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FROM the Olubadan Ladoja penultimate Friday’s coronation , there were, as bound to be, viral Bola Tinubu moments.

One, was the brief socializing with the free-spirit Osun governor, Jackson Adeleke. The president, as seen in the video was bantering with the PDP governor, blocked by Osun APC from joining the President in the ruling party in the spirit of the southern coalition being coupled by the Nigerian leader, to smoothen his reelection. In what was obviously a friendly poke, the President while shooting for a handshake, quipped ‘ijonko o’ (how is dancing), an unveiled reference to the governor’s penchant for regular display of his dancing dexterity, despite his size, which makes his usual energetic ‘moonwalk’ a rich spectacle. Not one to let such affability go to waste, he, while bowing to take the President’s offered handshake, replied with unmissable flourish; ‘ijowadaada sir’ (dancing is great sir). That brief exchange should reinforce to Osun APC stalwarts that their leader in Abuja has a soft spot for the one they don’t want in Osun. May God help the state opposition if Jackson moonwalks over them to re-election next year. That would be the political end of many current leaders of Osun APC. To stand a chance of proving to their Abuja leader whose body language has shown that he would prefer the incumbent Osun governor as a member of the Progressive Governors (like Delta, Akwa-Ibom and likely Rivers), Osun APC leaders must get the nomination right by going for the aspirant with consolidated voting base like the incumbent. Until Borno State caught up with Osun days back, as the highest-netting in fishing new voters, Adeleke’s Osun West was topping nationally, an undeniable proof of his get-out-the-vote groundwork.

It shows a man who is ready.

Kano, another huge-voting state is mirroring Osun, though its political climate isn’t yet as crystal. President Tinubu no doubt, covets the vote-sweeping influence of former governor and NNPP lord, Rabiu Kwankwaso who was also at the Ibadan event and whose attempt at drawing the attention of the Nigerian leader also created another Tinubu moment. A viral video showed the President security team initially bouncing him off the periphery of the President’s perimeter as he (Tinubu) arrived the Mapo Hall venue but before he could be roughened up, the President signalled he should be allowed access to him.

By any measure and every standard, Kwankwaso is a heavy-hitter in Nigerian political firmament and holds joint-record with AyodeleFayose and KayodeFayemi, both of Ekiti State, of non-consecutive gubernatorial second term. He is also the 2023 presidential candidate with the largest votes from a state; his Kano State, creaming almost a million votes at a go. He had been minister of defence and currently governs Kano, the largest voting state of 2023 poll, through his son in-law, incumbent Governor Abba Yusuf. So there is no way the Kano strongman is unknown to the President security team and in many public fora, Tinubu, before and when he came into office, had acknowledged Kwankwaso a friend. So what went wrong? It is in public domain that Kwankwaso is open to a return to APC, potentially to help re-elect his friend and possibly position himself for an enhanced 2031 run when power is expected to return to the North. President also wanted him. But there is AbdullahiGanduje alongside other Kano APC big men in the middle, like Osun APC leaders, reportedly standing against having their former leader and his hand-held governor back in the fold, where Governor Yusuf will become the de jure leader, and his father in-law; Kwankwaso, the de facto leader.

Unlike Osun where the President reportedly agreed that Adeleke and APC leaders should first test might in next year gubernatorial poll to know who should lead his coalition in the state ahead of 2027, Tinubu, according to his orbit had done a lot to assure Kwankwaso of his commitment to their partnership if he returns to the APC fold for him, including having to painfully pinch Ganduje. But the Kwankwasiyya leader has been allegedly irresolute, constantly shifting his conditions to meet before decamping. Weeks back he went public in the media space with his desire and conditions, with the President reportedly souring on him and deciding to look elsewhere for solutions to his Kano deficits, notably the 2023 gap of 419,938 votes between him in second place and Rabiu in the lead.

When security begin to bounce someone who used to have access to their principal, words must have definitely gone around and about. The Ibadan scenario looks like using the right hand to pull a naughty child’s ear and using the left to rub the back of his head. Did RMK get the message?

Then there was the BAO snub at the Ibadan airport where attending governors formed a beeline to welcome the Nigerian leader. Pray, why is the President resorting to public snub and its attendant opprobrium to manifest his discontent towards his allegedly errant party governors, especially those of Yoruba extraction?. First it was the Lagos man, Babajide Sanwoolu who the President refused to acknowledge and greet during the controversial commissioning of a portion of Lagos-Calabar highway on May 30 this year. The President is from Lagos and was governor of the state like Sanwoolu between 1999 and 2007. By standing up to then-President Olusegun Obasanjo of then-ruling PDP, he gave the governor’s seat character, elan and respect. Though they later made whatever was between them up eight days after through the intervention of the nebulous GAC, the incumbent had been served as they say. It’s doubtful if a swashbuckling Governor Tinubu of his time and term in Lagos would have peacefully resolved such public shaming with any president whether of his party or from the opposition.

