A renowned architect, Sambo served as Governor of Kaduna State from 2007 to 2010 and later as vice president to former President Goodluck Jonathan.

In a press statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu described Sambo is a man of integrity and loyalty who is deeply committed to Nigeria’s unity and stability.

He said as a prominent leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, Sambo worked closely with President Jonathan, serving with dedication and maintaining a relationship of mutual respect in and out of office.

READ ALSO: Police rescue six abducted law students in Benue

President Tinubu said he appreciated Sambo’s continued leadership and statesmanship in Nigeria and the West African subregion, including his support for Kaduna State governor, Senator Uba Sani, in advancing religious tolerance, peace, and stability statewide.

Sambo led the ECOWAS Observation Mission to Ghana’s December 2024 Presidential Elections.

Before this, he headed a similar mission in the Republic of Niger in December 2020 and the run-off poll in that country in February 2021.

President Tinubu wished former Vice President Sambo many more years in good health and continued service to the nation.

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It was Senator Ayo Arise, who represented Ekiti North Senatorial District during the sixth National Assembly between 2007 and 2011 that described the Nigerian version of politics as the most lucrative job in the country. Arise told the nation in 2013 that many of them made stupendous money whilst making laws for Nigeria and Nigerians and that period would remain etched in his mind forever.

Indeed, we have seen a pauper who became a billionaire overnight once they got elected into political office in Nigeria, be it at the council, state, or national level.

Politics in Nigeria is one vocation (though it is now literally a profession) for some category of Nigerians where those who want to make it big flock into, which explains the desperation, crude determination, and crass opportunism that makes some of its practitioners consider doing the unthinkable to achieve their goals. Some are ready to die or risk getting killed to get elected to political offices. Many have sold their souls to the devil while rituals and oath taking are part of the game.

With the lucre of office and so much ‘free money’ in the system, many politicians across the country are now introducing their children into politics to continue the looting of the nation’s treasury where they stopped. The perks for political offices in Nigeria, described as one of the highest in the world despite the country’s ailing economy and rising debt profile, explains why many politicians find it difficult to survive life outside public office.

In fact, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives admitted that after more than 10 years since he left the Green Chamber, he has been looking for what to do and has not succeeded in making the kind of money he made in office in just four years.

Since the return to democratic rule in 1999, the number of top politicians who have introduced their sons and daughters into partisan politics has been on the rise and the trend appears set to continue as we march towards the 2027 general elections.

While it should be pointed out that there is nothing wrong with children of politicians seeking political office, once they are qualified, the draw back is that their big wig parents muzzle others out of the way in order to create space for their children to flourish.

In Lagos State, precisely, Agege local government area, the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, did all within his power to have his son, Abdulganiyu Obasa, installed as the next chairman of the local council. Although the young man is qualified to run for office as he boasts of both first and second degrees, he lacks the requisite experience for such an office.

With the support of his father, he was endorsed by all the stakeholders in the local government until there was instruction from Abuja that the young man should not be allowed to contest. He was subsequently not screened for the position by the APC screening committee.

READ ALSO: Anambra: Police smash kidnap gang, recover three vehicles

Tajudeen Olusi, who is the chairman of the state Governors’ Advisory Council (GAC) is not happy that three top politicians in the state positioned their children for elective office at the local level, which he described as strange as that was not the practice in the 60s and 70s.

But Olusi should also be reminded that he also positioned his son, Toyosi Olusi for elective office as he was elected council chairman in the Lagos Island Local government.

The rumour mill is yet to die down from speculations too, that the son of President Bola Tinubu, Seyi Tinubu, is also eyeing the Lagos State Governor’s seat at Alausa. The rumour, which has been on for quite sometime now, has neither been confirmed nor denied by Seyi Tinubu nor the Presidency.

During the 2023 general elections, many children of top politicians picked up the gauntlet to contest for office with the active support of their parents. Amongst them are Bello El-rufai, son of former governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-rufai and Adam, the son of ex-governor of the state and former vice president, Namadi Sambo. Both contested to represent Kaduna North Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. While Bello won the ticket of the APC and eventually the main election, Adam lost the PDP ticket to a serving member, Samaila Suleiman. But the young man was taught a bitter lesson in politics as he demanded a refund of the N2 million he used to lobby each of the 37 delegates of the party. Despite dolling out millions to the delegates, he ended up with only two votes.

As we march towards the 2027 general elections, it is clear that many children of top politicians would take after the footsteps of their parents. However, many of them have little or nothing to offer the nation if how they get there is premised in god-fatherism rather than the true passion and political will to make positive changes in the lives of Nigerians.

