As President Buhari Joins PDP By Sonala Olumhense | Sahara Reporters

As President Buhari Joins PDP By Sonala Olumhense | Sahara Reporters:

"The truth is that with Buhari’s intended cabinet, he has clearly given up every pretense of combating corruption or achieving anything." 
"His nominations are a cynical and arrogant slap on the face of hope."

“If we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria,” he used to say.

"Well, he didn’t, or ever intended to try." 

"And now, that the hiding is over, it is clear where the Nigeria story is going.
Now we have that out of the way, all that is left is an apology to PDP, no literacy skills needed." Mr. Sonala Olumhense, Sahara Reporters - July 28, 2019

Of A Ministerial List and the Price of Ignorance.

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Alex Ehimhantie'Aiyo Aidaghese

July 23 at 8:17 AM ·

It is deja vu all over again - Same Faces, Same Expectations!

In four years as a Minister for Works, et al, he didn't know what to do with Lagos/Badagry Expressway - an International Highway. He doesn't need to be a Civil Engineer, but as a Governor of the number one state in Nigeria for eight years, he is expected to be well-versed and grounded in the rudimentary of Human Resources and Organizational Behaviour - knowing when to seek outside counsel and knowing those best suited to address the problems that made the search for counsel necessary. He never did. In a similar vein, under his watch, the Mile2/Orile/Apapa/Wharf Road went from being chaotic to a national embarrassment. And that is the only access road to the nation's number one Sea Port. In addition to Power, President Buhari also made him the Minister of Energy and Housing Development.

For the past four years, his regulatory imprint in power generation and supply is practically zero. One, there is no improvement in electricity supply. And two, he lacked the gumption to confront DISCOs and challenge them to implement the ruling of the Court of Appeal, forbidding them from billing electricity consumers in the absence of Smart Meters. A decision which is also the position of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). Today, the Ministerial list is out and the same over-glorified political careerist is in.

Like most of the names on the list, he is not pragmatic and certainly not inspiring. The fact that he is not a known thief does not excuse his incompetence in the past four years. He is rich. He is professionally accomplished. He was a Governor for eight years. Above all, he is a Senior Advocate of Nigerian (SAN). In other words, he doesn't need to court or curry favor from any political leader or DISCO CEO. Yet, he was a no-show when a certain Disco Queen plunged Edo State to total darkness for about three years, prompting the televised embarrassment of the same lady and her team by Governor Obaseki. It is the same story all over Nigeria. So, what's the rationale or economic explanation for his retention? It is absurd and ill-advised. And that is the price a nation has to pay when their President is an alien in his own country.

Posted For the Record!

Ikechukwu Oga (Abia) Mohammed Musa Bello (Adamawa) Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom) Chris Ngige (Anambra) Sharon Ikeazor (Anambra) Adamu Adamu (Bauchi) Maryam Katagum (Bauchi) Timi Sylva (Bayelsa) George Akume (Benue) Mustapha Baba Shehuri (Borno) Goddy Agba (Cross Rivers) Festus Keyamo (Delta) Ogbonnaya Onu (Ebonyi) Osagie Enakhire (Edo) Clement Agba (Edo) Adeniyi Adebayo (Ekiti) Geofrey Onyeama (Enugu) Ali Issa Fantami (Gombe) Emeka Nwajiuba (Imo) Suleiman Adamu (Jigawa) Zainab Ahmed (Kaduna) Mohammed Mahmoud (Kaduna) Sabo Nanunu (Kano) Bashir Salihi Magashi (Kano) Hadi Sirika (Katsina) Abubakar Malami (Kebbi) Ahmadu Tijani (Kogi) Lai Mohammed (Kwara) Gbemisola Saraki (Kwara) Raji Fashola (Lagos) Nimbe Momora (Lagos) Muhammed Abdullahi (Nasarawa) Zubeira Dada (Niger) Olamilekan Adegbite (Ogun) Tayo Alasoadura (Ondo) Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) Sunday Dare (Oyo) Pauline Tallen (Plateau) Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi (Sokoto) Saleh Mohammed (Taraba) Abubakar Aliyu (Yobe) Sadiya Umar Farouk (Zamfara)

Read more at:

vanguardngr.com

Full list of ministerial nominees - Vanguard News

Nigeria News - Full list of Ministerial nominees

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Why Governor Obaseki of Edo State Must Not Play Adam Oshiomhole's Game.

