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Ondo: Confusion In ZLP, As Two Lay Claim To Governorship Ticket |The Source

By
Ayodele Oni
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Zenith Labour Party

By Ayodele Oni, Akure

Anxiety and apprehension have gripped members of Zenith Labour Party, (ZLP), in Ondo state as the party is yet to agree on its candidate for the October 10 Governorship poll.

The deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) for submission and substitution expires today, 18th August.

Investigations revealed that as at close of work Monday, the candidate elected during the party’s primary last month, Mr Rotimi Benjamin, was still laying claim to the ticket.

Agboola Ajayi Joins ZLP
Agboola Ajayi

Rotimi was reported to have insisted that he was not aware of any move by the party to substitute his name with that of the Deputy Governor of the state, Mr Agboola Ajayi, who decamped to the ZLP last Friday.

Ajayi, who had earlier dumped the APC and PDP, joined the ZLP, officially, last Friday with the sole aim of picking the party’s governorship ticket.

According to sources close to Rotimi, neither the INEC, nor the leadership of ZLP, has notified him about any substitution of his name.

It was learnt that whatever transpired was between the Deputy Governor and some few leaders of ZLP at the National and State levels.

Although, there are indications that Rotimi may cave in to pressure, he is aggrieved that the Deputy Governor and the leadership of the party have failed to meet with him to discuss his replacement.

“The Deputy Governor has been meeting the National leader of the party, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, and some other leaders of the party at the state level without carrying along the elected Flagbearer of the party, who was duly elected at the party’s Congress last month.

“They even went to the extent of picking for him a running mate. There is no time Rotimi was invited for any discussion and tomorrow (18th August) is the deadline,” a source within the party stated.

However, Rotimi’s stand now runs contrary to an interview he granted Premium Times over the weekend. He told the  Online medium that he voluntarily relinquished his ticket to Ajayi, and.was under no pressure at all, because he wanted the state to go back to the “glorious days of Mimiko.”

However, an insider told this magazine that “Rotimi is a politician. He knows what he is doing. He has spent money. They should, at least, meet him half way, and reimburse some of the money he spent. That is how it is done.

It was gathered, though,  that leaders of ZLP held an all night meeting with a view to resolving the issue and beat INEC deadline which terminates  midnight today.

Nigeria to spend N3.1 trillion on debt servicing says MOF |The Source

By
Uche Mbah
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Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed,minister of finance

By Uche Mbah

Nigeria has projected that in 2021, it will spend N3.1 trillion on debt servicing alone. This accounts for about 25% of the projected revenue for that year.

Total projected expenditure, however, is N12.25 trillion, even amid revenue constraint.

In recent times, there has been a serious drive for government revenue through various taxation methods. One of the latest is the increase in value-added tax, which critics claim is targeted against the poor population, as the final burden will be on them, and has caused a marginal rise in inflation due to market pressures.

The Nigerian economy is reeling from severe revenue constraint which analysts claim is a result of a drastic drop in Oil revenue amid COVID 19 pandemic. Corruption is also cited as part of the reason for revenue leakages.

According to a revenue outlook released by the Finance Ministry on Monday, spending would focus on the completion of as many ongoing projects as possible. It asserts that new works would only be allowed if there were adequate resources to complete ongoing projects.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Monday, said  President Mohammadu Buhari has approved the set-up of a N15-trillion infrastructure development company with Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund.

The company, InfraCo PLC,  is expected to focus on raising government investment in the transport sector, said Godwin Emefiele, the CBN Governor.

According to Emefiele, the equity injection into the new project will over a five-year period to begin with.

The CBN will jointly own the firm with the Sovereign Wealth Fund and the African Finance Corporation (AFC), but it will be managed independently.

Wada Maida Slumps, Dies |The Source

By
The Source
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Wada Maida

The Media has lost another shining light, a few weeks after the  death  of Ismaila  Isa Funtua.

Wada Maida, Chairman, Board  of Directors  of the Peoples Daily, slumped about 10.00pm  on Monday, and passed on. He was in his office earlier in the day, and showed no signs of ill-health.

Wada was, until his death, the  Chairman of the New Agency of Nigeria. He was also the Chief Press Secretary to President Muhammadu Buhari in 1985, when he was Nigeria’s Head of State.

