Headlines
More Troubles As APC Factions Kick Against March 26 Convention Date
The All Progressives Congress state factions have warned the party against going ahead with the March 12 zonal congresses and March 26 national convention without resolving crises in its state chapters.
This is just as the APC governors in Abuja on Tuesday endorsed the new date for the national convention while also revealing the zoning formula. The party also said its next chairman would emerge through consensus.
The Progressive Governors Forum revealed that it had agreed on a simple, equitable zoning formula for all the six geopolitical zones by swapping positions between northern and southern zones.
This confirms an earlier PUNCH report on the APC’s zoning formula which was published on January 19, 2022 but was tagged fake news by the Secretary to the APC Caretaker Committee, John Akpanudoedehe.
Addressing State House correspondents shortly after a meeting of the governors at the Presidential Villa, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, said positions that were previously zoned to the North would go to the South and vice versa.
The governor, who spoke shortly after the council chairman, Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State, also revealed that although the governors initially disagreed on the timing of the party’s national convention, said they have since settled on a suitable convention date and zoning formula.
He explained that the division was a mere disagreement typical of any group and does not constitute fallout in the forum.
According to him, “We have agreed on a zoning formula for all the six geopolitical zones and essentially we swapped. Northern zones will take positions that southern zones held in the last eight years and vice versa. So, it is a very simple, equitable and fair formula.
“We will now go back and consult at the zonal level, and look at the positions that are available and the process of the convention preparation will start in earnest. So, by the grace of God on March 26, we will have a national convention. Whether we do zonal convention before that, or do it at the same time, again, the constitution is silent. So as our chairman said, we can decide either way.”
Based on El-Rufai’s statement, it means the next chairman of the party will be from the North while the Secretary will go to the South. The national treasurer (South), national financial secretary (North), national legal adviser (North), national organising secretary (North) national welfare officer (South), national youth leader (South), national woman leader (South) and national publicity secretary (South) among others.
Asked if there were disagreements between the governors, he said “Yes, we were divided. We were divided over the timing of the convention. There were some governors that felt that we should put off the convention until we resolve all the congresses’ ssues in some states.
“So some governors held the view that we should wait until all this was resolved. And this is not borne out of any agenda or selfishness. It is just a realistic proposition to avoid us violating any laws or putting our party structures of elected candidates in danger.
“So yes, there were differences in opinion about timing. Some of us are saying the constitution allows us to have a convention even if three or four states have issues that are unresolved, while others were saying no, let us finish all the reconciliations and we do this convention. After all, there is no time limit for the convention as long as we do it before the time for the primaries. So that was the difference. This is what the media have called divided governors.”
He, however, said all issues had been resolved and all governors are now on the same page.
The Punch
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
