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N5bn Drug Haul: Marwa Lauds Synergy Amongst Security Agencies

By
Tosin Olatokunbo
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By Tosin Olatokunbo

Gen Buba Marwa (rtd), the Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has commended the synergy between officers of the anti-drug agency and other security agencies in the country. The NDELEA chief executive stated this following the seizure of tramadol, Opoid and Exol worth over N5 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and Edo state by operatives of the anti-drug agency.

Of the figure, 214 cartons of Tramadol 225 under 10 different brand names, which translate to 9, 219, 400 tablets weighing 6, 384.5kg, with an estimated street value of N4, 609, 700, 000 were transferred on Tuesday 29th March alongside 85 cartons of dried Khat leaves with a total weight of 1, 327.35kg by the Nigerian Customs to the MMIA Command of NDLEA as a symbol of the synergy between the two law enforcement agencies.

In Abuja, about 228,740 tablets and capsules of Tramadol and Exol 5 were intercepted on Friday 1st April at Abaji area of the FCT. The truck conveying the drugs was loaded in Lagos heading to Kano. Though the truck driver escaped into the bush during the search of the vehicle, two of his assistants; Usman Abdulmumini, 23 and Aminu Ahmad, 22, were arrested.

At the Port Harcourt International Airport, PHIA, a Brazilian returnee Nnanna Anayo Michael, 39, was arrested during the inward screening of passengers on board Qatar Airline flight QR1433 from Doha to Port Harcourt on Tuesday, 29th March. Nnanna who hails from Ekwusigo, Anambra State was arrested with 73 sachets weighing 8.15 kilograms of cocaine, which is the largest seizure of such at the airport, since it began international flight operations years ago.

During preliminary interview, Nnanna said he departed Sao Paulo, Brazil on Sunday midnight en route Qatar to Port Harcourt. He claimed an unidentified person in Sao Paulo gave him six bed sheets in which the drug was concealed to deliver to another unidentified person at Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa. The 73 cocaine sachets were hidden in 4×1 feet factory sewn colourful bed sheets. Five of the bed sheets contain 12 sachets each, while the sixth bed sheet contains 13 sachets.

An immediate follow up operation led to the arrest of 50-year-old Monday Alaisu, who travelled from Lagos to pick the drug from Nnenna. He was arrested at the airports carpark where he was waiting to receive Nnenna with the latters photograph taken at the Brazilian airport and his international passports Data Page in his hand.

In Oyo state, 17.6kg cannabis was transferred along with a suspect, Ramon Dauda, 40, to the state command of NDLEA by the Oyo/Osun Area Command of Nigerian Customs Service, just as narcotic officers on patrol along Lagos-Ibadan expressway on Thursday 31st March intercepted a consignment of 10kg cannabis and 12.1grams of amphetamine in a commercial bus. A follow up operation in Ilesa, Osun state led to the arrest of the owner of the drug exhibits, Mrs Remi Aluko, 44.

Three drug joints were raided at Wire road, Benin City and Uromi town in Esan Central LGA where 188 pinches of Cocaine and Heroin were recovered with five suspects arrested. In another raid in Okada town, a patent medicine dealer, Harrison Odion was arrested with 70 bottles of codeine based cough syrup; 9,638 Tramadol capsules; 16,843 tablets of Exol-5; 80 tablets of Diazepam and 62 ampules of Diazepam injection. In the same vein, operatives in the state destroyed seven clusters of dry season Cannabis Sativa farms in Okpuje Forest along the banks of River Ose totalling 3.124998 hectares.

At least, seven drug dealers were arrested in raids in parts of Kano with 80 kilograms of codeine and pentazocine injection seized from them. Those picked in Rijiyar Zaki, Brigade, Yan-Kaba, Tudun Wada, Karfi, Ungogo and Nassarawa areas of the state include: Muhammad Adamu; Abba Sani; and Auwalu Muhammad, among others.

Foreign Mercenaries: PDP Tackles El-Rufai, Asks Him To Shut-Up; Reminds Him Of Role

By
The Source
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By Gideon Njoku

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has tackled Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State over his threat to bring in mercenaries to fight terrorists.

