News
APC Leadership Crisis Shifts To Appeal Court
The leadership crisis rocking the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) has shifted to Court of Appeal where the Abuja division of the court will today commence hearing in an appeal by the embattled National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
In the appeal, Oshiomhole is seeking, among others, the reversal of his suspension by a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Justice Danlami Senchi, had in an interlocutory ruling last Wednesday, ordered among others, that Oshiomhole should desist from parading himself as the APC chairman.
The Court of Appeal’s Registry communicated the hearing date to parties via hearing notices sent to them earlier this week.
The appeal which is predicated on four grounds is contesting the ruling of Justice Senchi stating that he erred in law and arrived at a wrong conclusion, which occasioned a miscarriage of justice by placing him on suspension at an interlocutory stage of a suit instituted against him by some aggrieved members of the party.
Oshiomhole also argued that the High Court further erred in law when it decided that he, in the performance of his duties as APC national chairman, would interfere in the court action filed against him by the aggrieved members.
He argued that the issue of duties as APC national chairman is a matter which arose from substantive issues for determination and claim and ought not to have been determined at the interlocutory stage of the main matter.
Oshiomhole claimed that the trial judge erred in law and arrived at a wrong conclusion, which occasioned a miscarriage when after ordering the filing of pleadings and immediately set down motion for interlocutory injunction for hearing in the absence of pleadings.
He further faulted the suspension order against him on the grounds that the trial court determined the motion for interlocutory injunction without recourse to triable issues, which ought to have been discerned from pleadings.
Respondents in the appeal are: APC National Vice Chairman (North-East) Mustapha Saliu, Edo State APC Chairman, Anselm Ojezua, Alhaji Sani Gomna, Mr Oshawo Stephen, Mr. Fani Wabulari and Mr. Princewill Ejogharado.
Others are the Inspector General of Police and the State Security Service.
However, the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has blasted Nigerian politicians already warming up for 2023.
Tinubu, in a statement commended the Lagos, Ogun and Federal Governments for their quick response in tackling the dreaded COVID-19 disease but noted that another virus, more deadly than the Coronavirus was already eating deep into the society.
The former Lagos Government identified the new illness as “old ambition-virus 2023,” adding that it afflicts many in the political class along with their allies in the media.
According to Tinubu, those touched by this illness find that their ability to tell time and discern the difference between the present and the future has been strongly impaired.
He added, “Due to early responses of Lagos and Ogun state governments, actively supported by the federal machinery, Nigeria was able to quickly identify and isolate the two cases of the novel Coronavirus 19.
“This action, thus far, has stopped the spread of the disease into the wider community as has been seen in other nations. We are grateful to God and to all those involved in the response effort, particularly the brave and committed medical teams on the frontline.
“While Corona has been presently contained in Nigeria, we must be alert to another sickness that seems rampant within a certain segment of society. That sickness is old Ambition-virus 2023.
“This illness afflicts many in the political class along with their allies in the media. Those touched by this malady find that their ability to tell time and discern the difference between the present and the future has been strongly impaired.
“The carriers of this sickness are confused as to the very season our nation now finds itself. They conflate things which no sensible person would conflate.
“The primary symptom of their malady is the driving tendency to believe the events of 2023 will be decided before we even exit the year 2020.
“Consequently, everything they say and do is geared toward obsessive jockeying for position to control and manipulate a race still three years away. In doing so, they recklessly undermine the very party which they claim to serve and weaken the administration of President Buhari to which they claim to be loyal.
“They line up to run a race for which the track has not yet been constructed. Put another way, they seek to pluck the fruit before the seed is planted. As such, their actions border on the pathological. True, ambition is inherent in human endeavour. Without it, nothing great is achieved.
“However, strong ambition applied in the wrong way has never done anything positive. At best, it results in confusion. Usually, its results in something worse. No matter how great one’s ambition and how able one may be, nobody can rush or speed time.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 1.63 million pills of tramadol concealed in two long trailers heading for Kano as it intensified efforts to dismantle a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor.
The agency also arrested an 80-year-old suspected drug dealer in Rivers State, a businesswoman linked to cannabis shipments from Canada, a Chadian woman, a couple and other suspects in coordinated operations across Lagos, Edo, Kogi and Rivers states.
The NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement, yesterday.
According to the statement, the latest intelligence-led operation came barely one week after NDLEA operatives recovered 558,900 pills of tramadol concealed in the false-bottom compartment of a truck that entered Lagos through the Togo-Benin Republic route.
Babafemi said, “Ongoing efforts to dismantle a transnational drug trafficking syndicate smuggling tramadol from Togo, through Benin Republic into Nigeria have yielded another success with the interception of two long trailers used to move One Million Six Hundred and Thirty (1,630,000) pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in fabricated compartments of the trucks across multiple borders into Lagos.”
He added that one of the two trailers was intercepted on July 2 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where operatives recovered 853,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor.
Babafemi said, “One of the two trucks already heading to Kano was tracked and located on 2nd July 2026 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway where NDLEA officers recovered 853,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor of the trailer and arrested the 22-year-old driver Jabir Kabiru.”
He further disclosed that another trailer was intercepted two days later on the same route.
“Two days later, 4th July, NDLEA operatives acting on processed intelligence successfully tracked and recovered the second trailer from the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway while heading to Kano. A total of 777,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor of the truck were evacuated and the 22-year-old driver Muhammed Nuhu arrested,” the statement read.
