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Air Peace Airline Passenger Caught Stealing

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Air Peace Airline Passenger

By Gideon Njoku

On the 17th February, 2023, an Air Peace Airline Passenger who identified himself as Kunle Oni, was caught stealing bundles of money from the luggages of other passengers.

But for the vigilance of a couple of people, a number of passengers would have had a heartbreak on arrival to Lagos. For, at the time he was caught, he had already stolen bundles of the scarce new Naira notes and transferred them to his own hand luggage.

Kunle Oni was a passenger on the Airline’s morning flight, P47139, from the domestic wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, to the  Domestic Wing of the  Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.

Wearing a navy blue kaftan and a beret, his seat number was 20C.

It is not yet known the circumstances under which Oni stole, or the circumstances under which he was caught, but in a video watched by this medium, he was still seated at the Depature Longue with other passengers.

It was there that he was interrogated by, apparently, an Airport Security officer or an Air Peace staff. The faces of the interrogator and others with him did not show.

Asked where he kept the stolen monies, he calmly unzipped his luggage, and brought them out in bundles,  one in an A4 brown envelope, and the others just tied together in bundles.

Asked for his Boarding Pass, he brought it out from his shirt pocket. And when asked of his ID card, he brought out an obviously fake HB Identity Card which identified him as a “Staff.”

When asked how many times he had stolen on board Aircraft since 2023, his answer was not audible.

The interrogator appealed to passengers to help them with the prosecution of such miscreants. He identified the problem as the indifference attitude of victims when thieves on board are arrested. He said when taken to a Police station, the victims are reluctant to follow up. They simply walk away once they are given their money and other stolen  items back.

Not a few people are shocked that even aboard Aircraft, their money and other valuables are not safe.

OPINION: Nigeria’s Election and The Pollster’s Albatross

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Azu Ishiekwene

By Azu Ishiekwene

With all the predictions of Armageddon and doubt about whether Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly polls would hold it does sound a bit silly to contemplate life after. Even those who grudgingly concede a life after fear it might be worse. Optimism is like playing the Ostrich.

Nigeria’s history of electoral violence in the sixties and even in the mid-nineties might justify these concerns. But the last six election cycles in 24 years have proved that in spite of the hysteria about its viability, Africa’s largest democracy defies the odds.

Saturday’s election would, yet again, prove the skeptics wrong. Despite the political fire and rhetorical brimstones, not to mention the bank note misery, there will be a morning after.

That said, the next most frequently expressed concern is who will win? There are two answers – a short and a long one. If you believe the polls (at least four of the major ones), the Labour Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, will likely win.

Less than nine months after switching parties and pitching his tent with the little-known Labour Party, Obi has turned the party into a formidable stage, bestriding it like a rockstar. Once without hope or a chance, he has grown from being a potential run-off maker to a real threat, a likely winner.

That is the short answer if you believe the NAP, NOI, Stears, or Bloomberg polls.

But there’s a long, far more complicated answer. Polls being polls, even the most carefully conducted ones can, and do sometimes go wrong. I had a long and interesting conversation a few days ago with a friend and former Obi-skeptic turned believer who was prepared to swear by the results of the polls, especially the latest ones by Stears and Bloomberg, tipping Obi to win.

That conversation gave me the chance to share the long reasons the polls may be wrong and why Obi may not win.

The polls banked rather too much on voter discontent arising from the ruling All Progressives Congress’ (APC) Muslim-Muslim ticket.

APC’s decision to field Bola Ahmed Tinubu and KashimShettima, both Muslims, in a country with roughly equal Muslim-Christian population was always bound to hurt the party at the polls.

Though they agree that religious conflicts predate President Muhammadu Buhari’s APC government, a number of Christian leaders have expressed the view that the President’s ghastly indifference has enabled the rise in deadly sectarian conflicts in states such as Benue and Plateau in the North Central; Kaduna and Sokoto in the North West; and Taraba in the North East, among others.

APC’s Tinubu-Shettima ticket was like rubbing salt in the wound of Christians in these and a number of other states. A backlash in Saturday’s poll would hardly come as a surprise.

Yet the scale of this surprise appears to have been exaggerated in the polls.

While identity politics, sometimes disguised as religion, continues to play a role in Nigeria’s politics, any polls that do not account for the growing number of agnostics and more liberal voters who increasingly make up significant numbers of the younger voting population may be in for a surprise.

