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Nigerian Senate Head Says He’s Considering Running for President

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Nigerian Senate President Bukola Saraki is considering running against President Muhammadu Buhari when Africa’s top oil producer holds elections in February.

“I am consulting and actively considering it,” Saraki, 56, said Tuesday in an interview at his residence in the capital, Abuja. “I believe I can make the change.”

After recently defecting from the ruling All Progressives Congress, Saraki said that if he decided to run, it would be under the banner of the People’s Democratic Party, the main opposition group. He would need to win the party’s ticket during primary elections in October.

At odds with Buhari ever since he emerged as the senate leader against the president’s wishes in 2015, Saraki is a former member of the PDP who despite joining the APC, often went against the party line.

His defection last month back to the PDP came amid a wave of such departures from the APC, including dozens of senators and at least two state governors. After security operatives surrounded Saraki’s home last month for undisclosed reasons, the secret police temporarily blocked access to the National Assembly on Aug. 7, in what Saraki said was an illegal attempt to impeach him. The head of the State Security Services was dismissed over the deployment.

Confidence Lost

“If a government can go and lock up an arm of government — and it’s never happened in our history — we should all be very concerned,” Saraki said. “We should not be surprised that they would use security agencies for elections.”

Investors and citizens have lost confidence in the president, according to Saraki, the nation’s third ranking official after Buhari and his deputy. Buhari’s election victory in 2015, which marked the first time an opposition party won power at the ballot box and put an end to 16 years of PDP rule, came after he pledged to fix the economy, improve security and fight corruption.

While Buhari’s administration has raised record amounts of money in oversubscribed Eurobond sales and increased revenue to boost investments in roads, rail, ports and power, poverty remains widespread in Nigeria and the nation is still dealing with deadly violence in several regions.

To win the PDP ticket at the party’s primaries on Oct. 5 and 6, Saraki would need to beat another presidential aspirant, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who also defected from the APC last year.

Saraki said Nigeria needs to be governed by a genuinely pro-business administration that will be able to tackle recurrent security issues. Below are some excerpts from the interview:

On investment:

  • “Most of the inflows that have come in are merely hot money, and that is because the oil price has gone up. Investment in the real sector is not seen. The private sector, in my view, has probably taken a position that the confidence is not there in the government. The country requires a government that is truly pro-business, and a president that sees himself as a chief marketing officer.”

On the involvement of security forces in political matters:

  • “There has been a persistent disregard for due process and a lack of neutrality for some of these issues. For you to have credible elections, you must have safe elections. Security agencies are actively getting involved in the politics.”
  • “The fundamentals of whatever we are going to develop is going to be based on sound democracy, credible elections, freedom of choice of Nigerians. If we don’t have that as a foundation, then everything else cannot happen.”

On gasoline subsidies:

  • “If we are going to have a subsidy, we should have a budget for it. Because once we have a budget for it, the private sector can also play a role in the importation of petroleum products. And if the private sector plays a role, definitely the cost of the subsidy will go down and there will be more efficiency in the delivery of products. But in the environment we are in today, where it’s only the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. that’s doing that, it’s going to be inefficient, it’s not going to be transparent.”

On the PDP:

  • “The PDP has learnt its lesson from the loss in 2015, and I think unfortunately the APC did not learn from their victory.”
  • While negotiating with the PDP “we listed a number of issues. We talked about how to sustain and improve the fight against corruption; the issue of providing more powers to the states; inclusion and having a more nationalistic approach on things we do; to continue to improve the environment that will ensure investments. We listed a number of items during the discussions with the PDP, and there is a written agreement to that. We trust that we can hold them to that.”
  • “We would ensure that the party is strong on security. The APC too have not done well on the issue of security. We have the opportunity with the right kind of presidential candidate and president to provide the leadership for the party. The party has a good opportunity to lead the country in the right direction.”

Courtesy: Bloomberg

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The Travail of Tinubu’s Tourism Minister, Lola Ade-John

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By Eric Elezuo

Just weeks after her confirmation as the Minister of Tourism, seasoned banker and foreign-based tech investor, Lola Ade-John, has been hospitalised in Abuja following reports of acute poisoning she suffered from unknown origins, says a Peoples Gazette report. The medium added that her family members and immediate colleagues fear that time was running against their efforts to save her life.

