NIGERIAN NOTCH

In a very colourful ceremony at the Marble Arch Hotel, Awka, the man of the moment and foremost industrialist and philanthropist, Dr. Chidozie Nwankwo (Overdose), CEO Wichtech Group, officially informed members of the State Working Committee, Party Officials and Stakeholders across the 21 LGAs of his intention to vie for the party's governorship ticket in the forthcoming APC governorship primary scheduled for June 26th, 2021. In his welcome remarks, the State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Anambra State, Chief Basil Ejidike (Ikwelle Nnabuenyi) welcomed all to the epoch making event and briefly explained the reasons behind the choice of Marble Arch Hotel for the declaration instead of the Party’s Secretariat at the Glass House. According to the Chairman, the change in venue was in deference to the good people of Awka who are currently celebrating their annual IMO AWKA FESTIVAL. He therefore appealed for the understanding of party men and women.   The Chai

BY LEVINUS ANYANWU “May, 30 2021 was just like every other day, but little did we know that some enemies of the land has something up their sleeves. They murdered sleep, the brought sorrow, pains and forced a peaceful family into sorrowful and mournful mood…. Gulak is no more.. One can imagine how traumatic and shocking the news was to the family, friends and associates and by extension his Former colleagues, Nasarawa state, the entire North and Nigerians at large. Allah knows the best. A cursory look at the Scenes that played out behind the scenes before his murder the PLAYERS and Roles Rochas Anayo Okorocha got in touch with Gulak and made some very uncomfortable statement and I quote ” For what you did to me, I’ll not forgive you*” on a camera look; could this be as a result of Gulak’s role during and after APC primaries that produced Imo current governor? Or is there any other thing aside the above? Let’s concern ourselves with His roles in the APC primary elections in Imo. Recall,

The Catholic church has banned Ejike Mbaka, spiritual director of Adoration Ministries Enugu Nigeria (AMEN), from commenting on partisan politics. In a letter to Mbaka, a copy of which was obtained by TheCable, Callistus Onaga, Catholic bishop of Enugu diocese, also converted the adoration ministry to chaplaincy. Unlike in the past where Mbaka solely oversees the activities of the ministry as its spiritual director, making it chaplaincy brings it under the control of the Enugu diocese and gives the bishop the power to appoint a chaplain to oversee its operations. Although the bishop said Mbaka still leads the chaplaincy, he added that he (bishop) can appoint any ministerial officer “to assist the chaplains to oversee the pastoral activities of the ministry.” “There shall be no partisan politics either by way of active engagement or by prophetic naming of candidates for position of power,” he said. The letter, which is dated June 3, contains the diocesan directives and guidelines for th

The Nigerian government suspended all Twitter operations in the country on Friday.  Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Nigerian minister of information and culture, said the decision stemmed from citizens using the platform for activities "capable of undermining Nigeria's corporate existence," according to a press release.  The move follows Twitter's decision to remove a post by Nigeria's president Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish those responsible for recent attacks on electoral offices and police stations, and referenced the country's 1960s civil war that killed 1 million people, Reuters reported. "Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand," Buhari said in a tweet before Twitter removed the post for violating its "abusive behavior" policy. Nigerian citizens have been protesting against the country's Special Anti-Robbery Squad police unit, known as SARS, since lat

...a tale of planted seed of destabilization! The unpleasant security challenges facing Imo State in this present day living, has been cashed in on my agents of darkness in human form. They seek to disconnect the people from the truth just so as to win their sympathy. Lies are spreading like wild fire catalyzed with combustible liquid.  In the end, the aim lies on extreme political vendetta for an actualization of selfish desire but, in the beginning little did the cheering masses knew that casualties of war dominate on the side of civilians. Albeit, the tactical attack on security agencies and agents has kept the outcome on the opposite in this case of Imo but quite unfortunate, the mongers are having a swell day selling false news to susceptible members of the public. Ever since the heightened security challenge in the state, the media has been inundated with stories of innocent civilian bodies flooding the Morgue of Federal Medical Center (FMC) Owerri. These random messages purporte

