PDP: Atiku Will Lose Presidency Over Plot To Punish Me — Wike

 GOVERNOR Nyesom Wike says the alleged plot within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to punish him for insisting on equity and fairness in the party would make the party lose the presidential election.

Wike at the Rivers PDP Campaign rally on Wednesday in Mogho Town for Gokana Local Government Area said his insistence on equity, fairness and justice to be practised within the party has become a political crime for which the camp of the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, allegedly gears to punish him.

Governor Wike described the perceived threats to deal with him as laughable as those threatening would never win at the polls, and consequently not have such opportunity to carry out their threats.

Apparently hitting at Atiku and party National Chairman, Iyorcha Ayu, Wike said, “Most of you have watched on YouTube where they said they will deal with me when they win. You can’t win.

“You’ve not won, you are threatening to deal with some people. Will God allow you? All of them planning and saying they will deal with us, they’ve not been born. I dare them, let them try it.”

He said the 2023 election would be about the use of the PVCs, the people’s power, and it would not be the experience in 2019 where officers of the Nigerian Army and police were allegedly used to intimidate voters.

Rivers Governorship candidate of the PDP, Sir Siminialayi Fubara said at the rally that the party would win the election, but there was a need for the winning to be very convincing.

Fubara assured that when elected, his administration would continue in the performance footsteps of Wike’s administration, as he would do everything possible to sustain the security of life and property, and provide more roads and educational infrastructure in the area.

Chidi Mokeme Says He Suffered From Bell's Palsy Which Made Him Quit Acting

 Veteran Nollywood actor, Chidi Mokeme has revealed that he was battling Bell's Palsy and this made him stay away from the movie scene, IGBERETV reports.

He said this during an interview on Channels TV's Rubbin' Minds. He explained that the illness caused one side of his face to droop. He added that the doctor told him it is incurable.

"It comes like a stroke and sort of affects one side of your face and gives your face a droop.

The doctor said it was incurable. They had no cure because they didn't know what causes it," he said.

He revealed that he had to leave the movie scene to focus on his business while he hoped to get better.

Bell's Palsy (facial paralysis) is a condition that causes sudden weakness in the muscles on one side of the face. In most cases, the weakness is temporary and significantly improves over weeks. Bell's palsy may be a reaction to a viral infection. It rarely occurs more than once.

Two Nigerian Nationals Arrested In India For Online Fraud

 Two Nigerian nationals, [b]Akuchie Ifeanyi Franklin and Fidel Ndubuisi, have been arrested in India for alleged involvement in online fraud[/b].

The cyber police in Kerala arrested Akuchie, from Bengaluru on Monday, January 23, 2023, following a complaint by a Nallalam resident who had reportedly lost around N11m in the fraud operated by the suspect and his two aides.

According to the police, the complainant had placed an advertisement on an e-commerce portal for selling imported iPads.

The accused, who expressed interest in purchasing the products, allegedly forged the domain of Wells Fargo, an American bank, and convinced the complainant that he could complete the transaction provided that the complainant made a temporary payment of ?20 lakh to his account.

The accused had also allegedly forged a WhatsApp account and sent messages in the names of Reserve Bank of India officials to mislead the seller. Later, he claimed that he would return the amount to the seller once the formalities were over.

Police sources said the three accused were nabbed and charged under various sections of the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code after tracing phone calls and social media accounts.

The investigation team had also managed to seize a few electronic devices that were used by the suspects.

Similarly, Cyber Crime Police Station of Avadi Police Commissionerate in Chennai arrested Ndubuisi and sent him to Central Puzal Prison.
According to the police, Ndubuisi was previously arrested by the Tuthukodi Cyber Crime Police for an online fraudulent cheating case.

Dark October: Parents Of Slain ALUU-4 Urge Linda Ikeji, Netflix To Retract Movie

 Parents of the four students of the University of Port Harcourt killed in Aluu Community, in 2012, codenamed, Aluu-4, have urged the seasoned blogger, Linda Ikeji and Netflix, to suspend the planned premiere of their new movie titled ‘Dark October’ which centres around the murder of their four children.

The families through a rights group, The Integrity Friends for Truth and Peace
The initiative, TIFPI said Linda Ikeji made the movie about their late children without consulting them.

