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Nigeria’s ruling party splits but will that cost Buhari the Presidency?

Nigeria’s political landscape was shaken Wednesday when a splinter group emerged from the cold to claim that the country’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), no longer served its interest, alleging a reign of impunity by the party leadership

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Nigeria’s political landscape was shaken Wednesday when a splinter group emerged from the cold to claim that the country’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), no longer served its interest, alleging a reign of impunity by the party leadership.

The splinter group is peopled mostly by the aggrieved members of the new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) bloc of the party and have since branded themselves as Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC).

Buba Galadima, a former ally of President Muhammadu Buhari, announced the formation of the new group at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday.

Leader of the nPDP, Alhaji Kawu Baraje was present at the press conference where the announcement was made.

Accusing the party leadership of impunity, Galadima said that the local and state congresses as well as the national convention of the APC were a sham and largely undemocratic.

Read Also: Police authorities claim 41 bodies found in Zamfara, Northwest Nigeria

“The nPDP, a group that has made a major contribution to the emergence of the APC administration, has made strenuous efforts to invite attention to inequities, injustice and poor management in our party without any success.

“The nPDP had shown good faith and commitment to the party, but it has been rewarded with indifference and even contempt. It is obvious that the leadership of the APC has decided to shut out members of the APC, as well as other members who have raised genuine grievances and a desire to improve the responsiveness of the APC to the desire of members for a party founded on democratic principles.

“Under the circumstances, patriotic elements and most of the original founders of the APC have found themselves in the opposing side of this charade.

“Most of the delegates who bought and paid for forms for the congresses and convention and were elected as delegates have come together to take control and give legitimacy to APC to be now known as and called Reformed – APC (R – APC),” Galadima said.

Influential members of the ruling APC who have, directly or indirectly, been associated with R-APC include Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, former governors of Kano and Adamawa states, Rabiu Kwankwaso and Murtala Nyako.

In his initial reaction, the newly elected National Chairman of the ruling party, Adams Oshiomhole, pleaded for patience in dealing with the insurrection in the party.

Opposition has continued to mount against the second term bid of President Muhammadu Buhari who has been severally accused of nepotism, and mal-administration. Prominent voices against his reign include former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, and Ibrahim Babangida.

How much damage the fresh upheaval will wreak on Buhari’s 2019 aspirations remains a subject of permutations. In spite of seeming waning influence, largely a result of insecurity issues, Buhari continues to maintain a stronghold in the northern half of the country, a political asset that could be deployed to full advantage in 2019.

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Kenya: Senior ICC prosecutor drops probe into 2007 post-election violence

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A senior official of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Nazhat Shameen Khan has announced an end to all further investigations into crimes committed in Kenya relating to violence that erupted following elections in 2007.

The ICC Deputy Chief Prosecutor said the 13-year legal saga, which involved senior Kenyan politicians, had been dropped

“I have reached this decision after considering the specific facts and circumstances of this situation,” she said in a statement.

“Accordingly, the Office will not pursue additional cases into the alleged criminal responsibility of other persons.”

Prosecutors claim that during the nation’s post-election violence in 2010, some 600,000 people were left homeless, and 1,300 people killed in a case in which suspects included former and current Kenyan presidents, Uhuru Kenyatta and President William Ruto. The Hague-based tribunal began looking into the incident in 2010. Six suspects were initially charged with crimes against humanity, which included deportation and murder.

However, in 2014, former chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda dropped the charges against Kenyatta, and in 2016, the prosecution’s case against Ruto was also dropped due to insufficient evidence. The lack of evidence caused the case against all six to fall apart.

Prosecutors opened a new investigation into witness intimidation and bribery after Bensouda claimed that an unrelenting campaign of intimidation against victims and witnesses prevented a trial.

Decades after the “third wave of democratisation,” widespread violence still occurs in sub-Saharan Africa after elections. Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and Zimbabwe, among others, have had their share of election conflicts.

Kenya is still not free from election disturbances, as levels of violence also played out during and after the 2022 elections.

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Sierra Leonean govt finally labels weekend attack ‘failed coup’

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The Sierra Leonean government has finally labelled attacks on several locations in the capital, Freetown, on Sunday as failed attempt to overthrow the government, having previously refraining from so classifying it.

Authorities in the West African nation said that gunmen stormed a military barracks, a prison, and other locations on Sunday, freeing roughly 2,200 prisoners and leaving over 20 people dead. On Monday, everything had returned to normal.

“The incident was a failed attempted coup. The intention was to illegally subvert and overthrow a democratically elected government,” said President Julius Bio.

“The attempt failed, and plenty of the leaders are either in police custody or on the run. We will try to capture them and bring them to the full force of the laws of Sierra Leone.”

The tense situation in Sierra Leone, which is still recuperating from a civil war that claimed over 50,000 lives between 1991 and 2002, has persisted since Bio was re-elected in June.

International allies, such as the US and the EU, questioned the outcome, and the major opposition candidate rejected it.

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