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Tag: 2023

  • APC sources reveal details as VP Osinbajo visits Tinubu

    APC sources reveal details as VP Osinbajo visits Tinubu

    Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo’s visit to the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday in Abuja was not for any political purposes but a friendly one, APC sources have said.

    APC officials who witnessed the meeting said expectations in some quarters might suggest something different but it was a courtesy call based on the duo’s longstanding relationship.

    Though Osinbajo’s stand on the APC’s Muslim-Muslim Ticket has been clear and has pitched him against some party stalwarts, the sources believe that his relationship with Tinubu is still cordial.

    Citing previous meetings between the two after the presidential primaries earlier in June, they noted that Osinbajo’s latest visit to Tinubu was in response to an earlier visit from Tinubu to the vice-president after the primaries.

    It would be recalled that shortly after the APC presidential primaries in June, Tinubu paid the vice-president a visit at his Aguda House residence in the Presidential Villa.

    They both met later at the Ministerial Retreat in the Presidential Villa in October indicative of the cordial relationship between them.

    “The fact that both leaders contested against each other at the primaries does not make them enemies because I know the vice-president is an ‘omoluabi’.

    ”He has high regards for BAT, who I also know to be very close to the vice president, and this he has demonstrated at different times.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, Osinbajo’s visit to Tinubu was merely in the spirit of the Christmas season.

    “Besides, such a visit can be best termed as reciprocal after Tinubu paid the vice-president a similar visit in the past,” an APC source said.

    More so, a political analyst who pleaded anonymity said it was only customary, in the spirit of Christmas, for leaders to exchange visits and nothing less.

    Observers believed the meeting was a personal regard between both leaders and also showed that there was no grudge between them.

    They said the supporters that it was only some supporters who were making a big deal out of nothing.

  • Why Northern APC govs chose Tinubu to succeed Buhari – El-Rufai

    Why Northern APC govs chose Tinubu to succeed Buhari – El-Rufai

    Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has revealed Northern governors of the All Progressives Congress, APC, decided to support the party’s flag bearer, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He disclosed this during a town hall meeting with some Northern Christian groups in Kaduna.

    El-Rufai said the Northern governors settled for Tinubu because of his track record when he was the Governor of Lagos State.

    According to El-Rufai: “In the spirit of unity, fairness and justice in the country, after President Buhari’s tenure, it is fair that the Presidency should go to the South.

    “And we converged in Katsina Lodge before Governor Aminu Bello Masari said that among all the presidential candidates, we should go for Ahmed Tinubu because of his track records while he was governor of Lagos.”

  • Saudi restores 95,000 Hajj slots to Nigeria

    Saudi restores 95,000 Hajj slots to Nigeria

    The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has restored 95,000 Hajj slots to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON),ahead of the 2023 Holy pilgrimage.

    Assistant Director, Information and Publications, NAHCON, Mousa Ubandawaki, said this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

    “The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has granted Nigeria its usual allocation of 95,000 slots in 2023 holy pilgrimage.

    “The hopes of many prospective Nigeria pilgrims to perform the 2023 Hajj may have been answered as the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has approved the pre-COVID-19 allocation NAHCON.

    “The good news was announced by Bahauddeen Alwani, the Director-General in charge of Hajj Missions at the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, during a preparatory meeting for hajj via a video conference with the Chairman of NAHCON, Malam Zukrullah Hassan.

    “Other guidelines released for the 2023 Hajj by the Ministry included the removal of age barrier or limit and cancellation of PCR Test for the Hajj,” Ubandawaki said.

    Similarly, he said that the Saudi Hajj Ministry had also granted the commission the right of choice of package for pilgrims’ services from the Mutawwiffs of African Non-Arab countries.

    “In addition, the Ministry also stated that henceforth, any payment to service providers must be through the e-track or e-wallet platforms as the Kingdom will not take responsibilities for payment outside the two platforms,” he said.

    In his response, the NAHCON’s Chairman, Hassan expressed gratitude and appreciation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the early preparation and restoring of the country’s Hajj allocation.

    He said that it was heartwarming that the Kingdom through the Ministry of Hajj has restored the hope and confidence of many prospective Nigerian pilgrims that desired to perform the Hajj this year.

    He also thanked the Ministry for its consistent supports and cooperation in serving the guest of Allah.

    The chairman, however, appealed to the Ministry to allow the commission to handle the feeding management during the Mashair activities.

    This, according to him, will enable the commission to serve Nigeria’s pilgrims better than what obtained at the 2022 Hajj.

  • We won’t tolerate indolence, laziness – NIWA MD warns staff

    We won’t tolerate indolence, laziness – NIWA MD warns staff

    Dr George Moghalu, the Managing Director, National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), has warned that the authority will not tolerate indolence and laziness from staff members of the authority.

    He gave the warning during the authority’s end-of-year celebration held at the authority’s headquarters in Lokoja.

    Moghalu said “the authority intends to introduce better incentives/welfare to our staff in the new year 2023.

    “The, there should be a positive response with dedication and commitment to hardwork and not indolence and laziness.”

    “I want to assure you that I will improve on what I have done as your head.

