The war of words between Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike and his Edo State counterpart, Godwin Obaseki, continued on Monday with the former recounting how he made the latter governor.
Wike, whose reply came after Obaseki’s full advertorial accusing him of being a bully and domineering force within the PDP.
But while commissioning the Community Secondary School, Omuanwa, in Ikwerre Local Government Area of the state on Monday, said, even though Dr. Abiye Sekibo told him not to reply Obaseki, he said “No, I will reply him, I’m a politician,” and went all gun blazing on Obaseki.
Speaking on Obaseki, he said, “Obaseki said I’m a bully, but he came to beg a bully for ticket, a bully was his campaign DG, and a bully bullied him into Edo state government house.
“It didn’t end there, he still came back with his wife to thank the bully after the election.
“I slept in Edo State for three days just to deliver Obaseki, but today, I’m a bully.
“If you check the DNA of Obaseki, what you’ll see is betrayal, serial betrayal and ungratefulness.
“He said I threatened PDP, assuming without conceding that I threatened PDP, I have every right to do so, I have invested in the party. Rivers State has invested in the party.
“Rivers State is one of the few states that had voted PDP since 1999, we have invested in the party.
“You’re a tenant in PDP, I have more stake in PDP than you.
“You said I’m causing crisis in Edo State, I have capacity, that is why I’m causing crisis.
“I challenge you to come and cause crisis in Rivers State, then you’ll know who is who.
“Obaseki, I know your cohorts, I will smoke all of you out.
“Obaseki, I challenge you to defect back to the APC, we’ll shave your head.
“I know those using you, if I decide to run for President, I will win all of you.
“Obaseki, melembe melembe.
“The game has started, I will make you loose weight.
Presidential aspirant under the Peoples Democratic Party, Doyin Okupe, has advised popular Nigerian actress, Kemi Afolabi not to give up on her incurable ailment, Lupus.
Okupe in an open letter said despite Lupus not being curable, it is not true that the actress has limited years to live.
Recall that the actress had earlier claimed that her doctor notified her that she has five years left to live.
The former presidential aide advised Afolabi to entrust her treatment and medical care in the hands of a medical doctor and her faith in God.
Okupe wrote, “My dear Kemi, I read about your affliction with Lupus with much compassion. I was, however, saddened by your announcement that doctors told you that you have about five years to live. This is untrue. It is a lie of the devil.
“True Lupus is incurable but there are recorded cases of inexplicable complete remissions.
“Please entrust your treatment and medical care to your doctors but your length of days is totally in the hands of your creator the Almighty God who is mightier than any disease and greater than any doctor.
“Also, I can tell you for a fact that I know people who have been living with Lupus for more than 10yrs.
“They take their treatments faithfully but rely on God exclusively. Put your trust in God and Jesus, whose name is above everything including Lupus, and you will receive mercy as I have received personally and others too.”
After opening exotic fun centres and lounges named Shores for business, in the heart of Victoria Island and Lekki, in Lagos, debonair businessman, Dele Phillips is set to open a resort that’ll be talk of the town very soon.
The Hotel and Resort, which has promosed to be one of the best tourism and hospitality resort in the country when completed is situated at the Free Trade zone complex, Lekki, Lagos.
Sitting on four acres of land, the 80 rooms five star resort will boast of Restaurants, gyms, artificial lakes, Olympic size swimming pool and a cinema.
The resort will be a classic all stop complex especially for the busy refinery and Free Trade zone workers as well as the numerous high end visitors who will be falling in to do business in the area.
Shores Hotel and resort Lekki, is a member of Deephill Investments, Shores Hotel, 9th Avenue Hotels, Phillips Property and Phillips Exchange in Dubai, promoted by city big boy, Dele Phillips.
Dele Phillips, holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Ado Ekiti University. He also obtained a Diploma in hospitality and property management from the United Kingdom.
An investor in various fields, Dele Phillips has over 15 years experience in marketing, hospitality and property management both in the United Kingdom and Nigeria.
