Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike is not at ease with the incentives announced for teachers by President Muhammadu Buhari during anniversary of the World Teachers’ Day on October 5.

He accused the Federal Government of imposing fresh financial burdens on states and creating crisis for the nation’s educational system through the announcement of incentives for teachers, including a new salary scheme.

But the governor admitted that the teachers welfare was ripe for a review going by the key roles they play in the society.

According to the governor, the new salary scale and the incentives were announced by the President without interfacing with states that have for long been pushing for a new revenue formula.

He, however, admitted in a statement by his Information Commissioner Paulinus Nsirim, that there was a need for a review of teachers’ welfare in view of their critical roles.

“The Federal Government has not been willing to come up with a new revenue formula. Instead, it is imposing a new financial burden on the states without consulting them. While it is good to give teachers a new salary scale, it is also important not to politicise such a sensitive issue,” the statement quoted Wike as saying.

According to it, the governor spoke when the board of the College of Medical Sciences of the state’s university visited him at Government House, Port Harcourt.

Wike promised that his administration would provide basic infrastructure to make the college one of the best in the country.

He said that government would ensure that students admitted into the college enjoyed uninterrupted academic activities.

Wike added: “The students will not be stagnated because the school will be made fully functional with both infrastructure and learning equipment. We are setting up the basic foundation for you to build on. The Medical College is my dream and I will provide everything required to make sure it is fully functional.

“It is very expensive to run a medical college but we are not deterred. We shall build the hostels as requested as soon as we get the designs. We are making ashes to ashes mortuary to be available for the training of pathologists. The Dental and Maxilo-Facial Hospital will also be part of the college.

“The Mother and Child Hospital is the best health facility now. It will not be run like the regular government hospital. It will be privately managed but will be available to students for their training.”

Wike noted that the call for university autonomy should also include how to generate funds internally to administer the institutions.

He said that university managements would not be asking government for assistance all the time if they managed their internally generated revenue properly.

Pro-chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the Rivers State University, Justice Iche Ndu, thanked the governor for his support to the institution.

He noted that with the approval by the governor, the College of Medical Sciences employed qualified staff to provide training for students.

Justice Ndu said: “I commend you for solving the problems of staffing. We now have 14 professors, three Readers, 30 senior lecturers, 106 lecturers and 74 technicians.”

The institution’s Vice Chancellor, Prof Nlerum Okogbule, said the recent academic rating ranked varsity the sixth in the country.

eleshin:
Just saw Erica and Kiddwaya now inside Eko hotel..... I think they are about to see Davido cos he's here too. They are going towards David's seat.

Froshloaded:
“Nobody in the house was up to my level; I am the man Ozo wants to be” – Kiddwaya

fitzmayowa:


You will have to exhaust your bonus account before you can send SMS with your main account to a short SMS code like 32052, that's why your message is not going through....


Better still you can switch your tariff plan...

ntyce:


Hope you're not using bonus airtime?

Olodo24:
It's probably a network wahala. Just give it few minutes

Olodo24:
I hope you're not voting with Glo

Olodo24:
I hope you're not voting with Glo

OffsahBoye:

Which network??

Brownsun:

Which network are u using?

The Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has alleged that members of the Peoples Democratic Party led by the Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, were arming youths in the Akoko-Edo Local Government Area to disrupt the governorship election in the state.

The Chairman of the APC Media Campaign Council, John Mayaki, said in an interview in Benin, on Tuesday, that the party had “credible intelligence” that weapons had been bought and supplied and awaiting distribution to thugs tasked with disrupting the polls in APC strongholds.
Mayaki also alleged that the plot was hatched at a security meeting coordinated by Shaibu and a former Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Kabiru Adjoto, and urged security agencies to rise to the occasion and nip the plot in the bud.

In response, the Senior Special Assistant to the Deputy Governor on Media, Ben Atu said, “Oshiomhole already told us that ‘Ize-Iyamu lies effortlessly’. How can we engage a man that is born into lies in the media? The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, was a member of Edo State House of Assembly for eight years, he was never caught dealing in arms.”

