Category: Politics and Governance

The former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Adamu, has said he recently decided to leave active politics in the country because he noticed that he had started developing allergies for political activities.

Adamu made the disclosure on Saturday in Lafia at the presentation and launching of a book titled, ‘Progressive governance: Showcasing the achievements of His Excellency, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State 2019 – 2023’, which was written by Abdullahi Tanimu.

Speaking on the content of the book, which has 230 pages and a total of 23 chapters, the former APC national chairman, who was the first civilian governor of the state, commended the author for his efforts in writing out all the achievements of the governor since he was elected into office.

While noting that the incumbent governor had consolidated the achievements of his predecessors and improved on them, Adamu urged the residents of the state to continue to support and pray for the governor and his cabinet members in order for them to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.

He said, “I am not only a retiree but I am out of politics. I’m beginning to develop little allergies for political activities now and political speeches.

“So, forgive me, I will not make any political statements beyond asking for further and more support for the governor of the state.

“He needs all your prayers and goodwill to be able to succeed. So, to encourage the author for his good work, I will launch 20 copies of the book for one million naira.”

On his part, the Senator representing Nasarawa West Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Aliyu Wadada, lauded the governor for attracting investors like Dangote, Flour Mill, Asma Rice, among other companies to the state.

“If all the companies that the governor has attracted to the state begin full operation, they would offer employments to thousands of people and boost the revenue of the state,” he added.

In his speech, the State Governor, Abdullahi Sule commended the author for recognising his efforts towards developing the state and making it viable for investors.

Sule revealed that the government had concluded plans to construct 15 kilometers road in each of the 13 Local Government Areas of the state.

The governor added that the government had paid the counterpart funds for year 2023 to the Universal Basic Education Commission, saying that over 140 schools would be constructed under the arrangement.

He, therefore, promised to embark on more projects that would have direct bearing in the lives of the people, and also train and retrain the workforce for optimal performance.

Earlier, the author of the book, Tanimu, said he was motivated to write the book because of the leadership style of the governor who believes in inclusivity.

The author, who is a physically challenged person, said the governor had done a lot of work which prompted him to go round the state to take pictures as well as to interact with the communities where the projects were cited.

By Naomi Sharang

The Ministry of Aviation, says it is working on plans to ensure that commercial airlines operating in Nigeria pay compensate to passengers for delayed or canceled flights as from January.

The Minister of Aviation, Mr Festus Keyamo, said this when he appeared before the Joint Committee of the National Assembly on Aviation for 2024 budget defense.

He said that the ministry also plans to publish the list of airlines that delayed or canceled flights in the media on a weekly basis as part of the efforts.

“I have called the customers’ satisfactory commission regarding the treatment of Nigerians.

“And I have said at the last address that I gave during our stakeholders meeting in Lagos and our retreat in Warri.

“I said on a weekly basis, please publish the list of airlines that dont fly as at when due, canceled flights, delayed flights, how many hours it was delayed,” he said.

Keyamo added:“For every delay, there is a report, an actual report by the regulator, what did they do? did they pay compensation?

NAN

Alaba Olusola Oke

By Fem Ogunshola

The Ministry of Defence intends to use its 2023 supplementary budget and part of its 2024 budget to end insurgency and terrorism simultaneously, the minister, Alhaji Abubakar Badaru, said in Abuja on Wednesday.

“The purpose of the 2023 additional budget is to have simultaneous operations in all our theatres so we can end insecurity at once,’’ Badaru said.

He made the declarations while defending the ministry’s budget at a joint sitting of the Senate and House of Representatives committees on defence.

He said the ministry was determined to ensure that terrorists rooted from one location did not go to another to continue their heinous activities.

Badaru said he believed that the Federal Government would end the war, but would not disclose its strategies openly.

He commended the committees for always assisting the ministry in its resolve to end insecurity.