The Boss learnt that Lola Ade-John, who is 60, was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, Abuja, shortly after she started manifesting symptoms of her poisoning, according to family sources familiar with her ordeal. As the time of filing this report, a source says that the minister has spent five days at the facility as at Saturday morning.

The source further revealed that Ade-John, who is a career banker and tech expert, has been on a machine to aid her breathing. The specifics as to what substance she ingested and how could not be immediately established by The Gazette, which broke the news. The paper also revealed that the Police and the State Security Service did not immediately return a request on whether or not any investigations had been opened into the matter.

Her worsening situation has further set the family against the government, with the permanent secretary of her ministry said to be in disagreement as to whether she should continue receiving treatment at a public hospital or be moved to a better-equipped private facility downtown.

The permanent secretary, Ngozi Onwudike, it was further stated, was said to have insisted that the minister should not be transferred because the FMC is a public hospital and its services wouldn’t attract substantial charges to the government, a position her family rebuffed. But they remained with her as they could not raise funds to move her to a private hospital, our sources said. A phone number for the permanent secretary did not connect on Friday morning.

A spokesperson for the FMC did not immediately return a request seeking comments from The Gazette about Ms Ade-John’s condition.

Ms Ade-John was appointed as a minister by President Bola Tinubu in August. She was immediately touted as one of the few cabinet members appointed from outside the political beltway. She was based in London for years before she was asked to return to the country to serve by the president.

Stakeholders in the Tourism told The Boss that Ade-John was expected as a special guest software honour at the just concluded World Tourism Day held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, but she failed to turn up raising concerns as to her health.

A source from the Tourism sector, who craved anonymity lamented that it was a very healthy Ade-John that took over the ministry in August, but wondered why just a few weeks after, she is battling for her life over alleged poisoning.

“Though there is no available medical information, but it is heavily suspected to be poison,” a Tourism sector source told The Boss.

However, a family source, who also prefers to speak behind identity revelation, has revealed that the report of poisoning is true, but not the poisoning as most people know it, saying that it is a case of ‘food poisoning’, adding that the report of conventional poisoning in the media space is a product of ‘junk journalism’.

“She has had a bad case of food poisoning compounded by bad malaria. She hasn’t been poisoned by anybody at all. That’s junk journalism at work!

“Also, she’s in a private hospital not a government hospital and no problem at all about funding from her private resources. Further junk journalism! She is receiving treatment and on the way to recovery, no life threatening situation.

“Temi, her daughter, came into Nigeria yesterday because she was understandably concerned about her Mother,” the source exclusively revealed to The Boss.

But the Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory Police Command, Haruna Garba, has ordered the State Criminal Investigation Department to immediately take over from the Mabushi Police Division, on the ongoing investigation into the alleged poisoning.

The FCT Police Command Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, revealed the development on Saturday in an exclusive telephone interview with The Punch.

“The CP has ordered the Mabushi Police Division that was investigating the matter to immediately transfer it to the SCID,” SP Adeh was quoted as saying.

Lola Ade John is a 1984 B.Sc graduate of the University of Ibadan, who majored in Computer Science. Her exceptional performance in her academic sojourn earned her the honour of being the top graduate of her class that year.

Presently, Lola Ade John is the Principal Consultant at Novateur Business Technology Consultants, a company she founded in 2014. The firm specialises in providing technical management and consulting services to both private and public sector clients, helping them improve their operations and performance through the application of technology systems knowledge and operational techniques.

She was invited from her base in the United Kingdom to come and serve in the Tinubu-led government.

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Rotary Africa Donates $25k, Mobilizes Funds, Support for Morocco

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Rotary International Zone 22, which covers the whole of Africa, has made an initial donation of $25,000 to help the disaster relief effort going on in Morocco while also calling for more funds, donations and support for the people following a devastating earthquake.

According to statement by Rotary International Director, Patrick Chisanga, “Rotary stands in solidarity with the people of Morocco as we witnessed the unprecedented devastation caused by a catastrophic earthquake. Our hearts go out to the affected families, and we mourn the tragic loss of lives.

While the 5th All Africa Zone 22 Institute was ongoing in Lusaka, on 8th September, and with members from across Africa in attendance, we received the distressing news of this earthquake, and our immediate response was to offer support and comfort to those affected.