In Jigawa State, Mustapha, the son of former governor Sule Lamido was the governorship candidate of the PDP. Unfortunately, he lost to the incumbent governor, Umar Namadi. In Delta state, three former governors positioned their daughters for elective offices in the state. Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu, daughter of former governor, James Ibori won the PDP ticket for Ethiope Federal Constituency and she is now in the House of Representatives. Similarly, Marilyn Okowa-Daramola, daughter of former Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, was elected unopposed to pick the PDP ticket for Ika North East seat in the House of Assembly. Also, the daughter of former governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, Orode, lost her bid to clinch the PDP ticket for Warri North in the House of Assembly.

In Ogun State, Olumide, the son of a former governor of the state, Chief Olusegun Osoba, is currently the member representing Abeokuta North/Odeda/Obafemi Owode Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. Also, in 2023, Rasheed, the son of the late Ogun State senator, Buruji Kashamu, secured the PDP ticket to contest the Ijebu North Constituency I in the state House of Assembly but lost the main election to APC candidate. Iyabo Obasanjo, daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo was also elected as a senator to represent Ogun Central.

In Oyo State, the sons of three former governors of the state emerged as candidates in the 2023 elections. First, Idris, the son of late Senator Abiola Ajimobi, who was the governor between 2011 and 2019, won the APC ticket for the Ibadan South-West II seat in the state House of Assembly. Similarly, Adedapo, the son of the late Lam-Adesina, who was the governor between 1999 and 2003, is a former member of the House of Representatives in the eighth Assembly. Having served as the commissioner for youths and sport in the state.

Also, Olamijuwonlo, the son of the late Adebayo Alao-Akala, once served as the chairman of Ogbomoso North Local Government Area. In 2019, his father described his reported removal by councillors as a joke. In Sokoto State, Sagir, the son of former governor Attahiru Bafarawa, was in the race to become the governor on the PDP platform but lost to Sa’idu Umar. Another classic example is the attempt by Ahmadu, the son of a former governor of the state, Adamu Muazu, to be the governorship candidate of the PDP. He however lost to Ibrahim Kashim, an ally of the governor. Mu’azu was the governor of the state between 1999 and 2007. Adamawa State is also not spared of politicians’ moves to ensure their family members have a direct shot at top political offices. Former governor Murtala Nyako, who was impeached in 2014 by the state House of Assembly, had one his sons, Abdul-Aziz, in the Senate between 2015 and 2019, before he defected to the African Democratic Congress to contest the governorship seat, an election he lost to incumbent, Ahmadu Fintiri of the PDP. Similarly, in the state, the children of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, have, on different occasions, been appointed as commissioners in the state.

In Yobe State, the dynasty of former governor and senator, Bukar Abba Ibrahim, is probably second to none. Some would even describe it as a semblance of ‘state capture’ by the family. Ibrahim, who was the governor between 1999 and 2007, had his three wives as cabinet members while in office and after his tenure, he became a senator, while one of his wives, Khadija, won a seat at the House of Representatives, where she spent three terms. In 2016, she was appointed the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs by the then President Muhammadu Buhari. Desirous of going back to the lower chamber of the National Assembly in 2019, she defeated her step son at the primary to go back to the House.

We could go on and on. What is clear is that many top politicians have captured their states and are positioning their sons and daughters for power. Again, it should be pointed out that there is nothing wrong with children of politicians contesting for political office once the people find them worthy of being elected. It is also practised in many developed worlds. We have the Bush family in the US that have produced Presidents, Governors and others. We have the Gandhi family in India as an example. In Bangladesh, the father of the current Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, was also a Prime Minister.

However, the Chairman of the Transition Monitoring Group and Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Musa Rafsajani, said that the political class had been deliberate in excluding average Nigerians from the political process so as to preserve plum positions for themselves and their family members. He cited the exorbitant fees that the foremost political parties charge for nomination and expression of interest forms as an example of how they exclude other willing and competent Nigerians people from the contest.

Another political scientist, Professor Kamilu Sani Fage said that as far as democracy was concerned, everyone had a right to contest, but that the happenings in Nigerian politics showed that the system was going towards oligarchy. He noted that the system in vogue was that whenever politicians were elected, they tried to bring their children into leadership positions or impose them on people, which he said was undemocratic and dangerous.