The minister noted that the ministry’s N78.58 billion appropriation for 2024 was higher than the N62.9 billion appropriation for 2023, and commended the National Assembly for its commitment to end insecurity.

He, however, called for an upward review of overhead costs in the 2024 budget in view of inflation and rising cost of diesel.

“We want you to help us to increase our overhead cost. We consume a lot of fuel, and I appeal that this be looked into,’’ he said.

In his submission, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Defence, Sen. Ahmad Lawan, said the joint committee would work assiduously to scrutinise the ministry’s 2024 proposal.

He noted that security remained the backbone for education, the economy, and others to function, adding that more resources should be given to defence to handle insecurity.

Lawan noted also that it was not enough to approve money, but it was paramount to establish how such monies changed the situation.

“If you are given N100 billion; how has it improved the security situation in the country’’? he queried.

“It will not augur well to appropriate money without justification,’’ he stressed.

The former Senate president commended security agencies for working hard to secure the country.

In his contribution, Rep. Babajimi Benson, Chairman of the House Committee on Defence, said the National Assembly would continue to make efforts to invest in security to ensure the growth and development of the country.

He said President Bola Tinubu had promised to ensure the security of all Nigerians irrespective of status, adding: “you must work to deliver the goal of the administration.’’

He assured that the committee would ensure that all allocated resources added value, adding that lawmakers were not unaware of the challenges faced by armed forces, including the recent bombing in Kaduna.

He promised that the committees would ensure adequate funding within available resources to respond to the desires of the military.

NAN

By Kingsley Okoye

The Senate Committee on Information, has expressed reservation over meagre allocation for the Ministry of Information and National Orientation in the N27.5trillion 2024 budget.

Sen. Kenneth Eze, the Committee’s Chairman, said this when the Minister of Information, Alhaji Mohammed Idris appeared for the 2024 budget defense on Tuesday in Abuja.

‘’This is not a budget that can be visible if we are telling our story as a country, there is no way we can go far, you have a great initiative on how you are going to transform the country in the area of information.

“I wonder how you are going to do that with these little resources.

“Information ministry is a very sensitive ministry that should be taken seriously and funded and if we are talking about the Renewed Hope Agenda that we want as a country, the information ministry should be at the forefront.

‘’It should be the image maker to sensitise the people, there is a widening gap between the government and there must be enough information to bridge in the gap,’’ he said.

Eze added: “I looked around in the budget, I didn’t see the Nigeria Press Council, APCON and other agencies, is the government telling us that the agencies are being scraped, that they can function without personnel,?
‘’Who will pay their salary? just few months ago, new DGs and Executive Secretaries were appointed.

”Hon. Minister, this is serious matter for the committee to look into and we shall surely do that.’’

The Minister had informed the senators that national values and attitudes re-orientation campaign under the aegis of National Values Charter (NVC), would be launched in 2024.

“It is the desire of the ministry to have a big national conversation around our values and attitudes re-orientation, so that Nigeria will at least rediscover itself and reclaim some of those values that had been eroded over the years, so we can have a better country for all of us.

‘’We also desired the launch of the national and international branding campaign for Nigeria to highlight and showcase its immense natural and cultural resources.

‘’We are also going to convene regular series of press briefings and media engagements for cabinet members and other senior government officials to avail Nigerians of what various ministries and agencies are doing, so that Nigerians will be carried along on what and what are the projects and programmes of the government.

‘’We also intend to invest resources in modernising the government information and communication management and regulatory system across the agencies like News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Nigeria Television Authority(NTA) and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria(FRCN),’’ he said.

He added that the N1billion allocated for the Ministry as capital expenditure in 2024, was not sufficient for the implementation of the programmes.

NAN

The crisis rocking the Rivers State House of Assembly took a new turn on Monday with twenty-seven members defecting from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the state to the All Progressives Congress.

The lawmakers cited division within the PDP as the primary reason for their defection to the APC.