“Rotary clubs in Europe and Africa including in Morocco have raised funds and mobilised material support for the relief efforts. An initial $25,000 was approved by the Rotary Foundation to immediately go to the disaster relief efforts and more grants are being developed.

“Our partner organisation, Shelter Box and others have supported in raising support for shelter and related needs of affected individuals.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Morocco, particularly our fellow Rotarians, Rotaractors and their families who have endured immense suffering. We also wish a swift recovery to all those injured in this calamity.

In our commitment to making a difference in times of crisis, Rotary International is actively engaged in providing assistance and support to the relief efforts in Morocco. To this end, we have established direct communication channels for Rotary Districts willing to mobilize support in any form. Clubs and Districts can contact District Governor Saadia Aglif on +212 661 135750 for further information on how they can contribute to the relief efforts directly in Morocco.

Furthermore, the Rotary Foundation Trustees have set up the Morocco Earthquake Response Fund, a dedicated fund to provide immediate relief to those affected by the earthquake. Donors can contribute directly to this fund to aid the ongoing relief efforts. Contributions to this fund will be accepted until 31 December 2023. Districts are encouraged to apply for grants from this fund until 21 September 2024 or until the funds have been fully allocated. Any remaining contributions after 21 September 2024 will be directed to the general Disaster Response Fund, which supports disaster relief efforts worldwide.

· Rotarians can give online, by cheque or by transferring District Designated Funds through https://my.rotary.org/disaster-response-fund

· To give by check, make it payable to The Rotary Foundation or an associate foundation, and include a completed contribution form. In the DESIGNATION/PURPOSE section, choose “Other” and write the fund name (Morocco Earthquake Response Fund).

· To allocate District Designated Funds, district leaders can use the DDF contribution form.

· We also call upon individuals and organizations to join us in raising funds to support the Morocco Earthquake Response Fund. You can start a fundraiser on Raise for Rotary, a platform that currently accepts 12 currencies. Contributions made through fundraisers for this fund on Raise for Rotary will be credited and recognized and acknowledged as described on the Rotary website.

Rotary International Director (RID) for Africa, Patrick Chisanga urges everyone to come together in this time of crisis and demonstrate the true spirit of Rotary by providing much-needed relief and support to the people of Morocco. He said, “we believe that our collective efforts can make a significant difference in the lives of those affected by this tragedy”.

“The expertise of Rotarians and Rotaractors across Africa, will be available and essential in assisting clubs in Morocco respond effectively to the needs of their communities. RID Patrick has pledged the support of all Regional and Zone Coordinators’ in grants and projects development to support the clubs in Morocco during this crises”

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Tourism Minister, Lola John Allegedly Poisoned, Fighting for Life in Abuja Hospital

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The Minister of Tourism, Lola Ade-John, has been hospitalised in Abuja after suffering acute poisoning from unknown origins, says a Peoples Gazette report, adding that her family members fear time was running against their efforts to save her life.

Lola Ade-John, 60, was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, shortly after she started manifesting symptoms of her poisoning, according to family sources familiar with her ordeal. She has spent four days at the facility as of Friday morning, The Gazette heard.

Ms Ade-John, a career banker and tech investor, has been on a machine to aid her breathing, our sources said. The specifics as to what substance she ingested and how could not be immediately established by The Gazette. The police and the State Security Service did not immediately return a request on whether or not any investigations had been opened into the matter.

Her worsening situation has further set the family against the government, with the permanent secretary of her ministry said to be in disagreement as to whether she should continue receiving treatment at a public hospital or be moved to a better-equipped private facility downtown.

The permanent secretary, Ngozi Onwudike, was said to have insisted that the minister should not be transferred because the FMC is a public hospital and its services wouldn’t attract substantial charges to the government, a position her family rebuffed. But they remained with her as they could not raise funds to move her to a private hospital, our sources said. A phone number for the permanent secretary did not connect on Friday morning.

A spokesperson for the FMC did not immediately return a request seeking comments from The Gazette about Ms Ade-John’s condition.

Ms Ade-John was appointed as a minister by President Bola Tinubu in August. She was immediately touted as one of the few cabinet members appointed from outside the political beltway. She was based in London for years before she was asked to return to the country to serve by the president.

People’s Gazette

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