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APC In Deep Crisis As Court Suspends Oshiomhole …We’ll Respect Court Order Suspending Nat Chairman -Party …Names New National Secretary, Auditor After Suspension …National Vice Chair, Obaseki Hail Order
The Federal Capital Territory High Court has given an order restraining Comrade Adams Oshomole from parading himself as the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
By this ruling, the former labour leader and governor of Edo State ceases to be the chairman, pending the outcome of various legal battles.
In his ruling, Hon. Justice Senchi Z. Danlami gave an order of interlocutory injunction restraining Comrade Adams Oshiomhole from parading himself as the national chairman of the APC, pending the hearing and determination of the substance suit.
Oshiomhole has been in the eye of the storm lately, as he was recently suspended by his party at his ward, local and state levels.
It was on this premise that the injunction application was granted.
Allegations that triggered his suspension include highhandedness, misappropriation of funds and disregard for the rule of law.
The ruling All Progressives Congress has in recent days been going through a lot of turmoil.
After surviving major judicial upsets in Zamfara and Rivers states during the build-up to the last general election, which totally knocked the party of the ballot; the APC has been battling with fractured internal unity, especially in its National Working Committee (NWC).
It was alleged that Oshiomhole single-handedly appointed a national secretary for the party without any constitutional backing.
This did not go down well with many members of the NWC, and has caused a visible crack in the NWC.
Allegations of misappropriation of funds are also strong, as party members are asking for details on how the over N15billion raised during the 2019 elections were expended.
These allegations have fuelled pro and anti-Oshiomhole rallies around the country.
The last rally in Abuja was reported to have turned violent as pro and anti-Oshiomhole supporters collided in front of the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja.
It was learnt that the protests were out of control till the security agencies came in to restore peace.
As events unfold, a lot will get clearer, but as it stands, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole legally ceases to be the national chairman of the APC.
Reacting, the National Vice Chairman, North-West of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Mustapha Salihu backed the order of an FCT High Court which suspended the party’s National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, yesterday.
Salihu, who has been having a running battle with the national chairman over the party’s choice of Arch. Waziri Bulama as national secretary, told journalists, yesterday, that Oshiomhole was about to create more chaos in the party, alleging that the national chairman wants to foist Bulama on the National Working Committee (NWC) as its acting head.
As at the time of filing this report (4pm), neither Oshiomhole nor his spokesman, Mr Simon Ebegbulem was available for comments, as calls to their known telephone lines went repeatedly unanswered.
Also, National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu did not answer his calls.
But Salihu said; “immediately the court injunction was given, the national chairman called the party’s national publicity secretary to issue a statement to the press that Bulama is the chief secretary to the party.
“I believe you people (Journalists) are aware of the meeting held about a month ago on that matter, which ended without a decision. Since then, there has not been a decision as to the replacement of the secretary. The chairman is about to create more chaos within the party as he gave the order.
“The public should know that any decision that Oshiomhole makes henceforth is an illegal decision and will not hold.
“We will keep our fingers crossed until the court decides. I am saying this so that there will not be two national secretaries and there can be no affirmation from a national chairman that has been suspended.”
Asked whether he would accept the choice of Bulama as national secretary should the party take that position, he said; “the party cannot accept Bulama, who is the party? The person that should hold that position must be the most senior person in the party.”
Should the suspension of Oshiomhole subsist, the party would be left without a clear head?
To assist the national chairman, the APC has two deputy national chairmen; one for the South and the other for the North.
However, both offices are now vacant.
While the Deputy National Chairman, South, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, had since been appointed as Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, the Deputy National Chairman, North, Sen. Lawali Shuaibu is on indefinite suspension.
The party scribe, Bulama is still having a running battle with his own zonal chairman, that is, the National Vice Chairman, North-East Zone, Comrade Salihu Mustapha.
The National Vice Chairman, North-West, Barrister Inuwa Abdulkadir is also on indefinite suspension while the National Auditor, Mr George Moghalu had since been appointed as the managing director of National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA).
Also, the Acting National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Victor Giadom, has said the All Progressives Congress as a law-abiding political party will respect the decision of the court suspending the National Chairman of the Party, Adams Oshiomhole.
He spoke to reporters at the party’s National Secretariat amidst heavy security presence.
No fewer than 13 police patrol vans with armed policemen keeping vigil around the building.
The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Jabi, Abuja had yesterday ordered an interim suspension of Adams Oshiomhole as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress.
Delivering a ruling on an application for an interlocutory injunction, Justice Danlami Senchi, ordered Oshiomhole to remain on suspension pending the determination of the main suit.
