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Senator Orji Kalu’s Brother, Mascot, Dumps APC, Forms New Party; Kalu Says He Is In Shock

By
Adesina Soyooye
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By Adesina Soyooye

The home support base of Orji Uzor Kalu, Senate Chief Whip, has dwindled. His younger brother, Mascot, has suddenly dumped the All Progressives Congress, APC, and formed a new Political Party, Action Peoples Party.

It is not known why Mascot, the 2019 defeated APC candidate for the House of Representatives, and a one-time Chief of Staff to a former Governor of the State, Senator Theodore Orji, dumped the APC where the brother, Senator Kalu is the leader in their Abia State.

Senator Kalu has expressed shock  at the development. He said his brother, Mascot,  neither gave him any inkling that he was dumping APC, not does he know the reason why he did that.

In a statement on his official Facebook page, Senator Kalu said, “I have received several calls from friends, associates, political stakeholders and leaders of thought seeking my opinion on the defection of my brother, Mascot, from the APC to Action Peoples Party, APP.

“Sincerely, the National Chairman, two Deputy National Chairmen of our great party, including the Senate President, persuaded him to remain with the APC but he declined.

“I was surprised to hear that he, alongside other stakeholders, launched the new party, Action Peoples Party, APP, yesterday,(Wednesday), in Umuahia without informing me.

“Well, I don’t have any issue with my brother; he has the right to take a decision on his political future, and, as a democrat, I acknowledge his right to determine his political affiliation and wishes him well.”

“I remain the Chief Whip of the Senate and a committed member of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

“I am even more determined to serve my people and facilitate more dividends of democracy to them.”

However, not a few people say they do not believe Senator Kalu that he is ignorant of his brother’s new move. Some allege that he might even be behind the new party. They pointed out that he did the same thing when he was Abia State Governor.

As the Abia State Governor under the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, during his second term in office, he founded and funded a new Party, PPA, as his Plan B  following his misunderstanding with President Olusegun Obasanjo.

He followed that up by sponsoring two Governorship candidates in Imo and Anambra State, Ikedi Ohakim and Theodore Orji. Both men won the Governorship for Imo and Anambra States, respectively, in 2007.  Sadly for him, the two Governors later dumped PPA for the PDP, over what they alleged was Kalu’s suffocating control.

Is the same PPA scenario about to play out? Time will tell.

OPINION: Osinbajo And The Dogs of War

By
The Source
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0

By Dan Abubakar

“How does the Osinbajo serving in the Lagos State Government, under Tinubu as Governor, or that Tinubu nominated him as Vice President to Buhari, sentence him to a lifetime of servitude to Tinubu? The shallowness of the reasoning in Babachir Lawal’s piece, evidently on behalf of his master, speaks to the quality of many who now operate in the public space in Nigeria”

With the number of those lining up to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari increasing by the day and threatening to turn the whole business into a circus, anyone can be forgiven for choosing to shut out all the noise, or to scream: “Stop the world I want to get off!”

Most of those insisting on inflicting themselves on us have such character and record of public disservice that in much saner circumstances nobody will put them up even for the position of dog catcher or cow herder.

You hardly hear of them, or what they stand for, beyond their initial announcements or loosely-pasted posters flying off walls or overhead bridges. There is hardly any discussion of how to get the country out of its current quagmire. You infact get the sense that many of them do not even appreciate that the country is in a mess and, if they do, they think that in their envisaged elected or appointed positions they would be ensconced in a laager of self enrichment and comfort as wards of the state.

Their ongoing feverish  activity characterized by meeting after meeting in hotels and backrooms till wee hours of the morning to engage in what they do best – horse-trading and transactional politics that  profiteer off our differences.

