Politics
El-Rufai’s Insurmountable Setback, and Phobia of Stark Realities
It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and expose lies” – Noam Chomsky, Philosopher, social critic, and political activist.
Our attention has been drawn to a news interview granted by Channels Television, in which Nasir El-Rufai, former Governor of Kaduna State, presently a member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), made unsubstantiated claims and false allegations, which contain a coterie of lies, mischievous fallacies, and disinformation. Our groups usually would ignore such satanic verses, as we find them completely laughable, baseless, and lacking any substance in their entirety. While not holding brief for Senator Uba, however, in order to set the record straight and to align with the popular mandate given to the indefatigable Governor of Kaduna, a doyen of civil society activism over the years and human rights community who has redefined and rebranded his office through the dividends of democracy to the good people of Kaduna State since assuming the mantle of leadership, we find it necessary to state as follows:
1. El-Rufai’s apparent scathing criticism of Sen. Sani Uba is a rehearsed brain wave calculated towards stirring a crisis of confidence and disharmony among the people of Kaduna State for his own selfish agenda, self-serving, and inordinate ambition. The scrawny politician has suffered a heavy defeat in the hands of Governor Sani during the just-concluded Chikun, Kajuru, Zaria, and Basawa Constituencies bye-elections, which can be understood due to his bias. The loss was a big blow to the egocentric accidental Governor, not only in the state but the entire North West Zone, which he has boasted about before now that he is the gadfly.
2. The posturing of the bitter and scrawny politician did not come to many as a surprise. When it came, it was widely regarded by many as a shameless face-saving stunt by a maniac. His gambit of not responding with facts and figures but playing the ostrich is an admission of culpability in terms of racketeering, profiteering, and rent-seeking dominant features witnessed under his maladministration.
3. One of the best things that have happened and indeed has happened to Nigeria is the exclusion of El-Rufai from all positions at the federal and state government levels due to his bigotry and tribal wars and feudalism. He is the nation’s most dangerous source of destabilization, disunity, impunity, lawlessness, and disequilibrium. It amounts to saying the obvious that this man, who voluntarily admitted giving money to foreign herdsmen and was suspected of nocturnal meetings in a state neighboring Niger Republic, must be a person of interest to Nigerian citizens and relevant security agencies. In the last two years, he has been holding clandestine engagements with people of questionable identity within and outside the country, including Lebanon and Marrakesh, among others, trying to undermine whosoever.
4. “His sad commentary on the recent outbreak of crisis recorded during the African Democratic Congress (ADC) meeting can best be described as puerile politics at its worst, bizarre, and reckless.” The political skirmishes emanated as a result of intractable leadership within the party arising from an attempt by El-Rufai to illegally hijack from the original members what he did not work for. The founding members of the party resisted the unsavory plot, knowing exactly what transpired during a similar unholy gesture by the same El-Rufai in the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
5. As El-Rufai recognizes his declining political significance daily after his failed governmental era in the state, he is creating importance by flirting with all sorts of contraptions and minions, giving the impression of eminence in the sight of gullible people craving for cheap publicity embedded with narrow-minded agendas.
6. We have total disregard for self-professed qualities, negative temperament, misplaced energy, and inconsistency associated with people like him. Our reason is due to our allergy and disdain for characters who are not integral enough to be consistent about issues or what they believe in and who regularly trail vicious threads of regret behind them in every togetherness.
7. El-Rufai has been an egotist and traveler from one party to another looking for a mesh of porridge, even with all his acquisition in Abuja then and Kaduna just yesterday; he looks insatiable, hoping against hope “On his threshold of life that he is feeling chaotic, it is when he has crossed the red line that he discovers inherent limitation of his political prowess which looked simple and are infinitely tortuous, complex and unrealistic. That there is no consistency in any inconsistency”. From PDP to CPC to APC to SDP to ADC and likely to another contraption soonest all in a bid to fleeces the masses.