The court held that the party wrongfully continued to retain him as its National Chairman while he is under suspension as a member of the party.
an interlocutory injunction, Justice Danlami Senchi, ordered Oshiomhole to remain on suspension pending the determination of the main suit.
The court held that the party wrongfully continued to retain him as its National Chairman while he is under suspension as a member of the party.
In a related development, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has approved the nomination of new national officers.
Lanre Issa-Onilu, APC National Publicity Secretary, made the announcement in a statement Wednesday night.
The development came hours after the court ordered the suspension of APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.
Waziri Bulama is the Party’s Acting National Secretary.
The statement said following the resignation of Mai Mala Buni as National Secretary in May 2019, prior to his election as Governor of Yobe State, the APC gave notice for a replacement from the zone.
“The NWC has also approved the nominations of Senator Abiola Ajimobi as the Deputy National Chairman (South) and Mr. Paul Chukwuma as the National Auditor following nominations from the respective zones”, it read.
Similarly, it was jubilation in the camp of the All Progressives Congress (APC) loyal to Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, yesterday, over the ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja which bars Comrade Adams Oshiomhole from parading himself as chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Obaseki, who has been at daggers drawn with Oshiomhole, yesterday, in Benin hailed the ruling of the court, and described it was the right decision for the party.
The governor spoke this while addressing party members during the Edo South Senatorial rally of the APC in Benin City, the state capital.
He said, “When we planned this meeting last week to meet with all our executives, we did not know that God has a plan for us today.
“No man is God. God is God. No man can play God. With what God has done today… what we should do now is to just thank Him.
“The meaning of what happened today is that peace has now finally come to our party. The purpose of God for Nigeria in our party will now be fulfilled.
“My problem with Comrade Oshiomhole is that when people started saying that they were Edo Peoples Movement (EPM), I called him and urged him to denounce them.
“I told him (Oshiomhole) to come out and say something. I told him, Comrade, denounce them, you are the National chairman; disassociate yourself from these people that are destroying our party. Up till today, he did not denounce them.
“But the court has taken the right decision today… It does not make me a happy person because it would not have come to this.
“So, my message today is when a child put his hands in feces, you do not cut off that hand, you take that hand and wash it.
“And for those our members who have been misled, we cannot practice our democracy the way it was in 1983”.
Continuing on the rally, Obaseki said: “Our goal is that before the end of June this year, we must have not less than 500,000 card-carrying members of APC.
“It will be a shame on any leader of our party if we cannot boost of 100 members per unit. And if you do win members for us, you will see what we will do as a party”.
Letters
Ban On Christians Fellowship In Universities
If the story making the rounds on two Nigerian universities being sued for allegation of their ban on Christian fellowship in the campus is anything to go by, then Nigeria is in for another trouble.
According to the story, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Katsina State branch, in conjunction with an American conservative Christian legal advocacy group, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF International), has instituted an action against two universities in Katsina State for indefinitely banning Christian groups from holding fellowship meetings and worship on campuses.
The suit was said to have been filed against the two universities for violating the right to religious freedom by “indefinitely prohibiting” Christian groups from holding fellowship meetings and worship on campus.
The Christian legal advocacy group further alleged that one of the universities enforced the ban by locking all worship and fellowship centre on university grounds, preventing Christian students and groups from accessing the facilities and banning them from meeting for worship and fellowship elsewhere on campus while their Muslim counterparts at both universities have been permitted to hold worship and fellowship meetings in university-constructed worship and meeting spaces.
Recall that in 2017, there was a news report on the outlaw of any other religious or tribal association on campus besides the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria by the authorities of the Umar Musa Yar’Adua University, Katsina, Katsina State. A circular credited to the institution’s acting Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Sulaiman Kankara, which was later disowned by the university, contained the directive.
The last time I checked, Nigeria is a democratic, circular state where every individual is free to practise any religion of her choice. Section 38 of the Nigerian constitution provides: “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”
It is therefore wrong for a public university to indulge in this discriminatory act. A university is supposed to be an intellectual environment where people should be allowed some level of freedom. There must be robust fellowship and inter-faith relationship. People must be able to relate with each other without any discrimination or stigmatisation.
Knowing how delicate issues on religion are in Nigeria, one hopes that the authorities of the institutions concerned should swiftly look into the report and retrace their steps. The court should be objective in deciding the case and give students of other religions some leverage of freedom. It must be stated that the judgment on this case should not be delayed to avoid any retaliation in other parts of the country.
