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Rumblings in Plateau over move to recall Lalong, Dafaan, Venman

Published

2 years ago

July 10, 2024

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Rumblings in Plateau over move to recall Lalong, Dafaan, Venman

By Mark Longyen

Plateau State has been thrown into political panic mode following a subterranean move by Plateau South senatorial zone’s constituents to recall former Gov Simon Lalong (APC-Plateau South) from the Senate.

Also penciled for recall by the aggrieved constituents are Lalong’s former Chief of Staff, John Dafaan (APC-Shendam, Quaan-Pan, Mikang) and Vincent Venman (APC-Langtang North/South) federal constituencies.

Impeccable sources disclosed that within the past week, over 500,000 constituents had already appended their signatures to initiate the recall of the trio from the National Assembly.

It was learned that about a fortnight ago, the forms for the recall of the three lawmakers were distributed across the six local governments that constitute the senatorial zone, which have now been signed by the constituents.

People familiar with the prevailing political intrigues said that any time this week, the signed forms by constituents from all the polling units will be collated and forwarded by the petitioners’ lawyers alongside their petitions to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Thereafter, INEC is expected to send a team of its officials to the senatorial zone and the two federal constituencies for verification of the signatures.

Once the signatures are verified and confirmed in the various polling units that 50 per cent, plus one, of the total registered voters actually signed the recall forms, then INEC will within a statutory time frame, arrange for a referendum to be conducted to recall the lawmakers.

The referendum simply entails a “yes or no” voting by the constituents on whether to recall the lawmakers or not, which outcome is to be determined by a simple majority to declare a lawmaker automatically recalled or to retain his seat.

The sacking of Sen. Napoleon Bali (PDP-Plateau South, June 2023 to October 2023) by the Court of Appeal had paved the way for Lalong, whom he defeated in the 2023 senatorial election with an unprecedented landslide, to subsequently resign as minister of labour and productivity, to occupy the seat.

A source, who preferred not to be named, said that Bali is championing the recall move, although Bali himself could not independently confirm the latest development.

However, it would be recalled that shortly after his sack late last year, Bali had told newsmen that although as of then, he had not gone back to the senatorial zone after the judgement, he had it on good authority that his aggrieved constituents were already collecting signatures to initiate the recall process.

He had also disclosed that his legal team was weighing various options, including going back to the court to explore any window to review or remedy the injustice done to him and other fellow lawmakers.

According to him, being the victim of the brazen judicial gymnastics, he had the constitutional option of initiating a recall process against those who were brought to office by the Appeal Court judgment, or to live with it for the next three years.

The latest move seems to align with the earlier vow of Bali to unseat Lalong and co, as impeccable sources say plans have reached advanced stage by constituents to recall the embattled lawmakers.

“What the people of Plateau South senatorial district are saying is that they will not allow them.

“I don’t know what they want to do, but I was told reliably that people are already gathering signatures that they must recall them.

“This time around we are going to test INEC and the judiciary that installed them because that is the option we are sure of.

“Like I said, our lawyers are making all efforts to see whether there is a window. I’m not a lawyer; I don’t know how they are going to do it.

“But the one I’m very sure of is that all those who the Appeal Court collected our mandates and gave to them wrongfully, as concluded by the learned justices of the Supreme Court in Gov Mutfang’s case, we are definitely going to recall them.

“When? I will not tell you because it will just come to them as a rude shock.

“For the specifics, I can tell you that in Plateau South, I know that they have gathered over 300,000 signatures to recall Lalong already.

“That is already in the public domain. He is aware, his party, the APC is aware.

“By the time we get the required number of signatures, which is 50 per cent of the total registered voters, it’ll be a done deal, we’ll do it.

“We have the INEC current register; I will not tell you more than this because we keep that one close to our chest.

“As soon as we get the 50 per cent, we are going to write a petition, and our lawyers will follow it up from there to tell INEC to verify.

“Once that is done, INEC will have no option but to conduct a referendum and we take it up from there,” Bali, a retired Air Vice Marshal and fighter pilot, had assured.

Lalong, Dafaan and Venman were roundly defeated by Bali, Rep Isaac Kwallu and Beni Lar, who won the Plateau South, Shendam, Quaan-Pan, Mikang and Langtang North/South House of Reps seats, respectively, during the 2023 National Assembly polls.

Despite being the sitting governor of Plateau State from 2015 to 2023, and Director General of the 2023 Tinubu Presidential Campaign Organisation, Lalong was humiliated at the polls by Bali, who trounced him with an unprecedented vote margin of about 60,000.

