Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, is now the National Leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). Soludo, the third in the line of succession, was elected on Friday during a meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party in Awka, the Anambra State capital, through a unanimous voice vote. The APGA National Leader, in his remarks, accepted the recognition as an honour and privilege, saying he feels the weight of history, including that of the nation’s forbears who lived their lives as progressives. According to him, APGA is the first political party registered with the name “progressives” and has become the home of progressives. He paid glowing tributes to his predecessors, the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and former Governor Willie Obiano. Soludo pledged to work actively with all APGA faithful and to extend invitation to all true progressives to converge on APGA as their home to enable it to grow for true progressive leadership in Nigeria at the right time.

  The Peoples Democratic Party has said the February 25th date for Presidential and National Assembly Elections remains sacrosanct. It said attempts by the ruling All Progressives Congress to orchestrate violence to cause a constitutional crisis in order to cling to power will fail. National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, said this at an ongoing media briefing in Abuja. He explained that while the PDP was busy campaigning and preparing for elections, the APC was busy scheming to unleash violence and arm twist the Independent National Electoral Commission into shifting the elections. Ologunagba explained that the APC and its leaders have been engaged in a series of conducts and utterances which are clear indications that the party is not prepared for the forth coming elections. He said, “The first (of such acts) is the heightening plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to derail the conduct of the 2023 general elections. “The second is the attempt by the APC to mislead the public by falsely claiming that the PDP has no candidate for Borno Central Senatorial District Election. “Our Party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been following the many furtive narratives being promoted by the APC with the view to blackmail critical election stakeholders to accede to its design to postpone the 2023 general elections, particularly the February 25, 2023 Presidential election. “Our Party had earlier alerted the nation of a well-oiled plot by the APC to orchestrate security situation and promote circumstances to warrant the postponement of the 2023 general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). “The ultimate intent of the APC is to use such unfounded circumstance to derail the entire electoral process and impose an undemocratic situation on our country.” He further said, “The PDP hereby insists without equivocation that the February 25, 2023 Presidential and National Assembly election date is sacrosanct. “February 25, 2023 date is already locked in for the Presidential and National Assembly elections, the security agencies have given their assurances, the Federal Government has also given its assurance; Nigerians are ready for election and will not accept any postponement of elections under any guise whatsoever. “The APC and its Presidential Candidate Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu know that they have no chance at all in the coming elections, having been rejected by Nigerians because of their multiple failures, recklessness, humongous corruption, violence and continuing infliction of pains, hardship and life-discounting experiences on Nigerians in the last seven and half years. “Nigerians are not ready to continue with a hopelessly corrupt, miserably incompetent and viciously insensitive political party, the APC, which has mortgaged the future of our country with an accumulated N77 trillion debt as revealed by the Debt Management Office (DMO).“ This, he said, explains why the APC and its Presidential Candidate continue to promote and encourage violence in various parts of our country including attacking INEC facilities. According to him, “The APC and its leaders are desperate to use their doomsday orchestrations to frighten and blackmail INEC to alter the electoral schedule after which the APC will take advantage of the situation to unsettle the general election, foist a constitutional crisis and truncate the nation’s democratic process, “The PDP therefore charges INEC, as an independent institution not to succumb to the blackmails of the APC but focus on its preparations and fix its eyes on delivering a free, fair, transparent and credible election on February 25, 2023. “The PDP also demands that Security Agencies should place APC leaders on watchlist and take urgent steps to halt APC’s implementation of Asiwaju Tinubu’s directives to his party members, as contained in the recently leaked video, to deploy violence and underhand dealings in the 2023 general elections. “Nigerians are eager to vote on February 25, 2023. They have suffered a lot and cannot wait to kick out the vicious, insensitive and corrupt APC and vote in the PDP and Atiku Abubakar to rescue and rebuild our nation. “Atiku Abubakar is poised to win the majority of votes cast across the country and secure 25% in all the States of the Federation to emerge President on the very first ballot. Those trying to push the run-off narrative or postponement of elections should perish the thought. They should get ready for elections or quit the race.” Speaking further, he said the party was made aware of subterranean moves by the APC over the Borno Central Senatorial District election. He said , “Our Party has been made aware of mischievous and misleading claims by the APC, that the PDP has no candidate for the Borno Central Senatorial election scheduled to hold on February 25, 2023. “For clarity, the PDP states in an unequivocal term that our Candidate for the Borno Central Senatorial election remains Hon. Umara Muhammad Kumalia as confirmed in the list of candidates for the 2023 general elections as published by INEC. “Such resort to falsehood further exposes the fact that the APC in Borno State is intimidated by the towering credibility and popularity of our Borno Central Senatorial Candidate, Hon. Umara Muhammad Kumalia among the people for which they are eager to troop out enmasse to vote for him on February 25, 2023. “The APC should understand that the people have settled for our Candidate, Hon. Umara Muhammad Kumalia and cannot be swayed by their falsehood and misleading claims. “The PDP therefore urges our teeming party members, supporters and good people of Borno Central Senatorial District to disregard and ignore the APC and continue to stand behind our Candidate, Hon. Umara Muhammad Kumalia as he marches to victory in the forthcoming elections.”

  A chief magistrate court in Abuja has terminated the criminal suit filed against Umo Eno, governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom state. At the court session on Friday, Emmanuel Iyanna, the presiding chief magistrate, said following an affidavit of urgency filed by the defendant(Eno) on Monday, and which was granted on Tuesday, “the matter is hereby terminated”. BACKGROUND TheCable had reported that Iyanna issued an arrest warrant on December 23 after convicting the governorship candidate on charges bordering on “cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property”. The complainant in the suit marked CR/94/2022 is one Edet Godwin Etim. Although Eno’s campaign organisation denied knowledge of the suit, it later filed an application seeking to vacate the order on the grounds of not being served the hearing notice. During the hearing, the warrant of arrest was vacated. The chief magistrate also set aside the entire proceedings and judgment. CHIEF JUDGE QUERIES CHIEF MAGISTRATE Eno, through his legal team led by Samuel Ikpo, had sent a petition against the chief magistrate over the “issuance of irregular and illegal warrant of arrest”. A letter dated January 10 and signed by Oluseyi Amose on behalf of the chief judge notified the chief magistrate of the petition against him. The letter stated that the petitioners have “called for disciplinary action to be taken” against the magistrate. CASE TERMINATED At the resumed hearing on Friday, Saatsaha Yenge, a lawyer, announced legal representation for the complainant. However, the defendant was not represented in court. Yenge said: “We received the notice by pasting that this matter will be coming up for hearing of the defendant applicant’s motion filed on January 9.” “We responded by filing a counter affidavit on January 12,” he continued. “The applicant is not in court. It appears that they are not interested in moving their motion. “We made attempts to serve our counter affidavits on the applicant but we discovered that the address provided is a business centre. We hoped they would be in court so that we could serve them. This court is not a place for dumping processes. “We urge the court to strike out their application for want of diligent prosecution.” Delivering his ruling, the chief magistrate said the complainant’s respondent was absent when the motion of urgency was heard. He said since he already vacated the warrant of arrest and the judgment, “the matter is hereby terminated”. Reacting to the ruling shortly after the court session, the complainant’s counsel said he was not informed about the hearing of the motion of urgency. He also faulted the court for setting aside the entire proceedings and judgment on the grounds that it was never sought as a relief in the defendant’s motion. He said he would discuss with his client to know the way forward. The complainant had alleged that he carried out a contract for the defendant which spanned for about six years and he was supposed to be paid about N28 million. He alleged that the defendant breached the contract and did not pay him.