Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 9 Command, AIG Echeng Echeng, has said that the Command would not tolerate the two-week sit-at-home order declared by Simon Ekpa.

The AIG, who spoke through the zonal Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Bruno Iheanetu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said that allowing the order by a non-state actor meant that the Police had failed.

Iheanetu who spoke exclusively with Vanguard on the heels of the latest order by Ekpa said that the police “cannot swallow such an order”.

He said; “Definitely, the Police will do their work which is to secure lives and property. We cannot ask law-abiding citizens to stay indoors for two weeks because of a sit-at-home order issued by non-state actors.

“Asking citizens to stay at home for two weeks will be a slap on the face of the Nigeria Police. We cannot swallow that.

“If law-abiding citizens are forced to stay indoors for two weeks, that means the Nigeria Police have failed!”

The Zonal PPRO said that the AIG had already summoned a meeting of all the Commissioners of Police under the Command on how to strategically tackle the challenge.

He added that heavy equipment and manpower had been deployed to safeguard the lives and property of residents.

His words; “The AIG has summoned a meeting of all CPs in the zone. Equipment and manpower have been deployed to curb the menace of sit-at-home enforcers and other non-state actors in the zone.

“The CPs have been handed operational orders on how to checkmate the excesses of these non-state actors.

“We have identified the black spots, and we have the nipping points. Manpower and heavy equipment have been deployed to man all the black spots.”

The Police spokesperson said that the aim of the operational orders was to reduce the movement of the non-state actors enforcing sit-at-home orders.

“It’s only when they have free movement that they will unleash mayhem on the people. Heavy equipment and manpower have been deployed to the black spots to reduce their movements.

“We have also increased visibility policing in Abia, Imo and Ebonyi States under Zone 9. The patrol teams we have rolled out are heavily armed to protect law-abiding citizens.”

The PPRO, therefore, warned those behind the sit-at-home order against infringing on the rights of law-abiding citizens, as such an attempt will have dear consequences.

He also urged parents to advise their children against taking laws into their hands.

THE National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Iyiola Omisore, has said that a presidential election rerun is the wishful thinking of the Labour Party, LP.

The National Chairman of LP, Mr Julius Abure, had urged members of the party to be alert, following information available to him that the APC was already preparing for a possible rerun of the 2023 presidential election.

However, Omisore, who spoke on Tuesday, when he featured on Channels TV programme tagged Politics Today, said: “There’s a way Labour Party deceives their followership. They use the false court of instance.

“The person that came third said they are going for rerun. How does he know that the court will give a rerun? So the Labour Party is now judging the tribunal? They are jokers.

“Most politicians are incurable optimists. Even from ground zero, they want to make 100 per cent.

“So, these are just wishful thoughts from the Labour Party. As far as I am concerned, they are jokers, they are nothing to worry about.”

Asked if the APC is prepared for a rerun, the APC scribe said: “There can’t be any rerun for God’s sake because it was a clear win.

“The Labour Party defeating Bola Tinubu in Lagos is the beauty of democracy and it shows the sanctity of that election. It shows the neutrality of the party, and it shows the evidential reason APC won across the board.”

On allegations of internal wrangling within the APC, Omisore said: “We are not aware of any internal wrangling within the APC. It is the imagination of people.

“We have moved far from that; the issue of Senator Abdullahi Adamu supporting somebody is an old issue. They are just trying to play the old game. Basically everybody is working together as one.”

Many Nigerian students are facing tough times in the United Kingdom after the naira equivalent of their tuition fees increased by over 60 per cent following the recent move by the Central Bank of Nigeria to unify the nation’s foreign exchange rates.

About two weeks after President Bola Tinubu promised to unify the nation’s multiple exchange rates, the apex bank decided to float the naira at the Investors and Exporters’ Window of the foreign exchange market. Since then, the naira has fallen from N471/dollar to N750/dollar and N589.4/pound to N957.2/pound.

This has led to about 60 per cent increase in tuition fees for students in the UK.

This rise in exchange rate has put more pressure on many Nigerians that are schooling in the UK and beyond.

