Politics

Yoruba elders to Tinubu: your victory in 2023 certain

Published

2 years ago

August 9, 2022

Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu

Yoruba elders yesterday threw their weight behind the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

They said the former Lagos State governor is eminently qualified to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in next year’s election, assuring that he will make a difference as a leader.

To the elders, Tinubu has the pedigree and antecedent, having served credibly as a senator in the Third Republic and two-term governor of the Centre of Excellence.

The elders, under the aegis of the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), said Tinubu’s efforts at stabilising democracy in Nigeria were enough to earn him victory in 2023.

The council stated this in a communiqué after its quarterly meeting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The communiqué was signed by its Chairman, Mr Francis Akinikawe; Secretary, Chief Clement Fadipe; National Treasurer, Aremu Akindele and National Welfare Officer, Mrs Funmi Jabaru.

Also yesterday, the Southwest APC unfolded a comprehensive reconciliation plan for the six states in a bid to ensure unity and cohesion ahead of next year’s polls.

The APC Campaign Organisation spokesman and Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, said Tinubu’s qualities and achievements make him an easy candidate to sell to the electorate.

Speaking on Arise TV programme, he described the APC flag bearer as a political and economic trailblazer and builder of men.

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A political group, the ‘ROT Like Minds,’ held special prayers in Lagos at the weekend for Tinubu’s success at the poll.

‘Tinubu a detrabalised Nigerian’

YCE described Tinubu as a destabilised Nigerian and a good leader, who ran an all-inclusive government during his tenure as Lagos State governor.

The group maintained that as the chief crusader of democracy in Nigeria, Tinubu stands for justice, fairness and national cohesion.

YCE said it was optimistic that Tinubu would tackle the myriad of problems facing Nigeria if elected president.

It added: “We believe that you are capable of leading the nation despite challenges of insecurity, economy downtown, and we know you can turn the nation for the better.

“We want the world to know that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a phenomenon in the world of politics.

“We are not against anyone’s group or aspirations but all we are saying is that Asiwaju is the right person for the job.

“He is the best man for the job at this period while our support for his candidacy’s burn out of his starling performances and track record of achievements over the years as fishers of men with just and equitable management of men and re-distribution of the available resources under his watch at every given opportunity.”

A political group, the ‘ROT Like Minds,’ on Sunday held special prayers in Lagos for the success of the APC presidential candidate and Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

The coordinator of the group, Mr Jimmy Akinboro, chaired the joint Islam and Christian special prayers.

Akinboro explained that ‘ROT Like Minds’ organised the prayers to seek spiritual intervention for the ambitions of Tinubu and Sanwo-Olu.

He said: “The group believes that Tinubu’s presidential ambition will become a reality by seeking the blessings of God.

“Tinubu is a trusted and tested leader who has touched lives and redefined leadership in and out of political positions.

“This is not the first time that this type of programme is being held.

“We have embarked upon this prayer session in honour of our principal and our mentor.

“This is because he has unfolded his ambition to become the president of the country by the grace of God.

“We are his foot soldiers and we are his loyalists. All of us have come under the banner of this group to organise this Christian and Muslim prayer session.

“We want to hand over all our affairs to God so that He can guide us and grant our request.

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“This is so that Tinubu can become president to continue to do what he knows how to do best, which is developing people and developing society.”

Southwest APC unfolds peace plans

The Southwest APC has unfolded what it described as a comprehensive reconciliation plan to foster unity and harmony in the six states ahead of the 2023 polls.

The Zonal Executive Committee, led by Isaacs Kekemeke, urged warring chieftains, particularly in Ogun, Osun and Oyo states, to sheathe their swords, show decorum and exhibit maturity.

The reconciliation agenda being proposed will encompass the setting up of ad-hoc committees to listen to grievances and visit by selected party elders and officers to the chapters to encourage aggrieved chieftains to subscribe to a truce.

Southwest governors are also expected to play a role in the efforts of the zone to put its house in order.

Kekemeke, who is the National Vice Chairman (Southwest), urged the gladiators to jettison personal interests for the collective interest of the party to triumph in the region at this critical time.

He urged the opposing camps in Ogun, led by Governor Dapo Abiodun and Senator Ibikunle Amosun, to cease fire and allow peace to reign in the chapter.

Kekemeke has also dissociated the zonal chapter from the aggrieved governorship contender in Oyo State, who has defected to other parties to contest.

The rift between Abiodun and Amosun deepened at the weekend as both leaders were locked in confrontation over the 2019 poll.

While Amosun said the governor was rigged into office because he never won the election, Abiodun returned the salvos, saying that the senator should desist from playing God.

Supporters of the governor and senator have also been engaged in a curious media war that has embarrassed the zonal and regional leadership of the party.

Also, in Osun, supporters of Governor Gboyega Oyetola and Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola do not see eye to eye.

