Politics

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Adamu Garba, a former presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, APC, said he is back to the ruling party. 

Mr Garba disclosed this in a post he made on Facebook on Tuesday, July 12, 2022. 

Garba argued that the combination of Bola Ahmad Tinubu and Kashim Shettima as the presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the ruling party inspired his decision.

“Yes, I am fully back to APC. I could do more harm to my country, Nigeria, if I did not support a combination of a great strategist and a great tactician on a single ticket. It is BAT/Kashim that should take over all polling units in Nigeria come 2023.” Mr Garba wrote on Facebook.

Garba defected from the ruling party in May. He had cited the exorbitant price of the nomination form as his reason for leaving the APC.

By Ambali Abdulkabeer

I understand Dino Melaye is a serial political clown who doesn’t deserve much attention. Yet there’s a need to say a few words about his recent cringe-worthy video targeted at Peter Obi.

In the viral video, Dino argued that Nigeria’s problem is beyond cutting governance costs. He said that with all confidence. Ignorant.

Nigeria is what it is today due to a lack of financial prudence in the political firmament. For instance, a report emerged that President Muhammadu Buhari travelled 11 times in five months. However, if you carefully research the trips facilitated with the country’s hard-earned money, you may discover that not all the trips would demand the President and his needless entourage.

Ahmed Lawan, the President of the Senate, in a lecture titled ‘The Legislature, Legislative Mandate and People – The Reality and the Public Perception’ and presented during the First Distinguished Parliamentarians Lecture Series organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies last year, clarified the salaries of members of the National Assembly.

“The total salary of a member of the Senate is about N1.5m while that of the House of Representatives is about N1.3m.

“The average office running cost for a senator is about N13m while that of a member of the House of Representatives is N8m”, Lawan said in the robust paper.

When calculated, the N13m office running cost for a senator amounts to N52m per annum, while the N8m for a member of the House of Representatives amounts to N32m in a year.

Plus salary, this means that each Senator goes home with 70 million and House of Reps member with 47.6 million annually.

Don’t let us talk about the salaries and allowances of the President, Vice President, Ministers and others. A waste of time!

Then the big question is, how much does a diligent civil servant get annually, or even in his entire 35 years in service? You can answer that!

And don’t forget this country is abysmally run through heavy loans upon loans. So if any country in the world must cut governance costs to attend to its multifarious crises, it should be Nigeria.

There is nothing wrong with Dino canvassing support for Atiku Abubakar. But to say that the only solution now is the unity of Nigeria is problematic. It’s even self-delusion to tip a former vice president as the best man for the job! If we are united (which I think it’s untenable given our slapdash approach to leadership), the country needs people who are genuinely financially prudent to survive. Not these endlessly grasping ‘agbada men’ carting away its resources.

It must also be said that whether or not Peter Obi is manageable for the country at the moment, Nigerians have the liberty to decide in 2023. It would be fair, however, to remind us that our country needs a better future.

The Danish poet and social critic Soren Kierkegaard was right when he said, “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” So while they should embrace the fact that the country needs a genuine president, Nigerians should not be fooled into believing cutting governance costs isn’t a solution.

Ambali Abdulkabeer writes from Ilorin. He can be reached via abdulkabeerambali@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Sabiu

The Borno State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), under the leadership of Bishop Mohammed Naga, has expressed its joy over the emergence of a former governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, as Bola Tinubu’s running mate in the 2023 presidential election.

Recall that Mr Tinubu announced Kashim yesterday as his prospective vice president if the All Progressives Congress (APC) emerges victorious in the next year’s election.

Reacting to the development in a statement, Bishop Naga described Kashim as an unbigoted person, stressing that “those who are not from Borno State may not know, but you and I know better.”

His statement reads, “Gov. Shettima, in the history of Borno State, is the only Governor that has sponsored the highest number of Christian Pilgrims every year since 2011.

“I am speaking boldly without fear or favour because as CAN Chairman, I don’t receive salary or kobo from the Government or any institution, but the facts need to be told.

“For example, when Gwoza people were driven from their ancestral homes, they fled to Maiduguri, and the Governor personally came to CAN Centre in Jerusalem ward two times in June and July 2014. He gave N10 million for their upkeep at first instance, but the victims weren’t many. By the end of October 2014, the IDPs from Gwoza increased to 42,000 in that camp alone. Governor Shettima came again and gave another N10 million.

“He also gave an additional N5 million to Christians from Borno who fled to Cameroon to be returned home.

