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I’ve inherit Buhari’s assets and liabilities – Tinubu *His place in history assured
“Whatever unresolved challenges faced by President Buhari in his eight years, our administration will endeavour to resolve them. As I said during the campaigns, I inherited all his assets and liabilities,” were the exact words with which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, reiterated his resolve to remain glued with President Muhammadu Buhari, his predecessor in office, with whom he has shared what could be termed a symbiotic relationship.
After helping Buhari to get to power through a groundswell of political forces he put together to form the All Progressives Congress (APC), a coalition of three major political parties, the former President, who enjoyed an eight-year, two-term tenure, returned the favour by handing over to Tinubu, which he accentuated by publicly displaying the vote he cast at the February 2023 presidential election for the former Governor of Lagos State.
Tinubu, at the presentation of the book Working with Buhari: Reflections of a Special Adviser, Media and Publicity ( 2015-2023), a book written by Femi Adesina, chronicling his experience as spokesman for the former President, Tinubu, named some of the landmark achievements of the former President, saying that whatever remained of Buhari’s dreams would be pursued by his government.
His words: “First of all, I thank the organisers of today’s book launch for providing me the opportunity and the ambience to reunite with my predecessor, former President Muhammadu Buhari, since he left office on May 29, 2023.
“When President Buhari was leaving office he said he would retire to Daura, far away from Abuja to enjoy his well-deserved retirement from public service. I remember he added that if his supporters and friends deny him of enough rest in Daura, he would run to the Republic of Niger. Well, as you all know, he can no longer escape to Niger Republic because of the border closure.
“I am therefore extremely happy to receive him here in Abuja. We are all here today to honour a great man, a patriot, a dedicated public servant who offered his best in the service of our country since he joined the army in 1962 at age 18. President Buhari served our country with dedication and uncommon zeal. First as a military officer who offered unblemished service, manning important commands and political positions, and crowning it as military Head of State on 1st January 1984. Second, as a politician who ran four times for the highest office until he was elected President in 2015.
“The authors of the books we are here to present to the public have done justice to the essential Muhammadu Buhari, especially on his tenure and legacy as the 15th President of Nigeria. Femi Adesina, who served him as the Special Adviser on Media & Publicity, authored one of the books titled:’Working with Buhari: Reflections of a Special Adviser, Media and Publicity ( 2015-2023). I particularly thank Femi for using his memoirs to let us into the challenging eight years of the administration and how his principal steered the ship of State.
“President Buhari assumed office at a very difficult period of our national life when the economy was spiralling into recession and Boko Haram had taken over swaths of our territory in North East. At a point it appeared even Abuja, the seat of government would fall into the hands of Boko Haram with the bombing of the UN Building, Banex Plaza, Nyanya and other locations within the Federal Capital Territory. We cannot easily forget how our armed forces battled the Boko Haram terrorists under the leadership of President Buhari to reclaim our territory and push them to the fringes of Lake Chad where they no longer pose existential threat to our sovereignty.
“I must say the job of securing every inch of our country is yet to be finished. My government will stamp out the remaining vestiges of Boko Haram, Ansaru, banditry and kidnapping gangs. We won’t rest until every agent of darkness is completely rooted out. The second book that will be presented today is a collection of five volumes book on the Buhari years. The book, “Muhammadu Buhari: The Nigerian Legacy (2015-2023)” gives an authoritative account of the stewardship of President Buhari.
“Beyond what the editor of these volumes has recorded as the achievements of President Buhari in his eight years as a democratically-elected President, history will also be kind to him as the leader who promoted local production of goods to grow our economy. It will be said glowingly of President Buhari that in his eight turbulent years, marked by acute shortage of revenue, Covid-19 pandemic that shut down the global economy for almost two years, his administration embarked on the most ambitious infrastructural renewal for the country.
“President Buhari gave us the second Niger Bridge. He revamped Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. He gave us the Lagos-Ibadan and Warri-Itakpe Rail lines. He completed Abuja-Kaduna rail line and Lekki Seaport. He built brand new airports, among many other landmark economic projects. The Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Expressway, which he started, will be completed by my administration, by the Grace of God.
“Our administration will continue to work , from where President Buhari stopped, to make our country better, create a vibrant economy and secure the environment to bring more prosperity to our people. I thank you all for coming to this event and for finding time to honour President Buhari and the organisers. And I welcome President Buhari back to Abuja. May God continue to bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
At the event, which held in Abuja, the President informed Nigerians that Buhari never interfered in his government, adding that since the exchange of power between them on May 29, the former had never called him on any occasion for favours, and that whatever conversations they had since then had been initiated by him.
His words: “After handing over, you (Buhari) said, ‘I will be far away in Daura but if you need me, contact me. I won’t intrude in whatever you are doing. I won’t interfere. I won’t breathe down on your throat.’ We’ve partnered to make democracy flourish in Nigeria, thank you. Except when I call him (on the phone) to say, ‘Are you living, are you going to the farm?’, you don’t hear from him (Buhari) either to nominate or intrude in the cabinet or complain about issues. Thank you for being who you are.”
Apart from former government officials under the former President and those currently serving, the event also had in attendance Buhari’s wife, Aisha; ex-Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; ex-Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon; Senate President Godswill Akpabio, All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains, among several other dignitaries.
Fuel marketers across Abuja on Wednesday continued to sell Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, at old prices more than 24 hours after Dangote Petroleum Refinery announced a reduction in its ex-depot price, Vanguard is reporting.
The paper reported that its investigation, showed that major retail outlets were yet to adjust their pump prices despite the N75 per litre reduction announced by the refinery on Monday.
