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Insecurity: “I Will Be Commander-In- Chief, I Will Deal With It Decisively” – Peter Obi

By
Akinwale Kasali
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By Akinwale Kasali

Labour Party, LP, Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi has disclosed that his major priority if he becomes Nigeria’s President in 2023, will be to deal with the pathetic State of insecurity in the country.

The former Anambra State Governor while speaking on Arise Television Monday, said he would deal decisively with the issue of insecurity ravaging the country.

Though he didn’t reveal the strategies he would deploy in tackling the insecurity, he promises not to threat the situation with kid gloves.

Speaking on the security alert raised by the United States of America and other Western countries on a possible attack in the country by Terrorists, Obi said, “Even with a gun on my head, I can’t give you details of what I’m going to do with the issue of insecurity. But I’m going to be Commander- in-Chief, I will deal with it decisively. I can’t tell you how I’m going to deal with it because if I tell you, it won’t work.

“My first responsibility in this country is to secure lives and property. It is a critical thing because unless you do it, nobody will invest. The farmers can’t go back, so there is no food production, there is nothing that can happen without food production.

“Not even America…all the time they were going to Baghdad, they just said, they will attack massively, decisively, they never gave us how they were going to do it that night. How can I tell you? I will be in charge, I will be Commander-in-Chief and with security, we will be responsive and responsible. That means, whatever happened we will deal with it decisively and someone will have to be responsible for it. If you are not doing it, you are out. We are not going to wait.”

Former Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung Loses Son

By
Akinwale Kasali
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0

By Akinwale Kasali

Solomon Dalung, the former Minister for Youths and Sports, during the first term of President Muhammadu Buhari has lost his 33-year old son, Nehemiah Dalung.

It was gathered that the Late Nehemiah had been bedridden with an ailment not disclosed by family for some time before he lost the battle to death.

Dalung, announcing the demise of his Son took to his Facebook Page and wrote; “Although Nehemiah’s life ended before we were ready, the time he spent in our lives was immemorable.

“Nehemiah Dalung was 33 years old. He was my son.

“There are no words to express the deep pain and sorrow of losing one’s son at his prime age, but we take consolation in God who gives and takes.

“May his soul rest in peace,” he wrote.

Social media users had commiserated with him over the loss, praying that God gives him and the family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

Osun PDP: We Are Pre-Occupied By Preparations For Inauguration Of Governor Elect, No Room For Killer Squad

By
Ayodele Oni
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By Ayodele Oni

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun state has explained that its main focus is the inauguration of Governor elect, Ademola Adeleke on November 27, saying it has nothing to do with keeping any killer squad.

According to the care taker  chairman of the party, Dr Akindele Adekunle “Ours is a party of discipline, high moral standard and respect for rule of law.”

He condemned a group accusing the party and its Governor-elect, Senator Ademola Adeleke of raising a killer squad ahead of November inauguration, describing such allegation as “a worst case of pot calling kettle black”

A statement issued by the PDP Caretaker Chairman, in Osogbo on Monday,  stated that the party viewed with all seriousness the accusation coming from a faceless group fronting for the All Progressive Congress (APC) as it represents the hidden agenda of the APC to unleash mayhem on the state and launch assassination bid on key leaders of the PDP.

The chairman pointed out that “By raising this false flag, the APC is clearly planning to eliminate PDP leaders as a way plunging Osun into violent crisis.

“We warn the APC and their operatives that nothing untoward should happen to PDP leaders and its Governor-elect, Senator Ademola Adeleke.

“We take serious exception to veiled threat and we call on security agencies to investigate the APC proxy group for constituting needless threat to the peace and security of Osun state.

“Osun PDP declared that in its years of struggle for power, it consistently employs peaceful means to canvass for votes until her landslide victory in the July 16 election. It is the APC that has open records of nurturing and deploying thugs for political purposes.

“The PDP is a party of peace. We all read how APC thugs attacked the Lagos state PDP governorship candidate. We saw how sponsored APC thugs swooped on the Kaduna campaign ground of PDP Presidential campaign.

“In recent Osun case, we all watched how APC paraded Asiri Eniba , Oko Ilu and other violent personalities. PDP has no record of violent politicking.

“It is on record that the APC felt the pain of Ajagungbade’s defection, as such they sponsored their paid thugs to threaten and go after the life of Ajagungbade, and when they failed in their bid to get him desperately out of circulation, they sponsored a malicious petition against him.

