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Defections: Don’t blame me, I deserve accolades, not condemnation – Tinubu
Bola Tinubu, on Sunday, pushed back against the torrents of criticisms from a groundswell of Nigerians, who accuse him of driving Nigeria into a one-party state, a development they say will be quite injurious to the nation’s democracy.
The Nigerian political firmament became quite jittery after Sheriff Oborevwori, Governor of Delta State, on Wednesday, last week, led Ifeanyi Okowa, his predecessor and all the structures of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party in the state since 1999, into the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In what signalled the commencement of the expected tsunami, first hinted by Umo Enoh, Governor of Akwa Ibom, who had indicated that though as a PDP governor, he would be supporting Tinubu in 2027, Oborevewori’s action, had particularly attracted misgivings from some members of the Civil Society Organisations, who felt Nigerian democracy was under attack without oppositions.
But Tinubu, in a pushback, conveyed through Bayo Onanuga, his spokesman, said the opposition deserved to be left alone to continue licking their wounds, without bring the APC to share in their woes of blame the ruling party.
In a statement, titled: Democracy strong and alive in Nigeria, ignore alarmists: Tinubu said: “We have read the alarming claims of disgruntled opposition figures, some partisan human rights crusaders and emergency defenders of democracy over recent defections of key members of opposition parties into the governing All Progressives Congress.
“The seismic shift caused by Akwa Ibom governor, Umo Eno’s open declaration of support for President Bola Tinubu, the defection of the Delta State governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, the former vice presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party in the last election, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, and principal political actors in Delta and Rivers states certainly threw the opposition and their sympathisers into disarray.
“While the opposition elements are understandably heartbroken over the failure of their fabled grand coalition to gain traction, we find it disturbing that they resorted to peddling false allegations of promoting a one-party state against President Bola Tinubu, who is working very hard to reverse decades of economic mismanagement in our country.
“Contrary to the false claims in the propaganda materials in circulation across mainstream and social media, democracy is not under any threat in Nigeria. Accusations that the administration is moving towards authoritarianism are baseless and exaggerated.
“We must add that no policy, official action or directive from the Presidency seeks to ‘dismantle democracy’ or ‘weaken opposition or create a one-party state.’ Accusations of bribery, blackmail, and the weaponisation of state institutions only exist in the idle minds of politicians and their agents who have failed in their assigned role of opposition and are fishing for scapegoats.
“The opposition cannot blame President Tinubu and the governing APC for their poor organisation, indiscipline and gross incompetence in managing their affairs. It is certainly not part of President Tinubu’s job to organise or strengthen opposition parties.
“We find it curious that those who celebrated the defection of the former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, to the Social Democratic Party, SDP, and the formation of a regional grand coalition with the sole aim of defeating President Tinubu in the 2027 election are the same people shedding crocodile tears over Nigeria’s so-called drift to a one-party state and authoritarianism.
“While the latter-day defenders of democracy raised no anxious voice against the disgruntled politicians cobbling an anti-Tinubu, anti-APC coalition along dangerous regional lines, even before INEC blows the whistle for party politicking, they are quick to ascribe the political shifts in some states to ‘bribery, blackmail, and coercion’ without any shred of evidence.
“Without any equivocation, freedom of association, freedom of speech and freedom of choice are part of the cherished ideals of democracy. When politicians and citizens cannot freely join any association or political party of their choice or cannot openly express their views, democracy is imperiled.
“Those opposed to the Tinubu administration should understand that they can issue diatribes without fear, against the government because we practice a thriving democracy. It is hypocrisy writ large when opposition politicians and their collaborators in the ‘human rights’ movement desire that the party of the President should implode so they can gain electoral advantage and cry wolf when their wish does not materialise.
“We want to state that democracy is not threatened or undermined simply because politicians exercise their rights to freedom of association. Nigerians migrating to the APC and expressing support for Tinubu are doing so out of their free will, based on the belief that the reforms being executed are in the interest of Nigerians and the unborn generation.
