TheNewsGuru

Tag: Obafemi Hamzat

  • Lagos Deputy Governor denies renouncing Nigerian citizenship

    Lagos Deputy Governor denies renouncing Nigerian citizenship

    The Lagos State Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat, has refuted an allegation that he once renounced his Nigerian citizenship.

    The controversy arose when a United States immigration lawyer, Olubusayo Fasidi, informed the Lagos Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal that Hamzat had taken an oath of allegiance in the US renouncing his Nigerian citizenship.

    Fasidi had appeared as a witness for the Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour in his petition against the election of the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

    Reports of Hamzat’s alleged US citizenship had caused a lot of stir online.

    However, Hamza, in a statement through his media office on Saturday, June 24 labelled the claim as “misleading and inaccurate.”

    The Lagos state deputy governor said the viral report did not accurately reflect the proceedings at the tribunal.

    According to him, the witness presented two documents as evidence — an empty US naturalisation application form and an empty oath of US allegiance document, identified as forms 8CFR/337 and N400.

    The tendered documents were accepted and marked as exhibits by the tribunal.

    He explained that the witness, when confronted with the fact that her claim was based on blank documents, admitted to downloading them from the official website of the US Embassy.

    He said that the witness was unable to produce the actual documents specifying the jurisdiction of the US or the date when he allegedly applied for naturalization or took the oath of allegiance.

    The statement read, “She equally admitted that she had not attended the ceremony admitting Dr Hamzat as a citizen of the United States of America.

    “During her cross-examination by counsel to the 4th respondent (APC), the witness admitted to the fact that the American constitution recognizes dual citizenship with particular reference to the 14th amendment to the constitution of the United States ratified on July 9, 1868.

    “The witness was challenged further that the documents she tendered support the process of application for naturalisation which ultimately culminates in the issuance of an American passport and nothing more.

    “The witness, in reaction to additional questions, confirmed that she did not need to obtain a Nigerian visiting visa because she entered the country with her Nigerian passport.

    “With respect to the question whether the witness was aware that Dr Hamzat fully disclosed the details of his American citizenship in the Form EC9 submitted to INEC, the witness answered in the affirmative.”

    Hamzat urged the public to disregard the “deliberate falsehood” being spread, asserting that the credibility of the witness’ testimony was severely challenged.

  • LAGOS WOMEN WALK: Sanwo-Olu dances Buga (VIDEO)

    LAGOS WOMEN WALK: Sanwo-Olu dances Buga (VIDEO)

    Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State on Monday danced to the viral song ‘Buga’ once again in public at the solidarity walk staged by women in the state.

    He was flanked by his deputy Obafemi Hamzat and some women.

    The walk by women from different parts of Lagos was in support of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima.

    Videos of the women, comprising artisans, traders and market women and professionals, marching on the streets with banners, have been trending online.

    The women, in their hundreds, gathered at Tinubu’s Square on Lagos Island and other locations in the state for the solidarity walk.

    Shading supporters of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, Sanwo-Olu’s new media aide Jubril Gawat said, “The Owners of Lagos … The Mothers of EVERYBODY including ASIWAJU himself.

    “We are not calling it 1 Million or 1 Billion … It’s just a simple Lagos women Walk.”

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the walk comes 48 hours after the October 1 rallies organised by Obi’s supporters nationwide and outside the country.

    It also followed a post by Tinubu on Sunday where he debunked rumour of his death.

    Tinubu’s whereabouts has been a matter of public concern following his absence from public events including the first signing of the Peace Accord by presidential candidates in Abuja.

    The former Lagos governor posted a video of himself on social media on an exercise bike, stating that he is healthy.

    “Many have said I have died, others claim I have withdrawn from the presidential campaign. Well… Nope.

    “This is the reality: I am strong, I am healthy and I am READY to serve Nigerians from Day One,” Tinubu said.

    Recall that sometime May,  Governor Sanwo-Olu joined many other music lovers to participate in the ‘Buga’ challenge.

    Daniel Anidugbe, the singer better known as Kizz Daniel, on May 5, came through with ‘Buga’, his latest song, featuring Tekno.

    A challenge was thereafter created on social media platforms to promote the less than four-minute song. The challenge has continued to reverberate across the country.

    Shortly after he clinched the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket to contest for a second term as the governor of Lagos, Sanwo-Olu, who was walking to the podium with his aides, lifted his arms up in a pompous fashion — the trademark sign of the song — while he danced.

    The song was being played in the background, while the governor showed off his dancing skills amid cheers from his supporters.

