Nigeria is perhaps the only country where a politician may steal enough money to build three universities, donate twenty bags of rice to a prayer house, and immediately be introduced as “a great philanthropist and pillar of the faith.” The congregation applauds. The cleric smiles. Cameras flash. Heaven receives a bank alert it never requested.

“Sai Baba! Sai Malami!” the praise singers thunder, while the distinguished guest adjusts his cap, grips his prayer beads and looks humbly into the middle distance. By evening, another politician is occupying the front pew of a cathedral, lifting two hands in worship, although one suspects the third invisible hand is still inside the public treasury.

This is the Nigerian religious-political circus: spectacular costumes, sacred vocabulary, endless pilgrimages and remarkably little evidence of moral transformation.

We must begin with an important correction. It is neither fair nor provable to claim that 99.99 per cent of corrupt politicians are practising Muslims and Christians. What can be said is that Nigeria is overwhelmingly populated by people who identify as Muslim or Christian. Pew Research Center estimates that Muslims and Christians together constitute virtually the entire population. Consequently, most politicians, honest or dishonest, will publicly identify with one of those religions.

The real scandal, therefore, is not that corrupt politicians belong to religions. It is that corruption appears perfectly comfortable living beside loud professions of faith. It eats breakfast with Christianity, attends afternoon prayers with Islam, and sleeps peacefully beneath framed quotations from scripture.

Nigeria has produced a curious creature: the devout kleptocrat.

He fasts, but the treasury must break the fast. He pays tithe, but not tax. He performs ablution, but refuses institutional cleansing. He kneels before God and places the country beneath his shoe.

He asks forgiveness every week without returning what he took.

He sponsors pilgrimages with money that could have equipped hospitals, then asks the pilgrims to pray for Nigeria’s development. This is like stealing somebody’s generator and requesting prayers for the darkness in his house.

Christianity does not teach this. Islam does not teach it. African traditional morality does not teach it. Even ordinary home training does not teach it.

Both Islam and Christianity treat public trust, justice, compassion, honesty and care for the vulnerable as serious moral obligations. Neither faith provides a theological washing machine into which stolen funds can be inserted and brought out smelling of incense. A pilgrimage is not a corruption amnesty. A church donation is not a plea bargain. Sponsoring religious programmes does not convert public theft into charity.

You cannot steal a community’s borehole and donate bottled water during Ramadan. You cannot divert teachers’ salaries and build a church auditorium. You cannot inflate a road contract, abandon the road, then organise a thanksgiving service after surviving an accident on that same road.

At some point, even hypocrisy deserves professional embarrassment.

The economic context makes the performance more offensive. Claims that “over 79 per cent” of Nigerians are poor depend on the definition and dataset being used, so that figure should not be repeated as a settled fact. However, the verified picture is already grim enough. The World Bank estimated that more than half of Nigerians were living in poverty in 2025, while its Nigeria country assessment says poverty remains widespread and that poorer households may spend up to 70 per cent of their income on food.

Meanwhile, nearly 35 million Nigerians were projected to face acute or severe food insecurity during the 2026 lean season, the highest level recorded for the country in the relevant analysis.

These are not decorative statistics. They represent children arriving at school too hungry to learn, parents dividing one meal into three diplomatic portions, pensioners choosing between medication and food, and graduates discovering that their certificates have become expensive bookmarks.

Against this background, unexplained political wealth is not merely vulgar. It is morally violent.

The statement that any present or former officeholder possessing ₦5 billion must automatically be a thief may satisfy public anger, but law and fairness require greater care. Some politicians had legitimate businesses, inheritances or investments before entering office. Wealth alone is not proof of theft.

However, unexplained wealth is a legitimate basis for scrutiny. Where a public officer’s assets are wildly inconsistent with lawful earnings, the burden of public explanation becomes unavoidable. Nigeria’s Code of Conduct system requires public officers to declare their assets and liabilities, while the Code of Conduct Bureau is responsible for receiving, examining and monitoring those declarations.

The correct democratic question is therefore not simply, “Are you rich?”

It is: What lawful activity produced this wealth, when was it earned, was it properly declared, were taxes paid, and can the explanation survive independent investigation?

A senator cannot tell citizens that wealth is a “mystery of God” when his declared salary is public knowledge. Divine favour is not an accounting category. “Grace” cannot explain twenty-seven properties, twelve companies and a warehouse full of dollars. Even manna came with distribution rules.

The deeper problem is that parts of Nigeria’s religious establishment have become involved in an unhealthy exchange with political power. Politicians provide money, access, vehicles, land and proximity to government. Religious leaders provide legitimacy, titles, photographs, prayers and a moral raincoat.

The politician arrives as “His Excellency, the divinely chosen servant-leader.” Nobody asks how the servant acquired a private jet while the people he serves cannot afford transport. Nobody wants to upset the offering basket. Prophecy suddenly develops selective eyesight.

