News
Kenneth Okonkwo finally dumps LP, says the “party” is over
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Kenneth Okonkwo, ex- spokesperson for the Labour Party (LP) presidential campaign council, has finally dumped the party.
Okonkwo was the LP campaign spokesperson in the 2023 election.
In his resignation statement, he said the LP had been afflicted by internal and leadership crises.
“My entrance to politics is for good governance, and I will continue to work for it to ensure that Nigeria becomes a great country of incorruptible men.
“This aim can no longer be realised within Labour Party as presently constituted,” he said.
“Since the party is non-existent as presently constituted, I am constrained to resign my membership of the party to all Nigerians of goodwill who supported us when we needed them most and to pledge my continued loyalty to the Nigerian people in all I will decide to do in my political future.”
The Nollywood actor said he was open to switching party and pitching his political tent elsewhere.
“This resignation takes effect from the 25th of February, 2025, which marks the second anniversary of the presidential election of 2023, after which I will be at liberty to join other well meaning, and like minded Nigerians in charting a great future of good governance for this great country blessed by God,” he stated
Okonkwo said the tenure of the party’s leadership had long elapsed and the caretaker committee set up to salvage the party had been hindered by unnecessary litigation.
He criticised Julius Abure, national chairman of the LP, for allegedly prioritising personal interests over the survival of the party.
In June 2024, Okonkwo described the LP as “a secret society led by a group of clowns”.
In an interview on Symfoni, a news platform, Okonkwo warned that he would not rule out joining another party if the LP continued on a “trajectory where they cannot even hold an acceptable national convention”.
In July, Okonkwo said he no longer had confidence in the ability of Peter Obi, ex-presidential candidate of LP, to build a party that could win elections.
He said Obi had “proved that even if the people vote for him, he does not have what it takes to secure the mandate”.
Okonkwo left the All Progressives Congress (APC) for LP in 2022, citing the former’s adoption of a Muslim-Muslim ticket for the 2023 presidential poll.
LP LEADERSHIP CRISIS
The LP has been embroiled in a leadership crisis since Lamidi Apapa, deputy national chairman of the party (south), declared himself the acting national chairman last year.
The crisis deepened in 2024 when a national convention of the party in Anambra saw Abure re-elected as chairman amid opposition from a faction of the party.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had said it did not monitor the LP’s national convention.
The board of trustees (BoT) of the party described the convention that re-elected Abure as a charade and added that Abure’s tenure was over.
In February 2024, Oluchi Oparah, the party’s national treasurer, accused Abure of misappropriating N3.5 billion, a claim the LP chairman denied while threatening legal action.
The allegation led to calls from party members for Abure’s removal.
In April, the FCT high court issued an order restraining Abure from parading himself as the national chairman of the LP.
While ruling on an ex parte application, Hamza Muazu, the presiding judge, also restrained Farouk Ibrahim, national secretary; Clement Ojukwu, national organising secretary; and Opara; from parading themselves as national officers of the party.
In September, Nenadi Usman, a former senator representing Kaduna south, was appointed to chair a 29-member caretaker committee after Alex Otti, governor of Abia state, convened a stakeholders meeting of the party in Umuahia.
Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed, his running mate in the 2023 vote, were among the top party members that attended the meeting.
INEC had also invalidated Abure’s leadership, saying the national convention violated the constitution and Electoral Act.
The electoral body said the party failed to meet legal requirements for holding the convention, insisting that Abure’s tenure as LP national chair expired in June 2024.
But in a judgment on October 8, the federal high court affirmed the Abure-led leadership and the March 2024 Nnewi convention that produced the party executives.
Nwite ordered INEC to recognise Abure as the legitimate chairman of the party.
On January 17, 2025, the court of appeal in Abuja affirmed Abure as the LP national chairman.
The court ruled that its earlier decision of November 2024, recognising Abure as the party’s chairman, remains valid and has not been overturned by any court.
A verdict delivered by Hamma Barka also voided a judgment of the federal high court delivered on October 8, 2024 by Nwite, on the grounds that the lower court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the suit.
[TheCable]
The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses has announced that members can now decide whether to accept or donate the four main components of blood based on their personal conscience.
The organisation made this known in a statement issued by its World Headquarters in Warwick, New York and made available on its website on Friday.
According to the statement, “the decision to accept red cells, white cells, plasma or platelets from another person’s blood is a matter of personal conscience.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses announce adjustment to blood transfusion policy
It added that “each Witness must decide whether or not to donate blood for the clearly expressed purpose of providing components or fractions for use by another person.”
