A bipartisan infrastructure plan costing a little over $1 trillion, only about a fourth of what President Joe Biden initially proposed, has been gaining support in the U.S. Senate, but disputes continued on Sunday over how it should be funded. Biden told reporters last week that he will have a response to the plan as soon as Monday after reviewing it. Twenty-one of the 100 U.S. senators – including 11 Republicans, nine Democrats and one independent who caucuses with Democrats – are working on the framework to rebuild roads, bridges and other traditional infrastructure that sources said would cost $1.2…
Author: Ifeanyi N.
A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), in Lagos State, Ambassador Abayomi Nurain Mumuni has advised candidates seeking to contest the National Chairmanship of the party to surrender themselves to anti-graft agencies for scrutiny. Mumini, who is a close associate of President Muhamadu Buhari, urged candidates willing to be National Chairman of the party to surrender themselves to the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for profiling. He said that this was necessary in order for Nigerians and the party members to know their worth. Our correspondent…
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan has disclosed why President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress, APC, administration failed to deliver their electoral promises in their first tenure. Lawan said Buhari and APC failed due to the face-off between the Executive and National Assembly. He explained that the face-off stalled Buhari and the APC from delivering most of their electoral promises to Nigerians. The Senate President disclosed this at the First Progressives Youth Conference 2021, on Monday night in Abuja. He said, “When we were voted in 2019 as leaders of the National Assembly, we were conscious of…
Senate President Ahmad Lawan, on Monday predicted that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) would suffer challenges after President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure elapses in 2023. He made the prediction on Monday night while delivering a speech to close the First Progressives Youth Conference 2021 which was held at the International Conference Centre, in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The Senate President urged the party members to plan ahead of Buhari’s exit in a bid to sustain the goodwill and legacies of the present administration, stressing that only such a move would keep the party relevant beyond 2023. According to Ahmad…
The Jigawa State Independent Electoral Commission (JISIEC) has distributed non-sensitive materials to its local government offices for the upcoming election on Saturday. Commissioner in charge of Training and Recruitment of the commission, Alhaji Auwal Muhammad Harbo, disclosed this while monitoring the distribution of the election materials in Dutse, the state capital. Harbo explained that only non-sensitive election materials were distributed while the sensitive materials will be distributed to the local government offices 24 hours to the election. InfoStride News reported that the Jigawa State Independent Electoral Commission had fixed 26th June 2021 for the elections of Local Government chairmen and…
The European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom on Monday slapped fresh sanctions on Myanmar state-owned entities and individuals related to the February 1 coup and the subsequent violent repression of peaceful protesters. According to an EU press release, the 27-member European bloc imposed sanctions on 8 individuals, 3 economic entities and the War Veterans Organisation in relation to the military coup staged in Myanmar/Burma on February 1. The individuals targeted by sanctions include ministers and deputy ministers, as well as the attorney general, who are responsible for undermining democracy and the rule of law and for serious human rights…
The amendment empowers the governor to extend the tenure of the commission’s Board. The Lagos House of Assembly has amended the state’s Independent Electoral Commission (LASEIC) Law to enable the state governor extend the tenure of its Board by six months. The House amended the law through a voice vote, conducted by the Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, after it was read for the third time on the floor of the House on Monday. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the title of the bill was ‘A Bill for a law to amend the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission Law…
Cross River State has been hit by the scarcity of brooms. An investigation by InfoStride News around various markers found that brooms are now sold between N500 and N1000 respectively. A trip to Marian maker, Watt market, Mbukpa market and others in the state indicated a shortage of brooms as traders said they ”had no brooms in stock” The scarcity of brooms in the state may not be unconnected to the massive wave of defections to the APC which just hit the state. A sources from APC told our correspondent that the scarcity could be as a result of thousands…
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has reminded the All Progressives Congress (APC) that the platform will give account for its leadership of Nigeria. The Lagos federal lawmaker spoke on Monday in Abuja at the 2021 Progressives Youth Conference. Gbajabiamila stressed that the party needed to identify competent people both at home and in the diaspora and bring them on board. The speaker said translating good manifestos into policies by political parties remained the foundation for achievements. Political party manifestos, he noted, are a statement of vision, the foundation of all achievements. “For a nation such as ours…
David Maiyaki, a lawmaker representing Karu/ Gitata at the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, has defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress ( APC). Ibrahim Abdullahi, the speaker of the House, announced this while reading the defection letter during plenary in Lafia on Monday. Abdullahi, while congratulating the lawmaker for joining APC, assured him of equal treatment as other members of the party. The speaker said the APC remains a party to beat in 2023 in the state. “You have taken a wise decision. I congratulate you on the step taken, you have taken the…
