Headlines
How ‘NEPA’ Prevented Buhari, Tinubu from Addressing APC Rally in Bauchi
The presidential campaign rally of the All Progressives Congress in Bauchi State was brought to an abrupt end by power outage on Monday.
The rally was going on at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Bauchi, when the power supply ceased and the sound system went off and could not be restored.
The event commenced at 11.50am, according to The Punch report.
However, there was an outage when the Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, Atiku Bagudu, was making his speech at 12.20pm.
Shortly after, the electricity supply was restored and Bagudu came back to conclude his remarks.
But at exactly 1.10pm, the power supply again went off shortly after the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, mounted the podium and began addressing the party supporters.
On the podium with the national chairman were the APC standard bearer, Bola Tinubu; his running mate, Kashim Shettima and his wife Nana, while Buhari, who was sitting at the VIP (Very important persons’) section of the stadium, waited for electricity to be restored.
While Adamu, Tinubu, Shettima and others were on the podium, the power was restored again before it went off for the third time and all efforts to resolve it failed.
Also, the party’s standard bearer could not address the mammoth crowd at the rally, following the departure of the President.
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, on Monday, held a crucial meeting with service chiefs and heads of security and intelligence agencies in the country
The crucial meeting took place at the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Abuja, followed reports of a directive by the President of United States, Donald Trump to prepare for possible military action in Nigeria over the alleged genocide of Christians in the country.
Security sources hinted that the emergency meeting, which began in the afternoon was aimed at assessing the implications of Trump’s statement accusing the Nigerian government of failing to protect Christians from Islamist militant groups.
Trump’s remarks, made late Saturday, stated that the U.S. military was being prepared to “act in Nigeria to tackle Islamist militancy” a statement that had triggered widespread concern across diplomatic and security circles in Abuja.
Reports said that the NSA convened the session to coordinate a unified national security response and review intelligence assessments on the potential fallout of the U.S. president’s pronouncement.
The outcome of the meeting is expected to be communicated through official channels from the Office of the National Security Adviser.
The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (NWC) has suspended the National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade; National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu; Deputy Legal Adviser, Okechukwu Osuoha; and National Organizing Secretary, Umaru Bature for one month.
The suspension comes on the heels of the judgement of the Federal High Court On Friday, which stopped the party’s planned national convention.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Debo Ologunagba, told journalists in Abuja on Saturday, that the decision followed an emergency meeting of the national working committee, which was held in Abuja.
President Donald Trump of the United States on Friday designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), in response to allegations of widespread persecution and genocide against Christians.
Writing on his Truth Social account, Trump stated that Christianity faces a serious threat in Nigeria.
The US leader also added Nigeria to a State Department watch list.
“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter,” Trump wrote.
According to the US president, he was placing Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer and most populous nation, on a “Countries of Particular Concern” list of nations the US deems to have engaged in religious freedom violations.
According to the State Department’s website, the list includes China, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia, and Pakistan, among others.
Trump said he had asked US Representatives Riley Moore and Tom Cole, as well as the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, to look into the matter and report back to him.