To be balanced, many Nigerian clerics, Muslim and Christian, speak courageously against corruption, defend vulnerable communities and refuse political capture. Many politicians also practise their faith sincerely and serve without stealing. The disease is not universal.

But the silence of influential religious institutions is often too expensive to ignore.

A cleric who constantly condemns young people for indecent dressing but cannot condemn officials who undress the national treasury has misplaced his moral measuring tape. A preacher who sees spiritual danger in hairstyles but none in budget padding needs more than revelation. An imam who lectures poor traders about honesty while celebrating officials with inexplicable fortunes has reduced religion to ceremonial wallpaper.

Religious leaders must recover the courage to ask unpopular questions. Before accepting a massive donation from a public official, they should ask whether the donor’s known income can reasonably support it. Institutions should publish major political donations and establish ethical rules governing gifts from politically exposed persons. Stolen money does not become holy because it enters a religious account.

The state must also stop outsourcing accountability to divine judgement. Nigerians frequently say, “God will judge them,” which is true within religious belief, but God also gave the country auditors, investigators, courts, journalists, voters and laws. Waiting exclusively for celestial prosecution is institutional laziness wearing a prayer shawl.

Asset declarations should be effectively verified, and greater public access would strengthen accountability. The ICPC has itself previously advocated publication of public servants’ declared assets as an anti-corruption measure. Investigative institutions must follow money without consulting party membership, regional origin, denomination or prayer vocabulary. A thief speaking in tongues and a thief reciting Arabic remain thieves requiring evidence-based investigation and lawful prosecution.

Citizens also have work to do. We cannot condemn corruption in Abuja while celebrating it when “our son” returns home with unexplained wealth. Communities organise receptions. Traditional titles multiply. Clerics pronounce blessings. Relatives announce that God has finally remembered the family. Nobody asks what job produced the convoy.

Our outrage is often tribal, partisan and denominational. We investigate opponents and interpret allies. When their politician steals, it is corruption. When ours steals, it is strategic empowerment of the constituency.

Nigeria will not defeat corruption until stolen wealth becomes socially shameful rather than socially impressive.

The politician who cannot explain his fortune should not receive a chieftaincy title, front-row seat, honorary doctorate or harvest-launch chairmanship. He should receive questions. Many questions. Questions with documents attached.

Religion must become more than pilgrimage photographs, prayer caps, rosaries, flowing gowns and amplified declarations of righteousness. True faith must disturb injustice. It must make theft uncomfortable, generosity accountable and leadership answerable.

Otherwise, the mosque becomes a photo studio, the church becomes a reputation-repair workshop, and religion becomes perfume sprayed over the odour of public theft.

The final question is not whether Nigerian politicians pray. Many clearly do.

The question is whether their prayers have ever met their consciences. Because a nation cannot shout “Amen” loudly enough to convert corruption into governance. Either way—May Nigeria win.

*Prince Charles Dickson PhD is
Team Lead at
The Tattaaunawa Roundtable Initiative (TRICentre)

Ambassador Sarafa Tunji Isola, Nigeria’s former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, has congratulated Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (popularly known as Yayi) on his birthday, describing his political journey as a testament to resilience and strategic leadership.

In a statement issued on Monday, titled ‘Beyond Politics: Celebrating Senator YAYI’s Journey of Service, Resilience and Impact’, Ambassador Isola lauded Senator Adeola—who represents Ogun West Senatorial District and is the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate for the upcoming Ogun State governorship election—for using public service as an instrument for societal transformation.

Isola noted that Adeola’s emergence as the APC flagbearer places him at a defining crossroads that demands vision, capacity, and the wisdom to unify diverse interests across Ogun State.

“Ogun State stands at a significant crossroads in its political and developmental evolution,” Isola stated. “At such a moment, leadership must transcend political rhetoric. It must inspire confidence, build bridges, strengthen institutions, empower the people, and create opportunities for the next generation.”

Wishing the lawmaker sound health and expanded capacity, Isola prayed for divine wisdom and courage to help the governorship candidate navigate the immense responsibilities and expectations ahead.

Read the full message below:

Beyond Politics: Celebrating Senator YAYI’s Journey of Service, Resilience and Impact

On this auspicious occasion of your birthday, I extend my warmest congratulations and heartfelt felicitations to you, Distinguished Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (YAYI), CON, FCA, FCTI, FFPI, FYCT, Senator representing Ogun West Senatorial District and the All Progressives Congress (APC) Gubernatorial Candidate of our dear Ogun State in the next year gubernatorial election.

Birthdays are more than celebrations of age; they are moments to reflect on the journey, the struggles overcome, the lives touched, the milestones achieved and, most importantly, the greater responsibilities that lie ahead.

