Nigerian political economist, Pat Utomi, has debunked a statement by the presidency alleging his involvement in the planned August nationwide protest.

Recalls a presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, on Saturday, accused supporters of the Labour Party presidential candidate in the last election, Peter Obi, of organizing the ‘End Bad Government’ protest scheduled for August 1st to 10th.

According to Bayo, some X users, including one “FS Yusuf, a supporter of Peter Obi, Professor Pat Utomi, a Labour Party chieftain and another X user with the handle, Peter Obi’s First Son” are behind the planned protest.

Reacting, Utomi in a post on his official X handle, said he has nothing against the planned nationwide demonstration.

Utomi stated that his involvement in any protest would be made public and not wait to be called out by Onanuga.

He said, “Let it be clear that I have nothing against protests. It is a legitimate instrument of democracy for raising the voice of citizens.

“I have participated in many in my time. From my undergraduate days at UNN to marching with concerned professionals following the June 12 election annulment.

“So if I were part of whatever is being planned for August, I would wear it as a badge of honor and not wait to be called out by Bayo Onanuga.”

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Privatisation, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has backed calls for part-time legislature at both federal and state levels.

Senator Kalu, who represents APC from the Abia North senatorial district said this would help the nation cut costs and enhance the citizenry’s trust in the polity.

The former Abia Governor said this during an interview over the weekend.

On calls for a part-time legislature, Senator Kalu said, “I think it will be a very good idea if my colleagues and other members of the Houses of Assembly will agree that we can sit for three months and do constitutional amendment first.

“So we can sit four times a year and if there’s any emergency, there will be emergency sitting. We can come to do a presidential bid on that basis and go back instead of sitting on a full-time basis.

“Not only the Senate and the House of Representatives but all the legislative houses in Nigeria will be part-time.”

Senator Kalu maintained that this would be part of austerity measures to reduce the cost of governance, arguing that regional government is another viable alternative.

“If we’re going for a regional government, it also means that the ministers, the legislators, will be the same. I’ve been tinkering with the idea of how we can save money to run Nigeria because the country needs money.

“I will encourage the President, the National Assembly to make these kinds of laws. This will help him, and this will help the system, and this will help everybody,” he said.

The ex-governor explained that contrary to misconceptions among Nigerians, senators are not paid enough.

“But I want Nigerians and my colleagues to do a quick constitutional amendment so we can go and be a part-time sitting Senate and part-time sitting House of Representatives and other 36 state houses of assembly in Nigeria.

“That will bring trust and bring relief to the Nigerian people,” the ex-governor said.

Enugu State Governor, Governor Peter Mbah, has accused a Finland-based Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa, of murdering and terrorising residents of Nigeria’s South-East.

Ekpa, a self-proclaimed Prime Minister of the IPOB, has been allegedly linked to some deadly attacks and enforcement of illegal sit-at-home orders in the region.

The governor who received members of the House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence in Enugu, accused the Biafra agitator of being a “scammer” who has been “feeding fat” on the suffering of Igbos.

“It is surprising that the Finnish government allows this man to reside peacefully in their country and then perpetrate terrorism in Nigeria,” Mbah said.

“And I think this is something your committee may have to wade into and see how this guy can be repatriated and then be brought to justice.

“Through his (Ekpa) statements and his actions, a lot of people have died and he continues in that trajectory. So, this is a tragedy that we must all work as a country to end. He doesn’t represent the Igbo interest.”

According to the governor, his administration has ended the illegal sit-at-home situation in the state and will remain determined to ensure the safety of all residents.

He also called on young people in the South-east not to yield to Mr Ekpa’s antics and vowed that the state government would not be intimidated by the agitators’ threats.

“As you may also have noticed recently, they have continued to make attempts, particularly, that megalomaniac (Ekpa), who ironically resides with his family peacefully in Finland, a country where the rule of law reigns, but he encourages anarchy here and goad some of our youths to their self-destruction.

“This is also a business for him (Ekpa), pretending to be fighting for Igbo’s interest, but does not know anything about the Igbo or have their interest at heart,” he stated.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Afam Osigwe, has emerged as the president-elect of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) following the 2024 NBA election held online.  