The former governor was comprehensively defeated by Bali in all the 6 local governments that constitute his senatorial zone, including his own Shendam Local Government Area, except in Wase Local Government.

Dafaan was similarly floored by Kwallu in all the three local governments that constitute Shendam, Quaan-Pan, Mikang federal constituency, and in 31 out of the 32 federal wards in the area, including Dafaan’s Kwalla-Moeda federal ward, with an unprecedented vote margin.

Also, perennial winner and political Amazon, Rep Beni Lar (PDP-Langtang North/South was re-elected in the 2023 polls by her constituents following her landslide victory with a very wide margin against APC’s Venman, who was her closest opponent.

However, all the PDP lawmakers’ victories were controversially annulled by the Court of Appeal, on the technical ground that PDP did not have a legitimate political structure that produced them as candidates, thereby, truncating their tenures.

This was notwithstanding the fact that the case was a pre-election matter, which the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain in the first place.

Not a few observers had described the court’s curious decision as being a predetermined judicial compromise, while the Supreme Court later frowned at it and chided the Appeal Court, describing the decision as an act of judicial rascality.

Apparently miffed by the court’s decision to impose on them those who they rejected at the polls like being compelled to swallow unwanted bitter pills, the lawmakers’ constituents have now turned to the constitutionally sanctioned recall option as a last resort.

Reacting to the bid by constituents to recall Lalong and co, the Plateau State chapter of the APC described the action as a wasted effort that was informed by PDP’s “desperation and frustration to remove the lawmakers from their legitimate seats.”

Confirming the recall initiative, the state chapter of the APC in a statement issued on Saturday and signed by its acting Publicity Secretary, Shittu Bamaiyi, described the recall effort as merely a “PDP orchestrated recall campaign, a wild goose chase, and mission impossible.”

“For quite some time now the PDP in the southern part of Plateau State, has embarked on a wild goose chase, in the name of recall campaign against these members of the National Assembly.

“The party has unrelentingly and agonizingly, been cajoling unsuspecting eligible voters to append their signatures on worthless sheet of papers, as a means of recalling Senator Simon Lalong and Chief John Dafaan from the Red and Green Chambers, respectively.

“The desperation and frustration of the PDP seem to know no bounds, to the extent that the party is so blinded to the constitutional requirements of initiating, as well as embarking on such a herculean exercise,” the APC stated.

According to the party, the PDP has thrown caution and decorum to the winds by embarking on the recall process against the lawmakers.

“By using all sorts of shenanigans and deceits to cow people into appending their names on papers, under the pretext of making them enjoy some palliatives and loans from the federal government as well as the state governments.

“Though the unsuspecting electorate have been suspicious of the promises, and taking them with the pinch of salt, the hirelings assigned the responsibility of the misadventure, have unblushingly continued to move round all the nooks and cranny of the Southern zone to collect signatures for the futile exercise.

“It is unfortunate that the PDP could condescend to that level of desperation, when viewed from the prism of civility and propriety, as well as considering the fact that, the legislators in question have hardly spent one year in their respective chambers,” the APC further said.

“Unarguably, a recall exercise is an electoral and constitutional process which can be initiated against wanting or incompetent legislators as the case may be, there must always be overwhelming justification for such a cause.

“Undoubtedly, the narcissistic attitude of the PDP will certainly come to naught, sooner than later, because from all indications, the legislators are at the moment, enjoying the support of their constituents not withstanding their short stay in the National Assembly.

“In addition, the APC as a party, and other interest groups, are closely monitoring events as they unfold, with a view to checkmating the misadventure.

“Without any fear of the unknown, the campaign is surely going to be a mission impossible and a disgrace at the end of it all,” Bamaiyi added.

When contacted for comments on the development, Rep. Kwallu, one of the lawmakers sacked by the Court of Appeal and Dafaan’s predecessor, confirmed that the recall move by the constituents was true.

He explained that the recall process is provided for in the Nigerian constitution, which empowers constituents to recall their elected representative at any time, stressing that there is no cause for alarm.

Jimmy Lar, a political gladiator from the senatorial zone, while commenting on the APC’s statement describing the recall process as a desperate move by PDP, justified the ground for the initiative.

He asked rhetorically: “Who is the desperate one between someone who stole what doesn’t belong to him or her and the one who is making all lawful efforts to recover his or her stolen item?

“It’s the right of an owner to go to any length to recover his stolen property.

“When you are robbed, you tell people, approach the lawful authorities and take all necessary measures to recover your stolen items from the robber(s).

“Whether or not you are able to bring the thief to justice is not for the thief to decide, it’s for time to decide,” he said.