However, the organisation said its position on whole-blood transfusion had not changed.
“The long-standing refusal of whole-blood transfusions on religious grounds, a core teaching based on the command to ‘abstain from blood’ (Acts 15:20), is unchanged,” the statement said.
International spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses at the organisation’s World Headquarters, Paul Gillies, said, “Blood remains sacred to Jehovah’s Witnesses, who continue to regard life and blood as precious gifts from God.
“We recognise that medical decisions involving blood components are a matter of conscience between each Witness and their God, Jehovah.”
The organisation said the adjustment “follows earlier updates regarding blood fractions and the use of one’s own blood during medical procedures.”
It added, “Since the Bible does not comment on such decisions, they are a matter of individual conscience. That same reasoning has now been extended to the four main components of blood.”
On medical care, the statement said, “Jehovah’s Witnesses love life and want the best available medical care. They do not practise faith healing, and they seek out doctors who can provide effective treatment in accord with their wishes, values and beliefs.”
Gillies said local congregations would not interfere in members’ personal decisions.
“Congregations do not involve themselves in personal decisions that rest with the individual conscience. We will continue to respect and support the personal decisions of our fellow believers.
“We are grateful, too, for the many skilled and compassionate physicians who provide quality medical care that respects our personal wishes regarding blood,” he said.
The organisation said Jehovah’s Witnesses number “over nine million worldwide, in congregations across more than 200 lands.”
Recall that the religious group had clarified its position on the use of a member’s own blood during surgery and other medical procedures.
The clarification allowed individual Witnesses to decide whether their blood could be removed, stored and returned to them during medical treatment, while the organisation maintained its position against receiving blood from another person.
Punch
The Nigerian Army has dismissed as fake and unverified a purported intelligence alert warning of planned Boko Haram and ISWAP attacks on schools, churches, mosques, NYSC orientation camps and other public institutions across the country.
Anele said the Army was aware of the circulation and had heightened vigilance across its formations and commands to prevent attacks on vulnerable facilities.
She described the purported intelligence as speculation and urged the public not to treat the document as an official Army security alert.
The response followed the circulation of a document purportedly signed by one A.M. Sodiq, which claimed that Boko Haram and ISWAP were planning coordinated attacks across several parts of the country.
The document listed churches, schools, NYSC orientation camps and other vulnerable locations as possible targets and alleged that suspected ISWAP operatives had begun surveillance of selected locations.
It further claimed that the alleged attacks could coincide with the resumption of the 2026/2027 academic session.
However, the Army disowned the document, maintaining that it did not originate from the institution.
The Army assured Nigerians that security formations remained on heightened alert and were taking necessary measures to protect schools, places of worship and other vulnerable public facilities.
MINNA, Niger State — An engine oil seller in Minna, the Niger State capital, has reportedly sustained serious injuries after allegedly being shot during a police operation to disperse protesters.
The victim, identified as Ibrahim Mohammed Dada, was reportedly standing outside his shop at Tunga Market when he was struck by a bullet.
Ibrahim’s brother, Yakubu Dada Mohammed, said the victim was not part of the protest and was attending to customers at his engine oil stall when the incident occurred.
According to him, Ibrahim was simply trying to earn a living and support his family when a police officer allegedly fired a shot that hit him in the head and severely injured his face.
«“He was not among those protesting. He was standing in front of his shop selling engine oil when one of the police officers fired a bullet that struck his head and badly injured his face,” Yakubu said.»
Ibrahim is currently receiving treatment at Minna General Hospital, where his condition was reportedly described as critical.
The incident occurred amid protests in Minna over the reported deaths of 37 miners who were allegedly in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
Reports indicate that 65 miners were arrested on September 15 and 16, with 37 subsequently reported dead while in security custody.
The protests, which began on Thursday, continued into Friday as security personnel moved to disperse demonstrators. Security forces were reportedly accused of using tear gas and live ammunition during the operation.
However, the circumstances surrounding Ibrahim’s shooting have not been independently established.
The Niger State Police Command spokesperson, SP Wasiu Abiodun, appealed for calm and said the incident would be investigated.
The case has since heightened concerns over the conduct of security personnel during the ongoing protests.
Jehovah’s Witnesses announce fresh adjustment to blood transfusion policy
Army speaks on Boko Haram, ISWAP attack alert as fake
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