Your political journey is a compelling testament to resilience, strategic thinking, courage and an enduring commitment to public service. From your years of legislative engagement to your representation of Ogun West at the National Assembly, you have continued to demonstrate that politics, when driven by purpose, can become an instrument of development and societal transformation.

As the Senator representing Ogun West, your emergence as the APC Gubernatorial Candidate has further placed you at a defining point in your political journey. It is a responsibility that requires not merely ambition, but vision; not merely popularity, but capacity; and not merely political strength, but the wisdom to unite diverse interests around a common developmental aspiration.

Ogun State stands at a significant crossroads in its political and developmental evolution. At such a moment, leadership must transcend political rhetoric. It must inspire confidence, build bridges, strengthen institutions, empower the people and create opportunities for the next generation.

This is why your birthday is not simply a personal milestone. It is an opportunity to celebrate a public servant whose political trajectory continues to command attention and whose future carries enormous expectations.

Dear Senator YAYI, your journey reminds us that political leadership is a marathon of perseverance. There will be challenges, competing interests and difficult moments, but history ultimately remembers those who remain committed to the larger cause.

As you celebrate another year today, may you be endowed with greater wisdom to navigate the responsibilities ahead, greater courage to make difficult decisions, greater compassion to remain connected to the people and greater strength to pursue your vision for Ogun State. May this new chapter usher in renewed energy, deeper partnerships, broader opportunities and remarkable accomplishments.

On behalf of my family and political structure, I celebrate you and warmly congratulate you on this remarkable occasion. I pray that Almighty God continues to preserve your life, enlarge your capacity for service and guide every step of your political and public journey. May your years ahead be filled with sound health, wisdom, fulfilment and enduring impact.

Warmest congratulations and best wishes.

Ambassador Sarafa Tunji Isola, OFR
Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (2021–2023)

Sponsored by Renaissance Africa Energy Group – a leading integrated energy operator and Nigeria’s largest independent upstream joint venture operator – and delivered by integrated service company The Offshore Lab, the project redefines the role of tertiary institutions in Nigeria. It shifts the university from a traditional center of theoretical learning into an active, self-sustaining node of technological production, environmental stewardship and community wealth creation.

Leading this dual strategy is the UNIBEN Campus Green Belt, an experimental field site where digital tools are directly applied to real-world ecological and agricultural challenges. UNIBEN becomes the second node of a growing national network following the inaugural Campus Green Belt established at Bauchi State University in 2024. The UNIBEN site introduces a new 1,000-tree orchard alongside the launch of a student-led Pioneer Club, creating a living laboratory where students apply data science, IoT environmental monitoring and sustainable agronomy directly to the land.

Directly linked to this field laboratory is a state-of-the-art Innovation ecosystem designed to accelerate local research, digital skill acquisition, and regional entrepreneurship. The facility will house an ICT Centre featuring 288 high-performance computing systems supported by robust network infrastructure, a Deep Tech Hub equipped with Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms and modular data center capabilities, and specialized hardware fabrication and product development laboratories. In a fusion of heritage and emerging technology, the ecosystem also introduces a Virtual Museum of Benin, designed to preserve and showcase Edo cultural history through immersive digital public engagement that can be accessed from anywhere in the world.

The initiative operates on a three-tier connected model:

• Technology to Field: Students utilize advanced computational tools and analytics from the ICT Centre to monitor orchard health, optimize resource usage, and test green technologies in real time.
• Field to Community: The UNIBEN Pioneer Club serves as an outreach engine, sharing data-driven agronomic insights and practical technical support with neighboring smallholder farmers.
• Learning to Value: By establishing a continuous feedback loop between university research and local farming networks, the initiative builds sustainable food systems and enhances regional economic resilience.

Speaking on the transformative potential of the initiative, Professor Edoba B. Omoregie, SAN, Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, said,  “At the University of Benin, our transformation is deliberate: to build a world-class, student-centred University where teaching, research and skills acquisition are increasingly technology-driven, practical and responsive to emerging national and global trends. The Renaissance Technology Ecosystem therefore feels like a natural and perfect fit with the direction in which our University is already moving.

The Innovation Ecosystem will deepen our students’ exposure to advanced computing, artificial intelligence and hardware fabrication, while the Campus Greenbelt extends that same philosophy of applied learning to environmental stewardship. We have already planted more than 5,000 trees in our drive for a greener UNIBEN; this dedicated 1,000-tree orchard, together with a student-led Campus Greenbelt Club, builds naturally on that commitment.

Together, these interventions give our students platforms to acquire skills, turn knowledge into practical solutions and create lasting value for the University, our communities and the wider society.

The General Manager, Nigerian Content Development, Mr Olanrewaju Olawuyi, from Renaissance Africa Energy Group said, “we are proud to sponsor this exciting initiative that brings together technological infrastructure, youth agency, and environmental action. By investing in UNIBEN’s ecosystem and other similar initiatives across top tertiary institutions across the country, we are supporting a practical blueprint where young Nigerians can leverage deep tech and sustainable agriculture to power local industrialization and community enterprise.”

