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APC Didn’t Conduct Governorship Primary Election In Akwa Ibom — INEC

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Mike Igini
Mike Igini

The Independent National Electoral Commission in Akwa Ibom State has revealed that the All Progressives Congress governorship primary did not hold in the state.

This is coming as Akanimo Udofia, who recently defected from the Peoples Democratic party to APC was declared the winner of the APC governorship primary.

Udofia scored scored a total of 1,227 votes to defeat eight other governorship contenders including senator Ita Enang, the immediate past Senior Special Assistant to the President, Major General Mohammadu Buhari (retd), on Niger Delta Affairs.

But a report sent to the INEC headquarters in Abuja, the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mike Igini, a copy of which was made available to our correspondent in Uyo, maintained that the governorship primary scheduled for Thursday May 26,2022 did not hold at all.

The report read in part, “We wish to report that the APC governorship primary scheduled to hold on Thursday, May 26, 2022, at the Sheer grace Arena, Nsikak Eduok Avenue, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State did not hold at all,”.

The report further stated that the commission’s monitoring team, led by Mr Igini, in the company of the Commissioner of Police in Akwa Ibom, Andrew Amiengheme, arrived at the venue of the primary for the third time at 6:45 p.m., without seeing anyone.

It was gathered that while a faction of the party loyal to Senator Akpan James Udoedege was conducting its primary at the Sheer Grace Arena, the faction loyal to Senator Godswill Akpabio, was having it own at Okpo Obot street, Uyo, the state capital.

Meanwhile, Senator Ita Enang, one of the aggrieved governorship aspirants in the state, has petitioned the National headquarters of the party and the election committee

In the petition letter to the chairman, APC Gubernatorial Appeal Panel, Akwa Ibom state titled, ‘An appeal Against a null,void,and illegal gubernatorial nomination process in Akwa Ibom state’, Enang demanded that the entire process be nullified.

“That All the processes of nominations of candidates in all elective positions should be called off and the party recalled, since INEC is not monitoring the whole exercise,” the petition partly read.

It added, “I strongly appeal, that for the sake of APC having to be on the ballot for all the elections, there is need to come together so we can see how best to conduct our primaries.

“My final prayer is that the purported nomination of Akan Udofia as the gubernatorial candidate of the APC be cancelled.

“Mr. Akan Udofia is not an APC member. He is a PDP member, having contested and lost the PDP Primaries of Wednesday, May 25, 2022.

“And the following day, May 26, 2022, he was purportedly to be on the ballot for the APC illegally declared. He cannot be on the ballot of both parties at the same time.”

PUNCH

Owo Killings: FG Was In A Hurry To Conclude That Attackers Are ISWAP — Akeredolu

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Akeredolu at Scene of Owo Killings

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State says the Federal Government was “hasty” in blaming the Islamic State’s West African Province (ISWAP) for the Owo church attack.

The governor said this in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Richard Olatunde, on Friday.

“The statement is too hasty. I take their conclusion with a pinch of salt. ISWAP don’t hide their attacks,” the governor was quoted as saying during a virtual interaction with a Swiss-based Christian human rights Organisation, Christian Solidarity International (CSI) on Friday.

“If they have done it, they would have owned up. We are yet to know their identity and our security people are still on their trail.”

Akeredolu, who described the attack that led to scores of death and several injuries, said the incident is a crime against humanity.

He said the attack, though horrific, will not deter the indomitable spirit of the people of the state in their quest to fight insecurity. The governor, thus, re-echoed the calls for state police.

“A single police command can not guarantee safety in this country. We must have state police now,” he said during the meeting.

“We are doing our best with Amotekun. But Amotekun is suffering a lot of limitations in getting all the equipment needed to fight these criminals.”

While lauding the international community for their response so far following the incident, he reiterated his government’s resolve to help victims of the attack, especially those who lost loved ones and those still in the hospital.

 

Strike: ASUU Rejects N50m Intervention By Ordinary Ahmed Isah

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FG/ASUU's 31-Member Panel Begins Talk
prof. Emmanuel osodeke
ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke and his team

There was a mild drama when the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) rejected Berekete Family radio’s intervention to end the ongoing strike.

ASUU has been on strike since February and all efforts to make lecturers return to the classrooms have not yielded results.

On Saturday morning, host of the radio programme, Ahmad Isah, popularly known as Ordinary President, invited ASUU president, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, and his team, to explain to Nigerians the perennial problems and state why the union is still on strike.

Isah also said he had set up a special intervention bank account domiciled in TAJ Bank to raise funds for the union, with a view to ending the strike.