The UK is one of the destinations of choice for many Nigerians as 128,770 Nigerian students enrolled in universities in the United Kingdom between 2015 and 2022 according to data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency of the UK.

According to the CBN, study-related foreign exchange outflow to the UK rose to $2.5bn in 2022. Nigerian students and their dependants in the United Kingdom contribute about £1.9bn annually to the UK economy, according to an analysis by SBM Intelligence.

Many of these students may now struggle to pay the balance of their tuition due to the sharp decline in the value of the naira.

UK universities are currently on break.

Students lament hike

A Nigerian student resident in Manchester, Adejoro Deborah, who sounded stressed told The PUNCH, “This policy is affecting those of us here and even intending students. My sibling has had to forfeit her admission because of this policy.

“Many students have fallen victim to online scammers just because they want to buy pounds, a friend of mine, for example, was a victim of third-party purchase as the banks at home are not dependable.”

Another Nigerian student studying in Leeds explained that the major challenge was that many kept their tuition fees in their naira account at the former rate.

The student said, “Now they have to start looking for more money because the rate has gone up. If the official rate is not different from street rate, so what’s the essence of waiting for several weeks for your bank when you can just get it from third-party platform. It has only put more pressure on the students to look for more money.”

The student added, “If you put N5m in your account in March when the rate was around N560/£, that means it will pay around £9k tuition fee, but by July, the N5m will only be able to pay around £5k since the rate is now around 1k/£, so that’s where the real problem is. You need to start looking for an additional £4k. That’s the challenges many students are facing.”

Another Nigerian, who is currently studying at Liverpool John Moores University, has become stranded after the school withdrew his access to the school portal.

His access to the university’s portal was withdrawn by the school following his failure to pay his tuition. The Nigerian (name withheld) could not raise the required 4,800 pounds to complete his tuition.

Narrating his ordeal to The PUNCH, he said, “The school has withdrawn my access to its platform. As a result, I can’t check the results of my last exam. Everything is done via the platform. I cannot also access my official email given by the school. I can’t attend both online and in-person classes again. It is very frustrating, I am completely shut out.”

The depressed student, who is allowed to work for 20 hours a week as a student, said he could not get a better job because prospective employers were demanding proof that he is allowed to work as a student.

He added, “In fairness to the school, I was given several deadlines which I missed. I could not pay because I was unable to raise enough funds to buy foreign exchange. The exchange rate is very high.”

Another student (name withheld) of the school, said he was on the verge of losing his studentship before he managed to borrow money from friends in Nigeria to pay his tuition.

He shared a copy of a letter that had been addressed to him giving him a final deadline to pay the outstanding tuition.

The letter read in part, “According to our records there is an outstanding balance of £4800 on your university tuition fee account. LJMU has advised you of this situation via emails to both your LJMU and personal email addresses.

“Despite this correspondence, the debt remains outstanding and accordingly, we are now arranging for you to be withdrawn as a student of the University. If this happens, UK Visas and Immigration will be informed that you are no longer a student at LJMU.”

The letter was sent by the Head of Registry Services of the school.

A student, studying IT Project Management at Teesside University, lamented to The PUNCH that many Nigerian students are still in shock.

She said, “Some people are not totally stable because they used to convert their naira to pounds for school fees payment.”

She explained that while she did not benefit from the official rate initially, she still has to pay more now. She said “When I got in initially, I converted at the rate of N920-935 thereabout. But after the CBN reforms, it has been a nightmare. The highest I did a while ago was N990. But today, it is about N1008, if not more.”

Another Nigerian student (name withheld), who is studying at Strathclyde University, explained that the new exchange rate might cause him to drop out of school.

He said, “This new reality has called for a review of the whole plan entirely. Everything has to reset at the end of the year.

“My year is ending in October/November but I now have to review everything. I am running a Ph.D. programme and the cost is 20,000 pounds a year. When we were using Form A and the official rate was about N600, it was about N11m.”

He noted that his budget when he started was between N33m –N35m for the entire programme. He stated, “Now, I will be looking at N20m for the second year and N40m in total for my remaining two years.

