Opinion

Why Ahmad Lawan Is APC’s Ace To Winning The 2023 Presidential Elections

Published

3 years ago

May 31, 2022

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By Dr. Ezrel Tabiowo

Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) must come to terms with the fact that it is bound by obligation as the party in power to present a presidential candidate with acceptance ratings that cuts across the six geo-political zones of the country to ensure unity and stability in all facets of our national existence.
The party must go the extra mile to re-assure Nigerians by demonstrating that it places premium on performance and the delivery of good governance by rallying support for its best aspirant with the requisite competence, intellectual depth and mental alertness to confront the complex challenges faced by the nation.
At a time when the Northern and Southern parts of the country are recording an all-time high in loss of lives due to the spate of insecurity and criminal activities, it would appear insensitive and disingenuous for the APC to bend the rules for whatever reason to accommodate regional or any other consideration to advance a zoning arrangement in favour of any aspirant in particular.
It is common knowledge that the attendant threats constituted by the activities of terrorists, bandits and kidnappers have made our roads and rail system both unsafe means of transportation. Like an analyst said, “it is only a matter of time before the airports become a target as well.”
In the five states of the South East Zone, a region once considered as the bastion of trade, economic activities are grinding almost to a halt as a result of the deadly siege by some rebellious murderers identified as the “unknown gunmen”. The region has become volatile, uninhabitable and a shadow of what it was in the past.
In the North, the brazen operations of terrorists and kidnappers – considered a major security challenge – has led to the shut-down of schools in several northern states. It has also compelled farmers and residents of affected communities to flee for safety and seek refuge in camps for Internally Displaced Persons in Niger and Benue States, respectively, including the Federal Capital Territory.
The worrisome situation signals a looming humanitarian crises likely to snowball into unimaginable proportions if not squarely contained and, of course, this is not to mention the threat to food security which it poses.
In the South-South region, the one-time security problem of kidnapping and militancy has evolved into the criminal enterprise of crude oil theft perpetrated by hardened criminals and economic saboteurs for monetary gains to the detriment of the Nigerian economy.
At a meeting between the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Oil Producers Trade Section, and the Independent Petroleum Producers Group sometime in March, this year, it was revealed that Nigeria lost about $3.2 billion (USD) to crude oil theft between January and February, 2022.
The staggering amount, when converted at an exchange rate of N416.25 to the dollar, comes to a whopping N1.36 trillion as loss to the nation for just a two-month period alone.
Such an amount as accruing revenue could go into funding the country’s N6.25 trillion budget deficit for the year 2022, without Federal Government’s recourse to financing with new borrowings, privatisation proceeds and drawdown on loans secured for specific projects.
The enormity of the issues above, present a rather complex set of challenges that demand a hands-on approach to leadership and governance in the quest to have them addressed.

The Lawan Factor In Shaping A New Nigeria

Senator Ahmad Lawan, a University Lecturer was born on the 12th of January, 1959. He was first elected in 1999 to represent Bade/Jakusko Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), a position he held until 2007, when he contested the Senatorial election to represent Yobe North District in the Senate.
As a Lawmaker of the upper chamber, he was a member of the National Assembly’s Committee on Constitution Review in 2008; and later appointed as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee in 2009. He served in that capacity in the 6th and 7th Assembly – between 2009 and 2015.
While Chairing the Public Accounts Committee at the time, Lawan ensured strict probity and accountability in the country’s financial system by ensuring that government spendings by relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies were properly accounted for, and duly in accordance with the provisions of the law.
The number of times I covered the meetings which he presided over, left me wondering how he managed to stay ahead of the agencies when it came to working the books. Even more surprising is the fact that his memory is as sharp as ever to retain even the smallest details. His vast experience in Public Accounts can be said to have subsequently informed his views on why it has become expedient for the Federal Government to identify areas of waste to cut down on annual expenditures in the national budget.