Apparently to convince ASUU to buy into the idea of the intervention, Isah publicly showed the N50 million cash donated by Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State.

Immediately the money was displayed, ASUU President frowned at the development, saying they should not be associated with such.

At that point, Isah threatened to discontinue the intervention and many Nigerians who phoned in during the programme described ASUU as ”insensitive”.

The striking lecturers’ demands include, funding of the revitalisation of public universities, Earned Academic Allowances, University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) and promotion arrears.

Others are the renegotiation of 2009 ASUU-FG Agreement and the inconsistency in Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System.

Daily Trust

Only A Vibrant, Energetic Man Like Atiku Can Coordinate Nigeria — PDP Chieftain, Urges Him To Pick Wike As VP

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Atiku Abubakar

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Gowin Solomon Bamola, has expressed the hope the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, would bring the desired change to Nigeria if elected president.

This is as he called on the PDP presidential candidate to consider the choice of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike as his running mate, pointing out that Wike has the ability to win many supporters to the opposition party ahead of the general election.

Bamola, who spoke with newsmen in Port Harcourt yesterday, stated that Atiku looks good from all ramifications to clinch the presidential seat with the support and general acceptability of the Nigerian populace.

“In fact, I make bold to say that it is only the likes of Atiku Abubakar, given his pedigree with age on his side and as one-time vice president of Nigeria that can bring the desired change Nigerians are yearning for over the years if elected into office.

“No doubt, the acceptability by the majority of Nigerians in Atiku candidature is enough to see him beat any of his opponent in 2023 presidential poll.

“Honestly, Nigeria is on the down-slide in all facet of life and as such needs a vibrant, energetic man with good vision who can coordinate the country well both in the area of security, economy and other sectors of lives to bring it up once more, which I think would not be an impossible task for Atiku to actualize within few months he will be in office,” he said. He stated that with Wike as his running mate, Atiku would certainly emerge as next president of Nigeria.

Bamola said: “Believe me, I stand to be corrected that the combination of Atiku and Wike in the quest of winning the 2023 general election would not only be superb but very achievable at the end of the day.”

APC Convention: Buhari Didn’t Dictate To Kaduna Delegates Who To Vote For, Some Voted Amaechi, Others Osinbajo — El-Rufai

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Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has related how President Muhammadu Buhari refused to dictate how delegates from his state should vote at the All Progressives Congress’ presidential primaries.

The President had earlier said he had no annointed candidate in an election which was eventually won by Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, El-Rufai said President Buhari told the delegates to “vote their conscience.”

“In many of our states, the delegate votes were divided,” El-Rufai said.

“Before I went to address the Kaduna delegates for the last time, I went to the President and I asked him, have you decided on who we should vote for? He said, I told you, go and vote for any of the five (candidates selected by APC Governors)

“I said, Mr President, the Kaduna delegates are your delegates, you are going to retire and live in Kaduna. So you can tell me who you want out of the five, and the President said ‘I want all five’.

“I said, what then should I tell Kaduna delegates. He said, tell them to vote their conscience; they are representing 10 million people in Kaduna state. It’s a heavy responsibility, and they should discharge it and pick the best candidate.

“Now I don’t know how the Kaduna delegates voted, but the feedback I got after the voting is that most of them voted for Asiwaju, some voted for Amaechi and some voted for Professor Yemi Osinbajo.”

Owo Killings: Nigerians Tired Of Condolences From Govt — Niger Delta Activist

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President Buhari Tasks World Leaders On Food Security As Nigeria Signs 9 Agreements, MoU With Spain
President Muhammadu Buhari

Following last Sunday’s massacre of Christian worshippers in Owo Ondo state by gun men, Nigerians have tasked the government on what must be done to stop the killings saying they were tired of government sending condolence messages to bereaved families.

According to Comrade Morris Alagoa, a Niger Delta environmentalist “while that last Sunday attack and killing has added to the increasing statistics pushing this country among the list of most unsecured spaces on Mother Earth, I must first of all condemn the act of wickedness and crime against humanity by perpetrators. Again, this condemnation extends to wherever such has happened and happening in the nation, no matter the region, ethnicity or religion of perpetrators and victims.

Having said that, let me say Nigerians are tired of hearing about condolences to bereaved families from the government; only actions that would effectively contain the ugly situation would be good enough. In this regard, the Federal Government should step up the police per citizens ratio in line with the United Nations recommended standard. موقع قمار

“Security operatives should be out to serve all Nigerians and not only to secure political office holders and heads of security agencies. “The commercialization of the police should be stopped, as all Nigerians need to be protected from harm, including their property. Instead of security operatives paid from our commonwealth doing selective security operations by guarding the rich in the society, private security outfits should be licensed to bridge the gap in that area so that there would be enough operatives to do what they were engaged to do for the country.