Osigwe secured the highest number of votes, with 20,395, surpassing his closest rival, Tobenna Erojikwe, who got 10,970 votes, and Chukwuka Ikwuazom (SAN), who received 9,007 votes.

He will succeed the outgoing president, Yakubu Maikyau (SAN).

See below the other positions filled by the newly elected executives of the NBA:

1st Vice-President: Sabastine Anyia defeated Bartholomew Aguegbodo

2nd Vice-President: Mrs. Bolatumi Animashaun with 26,534 votes, defeating Pius Oiwoh, who scored 11,121 votes.

3rd Vice-President: Mrs. Zainab Garba with 23,550 votes, defeating Michael Olorunmola, who received 13,897 votes.

General Secretary: Dr. Mobolaji Ojibara with 25,713 votes, defeating Abdulwasiu Alfa, who received 11,730 votes.

Assistant General Secretary: Henry Ehi with 28,552 votes, defeating Oluwaseun Aka, who received 8,317 votes.

Treasurer: Mrs. Blessing Udofa-Poromon with 17,998 votes, defeating Mbamala Chukwuemeka, who garnered 9,825 votes.

Publicity Secretary: Mrs. Bridget Edokwe with 19,542 votes, defeating Charles Ajiboye, who scored 10,989 votes.

Assistant Publicity Secretary: Miss Ebiere Ekpese with 26,955 votes, defeating Lawrence Ayewa, who scored 9,690 votes.

Welfare Secretary: Nyada Auta with 18,369 votes, defeating Oaikhena Osagie, who scored 12,855 votes.

A former Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Solomon Dalung, has berated presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, for claiming that the proposed nationwide protest is aimed at destabilizing the country.

He argued that Onanuga’s statement was uncharitable and wicked.

The former minister lamented that President Bola Tinubu and his ‘locust cabal’ love only the wealth of Nigeria.

Speaking via his X handle on Saturday, Dalung insisted that the proposed protest is sacrosanct, adding that it is to demand accountability from those who are destroying Nigeria’s common heritage.

According to him, “The generation of Nigerians demanding for good governance, accountability and justice are more entitled to Nigeria than the group of scavengers occupying power.

 “Make no mistake about it, we love our country but @officialABAT and his locust cabal love only the wealth of Nigeria

“The protests are to demand for accountability from those who are destroying our common heritage. Nigerians have nowhere to go but @officialABAT has France, while others have Europe, Canada and USA.

“Therefore @aonanuga1956 calling out Nigerians as those planning to destabilize Nigeria is not only uncharitable but wicked.

“The generation of Nigerians demanding for good governance, accountability and justice are more entitled to Nigeria than the group of scavengers occupying power. Take it to the bank, the protests are sacrosanct.

“Deploying antics of divide and rule will not only fail but antiquitated. The only antidote to the protests is for @officialABAT and his cult of plunderers to surrender to the demands of the people.

“The fear of the protests degenerating into anarchy is evil imaginations of your mind calculated at abating holding the government responsible. All we are demanding is good governance, which is not too much.”

A series of Nigerian football icons including Jay Jay Okocha, Kanu Nwankwo, and John Mikel Obi were left out of the 25 greatest African athletes of the 21st century list.

In the 25 greatest African athletes of the 21st century list released by American publication, ESPN, Ethiopia’s long-distance runner, Kenenisa Bekele is said to be the greatest athlete the continent has ever seen from the year 2000 to date, followed by a Kenya distance runner, Eliud Kipchoge.

Cameroonian football icon, Samuel Eto’o is the first footballer to appear on the list as he occupies the third spot, followed by a swimmer from Zimbabwe, Kirsty Coventry, and Ethiopian female distance runner, Tirunesh Dibaba.

Surprisingly, only five Nigerian athletes made it into the 25 greatest African athletes of the 21st century list. They are: Asisat Oshoala who is ranked 9th on the list, Israel Adesanya ranked 15, and Perpetua Nkwocha ranked 20th.

Other Nigerians on the list are: Former UFC Welterweight Champion, Kamaru Usman ranked 23rd, and New York Giants legend Osi Umenyiora ranked 24th.

To the surprise of many, in the list in which Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Yaya Toure, Didier Drogba, and even Perpetual found a spot, Kanu and Obi who won everything the aforementioned players won and more, weren’t included.

