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Nigeria’s ruling party negotiating with breakaway faction but what does it matter?

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If the body language and utterances of the breakaway faction of Nigeria’s ruling party, the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC) is anything to go by, hopes of reconciling contending forces may be far from accomplishment.

In no unmistaken terms, the aggrieved faction has said that the promise of juicy carrots to its members by the leadership of the APC was already too late to stop the R-APC from its planned defection.

The bombshell was dropped on Sunday in a statement by its national publicity secretary, Kassim Afegbua.

The statement came on the heels of high powered meetings between the Presidency and perceived arrow head of the rebel group, Senate President Bukola Saraki.

In one instance, the meeting with Saraki was led by President Muhammadu Buhari himself while Chairman of the ruling party, Adams Oshiomhole, was caught in nocturnal consultations with Buba Galadima who has been the known figure behind R-APC.

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What impact these underground moves would hold for the fractured relationship remains a subject of permutations. Afegbua, spokesman of the R-APC appeared to have shot straight from the hips when he said,

“We members of the R-APC, find it very amusing that those who boasted that they won’t lose sleep over our altruistic action, have been hopping from door to door pleading with our members not to leave by dangling juicy carrots and promising them heaven and earth.

“Such level of double standard is the reason why the R-APC was birthed in the first place because the leadership is not one that keeps promises and it’s the reason why no one should take the APC seriously.”

On President’s meeting with Saraki and alleged promise of mouth-watering offers to the Senate President, R-APC wondered why Buhari finally is wooing “the same leader who was ridiculed, scandalised, demonised, criminalised and called all sorts of names by agents of the Presidency just to give the Senate President a bad name in order to hang him.”

It said, “As soon as the Supreme Court gave a resounding verdict on the trumped up and frivolous charges against the Senate President, Mr. President suddenly felt a need to praise the judiciary for standing on its own. Power as they truly say, must be a crazy aphrodisiac.”

It noted that never had any number three citizen of Nigeria been so dehumanised, criminalised and disgraced while those who just started reconciliation “kept conspiratorial silence, waiting for the sledge hammer to fall on the Senate President.”

R-APC further said, “They were short of calling him a promoter of armed robbery. They linked his name to the Offa Robbery and improvised all bile to rubbish the institution of the legislature.

“They stripped him naked in the marketplace and now desperately trying to bath him with ornaments in the inner fortress of Aso Rock.”

It said after the Supreme Court in a landmark judgment gave Saraki a clean bill of health, “All the political conspirators in the APC swooped into dubious reconciliation assignment, hopping from door to door at the thick of the night to strike deals of reconciliation. Those who said they won’t lose sleep over the R-APC have become sleepless in the last two weeks”.

On APC and its promises, R-APC said, “This government is never a promise keeper and some of the promises contained in the manifestos of the APC have been jettisoned.

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“The President, who has held himself in the inner sanctuary of the Presidential Villa is all of a sudden, opening his doors to one meeting or the other all in the name of re-election.

“Just to make the point that it is too late in the day; the train has left the station. Leopards cannot change their spots no matter how much one tries to tame them.

“This democracy must survive on ethical grounds and not on lawlessness and exclusion. It must provide a level playing field for all participants. Those who prevented some persons from visiting their states in the name of politics have suddenly realised that they need the services and support of those persons.

“They are now pleading; ready to submit to all demands. Who does not know that won’t work because examples have shown that political agreements are often observed in the breach.”

Political watchers doubt how far these moves of rapprochement will go, especially so because the major gladiators appear to nurse deep injuries that may be difficult to erase.

Politics

Ghana’s Supreme Court reinstates ruling party’s majority

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The ruling New Patriotic Party regained its majority in the legislature ahead of the Dec. 7 election after Ghana’s Supreme Court declared on Tuesday that the speaker of parliament’s declaration of four seats as vacant was illegal.

 

Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the leader of the NPP caucus, petitioned the supreme court of the West African nation to reverse Speaker Alban Bagbin’s decision.

 

Bagbin had said that one member of the National Democratic Congress and two members of the NPP had resigned their seats when they registered to run as independents.

 

Another lawmaker with an NPP leaning filed as an NPP candidate to run for office.

 

Due to Bagbin’s decision, the NDC now holds 136 members in parliament, compared to the 135 held by the NPP, the party of outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo.

 

The approval of Supreme Court nominees, loans, and bill enactments, as well as the presentation of a provisional budget for the first quarter of 2025, were all delayed by the indefinite postponement of two further parliamentary sessions.

 

In a televised decision, Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo declared that Afenyo-Markin’s appeal was successful by a majority vote of 5:2. She noted that the court will later submit the rationale for its ruling.

 

According to Afenyo-Markin, the decision permitted the parliament to return to its regular activities. Among other things, it is anticipated to approve a $250 million World Bank loan intended to support the financial industry and give corporations tax breaks.

 

 

A request for comment from Bagbin’s representative was not answered.

 

Although some observers predict a hotly contested election, opinion surveys suggest that primary opposition leader John Dramani Mahama will likely defeat NPP contender and incumbent Vice President Muhamudu Bawumia in next month’s election.

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Politics

Senegal: PM Sonko urges followers to avenge campaign violence

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Senegal’s Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko, has advised Pastef party followers to exact retribution for claimed violence against them during the Sunday parliamentary election campaign.

 

Before a presidential election in March in some of the greatest disturbances in Senegal’s history, supporters of the prime minister, also president of Pastef, battled with police. Since Sonko’s ally, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, won the vote, the nation has remained peaceful. He defeated then-president Macky Sall handily.

 

 

However, reports of periodic conflicts between various party supporters have surfaced recently as the nation gets ready for a legislative contest that will finally determine how much Faye and Sonko will be able to carry out their agenda.

 

Sonko claimed in a social media post attacks against Pastef supporters in the capital Dakar and other towns since campaigning began.

 

 

“May each patriot they have attacked and injured, be proportionally avenged. We will exercise our legitimate right to respond,” he wrote.

The text accompanied a photo of a young man showing a gashing wound on his forearm.

 

The first week of campaigning saw an increase in violence reported by a local civil society group involving conflicts between supporters in central Senegal and the burning of an opposition party headquarters in Dakar.

 

Calling for calm, the interior ministry said on Monday it had been notified of acts of violence and sabotage against party caravans and other campaign activity.

 

In order to stop damage, rights defender Alioune Tine asked politicians to exhibit “moderation and wisdom” in their speech and requested the interior ministry to invite various party representatives to meet.

 

 

“The verbal escalation has reached a critical threshold, we have the impression of going to war,” Tine posted on X.

 

 

Pastef is up against former ruling parties that have united ex-presidents Sall and Abdoulaye Wade into a coalition.

 

Dissolving the opposition-led national assembly in September, Faye accused legislators of not participating in substantive budget and other proposal debates.

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