President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated Engr. Abdullahi Garba Ramat as the new Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

Ramat, 39, is a trained electrical engineer and administrator, holding a PhD in Strategic Management, among other academic and professional qualifications.

Alongside Ramat, the President also nominated two commissioners to serve on the NERC board:

Mr. Abubakar Yusuf – Commissioner for Consumer Affairs

Dr. Fouad Olayinka Animashun – Commissioner for Finance and Management Services

The nominations were disclosed in a statement by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.

While the appointments are subject to Senate confirmation, President Tinubu has directed that Engr. Ramat assume duties in an acting capacity to avoid any leadership vacuum at the regulatory agency.

The President urged all nominees to bring their expertise and experience to bear in advancing the administration’s power sector reform agenda.

“The new appointees are expected to work diligently and support the vision of this administration to revamp and stabilise the nation’s power sector,” the statement read.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the upcoming Anambra State governorship election, Chief Jude Ezenwafor, has outlined his priorities if elected, promising to address critical issues including insecurity, education, infrastructure, and economic growth.

Speaking during an interactive session with the League of Anambra Journalists (LAJA) in Abuja, Ezenwafor said his government would adopt practical, results-driven strategies to curb insecurity in the state.

“In Anambra State today there are challenges of insecurity and everyone is concerned about. I intend to adopt a more result-oriented strategy to tackle it,” he said.

The PDP candidate also expressed concern over over-taxation, which he said is stifling businesses and worsening poverty in the state.

“The people of the state are groaning over what I describe as over-taxation, which is crippling businesses and further impoverishing the populace,” he noted.

Ezenwafor promised to create a more business-friendly environment, adding that his administration would ensure greater ease of doing business and promote domestic and external investment.

He further pledged to mobilize the influence and resources of notable Anambra indigenes to improve the state’s economic outlook.

Touching on transportation, the candidate criticized the high cost of air travel into Anambra through the state’s airport, which he said remains higher than neighboring states, despite its importance.

“I wonder why the state government has failed to look into the disproportionate hike in the cost of air tickets for airlines coming into the Anambra airport,” he said.

Ezenwafor, who is still recovering from an assassination attempt in Abuja, recounted how he narrowly escaped death.

The attack occurred shortly after he left the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, where he stopped to buy bitter kola from a roadside vendor.

“Only God saved me from being killed,” he said, describing how gunmen opened fire on him at close range.

On his chances in the November 8 election, Ezenwafor said he’s confident of victory despite what critics say about his profile.

“Contrary to insinuations about my capability, I have made quite an appreciable impact in business, politics, and governance,” he stated.

“My election plan is highly coded and is so unique that by the time I win, others will need to come to me for tutorials on how to contest elections,” he added.

He also noted the rare unity in the PDP’s primary process, pointing out that for the first time in the party’s history in Anambra, there were no petitions or court disputes following the primary election.

Responding to questions about the zoning arrangement in Anambra which many believe favors Anambra South, Ezenwafor, from Anambra Central, said the PDP never formally adopted zoning, and that it was an initiative of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

“In all the previous governorship elections in Anambra State, candidates from different zones had always participated,” he said.
“My emergence is more of a divine call. It is not disruptive in any way.”

Ezenwafor maintained that he is not desperate about winning at all costs.

“I am not desperate about it. I do not see the governorship election as a do-or-die affair. But I will give my best to it,” he declared.

However, he noted that if there were irregularities in the electoral process, he would challenge the outcome in court.

“If at the end of the contest, our people choose another person as their choice, I will accept their decision. However, if there is a flaw in the process, I will not hesitate to go to court to seek redress,” he concluded.

Dr. Bashir Jamoh, a senior figure in the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Director-General of NIMASA, has reassured party members that former Kaduna State Governor Malam Nasir El‑Rufai remains an important stakeholder in the APC, despite defecting to the Social Democratic Party.

Addressing journalists on Thursday in Kaduna, Jamoh emphasized that while El‑Rufai has mentioned affiliations with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), it would be premature to bid him farewell.

