News
Tinubu’s victory: They’re dangerously pushing me to reveal what I know about Shettima – Datti-Ahmed
Datti Baba Ahmed has warned those pushing him to make a revelation about Kashim Shettima, Nigeria’s Vice President allegedly forced Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to announce President Bola Tinubu as winner of the 2023 presidential election to pull back, because the road they are travelling is too dangerous.
He sounded the warning on Tuesday, while appearing on Prime Time, a public affairs programme on ARISE NEWS, television network, the second time he would be doing so, in one month, maintaining that he stood by his the claim he made against the VP, which details he refused to adduce despite pressure by his host.
On the same programme, on July 2, he had said: “On Shettima, I don’t blame Tinubu, because whoever knows what Shettima did and does, will not allow him last this long. What he did, the airwaves cannot carry it. I know I’m speaking on TV. So, Tinubu has tried keeping him this long. I think the consideration that he be dropped, I think Tinubu has tried.
“It is pregnant. I wish I could say it. What people. What people do for power is unbelievable. I’m more than gasping for air to understand how certain things can give you power. It is not of this world and it did happen. They do, do it. Somebody one day must come out and say, this is what politicians do for power.
Challenged about the fairness of his claims, he argued: “It is not fair, because even saying it is more unfair. It is even more drastic. But I’m saying it because it has to be said. Some of the things, the more you see them, the less you understand.
“Why was it (Tinubu’s election) declared at 4am? On the 28 (February, 2023), Mahmood Yakubu said he was adjourning till next day. Next day technically and legally-speaking is 9am. But by 4am, he sneaked and declared Tinubu the winner. What transpired in-between?
“Who came from one house in Asokoro to another house to say it must be declared. What I’m saying is it is too bad that the airwaves cannot carry it. Something happened that morning before 4am that they said before this thing finished – this thing finished at the Nigerian border.
“Believe me, Tinubu has tried. He has tried for keeping this man this long and for even giving him the privilege of being replaced. I think it’s good enough. In this world, there are things you rather not talk about, because it is just too bad. This tv station is not a court of law. I know what insinuations are, I know what allegations are. I’m not crazy. I’m not insane and I know what I’m saying that what people do for power is unspeakable.
“And this has to stop. Why are we getting everything wrong in Nigeria? Why can’t our leaders perform? Because of what people do for power. The difference between us losers and some winners is because there are certain things we cannot do. There are certain lines we cannot cross. But others will say whatever there is to do, do it. It is better there are no clarity to what I’m saying – better.”
His comments had drawn a barrage of criticisms from members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with Hanatu Musawa, Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, who appeared on the same programme, last week, particularly calling him out and demanding an apology to be tendered to the VP for what she regarded as a very dangerous statement.
But a visibly upset Datti-Ahmed, fired back at the Minister when the issue was brought up, saying instead of dabbling into such a matter that was too dangerous and hot to handle, she should be advised it was better to deploy the same energy to go and mend her past life, adding that she must not push him to make the revelation he was trying to keep under the wraps.
Sounding quite adamant, he said: “I’m holding my head high and I’m repeating here again and I’m on air in a very credible TV station with highly professional individual that evils do happen in societies like Nigeria and Nigerian politics has not been shielded from that. So, I’m holding my head high and in the service of God Almighty to say this.
“By the way, don’t expect me to join issues with this woman. I will not. I have been on a mission to take over her boss’s job and I’ll not allow her to distract me. we’re not related. Her senior brother is a very good friend of mine and we’re talking about distant relations. Let’s not talk about families there. Like I said, if someone like Nana Kazuare is free, he should ask the Minister to go and reconcile her past life and leave me alone.
“I’m dealing with Shettima and what I said was that Uncle Tinubu, has tried for staying put with him for this long. Now, the Minister, her honourable self, there’s one special assistant in the Villa – they could be mor logical by saying, ‘I tried to see something which I couldn’t see.’ They are waiting for me to and encouraging me to say what it is so that they could respond. I haven’t said it. And they’re so recklessly, dangerously inching closer for the world to know what this thing is.
“It is even mor unfair to for me to say it the way they want me to say it now. Saying it is even more drastic. Where have you been? Why are you trying to pretend? When the case of Okija – do you remember Okija – 2004-2005 – was it a lie? I know I was speaking about a very powerful individual. You can accuse me of intense opposition, you can never catch me for lying. I’m not perfect, but I don’t lie.
“Instead of keeping quiet – nobody has been unfair to Shettima like the people who refuse to allow this thing to die. They should have simply kept quiet and let it go. They refused and people are still talking about it. What I said was that before that 4am declaration that President Tinubu won 2023 presidential election, things happened that it had to be at that 4am.
“Let’s leave it at that because if I were lying, I would either be in court by now or some other – but I’m not lying. These things happened. I won’t say it and the likes of this Minister and that special assistant, they will go and bring it out and then, they will be the ones who exposed it. I agree I shouldn’t have said it. In 24 years of politics and interviews that has never happened and for it to happen and to be insisted upon, then you know whoever is saying it, means it.”
Seriake Dickson, National Leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), on Wednesday showcased Peter Obi, its presidential candidate in the 2027 election, but gave a proviso – his importance would not be at the expense of the party.
