Politics

2027: Coalition Of Notable Stakeholders, Professionals, Others Roots For Ogunesan For Senate

2027: Coalition Of Notable Stakeholders, Professionals, Others Roots For Ogunesan For Senate

By Stephen Gbadamosi, Ibadan Prominent stakeholders in Oyo North Senatorial District, Oyo State, South-West Nigeria, are poised to support the aspiration of an administrator, Mrs. Hannah Olawumi Ogunesan, in 2027. Ogunesan seeks a seat in Nigeria's Senate to represent her people. A group under the aegis of Paradigm Shift Initiative (PSI), comprising politicians, professionals, traders, market men and women, the youth, students, and various interest groups, is said to have launched a grassroots campaign to plead for "one of the most pragmatic Heads of Service in the history of the Oyo State Civil Service, Mrs. Hannah Olawumi Ogunesan, to join…
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2027: El Rufai Denies Joining PDP, Threatens Legal Action Against Rumour Peddlers

2027: El Rufai Denies Joining PDP, Threatens Legal Action Against Rumour Peddlers

By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna Immediate past Governor of Kaduna state, North-West Nigeria, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, has strongly denied reports which claimed that that he is set to join the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), ahead of 2027. El Rufai was Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) during the PDP administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo. The former governor, who rebutted claims of his impending return to PDP, in a statement shared on his verified X (formerly Twitter) account, described the reports as “patent lies and rumors." He warned the public to disregard the reports as fake news, declaring that he…
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Exclusive! Nigerians Sharply Divided Along Religious Lines Over Tinubu’s Tax Bill

Exclusive! Nigerians Sharply Divided Along Religious Lines Over Tinubu’s Tax Bill

By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna As the back and forth over Tax Reform Bill (TRB) of the President Bola Tinubu administration lingers, the number of supporters of, and those against, the bill have continued to widen by the day. A noticeable, worrying perspective to perception of the bill is that it seems to now wear regional, religious and faith togas, depending on what part of the country one comes from. The Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF), mostly of the core north, and Emirs first rejected the bill in a communiqué issued at the end of their meeting held at Sir Kashim…
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N5.2b contracts payment: Again, FCT local contractors urge Tinubu to order Wike to pay

N5.2b contracts payment: Again, FCT local contractors urge Tinubu to order Wike to pay

Three weeks after local contractors of Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), owed about N5.2billion by the Administration, penned an open letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over their plight, they claim no word has come to them yet from Aso Villa on the vexed matter. The contractors also claim that the payment bill is for public welfare contracts given, procured, executed and certified for payment in the life of the administration of current FCT Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike. These include jobs in school and hospital equipment, furniture in Minister's conference room, drainage and others.However, they remain downcast that the Minister…
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Why Trump Is Bad for Africa

Why Trump Is Bad for Africa

By JULIUS OGUNRO The US presidential election is only a few days away and polls show Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump statistically tied with no clear sign of a victor. This is probably the closest US presidential election ever. Harris, the Democratic Party’s candidate, and Republican Trump are campaigning tirelessly in the battleground or swing states, where both parties have no overwhelming support and either can win, making the states highly competitive and crucial for the outcome. Whoever wins the election has serious implications for the rest of the world, especially the continent of Africa. Because…
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T-Pain As A Salesman Of Hope

T-Pain As A Salesman Of Hope

Tinubu’s 'Renewed Hope Agenda' has led to the wiping out of the country’s once thriving middle-class. This is no way to renew a people’s hope. But who will tell Mr. President that Nigerians need to be alive today to enjoy the glorious dawn that only him envisions? Who will tell Mr. President that merchandising hope to a hapless people with the promise of a better tomorrow when he is living large in the present buying luxury yacht, state-of-the-art aircraft, exotic presidential limousines, etc. smacks of fraud? By IKECHUKWU AMAECHI For those who may not know, T-pain is President Bola Tinubu’s…
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The Charade, From Edo To Rivers State

The Charade, From Edo To Rivers State

By SHEDDY OZOENE As we read this, the results from Saturday's local government elections in Rivers State are still filtering in. The elections held in spite of the refusal by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to avail the state electoral body an updated version of the state's voters register. To add to the intrigues, the Police - supposedly acting on a court ruling - abdicated its responsibility and refused to be part of maintaining lawful conduct of the polls. The elections held all the same and by the time all the results are called, Governor Sim Fubara will surely…
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If I Were Asue Ighodalo

If I Were Asue Ighodalo

The Edo election has confirmed what every discerning Nigerian knows: the Mahmoud Yakubu-led INEC is a fraud with no moral fibre to conduct free, fair and credible elections. If I were Asue Ighodalo, the latest victim of Nigeria’s soulless electoral mafia, I will not go to court. The matter will be settled on the streets of Edo. If that is what those inclined to being politically correct call anarchy, so be it. Truth be told, unless and until Nigerians show the capacity to resist the malfeasance of INEC and their enablers on the streets, not in courts, this impunity will…
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Edo Polls And The Famous Product Vendor

Edo Polls And The Famous Product Vendor

AZU ISHIEKWENE By his admission, Senator Adams Oshiomhole is a lousy product vendor. In the real commercial world, his premises would have been closed and his products banned. But in politics, crime multiples grace. Oshiomhole dragged Godwin Obaseki into the governorship race in 2016 when the odds were against him. Obaseki’s daytime job was minding his business at Afrinvest, a financial services company he founded. But he soon landed a side hustle as chairman of the Edo State Economic and Strategy Team in Osadebey House, Benin. When Oshiomhole wanted to hand over the baton in 2016, after two terms as…
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Edo Election: Monday Okpebholo Copies From The Tinubu Playbook

Edo Election: Monday Okpebholo Copies From The Tinubu Playbook

By SHEDDY OZOENE  Monday Okpebholo, the 54-year old governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Edo State has been in the news since the past 10 days. He had veered off from the pleasing words of the average Nigerian politician by promising the people ‘insecurity’ if elected governor. The video recording of his campaign rally at Ovia North LGA where he goofed while addressing the crowd, has been trending across Edo State and beyond. It has also fired up concerns among people of the state about his suitability for the job, notably Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party…
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