    “Be rest assured that we are in this together and the management will see to it that our salaries are increased next year by God’s grace.

    “For better retirement life, I have approved a training programme for NIWA staff retiring to prepare them for live after service”.

    Moghalu presented to each of the eight retirees of the authority a cash reward of N100, 000 and a picture each.

    On award presentation, Mr. Oregbes David from Administration Do of the authority, emerged the Best staff of the year, while award of the Best Performing Area office for 2022 went to Jalingo Area Office.

    The Most Improved Area Office Award went to Sokoto Area Office while Moghalu and Alhaji Mua’zu Jaji, Minister of Transportation, won the best performing Managing Director and Minister Award respectively.

    The Marine Department of the authority won the Best Football Team Award with a trophy.

  • 2023: 2 Tambuwal’s aides, scores defect to APC in Sokoto

    2023: 2 Tambuwal’s aides, scores defect to APC in Sokoto

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Sokoto State had received two Special Assistants of Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State and scores of other members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

    Bashar Abubakar, the Special Adviser to Sen. Aliyu Wamakko (APC-Sokoto North), the party’s leader in the state, said this in a statement he issued on Tuesday in Sokoto.

    According to Abubakar, the Special Assistants were: Alhaji Abdullahi Jabo and Hajiya Hafsatu Tudun-Wada, from Tambuwal and Sokoto South Local Government Areas, respectively.

    He said Jabo and his supporters were received by Alhaji Ahmad Aliyu and Alhaji Idris Gobir, the state APC governorship candidate and his running mate, respectively.

    “Hajiya Hafsatu Tudun-Wada and scores of her supporters were received by the wife of the gubernatorial candidate, Hajiya Fatima Aliyu at a separate occasion,” Abubakar said.

    The special assistant added that other PDP members and stakeholders recently received by the APC were from Sokoto North and Wamakko LGAs.

    He said all the new members were warmly received and assured of equal treatment with other members of the party, while declaring their total support towards the success of APC at all levels.

  • UN chief pledges to make 2023 “a year of peace”

    UN chief pledges to make 2023 “a year of peace”

    United Nation (UN) Secretary General, Antonio Guterres on Monday, pledged to make 2023 “a year for peace” and a “year for action”, highlighting the need for practical solutions to a raft of pressing problems facing all regions of the world.

    Guterres who made the pledge at the end-of-year press conference at UN Headquarters, said “We owe it to people to find solutions, to fight back, and to act”.

    Building on his general call to action, Guterres announced that he would convene a Climate Ambition Summit in September 2023, and called on every leader to “step up – from governments, business, cities and regions, civil society and finance.”

    He said it would be “a no-nonsense summit. No exceptions. No compromises. There will be no room for back-sliders, greenwashers, blame-shifters or repackaging of announcements of previous years.”

    The UN chief said it would be convened alongside a General Assembly opening-week summit already in the calendar, designed to accelerate action at the halfway point towards the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    He said that although there might be “plenty of reasons for despair”, amid the Ukraine war, and associated cost-of-living crisis leaving the poorest nations on “debt row”, that was not an option.

    “This is not a time to sit on the sidelines, it is a time for resolve, determination, and – yes – even hope.

    “Because despite the limitations and long odds, we are working to push back against despair, to fight back against disillusion and to find real solutions.

    “Not perfect solutions – not even always pretty solutions – but practical solutions that are making a meaningful difference to people’s lives.

    “Solutions that must put us on a pathway to a better, and more peaceful future.”

    He highlighted the deal just hours earlier, to halt the destruction of ecosystems worldwide, at the UN’s Biodiversity Conference, COP15.

    “We are finally starting to form a peace pact, with nature”, he said, urging all countries to deliver on their promises.

    Progress has been made on ending conflict in some of the world’s warzones, he said, pointing to the cessation of hostilities in northern Ethiopia, as another “reason for hope”, a by-product of “a rebirth of diplomacy.”

    There’s been progress in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo too, where armed groups have intensified the fight against Government troops, drawing in UN peacekeeping forces, and “a truce in Yemen has delivered real dividends for people”.

    Inspite of pledges made at COP27 in Egypt and the biodiversity deal, it is clear that overall, the battle to limit emissions to just a 1.5 degree increase above pre-industrial levels, is still “moving in the wrong direction”, with the global emissions gap is growing.

    “The 1.5 degree goal is gasping for breath. National climate plans are falling woefully short. And yet, we are not retreating. We are fighting back”, added the UN chief.

    He said the international community was now “fighting back to restore trust between North and South”, with a deal over the long-stalled issued of Loss and Damage, at COP27.

    Another positive step was taken during 2022 with the launch of an action plan to cover every person in the world with early warning systems, within the next five years.

    “Going forward, I will keep pushing for a Climate Solidarity Pact, in which all big emitters make an extra effort to reduce emissions this decade in line with the 1.5-degree goal and ensure support for those who need it.

    Without it, he warned, “the 1.5 degree goal will soon disappear. I have pulled no punches on the imperative for all of us to confront this existential threat. And I will not relent.”

