Author Archives: News All Around

As the 2023 general elections draw nearer, supporters of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) on Monday embarked on a road walk in Lagos state to canvass votes for their presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo and other candidates of the party.

The supporters converged at the SDP secretariat in Yaba at around 8am from where they moved to Ebute meta, Obalende, Iyana Oworo, Maryland, Ikorodu road then to Computer Village in Ikeja, soliciting for votes for their candidates.

Addressing the residents in Obalende and other areas, the Vice Presidential Candidate of SDP, Mr.Yusuf Buhari, urged those who were yet to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to take advantage of the deadline extension by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to do so.

Buhari said the party chose ‘Walk for Democracy’ as part of Lagos Presidential Campaign Rally to reach out to the grassroots and educate voters on why they need to vote SDP as best alternative that would transform Nigeria.

Speaking with journalists, the Deputy Director General for SDP presidential campaign council, Mrs. Khadija Okunnu-Lamidi, said the party is one of the oldest political parties in the country, urging Nigerians to vote for Adebayo as the next president.

Okunnu-Lamidi said “This is the party that gives mandate to Late MKO Abiola. The democracy at that period was truncated. This is thirty years after and we are in 2023, as luck will have it, we now have another candidate who understands the issues, and how to govern. He is very intelligent and well educated. He is very in turn with the reality of the grassroots, that’s what important, most of the candidates we had have been in the system and corrupted by the system, we can’t keep doing same thing and expect different results, this is why it’s important that Prince Adewole Adebayo who is People’s choice should be given chance to govern the country”.

She said that the party would get rid of poverty in the country, saying that if poverty was eradicated, other issues like unemployment, insecurity and other challenges facing the country would be a thing of the past.

Okunnu-Lamidi said “Our campaign is all around farewell to poverty. This farewell to poverty is the same theme that MKO Abiola had but guest what thirty years later, poverty is getting worse, insecurity is now has grand-child called kidnaping and all metric you can use to measure poverty have increased. The number of people and the level of poverty itself also increased.

” We are here to eradicate poverty and insecurity, all these things once we take care of them, it solves the whole issues, it solves healthcare problem,it give dignity back to the citizens. Where there is dignity of lives, our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will increase, we have the number, we just need to get productivity out of them, a hungry man can’t work and strategize and these are the things to fix in order to boost productivity and boost the economic status of everyone.

” I urge Nigerians not to sell their votes or but vote their conscience and presidential candidate that would assist in reposing confidence on Nigerians”.

She added “We expect Nigerians to make a choice devoid of money as you know the money that is being spent in politics, most of the politicians are not spending their money rather they spend your money to campaign to you to continue doing the same things. I expect Nigerians to listen to issues and stop getting sway by the theatre they are bringing into it.

” They are not talking about poverty, they are not talking about how to address the problem of out of school children, they are not talking about finding lasting solutions to the flooding in Nigeria, they are not talking about availability of portable water, good healthcare. What they are talking about is to keep dancing keep thinking that politics is a game or theatre or a clown show. No, it is real because it affects your lives.

” I am glad that we are finally getting to the issues and we are finally leaving that nonsense behind and bringing someone Prince Adewole Adebayo who is young. Our candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo is 51 years old and he is capable to turn things for better in Nigeria “.

The walk was led by the Presidential candidate of SDP, Prince Adewole Adebayo, his Vice Presidential candidate, Mr. Yusuf Buhari, the Deputy Director General of SDP Presidential campaign Council, Mrs. Khadija Okunu- Lamidi and other Chieftains.

The Presidential and National Assembly elections will be held on February 25 while the Governorship and State Assembly elections will be held March 11.

*Says judgement compromised

A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, on Friday, described the majority judgement of the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal that purportedly sacked Governor Ademola Adeleke as highly compromised.

Frank in a statement in reaction to the judgement said the verdict fell short of expectations and does not reflect the will of the majority of the people of Osun who freely elected Senator Adeleke as Governor.

