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Why Chibok Girls Are Still in Captivity By Buhari

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President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said the remaining girls abducted by terrorists from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, four years ago were still in captivity because of some setbacks in the negotiation between the Federal Government and the Boko Haram sect.

He attributed the setbacks to what he described as internal disagreement among the abductors.

Buhari said this in a statement made available to journalists by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.

The President said, “We are concerned and aware that it is taking longer to bring the rest of our daughters back home, but be assured that this administration is doing its very best to free the girls from their captors.

“Unfortunately, the negotiations between the government and Boko Haram suffered some unexpected setbacks, owing mainly to a lack of agreement among their abductors, whose internal differences have led to a divergence of voices regarding the outcome of the talks.

“We know that this is not the news parents want to hear after four whole years of waiting, but we want to be as honest as possible with you.

“However, this government is not relenting. We will continue to persist, and the parents should please not give up. Don’t give up hope of seeing our daughters back home again. Don’t lose faith in this government’s ability to fulfil our promise of reuniting you with your daughters.

“Don’t imagine for a moment that we have forgotten about our daughters or that we consider their freedom a lost cause.”

Buhari gave the assurance Nigerians that as long as he remained the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the Chibok girls would never be forgotten and everything would be done to reunite them with their families. He also assured the parents of the schoolgirls that “their daughters will never be forgotten or abandoned to their fate, despite four long years since they were taken away by terrorists.’’

Meanwhile, the United Nations Children’s Fund has disclosed that more than 1,000 children have been abducted by Boko Haram in the North-East since 2013, including 276 Chibok schoolgirls taken from their school on April 14, 2014.

The UN agency noted that four years on, more than 100 of the Chibok girls had yet to be returned to their families. It restated its calls for the release of all hostages in Boko Haram custody.

The UNICEF in a statement on Thursday by its representative in Nigeria, Mohammed Fall, disclosed that 2,295 teachers had been killed and more than 1,400 schools destroyed in nine years by the insurgents, noting that most of the schools had not been re-opened.

“The fourth anniversary of the Chibok abduction reminds us that children in northeastern Nigeria continue to come under attack on a shocking scale. They are consistently targeted and exposed to brutal violence in their homes, schools and public places,” it said.

In a similar vein, ActionAid Nigeria has expressed solidarity with the families, friends and the Chibok community over the remaining Chibok schoolgirls in Boko Haram captivity.

The Country Director of AAN, Ene Obi, said in a statement, “The FG and the military should adopt intelligence, power and negotiation as deployed for the release of the Dapchi girls, to bring back the remaining 113 missing Chibok girls and the remaining Dapchi girl, Leah Shuaibu.”

The Punch

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PDP Suspends National Chairman, Ayu at Ward Level

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday announced the suspension of its National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, for alleged anti party activities.

Ayu was suspended by the PDP Ward Executives of his Igyorov Ward in Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State.

The PDP Ward Secretary, Vangeryina Dooyum, on behalf of Kashi Philip, who is the Ward chairman, told journalists in Makurdi, that the national chairman’s suspension followed his alleged anti party activities.

The secretary in a statement signed by 12 out of the 17 member Ward Executives, noted that the decision to suspend the National Chairman was reached after the leadership reviewed his conduct at the end of the just concluded general elections.

The secretary, who was flanked at the press conference by the ward chairman and other members of executive, read from the statement which announced Ayu’s suspension.

“We observed with utmost dismay that, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu who is the National Chairman of the PDP worked against the success of the party in Igyorov Council Ward.

“It is on record that, he has also failed to pay his Annual Subscription Fees as provided under Section 8 (9) of the constitution of the PDP 2017 (As Amended).

“Further investigation also revealed that, he did not vote during the Governorship and State Assembly Elections held on March 18, 2023.

“It was also discovered that, most of his closest allies worked for the opposition party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) and hence, the abysmal performance of the PDP in Igyorov Ward.