Emeka Obiwulu, Chief Executive Officer of The Offshore Lab, added: “Our brief is to deliver adaptive infrastructure that will support innovative education and the transformation of our tertiary institutions from centres of passive learning to active nodes of production and sustainability. By closing the loop between technology, field testing, and community outreach, we are creating a scalable model for modern, production-focused education that can be replicated across the country.”

Starting a week with the joke of a joke can be very distressing. The ‘architect of modern Ekiti State’, Mr Ayodele Fayose, started his job as chairman of the Rural Electrification Agency board with a farce. And he is trending. At his farcical best, he reduced rural electrification to nights, nightlife and baby-making. Give the people electricity and they will stop uncontrolled procreation, he said on national television.

Coming from Fayose, I am not shocked by the indelicacy of the ‘joke’; the shock is in the poverty of thought behind it. Electricity, to the genius of Ekiti, is not about powering factories, farms and rural businesses; it is about keeping husbands away from their wives after 7 p.m. ‘Bedroom electrification’ and ‘sexualisation of electricity’. These are the latest additions to ‘stomach infrastructure’, Fayose’s earlier contribution to the lexicon of our democracy.

Beyond orgies and the carnality of the night, I hope Fayose knows that he is chairman of the agency’s board, and not its chief executive. I hope he knows the difference between full and half-full. His new seat may not be as royal and golden as the gubernatorial throne he sat on in Ado Ekiti. I pray that the spirit of fight does not enter the agency. I pray against sparks between the boardroom and the management, against short circuits of authority, and against the spirit of smelly farts and viral scandals.

“Allow not nature more than nature needs…” With that line from Shakespeare’s King Lear, I move from Fayose’s unrestrained sex talk to his interesting philosophy of need, excess and entitlement.

Days before his “inaugural lecture” on the conjugality of rural electrification, Fayose was in Ekiti asserting the right of the god he imagines himself to be to the till of his poor state.

“We have served this state. Priority must be given to former governors going forward. You must take very good care of me henceforth. I am growing old, almost 70, my strength is failing, I must be taken care of very well because I have paid my dues for this state.

“I need more medical care; I should travel abroad to enjoy myself, and also, I should be given an official vehicle with a pilot vehicle. The law as passed by the House of Assembly stipulates that the government should be changing our vehicles every three years. You are almost four years in office, I am yet to be given one. You must do that, Mr Governor.”

Fayose, former governor of Ekiti State and the new chairman of REA, publicly made the above demand of the Ekiti State governor last week. While he insists we must understand electricity in terms of sex and nightlife, he constructs his welfare as entitlement to state resources.

Ekiti’s ex-governor would reject any word that teaches moderation. That is why the operative word in his demand is the imperative: “must.” Fayose ordered the gentleman governor to “take very good care” of him with the state’s resources. And he was loud about it. His justification is that as governor for almost four-plus-four years, he has “paid his dues” and therefore deserves to be pampered.

I thought it was settled in Yorubaland that one does not get out of the way for ‘I-used-to-ride-a-horse’. What level of “care” would ever be enough for a yesterday’s horseman? If you ask me, who should I ask? Certainly not the audience that heard Fayose. They did not find his open expression of entitlement funny. I watched the video for clues. The faces told their own story.

I pity his colleagues, former governors who did not ask him to do babiallah (alms-begging) on their behalf but are nevertheless drenched in the ‘gbas gbos’ rainfall that follows. His unfeeling demands are magnets for umbrage. And resentment is corrosive to politics and democracy. A demand such as the one from the professor of stomach infrastructure is bound to provoke proverbs.

And proverbs are the horses of words. This moment, the words that come to me ask: What is an egungun doing with baskets near people’s farms? Elders who observe that masquerade would quickly warn farmers who have yams in their heaps: Do not sleep with both eyes closed. The proverb is shorter and more elegant when said in Yoruba: Eegun alágbọ̀n tí ó fi ọ̀nà oko ṣe ìgbàlẹ̀, àgbẹ̀ tó bá ní iṣu l’ébè kó má ṣ’àfira.

The definition of greed is what Fayose said and how he said it. For his ‘services’ to the Villa, the president rewarded him with the chairmanship of an agency with projects across the country. The combined 2026 budget of Fayose’s REA exceeds half a trillion naira. The 2026 budget document says it is N531 billion. Presiding over such a chest for a roving hyena is hardly a token blessing. Yet, like Oliver Twist in the workhouse, the former governor is asking for “some more” from Ekiti State whose 2026 budget is a paltry N415.57 billion.

