“From twice forecasting that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar would lose (2019 and 2023, he’ll lose again in 2027), months before the election, to predicting that at least five ministers would be fired in 2025 (seven were fired), nothing has given me greater pleasure than the Nostradamus-like thrill of watching a situation foretold unfolding”
What You Might Expect in 2026: A Valedictory Edition Read More »
If the convention went ahead, it would be a grudge convention, over the party’s dead body. What, by many accounts, would have been the party’s first convention in 17 years is now fatally derailed by court orders
Why Is the Promise of 60 Years Unravelling? Read More »
If the worst fear of Atiku and the opposition comes through, as is likely, and President Tinubu returns to office in 2027, as is probable, it would not be because of the defections; it would be because Atiku paved the way for the destruction of the PDP. He has proved to be the party’s undertaker-in-chief, something not often said, because it is convenient to blame Tinubu
Atiku, Not Tinubu, Is the Wrecking Ball Read More »
Should blog posts, often typically lacking in depth and context, become the measure of what is truly important and enduring? Do they represent more than what they are – random outbursts of fleeting thoughts from entitled or angry tribes? Or do they teach us something we need to pay attention to?
Do children of politicians in power make sense? Read More »
Parallels have been drawn between the state of emergency in Rivers State and the one in 1962 during the Western Region crisis, especially as the latter was believed to have led the country down the slippery slope that eventually ended in the removal of the Tafawa Balewa government and the Civil War. The underlying currents may be similar – local politics gone rogue – but the consequences or potential consequences are not.
Rivers State Emergency Rule: A Different View Read More »
I forecast that by May 29 or earlier, the president will replace ministers, especially those who have since outlived their IOU value. As pressure mounts ahead of the pre-election year, no fewer than five of them will be replaced or reassigned by the end of 2025
What You Might Expect in 2025 Read More »
On a good day, it’s improbable that any of Abubakar’s or Obi’s lawyers would say, with a straight face, that they believe that the constitution created Abuja as an enclave of super voters. Even for a constitution widely criticised for its clutter, it would be taking a malicious lack of clarity too far to suggest that the writers meant that Abuja voters were greater than the rest of us. Not even in the US, famous for its ‘federational’ oddities, does the capital, Washington DC, hold an electoral veto vote over the other states. In fact, the whole point of the Electoral College is to equalise the states. Nigerian courts have also made this point repeatedly. But obviously, the election petition industry will stop at nothing to reinvent its growth, expansion, and prosperity
Atiku, Obi and the Road to Kilimanjaro Read More »
She was having weight problems and had undergone liposuction, a process which she later described as one of the darkest periods of her life. To come through that period and announce a plan to challenge the world’s record holder, a task that would test even the very fit seemed like a bridge too far. Yet, Hilda was willing to try
On Eve of Transition, Nigerian Chef Cooks Up A Storm Read More »
When the row between Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, and his party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), spilled onto the streets after the party’s presidential primaries…
Anatomy of Wike’s endgame Read More »
The stakes to play for are not only high, they are dangerously seductive for two contenders – the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the PDP candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar – two deep pockets who may well be taking their last shot at the nation’s top job.
Do campaigns have to be bloody to win? Read More »