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Lagos Assembly Mourns  GAC Member, Prof. Tunde Samuel; Says APC Lost A Titan

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Obasa MourningTunde Samuel

By Akinwale Kasali

Lagos State Government has been thrown into mourning following the death of Prof. Tunde Samuel, a member of the State Governor’s Advisory Council, GAC.

The late Samuel was a chieftain and founding member of the All Progressives Congress, APC. He died on Wednesday February 16th, 2022, at the age of 73 Years.

Commiserating with the family over the demise of the educationist,  Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa,  described him as a titan whose positive roles in Lagos cannot be forgotten in a hurry.

The late Samuel is reckoned as one of the founding fathers of the Lagos State University (LASU) where he was both a member of the Implementation Committee and two-time member of the Provisional Government Council.

In a condolence visit to the home of the deceased on Thursday, Obasa said, “Prof. Samuel’s demise is a blow, a pain that would take long for us to bear both as people of Agege, the APC as a family, the GAC and the entire Lagos State.

A statement released by the Chief Press Secretary to Obasa, Eromosele Ebhomele, it reads; “His importance to Lagos State can never be under-emphasised. He was a passionate Lagosian whose thoughts, actions and activities were all geared towards strengthening democracy in Nigeria and the creation of an egalitarian state where individuals would live their lives in peace.

“As an academic, he helped Lagos to establish a firm foundation for educational growth and progress with his imprint in our own Lagos State University, the Michael Otedola College of Primary Education (MOCPED), Noforija, Epe, where he was Pioneer Provost and as Special Adviser on Education to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, when the latter was Governor of Lagos State.

“It is worthy to note that his activities in government brought Lagos many laurels and further helped to put the State in a favourable position in the country.”

A retired Professor of Political Economics of Education, he was a former Chairman of the Governing Council of Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Otto-Ijanikin.

“Like a star with brightness that cannot be dimmed, Prof. Samuel’s success extended beyond the boundaries of Lagos as he served as Chairman of the Governing Councils for the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti and the Federal University, Otuoke, Bayelsa, respectively. He was also an International Consultant for UNESCO and UNICEF.

“We will continue to miss his wisdom, knowledge and understanding of how Lagos and Nigeria should be run for the utmost good of the people. We will miss his advice and productive efforts to keep a united APC in Lagos.

“I, on behalf of my colleagues at the Lagos State House of Assembly, pray that God grant him peace and give his immediate family, friends and associates the fortitude to bear this huge loss, amen,” Obasa prayed.

2023: PDP Slams Senator Nwaoboshi, Calls Him Expired Politician

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Senator Peter Nwaoboshi

By Akinwale Kasali

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Delta State Chapter, has slammed Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, the Lawmaker representing Delta North Senatorial Zone in the National Assembly.

Nwaoboshi, a PDP Senator, who defected to the APC, had boasted that PDP in Delta State will be defeated  by any means possible, including violence, in the next general elections.

But in response, the PDP described her as attention-seeking rabble, and a failed politician who knows he has nothing else to offer.

Nwaoboshi made the  comments  while congratulating the newly sworn-in APC Exco in the State.

Ifeanyi Osuoza,  PDP’s Publicity Secretary in the State, in a Press Statement, reminded the Delta North Senator that his present mandate in the National Assembly, is by the grace of the PDP, and he had since outlived his usefulness and has become an embarrassing liability, with his calculated and dubious anti-party actions and comments, even long before he shamelessly decamped to the APC.

The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to comments credited to Chief Peter Nwaoboshi, a former State Chairman of our party and former Senator of the PDP, which was reported in several media thus: ‘There’s no rigging plan that I don’t know. The battle has started. It’s total war. Not the war involving the use of firearms; but they will have themselves to blame should they try that’.

“We have no reason to doubt that such comments were uttered by Chief Nwaoboshi, as they are not remarkably different from his typically verbose and puerile utterings, in his futility to discredit the PDP, since he jumped into the sinking APC boat, in the assumed hope of temporarily escaping the looming indictment of an already done and dusted forensic audit report.

“Indeed, Chief Nwaoboshi had already outlived his usefulness to the PDP and had become an embarrassing liability to the party with his anti-party actions and posturings, right from the very commencement of the 9th Senate when, like a traitor without any iota of political integrity, proudly and in the public glare, became an outstanding turncoat and shameless fifth columnist in the election of the new Senate President.

