Category: General News

By Paul Ejime

Continental leaders at their 38th ordinary summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Saturday 15 February 2025 elected Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf as the African Union Commission, AUC’s Chairperson for four years.

Youssouf replaces Moussa Faki of Chad, who has led the Commission since 2017.

Selma Malika Haddadi, Algeria’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union was also elected Deputy Chairperson.

With the position zoned to East Africa, Youssouf waited until the seventh round of balloting to obtain the mandatory 33 votes to clinch the post at the expense of two other contestants, Madagascar’s ex-Foreign Minister Richard Randriamandrato and Kenya’s former Prime Minister and veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Haddadi also won in the 7th round beating her North African rivals from Egypt and Morocco, to replace out-going Dr Monique Nsanzabaganwa of Rwanda on the deputy Chairperson’s role.

Odinga, the frontrunner for the leadership position before the summit, won the first round and Youssouf led from the second round after the Madagascan candidate dropped off the race.

Saturday’s marathon balloting was preceded by the election of AUC Commissioners including the re-election of Nigeria’s Ambassador Bankole Adeoye as Commissioner of Political Affairs, Peace and Security and Ghana’s Ambassador Amma Twum-Amoah as Commissioner of Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, both from West Africa.

Youssouf, the 59-year-old Djibouti diplomat, studied foreign languages in France, with advanced training in business management in the UK and Brussels, He served as his country’s ambassador to Egypt under three previous administrations before he was appointed Foreign Minister in 2005.

“If I am elected (Chairperson) of the African Union Commission, my priority will be financial management and governance,” he said in Rabat, Morocco last December. “My goal will also be to mobilise internal funds. Djibouti has always been a source of trust and credibility, able to play a leading role in promoting stability and security…”

He will inherit a continental organisation, grappling with internal leadership challenges, compounded by daunting continental and global problems, including insecurity, political and socio-economic instability, insecurity, terrorism and violent extremism, civil and inter-state wars, general governance and climate change concerns.

With active or simmering violent conflicts in Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Central African Republic, DR Congo, Mozambique and part of Ethiopia, the AUC’s host country, and at least six of the 55-nation Member States – Chad, Sudan, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Niger – under military dictatorships, the new AUC leadership under Youssouf have their job cut out for them.

The AUC replaced the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 2002.

(Ejime is a Global Affairs Analyst and Consultant on Peace & Security, and Governance Communications)

Flowerbudnews

CIVIL rights advocacy group; HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has condemned as despicable, brutish and unacceptable, the reported well coordinated attacks of activist Omoyele Sowore orchestrated by suspected thugs of the All Progressives Congress, during the Lagos City marathon race held on Saturday morning.

HURIWA called  for the arrest, prosecution of the political thugs who also unleashed violence on journalists who were recording the physical attacks being carried out on Sowere and his entourage at the sporting event.

The Rights group said the failure of the police to act swiftly could be interpreted as a  deliberate failing to take steps to rein in the unruly thugs most probably because of the ongoing feud between Mr. Sowere and the Nigeria Police over Sowere’s decision to criticise the police for allowing corruption to fester in the thousands of check points mounted by police all around Nigeria.

“We think that it is unjust that these brazen acts of violence was even allowed to happen during such a high profile sporting event organised by the Lagos State administration which attracted other athletes from outside of the shores of Nigeria. We wonder the security lapses that could have made these attacks possible.”

HURIWA recalled that recently,  Mr. Sowere had a running battle with the police’s Inspector General, Mr. Kayode Egbetokun over the extension of his tenure despite the fact that he has reached the retirement age of 60,  which snowballed into the arrest, prosecution of Sowere by the police and his subsequent bail by the Federal High Court,  Abuja division which took away his travelling international passport as a precondition for his bail.

“Watching the live video footage of the brutal and savage attacks on Sowere and members of his team today, one is shocked that the police were not on sight for all pf the time that the attackers invaded the venue and started their violent crime. We are calling on the Lagos State police command to arrest and prosecute these political thugs just as we are demanding that this primitive act of violent crime, would not be hidden under the carpets. We call on politicians to play politics without bitterness just as we charge the Lagos State Government to ensure that justice is served in this instance.”

Media report has it that at the Lagos City Marathon, human rights activist and leader of the #RevolutionNow Movement, Omoyele Sowore, faced a harrowing attack by suspected thugs allegedly affiliated with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Sowore, who previously ran for the presidency under the African Action Congress (AAC), was participating in the marathon alongside his dedicated crew when the violence erupted.

The attack was indiscriminate, with the thugs not only targeting Sowore and his team but also assaulting journalists who were present to document the event. Many individuals suffered injuries, and their equipment—including cameras and other essential tools—was vandalized in the chaos.

In a distressing live video that was streamed, the brutal nature of the assault unfolded, revealing thugs physically attacking Sowore, his crew, and the journalists. One particularly disturbing moment showed a thug mercilessly gripping the neck of a journalist who was desperately trying to secure his camera, putting the journalist’s life in grave danger.

The motivation behind such a violent act by the APC against Sowore and the journalists remains unclear, raising serious concerns about the safety of participants at what was intended to be a celebration of community and athleticism. As of now, the condition of Sowore and those injured in the attack remains unknown.

Attempts by the media to obtain a statement from the Lagos Police Command were unsuccessful, as the Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, did not respond to calls.

