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President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has congratulated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his third anniversary in office, praising his administration’s reforms and leadership while expressing support for his re-election bid.

In a statement personally signed by him, Akpabio described Tinubu’s three years in office as a period of bold reforms, strategic leadership and steadfast commitment to the Renewed Hope Agenda.

He said the administration’s focus on economic diversification, infrastructure development, security and social welfare had established a strong foundation for sustainable growth and national prosperity.

The Senate President noted that the President’s policies and programmes had produced significant projects and reforms that are repositioning the country for greater economic progress and development.

He highlighted key initiatives undertaken by the administration, including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the Nigerian Student Loan Scheme, the Renewed Hope Housing Programme, the nationwide rollout of Compressed Natural Gas buses and conversion centres, ongoing tax reforms and the completion of the OB3 gas pipeline project.

According to Akpabio, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is opening new opportunities for coastal trade and connectivity, while the student loan scheme is expanding access to tertiary education for young Nigerians. He added that the Renewed Hope Housing Programme is providing affordable housing across the country and that the deployment of CNG buses and conversion centres is helping to reduce transportation costs.

He further stated that ongoing tax reforms are aimed at widening the tax base while easing the burden on low-income earners, while the completed OB3 pipeline will deliver about two billion standard cubic feet of gas daily into the national transmission network.

“The courage to remove fuel subsidy, unify exchange rates, and drive infrastructure despite global headwinds shows a President committed to long-term prosperity over short-term comfort,” Akpabio stated.

He said the 10th Senate would continue to work closely with the executive arm in providing the legislative support required to sustain the gains recorded by the administration.

“The 10th Senate remains a committed partner in enacting laws that will sustain these gains and secure the future we all desire,” he added.

Akpabio maintained that the President’s willingness to take difficult but necessary decisions in the national interest was already producing tangible results across the country.

“Mr President, your courage to take difficult but necessary decisions in the national interest is already yielding results Nigerians can see and feel,” he said.

The Senate President prayed for continued wisdom, strength and good health for Tinubu as he steers the affairs of the nation and expressed confidence in the administration’s ability to advance its transformation agenda.
He also wished the President a successful completion of his tenure and a resounding victory in future elections.

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Politics in Rivers State has always behaved like the Bonny River during heavy rainfall – restless, unpredictable, and capable of swallowing even the strongest boats if caution is thrown overboard. But after three turbulent years of political hostilities, bruised alliances, and deep ethnic anxieties, many residents now appear exhausted by the sound of war drums.

That fatigue explains why the conversation following the withdrawal of Governor Siminalayi Fubara from the governorship primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the emergence of Rep. Kingsley Chinda as candidate, has quickly shifted beyond ordinary politics into the emotionally charged territory of identity, equity, and ethnic balancing.

For some ethnic advocates, particularly within sections of the riverine bloc, the argument is simple: Governor Fubara should have completed two full terms before power rotates elsewhere. To them, the issue is not merely politics but fairness and historical inclusion.

Yet, while the sentiments are understandable, Rivers State now stands at a delicate crossroads where anger must not be allowed to mature into division.

The truth is that Rivers has bled too long from political bitterness.

Communities have watched friendships collapse under partisan pressure. Political camps have behaved like rival oil blocs drilling suspicion instead of trust. Every statement is analysed through tribal lenses; every handshake is treated like a conspiracy. Meanwhile, ordinary citizens – traders, fishermen, civil servants, transport workers, students, widows, and struggling families – continue to ask one quiet question:

Who will help Rivers breathe again?

That is why many observers believe the next political movement in Rivers cannot afford to be built on ethnic triumphalism or revenge politics. The state needs a bridge, not another battlefield.

And this is where the candidacy of Kingsley Chinda is beginning to attract unusual attention across political and ethnic lines.

In a state famous for loud political combatants, Chinda has built a reputation around restraint, legislative precision, and methodical engagement. He is not known for theatrical speeches or combustible rhetoric. Even within the National Assembly, colleagues often describe him as a lawmaker more interested in delivery than performance.

That quiet style may now become politically valuable in a state desperately searching for emotional de-escalation.