“We are even surprised that a politician who has achieved all his political fortunes under the steady umbrella of the PDP, will be making comments suggesting rigging and violence. Ironically, we do not recall any extraordinary incidences of rigging and violence in the two Senatorial elections which Senator Nwaoboshi won under the PDP, or is he now confessing to the world that he achieved his Senatorial election victories by violence and rigging? What a shameless man, cutting his nose to spite his face.

“Peter Nwaoboshi knows that the PDP is not a party of violence and we have no reason to rig any election because the PDP is the most popular, the most organized, the most prepared, and the most beloved party of Deltans, comprehensively accepted and unanimously embraced across the length and breadth, nooks and crannies of the entire Delta State.

“It is a political truism that when you are very popular and win elections by landslides, your detractors quickly console themselves by jumping to conclusions that there was rigging. That has been the lot of the opposition in Delta State, in all the forms and nomenclatures they have manifested, to contest in every election cycle.

“We want to emphatically remind Mr. Nwaoboshi and indeed all those beating that drum of stubbornness for him, of what happened to the stubborn fly that refused to listen to good advise, and to assure him that no matter what rigging, violence or even judicial abracadabra the APC is plotting and planning, the PDP is already primed once again, to coast home to victory in 2023 and nothing can stop what has already been destined.

“As for Nwaoboshi, on a personal note, we want to tell him categorically that PDP made him who he is politically, and a politician can never be greater than his maker, for, like that proverb which he knows so well, the Okro (AKA: Abelmoschus esculentus, in case you didn’t know), can never be taller than the person who planted it. The PDP will always bend him to size effortlessly and cut him off without any qualms or stress at all, and there’s absolutely nothing he can do about it. “PDP! Power to the People”.

Fuel Scarcity: Oando, MRS Face Reps Probe

By
Bayo Bernard
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By Fola James

The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Abdullahi Mahmud Gaya has assured Nigerians that his committee will deal with companies who imported methanol-blended Premium Motor Spirit, PMS into the country. The lawmaker spoke as the petrol scarcity in the country continues to bite with no end in sight to the problem. Long queues for fuel persist in major cities across the country despite government’s assurance of availability of the product.

The NNPC said on Wednesday that it has ordered for 2.1 litres that will last the country for over a month, warning Nigerians against panic buying.  Apart from the struggle by motorists to get the product, petrol marketers have also jerked up the price from N162 per litre. For instance, a litre of petrol was said to have been sold for as much as N1000 in some places in Abuja, the nation’s capital on Wednesday.

Gaya was responding to a question from one of the Committee members on the calls by well meaning Nigerians that the companies responsible for importing adulterated petrol into the country must be sanctioned.  

He spoke during an engagement with Management of the NNPC organised by the Committee on the current fuel situation in the country.

Recall that the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC Mele Kyari said in a statement by the company’s spokesman Garba Deen Muhammad that MRS, Oando, Duke Oil and a consortium of consisting Emadeb/Hyde/AY Maikifi/Brittania-U were responsible for bringing in the fuel.

But Oando and MRS have however denied the allegation, even as controversy lingers as to whether the NNPC is still the sole importer of petrol into the country as being widely believed by Nigerians.   

Meanwhile, Kyari has explained the lawmakers that the fule scarcity situation is as a result of the discovery of methanol in the PMS cargoes shipped to Nigeria under the subsisting commercial contract operated by NNPC and its partners.

According to him, the reason why tests did not reveal methanol presence was because Nigeria’s specifications do not include methanol.

Kyari told the committee that, “we are a law-abiding company. There is no way we could have known about the methanol presence. The only way we could have known about it is if our suppliers, in good faith, made the disclosure to us. In this particular instance, the discovery was made by our inspection agents who noticed the emulsification at the filling stations and brought it to our attention.

“Subsequent investigation revealed that the four cargoes which are all from the same source also contained methanol-blended PMS”.

He said NNPC then moved swiftly to trace all the affected products and quarantine same.

While assuring the Committee and Nigerians that measures have been put in place to accelerate fuel supply and distribution in the country, the NNPC CEO said the company had placed significant orders of over 2.1billion liters of methanol-free PMS to ensure the queues vanish in few days.

He pledged that NNPC would co-operate with the Committee and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to get to the root of the matter.

The NNPC chief executive also expressed deep empathy with Nigerians on the current situation and assured that adequate measures have been put in place to maintain supply sufficiency and prevent future occurrence.

2023: Former PDP Chairman Nails Atiku’s Ambition

By
Bayo Bernard
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By James Orji

Abubakar Kawu Baraje, a former Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP has dismissed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s position on the controversial issue of rotating the presidency among the geo-political zones in the country. Baraje’s comment, many say, may have further nailed the presidential ambition of Atiku who has been facing serious pressure not to run.