“It is a gross disservice to democracy in itself for these emergency defenders of democracy to delegitimise the political choices of some Nigerians while upholding the choices of others to form a coalition against Tinubu and APC.
“Under President Tinubu, democracy is strong and the multiparty democratic system would continue to flourish unhindered. His administration remains resolutely committed to upholding and strengthening the democratic foundations upon which our Fourth Republic has stood since 1999
“Politicians changing party affiliation is not new or peculiar to Nigeria. In more advanced democracies, there are ready examples of notable politicians, statesmen and women who changed their parties. President Tinubu and the National Working Committee of the APC, under the leadership of Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, deserve commendation for making the ruling party viable and attractive to all Nigerians willing to participate in the democratic process.
“President Tinubu is an avowed democrat and a firm believer in multiparty democracy. His political activism and democratic credentials in galvanising and strengthening opposition platforms as a force that defeated a sitting President and the then ruling party attest to his credibility as a tested defender of multiparty democracy.”
Nigeria would not be in the sort of socio-political and economic mess it is currently facing but for the cowardice of the present crop of governors, Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers state, said on Tuesday, saying the country needed courageous leadership at the state levels to confront the ugly situation.
As chairman at the public presentation of Sule Lamido’s autobiography titled: Being True To Myself, written by Sule Lamido, former Governor of Jigawa State, Amaechi, who later became a two-time Minister of Transportation under President Muhammadu Buhari, bewailed the parlous political situation where governors could no longer speak for the people.
Stressing the timidity of his successors, the former governor, who was apparently miffed at the rate at which opposition governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), were defecting to the ruling APC, in spite the parlous economic situation in the country, he said such a crisis would never have been allowed during his own time.
Amaechi, who was chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) during Lamido’s second term, but eventually defected to the APC to lead the campaign for the election of Buhari, told his audience: “I asked you (Lamido) this morning, what is going on currently in the country, in Nigerian politics — would it have happened when we were governors?
“You said no. And the answer is no. We would confront the government, confront the President. That’s how radical we were, that’s how our governors forum operated, that’s how determined we were to change things.”
Dwelling on his relationship with the ex-Jigawa governor, who was in office between 2007 and 2015, Amaechi said their working relationship was strong, despite occasional disagreements — including Lamido’s initial objection to his election as NGF chairman.
“We were quite good friends in government. We had our bad times when we disagreed. I made the mistake of assuming he was as radical as I was. So, he was one of the governors I clung to when it came to radical decisions. The last one before we broke ranks was when we all agreed to go against President Jonathan. We formed a committee of governors and others.
“At the end of the day, he went to find a new party, the SDP. We said, ‘If we go to the SDP, we will lose the election. Let’s hang on to this one called the APC.’ He disagreed and left us. That’s where we parted ways. You must never forget the battles we fought.”
“There is no question that there are huge challenges. But if you look at the balance sheet that this President inherited — massive liabilities arising from the very reckless misuse of ways and means — you’d understand why these steps were necessary.”
These were the exact words of Adams Oshiomhole, Senator, representing Edo North at the National Assembly on the state of the Nigerian economy, expressing confidence that the way the President was going, it would not be long before the parlous situation would experience a marked improvement.
Oshiohmole, former Governor of Edo State and former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who was a guest of Politics Today, a public affairs progromme on Channels Television, said on Tuesday, Nigerians were justified to feel unhappy over the rising cost of living and the closure of businesses since the removal of fuel subsidy in 2023, but urged them to be patient and maintain trust in the reforms.
He added: “It’s a work in progress. The surgeon has gone to carry out the surgery. He understands that there is a level of pain — there has to be pain. But the good news is that the patient is healing. Maybe he could heal faster, but there can be no question that the patient is healing.”