The challenge before Rivers is no longer merely about “whose turn” it is. The larger question is whether the state can recover enough stability to resume development.

Roads do not respond to tribal slogans. Investors do not inject capital into political minefields. Youth employment cannot grow in an atmosphere poisoned by endless hostility. Peace remains the first infrastructure every serious society must build before prosperity can stand.

This is why the emerging political language around Chinda appears carefully calibrated toward reconciliation rather than conquest.

“One Rivers, One Future.”

Simple words. But in a tense political climate, they carry strategic meaning.

The phrase subtly redirects public conversation away from ethnic camps toward shared destiny. It neither insults zoning advocates nor dismisses concerns about equity. Instead, it proposes a broader political argument: that competence, peace, inclusion, and stability must also matter in moments of crisis.

That distinction is important.

Because Rivers State is not a collection of isolated tribes occupying oil fields. It is a complicated political family tied together by commerce, history, intermarriage, waterways, and collective survival.

The riverine fisherman and the upland farmer ultimately depend on the same peace.

Chinda’s political movement is built around listening to every voice, pursuing sincere and genuine reconciliation, and engaging in wide-ranging consultations with traditional rulers, youth groups, clergy, women’s organisations, ex-militant stakeholders, market associations, and professionals across ethnic lines – all in the collective interest of Rivers State.

The message appears intentional and measured:

“I have come to listen, not impose.”

In today’s Rivers, that may prove to be wiser politics than chest-thumping bravado.

Observers also note that Chinda’s political appeal extends beyond his legislative record into years of grassroots interventions through his “I Win, U Win” initiative in Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency. Over the years, the programme has sponsored skills acquisition, healthcare support, ICT training, scholarships, women empowerment schemes, teacher training, welding, shoemaking, agro-allied programmes, and educational assistance for both indigenes and non-indigenes.

Supporters argue that such programmes reveal a politician who sees governance less as patronage and more as social investment.

Critics may disagree politically – and democracy permits that – but even opponents rarely accuse Chinda of ethnic extremism or inflammatory politics.

That moderation could become critical.

Because the greatest danger before Rivers today is not political competition itself. Democracy thrives on competition. The real danger is allowing political disagreements to harden into ethnic suspicion so deep that future generations inherit resentment instead of progress.

Rivers people have seen enough political fires to understand one painful truth: no tribe wins when the entire state burns.

The coming election, therefore, may offer something larger than a contest for power. It may become a referendum on whether Rivers chooses escalation or healing.

And perhaps that is why a growing number of citizens now insist that the debate must gradually move from:

“Whose turn is it?”

to:

“Who can unite and stabilise Rivers State?”

In the end, the state may discover that peace itself is the real zoning formula everyone has been searching for.

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By Gloria Ikibah

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has warned owners of hotels, event centres and other public facilities in Abuja against allowing their premises to be used by unlawful organisations, declaring that violators risk losing their land titles.

The warning was contained in a statement issued on Friday by Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike.

According to the administration, land allocations within the FCT are meant strictly for lawful activities, stressing that authorities would no longer tolerate the use of public facilities for gatherings linked to illegal groups.

The statement read: “In view of the need to further ensure the security of lives and properties in the FCT and sustain the efforts of security agencies in this regard, usage of Event Centres, Hotels and other public buildings will now be closely monitored.

“This is aimed at ensuring that they are not used by illegal organizations for gatherings capable of disrupting the peace of the nation’s capital.”

The FCTA also directed owners and operators of such facilities to properly verify the identities and legitimacy of organisations seeking to rent their venues before approving bookings.

“Owners of these facilities are therefore urged to take cognizance of the legality of organizations seeking to use their facilities and the purpose before letting them out,” the statement added.

The administration further warned that political activities in the build-up to elections must only involve recognised party leadership approved by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“For instance, in this political season, owners of Event Centres and Hotels in particular must ensure that they only deal with Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recognised leadership of political parties in respect of the use of their facilities, and proper records of transactions must be kept.

“Failure to comply with this directive will result to revocation of the title documents such properties,” the statement further read.

The FCTA maintained that failure to comply with the directive will attract severe consequences.