    Watch video below:

  • Nigeria cannot afford to make mistakes in 2023 – Gov. Sanwo-Olu

    Nigeria cannot afford to make mistakes in 2023 – Gov. Sanwo-Olu

    Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State said on Monday in Ikeja that Nigerians could not afford to make mistakes at the 2023 general elections.

    Sanwo-Olu said this at the Lagos House, at the Year 2022 Eid-ul-Adha celebration by the First Family of Lagos State, organised by the Lagos State Ministry of Home Affairs.

    Represented by the deputy governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, he said that Nigerians must choose rightly in 2023 because it was about the country’s future.

    He noted that the outcome of the 2023 general elections would greatly determine the future of Nigeria hence Nigerians could not afford to make mistakes in electing their leaders in 2023.

    He stressed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential flag bearer, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is the right choice for 2023 because he had built bridges across Nigeria.

    He said that Tinubu had worked with persons from different regions and groups in the country, noting that he looked out for quality people to work with.

    Sanwo-Olu called on residents to be loyal and obedient to the state and to country, stating that patience, obedience and loyalty were important duties residents owed the state.

    According to him, parents must train their wards in godly manner and instil in them morals to be obedient, loyal and patient.

    In her remarks, the governor’s wife, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, said Eid-ul-Adha, the spiritual exercise celebrated annually exemplified the virtue of love, faith and obedience.

    She stressed the importance of peaceful coexistence, noting that Lagos State was growing in leaps and bounds because of peaceful coexistence by various groups in the state.

    She encouraged residents to continue to pray for peace in the country, live with the fear of God and love one another.

    Sanwo-Olu said love must reflect in inter-personal relationships and advised parents to live and lead by example which their children could emulate.

  • Nigerians must unite to survive as a nation — Lagos Dep. Gov.

    Nigerians must unite to survive as a nation — Lagos Dep. Gov.

    Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat says Nigerians, irrespective of tribe or religion, must agree to come together as one in order to survive as a nation.

    Hamzat made the remark at the Annual Public Ramadan lecture of the State Council of Ansar-ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, held at Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos on Sunday.

    The deputy governor noted that there must be unity of purpose as a nation for development to take place.

    He urged Muslims and non Muslims alike to live as one and shun all forms of enmity.

    According to him, there can be no development in a country if there is insecurity.

    “The biggest threat to humanity is when there is no peace of mind, therefore, l urge us all to live as one.

    “There should be no issues of Fulani, Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa, this must stop.

    “For peace and development sake, we must unite as one, for united we stand and divided we fall.

    “If we are united, it will be very easy to solve insecurity as a nation,” he said.

    Earlier in his goodwill message, Chairman, Lagos State Council of Ansar-ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, Alhaji Abd’Rahman Salaudeen, urged all Muslim faithful to take wholly, opportunities of the Ramadan to get closer to Allah, seek His favours and perfect godliness toward one another.

    Salaudeen said that Ramadan period was a month of favours, blessings and exchange of pleasantries as well as good wishes.

    “By fasting, we are continually reminded of our trait and dependence upon the Divine, thus leading us to humility, reverence, piety and selflessness.

    “We develop the holy qualities of empathy and compassion, becoming more aware of our intrinsic connection and oneness as human beings, regardless of borders or labels that creates differences,” he said.

    Sheik Abdur-Rahman Ahmad, the National Missioner, Ansar-ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, in his lecture on “Insecurity: The Impact on Socio Economic Development of the Nation”, charged the government to implement the laws on insecurity as it affected development.

    According to the missioner, there can’t be security where there is lawlessness.

    Ahmad said that impunity, lawlessness, and corruption was fighting back.

    “Insecurity is a major challenge bedeviling the country and must be tackled before it becomes a national disaster.

    “Nigeria is blessed with a lot of natural resources, human capital development but all these are taken for granted,” he said.

    Ahmad urged Nigerians to serve and praise God in truth despite the challenges being faced.

  • Photos: Lagos Governor, Deputy, others receive COVID-19 vaccine

    Photos: Lagos Governor, Deputy, others receive COVID-19 vaccine

    Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his Deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, on Friday took the first injection of the Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

    Sanwo-Olu took the injection at 3:03p.m. while Hamzat was injected at about 3:10p.m. at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH), Yaba.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that the state government took delivery of the first consignment of 507,000 vaccines allocated to it by the Federal Government on Tuesday.

    The Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso and some health workers also took the jab of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

    Sanwo-Olu, who is the state’s COVID-19 Incident Commander, thanked the frontline workers for their services and efforts at curbing the spread of the virus.

