News / politics

TeeMac makes U-turn, says Tinubu is competent to lead Nigeria

TeeMac had earlier warned Nigerians not to vote for Tinubu in the presidential election. In a new statement released by the Delta State-born flutist, TeeMac said the competence of Tinubu to lead Nigeria is not in doubt.

“My attention has been drawn to a post that has gone viral on Social Media regarding a private banter with a Facebook acquaintance on the eligibility of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” part of the statement read.

“Whilst it is regrettable that such a private conversation went viral video from a Facebook Account, let me state that the conversation was taken out of context. In the first instance, I have high regards for the person of the APC Presidential candidate; a two (2)-Term Governor of Lagos State, and a revered leader of the APC. I have lived in Lagos since I relocated from Switzerland, and I can attest to his transformational impact in the State.”

“More significantly is his ability to identify and engage exceptionally and committed technocrats in governance with tangible results over time, and maintaining relationships with them, and others across board. This, I believe will be replicated if he is given the opportunity at the Federal level.”

“His all-inclusive style of governance has seen people from other states, ethnicities and faith take up appointments in Lagos, serving meritoriously too! Consequently, his competence is not in doubt. I only expressed my fear for the rigors of the office.”

“My personal view is that anyone can choose any candidate, but must ask themselves if they have chosen rightly. This is a pertinent question for everyone. I simply admonished a friend to vote by his convictions. My only grouse, which I still stand by is that it was Tinubu who sold Buhari to the nation in 2015, which candidate, contrary to all expectations, underperformed.”

“The above notwithstanding, I neither have a personal grudge with Asiwaju, nor would pursue a path of acrimony with my cousin, Remi Tinubu, whom everyone adjudged pleasant and

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News / politics

APC presidential primaries: Seven aspirants step down for Tinubu, one for Osinbajo

Seven aspirants on Tuesday night stepped down for the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in the ongoing presidential primaries of the party.

The aspirants announced their decisions in their speeches to the leadership of the party and delegates at the Eagle Square.

So also did one aspirant, Felix Nicholas, announce that he was stepping down for the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN).

Those who stepped down for Tinubu, a former Governor of Lagos State, were a former Governor of Akwa Ibom State and former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio; Ekiti State Governor and Chairman, Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; Jigawa State Governor, Abubakar Badaru; former Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Dimeji Bankole; only female aspirant, Uju Ebeze Kennedy-Ohanenye; and Senator Ajayi Borofice. Other aspirants who went solo included Pastor Tunde Bakare, Rotimi Amaechi, Rochas Okorocha and Ogbonnaya Onu. voting, which started at past 2am on Wednesday, was ongoing as at press time after a disruption occasioned by encroachment.…

News / politics

Osinbajo group to Tinubu: VP won’t step down for you

The umbrella organization of all pro-Yemi Osinbajo support groups, The Progressive Project, has said that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will not step down for the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress in the race for the 2023 presidential ticket.

The TPP Director of Operations, Alhaji Usman Aliyu Usman, stated this amid suggestion Osinbajo will step down for Tinubu ahead of the party’s primaries.

Usman said in a statement on Sunday that “some paid agents and other supporters who feel threatened by the candidature of Professor Osinbajo seem determined for a gutter fight which Osinbajo supporters cannot join”.

He said: “One of our visible supporters, Professor Olusola Adeyeye, a two-term Senator who represented Osun Central Senatorial District between 2011 to 2019 made some weighty statements about the APC presidential primaries on Saturday and by Sunday, really baseless and mischievous anti-Osinbajo statements began circulating. “Unfortunately, one of these came from Mr. Daniel Bwala, an aide to Deputy Senate President, Senator (Ovie) Omo-Agege who currently appears to moonlight as spokesman for the Bola Tinubu campaign.

“Specifically, without any proof, Mr. Bwala started circulating a video clip with claims that Professor Yemi Osinbajo is ‘allegedly planning to step down for Asiwaju’; Mr. Bwala had no evidence and he ought to know better than going to town with such.

“Without doubt, Professor Yemi Osinbajo is still riding high in the race and our decision not to interfere in some camps’ deliberate spread of illusion and untruths is only motivated by our genuine confidence in our candidate’s prospects.

“As stated long ago, no group linked to TPP will join any individual or group in playing gutter politics or smearing others but we need to unequivocally state that Professor Yemi Osinbajo is not contemplating any measure of capitulation to any candidate.

“While we are sworn to total allegiance to the Constitution, patriotic values and the spirit of good sportsmanship, we denounce the misleading information and unbecoming tricks that some supporters in other presidential candidates’ camps embrace so eagerly.

“We denounce too, the baseless ad unhelpful information …

News / politics

2023: I’ll never drop presidential ambition – Kalu

The Chief Whip of the Senate, Orji Uzor-Kalu, has said that he did not drop his 2023 presidential ambition, as reported by some sections of the media.

He said he would contest the presidential ticket of the All Progressive Congress if the party zoned it to the South-East.

Kalu, who cleared the air over a statement he released on Tuesday, maintained that equity demanded that the South East should be supported to get the presidential ticket of the APC.

He said, “My stand is very clear, I didn’t drop my presidential ambition and I will never drop it. “I only urged our brothers from the South-South and South-West geo-political zones who came out en masse to contest for the office of the president to drop their ambition and support us because of equity.…

Law / News / politics

Trial of Nnamdi Kanu will lead to end of IPOB – Presidency

The Presidency has expressed confidence that the conclusion of the ongoing trial of the Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, will lead to the end of the group.