Hearing of a suit seeking to disqualify Mr Osagie Ize-iyamu from the Sept. 19 governorship election in Edo was on Tuesday, stalled at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

The suit was filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and was slated for hearing on Sept. 8.

However, when the case was called, counsel to the PDP, Mr Ferdinand Orbih (SAN) told the court that he just received a motion of preliminary objection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and needed to respond to it. “The matter was for hearing today, but i was served in court this morning with the Notice of Preliminary Objection by the second defendant, (APC) and I will want to react to it,”he told the court. Counsel to INEC, Mr Alhassan Umar, (SAN) and Ize-Iyamu, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) all said they had received the motion and also asked for time to respond. In the application, the APC is asking the court to strike out the suit for being incompetent. Some of the grounds, the application was predicated upon are: that the suit cannot be heard during the court’s vacation period. The APC also contended that the suit did not meet the conditions precedent laid down in Order 46 Rule 5 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019 and that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit. The APC accordingly prayed the court for a declaration that the suit was incompetent having failed to comply with conditions precedent laid down in Order 46 Rule 5. “An order setting aside all the proceedings in the suit which occurred during the court’s annual vacation period in particular, all the proceedings of this court sitting in the Benin Judicial Division for being incompetent and a nullity”. The PDP had in its suit, prayed the court for an order disqualifying Ize-Iyamu from contesting in the governorship poll on account of not being validly nominated by his party, the APC. The PDP claimed that Ize-Iyamu was not a product of a valid primary election, hence, should not be allowed to participate in the forthcoming election. The suit was initially instituted in the Benin Division of the Federal High Court, but it was transferred to the Abuja Division owing to the annual vacation of the Court.

President Muhammadu Buhari says his administration is doing its best in carrying out its mandate, considering the available resources.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the one-year ministerial performance review retreat in Abuja on Tuesday, Buhari asked the “Nigerian elites” to judge him fairly, and that ministers should vigorously defend the government.

According to him, more has been achieved with little resources compared to previous administrations when oil sold at a higher rate.

“I have charged all of you to defend the government vigorously and not allow any irresponsible and politically motivated statements to keep spreading falsehoods about this government,” he said.

“Information to the public should be better packaged; go on the offensive, we are proud of our achievements and we should blow our own trumpets.

“I want the Nigerian elites, please encourage them, to judge us fairly… the average production of oil in the country, from 1999 to 2014, was 2.1 million barrels per day (and) sold at an average price of $100.

“When we came, it collapsed to $37, $38 per barrel, you know it. And the militants were unleashed on the administration, and the production went down to half a million barrels per day.

“I want you to please reflect. What was the condition of the infrastructure then, in spite of those earnings? The roads, the rail was dead and there was no power; up till now, no power. Where does the money go?”

‘I AM BEING CALLED ‘BABA GO SLOW”

Buhari added that contrary to what obtained when he was military head of state when people were detained at will, he is “trying to follow the system” in fighting corruption.

“Now, I’m being called ‘baba go slow’,” he said.

The president further directed the release of funds for implementation of the federal government’s N2.3 trillion economic sustainability plan and for capital projects in the 2020 budget.

“I also enjoin ministers to ensure that funds released are utilised efficiently and transparently in implementing the programmes and projects under the line priority areas of government,” he said.

“On behalf of the people of Nigeria, I demand uttermost levels of performance, deliverables and results. I look forward to a result orientated year with tremendous benefits that will continue to change the lives of our people positively.”

ZaddyJamal:


She was 4th least voted this week

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will proceed to the supreme court for a final judgement on whether it has the powers to deregister political parties.

INEC said it will seek the verdict of the apex court over a judgement of the court of appeal that voided its deregisteration of 22 political parties.

Though the court upheld the power of INEC to deregister parties in line with section 225 of the constitution, it held that INEC needed to prove that it complied with the procedure outlined.

About two weeks ago, the same court had in the case of National Unity Party upheld and validated the power of INEC to deregister the parties.

In a statement issued by Festus Okoye, its spokesman, the commission said it will seek the verdict of the supreme court on the two conflicting judgements.

“The Commission is faced with two conflicting judgements from the Court of Appeal; one affirming the powers of the Commission to deregister political parties and the other setting aside the deregistration of ACD & 22 others,” he said.