Kanu won league titles in Nigeria, Netherlands (multiple times), and of course at Arsenal (twice). He also won the Champions League once with Ajax and played in the final twice. To crown it all, he won Africa its first gold in football at the Olympics (1966). Yet, he wasn’t deemed fit for a place on the list.

The same argument can be applied to Mikel Obi who also won virtually everything in both club and international football. He even won a bronze medal at the Olympics, a title other footballers who made the list can’t boast of.

Based on the key factors that were used to compile the list which includes the performance of the athletes and the number of major titles won since 2000, it is understandable that the highly skilful Jay Jay Okocha didn’t make the list but can the same be said about the exclusion of Kanu Nwankwo and John Mikel Obi?

Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has issued a stern warning to those orchestrating the planned nationwide protest against economic hardship.

The protest, which has gained significant traction on social media, is scheduled to take place across all states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, in August.

Onanuga accused supporters of the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, of being behind the planned protest.

He emphasized that while it is the democratic right of citizens to protest, the organizers must be cautious to prevent the demonstration from being hijacked by elements that might cause chaos.

Explaining more on the post on his X (formerly Twitter) when he accused Peter Obi’s supporters of the planned protest, he told Sunday Vanguard on the phone, “My post is just to highlight that the people who are organizing this so-called nationwide protest are members of Labour party, they are Peter Obi supporters, so that’s my own take of it, it’s my own opinion so I am not going to say more than this.”

Reminded that Omoyele Sowore, an activist and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, in the 2023 elections, has cautioned that nobody would stop an action in which its time has come, Onanuga insisted that he was not interested in whatever those behind the planned protest want to do.

He said, “That is their problem; I am not interested in what they want to do. I am just trying to say, look, these are the people that are saying, we must do Kenya, so these are the people mobilizing; that is my own point.

“So, nobody is saying you must not protest; protest is legitimate in a democracy. The concern of people is that when you start a protest, and it is not well managed, the end cannot be predicted, just like people could not predict the end of EndSars.

“So, that’s just the concern of people. And again, when you are saying revolution now, revolution now, do they know the meaning of revolution now? Revolution means you are calling for a coup d’etat; that’s the meaning of it, and that’s the point that I am making, nothing more than that. So anybody can protest; it’s within their rights to protest; nobody says you should not protest.”

Further asked if he has any evidence to prove that it’s supporters of Peter Obi that are planning the protest, he said, “Check their handles and see what they are posting, just follow what they have been posting. What I did was to do content analysis of what these people are posting as a journalist.”

A former Director-General of the Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign Council, Dr Doyin Okupe, says he is not a member of the ruling APC but appreciates the bold reforms being implemented by President Bola Tinubu.

Okupe, a former presidential spokesperson, disclosed this on his X handle (formerly Twitter) while reacting to criticisms over his appreciation of Tinubu’s initiatives.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Okupe has been criticised for always supporting, advising, and praising every government in power since 1999.

Okupe had served as an aide to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and then Goodluck Jonathan as a PDP member.

He later joined Labour Party to support the presidential bid of Peter Obi for the 2023 elections.

Okupe said, “I am neither a member of the APC nor an adviser of the administration.

“I appreciate the bold initiatives President Bola Tinubu took to remove fuel subsidy, which was assented to by all candidates during the campaign.

“I also fully support the sectoral equalisation of our forex market.

“Both reforms are responsible for the hardship our people are currently experiencing, but which I believe will be temporary judging by the strenuous efforts the government is making towards ameliorating them.

“This is not praise singing. I do not count myself as a member of the opposition; hence, I am able to be objective and understandingly supportive.

“I may not have had a hand in installing this govt but it is my country, and I am a stakeholder in it. I do not pray for it to crash or go down. This cannot be an offence.”

He urged his critics, especially a PDP chieftain, Mr Dele Momodu, to stop being  personal in their criticisms.

“We are all practitioners, players, and known actors in this amphitheater, no need to go personal. Let’s keep criticism rational, mature, and professional,” he added.

Okupe said that it was not true that he had been praising every government since 1999.

He said that he only acted as adviser in Obasanjo’s administration, which he described as one of the most successful since the advent of the fourth republic.