Alex Ehimhantie'Aiyo Aidaghese

July 21 at 3:15 PM ·

Much as I would want to applaud Governor Obaseki for standing up to former Governor Adam Oshiomhole in the face of impunity and intent to govern Edo State by proxy, I want to point out that the inauguration that culminates in the swearing-in of only nine out of the twenty-four elected members of the Edo State House of Assembly was an unmistakable aberration in its entirety. Illegality remains illegality, no matter the antecedents of the major character or the abnormalities that characterized the Edo State House of Assembly under his administration.

Governor Obaseki's integrity is very much intact. He is respected across the board and within the leadership of the two major political parties. He is an epitome of virtues. Above all, he is believable, because he tells credible stories. Therefore, he should let justice prevail and let the people of Edo State fight his fight. If he thinks he cannot issue a new Proclamation Letter, he should call on the Clerk of the House to initiate a new invitation process involving all the elected members, including the "Abuja Sourjouners," and conduct a fresh inauguration.

Where it gets tricky, however, is that the Legislators who are allegedly sympathetic to the former Governor are in the majority. Meaning, they have the votes to impeach the new Speaker and elect their preferred candidate. And that is a disturbing scenario that Governor Obaseki wouldn't welcome. His resentment notwithstanding, the Legislators have inherent rights to conduct their legislative affairs and responsibilities their own way and vote to elect the Speaker and officials of the House, without interference from the Executive arm. That process is strengthened by the due observance of the principles of Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances.

Granted, the legislative process was grossly debased and perverted under Governor Oshiomhole, that does not ascribe legitimacy to the purported inauguration that took place about a month ago at the Edo State House of Assembly. Governor Obaseki is a fine gentleman; he should do the right thing and allow the new House to be reconvened.

To the members of the Edo State House of Assembly, if you want to destroy your political career by playing stooges to appease the former Governor, na your toro be dat. Comrade Adam Oshiomhole has nothing to lose. He has been battered and bruised in recent times, and his credibility is now on a slippery slope in Edo State. He is approaching the pinnacle of his public service career and you gentlemen have only just begun climbing the ladder. The most intelligible cards to play right now is to sharpen your "honorable" credentials and legislative acumen, without being intransigent and constituting obstruction in the overall governance of the state, or subservient to outside forces and eroding your credibility.

You are elected to legislate for the wellbeing of Edo State citizens, and at the same time, to work with the Governor for the development of the state. Having your way and electing the Speaker and officials of the House is not the end of the world; you frustrate the Governor, you frustrate every one of us. And it won't be that funny at all. Because Governor Obaseki has the bulling pulpit and he is believable. He will destroy every one of you politically if you try a repeat of the discredited culture of quid pro quo (cash for hand, and a vote for a project) that were the hallmarks of the immediate Legislature.

The majority of you are well-learned and well-traveled. If that is true, why not try and adopt at home the leadership or legislative model that you've observed or read about that are in place or emerging in those advanced countries you've been to? If not now, when? The earlier the case is settled out of court the better for you and the state. Unless, of course, you want to bring shame and dishonor to Edo State, which, of course, the indigenes will resist by any means necessary.

Finally, let's get to work, guys. We have too much on the plate right now requiring creative touch, visionary approach and a concerted effort. In addition to the new deals that the State Governor structured in joint-partnership with some foreign entities, some of our abandoned state companies, like Edo Brewery, the Okpela cement factory, the Flour Mill at Ewu, the Live Stocks farm, etc. should be revived. I know the Flour Mill and the Cement factory have been sold, but we can do a buyback and put Edo State citizens back to work. You cannot accomplish these in exile. Please, let peace reign in Edo State.

