NIGERIAN NOTCH

~ ONE OF HIS VISIBLE ASSETS IN ANAMBRA & INDEED THE BIGGEST IN THE SOUTH EAST. Senator Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, the senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District at the 9th Senate ,today the 19th of November 2022 after his meet with the people radio programme, to brief his constituents on the journey so far, took journalists who paid him a courtesy visit round the authority audio vision center. The journalists from National Link Chapel of the NUJ Council Anambra, led by Hon. Tempest Chinyelude Udeze, where indeed marveled at the level of work that has advanced at the center.  Senator Ubah used the tour as an eye opener on the progress of work at the facility which he said will be completed by the grace of God first quarter of 2023.  Senator Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah remains the only politician in the race to the Senate, with the highest number of individuals under the employment of companies founded by him, with over N15B (Fifteen Billion Naira) in legacy investmen...

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for approving all the monies accruable to the Niger Delta states since 1999. Wike made the commendation while speaking at the commissioning of the Doctor Nabo Graham Douglas Law School built by the Rivers state government on Friday. According to Wike, part of the money was used for the numerous projects built by his administration. Wike commended the president for not playing politics with the money despite being in a different political party. He stated, “Monies that were not paid since 1999, the 13% deductions, Mr. President approved and paid all of us from Niger Delta states. “For me, it will be unfair not to say to the public. It is not from FAAC money it is the money paid to me as Rivers State, Delta State, Akwa Ibom State, Edo State and Bayelsa State. “So I want to sincerely, from my heart and on behalf of the government and people of the state, thank Mr. President for this because as an opposition gove...

Supporters of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Omoyele Sowore, and other presidential candidates will compete with 187 million ballot papers come February 25, 2023, to ensure victory for their preferred candidate. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) confirmed this on Friday, Naija News reports. Speaking yesterday ahead of the much-anticipated exercise, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, said the commission will print a total of 187million ballot papers for the 2023 presidential election. Okoye, during his address at a Roundtable with Bureau Chiefs/ Editors in Abuja today, said 93.5 million ballot papers would be used on February 25 for the presidential election. He revealed that the remaining 93.5million ballot papers would be spared for run-off of the presidential election in case there is no clear winner.

President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to hand over to his successor a country free of the current security challenging bedeviling it. The president expressed confidence that with the gallantry and sacrifices exhibited by men and women of the Nigerian Armed Forces in the campaign against insurgency and other internal security operations, the nation will be returned to normalcy as “we continue to battle, decisively, all the security challenges.” The president spoke yesterday in Abuja where he disclosed that N134.7 billion had been approved for the payment of Security Debarment Allowance (SDA) to all veterans. The president also used the occasion to commend the efforts of the Nigerian Armed Forces in frontally confronting banditry, kidnappings, molestations and killing of innocent citizens, saying these ‘‘vices alien to our culture’’ are on the decline. According to him, normalcy is gradually returning to some affected parts of the country due to the methodical approach and increasing mili...

Ohanaeze Ndigbo has dismissed claims by Anambra State governor Chukwuma Soludo that the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi would not win the 2023 presidential election. The president-general of the Igbo organisation, Ambassador George Obiozor, also dismissed the claim that the organisation had taken Soludo to two Igbo divinities and deities for punishment for attacking Obi and insinuating that he would not win the presidential election. In his article titled: “History Beacons and I will not be silent (Part 1)” Soludo had stated emphatically that the Labour Party presidential candidate was merely on jamboree with his presidential ambition in 2023. But the national publicity secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr Chiedozie Ogbonnia revealed that following Soludo’s outbursts, the apex-Igbo body met on November 15, 2022, and, not only affirmed the earlier decision of the organisation that the country’s president in 2023 should come from the South East but, that Peter Obi has ...

There are indications that Christian leaders in the country have decided to reconsider their stance on the vexed issue of Muslim- Muslim ticket and may have given the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the benefit of doubt ahead of the 2023 polls. The emergence of former Borno State governor, Sen Kashim Shettima as vice presidential candidate of the governing APC was greeted with stiff opposition from the Christian community in the country, with Christian leaders and politicians vowing vehemently not to vote for a Muslim-Muslim ticket. But in what appeared to be a default to the belief that his intentions to govern Nigeria could be honest, the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) yesterday presented a charter of demands and issues to the APC presidential candidate. The Christian body demanded equal rights for all religions and their adherents, right to self-determination by all ethnic groups, right to control natural resources...

