LG Polls: Speaker Obasa charges Lagos West APC candidates to intensify campaigns, assures of the Assembly’s support

…As Lagos Railway Corporation and Ibile Energy Corporation bills scale second reading

Ahead of the local government elections holding Saturday, July 12, across the state, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa met with candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), from the Lagos State West Senatorial District at the assembly complex on Tuesday, charging them to knock on all doors and campaign vigorously until the very last day to ensure victory at the polls.

As a show of support, Speaker Obasa contributed generously to the candidates’ campaign purses and assured them of the Assembly’s unstinting support before and after the elections.

At the meeting, which was attended by all the APC chairmen, vice-chairmen, and councillorship candidates, Speaker Obasa urged the candidates not to rest on the party’s laurels but to maintain momentum and outreach efforts until the very last day of campaigning. “Engage with everyone in the community, regardless of their ethnic background or religion,” he implored, while harping on the necessity for candidates to actively supervise those assigned to manage their campaigns.

The Speaker also admonished the candidates to adopt a mindset centred on service to the people when they assume office, adding, “Your focus should be on serving your constituents with integrity and commitment, and you must have respect for democratic institutions and practices.”

Further, he proudly noted that Lagos remains unique among states in the country, as it grants local government chairmen a four-year tenure per term, allowing for more sustained governance and grassroots development.

The meeting concluded with a palpable sense of urgency and resolve among the APC candidates, as they prepare to take their campaigns to the grassroots, embodying the spirit of service and dedication imparted by Speaker Obasa.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Railway Corporation bill and the IBILE Energy Corporation Bill have scaled the second reading.

According to the Majority Leader, Hon. Noheem Babatunde Adams, who spoke during plenary later on Tuesday, the proposed ‘bill for a Law to establish the Lagos State Railway Corporation to improve Railway Transportation in Lagos State and for connected purposes’, seeks to provide efficient and reliable transportation services, and establish a Governing Board tasked with overseeing the corporation’s operations.

Hon. Adams, the member representing Eti Osa Constituency 1, said, “With South Africa leading in Africa with a 20,926 km railway network and Nigeria currently at 3,798 km, Lagos, as Africa’s second-largest city economy after Cairo, must take the lead in innovative rail transport solutions.” He added that the bill will set up a standard railway corporation comparable to any across the globe.

Similarly, the House also read for the second time, ‘A bill for a Law to establish the IBILE Energy Corporation’, which Hon. Sobur Oluwa, chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Mineral Resources, described as a transformative one for the state’s energy landscape.
“If passed into Law, the corporation will attract innovation, investment, and reshape the energy sector of the State,” he said.

In his remarks, Speaker Obasa commended the essence of the bills and noted that when eventually passed into law, they will mark a significant advancement in the assembly’s efforts to modernize infrastructure and strengthen the state’s economy. He, thereafter, committed the two bills to the committees on Transportation and Energy and Mineral Resources with a mandate to submit their reports at the earliest possible time.

Tensions Rise as ADC Accuses Tinubu of Targeting Northern Opposition Ahead of 2027

Barely two years to the 2027 presidential election, political tensions are mounting as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) accuses President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of orchestrating moves to destabilise opposition figures in the North East and North West.

In a statement released Monday by ADC National Publicity Secretary Bolaji Abdullahi, the party alleged that the Tinubu administration is attempting to weaken the newly formed opposition coalition by targeting its northern leaders through intimidation and covert meetings.

“We have credible intelligence that former ADC state chairmen and senior executives in the North East and North West are being invited to closed-door meetings with high-ranking federal officials—not for peace or security, but to coerce and manipulate them against the coalition,” Abdullahi stated.

He described the alleged efforts as a deliberate plot to undermine the party’s interim leadership and derail what he called the ADC’s rising momentum as “the new face of the opposition in Nigeria.”

Abdullahi warned that these actions pose a direct threat to Nigeria’s multiparty democracy.

“This is how one-party states are born—through intimidation, sabotage, and political manipulation,” he added.
“Rather than address its dwindling credibility among Nigerians, the APC is reverting to an old playbook: destabilise the opposition.”

Internal Crisis Hits ADC

Meanwhile, three members of the ADC have filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking the removal of the party’s interim leadership led by Senator David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola as secretary.

