POLITICS
Tinubu’s Presidency will Rekindle, Hope, Potentialities of Nigeria – Odunmbaku
Cardinal James Odunmbaku, a bigwig of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State says the President Bola Tinubu administration has rekindled hope, faith and potentialities of Nigeria.
Popularly known as “Baba Eto of Nigeria’’, Odunmbaku made the declaration at a Renewed Hope presidential dinner held in Abuja on Tuesday to celebrate the inauguration of Tinubu as Nigeria’s new president.
He said Tinubu’s victory at the Feb.
25 presidential election signalled uncommon goodwill from millions of Nigerians who shared and supported his vision for the future greatness of the country.He noted that Tinubu would offer Nigeria transformative leadership that would produce opportunities and uncommon goodies for the masses.
“I feel so elated because the Lord has done it.
“Let me start from the press; you all will enjoy it because you will have enough to do and whatever you do, will be paid for.
“This is because there will be money; there will be enough job opportunities which you will surely embrace and that is a wonderful one.
“Look at what he said: `fuel subsidy is gone and gone for good’ and after that you will see the goodies that are coming,’’ he added.
Odunmbaku assured that Nigeria would be great again and that Tinubu would not disappoint Nigerians as he was ready to work.
“I have followed Tinubu for 25 years and this helped me to train all my children to PhD level and not only in Nigeria, even in Europe, America and Canada.
“I do not understand your condition now. Are you doing the right job now? The answer is probably No, but now, you will be gainfully employed even in the media.
“You will also be confident in yourselves to receive enough remuneration to carry on with your lives and that is why the fuel subsidy is gone and gone for good,’’ he stressed.
In his remarks, Majority Leader, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Sanai Agunbiade spoke of the significance of the dinner.
“The significance of the dinner is to celebrate and appreciate God for making Tinubu win the primary election, the presidential election and the taking of Oath of Office as the president,’’ he said.
Agunbiade said that Tinubu had done a lot for Nigeria and people expected him to do more.
“When you appreciate a man, you just celebrate that man. Tinubu should be celebrated because he has really paid his dues in the politics and democracy of Nigeria.
“He was at the forefront of actualisation of democracy in Nigeria, sending the military back to the barracks using the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO).
“He put his life and those of his family members and his property on the line during the struggle to end military rule and restore democracy.
“At the end of the day, God vindicated him and we got democracy back. He contested for the presidency and God gave him victory and he has been sworn in,’’ he noted.
Agunbiade said Nigerians should expect more progressive things from Tinubu and more democratic advancements from him.
He noted that Lagos State witnessed dramatic advancements with Tinubu as governor, adding that those who knew Tinubu knew what he did to achieve the feat.
“We are sure he will repeat the same feats in Nigeria and we are sure God will make Nigeria have significant development during his tenure.
“I am sure that Nigeria and Nigerians are paramount to him and his life. I am also sure that at the end of his tenure, we will rejoice,’’ he stressed.
Earlier, Director-General, Committee of Youths on Mobilisation and Sensitisation (CYMS) of the group, Mr Obinna Nwaka said it played a critical role in the area of mobilisation and sensitisation.
Nwaka said that the organisation was optimistic that Tinubu would replicate what he did in Lagos State in Nigeria as a whole.
“We are here to celebrate our role models; not people who are only after political positions.
“From our own organisation, we are happy today that we are experiencing continuity in all ramifications,’’ he said.
The high point of the event was the presentation of Awards of Excellence on youth development by CYMS. Baba Eto of Nigeria, Odunmbaku was one of the award recipients. (NAN)
The Abia Chapter of the INEC Staff Welfare Association (ISWA) has warned its members to uphold the integrity of the commission and guard against the culture of manipulating election results.
The Abia Chairman of the association, Mr Collins Eze, gave the advice at the group’s general meeting and end-of-year party in Umuahia.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of the ceremony, Eze said that the staff members were adequately aware of their enormous responsibility and should ensure free, fair and credible elections.
He said: “We have also told our colleagues that anywhere they find themselves they should make sure that they do the needful by ensuring transparency in the conduct of elections.
“We have always told them not to allow anybody to induce them with money to manipulate election results.
“I’m happy that they have been building the capacity of our colleagues on election processes.
“So, in the coming years, we won’t have any problem in ensuring free, fair and peaceful elections.”