Of course, politicians still play the ethnic card but studies including Francis Fukuyama’s Identity: Contemporary identity politics and the struggle for survival, and Yuval Noah Harari’s epic, 21 lessons for the 21st century, continue to highlight the receding salience of religion in electoral outcomes.

Even Stears acknowledged this. “Nigerians are adamant,” the analysis of its polls said, “that religion does not dictate their vote: just 4% of respondents selected religion as one of the three main factors determining their candidate choice.”

There’s another reason a shorthand answer predicting Obi as likely winner in Saturday’s poll could be off the mark. A number of the polls, particularly the ones by Stears and Bloomberg, indicated a margin of “undecided” voters of about 35 to 43 percent. If the 2016 election in the US thought pollsters anything, it’s to beware of the “undecided”, especially the coyishly silent ones.

They may swing Obi’s way, as Stears predicted, especially in parts of Lagos and Abuja with their cosmopolitan outlook and relatively high number of South-easterners and areas the Christian population are feeling hard done by. But there are three reasons the Tinubu-Shettima and the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) Atiku-Okowa tickets may eventually get more “undecided” voters than Labour’s Obi-Datti.

Role of state governors

State governors continue to play a significant role in Nigeria’s politics and in electoral outcomes. We saw this most tellingly in 2015 when the sudden and dramatic exit of five governors decisively tipped the scales in favour of Buhari. Even now, the face-off between five PDP governors and their party continues to hurt the party’s electoral chances. It would be foolish to assume that the 21 of 36 APC governors are all working for the Tinubu-Shettima to win. But with APC controlling governors in at least five of the country’s 10 vote banks where Labour has zero in an election in which money could affect the eventual outcome, pollsters could be in for a surprise.

Bank note backlash

The bank note chaos, a fallout of an attempt by the Central Bank to redesign three of the country’s eight currency notes, is also a reflection of the chaos in the ruling party’s inner circle. But as governors, ranking ministers and finally, the party itself broke ranks with Buhari over the timing and motive of the redesign, the Tinubu-Shettima ticket could benefit from sympathetic voters in what appears to be yet another malicious last attempt to stop Tinubu at all costs.

Biafra-phobia

Obi’s rise and rise has benefited largely from the agitation for Biafra, especially among the youths in the South East. Although Obi himself has not canvassed secession, and has in fact pledged to unify the country, his meteoric political ascension appears to many youths from the South East region to be the best chance in decades to realise the Biafran dream. While non-Easterner sometimes view the Biafran battle-cry as a symbol against systemic injustice, the surge of Biafran flags at Obi campaign rallies have raised concerns about what his Presidency could mean for one Nigeria. The “undecided” who view secession as a bridge too far may recoil at the prospects of voting Obi, however exaggerated their fears may be.

Devil in the details

Finally, the pro-Obi polls tended to exaggerate his strength in areas where historical voting patterns hardly favour him. A few quick examples. In three of the six states where Stears said it obtained its booster samples Lagos, Kwara, Rivers, Benue, Plateau and Kano, for example, only three Lagos, Plateau and Benue are have a historically likely chance of fetching Obi more than 25 percent of the the votes cast. He will be lucky to get an average 10 percent in the remaining three, where APC and PDP run a tight ship. Also, ascribing 48 percent of the votes in the South South to Obi as Stears did, is widely optimistic. Where will votes come from? Rivers? Bayelsa? Delta? Akwa Ibom? Cross Rivers? Or Edo? These are traditional PDP strongholds which have now become battleground states, not for Labour, but between PDP and APC. Elders in the South South are rooting for Obi to right decades of injustices. But expecting these elders to make any difference would be stretching their electoral value a bit too far!

Without a doubt, Obi’s emergence will redraw the 2023 electoral map. It’s already giving the presumptive frontrunners – Tinubu and Atiku – a cause to look over their shoulders, with the latter bearing the brunt in the South-East and South-South, but potentially outperforming the pollster’s forecast in the North-East and North-West.

To leap from the prospects of an exciting race, which Obi’s candidacy offers, to a forecast of a surprise victory on Saturday on the basis of an ambitious polling trend is to go out on a limb. The short of the long story is that the Labour Party candidate would likely be the best third place finisher in decades.

Ishiekwene is the Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP

OPINION: Tinubu’s APC Self-Destructs

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Hakeem Baba-Ahmed

By Hakeem Baba-Ahmed

When two brothers fight, a stranger inherits their house. African proverb.

