Chairman, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Council of Elders, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has adduced reasons why Saturday’s Governorship election in Anambra state must hold.
He has, therefore, appealed to the people to allow the Governorship election to hold peacefully.
Chief Iwuanyanwu, who made the appeal in his capacity as the Chairman, Council of Elders Ohanaeze Ndigbo, said if the Saturday November 6 election is disrupted, not just people of Anambra State, but indeed Ndigbo in general will be the losers.
A statement by his media adviser, Mr. Ben Osuagwu, stated that the success of the election is very vital and crucial to the people of Anambra State and Ndigbo in general.
Iwuanyanwu observed that Anambra State is the cradle of development and achievements in education, politics, industry, commerce and religion, pointing out that Onitsha was the first port of call in 1857, when the white missionaries came to Igboland.
He listed great Igbo men of Anambra extraction who dominated various spheres of life in the country and pleaded that the present generation should not destroy the legacies these men and women left behind.
“We owe it a duty to our forebears and posterity to avoid any action that could cause blood shed in Anambra state or any part of Igboland or even in Nigeria.”
Chief Iwuanyanwu, pointed out that there was no doubt that the youths are agitated especially those in Anambra State, appealed to them to sheathe their sword and allow peace to reign for the election to hold in the interest of Ndigbo and Anambra state.
He disclosed that Government and Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide are working on the industrialisation programme for South East which will transform Igboland into an economy that will create jobs for youths and produce goods and services to improve the Gross Domestic Product and advance in their contribution toward Gross National Domestic Product.
“I urge all in Anambra to allow the election to hold on November 6, to show the world that this generation of Igbos and youths are determined to preserve the legacies of their forebears and indeed surpass those records.”
The Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, said it would lock down the South-east for a week, as from November 5, if its leader, Nnamdi Kanu is not released from the custody of the Federal Government. Kanu is being prosecuted by the Federal Government at an FCT High Court on charges related to, among other things, terrorism and treasonable felony.
The election is scheduled for Saturday, November 6, 2021.
Various groups have criticized the immediate past Commissioner for Lands and Urban Development in Enugu State, Victor Nnam, for resigning his position Friday last week.
Nnam had resigned in protest claiming it is honorable to do so.
The groups include Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, ESUT-TH, the organized labour such as the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, the Trade Union Council, TUC, and the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE.
The reason for resignation, according to Nnam, was because the Directors, who are the professionals, were redeployed without recourse to him.
“The reason for my resignation is the recent removal of the professional heads of departments under me on punitive grounds for simply doing their jobs diligently”, he wrote.
“My conscience will no longer allow me to continue to serve your administration while those innocent professional Senior Civil Servants are punished for doing the right thing”.
Some of the agencies allege that Nnam was actually forced to resign because of various land deals he was allegedly involved in.
In fact, the Labour Unions said he took over a plot of land allocated to them at Independent layout Enugu. They have already filed a petition against him, and are asking security agencies to expedite action on it.
NULGE, Enugu state Chapter, said through its state President, Comrade Kenneth Ugwueze that they doubted that he wrote the resignation letter signed by him.
“If the said letter actually arose from him then he needs to search further the true meaning of diligent and also may be referring to a guilty conscience.”
According to Ugwueze, the land was allotted to them by the former governor Sullivan Chime.
“We have over the years possessed the ownership of the land with considerable works going on until recently (July 2021) when the land agents of the Commissioner for Lands and Urban Development, appeared claiming ownership of all the lands belonging to Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Nigeria Society of Engineering and two other individuals (with erected buildings) without prior notice, whatsoever.
“We wrote to His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Enugu State Rt. Hon. Dr Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi crying out for help as His Excellency is also aware of our ownership of the land. While the security agencies were still investigating and making their preliminary reports, the Commissioner hurriedly tendered his resignation letter to avert his sack since his guilty conscience was already staring him in the face claiming to be in the hospital for over some time.
‘If grabbing peoples land without due process is a diligent work done by his affected officers and his version of ‘World Best Practices in Land Administration’ then he should blame himself for the act and seek forgiveness from God and so many groups and individuals that he has subjected to untold hardship and dehumanization through his “Diligence.”
