SadiqBabaSani:
You heard it right, why celebrating the mans several blunders when Atiku is gunning to be President after A Northerner Buhari's 8years?

Whats makes him think he will win?

The presidential campaign council of the Labour Party (LP) says Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State was seeking attention by resorting to attack one of his predecessors, Peter Obi.

Mr Soludo after describing the investment Mr Obi, made on behalf of the state, as valueless, last week, penned down another scathing remarks of the LP candidate, with more of its series forthcoming.

He said Mr Obi can’t and won’t win the presidential election next year for not seeking the exalted office on the platform of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) despite several of his pleas for him to return to the party he claimed made the former governor what he is politically today.

Responding in a statement on Tuesday, Ndi Kato, the spokesperson of the LPPCC, said the party and its candidate have not time for attention seekers like the governor.

Ms Kato said they were preoccupied with the task of taking their message of moving the country from consumption to production not minding the “glaring fallacies, misrepresentations, personal insinuations and signs of personal vendetta in that long writeup.”

“We read with amusement and dismay, a very lengthy and belaboured treatise of an article, written by Professor Chukwuma Soludo, Governor of Anambra State, focused on our Presidential Candidate, His Excellency Peter Obi,” the statement reads.

“It seems obvious that Professor Soludo is itching for limelight, in this election season, perhaps fired up by possible understanding or alliance with our struggling political opponents.

“While we note the glaring fallacies, misrepresentations, personal insinuations and signs of personal vendetta in that long writeup, neither His Excellency Peter Obi, The Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation, nor the Labour Party, for that matter, has any interest in an extended engagement with Prof Soludo this critical time when there is a bigger fish to fry.

“His Excellency Peter Obi has his work well cut-out for him, this campaign season.

“Primarily, he is accelerating his reach-out and influence to all Nigerians, rural and urban, in all areas, regions and states; and firmly engaging them, on his critical and visionary plans to take the country from consumption to production.

“In doing this, Mr. Peter Obi is firmly placing the Youths, intensive Agricultural revolution, and revamping of critical areas of the economy as part of the focal points in the drive to turn around our fortunes and take back our country.

“We, the Youths, spreading across partisan political lines, have found reason to place the highest level of trust and confidence in HE Peter Obi, and we are committed to continuing partnership with him, transparently, vigorously and creatively, to bring to fruition, the vital changes urgently required in this our country, of so much potential.

“We strongly believe that A New Nigeria is possible… and together with Peter Obi, we are working to make this a reality.

“This is our focus; this is our occupation.. and we shall not be distracted.”

Adams Oshiomhole, the Edo North senatorial candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) says Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) is creating jobs abroad while importing unemployment into the country.

Mr Oshiomhole stated this on Friday at the flag-off of his campaign in Auchi area of the state.

Like the former Edo governor, Mr Obi was equally in the state to campaign, an event that overshadowed that of Mr Oshiomhole who blamed him for the high rate of unemployment in Nigeria.

Mammoth crowd trooped to the city to welcome the Anambra former governor who has been in the state since Thursday evening. During the visit, the opposition politician popular among the youths paid courtesy visit to Oba Ewuare II, the revered monarch of Benin and Apostle Johnson Suleman, the general overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries International.

Narrating how Mr Obi created jobs abroad and imported unemployment, the former national chairman of the APC said by importing foreign goods, the LP candidate, who has vowed to move the country from production to consumption, was contributing to the rising unemployment.

“Obi owns the biggest shopping mall in Abuja and all the items sold there are imported,” Mr Oshiomhole said. “So if he is selling imported wines, clothes and other items, he is contributing to why Nigeria is going down because he is creating jobs abroad and importing unemployment to Nigeria.”

The country largely depends on imported goods, including premium motor spirit, which President Muhammadu Buhari had promised to put to an end by promising to build one refinery every year when he sought the office but built none seven years after.

The ruling party occasionally blames the opposition and global economic malaises for the high rate of unemployment. In one instance, Mr Buhari described the youths as being lazy.

