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Call Wike to Order, Bode George Advises Tinubu over Rivers Crisis

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A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has advised the FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, to “cease fire” and allow Governor Siminalayi Fubara to work for the people of Rivers State.

George conveyed the appeal through a statement on Monday in Lagos, following the latest crisis in Rivers State after the local government elections held on Saturday.

George, a PDP Board of Trustees (BOT) member, also called on President Bola Tinubu to advise Wike, the immediate past Governor of Rivers State, to make efforts towards ending the political tension in the State.

He said it has become imperative now that people of Rivers State have boldly asserted their civic and constitutional rights of coming out to vote in last Saturday’s local government polls.

“This is the time for former governor of the State and now FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to allow Governor Siminalayi Fubara to work and deliver dividends of democracy to the people.

“This is also the time for President Bola Tinubu to advise Wike, who is one of his ministers, to allow the governor to work.

“I say this with every sense of responsibility because if this democracy is truncated – God forbid – Tinubu, as the Commander-in-Chief, will be the biggest loser,” George warned.

According to him, all lovers of democracy should bear in mind that the current political crisis in Rivers State could lead to a re-enactment of the crisis in the defunct Western Region between 1962 and 1966, if allowed to continue.

He said the crisis eventually led to the first military coup of January 15, 1966.

The PDP chieftain recalled how some national figures were killed and how the crisis led to a second coup on July 29, 1966, which also claimed the lives of many military officers.

“Since history is no longer taught in our schools, I want to remind the gladiators in this Rivers crisis that the January and July 1966 killings eventually led to the civil war between July 6, 1967 and January 15, 1970.

“Close to two million Nigerians died in the war. I am raising this alarm because what is happening in Rivers State now gives cause for serious concern for everyone.

“My understanding of this man-made crisis is that, there is a despotic, divisive, wicked and anti-people design to create a conflagration, which may eventually consume our country.

“We all know the economic importance of Rivers to the survival of this nation. It is the gateway to the Niger Delta.

“Any threat to peace in this State will eventually lead to huge security implications, not only for Nigeria but West Africa and Africa as a whole,” he further warned.

According to him, it is good to have political ambition, but this ambition must not be at variance with the expectations of the people.

He said that some analysts had linked the happenings in Rivers State  to 2027 elections’ calculations.

George added: “I believe it is too early to start strategising for a partisan event which is still close to 28 months away.

“One thing is clear: Nyesom Wike was governor of the State for eight years. He left the Government House in May last year and today, he is the FCT Minister.

“Sir Peter Odili and Rotimi Amaechi were governors before him. Now that Governor Fubara is the Chief Executive of the State, he should be allowed to work. Nobody stays in office forever.

“By 2027, people of Rivers will decide, through their votes, if they want him to return to office or not. This is how political issues and ambitions are handled in civilised climes.”

He said that the way the partisan crisis was going, if not checked, might collapse Nigeria’s democracy.

“Now that council chairmen and councillors have been elected, I appeal to Nyesom Wike to please give peace a chance. Tinubu must also call Wike and tell him to allow the governor to work.

“I am appealing to Wike to please let this crisis be a thing of the past. The democracy we enjoy today, many people suffered to bring it to fruition. Some even died.

“We should not be seen to be dancing on their graves because of partisan interests. Only God knows what will happen in 2027 because He is greater, wiser and more powerful than all of us.”

He advised the new Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, to call some judicial officers to order over conflicting court orders.

“Once again, I am appealing to Wike to look at the larger interests in this crisis. He should not allow himself to be used and dumped by the APC.

“The political storm in Rivers must disappear immediately, in the interest of all Nigerians,” he said.

There have been lingering political crisis in the State emanating from the frictions between Fubara and his predecessor, Wike.

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Frozen Account: Adeleke Directs Attorney General to Drop Lawsuit Against EFCC

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Re-elected Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, has instructed his Attorney General to withdraw the suit filed against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the freezing of the State government’s bank account.

Adeleke disclosed this in an interview with Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, hours after he was declared winner of the August 15 governorship election.

Asked whether he is ready to put the political disagreements and the EFCC case behind him, the governor said he has decided to move on following President Bola Tinubu’s intervention.

“I’m putting them behind. What else do I want? I have instructed my Attorney General to drop it. Mr. President has done well. He called me. What more do I want?” Adeleke said.

The governor had earlier challenged the EFCC’s decision to secure an order freezing the state government’s account, describing the move as politically motivated and disruptive to the administration’s activities.

President Tinubu subsequently directed the anti-graft agency to lift the restriction and discontinue the related legal action, following concerns over the timing of the freeze ahead of the Osun governorship election.

On allegations that some of his supporters and officials are being invited and questioned by the EFCC, Adeleke said he has directed his lawyers to provide the necessary assistance.

“Well, we have been talking. I have been calling all my lawyers to go there. I’m sure the APC in Osun, according to them, they are telling us they are using federal might,” he said.

Adeleke, however, said he does not believe President Tinubu is aware of some of the actions attributed to federal agencies.

“Most of these things, the President doesn’t know. The President has a lot of foreign work and jobs to do,” he said.

According to the governor, some of his aides were invited by the EFCC for questioning but were released after no wrongdoing was established.

“I told my people, go there. We haven’t got anything to hide. And when they go there, they ask them questions, and then they will say, ‘Go on.’ Can you imagine my spokesperson? You are inviting my spokesperson – is my spokesperson a finance minister or accountant?” Adeleke asked.

He described the invitations as a distraction and alleged that former Osun State governor Gboyega Oyetola was behind the development because of his relationship with President Tinubu.

