POLITICS
2022 Appropriation Act Amendment Bill scales 2nd Reading in Senate

A Bill seeking to amend the 2022 Appropriation Act on Wednesday, scaled second reading at the Senate.
The bill sought to amend the 2022 budget by adjusting the capital expenditure to N106billion and recurrent expenditure to N43billion without increasing the budget deficit.
The bill was sponsored by Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi (APC-Kebbi) at plenary.
President Muhammadu Buhari had in a letter on Feb.
10 called for the removal of all capital projects that were duplicated in the 2022 Appropriation Act.He said that 139 out of the 254 projects in the budget amounting to N13.24billion have been identified for deletion.
The President also requested for additional N2.557 trillion to be appropriated for petrol subsidy in the 2022 Budget.
Leading debate on general principles of the bill, Abdullahi, said the amendment would involve 11 areas including funding to cushion the impacts of the suspension of fuel subsidy removal.
“Others include: restoring the provisions made for various key projects in the 2022 budget to ensure that critical projects that are key to the administration are implemented among others,” he said.
Contributing, Sen. Gabriel Suswam (PDP-Benue) expressed reservation over high tax expenditure in the 2022 budget.
“Tax expenditures are waivers that are given to individuals or companies.
“Mr President, if you look at the tax expenditure in 2022, it is about N1 trillion and totally unnecessary.
“It is not just what the President has sent here, let us consider those areas that can help them save money, because we might decide to step down those tax expenditures.”
Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, after the bill scaled second reading, referred it to senate Committee on Appropriation for further work.
The Committee was given one week to report back. (NAN)
POLITICS
INEC Presents Certificates of Return to By-elections Winners

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has presented Certificates of Return to senators-elect and members-elect of the House of Representatives who emerged victorious in the by-elections held on August 16.
The certificates were handed over on Thursday at the INEC headquarters in Abuja by different National Commissioners.
Among the recipients were Emmanuel Nwachukwu of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, elected senator for Anambra South, and Joseph Ikpea of the All Progressives Congress, who won the Edo Central Senatorial District.
Also presented with certificates were five newly elected members of the House of Representatives.
They include Barrister Omosede Igbinedion of the APC, who won in the Ovie North East and Ovie South West Federal Constituency of Edo State; Mukhtar Rabi’u Garki of the APC, representing Babura/Garki Federal Constituency of Jigawa State and Fidelix Bagudu of the APC, elected for the Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency of Kaduna State.
Others are Adesola Ayoola-Elegbeji of the APC, who emerged from the Ikenne/Shagamu/Remo North Federal Constituency of Ogun State; and Fola Oyekunle of the Peoples Democratic Party, representing Ibadan North Federal Constituency of Oyo State.
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POLITICS
Activist joins ADC, Urges Nigerians to Unite Against APC

A popular human rights and anti-corruption activist, Comrade Ibrahim Garba Wala, popularly known as IG Wala, has snubbed the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the opposition coalition African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The activist made his stance known in a statement on Thursday ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
He became the latest member of ADC after the emergence of David Mark, former Nigerian Senate President, as the party’s interim national chairman.
In his statement, IG Wala urged Nigerians, both old and young, to rally support for ADC to unseat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who he said had brought hardship to the country.
According to him, the journey to a better Nigeria is not about fighting each other but about building bridges of understanding.
“For a long time, like many of you, I have felt the sting of political frustration and disappointment. I have pointed fingers and placed blame, convinced that our nation’s problems were the fault of a few individuals.
“This is a common and understandable feeling, but I’ve come to a powerful realisation: our focus on blame has held us back.
“Blaming is easy. It keeps us stuck in the past and blinds us to the real work that needs to be done,” he stated.
Recall that since July ADC has been backed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and ex-governors of Kaduna State and Rotimi Amaechi of River State.
Recently Dele Momodu of Ovation Magazine and Dino Melaye, former Kogi State senator, joined ADC.
However, APC has dismissed the ADC ahead of the 2027 election following the party’s performance in the August 16th bye-elections across the country.
POLITICS
Obi Mocks Critics as Homosexuality Allegation Trends

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has dismissed a viral photo trending online which some social media users claimed shows his son, Oseloka, in a gay relationship.
Obi, who is also the former governor of Anambra State, described the circulation of the photo as a desperate attempt by political opponents to tarnish his image ahead of the 2027 general election.
The controversy started after an X user with the handle @Waspapping_ posted a picture of two men celebrating a birthday, alleging that one of them was Obi’s son.
The post quickly gained traction online with the caption: “Peter Obi’s son and his partner are out there enjoying life, but Obidients will turn a blind eye.
Well, congratulations to the soon-to-be couple.”Reacting through his media aide, Valentine Obienyen, Obi strongly refuted the allegation, insisting that the person in the photo was not his son.
He accused his opponents of fabricating lies after failing to find any incriminating evidence against him.
In a statement titled “Fake Picture, False Claim: Obi’s Integrity Remains Untouched,” Obienyen said: “The picture currently being circulated is not that of Mr. Peter Obi’s son. Having searched every corner of his life and found nothing incriminating, mischief-makers resorted to posting this false image, claiming it to be his son. Let it be clear: this is not his son. They should look elsewhere for the scandal they have fruitlessly hunted for years.”
Obi maintained that his record in both private and public service remains clean, urging his detractors to stop wasting their time trying to manufacture scandals