He called on the National Judicial Council to urgently cause a probe of the verdict with a view to restoring Adeleke’s mandate as well as penalizing any of the tribunal members found to have compromised on integrity.

He also called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to urgently investigate the judges who wrote the majority judgement and prosecute those found to have based their decision on other considerations rather than the true facts canvassed during the hearing of the case.

He also called on the United States of America to place a visa ban on the Osun tribunal judges found to have used their highly exalted position as arbiters to derail and frustrate the growth of democracy in the country.

He commended the judge who wrote the minority judgement for sticking to the truth and siding with the wishes and aspirations of Osun people that elected Adeleke during the last governorship election.

He however, urged the people of Osun to remain calm and law abiding with the certainty that the mandate they freely gave to Adeleke would be retrieved at the appellate court.

He vowed that Nigerians will not fold their arms and watch any attempt to use the judiciary to again steal Adeleke’s mandate through the backdoor.

…Says No ‘Political Prostitute’ Can Stop Tinubu/Shettima Combination as Best Option For Nigeria

….

National Coordinator of the Tinubu/Shettima Network (TSN) ,Engineer (Dr.) Kailani Muhammad has described Hajiya Naja’atu Muhammad as a ‘Political Prostitute’,who was sponsored by the People’s Democratic Party’s Presidential Candidate to blackmail the All Progressives Congress Presidential flagbearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Hajia Naja’atu Muhammad resigned last Saturday from the APC’s Presidential Campaign Council, saying her conscience would not allow her to continue as member.

She had also said the party’s standard bearer, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was too sick and possibly suffering from Alzheimer’s disease as he could not hold a teacup when she visited him in London some time ago.

But Kailani in a reaction to Naja’atu’s ,said her statements are not only contradictory,but absolutely fallacious.

The TSN National Coordinator, who briefed supporters on the journey so far about the group’s mobilisation drive for Tinubu/Shettima as President and running mate , said Hajiya Naja’atu is a complete disappointment , failure and should not be taken seriously.

He explained: “This was a woman, who was with us in ANPP; CPC and later APC.She ran away to PDP and returned to APC ,today she has ran away again .what she said in the social media yesterday is contradictory and fallacious.

“It was blunt lies to say she went to London to meet Tinubu and discovered he was sick .

“We know she has been sponsored by PDP and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,because she has been working for them.”

While urging electorate to disregard her statements, he however described Naja’atu as a political prostitute,who moved from one place to another. adding “No serious and principled politician will do that.

“We have been in one party for over 20 years and never shifted post .When you believe in something ,you stand by it and that’s what we have done.”

On issue of the forthcoming general elections, Kailani disclosed that the Tinubu/Shettima Network as a group has been able to register over 15 thousand support group members and still working to recruiting more to prosecute the February 25 ,2023 presidential election.

“We are the option B for APC, we did that for President Muhammadu Buhari with the National Votes Guard and Awareness of President Muhammadu Buhari group and we are going to do it again for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

” We have enemies of progress in Nigeria , those propagandists that have been saying all sorts of things against Tinubu. Unfortunately they do so with no facts ,just the normal Nigerian factor.

“Some said he’s sick but we saw him dancing yesterday in Kano .How can someone who is unhealthy be dancing life on stage during campaigns for almost two hours while he addressed mammoth crowd of clerics and leaders .

“Governance is about intelligence and those that know how to turn around the economy just like he did in Lagos over years .

“It is on record that Tinubu turned the economy of Lagos with a record of high sustainable IGR generation . Today the economy of Lagos is bigger than that of the entire West Africa.

“That is what we want him to come and do for Nigeria .We need a leader that can coordinate resources for greater Nigeria.

“As contained in the renewed Hope Manifesto which places emphasis on health,education, infrastructure and several sectors of the economy. We believe by the time Nigerians vote for Tinubu/ Shettima most of our problems would be solved.”

On issues of allegations of narcotics and source of wealth,Kailani said,people have questioned it and IMF and several international bodies have investigated him and found nothing indicting .

