Victory was claimed on Sunday by Algeria’s main moderate Islamist party the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP) in the country’s early legislative elections. The party also issued a warning against any attempts as was allegedly done in the past, to tamper with the election outcome whose first results are still pending publication. “We call on the President of the Republic (Abdelmadjid Tebboune) to respect the popular will,” insists this party, the main parliamentary opposition formation, which had decided to participate in the election to “contribute to the desired change. The Independent National Authority for Elections without explicitly naming the…
Author: Ifeanyi N.
A support group within the Bauchi State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Manazarta Siyasar Jam’iyyar APC, on Monday warned that the state governor, Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed is not welcome in the party. The group’s warning came on the heels of rumours that Governor Bala Mohammed wants to defect from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC. Addressing journalists in Bauchi, the chairman of the group, Yahya Idris Suleiman, said members of the party did not want the governor in APC, saying that the governor defection would spoil the APC. Suleiman claimed the group was already doing everything…
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Kaduna State has urged the APC-led administration in the state to change its approach of governance and give the people the much-anticipated dividends of democracy. The party explained that the essence of government is to meet the basic needs of the people. The party noted that it is appalling that in Kaduna State, the political history in the past six years under the APC-led government has been dominated by anti-people policies, militia activities, banditry and kidnapping for ransom. The PDP lamented that it looks glaring that the APC government in the state is powerless to…
The Ogun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has lost one of its Treasurer, Adekunbi Banjoko. The APC Caretaker Committee announced the “untimely death” of Banjoko, on Monday. The Ogun APC spokesman, Tunde Oladunjoye, disclosed this in a statement issued on Monday. Oladunjoye said Banjoko died in the early hours of Monday, saying he was also a member of the Ogun State Board of Public Health until his death. “A devoted Christian, seasoned politician and former Secretary to Sagamu Local Government. He also served as treasurer of the party diligently, humbly and to the best of his ability.…
Former Super Eagles captain, Mikel Obi has said no better youth to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari than Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State. Mikel, who currently plies his trade with Stoke City, England made the remark during a courtesy call on the governor. The former Chelsea star said Nigeria has come of age to produce a youthful leadership. Mikel also pledged to support Yahaya Bello’s political ambition ahead of 2023. He said youths should be given the chance to get the much-desired change. “What better person to lead the youths than him, because he has been doing all these good…
Following the US policy shift to disengage from the Middle East region, which started under President Barack Obama and continued and accelerated under Donald Trump, China stepped in to fill the vacuum created and now plays a wider role in the region. China’s growing influence in the Middle East is a real challenge to US dominance in the region. With the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, the Chinese government decided to expand its influence in the Middle East and the world in general and to provide an alternative source of financial assistance to some cash-strapped…
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum says the platform will help the party return to power at the federal level in 2023. The Chairman and Sokoto Governor, Aminu Tambuwal spoke on Sunday at a banquet organised by the Akwa lbom government, ahead of the forum meeting in Uyo. Tambuwal assured that he and his colleagues would not disappoint Nigerians. He noted that the governors and party leaders were determined to rescue Nigeria. “God on our side, we are determined as leaders, to provide that platform for the emergence of another PDP leadership in 2023,” Tambuwal said. The Sokoto helmsman urged…
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, Akinlayo Kolawole, has expressed confidence that the party would rule beyond 2022 in the state. He, however, urged the party, both at the state and the centre, to devise ingenious strategy of communication to Nigerians. The former House of Representatives aspirant for the Ekiti North Federal Constituency II in the 2019 general election, while speaking with newsmen in Ado Ekiti, lamented that the APC-led Federal Government was yet to get a commensurate acknowledgement and appreciation for its numerous development strides . The Ikosu- Ekiti-born politician, therefore, urged President Buhari…
The Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari said he has no intention or plans to contest for any political office in 2023. The Governor disclosed this while entertaining questions from journalists in commemoration of this year’s Democracy Day. He said it will be unfair for him to jostle for any political office considering all the offices he has occupied in the past. Similarly, he said Katsina State has had its fair share in leading the country having produced three different times men calling the shot at the nation’s most exalted office. “Common sense, first of all, I was in the…
Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Tony Ojukwu, has called for the recognition of the political actors especially election management officials who played active roles in the June 12 elections. Ojukwu said this in a statement signed by the commission’s spokesperson, Fatima Mohammed, Ojukwu, on Sunday. He was said to have made the call during activities to mark Democracy Day, in Abuja, on Saturday. Ojukwu was quoted as saying, “The people who conducted the election should also be remembered because that election of unequalled credibility in Nigeria was conducted by Prof Humphrey Nwosu and his National Commissioners, Resident…
What started as the struggle for the actualisation of the mandate given Bashorun Moshood Abiola at June 12, 1993, Presidential Election, controversially annulled by General Ibrahim Babangida, has continued to shape the nation’s democratic experience till date, writes Festus Akanbi. As pro-democracy activists, students, and political office holders gather today to celebrate the historical developments that altered the course of history in Nigeria, 28 years ago, the reality is that the Presidential Election of June 12, `1993 remains a watershed in Nigerian history. It was President Muhammadu Buhari, who in 2019 decided to change the nation’s Democracy Day to June…
U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday said he has not been informed of any tentative deal on a bipartisan infrastructure investment package being negotiated among senators. “Not that I know of,” McConnell said when asked by a reporter whether such a tentative deal had been reached among a group of 10 Democratic and Republican senators. “I think there is still talking going on as far as I know,” he added.