The National Association of Nigeria Students has tasked the Oyo State Police Command to find the policeman who allegedly shot a student of the Business Administration Department at Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic, Eruwa, Samuel Akinsuyi.
The Coordinator of NANS in South-West, Olatunji Adegboye, said Akinsuyi was coming to Ibadan from Eruwa on Friday when a yet-to-be identified policeman shot him in the leg.
The NANS coordinator on Monday accused the Oyo State Police Command of cover up while lamenting frequent cases of harrasment of students by the police in the command.
He said the injured student was now battling against being paralysed as a result of the injury sustained from the gunshot
The incident reportedly triggered panic as students of the polytechnic staged a protest against it.
The NANS coordinator said, “On Friday, March 11, 2022, the Nigerian students yet again suffered a great injustice from the hands of a reckless policeman.
“Akinsuyi Samuel, A Business Administration student at the Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic in Eruwa, was beaten and then shot on the leg by a yet-to-be-identified stop and search Police officer, on his way from Eruwa to Ibadan on Friday.
This demonic action has thrown Mr. Samuel Akinsuyi into a titanic battle against paralysis.
“It is rather unfortunate that several days after the criminal incident, the Nigeria Police Force, Oyo State Command and the Police Service Commission have failed to make convincing action statement over this persistent cankerworm.
“As the culture is, most times when an officer of the law infringes on the fundamental human rights of the citizens, the police force and the service commission usually perfect a cover up and make sure that justice is circumvented.
“Up till now, the assailant remains unidentified. This is a clear sign of the regular conspiracy practices of the police force.
“As we continue to piece the puzzle together, we demand a thorough and exhaustive investigation to identify the culprit and the law be allowed to take its full course through the arrest, dismissal and prosecution of the offender as well as other disciplinary actions though the force itself and the police commission.”
However, the Police Public Relations Officer in Oyo State, Adewale Osifeso, could not be reached for his reaction to the incident and the allegation against the police.
The Crisis rocking the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC may not be over anytime soon as Police Officers have yet again surrounded the national secretariat of the party.
Th security operatives condoned off the entire Blantyre Street where the party’s headquarters is located.
Although the security agents, numbering about 80 in 11 Patrol vehicles, were very civic in handling proceedings, allowing free flow of vehicular and human movement, along the street, inside the secretariat was empty. Eyewitness reports reveal that none of the warring factions of the party were at the scene.
However, there was speculation among some secretariat staff on who among Mai Mala Buni, the embattled chairman of the party’s caretaker committee and Sani Bello, the acting chairman, was truly in charge of the party’s affairs.
POLITICS NIGERIA earlier reported that Bello took control of the party last week after policemen surrounded the premises of the secretariat. Later on, Nasir El-rufai, the Governor of Kaduna state, appeared on a live Television interview on Channels TV to state clearly that ‘Buni was gone’ and that Bello will organize the party’s convention.
He further alleged that Buni was aware of a court injunction that could cripple the party’s chances in the upcoming 2023 general elections but kept mum about it. However, Buni’s camp issued a statement that he handed over to Bello to manage affairs pending when he returns to the country from a medical trip abroad.
This development has caused so much rancour within the party leading to the rise of factions. However over the weekend, President Buhari waded into the matter and called for order within the party’s ranks.
Nigerians on social media have reacted after the wife of the embattled former commander of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Abba Kyari, fainted inside the court.
In the video that was shared on social media, she reportedly slumped on the ground shortly after trial judge, Justice Emeka Nwite deferred ruling on applications that Kyari and six other persons facing drug trafficking charges filed to be released on bail pending the determination of the case against them.
The lady, who wore a black Hijab, fell on the floor while armed operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, were leading Kyari and the others away from the court premises.
Following the development, Nigerians have taken to Instagram to express their views regarding the wife of the embattled super cop in court.