While the Aregbesola camp has called for the removal of Gboyega Famodun as chairman of the chapter, the governor’s camp said Famodun, who was properly elected during the state congress, cannot yield his position to Lowo Adebiyi, who belongs to the Aregbesola camp.

In Oyo, a post-primary crisis has ensued, following the emergence of Senator Teslim Folarin as governorship candidate.

An aggrieved aspirant, Adegoke Adelabu, has defected from the chapter to contest for governor on the platform of the Accord Party.

Also, the other two camps opposed to the candidate have not shown proof of any readiness to team up with him as the race is gathering momentum.

Party supporters who were confused over the protracted crises in the three chapters have urged the zonal leadership to urgently intervene to nip them in the bud.

Kekemeke said in a statement yesterday that there is no alternative to reconciliation and peace.

He said: “The Zonal Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress in the Southwest has observed the brewing misunderstanding between some respected leaders/elders of our party in Ogun state.

“We grant that misunderstandings and quarrels are an essentially inevitable part of life and human organisations.

“However, it should be understood by all party compatriots that the Southwest zone can not afford any form of a dispute to fester; not at this time when all hands must be on deck to secure resounding electoral victory for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and all other candidates of the party in the Zone during the forthcoming 2023 general elections.

“The party in the zone has already initiated actions to ensure that this family misunderstanding and others elsewhere in the Southwest are amicably resolved.

“I appeal to their Excellencies: Governor Abiodun and Senator Amosun to in the name of God and the interest of the party in the zone sheath their swords and direct their supporters to cease henceforth from making public statements that will further divide the party in Ogun state and the zone.

“I urge all party faithful in the state to remain steadfast, rest assured that, our party will emerge stronger and better.”

THE NATION

Politics

Obi: We’ve not agreed on merger with any political party

Published

20 hours ago

January 3, 2025

Trends Admin

Obi: We’ve not agreed on merger with any political party

The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in the 2023 general elections, Mr. Peter Obi has said there was currently no agreement between the party and any other opposition party for a merger.

The former Anambra State governor spoke against speculations that the LP had entered into a merger deal with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP.
Obi, who addressed newsmen on the state of the nation in Abuja, yesterday, however, didn’t admit or deny the existence of merger talks, but he was emphatic that there was “no agreement yet.”

He appealed to all lovers of Nigeria irrespective of political affiliation to unite because it was only in unity that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, whom he said has “mismanaged” the nation’s resources can be defeated.

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Obi described Nigeria’s security situation as unfortunate. He expressed sadness that Nigerians were needlessly being sent to their early graves on account of banditry, terrorism, and kidnapping-for-ransom.

He also faulted the current administration’s claims of fighting corruption.

Obi argued that the level of corruption in Nigeria remained high just as the cost of governance which he said has led to an astronomical increase in public debt.

Obi stressed that the situation was worsened because government officials willfully mismanaged public funds in 2024 through incessant foreign travels.

Obi: We’ve not agreed on merger with any political party

Politics

How Tinubu outsmarted Buhari to become president – Ojudu

Published

3 days ago

January 1, 2025

Trends Admin

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and ex-President Muhammadu Buhari

How Tinubu outsmarted Buhari to become president – Ojudu

Babafemi Ojudu, a former Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, has claimed that ex-President Muhammadu Buhari did not endorse the presidential aspirations of his former Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, or his political ally, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Speaking on Edmund Obilo’s State Affairs podcast on Monday, Ojudu stated that Buhari withheld his support from Osinbajo, despite the latter’s qualifications, and also refrained from backing Tinubu.

According to him, Tinubu managed to secure the presidency by “outmaneuvering” Buhari in various ways.

Ojudu, who previously worked in Osinbajo’s office, expressed confidence in his former principal’s ability to lead, asserting that Osinbajo could have delivered a more effective administration than the current leadership.

His words: “I knew Osinbajo was going to lose the primary, I saw it coming.

“Because of the system we operated and still operating, I kept saying at our meeting that all of the efforts we are making like traveling around, convincing people, and addressing delegates is only 40 percent.

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“60 percent of it lies in Buhari’s hands unless and until Buhari mobilizes people around him, the governors, his aides, we are going nowhere.

“I used to refer to Buhari as a one-man majority and he never mobilized his team towards Osinbajo and I think Tinubu outsmarted him in so many different ways.”

Speaking further, he likened the failure to elect Professor Yemi Osinbajo during the last presidential election to missing a second chance at the leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

“I supported Osinbajo to be president. I was convinced because having seen him up close,” Ojudu said.

“The way he worked, his philosophy, his breadth of knowledge and the kind of patriotic verve in him I just think that he was the best person at that time to govern Nigeria that I have seen up close to be on the part of danger.

“Osinbajo would have been good for this country. For me, it is like losing Awolowo for a second time because he was at Awolowo’s level in terms of capacity, ability, dedication and commitment.”

