Nedu Echianu's Blog

The All Progressives Congress National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Sunday justified his support for Babajide Sanwo -Olu as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress instead of the incumbent Akinwunmi Ambode. He said he is not supporting Ambode because he ignored the blueprint for progress in Lagos State, thus contravening the spirit of progressive governance. It was Tinubu ’s first statement over the controversy stirred by the APC chiefs and entrenched interest groups in ditching Ambode for the second term. And it came on the eve of the governorship primary slated for Monday. Tinubu totally ignored the concerns raised earlier at a world press conference by Ambode about the party ’s anointed candidate: Sanwo -Olu being jailed in America for fake US dollars and his spending time at a Lagos rehab centre for mental problems. Tinubu, in his statement, harped on the development master plan his administration bequeathed to the state and lamented how the Ambode

Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Sunday alleged that his opponent in the 2019 governorship race on the platform of the All Progressives Congress is not fit to rule the state. Ambode, who is fighting to return to Alausa come May 2019, addressed a press conference at Government House, Alausa, Ikeja, where he revealed that his challenger was once arrested for spending fake dollars at a nightclub in the US. Throughout his speech, Ambode made no mention of any name even as there were speculations about whom he was talking about. According to TheCable, he said, “We have never responded to the campaign of calumny on social media. We have one family in APC. The aspirant being put up to compete against us is not a fit and proper person to take this job,” he said. “I have done everything in the last three and half years to serve people selflessly and to serve the poor. This particular aspirant is someone who has been arrested for spending fake dollars in a nightclub in America

…Ghanaian Government promises to reopen over 400 shops   Respite is underway for the Nigerian business community in Ghana as the Government of the West African nation promises to reconsider its policy on foreign businesses, which led to the sealing of over 400 Nigerian-owned shops in the Ashanti Region of the country. The former Speaker of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS Parliament, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, gave the indication on his Facebook page, @iamekweremadu, on Sunday, following discussions with the Regional Minister of Ashanti Region, Hon. Simon Osei-Mensah. Ekweremadu, who is also the Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, stressed that the freedom of the peoples of the sub-region to ply their trades in any part of West Africa was central to the prosperity of ECOWAS. It could be recalled that the Government of Ghana had in August this year ordered the sealing of over 400 shops belonging to Nigerians at the expiration of an evictio

The organised labour in the country comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the United Labour Congress (ULC), has suspended its warning strike on a new minimum wage embarked upon on Sept. 26. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the organised labour had embarked on the strike after a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government for failing to come out with its own figure on the new minimum wage. The three labour unions had demanded N65,500 as new minimum wage for workers, while the private employers and some state governors were proposing N25,000. President of the NLC Ayuba Wabba said at a world news conference in Abuja on Sunday that the strike was suspended after government agreed to reconvene the tripartite committee’s meeting on the new minimum wage. Wabba said the meeting, scheduled to reconvene on Oct. 4, would enable the committee to conclude work on the minimum wage after the Federal Government must have given a figure on what it c

Rapper Kanye West is changing his name - to Ye. Announcing the change on Twitter on Saturday, he wrote: "The being formally [sic] known as Kanye West. I am YE." West, 41, has been nicknamed Ye for some time and used the moniker as the title for his eighth album, which was released in June. The change came ahead of his appearance on Saturday Night Live, where he was expected to launch his new album Yandhi. He replaced singer Ariana Grande on the show who cancelled for "emotional reasons", the show's creator said.   As well as being an abbreviation of his current professional name, West has previously said the word has religious significance for him. "I believe 'ye' is the most commonly used word in the Bible, and in the Bible it means 'you,'" West said earlier this year, discussing his album title with radio host Big Boy. He is one of a number of famous rappers to change their name. Sean Combs has been variously known as Puff Daddy,

The minister of communications and a governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Oyo State, Dr. Adebayo Shittu, Saturday, expressed willingness to attend the mandatory National Youths Service Corps, NYSC Scheme if the need arise. Speaking exclusively in an interview with a well known Ibandan-based broadcast journalist , Edmund Obilo, on his programme ‘ State Affairs’ , Shittu averred that he is not Kemi who forged her certificate. His words, “I am not Kemi Adeosun because I didn’t have any forged certificate of exemption. When asked if he would like to serve, Shittu opined, “Of course I will go; it will be a pleasant thing to go after I have been governor by the grace of God,” When Mr Obilo again asked him whether he would like to serve in Daura, he responded in the affirmative. “Whichever camp…it doesn’t matter, Daura is part of Nigeria. “I will serve in any place if it becomes necessary for me to go.” Again, Mr Obilo asked Mr Shittu whether he would serve i

