Editorial
Centus Nweze: Metaphor for Nigerian judiciary, as PEPT decides on Tinubu’s fate
Chima Centus Nweze, until his death, occurred on Sunday, July 30, but formally went viral on Tuesday, August 2, 2023, was Justice of the Supreme Court (JSC) of Nigeria. He was appointed to the apex court, the highest career progression of judicial officers in Nigeria, by former President Goodluck Jonathan, in 2014, from the Court of Appeal, where he was elevated in 2008 from the Enugu State High Court.
A native of Obollo, Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State, the erudite jurist, who was born on September 25, 1958, apart from being reputed to have had a sterling career, was seen as one of the most fearless judges in recent Nigerian history. In his about 30 years on the bench, which began after his appointment from private practice as a lawyer in 1995, he was one of the judges who had promoted the doctrine of justice must be done, though the heavens fall.
This was demonstrated in 2020, when he practically cried blue murder as he tried to rebuff what he saw as the attempt by his colleagues at the apex court to assault the temple of justice with one of the most unbelievably odious judicial pronouncements in the history of Nigeria, by handing the Douglas House, Owerri, to Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in place of Emeka Ihedioha, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who had won the governorship election in Imo State and was sworn into office on May 29, the previous year.
He was the only one that gave a dissenting judgement, to say no, out of the seven justices that sat on the case, to hand over power to Uzodimma, who had come a distant fourth in the said election and who has remained in office since then. That singular outing, which was a demonstrable example of his ability to showcase braveness, had stood him out in the minds of many informed quarters as a man of courage and forthrightness.
But that reputation suffered a mortal blow, when on February 6, 2023, he read the lead judgement in in the case of Bashir Machina against Ahmad Lawan then Senate President on who should be the rightful candidate for the Yobe North Senatorial seat election. It was a three-two split decision judgement with Nweze on the majority side. Not only did he sanction the verdict, he stamped his authority with his gavel, after reading it.
Not a few Nigerians saw the outing of the erudite jurist and scholar as completely direct opposite to that of his firm stance in the Uzodimma case. For emphasis, Nweze had cautioned his colleagues to reconsider their position after Ihedioha had returned to urge the apex court justices to reverse themselves. In the dissenting judgement, Nweze, who had held that Uzodinma misled the court by crediting unverified votes in 388 polling units to himself, had warned: “This decision of the Supreme Court will continue to haunt our electoral jurisprudence for a long time to come. This court has a duty of redeeming its image, it is against this background that the finality of the court cannot extinguish the right of any person.
“I am of the view that this application should succeed. I hereby make an order repealing the decision of this court made on January 14 and that the certificate of return issued to the appellant (Uzodinma) returned to INEC. I also make an order restoring the respondents (Ihedioha) as the winner of the March 9, 2019 governorship election.”
So, what happened that he could switch in such a manner so soon after? For one, going by the doctrine of justice must not only be done, but seen to have been done, many saw and still see the case of Uzodimma carrying the same weight as that of Lawan, in terms of misapplication of justice. They could not be bothered about the technicality upon which the late jurist and his two other colleagues relied on.
All what a completely stunned public could see was the meat of the case. Lawan, had contested the presidential ticket of the APC held in June of 2022 and by virtue of the Electoral Act of that year, was clearly not qualified as the amended act, had barred anybody from contesting for two positions in one election circle. So, what happened that Nweze, a known advocate could jettison this clear provision, in preference to mere technicality?
How could such a character with steely mindset on delivering justice at whatever cost be associated with such obvious judicial heist? That has become the basic question, which has been accentuated with his death. There are fears that the late jurist did not act out of self-will. There is a version that claimed that he was forced to deliver the judgement.
In fact, one account stretch the issue further, informing that, that singular outing that became a serious blemish on his otherwise blistering career quickened his death and sent him to his early grave, metaphorically and literally. First, it was said that he could not live with the consequences of what did to his conscience and reputation. Second, he was said to have been denied visa to travel to the US to attend to his health.
Unverified as it appears, what if that narrative is the true picture? What does it portend for the Nigerian judiciary? The answer is obvious. If someone as hard-willed as Nweze could capitulate under pressure, as it was alleged, who then could survive? Indeed, right from time immemorial, the case of the independence of the judiciary or lack of it, has always come to the fore in justice systems across the world.
