News
Datti-Ahmed: Tinubu uncaring tax-collector, Obi prudent manager *No regret calling his gvt illegal
Not even the passage of time has changed the position of Datti Baba-Ahmed, vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), in the 2023 election that the swearing in of President Bola Tinubu, was illegal because he did not win the election, as he practically dug-in on Wednesday, to insist that he was right, even two years after taking the controversial position.
In March, 2023, shortly after the announcement of Tinubu as the winner of the February 25, presidential election and about two month to his inauguration on May 29, an obviously incensed Baba-Ahmed, had particularly warned Olukayode Ariwoola, then Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), not to participate in the swearing-in of Tinubu, because it would be illegal and unconstitutional to do so,
A guest of Channels Television, he had said: “Section 134 stipulates who should be declared and issued a certificate of return. It is only that candidate that has scored the highest number of votes and at least 25 percent each in at least two-thirds of the states of the federation and the FCT. Now, it is very clear that Tinubu does not have 25 percent in the FCT, we denied him. We got 61 percent. Atiku does not have 25 percent in the FCT. We denied both of them.
“By clear and unambiguous provisions of the Nigerian constitution, which must not be breached, Tinubu has not satisfied the requirement to be declared President-elect. Accordingly, there is no President-elect for Nigeria now. Because the declared one violates the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and I know what I’m saying.
“Swearing in a ticket that has not met the constitutional requirement is ending democracy. That is indeed the correct interpretation. You cannot swear in people who have not met the constitutional requirement. if you do it, you have done something unlawful and unconstitutional.
“Mr President, do not hold that inauguration. CJN, your lordship, do not participate in unconstitutionality. It is extreme and I’m saying it. It was more extreme for Yakubu to issue that certificate. It was reckless.”
Now, more than two years after and even with numerous reactions condemning the statement, no less from Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate, who carpeted him for trying to instigate crisis in the country, the educationist, who at one time represented Kaduna State as a Senator, is still sticking to his guns, saying that circumstances in Nigeria today had proved him right.
Still a guest of the same station, though in its Morning Brief edition, he told his host on Wednesday: “I don’t regret my comments over post 2023 elections. Now, we’re all as a nation facing the consequences. I still remain that we should never have allowed Uncle Tinubu’s government to have been sworn in and we’re to do so constitutionally, legally and legitimately, I still maintain that. We’re paying a very high price for their coming in and will continue to do so for long time from now..
It was also a day the LP leader, also spoke of the sharp difference between character of Tinubu and Obi and the way the latter would have impacted more meaningfully on Nigerians as well as changing the course of economic trajectory of the country, arguing that while the current President had displayed the penchant for ostentatious tastes and lavish spending, Obi would brought prudence and focused on production, which would have made all the difference.
Hear him: “Uncle Tinubu is a tax collector. So, he is after the capacity to collect more and collect more. Peter Obi is on the part of spend more carefully, spend more intelligently, spend wisely and when you’re collecting also, collect in such a manner that you do not hurt the citizens, you don’t destroy businesses. This is a key difference from a Peter Obi-led government and Uncle Tinubu government.
“Prudence! I spoke to you about spending. Peter Obi will never buy that jet. I bet you, he’ll never buy that jet. He’ll never buy the yacht. All those billions spent on repairing the Vice Presidential lodge, will never happen. It’s about the fertile land in the North, it’s about from consumption to production, it’s about industrial capacity utilization. Many industries by now would have been at full capacity and expanding. He’ll never buy that jet.”
Reminded that Obi, his assertions about Obi and Tinubu might not be proven because the LP boss had not been tested, Datti-Ahmed countered that the claim was not true as Obi had been tested and proved the model of governance he ran in Anambra, adding: “No, he was tested. I disagree, he was tested in Anambra State. He was tested. You can infer.”
Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Governor of Oyo State, on Thursday, finally threw his hats into the ring by declaring his intention to run for president in 2027, with a message – history beckons.
The governor, whose ambition has been a matter of speculations for months now and who had teamed up with forces angling to force President Bola Tinubu, out of power, told a teeming crowd in Ibadan on Thursday that time had come to reset Nigeria.
At a mega-rally to announce the alliance between the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and the Allied Peoples’ Movement, (APM), Makinde, expressed worry over the dwindling fortunes of Nigerians, vowing to engage Nigerians to end the drift.
Hear him: “Without a multi-party system, there is no democracy. Where is our multi-party? Where do we go from here? We have been pushed to the wall.
