Politics

ACF Chieftain, Yakassai Warns Tinubu Against Unity Govt

Published

2 years ago

March 1, 2023

A founding member of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, has warned the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, not to bow to the pressure of forming a government of national unity.

A national unity government or government of national unity is a broad coalition consisting of all parties (or all major parties), usually formed during a time of war or national emergency.

The elder statesman gave the warning during an interview at his residence in Abuja on Wednesday.

Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest rivals, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Labour Party’s Peter Obi who had 6,984,520 and 6,101,533 votes respectively.

Hours after the former Lagos State governor was announced as winner of the presidential election, political analysts had suggested that he adopts a unity government to douse the post-election tension and assuage frayed nerves.

A former Governor of Ekiti State and immediate past chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, also drummed support for the system of government on Wednesday.

But Yakasai kicked against the recommendation, saying it is not good for the development of democracy in any given society.

While likening governance to construction of a house, the ACF chieftain said that it is even unhealthier to overload an incoming administration with unrealistic proposals.

He said, “No, I won’t advise Tinubu to run any government of national unity. I want democracy to develop. Democracy is a business of competition. Repeal competition from democracy, you have killed democracy. Let everybody come with his own programme.

“After all, the electorate voted for him. Let him put his programme into action. And where he concludes his own part, let the man coming after him build from where the previous man stopped. This is how you develop a country.

“And, in fact, this is how this house we are staying was built. They did the foundation, after then structure, vanishing of the house, painting and the rest of them. That is how you practice democracy. This is how it should also be done in nation building. It is what people all over the world are doing and this is what we should be doing.”

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Politics

Coalition: Abure-led LP Gives Obi 48 Hours To Leave Party

Published

1 hour ago

July 3, 2025

Editor

The Abure-led faction of the Labour Party has given the presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, a 48 hours ultimatum to leave the party haven formally joined the coalition party.

This was contained in a statement signed by the faction’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, in Abuja, on Thursday.

He explained that the Labour Party under Abure’s leadership remains vehemently opposed to joining the coalition while dismissing members of the coalition as “power mongers whose only interest was self and not the people.”

The party warned Nigerians that the often mouthed ‘new Nigeria is Possible’ is a ruse and cannot be achieved with the assemblage of old, recycled, desperate and frustrated politicians in the coalition.

Ifoh said the party is aware that all those who mismanaged Nigeria over the years are the ones that gathered themselves in the coalition while noting that desperate politicians can’t birth new Nigeria.

He said, “We are aware of several nocturnal meetings between Peter Obi and some of our members, lobbying them to join him in his new party. We’re also aware that a number of them has refused to defect with him.

“Labour Party has consistently said it is not part of the coalition and therefore, any of our members who is part of the coalition is given within 48 hours to formally resign his membership of the party.

“Labour Party is not available for people with dual agenda, people with deceptive persona. The party will not avail itself to individuals who have one leg in one Party and another leg elsewhere.

“People who in the morning they will claim to be in the Labour Party and in the evening they are in coalition.

“Nearly 70 per cent of the Nigerian population are youths who are tired of the old order, tired of gerontocrats deciding their fate. The new Nigeria that the youths are dreaming of, is not what can be realized from what we are seeing in the coalition.

“These people are opportunistic politicians who are only interested in relaunching themselves into circle of power, people who are desperate to continue holding on to power.

“The new Nigeria of our dream can only be realised through the Labour Party, and the party is willing to lead Nigerians along that trajectory.

“I therefore urge all members of the party to remain loyal and keep the party structure intact ahead of future elections.”

Politics

Only A Formidable Coalition Can Salvage Nigeria, Says Peter Obi

Published

2 hours ago

July 3, 2025

Editor

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has given his full support for the coalition of opposition parties aimed at ending President Bola Tinubu’s rule in 2027.

He explained that it was a fact that no single group can change Nigeria alone, hence the need for people to come together to pursue the goal.

The former Amambra State Governor said this in a post on his verified X handle, on Thursday.

He said this just as the Julia Abure-led faction of the Labour Party has given him 48 hours within which to formally resign from the party or risk expulsion.

Obi in his post wrote, “Yesterday, the coalition members formally adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 Nigeria General Elections with Distinguished Senator David Mark serving as the National Chairman and H.E. Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola serving as the National Secretary.

“Our commitment is to sacrifice and work together towards the 2027 General Elections, ensuring that Nigeria gets a competent, capable, and compassionate leadership that will prioritise the nation’s future by putting the welfare of Nigerians first.

REAS ALSO: Peter Obi Speaks As Port Harcourt Refinery Begins Production

“This decision was not made lightly. It comes from deep reflection on where we are as a country and what must be done to move forward.

“No one group can change Nigeria alone. To dismantle the structures that keep our people in poverty and insecurity, we must build bridges, not walls even when those bridges are uneasy. A New Nigeria is Possible. -PO.”

Politics

I Don’t Owe Anybody Explanation On Truce With Fubara – Wike

Published

5 hours ago

July 3, 2025

Editor

Federal Capital Territory FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, on Thursday, declared that peace has returned to his home state, Rivers, saying he does not owe anyone an explanation on the terms of the truce.

Wike disclosed this during a Media chat monitored in Abuja.

According to him, several people had turned the crisis in Rivers State into an “oil well”, from which they were drawing illicit funds for their selfish interests, saying such fifth columnists are no longer happy that he has reconciled with the suspended Governor of the state, Siminalayi Fubara.

Details later…