LG Elections: Explosion Rocks APC Secretariat

A loud explosion occurred at the All Progressives Congress (APC) secretariat in Rivers State, causing widespread destruction.  The incident took place along Aba Road in Port Harcourt, just hours before the scheduled Local Government Council elections.  Dynamites were reportedly used in the attack, which severely damaged the secretariat’s structure, pulling down the gate and destroying doors, windows, and other property.  The blast caused panic in the surrounding area as residents fled for safety.  Further updates on the situation are expected.

President Tinubu’s Much Touted Independence Speech: A monumental Let Down

President Tinubu must be living in an alternate universe and in a denial bubble if he thinks “Nigerians worldwide can look back to see how well we have succeeded in realizing the lofty dreams of our founding fathers”. That single line so early in his 64th independence presidential speech set the tone for the speech and it tanked it from the get-go. It is so off-putting, so disconnected from reality, I totally lost interest in reading the rest of the speech. The heroes of our independence could not have envisaged that 64 years after, the nation they fought for would be unable to feed its citizens, still be so consumed by the virus of ethnic animus in geometruc proportion than what they faced, be overrun by bandits and kidnappers with tens of millions of its children panhandling for survival instead of being educated in schools. Our country had the largest population out of school children in the entire world. That was not the country they fought for.   If the President thinks that Nigerians can see any light at the end of the tunnel, he must be totally disconnected from the daily Hobbesian reality in which his citizens live. Our people are locked up in the prison of their home unable to get to work due to unavoidability of fuel to power their cars or pay for public transport. State governments are telling their workers to stay home and not come to work because the cost of transport is greater than their wages.   Children are going to bed on absent stomach with formula 001 which Obey sang about decades ago looking now like a faraway unobtainable Nirvana.   I am a supporter of the Tinubu presidency who strongly believes that our economy was desperately in need of a major reform shock treatment to prevent our match to the apocalypse. Hence, I have defended his reform agenda as necessary even though it is imposing unbelievable pain on the citizenry. I am also not blaming him for the despondency in the country and our collective failure. Only a jaundiced and blind fool would blame a 16-month presidency for the dysfunction of 64 years. In fact I commend President Tinubu for taking the hard road instead of continuing in our delusion of riches that was sinking our country deeper and deeper into the abyss. His reform policy was the painful surgery our country needed to remove its festering malignancy.   However, the president is failing to show the needed empathy to put a soothing balm on the pain of the people. He is failing once again to understand that government is part policy, part public relation and public perception. He is failing woefully in the public relation, public perception part and if not urgently addressed it might further sour people on his presidency and tank it.   People are not so more interested in his enumeration of his many policies nor new proposals like the proposed youth confabs. Nigerians have lost faith in confabs with our very long history of meaningless national confab jamborees with their resolutions left on the shelf to gather dust. The Nigerian youths want jobs, schools that are conducive to learning not the dilapidated pig pens they are forced to learn with no teachers nor resources to prepare them for the highly competitive knowledge driven global digital economy. They are not interested in hobnobbing with well fed, rosy-cheeks, government officials and politics bigwigs.   Nigerians are so consumed with the insurmountable challenge of meeting the most basic requirements of minimal existence which have been priced beyond the reach of the middle class if they even exist not to talk about the masses. They are sick and tired of looking their children in the face at night and tucking them in bed on an empty stomach: Husbands are tired and ashamed to live off of the bounty of their wives’ adulterous exploits to put food on the table. They are looking for an empathetic presidency to acknowledge their pain, to accept and own the responsibility that their reform policy is a major source of their pain. They want President Tinubu to reassure them that their pain has a terminal date and that even though it looks like the darkest night, that the sun shall shine again on the other side. They are not interested in being told to deny their daily reality by being told that Boko Haram and bandits have been eliminated when they are afraid to leave their homes, or to go to their farm without the fear of kidnappers and bandits. Not even great Michelangelo can paint over the Hobbesian reality in which the Nigerian citizens are living. The president will do himself a great favor by acknowledging it even as he is convinced and confident that his policies are the right one to save the country. I also believe that his policies will work if we are patient.   His most urgent task is to calm the restive passengers on the wobbling ship he is captaining on a violent sea or risk a stampede that will capside and doom a voyage to the promised land. He should learn great lessons of Moses in the wildness leading his Israelites people to the promised land. I am his great supporter but he needs to do a better job of feeling the pulse of his citizens and communicating with them.   Presidential speeches, especially in moments of crisis like we are going through, are historical documents that are carefully and methodically crafted, with each word, infection, tonality and even commas carefully chosen, debated and analyzed to meet the exigency of the moment. Once again the people around the president did him great disservice by inserting some of the totally disconnected from reality lines, so early in his speech instead of the president spending a big portion of his speech empathizing with the pain, anguish, suffering, and the disillusionment with the country, with its democracy, with his reform

