A taste of what the people of Ekiti State could suffer in the hands of their governor-elect, Ayo Fayose, became obvious on Thursday as Fayose ordered the beating of a judge at the Ado-Ekiti High Court premises of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, after landing a slap on the judge's face.
His action caused stampede as people who had visited the court to watch the proceeding scampered in different directions. The judge and other court officials escaped through various exits, thus stalling the day's proceeding.
Trouble started when Justice John Adeyeye, the sitting’s presiding judge, complained about security in the court premises following the menacing crowd of pro-Fayose thugs that had stormed the court.
Witnesses report that the judge had approached Fayose to instruct his "supporters" to give the court premises a distance, but Fayose got angry and shouted the judge down.
Obviously irritated by the judge’s persistence at explaining reasons why the crowd should not be in the premises, Fayose slapped the judge and ordered the thugs to beat him up.
Immediately he gave the order, about 20 thugs descended on the judge. He was beaten up and his clothes torn with nobody to rescue him, judiciary workers who witnessed the incident said.
As a result, the court urgently shut down activities and all officials disappeared from of the premises.
The police later stormed the place, fired teargas to ward off Fayose’s goons before taking Adeyeye to a private hospital where he is receiving treatment.
Thugs had earlier on Monday attacked a judge and some petitioners who wanted the court to decide on Fayose’s eligibility for the governorship election held on 21st June. Some of the injured victims of the attack are still in the hospital.
Condemnation Trails Fayose`s Actions
Meanwhile Minister of State for Works, Prince Adedayo Adeyeye has warned the E-11 group not to throw the state into chaos by attempting to use the suit it instituted to circumvent the will of Ekiti people freely expressed at the 21st June polls with the overwhelming election of Mr Ayodele Fayose as their governor.
Adeyeye, who described the desperate manner in which the E-11 case was being pursued as an assault on Ekiti people, added that why couldn't those in E-11 mobilise Ekiti people to vote against Fayose and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the polls.
In a press release issued on Thursday and signed by the Minister, he said; "Ekiti people have spoken loudly on June 21 and I think what we should all do is to respect the wish of the people and in the interest of the State and its people, pray for the incoming administration to succeed."
He said by electing their governor in such a transparent and peaceful manner, Ekiti people had shown to the outside world that they were civilised and capable of setting the pace in electioneering in Nigeria.
Adeyeye added: "No individual or group should do anything that will rubbish the good image Ekiti people built for themselves and the State with the June 21 election.
"Fayemi, who lost the election, congratulated the winner less than 24 hours after the election. In preparation for the inauguration of Fayose as the next governor of Ekiti State, a Transition Committee has been set up by the State Government.
"Therefore, trying to to obtain back-door judgment in a bid to truncate the inauguration of Fayose on October 16 is not in the interest of Ekiti State and its people and those in the E-11 should be made to know this.
"Most importantly, Ekiti people have the inalienable rights to choose whoever they like as their governor, and they have done that on June 21, 2014. E-11 and their sponsors should therefore leave Ekiti people alone to be governed by the man they freely gave their mandate on June 21."
Reacting to the “power drunk” behaviour of the governor-elect, the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) berated Fayose and his supporters. The Coalition through its Executive Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran condemned the action, calling for the hooligans’ immediate arrest and prosecution.
Adeniran said: “It is preposterous that a judge could be beaten up in this democratic dispensation. Nigeria must not be drawn back into the dark ages where rulers acted with impunity.
If Fayose does not have any issue to hide, why prevent the court from sitting? A similar scenario played out on Monday when suspected PDP thugs stormed the high court premises, attacked the trial judge, some litigants and judicial workers in the bid to prevent hearing in a case to determine Mr. Fayose’s eligibility for the June 21 governorship election.
“A situation whereby a governor-elect desecrates the third arm of his government-to-be, calls to question his victory at the polls.
“If Fayose does not have anything to hide, he should allow the court to sit. If he was actually eligible to contest, why prevent the judiciary from determining that? This case must not be swept under the carpet. The action is highly reprehensible and all those who got involved, from Fayose himself, must be promptly arrested, arraigned and adequately punished to serve as deterrent to other power-drunk leaders.”
Ekiti Govt, Lawyers to Sue Fayose over Assault on Judge
For daring to slap a High Court Judge sitting in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, the governor-elect, Ayo Fayose, will face multiple suits, Huhuonline.com can reveal.