“They calculated and self-opposition cannot unite but I am here to say that the opposition is the everyday Nigerian. This is the time for all us to ensure Nigeria works for us. This is the time to confront it fears. It is time to engage as citizens and not spectators.
“For the opposition political parties, this is the time to unite and work in unity and give our nation the much reset it needs. The time to reset Nigeria is now. Ibadan is the city of warriors. The first grand alliance is formed. The PDP and APM is formed. This handshake will allow us to field candidates from presidency to state Assembly. And so, I declare my candidacy for office of the president of Nigeria.”
Eyo Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), on Wednesday, gave a detailed account on how operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) manhandled him on Monday.
He told reporters that he was at sea on why he should fall victim to the assault against his person and eventually arrested given that was not right person directly involved in the information the agency sought.
Some operatives of the EFCC who invaded the hospital, had whisked Ekpe away after firing teargas to scare away the workers, patients and visitors to the hospital, following what appeared like a fracas the ensued over what it claimed was a routine duty in the facility.
Ekpe, Deputy Chairman of the hospital’s Medical Advisory Committee (MAC), described how an operative had first entered his office to make inquiries on why the hospital was yet to give a response to an EFCC inquiry over a medical report linked to a suspect facing trial.
He detailed how he briefed the operative that the said response was being prepared and even went ahead to show him the draft of a letter in that regard, which needed to go through the gamut of official endorsement before being released.
Hear him: “The head of that internal medicine department looked at the report and also discovered that the name of the doctor that signed the report is not a member of staff of that department.
“I had prepared prepared a response to the EFCC on Monday, May 11, 2026, based on the findings. When the EFCC operative visited my office the next morning to collect the document, I told him that the response was ready in draft. I even showed him the draft, but told him that the document still needed approval from the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital before it could be officially signed and released.
“He pretended to have accepted that. He left, but later later returned with another armed operative and informed me that I was under arrest. I asked him why. I was not the one that issued the medical report. My name is not on the medical report. The report was not issued from my unit.
“But he said I would get the answer when I get to their office. I then asked him to at least wait for my staff member who I sent on an errand before joining them. But they refused.
“They started pushing me. They dragged me out of the office. Then I began to cry while they were dragging me. They had warned me not to speak. They had taken my phone. My cry as they were dragging me, attracted the workers to the scene, who enquired what was going on, but because they ordered me not to speak, I couldn’t say anything. They had their guns.
The members of staff of the hospital initially blocked them from taking me away. They then made a call. After that I saw many masked and armed men came violently, broke the protector, threatening the people that were around and people ran away.
“They picked some staff that were still by me. they dragged me and other staff, five of us into their van downstairs. By that time they discovered that the gate of the hospital were locked. So, they drove towards the gate and packed and the commotion continued. We were inside the van.
“I was so emotionally and psychologically traumatised that I couldn’t even look out of the vehicle to see what was happening outside. But I know that teargas and live bullets were shot. That’s all I can say for now.”
Joyce Abdulmalik, of the Federal High Court, Abuja, heard on Wednesday, how Zenith Bank raised alarm over the huge transaction in one of its branches by Abubakar Malami, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF-MoJ).
The bank said it immediately filed a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) in respect to the transactions, during its appearance in the ongoing trial of Malami, his wife, and son over allegation of massive looting of funds belonging to the Federal Government during his tenure.
Mashelia Bata, a compliance officer with the bank, who appeared as witness in the case, where Malami, et al, are facing a 16-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering to the tune of N8.7 billion, to which they pleaded not guilty, gave the testimony while being questioned on the bank’s roles in the matter.
Details of the testimony conveyed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), stated how the compliance officer who was cross-examined by Adebayo Adedeji, lawyer to the defendants admitted that the deposits in the account statements complied with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Arguments had stretched when Adedeji, opposed Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), lawyer to the EFCC, who had asked the witness to explain the meaning of a suspicious transaction report, stressing that there was no ambiguity in the term.
However, Okutepa, in response, maintained that section 215(3) of the Evidence Act did not preclude him from re-examining the witness while urging the court to allow the question for proper explanation.
After Abdulmalik, agreed and overruled Adedeji, the witness told the court that banks were required to alert the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) about fund deposits coming in a repetitive pattern, adding: “Any deposition of funds seen in a pattern or repetitive, you must escalate it to the NFIU.”
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