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ATTEMPTS TO LINK OBASA’S IMPEACHMENT TO SEYI TINUBU’S GUBER ASPIRATION MISCHIEVOUS (3)

CapitalTimesNews / 3 months
0
10 min read

By Ehichioya Ezomon Removed Speaker Mudashiru Obasa (Agege Constituency 1) of the Lagos State House of Assembly may fail to get back his exalted office, yet, he’s succeeded in forcing an unplanned shift of the House plenary indefinitely, thus sowing tension and confusion among the lawmakers, and splitting the close-knit Governance Advisory Council (GAC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. This comes after new Speaker Mojisola Meranda (Apapa Constituency 1) formally assumed office on Monday, January 27, 2025, amid majority of the lawmakers chanting: “Madam, continue your work; your work is appealing to us. You are the Speaker, you are the Speaker, you are the Speaker. Speak for Lagos. Continue with your work.” With Obasa reportedly absent from the Assembly, the lawmakers posed for photographs with Meranda, and accompanied her to the Speaker’s office, “where intense prayers were offered as she settled into her new role.” The plenary was then postponed, “to douse tension in the state.” The lawmakers’ public rallying for Meranda was a “kick in the groin” for Obasa, whose fate appears sealed since losing power on Monday, January 13, and returning from the United States of America to insist that he remains the Speaker until due process is observed in his removal, in line with the amended 1999 Constitution of Nigeria. Welcomed back to town on Saturday, January 25, by hundreds of jubilant supporters at the official residence of the Lagos Speaker in the GRA, Ikeja, Obasa slammed his ouster, in absentia, as unconstitutional. In an “A luta continua; vitória é certa” (“The struggle continues; victory is certain”)-like mood, Obasa told his supporters: “I’m still the Speaker until the right thing has been done,” and the crowd cheered.“I am not afraid of being removed. After all, it is not my father’s chieftaincy title. I am representing my people and they have returned me six times. If you want to do anything (remove him), do it well.” Obasa insinuated that were he present in the Assembly, the lawmakers wouldn’t succeed in removing him as Speaker. He queried: “They did the removal all because I was out of the country. Why did they have to break the chamber and use a fake mace to carry out the removal? “If they say they don’t want me anymore, that’s fine, but let them follow due process. I still believe I am the Speaker until the right procedure is followed. Lagos is a special place, we cannot denigrate the state.” Obasa held his ground, as he addressed his 2027 governorship ambition he tactically broached when Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu presented the 2025 Budget proposals to the House, thus sparking the instant flurry of activities in the Lagos polity. Saying, “Having ambition to become a governor is not a sin,” Obasa declared: “However, I said on the floor of the House, when the budget was presented, that I had no thoughts of governorship. But that does not mean I am not qualified or that I lack experience; I still maintain that (stand).” Citing a breach of fair hearing, Obasa claimed he wasn’t given a chance to respond to the charges the House leveled against him, and challenged his colleagues to substantiate the allegations, and afford him a chance to respond. “They (lawmakers) should not discredit an innocent person (Obasa); they should prove their allegations against me. The Lagos State House of Assembly is above the common standard of excellence. I believe in the image of our institution; we must not destroy it and I will never partake in it’s destruction.” Obasa also criticised the Police for “conniving with the lawmakers” to oust him from power, alleging that besides the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Olanrewaju Olawale Ishola, “leading police officers to invade the Assembly,” over 200 policemen allegedly invaded his private residence in Agege, blocked the gate, and prevented members of his family from going out of the house. Obasa referenced other Presiding Officers of the Lagos Assembly removed without deployment of the police. “When former Speaker, Rt Hon. Jokotola Pelumi, was removed, he was in the Assembly and we did not invite policemen. When my sister, former Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon. Adefunmilayo Tejuosho, was removed, we did not invite the police,” Obasa said. Even with his eyes red, Obasa appreciated members of the GAC and Governor Sanwo-Olu, “who is my brother,” and who “always calls me his younger brother,” and thanked President Tinubu, “who will always be my father.” Obasa said he’d been with Tinubu from his days in the Social Democratic Party (SDP) under which Tinubu’s elected Senator in the Third Republic, noting that he never expected to be Speaker in 2015, but “Tinubu supported me even when everyone was against me.” Tinubu’s the acclaimed head of the shadowy and powerful GAC of the Lagos APC, which acts as a clearing house for the party affairs, including elective and appointive positions. But there appears a split in the GAC, as two of its members have criticised Obasa’s ouster as illegal. As reported by The Nation on January 30, a member, Chief M.A. Taiwo, faulted the process of Obasa’s removal, noting that, “The act of the lawmakers is illegal. It shows total disregard and clear disrespect for leadership. The GAC is split over the matter, but we will all defer to our leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to resolve the crisis.” Another GAC member, former Senator Anthony Adefuye, described the removal as illegal, stating, “What he (Obasa) is saying is that he was illegally removed, and the procedure was faulty. I agree with him.” Meanwhile, former Lagos Speaker and ex-Minister of State for Health, and Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Olorunnibe Mamora, faults Obasa’s claim that his removal flouts the 1999 Constitution, saying that only the removal of President, Vice President, Governor and Deputy Governor is specified therein, and the procedure to effect the removal. In an interview with Vanguard on January 25, Mamora, who’s Speaker from 1999 to 2003, and Senator from 2003 to 2011,

