Dons EzeWIKE, FUBARA WAR GETS HOTTER AS FOUR COMMISSIONERS QUIT GOVERNOR’S CABINET
WIKE, FUBARA, WAR GETS HOTTER AS FOUR COMMISSIONERS QUIT GOVERNOR’S CABINET Four Commissioner serving in the administration of the governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, have since resigned their appointments into the State Executive Council. Whereas the Commissioner for Works, George Kelly, and the Commissioner of Power, Henry Ogiri, had earlier resigned, the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Prof. Zacchaeus Adango, and the Commissioner for Finance, Isaac Kamalu resigned yesterday. Kelly and Ogiri had resigned following their appointment by the federal government, while Kamalu and Adango, resigned following their redeployment out of their ministries to another. The state governor had in a circular signed by the Secretary to the state government, Dr Tammy Danagogo, approved that the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor, be moved to Ministry of Special Duties (Governor’s Office). The governor also ordered that the Commissioner for Finance, Barr. Isaac Kamalu, be redeploed to the Ministry of Employment Generation and Economic Empowerment. The two redeployed commissioners had rejected their transfer to other ministries, noting that the peace sought for in the state was yet to be attained. The Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Rivers State, Prof. Zacchaeus Adango, who rejected his redeployment from the Ministry of Justice to that of Special Duties (Governor’s Office) noted noted that his decision was for the sake of his integrity. Adango, had earlier in the wake of the political war between Fubara and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike, resigned his position, but later was restored to his position following the intervention of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu. It was gathered that after the restoration of Adango, that he has not been in the good books of the governor of the state, following his continuous loyalty for the FCT Minister. Adango in his resignation he captioned, ‘Cabinet Reshufflement: Notice of Rejection of Deployment and Resignation from the Rivers State, Executive Council, noted that he was not consulted before his deployment. It read: “My attention has been drawn to your letter dated 23rd April, 2024 and widely circulated on social media whereby I was “deployed to the Ministry of Special Duties (Governor’s Office). “Further to the referenced letter, I hereby give you notice of my rejection of the said deployment and resignation from the Rivers State Executive Council with effect from 24th day of April, 2024. “I wish to state for the record, that I am no longer willing to continue to serve in the administration of His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, GSSRS, Governor of Rivers State, in any capacity whatsoever. “It is important to mention that the Governor of Rivers State had in the past couple of weeks willfully interfered with the performance of my duties as the Honourable Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Rivers State by directing me not to defend, oppose, or appear in suits instituted against the Honourable Attorney-General and the Government of Rivers State by persons admittedly hired and sponsored by the Government of Rivers State. “That having served the Government and good people of Rivers State dutifully as member of the Rivers State Executive Council for the past five (5) years, it has become imperative for me to quit the administration in order to preserve my reputation.” However, on Wednesday, Kamalu tendered his resignation from the cabinet, noting that the peace instituted by President Ahmed Tinubu is not yet in sight. He faulted the governor his position on the improvement of the revenue of the state from N12 billion to N27 billion, adding that the claim was erroneous. He wrote: “Your Excellency would recall that I served under the Administration of His Excellency, Chief Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, CON, GSSRS, POS (now Honorable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja) originally…
MASS RESIGNATIONS HIT IMO PDP
MASS RESIGNATIONS HIT IMO PDP In a significant blow to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), over ten prominent party members in Okigwe Zone (Imo North Senatorial Zone) have resigned from their positions and withdrawn their membership. This development follows the recent renouncement of affiliation by former Imo State Governor, Emeka Ihedioha, who criticized the party’s inability to uphold its regulations and implement necessary internal changes. The party chieftains, who announced their withdrawal, expressed disappointment in the national leadership’s failure to address the ongoing crisis within the state chapter. Despite numerous appeals and pleas for intervention, the issues remained unresolved. The leaders accused the party of neglecting the South-East region, particularly Imo State, which led to the party’s dismal performance in the off-season governorship election in November 2023. During a press briefing held in Owerri, the capital of Imo State, Sir Stanley Ekezie, on behalf of the Okigwe Zonal Executive, stated that the recent developments at the national level demonstrated the party’s decline and inability to function as a strong opposition. As a result, the leaders unanimously decided to tender their resignations through their respective ward chairmen across the six local government areas of Imo North Senatorial District. The politicians mentioned that their future political plans would be made public after consultations and deliberations. Notable figures present at the press conference included Mrs. Amarachi Owuamanam, former Acting Okigwe Zonal Chairman, Sir Stanley Ekezie, Chief Chris Okewuluonu, Hon Jonas Okeke, Kissinger Ikeokwu, and Mazi Mmerenini.This mass resignation further weakens the PDP’s position in Imo State and raises questions about the party’s ability to regain its footing in the region.
