Weapons of Mass Disqualification| GIST WITH JONATHAN |

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:09][music] >> Welcome to Gist with Jonathan.

[00:00:14]Ipalibo Banigo is a senator in the 10th National Assembly.

[00:00:18]She is one of the three senators representing River State at the Senate.

[00:00:23]Ipalibo Banigo is a medical doctor.

[00:00:25]She retired as a director of the River State Ministry of Health.

[00:00:29]She is 73 years old.

[00:00:32]Dr. Banigo was for 8 years deputy governor of River State.

[00:00:35]She was the running mate of Barrister Ezenwo Wike, former governor of River State and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

[00:00:44]She contested for the Senate in on Ezenwo Wike's direction and instruction.

[00:00:49]A May 18 press statement issued by Felix Morka, the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, declared that Dr. Ipalibo Banigo and 46 46 other aspirants were not cleared to contest the Senate primaries.

[00:01:03]Attempts to reach Felix Morka through a mutual friend failed.

[00:01:07]Of the other 46, four are from River State, including Jack Rich Ten, a wealthy businessman and former presidential aspirant. The others are Dr. Tammy Danagogo, a former minister and former secretary to River State government, Ojukaye Flag Amachree, until recently an aide to President Bola Tinubu in the National Security Adviser's office, and Chief Barr. Balarabe Wada.

[00:01:32]Some seven members of the River State House of Representatives from River State were not cleared to contest primaries for re-election to the House.

[00:01:40]Asari Dokubo's younger sister, Boma Goodhead, did not make it.

[00:01:44]She is a strong supporter of Governor Fubara and led protests on the streets of Port Harcourt in solidarity with him last year.

[00:01:51]Anderson Allison Ibiki and Awaji Nwuche Abiante were also not cleared to participate in the primaries. The list of not cleared to contest includes former beauty pageant producer showbiz mogul turned politician Ben Murray Bruce, founder of Silverbird Productions, Silverbird TV, and former senator representing Bayelsa East Senatorial Zone.

[00:02:14]He was later cleared to contest the primaries.

[00:02:18]Many Nigerians complain about the APC and their mode of operations.

[00:02:22]The popular opinion on the streets of Nigeria is that we are not better off today than we were 4 years ago.

[00:02:28]Ironically, Nigerians said 4 years ago that we were not better than we were in the previous 4 years. So, it's a recycling of history of hardship, poverty, and executive malfeasance.

[00:02:39]What makes today's situation worse is the heightened sense that the president's morals and expression of prop- propriety are like moving goalposts set on steroids.

[00:02:50]His henchmen, inner circle members, and allies can do no wrong with a license to do whatever pleases their fancies or subdue their insecurities, albeit inferiority complex.

[00:03:01]These men and women have placed themselves above mortals. Therefore, trample frequently on those they believe to be lesser homo sapiens.

[00:03:09]How do you prevent a serving senator from contesting primaries because they were not cleared?

[00:03:15]What does not cleared really mean? And what is the clear criteria for clearance?

[00:03:20]These arbitrary and meaningless provisions contained in the Electoral Act of 2026 were designed, in my opinion, to checkmate or make it impossible for aspirants to decamp to other political parties in the event of losing nominations in their current party.

[00:03:36]APC lawmakers overwhelmingly passed the law with the assurance that they would get automatic tickets. It didn't happen.

[00:03:43]They are now at the mercy of party masters.

[00:03:47]Serving members of the houses of assembly in various states, members of the House of Representatives, and current senators have been denied a chance to participate in party primaries and there is no external recourse. The party is supreme.

[00:04:01]And most actions of party officials are non-justiciable.

[00:04:05]According to Honorable Chimbiko Okorie, an Abuja-based businessman and politician, the non-cleared aspirants I quote inadvertently shut themselves out of choices that multi-party democracy provides because of the 2026 electoral act which they passed recently.

[00:04:22]End quote.

[00:04:24]We keep saying the same thing over and over.

[00:04:27]Politics in Nigeria and politicians defy common sense.

[00:04:33]They do things that are only comprehensible to evil geniuses or people of warped imagination.

[00:04:39]How could someone who qualified to contest an office and is currently serving in the office be unqualified to contest for primaries to serve in the same office?

[00:04:47]The same party, same authority conducted the previous screening exercise and found this person qualified.

[00:04:55]The case of Rivers State is the worst of the aberrations.

[00:04:59]Siminalayi Fubara is the governor of Rivers State and a member of the APC.

[00:05:03]Yes, Wike is not a member of APC, never have been and in fact described APC as a cancer.

[00:05:10]He has remained in his beloved People's Democratic Party, PDP.

[00:05:14]But APC convention and tradition, the governor is the leader of the party in his state.