“Private investigators should also be encouraged, especially experienced retired security personnel or those who qualifies by study or other acceptable criteria. Leaving the issue of security or crime in the hands of only formal security agencies too is not healthy as they can kill genuine matters which are of public interest.

“Apart from recruiting more qualified Nigerians into the relevant security agencies, efforts should be made for proper training and equipment of officers and men. “Locals should be engaged into these security agencies and posted back to their localities for effective monitoring, preventing and combating of related crimes.

The significance of local knowledge of the geography of the environment cannot be over emphasised. كيفية ربح المال من الالعاب “Crimes should be followed up and investigate them to the logical conclusion by prosecuting perpetrators to serve as deterrent to others. No matter who is involved, the matter shouldn’t be swept under the carpet, but be followed through. موقع كازينو 888

“There is also the need for government to come out and encourage citizens to report crime, especially giving lead to the arrest of suspects. Security operatives should be properly monitored to ensure bad eggs are punished and weeded.

Operatives should also be properly remunerated to boost their morale. If the gaps are bridged, it will take away the concerns law abiding citizens currently have, which necessitated calls for regional security outfits. I support call for regional security outfits, for self-defense or Nigerians should be allowed to bear arms.”

Eric Omare, a legal practitioner and former President, Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide said: “Government needs to increase intelligence gathering and be more proactive in preventing crime. It is a mark of failure of our security apparatus for us to be reactive all the time. And generally, I think there is need for general overhauling of the security apparatus to ensure result. Things are not working and there is something wrong somewhere. Something drastic needs to be done.”

Mr Chris Odi, a minority rights activist and community leader said: “In the short run, government should re-jig the security architecture while in the long run, I think the government needs to begin to think seriously about state police. State governors cannot bear the appellation of chief security officers of their states when commissioners of police are not answerable to them. A central police as we have now is not working.

“The Owo massacre is a clear indication that the nation’s security apparatus is collapsing, if it has not already collapsed. The way forward, for me, is the decentralisation of the Police Force for us to have state police as practiced in the USA and other democracies, where every state has its own police.”

 

Face Insecurity In Our Region, Let Ohanaeze Negotiate For VP Slot, Others, Igbo Youths Tell Politicians

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Monday Sit-At-Home Order Is Disparaging To South-East – Ohanaeze President, Obiozor
Ohanaeze Ndigbo President, Amb George Obiozor

Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo youth wing has warned politicians from the area to consider the present security situation in the South East as more paramount than lobbying to be nominated as running mates to presidential candidates.

Addressing journalists in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, on Friday, Chief Chinedu Arthur-Ugwa, South-South Coordinator of Ohaneze Ndigbo Youth Wing, said the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide led by Amb George Obiozor should be allowed to dialogue for whatever position that will suited for Igbo in 2023 general election.

He asked politicians and other stakeholders to focus on restoring peace in the volatile areas.

The youth group, who expressed worry over the spate of insecurity in Igbo land in the recent times, advised the stakeholders in the region to convoke security submit in order to outline moralities in addressing the rising wave of insecurity ranging from kidnappings, killings among others.

He frowned at the situation where some groups in Igbo land are trying to create disunity using the name of Ohanaeze to lobby for their personal benefits instead of pursuing peace and security of all Igbos.

He said: “Its unfortunate that some politicians are already lobbying for Vice presidential position when insecurity is ravaging almost every section of Igbo land, what can you do without security, who will you govern when there is no peace, everybody should work to restore peace in South East at this particular time.

“We have put in place a highly revered Ohanaeze Ndigbo and with the leadership of a renowned diplomat, Amb George Obiozor, let them negotiate with power brokers for a position suitable for Igbos during next dispensation while we are trying to see how we can restore peace in our land.

“If anything about vice president slot is to be discussed, it should be Ohanaeze Ndigbo and not politicians who will only go after their personal interest not minding the situation in the South East.

“Insecurity in the South East is making us cry every day, we should meet in a submit to talk to everybody on how address the insecurity, that should be the number one agenda for every Igbo person before thinking about political gains,” he said.

 

Abia Doctors Protest Abduction Of It’s Member, Gives Govt 48 Hours To Secure His Release

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Abia Doctors Protest Abduction Of It's Member, Gives Govt 48 Hours To Secure His Release

Abia Doctors Protest Abduction Of It's Member, Gives Govt 48 Hours To Secure His Release

Members of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) in Abia state, on Friday, staged a protest to the state Government House in Umuahia, demanding the release of their colleague, senior medical doctor, Prof. Uwadinachi Iweha.

