Politics
PDP’s GREAT BETRAYAL AND THE CHOICE BEFORE THE APC
PDP’s GREAT BETRAYAL AND THE CHOICE BEFORE THE APC
With the emergence of a Northerner as its presidential candidate I wonder how Afenifere, PANDEM, Ohaeneze Ndigbo, the Middle Belt Forum and the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum now feel about their favoured child known as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)?
The virulent and avowed opposition that these august and highly respected bodies had against a Northern presidential candidate has been overuled by their party.
Their call for an Igbo presidential candidate has been ignored and treated with contempt and disdain.
Their preffered party is fielding a Northerner and there is nothing they can do about it.
They have been misled, fooled and scammed and they have no influence or power over the affairs of their favoured party.
Despite their reverred age, wealth of knowledge, profound insight and depth of wisdom their PDP has tossed their collective counsel into the dustbin.
Permit me to welcome them to the world of ‘real politik’ and I advise that they stop allowing themselves to be so easily manipulated and deceived.
Politics is a game of numbers where words and the knowledge of history alone count for little and where only insight, passion, a firm resolve and a large war chest coupled with the ability to conspire and the courage to build bridges even with past adversaries and former foes are the keys to success.
In this game, like the words of Shakespeare’s witches in his famous play ‘Macbeth’,
“fair is foul and foul is fair: hover through the fog and filthy air!”
It is a strange and difficult game filled with intrigue, betrayal and treachery.
It is murky, it is foggy, it is dark, it is treacherous, it is full of intrigue and mystery and nothing is as it seems or appears.
They thought their PDP would produce a Southern candidate even if the APC failed to do so but now they know that the trust they bestowed on their arrant yet favoured child was misplaced.
This was a shocker to them.
And let me assure them that more shockers and surprises are coming.
I believe it is time that they start thinking differently and adopting a new approach in order to achieve their noble objectives of a fair, equitable and just Nigeria in which we are all equals regardless of ethnicity or faith.
Constantly suppporting and relying on the PDP and hoping they will come to power to do something new, fix the problems and provide the solutions is an ill-placed illusion and dangerous delusion.
It simply cannot work.
I advise them to have a rethink and to realign.
In doing so they may well make a difference and achieve their noble objectives.
Now permit me to get to the meat of this essay.
It is interesting to note and quite an irony that the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC), a party that the opposition PDP has wrongly labelled as a bunch of Northern irridentists and hegemonists, are now the ones that could possibly provide a Southerner as their flag bearer.
Conversely the PDP, the party that has always claimed to champion the precepts of equity, justice and Southern rights and that has always prided itself on its strong Southern base, has opted to give its presidential flag to a Northerner.
They turned their backs on the people of the South East who have given them more support than any other ethnic nationality in the country over the last 23 years.
They spurned the people of the Middle Belt who saw in them a hope of salvation and emancipation.
They rejected the people of the South South whose sons and daughters stood firmly behind them through thick and thin.
Finally they displayed their usual and utter contempt for the people of the South West who they have always regarded as nothing but the biblical “hewers of the wood and the drawers of the water” and the poor relatives of the party ever since President Olusegun Obasanjo left power in 2007.
Worse still they gave their ticket to a man who is the best of friends with Sheik Ahmad Gumi, the defender-in-chief of the terrorists of the North West, they gave it to a man who withdrew a public condemnation of the savage lynching of Miss Deborah Emmanuel in Sokoto and they gave it to a man that refused to condemn the brutal slaughter of a pregnant Fulani lady and her four children in Anambra.
They gave their ticket to a man that lost the 2019 election and promptly left the country for 3 long years for beautiful Dubai, abandoning all his followers and supporters to weather the Nigerian storm and waters.
How this man can sleep at night I really don’t know!
They gave their ticket to a man who is soft on the terrorists that are butchering the people of the North West and North East and who has offered no solution to the plague of unknown gunmen and terrorists that are slaughtering people in the South East.
Is this a party that can be trusted with power?
Have they not become the very monster that they once claimed to seek to oppose and destroy?
Have the tables not turned?
Has the party not been taken over by faceless hardliners with a hidden agenda?
Can the people of the South West, South East, South South, North Central or even North West and North East trust Atiku with power?
I have my doubts. The truth is that the PDP has been high-jacked by a dangerous cabal who have utter contempt for anyone and everyone that is not part of their inner circle.
Many ask, who are those in this cabal?
Who are those that now control the PDP and that ensured that Nyesom Wike was defeated and Atiku emerged?
