NEWS
The imperative of a power shift, a Tinubu presidency and the degeneration of the PDP
The greatest threat to Nigeria’s national unity is the refusal to shift power to the South next year.
Nothing could be more dangerous to our national cohesion than another 8 years of Fulani rule after President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Northern Governors of the APC themselves made this point and saw this danger and consequently insisted on a power shift to the South.
To my utter surprise and consternation they did not just say no to another Fulani but they went further by saying no to ANY Northerner including those that were not Fulani.
To them it was a matter of honor because this was the commitment that they had made in 2015 when President Buhari came to power.
They said that they would not break their word or renege on that agreement under any circumstances.
That gesture alone is the single greatest act of self-denial and sacrifice that any ethnic or regional group has made in our entire history and we should commend them for it.
A Northerner could have easily emerged as the APC Presidential candidate at our Convention if the Northern Governors had not thrown their collective weight behind a Southerner by the name of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and opted for him.
If they had chosen to support a Northerner the consequence would have been that we would have ended up having to make a choice between two Northern candidates from the two major political parties of APC and PDP in next year’s presidential election.
That way power would have ended up remaining in the North whichever of the two candidates ended up winning.
The Northerners of the APC could have had it in the bag and gone home smiling yet they put the interests of the party, the nation and the South first and said NO!
They insisted that power must shift regardless and they displayed maturity and a very high degree of responsible behaviour even though at the time some of us did not fully appreciate their point. Yet today few would dispute the fact that they have been vindicated.
Simply put, their decision was selfless, historic, honorable and heroic.
Anyone that does not acknowledge or fully appreciate the implications of what they did does not know or understand politics and cannot comprehend the very real dangers that another 8 years of Northern rule would have presented for the unity of our nation.
Yet they were not alone.
A few months before the APC Northern Governors took their stand, the Southern Governors had met in Asaba ACROSS party lines and they ALL agreed that power must shift to the South in 2023.
This was a bold and audacious move which formed part of the basis and an additional reason and incentive for the Northern APC Governors to make their concession and take their noble stand a few months later.
Apart from the earlier stated reasons they also did so out of deferrence and respect to the wishes of their Southern counterparts in the party who, led by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state, continued to insist that the agreement to shift power to the South must not be breached under any circumstances.
Unlike two or three of the Southern Governors in the PDP who sadly broke ranks and dishonored their word by supporting a Northen candidate at their party convention, the APC Northern and Southern Governors never waivered. They stood to the last man, they stood firm and they delivered.
That is how Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerged as the flagbearer of our party and the entire nation should reciprocate and reward their gesture by ensuring that he goes on to win the presidential election next year.
We must stand with him, pray for him, fight for him, mobilise for him and ensure that he wins convincingly and, once victorious, we must be prepared to defend his mandate with all we have got.
There will be no repeat of June 12th under ANY circumstances and contrary to the disinformation being peddled around by our detractors there is no such plan or conspiracy in the offing by those in power today.
We must also be ready to make difficult and uncomfortable sacrifies and live with the hard choices that the candidate has made, knowing that he made them in good faith, in order to win.
The real patriots and party loyalists are those who may have strong reservations about a Muslim/Muslim ticket but who are prepared to overlook that in the interest of a power shift to the South knowing that this will finally put to rest the notion that Southerners are slaves and second class citizens and the erroneous idea that the APC is a party for Northerners only.
This is where yours truly stands together with many others that share my Christian faith. Unlike that of others, our reaction to a Muslim/Muslim ticket is not emotional or hysterical but rather practical, calm, calculating and level headed.
It is clear to me and I can confirm this after a series of meetings with both the candidate and his Vice that it is a position that he has taken as a consequence of political expediency and not out of any misguided or shameless attempt to spite, injure, insult or denigrate the 110 million Christians in our country.
Tinubu’s intention is not to undermine Christians, shame the Church or destroy our faith and neither would he even dare to contemplate or attempt to venture such a reckless undertaking and course knowing that it would would fail woefully with calamitous consequences both for him and for Nigeria.
Such a move would be counter-productive and a dangerous and grave exercise in futility and if that had been his intention I would NOT stand with him but rather oppose him with every fibre of my being.
Those that know me well can attest to the value I place on my faith and will confirm this. Nothing is more important to me than my religious beliefs and I would not in any way compromise those beliefs or my faith for ANYTHING.