I know that you, reading or listening to Fayose, would ask: Is this former governor a perennial child who must be fed for the rest of his life at public expense? Does public office create a lifetime entitlement to the taxpayers’ purse? If political service is truly service, should it become an endless claim on the commonwealth? And, the prebendal audacity that made that open demand, where did it come from?

Section 124 (5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 states that “Provisions may be made by law of a House of Assembly for the grant of a pension or gratuity to or in respect of a person who had held office as governor or deputy governor and was not removed from office as a result of impeachment; and any pension granted by virtue of any provision made in pursuance of this sub-section shall be made in a charge upon the consolidated revenue of the state.” There is a similar provision for the president and vice president.

In the above provision, the constitution has already provided for the post-office life of a governor without a second address. The abuse of that provision is captured in two Yoruba names: Oladejo, which means Ola has become eight, and Oladeji, which translates as Ola is doubled. Politicians would rather bear Oladejo; Oladeji is too meagre for the life they live. Caustic criticism would say it is greed that makes a man bear Oladejo when two should be enough.

They have continued to abuse the constitution, and they are not going to say sorry for the assault. What can we do about those abused provisions of the Constitution? Nothing, unfortunately. The provisions and the abusive children they birthed in state laws will not disappear because their beneficiaries — ex-governors — make up the big boys in the Senate. No child willingly smashes the pricey feeding bottle from which he sucks.

The constitution permits some privileges. Yes. But, as someone said, permission is not prescription, and provision is not a blank cheque. Besides, if all the horses are given to the king, what will his subjects ride? The constitution, which permits states to legislate pensions, does not constitutionalise an unlimited duty to pamper former governors.

What is it that an ex-governor did for the state that entitles him to an eternity of entitlement? Can a democracy sustainably carry a political class that will never stop drawing from the public trough long after it has left elective office? When is enough enough?

In one of the Aláwìíyé series, the poet tells of the overfed cricket whose greedy fingers pierced its own bloated belly. How much state care does a leader need before, like that cricket, his own greed bursts his belly?

Restraint is dead. The vehicle of this democracy has lost its axles. A few days ago, Kano State governor, Abba Yusuf, allocated 1,540 plots of land and presented a ₦100 million cash gift to members of his All Progressives Congress (APC) Polling Unit Supporters Association, known in Hausa as Yan’akwati. An exasperated lady on Arise TV read the report aloud, paused and asked: “What does that mean?”

In ‘Politicians, Professionalization and Anti-Politics’ (2018), scholars Paul Fawcett and Jack Corbett ask: “Why are politicians so unpopular?” They point to the “professionalization of politics” and the emergence of “a professionalized political class that is increasingly detached from ‘ordinary citizens’.” When the man and woman on the street nurse hunger on the dusty footpath of life, and a governor fetes polling unit henchmen with lands and cash, and an overfed ex-governor demands to be freighted “abroad to enjoy” himself at public expense, neither the politician, his politics nor the democracy that sustains his privileges can expect the goodwill of the people. All three are doomed to be poisoned by the bad looks of the hungry.

How much comfort does a former ‘king’ need?

Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy, in his 1886 short story, ‘How Much Land Does a Man Need?’, tells the story of Pahom, a peasant whose appetite grows with every acquisition. He starts with 40 acres, moves on to 125, rents more land and is preparing to buy 1,300 acres when he hears of a neighbouring clan who possesses vast stretches of fertile land and who sells it almost for nothing. He approaches the clan and their chief makes him an irresistible offer: “Our price is always the same: one thousand rubles a day.” For that sum, the chief says, Pahom may have all the land he can walk around in one day, provided he returns to his starting point before sunset: “We shall go to any spot you like, and stay there. You must start from that spot and make your round, taking a spade with you. Wherever you think necessary, make a mark. At every turning, dig a hole and pile up the turf; then afterwards, we will go round with a plow from hole to hole. You may make as large a circuit as you please, but before the sun sets, you must return to the place you started from. All the land you cover will be yours.”

Really? The greed in Pahom whistles. The man sets out at dawn, taking this, holding that. He becomes like the potter who wants all the soil to be clay. Pahom keeps taking hectares after acres. He takes fields, he takes meadows, and adds entire steppes to them. But every time he thinks he has taken enough, he sees another fertile stretch that he cannot bear to leave out. He walks farther and farther until, suddenly, the sinking sun reminds him that possession has a deadline. He races desperately back towards the starting point, exhausted but unwilling to surrender what he has claimed. He reaches the hillock, the starting point, just as the sun sets, to the cheers of the locals.

But, very exhausted Pahom, that very moment of victory and achievement, drops dead.

The man won his enormous estate but lost everything. The storyteller has one final measurement to make. He says the land-grabber’s servant “picked up the spade and dug a grave long enough for Pahom to lie in, and buried him in it. Six feet from his head to his heels was all he needed.” That is all the land every man ultimately needs — and, in the end, the only land we will all get. Pray that our leaders learn, before their own final measurements are taken, when to tell themselves: ENOUGH.

