Former Governor of Osun State and court-reinstated National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olagunsoye Oyinlola has declared himself the undisputable National Secretary of the party, notwithstanding the party’s recent announcement of his suspension.
Speaking on Wednesday in Abuja during a press conference, Oyinlola reminded the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) Chaired by Alhaji Bamanga Tukur that by the import of the Court of Appeal judgement reinstating him and having been empowered by the constitution of our party, he remains the undisputed National Secretary of the PDP.
“Gentlemen of the press, on Monday night, I heard through the media, my purported suspension from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur led National Working Committee (NWC). I have since gone through the press statement containing my purported suspension and have come to the conclusion that I should make a formal reaction to this latest act of impunity by a section of the party, that is clearly out to ridicule the judiciary, denigrate the rule of law and destroy the very basic foundation of constitutionalism in our country”, Oyinlola said.
“You will recall that on January 11, this year, Justice Abdul Kafarati of the Federal High Court, Abuja, ordered my removal from office as the National Secretary of the PDP in his judgement, in a suit instituted by a faction of the Ogun State chapter of the party. Although I immediately appealed that court verdict, the Bamanga Tukur led PDP swiftly swore in my deputy as acting National Secretary, declaring that the judgement was declaratory, hence its implementation could not be delayed.
“The PDP and my humble self appealed that judgement. Surprisingly, the PDP, which was vicariously liable for my actions as National Secretary almost immediately, and without any reason or justification, withdrew its appeal. I was requested to pursue my appeal and report back if my petition lodged at the Court of Appeal succeeded. From then on, I patiently and diligently pursued my case at the Appeal Court which, a few days ago, upturned the Federal High Court verdict and re-validated my mandate as the validly elected PDP National Secretary. I expected the party to abide by that judgment”.
He described his suspension, which he found out only through the media, as a shocking and unbelievable reaction to his winning a court case. He recalled the history of the PDP as one of resistance to dictatorship and impunity, of robust opposition to all forms of negation of constitutionalism and the rule of law, and as a product of the rule of law, saying that realization informed his shock at the “blatant assault” on the courts and an unfortunate affront against the Judiciary, good conscience and morality.
“Gentlemen of the press, I want to say that assuming the Tukur leadership of the PDP felt dissatisfied with the court decision, what should it have done? Shouldn't it have asked the plaintiffs to appeal the verdict instead of declaring this needless war against the judiciary?” he queried.
“Even then, I need to stress the unconstitutionality of this act of suspension of Oyinlola, a member of the National Executive Committee of the PDP. In saying this, I wish to invite the attention of Nigerians to the provisions of section 57 of the PDP constitution which states in detail, the procedure for disciplining members of the party. Specifically, section 57 (4) states that ‘where an allegation is made against a member of the party, the Disciplinary Committee shall inform the member in writing of the allegations made against him or her’. Nobody has till date informed me of any wrong doing against my party.
“Again, Section 57 (6) is even more apposite here. It gives the consequences of not giving a member a fair hearing before a disciplinary action is taken against him or her. It states: ‘Any decision taken against a member who has not been informed of the charges against him or her, or, has not been given any opportunity of defending himself or herself shall be null and void’.
“As to Tukur's NWC suspending me so as to preclude me from enjoying the relief granted me by the Court of Appeal , I wish to shock them by informing them of the futility of their action. They should have been diligent enough to read section 57 (7) of our party's constitution. It states: ‘Notwithstanding any other provision relating to discipline, no Executive Committee at any level, except the National Executive Committee, shall entertain any question of discipline as may relate or concern a member of the National Executive Committee, Deputy Governors or members of the National Assembly...’ That is what our constitution says. I am a member of the NEC and so Tukur's NWC can only submit a complaint to NEC concerning me or any other member of the party listed above.
“For the records, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, as a loyal and committed PDP member, who has over the years been a lover of peace and amity, has demonstrated his preference for methodical and urbane conduct in office, by spear-heading several peace initiatives and amicable resolution of disputes. Accordingly, I have, in line with my stance on harmonious relationships and strict adherence to orderliness and respect for truth taken several steps in the past ten months since I was illegally removed from office by a contrived court ruling. Let me state with humility, that as a human being with feelings, I am bound to be hurt and aggrieved at the inhuman and unjust treatment meted to me in the course of the performance of my duties as national secretary. I, therefore, subscribed to several peace plans in line with the constitution of the PDP, as engineered by several organs, interests and individuals that have stakes in the affairs of the PDP. That itself is in conformity with the relevant sections of the PDP constitution on seeking redress by aggrieved party members.