The All Progressives Congress has shifted its governorship primary elections in Lagos and Imo states to Monday. The primaries earlier scheduled to hold on Sunday were shifted in both states for logistic reasons. The National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole said this in Abuja on Saturday while inaugurating the 21 - member National Convention Committee headed by the Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi. Punch

Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Senator Aisha Alhassan, also known as Mama Taraba, has resigned from President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet and from the ruling All Progressives Congress. Alhassan hinged her resignation on her disqualification in the screening for the 2019 Taraba state governorship contest by the APC National Working Committee. Alhassan She said she was axed without any viable or genuine reason. “If I am not good enough to contest elections in the APC, then I feel I am not also qualified to remain a minister in the APC government,” she stated. She thanked the president, her ward executives and other members of the party for the opportunity given her to serve. Aisha Alhassan was the governorship candidate of the APC in the 2015 election in Taraba State. She was the only one disqualified by the NWC out of 12 aspirants slated to run in the primaries scheduled for tomorrow. Aisha Alhassan may however have incurred the wrath of the party when she de

Governor Nyesom Wike has apologised to leaders and presidential aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party for his anti-party outburst on Wednesday. At a National Executive Committee meeting of the party Friday afternoon, the Rivers State governor showed remorse for his comments and assured party leaders he would be more guarded going forward, those who attended the meeting have informed PREMIUM TIMES. “When we demanded apology from him, he apologised and the party has reconciled,” Okwesilieze Nwodo, a former chairman of the PDP who attended the NEC meeting today told PREMIUM TIMES. Mr Nwodo, a former governor of Enugu State, said it was after Mr Wike’s apology that the party went on to have a “unanimous decision” to move the party’s convention for election of presidential candidate to Port Harcourt, at the heart of Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger-Delta. “He apologised at the meeting and promised to refrain from such comments from now on,” another source who was present at the meeting

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his election victory in 2015 was made possible by the ordinary people in the society and boasted that even pregnant women in labour will deliver and still rush to vote for him. He has also accused the elites of turning blind eyes to the alleged looting that took place in sixteen years the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, was in control of the federal government. Speaking while interacting with Nigerian community in the United States of America, on the margins of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Buhari said if re-elected in the 2019 election, to spend another four years, “I will leave some difference in that office.” He expressed regret that the elites allowed Nigeria to be mismanaged for 16 years of PDP rule, without raising a voice in consternation. He stated that “Under the PTF (Petroleum Trust Fund, of which he was Chairman), we did roads from Lagos to Abuja, to Onitsha, to Port Harcourt. Since then, t

Senator Magnus Abe, an All Progressives Congress (APC) Gubernatorial aspirant in Rivers, has threatened to boycott the forthcoming governorship primaries if his party fails to adopt the direct primary system in the state. Abe gave the threat when his faction of the APC held a rally in Bori, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers on Thursday. He said that he would neither participate in the governorship primary nor accept the result if eventually the indirect primary was upheld in the state. Abe, who is also the Senator representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District and leader of the party in the zone, said that the party was planning to deviate from an initial order by its National Executive Committee (NEC). He said that NEC had in a meeting convened by the national chairman of the party, ordered that Rivers and other states with intra-party issues should adopt the direct primaries mode to enable every member participate in the process. “The national chairman of our party had ea

President of the Senate and Chairman, PDP Campaign Council on Osun State Governorship election, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has reiterated that the recently conducted supplementary election in Osun State, was a charade and an embarrassment to Nigeria’s democracy. In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki stated that: “Yesterday, we witnessed another display of the subversion of the will of the Osun people during the re-run gubernatorial elections in the State. The election was characterised by widespread voter intimidation, violence and harassment. Accredited observers were denied access to polling units and duly registered voters were prevented from participating in the electoral process by thugs and compromised security agents.. “Like I said a few days ago, this needless re-run election was only designed as an avenue for the ruling party to perpetrate electoral fraud. The nature of these elections is an embarrassment to our democracy

Two aircraft belonging to the Nigerian Air Force have suffered a mishap in the Katampe area of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on Friday. Reports say the aircraft were taking part in the rehearsals for the 58th Independence Day celebrations when they reportedly collided and a crash was said to have occurred. The number of people injured in the incident could not be ascertained as of the time of this report, as efforts were still ongoing by the military to attend to the situation. The NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, who confirmed the incident, said no lives were lost in the mishap. “I wish to confirm an air incident involving two NAF aircraft taking part in the 58th Independence Day celebrations. Thankfully, no lives were lost,” he said. Punch

Many people are feared killed around Rukuba road near Jos when a late night attack on Thursday led to a reprisal on innocent persons on Friday morning. Daily Trust reports that gunmen stormed the area at night when it was raining and killed about 10 people. Youths in the area today went on reprisal, attacking motorists. It is uncertain how many people were caught up in the skirmish but Operation Safe Haven Media and Information Officer, Major Adam Umar and Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Tyopev Terna said security men were presently on ground. Reports say many shops have closed down and there are people running around town.

