News

Outraged, Wike condemns shady bazaar in Abuja *How N10billion contract shot to N119billion

Published

3 years ago

September 8, 2023

“I have never seen a thing like this in my life. What we see in FCDA contract variations from N10 billion to N119 billion and from N50 billion to N200 billion is alarming, and I am not going to accept this,” an outraged Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), fumed on Thursday.

Wike, while bewailing the notorious penchant for indiscriminate contract variations, cited the case of the Ushafa – Bwari Road project contract amount, told reporters that the situation was quite embarrassing and unacceptable.

Alongsid Minister of State, FCT, Dr Mariya Mahmoud and other government officials in Abuja on Thursday, the former Governor of Rivers State, said: “The job was awarded in 2017 at N20 billion. In 2020, the contract was revised to N50 billion. As I speak to you, they have paid about N50 billion and what is outstanding is about N900 million.

“Now they are telling us that the N900 million is not enough to complete a job they said had reached 90 per cent completion. Therefore, asking for another variation, we are not going to accept. Even the engineering services, we are going to overhaul the system.”

The minister, who complained of so many variations in contract amount being handled by the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), which he described as “worrisome,” also visited the rehabilitation of Lower Usuma Dam Water Works, Gurara Road in Bwari, where he equally expressed displeasure on the delivery of the water project.

Explaining that the project was awarded as an emergency contract, but realised on getting to the project site that it has not been awarded fully, he said that he just found out that what was given to the contractor was just a letter of intent in Aug. 2022.

“I knew the importance of this project in supplying water to our people within the city and its environs. Water is very important and so I have directed that the project is no longer an emergency,” he said, adding that the project would be re-awarded, adding that his office would supervise the procurement process and invite other companies to bid for the project.

Wike who stated that more than 10 contracts had been selected and approved for completion, and that agreements had been concluded with the contractors, added that the Executive Secretary, FCDA, Mr Shehu Hadi, had been directed to make sure that all the files approved since last week were moved to the Director of Treasury, while payments to contractors be made latest by Friday.

He explained that based on the tagging of each project to Internally Generated Revenue, each contractor would be paid a certain amount of money every month based on the agreed project completion period, adding: “We agreed with some companies to deliver the projects in six months, and some 15 months.

“In fact, like the millennium tower, they (contractors) have agreed to finish it in two years’ time, and we are paying them N3 billion every month. On Monday we are flagging off the resurfacing of most of the roads in Garki, Maitama and Wuse because the roads are terribly bad.”

Share this story:

News

Why Peter Obi must not be extinguished

Published

49 seconds ago

July 10, 2026

Whirlwindnews

(08054103327, nwaukpala@yahoo.com)

Let us invoke two rich Igbo proverbs in situating the fears expressed by the presidential candidate of Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, over threats to his life ahead of the 2027 general election. On one hand is the expression; “Ebule si na nwoke na-eri n’ude”. For want of perfect translation, it is an attribution to the Ram that a man bears his pains stoically. It lectures that even in the thick of challenges, a man does not complain but goes through them with equanimity.

There is a flipside of the philosophy which says; “So osisi huru onyike n’ukwu ya, ma kwuru”. (Only a tree remains unmoved in the presence of an axe with which it could be mowed). The lesson is that a normal human being, runs for his dear life or raises alarm when he is assailed by danger, especially the type he lacks the capacity to contend with. When the suspicion gravitates to possible threats to life and curiously, from a source that ordinarily should offer succour at moments of uncertainties, it becomes an issue that commands attention.

Obi has weathered through both philosophical worlds and keeps going. Since 2023 when Obi made an audacious outing for the presidency on the platform of the Labour Party (LP), there has been the tendency by other political parties and their supporters, of leaving the burning issues in the land and focusing on him. The trend is usually manifested when chieftains of these other parties grant television or newspaper interviews. In such instances, Obi becomes the matter of discussion. As if these are not enough, hirelings have been unleashed across the internet superhighway and other social media networks with precise briefs to attack and bruise Obi’s image and reputation. In doing this, there is nothing being spared, including Obi’s family and his private life. Foot soldiers of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC), are the most visible in this cheap exercise.

With the race for the 2027 politics gradually gathering steam, the onslaught has been intensified, hence Obi’s outcry that he may not be alive to contest the poll, given the frustrating experiences he is getting from the presidency. Obi raised the alarm in a podcast interview with media personality Chude Jideonwo while responding to a question on the possibility of his not being a candidate in 2027. He said, “Not even a candidate. I might not even be alive. I’m telling you. Every single thing I do for a living, this government is frustrating it. So, there is even a possibility, if they have the opportunity, I will not be alive”.