The same forces ensured the emergence of Atiku at the Port Harcourt Convention in 2018 by whispering his name at the last minute to the relevant stakeholders and they have done it again in 2022.
How can a serious political party not afford Ayo Fayose, Dele Momodu at least ONE vote each at its presidential primaries simply because they refused to bribe the delegates?
How can they lose Rabiu Kwankwaso, Peter Obi and Enyinnaya Abaribe to other smaller and totally inconsequential parties just before their convention?
How can they deny Pius Anyim the presidential ticket?
How can they not encourage Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who is the best of them and the brightest star in the South East, to run for the nomination?
How can they reduce Emmanuel Udom to 13 votes, Bala Mohammed to 20 votes and Bukola Saraki to 70 votes and how can they deal such a ruthless death blow to the aspirations of Nyesome Wike who struggled so hard to bring the Presidential ticket to the South?
Had it not been for Aminu Tambuwal’s decision to back Atiku at the last minute, Wike would have won with flying colours.
And look at their Convention itself? Was it not a show of shame where the highest bidder simply took the prize?
Were the activities there not worse than those in an 18th century Parisian whore house where money was exchanged for services rendered?
This was not an election but a shameless gathering of corrupt souls in which the dollar determined the outcome at the behest of its providers.
The delegates were bought and their price was on open display.
It was a shameful dollarfest in which honor, decency, politics, merit and seriousness had no place.
It was a jamboree of spending and an act of open worship to Mammon, the god of money.
A candidate that emerges from such a gathering and as a consequence of the invocation of such dark and bestial forces and powers cannot be expected to do any good.
If there was any reason for INEC to nullify a party Convention this particular one provided it.
Put together, the PDP convention was worse than an Arab carpet bazaar and an Indian brothel all rolled into one.
It stank to high heavens and it resulted in a shameless mess which lacked any pretence to legitimacy.
The truth is that there really is something defective about the thought processes and reasoning of the PDP.
Time will prove that.
Interestingly there are many in the ruling APC who have expressed a strong preference for a Southern presidential candidate for 2023 and most of them are from the North.
Would it not be a remarkable thing if President Muhammadu Buhari, the man many in the South have constantly viewed with suspicion and skepticism and who many have wrongly labelled as an ethnic warlord and religious bigot, was the one that gave the South what they wanted?
And make no mistake about it, this decision is Buhari’s and his alone.
He alone will most likely determine who APC will field and where that person comes from.
If he chooses to stop any presidential aspirant from emerging even at this late stage he can do so, no matter how popular, rich and powerful that aspirant may be.
Just one phone call from him to the relevant stakeholders can achieve that.
He can also endorse the weakest and most unlikely contender even at the last minute and that person will emerge.
Such is the respect, trust and affection that the leaders and members of the party at every level have for him.
As they say, he has the “yam and the knife” and he can determine what will happen or choose to sit back and allow all the aspirants to slug it out until the best man wins.
I am on record as saying that the three zones that ought to be considered for the nomination before others are the South East, North Central and North East and I stand by that.
Compared to the South West, North West and South South none of them have had a fair crack of the whip when it comes to democratically- elected Presidents and they all deserve to have their chance.
They are not slaves and they need to be encouraged, given a sense of purpose and carried along.
I maintain this position even if I am the only one that refuses to hedge my bets and say so publicly.
I also maintain that it would be easier for a Northerner to defeat Atiku but, if truth be told, it would also be a reflection of the courage and sense of fairness of the President and the APC that, even if it means risking the 2023 election, it is better to do the right and proper thing, assuage the fears and worries of the South, honor past commitments and allow a Southerner to take over.
This alone will make Buhari a hero above all else.
This alone will give Nigeria a new lease of life and will restore and strengthen North/South relations.
This alone will assuage the feelings and heal the wounds of those that live in perpetual fear of Northern hegemony and domination and quench the awesome fire of the militants and separatists that thrive in the South East, South West and South South.
This alone will send a strong signal to Boko Haram, ISWAP, the killer herdsmen and the foreign terrorists that they have failed to destroy our fragile unity and to divide us.
This alone will be a legacy that will speak for our President and our party into eternity.
The question therefore is whether we do the right thing by giving the ticket to the South or do the politically expedient thing by giving it to the North.
That choice will be made at the APC convention in a few days time.
Let us wait and see.
(FFK)
Politics
Pro-Tinubu Group Demands Sack of Badaru, Other Ministers Who Lost Polling Units in Bye-Elections
Pro-Tinubu Group Demands Sack of Badaru, Other Ministers Who Lost Polling Units in Bye-Elections
The Asiwaju Network has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately disengage underperforming ministers who failed to deliver their polling units and wards during the just-concluded bye-elections.
