Politics
OSINBAJO, STILL THE DANIEL OF OUR TIME
While few critics tend to shy away from the sterling performance of the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, but rather concentrate on concocting all manner of stories and innuendos on his person, I have chosen to take an alternative route. Before I start, let me admit that occupying a high office anywhere in the world is not a tea party. It is a herculean task. Professor Yemi Osinbajo shares a lot of values with President Muhammadu Buhari, and principally among them is their legendary integrity, patriotism and commitment to national development.
Let me use this medium to address some of the mundane issues raised in the article written by Shaka Momodu, titled Osinbajo Unlike The Biblical Daniel, published on the Thisday Newspaper. That Vice president Yemi Osinbajo wants to be seen as a hero, I beg to say that this is a misrepresentation of his persona as he is always himself and not a pretender. To say that he was eager to impress his principal attests to his unalloyed loyalty to Mr. President, and the philosophy of the administration, which is to render service to Nigerians.
Granted that Professor Osinbajo is ‘’not tough’’ in the sense the writer implied, yet his belief in the rule of law, rather than brigandage remains unwavering, especially in matters of state. He cannot therefore on this account be seen as a ‘’spineless professor’’.
It is also wrong to make sweeping statements by linking the administration to any malfeasance, as the government has never hesitated to act if there is a grain of evidence against its officials. Professor Osinbajo still remains a professional with a world view to improve the lot of Nigerians.
On the allusion to his visits to the airports, markets and filling stations I want say that this is desirable as it shows a connection between the government and the people. There is no hypocrisy or self-righteousness in Professor Osinbajo as he is always himself. As a leader he owes it a duty to connect and feel the pulse of the people, as this is standard practice all over the world. It should not be misconstrued.
For the avoidance of doubt, most cabinet members hold the vice president in very high esteem and they repose a lot of confidence in him, especially when he stands in for Mr. President. Let me observe that most of the negative comments in the article are mere conjectures deliberately adumbrated to achieve a premeditated objective. They don’t reflect the position of the president, his vice or the entire administration about some happenings in Nigeria.
Though I disagree that the image of Professor Osinbajo’s party, APC is ‘’sagging’’ as the writer tried to impute, but I ask: what is wrong if a vice president shores up the image of his party with public appearances? To me this is pedestrian argument.
Till today, many Nigerians still appreciate Professor Yemi Osinbajo for his contributions to the Buhari administration as he has not failed at any time to make his wealth of knowledge available towards steering the ship of state. For example during President Muhammadu Buhari’s three months absence in London, Professor Osinbajo held forth and was able to assuage the feelings of the Niger Delta agitators who had threatened to bring down our oil production to zero. It can only be imagined the state of affairs in Nigeria if he had not acted as a go-between with the Niger Delta militants.
Professor Yemi Osinbajo has used his position as the chairman of the National Economic Council to proffer solutions to some problems that would have been intractable. Even in the case of the farmers/herders clashes, his leadership has resolved on the issue of ranching which ab-initio was the preferred option for the grazing herdsmen? It is only a blind man or someone prejudiced by bias that will not see the ‘’Daniel role’’ Professor Osinbajo is playing in Nigeria today.
He remains a towering example of a conscientious leader, consummate gentleman and preacher of the gospel. His participation in government has not in any way lowered his esteem in the eyes of right –thinking people as he has been taken things in his stride, observing a high level of sobriety and being loyal to the president and the country.
Or what more can you ask of a man who has denied himself pleasure and comfort to serve his country and help navigate the ship of state to a secure corner where all interests will be catered for? Luckily, he is in good company with his principal, President Muhammadu Buhari who continues to ensure that Nigerians reap bountifully from the hope they reposed in them.
Professor Yemi Osinbajo is still standing tall among eminent men and women in Nigeria if we consider that he has used his position to address the plight of the Nigerian youth who are the leaders of tomorrow. For example, the impact of the N-power programme; School Feeding Programme; Conditional Cash Transfer programme and several other social intervention programmes which he has directly midwifed in this administration are visible for all to see.
As things stand today, President Muhammadu Buhari and his Vice Yemi Osinbajo are the most popular and charismatic politicians in Nigeria today. This did not happen by accident as the duo had through their sincerity of purpose and determination to improve the lot of the ordinary Nigerian have earned the trust and confidence of Nigerians irrespective of tribe and religion. This is the difference between the duo and the past PDP administrations. While the past PDP administrations focussed on serving some vested narrow interests, the Buhari/Osinbajo administration has made Nigerians the fulcrum of their development agenda.
On the issue of corruption, why would any right thinking person begrudge Professor Osinbajo who revealed that despite 60% less in revenue compared to the accruals for the previous government, that the administration has spent the highest capital expenditure on infrastructure in Nigeria’s history with about N1.3 trillion. It is needless to say that good infrastructure is key to the total revival of the economy, job creation and economic emancipation of Nigerians.