Okupe said that he did not play any significant role in the succeeding administration of late President Umaru Yar Adua.

The former presidential spokesman said that he, however, became an adviser for the second time in the Jonathan administration, which was defeated by the former President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC.

According to Okupe, his association with former Senate President Bukola Saraki and Peter Obi is in no way different from Momodu’s current association with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. (NAN) 

rejects new Senate position

The ousted Senate Chief Whip, Mohammed Ali Ndume, has rejected the chairmanship of the Committee on Tourism offered him, saying he is not a tourist.

Ndume also said only his constituents, who elected him, can ask him to leave the All Progressives Congress, APC, for another party.

Furthermore, he lauded President Bola Tinubu on the N70,000 new minimum wage but said it was little compared to a 50kg bag of rice.

Recall that the National Working Committee, NWC, of APC had removed Senator Ndume (APC, Borno South) as Chip Whip over his comments on President Buhari.

However, reacting on Friday, the politician said he stood by his comments but had accepted his removal.

Tourism Committee chair

Ndume spoke to journalists at his residence in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, on Friday. He was home for the third day prayers for his late sister-in-law.

He said: “As for the Chairman Senate Committee on Tourism offered to me, I want to say that I am not a tourist and not good in tourism.

“As it is, I have spent over 10 years without going to any foreign countries. I have never been to the United Kingdom, UK. Even the United States of America which I went was when I was schooling there.

“I am happy; yesterday the President approved the minimum wage to N70,000 only. It is a good move. But the minimum wage is still minimal compared to a 50kg bag of rice which costs over N70,000.”

On his removal, he said: “I had wanted to react. But I was mourning. I now deem it feet to do so.
“I am a democrat and a realist, and someone who always says the truth no matter whose ox is gored.

“According to former US President, Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, and I quote ‘Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else’.

‘I stand by my words’

Ndume continued: “Therefore, I have not regretted what I said during my interview with Arise TV. I thank all Nigerians who took to their social media platforms and groups who issued a press statement aligning with my statement regarding excruciating hunger and insecurity under President Bola Tinubu.

“Secondly, the NWC of our great party, APC recommended to the Senate that I should be removed, which they did, I took that as an act of God. Because it is God that gave me that mandate as Chief Whip.
“So I bear no grudges about what transpired. After all, I did not contest to be the Chief Whip or to be the Vice Chairman of the Appropriation Committee. Rather, I contested to be a senator representing southern Borno and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“So it is not that am desperate. I am over 64 years old now, and I thank God.

… on joining PDP

“On the advice(s) that I am free to join the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, or any political party of my choice, I want to reiterate that, I am one of the Founding members of the APC.
“It is my people, my constituency and teaming supporters, that will decide for me whether to stay in APC, join another party or quit politics. Whatever their advice, is what I will work with.

“On whether I will take the matter to court, I want to say that, I will not go to court. I surrendered my case to Almighty Allah (God),” Ndume stated.

However, Ndume called on his supporters and teaming Nigerians to continue to pray for God to have mercy on the masses, restore peace in the land, and to remain calm and law-abiding always as things unfold.

Philip Shaibu, reinstated deputy governor of Edo, says he is now “an unofficial member” of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Shaibu spoke in a chat with Arise TV’s Good Morning Show on Friday.

On Wednesday, a federal high court in Abuja ordered Shaibu’s reinstatement as deputy governor of Edo following his impeachment in April.

In his first public appearance after the judgment, Shaibu’s convoy was attacked in Benin City by suspected gunmen, with one police officer killed.

Shaibu, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was with Monday Okpebholo, the APC candidate for the September 21 governorship election in Edo, when the incident occurred.

Asked about his relationship with the APC governorship candidate, Shaibu said his “spirit” has left the PDP.

He added that he is “as good as being a member of APC” and “the only thing is that I have not officially left PDP”.

“For now, I am PDP. But going forward, if I declare for APC, it means that I have declared full support for Okpebholo,” Shaibu said.

“I am as good as being a member of APC, I can tell you that. I have two legs in APC. The only thing is that I have not officially left PDP. I am an unofficial member of APC. My spirit has left PDP.”

Shaibu was impeached after falling out with Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo state.