country or between countries.

GDP masks many activities in a country’s economy. It neither discloses wealth distribution or income inequality nor accounts for the informal economy, which experts have said is enormous. It does not account for subsistence farming or income transfer from one family member to another.

Adesina spoke like a politician, in the mould of Peter Obi and did not do due diligence before making his unverifiable statement.

GDP per capita is silent on whether Nigerians in 2025 enjoy better access to healthcare, education, and transportation, such as rail and air transport, than in 1960.

This premise alone suggests why Dr Adesina should not have arrived at his conclusion. Compared with 1960, Nigeria today has more primary, secondary, and tertiary schools. We have more road networks and more medical facilities, private and public. We have phenomenal access to telephones. At Independence, we had 18,724 operational phone lines for a population of about 45 million. Over 200 million Nigerians now enjoy near-universal access to mobile phones and digital services, indicating we are better off today than 65 years ago.

In our country, policymakers know that whatever GDP figure NBS publishes may not capture our economy’s full depth and breadth if it fails to include the informal economy, which some pundits have said may even be more significant than the formal economy. This underscores why Dr. Adesina should have considered all aspects of our economy before concluding.

When Vodacom, a telecommunications company, considered entering the Nigerian market in 1999 or 2000, its consultants, using the available GDP metrics, advised against it. They believed that Nigerians were too poor to afford GSM services. However, MTN and other companies that entered the market later proved them wrong, demonstrating that GDP figures alone do not provide a complete picture of a country’s economic potential or the living standards of its people.

MTN and other adventurers came later, and they laughed all the way to the bank. More than 20 years later, they are still laughing despite some setbacks in 2023 and 2024. In its first-quarter results this year, MTN declared revenue of N1 trillion and an increase of 8.2 per cent in subscriptions, which took the number of its voice and data users to 84 million. Does this MTN experience correlate with a country worse off than in 1960, when we had analogue telephones and the number of lines was fewer than 20,000?

No objective observer can claim that Nigeria has not made progress since 1960. Today, as we await the NBS’s recalibration of our GDP, we can comfortably say without contradiction that it is at least 50 times, if not 100 times, more than it was at Independence.

Adesina spoke like a politician, in the mould of Peter Obi and did not do due diligence before making his unverifiable statement.

The post Nigeria’s GDP per capita: Akinwunmi Adesina spoke like Peter Obi appeared first on Frontpageng.

The threats, he said, followed the allegation by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in the 2023 general election, Mr. Peter Obi, that he (Morka), threatened his (Obi’s) life, when in an Arise Television interview on Sunday, he accused Obi of “crossing the line” in his criticism of President Bola Tinubu.

In another Arise Television interview on Wednesday, Morka alleged that he had received about 200 death threat following the allegation made by Peter Obi.

He stated that in the threats, graphic details about how he would be murdered were given by those who issued them.

He said he would make the documents available to law enforcement agencies for action.

His words: “Peter Obi’s allegations that my words in that interview threatened his life have triggered serious consequences.

“As of now, I have documented 400 threats, about 200 of which are explicit death threats. These are written threats that I will be submitting to law enforcement agencies.

“In these messages, individuals have detailed how they plan to harm me—threatening to shoot me, behead me, and carry out other gruesome acts. This is not mere rhetoric. It has even extended to direct threats against some members of my family. These are explicit and graphic threats, not vague insinuations.”

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The APC spokesman added: “Those issuing these threats are acting on their own, but I trust that law enforcement will respond swiftly to bring them to justice.”

On Tuesday, the APC, in a statement, described as a lie, the claim by Obi that Morka threatened his life.

The party said through his claim, Obi had incited his “online mob to make death threats against Morka and members of his family.”

“That is unacceptable.  As a public figure, Mr. Obi bears a responsibility to provide accurate and truthful information. Instead, he has chosen to peddle falsehood and mislead Nigerians in quest for political currency and relevance,” APC declared.

The party called on Obi “to immediately set the record straight, withdraw his false allegation against Morka, and call his online supporters to order. Morka, stands ready to explore all available recourse mechanisms in valiant defence of his decency and impeccable reputation.”

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The Presidency accused the supporters of Obi of plotting mayhem across the country in the name of a nationwide protest.

The Presidency also accused members of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, of being part of the plot.

The Presidency gave the accusation in a post made by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, on his X handle.

He warned Nigerians not to be fooled by the alleged antics of the planners.

Onanuga’s post reads in full:

REVEALED: Peter Obi’s supporters are the people planning mayhem in Nigeria: Obi should be held responsible for anarchy

Don’t be fooled: the malcontents planning to stage nationwide protests are supporters of Peter Obi, the failed presidential candidate of the Labour Party. And he should be held responsible for whatever crisis emanates from the action.