Based on the visionary leadership of President Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the capacity of the Transmission Company of Nigeria to transport energy has grown from 5000MW in 2015 to 7,125 MW in 2017 thereby making more power available to Nigerians. This is evidence of a focussed government.
How can anyone in his right senses deride an administration that has deployed about N16.67 Billion to each of the six geo-political zones out of the N100 Billion Sukuk fund to fix our dilapidated road network? The difference between the PDP era and the Buhari/Osinbajo era is the absence of corruption and introduction of transparency in governance.
The Buhari/Osinbajo administration is also building two legacy projects which the previous PDP administrations shied away from for sixteen years. They are the Mambilla power project and the Second Niger Bridge. It takes courage and commitment to embark on this kind of projects in austere times as we have today.
Even on the issue of security, the Buhari/Osinbajo administration has ensured the release of 106 Chibok girls from Boko Haram captivity, while the fire power of the military has greatly degraded the ability of the terrorists to conquer and occupy territories.
President Osinbajo’s humble mien can easily mislead some people to adjudge him as weak, but far from it as Professor Osinbajo carries himself with dignity and within the confines of his constitutional responsibilities. His luck is also that the president reposes confidence in him and periodically entrusts him with the responsibilities of his high office. On his part Professor Osinbajo has always lived up to the billing.
For example, during such occasions when the president must travel outside the country, he usually writes the National Assembly to officially transmit power to him, and on several occasions Professor Yemi Osinbajo has presided over the federal executive council and they usually came out with useful resolutions for Nigeria. In my estimation and many Nigerians Professor Osinbajo remains a role model and his association with President Buhari is refocussing Nigeria and laying a solid foundation for sustainable development.
By Chukwudi Enekwechi
An Abuja-based Journalist
Politics
2027 BATTLE: How Much Nigeria Can Save, Invest In Infrastructure By Rotating Power Among Six Geo-political Zones For A Single Term Of Five Or Six Years
2027 BATTLE: How Much Nigeria Can Save, Invest In Infrastructure By Rotating Power Among Six Geo-political Zones For A Single Term Of Five Or Six Years
As a Southernern, particularly from the South East Geo-Political Zone, I believe the most potent argument for us in 2027 is that the North/South zoning arrangement of political power at the center is a scam. It’s a scam because it has only benefitted the South West and the North West geo-political zones since the return of ‘democracy’ (civil rule) in Nigeria on May 29, 1999. Nigeria, it must be clarified has six geo-political zones, not two.
Nigeria was divided into six geo-political zones in 1996 by the military government of General Sanni Abacha. This new zoning arrangement was a brainchild of the 1994/1995 Constitutional Conference chaired by the late Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte and empaneled by General Sanni Abacha.
At that Conference, no less a person than former Vice President Chief Alex Ekwueme and a group called Mkpoko Igbo proposed that since Nigeria will now be divided into six geo-political zones, to give all zones a sense of belonging within the Nigerian State, that power at the center should rotate among the six geo-political zones for a single term of five or six years. In their thinking, if power was rotated among the six geo-political zones for a single term of five or six years, within 30 years or 36 years, all six zones would have had one of their own leading Nigeria, particularly, from their first 11 (primus inter pares). The North and the South West delegations at that conference pooh-poohed Chief Alex Ekwueme and summarily shut down that all-important proposal. The rest they say is history.
More than 30 years later, there is yet no national peace, national cohesion, national political stability, national unity, and national loyalty to the Nigerian State. Had the proposal of Chief Alex Ekwueme and Mkpoko Igbo been adopted and implemented since 1999, at least, the 5th Geo-Political Zone would have had one of their own in Aso Villa today, and by 2035, the last geo-political zone would have being sending us one of their own to contest the Presidency across Nigeria’s current 18 political parties. This mathematics is if we had gone with a single term of six years (the maximum limit) as proposed by Dr. Ekwueme and the South East and South South delegates in that 1994/1995 Constitutional Conference.
Fast forward to today, in his recent Arise TV interview, and in some other public and private fora, H.E. Atiku Abubakar asked for Dr. Ekwueme’s forgiveness as he was among key Northern delegates in that Constitutional Conference from the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua group that opposed the rotational presidency among Nigeria’s geo-political zones. Waziri Adamawa had disclosed that he even apologized to Alex Ekwueme when he visited Oko, Anambra State, to pay homage to the former late vice president sometime in 2017/2018.
By and large, for 2027, I believe that the most potent argument that will sell in the South East is that the North East where Waziri Adamawa hails from, just like the South East (our region), had also been marginalized in the scheme of things in Nigeria. Aside from Alhaji Tafawa Balewa from Bauchi State (North East), nobody from the region/zone has been head of national government, head of state, or even president since 1966.
