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Buhari:The Basis For The Blitz Against The Baseless Bashing

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4 years ago

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By Bala Ibrahim.

“Ya shugaba na, the defence for the Buhari Administration is too much. Universities remain closed, security issue, virtually every aspect of life has collapsed”.

The cliché above was sent to me by a very close friend, who, from our ‘aluta’ and students unionism days in the University, has unilaterally allocated to me the title of, “Ya shugaba na”, which in hausa means, oh my leader!

The friend in question is a patriot par excellence, who frowns at treachery or anything in the realms of betrayal of trust, and one that vigorously supports his country, and is prepared to defend it against any enemy or detractor. Yet, perhaps out of the feeling for the less privileged, my blue blooded friend thinks, the time has arrived for me to put a halt on the Buhari publicity blitz.

I don’t want to disagree with my cherished friend, because I know the magnitude of the negative narrative making the rounds about Buhari’s performance, and how that is having an impact on the public perception of his leadership in Nigeria. However, I wish to assure my humble friend that, the Presidency is not unaware of such slush.

Some years back, at a public lecture, titled, “The Unravelling of Boko Haram and the Rebuilding of the North-East of Nigeria’’, at the Harvard University’s Weather head Centre for International Affairs, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, made attempt to assuage that feeling, when he said, PMB is determined to change the narrative and perception of leadership in Nigeria and Africa, because of his widely acclaimed uprightness and honesty.

On my side also, I have long developed a thick skin over the attack of being a paid agent of the Buhari administration. And I wouldn’t have bothered responding, had it not been for the fact that the comment came from a dear friend, who must have written with an honourable intention.

Yes, much as I cannot convince all the critics all the time, and at the risk of doing what I was advised to slow down upon, I want to reassure my friend and the other reasonably minded, about the merit of good intentions, and how nature has vested such virtue in President Muhammadu Buhari.

In doing that, I would publish a material copied from the Defence News Nigeria, which has this to say about the Paradox of our country Nigeria, and the way some of us think:

“We have a lot of political zealots on this page. You see them in the comment section turning every tweet and every conversation into some opportunity to slam the government. I could be making a tweet about a recent successful airstrike, and you will get them leaving comments about how the NAF bombed civilians the other day.

There used to be a time when most of us, no matter where you stand politically, you kind of want the best for the country. Today, wanting the best for the country makes you a paid propagandist.

What’s worse, they choose to display this madness by latching on any positive news about the country, forgetting we are shooting ourselves in the foot.

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Over $70 billion of investment came to Africa in the last ten years. Of that figure, only $4 billion came to Nigeria. Why? The venture capital investment industry is driven by just two emotions- fear and political instability.

Over 80% of Nigeria’s industrial capacity is located in the South, the region protected from the decade long insurgency that has ravaged the north.

Industrial capacity has quadrupled in recent years. New industries have sprung up. Lagos is now the Tech start-up hub of Africa. Naturally, investors, multinational corporations are eager to tap into this dynamic market. And just about when they announce their intentions, the self proclaimed activists and their army of saboteurs swing into action, describing how evil and dictatorial the government is, manufacturing social unrest when there is non, scaring away investors into moving to safer climes, to places like Ghana and losing thousands of potential jobs.

This is the Great Paradox of Nigeria.

People want development and FDI. And when seeds of developments are sewn, the same people see it as something that will rob favourably on the government, and would rather self sabotage, than allow anything punch a hole on their narrative.

Nigeria borrowed a ton of money revamping the nations railway infrastructure. Terrorists, who cannot stand development attack these infrastructure and people rally behind the terrorists in celebration, because it’s an opportunity to show how incompetent the government is. And when the FDI needed for development is diverted to other countries, we cite it as an example of a failed government, and the vicious circle self perpetuates.

China, South Korea, Japan, Dubai developed because of Foreign Direct Investment. No government can develop a nation.

Do you think Twitter was happy basing its regional HQ in Ghana with its puny 8 million Twitter users over Nigeria with over 48 million Twitter users?

It’s tragic.

Lagos is as safe as Accra, their investment portfolio is probably even safer, but we scared them away thinking we are hurting the Buhari government.

In the West, there is a vast academic literature, known as behavioural finance, which is devoted to the topic of understanding market psychology. Their heart may be in Nigeria but they apply common sense, not emotions to decision making.

