Politics

2023 Election: Atiku Emerges President In New Poll

Published

3 years ago

February 20, 2023

A new poll has revealed that Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is favourite to win the national election scheduled to hold on February 25.

According to the new poll conducted by POLAF, a not-for-profit organisation, the election will be Keely contested among the top contenders.

The results of the poll, which was conducted between July 2022 and February 2023, ruled out the possibility of a run-off, insisting that the Adamawa-born politician will win in most of the states.

On the methodology used for the poll, the organisation said three states were selected in each geopolitical zone, with an extra state selected from the South-South and South-West to make the number of states from which samples were drawn 20 out of 36 plus the Federal Capital Territory.

It said the sample was drawn from the voter register of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), adding that 3,123,660 respondents across 165 local government areas were contacted via telephone and were spoken to in English and any other native language they were most comfortable speaking in.

The poll report stated clearly that things may change before and on election day.

Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), has made significant inroads into the Middle Belt and other strongholds of PDP – a development that has been confirmed by other polls. Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State recently endorsed Obi.

Most of the polls released so far have tipped Obi to win the election. He was predicted as the winner in all the three polls commissioned by the ANAP Foundation and conducted by NOI Polls Limited.

Some have questioned if there is enough data to support an Atiku win. A person who knows about the POLAF poll but chose to speak anonymously said: “Obi has garnered most of the PDP base.”

In the POLAF poll, Atiku secured 38 percent to emerge as the preferred candidate, followed by Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who got 29 percent, while Obi secured 27 percent to take the third position. Rabiu Kwakwanso of the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP) is a distant fourth with only 5 percent of the total votes. The survey also projects that the PDP and the APC are the only two parties to comfortably secure the constitutionally required 25 percent across 24 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The LP and the NNPP are seen to be struggling in this regard.

“The poll survey shows each candidate’s position vide parameters and voters’ concerns. Four of 10 respondents are certain that their positions on candidates are made; three of 10 believe vote buying would influence their choice for voting; while the remainder awaiting guidance direction (from religious leaders, market associations, trade unions, etc.)” POLAF said in the report.

The majority of the respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the way the APC-led administration under President Muhammadu Buhari has handled the economy.

Ninety-five percent of the total respondents agree that the current government has performed worse than ever, according to the poll.

Afrobarometer, which conducted a survey in March 2022, said there had been significant shifts in the mood and affiliations of the Nigerian public.

“Citizens are overwhelmingly gloomy in their assessments of the country’s overall direction, the national economy, their personal living conditions, and the government’s performance on crime and violence, and affiliation with the two major political parties is on a rapid decline. These findings suggest a broad desire for change and a widening political field,” it said.

Politics

Wike Gives Update On Rivers Emergency Rule Expires Date

Published

1 day ago

August 30, 2025

Editor

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on Saturday said he was optimistic that the state of emergency declared in Rivers State would expire on September 18.

He disclosed this after casting his vote in the ongoing local government election in the state.

Wike noted that the expiration would pave the way for the state House of Assembly to resume its legislative duties.

“As far as we are concerned, this election is peaceful, people are trooping out and at the end of the day the election has been conducted successfully and peacefully.

“I do know that by September 18, the state of emergency will expire and the state assembly will come back to their job and we will have a government at the grassroots level,” Wike said.

The minister said the conditions were right for lifting the state of emergency since both state and local governments now had representation.

He added, “The coast is clear for the state of emergency to be lifted, being that the state government has its representative and the local government has its representatives, so we are good to go.”

President Bola Tinubu had earlier imposed emergency rule in Rivers to prevent a political crisis, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and the State House of Assembly for six months.

Politics

APC Mocks Jonathan As ADC Woos Him For 2027 Race

Published

1 day ago

August 30, 2025

Editor

There were reports on Friday that a powerful group within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is wooing ex-President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2027 presidential race.

A source close to both the former president and the ADC told Saturday Tribune on Friday that the former president is seriously considering running in the coming presidential polls.

The source confirmed that key figures in the ADC were comfortable with having Jonathan as their presidential candidate and had, in fact, reached out to him.

He, however, said the former president was torn between his loyalty to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) “which made him” and the ADC which, he said, had the potential of winning the election if it gets the right candidate.

“Former President Goodluck Jonathan is worried that certain persons with strong links to the Villa may still be in control of the PDP and may mess him up if he seeks the ticket of that party,” the source said.

He added that Jonathan’s only issue with the ADC is that “he does not want to contest against Peter Obi because he believes that the Igbo people supported him in 2015 even more than his own Ijaw people.”

While saying emphatically that Jonathan would run except he could not find a platform, the source added that “if he chooses our party (ADC), we will zone the presidency to the South. If he does not come to us, we will have no option than to go to the North because politics is about numbers and winning.”

Jonathan can’t defeat Tinubu —APC

Meanwhile, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that former President Goodluck Jonathan cannot defeat its candidate, Bola Tinubu, in the presidential election coming up in 2027.

The Lagos State chapter of the party said on Friday that it had observed with keen interest the growing speculations surrounding the possible return of former President Jonathan to the 2027 presidential race, and therefore made the submission.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Jonathan, who lost his re-election bid in 2015 to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, is being persuaded by supporters to seek reelection in 2027 general elections.

