Headlines
Osuntokun’s Appointment by Labour Party, No Cause for Alarm, Says ZLP Chairman
The National Chairman of the Zenith Labour Party, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, has cleared the air on the party’s affiliation with Akin Osuntokun, the newly appointed Director General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council.
In a statement on Friday, ZLP stated that Osuntokun resigned from the party in August 2022, and was, therefore, free to associate with other parties.
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, had on Tuesday announced Osuntokun, a former aide to President Olusegun Obasanjo, as his campaign DG days after Doyin Okupe resigned from the position.
Following the appointment, there were concerns that Osuntokun remained a senatorial candidate in Ekiti State under the ZLP.
Clearing the air, Nwanyanwu, who also doubles as the ZLP presidential candidate, maintained that Osuntokun had ceased to be a member of the party.
In a statement dated December 29, 2022, Nwanyanwu stated that the party held no grudges against Osuntokun.
The statement read, “The controversy generated by the appointment of Mr. Akin Osuntokun as the DG of H/E Peter OBI Campaign organization is uncalled for.
“Akin Osuntokun resigned from the Zenith LABOUR Party in August 2022 and therefore no longer a member of our Party.
“Prior to his resignation from ZLP, he held the ticket as a Senatorial Candidate in Ekiti State. At the time of his resignation, we could not replace him because the window allowed by the Electoral Act for substitution had elapsed.
“We hold no grudges because it is his fundamental right to associate and exit from any organization. We wish him well in his newfound greener pasture.
“We believe this will put to rest the barrage of inquiries to us in this regard.”
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.”
