Politics
Someone from South-East coming to fix Nigeria – Pastor Ayorinde
Someone from South-East coming to fix Nigeria – Pastor Ayorinde
… Nigerian soldiers can overrun terrorists in one month
Founder of World Bible Church, Prophet Samson Ayorinde, says someone from the South-East is destined to lead Nigeria and address majority of the problems facing the country.
He however said the time is not now but some 16 years’ time, adding that the fellow, a young man, was already being groomed for the job.
The clergyman who spoke in an interview with The Sun published on Saturday also declared that the Nigerian military is capable of ridding the country of terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements constituting security threats.
Indeed, Ayorinde spoke on a number of issues including the administration of President Bola Tinubu, the state of the economy and Niger Republic crisis.
Excerpts from the interview are as follows:
What can the government do to tackle the high cost of living as a result of bad economic situation in the country?
We know that the situation has been very precarious for a long time, and many people did not want to take the bull by the horns. We are blessed with the present President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He is God’s appointed for this present hour as shown with all my previous predictions for the past 14 years. The Lord had told me about him becoming the president of this country, and it is not hidden news. This is the man appointed for this particular time. I want to appreciate all Nigerians for our resilience, tolerance and forbearance. If what has happened in these last two months had been in many parts of the world, those countries would have been on fire and on rampage, but Nigerians are resilient and tolerant and we adjust. It’s painful. A lot of people are dying. People are frustrated. What the government needs to do is to look seriously into the plight of the people, not necessarily dolling out N5,000 or N8,000 per family, even though they have made up their minds to go along with that policy. But it goes nowhere.
This funding should have been used in getting amenities, infrastructure like generating more electricity, raising up modular refineries that will serve the populace. Instead of building massive refineries, they could go on for modular refineries that could not do more than 20,000, 30,000 barrels per day which can be in six geopolitical zones. There is no geo-political zone that does not have crude oil in Nigeria. The existing refineries should be made to work. There are three already so they need to produce two or three more because one is already in Nasarawa under construction. These refineries should not be run by the government. Privatise it so that it becomes self sustained and then it would work. Then give each of them a mandate to make certain level of revenue to the government as internally generated revenue. This will help us.
Nigeria has one of the most fertile soils on earth and we are yet to cultivate 60 to 70 per cent of it. So Nigeria can feed the world. Nigeria is bigger than Ukraine. Nigeria soil is better than that of Ukraine, and you can see the volume of grains that is coming from Ukraine. Population of Ukraine is 40 million, while that of Nigeria is 200 million. We need to bring in massive machinery that will make farming easy and interesting. Once there is a greater supply, and demand remains the same, price would drop. We are blessed with solar power, we can generate enough electricity from solar as well as from gas. The volume of gas in Nigeria is enough to serve the whole of Europe and we would still have more than excess.
Now that the whole world is looking towards Nigeria, we should not allow us to be distracted by anything such as the war in Niger. It is not our business taking our troops to go and fight a war that we must avoid. It is not as if we are not concerned about what is happening in Niger, but it is diplomacy. Confrontation, argument will only end up in diplomacy. We should learn from what is happening between Russia and Ukraine. We should also look at what is happening between America and Iraq and Afghanistan when they tried to impose their government. They will end up losing at both ends, it does not make sense. So the President must be advised, and he needs to really listen to his men and to us, too. We are not ready for war. In war, everybody suffers, so we should pull the soldiers back. We have enough terrorists in the forests that they need to go and combat within the country’s territory, making our farmers to be secured to farm instead of to be kidnapped. They can map out the whole of this country within two three, four weeks, and peace would reign in Nigeria and everybody would go about their businesses. We want the government to look at this area of what would go round all, rather than a privileged few. In two months now we have saved over a trillion naira. They should come out transparent with daily briefing from the President on how this money is being spent so that people can know where the money is going. People want to hear him speak. No matter how busy he is, he should communicate with the people.
There are still pending court cases concerning the Presidential election. Are you saying that litigants are wasting time and resources in court fighting for what they refer to as their mandate?
It is the right of disenchanted political parties to tender their opinions, findings and whatever they have to present to the court of law and the law will take its course. There were four contestants, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, Rabiu Kwakwaso and Peter Obi. There is no way, for balancing in the country, that a Northerner would leave the throne after eight years and power would be ceded to another Northerner.
Secondly, Kwankwaso was a member of PDP. Peter Obi was a very strong member of PDP. So PDP, Labour party, NNPP are formerly PDP. You cannot take three and divide it into one each and beat one major. Carry out this election 10 times, APC would win as long as the major players do not change. Our President that was looking very sickly is okay now. He is sound. Hands don’t shake again. Success has a way of healing someone, and who knows, it might be a political intrigue. That man is a political maverick in this country, a force to be reckoned with. He plays on the psychology of people. He knows what he is doing. For years he has been planning for this seat and he has gotten it. There is no way you would first of all handle a car steering that it would not stumble. There were some of the mistakes in his pronouncement, even though they are real and it is something that he needs to do. I believe that some of those things that happened at the few early days were just like a man trying to walk and he stumbled. Now things are getting stabilised with the appointment of the ministers. The Senate President, Goodwill Akpabio is doing a good job. You can see his control, calmness, smiles, demeanor, and body language. When everybody gets hot, he cools down the body temperature. That’s a thoroughbred politician and we are proud of him.
