@NigeriaStories Politicians calling for the release of a criminal who used his office to commit crimes against Nigerians? I expected you mfs to say,'let due process take its place
OBIDIENTS: “Dos Santos, you are based in Canada and enjoying good infrastructure, health care, benefits etc but you are supporting Atiku”.
1. MY RESPONSE: Atiku Abubakar said he will make Nigeria affordable again. CANADA: Here is Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada making those promises to the parliament (see attached video)
2. MY RESPONSE: Atiku Abubakar has said the 3 refineries: Kaduna, Port Harcourt, and Warri should be privatized.
CANADA: No public refinery. All oil refineries in Canada are privately owned and operated.
https://t.co/Tb0pPfG1SA
3. MY RESPONSE: Atiku Abubakar said he will restructure Nigeria's fiscal federalism and that he believes in small government. Also, he has been an advocate for restructuring since the 1995 Sani Abacha Constitutional Conference and he has written a book on restructuring.
CANADA: Actively practices fiscal federalism, operating as one of the most decentralized federations in the world.
4. MY RESPONSE: Atiku Abubakar said he will privatize the NNPC
CANADA: Petro-Canada - The federal government created Petro-Canada as a Crown corporation (a state-owned enterprise) in 1975 to ensure security of oil supply.
Privatization: The government began selling off its shares in the 1990s and fully privatized the company by 2004.
— Currently has a federal public (government-owned) oil company. Canada's oil and gas sector is run entirely by private enterprise, dominated by publicly traded companies.
5. MY RESPONSE: Atiku Abubakar said that, if elected every state will control its natural resources.
CANADA: Canadian provinces have primary constitutional control and ownership over the natural resources located within their borders.
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY:
•Section 92A of the Constitution Act, 1867: Grants provinces exclusive authority to make laws regarding the exploration, development, conservation, and management of non-renewable natural resources, forestry resources, and electrical energy.
•Section 109: Establishes provincial Crown ownership over public lands, timber, and minerals within the province.
•Revenues: Royalties and financial benefits from resource extraction flow directly to the provincial governments rather than to Ottawa, the capital city.
FEDERAL OVERLAPS AND LIMITATIONS:
•Interprovincial and International Trade: The federal government (Natural Resources Canada) retains jurisdiction over exports, interprovincial trade (such as pipelines crossing provincial borders), navigation, shipping, and fisheries.
•Federal Lands and Territories: Ottawa manages resources in Canada's three territories, national parks, federal military lands, offshore marine areas, and Indigenous reserves.
•Shared Environment Responsibilities: Federal laws can still apply through criminal law, Indigenous affairs, or environmental assessments (such as the Impact Assessment Act) if projects affect matters of national jurisdiction.
In conclusion, it is based on my research on the country i reside in, the reason i have been a supporter of Atiku Abubakar. So now, who wants the best between Dos Santos and Obidients?
Ask Obidients in the diaspora to do the same thing i did. Why they are supporting Peter Obi and compare with the country they reside in? 😂
NOTE: There are more examples but i decided to give 5 to show Nigerians that Atiku Abubakar means well.
Thanks
Dos Santos Politico
Political Analyst/Researcher/Record Keeper.
I condemn in the strongest possible terms the treatment meted out to the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), H.E. Peter Obi, in Makurdi, Benue State, today.
The reported obstruction of his movement by a group of youths is unacceptable, undemocratic and completely inconsistent with the kind of politics we should be practising in Nigeria.
Mr Peter Obi is a Nigerian citizen, a former Governor and the presidential candidate of a duly recognised political party. Like every Nigerian, he has the constitutional right to move freely throughout the country and undertake lawful activities without intimidation, harassment or obstruction.
More importantly, with political campaigns now underway, every candidate must be allowed to travel freely across Nigeria, meet with citizens, canvass for support and conduct legitimate political activities without fear.
Our democracy cannot descend into a situation where political actors or their supporters determine who may enter a state, community or any part of the country. No individual, group or political interest has the authority to deny another Nigerian access to any part of our country.
Political differences must never become an excuse for intimidation, violence or brigandage. We must compete on the strength of our ideas, programmes and policies and, ultimately, allow Nigerians to make their choices freely at the ballot box.
I therefore call on the Inspector-General of Police and all relevant security and law-enforcement authorities to investigate the circumstances surrounding this incident and ensure that those responsible are identified and held accountable in accordance with the law.
This kind of rascality must not be tolerated, irrespective of who is involved or which political party is affected. Today, it may be Peter Obi; tomorrow, it could be another candidate.
