News

BREAKING: Tribunal decides on live transmission, Thursday *Tinubu seeks dismissal of Atiku’s petition at preliminary stage

Published

1 year ago

May 9, 2023

Justice Haruna Tsammani, heading the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) sitting in Abuja, would on Thursday, hear arguments by Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, seeking to dismiss dismiss the petition of Atiku Abubakar, Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the preliminary level.

The tribunal which, began to entertain the petition of the former Vice President on Tuesday afternoon, May 9, 2023, adjourned the proceedings in the petition, where Atiku is claiming that he ought to be declared the winner of the February 25 election, instead of Tinubu, who is expected to be sworn in on May 25.

Tinubu candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on March 1 a development which Atiku and Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour party are disputing at the PEPT.

The presiding justice, Justice Haruna Tsammani, announced the adjournment of the hearing of the petition to Thursday, May 11, following the fresh motions brought by Tinubu’s legal team seeking to dismiss Atiku’s petition at pre-hearing stage.

The court, which said it would hear the motion filed by Akin Olujimi (SAN), Tinubu’s lead lawyer, who said that they had brought motions to ask for the dismissal of the petitions, also deferred ruling on the motion for the petition proceedings to be broadcast live broadcast, for Thursday.

The tribunal had resumed pre-hearing of Atiku’s petition after going on break following the adjournment of the petition against Tinubu by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) to Thursday May 11 to enable parties look at the applications and pre-hearing issues they would be objecting to and those they won’t be.

News Express reports that one of the highlights at the kickoff of the tribunal yesterday was the dismissal of the petition filed by Action Alliance against the victory of Tinubu. The petition was dismissed after its withdrawal by the party.

The five-member panel had during its inaugural sitting on Monday adjourned pre-hearing in the petitions filed by the Action Peoples Party (APP) and Labour Party until tomorrow, Wednesday.

News

The many lies against Oborevwori

Published

2 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Whirlwindnews

By Felix Ofou

Joseph Goebbels, the author of Nazi propaganda, is known to have said: “repeat a lie, often enough, and it becomes the truth”. He became notorious for coining fables and seeking to project same as truth.

In Delta State, this master of illusion seems to have converted a tiny clique as disciples, with lies as their merchandise. These persons not only live in a fool’s paradise, but also seek to convert the majority to embrace the truth from a convoluted lens.

Ever since, it became obvious that Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori was likely to become the Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta, these spin doctors quickly went to work and concocted all manner of evils, all aimed to stop a man destined for greatness.

Soon, tales of certificate forgery, age falsification and identity theft started making the rounds against Oborevwori. Conspiracy theories quickly sprang up. There seemed to be no end to the labyrinths laid out to stop him from becoming Governor.

To put paid to any hope of attaining the Governorship position, the malevolent elements extended their machinations to the courts. Over 38 cases were conjured, terminating eventually at the Supreme Court, which finally gave Governor Oborevwori total victory.

Having failed in their determination to stop the Ukodo of Okpe, as Sheriff is also known, from becoming Governor, these bearers of false tales, decided to lay siege, hoping that their targets would make mistakes they could latch on to and bring down his administration. This, for them, was an objective that would not be difficult to attain, especially since, by their fabled imagination, Deltans believe that Oborevwori was incompetent to do the job.

To drive home the point of being incompetent, these naysayers were first to criticize the composition of Oborevwori’s cabinet. Apparently, they had hoped that the executive council would be made up of recycled politicians. When this did not happen, our so called critics quickly jumped into the fray and branded the administration as incompetent.

Obviously, Governor Oborevwori assembled a blend of the young and not so old of upwardly mobile technocrats, educated hotties with a knack for excellence. This is in fulfilment of his Youth O’clock Agenda; an unprecedented development as far as governance in Delta was concerned, with majority of the cabinet members being between 30 and 45.

These unrelenting traducers of the Ukodo of Okpe have also been harbingers of the fake news associated with the award of N78 billion contract to construction giant, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. Hardly a day passes without a new twist to the falsehoods linked to the transaction.

First was the claim that the N78 billion was rather exorbitant, which was another way of saying the contract was excessively inflated. They contended that local or indigenous contractors could have done the job for far less. Next was the assertion that over N50 billion had been paid to Julius Berger, half of which they alleged, had been pocketed by the Governor. This was in spite of overwhelming evidence that only 25 percent of the N78 billion had been paid as mobilisation fee to the contractors.

None of those making the false claims acknowledged that it was the first time the Delta State Government would be awarding jobs to Julius Berger. Neither did they applaud Oborevwori for insisting on delivering quality jobs to the people.

The relocation of the Faculty of Management Sciences from the main campus of the Delta State University of Technology, Ozoro in Isoko North to an offshoot campus in Orerokpe, Okpe Local Government Area provided another fodder for the grovelling elements to ply their trade.

An elated Governor Oborevwori was shocked after he announced that the relocated Faculty of Management Sciences had been replaced with three elite faculties, that a section of the naysayers retorted with jeers and hysteria. The three faculties – Basic Medical Sciences, Pharmacy and Health Sciences – were meant to provide critical manpower for the state and Nigeria in general, a masterstroke that any right thinking patriot should give the governor kudos.

