Politics

56 People Eating Nigeria Like Termites, Al Mustapha Alleges

Published

3 years ago

May 21, 2022

Former Chief Security Officer to late military Head of State General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al Mustapha has alleged that Nigeria was being held hostage by a group of 56 persons who were eating the country like termites.

He said while he was in detention where he was tortured and told that he would not survive, he came to understand that these groups of 56 from all walks of life, were richer than in Nigeria and if they will decide to go on holiday, the country will prosper.

Al-Mustapha said if he becomes President in 2023, he will take far-reaching measures, without fear or favour to change the present state in which the country had found itself.

He boasted that if he becomes the President of Nigeria, he will end the Boko Haram insurgency that has bedevilled Nigeria, within 6 months.

Al-Mustapha spoke in an interview with the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC) monitored by Vanguard in Kaduna.

He said he would relocate and live in the Sambisa forest in Borno state which is regarded as the epicentre of the Boko Haram, where he will take the necessary steps to neutralize the insurgents.

According to him, he would ensure that what Almighty Allah said is being adhered to once he is sworn in as President, insisting that “I will deal with the problem of insecurity no matter whose ox is gored.”

He lamented over the manner Nigerian soldiers were now allegedly ” less active and not fully committed like before “, saying ” look at the soldier, all Nigerian soldiers I now see them like policemen of old because they’ve already become like the police…and the police that you’ve, is bad. They have spoiled. “

” I, here is what I can do in 6 months, people will be afraid of what will be done but that is the only truth. “

He said he will overhaul the military within that period of 6 months, which is going to be a painful exercise but necessary in order to restore the glory of the Nigerian soldiers the way they were known before.

“For instance; look at the silly acts of Bako Haram, I swear if it is not possible in 6 months, I will demote all these senior officers and send them home. They would be prosecuted and must return the money given to them. I will probe them.”

” if I become the President I will. live in Sambisa, I will stay thee during weekend holidays and see if anything will touch me,” he said.

The former security officer to Abacha declared that he was willing to contest for the Presidency of Nigeria in 2023 under the platform of Action Alliance ( AA).

He said now is the time for him to be fully active in politics.

According to him, the associations that contributed money and bought the nomination form for him were those that told him on which political platform to contest.

He mentioned that President Buhari is a person they admired and loved since their childhood, but the two major political parties had spooled Nigeria.

Al- Mustapha alleged that once Buhari trusts a person, he would never check on such person and therefore, those people surrounding the President were those who allegedly spoiled the country.

He assured that as President, he would start by making himself an example so as to have a corrupt-free Nigeria.

Politics

Edo: Chief Ben Bowei Sworn In As Vice Chairman, Ovia South-West

Published

3 hours ago

September 29, 2025

Editor

High Chief Ben Bowei (Left) taking oath of office at the council secretariat on Monday

An Activist and politician, High Chief Ben Bowei has been sworn in as Vice Chairman, Ovia South-West Local Government Council of Edo State.

Bowei, chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), deputises Hon. Nosakhare Edobor who happens to be the Chairman of the council.

The Vice Chairman, a committed member of the APC in the local government and state, is expected to bring his wealth of experience to bear on the local government council being a former National Treasurer of the most respected youth body in west Africa — Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide.

Bowei, an advocate and promoter of governance, is the founder of Niger Delta Volunteer for Good Governance, said he’s poised in promoting good governance and taking the dividends of democracy to the most interior part of the local government.

The Vice Chairman urged sons and daughters of the local government to cooperate with the council’s leadership in their bid to extend the dividends of democracy to them.

Bowei, while appreciating governor Monday Okpebholo and his deputy, Hon. Dennis Idahosa, for the good work the current administration has been doing in the state, expressed optimism that the current state government would perform beyond expectations.

Politics

90% Of Nigeria’s Elections Since Independence Rigged — Ex-lawmaker

Published

1 day ago

September 28, 2025

Editor

A lawyer and former member of the National Assembly, Senator Ikechukwu Obiorah, has said that over ninety per cent of all elections so far held in Nigeria, from independence to date, have been brazenly rigged or perverted, thus causing the mass poverty and underdevelopment being experienced in the country.

