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Tag: postpones

  • Cross River: Confusion as APC postpones ward congress

    Confusion trailed the conduct of the All Progressives Congress ward congresses in Cross River State yesterday.

    It was gathered that the Stanley Ekezie-led Ward Congress Committee which arrived Calabar, the state capital, on Friday evening had in a meeting with stakeholders agreed to shift the congresses by 24 hours to Sunday.

    They had also agreed to have a meeting on Saturday morning by eight o’clock in this regard.

    By eight o’clock yesterday, party members and stalwarts from across the state had convened at the party’s secretariat premises for the meeting but the committee members were absent.

    The situation generated tension as members accused the committee of being hijacked.

    After waiting for hours party stalwarts like Hilliard Eta, National Vice Chairman South-South; Okoi Obono Obla, Special Assistant to the President on Prosecution; Senator John Owan-Enoh, Hon Cletus Obun, Prof Eyo Etim Nyong, Hon Venatius Ikem, Hon Paul Adah, Barrister Utum Eteng, among others led members to a hotel in Calabar where the Committee members were staying.

    According to Eta, they were going to lay siege to the hotel to ensure that the committee members came out to ensure the right thing is done.

    The party stalwarts who spoke with our reporter accused the National President, John Odigie Oyegun, and the National Organising Secretary, Osita Izunaso, of being behind the crisis in the party in the state.

    They all eventually, with the committee members, returned to the party secretariat for a meeting presided over by Eta, where they resolved that the congresses be postponed indefinitely and the election materials be handed over to the Commissioner of Police for custody.

    In a resolution at the end of the meeting, signed by Eta, Obla, Owan-Enoh, Eteng, Adah, Nyong, among others, they accused the ward congress chairman, Ekezie of colluding with others to rig the process.

    According to the resolution, vigilant members of the party discovered already prepared and filled result sheets and other incriminating document in an SUV vehicle parked in the hotel.

    “In the light of the above have resolved that we do not have confidence in the Chairman, Stanley Ekezie, and other members of APC Cross River State Ward Congress to superintend a credible free, fair and transparent Ward congresses in Cross River,” they said.

    The chairman of the Congress Committee, Stanley Ekezie, who said nothing throughout the meeting, also declined comment.

  • TMC postpones induction ceremony for Fela Kuti

    TMC postpones induction ceremony for Fela Kuti

    The Temple Management Company has postponed the induction of Fela Kuti the post-induction performances by Femi Kuti and Seun Kuti, initially scheduled to hold on May 25th, 2017 at Hard Rock Café, Lagos.

    According to a statement from the organisers; “Owing to unavoidable circumstances, the Fela induction and post-induction performances by Femi Kuti and Seun Kuti scheduled initially for Thursday 25th May 2017 at Hard Rock Café, Lagos has been postponed. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your continued support.”

    The statement further added: “The Temple Management Company prides itself on the highest standards of security, logistics and event preparation. Following a thorough reconnaissance of the venue and the concurrent hosting of another significant event within the same premises, we have agreed, along with Hard Rock Café, the Kuti Family and our other partners, that it is prudent to reschedule the Fela events to a later date.”

    The event was supposed to be the induction ceremony of the late King of Afrobeats, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, into the Music Memorabilia Collection of the Hard Rock Cafe.

  • Edo APC postpones Buhari’s wife’s visit

    Edo APC postpones Buhari’s wife’s visit

    A possible clash between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for the use of the Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium for campaign rallies of wives of presidential candidates of both parties has been averted.

    Dame Patience Jonathan and Aisha Buhari were scheduled to be in the state on March 14 for a campaign rally at the stadium at the same time.

    State Chairman of PDP Chief Dan Orbih, who announced the coming of the First Lady, said Mrs. Jonathan would visit the oba’s palace before proceeding to the stadium to address women and party faithful.

    The chairman displayed a letter from the state government approving the use of the stadium for the PDP rally.

    He said the party paid N1,050,000 to the State Internal Revenue Service for use of the stadium.

    “We shall receive the First Lady at the stadium. We have concluded plans to give her a wonderful reception. She has been a pillar of support to Mr. President.”

    But the state government, in its reaction, said the mix-up was occasioned by the laxity on the part of the officials of the Ministry of Sports who, without reference to their supervisors, proceeded to collect money and issue receipt to PDP to use the stadium.

    Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Louis Odion, said the ministry officials were aware that the APC applied last week and received approval for the use of same facility on Saturday.

    His words: “In fact, jingles were already running on local television and radio stations announcing that the wife of APC’s presidential candidate would be in Benin that day to deliver the message of change to Edo women.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to state that being the owner of the facility, Edo State government reserves the right to insist that the party that got approval first would use the stadium. In the circumstance, we imagine the idle denizens of Edo PDP must by now be salivating at the prospects of having an opportunity to unleash mayhem on peace-loving people of Edo State with the excuse that money was collected from them.

