Can Tinubu dvice Governors On What He Controls? By Emmanuel Aziken
President Bola Tinubu’s extraordinary intervention in the freezing of an Osun State Government account by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has brought into sharp relief a question that has increasingly shadowed his presidency: who exactly acts in the President’s name, and how much of what is done around him carries his prior knowledge and approval? […]
APC’s closed consensus capsule, by Emmanuel Aziken
The decision of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to return the majority of its national officers at its convention through consensus may, on the surface, appear to reflect unity and internal cohesion. However, beneath that carefully curated image lies a troubling contraction of democratic space within the party, it is one that raises fundamental questions about the […]
How Umahi makes enemies eat dust, by Emmanuel Aziken
Nigeria’s Minister of Works, David Umahi, has always been a curious figure in the country’s political theatre. Long before he emerged on the national stage, his political style often reminded observers of the eccentric manoeuvres of the late Saleh Michika, the Third Republic governor of Adamawa State. Michika, who governed under the National Republican Convention (NRC), became […]
Obasanjo At 89: The Pan-Nigerian Dreamer, by Emmanuel Aziken
At 89, Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo remains one of the most compelling figures in Nigeria’s political history, a leader whose presence still commands attention across the country and the African continent. Decades after he first stepped into the national spotlight, Obasanjo continues to stand as a symbol of the enduring quest for a pan-Nigerian identity, a […]
Walida and Her DSS Man: When love becomes a national crisis, by Emmanuel Aziken
The uproar over the alleged love tangle between a Department of State Services operative and a young woman from Jigawa State has once again exposed the fragility of Nigeria’s religious equilibrium. What should ordinarily have been treated as a private, if troubling, matter between consenting adults has spiralled into a combustible public controversy — not because of […]
Two new absurdities of the Akpabio Senate, by Emmanuel Aziken
An associate once claimed that Senator Godswill Akpabio initially aspired to be a comedian before fate and fortune nudged him toward law and eventually politics. If that early ambition ever existed, one might argue that the comedic streak never entirely left him. As presiding officer of the Senate, he often peppers proceedings with humour, laughter, and playful […]
