WHEN a matter is in court, it is said to be under judicial consideration and therefore prohibited from public discussion elsewhere. Doing so would amount to what those in the learned profession refer to as, subjudice. Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, the majority leader in the House of Representatives, and the member representing Doguwa/Tudun Wada Federal Constituency of Kano state, is standing trial on a six-count charge of conspiracy, culpable homicide, causing grievous hurt, arson, inciting public disturbance, and unlawful possession of firearms. He has vehemently denied all the charges and the matter is before the court, which, depending on the…
Author: Bala Ibrahim
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WE are at it again. Yes, Kano is at the verge of going into an avoidable arbitration that could disrupt the expected democratic advancement of the state. About two days ago, few hours after the All Progressive Congress, APC, defeated candidate of the Kano gubernatorial election, and the serving Deputy Governor of the state, Dr. Nasir Yusuf Gawuna, released a recorded message, wherein he conceded defeat and congratulated his opponent, Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, the Governor elect, came out with a warning, telling peoole undertaking construction on public places to keep off. Through a…
THE law says and I quote, “Any person who levies war against the State, in order to intimidate or overawe the President or the Governor of a State, is guilty of treason, and is liable to the punishment of death. Also, attacking the state through the form of war or trying to overthrow the government of the day is categorized under treason. Equally, performing acts that are related to treason is regarded as treasonable felony”. That is the position of the law in Nigeria, but from the look of things, of recent, there seems to be some persistent and pervasive…
FEW days back, while I was reminiscing over the victory of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, in Kano, and calling on all democrats to respect the wish of the majority, reports came in that some scoundrels have descended on the house of the popular Hausa singer, Dauda Rara, famously known as RARA, looting and setting it on fire. They didn’t stop there, they were said to have visited the same anger on his office and business complex, in a different part of Kano. The rampaging rogues went loose, savagely cruel, and kept carrying out their barbaric acts in the…
THE Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has announced the final result of the Kano gubernatorial election, 2023, wherein, it gave victory to the candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, Abba Kabiru Yusuf. This may not be in line with the wish and aspiration of some of us, yours truly inclusive. But that is the beauty of democracy, as it permits the majority to have their way, while the minority have their say. From the verdict, it means those of us against Abba’s ambition are now in the minority. If indeed we are democrats, and believe in that system…
THE President of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, has added his voice to the appeal made by the people of conscience, who have been in the forefront of raising concerns, with regards the need of getting a befitting governor for Kano state, in the forthcoming gubernatorial elections, scheduled for Saturday,18/03/2023. In a special message to the good people of Kano State, PMB took time to thank the people of the state, whom he said massively voted for him 5 times, in addition to keeping faith with his party, the APC. The President appealed to the electorate of Kano, to come out…
KANO is facing a heavy political storm, that could make or mar the future of the state, depending on the action or inaction of the electorate. The need to understand the situation, alongside the imperative of doing the right thing can not be over emphasized. Everyone is crying about the misgovernance of the state, pursuant to the perceived poor foresight of the man in charge now, but no one is talking about the right thing to do in order to correct the corrosion. Amongst the two major contenders for the governorship of the state, one is a game changer, while…
IF not for the surprise sprang by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, by today, the people of Kano would be ready to queue up, in their push to elect a new governor and the set of parliamentarians that would run the affairs of the state. Lagos and Kano are two laboratories to watch, because in the recently concluded Presidential and Parliamentary elections, they played the theatres of surprises. Although pundits have predicted what happened in Kano, because Kwankwaso, a strong son of the soil was on the ballot, but the fall of Lagos to the Labour party, LP, came…
THE campaign convoy of the Labour Party governorship candidate in Kaduna state, Honourable Jonathan Asake has been attacked by hoodlums suspected to be political thugs at Gidan Waya in Jema’a Local Government Area of the state. According to the spokesman of the Labour Party Candidate, James Swam, the incident happened when the campaign convoy was passing through Gidan Waya during Friday Muslim prayers on its way to Godogodo and other towns as the campaign team toured the local government. He explained that after the first three vehicles in the convoy made their way through the old tyres used to demarcate…
IN my nearly six and a half decades of existence as a human being and a Nigerian, I have come across a lot of astonishing and embarrassing experiences, caused on to leaders, which gave me surprises and sometimes dismay, but nothing as flabbergasting as the last night’s news of the postponement of the Nigeria’s Governorship and Parliamentary elections, and the implied effect it could have on the subconscious of the outgoing President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari. Nothing. Of course the country’s rumour mill, which is the most flourishing industry in Nigeria, was signalling that uncertainties were lurking with regards the…
