News
Kalu to APC: Obasanjo became President without winning S’West, don’t short-change S’East
To those making the argument that the South East must be overlooked in the distribution of the booties by the All Progressives Congress (APC), for posting a dismal performance in the last presidential election, a counter has come from former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu – Olusegun Obasanjo became President of Nigeria in 1999, without winning significant votes from the South West, where he comes from.
Kalu, who is eyeing the position of the Senate President, maintained that he should not be denied the position based on the performance of the APC in the South East, but on his ability and the fact that Nigeria as a country needed to be welded together in unity, where no part is seen to be undoing the other.
His admonition came on Thursday, when he joined other aspirants of the party on a visit to the National Chairman of APC, Abdullahi Adamu, where a protest was lodged against the decision of the National Working Committee (NWC) to allot offices at NASS, which excluded Kalu and his camp.
Admitting errors in the decision of the NWC, Adamu had told Kalu, Senate Chief Whip and former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, who led former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari and Senator Sani Musa, to submit a petition to his office: “We’re happy to receive you and hear you express your displeasure for what we have done. As chairman of the APC and members of the NWC, we take responsibility. As chairman, I take responsibility for what has gone on air. I take absolute responsibility for that. And in that spirit, I welcome you to this office on behalf of my colleagues.
“On Wednesday, we received members of the lower chamber who are also contesting for the Speakership in the lower chamber and we had similar pronouncements – words of disagreement from them. What we will not do today from what we have received from you is to start to open any discussion with you at this sitting as to how what you heard got to be what you heard.
“Yes, there was no sufficient or adequate consultations with you that are contesting and it is a simple principle of democracy that you get views and opinions. But, the circumstances that we found ourselves in after the elections frustrated our desire. We will go back to the drawing board. We owe our party that duty to take a look whether what was done cannot be changed; what was done needs some changes or reviews. We will take a look at what necessary compelled us to do by the grace of God.
“Hold the fire until the last word is heard from us. We are the custodians of the party as NWC but we are not acting alone. The voice of the President-elect is an essential voice. We must accommodate him, the best we can. I will not compromise on that.”
Kalu, denouncing the zoning arrangement of the party for the NASS offices as undemocratic, warning that that it was setting a stage for members to revolt at the floor of the chambers on June 13 when it would be inaugurated and voting to elect officers conducted, told his host: “What I want to say is that the country needs to live in peace. We need to live as people that have worked together for many years. And in doing this, vote should not count on what you get most times. Enmity should not also count in what one gets most times.
“The current vice president of America, Lady Kamala Harris, used to abuse President Biden. They were opponents, but today, they have found themselves in the same boat, they are living peacefully, they are showing maturity. President Obasanjo became President with votes from other Nigerians other than his constituency. So, what I am saying is vote should not be the right measurement because what you did not do today, you can do tomorrow.
“We had a hurricane in our zone that nobody could have stopped it. President Buhari had 29.9 per cent in Abia in 2019. He had 68.7 per cent in Abia North senatorial district. We are still very proud of what we did to him. I insist that vote must not count because we need one another. The binding of one another is more important than vote cast.
“Yes, vote cast is important to help the party win. But the party has won and we need peace and everybody on board…We cannot only count our success by vote, after all, in our zone, we used to be only two or three senators but today we are about six or seven APC senators from the zone.
“We all know that there was a presidential candidate from the South East and the entire people from the area took a decision. But it is not only in the South East that this happened, every part of the country had problem of voting.
“I want to appeal to the NWC that giving every part of the country a piece of the cake makes the country safe and the people to feel that they are Nigerians. I have been at the vanguard of calling for Nigeria’s unity for over 40 years…We piloted unity of the country, which is more important. We have had elections were presidents of Nigeria lost all his zone but he was still made president. Nobody discriminated against him even when he lost where he voted. Winning is not rocket science. Winning is not the issue but being your brother’s keeper is more important than winning.
“I appeal to you people to cede something reasonable and valuable to the South East. We are going to rebuild the party and the most important thing is starting earlier. Four years is like four days and it is like going back for election in the next few years. Give us opportunity to rebuild this great party.
“I am not saying that what you people have done does not look very nice but it is wrong micro-zoning to individuals, pencilling people’s name. It is undemocratic and against the constitutional right of all the aspirants. Section 51 of the Constitution did not approve that for the National Assembly. So, we are going to challenge it. We are going to say no to it. I am a party man, I am a believer in the party and I have never disobeyed this party. This is first time we are going to say no to directive of the party. We are going to say that we are not going to do this in the floor of the Senate.
