Our political history has seen a succession of opportunistic characters appealing to our base instincts to secure power and quick wins. As an American novelist, Henry Adams once put it, politics is “the systematic organisation of hatreds.”

Does Senate President Bukola Saraki believe he is innocent of the charges of false and anticipatory assets declaration filed against him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal? If so, why has he chosen a most curious, if not downright dubious, manner of proving it? It is now half a year since he took his plea of “not guilty,”though not before a bench warrant for his arrest was issued to compel him to attend court.

SIXTEEN years after General Sani Abacha’s death, a Swiss delegation led by the country’s Federal Councillor and Head of its Foreign Affairs Department, Mr. Didier Burkhalter, and the Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Eric Mayoruz were with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo last Tuesday to sign a memorandum on the return of another $321m loot by the dark googled general.

THE announcement by President Muhammadu Buhari that Nigeria will join ISMAT, a Saudi-led military coalition of Sunni Muslim countries fighting rival Muslim factions in the Middle East is capable of destabilising Nigeria and unsettling its already seriously challenged unity in diversity. It is not only against the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but more than that, it is liable to reduce Northern Nigeria and the nation a whole to a theatre of Muslim proxy wars as we see in Yemen, Syria, Libya and other countries.

As I’m talking to you, $20bn is in various domiciliary accounts of individuals. Naira is our currency, why are they keeping the foreign currency? From my experience in international finance, I have never seen a country where its nationals speculate on its currency”. The preceeding is an excerpt from the presentation of Dr. Joseph Nnana, CBN Deputy Governor (Financial Systems Surveillance) at a recent meeting with the Joint Appropriation Committee of the National Assembly.