See some of the reactions below:
chiblue0202 wrote; ‘When she wakes up they should continue sha….. your husband dealt with people … he should be judged too’
One grubskitchen wrote; ‘Is it the money she has been enjoying that shocked her or the atrocities/killing her husband has been committing all these years? Jokers Aunty wake up, It’s time to face the music’
One lois__u wrote; ‘Odiegwu. Akiko ndi ngbo. Pour am pure water for inside nose she go wake sharp sharp’
One realwhite_wave wrote; ‘when she was enjoying the money she no slump mtsheww’
One iam_mcdee wrote; ‘Fainting is the easiest thing in Nigerian court….’
One kaima882 wrote; ‘She got half a percent of what her husband has been doing to other women for years and she slumped, now Mr Kyari imagine the number of women you’ve put in this condition and some already lost hope of having they husbands back again, Karma is real.’
One ms_dera wote; ‘You never start . This is just the beginning’
A United States journalist, Brent Renaudwas gunned down in Irpin, a frontline northwest suburb of Kyiv, capital of Ukraine, on Sunday.
Renuad was killed in the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia.
The head of police in the Kyiv region said Renaud had been killed and another journalist wounded by Russian forces in Irpin, east of the capital.
“The invaders cynically kill even journalists of the international media who try to show the truth about the atrocities of Russian troops in Ukraine,” Andriy Nebitov wrote on Facebook.
“Of course, the profession of a journalist is a risk, but US citizen Brent Renaud paid his life for trying to highlight the aggressor’s ingenuity, cruelty and ruthlessness.”
He also published photos of the press ID and passport of Mr Renaud, which had led to initial reports that Renaud had been on assignment for the New York Times.
In a statement published on social media, New York Times deputy managing editor Cliff Levy said the publication was “deeply saddened” to learn of Mr Renaud’s death, who he described as a “talented photographer and filmmaker”.
Though Mr Renaud had contributed to the Times previously, he had not been on assignment for the publication in Ukraine.
“Early reports that he worked for Times circulated because he was wearing a Times press badge that had been issued for an assignment many years ago,” a statement he shared from a New York Times spokesperson said.
According to his social media pages, Mr Renuad had been documenting the plight of refugees in the country.
He and brother Craig Renaud “have spent the last decade telling humanistic verite stories from the world’s hot spots,” according to their website, with their work spanning HBO, NBC, Discovery, PBS and Vice News.
This includes covering “the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the earthquake in Haiti, political turmoil in Egypt and Libya, the fight for Mosul, extremism in Africa, cartel violence in Mexico, and the youth refugee crisis in Central America.”
A military base in Yavoriv, near the Polish border, was hit during a Russian missile attack killing at least 35 people and wounding 134 others this morning, Ukrainian authorities said.
Efforts by the embattled Chairman of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) and Yobe StateGovernor, Mai Mala Buni to meet President Muhammadu Buhari over the crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) hit the brick wall.
Naija News had earlier reported that the embattled APC Chairman had left Dubai for London to meet Buhari in a bid to regain control of the ruling party.
According to sources, the embattled APC leader was expected to return to Nigeria last Wednesday after his medical trip to Dubai, but he changed his mind.
A source had said, “He will now travel to London to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari on the situation in the party.”
However, sources have now told The Guardian that Mai Mala Buni has not been able to see Buhari since his arrival in the UK.
It was gathered that the Yobe governor was blocked from having access to the President.
The source said: “As we speak, Buni is still struggling to find a way to see the President. He can’t see him and you know why it is so. Anything can still happen though before the end of today.”
According to the sources, Governor Abubakar Sani-Bello of Niger State has also jetted to London to meet Buhari.
It was gathered that Sani-Bello, who has the backing of Governors Nasir El-Rufai, Rotimi Akeredolu of Kaduna and Ondo respectively and others, travelled to London to prevail on Buhari not to give Buni a listening ear.