“As a responsible and law abiding citizen, Ajagungbade approached the Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo for the enforcement of his fundamental right to liberty, right to life and freedom of movement, joining in the suit the Police and the APC notorious thug called Asiri Eniba as the defendants in the suit.

“For the sake of clarity, the Federal High Court has granted an order of maintaining STATUS QUO, that is, restraining the police acting through themselves or any third party from arresting, detaining, incarcerating or doing anything capable of bringing threat to the liberty, life and right to freedom of the said Ajagungbade our esteemed member who has been acting responsibly and conducting himself peacefully since he joined our Party.

“We must put on record that our party does not provide shelter for ravenous and notorious thugs like the APC, which harbours self-confessed thugs who have been in and out of police net several times, and still on the wanted list of the police. Ours is a party of discipline, high moral standard and respect for rule of law.”

New British PM, Sunak Warns Party To ‘Unite or Die’

By
Tosin Olatokunbo
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Rishi Sunak, the incoming prime minister of the United Kingdom, UK,  has told member of parliaments, MPs that the Conservative party is facing an “existential threat”, and as such, should “unite or die”.

In his first address to parliamentarians after becoming party leader, he vowed he would return the party to the values of its 2019 manifesto, which helped win the party an 80-seat majority.

Ruling out an early general election, he said he would lead a government of serious Conservative values and make his first priority tackling the economic crisis.

Sunak will become prime minister without MPs or members having voted for him after Mordaunt pulled out of the race in an apparent acknowledgment that she had not reached the necessary 100 MP threshold to progress.

Two minutes before the nomination process closed at 2pm, Mordaunt tweeted that she had pulled out and that Sunak had her “full support”. Sunak’s other rival, Boris Johnson, pulled out on Sunday night, despite claiming he had the support of 102 MPs.

Five minutes after Mordaunt’s withdrawal, Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee, formally announced the result. “I can confirm that we have one valid nomination, and Rishi Sunak is elected as leader of the Conservative party,” he said.

Sunak will formally take over as prime minister from Liz Truss after meeting the King at Buckingham Palace, most likely on Tuesday, at which point Truss will have served 50 days in the job. It is understood the King was travelling back to London from his Sandringham estate in Norfolk on Monday afternoon.

Sunak, the former chancellor who came second in the leadership contest against Truss in the summer, had secured the backing of more than half the parliamentary party by Monday morning.

The Guardian

PDP’s Juvenile Critique Of APC’s Action Plan, Renewed Hope –  A Response To Dele Momodu

By
The Source
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0
Festus Keyamo

By Festus Keyamo

It appears the Peoples Democratic Party is unaware that Nigerians have since dismissed it as an unserious and broken opposition party. If nothing at all, its latest press release signed by Chief Dele Momodu attests to its crass unseriousness.

The PDP’s attempt to pooh-pooh our Action Plan only ended up as nothing but a joke. Even more pathetic and disastrous is the situation Chief Momodu has found himself today. That is, having to stage a complete somersault in a cheap hatchet job against our highly revered candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, simply because he needed to impress his new paymasters. Let us remind the turncoat, Dele Momodu of what he said about the same Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu only on October 26, 2019 in a column published in Thisday Newspaper entitled, “Bola Tinubu And His Date With Destiny In 2023”:

“I have no illusions that Tinubu will definitely perform as President of Nigeria, if he ever contests and wins. He has a knack for identifying brilliant minds and fertile brains, and the ability to nurture them to greatness. He has demonstrated this repeatedly and almost endlessly. Examples abound without doubt.”

What is obvious is that even the hirelings of the PDP like Momodu are clear believers in Asiwaju’s ability and capacity to deliver on his promises but have decided to play politics this time around.

Our expectation is that our ACTION PLAN would inspire other political parties, especially the intellectually bankrupt PDP, to engage us constructively on the initiatives and programmes we intend to implement. True to type, PDP has again reacted, in our view, without even reading the content on the document. All they are interested in is the title of our message, not the quality of our ideas. We are extremely amused, but not entirely shocked. This only demonstrates once again their incurable incapacity to act as a credible opposition to the ruling party.

