₦airaland Forum

Two strong chieftains of All Progressives Congress’, Hon. Olusegun Aiyerin and Prof. Francis Igbasan on Tuesday defected with hundreds members of the party to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at Ilututun in Okitipupa Local Government Area and Irele in Irele Local Government Area of Ondo State respectively.

Aiyerin, a former Chairman of Okitipupa Local Government and former Commissioner for Agriculture, led hundreds of members of APC amidst celebration to join PDP.

Making his defection formal, Pastor Aiyerin in a letter dated February 7, 2023, and addressed to the state Chairman of the APC in the state, Ade Adetimehin, resigned his membership of the party.

He hinged his withdrawal from the party on bad reward mechanism and indolence.

The strong politician stated that he defected to PDP because his vision of joining a team of politicians who would usher in a party of all-inclusive, equity and fairness has been jeopardized.

He was received into PDP with elaborate ceremony by all PDP leaders and critical stakeholders among who are the former Deputy Governor of Ondo State and PDP candidate for Ondo South Senatorial District, Chief Agboola Ajayi, South West Liason Officer of the Atiku/Okowa Campaign Council, Dr Eddy Olafeso, the PDP governorship candidate in 2020, Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, Senator Boluwaji Kunlere, State Chairman of the party, Alhaji Fatai Adams and Member House of Representatives representing Okitipupa/Irele Federal Constituency, Hon. Ikengboju Gboluga.

Others are the former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt Honourable Bakita Bello, Deputy State Chairman, Tola Alabere, the South Senatorial District Chairman, Elder Amos Fadope, former State Woman Leader, Mrs. Esther Ebiwonjumi, Dr. Mrs Lovelyn Yemi-Ese, State Secretary, Oluseye, State Publicity Secretary, Kennedy Peretei, Chief Oyedele Ibini and other dignitaries.
In his address, while receiving Pastor Aiyerin and his followers from APC to PDP, Alhaji Fatai Adams urged them to go to their individual units and canvass vote for PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Chief Agboola Ajayi and other candidates of the party in the senatorial district.

Pastor Olusegun Aiyerin, in his address, declared that he joined PDP in the best interest of the people with a view to alleviating the untold hardship the APC has brought upon the people.

He said: “The last time we had the impact of the state government was during the administration of the late Dr. Olusegun Agagu.”

Prof. Francis Igbasan, the Vice Chancellor of McPherson University, Seriki-Sotayo, Ogun State, defected with a large number of members of APC to PDP in Irele.

Many business operators in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have started rejecting the old Naira notes in spite of Supreme Court order temporarily halting the ban on their use.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that following the redesigning of N200, N500 and N1000 notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), Jan. 31 was announced as deadline for use of the old notes.

The Jan. 31 deadline was, however, met with outrage from Nigerians, forcing the apex bank to extend the deadline to Feb. 10 after which the notes would seize to be legal tender.

Meanwhile, Governors of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara approached the Supreme Court on Feb. 3, requesting that the extention should be beyond Feb. 10 as announced by the CBN.

Following the suit, a seven-member panel of the apex court, led by John Okoro gave the order suspending the Feb. 10 deadline till Feb. 15, when the suit would be determined.

NAN Correspondent, who went round some parts of the FCT on Sunday to monitor use of the old notes, discovered they were being rejected in public places like fuelling stations, market places and parks.

Mr Ndubuisi Ugwu, a commercial driver, seen announcing to passengers to board with new Naira notes, said he started rejecting the old notes because fuelling stations had began rejecting them.

He said, “I went to fuel my car at the station with the old notes and it was rejected.

“That is why I am insisting on passengers boarding with new notes.”

On the Supreme Court Order, Ugwu said he was aware of it but insisted that since people had started rejecting the money he had no choice.

Mrs Amina Shuaibu, a tomatoes seller at Karu Market, said she stopped collecting old notes since Feb. 11, following the Feb. 10 deadline given by the CBN.

According to her, she heard that the old notes have seized to be legal tender.

“Although, I heard that the court gave order that we should continue using the old notes but people are rejecting it in the market, that is why I am also rejecting it.

“I also heard that banks have equally stopped accepting the old notes but I do not know how true that is.

“There is so much confusion about the whole thing, so the best thing to do is not to collect it at all.”

The Labour Party vice-presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, was all guns blazing at the party's grand finale campaign rally in Lagos on Saturday, February 11, 2023, where he said that "PDAPC dey craze."

