Akeredolu died on Wednesday at the age of 67. The governor passed on following a protracted battle with prostate cancer.

In a statement by Garba Shehu, his media aide, Buhari described the late Ondo governor as a towering political and legal luminary.

“I have lost a valued friend. I pray that his soul finds eternal peace. My thoughts are with the countless people who are inspired by his leadership in law and politics,” he said.

“My condolences to his family, the government and people of Ondo State and to our party, the All Progressives Congress.”

The former president also commiserated with the family of Ghali Na’Abba, former speaker of the house of representatives, who also died on Wednesday morning.

Buhari described the demise of the former speaker as a national loss. “His insight into issues and nuanced understanding of politics had few parallels,” Buhari said.

“Speaker Na’Abba was at the forefront of the defence of democracy at a time it faced the threat of extinction by powerful forces.

“He leaves us with innumerable memories of his activism in politics. May Allah forgive his wrongs.”

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Born on September 27, 1958, the 8th Speaker of the House of Representatives died in Abuja on Wednesday morning.

According to family sources, late Na’Abba battled with ailment for a long time before passing away.

He was once flown abroad for medical treatment and stayed there for some months before he recovered and returned to Nigeria.

According to the sources, the remains of the former Speaker would be buried in Abuja today according to Islamic rites.

Late Na’Abba joined the Peoples Democratic Party, and became the party’s candidate for Kano Municipal Federal Constituency, a position he  won during the April 1999 general elections.

He subsequently emerged Speaker of the House of Representatives after the political crisis that led to exit of the first Speaker of the Fourth Republic, Salisu Buhari.

He attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he studied political science and graduated in 1979.

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Na’abba, who is the leader of the Nigeria Consultative Front (NCFront), said this in reaction to a statement by Olawale Okunniyi, the forum’s secretary who reportedly said the NCFront would defend the Yoruba nation protesters in court.

The police had arrested 49 suspects at the ‘Yoruba nation’ rally, held in the Ojota area of Lagos state.

But Na’abba on Monday, said Okunniyi’s statement was a personal one as he and most members of the forum’s committee are in support of the government’s actions.

According to Daily Trust, he said the federal government has taken the right decision to go after them and that the forum would not hide behind human rights to defend “criminals”.

“The issue of Kanu and Igboho is very controversial. However, I believe what the government did by way of going after them is supported by almost every Nigerian. Nobody in this country should be allowed to perpetrate these kind things,” he said.

“Therefore, the government has the full support of myself and most of the members of the steering committee of NCFront. So, what was released by the national secretary was personal to him, it’s never supported by anyone especially myself.

“We’re not supporting them, we’re supporting the measures taken by the federal government. We’re not going to support anything that’s detrimental to the state. We’re not going to hide behind the issue of human rights to defend criminals, people whose actions have threatened law and order in the country.”

Kanu was arrested and extradited to Nigeria in June to face trial after he jumped bail and fled the country in 2017.

In the same vein, the Department of State Services (DSS) launched a manhunt for Igboho after he escaped arrest when they raided his residence in Oyo state on July 1.

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Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, made the appeal in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday.

The presidential aide, who was reacting to Na’Abba’s media interview on President Buhari, said the appeal had become imperative so as to change his (Na’Abba) negative opinions as published by a media.

Na’Abba had during an interview with a TV presenter, Osasu Igbinedion, vowed not to support Buhari in his bid to be re-elected in the forthcoming presidential election slated for Feb. 2019.

The former speaker, who also revealed that Buhari had alerted members of the Board of Trustees of the All Progressives Party (APC) in Nov. 2017 of his intention to seek re-election, said his decision not to support the president was due to alleged Buhari’s failure “to add even an inch of value to democracy’’.

However, Shehu, who narrated Buhari’s achievements, urged Na’Abba to spare time and study them in order for him to change his negative impression.

The achievements read in part: “Nigeria exited its worst recession in decades. After five quarters of negative growth, the economy bounced back into positive territory. Agriculture was one of the stars of 2017, posting consistent growth levels even throughout the recession.

“Also, inflation fell for 10 consecutive months during 2017 (February to November).

“The Naira stabilised against the dollar, after the Central Bank introduced a new Forex window for Investors and Exporters. The stability has attracted billions of dollars in portfolio investments since April 2017.

“On the back of a stable Naira and increased investment inflows, Nigeria’s stock market emerged one of the best-performing in the world, delivering returns in excess of 40 per cent.

“Nigeria saw bumper food harvests, especially in rice, whose local production continues to rise significantly (states like Ebonyi, Kebbi, Kano leading the pack, with Ogun joining at the end of 2017). The price of a 50kg bag of rice – a staple in the country – has fallen by about 50 per cent as local production has gone up.