According to Babafemi, investigations established a link between the three intercepted consignments.
He said, “Investigations revealed that all three trucks and consignments intercepted on 21st June, 2nd July and 4th July belong to the same transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria axis.”
The agency also intercepted 4.70 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
Babafemi said, “Two consignments of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, with a combined weight of 4.70 kilograms have been intercepted at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos. The cargoes, which arrived the Lagos airport from Canada in cartons with ‘Odugwu’ boldly written on them, came aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights on 24th June and 3rd July respectively.”
He said two cargo agents, Ali Rotimi Samson and Orimolade Oluwagbenga, were initially arrested in connection with the shipments, while another suspect, Edeh Onyeamachi Stanislus, was apprehended after arriving at a logistics company to take delivery of the consignments.
The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction has denied claims that it has commenced registration for a purported ?50,000 National Support Allowance.
The ministry, in a public notice posted on its official X handle, yesterday, described messages, links and websites advertising the alleged programme as fraudulent.
It urged Nigerians to disregard such claims and verify information only through official government channels.
“The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction has NOT commenced registration for any ?50,000 National Support Allowance,” the ministry said.
It added, “Disregard fraudulent messages, links and websites claiming otherwise. Verify any info only through official govt channels.”
The alert is in response to a circulating scam flyer that falsely claims the program is ongoing under President Bola Tinubu’s directives.
The fake advertisement, which includes text in Hausa and English, directs victims to a suspicious website (kluspz.com) for applications.
The ministry’s warning comes amid heightened concerns over digital fraud targeting vulnerable populations seeking social support.
Similar scams have previously surfaced around programs like N-Power, prompting questions from citizens in replies to the official post.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has expressed its preparedness for a major national struggle for a comprehensive review of the national minimum wage.
NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, hinted at this while making his remarks at the commissioning of the Comrade Godwin Abumisi Pensioners Legacy House and Multipurpose Hall in Abuja.
Ajaero said it is no longer acceptable to discuss the welfare of workers without also discussing the welfare of those who have completed their active years of service.
He advised workers and pensioners to get prepared for the ideological and economic battles that lie ahead.
According to the NLC president, “The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) is one of the proud affiliates of the Nigeria Labour Congress. Therefore, your struggle is our struggle, and your welfare remains a priority for the organised labour movement.
“We are currently in the preparatory stages for a major national struggle for a comprehensive review of the national minimum wage.
“However, let me state unequivocally that it is no longer acceptable to discuss the welfare of workers without also discussing the welfare of those who have completed their active years of service.
“Accordingly, the Nigeria Labour Congress will not only push for a new national minimum wage but will also demand the establishment of a national minimum pension. It is a historical injustice that men and women who devoted their youth, strength and productive years to the service of this nation should be condemned to live below the poverty line after retirement.”
Ajaero noted that the cost of living has risen astronomically as food, healthcare and transportation have become increasingly unaffordable.
“We cannot continue to allow our senior citizens to survive on pensions that have become poverty wages. Every retiree deserves to live with dignity after decades of faithful service to the nation,” he said.
He urged pensioners across the country to remain united and prepared as the process begins, adding: “This Legacy House should not merely be seen as a physical structure; it should become a centre for mobilisation, strategic engagement and solidarity as we prepare for the struggles ahead.”
The NLC president pointed out that the working class has always understood that “those who exploit workers are united in advancing their interests. We too must remain united in defending our collective interests and ensuring that government fulfils its obligations to both serving workers and retirees.”
He urged pensioners across the country to remain united and prepared as the process begins, adding: “This Legacy House should not merely be seen as a physical structure; it should become a centre for mobilisation, strategic engagement and solidarity as we prepare for the struggles ahead.”
The NLC president pointed out that the working class has always understood that “those who exploit workers are united in advancing their interests. We too must remain united in defending our collective interests and ensuring that government fulfils its obligations to both serving workers and retirees.”
He said the completion of the project should serve as a clarion call to all workers and lovers of the masses.
“We must not only build physical structures but also build a strong movement capable of compelling government to honour its commitments,” he said.
Ajaero further stated: “We will continue to demand the immediate payment of all outstanding pension arrears and the implementation of a pension regime that guarantees every retiree a life of dignity and security.
“Together, we shall continue to fight until every Nigerian worker and pensioner receives the justice, respect and welfare they deserve.”
-
News2 days agoRivers NUJ Seeks Recruitment Into State Media Houses …Urges Govt To Reposition Public Service
-
News2 days agoFamily Seeks Police Help As Woman Goes Missing After Fleeing Female Circumcision Threat
-
Oil & Energy2 days agoNCDMB Partner Renaissance To Train 300 Youths On oil, gas Skills
-
News2 days agoNDLEA Intercepts 1.63m Tramadol Pills, Arrests 80-Year-Old Suspect
-
News2 days agoUphold Principles Of Dev, Rivers SSG Charges Tertiary Institutions
-
News2 days agoNigeria Hosts World Public Relations Forum Sept …As Experts Seek Inclusion Of PR In Decision Making
-
Oil & Energy2 days agoRivers Senator Faults NNPCL Over Repeated Absence From Crude Theft Probe
-
Oil & Energy2 days agoLocal Crude Shortage Crippling Nigerian Refineries – MAN