Simon Shindai, a lawyer, constituent, and APC member, while confirming that he was fully aware of the recall bid, alleged that some stakeholders, mostly from the state’s ruling PDP, were behind the recall move.

According to him, some PDP chieftains are strategizing, working round the clock, and leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the recall agenda is carried out seamlessly to achieve the desired result within the next six to twelve months, and warned the APC not to treat the issue with kid gloves.

“It is not a joke because it is a serious constitutional matter that is outlined in the 1999 Constitution, so once these processes are met, then INEC will definitely go ahead and conduct a referendum, which outcome could be a big shocker for the lawmakers in question,” he said.

Also commenting on the issue, Alhassan Barde, an APC supporter, said that APC as a political party that knows and has tasted power, and is still in power at the centre and elsewhere, should do more than just mere press statements.

“The party should be strategic in handling critical matters that are pending and have been left unadressed, matters that have emerged (like the one at hand), and those at the horizon with the potential to affect its present structure, and the chances that lie ahead for greater fortunes.

“Remember, your opponent in whatever contest, would employ and deploy all manner of tactics to rattle and weaken your immune system and then launch attacks on your defence mechanisms.

“All that we are doing is a clarion call to APC to wake up now, and do something about it,” he said.

Lalong, while reacting to the recall move by his constituents, through his Legislative aide, Hon. Exodus Pyennap, acknowledged being aware of it but described the initiative as an effort in futility that is baseless and dead on arrival.

He said that the first requirement for a recall process to be considered by INEC is for the constituent petitioners to have a solid ground for the recall, such as failure, misconduct, corruption, non-performance or some sort of official misdemeanor against their representative, which are all unfounded in the instant case.

“So, the entire hullabaloo is an effort that is baseless and futile, INEC will not even bother to act on it,” Lalong said.

Lar and Dafaan could not immediately be reached for comments on the issue as of the time of filing this report. Dafaan did not answer or return the several phone calls made to him.

Rumblings in Plateau over move to recall Lalong, Dafaan, Venman

Related Topics:Dafaan Rumblings in Plateau over move to recall Lalong Venman

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Zulum @57: Tribute to a Trailblazing Teacher

Published

6 hours ago

August 25, 2026

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Zulum @57: Tribute to a Trailblazing Teacher

By: Inuwa Bwala

I have read a lot of tributes to Borno state Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum on his 57th birthday anniversary.
In most, Nigerians celebrate many things about Professor Babagana Umara Zulum.

To many, his unique leadership style, to others, his developmental strides and yet to others his many ventures into danger zones, the rebuilding of schools, his sleepless nights on duty and many other things.
I want to celebrate something quieter, and maybe more rare: seeing him as the teacher that he is, using

Borno as a big lecture hall, in which he deploys his teaching technique.
I dare say that, Governor Zulum goes to schools unannounced, not for photo shots, but to check attendance, to ask pupils questions, to see if the teacher is teaching. That is a lecturer’s habit.
He commissions hospitals and ask about drug inventory and rosters. That is a supervisor’s habit.

He stands in the rain with displaced families, not to make a speech, but to take notes. That is a researcher’s habit.
Most politicians campaign on promises, but he he is not seeking any position and does not need to campaign. He does things out of passion for true development.

At 57, Zulum reminds me that leadership is not about sitting in the office of power. It’s about sitting on the floor with students, under a tree with farmers, and in the dust with people who have lost everything, and then going back to “prepare the next lesson plan” for Borno redemption.

People often say a leader must choose between the office and the field, the book and the gun, and between the seminar and the street. Governor Zulum seems to have broken that rule by chosing both. And ir is working for Borno.

For me, today, I do not just celebrate a governor turning 57, I celebrate a teacher who took his entire state as his assignment, and refused to submit it half-done.

As the only Governor in Nigeria, who foes not aspire for any other political office after this, he may be retiring into a future only God know about, but one must not fail to state, that, Governor Zulum’s strength lies, not in the paraphenilia of governance but in the dedication of a leader who work, teach to graduate Borno into peace, dignity, and pride.

Happy 57th Birthday, Proffessor Babagana Umara Zulum.

Zulum @57: Tribute to a Trailblazing Teacher

News

Opportunity or Entrapment? What Nigeria’s Youth Must Ask Before Flying to Russia

Published

6 hours ago

August 25, 2026

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Opportunity or Entrapment? What Nigeria’s Youth Must Ask Before Flying to Russia

By Oumarou Sanou

There is nothing wrong with urging Nigerian youth to look past Britain, America and Canada, or with Russia offering scholarships to African students. Young Nigerians deserve every legitimate route to education the world can offer. But there is everything wrong with dismissing documented security concerns as “propaganda” simply because the offer arrives wrapped in the language of mentorship.

