Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, former minister of women affairs, has spoken on her removal from President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet.

On Wednesday, the president sacked five ministers from his cabinet.

Among the dismissed are Kennedy-Ohanenye; Lola Ade-John, the minister of tourism; and Jamila Bio Ibrahim, minister of youth development.

Tahir Mamman was also relieved of his duty as the minister of education while Abdullahi Muhammad Gwarzo was let go as minister of state, housing and urbandevelopment.

In a statement on Thursday, Kennedy-Ohanenye thanked Tinubu for the opportunity to have served as minister.

She added that it has been an honour and privilege to contribute to the development of Nigeria.

“I would also like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for her invaluable guidance and support during my tenure as Minister of Women Affairs,” the statement reads.

“Her kindness and encouragement have been instrumental to my success.

“To the people of Nigeria, I am deeply grateful for your unwavering support. Your trust and confidence in me have been a constant source of inspiration.

“I remain committed to serving my country and will continue to do my utmost to contribute to its progress and prosperity.”

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kaduna says Saturday’s LG elections in the state were a “charade” and “rape of democracy”.

Kaduna state Independent Electoral Commission (KADSIECOM) conducted elections into 23 chairmanship and 255 ward councillorship positions across the state.

Hajara Muhammad, the chairperson of the KADSIECOM, announced that the APC won all 23 chairperson seats in the LGA election.

However, the opposition party condemned the conduct of the election, alleging that result sheets were missing during the poll.

Speaking about the outcome of the polls, Edward Masha, chairman of the PDP in Kaduna, said there were discrepancies due to missing result sheets, which he noted compromised the integrity of the elections.

He said the PDP would challenge the process in court and “seek justice for our people”.

“We were invited by SIECOM to receive sensitive materials from the Central Bank of Nigeria, but upon inspection, we discovered that the result sheets were missing,” Masha said.

“This omission compromised the integrity of the elections, and our representatives stood against the impunity.

“The APC has appointed its chairmanship candidates for the poll, knowing fully well that local government elections are the bedrock of democracy.

“Today, they said no – we will appoint chairmen for us like sole administrators by the government.

“We will not accept this charade. We will not accept the killing of democracy. We will challenge this process in court, and we will continue to seek justice for our people.”

Masha also alleged that the result sheets of 2022 were released instead of new ones.

He said the distribution of election materials was uneven and reiterated that the process lacked transparency.

The PDP chairman called on democracy advocates and security agencies to take action and urged the party’s supporters not to lose hope.

The Kano chapter of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has suspended Abdullahi Bichi, secretary to the state government; and Muhammad Diggol, the state’s commissioner of transportation.

Announcing the development on Monday, Hashimu Dungurawa, NNPP chair in Kano, said the suspension was sequel to multiple complaints from ward and LG leadership.

“The duo were suspended because they disrespected the party and its leadership — the party cannot tolerate actions that undermine its leadership and structure,” Dungurawa said.

“After receiving formal complaint letters from their wards, and upon confirmation of the allegations by the local leadership, we had no other option but to take this decisive step.”

Sulaiman Dambatta, NNPP chair in Kano north, also defended the allegations against the officials.

The suspension of the duo comes 11 days before the Kano LGA elections which has been slated for October 26.