“Faced with two conflicting judgements from the same Court, the Commission is not in a position to pick and choose which one of them to obey.

“Consequently, the Commission will approach the Supreme Court for a final resolution of the issues raised in the two conflicting judgements.”

INEC further said it is focused on preparations for the conduct of the Edo and Ondo governorship elections scheduled to hold on September 19 and October 10 respectively.

There are concerns the elections are being threatened as the 22 deregistered political parties were not included as those to participate in the polls.

Olusegun Obasanjo is a defining personality in Nigeria’s politics. For decades he has hovered like a wraith over the political cumulus. He is one of the many Nigerian leaders who have profited prodigiously from the country’s undertaking, and he has lived a lifetime on the Nigerian privilege.

Fate handed Obasanjo the brick and mortar to set Nigeria on a fine-grained foundation in 1999 – after years of military vandalism. But did he saddle up to the importunities of destiny? Well, I believe we may not be on the current trajectory as a country if Obasanjo had applied his luck judiciously. He had the chance to redefine the course of our history – even though I admit it was not all up to him – he represented an interest.

Obasanjo’s administration was like a reprise of the military era. Political assassination, a burdensome baggage of the military epoch, was rife under Obasanjo. To date, there is still no piece to the puzzle in the murder of Bola Ige and Harry Marshall – and some other politically-linked killings across the country during Obasanjo’s presidency. It was due to the ineffaceable enormity of the bloodletting that the Northern Elders Forum and the Arewa Consultative Forum asked Goodluck Jonathan to prosecute Obasanjo in 2013.

We cannot excise this chapter from our political history. It remains an eternal blot on the former president. There were also incidences where Obasanjo was summary and borderline ruthless in execution. The cases of Odi and Zaki Biam where the former president dispatched troops on a murderous mission are still a talking point. Really, I found it fiendish when Obasanjo accused President Muhammadu Buhari of tyranny while he himself had trafficked in raw autocracy.

Corruption and pursuit of vendetta were also the hallmark of the Obasanjo administration. The sale of public assets was heavily governed by insular interest. In fact, the preliminaries of the current wobbly state of the power sector were by the failed performance of that administration. The Obasanjo government reportedly cast $16 billion into the power black-hole – not one living light-bulb to show for it.

Testifying before the senate ad hoc committee investigating the privatisation of government businesses from 1999, in April 2011, Nasir el-Rufai, who was the director-general of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) under Obasanjo, said the former president and Atiku Abubakar, his deputy, influenced the sale of public companies to their associates who did not have the wherewithal to buy them. He said the failure of the exercise was largely due to ‘’government interference’’.

“The president and I were always quarrelling over issues of privatisation. Each time I told him we have a process … that they should advise their friends to be the highest bidder,” el-Rufai said to the panel.

Perhaps, where Obasanjo chalked up notoriety is in his pursuit of vendetta. The former president is a known ‘’grudgist’’. He spares no foe – even in death. His grating ‘’condolence’’ letter on the death of Buruji Kashamu whom he knocked posthumously is the classic ‘’Obasanjo the vengeful’’. He said the late ex-senator, who was wanted in the US for alleged drug dealing, escaped justice but could not evade the sceptre of death.

I do not spar with Obasanjo over his judgment on the deceased. Hagiography is not the best way to send off any departed. Our deeds live on long after we have checked out of this plane. But I am only concerned about Obasanjo’s duplicity. His government gave evidence in the drug-dealing case against Kashamu in the UK, securing his release. And the late politician was Obasanjo’s ally until a bitter divorce owing to divergences in Ogun politics.

And while the comradeship subsisted, Obasanjo exalted Kashamu above iniquity in one of the Omo Ilu Foundation programmes of the deceased in Ogun. ‘’We appreciate all your good work. God will bless you for your good deeds,’’ he said at the event.

In his pursuit of vengeance, Obasanjo ‘’retired’’ some politicians who stood in the way of his ambition. He varied with Peter Odili, former Rivers state governor, who was angling to be Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s deputy. Obasanjo preferred Jonathan – for ‘’certain reasons’’. He thwarted the mission of Odili and encumbered him with a corruption case. The Ikwere politician procured a ‘’perpetual injunction’’ to save himself.