“The Federal Government launched a N701 billion Intervention Fund (‘Payment Assurance Programme’) aimed at supporting power generation companies to meet their payment obligations to gas and equipment suppliers, banks and other partners.

“The impact is being felt, the amount of power being distributed is now currently steady at around 4,000MW and generation now put at 7,000 MW, higher than ever recorded.

“The Federal Government began paying pensions to police officers who were granted Presidential pardon in 2000 after serving in the former Biafran Police during the Nigerian Civil War. These officers, and their next of kin, have waited for their pensions for 17 years since the Presidential pardon.

“Nigeria rose 24 places on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings, and earned a place on the List of Top 10 Reformers in the world.

“Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves grew $40 billion, reaching the highest level since 2014. Nigeria also added, this year, an additional $250m to its Sovereign Wealth Fund. Also, Nigeria’s trade balance crossed over into surplus territory, from a deficit in 2016.’’

The presidential aide revealed that Nigeria had successfully issued two Eurobonds (US$4.5bn), a Sukuk Bond (100 billion Naira), a Diaspora Bond (US$300m), and the first Sovereign Climate Bond in Africa, raising billions of dollars for infrastructure spending.

He said the federal government had inaugurated a Tax Amnesty scheme expected to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenues when it closes in March 2018.

He also disclosed that the government had successfully commenced implementation of a Whistle blowing Programme that had so far seen recoveries of tens of millions of dollars.

On the Social Investment Programme which he described as Nigeria’s most ambitious social welfare programme ever – rolled out across dozens of states, Shehu said currently, 5.2 million primary school children in 28,249 schools in 19 states are being fed daily.

He stated that under the programme 200,000 unemployed graduates had enlisted into the N-power Job Scheme, and a quarter of a million loans already distributed to artisans, traders, and farmers).

“The number of Nigerians facing food insecurity in the northeast dropped by half, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

“The Nigeria Customs Service recorded its highest-ever revenue collection, crossing the One Trillion Naira (N1,000,000,000) mark. (The target for 2017 was N770 billion (N770,573,730,490); 2016 Collection was just under 900 billion (N898,673,857,431.07).

“The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), under the new management appointed by President Buhari in 2016, remitted N7.8 billion to the coffers of the federal government. The total amount remitted by JAMB between 2010 and 2016 was N51 million.

“2017 was also the Year of Nigeria’s Agriculture Revolution, embodied by the successes of the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (PFI) and the Anchor Borrowers Programme. More than a dozen moribund fertiliser blending plants were revived under the PFI this year.

“Finally, this administration has laid the foundation for a 2018 that will be Nigeria’s Year of Infrastructure. A number of important infrastructure projects, in power, rail and road, are scheduled to come on-stream or inch close to completion next year.’’

The presidential aide expressed the hope that this litany would clear all doubts about Na-Abba’s claim that Buhari had done nothing for Nigeria.

“Even a beetle-eyed critic cannot pretend not to notice the tremendous progress in the area of security and the war against corruption.

“Before President Buhari was elected, Nigerians were living on their nerves and the entire country, including Abuja and Na’Abba’s Kano were almost barricaded because of the daily Boko Haram terrorist attacks on innocent people.

“Before the President was sworn into office, the terrorists were so bold that they could successfully attack the Police Headquarters in Abuja and army barracks in the Northeast”, something he described “as monumental national disgrace of historic scale”.

“With the better equipped more motivated security personnel under President Buhari, the Boko Haram terrorists have been so militarily crippled that they no longer have the capability to take and occupy any Nigerian territory as was the case under the former PDP administration,’’ he added.

On corruption, Shehu stated that Buhari had demonstrated extraordinary courage by going after former military chiefs for their involvement in corruption.

“If the President could go after fellow soldiers, what more evidence do we need to prove that the President is bold and sincere in fighting corruption?’’

On the claim by Na-Abba that the president has not added value to democracy in three years, Shehu said: “The sense we have is that the Honorable speaker was confusing the political environment as had existed in the past, with this period when the President has shown a total commitment to the independence of the two arms of government, namely the Parliament and the Judiciary.

According to him, the charge that democracy is now being undermined has therefore no basis against President Buhari’s impeccable democratic credentials.

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In an interview on The Osasu Show, a programme by Osasu Igbenedion, Na’Abba accused Buhari of running a “one-man” government and vowed not to support Buhari’s reelection bid.

But Shehu called on Na’Abba to change his negative perception about the Buhari administration, stating that the achievements of Buhari would clear all doubts about Na-Abba’s claim that the president has done nothing for Nigeria.

“Even a beetle-eyed critic cannot pretend not to notice the tremendous progress in the area of security and the war against corruption,” Shehu said in a statement.