The former vice president who is contesting next year ‘s presidential election has recently said zoning is not enshrined in the Nigerian constitution, in response to clamor for power shift to the south.

Atiku also spoke on the back of pressure on him to shelve his ambition for a southern candidate from his party. Some of his former allies have also called on him to forget his ambition to rule the country saying that he’s too old for the position. He will be 78 next year when the presidential election will be conducted.

On Monday, some former supporters of Atiku held protests in some part of the country to put pressure on him to forget his ambition. The protests erupted in places like Lagos, Adamawa, Kaduna, Plateau, Benue, and Kaduna states, demanding the former vice president to jettison his presidential ambition.

In a statement, a group North 4 North said Atiku must have a re-think that he wants to be president.  The statement jointly signed by the national coordinator and national secretary of the group, Mohammed Garba, and Abubakar Sanni, respectively and read during the protest in Kaduna, they said urged him to forget his ambition for national unity.

The statement reads in part, “We for our part, have promoted the candidature of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for years, but we humbly call on the former vice president to do us a good turn in return for the many good turns we have done for him.

“We have sacrificed a lot pushing for the presidency of Atiku Abubakar all these years, even though we have been abandoned by him after each election cycle, it is time for him to project national interest outside of his need to become president.

“At almost 80years, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar does not have enough in the tank to put in the high level of physical and mental effort required to fix Nigeria.

“We must give all parts of Nigeria a chance to become president of the country, or we might slide dangerously into the narratives of divisionists enemies of the state who will have a ready recruitment pool from among disgruntled groups.

“Only one region in Nigeria has not been given a chance to take the presidency of Nigeria and it is only fair that 2023 almost a quarter of a century into our current democratic system the south east is reminded that they just as Nigerian as the rest of us.

“Fairness and equity is the major ingredient for sustainability of any society as history has clearly shown and Nigeria can be no exception to this clear and present rule of nation building; when a society begins to deviate from the principle of fairness and equity, it declines and slides down the rabbit hole of oblivion.

“The presidency cannot also afford to go to an older candidate, considering the enormity of the demands of the job in the 21st century, where there are series of factors playing into a tectonic shift in economic centers of gravity, coupled with the many challenges confronting Nigeria that requires a proactive person with energy to cope with the rigors of office.

“It is the unanimous position of Nigerians, as deduced from the sampling of opinions through our consultations on the subject matter thus far, that the presidency should go to a younger candidate in tune with the realities within which we exist in today’s world and capable of making decisions at the pace required there from,” the group said.

Atiku had while responding to the question on his eligibility to contest the 2023 presidential election, Atiku said the Constitution did not bare him from joining the race. According to him, the nation’s constitution allows any qualified aspirant to contest for the highest political office in the country.

“The constitution says that all of us can contest. The Constitution has not barred anyone of us. There is no zoning in the constitution. There is none.

“I was a member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted this very constitution. Then, as a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country, we felt that there should be a sense of belonging,” Atiku said.  

Speaking on the issue of zoning, Bugaje also a former National Secretary of the party said the PDP Constitution has been amended to accommodate zoning of political offices in the country.

Baraje, who will be conferred with the traditional title of Tafida of Ilorin by the Emir of Ilorin, Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, said the former vice president may not be aware of the fact that PDP now has zoning clearly enshrined in its constitution.

He said, “Atiku was right over his comment, but he has forgotten that constitution of PDP, has been amended.

“I believe some of us will remind him that it was not in the constitution of PDP, some years ago, but it is now clearly stated in the PDP constitution that zoning should be respected and there is a caveat in the constitution.

“That caveat stated that zoning should be respected to give a sense of belonging to all members of the party and for all-inclusiveness, except and only when a resolution of the National Executive Council (NEC) decides otherwise.”

“I met it like that when I took over as National Secretary in 2008. Even when it was an oral tradition of the party, it was highly respected. It was formally included in the party’s constitution when we were reviewing it before I left in 2011.

 “I think Atiku was talking about the Nigeria constitution and not that PDP, because zoning is not in the 1999 Constitution (as amended).”

House Of Reps To Probe Aregbesola Over N165 Billion Prison Funds

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Rauf Aregbesola and Prison Officials

By Akinwale Kasali

24 hours, after calling out All Progressives Congress, APC, National Leader and Presidential Aspirant, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and former Interim APC National Chairman, Bisi Akande, over the re-election ambition of Governor Gboyega Oyetola, Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, is swimming in troubled waters.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has initiated a probe of Aregbesola over an alleged misappropriation of N165 billion Prison Fund.