Datti made the remark while addressing a crowd of supporters that turned up for the rally held at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Lagos Island area of the state.

The rally was also attended by the party's presidential flag-bearer, Peter Obi, National Chairman, Julius Abure, Director General of Obi/Datti Campaign Council, Prof Akin Osuntokun, Afenifere leader, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, among others.

Buoyed by the boisterous supporters, the usually calm and soft-spoken Datti drew inspiration from one of the songs of Nigeria's music icon, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, as he spoke in pidgin English to drive home his points.

"Fela talk say dem dash us democracy, dem teach us dem go, no be so?," Datti asked the crowd of supporters.

Speaking further, he said the fact that Nigeria is a democratic country doesn't imply that the people don't know their rights.

Datti's words: "The fact say we get democracy no mean say we craze. Whoever think say we craze, na hin craze. PDAPC na dem craze.

"Anybody wey come stand in front of you talk say dey improve the security of Nigeria, wetin happen to that person, tell dem dey craze...."

PDAPC is a popular acronym being used to represent the combination of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The term was invented by the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, at his inaugural campaign rally in Jos, Plateau State, when he almost mistakenly called the PDP but quickly corrected himself.

Meanwhile, Datti also reiterated his and Obi's plan to lead Nigeria to greatness, adding that the Labour Party has managed to unite the nation which hitherto was embroiled in an internal scuffle among the citizenry.

Datti's words: "Only Obi and my humble self are ready to lead Nigeria to greatness. Fellow Nigerians, Nigeria is that great country on the surface of the earth that bad governance has denied progress and we have to change it.

"Labour Party is that party that has stopped Nigerians from fighting themselves and has united Nigerians."

Members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) claimed to be loyalists of the Borno State Governor, Babangana Zulum, defected to the Labour Party (LP) weeks to the 2023 general elections.

Receiving the defectors at NLC’s Multi-Purpose Hall in Maiduguri on Friday, the acting secretary of LP in Borno State, Ishaku Yakubu said the defectors were loyalists of the Governor who resigned their membership of the APC to the Labour Party.

Yakubu assured the defectors that they would not regret joining the Labour Party, saying “everyone has equal rights in the LP”.

According to him, “in Labour Party, there is no discrimination, we are all equal, you that joined today are equal in status as we are, we are a one and united family”.

He urged all aggrieved members of the APC and PDP in Borno State to join the Labour Party in defeating APC in this year’s general elections.”

Declaring their support for the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, and the governorship candidate in the state, Ibrahim Kadafur, the leader of the defectors, Modu Gana Gudumbali said they decided to join LP because APC has brought hardship to Nigerians.

“We were loyal to our former boss Governor Zulum but we are not gaining anything in that government because the APC are not ready to listen to us, they are not given us room to know our problems in Northern Borno, particularly Gubio, Mobbar, Abadam and Guzamala.

“Five thousand of us decampees (sip) to Labour Party among us is Mustapha Kaka Gubio, Modu Mala APC, Isa Gabchirima, we well known by the Governor as diehard of the APC”.

“The ruling All Progressives Congress had sacked many teachers in Borno, look at issues of naira swap, many IDPs are now don’t have something to eat, no security, no electricity”.

“As far as I am concerned, there is no other candidate who has come up to offer what Obi is offering to the people of Nigeria.

“We want government that will be run by the patriotic people not by social media propaganda,” he said.

A fresh crisis is brewing in the Zamfara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a serving Commissioner in Governor Muhammad Bello Matawalle government has defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Alhaji Aliyu Tukur E.S Mafara, at a press briefing in Gusau on Friday, declared his defection from the APC and pledged full support for the PDP governorship candidate in the State, Dauda Lawal.

Alhaji Mafara was among the key figures in the Zamfara chapter of APC and a grassroots politician.

While addressing the journalists immediately after a close-door meeting with the Zamfara PDP governorship candidate, the former Commissioner reiterated that his conscience would not allow him to stick to failure.

He said: “I informed the state government, former governor, and all my supporters prior to my defection from the APC to the PDP.

“I am doing this for the people, and it is my conviction that Dr. Dauda Lawal, if given the opportunity at the forthcoming election to govern Zamfara State, would tackle the problem of security, boost agricultural production, and create good markets for farm produce.

“For this, I declare my total support for the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), and I want to call on all my supporters across Zamfara to support and vote for Dauda Lawal and PDP in the forthcoming general elections.”

