President-elect, Bola Tibubu’s assemblage of transition committee members has become a subject of controversy.

The incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari was roundly criticised for favouring his kinsmen in appointments against other segments of the country, especially the South-East.

Buhari’s government has no Southeasterner in the top security echelon.

Upon assumption of office, Buhari had made it clear that his appointments and infrastructural development would be based on the votes he received across the zones.

His administration has been dogged with allegations of marginalisation against the South-East zone, fueling the various agitations from the area.

A few days ago, Tinubu released members of his transition committee with no single person from the South-East.

Nobody from the South East zone made the cut in the committee made up of names such as Bayo Onanuga, Abubakar Kyari, Stella Okotete, Makinde Araoye, Betta Edu, Imam Faud, Donald Wokoma, Samira Saddik, Andrew Abuh, Danladi Bako, Hadiza Kabir.

Indications are equally rife that the zone would lose out in the contest for the 10th National Assembly leadership.

The outcome of the last general elections showed that the Igbo dominated Southeast and the people of South-South voted massively for the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi.

It is still unclear if the transition committee list has anything to do with the voting pattern during the election.

However, even the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar has condemned the composition of the list.

The outgoing President Buhari was also consistently accused of marginalisation and total disregard for Federal Character principle.

Among other major appointments by the President, at one point, the South-East had no representation in the internal board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsidiaries.

This is despite the zone having two oil-producing states – Imo and Abia. Anambra and Enugu have now joined.

Out of 40 senior management positions within the Corporation ranging from chief operating officers and managing directors of its subsidiaries to general managers’ roles in the corporation, 24 are occupied by Northerners, while those from the South head 16.

The President also totally left out the South East from his appointments into the key offices in the military and paramilitary security architecture of the country. For instance, the Chief of Defence Staff, Leo Irabor is from South South; Chief of Army Staff, Ibrahim Attahiru (North); Chief of Naval Staff Awwal Zubairu Gambo, (North); Chief of Air Staff, Ishiaka Oladayo Amao, (South West); Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, (North); Director General of DSS, Yusuf Magaji Bichi, (North); Ahmed Rufai Abubakar-NIA, (North); John Mrabure, NCS, (South South); Muhammed Babandede, NIS, North; Hameed Ali, NCS, (North); Ahmed Abubakar Audi NSCDC, (North); Boboye Oyeyemi, FRSC, (North); Liman Alhaji Ibrahim, FFS, (North); Abdulrasheed Bawa, EFCC, (North), Bolaji Owasanoye, ICPC, (South west); Buba Marwa, NDLEA (North).

And following Tinubu’s decision to omit South-East from his recently constituted presidential transition committee, individuals and groups such as Ohanaeze Ndigbo, are wondering if the in-coming administration has inherited the perceived neglect shown to the South-East by the Buhari administration.

This issue, Dr. Emeka Nwosu, a political analyst and former Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs to ex-Senate President, Evan Enwerem feels it was too early to start to make projections based on the formation of the transition committee.

He explained, It is too early to start to make projections whether he is going to be sectional or non-inclusive going by the composition of the transition council.

I think it is not enough parameters to start to make any conjecture as to what will definitely happen in the next few months and weeks, so let us be positive because when you talk about transition council, it’s not appointment of people who are going to mount the different sectors of the economy or serve in the government.

I think it is a technical group of people who are going to engage the outgoing administration to look at their balance sheet. Let us not start on that trajectory (of whether an Igbo man is in the committee or not).

Because once you start with that, the question they will now ask you is- ‘did you vote for us?’ I think the most important thing is, let’s even allow the committee to do its work. Don’t forget that this matter [Tinubu’s victory] is still in court.

No one knows what is going to happen tomorrow. For me, this is not the parameter to judge anything. It is when the government takes off, by their actions, that’s when we’ll now know whether this government will be run according to the constitutional provisions, because section 14 is clear.

You must not run the government in a way any section of the country will dominate. The last administration did and got away with it because we had a National Assembly that is incompetent and could not question it either because of primordial reasons.

They are the ones that are supposed to question those things but when you present those things, they throw them away.

Don’t forget the way the leadership of the National Assembly emerged. People see leadership as a rubber stamp. We expect that the incoming government must have learnt from Buhari’s non-observance of the Constitution.

Popular singer and half of P-Square music duo, Peter Okoye, aka Mr P, has revealed the role he played in Grammy-award-winning superstar, Wizkid’s days of little beginning.

He said he had high hopes for Wizkid during his early days as an up-and-coming artist when he was signed to Banky W’s EME Records.

Mr P appeared on the latest episode of The 77 Podcast alongside his partner, Paul.

He recalled how he tackled some reporters from snubbing Wizkid when the ‘Ojuelegba’ crooner came to perform at one of their concerts as an opening artist years ago.

He said he told the reporters that Wizkid was going to dominate the music industry in the near future.

Mr P said, We [P-Square] were never the type of artist that looked down on anybody. If you remember, there was a video that went viral where it was P-Square concert and Wizkid was opening for us. So, they [reporters] kept on interviewing only P-Square and we were like, okay, guys, hold on. What about him? They said… I said no, this guy is going to take over tomorrow.