In a system that places premium on the welfare and protection of its citizens, the lamentation by Obi deserves serious attention, not only because of who he is – a former governor of Anambra state and employer of labour – but for what he represents – a presidential candidate of a major political party with robust ideas on how the country can be lifted from its current comatose state. But rather than taking a critical look at the issues behind the alarm by Obi, President Tinubu’s media adviser, Bayo Onanuga, has in his usual manner of reducing serious national issues to the casual “us and them” level, dismissed Obi as “a pathological and serial liar, intent on dragging the government into every personal inconvenience he encounters, often resorting to exaggeration and baseless allegations”.

The questions however remain; Is Obi a serial liar as Onanuga alleged? Is Obi merely raising a red herring or shedding crocodile tears? The facts speak for themselves and of course, to the contrary. Let’s start with the events of 2023 shortly after the presidential election, when the same Bayo Onanuga, then, APC Presidential Campaign Council media director, had mocked; “Let 2023 be the last time of Igbo interference in Lagos politics.

“Let there be no repeat in 2027. Lagos is like Anambra, Imo, any Nigerian state. It is not No Man’s Land, not Federal Capital Territory. It is Yoruba land. Mind your business”. Calls on him to pull the brake on the dangerous path he was toeing did not deter Onanuga. He rather boasted; “Let me make myself abundantly clear: the views I express on Twitter are my personal views. I don’t owe anyone any apology for addressing the existential threats of our people. I am after all, first of all a Yoruba, before being a Nigerian”. It was obvious that he was throwing direct broadsides at Obi, who had beaten Tinubu silly in the election. Onanuga was not reprimanded over the lousy outing but was rather rewarded with his present office.

Fast forward to the present when President Tinubu’s garrulous aides, Daniel Bwala and Reno Omokri, had at a time, boasted that Obi would not be on ballot in 2027. Those were not threats that should ordinarily be taken lightly because they were deep and ominous. Recall, also that in January 2025, when Obi cried out that things were going out of control in the country while state officials kept deluding the people, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, accused him of inciting Nigerians to bring down the government, declaring; “Obi has crossed the red line so many times, whatever he has coming to him, he should manage it”. Morka was not known to have been called to order by the security agents for the unguarded remarks.

Rather, two APC governors, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia of Benue State and his Edo counterpart, Monday Okpebholo, who have been very low in public performance rating, saw in moving against Obi, a shortcut to relevance. In April of same year, Governor Alia issued a directive preventing Obi from visiting and impacting on inmates of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camps in Benue, citing frivolous reasons.

Okpebholo followed suit by warning Obi to obtain security clearance before visiting Edo state or take whatever that comes to him. Obi’s “sin” was visiting the state capital, on July 7, 2025 and donating N15m to St. Philomena Hospital School of Nursing Sciences for the completion of some projects in the school. Okpebholo lacked the grace to appreciate the gesture, preferring to halt Obi from extending similar goodwill to other institutions in the state. In curious coincidence, on February 24 this year, Obi visited Edo and his convoy was attacked by hoodlums. The link between the threat by the governor in July 2025 and the attack on Obi on February 24, 2026 in same Edo, can therefore be imagined.

Elsewhere in Anambra State, the governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, has been attacking Obi at all fronts and putting up all manners of childish antics at winning President Tinubu’s favours. Same goes with the pint-sized former Ebonyi state governor and Minister for works, David Umahi.

Lately, the discredited former Borno governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, who has been severally indicted for initiating the Boko Haram murderous group that has caused pains and tears on Nigerians, has been recruited into the anti-Peter Obi campaign. The other day, Sheriff was before the Lagos-based Channels Television, where he humoured himself with unfounded assertions that Obi would not secure the support of Northern voters in the 2027 presidential election. Obviously lacking in facts and integrity, Sheriff alleged that Obi believes in Biafra and is pursuing the division of Nigeria through his presidential ambition. The television appearance was not incidental. It was engineered, apparently to position Obi and his supporters as targets of attacks by terrorists and other shades of criminals in many parts of the country.

In a saner society, the likes of Ali Modu sheriff, given the allegations against him of orchestrating Boko Haram group that has killed many Nigerians, displaced families and threatened the sovereignty of the nation, should be hiding his face in shame. But he is among the President’s attack dogs against Obi. A man associated with the volume of blood that Boko Haram has shed on the land being recruited against a helpless Nigerian as Obi, certainly gives cause for concern.