“Among others, we met and discussed my plight a couple of times with the national leader of the PDP, His Excellency, Mr. President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR. I also made representations to the Governor Ibrahim Shema Committee set up by PDP Governors to examine the political crises in the South-west zone of the PDP through a memorandum presented to the body. Furthermore, I submitted a memorandum to the Committee headed by the esteemed Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih, and the Prof. Jerry Gana panel on the last PDP special national convention, among many other moves to resolve the impasse amicably. It could be safely stated that I took adequate steps to register my displeasure at the manner I was shabbily treated by the NWC of the PDP, which went to the extent of withdrawing the appeals filed on my behalf at the Federal High Court, Abuja; and the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal, with an apparent intention of pushing me out of the PDP at all costs.
“My persecutors owe me an explanation on why I am being unjustly persecuted, and vilified unduly; especially considering the fact that no pronouncement has been made on the representations I have made to various authorities of the party in the past 10 months, aside from my illegal removal from office. The causes and effects of the political crises must have been examined by the various bodies that investigated the conducts of all the aggrieved PDP members in relation to the handling of the crises by party leaders. To have resorted to an anomalous decision to suspend an accused without allowing for a fair hearing makes the NWC appear to be a body at the crossroad. That decision, which is designed to serve the self-interest of a clique, destroys the very basis of internal democracy in PDP and makes nonsense out of the principles and values which all right-thinking members of the society cherish.
“It is more than a huge joke and travesty of justice that in the process of attempting to illegally terminate Oyinlola's membership of the PDP, the PDP NWC violated the party's constitution by refusing to give me - the accused top official and member of the National Executive Committee of the ruling party a fair hearing, before my purported suspension from the party. It is tragic that all these do not portray the actors as being free from destructive bias and an irrational fear of Oyinlola's penchant for due process. What could be a better proof of their feverish struggle to prevent Oyinlola from operating at the national secretariat than the PDP counsel's vow to the press last January that '’Oyinlola will never be allowed to return to office as PDP scribe?'’
“I also understand that Tukur's NWC spoke about referring my case to the Disciplinary Committee. I do not know the disciplinary committee they are talking about because, the one set up by the Tukur leadership has not been approved by the NEC as stipulated by the constitution of the party and so cannot exist talkless of trying anyone.
“I do not want to believe that there is no one in Tukur's NWC knowledgeable in the provisions of the party's constitution and in the operation of the rule of law. I would rather hold on to the belief that the rush to subvert the rule of law and mock our judicial system simply blinded the hawks in that NWC to what the law says.
“In saying all the above, gentlemen of the press, I am reminding Tukur's NWC that the import of the court of Appeal judgement and having been empowered by the constitution of our party, I remain the undisputed National Secretary of the PDP. If they are so determined to discipline me for whatever wrong they perceive, they should report me to the National Executive Committee of the party. There is no short-cut to it as long as the party's acts and conducts are governed by its own constitution and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which is the ground norm.”
Continuing, he drew their attention to Section 36(a-e) of the PDP constitution, which spells out the powers and duties of the national secretary, expressing hope that the consequences of having illegal persons perform those functions and exercise such powers in clear breach of the law have been noted. He therefore reiterated that the only person who can legitimately exercise those functions today and unless the Supreme Court says otherwise is Olagunsoye Oyinlola.“Gentlemen of the press, while I thank you for honouring my invitation to this briefing, I urge you to tell Nigerians to ask Alhaji Tukur and his cohorts what offence Oyinlola has committed against them to warrant the undisguised persecution and harassment? I have not offended them in anyway. Instead, I spent my days in Wadata Plaza, pursuing the peace, orderliness, progress and cohesion of the party at all levels, while not losing sight of the dictates of the law.
“Even Alhaji Tukur is a witness to my efforts in this regard. Why and how things got this bad in the party is what I cannot fathom. I, however, advise that in executing whatever plan they may have against Oyinlola, they should spare the Judiciary of the ridicule such as the ambush of last Monday, which they clearly designed to short-shrift the decision of the Court of Appeal. I am a law-abiding citizen and will always submit to the law. That was why I appealed Justice Kafarati's verdict. I urge my traducers to also endeavour to have faith in the law and in the Judiciary. If they are not satisfied with what the Court of Appeal said on Oyinlola, they have the Supreme Court to approach.