During the APC primary in the buildup to the 2023 elections, Bola Tinubu secured 1,271 votes to clinch the party’s presidential ticket, while former Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi garnered 316 votes. Former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo received 235 votes, finishing third, while Senate President Ahmed Lawan obtained 152 votes.

How Tinubu outsmarted Buhari to become president – Ojudu

(Vanguard)

Politics

Seyi Tinubu death threat: Court fixes Jan 6 on Olamide bail application

Published

3 days ago

December 31, 2024

Trends Admin

Olamide Thomas

Seyi Tinubu death threat: Court fixes Jan 6 on Olamide bail application

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, fixed Jan. 6, for ruling in a bail application filed by Olamide Thomas, who allegedly threatened Seyi Tinubu with death threat on social media.

Justice Emeka Nwite fixed the date after T.J. Aondo, who appeared for Thomas, and the lawyer to the prosecution, Victor Okoye, made their submissions for and against the bail application.

Upon resumed hearing, Okoye told the court that the matter was slated for the hearing of the bail application and that he had filed and served his counter affidavit on the applicant’s lawyer.

Moving the bail motion, Aondo said the application, dated Dec. 20, was served on same date.

He said it was brought pursuant to the 1999 Constitution and Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.

The lawyer said the application prayed the court for an order admitting Thomas to bail pending the hearing and determination of the charge before the court.

He urged the court to admit his client to bail on liberal terms, assuring that she would not jump bail.

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But Okoye, who said a counter affidavit was filed on Dec. 30, prayed the court to refuse Thomas bail application.

Okoye equally urged the court to discountenance the exhibits attached to the bail request.
He argued that the documents were extracted from the internet in contradiction with Section 84 of the Evidence Act.

He further argued that any newspaper publication sought to be rendered in court ought to be certified by the National Library.

“We submit that those printouts are not worth admitting as evidence,” he said.
Okoye also argued that Thomas claimed that she was suffering from an ailment without attaching any medical report.

He urged the court to discountenance the submission.

But Aondo interjected, arguing that Okoye cannot orally speak on Thomas ill-health, having failed to state this in their counter affifavit.

The senior lawyer also argued that the entire affidavit filed by the prosecution did not meet the requirements of Section 115 of the Evidence Act.

He cited Paragraph 17 of the affidavit which he said equally fell short of Section 115 of Evidence Act.
He said the prosecution argument cannot stop the court from exercising its discretionary power under Section 6(6) of the constitution to grant his client bail.

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He said the power of the court to admit the defendant to bail cannot even be premised on her production of medical report, citing Sections 35 and 36 of the 1999 Constitution.
Also citing a Supreme Court decision on the admissibility of newspaper publications, Aondo argued that an affidavit presumed to be on oath is already certified.

He said the prosecution did not raised any issue on whether Thomas will not escape if granted bail.
Aondo, therefore, prayed the court to exercise its discretionary power in favour of Thomas.
Justice Nwite adjourned the matter until Jan. 6, 2025 for ruling.

The judge, who hinted that the case file would be remitted back to the chief judge after the ruling, said his duty as vacation judge would end on the date.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Thomas was, on Dec. 20, arraigned and remanded at Suleja Correctional Centre after she pleaded not guilty to the three-count charge preferred against her by the Inspector-General (I-G) of Police.

Thomas was arrested on allegations bordering on harassing and threatening Seyi Tinubu; the I-G, Kayode Egbetokun and the Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, in a viral social media post

In the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/636/2024 dated and filed on Dec 18 by the police team of lawyers led by A.A. Egwu, Olamide was sued as sole defendant.

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NAN reports that in count one, Olamide was alleged to have, sometime in 2024, knowingly and intentionally transmitted communication in the form of video recording through computer system or network on her social media platforms wherein she made remarks in Yoruba Language.

In the video, she was alleged to have stated “that Mr Seyi Tinubu would die this year, and misfortune and calamity had befallen the Tinubu family, with intent to bully, threaten, harass the person of Mr Seyi Tinubu.”

The communication was said to have placed Seyi in fear of death, violence or bodily harm.
The offence is contrary to and punishable under Section 24 (2) (a) of Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024.

In count two, the defendant was alleged to have intentionally transmitted communication in the form of video recording wherein she made remarks in Yoruba Language to bully, threaten, harass the person of Mr Egbetokun.

The communication was said to have placed Egbetokun in fear of death, violence or bodily harm.
The offence is contrary to and punishable under Section 24 (2) (a) of Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024.

In count three, Olamide was accused of intentionally transmitting or causing the transmission of communication in the form of video recording wherein she made remarks in Yoruba Language, stating that the children of Adejobi would all die before his eyes.

She was quoted to have also said that “he (Adejobi) will bury all his children in a single day, with Intent to bully, threaten, harass the person of Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi.”

The communication was said to have placed Adejobi in fear of death of his loved ones.

The offence is said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 24 (2) (a) of Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024