“The Bello group is equally not taking chances. They wont take the risk of allowing Buni to get to the President first before them. Even if Buni ends up telling his stories, Bello would be there to let the President know the facts according to the group. They see this as a campaign to save the soul of the APC,” the source added
Fast rising musician, Habeeb Okikiola, better known as Portable, has put a smile on the faces of motherless babies as he celebrated his 28th birthday.
Naija News understands that the controversial music star added a new age on Friday, March 11, and to celebrate his big day, the singer took to a motherless babies home to shower the kids with some love and gifts.
The singer, alongside his friends and family, paid a visit to Little Saints Orphanage Home at Abule Egba part of Lagos.
Before his visit, Portable had wished himself happy Birthday on his Instagram page.
He wrote, “Dr Zeh Nation ZAzuu If I could make a wish right now, it would be to be heard screaming across the universe just to show how happy I am. Happy birthday to me Portable omolalomi.”
Presidential hopeful, Dele Momodu has slammed the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) over the creation of a directorate of politics and governance.
In a memo dated February 28, which was signed by the Assistant General Overseer (Admin/Personnel) Pastor J. F. Odesola, the church announced the creation of the directorate for politics and governance ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The RCCG stated that the newly-created directorate, which will be headed by Pastor Timothy Olaniyan, is to coordinate the affairs and activities of members interested in seeking political offices in 2023.
In a statement on Friday, the church denied setting up its directorate to support the purported 2023 presidential ambition of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo or any church member.
Reacting to the development, Momodu said the creation of the directorate by the leadership of the church was nothing but an invitation to Armageddon.
The media entrepreneur said the setting up of the political arm of the church was unnecessary, warning the church leadership not to mix religion with politics.
Momodu, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), also linked the purported presidential ambition of Osinbajo to the setting up of the directorate.
The full statement reads below:
“Fellow Nigerians, let me state clearly that I consider myself a bonafide member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) even if I don’t attend church services regularly due to my absence from home arising from my enforced itinerant lifestyle as an international journalist. For clarity, I have lived partly in England since about 27 years ago when I was forced into exile by the Abacha military regime in July 1995. Once we settled into our home in Cricklewood more than two decades ago, my Family and I attended the JESUS HOUSE in Brent Cross, the headquarters of the RCCG in the United Kingdom, ably led by Pastor Agu Irukwu, a respected and respectable gentleman. Indeed, I celebrated my 50th birthday at JESUS HOUSE on May 16, 2010, and I felt truly blessed. My Family still attend the Church to this day and whenever I am in England on Sundays, I venture to attend too.
“Beyond this, I have been a son of our General Overseer Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye and his very selfless wife, our Mummy G O, Mrs Foluke Adenike Adeboye for many years. I take this opportunity to congratulate Daddy G O on the occasion of his 80th birthday which occurred on 3rd March 2022. I pray for longer life in good health with much happiness, prosperity contentment and peace. Their first son, Adeolu Adeboye, is also very close to me, right from our time in England. I have had the privilege of sailing on.a cruise ship with Daddy and Mummy for a full week from Florida to Cozumel in Mexico to Cayman Island to Ocho Rios in Jamaica. Mummy had given me tips on that exquisite trip on how to improve the sales of Ovation and I was truly gratified and grateful.
“Naturally, I feel that I owe it a duty to tell our Church leaders, and our Church in general, the Gospel truth and nothing but the absolute truth. In the light of my relationship with the RCCG, this duty is even more imperative and compelling. I believe the leaders of the RCCG have laboured so hard to build one of the most formidable churches in the world. Nothing must be done to inadvertently cause a cataclysmic storm in the House of God. And the easiest way to create trouble in Nigeria today is any attempt to mix religion with politics. It goes beyond lighting the blue touch paper. It is like combining some highly combustible ingredients together in a chemical laboratory. It is not just that the effect may not be too pleasant, it is that the result and consequences will be catastrophic. God forbid.
