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Just In : Wike on the march again flags off construction of another Abuja road
By Emmanuel Agaji
Action packed FCT minister, Nyesom Wike is on the again as he flags off another major road project in Abuja.
Wike, on Wednesday, flagged off the construction of the five-kilometre access road in Saburi, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).
The event marked the sixth and final ceremony of its kind undertaken by the minister in less than two weeks.
Wike, during the ceremony, explained that delivering significant projects, such as roads, which residents had given up hope on, was part of President Bola Tinubu’s vision to restore the long lost hope of the people.
“Governance is about what the people want. Nothing will stop us,” he said.
He urged FCT residents and Nigerians to pray for good health and wisdom for the president to succeed in delivering good things.
Noting that though things were tough at the moment, he emphasised that there was hope and a bright light at the end of the tunnel.
He stressed that when things were really bad, it required more patience for a positive turnaround, which he was confident would surely materialise.
While appreciating the support of the people for the president and the programmes of the FCT Administration, Mr Wike reiterated that the political party was simply a vehicle that conveys one to a destination. He assured that after project flag-off, he would get down to face governance.
Gwagwa-Karimo-Deidei Road
He announced that the administration would construct the Gwagwa-Karimo-Deidei road to ease traffic congestion.
He made this decision after a request by the AMAC Chairman, Christopher Maikalangu, for the minister to consider expanding the road to alleviate traffic congestion.
Mr Maikalangu described the road as a strategic commercial route in the whole of FCT, but in a bad state, narrow, and requiring expansion for the road users.
As a result, he added, it affects commercial, economic, and all other business activities in the nation’s capital.
“Today is a very significant and remarkable day to the people of Sabiru because their long-awaited requests and demands have been met via your pragmatic, tremendous and unprecedented leadership as the Minister of FCT.
“Your Excellency, due to the significant traffic on Gwagwa-Karimo and Deidei Road, I am pleading as a son of the soil, privileged to be the executive chairman under your watch, to say that the above-named road is in a bad state, narrow, and requires expansion for the road users. Thus, it affects commercial, economic, and all other business activities in FCT,” he said.
In response, Mr Wike asked the people at the event if they agreed with Mr Maikalangu on the request, and the residents unanimously chorused “yes”.
“Consider it to be done,” the minister said.
Mr Wike said President Tinubu had emphasised that people in rural areas must be given attention because they constitute the larger part of the population.
He called on the residents to pray for the president for good health and God’s guidance to keep his campaign promise of providing dividends of democracy to the people.
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Mr Wike mentioned that the construction of additional roads across the six area councils of the FCT would be inaugurated in the next three months.
He appealed to the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on FCT to support in passing of the FCT statutory budget, which he said would be submitted soon to enable the Administration to deliver more roads and other projects in rural communities.
“Mr President has emphasised that our people in the rural areas must be given attention because that constitutes the larger part of the population. So, it is not only where the elite are living, but also where the poor ones are, so that we will be able to reduce the level of insecurity, make economic activities thrive, and have our farmers bring their goods to the market,” he added.
Earlier, the Chief of Jiwa, Idris Musa, thanked Mr Wike for constructing rural roads across the six area councils.
“Today is a great day for us and other Nigerians that are jampacked in Jiwa Chiefdom. The road you are constructing now, we are very grateful,” he said.
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Just in: Ooni Ex- Queen Naomi, Oriyomi Hamzat, others to spend Christmas in prison
A Chief Magistrate Court in Iyaganku, Ibadan, has ordered the remand of three people in connection with last week’s tragic stampede at Bashorun Islamic High School.
The individuals include Mr. Abdullahi Fasasi, the school’s principal; Alhaji Oriyomi Hamzat, the proprietor of Agidigbo FM and Naomi Silekunola, the estranged wife of Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ile Ife.
Presided over by Chief Magistrate Olabisi Ogunkanmi, the court’s ruling came on Tuesday, following their arraignment by the Oyo State Police Command.
The proceedings took place under heightened security, with a crowd of family members and interested parties gathered outside the courtroom.
The defendants face four counts of charges related to the incident, as outlined by the police prosecutor, who cited a violation of Section 324 of the Criminal Code, Cap. 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State, 2000.
After hearing the charges, Chief Magistrate Ogunkanmi ordered that the trio be held at Agodi Correctional Center while awaiting further guidance from the state prosecutor.
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Mozambique Top Court Confirms Ruling Party Disputed Win
Fears are high that more violence could break out in the nation after the opposition threatened to call an uprising following the decision.
Mozambique’s highest court confirmed Monday the ruling party’s victory in a disputed October vote after allegations of rigging triggered weeks of deadly street clashes.
Fears are high that more violence could break out in the southern African nation after the opposition threatened to call an uprising following the decision.