During plenary on Wednesday, 16th February, 2022, Members of the House resolved that the former Osun State Governor and Prison Chief, Haliru Nababa, be probed.

Aregbesola and Nababa are alleged to have misappropriated about N165billion funds earmarked for prisons development across the country.

The House resolution came as a result of a motion of urgent public importance moved by Ndudi Elumelu,  the Minority Leader of the House.

Elumelu had said that the House is disturbed that despite this Act and increase in budgetary allocations to the Nigerian Correctional Service to drive its renewed mandate, the tempo and quality of the service have remained the same if not retrogressing.

“The House is worried that the working conditions of staff and inmates’ welfare have deteriorated notwithstanding, the over N165 billion budget allocations to the service in the last two years.”

Following this development, the Lawmakers resolved to have its Committee on Reformatory Institutions investigate the allegations and report to the House within 12 weeks, for further legislative action.

Aregbesola, who has been a strong ally of the former Lagos State Governor for decades, lashed him, saying that Osun State will not condone godfatherism and the imposition of Oyetola on the people of Osun State, saying that Tinubu has turned himself to a god.

N201b for Toxic Fuel: You’re Pushing Nigerians – PDP Cautions Buhari, APC; Demands Sylva’s Sack

By
The Source
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The People’s Democratic Party, PDP, has demanded for the sack of the Minister of State for State, Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, over the scandalous toxic fuel importation.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the PDP said it also condemns “the moves by APC interests to further siphon money from the National coffers by seeking to draw a staggering N201 billion under the pretext of cleaning-up the poisonous fuel instead of exposing and  getting them to bear the cost”

The Party alleged that the APC-led Government “is pushing Nigerians to take to the streets in protest against its continued arrogance, corruption, and insensitivity to the feelings of the people.”

The PDP, therefore, called on President Muhammadu Buhari, who is the substantive Minister for Petroleum Resources, to sack his Minister of State, Timipre Sylva.

Following is the full text of the PDP strongly-worded statement.

“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) cautions that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration is pushing Nigerians to take to the streets in protest against its continued arrogance, corruption, insensitivity to the feelings of the people as well as alleged shielding of APC leaders behind the importation of toxic fuel into the country.

“Our Party also condemns the moves by APC interests to further siphon money from the national coffers by seeking to draw a staggering N201 billion under the pretext of cleaning-up the poisonous fuel instead of exposing the culprits and getting them to bear the cost.

“Is it not saddening that the APC administration has continued to turn deaf ears to the cries by Nigerians to end its corruption and treasury looting spree and ease the suffering of the people occasioned by its sleaze and manifest incompetence in governance?

“Nigerians were shocked when the news broke out over the weekend that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company is seeking an estimated N201 billion to clean up the adulterated fuel.

“It is clear that this is another ploy by officials of APC administration to continue to pilfer the national treasury to fund APC’s rigging plans ahead of the 2023 elections as well as to finance the wasteful lifestyles of it leaders at the detriment of other Nigerians.

“Such move by the APC to further fleece the nation amounts to pushing the already exasperated citizens to the wall. The APC government would have nobody but itself to blame over the possible consequences of its continued impunity, insensitivity and disregard to the feelings of Nigerians.

“It is instructive to note that the APC has remained unyielding since our Party demanded for an investigation into allegations that APC leaders connived with some foreign interests to import very cheap heavily contaminated fuel laden with methanol in their desperation to corruptly raise billions of naira to fund APC’s plots to rig the 2023 general elections.

“Nigerians can recall that our Party, well-meaning Nigerians and organizations had exposed and challenged APC’s plot to siphon N2.557 trillion padded as fuel subsidy for 2022. Having been so exposed, the APC resorted to fleecing Nigerians through importation of toxic fuel and now seeks to fritter N201 billion under the guise of cleaning up the adulterated fuel.

“The failure by the APC administration to set up an Independent Commission of Enquiry on the “APC Toxic Fuel ImportGate”, especially to ascertain the individuals involved in the deal, who undertook the pre-inspection and how much was paid for very cheap contaminated fuel, is fast putting the nation on edge.

“The only way to douse the tension is for the APC administration to heed to demands by Nigerians and expose APC leaders allegedly involved in the importation of the toxic fuel; get them to pay compensation particularly to those whose vehicles and equipment were damaged by the bad fuel as well as bear the cost of the said cleanup.

