Barr. Okey Ezea, the Senator representing Enugu North Senatorial District in the National Assembly, on Saturday, identified the deplorable state of the Otukpo-Obollo Afor-Opi-9th Mile Road as the cause of food insecurity in Southern Nigeria.

Ezea, who said that 80% of the food items consumed in Southern Nigeria come from the North, added that prices of foodstuffs have skyrocketed in the zone due to the impassable nature of the aforementioned road which serves as the only gateway from North to South.

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He made the disclosure during a Town Hall Meeting organized by the member representing Nsukka/Igbo-Eze South Federal Constituency in the House of the Representatives, Hon. Chidi Obetta, to interact with his constituents.

The Senator who said that the attention of the Federal Government has been drawn to the road through motions moved by the lawmakers from the Senatorial District added “The cost of transporting a full trailer load of yam from Zaki Biam in Benue State to Southern Nigeria is higher than the cost of the yam because of the bad state of Otukpo-Obollo Afor-Opi-9th Mile Road. We are hungry in Southern Nigeria because of the current condition of that road.”

In his address to his constituents, Hon. Obetta, who is also the Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Legislative Budget and Research, said that the town hall meeting became necessary in order to identify areas of needs of the constituents.

Hon. Obetta who also opened two constituency offices at Nsukka, and Igbo-Eze South Local Government Areas of Enugu State, equally appointed 36 Special Assistants to aid his interactions with his constituents across the 36 wards in the Constituency.

He equally identified 91 projects across in the Constituency and pledged to tackle them head on.

The Town Hall Meeting was attended by critical stakeholders in the Constituency including the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Charles Igwe, who was represented by his Deputy, Prof. Pat Okpoko; the Labour Party gubernatorial candidate in Enugu State, Chijioke Edeoga; member, representing Igbo-Eze North/Udenu Federal Constituency, Hon. Dennis Agbo.

Others include church leaders; traditional rulers and leaders of labour unions in the state, including members of the Enugu State House of Assembly.

The Court of Appeal, Abuja, has nullified the victory of the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Simon Mwadkwon, who is representing Plateau North- Senatorial District in the National Assembly.

In a unanimous judgement, the three-member panel led by Justice Daudu Williams held that the PDP did not validly nominate Mwadkwon.

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The panel held that it is their view that court orders were not fully complied with by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as 12 Local Government Areas (LGAs) didn’t participate in the congress.

The court also ordered a rerun for the Plateau North Senatorial seat to be conducted in 90 days.

The court cited non-compliance with a subsisting court order from the Plateau State High Court made since 2020 for the PDP to conduct Congress before nominations, as a key factor in their decision.

The panel at the Appellate court led by Justice Okon Abang also nullified the victory of PDP’s Musa Avia representing Bassa North in the House of Representatives.

The Abuja appeal court judgment that favored Hon Abubakar Babazango (Abaza) representing Yola North/Yola South/Girei Federal Constituency of Adamawa State has banned Hon Salihu Mohammed Abba Girei, the PDP candidate that was removed for forging a primary school certificate of ten years active politics and public service.

The judgment elated the people of Yola, especially the All Progressives Congress, APC, and described it as a welcome development that will strengthen democracy in the country.

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The judgment which was delivered by a three-man team of judges said Girei is not supposed to hold any public office because of his shameful show of leadership irresponsibility to the nation.

Justice Moore Asemoi A. Adumei from Bayelsa who read the judgment ruled that the sum of five million naira be paid to Hon Babazango the current member representing the area as damages by Girei for making him incur losses and go through psychological stress.

Justice Moore further ruled that Girei will refund all Salaries , entitlements, benefits and all legislative utilities collected for the period he was serving as an illegal House of Representatives member.

Justice Moore alongside Justice Joseph Olubunmi Kayode (Osun State) and Justice Rilwan Maiwada Abdullahi (Nassarawa) are of the view that the likes of Girei are a disappointment to the nation and they should not be allowed to hold any public office.

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State escaped an assassination attempt while on his to an official event in Abuja on Sunday evening, according to Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Femi Fanwo.

Fanwo said the attackers who were clad in military uniforms ambushed the governor’s envoy and started shooting at his vehicle.

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The statement read, “The Kogi State Government wishes to inform the general public that there was an assassination attempt on the Governor of the state, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, CON, a few kilometres away from Abuja, on his way to an official engagement from Lokoka. The attack occurred at about 4pm on Sunday, October 22, 2023.

“The attackers who were dressed in military uniforms waylaid the Governor’s convoy and started shooting sporadically at his vehicle and other vehicles in the convoy.”

