The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigeria newspaper

  • ‘We won’t allow imposition of Urhobo as Bayelsa deputy Gov’

    Ijaw youths on Monday told the Bayelsa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that they would resist his attempt to make someone from the Urhobo ethnic group a Deputy Governor in Bayelsa, the only Ijaw homogeneous state.

    The youths, who rose from their meeting in Warri, Delta State, vowed to mobilise people to vote massively against the PDP in Bayelsa if its running mate had questionable identity.

    The youths, who said they met under the auspices of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide, said Bayelsa belongs to Ijaw people adding that they would only support known indigenes, whose roots are traceable to other states.

    The group in a statement signed by James Kombowei appealed to the people of Bayelsa to beware of PDP’s antics and wondered why the party leadership allowed the ambition of a few persons to colour its style of politics.

    He said: “We have observed what is happening in Bayelsa PDP and it is indeed a sad commentary. We don’t know Governor Seriake Dickson with this kind of politics. Despite the hullabaloo against his choice of the PDP candidate, he still gave him the ticket. Diri is a known Ijaw man and we are comfortable with him.

    “What we can’t allow is imposing anybody, whose lineage is linked to Urhobo on Ijaw people as a deputy governor. We are asking the PDP and the governor to drop the idea if they are nursing it. Anyway even if they don’t stop because they may be blinded by some ambition, we don’t have any qualms with that.

    Read Also; Crisis rocks Bayelsa PDP over choice of running mate

    “We only pity them. Thank God there is credible alternative elsewhere. So, we are asking all the Ijaw people in Bayelsa to reject the pair of PDP motivated by greed and direct their votes to other parties that have the interest of Ijaw people”.

    He urged Dickson to steer clear from those who wanted the downfall of the only homogenous Ijaw state by imposing an Urhobo man as the deputy governor of the state.

    He described the act as the shame of the century nurtured under the supervision of governor Dickson, adding that persons blindfolded by their personal and selfish political ambitions would always fail.

    He said the Ijaw people had resolved never to mortgage the only homogenous state to a non-Ijaw insisting that it was an abominable act to try to impose an Urhobo deputy governor on Ijaw people.

    “We will campaign round the Ijaw Nation especially Bayelsa State to elect only 100% Ijaw tickets. We will prefer to elect even an uneducated Ijaw person to govern over our Ijaw state than allow a non-Ijaw to lead our proud Ijaw nation.

    “We believe that Governor Dickson will not allow this evil which is clearly against the ethos and logos of the Ijaw struggle which he has always stood for”, he said.

  • BBNaija: Omashola wins Veto power

    Omashola Oburoh has won this week’s veto power of chance in the ongoing BBNaija season four.

    With this card, he gets to save and replace himself if he is put up for eviction.

    Omashola can also decide to another housemate with the privilege and put himself up for eviction.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Omashola clinched the card on Sunday night, shortly after Venita’s eviction.

    The challenge, which was the fastest so far in the game, saw Omashola win 100 Bet9ja coins and the save and replace privilege that comes with the position.

    The challenge was a simple one of unlocking a padlock from one steel wire mesh and placing the unlocked padlock on a stool next to the table of keys.

    There were 33 padlocks locked on the steel wire mesh with their keys placed randomly on the table.

    Read Also: BBNaija: Omasola’s blunt diary session sets social media platforms agog

    All the Housemates were asked to do was pick one and open a padlock. The Game did not go long as expected as Omashola unlocked a padlock in record time.

    Although Omashola was the first to unlock his padlock, he was closely followed by Mercy and Ike.

    The Icy pair have been doing quite well in house games recently. They both competed fiercely to jointly win the current Head of House title.

    Following his win, an excited Omashola, who escaped eviction on Sunday, shouted, “I get another week in the House.”

  • Crisis rocks Bayelsa PDP over choice of running mate

    The choice of running mate to the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has thrown the party into crisis ahead of the November 16 election.

