₦airaland Forum

The All Progressives Congress has barred political appointees from voting at its national convention holding on Saturday.

The party made this known in a press statement on Thursday.

The statement was titled, ‘Attention to political office holders who were elected as delegates’.

It read, “The National Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee of APC has declared that all political appointees who were elected as delegates to the National Convention slated for 26/3/2022 SHALL NOT VOTE in view of the controversy surrounding Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act,2022.

“However, political appointees can still attend as observers.”

The Senate had earlier unanimously rejected Electoral Act Amendment Bill sent by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

In the rejected bill, the president asked the National Assembly to amend Section 84(10) of the Act to allow political appointees to contest and participate in the primaries without resigning.

Section 84(10) of the Act specifically reads, “No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.”

Unknown to many members of the public, a lawyer and chieftain of the Action Alliance party, Mr Nduka Edede, approached a Federal High Court sitting in Umuahia on the matter – in a suit marked FHC/MU/SC/26/2022, with the Attorney General of the Federation as the defendant.

The plaintiff asked the court to determine whether Section 84(12), when read together with Sections 66(1)(f) 107(1)(f)(137(1)(f) and 182(1)(f) of the 1999 Constitution, was not inconsistent.

The judgment, delivered by Justice Evelyn Anyadike, nullified Section 84(12) of the newly amended Electoral Act, saying it violated the provisions of the Constitution.

Anyadike held that the section was unconstitutional, invalid, illegal, null, void and of no effect whatsoever, saying it ought to have been struck out.

A few hours after the judgement was delivered, the Office of Attorney General and Minister of Justice announced Federal Government’s plans to implement the court judgement allowing political appointees to run for office without resigning.

Some of the President’s ministers who are said to be planning to run for different offices include the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, who is said to be eyeing the Kebbi State governorship seat; the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who is believed to be planning to contest the governorship of Katsina State; the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who is rumoured to be eyeing the Presidency.

Others who are said to have political ambitions include the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige; the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba; and a few others.

On Wednesday, March 23, the Senate resolved to appeal the judgment by the Federal High Court in Umuahia, nullifying the provision of Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act 2022.

Fahdiga:
Real sinzu money aka aza men

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo and his ministers have cut their salaries by 30 percent under measures to reduce spending as the country struggles with higher fuel costs from the Ukraine crisis and stalled progress on a new tax, the government said on Thursday.

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta announced that foreign travel by government appointees, except for critical missions, and the purchase of imported vehicles had been suspended with immediate effect.

He said the government hoped to save around $400 million through the measures.

Global fuel prices have hit all-time highs because of the Russia-Ukraine war, driving up costs of living and transport in a way that has hit West African countries like Ghana hard.

Ghana’s government is also struggling to raise domestic revenue as gridlock in parliament since last year has stalled the passage of a controversial 1.75-percent E-Levy tax aimed at bringing in additional funds.

“It is important to stress, right from the onset, that the difficulties we are facing in Ghana are not peculiar to Ghana,” the minister’s statement said.

“Governments in both developed and developing countries are busily coming out with various prescriptions to bring their economies back on track, after the devastating impact of Covid-19 which distorted global supply chains, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.”

Other measures include a 50-percent cut in fuel coupon allocations for all political appointees and heads of government institutions.

The main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) said the decisions were inadequate.

“Our immediate response to the Minister of Finance is to state emphatically and unequivocally that he has lost touch with reality, he is not in-tuned with the state of the Ghanaian economy,” the Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu told reporters in parliament.

Recent data published by the Bank of Ghana indicates that the country’s debt to GDP was 80.1 percent at the end of December 2021.

Neighbouring Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is also struggling with the twin problems of an unstable power supply and the doubling of the cost of diesel that many businesses use to fuel generators which keep the power going during blackouts.

The Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, has praised the Nigerian army for its intervention during #EndSARS protests despite sweeping criticisms of the latter for opening fire on unarmed protesters at Lekki Tollgate.

In October 2020, thousands of youth demonstrated across the country for days in protest against decades of police brutality and other human rights abuses by defunct police department tagged Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

Mr Akinolu who hosted the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Farouk Yahaya, at his palace on Tuesday, said although several Nigerians criticised the army for shooting protesters, he appreciated their efforts.