While the attack was reportedly foiled by the quick intervention of the security agents, the commissioner blamed it on the activities of certain people who were trying to display the state as unsafe ahead of the governorship election scheduled for next month.

“It took the swift intervention of the security personnel attached to the Governor to foil the satanic plans of the unknown soldiers. The attacks were at three different points, the last barricade being around Kwali Federal Capital Territory at about 4.20pm.

“The report of these strange attacks has been properly documented at security offices in the state and at the national level for prompt and thorough investigations to avert future occurrences.

“We are not oblivious of the fact that certain elements are bent on painting Kogi unsafe ahead of the Governorship Poll slated for November 11, 2023. As an administration, we will spare nothing to ensure our citizens are not subjected to security threats by desperate politicians sponsoring violence and terrorism.

“We call on the citizens to remain vigilant and report suspicious movements in the domain to relevant security agencies. It is the responsibility of the Government to ensure security and we want to assure you that the peace we have enjoyed as a state in the last eight years won’t be lost on the altar of violent politics.”

Some hoodlums suspected to be political thugs have attacked the house of Pastor Sunday Atabo, Zonal Chairman of Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Kogi State.

The incident happened at his country home in Aja-Odi Agojoeju, Ofu Local Government Area (LGA).

A witness said the hoodlums, wielding dangerous weapons such as AK- 47, cutlasses and rods in their numbers invaded his house on Saturday night and beat him to the state of coma.

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Atabo, who is also the General Overseer of Bible Believers church, Agojeju-Efakwu in Ofu LGA, is said to be currently critically ill and admitted at an undisclosed hospital.

“The hoodlums stormed his house with dangerous weapons, including AK-47s, locally made guns, cutlasses and big sticks. They beat him mercilessly to stupor.

“Thereafter, they charged towards his property, destroying his cars and other source of livelihood,” a family member, James Adaji, said.

According to the state secretary of the party, Dr Arome Okeme, the hoodlums wanted to set the house ablaze.

“But for God, they tried to set his house on fire with his family in it, but the spark wouldn’t light. Currently, Hon. Sunday Atabor is in a state of semi-consciousness, traveling from consciousness to unconsciousness”, said Okeme.

The director of new media of the SDP governorship campaign team, ID Ijele, condemned the act, saying attacks on chieftains and members of the party had been happening.

“The idea behind this dastard act is to scare our leaders and voters from playing their role, including stopping them from coming out to vote on Election Day.”

“We have been reporting such attacks, and we will continue to do so, hoping the security agents will rise up to the occasion to stem the tide of this orchestrated violence attack on our members”, he said.

The party therefore called on the commissioner of police, Department of State Services (DSS), Army, Civil Defence and other security agencies to intervene and bring the perpetrators to book.

The Court of Appeal in it’s rulling on Friday dismissed the petition seeking the sack of the member representing Askira-Uba/Hawul federal Constituency of Borno State, Hon. Midala Balami (PDP).

The appellate court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of Justices, dismissed the appeal that was brought before it by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Tarfaya Asarya.

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The court held that it found no reason to set aside the judgement of the Borno State National/State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal, which earlier affirmed the PDP candidate as the valid winner of the House of Representatives election held in the constituency on February 25, 2023.

The appeal panel led by Justice Chioma Nwosu-Iheme held that under Section 285(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Tribunal had a special jurisdiction to only determine whether anyone was validly elected or not.

It held that the scope of the jurisdiction conferred on the Tribunal by the Constitution could not be expanded to include the determination of the validity of the conduct of primary election or nomination of candidates by political parties.

With this ruling, the Appeal Court has laid to rest the issue of pre-election matter of primary election by political parties, which some Election Tribunals have been using to sack elected lawmakers.

Recall that Labour Party candidates like House of Representatives member, Amobi Oga, from Abia State and other two Reps members from the same State were recently sacked by the Tribunal over pre-election matters. Also, the PDP especially in Imo State where Justice Anthony Akpovi-led National/State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal used the issue of venue of PDP primary election to sack numerous PDP candidates and winners especially the case of Ideato North and South Federal Constituency won by Ikeagwuonu Onyinye Ugochinyere (Ikenga) of PDP which are all currently at the Appeal Court.

Another instance is the ruling by Justice Akpovi-led panel, which used the same pre-election issue to strike out the case of the PDP candidate for Ideato North State constituency seat election, Barr. Kanayo Nwankwo.

The former Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, has warned that Nigeria will never get rich from producing oil.

He made this statement on Thursday at a lecture series organised by the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) in Lagos.