While there is the belief that no judiciary is completely free anywhere in the world as judges are prone to external influence, the case of Africa, is considered worse, Nigeria being no different. In fact, the 1962 comments of George Sodeinde Sowemimo, in the celebrated treason trial of the late Obafemi Awolowo against the Federal Government, remains one of the most historic examples – what lawyers describe as locus classicus. Before the late judge sent the former Leader of Action Group (AG) to jail, he had prefixed his pronouncements with the expression – my hands are tied. Tied by what, whom? The answer has not been provided till date.
Ironically, Nweze’s death came hours to the conclusion of cases at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal hearing the challenges of Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi, his Labour Party (LP) counterpart and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), against the declaration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as winner of the 2023 presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The PEPT at its last sitting on Tuesday, presided over the adoption of their final addresses by all the parties in the petitions and would now retire to give their judgement at a date they say would be made known the public. How far could the case of Nweze and numerous examples dotting the judicial history of Nigeria guide the judges to deliver their judgement? How formidable are the judges, both at the Court of Appeal currently sitting as PEPT, or the Supreme Court, if and when it gets to them, to withstand the forces of influence that would come, if any?
If indeed, Nweze was forced to capitulate to the level of not only acquiescing, but delivering the obviously integrity-questioned judgement, what might be the threat? From fiction stories in books like The Godfather, judges who were in the pockets of mafia gangs, were either willing collaborators or victims of blackmail or outright threat.
Such blackmails could be threats to expose their dark secrets, including lurid pictures of their making out with fellow men as homosexuals, or sleeping with other people’s wives or evidences of their involvement in high crimes such as murder or drug deals or outright threat of physical harm to them and their family members. How many judges could deal with the threat of the kidnap of their precious sons and daughters or the image of dark-goggled thugs hovering around their premises?
It is even more pronounced in Nigeria, where virtually everybody has one yoke or the other hanging on their necks, especially those in public offices, where official corruption is worn like a second skin. Whoever thought that Walter Onnoghen, would be thrown out as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), in such a sorry manner or his successor, Tanko Muhammed, with his fellow judges at the various levels including the National Judicial Council (NJC), either watching like rain-beaten chickens, unable to lift a finger or even leading the process to the end of the infamy?
But even so, are all hopes lost? What if the judges decide to damn the consequences? What if they decide to redeem what is left of the inglorious situation that has sent shivers down the spine of Nigerians? Again, Nweze provides an abiding answer. Whatever led him to make that perceived outlandish judgement, whether he was purely looking at the law or due to inducement or threat, the fact remains that he did not live forever and could have done otherwise.
Like William Shakespeare, wrote: The purest treasure mortal times afford is a spotless reputation. Would Nweze have reached the same decision or made the same pronouncement in the Lawan case, if he knew that he would die in less than six months after and thereafter face his maker to account for the talent he was given? The answer, as they say, is blowing in the wind.
Because nobody knows at which hour, it now becomes imperative, for those who want to preserve their names, the only thing mortal times could afford, is to do the right thing. For the judges in the PEPT case, would any lesson have been learnt? If indeed Nweze acted on external influence, where has it left him? If he was induced, where are the proceeds? If it was blackmail, would he have redeemed himself before his maker? If it was threat? Has he lived?
Today, Nigeria is standing on the edge of a cliff. A tip could see it crashing down the slope to the jagged rocks at the base. On the other hand, it could be pulled back from the brink towards the direction of hope and prosperity. Whatever it would be, the adequate judicial resolution of the 2023 presidential is key. The judges are therefore, central to whether the country would take the plunge or soar high above.
But one thing is sure, if for whatever reason, they allow the plunge, there is only one outcome – it would lead to two kinds of death – death of a country or death of human beings. In this, nobody knows who would survive. It is either the PEPT judges kill Nigeria finally or save it. What would it be? Would the judiciary destroy Nigeria or save it? Enough said!
The systematic bastardisation of Nigeria and its degraded worth in the eyes of the global community seem to have reached to its inglorious height in recent months. How damning!
Each day, the largest country of black people on earth seems to be gliding uncontrollably down the slippery slope of infamy where countries which hitherto stand in awe and trepidation, now practically spit at its global image.
Only recently, Burkina Faso, one of the smallest countries on the West African sub-region – a country with total worth far less than Lagos got Abuja crawling on its knees to Ouagadougou to plead for the release of a military aircraft flying the Nigerian flag.