On his part, the Zamfara PDP governorship candidate, Dauda Lawal, affirmed that Zamfara was fully a PDP State, stressing that the party will have a resounding victory in the 2023 elections.

Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday took his campaign rally to Kano state where he reiterated his plans to reopen the borders, restore peace, ensure agriculture and industrial revolutions, among others.

However, a major highlight of the rally was the conspicuous avoidance by Atiku and the party hierarchy to endorse either of party’s two parallel gubernatorial candidates, with the absence of the usual handing over of party flag to the party’s gubernatorial candidate on the agenda of the rally.

Daily Trust reports that the party in Kano state has been engulfed in leadership crisis which culminated in the emergence of two parallel gubernatorial candidates – Mohammad Abacha and Sadiq Wali.

While Wali, son of former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aminu Wali, was acknowledged by the electoral umpire, which put his name on its list, a court recognised the son of former Head of State, General Sani Abacha.

During the presidential campaign rally of the party at the Sani Abacha stadium, our correspondent observed that both candidates were together with Atiku on the stage but the former Vice President did not make reference to either of them nor raise the hands of either of them while addressing the crowd.

A source among the party’s hierarchy, who asked not to be named, told our correspondent that the party was being careful especially as it was expecting the Supreme Court to rule on the issue on Friday.

“We don’t want Atiku to raise the hands of Abacha today (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday), Supreme Court will say it is Wali that is our candidate,” he said.

In his short speech, Atiku asked Kano voters if they want the return of peace as well as a booming agriculture and industries, and the reopening of borders, to which the crowd answered in the affirmative.

He then said “only PDP administration can implement these four policies, that’s why I am appealing to you to vote PDP from top to bottom and I promise you these policies will be implemented.”

hisexcellency34:
Dogara should please tell us the name nah

A serious inter-party crisis has engulfed the Presidential campaign of the Labour Party (LP), in Adamawa State following the boycott of Peter Obi by the Governorship candidate and other candidates.

The presidential candidate of the party, Peter Obi alongside his running mate, Datti Ahmed arrived in Yola Tuesday and astonishingly met the absence of the governorship candidate, Umar Mustapha, including other stakeholders of the party from the 21 local government areas.

The aggrieved members of the party’s which includes governorship candidates, Senatorial, House of Representatives and State House of Assembly Candidates in the state lamented that they are being schemed out of the programme.

They accused the former Secretary to the Federal Government 0f the Federation, (SGF), Mr Babachir Lawal of hijacking the Labour Party and ceding the party’s governorship candidate and other positions to the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Speaking to newsmen in Yola, the governorship candidate, Umar Madawaki said Adamawa Labour Party, LP, candidates have resolved to boycott the party’s presidential rallies held in the state beginning today, Tuesday, January 31, 2023, ahead of the general elections.

Madawaki said that “as a governorship candidate, he is the leader of the party in the state, therefore all arrangements for the party’s presidential campaign were done without the notice of either of the candidates of the party which he alleged that the former SGF has a hand in the scheme to weed them out”.

Babachir was quoted as not recognising Madawaki as the party’s governorship candidate when he said “Who are you referring to as your gubernatorial candidate, I don’t know who’s a candidate “.

Umar Madawaki considered it uncourteous the coming for a campaign rally to Adamawa as a presidential candidate without first paying homage to the Chairman of the traditional ruler in the State.

“Can you imagine! A Presidential rally, to be held in Numan, the southern senatorial district and in Mubi, the northern senatorial district, while it’s only a town hall meeting that would be held in Yola, the state capital, he fumed.

According to Umar, it is customary that the presidential candidates coming to the state would as a sign of respect visit Lamido Adamawa’s palace as the first port of call before proceeding with the campaign, but in this case, the monarch is scheduled to be visited after Numan and Mubi rallies.

He alleged that the planned presidential campaign can only showcase Peter Obi as the LP’s presidential candidate to vote for, while other positions, from the Governorship down to the State Assembly should go for the PDP candidates, describing it as an democratically unhealthy romance.

Umar Mustafa alleged that Babachir David Lawal, who found it uncomfortable to remain in APC made him SGF and that integrity challenges could not get sustained, would not gain entry into the PDP, has bulldozed his way into the Labour Party and is scheming to hijack the party at the state level, deploying ethno religious sentiment as a divide and conquer, to mortgage the state structures and candidates to PDP.