A member of the Newspapers Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria, NPAN, he was an Executive Board Member of the International Press Institute, IPI.

Wada  70, was a close associate of Isa Funtua.

Diri Remains Governor of Bayelsa State – INEC |The Source

By
The Source
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INEC Logo

By Charles Igbo

The Independent National Electoral  Commission, says the Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Duoye Diri, who was sacked Monday by the Bayelsa State Election Petitions Tribunal, remains the Governor of the state.

An otherwise unknown party, the Action Democratic Party of Nigeria, went to the Tribunal with a case that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, excluded its candidate from the ballot.

But an INEC Commissioner, Festus Okoye, says that Diri remains the Governer until all Court processes are availed.

He said the candidate in question was the Deputy Governor nominee, and was not qualified as he was under-age.

The Tribunal, in a 2 to 1 split decision, cancelled the election, and ordered for a fresh election within 90 days.

Governor Diri, had since instructed his legal team to immediately appeal the judgement.

Breaking: Nigeria Resumes International Flights |The Source

By
The Source
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Airport

By Charles Igbo

After weeks of waiting, Nigeria has announced the resumption of International Flights.

Breaking the heart-warming news in a tweet is the  Minister for Aviation, Hadi Sirika.

He tweeted: “Glad to announce the resumption of International Flights from August 29, beginning with Lagos and Abuja as we did with the domestic flight resumption.

“Protocols and procedures will be announced in due course. We thank you for your patience”.

Nigeria closed its airspace to International Flights late March over the COVID-19 pandemic, except for humanitarian and diplomatic flights.

It remains to see which of the International Flights would come to Nigeria. Europe banned  Nigerians, and the USA, among other countries from entering for fear of the spread of the Virus.

El-Rufai: There Is No Genocide In Southern Kaduna; Stands On His Opinion On Rotational Presidency |The Source

By
Adesina Soyooye
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By Adesina Soyooye

Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai,  says there is no genocide going on in Southern Kaduna. He chided those making such claims, and dismissed them as mischief makers.

The Governor who spoke on a Channels Television program, Politics Today Sunday night, also stood by his earlier opinion penultimate week, that the Presidency should go to the South in 2023.

On Southern Kaduna, he said: “Why is it that when there are killings in Zamfara and Taraba, it is not genocide, but when there is a tribal misunderstanding in Southern Kaduna, it is genocide?.”

His statement is not likely to endear him to most people who are outraged by the incessant killings in Southern Kaduna, and who accuse him of turning a blind eye to the tragic situation.

But the Governor said he was neither moved nor perturbed by the thinking of,  or assumption by such people, adding that his conscience was clear.

“I have done more than anybody to handle the Southern Kaduna crisis, but it is deep-rooted, and both sides to the crisis are to blame.”

He said a MOPOL Command has been established there, everything has been done,  but he is of the opinion that only the people can make peace when they choose to.

“The warring tribes are the only ones who can make peace among themselves. It doesn’t matter what the Government or anybody does.”

He also chided those who he said ignorantly insist that Southern Kaduna is marginalized.

Far from that, he said, they occupy more government offices than any other group.

He revealed that the region makes up 28 per cent of Kaduna, but revealed: “When we came in, 65 % of the civil service population was from Southern Kaduna. Does that look like marginalization? The more they get, the more they shout.”

According to him, there are people making money out of the situation. “They take photographs and send abroad, shouting genocide, so as to get money from abroad.”

One the reasons, he is not liked, he revealed, is because he stopped the culture of giving such people money. “When we came, I stopped the culture of just giving them Government money. They don’t like me for stopping it”

Asked if he stood by what he was quoted as saying that he would not support a Nothern Presidential candidate in 2023, he denied saying that, but insisted that morally, his form opinion is that the Presidency should rotate to the South, after President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight years. He said it makes for peace, and that it is a gentleman’s agreement that power should rotate from the North to the South. He pointed out that the PDP enshrined it in its constitution.

Penultimate week, Minister for Labour and Productivity, Dr Chris Ngige, had said the APC, in 2014, agreed on Rotational Presidency.