U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris signed a bill into law on Thursday to make June 19 a federal holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans, as the White House pushes to address the country’s historical injustices. The bill, which was passed overwhelmingly by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday after clearing the Senate unanimously, marks the day in 1865 when a Union general informed a group of enslaved people in Texas that they had been made free two years earlier by President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War. “Juneteenth marks both a…
A former presidential candidate of the Young Progressive Party (YPP), Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, has disclosed that Senate Minority Leader, Eyinnaya Abaribe has endorsed his 2023 presidential ambition. Moghalu disclosed that Abaribe endorsed and supported his presidential ambition during a function of Igbo socio-cultural organization. The former Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Deputy Governor disclosed this in a series of tweets, on Monday. According to Abaribe: “Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe has just announced his complete support and endorsement for me to become President of Nigeria in 2023, at the inauguration of Igbonine sociocultural organization happening live now in Enugu. Thank you, my…
Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State has raised doubts over the conduct of the 2023 general elections and the state’s June 16, 2022 governorship election amid the worsening security situation in Nigeria. Governor Kayode Fayemi disclosed that the increasing level of security challenges facing the country posed a great threat to the conduct of the elections. According to the governor, Nigeria must first have a nation before we are able to have an election. Fayemi stated this in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, at a colloquium held in commemoration of this year’s June 12 celebration with the theme: “June12: Securing the…
The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has rubbished claims that President Muhammadu Buhari may extend his tenure due to insecurity. AYCF National President, Yerima Shettima, said Nigerians would resist any attempt by Buhari to extend his tenure beyond 2023. Speaking with the media, Shettima urged Buhari to emulate former President Goodluck Jonathan, who addressed insecurity, a few weeks to the general elections. According to Shettima: “I do not think the president will descend so low to that extent, and of course if he attempts such, Nigerians will resist it because the constitution does not allow it. “If there are any…
The Cross River State Chairman of the Labour Party, Elder Maurice Ekeng and some of his members have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). The publicity secretary of APC, Bassey Ita in a statement made available to the media on Monday, said the defectors were received at the Marian Road Secretariat of the party by the State Chairman, Sen. Matthew Mbu Jr who was represented by himself. Ekeng said his defection along with his entire State Executive Committee, SEC, was for some very spectacular reasons, which among others, is that his party could no longer sustain the many…
When hundreds of protesters gathered outside Japan’s embassy in Yangon during the height of nationwide anti-coup protests in February, Ambassador Ichiro Maruyama emerged from the gates with a firm warning for the junta: Release the detained civilian leadership “immediately.” The remarks, delivered in Burmese, drew applause from pro-democracy demonstrators hoping Japan would take concrete action to pressure Myanmar’s military, also known as the Tatmadaw. But since then Japan has resisted calls to impose sanctions or suspend ongoing infrastructure projects, saying only it would avoid carrying out any new non-humanitarian deals with the junta. What’s more, some influential Japanese voices want…
Lagos State chapter of the PDP on Saturday decried the destruction of its campaign banners and posters allegedly by supporters of the ruling APC. Political activities are entering feverish pitches as Lagos State holds council polls in the 20 local government areas and the 37 local council development areas on July 24. PDP raised similar concerns in a statement issued in May, cautioning APC supporters to stop the destruction of the party’s campaign materials. “The APC are really damaging our posters. They should know that they don’t have the monopoly of thuggery. It will be disastrous if we meet them…
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says its victory in Saturday’s Kaduna bye-election despite the bragging, intimidation and rigging machinations of the Governor Nasir El-Rufai-led APC administration, is a further signal that the people of Kaduna state have since rejected Governor El-Rufai and his APC. The party made its reaction known in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan. The party said its clean victory in Kaduna, particularly in the political melting point like Sabon Gari Constituency, is a foretaste of the crushing defeat that awaits the APC in Kaduna and other states of the federation in the 2023…
A governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Anambra State, Mrs Chidi Onyemelukwe has said the ambiguity in the Nigerian constitution is aiding the abuse of the local government system in the country. Onyemelukwe, daughter of late former Vice President of Nigeria, Dr Alex Ekwueme expressed worries over the neglect of the local government system, saying the neglect of the system, which is the third tier of government amounts to abuse. The aspirant who spoke to journalists on Sunday at Nando, Anambra East LGA during the second session of the fourth synod of the Anglican Diocese of Niger…
As the campaign for the 2022 governorship election in Ekiti State gathers momentum, the Atayero of Aramoko, M’oba Olusegun Aderemi has cautioned politicians in the state against playing politics with hatred and bitterness. He urged them not to see politics as a do-or-die affair but go about their politicking with all sense of decency and focused on issues. Aderemi spoke on Sunday in Aramoko-Ekiti in Ekiti West Council Area during an event. He implored politicians to educate their overzealous supporters to eschew any action or utterance that could heat the polity and play according to the rule of the game.…