The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, on Thursday said he had not given a serious thought about becoming the next governor of the state as was already being speculated.

Obasa said his major concern has been to strengthen the party in the state adding that this is why he continues to mobilise more people to support the party at all times, an act which has been misconstrued by ‘political detractors’ to mean that he was chasing a governorship ambition.

The Speaker, who said this in his remarks shortly after Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu presented the state’s 2025 budget size of N3,005,935,198,401, however, maintained that he is not unqualified to be a governor.

He said: “I have made it a personal task to mobilise people on the platform of Mandate, which has been misconstrued by some political detractors as being a selfish aspiration on the ground for me to become governor of the state. There is the need, however, to correct this wrong impression. My concern is about building our party, and whatever we do is mainly for this cause.

“To the blackmailers who have embarked on the mission to distort and redefine our mission, let me state it unequivocally here, our intention is to promote our party on the platform of Mandate.

“Also, becoming governor is secondary; it is something that I have not given serious consideration. Nevertheless, that does not mean I am too young or lack experience to run; whereas, those who have been before me are not better of.”

Earlier, a vote of confidence was passed on the Speaker by all the lawmakers present at plenary.

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Sanwo-Olu had said the budget comprised a total revenue of N2,597,034,000,000 and a deficit financing of N408,902,000,000.

The ‘Budget of Sustainability’ which is made of a recurrent expenditure of N1.239 trillion (41%) and capital expenditure of N1.766 trillion (59%), is also to be sourced from a total revenue of N1,970,897,000,000 and total Federal transfers N626,137,000,000.

Reacting, Speaker Obasa noted that the budget was presented at a time complaints by Nigerians about the economy. He, however, appealed to Nigerians to be hopeful as President Bola Tinubu’s administration works to ensure the nation’s economic recovery.

Read the original article on Channels TV.

A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bode George, has advised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to end his 31-year-long bid to be President.

Noting that Atiku’s bid to be President dated back to the year 1993, George said it was high time the former Vice President retired from such a contest, especially in the 2027 election.

Addressing a press conference at his Ikoyi, Lagos office, on Thursday, George urged Atiku to assume the position of an elder in the nation and leave his bid to posterity.

“To Atiku, my advice is this, you will be 81 years old in 2027, and you have been contesting for the presidency since 1993. This is the time for you to calm down and act like an elder. I appeal to you in the name of the Almighty Allah, that you serve, to take it easy and leave everything for posterity,” George said.

George decried that the PDP was on the verge of crumbling because people uplifted their personal interest and individual ambition above national interest.

He criticised the “divisive, arrogant, haughty” members of the party romancing the ruling All Progressives Congress yet failed to defect from the PDP, describing them as cowards.

“We are where we are today because of a self-inflicted crisis; we should bury our individual ambitions now and not allow the PDP to crumble, please. Elders of the party should tell some of these funny characters to cool off and think of our national interest instead of their personal interest.

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“Nigerians are angry and hungry. Instead of telling the APC the truth, some divisive, arrogant and haughty members are busy romancing the ruling party and they are quick to refer to themselves as elder statesmen. Instead of instigating a crisis in our party, why are they not bold enough to defect to the APC? Do they really fear God at all? No member is big enough to hold the party to ransom,” George added.

The 2023 People’s Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate in Ogun State, Mr Oladipupo Adebutu, yesterday, urged President Bola Tinubu to call Governor Dapo Abiodun to order, saying that the governor’s conduct in the last one week poses threat to the nation’s democracy.

But in a swift reaction, the Ogun State government described Adebutu’s allegations as “the rantings of a drowning man.”

Adebutu, who stated this at a media parley in Abeokuta, alleged that the state government under Governor Dapo Abiodun has mismanaged at least N214 billion meant for the development of the 20 local government areas in the last five years.

Adebutu alleged that Governor Abiodun is trying to use security agencies to harass and shut him up because he is an advocate of transparency, accountability and good governance at the grassroots.

He said: “President Bola Tinubu should call Governor Abiodun to order because the way the governor has conducted himself in the last week, particularly over the LG poll is quite condemnable.

“If under a Yoruba presidency, the President will sit down and watch his people being killed and maimed because they want to exercise their franchise and vote the candidates of their choice, it will be very sad. The truth is that the governor is destroying whatever goodwill is left of the APC in the Southwest.

“The reason they have been pursuing me and want to shut me up is because they are stealing the local government money. They don’t want the stealing of our patrimony to stop.”

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Reacting, the state government described Adebutu’s allegations as “the rantings of a drowning man.”

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, said it was not surprised by the antics of the PDP chieftain.