BAO, arrayed from his names, is the political sobriquet of the 57-year-old Ekiti governor, Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji. Married to a professor, the governor has been practically what anyone aspiring at Ekiti level could be, including serving as the secretary of the Falegan committee that made the creation of the state possible. It is just fitting that he leads the state he helped create. He should also be allowed to lead as he deems right and if found wanting, his reelection fate should be left for Ekiti electorate to determine. Period.

Before the Ibadan debacle, I had heard from power corridors in Abuja things weren’t well between the Governor and the President who is also the national leader of their party. While BAO has been variously judged average and even below average in governance delivery, his problem with Abuja was said to be mainly political and just like the Sanwoolu situation, the President gave a public confirmation to the behind-the-curtain muttering that Oyebanji is no longer a ‘son’ in whom he is well pleased. At the airport reception, the President walked past him as if he didn’t exist despite his three-piece white agbada ensemble, standing at the head of the line of other governors and dignitaries. The security just moved in-between them as the President looked away and straight, unlike the Kwankwaso case later when the Nigerian leader rescued the Kano fellow from his security who appeared to be following strict orders.

Oyebanji’s alleged sins are mainly political and the constitution covers freedom of association. If President Tinubu as APC national leader thinks Oyebanji is derailing from the vision of the party, there are better ways of reining him in or keeping him out permanently without resorting to embarrassing his person, for fleeting political power. Yes I know people can bone (naija street lingo for snub) offending beloved, as a way of expressing disavowal so they come bearing repentance and desiring forgiveness but even for Trump the ruffler, there are acts that won’t be presidential. Add to the fact the President is a Yoruba elder who shouldn’t be handling the proverbial festival like a teen (agbakinseoro bi ewe).

Like President Tinubu, the two governors, publicly humiliated over if I heard right, alleged acts that he himself would endorse as survival politics in his days in the thick, wild forest of politics, are Yoruba. While he is definitely older than both, respect should be reciprocal. And I ask, is it only South West APC governors that are overreaching in the President’s estimation? Will the President treat Northern APC governors this way regardless of political sin? Did ordinary palace guards of a Northern emir not break down doors in utter disregard for established protocol to let their lord into an event where the President was already seated? Whoever sells his own short will pay heavily for outsiders.

If the public smackdowns are the President’s way of settling scores especially with governors who he would not be able to monitor directly on election day, then he risks a situation Yoruba will describe as bottling the crimson inside while spitting out bright saliva. It is dangerous when people play along. If you see my hand you can’t see my mind situation. Whenever I see Governor Sim smiling the President into superlatives. a Yoruba adage is always jumping at me; ‘onikun lo mero’. Won’t interpret.

When you need to make others feel small for you to feel big, it is the highest manifestation of inner weakness. Dishing to others what you can’t take is against divine rule of do unto others as you want others do to you. Why publicly disgracing someone who has come to honour you?

The latest presidential humiliation is two too many. If the President is this way in the public, how toxic can things get with him in private when displeased, considering how he has been making grown men feel very small in full glare because he wanted everybody on board his re-election plans. The tortoise in-laws, even when rightly wronged, will always carry the shame of doing too much to shame their offending son-in-law. Haba! Kilode!

The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives will on Monday hold an emergency meeting to deliberate on the suit filed by the embattled Minority Leader, Hon. Kingsley Chinda, aimed at halting his planned removal.

The notice of the emergency meeting was jointly signed by: Hon. Agbedi Frederick, Leader, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Caucus; Hon. Afam Victor Ogene, Leader, Labour Party Caucus; Hon. Muktar Umar-Zakari, New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) Caucus, and Hon. Peter Uzokwe, Leader, Young Peoples Party (YPP), respectively.

It reads: ‘To all Minority Members of the House of Representatives.

‘You are hereby invited to an emergency meeting to discuss recent developments in the minority leadership, particularly to review the lawsuit instituted by Minority Leader, Hon. Kingsley Chinda, against all members of minority parties in the 10th House of Representatives.’

According to the notice, the main agenda of the emergency meeting is: ‘Response to the Lawsuit instituted by House Minority Leader, Rt. Hon. Kingsley Chinda, against all Minority Parties’ and ‘Any other Business (AOB)’.