“As far as I’m concerned, this is my opinion, Malam Nasir El‑Rufai is still with us. Yes, he mentioned his membership of the SDP. Yes, he mentioned the ADC. But we are yet to get to the point of bidding him farewell.

“We still consult him. We seek his expertise, his knowledge, and his advice. Forget the politics for a moment, this is about public service. Whenever we need his advice, he gives it. And if he refuses to give it when asked, I believe God will ask him why.”

Jamoh described El‑Rufai as a “political institution,” indispensable to Kaduna’s political narrative:

“You cannot disown your child of eight years. He was Minister under the PDP. He joined CPC, which merged into APC and governed this state for eight years. He’s a part of our political history.”

Addressing concerns about El‑Rufai’s potential move to the ADC, Jamoh was unperturbed:

“We don’t even know who is who in the ADC yet. Yes, we hear he is the North‑West leader of the ADC, but as far as Kaduna is concerned, they are underperforming.”

He stressed that the real question is whether any party can rival APC’s dominance:

“Are you talking about El‑Rufai or the ADC? Nasir El‑Rufai cannot contest for governorship again. That chapter is closed. So, the question is whether ADC or any opposition party can defeat the APC in this state, and I say no.”

Using a local proverb, he added: “When you grind your corn, you can’t throw the whole thing into a pot because it’ll be too heavy. APC is too heavy for any party here.

Maybe you don’t know Kaduna politics very well. Go and take an independent survey today. Who stands a chance of winning the gubernatorial election after Uba Sani? Check opposition parties, who among them can challenge APC? We have more than 10 capable candidates.”

While admitting the party isn’t without flaws, Jamoh encouraged unity and perseverance:

“Yes, there are challenges. I agree. But we are addressing them. That’s why I’m speaking to you now. Don’t fall for the propaganda that people are leaving in droves.”

“Don’t throw away what you have because you think the opposition can beat APC. Remember where you invested. One day, you will reap the benefit of that investment.”

Oluchi Opara

A former National Treasurer of the Labour Party, Oluchi Oparah, has denied claims that Peter Obi, the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, misused party funds during his campaign.

Speaking on The Morning Brief on Channels Television, Oparah debunked allegations made by LP chieftain Abayomi Arabambi, who had accused Obi of funding his campaign with party resources.

“There was nothing of such. Mr. Obi never spent any money meant for the party,” she stated.

“In fact, he lifted the party from zero level to where it is today.”

Oparah explained that Obi not only personally financed his campaign activities but also helped the financially struggling party upon his arrival.

“Mr. Obi fulfilled every righteousness financially towards the Labour Party. There was never a time he asked for a dime from the party, unlike other political parties will do,” she said.

She added that when Obi joined the party, it was deeply in debt and couldn’t pay staff salaries. Obi stepped in with both financial support and structure.

“He spent a lot of money on the Labour Party. We have programmes that Mr. Obi solely financed by himself. Obi spent from his money because the Labour Party did not have a dime,” Oparah noted.

She also explained that every candidate runs a separate campaign account and that the Labour Party’s own accounts remained distinct for party use.

On the issue of accountability, she turned attention to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), criticizing the party for its governance and urging the public to hold the government accountable rather than spreading unsubstantiated claims about Obi.

“As far as I am concerned, Mr. Obi was the only person who showed interest in contesting on the platform of the Labour Party,” she emphasized.

“So, anyone claiming whatsoever should come out to show us the particular account to which they paid whatever thing they say they paid to the Labour Party.”

Oparah further defended Obi’s integrity, describing him as a consistent philanthropist whose charitable nature predates his presidential ambition.

“Anyone that knows Mr. Obi very well knows that his act of charity is five and six, like the air he breathes,” she said.

Former Anambra State Governor and ex-Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has opened up about the circumstances surrounding his controversial removal from office in 2006.

In a recent interview, he claimed that his refusal to appoint Chris Uba, a powerful political figure in Anambra at the time, as his deputy was the main reason for his ousting.