By the time you read this, there will be three days to the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

By Tuesday 27th, the All Progressives Congress would be involved in damage assessment. The result of the ongoing civil war would show in votes, hopes and regrets. It would be the job of Nigerian voters to make the judgement over the party’s performance, but the party leaders, managers, beneficiaries, stalwarts, and persons whose political careers depend entirely on the voter’s verdict would be remembered as people who set the barn on fire on the eve of the feast.

There are few innocents in this unless they are buried deep in the mountains of grievances and high stake manoeuvres. A party that was entitled to assume a fairly good chance of succeeding President Buhari’s administration despite the gaping holes in the inheritance is left to scramble for crumbs from fights over its very foundations.

If the APC wins the Presidential contest, it will almost entirely be the result of the weaknesses and failures of the opposition rather than its credible finish in the campaigns.

Its candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has run the best campaign money can buy. If he does not become President, it will be entirely to the credit of the most damaging unscrambling of a party that had always been built on the ego and whims of one person, Buhari.

Tinubu was the second half of a contraption meant to capture the power and make Buhari president. The moment that goal was achieved his portion of the influence in that contraption shrank to the size of the designs of the other owner. Buhari became APC, now managed by other beneficiaries and opportunists who crowded out Tinubu today and opened a bit of the door for him the next day.

He did pick some of the spoils of the victory of 2015, including a rickety understanding that he would succeed Buhari as President. A deal to treat the leadership of the country like a relay baton, between two people defined and bound only by finely-honed ego and personal ambition waited for time and antics of palace fixers to be tested.

It has been a long race in which many spectators, officials and managers joined at will.

The rules changed many times, except the one that kept Buhari ahead so that other participants in the race could benefit from being left to their devices. It was good enough for an increasingly smaller circle, except for Tinubu who now finds that he has fought for space among many others who have also assumed roles as kingmakers or powerful courtiers.

It got worse for Tinubu when he found out that there was a scramble for his position as anointed successor. He must have remembered the borrowed phrase used by Buhari at his swearing ceremony which warned that he owed no one a debt, and was available to everyone.

Many politicians would have walked away, murmuring treachery and betrayal. Not the old fighter that is Tinubu. Ego and ambition that matched Buhari’s reinforced a strong sense of indignation, and he threw everything into a fight for what he believed was his but was about to be snatched by an assortment of all-comers. It was an expensive and bitter battle, made more difficult by the appearance of hostility at Tinubu’s access to the ticket from Buhari.

If Tinubu felt bitter that he was reduced to grovelling and deal-making with APC governors from the North, many of whom would not have answered his greeting a few months earlier, no one would have blamed him. By then the reality that Buhari was APC, and APC was Buhari must have firmly registered on Tinubu. He then had to fall back on a few northern governors who had learned the art of twisting arms from Buhari.

They made their deal, went in, killed the notion of an anointed northern candidate in Buhari’s grasp and made the ground a little more level for Tinubu. It was a key bend in a long marathon.

The nation watched a party in all its political disarray show the power of a few political fixers and tremendous wealth which bought power.

Tinubu emerged from a bruising selection process and run into a storm over his choice of a Muslim as his running mate. The distinction between political correctness, principled stubbornness and risky foolhardiness was lost in his decision to run with a Muslim in a country that had turned faith into an expensive political commodity.

Tinubu lost many friends and gained only a few over his choice of a Muslim running mate. Large sections of the targeted Muslim voters were not impressed.

The Christian community was divided between seeing his choice as a supreme act of hostility, and others who saw it as a political risk they could live with.

By the time Tinubu’s expensive campaign to succeed Buhari left port, the impression of a party that had no respect for the loyalty or sensitivities of the population was spreading faster than insecurity under Buhari.

It was already burdened by the empty legacy of the party’s administration under Buhari. That means it had to start from below ground zero. To denounce the record of its own sitting president who was at best indifferent to its success at that stage was dangerous. To whitewash it and attempt to sell it to a nation that knew a lot better was to take a very poor risk.

Tinubu had to run on his own steam and manoeuvre between huge obstacles. He was running for the first time for the presidency against an experienced PDP candidate who just beat Buhari’s record by running for the fifth time. The North was not going to be an easy ride with Atiku’s presence there. His own primary constituency in the South West was going to require some work to substantially line up behind him.

Labour’s Parter Obi was going to eat deeply among offended Christian communities in the North, and its barricades in the South East were going to keep him almost entirely out. The South-South is up for grabs to all three, so he could not expect too much there. The appearance of some limitations on his health, real or exaggerated has not helped his campaign around providing a strong leader who will pull the country out of its current mess. The North is at best ambivalent against him.

