Public Affairs Analyst

I have more than a passive interest in Osun State. Although I was born and bred in Ibadan, Oyo State where I did all my education with the exception of my first degree which I did at the University of Lagos, genealogically speaking, I am from Osun State. My parents are both from the “State of the Living Spring” now referred to as the “State of the Virtuous”. My father is from Ile-Ogbo, headquarters of Ayedire Local Government Area, home of a local delicacy called “Robo”, while my mother is from Ikire, headquarters of Irewole Local Government Area, which is also famous for the local delicacy called, “Dodo Ikire”, a specially made pepperish plantain chips. I was part of those who advocated the establishment of the state (see my published opinion entitled, “Osun State is a felt need”, in Daily Sketch of Friday, August 16, 1991. The state was eventually created on August 27, 1991 by the military regime of Gen Ibrahim Babangida. In case you didn’t know, the state has produced notable Ni...

“In INEC, we are not so much concerned about who wins or loses but in the integrity of the electoral process. What we saw last Saturday was the lowest level of electoral discredit. INEC was ready but the elite aided by the uniformed security personnel spoilt the process. What is clear from our observations is that the elite of Rivers State will determine the electoral progress of this state. Their conduct last Saturday is condemnable and reprehensible by the standard of any decent society” –Rivers State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Obo Effanga, speaking on the aborted Port Harcourt State Constituency III bye-election on August 18, 2018. For the umpteenth time, some Nigerian politicians have demonstrated their bestial nature by turning a routine civic exercise to a power struggle between two contending political camps. A state constituency election in Rivers State last Saturday turned into a nightmare for election officials and the electorate. There were thousands of secur...

This Friday, August 17, 2018, the Independent National Electoral Commission will be issuing a Notice of Election in accordance with Section 30 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended. This will in effect signal the commencement of party primaries and nomination of candidates which are to begin the following day. According to INEC’s timetable and schedule of activities for the 2019 general election, “party primaries for the presidential, governorship, federal and state elections would begin on August 18 to end on October 7, 2018, while that of the Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections will commence on September 4 to end on October 27, 2018.” Meanwhile, for those who have turned 18 years and above and are willing to vote in 2019, the time left to register is two weeks as the Continuous Voter Registration which has been on for some time now will be suspended on August 31, 2018 in order to pave the way for the processing of the Permanent Voter Cards of those recently regis...

“It is unfortunate that this is happening; because when the parliament is under siege, democracy is under siege,” –Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives, Yusuf Lasun. Democracy in Nigeria was brought under threat yet again when Nigerians woke up to the news of the siege laid to the National Assembly complex by operatives from the Department of State Services better known as the DSS and men of Nigeria Police on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. Initially, all the lawmakers and staff of the National Assembly including journalists were prevented from entering the complex. However, some lawmakers were later allowed in. This is most   shocking, heartrending and preposterous as the country was brought to ridicule yet again in the comity of nations. The Presidency was so thoroughly embarrassed to the extent that the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, wasted no time in wielding the big stick by ordering the sacking of the Director General of the DSS, Mallam Lawal Daura. It was not until his...

It’s 199 days to the commencement of the 2019 general election. As we count down to the D-Day, a number of worrisome developments are rearing their ugly heads in the polity. Indeed, in the last one week, some things happened that made me shudder if Nigerian politicians will ever change for the better. The last eight days have been characterised by a lot of political intrigues, power play and assassinations. It will not be out of place to say that Nigeria is in a state of political anomie. Last week Tuesday, July 24, the nation woke up to the news that the official residences of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, were under police siege. The media was regaled with how Saraki purportedly sneaked out of his home by driving himself out through an alternate route to be able to get to the National Assembly complex where he presided over the session where 14 senators defected from the All Progressives Congress to the Peoples Democratic Party, All Progr...