INEC’s “Final List”, Dangote’s Ark And The Looming Agony - THISDAYLIVE

“Now that the game is on, and the race has started, what do you think we should expect?”

“What game is that? Which race? The Premier League? The Champions League?”

“I mean the 2027 General elections in Nigeria. INEC just released the final list of candidates for the Presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, 20027. Other lists will follow. INEC appears to be following its timelines to the letter. I am sure you saw the list. What does it say to you? “

“Of course, I couldn’t have missed it. We have no job now other than to monitor the political process. We need to protect our liberty by being vigilant. Now, we know our candidates for the Presidential and National Assembly elections. This is not the final list though. There are cases in court over many of the positions. At the end of the day, some of the names will be removed by the courts and new names substituted. We saw that in the Osun Gubernatorial election in August when the Social Democratic Party (SDP) was added to the ballot just two days to the election by the Federal High Court in Abuja.”

“The law will have to be obeyed, all the same. I know for a fact that the Turaki faction of the PDP which has not been recognized in the INEC list is still in court hoping that the Wike faction will be rejected at the last minute by the Court of Appeal, and their own candidates will represent the party.”

“You never know, especially now that Wike’s Rainbow Coalition is said to be falling out of favour. The story out there is that APC politicians are beginning to insist that the Rainbow Coalition is a strategy with which Wike plans to outsmart President Tinubu and grab some states for the PDP to strengthen his hold on the party. They say Wike is playing a double game with Tinubu.”

“The Rainbow Coalition is strong only in Rivers State.”

“No. You miss the point. The Rainbow Coalition is influential beyond Rivers. It is firmly on the ground in Kwara through Senator Bukola Saraki. It is also strong in Imo State. The story is that Wike is not fully working for the President, despite his constant affirmation of loyalty to him. He is secretly positioning himself for 2031, and he is smart enough to start now.”

“Please. Three things. While I agree with you that the so-called final list may change in parts I don’t think 100 of Wike put together can outsmart President Tinubu. And I don’t think the courts will on account of your suspicion remove his faction of the PDP from the INEC list. Besides, the Rainbow Coalition is organized to win votes for Tinubu in 2027. Wike is far more hardworking than even the APC members themselves, more loyal to Tinubu than all of them put together. If after the election he tries to play smart, the Tinubu that I know will put him in his place. Cut off his oxygen. But for now, he is useful. Wike only has the kind of power a hunter gives to his dog until he misbehaves and the master serves him as sacrifice to appease Ogun, the god of iron.”

“But what a list! 18 Presidential candidates, 18 political parties looking for one Presidential position. A total of about 4,864 persons jostling for 469 National Assembly seats. There are 109 seats in the Senate. There are 1, 195 candidates chasing that. There are 360 seats in the House of Representatives, with 3, 213 candidates eyeing those seats. When you add the Presidential candidates and their running mates, you get a total of 4, 864 candidates.”

“So, are you surprised? The figures speak to the level of joblessness in the country. With actual unemployment figures over 50%, anything that will give people a job will definitely attract a large number. People are looking for jobs, and in this country, politics does not require any high qualification. You don’t even need real certificates. So, what do you expect?”

“Politics is not a job. It should not be. It should be about service, a privilege, not an entitlement”

“I correct myself. Politics in Nigeria is actually a profession. When most people get into it. They don’t want to get out of it. They suddenly no longer have a second address. They will do everything to remain in it.”

“That is not right. People should learn to be useful to themselves and not just hope that being close to the public treasury is a job, and an opportunity to become an invalid. It is sad to think that people rush to get into elective positions because they have nothing else to do, and they are just lucky to have a Godfather who can push their case”

“Unfortunately, that is the state of Nigerian politics. What pains me however, is that the 2027 general election is again dominated by men. Countries like Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Ethiopia, Namibia, Cabo Verde are still far ahead of Nigeria in terms of gender representation. Out of 18 Presidential flagbearers, only two are female (NDP, NRM). Out of 14 running mates, only 4 are female (APP, DLA, LP, YPP). .In the National Assembly contest, the females are also in the minority. It is as if we do not have women in Nigeria, and yet they are the ones who troop out to vote on election day. They are the ones who promote the male candidates. They should be in political decision-making positions not as pieces of decoration, but as key players. The men keep failing us. Can we for once give the women a chance?”

“Too late. Nigerian women should give themselves a chance. They don’t support themselves. If all Nigerian women come together and sponsor a candidate, and vote for the woman of their choice, then they would have made a statement. But if they are waiting for men to step aside for them, they might as well be waiting for Godot.”