  • 2023 Presidential election is beyond ethnic affiliations – APC Chieftain

    2023 Presidential election is beyond ethnic affiliations – APC Chieftain

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abiola Oshodi, says the 2023 presidential election would be beyond ethnic affiliation.

    Oshodi added that the election would be determined by all Nigerians through their votes and support.

    Oshodi is the Vice Chairman of the APC in Canada,

    In a telephone interview with NAN on Monday, Oshodi explained that the election would be won by the candidate that has a good and quality team that could explore the resources of the country for the benefits of its citizenry.

    He decried the insinuation that the electorate from the northern part of the country might give their bulk votes for any presidential candidate from the region.

    “I concede that the northern part of Nigeria has higher number of voters, compared to the southern part of Nigeria.

    “That on its own does not guarantee victory. Remember that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is from the north and he has been contesting for the presidency without success since 1993 even before this current republic was birthed.

    “President Muhammadu Buhari contested several times and failed when he relied on the northern votes for victory.

    “And he only became successful through strategic alliance with others from the south, led by the team Tinubu. That alliance led to the birth of the APC in the build up to the 2015 national election and the rest is history,” he stated.

    According to him, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the APC presidential candidate, has over the years built such strategic alliance with other parts of Nigeria.

    He stated that Tinubu used that alliance to advantage during the APC presidential primary as the northern APC governors played very strategic role in his emergence.

    Oshodi, a member of the APC Presidential Campaign Committee Sustainable Development for Nigeria Directorate, said that all the 24 APC governors are working for the success of Tinubu in the forthcoming election.

    He asked the electorate to vote for candidate with good quality.

    “It is about us as Nigerians, our children and what legacy we want to leave behind for the future generations.

    “The election is beyond the north having more registered voters than the south and vice versa.

    “The outcome will be largely determined by the quality of the candidates, the national spread and acceptability of the political parties whose ticket they are flying and the strategy that they use in mobilizing voters and supporters to the polls.

    “On election day, come February 2023, all these factors will make Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu better than others,” he said.

  • 2023: Purchasing of PVCs to rig elections is a futile exercise – INEC

    2023: Purchasing of PVCs to rig elections is a futile exercise – INEC

    Ahead of the 2023 general elections in the country, the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), has said that politicians or anyone purchasing  Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) to manipulate the elections are engaging in a wasteful exercise.

    This was made known yesterday by the INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, while featuring on a political programme  Sunday Politics on Channels TV yesterday.

    Recall that the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, had alleged that politicians are buying PVCs from poor voters to manipulate the forthcoming general elections in the country.

    Okoye said the Bimodal Voter Registration System (BVAS) will reject biometric data of persons who are not original owners of the traded PVCs.

    He described the plan by some desperate politicians who are already harvesting PVCs to rig the next election as an impossibility.

    “Anybody who is purchasing a permanent voter card is just engaging in an exercise in futility. The only thing any person can do is to make sure the voter does not vote on election day but for you to come to the polling unit on election day with voter’s card belonging to someone else, and you attempt to vote with it, that is an impossibility, the BVAS will not capture your fingerprint,” Okoye said.

    Recently, a video went viral of a man who kept many PVCs in a hole in a community in Ogun State.

  • 2023: Who I will vote for if I have a gun on my head – Aisha Yesufu

    2023: Who I will vote for if I have a gun on my head – Aisha Yesufu

    Popular socio-political activist, Aisha Yesufu has vowed that even at gunpoint, she would vote for the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

    Responding to a question of who she would support if the former Anambra Governor stepped down for another party candidate, Aisha Yesufu said she would still vote for Obi.

    She Tweeted, “I will still vote for him on February 25th 2023, even if I have a gun on my head. I will rather they pull the trigger than support Atiku or Tinubu.

    “I am a person of conviction. In 2019 I was the only one that voted for my candidate at my PU and I stayed till 2am to guard my vote”.

  • APC must not be allowed to return in 2023 – Atiku gives reason

    APC must not be allowed to return in 2023 – Atiku gives reason

    The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar said Nigerians must not allow the All Progressives Congress (APC) to come back next year because of their woeful failure.

    Ahead of the 2023 election, Atiku in a message to its supporters through its campaign organization on Sunday, charged Nigerians to continue to support PDP to win, rescue, and rebuild the country.

    Atiku said “from Uyo on 10 October, to Katsina on Tuesday, 20 December, our campaign would have covered 15 states in campaign rallies across the country.”

    Continuing, the statement read “It’s a significant milestone. One, because no other party comes close and, two, because our commitment to Recover Nigeria is receiving great attention from the people.

    “Of course, we could not have gone this far without your impeccable support. All the successes that we achieved during our state campaigns is on account of the tremendous job that folks like you had done in mobilizing the people ahead of our visit.

    “But let me tell you that after our rally on Tuesday in Katsina, The Home of Hospitality, our campaign is going on a break for the Yuletide.

    “However, we must not cut a break on the fact that the APC must not be allowed to come back in 2023 because of their woeful failure.

    “As your candidate in the next year’s presidential election, I shall continue to keep up with you even in spite of the break.

    “I will expect that you too, in kind, shall hold firmly to your support base and even expand the base by the time we resume our rallies in January”.