[00:05:19]But in Rivers State is not the case.

[00:05:22]Fubara is treated like by the leadership of the APC in Abuja like an unwanted visitor. They merely tolerate him while his rival and former godfather, Barrister Wike, has the authority of the leader of the APC in Rivers State.

[00:05:36]In reality, Governor Fubara is like a leper. Nobody wants to come near him.

[00:05:41]Those aligned with him continuously suffer discrimination and humiliation in the APC.

[00:05:47]The few members of the River State House of Assembly who showed any kind of solidarity with him in his political travails were not cleared to contest primaries.

[00:05:56]This is not only unconscionable, but barbaric display of vengeance.

[00:06:02]I don't get it.

[00:06:03]I don't understand it.

[00:06:05]For whatever reason this is happening, I find it morally repugnant.

[00:06:09]And I blame President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for it. Yes, he wants to win re-election to a second term. I get it, but at what cost?

[00:06:18]Is the president willing to do just anything, giving to all the whims and diabolical desires of his friends, especially Nyesom Wike, just so he can return to Aso Rock in 2027?

[00:06:30]Come on, Mr. President, you're better and bigger than that.

[00:06:34]Let me disclose here and now that I know President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

[00:06:38]I have known him since 2006.

[00:06:40]I respect and find him a good man to this day.

[00:06:44]But I'm shocked at some of the things I have seen of him since he became the president and commander-in-chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces.

[00:06:52]Let me also state that I have known Nyesom Wike for nearly two decades.

[00:06:55]The last time I saw him was on the eve of his swearing-in as the governor of River State. He escorted me to my room at the Le Meridien Hotel, Port Harcourt.

[00:07:03]We had a discussion, after which he invited me to stay for his inauguration.

[00:07:07]I told him I had engagements and I would at Abuja the next day, and therefore had to leave town.

[00:07:12]Despite his penchant for political mischief, I like him as a person.

[00:07:18]I disagree with his political shenanigans.

[00:07:21]Yet, I really think political scientists should study his political operations and execution strategies because he gets results.

[00:07:31]I have stated publicly that I have neither met Siminalayi Fubara nor spoken to him before up to this minute. I have no reason to come to his defense on anything.

[00:07:40]But I do so because of principles. For too long our so-called leaders and elders have worked Nigeria derail.

[00:07:47]This apathy is in full display even in our villages and states.

[00:07:51]They simply look the other way and fan non-concern.

[00:07:55]Eventually, like they say, Nigeria happens to all of us.

[00:08:00]For long we have worried that Nigeria is at the edge of the proverbial precipice and could slip off at any moment.

[00:08:07]We are at that moment today.

[00:08:09]Sanity must be brought back to our politics, law enforcement, the judiciary, and even in our day-to-day lives.

[00:08:16]Critical questions must be asked and answers demanded of our leaders.

[00:08:21]If we continue [snorts] in this life of burying our collective heads in the sand, we may not find a Nigeria to bequeath to our offsprings.

[00:08:29]Guess what?

[00:08:30]Those who fail to ask questions or confront would have used our common patrimonies to build an Eldorado for their coming generations, even as ours queue up for prebends.

[00:08:41]Someone much wiser than me once said that politics is too important to be left to politicians.

[00:08:47]I have come to agree with that assertion.

[00:08:50]The Nigerian breed of politicians are cowards, spineless.

[00:08:55]It is people like these who would allow their parties to be used as vectors for the punishment of their brothers and sisters.

[00:09:02]Therefore, you must participate in politics.

[00:09:05]Go register and vote when the time comes.

[00:09:09]APC is not the only corporate. It is happening in all the political parties in Nigeria. PDP, ADC, Labour, Accord, NDC, even the ones we don't know their names. It's all happening. Not one Nigerian politician is in it based on ideological convictions or beliefs.

[00:09:25]Or how do you explain their hurry to jump into bed with strangers in confessed principles and beliefs?

[00:09:32]Even the ones who have amassed more wealth than they know what to to with, still play the politics of personal aggrandizement.

[00:09:39]They are indeed poor men and women in their spirit.

[00:09:43]No amount of federal local can fill the hole in their souls.

[00:09:47]This politics is killing our nation.

[00:09:50]We have seen party gatekeepers turn against even their own.

[00:09:54]In 2026, they have arbitrarily erased elected officials from participation.

[00:09:59]This is no longer about democracy and the people.

[00:10:01]It is now about loyalty to a few individuals.

[00:10:05]Who are you loyal to?

[00:10:07]The result is that Nigeria is decaying from inside. This is sad.

[00:10:12]Well, this is our show for today. Until we come your way again, take care of yourself and God bless.

[00:10:17]I am Jonathan Elendu.

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