DON’T GO TO COURT, CONGRATULATE WINNERS — MARK
Former Senate President David Mark on Sunday urged losers of this year’s general election to congratulate winners rather than go to court.
In a statement by his Special Adviser, Paul Mumeh, Mark said: “All the stakeholders: Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), political parties, security agencies, Media and civil society organisations (CSOs) should take it as a call to national service to ensure hitch-free polls.
NONAGENARIAN THAT LOST SON TO POLICE BRUTALITY CONDOLES WITH RAHEEM’S FAMILY
A 95-year woman, Cordelia Obeya, whose grandson was killed by the police in 2002, has condemned the Christmas day killing of lawyer Bolanle Raheem by a policeman in Ajah area of Lagos State.
Obeya, a veteran educationist believes that education is key to security, peace and unity.
While calling for prayers for the bereaved family, she also emphazised that only the right leadership will tackle extra-judicial killing and other security challenges in the country.
Obeya is the grandmother of the late Nnamdi Ekwuyasi, who was killed by the policeman 20 years ago.
The late Ekwuyasi and Morakinyo Akerele, both undergraduates of the University of Lagos, were killed by a policeman at Falomo Junction, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The two, along with two other students, were driving in an Opel Omega car belonging to Akerele’s mother when they were stopped by a team of policemen at the junction.
GUNMEN KILL EBUBEAGU COMMANDER’S WIFE ON NEW YEAR DAY
Gunmen stormed the home of an Ebubeagu commander in Afikpo South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State on New Year day, killing his wife.
The commander’s country home in Owutu Edda community was also set ablaze in the attack which occurred at around 2am on Sunday.
Confirming the incident in a statement Police Spokesperson, Chris Anyanwu said: “At about 0230hrs of 01/01/2023, the house of the Afikpo-South Ebubeagu Commander, Oyeku Kalu Chima, located at Owutu Edda, was attacked and set ablaze while his wife Urenwa Kalu Chima was shot dead.”
GANDUJE GIVES REASONS WHY NORTH WILL PAY BACK ‘MOST COMPETENT’ TINUBU WITH VOTES
Governor Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje over the weekend, said the north have no reason not to vote for the All Progressive Congress, APC Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2023 general election.
Ganduje stated this during a gathering organized by a support group known as Patriotic Volunteers for Democracy to show solidarity for Tinubu/Gawuna. He said the APC National leader supported President Muhammadu Buhari to become the President after several attempts noting that it is pay back time.
Ganduje also stated emphatically that Tinubu is the most competent for the job, describing him as one who is tested and trusted and with an unbeatable track record.
NDLEA ARRESTS BRAZIL RETURNEE WITH 105 PARCELS OF COCAINE
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a Brazil returnee, Agbasi Prosper Chux with 105 parcels of cocaine concealed in candies at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos on Christmas Day.
Following a credible intelligence, the suspect was intercepted at the ‘D’ arrival hall of the MMIA during inward clearance of passengers from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Doha on Qatar Airways on Monday, 25th December 2022
It was reliably gathered that an initial search of the suspect’s two check-in bags almost made him a free man as there was nothing incriminating found there until the NDLEA officers took a second look at the duty-free shopping nylon bags containing packs of ‘candies’ he was holding in his hands.
IHUBE RESIDENTS CONDEMN KIDNAPPING OF FEMALE ARMY OFFICER
As reactions continue to trail the kidnapping of a female military officer, the invasion of Ihube community and the burning of everything in sight, by military personnel, a villager, who simply identified himself as Emmanuel, for security reasons, condemned the kidnapping of the military officer.
His words: “The act of kidnapping the female military officer, from her maternal home, is a taboo in Igboland. If there is any place a grandchild is respected, protected and honoured, it is in his or her maternal home. So, why was Ihube community desecrated by this condemnable act?”