Yes! It took a whole 10 days for the Nigerian Air Force C-130 and 11 soldiers on board to breathe the air of freedom once again, after they were detained in the hunger-ravaged African country for making an emergency landing – a routine aviation procedure that is ironed out in a matter of hours with nothing more than a mere explanation required.
But in this case, it took a special delegation of top Nigerian officials to move to the country with apology letter in hand to beg for the freedom of the detained men and plane from the Burkinabe authorities, whose personnel, openly walked on air to stamp their importance. Compatriots, this is your country – the giant of Africa.
Last year, it took a cough at the Oval Office Washington for Aso Rock Villa to catch cold and harass itself into a frenzy in search for way out of the decade-old issue of mass slaughtering of Nigerians by terrorists in addition to other forms of high crimes that have seized the country over the years.
Yet, even with all the frantic, frenetic and impulsive thrashing around, including a unilateral declaration of State of Emergency on security, what has come out of it?
It took the same United States, to make a decisive statement with the Christmas day bombing of a supposed hideout in Sokoto, said to have decimated scores of terrorist, who had assembled to plot how to wreak another havoc across the country as has become traditional during the yuletide season over the recent years.
But were these disgraceful outings limited to domestic affairs, it would have been more tolerable. But, unfortunately, it is not.
Internationally too, the tiger has also lost its tigritude. The same Nigeria that virtually stood shoulder to shoulder, gazing eyeball to eyeball as it confronted powerful western nations in a singular bid to end apartheid in South Africa – yes, the same Nigeria that took it upon itself to end the mass slaughtering in Liberia and Sierra Leone, is today cowering in its cocoon over issues it ought to have taken the lead in presenting the African perspective.
Last year, it was South Africa that roared like a lion by confronting Israel over the blitzkrieg in Gaza – going as far as taking the country to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague, The Netherlands.
Today, it is Ghana that is taking charge at the world stage, with its voice echoing beyond the seas and wildernesses over the US action in Venezuela where its special forces arrested Nicolas Maduro – that country’s President on Saturday.
“Ghana expresses strong reservations against unilateral use of force and strongly deplores such acts that violate the Charter of the United Nations and international law, as well as the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of States.
“The Ghanaian Government is keenly following the situation in Venezuela with great concern, and notes that such assaults on international law, attempts at the occupation of foreign territories and apparent external control of oil resources have extremely adverse implications on international stability and the global order.
“Ghana also notes with deep concern statements by US President, Donald Trump, that the US will “run” Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition” and that US large oil companies will be asked to “go in.”
“These declarations are reminiscent of the colonial and imperialist era. They set a dangerous precedent for the global order. Such colonial ambitions should have no place in the post-Second World War era.
“To allow this is to put the international community at great risk and undermine the sovereignty of every country. Ghana, therefore, re-affirms its commitment to the principle of self-determination and holds the firm view that only the Venezuelan people should freely determine their political and democratic future.
“Ghana calls for immediate de-escalation and the release of President Maduro and his wife. The Government of Ghana shall maintain and defend its long-held principled position against invasion, occupation, colonialism, apartheid, disregard for sovereignty and all forms of violation of international law.”
That was Accra’s bold and fearless response to the Venezuelan saga. Now where is Nigeria? Where is President Bola Tinubu? Mum is the word. The last we heard from our President was via an image of him having lunch with Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda in Paris. No single word uttered – just a picture!
Even that has also run into its own controversy as the image is now being disputed, because experts are convinced that it is AI-generated. How bad could it get! How deep could a country sink into the morass of infamy! How terrible!
But need anyone look far to ascertain the reason for this parlous situation and progressive dip into the bottomless pit of hopelessness. Of course, not! The answer is very apparent.
It is all about legitimacy and integrity of the leadership of the individual countries. John Dramani Mahama, could stand anywhere on the world stage today to declare that the mandate he holds as President derives from the people of Ghana. Cyril Ramaphosa could also swear in like manner that he enjoys the mandate of South Africans.
Could Tinubu honestly make the same claims today? That is the difference. When Sam Amadi, Harvard-trained lawyer, captured the Nigerian variant of strategy for election victory as the ability to bribe the institutions – INEC, judiciary and security authorities, rather than constituency mapping and messaging to convince the people – this is the result.