“It is still early enough, about 18 to 19 days to resolve it. It will be better that the party returns to the drawing board, deliberate and call a consultative meeting. You have to review the zoning arrangement and correct micro-zoning the positions to individuals. It must be done by zone not name because it contradicts all the relevant sections of the (APC) Constitution.
“It will not be right for a big national party like ours to perpetrate what is unconstitutional. We want you people to do what will be in agreement with the Constitution. Mr. Chairman, don’t forget that all the 109 senators are capable of becoming a Senate President. There is no one elected there that is not competent enough to be a Senate President.
“I urge you people to go for further consultations and know the direction this party will go so that we can have peace in the country built on tripods like Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo. You should ignore the excuses about number of votes.”
In his reaction, Yari, said that the decision was capable of empowering the opposition party to upset the ruling party, warning the party not to underrate the capacity of the North in turning around whatever decision it had taken, insisting that the incoming government was still the government of the North.
On his part, said: “Whenever we see anything that is not right, it is only fair if we are good followers to bring it to the table and when they said the national chairman is inviting us for this, I agreed. I am standing here in my own corner as a distinguished senator, who is also aspiring and also, I am here to speak in respect of my distinguished colleagues, Senators-elect from the north central geopolitical zone of this country.
“When I made my declaration, I said, looking at the secularity of this country and looking at the permutations when we took risk (same faith ticket) and we were successful. There are certain times we should not push our luck. I said, we have competent distinguished Senators-elect from anywhere. That is because we have a Muslim president. We have a Muslim vice president and we thought that at least the third person should be a Christian.
“As we are going, I had expected that the party will look at those who are very few. I think four or five of us declared interest. And I thought in the wisdom of the party, they will invite just those five of us which they can manage. If you can manage us like this after a decision has been proposed, decision have been reached, it would have been easier if you sat with us before that proposed decision was issued and said there can only be one leader and we are first among equals. But the party didn’t do that.
“The NWC had a meeting with Mr. President-elect. I respect Mr. President-elect, he is a tactical politician. He knows it. He knows every inch of it. He will be able to listen to whatever an organ like APC will bring to him. Whatever anyone will tell him, he will want to aggregate his own views.”
“Nothing must happen to Peter Obi. An injury to one is an injury to all. When one opposition leader is intimidated, every opposition voice is diminished,” came the immediate reaction of Atiku Abubakar candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), in the 2027 presidential election on Thursday.
It was a day Atiku, who came second in the 2023 election and Obi, third, in the declaration made by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), also asked for the release of Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna, warning that democracy is threatened when opposition figures are intimidated.
Obi, Governor of Anambra State between 2006 to 2014, had accused the federal government of deliberately frustrating his means of livelihood and targeting opposition figures, while appearing on #WithChude podcast, a programme hosted by Chude Jidonwo, a popular Nigerian social media host.
On the same Tuesday, Obi’s outing broke on social media, where he claimed that the way the Tinubu government was pursuing him, he was not sure of making it to the 2027 election alive, the family of the former Kaduna State Governor, also came publicly to describe stark details of what the family head, currently in detention since February this year, has been facing.
Conveying his distaste on the two situations through, Phrank Shaibu, his spokesman, Atiku, Nigeria’s Vice President between 1999 and 2007, added: “When one citizen begins to fear because of his political beliefs, democracy itself becomes the casualty.”
In a quick riposte to the scant regard, Aso Rock seemed to have placed on Obi’s fears, the former VP, said: “The Presidency must understand that democratic leadership demands composure, not contempt. When a citizen, particularly an opposition figure, voices concerns about the state of the nation or his personal safety, the first duty of government is to reassure through statesmanship, facts and responsible conduct—not through insults.
“Democracies are strengthened by reasoned engagement, not by invective. A government that answers every criticism with abuse projects insecurity, not confidence. The opposition is not the enemy of Nigeria.
“Poverty is the enemy. Hunger is the enemy. Insecurity is the enemy. Corruption is the enemy. Kidnapping is the enemy. The daily bloodletting across our communities is the enemy. A government that devotes more energy to attacking its critics than confronting these existential challenges has confused political survival with the purpose of governance. There are schoolchildren and teachers still waiting to be reunited with their families. There are countless innocent Nigerians languishing in the camps of kidnappers,” he said.