To the skeptics and doubters that believe that a Muslim/Muslim ticket is part of a wider plot and plan to Islamise our nation I say, under Tinubu’s watch, this can never happen and neither can it ever be conceived or attempted.
I urge them to consider the following.
Since the Governorship election in Osun state a few weeks ago, every single one of the 17 Governors in Southern Nigeria is a Christian whilst there are 3 Christian Governors in the North.
This means that out of the 36 Governors in Nigeria 20 are Christians and 16 are Muslims.
Can anyone still be talking about Islamisation under such circumstances? I say, FEAR NOT!
Again consider the following.
A Christian/Christian ticket won the Governorship election in Osun state a few weeks back and defeated a Muslim/Christian ticket yet no-one alleged that there was a plot to Christianise the state and neither did the heavens fall or the Muslims of Osun cry foul even though they constitute 50% of the population of the state.
Again I ask, can anyone still be talking about Islamisation under such circumstances?
Again I say, FEAR NOT!
Not only can Nigeria NOT be islamised but under a Tinubu APC Presidency I have no doubt that major concessions will be made in terms of key positions for Christians not just in the executive but also across the three arms of Government in order to make up the balance and assuage the feelings of the many Christians that are concerned, aggrieved and even offended by the prospect and fielding of a Muslim/Muslim ticket.
There are other key positions that can and will be given to Christians in the three arms of Government which are even more powerful and relevant than that of a Vice President which, with all due respect to those that occupy that position today, is essentially nothing but a spare tyre.
Tinubu and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima, will ensure that the necessary concessions are made to Christians and that everyone, regardless of their faith, has a fair and full portion in their administration. Of this I have no doubt.
Permit me to end this contribution with a few words about the opposition PDP.
How can anyone take seriously a party that refuses to honor its own constitution by rotating power to the South and that insists on putting us on the edge of a dangerous precipice by attempting to enthrone another Northerner for yet another 8 years?
READ ALSO: APC group mobilises South-east votes for Tinubu ahead 2023
Can anyone trust a party who has in its ranks two or three Governors from the South South zone who are prepared to betray their own, sabotage the resolve and aspiration of virtually every Southern Nigerian and throw fairness out of the window by joining hands with a bunch of irresponsible and self-serving Northern Governors and leaders in their party to deny the South the Presidency next year?
Even the majority of their own party members and leaders from the South and Middle Belt, led by Nyesom Wike, have kicked against this shameful outrage and rightly so.
If the PDP can break their own party rules by breaching the rules on zoning, cheat their own party members, scam their own party leaders and deny Wike and the South their presidential ticket what won’t they do to Nigeria if they were to ever win power?
Worst still their presidential candidate, the Chairman of their Board of Trustees AND their National Chairman, who despite frantic calls to do so has refused to resign and has said he will stay in office for the next four years, are all from the North!
And so are ALL the spokesmen for their Presidential Campaign Council.
Is this not madness?
Is it not wickedness?
Is this not a formula for disaster and a statement of intent for the perpetual enslavement of the South?
Is this not an insult on the sensibilities and slap on the faces of every Southerner AND Northerner that believes in fairness and decency?
Does this not present a very potent danger and threat to our hopes and aspirations for national unity and stability given all we have witnessed over the last 7 years?
Is this the way to bring us together as one nation and build bridges of peace, unity, love and CONFIDENCE?
I think not.
All this and the PDP still insist on calling themselves a national party and a party that seeks to protect the national interest.
This is a specious and pernicious lie. The truth is that they are a party with a hidden agenda who present a grave danger to our nation.
They are a party of strife and division and as Chief Bode George, a former Deputy National Chairman of the party and a member of the PDP Board of Trustees, eloquently pronounced on Channels Television the other day, they are a party that “have been taken over by the devil”.
It appears to me that, if given power, they would be more interested in protecting a sectional interest for the next eight years rather than the national one.
May God deliver us from their devils, their notorious shenanigans and their divisive agenda.
The good news is that for the first time in our history the majority of Northerners and Southerners across party lines have come together and insisted on a power shift.
Whether they support Bola Tinubu or the rising star Peter Obi, there is a clear national consensus on this issue and it is very promising.
It brings us joy and gives us hope for a better, more peaceful and more united future.
This is a golden opportunity for a genuine and sincere national rebirth and we must not overlook it or take it for granted. It is indeed a massive breakthrough.