When Chidi Odinkalu, a professor of law, states categorically that Tinubu did not need the votes of Nigerians but corrupt INEC and the judiciary, to be President, the consequence is illegitimacy, lack of credibility and a country limbo.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC), was even more emphatic when it linked Tinubu’s silence to the fear of being served the Maduro treatment based on the evidently fraudulent 2023 presidential election that brought him to power, the consequences he has been battling with till date.
Bolaji Abdullahi, its spokesman, recalled how the government of the ousted President was widely condemned as illegitimate and deeply flawed by nine governments across Latin America, the European Union, and international democratic institutions.
Stressing how political opponents were barred from contesting, peaceful protests met with violence, and state institutions weaponised against the very citizens, he pointed to the celebration that followed Maduro’s fate to underscore his argument, stating: “When citizens pour into the streets in celebration, it reveals more than approval of an intervention; it exposes the bankruptcy of the regime that has been upended.”
Back home, he was no less so: “Let’s be clear: the Nigerian government’s choice of silence at this moment has nothing to do with neutrality. Instead, it reveals a government that lacks confidence simply because it lacks integrity. In Nigeria, in Venezuela, and across the world, democracy must mean more than ballots and electoralism. It must translate to freedom, fairness, and a happier life for the citizens.
“In this context, the ADC believes that the situation in Venezuela is a cautionary tale to all dictators, including the supposedly elected ones, and election riggers everywhere. The world is watching, and contrived mandates will no longer find a place to hide.”
How would anyone dispute this position? The naysayer must give a credible reason for the rapid Nigeria’s current drift to a one-party state, despite the evidential failures of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on all fronts of developments since coming to power in 2015.
Why, for instance are all the 36 governors of Nigeria struggling for space in the All Progressives Congress (APC) and declaring open support for Tinubu, even when the President has posted the most disastrous if not the worst outing in Nigerian history, if they were not being corralled to do so.
Why would a Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) arrogate to himself the power of life and death and insist that Siminalayi Fubara, his successor as Rivers State Governor must be divested of his free choice to contest for re-election as part of a strange “agreement?”
The real story is that Nigeria is no different from Venezuela under Maduro. That a repeat of the 2023 fraudulent presidential election will not only continue to produce a lame-duck President that will either be a puppet a weakling, or a disgrace rolled into one. That will be the real TRAGEDY!
Nigerians, nay, the world woke up on Monday morning to the shocking news of yet again, the abduction of students in the country – this time at the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State.
The incident has now added to the long list of a phenomenon, which started on the night of April 14, 2014 with the kidnap of the students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, an episode now popularly known as the Chibok Girls saga.
When an uproar reverberated across the globe following the Chibok incident, with world leaders weighing in on the matter, including Michelle Obama, former US first lady, who took it personally by joining the campaign to free the young girls, it was an instant response to the gory picture that hovered in the firmament over the fate of of such young lasses, many still in their puberty stage in the hands of such dangerous criminals.
Who would have thought that the development would soon become a constant feature that would continue to smear the nation’s landscape, especially with the exit of then President Goodluck Jonathan, who had suffered the butt of national and international ridicule, as the incident was attributed to him with the derisive term – cluelessness – was eventually tossed out of office as a result?
On the contrary, it turned out that Muhammadu Buhari, his successor, posted a worse outing, despite his record as a General of the Nigerian Army and former Military Head of State, who during his times as the latter, was known as a no-nonsense leader.
Indeed, while Jonathan was clueless, Buhari practically dozed, slept or actually slumbered on the same issue. Under him, the situation assumed an almost epidemic proportion – from Dapchi Girls, which saw the abduction of 110 students from the Girls’ Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi in Bulabulin, Bursari Local Government area of Yobe State, on February 19, 2018, to the 279 female students of Government Girls Science Secondary School, a boarding school in Jangebe, Zamfara State on February 26, 2021, which came few months after about 300 students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, on December 11, 2020.
During this period, Kaduna suffered some of the worst hits. First, 150 students of the Bethel Baptist High School, in 2021 and then the 2024 edition, when about 285 students were taken from their school in Kuriga, in Chikun Local Government Area.
These are just some of the incidents that quickly come to mind. There are many other cases of similar nature before this latest addition in Maga, where 25 girls were picked up and herded into the bush like cattle.