IMPERATIVES OF A GRAND COALITION OF OPPOSITION POLITICAL PARTIES TO WRESTLE POWER FROM THE RULING APC IN THE 2027 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.

CapitalTimesNews / 3 months
0
8 min read

Friday Lines (43) With: Dr Abubakar Alkali 29/1/25 All over the world, particularly in neo-liberal third world democracies such as Nigeria’s, both history and the science of politics have shown that the only chance of unseating a sitting government is through a GRAND COALITION of opposition political parties. It is necessary to remind the opppsition PDP, LP, PRP, SDP, NNPP and other opposition parties that they must come together and form a GRAND COALITION to stand any chance of unseating the APC and President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 Presidential election. In the GRAND COALITION, the opposition political parties must present a SINGLE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE to stand any chance of beating the APC. It means only one of the opposition political parties notably the PDP will field a candidate. Under this formula, the LP, NNPP and SDP will NOT field any Presidential candidate in the 2027 election but will rally round their supporters to vote for the SINGLE OPPOSITION CANDIDATE. If there is not going to be a coalition of opposition political parties in the 2027 Presidential election, it is better not to waste any funds on a so-called election. Just swear in President Tinubu in advance for another term of office.Better to use the over N300 billion that INEC will purportedly ‘spend’ to conduct the election to build and equip skills acquisition centres for Nigerian youths across the country to promote job creation and build a skills-based economy. In Nigeria where the democratic process is extremely weak, votes are monetised, the election umpire INEC is compromised, the security agencies are partisan, the use of technology to conduct elections is purposely avoided. In all of these, the opposition stands absolutely no chance of unseating the ruling APC unless through a GRAND COALITION of opposition political parties. If the votes scored by the PDP and the LP in the 2023 Presidential election were to go to the PDP as one, the story would have been different. When the PDP dismantled to form the LP in the run-up to the 2023 election and the votes that would have otherwise gone to the PDP, ended up with LP, a gap was created and the APC won the election. Come to think of it, if the CPC has not merged with the ACN and ANPP to form the APC in 2014, the PDP will still be in power today because the votes would have split between the CPC, ACN and ANPP to pave way for the PDP in 2015. This was what happened in the 2011 Presidential elections which paved the way for the PDP to win it. According to INEC figures, the votes scored by each of the four major political parties in the 2023 Presidential election are as follows:Bola Tinubu APC- 8,794,726. (36.61%) – Winner Atiku Abubakar PDP – 6,984,520 (29.07%) Peter Obi LP- 6,101,533 (25.40%) Rabiu Kwankwaso NNPP Kano votes – 1,496,687 (6.23%) From the figures, it is very clear that Peter Obi’s candidacy led to the splitting of the votes which in turn paved the way for the APC to win the election with a mere 36% of the votes. The PDP garnered 29.07% of the votes while the LP scored 25.40% and the NNPP got Kano state votes to score 6.23%. The total percentage points scored by the 4 opposition political parties translates to 60.70% of the votes as against APC’s 36.61%. This means that if the opposition parties (PDP+ LP+ NNPP) were together in a GRAND COALITION in 2023, they would have sent the APC packing by a margin of 24.09% of the votes. This is huge. Yes history can repeat itself if the 4 opposition parties agree to come together and present ONE candidate in the 2027 Presidential election. The gladiators – 3 Presidential candidates of the 3 main opposition parties viz; Atiku Abubakar (PDP) Peter Obi (LP)!and Rabiu Kwankwaso (NNPP) must swallow their pride, step aside, put the interest of Nigeria above any personal interest and present ONE CANDIDATE for the 2027 Presidential election. The presumed Presidential candidates of the 3 main opposition political parties -PDP, LP and NNPP- must make sacrifices and step down for ONE CANDIDATE if they are to stand any chance against the ruling APC with INEC, police, all election monitoring structures and of course, free government money at the disposal of the APC. Anything short of the 3 main opposition political parties presenting ONE CANDIDATE in the 2027 Presidential election will mean handing over victory to President Tinubu and the APC on a platter of gold. Even Senegal, arguably the strongest democracy in Africa had to use a GRAND COALITION to defeat former President Macky Sall despite Sall’s glaring unpopularity. Thanks to the bravery and persistence of then opposition leader and now Prime minister Ousmane Sonko and President Bassirou Diomaye Faye.Even at next door Ghana, the opposition was said to have used a COALITION to unseat the ruling party and return President John Mahama to office. In weak democracies such as Nigeria’s, there is a well documented evidence on the use of free money and other enticements as low as a mudu of rice by the government in power to entice voters. Indeed, the monetisation of votes and commercialisation of politics is a pastime in Nigeria and it is the single reason why the right people are never voted into office.Former Vice President Atiku spilled the beans when he revealed that the ruling APC is dishing out free N50 million to each opposition party leader to get them in the pocket in the run-up ti the 2027 election.In fact, the right people with conscience normally don’t even attempt to contest elections in Nigeria because they know they stand absolutely no chance of winning. Don’t read me wrong, not everybody in public office in Nigeria today is corrupt and ineffective but majority are. Even those who want to do the right thing and make a difference in public office are frustrated by the gang of fraudulent colleagues all over the space.