Part two of this header on Monday, August 3, 2026, Iooked at the reasons advanced by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and ex-Anambra State Governor Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for demanding that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of All Progressives Congress (APC) should resign, or quit the 2027 General Election.

  Whereas my thumb’s up for Atiku’s pursuit of authority, control and orderliness, and not confusion, contradictions and flouting of presidential directives in governance; and for Obi’s show of outrage and indignation over Tinubu’s alleged insensitivity, and lack of compassion in response to the kidnapping of schoolchildren and teachers in Oyo State; the presidential hopefuls went beyond the lawful bounds to call on, or pressure Tinubu to resign, or abstain from seeking re-election.

Self-indicting is Atiku’s attempt to link the reported happenings in government to Tinubu’s alleged “desperation” to retain power when, since 1993, Atiku’s primaried seven times (unbroken, every four years, six times since 2007): 1993, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, 2023 and 2026; and ran unsuccessfully three times for President: 2007, 2019 and 2023.

  The ‘Waziri Adamawa’ also vied for and won the Adamawa State governorship in 1999, and was awaiting swearing-in when then-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), retired Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, picked him as his running mate for the 1999 General Election.

  Does Tinubu brake any laws due to reported public officials’ tussles for leadership, and failure to obey presidential directives? What offence does the president commit by not contacting Governor Seyi Makinde to commiserate with him and the people of Oyo over bandits’ abduction of schoolchildren and teachers in the state, to warrant attempts to exclude him from the January 16, 2027, poll?

Atiku and Obi’s manipulation and weaponisation of public opinion and sentiment about patriotism, and alleged global embarrassment and shame that Tinubu’s brought upon Nigeria, is simply to blackmail, coerce, intimidate and force him out of his first four-year term, and additional four years if re-elected in 2027!

  With both demands leading to the same end: to prevent Tinubu from a second term in office, Atiku and Obi thus infringe on the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as updated) relating particularly to the right to register and vote as a citizen; freedom of assembly and association, and to form or join any political party in section 40; the right to be voted for in section 131 on Qualifications for election as President; section 135 on Tenure of office of President; and section 137 on Disqualifications, as follows:

  “Qualification for election as President: Section 131(1): A person shall be qualified for election to the office of President if:

  (a) he is a citizen of Nigeria by birth;

  (b) he has attained the age of 35 years;

  (c) he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party; and 

  (d) he has been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent.

  “Tenure of office of President: Section 135(1): Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, a person shall hold the office of President until:

  (a) when his successor in office takes the oath of that office; or

(b) he dies when holding that office; or 

  (c) the date when his resignation from office takes effect; or

  (d) otherwise ceases to hold office in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.

  “(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the President shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of four years commencing from the date when:

  (a) in case of a person first elected President under this Constitution, he took the Oath of Allegiance and the oath of office; and 

  (b) in any other case, the person last elected to that office took the Oath of Allegiance and the oath of office, or would, but for his death, have taken such Oaths.

  “(3) If the Federation is at war in which the territory of Nigeria is physically involved and the President considers it practically impossible to hold elections, the National Assembly may by a resolution extend the period of four years mentioned in subsection (2) of this section from time to time; but no such extension shall exceed a period of six months at any one time.

  “Disqualifications: Section 137(1): A person shall be qualified for election to the office of President if:

  (a) subject to the provisions of section 28 (Dual citizenship) of this Constitution, he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of another country;

  (b) he has been elected to the office at two previous elections;

  (c) he is adjudged to be a lunatic or declared to be of unsound mind;

  (d) he is under a sentence of death or imprisonment or fine involving dishonesty, fraud, or any other offence imposed by any court or tribunal;

  (e) in not less than 10 years to any election, he has been convicted and sentenced for dishonesty, or found guilty of contravention of the Code of Conduct;

  (f) he is an undischarged bankrupt;

  (g) he has not resigned, withdrawn or retired from the civil or public service of the Federation or of any State at least 30 days before the election;

  (h) he is a member of any secret society;

  (i) he has been indicted for embezzlement or fraud, and which indictment is accepted by the Federal or State Government, respectively;

  (j) he has presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

(2) Where in respect of any person who has been (a) adjudged to be a lunatic; (b) declared to be of unsound mind; (c) sentenced to death or imprisonment; or (d) adjudged or declared bankrupt, an appeal against the decision is pending in any court in Nigeria, subsection (1) of section 137 shall not apply during the pendency of determination of the appeal, or as the case may be, the appeal lapses or abandoned, whichever is earlier.”

