Connect with us

News

Rumbling in PDP deepens

Published

on

134 Views

There seems no end in sight to the protracted crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The conflict escalated yesterday following the refusal of party bigwigs summoned to appear before a disciplinary committee headed by Chief Tom Ikimi.

Former Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom and embattled National Secretary Senator Samuel Anyanwu declined the invitation.

Ortom said he could not bring himself to appear before a panel he described as illegal.

According to him, it is a violation of the party’s constitution and the Cybercrime Act.

He demanded an apology from the committee and threatened legal action.

Anyanwu wrote to the panel that he could not honour the invitation because he had a medical appointment.

Benue PDP Chairman Ezekiel Adaji, who was also invited by the committee, said it was curious that faceless people wrote petitions against him.Adaji requested Ikimi to compel the petitioners to back their petitions with evidence.

The division in the National Working Committee (NWC) also widened yesterday over the national secretary saga.

National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba announced that in line with the position of the party’s governors’ forum and the Board of Trustees, the NWC had started taking steps to recognise Sunday Udeh-Okoye as National Secretary.

But the Acting National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Damagum, denied that the NWC had rejected Anyanwu as secretary, saying that Ologunagba expressed a personal view.

The Ikimi Committee, which was set up by the BoT, had summoned Anyanwu and Ortom, following petitions from some party members alleging anti-party activities by the two chieftains.

However, Ikimi explained that the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar were not summoned by the panel because there was no petition against them.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

News

NNPC Trading Limited MD appointed as Nigeria’s OPEC representative

We congratulate Maryamu Idris, Managing Director of NNPC Trading Limited, on her appointment as the National Representative for Nigeria at the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Published

on

By

19 Views

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Trading Limited says that its Managing Director, Maryamu Idris , has been appointed as Nigeria’s National Representative to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

NNPCL announced the development on its X handle on Wednesday, and said Idris’s new role marks a pivotal step in representing Nigeria’s interests within the influential cartel of oil-producing nations.

“We congratulate Maryamu Idris, Managing Director of NNPC Trading Limited, on her appointment as the National Representative for Nigeria at the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC),” the statement read.

The corporation hailed her achievements in many capacities in the oil sector.

Maryamu’s extensive experience in the energy sector includes leading Pricing and Valuation efforts within NNPC’s Crude Oil Marketing Division and serving as a Technical Advisor to Nigeria’s OPEC Delegation.

She also played a foundational role in Nigeria’s engagement with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and contributed to oil sector reforms through her work with the Bureau of Public Enterprises and the Oil and Gas Implementation Committee (OGIC).

Continue Reading

News

FIRS loses 4 senior staff in Lagos Afriland Towers Fire

The deceased staff were identified as Mrs. Ekelikhostse George, Assistant Director; Mr David Sunday-Jatto, Assistant Director; Mrs. Nkem Onyemelukwe, Senior Manager; and Mr. Peter Ifaranmaye, Manager.

Published

on

By

33 Views

The Federal Inland Revenue Service, (FIRS) has confirmed the death of four of its senior staff members in the fire incident that gutted Afriland Towers on Broad Street, Lagos, on Tuesday.

The deceased staff were identified as Mrs. Ekelikhostse George, Assistant Director; Mr David Sunday-Jatto, Assistant Director; Mrs. Nkem Onyemelukwe, Senior Manager; and Mr. Peter Ifaranmaye, Manager.

In a statement confirming the incident, Mr Dare Adekanmbi, Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS chairman, said that the victims were trapped while on duty at the two FIRS offices located on the sixth and seventh floors of the building when the inferno broke out.

“Our Security and Safety officials quickly mobilized and contacted the fire service as soon as they were alerted. On getting to the scene, thick dark smoke was already billowing out of the building.

“The Management and entire staff are in deep shock and sorrow over the development,” he said.

Continue Reading

News

JUST IN: President Tinubu lifts state of emergency in Rivers, as Fubara prepares to resume duty

Published

on

31 Views

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has lifted the state of emergency imposed on Rivers State, restoring full democratic governance six months after suspending the Governor, Deputy Governor and State House of Assembly members.

In a statement on Tuesday, President Tinubu said the emergency, declared on 18 March 2025, had become “painfully inevitable” after a constitutional crisis paralysed governance in the state. He recalled that disputes between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the State House of Assembly had left critical economic assets vulnerable and halted budget approvals.

Tinubu said his intervention under Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution was to “arrest the drift towards anarchy” after mediation attempts failed. “Considered objectively, we had reached that situation of total breakdown of public order and public safety in Rivers State … it would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation,” he said.

