₦airaland Forum

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the South-East zone says it has begun the process of reconciling its aggrieved members who defected to other political parties.

The party said this at its zonal meeting in Enugu, pointing out that the measure was part of the efforts initiated to reclaim its position in the zone.

It expressed the hope that the initiative would help to consolidate its support base for the political and historical development of the country.

In a speech, Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu State urged party leaders and faithful in the region to rise to the task of recovering its lost ground and rebuilding the party to its pre-eminent position in the years past.

Mbah, who is the leader of the party in the zone, said there was a need to rejig the party’s financial, administrative and operational strategies.

He expressed a strong conviction that the party would rise again in the zone.

Mbah said, “As the National Vice Chairman South-East rightly observed, we have shed a lot of weight.

“Today, when you look at other parties, whether it is Labour Party, All Progressives Congress or the New Nigeria Peoples Party, and so on, you are actually talking about PDP members.

“But providence has placed a lot on us in the history of the party that we now have to steer the affairs of the party and pull it back to its former glory, to that pre-eminent position we have always held in the historical and political development of this country.

“And in doing that, we have a couple of areas we have to look into, such as financial, administrative, and operational strategies to bring us back to pre-eminence.”

The Governor further said that it was time for the party to begin to craft a strategy on how it could get back to that “pole position” that they had always occupied.

“It means we have to first of all consolidate our support base as a party, and now reach out to our brothers and sisters, who may have felt aggrieved for one reason or the other and left the party to see how we can bring them back,” he said.

The family of the immediate past President of the Senate, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan has announced the passing of their beloved mother, Hajiya Halima (Baba) Ibrahim.

This was made known in a statement issued on Saturday by Lawan’s Media Adviser Ezrel Tabiowo.

The statement said Senator Lawan’s mother passed on Saturday, October 14, 2023, at her residence in Gashu’a town, Bade local government area of Yobe State at the age of 86.

“Senator Ahmad Lawan appreciates the outpouring of love and support already received from friends, relatives, and colleagues”, it said.

The statement said the deceased Hajiya Halima Ibrahim will be buried according to Islamic rites on Sunday, October 15, 2023, at Gashu’a town by 11am.

Flood occasioned by heavy rainfall on Wednesday evening swept away a 13-year-old girl in Awka, Anambra State capital.

The girl, whose guardian operates a food stall along Ziks Avenue, Awka, was trying to rescue their wheelbarrow, which was being carried away by flood, when she mistakenly missed her step and fell into a drainage.

A source who witnessed the incident said the girl was immediately swept away by the fast moving tide of the flood, and her body was eventually found down the road.

“The girl was trying to rescue their wheelbarrow, which was being swept away by flood.

“They were two girls, but one of them, who was the eldest missed her step and fell into the drainage, and was immediately swept away.

“People around the area rallied round and rescued the girl in a drainage down the road, but before then, she was already dead.

“The woman she was helping was wailing helplessly under the rain, and everybody pitied her. From what we gathered, she was not the mother of the girls, they were girls who were helping her in her shop.

“She kept lamenting, asking herself what story she would tell the parents of the child. It was such a horrible sight,” the source said.

Ziks Avenue, in the heart of Awka metropolis, is usually flooded after heavy rainfall.

A magistrate’s Court in Jos Metropolitan Development Board (JMDB) on Thursday, revoked the bail granted to one suspected organ harvester, Dr Noah Kekere.

.ng reports that Kekere was, earlier in September, accused of harvesting the kidneys of his two ex-patients.

The organs were said to have been removed when he carried out operations on the patients at his Murna Clinic and Maternity, located in Yanshanu community of Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State.

The Nigerian Medical Association has since disowned the suspect.

On Tuesday, a JMDB magistrate’s court presided over by Joseph Chollom, granted the suspect bail.

However, family members of the victims, the police command and the state Ministry of Justice kicked against the bail.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Joel Tahvan, had on Wednesday, accused the magistrate of complicity, explaining that the bail was granted without prosecution.

Subsequently, Chief Magistrate Chollom, on Thursday, revoked the bail after Kekere was re-arrested and brought to the court by the police.

The Chief Magistrate ordered that the suspect be remanded.

The Minister of Works, Sen. David Umahi, has given contractors constructing federal highways 14 days to mobilise their personnel and equipment back to the site or risk losing their contracts.

The minister gave this warning during a meeting with all contractors handling federal roads on Wednesday in Abuja.

He warned that any contractor who fails to comply with the directive and meet the deadline would be kicked out and replaced with other contractors.

Umahi also told the contractors to desist from frustrating the plan of the government to move on with the plan to use concrete technology rather than asphalt.

Stressing the need for concrete roads, he said Mr President did a concrete road in Lagos.