Unity and peace can only be rooted and established where there is fairness and equity.
In my view that fairness and equity can be best served by the election of the APC’s Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election.
Yet whoever you opt to vote for from the South is a matter of choice.
The point is that, whoever your candidate may be, we must ensure that power comes to the South in order to stop this dangerous cycle of regional and ethnic tension, enhance and entrench national unity and give Nigeria a chance to survive and experience the peace that we seek.
Sadly the PDP and the NNPP, with their insistence on Atiku Abubakar and Rabiu Kwankwaso as their presidential candidates respectively and their desire to prolong and perpetuate Northern rule, offers a very dangerous narrative and volatile cocktail that may ultimately end up leading us down the road to Kigali.
God bless Nigeria.
Founder and President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote at the weekend, has pledged to construct a hostel valued at ₦550 million for the students at Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State. He equally made a donation of N25 million to the students of the institution via their Student Union Government.
Dangote was at the institution to deliver a public lecture on Enterprise, Leadership and Service to Humanity. The hostel when completed will help to alleviate the shortages of accommodation for students of FUTO.
In his presentation, the foremost industrialist encouraged the students with the history of his humble beginning in business as a distributor of bagged cement and other items. He said that despite making money by trading in commodities, he decided to embark on a backward integration process, producing locally, those goods he used to import.
He stated that importing finished products into Nigeria is equivalent to importing poverty, inflation and unemployment while exporting raw materials. Importation of finished products creates jobs, prosperity and development in the exporting countries, he added.
According to him, the decision to embrace manufacturing is to create jobs and add values to the raw materials that were usually exported. He said a major key in industrialization is looking inwards, that investors in the industrial sector should come from the citizens. He added that he refuses to invest in Nigeria and Africa, no foreign investor will be willing to stake his funds here.
Drawing examples from Asia, he said, ‘Asian economies powered by Asians not foreign investment. They are the ones who invested in their countries. They did not wait for foreigners to come and develop their economies.’
Turning to the students, he said Nigerian youths are endowed with innovative spirit and could hold their own anywhere around the globe. He stated that many fresh graduates of engineering who were recruited and trained by Dangote Refinery and Fertiliser have been poached by companies in the Gulf region who treat them as expatriates.
He said, “We face significant economic and social challenges, but we also sit on enormous opportunity: a young and energetic population, abundant natural resources, and an entrepreneurial spirit that is unmatched across the continent. In my own journey through business and industry, entrepreneurship has shown itself to be one of the most powerful tools for transforming challenges into opportunities. When young people are equipped with technical skills, mentorship, and access to capital, they do not just seek jobs – they create them. They build enterprises that diversify our economy beyond oil, strengthen local industries, and fuel sustainable development.”
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He challenged the students to be innovative and creative, ready to learn and adapt as to be able to add value to the society. Drawing examples from China, he told the students that China has the highest number of people in the engineering field, which has made the country the leading centre of manufacturing and industrial development.
Photo Caption
From Left: Vice – Chancellor Federal University Technology (FUTO) Prof. Nnenna N. Oti; President/CE, Dangote Industries Limited/Guest Lecturer on Enterprise, Leadership and Service to Humanity, Aliko Dangote; Pro-Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) Senator Jack Tilly-Gyado; during the Commissioning of ACE – FUELS Laboratory by President/CE, DIL/Guest Lecturer, at the 37th Public Lecture of the FUTO in Owerri Imo State on Saturday 25th April 2026
A call has gone to South African investors, banks, and policymakers to take direct stakes in Nigeria’s upstream oil sector to guarantee crude supply for their domestic refineries, adopting the same playbook European and American majors used to build energy security for their countries.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) took the stance, even as the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) urged members of the Crude Oil Refinery Owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN) to consider acquiring oil blocks in upcoming licensing rounds as a long-term solution to crude supply challenges.
The appeal by PwC was made by its Partner and Africa Oil and Gas Leader, Pedro Omontuemhen.
Omontuemhen spoke in Lagos during the Fourth South Africa Week, with the theme, “Repositioning and Promoting Energy Investments between South Africa and Nigeria.”
He stated that the two economies had complementary strengths across oil, gas, renewables, and enabling infrastructure that could create scalable, cross-border energy investment opportunities.