In response to the suit filed by Hon. Chinda, Justice J. O. Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had issued an interim order restraining the removal of Hon. Kingsley Chinda as Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, pending the determination of a substantive suit filed by the lawmaker.

Justice Abdulmalik made the order following an ex parte motion brought before the court on September 15, 2025, and filed a day later by Chinda, who represents Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency of Rivers State.

The motion sought to prevent what the lawmaker described as an unlawful and politically motivated move to oust him from his leadership position in the House.

The suit has the National Assembly, its Clerk, House of Representatives, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Social Democratic Party (SDP), African Democratic Congress (ADC), and Young Progressives Party (YPP) as defendants.

The application, argued by a team of senior lawyers led by Dr. J. Y. Musa (SAN), urged the court to intervene and maintain the status quo, alleging that certain members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), particularly loyalists opposed to Chinda’s association with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barrister Nyesom Wike, were plotting to unseat him in violation of legislative procedures.

In the ruling delivered by Justice Abdulmalik, the court noted that the reliefs sought in the ex parte application mirrored those in a pending Motion on Notice filed in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1936/2025.

The judge emphasized the need to ensure a fair hearing for all parties in line with Section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

The court ordered that the Plaintiff, Hon. Chinda, must immediately serve all relevant court processes, including the Motion on Notice, on the Defendants. All parties are to maintain the status quo to prevent any act that could render the outcome of the case a fait accompli.

The hearing on the Motion on Notice seeking an interlocutory injunction is scheduled to take place in due course.

Hon. Chinda’s legal team argued that, according to Order 7 Rule 14 of the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives (Eleventh Edition), any change in the Minority Leadership must be made by a majority of members of the minority parties and only after due notice to the House – procedures they claim are not being followed.

In a 14-point affidavit in support of the application, Chinda asserted that the House of Representatives is currently on recess, and many minority members are unavailable, making any legitimate leadership change impossible at this time.

His perceived alliance with FCT Minister Nyesom Wike is the primary reason behind the move to oust him, and he added that such political victimization infringes on his constitutional right to freedom of association under Section 40 of the Constitution.

Hon. Chinda maintained that only the Court’s intervention can stop what he describes as an unconstitutional removal attempt that, if allowed, could destabilize the legislative process and violate internal House rules.

He further warned that without a restraining order, the minority parties could act before the defendants file their appearance and defence within the 30-day legal window, thereby undermining the judicial process.

Wife of the President of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has urged women to embrace all the programmes under the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), her pet project in the areas of agriculture, girl child education, and skills acquisition.

She made the call during her remarks at the grand finale of the 48th Isanbi Day Celebration held at Ilishan-Remo in Ikenne Local Government Area of Ogun State on Saturday, noting that hope is already rising for the nation as several government policies are helping to stabilize the economy.

Mrs Tinubu, who was represented by Mrs Temitope Adeola, wife of the Chairman, Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Olamilekan Adeola, donated N20 million to the ‘Ilisan for Tomorrow’ project, an initiative conceived by the town to drive its socio-economic development.

She commended the indigenes and residents of the community for their spirit of oneness and brotherly love, as exhibited during the celebration.

The First Lady also called for continued support for the present administration at both the federal and state levels.

She said, ‘I however want to urge the women to embrace the programmes of the Renewed Hope Initiative in the areas of agriculture, skills acquisition, and girl child education. As it is now, hope is rising as the different policies of the government have begun to stabilize the economy towards growth and the benefit of the people. In collaboration with the residents of Ilisan town, who are very purposeful in pursuing the development of their community, I hereby support the development trust fund with N20 million.’

She also announced a donation of N10 million on behalf of Senator Adeola, representing Ogun West, in support of the development of the community.

Governor Dapo Abiodun, represented by his deputy, Engr. Noimot Salako-Oyedele, appreciated the sons and daughters of Ilishan for being partners in progress with his administration.

He said his government remains committed to the development of every part of the state, citing the newly constructed Gateway International Airport in the community as well as other ongoing road projects.

Ogun State First Lady, Mrs Bamidele Abiodun, said the theme for this year’s celebration, ‘Ilisan: Rooted in Heritage, Rising by Self Help,’ focused on the need for all sons and daughters of the community to continue investing in its socio-economic growth.

She explained that the Isanbi Day Celebration over the years has provided a platform to celebrate the togetherness of the community and their roots, pay homage to their ancestors, and showcase their rich cultural heritage.