“I appreciate the efforts of the Nigerian Army during the #EndSARS’ protest.

“Many people criticised them for coming out during the protest but it was good they came out when the police could no longer handle the situation,” he said.

The monarch’s comment is despite a report by the state Judicial Panel of Inquiry to investigate cases of brutality, which described the October 20, 2020 incident as a massacre.

The panel also established that the Nigerian military shot live bullets, killed several protesters, and took corpses away in their vans.

But Mr Akinolu argued that the military’s intervention cushioned the situation.

“The army’s intervention calmed the situation, and I also thank the almighty Allah that nobody died in the palace during the incident,” he said.

The Lagos monarch’s palace was in 2020 invaded by irate youths who accused him of hoarding palliatives meant for poor citizens.

Foodstuffs, starched hard currencies, staff of office, among other valuables were carted away from Mr Akiolu’s palace as he was chased away from his domain for months.

Meanwhile, the Chief of Army Staff, who was on an operational visit to Lagos to inaugurate some projects, said that his visit to the palace was to get royal blessings from the traditional ruler.

“I came to this palace to pay my respect and homage to the king before inaugurating the project in Isale-Eko.” he said.

Renowned gospel preacher and the General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Christian Ministry, Pastor William Kumuyi, has assured the nation of the prayers and intercession by men of God and Churches across the country on behalf of the political class for a peaceful and smooth transition come 2023.

Pastor Kumuyi, who likened the nation’s problems to the days before the coming of Christ in which myriad of problems befell the world, said the coming of Christ dealt with some of the problems facing the nation such as the killing of twins and many more, assuring that the various revivals and crusade being held by churches and men of God are meant to assist the political class with spiritual strength to ensure the problems are solved.

Pastor William Kumuyi made this known yesterday to newsmen during a call at Governor Douye Diri, at State House in Bayelsa.

Pastor Kumuyi pointed out that the crusade being held by churches are not for individuals but for the States and Nation, ”And as we come to God on behalf of the States and the Nation, the Lord will grant us the solutions to the economy, education, security and the rest. The Lord will glorify himself to the nation.

He also commended the people of the state for their resilience, peaceful disposition and support to the government, and prayed God for greater progress in the state.

The General Superintendent said, ” Bayelsa State Government is in the limelight of the glory of God and there is a great improvement. The people are proactive and they know that whatever is happening, the Lord will see them through. The Government is doing whatever needs to be done to make sure that the people justify why they elected the government. And they are making progress and we are looking forward to greater progress for the government, the people and the state.”

Responding, Governor Douye Diri represented by his Deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, pointed out that the visit of two highly respected men of God in the persons of Pastor Enoch Adeboye and Pastor W.F. Kumuyi to Bayelsa in the first quarter of the year portends a good omen for the state.

He said “The Government and people of Bayelsa are very happy to have you again. We count ourselves lucky to be among the very few states to host two men of God whom we consider very great in Nigeria. Our father, Pastor Adeboye was here I think just last month. And you, another great father is here to spend some days with us. Our joy knows no bounds because these two important visits are all taking place in the first quarter of this year. This clearly shows that our state is in the right direction.”

He thanked Pastor Kumuyi and his team for the visit, noting that his visits had always renewed the people’s faithfulness and hope in God.

Ttalk:
I thought dis man used to be a Pastor?

The Presidency on Tuesday said the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will die, “as envisaged by one of its presidential aspirants”, if its only wish for the country is an agitation worse than EndSARS because of the current situation, Daily Trust reports.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said this in a statement titled “Destabilization: PDP Gives Itself Away”.

He urged the PDP to rather work for harmony and cohesion in the country instead of thinking about the outbreak of an uprising worse than EndSARS, which he said signified murder, mayhem, mass destruction and cannibalism.

He said the PDP had given itself away as being interested only in the destabilisation of the country to sneak its way back to power.

