In A Fair Presidential Election, Obi Will Get 25% In Over 24 States — Group

 LESS than 40 days to the 2023 presidential election, a group, Democratic Leadership, DL, has said the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi, will score 24 per cent in over 24 states should the election be free and fair.

This was as they described Peter Obi as the most democratic, credible and determined leader to lead Nigeria to Uhuru.

DL President, Ray Onwuelo, made this call during a press conference held under the theme, ‘State of nation and the 2023 general elections’, on Friday, in Abuja

According to him, as it stands now, two of the candidates are likely to get the requisite 25% of the votes cast in 24 or more states and the FCT with the candidate of Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, securing the widest and largest number of votes in a fair presidential election. I am not unaware that some will be unpleasant to hear this but that is the true situation on the ground across the country with a small margin of error.

“Peter Obi by this implication is the best for Democratic Leadership from all our assessments and he’s totally different from Bola Ahmed Tinubu just like Bola Ahmed Tinubu is so different from Abubakar Atiku. I think Peter Obi by this implication is the best for Democratic Leadership from all our assessments and he’s totally different from Bola Ahmed Tinubu just like Bola Ahmed Tinubu is so different from Abubakar Atiku”, he added.

Onwuelo, while speaking passionately about the importance of the forthcoming election, said that Nigeria is at a crossroad and needing Nigerians to come out in mass to get their Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, and vote for a credible candidate.

Describing the developmental process of Nigeria as slow, he advised Nigerians to take the bull by its horn during the election and ensure the right things are done, adding that with the right leadership, Nigeria was bound for Uhuru.

He said: “The Nigeria Nation is indeed at a crossroad and never before have we had it so colourful. Every Nigerian at home and abroad feel it so bad one way or another. But for most of us it does seem that there is very little we can do to improve things. This is because the path to the much needed transformation is riddled with immense difficulties with near impossibilities some will say.

“We have been through different developmental processes but have generally been so slow and sometimes retrogressive. At 62 years we have passed the middle ages in any life, including that of any independent nation.

“Incidentally in the midst of these blessings, there is abject poverty, suffering and hardship in the land. There is a loss of hope and those who could migrate are doing so in doves. The situation has not been different since soon after the excitement of independence. Sadly it has progressively worsened. Developmental indices have plummeted. How did we get this far and why?

“The general election of 2023 gives us another opportunity to adjust the trajectory. For the purpose of this conference, three frontline political parties, APC, PDP and LP have been painstakingly considered by the group known as Democratic Leadership

Oshoala Leads Barca Femeni To Super Cup Win At Sociedad

 Oshoala Leads Barca Femeni to Super Cup Win at Sociedad

SPORT | 40 mins ago

Super Falcons’ striker, Asisat Oshoala was on the score chart as Barcelona Femeni beat Real Sociedad 3-0 yesterday to win the Spanish Women’s Super-Cup for the second season running and extend their unbeaten run-in domestic competitions to 58 games.

The win came exactly one week after the male team defeated Real Madrid 3-1 to win the final match of the Super Cup in Riyadh last Sunday.

Aitana Bonmati scored a goal in each half and Oshoala added the third in what proved a comfortable win at the Estadio Romano in Merida.  

Barca have now won the Super Cup in three of the four years since it was created in 2020, with Atletico Madrid the only team to stop them, beating them on penalties in the semi-final in 2021.

That was the last domestic trophy Barca failed to win. They went on to win a league and cup double in 2020-21, as well as the Champions League, and all three Spanish competitions last season: Liga F, the Copa de la Reina and the Super Cup.

Real Sociedad, meanwhile, continue to show progress under Natalia Arroyo. They lost 10-1 to Barca in the Super Cup final in 2020 but have improved dramatically since then, finishing second in the league last season.

Barca survived a scare in the semifinal against Real Madrid to reach Sunday’s final as their 56-game winning run in Spanish competitions ended with a 1-1 draw in the Clasico. 

However, even with a player sent off, they rallied to win after extra-time and there were no such complications against La Real.

They are still without injured duo Alexia Putellas and Caroline Graham Hansen, but Bonmati has stepped up in their absence and the midfielder made the difference here.

She opened the scoring in the 13th minute after good work from Geyse and then added Barca’s second in the 47th minute with a clean strike from the edge of the box.