Fayose assaulted Justice John Adeyeye for complaining about the menacing number of thugs that stormed the court premises for a sitting of the state Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and urging the governor-elect to help instruct them to move away from the court premises.
A similar incident had occurred on Monday when thugs loyal to Fayose took the court by storm, beating up petitioners who had sought the court to decide if Fayose had the integrity to govern the state.
On Thursday, several vehicles belonging to lawyers, judges and other judiciary workers were vandalised in addition to victims who suffered various degrees of injury.
It was also learnt that the Police looked the other way while the thugs held sway at the court premises.
The judges, lawyers and other staff took to their heels to escape attack by the thugs. Judiciary workers later shut down courts in the state saying they were no longer safe.
The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Ekiti State, Mr. Olawale Fapohunda, who reacted to the incident on Thursday evening, said he was suing on Fayose, but holding his lawyers responsible since they should have told him how to behave in court.
He said Fayose had suddenly become power-drunk banking on support from the presidency.
According to him, other lawyers who were either attacked or whose properties got lost and whose vehicles were vandalised would sue the governor-elect while the judge would take his case to the National Judicial Council.
Fapohunda maintained that the attack led by Fayose is dangerous for democracy and the principle of separation of power.
Meanwhile, the state Chief Judge, A. Daramola, has ordered all courts in the state to shut down until adequate security measures are put in place.
In a statement signed by the Chief Registrar, Obafemi Fasanmi, the Chief Judge noted "with increasing concern" the spate of attacks perpetrated by political thugs and their persistent presence in the premises of the high court Ado Ekiti in the past few days.
The statement said: "the sitting was disrupted and taken over. The judge was ferried to safety by police after he was threatened by the militants.
"On Thursday, another set of thugs invaded the premises of a court presided over by J.O Adedeye by beating up and tearing his suit while Police on guard looked unconcerned and uninterested as judges, magistrates, and other members of staff had to run for their lives while court properties were damaged.
"The court room of the Hon. Chief Judge was not spared in the orgy of assault and destruction as members of staff attached to his office were beaten up and his court record book torn into pieces by these political thugs who also invaded and disrupted proceedings at the election petition tribunal within the High Court premises in Ado Ekiti."
Fayose's Accuse APC of complicity in the assassination of his supporter
Ekiti State Governor-Elect, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has raised the alarm over the desperation of leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to at all cost scuttle his inauguration by causing mayhem in the state that could lead to a declaration of a State of Emergency.
In a statement on Thursday night by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, in Ado-Ekiti, he said their act of desperation started manifesting with the assassination of a PDP member and staunch supporter of Fayose, Chief Omolafe Aderiye, by APC thugs in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday night.
Aderiye, a former Ekiti State Chairman of the. National Union of Road Transport Workers ( NURTW) was killed at the front of his office opposite Ijigbo Roundabout, Ado Ekiti at about 8.30pm on Thursday by three APC gun men wearing police uniform and bullet proof vest.
Aderiye had followed Fayose to the Tribunal sitting on Thursday.
"When we raised the alarm few days ago about the desperation of APC leaders and members to cause trouble in the state and that they are threatening our leaders and members, some people thought we were only making noise.
"Only on Monday, they tried to use the judiciary to steal the mandate freely given His Excellency,Dr Ayodele Fayose, by conniving with some heartless and conscienceless judicial officers. It was God who exposed their evil deeds.
"Now, they have assassinated Omolafe Aderiye, who was not only a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but was the one who coordinated our security during the campaign for the June 21 governorship election which we won convincingly.
"We call on the Inspector General of Police, the Director General of the Department of State Security Service and all security agencies to fish out the killers of Aderiye.
"The APC and their evil collaborators must know that there is no hiding place for them. Their evil deeds will always be exposed. The good people of Ekiti State who freely gave Fayose the mandate to lead them by God's grace for the next four years are ready to stand and ensure the actualisation of the mandate," he said.
The CPS added that no amount of intimidation and harassment by the APC would deter the incoming PDP government from providing quality leadership for the people of the state.
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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared a former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Sadiya Farouq, wanted over alleged diversion of public funds, abuse of office and alleged criminal conspiracy.
The EFCC posted the notice on its website on Saturday.
“The public is hereby notified that Sadiya Umar Farouq, whose photograph appears above, is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in an alleged case of criminal conspiracy, abuse of office, and diversion of public funds,” the EFCC wrote.
