Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Governor of Lagos State has declared a 25 percent reduction in transport fares for government-owned transport schemes.

Sanwo-Olu made this announcement during a live media chat, ‘Sanwo Speaks’ on Thursday.

He also announced that civil servants from levels 1–14 will begin to work three days a week as part of measures to ease the economic challenges for residents.

The governor noted that the forum was intended to intimate residents of steps being taken to reduce the economic burden on Lagosians.

He said workers in the teaching sector will, however, maintain the five-day-a-week work schedule, but the government will ensure additional transportation support for them.

A former governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi has claimed that Senator Adams Oshiomhole attempted to impose a gubernatorial candidate on the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State.

Fayemi accused the governor of playing a “disruptive” role during the February 17, 2024, governorship primary election in the state.

Recall that three governorship aspirants were declared winners of the primary election by three different umpires.

The governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, and chairman of the primary election committee, declared Dennis Idahosa, a member of the house of representatives, as the winner of the election.

However, Ojo Babatunde, spokesperson of the returning officers, declared Sunday Dekeri, a lawmaker representing Etsako federal constituency in the house of representatives, as the winner of the primary.

In another twist of events, Monday Okpebholo, the senator representing Edo central, claimed that he won the election with over 6,000 votes.

On Tuesday, the national leadership of the APC declared that the primary election was inconclusive.

The party fixed Thursday, February 22, 2024, as the new date for the completion of the primary election process.

The party subsequently appointed the governor of Cross River State, Bassey Otu as the chairman of the primary election committee.

However, speaking via a statement by Ahmad Sajoh, his media aide, Fayemi claimed that Oshiomhole ousted the governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki during the buildup to the 2020 gubernatorial poll in the state.

The former Ekiti governor said Oshiomhole should have ensured a level playing field for all aspirants in 2024 instead of trying to impose a candidate.

“Earlier, Oshiomhole had attempted to eliminate some aspirants from contesting the primaries but failed. This is reminiscent of his high-handedness as national chairman when he manipulatively schemed Governor Godwin Obaseki out of the electoral process. That action led to the unfortunate loss of Edo state by the APC.

“It would appear the ground was being prepared by Oshiomhole yet again for the APC to lose the coming election in Edo state because of his unconscionable behaviour.

“However, the party has demonstrated independence and impartiality in cancelling and reordering the primaries.

“We hope the fresh primaries will now take place in an atmosphere deemed free and fair by all, for the sake of our great party.

“Oshiomhole may decide to support any of the aspirants if he chooses not to be neutral but the process must be open, free, and transparent, following the laid down rules.

“My interest is the APC and the party must put its best foot forward in the forthcoming elections,’’ Fayemi said.

THE Edo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP,) on Thursday held a parallel Congress that produced the deputy governor of the state, Rt. Hon Philip Shaibu is the candidate.

While some delegates were being accredited to proceed to the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium venue of the primary election, another set of delegates met in a facility in Commercial Avenue where they announced Shaibu the elected candidate of the PDP.

They claimed that they went to the venue for accreditation but were chased away by security agencies. They also alleged that the list of delegates published by the national leadership of the party was not the authentic one alleging that they saw names of people from Bayelsa state and names of people who are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Declaring Shaibu winner of the election, Bartholomew Moses said “During the counting of this primary election, Philip Shaibu has a score of 301 votes and therefore, we hereby declare Philip Shaibu as the authentic elected candidate for this election in the PDP”
The people had barely finished their exercise when gunmen invaded the venue. They were dressed in vigilante outfits and came in several vehicles including two black unmarked Toyota Hiace Truck, an unmarked white sienna, a white Hilux and several other vehicles. They were shooting sporadically into the air and the people scampered in different directions for safety

Before the election, the delegates led by Festus Owu had protested to the deputy governor’s official lodge where they complained to him that they had been disenfranchised.
Speaking to the protesting delegates, Shaibu said “I appeal to all of you to be peaceful I don’t want anybody to be injured, I don’t want anybody molested and I am happy the way you have conducted yourselves peacefully and have come to report to me that you were not allowed to be accredited but I want to tell you that no one man can determine the destiny of a people and by the grace of God they cannot disenfranchise you people.

The law is clear that you people are the authentic delegates. Now that they have pushed you away, they want to go and replace you but I assure you that your vote must count, they cannot change and replace your names. I assure you that I will take your protest to the committee that is coming but you must remain peaceful in everything you are doing.”

Speaking to journalists later, Shaibu said “I saw the crowd outside and I asked who they are and they said they are delegates, I said they should be directed to the venue of the accreditation but they said they were protesting because they have been sent away from the venue if accreditation and they won their election and they have their results.

The election will hold and if a winner emerges with fake delegates, the election will not see the light of the day but if a winner emerges with the authentic delegate, there will be no problem, I am sure.”