“This is causing me to rethink my plans, because I can’t spend that type of money on this. N40m is a lot, especially on those at home that are sponsoring this, it doesn’t sound reasonable. This will impact how I will continue with my course.”

Speaking on the matter, a student currently studying in the UK, who simply identified herself as Shalewa said, “When I started schooling in London in 2017, pounds was about N300 or less. I am still in school and now I had to pay N1,000 for one pound. 19,500 pounds to naira means that my mum will be coughing out millions that she should be using for retirement.”

An international multimedia journalist and student based in the UK, Michael Orodare, noted that the suffering of many Nigerian students is an open secret.

He said while many people had tried to use Form A to pay their tuition fee balance, earlier, banks had delayed with excuses, including issues around tax clearance.

He said, “A lot of students are finding it difficult to pay their tuition. What many Nigerian students here are now trying to do is to use the naira in their account to try and buy pounds which is now more than N1000. This is now more expensive and making fee payment very difficult for Nigerian students.”

Intending students worry

The increase in the cost of forex is also affecting many Nigerians intending to study in the UK.

For many of them, Proof of Funds is the most problematic part of their application process now.

According to an education consultant, Oyebode Omolewa, Proof of Funds is a student’s tuition balance plus living expenses. She stated that it is a crucial requirement for students planning to go to the UK as it proves to the UK government that a student has the capacity to take care of themselves while studying.

She noted that the rates are now dependent on when student submit their visa applications. She explained that when the official rate was around N560 – N600, students’ proof of funds was lower.

Omolewa said, “Proof of funds is the student’s tuition balance plus living expenses. For example, if a student’s tuition is about 15,000 pounds, and they pay 5,000 pounds to the university, their proof of funds will be the 10,000 pounds balance plus living expenses.

“If the school is located outside of London, the cost of living is 9,207 pounds, if it is in London, it is 12,006 pounds. Let’s say we have a 10,000 pounds balance, if the school is outside London which is 9,207 pounds, when you add the two together, you will have 19,207 pounds multiplied by the exchange rate on the day you applied for a visa.

“If it was N1000 on the day it was 19,207 pounds multiplied by N1,000 before it used to be about N580 multiplied by 19,207 pounds.”

Omolewa further explained that PoF has been affected a lot, especially for students trying to go with their family members.

She noted that PoFs have almost doubled. She said, “PoF has almost doubled. This is likely to affect the number of people applying for study Visas now because if you were planning N15 million initially and now you need about N6 million extra if you don’t have it, you will just have to wait until you get it.”

Another student, who is planning to leave by August, said the PoFs had increased considerably with many intending students struggling to meet up.

He said, “When you calculate PoF now, the least you will get is about N1,100. It has really affected it, and it is not a good one. If you wanted to do a PoF of 19,000 pounds, before now you would need N16 million in your account. But now, you would have nothing less than N24 million for a 19,000 pounds PoF.”

Another intending UK-bound student, who only gave her name as Titi, stated that when she started her visa processing, PoF was pegged at N600/pound. According to her, she would have fallen victim to the new exchange rate if not that she applied less than a week before the change.

She noted that her PoF which was N9.8 million is now over N16 million. She told The PUNCH, “I am still good on my PoF, it was still less than N9.8 million. The Friday before the 12th of June, someone asked me to apply for my visa.

“Thank God for countries like the UK where your PoF will be determined based on the exchange rate of the day you apply. That was my saving grace. I applied on that Friday, and by the following week, exchange rate had gone up.

“My PoF was a little above N9.5 million. By the following week, it hit N16 million. I was going to be judged according to the exchange rate on the day of my application, but the thing is if I had applied a little later than I did, my PoF would have risen to over N16 million. I am just an average Nigerian, I don’t have one N6 million, N8 million somewhere. I would have needed about N17 million if I was late.”

According to her, she would have deferred her admission if she had applied after the exchange rate went up.

A Nigerian student in the UK, who didn’t want her name in print, explained to The PUNCH that her brother is currently in the process of relocating to the UK through the study route.

She noted that her family is currently looking for an extra N7 million to N8 million because of the new exchange rate.

She said, “We are on the PoF matter for my brother, and we just have to get more money. He has not yet applied as we are just getting his CAS, this new exchange rate is biting.