The group also urged a cabinet reshuffle to inject fresh energy and ensure that only those who can add political and governance value remain in the Federal Executive Council.
In a statement issued on Monday in Abuja and signed by its president, Alhaji Musa Ibrahim Dandoka, the Asiwaju Network said the results of the elections were a litmus test that exposed the political weaknesses of some ministers entrusted with strategic national assignments.
At Babura Kofar Arewa Primary School in Jigawa State, where the Minister of Defence, Alhaji Muhammad Badaru Abubakar, cast his vote, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored 308 votes to defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC), which managed only 112.
Badaru, a former governor of Jigawa and APC chieftain, left the venue without addressing journalists after casting his vote amid heavy security presence.
Dandoka said it was troubling that, despite his high office, the Defence Minister could not secure victory in his polling unit.
He argued that such political setbacks undermine the strength of the APC and the credibility of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope government.
“This defeat is both embarrassing and unacceptable. A minister who cannot win his polling unit cannot claim to possess the political capital required to defend the APC or promote the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda. President Tinubu must act quickly to weed out weak links in his cabinet and replace them with men and women who have proven grassroots capacity,” Dandoka stated.
The group noted that Badaru was not alone in this failure, stressing that another minister from Jigawa and one from Enugu State also lost their wards and polling units.
According to the group, these developments point to a worrying trend of disconnect between certain ministers and their political bases.
“Ministers are not merely technocrats. They are political leaders of the party in their states and zones. If they cannot hold their homes together, then they do not deserve to hold on to strategic national offices. The bye-elections have sent a clear message, and it is that some ministers have lost relevance and electoral value,” the statement reads.
The Asiwaju Network maintained that the APC’s strength lies in grassroots mobilisation, and any minister unable to inspire loyalty within his immediate constituency is a liability.
Dandoka emphasised that President Tinubu’s success in governance must be matched with political consolidation, which requires capable and electorally grounded cabinet members.
“President Tinubu has been bold with tough decisions on subsidy reforms, the economy, and security. Nigerians are beginning to see the fruits of those reforms. But he must also be bold enough to reshuffle his cabinet. A government of results cannot afford ministers who are passengers. The President needs proven drivers of the Renewed Hope vision,” Dandoka said.
The group also commended loyal APC members and supporters who defied intimidation and attempts at rigging in Jigawa and Enugu, saying their resilience was the true strength of the ruling party.
“These members stood firm when those at the top failed to inspire confidence. They turned out in their numbers to defend the APC’s relevance even when some of their supposed leaders abandoned them. These grassroots soldiers of democracy must never be taken for granted,” Dandoka added.
The Asiwaju Network further urged President Tinubu to take the bye-election results as a warning, cautioning that retaining non-performing ministers would embolden the opposition and demoralise party loyalists.
“The message from Jigawa and Enugu is clear: the APC cannot continue to reward failure. A minister who cannot secure a few streets in his ward has no business in the Federal Executive Council. Mr President must urgently rejig his cabinet or risk carrying dead weight into future electoral contests,” the coalition warned.
Reaffirming the group’s loyalty to Tinubu’s leadership, Dandoka said Nigerians expect a government that rewards competence and accountability, not excuses and political failures.
“President Tinubu has the people’s mandate. He must not allow weak ministers to drag down his vision. A decisive cabinet reshuffle now will send a strong signal that the Renewed Hope government is serious about performance, delivery, and results,” he declared.
Customs at the Crossroads: When Lawmakers Look Away and the Executive Looks Aside
By Dr. Bolaji O. Akinyemi
In a democracy, legislative oversight is the scalpel that cuts through deceit, inefficiency, and corruption in public institutions. It is the people’s last institutional shield against abuse of power. But what happens when that shield becomes a shelter for the very rot it is meant to expose? And what happens when the Executive arm, whose duty is to supervise its agencies, pretends not to see?
The unfolding drama between the National Assembly and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) reveals more than a policy dispute. It exposes a dangerous triangle of confusion, complicity, and economic sabotage. At stake is not only the rule of law but the survival of an economy already gasping under inflation, a weak naira, and suffocating costs of living.
The House Talks Tough
In June 2025, Nigerians saw a glimpse of legislative courage when the House of Representatives Committee thundered at Customs:
> “Nigerian Customs Service, by June 30, must not collect CISS again. You are to collect only your 4% FOB assigned by the President. Even the 7% cost of collection you currently take is illegal—it was an executive fiat of the military, not democratic law. Any attempt to continue these illegal collections will be challenged in court. The ‘I’s have it.”