“Sincerely speaking, as a Christian and a preacher, absolutely, I have nothing to fear about Asiwaju’s picking a Muslim as his running mate because he is not a religious bigot, and I am happy he has made his mind known to the public in the person of his preferred running mate.

“Seeing another presidential candidate applauding him is a plus for him and supporters of Asiwaju. Congratulations to the awaiting president and vice president.”

However, the coming of a Muslim-Muslim ticket from the APC has caused a lot of reactions, with several social media-based activists vigorously kicking against it, citing the sensitive religious atmosphere of the Nigerian society as their reason for resistance.

By Dr. Raji Bello

In media advertisements, the larger print that describes or promotes a product or service is often accompanied by a smaller or fine print which is less noticeable and often placed as a footnote. It usually contains the real truth about what is offered in the advert although consumers rarely read them.

Bola Tinubu has unveiled his running mate in Daura where he gave the nation a partial reading of the larger print of his advertisement. He said that he has found a competent and loyal individual to help him deliver good governance and that the person’s Muslim faith was merely accidental. It sounds good on the surface but we all know that his selection goes against the established convention of demonstrating religious and regional inclusivity on our presidential tickets. And we are all aware of the passionate debate that preceded the selection. It is clear that the main points articulated or implied by those who have insisted on a Muslim-Muslim ticket for the APC now constitutes the dark and sinister fine print in Tinubu’s advertisement of his new running mate.

There are three main postulates in the fine print which have underpinned Tinubu’s selection and which should make uncomfortable reading for anyone who is concerned about Nigeria’s future. They are:

1. A Muslim from southern Nigeria is not Muslim enough to represent the nation’s Muslims on a presidential ticket and he must be paired with a northern Muslim before he could appeal to northern Muslim voters.
2. Muslims in northern Nigeria will not vote for a ticket that has a northern Christian on it making any such ticket automatically unviable.
3. A “competent and loyal” running mate for Tinubu could not be found among northern Christians and he had to go against the convention to find one from the northern Muslim community.

An acceptance of Tinubu’s selection automatically implies the acceptance and internalisation of this fine print, and this is where the problem lies. It means that we, as a nation, are on the road towards formalising and even institutionalising common prejudices and bigotry at the highest levels of our polity. Kaduna state APC is already at an advanced stage of entrenching its ominous Muslim-Muslim formula for governorship contest contrary to established convention. Is this the country that any of us would like to bequeath to his children and grandchildren? Should hard calculations regarding the chances of victory take precedence over the future survival of this country? Isn’t Nigeria more important than any politician’s ambition or chances of winning? The antecendent of Abiola’s Muslim-Muslim ticket that is often cited as justification is not applicable because it had enjoyed implied consent of the Christian community at that time, something that is absent at this time. There is a big difference between exclusion with consent and without it.

All human beings (especially the Nigerian kind) crave inclusivity. Muslims in Plateau, Taraba and some Southwestern states have also cried out for inclusivity; so it is not something that only Christians seek. In Plateau state, with its significant Muslim minority, there is a long-running problem with inclusivity. Contentious issues that concern the “settler” Muslim population in Jos North has led to the exclusion of native Muslim populations in other local government areas as well. In Taraba state, the recent nomination of Christian governorship candidates by both major parties has spiked communal tensions with one radical Muslim preacher even calling for jihad. This came against the background of complains of marginalisation in state government appointments by the Muslim community in the state. But the case for more inclusivity in the two states will surely be undermined if the bigoted fine print of Tinubu’s advertisement is institutionalised at the centre.

We are already on the slippery slope towards eventual implosion and victories for the national and Kaduna APC tickets in 2023 will most likely move us to the high-speed section of that slope.

Raji Bello writes from Yola, Adamawa State.

By Muhammad Sabiu

The presidential candidate in the 2023 election under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has given his reason behind picking a former Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, as his running mate.

Mr Tinubu who was the governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007 described Mr Kashim as a competent and credible person.

“I chose him because he is competent, capable and reliable,” the APC candidate said.

He made the disclosure on Sunday in Daura, the hometown of President Muhammadu Buhari, when he paid a Sallah homage to the president.

Stating why the homage was paid, Mr Tinubu said, “We came to pay homage to him (Buhari) and to share part of his holiday and lunch. And to discuss the question of my substantive running mate.

“The one we put in as placement has withdrawn today. There has been an announcement to replace him fully with a substantive candidate, Kashim Shettima.”

Recall that it took Mr. Tinubu a while before finally declaring his running mate unequivocally despite the pressure and outcry from Nigerians, especially on social media.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has identified Senator Kashim Shettima as his running mate for the 2023 general election.

