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Pat Utomi Forms Shadow Govt • It’s an Abberation – FG

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said, “At a time when our nation is set to celebrate 26 unbroken years of presidential democracy, the idea of a so-called “shadow government” is an aberration

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Human rights lawyer, Dele Farotimi, was named head of the Ombudsman and Good Governance portfolio.

Prof. Pat Utomi, has inaugurated a shadow government composed of members from various opposition parties.

A shadow government is individuals or an organization providing counsel to government officials without being publicly accountable.

Human rights lawyer, Dele Farotimi, was named head of the Ombudsman and Good Governance portfolio.

Others appointed to the policy delivery unit include Oghene Momoh, Cheta Nwanze, Daniel Ikuonobe, Halima Ahmed, David Okonkwo, and Obi Ajuga.

Other members of the shadow cabinet include Dr. Adefolusade Adebayo, Dr. Peter Agadah, Dr. Sadiq Gombe, Chibuzor Nwachukwu, Salvation Alibor, Bilkisu Magoro, Dr. Victor Tubo, Charles Odibo, Dr. Otive Igbuzor, Eunice Atuejide, Gbenga Ajayi, and Dr. Mani Ahmad, as well as Peter Oyewole and Dr. Omano Edigheji.

Utomi said that the “Big Tent Coalition Shadow Government,” launched virtually on Monday evening, will function as a credible opposition force, highlighting the failures of the Bola Tinubu administration while offering ideas for better governance.

Utomi, however, justified the move, arguing that policy missteps by the current Federal Government had worsened poverty, driven multinational companies out of the country, and intensified terrorism in Benue and Plateau states, alongside rising insecurity and corruption nationwide.

The political activist expressed concern over what he described as the government’s resort to propaganda and the suppression of opposing views.

“The recent spate of defections to the All Progressives Congress provides further evidence that all is not well with democracy in Nigeria,” he said.

“The imperative is that if a genuine opposition does not courageously identify the performance failures of incumbents, offer options, and influence culture in a counter direction, it will be complicit in subverting the will of the people.”

He said the shadow cabinet—made up of figures drawn from several opposition parties—was created to respond to what he called a national emergency.

“Today, I bring to this pioneer body the desperate cries of a people troubled by how their reality seems bound for serfdom.

I challenge you to awaken these people who wrongly believe that everything is fine as long as they can manage a share of what little still trickles down from crude oil sales,” Utomi said.

Utomi stated that the shadow government would hold weekly cabinet meetings to assess government policies and propose practical alternatives.

He identified immediate priorities as the stimulation of production, the formulation of a coherent economic growth strategy, decentralisation of security, and constitutional reform.

The cabinet, he said, would also focus on providing alternatives in healthcare, education, infrastructure development, law and order, and policy monitoring.

However , in a swift reaction, the Federal Government kicked against the move, describing it as an aberration in a federal system of government.

In an interview with the Punch, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said, “At a time when our nation is set to celebrate 26 unbroken years of presidential democracy, the idea of a so-called “shadow government” is an aberration.”

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Timipre Sylva resigns from APC membership

“As a founding member of the APC, and one who joined other well-meaning Nigerians in building the Party with sweat and money, it is deeply saddening to witness how the ideals we espoused have been so thoroughly and unrecognisably thwarted.”

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Former governor of Bayelsa State Timipre Sylva on Monday resigned from the All Progressives Congress (APC) with immediate effect.

Sylva announced his resignation in a letter addressed to the APC chairman in Ward 4, Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Sylva, who described himself as a founding member of the APC, said he was saddened by the direction the party had taken.

“As a founding member of the APC, and one who joined other well-meaning Nigerians in building the Party with sweat and money, it is deeply saddening to witness how the ideals we espoused have been so thoroughly and unrecognisably thwarted,” he said.

His resignation comes amid legal and political controversies surrounding him.

In November 2025, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) declared Sylva wanted over an alleged case involving conspiracy and dishonest conversion of $14,859,257.

He was also named among suspects in an alleged plot to overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s administration and is listed as one of the defendants in a 13-count charge filed by the federal government over the alleged coup plot.

Sylva, however, said his decision to leave the APC was driven by his opposition to what he described as a political mentality that considers “all is fair in politics”.

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G100 Opposition Summit Proposes Single 4-year Term

The summit was attended by representatives of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and Social Democratic Party (SDP), alongside their presidential and vice-presidential candidates, and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.

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• AI generated: President Bola Tinubu and opposition candidates

The G100 has proposed a Government of National Competence anchored on a single four-year transition term.

The call was made today during the Summit of Nigeria’s Opposition Political Parties held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.

In an opening address delivered on behalf of the G100 by Mallam Salihu Moh. Lukman , he said that the proposed government would be built on competence, integrity, national inclusion and fair representation of every party contributing to the effort, and would be bound to a disciplined, time-bound Four-Year National Reset Programme.

” The Framework before you propose something more demanding than a merger of ambitions: a Government of National Competence, built on competence, integrity, national inclusion, and fair representation of every party that contributes to the effort,” he said.

Lukman emphasised that such a government should be “secured by a political commitment to a single four-year term, written into an enforceable Transition Charter.”

The summit was attended by representatives of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and Social Democratic Party (SDP), alongside their presidential and vice-presidential candidates, and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.

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Atiku’s campaign promises (2): ” I’ll reopen borders if elected president 2027

Atiku made the pledge while addressing supporters in a video circulating online and shared by ADC chieftain, Dele Momodu, on Friday.

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The African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar has said he will reopen Nigeria’s land borders if elected president in the next year general election.

Atiku made the pledge while addressing supporters in a video circulating online and shared by ADC chieftain, Dele Momodu, on Friday.

Atiku said that the closure of Nigeria’s borders with neighbouring countries had negatively affected transborder trade and contributed to unemployment among young people.

“The Northern states is bordering Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Benin Republic. And you close all those borders. All our young men who are doing trading between these countries, they carry goods across, they do this and that, all what we call transborder trade is a legitimate business,” Atiku said.

He said many young people who previously operated businesses with capital running into millions of naira had been forced out of business following the border closures.“All the upcoming young men and women who used to have a capital of 10 million, 20 million, and they were employing two, three other people, and then all of them went bankrupt and unemployed. How can there be security?” he asked.

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