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  • Losing election not the end, Ortom Urges members to keep faith in PDP

    Losing election not the end, Ortom Urges members to keep faith in PDP

    Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state has encouraged members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in the state to keep faith with the party, saying that losing election is not the end of the road.

    Ortom gave the encouragement Wednesday, while addressing the last expanded stakeholders meeting held at government house Makurdi.

    Ortom said he decided to put together the meeting as an avenue to appreciate party men and women as well as Benue people for the opportunity to serve at various times in different capacities as state secretary of the PDP, it’s Vice Chairman in the state, national auditor and minister of the Federal Republic, describing the experience as wonderful.

    “The people stood with me especially when the state was under siege and the evil perpetrated during my reign as governor by the federal government in active connivance with some other sons of the state who were out to work against the state for crumbs”Ortom said,adding that the rejection of  our forefathers not to be enslaved has today given the Tiv,Idoma and Igede an identity as a people.

    He lamented that apart from being in opposition,as governor,he has personally being in crisis with government at the centre for his stand against injustice, expressing joy that the overwhelming support enjoyed from his people has given him courage and equally made him believe that he actually came,saw and conquered.

    The governor who said experience has thought him that life is about today, yesterday and tomorrow, expressed optimism that at the end of his administration doubting Thomas’s would compare his achievements with the other previous ones to be in a better position to draw conclusion for historical purposes.

    He said the APC led federal government has taken the country from top to bottom with challenges of insecurity,high level poverty and degrading social conditions of Nigerians and encouraged the people not lose faith or panic but continuously trust in God as the only one to provide solution to the present predicament, expressing optimism that God will help the people to survive.

    Ortom assured PDP members in the state that he would always be available for the PDP even after May 29 and would equally continue to stand for equity, fairness and justice even outside government.

    separately, Chief David Amo zone A,Mike Mku zone B and Christian Abba for zone C all said their meeting with the outgoing governor had strengthened the party and it’s members, expressing optimism that the party will bounced back with it’s members learning from their past mistakes to come out stronger.

     

  • NSE gives FG 18 days ultimatum over abduction, killings of members

    NSE gives FG 18 days ultimatum over abduction, killings of members

    The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), has given the Federal Government 18 days ultimatum to fish out and prosecute  killers and abductors of its members across the country.

    The President of NSE, Mr. Tasiu  Gidari-Wudil, gave the ultimatum at a news conference on Thursday in Abuja on the killings and abduction of its members.

    He said over the years, the society has been inundated with reports of abduction and vicious killings of its members across  the country, especially in the South-East.

    Gidari-Wudil said the most recent of such cases was the report of the killing of  Mr Donatus  Udeh, who  was abducted on  April 22.

    “Three days later, his mutilated, lifeless body and vehicle were found at different locations within 9th mile corner, Ngwo, Enugu State on April 25.

    “The late Engr. Udeh was, until his demise, the Vice Chairman of the Enugu Branch of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.

    “In a similar way, five Engineers from NELAN Engineering Consulting Limited were abducted on their way to inspect a project site in Ebonyi on Nov. 3, 2021.

    He said the victims, Nelson Onyemeh,   Earnest Edeani,  Ikechukwu Ejiofor, Samuel Aneke and Engr. Stanley Nwazulum  were  to be on a supervisory visit to the $150 million Abakaliki Ring Road project.

    The president said that that until this moment, the Police have not unraveled the mystery behind the disappearance of the hardworking professionals.

    He  said presently, the life of one of the Executive Committee members of NSE was under threat just because she was supervising a project in Ebonyi.

    The president said  it was a shame to continually witness these cruel killings without any respite from the government.

    He said  that the primary purpose of government was the security and welfare of the people, as provided in section 14(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

    Gidari-Wudil said  that when all the professionals are killed, who would construct the roads, build bridges and waterways.

    “The engineer saves lives and improves the quality of living by her innovative ideas and inventions.

    “The slain engineers were exactly on such patriotic nation-building and economy- stimulating course when they were cut down.

    “It is an irony that such breed of humans would be targeted for such brutality without a convincing action by the government to bring the perpetrators to book.

    “Going forward , I hereby make an appeal to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to wade into the matter,’’he said.

    He urged the president should specifically direct the Inspector- General of Police to carry out special investigation into  the abduction and killing of Udeh, in Enugu.

    The society also called for the   re-opening of the case of the five engineers of NELAN Engineering Consulting Limited which happened in Ebonyi State in 2021.

    He said that if no action was taken as demanded, as  President and Chairman-in-Council of the NSE, he will  initiate an industrial action to press home their demands.