    The issue was said to have assumed a dangerous dimension following the insistence of the state Governor, Seriake Dickson, to zone the slot to his western senatorial district in order to pave the way for the incumbent senator representing the zone, Senator Lawrence Erwujakpor to emerge as the running mate.

    Despite earlier denials, Dickson was said to have perfected the process of making Erwujakpor, who hails from his Sagbama Local Government Area, a running mate to enable him realize his senatorial ambition in case PDP emerged victorious after the election.

    While most party leaders were said to have warned the governor against the plot describing it as political suicide, stakeholders from former President Goodluck Jonathan’s Eastern Senatorial District said they deserved the position for a sense of belonging in the party.

    The stakeholders under the auspices of Bayelsa East Forum for Justice (BEFJ) said having picked the candidate from the Bayelsa Central, it was natural to select a competent party man with requisite political clout and popularity from the East.

    Speaking in Yenagoa, the Chairman, BEFJ, Monday Eribo, described the feelers that the slot for running mate had been zoned to the West as sad and an attempt to deprive the people of the East what was due them politically.

    Eribo insisted that the plot was motivated by greed and warned that if not rescinded it was capable of handing over the state on a platter of gold to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Read Also: Ignore Oshiomhole’s ‘hostile’ comments, Obaseki orders aide

    He said: “So, we are therefore condemning and rejecting it and calling on our beloved Governor Seriake Dickson not to fall for such grievous political mistake. We are also calling on party leaders at the national and state levels to wade into the matter and on time.

    “We urge our flag bearer, Senator Douye Diri, to name his successor from the East. We understand he is under pressure at the moment but he should do the right thing if we must win the election and the right thing is what he knows.

    “Let us state categorically that the man they are planning to use as running mate, Senator Lawrence Ewrujakpor is a bad market at this point in time because he hails from Sagbama Local Government Area. If Ewrujakpor is a true party man we urge him to come out now and disassociate himself from the plan to foist him on us.

    “Let us remind our countryman governor that he must win the governorship election for our party first before talking about his senatorial ambition. Also, those clamouring for speakership from our zone should not forget that if we lose the election, their ambition of becoming speaker will hit the rock”.

    Also, Concerned Bayelsa PDP Stakeholders (CBPS) condemned in strong terms the decision of Dickson to zone the running mate of the party to his senatorial district.

    The concern stakeholders in a statement described the decision as an outrageous political mistake that would work against the PDP in the November 16 governorship election.

    In the statement signed by Chief Ere Opukiri and Omonibo ThankGod, the stakeholders rejected the governor’s action, saying it betrayed his earlier stance that he would not take the running mate to the West in the interest of justice and fairness.

    They wondered what had changed and called on the governor not to fall for the temptation of zoning the position to the West, especially Sagbama where he hails from.

    They maintained that if he went ahead with the decision, there would be mass exodus of members of the party, especially from the East, which would reduce the chances of the PDP to retain the governorship.

    They said: “We are shocked that Governor Dickson who was opposed to the ambition of Fred Agbedi to take over from him because of zoning will now make a u-turn to favour his kinsman from Sagbama.
    Continue on Page 2

  • BREAKING: Ekwunife, Ubah triumph over Umeh, Uba

    Senators Uche Ekwunife and Ifeanyi Ubah have been declared the winners of the February 23, 2019 National Assembly elections in Anambra State

    Ekwunife of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for Central Senatorial Zone defeated Sen Victor Umeh of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).

    Read Also: PDP asks Buhari to quit over minister’s ‘plea for pardon’ on certificate

    Also, the Tribunal ruled in favour of Sen Ifeanyi Ubah of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) against Chief Chris Uba of the People’s Democratic Party PDP in Anambra South Senatorial Zone.

    Details shortly…

  • Ignore Oshiomhole’s ‘hostile’ comments, Obaseki orders aide

    Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has ordered his aides not to reply what he described as “very hostile statements credited to our revered National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.”