Mariona Caldentey then hit the woodwork as Barca sought a third goal in front of 6,339 fans and Claudia Pina missed a late chance before Oshoala finally completed the scoring in stoppage time.

Jonatan Giraldez’s side return to league action on Wednesday against Levante Las Planas — where a win would mark 50 in a row in Liga F — but they face expulsion from the Copa de la Reina after fielding an ineligible player in the last round. A decision on their fate is expected next week.

First Commercial Vessel Berths At Lekki Port Ahead Of Buhari’s Commissioning

 Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on Sunday says that the first commercial vessel has berthed at the Lekki Deep Sea Port. This is contained on the official Twitter handle of the authority.

It reads, ”Ahead of the President’s commissioning of @LekkiPort for commercial operations tomorrow, one of the largest container vessels, the CMA-CGM, has berthed at the port.

“Once more, @NigerianPorts has proven that it is prepared to offer marine services for seamless port operations. https:///jEv99qwJdv,” it said.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that President Muhammed Buhari will officially inaugurate the $1.5 billion Lekki Deep Seaport, for commercial operations in Lagos State.

The Lekki Deep Seaport is a state-of-the-art facility, the largest seaport and one of the biggest in West Africa.

Rural Sensitization For Peter Obi In Maiduguri, Borno State

 MAIDUGURI RIPENS, AS IT AWAITS THE PRESIDENTIAL TRAIN OF H.E. PETER OBIDATTI AND MSHELIA TO BORNO

THE ANCIENT CITY FROM WHERE THE SUN SHINES BRIGHTER.

Yesterday sensitization with all support group coordinators and secretaries WAS A SUCCESS, in preparation of the coming of PETER OBI and Captain Ibrahim k. Mshelia to Maiduguri on the 28/1/2023

MANY THANKS TO ENGR. ISHAKU YAKUBU AND THE TEAM

Petrol May Hit N800/litre On Subsidy Removal

 As the scarcity of the Premium of Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, continued on Sunday, oil marketers have stated that the cost of the commodity would cross N800/litre once subsidy on PMS is removed.

Industry operators had repeatedly stated that the high cost of subsidy on petrol was a burden on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and was contributory to the prolonged crisis in the downstream oil sector. NNPC is the sole importer of petrol into Nigeria.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, recently suggested that the government should gradually withdraw subsidy on PMS, stressing that the budgetary allocation for subsidy would end in June.

But oil marketers told our correspondent that while it could be advisable to remove subsidy, Nigerians should know that the cost of petrol could cross N800/litre once the commodity was no longer subsidised.

They urged the Federal Government to ensure that all the necessary measures and infrastructure to ensure a less stressful subsidy removal regime were put in place before implementing the decision.

“If the government fails to take the appropriate measures, and they say they want to remove fuel subsidy, the situation will be worse than this, the masses will suffer. How can you remove subsidy and you don’t have this product (petrol),” the Secretary, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abuja-Suleja, Mohammed Shuaibu, stated.

He added, “If the government removes subsidy, where is the product? If you are removing subsidy, maybe by that time, the way diesel is sold at between N800 – N900/litre, we could be buying petrol at N800/litre, if not more than that.

“This is because the product will be scarce, even from the government cycle. So the government should tell Nigerians the truth about this fuel supply crisis. It is not a problem caused by marketers.”

Shuaibu said oil marketers were ready to sell, stressing that when marketers got products a few weeks ago, the queues disappeared.

“But as it is today, you have black marketers everywhere selling with jerrycans and you will ask, where are the security agencies and the regulators?” he asked.

The IPMAN official added, “By tomorrow they will claim that it is the fault of the marketers. How? We are businessmen and every businessman wants to make a profit. You know the law of supply and demand. When the product is scarce, prices will rise, and vice versa.”

He explained that the downstream sector was not structured for adequate competition, adding that this could also pose challenges when subsidy was eventually removed.

He said, “By the time you are removing subsidy, you should know that the market is not properly opened and there is no competition. They always tell you about Dangote Refinery. We must understand that Dangote is a privately owned company.

“The pipelines of that facility were not even designed to run in any Nigerian state, rather it was designed to run to neighbouring countries, and maybe that one in Lekki there, that is all.

