News
I’m shocked at Tinubu’s volte-face – Obi *Insists President culpable in ADC crisis
For Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential election, one of the most surprising developments in Nigeria today is the role President Bola Ahamed Tinubu is playing to promote and sustain the current parlous political situation.
Obi, who stated on Monday that nobody needed a crystal ball to ascertain that the President and the All Progressives Congress (APC) were responsible for the various crises faced by opposition parties in Nigeria, maintained that Tinubu’s past pro-democracy records had since vanished and left him promoting the sort of anti-democratic acts he fought against years back.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), hitherto, Nigeria’s main opposition, LP and now the African Democratic Congress (ADC), have at various times witnessed intense leadership crises, with all but two of governors elected on the platform of the former ruling party, defecting to the APC.
Obi, former Governor of Anambra State, who is now a major contender for the presidential ticket of the ADC, told his host on Prime Time, a public affairs programme on ARISE NEWS Television that all the crises, had the hand of the APC hand sponsoring renegades to cause trouble.
Against the backdrop of the bombshell dropped by the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), which on April 1, 2026, announced that it was no longer recognising the leadership of David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola, National Chairman and National Secretary respectively, Obi maintained that it had all the shades of the external forces.
Obi, who hinged his position on the alleged denial of the ADC permission to use government-owned grounds as the venue for the convention, and blocking even the ones owned by private individual, said it was a clear signal to the situation of opposition in the country.
His words: “That shows you the integrity of our democracy. If you’re denied the simple thing like venues and everything, it shows where the country is drifting to where parties – everything enshrined in our constitution – yet, a party that is supposed to be the main opposition party cannot be allowed to exist.
“The problem is the government. The government doesn’t want other parties to exist. They’re not playing by the rules. I don’t know why they’re doing that but I believe that unless a party in power decides to support our institutions to be able to play their parts, we’ll be having such problems.”
Regarding the question of INEC derecognition of the Mark executive, Obi disagreed, saying: “There have been decided cases clearly that say that INEC as a referee or a regulatory body should not and nobody should interfere in the internal affairs of a political party. There are so many decided cases, which ordinarily would have been enough. But because the present government is bent on disrupting the entire system, that’s why we’re going round and round.
“You can see what they have reduced our judiciary to. It is now become part of the mess they’re creating. Government in power should ensure and protect the opposition. They should make opposition work. They should make it stronger.
“I’ve been in party disputes in the past under President (Umaru) Yar’Adua. I recall him calling the then INEC Chairman and saying, I don’t want any problem in any of the parties. I want the parties to be stable, function very well and we have free, credible, transparent elections.
“Look at what is now happening to our democracy. It is now being destroyed. And it is being destroyed by those who yesterday were victims of similar things and were shouting to the world and threatening to bring down everything if the right things were not done.
“Now, you have the opportunity. That’s what is surprising me in Nigeria – how people can be show commitment to a cause or promise something and when they’re given the opportunity, they’ll fail dramatically.
“Nobody would have believed that today, we’ll be where we are in this democratic process considering the actors who are involved in governance today.”
President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday, announced the approval of the establishment of a Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease Preparedness and Emerging Public Health Threats and ordered the immediate release of ₦10 billion as emergency intervention funding.
Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesman, who conveyed the development to the public, said the fund would strengthen the operational preparedness of the National Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and support critical national public health emergency response activities.
To be chaired by Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President, the committee with membership drawn from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and state representatives is also expected to get briefings on their plans to contain the disease.
Onanuga, stated that Tinubu also specifically directed all states hosting international airports and international border corridors, as well as relevant MDAs, to submit their plans, funding requirements and intervention needs for consideration and coordinated implementation.
Stating that the President’s move followed a stakeholder meeting convened under the CoS to review Nigeria’s preparedness and develop strategies against the possible importation of Ebola into the country., the statement informed that the Task Force would also intensify passenger screening at all international airports through enhanced temperature checks and crowd-control protocols.
