Headlines
Uche Nwosu Lambasts Ihedioha, Says He Should Stop Chasing Shadows and Work
The governorship candidate of the Action Alliance in Imo State, Uche Nwosu, has advised the state governor, Emeka Ihedioha, to stop chasing shadows and start working on his plans for the state.
Nwosu, who was Ihedioha’s closest rival during the last governorship election said that the actions of the governor since he was sworn in showed that he was not prepared for leadership.
Nwosu,who addressed journalists in Owerri, the state capital on Wednesday, alleged that the governor was only “chasing shadows.”
Nwosu said, “The people of Imo State did not vote for him to start chasing shadows. For the time he will stay as the governor, he should unfold his plans and programmes for the people. No one is interested in excuses. What the people want is performance and nothing less.
“The people want concrete statement on what the programmes of the government are, what the government intends to do and how it would deliver dividends of democracy to them and not embarking on a mission to pull down Rochas Okorocha.
“Suspension of Local Government Chairmen and their Councilors, dissolving the recently-inaugurated boards of government agencies and parastatals and scrapping of recently established tertiary institutions, are definitely the wrong way to start for a government that wants to make headway. One would have expected that by now, the governor would have engaged the civil servants and tell them what he has for the workers, as well as take up from where his predecessor stopped.
“The acrimonies that could arise from these actions are hardly what Ihedioha needed at this time, he should rather consolidate on the achievements of his predecessor and that is what Imolites want to see. He should concentrate on the business of governance. If I were the governor today, I would definitely hit the ground running, knowing that there is a job to do.”
When contacted, the Special Adviser, media, to the state governor, Steve Osuji said Ihedioha “does not want to be distracted.”
The governor’s spokesperson said, “We don’t want to be distracted by the immediate past governor and his cronies. Apart from not handing over, the immediate past government has continued to unleash their media thugs against the state government.”
“Imagine starting work without a handover note. There is no office for the governor to operate from. The immediate past administration claims that it left a huge amount of money, yet there are no proofs. We don’t want to be distracted.”
The Punch
The Presidency has dismissed claims that Vice President Kashim Shettima’s recent comments were directed at the political situation in Rivers State or President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s constitutional decisions on the matter.
In a statement on Friday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, the Presidency described the reports as a “gross misrepresentation.”
The statement clarified that Vice President Shettima’s remarks at the public presentation of a book by former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), were misconstrued by some online platforms and individuals.
“These reports have distorted the Vice President’s comments in pursuit of a mischievous agenda,” it stated.
“They twisted his account of how the administration of former President Jonathan considered removing him as Borno Governor during the insurgency to falsely link it with current events in Rivers State.”
The Vice President, who spoke at the launch of OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block in Abuja on Thursday, was said to have referenced the past solely to commend Adoke’s professionalism while in office, and to reflect on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution regarding federal and state relations.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office. The constitutional measure implemented was a suspension, not an outright removal.
“This action was taken in response to the grave political crisis in Rivers State at the time, with the governor facing a looming impeachment and the State Assembly complex under demolition,” Nkwocha clarified.
The Presidency insisted that the action taken by President Tinubu in declaring a state of emergency and suspending the Governor was fully in line with Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which authorises such measures when there is a breakdown of public order requiring extraordinary intervention.
According to the statement, the President’s proclamation invoking Section 305(2) was subsequently ratified by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the National Assembly, confirming the legitimacy and constitutional propriety of the decision.
“The action of President Tinubu in suspending Mr. Fubara and others from exercising the functions of office averted the governor’s outright removal. To conflate suspension with removal is misleading,” the statement further noted.
Nkwocha also stressed that Vice President Shettima’s comments were delivered extemporaneously and intended to underline the importance of public accountability and historical documentation.
He referenced the Vice President’s mention of past public servants, including Adoke and former Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, to illustrate principled leadership.
“His remarks were not in any way a criticism of President Tinubu’s actions, which the Vice President and the entire administration fully support and stand by without reservation,” the spokesman stated.
The Vice President, the statement added, remains in “loyal concert” with President Tinubu and is committed to implementing all constitutional measures necessary to safeguard democracy and uphold order across the country.
Concluding, the Presidency called on media organisations and political actors to desist from misrepresenting public remarks for sensational or partisan purposes.
“We urge media organisations and political actors to desist from the destructive practice of wrenching statements from context in order to fabricate nonexistent conflicts,” Nkwocha said.
Headlines
Akpabio Relieves Natasha of Committee Chairmanship Position, Appoints Akwa Ibom Senator As Replacement
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has replaced suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora/Non-Governmental Organisations.
In her place, Akpabio named Senator Bassey Aniekun Etim (Akwa Ibom -East).
The Senate President, who made the announcement on the floor in Abuja on Thursday, did not give any reasons.
The committee position had remained vacant since March when the Senate suspended the Kogi-Central Senatorial District lawmaker for six months for flouting the Senate’s rule on the seating arrangement and seat allocation.
The suspended lawmaker, at a point, chaired the Senate Committee on Local Content before Akpabio reassigned her to the Committee on Diaspora/NGO, shortly before she ran into trouble with the Senate over her conduct on seat allocation.
The Supreme Court has affirmed the 2024 governorship election victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the apex court ruled that the appeal lacked merit. It upheld the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had both declared Okpebholo the validly elected governor.