Nigeria belongs to all of us, and every Nigerian must be free to move and participate in our democratic process without fear or intimidation. — AWT
Nigeria may not be facing a constitutional vacuum today, but there is a disturbing vacuum of political leadership.
I have travelled, lived and spent time abroad, and I have never pretended otherwise. But there is a fundamental difference between the travels of a private citizen and the responsibility of the sitting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Consider what Bola Tinubu is leaving behind. Petrol priced beyond the reach of ordinary people. Families rationing food. Transport fares that have turned a journey to one’s own village into a luxury. Insecurity that buries Nigerians week after week. And in the middle of all this, President Tinubu has packed his bags for three weeks in Europe.
The Vice President is abroad on official duty. That makes the President’s decision even more difficult to understand. Leadership is not merely the constitutional right to occupy an office; it is the judgment to know when your country needs you at home.
A father may travel when all is well. But when his roof is burning and his family is trapped inside, he does not pick up his suitcase and head for the airport.
That is the issue here. It is not that a President must never rest or travel. It is that Nigeria is burning, and the President has chosen a boarding pass over the fire extinguisher.
Millions of Nigerians are being grounded by hardship while their President is airborne. The people can barely afford to move, but the President keeps moving.
A government that cannot feel the pain it inflicts will never summon the will to end it.
Tinubu made Nigeria expensive. I will make Nigeria affordable again. -AA
Where is Professor Amupitan?
I don't know him, and we never met.
I have no reason to wish to meet him, either. When they nominated him as the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the nation received the shocking disclosure of his 2020 legal brief to the international community in which he claimed that the violence in the country was a Muslim pogrom against Christians.
The violence affected and still affects followers of all religions and speakers of every language.
For this reason, I, among many others, felt bad about the assertion he made and assumed that he was not a good choice for that office. This country's elections had incrementally got better with each new leadership.
Professor Jega gave the nation its best election since the disputed June 12, 1993, that produced Chief MKO Abiola, now recognised as a duly elected president who did not, however, take the office.
Professor Mahmud Yakubu did the impossible by rallying the civil society, CSOs, and local and foreign observers to approve all his elections.
Not one election under him was ever rejected by any serious observer or CSO.
Now, look at what has just happened in Osun state. Under Amupitan's leadership, the country has attained a transparent electoral process.
Everyone - civil society, the EU, local and foreign observers are commending this standout performance, praising the exceptional skill and determination to improve the process as manifested by INEC's seamless uploading of the governorship election results to its IReV.
With all the loud acclaim that followed, however, I have been asking myself, where is the captain of the ship, Professor Amupitan?
He hasn't picked the microphone, 48 hours hence, or appeared before the TV cameras to proudly show off the success. Where is he?
We are a country of wilful behaviour, chest beating public officials who are proudly and aggressively proclaiming success without achieving half of what we are talking about here. Where is he?
We are not used to seeing this kind of humility, patience, and restraint. Isn't it fair that the man should come out of his shell and dance to the drums in celebration?
When Buhari met me, to support him after APC convention 2014, my condition was simple, he must not run on a MM ticket.
When BAT learned that Buhari has changed his mind of picking him a Muslim, he insisted that his wife be picked
It took many interventions to arrive at Osinbajo
PRESS STATEMENT
OSUN ELECTION: ADC WARNS AGAINST PLANNED ARREST OF AREGBESOLA
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has received credible reports of plans to arrest our National Secretary, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, in the days leading to Saturday’s Osun State election.
Given the pattern of intimidation, harassment and misuse of state institutions that has increasingly characterised the conduct of this government towards the opposition, we cannot afford to dismiss these reports.
Ogbeni Aregbesola is a former Governor of Osun State, a former Minister of the Federal Republic and the National Secretary of the opposition political party. If any security agency has a lawful reason to invite him, there are established procedures for doing so.
An arrest on the eve of an election in which his party is participating would invite only one reasonable conclusion: that the purpose is to prevent him from leading and coordinating the party’s election activities.
We therefore put the Federal Government and the security agencies on notice. The eyes of Nigerians are on Osun. Whatever happens before, during and after Saturday’s election will be judged not by the explanations offered afterwards, but by the actions taken now.
The APC Federal Government must be wary of doing anything that could plunge Osun State into needless crisis. Nigeria is still a democracy, and the government would do well to remember that before Saturday
Signed:
Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi�National Publicity Secretary�African Democratic Congress (ADC)
The Nigerian authorities must immediately hold to account Sen. Francis Fadunsi (APC Osun East) who was on video during campaign, instructing his supporters to “kill members of the Accord Party” ahead of the state’s August 15 governorship election.