Power is going to come to the East but not yet now. When President Tinubu finishes his tenure of eight years, power would go back to the North for another eight years after which the power comes down to the South, and then it would go to the South East where a young man is being prepared. That is the man that would build the bridge and repair this country. I have been told about it since 1993. The man that would repair and really do the good job for Nigeria is from the South East. By that time, the Easterners would be ripe enough to produce the President, and you can be sure, Jagaban is going to breed that particular man up like what he did in Lagos State where he has already keyed several successive governments up because he knows what it is to govern and be successful. At his age, you should know that he is rich and not looking for any money to embezzle, but to build a lasting legacy so that his name can enter the Guinness Book of Record as one of the leaders in Africa. We are going to pray and give him support so that he will succeed.
What can you say about the number of ministerial nominees by the President considering the state of the nation’s economy?
When the Nigeria Labour Congress asked him about it, he said it will generate jobs because each of those ministers will have special assistants and so on. But the real fact is, there is a lot of disenchanted, disgruntled people as a result of this election. Things are really polarised and they are trying to mend fences. You just have to make that sacrifice. Building is not easy. To scatter is very easy. So he is looking at so many things to make sure that everybody is pacified. If the politicians and leadership are really interested and determined in reducing the cost of the governance, let everybody go on 50 per cent of their salaries. But you know, human beings are naturally selfish. Go to our universities – our teachers, Professors can’t afford a car, and this are people that are going to manage the destinies of our children. The government has to work harder like never before and God will intervene. A new Nigeria is being birthed.
Insecurity is one of the major problems of this country. What do you think the government can do?
Very simple. Google has the map of the whole world from the satellite. Put about five or six drones in the air and every part of this country comes under surveillance. Get the telephone to work, and get the soldiers to be alerted. Nigeria is not too big for Nigerian soldiers to map metre by metre. Within one or two weeks, everywhere would be quiet. But because a lot of people are feeding from it, that is the problem. Nigeria has enough capacity to stop these terrorists in weeks, not months. Once they match them power for power, they would all run away because most of them are being funded by foreigners. A lot of big farmers who are youths cannot sustain their business because they kidnap them in the farms. Then the local vigilantes, civil defence, state police, should all be allowed to be in operation, and they should be well-funded. Again, with the upcoming government banking system on credit facilities where you can own a car or house without necessarily having to pay all the cash, it would help. However, all these can’t be done in a day by one man. Even though we are exercising patience, time is tickling because if people should go on rampage Endsars would be a small thing. When you push a goat to the wall, it would bite like a dog. People are being pushed to the wall. Something needs to be done, and fast.
Politics
PDP crisis: Two ex-Senate presidents lead fresh plot to oust Damagum
PDP crisis: Two ex-Senate presidents lead fresh plot to oust Damagum
Two former Presidents of the Senate, Chief David Mark and Dr Bukola Saraki are leading a fresh charge aimed at removing Amb. Umar Damagum as the Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The push by Mark and Saraki has received the backing of prominent stakeholders, including the Plateau State Governor, Caleb Muftwang and other political office holders elected on the platform of the PDP.
Similarly, former governors from the Northcentral zone who served on the party’s platform have also aligned forces with the group.
Rising from a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja on Thursday night, the party chieftains resolved to produce a candidate from the zone early 2025 to replace Damagum.
According to them, the move to replace Damagum with a substantive chairman from the Northcentral, has received the endorsement of key party stakeholders from the Northwest and the Northeast zones.
Among those being projected as potential candidates to take Damagum’s seat include Mark; a former Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam; and a former House of Representatives member from Nasarawa State, David
David Ombugadu.
A communique issued after the meeting, said the stakeholders
reviewed the festering crisis in the party following the exit of the erstwhile National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu.
Ayu lost his seat to the crisis triggered by disagreements over the emergency of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 general election.
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The crisis has continued to deepen with the apparent overbearing influence of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike on the Damagum-led national leadership.
The Northcentral stakeholders argued that Damagum’s continued occupation of the office breached provisions of the PDP constitution.
The communique states in part, “The PDP’s constitution clearly states that succession of offices in the party at all levels is largely to the extent that any vacant position can be replaced by appointment from the zone, as per Section 47 (6) of the party.
“The party is guided by its constitution at all times. Therefore, the leadership of the party needs to rise up to the occasion to restore goodwill and cohesion in the party by making necessary sacrifices and compromises to restore confidence and cohesion in the party.