This is why the candidacy of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has offered the prospect of a somewhat refreshing change to the political conversation. By the manner of his entrance and his oratory at various occasions, he appears to be predicating his campaign on a future of hope and is inspiring and channeling the energies of the youth to build that future. He offers an intimidating pedigree, including a first class education and experience at close quarters to appreciate the complexities of the country and what needs to be done. He thinks on his feet and has a mastery of the issues. At a recent event in Lagos, one guest who heard him speak leaned towards another and said “it is indeed high time Nigeria had a literate president”.

Osinbajo’s distinction in the field of APC candidates has inevitably made him the target of crude assault  and venomous abuse inspired by political opponents.

The latest has come, not too surprisingly, from former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, who was disgraced out of office in 2017.

An acolyte of Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, he has followed the track of those who my Christian friends say engage in blasphemy when they allege a Judas Iscariot level of  betrayal in Osinbajo pitting his ambition against Tinubu’s. How does the fact that Osibanjo serving in the Lagos State Government, under Tinubu as governor, or that Tinubu nominated him as Vice to Buhari, sentence him to a lifetime of servitude to Tinubu?

The shallowness of the reasoning in Lawal’s piece, evidently on behalf of his master, speaks to the quality of many who now operate in the public space in Nigeria.

As the build up to the APC convention gathers pace and the political environment appears more opaque because of the games being played even at the highest levels of the party and government, area boy politics, fear and loathing in the Tinubu camp and projected by the media he owns and those in actual servitude to him are to be  expected and with increased frequency.

They have no farther to look than Osibanjo in their search for enemies and locating a principal adversary. Unlike Osinbajo who most have described as a fair and level-minded person who is also quick and agile on his feet, their principal on the contrary appears to be the opposite such that it would actually be cruel in a society that still has a tradition of respect and even reverence for the elderly to have him stand up and speak in a debate.

Yet this must be one of the several requirements we must demand of all the political parties to institute in choosing their flag-bearers so as to prune the maddening number of jesters  currently in the race  if we are serious about having a president fit for purpose.

There are obvious many disqualifications of most of those rooting to be our next president, and as for Tinubu his best days are clearly not ahead of him. He would have been more highly regarded if we had seen the positive influence he has on the Buhari presidency, or for that matter even back an Osibanjo presidency.

Other than helping to put Buhari in power – a fact which must be acknowledged but which appears to give him this overpowering sense of entitlement –  what qualifies Tinubu to be president of Nigeria? That he is awash with cash? What is the source of all that money?

This is indeed a question that must be asked of all the candidates.

At a time the nation is in such desperate straits, when a driven, alert, razor-sharp and sacrificial leadership is needed, how do each of the candidates in all the parties measure up? What do they stand for? What programmes and projects have they  come up with to pull Nigeria out of the present abyss and to at last put it on a viable course of development?

The concern of most is that if the past is often a prologue, how will Nigeria under a Tinubu presidency be handled any differently from the fate of Lagos during and in the aftermath of Tinubu’s incumbency as governor?

The Tinubu crowd has however not been the only source of barbs at Osinbajo. Long before he declared his presidential ambition, one commentator far from these shores who teaches journalism in a university few Nigerians had heard of, had decided to make taking down Osinbajo his life assignment.

A Mr Know-All, he trades on rumours and professes to have information on even what goes on in Buhari’s bedroom. He routinely goes overboard in his pseudo-analyses, disparaging anyone he sets his sight on. He has engaged in an unholy war over Osinbajo’s faith – ascribing to the Vice President a level of intolerance that  those close to the man wonder just who this fellow is writing about.

He has been unrelenting. Needing the crutch of signing off his pieces with his credentials and academic qualifications in full display, he appears to forget that one of the first rules of journalism is that the reporter or analyst does not turn himself into the issue.

But such is ambition to present himself as a knowledgeable observer of Nigerian affairs and  draw attention to himself, that this previously unknown fellow continues to lob stones at anyone who catches his fancy in language unbefitting of the academic he professes to be.

As the party conventions draw nearer, the atmosphere is bound to be more heated and charged by vile distemper, abuse and  increased mischief, vitriol and vulgarity.

