Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Tuesday 24th May 2022
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 24/05/22
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BREAKING: Ruling Party, APC Again Adjusts Timetable For National Assembly, Governorship Primaries
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has yet again revised the timetable and schedule of activities for its governorship, State House of Assembly, Senate, and House of Representatives primary elections.
The development comes a day after the National Working Committee postponed the screening of the presidential screening exercise.
The revised timetable was announced by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka, on Monday night at the APC Secretariat in Abuja.
Morka stated that the recently cleared 145 governorship and State House of Assembly aspirants will test their popularity at the primaries that will be determined by state and local government delegates respectively on Thursday, May 26.
In the statement obtained by SaharaReporters, the APC secretary said, “The National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday, 23rd of May, 2022, approved a revised Timetable/Schedule of Activities for the Governorship, State House of Assembly, Senate and House of Representatives Primary Elections as follows:
“Thursday, 26th of May, 2022
Governorship – (State Delegates)
State House of Assembly – (LGA Delegates)
“Friday, 27th of May, 2022
Senate – (LGA Delegates)
Saturday, 28th of May, 2022
House of Representatives – (LGA Delegates)
“Please Note that the Special Convention for the Presidential Primary will be held as scheduled on Sunday, 29th – Monday, 30th of May, 2022.”
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Abia Governor, Ikpeazu Under Fire For Allegedly Imposing Cronies As Election Delegates
Mayor Lucky Igbokwe, a governorship aspirant in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia State, has accused Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of imposing non-elected ad hoc delegates to oversee the primary election of the party in the state.
Igbokwe also claimed the governor imposed members of the delegates to favour his anointed candidate.
On the selection of party delegates, Igbokwe said, “The process lacks credibility, it is illegal and unacceptable. There was no election to select the three man ad hoc delegates.”
He also cast a doubt on the credibility of the primary election as he claimed the process leading up to the primary was faulty.
“I have been ready for this exercise all my life. I believe I was born to serve my people. The process leading up to this exercise is faulty, hence my rooted doubts over the fairness of the upcoming primary.
“I do not trust the process as every action of the governor points to an imposition of his anointed candidate. This is not how democracy works,” he said.
Also, some aggrieved members under the Oganihu Ndi Abia, a critical umbrella stakeholder in the affairs of the state, faulted the process of selection of the ad hoc delegates claiming it was biased.
The board of trustees and chairman of the group, Chukwudi Ibegbu, warned against imposition of candidates and also urged the party leadership to ensure a level playing ground for all aspirants.
“Unless we get it right in leadership, especially political leadership, we shall continue to be in the doldrums. We have been monitoring the current political developments in the state and the jostle for political positions in our state and country. We note complaints coming from stakeholders and participants in all contending political parties in the state over lack of internal democracy and imposition of candidates.
“We therefore advise all political parties in our state to maintain internal democracy at all strata and give a level playing ground for all aspirants,” Ibegbu said.
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E2%80%93-ken 2023 Presidency: South-East To Pick Consensus Candidate Among Ruling APC Aspirants – Ken Nnamani
Former Senator Ken Nnamani
Former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, has said that the South-East stakeholders will pick a consensus aspirant among South-Easterners who have indicated interest in the 2023 presidential race on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.
Apart from Nnamani, former Ministers of Science and Technology and state for Education, Ogbonnaya Onu and Emeka Nwajiuba, are some of the South-Easterners in the race for the presidential ticket of the APC.
Former Senator Ken Nnamani
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According to Nnamani, if the principle of rotation had been adopted by the political parties, the presidency should go to the South-East.
Nnamani said this on Monday in an interview with Channels Television.
He said, “If we have adopted the principle of rotation and our people are expecting that this time around that the issue of presidency, the South-East should have a slot. The South-East should have a go at it and as I have already indicated; it is not that we don’t have people who can lead and try to unify and achieve more success for the nation, we do have but I say it’s available in other zones too.
“The fate of black race rests squarely on the shoulders of the most populous black nation on earth and that’s Nigeria, and this means it is expedient that Nigeria has a leader who is well exposed and can bring people together, motivate people enough for us to overcome many problems we are facing.”
He further stated that the South-East presidential aspirants of the All Progressives Party had agreed to “have a consensus candidate before the party primaries which is scheduled to hold on the May 30.”
Nnamani said he would set up a bilateral commission if elected as president stating that he would also appeal to other countries to help train the Nigerian police so as to enable them fight insecurity.
