₦airaland Forum

The Enugu West Senator, Ike Ekweremadu, on Saturday, said the southeast needs an extra state because the region is shortchanged.

Ekweremadu explained that an extra state would enable the southeast to “match with the rest of the country in terms of opportunities and national assembly.”

Speaking during a town hall meeting in Enugu State, the former Deputy Senate President, said the southeast is shortchanged in the area of resource control.

Ekweremadu pointed out that the region stands at a disadvantaged position during voting and resource distribution at the National Assembly.

According to Ekweremadu: “The number [in the national assembly] is lopsided, because of the way the states were created.

"Right now, the south-east has just five states while others have six and seven. With the senate, we have just fifteen [lawmakers], while some have 18 and some 21.

"So when it comes to voting and resource distribution, we are shortchanged. If you go to the house of representatives, [it’s a] similar thing.

"I believe that the fair thing to do is for the country to agree for us to have an extra state for the south-east. So that will enable us to match with the rest of the country in terms of opportunities and national assembly.”

Some members of the House of Representatives have proposed that the National Assembly be shut down to force the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to wake up to his responsibility of ensuring protection of life and property in Nigeria.

This is just as a lawmaker called for the resignation or sacking of the National Security Adviser, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno, saying he should have been sacked along with the last set of service chiefs.

The House cut short its plenary on Thursday, following an extended debate on the growing insecurity in the country, during which emotions ran high in the chamber.

Items on the Order Paper for the day, which contains the agenda for each plenary, were stepped down after the lawmakers, mostly members of the ruling party, All Progressives Congress, spent over one hour criticising the Buhari-led regime and security agencies.


A member of the House, Shehu Balarabe, had moved a motion of urgent public importance on the killings in Kaduna.

The Majority Leader, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, noted that he would use his “emotion-laden voice” to speak in his capacity as leader of the House and the “ambassador of the government on this floor.”

Ado-Doguwa said, “You can see how this chamber is thrown into disquiet and into an emotionally-disturbed manner. When you have a government in place, the major responsibility of that government, especially a democratic one which was elected by the people, is to ensure safety of lives and properties of its innocent citizens.

When things like this continue, and continue on a daily basis, those of us who are representatives of the government will become speechless. I have to repeat: we become speechless in the discharge of our duties here to defend actions by the government.

“This is an elected government under a popular democracy but we continue, day in day out…killings, massacre, banditry, armed robbery left, right, and centre. This is just a report of one local government area out of the 774 of the federation.”

The majority leader asked why several parts of Kaduna State have been under attack despite the existence of several military and paramilitary institutions and bases, “the highest number you can count in the northern part of the country,” in the state.

“The government, in this case, has to rise up to its responsibility and call a spade a spade,” he stated.

Ado-Doguwa pointed out that the National Assembly had always appropriated more funds for the security agencies, while relevant committees have been following up on the use of the funds in the implementation of the budget.

He said, “We are here for Nigerian people; we must speak for Nigerian people. We cannot sit down here, fold our arms and see our electorate – people who elected us into our respective offices – being killed by the day.”

The majority leader described the situation as an “institutional failure” and “regimented failure on the part of our security agencies because you have no cause to even excuse any one of them.”

Nwodosis:
Seems like the snakes are friendly with the Bandits and the Boko boys that permanently reside in the thick forest abi them wan collect government money chop for anti-venom?

The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has warned the President Muhammadu Buhari government that it may experience another nationwide protest in form of the End SARS.

The party said the protest may happen following the All Progressives Congress-led government’s inability to address the lingering fuel scarcity in the country.

The PDP noted that the fuel problem in the country has doubled the hardship already being by Nigerians under the President Buhari government.

The party said the government and the ruling party must not forget that there is a limit to what the citizens can bear, describing the current administration as arrogant, inhumane, unconcerned and insensitive.

This was contained in.a statement issued by its spokesman, Debo Ologunagba, where the main opposition also chided Buhari for what it called, his inability to address the many challenges facing the nation.