We must insist that the candidates and their followers/supporters  ensure an atmosphere focused on the issues that matter to Nigerians. A putrid atmosphere will only unfortunately draw attention away from the needed focus on the country’s challenges and the solutions we must find.

Abubakar, a Political Analyst, wrote-in from Abuja

Yahaya Bello: Group Carpets Ohanaeze Over Attacks On MASSOB Leader Uwazurike

By
The Source
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Ralph Uwazurike and Yahaya Bello

A group under the aegis of the National Alliance For Democratic Governance (NADG), which says it is a pro-democracy group and accountable governance advocate, has condemned what it described as “unwanted attacks on the founder and leader of Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Biafra Independent Movement, Chief Ralph Uwazurike over his support for the presidential ambition of Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State.”

Uwazuruike had, a couple of days ago, shocked not a few Nigerians, especially, from the South-east Zone, when he led a street campaign in Owerri, Imo State, in support of the Presidential aspiration of the Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, under the All Progressives Congress, APC. 

But in defence of Uwazuruike, the Group wondered why Igbo politicians who have no respect for their opinion leaders should be supported while those outside Igbo land who honoured them with consultation visits should be disregarded by South East leaders whom they visited just because an Igbo son or daughter, who pretends that they do not exist, is contesting for elective position.

The NADG, in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, James Ezema, urged Ohanaeze Ndigbo and others who were critical of the action of Chief Uwazurike,  to properly guide and advise Igbo politicians to respect their opinion leaders, market women and youth leaders if they need their support.

It said it was “unfortunate that a supposed apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, the once revered Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has now turned itself into a political regulatory organisation for the South East and now infringing on people’s fundamental rights to associate.

“In as much as Ndigbo, ahead of the 2023 general elections, are agitating for a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction as part of a visible remedy for the long years of marginalisation of the South East in particular and the old eastern region as a whole, it is undemocratic for Ohanaeze Ndigbo, or any individual for that matter, to decide for another Igbo son or daughter whom to associate with.

“If indeed Uwazurike has long ago lost relevance in Igbo land as the group claimed, why is Ohanaeze Ndigbo complaining about such a person?

“The Ohanaeze Ndigbo has, by its outburst against Chief Uwazurike, manifested the age-long lack of understanding of grassroots politics by most Igbo politicians who disregard their home front in pursuit of national political relevance.

“How many Igbo sons who are contesting for President have visited major Igbo stakeholders like Uwazurike and others?

“Has any Igbo presidential aspirant consulted international figures like former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations, Chief Emeka Anyaoku?

“We have many prominent Igbo sons like the former chieftain of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Chief Ralph Obioha, a staunch Igbo defender like Chief Willy Ezugwu, who is a traditional ruler and the Secretary General of Nigeria Political Parties (CUPP) and the National Coordinator of the South East Revival Group (SERG), among several other ranking Igbos opinion leaders. Who among the so-called Igbo aspirants visited them in the course of their consultations?

“Recall that Governor Yahaya Bello recently visited Chief Uwazurike at his country home in Imo State to seek his support for Presidency. How many of those presidential aspirant of Igbo extraction have visited Uwazurike to inform him of their plans to run for president?

“An Igbo proverb says “Ana esi n’ụlọ ama mma apụ n’èzí” (meaning that charity begins at home) and indeed, grassroots politics begins at home.

“Besides Peter Obi who visibly declared for president at a meeting with his traditional rulers and opinion leaders within his constituency, who among the Igbos contesting for president has visited traditional rulers, political elites, market women leaders or youth leaders, in South East?

“It is lack of understanding of grassroots politics that has led to such gross neglect of Igbo opinion leaders by presidential aspirants of South East extraction, yet when honour given by outsiders to these opinion leaders is returned, groups like Ohanaeze Ndigbo will kick against them rather than properly advising Igbo politicians to remember their home front if Igbos want to be united in reclaiming their lost grounds in the post-civil war Nigerian politics.