El-Rufai had in the wake of the fatal bombing of an Abuja-Kaduna bound Train on March 28,  threatened to bring in foreign mercenaries, and use them to fight terrorism in the State if the Federal Government refuses to tackle, headlong, the cankerworm. He accused the Security Agents of reluctance to tackle the terrorists, even though they know exactly where they are.

But in a statement on Sunday by the PDP, signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the Party asked El-Rufai to shut up. They reminded him of the roles he and a couple of others in the All Progressives Congress, APC, including President Muhammadu Buhari and almost all Northern Governors, played in fueling terrorism in Nigeria. The PDP accused them of fueling and “aiding insecurity which degenerated to acts of terrorism ravaging our nation today.”

Said the PDP: “Nigerians can still recall how, in July 2021, Governor el-Rufai, when asked why the Federal Government was lethargic in going after bandits, (terrorists) stated that the bandits (terrorists) are collections of independent criminals for whom banditry is a business.”

Chiding him for threatening to use foreign mercenaries, the PDP said: “Nigerians can also recall how ahead of the 2019 general elections, Governor el-Rufai threatened that ‘those that are calling for anyone to come and intervene in Nigeria, we are waiting for the persons that will come and intervene. They will go back in body bags.’

The PDP, also recalled how President Buhari rationalized the beheading of 43 rice farmers in Borno State by terrorists.

PDP: “Nigerians have not forgotten how, in November 2020, the Muhammadu Buhari Presidency, through its spokesperson, Shehu Garba, rationalized the beheading of 43 rice farmers in Borno State by terrorists and blamed the farmers for not obtaining clearance before going to their farms.”

Following is the full text of the PDP statement.

Foreign Mercenaries: APC Leaders Fueled Terrorism, PDP Tells el-Rufai

“The expression of frustration and threats by Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State to invite foreign mercenaries to fight terrorists in Nigeria is a further confirmation and admission of the failure of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration in which he is a key player.

“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) however insists that Governor el-Rufai cannot distance himself from those responsible for fueling and aiding insecurity which degenerated to acts of terrorism ravaging our nation today.

“The alarming insecurity situation in Nigeria that has led to the killing and maiming of tens of thousands of our compatriots since the APC took office in 2015 is the result of the actions and comments by APC leaders and government officials who encouraged acts of terrorism in the name of politics.

“Nigerians can still recall how in July 2021, Governor el-Rufai, when asked why the Federal Government was lethargic in going after bandits (terrorists) stated that the bandits (terrorists) are collections of independent criminals for whom banditry is a business.

“Nigerians can also recall how ahead of the 2019 general elections, Governor el-Rufai threatened that ‘those that are calling for anyone to come and intervene in Nigeria, we are waiting for the persons that will come and intervene, they will go back in body bags’.

“The media was also awash with reports of how Governors of APC-controlled States, especially in the North West region of the country publicly romanced and empowered terrorists by paying them billions of naira of public funds in various hurried, uncoordinated and hazy negotiations.

“Nigerians have not forgotten how in November 2020 the Muhammadu Buhari Presidency through its spokesperson, Shehu Garba, rationalized the beheading of 43 rice farmers in Borno State by terrorists and blamed the farmers for not obtaining clearance before going to their farms.

“Such comments and actions by Governor el-Rufai, the Buhari Presidency and other APC leaders have the propensity to embolden terrorists to unleash violence on innocent people, the result of which are now apparent and living with us.

“Our Party challenges Governor el-Rufai and other APC leaders to speak out on the confession by a former APC leader that the terrorists pillaging our nation were brought in by APC leaders to rig the 2019 general elections but had remained in the country following the failure by the APC to pay them for the heinous ‘services’ they were contracted to provide against the Nigerian people.

“Governor el-Rufai should know that he and other APC leaders cannot under any circumstance distance themselves from blame in the worsening insecurity, pain, horror, social dislocation of families and life-discounting experiences being encountered daily by Nigerians under the APC.

“The PDP however wants Governor el-Rufai to know that his suggestion or threats to import foreign mercenaries is counter-productive and capable of compounding the already dire security situation in our country.

“The PDP believes in the competence and capability of our gallant Armed Forces to defend our nation. They are only being encumbered by manifest complicity, conspiracy, incompetence and failure of the Security Command and Control Coordination structure of the APC administration.”

