Officials of 10 political support groups loyal to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, on Friday defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress.

The groups comprised Atiku Support Organisation, the PDP Transformation Ambassadors, Atiku Abubakar Kawai, the PDP Mobilisers Initiative, Kasa Daya Al’umma Daya, Atiku-Okowa Frontiers Movement, G7 Business Community, Katsina Biyayya Forum, Atiku Women and Youth Initiative as well as Atiku Nigeria Transformation Ambassadors.

The defectors were formally received by Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State and the APC National Vice Chairman for North-West Vice, Salihu Lukman.

A statement jointly issued by the APC North-West Publicity Secretary, Musa Mailafiya Mada and the spokesperson for the North-West Presidential Campaign Council, Mohammed Shehu, disclosed that the official handover of the PDP and Atiku support groups took place after a marathon meeting that lasted hours.

The statement partly read, “These are groups who were committed to support the PDP and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to win the 2023pPresidential election but were not given the deserved recognition by both the PDP and Atiku.

The groups include Atiku Support Organisation, PDP Transformation Ambassadors, Atiku Abubakar Kawai, PDP Mobilisers Initiative, Kasa Daya Al’umma Daya, Atiku/Okowo Frontiers Movement, G7 Business Community, Katsina Biyayya Forum, Atiku Women and Youth Initiative and Atiku Nigeria Transformation Ambassadors.

“They are groups that invested heavily in the Atiku project since 2015 but noting that poor relationship with both the PDP and Atiku compelled them to leave both the PDP and its presidential candidate and declared their support for the APC and its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.”

While welcoming the groups, Matawalle, who doubles as the Zonal Coordinator of the Presidential Campaign Council, called for their full integration into the APC and Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council.

He said, “The APC is the only party that uphold to the principles of power rotation, saying the highest justice to be done to the people of the South is to be able to shift power to their region for justice and equity.

I, therefore, urged you to uphold the commitment we have exhibited over the years for the victory of the APC and all its candidates at all levels.”

The governor also told the defectors that Tinubu had mapped out strategic development plans that would help consolidate the existing reforms under the President,  Muhammadu Buhari.

(Journalist101)

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum has rejected the sale of 10 power plants and headed to court to stop the move of privatis ation of the plants by the Federal Government.

The NGF disclosed that its lawyers have moved to prevent the regime of the President, Major General Muhammamadu Buhari from selling those power plants which are under the National Integrated Power Projects.

The Niger Delta Power Holding Company, which is owned by the federal, state, and local government councils, is a power generation and distribution company that oversees the implementation of the NIPPs.

The 36 state governors through their chairman, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State released a statement on Wednesday, November 23, 2022, after a teleconference meeting held on Tuesday to express their displeasure over the FG’s move.

The statement partly read, “The Forum, following its advocacy that the proposed privatisation of 10 National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs) by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) should be stopped, instructed its lawyers to approach the Federal High Court which, at present has issued a court order restraining all the parties in the suit from taking any step or action that will make or render the outcome of the motion on notice seeking for interlocutory injunction nugatory.

The protestors numbering over 100 from various communities in the Isoko South Local Government Area of the state on Thursday stormed the Government House.

Delta state flood victims have stormed the state government house, Asaba to protest against the corrupt way and manner compensation funds were disbursed to victims”.

The protest comes less than 24 hours after the state finance commissioner, Fidelis Tilije, while defending the 13 percent derivation funds accrued to the state as recently exposed by the Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike, said that during the recent flooding that affected the state, the government released part of the N14.7 billion 13 percent derivation funds so far received to cater for victims.

The protestors numbering over 100 from various communities in the Isoko South Local Government Area of the state on Thursday stormed the Government House, along Awai Road, Asaba and barricaded the entrance.

They condemned the “fraudulent and corrupt manner” government officials carried out the payment of compensation to flood victims last week at Oleh.

The protestors who issued a 14-day ultimatum to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to compensate them warned that they would hold the ‘mother of all protests’ at the Government House if the ultimatum was ignored.

The protesters displayed placards with various messages, one of which accused one Moses, an aide to the Isoko South council chairman, of conniving with the camp commandant of the Isoko Central School IDPs camp and other government officials, especially the state orientation bureau to shortchange flood victims.

One of the protesting victims, who simply identified himself as Ewoma, lamented the “fraudulent and corrupt” way the government officials in charge of the compensation carried it out. He alleged that several millions of naira meant for flood victims have found their way into private pockets.

“Even the St Michaels College IDPs camp Oleh was full of discrimination and was used as a conduit to loot government treasury. One Prosper, an aide on DESOPADEC (Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission) to the state governor was larger than life at the camp, ejecting, rejecting and treating victims with disdain while accepting majorly only victims from his area, Igbide community and Uzere community where his political godfather, the DESOPADEC MD, Askia Ogieh hails from.

“We were not taken good care of, and when the government officials came to Oleh to pay victims compensation of N50, 000 and N100, 000 each as the case may be, to our surprise, people that were being paid were strangers with strange faces, their family members, girlfriends who were never seen any day at the ICS camp.

“For every 20 names that they called, only two or three will come out among the real flood victims while the rest that was paid were never known to us or even seen in the camp. The payment the government officials came for was just a mere jamboree to amass illicit wealth to our own detriment.

“The fraud and corruption that took place at the ICS IDPs camp were enormous. Those government officials only came to pay themselves, not flood victims with what happened last week at the ICS IDPs camp, Oleh.”

Some of the flood victims, on Monday staged a protest at Isoko South secretariat, Oleh to register their grievances over the non-payment of their compensation.

Addressing the protesting flood victims at the Government House entrance gate, the chief economic adviser to the state governor, Kingsley Emu, appealed to the victims to remain calm.

He promised to tell Governor Okowa about their plight for appropriate and immediate action to be taken.

He, however, appealed to them to return to their various communities pending when they shall get feedback from the governor whom he said was not in the state.

The All Progressives Congress, APC has kicked against the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS and the INEC Results Viewing Portal, IReV, saying that Nigeria is not yet ready for such technology.

Prior to this, there have been reports that the ruling party was scheming to have the INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood removed over his insistence to deploy technology to enhance and strengthen the credibility of the electoral process.

Speaking on Wednesday evening to a delegation from the Commonwealth Election Observation Mission, the National Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, said that the nation does not has the telecoms infrastructure needed to use the system.

Afenifere Leader Pa Ayo Adebanjo was at the heart of the campaign As Obi-Datti Campaign trained landed in Ibadan.

Peter Obi tweeted

Today, the OBIdient train has rolled into Oyo. It will be the Mother of all rallies. My team and I are looking forward to a huge rally; the non believers will come to believe. We are taking back Naija. – PO