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Resignation: Obasa going nowhere, let him be – Tinubu
Mudashiru Obasa, is not going to resign as Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, contrary to earlier projections that his return to the job, which he lost on January 13, but regained 49 days after on March 3, would be short-lived.
Insiders had claimed that part of the agreements reached by elders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), led by Bisi Akande, former Interim National Chairman and Segun Osoba, former Governor of Ogun State had in their was for the lawmaker representing Agege 1 Constituency in the assembly, should be given a chance to resign honourably by members after his reinstatement with Mojisola Meranda, his successor must have resigned and returned to her position as Deputy Speaker.
But all that seems not to be, as President Bola Tinubu, who met with the entire members of the assembly on Wednesday, was quoted as not only giving a nod for his continued stay in office but an injunction that nobody should disturb him again, with the only proviso being that the Speaker must carry everyone along.
Vanguard, which reported details of the meeting said that Tinubu also directed the Speaker to withdraw the court case he instituted against Meranda, adding that neither Obasa nor the former Speaker spoke on the peace parley with Tinubu.
Obasa had arrived at about 2:50 pm and was led separately to the President’s office, while his colleagues arrived earlier in two coaster buses that were driven through the forecourt route for the meeting.
Emerging from Tinubu’s office at about 4:30 pm, members of the delegation were heard chorusing the lyrics “On your mandate, we shall stand,’’ as they filed out towards the two coaster busses parked and waiting for their departure from the forecourt area of the Presidential Villa.
Obasa, who emerged from the meeting alongside James Faleke, a member of the House of Representatives, resisted prodding to speak to newsmen as he made his way out of the Presidential Villa, while the Federal lawmaker representing Ikeja Constituency of Lagos State, simply said of the meeting: “It went well.”
An unconfirmed report had it that some members of the House apologized to Obasa over his impeachment.
The paper further quote a lawmaker who was at the meeting as confirming Obasa’s retention of his job, saying: “Obasa is staying and we have no choice but to obey the President. The meeting was more of a family meeting.”
When asked whether the president reprimanded the anti-Obasa lawmakers for earlier impeaching Obasa, the source said: “No, it was more of a family matter. Mr President condemned his (Obasa’s) actions not to parley with us. He, however, said that since we did not carry him (Tinubu) along, and it was only Obasa that came to report the matter to him, he had no choice but to support him (Obasa).
“He also warned him (Obasa) that if there were any future complaints from any quarters, he would be gone. The President said he should let peace reign; and so based on that, we have accepted. The President has instructed him to withdraw it.”
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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