Dele Momodu should have rather stayed in his accustomed lane of praise-singing socialites and the likes instead of dabbling in the more demanding job of critiquing policy statements. It is clearly not his forte! The quality of his recent write-up is a testament that his team is not made up of experts in governance and policy formulation. He must have gathered his team of photographers and video editors to read through a document that is far beyond their tabloid-centred minds.

One would have expected Dele Momodu to make clear comparative analyses between Hope ‘93 campaign document of MKO Abiola and the Renewed Hope document of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He goofed miserably. He was just huffing and puffing without substance. A write-up that was intended to be a critique of a document on its supposed lack of details ended up itself as an empty shell.

We are surprised that Dele Momodu could ask what our candidate is known for. Since he has asked either out of self-denial or selective amnesia, we will answer him with his exact words in the past.

Hear him in another portion of the aforementioned article: “Tinubu assembled a fantastic team of technocrats and created the gargantuan master plan for modern Lagos”.

Dele Momodu has lived in Lagos for more than three decades. He surely knows the state of Lagos pre and post 1999. He has praised, on many occasions and at different fora, the imperishable legacies and monumental milestones of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Lagos. In the same piece, Momodu narrated how Asiwaju Tinubu began the “systematic and robust increase of Lagos’ Internally Generated Revenue, making the state one of the richest self-sustaining governments in Africa”, and how “he single-handledly (sic) revived and revamped Local Governments in Lagos and brought developments to practically every part of the state.”

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is known for “his glittering records and achievements in both private and public sectors”.

Can Dele Momodu also say this about his principal, Atiku Abubakar, whose time as Vice President has no other legacy to be remembered for other than the failed privatization exercise he was assigned to supervise where he sold national assets to his friends and cronies for peanuts? Should we remind you, Dele Momodu, of the distasteful remarks made by Fmr. President Olusegun Obasanjo on your party’s flag-bearer as Vice President?

Of course, track records should be critical in evaluating any party or candidate. If we may ask Dele Momodu, what are your party’s track records? When the country had substantial receipts from crude oil export, your party squandered it all. PDP represent what the Yoruba proverbially call “Arungun” (squanderer). They promised the people of South-East Second Niger Bridge for 16 years, yet, nothing was built. Today, thanks to President Muhammadu Buhari of APC, the Second Niger Bridge is completed. At a time, a former spokesperson of your government said Nigeria couldn’t afford train coaches, much less rail lines. Today, we have Lagos – Ibadan, Itakpe – Warri rail lines. Even in the face of dwindling resources and global economic challenges, we have lifted millions of Nigerians out of poverty with our National Social Investment Programs, widely acclaimed as the first in Africa in scale and innovation. Nigeria has become a sufficient rice-growing nation, rated highest in rice and sorghum production in Africa by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), a status PDP thought was impossible.

Our effort in power generation and distribution is yielding good results, unlike the $16 billion squandered by PDP under Obasanjo under the guise of power projects with nothing to show for it. Pledges made by PDP governments are being redeemed by our party. Pensions and other entitlements of workers in PDP’s failed privatisation scam have been paid up to date.

Sure, like Dele Momodu once said before he took up his new mercenary job from PDP, Asiwaju has “too many technocrats to pick his team from.” He is surrounded by “brilliant, intelligent, accomplished and cosmopolitan leaders” across all sectors, spheres and walks of life. He will hit the ground running when he takes over power in May 2023, by the grace of God and most Nigerians. As he did in Lagos state, he will assemble “quality and talented leaders” in his cabinet that will see to the delivery of our campaign promises.

On the contrary, the 5-point agenda of the flag bearer of the PDP is nothing to write home about. Top on the list is his lip service to unify Nigeria. We can only laugh. This is a man that his party is torn between division and disarray. Till now, he is yet to fix it. What a failure! His 74-page campaign document has in it ongoing milestones of the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration. From lifting millions out of poverty to power generation to economy revitalization, it is clear that they are either too lazy to think or bereft of fresh ideas. Everywhere Atiku went to, he was never caught speaking to issues of governance. Rather, if he is not promising the Igbo Presidency in 2027, he is playing the ethnic card (like in Kaduna). Nigerians are wise, they know he has nothing to offer.

Finally, Dele Momodu and his party failed woefully to point out a single example of the copy-and-paste he referred to in the press statement released by him. It was expected that he would have cited one example of an original document from which we copied and the portion in particular. In all, his press release is just a juvenile prose, bereft of details and substance, full of highfalutin nonsense and signifying nothing.