Other measures would also include enhanced monitoring of passengers arriving through high-risk airline routes, including Air Uganda, Rwanda Air, Air Tanzania, Air Angola, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines; and the immediate activation of referral and isolation centres at the Lagos and Abuja international airports, with other airports to follow.
Other measures include the mandatory activation of QR code-based pre-arrival health declaration systems for passengers originating from or transiting through designated high-risk countries, as well as the disinfection of departure halls, cargoes, baggage areas and airport facilities as precautionary environmental measures.
The President also directed the advisory group to consult with security, diplomatic and aviation bodies on regulating flights from affected and designated high-risk countries and mandated the task force to designate specific airports or terminals for high-risk flights to enable controlled screening and isolation procedures, and to consider adjusting flight schedules to minimise interaction between high-risk passengers and other travellers.
Justice Akintoye Aluko of the Federal High Court, Lagos on Tuesday ordered the remand of Paul Jibrin Oweleke in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) over alleged cybercrime offences linked to social media broadcasts that allegedly called for overthrow of President Bola Tinubu.
Specifically, Oweleke, in a two-count charge was accused of publishing posts on his online platform known as “Oweleke TV”, urging the Nigerian military to remove the President from office in a manner similar to takeovers in some West African countries, an act the agency said bordered on incitement and the use of a computer system to disseminate content considered prejudicial to national security and constitutional governance.
Oweleke’s broadcasts, the agency stressed, were capable of inciting public disorder and promoting disaffection against the government, which will undermine the country’s democracy.
Legal argument had ensued immediately after Oweleke, pleaded not guilty to the charges, with his lawyer kicking vehemently against the prayer of the agency that the court should order his remand pending the commencement of trial, on the ground that a bail application had already been filed and served on the prosecution.
But Aluko, who was persuaded to grant the prayer, went with the DSS, while adjourning the matter to June 16 for the hearing of the bail application, stating that Oweleke, would remain in the facility of the agency pending the outcome.
By June 29 all medical doctors in public hospitals in Nigeria will drop their stethoscopes and other instruments of healthcare, unless the Federal Government settles all unpaid allowances, salary arrears, delayed training funds, and worsening welfare concerns of its members across the country’s health sector.
This was the notice served to the government on Monday, through The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), the umbrella under which the doctors operate, after rising from Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) held in Kano.
In the 21-day ultimatum to the government, the doctors warned that it would not be able to guarantee industrial harmony if the issues remain unresolved within the 21-day period.
In the resolution conveying their position, signed by Mohammad Suleiman, President, Shuaibu Ibrahim, Secretary-General, and Abdulmajid Yahya Ibrahim, Publicity and Social Secretary, on Friday, the body regretted that government had failed to fulfil several commitments to doctors despite repeated assurances and engagements.
“The association hereby declares an industrial dispute with the federal government of Nigeria on the outlined matters above and cannot guarantee industrial harmony after the 21-day window period given to address all the demands,” the communique reads.
The association said it is giving the federal government the 21-day window to commence concrete actions towards the development and implementation of a national healthcare workers assault prevention and response protocol
and the initiation of the necessary legislative process to address the menace.
NARD also demanded the release and payment of the 2026 medical residency training fund (MRTF) to all eligible resident doctors nationwide within the next 21 days.
The association questioned the unpaid salary and promotion arrears in several federal and state health institutions, as well as discrepancies in professional allowances reflected in members’ May 2026 salaries.
It highlighted the welfare issues affecting house officers, including salary delays, unpaid arrears, and difficulties with internship placement and onboarding processes that remain unresolved.
It also accused Motunrayo Omidiran, executive chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), of delaying the issuance of letters of compliance to federal health institutions, noting that the delay has hampered recruitment efforts, manpower shortages, and brain drain in the sector.
NARD expressed worries about the increasing assaults, harassment, intimidation, and violent attacks against doctors while on duty, demanding the arrests, investigation, and prosecution of perpetrators.
It called for the establishment of a national healthcare workers’ assault prevention and response protocol within 21 days by the federal government and security agencies.
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