As we march towards the 2027 general elections, it is clear that many children of top politicians would take after the footsteps of their parents. However, many of them have little or nothing to offer the nation if how they get there is premised in god-fatherism rather than the true passion and political will to make positive changes in the lives of Nigerians.  The nation cannot continue to falter at the expense of inexperienced leaders parading the corridors of power while poverty has been weaponised against the people. The current situation where many cannot afford to buy the forms of any of the leading political parties talk less of raising huge expenses for campaigns is totally unacceptable and debilitating of our political structure.

With politics regarded as a dirty game in Nigeria, many first-class brains and administrators have are discouraged from the process, leaving the field for thugs and political jobbers. We can only pray that God will save Nigeria.

See you next week.

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Dasuki was arraigned alongside Aminu Baba-Kusa, former General Manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, along with two companies, Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited.

The fresh arraignment before Justice Charles Agbaza followed the reassignment of the case by the FCT Chief Judge, Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf, who previously handled the matter.

Dasuki was first arraigned alongside former Director of Finance and Administration, Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, Shuaibu Salisu, before Justice Baba-Yusuf on December 14, 2015 on a 19-count charge.

The charge was over alleged N15.5 billion fraud and was later amended by the prosecution because Salisu’s name was dropped from the charge.

On May 11, 2018, Dasuki and others were re-arraigned on an amended 32-count charge, of criminal breach of trust, dishonest release and receiving various sums of money to the tune of N33.2 billion.

The prosecution had only called one witness, the investigating officer of the alleged arms sleaze, and was yet to conclude his evidence-in-chief when the case was adjourned sine die.

The anti-corruption commission had in 2015 instituted two separates cases against Col. Dasuki before Justice Baba-Yusuf, now the chief judge of FCT.

In the other case marked FCT/HC/CR/42/2015, Dasuki was charged as the second defendant alongside a former Minister of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda.

READ ALSO: Social media and spirituality concerns, By Tunde Akanni

Also charged alongside Dasuki is a former Sokoto State governor, Attahiru Bafarawa, his son, Sagir and his company, Dalhatu Investment Limited.

They are facing a 25-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of public funds to the tune of N19.4 billion

The case had since been transferred to Justice Yusuf Halilu, by Justice Baba-Yusuf (CJ).

Both cases had initially suffered series of adjournment due to the refusal of the Department of State Service, DSS, to release Dasuki on bail.

When the case came up before Justice Agbaza on Tuesday, the defendants took their fresh plea of not guilty to the 32-counts preferred against them.

The prosecution counsel, Oluwaleke Atolagbe, prayed for dates for trial to begin.

Counsel for Dasuki, A.A. Usman and Richard Ibiye for Baba-Kusa and the company prayed the court to allow the defendants to enjoy their existing bail.

The lawyers confirmed to the court that the defendants had never failed to attend court.

Atolagbe did not oppose to their prayers, but said that the most important thing was for them to attend court.

After listening to the parties, Justice Agbaza allowed them to enjoy their existing bail.

The judge adjourned the matter until July 1, for trial.

Source: NAN

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FEC also approved N5 billion for the provision of accommodation to staff of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.

Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo, and the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, disclosed these when they briefed State House correspondents at the end of the weekly council meeting.

The meeting was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to Sambo, the NRC equipment were specifically meant for the Kano-Maradi rail line connecting Nigeria and neighbouring Niger Republic.

He said: “A memorandum presented by the ministry was on behalf of the Nigerian Railway Corporation.

“The memorandum sought council’s consideration and approval for the award of contract for the procurement of rolling stock operation and maintenance equipment for Kano-Maradi standard gauge rail line that is currently under construction.

“The contract was awarded to a company that is also the contractor handling the railway project in the sum of 984,722,302.05  dollars inclusive of 7.5 per cent VAT with a completion period of four years.”

He also disclosed that the council approved over N510 million for the supply of customised Fire Service Vehicles for the Nigerian Ports Authority.

“The Federal Ministry of Transportation also presented a memo to the council on behalf of two of its agencies.

“The first agency was the Nigerian Ports Authority which sought to provide for the award of contract for the construction and supply of four customised Fire Service search and rescue vans for extrication of accident victims for Rivers Ports, Port Harcourt, Lagos Port Complex, Tin Can Island Port and Marina Headquarters all in Lagos.

“The council considered the memorandum and approved the award of the contract as recommended and reviewed by the Bureau of Public Procurement in the sum of N510, 934,600 million inclusive of 7.5 per cent VAT with a completion period of nine months,” he said.

On his part, the Minister of Justice said the council approved N5 billion for the construction of residential accommodation for officers and men of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.

According to the minister, that had become necessary to further secure the lives and property of personnel of the agency, who had been making tremendous success in the fight against drug cartels and barons.

