POLITICS
Atiku, Buhari: The Looming Post-election Political Battles
The political relationship between former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar and incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari is getting messier each passing day, as Atiku who failed the 2019 general election is in the tribunal to contest the election.
The two top Nigerian politicians, who are Fulani indigenes, are now running cat and dog as a result of some disagreements in the political arena.
Recently, the Presidency cried out that there was a call for the Nigerian military to overthrow the present government led by All Progressives Congress (APC), with President Buhari at the helm of affairs.
But the military dissociated itself from the allegation saying, the document in circulation advocated the setting up of an interim government.
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), yesterday described as “unacceptable, irritating, preposterous and ludicrous for anybody or group of people to call for military coup d’état in the country.
Although the allegation was only gathering momentum in the social media, MURIC said: “It is an invitation to anarchy. We warn that any attempt at a coup will be resisted by the Nigerian people. We refuse to be led into economic slavery once again. We will rather live as free men and women in our graves than live as paupers and slaves in our own land,” the group explained.
Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has described as unacceptable, irritating, preposterous and ludicrous for anybody or group of people to call for military coup d’état in the country.
The Nigerian military recently dissociated itself from a document calling for dissolution of the current administration. According to the report, the document is currently being circulated within the country, the document also advocated for the setting up of an interim government.
Founder and Director of the group, Professor Ishaq Akintola, described the alleged document as “illegal and provocative.
“This is unacceptable. It is irritating, preposterous and ludicrous. How can any sane individual or group be calling for a military coup d’etat in 21 century Nigeria? It is anachronistic. We have no doubt that it is the handiwork of unpatriotic and unscrupulous elements.
‘They will fail. They will fail because the Nigerian people are solidly behind President Muhammadu Buhari who has inspired Nigerians and the latter have taken the cue. Nigerians have seen transparency, probity and accountability under Buhari. Modern trains are all over the place. Our roads are taking shape again. Public office holders no longer act with impunity. There is no financial recklessness in governance. There is no going back to corruption. It is dead. The corpse of corruption is in the mortuary. What remains is its burial and that will come very soon.”
MURIC commended the military for speaking out against the move, saying, “We charge the Nigerian people to reject hypocrites and parasites who are aiming to dismantle our nascent democracy. It is an invitation to anarchy”.
In what appears as strained relationship, Atiku, who contested the election under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 23 general election, alleged plan by the Federal Government led by Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to replay the phantom coup plot of late General Sani Abacha where he falsely accused and jailed former President Olusegun Obasanjo for treason.
Reports said Atiku reacted to a statement by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, where he accused him (Atiku) and the PDP of plot to destabilize the Federal Government.
Sequel to this, Atiku’s media adviser, Paul Ibe, in a statement, said in his desperation to remain in office, “President Buhari wants to rope him in a phantom coup plot.
“We want to know why the desperation on the part of the Muhammadu Buhari government to rope in the PDP and its Presidential candidate in phantom plots? Obviously, President Buhari wants to replay the phantom coup plot saga of his now deceased mentor, who threw former President Olusegun Obasanjo in jail after falsely accusing him of treason in order to perpetuate himself in power.
“Could it be that they are now aware that the electoral fraud they perpetrated during the last presidential election is about to be exposed beyond a shadow of a doubt?” The former vice president wondered. He noted that if there is anybody beating the drums of war, it is the APC leaders, whom he said issued statements threatening Nigerians and foreigners alike with ‘body bags’.
Atiku described himself as a “thorough bred democrat,” noting that he joined forces with the likes of Chief Moshood Abiola and Dr. Alex Ekwueme to resist Abacha’s dictatorship and fought for the democracy Buhari and APC were allegedly trampling on.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Atiku Abubakar resisted the Abacha dictatorship, of which President Muhammadu Buhari was a prominent member, and it is his resistance and the sacrifice of his co-travellers, like Chief MKO Abiola and Alex Ekwueme, amongst others, that gave rise to the democracy that the current government is now trampling on.
“It is preposterous that those who threatened to ‘soak the dog and the baboon in blood’ are now aukardacious enough to point the finger at lifelong democrats.
“Truly, if the farmer does not raise the alarm on time, the thief will accuse him of being a thief,” he said. Atiku further wondered how President Buhari, who “wined and dined with Nigeria’s most brutal dictator,” and “overthrew a democratically elected president and held a grudge against him even in death (as evidenced by the empty condolence register he left in Sokoto, last year) accuse a man who has never been as much as associated with such tendencies, of being an anti-democrat?”
He said the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, was clever by half. Atiku said Nigerians should not take the minister serious, adding, “when we have a situation where even those who employed him know that Lai Mohammed is a liar, who will even lie during the holy month of Ramadan, then why should Nigerians be surprised at this latest lie?”
He advised the minister to face “the cesspool of corruption that has been exposed in his ministry by the investigative website which revealed that Mr. Mohammed’s fingers may be stickier than sticky glue.”
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has petitioned the Department of State Services (DSS) over a purported anti-North statement allegedly attributed to him.
A viral statement allegedly quoted Akpabio as threatening that Northerners would suffer if President Bola Tinubu lost the 2027 presidential election.