RIVERS POLITICAL CRISIS: TWO COMMISSIONERS RESIGN FROM CABINET
RIVERS POLITICAL CRISIS: TWO COMMISSIONERS RESIGN FROM CABINET The political crisis in Rivers State continues to deepen as two commissioners have again resigned from Governor Sim Fubara’s Cabinet. The Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, Zacchaeus Adangor, while rejecting his redeployment, tendered his resignation from the state executive council. This comes after his previous resignation on 14 December due to a face-off between Governor Sim Fubara and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. Adangor and other commissioners who had previously resigned due to the political crisis were later reconfirmed by the state house of assembly and returned to the government. However, in a recent reshuffling of the cabinet, Adangor was redeployed as the Commissioner for Special Duties (Governor’s Office), a position he vehemently rejected, in his resignation letter addressed to the Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Adangor accused Governor Fubara of interfering with the performance of his duties as the Attorney-General of the state. As the situation unfolds, it remains to be seen how the government will respond to Adangor’s rejection and resignation. Hours after the resignation of Zacchaeus Adangor, another commissioner, Isaac Kamalu, also exited the cabinet of Governor Siminalayi Fubara. Like Adangor, Kamalu, in a letter to the Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Tammy Danagogo, on Wednesday, rejected his redeployment from the Finance Ministry to the Ministry of Employment Generation and Economic Empowerment. Kamalu cited absence of peace in Rivers State despite the peace pact by President Bola Tinubu last December. He said it was impossible for him to give his best in an atmosphere of rancour. The governor had on Tuesday implemented a minor cabinet reshuffle in the state and moved Adangor to the Ministry of Special Duties (Governor’s Office) while Kamalu was moved to the Ministry of Employment Generation and Economic Empowerment. The Rivers State Government did not provide a reason for their redeployment. Both commissioners, who are loyalists of ex-governor Nyesom Wike, had previously resigned from their positions last December in the heat of the political crisis in the state and the rift between Fubara and his predecessor who is now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). However, they were reinstated as part of the peace agreement initiated by the President Bola
WIKE IS REASON IHEDIOHA RESIGNED FROM PDP – PARTY CHIEFTAIN
WIKE IS REASON IHEDIOHA RESIGNED FROM PDP – PARTY CHIEFTAIN A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abdul-Aziz Na’ibi Abubakar, has claimed that the former governor of Imo state, Emeka Ihedioha left the party was ‘because of Wike and his disastrous G5.’ Abubakar wondered what the youths who never benefitted from the party would do when its founding members and elders cannot stay and fight for the party. He made this claim via his X handle on Tuesday, April 23, saying: “Because of Wike and his disastrous G5, PDP lost one of it’s founding member, Emeka Ihedioha! “I still believe leaving the party is not the best decision, why would you leave the house you built for a robber? This is discouraging, if the party elders can’t stay and fight for the party till the very end, what do you want the youth that never benefited from the party but keep on sacrificing their time, energy and resources because they believe in the party to do?”Emeka Ihedioha, in a letter dated April 23, resigned from the PDP stating that the party has deviated from its core principles as it has taken on a path that is at variance with his personal beliefs.