We already have a lot of issues to deal with in the country. Adding a religious crisis to it could be disastrous. Any university established and funded by either the federal, state or local government, should have freedom of religion. Let there be no more trouble in the country, please.
Waheed Abiodun,
Victoria Street,
Port Harcourt Township.
The NIMC, NCC Partnership
Reports have it that the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) disclosed that they have partnered to enhance seamless linkage of National Identification Number-SIM across the federation.
Both Commissions said that in recognising the significance of this initiative in enhancing security and improving service delivery, they were committed to improving processes and enhancing efficiency.
This is a welcome development. It has been worrisome why Nigerians should be made to go through the rigorous process of linking their National Identification Number (NIN) with their phone numbers every now and then. Some people who engage in online transactions have recorded some losses over the past few weeks as some internet providers barred their lines due to their inability to successfully do the linkage.
Two weeks ago, I went to a High Court for an official engagement and was shocked to see the number of people seeking to get court affidavits for the linkage of the NIN with the phone numbers so that their line will be unbarred.
It is therefore hoped that the NIMC, NCC partnership will remove all the bottlenecks surrounding the Nin, SIM linkage and make the process very seamless. It is also hoped that this will be the beginning of the process of proper identity management in the country and gradual collapse of all the various forms of identification – Drivers Licence, Voters Card, NIMC card. Bank cards etc into one identity card so that one would not have to be moving around with loads of identity cards.
Ebele Ubani,
Jabi, Abuja.
The Unwanted Strike
Just when the students of Nigeria public universities are rejoicing that there had been a no interruption in the universities’ academic calendar for sometiime, the news about the warning strike by the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, (SSANU), broke.
The Joint Action Committee of the two organisations had directed members to commence a seven day warning strike last week, following the federal government’s inability to pay their four months’ withheld salary.
I do not even understand why the government should allow labour unions to down tools before acting on their demands. Did President Bola Tinubu not direct that university workers that were on prolonged strike in 2022 and their salaries stopped by the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration after the invocation of “No Work, No Pay” policy, should be paid four months of the withheld salaries?
Have members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) not been paid in line with the president’s directive? Why were SSANU, NASU and unions concerned not paid? These bodies issued an ultimatum to the federal government. Why was there no effort to address their grievances within the window period?
It is said that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. So, the government, having paid ASUU, should also endeavour to settle SSANU and NASU so that there shall be no interruption in our academic calendar. We did no wrong by choosing public universities. Government, ASUU, SSANU, NASU and what have you should let us learn in peace and graduate at the record time like our colleagues in private universities, please.
IB Michael,
University of Port Harcourt,
Port Harcourt.
Letters
Obi Should Do More, Discordant Tunes On Minimum Wage, Akpabio’s Unguarded Comment
Obi Should Do More
The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, has continued to voice out his opinion on the happenings in the country. On the budget padding scandal currently rocking the upper chamber of the National Assembly, he has told the Senate to provide Nigerians with some explanations on the matter.
He said the claims and counter-claims over the alleged N3 Trillion which was alleged by Senator Abdul Ningi to have been padded into the 2024 budget, requires proper explanation as to what Nigerians must need to know regarding management of the nation’s, insisting that the suspension of Senator Ningi for three months does not address the issue.
The Labour party chieftain had also expressed his concern over the hunger in the country a few days ago. He raised the alarm that Nigerians were spending all their money on food.
It is commendable of Obi to have stood with the masses at this critical time in the nation’s history and be critical of negative happenings in the country and bad government policies. However, Obi should do more than just criticising. It is said that “a tree cannot make a forest”. Therefore, Obi should galvanise all the law makers both on the national and state levels to tow the same line with him, which should be seen as the position of the Labour Party.
In 2023, there was a revolution in the country. People of all walks of life, of various religions and tribes trouped out in support of the labour party because they believed in Mr Peter Obi. People saw the Labour Party as a needed alternative to the two most populous political parties, PDP and APC. Based on Obi’s personality and popularity, some people who ordinarily would not have won councillorship positions in their communities were elected into state and national assemblies. Many of them won the elections for free, spending no shi shi.
Painfully, after assuming the exalted positions, many of them, especially those in the national assembly seem to have forgotten the masses. It is now business as usual. Among the seven senators and 36 House of Representative members of the Labour Party in the National Assembly, which one of them has moved a strong motion about the hardship currently being faced by the masses and how to address it? How many of them stood by Senator Ningi on the budget padding revelation? What out the exotic cars distributed to them, how many of them advised that they should go for less expensive cars and the excess money channelled into developmental projects? It has become a case of one not talking while on the dining table, right?
