Dangote and Otedola’s New Assignment

Wealthy businessmen, Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola have been drafted into the government’s National Peace Committee in preparation for the elections that will be held in 2023. With this new assignment, both Dangote and Otedola have much to do with the forthcoming presidential elections, especially, without calling to mind their usual peace-keeping exercises during such periods. Now that the task has fallen to them directly, one can rest assured that they will be as diligent in upholding integrity and transparency during the elections as they have done with their massive business empires.

The National Peace Committee is not a new club of the affluent and influential. It was first introduced in 2014 to help stave off any attempt to manipulate the process or outcomes of the 2015 elections. Ever since then, the Committee has become an integral part of general elections, and members are expected to serve as beacons of light against the invasion of influential men and women who would want to use their resources to cause trouble.

Meanwhile, Dangote and Otedola are not the only additions to the Committee. Others include the former Secretary to Government of the Federation, Yayale Ahmed; the former Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. General Martin Agwai; founder of Channels TV, John Momoh; and one of the Directors at the Center for Democracy and Development (CDD), Miss Idayat Hassan.

In truth, Dangote is himself an old member of the Committee. Others already sitting on the Committee bench include the Chairman, the former Head of State, General Abdulsalam Abubakar; Bishop Matthew Kukah; Okoh Ebitu Ukiwe; Priscilla Kuye; Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar; Archbishop Nicholas Okoh; Brown Ade; founder of Vanguard Newspaper, Sam Amuka-Pemu; Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari; and prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, John Cardinal Onaiyeka.