“Under the old exchange rate, we needed about N6 million to N8 million, but now we need N14 million to N15 million. As of this morning, a pound is N1000+. When it was my turn, all my calculation was at N600, for my brother it is at N1000. There is a N400 difference that is choking everyone. It is financially more demanding and constraining.”

Form A challenge

Form A, which is an application form designed by the CBN to pay for service transactions such as school fees, medical fees, and more, allows customers to purchase funds at the CBN or interbank rate to make payments for these services.

Lamenting on how frustrating the Form A is, an LLM student at the University of Birmingham, who did not want her name disclosed told The PUNCH, “I opened my Form A in April and at the time, I was to pay N1.8m and of course, I was waiting for processing days.

“Now, with the new policy, I need N3.1m. So, even though I have the N1.8m, the money that I require now is twice the amount. So, I can’t have the Form A processed.”

A senior officer of a popular commercial bank who spoke to our correspondent under the condition of anonymity noted that despite the floating of the naira which has highly affected the exchange rate, the bank still receives huge requests of FX [Form A].

The officer said, “We still have a long queue and what we do is that we give priorities to our corporate customers. It was expected that the new policy would actually make things better, but it has not. The rates are higher, and people still come in. Some of the Form A requests were even brought in before the new policy was implemented. “

A travel consultant, Samuel Agboola, affirmed to The PUNCH, “Many people who left to study in the UK still don’t have their fees processed by Nigerian banks. The banks deducted the money from their accounts but have yet to do the conversion and pay their schools. Now the exchange rate has changed, and they have to pay more. That is the reality.”

78,679 Nigerians

Meanwhile, no fewer than 78,679 international students from Nigeria are currently studying in the UK, United States of America, Canada, and Ukraine, an analysis by The PUNCH has shown. The figure excludes Nigerians who study in these countries but did not process their admissions from Nigeria.

According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency of the United Kingdom, as of December 2022, there were about 44,195 international students from Nigeria in UK institutions with average tuition fees between £11,000 – £32,000.

Findings by our correspondent also revealed that Nigerians are most concentrated in schools like the University of Hertfordshire, University of Salford, University of Leeds, University of Portsmouth, University of Birmingham, and the University of Nottingham remained some of the universities in the UK.

Nigerian parents plead with FG

The National President of the National Parents Teachers Association, Haruna Danjuma in an interview with The PUNCH pleaded with the Federal Government to intervene in the FX crisis.

Danjuma said, “If you ask for my honest opinion, I will say the Federal Government should help all those involved because when you look at it, it is not their fault.

“Also, one of the reasons people even go abroad in the first place is because of the situation of things in our institutions. We need the government to work together with parents and academics to find a way in which we can solve the problems in the education sector.”

Commenting on next steps, he stated, “I will raise the issue with my executives, and we will issue an official position. You know as the national president I can’t just take any position without other members. I will raise the matter.”

While lamenting the effect of the new forex policy, a parent, Akinjagunla Paul, though resident in the United Kingdom begged the President to help out students who applied for Form As before the new FX regime was implemented.

He said, “It is important for the President to be informed that he needs to urgently grant concessions to Nigerian students abroad who initiated their Form A requests for payment of school fees before the new FX regime was introduced, rates have increased from about N550 to N1,000.”

The police have arraigned a 45-year-old lawyer, Emekoba Russell, in a Wuse Zone II Magistrates’ Court for allegedly forging his client’s signature.

Court papers identify the client as Hadiza Ujaj, owner of a property at No 364, Zone 6, Dutse Alhaji, Abuja, which is at the centre of the case.

According to the police, Russell of Zone 6, Dutse Alhaji, Abuja , forged Ujaj’s signature on an irrevocable power of attorney executed in his favour.

The NAN Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the defendant was arraigned on a four-count charge of forgery, using as genuine a forged document, criminal misappropriation and criminal intimidation.

He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Mr Edwin Inegbenoise, told the court that the case was reported by the nominal complainant through a petition, Ujaj, sent to the Inspector General of Police dated Nov. 9, 2022.