“It is ridiculous for the Hon. Commissioner for Lands and Urban Development to write such letter of resignation when the investigation is still ongoing and those his senior officers were only redeployed to give way for proper investigation of his Ministry which has been on public domain including but not limited to several invitations by the Enugu State House of Assembly. We, therefore, cry out that the investigation by the security agencies be concluded so that justice will be done,”
But critics of the government tend to allege that the groups were alleged loyalsts of the governor, and that all the noise was geared towards 2023, with the governor alleged to be nursing vice presidential ambition, though facts on ground have not confirmed such ambition.
Security agents in Plateau State on Monday dispersed protesters and some hoodlums that stormed the Plateau State House of Assembly complex in what appears to be a new twist to the crisis in the Assembly.
The protesters, some loyal to the impeached Speaker, blocked the gate of the Assembly complex in Jos, chanting solidarity songs and displaying placards.
This was ongoing as the 13 anti-impeachment lawmakers, led by the former Speaker, Ayuba Bok, were in the Chambers.
Attempts by some hoodlums to force their way into the complex through the back entrance, leading to smashing the entrance door to the Chambers, however drew the attention of Policemen that had been deployed to the complex.
The group that had been keeping vigil outside the complex confronted the invaders to protect the members in the Chambers, a situation that led to pandemonium.
It took the intervention of security operatives before normalcy was later restored at the assembly complex.
The Commissioner of Police in Plateau, Edward Egbuka, who was at the scene in the company of some police officers, also met with members of the assembly.
The crisis in the parliament deepened after eight members of the Assembly impeached Abok as the Speaker on Thursday last week.
Mr Yakubu Sanda, who later emerged as the new Speaker, assured his colleagues that he would work in synergy with the Executive and Judiciary for the peace, progress, and development of the State.
According to him, the House will use its full legislative powers to ensure that government programmes and projects impact the people at the grassroots level.
The new Speaker was later received at the Government House by the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Danladi Atu, on behalf of Governor Simon Lalong.
Reacting to his impeachment, Abok said he would continue to stand for truth, justice and the rights of the Plateau people.
He said he was not disturbed by the development, rather it has only given him more strength to stand for the people.
“We have been standing for the people of Plateau, we stand for truth, we stand for justice, we stand for the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and we stand for democracy.”
Ijaw Youths Council, (IYC) has accused the Minister of State, Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba of meddling in the appointment of a substantive Rector for the Federal Polytechnic, Ekeowe, Bayelsa state.
The youths, from the nine States of the Niger Delta region appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to call the Minister to order to avoid crisis.
IYC was of the view that the emergence of Dr. Iwekumo Wanton as the Rector of the oil and gas institution was transparent and devoid of any manipulation.
According to the Ijaw Youths, despite the emergence of Dr. Wanton through a selection process that was certified free, fair and transparent, the Minister is trying to delay his appointment four months after the selection process has been completed.
In a statement by IYC in Yenagoa, signed by its National Spokesman, Mr Ebilade Ekerefe, it said the delay in the appointment of a substantive Rector for the institution despite the authentication of the selection process by the Federal Character Commission and the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, was political, sectional and targeted at the indigenes of the region.
“The IYC frown at the sudden interruption in the process as a deliberate attempt by adversaries of the ijaw people to further deprive the ijaw nation of the service of one of its first breed, who is committed in moving the institution forward and competing actively in the academic space.
“We want to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to call the Minister of State for Education to order and should immediately direct the confirmation of Dr. Iwekumo Wanton as the substantive Rector of the Institution.
“We warn that any plan to experiment with the destiny of the ijaw people is a joke taken too far, and will be fully resisted.”
Ebilade pointed out that the position of Ijaw Youths on the emergence of Dr. Wanton is based on his performance in the last three months as the Acting Rector of the Institution which has given stakeholders the hope of a new dawn in the institution.
“He is a young and brilliant administrator that understands the geographical terrain, culture, tradition as well as the struggle and aspiration of the ijaw people.
“It is our conviction that the President fully appreciates the unique peculiarities of the area, and that the location of the institution in a rural, coastal community of Ekeowe requires that any individual appointed to oversee the affairs of the Polytechnic must be thoroughly conversant with the terrain and environment challenges.
“One of the reasons in advancing our support for his appointment as substantive Rector is the fact that he resides fully in the polytechnic campus.
“By this, he has effectively mobilized his management team and all members of staff to fully operate on the campus. This is against the practice of overseeing the affairs of the Institution from Yenagoa as it was in the past.”
That democracy is a game of numbers has never been a subject of debate. It is an obvious fact, both in principle and in practice. In deed, in this universally preferred form of government, the people are rightly the vital engine that powers democratic processes and its actualisation.
