Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday said she agreed Washington will listen to Chinese complaints about security-related curbs on US technology exports and might respond to unintended consequences as she ended a visit to Beijing aimed at reviving strained relations. Yellen defended targeted measures” on trade that China’s leaders complain are aimed at hurting its fledgling tech industries. She said the Biden administration wants to avoid unnecessary repercussions” but gave no indication of possible changes. Relations between the two biggest economies are at their lowest level in decades due to disputes about technology, security and other irritants. A key Chinese…
Author: Ifeanyi Nwagboso
The situation in Southern Kaduna, according to former senator and congressman Shehu Sani, has been likened to “blacks in South Africa during the apartheid regime” in the eight years since the APC took control of the state. The APC-led administration of Nasir El-Rufai in Southern Kaduna, he said, was the hardest phase in the history of the people under any leader in the state, and he commended them on making it through. Saturday in Kaduna, as the chairman of a party arranged by supporters of Senator Sunday Katung Marshal, Sani remarked, “I am always so passionate about the people of…
On Thursday, the Department of State Services (DSS) purportedly detained Abdul’aziz Yari, a former governor of Zamfara State. A source told The Nation that after failing in his campaign for Senate President, Yari was arrested as the leader of a new scheme to undermine the 10th Senate. As reported by The Nation, “some northern Senators who were said to be unhappy with the choice of those who emerged were said to have approached Yari in the chambers after the announcement of Principal Officers, where they complained bitterly to him that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio had abandoned them despite their…
Mr. Felix Hassan Hyat, chairman of the PDP in Kaduna State, has urged other influential Nigerians to use their voices and acts to promote national unity and harmony. At a one-day discussion on religion and politics held in Kaduna on Friday, he expressed disappointment that former governor Nasir El-Rufai would stoop to bringing up such a divisive issue between Christians and Muslims. He said that Nigeria’s leaders and other interested parties should consider themselves as “bridge builders,” working to create conditions in which all Nigerians can live in harmony and go about their lawful pursuits without fear of reprisal. As…
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State has denied reports that the party’s State Working Committee (SWC) plans to suspend former Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki. In a statement released after the SWC meeting in Ilorin, the state capital, party members and supporters were advised to remain calm and dismiss the rumours surrounding the suspension of the former two-term governor of the state. A communique signed by the state party chairman, Babatunde Mohammed, and the state secretary, Abdulrazaq Lawal, urged party members and supporters to remain calm and discountenance the purported rumoured suspension of our leader, Senator Abubakar Bukola…
On Friday, the Labour Party, LP, began its case against Barr Peter Mbah’s election as governor of Enugu State. At the Enugu State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, LP and its candidate Barr Chijioke Edeoga presented their case. The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) was the LP’s first witness when the trial restarted. The NYSC has submitted a number of documents to INEC, including the allegedly forged discharge certificate, the original certificate Mbah was responsible for collecting, and a letter from the Abuja law firm Oma and Partners requesting an investigation into the discharge certificate submitted by the governor. Chief Adegboyega…
Before his term as governor of Ebonyi State ends, Francis Nwifuru has pledged to cut poverty in the state by half (50%) overall and in rural regions specifically. Mr. Elijah Oko-Udu, Nwifuru’s state commissioner for Skills and Job Creation, made the announcement to the media shortly after a town hall meeting with stakeholders to assess the appointment of his aides. He promised that during his brief term in office, he would work to end poverty and improve agriculture and education. The governor of Ebonyi State, Francis Nwifuru, has pledged to cut poverty in half within his first term in office…
Peacekeeping efforts have begun between the warring towns of Wurkun and Karinjo in the Taraba State municipality of Karim-Lamido. This happened on Friday, when the two villages put their differences aside and pledged to work together to bring prosperity to both of their areas and to the entire council. Agbu Kefas, governor of the state, orchestrated the peace efforts by convening a 26-person committee to end the conflict. Leaders from the two villages pledged to work around the clock during a meeting held in Karim-Lamido, the administrative centre of the council, to end the situation that has resulted in widespread…
Lotanna Ojukwu, younger brother of the late Biafran leader Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, claims that Nigeria’s current president, Bola Tinubu, is not the same as Buhari. The younger Ojukwu claimed that Tinubu does not have the same history with the Igbo people that Buhari did. On Friday, while answering viewer queries on the Morning Show show on Arise Television, Lotanna Ojukwu made this statement. He was answering concerns about the security situation in the Southeast. The incarcerated leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, has been granted an audience with the president, and his release could hinge on…
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan is one of many Asian leaders hoping to strengthen ties with NATO at an upcoming conference in Lithuania. But as they try to figure out how to approach China, the alliance is divided about what that entails. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Friday that Kishida will use the occasion to emphasise the need for stronger connections between Japan and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), despite Beijing’s objections to the alliance’s activity in the region. To accompany Kishida to Vilnius are the heads of state of South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.…