“These are the emergencies that deserve the full machinery of government—not endless political sparring with opposition figures. The Federal Government must devote the same urgency it applies to political communication to rescuing kidnapped Nigerians and restoring public confidence in national security.”
Regarding the plight of el-Rufai, Atiku stated: “The continued detention of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has generated widespread public concern. Every Nigerian, irrespective of political affiliation, is entitled to due process, equal protection under the law and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty by a competent court. Justice must never create the appearance of selective application.
“Public confidence is not restored through insults or propaganda. It is restored through openness, accountability and the courage to answer legitimate questions,” he said.
“Governments earn trust by confronting controversy with facts, strengthening institutions and demonstrating that no one is above scrutiny. Our elders say: ‘When the drums of injustice beat for your neighbour, do not dance, for tomorrow they may beat for you. Every Nigerian, regardless of political affiliation, has a stake in defending the democratic space. Release Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.
“Bring home every abducted schoolchild, every teacher and every innocent Nigerian still languishing in the hands of kidnappers.
“Stop chasing political opponents and start confronting the crises that are bleeding our nation. History will not remember how fiercely a government fought its critics.
“It will remember whether it protected its citizens, upheld justice, rescued the vulnerable and preserved the democracy entrusted to its care.”
“They apologised to me privately. I said they should put it on social media. They said they will not put it on social media, it will affect their credibility, because it’s not just them, but their other programmers at the Al Jazeera network too.”
These were the words of Daniel Bwala, while giving further insight into what has transpired along the line since his controversial interview with Mehdi Hasan of Al Jazeera, a global television network in March 2026, stating that the station privately apologised to him.
Bwala, who appeared on The Morayo Show, a private talk-show programme, hosted by Morayo Afolabi-Brown, a popular television presenter, however said because both Mehdi and Al Jazeera, refused to make the apology public, he was prompted him to instruct his lawyers in England to sue for defamation.
Clips on the controversial outing in which Bwala, spokesman for the campaign of Atiku Abubakar during his presidential bid in 2023, were in the public domain for several weeks after where a groundswell of commentators believed his performance was not only underwhelming, but he was outrightly disgraced.
He added: “The substance of the apology was that they should have told me that part of what they discussed with me was a talking point, that they were also going to interrogate me on my credibility for supporting the person I had attacked before.
“By their own ethics, they ought to have told me that, but they said they were sorry they didn’t. If you’re bold, if you call yourself a journalist, a fact-checker, you run your programme live and let people judge live.
“If you’re thinking straight, that’s what you’d do. You took creative control of the programme. You made a recorded programme. Ethics demanded you publish it exactly as it was recorded.”
Informing that the programme ran for one hour and 30 minutes but Al Jazeera published only 49 minutes, he accused the network of skewing the footage in Hasan’s favour, adding: “The deeper point is that they cut out the parts where I was fact-checking him and the crowd was clapping for me, and instead kept the parts where he was speaking and people were clapping for him. He’d ask me a question, I’d deny it, then he’d play the old clip. We call that ‘cut and joined’ in media. After doing that, which amounts to a smear campaign, he didn’t give me the chance to react to it.
“Instead, he let it appear that I was simply asked a question, denied it, was shown the clip, denied it again, was shown another clip, and denied it again. He removed that part, because if he’d left it in, anyone watching would understand that I had already answered the question upfront, and that my later denials were a response to his repeated bringing it up. That’s where the unethical conduct of a professional issue arose.
“When they apologised, I said no, put it on social media. They refused. So, I instructed my lawyers in England to go to court. The case is currently in court. Because my advisers in England said it’s defamation of character.”
More successes are being recorded by Nigerian forces trying to rout out terrorist in parts of the country, with emerging reports indicating that the perpetrators are currently running scared from the hot onslaughts they are getting from the operatives.
Channels Television, is quoting military authorities at the Operation Hadin kai (OPHK) conducting military blitzkrieg against the terrorists in the North East as saying that the troops received six Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP), one of the major terrorist groups operating in the area, who surrendered alongside their families, at the 192 Battalion (Main) Sector 1 of the body.
Quoting a statement on Wednesday by Mohammed Goni, spokesman of the military operation, with headquarters in Maiduguri, Borno State, the report, said that among the items recovered from the terrorists and their families included a cumulative sum of more than N1.5 million, two Tecno mobile phones, and other items.