The Federal High Court in Abuja has sacked the senator representing Akwa Ibom North East district, Albert Akpan, over his defection, last year, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The court declared his seat vacant and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a bye-election to fill it within 14 days, counting from 20 January when the judgement was delivered.

Although Mr Akpan was recently convicted and jailed for corruption, his sacking by the court has nothing to do with that.

His sacking by the court is based on his defection from the PDP to the Young Progressives Party (YPP).

The convict, who is on post-conviction bail, is the Akwa Ibom State governorship candidate of his new party, the YPP, in the forthcoming March 2023 governorship election.

Delivering judgement in the political suit filed against him by the PDP, the judge, Fadima Aminu, ruled that he was not qualified to retain the seat after resigning from the party which sponsored his election to the Senate for a four-year tenure in 2019.

The judge ordered Mr Akpan to stop parading himself as a senator and ordered him to pay N5 million in costs to PDP which sued him over his defection to the YPP.

Ms Aminu said Mr Akpan, a two-term senator, failed in his obligation to prove that his defection from PDP was necessitated by serious rancour and steep differences in the ranks of the party.

Without a justifiable reason, the judge said, the defection violated section 68(1)(g) of the Nigerian constitution and implied that he must vacate his seat.

“Therefore, this honourable court holds that the 1st defendant (Mr Akpan) who resigned from the plaintiff (PDP) but failed in his duty before this honourable court to prove the alleged serious rancour and steep differences in the ranks of the plaintiff (PDP) which made him to resign or defect to Young Progressives Party (YPP), the 1st defendant is in violation of section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution by refusing to vacate his seat as a senator in the senate won under the sponsorship of the plaintiff,” the judge said.

PREMIUM TIMES saw a certified true copy of the judgement on Friday.

Defection and suit
Mr Akpan defected from the PDP in July 2022 citing unresolved grievances from the party’s governorship primary election in Akwa Ibom State.

He announced the YPP as his new party in his letter notifying the Senate President of his defection from the PDP.

He was among federal lawmakers who switched parties in the aftermath of last year’s primary elections across parties.

Following the development, the PDP sued Mr Akpan on 28 July 2022, urging the court to declare his seat vacant by virtue of the provisions of sections 68(1), and 62(b) of the Nigerian constitution affirmed by a plethora of Supreme Court decisions.

The party joined the Senate President and INEC as defendants.

Parties’ arguments and judgement
The PDP argued that there was no division in its fold to warrant Mr Akpan’s defection to another party.

It presented in court among other exhibits, Mr Akpan’s letter of resignation from the party. The letter dated 15 July 2022 was sent to the chairman of the PDP in his Ibiono Ibom Eastern Ward I in Ibiono Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Ariekamauwen Asuquo.

PDP said Mr Akpan ought to have voluntarily relinquished his seat in the Senate after defecting to another party, but chose to continue to take benefit of his election into the Senate on its platform.

But Mr Akpan argued that the PDP lacked the right to file the suit as it was not listed among the authorities with powers to enforce section 68(1) of the constitution to declare his seat vacant.

He said by virtue of the provision of the constitution, only the President of the Senate, with regard to a senator, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, for a member of the lower house, could validly enforce the constitutional provision.

But the judge held that the argument was “misconceived”, adding that “there is nothing in the provision of section 68(2) of the constitution that expressly provides that it is only the persons stated in the referenced section that can give effect to the provision of section.”

The judge, who backed her reasoning with judicial precedents, also dismissed the arguments and claims put forward in the senator’s defence by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan.

An affidavit deposed on behalf of Mr Lawan had said he had yet to receive formal communication from Mr Akpan about his defection. The claim is contradicted by the wide reportage given to the Senate President’s reading of the senator’s defection letter on the floor of the Senate on 20 July 2022.

Contradicting itself, the affidavit said Mr Lawan had read reports, which he believed to be true, about the divisions in the PDP in Akwa Ibom State.

The judge held that the self-contradiction in the Senate President’s affidavit had destroyed all the facts stated in it.

“Therefore, the statement of the 2nd defendant is self-contradictory as the 2nd defendant claims on one hand that there has been no formal communication to him of the defection of the 1st defendant from the plaintiff and yet, on the other hand, agrees that the 1st defendant notified him of his defection and resignation from the plaintiff and being also aware of the division and factionalisation of the plaintiff in Akwa Ibom State as the reason for the 1st defendant’s defection.