APC National Chairman. Adamu, Rebukes El-Rufai, Amaechi

By
The Source
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Senator Abdullahi Adamu

By Gideon Njoku

Newly elected National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, has warned both the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, and the Minister for Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, to be mindful of what they say about the insecurity in the country.

Adamu, a former Governor of Nasarawa State gave the warning in the wake of the comments made by the two after the fatal bombing of the Abuja-Kaduna bound Train on March 28, 2022.

Terrorists had planted bombs along the rail track which exploded on impact with the bombs. As the Train screeched to a halt, the Terrorists appeared in their numbers, invaded the Train, and embarked on a shooting and kidnapping spree.

Figures from the Government say that there were eight fatalities and 26 injured passengers. Nobody is sure of the number of kidnapped passengers, but speculations say about 136 passengers  remain unaccounted for.

An angry and embarrassed El-Rufai has been talking tough since then. He accused the Military of reluctance to confronting and killing the terrorists, even though they know exactly where they are. He said every forest should be bombed to eliminate the terrorists, and acknowledged that some innocent people may die, but quickly added that only criminals live in forests.

He, then, upped the ante.

The Governor threatened to hire mercenaries to fight terrorism in the State if the Federal Government wouldn’t fight it, lamenting the situation. Kaduna State has become the centre of terrorism in the country.

In Amaechi’s case, as the supervising Minister of the Nigerian Railways Corporation, NRC, he said the tragedy could have been avoided if the sum of three billion Naira his Ministry had requested for the installation of security equipment along the rail track was approved. But he said it was shot down, and was responsible for the attack on the train for, according to him, he foresaw it.

However, Adamu, Chairman of their party felt they had “talked too much.” In deed, the opposition PDP had, since, used what El-Rufai and Amaechi said as a peg, and in a statement, held the President Muhammadu Buhari Federal Government responsible for the Train attack and the escalation of insecurity in the North, especially.

So, in a rebuke, Adamu told both men to mind what they say. Speaking in an interview with the BBC Hausa Service monitored by Vanguard in Kaduna, Adamu said he didn’t quite know what the Governor and the Minister think about the insecurity in the country, but warned them: “You don’t take a knife and rip open your belly.” Doing that, he said would be wrong.

El-Rufai has come under the slammer for talking about the use of mercenaries with people reminding him that only President Buhari could give such an order.

Buhari has, also, been criticized for not only delaying in commenting on the tragedy, but for, till date, not visiting Kaduna to commiserate with the people and Government.

Resurgence Of Insecurity In Imo: Uzodinma Blames Opposition; Says Govt. Tracking Those Involved

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The Source
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Hope Uzodimma

“Government has all it takes to match them force for force, killing for killing but will not do that as it is careful not to let blood and cause colossal damage and destruction”

The Governor of Imo State, Sen. Hope Uzodimma has reiterated that the resurgence of insecurity in Imo State is the hand work of the opposition elements who are threatened by the successes recorded of his administration.

Addressing the congregation at the end of Church Service at the Government House Chapel Owerri, Imo State, on Sunday, the Governor said that the opposition are afraid of his modest achievements and would not allow the people to accept them.

“They have rather decided to put fears in the people by attacking individual houses, burning government institutions, to make people believe that they are still in charge,” the Governor said, adding that

“God will stop them.”

He further explained that his government was “tracking those involved in the dastard act of killing and maiming of innocent people for no just cause.”

“Government has all it takes to match them force for force, killing for killing but will not do that as it is careful not to let blood and cause colossal damage and destruction.”

mma however said that “soon government will identify and separate those using the name of IPOB to perpetuate crime from those who are actual criminals, kidnappers and armed robbers.”

He noted that “citizens have the right to criticize government objectively, but not to take life and burn down government institutions and individual houses in the name of opposition or in any guise.”

The Governor reiterated that the priority of his government now is to recover and rehabilitate broken down infrastructure in the State and to restore back confidence of the people on the activities of government “as a way of assuring respect for government.”

He used the opportunity to warn people involved in land grabbing and illegal allocation in Imo and emphasized that “it is only the Governor of a State that can allocate land and issue C-of-O for such allocation to be legal.”