Chairman of the Ebonyi State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Stanley Okoro Emegha, has called on all Nigerians to go into agriculture to combat the economic crisis in the country.

Emegha insisted that President Bola Tinubu cannot solve the increasing general hardship in the country alone.

The APC chieftain stated this at an event in Abakaliki, the state capital.

He urged Nigerians to engage in meaningful ventures and stop blaming the president for their woes.

Emegha questioned if Tinubu had stopped anyone from going to their farm to cultivate crops.

According to him, “Things are hard in the country now, and the much we can do is to be helping those we are better than. I want everybody to embark on agriculture, let’s feed first. These are the things we can do by ourselves. I have told my family members that we have to go into cultivation. If you have food, I don’t think you will be hungry.

“Government, to some extent, can provide food for certain agricultural programmes. So, why not go into cultivation? Let everybody embark on agriculture.

“If you are hungry, what has Mr. President got to do? Mr. President cannot do it alone, all of us have to join hands and tackle this general hardship.

“Go to the farm, did Mr. President tell you not to farm in your backyard? The answer is no.

“Let’s go and farm, think of what you can produce in your farm. You can produce enough garri and give to others. You can produce enough rice and give it to others. Why must you be waiting for Mr. President to give you money before you can go to your backyard and farm? Did Mr. President seize anybody’s farm? The answer is no.

“Let us first of all know that you can solve the problem by yourself. If there is food sufficiency now, you will see that everybody will boycott Abuja. Go to Aba, see that the people there are comfortable because they don’t depend on the government. If you say that you are an honorable member there, they will look at you as a useless person.”

A self-proclaimed preacher of the gospel, Harrison Ayintete, has taken to his verified X handle to assert that it is the duty of every believer to pay their pastors’ salaries.

Ayintete, who is the lead Pastor at The Refinery Church International, stressed the importance of Christians rewarding their pastors monetarily, citing relevant biblical references.

Furthermore, he emphasized that conscientious Christians acknowledge the significance of offering their pastors a fair salary or other forms of assistance.

“You owe your pastor salary! A responsible believer knows God pays his pastor through him or her.

”For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.“ 1 Timothy 5:18 KJV That’s simple Bible,” Ayintete wrote on the microblogging platform.

Backing up his points with more Bible verses, the said cleric wrote: “Jesus was financed by women He ministered to.

“Luke 8:3 KJV: And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.

“These are apart from expensive gifts like the alabaster box of oil, gold, myrrh, etc. at His birth, about 100 pounds of aloes, etc. by Nicodemus; the list goes on. The apostles were sustained by the people they ministered to

“Matthew 10:10 KJV: Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.

“The workman is worthy of his meat, meat there is sustenance or salary.

“Luke 10:7 KJV: And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.

“The labourer is worthy of his hire. Hire is pay. Salary! This is how God pays His servants.”

When asked by a netizen if he was not bothered by the reactions of the people, as some netizens referred to him as a ‘fraudulent’ pastor, Ayintete said the likes of Pastor E.A. Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church, and many top pastors in the country have all been accused and called series of unprintable names.

Nigerian soldiers reportedly opened fire on suspected hoodlums who hijacked trailers loaded with foodstuff in the Suleja Area of Niger State.

Naija News learnt that the incident happened on Thursday, while many trailers coming from Abuja and heading for Kaduna were blocked by the hoodlums who burnt tyres on the road.

An eyewitness, Alhassan Abdullahi, who spoke with Daily Trust, said many bags of assorted foodstuffs, especially rice, were stolen before the intervention of the soldiers.

According to him, the hoodlums failed to leave the scene even when soldiers were firing gunshots in the air.

He said, “It took intervention of soldiers who arrived the scene and started firing gun shots in the air to scare the hoodlums away. But even with that, many of them went away with bags of rice and cartons of spaghetti and other food items.

“We learnt commercial motorcycle riders are also planning a protest. They would have done it since yesterday, but we didn’t know what stopped them.”

The latest development comes amid the nationwide hardship that has triggered protests in different parts of the country.

Yoruba Nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Igboho, has finally returned to Nigeria.

Naija News recalls that Igboho has been away from Nigeria since 2021, when he eloped to the Benin Republic to escape arrest after the Department of State Services, DSS, declared him wanted.

The secret police had invaded his home in the Soka area of Oyo State over alleged terrorism charges and attacks on Fulani herders allegedly responsible for the unrest in the Southwest.

While attempting to travel to Germany, Igboho was arrested in Benin Republic and remanded in prison.

However, he recently regained his freedom after two years in a Beninese prison.

Confirming his return, Igboho’s spokesman, Olayomi Koiki, in a terse statement via X on Thursday, said the Yoruba Nation activist was in the country for his mother’s burial.

He wrote: “I can confirm that Chief Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho is currently on his way to Igboho Town for the final burial of his mother MRS S.A.ADEYEMO.