Okpeboholo, APC Govs create scene, kneeling to greet Tinubu at the Villa

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu received  the Edo state governor-elect, Monday Okpebholo, at the State House, Abuja. Okpebholo is accompanied by the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, and some of the governors elected on the platform of the party. When President Tinubu reached for a handshake with Okpebholo, the Edo Governor-elect fell to his knees to receive the President’s stretched arm. Among the governors spotted in the entourage are the chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Hope Uzodimma (Imo), Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq (Kwara), Uba Sani (Kaduna), Usman Ododo (Kogi), and Dapo Abiodun (Ogun). Also on the entourage is the Senator representing Edo North Senatorial District, Adams Oshiomhole, and deputy governor, Philip Shaibu. It would be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Okpebholo the APC winner of last Saturday’s governorship election in Edo State.

President Tinubu’s UNGA79 Address: Some Key Points

In Nigeria’s national statement delivered at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) late Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu, made an appeal to global leaders, urging them to prioritize debt forgiveness for Nigeria and other developing nations. The president emphasized the need for relief from multilateral financial institutions and creditors during the 79th Session of the UNGA in New York. Represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, Tinubu stressed that the nations of the Global South cannot achieve meaningful economic progress without concessions on their overwhelming debt burdens. His call for debt relief and reforms came amid the pressing economic challenges these nations face. In a press release issued by Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), the Nigerian leader highlighted to the UN how the global debt crisis is crippling countries’ abilities to address the needs of their citizens. He also pointed out that trade barriers and protectionist policies are shattering nations’ aspirations, while unchecked competition is stifling motivation and obstructing global investment opportunities. The Debt Management Office, in its Q1 2024 report, revealed that Nigeria’s total domestic and external debts amounted to ₦121.67 trillion ($91.46 billion). With state governments seeing a 122% increase in external debt servicing in the first half of 2024, the economic strain has been severe, with Kaduna and Lagos states paying the highest servicing costs. During the first half of 2024, Nigerian states witnessed a 122% rise in external debt servicing, reaching ₦139.92 billion, up from ₦63.06 billion in 2023. This increase was driven by escalating borrowing costs due to currency depreciation, which has severely affected state-level spending and fiscal stability. Addressing world leaders, Tinubu stated, “We must ensure that any reform of the international financial system includes comprehensive debt relief measures, to enable sustainable financing for development. “Countries of the global South cannot make meaningful economic progress without special concessions and a review of their current debt burden.” The Nigerian leader also called for the recovery of funds lost through corruption and illicit financial flows. He urged international cooperation to recover and return stolen assets, noting that the return of such funds to their countries of origin is essential under the United Nations Convention against Corruption. “Therefore, the international community must promote practical measures to strengthen international cooperation to recover and return stolen assets and to eradicate safe havens that facilitate illicit flows of funds from developing countries to the developed economies,” The Nigerian leader said. Tinubu expressed concerns over rising nationalism and unilateralism, warning that these trends threaten global peace and cooperation. He argued that such an inward focus detracts from efforts to tackle pressing issues like terrorism, climate change, poverty, food crises, inflation, and growing debt. The President also underscored that multilateralism, rooted in inclusivity, equality, and cooperation, remains the surest path toward addressing these challenges. Reflecting on global conflicts and other ongoing crises, Tinubu highlighted the UN’s failure to achieve its core objectives, stating that billions of dollars are funneled into wars and conflicts rather than resolving issues such as poverty, hunger, and inequality. “Today, these pillars of our organisation are threatened. They risk being broken by the relentless pursuit of individual national priorities rather than the collective needs of the nations that are assembled here today. “While commitment to multilateralism offers us the surest guarantee of global action to address the existential challenges we face, singularity and nationalism are undermining the aspirations towards the peaceful and collective resolution of such challenges. “From last year’s summit, and indeed from previous years, we have carried over the numerous challenges of terrorism, armed conflict, inequality, poverty, racial discrimination, human rights abuses, food crises, hunger, irregular migration, piracy, global pandemics, hyper-inflation, nuclear proliferation, grinding debt burden, climate change, and a host of other vexations. “The continued manifestation of these challenges testifies to our failings rather than to any lofty achievements on our part. Billions of dollars are being committed to the prosecution of wars and the fanning of the embers of conflict,” he said. Tinubu reaffirmed what he termed “Nigeria’s steadfast commitment to the deepening of multilateralism,” just as it did 65 years ago when it joined the United Nations as the 99th member-state. “We remain committed to that desire to remain friendly with all nations and participate actively in the works of the United Nations, as expressed by our founding Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa,” he said. Speaking on Africa, Tinubu expressed deep concern over the resurgence of military coups and unconstitutional changes in governance. He explained that these events underscore the fragility of democracy when not accompanied by economic development, peace, and security. These challenges, he said, must be a central focus of deliberations at the UNGA, as the lack of development and security fuels dissatisfaction among African citizens. “Our people need employment. They need decent livelihoods. They desire good and affordable education and healthcare for their children and families. They need to live in healthy, safe and secure environments. They need hope and they need opportunity,” he added. Tinubu also called for reforms in the global financial system and a fair, transparent multilateral trading regime. He urged that the “Pact for the Future” be used to reposition developing economies and implement concrete measures to overcome their unique challenges. “It is for this and other reasons that we reiterate the call by countries, especially of the global South, for reform of the international financial architecture and promotion of a rules-based, non-discriminatory, open, fair, inclusive, equitable and transparent multilateral trading system,” he noted. Addressing the issue of insecurity, Tinubu highlighted how it has driven citizens into extreme hardship, eroding their trust in democracy. He emphasized that restoring confidence in democratic governance and constitutional order is a responsibility that rests with the global community. He stated, “We cannot build durable societies with the threat of terrorism, banditry and insurgency growing in our countries and regions. Indeed, violent extremism remains an existential threat to both national and international peace, security and