Tinubu disclosed this Sunday in an interactive session with journalists during a visit to President Buhari in Daura, Katsina State.

Reports had earlier hinted that The vice-presidential nominee may most likely be a former governor and senator from the Northeast part of Nigeria.

Recall that Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State had on Saturday disclosed that Tinubu had settled for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

Kashim Shettima was a Barno State former governor who served the state from 2011 to 2019.

By Ibrahim Ahmad Kala, LL.M

The one-time Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice in the Second Republic, Late Chief Richard Akinjede, SAN once asserted that oral Advocacy is a special science and art skill of good courtroom lawyers which is likened to the scene in Julius Caeser that took the form of funeral orations by Brutus and Antony over Ceaser’s corpse. Having just killed Ceaser, the conspirators wanted Brutus to assure the Romans that all was well and that Ceaser’s death was necessary to prevent tyranny. Antony, Ceaser’s close friend, feigned solidarity with the conspirators and persuaded them that he too should say a few words over Ceaser’s body.

In comparing Brutus and Antony as orators, we should remember two other classical orators: Cicero and Demosthenes. When Cicero finished an oration, the people would say: “How well he spoke”.  But when Demosthenes finished speaking, the people would say: “Let us March”. Brutus was like Cicero and Antony like Demosthenes. Brutus won respect, but Antony started a riot.

The funeral orations which exemplify an extraordinary example of how Shakespeare can bear on the law, underscore the effectiveness of oral Advocacy which a lawyer should read before addressing the court in a major trial.

Regrettably, like Antony, Bar Shehu Usman Dalhatu on 7/7/2022 in his appearance while defending Sheikh Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara before a Sharia Court of Kano State, caused stirred on social media and openly accused the trial judge of being unlike Ceaser’s wife of not sitting above board in the case. As seen in a viral video, the counsel was heard castigating the court for allowing the prosecution to ask “all sorts of questions such as asking the defendant when his father died? Which he argued, is not contained in the charge,” during cross-examination,  and “denying his client right to make a no-case submission”, saying no prima facie case was established against him. According to the Daily Trust report, the mild drama led the defence counsel, Dalhatu Shehu-Usman to walk out on the judge.

The Kano State Government had charged Kabara with four counts, bordering on blasphemous comments against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on Aug.10, Oct. 25 and Dec 20, 2019.

With due respect to all, the entire scenario that played out in the court is, to say the least, highly nauseating and totally against the professional ethics required of players in the administration of justice in this country. In one of my previous articles on the relationship between the Bar and the Bench, I penned down as follows:

In R. vs. O’Connell (1844) p261 at 312-313 lifted from Oputa JSC’s book “OUR TEMPLE OF JUSTICE” p.14, Crampton J. said thus:

“This court in which we sit is a Temple of Justice, and the Advocate at the Bar as well as the Judge on the Bench are equally ministers in that Temple. The object of all, equally, would be the attainment of justice…”

Oputa JSC further distilled some guiding principles on the relationship between the Bench and the Bar as follows:

 “Lawyers and Judges being instruments of justice are honoured and honourable.

Such honourable men should not allow ‘the infirmity of human nature and the strength of human passion’ to lead them astray, let alone lead them to perpetuate an outright injustice.

The Legal profession is not just another avenue for quick money-making by hook or crook. To so conceive the profession, is to degrade it.”

Similarly, Richard Du Cann in his book: “The Art of the Advocate” speaking on the duty of the Advocate while quoting Lord MacMillan, a Lord Advocate-General in Scotland and a member of the Judicial Committee of the House of Lord’s declared the duty in fivefold as follows:

“In the discharge of his office, the Advocate has a duty to his client, a duty to his opponent, a duty to the court, a duty to himself, and a duty to the state. The duties, in fact, begin long before he rises to his feet resplendent in horsehair wig and stuff gown”.

Hence, it is not part of the duties of a Lawyer to win at all costs or at any cost. There is rather a heavy cost to winning at all costs and that cost is disdain and dishonour and the desecration of the sacred temple of justice. Judges and Lawyers have a prior and perpetual retainer on behalf of the truth.

All these, therefore, reflect very much the tradition of the legal profession on the relationship between the Bar and the Bench, and which is one of reciprocity. The smooth administration of justice envisages the existence of courageous, efficient, honest and fearless Bar and Bench.

The Bench is entitled to unqualified respect from the Bar and so expects it. The least Magistrate Court, Area, Sharia or Customary Court and the highest court of the land are equally entitled to this respect. Members of the Bar stand up when they address or are addressed by the Bench.