Also, the former president exerted himself dismantling whatever reputation Atiku Abubakar, his deputy, who challenged his second-term bid, had. He summarily costumed Atiku in a corruption garb which haunts the political future of the former vice-president to date. Obasanjo checked Ghali Umar Na’Abba, former speaker of the house of representatives, and Chibudom Nwuche, his deputy, out of politics after they initiated impeachment proceedings against him. He was deft in making sure they did not return to the house in 2003.

I must add, Obasanjo was able to alter the political progression of these men because their closet was not dirt-free.

Obasanjo admitted he made some mistakes, but he said they were ‘’genuine’’ omissions. “I never say that we didn’t make mistake or we are perfect, but whatever mistake we made was a genuine mistake. It wasn’t a mistake we made as a result of selfishness,” he told the Point Newspaper in an interview in July 2020.

I think, whether the mistakes were ‘’genuine’’ or not, history will be as dispassionate and grating on Obasanjo as he has been on others.

slowbreeze:
Abeg make una no vex.Male or female...?

President Muhammadu Buhari has urged the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to avoid the pitfalls that affected the party’s victory in Rivers, Zamfara and Bayelsa States in the 2019 elections.

Buhari also called on the party leaders and campaign team to do all that is necessary by following legal and constitutional means to win the election.

The president gave the charge when he received the Edo State governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu alongside Gov. Mai mala Buni of Yobe, who is the Caretaker Committee Chairman of the APC.

Gov. Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi, who doubles as the Chairman of Progressive Governors Forum and the APC Campaign Chairman for Edo State elections, Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje also accompanied the APC candidate to the villa.
With the resolution of the “acute crisis’’ in the party in Edo, Buhari said that he was optimistic that the party would regain its pride of place in winning elections and serving the people.

The President urged party leaders at the national and state levels to follow the electoral process in an open and transparent manner.

He said: “What I want is a transparent process so that the confidence of the people will be strengthened’’.

The president congratulated Ize-Iyamu on his emergence as the party’s candidate in Edo after a “turbulent process’’, assuring him of full support.
Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of the party’s caretaker committee, who presented the candidate, told the President that “Pastor Ize-Iyamu is a seasoned grassroots politician, who is loved by his people’’.

Bagudu noted that President Buhari’s blessings on the candidate further validates the party’s confidence.
He added that all the APC governors were fully behind the candidature of Pastor Ize-Iyamu.

The party’s campaign chairman for Edo’s election, Gov. Ganduje, said that in line with its principles, APC would lead a clean campaign, devoid of acrimony, hatred and violence.

Ganduje noted the campaign had started on a good and happy note, with the APC already taking over the state legislature with a majority of 17 out of 24.

In his response, Ize-Iyamu assured the President of his commitment to ensuring good governance in the state if elected in the September election.

He recalled that he served as Deputy Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee of the APC at its formation.

Ize-Iyamu said he was glad to return to the APC, describing his initial exit as that of a “prodigal son’’.

The APC candidate thanked the President for the warm and fatherly reception, saying he was honoured to receive the party’s flag from the President.
Ize-Iyamu later told State House correspondents that he was fully in charge of his campaign as a popular candidate, who served the state as her Chief of Staff and Secretary to State Government in previous administrations.

He said that former APC Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, had already explained that his initial unfriendly comments during the 2016 campaigns were purely political aimed at giving another candidate an edge in the elections.

Edo State Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu has alleged that the former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, is plotting a third term through the party’s governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.

Shaibu, who levelled the allegation through a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Benjamin Atu, in Abuja yesterday, said the people were determined to follow Governor Godwin Obaseki because he had shown them in the last four years how his policies had worked across the state.

Shaibu, who noted that Ize-Iyamu was merely a stooge, added that the real person seeking to return to rule the state was Comrade Oshiomhole. He described the alleged plot as a breach of Nigeria’s constitutional process.