  The question: Other than Atiku and Obi accusing President Tinubu of “desperation” to retain power in 2027, which of the above cited provisions of the reviewed 1999 Constitution has he broken to be asked – without following or observing the due process of the law – to resign from office, or abstain from re-election? Aren’t Atiku and Obi “desperate” to take power from the president by deploying any means, including pressurising him to abandon ship midstream, and never to reboard?

  As noted in paragraph 3 of this copy, Atiku hasn’t demonstrated that he’s patriotic, and a “unifier,” as he claims, and not desperate for power, for which he’s contested primaries seven times and ran unsuccessfully three times for President, and won the Adamawa State governorship in 1999.

  Otherwise, he wouldn’t have presented himself for President in 2023, and doing so again in 2027, realising that the four-year, two-term election cycle (2023-2031) belongs to Southern Nigeria to produce the President under the rotation of power between the North and South of Nigeria every eight years!

Dont Atiku and Obi – and the opposition camp – regularly claim that the February 16, 2027, poll is a battle “between Tinubu and Nigerians?” Having so invested confidence in the people, shouldn’t they allow the voters to decide his fate through the ballot box, and not via gimmickry? 

  Atiku and Obi should respect the electoral laws, and shelve their plot to force President Tinubu out of office, or prevent him from contesting in the 2027 General Election. Let the will of the people prevail for all presidential hopefuls! (END)

• Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos. He can be reached on X, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp @EhichioyaEzomon. Tel: 08033078357

The campaign, themed “Beyond Elu-Ulee (Buruli Ulcer): Building a Healthier Awba-Ofemili,” will be held on Thursday, 17 September 2026, at the Civic Centre, Awba-Ofemili, beginning at 9:00 a.m.

The programme builds on the success of the committee’s maiden Elu-Ulee (Buruli Ulcer) Awareness Campaign, which raised awareness on Buruli ulcer and strengthened community engagement on preventive healthcare.

According to the Chairman of the ADU Health Committee, Ogbuefi Remmy Nweke, KSM, the 2026 campaign represents a significant expansion of the committee’s health intervention agenda.

“This campaign is about moving beyond awareness to action. We want to deepen community health education, encourage early detection of preventable diseases, strengthen school health initiatives, promote First Aid awareness, and build sustainable partnerships that will improve the health and well-being of our people,” he said.

The 2026 campaign will feature community health education, free basic health screening, school health support, First Aid awareness programmes, and stakeholder engagement with healthcare professionals, development partners, and community organisations.

The committee has called on sons and daughters of Awba-Ofemili, residents, friends of the community, corporate organisations, philanthropic individuals, NGOs, healthcare institutions, and development partners to support the initiative through financial contributions and strategic partnerships.

To support the implementation of the campaign, the ADU Health Committee has opened a dedicated fundraising channel through Fidelity Bank Plc, with donations payable to Awba-Ofemili Education Volunteers (Account No. 6060490921).

The Committee appealed to all supporters to use “HEALTH FUND” as the transfer narration so that contributions can be properly recorded and accounted for under the ADU Health Committee Health Fund.

Secretary of the ADU Health Committee, Mr. Cornelius Nwakonobi, emphasized that every contribution would make a meaningful impact.

“No donation is too small. Every contribution will support community health education, medical outreach, school health programmes, First Aid support, and preventive healthcare initiatives. Together, we can build a healthier, stronger, and more resilient Awba-Ofemili,” he stated.

The ADU Health Committee reaffirmed its commitment to working with government agencies, healthcare professionals, development organisations, the Nigerian Red Cross, community stakeholders, and the Awba-Ofemili diaspora to advance sustainable health interventions in the community.

For partnership enquiries, sponsorship, or additional information, interested organisations and individuals are encouraged to contact the ADU Health Committee Secretariat.

The report had alleged the transfer of $279 million from the Fund’s account to some unnamed accounts and claimed that Adedeji and the NRS were in the know of the ‘illegal’ movement of money.

According to the report, the alleged fraud had put Adedeji under pressure with stakeholders calling for forensic audit of the Fund’s account.

But in his reaction via telephone, Adedeji dismissed the said report as fake news based on the imagination of some persons determined to tarnish his reputation and the image of the NRS.

“That report is not true in any way. It is pure fake news sponsored by some jobless persons whose pastime is to throw mud at high performers in the President Tinubu government. I consider it to be a brand of cheap journalism lacking in ethics and professionalism but heavy with malicious intentions.

“To prove to you that it was sponsored, take a critical look at the storyline and language. They are the same language and style in all the reports, meaning that one person wrote it and distributed across gullible online platforms,” Adedeji said.

The NRS chairman said that the sponsors of the report exhibited lack of understanding on what the Frontier Fund was all about and how it is disbursed.

He explained that the Frontier Exploration Fund was established under Section 9 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021 and was meant to finance petroleum exploration activities in frontier basins where commercially viable hydrocarbon reserves are yet to be fully established,

The frontier basins include Bida, Benue Trough, Anambra, Chad, Sokoto and Dahomey Basins. The Fund is to used for expenses in geological mapping, seismic surveys, exploratory drilling, appraisal wells, basin studies and other exploration activities.