Despite the internal turbulence, the ADC was formally adopted as the official platform of a new opposition coalition during a high-level meeting in Abuja on July 1. The gathering included key political figures such as Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar, Nasir El-Rufai, and Rotimi Amaechi.

The coalition emerged amid ongoing leadership crises in the Labour Party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP)—signaling a major shift in Nigeria’s opposition landscape ahead of 2027.

APC Responds with Dismissal

In response, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed the allegations, attacking the credibility of the ADC and its spokesperson.

APC National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru, questioned the legitimacy of the ADC’s current leadership and insisted that the party must secure recognition from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before making public statements.

“We do not recognise Bolaji Abdullahi as a spokesperson for any political party,” Basiru said.
“Until the ADC regularises its leadership with INEC, it lacks the standing to accuse anyone.”

Similarly, APC Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, dismissed Abdullahi as untrustworthy, referencing previous comments allegedly made by him about the difficulties of being truthful as a political spokesperson.

“This is a man who once admitted publicly that being a party spokesperson required lying. Now, he wants Nigerians to take him seriously?” Ibrahim said.
“The APC has no reason to fear the ADC, which has been in chaos since its unveiling.”

Calls for Democratic Safeguards

Despite the political mudslinging, the ADC doubled down on its claims, urging President Tinubu to rein in any appointees engaged in actions that threaten the country’s democratic foundations.

“The President must show Nigerians that he is committed to democracy. If the previous government had silenced opposition as is being attempted now, the APC would never have come to power in 2015,” Abdullahi stated.

He reaffirmed that the ADC’s coalition movement is “an idea whose time has come” and vowed that the opposition would resist any attempt to turn Nigeria into a one-party state.

“We will not allow a handful of desperate men to hijack this country. This party belongs to every Nigerian who is tired of lies, hardship, and political manipulation.”

As the 2027 elections draw nearer, all eyes remain on how both the ruling party and the emerging coalition will navigate rising tensions—and whether Nigeria’s democracy can withstand the pressures of political rivalry.

Malami Cannot Wash Off His Legacy of Impunity with ADC Defection — Citizens Alliance

A civic watchdog group, the Citizens Alliance for Rule of Law and Justice (CARoLJ), has condemned former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), over his recent criticism of the Bola Tinubu administration, describing his defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as an act of “political desperation dressed in borrowed morality”.

In a statement issued in Kaduna on Sunday and signed by the group’s president, Aminu Jallo, CARoLJ said Malami’s remarks accusing the current government of neglecting security and plunging Nigerians into poverty are not only ironic but deeply insulting to the intelligence of Nigerians who lived through “his era of constitutional vandalism and legal impunity”.

“Abubakar Malami presided over one of the darkest periods in Nigeria’s legal history. To hear him now speak of justice, equity, and national renewal is to witness a man attempting to whitewash a legacy drenched in disobedience of court orders, protection of corrupt political elites, and flagrant misuse of the instruments of state power,” Jallo said.

Malami, who served as Minister of Justice from 2015 to 2023, formally announced his defection to the ADC on Wednesday, stating that the party offers a coalition to “rescue Nigeria from collapse”. He decried insecurity and economic hardship, particularly in northern Nigeria, and accused the APC-led government of prioritising propaganda over governance.

But CARoLJ said Malami’s sudden concern for national suffering was “both cynical and dishonest,” pointing to a long record of policy failures, compromised prosecutions, and judicial sabotage while he was in office. The group questioned Malami’s moral standing to speak about national decline, given what it described as his direct role in dismantling the very institutions Nigerians now struggle to rebuild.

“Under Malami, the Federal Ministry of Justice became a political safe haven for the corrupt and a weapon against the vulnerable. He consistently ignored valid court rulings, frustrated landmark anti-corruption trials, and presided over a justice system that increasingly served the powerful at the expense of the people,” Jallo said.

The group cited the controversial 2017 reinstatement of Abdulrasheed Maina, the former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, as one of several cases where Malami allegedly enabled impunity. Despite being on trial for massive pension fraud, Maina was smuggled back into the civil service, reportedly with Malami’s knowledge and backing.

“Malami owes Nigerians an explanation for how a fugitive facing corruption charges was not only reinstated but promoted. That scandal alone should permanently disqualify him from any public office,” Jallo said.

CARoLJ also condemned the role Malami played in the 2022 presidential pardon granted to two convicted ex-governors — Joshua Dariye of Plateau State and Jolly Nyame of Taraba State — who were both jailed for stealing public funds. The controversial pardon was processed through Malami’s ministry and widely condemned by civil society groups.