Rivers State governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has reassured the people of the state that his administration will complete all projects it awarded before the end of his tenure on May 29, 2023. He however said should any be left without being inaugurated, he was confident that his successor will, in the spirit of continuity, complete them for inauguration. Wike spoke yesterday at the inauguration of the twin buildings housing the Faculty of Basic Clinical Sciences and the Faculty of Clinical Sciences of the Rivers State University in Port Harcourt. The governor said: “I will not leave any project unfinished. I will make sure all the projects we have started are finished. If they are not finished, maybe at 90 or 95% completion, when my successor, Siminalaye  Fubara and Prof. Ngozi Ordu, come, they should use them for their first one hundred days in office projects and commission them. “This is because, they are part of what we are doing. When I say my successor, you know they will win. Y...

The three leading presidential candidates in the 2023 general election, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday espoused their governance agenda to the Nigerian voters in different parts of the country. While Tinubu was at the flag-off of the APC presidential campaign rally in Jos, Plateau State, Atiku and Obi met with the alumni of the Lagos Business School in Lagos to sell their economic and other reform packages to their audiences. At the Jos rally, reports have it that thousands of APC supporters and leaders from all walks of life trooped into the stadium as early as 9am to welcome President Muhammadu Buhari, and the party’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Tinubu, and his entourage to Jos. The event was attended by all the 22 APC governors as well as senators, House of Representatives members, former governors and other important personalities. In fact, Pr...

 By Dr Nick Obidiukwu  Professor Charles Soludo had barely finished his interview with Channels Television when the media thugs and supporters of Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, descended on the Anambra State Governor with characteristic bile. What vitriol Obi's social media gangs spared the Governor was what their dark minds did not conjure up. Mr Obi's rampaging supporters could not live with the indictment that it did not make sense to save when a State lacked critical infrastructure and people were coping with hunger and poor healthcare. And it grated their ears that the value of the controversial investment in a brewery had drastically depreciated.   Obi, who had lately metamorphosed into a candidate of regional and generational anger, was bound to contend with the consequences of his serial lies some time. Mr Obi had the ambition to be a politician of distinction; the model citizen with superior moral and political records. A tall dream....

By Sam Omatseye I don’t see why some persons are not happy with Anambra State governor for saying what he knows about one of his bumbling predecessors who does not know how to invest.  The governor did not originate the question. Why accuse him for saying what he knew. Chukwuma Soludo did not even show zeal about the subject.  He was dismissive in attitude. He said the investment is worth nothing. Then the usual irate mob started lobbing stones. It is like Jesus said to the Jews, “You seek to kill me for telling you the truth.”  The Labour candidate’s sin is bad enough, but that is not the fellow’s worst offence against Anambra. What of the investment of Anambra money in his family business, or his offshore account, or the NEXT supermarket built while on the throne? Soludo is a man of accountability. A former CBN governor would not and should not have done less in his interview on Channels. Failed governorship candidate Babatunde Gbadamosi was being petty interrogating in...

The Vantage Canadian college Lagos has held its foundation laying ceremony of the college in Lagos Nigeria. The foundation stone laying was held on the 12th of November 2022.  The institution will be offering Grade 10-12 (SS1-SS3) which will be a University pathway to Ontario Secondary School Diploma in Nigeria.  In his welcome address the president of the college, Mr. Jamie Pajoel said that the institution when completed will serve as a bridge for a Nigerian -  Canadian exchange program, where students from the Institute can apply to study and work in Canada after there secondary school on Nigeria.  Continuing, he said that " The real world is rapidly becoming more competitive, dynamic and demanding, as greater emphasis is now being placed on graduates who can strategize effectively, act decisively, drive performance, collaborate successfully and creatively innovate." The Vantage Canadian college aims to ensure that children are well trained, well equipped with 21st...

….Soludo, the Solution  Louis Odion, FNGE Epic! The handicraft of a philosopher-king. One, I dare say not many of our political leaders have the facility of language and clarity of thought to seamlessly transmit such profound thoughts from mind to print, personally.   Professor Soludo, with this, you just reaffirmed the value/virtue I saw in you back in 2004 (first as Economic Adviser to OBJ, before being appointed CBN governor that transformed Nigeria’s financial landscape forever) and has glued us together ever since, not just as friends but brothers.  All through your political tribulations from 2010 - 2021, never did I see or hear you ever barter your nobility nor mortgage your high principle — whether in the face of tempting offer or tantalising assurance of instant political profits.  Truly, you are a man of steely character, profound knowledge and Solomonic wisdom, completely detribalised.  With this, you just rekindled my conviction that, ultimately...

The Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria has blamed charges in foreign exchange by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) as creating disruption in market operations. The marketers have, therefore, asked the agencies to obey federal government’s directive on Naira transactions for ports charges. Vice chairman II, Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), Mahmood Tukur, stated this on Sunday. The federal gvernment through its downstream regulator, and based on agreement reached with stakeholders, had earlier directed ports charges to be collected in Naira. The directives was contained in a communique issued in November 2021, and signed by heads of the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulation Authority, Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), Major Oil Marketers Assocoation of Nigeria and DAPPMAN. Tukur alleged that the agencies were yet to comply with directives a...