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State says supporters of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) and the opposition party itself are unserious in their aim to unseat the governing All Progressive Congress (APC) at the center.

Mr Obaseki, who stated this on Friday night while appearing on Channels TV, justified while the LP and its supporters were barred from using the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium for their campaign.

According to the governor, the request for the use of the stadium by the opposition party came late. He explained that the tracks of the edifice were still under warranty.

“I heard that they applied on Wednesday night to hold a rally at Samuel Ogbemudia stadium on Friday morning, giving us one day notice,” Mr Obaseki said. “The tracks of that stadium are still under warranty. The pitch has to be maintained in a certain mode. So it’s just not another facility you just can go in and use without preparing.

“If they knew they had a rally on Friday why couldn’t they give more time and more notice so that we give them the conditions under which they can use the pitch.”

He said even his political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had to apply early and met conditions before being allowed to use the stadium, an opportunity the state government also used to commission it.

“It (PDP rally) was also used as an opportunity to commission that facility, otherwise most other rallies are held in other large grounds around the city. So, I expected more from the Labour Party, I thought they were more serious.

“You cannot be planning for rally and be given less than 24 hours notice. I’m a bit disappointed.”

The governor also dismissed an insinuation of being afraid of the opposition which claimed to be on ground, hence his resort to barring them from using the stadium.

“It (insinuation) is a joke, they can show us virtually but not on the ground,” an amused Obaseki said. “I expect that they should be more serious.”

“I spoke to my friend Peter Obi, the night before, and he told me he was coming to Edo State and we offered him all the courtesy, including securities and some logistics. I didn’t know they were coming for a rally.”

President Muhammadu Buhari has advised Nigerians to vote for whoever they like not minding which ever political party their preferred candidates belonged to.

Mr Buhari who is expected to solicit support for his party, the All Progressive Congress (APC), stated this on Wednesday in an interview after visiting His Royal Majesty, King Charles III in Buckingham Palace, United Kingdom.

“…Nigerians should vote for whoever they like from whichever political party,” the Nigerian leader said. “Nobody will be allowed to mobilise resources and thugs to intimidate people in any constituency. That is what I want to go down in Nigerian history for as a leader.”

No going back on Naira redesign

He also said his administration is not going back from plans to redesign the naira, noting that one of the reasons for the development was to frustrate politicians whose aim are to rig the election through monetary vote-buying which usually mar elections in the country.

“No going back,” he retorted when asked about naira redesign, adding that: “My aim is to make sure that Nigerians believe that we respect them as an administration.”

The president, who is in the UK for routine medical check-up, also said his visit to the monarch was to foster Nigeria-Britain bilateral relationship.

Abdulrasheed Bawa, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), says the anti-graft agency has appealed against a court verdict ordering his imprisonment late last month.

Mr Bawa made this known while addressing journalists in Abuja in reaction to the verdict of the court which became public knowledge on Tuesday.

“We have appealed against it already so we will allow the natural course of the law to take its effect,” he said.

The commission’s boss was jailed for contempt of court over failure to comply with an earlier order of the same court.

Chizoba Oji, the presiding judge, ordered the inspector-general of police (IGP) to ensure that Bawa is committed to prison for disobedience.

The judge gave the order in the motion on notice filed by Adeniyi Ojuawo, air vice marshal (now retired), against the federal government.

The judge held that Bawa is in contempt of the order of the court after the commission failed to return to a Range Rover and the sum of N40 million to Ojuawo.

BACKSTORY
The EFCC had arraigned Ojuawo on a two-count charge before Muawiyah Baba Idris, judge of the FCT, in Nyanya in 2016.

He was charged with receiving gratification from Hima Aboubakar of Societe D’Equipment Internationaux Nigeria Limited totalling N40 million and a Range Rover Sport (supercharged) valued at N29.250 million.

However, the judge discharged and acquitted Ojuawo on November 21, 2018, on the grounds that the prosecution had not made its case.

