Our Reporter 

Members of the opposition who are crying foul over alleged intimidation should learn how to manage themselves in opposition instead of blaming President Bola Tinubu.

Mr. Otunba S. Showunmi, a vocal member of the President Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council for the 2027 election, stated this on Sunday in Kaduna while fielding questions from journalists at a thank you visit press briefing.

Showunmi said many of those complaining today are politicians who have done party-to-party transfers between the PDP and APC, with one party spending 16 years in power.

According to him, what he has observed with the so-called opposition is that they complain about everything, but disorganize their own party and fail to go to court or do the needful, yet want Nigerians to believe they are being victimized.

“If they don’t know how to do opposition, they can write a proper letter that, Oh, President Bola Tinubu, even though we know you are busy as President now, we want you to come and start a curriculum to teach us how to manage ourselves in opposition,” he said.

He said when opposition brings up one or two situations, things are mostly exaggerated.

Showunmi argued that any presidential candidate who enters another man’s town, declares a cafe open, enters the market and starts instigating the environment, with the kind of insecurity challenges in the country, should for his own safety inform authorities so he can be protected, including from infighting in his own party.

“If they block them, they will not investigate whether it is even their own people that collected their platform without doing the needful. They will just assume it is the government,” he said.

He urged anyone who experiences anything untoward to report to the police, stressing that President Tinubu has not given the police any directive to stop people from moving around freely.

“If you write a letter or tell the government you are coming to his state, it is just decency,” he said.

Showunmi decried the attitude of making Nigeria the most hated country, saying there is something called the Nigerian tribe that belongs to Nigerians who love their country, and if there is a challenge, channels for dealing with it exist.

“Let them campaign on issues. Poverty in the land is an issue. If you see poverty, what are you going to do about it? Telling lies that your mother died because you don’t have money while your party governed for 24 years, that is not campaign, that is incitement,” he said.

He added: “Laws are designed to be obeyed. There is no nation in the world where people don’t complain later. I can tell you for free, the immediate past President of Brazil, Bolsonaro, is in prison now for election manipulation. The President of America, Donald Trump, even when he lost the election before he came back, he did not complain that they were bullying him.”

“Anybody that cannot stand the cold should not go to the river. I am not saying they should be scared that they will be arrested. But stop making our country look bad. We have a duty to protect our country too. We cannot have the whole world spitting on us and disrespecting us because we are the chief disrespecters of ourselves,” Showunmi said.

He said questions meant for the President’s team would be forwarded to Dele Alake and Bayo Onanuga for response.

Our Reporter 

Katsina State is pursuing a two pronged approach to improving its electricity infrastructure, with the Federal Government launching a 120MVA transmission substation in Mashi and Governor Dikko Umaru Radda announcing progress on a proposed 10megawatt renewable energy project.

The initiatives featured on Friday as the Minister of Power Engineer Joseph Olasunkanmi joined state government officials and other stakeholders for the groundbreaking ceremony of the transmission facility in Mashi Local Government Area. The substation is expected to be completed in March 2027.

The Mashi project is part of three transmission substation projects approved for Katsina by the Federal Government. The investment is intended to expand the state’s transmission capacity and improve the infrastructure needed to deliver available electricity to communities and economic centres.

Speaking at the ceremony, Olasunkanmi said the facility would be equipped with two 60MVA transformers, giving it a combined capacity of 120MVA. This represents approximately 96 megawatts of active power at a power factor of 0.8

The minister explained that strengthening the transmission network was important for supporting economic activities, particularly among farmers, traders, artisans and small businesses whose operations depend on electricity. He noted that improved infrastructure could also contribute to better household welfare and create conditions for increased productivity.

Olasunkanmi attributed the project to the Federal Government’s commitment to power sector development under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, commending the president for supporting investments aimed at strengthening critical infrastructure across the country.

On implementation, the minister disclosed that compensation related issues affecting the project had been resolved. He called on the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), the contractor and supervising engineers to ensure that construction proceeded efficiently and met the required technical standards.