A recent online discussion by the Arewa Youth Mentorship Program did exactly that, urging Northern Nigerian youth toward Russia while waving away fears about the Ukraine war as fear-mongering. The pitch was seductive: no IELTS, no international passport at first instance, no punishing recommendation letters, just a strong “portfolio” and the confidence to apply. It is a comforting story. On the evidence, it is also a dangerous one, and the danger lies not in Russia offering scholarships but in telling young people they need not verify them.

We need a reminder about the scholarship that became a factory floor. Nigerians and Africans have not forgotten Alabuga. Online adverts promising paid education and vocational training at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone lured young Africans, many of them women, into facilities later tied to the assembly of Shahed attack drones used against Ukraine, a scheme slick enough to compromise the website of Nigeria’s own Ministry of Education. The lesson is not that Russian opportunities should be avoided outright, but that the label “opportunity” is not evidence of safety. A polished portal is not verification. It is, at best, unproven, and at worst, bait.

More importantly, the numbers are no longer a rumour. An INPACT investigation, cited in Global Sentinel reporting, found that at least 1,417 Africans, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Kenyans, Ugandans and South Africans among them, joined Russian military formations between 2023 and 2025, with no fewer than 316 killed in Ukraine. Ukrainian intelligence separately counts over 200 Nigerians who signed contracts with Russia’s defence ministry, dozens already dead or missing. These figures deserve scrutiny, but they are too serious to dismiss, particularly against Moscow’s denials, including a Russian diplomat’s assurance in Accra that African students were “safe,” and the Nigerian ambassador’s own insistence in Abuja that no such recruitment exists. Casualties do not lie the way denials do.

This is how the trick works, and the pattern, documented across multiple investigations, is depressingly consistent. A job or study offer arrives via WhatsApp, Telegram, or Facebook, not from an embassy or accredited institution. Travel is arranged quickly, often through a third country, to dodge scrutiny. On arrival, passports are collected “for processing” and never returned. Within days the promised job evaporates, and the recruit faces a choice: sign a military contract in a language he cannot read, face deportation with debt, or worse. Nigerian mechanic Bankole Manchi told Global Sentinel he travelled to Russia expecting employment and, instead, found himself in a military-style camp, later deployed to the front. This is not misfortune. It is a supply chain, built on young Africans not asking questions first.

Investigators have also flagged the so-called Russian Houses, cultural centres that legitimately teach language and offer scholarships but, unlike the British Council or the Goethe-Institut, operate through an opaque franchise model that lets private, sometimes militarily linked, actors act in Moscow’s name. At the same time, the state keeps its hands clean. In Ghana, university partnerships have been linked to the enlistment of hundreds, dozens now dead. This does not mean every Russian cultural centre is a recruitment centre. It means governments should demand transparency wherever public trust and vulnerable youth are involved.

The key issue here when dealing with Russia and other emerging powers from a pan-African perspective is sovereignty, not substitution. There is a wider context Nigerians cannot ignore. Russia has marketed itself across the Sahel as the anti-imperial alternative to a West weighed down by colonial guilt and failed interventions, and the message has won real disciples. But a power that fills its trenches with African bodies while denying it does so is practising the oldest imperialism of all. Anti-Western is not the same as pro-African.

Nor should young Nigerians accept a false choice between “Western propaganda” and “Russian truth.” Every external power,-Russia, China, France, Britain, the United States- pursues its own interests in Africa and can deploy disinformation when it suits them. The question worth asking of any offer, wherever it originates, is simple: what is the strategic interest behind this opportunity, and who benefits if I do not check? Asking that of Moscow is not anti-Russian. It is pro-African and pro-sovereignty, andNigeria’s youth are entitled to exercise it. Strategic autonomy means diversifying partnerships from a position of informed national interest, not swapping one uncritical dependency for another.

Going forward, the approach should be to verify first, and trust second. Therefore, the Arewa panellists are right that Nigerian youth should be intentional and strategic. But intentionality means verification, not enthusiasm. Check the university and its accreditation against the Federal Ministry of Education, the Federal Scholarship Board and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Confirm the offer with the institution and the embassy before booking a flight, not after. Establish who is paying for travel and tuition, and read every document before signing. No genuine opportunity requires surrendering a passport indefinitely, concealing the purpose of travel, or signing contracts you cannot understand. A recruiter who pushes for haste or discourages official checks has already told you what you need to know.

