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No Other Party’ll Occupy Govt House In 2023, Akawor Boasts … As PDP Receives More APC Returnees
As the gale of defection continues to hit the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Amb Desmond Akawor, last Tuesday, received two set of decampees from the APC to the PDP.
While one group from Okrika Local Government led by the Chairman of the party in the area, Hon Fred Obah had returnees from Wards 2 and 5, including former Chairman of Okrika LGA, Hon Godwin Tamuno, and former Head of Primary Health Care in the state, Dr Claribel Abam; the other group led by the member representing PHALGA Constituency 2, Tonye Adoki, consisted of Wards and LGA executives from the constituency.
Receiving the groups at the state party secretariat in Port Harcourt, Akawor commended them for taking a wise decision to return to their original base, saying that coming at a transition time when they would contribute to the installation of a new government was not only apt but timely.
The PDP chairman, who told the returnees that there was no new member in the party, assured that henceforth they would be regarded as bona-fide members of the PDP.
“The decision you have taken is the right one because come 2023 nobody who is not PDP will enter Brick House, and I believe you have come back to join us to make the new government come into Brick House so that you will not be called a new person”, Akawor added.
He opined that the reason for joining politics which is to change their environment was not achieved in the APC, hence their decision to return to where the needs of the messes were being met.
The PDP chairman said a formal reception would be organised for them, and urged the leadership of the party in Okrika to fix a date for the ceremony.
Earlier, the member representing Port Harcourt Constituency 2 in the state House of Assembly, Hon Smart Adoki, had said the returnees who were in their hundreds, had the capacity to work for the success of the party in the area.
In his response, former Chairman of OkrikaLocal Government, Hon Godwin Tamuno, said he and other returnees had come to work for the victory of the PDP Governorship candidate, Sir SimFubara, bragging that by their defection to the PDP, there was no more APC in Okrika.
On her part, ClaribelAbam, who expressed joy over leaving the APC, said she would bring her wealth of experience to work in ensuring the success of the party in Okrika in every ramification.
Highpoint of the visit was the symbolic issuance of PDP membership cards to Godwin Tamuno and ClaribelAbam to signal their full readmission into the PDP family.
Other party executive officers present at the meeting were the Deputy Chairman, Hon Chukwuemeka Aaron; Secretary of the party, Dr Benibo George; Treasurer, Barrister Blessing Amadi; Publicity Secretary, Hon TambariGbara; and the Assistant Secretary 2, SuleAmakiri.
In a similar development, another set of decampees from PHALGA also returned to the PDP from APC, in Port Harcourt, last Wednesday.
The historic and colourful event, which took place at the Information Centre, Number 5Field in Port Harcourt City, was graced by some members of the state PDP Executive, including the state Chairman, Amb Desmond Akawor; the Deputy Chairman, Hon Chukwuemeka Aaron; the state Secretary, Dr Benibo George; and the state Treasurer and House of Reps candidate for Port Harcourt Constituency 1, Barrister Blessing Amadi.
Also on hand to receive the APC deserters were the party’s candidate for Rivers East Senatorial District, Chief AllwellOnyesoh; the House of Reps candidate for Port Harcourt Constituency 2, Hon ChimaBoms; the House of Assembly member and candidate for Port Harcourt Constituency 2, Hon Smart Adoki; the Chairman of PHALGA, Hon AllwellIhunda; the chairman of PDP in Port Harcourt City, among others.
Speaking while receiving the decampees, PDP Chairman, Amb Desmond Akawor, reiterated that there was no discrimination between old and new members in the PDP, contending that new members have equal status with their old counterparts.
The PDP chairman also assured them that nobody who has returned to the party had been left out in the scheme of things, stressing that everyone had been carried along.
Buttressing an instance of non-discrimination in the PDP, Akawor said one of their former party members, Chief AllwellOnyesoh, who left the APC sometime back, was today a senatorial candidate of the PDP.
While advising them to talk to those who were still undecided to take that bold and decisive step, he contended that broom which was the symbol of the APC was used in those days in the Diobu area and old Port Harcourt township by night soil men to pack faeces, noting that it was dishonourable for decent people to carry brooms up and down.
Akawor, who described their action as symbolic, urged them to get their PVCs ready to be able to use it to punish the APC at the polls in 2023.
Earlier, stakeholders of the party in the constituency, including Chief AllwellOnyesoh; Deputy Chairman of PDP, Hon Chukwuemeka Aaron; House of Representatives candidates for PHALGA Constituency 1 and 2, HonChimaBoms;state Treasurer and House of Reps candidate for Port Harcourt Constituency 1, Barrister Blessing Amadi; Mayor of Port Harcourt City, AllwellIhunda; House of Assembly candidate for Port Harcourt Constituency 2, Hon Smart Adoki; PDP chairman in the area, among others, welcomed the decampees, and enjoined them to be ready for the task ahead.
Speaking on behalf of the decampees, former APC State Organising Secretary, Mrs Gloria Nunju; former House of Assembly aspirant for PHALGA Constituency 2,Tonye Napoleon; and Sunday Okiri; affirmed their loyalty, commitment and readiness to work for PDP, pledging to use their PVCs to punish the APC for deceiving them.
They also expressed happiness to be back to the PDP, which they described as “home coming”.
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.”
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