They know letting emotions govern investment behaviour often leads to irrational decision making that can cost you dearly. So they opt to play it safe and seek safer grounds.

Who lost?

Two groups lost: TWITTER and NIGERIANS.

Nigerians accuse the government of stifling free speech, TWITTER responds by attempting to censor the government’s Tweet.

The FG bans Twitter.

By now Twitter has ditched its plans to setup its Africa HQ in Lagos and moved to Ghana.

Twitter misses out on one of the world’s most dynamic market over “perceived social instability”

The thousands of jobs that could have been created for Nigerians, with its attendant trickle down economic impact is forever lost.

Who losses?

The government in Abuja?

Now here we are again.

The current geopolitical situation in Europe has made it necessary for Europe to strengthen its relations with Nigeria, especially in the supply of gas. Nigeria has suddenly become a crucial partner of the EU at a time when Europe is trying to rid itself off its dependence of Russian oil and gas. Heck a delegation from the EU visited Nigeria just last month and secured Nigeria’s commitment to step up its production.

This is the time that self proclaimed activists like and have chosen to write crazy Op-eds, claiming Nigeria is run by a mafia regime and does not have the capacity to step up production, and we have Nigerians backing them up.

How stupid can we be?

We have a rich EU ready to pump billions into Nigeria’s energy sector to help boost gas production and the self saboteur brigade, together with the brown envelop copy and paste media, are already out in force trying scare the EU away.

Who are we hurting with these senseless pessimism and activism?

Buhari or our future generation?

Nigerians have to put on their thinking hats”.

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Rivers APC Chapter Rejects Moves to Impeach Fubara

Published

19 minutes ago

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January 8, 2026

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

 

The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has formally rejected ongoing moves to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, warning that such action would destabilise the state and damage the party’s image.

Nigerian Tracker News earlier reported that the political crisis rocking Rivers State deepened on Thursday as members of the Rivers State House of Assembly commenced impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Oduh.

The move followed a plenary session presided over by the Speaker of the House, Martins Amaewhule, during which the Majority Leader, Major Jack, read a notice of allegations and claims of gross misconduct levelled against the governor.

No fewer than 26 lawmakers were said to have signed the notice, which the legislators alleged was in line with the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution.

Amaewhule announced that the notice would be served on Governor Fubara within the next seven days, in accordance with legislative procedure.

Similarly, the Deputy Majority Leader of the House, Linda Stewart, read out a separate notice of allegations and gross misconduct against Deputy Governor Ngozi Oduh.

In a press statement issued on Thursday and signed by the Rivers APC spokesperson, Darlington Nwauju, the party said its leadership had taken note of the “unfortunate developments” emanating from the Rivers State House of Assembly.

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While acknowledging the constitutional independence of the legislature and its role in checks and balances, the APC said it could not support an impeachment process against a governor elected on its platform.

“Our position as of today on this matter is that we solemnly reject the resort to an impeachment process against our Governor and his deputy,” the statement read.

The party warned against allowing internal disputes associated with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to spill into the APC, describing such a development as unacceptable.

Addressing claims that the impeachment threat is linked to budgetary issues, the APC recalled that during the period of emergency rule, a budget of ₦1.485 trillion was transmitted to the National Assembly by the President in May 2025 and subsequently approved by the Senate on June 25, 2025, and the House of Representatives on July 22, 2025.

According to the statement, the budget was designed to run for one year until August 2026, noting that the governor is not constitutionally compelled to present a supplementary budget if he is satisfied with the existing appropriation.

The party also cited constitutional provisions allowing a governor to spend for up to six months into a new fiscal year.

The APC leadership therefore urged members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, particularly its lawmakers, to resist what it described as “pressures from outside the Assembly chambers” aimed at destabilising the government.

“We will do everything possible to ensure that the Government of Rivers State, which is an APC government, is not destabilised through fratricidal disagreements,” the statement added.

The party called on the lawmakers to immediately discontinue the impeachment process, warning that proceeding with it could tarnish the APC’s image and undermine governance and development in the state.

“Let our state remain a democracy and not a politicocracy,” the statement noted.