The judge then ordered the EFCC to return the money and the car to him, an order which was not complied with.

Udom Emmanuel, Akwa Ibom State governor, has denied resigning as the Chairman of the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Reports in some online medium, excluding TODAY POLITICS, claimed that Mr Emmanuel, one of the opposition governors still standing behind the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar, was exasperated with the inability of the latter to release funds for campaigns in the state.

The report, which quoted anonymous aides to the governor as threatening to resign, said Mr Abubakar was not popular among residents in the state.

Denying the report while unveiling Umo Eno, the PDP guber candidate in Uyo on Tuesday at the flag-off of the governorship campaign, Mr Emmanuel said he remained the chairman of the Atiku PCC and has no intention of stepping aside.

He said the purveyors of the false news decided to go to town with it, having sensed the PDP coasting to victory.

“I remain the chairman of the Atiku-Okowa Presidential Campaign,” the governor told a large crowd of supporters at the event. “I am not going anywhere. They’ve seen that we are coasting home to victory, that is why they are bringing that (rumoured resignation).

“Before I go into any protocol, let me address Nigerians first. I woke up this morning to one fake news: they say I have resigned from being the chairman of the presidential campaign council. I am saying it is not true.

“We have won them before and we are going to win them again. We are in the presidential council to win. So, we have to win. Don’t listen to all those rumours.

“I am here, very loyal party man. Very committed party man. I am here as the chairman of the presidential campaign of Atiku, of PDP. I am going anywhere; we are going to win together,” he added.

A federal high court in Gusau, the capital of Zamfara State, has again nullified the governorship primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The court had earlier cancelled the primary that produced Dauda Lawal-Dare as the candidate of the opposition party and ordered a re-run.

Mr Lawal-Dare re-emerged in the second primary held in September but in a ruling on Tuesday, Justice Aminu Bappa, quashed the repeated exercise, saying the PDP will not field a governorship candidate in the state.

Former military spokesman, Major General John Enenche, has explained why he described the Lekki tollgate massacre event in Lagos as photoshopped.

In 2020, TODAY POLITICS, recalls that youths in the country began protesting, demanding the scrapping of then police brutal unit codenamed Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). They hinged their decision on the incessant harassment, torture and killing of young Nigerians who appear wealthy physically.

The protests across several states went on for weeks until military personnel swooped on demonstrators at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos, opening live rounds on the protesters on October 20.

Authorities, including the Lagos State government, began denying dispatching troops to the scene of the massacre the federal government later described as “massacre without bodies.”

Mr Eneche, on his part as a military spokesman, described multimedia reports of the development as photoshopped with no truth therein.

Recently, he was appointed a member of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the Labour Party LP). His appointment met strife criticism when OBIdients – A youth driven movement supporting the Anambra former governor – called for his exclusion from the 1,234-member list of the PCC.

Explaining his reason for the description, the Major General in a statement on Friday said he worked based on his oath of allegiance.

“Dear countrymen and women, following my appointment on the campaign council of Labour Party, there were reactions on the social media about my pronouncement concerning a video shot at the scene of the ENDARS incident at Lekki toll gate on 20 October 2020,” the statement partly reads.

“Every one that commented in any way was right based on the information at their disposal and individual analysis. Personally, and professionally, I worked with the overriding interest of Nigerians at heart based on the oath of allegiance I swore on commission into military service which is sacrosanct.

“I sincerely shared in the pains of that breaking news through the social media as it were. On this note, I want to assure all that more effort will be put in, so that all assertions can be cleared convincingly from appropriate sources,” he pledged.

Meanwhile, following the outcry that greeted his inclusion, Mr Obi has indicated that the ex-military spokesman, might not make the list where he said errors were made.

“I’ve received several calls of concern following the release of the Labour Party’s Presidential Campaign Council list,” the LP candidate tweeted on Friday. “Admittedly, there were some omissions and erroneous entries in the list, hence the concerns expressed. In response, the Labour Party Chairman in the presence of members of the NWC addressed the issues during a press conference. In keeping with our commitment to accountability, responsiveness and transparency, an updated list will be issued in due course. I plead for patience.”