The Constitutional Court said the ruling Frelimo party presidential candidate Daniel Chapo secured 65 percent of the vote, revising down provisional results from the electoral commission which said he got nearly 71 percent.
Chapo’s main challenger, exiled opposition leader Venancio Mondlane, received an upward revision to 24.2 percent of the vote.
The final results extend Frelimo’s half-century grip on power, lining up Chapo to take over from President Filipe Nyusi whose second term ends on January 15.
Mondlane has said that the election was rigged in favour of Frelimo and that a separate count shows he won enough votes to take office, which he intends to do.
Several international observer missions have also said there were irregularities.
Some had thought the opposition’s challenge of the results was “a bluff,(that) we’re joking,” he told supporters on social media on Saturday. “So they will also be surprised on January 15 when they see Venancio Mondlane take office in Maputo.”
Mondlane has been in self-imposed exile since the assassination of his lawyer on October 19, a killing he blames on security forces, and it was unclear if he intended to return.
“Difficult days will come,” said the 50-year-old, who appeals to disenchanted younger voters in a country of 33 million people marked by poverty despite its abundant resources.
“The Constitutional Council’s ruling will lead Mozambique either to peace or chaos,” Mondlane said in an online address, promising a “new popular uprising at a level never seen before.”
– Country on edge –
The southern African country has been rocked by unrest since the election commission said that the October 9 vote was won by Chapo.
No fewer than 130 people have been killed in two months of violence, most of them opposition demonstrators shot by security forces, according to local NGOs.
Cities, mines, borders and ports have been affected by protest action and operations at the main border with South Africa halted, causing its neighbour major losses in exports.
Tension was already mounting in the capital Maputo ahead of the court decision with many businesses shut.
The main roads into the city centre were barricaded by police and access to the presidential palace and Constitutional Council office shut, AFP journalists saw.
The US government on Thursday raised its warning level against travel to Mozambique ahead of the Constitutional Council announcement.
Pope Francis called Sunday for dialogue and goodwill to “prevail over mistrust and discord” in Mozambique.
President Nyusi and Mondlane had talked, both men confirmed last week, without announcing any outcome.
In an address to the nation on Friday, Nyusi said he hoped that once the final results were proclaimed, all sides “will open their hearts to a constructive and inclusive dialogue.”
– ‘Maputo under siege’ –
The protests have been the “most dangerous” ever seen in Mozambique, said analyst Borges Nhamirre, continuing despite deaths and arrests, and intensifying with police stations and Frelimo offices torched.
“Protests have already been called for Monday. The main cities, including Maputo, will be under siege because of the fear of protests,” he said.
“I’m convinced that if Monday the Constitutional Council declares the election as free and fair, which I am 100 percent convinced it will, then the blood is going to flow,” Maputo-based political and security risk analyst Johann Smith told AFP.
“The whole game changes on Monday,” said Smith. “It will be a lot more intense and bloody.”
Mondlane had awakened resentment against Frelimo, he said, similar to discontent that this year led to the party that governed Botswana since independence being voted out and threatening to do the same in Namibia.
“It’s almost like the Southern African Spring,” Smith said, in a reference to the Arab anti-government protests in North Africa in the early 2010s.
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Tinubu Bombs Obasa Over Controversial Lagos Council Law
The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, has reportedly slammed the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, over the contentious 2024 Lagos State Local Council Administration Law sent to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for assent.
Visibly upset, President Tinubu questioned Obasa’s qualifications to draft laws that could destabilize the political harmony in Lagos State.
He repeatedly scolded the Speaker for his perceived individualistic approach to state matters and his confrontational stance toward the state executive, the party, and its elders.
A stunned Obasa was reportedly left speechless as Tinubu lambasted him for his alleged political misconduct and defiance toward the party, its leaders, and the governor. The President emphasized that matters concerning local government laws were beyond Obasa and the House of Assembly at this stage. Tinubu directed the Speaker to align with Governor Sanwo-Olu’s directives, particularly regarding the screening, approval, and confirmation of board members for the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC).
Obasa was further instructed to comply with other instructions that would be communicated to him in the future.
The incident comes after Obasa, during the Lagos State 2025 budget presentation, boasted that no serving or former Lagos State governor was better qualified than him to oversee the state, which boasts the fourth-largest economy in Africa. His assertion, seen as a direct indictment of President Tinubu, who governed Lagos from 1999 to 2007, also highlighted his ambition to run for Lagos State Governor in 2027.
The controversial 2024 Local Government Administration Law has been widely criticized as a tool for Obasa to install his loyalists as administrative secretaries in the 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs). This move is viewed as part of his 2027 gubernatorial agenda, branded as the “Muda Eko, Obasa Lagos 2027 Agenda” under The Mudashiru Movement (TMM). The proposal has reportedly caused divisions within the APC in Lagos State.
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