“He reminded me about this yesterday. I believe Nigerians will support us on the fact that when you do this asphalt, there should be a guarantee on it.

“We have discussed the construction equipment and directed that at least every 30 kilometres, there should be a minimum of equipment of eight dossiers.

“Two graders, four excavators, 20 trailers and other construction equipment in line with active site works operations. Nigerians should have one road that is very good,” Umahi said.

He added that the ongoing plan to use concrete cannot be stopped unless he is removed from the office as a minister.

The Minister vowed to clamp down on contractors cheating the Federal Government and Nigerians on the thickness of asphalt, denying them value for money.

“You contractors cheat us on the thickness of asphalt. The bitumen imported is of bad quality and then you start putting enhancer and modifier. We do not want that again, there is no such thing overseas. Use the type of asphalt used abroad.

“I believe I have called enough meetings on this issue and we must move forward. Let me advise contractors that are meeting and have ganged up. We have learnt that some of you want to sabotage me to prove that concrete is not good.

“That is a lie, concrete is very good. Go to Lagos sea port and see what the contractor is doing. Go to my state to see what I did. The roads are still there and very good on concrete.

“It is not useful to you because there is no meeting that will make us back down on the principles and policy of the Ministry of Works. This policy has been set in motion and will only stop if I am removed from office by Mr President.

“Even this morning, the directors met and increased the price and I accepted it. The price is only for Trunk A. Trunk B and C will not enjoy that price because it is going to be on a different design,” he said.

The Niger State Police Command has apprehended Usman Yahaya Muhammad from Kinboku-Kudu Village, Mokwa Local Government, for allegedly killing a motorcycle rider in the area.

The state’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the arrest during a parade of suspects in Minna, stating that the suspect was arrested for culpable homicide.

Abiodun explained that after killing his victim, the suspect abandoned the body and fled with the motorcycle from the scene.

In an interview, Mohammed confessed to the crime, revealing that he boarded the victim’s motorcycle heading to Eppa village. However, before reaching the destination, he killed the motorcyclist.

When asked about the motive behind the murder, he simply stated, “I cannot say why I killed him. Something made me do it. After I finished killing him, I went and reported myself to our vigilante leader in my area, who then reported the incident to the police, leading to my arrest.”

“I macheted the Okada rider to death on the neck twice, and he fell. I then took the motorcycle away.”

When asked if he wished to face a similar fate to what he inflicted on his victim, he replied, “No, I want to die the way I killed. I want to live.”

The suspect, who also mentioned that his wedding ceremony was scheduled for Friday, has committed similar crimes eight times in the past.

The police command further disclosed that they recently arrested 38 suspects, seven of whom were charged to court for various offenses, including banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, culpable homicide, among others, in the state.

A retired military officer, Yahaya Ododo, has slammed Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, insisting his government has failed the people of the State.

Ododo, who recently decamped from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to Action Alliance (AA) in Ankpa advocated a power shift in the State.

The former APC chieftain, who moved with his supporters to AA under the aegis of Ankpa Forum of Political Unity, disclosed that his decision to dump APC was anchored on the need to enshrine equity, fairness and justice in the governorship chronicles of the State.

He said the present administration got to Lugard House by accident, pointing out that it is the time of Kogi West to produce the next Governor of the State.

While openly declaring his support for the AA governorship candidate, Otunba Olayinka Braimoh, Ododo said, “I have been in the politics of Kogi State for long. I have worked for former minister for justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Bayo Ojo; and former Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Olushola Akanmode and we are ready to work for AA governorship candidate in the forthcoming election.”

Also speaking, a former stalwart of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ojoku Ward, under Ankpa Local Government Area, Samuel Omale, who recently joined AA with his supporters, tasked the new members to go to the nooks and crannies of the local government to canvas support for the party.

Braimoh, in his response, told the new entrants as well as his supporters at the defection ceremony that he is on an assignment to raise Kogi State and its people from poverty.

He solicited more support from the Ankpa electorate.

Taraba State Police Command has announced the arrest of suspected armed robbers alleged to have been terrorising some parts of the state.

The command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abdullahi Usman disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists.

He said the suspects were nabbed by the operatives of Kofai Police Station attached to Sunkani Division in Ardo-Kola Local Government council.

He gave the names of the arrested suspects as Joseph Desmind, Swaibu Sambu, Danladi Ibrahim and Douglas John.

While Desmond and John hail from the neighbouring Adamawa, Sambu and Ibrahim are indigenes of Taraba State.

The suspects, according to the statement, have been terrorising and robbing students and communities around the Taraba State University Jalingo.

“The suspects upon arrest have confessed to the crime, and they are giving useful information to the Police that will lead to the arrest of their cohorts now at large,” he said.

