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PDP Replaces Ayu with Damagum As National Chairman
The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has replaced its suspended National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu with one of his deputies, Ambassador Umar Damagum.
Damagum, until now the party’s Deputy National Chairman (North), will occupy the seat in an acting capacity pending the determination of the substantive suit restraining Ayu from parading himself as National Chairman.
A Benue High Court in Makurdi, on Monday, ordered Ayu to step aside following a suit filed by his Igyorov Council Ward in Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State.
The Ward Executive Committee suspended Ayu for alleged anti-party activities and failing to pay his membership dues.
Earlier, however, spokesperson for the party’s Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Mr. Charles Aniagwu, had declared as illegal the purported suspension of Dr Ayu.
Aniagwu made the declaration through a statement on Tuesday in Asaba, arguing that those behind the suspension are ignorant of the provisions of the party’s constitution.
Aniagwu said that section 57(7) of the PDP Constitution is very clear on who has the power to suspend or discipline a member of the National Working Committee or National Executive Committee of the party.
“When they proceeded to ask the Ward of the National Chairman to take disciplinary action against him assuming that they have the power they ought to have given him fair hearing by summoning him to give him the opportunity to defend himself.
“But the Section 57 did not give them the power to carry out such action against a member of NWC.
“So, if anyone is proceeding to court with such illegal suspension he is just making unnecessary troubles for the party,” he said.
The spokesperson said that the exparte order from the court restraining Ayu from carrying out his duties as National Chairman was most unfortunate as the basis for granting the said order was faulty.
He, however, expressed optimism that the party would come out stronger from its current travails.
US President, Donald Trump, has ordered the Pentagon – headquarters of the United States Department of Defense – to prioritize the protection of Christians targeted by ISIS terrorists in Nigeria.
U.S. Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, disclosed this on Wednesday while stressing that the mission has quietly led to the killing of ISIS’ second-in-command in Nigeria.
Speaking during a cabinet meeting chaired by President Trump at the White House, Hegseth said:
“To give you a sense of how committed this president is (referring to President Trump), maybe, a year ago, he heard the call of Nigerian Christians who are being targeted and killed by ISIS in Nigeria.
“He said, Pete, I want the war department to focus on ensuring that we do whatever we can to protect those Christians”.
He further said: “Partnerships like that can take some time behind the scenes, but he never wavered on it. We got the assets there over the last month. There has not been much coverage of this”.
He added that U.S. intelligence gathered during the operation helped lead to the deaths of “hundreds” of ISIS fighters tied to attacks on Christians and threats against the U.S. homeland.
“We killed ISIS’ number two in Nigeria, who is most responsible for killing Christians and trying to target U.S. homeland.
“There’s a lot of things we do that the media pays attention to, and a lot of things that the president empowers the Department to do on behalf of the American people, that he deserves great credit for,” Hegseth concluded.
Controversial social media activist, Martins Vincent Otse aka VeryDarkMan (VDM), has reacted strongly to allegations surrounding the circulation of an alleged audio involving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
VDM spoke in a lengthy video posted on social media after comments credited to presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, accused him of disseminating a fake audio related to the President.
In the video, VDM claimed he began receiving several calls warning him not to return to Nigeria following the controversy surrounding the audio clip.
According to him, some associates advised him to remain abroad over fears that he could be arrested upon his return to the country.
Reacting to the development, VDM denied any wrongdoing and insisted that he had the constitutional right to criticise the government and comment on national issues.
He accused government officials of paying more attention to critics on social media instead of addressing pressing security challenges confronting the country.
The activist also criticised the Federal government over insecurity, kidnappings and economic hardship, arguing that Nigerians were facing difficult living conditions across the country.
VDM further alleged that some individuals were attempting to create a narrative to justify possible actions against him because of his criticism of the administration.
He maintained that he would continue speaking on issues affecting Nigerians, particularly insecurity and governance.
During the emotional video, the social commentator repeatedly questioned why government officials were allegedly more vocal about online controversies than incidents of bandit attacks and kidnappings.
He also urged Nigerians to participate actively in the 2027 general elections, insisting that citizens must make decisions based on the performance of political leaders.
The controversy followed comments attributed to Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Information and Strategy, who reportedly stated that VDM should “face the weight of the law” over the alleged circulation of fake audio involving the President.
As of the time of filing this report, there was no official confirmation from security agencies regarding any planned action against the activist.
By Eric Elezuo
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has been declared winner of the presidential primary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The declaration was made at the Trascorp Hilton Hotel, where the final collation of results was made.
The former Vice President polled a total of 1, 846, 370 votes to defeat his closest rival, former Governor of Rivers State, Hon Rotimi Amaechi, who scored just over 500 thousand votes. Alhaji Muhammed Hayatu-Deen came third.