N3TRAL:


Lekki Toll gate whatever is a myth.

It Never happened.

N3TRAL:


So civilians should start killing security agents instead of enforcing their rights in court?

If Black Americans started killing policemen after the death of Floyd and other racially motivated killings would the country be a desired destination?

Anarchy is not the solution. It worsens the situation.

Okoroawusa:
Nnamdi Kanu will die a horrible death. More than the death of those he has caused in the south east.

N3TRAL:


He knew the value of life then he instructed his boys to burn down people's sweat?

He knew the value of life then he started a conflict that had consumed hundreds of lives of his own people?

N3TRAL:


Jumping bail is legality?

Sedition is legality?

Treason is legality?

Defamation is legality?

Terrorist is legality?

The judgment of the court of Appeal was reached in error.

The supreme court has the final say.

Throwback:


If he is freed by the Supreme Court on account of his wonderful capture in Kenya, then he will rearraigned on other charges that have been warmed in the cooler to address such situation.

That terrorist is not smelling freedom in this lifetime.

Throwback:



Who is chained to the floor at DSS cell?

N3TRAL:


The supreme court decides.

It's at the Supreme Court we can finally say : this is the position of the law.

Throwback:
Did anyone really think Nnamdi Kanu will ever smell freedom in this current lifetime?

As in the same foolish fellow who has recordings of his own crimes, threats, terror, confession of guilt, fundraising for weapons, setting up of BSS while on bail, flouting his bail conditions relating to mass gatherings, threatening the life of the security forces and the President, directing the arson that occurred during the EndSARS protest, etc.

Anyone who thinks such a fellow will escape a sorrowful lifetime incarceration must not know the reason for the existence of the law.

The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami on Thursday reacted to the decision of the Appeal Court to quash terrorism charges against the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

In a statement signed by his spokesperson, Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, the Justice Minister said the appeal court only discharged Kanu and did not acquit him of jumping bail in 2017 when agents of the federal government invaded his Afaraukwu home in Abia State, opening live rounds on any sighted living thing.

“The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has received the news of the decision of the Court of Appeal concerning the trial of Nnamdi Kanu,” the statement said. “For the avoidance of doubt and by the verdict of the Court, Kanu was only discharged and not acquitted.

“Consequently, the appropriate legal options before the authorities will be exploited and communicated accordingly to the public.

“The decision handed down by the court of appeal was on a single issues that borders on rendition.

“Let it be made clear to the general public that other issues that predates rendition on the basis of which Kanu jumped bail remain valid issues for judicial determination.

“The Federal Government will consider all available options open to us on the judgment on rendition while pursuing determination of pre-rendition issues.”

TODAY POLITICS recalls that the argument of Mr Malami has already been addressed by a federal high court in Abia State where the court faulted the Nigerian Army for raiding the residence by the separatist leader, forcing him to leave the country.

The court fined the government N1 billion for breaching the fundamental human right of the IPOB leader who resurfaced in Israel, London and Kenya where he was intercepted and renditioned last year.

Justice Binta Nyako of the federal high court in Abuja had reduced the amended charges against Mr Kanu when he was re-arrainged before her, striking out 8 of the 15-count charge.

Dissatisfied with the ruling of the lower court, the Defence counsel led by Mike Ozekhome (SAN) approached the Court of Appeal, arguing that the remaining 7-count charge be struck out for violation of local and international laws bordering on extradition which the country is a signatory to.

The three man panel agreed with the submission of the appellant and dismissed the remaining charges, saying the prosecution, by failing to detail how Mr Kanu was renditioned back to the country, agreed with the defence team that the separatist leader was illegally abducted.

The Appeal Court also lampooned the lower court for entertaining the submission of the prosecution without the explanation wether the law was complied with in extraditing Mr Kanu.