“One of the major problems we are facing now is insecurity, if I have the opportunity, the first thing I will do is to set up a bi-partisan commission. The Nigerian police as it is constituted today is not able to fight this situation that we are now; we need a special force trained; we appeal to other countries we have had similar problems to come and train a special crack team of our police to go after them (the criminals).”
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E2%80%98mama-biafra%E2%80%99-detention-she%E2%80%99s-mother-me-%E2%80%93-nnamdi-kanu-tells-buhari-government Release ‘Mama Biafra’ From Detention, She’s Mother To Me – Nnamdi Kanu Tells Buhari Government
The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has asked the Muhammadu Buhari government to release Mrs Ukamaka Ejezie, popularly known as “Mama Biafra” from the detention of the Department of State Services, Abuja.
According to Kanu, Mama Biafra, a septuagenarian, was arrested during the IPOB leader’s last court appearance in Abuja on May 18.
Kanu, who spoke from the DSS detention, also expressed rage over the spate of bloodletting and insecurity in the South-East.
Kanu’s younger brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, relayed the message on Monday evening in an interview with Vanguard after visiting the IPOB leader in detention.
Kanu also told his brother (Prince) that he was saddened by the reports of killings across the South-East.
The IPOB leader added that the detained Mama Biafra had been acting as his mother since his parents died.
He said that the old woman committed no crime for coming to Abuja to solidarise with him at the court when she was arrested.
“I saw her at the DSS detention cell after her clothes were washed and spread on the wall. I demand that she be released because she committed no crime. She is an old woman and since my mother died, I have taken her as my mother. The DSS should release her,” Kanu was quoted as saying.
Kanu urged all to ensure there was peace in South-East, adding that those behind the insecurity in the zone did not mean well for the people.
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Court Convicts Ex-Federal Lawmaker, Nzeribe In Abuja Over Impersonation, Orders Arrest
Justice Halilu Yusuf of the FCT High Court, Abuja, has convicted, Chuma Nzeribe, a former member of the House of Representatives for impersonation, possession of Federal Government documents and using same to fraudulently acquire land.
Nzeribe, who contested the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), was convicted on Monday on four-count criminal charges brought against him by the federal government.
The convict could not be sentenced to prison, however, because of his absence in court on Monday when the judgment was delivered.
Justice Yusuf while delivering the judgment said he would reserve the sentence till the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operatives and police arrest the convict and bring him before the court.
The Judge ordered that the land in Maitama acquired with the forged documents be taken over by the owner, Ishaya Madi, with immediate effect.
Nzeribe had shunned the court for the third time without any cogent reason.
EFCC had told the court that Nzeribe wrote the commission a Memorandum of Understanding MoU surrendering the land he fraudulently acquired to the real owner, Ishaya Madi.
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E2%80%99-attack Flight Operations Resume In Kaduna Airport After Two Months Due To Terrorists’ Attack
Commercial flight operations resumed at the Kaduna State Airport on Monday after two months’ suspension due to a terrorists’ attack and fear of insecurity.
Faithful Hope-Ivbaze, the acting General Manager, Corporate Affairs at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), said flight operations to Kaduna airport commenced on Monday with an airline, Azman Air.
This was also confirmed by Azman Air via a tweet, saying, “Azman Air landed at Kaduna Airport today, May 23, 2022, to the elation and cheers of passengers, stakeholders, and workers.”
“It was a defining moment for the aviation community as the airport reopened after being closed for two months. It’s so exciting to be back,” they said.
Recall that bandits had on March 26 launched an attempted invasion of the airport, killing a private security guard attached to the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency near the outer perimeter fence.
They were however repelled by security forces attached to the airport.
Following the attack, commercial airlines plying the route suspended their flights, seeking improved security.
While it is not clear whether and how the Nigerian government had improved security in the airport, the first commercial flight since the incident landed at the airport at exactly 8am on Monday.
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E2%80%98private-meeting%E2%80%99-ex-president-obasanjo 2023: Governors Wike, Makinde, Ortom Hold ‘Private Meeting’ With Ex-President, Obasanjo
Olusegun Obasanjo
Three Southern governors of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), are currently in a closed meeting with former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Daily Trust reports that the governors are Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, who is a presidential aspirant of the party; Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State.
Olusegun Obasanjo
The three governors arrived at Obasanjo’s residence around 6.40pm in a long convoy and went straight into the meeting.