According to the anti-graft agency, those with relevant information can reach the commission’s offices in Ibadan, Uyo, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Benin, Makurdi, Kaduna, Ilorin, Enugu, Kano, Lagos, Gombe, Port Harcourt, or Abuja, or call 08093322644, or email
She was the minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development under the administration of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari from 2019 to 2023.
The latest development came weeks after a court issued a warrant of arrest against her and a permanent secretary in the ministry, Bashir Alkali.
Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the Federal Capital Territory High Court issued the warrant of arrest over their inability to attend court for their arraignment on a charge linking them to an alleged fraud involving $1.3 million and N746.6 million.
Justice Onwuegbuzie issued the arrest warrant while ruling on an ex parte motion filed by the EFCC prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), after the two defendants failed to appear in court for their planned arraignment.
The anti-corruption agency had filed a 21-count charge against them, accusing the duo of criminal breach of trust, fraudulent award of contracts, abuse of office, and diversion of public funds.
According to the EFCC, the defendants were involved in the alleged mismanagement and diversion of $1,300,000 and N746,574,303.
They were said to have allegedly converted $1.3 million meant to be refunded to the ministry by a company. The funds were said to be excess payments under the National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office programme for validating Rapid Response Register beneficiaries.
The EFCC counsel said the charges were filed on December 15, 2025, but the first and second defendants have not been available for arraignment.
French energy major, TotalEnergies is preparing to announce a long delayed Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Ima gas field after nearly three years of negotiations with its junior partner, Amni International, according to senior industry sources familiar with the talks. Huhuonline.com understands that the decision, expected as early as July 2026, marks the company’s most significant upstream commitment in Nigeria since it began aggressively pruning its onshore and shallow water oil portfolio.
The move comes at a delicate moment for Nigeria’s energy sector, where international oil companies (IOCs) have spent the past decade divesting from high risk oil assets while deepening their focus on deepwater and gas centric projects. TotalEnergies has been at the forefront of this shift, selling multiple onshore blocks and repeatedly signaling that its future in Nigeria lies in gas, LNG, and lower carbon offshore developments. The Ima field, gas rich, commercially viable, and located in shallow offshore waters, fits squarely into that strategy.
TotalEnergies’ expected FID does not represent a reversal of its divestment policy. Instead, it underscores a more nuanced approach: exit oil heavy, high risk assets; double down on gas focused, lower carbon projects and partner with indigenous operators to reduce exposure. Amni International’s co ownership of the Ima field has been central to unlocking the deal. By sharing operational and community management risks with a Nigerian partner, TotalEnergies can invest without inheriting the full burden of Niger Delta volatility. The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) has also helped. The law’s clearer fiscal terms for gas development have removed some of the regulatory uncertainty that previously deterred investment.
Why the Ima FID Matters for Nigeria
If confirmed, the FID would be a rare bright spot for Nigeria’s upstream sector, which has struggled with declining oil output, stalled deepwater investments, IOC divestments, and chronic underinvestment in domestic gas supply. A new gas project from a major IOC could boost feedstock for power generation, support industrial gas demand, strengthen Nigeria LNG’s long term supply base, and signal to global investors that Nigeria remains investable under the right conditions. It also aligns neatly with Abuja’s “Decade of Gas” agenda, which has so far produced more rhetoric than results.
The implications for TotalEnergies’ divestment policy are many and varied. To begin with, gas is now the centre of gravity. The Ima project reinforces the company’s global pivot toward gas and LNG. Nigeria remains strategically important—but only for the right type of assets. Secondly, success at Ima could accelerate TotalEnergies’ exit from legacy oil blocks, freeing capital for gas centric developments. Thirdly, IOC–local partnerships are the new model. If Ima works, other majors may replicate the structure: local operator plus IOC capital plus gas focused asset, equals to viable investment. Lastly, Nigeria’s regulatory reforms are finally gaining traction.
The PIA’s gas incentives appear to be doing what years of policy drafts could not: attracting fresh IOC commitments. Negotiations between TotalEnergies and Amni International have dragged on since 2023, slowed by ownership and operatorship questions, fiscal clarifications under the PIA, global portfolio reshuffling by TotalEnergies, and Nigeria’s shifting regulatory environment. The breakthrough suggests that both sides now see the commercial and political stars aligning.
