Politics
ATM comment: Delta not Lagos, Okowa’s aide tackles Tinubu
The All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Saturday, knocked the Peoples Democratic Party for failing to develop Delta State despite the huge federal allocation to the state.
Tinubu also warned that Delta was not an Automated Teller Machine for migratory politicians from the state.
A statement issued by his media officer, Tunde Rahman, said the APC candidate said this during a campaign rally at the Warri Township Stadium.
Addressing the rally, Tinubu accused the opposition party of abandoning infrastructural development in the state and leaving Delta to rot away.
He said, “Delta is among Nigeria’s largest oil and gas producing states. Revenue from oil and gas has historically been the backbone of government revenue and foreign exchange earnings.
“As such, your state and other oil producers have made a one-of-a-kind financial contribution to the building of modern Nigeria. The nation is thankful to you.
“Delta has all it takes to be great and help lead the nation forward. Yet, for the past 23 years, those governing your state have taken you for a hard and long ride by selling you short. They have not done the things they should have and could have done for you.
READ ALSO:
- K1 ‘spoils’ newest wife with posh gift, loving words
- 2023: Ibadan chief mobilises 10,000 landlords, OPC, Agbekoya, others for Tinubu
- Tricyclist, one other arrested with guns, ammunition in Delta
“The infrastructure in the state was better 30 years ago than it is now. The state has recorded historic debts run up by the incumbent, yet the infrastructure and other things still remain lacking because of under investment and neglect.
“The money is much, but it does not have legs. Where did it go? Not to your welfare. Perhaps, it has found a home with a certain presidential candidate, who loves Dubai more than Nigeria.
“But Delta State is not an ATM for migratory politicians. It is a place where good and hardworking people reside and work to create decent and peaceful lives for themselves and their families.”
On his plans for the state, the former Lagos governor promised to re-activate the gas revolution industrial park, while also seeing to clean up the entire Niger Delta region to ensure that the host communities would not suffer for building the nation’s economy through their oil.
Tinubu added, “Our government will further re-activate the multi-billion dollar gas revolution industrial park project. President Buhari’s administration has made great strides in revisiting this project. We will complete it.
“Gas will become a national priority. I envision fertiliser and petrochemical plants, aluminium smelters and methanol plants, all creating jobs for the unemployed, while producing goods that bolster farming, construction and other industries.
“We will step up and clean up the operations of the Niger Delta Development Commission and the Ministry of the Niger Delta.
“The NDDC will be improved. Greater cooperation with communities, which have suffered environmental degradation, will be my policy.
“I am saddened by the environmental cost, which the oil and gas industry has exacted. Our moral and economic duty calls us to clean the Niger Delta and to create new opportunities for young Deltans to build better lives for themselves.”
On Delta’s infrastructure development, which he affirmed had been in a sorry state, Tinubu said, “We will help develop the infrastructure of your state. The deep seaport project and the Omadino-Escravos Road project will be revisited. We will rehabilitate Warri, Koko, Sapele and Burutu ports, creating yet more jobs in the state.
READ ALSO:
- Aggrieved PDP Governors Still Open To Negotiation – Fayose
- FG goes after identified terrorists’ financiers, assets
- 2023: Don’t allow Nigeria to fall into wrong hands – Fayemi warns
- Tinubu: Social media gives me high blood pressure, I’ve stopped going there
“My government will deploy new technologies to protect the safety and security of law-abiding Deltans as well as the critical national infrastructure situated in this state. We will also introduce greater funding and reform policies to bring the Nigerian police closer to the communities they serve.”
In attendance were Senate President, Ahmed Lawan; APC Deputy National Chairman, South, Emma Enekwu, who represented National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu; Tinubu’s running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima, and his wife, Nana; and Senator Oluremi Tinubu, wife of the presidential candidate and daughter of Itsekiriland.
Also present at the rally were Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinnma; Governor of Plateau State and Director-General of the campaign council, Simon Lalong; Deputy Senate President and Delta State governorship candidate of the party, Ovie Omo-Agege; Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Idris Wase; members of the APC National Working Committee; Minister of Youth and Sports, Sunday Dare; spokesman for the PCC, Festus Keyamo; and former governor of Edo State and Edo North Senatorial candidate, Adams Oshiomhole.