“So, more or less, that refinery might still exploit us, because when there is no competition, the only supplier calls the shots. For had it been that as Dangote is producing in Lagos, another person is producing in Warri, while one refinery is pumping in Abuja, then there will be competition.”

He continued, “We can see, for instance, the competition in the telecommunications sector today. But the government will continue to deceive us that Dangote Refinery will come on stream, when we know that it cannot really solve the problem.”


He argued that most of the pipes of the refinery were laid to neighbouring countries to supply them gas, stressing that Nigeria should not completely rely on the facility.

“They should not continue to be singing it as if it is what will solve our fuel supply problems,” the IPMAN official stated.

Motorists lambast APC

Meanwhile, the scarcity and hike in the price of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise known as petrol, has generated an outcry from users of the commodity, especially motorists, who have directed their anger at the ruling All Progressives Congress.

The commodity, which has an official price of N185, is being sold at higher prices by filling stations across the country.

This is in addition to the long queues of vehicles that often add to the woes of Nigerians due to the traffic they cause when they spill into main roads.

According to one Instagram user, @paschal_dheyvid, who bought the commodity at N200 per litre, he had to pay N1, 000 to gain entrance into the filling station and still had to join a long queue.

The same situation was experienced by a Twitter user, @thatboyyouhate, who said, “I was at a filling station this morning and they had to take N1, 000 from me for my 25-litre keg.”

An Instagram user, @charlessoronnadimotors, said he bought the commodity at “N420 per litre here in Aboh Mbaise, Imo State.”

Twitter user, @supapraise, lamented the long hours he spent in the queue at a Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation filling station in Port Harcourt before he could buy the commodity.

He wrote, “I spent 11hrs (5am to join an already long queue. I left at 4pm) at the NNPC filling station in PH. I bought for N189. That morning, it was N179. They paused selling and adjusted the metre to the new price of N189. Paused selling again to maintain their generator since there was no NEPA electricity.”

Expressing anger at the APC which is seeking to remain in power in 2023, one @RexAgu1 said, “N360 per litre. APC has failed the unborn kids. They have removed subsidy without letting Nigerians know.”

On his part, one @King_Olivertwit sarcastically said, “APC supporters are buying it for N50/L while others are buying it for N350 to as much as N500 per litre.”

One Pascal Nwankwo, @pascalnwankwo7, blamed the situation on the APC, adding, “…and some misguided fellows are still campaigning for the APC.”

On Instagram, one @malaro44 laid curses on those still working to ensure that the APC retained the Presidency after the end of the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.). He said, “People voting APC, may everything about APC never depart from your household… the suffering, the hardship, the kidnapping and insecurity.”

Efforts to get the reaction of the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, proved abortive as his phone number was busy and he didn’t respond to the text message sent to him by our correspondent.

Yahaya Bello Did Not Withdraw Support For Tinubu - APC

 ABUJA, FCT

JANUARY 22, 2022
PRESS STATEMENT

*REPORT OF GOVERNOR YAHAYA BELLO’S WITHDRAWAL OF SUPPORT FOR TINUBU IS PATENTLY FALSE AND IRRESPONSIBLE*

Our attention has been drawn to a front page report in Sunday Tribune of today, January 22, 2023, that the Governor of Kogi State and member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, His Excellency, Yahaya Bello, has "tactically" withdrawn support for our Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu over imagined political permutations on the Kogi State Governorship election scheduled for November.

The story is maliciously false and a figment of the imagination of it’s author and sponsors. 

Governor Yahaya Bello who serves as the National Youth Coordinator of the Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, is a solid, resourceful and committed campaigner for our Party’s Candidate, leading a massively successful outreach to youth voters across the country.

This FAKE NEWS, ostensibly intended to float an imagined rift between Governor Yahaya Bello and Honourable James Faleke, Secretary of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, is the desperate and disgraceful conjecture of opposition elements unsettled by our Party’s giant campaign strides. Both loyal Party men are unquestionably committed and working tirelessly for the resounding victory of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in next month’s presidential election. 

We urge our Party compatriots and all Nigerians to disregard this fake news. 

SIGNED 
*Barr. Felix Morka* 
National Publicity Secretary 
All Progressives Congress (APC)

Prophet Christian Shola Visits Peter Fregene, Donates Cash Gifts