Oreoluwa Osunuga, who owns a farm in the town, was waylaid by the gunmen while driving out from the farm to buy fuel and deliver some poultry products.

The gunmen forcefully dragged him out of his car before they took him away in their own vehicle.

Sources said the kidnappers were reported to have contacted the family using his (Osunuga) mobile phone demanding N500m as ransom to regain freedom.

The Divisional Police Officer at Ikenne Divisional Police Headquarters, shortly after the incident, visited the scene with his men and recovered the Highlander 2017 edition car of the victim.

Ogun State Commissioner of Police Bode Ojajuni when contacted at about 9.50pm on Sunday, confirmed the incident, explaining that the police authorities are already working towards the rescue of the victim.

The National Chairman of the party, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda Goshwe, disclosed this at the weekend after the successful completion of the exercise, well ahead of the deadline initially set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Yilwatda said the successful completion of the upload of the party’s candidates across the country from the State House of Assembly to the president was a demonstration of the APC’s organisational strength, institutional discipline and readiness for the 2027 elections.

He noted that while the APC completed the exercise within the original timeframe, several other political parties were still struggling to meet the deadline and subsequently appealed to INEC for additional time to complete their submissions. Following these appeals, INEC extended the deadline from Saturday, August 8, 2026, to Tuesday, August 11, 2026, giving political parties an additional three days to conclude their submissions through the Commission’s online portal.

The APC National Chairman in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy, Abimbola Tooki, described the development as another clear indication that the party has moved beyond the politics of slogans to the politics of structure, planning, systems and execution.

According to him, the ability of a political party to successfully coordinate the nomination, documentation, verification and electronic submission of thousands of candidates across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory within a prescribed timeline is a serious test of organisational capacity.

“The APC has once again demonstrated that we are prepared for the responsibility of governing Nigeria. We did not wait until the last minute. We planned ahead, coordinated our structures and ensured that our candidates were successfully uploaded before the expiration of the original deadline. This is what organisation, discipline and responsible political leadership mean,” Prof. Yilwatda said.

He said the successful completion of the exercise was particularly significant because the 2027 elections would be one of the most consequential electoral contests in the history of Nigeria, requiring political parties to demonstrate not only popularity but also capacity, internal coordination and preparedness.

The National Chairman said the APC’s performance should also be viewed against the complexity of managing a nationwide political organisation with structures in every state, senatorial district, federal constituency and local government area.

He explained that the exercise required meticulous coordination between the National Secretariat, state chapters, candidates and other relevant party structures, adding that the ability to complete the process ahead of schedule reflected the efficiency of the systems being developed under the current leadership of the party.

Prof. Yilwatda further stated that the development sends an important message to Nigerians about the importance of organisational capacity in choosing political parties and leaders.

“Governance is not an experiment. The management of a country as complex as Nigeria requires planning, coordination, discipline, competence and the ability to deliver within deadlines. If a political organisation cannot effectively organise its own internal processes, coordinate its candidates and meet simple statutory and administrative deadlines, Nigerians must ask serious questions about its preparedness to manage the affairs of the nation,” he said.

He cautioned Nigerians against political parties that are quick to make ambitious promises about governing the country but are unable to demonstrate basic organisational competence within their own structures.

According to him, political parties seeking the mandate of Nigerians must be judged not only by their campaign rhetoric but also by their internal systems, preparedness, capacity to manage people and resources, and ability to comply with electoral regulations.

The APC National Chairman said the party’s achievement should therefore not be interpreted merely as the completion of an administrative exercise, but as an important early indicator of its preparedness for the 2027 electoral contest.

He added that having its candidates properly uploaded ahead of the original deadline gives the party greater room to concentrate on the next stages of its electoral preparations, including campaign coordination, candidate engagement, voter mobilisation, grassroots organisation, policy communication and reconciliation across its various structures.

Prof. Yilwatda also commended the APC National Working Committee, state party leadership, candidates, election management teams and all party officials who contributed to the successful completion of the exercise.

He said the achievement was a collective victory for the party and another demonstration that the APC remains Nigeria’s most organised and institutionally prepared political movement.

“The work has only begun. Completing the upload ahead of schedule gives us confidence, but it also places a greater responsibility on us. We must remain united, disciplined and focused. We must take our message of Renewed Hope to every community and demonstrate to Nigerians that the APC is not only prepared to contest elections; we are prepared to continue providing responsible leadership for Nigeria,” he said.

The APC National Chairman said the party would continue to put in place the necessary structures and systems to ensure that the 2027 elections become another opportunity for Nigerians to make an informed choice based on competence, continuity, stability and national development.