PETER OBI’S ROMANCE WITH NORTH RAISES 2027 PERMUTATIONS -THE GUARDIAN
PETER OBI’S ROMANCE WITH NORTH RAISES 2027 PERMUTATIONS – THE GUARDIAN With his recent visits to northern communities, it appears that Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), has begun laying the groundwork for a potential run in the 2027 presidential race even before the starting signal is sounded. After the Ramadan began in March, Obi visited numerous mosques in northern Muslim communities in Nasarawa, Niger, Kebbi, Bauchi, Gombe, Sokoto and Kaduna states before the fasting period concluded. In the course of the tour, the former Anambra State governor commissioned multi-million naira boreholes in some of these states, making political observers reason that the LP chieftain has started a mission to boost his popularity among Muslim voters ahead of the 2027 elections. But Obi’s visit to these northern states is coming at a time his party is embroiled in a series of leadership crises. Recall that prior to the 2023 election, the presidential candidate of the LP, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), enjoyed massive support among urban youths. But he failed to make inroads into the Muslim majority states in the North, as the results of the election announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) indicated. The Guardian investigation revealed that lack of votes in the North highly affected his chance to emerge as the winner of the fiercely contested election. In the 2023 presidential poll, Obi won in 11 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Most of these states are in Southern Nigeria. He won in Enugu, Lagos, Nasarawa, Delta, Imo, Ebonyi, Anambra, Abia, Plateau, Edo, Cross River and FCT. Although he came third in the election based on INEC’s official results, he filed a case at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPT) in Abuja to challenge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s victory. In the petition, which he filed alongside his party, he alleged that the poll was marred by various forms of corrupt practices such as over-voting, votes suppression and non-compliance with the provision of the Electoral Act in various states. He disputed the results announced by INEC in Rivers, Lagos, Taraba, Benue, Adamawa, Imo, Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, Plateau, Ekiti, Oyo, Ondo, Osun, Kano, Katsina, Kwara, Gombe, Yobe and Niger states. He lost his case at both the PEPT and the Supreme Court. But analysts observed that the former governor has established the viability of a third-party candidacy, something that the entrenchment of the two strong parties — the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the PDP — had made highly unlikely. But what factors led to Obi’s defeat at the poll even though he had garnered a cult-like followership among the youth? [b]Judging from the pattern of the presidential results, it was clear that he performed poorly in core Muslim states in the North. According to the results announced by INEC, President Tinubu scored 8,794,726 votes. His closest rival, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP scored 6,984,520 votes to emerge second in the election. Obi got a total of 6,101,533 votes while Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) came fourth with 1,496,687 votes. In terms of regional spread, the Northwest had the highest number of votes with about 6.6 million votes, followed by the North-central with above 4.5 million votes. The South-west, with about 4.25 million votes, placed third while the North-east followed with about 3.4 million votes. The South-south had 2.85 million while the South-east had 2.2 million votes. Obi won two regions (South-east and South-south) while PDP’s Atiku scored more votes in only one region (Northeast). Obi trailed Tinubu in the Northcentral while Atiku came second in the South-west and North-west. Overall, Tinubu scored 37 per cent of votes in the elections. His main challenger, Atiku, got 29 per…
ANOTHER WARD EXCO SUSPENDS GANDUJE AS APC CRISIS LINGERS
ANOTHER WARD EXCO SUSPENDS GANDUJE AS APC’S INTERNAL CRISIS LINGERS Unrelenting, the band of party stakeholders at the grassroots have refused to back off on the suspension bid of the national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, as new ward executives in Ganduje ward, Dawakin-Tofa local government area of Kano State yesterday, imposed fresh suspension on the embattled national chairman and former governor of the state. In what began as child’s play last week, a group of 11 persons led by one Haladu Gwanjo, who claimed to be leaders of Ganduje ward suspended the APC chairman from the party over corruption allegations instituted by the state government in a reminiscence of the 2020 playbook intrigues that led to the eventual removal of Adams Oshiomhole as APC national chairman. Few hours later, a 25-member group surfaced only to claim the real authority of Ganduje ward. Led by Ahmad Mohammed, the group of 25 who described the G-11 as impostors dismissed the suspension. In a wave of the hand, the party’s chieftains at the state and headquarters dismissed the suspension. From the