“Certainly, to live in terrible hate and perpetual fear is a terrible end to design and I will never allow my conscience to be imprisoned, while contributing my quota to the development of the PDP or any organization for that matter. Leadership must not allow itself to be part of a problem it is attempting to solve, as the result of this would definitely be loss of both credibility and efficacy to effect positive changes. Opinions must certainly differ on issues and developments, since we cannot all see through the same side of the prism in like manner. I am of the conviction that we could do better, as the ruling political party to restore and respect the rule of law, enshrine an ethic of accountability, fair play, responsibility in leadership and institutionalize the principles of equality, justice and respect for objectivity and truth. Doing otherwise exposes us to the ridicule of the advanced world as the political arena assumes higher levels of activity.
“Gentlemen of the press, I am happy to stress that by the combined effects of the judgment of the Court of Appeal and the provisions of the constitution of our party (particularly section 57), I, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola remain the National Secretary of the PDP - except and until the Supreme Court says otherwise, any other contraption from Tukur's NWC is illegal, null and void. Simply put, disobedience of the ruling of a properly constituted Law court leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Gentlemen of the press, no condition is permanent. That is why we all must fear the Creator in our dealings with fellow human beings. And like I have always maintained, the path of truth may be long, arrival at its destination is, however, definite”.
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Former Anambra State governor and presidential candidate Peter Obi has disagreed with Atiku Abubakar’s proposal to restore Nigeria’s fuel subsidy if elected president in 2027.
Speaking on Monday at the Nigerian Bar Association conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Obi argued that removing the subsidy was necessary but faulted the Federal Government for failing to properly manage the resources generated from its removal.
Atiku, who supported the removal of fuel subsidy during the 2023 presidential election, has since indicated that he would reconsider the policy and restore the subsidy if he wins the 2027 election.
Obi, however, maintained that reversing the policy would not address the underlying problems. According to him, the major failure has been the poor management of the funds saved after the subsidy was removed.
He said the government should have accompanied the policy with measures designed to reduce the hardship faced by Nigerians and should have channelled the resulting savings into productive areas of the economy.
“What we should have done is that when we removed it, we should have given the people alternative usage for the subsidy,” Obi said.
He further alleged that the funds recovered from subsidy removal had not been adequately accounted for, claiming that the resources were being “mismanaged and stolen.”
Obi said he had advocated a more structured approach to subsidy removal before the 2023 election, arguing that the savings should have been deliberately invested in areas capable of improving the lives of Nigerians and strengthening the economy.
“Go to my manifesto, I said it before, I said I will do it in an organised manner and whatever we recover would be invested appropriately,” he said.
President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidy during his inauguration on May 29, 2023. The decision led to a significant increase in petrol prices and intensified concerns over inflation and the rising cost of living.
While the Federal Government has defended the policy as necessary to reduce pressure on public finances and redirect government resources, the implementation of the reform and the management of the resulting savings remain contentious issues.
With the 2027 election approaching, the contrasting positions of Obi and Atiku have added fuel subsidy to the growing debate over how Nigeria should manage its economy, protect vulnerable citizens and use public resources more effectively.
News
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has warned the 31 companies that emerged successful in the 2025 oil and gas licensing round to pay their required signature bonuses within the statutory timeframe or risk losing their provisional awards.
The warning comes one month after the commission conducted the commercial bid conference in Abuja, where the successful bidders were announced for 37 oil and gas blocks.
In a notice issued on Sunday, the NUPRC said the compliance process had commenced following the issuance of provisional award letters to the successful companies.
The commission stated that bidders who failed to meet the payment deadline in accordance with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) would forfeit their bid guarantees and have their provisional awards transferred to the next-ranked reserve bidders.
“Exactly a month ago, the NUPRC hosted the 2025 commercial bid conference in Abuja where 31 companies emerged winners of 37 oil and gas blocks. Having issued the winners with the provisional awards, compliance with the payment of signature bonuses has already begun,” the commission said.
The 37 blocks awarded in the licensing round cover several areas, including the Niger Delta onshore and shallow-water fields, deep offshore assets and frontier basins.
The assets include PPL 2A29 to PPL 2A62 in the Niger Delta, PPL 2010 in the deep offshore, PPL 308 in the Benin Basin, PPL 900 to PPL 903 in the Anambra Basin, PPL 700 in the Chad Basin, and PPL 800 and PPL 801 in the Benue Trough.