Ngige, who remains a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), though currently on sabbatical, said he holds no regrets about how events unfolded, attributing it all to divine will.

“I know those who were removing me. They showed their hands. They gave me conditions, and I said I won’t do them,” Ngige said.

He recalled that the late Senator Ibrahim Mantu served as a mediator, bringing him the list of demands from political powerbrokers.

“Mantu came to me and told me the things I was supposed to do. He said somebody sent him. I said, ‘Tell the person I would not do it.’ He came back and said, ‘Let us go and see the person.’ And the person told me the major condition would be that I should make Chris Uba my deputy governor.”

Ngige said he declined the condition for two key reasons:

“First, if I made him deputy governor, he would have immunity and could walk into my office and shoot me. If he shot me, nothing would happen. Stories would be told that my orderly did it by accident.

Second, the people of Anambra would revolt against me. That’s the even more important reason because the Anambra people have seen all those people and they didn’t hide themselves. They came and burnt down the state.”

According to him, the violence was intense and targeted at critical institutions:

“They burned down the House of Assembly, burned down the governor’s office, burned down the Anambra Broadcasting Service, burned down the Anambra Education Commission headquarters, and so many things. And the people did not hide themselves.”

Ngige added that the takeover attempt was even broadcast on national television:

“They even made a broadcast on AIT and said that I should not enter the state again, that they have taken over. So I said that these people who said they are taking over and burnt the place are not the people who should come and govern you. I said no. You can take my seat. No problem. God is in charge.”

As a devout Catholic, Ngige said he accepted his removal as part of a divine plan:

“I’m happy with all that transpired because that is how God willed it. When I was removed from government, somebody came to me crying, saying if it were him, he would commit suicide. I told him, ‘I can go and get a rope for you.’ Because this is what God wants.”

He explained that he refused to challenge the court ruling that removed him because he didn’t want further violence in the state:

“I wasn’t born a governor. I was born Nwabueze Ngige, son of a carpenter, my father was a foreman of works at PWD.”

Despite his current absence from active politics, Ngige reaffirmed his loyalty to the APC:

“I am still in APC. I am just on sabbatical.”

Ngige, a trained medical doctor, also addressed his controversial decision to employ so-called “bad boys” during his time as governor. According to him, it was a strategic move to fight insecurity and restore order in the state.

“To secure your place is money, and that is why the originators of budgets did what they call security votes. But many governors and Chief Executive of states and even their deputy think that security money is pocket money, no.”

He gave an example of how he introduced vigilante services across communities in Anambra with full legislative backing:

“I took a bill to Anambra State House of Assembly in 2003 as I come for vigilante services in every community, AVS bill, they passed it… We bond together now, we eat together. We eat dinner together two times a month, and we discuss everything about the state. So they passed it.”

He then described how communities were told to identify both candidates for employment and local troublemakers:

“So each community in Anambra State then we told them to go and give us men, as a matter of fact, give us those who are bad boys, write out the names of the bad boys separately, and then write out the names of those you want us to employ.”

“They wrote them, so we gave employment to all of them and brought the bad boys and said, look, you people are bad boys, look at the list, any false movement, you are dead, but you owe us a duty to show us other bad boys, even those who have committed crime here and run out of the state.”

The program reportedly had high incentives and tight monitoring:

“And they complied, and we paid them handsome amount of money, 30,000 Naira in 2003, 2004, 2005. That 30,000 Naira is the equivalent of about three million now. We paid, we gave them food two times a day. We provided them busses. We provided them recharge card money, so the people were ready to defend their state.”

He claimed the vigilantes even extended their operations outside Anambra:

“In fact, when my police were withdrawn, they made their security available for me. They did. They secured their state. Sometimes they go on operation to Aba (Abia State) to hotel and we go and catch people who have committed one offense in Anambra before.”

Ngige concluded by emphasizing the true purpose of security votes, noting that most governors misuse the funds:

“That is what security fund is all about. But many governors don’t spend security votes. It’s pocket money for them, it’s money for buying property.”