Politics
RSG Warns Against Blockade Of NDDC Gate
Rivers State Government has warned that it would no longer condone situations where some protesting youths of the Niger Delta region would block the gate of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) headquarters in Port Harcourt over frivolous agitations.
The state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, who gave the warning last Tuesday when the new Interim Management Committee paid him a courtesy visit in Government House, Port Harcourt, said such protests were commonly carried out by youths from certain ethnic group who thought that the Commission belonged to them.
The Governor expressed dismay that such protests frustrated socio-economic activities in the state.
The Governor said: “ NDDC does not belong to any ethnic group in the Niger Delta region. It doesn’t belong to anybody. There are people who have seen themselves that they are the owners of NDDC. They leave their state and come to NDDC to block gate. We are peaceful people, but nobody should push us to the point where we can tell you enough is enough.
“The next time they try it again, to cause crisis in our state, l ‘ll mobilise our people against them. I am not saying if you have grievance with NDDC you should not seek how to settle it. But don’t use it to cause problem for us, to begin to make economic activities not to move on”.
The Governor challenged the Interim Management Committee to make a difference by focusing on the core mandate of developing the region.
Another major event in Brick House last week was the official presentation of letter nominating Governor Wike as the 2020 Extra Ordinary Personality of the Year Award by the management of Silverbird Group. Silverbird Creative Development Manager, Mr Jacob Akinyemi Johnson,who presented the Nomination Letter, said the Governor’s nomination was as a result of the projects he embarked upon and his fearlessness.
Johnson said : “ Your boldness made you the first prominent Nigerian to raise the alarm over the atrocities of the now disbanded SARS. And you also spoke against the politicisation of security. Now your forthrightness in telling the truth to power, including the presidency when you think things are going wrong is worthy of emulation”.
Commenting on Projects, Johnson said: “ You promised on the day you were sworn in for second term that you will work for Rivers State people to the very last day and you are living up to that task.
The Rivers State Governor thanked the management of Silverbird for the honour bestowed on him and the people of Rivers State.
He restated that his administration would continue to deliver developmental projects and improve the well-being of Rivers people till the very last day of his tenure.
Also within the week under review, Governor Wike was in Yola, the Adamawa State capital to inspect some projects embarked upon by his Adamawa State counterpart, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri.
Governor Wike, after inspecting the Greater Interchange and Underpass said he was impressed with the developmental strides of the Adamawa State Governor.
Governor Wike stated that with the overwhelming infrastructural development taking place in all the PDP states, which Nigerians could attest to, it would be impossible for the PDP not to win the 2023 general elections.
Also last week in Brick House, Governor Wike described as false, an article which was published in Guardian , with the headline, “ Tinubu Cannot See Presidency Gate In 2023”, and attributed to him.
The Rivers State Governor said, though it was true that he granted press interview to newsmen after projects inspection in Yola, but that questions asked, ranged from the purpose of his visit, the prospects of the PDP winning the 2023 general elections and Nigeria’s rating in the global corruption index which was recently published by Transparency International, and nothing to do with Chief Bola Tinubu.
A release by Gov Wike’s Special Assistant on Media , Kelvin Ebiri, stated that irrespective of political affiliation, Gov Wike has enormous respect for Chief Tinubu and would never say or do anything to malign the reputation of the elder statesman, describing the said report as mischievous.
By: Chris Oluoh
Politics
Senegal: Faye Set To Become Youngest Elected African President As Rival Concedes Defeat
Senegalese politician, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, (44), is set to become the youngest elected leader on the African continent.
While Faye’s main rival, Amadou Ba, from the ruling coalition had said a run-off might happen to determine the winner, at least five of the 19 candidates in the race had issued statements to congratulate Faye as of early Monday.
“For our part, and considering the feedback of the results from our team of experts, we are certain that, in the worst case scenario, we will go to a run-off,” Ba, a former Senegalese Prime Minister, had said.
But as Faye’s lead got wider, Ba called to concede victory in Sunday’s presidential elections, BBC quoted a government official to have said.
Faye’s lead had spurred his followers to troop out in celebration on the streets of the capital, Dakar, on Sunday.
Reports revealed that millions took part in a peaceful day of voting to elect Senegal’s fifth president after three years of unprecedented political turbulence that triggered violent anti-government protests and bolstered support for the opposition.
Faye is a Senegalese politician and a former tax inspector, who also served as the General Secretary of dissolved PASTEF.
He contested the highest political position in the West African country in place of disqualified candidate Ousmane Sonko.