Valentine Ozigbo, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) frontline aspirant has held what can be said to be a ground breaking town hall meeting with PDP delegates and state leaders ahead of the November 2021 governorship election in Anambra State, as he hit a new high with the town hall meeting of party leaders at the state, local government, and ward levels.  The well-attended event which was held at Emmaus House, Awka, on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, attracted PDP State Executive Committee members, LG Chairmen and Executives, PDP Statutory Delegates, Ward Chairman, and Vice-Chairmen.  While speaking to party leaders and kingmakers in the PDP, Mr Ozigbo described the forthcoming gubernatorial election as 'an opportunity to decide their destinies'. Ozigbo, who is the immediate Past President and Group CEO of Transcorp Plc, stated that Anambra's election is highly crucial and demands a different approach from previous elections.  "This is not an election to be treated with laxi

....... SAYS CALL FOR UZODINMA's  RESIGNATION FRIVOLOUS, LAUGHABLE AND DELUSIONARY. The All Progressive Congress in Imo state in a press release made avaliable this evening to Nigerian Notch, says that the opposition political party in the state, the PDP has vindicated the earlier position of Governor Uzodinma on the issue of insecurity in the state.  The chairman of APC in Imo state, Prince Marcillinus O Nlemigbo in the release however stated that "The attention of the All Progressives Congress, APC,  Imo State chapter has been drawn to the press release of the People's Democratic Party, (PDP) Imo State, being a text of their press conference held today June 3, 2021 wherein they amongst other things called for the resignation of the Executive  governor of Imo State, His Excellency Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma, following the current security situation in the state. Nlemigbo however said that after preliminary analysis of the said press statement which is currently c

The Federal Government has berated Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, over his fake tweet and misinformation on the death of the Registrar of National Examinations Council (NECO), Prof. Godswill Obioma. Odinkalu, a former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission had tweeted that Obioma was strangled to death contrary to what the family of the deceased said. In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said Odinkalu acted irresponsibly by the fake tweet. “Without mincing words, the action of Prof. Odinkalu is the height of irresponsibility that is at variance with someone of his pedigree. “His tweet is a clear case of fake news that could have caused a breach of public peace. “And I am told this is not the first time he is engaging in this kind of action, just like many others like him,   “It was reported that the police, the family and NECO confirmed that Obioma died after a brief illness, contrary t

Recent events in Imo State should raise some posers to the minds of everyone. By every ramification, Imo people are peace-loving and hardworking. The people are also not known for any form of violent extremism.  Suddenly, the peace of the state was just broken in one fell swoop. It is good to know where the rain began beating us, and why we have sunk so deeply into the murky pool of violence. The new sites of violence now are security formations most of which are basically manned by Ndi-Igbo themselves. In this orgy of violence, our people are exterminated, and scores rendered fatherless and even homeless.  Now, whenever any act of violence is perpetrated, the economy suffers as business premises around the areas also receive the bite of insecurity.  Out of desperation, some seen and unseen forces in the state are trumping up conspiracy theories aimed at denigrating the government of the state.  These forces cook up narratives that deconstruct the many notable efforts of the government

The police in Zaria has foiled an attempt to kidnap the Catholic Bishop of Zaria. In a press release made avaliable to media House, the force PRO Frank Mba stated that, following the ongoing implementation of a robust security action plan to protect citizens and critical national infrastructure across the country, operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, have arrested a total of eighty-four (84) notorious criminal suspects within the past one month. A total of forty-five (45) sophisticated firearms and ammunition including 1-GPMG, 1-LAR rifle, 17-AK47 rifles, 2-Pump Action rifles, 20- locally fabricated firearms, 3-single barrel guns, 9899- live ammunition of different calibres, 80-fake vehicle number plates, 1- Toyota Camry with Reg. No. AA 792 HJA and 1-Toyota Corolla LE with Reg. No. QAP 622 AA, were recovered from the suspects in the operations.     The suspects he said, were arrested for their involvement in series of violent crimes including terrorism, banditry, kidnap for ransom,

Ketron Investment Limited, a Nigerian company owned by a group of local investors led by property firm Persianas Investment Ltd, has completed the acquisition of Shoprite Holdings Limited. With the acquisition, Shoprite, Africa’s largest food retailer, has completed exiting the Nigerians market 16 years after it opened its first outlet. Ketron in a statement said Shoprite is changing its strategy “from an ownership model to a franchise model. The acquisition has been approved by Nigeria’s federal competition and consumer protection commission. “We look forward to building an even stronger company following our acquisition,” said Tayo Amusan, Ketron’s chairman. Shoprite, which operates 2,843 supermarkets in 15 countries, serving 35 million customers in Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands, has struggled with supply-chain disruptions and repatriation of funds – both familiar problems to foreign businesses in the Nigerian market. In August 2020, Shoprite hinted that its business in Nigeria