Eleven PDP members in the Abia State Assembly have given the House of Assembly advance notice of an impending move regarding the PDP’s majority seats. Counsel for the PDP elected members, Igwe Ogwo Esq., signed the notice that was delivered to the Clerk. Since the PDP has a majority in the State legislature, its members have issued a formal request to be given the opportunity to elect and serve in leadership roles within the party. According to the document, Abia State House of Assembly Speaker Uche Secondus ignored the names of PDP nominees for the legislature that were submitted to…
The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has claimed that Governor Ademola Adeleke’s government has suffered another predictable setback due to an ongoing audit of state employees. The APC added that it felt bad for the state employees in Osun because of the consultant’s treatment of them during the audit. On Friday in Osogbo, APC state chairman Tajudeen Lawal made the announcement. Lawal questioned why the state governor was unable to complete a staff audit and suggested that the failure was due to Adeleke’s lack of the skills necessary to be an effective governor. Successful occurrences in…
Despite the numerous security concerns facing the state, the political arena in Plateau State has been the scene of several intrigues since the return of democratic structures in 1999. The then-ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) made a strategic error in choosing the governor of Plateau in 2015, allowing the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) to gain control of the state. But the PDP has taken back the state government. For eight years, the APC under Barr Simon Lalong was in charge of the State. Under his leadership, the party struggled to gain traction in Plateau, with many locals continuing to…
Dissatisfied with the ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which refused to acknowledge it as the party’s official leadership, a faction of the Social Democratic Party’s (SDP) National Executive Committee (NEC) has promised to appeal the verdict. On Friday, Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo of Abuja’s Federal High Court ruled that his court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the matter brought before it by Olu Falae’s faction. The leadership issue that has plagued the SDP since 2019 has been deemed an internal party affair, meaning the judge will not be hearing any further cases related to the matter. Chief…
Ademola Adeleke, the governor of Osun State, has denied reports that he appointed his biological daughter and uncle to positions in the state government. Adewale Egbedun, the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, made public the list of cabinet nominees for Osun State on Friday, July 7, 2023. Mrs. Adenike Folasade Adeleke, the widow of Governor Adeleke’s late older brother Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke, is one of the nominees. After serving as the first executive governor of Osun State and the senator for the state’s Osun West Senatorial District for three terms, the elder Adeleke passed away in April…
Ikie Aghwarianovwe had petitioned the Supreme Court to remove Sheriff Oborevwori as governor of Delta State on the grounds that he had given false information about his educational background and birth date to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). On Friday, a five-person panel of the Supreme Court unanimously declared that Aghwarianovwe’s appeal was denied because he had not demonstrated that the verdicts of the two lower courts were irrational. On Friday, Justice Emmanuel Agim read the lead judgement written by Justice Adamu Jauro. The Supreme Court upheld the Asaba division of the Court of Appeal’s May 5, 2023 ruling…
After being confirmed by the State House of Assembly, new Commissioners in Abia State have been sworn in by Governor Alex Otti. The Governor administered the oath of office in the Umuahia Government House Banquet Hall. Speaking at the ceremony, Otti urged the newly elected commissioners to realise the goals of his government and create a better Abia State. He urged them to make the most of their positions to make their mark in history by aiding in the reconstruction of Abia’s essential infrastructure. Here are the new Commissioners and the areas they will be responsible for: Agriculture Professor Monica…
Labour Party presidential nominee Peter Obi expressed his condolences to the family of the late Christ Apostolic Church founder, Prophet Michael Ojo Olowere (also known as Oke-Agbara). On Wednesday, Oyo State’s capital and home to the Prophet Michael Ojo Olowere, passed away in his home. In response, Obi tweeted late on Thursday night that the deceased minister was highly revered in the Christian community. He emphasised the prophet’s extraordinary impacts through evangelism and the late prophet’s significant contributions to the growth of the missionary movement and society at large. He lamented, “I have just learned of the passing of Prophet…
Senegalese President Macky Sall’s decision not to run for re-election once his current term ends has been praised by President Bola Tinubu. This was announced in a statement released on Friday in Abuja by Mr. Dele Alake, Presidential Adviser, Special Duties, Communications, and Strategy. Speculation that Sall will run for a third term when his current term ends in 2024 has sparked protests in Senegal in recent weeks. Senegal has a reputation for being Africa’s most reliable democracy. On Monday, Sall announced that he will not be running for president in the upcoming election on February 25, 2024, which helped…
On Friday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited Beijing in an effort to mend frayed ties between the two countries. While there, she voiced her displeasure with Chinese treatment of American businesses and the country’s new export curbs on metals used in semiconductors. While speaking to a gathering of businesses, Yellen defended the United States’ export curbs on technology, despite criticism from Beijing. She dismissed concerns that the United States government is aiming to untie the American economy from China’s. Yellen was quoted as saying, “The US seeks healthy economic competition with China,” in a transcript given by her office. Yellen…