Headline

Adeniran Finally Leaves PDP, States Reasons

Published

8 years ago

March 4, 2018

Eric

A former Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, has said he is leaving the Peoples Democratic Party with his supporters to join the Social Democratic Party.

Adeniran also said Prof. Jerry Gana had agreed to join him in the SDP.

Both Adeniran and Gana were members of the Board of Trustees of the PDP before the defection to the SDP.

While Adeniran was a chairmanship candidate in the December 9 national convention of the PDP, Gana was one of his staunch supporters.

Adeniran has refused to identify with the PDP since he lost the election.

Speaking with our correspondent in Abuja on Saturday, Adeniran said he decided to leave the PDP because of impunity and imposition of candidates.

Adeniran said, “I have left the PDP for the SDP with my supporters. I left because there is no internal democracy in the PDP. It may interest you to know that Prof. Jerry Gana has also left the PDP.”

Asked if Gana would fly the presidential ticket of the SDP in 2019 as being speculated, Adeniran said, “Whoever will be the presidential candidate will emerge from our convention.”

On whether he could realise his chairmanship ambition in his new party, Adeniran said he was not nursing such an ambition.

In his reaction, the National Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, described the defection of Adeniran as painful.

He said Adeniran remained one the founding fathers of the party, adding that he had expected him to join hands with him and other leaders of the party to rebuild it in order to be able to wrest power from the ruling All Progressives Congress.

Meanwhile, a former Minister of Niger Delta, Godsday Orubebe, and a former Chief of Staff to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr. Mike Oghiadomhe, have denied leaving the PDP.

The spokesperson for Orubebe, Mr. Gbenga Giwa, said in an electronic mail to our correspondent that while Orubebe could not begrudge people for defecting to any party for whatever reasons, the former minister still remained a member of the PDP.

Also, in a statement he personally signed and sent to our correspondent, Oghiadomhe said it was wicked for anyone to associate him with the SDP.

He said, “For the record, l was never part of any group where a decision was made to dump PDP for SDP. To my great party, the PDP and millions of our members, no one has my mandate to determine or link my name to any political party without my written consent.

“Whoever must have affiliated my name to any political party other than the PDP does not have my mandate and this should be regarded as the handiwork of mischief makers. My membership and loyalty are to the PDP alone which is my party of choice since its formation.”

Efforts to get Gana’s reaction to Adeniran’s claim that he had joined the SDP proved abortive. He had yet to reply to a message sent to his mobile as of the time of filing this report.

The Punch

Headline

Defence Gulps Lion Share As Tinubu Presents N58.47trn 2026 Budget to NASS

Published

2 hours ago

December 19, 2025

Eric

President Bola Tinubu has presented a budget of N58.47 trillion for the 2026 fiscal year to a joint session of the National Assembly, with capital recurrent (non‑debt) expenditure standing at N15.25 trillion.

Tinubu presented the budget on Friday, pegging the capital expenditure at N26.08 trillion and putting the crude oil benchmark at US$64.85 per barrel.

He said the expected total revenue is N34.33 trillion, projected total expenditure: N58.18 trillion, including N15.52 trillion for debt servicing. The budget is N23.85 trillion, representing 4.28% of GDP.

The budget was anchored on a crude oil production of 1.84 million barrels per day, and an exchange rate of N1,400 to the US Dollar for the 2026 fiscal year.

In terms of sectoral allocation, defence and security took the lion’s share with N 5.41 trillion, followed by infrastructure at N3.56 trillion.

Headline

Mike Adenuga, Emmanuel Macron Hold High-Powered Meeting in Paris

Published

1 day ago

December 18, 2025

Eric

Accomplished billionaire businessman and Commander of the French Légion d’Honneur, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr., GCON, CdrLH, has held a private meeting with the French President, Emmanuel Macron.

The two powerful citizens of the world held the meeting on Wednesday at the historic Élysée Palace in Paris.

The high-level engagement underscores the longstanding relationship between Dr. Adenuga and the French Republic, as well as his continued relevance in global business and diplomatic circles.

A respected industrialist and philanthropist, Adenuga has been widely acknowledged for his contributions to economic development, telecommunications, energy, and humanitarian causes across Africa and beyond.

The meeting adds to Dr. Adenuga’s growing profile as a bridge between African enterprise and international leadership.

Headline

Free at Last: Burkina Faso Releases 11 Nigerian Soldiers, Aircraft

Published

1 day ago

December 18, 2025

Eric

Burkina Faso has released Nigerian soldiers who were detained after their aircraft made a forced landing in the Sahelian country earlier this month, Nigerian officials said.

The release followed a diplomatic intervention by President Bola Tinubu, who dispatched a high-level delegation led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, to meet Burkina Faso’s Military Leader, Ibrahim Traoré, on Wednesday.

In a statement, Alkasim Abdulkadir, Tuggar’s spokesperson, said both sides resolved the matter amicably and secured the release of the Nigerian Air Force pilots and crew.

The soldiers had been held for nearly two weeks after the Confederation of Sahel States (AES) described the aircraft’s landing as an “unfriendly act” carried out in defiance of international law.

The Nigerian Air Force, however, said the crew encountered a technical issue that required a precautionary landing in Bobo-Dioulasso, the nearest available airfield. It said the landing complied with standard safety procedures and international aviation protocols.