8. El-Rufai’s vilification of Uba Sani is a product of envy, bitterness, anger frustration and therefore unacceptable. He has blamed President Tinubu, Sen Uba and others for the political misfortune that befell him since his failure to secure ministerial slot in the federal cabinet. He is shamelessly demanding for things that he rarely extend to others, in fact, he denied victims of his misrule affordable school fees, shelter over their heads, gainful employment, living wage, and disobeyed court orders and trampled on their rights with impunity, lawlessness and reckless abandon but today all are vanity!
9. El-Rufai have no conscience left when he criticized Uba Sani in such manner. We can testify that His Excellency stood by El-Rufai during his Mubadala ordeal in the telecom mega deal. He fought for him tooth and nail during the travails under the David Mark led Senate. His Excellency supported him when he ran away on self-imposed exile during late President Yar’Adua of blessed memories and mobilized campaign funds for him in excess throughout his 2015 Governorship ambition among others. “El-Rufai penchant for bitterness and arrogance has crossed the line of decency. Dishing out cocktails of falsehood and rhetorics cannot save him at this critical period. The people have resolved to bring an end to your Reign of political hegemony and reign of terror in Kaduna State and nothing can be done about it.”
10. Once again, for the purpose of clarity and setting the records straight, El-Rufai who was constantly in touch with Uba Sani doesn’t have the moral rights to call him any other name except his bosom friend. He helped El-Rufai when he needed him most beyond disclosure. A part from frustrations, blackmail, mischievous intent, hallucinations, desperate media visibility and attempt to salvage dwindling image, we find no concrete reasons for such lies, fabrications and innuendos from El-Rufai towards His Excellency.
11. “For eight years, the people of Kaduna State suffered your tyrannical rule, false leadership, insecurity, debt burden. We later realized that at a great cost to us that it was unhealthy for the common good for you to remain around power circle for too long”. El-Rufai frustrations are increasingly becoming painful because he is no longer in charge of our destiny which translates to him begging because of this political wilderness and loneliness”.
12. Let us state without blinking an eye lid to state, this declaration that El-Rufai has been accused of personalization of public till so brazenly to the detriment of the society. A peep to the financial records of the institutions he superintended, Bureau for Public Enterprises ( BPE), FCTA Ministry and Kaduna State presents a gory scenario. The situation could evoke tears sorrow and blood. What is more, while the conditions of the people got depressed, the (accidental public servant of fortunes) became increased to a larger than life size. Suspected of owning hundreds of houses and choice lands in the country and abroad. He is reputed to have acquired unfathomable wealth, plundered Nigerian citizens are not going to allow him to escape further scrutiny from the law enforcement agents and judicial scrutiny.
13. His belated attempt to cover up the misdemeanours, the disinformation without stating the issues truthfully itself is another fiasco and a bigger disaster for someone like El-Rufai. Over the years, he is known for flagrant disrespect to court orders and notoriety in overwhelming disregard to the rights of the poor. And above all, his penchant for rascality is second to none in history.
14. It is unfortunate that since the people of Kaduna State demanded for accountability over his stewardship as Governor of the state, he tends to look for excuses, scapegoats, exiguous defenses and blaming everyone and everything instead of looking at himself in the mirror. We therefore, we have no choice than to excoriate his record of bad governance and thousands of death witnessed under his watch. “Let no one doubt our resolve to expose”.
15. While not holding brief for anybody in the government of Kaduna State or its agents, it is gratifying to state that we the citizens have verified every piece of evidence in the public domain against El-Rufai and came to the logical conclusion that his record in public service is a historic tragedy and monumental catastrophe for our country. We therefore, come to the logical conclusion of commending every Nigerian citizen that refused to be compromised, intimidated, cajoled, blackmailed and stampeded in the cover up gambit of the accidental governor or his agents.
16. It is very glaring that El-Rufai wanted to use Governor Uba Sani as a stooge to cover up the misdemeanor of his immediate past Government of the state. Undoubtedly, the intellectual midget is very jittery, knowing that people are beginning to ask what El-Rufai and his court jesters have done with the billions of naira that accrued to the state as internally generated revenue, allocation from the federation account, millions of naira domestic and foreign dollars collected as loans.