At the retail stations visited in Abuja, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Retail and TotalEnergies dispensed petrol at N1,335 per litre, while AA Rano sold at N1,350 per litre. AYM Shafa and Conoil outlets sold the product at N1,330 per litre.
The development comes amid growing public expectations that the reduction in Dangote Refinery’s gantry price would quickly translate into lower pump prices nationwide.
Explaining the delay, the President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Dr. Billy Gillis-Harry, said retail prices are influenced by several factors beyond refinery gate prices.
Speaking to Channels TV, Gillis-Harry said: “Prices reflecting at the pump are dependent on availability of the product, the other is the cost. The cost of purchasing the product and cost in terms of logistics, and preparing the particular petroleum to be delivered to the people”.
According to him, downward price adjustments often take longer to reach consumers because marketers need to recover the cost of existing stock purchased at higher prices before restocking at lower rates.
When asked why increases in fuel prices are usually reflected immediately while reductions are delayed, Gillis-Harry said the dynamics of supply management play a significant role.
He explained: “It is mainly affected by whether the producer has additional resources or not at the time. Increases in prices are mainly caused by the need to restock. There must be that advantage pushing the price upward to be able to pay for new supplies.”
He further acknowledged that marketers generally seek to exhaust existing inventory before implementing lower prices.
“That’s the basic idea. But in petroleum, a mixture is involved, and loss is taken, though not in a way that affects the capital needed to restock,” he added.
Also speaking on the issue, energy analyst Olabode Sowunmi said fuel pricing in Nigeria is influenced by a combination of domestic supply arrangements and logistics costs, rather than crude oil prices alone.
He noted that although international crude oil prices remain an important factor globally, their impact on local petrol pricing is not always direct.
“Global price of crude oil is a factor internationally and not necessarily in Nigeria,” Sowunmi said.
Explaining that Dangote Refinery operates under arrangements that allow a portion of crude supply to be priced in naira, reducing the direct impact of international market fluctuations on local fuel prices, he said: “So basically the issue will have to be from the point of refinery to where it touches the final person. Logistics costs within the domestic supply chain remain a major determinant of the final pump price paid by consumers.”
Peter Obi, candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has given assignment to Nigerians to put all those aspiring to take up political positions in the country through the grill to ascertain their level of integrity, saying it was required as a sine qua non for the job they seek.
Obi, who has been a subject of discussion in the polity since the allegation of corruption was levied against him by Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman of his campaign in 2023, over the conduct of the party’s primaries to choose candidates for the 2027 general elections, said the grilling must start with his own person.
A guest in an interview on a podcast with Rufai Oseni, a popular television anchor, the former Governor of Anambra State, stated that it was actually for this reason that he had now sworn to see the litigation he instituted against Okonkwo through.
His take is that the Nollywood actor should use the courtrooms to give all the details of bad behaviour, following his threat to expose him fully, after alleging that he was collecting money from aspirants in the said election for electoral favours.
Hear him: “The issue of taking Kenneth Okonkwo to court wouldn’t have arisen if he had stopped at those allegations. But he claimed he still has more he would expose about me in the future. So, I am very happy to take him to court so that he can expose me publicly, alongside other Nigerians. If any of them has any criminal allegations against me, they should bring them to court.
“Not just Kenneth, everybody should now say those things they know that is bad about me or I did that is wrong because it’s good for the system, it’s good for the society,” Obi said.
“So, if you know that when we were in primary school, this man was cheating or didn’t go to the primary school, didn’t go to secondary school, didn’t do, if you know this man has done something criminal somewhere, this is time to bring it up.”
For the umpteenth time, Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned about the dangerous implication of using state institutions, particularly the judiciary to destroy Nigeria’s democracy, saying it is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good.
Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), speaking on the heels of Tuesday’s verdict of the Court of Appeal, halting the de-registration order by the Federal High Court, insisted that judicial officers must not lend themselves to any act capable of undermining the nation’s democratic process.
The appellate court had ordered a stay of execution on the order made on Monday by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court Abuja, for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC alongside four other political parties).
A totally scandalised Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, had taken umbrage, sparing no hard words in upbraiding the lower court judge, stating that his likes were unfit to sit on the bench.
In a unanimous ruling by a three-man panel, the court held that Lifu’s action was “the highest form of judicial impertinence”, stressing that the Supreme Court previously held that a judge who acted in such a manner.
Describing his conduct as the height of judicial rascality, the upper court, stated: “Courts are enjoined to protect their integrity. This Court has supervisory authority over the trial court.
“The decision of the lower court to proceed with the judgment despite the express order of this court is a brazen violation of the hierarchy of the court and the 1999 Constitution.
This court has the duty to invoke its powers in ensuring that its orders are obeyed. The application for a stay of execution is here yet granted. The enforcement of the judgment is stayed.”
Atiku, who hailed the position of the higher court, which restored his hope to be on the ballot as presidential candidate in the 2027 election, also noted the role of INEC as “significant.”
He said: “I welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision to stay the execution of the Federal High Court judgement seeking the deregistration of our great party, the ADC, and four other political parties. It is particularly significant that INEC itself initiated the application for the stay.
“The development reflects growing public concern over judicial contradictions and politically charged rulings within the judiciary. “Any attempt to undermine Nigeria’s hard-won democracy through judicial manipulation is a grave danger to the Republic. If our democracy suffers further injury, history will demand accountability from those entrusted with dispensing justice.
Outside ADC, Lifu’s order, also included: Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), similarly slammed for allegedly failing to meet the constitutional requirements for continued registration and participation in elections.
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