Renewing alarm over Beijing’s intentions over Taipei, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday (local time) said that China is ‘no longer comfortable’ with status quo on Taiwan, reported Taiwan News. During a conversation with the University of Chicago Institute of Politics Founding Director David Axelrod, Blinken said the world is concerned about Taiwan now because it saw what happened to Hong Kong in the past few years. Voicing alarm over Taiwan, pointing to Beijing’s growing efforts to isolate the nation and the major military exercises it carried out near it in August, Blinken said, “What we’ve seen over…
Author: Ifeanyi Nwagboso
Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday night to protest plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government to overhaul the judicial system, measures that opponents say imperil the country’s democratic fundamentals. Israeli media, citing police, said some 100,000 people were out protesting. The protest followed another demonstration last week that also drew tens of thousands in an early challenge to Netanyahu and his ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox government the most right-wing in Israeli history. The government says a power imbalance has given judges and government legal advisers too much sway over lawmaking and governance. Netanyahu has…
The Supreme Court on Friday restored former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godwin Akpabio as the Senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress APC for Akwa Ibom North Senatorial District. The Court of Appeal judgment delivered on November 14, 2022, which voided his candidacy was voided and set aside. In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, the apex court upheld the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja which in September last year granted a verdict in favour of the immediate past Minister of Niger Delta Affairs. Justice Saulawa after reviewing the arguments canvassed by Akpabio said that…
The 2011 gubernatorial candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) in Lagos State, Ambassador Abayomi Nurain Mumuni, has enjoined President Muhammadu Buhari to reciprocate what Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu did for him in 2015. Tinubu, a former Governor of Lagos State, is the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 25th February election. Mumuni, a member of the Security and Intelligence Committee of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, said that Tinubu needs more support from Buhari than he is currently getting from the president. The APC chieftain made these disclosures via a statement made…
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers on Friday opened up on endorsing the Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate, Peter Obi. Wike said his comment that Obi was presidential material does not mean he endorsed the LP presidential candidate. Speaking with BBC Pidgin, the governor said: “If I tell Obi that he is a presidential material, does that mean an endorsement?” In 2022, Wike played host to the former Anambra State governor, a situation that led to speculations that he may endorse Obi. Despite being a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Wike is yet to endorse his presidential candidate. Wike…
The Imo State government has asked the federal government to ignore the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as its desire is to overthrow Governor Hope Uzodinma in a violent manner instead of facing elections. It accused the Imo State Chapter of the PDP of plotting to truncate democracy in the state by calling for the declaration of a state of emergency. Reacting to a press conference by the PDP that the federal government should declare a state of emergency in Imo should insecurity persist, the government blamed the party for the security breaches due it its bitterness over the loss of…
British Prime Minster Rishi Sunak is seen as more trustworthy, more economically competent and more likely to win votes than his former boss, Boris Johnson, in a new survey of voting intentions that was released on Saturday. The Savanta ComRes survey for The Independent’ newspaper found that Johnson’s perceived popularity as the Conservative Party leader who won a big mandate in the 2019 general election does not necessarily translate among British voters ahead of the next polls expected in 2024. The survey finds that 63 per cent are opposed to Johnson, 58, trying to lead the country again with only…
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senatorial candidate in Ogun Central, Olumide Aderinokun, has charged Nigerians not to be deceived by the projects executed by the government of the All Progressives Congress a few weeks before the election. While enlightening the people to be resolute with their votes in the 2023 general elections, Aderinokun said, “the last-minute projects are mere political gambits to deceive the masses who were neglected since eight years ago.” Aderinokun made the statement during his engagement with the people of the Olambe community at a meeting in the Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State. The PDP…
The All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, has promised to give the people of Jigawa State good lives if elected in the forthcoming presidential election. Tinubu made the promise during a political campaign held in Jigawa on Saturday. “If you vote for me, you vote for progress, you vote for development, you vote for agricultural business, you vote for constant electricity, you vote for good life, good education,” he said. The former Lagos State governor also assured the people of the state they will get good healthcare and experience prosperity if he wins. At the rally were Tinubu’s…
Festus Keyamo, the spokesman for the presidential campaign council of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has reacted to the defection of Labour Party members in Jigawa State. InfoStride News had reported that Tsoho Garba, LP gubernatorial candidate in Jigawa State, and all the party’s National Assembly candidates decamped to the APC on Friday. Garba said the state LP chairman and virtually all other party executives across the 27 local government areas of the state had joined the mass exodus to APC. Reacting, Keyamo predicted that there would be more defection before the general election. “We told them, they did…