Wizkid is currently the most streamed African artist on Spotify, with over four billion streams. His song ‘Essence’, which featured Tems, is the longest-charting Nigerian song on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Days after the 2023 general elections, insecurity in Rivers State appears to be on the rise.

Within one week, several persons have been reported missing in the State.

The worst hit locations are Igwuruta, Eneka, Nkpor in Rumuolumeni and Mile 3, Diobu axis of Port Harcourt.

About 7 days ago, one Chukwuebuka Julius was reported missing in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of the state. His whereabouts remain unknown.

Similarly, one 25-year-old Chukwuebuka, who is into interior decoration and furniture, was reported to have left his home at Rumuolumeni community in Obio-Akpor area last Tuesday to Wimpy in Port Harcourt for a job.

The elder brother to the missing young man, Ejike Julius in an interview with DAILY POST disclosed that his brother’s colleague told him that Chukwuebuka received a phone call to come for a job estimation in Choba but never returned.

My mum and my sisters were calling me saying that they’ve not seen Ebuka since Tuesday and his line was not connecting.

On Friday, I had to invite the apprentice that worked with him to my mum’s place to question him about my brother’s whereabouts.

He said he was at home when Ebuka called him to meet him where they are working at Wimpy.

He said Ebuka told him he was going to Choba to take measurements, but he was uncertain if he used public transportation or used a bolt.

We have reported his disappearance to the police.

He said, It’s been about seven days now since he went missing.

On his part, Prestige Ikechi, who is the boss to the missing Chukwuebuka Julius, also spoke on his inability to reach out to his apprentice.

I travelled and i communicated with him earlier on Monday.

I got back Wednesday morning; I saw his mother at my gate, she was crying that she cannot find Ebuka.

So, I told her that maybe he went for a job and was unable to come back.

That Wednesday, we were calling his phone but he wasn’t picking, until in the evening, the phone stopped ringing.

He disclosed, On Wednesday, we reported to the local police around here.

Meanwhile, the spokesman of the Rivers State Police command, Grace Iringe-Koko when contacted, assured that once the incidents were properly reported to the police, adequate action would be taken.

Tno ransom demand has been placed on any of the missing persons as of the time of filing this report.

The incoming government led by president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been urged to focus on fixing oil and gas security to avert total collapse of Nigeria’s economy.

Dr Osagie Okubor, Chairman of Shell Companies in Nigeria, disclosed this recently at the just concluded Nigeria International Energy Summit in Abuja.

He lamented that vandalism had heavily affected the nation’s oil and gas production capacity.

Accordingly, the country continued to produce crude and gas below capacity due to damage vandals had done to pipelines in the Niger Delta region.

He said the country had lost N2.3 trillion in oil revenue if the prevailing $83 per barrel rate was used.

The amount translates to about 65, 700, 000 crude Brent loss to vandalism and oil theft in under one year.

He cited the example of TNP, a Joint Venture operated by SPDC, which is a major pipeline capable of transporting about 180,000 barrels of crude per day to the Bonny export terminal.

Okunbor added that the TNP was shut down for a year due to oil theft but was reopened for operations after over 460 illegal connections were discovered by the company.

Okunbor said, So, if you ask me what the number one issue has to be for the incoming administration, it has to be the security of oil and gas infrastructure. If you don’t fix it, we have a huge problem,

A group, Nigerian Diaspora Academics and Campaign for Democracy in the United Kingdom and Europe has appealed to President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to lead Nigerians out of the bad economy and the insecurity doldrums in the next four years.

The group stated that the country required urgent surgeries.

The President of the group, Dan Farauta, in a statement in Kaduna on Monday, cautioned the President-elect that the mandate freely given to him was not for absenteeism or ghost president.

The group stated that what Nigerians need at this critical juncture of their existence as a people is the person that would be physically available to salvage the country and emancipate them from neocolonialism and brigandage of looters that had invaded the country both internally and externally.

The group noted, Nigerians have invested their political franchise for you which led to your victory in the just concluded presidential election.

The statement also explained that at the moment, Nigeria as a country is badly divided along different strata and was at the brink of collapse due to the current government’s mismanagement of the commonwealth and resources.

The African Union Ambassador, Ousmane Yara has revealed how President-elect, Bola Tinubu got his Guinean citizenship.

Reports had emerged that the All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential Candidate is a dual citizen.

There had been controversy following the discovery of the passport after a viral video of him and Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in a helicopter belonging to the Guinean government.

Speaking to the Sun, Yara said Tinubu got his Guinean citizenship because the former President of Guinea, Alpha Conde, saw him as a special envoy.

He stressed that Tinubu’s recognition was as Ambassador extraordinaire (special envoy) of Guinea.

According to him, Tinubu is the biggest pan-Africanist and was given the Special Envoy status by Conde as a show of appreciation for supporting African presidents.

Confirming the viral video, he said Tinubu visited Guinea in 2016 as a guest of then-President Conde during the country’s independence anniversary celebration.

