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Jonathan’s return: You can’t decide for us, PDP fires back at FG
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Sunday, fired back at the Federal Government for cautioning it against fielding former President, Goodluck Jonathan in the 2027 presidential election, saying it was in no place to decide who its candidate would be.
The party spoke against the backdrop of comments by Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Management, warning that fielding the former President could backfire due to constitutional breaches that could bar him from being legally qualified as a candidate, having served in office for more than five years.
Keyamo, had said: “If he is fielded, the party runs the risk of not having a candidate at all. The constitutional amendment was made after the court judgment which cleared him (Jonathan) to run in 2015, so nothing is decided yet on that new amendment, hence I use the word ‘risk’ advisedly.
“All the arguments as to whether the section can be interpreted to affect him will not be decided on social media, but at the Supreme Court. If he is barred from running after nominations have closed and the PDP is declared as having no candidate, nobody should scream ‘judiciary is corrupt’ because such a large party saw the judicial danger ahead and deliberately ignored it. All the arguments … will not be decided on social media, but at the Supreme Court.”
He said: “I don’t know who Keyamo thinks he is to be warning the PDP. Such a reckless statement is unbecoming of a minister who is supposed to serve the Nigerian people.”
But in a quick riposte, Timothy Osadolor, Deputy National Youth Leader of the party, who dismissed the contention as self-serving and unbecoming of a public servant, argued that Keyamo had no authority to interfere in the affairs of an opposition party, insisting that the PDP owed no loyalty to him or the ruling government.
He said: “For him to imagine that he can dictate to Nigerians what they should or should not do in 2027 is self-serving and completely unnecessary. The PDP is a reputable institution; it owes no loyalty or obligation to Festus Keyamo.
“The 2027 election is far bigger than the thinking of Keyamo and those he works with. It will be a contest between the Nigerian people and the current cabal that has further eroded not only the economy and infrastructure, but also the very worth of Nigerian lives.
“If Keyamo and his paymasters believe they have performed well, let him attempt a simple road trip from Abuja to Kano or to Damaturu without police escorts, and see if he dares complete the journey. That amount could build more than five brand-new airports in this country if due process and procurement systems were genuinely followed. Instead, what we see is budget padding and inflated contracts designed to corner resources and buy political influence ahead of 2027.
“His beak is being wetted by the common patrimony of Nigerians, so he talks carelessly. But he cannot dictate to the PDP. He has no locus standi whatsoever on this matter.”
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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