Therefore, from this foundational framework, there is no gainsaying that the higher the numbers, the brighter the collective fortunes of groups or individuals that populate a given political party. This, succinctly, is in sync with a popular African adage, ‘a tree does not make a forest’. Or, perhaps, another that says, ‘when a collective urinates in a spot, it conjures a foam!’
These aptly capture the ongoing political and social engineering currently unfolding in Anambra State by the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the November 6, 2021 governorship election draws near. In recent times, the fortunes of the APC in the state, as well as the whole of the South East, have continued to receive unprecedented boost, going by the number and calibre of politicians and supporters that continue to embrace the party in a gale of defections from rival political parties.
The phenomenon is so befuddling that today, an APC that only a few months ago grappled with monumental challenges of acceptance in Anambra and the South East region in general, is now the beautiful bride, not only recognized by many as a true national party, but one in which they desire to fellowship together. Eureka! the people appear to have, finally, discovered the political vehicle most suitable to launch themselves back into national limelight and secure a more promising future.
Previously, other opposing parties in the zone had almost succeeded in casting the APC in the ignominious image of an unwanted enemy of the people – a pariah entity and hater of the Igbo race. Deploying a combination of devious post civil war propaganda and modern rejection rhetorics, it was quite easy setting up the APC, as the author and finisher of whatever ill fate that confronted the Igbo, whether at home or in the diaspora.
Senator Andy Uba
For a people so renown in their republican disposition, this was certainly a new philosophy – one unbeknownst to them, forged in the furnace of pure partisanship and crave for personal advancement.
Were it not so, how come almost two decades after, the lyrical muezzin, nkea bu nke anyi (this is our own), has refused to be internalised, and accepted as a rallying anthem in the four other Southeast states of Enugu, Abia, Imo and Ebonyi?
Besides Anambra, why has it been difficult to spread and plant this seemingly good seed in any of the aforementioned states?
How come too, those who promoted the concept, almost to the point of being a religion, upon having a ‘Damascus’ experience left the orchestra for their choir boys?
In deed, how comprehensible is it that the new altar boys continue to desecrate the sanctuary, leaving the Prophetess bewildered as the ship irretrievably heads for the rocks?
The answers to these posers lie in the realisation that it only takes one day of truth to overtake many years of lies.
For the new political consciousness that has suddenly enveloped our landscape, reversing previously held wrong and unfathomable philosophical notions, the maxim that time and truth exonerate victims of falsehood appear to be at work.
Many have attributed this new lease of life for the APC in the South East to many factors. But could it be a mere coincidence that this drastic reinvention of the party in Anambra, particularly, is taking place since the emergence of Senator Andy Uba, as the governorship candidate of the APC in the state? I don’t think so.
Propelled by his Igwebuike philosophy, Senator Uba’s popular Igbo moniker, which when translated, means: ‘Strength in numbers,’ the unfolding scenario in Anambra is the product of a well thought out political re-engineering meant to wean the people off a belligerent disposition hitherto unknown to their forebears.
How come a people famed for their courage in battles, convivial spirit, sense of adventure, voyages, good neighbourliness, technical competences and creative ingenuity in the face of challenges and difficulties now be the very ones to seek answers in ethnic cocoons? Tufiakwa!
Put succinctly, Igwebuike means democracy! Simpliciter! And Senator Uba is not only leading the charge, he lives the full expression of the tag in his efforts to build the APC into a formidable force in Anambra State. He is strategic and deliberate in feeding the fuel of unison and purpose to the vehicle of collective progress and betterment of ndi Anambra and Ndi Igbo in general by widening the doors and coast of the party in the state.
And rather than a desperate, selfish quest to be a lone hugger of the podium, Igwebuike is deploying positive energy to ensure that he attracts quality ndi Anambra, with remarkable leadership, organizational and governance skills, to the APC fold. This, to me, is a commendable leadership and social engineering foresight for the good of Anambra and its precious people. He appreciates the fact that no one knows it all, but in togetherness, a winning team of leaders that would put the interest of the people first, will emerge.
The APC as a brand is benefiting from Senator Andy Uba’s Igwebuike ‘live and let’s live’ political ideology. And the harvest is vividly outstanding, both in quality and quantity.
The obvious sting of ‘how did we get here’ tormenting the hearts of leaders and faithful of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), by the defection to the APC and subsequent reception of Dr. Nkem Okeke, deputy governor of Anambra State, by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, is not lost on political observers. Essentially, it underscores not only the current pleasant allure of the party in the state, but also the swift and steady movement on the pathway to victory.