Still, it would have been wrong to write off Tinubu’s chances if the ongoing civil war in his party, which is compounding the misery of most Nigerians is not eating deeply into the sympathies of Nigerians for his party.

The circumstance and events triggered by the implementation of the Naira redesign policy is a cruel turn of the knife at the back of the Tinubu project. Those who think the final rug has been pulled from under Tinubu’s feet will not be blamed for being conspiracy theorists if the timing, the process and the high stake actions of the president, key appointees and governors cannot be proved as normal coincidence.

It will be difficult for Tinubu’s campaign to avoid being smeared by a president who ignores the Supreme Court, a CBN governor who appears to live in his own world with only Buhari’s photo on the wall, APC governors treating the constitution and the president with disdain, a distressed nation groaning under the additional burden and an election that is imminent.

It appears that Tinubu himself has received the legacy of a party he helped form: a political contrivance around the ambition of only one man. He did inherit Buhari, but it will be a cruel trick if it turns out to be an empty inheritance.

Dr Baba-Ahmed wrote this on February 22, 2023.

My Fellow Nigerians, The Die Is Cast

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The Source
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Peter Obi

By Peter Obi

Peter Obi Drops Passionate Message To Nigerians Hours To Presidential Poll.

Fellow Nigerians, it’s 3 days to go and in my quiet moments I know that Nigerians are wondering what Peter Obi is thinking. I will share my thoughts here because I have Nigeria on my mind!

We are currently at a crossroads. We need a leader to show us the way forward. We need a prudent president, a principled president who has what it takes to lead.

As we say in Naija: “We need person who sabi road; a person we go follow make this country better.” A new Nigeria is possible. We can make it.

We have national elections coming up next Saturday, on the 25th of February 2023. The presidential election is the most critical because we will be electing the next president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

It is the only chance to elect a leader of our choice. We must choose someone who can solve our problems. This is an essential and existential election. It is a make-or-break moment in our history. Future generations will not forgive us if we make a wrong choice.

The person of your choice must have these four qualities minimally:

Character: A person with a proven record of fairness, honesty, and trust. We need an honest person with a verifiable background: We must know his real name. We must know where he said he schooled.

We must know people who knew him then. We must know where he has been, what he has done, what he has said, and what he has been doing these past months during the campaigns.

Competence: Someone who has the proven capability and the drive to move us forward. The person must have the required skills and must show the physical and mental ability to manage the affairs of Nigeria.

The president we need must present the correct image of Nigeria abroad and stand tall among his peers at the United Nations and other international forums.

Commitment: We need someone who is committed and has the capacity to stop official corruption in this country. We have heard far too many talks about change. Enough of empty promises! We are tired of hearing sorry stories.

We want real changes, not endless pity parties and porous pledges.

Compassion: We want a leader who is concerned about the welfare of Nigerians, not his clique of praise singers. Our fellow citizens are in IDP camps. I spent Christmas and New Year with them.

They should be home. People die daily, kidnapped, killed, and raped. No one in government offers actionable concerns. It must end. We need a leader with the courage to do whatever it takes to bring relief to our citizens in distress.

Let us perfect the federation of our forefathers. Every generation is destined to make the country better. The post-Independence generation has arrived. This is our turn. This is our time. This is our chance to make a difference.

Making the same old choice will yield the same result. We are Nigerians. We are rational citizens. We make rational decisions. Let us keep a date with our destiny. Let us make a new nation for future generations.

The world is watching. We must take our destined position as the giant of Africa. You and I know the right thing to do. The greatest lie one can tell is a lie to one’s soul. If you are still undecided, please talk to yourself. Allow your conscience to guide you.

No one is perfect but, ask yourself, “Should I choose someone I do not wish as a role model for my children?

Be introspective. Ask: Could I live with myself for making the wrong choice just for few new naira notes or because of my region and my religion?

I believe you will make the right choice and vote Labour Party: LP (Mama. Papa, and Pikin): The election is not about Obi and Baba-Ahmed. This election is not about our ethnic groups, African traditional religion, Christianity, or Islam.

It is not about our sacred churches, mosques, and shrines. The election is about the future of this land that God gave to our great generation.

Why Labour? I will tell you.

We want to move our economy from importing and consuming products to producing, consuming less, and exporting more. That is the essence of Consumption to Production.

Datti and I will work hard every day and with everyone. Many things went wrong in the past 24 years. There are enough blames to go round. We will not share blames. We will share hope. No more excuses. In life, what matters more is not what happened to us; it is what we do with what happened to us. Honesty is the best policy. We must be truthful to ourselves. Truth is the essence of life. I pride myself in striving to be an upright citizen.