The Presidency spoke in reaction to an Editorial by The Economist, a London, United Kingdom-based magazine.

The magazine had faulted the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari on several fronts, including the war against banditry and insurgency, the economy and handling of the IPOB issue.

Reacting through the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, the Presidency said: “In the South-East, IPOB – which the Economist rightly describes as “delusional” – the arrest and present trial of the terrorist leader of the group is the beginning of its demise. “The President’s administration is redoubling efforts to have IPOB rightfully designated as a terrorist group by our allies outside of Nigeria – an act which will collapse their ability to transact gains from crime and extortion in foreign currencies.

“It is important to remind the Economist and the global media that this group’s aggression and widespread presence on social media does not reflect their public support, for which they have none: all elected governors, all elected politicians and all elected state assemblies in the South-East – which IPOB claim to be part of their fantasy kingdom – reject them completely.”…

News / politics

Ohanaeze lambasts Dokpesi over 2023 presidency

Apex Igbo socio-political group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has berated the Chairman of Daar Communications Limited, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, for saying the South East cannot win the 2023 presidential election for the Peoples Democratic Party.

The position of Ohanaeze Ndigbo was contained in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alex Ogbonnia.

It said it was disheartening that Dokpesi, one of the leaders of the South South Peoples Assembly, would profile the entire South as electoral liability to the PDP and back the North for the presidency.

It said: “One can easily understand the psychological ambivalence in the Dokpesi persona. On the other hand, there is no reason for the condescension and disdain he handed over to the entire south. According to him, ‘even I dare say there is no candidate from the south that you put in the north today that will be able to win.’ In another development,  Dokpesi recalls his friendship with Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his support for Tinubu’s presidential ambition. For the avoidance of doubt, several educated refined patriotic northerners are allergic to the supremacist born to rule entrepreneurs which has created the current Nigerian dilemma. “All the 17 southern governors in their meetings have resolved on the need for a power shift to the south. The Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi committee on zoning has declared that the national chairmanship of the  PDP should go to the north, while the Presidency should go to the south.

“It is therefore curious, the kind of appraisal parameters or kind of epitaph that the business mogul, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, wishes to be remembered. In one sentence, Dokpesi proclaimed that “If we are the Nigerians, I want us to be, if we believe in the unity of Nigeria and we also believe in equity, justice, and fairness, there is no reason we should not give it to the South East if the slot is given to the south. In another breath, Dokpesi averred that ‘whoever emerges as the president of Nigeria would have to compensate the people of the South East …

News / politics

Kogi alleges smear campaign against governor

Kogi State Government has raised the alarm over the alleged smear campaign against Governor Yahaya Bello ahead of the 2023 general elections.

There have been speculations that Governor Bello is interested in the Presidency, a move that has unsettled some major political actors.

Addressing journalists during its quarterly press briefing, yesterday, the Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, who highlighted some of the achievements of the governor, said the state government was aware of plans to paint the governor in bad light ahead of the 2023 general election.

According to him, plots by certain persons to impute embezzlement of the state’s funds on the governor have been unraveled.

His words: “With all of these achievements, it is unfortunate that some disgruntled political liabilities are still bent on launching a smear campaign on the person of Alhaji Yahaya Bello and the Government of Kogi.”

He revealed that several bloggers and media-guns-for-hire had been contracted on retainer to regularly sully the public space with claims of embezzlement by the governor and his administration.

Fanwo added that some of the figures planned to be thrown around in the days, weeks and months to come represented more money than the administration had even seen together at one time.

“We hope that the press will be vigilant and activate their investigative offices before running with such fabricated and unfounded allegations. Despite intense pressure and lobbying from across the country and even Nigerians in the Diaspora, Bello has not told anyone that he is running for President in 2023.

“His Excellency’s position is that he will give an appropriate answer to his supporters at the appropriate time. But Intelligence reports at our disposal show that a certain person is at the center of this conspiracy. We will respond to him with the applicable legal force. Our gentleness must not be mistaken for cowardice,” he warned.…

News / politics

2023: Why PDP chairmanship won’t determine zoning of presidency – Obi

The Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the 2019 elections, Peter Obi, has adduced reasons whey the zone from which the party’s National Chairman comes may not determine the zone that will produce its presidential candidate.

The Eagle Online recalls that the party has scheduled its National Convention to elect a National Chairman for October 30, 2021.

Obi, who spoke on Arise TV on Monday over speculations that if the chairmanship of the party goes to the South, the zone would not be given the opportunity to produce the presidential candidate in 2023, said things would be different.

He said: “I cannot speak on what the zoning committee is going to do, but let me assure you that even in the discussions that we have had in various meetings, I do not see the zoning of the chairmanship as a determinant that the other zone would produce the presidential candidate.

“Everybody today knows that things are not what they should be in Nigeria and we have to get it right in 2023.

“If we get it wrong in 2023, it would be very bad for the country.

“So, we have to get it right.

“We must look for competence and someone who has capacity in the knowledge of what it means to serve or lead this country.

“We are on the wrong road and we cannot continue this journey on this road.

“So, if the chairman comes from one zone, it would not stop people from the other zone from contesting.

“We are dealing with something that can be moved from one zone to the other.

“I can tell you that 2023 would be totally different because everybody is struggling to make sure that we do not get it wrong.

“I cannot determine where the zoning would go but we would wait and see, then we would look into it.

“In the event that the PDP zones to the North, I cannot speak for any state in the South East on how they would vote, but I …