“Why should Chief Uwazurike, who merely reciprocated a gesture by Governor Yahaya Bello, be vilified as if Ndigbo are not seeing Yoruba presidential aspirants consulting their traditional rulers and opinion leaders in the South West while Igbo aspirants neglect their own?”, the Group said.

Our Deadline Stays – INEC Reminds Political Parties

By
Ayodele Oni
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By Ayodele Oni

The Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) has reminded Political Parties that it would not extend its June 3 deadline for the conclusion of all primary elections.

This was contained in a press release on Thursday signed by INEC National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye.

According to Okoye, all the 18 political parties had submitted their dates for primary elections in line with INEC’s timetable for primaries from April 4 to June 3.

He, therefore, reminded the parties that they all had one month left to ensure the emergence of candidates for each of the offices.

INEC reminder may be due to the plan by some of the political parties to change the dates for the conduct of their primaries.

Okoye added that “It will be recalled that on 26th February 2022, the Commission released the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election.

“It provides for parties to conduct their primaries for the nomination of candidates from 4th April to 3rd June 2022.

“In compliance with section 82(1) of the Electoral Act 2022, all 18 political parties have served the required notices indicating the dates for their conventions, congresses, and primaries for the purpose of nominating candidates for various elective offices as specified in the Constitution and the Electoral Act.

“Some of the parties have already commenced the process for which the Commission has deployed staff to monitor the exercise as required by law.

“Given the importance of the exercise to the emergence of candidates for the various elective positions for the 2023 General Election, it is imperative to remind political parties that they have one month from today to conclude their primaries. The deadline remains Friday 3rd June 2022.”

While urging the parties to ensure rancour-free and transparent exercise, Okoye reiterates that the deadline is firm and fixed.”

He also added that parties are expected to submit their list of candidates who emerged from “valid primaries” on the INEC portal during the timeline stipulated.

“Nominations for Presidential and National Assembly elections shall be submitted through the INEC web portal from 10th to 17th June 2022, while Governorship and State Houses of Assembly nominations shall be submitted between 1st and 15th July 2022.

“Political parties are further reminded that they must submit to the Commission the list of candidates who must have emerged from valid primaries.”

Ogbonnaya Onu Declares Aspiration To Succeed Buhari

By
The Source
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Ogbonnaya Onu

By Gideon Njoku

The quiet and cerebral Minister for Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has finally decided to throw his hat into the already crowded ring of the Presidential race in 2023.

Onu, an academic, former University of Porthacourt Teacher, and a former Governor of old Abia State is from Ebonyi State.

Onu is a foundation founder of the All Progressives Congress, APC. He founded APC along with President Muhammadu Buhari, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and a couple of others.

And, since Buhari’s Presidency in 2015, he has remained the Minister for Science and Technology.

While Buhari was forming his Government, many had expected, and touted Onu as the incoming Secretary to the Federal Government, SGF,  but it went to Babachir Lawal,  a Tinubu loyalist, and one of those who has just purchased Tinubu’s Presidential Expression of Interest and Nomination forms. Lawal, however, lost the position several months after his appointment over an alleged scandal for which he is still being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

In the past weeks, Onu’s name had cropped up as a possible Buhari trump-card. Many see him as decent, polished and untainted. He never confirmed his interest until Thursday, April 5, 2022, when invitations to his declaration ceremony surfaced.

According to the invitation signed by Dr Uzoma Onu, the Minister will declare his interest in Abuja at the NUJ International Press Center, on May 6, 2022.

Onu will be the third Ebonyi son to declare interest in Buhari’s office.

The first was  former Senate President and former SGF, Anyim Pius Anyim, under the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.

The second is the State Governor, Dave Umahi under the APC. And, now, Onu.

2023: Reaction Trails Pastor Bakare’s Purchase Of APC Presidential Nomination

By
Akinwale Kasali
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By Akinwale Kasali

Criticisms have continued to trail the purchase of the N100m All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential Expression and Nomination forms by the  Founding Overseer of Citadel Global Community Church, CGCC, Pastor Tunde Bakare.

