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British Govt Reacts to NASS Siege, Says Only Democratic Process is Acceptable

Published

8 years ago

August 7, 2018

Eric

The British High Commission has reacted to Tuesday’s development at the National Assembly, saying it would only accept a democratic process that recognises the rights of Nigerians to participate in election process.

“We are aware of media reports of a situation at the National Assembly this morning. We are closely monitoring the situation and other political developments in Nigeria.

“The United Kingdom supports a process whereby the people of Nigeria can exercise their democratic right to vote and be voted for. We favour a free, fair, credible and peaceful process and the independence of institutions, which allow for that,” Joe Abuku, a spokesperson for the UK Embassy in Abuja, said in a statement to PREMIUM TIMES Tuesday afternoon.

The statement comes hours after Ben Murray-Bruce, a senator from Bayelsa State, asked that foreign sanctions be meted on those involved in the siege at the parliament.

Mr Murray-Bruce accused senior officials of the Buhari administration of being involved in the blockading of the National Assembly by masked officials of the State Security Service, saying he would help ensure that their visas and those of their families are revoked by Western countries.

The National Assembly was taken over by SSS operatives, supported by the police, earlier Tuesday, amidst claims that there was an attempt to forcibly remove Senate President Bukola Saraki from office.

Scores of senators and members of the House of Representatives were initially blocked from entering into the National Assembly premises, but all of them were later allowed to move in after threatening to force their way in.

The security operatives also blocked all other staff members of the National Assemnly, including the clerk of the parliament, as well as journalists and other independent observers of legislative process.

There was a protest by civil society groups to force the security agencies to back down, but they declined. All the lawmakers who entered the premises were unable to conduct much legislative process since the clerk and other staff members were unavailable.

The development has been widely condemned by opposition politicians, including Atiku Abubakar and several state governors, who warned against the use of security agents as repressive tools against an independent arm of government.

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, who has been called on to act to check the excesses of security agencies, responded by summoning Lawal Daura, the head of SSS, and Inspector-General Ibrahim Idris.

Mr Daura was summarily dismissed and asked to hand over to the most-senior official behind him, a move that has sent ripples through the country’s political and security circles.

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Akume Leads Nigeria’s Delegation to Jesse Jackson’s Funeral in US

Published

3 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Eric

President Bola Tinubu has approved a five-person delegation to represent Nigeria at the final burial rites of Rev. Jesse Jackson, the American civil rights leader, activist and former presidential candidate who died at age 84 on February 17, 2026, in Chicago.

Senator George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, is the leader of the delegation, according to a press statement from the Presidency on Wednesday.

Other members are the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa; the Special Presidential Envoy for Global and Pan-African Affairs, Brian Browne; and the Senior Special Assistant, Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaye.

The delegation will deliver President Tinubu’s message of condolences to the Jackson family.

In an earlier tribute, President Tinubu described Reverend Jackson as a great friend of Nigeria and Africa.

“He was a moral voice and a formidable resistance to apartheid in South Africa. He played a leading role in the campaign for the release from prison of Nelson Mandela and other African National Congress leaders. He won critical support for sanctions against the then apartheid government,” President Tinubu wrote.

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Tinubu Nominates Oyedele As Minister of State for Finance, Moves Anite-Uzoka to Budget Ministry

Published

2 days ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

A statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga, has announced that “President Bola Tinubu has nominated Taiwo Oyedele as the minister of state for finance, replacing Doris Anite-Uzoka.

“Mrs Anite-Uzoka will now move to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, as the Minister of State, her third portfolio in the administration.

“President Tinubu has today conveyed the nomination of Mr Oyedele to the Senate for confirmation in a letter to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

“Until President Tinubu nominated him as a minister, Mr Oyedele from Ikaram, Akoko, Ondo State, was the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, which overhauled Nigeria’s tax system.

“Mr Oyedele, 50, is an economist, accountant and public policy expert.

“He attended Yaba College of Technology, where he obtained a Higher National Diploma (HND) in accountancy and finance. He attended Oxford Brookes University and earned a BSc in applied accounting.

“He also completed executive education programmes at the London School of Economics, Yale University, the Gordon Institute of Business Science, and the Harvard Kennedy School.

“Mr Oyedele spent 22 years of his working career at PwC, joining in 2001 and rising to become the Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader.

“Mr Oyedele is also a professor at Babcock University in Ogun State and a visiting scholar at the Lagos Business School.”

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Defection: Atiku’s Son, Adamu, Resigns As Adamawa Commissioner

Published

2 days ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Adamu Abubakar, the first son of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has resigned as Adamawa State’s commissioner for works and energy development, days after Governor Ahmadu Fintiri defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

Abubakar’s resignation letter, dated 2 March 2026, was addressed to the governor through the Secretary to the State Government. He gave no reason for his departure.

The timing is pointed. Fintiri announced his defection to the APC in a statewide broadcast last Friday, saying his cabinet and the PDP’s state structure had moved with him. Within 24 hours, 22 commissioners and special advisers publicly announced they were following suit. Abubakar, whose father remains one of the PDP’s most prominent national figures, was not among them.

In a statement issued Monday night, Abubakar’s media aide Abdulaziz Jauro said the former commissioner thanked the governor for the opportunity to serve and pledged continued loyalty to the administration’s developmental agenda. He also expressed gratitude to his father “for granting him the moral support and blessing to serve the people of Adamawa State” — a line that, read in context, suggests Atiku was consulted on the decision.

Abubakar said his resignation was not a withdrawal from public life. “This does not mark the end of his commitment to public service,” the statement read, “but rather the beginning of new avenues for developmental collaboration.”

The resignation leaves unresolved the question of whether it reflects a political break with the governor over his defection or a personal decision unconnected to the broader party realignment now reshaping Adamawa’s political landscape.