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Obi doesn’t have capacity to unify Nigeria — it’s not his time to be president, says Dino Melaye

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Dino Melaye, spokesperson of the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign organisation, says Peter Obi, presidential flagbearer of Labour Party (LP), does not have the capacity to keep Nigeria united.

Melaye spoke on Friday during an interview on Channels Television.

Reacting to a question on the increasing wave of political consciousness among Nigerians, especially on social media, the former senator said the social media popularity of Obi is “euphoria”.

Melaye added that the LP presidential candidate is a fantastic person, but 2023 is not his time to become Nigeria’s president.

“To start with it, there is no wave. What you have is an euphoria — a created euphoria. Peter Obi is a fantastic Nigerian. I have tremendous respect for him and I have said it before that he is a fantastic person,” Melaye said.

“But this is not his time. He does not have what it takes now to unify this country. Even before you start talking about the economy, you need peace and you need to build trust among Nigerians.

“It takes Atiku to unify this country. This is a man that would be trusted in the north, south, east and every part of this country to unify this country and today, among all the presidential candidates, Atiku Abubakar is the only one that can be trusted.

“Nobody will see him as a religious bigot; nobody will see him as a tribalist; nobody will see him as an ethnic jingoist. From those of us around him, you can tell.”

Melaye also compared Obi’s popularity to that of late Gani Fawehinmi, human rights lawyer, who contested and lost the 2003 presidential election, adding that the PDP is not bothered about the LP presidential candidate’s growing popularity.

“All you see is euphoria. All those shouting ‘Peter Obi’, what is the followership of Peter Obi on social media? Even those making those imaginary noise, they don’t follow Peter Obi on social media,” he said.

“Go to the Instagram and Twitter handles of Peter Obi. How many people are following him? We have seen this thing before? Gani Fawehinmi once ran for the president of this country. Facebook went agog. At the end of the day, he got 1,400 votes. Femi Falana, my uncle, ran for governorship. He is popular. There was a lot of euphoria like this. In Ekiti, what was his score?

“Peter Obi was in Osun to personally campaign for his governorship candidate in a rally. [See] the performance of Labour Party — 2,700 votes — where PDP scored over 400,000.

“So, don’t be carried away with this. It is an euphoria. As we are going now, the thing is winding down. We are not interested. We are focused.”

Politics

‘It’s ridiculous’ — LP debunks claim of working for Tinubu ahead of 2027

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The Labour Party (LP) has denied allegations of working for President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 elections.

The party is reacting to a viral video in which Deji Adeyanju, a human rights lawyer, alleged that the LP is working for the president.

In a statement issued on Friday, Obiora Ifoh, national publicity secretary of the LP, said the party has no plans to support Tinubu.

“As a matter of fact, the Labour Party is the most visible opposition party as of today, and our national chairman, Barrister Abure, is the leading voice in the opposition camp and has been most critical of the present government,” the statement reads.

“After the 2023 general election, it continued to interrogate the system’s failure and has been very visible playing the role of the opposition, continuously critiquing the policies, proffering solutions, and advising the government.

“It is on record that the Labour Party has on several occasions spiritedly debunked the allegations that it has an unholy understanding with the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, to collaborate ahead of the 2027 general election.

“Recently, the party, under the able leadership of Mr. Julius Abure, came up with a series of programmes, including the creation of the electoral reform committee.

“With it, we hope to enthrone credible, fair, and transparent processes, leading to the selection of leadership in the country, with the Labour Party being a major victim in the 2023 general election.

”All these efforts to reposition the party for someone to be demarketing such a party in such an unguarded and callous manner is most ridiculous and unfortunate.

“We are, therefore, challenging Deji Adeyanju and any other person to come up with facts and proofs that either the party leadership or Mr. Abure intends to work for President Bola Tinubu or his party, the APC, in 2027.

“Adeyanju’s assertion, which is presently trending globally, has caused the Labour Party enormous harm, and we are demanding that he refrain from causing the party further harm.

“As a political party, we view Deji Adeyanju’s now-viral comments as criminal defamation, a clearly motivated ploy to ridicule our hard-earned reputation.

“We are therefore calling on Mr. Adeyanju, who ought to know the grave consequences of a defamatory act, to without delay provide facts and evidence to prove that the Labour Party has been ‘bought’ over by President Tinubu.

“He also has a choice to withdraw his ill assertions and apologise to the leadership and millions of members of the Labour Party for the great harm he has caused the party.”

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Politics

‘Absolutely ridiculous’ — APC chieftain faults Daniel Bwala’s appointment

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Jesutega Onokpasa, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has faulted the appointment of Daniel Bwala as special adviser on policy communication to President Bola Tinubu.

Onokpasa’s remarks come amid controversy surrounding Bwala’s past criticism of the president.

Bwala, who served as the spokesperson for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2023 presidential campaign, was vocal in his allegations against Tinubu.

He called for the president’s arrest and prosecution over alleged corruption, including accusations related to drug proceeds forfeited in the United States.

At the time, Bwala also called on Nigerian law enforcement agencies to take action against Tinubu.

Speaking on ‘News Night,’ an Arise TV programme, Onokpasa criticised the president’s decision to appoint Bwala, describing it as a betrayal to the president’s supporters.

“Our dear and beloved President stabbed all of us, his staunch supporters, in the back with this absolutely ridiculous, meaningless and just inexplicable appointment,” Onokpasa said.

“I am a Tinubu supporter and not a sycophant; his apologists are calling his appointment of Bwala strategy, but I think it is stupidity.”

Onokpasa, who identifies as a loyal supporter of Tinubu, also expressed frustration at what he perceived as the president’s disregard for his base.

“Not all his supporters want an appointment. It’s just the insult that our president seems to take us (his supporters) for granted,” Onokpasa added.

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Politics

Enugu LGA chairman appoints aides on garden egg, pepper, yam

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Eric Odo, chairman of Igbo Etiti LGA of Enugu state, has appointed Ezeugwu Ogbonna as senior special assistant on agriculture (yam and pepper).

The appointment is contained in a letter dated November 1 and addressed to Ogbonna.

“I am pleased to inform you that the executive chairman Igbo Etiti LGA has approved your appointment as senior special assistant to the local government chairman on agriculture (yam and pepper),” the letter reads.

“You should report to the executive chairman Igbo Etiti LGA, Ogbede, for briefing and deployment.

“It is pertinent to note that this is not a career civil service appointment but a temporary appointment which you hold at the pleasure of the executive chairman of Igbo Etiti LGA.”

Odo also appointed Nwodo Ugonna as special adviser on garden egg and pepper.

The council chairman did not outline the specific duties of the appointees.

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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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