The NUPRC also released the names of the 31 successful companies, together with the ranked reserve bidders for each of the 37 blocks.
A total of 143 companies participated in the licensing exercise, submitting about 200 bids for the assets on offer. However, 13 of the 50 blocks originally listed for the round received no bids.
Under the PIA and the applicable licensing guidelines, successful bidders are required to pay signature bonuses ranging from $3 million to $7 million for each awarded block.
In addition to the signature bonus, the companies must provide the required guarantees, pay first-year rents and fulfil other post-award obligations within the prescribed period.
Failure to satisfy these requirements will result in the forfeiture of the affected company's bid guarantee and the revocation of its provisional award. The block will then be offered to the designated reserve bidder.
The NUPRC Chief Executive Officer, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, had previously urged the successful bidders to complete their payments promptly and move ahead with the development of their awarded assets.
The commission has advised bidders, industry stakeholders and members of the public to consult the 2025 Licensing Round portal for additional information on the awards and compliance requirements.
Under the applicable PIA framework, successful bidders have 90 days from the issuance of their provisional awards to complete the required payments and other conditions.
With the provisional awards issued following the July 21, 2026 commercial bid conference, the 90-day compliance period expires on October 19, 2026.
As of August 23, 2026, 33 days of the 90-day period have elapsed, leaving 57 days for the successful companies to complete their statutory obligations.
Companies that fail to pay their signature bonuses and first-year rents within the deadline risk losing both their bid guarantees and the provisional awards. The affected blocks would subsequently be reassigned to the respective reserve bidders in line with the licensing rules.
The NUPRC's latest notice therefore signals that the successful bidders have entered the final stages of the award process, with compliance now required before the provisional awards can progress toward full development of the assets.
Business
In The Spotlight
Vanguard recently published pathetic pictures of the Benin-Sapele-Warri Expressway; and Punch revealed to us what happens to the Lagos-Calabar Expressway, not even 15 per cent completed, each time there is a heavy downpour in the Lekki peninsula.
The road becomes so flooded, it becomes barely usable. Morning shows the day. If Tinubu-Umahi’s legacy road already shows evidence of long-term stress, pity the Nigerians who will ply that road ten years from now.
The Minister was in Lagos State recently, half-begging, half attempting to blackmail Governor Sanwo-Olu to cough up funds to repair the mistakes made by Engineer Umahi and the contractors who hastily embarked on the road without Environmental Impact Assessment. He is building in Lagos and coastal states the sort of rickety roads he left in Ebonyi State. He has the right President for that sort of shoddy business. Right now, parts of the road have been vandalized – even before completion. Fellow Nigerians are not paying attention as they should. Pity.
Vanguard, Punch and Daily Trust have been doing Nigerians a favour by pointing to one of the greatest failures of the Tinubu administration – the maintenance of federal highways under Minister David Umahi – whose major achievement in three years had been attracting attention to himself through a scandal involving homicide. On the whole, Nigerian roads, federal and state, have not been receiving the attention they deserve in the last eleven years; the neglect just got worse.
Experience on Nigerian roads from 1974-2019
“Hit the road, Jack”. Advice from my Sales Manager, in Boston, USA, 1968.
My first full time job was in selling. It was as a salesman for a leading pharmaceutical company, Lederle Laboratories, in 1968, that Mr. Al, for Albert, Abby, came into my life. As my Sales Manager, he monitored my activities and also as my mentor. He drilled into my head the idea that a salesman’s work consists of being on the road as much as possible; in order to meet customers. By the time I arrived in Nigeria, in 1974, to start work as the Marketing Manager of Abbott Laboratories, marketers of SIMILAC baby food, being on the road 70 per cent of the time had become routine. It was new to my sales staff, but proved rewarding for all concerned – company, staff and especially me.
Until August 1974, Ughelli, Delta State, was the farthest distance I ever traveled in Nigeria. I hit the road. By August 1975, I had covered all the 12 State capitals created by General Gowon, at least three times; and the trips had just begun. By 1998, after Abacha had increased the number of states to 36, I was in charge of Circulation in Vanguard; and my annual itinerary called for visiting all the offices at least once a quarter. In fact, I opened new Vanguard Offices in Ado-Ekiti, Yenagoa, Abakaliki, Gombe, Damaturu, Birnin Kebbi and Dutse. From 2001 to 2007, I traveled to all the stations at least three times a year. Over 80 per cent of the trips were by road – even though flight options were available to me. I got to know Nigerian roads as nobody I have ever met knew them. Divorce was threatened by the occupants of the home front. There was no major road constructed, expanded or diverted which I was not familiar with. By 2017, the trips were reduced to about 20 states every year.