“While honest Nigerians were imprisoned for petty theft, Malami helped secure clemency for men convicted of looting billions. He cannot now pretend to be a champion of the poor,” Jallo stated.

Beyond high-level corruption, the group alleged that Malami allowed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to become a political tool, selectively targeting opponents of the government while shielding allies and loyalists.

Under his supervision, the commission was, according to CARoLJ, “reduced to a shadow of itself — compromised, erratic, and often weaponised for vendettas”.

The group pointed to the irony of Malami’s selective justice, noting that while his ministry turned a blind eye to dubious transactions involving his allies and family, it aggressively pursued whistleblowers and activists.

“It was during Malami’s tenure that the EFCC lost its moral compass. Investigations were stalled, evidence disappeared, and known associates of the former minister were immune from scrutiny,” Jallo said.

“Malami failed to act on reports indicting senior government figures — and yet, he never hesitated to file charges against voices critical of his actions. He made a mockery of justice.”

CARoLJ further criticised the asset recovery regime under Malami’s watch, describing it as a “spectacle without substance” and alleging that billions in recovered funds were either mismanaged or mysteriously unaccounted for.

“The so-called asset recovery framework championed by Malami was a farce. Nigerians were shown figures but never the trail. There was no transparency. The process became an avenue for self-enrichment and patronage. His office operated more like a political vault than a justice ministry,” Jallo alleged.

According to the group, public suspicion around Malami’s stewardship of recovered assets only deepened when reports surfaced suggesting a sudden accumulation of unexplained wealth among his close associates — including members of his immediate family.

The group described as “morally offensive” the public displays of opulence by members of Malami’s family while the country grappled with deepening poverty.

“It is not lost on Nigerians that during Malami’s time in office, his children lived lavishly, displaying wealth that bore no proportion to any legitimate income. From luxury cars to extravagant weddings, the evidence was not just visible — it was flaunted,” Jallo said.

“One of Malami’s sons reportedly owns a multi-billion-naira event centre in Kebbi. At the height of public anger over poverty and inflation, the family flew in private jets for wedding ceremonies and flaunted exotic vehicles in Abuja. These are not just optics — they are symbols of unchecked abuse of office and unexplained wealth.

“One cannot preach reform while living off the ruins of abuse. Malami’s household became a symbol of reckless entitlement. His defection to ADC is not about rescuing Nigeria — it is about rescuing his ambitions.”

CARoLJ also recalled that several major corruption cases were either inexplicably withdrawn or bungled under Malami’s leadership, including the high-profile case involving former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, and the controversial handling of oil contracts involving foreign interests, which led to legal defeats and settlements that cost Nigeria billions.

“Several landmark corruption cases collapsed under Malami’s watch — not for lack of evidence, but because of compromised prosecution and political interference. It was under Malami’s supervision that the government suffered repeated legal setbacks abroad, including in the P&ID arbitration case. His poor legal strategy and politicisation of sensitive files cost this country dearly,” Jallo said.

The group described Malami’s defection to the ADC as “a soft launch of his long-suspected ambition to contest the 2027 governorship election in Kebbi State,” and warned voters not to fall for what it called his “reinvention strategy”.

“Abubakar Malami’s defection to the ADC is not a patriotic move — it’s a calculated rebranding effort by a man desperate to escape the shadow of his own legacy. Nigerians must not be deceived. You cannot preside over years of constitutional sabotage, ignore court orders, protect looters, and then suddenly claim to be the face of national rescue. Malami is not joining the ADC to save Nigeria — he’s joining to save himself,” Jallo said.

Reacting directly to Malami’s call for Nigerians to “reclaim the nation” through the ADC, CARoLJ dismissed it as hypocritical.

“The Nigeria Malami claims to be rescuing is the same Nigeria he helped bleed for nearly a decade. He now talks about banditry and hardship in the North — but was silent when communities were razed in Zamfara, Kebbi, and Borno under Buhari, while he remained fixated on political consolidation,” Jallo noted.

“To the people of Kebbi: Malami heard your cries during years of banditry and silence was his only response. He cannot now claim to be your liberator.

“Nigerians must resist the ongoing attempt by disgraced political actors to hide behind new parties and forgotten slogans. True reform begins with accountability — not defection.”