The Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum has requested that the National Assembly conclude deliberations on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill by either overriding President Muhammadu Buhari’s veto or delete areas of complaints. The Forum’s nine-point communique was read by its Chairman and the Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, at the end of its meeting hosted by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, at Government House in Port Harcourt, Rivers on Monday. Cybercrime: Arraignment of ex-Imo governor stalled Akwa Ibom govt. inaugurates enforcement team on scavengers ban, open grazing “The continued state of insecurity in the country, the persistent and ceaseless flow of Nigerians’ blood on a daily basis in many parts of Nigeria, the near-collapse of the security situation in Nigeria; the strategies to confront terrorists, kidnappers, bandits and other criminals is still a major problem of the APC administration,” it read in part. The governor expressed regrets that the President is unwilling, from his recent comments discountenancing the proposals for state policing, to participate in reviewing the structural problems of tackling insecurity in Nigeria and urged Buhari to reconsider his position and consider decentralisation and restructuring of the security architecture as the most viable solution, together with proper arming, funding and training requirements for security agencies. “The Nigerian economy has continued to deteriorate and Nigerians have become numb and accustomed to bad economic news as exemplified by the inconsistent and differential exchange rate regime, high-interest rates, unsustainable unemployment figures and borrowing spree some of which have not been applied to important projects, and other bad economic indicators. “In particular, it is clear that the APC Government is a massive failure when compared with the records of PDP in government. The PDP handed over a $550 billion economy (the largest in Africa), but under APC, Nigeria is the Poverty Capital of the world. “In 2015, under PDP, the exchange rate was N198 per Dollar, it is now under APC almost N500 to a Dollar; In 2015, the unemployment rate was 7.3% under PDP, it is now 33%, one of the highest in the world under APC; In 2015, the pump price of petroleum product was N87 per litre, it is now N165 per litre and climbing under APC. Debt servicing now under APC takes over 98% of the federal budget. The tales of woe are endless,” it stated. The PDP governors noted that the management of our oil and gas resources, the administration of Federation Account remittances have remained opaque, confusing and non-transparent stressing that the transition to NNPC Ltd. under the Petroleum Industry Act has not been properly streamlined to ensure that the interests of all the tiers of government are protected, consistent with the 1999 Constitution. They urged eligible Nigerians, particularly the youths, to register en masse with INEC to exercise their franchise in the 2023 general elections, adding that the next election must end the dominance the of APC government. The meeting was attended by Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, of Sokoto State; Gov Udom Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom State; Sen. Douye Diri of Bayelsa State; Samuel Ortom of Benue State; Gov Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State; and Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State. Others in attendance were Governor Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde of Oyo State; Gov Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa State; and Gov. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State. The host governor, Nyesom Wike, had earlier hosted the visiting PDP governors in a gala night where the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Iyorchia Ayu urged Nigerians to keep faith with the party which he said is poised to produce the next president of the country.

Posters of Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike have flooded parts of the nation’s capital, Abuja. The posters, which carried Wike’s bold picture and name, surfaced on Monday. They were strategically posted on public infrastructures like traffic kiosks, airports, Asokoro and the Federal Secretariat. The posters were sponsored by “Northerners For Change Group.

Former governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima, has said those of the opinion that a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is physically unsuitable for the Office of the President due to his age have no understanding of his “incredible work ethic.” He said such people present the presidency as a brick-laying exercise, just as he pointed out that the mark of true leadership isn’t the ability to lift a bag of cement. He said this on Monday as part of a keynote address he presented at the Support Group Conference, organised by Support Groups Management Council, held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, in honour of Tinubu who recently declared his presidential ambition. Shettima said, “The mudslinging that has trailed Asiwaju since his presidential bid took the top spot in the country is a mere acknowledgement of his political track record and inimitable influence on our political scene. The attempts at weaving ridiculous fiction to override the history we’ve all witnessed demonstrate the detractors’ utter desperation and cowardice. One of such is the mischievous fixation on his age and the wild conclusions that he’s physically unsuitable for the Office of the President. This obsession characterises the thinking of those who have no understanding of Asiwaju’s incredible work ethic. “A few days ago, I joined him on a trip to Zamfara State to condole with the people and identify with their realities, and the experience made a nonsense of the propaganda that he’s unfit to run Nigeria. On the eve of the trip, Asiwaju had retired at 6am, after Subhi prayers, and was already awake and attending to guests by 11am. We departed for Sokoto around 2pm and had to traverse the menacing hinterland of that part of the North-West for seven hours from Sokoto to Gusau —where he made a generous donation of N50 million as he had in other places struck by tragedies— and then back to Sokoto. On returning to Abuja by midnight, his schedule was entirely a series of meetings that kept him up till 3am. Now, excuse my curiosity, how many of us here can match or endure such a demanding schedule? Asiwaju’s alacrity, therefore, has never been a subject of scepticism for those who’ve worked with him, and even his critics are aware of this. If he were half the man in their tales by moonlight, they would’ve long succeeded in subduing him. “The mark of true leadership isn’t the ability to lift a bag of cement. It’s the mental effort to think rationally of solutions designed to redeem one’s people and territorial jurisdiction. This was why leaders like Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States of America, stood out. Roosevelt took power in a country wrecked by the Great Depression of the 1930s and guided its economy through the Second World War, and the quality of his thoughts and ideas made the United States a superpower under his watch. Similarly, the accident that had Kenya’s Mwai Kibaki confined to a wheelchair didn’t disable his ability to produce sound ideas, and Kenyans were sold on his virtue that they chose him as their President over what some would consider a fitter option. “I’m not asking you to tone down critical assessments of your future leaders, but redirect you to see the bigger picture. We are not here to prepare for the Olympics, but an institution that relies on the superiority of ideas to thrive. Asiwaju’s credentials aren’t only appealing, they are proof of the qualities this country needs to redeem its vast potentials and possibilities. We are here to testify to this power of ideas—one that overturned the fortunes of Lagos state and sustained its supremacy as the largest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa and kept the opposition alive when it was more profitable to sell out. Those who seek to make us go low hope to present the presidency as a brick-laying exercise. But that’s the work of a machine created by an idea, and who else to guide us towards manufacturing the best ideas to redeem this country?”