“I just pray for a free, fair and credible election. But I am worried about the threat of violence. The signs in the horizon are frightening, to put it mildly. Imagine what happened last week in Benue state. The NDC Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, went to Benue to visit the people of Yelwata. He was turned back by thugs in Makurdi, purportedly organized by a government official, and then the Commissioner of Information said Peter Obi did not inform the state government. Is there any such rule that a Presidential candidate must inform the state Governor before going to any state either to visit or to campaign? Sometimes, I don’t even understand what goes on in that Benue state. I thought they said the Governor is a Catholic Priest. Most of the time, the man does not sound like a priest. He is very combative.”

“Fr. Alia is not a serving priest while he is actively in politics. He is on a different kind of assignment. He is what you may call a suspended priest. So, if you try any nonsense with him, you may see the non-priestly side of him. For example, he has told former Governors of Benue state to stay away and shut up if they have nothing to contribute. As for Mr. Peter Obi, yes, he should not be restricted either as a politician or as a citizen visiting any part of the country, but let us be fair, his trip to Benue state cannot just be altruistic. The Yelwata massacre happened in June 2025, more than one year ago. Why is he just visiting now?”

“There is no law prescribing when anybody can go on a condolence visit. Peter Obi is entitled to police protection as a prominent political figure in an election season. He may not have informed the Governor that he was visiting Benue state, but his party informed the police. The police were there when the thugs were harassing his convoy, but they did nothing, only to turn around and claim that they had arrested some suspects. I am sure those suspects would have since been released and nothing will happen.”

“It is a pity that our politicians do not know how to play fair. Do you know that during the Osun state Gubernatorial elections, in parts of the state, the Governor’s posters were either torn or removed. And what surprised me recently was that here in Lagos, I saw posters of the APC Gubernatorial candidate, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat on the Ikoyi link bridge this last Sunday. By Monday morning when I went on that same bridge, all the posters had been torn to pieces and completely defaced. That must have been the work of an opposition party.”

“Not necessarily. It could be an aggrieved voter doing his own thing”

“People must learn to be civil. Politics should not mean madness. It should not be a season of hate.”

“Let’s leave these politicians alone, I beg. At last, they will be okay. By this time next year, we will all be talking about 2031.”

“I am praying that things improve; that our lives get better, that we find favour. Because I just don’t get it anymore. Life is getting more difficult every day. Diesel is now over N2, 000 per litre. The pump price of fuel is about N1, 400, and with the crisis in the Middle East: Strait of Hormuz, Red Sea, Houthi rebels, the escalation of conflict, there is no hope in sight, if the situation get worse, we may end up buying petrol at N2,000 per litre by December.”

“It is not just petrol. The cost of everything will go up. Transportation. Food. Rent. Healthcare. The cost of living. Meanwhile, salaries will remain at the same level, because salary increment cannot even solve the problem before us. I have never recommended wage indexation as a solution.”“Government needs to provide subsidy for the poor. They need to look beyond seeing subsidy from a political perspective. With Atiku turning subsidy into a campaign issue, the only thing the Tinubu administration knows is to insist that there is no going back on the removal of fuel subsidy, because they don’t want to make Atiku look as if he has said something important.”

“Subsidy does not have to be fuel subsidy. I don’t even think government should return the fuel subsidy. It will only return us to the era of smuggling when we were subsidizing neighbouring West African countries. There must be other ways of cushioning the effect of high fuel prices.”“Which other way? They had talked about the introduction of CNG buses. Where are the buses? They said people should convert their vehicles to gas, and gas conversion kits were promoted. How many people have converted their vehicles, not more than 1, 000 out of over 2 million vehicles on Nigerian roads. And where are the gas fuel stations? I don’t know of anyone. Many state governments promised free public transportation. Where are the free buses? The Federal Government announced that it will invest heavily in agriculture. Nobody has seen the 2, 000 tractors imported from Belarus or how they are being put to use.”

“Maybe I should invest in the People’s IPO. The mother of all stocks just introduced by the Dangote Refinery. The Ark of Dangote into which every person is rushing into. I hear that for every N525 invested, I could get back about N10, 000 per share in a matter of months. If I can do that, maybe some money will come in with which I can keep going until things improve.”

“You have to be careful. Don’t just follow the bandwagon. When people hear that the Dangote IPO is about N2. 15 trillion, they think Dangote is about to share money. The People’s IPO is for the people yes, but it is not a Ponzi scheme. It is not a betting game. It is not Baba Ijebu. It is an investment and it is governed by rules. That is why the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)) is advising people to seek advice from registered stockbrokers and authorized receiving agents. It is also important that you read the prospectus.”

“I don’t need to read anything. I trust Dangote. The man has the Midas Touch. He cannot fail.”

“Have you bothered to think of why companies go to the market to sell their shares? Basically, to raise capital, pay off debts, expand the business and make more money. This is not a social protection scheme. So, all of you that are afraid of missing out, even when you invest, don’t do so with the mindset of a money-doubler. Study the risks, and don’t borrow money to invest please.”

“So, where is the hope for the common Nigerian then? And the President and the Vice President are together not in town.”“The President is in France. The Vice President is on assignment in India”.

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