The former Vice Presidential Candidate  to President Muhammadu Buhari under the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, in 2011, threw his hat into the Presidential race, and thus, joined the long list of aspirants that have indicated interest in running for the Presidential race in 2023.

The Convener of the Save Nigeria Group, SNG, picked  the Nomination Form at the APC headquarters in Abuja, and released his letter of invitation to his formal declaration in the nation’s capital,  Abuja, slated for May 9th, 2022.

Ndubuisi Anakwe, a Social Commentator expressed his disappointment in the move by the revered Pastor.

Anakwe queried how Bakare amassed such wealth to have purchased the form at a whopping N100m despite owing Banks huge sums of money for the building of his Church.

“It saddens me how religious leaders tend to delve into politics, deceiving people by bringing religion into politics. Pastor Bakare has had in eyes in politics, he shouldn’t use religion to deceive people by saying God called him to join the Presidential race, we are used to all this their gimmicks.

“We all remembered Pastor Chris Okotie, who is no where to be found now. I now understand why he has been against the South East clamour for Presidency, bringing up cock and bull stories. Nigerians shouldn’t be deceived by this people”, he said.

Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele fired a salvo at Pastor Bakare describing him as a comedian who is trying to delve into the arena of prophecy he knows little or nothing about, specifically on his Presidential aspiration.

It would be recalled that Primate Ayodele had earlier frowned at the remarks of Bakare on the a 2023 Presidential Election, indicating interest to run, saying that Pastor Bakare should face his missionary work and stop mismanaging the grace of God upon his life and stop calling himself a Nation builder.

However, Ayodele noted that Bakare cannot win an election in his church not to talk of winning an election in Nigeria.

Below is an official invitation sent by Pastor Bakare for his official Presidential declaration.

AN INVITATION TO THE OFFICIAL DECLARATION OF ‘TUNDE BAKARE’S INTENTION TO CONTEST FOR THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA ON THE PLATFORM OF THE ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS (APC)

Having been privileged to serve Nigeria in various nation building capacities, I intend to take a step further in the service of our beloved country and of you, her worthy citizens, by running for the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

It is with utmost humility, therefore, that I write to formally inform you distinguished citizens of our nation, elder statesmen and stateswomen, political leaders, traditional leaders, overseers of religious establishments, members of civil society, policy makers, students, public servants from the national and sub-national levels of government, stakeholders from the private sector, the intelligentsia, opinion moulders, thought leaders from various institutions of knowledge, and every Nigerian, home and abroad – of my intention to contest.

Propelled by the desire to rebuild Nigeria into a nation that works for every Nigerian, I have, in the past, engaged the political process as running mate to President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2011 presidential elections under the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), and subsequently as the founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who moved the motion for the merger that produced the APC. I have also served as a leader in the civic space as the Convener of Save Nigeria Group (SNG), a coalition of civil society groups that facilitated the rightful recognition of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, first as Acting President, and then as substantive president, through a grassroots people movement and high-level advocacy.

In 2014, it was my privilege to be selected as a Southwest Delegate to the National Conference, where I proposed “The Nigerian Charter for National Reconciliation and Integration” that was unanimously adopted and incorporated into the final report.

Furthermore, I have been actively involved in awakening collective citizen ownership through the pulpit as the founding Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church (CGCC), formerly known as The Latter Rain Assembly. I have, in addition, contributed to engendering social, political and economic shifts in Nigeria through propositional platforms, including through such initiatives as the New Nigeria Dialogues, the inaugural event of a think-tank I founded in 2009. I have also provided pro bono advisory services to government institutions through key policy inputs, while fostering coalition-building across divides, in addition to building thriving businesses in diverse sectors. I have remained committed to harnessing my local and international networks, platforms and resources towards the emergence of the New Nigeria.

