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Election Postponement; Buhari, APC Behind Election Shift, Timi Frank Reveals

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Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank said election shift was plotted by President Muhammadu Buhari and APC leadership.

Frank alleged that the President together with the APC chieftains had gone into a secret meeting with Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the Saturday’s election was postponed.

He said the election postponement is a template designed by the APC’s leadership to rig the presidential election also included staggered and postponement of elections to frustrate the Nigerian voter.

While addressing the Newsmen in Abuja on Sunday, the former APC publicist said Nigerians and the international community should disregard the President statement concerning the election shift, said it is ‘lip service’.

The President had earlier expressed his disappointment on the postponement of the presidential and National Assembly elections that were so supposed to hold on February 16, 2019.

He, however, condemned in strong terms the desperation of the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai who allegedly lied that 66 persons mostly Fulanis were allegedly killed by unidentified gunmen in the state on the eve of the postponed elections in order to provoke chaos and force cancellation of poll results in the state.

He stated that the reported case of 16 bags of already thumb-printed 3.3 million ballot paper in favour of the ruling party allegedly going to Kano and many other states, calls for concern on the readiness of the APC’s leadership for the election.

“I have been vindicated on my earlier revelation about the INEC’s secret meeting with Gen Buhari,” said the Bayelsa-born political activist.

The former APC Deputy National spokesman said Professor Yakubu’s insistence that he would conduct the election in just one day was against the rigging template of the leadership of the APC, hence the frontal attacks against him by the presidency and the National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole.

While calling on Nigerians to resist any attempt to impose a former INEC’s head of logistic, Hajia Amina Zakari, as the electoral umpire, Frank urged Prof Yakubu to remain resolute in the face of intimidation and blackmail by the APC’s leaders.

“Intelligence at my disposal presently indicates that the presidency and some APC leaders are no longer comfortable with Prof. Yakubu’s headship of INEC but they should bear it in mind that INEC is a constitutionally guaranteed independent body.

“Nigerians must be prepared to resist the imposition of Amina Zakari as the new chairman of INEC,” he stated.

On the readiness of Gen. Buhari to relinquish power if defeated, Frank expressed worry over the kind of statements credited to the president in a recent interview with CNN, where the former military ruler said ‘nobody can unseat me.’

“Gen. Buhari is yet to come to terms with democratic processes. His recent comment has shown that he is a sit tight leader at heart, doing everything possible to repeat what he did in 1983,” he said.

Comrade Frank, therefore, called on the international community to continue to keep an eye on the process leading to the elections, to avoid chaos in Africa’s most populous country.

He also urged Nigerian voters not to be discouraged but angrily use their PVCs on the 23rd of February to end the reign of impunity and lifelessness by APC-led administration.

Politics

I cannot support Peter Obi again, says Doyin Okupe

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Doyin Okupe, former director-general of the Labour Party (LP) presidential campaign in 2023, says he “cannot support” Peter Obi again.

Okupe spoke on Monday during an interview with Seun Okinbaloye on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

He was reacting to a viral clip of Obi commenting on how the country’s economic situation offers little succour to people in the south-west despite President Bola Tinubu being from the zone.

“Let us talk about what is happening today. Rice is about N100,000. We are not even sure where we are going to be. ‘It’s our turn’, ‘he is a Yoruba man’ — ask the people in Ogun, here is there any place you people buy bread cheaper?” Obi said in the viral clip.

The video generated mixed reactions on social media, with some supporting Obi’s comments while others criticised him.

Adding his voice to the criticism, Okupe described the former LP presidential candidate’s remark as an “insult” to people in the south-west.

He said Obi’s statement publicly brought down south-west people even though “eminent Yoruba people” supported him during his presidential bid in 2023.

“When Obi made that statement, it insulted us. I am a Yoruba man; I left everything and followed Obi.

“For the first time, Obasanjo left his circle of influence and deviated to support Obi,” Okupe said.

“I do not regret supporting Peter Obi. But now I cannot do it again. The reason why I did it was because we agreed that a southern president must emerge.

“I was approached that if a southern president must emerge, which zone must it come to? I said the south-east.

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Politics

APC wins ALL 18 seats in Cross River LG elections

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The All Progressives Congress (APC) has won all 18 chairmanship positions in the Cross River LG elections held on Saturday.

Ekong Boco, chairman of the Cross River State Electoral Commission (CRSEC) and the election’s returning officer, announced the results on Sunday at the commission’s headquarters in Calabar.

The APC won in Abi, Odukpani, Bakassi, Akpabuyo, Ogoja, Akamkpa, Bekwarra, Etung, Biase, Boki, Calabar Municipality, Obubra, Yakurr, Yala, Obanliku, Obudu, Ikom, and Calabar south LGAs.

The chairman of CRSEC issued certificates of return to the elected chairpersons.

Bassey Otu, the governor of Cross River, commended the winners, describing the elections as peaceful.

The governor expressed optimism that the new LG leaders would align with the state’s “people-first” agenda.

“We have a well-defined vision for the state, and we believe the new leadership at the local government level would understand that they must align with the state government’s agenda and exhibit unwavering dedication to realising good governance,” he said.

Nine opposition parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), participated in the elections but did not field candidates across all 196 local council wards in the state’s 18 LGAs.

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Politics

‘There is no longer a place for her’ — Onanuga says Betta Edu won’t be returning to Tinubu’s cabinet

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Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, says Betta Edu has now left the federal cabinet for good.

Edu was minister of humanitarian affairs.

Onanuga spoke on Sunday during an interview with Channels Television.

On January 8, Tinubu suspended Edu after a memo surfaced wherein she asked Oluwatoyin Madein, accountant-general of the federation, to transfer N585 million to a private account.

The president also asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the financial transactions of the humanitarian ministry.

After she was suspended, the former minister was grilled at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja.

Subsequently, the president suspended all programmes administered by the National Social Investment Programmes Agency (NSIPA) for six weeks, as part of the probe into alleged malfeasance in the management of the agency and its activities.

In April, the EFCC said it recovered N30 billion following investigation into the ministry’s activities, adding that 50 bank accounts were under probe.

There were appeals from certain quarters for the president to reconsider and recall Edu.

Although Edu vanished from public glare, she sent a condolence message to victims of the Jos building collapse in July using the ministry’s letterhead.

Last Wednesday, the president named Nentawe Yilwatda as Edu’s replacement during a cabinet reshuffle.

‘SHE’S GONE’

Onanuga was asked if Edu remains a minister since she was only suspended by the president.

The presidential aide said Edu is no longer a minister and that her portfolio has been handed to someone else.

“Betta Edu is gone. She was suspended in January, and this is October. She is gone. Her position has been taken over by somebody else… that is the man from Plateau state (Yilwatda),” he said.

“As far as this government is concerned, there is no longer a place for her in that cabinet.”

Asked about the outcome of the investigation on Edu, Onanuga said the EFCC is yet to make the details public.

“The EFCC has not shared whatever they have, but if you go by what the president has done, it shows that maybe the EFCC has submitted something that actually justifies that suspension,” he added.

“If we follow what the president has done, it means EFCC has revealed something that has formed the basis of the president’s action.”

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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