He noted that even the Federal Government cannot allocate any State land without reference to the State Governor, and that “no community has the right to allocate land or sign MOU with any person or group of persons on land without the consent of the Governor.”

To this effect, Governor Uzodimma  informed that soon the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning and the Owerri Capital Development Authority (OCDA) will embark on marking and demolition of structures on government land that were not properly allocated to the developers.

He used the opportunity to thank all APC faithful who were in Abuja for their National Convention that recorded huge success and pleaded with those who were inconvenienced one way or the other during the trip to bear with the Party and the organisers, promising that soon the wrongs will be corrected.

Hypocrisy of Sheikh Khalid’s Suspension for Criticizing Buhari

By
The Source
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President Muhammadu Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari

By Farooq Kperogi

The conscientious, straight-talking Imam of the Apo Juma’at Mosque in Abuja by the name of Sheikh Nuru Khalid was suspended from his position yesterday for saying, during a Friday sermon, that Buhari’s decision to not visit Kaduna in the aftermath of the bombing, kidnap, and murder of Kaduna-bound train passengers by terrorists was unjustified because Buhari visited the city several times to campaign when he needed the votes of the city’s residents.

He said the verbal condemnation of the terrorist attack by the presidency was insufficient since every other person, except the terrorists, condemned it.

He urged congregants to learn from Buhari’s insensitivity to the plight of common people and vote only for people who’ll identify with and comfort them in their most vulnerable moments. That was it.

The mosque steering committee said the sermon was “inciting” and in violation of “Islamic tenets.”

But when Muslim clerics all over the North used to routinely curse and preach against Goodluck Jonathan in mosques for his inability to contain the intensifying insecurity in the country at the time, which pales in comparison with what we’re seeing now on Buhari’s watch, it was neither “inciting” nor against “Islamic tenets.”

Farooq Kperogi
Farooq Kperogi

In fact, there is a famous video clip of Sheikh Isa Ali Pantami crying like a baby during a sermon where he blamed Jonathan for being singularly responsible for the mass deaths of northern Muslims in the country.

Now, his eyes are as dry as the Sahara desert even when more northern Muslims than ever before are being murdered daily as a result of Buhari’s dreadful ineptitude and unconcern.

The hypocrisy is galling!

When/if a Southern Christian becomes President next year, I can bet you that criticizing a president would no longer be considered “incitement” or a violation of “Islamic tenets.”

I don’t know how these people are able to live with this quantum of disgustingly reprehensible double standards.

2023: Actor, Pete Edochie Says Igbo Can’t Get Presidency In Isolation

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Pete Edochie

By Akinwale Kasali

Respected Nollywood Actor and Promoter of Igbo Culture, Norm and Values, Pete Edochie, has said that for the emergence of a President of Igbo extraction to become a reality, there is need for the involvement of other ethnic groups.

In a chat with BBC Igbo on the clamour for an Igbo Presidency come 2023, Edochie said there is need for Igbos to unite and not continue to seek the number one position in the country in isolation.

Shedding light on the Igbo historical stint as President, he said, “Only once in Nigeria’s history has it emerged that an Igbo person became the Head of State in Nigeria.

“That was Aguiyi Ironsi during the Military Government and his headship was short-lived. Since then, the North and the Yoruba have been sharing power between themselves, apart from Goodluck Jonathan who isn’t even Igbo.”

He added that sentiment has been a major challenge the Igbo have been facing in their bid for one of them to become the President of Nigeria

Edochie said that the sentiment other tribes in Nigeria habour is that an Igbo President will yield to the South-east’s secessionist leanings.

“The way Nigeria is already disintegrating, is the country being led by an Igbo president? Let’s find it in us to always tell ourselves the truth. Look around. You’ll find Nigeria is already in disarray. Food inflation bites hard,” he said.

“It would be difficult for Nigerians to be united under such living conditions. I’ve lived in the north and spoke their language. I find that Igbos don’t understand the PR in politics. There’s what we call compromise in this struggle.

“If we want Presidency so bad, there are factions whose support we can seek while making certain policy promises. That way, a consensus is reached. If Igbo people insist on pursuing the presidency in isolation, we’ll get nowhere.

“We have to get other ethnicities involved, assign them a role to play in the struggle, and compensate them when an Igbo president is eventually elected. Northerners often think of restructuring as a scheme to deprive them of power.