“The PDP therefore calls for the immediate sack of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva for misleading Nigerians and concealing critical information at the onset of this “APC Toxic Fuel ImportGate” saga, having refused and failed as a public official with duty to Nigerians when he said on national TV that he cannot name persons involved in the fraud.

“The PDP also demands that, having woefully failed, President Buhari should hands-off responsibilities as Minister of Petroleum Resources and allow competent professionals to man the ministry in order to restore sanity in the system.

“This is because the headship of the Petroleum Ministry as presently constituted is peopled with persons with no relevant education, experience and expertise to manage this critical sector that accounts for over 90 percent of the revenue of the nation.”

Nigerians have been battling  with acute petrol shortage, a consequence of the toxic fuel imported into the country which has brought unprecedented suffering to the people. The bad fuel, also, destroyed many vehicles.

A litre of the product is now selling between N700 and N1,000.

The Abba Kyari Story: Another Trash From A Sinking Opposition – Uzodinma

By
The Source
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Hope Uzodimma

Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, has dismissed, as a piece of trash, the news making the rounds that he asked Imo youths to stand with the embattled suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari. The news alleged that Uzodinma  said this at a  Press Conference in Owerri.

Kyari was busted by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, over his alleged involvement with Drug Barons, as well as his attempt to sell the drugs on behalf of  NDLEA operatives.

In a statement signed by Uzodinma’s Spokesman, Oguwike Nwachuku, the Governor said “the source of such baseless and useless piece of nonsense is always known to us – agents of Oppositional politicians.”

Such writers, the Governor said, “have proven time and again that the only way they can play politics in Imo State is to deceive members of the public with imaginary tales around Governor Uzodinma rather than devote their time to constructive criticisms about Government and its programmes”

Uzodinma dismissed the writers as “harebrained  crackpots.”

The full text of the statement reads:

“Our attention has been drawn to a piece of trash trending on social media where Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State was mischievously credited to have advised the Igbo youth to stand with the embattled suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Abba Kyari, currently being investigated by the authorities of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for alleged complicity in drug-related matters.

“The authors of the poorly-scripted report had thought that the best way to deceive their audience was to claim that Governor Uzodimma gave the advice at a media briefing in Owerri without letting the same audience to know the venue and occasion the governor spoke.

“The source of such baseless and useless piece of nonsense is always known to us – agents of opposition politicians.

“The authors have proven time and again that they work for the opposition politicians who think that the only way they can play politics in Imo State is to deceive members of the public with imaginary tales around Governor Uzodimma rather than devote their time to constructive criticisms about government and its programmes.

“At a time Imo people are celebrating the giant strides Governor Uzodimma’s administration has recorded in the area of road infrastructure, medicare, security, agriculture, education, urban renewal, recovery of stolen property, et al, just two years in the saddle, the only thing that appeals to the enemies of progress of Imo State is the recourse to fake news on the embattled Abba Kyari’s matter, using the governor’s name to give semblance of credibility to their mischief.

“Because the authors of the rubbish are simply harebrained crackpots, they think they can dabble into any issue, such as the current ordeal involving Abba Kyari, politicize it, regardless of the weighty legal implications.

“As pedestrian as the authors of the report and their sponsors are in their reasoning, they may not have known that they have disclosed to the relevant authorities investigating Abba Kyari that they too can help them with information at their own disposal to get to the root of the matter.

“We just hope they will not go under or shy away when they are needed by the detectives to throw more light on the matter.

“They need to be reminded that the era of writing thoughtless scripts and posting same on social media in the name of politics is gone and that nothing will be spared to fish out the perpetrators even if they choose to hibernate in their mother’s wombs.

“If they did it in the past and thought they got away with it, the story may not be the same today because the time to diagnose them of this Kyarimania sickness has come.

“Governor Uzodimma is enjoying the overwhelming support of Imo people and the love he gets from them because of the good work he is doing in the state will embolden him the more to continue to render selfless service to them, hence no iota of distraction will make him lose track.”

Akpoti, Kogi Governorship Candidate, Set To Marry Uduaghan’s Cousin, Oritsejolomi

By
Akinwale Kasali
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0

By Akinwale Kasali

Natasha Akpoti, the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Governorship Candidate in the last Kogi State Governorship election is set to tie the nuptial knot with Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan, a cousin to former two-term Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan.