“Let me start from South Africa. If I were a South African, I would ask myself, where are the investment opportunities in Nigeria?” Omontuemhen said, referencing the Dangote Refinery’s plan to supply petroleum products across Africa.
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He stated that South Africa had little or no oil, despite ongoing exploration in the Orange Basin.
Omontuemhen said nearby Namibia, which had the same sedimentary basin, had found oil, an indication that South Africa should also find but had not been able to do so at the moment.
Omontuemhen urged South African firms to replicate the model of the international oil companies (IOCs) by investing in the oil exploration and production space in Nigeria and securing crude for their home countries’ refineries.
He stated, “If I was South African, I would take the examples of the Americans or the British who came to Nigeria and invested in oil in Nigeria, and they took the oil back home to refine. Because South Africa at the moment is importing a lot of the oil they are refining.
“Why can’t the South African businessman or the South African bank, the DBSA, invest in oil in Nigeria and then take the oil? Because that’s your share of the crude, you take it back to South Africa, so that way, you’re also securing your supply, which is what the British and Americans did.”
He added, “ExxonMobil, Total, the French, they came here, invested in oil, and they took the oil back to their country to refine.”
Omontuemhen encouraged participation by South Africans in Nigeria’s ongoing oil bid round, where 50 oil blocks spanning onshore, swamp, shallow water and deep-water were being auctioned.
He stated, “Look for credible businessmen in the room here who you can invest in the oil. You take the crude oil and take it back to South Africa, that way, you’re actually securing your supply. And I think you should also do the same thing when you come to Namibia.”
Omontuemhen, who further spoke on the opportunities in the upstream oil and gas sectors in Nigeria and South Africa, cited joint exploration, production sharing, and technology transfer.
He stressed that Nigeria’s deep-water assets offered premium opportunities for South Africa technical partners.
For gas, Omontuemhen said there was huge value in monetising Nigeria’s gas flares, supplying South Africa’s energy transition, adding that a combined liquefied natural gas (LNG) value chain creates significant multi-billion-dollar potential.
In renewables, he said “SA’s solar and wind expertise meets Nigeria’s abundance of solar irradiation,” opening room for “utility-scaled projects and distributed energy solutions”.
He made a strong push for dual listings for both countries, highlighting access to multiple capital markets through listings on two exchanges, enhancing liquidity, visibility, and investor participation.
Pointing to Seplat’s Nigeria-London listing, Omontuemhen asked, “Why are we not listed in South Africa? What should we do in South Africa to make the dual listing more attractive to the Nigeria oil and gas fields?”
He recalled Oando’s earlier failed Johannesburg listing, saying other Nigerian firms can try it again and learn from the mistakes of others.
Omontuemhen pointed out that South African technology remained underutilised.
According to him, “Sasol developed a technology that Chevron copied and it’s all over the world. Why are more companies in Nigeria not using the Sasol technology? To take your stranded gas and make it more valuable, so you can have your naphtha and your diesel.”
He described South Africa’s financial sector as a source of cheap capital, explaining that the banks in South Africa have what he called ancient capital that have been there for years and well-established.
He explained, “So we can tap on that resource as Nigerians to produce here in Nigeria. Can you guys come and invest and participate in what we are doing?
“Nigeria has huge resources, huge population. South Africa, good technology, well-structured, and systems that work. So we can collaborate as two giants of Africa to make our country even much better and to make the continent much, much better.”
Omontuemhen stated, “Private investors play a critical role in mobilising capital, accelerating delivery, and improving operational performance across the energy value chain. Working with governments, the private sector can mobilise capital, de-risk investment, enable growth, improve education and efficiency, and ensure both countries benefit.”
Referring to South Africa and Nigeria as the biggest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the PwC energy expert said South Africa stood at 19 per cent and Nigeria at 40 per cent in the continental Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but their power profiles differed sharply.
He said South Africa had 55.4 gigawatts of installed power capacity while Nigeria had 14GW for a far larger population.
According to him, “They actually have more power per person than we do in Nigeria. If you’re talking about energy security, which we call energy poverty, there’s more energy poverty in Nigeria than in South Africa.”
Omonfoman stated that recent mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Nigeria showed momentum, citing the Seplat-ExxonMobil deal, Renaissance acquisition of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Oando’s purchase of Eni, and Axxela-Blue Coal.
He stated, “So there are deals going on, so even in the midst of all of these issues we’re talking about, there are still huge opportunities to make money.
