Why APC Is Having Sleepless Nights Over Peter Obi’s Loss – Isaac Fayose

Isaac Fayose, the brother to former Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, has given reasons why the All Progressives Congress (APC) is rattled over the loss of Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

Naija News reports that Isaac, while reacting to a video of how Peter Obi was received by some Nigerians in the diaspora, said the level of reception makes APC assume that the former governor of Anambra State is still campaigning.

He claimed that APC members are disturbed over why a perceived loser would be receiving such treatment for free.

According to Isaac Fayose, many people are unbothered about Peter Obi losing the election and APC had expected that people would always feel sorry for him instead of celebrating him.

He wrote: “This is one of the reasons APC is saying Peter Obi is still campaigning because they don’t get this type of treatment for free. They are wondering what kind of man is Peter Obi, how can a perceived loser be receiving this kind of treatment for free

“This is why they are not comfortable, having sleepless nights, saying Peter Obi is a threat to them and democracy. How can someone going about his normal activities be a thr*at to APC if not that they are not at rest, they have no peace of mind?

“They expected people to feel sorry for him, but instead the people are hailing him as if he is the champion, as if he won the election. They don’t care.”

https://www.naijanews.com/2023/04/13/why-apc-is-having-sleepless-nights-over-peter-obis-loss-isaac-fayose/amp/

50 Likes 2 Shares

Vigilantes Kill 50 Bandits In Self-Defence In Niger State

Amid Renewed Attacks: Villagers Mobilise, Kill 50 Bandits In Self-defence

A local vigilante group at Ibbi town in Niger State has taken the battle to the invaders of the community, killing no fewer than 50 bandits who had been terrorising and kidnapping its residents for ransom.

LEADERSHIP learned that the vigilantes launched the attack on the bandits and destroyed their camps at the bottom of a mountain within Kainji National Park, following the abduction of 12 people from the community about two weeks ago.

A source from the community said the vigilante group, with support from their colleagues from Niger South, went after the bandits in a raid that started from four days to yesterday. During the raid, the vigilantes were said to have lost two of their men, while the bandits killed nine of the 12 people in the captivity.

Among the nine killed was a Sharia Court registrar abducted around Ibbi in Mashegu local government area of Niger State.

The source said, “While the bandits were waiting to receive the ransom on the 12 people they had abducted, the vigilantes struck, killing no fewer than 50 of the bandits. Annoyed by the attack, the bandits killed nine (of their hostages) and three others escaped unhurt.

“Among those killed was the registrar of the Sharia Court in Ibbi; about six women and three men, but three other men were able to escape from the bandits. As I am talking to you now, the vigilantes have destroyed their camps and chased them out of the national park.”

He added that the vigilantes dumped the bodies of the bandits at the Kainji National Park.

A resident of Ibbi, Abdul Ahmed, told LEADERSHIP that some bandits had recently taken over some unmanned parts of the National Park, from where they launched attacks on the people of the area.

He said the incessant attacks prompted the vigilante groups from other parts of the state to join forces with the local unit in flushing out the bandits, killing no fewer than 50 of them, and that, unfortunately, the terrorists killed nine of the 12 villagers in their custody.

When contacted, the telephone number of the Niger State commissioner of internal security, Emmanuel Umar, could not be reached, but a senior official confirmed that the operation of the vigilante had the backing of the authorities.

Also, the police public relations officer, Niger State Command, Wasiu Abiodun, did not respond to calls by press time, but a senior officer of the command, who preferred anonymity, confirmed that vigilantes were engaged in complementary operations in and around Ibbi and the National Park area.

The officer said that, as usual, the police would usually provide cover for the vigilante during such operations, which was what they did in Ibbi.

Resurgence Of Kidnappings And Banditry

Meanwhile, in Kaduna State, bandits have killed nine villagers, including four local vigilantes, at the Sabon Layi community of Birnin Gwari Local government area of Kaduna State.

The bandits were said to have stormed the area in large numbers, shooting sporadically and killing nine persons before abducting over 20 others and rustling several animals.

But in swift response to this attack, the Air Component of Operation Whirl Punch yesterday neutralised some of the fleeing bandits in Sabon Layi village in Birnin Gwari local government area of Kaduna State.