“The body of MRS S.A ADEYEMO was picked up from the mortuary in SAKI TOWN some few hours ago.”

It would be recalled that Igboho, while in prison at Benin Republic, lost his mother, who lived in Saki, Oyo State.

The Canadian government has modified the criteria for international students applying to the post-graduation work programme (PGWP), effective February 15, 2024.

Under the new regulations, students who complete a master’s degree program within two years are eligible for a three-year PGWP, subject to meeting all other eligibility criteria.

According to information on its website, Canada announced that as of September 1, 2024, international students enrolled in the curriculum licensing agreement scheme will no longer qualify for the Post-Graduation Work Programme (PGWP).

Additionally, the special provisions for distance learning and the Post-Graduation Work Programme (PGWP) will continue to be in effect.

The Post-Graduation Work Programme (PGWP) in Canada offers international students an open work permit upon the completion of their studies, granting them the flexibility to work anywhere within the country and for any employer, without limitations on working hours.

The duration of a foreign student’s PGWP is dependent on the duration and level of their studies and the expiry date of their passport, whichever comes first.

To be eligible for a PGWP, a foreign student must have graduated from a designated learning institution (DLI) and be willing to work in Canada on a temporary basis.

Naija News gathered that a DLI is an educational institution authorized by Canada’s provincial or territorial government to admit international students.

It’s important for graduates to note that eligibility for a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) is not automatic; candidates must verify their eligibility by consulting the DLI list.

Nigeria’s politicians have perfected the art of burying themselves with one foot sticking out. And it appears that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will, once again, stage this rite of self-destruction in the forthcoming governorship election in Edo State.

The party’s primaries on Saturday was such a shambles, it has now been forced to conduct it again, with no guarantee of a sensible outcome for an exercise involving perhaps less than 500,000 members (parties routinely inflate their roll). If Governor Godwin Obaseki’s ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), had paid to put a spell on APC, the outcome would not have been more potentially devastating.    

Yet, this is a governor whose bet to install a successor from his own party is not necessarily based on his own record, but on the gift of an opposition in disarray.

After the turbulent last four years at Osadebey House between Obaseki and his deputy, Philip Shaibu, it looked all but certain that the divided house of PDP would collapse when elections hold again in September.

And this was not wishful thinking. Not only has the common political front that paved the way for Obaseki’s ascension to power in his first term eroded; in his second term, he has been fighting both internal and external political enemies, severely limiting his attention and performance.

If his first term was uneventful, it was precisely because that was when the seed of the state’s future political crisis was sown. Even though his benefactor, former Governor Adams Oshiomhole, had installed him in office in the hope of replicating the Tinubu-Fashola model in Lagos, Obaseki had other plans.

The new “tuke-tuke”

Once he was ensconced in office, he made a point of telling the remnant of the Oshiomhole crowd still hanging around the corridors of power, that power had changed hands. No longer, he reportedly said, were the days of “tuke-tuke” politics, a carryover from the era of Tony Anenih, which former Edo State Commissioner for Information and presidential aide, Louis Odion, once described in Louis-pedia as a political variant that empowered touts and prioritised rent for politicians for doing little or no work.

Obaseki, the blue-eyed Lagos Boy and financial consultant, advertised as the answer to Edo State’s private sector woes, should know. He was a core member of Oshiomhole’s cabinet, now determined to carve his own path.

When after taking power, however, he began to cut off the supply line to the trough, starving the APC’s political structure in the state of nutrition, the battle line with Oshiomhole was drawn. The former governor who had also become the Chairman of the APC at the time, used his position to block Obaseki from getting the party’s ticket for a second term.

Obaseki of course milked public sympathy and later decamped to the PDP where he contested and won re-election. As a result of his defection, he governed with a hostile, hobbled parliament. Fourteen – and later 10 – out of the 24 members of the State House of Assembly were in the opposition and they operated mostly from a hideout provided in Abuja by Oshiomhole.

Significantly damaged in legitimacy, there was very little Obaseki could do. He has spent a greater part of the last four years watching his back for a deputy who, were he in the opposition, could not have plunged more daggers in the government’s back.

Residents have borne the brunt. Not only has Obaseki replaced the old cult of “tuke-tuke” with the new cult of “yes-men,” reports from the state also indicate that there are few paved roads and other social infrastructure such as water, hospitals, and schools, especially in areas outside the capital, Benin City.

The more you look…

Not unlike a good number of the states, the doubling of the state’s internally generated revenue from N1.8billion monthly in 2016 has barely been felt in rural areas where homes are still without water and school buildings are still largely without roofs and students without teachers.

Although Edo is currently ranked above its peers in the South-South poverty league with 1.4m (out of the state’s 3.9m population) leaving in multidimensional poverty, a government determined to make its mark could have done far more to lift the people.