The incident underscores the alarming risks faced by activists and the press, even in environments that are meant to promote unity and celebration.

By Flowerbudnews
A foundation member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, says years of trust deficit in Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) simulated defection of members to APC in droves.

Okechukwu, a former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria, said this in a statement he issued on Sunday in Enugu while reacting to the position of Sen. Aminu Tambuwal that “no one with conscience will join the APC”.

He noted that Tambuwal cannot truly talk of conscience when he connived to wreck the PDP; “hence it is the trust deficit of his party’s leadership which simulates massive defectors from PDP to APC.”

It could be recalled that Sen. Aminu Tambuwal, the former Governor of Sokoto State, at the recent North West Zonal meeting of the PDP, had expressed disappointment over the recent wave of defections by members of the PDP to the ruling APC.

Tambuwal was quoted as saying that, “I believe that no one with conscience will join the APC.

“People leave parties for different reasons, but what I have been observing in recent times are defections not based on the interest of the people but on stomach infrastructure.”

Okechukwu replying noted that the wave of the defections “is basically the outcome of erroneous breach of the rotation convention of President and Section 7 of the PDP’s Constitution of which Tambuwal was one of the masterminds.”

“One cannot fathom how my friend Sen. Tambuwal didn’t rate the breach of the rotation convention.

“Especially, against his erstwhile bosom friend Nyesom Wike, Minister of FCT; who backed him in 2018 presidential primary when no aspirant of southern extraction in the PDP contested in obedience to the rotation convention as unconscionable?

“This is the offshoot of Wike Masquerade raging,” the APC chieftain said.

He reminded Tambuwal and his cohorts that some patriotic members of the PDP are defecting because the party had been demobilised, irretrievably wreckage rendered and ineffective to play its traditional role of main opposition party.

On the impending coalition or merger which would likely dislodge the APC in 2027 Presidential Election, Okechukwu replied that the greed in the party would not allow them to forge solid merger.

He said they (PDP) had already started cooking up awkward permutation of South 17 and North 11 years in Aso Villa, just to rupture again the rotation convention, “as if Nigeria got independence in 1999.”

“Tambuwal and cohorts act as if they have 100 per cent votes of the North in their pockets and albeit the Northern electorates are quarantined in a dormitory to be hauled to the polling booth on Election Day.

“Their masterminds always forget that the Northern electorates are one of the most sophisticated in the country and cannot be toyed with.

“Or do they think that the southeastern electorates that put all their eggs in one PDP’s electoral basket, even when APC presented Rt. Honourables Chuba Okadigbo and Edwin Umezoke in 2003 and 2007 as Vice Presidents respectively are amnesia stricken?

“The defection is not about stomach infrastructure, it is about PDP’s leadership trust deficit.” Okechukwu added.

Flowerbudnews
Nigeria’s former High Commissioner to the UK, Mr Sarafa Tunji-Ishola, says the death of Pa Ayo Adebanjo signifies the end of an era, a loss of wisdom and a void in the fabric of our society

Adebanjo, the Afenifere leader died at 96 on Friday at his Lekki residence, in Lagos State.

Tunji-Isola, in a statement in Abuja, extended his condolences to the family, friends and associates of the deceased.

The former envoy described Adebanjo as a distinguished lawyer, politician, and Yoruba nationalist.

”Chief Adebanjo dedicated his life to fighting for truth, equity and justice.

“His unwavering commitment to a truly independent and progressive Nigeria inspired generations of leaders and citizens alike.

“As we mourn the loss of this national icon, we take comfort in the knowledge that his legacy will endure.

“His selfless life, spent in the service of God, nation and humanity, will continue to inspire us to strive for a more just and equitable society.

“May his soul rest in peace, and may his legacy continue to inspire us to build a better Nigeria,” he said.

Makinde Gifts Outgoing Oyo Police Commissioner Sonubi a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado

By Adewale Owoade

Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, has lauded the retiring Commissioner of Police, Oyo State Command, CP Ayodele Sonubi, for his sense of dedication and diligence.

The governor gave this commendation on at the Eleyele Police Command, Ibadan, where he presented a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser Prado to the CP through his Executive Assistant on Security, CP Sunday Odukoya (rtd).

The CP, who assumed duty in Oyo State on June 16, 2024, will retire in a couple of weeks.

In his response, Sonubi appreciated Governor Makinde for the honour done to him, saying “this is a big honour and I don’t know what I have done to merit this. But I know it has pleased God and His Excellency to appreciate me.

“I pray that the Lord, who has been with him and has been upholding Oyo State for him to provide good leadership for us, will always be there for him.

“The legacy is already in place in the state and it will forever live after him and I wish him greater heights.
“We have also learnt from his leadership and we know he is not just a governor; he is a leader and builder of people.

“I appreciate him for affecting my life positively at this crucial time. Where would I have got something like this? It pays to be dedicated and understand the people you are working with.

” No effort is a waste. People see you, they study you and have records of what you are doing. And, at the appropriate time, God knows how to use someone like His Excellency to reward an individual like me.”

Sonubi equally commended the governor for always supporting security agencies in the state by providing everything needed for them to discharge their duties.

“When we look at the security situation in Nigeria, all of us who are security agents try to always put in our best. But what normally aids us to achieve more is the support we get from stakeholders and he has never failed us in providing all that is needed in the discharge of our duty,” he added.