News
LP offers Abure BOT leadership job *Why we replaced him
For the asking, Julius Abure, could walk into the office of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Labour Party (LP), if only he would cease his contest for the position of the National Chairman, which is no longer available given that his tenure has since lapsed and he is no longer recognised even by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which on two occasions, walked him out of its meetings with other political party leaders.
Sources close to the party confirmed that BOT position was open for Abure, who led the party to the highly successful presidential election, in which Peter Obi, its presidential candidate came third by the reckoning of INEC, to compensate him for his contribution in the past.
This much has since been conveyed to him by the new leadership and the party elders, because not only because his services are still needed at the top level, but because the BOT, is even considered a higher responsibility, given that its members are considered the owners of the party.
Even Obi, seemed to have confirmed the development after absolving himself of blame in the removal of embattled party boss, with his argument that Abure was only removed by the party’s constitution, as his tenure elapsed, rather than the insinuation that he was removed at the pleasure of Alex Otti, Governor of Abia State and the only one of the 36 in the country, elected on the LP platform.
Represented by Datti Baba-Ahmed, his running mate in the last election, Obi, who spoke during the inaugural meeting of the LP caretaker committee held in Abuja on Tuesday night, appealed to Abure and his supporters to sheathe their swords and join hands with the caretaker committee to rebuild the party.
His words: “Listen my friend, no governor unseated Abure, the constitution unseated him. Abure’s time elapsed. Nobody unseated him. As of today, Abure is our good friend, and a loyal member. We want him back in the fold, we have roles for him to play.
“We didn’t have crisis. We managed a transition, which was a bit bumpy and that was it. I tell you, no other political party of our size could do that in the time and manner that we did.
“We are a political party who went all the way to the Supreme Court claiming our 10 million votes. They were only able to give us six million votes. So, we are a force to contend with in Africa. What we’ve done has never been done before. When PDP came they had the military. We had nothing. We started, it was organic. It was us. It was Nigerian people. It was Obidients, and we defeated two existing political parties, to the best of our submission, in the courts.”
Against the backdrop of the current parlous state of the economy, Obi said he was not surprised, maintaining that he actually warned Nigerians about the impending disaster if All Progressives Congress (APC) was in charge of the country.
Hear him: “What is more, we are buoyed by the fact that we warned Nigerians of the failure of APC, the dangers of APC is happening. They are failing more on the Nigerian economy. They are destroying the security of Nigeria. Every day in the news, you reported it, our citizens are abducted. They are killed in hundreds in villages.
“We warned Nigerians this was going to happen. Desperate people took the victory of Labour Party. What did they do with it? Our currency value was again destroyed. Security destroyed. Hunger in the land. Removal of subsidies managed very very poorly, aggravated corruption continued… lies and lies and lies.”
Nenadi Usman, Chairman of the Labour Party National Caretaker Committee (LPNCC), the body that replaced Abure’s National Working Committee (NWC), had assured party members of the committee’s determination to rescue the party from the current challenges, restore and rebuild it as a veritable alternative platform for Nigerians.
She said: “We are on a rescue mission, not just for the Labour Party, but I tell you for our dear nation Nigeria. The interest this committee has generated extends beyond party lines. The number of telephone calls I have received, not just from Labour Party members, but people from other political parties, who told me that if we get this thing right, we will walk together. So, we have a huge task.
“Our party, by the grace of Almighty God, will become a platform for all disenfranchised and unhappy Nigerians. People who are not happy with the way things are going, we are going to be the platform for them, by the grace of God. Therefore, we must view this as a significant national assignment.”
“The suspect offered ₦500 million to the SPU commander in an attempt to make the team stand down and allow him to contact his associates to move the consignment elsewhere. The offer was rejected immediately and properly documented for further investigation.”
These were the exact words of Olohundare Jimoh Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), with which he detailed how operatives of the Zone 2 Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) scoffed at a N500million bribe to turn their eyes off the importation of a huge consignment of drugs imported into the country.
This was part of the details of a major breakthrough by the operatives after bursting a major drug trafficking syndicate in Lagos, which led to the seizure of suspected illicit drugs estimated at ₦7.8 billion and arresting several suspects, including the alleged kingpin.
In the operation, reportedly carried out by officers of the Special Protection Unit (SPU) in collaboration with divisional police detectives, the operatives, were said to have stormed a house in Mende, Maryland area of Lagos, following months of surveillance and intelligence gathering coordinated by the Zone 2 Headquarters.
The recovered drugs consisted of hundreds of bags of suspected Canadian Loud, allegedly stored in the residence of the prime suspect, Jimoh, said disclosing that the suspect was apprehended on May 19 after weeks of strategic monitoring by operatives.
Offering further details, he said the operation was executed with technical support and guidance from the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, alongside coordinated efforts between the SPU and divisional police teams.