The commissioner for internal security and home affairs, in a statement, said at about 9:44am yesterday, the ministry received a distress call of bandits attacking Sabon Layi village.

He said the bandits were shooting, rustling cattle, looting property and committing other heinous crimes, a situation which sent residents scampering for safety.

Aruwan explained that immediately the Air Component of Operation Whirl Punch was contacted for action, the unit mobilised promptly to the location. According to him, on arrival at Sabon Layi, a thorough scan revealed normal human activities at the reported location.

“However, about four kilometres North of Sabon Layi village, the bandits were sighted fleeing for cover from the aircraft. They were engaged and neutralised in several passes. No further movement was observed after the strike. The aircraft sustained its presence overhead before withdrawing,” Aruwan said.

The statement said while the government awaits a formal report on the initial attack in Sabon Layi village, Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has praised the Air Component for the prompt action in neutralising the fleeing bandits. 

It would be recalled that acting on credible intelligence, troops of ‘Operation Forest Sanity’ under 1 Division, Nigerian Army, ambushed and neutralised a notorious bandit leader, Isiya Danwasa, and one of his cohorts.

It was gathered that the bandit leader had sent one of his errand boys, Yunusa, to procure some arms and ammunition in Kaduna town.

The 1 Division Nigerian Army spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Musa Yahaya, revealed in a statement yesterday that, subsequently, Yunusa was trailed and picked up by plain clothes soldiers and later used him to lure two of the bandit leaders to a pre-selected ammunition collection point.

https://leadership.ng/amid-renewed-attacks-villagers-mobilise-kill-50-bandits-in-self-defence/

4 Likes 

Miriam Onuoha Joins Speakership Race, Asks Male Candidates To Step Down

Miriam Onuoha, a member of the House of Representatives from Imo State, has officially declared interest in contesting the speakership election.

Ms Onuoha, who represents Okigwe North Federal Constituency in Imo State, made the declaration Wednesday in Abuja.

She urged all the men in the race to step down for her in the interest of the inclusion of women, youth and the South-east geopolitical zone.

“In almost about 90 positions of this country, the men have dominated it. Ceding this one position to me will be a way of proving that we are running an inclusive government.

“I use this opportunity to call on my co-contestants — my male contestants to consider the love and the care Nigerian voters have shown to them, and as a matter of honour, step down to support this woman.

“I call on the male contestants to step down in the interest of peace and understanding if Nigeria and our democracy must advance, my candidature has to be pushed,” she said.

Ninth Assembly not rubber stamp

When responding to questions on the performance of the 9th Assembly, Ms Onuoha said she disagrees with the assertion that the current assembly has been a rubber stamp to the executive.

She promised to work with the executive arm and the president-elect, Bola Tinubu if she is elected by her colleagues.

“I disagree with the assertion that the assembly is a rubber stamp assembly, I have chosen as one of the mandates that I will work with the executive in the interest of Nigeria,” he said.

She also stated that she will avoid the “banana peel” that caused the downfall of a former Speaker, Patricia Etteh.

Ms Etteh was elected speaker in 2007 but subsequently resigned about five months later over a “corruption allegation”.

Ms Onuoha was first elected into the House in 2015 under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). She returned to the House in 2020 after the court sacked Obinna Onwubuariri.

She currently chairs the House Committee on Disabilities and is also known for sponsoring the controversial Cannabis Bill.

The Imo lawmaker is the latest in the long list of members that have joined the race.

Some of the lawmakers in the speakership race include Deputy Speaker Idris Wase (APC, Plateau), Yusuf Gagdi (APC, Plateau), Muktar Betara (APC, Borno), Ben Kalu (APC, Abia), Sada Soli (APC, Katsina), Tunji Olawuyi (APC, Kwara) and Abubakar Makki (APC, Jigawa).

Others include Tajudeen Abbas (APC, Kaduna) and Aminu Jaji (APC, Zamfara).

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/593018-female-rep-joins-speakership-race-asks-male-candidates-to-step-down.html

2 Likes 

London Immigration Saga: Plots Against Peter Obi Will Fail — Ohanaeze

Apex Igbo socio-cultural body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has condemned last week’s reported attempt to arrest the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in London, the UK, as a move by political enemies.