The Bottom Line
TotalEnergies’ expected FID on the Ima gas field is more than a routine upstream announcement. It is a strategic signal: first, the French major is not abandoning Nigeria—it is re shaping its footprint. Second, gas, not oil, will define the next chapter of IOC investment. Third, Nigeria’s energy future increasingly depends on selective, lower risk, gas driven partnerships rather than broad IOC engagement. If the FID is announced in July, it will be the clearest indication yet that Nigeria’s gas narrative is finally beginning to convert into concrete investment.
Business
In The Spotlight
There are few miracles in Nigerian politics, but Goodluck Jonathan once performed one. In 2015, after losing a fiercely contested election, he conceded defeat peacefully and handed over power without dragging the republic through the familiar swamp of judicial acrobatics, military whispers, and elite sabotage. In a political culture where incumbents often cling to office with the emotional desperation of passengers clinging to the last bus before curfew, Jonathan did something startlingly civilized: he left.
That single act elevated him from ordinary politician to something rarer - a statesman.
It is therefore mildly tragic, and faintly absurd, to watch whispers of a 2027 presidential comeback gathering around him like retired musicians attempting one reunion concert too many. Nigeria, apparently incapable of allowing former presidents to enjoy retirement in peace, has once again produced the ritual procession of flatterers, coalition merchants, and political undertakers disguised as supporters, chanting that only Jonathan can “save Nigeria.” Save it from what exactly? Its addiction to recycling old politicians? The former president’s response: “I’ve heard you, I will consult widely” has only intensified the speculation. One suspects that sentence was intended as polite ambiguity. In Nigerian politics, however, ambiguity is treated as a blood oath.
This is unfortunate, because there is almost no conceivable scenario in which a Jonathan comeback improves either Nigeria’s politics or Jonathan’s legacy. Indeed, the danger is precisely the opposite. Having exited office with unusual grace, Jonathan now risks returning to politics long enough to discover the cruelest law of public life: history is kinder to those who know when to leave the stage. There is a reason Nelson Mandela served one term. A reason George Washington declined a monarchical presidency. A reason many respected statesmen avoid the temptation of resurrection campaigns. Retirement, properly managed, can elevate political figures into national symbols rather than partisan combatants. Jonathan’s greatest political asset today is not electoral machinery or populist fervor. It is dignity. And dignity, once dragged back into Nigeria’s electoral trenches, tends to emerge badly bruised.
The constitutional argument alone is enough to turn a 2027 bid into a legal soap opera. Lawyers are already sharpening clauses like machetes over whether Jonathan, having completed Yar’Adua’s tenure before winning his own in 2011, remains eligible under the post-2018 constitutional amendments. The matter may eventually be decided in court, but the mere existence of such litigation is politically toxic and poisonous. No former president seeking to preserve a statesmanlike aura should voluntarily reduce himself to arguing eligibility technicalities before weary judges while supporters scream outside court premises. A man once praised globally for strengthening democratic consolidation in Nigeria should not spend his retirement debating term arithmetic.
But the deeper objection is political rather than legal. Jonathan’s admirers speak as though Nigeria suffers from a shortage of former leaders. On the contrary, Nigeria suffers from an excess of political recycling. Every electoral cycle increasingly resembles a reunion tour of familiar faces insisting they alone possess the sacred recipe for national salvation. The country’s political elite moves in circles so tight that one half expects INEC eventually to issue reusable ballot papers.
Jonathan’s potential candidacy would not signal democratic renewal. It would signal elite exhaustion.
Moreover, the mythology surrounding his presidency has grown considerably kinder with time than it was during his actual tenure. Memory is a generous editor. Today, many Nigerians recall Jonathan as calm, accessible, and comparatively tolerant. They forget the paralysis, the corruption scandals, the incoherent energy policy, the Boko Haram escalation, the fuel subsidy chaos, and the administration’s astonishing talent for appearing simultaneously overwhelmed and incompetent. This is not to say Jonathan was uniquely bad. Nigerian presidencies are rarely judged against Scandinavian standards. But nostalgia is not governance. The fact that subsequent governments disappointed many Nigerians does not automatically transform every predecessor into a misunderstood genius.
And politics, unlike archaeology, punishes those who disturb buried evaluations. Jonathan currently occupies an enviable global niche. He is Africa’s “good loser”- the former incumbent praised in diplomatic conferences and democracy forums as evidence that peaceful transitions are possible on the continent. He chairs observation missions, delivers keynote speeches about democratic norms, and enjoys the soft prestige reserved for elder statesmen who no longer need to chase office. It is a remarkably comfortable arrangement. Why jeopardize it?