Special Assistant to the President of the Senate on Media, Jackson Udom, disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja.
Udom said the petition, signed by the Akpabio’s Chief of Staff, Chinedu Akubueze, urged the DSS to urgently investigate the dissemination of the alleged false, inflammatory and divisive statement.
He said the graphic, bearing Akpabio’s photograph and designation, attributed the following words to him: ‘Northerners you will be the ones to suffer the most if you allow Tinubu to lose the election.’
“Unequivocally, the President of the Senate did not make this statement.
“No date, venue, speech, interview, video, audio recordings, official statement or credible news report has been produced to authenticate it.
“The graphic carries no identifiable publisher’s mark or verifiable source,” he said.
Udom said the statement appeared to have been deliberately manufactured and presented as an authentic quotation for the purpose of deceiving unsuspecting members of the public.
He said those behind the scheme intended to provoke regional resentment against Akpabio and portray him as threatening people in the Northern part of the country.
According to him, preliminary examination of publicly accessible Facebook records identified some persons as among the earliest traceable amplifiers of the purported fabricated graphic.
He listed the persons as Abdullai Musa, who posted the graphic in a Facebook group styled ‘Sheik Muhammad bin Uthman Group 24”.
Others were Uzoma Chilaka, whose Facebook post allegedly reproduced the graphic commentary expressly credited to him, and Ibrahim Ammar, a verified Facebook account that subsequently reproduced the graphic and similar commentary.
“These persons should not be presumed guilty before investigation.
“Nevertheless, their early and substantial roles in circulating the material make them persons of interest, who may possess information capable of identifying the graphic designer, original uploader, sponsors, intermediaries and distribution network,” he said.
Udom said their publication records, devices, communications and the provenance of the image should therefore be investigated in accordance with the law. (NAN)
By David Torough, Abuja
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, has commended the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) for its strides in innovation and technological development, assuring the agency of the Federal Government’s continued support.
Akume gave the commendation on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, in Abuja when he received NASENI’s Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Khalil Suleiman Halilu, members of his management team and winners of the agency’s Innovation Assessment and Award Competition.
The SGF described NASENI’s inter-agency and intra-agency innovation competition for federal civil and public servants and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as a significant milestone in efforts to develop home-grown solutions to Nigeria’s challenges.
He said the innovative products emerging from the competition could have significant implications for national security, food sovereignty and healthcare, adding that the achievements demonstrated the depth of talent and ingenuity among young Nigerians.
“Nigeria has talents. I don’t doubt about that. Wherever you go in the world, Nigerians are recognized as people with lot of talents and people with a great future,” Akume said.
He also praised NASENI for adopting what he described as a transparent and non-partisan process in selecting and assessing the innovations, saying the credibility of the competition would encourage more Nigerians to come forward with innovative ideas.
Akume expressed optimism that sustained government support could enable Nigeria to attain greater technological heights, including developing advanced aerospace capabilities.
“Tomorrow, who knows, Nigeria can manufacture rockets that can send people to the moon. And this can be the courtesy of NASENI,” he said.
Earlier, Halilu said the award programme was designed to identify and recognise outstanding contributions by civil and public servants through both inter-agency and intra-agency competitions.
He said NASENI’s innovation strategy goes beyond developing technological products to equipping innovators with skills needed to commercialise their ideas successfully.
According to him, technical and engineering expertise must be complemented by competencies in accounting, marketing and business development for innovations to achieve their full potential.
Halilu disclosed that NASENI had, in about two years, facilitated the establishment of 20 factories across the country and developed more than 40 products as part of efforts to transform research and innovation into commercially viable solutions.
He added that the agency had also introduced programmes aimed at identifying and nurturing innovators from an early age. One of the initiatives, the Future Makers Programme, targets children between five and 15 years to stimulate interest in science, technology, engineering and innovation.
The meeting also featured demonstrations by representatives of two of the six winners of the innovation competition.
A team from the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) showcased a security jacket equipped with technology designed to facilitate real-time communication with the command-and-control centres of security agencies, potentially improving coordination and response.
The winning team from NASENI, meanwhile, presented a commercial electronic platform designed to serve as a digital marketplace through which MDAs can promote and market their goods and services.
Akume congratulated NASENI and the winners of the competition, reaffirming the Federal Government’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for research, innovation and technological development in Nigeria.
From Ayinde Akintade, Osogbo
The All Progressives Congress has taken Osun state Governor Ademola Adeleke’s re-election to court as the petition is now on the notice board of the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo.
The papers went up on Monday, 7 September.
Tribunal secretary Pefe Belemore had said the notices would be displayed before noon. Secretariat staff were already in the courtroom as preparations for sitting continued.Two petitions challenge the 15 August result that returned Adeleke for another term.
The APC case, marked EPT/OS/GOV/01/2026, was filed by its candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, against Adeleke, the Accord Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The Peoples Democratic Party case, marked EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026, was filed by Adebayo Olugbenga Adedamola against Adeleke, INEC and Accord.
Display of the petitions is a procedural step. The parties must still be served before full hearing begins. Adeleke remains the declared winner. The detailed grounds of each petition have not been published. The tribunal has not issued a ruling.
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