“It is in the light of this that the stakeholders of the Northcentral Zone appeal to the conscience and goodwill of our compatriots in other zones of the Northern region to restore the seat of the chairmanship of the party back to the Northcentral Zone to serve out its tenure.
“That the stakeholders must strive to build consensus to get the buy-in to the position of Northcentral zone.
“The Northcentral is united and will strive to preserve the PDP as a veritable platform for good governance in Nigeria.”
The meeting, which was attended by Governor Muftwang, also had former Governors Jonah Jang (Plateau), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Idris Wada (Kogi) in attendance.
Others at the meeting included the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro; incumbent PDP National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN); and a former Information Minister, Prof Jerry Gana.
Also at the meeting were former senators Tunde Ogbeha, Philip Aduda, Suleiman Adokwe, Dino Melaye, Mohammed Onawo and Peter Jiya.
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Similarly, former Ministers, Labaran Maku and Sarah Ochekpe also attended the meeting. Other stakeholders like Simon Mwadkwon, Mrs. Margaret Icheen, Mr. Raymond Dabo, Maika Jiba, and Isa Dobi were also present.
Damagum, who is from Yobe State in the Northeast zone, emerged Acting National Chairman in March 2023 following the exit of Ayu who is from Benue State in the Northcentral zone.
Damagum was the PDP Deputy National Chairman (North) before his appointment as Acting National Chairman.
By virtue of Section 47 (6) of the party’s constitution, he ought to have relinquished the seat for a substantive National Chairman from the Northcentral zone where Ayu hailed from.
The Section reads: “Where a vacancy occurs in any of the offices of the party, the Executive Committee at the appropriate level shall appoint another person from the area or zone where the officer originated from to serve out the tenure of the officer.”
Ayu was elected chairman in 2022 for a four-year tenure that should expire in 2026 before his tenure got truncated in 2023.
Several moves by critical organs of the party, including the PDP Governors Forum, the Board of Trustees (BoT) and the National Caucus to replace Damagum have been thwarted by the Acting National Chairman, allegedly with the backing of Wike.
Miffed by the development, the PDP Governors Forum, led by Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, had, a few weeks ago, directed the Damagum-led leadership to convene the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting latest by February 2025.
The NEC meeting has suffered four postponements between August and November 2024, as Damagum, who is supposed to convene the meeting has been evasive.
The power to ratify any candidate chosen by the Northcentral zone to replace Damagum is vested only in the NEC.
PDP crisis: Two ex-Senate presidents lead fresh plot to oust Damagum
Politics
PDP expels South-East national vice chairperson over anti-party activities
PDP expels South-East national vice chairperson over anti-party activities
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oguduokwor Ward, Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, has officially expelled Ali Odefa, the suspended National Vice Chairperson of the party in the South-East, following allegations of anti-party activities.
Odefa had been suspended on September 11, 2024, by the ward executives, a move that was later upheld by the Federal High Court in Abakaliki. In its ruling on November 29, 2024, under suit number FHC/AI/CS/182/2024, the court affirmed the legitimacy of his suspension.
On Wednesday, Onyeka Ovuta, the Acting Chairperson of the PDP in Oguduokwor, announced Odefa’s expulsion in a statement. Ovuta explained that the decision followed recommendations from the party’s disciplinary committee, which confirmed the allegations against Odefa.
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The party announced that Mr Odefa by the virtue of his expulsion, “ceases to be a member of the party.”
Reacting, Mr Odefa laughed off the expulsion, stating that those who announced it were “frustrated charlatans”.
He said the expulsion cannot stand because “it did not take place in the ward but in Abuja”. He said those who made the announcement against him were not ward executives of the party.
“Let them come home come and announce it. Or is our ward now located in Abuja?”
PDP expels South-East national vice chairperson over anti-party activities
Politics
INEC recognises Sylvester Ezeokenwa as APGA national chairman
INEC recognises Sylvester Ezeokenwa as APGA national chairman
Sylvester Ezeokenwa has been reinstated as the national chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).
Ezeokenwa was reinstated by the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday, December 17.
According to Sam Olumekun, the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC, the commission had been served with the judgement of the Supreme Court.
The apex court judgement with the Appeal No. SC/CV/824/2024 APGA & ANOR vs OYE & ORS was delivered on November 27, 2024.
The court ruled that Ezeokenwa should be recognised as the national chairman of the party.
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“In compliance with the judgement of the apex court, the Commission has restored Barr. Ezeokenwa as the Chairman of APGA and restored his name on our website accordingly,” the INEC commissioner said.
He also stated that the reisnstatmemt of the new chairman would automatically lead to the withdrawal of the recognition of Njoku as the national chairman of the party.
The court also upheld an earlier judgement of the appeal which did not confer any enforceable rights on Njoku.
If also awarded N20 million each against the appellaants.
INEC recognises Sylvester Ezeokenwa as APGA national chairman
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