TIFPI, however, in a statement in Port Harcourt yesterday, the Executive Director of the body, Livingstone Wechie, said the movie that was produced without the consent of the four families has reawakened the already doused trauma caused by the tragic killing of their children.

Wechie said: “The attention of the four bereaved families of the ill-fated Aluu 4 incident have been drawn to a widely advertised movie titled “Dark October” which was produced by a known blogger by the name Linda Ikeji as stated therein.

“For the records and sadly so, Linda Ikeji produced the movie without seeking the consent of the affected families and parents of the unforgettable Aluu 4 victims.

“The question to Linda Ikeji is: Can you cry more than the bereaved or do you not have some conscience and humanity in you as a parent that you have become?”

He said Ikeji acted of her own volition without giving attention to meeting the families of the four killed innocent students, adding that Ikeji’s action meant that the victims had no families.

“For the umpteenth time, I have been instructed in writing through my organisation The Integrity Friends for Truth and Peace Initiative TIFPI by the four affected families, that is the parents of late Lloyd Toku-Mike, Chiadika Biringa, Ugonna Obuzor and Tekena Elkanah to represent them and ensure that justice is done in this matter.

“This is to the effect that Linda Ikeji acted both of her own volition and on a frolic of her own as she failed, refused and neglected to seek the consent of the affected and families/parents of these boys whose names and the story of the Aluu 4 incident form the entire essence of the said movie.

“It is important to state that the inexcusable and desperate action of Linda Ikeji on this blood-laced story in what is now christened globally as Aluu 4 or Uniport4 may falsely or arrogantly indicate that these innocent boys do not come from homes and this is not only illegal, it is both inhuman and un-African of one who should know better.”

Wechie emphasized that the movie is the story of a true event, noting that the families ought to be consulted before the production.

He charged the companies involved to stop the planned premiere and make effort to meet the families of the four late students.

“To this end, on behalf of the parents/families of the Aluu 4, we hold that the production and distribution of this movie by Linda Ikeji without the consent and consultation with the affected families/parents is insensitive, mischievous and unacceptable.

“We, therefore, demand that Linda Ikeji and her business partners including Netflix, FilmOne Entertainment Company, etc should by this notice immediately retract and suspend any further actions including the premiering slated for February 3, 2023, and any other date pending and subject to consultations and express consent of the affected families who are at the receiving end of the entire assault.”

Nigerian Students In UK, Others Risk Deportation

 Nigerians and other immigrant students in the United Kingdom currently face a high-risk of deportation after completion of their studies following a row between UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman and the Department of Education.

According to The Daily Mail, Braverman is currently seeking to cut down the amount of time foreign students can stay in the UK after graduation.

The PUNCH reports that currently, immigrants who travel to Britain to study can stay behind two years after graduation.

But the Department for Education is said to be resisting Braverman’s plan to cut that to just six months, after which they have to have a skilled job that makes them eligible for a work visa or leave the UK.

The Daily Mail further stated that the development is the latest twist in a long-running row over foreign student numbers.

“Braverman has committed to cut immigration and ‘substantially reduce’ the number of unskilled foreign workers coming to Britain, from 239,000 to the ‘tens of thousands’.

“As part of that, she wants to reduce the number of international students who can apply for a graduate post-study work visa, which allows any student who has passed their degree to remain and work in the UK for at least two years.

“But education officials fear this will make the UK less attractive to foreign students, who pay far more than UK students for their courses and are a major source of income for universities”, the media house stated.

The PUNCH reports that the UK is one of the choicest destinations for Nigerian students seeking to study overseas.

Recent data released by the home office of the UK revealed that the number of study visas released to Nigerians increased by 222.8 per cent, with 65,929 issued as of June 2022 as against 20,427 in the same period in 2021.

Similarly, Nigerian students and their dependents in the United Kingdom we’re said to have contributed an estimated £1.9 billion to the economy of the UK, according to an analysis by SBM intelligence.

The data which covered the 2021/2022 academic session estimated that a sum of £680,620,000 were reportedly paid as school fees with a total of £54.3m paid in taxes by working spouses of the students.