“As soon as I read the memo establishing a political arm of our Church, I realised this was nothing but an invitation to Armageddon, if true. For that reason, at first, I assumed the memo was a joke, a fake document that was merely meant to stir the hornets’ nest, so I did not pay too much attention to it. However, when it started flying in from every direction to my phones, I knew someone had touched the tiger by the tail. I started working the phones to speak to a few contacts who should know about it and be able to confirm the veracity or otherwise of the document. The outcome was a resounding yes, the document had emanated from the Church and was acquiesced to by the upper echelons.
“I asked for what the motive(s) could have been, and the general conspiracy theory was that our church was setting up an extensive network for the obvious Presidential ambition of the current Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, although couched in terms which ostensibly suggested that the Church wished to support all of its congregation who wished to contest the next general elections and made their aspirations known to the newly formed Church department. Personally, that theory didn’t jell with me. To the best of my knowledge, Professor Osinbajo is not the only member of the church contesting the Presidential election. And it was not the church that nominated him as running mate to President Muhammadu Buhari. He got the job primarily because of his closeness to his former Principal, then Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and also because of his admirable credentials, ability and capacity. His religion was necessarily a factor, because a Northern Moslem must perforce pick a Southern Christian as his running mate in the current Nigerian clime. That was the only reason religion came into it, I believe. It had nothing to do with the fact that he is a senior pastor of the RCCG.
“Even if the Vice President has now decided to bear his own father’s name.by dropping that of his avuncular godfather, the church will still face a moral crisis if it wishes to jump on the bandwagon by drumming up support for Professor Osinbajo on religious grounds alone for many reasons, some of which I will now highlight.
“Although Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a Muslim, his dear beloved wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu is a staunch member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God and one of the leading lights of the Church. Asiwaju, her husband, is a frontline Presidential aspirant on the platform of APC, just like his godson, the Vice President. Even if the RCCG has a preference in Professor Osinbajo, mainly because of his status in the Church and his current position in Government, I expect the RCCG to “pretend” a little and behave as if it is not so. Not to do that would be tantamount to picking a child out of one’s children and say, “this is my favourite!” It is simply not right or proper for the RCCG to demonstrate such blatant and flagrant partisanship.
“As if that is not a tough cookie to handle, there is the fact that that there is a third contender, yours truly, Dele Momodu, who’s also a member of the RCCG and the youngest of the contending Church aspirants so far. I’m also the only member of the RCCG aspiring on the platform of PDP, as far as I know. Would the Church then ask its congregation to vote for one party over the other merely because it has decided to support one candidate in preference to the other regardless of the strong points one may have over the other? What a conundrum and crisis this portends for the Church and its unity and peace.
“The church cannot even afford to ostracise any aspirant on the basis of religious persuasion or denomination. It is the job of the church to seek out and promote the best candidates and then pray for them and galvanise support for them perhaps clandestinely.
“I also imagine that there is some degree of unconstitutionality to this attempt by the RCCG to descend into the political arena. Nigeria is a secular state as the constitution provides. To suggest that one candidate is the preferred candidate of a particular church or religious group and is being effectively sponsored by that church will breach not just the morality and ethos of the Church but also the deeply enshrined principles and grundnorm of our constitution, which are embedded and engraved for good reason.
“Furthermore, there are no guarantees that being a church Pastor or otherwise would make you a competent and truthfully honest leader. The church is too massive and extremely influential to reduce itself to such a level of myopia. Since what most Nigerians desire today is good and accountable leadership, our Churches should smartly work towards identifying the best materials in different political parties and support us spiritually and materially from the humongous resources it has pleased God to bless them with.
“Specifically, it is my belief that our churches should avoid anything that could further escalate the huge religious and socio-political conflagration already ravaging our long-suffering nation. Just imagine what would happen if other church denominations or other religions decide to support their own members only. It would be palpable anarchy in the making. Nigeria will then end up with a Babel of voices and a cacophony of noises which would not augur well for the wellbeing of us all, but only cause misery and upheaval.
“I sincerely hope and pray that our Church, the RCCG, will douse this unnecessary fire and recant and retrace its steps before it is too late.”