Lawan’s Role In Tackling Banditry, Insurgency

Apparently not new to dealing with the issue of insecurity, Lawan as Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee On Review of Security Infrastructure in Nigeria, visited some states affected by the activities of bandits and kidnappers in 2017. The committee was tasked with investigating and unraveling the actual cause of the escalating incidents of insecurity in the north.
On two occasions, I accompanied him on the fact-finding visits around the worst hit areas, and the stories of victims were quite shocking as they were revealing. It was a time when banditry was gaining grounds in Zamfara and some neighboring states.
Lawan met with the traditional leaders and victims who narrated their ordeals to members of the Ad-hoc Committee. They narrated how wives and daughters were snatched from the abode of their husbands and parents and taken into the forest to be raped by the terrorists. We were informed that those who struggled to resist them were brutally killed in broad day light and in the presence of relatives. Informants of security agencies were tracked by the bandits to their homes and gruesomely murdered to instill fear in residents.
They further narrated how the military and security agencies were grossly overpowered as a result of insufficient personnel on the ground to repel the bandits, and, therefore, refused to respond to distress calls from the various communities when under attack.
In some cases, the marathon meetings between the Ad-hoc Committee and the various communities and representatives of the state governments lasted till about 5 a.m in the morning.
We also visited some parts of Benue State where IDP camps were situated to accommodate those who fled their homes as a result of the farmers-herders clashes at the time. What my eyes saw on those fact-finding trips exposed me to the Ahmad Lawan most people do not know. He is a fearless leader who would go any length to finding solutions to the problems of Nigerians. He is also the type of leader who would give his all by working round the clock tirelessly towards ensuring that results are achieved.
In coming up with a report, the Ad-hoc Committee under Lawan’s leadership at the time made recommendations, some of which, interestingly, he subsequently pushed for after becoming the President of the Ninth Senate.
Top on the recommendations was a request to the federal government for the provision of proper funding of the nation’s security assets, and the enforcement of accountability on the part of the military, police and other agencies.
Consequently, in 2021, over N800 billion naira was approved by the National Assembly for defense and security; and N996 billion in 2022 – figures which represent the highest monies ever budgeted to Defense for the purpose of increasing the size of the Nigeria Police, Military and other Para-military agencies given the growing population in the country.
It is on record, too, that the Senate President has in the past held several meetings behind closed doors with the country’s Service Chiefs and Heads of Security Agencies at various times when the spate of insecurity was seen to have heightened.
Nigerians believe strongly that he is the only aspirant who is best positioned to do more beyond legislative interventions to address the nation’s security challenges by fully implementing the recommendations of the reports of the adhoc committees on security constituted in the Eighth and Ninth Senate, respectively, if elected President.

Lawan’s Practical And Dogged Approach To Governance

While contesting the Senate Presidency for a second time in 2019 after an unsuccessful attempt in 2015, Lawan knew he had to come up with a realistic and implementable Agenda that would target critical areas in need of prompt legislative attention for the benefit of Nigerians.
His legislative blueprint focused on the following key areas: Security, Economy, Criminal Legislation Reform, Public Finance Management Legislations, Youth Unemployment and Substance Abuse, Standard of Education, Healthcare Services, Social Safety Net, and Constitutional Amendments. Other aspects include: Independence of the Legislature, Electoral Reforms, and Reviving the Real Sector and Infrastructure.
In less than three years, the Senate President, through resolute commitment, was able to lead the Ninth National Assembly in driving legislations that ensured the realisation of his agenda.
Most importantly, he was able to restore the nation’s deformed budget cycle to the January to December timeline which was unachievable under past assemblies since 1999.
His knack to always take on difficult pieces of legislation that hitherto defied passage and have them passed, apparently, makes him one of Nigeria’s most outstanding Senate Presidents with sterling accomplishments to his credit.
Under his watch, he was able to get the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract Act amended and passed by the Ninth Assembly. The piece of legislation sees Nigeria earning about $2 billion USD annually from royalties on oil exploration.
Also, revenues generated by the Nigeria Customs Service was shored under Lawan’s leadership. The service had in previous years generated less than N500 billion yearly, an amount which in contrast is abysmally low when compared to the sum of N2.2 trillion generated by the NCS in 2021.
Lawan, while underscoring the need for increased revenues, had severally mandated the Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs and relevant Committees to have quarterly engagements with Revenue Generating Agencies in the country to ensure that revenue targets are met and possibly surpassed.
It therefore does not come as a surprise that the National Assembly set a N3 trillion target for the Service in the year 2022.
According to Lawan, implementing the Finance Act 2021, passed by the National Assembly, would guarantee improved internally generated revenue to boost Nigeria’s earnings and assist revenue agencies in meeting up with targets.
As it stands, the outcome of the Peoples Democratic Party’s primary has suddenly evoked a longing and clamour amongst Nigerians for Lawan’s emergence as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress against PDP’s Atiku Abubakar.
Unlike other aspirants, Lawan is considered the darling of the South-East, South-South, South-West, North-East, North-West and North-Central Geo-political Zones of the country.
Without a doubt, I dare say he is the only aspirant that can campaign across the length and breadth of the country without suffering any rejection. This stems from the belief that he possesses the true Nigerian spirit needed to foster unity and stability, restore peace, and bring about economic prosperity for all.
Indeed, He is the Ace of the All Progressives Congress in the 2023 presidential contest, and the unifier that Nigeria desperately needs at this time