There is an old legal maxim: interest reipublicae ut sit finis litium - it is in the public interest that there be an end to litigation. Nigerian politics might benefit from a companion principle: it is in the republic’s interest that former presidents eventually discover hobbies. The danger for Jonathan is not merely losing an election. Losing is survivable; he has already done so honorably once. The danger is that a comeback campaign would inevitably drag him into the swampy tribalism, propaganda, factional horse-trading, and political bitterness that now define Nigeria’s electoral ecosystem. He would cease being a father of the nation and become merely another potential sore loser in the national wrestling match. Statesmanship would give way to survival politics.
And for what reward? Suppose, against all odds, he wins. He would inherit a deeply polarized country, a battered economy, fiscal pressures, regional suspicions, security crises, and a political class even more transactional than the one he left behind. He would spend his years in office battling expectations inflated by nostalgia and supporters convinced that resurrection automatically guarantees redemption.
But suppose he loses. Then the symbolism changes completely. The statesman who once exited gracefully becomes the retiree who returned unnecessarily. The global reputation carefully polished over a decade risks collapsing into the far less flattering image of another African former leader unable to resist the gravitational pull of power.
Politics is littered with distinguished figures who stayed too long. The tragedy is rarely immediate. It unfolds gradually, through diminished stature, needless controversies, and the quiet erosion of public affection. Jonathan should resist the seduction of applause from political pilgrims urging him to “save Nigeria”. Nigerian politicians frequently urge retired leaders to return not because the nation requires them, but because factions require a vehicle. Today’s chants of loyalty are often tomorrow’s strategic abandonment. He should remember that history has already granted him something rare: a respectable exit. That is no small achievement in a republic where too many politicians view retirement the way medieval monarchs viewed abdication; with existential horror.
There is life after the presidency. In fact, for many leaders, the presidency is the least dignified chapter of their public biography. Jonathan’s post-office years have arguably strengthened his reputation more than his years in office ever did. He became larger after leaving power because he stopped fighting desperately to keep it. He should not reverse that lesson now. The wisest service Jonathan can render Nigeria in 2027 may not be another candidacy, but restraint itself; a demonstration that democratic leadership includes knowing when one’s role has changed from contender to custodian. Nigeria does not need another comeback tour masquerading as national rescue. It needs stronger institutions, fresher leadership, and a political culture capable of imagining a future beyond the permanent recycling of familiar surnames. Jonathan already made history once by leaving. He should be careful not to damage that achievement by trying, unnecessarily, to return.
Opinions
In The Spotlight
Perhaps. We have heard from Senate President Godswill Akpabio many times, sometimes in strange ways, including embarrassment, such as when he could not pronounce a number he had written down and brought into the chamber.
There have been gaffes of various dimensions, indicating a man who arrived unarmed.
But perhaps his most distressful utterance came recently when he declared that under his leadership, the legislative arm of the government is behind the President Bola Tinubu “2000%.”
Mathematically-speaking, there is no such thing, of course. But Akpabio simply wanted the president to be assured that he has consolidated the legislative arm as a department of the executive.
The Senate President was speaking at the commissioning of a piece of infrastructure in Lagos, but he clearly intended to be understood more broadly.
“We are 2000 per cent behind him, and we will make sure that your son returns a hero after he has delivered the dividends of democracy to Nigeria,” he told the people of Lagos.
This is a confirmation that the legislature is in this for the ruling APC to remain in power, not to serve the Nigerian people, including providing oversight.
In Akpabio’s hands, the National Assembly has emerged as a bumbling playground and the most indolence and complacent legislature in the Fourth Republic.
Elsewhere during the past 12 years, I have drawn attention to the Akpabio issue, flagging his greed in 2014, and in 2023, his place in the dearth of credibility in the Tinubu era.
In Akpabio’s hands, the Electoral Act 2026 has been put in place more as a tool for guaranteeing APC continuation in power than for Nigeria enjoying credible elections.
Around the world, there is growing concern that Nigeria may be heading towards even worse elections than it experienced not only in 2023, but at any time since the beginning of the Fourth Republic nearly three decades ago.
African Arguments last week cited Nigeria’s Road to Undemocratic Elections in 2027, warning that Nigeria is engineering an “uncompetitive 2027 election through legal, institutional, and judicial capture” with accountability coverage conspicuously absent.