“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 PDP wondered.

“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.

"It is often said that when a government abdicates its responsibility to the citizens at whose pleasure it should serve, then that government is complicit in the suffering of its people and a beneficiary of their woes.”

The party berated Buhari for not showing empathy, competence and concern to the plight of Nigerians and as the country rapidly drifts towards a looming precipice.

PDP pointed out that the frustration in the country is already building into a nationwide “restiveness that may result to the breakdown of Law and Order if allowed to fester.”

The PDP noted that with all that is going on in Nigeria with the president clearly helpless as millions of businesses, employment and sources of livelihood have collapsed across the country, paving way for acute hardship and widespread social tension, Nigerians may occupy the streets again.

“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 End SARS if not addressed immediately,” the party said.

Afolabimills:
ogbeni I didn't mention pdp here abi ur brain dey pain u nii? infact pdp is far better than dis evil fulani jihadist govt go hug transformer

Afolabimills:
u have no shame like your satanic jihadist poverty spreading evil fulani terrorist party it shall never b well with all those who supports this demonic party

Rebels from the breakaway Luhansk People’s Republic, LPR, in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region are now in control of government buildings in the city of Rubizhne, CNN reports.


Luhansk and Donetsk are the two separatist regions backed by Russia.

“We are located next to the administration of the city Rubizhne.
The flag of the (LPR) is flying here now. This means for the local residents that, if the war hasn’t ended yet, then it’s in its final stages,” a uniformed soldier said in videos posted to the official channel of the People’s Militia of the LPR.

The same was captured in another video, this time he is seen standing in the Rubizhne mayor’s office, where he later mounted the LPR flag on the roof of the government building.

In the clip posted to his Telegram channel, Rubizhne regional administrator, Serhiy Haidai said the enemy(Russia) is simply destroying all the cities.

“It’s not even selective anymore. Earlier they were shelling more or less selectively, today they are firing deliberately, quadrant after quadrant,” he added

1Sharon:
They are giving it to you hot.

Hammyaladin:
Salam brothers. May Allah give us strength to continue with our faith. Times r hard for us now. But with we will overcome InSHAllah

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has told his Edo State counterpart, Godwin Obaseki that they are not in the same class.

Obaseki, while reacting to a scathing attack launched against his Deputy, Phillip Shaibu by Governor Wike, had slammed the Rivers Governor, describing him as a bully.

Obaseki had complained that members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP who defected from the All Progressives Congress, APC in Edo were not happy and do not feel accepted into the new party.

Obaseki, in a statement on Monday also noted that Nigeria needed strong democratic institutions and not strong men, adding that the main opposition party needs to position itself to reclaim power in 2023.

But Wike, in his reaction, said the Edo State Governor was only ranting, saying governance was about feeling and touching, and not a memorandum of understanding.

Wike said Obaseki should not come close to him in terms of achievements, disclosing that while in Edo State for the 2020 governorship election, he did not take his bath for three days, for reasons he did not explain.

Wike highlighted his contribution to the efforts that led to Obaseki’s re-election, having served as the Director-General (DG) of his campaign organisation in 2020.

Let me clearly say without any apology to anybody that one of the problems in this country is leadership – people who cannot stand firm and say: this is white; this is black at all times,” the Rivers governor said.

“I am not in the class of Obaseki, never! We are not the same, we can’t be the same. I was the DG of his campaign, I went there (to Edo) for three days. I stayed there without having my bath. I have never seen somebody like that in my life – a serial betrayer.

Let me tell you Obaseki, I know your cohorts and I will smoke all of you out. This is not the Benin artefact that you were challenging the Oba (of Benin), this is politics. Obaseki, I have more stake in PDP than you. I have fought for this party, mention one thing that you have done for the PDP.,” Wike said while addressing a crowd at the commissioning of a secondary school in Rivers State on Monday.