He said, President Conde invited Tinubu to the independence anniversary. Since the official function at every independence anniversary was done in different regions, Tinubu was required to fly from the country’s capital, in a helicopter, to Mamu, where that year’s event was held. That was the video being circulated. At the independence anniversary celebration, President Conde gave Tinubu the honour and privilege of a president, in appreciation of what he did for him during his reelection bid and towards the economic development of Guinea.

He added that the governments extend honorary citizenship to important people who may not be their citizens as a mark of recognition of their contributions to socio-economic and political developments in the countries, which does not make such persons citizens of the countries.

A human rights activist, Festus Ogun, has predicted many Certificates of Return issued after the February 25 and March 18 polls in Nigeria would be handed back.

The legal practitioner advised successful candidates not to get too comfortable.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been accused of delivering controversial conduct despite receiving billions of naira for preparation.

The umpire’s sins include the malfunction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the failure to promptly update the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

Ogun noted that the “failure on the part of INEC to conduct a free, fair, transparent and credible” exercise has brought about hundreds of cases across the country.

The lawyer, however, expressed confidence about the shocker that awaits a number of winners that will be sworn in on May 29 and in June (federal and state lawmakers).

I am involved in quite a number of election cases where I, alongside others, represent both petitioners and respondents.

This gives me a broad view that even the supposed winners acknowledge that the electioneering process was flawed. Worryingly, some of INEC officials, including RECs and returning officers, were not neutral.

Lots of the Certificate of Return issued by INEC will be returned. I know, as a matter of fact, that there will be review of some of the outcomes.

On how to avoid a repeat of the irregularities witnessed during the elections, the Principal Partner of Festus Ogun Legal demands a system that makes the electoral body “truly independent”.

This starts from the appointment of INEC leadership; the mode of appointment needs to be reviewed. The Adamawa experience shows clearly that some INEC officials are not neutral.

Ogun added, These characters, with respect, are a misfit and a product of a system that allows rogue politicians to appoint their cronies into INEC key decision-making positions.

Section 132 (7) & (8) of the Electoral Act, 2022 allows for petitions to be filed within 21 days after the declaration of results, while the respondents have 21 days to respond.

The judges at the tribunals have 180 days to deliver judgment, and taking into account the April 15 supplementary elections, verdicts are expected between May and October 2023.

The Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, AYCF, on Tuesday, said the South-South and Southeast should be allowed to produce the next Senate President.

AYCF National President, Yerima Shettima, said Senators should avoid picking a leader that would be a rubber stamp to President-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

Speaking with DAILY POST, Shettima said competence and character should be the basis for selecting the next Senate President.

According to Shettima: “The South-South and Southeast have come to the fore, but it’s left to the National Assembly to look inward because we expect that the Senate Presidency should come from there.

They should look out for a competent hand and consider it. The Southsouth and Southeast are more qualified, and they should come from there. They should consider selecting a more serious-minded person from those zones; they should not consider a rubber-stamped leader.

They should look out for the character before deciding who emerges so that there would be a truly democratic process in the National Assembly. If we have a rubber stamp like this ninth Assembly, then we would have a problem; there must be check and balances.

Shettima also urged Tinubu to ensure his administration provides justice for all Nigerians.

he added, As Tinubu assumes office, I want him to look inward and discharge his duty as the president of Nigeria, he shouldn’t be seen as a sectional leader. He should do justice to all.

The founder of the Mount Zion Faith Ministries, Evangelist Mike Bamiloye, has said many ladies are not prepared enough to be housewives even at 28.

He said many ladies nowadays prepare more for the wedding day, than for the marriage life.

The Gospel filmmaker stated this recently in a lengthy Instagram post.

The clergyman said, They [some ladies] are too hasty and not ready to sit down and learn the principles of marital life.

Many ladies are not qualified to be wives even at 28.

They can’t cook properly. They are used to fast food at the eateries and ice cream and indomie and spaghetti plus boiled eggs and Titus, and they spend six months studying the wedding gowns and the accessories for the bridal trails. And they want to marry.

He said his sister is 26, but she is still not yet a wife material.

He admitted that she is beautiful but can’t cook, not spiritually strong and has shallow knowledge of the word of God.

The cleric wondered how such a lady could withstand the spiritual challenges that come against every home.

Bamiloye said his sister is too materialistic and lacks knowledge of home management.

He recalled that one of his sister’s friends got married and bought a book of cookery when she was going to her husband’s house.

Famous singer, David Adeleke, aka Davido, was attacked by a yet-to-be-identified man while performing on stage at his Timeless concert in Lagos.

The Omo Baba Olowo crooner threw a homecoming concert at Tafawa Belewa Square to celebrate his record-breaking fourth studio album, ‘Timeless’.

Midway into the concert, the singer was attacked by an aggressive attendee who forced his way through the mammoth crowd to the stage.

In a video making the rounds on social media, the attacker could be seen pointing at the singer, who appeared ready to defend himself.

Fortunately, the security acted swiftly and bundled the attacker off-stage.

The concert continued after the incident.

The Timeless concert is Davido’s first concert since losing his son, Ifeanyi Adeleke, in a swimming pool accident last year.

The concert had his uncle, Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, in attendance.