Edo Killer Squad: Deputy Governor Calls For Oshimhole’s Arrest |The Source

By
Adesina Soyooye
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Philip Shaibu

By Adesina Soyooye

The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Comrade Philip Shaibu, has called for the arrest and interrogation of the sacked National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

Shaibu said he should be arrested for habouring a killer squad in Edo, a couple of whom sleep in his house.

The Deputy Governor made this call during an interview on AIT, on Monday.

While answering questions, he appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to play both a presidential and a fatherly role in Edo, hinting that anything contrary to that, could spark a revolution that could start from Edo.

Edo people are warriors, he warned, and they have made up their minds to resist any violence thrown their way. They are just respecting the Oba, he added.

He gave an example with what happened last week, when gun totting thugs attacked  Governor Godwin Obaseki’s Campaign train on his way to Etsako. He disclosed that only a couple of women ran away. Others stood, watching what would happen. He then asked: “How many can they kill?”

Acknowledging Oshiomhole as his Dad, Deputy Governor Shaibu said he was shocked at the new Oshiomhole, adding “I knew he had changed the moment he discarded khaki for safari suits.”

He alleged that Oshiomhole has brought a killer squad to Edo, and that Security personnel were aware of it.

Shaibu revealed that he had personally reported some of the members of the squad to the Police, and even provided their photographs when they had dressed up, and prepared for the job, but that the Security personnel refused to act.

Because he is Oshiomhole’s son, he advanced: all the boys around him “are my brothers. They tell me what is happening, the plans. They were the ones who supplied to me the photographs of members of the killer squad. But the Police have some nothing”.

Shaibu is Governor Godwin.Obaseki’s running mate in the September 19 Governorship election.

Barcelona Sacks Quique Setien As Coach; Shortlists Thierry Henry, Others |The Source

By
The Source
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Coach Quique Setien

By Akinwale Kasali

The sack of Coach Quique Setien was expected, after the 8-2 annihilation of Spanish top Club, Barcelona Football Club by Bayern Munich Football Club in the UEFA Champions League Quarter Finals.

Barcelona President, Josep Bartomeu, confirmed the sacking of Head Coach, Setien, following the club finishing the season without winning any major trophies.

With Lionel Messi reportedly threatening to quit the club,  Setien was axed following a meeting of the Barcelona board.

Club President Bartomeu, met with Director of Football Eric Abidal and fellow Chief, Ramon Planes, late on Sunday night and confirmed to reporters afterwards Setien was ‘out’.

An official announcement is expected on Monday, with Barcelona scheduling a press conference in the afternoon.

Setien was only appointed in January to replace Ernesto Valverde, but fared little better than his sacked predecessor as Real Madrid beat Barcelona to the La Liga title.

However, Barcelona are considering their former striker, Thierry Henry, as a replacement for the outgoing Quique Setien.

The former striker is currently the coach of Major League Soccer side, Montreal Impact Football Club, which he has guided to just one victory in his six games in charge.

The Frenchman previously was Assistant Coach to Roberto Martinez at Belgium, before taking his first managerial job at Monaco, whom he tasted victory with just four times across 20 games, before being dismissed in January 2020.

Henry scored 49 goals for the Blaugrana across three seasons, and is now on their managerial shortlist, which is said to include former Barcelona defender Ronald Koeman, current coach of the Netherlands.

Massimiliano Allegri (formerly of Milan and Juventus) and Mauricio Pochettino are also said to be on the shortlist, but Xavi Hernandez is not, as he has no interest in taking on the role at present.

It is reported that Barcelona will initiate contacts with representatives of Henry, Pochettino, Allegri and Koeman this weekend, as they look to refine their shortlist.

Former Everton boss Koeman is thought to be the front-runner as a former Barcelona player and a manager with a lot of experience.

The news of Setien’s dismissal comes hot on the heels of reports Messi is ready to call time on his incredible career at Barcelona.

Messi has told the board he wants to leave unless there is significant changes made.

While Messi has demanded action, Barcelona have put almost the entirety of their squad up for sale following the defeat to Bayern.

The presidential elections are scheduled in 2021, but may be held this year amid calls for Bartomeu to step down.

