Today’s Headlines: Whether Tinubu wins or loses in 2027, Yorubas are for done for — Retired Commodore Olawunmi. Abacha freed Ijaw from oppression by creating Bayelsa, Diri says

Retired Commodore Kunle Olawunmi argues that the 2027 presidential election creates a dangerous dilemma for the Yoruba people. If President Bola Tinubu wins a second term, the failures and policies of his government risk being treated as a collective Yoruba project. If he loses, the Yoruba may face political retaliation from those who view his presidency as an ethnic conquest. In either case, ordinary Yoruba citizens who neither chose his appointees nor designed his policies could be forced to bear the consequences. Olawunmi stresses that Tinubu is a Yoruba man but is not the Yoruba nation. Controversies over appointments and economic reforms such as subsidy removal have already fueled ethnic resentment, even though these were federal decisions rather than communal ones. The Yoruba must refuse both uncritical defence of bad governance on ethnic grounds and collective blame for policies beyond their control. Their long-term task is to secure accountable government that answers directly to the people for security and development.

Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has described the late military Head of State, Sani Abacha, as the man who “freed” the Ijaw people from oppression by creating Bayelsa State in 1996.Mr Diri made the statement Thursday night at the dinner and awards ceremony marking the state’s 30th anniversary of the creation of the state in Yenagoa.

The governor said although Mr Abacha’s legacy might be viewed differently by Nigerians, his decision to create Bayelsa from parts of the former Rivers State remained important to the Ijaw people.

“If at every point in my remarks I keep calling him, it is because of what God used him to do for the Ijaw ethnic nationality,” Mr Diri said at the ceremony held at the Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha Memorial Banquet Hall, Government House.

Vice President Kashim Shettima has said the administration will continue to combine its responsibilities of governing the country with political engagement as preparations for future elections progress.

Shettima made the remark after visiting President Bola Tinubu at his Lagos residence following his return from the United States, where the Vice President had represented him at the 2026 United Nations General Assembly in New York. Details of the meeting were disclosed by the President’s Special Assistant on Social Media, Dada Olusegun.

Speaking after the meeting, Shettima said he and Tinubu had remained in regular communication throughout the President’s time abroad. He expressed satisfaction over Tinubu’s return and indicated that the administration would remain focused on governance while also engaging with the political realities surrounding the country’s next electoral cycle.

Paul Ibe, spokesman for the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has defended Atiku’s decision to refer to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu simply as “Bola”, saying there is no Nigerian law that makes it an offence.

Ibe, in a post on X on Friday, said criticism of the former Vice President’s choice of words could not be turned into a criminal offence, arguing that Section 36(12) of the Constitution requires offences and their punishments to be prescribed by written law.

“Anyone claiming Atiku committed an offence should produce the law that says Nigerians must always prefix Bola Tinubu’s name with ‘President,’ ‘His Excellency’ or ‘Mr. President’,” Ibe said.

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