The reaction of Mr Malami suggests the President Muhammadu Buhari administration might head to the Supreme Court for the final decision on the matter.

Four top members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC) have retuned the sum of N122 million they received from Iyorchia Ayu, national chairman of the opposition party.

Stella Effah-Attoe, National Women Leader; Olasoji Adagunodo, National Vice Chairman South-West; Dan Orbih, National Vice Chairman South-South all received N28,800,000 respectively while Taofeek Arapaja, Deputy National Chairman South was credited the sum of N36,000,000.

The foursome all wrote separately to the national chairman and treasurer of the PDP saying they have all returned the money they received to the account of the party.

They said the funds some of them received without been notified was now been discussed in public.

The letters, all dated September 29, 2022, are trending on various social media platforms, lending credence to the allegation from Governor Nyesom Wike that Mr Ayu is corrupt.

Mr Wike further alleged that the embattled opposition chieftain received about N1 billion from a presidential aspirant on the pretext that state governors of the PDP refused to bankroll the party.

The All Progressive Congress (APC) included a serving lawmaker of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chimaroke Nnamani, in Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council.

Mr Nnamani featured as the 350th member of the 422-man list released on Friday night by the APC Presidential Campaign Council (APCPCC) Secretary, James Faleke.

When the website of the national assembly was visited on Saturday, the profile of the 62-year-old lawmaker representing Enugu East senatorial zone at the Nigerian Senate shows he was still a member of the opposition party and has not defected.

While the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, justified the inclusion, saying Mr Tinubu enjoys support beyond the APC and it is not unusual for the “cross-party alignment,” Bayo Onanuga, spokesman of the APCPCC described it as a mistake.

“The presidential campaign is not necessarily about party membership, it is about your support for the candidate. People who believe in the candidate are very free to work for the candidate that they support,” Mr Morka justified. “Our candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is a candidate that enjoys widespread multi-partisan support. The support for our candidate is not limited to APC members only; he enjoys support from others who know him and who trust in his ability to deliver.”

But in a chat with Vanguard, Mr Onanuga who expressed a divergent view, explaining that the name (Chimaroke Nnamani) was mistaken for another (Ken Nnamani) probably due to the similarities in the surname.

“It is an error. It should be Ken Nnamani,” the national daily quoted him as saying.

But painstakingly looking at the 422-member list indicates Ken Nnamani was already included featuring number 100th therein.

Festus Keyamo, junior labour minister and spokesman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential campaign council, likened Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the ruling party, to Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity.

Mr Keyamo made the blasphemous remark in a controversial tweet early Saturday morning, urging Christian to emulate the former Lagos State governor with a disputed age, health, background and source of wealth.

“The ability of @officialABAT to easily forgive those who’ve betrayed him continues to inspire millions of Nigerians,” Mr Keyamo said. “This is a special Christ-like quality and it’s a reflection of the type of tolerant President he would be. Many shepherds of the faith might do well to emulate him.”

The junior minister might be referring to his inclusion into the Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council despite working against the aspiration of the former Lagos governor and supporting another aspirant of the party, Rotimi Amaechi, Transportation Minister, who trailed Mr Tinubu during the APC presidential primary.

His comparison has sparked reaction on Twitter, a popular social media micro-blogging platform where he made the claim and got tongue-lashed mostly by critics.

Below are few of the reactions that trailed his inciting comparison.

Governor Nyesom Wike says the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) cannot suspend him over the continued crisis bedeviling the opposition.

Mr Wike and his allies are demanding the resignation of Iyorchia Ayu, national chairman of the party, for unprofessional conducts which he said included campaigning for Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president who eventually won the presidential primary in May.

They are also hinging their demand on the vow of Mr Ayu to step down should the Northern region where he hails from produce the presidential candidate of the PDP and the perceived lopsidedness where the presidential candidate, national chairman and director-general of campaign council are all from the same region.

The resignation of Walid Jibrin as chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) has not assuage the aggrieved camp who said the position is that of an advisory than that of decision-making which the afro-mentioned trio are instrumental to.