This obligation extends to those doing the recommending. Academics, mentors, religious and traditional leaders and youth organisations carry real influence, and their endorsement can confer legitimacy an applicant would never independently investigate. That influence demands a duty to vet before endorsing.

Against this backdrop, what the government owes its citizens is protection through a verifiable database on foreign scholarships. Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued warnings before. One young man from Ondo State signed his contract with Russia’s military barely a week after such a warning was published, and died near Kharkiv weeks later. He may never have seen it. The state cannot keep issuing statements into the void. It needs a living, public database of verified foreign scholarships, rapid alerts when a scheme is flagged, and closer scrutiny of recruitment channels operating through cultural and educational fronts.

There is no contradiction between encouraging Nigerian youth to pursue Russian education and warning them about fraudulent recruitment. Nigeria should encourage its youth to explore the world, not fear it, but exploration without verification can quietly become exploitation. Africa’s youth must not become cannon fodder in other people’s wars or raw material for competing geopolitical projects, under whichever flag those projects fly. The real test of mentorship is not how many young people are persuaded to travel abroad, but how many can tell opportunity from entrapment, and partnership from dependency.

Explore widely. Dream boldly. But verify everything. When the price of an opportunity is your judgement, it was never an opportunity at all.

Oumarou Sanou is a social critic, Pan-African observer and researcher focusing on governance, security, and political transitions in the Sahel. He writes on geopolitics, regional stability, and African leadership dynamics. Contact: sanououmarou386@gmail.com

Opportunity or Entrapment? What Nigeria’s Youth Must Ask Before Flying to Russia

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Guinea-Bissau picks Gabú, Oio for ECOWAS community health pilot

Published

12 hours ago

August 25, 2026

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Guinea-Bissau picks Gabú, Oio for ECOWAS community health pilot

By: Michael Mike

Guinea-Bissau has selected the Gabú and Oio regions as pilot areas for the implementation of the new ECOWAS Regional Community Health Policy, in a major step towards bringing healthcare services closer to vulnerable and underserved communities.

The decision was reached at a three-day National Engagement Workshop on the implementation of the policy, organised by the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health of Guinea-Bissau in Bissau from August 19 to 21, 2026.

The selection of the two regions signals the transition of the Regional Community Health Policy (RCHP) from the planning stage to concrete implementation, with national and local authorities, communities and other stakeholders expected to play defined roles in its execution.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, WAHO Director-General, Dr Melchior Athanase Joël C. Aïssi, described Guinea-Bissau as a pioneer among ECOWAS Member States for hosting the first information and engagement mission on implementation of the new policy.

He said the meeting should not be regarded merely as a forum for discussion but as the starting point for translating the regional policy into action.

Aïssi stressed that successful implementation would depend on national ownership, effective multisectoral coordination and a clear division of responsibilities among stakeholders.

He reaffirmed WAHO’s readiness to provide technical support, guidance and facilitation, but emphasised that Guinea-Bissau must take ownership and lead the implementation process.

The Minister of Public Health, Commodore Dr Quinhin Nantote, in his keynote address, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the policy, describing investment in community health as both a necessity and a national priority.

Nantote said expanding access to healthcare required deliberate efforts to reach vulnerable populations, particularly those living in remote and hard-to-reach communities.

He also highlighted the critical role of Community Health Workers (CHWs), describing them as an essential link between formal health services and communities.

The minister called for an approach anchored on equity, community participation and intersectoral collaboration, arguing that sustainable improvements in health could not be achieved by government and health professionals alone.

The workshop brought together representatives of government ministries and agencies, national institutions, civil society and community-based organisations, research and training institutions, as well as technical and financial partners.

Participants reviewed key regional and national community health instruments, including the Regional Community Health Policy, its norms and principles, regional guidance documents and practical tools for Community Health Workers.

They also identified priority interventions, assigned responsibilities to sectoral stakeholders and worked towards developing costed action plans for priority areas.

Discussions further focused on the proposed regional community information system platform, the national coordination mechanism and other steps required to establish an effective framework for implementing the policy.

WAHO Liaison Officer in Guinea-Bissau, Dr Plácido Cardoso, underscored the importance of sustained engagement among national stakeholders and development partners in ensuring the success of the implementation process.

With Gabú and Oio now designated as pilot regions, Guinea-Bissau is expected to test and strengthen the policy’s implementation mechanisms at the community level before lessons from the pilot phase inform wider application.

WAHO said the initiative underscores its commitment to supporting Guinea-Bissau and other ECOWAS Member States to strengthen community health systems and ensure that quality healthcare is brought closer to the people.

Guinea-Bissau picks Gabú, Oio for ECOWAS community health pilot