Operation ‘Aure’: The Northern Military Counter-Rebellion of July 1966 (II)

Nowa OmoiguiJune 9, 2026June 13, 20260

Although it is said that practically all northern officers serving in Lagos, Abeokuta, Ikeja and Ibadan eventually became involved, three officers formed the innermost circle of the plot to overthrow Major General Aguiyi Ironsi. They were T/Lt. Col. Murtala Muhammed (Inspector of Signals), T/Major TY Danjuma (General Staff Officer II, SHQ) and Captain Martin Adamu (2nd Battalion, Ikeja). The coup leader was T/Lt. Col. Murtala Muhammed.

PDP BoT Sues INEC, Seeks Recognition of Interim NWC

Mustapha ShehuJune 8, 2026October 15, 20260

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1159/2026, was filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja on June 4. The plaintiffs are asking the court to direct INEC to update its records and publish on its website the names of the interim NWC members submitted by the PDP’s BoT and National Executive Committee (NEC).

Party Primaries Heist: Why INEC’s Silence Is the Smoking Gun

Dr. Umar ArdoJune 8, 2026June 8, 20260

The primaries of 2027 have shown us the rot. They have exposed the contempt with which the political class holds the Nigerian people. They have revealed the fragility of our democratic institutions. But they have also given us clarity. We now know what we are up against. We now see the enemy of democracy, and it is not some foreign invader. It is the corruption within our own house, the willingness of those who should know better to look away while the house burns. INEC, the nation is watching. Nigerians are waiting. Will you be the guardian of our democracy or its gravedigger? Will you enforce the law, or will you bow to the powerful? Will you tell the truth about these primaries, or will you help bury it?

Operation ‘Aure’: The Northern Military Counter-Rebellion of July 1966 (I)

Nowa OmoiguiJune 6, 2026June 6, 20260

In the early hours of January 15, 1966, citing a laundry list of complaints against the political class, there was a military rebellion in Nigeria against the first republic. Led by a group of Majors who were predominantly of eastern origin, the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, a federal minister, two regional premiers, along with top Army officers were brutally assassinated. A number of civilians were also killed.

We Are Better Together: A Caution to the Advocates of Separation

Dr. Umar ArdoJune 6, 2026June 6, 20260

Taken together, these realities suggest that the Nigerian state, for all its defects, has been the framework within which deeply fragmented societies have managed to coexist. Its collapse would not usher in a romantic era of ethnic harmony; rather, it would likely revive old rivalries, harden dormant fault lines and create new theatres of conflict. It is therefore misleading to portray Nigeria’s unity as a project sustained primarily for the benefit of the North, or as a lifeline without which the North would collapse. Such assumptions do not withstand historical or empirical scrutiny.

Appeal Court Voids Basis for Wike’s PDP Caretaker Committee Recognition, Faults Ibadan High Court

Mustapha ShehuJune 6, 2026October 15, 20260

The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Friday, nullified the legal foundation upon which Wike’s factional caretaker committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was recognized and faulted a Federal High Court judge in Ibadan for granting reliefs that were never sought by any of the parties in the suit.