Politics
North would have retained power after Buhari if not for Obi – Wike
Rivers State governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has described the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, as the hero of the 2023 presidential election.
Governor Wike said the decision of Mr Peter Obi to contest the presidential election under the platform of the Labour Party, primarily prevented the north from retaining power after the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure.
The Rivers State governor made the commendation during interactive meeting with Technical Dealers Association of Nigeria, Computer Dealers Association, Garrison Phone Dealers Association and Building Materials Traders Association in Port Harcourt on Saturday.
Governor Wike explained that contrary to insinuation that he did not support Peter Obi, what most people failed to realise is that the Labour Party presidential candidate remains his hero of the election.
“Obi is my hero. If Obi did not contest, power would have gone back to the North. The whole of South -South and South-East that PDP lost, if Obi did not contest PDP would have won.”
He further added, “The hero is this election is Obi whether you like it or not. I am not here to please you, Obi is the hero. He may not have been pronounced as the winner, no problem, the law will take its course. If Obi did not run this election, power would have remained in the North. Whether he declared a winner now or not, history will be on his side that he fought and fought well.”
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The Rivers State governor said the reason why he did not publicly declare support for any presidential candidate was because the PDP G-5 governors had unanimously agreed to ensure the emergence of a president from southern Nigeria to succeed President Buhari.
Governor Wike, said while members of the G-5 governors assiduously worked for power to return to the South, the likes of former Rivers State governor and immediate past Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, who is now soliciting for Igbo to support APC candidate, Tonye Cole, mobilised votes for Atiku Abubakar.
“If Amaechi loves the Igbos, why did he not support Obi? Instead, he supported Atiku. He did not want power to return to the South because he lost APC ticket.”
The governor said the reason why Amaechi is deliberately canvassing support for Tonye Cole is because he wants stall their on going prosecution for embezzling $50M from the Rivers State government coffers.
Governor Wike urged Igbos in Rivers State to be wary of Amaechi, who served as Minister of Transportation for over seven years, but failed to revive eastern ports and railway lines from Enugu-Aba-Port Harcourt.
The governor recalled that when Amaechi was the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, he vehemently opposed plan to compensate Igbos who lost their property in the State during the civil war.
According to him, it is absolutely mischievous for Amaechi, who also served as Rivers State governor from 2007 to 2015, to wake up in 2023 to resurrect the issue of abandoned property because of his inordinate political ambition.
The governor announced the allocation of 150 plots of land to the Computer Dealers Association and 30 plots to Computer Dealers Association to develop an industrial park in Port Harcourt.
Chairmen of the Computer Dealers Association, Mr Anunobi Ikechi and Building Materials Traders Association, Okwudiri Onuorah , assured the governor of their support for the Rivers State PDP governorship candidate, Sir Siminialayi Fubara , in the 18 March , 2023 election.
Politics
BREAKING: LP Re-elects Julius Abure As National Chairman
BREAKING: LP Re-elects Julius Abure As National Chairman
The Labour Party (LP) has re-elected Julius Abure as its National Chairman for a second term in office.
Abure was re-elected by a unanimous affirmation of delegates at the party’s National Convention in Nnewi, Anambra State.
The Chairman of the National Convention and Deputy Governor of Abia State, Ikechukwu Emetu declared him the winner during the event attended by party leaders and members.
More to come…
Politics
El-Rufai set to dump APC, visits Gowon after meeting SDP leaders
El-Rufai set to dump APC, visits Gowon after meeting SDP leaders
There are talks that a former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, may quit the All Progressives Congress (APC) and move to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) for the second time.
The rumour is coming after the APC chieftain had held meetings with SDP leaders.
El-Rufai also visited ex-military Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, at his residence in Abuja on Tuesday.
His second visit to SDP stalwarts on Tuesday has further fueled speculations that the former governor is planning to dump the APC.
El-Rufai lost his bid to become a minister in the President Bola Tinubu as he was screened out by the Senate over a damaging petition written against him.
He was however pictured at the Abuja residence of Senator Abubakar Gada, along with SDP chairman Shehu Musa Gabam and other party leaders.
Also reported to be present at the meeting were Senator Teslim Folarin, APC governorship candidate for Oyo State in the 2023 general elections, and Senator Nazif Suleiman, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party from Bauchi State.
The meeting at Gada’s home in Abuja on Sunday night came after El-Rufai hosted a Ramadan iftar at his Abuja residence.
Those at the Ramadan iftar include the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, Kashim Ibrahim-Imam and Shehu Musa Gabam.
El-Rufai also visited Gabam at the SDP secretariat.
Last Friday, a former spokesperson for the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Organisation, Daniel Bwala, said the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 Presidential Election, Peter Obi, was planning to leave the Labour Party and join El-Rufai in the SDP.
Bwala, in a post on his X handle, said Obi was planning to leave the Labour Party following the current crisis in the party with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) threatening to take over the party.
Obi, a former Governor of Anambra State, joined the Labour Party in May 2023 in the buildup to the 2023 general elections following his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
metro
Happening now: Senator Idiat Adebule distributes massive palliatives to Lagos West residents (photos)
Happening now: Senator Idiat Adebule distributes massive palliatives to Lagos West residents (photos)
Hundreds of people mostly the poor and members of the All Progressives Congress in the Lagos West Senatorial District are currently gathered at the Ikeja Police College where the senator representing the area, Idiat Adebule, is dolling out palliatives to the downtrodden, among others.
Adebule said 10,000 packs were given out to the vulnerable in the senatorial district.
She listed the items as rice, semovita, beans, pasta garri, vegetable oil and cloths.
Even as she said the package was a tip of the iceberg, stressing that people should expect bigger and better packages, not necessarily food items.
Newstrends captured the event in photos
… Detailed report later
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