  • PDP, LP lose scores of members to APC in FCT

    PDP, LP lose scores of members to APC in FCT

    Barely 48 hours to the Presidential and National Assembly elections, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) have lost scores of members to APC in the FCT.

    According to reports, the defectors were received into the fold of APC on Wednesday in Abuja.

    Dr. Hawa Iyatu-Bagu, the National Coordinator, National Mass Movement for Better Orientation (NAMMBO), a frontline Tinubu support group, said the development was an indication of APC’s victory in the Feb. 25 elections.

    Iyatu-Bagu said that the organisation had been in touch with the defectors for a very long time, saying ” today those that accepted the truth have decided to follow the winning team.

    She said: “We have been going round canvassing for votes and most of them here are only the leaders, because if all of them will be here, this place cannot contain them.

    ”So, we now ask their leaders and some of them to come here and make it public about their decision to dump PDP and LP and declare their readiness to vote for Tinubu and Shettima.

    “With this development and what we have seen so far in the course of our campaigns across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria, Nigerians, especially the women are ready to vote for the duo.”

    The coordinator also stated that the youths were ready to ensure the landslide victory of Tinubu, assuring the defectors of equal treatment.

    According to her, the APC presidential candidate will reciprocate any gesture to be done to him with quality leadership.

    Also speaking, the Deputy National Coordinator of NAMMBO, Ibrahim Umar, lauded the Tinubu support group for attracting the defectotrs into the fold of APC.

    Umar, who said that the chances of Tinubu of winning the presidential election were very bright, saying that Nigerians were eager to vote for Tinubu and Shettima.

    Earlier, Mr. Titus Musa, former PDP Youth Leader in Gwarinpa Ward, Abuja Municipal Area Council, who led defectors said they decided to defect to APC to vote Tinubu.

    He said: ”This is due to his record of excellent service in Lagos and his contributions to national development.

    ”We are convinced with APC manifesto titled, the Message of Hope. APC is the way to go and Tinubu has something to offer Nigeria.

    “We have seen the light in Tinubu and we are ready to join hands with him to move our country to the desired level and I believe the way Tinubu transformed Lagos if given the mandate, he will do a lot for the country.

    ” Therefore, we decide to defect from PDP to APC together with our teeming supporters compromising youths and women.”

    On her part, the former Labour Party Women leader in Gwarinpa Ward, Ms Zipporah Bitrus, said that they left LP to APC as Tinubu and Shettima were the best for the country.

    ” Tinubu is a person that is always concerned about the uplifting the ordinary citizens. He had mentored many Nigerians and that is why we see reasons we pitched our tent with APC.

    The high point of the event was the presentation of the APC flags to the defectors symbolising their formal integration into the party’s larger family.

  • LP reacts to its southwest members dissolving into APC

    LP reacts to its southwest members dissolving into APC

    Labour Party on Monday refuted claims that its southwest members have dissolved into the All Progressives Congress (APC) saying it was fake news.

    Mr. Akin Osuntokun, the Director-General, Obi-Datti presidential campaign said this while interacting with newsmen in Abuja on Monday.

    Osuntokun expressed worry over the spate of fake news against LP and urged its supporters to always check with the party to clarify any information.

    “There is a report in newspapers today that the Labour Party in the southwest announced its dissolution into the APC.

    “One thing that bothers me around this period is that there actually people really choosing to accept some things that are presumably and on their face value.

    “Of all the names purportedly listed as the members dissolving into APC are unknown to us therefore the press should not encourage them in these kind of missions,” he said.

    Osuntokun said that the report mentioned the title of the leader of the defectors as the chairman of the LP in the southwest zone.

    He said that the title was unknown to the party as it only had Zonal Coordinators of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) saying there nothing like chairman LP southwest.

    He added that the PCC was being impersonated and there were fictitious press releases in its name.
    “One of these releases purported signed by me revealed me engaging in personal attacks and incriminations about Lagos on account that they did not want to receive our presidential candidate.

    “This is a total fabrication and it is all over the social media.

    “Some people have even started to abuse me before they even hear my own side of the story,” he said.

    Osuntokun said that all these including attacks on the party’s members revealed the importance of LP in the presidential race ahead.

    He appeal to Nigerians to at least check with the party and encouraged the media to verify reports before publishing them.

  • Plateau: PDP directs flags to fly at half-mast in honour of 16 members

    Plateau: PDP directs flags to fly at half-mast in honour of 16 members

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday directed that party flags at the National Secretariat in Abuja be flown at half-mast in honour 16 members who died on Saturday in a motor accident in Plateau.