Akpoti, a single mother of three, is a Kogi State Princess. She has been in a relationship with the Alema of Warri Kingdom, an Engineer turned-lawyer and will officially marry Natasha in a traditional marriage ceremony on March 5, 2022.

It was gathered that the traditional marriage ceremony will take place at Apoti’s late father’s residence in Obeiba-Ihima, Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State on the scheduled date.

Having contested for the Governorship seat alongside incumbent Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, which she lost, the 42-Year Old Akpoti went ahead to contest at the last Kogi Central Senatorial election on the platform of SDP in 2019 and lost the election to Senator Yakubu Oseni of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Oritsejolomi is a business mogul and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Webster Group of Companies. He recently bought Natasha a Rolls-Royce Phantom Tempus car worth  $750,000 (equivalent to N311,745,000.00) in what seems to be a Valentine gift.

But, as it stands, the Rolls-Royce Phantom Tempus gift looks more of a marriage proposal gift.

Akpoti’s marriage ceremony invitation card has been making the waves all over social media, most especially Facebook.

The marriage ceremony may turn out to be the talk of town in the coming days say observers.

Ekiti 2022: Segun Oni Defects To SDP; Joins Forces With Aggrieved PDP, APC Members

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Segun Oni

By Akinwale Kasali

Having lost the People’s Democratic Party’s, PDP’s Ekiti State Governorship Primary, former Ekiti State Governor, Segun Oni has joined the Social Democratic Party, SDP.

And, he is set to hoist the SDP’s flag at the Ekiti State Governorship Election.

The former APC National Deputy Chairman (South) says  his newly found political Party’s working with some aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress and The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to take over the reins of power in Ekiti State.

Making this disclosure while featuring on VoiceFM Socio-political program, “Setting the Agenda,” on Wednesday, 16th, February, 2022, he stressed that four of those who contested in last month APC primary in the State had joined forces with him to form a grand coalition that would loosen the grip of the ruling party on the state.

He also affirmed that he was in talks with some popular political pressure groups to solidify his Governorship intentions and ensure that power is returned to the people in June 18, 2022.

He further maintained that irrespective of the political wits and financial might that would be wielded by the popular parties, the SDP  alongside the grand coalition would sensitize the people aggressively against selling their votes.

Oni, a former one-term Governor under the PDP, had decamped to the APC, then back to PDP, and now, SDP.

Nnamdi Kanu May Go Blind In Custody – Ozekhome

By
Akinwale Kasali
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0

By Akinwale Kasali

Lead Counsel to the Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mike Ozekhome, has lamented the deteriorating state of  Nnamdi Kanu’s eyes.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, raised the alarm that his client’s eye sight has deteriorated and if not attended to in earnest medically, he may go blind.

Ozekhome, told the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, that Kanu, who is currently in custody of the Department of State Service, DSS, on the order of the Court, may go blind if nothing is urgently done to restore his sight.

Ozekhome who took over the defence team of the embattled IPOB leader, from Ifeanyi Ejiofor, decried that his client’s eye glasses was confiscated in 2015, when he was initially arrested by DSS operatives, following his return to Nigeria from the United Kingdom.

He equally told the Court that a new eyeglasses that Kanu bought was also seized from him during his extraordinary rendition from Kenya.

Ozekhome bemoaned that despite an express order of the Court, the DSS declined to allow the IPOB to have a change of clothes.

He alleged that the Security Agency refused to allow Kanu to receive new clothes that were brought to him by his younger brother, Emmanuel.

“My Lord will still see the defendant in the same uniform which my Lord warned against in the last proceedings.

“It will be recalled that they had, on that day, alleged that he said that he preferred to wear the same cloth because it is designers.

“However, since that time, the younger brother of the defendant, his lawyer and sister have gone three times with materials for him to change but they refused collecting them.

“So bad was it that Ejiofor had to call the Director of Legal Services and complained to him. the Director told him that he would do something about it, that he would contact the Director of Operations to ensure that the order was carried out.

“But since then, nothing has been done. They have not allowed him to change his clothes”.

On the issue of Kanu’s eye sight, Ozekhome, said: “My Lord, since 2015, his glasses were taken from him.

“The one he wore before his extraordinary rendition from Kenya was also taken from him.

“Till now, he does not have glasses to wear and his eye sight is deteriorating.

“My Lord we do not want the defendant to go blind, that is why we have decided to bring it to the attention of the court”.

Justice Binta Nyako in her response to Ozekhome s claim on the state of the sight of his Client said that she would look into the matter.

However reports said Nyako asked Kanu not to wear the traditional Igbo dress, isi -agu to the Court.

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