Akinmade, in a statement, said: “We do not find it shocking that a man who aspired to govern Ogun State but was roundly rejected by voters would claim that a governor who is not a signatory to local government accounts squandered council funds amounting to N214bn in five years.

“That means, conceptually, that the said local governments did not pay any salaries and did not execute any projects in those five years, and it says a lot about a governorship candidate whose own running mate described him as a complete disaster.

“The fact is that at no time did Governor Abiodun touch a dime of LG funds in Ogun State, but Adebutu has to entertain his crowd.”

Read the original article on Vanguard.

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• How you took over Intercontinental Bank from Akingbola to your close pal Herbert Wigwe
• Why N11 billion was written off Saraki’s loan at Intercontinental Bank?
• Is he able to recall how Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede secured N50b loan from a bank where his mother-in-law was CEO?

During a substantial exchange of WhatsApp messages, former Central Bank Governor Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and Senator Olusola Adeyeye engaged in a debate regarding the banking reforms that were implemented during Sanusi’s tenure at the apex bank, questioning the circumstances surrounding the former Intercontinental Bank Managing Director Erastus Akingbola.

Sanusi recently shared a WhatsApp message in which he defended the reforms he enacted during his time at the Central Bank of Nigeria. His message particularly addressed the controversial actions taken against Akingbola, which resurfaced following the tragic passing of Herbert Wigwe last month.

It should be recalled that on January 31, 2012, Wigwe-led Access Bank acquired Akingbola-owned Intercontinental Bank after previous CBN Governor Sanusi removed the latter.

Following Sanusi’s emotional outburst during Wigwe’s funeral, many, including Senator Adeyeye, have questioned the intentions behind the decision to choose Wigwe to oversee Akingbola’s Intercontinental Bank.

Senator Adeyeye wrote, “Let the bankers tell us where and what SLS did wrong. It should not be difficult for them to disclose whatever malfeasance and iniquities occurred under his watch. For example, how many of his friends and cohorts operated bureau de change? To what extent did he look the other way when Government was committing monetary and fiscal atrocities that weakened the country’s economy?”

To this, Sanusi replied, “In almost all the banks that we took over, we discovered that these so-called owner managers set up SPVs, lent money to these SPVs, turned round and purchased their own bank shares with these funds -and that was how they acquired control.”

He further revealed damning details, stating, “One of Akingbola’s executive directors joined the bank as an officer and was his PA. Akingbola was MD of his bank for 22 years or so. All his so-called EXCO were his ‘boys’.”

Sanusi, undeterred, reiterated his stance, asserting, “Banks are not a business… Banking is a profession.” He announced plans to publish his CBN memoirs next year, titled “Confronting vested interests: Central banking in a rentier economy,” to shed light on his tenure.

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In response, Senator Adeyeye remained skeptical, warning of potential backlash for Sanusi: “Let SLS come up with his book… knowledgeable in all he did to mess up our banking sector might open him up for ridicule – his appropriate comeuppance.”

The Senator queried further, “Why, for instance, did SLS forget that eleven billion naira was written off Saraki’s loan at Intercontinental Bank? Is he able to recall how Aig secured N50b loan from a bank where his mother-in-law was CEO? How time can change perceptions!”

Former Kwara state governor Bukola Saraki and notable banker Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede were accused of having large loans written off at Intercontinental Bank under the new administration after Akingbola. Saraki was a major shareholder at the largely distressed bank, Societe Generale which later entered into a merger with Intercontinental Bank. In Akingbola’s petition to the Attorney-General of the Federation in 2010, he wrote “Dr. Saraki has now used his political power to take over IB Plc after his failed peaceful merger attempts.”

In the midst of the resurfaced allegations between Akingbola and Sanusi, Adeyeye wrote, “Let each person answer on the basis of his verifiable record. Let us stay off non sequiturs”.

Several commentators on the issue also questioned Sanusi’s qualifications and competence to lead the nation’s apex bank.

The former CBN chief, who is a spiritual leader in Nigeria’s Tijanniyah Sufi order, has a degree in Islamic studies from the International University of Africa in Khartoum, despite having previously obtained bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Economics from Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria in 1981 and 1983, respectively.

To this, Adeyeye urged accountability based on verifiable records and cautioned against irrelevant remarks. He defended Sanusi’s qualifications, stating it was disingenuous for some persons to fault the former monarch’s academic credentials. He said, “it is disingenuous to sneer that SLS got to be CBN Governor after studying Islamic studies. Did he not have a first degree and a Master’s degree in economics? How many of those who rose to the position of CBN had better education than SLS?

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The intense debate demonstrates Nigeria’s deep differences and unresolved worries over banking reforms, with both sides vehemently defending their positions. As Sanusi prepares to publish his memoirs, the news is sure to reignite debate and criticism about his tenure at the top bank.