Two of the leading aspirants in the 2023 presidential election, Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar will be in their 70s by 2023. Mr Tinubu will be 71 years old in 2023, while Atiku Abubakar will be 77 at the same time. The recent comment by President Muhammadu Buhari that at his age, he is struggling with the rigour of the office, has brought the question of age into the front burner of the national discourse on the 2023 race. The 79-year-old President had said, “And about my age, yes, I see my colleagues, they are now resting and I assure…
Author: Ifeanyi Nwagboso
A founding member of governing All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Osita Okechukwu has commended the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the timely clarification of its stand on zoning the 2023 Presidency. The PDP had through its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, clarified on Sunday that it was yet to zone its presidential ticket contrary to claims by former Governor, Babangida Aliyu. Ologunagba had stated: “The attention of the Peoples Democratic Party has been drawn to comments and speculations from certain individuals claiming that our party has zoned its presidential ticket to a particular part of the country. “This is…
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has released a revised timetable and schedule of activities for the conduct of the 2022 Governorship Primary Election in Ekiti State. The APC has equally fixed January 27, 2022 for the conduct of the Governorship Primary Election in the state. This was in accordance with provisions of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) guidelines, This was contained in the party’s official notice issued by the National Secretary of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Sen. John James Akpanudodehe. INEC has fixed June 18, 2022 for the Ekiti governorship…
Former Minister of State for Health, Engr. Fidelis Nwankwo, has urged stakeholders and leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Ebonyi State, to obey and implement rotation of the governorship seat, which started from the northern part of the state in 1999. InfoStride News gathered that Ebonyi is made up of three senatorial zones; north, central and south and rotation of governorship started from the north, which had Sam Egwu as the first civilian governor, then followed by central zone, which had Martin Elechi and finally, David Umahi, from southern zone. Nwankwo, who served as a minister under President…
At least three people were killed and 14 others trapped in debris after a building collapsed due to a suspected gas leak at a Sub-District Office in southwest China on Friday. The blast occurred at the Sub-District office in Wulong District’s Chongqing Municipality, trapping 27 people. Thirteen people had been pulled out from the debris, three of whom died during rescue efforts, state-run CGTN-TV quoted the on-site emergency response team as saying. The accident took place at 12:10 pm local time due to a suspected gas leakage which triggered the explosion and caused the collapse of the canteen building, the…
Former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu has said the Southeast would not rule out a political solution in the case of Nnamdi Kanu, pro-Biafra agitator. Ekweremadu said the Southeast would keep engaging the government in a push for a political solution. Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari had ruled out a political solution to Kanu’s case. Buhari, who made the comment during an interview with Channels Television, said he would not interfere with Kanu’s trial. This was after some Igbo elders led by former Aviation Minister, Mbazulike Amaechi urged the President to release the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra,…
Ahead of the local government election in Enugu State, aggrieved indigenes of Enugu East Local Government Area took to the streets on Saturday protesting alleged imposition of a candidate. The angry residents, who stormed the Enugu Government House, said they would no longer allow a single family to decide the fate of the entire people. They said that since the creation of the Council Area, the chairmanship position had remained under the control of one family, vowing not to let the status quo remain. One of the protesters, Prof. Paul Nnamchi, who said he is from Eko Nike, said they…
An All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Ekiti State, Otunba Demola Popoola, has said the party stands a good chance of winning the 2022 governorship election if it conducts a free, fair and credible primary on January 22. Popoola averred that the only thing he solicited from the party is allowing a level playing ground during the primary, describing this as the best way to have an easy ride in the June 18 poll. The aviation expert spoke at the APC secretariat in Ado Ekiti on Friday while declaring his governorship ambition, being a follow up to the procurement…
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has postponed the screening of aspirants for the Osun governorship election primary. The exercise, earlier scheduled for Tuesday, January 11, 2022, will now be held on Wednesday, January 12. National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature confirmed the new date in a statement on Saturday. The official said the venue for the screening remained the PDP National Secretariat in Abuja at 10 a.m. The leading opposition party apologized for inconveniences the development might cause. “All aspirants, leaders, critical stakeholders and members in Osun State should take note and by this, guided accordingly”, Bature added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin held several phone calls on Thursday and Friday with leaders of the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), discussing the situation in Kazakhstan, the Kremlin has said. “The Russian President had telephone conversations with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan,” Xinhua news agency quoted Kremlin as saying. Putin also spoke by phone several times with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, it said. “The discussion focused on the developments in Kazakhstan and joint actions under the CSTO mandate to combat international terrorism, restore…
