Politics

Tallen Explains Withdrawal From Senatorial Race

Published

3 years ago

May 18, 2022

Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, has explained that she never planned to run for the senatorial seat in Plateau State in the coming elections but for the withdrawal of her representative who happens to be a female, Prof Nora Ladi Daduut, who stepped down as a result of threats to life.
She gave the explanation on Monday, during a hybrid event, ‘Partnership for goals: Advancing the gender agenda for sustainable development; A High-Level Convergence by Pathfinder International in partnership with She Forum Africa to deepen awareness and build momentum for gender equality.
According to the minister, the female senator from her senatorial zone has survived three life-threatening attacks and has been receiving constant threats to back out of her race.
She said, “I have a sitting female senator. All I wanted was for her to continue. We have only eight women out of 109, my own senator from my senatorial zone is a woman, she is doing very well, and I’m fully ready to support her.”
While lamenting what she termed as political violence against women, the minister stated that her nomination form was picked for her by a group of women, adding that she had no hand in its procurement.
According to her, “a lot of things were put into consideration. There was an outcry of women from all the 35 states. I don’t want to be selfish but I was fighting for a just cause.
I did not on my own come out to pick the form. Because I have no reason to even say I will contest for the Senate when my senator, who is a female m representing me is already in the Senate. I wanted her to continue.
“But she has been harassed. And so much fear has been put in her. Her life has been threatened three times. She has backed down because she has to live to see her children, her life must continue. That was what led the woman in my constituency to contribute money and pick the form for me. Since I represent the women, I could not let them down. I honoured their request. Mr President was out of the country then and we were time-bound because we had only two or three days to submit the form, that was done.
“But I’m sure you are aware that Mr President called for a meeting on Friday, where we discussed all these issues. At the end of the meeting, it was clear that the matter will be looked into as I’m talking to you now I’m going in for another meeting. The matter will be looked into. I know Mr President is a true father, the national chairman of our party, is also looking into it to ensure fairness.”
Tallen said even though she was not desperate to contest, she wants more seats for women.
She said: “if the Senate seat is being denied of a woman in my state and other states, women should be compensated with two or three more seats in the Federal House, House of Assembly and local government. So it is not about Pauline Tallen but is about women.”
“My own senator, the senator from Rivers State has been denied ticket, the only senator from North-East, who is the best candidate for the Governor in Adamawa is not coming back to the Senate, our sister Remi Tinubu her husband is going for presidential office so she cannot contest. Looking at the number of the remaining four, how are we sure they will return. Our governors are pushing them out because the Senate is becoming retirement ground, it is time for action.”
Speaking on the event, she said gender equality was the fastest way to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, adding that gender equality must start from the home.

Politics

INEC Denies Registering New Political Parties

Published

1 day ago

June 20, 2025

The Tide

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has not registered any new political parties.

The commission gave the clarification in a statement on its X (formerly Twitter) handle last Wednesday.

It described the purported report circulated by some online social media platforms on the registration of two new political parties by INEC as fake.

“The attention of INEC has been drawn to a fake report making the rounds about the registration of two new political parties, namely “Independent Democrats (ID)” and “Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM)”.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the commission has not yet registered any new party. The current number of registered political parties in Nigeria is 19 and nothing has been added,” it stated.

The commission recalled that both ID and PDM were registered as political parties in August 2013.

INEC further recalled that the two were deregistered in February 2020 in accordance with Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The commission, therefore, urged the public to disregard the said report.

Politics

You Weren’t Elected To Bury People, Tinubu Tells Alia

Published

1 day ago

June 20, 2025

The Tide

President Bola Tinubu has asked Governor Hyacinth Alia to work more for peace and development of Benue State, saying he was elected to govern, not to bury people.

The President said this while addressing stakeholders at the Government House, Markudi, last Wednesday.

He also called on the governor to set up a peace committee to address some of the issues in the state.

The meeting included the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, traditional rulers, and former governors of the state.