VICE PRESIDENT SHETTIMA DEPARTS...

KANO EMIRATE CRISIS ESCALATES...

GOVERNOR OBOREVWORI ASSURES COMPLETION...

EFCC ARRESTS FORMER REFINERY...

ARMED FORCES SCORE BIG...

JUST IN: NNPCL REDUCES...

VICE PRESIDENT SHETTIMA DEPARTS...

KANO EMIRATE CRISIS ESCALATES...

GOVERNOR OBOREVWORI ASSURES COMPLETION...

EFCC ARRESTS FORMER REFINERY...

ARMED FORCES SCORE BIG...

JUST IN: NNPCL REDUCES...

FORMER KADUNA GOVERNOR EL-RUFAI QUITS APC, DEFECTS TO SDP

KEBBI GOVERNOR’S AIDE SUSPENDED FOR BRINGING SNAKE TO GOVERNMENT HOUSE

TINUBU, APC LEADERS RESOLVE LAGOS ASSEMBLY CRISIS, OBASA TO RESIGN

POLITICAL REALITY CHECK

ASUE IGHODALO’S PURSUIT OF A POLITICAL MIRAGE

ATTEMPTS TO LINK OBASA’S IMPEACHMENT TO SEYI TINUBU’S GUBER ASPIRATION MISCHIEVOUS (3)

IMPERATIVES OF A GRAND COALITION OF OPPOSITION POLITICAL PARTIES TO WRESTLE POWER FROM THE RULING APC IN THE 2027 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.

APC FORMALLY EXPELS RAUF AREGBESOLA OVER ANTI-PARTY ACTIVITIES

APC CONDEMNS SPORADIC SHOOTING BY PDP SUPPORTERS AT TRIBUNAL VENUE IN BENIN

EFCC ARRESTS FORMER REFINERY BOSSES OVER.

ARMED FORCES SCORE BIG WIN AGAINST.

JUST IN: NNPCL REDUCES FUEL PRICE.

VICE PRESIDENT SHETTIMA DEPARTS FOR GABON.

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