What then remains for Obi to assume or even conclude that his life is under threats? Is it when he is eventually liquidated? Should he keep mute while his enemies do their worst? The truth is that the Obi has raised an alarm that is valid in all ramifications. It is equally worth reminding President Tinubu that the welfare and security of the citizens and their property, remain the primary functions of the government. This obligation of care, equally extends to Nigerians outside the APC orbit. In that regard, Peter Obi must not be extinguished under whatever guise.

Emeka Alex Duru, Ph.D., is the Editor, TheNiche Newspapers, Lagos.

Share this story:

News

Prepare for third term! *Tinubu won’t be content with two terms – Odinkalu

Published

8 hours ago

July 10, 2026

Whirlwindnews

Chidi Odinkalu, Nigeria’s fiery lawyer, law teacher and former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), is emphatic that President Bola Tinubu is pushing to perpetuate himself in office, beginning with gaming the electoral process in 2027.

Odinkalu, Professor of Practice in International Human Rights Law at the Fletcher School, told his host Naija Unfiltered, a popular Nigerian podcast programme, that he was as sure as death that the President would not exit office in 2031, if he succeeded with his current gambit to remain in power beyond next year.

Hear him: “Yes. But as I said, let me repeat myself. There’ll be a third term. President Tinubu has not done all of this just for another four years. There will be a third term. And anybody who is doing, ‘it is not our portion,’ is not reading the evidence.”

To achieve this aim, the activist, who was also emphatic that the National Assembly, would play a role, added: “The current National Assembly is anything but national or an assembly. And if it’s an assembly, it’s not a parliamentary one. Many people have called it a rubber stamp, but I think that is actually abusive of rubber stamps. I think this National Assembly is a disgrace.

Citing how bizarre and completely compliant the national legislature had become to Tinubu, the ex-NHRC’s boss, stated: “If you can change your national anthem in less than 24 hours with no public hearing, no public consultation, no public involvement, it tells you you don’t have a country because a national anthem is fundamental to the construction of a national identity.”

Also referring to the current move by the President to introduce state police, Odinkalu, wondered how the Nigerian Senate would introduce the bill to that effect and proceed towards the first and second readings, as well as committee stage and passage in less than two hours, questioning how that was possible in normal clime.

Hear him: “Once we finish our elections, we’re going to amend our Constitution, introduce a single six-year presidential term. The current incumbent will be elected until 2031. In 2031, what will happen? The question will be, will he be entitled to run on the six-year term or will he not?

“You will then get the best Senior Advocates in Nigeria telling you the law is not retrospective. That is why the administration is supporting the litigation over President Jonathan’s tenure—not because the Constitution is not clear, but because they will say there is precedent. There will be a third term, and I’m prepared to bet on it.”

Share this story:

News

I didn’t pay N300million ransom to save my blood brothers from kidnappers – gov

Published

8 hours ago

July 10, 2026

Whirlwindnews

“If we continue to pay ransom, we are encouraging these criminals to kidnap more people. The cycle will only continue unless we stop rewarding criminality,” were the words of Dauda Lawal, Governor of Zamfara State, with which he blamed those in the habit of paying ransoms as the major factor fuelling the current wave of kidnapping incidents across the country.

Lawal, on Thursday at the ARISE News/THISDAY Town Hall Conference on State Police and National Security in Abuja, told his audience how he flatly refused to pay a ₦300 million ransom demanded by kidnappers who abducted his brothers in 2019.

Reiterating his opposition to negotiating with bandits and renewed his support for the establishment of state police, Lawal, while recounting the incident, said: “My own brothers were kidnapped in 2019, and the kidnappers demanded about ₦300 million. I told them I was not going to pay a dime. If they wanted to kill them, they could go ahead.”

Stating that his brothers were eventually released without any ransom being paid, he argued that paying ransom usually emboldened criminal groups by providing financial incentives for further kidnappings.

He added: “My position on ransom payments remains unchanged. I will not negotiate, and I will not pay ransom to any criminal, no matter what happens.”

Endorsing the move for the establishment of state police, to enable governors have greater operational authority over security within their states, he regretted that the current constitutional arrangement left governors with responsibility for security without corresponding powers to direct security agencies.

His words: “In as much as I am called the chief security officer of the state, I do not have the command-and-control authority to direct the operations of the security agencies. I’m prepared to support the funding of state police if the proposed policing structure is established. I’m confident that decentralised policing will improve intelligence gathering, response time and the overall fight against insecurity.”

Share this story: