News
Presidency: We’ve no dog in the fight – UK *Says Nigerians must decide
“Downing Street has no favourite political party and will not be seen interfering in local political matters,” were the words with which the UK government swore its neutrality in the upcoming general elections in 2027, saying the decision on the outcome was entirely up to Nigerians.
Gill Lever, British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, who made this declaration, on Thursday, specifically maintained that London did not have any preferred presidential candidate in Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.
On a visit to AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Kwara State Governor at Government House, Ilorin, she also vowed that the government would not interfere in the conduct of the elections, but would prefer to see a free, peaceful, and credible elections process.
At the engagement, which marked a three-day official visit to the state, she stated: “The British Government would support a free, peaceful, and credible election in Nigeria next year. We all want to see elections that are peaceful, that are inclusive, and that are credible, with space for participation and with respect for institutions.
“The British government, as you’ll understand, Excellency, is entirely neutral. We do not favour one party or another, and we would never be in the business of telling Nigerian people how to vote.
“But peaceful and credible elections, of course, are not only a democratic objective. This is not only about the Commonwealth values and the values of democracy that we’ve long shared; they’re also an economic objective or imperative as well.”
AbdulRazaq, who said his administration had turned around the fortunes of the state, with significant progress made in different sectors of the economy, told his visitor: “We have made significant progress in different sectors of the economy: from health, education, agriculture, and road infrastructure. When we came in 2019, things just weren’t working in the state.
“From backlogs of pensions and gratuities to payment of half-salaries to the blacklist of Kwara by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC),” he said, countering earlier narratives by some opposition elements.
“When we came in, 99% of schools did not have WASH facilities and no fencing of schools; teachers were, in fact, owed months in salary arrears. Today, we are up-to-date in investment in basic education with payment of counterpart funds to the UBEC.
“We have expanded access to education and healthcare, and we are making prompt payment of salaries as well as improving the welfare of the workforce. We have cleared the backlog of salaries we met. In fact, we are planning to raise the minimum wage again this year to N100,000.
“We have expanded access to university education with the completion of two campuses of KWASU in Kwara North and South. Then, by the time we leave office by 2027, Kwara will have five teaching hospitals to bridge the shortage of manpower in the health sector.”
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.”
-
News4 days agoBREAKING: Mystery death! *Female student dies a day after arriving Umahi’s home!
-
News4 days agoDon’t jump to conclusion! *Umahi speaks on mysterious death of female students!
-
News3 weeks agoBREAKING: Court sentences Nigerien, two others to death over terrorism
-
News2 weeks agoBREAKING: EX-SSG mowed down by gunmen! *He resisted being kidnapped – driver
-
News4 weeks agoTwo hours after Igboho’s ‘red-eyes’ to ‘Fulani’ leaders, gunmen free kidnap victims!
-
News3 weeks agoAbductors of Oyo teachers panicking, freedom coming for victims soon!
-
News3 weeks agoChicagogate: Nigerians return to court! *Move to stop Tinubu from 2027 polls
-
News10 hours agoBREAKING: Terrorists strikes another school! *Kidnap principal, students, NECO official!