He said: “As you are aware, there has been renewed and sustained onslaught by the NDLEA against drug cartels and barons. Within the three quarters of 2023, about 18, 940 arrests were effected by the NDLEA  and indeed drugs worth an estimated value of over N40 billion were confiscated.

“The successes that were recorded unfortunately translated to unprecedented threats and attacks on personnel; the officers, men and other ranks of the agency.

“Thus, the need has arisen for the Nigerian government to consider the possibility of taking security measures that will now provide the desired protection to officers and men of the NDLEA.”

He further revealed that the council gave approval for the construction of two categories of barracks totalling 192 flats.

“Accordingly, two contracts were awarded to two different contractors. The first one is for the construction of barracks comprising a total 92 units of three bedroom semi-detached flats for Narcotics Superintendents and Narcotics Assistant Superintendents at the cost of N2, 267, 785, 450.83.

“The second contract was in the sum of N2, 889, 480, 320. 55 for the construction of barracks comprising a total 100 units of two and three bedroom semi-detached flats for Narcotics Superintendents and Narcotics Agents,” he said.

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Minister of Transportation Mua’zu Sambo, disclosed this on Sunday while inspecting the test running the train route.

The minister said that that was to enable passengers to get used to the new requirements for enjoying the train service.

He said: “The issue of whether the train will start tomorrow or not, we have not said the train services will start tomorrow.

“I want to be very categorical about that. Now, we have introduced a new system before you buy a ticket.

“Your purchase of a ticket requires you to provide a phone number and a national identification number in order to profile, because that is the beginning of the security checks.

“So, at any point in time when a train moves from one station to another we know who and who are on board.

“If you don’t have an NIN you are not going to board our train. It is as simple as that.

“If you are a minor, an adult will pay for you and will register for you and an adult can only register for not more than four minors.”

Sambo added that: “Now, we want to give sufficient time for the Nigerian public to listen to these and assimilate this new system, because if we start tomorrow, a lot of people will be disgruntled.

“Definitely between three, four, five days, certainly not more than a week.”

READ ALSO: Train attack: Buhari speaks with victims’ relatives on rescue efforts

He assured Nigerians that 90 per cent arrangement had been completed for the smooth commencement of the services.

Sambo added that the remaining 10 per cent measures would be achieved in a couple of days for the smooth commencement.

“I think we are 90 per cent ready as far as what we are set out to do is concerned.

“The remaining 10 per cent I am sure would be achieved in the next couple of days for full resumption of train services.

“Certain concrete measures that are feasible include the ticketing. Security starts from ticketing, so now you don’t buy a ticket unless you have a valid phone number and you have a NIN.

“And if you are a foreigner you also have a means of identification you can use which is produced by the National Identity Management Commission.

“Having secured your ticket, you will not get access to the lounge until the machine reads the barcode in your receipt.

“Your details will show and your complete profile will show on the screen. Only then will you be allowed to go into the lounge. This is what we call customer profiling,” Sambo said.

According to the minister, there will be increased number of security personnel some of which might not be wearing uniform in order to guarantee the safety of passengers.

He said: “The other thing is that, for every journey the train is monitored every second and the train driver can see up to a certain distance.

“If there is any threats on the track, that would enable him march the break before getting to the perceived threat.”

Sambo explained that there would be reduced number of trips on the route and as the travelling population picked, the number of trips would increase.

“But we will certainly not travel at night,” he said.

He further said that some other sensitive equipment which would not be disclosed had also been put in place to ensure safety of life and property.

On fares, he said discussions were in place and the fares could be increased.

“My assurance to Nigerians is that even I will be using the train, and other of my counterparts who have homes in Kaduna.

“Infact, from next week they will start using this train, so I am giving Nigerians full assurance that a human being can give that this train is safe for them to use.

“There is absolutely nothing to fear. We have learnt from what has happened and life is about learning lessons and adopting measures with the lessons.

“As a responsible government, we have seen those lessons and we have devised appropriate measures to counter it.

“Like I always say that I was not going to allow this train to resume until everybody in captivity was released and to the glory of God I have achieved that.”

Train services along the corridor was halted due to terrorist attack on March 28 which led to loss of lives and kidnap of some passengers.

Source: NAN

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Sambo told newsmen on Friday in Abuja that “no kobo was paid in exchange for the release of the last 23 hostages and other ones as well.”

The minister said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s led administration had zero tolerance for ransom payment.

“In matters that involve national security and intelligence, it is not appropriate to review exactly what measures has been taken in order to secure release of hostages of this nature.

“It is the position of this government that under no circumstances should there be collateral damage,” he said.