When Oluremi Tinubu addressed her people in her native Itsekiri dialect, there was a standing ovation in the stadium.
She urged the people of Delta to vote for the APC to have one of their kiths and kins in the corridors of power.
Okowa also came under criticism from Oshiomhole, who accused him of under-developing, the state.
In his response to Tinubu’s comment, the state Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, said the people of Delta State appreciated the state’s infrastructural development and that Delta was “not like Lagos that Bola Tinubu put in his pocket.”
Aniagwu, who is also a spokesperson for the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, told Sunday PUNCH in an interview, “We don’t have time to respond to somebody whose identity is still unknown. Let him first of all go and clear himself; when and where he was born, the schools he attended and other records about him so we can know who we are talking to.
“Somebody whose records are still in doubt cannot be the one talking. Our state cannot be in his pocket the way he did Lagos. Delta is not Lagos and our people cannot be deceived by such a person.
“With the kind of wonderful defeat and disgrace he, the APC and Adams Oshiomhole suffered in the last Edo State governorship election, we thought he would have learnt some lessons. That 2020 defeat in Edo will be a child’s play compared to what they will suffer in Delta State in 2023.
READ ALSO:
- Amaechi left indelible mark in railways, we’ll continue, says Sambo
- Just in: Ex-Transportation minister Rotimi Amaechi bags degree in law (with photos)
- 2023: INEC preparing for possible rerun elections
“Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has been prudent in managing the state economy. We have a lot of infrastructure on ground for all the money that accrued to the state, ranging from roads to bridges, schools and human capital development. Their (APC) governorship candidate did not tell him that the road from the airport to the stadium is a federal road the APC-led Federal Government failed to fix.”
Oyetola on Tinubu
Osun State Governor, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, on Saturday, said voting for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, next year would renew the hope of Nigerians in the country.
Oyetola stated this in Osogbo at the inauguration of the Directorate of Grassroots Mobilisation, Engagement and Orientation of the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kashim Shettima Presidential Campaign.
According to him, Tinubu has the experience required to further transform the nation and take it to the next level, and expressed optimism in the ability of the group to spread the message and mobilise voters for the candidate.
The state APC Chairman, Mr Gboyega Famodun, said Tinubu had the capacity and good health to be the next president.
Zamfara APC campaign
Similarly, Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State has inaugurated the Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council and his governorship campaign council.
Punch
Politics
Labour Party collapses into APC in Plateau
Labour Party collapses into APC in Plateau
In a major political development in Plateau State, the Labour Party in the Northern Zone has officially merged with the All Progressives Congress (APC), marking a significant shift in the region’s political dynamics. The formal defection took place this morning at the APC Secretariat, Kalwa House, Yakubu Gowon Way, Jos.
Led by former Labour Party Senatorial candidate, Barrister Gyang Zi SAN, thousands of party faithful pledged their allegiance to the APC, declaring the ruling party the most viable platform for the socio-economic transformation of their communities.
Addressing the APC State Working Committee, Barrister Zi stated that the decision was reached after extensive consultations and careful evaluation of the political landscape. He noted that the APC’s track record, particularly in implementing people-oriented policies and developmental programmes, made it the natural choice for their political aspirations.
“Our resolve to join the APC is a strategic step to build, consolidate and mobilise for the party’s continued success across all levels of governance,” Barrister Zi explained.
READ ALSO:
- Niger Gov Bago makes U-turn on dreadlocks ban after backlash
- P-Square: Jude Okoye freed after two months detention
- Cultists kill teen during anti-cultism walk in Lagos
Receiving the defectors, Plateau State APC Chairman, Rt. Hon. Rufus Bature, described the occasion as a historic milestone for the region. He noted that the mass defection had effectively altered the political arithmetic in the Northern Zone.
“Today marks a turning point in our political journey. The inclusion of our brothers and sisters from the Labour Party signals a broader unity and shared commitment to delivering good governance,” Rt. Hon. Bature stated.
He assured the new members that they would enjoy equal rights and privileges within the party, urging them to actively participate and take full advantage of the opportunities within the APC structure.