Stressing on the issue of the exchange rate unification as a painful but critical decision to align supply with demand, he warned that failure to do so could have plunged the country into a Zimbabwe-like economic collapse, adding: “The consequential increase in cost of living was predictable. But if that was not done, Nigeria was on its way to Zimbabwe.
“President Tinubu deliberately chose to make all the difficult but necessary decisions in his first term to pave the way for long-term recovery. He took the right decision by insisting that in the first term, he would take all the tough decisions — prayerfully — so that as we move on, the situation improves.
“There is no magic to governance. I don’t think any Nigerian who understands the macroeconomic environment that was inherited by this government would expect that, in 24 months, everything would be fixed. Truly, this economy was badly mismanaged. This is not to blame anyone, but to speak to fact. I can say the worst is over, and we are going to begin to witness improvements in standard of living.
“As a governor, it took me time to have a holistic view of the challenges I inherited and to decide, in terms of priority, what to do first. As a Nigerian, I live in the community and among the people. I can say that there is a level of hardship, but things are improving.”
“Given where we are today in the economy, Tinubu will still win the presidential election. The President eliminated an exploitative foreign exchange regime that previously benefited only a privileged few. Tinubu abolished the ‘benefit of exchange rate’ transfer to bureau de change. Today, what he gets in exchange rate is what I get. Eliminating that free rate — which was available to a few people connected with the CBN management — took courage.”
Senate on Wednesday brushed aside the objections of Abdul Ningi, Senator representing Bauchi South at the National Assembly to commence acerated hearing on a whopping ₦1.783 trillion statutory appropriation bill for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The bill for the appropriation of the amount, came through President Bola Tinubu to the Senate in charge of making laws for the FCT, urging them to approve the proposal for the 2025 financial year.
Shortly after reading the letter transmitting the proposal, the upper chamber on Wednesday, harkened to the request of the President to give the bill expedited consideration, noting that its passage was critical to ensuring an effective and service-oriented administration for residents of the FCT.
But an attempt by the Bauchi Senator, elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to halt debates on it pending when the members were abreast of the details was ignored as the Senate invoked Order 78 to allow the bill to scale second reading the same day it was introduced.
Palpably dissatisfied, Ningi, who was once suspended for questioning the financial integrity of the Senate, had raised concerns about the procedure under Order 77 (3 and 4), pointing out that lawmakers had not been provided with copies of the bill prior to the debate.
Leading the debate on the bill, after the objections were brushed aside, Opeyemi Bamidele, Senate Leader, explained that the proposed legislation seeks to authorise the issuance of ₦1,783,823,708,392.00 trillion from the FCT Administration’s Statutory Revenue Fund to finance personnel, overhead, and capital expenditures between January 1 and December 31, 2025.
The budget breakdown includes N150.35 billion for personnel costs, N343.78 billion for overhead, and N1.29 trillion allocated for capital projects.
Bamidele underscored that the primary objective of the budget was to drive an effective and enduring service-oriented administration, with a strong focus on completing ongoing projects that have significant impacts on infrastructure and essential services in Abuja.
He noted that the budget prioritises the continuation of existing projects in the FCT, with the introduction of new ones deemed crucial.
It was on the same day that the Senate also confirmed the appointment of five Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) submitted by the President in March for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The confirmation, which followed the receipt and consideration of a report by Simon Lalong, Chairman of Senate Committee on Electoral Matters during plenary on Wednesday, who urged members to confirm the nominees having passed the screening exercise.
The approved RECs are Umar Yusuf Garba (Kano State), Sa’ad Umar Idris (Bauchi State), Chukwuemeka C. Ibeziako (Anambra State), Umar Mukhtar (Borno State) and Dr. Johnson Alalibo Sinikiem (Bayelsa State).
Tinubu having his way because today’s governors are cowards – Amaechi
Tinubu almost clearing Buhari’s economic mess – Oshomhole
Wike to get N1.78trillion as 2025 budget *Senate ignores Ningi’s objection
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