blues, a court order from the state affirmed Ganduje’s sack, setting the stage for legal fireworks that may set the tone for the intrigues and battle of wits ahead of the 2027 politicking. While some political watchers are pointing accusing fingers at the presidency for Ganduje’s travails over an unstated pact by the presidency to court Kano strongman and national leader of the New National People’s Party (NNPP), Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso for 2027, others are insinuating that the rumoured pact for Kwankwaso to replace Kashim Shettima as vice president on the second-term ticket of President Bola Tinubu is a stretched ploy to further unsettle the ruling party by causing a wedge between the president and VP, with Ganduje as the fall guy. But as the proxy war and shadowboxing rage behind the scenes, in an intriguing twist, a new group that claimed to be the legitimate party officers legally and validly elected on July 31, 2021, in Ganduje ward, threatened to institute legal action against any impersonator parading themselves as APC excos in the area after serving a fresh suspension on the national chairman. Addressing journalists in the early hours on Sunday, secretary of Ganduje ward, Ja’afar Adamu Ganduje, who spoke on behalf of 11 other executive members, said the new suspension is leveled against the national chairman for alleged involvement in anti-party activities in the ward. The secretary lamented that Dr. Ganduje’s divisive attitude in the local politics in Ganduje ward was the reason for the membership collapse and the failure of APC to secure victory in the last election. Adamu, who is Ganduje’s nephew, also accused the former governor of igniting a conflict of interest that led to two factional excos in the ward while bringing the party to disrepute in the mind of the public, another reason warranting his suspension. Also, Adamu alleged that the APC national chairman has not been paying his statutory dues to the party at the ward level. According to Adamu, “We are the authentic executives of Ganduje ward and we have passed a vote of no confidence and imposed a new suspension on Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje for a series of reasons.” The self-acclaimed secretary noted that the two factions claiming to be excos of Ganduje ward are impostors being plotted by Dr. Ganduje and others in his camp to create controversy in the party. He further disclosed the readiness of the validly elected Ganduje ward leaders to take legal action against the two factions earlier claiming to be ward excos. In a swift reaction, the Ahmed Muhammad-led factional chairman of APC Ganduje ward has urged the public to…
MINIMUM WAGE: GOVS WANT REVIEW OF REVENUE ALLOCATION
MINIMUM WAGE: GOVS WANT REVIEW OF REVENUE ALLOCATION At the recent nationwide public hearing on the new national minimum wage held across the six geo-political zones, governors demanded a review of the revenue allocation formula to enable them to implement the proposed national minimum wage. They insisted that the current revenue allocation must be reviewed in favour of states to empower them to meet workers’ expectations. Currently, the Federal Government gets 52.68 per cent; states 26.72 per cent and local governments 20.60 per cent allocation from the federation account. Speaking during the meeting at the southwest zone, Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, among others, called for an urgent review of the revenue-sharing formula to favour the state and local governments. Adeleke based his submission on the fact that the majority of the Nigerian people live in the states, so the revenue-sharing formula should be reviewed in tandem with the public outcry for the allocation of more resources to states. He had insisted that the states should be allowed to negotiate with their workers’ pay. “It has to be reiterated that the majority of the government at the sub-national can’t sustain and improve wages and salaries for their workers without a significant adjustment in some of the narratives in the national economy,” he stressed. While the states called for a higher revenue formula, they also urged that they should be allowed to determine their minimum wage based on their financial capacity, Allowing this means amending the 1999 Constitution by moving item 34 of the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List. For emphasis, Nigeria is duty-bound as a signatory to ILO Convention 131 to implement a minimum wage regime in line with global standards. Recall that when the N30,000 minimum wage was passed in 2019, it was a tug of war between organised labour and states on implementing the new wage then. The organised labour had to shut down many states over poor implementation of the minimum wage. To date, statistics released by BudgIT showed that 15 states are yet to implement the full N30,000 minimum wage. While some states still defaulted in paying the N30,000, The Guardian gathered that in Borno State, some teachers earn a paltry N13,500 as salary. Former President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Peter Esele, who recalled when he was part of the national minimum wage