“In view of the foregoing, we hereby pass a Vote of No Confidence on Dr. Iyorchia Ayu and suspend him as a member of our party with immediate effect. The suspension takes effect from March 24, 2023.”

Recall that the PDP at the state level during the weekend passed a vote of confidence on Governor Samuel Ortom, whom the national chairman’s led executive at the apex level referred to its disciplinary committee.

The PDP in Benue State passed a vote of confidence on Ortom for what they described as his steadfast loyalty and selfless, sacrificial leadership to the party.

State Publicity Secretary of PDP, Bemgba Iortyom, in a statement signed on behalf of the party’s state working committee in Makurdi at the weekend called on its national body to rescind decision referring the governor to its disciplinary body.

“We have noted with grave concern the action taken yesterday by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party in referring Governor Samuel Ortom to its Disciplinary Committee to answer to charges of anti party activities preferred against him.

“Benue PDP finds it difficult to understand the rationale by which anti party activities are determined at the National Secretariat by the NWC such as sees one out of the G-5 Governors singled out for punitive action on ground of that offence, and what the procedure is for meting out punitive measures against such anti party activities where some persons including Professor Dennis Ityavyar having been suspended without facing any disciplinary Committee.

“The party feels strongly that in fulfilling its duty as a state chapter it must remind the NWC of the implications of its current action against Governor Ortom and others.

“It is, therefore, a motion of the Benue PDP SWC that a Vote-of-Confidence be passed on Governor Samuel Ortom for his steadfast loyalty and selfless, sacrificial leadership to our great party, PDP.

“We equally call on the NWC to explore exhaustively options towards fostering reconciliation, unity, re-branding and repositioning of the party to recover its lost glory,” the statement reads partly.

The party further argued that the action runs in contempt of a subsisting court injunction restraining PDP at all levels from taking any punitive action against the Benue State Governor pending the determination of a substantive suit which is lying before a court of competent jurisdiction on the matter.

Daily Trust

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Declare Ogun Guber Polls Inclusive, Order Re-run, Group Tells INEC

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A group, under the aegis of Vanguard for Democracy and Good Governance, has called on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to desist from issuing the certificate of return to the Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun.

In what it earlier term a ‘sham’, the group had earlier called on INEC to review the result of the just concluded governorship election in the state as, according to it, the election did not produce a winner yet.

In a communique made available to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday, the group urged INEC to not issue a certificate of return to Governor Abiodun, as the governorship election is inconclusive by all standards.

“While we commend INEC on the introduction of the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) and the result viewing portal (IREV) which have largely improved electoral conduct in the country, we make bold to say that the election in Ogun State, despite being marred with all forms of electoral malpractices, still did not produce a winner, in accordance with the Electoral Act.

“As clearly observed, INEC flippantly went ahead to announce a winner rather than declaring it inconclusive, as the margin between the top two leading candidates is far lesser than the total number of cancelled votes in some areas. In this case, the difference between Governor Dapo Abiodun of the APC who polled 276,295 and the 262,383 votes polled by Ladi Adebutu of the PDP was only 13,912, with cancelled votes amounting to 33,750.

“The Electoral Act 2022 is clear on what should be done in such circumstance. We hereby refer INEC to the article in our supreme Electoral Act which states that, “Where the difference between the winner and the loser is less than cancelled vote, the results should be inconclusive.”

“This particular case is one fraudulent one and INEC need do the needful rather than taking steps that attract an avoidable litigation and put the commission in bad light.

“On this note, we enjoin INEC to embrace justice by withholding the certificate of return in the Ogun guber until a rerun election is declared and conducted,’ the statement read in part.

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Osun: Governor Adeleke Floors Oyetola at Appeal Court

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The Court of Appeal on Friday set aside an earlier election tribunal verdict that declared Gboyega Isiaka of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the last Osun state governorship election.

The court in its ruling confirmed Ademola Adeleke of the People’s Democratic Party as the winner of the election.

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