I AM not a lawyer, so my argument here may not necessarily pass the test of legal scrutiny. I am also not good with figures, having failed maths with honours at the school certificate level. But although I didn’t study history in school, my memory is relatively good, and I want to rely on it to interrogate Waziri Atiku Abubakar, the defeated Presidential candidate of the PDP in the just concluded Presidential election, as to why he would not be tired of ridiculing himself, by absurdly engaging in laughable arbitrations. Every time he loses at the poll, he engages in…
NOW that the 2023 Presidential election in Nigeria is done and dusted, all attentions are directed at the coming Saturday, when the governoship and state parliamentary elections would hold. This Gubernatorial election is important to every state, but methinks it’s most important to the people of Kano state, and I would take time to explain in simple terms. Kano is Nigeria’s oldest commercial centre, the biggest reservoir of electoral votes, crude votes, and the state that is respected for exhibiting the highest maturity, forbearance and an uncommon tranquillity in politics. Yes, despite playing the decider, on who wins the Presidential…
FROM the early hours of today, Wednesday, 01/03/2023, when the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Mahmoud Yakub said, “I certify that I am the returning officer for the 2023 presidential election held on the 25th of February 2023. That Tinubu Bola Ahmed of the APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and returned elected”, the status of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has automatically changed. Whatever he does henceforth, would be dictated by the continence of Nigeria’s President-elect, subject to the self-control of the Jagaba. Those with access, would commence calling…
FORMER Nigeria’s military Head of state and twice elected President, Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, GCFR, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to demand a review of the ongoing election results collation process, because of what he described as electoral fraud, alleging that most of the results that are brought outside BVAS and Server are not true reflection of the will of Nigerians. Through a statement personally signed by him, yesterday, Monday, 27/02/2023, Baba Aremu said the results of last Saturday’s presidential election have been “DOCTORED AND MANIPULATED. I put the verbs doctored and manipulated in capital letters…
IF there is anything that played prominent in the build up to this particular general election is the word sentiment. Yes, sentiment, which the dictionary describes as a held or expressed opinion, had hoodwinked many people, such that some of them lost their senses of good judgement, alongside the quality of thinking rightly or wisely. As the results of the Presidential election continue to trickle in, two lessons are revealing themselves relevantly, viz: the pleasure of taking the path of the truth and the pains that could follow fallacy or falsehood. My friend, Ameenu Ayama had written a fantastic article,…
MANCHESTER United produced a memorable second-half comeback to reach the Europa League last 16 and knock out Barcelona in the process. Brazilian duo Fred and Antony, who came on as a half-time substitute, both drilled home low first-time shots in front of an ecstatic Stretford End. It was a victory that looked so unlikely at half-time as Barcelona led thanks to Robert Lewandowski’s 18th-minute penalty after Bruno Fernandes’ needless foul on Alejandro Balde. But Antony’s arrival for struggling forward Wout Weghost changed the course of the tie as it injected more pace into United’s attacks, which the La Liga leaders…
THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has taken possession of a “substantial part” of the cash it requested of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) amid the naira scarcity. The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, confirmed receipt of the funds on Thursday during a press conference in Abuja on the commission’s activities two days before the presidential and National Assembly polls. This comes two weeks after Yakubu on February 7 met with the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to address the need for cash for logistical operations in the conduct of the elections. “The bulk of the small amount…
THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says 87 million Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) have so far been collected ahead of the upcoming general elections. INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this at the maiden briefing for the 2023 elections in Abuja on Thursday. A breakdown of the figure showed that Lagos leads in the number of collected PVCs with 6,214,970. This is closely followed by Kano with 5,594,193, and Kaduna with 4,164, 473. He noted that the current voter register has over 94 million voters but stated that the Commission will continue to clean it up with technology going forward. According…
NIGERIA is operating as a Republic, with both a national government at the top and the governments of 36 states, in which the people hold power, but elect representatives to exercise and utilize that power, with the executive powers placed in the hands of the president and the governors. In line with this arrangement, called the Presidential system, the Federal Republic of Nigeria has a multi-party system, where today, the National Assembly is dominated by the members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, while the rest are in the minority. The APC got the mandate to lead based on the…
ANY person, employed to control the way people see or perceive an opinion on an issue, or try to influence what people think about the issue, is officially called the spin doctor. By definition, the spin doctor is in work to give a favourable interpretation of events to the media, be it on behalf of a government or a political party. Since the second quarter of last year, yours truly has been engaged by the ruling party, the All Progressive Congress, APC, to sit on the saddle of it’s spin doctor. Ordinarily, and by virtue of this position, I am…