I endeavour to do the right things. Fairness is the golden rule: do unto others as you wish them to do unto you. When I fail, I learn.

Our revered Chinua Achebe stated that our humanity depends on the humanity of others. We are in this word with great gifts. Our world presents challenges and opportunities. Challenges stimulate our creativity.

We will use the opportunity of vast resources in our God-given earth to meet those challenges confronting humanity. The welfare of one is the welfare of all.

My modesty is not words of mouth: I live it. We can feed off each other’s simplicity. By producing more and consuming less, we can balance our needs, not wants,and make society more equitable. It makes no sense fighting over issues that require rational thinking & good conscience.

I love this country. It is not perfect. Nothing is perfect. Perfection is a continuum. The labours of our heroes past must not be in vain.

Please come out and vote for Labour Party (LP) Please subscribe to success, to the triumph of a tested, trusted, and verified leadership. Do not renew the subscription to suffering, to the sorrow of tomorrow.

A new Nigeria is possible. Let’s make it happen like a TEAM: Together, everyone achieves more.

These past months have been quite a journey. I have met millions of fellow Nigerians from all walks of life: men and women, young and old, rich and poor.

I thank our vice-presidential candidate, my brother, my friend and partner for coming with me on this journey. I thank the Obidients and my core team. History will record this campaign as the best: focused, friendly, mega rallies with no shịshị, respectful, and zero violence.

Salute to all of us!

We all made it happen: organically structured, passionate, united, and verified!

I ask you, my people, to empower me as your president and commander-in-chief. I will be in charge. I have the requirements for correct leadership: character, competence, commitment, compassion, hard work, honesty, humanity, and humility.

I have the courage and the heart with which to deliver the dividends of democracy freely and fairly to our people. Where we fail, hold me responsible; where we succeed, kudos to you. We can change this country. If it takes us making the supreme sacrifice, let us make it for a greater tomorrow.

I am most grateful that you found me worthy to take the torch and lead. I would not have come this far if you did not follow me. You are my strength, the wings that power the historic Obidient movement.

Let us make it for a greater tomorrow.

I am most grateful that you found me worthy to take the torch and lead. I would not have come this far if you did not follow me. You are my strength, the wings that power the historic Obidient movement.

On behalf of all our dedicated team, I promise to deliver on all core values.

These are my thoughts. This coming Saturday, let us promote the Family Value – by voting for the Labour Party—LP: Mama, Papa, and Pikin.

Vote Labour correctly, peacefully, and hopefully. Labour Party: Forward Ever!

Last Minute Mobilization As Akeredolu, Abayomi Appeal For Massive Turn Out, Vote Tinubu

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Ayodele Oni
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Bola Ahmed Tinubu

By Ayodele Oni

Ondo and Ekiti states governments have appealed to the people to come out massively despite current Challenges and vote for Bola Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) during Saturday’s election.

Governors Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, Ondo and Biodun Abayomi, Ekiti addressed tve people in a state wide broadcast Thursday.

The Governors told the people that they are aware of the hardship being faced in the wake of currency swap and fuel scarcity.

Akeredolu stated that “As your Governor, my duty to you at this time of great confusion and frustration, is therefore to provide you with a clear vision of the path of redemption and hope.

“It is to charge you all to shake off the artificial frustration and the temporary barriers on your way to choose a President who represents hope and assured brighter days ahead.

“My message to you is that despite all the well-planned intrigues to deny you of your democratic rights and the future and prosperity of your offsprings, which Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu represents, I urge you to troop out massively and vote for the APC on Saturday.

“This is the time to separate the past from the future. For us in Ondo State, this is our time to vote a President who identifies with our challenges and who would help us to actualize our on-going plan for the establishment of Ondo Deep Sea Port and Massive Industrial Revolution, tackle youth unemployment, achieve our dream of State Police to solve our insecurity problem and ensure human capacity development. It is time to set a new flag and make Nigeria great.”

The Governor also urged the people to eschew provocation and violence before, during and after the election.

“Maintain peace and civility. Go out and vote for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President of Federal Republic of Nigeria and all other candidates of APC into the Senate and House of Representatives. You are also enjoined to vote for APC Candidates at that election.”