“Tinubu is a businessman, who has capacity to turn one Kobo to one naira and to millions and he said it categorically that people are enving him .

He therefore, urged Nigerians to shun the the cock-and-bull stories about Tinubu.

“Just yesterday we saw some vehicles with banners of APC at PDP secretariat ,is about propaganda by enemies of progress and they want to cause confusion.”

The apex Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has told Simon Ekpa to return the money he collected from his paymasters to destroy Peter Obi’s chances in the 2023 general elections and rescind his planned sit-at-home order during the February 25th presidential election.

The pan Igbo organisation had placed a $50,000 bounty on Ekpa to stop him from carrying out his dastard plans against Peter Obi and the Ndigbo. Then he started commissioning people to intervene and plead on his behalf, but Ohanaeze has said to withdraw the bounty and leave him be, Simon Ekpa must pay back all the money he has collected from his paymasters to carry out his nefarious activities, stop his killer squad in Southeastern Nigeria, repent and apologize for the agonies and inconveniences caused by his activities and crooked falsehoods.

A statement signed by the Secretary-General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro on Tuesday said, “Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has cautioned one Simon Ifeanyi Njoku Ekpa to return the funds he collected with the evil intent to destroy the prospects of the Labour Party to win the 2023 presidential elections on 25th February 2023. Intelligence reports have it that Simon Ekpa became frightened that his secrets have been uncovered and he quickly retreated and withdrew his response to the $50,000 bounty place on him.

“He has been begging Ohanaeze Ndigbo in the last 24 hours through third parties to reconsider and review the sanctions as well drop the bounty placed on him. Ndigbo’s response to Simon Ekpa’s plea is that he should return the $1 million to the unfavoured and unpopular presidential candidate in order to destroy the support base of Peter Obi through his old-fashioned mantra of NO ELECTION IN BIAFRA LAND and rescind his intentions to declare a four days sit-at-home from 22nd to 26th of February 2023 in the view to disrupt the 2023 presidential elections in the Southeast.

“Ndigbo will resist attempts by Simon Ekpa to scare away voters in the Southeast and South-South through his planned four days sit-at-home, our suspicion was reinforced after Ekpa was asking for forgiveness and we knew that his plans to stop the elections in Southeastern Nigeria were to stop Obedient devotees from voting for Peter Obi and lessen the strength of the presidential candidate in the Southeast.

“The 2023 presidential elections must hold in the Southeast, and Ndigbo must vote for whoever is their choice at the polls. Simon Ekpa must pay back all that he has amassed from the enemies of Ndigbo, stop his killer squad in Southeastern Nigeria, show remorseful repentance and apologize for the inconveniences caused by his rantings and crooked falsehoods to Ndigbo.

“Except he abides by this conditions, Ndigbo will smoke him out of his hideouts in Finland and Europe, as Ndigbo and Nigerians in Finland and Europe have responded positively to the $50,000 bounty placed on him. It’s a matter of time, Simon Ifeanyi Njoku Ekpa will be apprehended, and his extradition to Nigeria will happen shortly so that he can answer to all the crimes and killings he instigated in the Southeast,” Isiguzoro said.

Excited SenatorAliyu Magatakarda Wamakko has described the return of Alhaji Umarun Kwobo (Jarman Sokoto) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and hundreds of thousands of his supporters as “the end of discussion”.

Umarun Kwabo, who is also the Jarman Sokoto defected to the APC along with his long-term political godson, Alhaji Murtala Abdulkadir Dan’iya, who was a serving Treasurer of the PDP and strong pillar of Sokoto politics. Some serving commissioners and 164 Special Advisers to the government of Sokoto State have also joined Umarun Kwabo in the APC. Others include APC party chairmen and Local Government Chairmen and Councillors in their hundreds.

Receiving the Jarman Sokoto and thousands of followers into the APC, Senator Wamakko said the days of the misrule of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Sokoto are numbered.

