Tinubu’s Presidential ambition: Adebanjo can’t speak for North - Arewa group

we northerners appointed him to convey a message to any one; therefore, his assertion as widely reported is not only false but unfounded and can be better seen as the action of a meddlesome interloper or on a lighter scale the antics of a busy body.

“Given what is unfolding in the South West today, Pa Ayo’s attempt to justify his position by saying that his submission is based on fairness, justice and equity is indeed laughable because it was said that whoever is coming to equity must come with clean hands.

“Records have shown that every presidential candidate that Pa Ayo opposes ended up winning the election- Asiwajus’s case will not be different

Just because Pa Ayo has some differences with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu does not in any way means that the Yoruba race think the same, as we have our doubts that he has the mandate to speak for the Yoruba.

“We warn that this is the time for high wire political activities that usually culminates into tension and suspicion; we call for restrain in all utterances. From our research Pa Ayo’s statement was not driven by any nationalist instinct or principle; it is just a personal vendetta against the personality of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“We advise Pa Ayo to stop taking advantage of Yoruba culture of respect to pursue a very myopic, narrow minded and selfish political vendetta, this a pure act of mischief and malice.

“Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has visited many States in the North, made policy statements and made a committal promises to us, if GOD Almighty gives him the opportunity to serve as our next president, we the northerners will hold him accountable to that”, the group said.

Recall that Adebanjo had, during a rally of Labour Party in Abeokuta, Ogun State, cautioned Tinubu to come home and join Obi to win the 2023 Presidential election, warning him that the North politicians are only deceiving him to collect his money, and discard him at the end.

He said the Northern politicians, based on antecedents, have always collected money from prominent Yoruba politicians, and at the end, work against them, arguing that the case of Tinubu will certainly not be different.

Meanwhile, Arewa New Agenda is a forum of concern northerners comprising of academics, serving and former legislators, diplomas, technocrats, development practitioners, women and youth leaders, politicians, artisans, traders and farmers, positioning to set an agenda for protection of the interest of the North.

Enugu PDP guber candidate, Mbah denies alleged EFCC case, certificate forgery

By Musa Baba Adamu

The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State, Barr.

Peter Mbah has declared that he was never at any time convicted of financial crimes.

Mbah has been a subject of discussion in Enugu State, with many claiming that he wriggled out of the hooks of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) through a plea bargain arrangement.

This took another dimension when a video was circulated in the State, entitled: ‘Ego Ndi Enugu’, (Enugu people’s money), wherein it was claimed that Mbah’s Pinnacle Oil was established through illicit funds syphoned from the Enugu State public fund.

Mbah was at a time the Chief of Staff to then Governor Chimaroke Nnamani.

However, speaking at the weekend, the PDP candidate said he was never invited by the EFCC, adding that whereas the commission wrote letters of invitation to some government officials, he went there on his own volition.

He added that the commission held him in a situation that could be best described as “a placeholder” to someone that was of interest to the anti-graft agency.

“I have never been convicted by EFCC, I have never indulged in plea bargain. My name was struck out even before trial commenced.

“I was never tried, I did not request that my name be struck out, the prosecution did it on his own.

“The people who are behind this fake news, if they were interested in knowing the truth, the court records are there,” he said while stating that “I have been a victim of several malicious attacks. People are engaging in a campaign of calumny, maligning me.

“Let them come with any modicum of evidence where I did plea bargain, I was never part of any trial. Ego Ndi Enugu does not exist.”

On the recent National Youths Service Corps, NYSC, certificate forgery allegation against him, Mbah restated that he completed his service after a three month break.

“I did my NYSC. I served and was honourably discharged. I have my discharged certificate. My place of primary assignment was Udeh & Co. I think the confusion was because I had a break. As an overseas graduate, when we were done with our Bar Part I, the next thing was for us to do Bar Part II, but we were just completing Bar Part 1 when the bar final students started”, he said.

2023 election: Gov Bello charges APC members to woo voters

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has charged all members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to close ranks and woo voters to ensure victory for the party in the general elections.

Bello gave the charge when he inaugurated a 65-man campaign council of the Party for Niger North Senatorial District (Zone C) in Kontagora, headquarters of the zone, noting that voting the party back into power would help consolidate the successes so far recorded.

The governor said: “Close ranks, get to the people at the grassroots and canvass for votes. Logistics will be made available to all local governments in the zone.

“I urge you to remain resolute about the victory of the party at the polls to consolidate on the successes recorded.”

Responding, the chairman of the campaign council and Commissioner for Local Government, Community Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Kabiru Abbas, on behalf of other members, promised to work diligently and make concerted efforts for the success of the APC in the zone.

By Christiana Ekpa

Lagos was electrified over the weekend as the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi’s campaign train arrived at the nation’s commercial nerve center.

The excitement of the people was electrifying as the whole city was shut down by jubilant youths, women, and adults struggling to see and hear the Presidential Candidates front-runner in the election due in a fortnight.

The visits of the LP Candidate to some markets and the road works along strategic areas in the commercial city ensured that all parts of Lagos were engulfed in the Obi euphoria before finally assembling at the Tafawa Balewa Square to the warm embrace of another very massive crowd of Obidient supporters.

Attempts to frustrate the rally by some hoodlums failed, although Lagos Police Command confirmed four injured and many vehicles damaged by the gangsters allegedly engineered by political opponents.

All through Alaba International Market in the Ojo area, through Festac to Apapa, Ikeja through Maryland to Onipanu to Surulere