The counsel who easily picks up quarrels with the Bench acts in contravention of this important duty. The duty of respect which is as old as the profession itself is highlighted under Rule 1(a) of Rules of Professional Conduct as follows:

It is the duty of the Lawyer to maintain toward the Court, a respectful attitude, not for the sake of the temporary incumbent of the judicial office, but for the maintenance of its supreme importance. Judges not being wholly free to defend themselves against criticism and clamour. Whenever there is a proper ground for a serious complaint of a judicial officer, it is the duty of the Lawyer to submit his grievances to the proper authority. In such cases, but not otherwise, such charges should be encouraged and the person making them should be protected.

This aged-long tradition of respect has crystallized into a solid cornerstone in the edifice of the Bar-and-Bench relationship. You alone cannot change the position overnight. The tradition is so well established at the Bar that, even when counsel has nothing but rude remarks to make, by tradition he is expected to start by saying: “With respect”.

These ethics demanded the best of Man: obedience and decency, as it was demanded that Adam (A.S) should keep his own part of the bargain, and he did not; that was unethical and there came his fall.

The court is where counsel will spend the rest of his years at the Bar trying to persuade to his view. One cannot carry it along with him if, by lack of manners, one alienates its feelings beyond recall or consistently.

To be continued

Ibrahim Muhammad Kala Esq is the Head of Litigation Department, Court of Appeal Gombe division and can be reached via ibrokalaesq@gmail.com

By Uzair Adam Imam 

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged Nigerians to pray for President Muhammadu Buhari as insecurity exacerbates in the country. 

Barr Felix Morka, the APC National Publicity Secretary, disclosed in a Sallah message to Muslims on Saturday. 

Morka said Nigerians should put the interest of the nation first, adding that Nigerians should pray for Buhari to end the security challenges bedevilling the country.

The party said, “We urge Nigerians to continue to support and pray for the government of President Muhammadu Buhari as it tackles our national security challenges just as we continue to reject insensitive and unpatriotic attempts by some partisans to politicise security breaches by enemies of our land.

“On this occasion of Eid-El-Kabir, we urge all Muslims to pray for sustained peace, security and prosperity of the country as the APC-led government continues to prioritise the wellbeing and safety of all Nigerians.

“On this occasion of Eid-El-Kabir, we urge all Nigerians to place national interest first in all dealings. We must not yield to retrogressive elements who seek to divide us through terror and hate.”

By Zayyad I. Muhammad

The 2023 presidential elections present the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with a golden opportunity to wrestle power from the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC). However, the PDP faces a daunting challenge in how to utilize this opportunity. To do this, the PDP needs to present a common interest from the party’s wide, and sometimes, varying interests so as to secure for the party, sufficient internal and external support during the elections.

PDP got its calculations right. The All Progressives Congress (APC) picked its presidential candidate from the South, especially the Southwest – Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, is APC’s presidential candidate.

The emergence of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate for the main opposition party – (PDP) was a product of three things. The party has settled for someone who has the national outlook; the party wants to outwit the ruling All Progressive Congress ( APC) in one of the latter’s strongholds — the North, and lastly, the party needs a strong war-chest for the 2023 presidential elections.

Atiku’s emergence was smooth, despite the political intrigues that occurred before and during the presidential primaries. The selection of Ifeanyi Okowa as Atiku’s running mate had appeared also a smooth one. But two weeks after, it is causing dangerous stirs in the PDP camp that had appeared united, initially after the primaries. Former Governor Ayo Fayose scratched the ‘ old-wound’ of the call for a southern presidential candidate, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state is fuming, while  Governor  Nyesom Wike’s camp is causing more ‘commotion’ within the party by threatening the much-needed unity in the party. 

To be nominated or selected as a Vice Presidential candidate, the person must bring something to the table — votes, a daring war chest, well-established political structures, or influence in the political party.

Had Atiku picked Wike, the PDP would have appeared to opt for someone that will bring a massive war-chest and “home votes”. At the same time, the PDP would appear to have succumbed to pressure and tried to calm ‘a bull in a china shop’.