As I offer myself to serve you and to work with you towards the peace, progress and prosperity of Nigeria, as well as the realisation of the enormous possibilities of a great nation in this decade, it would be a great privilege to welcome you as my special guest on the occasion of the formal declaration of intent.”

Yoruba Group Draws Itinerary For Visiting UN Scribe

By
Ayodele Oni
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Dr Banji Akintoye

By Ayodele Oni

Leader of Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide, Prof. Banji Akintoye, has advised the visiting UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, to make his visit to Nigeria meaningful by seeing facts on the ground and not fiction that the Muhammadu Buhari administration has packaged for him to see.

Akintoye, in a statement by his Communications Manager, Maxwell Adeleye, said Guterres must resist attempts by the Buhari administration to pull the wool over his eyes, sell him dummies and lead him by the nose in the wrong direction.

“The Buhari administration has started misinforming the UN chief by preventing him from meeting the right people and from going to the right places.

He is being shielded from the truth and from the reality on the ground.

“He is being deceived not to see the atrocities and deceit of the Buhari administration. At the eleventh hour, Guterres’s itinerary has been amended to divert him from the theatres of the atrocious bestiality of killers, murderers, Fulani terrorists, herders and kidnappers that the Buhari administration has treated with kid gloves.

Akintoye regretted that whereas the coming of the UN scribe to Nigeria was for him to get first-hand information of the time-bomb that the Nigerian situation truly is, the Buhari administration has, through subtilty and guile, frustrated the effort of the global organisation.

“Your Excellency cannot get the true picture of how close to the precipice Nigeria is unless you visit the theatres of the criminality of this government.

“Visit the Middle Belt, behold the atrocities of Fulani herdsmen and marvel.

“Visit the Southwest; if you will not talk to anyone at all talk to Chief Olu Falae, a one-time Secretary of the Federal Government, one-time Minister of Finance and presidential candidate and listen to his harrowing multiple experience in the hands of rampaging Fulani herdsmen.

“Speak with octogenarian Pa Reuben Fasoranti, erstwhile leader of Afenifere, whose daughter was murdered in her prime by Fulani herdsmen.

“Visit Ifon, also in Ondo State, whose traditional ruler was murdered by Fulani herdsmen.

“Visit Southern Kaduna where ethnic cleansing is a daily activity of the murderous Fulani nihilists.

“Same thing is happening in Taraba, Plateau, Niger, Ogun and Oyo states where Fulani herdsmen maim, rape, kill farmers and destroy farmlands in their land grabbing drive across the southern region of the country.

“Your Excellency, the list is endless! And the atrocities have not abated. The Buhari administration refuses to allow the victims arm and defend themselves whereas the murderers are allowed to roam about with AK-47 looting, raping, maiming, and killing.

“Your Excellency must speak with the right people who will paint the correct picture of our parlous situation: a parlous and debt-riden economy; restive and restless youths; collapsed educational system, hyperinflation, runaway unemployment, insecurity, corruption never before witnessed in this country, and a country divided than even during its Civil war period.”

Akintoye then advised the UN chief that if he wants to get a true picture of the country’s situation, he should have an audience with the likes of himself (Akintoye), the Afenifere leader, Pa Ayo Adebanjo; Bishop Matthew Kukah, Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue State and the leadership of Self-Determination Movements in the South East.

“You must be aware of how the secret security service (DSS) of the Buhari administration invaded the home of Yoruba self-determination activist, Sunday Adeyemo Ighoho, killing and maiming innocent and law-abiding citizens and destroying property worth millions of dollars.

He is being deceived not to see the atrocities and deceit of the Buhari administration. At the eleventh hour, Guterres’s itinerary has been amended to divert him from the theatres of the atrocious bestiality of killers, murderers, Fulani terrorists, herders and kidnappers that the Buhari administration has treated with kid gloves.

“The pedigree, antecedents, spoken words and body language of Buhari as a person supports the evil being perpetrated by his kinsmen against the people of the South and Middle-Belt of Nigeria.”