Inegbenoise said the complainant only had an oral agreement with the defendant to manage the said property, but the defendant went behind to back the agreement with a power of attorney bearing the complainant’s forged signature.

He said the defendant had been receiving rent on the property on behalf of the complainant, and had converted a substantial part of it to his personal use.

According to him, the defendant allegedly threatened to harm the complainant if she failed to pay him a percentage of the proceeds of the sale of the property.

He said the offence contravened the provisions of sections 363, 366, 308 and 397 of the Penal Code.

Magistrate Chukwuemeka Nweke granted the defendant bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum.

The magistrate ordered that one of the sureties must be a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) unity bar and adjourned the case to Aug 16 for hearing. (NAN)

Former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has narrated how elders in the Southern part of the state allegedly made him change his mind against picking a Christian running mate.

According to Premium Times, El-Rufai spoke during a book launch and retirement event in honour of the founder of Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Ishaq Akintola.

The ex-governor, who served for two terms from 2015 to 2023, also explained why he decided to pick a Muslim from the zone as his running mate.

He said in the first tenure, he picked his long-term friend, Barbanas Bala, a southern Kaduna Christian, but was almost frustrated out of office in the first two years.

He said some unnamed southern Kaduna elders were angry with him for not accepting a list of prospective deputy governor candidates from people he called “self-appointed, so-called Southern Kaduna Christian elders”.

He also said Bala was hated for coming from a minority ethnic group, Moroa, and not the Atyap, Bajju, Jaba or Kagoro.

“Nothing prepared either Bantex or I for the viciousness with which he was treated by the constituency he was meant to be represented by his presence on the governorship ticket. He offered thrice to resign from office within our first two years in office. Bantex therefore barely made it to the end of our first term, psychologically battered by the hostility and hobbled by a resurgence of ill-health… Bantex lost his bid to represent the Kaduna South Senatorial District in the 2019 election. We lost him a year or so later,” he was quoted as saying.

According to him, what happened to Bala made him change his mind in selecting a running mate in 2019.

He said he decided to settle for a Muslim Southern Kaduna woman, Hadiza Balarabe, but the hostilities did not cease.

He said: “Her choice met with the usual hostility from the same persons that had so battered and demoralised Bantex, my first deputy. But it demonstrated that not everyone who mouths diversity and inclusion is actually interested in those values. The first woman to be elected as deputy governor from the far north of Nigeria was not seen as a pathfinder, a breakthrough for gender and a reaffirmation of the possibility of democracy to elect persons from minority and excluded groups. Only one marker of identity seemed to matter in such quarters. But the fact that Bantex had that marker – religion – had saved neither him nor I from opprobrium.”

The House of Representatives has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop its directive on the addition of social media handles as part of the `Know Your Customer’ (KYC) requirement for bank customers.

This followed the adoption of a motion by Rep. Kingsley Chinda (PDP-Rivers) and a few others at plenary in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said as laudable as the directive might appear, it would be unnecessary as it was likely to bear pressure on teeming Nigerian masses at this trying period.

He said the directive by the CBN was in conflict with the provision of Section 37 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 on the right to privacy of citizens.

He said banks in the country already had the names, telephone numbers, passport photographs, emails, National Identification Numbers (NIN), Biometric Verification Numbers (BVN), utility bills and other basic requirements to identify, know and monitor customers.

He said there were better means of monitoring money laundering, terrorism financing, and proliferation financing, such as the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).

Others include the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), intelligence and crime tracking agencies, amongst others.

He said if the directive took effect, Nigerians who were not on social media, with large turnovers from their businesses and trades, would be compelled to or systematically excluded from formal banking systems.

Chinda added that this would come with its attendant negative effects and implications.

He expressed worry about the untold hardships the directive would cause millions of Nigerians, especially the illiterate, or semi-literate business owners, traders and entrepreneurs living in the villages.

According to him, implementing the CBN’s directive at this point may clearly be unnecessary as it is likely to bear a lot of pressure on the teeming Nigerian masses.

Adopting the motion, the house stressed the need to revisit and halt the Central Bank of Nigeria directive to reduce the hardship and pain faced by Nigerians.

