Headlines
APC, PDP Clash over Sanwo-Olu’s N41.4m Donation to Super Eagles
Criticisms have continued to trail the donation of $5,000 to each Super Eagles player by the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, for their Round of 16 3-2 victory over the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon.
The governor made the donation, which amounts to $115,000 (N41.4m) for 23 players in the team, excluding the technical crew and support staff, during the half time pep talk with the players.
The cash gift to the national team players irked Lagos residents, who took to social media to vent their anger on the governor.
Opposition Peoples Democratic Party and the ruling All Progressives Congress chapters in Lagos State expressed different opinions on the donation.
While the PDP described the donation as inappropriate and insensitive, the APC said it was a “philanthropic act.”
Apart from Sanwo-Olu, the Nigeria Football Federation in a press statement confirmed that Captain Hosa Wells-Okunbor, also gifted the Eagles $20,000 each.
The spokesperson of the Lagos PDP, Mr Gani Taofeek, wondered why the governor made such donation when residents of the state were “in pains, suffering and dyeing.”
He said, “The donation is prodigal, inappropriate, misappropriated, lousy, extravagant and sycophantic. We call on the Lagos State House of Assembly to summon him and also query him on how he came about going to spend $5,000 on each Eagles player.
“This is a misplacement of priority. It is indeed mischievous. The mischief is that the tax payers are currently sobering and in pain, suffering and dying. Every day, there is sobering in the state and some of these projects need this kind of donation as palliatives.
“People are dying, there’s flooding, building collapse, pipeline explosion and our governor is there (Egypt) watching football. The governor shouldn’t have left the state for leisure or even donate at a challenging period like this.”
On his part, the Lagos APC spokesperson, Mr Joe Igbokwe, said Sanwo-Olu donated the money from his personal purse.
He said, “PDP is thinking that the man is a poor man. Sanwo-Olu is not a poor man. He made that donation from his own pocket and not from the government purse. He is a very successful man before he became the Lagos State Governor.
“The donation is a way of saying thank you and it is a philanthropic act. It is not too much for him to donate such from his pocket. The most important thing is that it is not government money and he is rich enough to donate such an amount. Sanwo-Olu is philanthropy per excellence. He did that to boost the image of Nigeria.”
The Punch
Headlines
Abiola Cannot Be Recognised As Former President; He Was Never Sworn-in – Gen Ishola Williams
By Eric Elezuo
One of the prime actors of the June 12, 1993 incidents, General Ishola Williams, has said that much as Chief MKO Abiola wrong was created having won the election, and denied victory, he cannot be recognized as a former President of Nigeria.
Gen Williams made his revelation while speaking as a guest on Channels television socio-political programme, Inside Source.
He maintained that only those who were sworn in that recognised as former presidents, and Abiola was never sworn in.
“Abiola cannot be recognised as former president because he was never sworn in.
The General, who said that he resigned from the army as a result of the wholesome reception given to General Sani Abacha, when he overthrew Chief Ernest Shonekan-led Interim National Government, contrary to expectation, also picked flaws in the narratives given by former Military President Ibrahim Babangida, in his recently launched book, A Journey In Service.
Williams rose in the army to become the Commandant of Army Signals, Commander of Training and Doctrine (TRADOC) and Chief of Defence Training and Planning, from where he resigned.
Headlines
Breaking: Supreme Court Recognises Martin Amaewhule As Rivers Assembly Speaker, Orders CBN to Stop Releasing Funds to State
By Eric Elezuo
The Supreme Court of Nigeria has in its ruling on Friday recognised Hon Martins Amaewhule as the authentic speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, mandating him to urgently resume sitting with elected members of the assembly.
The apex court also ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria to stop releasing to the Rivers State government until a proper assembly is constituted.
Details soon…
Tension escalated at the Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday as impeached Speaker Mudashiru Obasa made a dramatic return to reclaim his position.
Accompanied by heavily armed men, Obasa stormed the Assembly complex in a bold move that has thrown the State’s legislature into turmoil.
In a stunning turn of events, security details assigned to the substantive Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mojisola Meranda, were abruptly withdrawn on Thursday morning, clearing the path for Obasa’s controversial comeback.
Sources revealed that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) ordered the withdrawal of all security operatives attached to Meranda, leaving her exposed in the midst of an intensifying power struggle.
The Speaker’s Special Adviser on Information, Mr. Victor Ganzallo, expressed concern over the security vacuum created by the withdrawal of personnel.
“In the early hours of Thursday, we woke up to the startling news that all security details assigned to Madam Speaker, Mojisola Meranda, had been withdrawn.
This includes the police and DSS officers, leaving her exposed to threats amid the ongoing speakership crisis,” Ganzallo stated.
He further called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as the State’s Chief Security Officer, to intervene urgently to prevent a complete breakdown of law and order within the Assembly.
“The withdrawal of security personnel has left the Assembly naked and vulnerable at a critical time. Urgent action is needed to restore order,” he pleaded.
With the speakership battle taking a dramatic new turn, political watchers are keenly observing how the crisis will unfold in the coming days.