Tinubu Reacts As INEC Declares Winner Of Edo State Governorship Election

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has congratulated Senator Monday Okpebholo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in Saturday’s Edo State governorship election, on his victory at the polls. Senator Okpebholo was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday, having defeated other contenders for the position. The off-cycle election had 17 candidates contest for the exalted seat at the Dennis Osadebay House in Benin City, The governorship election was held in 4,519 polling units across the 18 local government areas of Edo State. In a statement on Sunday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu commended the APC national leaders, Edo State leaders, and party governors for working hard to achieve victory. He stated that the victory testified to the people’s support for the ruling party, its progressive ideals, its economic reengineering programme and its commitment to improving the lives of Nigerians. The president urged Senator Okpebholo not to gloat over his victory but to see it as a challenging call to service. He encouraged the Edo State Governor-elect to demonstrate magnanimity by reaching out to his political rivals and uniting the people of Edo State to ensure its development. Tinubu also praised other candidates who participated in the election for their contributions to advancing Nigeria’s democracy, saying peaceful political contests, such as the one on Saturday, portray Nigeria as a stable democracy. The President urged all those aggrieved by the election outcome to seek redress through the legal channels. In addition, Tinubu hailed the people of Edo State for their orderly and peaceful conduct during the election, underscoring the maturing of Nigeria’s democracy after 25 years. “I commend the INEC and our security agencies for working round the clock to conduct a successful, peaceful and largely hitch-free exercise. “INEC has once again demonstrated that it is committed to organising a free and fair election in our country”, Tinubu said

LG Elections in Benue state: Alia visits Tinubu

Gov Alia Wasn’t Stoned By Youths, Benue Govt Debunks Reports

Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, says the forthcoming Local Government elections in the State will be transparent.   Governor Alia said this when he briefed State House correspondents in Abuja after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa on Thursday.   The Governor also noted that the relative peace in the State will be sustained before, during and after the Local Council polls.   Fr. Alia explained that the State was prepared for any eventuality, following the release of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon.   The Governor told State House correspondents that his administration will hire about 100 teachers to ensure quality education in Benue State.  

Coca-Cola Company announced plans to invest $1 billion in Nigeria over the next five years.

