Politics

How I Was Drafted Into The Pro-democracy Struggle – Edo PDP Guber Candidate, Ighodalo

Published

2 years ago

March 16, 2024

By Joseph Ebi Kanjo

The Edo State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Asue Ighodalo has disclosed how he was drafted into the pro-democracy struggle.

Ighodalo said he was actively involved in the fight to end military rule in Nigeria as a young professional.

The governorship candidate stated this in his goodwill message at the close out ceremony of the British Council sponsored and European Union backed Agents for Citizens-Driven Transformation (ACT) .

Ighodalo, who called on civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations to engage the governments more on policy formulation and implementation, promised to engage civil society organizations if elected as governor of the state.

He urged civil society groups to educate Nigerians on their rights and engage the government on their responsibilities to the people.

Ighodalo promised that as a product of the civil society, he would run an open policy that would not in any way be injurious to the people.

He said: “We had Concerned Professionals and Dr. Beko Kuti helped us to organise ourselves. We had many professionals; bankers, lawyers, engineers, architects who were truly concerned that the military could not just wake up one morning and dictate for us. So, we got together as concerned professionals agitating against military rule.

“We were young, we risked our lives, and everyday we were in the public space; we were in the media; we were campaigning. But despite all our best efforts, we all know what happened at the end of the day, the military prevailed.

“Fast forward, NADECO was established. NADECO wanted representation from all the civil society organizations that were agitating for the restoration of Abiola’s mandate, and they asked us to send representatives to NADECO.

“So, lo and behold, my colleagues in Concerned Professionals nominated me, I don’t know why. So I found myself now being with the people I read about in the newspapers everyday, involved in the history of Nigeria.

“Again, many of us know what happened through that process. The agitations by NADECO; the works that were done; the loss of lives; loss of livelihood; loss of resources; loss of time by the group that was truly agitating with one or two other groups for the restoration of Chief Abiola’s mandate.

“I spent about five or six years of my life running all over the places with organized civil society, trying to ensure the restoration of what we thought was right.”

To underscore the importance of civil society groups in democracy, Ighodalo said: “I think in an emerging democracy, there must be those who are the true safeguards of that democracy.

“There must be because if you don’t have the true safeguards of democracy, democracy will not grow well; will not grow strong and will not go well for the benefit of the people of the country of the states.

“It is only civil society in all its strength, and intellectual capacity that can achieve this.

“So, in looking at it over time, we are asking a lot from civil society because if civil society doesn’t do it, who will?

“Most of our citizens are poor; most of our citizens feel oppressed? Most of us citizens do not have the capability to then start getting involved in the process to ensure governance is effective.”

He added: “I can assure you that if by the grace of God Almighty, I am elected as the governor of the state through the will of the people of the state, I will continuously engaged the civil society.

“We will run a transparent and accountable government. We will dialogue; we will be accessible; we will speak because one of the most important things is to ensure the development of this state and by God’s grace, our goal is to move Edo state from where it is.

“You can only have a prosperous state when you have a well run state, running in accordance with the tenets of democracy.

“I will ensure that we stay in communication. I will be accessible in the government. We will speak and we will exchange ideas.

“And we may have disagreements, but we will agree to disagree. Our disagreements will be on processes of execution, it will not be on policy or good governance processes.

“I keep telling people that since 1956, the money earned by this country is enough to build four or five Dubais.”

Politics

PANDEF Wades Into Rivers Crisis, Sets Up Seven-member Mediation Team

Published

5 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Editor

The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has intervened in the political crisis in Rivers State, calling on all actors to sheathe their swords and embrace peace in the interest of the development of the state and the region in general.

Expressing concern that the political disagreement involving the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike, Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the State House of Assembly might degenerate to total lawlessness, the Board and National Executive Committee of PANDEF set up a seven-member reconciliation team to resolve the issues.

The team, which is headed by a former Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Kanu Agabi, has six other members.

They are Senator Obende Domingo (Vice Chairman); Chief Essien Nduese; Dr Timiebi Koripamo-Agari; Chief Mike Ejiofor; Mrs Nella Rabana-Andem, SAN; and Prince Godwin Okotie, the Deputy National Secretary of PANDEF, who will serve as the secretary of the team.

Politics

Wike: Why Removing Fubara Will Be Difficult – Ex-Commissioner

Published

1 day ago

January 9, 2026

Editor

A former Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Austin Tam-George, has said that attempts to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara would be difficult to sustain, citing what he described as the governor’s performance record and the lack of concrete allegations against him.