“The truth is that Ize-Iyamu is merely a stooge. The real man seeking the governorship position is Adams Oshiomhole, who has perfected a plan to betray democracy by seeking third term. The price Oshiomhole will pay for projecting Ize-Iyamu is an outright rejection.

“Oshiomhole is displaying blind compassion, with a specific pledge to return to the state on the path of backwardness, with failed institutions, where individuals will be more powerful than government institutions, with an analogue system of operations. Technological development has since left Oshiomhole behind in the scheme of things.

“We need a new kind of politics and policies that reflect the best value of our people. Politics that focuses on bringing people together to work for the common good.

“We have displayed determination to end the culture of government that habitually failed to stimulate investment; provide massive employment for youths and failed to reduce poverty and hardship in the land.

“Edo State has a choice to choose between policies of the heart by Governor Obaseki and policies of the head as being propagated by enemies of the state.

The All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate in the forthcoming Edo State governorship election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, has said the former governor of the state, Adams Oshiomhole, called him names in 2016 because he (Oshiomhole) had a bad product (Governor Godwin Obaseki) to market.

Speaking to Vanguard in an interview, Pastor Ize-Iyamu noted that it was necessary for Oshiomhole to “throw punches” at him, adding that people had a short memory, because the same Oshiomhole had, at several fora, shown appreciation for his integrity and contribution to Edo State’s development.

Asked about the 2016 spat, Ize-Iyamu said: “If during the campaigns for the 2016 governorship election he was abusing me because I was on the other side, what do you expect?

“Of course, he needed to abuse me, especially when he didn’t have a good product (Obaseki). You can imagine how Governor Obaseki started his campaign for the forthcoming election.”

Ize-Iyamu added: “They placed a big screen on Ring Road in Benin, where everybody passes. One would have thought that all he would be playing on that kind of screen are his administration’s achievements in the last four years.

“Instead of that, he is playing something about the Governor of Kano State. It was when condemnation came from within and outside Nigeria that they had to stop it.

“What has the governor of Kano State got to do with the governorship election in Edo State apart from being the chairman of APC National Campaign Council?

“Yes, Oshiomhole threw punches at me in 2016, but people tend to have a short memory. Oshiomhole was at Ben Idahosa University, when I was being given a doctorate and he spent over one hour praising me for my contributions in his government and the role I am playing in the state.

“Oshiomhole also came to my farm at one time, when I was graduating students and he listed the roles I was playing in the state.

“At my 50th birthday, there was no word he didn’t use to describe me, including the fact that if he wants to mention those who have helped him to succeed in government, there is no way my name will not be there.

“I am sure that those who had gone through campaigns before will tell you that people will call their opponents all sorts of names during electioneering campaigns, but if you allow those things to border you, they will distract you.”

Suspended acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has raised the alarm that suspects and other criminal elements he prosecuted were after him.

Magu made the claim in a response addressed to the Presidential Committee On Audit Of Recovered Assets (PCARA) investigating the mismanagement and lack of transparency in managing recovered assets by the EFCC between 2015-2020.

He said while in office, his actions were geared towards fighting corruption to a standstill in the country, but lamented that his traducers were out to tarnish his reputation by publishing false information about him on social media platforms.

Details of a petition submitted to the investigative panel by Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, claimed that the lack of proper record keeping and discrepancies in the recovery figures, was a dent on the anti-corruption drive as well as raising integrity issues that can lead to loss of public confidence.

“For instance, EFCC stated 836 as the number of recovered real estate in the original returns it made to Mr. President on 07/04/2017. However, in its 1st returns to PCARA on 13/12/2017, EFCC gave the figure of 339, while in the 2nd returns to PCARA on 09/03/2018, it stated the recoveries to be 504. The 1st and 2nd returns total 843,” part of the petition written by Malami read.

Magu in his response to the panel, said: “In the exercise of my official functions as acting chairman of the Commission, I have stepped on toes in ensuring that corruption is fought to a standstill in Nigeria.

“Some of the suspects under investigation and prosecution are always ganging up to fight me back, publishing false, untrue, malicious and libellous allegations against me. I have never abused the office I am occupying at the pleasure of Mr. President.