The APC, on the other hand, would have been happy, if Wike had emerged as the PDP vice presidential candidate. Firstly, it would have ‘balanced’ its controversial Muslim-Muslim ticket. Secondly, the APC would have used Wike’s candidacy to consolidate its votes in one of its strongholds — the North. In the 2019 presidential elections, the APC used Peter Obi’s Vice Presidential candidacy to de-market the PDP in the north. Peter Obi’s deportation of northerners was massively used against him. Like Peter Obi, Wike doesn’t have longtime friends, political associates or structures in the north, to defend him. However, to be fair to Wike, during the campaign for the PDP presidential primaries, he was able to tour the country, thus making some new networks and contacts. Furthermore, if Atiku had picked Wike, the former would have had to work extra hard in the north, because Wike will be a good recipe for APC’s strategy in the North. With Wike as VP, those people who are unhappy with APC or have not decided, may not want to thumbprint a ballot paper with a “Wike.”

The selection of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as Atiku’s running mate is a product of PDP’s strategy to consolidate its footings in its strongholds — the Southeast and the South-South while not jeopardizing its attempt to strike the APC in the North. Okowa is controversy-free and the North will not have any issue with him.

Any person in Governor Nyesom Wike’s shoes will certainly feel hurt and demeaned — he has been a pillar in the PDP when the party was ‘deserted’ and he’s among the very bigwigs that have never left the PDP to another party. Furthermore, Mr. Wike polled 16 votes to defeat Mr. Okowa who scored three votes in a shadow election by a committee set up by the PDP to pick a running mate as reported by many media houses in the country. Moreover, whether one likes or dislikes Wike, for sure, he has something to offer the PDP.

That window created by Atiku for the PDP to setup a committee to select for him the Vice Presidential candidate, was an error on Atiku, so to say. The selection of a running mate is the absolute right of the flagbearer. Since Atiku already had someone in his mind, that committee was unnecessary. Though, it appears it was an honest attempt to bring everybody on board in making or taking a decision.

When it comes to elections, every political party has its own strategy. Had Atiku accepted the choice of the ‘VP Selection Committee’, it would have been the first time in the history of Nigerian politics, that a political party will solely determine the VP candidate for its presidential candidate. Though the PDP said, it was Atiku that requested the party to recommend to him, a VP. Atiku has the final say!

Atiku Abubakar is a master in negotiations, give and take and reaching out to people, including adversaries. Atiku should sit down with Wike, one-on-one, to resolve all the issues. It’s politics. It’s all about winning!

Zayyad I. Muhammad writes from Abuja, Nigeria. He can be reached via; 08036070980 or zaymohd@yahoo.com.

By Mukhtar Jarmajo 

Mao Zedong, the founder of the Peoples Republic of China, once said, “Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.” By inference, thus, there is so much correlation between politics and war, the only difference being that the former isn’t bloody while the latter is. Therefore, the art of politics is the same as that of war, where two or more opposing parties contest for supremacy either in terms of votes for political power as with politics or territorial control as with war. Additionally, politics and war involve strategies to subdue the opponent through deceptive techniques. 

Perhaps this is why Sun Tzu, the great Chinese writer, philosopher and war strategist, noted that while differentiating victorious warriors from defeated ones, “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” Aside from that, Sun Tzu emphasised the importance of strategy in war. He also meant that only warriors who adopt strategies in defining the means to conquer the enemy are victorious. The third import of Tzu’s quote is that strategists conquer their opponents well before the offensive is launched. 

So just as wars can be won and lost before the first Salvo is released, elections too can be won and lost even before any vote is cast. Meanwhile, it bears no repeating that only strategic politicians achieve such excellence. They study the prevailing political circumstance, analyse it based on the ambitions of the time, and then meticulously plan the best strategy to be used in conquering the opponents. Politicians such as the Bauchi state APC governorship standard bearer, Sadiq Baba Abubakar, are victorious political warriors simply because they understand the art of political warfare. 

During the governorship primary election in Bauchi state, the erstwhile Air Chief turned political czar and let his fellow contenders believe they were more political than him. Therefore only they knew what the road to winning the party’s ticket looked like. After the contest, Sadiq Abubakar won the day, with the runner-up placed at a distant 92 votes away. While they were reluctant that he was not a factor to count, Sadiq Abubakar campaigned vigorously and reached out to stakeholders and delegates to convince them of the substance and import of his ambition. 

In the end, they were convinced that aside from experience he would bring to the table, the erstwhile diplomat is one politician capable of giving the ruling PDP in Bauchi state a run for its money. Thus, he won the primary election before the first ballot was cast. And by Sun Tzu’s standard, Sadiq Baba Abubakar is a victorious political warrior. It raises no eyebrows that as a graduate of political science who also holds a master’s in strategic studies, the Bauchi APC governorship standard bearer can do even more than this. 

Jarmajo can be reached via dattuwamanga@gmail.com.