Thus, each time a new Minister of Works is appointed, at least until 2019, I know the problems he faces. Shortly after President Jonathan assumed office, I published an article titled Nigeria’s 70 Most Important roads. These are the roads over which 70 to 80 per cent of goods are transported every day. Lagos-Ibadan Expressway remains the first one in all respects. I went further. The biggest map available at the CMS Bookshop was obtained and all the 70 roads were identified for the Minister in charge of roads with the advice: “take care of these roads and Nigerians will never forget you”. I wasted my time and effort; and Nigerians have been paying dearly for it. Since then, two Ministers of Works were appointed; each left Nigerian roads infinitely worse than when he started.
Three years of Umahi, more of the same
“It aint the things you don’t know that cause the problem; it’s things that you think you know that aint so.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882
To the best of my knowledge, no Minister of Works has been appointed in Nigeria, with the exception of late General Mamman Kontagora, who can be said to have had a fairly good knowledge of Nigerian roads by the time he was appointed. Consequently, we have selected so many good men; but, for the wrong task. Many people, including me, would have protested if Fashola was not appointed Minister by Buhari after his sterling performance as Governor of Lagos State. But, he failed dismally as Minister of Works. So, in all fairness to Umahi, many of the roads in terrible condition were inherited from past administrations. That said; it is also a fact that every new appointee is not compelled to accept the offer; and “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”. Umahi inherited several death traps; but, like all members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, he also helped to conceal the truth from Nigerians. Now, he is holding the bag; with all the incriminating evidence of poor performance. Umahi should also be excused for the failure to establish priorities. His boss, without consultations, despite all the lies told, had already conceived of a new road – the Lagos-Calabar Expressway – and the preferred contractor was determined, without bidding. The Minister spent his first year defending a decision made without his input. He added his own.
Umahi started out sounding like a “know-it-all”. He is an Engineer; so he knows all there is about road construction. He even dictated that all federal roads, irrespective of terrain, would be paved with cement – without consideration for the impact on the price of cement; which is essential for building construction.
Perhaps, not establishing objective priorities was his biggest blunder. Some Nigerian roads carry most of the heavy loads and require more attention. The Lapai-Bida, the Benin-Sapele and the Asaba-Onitsha roads each carry more loads than all the Federal roads in Taraba, Ebonyi and Kebbi states put together. I could not agree more with Senator Adams Oshiomole who recently carpeted Umahi for lack of priority in his selection of roads receiving his attention. The Okene-Auchi-Benin road carries the largest load of cement heading for Southern States, as well as fuel tankers moving North. Without prioritizing the most important federal roads, we are indirectly slowing down economic development, making products made in Nigeria less competitive and entrenching poverty. In the absence of rail nationwide, roads constitute the life-blood of our nation. They are soaked now with our blood.
By Dele Sobowale
In The Spotlight
How many fake agencies can the Tinubu Presidency go after at a time? When I posed this question in my column in early August, I intended it as rhetoric. The fake agencies and their operators apparently took it as a challenge.
On Friday evening, the ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Aliyu, SAN, emerged from his second meeting with the President in 48 hours to announce the discovery of yet another fake agency, grandly named the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office and promoted by one Prince George Buchi Nwabueze.
Side note: Because of the length of these agency names, I’ll refer to them by their promoters, who happen to be ‘Princes’. Say, Prince Adeyemi’s PFIFC or Prince George’s agency. Okay?
So, I sat there among my colleagues, listening to Aliyu reel out another episode of an ongoing soap opera whose production studio is in the Nigerian civil service. We were arguably the first set of ears to get the gist, a privilege that comes with the burden of sharing it with the rest of the world.
Twenty-four hours earlier, I spotted the ICPC chairman making his way through the corridors leading to the President’s office for the umpteenth time. Aliyu had since become a standard feature at the State House since revelations about Prince Adeyemi’s fake agency, the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, first went public.