“This honourable court agrees with the submission of the learned counsel for the plaintiff that once an affidavit is self-contradictory, it needs not be challenged by the other party as whatever facts the affidavit intends to establish would have been destroyed by the contradiction,” Ms Aminu ruled.

The judge said Mr Akpan’s resignation letter dated 18 July 2022 which he also publicised via his Twitter handle with other information about his defection “stands in the defence of the case of the plaintiff (PDP).”

The court, therefore, held that the PDP successfully proved its case “on the preponderance of evidence”

Akpan appeals to Court of Appeal, PDP seeks enforcement of judgement

Meanwhile, Mr Akpan has since appealed to the Court of Appeal in Abuja to avert the implementation of the judgement, with fresh elections to usher in a new set of senators a few weeks away.

The judgement came about a month before the general election to fill all 109 seats in the Senate.

The four-year tenure of the current senators elected in 2019 expires in early June, approximately four months away.

But PDP’s lawyers from the law firm of Tayo Oyetibo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, have written to the INEC chairman to “immediately take steps to timeously comply with the court’s order.”

A copy of the letter seen by PREMIUM TIMES and its authenticity confirmed to one of our reporters in a phone call to one of the signatories, Olaniran Obele, is dated 24 January and bears INEC’s acknowledgement stamp dated 25 January.

Defiant defections
The Supreme Court has ruled on different occasions that a division within the ranks of a political party must be so deep that the party can no longer function at the national level for it to be an acceptable excuse for the defection of a state or federal lawmaker.

But despite the judicial precedents, lawmakers still defect without justification. The presiding officers of the legislative houses empowered to declare the seats of such lawmakers are always lethargic to make such pronouncements, regardless of the party affiliations of the defectors.

PDP took benefit of such defection when, in 2018, then Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and some other senators joined its fold upon their dumping the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

A 56-year-old Nigerian national, Aremu Timothy Adegboyega, has been arrested in Ghana for allegedly transporting millions of CFA and Naira currencies suspected to be counterfeit.

The suspect was arrested by a joint security team as he entered Ghana through Togo using an unapproved route called Beat Zero in Aflao, Volta Region.

The Assistant commissioner of the Aflao Division of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Ahmed Majeed Amandi, who disclosed this on Monday, January 23, 2023, said the suspect was arrested last Tuesday.

Amandi said personnel found CFA80 million in fresh notes, an additional CFA843,000 in the suspect's waist bag and N110,500 in his wallet.

The currencies had the same serial numbers raising a lot of suspicion.

Adegboyega allegedly admitted to transporting the “fake” currencies, and this is his second time entering the country with counterfeit money.

He told officers that on this trip, he was given the cash by his friend who lives in Lagos, Nigeria, to be given to a client known as Mallam Isumaru Jeru in Abobo, Ivory Coast.

Majeed Amandi said the money will be sent to the Bank of Ghana to determine whether it is fake or genuine.

The suspect will be sent to Accra for further interrogation.

The North-East Zonal Secretary of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Dr Babayo Liman, and hundreds of his supporters have defected to the Peoples Democratic Party on Saturday in Gombe State.

Liman disclosed this during an interview with journalists in Gombe, the state capital, while declaring his unsupport to Atiku Abubakar, PDP Presidential candidate.

The former NNPP member abandoned his position in the Presidential Campaign Council of Kwankwaso, stressing that he decided to resign his appointment with the NNPP and defected to the PDP in order to support the former Vice President following his track record.

He said, “We registered more than 3.6 million people in the North-East region under the NNPP and Gombe State is one of the states in my zone, hence the need for me to go round and inform my supporters that I defected to the PDP.

“I am resigning my appointment as the North-East Zonal Secretary of the NNPP, as a member of the Presidential Campaign Council of the NNPP, and as a coordinator of the Kwankwasiya in the zone.

Kwankwaso promises to tackle drug abuse among youths
“We have nothing to do with the NNPP and Kwankwasiya again; not only me defected, with me here is the Zonal Public Relations Officer, Ibrahim Tal, who also resigned his appointment to support Atiku Abubakar with our supporters as you can see.

“I want to seize this opportunity to inform you that we have more than 600,000 NNPP members in Gombe and we have defected and obtain PDP membership cards.”

According to him, the presidential candidate of Rabiu Kwamkwaso, should withdraw from the race and support the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party Atiku Abubakar.

He disclosed that 16 years of the PDP administration was a success because of the notable impact.