Keyamo, SAN, is the Director of Public Affairs and Chief Spokesperson, Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council

APC Manifesto; Dele Momodu To Tinubu: You Copied Abiola

By
The Source
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0

“After carefully reading through the much-awaited APC Presidential Campaign Manifesto that was released over the weekend, we cannot but conclude that the elephant has given birth to an ant. After such a long delay, what the APC Presidential candidate has come up with is a series of platitudes, half-thoughts, poor reasoning, and copied notes packaged and presented as “Renewed Hope”.

The APC and its Presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, could not even come up with something original: “Renewed Hope 2023.” Really?

This is again, another attempt by the APC candidate to appropriate Bashorun MKO Abiola’s Legacy. It would be more salutary if he were to run on his own steam instead of copying the memory of a man whose life trajectory was uncommon and whose hope for Nigeria was noble. And the APC candidate should be reminded that 1993 is far different from 2023,” the Ovation publisher said.

“The late MKO Abiola was known for industry and brilliance. Shall we ask what the APC candidate is known for? Whereas MKO’s Hope ‘93 was a genuine course; for the APC and Nigerians, it’s a forlorn hope ~ and that’s the message of Bola Tinubu and the APC campaign in 2023

“In all honesty, the 80-page document that the APC has put together comes across as a little more than an insult to the sensibility and needs of Nigerians.

“At a time when the country is in dire need of clear leadership with vision and courage, all the APC seems capable of doing is to generally copy and paste regurgitated ideas of others with nothing original or breathtaking. Asiwaju says he “knows the way”. With due respect, he does not. On more than one occasion, he has advertised himself as the architect of the victory of the APC in 2015. Their party’s slogan then was “Change.”

“In eight years, they have not been able to change anything positively. They have led Nigeria into a ditch. Inflation is close to 21%. Unemployment rate is 33%. The Naira is one of the worst-performing currencies against the dollar in the world. The suicide rate in the country has risen terribly, because the people have lost hope. Divorce rate too because the APC and its leaders have castrated families, and ruined “the other room:”. Thus, they have worsened the condition of Nigerians. Now, in 2022, Tinubu says he wants to take Nigerians on a journey. A journey to nowhere, most certainly; or, to be precise – to perdition. A week ago, he promised that he would ensure the continuity of the current administration. What does he want to continue? If I may ask: the poverty, agony and cluelessness that the APC have imposed on Nigerians?

“Like a crafty student trying to avoid being caught in the act of plagiarism, the authors of the document have tried to rewrite some unoriginal ideas. The authors of the document do not only offend Nigerians with their collection of cliches and pedestrian ideas but they offend, expose and indict the APC candidate Chief Bola Tinubu. I urge you in the spirit of fairness to interrogate what the APC calls a manifesto. You will see that they are promising exactly what they have not been able to achieve in eight years.

“Chief Bola Tinubu is not new to Nigerian politics. It is sad that he allowed some people to copy and repackage, without tact or grace, the Abiola Hope ’93 manifesto and mixed it with the 2015 APC/Buhari manifesto for him. They even have the impudence to tag it ‘Renewed Hope’. Nigerians do not need a copy and paste manifesto. They want details and original ideas. The way this country is right now, offering the people empty promises would not take us forward. The question for every Presidential candidate is how? How will you solve the problem? We all know what the problem is. Tell us how? For eight years, Bola Tinubu has projected himself as the power behind the throne. His party has failed to lead Nigeria forward.

They must stop blaming the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). They must stop blaming the world and COVID 19. The duty of government is to provide leadership and solve problems. Leadership is about managing people and resources. Nigeria urgently requires a leader with exemplary capacity and ability to lead a nation in confusion with distinction and never with untested experimentation. We’ve already gone through calamitous experiments in the last eight years. The APC government is the only government that blames others and the past for its lack of innovation and creativity.

“I insist that the authors of the APC manifesto exposed and indicted both APC and Chief Bola Tinubu. The authors of the document, whoever they are, seem so disrespectful of Nigerians that they do not seem to care or know that Nigerians will ask where was Chief Bola Tinubu and his running mate when the current administration was getting things wrong with a similar game plan and manifesto? What did they and other APC members say or do in private or public to warn the government about their underperformance? What did they say or do in private or public to remind the outgoing APC administration that they failed to keep the promises they made in 2015? What advice or suggestions did they offer the outgoing administration to keep the lives and properties of Nigerians secure? What advice or suggestions did they give to grow our economy, create wealth and jobs? What strategies did they offer the outgoing administration to fight corruption? Were they just patiently and cynically waiting for the current administration to fail so they can say “I can do it”?

