Headlines
PDP Has Tolerated Wike for Too Long – Party’s Ex-Auditor Nnaji
A former National Auditor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP,) Barr Ray Nnaji, has warned that the party has tolerated the FCT Minister Nyesom Wike for too long.
Nnaji stated this during a media interview, while offering his view on the crisis plaguing the party.
This comes amid the challenge from Wike daring any governor or leader of the PDP to publicly call him a mole.
The minister threw the challenge when he appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.
He had previously dared State governors elected under the platform of the PDP over his threat that he will put fire in their states.
Wike said he had no apology to anybody, insisting that heaven will not fall.
However, lamenting on what has become of the party, the former auditor stated that no right member of the PDP will commend what’s happening in the party, saying he doesn’t see Wike being in APC and the PDP at the same time.
Nnaji also said that the PDP wasted time in replacing its former National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, insisting that the vacuum created room for the crisis.
He said: “No right member of the PDP will commend what’s happening in the party.
“I don’t see Wike being in APC and the PDP at the same time. It’s the soul of Rivers State they are pursuing for the purposes of 2027.
“You know quite well that Wike used his power as a former governor to make sure that APC was assisted to come to power, that was why he was compensated with a ministerial appointment.
“He (Wike) wanted to pull the structure he had then into the APC. That explains why the APC dissolved its Rivers state executives, which prompted the members to go to the court.
“Wike himself, and those 25 State House of Assembly members who defected, when they found out that others weren’t following them, the problem in the state started.
“The main fact is that the acting Chairman failed to do what he ought to do. It cannot be blamed on the acting Chairman alone, it should be blamed on the Party entirely because the constitution is very clear.
“When a vacancy exists, what do you do? Of course, the constitution provided answers to all those things, but they failed to do it.
“Iyorchia Ayu was from North Central, when he left the position, Damagun came just to fill the gap.
“The party shouldn’t have wasted time in replacing Iyorchia Ayu. The party would have replaced Ayu with another person from that zone. If that would have been done, I don’t think we would have entered into this crisis.
“I don’t think it is as difficult with the party as it was with Amodu Sheriff, which ended up in the Supreme Court before the 2019 election.
“I still believe that the party will still come out of it, even though they didn’t do what they ought to have done early enough.”
On setting up a reconciliation committee, Nnaji had this to say: “I don’t know who they are reconciling with. Is it Wike or the governor?
“From the look of things, the government is not ready to play ball, when Wike wants the structure. And if you give Wike the structure, the governor becomes a follower of Wike.
“That is not what the governor wants, he’s supposed to be the leader of the party in the State and take charge.
“Wike, seeing what’s happening, believes he has done his parallel congress and produced a structure. Of course, the governor has his own structure, who the national picks will be another issue.
“I learnt Wike was invited to the disciplinary committee, I don’t know the outcome of the invitation but they waited too long to allow Wike to this point.
“He was not part of the formation of the party but he’s the most beneficiary of the PDP. Going ahead to seek the destruction of the party he has benefited a lot from doesn’t augur well for him, especially in the future.
“If he destroys PDP, who’s sure the APC will be a comfortable place for him to stay?
“I don’t think he’s thinking from that angle. It is his personal interest that matters most for him now.
“The PDP has to make sure it puts its house in order to see if it can liberate the country come 2027.”
Headlines
‘Hands off’: Millions of People Join Protests Against Trump and Elon Musk Across All US States
Millions of people took part in protests against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk across all 50 states and globally on Saturday, organized by a pro-democracy movement over “hostile takeover” and attack on American rights and freedoms.
According to CNN, over 1,400 “Hands Off!” mass-action protests were held at state capitols, federal buildings, congressional offices, Social Security’s headquarters, parks and city halls throughout the entire country – anywhere “we can make sure they hear us,” organizers said.
“Hands Off!” demands “an end to this billionaire power grab.”
“Whether you are mobilized by the attacks on our democracy, the slashing of jobs, the invasion of privacy, or the assault on our services – this moment is for you,” the event flyers state. “We are setting out to build a massive, visible, national rejection of this crisis.”
Nearly 600,000 people had signed up to attend the events, some of which took place in major cities like London and Paris, according to Indivisible, one of the organizations leading the movement in collaboration with a nationwide coalition that includes civil rights organizations, veterans, women’s rights groups, labor unions and LGBTQ+ advocates.
Organizers say they have three demands: “an end to the billionaire takeover and rampant corruption of the Trump administration; an end to slashing federal funds for Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs working people rely on; and an end to the attacks on immigrants, trans people, and other communities.”
Commissioner of Police, CP Olajide Rufus Ibitoye, acting on the orders of the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, through the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in-charge of Force Intelligence Department (FID) Abuja, has extended an invitation to the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, for an “investigative meeting with regards to an incident that occurred during the Sallah celebration within your domain”.
The said incident is in connection with the violence that broke out during the recent Eid-el-Fitr procession in Kano, which resulted in the death of a local vigilante member.
The incident happened as the Emir’s entourage moved from the Eid prayer ground to the palace in a traditional procession. The clash, which marred the otherwise peaceful celebration, led to the tragic loss of life of a vigilante member, Surajo Rabiu, and left one other injured.
The invitation was conveyed in an official letter dated April 4, 2025, and signed by Commissioner of Police, CP Olajide Rufus Ibitoye, on behalf of the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in-charge of Force Intelligence Department (FID) Abuja.
The letter reads: “I have the directives of the Inspector General of Police, through the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Force Intelligence Department (FID), to invite you for an investigative meeting with regards to an incident that occurred during the Sallah celebration within your domain.”
The Emir has been requested to appear before the Force Intelligence Department in Abuja, opposite the Police Headquarters, Area 11, by 10:00am on Tuesday, April 8, 2025.
This development comes amid heightened tensions in Kano State following the earlier decision by the State Police Command to ban the annual Durbar festival due to security concerns. The ban, announced days before the Eid-el-Fitr celebration, was intended to prevent any possible breakdown of law and order during the festive period.
However, despite the suspension of the Durbar, a motorcade procession of Emir Sanusi II still took place on the third day of the Eid-el-Fitr celebrations.
The Kano State Police Commissioner, CP Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, had also inaugurated an eight-member Special Investigation Panel (SIP) to investigate the violence.
As at the time of this report, there has been no official response from the Emir Sanusi II’s palace regarding the Police invitation.
Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the political adviser to President Bola Tinubu, has resigned his appointment.
Reports say the former spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) tendered his resignation about two weeks ago.
Further reports quoting presidency sources did not, however, provide details of the reasons for his decision, but only stated that it was on personal grounds.
Baba-Ahmed was appointed in September 2023 as Special Adviser on Political Matters in the Office of Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Over the past 17 months, he had represented the presidency at several public fora, including a recent national conference themed: “Strengthening Nigeria’s Democracy: Pathway to Good Governance and Political Integrity”, which held from January 28 and 29, 2025 in Abuja.
