Headlines
Dogara Group Endorses Atiku for President
A splinter group of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the north led by former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara, has as adopted candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections.
The group under the platform of the Northern Leaders Consultative Forum comprising christians and moslems, adopted the PDP’s candidate, in a voice vote, after the report of its technical committee was presented to its members at a public forum on Friday in Abuja.
The report signed by the chairman of the Northern Leaders Technical Criteria Committee, Hon. Mohammed Kumaila and Secretary, Nunghe Kele, SAN, was presented by former Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Simon Achuba.
“After a careful evaluation of all the issues highlighted above, we hereby recommend for the adoption of the PDP, to all lovers of democracy in Nigeria, for the 2023 presidential election.
However, this should be subject to getting the necessary assurance from the party to run an all-inclusive government, details of which shall be discussed with the leadership of the party in the nearest future,” Achuba read.
The Northern Leaders Inter-Faith Consultative Dialogue had on October 8 in Abuja, set up a sub-committee mandated to draw up a criteria to serve as a guide to the Northern Leaders Consultative Forum, in its quest to adopt and support one of the leading political parties in the 2023 presidential elections.
“After careful consultations, research and brain-storming, the subcommittee came up with the following analysis of the criteria used to arrive at and recommended a Pan-Nigeria platform for the main Committee’s consideration, endorsement and adoption.
Amongst the criteria used in selecting their choice of endorsement include factors such as presidential experience; requisite track record in public service, business and education; evidence of national penetration; religious and ethnic balance.
Other criteria include; pan-Nigeria and tolerance, reasonable popularity, physical fitness for the rigours of state as well as the existing structures of the selected political parties and current candidates for 2023 according to INEC records.
According to the report, Atiku came tops from a 15 points criteria used in assessing the four leading political parties; APC, PDP, LP and NNPP.
Atiku, who scored all 15 points criteria was followed by the candidate of the NNPP, Rabiu Kwankwaso, who scored 10 points and APC’s Senator Bola Tinubu and LP’s Peter Obi, who had 9 points each.
Chairman of the Forum, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon, Yakubu Dogara, who presided over the adoption said the group decided to go for a pan Nigeria presidential candidate, following the adoption of a Moslem-Moslem ticket by the APC against massive protest.
According to Dogara, “what will destroy Nigeria is not ethnicity but religion”, stressing that those passing statement relating to hate must be stopped before they destroy the country.
Dogara further maintained that same faith ticket does not align with the vision of a united Nigeria because it does not promote a collective sense of belongingness.
The group noted that since the APC was adamant with its same faith ticket, the group had no other choice than to jettison the APC and look for a party and candidate who represents their desire and expectations for the 2023 general election.
Call it the eating of a humble pie, and you may not be wring as the embattled Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, apologised to Governor Godwin Obaseki amid a face-off between them.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday in Benin City, Mr Shaibu appealed to Governor Obaseki to forgive his “mistakes” for them to continue to work together, Channels TV reported.
“I use this medium to appeal to Mr Governor, if there is anything that I don’t know that I have done, please forgive me so that we can develop our state together,” he said.
“We have just one year to go. We have been the envy of the entire country. So, Mr Governor, if there is anything you feel that I have done, please I am sorry. I need us to work together to finish well and strong,” the deputy governor added.
When asked if he had resumed at his new office, Mr Shaibu said, “We have resumed but there is still a lot of work to be done there.
“There is no problem about it. The governor has asked us to go there. Like I have always tried to prove, I am a loyal servant and nothing has changed.
“I took a personal vow to support my governor and you can see my Catholic people are here. When I took a vow with God, nothing can change it and I wish that the relationship that we had will come back in the next few days and weeks.”
Mr Shaibu also said he has been missing the governor since their rift began, and expressed hope that God will “touch the governor’s heart” to forgive him.
“I mean well. If there is any mistake I have made as a human, it is not out of wickedness because I know I’m not wicked. I have a very clean heart.”
The Federal Capital Territory FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has announced the revocation of 167 plots of land in some highbrow districts of the nation’s capital, Abuja.
Areas affected are Maitama, Gudu, Wuye which had the highest revocation, 41; Katampe, Katampe Extension, Wuse 2, Jabi, Utako, Idu Industrial zone, and Asokoro which had the second highest revocation, 39.
In a notice issued Thursday night in Abuja, the administration said the plots were revoked due to the refusal or failure of their allottees to develop them.
“The Federal Capital Territory Administration FCTA hereby informs the general public that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory has, in the exercise of the powers conferred on him under Section 28(5)(a) & (b) of the Land Use Act 1978, revoked the underlisted plots with names and titles as reflected in our records for continued contravention of the terms of development of the Right of Occupancy to wit non-development”, the administration said in the notice signed by the Permanent Secretary, Mr Olusade Adesola.
Some of the plots revoked in Maitama district A05 had names like Liyel Imoke, Musa Aboki Egu, Hassan Hadejia and Ishaya Baba.
In Jabi, some of the plots revoked had allottees such as Sam Nda-Isaiah, and Donubari Josephine Kogbara, while Katampe district had Peter Gregory Obi, BUA international among others.
In other areas, this revoked had names as Julius Berger Nigeria, Honeywell Construction, Uffot Joseph Ekaette, Shittu Mohammed, Udoma Udo Udoma, Kanu Agabi, Niki Niki Tobi, Ishaku Bello, and others.
Wike had on assumption of office vowed to restore the master plan of the territory and revoke plots that had not been developed or those whose ground rents have not been paid for years.
He had consequently given a two-week grace to allottees to pay their ground rents or risk revocation of their allocations.
Vanguard
President Bola Tinubu has appealed against the ruling of Judge Jeffrey T. Gilbert, sitting at the United States’ District Court of Northern Illinois which ordered the Chicago State University (CSU) to release all relevant records pertaining to him.
SaharaReporters had reported how the federal court in Chicago, while ruling on the civil case filed by Atiku Abubakar, on Tuesday granted the applicant’s request to the court, stating that former Nigeria’s vice-president had been able to sufficiently satisfy the purpose for seeking the records.
In the judgement documents seen by SaharaReporters on Wednesday, Judge Jeffrey Gilbert also ordered a deposition of designated CSU officials within two days after the records have been released, noting further that the process can be conducted during the weekend if necessary.
However, as the school prepared to surrender the papers, Tinubu filed an emergency motion in the district, requesting a higher judge to reconsider Mr Gilbert’s September 19 ruling and postpone the execution until at least September 25, according to People’s Gazette.
“Due to the timing for compliance by Chicago State University – later today – Intervenor is filing this motion separately from its challenge to the Magistrate’s ruling on the application,” Mr Tinubu’s lawyers, led by Christopher Carmichael, said. “Intervenor intends to file, by the end of the day, a substantive brief addressing the errors in the Magistrate’s decision.”