Three members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State have been arrested by the police over Governor Dapo Abiodun’s Christmas rice. InfoStride News learnt those arrested are Morufu Idowu, Adebayo Rabiu and Wasiu Raji. They were nabbed between Sunday and Monday after being accused of diverting some bags of rice meant for distribution. But, a legal practitioner, A.D. Sosanwo, has demanded N10 million in damages from the Nigeria Police Force, Ijebu-Ode Area Command “for unlawfully detaining” the trio, whom he described as his clients. Sosanwo had, in a petition written to the…
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday denied claims that it has zoned its presidential ticket. This was contained in a statement by Hon. Debo Ologunagba, National Publicity Secretary of the party. He described it as completely misleading as it does not in any way represent the position of PDP. “For the avoidance of doubt, the PDP emphatically and unequivocally states that it has not zoned its presidential ticket to any part of the country,” the statement said. He said the party was founded on democratic principles, saying that every action of the party, including zoning, is based on extensive…
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure a free and transparent governorship election in the state. InfoStride News recalls that INEC had fixed July 16, 2022, for the governorship election in the state. The Director, Media and Publicity of a faction of PDP in the state supported by Senator Ademola Adeleke, Oladele Oluwabamiji, explained that the way and manner the state governorship election is conducted would determine the 2023 general elections. According to Oluwabamiji, there should not be a repeat of controversies that dogged the 2018 governorship election in…
A Peoples Democratic Party chieftain in Giwa local government area of Kaduna State, Mustapha Jumomoh on Saturday decried the Kaduna- Kano road accident that claimed over 19 passengers. InfoStride News reported that 19 passengers died along Kaduna-Kano road on Thursday following a ghastly accident. The PDP chieftain in a statement said many road accidents were caused by drivers who engage in reckless driving in a bid to reach their destinations on time. He maintained that drivers under the influence of hard or illicit drugs endanger passengers knowing they are being controlled by such drugs. He said no human being with…
French President Emmanuel Macron met here on Friday with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as France took over the rotating six-month Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU). At a press conference, Macron outlined the French Presidency’s agenda and said that Paris will focus on promoting the EU in the international community, pushing the digital transformation and protecting the EU’s external borders, Xinhua news agency reported. Von der Leyen recalled the solidarity between European countries during the pandemic. She said that over 70 per cent of the EU’s adult population have now been fully vaccinated against…
Femi Fani-Kayode, former Aviation Minister, has expressed the belief that Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State will defeat Atiku Abubakar, ex-Peoples Democratic Party, presidential candidate, in 2023 if the duo contested. Fani-Kayode claimed Bello would make an excellent president because the governor would appeal to youths in the country. He made the remark while speaking with Channels Television on Friday. Asked if the Kogi Governor could defeat Atiku during the presidential election in 2023, Fani-Kayode said: “Why not? He will defeat him hands down. “I believe Governor Yahaya Bello. I believe that he will be an excellent president. I believe…
The Director General of Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), Dr. Lukman Salihu has called on the Chairman of the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) and the Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni to resign honourably if he fails to conduct the party’s convention tentatively slated for February. He said party leaders must understand that the survival of the party was at stake and any attempt to continue to contemplate postponement of the convention meant gambling with the future of the party. Lukman’s demand for Buni’s resignation was made known in a letter dated January 5, 2022 titled, “APC National…
The All Progressives Congress, APC, Imo State chapter has urged Senator Rochas Okorocha, a former governor of Imo State to consider the option of resigning as a Senator representing Imo West having shown unpardonable incompetence. The party hinged its call for Okorocha’s resignation on what it described as poor and dismal performance in the Senate. The state chairman of APC, Hon Macdonald Ebere stated this in a statement signed by Cajetan Duke, the Publicity Secretary of the party in the State. The ruling APC said, “Imo people have had enough of Okorocha and his family, who they consider as unfit…
Joseph Odok of the University of Calabar has flayed Governor Benedict Ayade of Cross River State, for declaring that the All Progressives Congress, APC, gubernatorial race will be zoned to the southern senatorial district of the state. In a statement released in Calabar, Odok said such pronouncement in favour of the south will hit the rocks, adding that the governor is standing alone in his pronouncement. According to the university don, Ayade made the pronouncement at his “whims and caprices” without consultation with any stakeholder in APC. “The party is surely more than Gov Ayade. I have spoken to some…
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has invited President Joe Biden to deliver his first State of the Union address on March 1. “Indeed, this past year has been historic: with the life-saving American Rescue Plan, once-in-a-century Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and, soon, the truly transformational Build Back Better Act,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to Biden. “In that spirit, I am writing to invite you to address a Joint Session of Congress on Tuesday, March 1, to share your vision of the State of the Union,” Pelosi wrote. During his address to a joint session of Congress last April, Biden rolled…