With pressing national economic challenges, accentuated by what is best described as structural failure and emerging local and global trends, some governors and other stakeholders say there is a strong sense of urgency for the authorities to save the nation from sinking. Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and his Gombe State counterpart, Inuwa Yahaya, led the call for the federal government to urgently discontinue the unsustainable fuel subsidy regime, improve power supply and restructure the country, especially the economy. The governors were among other captains of industry who spoke at the ongoing 28th Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja. While Governor El-Rufai emphatically said “remove subsidy now,” Obaseki said there is immediate need to ensure improved and stable power supply to drive production in line with the needed industrialisation of the nation. The Edo State governor said the economy would have been better if the revenues were coming fro...

  Pioneer chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Pascal Dozie, in a keynote address entitled: ‘The Nigeria we Need,’ said in a plural, multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-ethnic Nigeria, if the state (nation-state and its federating units) act in a way that promotes any religious above others, that would be sowing seeds of discord. “This deters cohesion, progress and development,” he stated. Mr Dozie said the use of public funds to sponsor persons on religious events, to build places of worship and the like, contradicts the secular nature of Nigeria as agreed by the founding fathers at independence. “Ours is a secular state – and must be seen to be so – in normative, positive and practical terms,” he added. The former NESG chairman said Nigeria must strive to shape legislative lists and powers to make laws – such as to have relevant tiers of government to be responsible for those issues that are best suited for. Former president of the Nigeran Bar Association,...

 It was all thanks to God and  Nnewi Catholic Diocese community, as Amb Charles Nwonye took a high powered delegation of friends, community leaders and we'll wishers to the launching of an endowment fund for the completion of St Philip's Catholic Church Okpunoeze Uruagu Nnewi.  The event which was graced by the bishop of the Catholic diocese of Nnewi, who was ably represented by Monsignor Patrick Obata saw to the large turnout of people from all walks of life, who in turn contributed immensely to the completion of the church.  In his keynote address, the Chief launcher and convener Amb Charles Nwonye took out time to explain to the congregation and visitors on the need to see to the completion of the church which is pivotal to the development of the community in particular and Nnewi as a whole. He opened the floor with a cash donation of #2M naira.  He therefore urged others who were not able to make it to the event to find out time and reach the priest in charg...

By Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR     My attention has been drawn to some of the tirades on social media following my frank response during an interview on Channels TV regarding the “investments” Mr. Peter Obi claimed to have made with Anambra state revenues. Sadly, several of the comments left the issue of the interview to probe or suggest motives, inferred from my response on “investment” that I am opposed to Peter Obi’s ambition and therefore committed a “crime” for which the punishment is internecine abuse and harassment even to my family. Some people even suggest that the gunmen who went to attack a checkpoint at my hometown on Saturday 12th November but were gunned down was part of the mob reaction. I used to think that for decent people, certain conducts are off-limits, and that in Anambra, politics is not warfare.   Of course, as a Christian, I know that telling the truth can be very costly, even suicidal. Our Lord and saviour was crucified simply for telling the tr...

By Christian ABURIME  One of the outstanding achievements of the government of Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR, is the astonishing successes recorded in the area of security which Ndi Anambra have continued to commend him for Before Soludo was sworn in as Governor, Anambra State was almost in a state of war. There was hardly no week without report of innocent Ndi Anambra being mowed down by the marauding killers. Kidnapping, killings, stealing, ransom taking were the order of the day. Fear and uncertainty reigned supreme in the land!  While these hoodlums thought they were smart, Soludo obviously was smarter and a step ahead! The security architecture he put in place unnerved the hoodlums.  Today, the narratives have changed drastically. The senatorial zone that was in the grip of these killer gangs have been restored to normalcy. The 15 camps established by the gangs to terrorize Ndi Anambra have been effectively neutralized by security agents. Governor Soludo bol...

For the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Atiku Abubakar, the gloves are now definitely off in their ongoing credibility battle ahead of the 2023 presidential poll. The duo engaged themselves more fiercely and aggressively yesterday over the purported indictment of Tinubu and subjection to criminal forfeiture judgement to the tune of $460,000 for an alleged narcotic offence by a United States court in Northern Illinois. The PDP standard bearer fired the first salvo when he alleged that Tinubu was no longer eligible to contest the 2023 election on account of his indictment. Speaking through the PDP national publicity secretary, Hon Debo Ologunagba, during a press conference in Abuja, Atiku asked Tinubu to withdraw from the race, saying he stands disqualified according to the provisions of Section 137 (1) (d) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). But the APC ...