President Tinubu’s spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga made the claim in a statement released after Coca-Cola met with President Tinubu.   The statement reads: “President Bola Tinubu has reiterated his administration’s commitment to creating a robust financial system and a business-friendly economy that will attract more foreign direct investments.   “The President made the commitment on Thursday in Abuja, as the Coca-Cola Company announced plans to invest $1 billion in Nigeria over the next five years.   “The announcement was made at a meeting between the President and the global leadership team of Coca-Cola Company, led by Mr John Murphy, its president and chief financial officer, and the Chairman of Nigerian Bottling Company, Ambassador Segun Apata.   “President Tinubu commended Coca-Cola for its long-standing partnership with Nigeria and for promoting investment opportunities that have employed over 3000 people across nine production facilities.   ”We are business-friendly, and as I said at my inauguration, we must create an environment of easy-in and easy-out for businesses.   ”We are building a financial system where you can invest, re-invest, and repatriate all your dividends. I have a firm belief in that,” he said.   “President Tinubu told the delegation that private sector partnerships, which sustain investments, are central to his government’s far-reaching reforms to improve the business environment.   “He pledged that the government would continue partnering with Coca-Cola to expand investments in Nigeria and address environmental issues, including climate change.   ”The size of this country is enormous in Africa, and the consumption capacity of Nigeria is expanding daily,” President Tinubu added while commending the company for scaling up its skill development and community initiatives as part of its corporate social responsibility.   Presenting an overview of Coca-Cola’s business in Nigeria, Murphy noted that the company generates N320 billion annually through nearly 300,000 customers and contributes almost N90 billion in revenue to the Nigerian government.   ”We are very proud of the growth of the business over a long period and its impact on the daily lives of many Nigerians.   ”Beyond the financial impacts, we are also very committed to supporting the communities, and over the last number of years, we’ve had a special focus on several areas in the world of sustainability, water packaging and others, ” he said.   Mr Zoran Bogdanovic, CEO of Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, explained that the company’s confidence in Nigerian government policies had encouraged it to make the $1 billion investment pledge.   ”Mr President, in your inaugural address, we were very pleased to hear of your invitation for foreign investors to invest and your assurance that foreign businesses can repatriate dividends and profits.   ”That assurance gives us the confidence to continue our investments. Since 2013, we have invested $ 1.5 billion in Nigeria in capacity expansion, transformation of our supply chain infrastructure capabilities, training and development.   ”I am very pleased to announce that, with a predictable and enabling environment in place, we plan to invest an additional $1 billion over the next five years.   ”We believe Nigeria’s potential is tremendous, and we are committed to working with the government to realise this potential.”  

Nigeria Socioeconomic turmoil: Tinubu to skip UNGA

In apparent reaction to the disquiet in the camp of the “owners of Nigeria”, President Bola Tinubu has decided to skip the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), opting to focus on Nigeria’s pressing domestic challenges. President Tinubu who has been on a junket, visiting country capitals in Europe, Asia and North America while the country literally burns, says the current decision to cool heels at home is in deference to the gigant Maiduguri flood that has taken over 30 lives and affecting over a million people.   Irked by the apparent indifference of President Tinubu to the suffering of Nigerians due his economic policies, some former military rulers and strategic generals, so-called ‘owners of Nigeria,’ gathered in Minna at the hilltop home of former President Ibrahim Babangida to sketch an alternative to a second term of President Tinubu.   A statement issued on Thursday by Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, which disclosed President Tinubu’s decision, also said Vice President Kashim Shettima will lead Nigeria’s delegation in his place   The President’s move is seen as a prioritization of local concerns over international diplomacy, as President Tinubu aims to address the immediate needs of Nigerians affected by the floods.   The UNGA, scheduled to take place from September 24 to 28, 2024, will feature discussions on sustainable development, peace, and human dignity.   VP Shettima will deliver Nigeria’s national statement to the General Assembly, attend key sideline events, and engage in bilateral meetings, ensuring the country’s interests are represented on the global stage.   “President Bola Tinubu will not attend the 79th United Nations General Assembly session in New York this year.   “The President has thus directed Vice President Kashim Shettima to lead Nigeria’s delegation.   “President Tinubu, who returned to the country last Sunday after his trip to China and the United Kingdom, wants to focus on domestic issues and address some of the country’s challenges, especially after the recent devastating flooding.   “At UNGA 79, Vice President Shettima will deliver Nigeria’s national statement to the General Assembly, attend important sideline events, and hold bilateral meetings.   “The high-level General Debate, with the theme ‘Leaving no one behind: Acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations’, will run from Tuesday, September 24, through Saturday, September 28, 2024”, the statement said.  

Tinubu meets Charles at Buckingham Palace

President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday evening, met with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace in a bid to further diplomatic ties between Nigeria and the United Kingdom.   According to sources close to the President, the meeting aimed to bolster existing partnerships and explore new avenues for cooperation between both nations.   The visit marks the second meeting between President Tinubu and the British monarch, with their first encounter taking place in November 2023, during the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.   Details of the discussions remain undisclosed, but the continued engagement between the UK and Nigeria highlights mutual interest in global issues and economic growth.