Senegalese voters had a choice among 19 contenders to replace Sall, who is stepping down after a second term marred by unrest over the prosecution of opposition leader Sonko.
The incumbent was not on the ballot for the first time in Senegal’s history. His ruling coalition picked Ba, 62, as its candidate.
In a country of over 18 million people, 7.3 million people were registered to vote, and about 71 percent voter turnout was recorded, Senegal’s State TV reported.
Politics
Writing Judgment For Presidential Election Tribunal Allegation, FG Arraigns One
The Federal Government has arraigned one Chike Ibezim for allegedly defaming Babatunde Fashola, former Minister of Works and Housing.
Ibezim is one of three individuals who alleged that Fashola had written the judgments of the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) that dismissed the petitions by the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ibezim was arraigned on Monday before a federal high court in Abuja on a six-count charge.
The charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/434/2023, borders on criminal conspiracy, cyberstalking, and defamation, among others.
The matter is before Bolaji Olajuwon and has been adjourned till April 15 for continuation of trial.
Count one of the charges reads: “That you Ibezim Chike Victor, male with Jackson Udeh, Nnamdi Emmanuel Ibezim and Reportera.ng (body corporate) now at large on or about 05/08/2023 at Abuja, did commit an illegal Act to wit: criminal conspiracy; when you jointly agreed to publish a defamatory statement of false allegations in your online social media, the reportera.ng news, against His Excellency Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, CON, without justification, you thereby commit offence punishable under Section 27(1)(b) of the Cyber-crime Prohibition, Prevention Act 2015.”
However, Fashola said the allegation was “baseless and defamatory”.
The former minister described those behind the allegations as “agents of destabilisation”.
Politics
Soludo’s Performance Assessment, APGA Tackles LP Chieftain
The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has faulted a chieftain of the Labour Party (LP), Valentine Ozigbo, over his comments that the performance of Anambra State governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, after two years in office, was “not impressive.”
Mr Ozigbo, who was the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2021 Anambra State governorship election, now a chieftain of the LP, stated during an interactive session with journalists last weekend that he was not impressed about Governor Soludo’s performance and has therefore decided to contest the 2025 governorship election in the state.
He said, “We have seen the leadership of Soludo in two years, and some of you may be impressed, but I am not. After the last election in 2021, I called and wished him well and moved on, and we have never spoken again. My decision was to assess him after two years, and having seen it, I am not impressed, and I want to start holding him accountable.
“I am here to share my thoughts with you, what I think, and no matter how you see what he (Soludo) is doing, you will be more proud when I mount the saddle.
“We need to change the narrative and look for a way to survive. We must fight to rescue Anambra. I am a non-transactional politician. I have several things I can do, but my worry is how we can recover the state and put her on the path of development.
“Zoning is a good thing. But it must be combined with competence to make sense. Don’t pick a renegade just because he is from a certain zone, and don’t pick the best, when you know you can pick one that is better.”
Mr Ozigbo said further, “I respect zoning, and I will be making a case for a single term of four years. Anyone who sees what Alex Otti is doing in Abia State will know that four years is enough time to do a lot of work.
“I will honour that principle of zoning, and I will not need anyone’s push or prompting to do otherwise. I will be ready to do an agreement and do an undertaking that I will do just one term. I also wish to tell you that Peter Obi has been consistent that a southerner who emerges will only do one term.
“It is a settled matter that I intend to run for just one term. I intend to keep faith with the agreement.”
But reacting to the development in a telephone interview with The Tide’s source on Monday, APGA spokesman, Tony Olisa-Mbeki, dismissed Mr Ozigbo’s utterances, insisting he has nothing to offer the people of the state.
Mr Olisa-Mbeki said, “He is a political stooge. What could he possibly bring in? Last I checked, he only managed Transcorp Hotel. Is that a qualification to be a governor in Anambra State? Soludo runs an inclusive government in Anambra; that is why he holds town hall meetings with different sectors. What other approach to governance is Ozigbo talking about?
“Anambra State governance is not for learners like Ozigbo. Ozigbo can’t even give a good lecture; he would be better suited working as a PA to any governor. Ozigbo’s aspirations in the previous gubernatorial contest in Anambra found him trailing in third place under the banner of the PDP, despite the staunch endorsement from former APGA governor, Peter Obi.
“That alone should tell him that APGA is like an apostle’s creed to Ndi Anambra. However, what reforms could Ozigbo propose? Anambra State, under Governor Soludo’s leadership, is a testament to political and socio-economic ingenuity.”
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