He said that the end-of-year party was special as it afforded them the opportunity “to wine and dine together as well as thank God for sustaining them in 2024”.
Eze said that his leadership had introduced various means of assisting members in dire financial needs by providing platforms to solicit suppory for them.
He expressed gratitude to members for their support and cooperation, describing them as the “secret behind the success of this administration”.
He said that 34 of at least 350 staff members of the commission in the state retired from service in 2024.
According to him, the development has placed a huge financial burden on the association, in terms of their welfare and entitlement as members.
Report says that each member received a carton of tomato paste as Christmas gift from the association. (NAN)
A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be thankful to God that its 16-year administration was not probed by the successive APC-led governments.Okechukwu stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, while reacting to a statement by PDP congratulating Ghanaians for the conduct of free, fair and transparent general elections.
Report says that PDP had, in a statement, said that the verdict of the people of Ghana in the presidential election was a signal to the APC that its days were numbered. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, had said in the statement that the power of the people in Nigeria, just like in Ghana, would ‘surely prevail and end the APC’s oppressive rule’.This, he said, would “return Nigeria to the path of good governance, security, political stability and economic prosperity on the platform of the PDP in 2027.”However, in his reactions to Ologunagba’s statement, Okechukwu said that the PDP clan should thank God that former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Tinubu, out of sheer statesmanship, had refused to probe ‘the 16 locus years of PDP administrations’.Okechukwu, a former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), described the 16 years of PDP administrations as ones full of squandering and lack of plan.He said that Nigeria had yet to recover from the humongous culture of impunity and trust deficit planted by PDP on the Nigerian soil.Okechukwu said corruption was among the culture of impunity, saying it governed the privatisation of Nigeria’s electricity value chain, a key element in the country’s industrialisation drive.“Another is the blatant rigging of the 2007 general elections which the foremost beneficiary, President Umaru Yar’Adua, out of good conscience and noble magnanimity, publicly acknowledged the malfeasance which characterised his victory,” he said.Okechukwu also mentioned what he called conscienceless sale of the legislative and ministerial quarters, the annual rentage of which, he said, was bleeding the country’s treasury.“Another one is the neglect of $23 billion Greenfield Refinery, which could have saved over $70 billion expended on importation of refined petroleum products and which simulated the economic hardship of today,” he said.On why, for nine years, the APC administration could not fix those challenges, he recalled the efforts made by the Buhari administration to reopen talks on the Greenfield Refinery which, according to him, the Chinese regrettably rebuffed.The former VON director-general said that Nigerians were not in a hurry to forget the deliberate breach of the rotational convention of president from the north to the south.He said that the country could not also forget the utter disregard for Section 7 of the PDP’s constitution which expressly mandated zoning.Okechukwu advised the PDP not to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians by assuming that citizens would easily forget how they were put in the harms way.He said that PDP should thank God that Buhari and Tinubu did not want to probe them, adding “that’s why Nigerians cannot decipher the difference between the two political parties.” (NAN)
Sen. Ned Nwoko (PDP-Delta) says that Local Government Administration is central to democracy in Nigeria as it ensures grassroots governance and service delivery at the local level.This is contained in a statement signed by Dr Michael Nwoko, the Chief of Staff to the lawmaker in Abuja on Monday.Nwoko said this on the occasion of the presentation of an award “Icon of Hope” to him by the Association of Local Government Vice Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGOVC).
He was represented by his Chief of Staff. He said that the importance of local government administration in the country could not be overemphasised, as it was the bedrock of democracy.According to him, local governments in Nigeria play key roles in the country’s democracy by promoting participatory democracy, providing services, and representing citizens.“Local Governments help determine local needs and how to meet them. They also act as a link between the centre, state, and local people.“They are created to decentralise power and bring the government closer to the people. They perform both mandatory and concurrent functions.“It is in view of this that I took it upon myself to enhance the viability of local governments through the Paris and London club loan refunds,”he said.Dr Folashade Olabanji-Oba, ALGOVC National Chairman, while presenting the award at its 7th Annual National Conference, said the award was in recognition of the lawmaker’s significant contributions to strengthening local government administration.She highlighted Nwoko’s critical role in ensuring the Paris and London Club loan refunds, a financial breakthrough she said enhanced the capacity of local governments nationwide.(NAN)
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