The son and namesake of the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was toppled in a 1986 revolt, announced Tuesday that he would seek the presidency in next year’s elections in what activists say is an attempt to whitewash a dark period in the country’s history marked by plunder and human rights atrocities. Former senator Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr. said in a brief Facebook video that he would unite Filipinos to be able to overcome the coronavirus pandemic that has destroyed lives, battered the economy and brought widespread misery. Issues surrounding the Marcoses, however, continue to stoke political divisions more…
Author: Ifeanyi N.
Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader has received additional support for the 2023 presidency. On Monday, his mobilization platform, South-West Agenda (SWAGA) for ‘Bola Tinubu 2023’, secured the endorsement of traditional rulers in Ikeja. Adedayo Adeyeye, the National Chairman noted that zoning of the APC presidential ticket to the South would bring unity among all regions. The former Ekiti South Senator said the group believed that the principle of North-South rotation should be sustained to give every part of Nigeria a sense of belonging. Adeye stressed that each of the three geopolitical zones in the South can…
The former Governor of Jigawa State and chieftain in the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Sule Lamido, said it is not possible for the party to zone its presidential ticket to the south in the coming 2023 election. Lamido stated this in his interview with BBC Hausa service today. He said it would not be possible because of the personal interest of some few individuals. This followed the decision of the PDP Zonal Committee, chaired by Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, to position the office of the PDP National Chairman to North. The decision prompted many speculations…
Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, a former President of the Nigerian Senate, has spoken about the enormous burden that young people face while contesting for elections in Nigeria. Speaking at an independence day event with young people in Abuja, Saraki stated that any young person who wants to be competitive in Nigeria’s current political system, without the inclusion of the electronic transmission of results in the electoral act, faces a huge burden given the constraints of the current electoral system. “I will be very honest with you. Without the electoral act, the system is too rigged against you. You are a…
Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo has advised youths to contest for elective positions during the 2023 general elections if they want to assume power. Osinbajo stated this during a two-day retreat for young lawmakers in Lagos on Monday. He warned that power is never given on a platter. The vice-president who was represented by the Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate) to President Muhammadu Buhari, Babajide Omoworare, said the not-too-young-to-run movement would be defeated if the youths fail to contest for elective positions. “In preparation for 2023 general elections, we must realise that greater participation of our youths should not…
Pakistan leader and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz demanded the resignation of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan after his name was highlighted in the Pandora Papers leaks. “After Imran Khan’s name surfaced in Pandora leaks, there is no moral justification for him to retain the post of the premier,” PML-N Secretary-General Ahsan Iqbal Iqbal said. The papers have revealed more than 700 names of those in the PM’s Cabinet and inner circle. Pakistan’s several ministers, retired civilian and military officials, businessmen as well as owners of the top media outlets were named in the Pandora Papers following an investigation uncovering financial secrets held…
Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, has claimed that the newly launched” Operations Golden Dawn” in South East Nigeria, may be the All Progressives Congress, APC’s tool to edge the other political parties participating in the November 6th governorship election in Anambra State. Ohanaeze called on the Nigerian Army to ensure that human rights violations are not part of activities in the region. The group also called on the Federal Government and Governors in the South East to ensure that the Nigerian Army abide by the rules of engagement with high levels of professionalism based on military ethical standards. Ohanaeze, in a statement…
With barely five days to the local government polls in Plateau State, the Youth Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria YOWICAN, the Women Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria WOWICAN in the state and Plateau Northern Senatorial Zone of Ethnic Youth Nationalities have called on the Governor Simon Lalong led administration to resist the temptation of being insensitive to the plight of the citizenry by refraining from any attempt of conducting the elections in Jos North and Bassa LGAs pending when there is much more stable peace and calm. The group said also it will amount to insensitivity…
The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, on Monday, rejected an application the Senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, filed to be discharged as a surety in the ongoing trial of the former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina. Ali Ndume, who spent five days at the Kuje Correctional Center after Maina jumped bail, had in the application he filed through his lawyer, Mr Marcel Oru, begged the court to allow him to pull out from the case. He described Maina’s action that led to his detention as “highly despicable”. However, Justice Okon Abang held…
The House of Representatives is in the process of making a law to ban the influx of small arms into the country. The House Committee on Treaties, Protocols and Agreements, headed by Rep. Nicholas Ossai (PDP/Delta), conducted a public hearing of stakeholders on the matter on Monday. In a welcome address by the Chairman, Dr Ossai Nicholas Ossai, the committee presented the proposed law entitled, ‘ECOWAS CONVENTION ON SMALL ARMS AND LIGHT WEAPONS, THEIR AMMUNITION BILL” According to him, “You are pleasantly here today on a national duty to generate valuable ideas and specialized contributions towards our legislative process of…
