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2027: Your good works must give APC victory in Abuja, Tinubu tells Wike
President Bola Tinubu on Sunday showered encomiums on the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, for his sterling performance, expressing the hope that such good works will translate to a victory for the All Progressives Congress (APC) and not the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which the Minister still officially belongs to, in the FCT election of 2027.
Tinubu spoke at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, when Wike led a delegation of prominent FCT residents, including the clergy, judicial officers, mandate secretaries, area council chairmen, political office holders, royal fathers, and heads of security agencies, among others, on a traditional Sallah homage to mark the end of Ramadan fasting and the Eid-el-Fitr holiday.
In his remarks, President Tinubu described the FCT Minister as “Mr. Infrastructure” and listed some of the various initiatives and projects executed by the administration under Wike’s leadership, stressing that they have translated into better lives for Abuja residents, for which he (Tinubu) remains grateful.
While appreciating the caliber of persons in the delegation, Tinubu said: “I can see the diversity of men and women here. I must thank the Honourable Minister of FCT. It’s worth it. It is nothing other than a privilege to be the landlord of every one of us in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory.
“And when we started, he came up with a lot of good ideas to liberate the bureaucracy, bring forward-looking, progressive thinking to the administration, and give opportunities to many of you that would have still been hindered by property rights.
“The independent Civil Service Commission solution and all of that we discussed provide opportunities for upward mobility and promotions that are consistent with the civil service structure, the area councils’ structure, and the indiscriminate development in the face of dwindling resources.
“I remember the day Nyesom Wike came to me and said, ‘Please, take us out of this problem of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) so that I can do more work and achieve more.’ Then I said, ‘Okay, tell me what you’re about to do.’
“And he presented it, and I threw in my own political jab: ‘Would that give me any opportunity for my party (APC) to win the election in FCT?’ I said, ‘I know where you are coming from—your own party (PDP) or my party. If this thing goes too much in your own favor, you will lose your job.’ Then he said, ‘Okay, we settle that, Oga.’
“And things started changing rapidly, and I started looking at the opening up of the rural areas, abandoned projects, and the residence of the Vice President, which had been abandoned for years, coming alive. The health centers are being rehabilitated. The health facilities for the residents of FCT are being upgraded. Our teachers and schools are being rehabilitated, and buildings are being furnished. Thank you, Wike.”
The Universal Basic Education Commission on Tuesday announced plans to introduce a new template for disbursing counterpart funds under the Universal Basic Education programme.
This was disclosed by the Executive Secretary of the commission, Aisha Garba, during an interactive workshop with State Universal Basic Education Boards in Abuja.
Garba explained that the Federal Government, through UBEC, had recently restructured the delivery of basic education nationwide to align with four strategic pillars aimed at improving access and quality across states and the Federal Capital Territory.
She identified the pillars as expanding access to basic education, especially for rural and underserved populations; enhancing the quality of teaching and learning nationwide; strengthening accountability and the effective use of education financing; and optimising monitoring and institutional systems for quality service delivery.
She said, “The Hope Education Project of the present administration is a performance-for-reward initiative designed to support states that judiciously utilise resources in line with these four pillars.”
She added that the new approach had made it necessary to develop fresh templates that will guide SUBEBs in preparing work plans to access UBE intervention funds under the framework of the Hope Education Project.
Also speaking at the event, UBEC’s Deputy Executive Secretary for General Services, Tunde Ajibulu, described the workshop as timely and essential.
He stressed that the realignment of basic education delivery made the introduction of the new templates crucial.
“We expect you, as implementers of basic education in your respective states, to contribute positively and help develop workable templates,” Ajibulu said.
A Kano State High Court on Tuesday dismissed an application filed by former Kano State Governor and current National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, challenging the court’s jurisdiction to hear a bribery and misappropriation case against him.
The Kano State Government brought 11 counts against Ganduje, his wife Hafsat, son Umar, and five others, alleging bribery totalling $413,000 and misappropriation of N1.38 billion.
The other defendants include Abubakar Bawuro, Umar Abdullahi Umar, Jibrilla Muhammad, Lamash Properties Limited, Safari Textiles Limited, and Lasage General Enterprises Limited.
Delivering her ruling, Justice Amina Adamu-Aliyu dismissed all preliminary objections raised by the defendants, describing them as incompetent and lacking merit.
She ruled that the charges filed on May 13, 2024, were competent and that the matter should proceed to trial.
The judge further issued a summons to the sixth defendant, Lamash Properties Limited, and adjourned the case to July 30 and 31, 2025, for hearing.
Ganduje, his wife Hafsat, and son Umar, had through their lawyer, Mrs. Lydia Oyewo, filed a preliminary objection dated November 18, 2024, challenging the court’s jurisdiction and seeking to have all charges quashed.
In response, counsel for the state government, Adeola Adedipe (SAN), filed a counter-application dated October 22, 2024, urging the court to dismiss the preliminary objections for lacking merit.
Similarly, counsel for the third and seventh defendants, M.N. Duru, (SAN), submitted a motion on notice dated October 18, 2024, supported by a 14-paragraph affidavit and a written address, asking the court to uphold their application.
Counsel for the fifth defendant, Muhammad Shehu, also filed a motion dated October 18, 2024, and urged the court to grant it with substantial costs against the complainant.
Abubakar Ahmad, representing the sixth defendant, filed a preliminary objection dated September 9, 2024, supported by a nine-paragraph affidavit.
Additionally, counsel for the eighth defendant, Faruk Asekome, filed a notice of preliminary objection dated October 18, 2024, supported by a five-paragraph affidavit and written address, also seeking dismissal of the charges.
Justice Adamu-Aliyu, however, ruled that the objections lacked merit and cleared the way for the trial to proceed.
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