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Presidency: Tinubu has compensated Wike *Fubara must be left alone
From the Presidency, came a definite message to Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on Friday – President Bola Tinubu did not send you to trouble Siminalayi Fubara or dabble into Rivers State politics – you have been fully compensated.
The message came via Daniel Bwala, spokesman of the President, while reaffirming what seems a clarification of the Villa on the current situation in the state where the embattled governor, is not only fighting over an impeachment plot dangling on his head, but the leadership of All Progressives Congress (APC).
Bwala, Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, was unequivocal that the governor, who defected to the ruling party last year, was the leader its undisputed leader and not Wike who was not a member.
A guest on Hard Copy, a current affairs programme on Channels Television, told his host: “I agree with the point highlighted by the national chairman (Nentawe Yilwatda) that in Rivers State, Governor Fubara is the leader of the APC in Rivers State. Wike is not a member of APC, so he cannot speak for the APC.
“He may be the leader of the PDP in Rivers State because he was a former governor and they do not have a governor at the moment, but in APC, the leader of the party in Rivers State is Governor Fubara.”
Bwala, while stressing that the President Tinubu was committed to the rule of law and respected internal party processes, stated that the President fully supported the position taken by the APC leadership on the Rivers situation.
“The President believes in the rule of law and rule-based practice. With respect to party affairs, what the national chairman said is the position the President sticks to because he respects party procedure,” he said.
Upping the ante, Bwala who maintained that the stance of APC, was clear that the governor must be allowed to govern without interference, added: “There have been orders of court that stopped impeachment. The party is clear. Nobody should stop Fubara from governing the state.”
While clarifying that Wike’s position in government should not be confused with party membership, describing the Minister as serving the federal government rather than the APC as a political party, he dismissed claims that Wike enjoyed undue influence within the administration, noting that Tinubu rewarded performance but not at the expense of national interest.
His words: “The President believes in compensating people, but not at the expense of the interest of Nigeria. He will give you latitude and privilege, but not at the expense of what is right.”
Emphasising that the dispute between Wike and Fubara had effectively been settled by the party’s recognition of the governor as APC leader in Rivers State, he urged all parties to respect due process and constitutional governance.
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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