Naja’atu Bala Muhammad, a Director in the Bola Tinubu 2023 presidential campaign, has resigned. She was the Director of Civil Society in the Presidential Campaign Council of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The exit of 67-year-old Naja’atu comes one month to the presidential election. In 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed her as a Commissioner at the Police Service Commission (PSC). In her resignation letter to APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, Naja’atu decried the state of the nation. The politician said recent developments in the political and democratic space make it impossible for her to continue participating in party politics.…
Calmness appears to have begun to return to the Taraba State chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC), as the party leadership have unanimously agreed on a new date for the party’s presidential rally in the state. Due to the skirmishes in the party, the presidential rally earlier slated for the 20th of this month was postponed indefinitely. The postponement, which was not the first, InfoStride News reports, almost tore the leadership of the party apart. The leadership of the party, who on Friday announced the 26th of this month as the day set aside for the rally, urged the…
The federal high court sitting in Umuahia, the Abia State has dismissed the suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party, challenging the eligibility of the House of Assembly candidate of the Labour Party (LP) for Bende south state constituency seat election, Chijioke Nwankwo. The suit no: FHC/UM/CS/188/2022, filed by the PDP had the Independent National Electoral Commission as the 1st defendant, Labour Party (2nd defendant), and Nwankwo Chijioke Solomon, Esq, as the (3rd defendant). Recall that the Abia leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party had in August 2022, dragged the Labour Party House of Assembly candidate for Bende south constituency…
National Assembly candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Ekiti State on Saturday described their purported suspension by the party as an “unnecessary distraction”. The candidates said in a press briefing that they would not be distracted but rather continue reaching out to voters in their constituencies to ensure their victories in the elections. Recall that the National Working Committee suspended about seven National Assembly candidates from the party over alleged anti-party activities. But addressing journalists in Ado Ekiti on Saturday, the candidates said the purported suspension will not affect their candidacy, stating that “our concern now is how…
Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has urged youths to shun electoral violence and use their Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, to elect credible leaders with the capacity to deliver on sustainable development, peace and economic prosperity. He maintained that the PVC is their AK-47, and they do not need any gun or machete to intimidate anyone before and after the forthcoming general elections. Senator Diri dropped the advice while addressing youths at the weekend during a programme tagged “Prosperity Youths Day 2023,” at the Ecumenical Centre in Igbogene, Yenagoa, the state capital. The governor described the PVC as a tool…
Chinese President Xi Jinping has held a video conversation with the soldiers stationed along the India-China border in eastern Ladakh and inspected their combat readiness, official media reported on Friday. Xi addressed the troops from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) headquarters on the border defence situation in Khunjerab under the Xinjiang Military Command. In his remarks, Xi referred to how “in recent years, the area has been constantly changing” and how it had impacted the Army, according to the video shown in the official media. During the call, he “inspected their combat readiness”, the report said. One of the soldiers…
As Pakistan faces a myriad of challenges like skyrocketing inflation, unemployment, depleting foreign exchange reserves and shortage of essential commodities, former Prime Minister Imran Khan warned that the country could slide into Sri Lanka-like situation if “free and fair” elections were not held by the incumbent government. The PTI chief also noted that the country was passing through a critical juncture, The Express Tribune reported. “Pakistan is not in a position to bear any delay in elections. Any compromise on the transparency of elections or political engineering will be tantamount to enmity with the nation,” he said. “Only elections can…
Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State has accused his predecessor and presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, of denying his current party the opportunity to campaign in the State when he was governor. Soludo made the accusation on Thursday while fielding questions on the Channels Television’s Politics Today programme. The Anambra governor was reacting to the allegations from LP leaders that the State government restricted the party in terms of political campaigns. “Nobody has done that. He did not even allow the Labour Party, where he is now, to freely campaign in Anambra. He denied them even…
Otunba Biodun Ajiboye, the Assistant Director of Publicity of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential Campaign Council, PCC, has described Pastor Tunde Bakare of Citadel Global Community Church as an inconsistently unstable person. Ajiboye charged Pastor Bakare to steer clear of politics and stick to his pastoral duties because he’s deceitful. Pastor Bakare, a former APC presidential aspirant, had urged Nigerians to vote out politicians who see the presidency as their entitlement. Referring to the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu’s comment, ’emi lokan’, which means ‘it’s my turn’, Bakare said it is the turn of frustrated Nigerians. Responding, Otunba Ajiboye…
Governor of Jigawa State, Muhammad Badaru Abubakar said the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is in a quagmire and is jittery over the looming defeat coming in the 2023 general elections. The governor stated this on Wednesday while addressing party supporters at a rally in Miga local government. He said the PDP are jittery therefore, they ignited and concocted different types of propaganda and lies to win the mind of electorates. “Our candidates are not like their own, we believe in them and we are sure they will keep to all promises made. “They are disturbed and afraid of our…