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At last, Tinubu frees Sanwo-Olu! *Says: Your sins are forgiven, sin no more!
Like the biblical story of the sorrowful woman who washed the feet of Jesus Christ and wiped it with her hair to show her utter remorse for her sins and earned forgiveness for her sins, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos State, got the same reward on Sunday, with President Bola Tinubu using exactly the same words to absolve him of his perceived infractions – go and sin no more.
That was after the interventions by members of the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), who were said to have coopted may of Tinubu’s friends and allies to broker a truce, which led to the visit of Sanwo-Olu with the elders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos, said to be the brains behind major decisions in the state in recent years.
Tinubu, who had not hidden his anger with the governor, including ignoring a handshake with him at a recent event in Lagos, was said to have personally welcomed him back into his warm embrace, at the gathering witnessed by party leaders and some close associates of the president, saying it was all now over.
For this, Sanwo-Olu and the party chieftains, were said to have gone on their belies in reverence and to pledge their support for the President, who was not only not once governor of the state, but maintained a vice grip on its power structure even out office, close to 20 years after.
The President, who had also used the occasion to announce that he had wiped his slate of all forms of animosity by extending a blanket forgiveness to all those who had crossed him in the last few months, reportedly told his visitors that he had decided it was time to move.
THISDAY, quoted sources at the meeting as disclosing that two prominent members of the GAC had arrived earlier before others to hold a preliminary discussion with the president and by way of laying template for a meeting of the council.
Tajudeen Olusi, Chairman of the GAC, while welcoming the President to Lagos, was said to have launched the troubleshooting when he pleaded with him to forgive while Cornelius Ojelabi, who also shared report of developments within the party, particularly on the recent local government election primary, also toed the same line.
But Tinubu, to underscore his sentiments at reaching a truce, was said to have even discountenanced the report of the party chieftain on the political developments, as no longer necessary, but instead, declared: “It’s all over now. I’m no longer angry. All is forgiven.”
The source was quoted to have added: “The meeting deliberately did not entertain a situation where the president or the governor had to start explaining what happened between them. They just pleaded for outright mercy on behalf of the governor and the president acceded and the meeting came to a close.
Sanwo-Olu, who denied there was any rift in the first place, attributed what was out in the public as the handiwork of those who he said were acting more Catholic than the Pope and who were crying more than the bereaved.
Challenged by a reporter on the said feud, the governor, who made light of the matter, simply replied: “Did you see any discord? Can’t you see, even you are smiling and I am smiling? There is none.
“You know, there are people who believe they are more Catholic than the Pope. You know, there are things that, you see people, you know, they cry more than the bereaved. You know, father and son, are things that we’ll always ensure that, you know… there’s nothing at all. He’s my father, he’s my leader, and we are grateful that he’s given us the audience today to come in and say hello to him.”
Stating that the parley was a traditional courtesy visit by the GAC, a long-standing practice during festive periods, he said it presented an opportunity to pray with the President, offer well wishes and continued support, while acknowledging the impact of Tinubu’s leadership over the past two years.
His words: “It’s our usual festive period courtesy visits, and a time for Mr. President to meet with his brothers, leaders of our party, the Governor’s Advisory Council, (GAC) of Lagos State. It’s something that they’re always looking forward to almost at every festive season or every time he comes around and this is no exception.
“We all came around to felicitate with him, to pray with him, to wish him well, to say to him that Lagosians and everyone is happy with him, that we can feel, we can see the impacts of what he has done in the last two years, and so to wish him well, and to say that he has our best wishes and support at all times.
“He was very happy to see us. Extremely very happy to see us. He was very excited that we are one big happy family, and we are not divided in any form and we all honestly also pledged our full loyalty to him, to his government, as our leader, as our father and it was unanimous.”
Seriake Dickson, National Leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), on Wednesday showcased Peter Obi, its presidential candidate in the 2027 election, but gave a proviso – his importance would not be at the expense of the party.
A guest on Prime Time, a public affairs programme on ARISE NEWS Television, the former Governor of Bayelsa State, now Senator representing West at the National Assembly, maintained that the belief in some quarters that Obi’s entrance into the party was a favour was completely misplaced.
Instead, he argued that the opposite was the case, as it was the party that was doing its candidates a favour by giving them the opportunity to contest elective positions on its platform in the 2027 elections, a gesture that ought to be returned.
Hear him: “Don’t make it look like anyone is doing NDC a favour. No one is. Rather, the NDC and I and my colleagues are doing people a favour by granting our platform. If you are genuinely supporting Peter Obi and you are disparaging me, the leader, or the platform itself. That is nonsensical.”
