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WITH the elections over, it is no longer news that winners and losers have emerged. And with that, it is expected that the rancor between the two political parties – the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the All Progressives Congress, APC, will abate until the next election season. But that is not the case. Last week, the political atmosphere was charged with threats and counter threats flowing from both political quarters much to the annoyance of right thinking citizens of this country.

The bone of contention started with the terms of reference that will be used for handing over to a new government May 29. Should it be the terms of reference from the ruling government or that of the incoming administration? Your well informed guess is as good as mine. And this should not be a problem in other civilized climes.

But the volley of attacks from the APC went beyond the term of reference as it accused the ruling party of trying to tie its hand with some of the policy decisions it was taking and the latest appointments it made. Matters got to a point that the ruling party had to breath fire, warning the president elect not to set up a parallel government, adding that President Goodluck Jonathan had till May 29, to handover, after which it was free to do whatever it likes.

This unnecessary quarrel must have left a sour taste on the mouths of many. But that was  nothing compared to the jolt the nation got with the sad news that the African Independent Television, AIT, has been banned from covering the activities if General Muhammadu Buhari, an incident that many saw as an unwarranted attack on press freedom. Luckily, the APC moved swiftly to douse the tension by lifting the ban before Buhari later said that he was not consulted by his aides who banned AIT.

Suffice it to state that all the happenstance – the bickering between the parties and the AIT incident sent conflicting signals to the nation that was still trying very hard to grapple with the hassles of life and the hardship caused by the scarcity of petroleum products and the unfounded allegation that fuel subsidy was not provided for in the budget 2015. Realnews editorial team noted the tension and tried to see through the sound and fury, the superciliousness and the sanctimonious posturing of the ruling PDP and incoming APC to reveal to you a trend that might not augur well for the incoming administration if it fails to take its fate with both hands and avoid unnecessary distractions to concentrate with the arduous task of fixing the nation and meeting the expectations of the people. It is all chronicled in the cover story of this week entitled: Landmines Before Buhari, written by Olu Ojewale, our general editor. Enjoy it.

Maureen Chigbo

Editor

Email: mechigbo@yahoo.com  |  mechigbo@realnewsmagazine.net

Tel: +234 8033487603, 8052528603

— May 11, 2015 @ 01:00 GMT

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