The voice was firm, the ruling decisive. Nigerians expected a turning point.
But the righteous thunder of the House was quickly muffled by the Senate’s softer tone, which suggested not the enforcement of the law but a readiness to bend it.
Senate: Oversight or Escape Route?
At a Senate Customs Committee session, Senator Ade Fadahunsi admitted openly that Customs has been operating illegally since June 2023. Yet rather than demand an end to illegality, he extended a lifeline to Comptroller-General Bashir Adeniyi:
> “If we come back to the same source… the two houses will sit together and see to your amendment so you will not be walking on a tight rope.”
But should Adeniyi be handed a loose rope while Nigeria’s economy hangs by a thread?
Instead of accountability, the Senate Customs Committee floated adjustments that would make life easier for Customs. The nation was given hints about fraudulent insurance and freight data, but instead of sanctions, what we saw was a search for escape routes. This is not oversight—it is overlook.
Smuggling and Excuses
The Senate Committee also lamented cross-border smuggling—Nigerian goods like cement flooding Cotonou, Togo, and Ghana at cheaper prices than in Nigeria. Senator Fadahunsi blamed the Central Bank’s 2% value deposit for encouraging the practice.
But where are the Senate’s enforcement actions—compliance checks, stiffer sanctions, cross-border coordination? None. The result is predictable: smugglers prosper, reserves bleed, and ordinary Nigerians pay more for less.
A Bloated Customs Budget
The Service’s 2024 capital allocation ballooned to ₦1.1 trillion from ₦706 billion. Instead of channeling these resources into modern trade systems, Customs is expanding empires of frivolity—such as proposing a new university despite already having training facilities in Gwagwalada and Ikeja that could easily be upgraded.
Oversight is not an afterthought; it is the legislature’s constitutional duty. To see waste and illegality and yet propose amendments that would legalise them is to turn oversight into overlook.
Customs has about 16,000 staff, yet many remain poorly trained. Rather than prioritise capacity building, the Service is busy building staff estates in odd locations. How does Modakeke—an inland town with no border post—end up with massive Customs housing projects, while strategic border towns like Badagry, Idiroko, and Saki remain neglected? Is Bashir Adeniyi Comptroller-General of Customs—or Minister of Housing?
The 4% FOB Levy: A Policy Blunder
The central controversy is the Federal Government’s plan to replace existing port charges with a new 4% Free-On-Board (FOB) levy on imports.
Nigeria is an import-dependent nation. This levy will instantly hike the costs of cars, spare parts, machinery, and raw materials—crippling industries and punishing consumers.
Already, the consequences are biting:
A 2006 Toyota Corolla now costs between ₦6–9 million.
Clearing agents who once paid ₦215,000 for license renewal must now cough out ₦4 million.
New freight forwarder licenses have jumped from ₦600,000 to ₦10 million.
Customs claims the revenue is needed for its modernisation programme, anchored on a software platform called B’Odogwu. But stakeholders describe this so-called “Odogwu” as epileptic—if not comatose. Why commit trillions to a ghost programme that will be obsolete by January 2026, when the Nigerian Revenue Service is set to take over Customs collections?
Industry Raises the Alarm
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has warned that the levy will worsen inflation, disrupt supply chains, and hurt productivity.
Lucky Amiwero, President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, calls the levy “economically dangerous.” His reasoning is straightforward:
The 4% FOB levy is much higher than the 1% CISS it replaces.
Peer countries like Ghana maintain just 1%.
The new levy will fuel inflation, raise the landed costs of goods, and destabilise the naira.
He also revealed that the Customs Modernisation Act, which introduced the levy, was passed without Senate scrutiny or meaningful stakeholder consultation. He estimates that the levy could add ₦3–4 trillion annually to freight costs—burdens that will be transferred directly to consumers.
Who Is Behind the “Odogwu” Masquerade?
The haste to enforce this levy, despite its looming redundancy, raises disturbing questions. Who benefits from the “Odogwu” project draining trillions? Why the rush, when NRS will take over collections in a few months?
This masquerade must be unmasked.
The Price Nigerians Pay
For ordinary Nigerians, this policy translates into one thing: higher prices. Cars, manufactured goods, and spare parts are spiraling beyond reach. A nation struggling with inflation, unemployment, and a weak currency cannot afford such reckless experiments.