Opinion

BENUE 2027:The Apa/Agatu Quest for Equity

Published

4 days ago

January 14, 2025

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By Tunde Olusunle

It may be well over two years to the next cycle of general elections in Nigeria. For the people of Apa/Agatu federal constituency in *Benue South, however, the measure of their participation and integration into the governance scheme will be defined in the run-up to the general polls that year. Nine local government areas make up the predominantly Idoma country of Benue State also labelled Zone C in the senatorial tripod of the geo-polity. The zone is also home to the Igede ethnic stock and the Etulo. Local government areas in “Benue Zone C” include: Apa, Agatu, Oju, Obi, Ado, Ogbadibo, Okpokwu, Otukpo and Ohimini. The other zones, Benue North East and Benue North West, are wholly dominated by the Tiv nationality, striding across 14 local government areas. They are christened Zone A and Zone B in the local political scheme of the state. Federal constituencies in Benue South are: Apa/Agatu, Oju/Obi; Ado/Ogbadibo/Opokwu and Otukpo/Ohimini.

The subjugation of groups and ethnicities considered demographically smaller, by the larger groups which has dominated Nigeria’s politics over time, has not been any different for the Idoma of Benue State. Until the circumstantial emergence of a Yahaya Bello from the Ebira ethnicity in Kogi State in 2015, the Igala had the relay baton of governorship of Kogi State, in rounds and succession. The Ebiras and the Okun-Yoruba zones in the state could only aspire to be serial deputies or Secretaries to the State Government. This political template was virtually cast in stone. The Ilorin people of Kwara State have similarly wholly warehoused the gubernatorial office, sparingly conceding the position to other sociocultural groups in the state. The only exception was the concession of the seat to a candidate from Kwara South, in the person of Abdulfatah Ahmed, by his predecessor, Bukola Saraki in 2011. Even at that, there were murmurs and dissent from those who believed Ahmed came from a community too close to the Ilorin emirate to be of genuine Igbomina stock, which prides itself as the pure Yoruba species in Kwara State.
Twenty-six years into the Fourth Republic, the maximum proximity of the Idoma to Government House, Makurdi, has been by the customary allocation of the Deputy Governor’s slot to its people. Ogirri Ajene from Oju/Obi, the charismatic blue-blood of blessed memory, was deputy to George Akume, incumbent Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF), from 1999 to 2007. Akume it was reported, genuinely desired to be succeeded by Ajene who exhibited competence and loyalty and could build on their legacies. The Tiv nation we understand, shot down the proposal. Gabriel Suswam succeeded Akume and had the urbane multipreneur, Stephen Lawani from Ogbadibo as deputy. Samuel Ortom, a Minister in the Goodluck Jonathan presidency who took over from Suswam opted for Benson Abounu, an engineer from Otukpo as running mate, while Hyacinth Alia, the Catholic priest who succeeded Ortom, also chose as deputy, Samuel Ode, who was also a Minister in the Jonathan government, from Otukpo. Arising from this precedence, Apa/Agatu has not for once, been considered for a place in Government House, Makurdi.
In similar fashion, the position of Senator representing Benue South, has repeatedly precluded Apa/Agatu federal constituency. David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark a former army General from Otukpo, took the first shot at the office in 1999. He was to remain in the position for five consecutive times, a distinctive record by Nigerian standards. Mark would subsequently become President of the Senate and the third most senior political office holder in the nation’s governance scheme for a string of two terms between 2007 and 2015. He was replaced by Patrick Abba Moro, who hails from Okpokwu and was a former teacher, in 2019. Abba Moro who previously served as Minister of Interior in the Jonathan government from 2011 to 2015, won a second term at the 2023 general elections and remains substantive Senator for “Benue Zone C.” He is indeed incumbent Minority Leader of the Senate, and thus a principal officer in the leadership scheme of the “red chambers.”
While Moro is barely two years into his second term, there are suggestions that he is interested in a third term which should run from 2027 to 2031! This is the core issue which has dominated contemporary political discourse in Benue South, especially from the Apa/Agatu bloc. For Apa/Agatu, it is bad enough that they are repeatedly bypassed in the nomination of deputy governors in the scheme of state politics. It is worse that they are equally subjugated by their own kinsmen within the context of politics in *Idoma and Igede land.* This is particularly worrying when both local government areas constituting the Apa/Agatu federal constituency, Apa and Agatu, are not in anyway deficient in human resources to represent Benue South. Names like John Elaigwu Odogbo, the incumbent *Och’Idoma* and respected clergy; Isa Innocent Ekoja, renowned Professor and Librarian; Sonny Togo Echono, FNIA, OON, Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund, (TETFUND), and John Mgbede, Emeritus State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Benue State, readily come to mind.