    The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Debo Ologunagba on Abuja said the PDP family was grief-stricken over the ghastly motor accident.

    ”Our hearts bleed. Our Party deeply grieves at the loss of these patriotic Nigerians who paid the supreme prize while gallantly devoting their lives in the quest with other compatriots to rescue our nation.

    “The PDP mourns these courageous patriots who lost their lives in the pursuit of a better country with a purposeful leadership that cares for the wellbeing of all citizens, adding that they shall never be forgotten.”

    Ologunagba said that in honour of those brave compatriots, PDP had directed that its flags at the National Secretariat in Abuja be flown at half-mast while urging Nigerians not to relent in prayers for the nation at this crucial time.

    Ologunagba commiserated with the families of the victims of the accident

    He prayed to God to grant them to grace to bear the loss and to heal the injured and grant them speedy recovery.

    The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Plateau confirmed the death of 16 persons with 83 others sustaining various degrees of injuries.

    The FRSC said it was a lone crash involving a truck conveying PDP supporters from campaign rally in Plateau Central Zone of the state.

    The corps said the number of people involved was 99, 16 people adult male lost their lives while 83 people sustained various degree of injuries.

    Those injured, the corps said,  were taken to hospitals in Panyam and Mangu towns by FRSC operatives of Pankshin Unit Command.

  • Fuel scarcity: Don’t embark on strike, IPMAN appeals to members

    Fuel scarcity: Don’t embark on strike, IPMAN appeals to members

    The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) on Thursday said its members would not embark on a nationwide strike as being speculated.

    Mr Mike Osatuyi, IPMAN’s National Operations Controller, gave the assurance in an interview in Lagos.

    Osatuyi said it became necessary to debunk the insinuation that lPMAN members planned to shut down their stations.

    According to him, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPCL), is committed to selling directly to IPMAN members at official rate of ex-depot price.

    He said the backlog of IPMAN members’ tickets, which was over 2,000 presently, was being cleared.

    Osatuyi said: “Nigerians should not engage in any panic buying as we are entering Christmas period.

    “Our wide network nationwide makes us the perfect outlets to ensure sustained distribution of petroleum products across the country.”

    Newsmen reports that on Dec. 10, the Ogun State chapter of IPMAN threatened to shut down all its outlets across the state over an ultimatum issued to marketers by the Department of State Security (DSS).

    The DSS had directed all petrol stations nationwide to sell fuel at the regulated price, and threatened to shot down defaulting stations.

    News correspondent who also monitored the fuel situation in Lagos metropolis reports that queues are gradually easing off in some filling stations.

    Only the major oil marketers are selling petrol at regulated price between N169 and N170 per litre, while staions belonging to Independent marketers still sell between N220 and N260.

    It was also observed that selling of petrol on highways, “black market” is gradually coming to an end.

    Also reports the massive loading of petroleum products is going on at Apapa and dockyard depots by marketers to various states.

    The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr Ahmed Farouk, also assured Nigerians of sufficient petroleum products during the yuletide season.

  • PCC list: APC reward cowards, idle people – Joe Igbokwe

    PCC list: APC reward cowards, idle people – Joe Igbokwe

    Lagos State chieftain of the All Progressives Congres (APC), Joe Igbokwe has lashed out at the party for rewarding cowards, interlopers, and Idle people in the recently released Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) list ahead of the 2023 election.

    He lamented that the APC reward system is poor.

    The council list, which comprises about 400 members, was released on Friday by the PCC Secretary, James Faleke, a federal lawmaker.

    The likes of Femi Fani Kayode, who defected to the APC last year and Senator representing Enugu East Senatorial District, Chimaroke Nnamani, who was a member of the PDP made the list.

    Reacting, Igbokwe in a post on his Facebook page said, ”All things considered APC Nigeria poor reward system in Nigeria worries me to the marrows.

    ”The party rewards idle people, hangers-on, layabouts, interlopers, cowards, onlookers etc.”

  • PDP leaders, members troop out to receive Atiku at Lagos airport

    PDP leaders, members troop out to receive Atiku at Lagos airport

    Chieftains and members of the PDP on Tuesday, trooped out en mass to receive the party’s Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar at the Muritala Mohammed International Airport 2 in Lagos.

    The cheerful party leaders and members, who gathered as early as 7.00a.m., sang and danced round the presidential wing of the airport, waiting the arrival of Abubakar.

    Abubakar is yet to arrive as at the time of filing this report at 1.00p.m.