Th statement, added that troops of 115 Task Force Battalion, while conducting ongoing search and rescue operations in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State, on July 7, rescued two additional abductees from a terrorist hideout, where they also recovered cash of N1.2 million suspected to be proceeds of criminal activities, food items, and other logistics believed to have supported terrorist operations.
The rescued victims have since been evacuated to a secure location where they are receiving appropriate medical care and psychosocial support, the report said, adding that during the same period, the troops noted that it contained a coordinated attack by ISWAP terrorists in Borno, and one of the soldiers was killed.
“Although the insurgents briefly exploited a section of the base’s defensive perimeter during the intense firefight, the troops rapidly regrouped, mounted a determined counter-offensive and decisively expelled the attackers, inflicting significant casualties and forcing the surviving terrorists to flee with varying degrees of gunshot wounds.
“Regrettably, one gallant soldier paid the supreme price, while two gun-trucks and some combat enablers sustained damage during the engagement. The situation at FOB Logomani remains firmly under the control of Operation HADIN KAI troops, with reinforcements deployed, exploitation operations ongoing and additional measures being implemented to further strengthen the defensive resilience of the location.”
Detailing how troops of 232 Battalion apprehended a notorious criminal in Gombi Local Government Area of Adamawa State, the statement, said: “Follow-up exploitation of the arrest led to the recovery of one AK-47 rifle, two magazines, and twenty-eight rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition.
“The suspect and recovered items are currently in military custody, while further investigations are underway to identify and apprehend other members of the criminal network.”
Similarly, the statement said troops of the 149 Battalion arrested two suspected terrorist logistics suppliers in the Mobbar Local Government Area of Borno State.
The recovered items include cash sums, a Volkswagen Golf vehicle, construction materials, household items, and other supplies suspected to have been destined for terrorist elements.
The suspects are currently undergoing interrogation, while the recovered items remain in military custody as investigations continue.
As part of ongoing offensive operations, troops of 24 Task Force Brigade, in conjunction with members of the Civilian Joint Task Force, conducted a clearance operation on known terrorist enclaves around Wulgo.
During the operation, the troops said they exploited the terrorists’ hasty withdrawal and recovered a sack containing assorted illicit drugs abandoned by the fleeing insurgents.
“The recovery further underscores the sustained pressure being mounted on terrorist elements, denying them freedom of movement and disrupting their operational capabilities.”
Relatedly, the troops apprehended a suspected BHT/ISWAP logistics supplier at the Molai checkpoint in possession of large quantities of medical supplies without due clearance. The suspect and items recovered are in custody for further interrogation.
Again, in Sector 2 Area of Responsibility, Troops of 233 Tank Battalion, in conjunction with local hunters, intercepted and arrested a suspected BHT/ISWAP terrorist logistics supplier from Ngirya village of Tarmuwa LGA with five motorcycle tires. The suspect and items are in military custody for investigation.
“These latest operational gains underscore the effectiveness of sustained offensive operations, actionable intelligence and the seamless collaboration among security agencies and auxiliary forces in dismantling terrorist logistics networks, disrupting criminal activities and protecting vulnerable communities across the North East”, the statement added.
Headquarters Operation HADIN KAI assured the public that ongoing search and rescue operations will continue with unwavering resolve until every abducted person is accounted for and safely reunited with their families.
“The Theatre Command also issues a stern warning to individuals involved in supplying food, fuel, construction materials, transportation or any other form of logistics to terrorist groups to immediately desist. Anyone found aiding, abetting or collaborating with terrorist elements, directly or indirectly, will be identified, apprehended and prosecuted in accordance with the law.”
-
News3 weeks agoBREAKING: Troops rescue wife of kidnapped General! *Terrorists flee scene
-
News3 weeks agoBREAKING: Count me out, Okonkwo tells Atiku *Amaechi VP’s choice an insult to Ndigbo
-
News2 weeks agoBREAKING: Court sentences Nigerien, two others to death over terrorism
-
News4 weeks agoDickson: Obi, a big asset to NDC, we’re working together … but!
-
News4 weeks agoOvia, ex-Zenith Bank boss swings into luxury apartments *Flats hit $2.8million price tag
-
News6 days agoBREAKING: EX-SSG mowed down by gunmen! *He resisted being kidnapped – driver
-
News2 weeks agoAbductors of Oyo teachers panicking, freedom coming for victims soon!
-
News3 weeks agoTwo hours after Igboho’s ‘red-eyes’ to ‘Fulani’ leaders, gunmen free kidnap victims!