Senator Fadahunsi’s reckless remarks were deliberate and solely aimed at inciting a bloody poll in Osun state.
The lawmaker was on record instigating, provoking, or encouraging others to commit a crime or breach public peace. His advocacy of hatred has wide ranging impacts that include endangering lives and undermining all efforts to ensure the Osun election is free and fair.
@officialABAT@OfficialDSSNG@PoliceNG@TunjiDisu1
The persecution of Malam Nasiru El-Rufai is a trial of the Nigerian justice system.
Free the Nigerian justice system.
Allow the Nigerian justice system to breathe.
Free Malam Nasiru El-Rufai.
It may not bother some people, but the continued detention of @elrufai is not about justice; it is political vendetta. It is easy to look the other way because he is not your headache, and perhaps because you don’t consider him a nice person. But that is exactly how oppression works, it becomes acceptable when the victim is someone we dislike. Once injustice is tolerated against one person, it becomes easier to use it against everyone else. #FreeElRufaiNow
Former Governor of Kaduna State and chieftain of the @ADCNig, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai @elrufai, has spent 178 days in detention for parting ways politically with President Bola Tinubu’s ruling @OfficialAPCNg while Senator Francis Fadahunsi is walking freely and yet-to-be arrested after calling on members of his own party to kill members of the Accord. Even as el-Rufai is being detained, high profile members of Tinubu’s APC, who are standing trial for corruption were cleared and are running for election! What other evidence do you need to confirm that Tinubu is waging a war against the OPPOSITION and not CORRUPTION.
PRESS RELEASE
Obasanjo’s campaign of lies, political manipulation and orchestrated deceit falling apart like a pack of cards
Finally, former President Olusegun Obasanjo's campaign of lies, political manipulation and orchestrated deceit stacked against Atiku Abubakar for over 20 years, for political expediency, is falling apart like a pack of cards. On July 23, Chief Obasanjo alleged that his deputy (1999-2007) and Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, mobilised the late former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Ghali Umar Na'Abba to impeach him. It has become a pattern for Obasanjo to take advantage of every election cycle to throw stones of corruption, betrayal and other sundry allegations against Atiku. This time, he chose to make a man, who passed away nearly three years ago, the subject of his baseless allegation. He knows that the only way that Na’Abba would be able to respond to the malicious allegation is by a divine miracle in which the former Speaker is raised from the dead!
But Hon. Abubakar Bawa Bwari, a major actor in the politics of that era, put a lie to Obasanjo’s claim. The former Chief Whip during the 1999-2007 sessions of the House of Representatives said that Na’Abba never sought Obasanjo’s removal and insists Atiku acted as his former boss's envoy to lawmakers.
And contrary to the media narrative that Obasanjo knelt down for Atiku to get his support for a second term, former Governor of Abia State, Sen. Orji Kalu in a 2003 trending video revealed that it was actually Atiku who knelt down for the then PDP governors to secure their support for Obasanjo. Obasanjo and his handlers had mischievously dropped into the media space a narrative that the former President was forced to kneel down for Atiku to safeguard his second term ticket. (In Yoruba land, it is a deep cultural taboo and a profound inversion of norms for an elder to kneel down or prostrate for a younger person. This, and many more, were deliberate efforts at portraying Atiku in bad light).
"Atiku knelt down, we were like 17 governors. He knelt down for us and said that he does not want to be disloyal to Obasanjo. That four years is like four days," Kalu said.
And to confirm that it was the PDP governors and not Atiku that were planning to upstage Obasanjo because of his dictatorial tendencies, Kalu said that everything was in motion by the PDP governors to make the Waziri Adamawa president.
"Atiku was almost a President. We had gotten everyone to postpone the (PDP) Convention and had gotten what we needed to move forward. But he (Atiku), said this man (Obasanjo) trusted him, and gave him the opportunity to work with him. That he cannot betray Obasanjo," the former Abia Governor said.
Leading up to the 2007 election, Obasanjo wrote to the Senate to investigate Atiku over alleged diversion of funds of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF). To underscore his innocence, Atiku temporarily vacated his immunity and presented himself for the probe. The former Vice President insisted that the funds were safe in fixed deposit accounts and that the charges were politically motivated to truncate his presidential run because of his opposition to Obasanjo’s Third Term agenda.
Writing in his autobiography titled "Awujale", the late Alaiyeluwa HRH Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona Ogbagba II, the Awujale of Ijebu kingdom exposed how Obasanjo used the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) under Nuhu Ribadu to hound Chairman of Globacom, Dr. Mike Adenuga in his desperation to nail Atiku for diversion of PTDF funds and for his personal benefit.