Major General R.I. Adoba, (rtd), a former Chief Training and Operations in the Nigerian Army; Professor Emmanuel Adanu, former Director of the Kaduna-based National Water Resources Institute, (NWRI) and the US-based specialist in internal medicine, Dr Raymond Audu, are eminent Apa/Agatu constituents. There are also Ada Egahi, long-serving technocrat who retired from the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, (NPHDA), and Super Eagles forward, Moses Simon, (why not, hasn’t the retired soccer star, George Opong Weah just completed his term as President of Liberia)? The Member Representing Apa/Agatu in the House of Representatives, Godday Samuel Odagboyi, an office previously held by Solomon Agidani, as well as Adamu Ochepo Entonu, is, like his predecessors, a prominent figure from the resourceful Apa/Agatu federal constituency.
The Olofu brothers, Tony Adejoh, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, (AIG), and David, PhD, a renowned management and financial strategist, who is also an Emeritus Member of the Benue State Executive Council during the Ortom dispensation, are from the same federal constituency. So is Abu Umoru, a serial entrepreneur who represents Apa State Constituency in the Benue State House of Assembly. The continuing intra-zonal alienation of Apa-Agatu from the politics of Benue Zone C, remains a sore thumb which must be clinically diagnosed and intentionally treated in the run-up to 2027.
If previous top level political office holders from Idomaland in general and Apa/Agatu in particular, had diligently applied themselves to tangible, multisectoral development of the zone and constituency, the present clamour for inclusiveness would probably been less vociferous. *River Agatu* which flows from Kogi State, and runs through Agatu before emptying into *River Benue,* is a potential game changer in the socioeconomy of Apa/Agatu, Benue South and Benue State in general. Properly harnessed, it can revolutionise agriculture and aquaculture in the state, beyond subsistence levels which are the primary vocations of the indigenous people. Rice, yam, guinea corn, millet and similar grains, thrive in the fertile soils of the area. These can support “first level” processing of produce and guarantee value addition beneficial to the primary producers, before being shipped to other markets. River Agatu can indeed be dammed to provide hydro-electricity to power the entire gamut of Idomaland.
The infrastructure deficit in Benue South with specific reference to Apa/Agatu is equally very concerning. A notable pattern in Nigerian politics is its self-centeredness, the penchant for political players to prioritise their personal wellbeing and the development of their immediate space. This has accentuated the ever recurring desire of people to ascend the political pedestals of their predecessors if that is the principal window by which they can also privilege their own primary constituents. Motorable roads are non-existent, seamless travel between communities therefore encumbered. Expectedly this has been a major impediment to subsistent trade and social engagements between constituents and their kinsmen. Primary health facilities are almost non-existent, compelling people to flock to Otukpo, headquarters of Benue South, for the minutest of medical advice and treatment.
Apa/Agatu pitiably bleeds from the relentless and condemnable activities of vagrants and bandits who have reduced the constituency into a killing field. Reports suggest that in the past 15 years, no less than 2500 lives were lost to the vicious attacks of marauders and trespassers in the area under reference. This unnerving situation has compelled engagements between concerned Apa/Agatu leaders, and the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force, (NPF). The prayer is for the swift establishment of a mobile police outpost in the troubled sub-zone to contain bloodletting. The proposal, anchored by AIG Tony Olofu, NPOM, (rtd), and Echono, has received the blessings of the police high command. At the last update, a commander for the outfit had been named, while the deployment of personnel had begun in earnest.
It is very clear that in the march towards 2027, Apa/Agatu will refuse, very vehemently, to be sidelined and trampled upon in the political scheme of their senatorial zone. Abba Moro may desire a third term in the Senate, but the people of Apa/Agatu are quick to remind him that his curriculum vitae as a politician is sufficiently sumptuous for him to yield the seat in the “red chambers” and sit back like an elder statesman. They remind you that for a man who began his working life modestly as a lecturer in the Federal Polytechnic, Ugbokolo in 1991, Abba Moro has done extremely well for himself in Nigerian politics. For reminders, Abba Moro was elected Chairman of Okpokwu local government in the state as far back as 1998. Ever since, he has remained a permanent fixture in Nigeria’s national politics.
The people of Apa/Agatu will put up a determined fight for the Benue South senatorial seat in 2027, and no one should begrudge them. They are the proverbial ram which was pushed to the wall, which must of necessity push back with angered horns to liberate itself. They are already engaging with their kith across “Benue Zone C” to ensure that intra-zonal equity, fairness and justice, prevails in communal politics.