‘Our Yoruba heritage teaches us the timeless values of Omoluabi – integrity, hard work, respect, and compassion. These values define who we are as sons and daughters of Ilisan-Remo and as ambassadors of Ogun State and Nigeria, wherever we may find ourselves in the world,’ she said.

In attendance were the wives of the governors of Ekiti, Dr Olayemi Oyebanji; Ondo, Mrs Oluwaseun Aiyedatiwa; Imo, Mrs Chioma Uzodinma; Oyo, Mrs Tamunominini Makinde; Lagos, Mrs Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu; and the wife of former Oyo State governor, Mrs Florence Ajimobi.

Others included the lotto magnate who chaired the occasion, Sir Kensington Adebutu, represented by Apagun Seye Sonuga, and former deputy governors of Ogun State, Alhaja Salmot Badru and Chief (Mrs) Yetunde Onanuga, among others.

In his welcome address, the Chairman of the Ilisan Development Association, Otunba Wemmy Osude, rallied support for the further development of the community and called for generous donations to the newly unveiled ‘Ilisan for Tomorrow’ project.

The traditional ruler of the town, Oba Michael Sonuga, thanked the sons and daughters of the community and urged them to remain united while working for the continued upliftment of the town.

One has over the decades discovered that any set of people, community or country who hates the bitter truth live to suffer for it. That perhaps, explains why yours truly has kept emphasising the critical, yet deliberately foisted fratricidal factors that have cumulatively acted as the enemies to the variant of democracy that we currently practise here in Nigeria. One of the most painful of that is the conduct of fraudulent elections through which humongous state funds are wantonly wasted at the end of which those who are not the choices of the electorate are foisted on the people, to who they have no iota of allegiance. Ordinarily, free, fair and credible elections are supposed to be the strong and solid foundation on which to erect the house of democracy. But when the wrong politicians mount the pedestal of power, the consequences are dire on the pauperized populace.

Such a sad situation of having politicians who are not the true representatives of the people leads to personalization of political power. That is more so by some egocentric and self-righteous political helmsmen, who erroneously believe that the instrument of power they wield is meant to satisfy the self, rather than the state. They brazenly step over the constitution which should be the ground norm through acts of infamy that satisfy their choice or that of so called friends, not minding the consequences on the people they were elected or selected to serve.

Added to this is the siphoning of state funds through several odious antics for self aggrandizement, or to satiate the gargantuan greed of members of their family, with scarce regards to the rule of law. With such an oddity in place the led majority are left to groan and grind in preventable poverty, yet some policy makers keep chasing the shadows of self righteousness at the expense of the people’s pains. And it hurts those with conscience because Nigeria is so naturally endowed with oil and gas, solid minerals, fertile fields for agricultural development, places od scenic splendor as tourist attractions and of course, the best of brains that we have no reason whatsoever to languish in the pit of poverty, if not for the recurring ugly decimal of successive poor leadership.

One other querulous issue is that of ethno-religious sentiment. Going by the choice of people of one ethnic group holding plum political positions, against the federal character principle as we have witnessed over the past decade degrades us as a people -like it or not. In fact, that brings up an all-important question.

Have you ever wondered, like my humble self, just how our crop of patriotic founding fathers would feel, should they be brought back to life to see the Nigeria of today?

Imagine if the likes of Herbert Macaulay, Sir Adeyemo Alakija, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Prof. EyoIta, Margaret Ekpo (all of the blessed memory) returning to witness the Nigeria of the 21st Century still bitterly enmeshed in ethno-centric and religious divides. Try and also imagine Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Adeleke Adedoyin, Adeniyi Jones, Eric Moore, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Abubakar Dipcharima, Aminu Kano (of the blessed memory) returning to a Nigeria steeped in preventable poverty, mass youth unemployment, insecurity, kidnapping and sundry crimes!

Certainly, these heroes of the struggle for Nigeria’s political independence would ask what has made the difference between countries such as India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Nigeria, whose independence came within the same decade or two, if not quality leadership, or the absence of it. They would cringe at the crying shame of a people still struggling for economic survival in the midst of the vast natural resources, 65 years after political independence.

They would wonder just how, like the prodigal son, our successive political leaders have squandered huge revenues from our God-given oil and gas, solid minerals, agricultural and tourism potentials and ask our leaders to explain why we are currently trapped in state and federal government debts running into trillion of Naira. The likes of Michael Imoudu, T.A Bankole, A. A. Adio-Moses,M.A. Tokunbo and T.A. Songonuga, who once ran the affairs of the Nigerian Trade Union Congress would even ask our state governors to explain just how it has become difficult to pay a minimum wage of N70,000 at a time our lawmakers cruise around in luxury automobiles, with some state governors boasting of private jets; flying over children studying under trees in their long-forgotten states! So, what is the best way forward? That is the million-naira question.