Ohanaeze said any plot to embarrass and pull down Peter Obi, because he had decided to legally pursue the mandate believed to have been given him by Nigerians, will continue to fail.

Obi was said to have been interrogated at Heathrow Airport, London, on April 7, over his identity.

Obi disclosed this to longtime ally, Prof. Stella Okunna, who served under him in many capacities when he was the governor of Anambra State.

The sole aim of faking Obi’s identity was to use his name to commit crime in London and other parts of the world so as to get him implicated in dubious and criminal activities and rope him into any number of offences to get him out of the political space, Ohanaeze held.

In her account of what Obi told her, as narrated in her Facebook account, Prof. Okunna, in the piece she titled: “What Peter Obi is going through: does any human being deserve this type of shocking intimidation and emotional torture?”, narrates:

How it happened at Heathrow

“Today 11/04/2023, I was shocked beyond words to hear from His Excellency, Mr. Peter what he went through when his British Airways plane landed at Heathrow Airport, London, in the early morning of Friday 07/04/2023.

“He was talking to me at the official opening of the Specialist Hospital of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) Sisters, Nkpor.

“He had arrived at the event after flying in from London, his presence heralded by the usual ‘ear-splitting’ ovation that accompanies him everywhere nowadays.

“As the ‘Most Outstanding Pillar of the Foundation/Hospital’, the Reverend Sisters were full of expectations that he would attend; so were we (members of the Governing Board of the IHM Sisters Healthcare System), although there was also anxiety about whether he would be able to make it, being outside Nigeria.

“I actually had no idea he had travelled out of the country, until the ovation over his presence in a London Church went viral on the Internet.

“I would never have imagined he would be able to go anywhere so soon after his energy-sapping marathon visits on 06/04 to Paul University, Regina Caeli Hospital and other health facilities, where he went about touching lives in his usual quiet philanthropic manner.

“His whirlwind activities that day in Anambra State and beyond were another eloquent testimony to Peter Obi’s incredible stamina and multi-tasking capacity.

“To be able to fly out of the country that night, made this capacity even more incredible.

“Landing in London, Peter Obi joined the usual queue to pass through Immigration, and that was when his ordeal began.

“He was stopped and questioned for a long time and subsequently handed a detention note and told to wait for further interrogation and investigation. This was terribly unusual for a man who had lived honourably in the UK for a long time.

“In the face of this harassment, some well-meaning Nigerians, knowing who he is, raised their voices in protest, demanding to know why he was being treated that way.

“Then came the shocking revelation by the Immigration Officer who told him that his identity ‘WAS DUPLICATED’. This revelation has definitely set off alarm bells.

“For people who are knowledgeable about such matters, this is a very dangerous development because the implication is that someone is impersonating Peter Obi.

“And that someone could implicate Obi in all manner of dubious and even criminal activities, and rope him into any number of offences; he could get Obi framed for one criminal act or another.

“The frightening scenario of what can happen is unimaginable!

“This is the height of it all for a man who has been under sundry intimidation and emotional torture: bugging of his phone and those of his wife and children; keeping him constantly under surveillance; calling him names; putting him under severe pressure to leave (run away from) the country; wrongly accusing him of negative things he knows absolutely nothing about etc.

“As he was telling me his ‘Heathrow tale of woe’ at Nkpor today, I could see a man who was in severe pain and and under unbearable stress, who many would expect to be at the point of despair.

“But, as he confirmed, he is ready to suffer this pain and is as determined as ever to pursue the path which he has chosen to enable him arrive at the destination which well-meaning people in Nigeria and far far beyond are expecting him to arrive at.

“This is the destination where Nigerians will be able to live in a secure and productive country which they (particularly the younger generations) will be proud to call their own.

“Ahead, Ahead!

“I suppose he told me all this confidentially. My very sincere apologies, Your Excellency, for ‘breaking’ this confidentiality, but history beckons and I cannot keep quiet,” Prof. Okunna was quoted as saying.

Ohanaeze kicks

Reacting to this, Ohanaeze Ndigbo condemned “the embarrassment and evil plots to rope Peter Obi”, saying all of them will fail.

