News
I Won’t Engage in Media War with Lawan, Says Akeredolu
The Ondo State Governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu said he would not react to the statement credited to the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, on the issue of insecurity in the country, saying he was not interested in engaging any person or group of persons in media war on the issue, especially the ones that concern the South-West.
The Governor stated this through his Special Assistant on New Media, Mr Olabode Olatunde.
He said, “At the risk of being repetitive, the Governor Akeredolu-led South-West Governors will not go into the arena of media conflict with crisis entrepreneurs and divisionists.”
The Punch
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has said it lacks the power to offer amnesty to surrendered terrorists.
The Director Defence Media Operations, Major General Markus Kangye, made the clarification during a briefing in Abuja on Thursday.
There were reports recently suggesting that bandit commanders in Katsina State were surrendering and releasing hostages in exchange for amnesty.
The military high command clarified that while the development reflects the success of both kinetic and non-kinetic operations, offering amnesty to terrorists is not within the military’s mandate.
He said: “Anmesty is not what we do. We are to do our job according to our rules of engagement, according to our operational directives. And if, from the operation conducted, people are arrested and handed over, and an amnesty is to be given to them, it’s not the military that determines that.
“Their cases will be studied, and based on that merit, the agencies of government responsible for giving amnesty will do that. It is not for the military to determine whether to give amnesty or not. That is not part of our operation.”
Responding to a question on why the military had refused to release detained leaders of Okuama community in Delta State, despite a court order, the Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Tukur Gusau, who was also present at the briefing, explained that the military had not received the court order in question, despite reports of its issuance.
On March 14, four officers and 13 soldiers were killed in an ambush in Okuama, a community in Ughelli South Local Government Area, Delta State, during a peace mission by the military men. The killings attracted wide condemnation from Nigerians. The military, thereafter, stormed the community and arrested alleged perpetrators of the heinous act.
“The DHQ has not received any court injunction in respect of that,” Gusau said.
“If we get it, we have our legal team, which will advise us on the next step to take. But for now, we don’t have such a court injunction being served to us.”
When asked why the military wouldn’t allow community members to visit the detained leaders, the defence spokesman replied that no such request had been made to the military.
“There was no request forwarded to the Defence Headquarters on that,” Gusau said.
“Maybe, perhaps the request is only on the pages of newspapers.
“There is a procedure for everything. If they follow the procedure, we will respond appropriately,” he added.
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Aare Dele Momodu, has accused President Bola Tinubu of destroying democracy because he wants a second term by all means possible.
Momodu stated this on Wednesday when he appeared on ‘Prime Time’, a programme on Arise Television.
He described Tinubu as a smart and powerful man, who is using people to do his biddings, adding that he would continue to use them.
He reminded the President that he had once fought for democracy, urging him not to destroy what he had built over the years.
“So what shall it profit you to do two terms, three terms, if you can live forever and rule Nigeria forever? But at the end of the day, your name enters that book of ignominy.
“If I meet him today, that’s the question I will ask him. Is it worth it? You got what Awolowo could not get. You got what Abiola could not get, what Azikiwe was chasing.
These are people of incredible mental capacity. They couldn’t get it. You got it either by hook, by crook, by luck, by whatever means you got it, and because you must do the second term by fire or by force, then you will destroy the entire democracy,” he said.
A former Senate President, Senator David Mark, has formally resigned his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party, citing deepening internal divisions and unresolved leadership crises.
In a letter dated June 27 and addressed to the PDP Chairman in his Otukpo Ward, Benue State, obtained by The PUNCH on Wednesday, Mark cited deep, unresolved internal issues that have left the party a shadow of its former self and exposed it to public embarrassment.
The letter, titled “Notice of Resignation from the PDP,” partly read, “I bring warm greetings to you and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Otukpo Ward 1, and by extension, to the entire Benue State and Nigeria. I write to formally inform you of my decision to resign my membership of the party with immediate effect.
“You may recall that over the years, I have remained firm and deeply committed to the ideals of the PDP. Even when nearly all stakeholders departed the party following our loss in the 2015 presidential election, I pledged to remain the last man standing.”
He said his efforts to rebuild, reconcile, and reposition the party helped restore it to national relevance, but that recent events had weakened the PDP beyond recognition.
Mark added, “However, recent events marked by deepening divisions, persistent leadership crisis, and irreconcilable differences have reduced the party to a shadow of its former self, subjecting it to public ridicule.
“After wide consultations with my family, friends, and political associates, I have resolved to join the National Coalition of Political Opposition Movement in Nigeria, as part of the collective effort to rescue our nation and preserve our hard-earned democracy.”