The governors of Kwara, Imo, Kogi, Plateau, Ondo, and Nasarawa states also attended the meeting.

“Let us meet again in Abuja. Let’s fashion out a framework for lasting peace. I am ready to invest in that peace. I assure you, we will find peace. We will convert this tragedy into prosperity,” he said.

President Tinubu urged Governor Alia to allocate land for ranching and directed the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security to follow up.

“I wanted to come here to commission projects, to reassure you of hope and prosperity, not to see gloomy faces. But peace is vital to development.

“The value of human life is greater than that of a cow. We were elected to govern, not to bury people”, he stressed.

He charged Governor Alia on working with the Federal Government to restore peace.

“Governor Alia, you were elected under the progressive banner to ensure peace, stability, and progress. You are not elected to bury people or comfort widows and orphans. We will work with you to achieve that peace. You must also work with us”, he said.

In his remarks, Governor Alia appealed to the Federal Government to establish a Special Intervention Fund for communities affected by repeated violent attacks across the state.

“Your Excellency, while we continue to mourn our losses and rebuild from the ashes of pain, we humbly urge the Federal Government to consider establishing a special intervention fund for communities affected by these incessant attacks in Benue State,” he said.

Governor Alia said the fund would support the rehabilitation of displaced persons, reconstruction of destroyed homes and infrastructure, and the restoration of livelihoods, especially for farmers.

He reiterated his support for establishing state police as a lasting solution to insecurity.

The governor pledged his administration’s full commitment to building a safe, stable, prosperous Benue State.

Also speaking at the meeting, the Chairman of the Benue State Traditional Rulers Council, Tor Tiv, Orchivirigh, Prof. James Ayatse, praised President Tinubu for being the first sitting President to personally visit victims in the hospital in the wake of such a tragedy.

He thanked the President for appointing notable Benue indigenes into key positions, including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Professor Joseph Utsev, while expressing hope that more appointments would follow.

Politics

Gowon Explains Why Aburi Accord Failed

Published

2 days ago

June 20, 2025

The Tide

Former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (ret’d), says the Aburi accord collapsed because Chukwuemeka Ojukwu wanted regional governors to control military zones.

Gen. Gowon was Nigeria’s military ruler from 1966 until 1975 when he was deposed in a bloodless coup while Ojukwu was military governor of the then Eastern Region in that span.

In a live television interview recently, Gen. Gowon narrated what transpired after the agreement was reached in Aburi, a town in Ghana.

The meeting that led to the accord took place from January 4 to 5, 1967, with delegates from both sides of the divide making inputs.

The goal was to resolve the political impasse threatening the country’s unity.

The point of the agreement was that each region should be responsible for its own affairs.

During the meeting, delegates arrived at certain resolutions on control and structure of the military. However, the exact agreement reached was the subject of controversy.

The failure of the Aburi accord culminated in Nigeria’s civil war, which lasted from July 6, 1967, to January 15, 1970.

Speaking on what transpired after the agreement, Gen. Gowon said the resolutions should have been discussed further and finalised.

The ex-military leader said he took ill after arriving in Nigeria from Aburi and that Ojukwu went on to make unauthorised statements about the accord.

Gen. Gowon said he did not know where Ojukwu got his version of the agreement from.

“We just went there (Aburi), as far as we were concerned, to meet as officers and then agree to get back home and resolve the problem at home. That was my understanding. But that was not his (Ojukwu) understanding,” he said.

Gen. Gowon said Ojukwu declined the invitation, citing safety concerns.

“I don’t know what accord he (Ojukwu) was reading because he came to the meeting with prepared papers of things he wanted. And, of course, we discussed them one by one, greed on some and disagreed on some.

“For example, to give one of the major issues, we said that the military would be zoned, but the control… He wanted those zones to be commanded by the governor.

“When you have a military zone in the north, it would be commanded by the governor of the military in the north, the military zone in the east would be commanded by him. Of course, we did not agree with that one”, Gen. Gowon added.

Ojukwu died on November 26, 2011 at the age of 78.