Tam-George made the remarks on Thursday while speaking on Prime Time on Arise Television, arguing that the impeachment process being initiated against Fubara was to scuttle his chance for a second term.

According to him, Governor Fubara has continued to place the needs of the people at the centre of his administration, with visible interventions in rural development, housing, education and healthcare.

He said this, in his view, has made it difficult for opponents to justify moves to remove the governor from office.

Tam-George also called on the All Progressives Congress, APC, to intervene, arguing that the party should not allow what he described as the humiliation of a sitting governor.

He said: “Well, all I think he needs to do is to do exactly what he’s been doing from the beginning, which is to place the people at the center of gravity of his administration, prioritize the needs of the people, so that the people can see the direct impact of government action in their lives.

“And that’s exactly what he’s doing in terms of rural development, in terms of housing sector transformation, which I mentioned that he is doing the same in education sector and in health.

“So if he continues, if he persists in placing the people’s need at the center of focus of his administration, there is no way they are going to be able to justify this kind of shenanigans.

“Because, if you look very carefully at the so called articles of impeachment, you will see that there is no specificity in terms of any infraction by the governor or his deputy.

“What they are trying to do is to make sure they scuttle the administration so that the governor doesn’t then get to the point where he will be seeking a second term.

“Let me be clear, just two days ago, Nyesom Wike was at one of the local governments, and he made it clear in a moment of epiphany, he made it clear that, look, if Governor Fubara were to get a second term in office, it will amount to his own political burial.

“So all of these things that we are seeing the so called impeachment proceedings they’ve initiated, it’s actually an effort to try to scuttle the prospects of the governor coming for a second term, and I don’t see how they will succeed.

“If you look at the so called articles of impeachment, as I said, they lack specificity in terms of the kind of infraction that they allege that the governor has committed. He has done nothing wrong, and they will see how the process will play out.

“My sense, and in fact, if I were to advise the governor, my sense is that he should just maintain the people, retain the people at the center of gravity of his administration, meet their needs, run a transparent administration as he always done, and then the truth will come out, and he will be able to defend the administration.

“I think the the governing APC should also step in because they can’t possibly allow the governor of the office with probably one of the best performance records in the country to be humiliated by some of these members of the assembly.”

Politics

Wike A ‘Pestilence’ On Rivers, I Resigned Because Of It – Ex-Commissioner

Published

1 day ago

January 9, 2026

Editor

Austin Tam George, a former Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication, has described the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, as a destabilising force in Rivers State, accusing him of attempting to exert godfatherism over the state’s political affairs.

He argued that the move to impeach the governor is a calculated attempt to reassert political control and reduce Fubara’s growing influence.

Tam George, who served under Wike’s administration, made the remarks on Thursday while speaking on Prime Time on Arise Television.

He said he resigned as commissioner due to what he described as Wike’s propensity for chaos and instability and the reduction of governance to a personality-driven system.

According to him, the current political tension in the state is the culmination of Wike’s long-standing approach to power, which he said is now manifesting in efforts to control the state for personal political influence.

He said: “Nyesom Wike has been a complete pestilence on Rivers state. I served in his administration as commissioner for information. As you know, I resigned precisely because of these, his propensity for chaos, for instability and reducing government to a personality cult, more or less. And I’m so disappointed that this propensity has now crystallized today to a stage where the state is now held by the juggler by person who thinks that he will be political godfather over the rest of Rivers state.

“But what I think is going to happen in this final phase of this struggle is that Rivers’ people ultimately are going to resist and defeat this tendency to want to privatize the state, to want to capture the state for his own personal aggrandizement.

“Governor Fubara has been an excellent administrator. I have to say he’s spending money building people’s capacity, lifting communities out of poverty. Money you would have expected that he would have diverted to political godfathers are now being spent in critical sectors such as education, where he’s completely transforming the sector, in health where almost all the tertiary health care systems are revived, 122 primary health care centers spread across the 23 local government areas.

“There is a total transformation happening on a sector by sector basis, and this has endeared the governor to the people of the state.

“Now there is a strong likelihood that he may be seeking a second term to expand his legacy and to consolidate his achievements for the benefit of all. And this will mean that there is going to be, you know, a reduction of Wike’s influence.

“So what you see as an impeachment move is an attempt to try to reassert what they consider to be their leverage against the governor.”