    “But we are civilised people. In deference to the Office of the First Lady, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has graciously directed that Mrs. Patience Jonathan have her day on Saturday while the wife of the APC presidential candidate will have her turn another day.”

  • APC postpones state congresses

    APC postpones state congresses

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has postponed its state congresses scheduled for Wednesday, April 23.

    The party said the postponement is to allow its governors attend the rescheduled expanded National Security Council meeting, which was fixed for that day to discuss the security situation in the country.

    In a statement yesterday in Lagos by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the postponement was a confirmation of its stand to be part of all genuine efforts to end the insurgency in the country.

    APC also said the postponement was part of its strong belief that bipartisanship must replace the crass partisanship of the Presidency and the ruling party, if the security crisis was to be overcome.

    The pary reiterated its earlier warning to the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) not to politicise Nigeria’s security, and to desist from seeking to profit from the current state of widespread insecurity in the country.

    It said: “Cunningly edging out the APC governors from Thursday’s meeting of the expanded National Security Council is a bad strategy because, despite belonging to the opposition, our governors are not any less of stakeholders on our nation’s security than governors of the PDP or its satellite parties.

    “As a matter of fact, three of the states, which are worst hit by the insurgency, are being presided over by APC governors, hence they are indispensable to any serious effort aimed at ending the security conundrum.”

    APC wondered what the governors of the PDP, Labour Party (LP) and the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) could have discussed with the President at Thursday’s surreptitious meeting that they did not want APC governors to know about.

    It said: “Every trick in the book was employed to give APC governors the impression that the meeting had been called off, only for those who believe they are the ‘real stakeholders’ to go ahead with the meeting, and then attempt to deceive Nigerians into believing that APC governors shunned the meeting. Unfortunately for the deceivers, truth – as always – has prevailed and they have fallen on their own swords.”

  • LOC postpones Bash Ali’s world record fight

    LOC postpones Bash Ali’s world record fight

    The Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the Guinness Book of World Records fight involving Cruiserweight boxer, Bash Ali, has been postponed indefinitely.

    Ali, who confirmed the postponement in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said it was to enable the LOC to finalise arrangement with the host state.

    NAN reports that the fight against Rick Camlin, a 32-year-old International Boxing Union (IBU) boxer from the U.S., was earlier fixed for May 31 at a yet-to-be-named venue.

    According to Ali, four states in the country were bidding to host the fight which is expected to attract an estimated 12 million viewers worldwide.

    “Anybody that comes up with 1 million dollars will win the hosting right.

    “We don’t want to let the cat out of the bag; by the time the first state drops the money on the table, I will call you personally to announce it,’’ Ali said.

    He told NAN that the LOC had also designed a Website from where information about the fight would be communicated to the public.

    Ali, who gave the Website address as “www.boxingtoshocktheworld.com’’, noted that everything about the fight was going to be African.

    “Everything about this fight is going to be African. My real trainer, White Horse, is in Lagos; once we start training, he will be here.

    “All my sparing partners will be Nigerians so that when we win tomorrow, people will not say it was because we had the services of a foreigner or a white man.

    “I am going to train here. When we go to Germany, Italy and France, it’s just to make noise.

    “The main training is going to be here in Nigeria because we have the facilities; we have punching bags and we have human beings to spare with.

    “We have a weather that makes you sweat without throwing punches unlike abroad where you are freezing; you have to walk out to sweat, but here everything is natural,’’ Ali added.

    The boxer noted that the country’s weather condition would give him an edge over his opponent whom, he said, would be mentally tortured by the heat.

    “By the time my opponent stays 15 minutes inside the ring, he will be sweating.

    “He would have fought about 20 rounds on his own mentally because of the heat by the time the fight starts,’’ he said.

    NAN reports that Ali had struggled for seven years to enter his name in the Guinness Book of World Records before Bolaji Abdullahi, the former Sports Minister inaugurated the LOC on Jan.7.

  • Progressives in UK postpones conference

    The progressives rescue mission, scheduled to hold on June 20 at the Hilton London Dockland, has been postponed.

    Organisers of the conference, the All Nigeria Progressives Merger Group United Kingdom (ANPMGUK), said it would now hold on August 18 at the Hilton London Dockland, UK.

    In a statement by the Head of the Communication Unit, Dr. Ibrahim Emokpaire, the group said the programme was postponed because of “certain events critical to the success or otherwise of the conference that surfaced after we had made our conference date public and the subsequent advice from the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership in Nigeria, supporting the need to move the conference to August.”

    It said the decision to change the conference date would not affect the group’s determination to remind the international community of its social obligation to Nigeria as an emerging and struggling democracy.

    The group added: “It will not affect our resolve to showcase on the international stage, the efforts of the opposition in Nigeria to change the way the country is governed. It does not shake our faith in the contemporary relevance of the progressive principles in government and what Nigeria and the international community stand to benefit if the political direction of the nation changes in favour of the APC in 2015.”