negotiation process, said: “How do you expect the productivity of such workers to grow and how do you expect the person to survive in that mental frame of mind and pass knowledge? I hope that governors stand and treat workers right because when you do so, you stimulate the economy. The super-rich don’t stimulate the economy, it is the middle and those struggling because they must spend money.” In 2021, a bill, which sought to decentralise the negotiation on the minimum wage in the country, by removing the negotiation on minimum wage from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list passed second reading at the House of Representatives. The bill, Differential Wage Bill, had the support of state governors, stating that it negated the principle of true federalism. According to the sponsor, Garba Datti Mohammed (APC Kano), the bill is to allow both the federal and state governments to freely negotiate minimum wage “with their workers in line with our federalism.” The bill seeking to remove the negotiation on minimum wage from the exclusive list to the concurrent list passed the second reading in the House of Representatives. During the debate at the plenary, Mohammed said, “Many states have not been able to implement the national minimum wage because it was imposed on them from Abuja.” However, workers opposed the bill, where they said that the bill was…
GANDUJE, ARCHITECT OF HIS TRAVAILS – SENATOR HANGA
GANDUJE ARCHITECT OF HIS TRAVAILS – SENATOR HANGA Senator Rufai Hanga, representing Kano Central Senatorial District, is one of the leading figures in the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP). In this interview, he spoke on a range of issues affecting public perception of the 10th National Assembly and its leadership. He also bared his mind on the performance of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu so far, saying that “if you hear people castigating him or condemning him, maybe it is hatred.” Excerpts: Considering the controversy that trailed the recent issue of budget padding raised by Senator Abdul Ningi and his subsequent suspension, can you say that the National Assembly is a united institution? The National Assembly is very united. I think it has never been like this. Even the budget was done jointly by the Senate and the House of Representatives and it was hitch-free. The committees sat together and scrutinized together. In Nigeria, whatever you do, people will criticize you. As far as I am concerned, the Senate is very united. The Senate President and the leadership of the House of Representatives are doing well to carry everybody along. The Speaker is uniting the House. Although I have not been around for sometime, but I have not heard of any squabble or quarrel. I think there has never been a more united National Assembly like now. In spite of that, a lot of Nigerians despise the National Assembly because they are outsiders. A lot of comments are being made which are not correct. If there is so much unity as you have presented, what then brought about the issue of Northern Senators and the dust raised by the accusation of budget padding? This issue of budget padding was over-emphasized and over-exaggerated. Even Ningi himself said it several times. He didn’t say there was budget padding. What he observed was that some monies were not accounted for and the Chairman of the Appropriation committee explained that they were meant for the first line charge. For example, any money assigned to the judiciary, we don’t call them to come and explain it like we call other ministries to defend their budgets. Once judiciary makes a request, we discuss it privately and put it in the budget. Apart from the judiciary, there are also other organizations that receive direct first line charge from the budget. I was not around when the whole thing happened, but the information I heard was that immediately the National Assembly punished him (Ningi), he resigned from the leadership of Northern Senators because he felt betrayed. He felt that whatever he did, he did it with the knowledge of Northern Senators. Yet, they left him in the lurch to be punished. Out of that anger and the feeling of betrayal, he resigned as the chairman. After his resignation, the whole Northern Senators came together for the change of leadership. The general impression about the presence of different regional groupings in the Senate is that you people are more concerned with ethnic consideration than the national course. Is that not correct? It is not correct. First, you must appreciate that Northerners, Southerners and South westerners know their regions better than anybody. They meet, discuss, and come up with the right advice on any issue that concerns their regions. For example, in the North, we have irrigation areas. At our caucus meetings, we discuss ideas that can improve the irrigation system. From my experience, there has never been a time when Northern Senators sat down to say that they are not part of Nigeria. I have been in the National Assembly three times. I was in the House of Representatives; there was no Northern Senators’ Forum. I was once in the…
PLOT TO BLACKMAIL PETER OBI EXPOSED!