Senator Obiorah, who represented Anambra South Senatorial District between 2007 and 2011 in the National Assembly, blamed the non-existence of honest, transparent, free and fair elections in Nigeria for the mass poverty and gross underdevelopment in the nation presently.

The lawyer and author stated this in his treatise on “The Philosophy of Elections and Nigeria’s Fake Democracy”, made available to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday.

Worried by this development, the erstwhile federal lawmaker has proposed a constitutional amendment that will ensure the power to appoint electoral bodies – Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) – is taken away from both the President and Governors and vested in a neutral body which would set in motion processes to lift Nigeria out of poverty.

He stated that a proposed bill to that effect had already been sent to both the Senate and the House of Representatives for prompt legislative action.

He pointed out that had the people been allowed to exercise the power to freely elect their leaders since 1960, Nigeria would by now be a fully developed nation by first-world standards and in all ramifications.

According to him, “Since independence, 90 per cent of all elections – Parliamentary, Presidential, National Assembly, Governorship, House of Assembly, Local Government Council elections – have been brazenly stolen or rigged or perverted or altogether thwarted or nullified.

“Nigerians have never really and voluntarily chosen their leaders, nor have Nigerians ever been governed with their proper consent and participation. The absence of honest elections makes ours a fake democracy, period. In Nigeria, the simple but painful cause of stealing and rigging of elections is that those vested with power to appoint the electoral bodies and personnel were themselves or their political parties or their preferred candidates, contestants in the same elections. It is just like making a person a judge in his own case.

“Right from independence, the then Prime Minister, and later the President, was always cloaked with the power to appoint the commissioners and senior officers of the electoral bodies responsible for the conduct of all elections in Nigeria.

“However, by virtue of the 1999 Constitution, the power of appointing the state electoral bodies responsible for conducting local government elections was transferred to the State Governors. Consequently, the world has been witnessing the Soviet Union-style results declared from Nigeria’s local government elections, where the Governor’s political party, in most cases, scores a 100 per cent victory.

“The world has also been hearing loud cries and protestations against rigging and seeing the avalanche of court cases that attend all other elections in Nigeria for which the President appoints the electoral bodies and officers,” he noted.

He added that “it is very important to make the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and electronic transmission of results via INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV) legally mandatory in the conduct of Nigerian elections.”

Senator Obiorah pointed out that “these systems cannot solve the problem of election rigging without the electoral bodies’ neutrality and integrity because BVAS and IReV are vulnerable to manipulation.”

As a way out of this problem, Senator Obiorah is proposing that the power for the appointment of electoral bodies be taken away from both the Governors and the President and vested in a neutral body which would set in motion processes to lift Nigeria out of poverty.

According to him, “I do, most humbly, propose a constitutional amendment to provide for the establishment of a new, truly and literally Independent National Electoral Commission (new INEC), charged with the responsibility of conducting all elections for all elected offices in the three tiers of government – the Federal, State and Local Government.

“I do, also, propose that the new INEC be composed and constituted by thirteen commissioners, six of whom would be elected by the underlisted six Nigerian labour and professional organisations, and six commissioners nominated by the United Nations, and one commissioner-observer nominated by Transparency International, totalling thirteen commissioners.

“The new INEC would have the power to elect and remove its Chairman and hire and fire all staff, including the Chief Executive Officer.

“The election of six commissioners by the underlisted Nigerian labour and professional organisations is arranged in a corresponding alphabetical order as follows:

READ ALS:

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics would elect one commissioner out of its members from the North Central geopolitical zone;

The Academic Staff Union of Universities would elect one commissioner out of its members from the North East geopolitical zone;

The Institute of Chartered Accountants would elect one commissioner out of its members from the North West geopolitical zone;

The Nigerian Bar Association would elect one commissioner out of its members from the South East geopolitical zone;

The Nigerian Medical Association would elect one commissioner out of its members from the South South geopolitical zone;

The Nigerian Union of Journalists would elect one commissioner out of its members from the South West geopolitical zone.

