Politics

Chimamanda Counters Soyinka’s Fascism Comment, Backs Datti Baba-Ahmed

Published

1 year ago

April 12, 2023

Editor

Award-winning author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has faulted Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka for describing Labour Party’s vice-presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed’s comment on the general elections as fascist.

According to Chimamanda, she has a lot of respect for Soyinka, but strongly disagrees with his take on Baba-Ahmed’s comment.

She said this in an interview with Arise TV.

“I have a lot of respect for Prof. Soyinka, I admire him, I respect him as a thinker, as a writer, I think every one should read the The Man Died, Ake: The Memoir is beautiful, but at the same time, I disagree with him very strongly on this particular issue, and actually because I respect Prof. Soyinka so much, I went back and watch the interview, and I think fascist is a really strong word.

“We use it now to address this sort of authoritarianism that is often populist, and right-wing like Hungary, and even the former American president, and if you look at those situations, you can see why they have been termed fascist, and I didn’t see any reason Mr. Datti Baba-Ahmed’s interview would have been termed fascist.

“I think he was making a very strongly felt point about the election. I think a charitable way of reading Prof. Soyinka’s comments is that Professor Soyinka himself, I think it’s fair to say he is not given to restraint in language, in general, so maybe that’s where that word fascist came from.”

Recall Soyinka slammed the LP’s VP call to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Chief Justice not to swear-in Bola Tinubu, the president-elect.

Baba-Ahmed had insisted that declaring Tinubu a winner and issuing him a certificate of return was against the constitution.

Soyinka, in his reaction, described such statement as unacceptable because it alienates the people, and it is a ‘fascistic language.’

Related Topics:Chimamanda Adichie Datti Baba-Ahmed Soyinka

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Politics

Why I Turned Down N250m For Third Term Agenda — Wabara

Published

2 hours ago

July 2, 2024

Editor

Former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara has revealed that he rejected the sum of N250 million to support the third-term agenda during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.

In an excerpt from the YouTube interview series “Untold Stories with Adesuwa,” released on Monday, when asked about the truthfulness of this assertion, he said, “That’s very correct.”

The third-term agenda marked a pivotal moment in Nigeria’s 25-year uninterrupted democratic history, involving a constitutional amendment bill aimed at allowing then-President Olusegun Obasanjo to run for a third term in office.

Speaking further, Wabara revealed that while he didn’t believe the stories that some senators received N50 million at the time, he received N250 million bribe, which was brought to him in a G-Wagon at 1:20 a.m.

Wabara also stated that his educational background played a huge role in rejecting the third-term agenda.

“I turned down a N250 million bribe to support the third term agenda. The money came to me by 1:30 a.m., before my third-term speech. It came in a sparkling black G-Wagon. I can still remember that it was in a black G-Wagon and a rickety 504 station wagon. The money was discharged, and my wife was there.”

Highlighting the significance of the decision, Wabara stated that if the third-term agenda had stood, other presidents wouldn’t have emerged.

“Without people like us, there wouldn’t be democracy now. Yes, if we had supported the third term, you know, I mean we would have had dictatorship, tyranny, and people like Buhari wouldn’t have emerged. Even the present Tinubu would not have emerged because Obasanjo would have still been there,” he said.

Speaking on the current state of affairs in the country, Wabara lamented that those in power had unfortunately weaponized poverty.

His words: “Hunger misdirects, and my people say that when you are having leaves or whatever the goat eats, you are the person they will continue to follow. That is what is happening in our democracy today because of hunger. The elders and the politicians—those in government—are not creating the enabling environments to eschew hunger.

“It is a deliberate act to continue to make the electorate hungry so that they will continue to follow sheepishly. So, there will be stomach infrastructure before they start thinking whether we are being led aright.”

He also clarified that he was not removed from office by Obasanjo but resigned while reiterating that there was no pressure.

Politics

BREAKING: Imo Assembly Suspends Four Members Over Impeachment Plot

Published

4 hours ago

July 2, 2024

Editor

The suspended lawmakers included Ahiazu-Mbaise, Samuel Otuibe; Ezinihitte-Mbaise, Henry Agbasonu; Okigwe, Chidiebere Ogbunikpa and Oru-West, Dominic Ezerioha.

The Speaker said the decision to suspend them was taken at the executive session.

The Speaker also announced that all standing Committees belonging to the suspended members have been retrieved from them.

PUNCH gathered that during the plenary, the Speaker made minor reshufflement on the standing Committees.

Some of the suspended members present during the announcement declined to speak to newsmen.

Politics

INEC Inducts 10 New RECs, Assures Hitch-free Election In Edo

Published

20 hours ago

July 1, 2024

Editor

The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, has assured that the forthcoming Edo governorship election will be hitch-free.

The INEC National Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu while affirming INEC’s commitment to a transparent and inclusive electoral process assured Nigerians that the commission will continue to push the boundaries of credible and inclusive elections.

Fielding questions from newsmen during the formal induction of 10 new Resident Electoral Commissioners, RECs, in Lagos, Yakubu, while reacting to the flood that affected INEC’s office in Edo State, assured Nigerians that the election would be hitch-free.

He said, “Although we had an unfortunate flooding in our office in Edo State, over 4000 machines were affected, but we deployed our technical staff, and we have already recovered over 3500 machines.

“It seems like it’s an off-cycle election. We will call for additional support from neighboring states, so in terms of machines, rest assured that we have enough. We are going to recover from Edo, and rest assured that we won’t suffer any encumbrances at all.”

He further urged the inducted RECs to focus and acquaint themselves more with the processes and procedures of the Commission.

The 10 RECs inductees include: Mr.Abubakar Dambo Kebbi State, Mr. Abubakar Ma’aji-Ahmed Bornu State, Dr. Anugbum Onuoha Edo State, Mr. Ehimeke Shaka-Isha Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Aminu Idris Kaduna State, Mr. Mohammed Sadiq Abubakar Kwara State, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Babalola Ondo State, Dr. Olubunmi Omoseyindemi Ekiti, Alhaji Shehu Wahab Nasarawa State, and Sir Etekamba Umoren Delta State.