Dr. Iweha was kidnapped on Sunday, June 6, 2022 in front of his house at Umuajameze, Ezeleke Umuokpara, in Umuahia south LGA of the state.

He was whisked away alongside his dark blue Toyota Highlander by his kidnappers.

The protesters led by Dr. Chimezie Okwuonu described the kidnap of one of them as traumatic and affected their job of saving life as their safety can no longer be guaranteed.

They warned that they may be forced to down their tools if their colleague is not released within 48 hours.

They called on governor Okezie Ikpeazu whom they expressed confidence on, to ensure that their colleague is released.

“This is traumatic, depressing and has instilled a lot of fear in the medical community” they lamented.

The doctors demands include; the release of Dr. Iweha from captivity of kidnappers; federal and state governments should put in measures to forestall occurrences of similar events in the future.

The protesters bore placards with inscriptions like; ”release kidnapped doctor; Abia state doctors deserve good security; Dr Iweh should be released to his family; we say no to kidnapping,etc.

Responding to the doctors, governor Okezie Ikpeazu represented by his Chief of staff, Chief Okey Ahiwe, lauded the doctors for their peaceful conduct, assuring that the government will not rest until the doctor is released.

158 Police Officers Gain Promotions In Abia State Command (Photos, Video)

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158 Police Officers Gain Promotions In Abia State Command (Photos, Video)

158 Police Officers Gain Promotions In Abia State Command (Photos, Video)

The Police Service Commission, PSC has promoted no fewer than 158 officers of Abia State police command to the next rank.

158 Police Officers Gain Promotions In Abia State Command (Photos, Video)

This is even as the Commissioner of Police in the State, CP Janet Agbede charged the newly promoted officers to ensure they live up to expectation, maintaining that their promotion is a call for more diligent service.

Decorating the newly promoted officers at the officers mess on Friday in Umuahia the state capital, CP Agbede urged them to take their jobs seriously and avoid acts capable of bringing the Force to disrepute.

While congratulating them on their promotion, she said whom much is given, much is equally expected.

A statement by SP Geoffrey Ogbonna, Public Relations Officer of the Command said 25 Assistant Superintendent of Police were promoted to Deputy Superintendent of Police.

The Commission also approved the promotion of 58 Assistant Superintendent of Police II(ASP II) to the next rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police I(ASP I);75 Inspectors to Assistant Superintendent of Police.

One of the newly promoted officers, ASP Chinaka Maureen from the office of the PRO expressed gratitude to God for making it possible for her to be promoted from ASP II to ASP I.

She thanked the Inspector General of Police for finding them worthy to be promoted to the next level.

A pension desk officer in the command, Chizoba Okwara who was promoted from Inspector rank to Assistant Superintendent of Police II thanked the CP for giving her and other officers this special opportunity to be elevated to the next rank.

Watch The Video Below…..

 

APC Convention: Your Victory Symbol Of Your Greatness, Sam Onuigbo Salutes Tinubu

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APC Convention: Your Victory Symbol Of Your Greatness, Sam Onuigbo Salutes Tinubu

APC Convention: Your Victory Symbol Of Your Greatness, Sam Onuigbo Salutes Tinubu

Member representing Ikwuano/Umuahia federal constituency of Abia State, Rep. Sam Onuigbo has congratulated the national leader of All Progressives Congress APC, Bola Tinubu on his victory as the recently concluded special convention of APC.

Tinubu was at the convention in Abuja elected the presidential flag bearer of the party ahead of next year election.

Hon. Onuigbo in a felicitation message on Friday said the victory of Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State symbolizes his greatness.

“I congratulate His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his emergence as the Presidential candidate of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). Your victory was fated as Nigeria deserves greatness— that is what you symbolize, greatness” Onuigbo the Abia Central Senatorial District candidate of the APC said.

The federal lawmaker also praised Tinubu for his footprint in Lagos which opened the pathway for the accelerated development of the nation’s commercial capital.

You have been a dogged fighter for democracy in Nigeria and the story of Lagos State is testimony to your Midas touch when it comes to growth, development, harnessing of talents and laying the foundation for geometric progression. Indeed under your watch Lagos State transformed to a mega cosmopolitan city which stands shoulder to shoulder with other great cities of the world. Nigeria desperately needs this,” he added.

Rep. Onuigbo also expressed confidence that Tinubu will emerge victorious at the presidential election next year.

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