Sadly, the narrative was painted that Oborevwori was against the Isoko people for approving the movement of a faculty to Orerokpe. How could anyone rate management courses over and above medicine, pharmacy or health sciences? Does it not amount to standing reason on its head to place courses for which you need to be exceptionally brilliant below that for which average performance in entry score makes students eligible to be admitted?

It is gratifying that the Ukodo of Okpe and immediate past Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly remained unfazed despite the provocation. Instead, he took the actions of these self-seeking individuals with equanimity. He has since demonstrated his love for the Isoko people by approving the establishment of the Delta State College of Health Technology in Ovrode.

When okada (motorcycle) and Keke (tricycle) riders went on protest recently, the apostles of doom sought in vain to project the Governor as weak and unable to maintain law and order. A lynch mob also sought to goad the state Chief Executive to descend harshly on the protesters, mainly because most them were from the northern part of Nigeria.

But the former Speaker shunned bigotry and initiated policies that restored order. Mechanisms has also been put in place to regulate the activities of the Keke and okada riders as well as other artisans, particularly in the urban areas, where they had become a menace in the past.

Following the unfortunate killing of 17 Officers and Solders in Okuama in Ughelli South Local Government and the consequent reprisal attack on the community, a deluge of outright lies and innuendoes were spewed in the social media and other high places. The aim was to smear Oborevwori and his less than one year administration.

On one hand, attempts were made to portray the incident as a clash between Okoloba, an Ijaw enclave and Okuama, which is Urhobo. Advocates of this narrative sought to pitch the Ijaw against the Urhobo, to generate an ethnic crisis. This was more so because the Governor is from the mainly Urhobo Central Senatorial District of the state.

However, more worrisome was the puerile attempt to get Oborevwori to confront the military for invading Okuama. Some even argued that the rights of the Okuama people was more important than the soldiers who for them died as part of their sworn duty to pay the supreme price in service of the nation.

Until His Royal Majesty, Clement Ikolo, the Ovie of Ewu, was released by the military high command on alleged suspicion of complicity in the Okuama incident, the Governor was blamed by these naysayers for allowing the King to be detained in the first place. The fact that the king willingly surrendered to the police after being declared wanted by the Army made matters worse. “Why should Sheriff allow the military to detain the King even for a day?”, they asked.

As it turned out, His Majesty was the first to acknowledge the role played by Oborevwori during his travail. He has since visited the Government House in Asaba to express appreciation for the show of love and solidarity by the Governor.

With the setting up of a camp for displaced persons (IDPs) and provision of palliatives for victims, most critics of Oborevwori’s style have become mute and are daily coming to the reality that the man truly cares and determined to be Governor for all.

Yet, there is nothing to suggest that the apostles of Goebbels’ philosophy are willing to cease their illusory pursuit of doom for administration. Neither will the former Speaker, like the Trojan Horse, fail in excelling in a hale of dust as the captain of a triumphant orchestra. The die is cast.

● Ofou is Executive Assistant on New Media to the Governor of Delta State.

News

BREAKING: Fresh tsunami in Fubara’s cabinet *Wike appointees leave in droves

Published

17 hours ago

May 15, 2024

Whirlwindnews

Commissioners in the camp of Nyesom Wike, are once again throwing in the towel in what signals a fresh mass exodus from the government of Siminalayi Fubara, similar to the situation last year, when the feud between the two camps was festering, before the intervention of President Bola Tinubu, which led to them to return to their positions.

The current situation is a fallout of the escalation of hostilities since last week, when the two camps picked up the gauntlets to do battle once again, with the governor being on the offensive this time, including threatening to set up a panel of inquiry to investigate his predecessor, now, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

Following in the footstep of Zaccheaus Adangor, former Attorney General of the State and Commissioner for Justice (AGS-CoJ), a known Wike supporter, who resigned last week, Chinedu Mmom, Gift Worlu, Jacobson Nbina, and Austen Ben-Chioma, Commissioners for Education, Housing, Transport and the Environment, respectively, all among the nine commissioners who had previously resigned in the heat of the political crisis in the state before Tinubu’s intervention, threw in their resignation letter on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Fubara, had upped the ante, describing Wike as a rat eating from the bag of garri in the state, accusing him of leaving a huge debt burden for him, adding that time had come to open a can of worms the former governor left behind.

“I write to formally tender my resignation as a member of the Rivers State Executive Council as the Commissioner for Education with effect from today, May 15, 2024. It is a truism that a calm, safe, and friendly environment would stimulate efficient service delivery and enhanced productivity. It is, however, unfortunate to note that my current workspace has become toxic and no longer guarantees a favourable environment to enable me to realise my set targets for the education sector in the state.

“There is loss of trust, animosity and sharp division among colleagues in the same cabinet which is unhealthy and very unfortunate. I want to thank Your Excellency for the opportunity to serve in your cabinet and wish your administration well,” Mmom, wrote in his letter of resignation to the State Government (SSG), Tammy Danagogo.