“Before Buhari was elected, Nigerians were living on their nerves and the entire country, including Abuja and Na’Abba’s Kano were almost barricaded because of the daily Boko Haram terrorist attacks on innocent people.

“The terrorists were so bold that they could successfully attack the Police Headquarters in Abuja and army barracks in the north-east, something that was a monumental national disgrace of historic scale.”

He said with the better equipped more motivated security personnel under Buhari, the Boko Haram insurgents have been so “militarily crippled” that they no longer have the capability to take and occupy any Nigerian territory as was the case under the former PDP administration.

Shehu added that the president demonstrated extraordinary courage by going after former military chiefs for their involvement in corruption.

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Former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and President Muhammadu Buhari have been in charge of the country during those periods.

Speaking in Abuja during the 2016/2017 matriculation and fellowship endowment of the National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS), Obasanjo said accidental leadership brings about trial and error in governance.

He blamed the nation’s leadership for the recruitment process.

“Circumstances at hand or situations on ground have to a large extent over the years determined who and who were elected into office in Nigeria as presidents since 1999 as against the level of preparedness on the part of the leaders in terms of clear vision and programmes obtainable in most democracies of the world culminating in accidental leadership for the country,” he said.

“I believe that not just the legislature, every arm of government that is serving the purpose of governance must invest in exposing democracy to the people. It is a sad commentary on our political life that today recruitment into leadership has been subverted by a few politicians because they deny Nigerians opportunity to contest elections and achieve their aspirations through the systematic appropriation of political parties to themselves.

“These politicians have stopped the growth of democracy. And it is true that unless democracy is allowed to grow, we cannot achieve the desired political growth, we cannot achieve the desired economic growth and we can also not achieve the desired social growth in our country. And that is why we are still in political, economic and social doldrums. We have been having successive accidental leaders since 1999.

“It is time for us to begin to understand that the more participation Nigerians enjoy in politics, the more political development we attain. And consequently economic and social development.”

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Na’abba who was Speaker of the green chamber during President Obasanjo’s first tenure said, no Nigerian is more corrupt than the former President.

The former Speaker who stated this while fielding questions from newsmen, also said that, the controversial budget padding could not have been achieved without backing of some members of the executive arm.

Speaking further on the allegation of corruption by the former President, Na’abba said, Obasanjo should explain to Nigerians how he became one of the richest Nigerians after leaving office, when he had virtually nothing before he assumed office.

According to him, ”I don’t think there is anybody that is more corrupt in this country like the former President. I believe you are talking about the former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

“As the Speaker, I took Obasanjo on on various expenditure offences which he committed, which he could not defend and didn’t show any remorse. In fact, that is why sometimes in 2002, the National Assembly tried to impeach him.

“So, he has not got the integrity to call anybody corrupt. This is a man who became the president with nothing, today he is one of the richest Nigerians. Let him explain to Nigerians how he acquired all these wealth,”Na’Abba said.

On the alleged sharing of money during tenure elongation to members of the National Assembly, Na’abba said: “I am aware that, during the tenure elongation attempt of Obasanjo, money was shared to the members of the National Assembly.

“It was alleged that, the Senators collected N50 million, House of Representatives members collected N40 million. But I also know that, it was not all the members that collected this money. Some of them collected, some of them did not. But, I am aware that money was shared.”

On padding row in the House of Representatives, Na’abba said, if items of expenditure were actually added without knowledge of other members of the house, it amounts to padding, which according to him is illegal.

Reacting to the insinuation by the Speaker Yakubu Dogara that padding was not an offence, Ghali Na’abba said, “It all depends from what angle one is looking at it. The responsibility for appropriation in this country belongs to the National Assembly, So, there is no way that the National Assembly can vote anything and it will be called padding.”

“If you are talking about padding, which I believe is generally accepted to be illegal, it must be a situation whereby certain members of the National Assembly will add certain items of expenditure behind their colleagues. If any item of expenditure is added behind other members, then that item can be said to be illegal and it can be called padding, the former Speaker stated.

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In his resignation letter dated March 15, Na’Abba, who led the legislative chamber during the Olusegun Obasanjo presidency, accused President Goodluck Jonathan of reducing governance to a ridiculous level and splitting the country along ethnic and religious lines.

The ex-lawmaker’s letter was sent to the chairman of the PDP Sharada Ward in Kano Municipal Local Government Area and titled “Notification of Resignation from PDP, each organs and committees.”

The letter was also copied to the PDP chairman in Kano, North West Zone National Vice Chairman, National Chairman, and Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees.

Na’Abba blamed President Jonathan and other previous leaders of the PDP, which has ruled Nigeria since 1999, of putting the country in in a bad situation.