Tunde Olusunle, PhD, Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (FANA), teaches Creative Writing at the University of Abuja

Opinion

The Prince Adebayo prescriptions for ease of doing Business: 15 Take-Aways

Published

4 days ago

January 14, 2025

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By Dr. Ag Zaki

On Thursday, 9 January 2025, Prince Adewole Adebayo presented a keynote address at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos. The occasion was the annual conference of a group of professionals, business executives and experts codenamed J9C for January 9 Collective. The theme of the Conference was “Business and Policy Strategy: Examining the Role of Reform in enhancing the ease of doing business in Nigeria.” Prince Adebayo is a versatile cerebral man of many parts, a lawyer, a multimedia practitioner, a real estate investor, a large-scale miner, a philanthropist, a community developer, and the 2023 Presidential Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The organisers of the J9C conference introduced him as an intercontinental lawyer because he currently practices law in over sixteen countries.

The full speech of Prince Adebayo at the occasion is available online and can be accessed by clicking at this url: https://youtu.be/SsHkcJbVNRg?si=ebvoOVqGh0zVOsnt or by scanning the QR code above. However, we are presenting the salient take-aways from this most incisive keynote address below for the convenience of interested persons and for the public good.

THE TAKE-AWAYS
Preamble
1. Not every change of policy or programme is a reform. A reform is a fundamental change in the activities, programmes, and policies structured to cause improvement. Genuine government reforms are people oriented and so citizens can interject, comment or contribute.
2. Reform may be internally motivated, externally forced or imposed, or technological driven.
3. The government of Nigeria must first reform itself to be able to implement development-oriented reforms to improve the country’s economic performance.