The President thanked the National Assembly, traditional rulers and the people of Rivers State for their support throughout the emergency. He also acknowledged dissenters who challenged the declaration in court, saying such actions were “the way it should be in a democratic setting.”

Tinubu noted a “groundswell of a new spirit of understanding” among stakeholders in Rivers State and said the conditions that necessitated the emergency no longer existed.

“With effect from midnight today, the emergency in Rivers State shall end,” he announced. “Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, including Speaker Martins Amaewhule, will resume work in their offices from 18 September 2025.”

He urged governors and state legislatures nationwide to prioritise harmony and peaceful governance. “It is only in an atmosphere of peace, order and good government that we can deliver the dividends of democracy to our people,” he said.

STATEMENT BY HIS EXCELLENCY, BOLA AHMED TINUBU, PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, ON THE CESSATION OF THE STATE OF EMERGENCY IN RIVERS STATE

My Fellow countrymen and, in particular, the good people of Rivers State.

I am happy to address you today on the state of emergency declaration in Rivers State. You will recall that on 18th March, 2025, I proclaimed a state of emergency in the state. In my proclamation address, I highlighted the reasons for the declaration.

The summary of it for context is that there was a total paralysis of governance in Rivers State, which had led to the Governor of Rivers State and the House of Assembly being unable to work together.

Critical economic assets of the State, including oil pipelines, were being vandalised. The State House of Assembly was crisis-ridden, such that members of the House were divided into two groups. Four members worked with the Governor, while 27 members opposed the Governor.

The latter group supported the Speaker. As a result, the Governor could not present any Appropriation Bill to the House, to enable him to access funds to run Rivers State’s affairs. That serious constitutional impasse brought governance in the State to a standstill.

Even the Supreme Court, in one of its judgments in a series of cases filed by the Executive and the Legislative arms of Rivers State against each other, held that there was no government in Rivers State.

My intervention and that of other well-meaning Nigerians to resolve the conflict proved abortive as both sides stuck rigidly to their positions to the detriment of peace and development of the State.

It therefore became painfully inevitable that to arrest the drift towards anarchy in Rivers State, I was obligated to invoke the powers conferred on me by Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to proclaim the state of emergency.

The Offices of the Governor, Deputy Governor, and elected members of the State House of Assembly were suspended for six months in the first instance. The six months expire today, September 17th, 2025.

I thank the National Assembly, which, after critically evaluating the justification for the proclamation, took steps immediately, as required by the Constitution, to approve the declaration in the interest of peace and order in Rivers State.

I also thank our traditional rulers and the good people of Rivers State for their support from the date of the declaration of the state of emergency until now.

I am not unaware that there were a few voices of dissent against the proclamation, which led to their instituting over 40 cases in the courts in Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Yenagoa, to invalidate the declaration.

That is the way it should be in a democratic setting. Some cases are still pending in the courts as of today. But what needs to be said is that the power to declare a state of emergency is an inbuilt constitutional tool to address situations of actual or threatened breakdown of public order and public safety, which require extraordinary measures to return the State to peace, order and security.

Considered objectively, we had reached that situation of total breakdown of public order and public safety in Rivers State, as shown in the judgment of the Supreme Court on the disputes between the Executive and the Legislative arm of Rivers State. It would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation.

As a stakeholder in democratic governance, I believe that the need for a harmonious existence and relationship between the executive and the legislature is key to a successful government, whether at the state or national level.

The people who voted us into power expect to reap the fruits of democracy. However, that expectation will remain unrealizable in an atmosphere of violence, anarchy, and insecurity borne by misguided political activism and Machiavellian manipulations among the stakeholders.

I am happy today that, from the intelligence available to me, there is a groundswell of a new spirit of understanding, a robust readiness, and potent enthusiasm on the part of all the stakeholders in Rivers State for an immediate return to democratic governance.

This is undoubtedly a welcome development for me and a remarkable achievement for us. I therefore do not see why the state of emergency should exist a day longer than the six months I had pronounced at the beginning of it.

It therefore gives me great pleasure to declare that the emergency in Rivers State of Nigeria shall end with effect from midnight today. The Governor, His Excellency Siminalayi Fubara, the deputy governor, Her Excellency Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and the speaker, Martins Amaewhule, will resume work in their offices from 18 September 2025.

I take this opportunity to remind the Governors and the Houses of Assembly of all the States of our country to continue to appreciate that it is only in an atmosphere of peace, order, and good government that we can deliver the dividends of democracy to our people. I implore all of you to let this realisation drive your actions at all times.

I thank you all.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR
President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
Federal Republic of Nigeria
State House, Abuja
September 17, 2025

Continue Reading

Trending