    He said that the government would come out with a strategy to vaccinate the residents, while hoping that the world would be free of the virus soon.

    The governor also urged the people to refrain from spreading false information about the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, saying it (the vaccine) would help to fight the infection of the virus.

    Earlier, during a news conference, Prof. Abayomi, who was the first to be vaccinated, assured the people that the vaccine was safe.

    He said he felt like his normal self after the shot was administered.

    The commissioner, however, said expectant mothers and children below 18 years old were exempted from taking the vaccine.

    ”We are not recommending the vaccine for expectant mothers at this point in time. We are, however, watching the landscape and scientific data to see whether at some point in time we would have enough information and confidence to give to pregnant women, and at what stage of the pregnancy it can be administered.

    ”Another group of persons exempted are those under 18 years because the clinical trials did not include children to ascertain the efficacy and safety of the vaccine.

    ”The vaccines are safe for everyone because the clinical trials included ethnic representations across the world and countries where the trials were done.

    ”The collective result suggests that all ethnic groups across the world demonstrate appropriate response to the vaccine to acquire suitable level of immunity as prescribed by the World Health Organisation (WHO),” he said.

    Abayomi re-emphasised that the vaccination was to boost immunity and there was no guarantee that those vaccinated would not be infected with coronavirus again.

    He appealed to Lagos residents and Nigerians in general to make themselves available for vaccination when there was avalability of more vaccine.

    In his remarks, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, appealed to residents to continue to take preventive measures.

    Omotoso urged media organisations to continue advocacy on the need for residents to get vaccinated.

  • Lagos #ENDSARS protesters reject Dep Gov’s proposed reforms, insists unit must be scrapped

    Lagos #ENDSARS protesters reject Dep Gov’s proposed reforms, insists unit must be scrapped

    The Lagos #ENDSARS protesters on Friday insisted the notorious unit of the Nigeria Police Force must be scrapped totally.

    Recall that the protests commenced on Wednesday and has since spread to almost all the 36 states including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

    The protesters who kept vigil at the entrance of the Governor’s Office and the House of Assembly all through Thursday carried on with the protest on Friday morning with thousands others joining.

    During the protest on Friday, the protesters insisted that the Special Anti-Robbery Squad must be “completely disbanded”.

    Deputy Governor of the state, Obafemi Hamzat, addressed the #EndSARS protesters.

    He said, “Police must find those spoiling their names and prosecute them. There are those of them who are harassing our youths, it must stop. The only way it will stop is for them to prosecute the bad eggs among them.

    “Before you remove a fence, you must understand why the fence was put there. You must go on a tour. If there are issues, you repair it.”

    In their reactions, the protesters shouted “no”.

    He thereafter asked, “What do you want?” the protesters replied, “EndSARS”.

    Protests have been going on for days demanding the scrapping of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad over the extortion, brutalisation and killing of Nigerians by the police unit.

    The Police IG on Sunday banned the unit, however, Nigerians denounced the ban as cosmetic, saying it is the fourth ban in recent times.

    Meanwhile the #ENDSARS has since gone global, trending number one worldwide on Friday. International celebrities with Nigerian and non-Nigerian descent have also joined calls for disbanding of the unit.

  • Lagos Deputy Gov Hamzat tests negative for coronavirus

    Lagos Deputy Gov Hamzat tests negative for coronavirus

    The Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, has tested negative for Coronavirus.

    Hamzat stated the result of his status through his twitter handle on Saturday.

    He said that the COVID-19 test was not a pleasant experience.

    He said that it was important for him to do it because as a leader nothing should distract him from his role at this period.

    He thanked all health workers and appealed to the residents of the state to play their role and ended the tweet with the hashtag #StayHomeSaveLives.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a breakdown of the cases by states shows that Lagos now has 109 cases; Abuja- 41; Osun- 22; Oyo- eight; Edo- seven; Akwa Ibom- five; Ogun and Kaduna have four cases each.

    Others are: Bauchi- three; Enugu and Ekiti- two cases each, while Rivers, Benue and Ondo States have one case respectively.

  • We borrow constructively in Lagos – Hamzat

    We borrow constructively in Lagos – Hamzat

    The Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, says a state can “borrow constructively” in order to bridge its infrastructure deficit.

    ”The reality is that where do you get resources to build for today? There is something that is called constructive borrowing and there is destructive.

    ”If you borrow to go and buy a vehicle, you are putting yourself in trouble, but if you borrow to build a house, the house will appreciate and then you can sell even if you are in trouble,” Hamzat said.