    While apologising to the invited guests over the postponement, it said: “We remain steadfast in our determination to coalesce and synergise with the progressives in Nigeria to rescue the country from the brink emanating from poor governance, inept political leadership and the absence of a strategic direction or credible roadmap to get it out of the present quagmire.”

  • NTTF postpones Pastor E.A. Adeboye Championship

    NTTF postpones Pastor E.A. Adeboye Championship

    The organisers of the maiden edition of Pastor E.A. Adeboye, National U-20 Table Tennis Championships earlier scheduled for Jan. 14 to March 3 has been postponeded due to logistics reasons.

    Segun Oguntade, the Secretary, Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Wednesday that it would now hold between Feb. 13 and Feb. 28. He said the competition would hold at the Redeemed Christian Church of God Camp on Lagos/Ibadan express way.

    “The aim is to identify and promote young ones in the sport. It promises to be a memorable one

    because it will afford them the opportunity to exhibit their skills. The championship have been postponed to next month because the organisers want it to be interesting and there are some things that

    need to be put in place. The championship is open to Christians and non-Christians who are under 20 years irrespective of where they come from,’’ Oguntade said.

    The star prize money is N1.5 million for the first position, N800, 000, for the second and N500, 000 for the third. Winners from each zone of the country in the male and female categories will also get N250, 000.

    Oguntade said that state elimination would start on Feb.13 to Feb.16 across the country pointing out that the vision is to produce good players who will represent the country at the 2016 Olympic Games and come back with medals.’’

  • Buhari postpones 70th birthday celebration

    Former Head of State and the National Leader of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday expressed shock and a sense of loss on the death of Governor Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna State, the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Owoye Azazi and others.

    He described their deaths in an air crash in Bayelsa State on Saturday as a monumental national tragedy.

    A statement issued in Abuja by the CPC National Publicity Secretary, Rotimi Fashakin, reads: “Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the National Leader of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), expresses personal grief and a deep sense of loss over the death of the Governor of Kaduna State, Sir Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, the National Security Adviser, Gen. Andrew Owoye Azazi and others on Saturday in a helicopter crash in Bayelsa State. This is a monumental national tragedy and Gen. Buhari sees it so.

    “For this reason and as a mark of honour to the dead, he has directed that the ceremony marking his 70th birthday scheduled for December 17 at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja be postponed indefinitely.

    “He has conveyed his apology to the Chairman of the occasion, Gen. T.Y. Danjuma and the Guest Speaker, Bishop Matthew Kukah, for the inconveniences caused by this cancellation.

    “In the same vein, other guests that have cancelled scheduled engagements to attend the ceremony deserve Gen. Buhari’s apology. A new date shall be announced later.

    “This is another difficult time for the nation. It calls for a sober reflection. Gen. Buhari commiserates with the families of the deceased, especially the government and people of Kaduna State on the great loss. May the Almighty God grant them the fortitude to bear the irreplaceable loss.”

     

  • NPL postpones 7th Annual Congress

    NPL postpones 7th Annual Congress

    The Nigeria Premier League (NPL) has announced the indefinite postponement of its 7th Annual Congress earlier scheduled for Saturday, November 17, 2012 in Kano.

    Executive Secretary of the league’s management board, Tunji Babalola, in a statement explained that the postponement was in compliance with the directive from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the nation’s apex football ruling body.

    “Following the directive of the Nigeria Football Federation to suspend all Pre-season activities, I have the instruction to inform all the clubs and other stakeholders that the Congress earlier scheduled to hold on the 17th of November, 2012 has been put on hold till further notice,” Babalola wrote in the memo dated Thursday, November 15, 2012 and sent to all the Premier League clubs and States Football Associations.

    Babalola added that the new date for the Congress will be communicated to the clubs and other stakeholders.

    Meanwhile, clubs that are yet to submit their registration materials for the 2012/2013 league season to the NPL secretariat in Abuja for processing have been strongly advised to do so without further delay.

    The NPL also advised the various clubs to intensify their preparations for the new season.

  • CAF postpones Champions League 2nd leg final

    CAF postpones Champions League 2nd leg final

    The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Thursday announced the postponement of the second leg of the final round of the Orange CAF Champions League 2012. This is contained in a statement issued by CAF on its website, cafonline.com.

    The statement said the match, which was earlier scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 9, Nov. 10 or Nov. 11, had been rescheduled to be played on the weekend of Nov. 16, Nov. 17 or Nov. 18. It said that the change was to avoid a clash in the final of the African Women Championship (AWC) qualifiers, which will hold on Nov.11.

    “CAF says that it has decided to reschedule the match number 116 (2ND leg of the final) in CL2012, to be played on the weekend of Nov. 16, 17, or 18, 2012 instead of the initially designated date in the fixtures (Nov. 9, 10 or 11, 2012).

    “This exceptional change was motivated by the willingness to avoid clash of calendar with the final of the African Women Championship (holding on Nov. 11, 2012) and will allow each finalist team to have 2 weeks between each leg of the final,’’ the statement said.