Video, Memo,  Expose Wike’s Order On Whom To Vote For; Puts A Lie On His Earlier Claim; Poaches Obedients

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The Source
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Rivers Youths

By Charles lgbo

A trending Video and a memo which surfaced on Whatsaap platforms on Wednesday, has finally exposed who Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike is supporting for the Presidential Election.

In the video the leaders of the Party in a Ward, were seen and heard, passing instructions from Wike to his foot soldiers on whom to vote for.

And in the Internal Memo by the Chairman of Degema Local Government Area, signed on his behalf by his Chief of Staff, Honourable Ipalibo Yellowe, the people were instructed to vote the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu  on Saturday, or face severe consequences. “Kindly note that non-compliance and sabotage will be met with severe consequences.”

The Election is scheduled to hold on Saturday, February 25, 2023.

In the past few weeks, speculations have been rife that Wike, who swore to work against the Presidential Candidate of  his Party, the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, had declared support for  Tinubu.

Wike had promised in December 2022, to publicly name his preferred candidate and campaign vigorously with him. But apparently, his courage failed him. Having spoken more than he should have, he denied he ever said he was going to make public the name of his preferred candidate, even though the video of where he said that went viral at the time.

However, his utterances and actions in the past couple of weeks confirm the claim in the streets that he had given an order to his supporters to vote Tinubu.

He gave Tinubu the venue for his Campaign Rally free of charge. He received him at Government House when he went to Porthacourt for the Presidential Campaign Rally,  and heaped praises on him. He praised APC Governors who influenced the zoning of the Presidential seat to the South.

But the Governor seems, also, worried about his political future after May 29, 2023, when he would leave office, especially, if his preferred Candidate does not win. A couple of weeks ago, he ran to a Federal High Court in Abuja to stop the PDP from suspending and expelling him over his brazen anti-party activities when he suspected the Party could do so.

Last week,  at a Campaign Rally, he begged Rivers People to save his Political future by not voting for those who would jail or kill him.

On Wednesday, February 22, he took another step by denying his support for Tinubu. In a Radio interview, his Chief of Staff, Chukwumaeze Woke, denied his Principal is supporting Tinubu. He said Wike passed no instruction on anybody to vote for Tinubu  on Saturday, February 25, 2023.

However, the video which surfaced same Wednesday has exposed Woke’s lies.

In the video, shot during a meeting at Ward 7, allegedly, Obio/Akpor, Wike’s  supporters, gathered gathered Youths and foot soldiers, and specifically instructed them to vote Tinubu.

Those who addressed the gathered youths and foot soldiers told them it was the Governor who instructed them to pass on the instruction to them.

One of those who responded  said he was Obedient before, but has been instructed now to vote  Tinubu. He promised they would deliver.

He said: “PDP, Power to the people. My Leaders, you have said it all. Just like you said, before, I was strongly Obedient, but for this. Many of us might not be able to reach Wike. But we can reach you. And by reaching you, we have reached Wike. And you have not disappointed us before. You have told us this is where the train is moving. On behalf of the Youth leaders that are here, we support the motion that we will all deliver Tinubu for 2023.”

The Internal Memo by the Chairman of Degema LGA reads:

DEGEMA LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL

Internal Memo

“All appointees of Degema Local Government Council are by this notice, directed to canvass support and vote massively for the Presidential Candidate of the APC, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for the presidential category, coming up this Saturday, February, 25, 2023, whereas other National Assembly candidates (Senatorial and House of Representatives) in the same election remain PDP.

“You are to collaborate with other party leaders and stakeholders in your various wards to implement this directive.

“Kindly note that noncompliance and sabotage will be met with severe consequences.

“Signed:
Hon. Ipalibo Yellowe
Chief of Staff”

Wike’s support for Tinubu, one of his closest political allies told this magazine, is to save his head, as he is said to believe that Tinubu would win the Presidential poll.

Enugu: Gunmen Kill Oyibo, LP Senatorial Candidate, Five Others, Set Bodies Ablaze; He Was Chimaroke Nnamani’s Opponent

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The Source
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Oyibo Chukwu

By Charles Igbo

Oyibo Chukwu, the Labour Party Senatorial Candidate for Enugu East Senatorial District, has been shot and killed by gunmen.

Oyibo, a Lawyer, was murdered on Wednesday in the Amechi Awkunanaw, Enugu South Local  Government Area of the State while he was heading  home after the final Campaign outing against his contest for the Senate seat on Saturday. He was an opponent of the Peoples Democratic Party’s, PDP, expelled Candidate, Dr Chimaroke Nnamani.