“If you look at the acquisition that happened in the oil and gas field, for example, most of those monies have either come from locally or from other African countries. The rest of the world is not as interested in investing in us. So the need for what I call South-South collaboration, Africa collaboration is much stronger.”
He admitted that private sector interest was rising, alongside policy reforms, and tweaking with the policy to ensure a better outcome.
Omontuemhen mentioned the Electricity Act, tariff rebalancing, and other policies that were unlocking potential.
He added, “The market potential is huge. I think that kind of gives me joy that, even though in the midst of darkness, in Nigeria, light will come.
“So Nigeria and South Africa, if it’s going to be, it’s up to us. We have a role to play to ensure that our country gets better. Why, we’re not talking to each other, why, we’re not doing projects jointly, and then this will lead to local capacity development, job creation, and long-term sustainability.”
Meanwhile, amid complaints of crude supply deprivation, NUPRC urged members of CORAN to consider acquiring oil blocks in upcoming licensing rounds as a long-term solution to crude supply challenges.
Chief Executive of NUPRC, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, made the call during a courtesy visit by CORAN members to the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, where both parties discussed ways to strengthen domestic refining capacity and ensure sustainable crude supply.
A statement by CORAN spokesperson, Eche Idoko, quoted Eyesan as, “Encouraging indigenous refiners to participate in upstream asset ownership would create more stable and commercially viable crude supply arrangements while also deepening local participation across the petroleum value chain.”
She assured the refiners that Nigeria had adequate crude resources to meet domestic refining needs, and reiterated the commission’s commitment to policies that promoted in-country value addition.
The NUPRC boss also advised refinery operators to adopt long-term crude supply contracts with producers as a practical approach to guaranteeing feedstock availability, improving operational planning, and achieving pricing stability.
However, she stated that infrastructure gaps remained a major hurdle to seamless crude delivery, citing inadequate pipeline networks, evacuation bottlenecks, storage constraints, marine logistics, and other supply chain challenges as areas requiring urgent investment and coordinated efforts.
Members of CORAN commended the commission’s ongoing regulatory reforms and its support for domestic refining, while stressing the need for effective implementation of frameworks that ensure consistent crude supply to local refineries.
Stakeholders had always emphasised that improved access to crude feedstock was critical to reducing Nigeria’s dependence on imported petroleum products, enhancing energy security, conserving foreign exchange, and creating jobs through the growth of local refining capacity.
Idoko said the meeting was part of ongoing engagements between regulators and private refinery operators aimed at unlocking the full potential of Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector.
The Salvation for All Souls Global Outreach, SAFAS, a leading evangelical ministry with a focus on delivering free humanitarian and robust healthcare for the less privileged in the society has concluded its one-day free medical outreach in Ifewara, Osun State, where hundreds of residents benefitted from various healthcare services.
The outreach, which was held on Saturday, April 25, 2026, at Akinyemi Memorial Grammar School, offered free medical consultations, health screenings, surgeries, dental care, medications, eye care services including free glasses, as well as health education.
The ministry also provided financial support to widows and widowers in the community.
The initiative, carried out in collaboration with the Christian Medical and Dental Association, Osun State chapter, forms part of SAFAS’ established model of combining medical intervention with a follow-up crusade, a structure the organisation has previously implemented in Lagos, Abeokuta and Ibadan before extending to Ifewara.
Speaking on the development, the President of SAFAS, Apostle BOT Adeyemi, said the outreach reflects the organisation’s commitment to meeting the holistic needs of communities, noting that the model has consistently delivered impact across different locations as it addresses both physical and spiritual concerns.
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Also, the Media Director of SAFAS, Ayomikun Bamgboye, explained that the approach goes beyond immediate relief, adding that the integration of medical outreach with a crusade ensures sustained engagement and deeper transformation within host communities, as seen in previous outreaches across the country.
One of the participating medical practitioners, who spoke on the exercise, described the outreach as timely and impactful, noting that many beneficiaries accessed quality healthcare services they would otherwise not have been able to afford.
Following the medical outreach, the organisation is set to commence a crusade in Ifewara from April 27 to May 1, 2026, aimed at providing spiritual support and reinforcing the gains recorded during the medical intervention.
SAFAS has continued to expand its outreach footprint across Nigeria through integrated programmes that combine healthcare delivery with social and spiritual support for underserved communities.
Photo Caption
Health officials offering free medicals at the event
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