One fighter after another, the Taliban are trading in their characteristic long flowing garb for stiff military uniforms. It is a symbol of the moment of transition they find themselves in: Once warriors embedded in Afghanistan’s rugged mountains, now they are an urban police force. But change is always an adjustment. In the Afghan capital of Kabul, crime was rampant under the previous government of Ashraf Ghani. Robberies and kidnappings were a near daily occurrence and the judicial process time-consuming and expensive. By winning the country after two decades of war with the Aug. 15 seizure of Kabul, the Taliban…
COVID-19 protocols compounded the sense of loss by relations and friends of former Deputy Senate President, Dr. Ibrahim Nasiru Mantu. A large crowd of mourners was preparing to attend the 40th day fidau, Muslim ceremony to render special supplication for the repose of the politician, who died on August 17, 2021. Mantu, who represented Plateau Central in the Senate from 1999 to 2007, died due to complications from COVID-19 infection and was buried according to Islamic rites. Although the Fidau prayers fell through yesterday, the family in a statement signed by Alhaji Musa Mantu and Dr. Umar Ibrahim Mantu, sons…
The inability of the various organs of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to broker truce between suspended national chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus and the Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike is casting doubt over the possibility of holding the national election convention of the party next month, Vanguard gathered on Monday. It would be recalled that the embattled chairman recently approached the Abuja division of the Appeal Court, praying it to quash two High Court orders restraining him from parading himself as the chairman of the PDP. Secondus had also urged the appellate court to declare that his…
Social critics, activists and political analysts under the auspices of Downtrodden Peoples Services (DPS) has said that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), cannot take Nigeria to the promised land. They made the disclosure at a press conference to mark the 61st independence anniversary of Nigeria in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. Our correspondent recalls that both the PDP and APC are the two political parties that have ruled the country since the inception of the present fourth republic in 1999. But, DPS while speaking at the press conference, noted that none of the two…
A group, the Concerned Osun State PDP members has alleged that Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, the Chairman of the Appeal Panel for the just concluded Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Osun ward congress has been compromised. This is also as they accused the chairman of being swayed by financial inducements from Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State in order for him to cancel the entire Osun State PDP Ward Congress. The group made this known in press release signed on its behalf by Gani Olaoluwa, a former Chairman of the party in the State. The Concerned Osun State PDP members claimed that Ogbeide-Ihama…
Speaker Nancy Pelosi provided House Democrats with a new Oct. 31 target date to pass the stalled bipartisan infrastructure bill, saying she backed off a pledge to bring the measure to a vote this week because it would have been defeated. “We must pass BIF well before then – the sooner the better, to get the jobs out there,” wrote Pelosi in a letter to her caucus on Saturday, referring to the $550 billion package in new infrastructure spending. A 30-day funding extension for federal highway programs will expire at the end of October. That temporary measure was passed Friday…
Lagos monarchs within the Badagry Division have endorsed the All Progressives Congress (APC) leader, Bola Tinubu for the 2023 presidency. They described Tinubu, a former Lagos Governor, as the best candidate to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari. The traditional rulers made the pronouncement at a town hall meeting organised by the South West Agenda (SWAGA’23) on Sunday. They were Oba Momodu Afolabi, Onijanikin of Ijanikin; Oba Nofiu Dada Elete of Ete Kingdom; Oba Abideen Adekanbi, Osolu of Osolu Kingdom; Oba Mobadenle Oyekan Onilado of Ilado; Oba Caleb Adeniyi, Olojo of Ojo; Oba N. A. Akinyemi, Alabirun of Ikare Kingdom. others are…
Zoning is not known to the Nigerian constitution but for political exigencies political parties adopt the principle to ensure victory and equitable distribution of elective offices. Some legal schools of thought have however argued that in the spirit of federal character, zoning of elective offices may be considered constitutional. Constitutional or not, if the People Democratic Party is interested in winning the 2022 governorship election in Ekiti, a definite position must be taken about zoning, especially as it affects the southern senatorial district. Truth be told, the agitation of the zone is due for attention. Generally, and for partisan reasons,…
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State yesterday declared that only a restructured Nigeria will help the nation regain her past glory. Makinde, who was speaking at the unveiling of a homegrown digital television outfit, SATVIEW Network, stated that it was unbelievable that Nigeria, which had the first television station in Africa, now has to rely on foreign television networks for Nigerians to watch clear signals. He stated that his administration will continue to identify, encourage and support talented and creative-minded youths to grow businesses in the state. A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa,…
Civil rights activist and former senator, Shehu Sani, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari and other leaders under the present administration have lost integrity and should not be allowed to determine who succeeds Buhari at the end of his tenure in 2023. According to Shehu Sani, who was a member of the 8th Senate, rising insecurity and the poor state of the economy have proven that Nigerians could no longer entrust the affairs of the country into the hands of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Sani noted that the killings, kidnappings and the economic woes witnessed under the current…