POLITICS
Incumbent PDP NWC Tenure Continues Till Dec. 9 – Gov. Fintiri
The tenure of the present National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will continue till Dec. 9, even as the national convention holds on Saturday, the party official has said.
The Chairman of the party National Convention Organising Committee, Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa, disclosed this on Friday, while briefing newsmen on the party preparations for the convention in Abuja.
He said though the party wanted early convention holding on Saturday; it was not planning to truncate the tenure of the incumbent NWC members ending Dec.
9.“There will be no any vacuum because we are not truncating anybody’s tenure.
“We only call for an early convention, which is also in the provision of Constitution.
“But that does not mean that because we are having early convention we are terminating the tenure of the present NWC. They will still be asked to serve their term until Dec. 9.
“ If not for anything it will give better chance for them to interface and have a smooth transition,” he said .
Fintiri who said that the party in as much as the party expected vibrant new NWC members, it also appreciated the present national leaders of the party.
“They were able to galvanise support, plan and work for this party in 2019 to move from about 10 governors to almost 18, with more House of Representatives members than the previous election.”
Speaking on the Saturday convention, Fintiri said that the Screening Appeal Committee upheld the disqualification of the three aspirants.
He clarified that Okey Muo-Aroh, contesting National Secretary was disqualified for not respecting the zoning arrangement of the party.
He said that the position of national secretary was zoned to the South, which micro zoned to the South East.
He added that the South East caucus met and zoned it to Abia and Imo states while the Office of the Auditor was zoned to Enugu and Anambra.
He said that instead of Muo-Aroh from Anambra to contest the office of auditor zoned to his state, he went to purchase form for position zoned to Imo and Abia States.
“I think every institution and organization must have a way of discipline its members.”
With regards petitions against some of the cleared candidates, Fintiri said “the appeal panel has found most of petitions as baseless and frivolous and the petitions have been displaced.”
Fintiri noted that the party had achieved consensus in almost all the positions that would be veiled for except for three positions on which negotiations were still ongoing.
He listed three positions still having more than one contestants to be deputy national chairman (South), national auditor and national youth leaders, saying the party was already discussing with the contestants.
“At the moment, we are making efforts to reconcile most of our contestants so that we can streamline them to have a better convention, which will be hitch free and deepened our chances for 2023.”
He expressed satisfaction with the level of preparations for the convention, saying all the subcommittees have been mobilized and they are fully prepared to deliver by Saturday.
“Most of the activities have all most been completed and we are fully satisfied,” he said.
He added that 3,600 delegates were being expected in the convention.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that that the organising committee and party Leadership thereafter inspected the convention venue, Eagle Square, to inspect the level of preparedness.
Speaking with newsmen, the PDP National Organising Secretary, retired Col. Austin Akobundu , said the preparations were ongoing and everything would be completed before midnight.
Akobundu said that so far there was no any envisage challenge regarding the venue and the level of preparations.
We are ready as a party. This is what we do all the time. And there are lots of improvements because of the reforms our NWC has brought about in the party, especially in the area of accreditation.
“We have introduced technology and integrity based accreditation, which perhaps the National Assembly is afraid of, which we will be using tomorrow in terms of voting as a party.
“We have introduced it and it will become part of our activities from there.”
There was already tight security arraignment in and around the venue of the convention, even as delegates from states have started arriving. (NAN)
POLITICS
Assembly Passes Edo N675bn 2025 Budget for Assent
The Edo House of Assembly on Monday passed the state 2025 budget of N675 billion for assent.
The passage followed the adoption of the report of the House Committee on Budget and Project Monitoring at plenary in Benin.
Presenting the report, the chairman of the committee, Sunday Fada, (PDP Esan Central) said the budget was made up of N225 billion recurrent expenditure and N451 billion capital expenditure.
Fada noted that the committee came up with the increase in the budgetary allocation to enable the governor carry out his five points agenda in the state.
The House at the committee of Supply, considered the budget clause by clause and subsequently, approved the increase from N605.