In general terms
4. Fiscal and monetary reforms are critical and are urgently required in Nigeria. While government can freely control its fiscal reforms, it must be bound by market forces for realistic and realisable monetary reforms.
5. Economic reforms must positively affect developmental policies, programmes and projects to engender economic growth, increase in efficiency, and lead to stability. Economic and political reforms must be implemented pari-passu for untainted policies and programmes.
6. Urgent structural reforms are required in areas of legal reforms, laws on banking controls and regulations, lending and borrowing as well as land matters.

In specific terms
7. Reforms which are aimed at targeting ease of doing business must be aligned with the Malam Aminu Kano maxim that “all civil servants should abstain from contracts or business”.
8. Nigeria must break the current odious and unwholesome conspiracies between policy makers, civil servants, and contractors, which can lead to irreversible endemic corruption, long foreseen by the revered Malam Aminu Kano, and which can permanently damage the economy.
9. Structural reforms must ensure that land laws open up maximum benefits and potentials of the land, encourage labour productivity and efficient and transparent entrepreneurship rules including registration, capital and lending matters.
10. Tax reforms should be broad-based, not about sharing of revenue but promoting productivity and competitiveness in all aspects of endeavours and infrastructure reforms should make transportation of people and goods safe and cost effective.
11. Monitoring economic crimes must be thorough and should go beyond arresting of “Yahoo boys” and those spraying Naira notes, but those devaluing the Naira and abusing economic rules and regulations.

Warnings
12. Adebayo left some stern terse warnings for the business sector and for the government of Nigeria.
13. Business executives and professionals should not ask or encourage government for specific reforms but for general broad-based reforms as firm-specific reforms can enhance operations of specific firms or business in the short term but will ultimately kill the industry.
14. Government should not meddle into business or be guided by partisan businessmen; government should meet business only at the junction of regulatory framework.
15. Government should be selfless and honest in carrying out reforms, incorporate measurable performance indices and ensure that reforms are implemented in a way not to inflict pains or punishment on the people.

# DrZaki25, 903 Tafawa Balewa Way, Abuja

Opinion

Governor Monday Okpebholo: A Blessing to Edo State

Published

5 days ago

January 13, 2025

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Monday Okpebholo

By Eigbefo Felix

His Excellency, Senator Monday Okpebholo, the Executive Governor of Edo State, has demonstrated that he is a blessing to the state through his policies, appointments, initiation of road construction across the three senatorial districts, and his deep love for the people of Edo State.

Governor Monday Okpebholo has begun fulfilling the five-point agenda he promised the good people of the state since his inauguration.

In the area of security, he has shown total commitment. He assured the people of Edo State that he would ensure their safety, and true to his word, the state remains peaceful, which has brought joy to its residents. He has provided the necessary support to security personnel.

The governor increased the subvention for Ambrose Alli University (AAU) from ₦40 million to ₦500 million. He also promised to address the issues facing AAU medical students. Additionally, he has started renovating primary and secondary schools across the state, underscoring his understanding of the importance of education.

The agricultural sector has taken a positive turn as Governor Okpebholo has allocated ₦70 billion to the sector. Recognizing agriculture’s importance to both the state and the nation, he is positioning Edo State to become the food basket of the nation with his investments in the sector.

During the electioneering period, Senator Okpebholo promised to create 5,000 jobs within his first 100 days in office. He has already begun the process, and soon, the people of Edo State will benefit from these employment opportunities. Unlike in the past, he will not rely on MOUs before making appointments. Furthermore, he has started appointing Edo State indigenes, rather than outsiders, to various positions.

Governor Okpebholo has commenced road projects across the state, from Edo South to Edo Central and Edo North. He believes that when roads are motorable, the prices of goods in the market will automatically reduce.

He has also begun investing in the health sector, understanding its critical importance to the people of Edo State.

Governor Monday Okpebholo’s initiatives and actions affirm his dedication to transforming Edo State for the better.