The National Women Leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Mrs. Ada-Orji Nwanyanwu, has defected to the Labour Party. Nwanyanwu, in her letter of resignation, said she was joining the LP to work for the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to emerge the next president of the country. The female politician said the support the ex-governor of Anambra state was getting had shown that he was the best candidate to succeed the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) in 2023. The letter of resignation read, “As I resign today from APGA and relinquish my position as the National Women Leader, I would like to use this opportunity to thank you for your fraternity and cooperation. It’s been an honor working with all of you for the growth and welfare of the party. My capacity to serve in the National Working Committee as the National Women Leader was so enriching and I thank you for your support. “As the general election is fast approaching, may we not be quick to forget the state of our nation which is very worrisome. “A country’s general election is always an opportunity to make a change and vote out bad leadership so that the narrative could change. Today, the opportunity to make that change knocks on the political doors of our country. “As God may have it, all the political parties in Nigeria have concluded their presidential primary elections and various candidates have emerged. Equally, they have all been assessed by Nigerians, those in diaspora and the international communities, and it has been determined that the best, most credible and most qualified amongst them, who has the exceptional ability to rescue and fix the failed economy of broken Nigeria is Mr. Peter Obi. “The assessment is based on what the candidates have done in the past, their various achievements, and their capabilities. The massive support Mr. Peter Obi is receiving since he joined Labor Party is another proof that he can turn around Nigeria. “My dear friends, now that God has given us the long-awaited Leader, may you look beyond party affiliation and be bold to support this new movement for the actualisation of new Nigeria led by Mr. Peter Obi. “In 2019, APGA downplayed the campaign activities for the presidential election to support Muhammadu Buhari. The same strategy should be adopted in 2023 presidential election to support Mr. Peter Obi for the good of our country. “Today, I voluntarily chose to resign from APGA and to relinquish my position to join this movement to contribute in the best way I possibly could. I would like you to remember that it is our collective responsibility to rescue Nigeria from total collapse, irrespective of our affiliations.”

  Presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi on Sunday evening declared 70% of politicians in Nigeria is lunatic. He said mad people have taken over politics and governance in the nation. He spoke at the Men of Valour Conference, organised by the Revival House of International Church (RHOGIC) in Abuja. Speaking at the Conference with the theme: “Navigating the corridors of power: The Church and politics,” Obi said what he described as the current ‘gangsterism’ should not be allowed to continue. He said only a lunatic in government will steal N80 billion of public fund for personal use. He stressed most of the politicians in the corridors of power have no reason to be there, describing politics in Nigeria as a case where lunatics have taken over the asylum. Obi warned unless these “lunatics” are flushed out and competent people voted in, the country will continue to suffer. According to him: “We can’t allow this gangsterism to continue, Nigerians should take back their country. “70 percent of those who are in politics today should not have any reason to be there. I have said it, politics in Nigeria is a case where lunatics have taken over the asylum. “This is the only country where the worst is leading. I was a trader and gradually entered into politics. When you take far more than you need you are sick. “How do you explain that one person took N80 billion? It is not greed it is sickness. When you take N1 billion that is greed but when you take N80 billion that is sickness. Mad people have taken over our politics. “If we get young people with the competence and capacity to be there, things will change.” On whether a third force can wrest power from the powerful duo of All Progressive Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party( PDP), the former Anambra Governor said the people will decide. He said it has been a two-horse race for 24 years and nothing has changed as the number of people pushed into extreme poverty has doubled from 60 million to 120 million in 24 years. Obi stated: “It is about the people. When I contested as Governor in Anambra I did so in a small party. People told me that I had no structure. People are the structure. When I was a Governor in Anambra, my party had no state or federal lawmaker. “When I left as Governor no state was financially stable as Anambra. We were not owing anybody. The people will decide who will rule them. Luckily we have eights months, let people come and tell you how they have started. Come and tell us, don’t use people or glossy paper, tell us from your mouth so that we can hold you to account.” The national secretary of the Young Peoples Party( YPP) Hon. Vidiyano Bamaiyi, also said 75 percent of politicians in Nigeria are political bandits. “Political bandits that have taken over Nigeria, most of them have no business being there. Political bandits and brigands have taken over the political space,” he added. On his part, Senator Albert Bassey said only through direct primaries will the country eliminate money politics saying “going forward, Nigerians should vote for candidates and not party.”

  Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, has slammed the All Progressives Congress and the People’s Democratic Party for not zoning their presidential tickets to the southeast. This is even as they said the two major parties betrayed them and raised blames against the parties for conspiring to deny them the slots. Chairman of Council of Elders, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, spoke while briefing newsmen in Abuja, during its extraordinary meeting. According to him, the Council of Elders were disappointed with the two parties because they denied the Igbos opportunity to produce a presidential candidate. He said, “The Ohanaeze Council of elders are very disappointed. We are disappointed because there seem to be a conspiracy by the two major political parties to deny Igbos the opportunity to produce a presidential candidate. “The parties all agreed that the zoning should be north and south and Ohanaeze believes that if it’s coming to the south, since southwest has gone, south south has gone, it’s now our turn. Ohanaeze did everything possible to convince the southwest and convince the south south and they all agreed that it will be the turn of southeast. “Their leaders, Pa Adebanjo and Chief Edwin Clark, all of them, made press statements and confirmed that they support Igbo candidate, even the middle belt supported Igbo candidacy. But unfortunately the political class took another “We feel terribly betrayed, not by the elders but by these political people because we are sure that the elders in whole of south and middle belt supported Igbo candidacy.” He (Iwuanyanwu) attributed the failure of Nigeria to produce southeast presidency to the constitution, saying that the constitution added to the problem, urging the federal government to include zoning. “So it is our view that this zoning should be put in the constitution and should be rotated among the six geo-political zones. Question of making it north and south is very vain, after all federal character is very clear. “We are not very happy and we are suggesting to federal government that this must be in the constitution. However, the elders of ohanaeze want Nigerians to know that as far as we are concerned we are major Stakeholders in this country, we are the only tribe that are cut across the 36 states and the FCT. “We are not going to abandon Nigeria, we are the biggest investors in any part of this country, we are not withdrawing from politics, we are going to participate in political activities. But let it be known to Nigerians that Igbos are going to participate in the 2023 elections,” he stressed. To this end, he stated emphatically that Ohanaeze has only one structure headed by Professor George Obiozor with its Secretary-General, Ambassador Okey Emuche and that Nigerians should disown other factions. His words, “Ohanaeze has only one structure headed by Professor George Obiozor and the Secretary-General is Amb. Okey Emuche . The elders are worried that some people make statements on behalf of our Ohanaeze, we want Nigerians to ignore them, the only people authorised to make statements on behalf of Ohanaeze is Prof. Obiozor or his Secretary-General.”

  Thousands of All Progressives Congress (APC) supporters and leaders on Sunday stormed the Presidential Wing of the Muritala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, to welcome Sen. Bola Tinubu, the party’s presidential candidate. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, is returning to his home state for the first time after he clinched the APC presidential ticket. Tinubu defeated 13 other aspirants, including Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, to clinch the APC ticket for the 2023 presidential election. Tinubu, one of the national leaders of the ruling party, polled 1,271 votes to defeat his closest rival, former Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, who got 316 votes at the party’s Special National Convention held from June 6 to 8 in Abuja. Meanwhile, thousands of APC loyalists trooped out and gathered in various groups in and around the airport to receive their leader. Some of the personalities waiting to receive the former governor at the airport were Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo, Lagos Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, party Chairman of APC in Lagos State, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi; former Minister of Defence, Sen. Musiliu Obanikoro; party leaders, local government area chairmen across the state and traditional rulers among others. Traditional singers and dancers were at the airport entertaining the people while awaiting Tinubu’s arrival. The supporters were seen displaying the unique cultural heritage of Lagos such as Eyo Masquerade and other masquerades among others. Meanwhile, Tinubu had after winning the presidential ticket, paid visits to most of the aspirants who contested against him at the primary election to solicit their support in his quest to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023. Some aspirants had donated their campaign offices to the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (ABAT) Campaign in the course of visiting them to ensure that the party remained united after the primaries. Tinubu will be slugging it out in 2023 with other presidential candidates from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) -Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; Labour Party – ex-governor Peter Obi of Anambra; New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) – Sen. Rabiu Kwakwanso among others. (NAN)