The command also debunked the rumour making the rounds that over a hundred persons were on Saturday night kidnapped along Zing Road, and said only two persons were abducted.

Aisha Yesufu, a sociopolitical activist, has reacted to the certificate saga involving President Bola Tinubu.

Yesufu said Nigerians should apologise to Mmesoma Ejikeme, who forged her Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) result, if Tinubu is not removed.

In a post on X, the co-convener of BringBackOurGirls, BBOG, said Mmesoma should be given her scholarship.

The activist questioned the legitimacy of Tinubu being president.

According to Yesufu: “If Tinubu is not removed, then Nigeria should apologise to Mmesoma and give her scholarship. If we want to be mad as a Nation then let’s be proudly mad.

“Isn’t Tinubu fraudulently occupying the office of the President not derogatory to Nigerians or is it the certificate forgery saga that is not derogatory?”

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, had embarked on an expedition to expose Tinubu of alleged forgery.

Atiku had claimed that Tinubu forged the certificate he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

He claimed the president never attended the Chicago State University (CSU).

Contrary to his allegation, CSU had insisted that Tinubu was admitted and graduated from the institution.

The Kano State chapter of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) on Saturday said the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, lacks the capacity to win the forthcoming governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states for his party.

The state Chairman of the ruling party in Kano state, Hashimu Dungurawa, told newsmen in Kano that his former boss “is a renowned serial loser whose emergence as National Chairman was a mis-application of choice”.

Dungurawa, a former aide to Ganduje, said, “Antecedents played a key role in political calculus, and we are talking of a man whose poor outing in participatory election home and away is abysmal and in effect diminished his streak of wining a competitive exercise.

“He failed to deliver Edo State in the last election and went to put up a dismal outing in the 2023 general elections in Kano State where he presided as outgoing chief executive.”

He added that, “The biggest mistakes made by President Tinubu and the APC leaders was the choice of Ganduje as national party Chairman, because the former Kano Governor, has no track records of political acumen to change tide when it mattered most.”

“The Kogi, Bayelsa and one other elections that are coming up in November will certainly exposed President Tinubu’s huge mistakes over mis- application of choice.”

He maintained that Ganduje’s political trajectory was tied to Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s magic wand, adding that it is incumbent to retrace his steps to gain relevance.

A Karu Upper Area Court in Abuja on Friday sentenced two men, Basil Eze and Awaisu Jibrin, to three months imprisonment each for defamation of character.

The judge, Malam Isa Adamu, however, gave the convicts the option of a fine of N10,000 each.

The convicts, who reside in Garki, Abuja, pleaded guilty to defamation of character.

Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Olarewaju Osho, told the court that the complainant, Yakubu Tijani, reported the matter at the Garki Police Station on Oct. 4, after the defendants accused him of “shrinking “ their genitals after he approached them and asked for directions to a street.

However, during police investigation, the convicts were taken to a hospital where it was confirmed that their genitals were not “stolen.”

The offence, he said, contravened the provisions of Section 392 of the Penal Code.

A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank, has called on the European Union (EU), the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to prevail on President Bola Tinubu to vacate office over certificate forgery.

Frank, in a statement on Wednesday, noted that Tinubu apparently forged the certificate presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), adding that he was constitutionally not fit to remain as President of Nigeria.

.ng reports that authorities of the Chicago State University (CSU) had on Wednesday agreed under oath that a certain person named “Bola. A. Tinubu” attended the school, but denied issuing the diploma certificate to Tinubu.

Frank stressed that it has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that Tinubu forged the certificate with which he contested the presidential election on February 25, 2023.

He added: “He is duty bound to vacate office as provided for in section 137(1)(j) of the constitution which stipulates that no one would be legitimately elected as President of Nigeria if the person has “presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission.” A constitutional matter with very grave implications.

“So we call on lovers of democracy, former Presidents, Rtd Justices of Supreme Court, traditional rulers, Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, National Association of Nigerian Students, Nigeria Medical Association, Nigerian Bar Association and Civil Society Organizations to prepare for mass action to ensure that Tinubu vacates office as President.

“This is the last opportunity to take back our country from the gang of criminals who have hijacked the country.

“We also call on the authorities of ECOWAS to ask him to vacate the office of the chairman, otherwise, every decision that ECOWAS will take under his leadership will be null and void and will not be respected.

“Under his leadership, ECOWAS will not have credibility to speak on major issues in the continent including the coup in Niger, among others, since his legitimacy has now been eroded by reason of an established act of forgery.”

Frank maintained that Tinubu must not be allowed to proceed as ECOWAS chairman or engage in negotiations on behalf of the sub-regional body because it will not be legitimate.

