Author: Law Mefor

Nigeria practices presidentialism, and in a presidential democracy, the nation rests on the shoulders of one man. Health is therefore of major concern in determining the electability of a candidate. This gives no room for arguments. All public offices, the office of the president inclusive, demand occupiers who are sound both in body and in mind. This is necessary so that efficiency and proficiency will be brought to bear in the discharge of responsibilities of the office. Nigeria is one county where the unthinkable happens all the time; a nation where many citizens for primordial reasons sleepwalk into quagmires and…

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The recent statement by Ohanaeze Ndigbo calling for the Federal Government’s intervention in the travail of Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, in London revives some hope that the Igbo philosophy of “Onye aghana nwanne ya” (all for one, one for all). The Ohanaeze plea came on the heels of Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami’s declaration that the Federal Government would not intervene in the Ekweremadus’ legal battle in the UK, claiming that it was never Nigeria’s tradition to intervene when her citizens are caught up in criminal legal issues overseas. It was therefore reassuring to…

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The Indian iconic leader, Mahatma Gandhi, once observed; ‘Nobody shakes hands with a clenched fist.’ The nation’s leading opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has been embroiled in crisis since its special national convention, which produced Atiku Abubakar as its preferred presidential candidate. Recall that Governor Nyeson Wike of Rivers state, before the primaries, publicly declared that he was not an aspirant for the PDP presidential ticket but a candidate. Wike further told the public after the party presidential primary that he was shortchanged. He hinged his claim on the way and manner Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto…

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Four Catholic nuns have just been kidnapped in Imo state, one of such sad tales that have become almost a daily occurrence since Hope Uzodinma became the absolute ruler. The phrase, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely” suggests that whenever a person has absolute power over other people or things, it makes him corrupt. It morally destroys their nature and fills them with destructive pride. However, if the person redeems himself from this abuse of power, he is humble enough to align with the people and rule for the common good. Again, a leader who hasn’t lost touch with reality works to…

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An obituary is for the dead, not for the living.  So, no matter how one looks at Sam Omatseye’s ‘Obi-tuary’ on Peter Obi and the movement Obi’s entry into the 2023 presidential race has become, it is all about a death wish. It rhymes with nothing else. Yes, death for the Peter Obi movement and possibly for its progenitor, Peter Obi himself is Omatseye’s underlying deep psychological wish.  To clear the doubts, a death wish is a desire, often unconscious, for the death of another person, toward whom one has unconscious and terminal hostility. Out of the abundance of the…

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Democracy is about choices and freedoms. In a pluralistic nation such as Nigeria, democracy is also about inclusivity, social justice and fairness. The latter consideration brought to bear the principle of rotation and zoning in this dispensation. The need for stability and unity has become a big issue in sustaining the ongoing democratic dispensation in a nation more sharply divided than ever before. In order words, individual ambitions and legitimate aspirations ought to be carefully weighed side by side with these national sentiments. But the emergence of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the Presidential flag-bearer of the All Progressives Congress, APC,…

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The window for substitution of candidates has been slammed closed by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, thus fully setting the stage for the 2023 Presidential Election. Though subtle campaigns have been raging, real campaigns will start legally in earnest in September. Before Peter Obi seized Labour Party turf and its presidential ticket, turning it into a movement, many had narrowed their attention to a two-horse race – between Atiku Abubakar/PDP and Ahmed Bola Tinubu/APC. It is now a three-horse race. One issue that has been generating interest is the choice of running mate. Conventionally, in compliance with the national…

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Citizens across divides who wish Nigeria well are raising their voices against the Muslim-Muslim ticket, which Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his party, All Progressives Congress, the APC, are determined to force down the throats of Nigerians. The APC Muslim-Muslim ticket is also an affront to the Nigerian Constitution if one considers the spirit and letters of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which states… “The government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote…

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The issue is the bruised ego of Gov Nyeson Wike who feels so wronged he is said to constitute the reason the return of the PDP to power is hanging in the balance. Some other political parties’ leaders are wooing Wike to join them, turning him into a beautiful bride of a sort. The electoral value and popularity of Wike are not in doubt. Twice, he won the guber election of Rivers, a swing state, by a landslide. In his second term, Wike subtly launched his presidential campaign by inviting many important Nigerians of all walks of life to commission…

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The approaching 2023 Presidential Election promises to be like none other in the nation’s annals. And the die is already cast as the pretenders and contenders have been already separated. It is a three-horse race, with Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of NNPP already discounting himself as a possible winner if he does not pair up with Peter Obi as his running mate. It is therefore a three-horse race. The remaining 15 political parties are just vying for honours and personal records. Barring any strange odds, the race is between the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar and his…

