Headline

PDP Kicks as Niger Republic Govs Attend Buhari’s Campaign in Kano

Published

7 years ago

February 1, 2019

Eric

Governor Issa Moussa of Zinder and Maradi State Governor, Zakiri Umar, both from the Republic of Niger, were on Thursday in Kano to rally support for President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election.

Salihu Yakasai, media aide to Kano State Governor, Umar Ganduje, said this on his Twitter handle beneath a photo of the governors and Ganduje.

Yakasai said, “H.E @GovUmarGanduje with his deputy H.E Dr Nasiru Gawuna, his former Dep H.E Prof Hafiz Abubakar, Minister of Interior Abdurrahman Dambazau and that of Water Resources, Suleiman Kazaure, Governors of Zinder and Maradi from Niger Republic, & others getting ready to receive @MBuhari #PMBinKano.”

Yakasai added that the two Nigerien governors were in Kano to rally support for the President Buhari’s re-election.

But the Peoples Democratic Party has berated Buhari and the All Progressives Congress over the presence of two governors from the Republic of Niger at the presidential rally of the APC in Kano.

The PDP accused Buhari of mortgaging the future of Nigeria.

He alleged that the President and his party, the APC, would also import voters from neighbouring countries for the February 16 Presidential election.

The National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, who spoke with one of our correspondents, called the attention of the international community to the alleged plan by the ruling party.

Elections, he said, were internal affairs of Nigerians, wondering why the two foreign governors would be in Kano to welcome the President to his own country.

He said the presence of the two foreign governors had also vindicated the PDP’s claim that President Buhari and his party had been importing foreigners to attend the APC rallies.

Secondus said, “We have been saying it that the President does not consider the interest of Nigerians first in any of his actions. The President of Nigeria has sold the country to those who he loves more than the people who own the nation.

“The present of the two foreign governors is significant in many ways. One, it shows that the President and the APC, like we said, have been importing foreign leaders to the country to attend their rallies.

“We have been saying this and I’m happy Nigerians now that God has exposed them. Their evil plot has come to the open.

“You know that even in almost all the states where the President and his party have become unpopular, they keep on boasting that they will win with a landslide victory. One of the ways they planned to get the votes is the illegal importation of foreign voters, who are also underage.

“We want to call the attention of Nigerians to this assault on our sovereignty. We want the foreign and developed democracies to take note of this action and hold the President responsible if there is crisis before, during and after the elections.

“It is sad that the minister in charge of internal security of the nation was present. We know that they are planning negative things ahead of the elections. We just want to warn them not to plunge the country into crisis.”

Secondus added that the President had also demonstrated why his government had been treating the killer herdsmen with kid gloves.

But the President, Nigeria Voters Assembly, Mashood Erubami, said, “There is nothing unusual about the presence of the two governors with President Buhari. It could be coincidental but having to do with the joint efforts between them and the Kano State Government to confront the scourge of insurgency in Nigeria.

“The two governors are not registered voters in Nigeria and there is no possibility that they will mobilise their citizens across the borders without PVC to come and vote in Nigeria. It is unfortunate that opposition politicians always turn red to blue and would want gullible Nigerians to accept their agenda for the truth.

“I will advise those suspecting to be extra-vigilant during the elections. Also voters must be vigilant too in their different voting centres to ensure that those who did not register in their vicinity are exposed and are not allowed to vote.”

The Punch

Headline

Tinubu Seeks Transfer of Jailed Ekweremadu Back to Nigeria

Published

3 days ago

November 11, 2025

Eric

President Bola Tinubu has dispatched a strong delegation to London to address the situation of Ike Ekweremadu, a former Deputy Senate President, who has been imprisoned in the UK since March 2023.

The delegation includes the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi.

The team arrived in London on Monday and held discussions with officials from the UK’s Ministry of Justice.

Alkasim Abdulkadir, spokesperson for Tuggar, said on Tuesday that the presidential delegation was in London to engage with UK authorities to consider the possibility of Ekweremadu serving the remainder of his prison sentence in Nigeria.