“On behalf of the National Chairman of the APC, Dr. Abdullahi Adamu, the NWC leadership, our Presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his running-mate Alhaji Kashim Shettima, I welcome the Jarman Sokoto into the APC family and I wish to assure them that we shall together work for the victory of our great party in the forthcoming general elections”, said Wamakko.

He described the Jarman Sokoto as a great statesman, a mentor, a guardian, the lord of Sokoto politics and one of the ultimate deciding factors in any election in the State.

“Umarun Kwabo’s return to the APC is a return home for a formidable gladiator of Northern politics who has been commanding political loyalty massively for decades”, Senator Wamakko explained to the mammoth crowd that was at hand to rejoice with the Sarkin Yamma.

APC chieftains in the State expressed joy at what they variously described as Wamakko’s brand of game-changer politics that has remained the dominant political culture in the history of the Caliphate for many years.

A cross-section of respondents in Sokoto expressed joy that a new dawn of progressive politics has set in. One of the respondents, Abubakar Musa said: ” We can now have a clean break from the culture of appointing a horde of Special Assistants in their droves, as if governance in Sokoto is political madness”.

Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) and former governor of Lagos State, His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Sunday, promised to be fair and just to all, if elected, while reassuring his commitment to progressive leadership.

Mr Tinubu gave the promise during a town hall meeting with Northeast Muslim leaders in Bauchi.

The presidential candidate, in soliciting their support, asked the Islamic scholars to vote wisely. If given the mandate, Tinubu assures that he will remain consistent with the tenets of his Islamic faith.

This latest town hall meeting is among the series of engagements the APC standard bearer is having with religious, business, professional, and community leaders as well as all other stakeholders across the country in his bid for the Presidency.

On occasions like this, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has always echoed his pledge to purposeful and honest leadership. “A leader in a plural society like ours is enjoined to be a leader of all. If elected, I shall govern honestly and democratically, in harmony with our nation’s constitution”, Tinubu maintains.

He also promised to revive the economy and fight corruption and insecurity through the provision of modern equipment for security agencies to tackle peculiar and emerging security challenges in the country. Top on the list of his priorities for the Northeast, are resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, creating better opportunities for economic prosperity through continues exploitation of the available mineral resources deposited in the region and paying great attention to job creation for teeming youths in a bid to harness potential for greater national development.

Earlier in their remarks, the Vice Presidential candidate of the APC and former Governor of Borno State, Sen. Kashim Shettima and Northern Coordinator, APC Presidential Campaign Council, and Jigawa Governor, Mohammed Abubakar Badaru, dismissed fears of Yoruba-dominated government, if Asiwaju Tinubu is elected President. Shettima is optimistic of rapid development and welfare of citizens under Asiwaju’s presidency, alluding to his principal’s track record and antecedents as Governor of Lagos State.

Governor Badaru stated that there was no caucus meeting of the APC Presidential Campaign that did not include his counterparts, northern governors, and the likes of Malam Nuhu Ribadu, mni, who heads APC Campaign’s Directorate of Stakeholder Relations. Badaru Abubakar said that they would not betray the North.

Governor Badaru also added that Tinubu is healthy and mentally alert and would not let Nigerians down by the grace of Almighty Allah.

Some Muslim leaders who spoke at the occasion, including Sheikh Dr. Gambo Kyari, Sheikh Salihu Suleiman Ningi, and Sheikh Dr. Bashir Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, among others, declared support for Asiwaju’s ambition as a clarion call.

Distinguished personalities present at the occasion include former governors of Bauchi State, Mal. Isa Yuguda and M.A Abubakar, SAN, former governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu sheriff, Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, former Speaker Oladimeji Sabur Bankole, APC Deputy National Chairman, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, Bauchi State APC Governorship candidate, Air Marshal (Ambassador) Sadique Baba Abubakar, CFR (rtd) former Minister of the FCT, Dr. Aliyu Modibbo, former federal permanent secretary in charge of State House, Alhaji Jalalu Arabi, former Executive Secretary, Tetfund Dr. Musa Babayo among many others.