President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Governor-elect of Osun State, Adegboyega Oyetola, for winning the keenly contested election. President Buhari in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu in Abuja on Friday, also congratulated the state and the national campaign teams that worked assiduously to guarantee victory at the polls. The president commended the outgoing Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola for eight years of steadfastness and service to the people. He said “thank you Osun State for supporting our good governance agenda by re-electing the APC. “I assure you that we will continue to work for the progress and prosperity of the state and the nation.” The President urged the governor-elect to always remember that the “electorate expect unreserved commitment to delivering results that directly impact their lives and families.’’ Buhari affirmed that the successful election in the

The Federal Government has declared Monday, October 1, 2018, as a public holiday to commemorate Nigeria ’s 58th Independence anniversary. Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd.) announced this in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Mohammed Umar. Dambazau congratulated Nigerians on the anniversary and urged them to sustain the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari ’s administration at “maintaining and strengthening the unity and peace of the country.” He emphasised government ’s commitment to promoting national unity, economic growth, social and political development based on democratic principles. The minister added that in the past 58 years, Nigeria had made a lot of progress and positive impact not only on the lives of its citizens, but also on infrastructure development as well as international relations. Punch

The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) has identified communities in four states and Abuja as locations where major earthquake may likely occur in the country. The Director General of NASRDA, Prof. Seidu Mohammed, disclosed this on the sideline of the second Engr. Brig. Gen. M.O Agu (rtd) Annual Distinguished Lecture in Abuja on Thursday. Prof. Mohammed, who was also the chairman of presidential committee on the Abuja tremor, said Mpape in Abuja, Kwoi in Kaduna, Ijebu-Ode in Ogun, Shaki in Oyo and Igbogene in Bayelsa may likely be the epicentres of major earthquake if precautions were not taken. The erstwhile inactive faults system in the country are gradually becoming active, he said, ‘’which now make earthquake likely’’ in and around the country. A number of incidences in these locations, according to him, is also a pointer to the fact that a big disaster may occur there, calling on the Federal Government to do something fast to avert it. He said analysis

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has released the full list of candidates screened for governorship elections across Nigeria next year. While many of the aspirants were cleared, some like communications minister, Adebayo Shittu, and women affairs minister, Aisha Al-hassan, were disqualified. See full list of the screened aspirants: NATIONAL WORKING COMMITTEE DECISIONS ON GOVERNORSHIP ASPIRANTS SCREENING COMMITTEE REPORT   SOUTH SOUTH Akwa Ibom State S/N NAME DECISION 1.H.E. Obong Nsima Ekere Cleared 2.Sen. John Akpan Udoedeghe, Phd Cleared 3.Dan Abia, Esq.Cleared 4.Dr. Edet Okon Efretui Cleared Delta State S/N NAME DECISION 1.Prof. Pat Utomi Cleared 2.Dr. (Hon). Cairo Ojugbo Cleared 3.Rt. (Hon.) Victor Ochei, Esq. Cleared 4.Chief Great Ovdje Ogboru Cleared 5.Chief Osiobe Eric Okotie Not Cleared Cross River State S/N NAME DECISION 1.Pastor Usani Uguru Usani Cleared 2.Sen. John Owan Enoh Cleared 3.High Chief Edem Duke Cleared 4.J

A major election monitoring group has dismissed Thursday’s re-run election in Osun State as fraudulent and anti-democratic, calling for an immediate investigation into the the roles of government institutions who participated in it. The conduct of security agencies drew the most condemnation and warning from the Centre for Democracy and Development, one of Nigeria’s most respected pro-democracy think-tanks. “In the light of these anti-democratic acts, which have undermined the sanctity of the ballot therefore, we hold strongly the view that the re-run poll of Thursday, September 27, 2018 does not meet up with the minimum standards for free, fair and credible elections,” the CDD said in a statement. “It falls short of global best practices in democratic elections which Nigeria aspires towards.” Results of the re-run election have started trickling in as of 3:30 p.m., after voting centres closed at about 2:00 p.m across the seven polling units identified for the exercise. The In

The Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has rejected the results of the rerun election even before the official announcement. The candidate announced the rejection of the poll results in a statement issued on his behalf by the spokesperson for the Adeleke Campaign Organisation, Mr Olawale Rasheed. The PDP candidate vowed to seek legal redress in court, saying the exercise was brazenly rigged. Adeleke said the PDP supporters were harassed, intimidated and prevented from voting in some of the units while describing the exercise as a sham. The statement read, “We report to the whole world the brazen theft and daylight swindling of Osun people who were criminally denied their rights to vote and be voted for by an anti-people conspiracy among INEC, security agencies and the ruling All Progressive Congress. An unprecedented travesty of justice and the shattering of democratic values are ongoing in Osun state. “The whole world is witnessing a charad

The State Security Service (SSS) has released the Aide De Camp (ADC) to the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha. PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported the arrest of the ADC, Sani Baba-Inna, on Friday last week after Mrs Buhari accused him of fraud. Mrs Buhari said Mr Baba-Inna collected cash gifts totalling N2.5 billion from politicians and businesses over three years but kept it to himself. She asked the police to retrieve the money, and publicly asked persons who may have given money to Mr Baba-Inna to demand same from him. However, police investigations, according to sources in the police, failed to trace such huge amount to the ADC. Dissatisfied, Mrs Buhari reportedly asked the SSS to take over the case. Spokesperson of the service, Peter Afunanya, who confirmed the arrest on Tuesday said investigation was in progress. Mr Baba-Inna’s elder brother, Farouq Baba-Inna, told PREMIUM TIMES Thursday afternoon that he has been released. “He has just been released and I a

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has warned that there will be consequences if the Peoples Democratic Party succumbs to pressures from some “planted presidential aspirants” to move the party’s national convention away from Port Harcourt. Wike also declared that the state would not support any desperate PDP presidential aspirant, who was sabotaging the economy of the state by fighting the hosting of the party’s presidential primary in Port Harcourt. The governor further warned that Rivers people would teach the party a bitter lesson if it (PDP) allowed planted desperate presidential aspirants to scuttle the hosting of the presidential primary in Port Harcourt as agreed by all leaders of the party. Wike, who spoke during a consultative visit by the Gombe State Governor and PDP presidential aspirant, Dr Ibrahim Dankwambo, at the Government House in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, said any presidential aspirant fighting Rivers State should forget about the support of the state, during an

The Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has described the ongoing rerun election in seven units in the state as a ‘coup ‘. Adeleke, who spoke with Punch newspaper on the telephone, said that supporters of the PDP were being denied access to ballot papers in the governorship rerun election. “What is happening in Osun State now is not an election.  What we have is a coup.  That is what we are witnessing now. “Our supporters are being harassed and are not allowed to vote at all. Let the whole world know that this is not the democracy, ” he said.

The Nigeria Labour Congress has directed all its members and affiliate unions to commence a nationwide strike on Thursday (today). The organised labour had held a meeting with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, in Abuja on Wednesday, which did not produce the expected outcome.  The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said the industrial action would commence due to the refusal of the Federal Government to reconvene the meeting of the tripartite national minimum wage committee to enable it to conclude its work. He said, “In compliance with this mandate, all workers and private sector at all levels across the country have been directed to comply.  “All public and private institutions, offices, banks, schools, public and private business premises, including filling station, are to remain shut till further notice,” Wabba said at a news conference in Abuja on Wednesday. The workers are demanding a new minimum wage of about N50,000 from the current national minimum wage of N18,00

The National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress on Tuesday released its approved mode of primaries for 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory for Saturday’s governorship primaries. According to the list, the direct method, which involves all registered card carrying members of the party; and the indirect mode where elected and statutory delegates take part, will be used. The APC NWC released the list of approved methods in a statement by the party’s acting National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, in Abuja. The states that are to elect their governorship candidates via the direct method are Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Cross River, Edo, Ekiti, Imo and Kano. Others are Lagos, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Taraba, Zamfara and the Federal Capital Territory. States that got the nod to pick candidates using the indirect mode are Adamawa, Benue, Borno, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina and Kebbi. Others are Nasarawa, Oyo, Kogi, Kwara,

The Governor-elect of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, on Tuesday,  visited the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Senator Iyiola Omisore, in Ile Ife to woo him ahead of the rerun holding in seven polling units in four local government areas of Osun State on Thursday. Fayemi, who accompanied President Muhammadu Buhari, on his trip to the United Nations General Assembly, was instructed to return to Nigeria to meet with Omisore in order to seek his support for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress,  Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, in the rerun poll. Omisore was said to have received the APC delegates well and they discussed the issue of the rerun poll but the outcome of the meeting was still sketchy as of the time of filing this report. A source close to Fayemi was quoted as telling a Punch newspaper correspondent that the Ekiti State Governor-elect visited the Ife-born politician and the discussion was fruitful. The source said, “Dr Kayode Fayemi went to discuss wi