According to him, in other words, the military and security agencies that have been charged with the responsibility of securing the release of these hostages should not act in a way that will endanger the lives of these hostages.

“Secondly, there is a committee made up of some retired generals and some retired public officers of high ranking and status who assisted the military and security agencies throughout the process of securing the release of these hostages.

“I want to state categorically that because this government does not support and approve of ransom payment, no kobo was paid in exchange for the release of this 23 hostages, indeed for the other ones as well.”

On resumption, Sambo said that following the release of the victims, plans were underway to resume the train services in earnest.

“In order to resume train services, we have to put in place measures that will ensure that going forward such an incident will never happen again in this country.

“We have a short term and long term plan. The short term measures will be put in place very quickly to enable rail services commence.

“And, beyond a period of three months, we would have put in place a sustainable plan that would ensure that our rail lines are safe and secure and people can travel on them with their mind and hearts assured of safety.”

On why the victims were not present at the briefing, the minister said they required medical care and certain other procedures were required after their rescue.

He, however, noted that after the meeting of the hostages with President Buhari on Thursday, they were united with their families.

“It became obviously difficult to get them back together and bring them here. They actually have a plan of coming to thank the government through the ministry and hopefully they will give us a date next week,’’ Sambo stated.

Source: NAN

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Condoling the families of the victims and those who lost their loved ones, the president said since the “terrible and cowardly attack by the criminal elements” on  March 28, 2022, the nation had joined them to endure a period of difficulty and emotional pains.

The president told representatives of the families that in the immediate aftermath of the incident several actions had been taken by government to bring succour to the affected families and to prevent a recurrence in the country.

He also explained his reason for discarding the use of lethal military force in extracting the remaining abductees.

‘‘I have been informed that at last count, there remain about 31 people in the hands of the kidnappers, and our determination is to work towards returning these 31 people to their families.

‘‘It is understandable that emotions typically run high, we have received several suggestions about the deployment of lethal military force in extracting those still being held in captivity.

‘‘This option has indeed been considered and evaluated.

‘‘However the condition to guarantee a successful outcome and minimize potential collateral damage could not be assured and therefore that course of action had to be reluctantly discarded.

”My primary concern is to get everyone released safe and unhurt,’’ he said.

On his recent instruction to security and law enforcement agencies to bring an end to inhumane action against innocent Nigerians, the president expressed delight, saying: ‘‘Judging by the available reports to me and news that have begun emerging in the last few days, I will say they have heard this instruction and are responding appropriately.

‘‘In the past couple of days, you must have heard about the number of terrorists neutralized by the military, and number of  hostages freed. These efforts will not stop, or reduce.

‘‘We must take the fight to the terrorists and demonstrate that there is no hiding place for them within the borders of our country.

‘‘Each one of them will be hunted, and pursued and spoken to in the language that they understand.’’

The president also used the occasion to commend the bravery and gallant actions taken by members of the Police Force who were onboard the train on that fateful day.

According to the president, ‘‘It is clear that their actions saved many lives and by making the ultimate sacrifice, they must be recognized for their bravery.’’

President Buhari added that he had never doubted the ability or confidence of those who had presented themselves to defend the country and the Kaduna train incident had reinforced the belief and faith of the nation in this special group of Nigerians.

“I also would like to use this opportunity to say that we are cognizant of events that have unsettled our citizens in various parts of our nation and in the Capital.

‘‘I would like to comfort those who were traumatized by these tragic events and pledge that our response is to protect all Nigerians wherever they are.

‘‘My dear countrymen and women, we thank God that none of the released prisoners died due to the severe trauma they passed through in the hands of the terrorists, showing that the efforts of Government in securing their release were not in vain as Government continues to do its best to secure the release of the remaining abductees and ensure the overall security of all citizens in the country.’’

In his remarks, the Minister of Transportation, Jaji Sambo, said in the first week of his resumption in the ministry, he met with the relatives of the victims of the Kaduna train attack, updating them of all the efforts the government was making to ensure safe return of their loved ones.

He described the audience with the president as a manifestation of the efforts by this administration to secure the release of all captives, and proof that ‘‘government is not resting on its oars.’’

A representative of the victims of the train abduction,  Alhaji Sabiu Mohammed, appealed to the federal government to assist the families in the release of their remaining loved ones still in captivity.

‘‘Please we want to see our loved ones and many have found themselves in very critical situations. We do not have the money that they (kidnappers) are demanding. Please, Mr President, we know you are doing your best…please, please we want to see our loved ones,’’ Mohammed said.

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