17. “At this juncture, we must state that, the embarrassing malfeasance the federal government of Nigeria, the National Assembly and anti-corruption agencies must revisit is the fraudulent and disdainful privatization of Nitel and outsourcing of its management superintended by El-Rufai during his infamous tenure as head of the Bureau for Public Enterprises. Prior to the involvement of PENTASCOPE in the Nitel deal in the vampire feasting of our national patrimony. Every step taken by El-Rufai, the undertaker was designed to fail. And indeed, the audacious dinosaur deal failed, culminating in the lost millions of dollars and billions of naira. The unspoken truth is that Nitel had N15 billion in its coffers as treasury bills, N6 billion naira in its foreign accounts, 15 million US Dollars in its foreign accounts and 24 million US dollars of sold NITEL shares in INTELSAT. By the time Nigerian government realized the level of fraud that transpired and revoked the PENTASCOPE fraud, less than three years later, NITEL without adding a single block or a cable had to borrow to pay salaries in its 40 years of existence then. The most questionable startling matter was against all wise counseling and legal advice, rejection and criticism, El-Rufai imposed PENTASCOPE an unregistered entity on Nigeria”.
18. As things stand, El-Rufai seems to be living in denial, whatever illusionary agenda he is plotting. The people are conscious of everything and are ready to openly show him the exit door from the political scene even before the 2027 general elections. Political deviant and vassal of catastrophic agenda running amok is merely a postponement of reality that cannot endure the test of time. The patriotic citizens, lovers of democracy, and indeed Nigerians are sincerely waiting for the response of relevant national institutions on this matter. Because no amount of shameless grandstanding and shadow chasing of a drowning man who can stop the investigations, prosecution of the mastermind of the demise of Nitel and other national assets sold out to cronies and ten percenters. We are ready to use the immunity of an open court to ensure that justice is done to the people of Kaduna State and the hapless people of Nigeria on a grand scale. “If we neglect this golden opportunity to ensure recovery of looted monies and assets from the real bandit of treasury and other matters, in future our children are going to suffer from enjoying the long denied benefits of good governance by the accidental minister and irritant ex-governor named El-Rufai.”
Thankfully yours,
Signed.
Comrade Salisu IsaNorthern Resistance Front
Comrade Danjuma Thomas BahagoKaduna Discussion Circle Chairman”
Politics
Threat:Osun AG drags Senator Fadahunsi to court over ‘Kill Accord’ members
The Osun State Government, on Thursday, approached the court for an order of mandamus to compel the investigation of Senator Francis Fadahunsi over alleged threats against supporters of the Accord Party ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.
The application marked HOS/M.157/26, which was filed by the Attorney General of Osun State, has the Inspector-General of Police and the Commissioner of Police, Osun State Command, as Respondents.
The Applicant told the court that the legal action followed a video circulating on social media in which the lawmaker representing Osun East Senatorial District, Fadahunsi, was allegedly captured while addressing a political gathering in front of the Owa Obokun’s Palace in Ilesha on August 11.
The lawmaker was alleged to have made statements interpreted as calls for violence against members of the Accord Party and supporters of the incumbent governor, Ademola Adeleke.
The court was told that a transcript and translation of the speech showed Fadahunsi allegedly directing supporters to attack Accord members wherever they encountered them and also made threats against their families.
The lawmaker was alleged to have instructed his supporters to chase Accord members out of hotels where they were found and made derogatory comments about the party’s yellow caps.
The Attorney-General is among other things, asking the court to compel the police to investigate the video and determine whether the alleged statements constitute criminal offences under applicable laws.
He is also seeking an order directing the police to preserve, authenticate and conduct a forensic examination of the complete video to establish whether it has been altered or edited.
Other reliefs sought include compelling the police to take preventive measures to protect Accord candidates, members and voters from intimidation or harassment before, during and after the election.
