Democracy
Governor Wike charges judiciary to demand independence
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has charged the judiciary to crave for independence to discharge their functions without intimidation and not just to control budgets. Wike said this was imperative because no government and country could make meaningful progress, if the judiciary is not allowed to carry out their functions independently. He stated this at the official presentation of 29 brand new Renault Koleos 2020 SUVS to chairmen of the Customary Courts of the Rivers State judiciary at the judiciary complex in Port Harcourt yesterday. The maintained that no one can talk about democracy without the rule of law, stressing that judiciary is pivotal in any given society where the rule of law reigns. “If Nigeria wants to move forward, if this country wants development, then, we must allow...
2023: Group nominates Senator Nnamani for presidency
Herald The Ken Nnamani groups in the diaspora have nominated former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, as the most desirable candidate from South East to run for 2023 Nigerian President. The coalition said that Nnamani was most qualified because of his antecedent and experience of leadership in national administration. The groups cited Nnamani’s role in the country’s critical era of alleged third term agenda of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and how he scuttled it, as a test case of his strong and unwavering character to preside over the country’s affairs. The groups’ Chairman, Lawrence Odoemelam, in a statement said that with the Igbos clamouring for a Nigerian President from the southeast, Nnamani fits into the cap for different reasons. He said that Nnamani ensured the stabilization of ...
2023: There was no pre-merger agreement in APC on zoning – Senator Yerima
A former Governor of Zamfara State, Senator Sani Yerima, has denied that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had any premerger agreement to rotate the presidency between the north and the south. Yerima disclosed this yesterday during a media interaction with reporters covering the activities of the APC. His claim was contrary to the views of the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, who recently said that the party had a gentleman agreement on zoning. Yerima said: “I don’t think there is anything like agreement. You can ask Mr. President, he led the group, Asiwaju was there, I was part of it, there was no meeting I didn’t attend or any meeting that I attended that there is such agreement. Agreement can’t be verbal. It has to be written. In any case, any agreement that is co...
Senator Yerima joins 2023 presidential race
Former Governor of Zamfara State, Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima, says there has never been any agreement in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to zone the presidency to the South-West region in 2023. Yerima made this known in Abuja on Wednesday, December 16, 2020, at a media briefing, where he declared his interest to contest for president at the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure in 2023. Yerima said he had on three occasions stepped down to allow Buhari to win the presidential ticket of defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) as well as the All Progressives Congress. The former governor said he attended all meetings involving President Buhari and the National leader of the ruling party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, saying there was no meeting where it was agreed that the presidency ...
APC: PDP pushing Nigeria into one-party state
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of pushing the country into a one-party state. The ruling party said this in a reaction to a statement credited to the opposition party. PDP had asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister APC and declare seats of its lawmakers vacant following its decision to dissolve all organs of the party. In a statement on Tuesday, Yekini Nabena, APC deputy spokesman, described PDP’s call as a “beer parlour rant”. “If the PDP assumes this as its standard of opposition politics, then our democracy is in danger. It is now clear that the PDP’s disillusion following their rejection by Nigerians in the 2015 and 2019 general election has degenerated into senility,” Nabena said. “With the PDP as th...
Governor Fayemi mourns Harry Akande’s demise
Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has commiserated with the family of the late business mogul and former Presidential aspirant, Chief Harry Akande, who passed on Saturday, aged 77. In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Yinka Oyebode, the Governor described Akande’s death as an unfortunate and irreparable loss not only to members of his family and the good people of Oyo State but to the nation at large. The Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum said the late Akande worked his way to the top, built a solid business empire and became influential across the globe through dint of hard work, brilliance and diligence. Fayemi said the Ibadan-born Billionaire ventured into the Nigerian politics with the intent of using politics as a tool for social and economic change, but could n...
Group dismisses Nigerian Army chief’s coup alarm as diversionary
A Coalition of elders under the auspices of Nigeria Elders for Peace and Good Governance (CONEPAGG), has accused the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, of raising false alarm about “imaginary” coup to divert the attention of Nigerians from the failings of the Service Chiefs. Buratai had while decorating the 39 newly promoted Major Generals, said he was aware that some Generals were being approached by politicians, warning that his eyes are on them. He vowed that the Nigerian Army will never tolerate any agent of destabilization bent on scuttling the current democratic dispensation. “Democracy has come to stay. We will not tolerate any agent of destabilization. The years of military misadventure in politics have never carried us anywhere. It is over,” Buratai had stresse...
APC sets agenda for reappointed INEC chairman, tasks him on fairness
File Photo Following the Senate’s clearance of reappointed Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has set an agenda for the chief electoral umpire, urging him to be unbiased and apolitical. APC in a statement by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yekini Nabena, on Tuesday in Abuja, noted that though Nigeria’s election processes are far from perfect, there are however marked improvements recorded in series of recent elections conducted. “The task before Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and the election management body he leads is to strive further in being unbiased and apolitical”, APC stated. The party noted that technological innovations recently introduced and deployed by INEC have greatly improved th...
Lagos government plans internship programme for young graduates
The Lagos State Government on Friday said it was planning a six-month Internship Programme for 4,000 young graduates in the state. Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu said this during the inauguration of a 28-room Administrative Block constructed by Agboyi-Ketu Local Council Development Area. Sanwo-Olu said that the 4,000 fresh graduates would be paid a monthly stipend of N40,000 for the six months programme, adding that there was an urgent need for government at all levels to prioritise youth development, empowerment and mentoring. According to him, the recent EndSARS protest must be seen as a wakeup call for government at all levels to do more for young people who are demanding for better opportunities and engagements. ”As we prepare for a new fiscal year, let us ensure that ade...
INEC chief wants Senate to accelerate Electoral Act amendment
The nominee for the position of Chairperson for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, has appealed to the National Assembly to expeditiously pass the Electoral Act Amendment Bill before the end of first quarter of 2021. Yakubu made the call in Abuja on Thursday when he appeared before the Senate Committee on INEC for screening. President Muhammadu Buhari had on Wednesday sought Senate’s confirmation of Yakubu as INEC chairperson for a second term. Yakubu said the passage of the Electoral Act was critical for the success of the 2023 general elections and ultimately the nation’s electoral system. He said that INEC under his leadership had recommended some areas of amendments in the Electoral Act. He said that if confirmed, INEC under his watch would consolidat...
Group rejects South-South governors desire to control NDDC
A Niger Delta group, Vanguard for Transparent Leadership and Democracy (VATLAD), has condemned the desire of South-South governors to control the affairs of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). The group described as untrue governors’ claim that their demand for control is borne out of concerned about the rot in the NDDC. In a statement by Comrade Igbini Odafe Emmanuel, national president, the group reminded South South governors that their continued failure to utlilise oil derivation funds and other funds acruing to their states sparked the agitation for the establishment of NDDC, which “will operate independently and without direct or indirect interference or control by our state governors or their agents.” It described as insulting threat by South South governors over NDDC, queryi...
Ex-President Jonathan: I was judged harshly before 2015 elections because …
Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday said he was wrongly judged by some of his friends and political opponents before the 2015 presidential election because of his personal convictions and the vision he had for the country. He, however, insisted that he does not hold any grudge against his detractors for their harsh criticisms. It would be recalled that the ex-President was widely criticised, before the election, for his approach to alleged corruption in his administration, the perennial problem of insecurity, and the sacking of some top government functionaries within his administration including the former Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, ex-Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, among other. Speaking in Abuja during the public presentation of a book ‘Dear...