Draped in a white agbada, Aliyu sounded fulfilled as he announced another big catch, Prince George. Unlike his counterpart in the PFIFC, Prince George did not settle for a spot in the Federal Secretariat. No! He operated from inside the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. He was also found to operate under at least five variations of his own name, which is fitting. A fake agency deserves a fake agency’s worth of aliases.
The President ordered his immediate arrest and suspended three permanent secretaries: M.S. Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare and Richard Pheelangwah.
If you are keeping count, you would have counted six fake agencies or actors in the past few months. Four! First came Prince Adeyemi’s now-dissolved PFIFC. Then the ICPC’s interim report of August 6 unearthed two more: the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and Public-Private Partnership.
There is also the Presidential Implementation Committee on the Alienation of Federal Government Properties, a body created in 2000 under Obasanjo to manage the sale and lease of federal landed assets.
Though now dissolved, its erstwhile secretary, B.S. Dutsin-Ma, had continued operating. In early August, the Presidency directed him to cease acting on behalf of the committee and the Federal Government.
Last September, the Presidency distanced itself from Mr Fegho Umunubo, an erstwhile Special Assistant on Digital and Creative Economy in the Vice President’s office, whom it warned was still acting in his old capacity despite being let go.
Now Prince George’s outfit makes six similar instances in under a year. At this rate, the fake agencies and actors may soon require their own coordinating ministry. And who knows if the next ‘Prince’ may be found operating from the Presidential Villa itself?
Lest we think this plague is new, history says otherwise. You see, Nigeria has always had people who understood that in a country where government is everywhere, the most profitable business is to impersonate it. From the 1980s and 1990s, there are tales of fake recruitment syndicates selling appointment letters into the Army, Customs and NNPC from rented offices with convincing letterheads. Some past regimes responded with periodic raids, tribunals and occasional decrees. But the racket always reincarnates.
Over the years, the ICPC and EFCC have busted fake job-racketeering “ministries” in Abuja that interviewed hundreds of applicants and collected “processing fees” for years before anyone really noticed. The sobering reality is that we have always chased the “Princes” one at a time. And there will always be another ‘Prince’ to sit on that throne.
Also, it is not uniquely a Nigerian thing. In California in 2015, authorities uncovered a self-declared “Masonic Fraternal Police Department”, a policing outfit with its own badges, uniforms and a website claiming a 3,000-year history. It was run by three “Princes” until the state of California charged them with impersonating officers.
The difference is not that other countries breed fewer fraudsters than we do. It is that their systems make the fraud quite short-lived because the list of legitimate agencies is knowable by the public, leaving the fake ones to glow in the dark.
Moreover, if government ministries, departments and agencies were fewer than they are now, there would be fewer hiding places for the fakes.
Which brings me, once again, to one document still gathering dust on the President’s desk: the Oronsaye report. Commissioned in 2011 and submitted in 2012, Steve Oronsaye’s committee found 541 federal parastatals, commissions and agencies and recommended pruning them to about 263. It recommended mergers, scrapping, subsuming and anything else that could shrink that number.
To his credit, President Tinubu revived it in February 2024, ordering full implementation. Two and a half years later, however, the rathole of redundant agencies has only widened, and now fake ones are camouflaging among the real ones. Implementing Oronsaye would arguably leave fewer agencies with clearer supervision and a slimmer cost of governance. Again, it is not a silver bullet. Matter of fact, the report is 14 years old; some recommendations would need fresh legislation. But why chase rats one by one when we can fumigate the entire network of holes?
While the ICPC is hunting “Princes”, President Tinubu is assembling his Avengers. According to the APC Presidential Campaign Council list the Presidency released on Saturday morning, Tinubu will sit as chairman; Vice President Kashim Shettima and party chairman Nentawe Yilwatda will co-chair the council. Ex-Zamfara governor Abdulaziz Yari will serve as DG, and Hope Uzodimma, still fresh from surviving the storm that rocked the Progressives Governors’ Forum months ago, will serve as secretary.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker Abbas and Governor Buni will serve as zonal heads; Oshiomhole will head mobilisation, while James Faleke will return to his 2022 role in election planning.
The media directorate already looks like a special-purpose media house of its own. Information Minister Mohammed Idris will coordinate alongside Dr Dele Alake, Bayo Onanuga, Issa-Onilu, Mr Tunde Rahman, Dr Sunday Dare, Daniel Bwala and Felix Morka.
By Stephen Angbulu