Stressing that NDC had demonstrated confidence in Obi by adopting Obi as its sole presidential candidate and selecting a vice-presidential candidate without internal disputes, he said it was enough to earn its leadership the gratitude it deserved.
He added: “Nobody paid shishi. So, if a presidential candidate didn’t pay shishi to be made the sole presidential candidate and sole vice-presidential candidate, that same party cannot be the one saying that small people are underprivileged.
“I could have run. There’s no one more qualified than me. There’s no one more qualified than me to run for presidential candidate. None. There is no crisis within the NDC. Peter Obi is a cherished member of our party. On our own, we have made him a presidential candidate. Sole presidential candidate. And that counts for something. We are working well together. There’s no crisis.”
Invoking its zero tolerance on issues of security breaches, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), has clamped down on aircraft and crew of the privately operated jet that landed on a roadway in the Ogwashi-Uku area near Asaba, Delta state.
Even with regulatory body for airline operations in Nigeria informed that no casualties were recorded in the incident, it still went for its sanctions in line with its sworn position of maintaining maximum safety at every point.
In a statement on Wednesday, Michael Achimugu, its spokesman said preliminary reports indicated that the aircraft conducted a missed approach while attempting to land at Asaba airport at about 7:43am.
Achimugu: Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, said: “Reports received from personnel at the scene indicate that all occupants safely exited the aircraft and were transported to Asaba by road,” Achimugu said. The aircraft had four (4) crew members on board. At this time, no injuries to passengers or crew have been reported.
“Preliminary information available to the authority indicated that the aircraft later departed the location and returned to Lagos without obtaining the required regulatory approval. Air traffic control was informed only after the aircraft had become airborne.”
Stressing that the action constitutes a violation of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs) and is currently under investigation by the authority, he said the NCAA immediately grounded the aircraft upon its arrival in Lagos pending the outcome of investigations.
He added: “The flight crew have been placed under regulatory review while the NCAA conducts further inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the occurrence and the subsequent unauthorised departure of the aircraft.
“The NCAA has formally notified the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) of the occurrence and is coordinating with relevant aviation stakeholders, including the operator and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency to establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident.”
Stating that the NCAA immediately suspended the operator’s permit for non-commercial flight (PNCF), he added that the authority would review all operational, airworthiness, maintenance and flight-related records as part of its statutory responsibilities and take further enforcement action in accordance with applicable aviation regulations.
Achimugu said the NCAA remains committed to maintaining the highest standards of aviation safety, security, and regulatory compliance within the Nigerian aviation sector.
Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), on Wednesday, swore to the integrity of the process that led to his picking the party’s ticket, saying it remained untainted and consistent with the wills of the members.
Against the backdrop of the insistence of Babachir Lawal, former Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), that he stole the ticket by corrupting the process, Atiku, Vice President between 1999 and 2007, pooh-poohed the claim.
Before the former SGF Rotimi Amaechi, former Governor of Rivers State and Minister of Transportation as well as Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, former Chairman of Nigeria Economic Summit Group, both candidates in the contest for the ADC ticket, had rejected the process as flawed, even before the outcome.
Lawal, who had earlier announced his resignation from the ADC a fortnight ago and made sundry allegations of gaming the system against Atiku, had doubled down on Monday, while appearing on Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, claiming he personally monitored the exercise and had evidence that the primary was rigged.
Hear him: “Don’t forget I was the National Vice Chairman (North-East). I was in the field during the exercise, so I have evidence. Atiku’s people are the ones trying to deny what they did. We are all human beings. We know what they did. I knew the primary was rigged at the point it was being done and the results declared.”
Regardless that neither Amaechi nor Hayatu-Deen had recanted their original position Atiku, insisted that nothing was amiss, adding that his opponents actually won in the areas of their individual popularity and stronghold.
Conveying his position through Phrank Shaibu, his spokesman, who appeared as a guest on Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, the former VP said: “Anybody who claims rigging or irregularity in the last election should check the places and locations they won. Where are the states that Rotimi Amaechi won? If you check the figures and the margins he got there, you will know that those are his strongholds. It was not a fraudulent process.
Maintaining that the burden of proving any fraud rested on the former SGF Shaibu, Shaibu depicted his boss as the most popular among the contestants, arguing that the outcome of the event should not be surprising to anybody.
He said of the ex-SGF: “Babachir reminds me of a baby who is yanked off her mother’s breast while suckling. It is like a deprived suckling; definitely the baby will throw tantrums. He admitted on your show that his preferred candidate was Hayatu-Deen. He worked for him.”
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