Back home, Nigeria’s tertiary education sector faces challenges ranging from poor funding, dearth of research and poor welfare for academic and non-academic staff.

A Professor of Mathematics at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Gbolahan Bolarin, notee that the government needs to dedicate more efforts to the funding of tertiary education in the country so as to prevent a total collapse of the sector.

The PUNCH reports that over $680m was released by the Central Bank of Nigeria for foreign education in the first nine months of 2022 alone.

Buhari Approved Naira Redesign, Tinubu Rejected It, Is All Really Well In APC?

 By Taiwo George

There’s something about Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Abeokuta, Ogun State capital. In 2015 when the APC campaign was losing steam based on repeated promises in its nationwide tour, Tinubu changed the tempo in Abeokuta.

“When Britain was in trouble, they turned to their General, Winston Churchill, when France was is trouble, they turned to their General, Charles De Gaul. When America was in trouble, they turned to their General, Dwight Eisenhower, Nigeria is in trouble, we have brought you General Muhammadu Buhari,” Asiwaju had said charging the audience to see another dimension about Buhari.

Eight years after that incident, Tinubu still returned to Abeokuta to drop fresh memorable lines. In the buildup to his party’s presidential primaries, which he later won, Tinubu went into a tirade, calling out those he perceived were standing in his way, including Governor Dapo Abiodun.

“Emi lokan”, “O lule”, which have since found their way to the Nigerian political lexicon were used by Tinubu in Abeokuta.

On Wednesday, it was still in Abeokuta that he publicly announced his displeasure with the naira redesign approved by Buhari. “Let them increase the price of fuel, only them know where they have hoarded fuel, they hoarded money, they hoarded naira; we will go and vote and we will win. Even if they changed the ink on Naira notes. Whatever their plans, it will come to nought. We are going to win.”

In what could be seen as a veiled reference to the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, the man at the centre of naira redesign, Tinubu added, “We will take over the government from them, the traitors who wanted to contest with us. They had no experience.”

Emefiele was linked to the APC Presidential race and a group had purchased N100 million nomination for him, with the media buzzing with stories on his involvement in the election, but the bank guru later distanced himself from the race.

Although, naira redesign is an initiative of the CBN governor, Buhari made it clear that he approved it. Addressing federal cabinet members late 2023, Buhari said: ‘‘As is known, our local laws, specifically the Central Bank of Nigeria Act of 2007, grants the CBN the power to issue and redesign the Naira. In line with this power, the bank’s Governor approached me earlier in this year to seek my permission to embark on a currency redesign project. I considered all the facts and reasons presented before me by the Central Bank.”

For Tinubu to go against a policy sanctioned by the president says a lot about the gathering storm in the ruling party 29 days to the election. Buhari’s absence at his party’s presidential campaign had set tongues wagging but the president later joined the trail, with 10 states earmarked for him.

A division in APC at a time when opposition parties are putting up a show of force is not what the party which seeks to continue in government needs, at least not now.

Truth be told, the signs are troubling. Journalist and public affairs analyst, Geofrey Ekeana, had asked, “What strategy is APC employing to win the election next month? Queues at filling stations for fuel, at banks for new currency, at Airports because of NAHRCO strike. I don’t believe these are right one month to the election.”

Perhaps, Asiwaju thought about this before venting, but does this mean APC is sitting on a keg of gunpowder?

Fuel Scarcity, Naira Redesign Are Plans To Scuttle Elections – Tinubu

 The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Wednesday alleged plans to scuttle the 2023 general elections through fuel scarcity and naira redesign. 

Tinubu spoke in Abeokuta, Ogun State, during the APC presidential campaign.

“They don’t want this election to hold. They want to scuttle it. Will you allow them?”, Tinubu asked the teeming supporters at the MKO Abiola stadium, Kuto, Abeokuta.
The former Lagos Governor, however, vowed that Nigerians would defy the fuel scarcity and trek to cast their votes.

He said the forthcoming polls would be a superior revolution.

“They have started coming up with the issue of ‘no fuel’. Don’t worry, if there is no fuel, we will trek to cast the vote.

“If you like increase price of fuel, hide the fuel or change the ink on the naira notes, we will win the election,” he said.