POLITICS Labour Party asks INEC to remove Lagos REC Agbaje before elections

By Christiana Ekpa

The Labour Party (LP) has called for the removal of Olusegun Agbaje, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Lagos State.

The party urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to do so before the general elections

2023: Real reason Atiku’s campaign rally in Rivers was cancelled –Gov Wike

By Musa Baba Adamu

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has given a reason the campaign rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, was cancelled in his state.

Recall that the rally was scheduled for Tuesday.

Wike said that Atiku’s rally in Rivers was annulled because they lacked the numbers to fill the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium he approved for the event.

The governor also described the claim by the PDP Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) that the campaign was put off because of fear of bloodshed as untrue.

He spoke at Nyemoni Secondary School field in Abonnema town, the venue of the PDP campaign for AkukuToru Local Government Area, on Monday.

Wike said, “I gave them the stadium, they know they’ve no capacity to fill the stadium, they’re looking for excuses.

“They went and forced themselves to use government land at Trans Amadi. I said no, that wasn’t where I gave you. Where I gave you was Adokiye Amiesimaka, go and fill that place.”

He added, “They now said no, we won’t go there again. We don’t want people to die. Who is killing who? Is anybody killing anybody? I said don’t pay money, I’ll buy the diesel for you. I’ll do everything for you. Mobilise, go, and fill that stadium. They ran away.” starting on February 25.

A spokesperson for Peter Obi Campaign Organisation, Kenneth Okonkwo made the demand in a Twitter post on Monday.

“If Prof Mahmood Yakubu doesn’t sack Olusegun Agbaje now, then Nigerians must realise that Prof Mahmood has decided to rig the election of 2023 in favour of APC,” he tweeted. Okonkwo accused Agbaje of referring to the people of SouthEast origin based in Lagos as immigrants in their country.

He said the REC denied Igbos the collection of their Permanent Voter’s Cards, PVCs, “while foreigners from Niger Republic, Chad, etc were given PVCs and

NINs in El-Rufai’s Kaduna State”.

The Nollywood veteran stated that “Nigerians have lost confidence in any election that will be conducted by this ethnic and confused bigot”.

Okonkwo said Agbaje is “suffering from impaired reasoning like the principal he is working for who has commanded his followers to snatch power at all costs”.

The LP chieftain further charged Nigerians to insist the right thing is done “starting with the firing of Olusegun Agbaje.”

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar last week asked INEC to remove Agbaje.

Presidency: Group endorses Tinubu/ Shettima ticket

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

Eleven days to the Presidential election, the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu/Kashim Shettima ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) got endorsement by a group, Clerics Congress of Nigeria.

Endorsements of the Tinubu/ Shettima ticket by the group took place at Stakeholders Conference held at Nicon Luxury Hotel attended by representatives of both the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates of APC.

The Clerics led by Ali John Ali and Timothy Cheren, premised their endorsements of Tinubu / Shettima ticket on competence , capacity and required vision for progressive leadership and Nation building.

The speech reads in part "After a cursory look at all the presidential aspirants, and without any dint of sentiment attached, we have found one candidate suitable to deliver the required result needed to take our nation out of our present predicament and usher in the required development needed to take us to the next level.

"That candidate without any shadow of a doubt is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Our decision has been predicated on the indices of track record of past performance, ability to unite the country and fight insecurity, economic programme of development and the ability to build a sterling leadership succession.

"In all of these, Asiwaju towers high above the pack of other presidential candidates .

Looking at his track record in Lagos where he held sway as governor for eight years, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu succeeded immensely in turning Lagos into a mega city and an economic giant not just in Nigeria but Africa and the rest of the world.

"On the issues of Muslim and Muslim ticket which has engendered so much debate, we have carefully considered the issues that gave birth to the decision to select a Muslim as his Vice and came to the conclusion that the reasons were more about the strategy to win elections and have somebody he can be comfortable to work with, than of religious discrimination."

2023 polls: Atiku Abubakar will garner 64% from three zones in north – New report claims

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is projected to win the Nigerian 2023 election scheduled for February 25, 2023. The interim report from nine months study led by Dr. Oludare Ogunlana of June Group Research and Council for African Security Affairs (CASA) with other Intelligence practitioners in the United States, Europe, and Nigeria pointed to the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party of Nigeria as a potential winner.

Atiku was rated higher than other candidates from All Progressive Congress (APC) and Labour Party (LP), and New Nigeria Peoples’ Party (NNPP), using four key variables: political geography, Religion, Resources, and Class.

According to the group, “The study’s scope is limited to observing political actors and interviews with stakeholders in organizations from across six zones of Nigeria and the Nigerians in the Diaspora: political leaders, women groups, religious organizations, civil societies, trade unions, and youth organizations.

“In each interview, we focused on five areas: the personality of the candidates, ethnic influence, religion, power of incumbency, voters’ behavior, emotions’ role, political socialization, and tolerance of diversity of political views. The study that started in May 2022 accurately predicted the outcome of the PDP and APC primaries and the emergence of Alh Atiku Abubakar and Senator Bola Tinubu as candidates for their respective parties.

“We identified where the political influencers, religious leaders, organizations, and Nigerians in the Diaspora stood with voting President in February 2023 and how it aligned to victory for each candidate. In addition, we gathered data from facilitated workshops and interactive survey sessions with Nigerian political thought leaders, which include lawyers, political activists, and former and current serving political office holders.

“While we respect various polls that have put a particular candidate as the preferred candidate to win the election, we state that data alone does not speak for itself significantly when such data is based on manipulation and sectional polling. The result of every data must be put into context, including understanding the people, culture, pattern, geographical spread of the platform, and historical antecedents.

“In conclusion, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is expected to garner 64% from the three zones in the North, rake 45% from the South-South region where his running mates come from, acquire 37 % from the South-East with 27% from the South-West, which is the stronghold of the APC candidate.”

From Abubakar Yunusa Abuja

Nigerians are still transacting in old Naira notes, ignoring the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the money deposit banks after the February 10, 2023 deadline.

Most of the Nigerian public believes that the deadline is February 17, 2023, which is the seven days grace given by the CBN after the February 10 deadline.

CBN had on Friday removed the countdown to February 10, 2023, live chart from its website, as the deadline expires.

Peoples Daily visited some open markets, and motor parks across Abuja to interview several traders and found that the traders and commuters were confidently collecting the old notes for various reasons.

Some are still collecting owing to the Supreme Court ruling while others believe that the official deadline by CBN is on February 17.

Amina Sule, a wholesale seller of onions in Mile 12 Market said she is still accepting the old naira notes because she believes that the Supreme Court order overshadows that of the Central Bank.

“The Supreme Court has asked the CBN not to ban the use of the old naira notes and its ruling supersedes that of CBN,” Kazeem said.

“I will continue to collect the new naira notes until the Supreme Court says otherwise,” she added.

According to her, the apex bank has not come out to say anything since the ruling, noting that it implies that it is giving in to the restraining order by the Court.

Isa Suleiman, a yam seller in Karu market said he still collects the old notes because the deadline is February 17 and not 10 as many people taught.

“CBN added an extra one week to the deadline after announcing February 10 but many people are still not aware and that is why they were thinking the old notes are no longer legal tender,” Hassan said.

Adam Maria, a dealer in Black market Fuel in Abacha road said that he still receives the old note because the CBN has moved the deadline by seven days.