It is on record, however, that before this stunning development, APC had also attracted several top politicians, including serving and past Senators, past and current House of Representatives members, serving and former state legislators and many others from prominent political parties. And we say, Igwebuike!
Only few days ago, the deputy governorship candidate of the Accord Party in the coming November 6 election, Chief Kenneth Obi, also got enthralled by the APC alurring populist dispositions and dumped his party to join in the spirit of Igwebuike ( Strength in numbers), in the overall interest of Anambra State!
And since democracy is a game of numbers, we are cocksure that with the ceaseless influx of new members and the expected impact of grassroots mobilisation and realignments, APC and ndi Anambra will on November 6, 2021, and beyond, echo a resounding Igwebuike! Surely, Igwebuike wins and wins again. Like in 2007, he will win again in a landslide swell!
Hon. Ogene, a former member and deputy chairman, Committee on Media and Public Affairs of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, is the Director, Media and Publicity, Senator Andy Uba Governorship Campaign Organisation (SAUGCO)
A group supporting President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria First Movement, NFM has blamed the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele for the nation’s economic woes, noting that the recent introduction of the digital currency e-Naria is the “final nail in the country’s already doomed economy.”
The pro-Buhari group which said the economy has been wobbling since the re-appointment of Emefiele by the president, vowed to mobilise over 200 other pro-Buhari groups against the apex bank governor if he failed to resign.
The group Coordinator, Augustine Richard in a statement said many Nigerians were disappointed with the tedious registration processes as part of the requirements for the e-naira.
Richard said Emefiele enjoyed the privilege of being the only CBN Governor to be re-appointed, in spite of this, the group pointed out, Emefiele has failed to use his position to turn the economy around, adding that the launch of the e-naira has prove this point.
NFM said, “the introduction and subsequent launch of the digital currency, eNaira, is perceived as the final nail in the country’s already doomed economy.
“We are ready to champion the call for Emefiele’s removal by staging a one-week protest that could potentially cripple economic activities in Abuja. We’re also ready to mobilise over 200 other pro-Buhari groups across the globe in the ‘mother of all protests’ that would hold simultaneously in Abuja, Lagos and London against the nation’s poor economic posture.
“Emiefele played a pivotal role in the collapse of the economy since his appointment as the CBN chief and before his arrival, the economy was said to be one of the fastest growing in the world. Shortly after his reappointment in 2019, Emefiele announced a five-year plan that targets double-digit growth in one of Africa’s largest economies.
“His approach to policy implementation, however, has left many in doubt, raising questions on how his key policy move, especially in the context of management of the exchange rate, benefits the economy, and the naira he sought to protect.”
The group further accused the CBN of rolling out various economic programmes which it said have no direct effects on the lives of Nigerians.
Richard further said in the statement that “on July 24, 2020, the CBN launched a series of non-intrant loan schemes under the AGSMEIS, MSMEDF, AADF and other loan schemes. The program attracted a lot of Nigerians, with millions of them seeking to join the program through all due process.
“For more than a year now, nothing has been done. The CBN under Emefile has shirked its primary responsibility of ensuring price stability and has embraced a more developmental role, in the hopes of naira stability.
“As confirmed by the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, Rt. Hon. James Faleke, the CBN has failed to submit its Audited Account to the Office of the Auditor General (OAGF) for review, from 2010 to date.
“According to Kalu Ajah, chief executive officer at AfriSwiss Capital Assets Management Limited in Abuja, the CBN has pursued a strong naira policy and had sought to dampen imports. Well, imports have not declined and the naira is far from strong. One wonders if the import restrictions on items and capital controls were necessary or if the CBN should have devalued the naira earlier. I will say Nigeria did not benefit from the capital controls regime.
“The regulatory bank’s aggressive lending policy has been called into question as well, causing some concerns over the bank chief’s stewardship of the banking sector. The CBN is forcing banks to lend, and penalising non-lenders. These are shareholders’ funds being deployed via fiat.
“In October last year, the Central Bank fined 12 banks, including Citibank, First Bank of Nigeria, Guaranty Trust Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank N499 billion for failing to meet lending targets. It is another move that attracted criticism across the board,” he said.