The national chairman has remained defiant, refusing to fulfill the promise he made while seeking the position he now occupies.

When asked if the crisis will not lead to his suspension during a media chat on Friday, Mr Wike who acknowledged no being bigger than the party said those who caused the defeat of the then ruling party in 2015 and ran away, cannot stage a comeback and suspend him who have been therein thick and thin.

“Who will suspend me?” the governor queried. “What do you think is my job here?

“I’m not saying I’m bigger than the party but those who ran away from the party cannot suspend me from the party. I beg them, today, today, they should come and suspend me. Anything they see, they will take,” he dared.

The Rivers State helmsman said Mr Ayu and his henchmen all have vested interest and have already allotted positions they intend to occupy to themselves if the PDP returns to power.

“Ayu wants to be in power so that when PDP wins he can be a secretary to the federation. The same thing for Saraki. They have already shared the positions.”

While claiming that Mr Abubakar surrounded himself with politicians without electoral value including those from Edo State, he said the arrogance of the party indicates it is not trustworthy and not out to wrestle power from the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).


“We have not won election we are too arrogant, we have not won election and we are telling Nigerians look you cannot trust us, we say one thing and we do a different thing,” Wike asserted. “No party that is ready to take power from APC can be arrogant like this.

“PDP must show Nigeria that we have integrity, [and we’re] trustworthy and the only way Nigeria can take this is if Ayu resigns and the position goes to the south,” he added.

He also revealed why candidates of the APC and Labour Party (LP) Bola Tinubu and Peter Obi are respectively wooing him to their side, despite his resolution not to leave the PDP.

“Who does not want to win in Rivers? That’s why so many parties are speaking with me. If you’re an asset, everybody wants to speak with you.”

Governor Nyesom Wike on Friday narrated how Iyorchia Ayu, national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), frustrated him from emerging the presidential candidate of the opposition party.

Mr Wike leads Southern politicians in PDP demanding the ousting of Mr Ayu who vowed to resign from office should a fellow Northerner like himself emerge the party’s flag-bearer but has remained defiant in fulfilling the promise.

The aggrieved camp are insisting he must step down as a requisite for the return of peace in the PDP or fight to finish, which amounts to the party going into the election without a united front.

In a media chat with selected journalists aired on Channels TV, the Rivers helmsman insisted that the removal of the embattled opposition chieftain remains the only route to solving the crisis therein.

He recalled how Atiku Abubakar, winner of the presidential primary whom he trailed behind, agreed with him in a meeting outside the country that the national chairman must go but returned to tow a different path from what was agreed.

Narrating how Mr Ayu frustrated his presidential ambition, he explained that some of his rivals received a call from the PDP henchman, pressuring them to step down for Mr Abubakar which Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto, another aspirant, did and was described as the hero of the convention.

“There was nothing Ayu didn’t do,” Mr Wike recalled. “Manipulation of delegates list.

“A whole national chairman threatened some of the presidential aspirants at that time that if Wike wins, he was going to resign.

“In fact, he was calling aspirants to withdraw for Atiku Abubakar,” he alleged.

The governor has maintained that he will not defect from the party but will stay therein to finish the fight against leadership lopsidedness where the presidential candidate, national chairman and director-general of the campaign are all from the Northern region, which according to him, is against the spirit of zoning which has being the practise in the party.

Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has stated the reason why he opted for a running from his religion.

Mr Tinubu on Sunday announced Kashim Shettima, former Borno governor, as his running mate for next year’s presidential race.

In some quarters, analysts say the former Lagos governor was pressured into arriving at the conclusion termed politically suicidal by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). His followers in the North are said to have described as inferior the Islamic version he practices, hence the need for one of their own to deputise him.

Addressing newsmen in Daura, Katsina State, hometown of President Muhammadu Buhari, the ruling party’s chieftain explained that competence informed his decision on choosing the director-general of his campaign during the APC presidential primary.

He said the need to do away with religion from the political scene also informed his decision.

