“Take a look at those we have put in Aso Rock in the last forty years. Dimwitted dumbasses. Dark-soul-ed oddballs. Grifters. Thieves, the kinds that turn over the treasury bag, shake it loose just for the pennies to drop. They left us with an empty bag” _________________________ Why do you people weep? Have you not cried enough? Why do you citizens of the nation of Nigeria not wake up and walk away from the nightmare?...
“Traditional political parties, the APC and the PDP, must undergo major reforms if they will remain relevant in years ahead. ” —Ebuka Onyekwelu The outcome of Saturday’s National Assembly election is no longer news. From the results so far, it is clear that there is a shift. In Anambra State, Labour Party defeated two incumbent senators and picked five of the eleven House of Representatives seat. In Enugu, Labour Party also took two senatorial seats...
“Social media is a reality of its own accord but remains a virtual world that may not have a significant real-world impact” —Ebuka Onyekwelu A closer look at Nigeria devoid of the arrogation of advantages by supporters of the top three contenders might show that the election would be determined by six socio-economic realities in Nigeria. Aside from religion and ethnic identities which have always played a significant role in Nigeria’s election, there are more...
If our Mighty Supreme Court did not come out via her official public image maker to publicly defend herself and admonish those that criticised her Naira Redesign Ex-parte Order, a lawyer like my good self who took an oath to defend our noble profession and law institutions, would not have bothered to join issues with her. But this is Law of Evidence 101. By coming out publicly to defend her ill-conceived Ex-parte Order, she has...
A poorly thought out and poorly timed monetary policy sends Nigeria into a tailspin. Even for an administration notorious for its capricious decision-making, the outgoing Buhari government’s decision to implement a complex currency-swap policy on the eve of a national election has been something of a head-scratcher. To say that the policy is proving very costly is to put it mildly. While both President Muhammadu Buhari and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele remain...
In about one week or so, Nigerians will elect a new President and National Assembly. And, from all socio-political indications, the only thing that is surely certain is that the Nigerian Political Landscape will be structurally and behaviourally altered for good. Make no mistakes, some political merchants, with open approval of APC-PDP, will try to rig the Election. But that will not work this time around because the era of blatant and mindless rigging and...
“Clearly, post-2023 election fall-out might end up being a Southern Nigeria’s problem or even a Southeast problem” —Ebuka Onyekwelu Politicians are now effectively in the final push in their bid to emerge victorious at the polls, on February 25th. So in about 18 days, Nigeria would have a President-Elect and elected members of the National Assembly. Perhaps, at this point, there is little or nothing that can be said to change the minds of people,...
“By far, Anambra voters are willing to consider other candidates despite the fact that Peter Obi, their son, brother, and former two-term governor of the state, is on the ballot.” —Ebuka Onyekwelu The candidate of the All Progressives Congress- APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has intensified consultations across the country ahead of the February 25th Presidential Election. On January 31st, he was in Awka the Anambra State capital, for his party’s Presidential rally. On the same...
When it comes to civil liberties in Africa, Western governments and institutions must put their monies where their mouths are. A marked disjuncture between the consolidation of democratic forms and the affirmation of civil liberties is one of the many paradoxes of Africa’s democratic evolution. On the whole, the sphere of individual liberty has shrunk in tandem with undeniable progress in formal institutionalization. The more regular elections have become, for instance, the less free the...
“The greatest challenge of Nigeria’s democratic experiment is the country’s political parties, especially those that are already established”— Ebuka Onyekwelu The news of a Federal High Court judgment against Sen. Victor Umeh, erstwhile National Chairman of APGA and former candidate of Labour Party-LP, for Anambra Central Senatorial District in the fast approaching 2023 General Election, came to some as a shock. But to many, it is something to laugh about, perhaps, calling for celebration. Within...