The affected lawmakers are said to be the ones loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

The lawmakers, it was gathered held plenary around 8am on Monday where the decision was taken.

The lawmakers sat under tight security mounted at the entrance of the Assembly complex along Moscow Road in Port Harcourt.

Meanwhile, the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has summoned an emergency executive council meeting.

The meeting, which is presently ongoing is expected to discuss the defection of 27 lawmakers of the State House of Assembly from the PDP to the APC.

The meeting which is being presided over by the governor is the 5th executive council meeting.

The 4th executive council meeting was held on October 27, 2023, where the council approved four draft bills.

Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu, has announced his intention to return to the All Progressives Congress.

The minister, prelude to the 2023 governorship elections in Oyo State dumped the APC to contest on the platform of the Accord Party.

However, in a letter dated December 6, and addressed to the state chairman and leaders of the party in Oyo State, Adelabu stated that he will officially announce his return at a ceremony to be held at the APC Secretariat in Oke Ado on December 15, 2023.

The letter read in part, “I hereby write to notify the State Executive and leaders of All Progressive Party Congress (APC), Oyo State, of my intention to officially announce my return to our Great Party at a ceremony to be held at the Party Office in Oke-Ado on 15th December, 2023. I want this ceremony to be anchored by the State Executive with all Local Government Party Chairmen and Leaders in attendance.

“You will recall that I left the party alongside my faithful and loyal followers at the peak of the crisis rocking the party emanating from the manner the state congress and consequently the primary elections were administered. However, having consulted with our National Leaders and National Executive, I have decided to return to the Party. My first demonstration of this was a courtesy visit to the Party National Chairman where we agreed on the imperatives of my return to the party.

“As a serving Minister of Power of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under President Tinubu led Administration, I look forward to a robust working relationship with the State Executive, Party Leaders and entire party members towards achieving the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President and the party at large, and in particular, in installing an APC-led Government at the state level in 2027 for an unprecedented development of Oyo State.”

The Deputy spokesman of the House of Representatives, Philip Agbese has ordered the immediate removal of Governor Hyacinth Alia’s portrait from his office.

Agbese, who represents Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo Federal Constituency of Benue State in the House of Representatives, said Alia is not fit to be a leader.

“Today, I’m removing the portrait of Alia from my office because he’s not fit to be our leader. He has no respect for democracy, no respect for the Constitution.”

Pointing to the portrait of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Gorge Akume in his office, Agbese said he is the leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state.

He described the SGF as a fair and just.

“He (Akume) remains the leader of the party and the father of the state, he’s a man of fairness, equity, and that’s why we love him, and he has earned his respect,” Agbese said.

This is coming against the backdrop of an alleged rift between Alia and Akume over political issues in the state.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been dragged before the Supreme Court for allegedly unlawfully presenting himself for inauguration as President, despite a pending legal action against the conduct of the 2023 presidential poll.

Citing the doctrine of Lis Pendens, a presidential candidate in the 2019 general election, Chief Albert Ambrose Owuru is

asking the Apex Court to nullify the inauguration of Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential poll.

Owuru, a Constitutional lawyer, contends that the presidential election which produced Tinubu was an exercise in futility and illegal self-help given his yet-to-be-determined suit against Tinubu and others at the Supreme Court.

The pending Supreme Court suit with No. SC/667/2023 has Chief A.A. Owuru and Hope Democratic Party as Appellants while Respondents are former President Muhammadu Buhari, AGF, INEC, and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Owuru is arguing that Tinubu’s declaration as President by INEC is an affront to the Supreme Court and the established law by reason of lis pendens, adding that since Tinubu is a party in the pending suit before the Apex Court, he ought not to have presented himself for inauguration in respect of any presidential poll.

Owuru contested the 2019 presidential election on the platform of Hope Democratic Party (HDP) against former President Muhammadu Buhari and claimed to be adjudged winner of the poll against the declaration of Buhari by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

His suit seeking an order of Court to declare him as the adjudged and constitutional winner of the 2019 election and currently pending before the Supreme Court was on May 18 this year, voluntarily joined by Tinubu as an interested party.