A guest on Prime Time, a public affairs programme on ARISE NEWS Television, the former Governor of Bayelsa State, now Senator representing West at the National Assembly, maintained that the belief in some quarters that Obi’s entrance into the party was a favour was completely misplaced.
Instead, he argued that the opposite was the case, as it was the party that was doing its candidates a favour by giving them the opportunity to contest elective positions on its platform in the 2027 elections, a gesture that ought to be returned.
Hear him: “Don’t make it look like anyone is doing NDC a favour. No one is. Rather, the NDC and I and my colleagues are doing people a favour by granting our platform. If you are genuinely supporting Peter Obi and you are disparaging me, the leader, or the platform itself. That is nonsensical.”
Stressing that NDC had demonstrated confidence in Obi by adopting Obi as its sole presidential candidate and selecting a vice-presidential candidate without internal disputes, he said it was enough to earn its leadership the gratitude it deserved.
He added: “Nobody paid shishi. So, if a presidential candidate didn’t pay shishi to be made the sole presidential candidate and sole vice-presidential candidate, that same party cannot be the one saying that small people are underprivileged.
“I could have run. There’s no one more qualified than me. There’s no one more qualified than me to run for presidential candidate. None. There is no crisis within the NDC. Peter Obi is a cherished member of our party. On our own, we have made him a presidential candidate. Sole presidential candidate. And that counts for something. We are working well together. There’s no crisis.”
Invoking its zero tolerance on issues of security breaches, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), has clamped down on aircraft and crew of the privately operated jet that landed on a roadway in the Ogwashi-Uku area near Asaba, Delta state.
Even with regulatory body for airline operations in Nigeria informed that no casualties were recorded in the incident, it still went for its sanctions in line with its sworn position of maintaining maximum safety at every point.
In a statement on Wednesday, Michael Achimugu, its spokesman said preliminary reports indicated that the aircraft conducted a missed approach while attempting to land at Asaba airport at about 7:43am.
Achimugu: Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, said: “Reports received from personnel at the scene indicate that all occupants safely exited the aircraft and were transported to Asaba by road,” Achimugu said. The aircraft had four (4) crew members on board. At this time, no injuries to passengers or crew have been reported.
“Preliminary information available to the authority indicated that the aircraft later departed the location and returned to Lagos without obtaining the required regulatory approval. Air traffic control was informed only after the aircraft had become airborne.”
Stressing that the action constitutes a violation of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs) and is currently under investigation by the authority, he said the NCAA immediately grounded the aircraft upon its arrival in Lagos pending the outcome of investigations.
He added: “The flight crew have been placed under regulatory review while the NCAA conducts further inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the occurrence and the subsequent unauthorised departure of the aircraft.
“The NCAA has formally notified the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) of the occurrence and is coordinating with relevant aviation stakeholders, including the operator and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency to establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident.”
Stating that the NCAA immediately suspended the operator’s permit for non-commercial flight (PNCF), he added that the authority would review all operational, airworthiness, maintenance and flight-related records as part of its statutory responsibilities and take further enforcement action in accordance with applicable aviation regulations.
Achimugu said the NCAA remains committed to maintaining the highest standards of aviation safety, security, and regulatory compliance within the Nigerian aviation sector.
Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), on Wednesday, swore to the integrity of the process that led to his picking the party’s ticket, saying it remained untainted and consistent with the wills of the members.
Against the backdrop of the insistence of Babachir Lawal, former Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), that he stole the ticket by corrupting the process, Atiku, Vice President between 1999 and 2007, pooh-poohed the claim.
Before the former SGF Rotimi Amaechi, former Governor of Rivers State and Minister of Transportation as well as Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, former Chairman of Nigeria Economic Summit Group, both candidates in the contest for the ADC ticket, had rejected the process as flawed, even before the outcome.
Lawal, who had earlier announced his resignation from the ADC a fortnight ago and made sundry allegations of gaming the system against Atiku, had doubled down on Monday, while appearing on Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, claiming he personally monitored the exercise and had evidence that the primary was rigged.
Hear him: “Don’t forget I was the National Vice Chairman (North-East). I was in the field during the exercise, so I have evidence. Atiku’s people are the ones trying to deny what they did. We are all human beings. We know what they did. I knew the primary was rigged at the point it was being done and the results declared.”
Regardless that neither Amaechi nor Hayatu-Deen had recanted their original position Atiku, insisted that nothing was amiss, adding that his opponents actually won in the areas of their individual popularity and stronghold.
Conveying his position through Phrank Shaibu, his spokesman, who appeared as a guest on Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, the former VP said: “Anybody who claims rigging or irregularity in the last election should check the places and locations they won. Where are the states that Rotimi Amaechi won? If you check the figures and the margins he got there, you will know that those are his strongholds. It was not a fraudulent process.
Maintaining that the burden of proving any fraud rested on the former SGF Shaibu, Shaibu depicted his boss as the most popular among the contestants, arguing that the outcome of the event should not be surprising to anybody.
He said of the ex-SGF: “Babachir reminds me of a baby who is yanked off her mother’s breast while suckling. It is like a deprived suckling; definitely the baby will throw tantrums. He admitted on your show that his preferred candidate was Hayatu-Deen. He worked for him.”
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