Obaseki has done well in cultivating an elite in smart suits, while keeping up a façade of performance, especially with high-profile media events like Edo Best, Alaghodaro Summit, and the renovation of the Secretariat. But as surely as the ball of pounded yam never fails to press into the straying fish crumb in the soup, these projects have been criticised, particularly by the opposition, as the government’s conduit pipes.

Edo could not have been riper for the taking than in its present state, but Oshiomhole’s ambition may well be the wrecking ball. In my forecast entitled, “What you might expect in 2024,” published last December 28, I said, “The biggest danger to APC’s victory is Oshiomhole…except the APC finds an overwhelmingly appealing candidate, the party could be in for a surprise.”

The result of the party’s “inconclusive” primaries on Saturday, showed that the surprise came early. From reports, Oshiomhole, APC’s certified nemesis in Edo, managed to suborn forces in the Presidency to hand over the party’s flag to Dennis Idahosa – a candidate that Oshiomhole’s government had once described as “untrustworthy,” the most flattering of the government’s description at that time. 

But suspects have their moments of redemption. Except that in this case reports on the conduct of the primaries on Saturday showed that even the redeemer seemed so far gone in his waywardness, he suborned not only Abuja, but also one of the most notorious political conductors to supervise the primaries.

A crime scene

The result, of course, were parallel primaries. One with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officers present – as it should be – that produced Monday Okpebholo; and the other, which invariably produced Idahosa, became a crime scene.

The outcome was neither organised, even from the point of a common heist, which it was; nor was it politically strategic. Idahosa, the beneficiary of that crime scene, is from Edo South, where Obaseki, who is backing Asue Ighodalo, a candidate from Edo Central, could significantly undermine APC’s votes. A third candidate, Anamero Dekeri, even emerged from the woodwork, to claim victory!

It’s true that whether a political party holds its primaries in the motor park or at a brothel, it is not the business of non-party members. The point, unfortunately, is that we have seen that in the end, voters pay for the travesty, corruption and incompetence in the parties.

APC should have learnt that lesson in Zamfara four years ago when a court ruling invalidated the entire state election over shambolic party primaries, never mind a recent Supreme Court ruling that has further muddied the waters.

At elections, voters often have uninspiring candidates – Tweedle-dee and Tweedledum – inflicted on them by party primaries that were anything but primaries. The crimes committed by politicians behind closed doors soon become public bastards, often leading to voter apathy, bitter wranglings or needless court disputes. It’s incredible that parties that can’t even manage their own affairs want a chance on the bigger stage.

PDP may laugh – and indeed it should, as it appears that the APC has already handed it the shovel to finish off the burial rites. But with Obaseki’s deputy, Shaibu, threatening to bring down the roof, it would be interesting to see how the PDP and the Labour Party, which is also having its own troubles, organise their own primaries.

If Nigeria’s elections – party, local council, state or federal – has taught anything, it is that as surely as a stumble precedes a fall, shambolic primaries lay the foundation for turbulent electoral outcomes and unstable governments.

Once again, Edo is proving that the story is not about to change.

Azu Ishiekwene is the Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP. 

For the first in a while, Naira appreciated massively at Binance, a cryptocurrency platform, amid reported access restrictions on Nigeria’s cyberspace.

While there is no official statement that Nigeria restricted access to Binance and other cryptocurrency platforms, the Special Adviser on Information & Strategy to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga, on Wednesday, called on the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Economic and Financial Crime Commission to move against crypto.

Several Nigerian users of Binance took to their X accounts to complain about being unable to access the platform on Wednesday.

Consequently, the Naira gained against the US Dollar on Wednesday at Binance, a P2P market.

Naira appreciated N1,608 per US dollar on Wednesday from N1,936 on Tuesday at Binance.

The gain represented a N333 or 17.2 per cent gain on Wednesday.

Earlier, Binance, in a statement responding to the situation of Naira at the FX market, pledged commitment to the Nigerian Government to tackle market manipulation.

To back its words with action, Binance disabled the sell option for its Nigerian users on Tuesday, blocking them from selling fiat currency, USDT, on the platform.

It also capped the buy option to $1802 for Nigerian users.

The platform disabled the purchase of cryptocurrencies via P2P for its Nigerian users, stopping those who might want to sell their crypto assets, such as Bitcoin, BNB, and Ethereum stocks, via P2P.

“To protect users and prevent any abuse, our system automatically pauses in the event of significant currency movement. Late last night, we observed a temporary suppression of prices that briefly reached our system limit. We quickly made the necessary adjustments to allow trading to continue.

“We have stringent measures in place to protect users in the market, including real-time monitoring, immediate removal of non-compliant advertisements, and permanent removal of bad actors from using our P2P product. Continuous market surveillance ensures the prompt removal of abnormal prices, supported by a fixed security deposit,” it said.