You can’t deduct 1m from Tinubu’s votes, Onoh Counters Marafa

The former southeast campaign spokesman to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Dr. Josef Onoh, has countered Senator Kabiru Marafa over his recent vow to deduct one million votes from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s tally in the 2027 presidential election. Onoh also flared Marafa’s “use-and-dump” leadership style allegation on Tinubu, stating that Marafa appeared to be driven […]

The former southeast campaign spokesman to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Dr. Josef Onoh, has countered Senator Kabiru Marafa over his recent vow to deduct one million votes from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s tally in the 2027 presidential election.

Onoh also flared Marafa’s “use-and-dump” leadership style allegation on Tinubu, stating that Marafa appeared to be driven more by personal grievances than by objective assessments of the Tinubu administration.

Onoh said that Marafa’s threat of reducing Tinubu’s votes could only be achieved by a political numerical magician.

Onoh in defence of the President provided a broader context of Tinubu’s leadership and commitment to Nigeria, including Zamfara State, saying that “Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday.”

He described as false claim by Marafa that Zamfara is the most sidelined state in Nigeria, stating that President Tinubu’s administration has prioritized equitable resource allocation and infrastructure development across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

“For instance, the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, recently clarified that infrastructure projects have been distributed fairly across the six geopolitical zones.

“Although the southeast strongly disagree but it accepts that under the current administration, the five southeast governors and all other state governors have received more allocations than any governor since 1999. So, we can’t blame the president for their failure to develop the region with significant investments on roads, agriculture, and security nationwide.”

Onoh stated that contrary to Marafa’s assertion, Zamfara state has not been neglected as it was allocated a key position with Bello Matawalle as Minister of State for Defence – a critical role given Zamfara’s security challenges.

“This appointment reflects Tinubu’s recognition of Zamfara’s strategic importance in addressing banditry and insecurity in the North-West. Marafa’s criticism that Tinubu’s government has failed to address insecurity in Zamfara is an oversimplification. The administration has taken concrete steps to tackle banditry and kidnapping, including deploying security forces and enhancing intelligence operations.

“While Marafa claims security was only deployed during elections, the reality is that Tinubu’s government has sustained efforts to combat insecurity nationwide, including Zamfara state where banditry remains a complex challenge inherited from previous administrations.

“The President has also initiated reforms in the security architecture, such as increased funding for the military and police, to ensure long-term stability. Blaming Tinubu for ongoing security issues ignores the deep-rooted nature of these challenges and the administration’s ongoing efforts to address them.

“Marafa’s accusation that Tinubu failed to reform the APC’s internal reward system and instead institutionalized a ‘monkey dey work, baboon dey chop’ culture to a great extent I concede to be true, and hopefully the president will change the narrative soon,” Onoh accepted.

He stated that President Tinubu has worked to strengthen the APC’s unity and inclusivity, ensuring that party loyalists across regions are rewarded.

“But the fault can be found in the various greedy party stakeholders who the president has saddled with distributing the rewards amongst key party loyalists but rather they distribute it amongst family members and personal associates who mostly worked against the president.

“We have a beehive of them in the administration but in fairness to the President key northern leaders, including Vice President Kashim Shettima, hold prominent positions in the administration.

“Marafa’s claim of being sidelined overlooks the fact that political appointments are based on merit, loyalty, and strategic considerations, not merely personal expectations. His resignation from the APC and subsequent attacks suggest a reaction to unmet personal ambitions rather than systemic betrayal which is understandable going by his efforts and personal expectations and anyone in his shoes will do exactly the same.”