The house mandated the Committee on Banking and Currency (when constituted) to investigate the matter and report back within three weeks for further legislative action.

The house also mandated the Committee on Legislative Compliance (when constituted) to ensure implementation.

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory yesterday deferred hearing on a case instituted against the immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, for allegedly abusing his office.

Justice Oluyemisi Adelaja adjourned the case for definite hearing, even as he directed the service of all the necessary court papers on the ex-AGF, Malami, SAN, to enable him to enter his defence in the matter.

He further directed that a proof of service of the suit and hearing notice on Malami, should be made available to the court.

The suit is seeking an order to compel the erstwhile AGF to pay N1billion as damages to an international businessman and property developer, Mr. Cecil Osakwe.

The plaintiff, in the legal action he instituted through his team of lawyers led by Mr. Victor Giwa, told the court that the former AGF, using his office, arm-twisted him to give out two units of three-bedroom flats in one of his properties situated as Mekong Close, Maitama, Abuja to a civil servant, Mrs. Asabe Waziri.

Osakwe alleged that Malami forced him to hand the property worth about N130million to Mrs. Waziri, against a subsisting order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

The plaintiff told the court that Malami, SAN, while in office as the AGF waded into a civil dispute his firm had with Mrs. Waziri and used his position to supervise his continuous harassment by security operatives.

Alleging that his fundamental rights were grossly violated, the plaintiff, said he sued Malami both in his official and personal capacity.

He maintained that the AGF acted with malice and abused his office by raising charge of “collecting money under false pretence’’ against him with a view to ensuring that the property was fully handed over to Mrs. Waziri who was also cited as a defendant in the suit.

According to the plaintiff, Malami took the action, even though he was aware that the 2nd defendant had initially moved into the said property and stayed for over eight months before she was vacated from it by a lawful court order that terminated sales transaction between both parties.

Consequently, aside from praying the court to declare that the AGF engaged in abuse of public office, the plaintiff, urged the court order him to pay N1bn as damages.

Meanwhile, at the resumed proceedings in the matter on Monday, Malami, SAN, was neither present in court nor represented by any lawyer.

Irked by the development, counsel to the plaintiff, Mr. Giwa, contended that the former AGF ought to be in court, insisting that he could not use the office he occupied for about eight years, to pursue his personal interest.

He told the court that the bailiff was duly mobilised to serve the proceesses on Malami, SAN, insisting that he as aware that the matter was slated for hearing.

“My lord, the second Respondent, Malami is not represented in court and the claimant is ready to open his case.

“We mobilized the bailiff to serve all the Respondents in this matter. This case is very important to the claimant. With this case, we need to send message to public officers that they cannot use their office to pursue personal interest,” Giwa submitted.

In his response, counsel to Mrs. Waziri who was cited as 1st Repondent in the suit, Mr. C.J. Abengowe, noted that though the case was fixed for hearing, he argued that since Malami was not represented in court, the matter could not be heard.

After he had listened to the two parties, Justice Adelaja said he was minded to grant the ex-AGF another opportunity to respond to the suit.

The court, therefore, okayed another adjournment of the suit.

The Ondo state government has dismissed and condemned a media report credited to the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Abdullahi Adamu, that the state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, is in state of extreme incapacity and hospitalised

Condemning the report in a statement, the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mrs Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, described the report as not only mischievous but wicked and insensitive reportage, sponsored by desperate politicians.

It will be recalled that a national newspaper (not Nigerian Tribune) reported the APC Chairman, Adamu, during a meeting with APC state Chairmen declared that the ailing Akeredolu was incapacitated and hospitalised.

But Ademola-Olateju urged the people of the state and Nigerians to ignore the news item and its contents, saying the National Chairman of APC was quoted out of context.

The Information Commissioner maintained that the news as the contents exist in the realm of the imagination of workers of iniquity and those behind the publication.

The statement stated that: “The attention of Ondo State government has been drawn to a report, credited to the Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, in the 11th July, 2023.