The objectives of the meeting are not yet known but it will not be unconnected with the 2023 general elections in which Governor Wike is aspiring to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
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E2%80%99s-tenure-taken-university-lecturers-asuu-strike-%E2%80%93-students-association 21 Percent Of Buhari’s Tenure Taken By University Lecturers, ASUU Strike – Students Association, SOSSAN Kicks, Demands Government’s Intervention
The Social Sciences Students Association of Nigeria (SOSSAN) has called on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to put an end to the ongoing strike action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) so that academic activities can resume.
In an open letter jointly signed by Ini Ogenecaro the National Chairman and Cyprian Precious, the National Secretary of the association, the students urged the government to use the looted funds recently recovered from corrupt public office holders to sort the lecturers’ union.
SOSSAN further queried the Buhari-led government if his administration was gaining anything by allocating approximately 21 percent of the administration’s tenure to the ASUU strike and disruption of educational process.
The body also condemned the decline in the allocation of fund for education since the emergence of the Buhari’s administration.
It said out of over N55trillion budgeted by the Buhari administration in 7 years, only 6% was budgeted for education sector, some of which was also laundered by public office holders.
A statement from the body reads, “It has inversely exceeded the borders of civilisation. How the said giant of Africa is reckoned with poverty and, at worse, a poor educational system. The latter shows there cannot be hope for an escape from poverty.
“The National Body of Social Sciences Students would love to rhetorically ask, what socio-economic gains have been weighed by your led government that has informed your administration to allocate approximately 21 percent of your administration’s tenure so far to the ASUU Strike and disruption of our educational process? We want to continue learning.
“We want to avoid being called lazy youths. We want a conducive learning environment. We want our lecturers to deliver optimally. The pending ASUU strike has no doubt been an impediment to the learning process of over one million young Nigerians for 98 days.
“We have taken to the streets across the nation to protest the lackadaisical attitude of your government towards the need for an end to the ongoing ASUU strike. This has completely diminished the glimmer of hope and the aspirations of these young Nigerians.
“We believe your administration should put forth no excuse for its failure to bring the ASUU strike to an end because it is no news that there is a proliferation of looting taxpayers’ money and public revenue under your administration respectively.
“In other evaluations, there has been a decline in the percent of funds allocated for education since the emergence of your administration. This shows the level at which your administration has prioritised education.
“Out of over N55trillion budgeted in seven years, only N3.5trillion has gone to education so far. Tentatively, since we see a proliferation of money laundering, it can be asserted that basically, much of the funds budgeted for education are being looted as well.
“But until such an assertion is proven true, the allocated funds still do not commensurate with the standard UNESCO recommendation for a developing economy’s budget for education by half.
“To talk of the hazard of the strike on the nation’s economy doesn’t require statistical evaluation because it is visible to the blind that the growing ejection of young Nigerians to study abroad is on a trajectory engineered even by the political elites.
“We pray that more attention is given to the educational sector by: Revitalising the infrastructure of the universities’ learning environment; improving the welfare of lecturers; creating an enabling economy for graduates and students across the nation; at least allocating 15 to 20 percent of the nation’s budget to the educational sector; creating a knowledge-driven economy through academic, social, and scientific research; following through on the agreement reached between ASUU and the federal Government.”
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E2%80%99s-oil-pollution-niger-delta-asks Coalition Of Civil Societies Protests Against Shell Company’s Oil Pollution In Niger Delta, Asks Church Of England To Stop Financing Firm
A coalition of civil society organisations on Monday protested against the activities of multinational oil company, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
The coalition led by the Africa Network for Environmental & Economic Justice (ANEEJ), stormed the Lagos Corporate Headquarters of Shell, carrying placards with different inscriptions.
The groups lamented the level of penury and agonies the activities of Shell and other oil giants had subjected Nigerians in the host communities to.
While demanding an end to what they called “perennial inhumane activities of the cooperation in the Niger Delta,” the group called on the church of England and other financiers of Shell to withdraw their financial and moral support having known that Shell had not respected the global warming agreement to 1.5°C neither had they align their strategy in line with Paris Climate agreement and Glasgow 2021 Commitment for net-zero.
Some of the placards read: “We demand a just Energy Transition,” “We say No to Carbon Emission,” “We say No to Global Warning,” “We say No to Environmental Degradation,” “We say No to Gas Flaring,” “We Say No to Shell Transition Strategy,” among others.