The protest planners are also the same people who were instigated by IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu to launch the destructive ENDSARS protest in Nigeria in October 2020. ENDSARS began as a genuine protest by youths against the Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad, notorious for its high-handedness. IPOB members planning to extricate the South East region from Nigeria infiltrated the protest and hijacked it for their own agenda. Lagos still bears the scar of the malicious destruction by IPOB elements until today.

Two years after ENDSARS, the IPOB and the gullible innocents joined the Labour Party in 2022 to support Peter Obi, a sympathiser of their cause.

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They are the people spreading the hashtags ‘EndBadGovernance’, ‘Tinubu Must Go,’ and ‘Revolution2024’. They are not democrats but anarchists. They are attempting to call out our people via propaganda because their Messiah, Peter Obi, failed to win the Presidency in the 2023 election. As bad losers, they don’t have the patience to wait for another election in 2027; they would rather destabilise Nigeria by staging a civilian coup against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

If they understand the meaning of their hashtags, they will realise they are clarion calls for treason. Wanting to end an elected government is high treason. Wanting revolution is a call for a coup d’etat, which is also high treason.

I have been on the trail of one of the protest planners, who is nameless but claims to have an internet radio station, PTM100.88 Abuja. The anonymous person joined X in August 2022 and has 520 followers today, among whom are FS Yusuf, another rabid Obi supporter, and Professor Pat Utomi, a Labour Party chief and a guy on X who goes by the pseudonym Peter Obi’s First Son. PTM’s profile image has someone holding the inscription` Certificate Forger Not My President, ‘ with a photo of Peter Obi as an inset. Only Obi’s supporters will be talking about certificate forgery long after the Supreme Court dismissed the allegation.

In the past 24 hours, this faceless X user has been whipping up the gullible to join the protest being planned and also posting the activities of his Messiah, Peter Obi. He retweets Peter Obi often.

In one of the posts, a video shows a teenager, who is said to be in the North, printing T-shirts emblazoned with “EndBadGovernance in Nigeria 2024′.

There is also a retweeted post by Babatunde Gbadamosi, a failed and frustrated politician in Lagos. In it, he refers to his earlier post urging people “to identify APC members, sponsors, supporters, enablers, thugs, promoters, and appointees.” The police and DSS ought to have arrested the man for making a brazen threat to political opponents.

There is “General Oluchi,” a woman who goes by the screen name “A Field Marshall of the Han Dynasty.”

She has been sending out letters of mobilisation. She even pinned a “Week 6” letter urging Nigerians to wake up and take control of their country, using the language of IPOB, Peter Obi, and his supporters.

Another member of the malcontents is Brother Bernard, also known as Mikael C. Bernard. He is not based in Nigeria because he was once busted over Binance and fraudulent crypto businesses in Nigeria. Bernard was the man who once wrote that the naira should go down to zero.

In a reaction to Oluchi, he said the protesters should remove the increase in salaries for the armed forces as part of their demands.

“If they want an increment in salary, let them launch their own protest. It is not our job to fight for enablers of evil”, he wrote on X.

According to our law, men of the armed forces don’t protest,  an X user reminded him. He posted a sarcastic response: ‘By law, they can slap people wearing cams (camouflage) and shoot at protesters ba?”

Security agents should, by now, begin to interrogate these agents of destabilisation. There is no country in the world where people are not going through some economic challenges and where the cost of living is not a major issue. No country is immune from economic turbulence at the moment. Civilised and democratic people wait for another election to make leadership changes. They don’t trigger mayhem in their countries by staging protests, the end of which nobody can predict.

Nigerian citizens must consider the government’s attitude and concern about the cost of living crisis when deciding whether to join the protests by the Labour Party and IPOB supporters.

The Tinubu government has not been found wanting in this regard. The minimum wage has been increased by more than 100 per cent. Loans are being disbursed to students in tertiary schools. A credit corporation has been launched to promote consumption credit. Palliatives, including the latest distribution of 740 trucks of rice to the 36 states and Abuja, are being rolled out. Businesses, such as pharmaceuticals, are being assisted. The Federal and state governments are investing heavily in agriculture to produce more food.

The economy is improving, inflation is slowing, the national debt has been reduced in dollar terms, and the FIRS has increased revenue generation to record levels. Investors are coming back to our country. Our stock market is the best in the world, with a 33 per cent return on investment.

President Tinubu has a four-year mandate to run his agenda. Those calling for protest should wait till 2027 to either re-elect him or elect their Messiah, Mr Peter Obi.

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Obi stated this in Gombe in an interview with journalists after inaugurating a borehole he donated to Tike Ram Market in Pantami, Gombe State.