Were they too scared or too engrossed with their ambition to tackle the government for the sake of Nigeria?

“I have used the phrase “authors of the document” advisedly because the APC is well-known to dial back, even on its own promises and it is one party whose candidates may not even know the content of their own manifestoes. After the 2015 general elections, the APC openly rejected some of the promises in the party’s manifesto, and that was long after they had been declared winner. This is probably why their 2023 manifesto this time around is long on promises and short on details. As a concerned citizen, I don’t think Nigerians should be taken on another bad ride.

“No other election in recent Nigerian history can be more important than the 2023 elections. The time for progress has come, and 2023 must be a referendum on the APC. My appeal is that voters must vote wisely. And I hope that going forward, Chief Tinubu would make himself available to attend debates and respond to questions that would be raised to do so, and when he does so, he should please refrain from his predilection to reduce serious conversations to vague proverbs and metaphors. Nigerians are not looking for a ‘dibia’. They want a leader with a clarity of purpose and vision.”

Momodu, an accomplished  Journalist, is one of the Spokespersons for the PDP Presidential Campaign Council

Gov Oyebanji Harps On Qualities Of Secretary To Government, Swears In Adubiaro

By
Ayodele Oni
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0
Biodun Oyebanji and Habibat Adubiaro

By Ayodele Oni

Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji, has said that the office of Secretary to Ekiti State Government requires someone who is competent, loyal and committed.

He pointed out that these are part of good attributes of Dr. Habibat Adubiaro which qualified her to be appointed into the office.

The Governor, who was secretary to the immediate past administration of Dr Kayode Fayemi before he resigned to contest for the governorship, stated this on Monday, during the swearing in of Dr. (Mrs) Habibat Omolara Adubiaro as Secretary to the State Government (SSG).

The oath of office was administered on her by Governor Oyebanji at the conference hall of Governor’s office, Ado-Ekiti.

The Governor, in his speech, congratulated Dr. Adubiaro on her new appointment and expressed optimism in her capability to deliver on the task of her responsibilities.

Also sworn-in alongside the SSG is the Commissioner of Justice and Attorney-General, Dayo Apata (SAN), immediate past solicitor general of the federation.

Oyebanji declared that “Today’s occasion is significant as we are all aware that the office of Secretary to Ekiti State Government and commissioner of Justice serve as an important nomenclature of this government.

“This is underscored by the fact that it is established by the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria.

“I therefore want to congratulate Dr. Adubiaro who has been called upon to serve at this crucial time.”

The Governor therefore charged the appointees to be up to the task in their responsibilities.

Dr Adubiaro, a staff of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti, (FUOYE) until her appointment, is the first female to occupy the position in Ekiti state.

Bank Customers’ Mobile Transfers Hit N13trn

By
Tosin Olatokunbo
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Inter-bank mobile transfers hit N12.8 billion in the first nine months of this year, according to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System, NIBSS.

The NIBSS which gave a month-by-month figure said bank customers made the transfers between January and September this year using their mobile telephone devices.

The data released by the interbank clearing house further revealed that the mobile transfer year-on-year is higher by N8 trillion compared to the 2021 figures, a growth of over 150 percent in the period under review.

Analysis of the value of the transactions showed that the sum of N1.05 trillion was transferred through mobile in January alone.

In February, transactions worth N1.09 trillion were carried over mobile while in March, a total of N1.37 trillion was recorded as mobile transfers.

In April, the value of mobile transactions also stood at N1.37 trillion, while the same figure was recorded in May.

The NIBSS data showed that bank customers in the country carried out financial transactions worth N1.47 trillion in June this year, while the figure rose to N1.55 trillion in July.

In August a total of N1.8 trillion was transferred over mobile devices. This came as an all-time high monthly value recorded since the deployment of the mobile inter-scheme platform.

The value of mobile transactions in September stood at N1.7 trillion, according to figures released by NIBSS.

Rumpus In Ekiti Over Cause Of Speaker’s Death

By
Ayodele Oni
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0
Funminiyi Afuye

By Ayodele Oni

Allegations and counter allegations have continued to trail the sudden death of the Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Funminiyi Afuye, who passed on last week.