Andy Uba, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC in the November 6 Anambra governorship election has recorded a boost in his quest to succeed Governor Wily Obiano. The plus to his campaign to become the state’s helmsman, came from Hallmark International Consultancy Company, a research and political risk consultancy firm based in the United States of America, USA which said Senator Uba will win the election.
The APC has received major boosts to its campaign to wrestle the state from ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, particularly with the recent decampment of notable APGA politicians including the Deputy Governor, of the state Nkem Okeke and some lawmakers in the state house of Assembly to the APC
Apart from Senator Uba, the election parades notable candidates vying in the make or mar election, popular among them are Godwin Maduka of Accord, Charles Soludo of All Progressive Grand Alliance, Valentine Ozigbo of PDP and Obiora Okonkwo of Zenith Labour Party.
A statement issued by the HICC vice president for Africa and Middle East, Hayes Rodney, which was made available to newsmen in Abuja yesterday, said the interest of the foundation in the Anambra governorship election is non-partisan but designed to help deepen democracy in Nigeria.
Rodney said that Nigeria’s democracy has come of age and therefore needs to continually evolve strategies to strengthen it as it bends the curve, calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to ensure the election is free, fair, and credible.
He emphasized the need for INEC to use the electronic means of transmitting the result of the election to ensure transparency.
“One way to restore the people’s interest and trust in the ballot box will be for the umpire to be transparent by also embracing technology in conducting elections and for the security agencies to also ensure lives and properties of the electorates are protected,” he said.
He further explained that the firm has no partisan interest in the outcome of the statewide survey, adding that the election would be left for the people of the state to decide.
He noted that while 18 political parties are registered to participate in the election the organisation only polled six major candidates of six political parties; Accord represented by Dr Godwin Maduka, Prof Charles Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Valentine Ozigbo of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr Obiora Okonkwo of the Zenith Labor Party, ZLP and Senator Emmanuel Andy Uba of the All Progressives Congress, APC
Meanwhile, the Andy Uba Campaign Organisation has condemned what it called calumny attacks on its candidate, in the race by APGA.
A statement by the media director of the organisation, Afam Ogene, read in part,”This time, using a poorly scripted propaganda material, they claimed that a certain nondescript character, allegedly, ‘confessed’ that Distinguished Senator Andy Uba contracted him to cause mayhem in the state.
“The General Public is advised to ignore this concocted tale which could only have emanated from the jaundiced imagination of crude propagandists.
“Senator Uba, despite having devoted the greater part of his adult life to the service of Ndi Anambra and Nigeria, is a widely acclaimed perfect gentleman who not only detests violence, but has also never being associated with anything of the sort.
“A cursory look at the concocted tale shows that the story has no source and can’t be referenced to anyone. The parrot news attached at the end of the said article does not also exist, either in print or the internet.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Senator Uba and his APC have been insistent on having the Anambra governorship election hold this Saturday, November 6, 2021.
“In deed, ndi Anambra and Nigerians at large are aware of those who appear not to be ready for the gubernatorial duel, and are therefore conjuring all manner of excuses, including playing games with security issues, so as to force a stalemate.
“With the Independent National Electoral Commission and other political parties, including the APC and security agencies ready for the polls, we advise Governor Obiano, Prof Soludo and APGA to get up and get ready for November 6, 2021 – and quit playing silly games,” Ogene said.
The Rivers State Government and its people have alleged an assassination attempt on a Justice of the Supreme Court, Mary Peter-Odili.
They have, therefore, alerted the world to take note, and warned that the Federal Government should be held responsible if anything untoward happens to her, her husband, Dr Peter Odili, or any of their children.
They have, also, given the FG a 48-hour ultimatum to unmask those behind the incident.
In the evening of Friday, October 29, security men, allegedly, numbering about 50, had inexplicably invaded Justice Peter-Odili’s Abuja home to execute a search warrant authorised by a Magistrate, Emmanuel Iyanna.
The five-hour siege provoked outrage nationwide, and caused an international embarrassment for Nigeria.
Magistrate Iyanna revoked the search warrant later, pleading that he was deceived into granting it.
The initial report was that the security agents were made up of operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the Police and the Department of State Security Services, and were detailed from the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN. The story was that the team operates under Malami’s supervision.
A twist was, however, added to it when Malami denied knowledge of the invasion and ordered a probe. To worsen the situation, both the DSS and the EFCC, also, denied carrying out any such operation. The only Security branch mentioned, which has not reacted is the Police.