Shot with him were five other people who were in the vehicle with him. They were  shot dead, and their bodies set ablaze while still inside the vehicle. The  identities of the five persons were yet to be disclosed at the time of filing this report.

However, Chijioke Edoga, LP’s Governorship Candidate in the State, has confirmed the incident. He said: “It is true that our Senatorial Candidate for Enugu East Senatorial District for Saturday’s election has been killed.

They Shot him and five others and set them ablaze.

“Our Party members are being targeted for assassination by political parties that felt threatened by the rise of the Labour Party in the State, and are afraid they may lose Saturday’s election.”

Apparently, the attack happened at a bad spot. A couple of weeks ago, Uche Nnaji, the Governorship Candidate of the  All Progressives Party, APC, was also attacked same spot.

Oyibo was scheduled to contest for the Enugu East Senatorial District on Saturday February 25. Sadly, he was gruesomely murdered three days to the contest.

For the records, Simon Ekpa, the Finland-based Nigerian/Finland citizen, leader of a break away faction of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPoB, had ordered a sit-at-home order in the South-east, beginning from February 22, 2023. He ordered that there would be no elections in the Zone.

Ikpeazu: Orji Kalu Lied; I Am Not Supporting Tinubu, And Will Never Support Him

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The Source
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Ikpeazu and Orji Uzor Kalu

By Charles Igbo

Abia State Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, has put a lie to the claims by Senate Chief Whip, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, that he, Ikpeazu, is working for, and supporting the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu.

Kalu made the claim  Monday on a Channels Television Program.

Ikpeazu is one of the five Peoples Democratic Party Governors (the now irrelevant G5) who are at loggerheads with the leadership of the Party at the National level and its Presidential Candidate Atiku  Abubakar. Led by the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, the Governors- Samuel Ortom, Benue, Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Enugu, Seyi Makinde, Oyo – vowed not to participate in any National PDP activities, nor support or vote for Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

Their anger started when Wike lost the Presidential ticket to Atiku and also lost the Vice Presidential slot to the Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa. They blamed Wike’s losses on National Party Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu. As a condition to participate  in the Presidential Campaign, they demanded that Ayu steps down as National Chairman of the Party in favour of a Southerner for equity. They pointed out that both the National Chairman and the Presidential Candidate, should not come from same zone.

Their request was ignored by the Party. And they went all out, Wike especially, to demarket  Atiku, Ayu and the Party. Wike had announced that they would name their preferred Presidential Candidate. It did not happen. They could not agree on that. Then, Wike in December, publicly, said he would announce his preferred candidate in January. Three days to the Election he has not. Instead, from behind, he shockingly went back to his vomit, and began to back APC’s Tinubu.

On Monday, Orji Kalu confirmed what has been public in the past weeks. He confirmed during his interview on Channels Television that Wike is working for Tinubu. He then added his own State Governor, Dr Ikpeazu, as also working for Tinubu.

Kalu: “Tinubu is well liked by the North, and is from the South-west, and is going to get a sizeable vote in Imo, Ebonyi, Abia, Anambra and Enugu. And, he is going to have the support of Governor Wike of Rivers State. So, we’re on track.”

On Ikpeazu’s support for Tinubu, Kalu said:

“My Governor here, Okezie Ikpeazu, will also support Tinubu.”

However, Ikpeazu has dismissed Orji Kalu’s claim as a lie.

Speaking in Aba where he went to inspect the ongoing work at Faulks Road, Ikpeazu, apparently distancing himself from Wike’s support for Tinubu said: “No member of G5 can railroad another member into supporting anyone against his will as suggested by Senator Kalu.”

Chief John Kalu, Director of Strategic Engagement, Abia State PDP Campaign Council, put it more explicitly. He dismissed Senator Kalu’s claim as mere politics.

He said that PDP, as a formidable Party, would deliver all its Candidates.

His words: “For the avoidance of doubt, Governor Ikpeazu has not endorsesed Tinubu, and will not endorse him because he is a leader, and is guided by the feelings of his people.

“PDP remains formidable, and all our candidates in the forthcoming elections hold very strong prospects of winning in Abia.” That, if he is to be believed, includes Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

IGP Announces Restriction Of Movement, Bans State-Owned Security Formations From Election Duties

By
Ayodele Oni
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Usman Alkali Baba

By Ayodele Oni

Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba has ordered restrictions of movement, as part of measures to ensure adequate security for Saturday election.

He also urged  Nigerians to be law abiding assuring  of unhindered exercise of electoral franchise.