According to the Yoruba leader, the policies and politics of his administration gave fillip to the same, saying that Buhari is the reason why Nigeria is on fire.

He said in a supposed democracy, Buhari’s government is government of the Fulani by the Fulani and for the Fulani.

“Interestingly, the Fulani are a minuscular ethnic group of a few million people in a country of over 200 million people of diverse ethnic nationalities.

“Interestingly, too, the Fulani are not autochthonous to Nigeria. Their history is as recent as the 19th century whereas the other nationalities have inhabited the political space called Nigeria from the beginning of time.

“The coming of Buhari and his nepotistic tendencies, his Fulanization agenda, and his contempt for the fundamental and inalienable rights of other Nigerian ethnic nationalities is why the country may explode in his face sooner than later.

“This is why we the Yoruba, after deaf ears have been turned to our cries for justice, equity and fairness in a country we call ours, have decided to opt out of Nigeria and form our own Oodua or Yoruba nation.

“As Your Excellency is very much aware, these are our God-given and inalienable rights under the Constitution of the UN over which you superintend and the Charter of Indigenous Nationalities and People’s rights.

“Pursuant to these, we the Yoruba people have registered with the UNPO and are vigorously pursuing our goal of extricating ourselves from the contraption called Nigeria through legal and peaceful means.

“We need not tell Your Excellency that the UN has an obligation to assist us in this regard. We cannot continue to be treated as slaves, as conquered people and as second-class citizens in our own country.

“Your Excellency, permit me to say that the UN should act while there is still time for a peaceful resolution of the Nigerian quagmire.

“We have so far restrained our people from taking the law into their own hands. But time is running out!

“And the arrogance, imprudence and impunity of the Fulani edged on by their patron, Muhammadu Buhari, has not helped matters.”

Nigeria Needs Good Leadership To Develop Like China – Anyim

By
The Source
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0
Anyim Pius Anyim

Foremost PDP Presidential aspirant, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, has said that Nigeria has the potentials to develop fast like China with good leadership.

The Peoples Democratic Party presidential aspirant stated this at his campaign headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.

It was on the occasion of presentation of the book, “China: Rise and Global Influence in the 21st Century” written by a versatile journalist, Mr Ikenna Emewu who made the presentation himself.

Anyim said the growth and development of China was as a result of the high quality of leadership the country had enjoyed over the years stressing that he would offer Nigeria same quality of leadership if he is elected president of Nigeria in 2023.

According to him, “China has proven that large population is not a burden to rapid socio-economic development and Nigeria has a lot to learn from that.

“Those who talk about Nigeria’s large population and large landmass as constraints to development of the country are certainly missing the point.

“As a matter of fact, I will deploy these two natural resources which God has endowed Nigeria with in quickly transforming the country in the shortest time of my presidency.

“A large population means a large market and my industrialization programme will benefit from the huge Nigerian market which has the potential to keep local manufacturing running profitably.

“Same goes for our large arable landmass which is a huge asset for Agricultural production and veritable source of industrial raw materials”, the Presidential aspirant postulated.

Anyim commended Mr Emewu for writing the book which he said, would be a good source of data and ideas on policies that will help change the fortunes of Nigeria.

Presenting the hard copy of the 274-page book, Mr Emewu thanked Senator Anyim for granting him audience for the presentation.

Emewu said the book is a product of his many years of academic and research works in and out of China.

He was optimistic that Nigerian has a lot to learn from the experience of China which has successfully transformed from a rural, poverty-stricken Asian country to become a dominant global player today.

“It is the story of China’s miraculous rise from the dept of poverty to the height of global economy through good leadership.

“It is a token to Senator Anyim in his presidential ambition to encourage him do his best for Nigeria when he becomes the president of the country”, the versatile journalist stated.