    A statement signed by Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Barr. Paul Ohonbamu said the statement was an onslaught against the governor and government of Edo State and has been trailed by enquiries about the state government’s response to the attacks, from various stakeholders, both within and outside the country.

    Read Also: Oshiomhole blames Obaseki for Edo Assembly’s night inauguration

    Barr. Ohonbamu stated that Governor Obaseki instructed that no state actor, within the Edo State Government, should make any comment whatsoever or join issues on the ensuing hostile comments and discussions.

    He said, “Obaseki said he has chosen to pursue the path of peace and reconciliation in dealing with these issues in the interest of the good people of Edo State and our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

  • Updated: Tribunal sacks Ebonyi PDP Rep Member

    The National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State on Monday sacked the candidate of representing Ikwo\Ezza South Federal Constituency, Lazarus Ogbee.

    The Court also declared the Plaintiff and Candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Chinedu Ogah winner of the election.

    Ogbee, candidate of the People’s Democratic Party(PDP) was declared winner of the election conducted on 23rd February 2019 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    INEC had declared that Ogbee won with 31,296 votes while it allotted Mr Chinedu Ogah of All Progressive Congress APC, 27,700 votes

    But Ogah disagreed and proceeded to the tribunal where he urged the court to declare him winner.

    He alleged that there were deductions of his votes in some of the polling units and wards in the election.

    The tribunal headed by Justice Sika Henry Aprioku agreed with Mr Ogah and restored over 8000 votes earlier cancelled by INEC in some wards in the constituency.

    The court held that the final results of the election from evidence presented before it should be 36,238 votes for the APC as against PDP’s 33,263 votes.

    The Tribunal also directed INEC to immediately issue the APC candidate certificate of return and withdraw the one issued earlier to the PDP candidate.

    “It is the first respondent that won the majority of the lawful votes in Ezza south. The total number of votes scored by the petitioner(APC) and first respondent(Ogbe) for Ezza south/ Ikwo federal constituency is tabulated as follows; Ezza south LGA APC 8, 311, PDP 17,139. Ikwo LGA APC 27, 927 PDP 16, 127. The total votes for APC is 36, 238 . The total votes for PDP 33, 200 votes.

    “It is the petitioner that scored the majority of the lawful votes having scored 36, 238 votes as against the PDP candidate the first respondent who scored 33,200 votes. We entirely agreed with the petitioner that he scored the majority of the lawful votes from our own computation.

    “The certificate of return issued to the 1st respondent by the 3rd respondent (INEC) as representing Ezza south/Ikwo federal constituency is hereby withdrawn forthwith and must be issued to the petitioner, Comrade Chinedu Ogah as the winner of the election conducted on the 23rd of February, 2019 to the membership of the House of Representatives to represent Ezza South/Ikwo federal constituency”, the tribunal ruled.

    Read Also: PDP asks Buhari to quit over minister’s ‘plea for pardon’ on certificate

    Reacting Mr Chinedu Ogah expressed happiness over the judgment.

    “ It showcased that the mandate of the masses has been restored. This has shown what the tribunal can do. They really looked in the eye of the masses. They have seen that the masses voted for the APC”, Ogah said.

    Counsel to the PDP, Roy Nweze said the PDP and her candidate will appeal the judgment.

    “I want to say that I am not altogether disappointed with the judgment because I expected that it will be this way. We will start drafting the notice of our appeal today, he said.

    Counsel to the petitioner, Tofa Mba Okweni, SAN hailed the Tribunal for carrying out a correct and authentic computation of the result.

    “We looked at the entire result of the election when we reviewed the whole thing and found out that the polling unit result which forms the basis of the election were not what were collected at the ward level and we filed our petition challenging the result declared by INEC on the grounds that they did not collate the proper result of the election.

    “What they collated did not reflect the outcome of the election at the polling units. We then asked the tribunal which has power to do by the electoral act to re-compute the result of the election based on the outcome of the election at the polling units”, he said.