He said the rumour that he would leave was not true as he was more committed to the peace of the party.

He expressed optimism that the LP would resolve its challenges and forge ahead as one family.

“No, there is no such thing as leaving the Labour Party. I am for peace; I like peace. I believe we are one people.

“Our concentration should be on peace and I believe that we will resolve all situations,” he said.

On recent speculations of him running for the 2027 presidency with  former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, Obi said:  “Well, I’m more interested now in Nigeria’s success today than tomorrow.

“We are always concentrating on the election rather than what Nigerians are going through.

“My commitment is about Nigerians living in a better society, given a better life and that’s my concern,” he said.

On why he donated the borehole, the former governor of Anambra said he had been going round in the spirit of the Ramadan to support Nigerians, especially the poor to help cushion the impact of the current challenges.

“I’m here in Gombe and I came to Pantami market to help them in area of water supply; that is the borehole I just inaugurated.

“You can see the business here, all the rams and everything here but they don’t have water.

“We will support some individuals which we will do remotely and send them some little money.  About 100, that will be done.”

There  were  speculations that Obi might have started shopping for another political platform,  in spite of being guaranteed the LP 2027 presidential ticket  at its convention.

Recall that the NLC spokesman, Benson Upah, on Sunday, said the NLC would not stand in the way of Obi, should he decide to defect to another political platform.

Upah said: “The right of choice is available to Mr Obi. If he chooses to leave the party, that is his preference. We can’t sit in judgment over him on that.

“But if he chooses to remain, of course, Peter Obi is an asset any day. I rest my case on that,” he said.

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The announcement followed the affirmation of the victory of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, by the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, on Wednesday.

Speaking on behalf of the former vice president, his team of lawyers led by Chief Chris Uche expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict, declaring that the case would be taken to the Supreme Court.

“Judgement has just been delivered but we have not received justice. Luckily, the Constitution has given us the right to go on appeal.

READ ALSO: Nigeria: Barrel of a gun or rule of law?

“This is the court of first instance. We still have the right to go on appeal to the Supreme Court and you see, this is a struggle that is not just for our client, but for the Constitution of this country, for the rule of law and democracy,” he said.

He said they were expecting an outcome that would encourage Nigerians to always come out in their masses like they did, to vote.

He stated further: “There are certain things and principle of law that we know that we need to explore and we strongly believe that when we get to Supreme Court, it will have the opportunity to review a number of things that have been said here today.

“We have the instruction of our client to go to the Supreme Court. So, we have asked for the records. We have asked for the judgement. We are going to apply for the transmission of the records because we have a very limited time to push this.

“So, the struggle continues and as it is said, it is not over until it is over.”

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Obi stated this while interacting with friends and associates during an informal gathering to mark Mr Dele Momodu’s birthday in London.

According to him, “I am desperate to see Nigeria work. I don’t hide it. Any day anytime, I even confronted APC, if you wanted, why didn’t you bring Osinbajo.”

Obi further emphasized the importance of having competent hands occupying key positions of authority, noting that “let’s have the place working for everybody so that we can have people who want to work for the country and are healthy and good.”

He added: “The person they have brought today, it is not as if he cannot do it, but that would have been 20 years ago, not the kind of country that we have today because the country needs somebody like me 24 hours working.”

Obi has at different informal gathering expressed his admiration for the VP, even stating that he would not have contested for the seat of the president if the APC had given Osinbajo the presidential ticket.

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The minister stated this on Wednesday in London while reacting to the call by elder statesman and leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, Chief Edwin Clark, that he should be arrested and prosecuted for spreading “fake news” about Obi.

Mohammed said he stood by his admonition of Obi and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, insisting that his advice was never premised on falsehood.

“What will be my offence? Is it by chiding vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party who said on live television that if the President-elect Bola Tinubu is sworn-in on May 29 that that would be the end of democracy in Nigeria?

“Is it for chiding him for saying that swearing-in Tinubu in May 29 is like swearing-in the military?

“What is the fake news in that?” the minister queried.

READ ALSO: Datti Baba-Ahmed: NBC slams N5m penalty on Channels TV

He said Baba-Ahmed had never denied his statement made on the live television.

Mohammed also said that Obi had also not publicly called his running mate to order over the treasonable utterances.

“The position of the law is clear that anybody who is aggrieved over election results should go to court.

“It is not to start threatening Nigerians and heating up the polity simply because you lost an election,” he said.

Mohammed stressed that the APC won the presidential election “fair and square” and INEC was right in declaring Tinubu the winner.

He reassured Nigerians and the international community that the president-elect would be sworn-in on May 29.

Source: NAN

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