Now this was the situation under which President Bola Tinubu, had actually packed his bag preparatory to boarding his much-fancied executive jet en-route South Africa and Angola for the 20th G20 Summit of leaders in South Africa and thereafter proceed to Luanda to attend the Seventh African Union-European Union (AU-EU) Summit.
Indications coming from the Villa, in Abuja, appear confusing, as it suggests “postponement” rather than outright “cancellation,” going by the statement of Bayo Onanuga, the President’s main spokesman, on Thursday.
Onanuga, wrote: “Disturbed by the security breaches in Kebbi State and Monday’s attack by bandits against worshippers at Christ Apostolic Church, Eruku, President Tinubu decided to suspend his departure.
“He now awaits reports from Vice President Kashim Shettima, who paid a sympathy visit to Kebbi on his behalf, as well as reports from the police and the Department of State Services regarding the attack in Kwara.”
Anyone could bet and be sure that the trip was paused substantially due to the general outcry in the country over the move and that even now, the pull similar to the bee to the nectar remains too strong that he might actually step on the plane before the events end.
Pray! What is his role and of what benefit would he willingly stain the floor of these events with the blood of his countrymen with which his feet are currently smeared?
Pray! With which face would the President be sitting among these leaders, considering the situation in his country, which is practically on intense inferno currently? How would he handle the stolen glances? Knowing the world of diplomacy where much are ensconced in those deep stares and benign but deceptive smiles, those sympathies he would receive could obviously be more pretended than genuine and he would become the butt of private jokes and conversations thereafter.
Remember the heat that attended the discovery of a headless body floating on the Thames River in the UK in 2001 and how life nearly came to a halt in the country as a result.
Now imagine Kier Starmer the current Prime Minister stepping into British Airways en-route the same South Africa or even United Nations summit without resolving the issue of a stolen pet-dog or assuaging the feeling of that little blue-eyed girl ruing over her loss, let alone one young British school girl being kidnapped and in the hands of mindless criminals. Just imagine it!
Did the US not deploy all its intelligence and military might in a multi-million-dollar operation just to rescue one of its citizens the terrorists currently tormenting Nigeria were too inebriated in their madness to abduct.
Now, consider a Donald Trump, even in his extreme eccentric nature, mounting Air Force One and jetting out to France, China or Saudi Arabia to sign some trillion-dollar military hardware contracts capable of jolting the US economy to a 50-year-record high, while one American Marine is in captivity, let alone some 20 students of a college in Alabama. Would the heat generated therefrom not be enough to power a spacecraft?
Why must Nigeria be different? Is the life of a Nigerian worth less than that of a dog in Britain? Does Tinubu consider the life of the school girl in Dapchi, Kaduna or Maga less valuable than that of her counterpart in Chicago? If no, why not stay back and prove it?
We must say so, unequivocally! Nothing – economically, socially, politically, globally – is more important than the rescue of these 25 young girls. Whether postponed or paused Tinubu must not be found anywhere near that aircraft. In fact, he must not leave Nigeria until those girls are rescued! Nothing could be more serious, nothing more valuable!
Where is the subsidy money? This was the question Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), in the February 23, 2023 election, posed to his host during an outing on The Morning Show, the breakfast programme on ARISE NEWS, Nigeria’s television network.
It was a question to underscore the promise President Bola Tinubu made when he told Nigerians that he would be deploying the proceeds from the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol to engage in massive development of infrastructure across the country.
The idea behind the thinking as contained in the reform structure signposting his Renewed Hope Agenda, is not only to cushion the immediate impact of the policy on the polity, but to evoke a quantum leap in the economy of the country. Of course, not a few have hailed the move as a bold step that underscored the President’s courage to dare to step into a forbidden ground where his predecessors feared.
But if any impact has been cushioned or the economy has been jumpstarted, two years on, it is in the imagination of the leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tinubu’s immediate cabinet, appointees, the hundreds of his appointees he has given jobs and of course state governors and members of the legislature, who are either themselves swimming in the deep ocean of unimaginable quantum of raw cash now suffusing the coffers of their individual states or are too scared of the now ubiquitous “Hurricane” the government of the day has created around itself to make as much as a whimper of protest.
