Author: Chief Editor

Muhammadu Buhari The United Kingdom’s exit of the European Union is now all but certain. Only the passage of time will reveal what their new relationship shall be. But with this new arrangement, I – like many other Commonwealth leaders – also seek a new settlement: not only of closer relations between the UK and my own nation, but of unleashing trade within the club in which we together shall remain. Relations between Nigeria and the UK are close and longstanding, most recently reiterated in our 2018 bi-lateral security pact and our collaboration in anti-trafficking. But in recent years, our…

Anthony Akinola I hardly pay attention to the guesses of the so-called prophets highlighted as prophecies in the newspapers. However, I took great interest in the prediction of Father Ejike Mbaka regarding the governorship tussle between Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party and Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress.  Fr. Mbaka predicted forcefully, more or less putting his reputation on the line, that Uzodinma would replace Ihedioma as the Governor of Imo State. He said it would happen but did not know how. His bold prediction or guess came to pass when Ihedioha was sacked by the…

Eze Onyekpere Recent developments in our electoral dispute resolution, from the election petitions tribunals to the Supreme Court, have brought to the fore the need for electoral reforms in Nigeria. It is imperative to state that reforming the electoral system is not a new national demand, but it has been a challenge accentuated by developments since the return to civil rule in 1999. Democracy is about one vote per voter and the votes of the electorate are expected to decide the winner of every poll. It is about the opportunity for the people to choose their leaders in an atmosphere…

The Supreme Court has affirmed the election of Abdullahi Ganduje as the Governor of Kano state. Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abba Kabir Yusuf, filed an appeal at the apex court to dispute the March 24 supplementary election held in some electoral wards in Kano State. In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, the apex court dismissed the appeal filed by Abba Yusuf challenging the election of Governor Ganduje for lacking in merit. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the March 9 election in Kano State inconclusive, which led to the supplementary election held…

Ayo Olukotun “The setting up of the paramilitary organisation called Amotekun is illegal and runs contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian law” Abubakar Malami (SAN). Attorney General and Minister of Justice, The PUNCH, January 15, 2020 “One thing is clear; laws are not made in the office of the Attorney General of the Federation. He is only meant to interpret the law”. -Ondo State Governor and Chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum, Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), The PUNCH, January 15, 2020 Once again, barely a few weeks after the heated debate that attended the denial of bail and consequent invasion…

Fola Ojo Concrete-slab highwalls around homes in Nigeria no longer deter night crawlers from killing families. Bulletproof vehicles seem to have lost their potency and deterrence; they no longer stave off violent attacks from daredevil depraved minds with killer instincts. When bullets from Ak47s ring with fire and fury through moving vehicles on Nigerian highways, occupants are caught flatfooted in the snare of mauling marauders who now seem to be having a field’s day snuffing lives out of innocent Nigerians. These horror stories are the same in all Nigerian cities. From the North to the South and far out into…

President Muhammadu Buhari  has departed Abuja for London to participate in the inaugural UK-Africa Investment Summit holding on January 20. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the president had earlier performed some official assignments, including his meeting with security chiefs, before leaving the Presidential Villa for the London trip. The president also joined hundreds of Muslims faithful at the Aso Rock Mosque where he observed the two raka’at Juma’at prayers. An earlier statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said the London Investment Summit would be hosted by the British Prime Minister, Boris…

Former Head of State, retired General Yakubu Gowon, has said his administration had no regret going into the Biafra war because it was necessary to keep Nigeria one. The ex-military ruler said this in a special interview he granted the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation, as part of activities marking the 50th anniversary of the end of the Nigerian civil war, on Wednesday. He said: “The war was fought to keep Nigeria one, not for other reasons as is being speculated in some quarters. It is because of this that we don’t have regrets about fighting the war.…

Apparently reacting to the South-west security outfit, code-named Amotekun, launched last week, the National Security Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari rose from a meeting at the State House, Abuja, yesterday, with an appeal to states, local governments and other stakeholders to join hands with it and avoid creating separate security platforms for citizens’ protection. Speaking with journalists at the end of the meeting, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Abubakar Sadique, who was clearly alluding to Amotekun, said creation of separate security outfits in the country might run contrary to both the national security policy as well…

Security is the principal obligation of government, because it is the most important need of man. Life is universally considered sacred, but only the lives of the ruling oligarchy is sacred in Nigeria. Being alive is a privilege as Boko Haram, killer herdsmen, kidnappers, armed robbers, ritualists, trigger-happy officers, and other messengers of death are around you, ready to send you home. Governors of the six Southwest states moved to combat the insecureness by establishing the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Operation Amotekun. The initiative has been sternly criticized in the North and declared “illegal” by the Northern dominated…