So, H.E. Atiku Abubakar is right in contesting the Presidential election billed for January 16, 2027, to right this wrong, and return Nigeria’s presidency to an equitable distribution of power at the center. When elected, and it’s entrenched in the Nigerian 1999 Constitution (as amended), that power rotates among the six geo-political zones for a single term of five or six years, this new formula will bring about national peace, national cohesion, national unity, and tremendously commandeer national loyalty among Nigerians from across the six geo-political zones for their beloved country, the Nigerian State.
As a budding political scientist of repute and ardent student of contemporary Nigerian history and politics, let me tell us what this formular would do for the Nigerian State. The battle for the soul of the Nigerian State will be ferocious at the zonal level, while the center will become unattractive. So, let’s say it is the turn of the North East Geo-Political Zone to produce the Presidency in 2027, the battle to gift Nigerians their First 11 (primus inter pares) will be ferocious across the States in the region. The people of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe will now be more interested in partisan politics, thus being proactive participants within the current 18 political parties in Nigeria.
Giving Nigeria’s configurations and peculiarities, one of the positives of this political proactiveness is that it’s a win-win situation for the entire region if a man from Adamawa becomes President of Nigeria in 2027. The people from Yobe, Borno, Taraba, Gombe, and Bauchi will be largely happy, contented, hold their peace, love Nigeria better, and be more loyal to the Nigerian State because one of their own is now the GCFR, the primus inter pares, and the No. 1 Citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The steep insecurity that has ravaged the North East Geo-Political Zone since 2009, largely owing to perceived agelong marginalisation, oppression, injustices, would largely die down.
This will be the same case for the South East Geo-Political Zone. Biafra secessionist agitations, IPOB, ESN led by Nnamdi Kanu, will die a natural death. Justice and equity for all breeds contentment among men, and contentment among men births peace, unity, commandeers loyalty, and tremendously brings about prosperity. I stand to be challenged on this self-evident truth on any national television station.
When it is the turn of another region to produce the Presidency, after the North East has had their turn, all political parties in Nigeria must constitutionally present a Presidential candidate from the region whose turn it is to produce the presidency for a single term of six years. This rotational presidency formula must be entrenched in Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended) by May 29, 2027.
I avow that rotational presidency among Nigeria’s six geo-political zones for a single term of five or six years is the best political science solution to the agelong hydra-headed problem of Nigeria, especially in the guise of disunity, unpeaceful, and disloyalty problems among Nigerian citizens. Doing this will also largely curtail the executive rascalities, legislative rascalities, and judicial rascalities currently being perpetrated by the Bola Ahmed Tinubu led Executive arm; the Godswill Akpabio led Legislative arm; and the CJN Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun led Judiciary arm.
The over desperation of getting re-elected for a second term in office, as shown today by Bola Tinubu, will be eraced for future Nigerian Presidents. The humongous money and depletion of Nigeria’s national treasury just for seeking re-election at all cost, and conducting elections will also be erased.
The Highfalutin, Draining Cost Of Conducting Elections In Nigeria?
For the 2023 general election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) proposed N305 billion in May 2022, which was a 62 percent increase over the 2019 budget. Ultimately, the National Assembly approved N355 billion for the exercise, though the commission spent N313.4 billion as of September 2023.
For the 2027 general election, INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan proposed a total budget of N873.78 billion to the National Assembly in February 2026. This proposal includes N375.75 billion for election operations, N209.21 billion for technology, and N92.31 billion for administrative costs. The Bola Ahmed Tinubu led APC regime had previously allocated N1.01 trillion to INEC in the 2026 budget presented in January 2026.
Ladies and gentlemen, INEC’s election budget ballooned from N355 billion in 2023 to a whopping N873.78 billion for a re-election season in 2027? This is approximately a percentage increase of 146.13%. This is unacceptable, opprobrious, and insalubrious.
If we entrench in the Nigerian 1999 Constitution (as amended), zoning the presidency among the six geo-political zones for a single term of five or six years, this proposed N873.78 billion to coduct the 2027 re-election season would have been eliminated.
What Can N873.78 billion Do For Nigerians In Terms Of Infrastructural Developmental Projects?
If hypothetically redirected or matched in scale for infrastructure development, N873.78 billion could significantly advance Nigeria’s infrastructure across key sectors:
1. Roads and Transportation: This amount could fund the rehabilitation of over 10,000 kilometers (6213.712 miles) of rural and urban roads, especially when combined with technical support from institutions like the World Bank’s RAAMP-SU project.
It could complete critical projects like the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway or support the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, enhancing regional connectivity and trade.