Murdered Soldier-couple: Buhari Orders Military To Arrest Perpetrators

By
The Source
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0
Solidiers Killed in Imo State - Couple

By Gideon Njoku

President Muhammadu Buhari has reacted in shock to the blood-cuddling murder of a couple, both of the Nigerian Army, in Imo State. The couple was murdered on Saturday, April 30, 2022.

Describing the act as barbaric and sacrilegious, Buhari ordered the Military to quickly do everything possible to fish out the perpetrators of the abominable act.

Master Warrant Officer Audu Linus, was getting married to his junior colleague, an Imo daughter, Private Gloria Matthew, and the couple were on their way to perform the Traditional Marriage ceremony when they were ambushed and murdered in a most horrendous manner.

Private Matthew was brutally raped before her man, both of them were then shot dead,  their bodies desecrated, and finally beheaded. Their heads were placed on their badly tortured bodies. The whole sickening incident was videod and posted on social media platforms.

In a recorded voice discussion between one of the killers and a sister of Private Mathew, he gleefully told the lady they had killed the couple because soldiers were killing Igbo youths. They apparently called Matthew’s family using her phone.

Mourning the couple, the President in a statement signed on his behalf by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, expressed deep shock, and said that he joined Nigerians in mourning the couple and in strongly condemning the abominable act.

The President condemned the barbarism of the perpetrators of the incident and “similar acts of violence against law enforcement agents, described it as alien to all cultures and civilizations.”

Said the Statement: “The President has directed the Military authorities and other Security Agencies to do their utmost in apprehending the perpetrators of the barbaric  act.

He also called on community and regional leaders to “speak with one voice, to show that the entire country is one against this cruel and barbaric act of violence. This is unacceptable.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of this sad and tragic incident”.

In Igboland, it is an abomination to kill one’s in-law.

In a statement mourning the couple, the Army Spokesperson, Brigadier-General Onyema Nwachukwu lamented that the terrorists, masquerading as unknown gunmen, could not even spare their own daughter. He put the blame on the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, and its militant wing, Eastern Security Network, ESN.

But a statement signed on behalf of IPOB by its Spokesperson, Emma Powerful, distanced IPOB/ESN from the barbaric act. Saying it cannot kill its own daughter, it put blame at the feet of State actors.

Private Mathews was from Nkwerre, Imo State. Neither the Imo Police Command, nor the State Government has issued a statement on the sacrilegious incident.

PDP Governorship Primaries Hold May 23, 2022

By
Adesina Soyooye
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0
Debo Ologunagba - PDP Publicity Secretary

By Adesina Soyooye

The Governorship Primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, will hold on May 23, 2022.

In an updated timetable released by the Party, on Wednesday, May 4, 2022, and signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the PDP also said that the Primaries for the House of Representatives candidates will hold on Friday, May 20, 2022, while that of the Senate will hold the next day, May 21, 2022. That of the State House of Assembly has been fixed against May 18.

No mention was, however, made of the Presidential Primary in the updated timetable.

The Party is still grappling with where to zone the office of the President. It is same with the All Progressives Congress, APC, where its Chairman, Senator Adamu Abdullahi, put a spanner in the works by giving the impression that zoning has been abdicated when everybody thought the office has been zoned to the South.

Following is the PDP Press Release.

2023: PDP Updates Timetable and Schedule of Activities

…Shifts Dates for LG Congress, SHOA, NASS, Governorship Primaries

“The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has approved the update of the Party’s Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 general elections as follows:

“1.       Local Government Area (LGA) Congress to elect one National Delegate per LGA and one Person living with disability in the 774 Local Government Areas: Tuesday, May 10, 2022.

“2.       State House of Assembly (State Constituency Congress): Wednesday, May 18, 2022

“3.       House of Representatives Primaries:      Friday, May 20, 2022

“4.       Senatorial District Primaries:                     Saturday, May 21, 2022

“5.       Governorship Primaries:                             Monday, May 23, 2022

“All aspirants to various positions, critical stakeholders, members of our Party across the country as well as relevant agencies of government should please take note.”

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