Ben-Chioma, wrote: “I hereby tender my resignation as the Commissioner for Environment, Rivers State, on this day, May 15, 2024. I want to sincerely appreciate Your Excellency for giving me the opportunity to be a part of the State Executive Council.

“My decision to resign is due to the political crisis befalling our dear Rivers State and other personal reasons. It was a privilege to have been of service to you in your administration and wish you all the best in your tenure.”

Worlu’s letter dated May 15, read: “I write to resign my appointment as the Commissioner for Housing formally. One of the most difficult decisions in my life yet, it is precipitated by the toxic atmosphere that has characterised our working relationship, especially the smouldering arbitrariness of decisions and actions, including the attempt to fuse the executive and legislative arms of government in Rivers State.

“I thank you for the opportunity to serve in your government and wish you the best as you continue to steer the ship of state. Kindly accept the assurances of my esteemed regards.”

News

Don’t derail Tinubu’s plan for Nigeria, FG warns organised labour

Published

19 hours ago

May 15, 2024

Whirlwindnews

Again, the Federal Government, on Wednesday, warned against the dangers of reversing the recent increase in the tariff of electricity supply for Band A customers in the country, saying any such move would derail the reform agenda of the President Bola Tinubu administration for the power sector.

Adebayo Adelabu, Minister of Power, who made the revelation, told State House Correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (EFC) meeting at the Aso Villa in Abuja, that Nigerians must either choose to move forward or backwards in the power sector, adding that the vision of the President, was to get the country out of its current doldrums.

Adelabu, who spoke against the backdrop of the insistence of Organised Labour for a return to the previous regime, which made its members led by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union of Nigeria (TUC) to picket the offices of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and distribution companies otherwise known as DisCos, on Monday, said: “A lot of them (protesting) are paying below N60 so they still enjoy government’s subsidy. So when they say we should reverse the recently increased tariff, sincerely it’s not affecting them. That’s one position.

“My appeal again is that they should please not derail or distract our transformation plan for the industry. We have a clearly documented reform roadmap to take us to our desired destination, where we’re going to have reliable, functional, cost-effective and affordable electricity in Nigeria. It cannot be achieved overnight because this is a decay of almost 60 years, which we are trying to correct.

“Nobody promised us or assured us that the road will be smooth. We knew it’s going to be rough, but we must weather the storm, which is going to be temporary. It’s a lot of sacrifice from everybody; from the government’s side, from the people’s side, from the private sector side. So we must bear this sacrifice for us to have a permanent gain.

“I don’t want us to go back to the situation we were in February and March, where we had very low generation. We all felt the impact of this whereby electricity supply was very low and every household, every company, every institution, felt it. From the little reform that we’ve embarked upon since the beginning April, we have seen the impact that electricity has improved and it can only get better. So I’m appealing to everybody that one should not toy with this before that we have embarked upon, we are aiming somewhere and we will achieve it.”

On April 3, 2024, NERC raised electricity tariff for customers enjoying 20 hours power supply daily. Customers in this category are said to be under the Band A classification. The increase saw the customers paying N225 kilowatt per hour from the current N66, a development that has been heavily criticised by many Nigerians, considering the immediacy of the tariff hike and the current hardship in the land.

Following the outrage, NERC asked discos to cut down electricity tariff rate by 8.1% for customers under Band A category. The outrage, however, persisted with many Nigerians rejecting the reduction and demanding a total reversal of the tariff hike. The NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) subsequently picketed NERC offices and discos on Monday to press home their demands.

Specifically referring to the position of the workers, he said: “The first question was about the recent Labour unions’ peaceful protest with regards to the recently increased tariffs for Band A customers in Nigeria’s electricity supply industry. Let me first make it abundantly clear that we are in democracy so there are fundamental human rights. I cannot deny people their rights.

“It’s the right of the Labour to protest peacefully and to come up with their demands, from the perspective they saw what we did. It is clearly allowed, it is legitimate and it is understandable. So we cannot stop them from organising a peaceful protest or laying down their demands. Let me make that clear. President Bola Tinubu’s administration is also a listening government.

“We have heard the demands, we’re going to look at it, we’ll make further engagements and I believe we’re going to reach a peaceful resolution with the Labour because no government can succeed without the cooperation, collaboration and partnership with the Labour unions. So, we welcome the peaceful protest and I’m happy that it was not a violent protest. They’ve made their positions known and government has taken in their demands and we’re looking at it.

“But one thing that I want to state here is from the statistics of those affected by the hike in tariff, the people on the road yesterday (on Monday), who embarked on the peaceful protests, more than 95 per cent of them are not affected by the increase in the tariff of electricity.

“They still enjoy almost 70 per cent government subsidy in the tariff they pay because the average costs of generating, transmitting and distributing electricity is not less than N180 today. A lot of them are paying below N60 so they still enjoy government’s subsidy. So when they say we should reverse the recently increased tariff, sincerely it’s not affecting them. That’s one position.”