Lokoja Judgment: An Unnecessary Serious Setback for Nigerian Democracy
Today was an exceptionally busy day. I left Lagos in the early hours for Emekuku, where I visited the School of Nursing Sciences, an institution I have consistently supported over the years. It was gratifying to inspect projects funded through my previous interventions, including the school’s computer laboratory. Such investments reaffirm my belief that education remains one of the strongest foundations for national development.
From there, I attended the 80th birthday celebration of the Emeritus Archbishop of Owerri, Most Rev. Dr Anthony Obinna, whose commitment to justice, peace, and the common good has inspired many, before proceeding to Madonna University for another engagement.
It was at Madonna University that I received the court news of the Lokoja court rulings through my brother, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
Every Nigerian committed to the country’s progress should be deeply concerned. This judgment represents another setback for our democracy and the institutions upon which our future depends.
It is regrettable that some who claim to champion democracy now appear determined to weaken the very institutions that sustain it. In doing so, they are undermining public confidence and endangering the future of millions of Nigerians.
The legislature and the judiciary are increasingly being drawn into this pattern of institutional decline. Democracy cannot thrive where institutions lose their independence and credibility.
Those who seek to weaken Nigeria’s democratic foundations will not ultimately prevail. When a similar situation recently affected the ADC, I condemned it without hesitation. I do so again today because my position has always been guided by principle.
My concern is not about who becomes President. My concern is that Nigeria works. Our politics must move beyond the quest for power and focus instead on building a united nation founded on justice, strong institutions, the rule of law, and equal opportunity. That is the Nigeria we owe ourselves and the one we must leave for future generations.
I therefore urge all well-meaning Nigerians to rise above partisan interests and defend our democracy. The survival of our institutions is inseparable from the survival of our nation. It's when we work together that a new Nigeria of our dream is made POssible. -PO
I have said it repeatedly. Whatever does not suit the political ambition of this current APC administration does not receive this kind of urgency. It's far beyond securing lives and properties of Nigerians. I hope I'm wrong.
State Police: Commendable Step, but Disorderly Legislation Raises Concerns of Political Misuse
The recent passage of the State Police Bill by the National Assembly marks a significant legislative milestone in addressing a long-standing demand of the Nigerian people. For years, many of us, alongside security experts and regional stakeholders, have consistently argued that a highly centralised policing structure is fundamentally unsuitable for a country as vast, diverse, and complex as Nigeria. However, the legislative and constitutional implementation appears shaky and raises legitimate concerns.
The process should involve greater community participation. Policing should be more visible at the local government and community levels. The mechanism for passing the law appears highly disorganised, with no public hearing on such a sensitive issue. Indeed, the rush to enact the law without proper legislative procedures fuels suspicion among many observers about the political motives behind it.
The greatest concern does not arise from logistical issues; it stems from history. There is a widespread, justifiable fear that state police forces could become instruments in the hands of governors. The suspicion is that a state-controlled police force could be weaponised to suppress political rivals, disrupt opposition rallies, and manipulate elections.
For state policing to evolve from a risky political gamble into a genuine security solution, the law must not only permit states to establish police forces but also clearly provide for independent oversight bodies, such as a state-level Police Service Commission that is entirely free from executive influence, to ensure that policing serves the public interest rather than the interests of the ruling elite.
Going by what Nigerians have seen so far, there is no guarantee that this administration can resist the temptation to take advantage of state policing to influence the 2027 general election by proxy. In view of that possibility and the danger it poses to the polity, it is necessary to defer its implementation until after the general election.
A New Nigeria is POssible. -PO
The grand patron of Olodo uprisers.
The man, the myth, the legend - the very template of Olodo uprisers.
Aesthetically deficient, mentally deficient - the very patent of innocent foolishness.
In a different world, would definitely cross pollinate with Olori to birth Seyilaw.
Pls listen to Senator Garba Maidoki representing Kebbi South, describe the process that has just been undertaken by @SenateNGR on the #StatePoliceBill.
@Morris_Monye The speed at which they are moving about it tells you it's all about 2027 election. Whatever that is not to APC's advantage doesn't get this kind of attention.
This is a civics lesson nobody asked for.
Let us begin where this piece begins: with its title: “Peter Obi cuts a pitiable figure. Needs Schooling.”
Dear Mr. Dare, that is not a headline. That is a sneer. A writer who opens with contempt has already confessed he is not interested in debate. He is interested in humiliation. The argument is merely the delivery vehicle.
You know better. You are a former minister, a seasoned journalist, a man of considerable institutional miles. You know the difference between criticism and condescension. You chose condescension. Because if you can make Peter Obi look small enough, pitiable enough, desperate enough, you never have to answer why petrol costs what it costs, why the naira buys what it buys, or why hunger statistics look the way they look.
But there is a problem you did not account for: memory.
