Buhari Calls From London To Sympathize With Bisi Akande Over The Death Of His Wife

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday expressed his “heart-felt” sympathy with a founding member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bisi Akande over the death of his wife, Omowunmi Bisi Akande.

Buhari, who is currently recuperating from an undisclosed illness in London described the loss as an “irreparable” one.

This was contained in a letter he personally wrote, following an earlier telephone call to the bereaved APC Chieftain and was contained in a statement sent to DAILY POST by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu.

Buhari’s message reads, “I received the very sad news of the death of your dearly beloved wife, Madam Omowunmi Akande this morning. I am following our phone call with this letter of condolence, which comes from my heart.

“To lose a wife, a dear wife after 50 years, a constant and loving companion through good and bad times, is a blow only a man of unshakeable faith can withstand. Please extend my personal condolences to the immediate and wider Akande family and to friends of the family for this irreparable loss.

“May Allah give you the strength and Iman to endure her passing away.”

This is coming at a time the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo said his principal is recuperating fast and will return to the country soon. 

Against this backdrop, the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose had faulted the comments of Osinbajo, saying he would expose damaging pictures showing that Buhari is critically ill. 

By Seun Opejobi

Nigerian Politicians Must Stop Money Politics - Akande

Chief Bisi Akande, former Interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, has decried monetization of politics in Nigeria.

“Nigerian politicians are sitting on a time bomb with the practice and growth of monetisation of politics.

“If this is not curtailed urgently, it will soon kill Nigerian politicians and our political system,” he said on Friday at a meeting of Osun APC Elders Forum in his country home, Ila.

Akande, a former governor of the state, also urged the APC leadership to continue to uphold the politics of service to the people.

“No matter the pressure being promoted by the general outlook of corruption that forms the foundation of the problems in the country, we must not deviate from service to the people.

In a communiqué at the end of the meeting, the APC elders also frowned at what they described as politics of stomach infrastructure being imported to the South West states.

The communiqué signed by Chairman of the forum, Mr. Sola Akinwunmi, noted, “This type of politics is alien to us and is already eroding the core value of progressive politics to almost non-existence.

“This should be discouraged as it portends serious danger to our democracy.”

It added that the APC will win the July 8 by-election in the state.

The forum also called on every elected and appointed political office holders to make sure that they deliver their various constituencies.

By Wale Odunsi

1999 Constitution To Be Blamed For Recession – Chief Bisi Akande

Elder statesman and former Osun State governor, Chief Bisi Akande has blamed the current economic recession and poverty in Nigeria on the deficiencies in the 1999 Nigerian constitution.

Akande, a former Acting Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who spoke in Iwo Town in Osun State at the weekend, lamented that the 1999 constitution in particular, which he described as bad, served as a platform for socio-economic inequality.

According to him, the constitution stimulated demands for ethnic self- determination and economic security otherwise known as resource control or restructuring.

Akande, who attributed the current hardship in the country to the dictates of the constitution, lamented that only a few people benefited from the increasing national wealth, while majority continue to suffer from poverty, penury and deprivation, which, he lamented, fueled agitation, disharmony and violence among the aggrieved.

“What we are saying, for instance, is that the constitution, which (according to 1999 census) gave Lagos State with 5,725,153 population 20 local governments, also gave Kano State with 5,810,494 population 44 local governments.‎

“The same constitution, which gave Anambra with 2, 796,510 population 21 local governments, also gave Jigawa with 2, 875,559 population 27 local governments.

“Such constitutional provisions seem capable of denying the federating components of Nigeria equal opportunities for accessing the national revenue allocations; hence the agitation for restructuring and resource control.

“Such agitations may not be healthy for community harmony, national security, peace and economic development”, he said.

He, however, assured that the APC-led administration was in politics to influence the change for the better.

“The constitution that can move Nigeria forward is the constitution that recognises the culture of the people in relation to their occupation,” he added.

By Ameh Comrade Godwin