The former CBN governor said that oil was not enough to make the country rich but it was “enough to put us in trouble.”

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He said, “We said, if we did not do something about those subsidies, we would end up where we are today.

“In the short term, the most effective measure to offset the removal of fuel subsidies is cash transfers.

“The design of individual cash transfer programmes varies considerably in reach and coverage. The long-term solution is to reduce dependence on PMS.

“Nigeria will never get rich from producing oil. At best, it represents working capital that can enable the launch of other industries.

“Nigeria produces just 2.3 barrels per person per year compared to Saudi Arabia’s 91.4, Kuwait’s 221.6 and Gabon’s 31.7.”

Sanusi added that bringing economics into public discourse was essential to resetting Nigeria’s economy, which is run based on the ideology of those in power.

“If the state is a rentier state where the people in control see it as an avenue to make money for themselves and their families, they are never going to run an economy in a manner that encourages production and growth.

“If it is run by people who are thinking long-term and of the legacy they will leave behind for their children and the future of the country, they will run different sets of different policies.

“I think every economist knows that multiple exchange rates are a problem, but as long as politicians are able to give themselves a dollar at 400 Naira and sell at 700 Naira, they are not ready to listen to the economists.”

Sanusi urged Nigeria to change course, noting that raising revenue and improving the country’s image were essential to attracting investment and stimulating economic growth.

Former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, has described Nigeria as a country in an unprecedented level of divisiveness and declining sense of national unity.

Anyaoku said the nation’s economy is in doldrums with 133 million of our population in a multi-dimensional poverty, great insecurity, killings and kidnappings by unknown gunmen and marauding bandits.

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The elder stateman made the remarks at the 2023 Convocation lecture at the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Ekiti State, held at the Alfa Belgore Hall of the university.

In his topic: “Management of Diversity: A Major Challenge to Governance In Pluralistic Countries”, noted that Nigeria’s diversity was more successfully managed in the early years of the country’s independence.

“But all this has changed when the military intervened in the country’s governance in January 1966 and changed the existing constitution”.

Anyaoku pointed out that the regions engaged in healthy competition which facilitated rapid development across the country.

He added that in Nigeria today, all our infrastructures including power supply, road and education, health facilities are in poor state.

He pointed out that there is complete bastardization of our society ethical values, and an unfathomable level of corruption evident in the often reported massive looting and mismanagement of the country’s resources including the continuing unbridled theft of crude oil.

He called for a national constituent assembly of directly elected on a non-party basis representatives whose task would be to discuss and agree on a new constitution for Nigeria, taking into account the 1963 and the 1999 constitution and the recommendations of the 2014 national conference.

Founder of ABUAD, Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, who condemned the present situation in Nigeria, said the wealth of the nation is in the hands of few politicians who have made politics a lucrative business.

Babalola called and supported Anyaoku’s position that Nigeria needs a new constitution for the betterment of the country, which he had been clamouring for over 33 years.

Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former military governor of Ondo State, Chief Bode George, says the party given an uppercut in the February 25 presidential election because it deviated from its constitution.

He said the PDP failed to go into the election as a united front and paid the price for the lack of unity.

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the February 25 presidential election.

The PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, approached the presidential elections petitions tribunal to upturn Tinubu’s victory but lost. He had since appealed the ruling at the Supreme Court.

George, however, said he hoped the apex court’s ruling would be in favour of Atiku and PDP.

He said, “I am still hopeful that we will win as we head to the Supreme Court, but if a decision is made, we must be prepared to come down state by state to resolve the crisis created before the elections.

“We can disagree, but we must not be disagreeable.”

The PDP stalwart added that while the outcome of the case was being awaited, the party should seriously focus on reconciliation.

He claimed that the election was manipulated in favour of Tinubu, noting that the crisis in the PDP made alleged manipulation easier.

The former PDP Deputy National Chairman also accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu of manipulating the results by resorting to manual compilation of results after promising to use the electronic system.

“The real postmortem analysis has to be done behind closed doors and not for public hearing. However, everybody now knows there’s no oneness in our party. It was a divided party, and so the opposition was able to manipulate it.

“It’s not a matter of discipline or indiscipline; it is well stated in the constitution of the party. We deviated from it, and we were put straight down; they gave us an uppercut.

“They manipulated the result of the elections, as we can see. What bothered me was that Prof. Yakubu told us that they have gotten a new system, and we are going to use an electronic system. Only to be told on the day that they had a glitch and reverted to the manipulation of the past.

“So, we are in court, and we will see what is going to happen. However, imagine if the party was a solid rock, nobody would ‘cheat’ us.”