IGP statement, signed by  the force PRO, Olumuyiwa Adejobi reads ” Consequent to the first part of the 2023 General Elections – the Presidential and National Assembly Elections – scheduled to hold on Saturday 25th February 2023 across all States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, psc(+), NPM, NEAPS, fdc, CFR, has ordered a restriction of all forms of vehicular movement on roads, waterways, and other forms of transportation, from 12 am to 6 pm on election day.

“This is with the exception of those on essential services such as INEC Officials, Electoral Observers, Ambulances responding to medical emergencies, firefighters, etc.

“The order which is part of measures emplaced to ensure a safe, secure, and conducive environment for the conduct of elections, is aimed at ensuring public order management, the safety of electorates, as well as assisting the security agencies in effective policing, thereby preventing hoodlums and criminally-minded elements from disrupting the electoral process.

“Similarly, the IGP sternly warns all security aides and escorts to desist from accompanying their principals and politicians to polling booths and collation centres during the election as anyone found flouting this directive will be severely sanctioned.

“He emphasizes that only security personnel specifically assigned to election duties are to be seen within and around the designated election booths and centres.

“Also, the ban on the unauthorized use of sirens, revolving lights, covered number plates, and tinted glasses is still in force, and violators would be sanctioned appropriately.

“All State-established and owned security outfits/organizations, quasi-security units, and privately-owned guard and security outfits are also barred from participating in election security management.

“While empathizing with well-meaning citizens on the inconveniences the restriction may cause, the IGP urges all active electorates to be law-abiding and turn out en masse to exercise their franchise.

“He however warns that the Force will deal decisively with any individual(s) or group(s) that might want to test our common resolve and might to ensure a peaceful election.

“The IGP, therefore, enjoins all citizens to shun vote buying, vote selling, hate speech, misinformation, and disinformation, snatching of ballot boxes, and other criminal act(s) as the Force and other security agencies will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that all violators of extant laws, most especially the Electoral Act 2022 (as amended), are brought to book.

“The Nigeria Police Force, therefore, urges all members of the public to contact the Nigeria Police Force and the Joint Election Monitoring and Operations Room domiciled at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, via the ‘NPF Rescue Me App’ available on Android and ios, or via the NPF Rescue Me Emergency Toll-free line on 08031230631 to report suspicious persons, activities or request security response.

“Similarly, other joint operations/election situation room numbers will be released by all State Police Commands respectively, for emergency contact.”

Obi, LP Candidates Get Workers Nod As NLC Rally Support

By
Ayodele Oni
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Peter Obi in Lagos

By Ayodele Oni

Labour Party Presidential candidate, Peter Obi ambition has received a boost as the organized labour directed workers to vote enmasse for him.

This is coming barely 72 hours to the 2023 presidential and national assembly election, slated for Saturday.

Comrade Chris Uyot, National Secretary of NLC’s National Political Commission, in a statement in Abuja Wednesday, stated that the trade union asked all workers and members of affiliate unions to mobilize and vote for Obi and other candidates of LP.

The endorsement, according to political watchers, is coming for the first time since the formation of Labour Party.

The letter reads, “We wish to refer to the resolution of the inaugural meeting of the National Administrative Council (NAC) of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), directing workers and indeed all Nigerians to come out en mass to perform their civic duties by voting in the forthcoming elections, and taking decisive steps to safeguard their votes.

“The NLC had also urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that the electoral processes are not only transparent and fair, but reflect the wishes of the Nigerian people.

“This is a clarion call to all workers and working people that as we approach the final push towards the forthcoming presidential election come February 25, 2023, we should ensure massive turnout of votes for the success of the Labour Party in line with an earlier resolution of the National Executive Council (NEC).

“Towards this end, all Labour Political Committee members in the states are to intensify their work in mobilizing workers and the Nigerian people both at the local, ward and polling units to vote for the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi and all candidates of the Labour Party contesting the elections.

“The political committees are also enjoined to work with our allies in civil society organisations and students to take all necessary steps to safeguard the people’s votes by ensuring that the electoral process is transparent, free and fair.

“To accomplish these significant tasks to save our democracy, all affiliate unions and State Councils of Congress are to give maximum cooperation and support to the political committees to strengthen their work at the state, local government, wards and polling unit levels by ensuring that they provide at least 10 ward coordinators and canvassers to not only mobilize but defend the peoples votes.

“History beckons. This election promises to be the most decisive in our country. It offers an opportunity to transform our political, social, and economic policy direction to be peoples-oriented as espoused in the Workers Charter of Demands.”

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