Adesina said: “Less than 24 hours after the Department of State Services (DSS) raised alarm about sinister plots by some elements to cause disorder in the land, using the energy crisis as a smokescreen, the PDP issued a statement, saying; ‘Our party fears that the situation is getting to a boiling point and can trigger a nationwide agitation that might be worse than the October 2020 EndSARS if not addressed immediately.’

“Which patriotic political party or organization ever threatens its country with anarchy, social upheaval and disorderliness, except one still smarting from its snout being yanked from the honeypot, as happened to PDP in 2015?

“But we wish to remind the now tepid opposition party that it was Nigerians that gave it the boot seven years ago, and those same Nigerians have not forgotten the travails they experienced, at a time the country was awash with money: no power, no infrastructure, insurgents ran riot round the nation, and our collective patrimony was looted blind. Those same Nigerians are not ready for another PDP misrule, not now, and perhaps not for a long time to come.

“Rather than plot and encourage “agitation worse than October 2020 EndSARS,” which it may well be conceiving, the PDP should work for harmony and cohesion in the country, if it ever understands such concept.

“EndSARS signified murder, mayhem, mass destruction, even cannibalism. PDP now wishes Nigeria something worse.
“A presidential aspirant of the PDP has warned that the party would die by 2023, unless it wins the Number One position in the country. And die it would, if the party wishes the country nothing except something worse than EndSARS.”

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Hon Debo Ologunagba, had in a statement issued on Sunday, warned that there was a limit to what the people could bear under an administration that remained arrogant, inhumane, unconcerned and insensitive to their plights occasioned by its misrule.

“Is it not an unpardonable dereliction of duty that while the nation is in turmoil and agonizing under a collapsed national grid, protracted fuel crisis, distressed aviation sector, plummeting currency, crippled production and commercial activities, President Muhammadu Buhari remains aloof and “absent” as always?

“The failure by President Buhari, who also doubles as the Minister of Petroleum Resources to take immediate action, other than the snobbish stance by his Presidency that “heavens will not fall” because of fuel scarcity amounts to daring Nigerians to do their worse.”

Totilopussylick:
What Nigerians are going through now is beyond starvation.

Nigerians now sleep with one eye closed and one eye open

Security zero

Agriculture zero

Development zero

Education zero etc.

Tinubu could be better if given a chance

Today, General Buhari has used mass starvation to cure us off our ingratitude!

I am just laughing when Nigerians say there is hunger in the land, and that even eggs are now beyond the reach of minimum wage workers. Former President Jonathan made food available to Nigerians.

The Food and Agricultural Organisation of the UN gave Nigeria an award for reducing poverty under Jonathan. A bag of rice that now costs ₦42k only cost ₦8k under Jonathan.

One egg now costs ₦80, as opposed to ₦20 under GEJ. But how did we reward him? Overfeeding gave us energy to fight Jonathan. We did #OccupyNaija.

We buried Jonathan in a mock coffin. And his mother, who had to bury all but two of her children, wept profusely in Aso Rock at the trauma of that sight.

Today, General Buhari has used mass starvation to cure us off our ingratitude!

#TableShaker

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the deployment of more security personnel, arms and ammunition to address the security situation in Imo State.

Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State announced this while fielding questions from State House reporters after a meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

President Buhari had summoned the governor over recent security developments in his state.

He had expressed concerns over the security situation in the Southeast region of the country and condemned the attack on the country home of Professor George Obiozor, the President-General of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

Governor Uzodinma, while speaking on some details of the meeting with the President, said all his requests with regards to solving the security crises were granted.

“You must have heard that the President sent for me and I have gone to see him and based on issues, which we have adequately addressed, particularly the resurgence of insecurity in the Southeast and what is required to ensure that it’s properly controlled.

“We discussed all that and he took seriously my recommendations and indeed I can tell you he immediately gave approval to all that, which includes increase in manpower to security agencies and then other logistics supports, ranging from additional arms and ammunition.

“Also, we are making use of our local vigilante and the involvement of community leaders to ensure that through community arrangement, additional security is provided to the people.

“You will recall that a few days ago, the home of the President-General of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo was attacked by bandits and the same night, a police station in Umuguma, Owerri West, was also attacked.