“Atiku Abubakar has the capacity to salvage the country from its present hardship and dwindling economy following his track record in the past as the Vice President of Nigeria,” he said.

The Osun state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked its members to commence seven-day fasting and prayer for favourable judgment at the election petition tribunal.

In August 2022, Gboyega Oyetola, former Osun governor, and the APC petitioned the tribunal to challenge the election victory of Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Among several issues, Oyetola is contending that there was overvoting in 749 polling units across 10 LGAs of the state.

According to a statement on Friday by Tajudeen Lawal, the acting chair of Osun APC, the fasting and prayer begins on Friday.

He also said the exercise is necessary for the party after making “everything legally possible before the tribunal for the retrieval of Oyetola’s mandate”.

“I believe in the efficacy of prayers and that there are no challenges that are greater than the powers of prayers,” he said

“I appeal to APC members not to treat the fasting and prayers session with levity. I am convinced that God will perform wonders through the collective prayers of party members.

"It is important for APC members to remember to pray for continuous good health for Oyetola and his deputy, Mr Bennedict Alabi, as well as members of their families during the fasting and prayer session.

“Pray for quick restoration of Osun’s lost and dwindling glory among the comity of states in Nigeria.”

While the state APC is aiming to win at the tribunal with fasting and prayer, TheCable reported on Tuesday how Ademola Adeleke, the Osun governor, expressed optimism of victory.

Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had said Adeleke would win the Osun governorship election even if results from polling units contested by Oyetola were exempted.


INEC, in its final written address by Paul Ananaba, counsel to the commission, insisted that Adeleke won the governorship poll.

“The petitioners complained of over-voting and infractions by picking 749 polling units to contend with from 1750 polling units, according to the first respondent witnessed (RW1),” he said.

“If a deduction of 1750 units was carried out from the total 3763 units in the state, the second respondent will still emerge as the winner with over 20,000 votes”

Kyase:
I just tire for this people ooo

Kyase:
That was yesterday
We dey talk of latest development

The National Chairman of the Labour Party, Com. Julius Abure has dragged Arise Television to court for slanderous comments made against him on air.

In Suit No: B/35/2023 filed before High Court of Edo State by his counsel President Aigbokhan, Esq on 18th January, 2023, made available to the press, the chairman stated that he has been defamed more than twice by the television station.

The chairman stated that his attention was drawn to the television’s Morning Show interview granted to the former National Publicity Secretary of Labour Party Mr. Arabambi who has been sacked from the party. The claim of the chairman shows that the Television station broadcasted defamatory statement against him on 11th day of December 2022 through the interview of the party former publicity secretary without cross checking the facts with the party or inviting the party representative for such an interview.

In the same vein, on 8th January 2023 the television station granted another interview to one Miss Agho Blessing and broadcasted the interview from her private office in Benin City to disparage the reputation without giving him the privilege to respond to the allegations. The chairman claims that the TV station sell prime time to people to malign him without giving him or his representative an opportunity to air their part of the story. He claims that the dual interviewed by the defendant was done with malice

In the pleadings filed on 18th day of January 2023, the chairman states that the principles of fairness, accuracy, and balance in the coverage of political activities was not observed by the Television Station as the TV station failed to comply with ethical code of broadcasting in the interview of its guest and claim against the station the sum of N150, 000,000.00 (One Hundred and Fifty Million Naira Only).

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has detailed his plans towards quelling secessionist agitations and unrest across the country.

Obi made his stance known on Monday, during a media briefing at the Chatham House, in London.

Various secessionist groups such as the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Yoruba Nation have unleashed mayhem on Nigerians, which has induced insecurity amongst the populace.

In response to a question regarding the situation, Obi vehemently refused to criticize the movements, while detailing the cause of such agitations.

He said, “When 40 percent of your population is unemployed, there will be all sorts of problem which is what caused this agitation and this is as a result of leadership failure over the years and once there is a good leadership, these problems will be solved.

“So yes, I will talk and speak with all agitators.”

Peter Obi also pledged to prosecute saboteurs who have held the country’s power sector hostage, while ensuring the elimination of fuel subsidies to boost revenues other crucial sectors.

“Monies have to be put into crucial areas which is why I am insistent on the elimination of fuel subsidies. This is why we need to dismantle the structure of criminality holding the country back. I am going to declare war on those holding the country back, especially in the power sector.

“We are committed to build a New Nigeria for the youths in order to bring back the Diaspora,” Obi revealed.