Although the protest was peaceful, no one from Shell came out to address the group.
It was observed that officials of the oil giant were all peeping through windows, while the police stood by watching.
Speaking at the rally, the Convener/Executive Director of ANEEJ, Mr. David Ugolor, said it was high time people showed empathy, altruism and compassion for the host communities of these oil giants following the level of environmental decay and wrought brought by the exploiting companies.
“We are calling on the Church of England and other financiers of Shell to completely withdraw their moral and financial support to Shell, a major fossil fuel extracting company whose operations in Nigeria’s Niger Delta have contributed to carbon emission, environmental degradation, destruction of livelihoods and other human rights’ violations.
“Last year, ANEEJ brought together 40 West African NGOs in a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Revd. Justin Welby, asking the Church of England Pensions Board (and by extension other investors) to desist from lending its moral and financial authority to Shell, and voting for Shell’s climate and energy plan; but the letter was ignored.
“Few days after Shell’s last AGM, the company faced two strong challenges to its energy transition strategy from official institutions. First, the International Energy Agency concluded that no new oil and gas fields should be approved for development after 2021 if the world is to reach its agreed 2050 net-zero emissions target.
“Latter on, a Dutch court ruled that Shell must cut its carbon emissions by 45% by 2030, with immediate effect. The judgment found that the same Shell policies praised by the Church of England “largely amount to rather intangible, undefined and non-binding plans for the long-term”, concluding that Shell is causing a danger to people’s right to life. Shell’s bosses didn’t feel accountable, didn’t change the company’s strategy, nor appealed the verdict. Unfortunately, in all of these, the Church of England kept quiet,” he stated.
Ugolor, however, stressed that only recently, the Church alluded to the possibility of not granting its moral authority to Shell via its role in the $68trillion Climate Action 100+ initiative, saying that the civil society mass action would see to major civil society activists’ participation and link up to actions of the Stop Cambo Movement in the UK, the Green Anglicans in Southern Africa, and with several other groups and networks around the world.
Meanwhile, the coalition in a session called “People’s AGM” resolved that Nigerian oil-bearing communities and citizens who were the victims of Shell and other International Oil and Gas Companies would vote “NO” to shell’s Energy Transition Strategy during its annual AGM on Tuesday May 24, under ANEEJ Platform.
They also resolved that, the Church of England and other investors should stop lending moral and financial support to shell and should vote against Shell’s energy transition strategy during the AGM.
Other members of Coalition are: Africa Network for Environment & Economic Justice, HEDA Resource Centre, Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Environmental Rights Action, Ogoni Solidarity Forum, Ogoni Peoples Assembly, Youth Advocacy Centre, Peoples Advancement Centre, Indigenous Centre for Energy & Sustainable Development, MAC-JIM Foundation & Green Concern for Development.
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Anambra Towns Deserted As Residents Comply With Sit-at-home Order
Residents of Anambra State on Monday again deserted major towns, roads and streets across the state in compliance with the Monday’s sit-at-home order started by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
In Awka, the state capital, motor parks at the popular Aroma Roundabout and UNIZIK Junction were not operational as no passenger vehicle was on duty.
There was also skeletal movement of tricycles, popularly known as Keke Napep, which was observed early in the morning while filling stations were closed down.
Students and pupils were seen playing in their respective houses as schools in Awka metropolis were shut down.
At the popular Eke Awka, a tricycle rider told SaharaReporters that few shops were open but there was no customer as the ever-busy market was deserted.
Streets in Onitsha, one of the biggest markets in the state, particularly the Niger Bridge Head, Upper Iweka and many other parts of the city, were empty.
Although IPOB has insisted that it has long ago cancelled the Monday sit-at-home order it started in October 2021, residents have continued to observe the order for fear of unknown as hoodlums constantly enforce the order, killing people and destroying properties worth millions of naira in various parts of the state especially in Ekwulobia, Iheala, Nnewi amongst others.
Despite repeated assurance of provision of adequate security by the Anambra State police command, residents of Awka who spoke with SaharaReporters said they observed the sit-at-home order because “even police are not always everywhere, and no one knows where they (gunmen) would meet you.”
Since the Monday sit-at-home started, many residents have lamented how it affects their businesses, as they not only lose what they would have made for the day but those who sell perishable goods lose them before fruits and vegetables lose them before Tuesdays when they resume businesses.
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