The latest development comes amid the lingering political rift between Governor Fubara and his predecessor and political benefactor, Nyesom Wike, which has continued to polarise the state’s political structure.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) had stated that Wike would “certainly be under” his successor, Fubara, should he decide to join the party, underscoring that leadership positions are tied to current office.

The APC Director of Information, Bala Ibrahim, made the comments during an interview on Trust TV.

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How Fubara engaged social media influencers to tarnish image of FCT Minister, Wike -Group reveals

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4 hours ago

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January 8, 2026

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Concerned Rivers People, CRP has revealed how Rivers Governor Siminalayi Fubara engaged social media influencers to tarnish image of the Federal Capital Territory FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.

This was contained in a statement issued and signed by the CRP’s Director of Communication, Robinson Uke where he stated that:

“Bloggers engaged by public officials to influence politics in Nigeria has become the norm as we are aware of deliberate moves by Fubara to denigrate the hardworking FCT minister before Mr President.

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“This obviously will not fly as we are also aware that some bloggers equally turned down mouth watering offers declaring that the minister has not in any way attacked the Rivers Governor either directly or indirectly.

Uke explained that: “All the FCT minister has said is that an agreement is an agreement, Fubara should swallow his pride and respect the agreement.

“This he has not done yet he is lavishing hard earned tax payers money of the state on social media influencers across the country without an Appropriation Act to back his spending.

“This development raises ethical concerns, as it undermines transparency and accountability in governance.

” The Nigerian government has responded by demanding approval for sponsored posts, citing concerns over misinformation and manipulation.

“We want to specially thank those bloggers who are standing by the truth and refused to be used by the drowning Fubara who has betrayal flowing in his DNA.

“To Fubara we wish him the best of luck in his political sojourn as an African proverb says a child who refuses to allow his mother to sleep, the child too will not sleep.

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JUST-IN: Rivers Assembly Initiates Impeachment Proceedings Against Fubara

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4 hours ago

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January 8, 2026

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

The Rivers State House of Assembly has begun impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Oduh.

During plenary presided over by the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Martins Amaewhule, according to a live broadcast on Channels Television on Thursday, the Majority Leader, Major Jack, read out the notice of allegations and gross misconduct against Fubara.

“The governor does not even want to present any budget, because if he wanted to, he would have brought it all this while. Siminalayi Fubara is a mistake. Rivers state has never had it this bad,” the Speaker said.

Twenty-six members of the Rivers State House of Assembly signed the notice, which they alleged was against the Nigerian Constitution.

Amaewhule said the notice will be served to Fubara in the next seven days.

The Deputy Majority Leader of the House, Linda Stewart, also read out the notice of allegations and gross misconduct against Oduh.

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Relying on Section 188 of the Nigerian Constitution, Jack reeled out seven points of alleged gross misconduct against Fubara.

Some of the accusations include the demolition of the Assembly Complex, extra budgetary spending, withholding funds meant for the Assembly Service Commission, and refusal to obey the Supreme Court on the financial autonomy of the house.

After Jack laid his notice before the Speaker, who said the notice would be served to the governor in seven days, the deputy leader, Linda Stewart, also brought forward a notice of gross misconduct against Odu.

According to the report, some of the allegations against Odu included reckless and unconstitutional spending of public funds, obstruction of the House of Assembly from performing its constitutional duties as outlined by the 1999 Constitution, conniving to allow unauthorised persons to occupy offices without proper screening by the legitimate House of Assembly.

“Siminalayi Fubara and Ngozi Odu are nothing but a threat to our nascent democracy. If they are allowed to remain in office, I do not know what will become of our democracy. They are moving about from place to place, spending taxpayers’ money without approval,” the Speaker added.

Other allegations were that she approached another group of people for budgetary approval instead of the legitimate Rivers State House of Assembly, seizure of salaries and allowances accruing to the RSHA and the Rivers State Assembly Service Commission.

The move is the second attempt by the lawmakers to impeach Fubara and his deputy, following a similar one in March 2025.

In the notice signed by 26 members of the Rivers Assembly at that time, the lawmakers accused Fubara and Odu of gross misconduct after the governor fell out with the immediate governor of the state, Nyesom Wike.

Following escalating tensions in the oil-rich state, President Bola Tinubu intervened and declared a state of emergency.

The president suspended Fubara, his deputy and the Rivers Assembly and said the development is “required by section 305(5) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

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