Jimoh revealed that during the operation, the suspect allegedly attempted to bribe the SPU commander with ₦500 million to compromise the mission and allow the movement of the drug consignment.
The AIG described the development as a reflection of the renewed professionalism and operational discipline being entrenched in the Force under the current policing strategy.
He noted that the success of the operation underscored the importance of deploying specialized police units alongside conventional divisional teams in tackling organized crime.
According to him, the operation demonstrated the effectiveness of rapid containment strategies, intelligence-led policing, and professional conduct among the operatives involved in the raid.
“Rapid containment was achieved as the Special Protection Unit worked with divisional teams to secure the perimeter and prevent escape or interference with evidence.
“The operation was intelligence-driven, following months of surveillance and technical monitoring before the raid was carried out.
“The immediate rejection and documentation of the bribe attempt also reflect the standard expected from redeployed personnel at the divisional level,” Jimoh added.
Reacting to the development, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, commended the operatives for their professionalism, saying the success of the operation validated the ongoing redeployment of personnel to divisions and units across Lagos and Ogun states.
The IGP noted: “Policing must be close to the people, and our specialized units must work side by side with divisional teams on the ground.
“The professionalism shown by the SPU commander in rejecting a ₦500 million bribe and following due procedure is the standard we expect. It shows that when you put your best foot forward at the grassroots, you get results and restore public trust.”
Disu further assured that the Force leadership would continue to reward integrity while holding officers accountable to the highest ethical standards.
Police authorities said exhibits recovered during the operation have been properly documented and will be tendered in court. The suspects are currently in custody while investigations continue to track down other members of the drug trafficking network.
Slavery is a wound on the memory of the Universal Church, Pope Leo XIV, said on Monday, as he issued a fresh apology over the participation of the the Catholic Church in the centuries-long delay in condemning slavery.
The pontiff stressed the position of the church after his predecessors had offered similar apologies, said: “For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”
Writing in a major text that warned about “new forms of slavery” behind the digital economy, the joined John Paul II, who denounced slave trade in 1992 before issuing a sweeping request for forgiveness for historical injustices in 2000 and Pope Francis who also repeatedly denounced contemporary forms of slavery.
In his own vein, Pope Leo, pointed out that the Church owned slaves until the Middle Ages and it also advised European sovereigns on how to justify the enslavement of “infidels.”
He stressed in “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), a document focused primarily on the rise of artificial intelligence, that it was only in the 19th century that “a formal, absolute and universal condemnation of slavery was clearly articulated.”
Hear him: “It is true that past events cannot be judged anachronistically, as though the moral criteria that matured over time had always been available. Yet neither can we deny or diminish the delay with which both society and the Church came to denounce the scourge of slavery. This constitutes a wound in Christian memory, one from which we cannot consider ourselves detached.”
Qowiy Oloyede, a resident of Oriya Sokoto road, Atan Ota, is currently telling operatives of the Ogun State Colice command, the reasons that pushed him into making a video suggesting that a part of the state was under attack of terrorists, knowing same to be fake.
Oloyede, reports say, dragged to the police on May 23 by one Ayinla Sodiq, who accused him of creating and sharing a misleading TikTok video falsely claiming that bandits had invaded the Atan Ota community..
Zagazola Makama, a counterinsurgency publication, which broke the news, said on immediately being questioning by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Oloyed, allegedly confessed to fabricating the video to gain followers on social media.
Apart from admitting that that he created the fake bandit attack content to gain followers and trend online, said in a video currently on social media the herder featured in the clip was a cattle rearer who usually grazed cows behind his shop and had initially refused to participate before eventually agreeing.
Oloyede, who also claimed he could neither read nor write, adding that his apprentice wrote the caption accompanying the video posted online, maintained that he had only produced and posted two similar videos, one on Monday and another on Wednesday.
The command, said to have recovered photographs and video evidence linked to the fake publication during preliminary investigation, added that the suspect would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Abeokuta, for further investigation, warning residents against spreading false information capable of causing panic and public disorder, and for the public to verify information before sharing content on social media.
-
News4 weeks agoBREAKING: Makinde, Turaki, lose! *S’Court affirms Wike’s PDP leadership
-
News2 weeks agoTinubu to African leaders: Copy Nigeria, produce your way out of poverty
-
Features4 weeks agoJim Nwobodo: The Sun shines, thrills, at ‘The Vanguard Awards’
-
News6 days agoBREAKING: US-Nigeria troops slaughter 175 ISWAP fighters
-
News2 weeks agoWhy we pegged presidential ticket forms at N60million – NDC
-
Columns3 days agoDear General Gowon: That apology you’re running from is your nemesis
-
News2 weeks agoGowon on civil war: My book is to put records straight, remove falsehood
-
News2 weeks agoBREAKING! Coast brightens for Obi, as NDC zones presidency to South