7 billion to N675 billion.The Speaker, Blessing Agbebaku, thereafter directed Mr Yahaya Omogbai, the clerk of the house to forward clean copies of the budget to the governor for his assent. (NAN)
POLITICS
Poverty, Behind Deadly Stampedes Across Nigeria, says Falana
By Mike Odiakose, Abuja
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, on Sunday attributed the deadly stampede that claimedmore than 105 lives in stampedes during food and cash distribution events to “poverty-induced neoliberal economic policies” and “criminal negligence.
”In a statement released on Sunday, Falana, who chairs the Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond ASCAB, demanded justice for victims of the tragic events, saying, “These tragic events are a national shame, the victims were not just statistics but human beings driven to desperation by systemic poverty and the gross incompetence of those entrusted with their safety.
”On December 21, 12 people died and 32 others were injured in Okija, Anambra State, during a scramble for rice distributed by a philanthropist.
On the same day, a stampede at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Maitama, Abuja, resulted in the deaths of 10 individuals, including children, as over 3,000 people jostled for palliatives.
Just two days prior, on December 19, 35 children lost their lives in a stampede at a Christmas funfair at an Islamic High School, Basorun. in Ibadan, Oyo State.
“The loss of these innocent lives is heart-wrenching,” Falana lamented.
“It underscores the indignity that poverty imposes on our people.”
Falana also criticized the elite for their treatment of the poor during such events, stating, “No member of the elite invites others to lunch by throwing the food,” and condemned what he termed “class prejudice” in the distribution of humanitarian aid.
He also announced plans to mobilize lawyers to pursue civil suits against the organizers of these events.
“We will ensure survivors and families of the deceased are adequately compensated,” Falana affirmed. “Those responsible for these avoidable tragedies must be held accountable.”
POLITICS
2025 budget: LP Chieftain Lauds Tinubu for Diving Priority to Security, Others
Dr Ayo Olorunfemi, National Deputy Chairman of the Labour Party (LP) ,has commended President Bola Tinubu for giving priority to security and other key sectors in the 2025 Appropriation Bill .
Olorunfemi gave the commendation while speaking with newsmeon Thursday in Lagos.
NAN reports that the President had on Wednesday presented the N47.
9 trillion 2025 Appropriation Bill , christened “Budget of Restoration, Securing Peace and Rebuilding Prosperity” , to a joint session of the National Assembly .The President listed highlights of the 2025 budget allocations to include: defense and security: N4.91 trillion; infrastructure: N4.06 trillion; Health: N2.
48 trillion and Education: N3.52 trillion.Reacting , Olorunfemi described security as an enabler of development.
He called on the President to ensure proper implementation ,saying budgets had always been well-crafted but usually lacked monitoring and implementation.
“There is nothing that can happen if there is no security. This is good if the budget is properly utilised for the purpose.
“Our problem is not about policies and budgets, it is about monitoring and implementation.
“There is nothing wrong in bringing a budget proposal forward in terms of expectation, what we want to do, how we want to do it, and how much we want to spend.
“Now, the most important thing is the implementation,, budgets in Nigeria have always been properly crafted,” the LP boss said.
Olorunfemi called on the President to build strong institutions to prevent sabotaging of his policies.
“If this government wants to do anything, it must wake up to the responsibility of monitoring policies and ensure severe penalty for anyone who attempts to sabotage such policies.
“We need institutions that no one will be able to interfere with. We must allow these institutions to work, that is what we expect.
“Once we have strong institutions, most of our problems are solved,” he said.
He also called on the President to take steps to address the problems experienced by Nigerians in the banking sector.
Olorunfemi decried the inability of many Nigerians to get cash at bank’s Automated Teller Machines and the high charges paid to get cash from Point of Sales (POS) operators.
The LP boss also urged the President to devise ways of ending multiple taxations and high fuel price, describing them as major causes of hardship .
Recalled that the President said that the budget was a demonstration of government’s commitment to stabilising the economy, improving lives and repositioning the country for greater performance.
He also said the budget sought to consolidate the key policies instituted to restructure the economy, boost human capital development, increase the volume of trade and investments and bolster oil and gas production. (NAN)