    Speaking to NAN, Mr Hakeem Amode, the Lagos PDP Publicity Secretary said that the party only mobilised party leaders and few members to welcome the former vice president to the state.

    Amode, also the Chairman, Media and Publicity Committee for Lagos PDP Governorship Candidate, Dr Abdul-Azeez Adediran, said that the party was delighted to have Abubakar in Lagos State.

    According to him, the party is not relenting efforts in grassroots mobilisation for all its candidates for various elective positions in the 2023 general elections.

    He assured that PDP would not fail the residents if given the mandate in the forthcoming elections.

    Abubakar is to attend the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) 2022 edition of Private Sector Economic Forum for the 2023 presidential election, and the Nigerian Guild of Editors’ Forum on the 2023 general elections and a PDP stakeholders’ meeting in Ikeja.

    Adediran, the Lagos PDP governorship candidate, party executives and other stalwart were among dignitaries waiting to receive Abubakar.

    There is security presences in and outside the premises of the Presidential wing of the airport.

  • BREAKING: 616 PDP members defect to ruling party APC

    BREAKING: 616 PDP members defect to ruling party APC

    No fewer than 616 members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Dukku Local Government Area of Gombe State on Saturday defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    An ex-chieftain of PDP, Alhaji Kwairanga Dukku, led the new entrants, including women and youths leaders from different wards within the local government area into the APC.

    Dukku attributed their decision to good and purpose-driven leadership style of Gov. Inuwa Yahaya.

    Also speaking, Alhaji Bappah Maru, a former member of the PDP Elders’ Forum said the efforts of the present administration in the state in the provision of potable water in the area convinced him to join the APC.

    Umaru said their decision to join the APC was to appreciate the governor’s people-oriented policies towards improving the well being of the people.

    Welcoming the new members, Gov. Inuwa Yahaya said the APC-led state government had entrenched good governance.

    Represented by the Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Alhaji Muhammad Magaji, Yahaya said the large number of people joining APC showed there was no hope for the opposition parties in the state in 2023.

    ”With the calibre of defectors received in Dukku LGA, the APC in Gombe had been further fortified and this means that our chances in 2023 are getting brighter,” the governor added.

    The Vice Chairman of APC in Dukku LGA, Alhaji Yahya Kole, lauded Yahaya for delivering on his mandate to transform the state.

    He said: ”This is why APC has become a party that everyone wants to join and we will keep receiving new members.”

  • Members of NURTW cannot support any political party – Chairman

    Members of NURTW cannot support any political party – Chairman

    The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has declared that no politician can use its members for campaigns again.

    The Kwara Chairman of the union, Alhaji AbdulKareem AbdulRasak, made this known on Monday in Ilorin.

    AbdulRasak said that NURTW members were part of stakeholders to ensure free and fair elections, adding that the rules that govern them did not allow any member to belong to any political party.

    “Once you are a member of NURTW, you cannot support any political party, not to talk of campaign for them or move around with them.

    “It has been stated that anyone found participating in political rally or fighting for a particular politician to win will be punished accordingly and also dismissed from the union.

    “This is to ensure free and fair election and also to have peace and stability in the country before, during and after election,” he said.

    The chairman explained that many people had wrong mindset about commercial drivers, as they believe that majority were trouble makers and irresponsible people.

    Accoding to him, the transport union has being in existence for the past four decades and many of its members had made lots of successes and achievements.

    “No more thugs and hooligans in NURTW. We are responsible and respected people now and many people are willing to associate with us and even give us their daughters in marriage,” he said.

    AbdulRasak said that the President of NURTW, Alhaji Tahjudeen Baruwa, had ensured that the union members were well catered for by making the work easy and free of corrupt leaders.

    “All the tickets issued at every car park all over the 36 states have been centralised as it is printed from the headquarters in Abuja, and as such, cannot be tampered with,” he said.

    On security, the chairman said that none of their members had experienced any security challenges, saying that it is due to the grace of Almighty Allah and proper arrangements made by the union, security agencies and government.

    “A meeting was held at the national level and a memo was passed to everyone that no one should move above the scheduled time of 6 a.m to 9 p.m.

    “However, there is an arrangement made for night travelers, as few drivers usually operate at some car parks, to enable travelers get to their various destinations when they arrived,” he said.

    The NURTW boss commended the administration of Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for his role in ensuring peace during the last union election that produced him as chairman.

    He commended the governor’s effort towards the betterment of transporters in the state, but solicited for more support for the drivers to move within and outside the state easily.

    NAN