So, while the Senate looks away, the Executive cannot look aside.
The Executive Cannot Escape Blame.
It is easy to focus on the failings of the legislature. But we must not forget: the Customs Service is an agency of the Federal Ministry of Finance, under the direct supervision of the Honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Wale Edun.
If Customs is breaking the law, wasting resources, or implementing anti-people policies, the buck stops at the Executive’s table. The Minister of Finance is Chairman of the Customs Board. To fold his hands while the Service operates in illegality is to abdicate responsibility.
History gives us a model. In 1999, the Minister of State for Finance, Nenadi Usman, was specifically assigned to supervise Customs and report directly to the President. Meanwhile, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala focused on broader fiscal and economic policies. That division of responsibility improved accountability. Today, the absence of such an arrangement is feeding impunity.
President Tinubu and his Finance Minister must act decisively. Oversight without executive will is a dead letter.
A Call to Accountability
The truth is stark:
Customs has been operating illegally since June 2023 to the Senate’s own confession.
The 4% FOB levy will deepen inflation and worsen economic hardship.
The Ministry of Finance bears ultimate responsibility for Customs’ conduct.
Until importing and consuming, Nigerians demand accountability—of the Comptroller-General, the Senate, and above all, the Finance Ministry—this bleeding will continue.
Nigerians deserve better. They deserve a Customs Service that serves the nation, not a privileged few. They deserve a House that enforces its resolutions, not one that grandstands. They deserve a Senate that upholds the law, not one that bends it. And above all, they deserve an Executive that does not look aside while illegality thrives under its ministry.
Only public pressure can end this indulgence. If Nigerians keep silent, we will keep paying the price—in higher costs, weaker currency, and a sabotaged economy.
Citizens’ Charge: Silence is Not an Option
Fellow Nigerians, the Customs crisis is not a drama for the pages of newspapers—it is a burden on our pockets, our businesses, and our children’s future. Every illegal levy is a tax on the poor. Every abandoned oversight is an open invitation to corruption. Every silence from the Executive is an approval of impunity.
We cannot afford to fold our arms. Democracy gives us the power of voice, the duty of vigilance, and the right to demand accountability. Let us demand that:
The Senate and House of Representatives stop playing good cop, bad cop, and enforce the law without compromise.
The Ministry of Finance takes full responsibility for the Customs Service, supervising it in the interest of Nigerians, not vested interests.
The President intervenes now, before the Service crosses the dangerous line of turning illegality into policy.
History will not forgive a people who suffered in silence when their economy was bled by recklessness. Silence is complicity. The time to speak, to write, to petition, to protest, and to demand is now.
Customs must serve Nigeria—not sabotage it.
Dr. Bolaji O. Akinyemi is an Apostle and Nation Builder. He’s also the President of Voice of His Word Ministries and Convener Apostolic Round Table. BoT Chairman, Project Victory Call Initiative, AKA PVC Naija. He is a strategic Communicator and the CEO, Masterbuilder Communications.
Email:[email protected]
Facebook:Bolaji Akinyemi.
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Aare Adetola Emmanuel King Congratulates Hon. Adesola Ayoola-Elegbeji on Election Victory
The Chairman/CEO of Adron Group, Sir Aare Adetola Emmanuel King KOF, has congratulated Hon. Adesola Ayoola-Elegbeji on her resounding victory in the just-concluded by-election for the Remo Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives.
In a goodwill message issued by him, he described the victory as “a historic moment for the Remo people, coming at a time when the constituency yearns for a leader with vision, courage, and genuine commitment to service.”
He noted that the outcome of the election was an attestation to the trust and confidence reposed in Hon. Ayoola-Elegbeji by the people, adding that her sterling qualities, integrity, accessibility, and compassion for the grassroots had endeared her to the electorate.
“The overwhelming support you garnered at the polls is proof that you are the right voice at the right time to carry the aspirations of Remo to the national stage,” he stated.
While acknowledging that the by-election followed the painful demise of the late Hon. Adewunmi Oriyomi Onanuga (Ijaya), Aare Adetola Emmanuel King said Hon. Ayoola-Elegbeji’s emergence symbolizes the continuity of purposeful representation. He expressed confidence that she would not only sustain the legacy of her predecessor but also surpass it with new energy, innovative ideas, and progressive leadership.
The Adron Group Chairman further prayed for divine wisdom, strength, and compassion for the Member-Elect as she assumes office, expressing confidence that her tenure will usher in meaningful development, economic empowerment, and greater opportunities for the people of Remo Federal Constituency.
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