He said the March 2027 completion target required close attention to workmanship, safety and quality at every stage, from civil engineering works to equipment installation and testing.The minister also urged residents to protect the facility and cooperate with personnel working on the site.

Beyond the federal transmission project, Radda used the occasion to provide an update on Katsina’s renewable energy plans, announcing that components for a proposed 10MW hybrid power project combining wind and solar energy had arrived in Nigeria.

The governor said the initiative was being pursued through collaboration between the Federal Government and the Katsina State Government. The project is expected to add a renewable energy component to ongoing efforts to improve the state’s electricity infrastructure.

Gov Radda expressed hope that the minister would return to Katsina for the commissioning of the hybrid project alongside the completion of the transmission substations, highlighting the importance of sustained cooperation between both tiers of government in addressing the state’s energy needs.

The governor also acknowledged President Tinubu’s approval of three transmission substation projects for Katsina, describing the investments as significant for the state’s development. He reaffirmed his administration’s readiness to work with federal institutions to advance projects with tangible benefits for residents.

He further pointed to the railway project connecting Kano, Daura and Katsina, with a proposed extension to Maradi in the Republic of Niger as another major infrastructure undertaking with potential implications for transportation, trade and regional economic integration.

The Mashi substation in particular, is designed to improve transmission capacity rather than independently generate additional electricity.

Abubakar Kabir 

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume has declared that any Northerner seeking to contest the 2027 presidential election is an enemy of the North, insisting that President Bola Tinubu remains the right candidate to lead Nigeria beyond 2027.

Akume urged Northerners to support Tinubu’s re-election bid and wait until 2031 before seeking to reclaim the presidency, warning that individual political ambitions should not undermine the region’s collective interests.

The SGF spoke Saturday in Kaduna during a pre-campaign meeting with Benue State indigenes resident in the state, where he called for unity and support for Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general election.

“Anybody who is from the North and running for the presidency is an enemy of the North. Don’t allow that pretender to deceive you. It is not yet our turn. The North’s turn is in 2031. Prepare to vote for Tinubu,” Akume said.

He warned against allowing personal political ambitions to threaten national unity, arguing that the North should prioritise the power rotation arrangement between the northern and southern regions.

“Do not allow anyone to destroy the country because of a vaunting personal ambition,” he said, adding that Tinubu had been fair to Nigerians in federal appointments and had not favoured one religion over another.

Akume also criticised an unnamed presidential aspirant over what he described as inconsistent positions on fuel subsidy removal, insisting that Tinubu remained the best option for the 2027 election.

“Let nobody deceive you, Asiwaju loves Benue, and he has displayed that in the number of significant projects the Federal Government is carrying out simultaneously in the state,” the SGF said.

He identified healthcare, roads and education as sectors benefiting from federal government interventions in Benue, adding that similar projects were being implemented across the country.

He also claimed that more than 65 per cent of NELFUND funds accessed had gone to beneficiaries from the North.

The former Benue governor recalled that Kaduna was where political leaders agreed on power rotation between the North and South, describing the arrangement as essential to national unity and Nigeria’s territorial integrity.

“Remember that it was in this same Kaduna State that we agreed on power rotation between the North and the South. We agreed on power shift, and that is what has kept this country going,” he said.

Akume praised Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani for his leadership and urged Benue indigenes resident in the state to support his re-election, while stressing the importance of leadership that accommodates different ethnic and religious groups.

“If Asiwaju was not a good leader, I would not tell you otherwise. Your governor is a good man, and he has done well for this state. Let us return him to power too,” Akume said.

Those who accompanied the SGF to the meeting included former Jigawa State Governor Saminu Turaki, former Minister of Women Affairs Pauline Tallen, Senator Abu Ibrahim, Minister of Water Resources Joseph Utsev and Minister of Steel Development Shuaibu Abubakar Audu.