    He spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos in reaction to the state’s debt profile, which it put at N39.692 billion, as at December 2019.

    ”I remember during Asiwaju Tinubu’s government, when they took a bond of N15 billion. The opposition said Oh, he has mortgaged the lives of the young people. That loan has been paid.

    ”During BRF government, we took N375 billion bond, that bond has been paid. Without that, we cannot build Lekki Link Bridge, we can’t.

    ”This Adiyan Waterworks, the reticulation would be N78 billion, we are putting pipe. So where is that money?,” he asked.

    The deputy governor said that Lagos State received about N9 billion monthly from the Federation Account.

    ”By the time you pay salaries, it is N1 billion left. What can you do with N1 billion? Nothing! You cannot build a single road in Lagos with that. So the reality is how do we fund?.

    ”There are statistics that are benchmarks around the world. In Lagos, our debt to revenue is less than 20 per cent. In the United States, it is 89 per cent.

    “But we all go there, you see the airports, we see everything, we like it. But their debt is a whole lot around the world,” he said.

    Hamzat said that what was important was to pay back the loan being borrowed and the state must find a way to build up its revenue and invest in things that allowed it to build the economy.

    He said that during Tinubu’s administration, the cabinet disagreed with his idea of borrowing to expand the Opebi Link Bridge from two lanes to four lanes.

    ”Till tomorrow, all of us, we regret it. We can’t build that, it was supposed to be about N2 billion then, today you will build it with about N14 billion.

    “Where will that come from? So if we had taken that initiative, and built it at that time, the story would have been different in terms of traffic,” Hamzat said.

  • No plans to demolish Ladipo spareparts market – Hamzat

    No plans to demolish Ladipo spareparts market – Hamzat

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) Deputy Governorship Candidate in Lagos State, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, says there are no plans to demolish the Ladipo Spare Parts Market in Mushin area if the party wins again in the March 2 poll.

    Hamzat, a former Commissioner of Works and Infrastructure in Lagos state, said this at a town hall meeting organised by the Ndi-Igbo in APC Lagos State.

    The meeting was to interact with the party’s gubernatorial candidate, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat, in Lagos.

    He said that their government would improve on the market rather than demolish it.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Lagos, Mr Jimi Agbaje, who visited Ladipo Spare Parts Market in Mushin on Jan. 23, had alleged that the APC led-administration was threatening to shut the market.

    Hamzat, however, said: ”Our government has no plans of demolishing the Ladipo spare parts matket. That market has been existing even before I was born.

    ”We will run a government that will be inclusive, where everybody, irrespective of tribe, ethnity, religion and background will participate.

    “As long as you live in Lagos, you are a ‘Lagosian’. The Igbos have been very supportive, we have been working together as a state and they deserve adequate recognition.

    ”I’m appealing that you vote massively for the APC, it is a party that will guarantee the future of our children.

    “Let’s make sure Lagos continues to progress so that we can continue to do our businesses in peace, ” he said.

    Hamzat said with the huge projects and infrastructure development delivered by the APC government in the last three years in the South East, he was sure that the Igbos would support and vote for the party.

    ”I was a special adviser to Mr Babatunde Fashola, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, and I can boldly say that we have delivered many projects in the South East, ” he said.

    Also speaking, Alhaji Tunde Balogun, Chairman APC Lagos, urged Ndi-Igbos to go get their PVCs and ensure victory for APC in the coming elections.

    ”APC in Lagos has been tested and trusted, as we have been delivering on our promises in the last 20years.

    ”I also want to advise that given the large number of registered political parties, the thumb printing space on the ballots paper will be tiny.

    “I, however, advise that you use your index finger to fit the space,” Balogun said.

    In his address, Mr Joe Igbokwe, apex leader, Ndi-Igbo in APC, Lagos, said that Ndi-Igbo had been investing and contributing to the development of the state.

    Igbokwe said that Ndi-Igbo did not have a quarter of the investments they had in Lagos in the eastern states put together.

    According to him, the Igbos in Lagos have to build and protect the state by supporting and voting massively for Sanwo-Olu of APC.

    He urged Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat to ensure their administration gave the Ndi-Igbo due recognition in their policies and programmes as co-partners in progress.

    Igbokwe also urged the people from the South East to vote for APC in the coming elections to secure Igbo presidency in 2023.

    ”Let our leaders see our massive votes and we will begin to negotiate Igbo presidency in 2023, ” he said.

    NAN