He clarified that nominations from the United Nations and Transparency International would definitely not violate Nigeria’s sovereignty, because those nominations would not be imposed by any sort of force; rather, it is Nigeria as a sovereign nation that would voluntarily request these nominations.

He stated further that the UN and Transparency International would be positively disposed to acceding to Nigeria’s request because, like other development institutions, they rightly regard stealing or rigging of elections as the worst and most destructive kind of all corrupt practices. He noted that the UN, having directly organised the establishment, manning and management of some anti-corruption programmes and institutions in various countries such as Guatemala and El Salvador, would be pleased to participate in such a liberating effort in Nigeria.

Senator Obiorah also recalled that the President of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, not long ago, dispatched a letter to the United Nations requesting the UN’s establishment and management of an International Commission against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras, for which a memorandum of understanding has been signed by both parties in furtherance of that cooperation.

He added that the United Nations and Transparency International would not nominate any Nigerian citizen or any person indigenous to Nigeria, saying that “It would be the job of the President to receive and collate the names and curriculum vitae of the nominees for transmission to the Senate and House of Representatives for confirmation.

According to him, “No nominee or nominee-elect would be rejected or impeached by the National Assembly except by concurrent resolutions supported by at least two-thirds majority of all Senators and Honourable Members of the House of Representatives, respectively, voting individually in person by a secret ballot and televised in real time. Voice vote for this exercise would be prohibited.

“The tenure of office of a commissioner would not exceed four years. It must be made clear that the establishment of the new INEC would not be a setback in the strides for devolution of powers to the States.”

Politics

Probe Natasha’s Allegations Against Akpabio, Afenifere Urges FG

Published

3 days ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

The pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has urged the Federal Government to investigate sexual harassment allegations levelled by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

The call followed the Senate’s decision to lift Akpoti-Uduaghan’s six-month suspension.

This, Afenifere said should not overshadow the need to establish the truth of her claims.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Afenifere’s National Organising Secretary, Kole Omololu, said the senator’s recall reflected commitment to the rule of law.

“We commend the Senate President, His Excellency Senator Godswill Akpabio, and the Senate leadership for taking a decision that further reinforces the country’s rule of law,” Omololu said.

The group, however, insisted that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s allegations must not be ignored.

“For over six months, where are the facts and evidence of her grave allegations?” Afenifere asked.

It called on the “Nigeria Police, Department of State Services (DSS) and National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to carry out a full investigation into the matter.”

Afenifere also recalled Akpoti-Uduaghan’s past false sexual harassment claims against former presidential aide Reno Omokri, which ended in an out-of-court settlement.

“Does this not suggest that, without proof, her allegations against Akpabio are suspicious?” Omololu asked.

The group further criticised Akpoti-Uduaghan for taking her claims to international media, including BBC, CNN, Sky News and Deutsche Welle, saying the move portrayed Nigeria negatively abroad.

It also queried her participation in a session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in New York.

“If Natasha truly participated in the IPU meeting without due nomination, then it simply revealed her compromise or manipulation of our public institutions for pecuniary ends,” the group said.

In March 2025, Natasha was suspended for six months after a row in plenary and her petition accusing Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexual harassment.

She claimed the incident happened in December 2023, but the Senate’s Ethics Committee dismissed her petition on procedural grounds. Despite a court order halting disciplinary action, the Senate went ahead with her suspension, which also froze her pay and barred her from official duties.

Akpoti-Uduaghan challenged the suspension in court, insisting it was tied to her allegations. While the Senate said it acted over misconduct, the case attracted global attention after she granted interviews to international media. The matter remains unsettled, with Afenifere now urging federal authorities to investigate her claims.

Meanwhile, Natasha formally resumed her duties at the National Assembly on October 7, 2025, after her six-month suspension ended – and immediately claimed that Akpabio is a dictator.

And almost immediately, Akpabio’s media aide Kenny Okolugbo debunked the claim.