“I have never personally enriched myself whilst performing my official function. I challenge my accusers to produce any evidence of this purported personal enrichment,” Magu said.

Arguing further, he claimed that under his watch, there were no cases of mismanagement of recovered assets or funds.

“No assets were sold and the proceeds thereof converted. There has been no mismanagement of or lack of transparency in the management of recovered assets under my leadership of the Commission. There has been no diversion of proceeds from recovered assets or personal enrichment on my part. A careful investigation into what has been recovered and what has been paid into the appropriate accounts will easily confirm this.

“I unequivocally deny these allegations as same are untrue and merely calculated to tarnish my name, that of the Commission, and the giant strides this administration has recorded in the fight against corruption and recovery of the proceeds of corruption. Not a dime of the recovered funds were converted to my personal use. I challenge my accusers to produce evidence of such fraudulent conversion. All my actions are documented and follow the prescribed procedures with necessary approvals. I am innocent. I have served my country to the best of my abilities with all sense of responsibility and integrity.

“The records of achievements to the glory of God and this administration are there for all to see. I respectfully invite the panel to note the stellar and unprecedented achievements of the EFCC under my watch as the acting Chairman,” he said.

Meanwhile, the ongoing probe has entered a critical stage, with senior lawyers familiar with Magu’s handling of EFCC dealings, testifying against the embattled anti-corruption czar.

“The panel has invited people having issues with Magu. They include a former Executive Director with a first generation bank and two Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) familiar with the development,” a source told Daily Sun.

“The panel also invited an EFCC official who is under investigation over a huge amount in his account and for traveling to Lebanon to meet a suspect under an ongoing investigation. These four individuals were invited by the panel and they testified against Magu. The EFCC operative under investigation also testified against Magu. More people are expected to come after the Sallah break,” the source said.

THE Bauchi State government has debunked the allegations in the letter of resignation of former House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He addressed the letter to his former ward chairman in Bogoro Local Government Area when he defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In an advertorial published in the media on Thursday, the Bala Mohammed administration said the facility obtained from a bank to buy vehicles for members of various arms of government followed due process.

The government explained that there was nothing improper about the loan, as Dogara alleged.

The advertorial by the Senior Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mukhtar Gidado, said the government only adopted “the well-known contract financing approach to handle an immediate need without piling too much pressure on our cash flow”.

It added that the former Speaker was among the beneficiaries of the facility.

The government said it secured N3.6 billion loan from a bank, and not N4.6 billion as alleged by the former Speaker.

It added: “Besides being mandatory, payment of the revised Customs duties was imperative so that the beneficiaries of these vehicles will not be subjected to embarrassment… Of course, as one of the illustrious sons of the state who falls in the legislative category, Dogara got a Toyota V8 that he gleefully collected with thanks.”

The government admitted that it promised to conduct local government elections on assumption of office but did not specify that it would be done within six months, as Dogara alleged in his letter.

It said: “Unless he was being plainly mischievous, we can excuse Dogara for the misrepresentation, since he never participated in our campaigns to know what we promised.

“Yet, the truth is that two previous attempts by the Bauchi State government to conduct the local government elections were shelved because of the COVID-19 crisis that has affected schedules globally. We had to postpone the elections in line with the cautious approach of the Federal Government, to prevent the spread of the virus.”

Also, it was learnt yesterday that Dogara will play a crucial role in the current reconciliation among aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

A member of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Committee of the APC, Senator Yusuf Yusuf (Taraba North), stated this while addressing reporters in Abuja.

Yusuf, who represents the Senate in the ruling party’s Caretaker Committee, described Dogara’s return as a huge relief, considering his reach, influence and being one of APC’s founding fathers.

He said: “Dogara took a wrong step in the first place. He was one of the most trusted members of our party. He was misguided to have left the APC at a very wrong time. We are happy that he is back to the house that he built alongside other leaders.

“He is going to be considered as one of the strong members of the party who will play a very critical role in our reconciliation efforts, being a very strong member of the House of Representatives.”

The Peoples Democratic Party has postponed its scheduled party primaries in Ekiti, Niger, Sokoto and Taraba States indefinitely.