The man whose cause this piece defends spent 2013 and 2014 in a sustained, frequently contemptuous public campaign against President Goodluck Jonathan. He questioned Jonathan’s capacity. He called the administration a failure. He agitated loudly, persistently, in the language of crisis. Peter Obi, by honest comparison, has been restrained. If the standard you are applying today had existed then, you would have had to write this same piece about your own principal. You did not write it then. Which tells us the standard is not a standard. It is a weapon, pointed in one direction only.
A call for resignation is not a constitutional filing. It is a political and moral statement, the kind leaders across democratic history have made and received without anyone rushing to print a civics primer. To argue Obi exposed constitutional ignorance, when he made no constitutional claim whatsoever, is not a rebuttal. It is a strawman in a well-ironed suit. You answered a question nobody asked to avoid the question actually posed: is this government performing well enough to retain public confidence?
The naira has collapsed from under 800 to around 1,600 to the dollar. The fuel subsidy removal was executed without a cushion for the poor. Food inflation has restructured daily life for tens of millions choosing between feeding their children and paying school fees. The World Bank has documented it. The NBS has documented it. The empty market stalls document it daily.
Growth figures that do not translate into reduced hunger are not victories. They are statistical consolations. Citing them without context is not analysis. It is comfort food for a government that cannot explain its own citizens’ lived reality.
You charge Obi with selective outrage. But this administration has been remarkably selective in its own silences: silent on the President’s extended medical absences, silent on security deterioration across multiple zones, and silent, most tellingly, on the millions measurably poorer today than on May 28, 2023. A spokesman who demands intellectual honesty from the opposition while curating his own narrative has not made an argument. He has made a demand that applies only in one direction.
What does it say about a government’s record that its most senior communications official cannot defend it on its merits, and must instead write a lengthy personal attack on the man who criticized it?
Governments that fight this hard against a single opposition voice are not governments that are winning.
You are a gifted writer. But gifted writers in service of power carry a particular responsibility: to tell the truth even when the principal would prefer a different story. That includes the truth about what their principal said and did when he was the one in opposition, when the shoe was on the other foot, and when the rules you now invoke so solemnly did not appear to apply.
This piece did not do that. The tragedy is that you may not realise it.
"It's now or never—don't sit on the fence. We all know the 2027 general election is coming. I hear some people saying, 'Voting is not working, we're tired, we've been voting for years and nothing has changed.' Don't let them defeat you mentally.
It's time to stand our ground. We can't keep planning to go to church every Sunday and not plan to vote in the 2027 election. Your vote can make a difference. Everybody needs to come together. If you think your area is not safe enough, gather with other voters at your polling unit."
— Actor Stan Nze
Owning Up to Leadership Failures and Political Responsibility
This morning, I listened to the British Prime Minister’s speech announcing his planned resignation in July. As a keen observer of global politics, my primary interest lies in examining what successful nations do right and the structural factors that cause others to lag or struggle with governance and development.
The Prime Minister’s planned resignation comes amid mounting public frustration over a stagnant economy, a worsening cost-of-living crisis, and a perceived failure to honour key campaign pledges.
Looking inward in our dear country, we can recall our own situation. Before 2015, our President on several occasions championed the call for the then President Goodluck Jonathan to resign over economic hardship and insecurity affecting Nigerians. During the Chibok school kidnapping incident, he demanded the immediate resignation of President Jonathan, arguing that the government had failed in its most fundamental duty of protecting lives.
During the 2023 election campaign, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu made several promises, including improved electricity supply. He also challenged the electorate not to vote for him for a second term if he failed to deliver on those commitments—particularly in providing stable power, fighting corruption, and improving the welfare of Nigerians.
At present, however, these conditions have worsened. Electricity supply remains unreliable, insecurity has intensified in many areas, including kidnappings, and economic hardship has deepened rather than eased. Similar concerns are reflected across other critical sectors such as security, infrastructure, transportation, and anti-corruption efforts, all of which have regressed. We are in the worst possible condition.
I, therefore, join Nigerians of goodwill in calling for the resignation of the President over monumental failure in governance. Such a gesture would help enthrone a political culture rooted in accountability and responsibility, rather than further entrenching impunity. It would also send a powerful message that public office is a sacred trust, not an entitlement, and help build a society in which future leaders understand that failure carries consequences. Only by ending the culture of impunity can we secure a better future for the society our children will inherit in a New Nigeria that is possible. -PO
VIDEO ;
THIS IS PETER OBI ATTENDING THE 80TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION OF EX MINISTER CHIEF YOMI EDU…
TWAS ALL SHADE OF BEAUTIFUL ❤️
LET ME ALSO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO WISH HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO HIS EXCELLENCY SIR GREGORY PETER OBI AND EVERY GOOD MAN OUT THERE….
NIGERIA WILL BE OK AGAIN👏
“There’s No Clear Path For Tinubu In 2027; Peter Obi Will Sweep The South-South, South-East, North, And Middle Belt. The Next President Of Nigeria Is Peter Obi, Whether We Like It Or Not. I Can See The Roadmap For Peter Obi. Tinubu Doesn’t Have a Pathway Back To The Villa.” ~ Hon. Sergius Ogun, Former Member, House Of Representatives.