“An order directing the Respondents, jointly and severally, to ensure that no person or group acting upon the alleged statements/publication is permitted to intimidate, threaten, attack, harass, chase from hotels, er unlawfully prevent Accord Party members, supporters, or any registered voter from freely exercising their constitutional and statutory richts before, during, and after the forthcomino Osun State Governorship Election scheduled for 15 August 2026.”
As well as, “An order directing the Respondents, jointly and severally, to submit a comprehensive report of all steps taken in compliance with the orders of this Honourable Court within forty-eight (48) hours of the grant of these orders or within such other time as this Honourable Court may deem fit to prescribe, having regard to the extreme urgency and public safety implications of the matter.”
In the supporting affidavit, Nurudeen Kareem, Special Adviser to Governor Ademola Adeleke on Legal Matters, said Accord members had expressed “reasonable and legitimate concerns regarding their safety and security before, during, and after the forthcoming election.”
The government argued that the police have a statutory responsibility under the Police Act 2020 and the 1999 Constitution to prevent crime and maintain public order.
It maintained that waiting until violence occurs before investigating an alleged public threat would undermine the preventive role of law enforcement.
“The Applicant believes that waiting until actual violence, deaths, or injuries occur before investigating an alleged public instruction to kill political opponents would amount to a dereliction of duty,” the government said.
The Attorney-General also clarified that the suit was not asking the court to determine Fadahunsi’s criminal guilt, stressing that such a determination would require a proper criminal trial.
Rather, the government said it was seeking to compel the police to carry out their statutory responsibilities and take appropriate preventive action.
With the election scheduled for Saturday, the government said “time is of the absolute essence”, warning that failure to act on the alleged threats could expose residents to “irreparable harm, loss of life, and widespread civil unrest.”
Politics
Resignation Without Consequence: How Nigeria’s Civil Servants Exploit Electoral Rules
Every election season in Nigeria brings with it familiar controversies: vote-buying, godfatherism, and the endless battles over electoral credibility. Yet beneath these headline-grabbing issues lies a quieter scandal that rarely receives the same attention but is no less corrosive to Nigeria’s democratic fabric. It is the curious case of civil servants who resign to contest elections, only to return to their government jobs after losing.This practice, subtle yet pervasive, undermines the neutrality of the civil service and turns resignation into a bureaucratic charade. It is a loophole that allows ambition to be tested without risk, creating a revolving door between politics and public service that ordinary Nigerians cannot access.The cycle is predictable. A civil servant employed in a ministry, agency, or legislative office catches the political bug. A seat in the Senate, the House of Representatives, or a state assembly beckons. By law, they must resign before contesting. Dutifully, they submit a resignation letter, step away from their desk, and launch into campaigning. Posters go up, rallies are held, promises are made. But when the ballots are counted and defeat arrives, many simply retrace their steps to their former offices. They request that their resignation be withdrawn or treated as if it never took effect. In many cases, the request is granted. Salaries resume, desks are reoccupied, and the civil service absorbs them back as though nothing happened.This revolving-door arrangement turns the civil service into a cushion for political risk. Ordinary Nigerians who gamble on politics without government jobs face real consequences: financial strain, career disruption, and uncertainty. Civil servants, by contrast, enjoy the comfort of knowing that their jobs await them if politics fails.Consider the case of Gospel Daniel Musa, a staff member of Nigeria’s National Assembly. In 2019, Musa resigned to contest for a Senate seat. He complied with the law, stepped away from his position, and entered the race. When the results came in and he was not declared winner, Musa did not remain outside the civil service to pursue other opportunities. Instead, he returned to the National Assembly and resumed his duties, continuing his career as though the political interlude had been a brief sabbatical. Musa’s case is emblematic of a broader culture in which resignation letters are treated as temporary paperwork rather than final acts.Nigeria’s legal framework is unambiguous. The Constitution and the Electoral Act require civil servants to resign, withdraw, or retire from public service before contesting elections. The requirement is not symbolic. It exists to preserve neutrality and prevent officers from using government resources to advance personal campaigns. Section 88(1) of the Electoral Act 2026 restates this principle, echoing