  • Five most powerful women in Nigeria

    Nigeria is blessed with courageous women who cannot be overlooked in the economic, political and social growth of the country.

    These women have steered the course of history in a usually male-dominated environment. They have made a distinct impact with their selfless works and their ambitions have brought them national and international recognition. Here are some few influential women in Nigeria today:

    · Folorunso Alakija: One of the top of the league of influential women is a 68- year old business baroness. She carved her niche in fashion, oil and printing industries. Alakija was listed as the second most powerful woman in Africa after Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the 87th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes in 2015. She was 80th most powerful woman in 2016 but dropped off in 2017, according to Forbes.

    According to Forbes her real time net worth is $1.1bn. She is 19th Africa’s Billionaire of 2019. She is the group managing director of The Rose of Sharon Group which consists of The Rose of Sharon Prints & Promotions Limited and Digital Reality Prints Limited and the executive vice-chairman of Famfa Oil Limited.

    · Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: Board member, Standard Chartered Bank, Okonjo-Iweala is a highly respected and influential global leader, economist and policymaker.

    The two-time former Minister of Finance was born on 13 June 1954 and is an economist and international development expert. She sits on the Boards of Standard Chartered Bank, Twitter, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) and the African Risk Capacity (ARC).

    Her achievement so far has set upcoming ladies to be determined to be successful in life and she is a woman worth emulating. Dr Okonjo-Iweala has received numerous recognitions and awards, which include: 50 Greatest World Leaders (Fortune, 2015), the Top 100 Most Influential People in the World (TIME, 2014), the Top 100 Global Thinkers (Foreign Policy, 2011 and 2012), the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the World (Forbes, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014), the Top 3 Most Powerful Women in Africa (Forbes, 2012), the Top 10 Most Influential Women in Africa (Forbes, 2011), the Top 100 Women in the World (The Guardian, 2011).

    Read Also: What you probably didn’t know about Aisha Buhari

    · Ibukun Awosika: She is one of the most successful female entrepreneurs in Nigeria that refused to be pulled down by the fear of the female career limitation in the country.

    She had a passion for entrepreneurship, which lead her into being the founder of a furniture manufacturing company named Quebees in 1989, which eventually evolved into The Chair Center Limited, one of the biggest furniture companies in the industry. Ibukun has contributed immensely to the economy of Nigeria.

    · Aishat Buhari. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari born 17 February 1971 is the First Lady of Nigeria and wife of the President Muhammadu Buhari. She is a cosmetologist, beauty therapist and author, mother of five children.

    For years, Mrs. Buhari has run a successful business as the founder/managing director of Hanzy Spa and principal of Hanzy Beauty Institute, a beauty salon in Kaduna and Abuja.

    She is a resource person to the National Basic Technical Education (NBTE) on beauty therapy and cosmetology and has participated in the curriculum development of small medium enterprises for NBTE.

    Aisha closed her beauty salon following emergence of her husband as President. The President’s wife is a powerful career woman that is worth of emulating. She is a women’s right activist and child right Advocate, and she has criticized child marriage and homosexuality.

    Aisha Buhari is a vocal advocate of women’s rights and children rights and this was a focal point during her campaign for her husband’s election in 2015. She has, on several occasions, emphasised the need for young girls to get primary and secondary school education before getting married, saying that she believes no girl should get married before the age of 17.

    Aisha is a woman of virtue and has contributed successfully to the growth of the country.

    · Amina Mohammed: She was born on 27 June 1961 and is the current Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and a former Minister of Environment of Nigeria.

    Her position in the United Nations is the second in command of the entire UN system, with a budget of $5.4 billion. Amina shares stages with major world leaders and is working to better share the humanitarian work of the United Nations and encourage reforms within the system, including on climate change, the Every Woman Every Child initiative, women’s health and developing future African political leaders through the African Women Leaders Network.