“All these things is Oyetola because he is the cousin to the President. He is dropping the President’s name. I know that the President didn’t know about the EFCC one. That is why he had to call me and stop it,” Adeleke said.

The EFCC froze an Osun State Government bank account earlier in August as part of an investigation into the alleged handling of about ₦11 billion in Ecology Funds, intervention funds and Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) funds.

The commission said it had detected suspicious movements of funds and restricted the account to prevent further transfers while its investigation continued.

The development triggered a dispute between the commission and the Adeleke administration, with the governor describing the action as politically motivated and taking the EFCC to court.

President Bola Tinubu subsequently directed the EFCC to return to court to vacate the freezing order and discontinue the related action, saying the timing could create the impression that a federal agency was being used to interfere with the election.

Adeleke secured a second term as Osun State governor, winning 511,067 votes against APC’s Bola Oyebamiji, who scored 444,815. ADC’s Najeem Salaam came third with 17,180 votes. Adeleke won 19 of the state’s 30 LGAs, while Oyebamiji won 11.

Following his victory, Adeleke described the result as a triumph for democracy and pledged to transform Osun into an industrial hub.

He also called for unity, saying there was “no victor, no vanquished.”

His re-election sparked celebrations across the state, particularly in Osogbo and his hometown, Ede, with his nephew Davido also celebrating on social media.

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INEC Resumes Upload of Osun Election Results after 3Hours Pause

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has resumed the upload of results from the Osun State governorship election to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV), with more than 92.53 per cent of polling unit results now available on the platform.

Tribune Online reports that 3,482 results had been uploaded out of the 3,763 polling units across the state, representing 92.53 per cent of the total results expected on the portal.

Concerns were earlier raised after result uploads on the IReV portal appeared to stall for about three hours.

The delay triggered reactions from several social media users, including Afrobeats star David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, who questioned the halt in the upload process.

In a post on X, he wrote, “INEC IREV uploads have been stuck for almost 2 hours now. 3292 out of 3763 results submitted and then silence. This is not acceptable Why has the uploading stopped?@inecnigeria

Another X user, @mundus01 tweeted, “Osun IReV uploads have been stalled for over 2 hours. The last result was published at 8:48:08 p.m. The portal is online, but no new results are appearing. @inecnigeria, what is happening? This doesn’t look good.”

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Food for Living: Love What You Do (Pt. 2)

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By Henry Ukazu

Dear Destiny Friends,

Last week, we laid the foundation of loving what you do. We discussed loving the topic as it relates to family, career, health, relationship, personal development, purpose and spirituality.  Today, we shall be focusing on how loving what you do can be a game changer.

It’s instructive to note that in the dictionary of life; when you love what you do and what you do loves you, you are destined for not only success, but also greatness. One may be wondering how this works. Trust me, it is difficult to succeed in a major, or profession one doesn’t like.

The journey of life can be challenging, stressful and unpredictable. When one is trying to set up a business, there’s bound to be setbacks maybe due to a new policy or meeting up with the requirement, there could challenges of funds; in academics, if one choose a major one likes, despite the associating challenges that may arise, one will still manage to pull through because he that is in him is greater and stronger than he that is in the world.

Also, in relationships and marriage, if one values friendship, they won’t allow their ego to have influence over them. Rather, they will invest time and resources in the relationship. That’s why it’s always good to place values above physical features in a human body when it comes to settling down for marriage because at the end of the day, the human body features can fade away, but values and friendship will not fade away, rather, it will serve as the binding factor that keeps the relationship.

One’s career is not an exception; one can tell who likes their job and one who doesn’t like their job. In workplaces, if one is happy at work, they tend to put in extra hours to get the job done. But when they are not happy with the job, they’ll do the bare minimum just to get through.

Let’s spend a minute to understand how loving what one does can be a game changer in one’s life. Just imagine, one is inspired to write a book, there will be challenges, however, it is the inspiration and determination of the person that will determine if they will finish strong. But if they are inspired by the wrong source, they might finish weak. Here is the gist, it is your desire to succeed that will outweigh your fear of failure.

Again, imagine a scenario where one is starting a business but has no resources and structure behind him. The fact is that if the person loves what he’s doing, it will be hard for the person to give up because their force is internal. I can vividly remember when I was working on my first, second and third book, I had many reasons to quit, but I refused because I love the work I was producing.

Furthermore, when you love what you do, you’ll endeavor to learn something new in addition to spending quality time to improve the work. I say this because rational minds don’t invest time and resources in what they don’t like. There’s a saying, if you want to know a man, give money, women and power. One of them would like to subdue him, but if he’s able to overcome them, he is a man.

This principle of loving what you do cuts across all facets of life whether we are taking care of families, academics, religion purpose, health, career, finance and even spiritual life. For families a man/woman who is intentional in building their family, must love their family and loving their family intends sacrificing for the family.

For health, if one loves their health, they won’t take harmful substances, just because they love their health; they will be intentional in exercising, and in doing so, they must love exercising.  For finance, an intentional person must spend time learning about stock, budgeting and investment. These are avenues to show that they have interest in growing their income.  Even in spiritual life, when one shows interest in loving God in truth and spirit, God has a way of coming through for them because they have been tested and trusted. This is simply how life works. Even in relationships if one loves their partner, there’s a high probability they would like to invest time and resources into that relationship.

In summary, endeavor to love what you do because there’s a certain level of spiritual strength, blessings and corresponding opportunities that’s associated with success, when one loves what they do. This is basically how life works.

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny- Actualizing Your Birthright to SuccessUnleash Your Destiny and The Six Pillars of Success . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com

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