earlier provisions such as Section 84(12) of the 2022 Act. State governments, including Kano, have issued circulars reminding civil servants of this obligation ahead of the 2027 elections. Courts have also clarified the distinction between civil servants and political appointees. Ministers and advisers, appointed at the pleasure of the president or governors, are not bound by the same resignation requirement. But career civil servants—those recruited, promoted, and pensionable within the system—must resign before contesting. A National Assembly staff member, like Musa, falls squarely into this category.The problem lies not in the clarity of the law but in its enforcement. In practice, resignation letters are often treated as reversible. If not fully processed, or if informal understandings exist with superiors, defeated aspirants can slip back into their roles. This undermines the spirit of the law. A resignation intended to be temporary is not a resignation at all—it is a calculated maneuver to safeguard one’s job while testing political waters. The civil service rules, in many documented cases, do not treat resignation to contest elections as irrevocable. Where a resignation has not been formally accepted and processed to finality, officers can return. This creates a culture of “resignation charades,” where compliance is performed but not enforced.The consequences are serious. The resignation requirement becomes a hollow ritual, undermining trust in the neutrality of the civil service. Civil servants enjoy the comfort of a guaranteed job if politics fails, while ordinary Nigerians face real consequences. Officers can leverage official networks and resources during campaigns, blurring the line between public duty and personal ambition. This revolving-door arrangement creates a two-tier system: one for career civil servants with safety nets, and another for ordinary citizens who risk everything to contest elections.Nigeria is not alone in grappling with this issue. In many democracies, civil servants are required to resign permanently before contesting elections. In the United States, the Hatch Act restricts federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity while employed. In India, civil servants must resign or retire before entering politics, with no option of reinstatement. In Ghana, similar rules exist to ensure neutrality, and resignation is treated as final. Nigeria’s practice of reversible resignation stands out as a loophole that undermines democratic safeguards.Several factors explain why this practice endures. Administrative bodies often fail to treat resignations as final. Officers and superiors sometimes collude to keep the door open for reinstatement. The public and political class often treat the practice as a harmless quirk rather than a serious breach. Reform requires political will, which is often lacking.Reforming this practice requires more than restating the law. It demands administrative and cultural change. Resignations submitted for political contests must be treated as irrevocable. Bodies like the Head of Service and the National Assembly Service Commission must close loopholes that allow reinstatement. The public and political class must stop treating reversible resignation as harmless and recognize it as a subversion of democratic safeguards. Clear records of resignations and reinstatements should be maintained and made public.Nigeria’s civil service is meant to be a neutral institution, serving whichever government the people elect. But when officers resign to contest elections and return after losing, neutrality is compromised. The practice erodes credibility, creates unfair advantages, and undermines democratic safeguards. Reform is possible. By treating resignations as final, enforcing administrative rules, and shifting cultural attitudes, Nigeria can strengthen the integrity of its civil service. The revolving door must be closed if the civil service is to remain a true guardian of neutrality in Nigeria’s democracy.
Politics
Osun 2026: Yiaga Africa Raises Alarm Over Pre-Election Violence, Calls for Stronger Security
Yiaga Africa has expressed concern over the rising incidents of pre-election violence ahead of the August 15 governorship election in Osun State.
The Executive Director of the organisation, Samson Itodo, raised the concern during an interview on Arise Television on Friday, describing the situation as a serious threat to the credibility and peaceful conduct of the election.
Itodo called for stronger security measures to protect voters, political parties, electoral officials and other stakeholders before, during and after the election.
He stressed the need for security agencies to remain professional, impartial and proactive in preventing violence and maintaining law and order across the state.
The concerns come amid heightened political activities as the major parties intensify their campaigns ahead of the August 15 governorship poll.
Yiaga Africa urged relevant authorities to take decisive steps to address emerging security threats and create a safe environment for residents to exercise their constitutional right to vote.
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