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Lawan Says PIB’ll Change Nigeria’s Fortune

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enate President Tells APC Delegates To Choose Presidential Candidate Without Baggage

From Senate President Ahmad Lawan has come the assurance that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) will change the fortune of the country when it becomes law.

“The PIB is going to be a piece of legislation that in our estimation will change the economic fortune of Nigeria and of course improve the earnings by our businesses who are here and we want to attract many more investments into the oil and gas industry in Nigeria,” Lawan said.

The Senate president spoke in his office while playing host to the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing CB. Lawan said the ninth assembly would ensure the passage of the PIB as promised even though, he pointed out, that the bill had “suffered from a demonic influence” by refusing passage since 2008 when it was first introduced to the sixth assembly.

“We are so confident that we will be able to pass this bill by April. We want it signed into law by May and we want every stakeholder to be a winner,” Lawan said.

The Senate president was also upbeat about the passage of the Electoral Amendment Bill now being processed by the assembly.

“I want to assure Nigerians that we have a target and we think it’s a realistic target. It’s doable and we have the determination and capacity to affect the ammendment(to Electoral Act) before we go on summer break in June/July and our committee has done so much work,” Lawan said.

On the security situation in the country, Lawan said the government was doing everything possible to change the tide.

The Senate president referred to his recent meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in which “our discussion centred on ensuring that the two arms of government work closely to ensure that we win this war as quickly as possible.

READ ALSO: Court Orders Interim Forfeiture Of Okorocha’s Property

“I’m of the view that because the raining season will be here in the next two, three months, we need to secure the whole environment because for the peasant Nigerian, what is crucial to him is to be alive and go to his farm.

“If the environment is not secured, farmers will not be able to go to farms and that will be a big challenge to us because it is not going to be easy for us to provide food for all the Nigerian peasant farmers.

“So we are working together with the executive arm of government and we are going to achieve a remarkable result.”

The Senate president also spoke on farmers/herders clashes and cautioned on religious or ethnic profiling.

“I believe in every society or community, we have criminals…In every ethnic group, you have good people, you have bad people.

Therefore, as leaders, we shouldn’t allow ourselves to fall into the temptation of ethnic profiling because it doesn’t help the fight against criminality and we need every hand on deck, North, South, Christians Muslims, to fight criminality wherever it is in Nigeria,” Lawan said.

Earlier, the British High Commissioner, Catriona Laing commended President Buhari over the appointment of the new service chiefs and urged the National Assembly to ensure the passage of the PIB and Electoral Amendment Bill.

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Bisi Akande Drags Obasanjo Into Bola Ige’s Murder

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By John Michael Ojo

Bisi Akande, a former governor of Osun State, has alleged that the administration of  former President Olusegun Obasanjo was responsible for the brutal killing of erstwhile Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige.

Akande stated this while appearing  on Edmund Obilo’s podcast, State Affairs, where he also claimed that a friend Oluwole Rotimi, had given a hint on the impending danger if the deceased resigned from President Obasanjo’s government.

When asked to speak on the incident, the former interim Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said: “One evening, he (Ige) called me and said he was going to resign from this government tomorrow. It was sudden, and I said, ‘Please sir, I will come back to you.’ I called Oluwole Rotimi, and said this is what your friend told me: that he was going to resign from Obasanjo’s government tomorrow.

READ ALSO: South-West Governors, Tinubu, Akande, Akinrinade, Others To Meet Over State Of The Nation

“He asked me to advise him not to resign because if he does, he is likely going to die—he said that to me on the phone. I called Uncle (Ige) and begged him not to resign.

“He said he had talked to Wole Soyinka and Bola Tinubu, and both of them said he should resign. But I said, ‘Don’t. You can go to Obasanjo, tell him what you are angry about, and if he doesn’t want you anymore, here is your letter.’”

Akande who also claimed that Ige,  a Second Republic Governor of  Oyo State had issues bordering on trust with the then President said “Since he was resigning from his government, I think he stopped trusting him.”

However, Akande who was the governor of a neighbouring state when Ige was assassinated in Oyo State on the 23rd of December 2001, failed to provide names of those he felt were directly involved in the murder case.

“I don’t know. He was killed in Oyo State while I was ruling in Osun State. The government killed him (Bola Ige). It was a state murder.

“Lam Adesina, who was the Chief Security Officer of Oyo State then, went to court, and Ladoja withdrew the case from court. He might know more and be able to tell you.

READ ALSO: Adebanjo Wants EFCC To Probe  Sources Of Wealth Of Tinubu, Akande

“It was the government that killed him, and the government can kill anybody.

“Obasanjo wasn’t keen about Ige’s death; he was more interested in the stability of himself,” Akande maintained.

 

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LG Election: Opposition Parties On Holiday, APC Remains Party to Beat – Abiodun

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My Dad Asked Me To Prioritise Civil Servants, Pensioners, Teachers - Abiodun
Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun

Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun has declared that based on the performance of his administration in the last five years, opposition parties are clearly unpopular and invisible in the forthcoming local government election.

The governor added that the quality of candidates the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is presenting in the election would make it the party to beat with landslide victory in all the 20 Local Government Areas of the State.

Speaking through his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Hon. Kayode Akinmade, over the weekend, Prince Abiodun explained that his administration has changed the hitherto volatile political environment in the state and made it conducive for opposition parties to operate without hindrance or intimidation.

According to him, instead of the primordial machinery of intimidation, his administration has dwarfed the opposition parties in the state through sterling performance and creative ideas for development.

Governor Abiodun, therefore, urged members of APC in the state to show more commitment and work in harmony to sustain the feats already attained in the past years and ensure resounding victory during the November 16 local government poll.

“With the quality of candidates our party is presenting in the forthcoming local government election in the State, APC remains a part to beat; we have assiduously and consistently made remarkable impacts in the life of our people and this is indeed our selling point.

“Without going through the primordial route of physical intimidation of opposition parties, our administration has obviously silenced them by our intimidating projects, creative ideas and prudence, which have earned us a leading status among other federating units.

“It is now incumbent on every APC member across the 20 Local Government Areas to sustain the enviable feats our party has recorded in the last five years by showing more commitment and work in unison for the victory of our party come November 16,” Abiodun said.

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LP Chieftain, Kenneth Okonkwo Disagrees With Peter Obi

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LP Chieftain, Kenneth Okonkwo Disagrees With Peter Obi

By John Michael Ojo

Kenneth Okonkwo, a chieftain of the Labour Party who doubled as the party’s spokesman during the 2023 general elections has accused the party’s chairman, Julius Abure of corruption and mismanagement of the party’s fund.

Okonkwo, a Nollywood Actor turned politician disclosed this on Tuesday via microblogging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

He also alleged that the LP’s national convention organised by the Abure-led National Working Committee lacked merit in its entirety.

While distancing himself from the embattled party’s chairman, he wrote: “I am suspending my relationship in all ramifications with the purported Abure-led National Working Committee of Labour Party.“

For me, it’s either a new Nigeria or nothing. I prefer to lose doing the right thing to winning doing the wrong thing.

“Nothing can wash out the criminality, corruption, and incompetence with which the purported Natokoional Convention was purportedly organised by Abure.

“I did not leave the comfort of a ruling party, APC, because I believe that they are incompetent and dishonest, only to come and join another incompetent and corrupt association, which is the current Abure-led National Working Committee of Labour Party.”

Okonkwo’s claim is coming barely days after the presidential candidate of party, Peter Obi drummed support for the Abure-led NWC.

Obi who was viewed as a favourite in the build-up of the presidential election came a distant third behind former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.

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