The answer, my dear reader, is to read the HANDWRITING ON THE WALL, as it was back in the Biblical times. But some of our political helmsmen, with self-serving and greed-driven agendas, rather than nationalistic principles have blatantly refused to read it.The call for the holistic restructuring of Nigeria has reached a nerve-shredding crescendo, reverberating across the national space. But some have obstinately turned deaf ears to it, or heed its clarion toll.

So, we caution, as we have to do under trying times such as this, out of sheer patriotic fervor, that Nigeria can no longer be run the way it is being run against the ethos of equity and justice. Nigeria can no longer be ruled by the tools of treachery, the weapons of witch-hunt and the cudgels of coercion, worse still under a democratic dispensation. Recent signs in the political horizon are scary enough. This was my position some six years ago, under the then President Muhammadu Buhari. But are we any better today?

To begin with, not a few observers of the polity would agree that Nigerians have not been as divided along ethnic and religious cleavages as we found ourselves eight years ago. For instance, while some concerned Nigerians had expected President Buhari to be guided by the noble mantra of nationalism and give out political appointments to guarantee ethnic equity, that of his first term were obviously skewed in favour of the North and his political acolytes. The question again is that is much different as at 2025?

Lest we forget, barely five months of Buhari’s second term, the issue of which of the geo-political zones to produce the 2023 presidency took precedence over how to pull Nigeria out of the ignoble status of the world’s poverty capital. Or, how to get the army of our job-seeking youth running into millions out of the violent streets. There were then posters of the then Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai adorning, the walls of some cities as he reportedly geared up for the plum political post. Both Babachir Lawal and Ahmed Yerima of the Arewa Youth group were making it loud and clear that the North was not about to hand over the presidential baton to any other section of the country in the next dispensation. That was back in 2015, some ten odd years ago. But is the situation any different as at this day?

The current wave of mass distraction is fixated on the obvious determination of the Bola Tinubu-led government to keep holding on to power against the political angling of the ADC party. Meanwhile, hunger, high inflation, youth unemployment, insecurity remain the daily travails rather than the exception. So, the call for an holistic restructuring of the country resonates.

Let us therefore, listen to the voices of reason. According to the then President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, restructuring Nigeria is the answer to the waves of agitations currently hitting across Nigeria. At a lecture titled: ‘Restructuring Nigeria: Decentralisation for National Cohesion’ delivered in 2017 at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House in London, Nwodo said, ‘Our present constitution is not autochthonous. It was not written by the people of Nigeria. It was not approved in a national referendum. In jurisprudence, its effectiveness will score a very low grade on account of its unacceptability’.

Interestingly, back then and in a similar tone, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the then National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, stated thus in 2017: ‘We all lined up to call ourselves Nigerians without gathering to discuss what it meant, so Nigerians should not condemn but listen and understand the agitations by the Indigenous People of Biafra.’ He however, warned against any attempt to split the country. Now, that he is the president of the country, we humbly remind him to do the needful. Restructuring remains the best way forward.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has fired a salvo at Nigeria’s 36 state governors and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, issuing a seven-day ultimatum to publicly account for the spending of an estimated N14 trillion collected as fuel subsidy savings.

The organisation also threatened to institute legal proceedings should the state governors and the FCT Minister fail to comply with the demand for transparency.

The N14 trillion represents a portion of the increased Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) funds shared among the three tiers of government since the removal of the petrol subsidy in mid-2023.

According to SERAP, the FAAC distribution for 2024 alone surged to N28.78 trillion, a 79 per cent jump from the previous year, with state governments’ allocations rising by 45.5 per cent to N5.22 trillion.

In a Freedom of Information (FoI) request dated October 4, 2025, and signed by SERAP Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare, the group insisted that the savings must be spent solely for the benefit of poor and vulnerable Nigerians.

Failure to do so, SERAP warned, ‘would result in a morally repugnant result of double jeopardy on these Nigerians.’

SERAP urged public officials to invite anti-graft agencies – the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) – to track and monitor spending, ensuring that the money is not diverted into private pockets.

The human rights group also expressed concern over the alleged mismanagement of the funds, stating that the spending details have been mostly shrouded in secrecy.

‘We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within 7 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter.

‘If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall consider appropriate legal actions to compel your state and the FCT to comply with our request in the public interest,’ the group added.