He insisted that Tinubu needs to vacate office as President of Nigeria because remaining there will continue to set the country back.

“His actions negate democratic standards and charters to which Nigeria, ECOWAS and all African Union (AU) members subscribe,” he stressed.

Controversy has continued to trail the authenticity of the Diploma Certificate President Bola Ahmed Tinubu claimed to have obtained from the Chicago State University, CSU.

The President used the certificate to secure final clearance for participation in the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the All Progressive Congress, APC.

In the latest development, a top official of CSU, Mr Carl Westberg, on Tuesday said that a replacement copy of the Diploma certificate Tinubu submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was not from the Institution.

Westberg, who is the Registrar of the university, speaking under oath, specifically told the court that he was seeing the Diploma certificate copy for the very first time in the instant proceedings.

The subpoenaed witness testified on oath on the order of Judge Nancy Maldonado to back up the order for release of academic documents of Tinubu to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

Atiku Abubakar, who participated in the February 25, 2023 presidential election along with Tinubu, had challenged the declaration of the APC candidate as winner of the election on various grounds.

Among the grounds are that Tinubu was not qualified to have stood for the election on the grounds that he submitted forged documents on oath to INEC to secure eligibility.

In pursuit of his claim, Atiku had applied to a US District Court to issue an order compelling the CSU to release Tinubu’s academic records to him for verification and authentication.

Following his success at the US court, the CSU was ordered to release the academic records to him and to back up the release of the documents with deposition by an official of the institution.

In compliance with the order of the court, Westberg who testified on oath that Tinubu’s Diploma certificate, which he claimed to have obtained from the university, and which he used to secure clearance for participation in the presidential election, is not a document of the university.

For example, the witness admitted that the Institution had no board of trustees in 1979, as against the claim in the certificate Tinubu submitted to the electoral body.

When pressed on the signatures on other certificates issued in 1979 and the one Tinubu submitted to INEC, the witness admitted variations in signature, logo, and seal.

Specifically, Westberg pointed out that the signature on the replacement certificate of Tinubu matches certificates issued in the 1990s and not those of 1979, as claimed by the President.

Meanwhile, a certified true copy of the deposition and cross examination is expected to be handed over to Atiku to further establish his allegation of forgery against Tinubu.

It would be recalled that the final leg of Atiku’s case, seeking disqualification of Tinubu from the 2023 presidential election, is now pending before the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje has urged African leaders to deliver on good governance as a way of reducing the incidences of military coups in West Africa.

Ganduje made this known when he received a delegation from the ruling party in Ghana, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), led by its National Chairman, Mr Stephen Ntim.

He noted the long historical affinity between Nigeria and Ghana, stating that it would be apt for the ruling parties of both counties to share ideas on delivering good governance to their citizens.

He maintained that with good governance systems in place, the masses would be the ones to resist any military incursions that could derail democratic rule.

“This kind of visit is important and good to help us exchange ideas on how to deliver good governance to the people; and it can even reduce the tide of military incursions that we are witnessing recently.

“While we are discouraging military coups, we must improve our governance systems; when this is done, the masses will be the first to even resist any such military interventions”, the APC chairman said.

He described the visit of the NPP national chairman as an ice-breaker that would strengthen the relationship between the ruling political parties of both countries.

This, he said, was especially because Ghana and Nigeria share the same values and political history.

Ganduje said the relationship between both countries was long standing, noting that they passed through the same colonial masters and shared the same national language: English.

He recalled how both countries secured independence from Britain without shedding blood and spoke English as official language which further strengthened their bond among Francophone neighbours.

Ntim earlier, congratulated Ganduje on his emergence as APC national chairman, and Nigeria on her 63rd Independence Anniversary.

“We are happy and proud to be sharing this day with you. It signals greater days ahead and we hope you will want to reciprocate this visit”, he said.

He told Ganduje that it would be significant for the APC and NPP to be sharing ideas on enthroning good governance so that the parties would remain in power for many more years.

The NPP national chairman said his party had a lot to learn from Ganduje and Nigeria’s ruling party, the APC.

“As a party, we have a lot to learn from Ganduje as an individual, and from the APC as a political party,” he stressed.


He said his visit was to begin a journey between the ruling parties of the two countries on how to enthrone good governance in the interest of its citizens.

Ntim noted that Nigeria and Ghana had a long standing relationship that could not be taken for granted, adding that since 2017, Ghanaian presidents had visited Nigeria 45 times.

He thanked the APC national chairman for accepting to meet with him in spite of the short notice, saying he looked forward to having him visit Ghana before long.

Ntim was accompanied on the visit by Ghanaian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Rashid Bawa and some officials of his party. (NAN)