POLITICS
I will meet Expectations of PDP, Nigerians – Atiku
The Presidential candidate of the People Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has pledged that he would meet the expectations of the party and Nigerians when elected president in 2023.
Abubakar made the promise during his remarks at the PDP 97 National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja on Thursday.
He appreciated the NEC members for their support during the party’s convention in May where he emerged as the presidential candidate of the PDP.
“I cannot thank you enough. My promise is that I will meet your expectations and the expectations of Nigerians.
“Let me also use this opportunity to thank our outgoing BoT Chairman for his services and sense of patriotism for our great party,” Abubakar said.
The former vice president also expressed his commitment to ensuring that the internal crisis in the party was resolved.
“Many speakers have alluded to family disagreement, family disagreements are normal even in normal families as well as political families.
“But what I can assure you is that we are determined to resolve those issues internally. There are not really fundamental disagreements, it is normal,” Abubakar said.
He appealed to all party members to ensure that it’s challenges were resolved internally within the provisions of the party’s constitution.
“As a political party we have our constitution, our rules and our regulations.
“I want to urge that no matter the level of disagreement, it should be resolved within our constitution, within our rules, within our regulations.
“We have all what it takes to guide us to continue to nurture this political party, to provide a platform for all Nigerians to realize their collective and individual aspirations.
“Therefore, I wish to appeal to all members of our party to make sure that all our disagreements are resolved internally,” Abubakar said.
In his remarks, the former President of the Senate and acting Chairman of PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Sen. Adolphus Wabara urged party members to always control their emotions and ensure disagreements within the party were addressed internally.
“The PDP has an inbuilt mechanism to solve problems. We have done it several times. When people expect us to implode, that is when we become very glorious.
“I want to advise us that we should always deprive ourselves in-house no matter what the anger is; let us deprive ourselves in-house rather than playing to the gallery.
“We should watch and control our utterances because by and large, only God knows tomorrow.
“Because once you voice out something, it is always difficult for you to pick back what you voice out.
“My advice to use is that we should be mature enough to control our temper,” Wabara said.
Earlier, the party’s National Chairman, Sen. Iyorchia Ayu, said he was happy that PDP is united and Nigerians were enthusiastic about the party in spite of the impression being created by some people.
“I am happy that the Nigerian people are interested in our party. I am interested not because we disagree among ourselves, but in our capacity to deliver and when we take over power.
“We have done it before and I believe that people will also give us their mandates.”
Ayu urged the party to focus on the issues that worried Nigerians including issues of security, education, economy, health, national infrastructure that will help the country to move forward.
On his part, the Chairman, PDP Governors Forum, Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, said that the forum was working to address the misunderstanding in the party.
He pledged that PDP governors would continue delivery of dividends of democracy to Nigerians.
Tambuwal commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and President Muhammadu Buhari for improving of the country electoral system, urging them to sustain it to make 2023 general elections free and credible.
“We must as people of goodwill, as believers and democracy encouraged President Buhari, indeed INEC and all security agencies to ensure that we have free, fair, transparent election in 2023.
“In any case, that was what PDP presided over in 2015. So it’s only an improvement on the legacy of the PDP if that is done by the APC administration,” Tambuwal said.
The Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Chukwuka Utazi, said that the party Caucus in the National Assembly was united and indivisible.
Utazi, who pledged their support to the party in the 2023 general elections, urged all to work together for the success of the party.(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)
POLITICS
Atiku hails Ndimi’s Oriental Energy on commissioning of first FPSO
By Mike Odiakose, Abuja
The former Vice President of Nigeria and PDP Presidential flag bearer in the 2023 general elections, Atiku Abubakar has congratulated the Chairman of the Nigerian Independent producer, Oriental Energy Resources (OER), Muhammadu Indimi, on the successful completion and commissioning of the Okwok Field’s Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel/platform in Dubai.
In a statement in Abuja by his Media Office in Abuja on Wednesday, the Former Vice President described the commissioning of the FPSO as one of the most gladdening news coming out from the upstream subsector of Nigeria’s oil industry in recent times.
“The vessel’s deployment at the Okwok field is expected to significantly increase Nigeria’s crude oil output, contributing to the government’s revenue growth and economic development objectives,” he said.
According to Atiku, “This is the first FPSO entirely funded by an indigenous Nigerian company and this landmark achievement being championed by OER showcases the rising capability of Nigerian firms in conceptualising and successfully executing complex projects in the nation’s upstream oil industry.
The successful building and commissioning of the FPSO marks a significant step toward enabling an indigenous oil and gas company to independently develop a marginal oil field.
This development marks an important milestone for Nigeria and its indigenous energy sector, he said.
“No doubt, this latest investment would boost economic growth, generate job opportunities for Nigerians, and ensure steady growth and development of not only the oil sector but the nation’s economy in general.”
He described Indimi as a man who so much believes in the capabilities that exist in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
“From onset of his foray into the nation’s oil sector, his vision of standing out as a player of reckon in the nation’s upstream oil business has been top-notch,” he said.
As he said, Oriental Energy’s significant investment in the oil sector has set a new standard in local investment and operational excellence in the nation’s oil business, benefiting both the company and its partners.
The 40,000 barrels per day capacity facility constructed by the Singaporean firm HBA Future Energy will commence sailing to Nigerian waters beginning February 2025 for hook-up on the Okwok Oil Field. Production is expected to commence on the oil field in the first half of next year.
Okwok Oil Field, discovered by ExxonMobil in 1967, is located in Oil Mining Lease(OML) 67, in 31 metres water depth in shallow marine, southeast offshore Nigeria with estimated recoverable reserves of 45 million barrels. OER has an ongoing multi-well drilling campaign on the field that commenced in October 2023.