PLOT TO BLACKMAIL PETER OBI EXPOSED! Dr. Yunusa Tanko, spokesperson for the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has revealed that there is a plot to blackmail Obi by accusing him of playing religious politics. Tanko stated that powerful political interests have recruited individuals disguised as civil society and non-governmental organizations to carry out this plot. The aim of the blackmailers is to defame Obi’s altruistic motives in supporting underprivileged Nigerians of all faiths. They falsely claim that Obi uses religious places for political campaigns off-season. Obi’s Charity Work Predates Politics Tanko emphasized that Obi’s charity work predates his involvement in politics. He firmly believes that his charity work is an assignment given to him by his creator. Obi understands that Nigeria is a secular state and respects the constitutional separation of church/mosque and state. Tanko reassured that Obi will not be intimidated into changing his personal disposition. Secular State and Separation of Church/Mosque and State Nigeria is an undisputed secular state, and it is important to respect the constitutional dictates of separating religion and state.Obi’s commitment to charity work transcends religious boundaries, as he supports underprivileged Nigerians of all faiths.
APC LEADERS TELL GANDUJE TO VACATE OFFICE AFTER COURT JUDGEMENT
APC LEADERS TELL GANDUJE TO VACATE OFFICE AFTER COURT JUDGMENT Some leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, have told the embattled National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Ganduje to temporarily vacate his office. This came from the Rivers State faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC), led by Emeka Beke. Following the Kano State High Court’s affirmation of Ganduje’s suspension and its directive restraining him from further identification as a party member, Justice Usman Malam Na’abba issued the order based on an ex parte motion filed by Haladu Gwanjo and Laminu Sani, represented by their counsel, Ibrahim Sa’ad. Speaking during a press conference held in Port Harcourt, the embattled Publicity Secretary of the APC in the state, Darlington Nwauju, reiterated that Ganduje should either address his suspension at the ward level or seek legal redress to maintain his current role. Nwauju stressed the party’s constitution, emphasizing that only ward executives and members possess the authority to suspend or expel individuals. He urged the suspended national chairman to step aside, allowing his Deputy to oversee party affairs. Nwauju stated: “First of all, the suspension or expulsion of party members, as the case may be, is the responsibility of the political party’s foundation organ, the Ward. Article 9 of our party’s constitution, 2022 as amended, clearly talks about membership of our party which resides in the Wards. “And when your membership is questioned, then it goes to any foundation of whatever you are doing for the political party. It questions any other thing that you do for the political party. “Talking about disciplinary measures or punishments for party members, that is captured under article 21(3) of our party’s constitution, and we have disciplinary procedures which start from the Ward again. “And so, if the Ward has taken a decision, it requires that Abdullahi Ganduje, Chairman of our party, either goes back to his Ward to placate the people of his Ward to get the decision reviewed, and the suspension can be vacated, or he goes to a court of competent jurisdiction to vacate his suspension. “Now a High Court has affirmed his suspension, it becomes a more serious issue, it means that he needs to step aside as National Chairman of our party for the Deputy National Chairman (North), to act as chairman, pending the determination of the matter or pending his replacement by the National Executive Committee of our great party. “Do not also forget the fact that the party has been moving on with the moral burden of having to shove the people of the North Central or deny them their right to a replacement for the position of the National Chairmanship of the APC. “Because, in a situation where the former occupant of that office, His Excellency Abdullahi Adamu, resigned from that position, coming from the North Central zone of the country, the party’s constitution clearly spells out that someone from his state or his zone should also take over that office.“And so, as an individual, I wish that the party will explore this very opportunity to right the wrong of reverting and allowing someone from the North Central to occupy the seat of National Chairman of our great party.”