In a fresh motion on notice served on Tinubu through the Chambers of Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, the ex-presidential candidate is also praying to the Supreme Court for an order restraining the respondents and particularly Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu from further operating the Federation Account pending the determination and resolution of the constitutional questions again the 2023 election.

In a statement he issued in Abuja alongside a civil group, Hope Africa Foundation in respect of the suit, Owuru contended that since Tinubu had become aware of the suit and had voluntarily joined as an interested party after fierce arguments of his lawyers, he had breached the doctrine of liz pendis and his purported inauguration liable to dismissal.

The statement signed by Anwal Ibrahim, the National Coordinator of Africa Hope Foundation read in part “We want to place on record that Tinubu’s claim to the office of the President is affected by reason of his being Lis Pendens.

“This is so because having joined the pending suit on the subject of mandate usurpation by Buhari, nothing ought to have been done until the final resolutions of disputed issues.

“There is no doubt that the present act of self-help and claim to occupy the office of the president by any of the parties in this action is an act of self-help and violates the law and the doctrine of Lis Pendens which is to the effect that nothing should be done by parties to change or affect the subject matter before the court so as not to prejudice the existing adjudged acquired constitutional rights and mandate of Chief Owuru as the adjudged constitutional winner of the 2019 presidential election.

It is on record that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in recognition of the doctrine of Lis Pendens and the existing suits on the issue of usurpation of mandate between Owuru and Buhari, joined the ongoing proceedings then in Court of Appeal on the 18th of May 2023 before his purported inauguration over the 2023 presidential electoral debacle.

” He is bound to await the outcome of the proceedings in the already existing issue of usurpation of constitutional mandate and entitlement to serve out the same by Owuru.

“The implication of this, by law is that the 2023 presidential election and its outcome which Tinubu was aware of before joining the suit, is subsumed and dependent on the outcome of the existing legal proceedings on the subject of the already adjudged and yet to be served constitutional mandate of Owuru to serve out the term of office of the President of Nigeria as required by law.

Our laws in this regard concerning the doctrine of Lis pendens has been well affirmed by the Supreme Court in the case of Peter Obi vs Ngige (Supra) as parties are to maintain and strictly observe the fact of the existence of pending suits and efficacy and potency of undermining the court’s jurisdiction and engaging in act of self-help and a brazen usurpation of candidate, parties mandate, subject matter in the pending case.

“There is no doubt that this act of the present All Progressives Congress (APC) led central government in practical terms are clear acts actof usurpation.

“As law-abiding citizens, we urge that Nigerians exercise patience in the due and early resolution of these outstanding issues to know who truly is the authentic Nigerian President.

Owuru who claimed to be adjudged Constitutional winner of the 2019 presidential election predicted his grouse against the inauguration of Tinubu or anybody else as successor to Buhari on the ground that he is the constitutionally adjudged winner of the 2019 election and has not spent his four-year tenure as required by law.

Owuru who claimed to be adjudged Constitutional winner of the 2019 presidential election predicted his grouse against the inauguration of Tinubu or anybody else as successor to Buhari on the ground that he is the constitutionally adjudged winner of the 2019 election and has not spent his four-year tenure as required by law.

Among others, Owuru had insisted then that Buhari was usurping his tenure of office since 2019 because the Supreme Court has not determined his petition filed in 2019 in which he challenged the purported declaration of Buhari as the election winner.

His first suit was dismissed by Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja on January 30, 2023, prompting his movement to the Court of Appeal.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on its part on May 25 in a judgment by Justice Jamil Tukur who led a 3-man panel had refused to stop the May 29 inauguration of Tinubu.

Justice Tukur had held that Owuru engaged in gross abuse of court processes by filing a frivolous, vexatious and irritating suit to provoke the respondents