In a show of solidarity, goodwill messages were received from the APC leadership in the United Kingdom, and the ceremony concluded with the presentation of the APC flag to Barrister Zi, symbolising his formal induction into the party.
Joining him were all six former Labour Party flagbearers for the State House of Assembly, as well as candidates for local government chairmanship and councillorship positions—further cementing the scope and impact of the defection.
This latest development is expected to significantly influence political alignments ahead of future electoral cycles in Plateau State.
Labour Party collapses into APC in Plateau
Politics
2027: Atiku remains the best to face Tinubu, says Dele Momodu
2027: Atiku remains the best to face Tinubu, says Dele Momodu
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dele Momodu, has declared that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar remains the best opposition candidate to challenge President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election.
Momodu said Atiku stands out in terms of political experience, national reach, and support base.
His words: “You have to be realistic. It’s a game of numbers, and it’s also a game of your network.
“There’s no one in Nigeria today as experienced, as exposed, as networked as Atiku Abubakar from 1993 when he stepped down for Chief MKO Abiola in Jos.”
He said the opposition needs a candidate who can mobilise votes across both northern and southern Nigeria, adding that only Atiku fits the profile.
“For anybody to face a Tinubu, that person has to come from the opposite direction. Which means it must be someone who can get the North to coalesce behind him.
READ ALSO:
- NLC to IMF: Your reforms inflict hunger, poverty on masses
- Nigerians deserve truth about electricity, not propaganda, labour slams power minister
- INEC may allow Nigerians without PVCs to vote in 2027
“So, I pray that the coalition will be able to achieve that. I don’t know if they will, but I’m sure they are working on that. Then it must be someone who has a substantial network in the South. There is no other person I can see who has that kind of network behind him,” he stated.
Citing the example of Donald Trump’s continued relevance in American politics, Momodu said political necessity often trumps past performance.
“Why do you think the Republicans in America will risk a Donald Trump, a man who already lost the election, who already got indicted on many felonies? It is because they need him,” he said.
Speaking on Nigeria’s informal power rotation arrangement, the PDP chieftain said leadership should be about performance, not geography.
“Democracy as practised in Nigeria is done every four years because it is an examination. You pass, or you fail.
“The only qualification cannot be about where you come from. The only qualification we’re seeing now is that it should be a southerner,” he concluded.
2027: Atiku remains the best to face Tinubu, says Dele Momodu
Politics
Delta Governor Oborevwori dumps PDP for APC
Delta Governor Oborevwori dumps PDP for APC
Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, has announced his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The announcement came after a high-level closed-door meeting held at the Government House in Asaba on Tuesday evening.
The governor’s defection is coming just after a viral video stirred speculation about his political future. In the footage, which sparked online debates, Oborevwori was seen in close company with known APC stakeholders. At the time, his media aide dismissed the clip as “old and misleading.”
Newstrends learnt senior APC figures were present to welcome the governor into their fold, signaling a significant political realignment in the South-South state.
The governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Sir Festus Ahon, said Oborevwori’s decision was based on “wide consultations with political stakeholders and in the interest of Delta’s long-term development.”
“This move was not made lightly,” Ahon emphasized. “The governor is deeply committed to the prosperity of Delta State and believes that working with the APC at the federal level will help accelerate growth and deliver better dividends of democracy to the people.”
Governor Oborevwori was elected under the PDP platform in the 2023 gubernatorial election, defeating his opponents to secure the governorship seat. His defection to the APC, however, is already being interpreted by political analysts as a calculated strategy with an eye on the 2027 general elections
-
metro2 days agoRivers: Tinubu meets with Fubara, may lift his suspension
-
metro2 days agoBring your children to compete with mine, MC Oluomo challenges those mocking his spoken English
-
metro2 days agoI’m not in supremacy battle with Ooni, says new Alaafin
-
News3 days agoTinubu returns to Nigeria after France, UK trip
-
Business2 days agoMarketers count losses as NNPC slashes petrol price
-
metro2 days agoRivers: Fubara’s supporters praise Tinubu’s intervention with emergency rule
-
metro2 days agoBandits attack Kwara North, kill vigilante, six others
-
Business1 day agoNigeria’s gas production increases by 15.6% to 227,931.65 mscf