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Zulum: Nigeria can defeat terrorism in six months *Contractors, sycophants deceiving Tinubu
Military contractors making money at the expense of the blood of people and sycophants in government, ever ready to spew different narratives to the reality on ground, have been fingered as major factors to why the terrorism ravaging the North, particularly Borno State is yet to ended.
Babagana Zulum, Governor of Borno State on Wednesday, made this revelation on the same day he contended that without the two features soldiers who he said had been showing staller performance in the onslaught against the phenomenon, would have long sung the victory song as they were capable of trouncing the terrorists in less than six months.
A guest on News Central TV, a Nigerian television network, Zulum decried the bureaucratic bottlenecks currently bedevilling the procurement of military equipment, and urged the federal government to cut off the unnecessarily tedious processes in addition to other urgent measures.
Stressing that the government could end the scourge of terrorism in six months if it was able to remove contractocracy, a situation where the anti-terrorism system benefited principally the interests of contractors rather than broader national interests, the governor lamented that factor was fuelling the situation.
Zulum, who revealed that over 80,000 persons had recently been displaced from Marte Local Government Area alone by the insurgents, narrated how his government was complementing the efforts of the armed forces, with the deployment of over 1,000 civilian joint task force and vigilance group members.
Emphasising the bad influence of sycophants in the corridors of power using their positions to promote a different narrative from the real situation in the troubled areas he pleaded with the President not to listen to them, but the trust the real actors in the field.
His words: “My plea is that, let us deal with this matter decisively. The President of Nigeria should listen to those that can distinguish their right and from left. Those that can tell him the right thing and not sycophants. He has a large heart to do the right thing. But he needs to understand what is happening on the ground.
“A few days ago, I said there was a resurgence of insurgency in Borno State. I commended the federal government for doing very well and that we should come together to resolve the crisis. Some people said there is no insecurity in Borno State. We should not politicise insecurity.
“We must prioritise security. National and subnational governments must pool resources together to procure equipment. The army does not have the necessary equipment on ground to fight the insurgency. Right now, the insurgents are using drones to fight soldiers on the ground.
“We have informants and collaborators within the Nigerian armed forces, within the politicians, and within the communities. What we shall do is to strengthen our intelligence and to deal with them ruthlessly. Let’s remove contractocracy. In six months, we can put an end to this madness. We need not politicise insecurity.”
Speaking on the controversial policy by the army authorities to also apply non-kinetic means as one of the strategies to end the war, he agreed that it could work, saying: “Insurgency will never end with kinetic measures alone. We must ensure that the non-kinetic measures are also put in place. What I mean by non-kinetic measures are socio-political and economic dimensions of the crisis.
“Insurgency will never be ended by corrective measures alone. Among the 300,000 or more that have repented, I cannot rule out the possibility of a few of them going back to the bush.”
Apparently not sold on the issue of state police, which many stakeholders including his fellow governors across the country suggest as a panacea, Zulum rather backed the recent plan by the federal government to deploy forest guards as a more workable option, provided that the recruits were from impacted communities.
Eulogising the military, he urged the President to not only equip them properly by listen to their commanders, adding that he was confident that with the right approach and unity among all tiers of government, insurgency would be decisively dealt with.
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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