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‘Ifeanyi’ is a generic name borne only by the members of the Igbo ethnic stock. The name means: nothing is beyond God. Why then is one who bears the name required to prove that he belongs to the Igbo ethnic group or to prove such ancestry? This pettiness of some Igbos who go to the extent of claiming that Governor Ifeanyi Okowa is not one of them is pathetic, mischievous or borne out of outright ignorance. Governor Ifeanyi Okowa is from Owa, one of the major Ika Igbo settlements across the Niger. The differentiation being mounted artificially between the South-east…

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One read with considerable amusement and amazement the claim by some Southern and Middle Belt leaders that Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state betrayed the divide by accepting to be the running mate to Atiku Abubakar, the presidential flag-bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Talk of the chicken that left the knife that slaughtered it to make face to the cooking pot! This claim is a misguided missile, to say the least. Yes, the Southern and Middle Belt Forum pushed the position that the presidential power must return to the South in 2023. The group however did not pursue…

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It was Mallam Nasir El Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, who once observed that the real problem with Nigeria is impunity, not corruption. Of course, he was right that the brazen corruption and primitive accumulation rocking the nation today and warranting psychiatric evaluation, is borne out of impunity and callous disregard for civilised conduct and integrity. What is more, the said impunity is breeding and transmogrifying into other worse conditions in Nigeria, and one of them is trampling on the religious rights of Nigerians, manifest in the idea of the Muslim-Muslim ticket, which El Rufai and few others are now…

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When Lord Aton, the British historian, stated that ‘Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ he had some leaders like Governor Dave Umahi in mind. The governor of Ebonyi State reminds one of the Lord of the Manor, the English lord who enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seigniory, the right to grant or draw benefit from the remainder; the ancient Russian Czar. That is how Governor Umahi perceives himself as Governor of Ebonyi and chairman of the South-East Governors Forum. His sense of entitlement…

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In Nigeria, where politicians lack alternative business addresses, depending on power, political patronage, contracts, and so on to survive and remain relevant, the election is a do-or-die affair. Those who seek to topple incumbents and incumbents who want to retain power need to be guided. Seeking political power in Nigeria is not a patriotic endeavour. This situation has been worsened by a near absence of a political party system in the real sense of the word. A political party is a platform where like-minds come together to seek political positions to implement their ideas for common good. Each political party…

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While congratulating His Excellency Mr. Peter Obi, for picking the Labour Party Presidential ticket, one would seize the same opportunity to share some insights on how the man could win the 2023 Presidential election. It will be a very tough contest and Peter Obi is coming into the fray as an underdog who has all the trappings of a dark horse. By the way, a dark horse is a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might, and Peter Obi is just typical. The way the nation’s politics is structured, it is a grand elite…

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The crisis and haemorrhage rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South East in particular and across the nation, did not come to many as a surprise. There is nothing happening to the party in that region that I did not predict in my tribute to former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, on his 60th birthday earlier this month of May. It wasn’t even difficult to predict either. The PDP lost its soul long ago and behaves like a man destined for doom, who arrogantly takes the wrong step at every corner and arrogates to himself…

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TO YOU, HISTORY AND POSTERITY BECKONS Dear Party delegates, Nigerians have come a long way together and have more to lose dividing now. However, the components that make up Nigeria must first unite and resolve all the contradictions in nationhood to make way for development. Give me a moment or two to share some thoughts with you as you respond to this historic summon to decide on the nation’s next President. How you handle this national assignment can remake or mar our country, Nigeria. For not assenting to further amendment to the Electoral Act, President Muhammadu Buhari, has consequentially…

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One would want to join President Muhammadu Buhari and millions of Nigerians to celebrate a rare statesman, ace legislator and three-time deputy president of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, as he turns 60. The lawyer and politician is indeed the unsung hero and scion of Nigerian democracy, who, unknown to many, led the National Assembly to break the jinx of constitutional amendment in the current dispensation and through the unprecedented four successful amendments of the unitary 1999 Constitution. Thus he has made the most salutary impacts on constitutional and electoral reforms in Nigeria as deputy senate president and chairman of the…

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By Law Mefor “Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.” – Psalm 42:7 There has been a misguided counter-narrative against the campaign for Nigerian President of South-East extraction. The opponents of this just and noble campaign say that zoning is against merit and as  such, the nation is robbed of the chance of being led by a capable hand that will be cut off by zoning and rotation. This argument is warped, baseless and incurably defective for there is no zone in Nigeria that cannot survive and grow…