It was gathered that the soldiers stormed the community on learning that one of their own and a newly commissioned officer, Lieutenant P. P. Johnson, was kidnapped, maltreated, and dehumanized in the area and her nude picture and video making the rounds in the social media.
ADELEKE SUSPENDS HEADS OF AGENCIES, ORDERS PROBE
The Executive Secretary of the Osun Health Insurance Scheme (OHIS), Dr Niyi Oginni and the Head of the Primary Health Care Development Board in the State, Dr Adebukola Olujide have been suspended by Governor, Ademola Adeleke.
In a statement signed by the governor’s spokesperson, Rasheed Olawale in Osogbo on Sunday, Adeleke ordered the Public Procurement Agency and other relevant government agencies to immediately kick off the process to recover all outstanding tender fees on contract awards to which the State Government is a party, in the last four years.
The suspension of the two Chief Executive Officers was sequel to the interim report of the Committee on Contracts and memorandum of understanding chaired by Hon Niyi Owolade which indicted the two agency chiefs of gross abuse of office, mismanagement of public resources and serial violations of agency and public service regulations and laws.
GROUP VOWS TO RESIST EMEFIELE’S REMOVAL
A group, Niger Delta Patriots, has vowed to resist any attempt by any group or individuals to remove Godwin Emefiele as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Arising from an emergency meeting in Port Harcourt, the National Convener of NDP, Mr Victor Okwereogu, stated that those masterminding his removal were enemies of Nigeria’s socio-economic upliftment.
In a statement issued in Asaba, the conveners of the meeting observed that the resistance being met on account of the current monetary policy of the Emefiele led-CBN is a premeditated move to fight against corruption.
SURVIVING ‘MURDERERS’ IN POLICE UNIFORMS WORTH CELEBRATING – ADEBOYE
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has said it is worth celebrating to have survived the so many hurdles that plagued the year 2022.
Adeboye said surviving banditry, kidnapping, COVID-19, including surviving the “murderers wearing police uniforms” was worth celebrating.
The renowned cleric told the congregation during his New Year sermon on Sunday, January 1, 2023, that they were survivors because somebody (God) was taking care of them.
“It is good to celebrate yourself,” Adeboye said, asking the people to go ahead and celebrate themselves.
“You’re going to be helping yourself by visiting two or three people by telling them to celebrate you, tell them: Celebrate me, I’m a survivor,’ he added.
“When you say you’re a survivor, let your neighbor know. Ebola came, I survived, Coronavirus came, I survived, kidnappers are out there, I survived, bandits are out there, I survived, there are murderers wearing police uniforms, I survived. Go ahead, tell three or four people: ‘I am a survivor. Celebrate me,’ the cleric said.
‘EMI LOKAN’ IS A WRONG LEADERSHIP ATTITUDE FOR NIGERIA – OBASANJO
In his New Year message on Sunday January 1, 2023, President Olusegun Obasanjo has said the popular slogan ‘Emi lokan’ meaning ‘My turn’ is a wrong leadership attitude for Nigeria.
Obasanjo in his lengthy letter made available to newsmen by his spokesman, Kehinde Akinyemi, also endorsed the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, for the 2023 presidential election, saying the LP standard bearer had an edge.
The Former President, who was apparently throwing a swipe at the standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu (being the proponent of the Emi lokan slogan), said, “Let me say straight away that ‘Emi Lokan’ (My turn) and ‘I have paid my dues’ are one and the same thing and are wrong attitude and mentality for the leadership of Nigeria now.
“They cannot form the new pedestal to reinvent and to invest in a new Nigeria based on an All-Nigeria Government for the liberation and restoration of Nigeria. Such a government must have representation from all sectors of our national life – public, private, civil society, professional, labour, employers, and the diaspora.
“The solution should be in ‘we’ and ‘us’ and not in ‘me’ and ‘I’.
He reiterates that no human being is an angel let alone a Messiah, but there are elements of these attributes and on comparative basis and by measure of what people like him know of and what some of them have experienced from the front-runners.