“In the sixteen years the Party has been ruling at the centre, the Party’s leadership has failed to lead by example,” he said.

“No administration has used religion and ethnicity to divide Nigerians more than the current administration under the leadership of Mr. Goodluck Jonathan,” he said in what is considered as his harshest criticism of the Jonathan administration.

Though the former lawmaker did not state if he was joining any other party but his supporters in Kano, whose governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, also dumped the PDP for the All Progressices Congress, APC, expect the ex-lawmaker to also join the main oppostion party.

“You are no doubt aware of the abysmal level to which the leadership of our great Country under President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party have reduced governance to, as a result of which our great Party has been losing its sons and daughters including so many of its founding fathers and members by the day,” the Kano-born lawmaker stated.

“All efforts of critical members and fathers of the Party to offer advice remain always unheeded. It pains most of us that majority of the founding fathers that had died like Chief S. M. Afolabi, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar Rimi, Chief Solomon Lar, Professor Osammor, Chief S. B. Awoniyi etc all died as a result of their frustration by and with the Party.

“Those living like Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Malam Adamu Chiroma, Dr Shettima Mustapha, Alhaji Asheikh Jarma Dr. Victor Odili, Mr. Isaac Shaahu and many others are equally living with such frustration. While others like Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Alhaji Isyaku Ibrahim, Alhaji Musa Gwadabe, two former National Chairmen, Chief Audu Ogbe and Chief Barnabas Gemade etc had since left the Party.

Na’aba further said that “The Party and the administration clearly possess neither compassion nor empathy. The Country’s and the Party’s leadership have become cabalised to the extent that while Nigerians are aware that they have a President in the person of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, they are at the same time at a loss as to who governs their Country.

“Both Nigeria and the PDP are left to drift. In the sixteen years the Party has been ruling at the center, the Party’s leadership has failed to lead by example.

“Instead, it has left us with the conventional wisdom that people cannot succeed in life unless they are ruthless and unprincipled. The Party has become characterized by corruption and impunity in the way and manner candidates for elective positions are being selected to the extent that in almost twenty states, crisis has engulfed the Party over the Gubernatorial primaries and the manner other candidates for other elective positions emerged.

The former Speaker said that the Party and the Country’s leadership have failed to consolidate democratic gains for sister African Countries and other transition Countries to follow.

“Instead, under the current leadership, Nigeria is suffering from loss of esteem, as we are now most often consigned to the back seat of international relations. Most worrisome is the current anxiety of most Nigerians as the regime wobbles and tumbles toward the oncoming election.

“It has today become incontrovertible that cartels and shady characters are becoming visible, important and indispensable factors in Nigeria’s governance. It appears those at the helm of affairs are more comfortable with such characters of easy virtue than with patriotic and altruistic Nigerians. No doubt, in our Country today, the quality of governance is going down by the day.

Na’aba expressed regrets that critical National Institutions that unify and wield Nigerians together have been dragged into politics, contrary to wise counsel and political correctness.

“No administration has used religion and ethnicity to divide Nigerians more than the current administration under the leadership of Mr. Goodluck Jonathan. The ultimate test of any leader is looking at what has remained after he is gone.

“You will agree with me that such pervasive political behaviour should under no circumstances be tolerated by all who subscribe to decent and conscionable political practice.

“I have relentlessly pushed for reform of the internal policies of the PDP individually and collectively, without success. In fact, it is common knowledge that all critical members of the Party have been made irrelevant by the Party.

He said that members who are pliant and who lack principle and who stand for nothing are always more trusted by the leadership to carry out Party assignments, adding that such members are said to be “loyal”.

“Such loyalty is nothing but a euphemism for people who stand for nothing. Because no one is trusted by the leadership both at governmental and party levels, only a handful of party men and women are always entrusted with such party tasks as National Conventions, fund raising. Such men and women are now fully re circled.

“Their faces are today so familiar to the eyes of Nigerians. As a politician with political science background, it is obvious to me that PDP is both self-destruct and irredeemable.

Coupled with the regimes divisive and unpatriotic disposition, Na’aba said that Nigeria has become a bye-word for “touch and go”, if examples of contemporary nations are anything to go by.

The challenge before Nigerians today, in order to secure a new lease of life therefore, he said, is how to get out this inept leadership that has neither allure nor inspiration.

“In its place, Nigerians deserve not just a good President, good governors, and other political office holders, but true and exemplary leaders. And within this context, leadership that is more truly both transactional and transformative and which have more competence and capacity to govern.

“Nigeria needs leaders with a clear vision for the future. Leaders that will lead not from the back, side or front but from within. Leaders that will provide courageous and moral leadership the dearth of which has led to the weakening of political and economic institutions throughout Nigeria,” he said.

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