“The headline, “Akeredolu in state of extreme incapacity, hospitalised”, bore a tinge of the usual mischievous, wicked and insensitive reportage, sponsored by desperate politicians”

She explained that “The Chairman of the APC in Ondo State, Hon. Ade Adetimehin, who attended the meeting, has debunked the report as untrue and totally disconnected from the statement of the Chairman at the event.

“The National Chairman was indeed excited at the reports on the rate of recovery of the Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, and urged all those present at the meeting to pray for his quick return.”

Ademola-Olateju however, said “It, therefore, smacks of mischief and unabashed abandonment of professional ethics for a reporter to present this gross misrepresentation, a mischievous twist, as news.

“At no time did the Chairman mention that the Governor was in a state of “extreme incapacity”. He is, evidently, not in any critical state that should warrant this clearly reprehensible conduct as he still sent a post to the Executive Council Committee platform yesterday.

says Obi would have swept Rivers without ex-governor’s support for Tinubu

As the nation awaits the appointment of new ministers, stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State have advised President Bola Tinubu to give the state’s slot to former governor Nyesom Wike as recompense for his role in the presidential election.

Chief Tony Okocha, former chief of staff to ex-governor Rotimi Amaechi, made the assertion in Abuja on Tuesday during a media chat, saying that as the coordinator of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Grassroots Mobilization, Wike worked with him for the victory of the APC flag bearer in Rivers State.

He was joined at the chat by the acting chairman of the state chapter of the APC, Omiete Efrebo.

Okocha recalled that after the presidential primary election of the ruling party, Amaechi, who contested with Tinubu for the ticket, had withdrawn his supporters from the APC campaign in the state just as Senator Magnus Abe, who later emerged as the gubernatorial flag bearer of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

He said the exit of the two former APC leaders put the projected chances of the ruling party in the presidential election in Rivers State below 25 percent, which would have ensured that Tinubu did not emerge as the winner.

According to the former chief of staff, when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) failed to heed Wike’s call for the removal of the party national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, he did not hesitate to channel his resources to ensure Tinubu’s victory in the state.

“Amaechi remained implacable. Tinubu, after the primary, went to all the (presidential) aspirants and begged them, but Amaechi refused. Amaechi didn’t attend the presidential campaign that was held in Rivers State, his own state,” he said.

He alleged that the Tinubu campaign suffered in Rivers State because both Amaechi and Abe abandoned the party, ensuring that hardly any posters or jingles were produced for the presidential campaign.

Okocha also alleged that as chairman of the state’s Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Abe hardly attended meetings or openly campaigned for Tinubu.

“In Rivers State, the ‘Obidients’ or the Ibo elements are so strong. These people were skeptical that mentioning Tinubu would offend the people who want to vote for Obi, and so they did not campaign for Tinubu,” he further stated.

Continuing, the APC chieftain stated: “The point am making generally is that neither Amaechi and his group nor Abe and his group worked for Tinubu. What helped us was what happened in PDP nationwide. At the centre of that was Wike, and he’s from my state.”

While noting that only the PDP had won elections in Rivers State since 1999, he argued that Wike’s consistency in the main opposition party gave him advantage in matters of the party which he used for Tinubu’s favour in the 2023 presidential election.

“So, Wike gave instructions to his PDP family and because they had no candidate to work with in APC, it was me that they were coming to work with because I was the arrowhead.

“Magnus (Abe) had left, Amaechi had left. So, every collaboration was with me. So, I knew what happened,” Okocha revealed.

He said it was Wike who paid the APC agents in the 6,868 polling stations in Rivers State during the presidential election.

“So, I can tell you that without Wike’s huge support, material and financial, Obi would have swept Rivers State,” he declared.

Also speaking, Efebro urged the APC National Working Committee (NWC) to obey court orders on the leadership of the party in the state.

In the case between Omiete Efrebo and nine others as claimants/applicants versus Chief Emeka, Ihewnyichukwu Azubuike, and APC as defendants before the High Court of Rivers State, the court had issued an interim injunction restraining Azubuike from parading themself as the chairmen of the Rivers State chapter of the party.

Omiete lamented that despite the order, the NWC had continued to recognize Azubuike rather than himself as acting chairman by virtue of his position as the substantive deputy state chairman.