However, the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, who rushed to Justice Peter-Odili’s home as soon as he heard of the incident, has, on behalf of the Government and people of the State, alleged that the incident was a straight-up assassination attempt.
Wike spoke on Sunday at a Press Conference at the Government House Rivers, attended by the Elders of the State who, themselves, worried about the incident. And he is pointing accusing fingers at the Federal Government.
He said that from recent events, the Odilis seem to be a target of sinister moves, and warned that should anything happen to any of the Odilis, the Federal Government should be held solely responsible.
Dr Peter Odili was a two-term Governor of Rivers State, while his wife, Justice Peter-Odili is the second highest Justice of the Supreme Court, just behind the Chief Justice of Nigeria.
Wike: “We are telling the world, if anything happens to the family of Dr Peter Odili, the Federal Government should be held accountable because they have shown that there is something they are about carrying out.
“If anything happens to my Lord, Justice Mary Odili, the husband and the children, the Federal Court should be held responsible.
“That is the position of the Rivers State Government and Rivers people because enough is enough!
“I will think that it is an attempt to assassinate Justice Mary Odili and the husband and the members of the family because there are no two ways about it.
“And if they had succeeded, all the Federal Government would have told us is we would get to the root of the matter. That’s the normal language. Then, after one or two weeks, everybody will be quiet.
“But this will not be the same because this is an assassination attempt.”
The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, in a statement signed by its President, Olumide Akpata, says it has taken up the case, and would get to its root.”
President Muhammadu Buhari has left Abuja for the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) holding at Glasgow, Scotland.
Garba Shehu, Presidential spokesperson, said in a statement that Buhari is scheduled to deliver a “national statement” at the conference Tuesday, November 2.
“President Buhari’s address is expected to highlight Nigeria’s key priorities and action to tackle climate change as well as progress on the country’s transition to low carbon economy, consistent with achieving the Paris Climate Agreement’, the statement said.
“The Conference, hosted by the United Kingdom in partnership with Italy, will bring parties together to help accelerate action towards the Paris Agreement as well as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
“Given Nigeria’s leading role in taking climate action and as a signatory to the Paris Agreement, COP 26 will afford a unique opportunity for the Nigerian delegation to work with other parties to make progress on the main goals of the conference including securing global net-zero by mid-century and keeping 1.5C within reach; adapting to protect communities and natural habitats as well as mobilising the much-needed finances to meet the set targets.”
While in Glasgow, President Buhari will be part of some side-line events to be hosted by US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron.
On his entourage are the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of State, Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, National Security Adviser, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (Rtd) and Director-General, National Intelligence Agency, Amb. Ahmed Rufai Abubakar.
After the Summit, President Buhari will move to Paris, France on an official visit.
The umbrella association of all registered political parties and political associations in the county, the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately sack the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, over the controversial and unwarranted invasion of the house of the second most senior Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Mary Peter-Odili by security operatives.
This is even as the CNPP congratulated the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the successful conduct of its national convention, urging other political parties to emulate the rancour-free convention and the emergence of the youngest national youth leader in any major political party in the country.
In a statement signed by its Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, the CNPP wondered “why President Buhari is still keeping Malami as the Chief Law Officer of the federation despite several embarrassing comments and actions.”
According to the statement, “Malami’s continued stay in office as Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has become one of the biggest threats to democracy and rule of law in the country.
“Under his watch as Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, there have been obvious state sponsored invasions of houses of Justices of the Supreme Court and Judges of the Federal High Court, without any justification.
“The CNPP therefore calls on the National Executive of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to rise up to the occasion and ensure protection of the country’s judiciary and judicial officers in view of the unwarranted threats and intimidation of officers in the temple of justice, using security operatives under Malami’s watch.
“His comments on national issues in recent times have equally portrayed him as a grave danger to rule of law and Nigerian democracy”, the CNPP observed.
Reacting to the successful conclusion of the PDP’s national convention, the CNPP noted that “democracy can only grow in an atmosphere of transparency and fair play.
“The PDP has demonstrated that it is ready to get things right by departing from the era of unbridled impunity in the conduct of its affairs to become an example of a truly repentant political party.
“We commend the emergence of a 25-years old national youth leader of the PDP, a giant step in accommodating the younger generation of Nigerians who have been desirous to contribute to nation building.
“We therefore congratulate all the elected party leaders in the extraordinary convention of the PDP and urge them to work towards deepening of Nigeria’s democracy and promotion of good governance in the country”, the CNPP stated.