  • BREAKING: Tribunal upholds El-Rufai’s election

    The Governorship Election Tribunal sitting in Kaduna has upheld the victory of Governor Nasir El-Rufai of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the valid winner of the March 9, 2019.

    The tribunal chaired by Justice Ibrahim Bako dismissed the petition of the People’s Democratic Party(PDP) candidate Isa Ashiru’s challenging El-Rufai’s victory.

    Read Also: Governorship election: El-Rufai knows fate Monday

    Reading the judgement, Justice Bako said Ashiru, who is the petitioner failed to provide substantial evidences to prove his case.

    Details shortly….

  • JAMB apprehends another candidate for allegedly altering UTME score

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has arrested a 19-year-old female candidate, Rejoice Mordi, for allegedly falsifying her 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) score from 164 to 264.

    Mordi was arrested in Abuja on Tuesday following an invitation by the board to its headquarters in Bwari.

    The father of the teenager, Frank Emordi, had petitioned the board for issuing her daughter two separate results from the same examination.

    The board recalled that upon receipt of the complaint, it invited the candidate to appear before it.

    JAMB’s Head of Information, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, stated this in a statement yesterday in Abuja.

    Benjamin said the candidate confessed before the board that she got the fake UTME result from an agent, identified simply as IyanuOluwa, through a WhatsApp message and she wanted to see that it was changed on her UTME portal.

    Read Also: JAMB to use NIN for 2020 UTME registration

    According to Benjamin, the candidate from Delta State explained that she met the agent who collected her registration number and those of three other candidates.

    “The agent later sent a fake UTME result to Mordi’s phone,” Benjamin said in the statement.

    He added that the candidate had been handed over to “security agents for further interrogation aimed at revealing her collaborators”.

    The statement added: “The 19-year-old, who falsified her 2019 UTME result from 164 to 264, had petitioned for giving her two results in the 2019 UTME. The board, upon receipt of the complaint, invited the candidate who appeared before the board in company of her father, Frank Emordi.

    “The Registrar, Prof Is-haq Oloyede, read the riot act to the petitioner and her father and gave them a grace period to retrace their steps, knowing that there is forensic analysis that she falsified the score.

    “Upon the expiration of the opportunity, after a thorough examination of the evidences, the candidate owned up to her misdeeds. She said the agent sent the inflated result to her through a WhatsApp group, which she had deleted.

    “Checks by the board revealed that the candidate had made three successful attempts at checking her result. However, on the candidate’s dashboard, 164 score still remained. She had since been handed over to the security agents for further interrogation.”

    The candidate’s father appealed to the registrar for clemency.

    He said: “I talked to her (Rejoice) and she said a guy she met at the centre collected her registration number and three of her friends’. The man was the one who forwarded the results to them through WhatsApp. If she had informed me about that, I would not have followed her to the JAMB office.”

  • Just in: Tribunal upholds Senator Ordia victory

    National and State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Benin City has upheld the election of Senator Clifford Ordia representing Edo Central senatorial district.

    It dismissed the petition filed by Mr. John Osagie Inegbedion, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), for lacking in merit.

    Inegbedion had asked the tribunal to declare him winner of the election.

    In its ruling, the tribunal held that the petitioners failed to prove their case of vote buying and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.

    It said the video clip played before the tribunal showing people thumb printing was not demonstrated by any witness and expunged it from the records of the court.

    Read Also; Tribunal sacks Ebonyi PDP Rep Member

    The tribunal ruled that the petitioners failed to name any voter that was bribed or bought with money.

    In the unanimous judgment, the tribunal said all the documents tendered by Inegbedion while giving evidence were wrong because he could not have been present at all the polling units.

    It said no witnesses said anything in the exhibits tendered by Inegbedion adding that the petitioners had to prove their allegations polling unit by polling unit.

    The tribunal further held that the reliefs sought by the petitioners were declarative and that a candidate of an election cannot be affected by the conduct of its political party.