Senate, OBJ bomb Buhari, as Ondo election takes new shape – Paper Review
The Nigerian political situation is going haywire, with President Muhammadu Buahri being put under so much pressure.
Major dailies across Nigeria today, Thursday 24, bear stories of the political tension in Nigeria and how President Buhari is faced with so many challenges.
We begin with New Telegraph which bears the headline, “Senate, OBJ bomb Buhari”.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has taken a swipe at the leadership style of President Muhammadu Buhari, saying that a lot of things still need to be done to get the economy properly back on track.
Obasanjo, known for his vitriolic attacks on leaders over issues of national importance, yesterday at the First Akintola Williams Annual Lecture bared his mind on the Buhari-led administration, corruption in the judiciary and National Assembly. Speaking on the theme:
READ ALSO: Trouble in Ondo state, as Presidency, DSS, INEC, APC plot to rig election – PDP laments
“Nigeria Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Governance and Accountability, former president Obasajo chided Buhari for persistently blaming past administrations for the nation’s woes. He said the president was elected to effect changes, not to keep lamenting on the nation’s challenges. His words:
“The blanket adverse comments or castigation of all democratic administrations from 1999 by the present administration is uncharitable, fussy and uninstructive.”
This Day reports “Obasanjo to Buhari: Stop the Excuses, Nigeria Needs Result-Oriented Policies”.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to stop blaming past administrations for the current economic woes and focus on implementing result-oriented policies and programmes that will turn the economy around.
He equally cautioned that if Buhari fails to fix the economy to relieve the pain and anguish of many Nigerians, the “gains of fighting the insurgency and corruption will pale into insignificance”.
Daily Trust joins with the headline: “Obasanjo opposes Buhari’s $30bn loan”.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has faulted President Muhammadu Buhari’s external borrowing plan saying “If we borrow some $30bn, in less than three years, we would have mortgaged the future of Nigeria for well over thirty years to come.”
Obasanjo spoke yesterday at the first Akintola Williams Annual Lecture in Lagos where he also took a swipe at the Nigerian military, the judiciary and the National Assembly. This is the first time Obasanjo is openly criticising President Buhari who took office one and a half years ago.
“We immediately need loans to stabilise our foreign reserve and embark on some infrastructure development but surely not $30 billion over a period of less than three years,” Obasanjo said in his lecture titled “Nigeria yesterday, today and tomorrow: Governance and accountability.
“That [$30bn] was about the magnitude of cumulative debt of Nigeria which we worked and wiped out ten years ago. Before that debt relief, we were spending almost $3 billion to service our debt annually and the quantum of the debt was not going down. Rather, if we defaulted, we paid penalty which was added on,” he added.
The Guardian bears the report: “Eyitayo Jegede is authentic PDP candidate for Ondo state”.
READ ALSO: Obasanjo is a hypocrite, he is Nigeria’s biggest problem – Nigerians react
The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal yesterday declared Eyitayo Jegede of the Ahmed Makarfi-led faction as the rightful candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the governorship election billed to hold on Saturday in Ondo State.
In a unanimous judgment, the Justice Ibrahim Saulawa-led three-member panel vacated the June 29 judgement of Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise Jimoh Ibrahim of the Modu Sheriff-led faction as the PDP candidate for the election.
The decision of the appeal court has changed the narrative for the Markafi-led faction of the PDP and the Clement Faboyede state executive committee of the party in Ondo State as well as its candidate, Jegede. The decision means that the name of their candidate will now be restored by the electoral body as they go for the election on Saturday.
The judgment also raises some vital issues about the role of some judicial officers in strengthening or distabilising the political landscape. Going by the criticisms of the judgment of justice Abang by the appellate court, it was clear that the justices were unhappy with his role in the conflict.
The Nation also bears the same story with the headline: “Ondo: INEC drops Ibrahim for Jegede as PDP candidate”.
Vanguard has the same story, under the headline: “A-Court sacks Jimoh Ibrahim, Okays Jegede”.
The same story appears on The Punch, with the title: “Ondo poll: Jegede now PDPD candidate, says INEC”.
In a judgment lasting three tension-soaked hours, the Appeal Court, Abuja, resolved the controversy surrounding the governorship ticket of the Ondo Peoples Democratic Party in favour of Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, sending the PDP supporters in the 40-year-old state into wild jubilation.
The judgment delivered on Wednesday by the Justice Ibrahim Saulawa-led three-member panel lifted the pall of uncertainty hanging over the governorship ticket that had pitted business mogul, Jimoh Ibrahim, against a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Eyitayo Jegede.
In the landmark judgment, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja by which the Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Ibrahim the PDP’s governorship candidate for the November 26 election in Ondo State.
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