Politics

Ex-NBA President, Akpata, Distances Self From Abure’s Arrest

Published

9 months ago

February 23, 2024

Former National Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) and frontline governorship aspirant of Labour Party (LP), for the September 21st gubernatorial election in Edo, Olumide Akpata, on Thursday, denied involvement in the arrest of the party’s National Chairman, Julius Abure and five others in Benin City on Wednesday.

In a statement issued in Benin City, and endorsed by the LP gubernatorial hopeful, Akpata slammed another aspirant of the party for making reckless unfounded comments linking him with Abure’s arrest, describing Imansuangbon’s allegations as false and irresponsible.

“I have been made aware of reckless and unfounded comments made by Mr Kenneth Imasuagbon in the press yesterday, February 21, 2024, where he accused me of being behind the recent arrest and detention of Comrade Julius Abure, National Chairman of the Labour Party, Comrade Kelly Ogbaloi, Edo State Chairman of the Labour Party, and other party officials by the Nigeria Police Force.

“Let me categorically state that these allegations made by Mr Imasuagbon, who claims to be a lawyer and should therefore know better, are completely false and, frankly, very irresponsible. I had absolutely no involvement whatsoever in the arrests he referred to.

“As we have been told by the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Police Force Zone 5 Zonal Headquarters, the arrests stemmed from an entirely separate incident that occurred in Benin City on December 29, 2023, where one Comrade Anselm Eragbe, a former National Youth Leader of the Labour Party, was allegedly assaulted.

“Comrade Eragbe thereafter submitted a petition on the attack, accusing the arrested officials of orchestrating the incident. It was this petition that prompted a police investigation and subsequent arrests.

“I must make it clear that I have no connection at all to this unfortunate matter, beyond also being falsely accused on national television on December 29, 2023, of being responsible for the incident involving Comrade Eragbe.

“As someone falsely implicated in this matter, I have a strong interest in the outcome of the police investigation in order to clear my name fully”, Akpata said.

The LP governorship aspirant expressed concern over the arrest of the party’s National Chairman and other party officials barely 48 hours to the party’s governorship primary election in Edo State, just as he expressed worry over the delay of the release of the party’s delegates’ list of the ward congresses conducted last Tuesday.

“Given the timing of the arrests just 48 hours before the Labour Party primaries scheduled for February 23, 2024, the last possible day for political parties intending to field candidates in the September 21, 2024, Edo State Gubernatorial elections to conduct primaries, it raises some very serious concerns. It is imperative that the party be able to conduct free, fair, and smooth primaries as planned on Friday, February 23, 2024.

“I strongly urge the party leadership to explore all lawful options as provided by the party’s constitution to ensure the activities and operations of the Labour Party continue without obstruction. The party must urgently release the final delegate list from the ward congresses of Tuesday, February 20, 2024, which were monitored by INEC.

“It is worrying that we still do not have full delegate information more than 24 hours after the congress. I want to use this opportunity to caution Mr Kenneth Imasuagbon to cease his campaign of falsehoods and calumny against me, which he renewed with vigour on Tuesday, February 20, 2024 and has continued with his latest unwarranted attacks, where he attempted to link me to the party leadership’s arrest. Mr Imasuagbon is clearly intimidated by my aspiration and has resorted to spreading lies in a desperate bid to derail my campaign. I can no longer allow his disgraceful smear tactics to go unanswered.

“He should be ashamed for tarnishing my good name without justification. If Mr. Imasuagbon does not immediately stop his dishonourable attacks against me, I will not hesitate to pursue legal action to protect my reputation against his baseless claims.

“The time has come for him to face consequences for his deceitful conduct.

“In closing, I sincerely hope the detained officials secure and are allowed access to proper legal counsel, as is their constitutional right, and that this unfortunate matter is resolved quickly.

“However, I implore that the internal issues of the party must not hamper our preparations for the crucial primaries, as we have no wiggle room for error. I remain committed to the principles and values of the Labour Party and call for unity behind our shared vision,” Akpata stated.

Education

LP speaks on alleged strange romance with Tinubu over 2027 presidential race

Published

7 hours ago

November 23, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Labour Party (LP) has strongly rejected rumors suggesting that it is in a partnership with President Bola Tinubu in anticipation of the 2027 elections. These rumors claimed that the LP had struck an agreement to support Tinubu’s bid for a second term should he choose to run.

In response, the LP’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Obiora Ifoh, issued a statement on Friday, labeling these allegations as baseless and unfounded. He emphasized that the party has continually dismissed any notion of collaboration with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) concerning the upcoming 2027 general elections.