2. Railway Development: Based on past projects, N873 billion could finance a new 600–800 km (373-497 miles) standard gauge rail line, similar to the Abuja-Kaduna or Lagos-Ibadan lines, which were partially funded by Chinese loans.
Rail expansion would boost freight movement, reduce road congestion, and create thousands of jobs.
3. Power and Energy: The sum could support renewable energy projects, such as solar mini-grids for 10,000 rural communities, or fund transmission infrastructure to reduce power losses.
For context, Power Africa facilitated $63 million in renewable energy investments over 26 months—N873 billion could scale such efforts dramatically.
4. Water and Sanitation: Funds could build or upgrade water treatment plants, boreholes, and sanitation systems in underserved urban and rural areas, improving public health and reducing waterborne diseases.
5. Agricultural Infrastructure: The NSIA’s Multipurpose Industrial Platform Ltd (MIPL) in Akwa Ibom, including an ammonia and fertilizer plant, is a multi-billion-dollar project. N873 billion could fund multiple such agro-industrial hubs, boosting food security and reducing import dependence.
Analyzing The Current Infrastructure Spending In Nigeria In Relation To N873.78 Billion?
For comparison, Nigeria’s actual infrastructure allocations are much lower than the humongous money INEC is proposing to conduct the shaky 2027 general elections in Nigeria.
The 2025 Federal Budget allocated ₦4.06 trillion ($2.7 billion) for infrastructure—about 7.4% of total spending.
The National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP) aims to raise infrastructure stock to 70% of GDP by 2043, requiring $100 billion annually—far above current spending levels.
Pension funds invested ₦262.57 billion in infrastructure in the first 10 months of 2025. This is below N873.78 billion being earmarked for the 2027 elections.
Without mincing words, let me aver that the N873.78 billion could transform infrastructural developmental projects in Nigeria, But the fact that this amount is proposed for elections, not infrastructural developmental projects, highlights a mismatch between public needs and government spending priorities in Nigeria, especially under the disastrous APC regime of Bola Tinubu.
Conclusion
While N873.78 billion is earmarked for elections, its scale underscores what Nigeria could achieve in infrastructure if similar resources were consistently invested. Redirecting even a fraction of election budgets toward roads, power, rail, water, and agriculture could accelerate economic growth, create jobs, and improve quality of life in Nigeria. However, transparency, accountability, and long-term planning are essential to ensure such investments yield lasting benefits.
Finally, ladies and gentlemen, let’s consider the substantial ingredients of this political seminal and fix this mess of power rotation at the center among Nigeria’s six geo-political zones for a single term of five or six years. Let’s stop wasting scarce resources in Nigeria conducting re-elections at the center and across state levels. Let’s stop wasting everybody’s time in Nigeria.
Ikenna Asomba is a political scientist and journalist. He writes from the State of Illinois, United States.
Politics
2027 BOMBSHELL: Dismantling The Myth Around Kwankwaso’s So-Called Electoral Dominance In Kano
2027 BOMBSHELL: Dismantling The Myth Around Kwankwaso’s So-Called Electoral Dominance In Kano
Politics
I am fully ready for the 2027 general elections”- ADP, presidential aspirant, Prof. Omolaja, declares
“I am fully ready for the 2027 general elections”- ADP, presidential aspirant, Prof. Omolaja, declares.
By Comrade Samson Ajibade Alabi, NLP Media Director
A presidential aspirant under the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Prof Muhammad Omolaja, has said that he is fully ready for the 2027 general elections especially the presidential contest.
Prof. Omolaja who disclosed this in an exclusive interview with pressmen in Abuja on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, said he has done his consultations with leaders of the Party, boasting that he is the next president of Nigeria by the grace of God.
He submitted that he has won the heart of the people at the grassroots across all the States and geopolitical zones including the federal capital territory (FCT); and convinced them about his clear vision and mission for Nigeria.
According to him, Nigerians are tired of the APC government and ready to vote them out in favour of his Party; the ADP!
Prof. Omolaja added that ADP is the only Party that can liberate Nigeria and rescue the citizens from the prevailing insecurity and other challenges facing the country.
The presidential aspirant said “you are asking me if I am ready for the 2027 general elections or not, I hereby inform you categorically that I am fully ready for the election; we have done what to be done, we have systematically carried Nigerians along in our preparations especially the people at the grassroots; and we have let them know that ADP is the only credible alternative Party that can liberate them from all the challenges the country is facing under the prevailing APC government. I am confident that I will get the ticket of our great Party being the leading contestant, and win the upcoming 2027 presidential election by the special grace of the Almighty God”
He therefore urged Nigerians to rally support for him and his Party (ADP) at the polls in the spirit of peace, love, unity, and patriotism in Nigeria.
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