“If we turn to the south and vow that all the seaports in that region will be functional, there will be jobs. If we task the six geographical zones to provide their own electricity, the erratic power supply would be a thing of the past.”

Edochie said there is a need for Presidential aspirants among the Igbo to seek more support from other ethnicities.

“Igbo Presidency is achievable but we can’t struggle in isolation. We need to be strategic about our political support system, be it the Yoruba or even the Northerners. We need to reassure these ethnicities of our intentions,” he added.

“We need to convince them we mean no harm and have no intention to ruin the country as sentiments have it. I’ll tell the truth. It’ll be difficult if we soldier on and pursue this Igbo Presidency thing in isolation and by our might.”

Pastor Bakare Lapses Into Treacherous Theology

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The Source
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By Steve Osuji

 

Igbo cannot be president of Nigeria because they are cursed! Jeez! That’s the new line Pastor Tunde Bakare is preaching… Please find his video released last week, March 31st to view and hear it yourself.

 

This sheer enunciation of evil. Or at best, let’s call it TREACHEROUS THEOLOGY. Stripped of its dubious religious garbs, Pastor Bakare is simply preaching against Igbo presidency with a most asinine and wicked logic. He is putting down Ndigbo, he is inciting Hausa-Fulani hatred on Ndigbo and he’s dressing it all up as a religious sermon from the altar. Beware the wrath of God when you play tricks with His name.

Pastor Bakare tells his congregation that Igbo cannot be president of Nigeria because they were cursed by Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s Prime Minister in the First Republic. He narrates further that when Balewa was killed in the 1966 coup, supposedly by Igbo officers, they poured alcohol into his mouth  (by way of derision) thereupon the dying man laid a curse upon them that an Igboman would never get on the throne of Nigeria. Bakare actually regaled his gawking congregation with this pernicious tale. And to retrieve himself from the vale of perdition he had set foot upon, he tells his hollow heads that they must pray to reverse the curse.

What a most vile preacher! What a megalomaniac political personage posing as a preacher of the Word. And he thinks that God is fooled for a second?

Questions: was Pastor Bakare at the scene of the killing  of Balewa? Are there recorded voice or video evidences to back this evil tale by his? How then would a grown up man, a lawyer and a so-called preacher present what is at best, an incredulous hearsay as fact to his congregation and by extension, the entire world? This column hereby challenges him to PROVE his assertion that Balewa cursed Igbo or forever be remembered as a fake, lying preacher!

Of course, Bakare knows full well that this hearsay amounts to a vicious incitement of hatred against the Igbo. Bakare is deliberately and wilfully inciting the Hausa-Fulani against Ndigbo. And I put it to him that he is not preaching,  he is on the hustings, he is on a political campaign against Igbo. We can see through his decoy. Especially at this critical juncture of a national effort to pick the next Nigerian president.

Would any Hausa-Fulani hear this wicked tale today without cringing; without swearing to uphold the “curse” of Balewa on Ndigbo.  The natural reaction to this would be to HATE Igbo and OSTRACISE them. Iwager that this is the singular motive behind Bakare’s sordid sermon – Igbo hate.

A further proof of Bakare’s ill motive is his mentioning Gen. Aguiyi-Ironsi in bad lights. He singled out Ironsi as the cause of Nigeria’s woes today because he changed the stutus of Nigeria from a federal republic to mere Republic of Nigeria. This of course is a tale full of mischief and fallacy and Bakare knows it. If Ironsi’s mortal crime was passing a decree to convert Nigeria to a unitary system, if Ironsi was killed for the “crime” of trying to apply unitary decree to perpetuate Igbo domination, why wasn’t the system changed upon his slaughter? Why hasn’t the system changed till this moment?! Bakare conveniently forgot that even at the killing of Ironsi, Nigeria still had four regions. Ironsi never abolished the regions,  it was Yakubu Gowon who abolished the regions and decreed a 12 states structure. In effect,  it was Gowon who pulled down the federal system. Yet, Bakare, who is supposedly learned and knowledgeable, hide these facts just to RUN DOWN NDIGBO!