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Technicalities in the Administration of Justice: Senator Abaribe vs Nigerian Chief Justice Tanko

What A Sad Day in the Nigerian Justice System!

JUSTICE TANKO DOES NOT DESERVE A SEAT AT THE NIGERIAN SUPREME COURT. Period.

When the Chief Justice is having difficulties making informed or reasonable distinctions between Legal Technicalities and Grammatical/Semantics Technicalities, then there is a cause for Nigerian lawyers at home and abroad to cry out loud. You cannot destroy the Justice system by picking as head of the apex court a justice (qualified or not) who is readily disposed to voting for you or likely to bend the course of justice in your favour if the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal hearing comes before the Supreme Court. That's profoundly asinine. This appointment should be condemned in the strongest terms by the Nigerian Body of Benchers and our legal practitioners.

He was so incoherent that the Senate President had to intervene and rescue him from further embarrassment. The appointment of Justice Tanko as the Chief Justice of the Nigerian Supreme Court is nepotism taken to the extreme. He is ill-informed. He has not learned. And he is not fit to be at the Supreme Court. Period.

He had nothing to say about the indiscriminate ruling in favour of ex parte orders and permanent injunctive reliefs by judges. He did not remember the deployment of procedural rigmarole by lawyers to defeat substantive justice in Nigerian courts. Instead, he dwelt unintelligibly on the technical expertise required in flying an aircraft. Alluding to the wisdom of the court in inviting technical experts to interpret technical issues in a given case is a voyage of discovery. That is not the question the Senator asked you to address. To put it in Naija parlance, Legal Technicality relates to winning a case through "mago mago" and "wuru wuru" without following proper legal procedures or the rule of law. It has nothing to do with science or technology as a discipline.

I am very passionate about this issue because the question the Senator asked the Chief Justice to address was what prompted me to write the number one essay on this Blog in 2012. An essay that later served as the talking points for those who argued for the retention of the Immunity Clause (section 308 of the Nigerian Constitution as amended), during the 2014 Constitutional Review Hearing. And it is the bedrock of our Criminal Justice Reform, based on the judicial lapses identified in the essay. And to be in the wood on issues of legal technicalities that have been so abused by Nigerian lawyers and similarly condemned by lawyers, commentators, and retired jurists shows the level of the disconnect between Buhari's Tanko and the Nigerian justice system.

If President Buhari is so bent on appointing one of his own as the Chief Justice of the Nigerian Supreme Court, he can do better than a Sharia Law scholar. If he cannot find a competent jurist from the Bench, he can also go to the academics throughout the northern region to search for a seasoned legal scholar to satisfy his ethnic considerations. At least, such a candidate would enrich the body of our Bench with his or her sound academic background.

The present administration has destroyed the fighting spirit and strength of our Armed Forces through unmeritorious appeasement and behind-the-scenes recruitment of captured Boko Haram members into the Military. Today, our soldiers can no longer defend themselves at the battlefronts or in their respective units, because their movement, strategies, and tactics are at the disposal of the enemy as soon as they are made. How can you explain the ambush and killing of a Colonel, a Captain, and a few others on patrol just a few days ago? The Nigerian Judiciary is next in line. He doesn't care as long as someone who speaks like him (the President) and worships like him (the President) is in charge. But we do care, and Nigerians do care.

I have no arms or the political office/power to stop the President or to remove him from office. The best I can do is to express myself and to let the whole world know that this President is driving Nigeria dangerously towards extinction. And I do hope and pray that someone in his inner circle is reading this and is courageous enough to remind him that Nigeria comes first. Not his religion or his tribe. Justice Tanko is not fit and he is not qualified to be on the Nigerian Supreme Court. I expect Nigerian lawyers to take a stand and speak.

Governor Obaseki, U.S. ICE Raids and the Celebration of True Federalism.