“It is very unfortunate for those who want to rope in Obi and embarrass him. However, it was good it happened. After this, there will not be such a thing again anywhere in the world as they have been exposed.

“They have exposed their plots to the whole world. But whoever is playing such is wasting time and energy.

“It is very clear to the world that the man is a man of integrity and law abiding, who had been pursuing his mandate legally. So, any plot to rope him I and embarrass him will continue to fail. They are being exposed.

“It is unfortunate that some Nigerians still want us back wards. But we will resist it, Nigerians will resist it, the youths will resist it because they want a future,” Ohanaeze said through the National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Alex Chidozie Ogbonnia.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2023/04/london-immigration-saga-plots-against-peter-obi-will-fail-ohanaeze/

3 Likes 

Samuel Anyanwu, Douye Diri Emerge PDP Governorship Candidates For Imo, Bayelsa

Off-cycle elections will take place in Kogi, Imo and Bayelsa States in November 2023.

PDP National Secretary, Samuel Nnaemeka Anyanwu has been affirmed as the Imo PDP Governorship Candidate. Emeka Ihedioha, as well as other key leaders in the State EXCO were conspicuously absent but did not stop the Kenneth Okon-led 7-man team from announcing the former Senator as the man to challenge incumbent Governor, Hope Uzodinma.

SOURCE 

Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, was the only Candidate cleared and affirmed as the Governorship Candidate of the Party. Governor Ademola Adeleke who led the Committee affirmed the former Bayelsa Central Senator as the Candidate to fly the Party's flag.

SOURCE

3 Likes 1 Share

Typical Of Nigeria, Blame The Victims And Not The Perpetrators - Aisha Yesufu

Typical of Nigeria, blame the victims and not the perpetrators. The OBIdient movement is your problem and not the terrorist APC government that killed and maimed its people to steal their mandate

https://twitter.com/aishayesufu/status/1646164935586529284?s=46&t=dR32GmclMO3sOOFX1ADAtw

48 Likes 3 Shares

Turkish President, Tayyip Erdogan Congratulates Tinubu

President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has congratulated Bola Tinubu on his victory in the 25 February presidential election.

This was contained in a statement by the Office of the President-elect on Wednesday.
According to the statement signed by Tunde Rahman, Mr Erdogan said in a letter to Mr Tinubu that he believed Nigeria under his (Tinubu) leadership would continue its course to a prosperous future.

The Turkish leader also said his country attached great importance to improving its relationship with Nigeria as the strongest nation in Africa.
“I believe that as our strategic partner, Nigeria, under your leadership, will continue its course to a prosperous future. Türkiye attaches great importance to improving its relations with Nigeria, as the strongest nation in the African continent,” Mr Erdogan.

Other world leaders who have congratulated Mr Tinubu since he was announced the winner of the presidential election on 1 March include President Xi Jinping of China, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, President Emmanuel Macron of France and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.

Read the full statement below:
Turkish President Erdoğan congratulates Tinubu as Nigeria’s next leader 
President of Turkey, Tayyip Erdoğan, has joined the list of world leaders that have sent congratulatory and goodwill messages to Nigeria’s President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

President Xi Jinping of China, United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, are among the global leaders that have since sent goodwill messages to Asiwaju Tinubu.
In his congratulatory letter, President Erdoğan, who described Asiwaju Tinubu as a brother, called for cooperation and partnership that would further the friendly relationship between Turkey and Nigeria.

Erdoğan, in his letter, also underscored the importance of Nigeria as the “strongest nation in the African continent” while wishing Asiwaju Tinubu a successful tenure of office that will usher in progress for the people of Nigeria.

President Erdoğan wrote, “On behalf of the Turkish Nation and my own, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Your Excellency on the occasion of your election as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at the elections held on February 25, 2023.

“I believe that as our strategic partner, Nigeria, under your leadership, will continue its course to a prosperous future. Türkiye attaches great importance to improving its relations with Nigeria, as the strongest nation in the African continent.

“With this understanding, I have no doubt that with our joint efforts, we will develop friendly relations and the growing close cooperation between our countries to the mutual benefit of our people.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/593036-turkish-president-congratulates-tinubu.html

113 Likes 9 Shares