The protection of democracy should be at the core of celebrating June 12 as Democracy Day, so that the lessons inherent in June 12, 1993 cannot be forgotten or wasted. This was the position of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, South-West Region on Saturday, in a statement by the General Secretary, Rahman Owokoniran, in commemoration of Democracy Day. According to PDP South-West, the events of June 12, 1993 demonstrate that democracy thrives when leaders value national unity and nation building, moral and ethical values, and devolve power. According to Owokoniran, “Democracy Day is a time for reflections on why we must…
One of the protesters who demonstrated in solidarity with President Muhammadu Buhari said he and other members of the group were paid ₦1,500 to hold a counter-protest. The pro-Buhari group’s rally is to show support for Buhari to commemorate the June 12 Democracy Day of Nigeria. Earlier on Saturday, an internal tussle broke out amongst members of the #IStandWithBuhari protest group. A pro-Buhari protester Abdul Yussuf said he and others were mobilised by one Mohammed Garba to stage a protest at Unity Fountain, Abuja. An anti-Buhari protest is also stagged at the same venue. He said the protesters were promised…
The Chairman of the party, Hon. Mouktar Atima made this known in a statement made available to journalists in Lokoja on Saturday. Atima said without proper electoral reforms, there is no guarantee that the 2023 general elections will not be characterized by “election tatatata” as witnessed in Kogi state during the 2019 general elections. According to him, the SDP in 1993 was the beneficiary of a reformed electoral process which was adjudged to be the freest and fairest elections in the political history of the country. “It is on record that our party has been the most victimised since the…
A Kogi born based human rights activist, Austin Usman Okai has condemned the State Government for not allowing June 12 peaceful protests in the State, describing it as an act of totalitarianism. He urged men of good conscience to call Governor Yahaya Bello to order so as to stop him from derailing democracy. Okai made the observations in a statement he made available to the media on Democracy Day. The statement reads: “The statement attributed to the special adviser to Governor Yahaya Bello on security, Jerry Omodara, threatening law abiding Kogites with repercussion if they dare protest against insecurity, worsening…
Kevin Kishore Kaul, a Kashmiri Pandit who arrived in South Dakota on a student visa 30 years ago is wading into a crowded field of candidates betting that California will likely hurtle into a recall election for Governor in 2021. Kaul, an electrical engineer from Regional Engineering College in Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, who made his millions as an entrepreneur in the US West Coast, is upbeat about his chances – if the recall election happens. “I have a good shot at it” he told IANS over phone from Long Beach, Los Angeles. “We’ve got commitments for more than $1 million.”…
The President, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF, Yerima Shettima, has expressed fear that the 2023 general elections may not be held in the country. Speaking to the media in Kaduna on Saturday, Yerima Shettima said there are indications that some people were behind the uprising in parts of the country and are against Nigeria’s unity He said such people feel they are out of the game and want to be part of it by any means. He noted, “I have a lot of fear for 2023 because the signs have shown that we may not see 2023 until the government…
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has paid tribute to its candidate in the 1993 Presidential election, Late MKO Abiola, his wife, Kudirat and Democracy activist, Pa Alfred Rewane and others for their sacrifice for the country. The chairman of the party in the state, Dr Webster Okonkwo said the sacrifice by the trio and other activists during the 1993 election was geared towards moving the country forward, but regretted that the country has instead fallen to violence and ethnic rife. Okonkwo regretted that the only chance Nigeria had of getting things right was truncated, but said that the party still…
A Forum of former Chairmen of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Enugu State has lambasted some Enugu West stakeholders over their recent meeting where they kicked against what is said to be an existing zoning arrangement in the State. InfoStride News had reported that some stakeholders from Enugu West Senatorial zone had in a communique within the week said they were not aware of any zoning arrangement, and that the zone must produce the next governor of the State. But reacting, the ex-Chairmen in a communique issued after their meeting, said Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi remained the leader of the…