Alex Ehimhantie'Aiyo Aidaghese

July 13 at 9:32 PM · 

In about twelve hours from now, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will embark on nationwide raids and the deportation of illegal immigrants whose asylum applications have been denied. Barring any last-minute respite from President Donald Trump, the fate of the affected immigrants now rests in the hands of God. Sad as the news is, it is not the reason I am writing this essay.

As ICE agents are fine-tuning their impending onslaught on undocumented immigrants, about nine cities in the United States of America have vehemently and unequivocally declared that they will not provide any form of logistics or security support to ICE agents coming into their cities to effect arrest and deportation. What? You may ask!

The truth is, ICE, in every shape or form, is an agency of the United States Government. And these cities, like ICE, are part of American sovereignty under the leadership of President Donald Trump. Yet, they dared to declare in no uncertain terms that they will not authorise their Police Force to provide support to ICE during the raid or assist them with detention facilities. That is a vivid manifestation of the fundamentals of True Federalism. And that is what is missing in Nigeria. No Local Government Council or State can stand up to the "monstrosity" at Abuja.

In the past few days, the Edo State House of Assembly in Nigeria has been in the news for the wrong reasons. A couple of weeks ago, the highly respected gentleman, Governor of Edo State, played a fast one on his former boss, Comrade Adam Oshiomhole. He plotted a successful Executive Coup - the inauguration of the Edo State House of Assembly. Only nine members, allegedly sympathetic to Governor Obaseki, participated in the Swearing-in Ceremony. In the end, a new Speaker was elected. Those who were not present at the ceremony miraculously surfaced in Abuja. For What? Security reasons, we were told.

Due process demands that every member is given notice of the date and time of the inauguration, subsequent to the issuance of a proclamation letter from the Governor to the Clerk of the House. If they were given notice but failed to honour the invitation, the case is over. If, on the other hand, only the nine members who were present at the swearing-in ceremony were the ones contacted, then what took place as an inauguration is nothing but a farce.

As the saga continues, some prominent and not-so-prominent political leaders called upon the House of Representatives at Abuja to step into the vacuum and take over the affairs of the Edo State House of Assembly. That demand is in itself an affront and a blatant slight on the conscience of the good people of Edo State. In other words, we are being told that the most educationally advanced state in Nigeria lacks the wisdom, integrity, sagacity, and organisational wherewithal to peacefully assemble and make laws for the good people of the state. And Governor Obaseki says: Bring it on. I am ready. And I am waiting.

I do not want to go into the political angle (godfatherism) of the saga. And I do not want the House to continue in its juvenile culture of the past; shamelessly subservient and unapologetically susceptible to executive manipulation.

Suffices it to say at this juncture that Governor Obaseki is an astute and diligent student of the culture of political gangsterism incubated and nurtured into prominence in Edo State by his former boss, Comrade Adam Oshiomhole. So far, so good, Governor Obaseki has shown a side of himself that is completely new to the majority of Edo State indigenes at home and abroad. It is the reaffirmation that, indeed, Nigeria is a federal system where the component states and the central government have their constitutionally defined powers and responsibilities.

Even though Abuja has turned Nigeria into a Unitary System of Government, dispensing handouts (crude oil money) as it pleases, Governor Obaseki has made it abundantly clear that Edo State will not be a dumping ground for the experimentation of a centralised unitary model that our Founding Fathers did not contemplate. Kudos to Governor Obaseki for engineering a new surge in the evolution of True Federalism in Nigeria.

Moving Forward.

My Candid Advice to the Runaway Legislators.

Those who absconded to Abuja should have stayed behind in Benin City to fight it out with the Governor, the Clerk of the House, and the minority who hijacked the process. Running to Comrade Adam Oshiomhole and the House of Representatives at Abuja didn't manifest courage under fire. Come back home if you have not done so. Meet. Strategise. Go to the Assembly Complex peacefully. And make a motion for the impeachment of the new Speaker. It is that simple because you have the votes. Show strength, guys. Wise up and show strength. We don't want Abuja in our legislative affairs in Edo State.