Obi should be able to organise his party to form a formidable opposition and a party that does things differently, a party that stands with the people. If the labour party elected political office holders carry on the way they have done since they came into office, they will keep de-marketing their party, forgetting that 2027 is just around the corner.
Ngozi Omeje,
Umuahia, Abia State.
Discordant Tunes On Minimum Wage
I have followed the discussion on the proposed new minimum wage with keen interest and I just hope the leadership of the organised labour will be firm enough to represent the workers and refuse to fall prey to the ploy to disunite them.
It is disheartening seeing workers come up with different amounts as the proposed minimum wage. While the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, demanded that South-West states should pay N794,000 the Trade Union Congress, TUC, asked for N447,000. Similarly, workers in the Federal Capital Territory demanded N709,000, while their counterparts in the North-West clamoured for N485,000.
This idea of singing in discordant tunes is not good for strong unionism. I recall my days as a civil servant in Ibadan, Oyo state. That was during the time of Adams Oshiomhole as the National President of the NLC. The labour union was a force to be reckoned with and whenever the workers barked, the government caught cold. The increase in workers’ wages was fought for as body. There was nothing like federal workers going to the left and the state workers going to the right. Of course then, in 2000, the TUC did not exist as a separate body. The entire workers spoke in unison.
Yes, the states did reserve the right to say whether they can pay the national minimum wage or not but the national body of the NLC was carried along in the negotiation. Please, the NLC and TUC should come together and present a common front in the new minimum wage quest and ensure that workers in the states also get a fair deal. If not, some of the greedy governors will continue to subject the workers to hardship.
Pa Micheal Adeniran,
Rumuogba Housing Estate, Port Harcourt.
Akpabio’s Unguarded Comment
“Today, he’s responding to a remark by the Governor that has nothing to do with him. The opposition is urging the Senate president to be mindful of his utterances. How can he turn the burial of late Access Bank CEO, Herbert Wigwe, wife and first son, such a sad moment, to a political attack?. It’s disappointing. That’s political recklessness taken too far. We, the opposition parties, won’t tolerate such utterances anymore if it continues.”
Above was the response of a member of the House of Representatives and Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, to the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, unguarded remark on Gov. Siminalayi Fubara’s comment during the burial of the late Access Holdings Plc GCEO, Herbert Wigwe, wife and first son last weekend.
It is hoped that Akpabio will heed to the advice and learn how to talk in public. Tracing his character as a public servant and political office holder in various capacities over the years, one would notice that the senate president lacks the act of public speaking and carriage.
Was it not recently that he announced that the clerk of the house had sent money to each of the senators’ personal account for their holiday enjoyment only to be called to other and he changed it to ”In order to allow you to enjoy your holiday, the senate president has sent prayers to your mailboxes to assist you to go on a safe journey and return.” What about the “honourable minister off your mic” shameful display.
Whoever wants to die seeking public/political office should go ahead but leave our dear governor alone.
Loveth Opusunju
Minima, Opobo, Rivers State.
Featured
Fubara Promises Rivers Support For Wigwe Varsity …Cautions Political Class On Power Tussle
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has promised the state government’s commitment to supporting Wigwe University.
Fubara disclosed this on Saturday after the funeral service of the late Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe, in Isiokpo, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Wigwe, alongside his wife, Doreen, and son, Chizzy, died in a helicopter crash in California near the Nevada border, United States of America.
Also involved in the crash was the Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, Abimbola Ogunbanjo.
The governor said, “I want to say our brother has finished his work, though short. We, as a government, will do everything with the Wigwe Foundation to immortalise one thing.
“It is not the bank, the bank might have a new identity, a new boss to run it, other ventures will also have their names; but one thing that has his name is Wigwe University.
“We will do everything within our power to make sure the dream will continue to live just as he has planned it.”
Fubara questioned the mourners as to why they kept chasing worldly desires, stressing the significance of impacting lives rather than struggling for power.
“This one has to do with the political class, what is all these struggle all about? You want to kill, you want to bury, what is it all about?
“This is a man who was not a politician, he made his money through our investments, he had the world in his palm financially, he controlled even the political classes; but today, with all the power financially couldn’t control life. Is it not enough to ask ourselves why are we struggling? Why are we not making an impact on the lives of our people?” he queried.
Dignitaries present at the funeral service include the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio; Chairman, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria , Sanusi Lamido; Governors Alex Otti (Abia) Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), and Babajide Sawwo-Olu (Lagos).
Other dignitaries are former governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Peter Obi (Anambra), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Bukola Saraki (Kwarra), and James Ibori (Delta), among others.
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