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Bakare: 10th NASS, worst in history – Bakare *Nigeria now a mafia state
Tunde Bakare, fiery pastor, politician and founder of and Serving Overseer of The Citadel Global Community Church, on Sunday took the current Nigerian 10th National Assembly to the cleaners, describing it as the most spineless in history since the return of civilian rule in the country in 1999.
Sparing no unkind words for the manner members have conducted its legislative business, the outspoken preacher described how instead of standing up to the excesses of the Executive, the lawmakers at both the Senate and the House of Representatives, had allowed themselves to morphed into the cabinet of President Tinubu.
Hear the cleric: “In 2006, the fourth National Assembly had the audacity to reject the tenure extension bid of a seating President. In 2010, the sixth National Assembly, summoned the courage to stand against the power-hijacking cabal and restore Nigeria to the part of constitutionality, by invoking the doctrine of Necessity. In 2011, the House of Representatives of the Seventh National Assembly, had the courage to elect its leaders as did the Senate of the eighth National Assembly in 2015, defying executive interference.
“This National Assembly, the 10th, has by its unconstitutional endorsement of the President’s abuse of powers, proven to be the most spineless in our recent history. Through its actions and inactions, the National Assembly has, in effect, become the 48th member of the president’s cabinet.
“While a cabinet minister has, more or less, become a third-term state governor in Rivers State, pampered by the indulgences of the President, recent events have made it clear that had this Assembly been in place in 2006, when the Third Term Agenda was proposed, our democracy would have since morphed into one of Africa’s lamentable tales of sit-tight dictatorship.”
On the same day the cleric, who lamented the state of the nation, described it is fast descending into a mafia state, called for action, arguing that the long days of prayers without anything changing meant that it was no longer an option or the solution to the parlous situation, but that action must now take over.
Hear him: “People of faith have prayed to the point of weariness, and any call for prayer now appears to be a mere religious ritual. Some have concluded that we have prayed long enough and that unless certain pragmatic steps are taken with immediate effect, the rage of the poor may engineer social, economic, and political worst-case scenarios.
“Only by confronting our reality with honesty and courage can we begin the work of resurrection – not just of our nation, but of our collective broken spirits. To avert the full-blown breakdown of law and order in our fragile democracy and the intervention of our already battle-weary armed forces, I offered timely counsel to the Nigerian government and led prayers for the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Sunday, January 12, 2025.”
To his compatriots, he added: “Dear Nigerians, the past few months since that admonition have shown that those responsible for steering the course of our nation lack the humility and character this moment demands of leaders. Instead, what we have seen since the beginning of the year is a descent into tyranny and the brazen abuse of power.
“Those entrusted with power appear determined to destabilise what is left of our political institutions and have committed themselves to obliterating the guardrails of constitutional governance. I urge you, Mr president, to think deeply and reflect on these words: ‘No man is wise enough nor good enough to be trusted with unlimited power’. Please, stop playing God!”
Offering solutions, Bakare, who first, called for psychological tests on politicians seeking elective office, advised the leaders to coordinate nationwide survival interventions, stabilise the economy, reengineer debt profile, facilitate structural reforms for geo-economic industrialisation, spur inclusive economic growth and development, and build an economy.
Hear him: “To execute this mandate, these visionary leaders should oversee the establishment of what I called the consolidated value investment and development fund (COVID Fund) when the pandemic brought the economy to a halt, a situation we are yet to recover from five years after. This fund, which I will now simply call ‘The Fund,’ is not based on volatile factors such as the price of oil. It rejects the logic that Nigeria must be trapped between the rock of loans or handouts and the hard place of a solely extractive economy.”
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.
“He is running in contempt of the court. Justice Lifu should be arrested because he is acting in contempt of the court which is a criminal act,” were the exact words with which the African Democratic Congress (ADC), demonstrated its angst over the court ruling on Monday, ordering its de-registration as a political party in Nigeria.
A furious Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the party, told his host while appearing as a guest on Monday’s edition of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television that the judge of the Abuja Federal High Court who gave the order was actually playing with fire because of the consequences.
Directly accusing him of playing the script of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to ensure that President Bola Tinubu emerged the sole candidate for the 2027 presidential election, the party spokesman, was emphatic that the plan would not work, as head or tail, ADC must be on the ballot in all the elections.
Hear him: “There is a Court of Appeal order saying don’t hear this case until October 27. So, on what basis? You can’t place something on nothing. The Court of Appeal said don’t act on this until I hear it on October 27. So, on what basis did he deliver the judgement
“So, for us in the African Democratic Congress, what we’re convinced and they know is what they have done has no leg to stand on legally. What they want to do is to create doubts in the minds of the people that this ADC has too many legal cases, can we actually run on this? And to distract us. But we’re not distracted.
“We’re very clear. It was in spite of all they have done since ADC came on board that we ran one of the best and one of the most comprehensive direct primaries in the history of democracy in Nigeria. So, we are strong enough to withstand this. And that’s why I’m saying that we are going to contest in 2027. We’re ADC. We don’t buckle before dictatorship.”
Stressing on the implication of the judgement, which also affected Accord Party (AP), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) for allegedly failing to meet constitutional and electoral performance requirements, following a suit by the National Forum of Former Legislators, he said it portended grave danger.
He added: “We are not surprised. We know that the Nigerian people believe that there is a problem with the judiciary, but what we did not expect is the level of judicial rascality that was demonstrated today.
“What we are saying is that we reject it in its totality, and we are saying that the people behind this are playing with fire. Hundreds, if not thousands, have obtained nomination forms and contested elections and emerged as candidates on the platform of the ADC.”
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