In the United States, lawmakers are moving to slash aid to Nigeria by 50%, concerned that the Tinubu administration is “spending millions lobbying Congress while failing to adequately address the genocide Nigerian Christians face daily.”
It is yet another reminder that the election ahead will be deeply challenged by Nigeria’s most pre-eminent problem, one that the ruling party appears to embrace..
The bill specifically cites failure to prosecute perpetrators of violence and protect civilians. The truth is that Nigeria specialises in protecting and elevating her criminals, especially the biggest. While EFCC and ICPC are currently pointing fingers at the judiciary for delays in the prosecution of corruption cases, for instance, they never mention their own complicity, for which judges berate them all the time.
Consider that in October 2025, for instance, Akpabio tried to rephrase the anti-corruption stakes in which he is involved, calling on the EFCC to publish reports of all petitions investigated, especially politically motivated ones found to be frivolous, because Nigerians always assume petitions mean conviction or crime, particularly for politicians.”
This sound like a reasonable argument but only because the Senate never demands the annual report of that agency, which would automatically include such cases.
And that explains Dataphyte’s recent scandalous finding of a 60% futility rate in 393 public corruption cases reviewed between 2013 and 2026, underscoring a pattern of systemic non-consequence for powerful people while the anti-corruption agencies celebrate “recoveries.”
That permits the wrong people to overrun Nigerian politics, corrupting and corroding everything in their path.
Keep in mind: in that same October 2025, the Senate curiously considered a motion to praise the EFCC, Akpabio speaking of the EFCC undertaking “more than 10,000 convictions.”
That figure is fake, and I challenge the EFCC, or Akpabio, to publish the list.
But that is the background to the Electoral Act 2026, irresponsibly shoved into play by Akpabio’s Senate with the “manual transmission” proviso allowing results to revert to paper-based collation if technology fails. It has been dismissed by opposition parties and civil society as a legalised manipulation loophole ahead of 2027.
In February, Yiaga Africa’s Samson Itodo wrote about the threats to the forthcoming elections. He was encouraged by the declaration of INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan on the five non-negotiable pillars that would guide the commission’s work.
But talk is cheap, and Professor Amupitan’s words have proved to be the cheapest, as he was thereafter irredeemably exposed as a possible APC plant in Nigeria’s electoral prospects, including being blackmailed, which he has not denied.
He has resisted calls to resign, as is often the case in Nigeria, further weakening INEC and the prospects of credible elections.
Predictably, President Tinubu has also ignored opposition calls for him to remove Amupitan, confirming what appears to be a plan.
If these things have happened in public, what other maneuvers are taking place behind the scenes?
How does a citizen find faith, for instance, in the fact that President Tinubu assented to his ₦58.18 trillion 2026 budget on April 17 but that it is still unpublished, three weeks later?
Is Nigeria’s 2027 election settled before it has been run?
Consider that five opposition governors defected to APC within six months; courts have reshaped PDP, LP, and ADC leadership at politically sensitive moments; the legalized manipulation loophole; the collapse of the ADC-led coalition, leading to the emergence of the newly registered Nigeria Democratic Congress, all before Tinubu has even declared he will run again.
In normal times, Tinubu’s candidature would be so weak as to be untenable. He came into office as a compromised political entity, locally and internationally; has performed atrociously in office; and continues to provide more embarrassment than inspiration for the average Nigerian.
He has forgotten both the APC manifesto and his own Renewed Hope agenda, driving Nigeria into greater indebtedness and insecurity, and deeper into corruption, poverty, and division.
There is something else: in 2023, Tinubu declared himself unfit for a second term if he failed to resolve the national electricity conundrum during his first term.
This is a self-evaluation and disqualification that extends to his overall performance. That promise is a valuable cudgel that exists inescapably on video and audio, and ought to be on every Nigerian’s phone.
Actually, Tinubu ought to have said that if he failed, he would resign or decline to run. But instead, he asked people not to vote for him, suggesting he recognised the manipulation loophole and the Amupitan card.
No, the problem with defeating Tinubu is not Tinubu himself. It is whether the individual egos within the opposition believe more in themselves than in Nigeria.
Because Nigerians simply need to be assisted to implement what Tinubu himself has already identified as the right and respectable option in February: reject incompetence.
It is a 100% opportunity.
Sonala Olumhense
K