The earlier North Central decides whether it wants the presidential slot or the national chairmanship position of the two leading political parties ahead of the 2023 general election, the better. Otherwise, the region stands the risk of not getting anything tangible on the platforms of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) or the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The zone, which includes Kogi, Benue, Plateau, Nassarawa, Kwara, Niger and Federal Capital Territory (FCT), only tasted the highest seat of power when Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd.) became the military Head of State through the counter coup of July 1966. Since then, the…
Author: Ifeanyi N.
Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, yesterday, said he would be shocked if Wednesday’s attack duringa townhall meeting was politically motivated and targetted at him because no office is worth the life of even a chicken. He spoke on a day the Anambra State Police Command arrested five suspects and beefed up security around him. Soludo is a front line aspirant for the November 6, Anambra State governorship election on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA. Soludo in an interview programme on Channels Television, recalled that the gun battle lasted for…
Some loyalists of Late Senator Buruji Kashamu have dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State, saying they want former Governor, Ibikunle Amosun to be their leader. TheInfoStride reports that the PDP defectors were received into the APC by Amosun at his Ibara, Abeokuta residence on Thursday. The PDP leaders, led by Chief Ibilola Solaja, held a meeting with Senator Amosun, pledging their support. Speaking on behalf of other decampees, Chief Olu Azeez from Ijebu North, told our correspondent in an interview that they chose to join the APC under Amosun’s leadership because…
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has charged Christian faithful to seek God’s intervention over the country’s security and other crisis bedevilling it. The party urged Christians to dedicate themselves to more prayers during the Easter period, particularly in praying for their leaders. Gov. Mai Mala Buni of Yobe and Chairman of APC Caretaker and Extra-ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) gave the charge in a statement issued by his Director-General, Press and Media, Alhaji Mamman Mohammed on Friday. According to the statement, Buni also called for love, unity, peace, harmony and tolerance among Nigerians. He called on religious leaders to use…
A statement released by Governor Seyi Makinde on the decision of the PDP National Working Committee to Proceed with the Southwest Zonal Congress on April 10, 2021 reads: “As the only serving PDP governor in the Southwest and an invested party in the PDP’s growth and development, I commend the National Working Committee (NWC) for the decision to go ahead with the Southwest Congress. “I am glad that they bowed to superior reasoning regarding the congress. I am also happy that the congress will be held in Ibadan, Oyo State, in line with our party’s constitution and as stipulated in…
Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio’s purported emergence as leader of Akwa Ibom State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has split the party in the state. Chairman of the state chapter, Dr. Ita Udosen, faulted the decision of the Sam Ewang’s group for proclaiming Akpabio as the leader of the party. Udosen insisted that the decision of the Ewang-led group to name Akpabio leader of the party was illegal and of no effect since he lacked the powers to convene a stakeholders meeting that party organs boycotted at all levels in the state. He argued that only…
Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule has said a Southerner should succeed President Muhamadu Buhari. Sule declared his support for a power shift in 2023 on Thursday at the Government House in Lafia. The governor spoke when he met with the supporters of Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura seeking his election as All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman. “I have never said anything against the agitation for rotation of the presidency to the South. I don’t think it’s a bad idea, for peace in Nigeria, if there is a rotational presidency”, The Nation quoted him as saying. On the APC chairmanship race,…
The Osun State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) delegates have re-anointed the immediate past National Vice Chairman in the South West, Eddy Olafeso in the same capacity in the forthcoming Zonal Congress of the party in the zone. Recall that another hopeful of the position of the party’s South West Chairman, Amb. Taofeeq Arapaja, who was a former Oyo State Deputy Governor, Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja had visited a section of the PDP leaders in Osogbo recently, for support and adoption as the right candidate. While Amb. Arapaja, is one of the loyalists of Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Dr Olafeso…
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has extended its ongoing nationwide membership registration and revalidation exercise by three weeks. Sen. John Akpanudoedehe, National Secretary of the party’s Caretaker and Extra-ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), announced the extension in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, NAN reports. He said the CECPC under the leadership of Gov. Mai Mala Buni had done everything possible to keep to the earlier timeline for the exercise but could not. Akpanudoedehe said it became important to extend the duration of the exercise by three weeks to enable more Nigerians who were interested in joining the APC to…
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that the National Identification Number (NIN) is not mandatory for voter registration. INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made the clarification to journalists in Abuja on Thursday, NAN reports. Yakubu said that NIN was only a means of identification for registration as listed in the Electoral Act. “I want to make this important clarification. NIN is not going to be made mandatory for voter registration. “This is for a simple reason that we are operating on basis of the law establishing INEC. “Section 10 of the Electoral Act lists identifications to be presented…