A cross section of the people, especially from his country home, Ikere Ekiti believe the Speaker was poisoned.

The people even lay claim to an autopsy report, which they claimed has been sent to the deceased relations.

Before his death last week due to heart related ailment, there has been pressure of Afuye to relinquish his position as Speaker, due to the emergence of another Ikere indigene, as deputy Governor.

With the election of Mrs Monisade Afuye and her inauguration as deputy to Governor Biodun Abayomi,  the position of the Speaker automatically goes to Ekiti north senatorial district.

On the day he died, four days to the wedding of her daughter, Afuye was reported to have series of meetings with assembly members and the Governor before he complained of a undisclosed ailment later in the evening.

However, in a reaction, the Management of Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti, in a statement, debunked the rumours making rounds that the Autopsy result of the late Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Hon. Funminiyi Afuye was found to be “poisoning”.

While responding to the fake news, the Chief Medical Director of the Hospital, Professor Kayode Olabanji urged the public to disregard the misinformation.

The CMD noted that, even though an autopsy was done on the late Speaker, the preliminary results did not indicate he was poisoned neither was any foul play suspected.

He explained that the final reports which require laboratory investigations will take some days and it’s not likely to have a significant change in the earlier findings.

According to him, there are procedures, rules and regulations guiding autopsy results saying whenever the result is ready, it will be given to his next of kin, and not the public.

He added that that Forensic Pathologists will never issue a social media report on

the dead as it’s against Medical ethics.

Prof Olabanji advised the public to ignore the rumours, stressing that it is the handiwork of mischief makers.

Lagos: APC, PDP Trade Words Over Attack on Jandor

By
James Orji
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0

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has warned the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, not to cause problems in the state. The ruling party in the state was reacting to the reported attack on Dr Olajide Oladiran, also known as Jandor by hoodlums suspected to be APC thugs.

The PDP candidate train was attacked on Sunday while returning from Badagry after a campaign event in the riverine community. Many people were said to have been injured during the attack.

Hakeem Amode, Lagos PDP chairman said of the attack: “The campaign train of the PDP candidate was attacked today while returning from visitation to members of the party at the Ikoga Junction area of Badagry local government by All Progressives Congress sponsored thugs,” the statement reads.

“The attack led to injury of several members of Jandor’s entourage and pressmen. As of the time of this press statement, one of the news reporters is in critical condition in an undisclosed hospital while those injured are been treated.

“The thugs that attacked the campaign train were shouting APC while shooting guns and using dangerous weapons.”

But reacting to the claim, the APC said the opposition PDP is only trying to cause a crisis in the state by making unfounded allegations against the party.

The party said the PDP candidate is heating up the system in order to achieve his aim of becoming the state governor next year.

The party challenged the PDP candidate to reveal the names of the victims that were injured during the attack.

According to the statement signed by the state APC Publicity Secretary, Seye Oladejo,  the ruling party said it does not promote thuggery and violence, noting that it is “repulsive that Jandor could level such grievous allegations”.

Part of the statement said: “Our attention has been drawn to the purported attack on the Lagos state PDP gubernatorial candidate, Jide Adediran, Jandor while on a campaign tour.

“It is important to state that All Progressives Congress , abhors thuggery and any other form of violence in the name of politics.

“However, we find it repulsive that Jandor could level such grievous allegations and conveniently forget to give the names of the victims and the action taken by the battalion of security operatives who always outnumber his entourage.

“This is just another level in the propaganda machinery of the PDP candidate to curry public sympathy through blatant lies and unsubstantiated claims.

“The opposition party before now had more credible and accomplished candidates who flew their flags during elections and ran a good race.

“It is worthy of note that neither were they so desperate nor unnecessarily heat up the polity with needless lies.

One cannot but wonder what led to the descent to the lowest abyss.

“Nigerians know too well that this is the season of endless comedy of the absurd coming from the stable of the professionals.

“They are advised to focus on issues based campaigns that will make life more meaningful for all Lagosians.

“Perhaps he should spend more time to seek the support of the members of his party who have been largely indifferent to his campaign rather than clutch to straws and cry wolves when there’s none.

“However, we understand that it can be overwhelming frustrating and depressing to contest against a highly successful incumbent who has become the yardstick to measure good governance,” the APC said.

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