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By Law Mefor “The Buhari/Osinbajo presidency is a perfect definition of toxic leadership; toxic leadership is the type that leaves a place worse than it met it. Yes, things were bad when Buhari and Osinbajo took over in 2015 but they have made it worse, thus qualifying ultimately as toxic leaders…” It is no longer news that Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo, has declared to run for the office of the president. By declaring, he ended months of hide and seek and speculations that he would go for the top position in the country. Douglas MacArthur once noted…

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By Law Mefor The chairman of the PDP zoning committee, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State cut a pathetic sight while laboriously explaining the so-called unanimous decision of his committee on zoning. Ortom wanted the world to believe that his yeoman committee did not recommend that the PDP presidential ticket be thrown open. Ortom must have believed very much like Adolf Hitler that the intelligence of the Nigerian masses is very low. Let us for a moment believe Ortom, the beleaguered governor of Benue state who has had a running battle with killer herdsmen that have attempted his life…

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By Law Mefor Initially, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stated that the fate of Atiku Abubakar’s presidential ambition would be decided by zoning regardless of the party constitution, which dictates that presidential power has to move South in 2023. The PDP has also claimed that since the party is not in power at the centre, it has nothing to really zone. Coupled with nomination form the party sold at prohibitive cost to aspirants from both North and South, it was almost certain that the work of the Governor Samuel Ortom zoning committee is just to fulfill all righteousness. Fact…

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By Law Mefor The curious position of the South-East PDP caucus on zoning is simply unacceptable. That position has simply thrown the South-East under the bus; it has left the zone very vulnerable and weakly positioned to pursue the PDP presidential ticket compared to the other zones that are fighting to secure the for their respective zones. When ILDF got the wind days ago that this was what was loading, the leadership of our organisation (ILDF),  had to submit a memo to the PDP 37- member special committee on zoning, insisting that the PDP Should Zone its 2023 Presidential ticket…

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By Law Mefor Once more, posterity beckons on Senator Ken Nnamani, the man who stood firm and strong for Nigeria when 3rd Term reared its ugly head in 2007. Then, Senator Ken Nnamani was Senate President when the 3rd Term was smuggled into the constitutional amendment process and made it a precondition for success of that exercise. As at that time, the nation’s mood was that power should shift North; just like today’s national sentiment favours the South. If the 3rd Term agenda had succeeded, President Olusegun Obasanjo (as he then was) would have been the first beneficiary. That…

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Suddenly, the much awaited 2023 General Election in Nigeria is upon us. Months ago, it was as if the nation awaited a whole decade. Yet, in five months or thereabout, the political parties will be presenting their candidates to Nigerians for the purpose of choosing President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor. In the build up all the while, two recurring decimals have been zoning and the insistence of the South East to clinch the presidential tickets of the two leading political parties, namely, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC). The push has been on even before the…

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The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) is fast degenerating to cesspool of corruption and mismanagement due to the brash and reckless manner the place has been run by the new Federal Commissioner, Mrs. Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, according to media reports. It is impunity and disregards for due process that breed corruption, not just in the Commission, but in Nigeria as a whole. Signs emerged quite early showing that the new Commissioner was going to run a one-woman show when, without waiting for handover, she threw out the picture and personal belongings of her predecessor, Senator Bashir…

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Within 24 hours, two statements were issued from the camp of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Andy Uba, one claiming the camp had rejected the Anambra governorship election results. The other stated that no such decision had been taken. The vacillation is not good for anybody.  The one rejecting the result gave some reasons in an attempt to justify the rejection, which need some attention. It is surprising that the candidate of the APC is yet to  see the grand illusion on which he erected his hope for victory. The grounds he advanced for rejecting the results…

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It was William Shakespeare who wrote these eternal lines: “There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries.” Professor Chukwuma Soludo’s journey to the government house of Anambra State has been a long and winding one, marked by  obstacles, complicated calculations and aligning of stars. He made his first bid for Anambra governorship in 2010. Soludo made efforts to contest in one or two other election circles but was denied the chance by the All Progressives Grand…

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After a Joint Emergency meeting of Pro-Biafran Groups on the forthcoming Anambra State Governorship Election scheduled for November 6, 2021, we resolved as follows: 1) The Anambra State governorship Election scheduled  for November 6, MUST HOLD UNHINDERED in the overall interest of Ndigbo and long term benefits of the Biafran struggle. 2) As Biafra agitation groups, the Meeting further resolved never to lose sight of the ideals of the father of the Biafran nation, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, which are “Biafra of the Mind” and nonviolent struggle for the rights of Ndigbo in Nigeria in particular and Biafrans in general,…

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