The rest of Nigerians not only see differently, but feel differently, having been at the receiving end from the moment Tinubu pronounced those three-letter words on May 29, 2023 at the podium of Eagle Square, Abuja, shortly after taking the oath of office to commence official duties as Nigeria’s 16th President – subsidy is gone! To further deepen the ugly situation, the President also, followed up with the floating of the national currency, plummeting the value from N400 to N1,700 to a dollar.
Here is how the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the main mouthpiece of organised labour in Nigeria attempted to capture the situation: “Instead of reinvestment, Nigerians got inflation so vicious that families now skip meals, businesses shut down daily, and transport costs consume what little remains of workers’ wages. The naira, left to the so-called ‘market forces,’ has collapsed in value, turning Nigeria into a bargain basement for neighbouring countries, while local industries suffocate under the weight of imported inflation.
“What makes this pain even more frustrating is that none of it is new. We’ve seen this script before – subsidy removals, devaluations, and IMF-approved austerity – each time sold as the bitter pill Nigeria must swallow for a brighter future. But when has it ever worked? These same policies under past administrations only widened inequality, enriched a few, and left the majority poorer. Tinubu’s version is no different – except the suffering is deeper, the anger louder, and the government’s response more brutal.”
But the wackiest part of the sad story is not captured in the massive pain the labour body captured or the oft-sung mantra of the President, luxuriating in in obvious wealth and making no bones about it urging Nigerians to be patient and give him time for the benefits to mature, which in itself instead of suggesting a genuine appeal, appears more of an insult and mockery.
No! It is not even much more in the fact that the President himself and those at the corridors of power are engaging in the level of obscene revelling never seen before of public officials in Nigeria – buying up everything under the sun – spending cash like drunken sailors – or competing in opulence that mimics Arabian kings or medieval monarchs.
No! It is in the impunity – the utterly licentious – let the heavens fall attitude of it all, as captured in the cost of the projects being showcased in the so-called infrastructure gulping the Nigerian commonwealth in question and the inability of Nigerians not even make a whimper of protest. That is what rankles – like pouring vinegar to a festering sore.
Apart from Tinubu himself, nobody seems as culpable in this regard as Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Those who name him the alternate President of Nigeria, may not be far off the mark, because in everything, the former Governor of Rivers State appears to copy Tinubu. The President is reputed to parade one of the longest convoys of cars in the world. Wike’s convoy is merely a few cars short. Tinubu bought a Cadillac Beast, Wike now appears at functions in latest Rolls Royce.
On Tuesday, Wike gathered the world to launch the newly-renovated International Conference Centre (ICC), now named the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre (BATICC) Abuja, at the cost of – wait for it N39billion. Everybody, including the President was there to celebrate. It is of course, one of the wonders Wike, the poster-boy of the Tinubu administration is doing in the FCT.
But as the backslapping and chest-beating were going on, it was obvious that nobody bothered to ask the basic question – what was the N39billion for? What could have been put in that structure to gulp such an amount? How much would a brand-new structure have cost? This was a structure that the military government of Military President Ibrahim Babangida built in 1991 at the projected cost of N240million, from the scratch. Granted that the Naira is almost valueless. But has become so worthless that the renovation of a mere building would cost that much?
That missing question is what we are asking today. Has Nyesom Wike been given a blank cheque? What level of financial scrutiny goes into these projects or is he immune from such assessment? Only on Monday, May 6, 2025, Tinubu presented a whopping ₦1.78 trillion proposal to the National Assembly as the FCT budget for the year. This was after the approvals of other humongous amounts for the same entity.
We raise this issue because we believe it must go pari-passu with the celebration of the Minister as the poster-boy of the Tinubu administration for which he has earned the sobriquet – Mr. Projects – and an award to go with it from no lesser influential organisation than ARISE NEWS, Nigeria’s frontline television station.
While it is apposite to join other numerous Nigerians to pop the bottles and roll out the drums in celebration, the greater duty is to ask, how much of the mind-boggling financial accruals from the federal purse and the also huge internally-generated funds from Abuja, goes into actual project and how much goes into maintaining imperial lifestyle associated to him, including those highly dollarised apparels such as he spotted on Monday and fancy cars.
If renovating the residence of the Vice President at N21billion, parading state of the art cars in a convoy, driving to a function in the latest edition of Rolls Royce and renovating the ICC or now BATICC, originally built at N240million only 34 years ago at N39billion, is not criminal, we wonder what else qualifies. We won’t keep quiet!
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