NAN reported APC’s spokesman in Lagos State, Mr Seye Oladejo, in a statement on Friday as noting that the former president’s political relevance to unseat President Bola Tinubu, remained in doubt.

“While we acknowledge the former president’s role in the peaceful democratic transition of 2015, an act that rightly earned him praise at home and abroad, we must state, in clear terms, that Nigeria has since moved beyond the politics of sentiment, nostalgia, and symbolism.

“The challenges of today and the future require bold, capable, and forward-thinking leadership, not a return to the comfort of a past that was far from perfect.

“Let it be clear: good luck alone is not a governance strategy,” he said.

Oladejo alleged that the Jonathan administration, from 2010 to 2015, left behind a country grappling with severe structural weaknesses, from unchecked corruption to alarming insecurity and economic inertia.

“While some may look back on those years with rose-tinted glasses, we must remind ourselves that nostalgia is not a policy platform.

“Emotion cannot drive economic reform, and sentimentality will not fix power generation, insecurity, youth unemployment, or education sector decay,” the APC chieftain said.

Oladejo said that the party also noted the constitutional and political complications of a potential Jonathan candidacy.

According to him, having completed more than one term in office, any return bid will inevitably trigger legal contention and political instability — distractions Nigeria cannot afford in a time when decisive action is needed across all sectors of national life.

“Moreover, the former president’s political relevance has been complicated by his recent engagements across party lines.

“His flirtation with the APC and absence from PDP’s strategic rebuilding efforts raise questions about his loyalty, clarity of vision, and political intentions,” he said.

According to him, the APC remains focused on consolidating progress, implementing reforms, and engaging the Nigerian electorate with fresh ideas and credible candidates who reflect the aspirations of a dynamic, youthful population.

“We believe the future of Nigeria does not lie in recycled leadership but in visionary governance rooted in integrity, innovation, and resilience.

“Former President Jonathan remains a respected elder statesman. His legacy as a peaceful democrat is assured. But legacies are not manifestoes, and nostalgia is not governance.

“We urge Nigerians to reject emotional shortcuts and stay focused on the need for capable, accountable and transformative leadership.

“As 2027 approaches, let us not reach backwards in desperation, but move forward with courage and clarity,” Oladejo said.

Politics

Marafa’s Loyalists Quit APC, Cite Neglect Of Zamfara

Published

2 days ago

August 29, 2025

Editor

Supporters of former Zamfara Central Senator, Kabiru Marafa, have announced their resignation from the All Progressives Congress, citing what they described as injustice, marginalisation and deliberate neglect of the state by the ruling party and President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

The group, operating under the aegis of the Senator Kabiru Marafa Consultative Forum, met in Kaduna on Wednesday and Thursday, August 27 and 28, 2025, to deliberate on the worsening political, security and developmental situation in the state.

At the end of the meeting, the forum issued a communique signed by its chairman, Bashir Mafara, secretary Mannir Tsafe, and seven others, formally announcing their exit from the APC.

The communique partly read, “After broad consultations and critical review of the prevailing circumstances, the political structure of Distinguished Senator Kabiru Garba Marafa OFR, CON across the 147 wards in Zamfara State unanimously resolved as follows:

“The entire structure with all its supporters hereby formally resigns from the All Progressives Congress in protest against the sustained injustice, mistrust, marginalisation, and deliberate neglect of Zamfara State and its people.

“That we shall, in due course, announce our next political direction, guided by the collective interest of the good people of Zamfara State.”

The group expressed concern over the deteriorating security situation in the state, pointing to official data and community reports on rising kidnappings and killings.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria, under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, hasn’t been able to address the persistent and senseless kidnappings and killings of innocent citizens in Zamfara State, despite the explicit promises made during the 2023 presidential campaign.

“The situation continues to worsen, leaving communities devastated and hopeless,” they said.

The group claimed that reports indicate that out of the 4,722 people kidnapped over one year in Nigeria in 2024, 1,203 are from Zamfara State, followed by Kaduna State with 629.

It added that the Zamfara Circle Community Initiatives reported that 25 villages suffered attacks in one week after the just concluded by-election, with 145 people kidnapped and 21 killed.

The senator’s loyalists also accused the government of politicising insecurity for electoral gains.

On the alleged marginalisation of Zamfara in political appointments and projects, the communique added, “Despite the fact that Zamfara State was one of only two states in the entire North-West geopolitical zone that delivered victory to President Bola Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election spearheaded by Distinguished Senator Kabiru Garba Marafa OFR, CON as State Coordinator which the President himself categorically acknowledged during his speech shortly after his declaration as the winner of the 2023 election by INEC, the state has been sidelined in all facets of human developments including protection of lives and properties, infrastructural developments as well as fair representation in political appointments.

“The state was given only a Minister of State, while most states in the Northwest got two slots.

“But more unfair is the allocation given to the Southwest that corners the entire financial sector, with some states getting multiple ministerial slots and countless agencies.

“For example, Lagos state, where President Tinubu lost the election, has enjoyed overwhelming patronage in terms of appointments and developmental projects, underscoring the deliberate marginalisation of Zamfara state, where Mr. President won.”

The forum concluded by accusing the APC leadership of betraying its founding principles of fairness and justice.

“The above actions and omissions negate the fundamental principles of justice, fairness, equity and accountability upon which the APC was founded.

“Conscience demands that genuine progressives must stand for truth and resist injustice, no matter how uncomfortable,” it said.