This was contained in a letter titled: “Re: Re: Year 2020 Party Congresses in 26 ( Twenty Six) Chapters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Postponement of Party Congresses in Ekiti, Niger, Sokoto and Taraba States” addressed to the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, on Monday, July 27th.

It was signed by the PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus and National Secretary, Senator Umar Tsauri.

In the letter which was received and acknowledged by INEC on Tuesday, the party said it was postponing the primaries in the four states because of “unforeseen circumstances.”

A copy of the letter sighted by The PUNCH late on Tuesday read in part “Please refer to our earlier letter with reference No: PDP/DOM CF. 2/VolIC/20-094, in which we informed the Commission (INEC) of our Time table and schedule of activities for the completion of the outstanding congresses of our party.

“Due to unforeseen circumstances we are compelled to postpone our planned congresses in the aforementioned states.

“We will communicate to the commission as soon as a new date is fixed.”

Recall that party stalwarts in the four states especially in Ekiti State were engaged in a war of attrition over the control of the party structure with some state chapters conducting parallel Congresses.
Only recently the faction loyal to former Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose won a court case against the Senator Olujimi-led faction.
It was learnt that the national secretariat of the party is trying to first broker peace among feuding party members in the affected states before setting a date for the congresses.

The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, has said the state will slide into ruins if the All Progressive Congress gubernatorial candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, is voted into power.

A statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Deputy Governor, Benjamin Atu, quoted Shaibu to have said that in the last four years, Edo had witnessed a lot of institutional growth where the government was supreme and not an individual.

Shaibu maintained that it would be devastating if such achievements were allowed to be destroyed by Ize-Iyamu and his godparents.

The deputy governor was quoted as saying, “We need strong institutions that can make the leap between individuals’ participation in governance possible through collective action and tangible improvements in people’s lives. We are determined to achieve a reversal of Edo’s long slide towards degradation. If Ize-Iyamu and his godparents are allowed into power, the state will slide deeper into ruins.

Shaibu explained that the state had been returned to the path of greatness, adding, “Our mission for seeking a second term is to perfect all we have started and lay a developmental benchmark that cannot be reversed or destroyed. We are seeking a second term to establish a common vision for the future of our state.”

Meanwhile, The Ijaw people in Edo State have applauded Governor Godwin Obaseki for engendering economic development and improving the lives of the residents.

They reaffirmed their support for the governor’s re-election bid to ensure continuity and consolidation of good governance in the state.

However, the Ijaw communities, under the aegis of the Ethnic Nationality, declared support for Obaseki’s second term bid during a courtesy visit to the governor at the Government House, Benin City

Representatives of the communities, Chief Joel Wodubamo, Chief Daniel Agagha and Mr Ebiye Milton, urged the governor not to relent in his efforts at transforming the state and positively impacting the lives of Edo people.

Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has described the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress, as a “pandemic” in politics.

He also accused Dogara of contract inflation in the project he was executing in his constituency.

He said these when hundreds of his supporters from the Dass, Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro local government areas, where Dogara represents, paid him a solidarity visit at the Government House, Bauchi, on Tuesday.

He said, “Besides the Bauchi LGA, there is no place that gave me many votes like Dass, Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro and in the past; these same votes were given to me at the time I contested under the ANPP; the votes I got then were 20 times more than those of Dogara.

“Now, that I contested the governorship, the votes I got were also more than his votes as member and because of that, whatever I will do to you, I won’t do it because of Dogara, I’ll do it because of God and because of myself.

“Those lies he said about me; he said that we don’t give allocations to the LGAs, but have the LGAs been like this before? Have you not been seeing what we are doing there?

“Was it not Dogara that brought the road project from his pocket from Bogoro-Dull-Burga at N17bn and it has not been completed and it is just 45 kilometres.

“He is just talking because if you see a dog running, it is either it is running to get something or something is chasing it. We pity him because he has become an epidemic in politics, but we, in our capacity as brothers, especially we the elders, he has become a disgrace. We only depend on God, you (Dogara) are nobody, imagine now that God made me your governor, should I now disrespect you?”

The governor said he could not fight with Dogara because “he (Dogara) is too small); those who are even more than him tried but they failed.”