Ifoh asserted that the Labour Party remains the most prominent opposition party in Nigeria, with the party’s National Chairman, Barrister Julius Abure, being a leading critic of the current government. “Our National Chairman is at the forefront of challenging the policies of the government, consistently voicing opposition to the actions of the current administration,” Ifoh said.

The spokesperson also highlighted the party’s ongoing efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s democracy. These include the establishment of an Electoral Reform Committee aimed at ensuring free, fair, and transparent elections, as well as the introduction of an e-membership registration system that has already attracted a significant number of new members.

Ifoh further expressed disappointment over the defamatory nature of the rumors, calling it “ridiculous and unfortunate” for anyone to attempt to undermine the Labour Party’s efforts in such a manner. “For anyone to try to tarnish the reputation of a party that is actively working to reshape the political landscape in Nigeria is truly unfortunate,” he remarked.

Finally, the Labour Party spokesperson challenged Deji Adeyanju and anyone else promoting such claims to provide concrete evidence to support their accusations. “We call on Deji Adeyanju and others to present factual proof if they believe that the leadership of our party or Mr. Abure has any intention of working with President Tinubu or the APC for the 2027 elections,” Ifoh stated firmly.

Education

BREAKING! END of road for Fubara as FG halts allocation

Published

21 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Naijablitznews

The Federal government has confirmed that it has stopped the October monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee, FAAC revenue payment to Rivers State amid the ongoing crisis in the oil rich state.

The Spokesperson of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Bawa Mokwa, disclosed this exclusively to an online newspaper on Friday.

This comes as the Nigerian Government on Wednesday announced the approval for the disbursement of N1.1411 trillion as the October 2024 Federation Accounts Allocation Revenue to Federal, State, and local government councils.

However, a report emerged that FAAC revenue in October was not disbursed to Rivers State following a court stopping the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian government from carrying out such action.

Reacting to the development, Mokwa said the OAGF as a government agency will respect the court order.

Meanwhile, he stated that the October monthly FAAC revenue has not been disbursed to respective states as of filing the report.

“What I got is that the October 2024 FAAC has not been distributed yet. However, the Federal Government will obey the court order on the matter of Rivers State allocation.

“We are going to follow due diligence as long as there is no contrary order. In case there is a contrary, the status will remain,” he revealed.

He added, “The process of disbursement of the October 2024 monthly allocation is going.”.

Recall that on October 30, this year, Justice Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court barred CBN and the Nigerian government from disbursing monthly allocations to the Rivers State government.

This comes after an originating summons filed by the factional Rivers State Assembly, led by Martin Amaewhule.

The Amaewhule case was based on the grounds that the Rivers State Executive, under the leadership of Simi Fubara, was yet to comply with the order of a Federal High Court directing it to re-present the 2024 appropriation bill to the Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

In the past month, the Amaewhule faction, backed by Wike, former Governor of Rivers State, had been in a political battle with Fubara.

Recall that upon the emergence of Fubara as governor, he fell apart with his predecessor, Wike, which had led to a month-long crisis in the oil-rich state.

Daily Post

Education

No feud between Akpabio, Bamidele

Published

1 day ago

November 22, 2024

Naijablitznews

Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele has denied ever having any altercation with the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

This was contained in a statement issued by his media office noting that:

“Our attention has been drawn to fake news currently being circulated on the X handle of one Jackson Ude, a known serial blackmailer and cash-and-carry journalist.

“The post is about an alleged altercation and physical fight between Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele and President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio on Wednesday.

“For the record, it is a verifiable fact that Senator Bamidele has never been involved in physical assault in over two decades of his political trajectory, not even when he was a young man leading the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) as President.

“It is surprising that the purveyor of this misleading information in his selfish agenda and unprofessional conduct threw ethos of Journalism into waste bin and decided to feast on roadside gists to tarnish the image of the Senate Leader.

“We are aware that the fake news is meant to cause disaffection within the Senate and by extension; heating up the political system.

“To think that the Senate Leader, President of the Senate and other principal officers of the Senate together received the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. YU Dunhai and his delegation few minutes after leaving the plenary on Wednesday is a significant testimony against Ude’s imagination.

“Further to this, photographs of the Chinese envoys with the leadership of the Senate were widely published in today’s major national newspapers. It is equally verifiable that the Senate Leader and the Senate President both drove out of the National Assembly premises in the same vehicle yesterday.

“This time again, the Senate Leader is sounding a note of warning to all attention seekers in the ilk of Ude to be careful and not take the Leader’s gentlemanliness for granted.

“Henceforth, the Leader will be forced to use the instrumentality of the law to protect himself and his office as enshrined in the CyberCrime Act 2015.

” We, therefore, urge the public to disregard this misinformation and treat it with the disrespect it entirely deserves.