We know the likes of Bakare, they may pretend for 50 years but one day, yes, just one day, God will reveal them for what they are: Igbo haters and tribal bigots. They may pose as men of God (God is not mocked), they may pose as leaders and statesmen but in their subconscious sits a latent volcano of Igbo hate. This cauldron, simmering in their dark hearts is bound to erupt someday, sometime!

Early last year, during an interview with Ovation,  Bakare had asserted that Igbo cannot be president of Nigeria because democracy is a “vicious game of numbers”. It’s as if he was not alive in 1999 when the same game was tweaked to favour a Yoruba. Just last week, the All Progressives Congress (APC) elected their officers by consensus and not by the so-called game of numbers.

Back to Bakare’s blatant lie about a Balewa curse upon Ndigbo, let’s remind those who play pranks with facts that once again,  it was not an Igbo coup. Kaduna Nzeogwu, the mastermind, was Delta Igbo, people who hate to he described as Igbo. Hassan Katsina, administrator of Northern Region was part of the putsch. Yoruba officers were part of the plot. Why would Balewa curse Ndigbo and not other coupists of Yoruba and Hausa origin?

In conclusion, it is this manner of invidious  acts by people like Bakare that fuel Igbo separatist tendencies. It is underhand devices like this from otherwise learned people that convinces the multitude of Igbo that Nnamdi Kanu is right after all.

Well, if Balewa put a curse on Igbo never to ascend the throne of Nigeria I hope he remembered to also make a decree that Ndigbo cannot break away from Nigeria. … because if Igbo cannot rule Nigeria, then Nigeria will rule herself without Ndigbo.

Ekiti: Fayose Slammed For Endorsing Adekola, Eleka For Senator

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Fayose and his Deputy

By Akinwale Kasali

On Saturday April 2, 2022, former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Peter Fayose openly endorsed the candidature of his former Deputy, Professor Olusola Eleka and Hon. Segun Adekola, a former Member of the House of Representatives for the Senatorial Seats of Ekiti South District, and a return to the Lower Chamber of the National Assembly respectively.

This action has sparked outrage from a  section of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the State. They criticized Fayose for fanning the embers of discord and working for the failure of the PDP in the State as the Governorship election and the 2023 General Election draw closer.

Party Members in Ekiti South Federal constituency 1 comprising Ikere, Ise, Orun and Ekiti South  condemned the  endorsement of Eleka and Adekola, saying such step would make the party fail at the poll.

At a townhall meeting with PDP members in Ise/Orun on Saturday, Fayose had endorsed the aspirations of former Deputy Governor, Eleka for Senate, Ekiti South district and Adekola, a former member of the House of Representatives for House of Representatives.

However,  the ex-governor’s announcement was met with stiff resistance from party members from Ikere and Ise/Orun who shouted, “give us Henrich (Akomolafe), We want Henrich. Stop the imposition, Don’t kill PDP.”

Some of the protesters who spoke to newsmen said  that while they respect the ex- governor’s decision to endorse candidates, his choices over time had further worsened the party’s chances at the polls rather than strengthen it.

The people’s choice, Henrich Akomolafe, speaking to the media said he remains “unfazed” but advised ex-governor Fayose who he referred to as his father against working against the “will of the people and further worsening the party’s chances because of pecuniary interests.’’

“H.E., Fayose, is my father and leader but as much as I respect him, he needs to understand that the days of amala politics when you write a list of candidates is over. If PDP is preaching a new brand of politics and enshrining democracy, then, he needs to lead by example by allowing free, fair and transparent delegate elections to pick a candidate for the election.

“He cannot impose any candidate on the people”, Akomolafe says.

2023: Emefiele Distances Self From Campaign Poster; As Reno Omokri Blames ‘Fifth Columnist’

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Reno Omokri

By Akinwale Kasali

Saturday, the internet was awash with posters and branded vehicles with images of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, vying for the 2023 Presidential Election.

Speculations over the CBN Governor running for the Nation’s top seat have been rife. He has on several occasions denied ever nursing such an ambition.

Last week, after the APC National Convenation, Emefiele had announced that he was not vying for Presidency, rather, he was focused on strengthening the nation’s economy.

This is amid calls by those who are said to be his supporters that he should enter for the nation’s topmost office in 2023.

