News

Otti commends Abia residents for not joining #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest

Published

3 months ago

August 4, 2024

By Francesca Hangeior

Abia State Governor Alex Otti has thanked Abian residents for heeding his plea not to join the ongoing hardship protests, which have led to loss of life and property destruction.

Otti expressed his gratitude on Saturday, August 3, while attending Sabbath worship at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, No 1 School Road, in the Aba South Conference of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

Recall that Otti had previously appealed to Abians not to join the protests during a private breakfast meeting with Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election.

In a state broadcast on July 31, the governor acknowledged the people’s right to peaceful protest but expressed concern that hoodlums might hijack the protests and undermine the progress made under his administration.

Addressing the congregation, who were pleased to have him worship with them, Otti said, “I want to thank you and all Abia people who listened to my plea not to take to the streets, disrupt services and activities, or potentially cause mayhem.”

“The reason is not that conditions are not challenging; far from it. I recognise the difficulties we face today, but two wrongs do not make a right. Many of our people rely on daily earnings—traders, Keke riders, barbers, and taxi drivers — who put food on their tables based on their daily income.”

Otti noted that disrupting the activities of those who depend on daily earnings would only exacerbate the problems the protesters seek to address.

He added, “My plea was for us to discuss matters calmly. I want to thank Abia people for heeding that call. This does not mean we lack the right to protest, but there are more constructive ways to do so. I assure you that our Government has heard not only what you have said but also what you have not said.”

The governor also announced, to the delight of the congregation, that School Road would soon be repaired.

“As I arrived, I noticed the poor condition of this road (School Road). Rest assured, it will be fixed soon,” he said.

He encouraged the church members to focus on their blessings and the positive things God has done for them.

Otti expressed gratitude to the Church for their support since 2015, when he first contested the election, and for their continued support of his administration. He urged them to keep him and the Government in their prayers daily.

In a sermon titled, “Living out the Christian Slogan,” the resident Pastor, Ifeanyichukwu Nwaoguikpe, stressed that God has a specific purpose or mission for everyone on Earth.

He urged Christians to preach the gospel of everlasting life and the second coming of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Bible book of Matthew 28.

Nwaoguikpe also warned of impending doom and encouraged people to help those in need, illustrating his sermon with the story of the Good Samaritan from the Bible.

The officiating ministers of the Church prayed for the governor, his entourage, and the State.

Otti was joined in the service by the lawmaker representing Aba Central State Constituency in the Abia State House of Assembly, Hon. Ucheonye Stephen; Special Assistant to the Governor on Religious Affairs, Apostle K.C. Wiper; the Mayor of Aba South, Hon. Uche Nwogu; the Abia State Acting Chairman of the Labour Party, Sir Emmanuel Nwaeze Otti; and others.

News

Bury the thought, it’s not your destiny to be president – Wike’s Aide carpets Atiku

Published

36 minutes ago

November 15, 2024

Naijablitznews

Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media to Federal Capital Territory FCT Minister, Lere Olayinka, has told former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar to jettison his ambition to govern the country in 2027, saying the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party PDP presidential candidate was not destined to rule the country.

Olayinka in a statement in Abuja yesterday, said “The PDP presidential ticket will no longer be available to be wasted by serial betrayals of the party, who are obviously suffering the consequences of their past sins against the party and its members”.

Insisting that Atiku should perish the thought of contesting the 2027 presidential election as candidate of the PDP, Olayinka said “Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and those egging him on for their benefits should let the PDP breathe.”

FCT Minister, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike had said during a live media parley in his office in Abuja on Wednesday that there would be no chance for Atiku, who was the 2023 Presidential candidate of the PDP to secure the party’s ticket in 2027.

Reacting through his Media Aide, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku had alluded to his defeat of Wike to pick the 2023 PDP presidential ticket as well as the former governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, to emerge as the candidate in 2019.

However, in a statement yesterday, Olayinka, said Atiku’s “celebration of his narrow and fraudulent defeat of Wike in the 2022 PDP primary was funny and childish”, adding that “it is like Arsenal fans jumping to the rooftops to celebrate the club’s narrow defeat of Super Falcons.”

He said: “That Atiku is venerating himself for contesting PDP ticket with Wike and Tambuwal, people who were just a little above 25 as of 1993, when he contested the Social Democratic Party SDP presidential primary and came third, is the more reason he needs to go home and rest and stop acting like the proverbial cock that failed to realize that it is now elderly.”

Describing Atiku as someone not destined to be president of Nigeria, Olayinka said; “It is obvious that he (Atiku) is paying the price of betraying the PDP in 2003, 2007 and 2014. If not, the same presidency he has contested twice and lost, could have been his to just pick if he had avoided being inordinately ambitious while he was Vice President.”

“It was this desperation that made him to contest for president as candidate of Action Congress in 2007, while still serving as Vice President, elected under the platform of the PDP. A serving Vice President joining others to form another party and contesting as candidate of the new party against his own party.

That’s Alhaji Atiku Abubakar!

“Most importantly, Atiku’s conscience will continue to prick him on his roles in Lagos in 2023, and I am sure that even his apology to PDP members in 2018 can never remove from his body, that garment of betrayal.
“Therefore, it is again being sounded to his ears and those of the people lying to him that he is the only one who can win the presidency for the PDP that the ticket of the party will not be for someone like him, who will lose election and run to Dubai, only to come back two years to another election”, Olayinka added

CityNews

News

Confusion As ‘Baltasar Engonga’ was cornered and fl0gged by husbands of the women he sl3eps with

Published

43 minutes ago

November 15, 2024

Naijablitznews

A man dubbed Zimbabwe’s own “Baltasar” faced violent retribution from a group of enraged husbands after being accused of having affairs with their wives.

In a video shared by Crimewatch Zimbabwe on X (formerly Twitter), several men from the Mapostori sect were seen beating the man, holding him down while others struck him with what appeared to be rubber sticks.

The video, recorded by a witness and later posted on social media, shows the men interrogating him. At one point, one of the attackers questions, “How many women have you slept with, and why did you do it?” Reports indicate that the man allegedly engaged in these relationships after some women claimed their husbands were not satisfying them.

Social media reactions were swift, with users tagging the police to intervene and arrest the men involved in the assault. Many viewers expressed shock, noting a recent rise in arrests related to assaults on cheating partners and their spouses.