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

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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/

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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

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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

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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

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7-Storey Building Collapses In Banana Island, Workers Trapped

An eight-storey building situated inside the luxurious Banana Island in Lagos State has collapsed.

The building, sources said, is Joe Faraday’s site with ongoing construction works inside it.

A source said while it is unsure what triggered the collapse, concreting was ongoing on the sixth floor before the collapse.

A terse statement by NEMA said workers are trapped in the building and its officials are mobilising the response team to rescue the trapped victims.

https://thenationonlineng.net/just-in-eight-storey-building-collapses-in-banana-island/

Video:https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0UPbRLDnfcQMxL2L7HsD7gTpsC8kY44KCXJe1w7oB7mkcQGmQrbGHqBdrYVFV715gl&id=100071648022961&mibextid=Nif5oz

Seven-Storey Building Collapses In Lagos

A seven-storey building under construction has collapsed in Banana Island, Ikoyi area of Lagos State.

The incident happened on Wednesday around past 3 pm.

Watch the moment the building collapsed https://twitter.com/MobilePunch/status/1646218056849391616?t=2yHbQEZIqmLCNB4rn_35kA&s=19

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Nigeria’s Unemployment Rate To Rise To 41% In 2023- KPMG

Global audit and tax advisory firm, KPMG, has projected that Nigeria’s unemployment rate is expected to rise to 40.6% as compared to 2022’s 37.7%.

KPMG detailed this forecast in its International Global Economic Outlook report – H1 2023 on Tuesday, where it stated that “unemployment is expected to continue to be a major challenge in 2023 due to the limited investment by the private sector, low industrialization, and slower than required economic growth and consequently the inability of the economy to absorb the 4-5 million new entrants into the Nigerian job market every year”.
The report also revealed in part that there are expectations for GDP to continue to grow at a relatively slow pace of 3% in 2023 owing to the slowdown in economic activity that typically characterizes periods of political transition in Nigeria.
Furthermore, the spillover from an expected slowdown in the global economy in 2023 and its trade and financial flow implications are expected to drag
on GDP.
“Additionally, growth will be negatively affected by the Naira Redesign Policy introduced in Q4 2022 and Q1 2023 and its implications on key non-oil sectors like manufacturing, trade, accommodation and food services, transportation, and other services, further slowing down overall GDP growth in 2023,” the report read.

On the resurgence of major aspects of the economy, it forecasted that the telecommunications, trade services, as well as the oil sector, are expected to see recoveries, on account of measures being taken to tackle security issues.

https://www.channelstv.com/2023/04/11/nigerias-unemployment-rate-to-rise-to-41-in-2023-kpmg/

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