Headlines
Insecurity Threatening Nigeria’s Existence, Gbajabiamila Warns
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Thursday said the three arms of the Federal Government must take all necessary actions to tackle the security challenges facing Nigeria.
Gbajabiamila decried the spate of insecurity, saying it had disrupted the lives of the people as well as threatened the continued existence of the country.
The Speaker stated this in Abuja while declaring open, a two-day workshop on promoting effective legislation and oversight of the security sector in Nigeria, which was organised by the House Committee on National Security and Intelligence in collaboration with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation
A statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Lanre Lasisi, titled ‘All Arms of Government Must Work to Address Security Challenges, quoted him warning against the dire consequences of allowing the security crises to persist.
He said, “We are at this moment experiencing in many parts of our country, significant internal security challenges that have disrupted the lives of many of our citizens and led to a loss of lives and property at a scale that cannot easily be quantified.
“These internal security challenges threaten the very existence of the Nigerian state because they undermine public faith in the government’s ability to fulfil its fundamental obligation to protect the lives and property of citizens.
“Across the three arms of government, we have a shared responsibility to take all necessary actions to meet these challenges head-on. This is what the people who elected us rightly expect.”
According to Gbajabiamila, national security is generally understood to be the preserve of the executive arm of government. He said as a result, the general public and the political class often do not know what the legislative role in national security is or ought to be.
The Speaker said, “This knowledge gap presents an ongoing limitation on the policy-making and oversight role of the legislature as it pertains specifically to the challenges we face in the national security sector. Workshops such as the one we have gathered here for today are an essential tool in reversing this gap.”
He added, “The realities of the moment require that we be willing to speak honest truths about the things we haven’t gotten right so that we can then focus our energies on making sure that we do better for the future.
“I encourage all of you to remember that a lot of the hopes we have for our country depend on our ability to guarantee the safety of our people and the security of property and investments. And from this remembrance, I hope we can find the motivation to do all that this moment requires of us.
“Key followers of the House would notice that security has been a very important part of our work. It’s part of our legislative agenda. When I came in, I visited three key states affected by insecurity. I went to Katsina, Borno and Zamfara.”
The Punch
Adebayo Adelabu, one of the aspirants for the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket in Oyo State, has alleged irregularities in the party’s governorship primary election held on Thursday.
Adelabu, who expressed dissatisfaction over the conduct of the exercise, stated that the primary was characterized by misconduct ranging from disenfranchisement of his supporters in some wards and the commencement of election process earlier than scheduled.
Speaking after the conclusion of the primary election at IMG School, Ward 9, Ibadan South-East Local Government Area, the immediate past Minister of Power alleged that the process was neither free, fair nor credible.
He said: “Before our people started getting to their various wards, they have already conducted the election and they wrote the figures they want as results.
“In some wards, our people were prevented from voting. They were intimidated. They were chased away violently. And in some wards, voting did not take place at all.
“All this kind of misconduct is not good at this stage of our democracy in Nigeria, and something has to be done about it.”
Adelabu, therefore, vowed to come up with serious petitions against all the irregularities not just in Ibadan, but across all the five geopolitical zones in Oyo State.
“Also, conduct of many party executives is uncalled for, a lot of people bought forms and they were cleared. And they decided to conduct affirmation of a particular candidate in some wards.
“There was nothing like consensus arrangement. It was just a figment of their weird imagination. The instruction we got from Abuja was that we should all carry out free, fair, and transparent direct primary election where every aspirant will be given a level playing ground and the election will be conducted peacefully.
“Where did they get the idea of consensus candidates? And this is what happened in a lot of the wards. And it didn’t go down well with us. “We don’t want that. We are going to assess the gravity of this gross misconduct and the potential impact on the overall result of this election.
“I will put a petition forward to the appropriate authorities so that it can be deeply investigated and there must be consequences to this. The people who perpetrated this misconduct must be identified and punished. And the aspirants involved also need to be suspended because this is not good for us.
“Democracy is the government of the people by the people and for the people where nobody should be disenfranchised. Once you are a party member, you should have that freedom, that authority to pick an aspirant of your choice as the flag bearer of the party.
“This is Ibadan, this is Oyo State and this the centre of politics in the southwest. And we should be able to lay good examples and the process should produce a candidate that won transparently, freely and fairly,” he said.
Meanwhile, at Ward 9, Ibadan South-East Local Government, Adelabu, polled 430 to defeat his closest rival, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, who had 3 votes.
Al Nassr captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, has finally won the Saudi Pro League title.
They were confirmed champions on Thursday, thanks to a 4-2 drubbing of relegation battlers, Damac.
The title race had gone down to the final day after Al-Nassr dramatically dropped points against Al-Hilal the previous week.
Jorge Jesus’ side knew there could be no mistakes against a Damac side fighting for survival at the other end of the table.
Ronaldo was on the scoresheet, as his brace helped Al Nassr secure the title ahead of rivals Al Hilal.
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has announced his withdrawal from the All Progressives Congress governorship primary election in the state.
Fubara made this known in a statement personally signed on Wednesday, saying he would support whoever emerges as the party’s candidate, The Nations reported.
The governor said his decision followed extensive consultations with his family, friends, and political associates.
“After deep reflection and extensive consultations with my family, friends, and associates, I have taken the difficult but necessary decision to withdraw from the APC governorship primaries. I do so with a full heart and with a firm commitment to support whoever emerges as the candidate of our great party,” Fubara said.
Fubara said although the decision was difficult, he remained committed to supporting whoever would emerge as the APC governorship candidate.
According to him, leadership demands sacrifice and personal ambition must sometimes give way to the collective interest of the people.
Meanwhile, the embattled governor expressed appreciation to his supporters for their loyalty, prayers and sacrifices throughout the political process, acknowledging that many would feel disappointed by his withdrawal.
He said his silence in recent weeks was “deliberate and strategic,” adding that it was guided by the higher interest of the state.
Tone Cole, APC chieftain and 2027 governorship aspirant in Rivers State, also announced his withdrawal from the race, saying his decision was, among other reasons, in the interest of the party’s unity.