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole on Wednesday officially registered as a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State. Bankole who recently defected to the APC, validated his membership at his ward 10, Iporo – Sodeke unit in Abeokuta South Local Government Area of the state. The former Speaker who was the governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) in the 2019 election joined the ruling party at a meeting with National Caretaker Chairman of APC, Mai Mala Buni in Abuja. Buni last week Monday presented Bankole alongside another decampee and former Governor…
INEC promises to ensure a safe and stress-free experience for Nigerians. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that it will recommence the continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise on June 28, 2021. The commission’s chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, announced the new date at a media briefing in Abuja on Thursday, April 1. The nationwide exercise will be carried out for over a year until September 2022, just months before the 2023 general elections. Yakubu encouraged Nigerians that have turned 18 years old as of June 28 to turn out for the exercise and register to vote. Other categories of…
A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, Onwa Innocent Nwachukwu, has said the recent victory of the party in the just-concluded Aba North and Aba South federal constituency election was a clear manifestation of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s developmental strides in Aba and the state at large. Nwachukwu claimed that the PDP administration in Abia has performed well in all facets of governance, especially in the area of infrastructures, health, trade and investment and education. The PDP stalwart, in a press statement made available to journalists in Umuahia, said the ruling party has addressed most teething yearnings of the Abia…
A former governorship aspirant and Nigerian film producer, Tonye Princewill has revalidated his membership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in his ancestral home, Buguma, in Rivers State. The Prince of Kalabari Kingdom who participated in the exercise on Wednesday urged members of the party who were yet to revalidate their membership to endeavour to do so. While addressing party members shortly after the exercise, the Prince who was received by a large crowd at the venue, expressed optimism that the party would bounce back in the state. “Our dear party, in the state has been through trying times in…
A former Deputy Governor in the old Benue State, Alhaji Sule Iyaji, has said that the brand of politics in Kogi State is wrapped in a huge security risk he has never seen in 43 years of his political career. The politician stated this while contributing to the discourse to chart a new way of addressing the need for peace, security and unity in Igala-Bassa land in Kogi East Senatorial district. The event was organised by Igala-Bassa Relief Development initiative which held at Grand Ibro Hotel, Abuja till late Tuesday. He pointed out that political participation can thrive in an…
Political parties in Oyo State are sharply divided over the proposed local council elections fixed for May 15, this year by the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC). While some parties see it as an opportunity to display their presence and strength at the grassroots, others described it as another “political fraud and illegality” by the state government because of a pending court matter to be determined by the Supreme Court on May 7, 2021. Local government administration in Oyo State has been bedeviled by crises of legitimacy over the government’s decision to dissolve the democratically elected council chairmen and…
The Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, on Thursday, April 1, began a 15-day working vacation as first instalment of his 2021 Annual Leave. The announcement was contained in a statement signed and made available to newsmen by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Richard Olatunde. In a letter transmitted to the State House of Assembly and addressed to the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Bamidele Oleyelogun, Governor Akeredolu said the leave will commence from Thursday, 1st to Friday through to April 23rd 2021, both days inclusive. According to the statement, the state’s Deputy Governor, Hon. Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, would take charge of…
Former Senator, Magnus Abe, has said the comment by Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation, on zoning of the Rivers governorship ticket was his personal opinion. Abe’s spokesperson, Parry Benson, issued his reaction in a statement Wednesday night. Abe told a gathering of All Progressives Congress (APC) faithful in Port Harcourt that Amaechi’s declaration was a Greek gift to the riverine people. The ex-Rivers South-East representative described it as “a poisoned chalice bound to fail”. The chieftain said zoning remains a process and that the Minister’s view was not the position of the majority of APC members. “If you just stand…
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has extended the sale of Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms for the Anambra State governorship election. National Organising Secretary, retired Col. Austin Akobundu, made this known in a statement on Wednesday. The forms were sold at N21million – N1million for expression of interest and N20million for nomination form. The closing date for the sale was moved from Wednesday, March 31 to Wednesday, April 7. The date for the submission has also been extended to Saturday, April 10. More than ten aspirants, including three females, have obtained forms ahead of the primary election. They are…
Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Anambra State, Mr Ndubuisi Nwobu has said all governorship aspirants of the party must pay N5 million administrative fee before they can qualify to purchase the expression of interest and nomination forms. Nwobu said any aspirant who is yet to pay should not be considered as an aspirant of the party for the forthcoming governorship election. He stated this during an interactive meeting for national, state, local government and ward leaders of the party in Awka. “The party in the state has announced a N5 million administrative fee on all those running for…