“For a very long time, if you’ll remember, we’ve never had such a situation and this happened at a time that our people are already relaxed and thought that insecurity has become a thing of the past.

“But to the glory of God, security agencies rose to it, the second day they were probably repelled by security agencies, particularly men of the Directorate of State Service. They’ve been very useful, working with other security agencies.

“We didn’t also wait, we initiated a community-oriented program where the vigilante approach has been re-enacted and the community leaders have shown sufficient interest. We’ll get there”, the governor said.

The governor also denied allegations of the culpability of his administration in the reign of terror that had pervaded the state, describing such allegations as illogical.

Governor Uzodinma said stakeholders’ meetings had been held to assuage the feelings harboured by aggrieved persons towards him or the state and expressed willingness to further pursue more peaceful missions.

Iyaebe:
meaning?

The Chief Executive Officer, CEO, and Registrar of the National Examinations Council, NECO, Ibrahim Dantani, has revealed that the council requires over N2 billion to settle the allowances of its over 4,000 staff on examination duties.

Wushishi made the disclosure while fielding questions from newsmen at the end of the opening of a workshop on Quality Assurance in Educational Assessment with the theme, “Invigorating and Repositioning the National Examinations Council, NECO, through the Instrumentality of Quality Assurance for Effective Service Delivery in Minna Niger State.

He said soon, over 4,000 of its staff would be engaged on exams duties across the nation.

He hinged the increase in the examination bills to the federal government’s recent upward review of Duty Traveling Allowances, DTA, of lts staff from N16, 000 to N33,500.

Wushishi stated that NECO on its own does not have the money to implement such approval, while appealing to the Federal Government to come to its aid.

Speaking on moves by the Federal Government to stop the collection of 25 per cent from NECO examination fees, the Registrar described it as a welcome development.

He also explained that the workshop would equip participants with the required skills to compete favourably with their counterparts globally which as well will impact positively on the participants.

According to him, “We need to install an e-library, sustainable training for capacity building, making available 24 hours free internet, use of softwares and computer laboratories as well as updating the knowledge of the teachers on their subject areas.”

Wushishi further explained that his expectations at the end of the workshop include better handling of NECO exams, improveS knowledge capacity as well as improved efficiency and effectiveness of the staff.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

Fahdiga:
Anambra APC is different from the satanic APC in other states. This is how opposition should be played

Anambra State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to ensure that the health of the immediate past governor of the state, Chief Willie Obiano, currently in the commission’s custody was not endangered.

The party’s publicity secretary, Mr Okelo Madukaife said EFCC should rather accord Obiano all courtesies due to a former state governor as a statesman.

Madukaife who reacted yesterday on behalf of the party, however, said the APC was not against the commission’s arrest and investigation of Obiano.

He said the allegations of financial impropriety against Obiano administration had been with the EFCC since last year and the commission was expected not to keep Obiano for too long in its custody.

He also urged the embattled Obiano and his successor, former Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo to make public the financial status of the state as inherited by the latter from the former so as to enable members of the public to be properly informed about the financial health of the state.

He stated that all the 30 members of the state Assembly who served during Obiano’s eight years tenure spanning from March 17, 2014 to March 16, 2022 should also be held responsible for any guilt of bad governance established against Obiano’s administration.

He said, “While in custody, we plead that all courtesies be extended to HE Gov. Obiano and attention should be paid to his health and allowable needs, as an elder statesman of Anambra State who is legally presumed innocent until otherwise proven.

“We urge the good people of Anambra State to appreciate that until Anambra State can boast of legislative checks, irrespective of political affiliation, EFCC and ancillary agencies hold the ace to curbing, if not stopping the financial hemorrhage bedeviling the state,” he said.

goodheart01:
Lol... my guy. Las las u no get joy. I think sey na me worse pass

001spice:
Mr man wat is buhari. Madrid will win just watch

Saying "I'm sorry" does not diminish your self worth, it does not mean you are weak or incompetent and you don't have to feel humiliated when you say i am sorry.

001spice:
you boys shud fem. Madrid will win this match

kayo8080:
She said that after the slap na. Go and watch the video again. That was said out of anger.