“I am mindful of the energetic discourse concerning the possible religion of my running mate. Just and noble people have talked to me about this,” Mr Tinubu said. “Some have counselled that I should select a Christian to please the Christian community. Other have said I should pick a Muslim to appeal to the Muslim community. Clearly, I cannot do both.

“May I say this to all of you, especially to those who will be disappointed in my selection based on religious considerations. I will not and cannot ignore the religious concerns and ethnic sensitivities of our people.

“Taking them into due consideration is an important part of good and able governance. But religion, ethnicity and region cannot always and fully determine our path.

“To forge ahead as a nation toward development and prosperity, we must break free of old binds. We must recalibrate our political calculations to where competence and fairness matter more than reductive demographics.

“I am aware that many will continue to focus on a particular detail, the question of his faith. However, if we truly understand the challenges upon us a nation, then we must also see the imperative of placing competence in governance above religious sentiment.

“In 1993, Nigerians embrace Chief MKO Abiola and a fellow Muslim running mate, Baba Gana Kingibe in one of our fairest elections ever held. The spirit of 1993 is upon us again in 2023.

“As such, the ticket we present today represents a milestone in our political history. It symbolizes our party’s determination to be a leading light among political parties in Africa,” he added.

Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso, has confirmed a coalition involving his party and the Labour Party (LP).

“We are really talking to Peter Obi, or at least saying that the committee is working to look into the matter (and cooperate with him), and friends and family are coming to talk to us about it,” Mr Kwankwaso told BBC Hausa Saturday morning.

In the interview with BBC, Mr Kwankwaso argued that their collaboration was especially important as the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had not fielded an Igbo vice-presidential candidate.

The are reports that the former Kano State governor will team up with his former Anambra counterpart, become the Vice Presidential candidate to challenge the two major political parties in the country.

While LP announced a placeholder for the position of its vice presidential candidate in the person of Doyin Okupe, TODAY POLITICS could not verify, as at press time, if the NNPP did same.

Bishop Calistus Onaga of Enugu State Catholic Diocese has barred faithfuls from attending the religious gathering of Adoration Ministry spearheaded by controversial priest, Ejike Mbaka.

Mr Mbaka recently made headlines for attacking the frontline presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi, describing him as a stingy fellow who will not emerge Nigeria’s president next year.

He said the only option left for the former governor whom he assisted in reclaiming his mandate when ousted as Anambra helmsman was for him to appear at the Adoration ground in Enugu and apologise for refusing to publicly donate when called upon in 2018.

After backlash against him, the cleric apologised but Mr Onaga, in a new directive, has barred Catholic faithfuls from further attending the religious gathering which takes place every Wednesday.

The Bishop issued the directive in a letter dated June 17 and addressed to all the Clery, Religious and Lay Faithful in the Catholic Diocese of Enugu, saying the teachings of the controversial priest are not in tandem with that of the church.

“In the light of the happenings in the Catholic Adoration Ministry Chaplaincy Enugu: capable of undermining the Catholic faith and teachings; and after several fraternal corrections and admonitions to Fr. Camillus Ejike Mbaka, the Chaplain of the Ministry: and after having given him pastoral directives and guidelines for the Ministry Chaplaincy, which he persistently violated; and in fulfilment of my pastoral duties as the Chief Shepherd with the obligation to promote and safeguard the Catholic faith and morals in Enugu Diocese, I hereby prohibit all Catholics (clergy, religious and lay faithful) henceforth from attending all religious and liturgical activities of the Adoration Ministry until the due canonical process initiated by the Diocese is concluded,” he wrote.

“My decision is based on the fact that some of the teachings and utterances of Fr Camillus Ejike Mbaka at the Catholic Adoration Ministry are not consistent with the teachings and faith of the Catholic Church.

“I enjoin all the Christian Faithful to keep praying for Fr. Mbaka and the Catholic Diocese of Enugu as I entrust him and the Diocese to the maternal care and protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of the Apostles.”