Southern Kaduna: HURIWA Calls On Buhari To Investigate Gov. El-Rufai |The Source

By
The Source
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By Akinwale Kasali

The Human Rights Writers Association, HURIWA, has called on the President Muhammadu Buhari Government to investigate Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the Governor of Kaduna State.

According to HURIWA, El-Rufai should be compelled to produce the killers of innocent Nigerians in Southern Kaduna since he has been able to identify them and their locations.

HURIWA went down memory lane, recalling in  December 2016, when Governor El-Rufai admitted to identifying and compensating those causing the crisis in Southern Kaduna, saying that they were people from the neighbouring countries of Niger, Cameroon, Chad, Mali and Senegal.

HURIWA, in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, and made available to the media on Sunday, said it was much concerned that “what is going on in the southern part of the state is an ethno religious cleansing by vicious herdsmen in a way that was sickening and repulsive to civilisation.”

It said the “most pragmatic way to finding a solution and stopping the mass killers before they strike again is to fish out the armed Fulani Herdsmen doing the killings by investigating El-Rufai who allegedly and reportedly admitted paying off some identified killers.”

HURIWA further noted that the “utterances of El-Rufai in where he admitted paying off some killer herdsmen responsible for the violence and that compiling a list of people calling for self-defence in Southern Kaduna are very shocking

HURIWA wondered why the criminals were compensated instead of facing the law, adding that the Governor has not done anything to help the victims since he appeased the killers with money

“The continuous assault of the Southern Kaduna people has become highly suspicious and alarming. There is no doubt that the victims of these incessant assaults are indigenes of Kaduna State who are mostly Christians,” the group insisted.

Akeredolu Govt Is Anti- Masses – Mimiko Fires Back; Akeredolu Calls Him Treacherous |The Source

By
Ayodele Oni
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0

By Ayodele Oni, Akure

In his first reaction to the barrage of criticisms from his friend of four decades, former governor of Ondo state, Dr Olusegun Mimiko has described Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s administration as anti people.

Mr Akeredolu had berated his predecessor, last week, for abandoning several projects initiated by his predecessor for political reasons, thus compounding the problem of his administration.

Dr Mimiko, who maintained that the time to reply to various allegations levelled against him by Governor Akeredolu  has not come, said he would know the stuff he was made of when campaigns for October 10 election take off proper.

Mimiko’s remarks came when he received Deputy Governor Agboola Ajayi at his residence in Ondo town after Ajayi had defected to the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

Mimiko pointed out that it was an insult to rank his administration with an unprogressive one that does not know what the people need at every particular time.

Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State

According to him, any party or government that will not meet the need of the masses at the point of their yearnings is not a progressive one, adding that  ZLP is the only party that loves the masses and assists them to  achieve their dreams.

The former governor, who lauded the deputy governor, Agboola Ajayi, described him as a well groomed and seasoned politician saying Ajayi has no behaviour to hide again.

“All his good and bad sides, we know, we do not expect surprises.”

He, however said that the task ahead is challenging adding that nothing good comes easy and thanked everyone supporting the dreams of the incumbent deputy governor to oust his boss.

Earlier, Ajayi had said no progressive politician would go home and sleep when the state was experiencing mis- governance by the current government.

Describing the former governor as an achiever, Ajayi said there is no politician of repute either in the past or present and accros party divide, has not visited Mimiko for blessings.

The deputy governor said he had not joined the party to only contest the gubernatorial election, but to help change the narrative and get governance right in the polity of the state.

Also, the chairman of ZLP,  Mr. Joseph Akinlaja said the incumbent government failed in various sectors that Mimiko had succeeded, urging the people to vote ZLP to alleviate their suffering.

Reacting to the former Governor’s remarks, the Commissioner for Information, Mr Donald Ojogo, described both Mimiko and Agboola Ajayi as treacherous

The Commissioner, who spoke on behalf of Governor Akeredolu declared that “we do not consider what the former Governor said as needful of any response. He must say something to calm down and indeed calm the nervousness of his unsuspecting victims.

“We can only sympathise with him because he has come out to remind the people of Ondo State and as well reactivate their consciousness of his almost forgotten past.

“No one without any treacherous content can market a treacherous person.”

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