Coming to the defense of Emefiele, Reno Omokri, a constant social and political commentator on Social Media war, exonerated Emefiele, claiming that he is innocent. He claimed the Campaign posters are a plot by mischief makers to tarnish Emefiele’s image and destabilize him from his primary duty.

Omokri said that Emefiele, is innocent and does not want to run in the 2023 presidency.

The socio-political activist alleged that those behind the act are ‘fifth columnist’.

According to him, “the fifth columnist are behind the campaign for Emefiele.

“It has come to my knowledge that those vehicles purportedly for the campaign of Emefiele are a red herring by a fifth columnist.

“The man is innocent and his detractors just want to taint him. I will not allow myself to be the instrument of someone else’s mischief!” He wrote.

IPOB: Confusion And Fear Reign As Simon Ekpa Insists On Sit-at-home On April 4th & April 8th

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The Source
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By Charles Igbo

There are confusion and fear amongst the people in the South-east over which order to obey on Monday, April 4, 2022.

Do they obey the Government and Nnamdi Kanu’s Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, and ignore the sit-at-home order imposed on the people, or obey it to the letter as ordered by an obvious faction of IPOB?

A clear sign that IPOB has been fictionalized has emerged.

A baby of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu who has been its Leader since it was founded, there is now a faction headed by the self- proclaimed “Disciple” of the IPOB leader, Simon Ekpa which orders the opposite of whatever emanates from the IPOB Nigerians had always known.

In a statement decrying the activities of this group, IPOB spokesman, Emma Powerful, identified it as”Autopilot”, and held it responsible for the recent violence in the Zone, especially in Anambra and Imo States. In the past few days, insecurity has escalated.

Now, there is confusion and fear in the South-east over which faction to obey as orders and counter-orders emanate from both, especially, against Monday, April 4, 2022.

While the IPOB Nigerians have always known insists there will be no sit-at-home in the South-east on Monday, April 4, and has declared any enforcer as a criminal who should be dealt with, Ekpa in a fiery broadcast  declared April 4th and April 8th as sit-at-home days in the South-east.

In the broadcast, Ekpa announced: “Sit-at-home, revolution & other civil disobedience is to demand Biafra and MNK freedom.”

IPOB has, on a number of times, disowned Ekpa’s activities and orders. It has also accused Ekpa of not taking directives from its Directorate of Services, DOS.

On Saturday, April 2, in Awka, Anambra State, Igbo leaders, including Traditional Rulers and Clerics had met at a meeting, inspired by the Anambra State Government, and declared that the sit-at-home order declared by IPOB since about 14 months ago, is counter-productive, has blurred the main thrust of IPOB’s agitation, has not helped Kanu, has brought untold hardship and death to the people, and has reduced socio-economic activities in the Zone to zero.

Allegedly, along with IPOB, the meeting agreed that every sit-at-home order in the South-east has been canceled. It declared Monday, April 4, 2022, as prayer day in Anambra. A bell would ring to mark the beginning of the prayers.

In a communique, it, also, asked for the unconditional release of the IPOB leader by the Federal Government which is prosecuting him at a Federal High Court in Abuja for sundry charges, including alleged terrorism and treasonable felony.

Ekpa’s insistence on the implementation of the sit-at-home order against April 4th and April 8th, has thrown a spanner into the plans.

Leading an obviously more militant and aggressive group, Ekpa lives in Finland, and came into national consciousness a couple of days after Kanu’s arrest in June 2021. He introduced himself as a disciple of Kanu, and gave the impression that he was standing-in for him. But he was soon denied by IPOB, which said Ekpa refused to pledge allegiance to the ideals of IPOB, and was not Kanu’s stand-in. Since then, Ekpa and IPOB have been working at cross-purposes.

On Saturday, a video -broadcast of a woman who identified herself as Dr Nelly Iduu, appeared. Very fiery, threatening fire and brimstone, she cursed the new Governor of Anambra State,  Charles Soludo, out. He called him a slave and a saboteur. Daring the Governor, she threatened that Anambra would be on fire on Monday.

Flanked by two others – a man and a woman- it is not known from where she spoke, or if she is working with Ekpa or another group, or what her status is.

For now, fear, tension and confusion reign in the South-east, especially, Anambra where Soludo seems to have run into an early trouble with this “new” group.

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