The London Metropolitan Police detained the Ekweremadus in June 2022 after a man was deceitfully presented to a private renal unit at Royal Free Hospital in London as a relative of their daughter Sonia, in what turned out to be a failed attempt to convince medical professionals to perform an £80,000 transplant.

The 21-year-old man, who had allegedly been promised employment in the UK, reported the incident to the police in May of that year, saying that he had been brought to the country for an organ transplant.

In March 2023, the former presiding officer of Nigeria’s Senate was convicted of organ trafficking by a UK court. Beatrice, his wife, and Obinna Obeta, a doctor connected to the case, were also found guilty.

This verdict marked the first of its kind under the UK Modern Slavery Act.

On May 5, 2023, Ekweremadu received a nine-year and eight-month prison sentence, while his wife was sentenced to four years and six months, and Obeta was given a ten-year prison sentence.

In his ruling, Judge Jeremy Johnson determined that Beatrice should serve half of her sentence in custody and be supervised for the remainder. However, she was released from prison in January and has since returned to Nigeria.

Headline

Tinubu Congratulates Soludo on Reelection As Anambra Governor

Published

5 days ago

November 9, 2025

Eric

President Bola Tinubu has congratulated Prof Chukwuma Soludo on his re-election as Governor of Anambra State.

Soludo was returned for a second term in office after recording a landslide victory, winning all 21 local government areas in the election, according to results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday.

The massive victory makes the professor the third governor in Anambra’s political history to win a second term.

In a statement he personally signed, President Tinubu described Soludo’s re-election as a testament to his visionary leadership and the significant progress recorded under his administration.

“Governor Soludo, the Solution, has demonstrated that knowledge is indeed power and that academic principles can be applied in serving the people, undergirding accountability, transparency, and prudent management of people and resources.

“I visited Anambra State in May this year, where I inaugurated some projects executed by the Soludo administration. I highlighted the good thinking behind the landmark projects embarked upon by Mr Solution. That experience is indeed remarkable and will remain indelible in my mind.

“I commend Governor Soludo for bringing discipline, grace, brilliance, and a fresh perspective to governance in Anambra. Under him, Anambra is living up to its motto as the Light of the Nation.

“I urge Governor Soludo to be magnanimous in victory and to seek the cooperation of his opponents in the just-concluded election.

“I assure Governor Soludo of my unwavering support, and I look forward to continued collaboration between Anambra and the Federal government.

“The victory of the opposition All Progressives Grand Alliance in the election again demonstrates the vitality of our political system and the fact that victory for any progressive and hardworking leader can hardly be encumbered or denied,” the President said.

President Tinubu also commended the new INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, and his team for conducting what he described as a credible election, based on reports received so far.

He charged the commission to maintain high standards and continue to improve its performance “so we can strengthen and deepen our electoral system.”

The State Returning Officer and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin, Omoregie Edoba, who announced the result, declared Soludo the winner after the collation of results from the local government areas.

“I hereby declare that Soludo Chukwuma Charles of the APGA, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and returned elected,” he said at the State headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Awka, the state capital.

Soludo, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), secured 422,664 votes to defeat his closest rival, Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 99,445 votes.

Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) came third with 37,753 votes, while John Nwosu of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) scored 8,208 votes. George Moghalu of the Labour Party (LP) and Jude Ezenwafor of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) polled 10,576 and 1,401 votes, respectively.

Headline

Soludo in Landslide Victory, Relected As Anambra Governor

Published

5 days ago

November 9, 2025

Eric

Governor Chukwuma Soludo has secured a second term in office until 2030 after he was declared the winner of the November 8 Anambra State governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

According to the results announced by INEC in the early hours of Sunday, Soludo won by a landslide in the 21 local government areas of the South-East state.

The State Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, Omoregie Edoba, declared Soludo as the winner of the exercise after the collation of results from the local government areas of the state where the election was held.

“I hereby declare that Soludo Chukwuma Charles of the APGA, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” Edoba, a professor, told a gathering at the state headquarters of INEC in Awka, the state capital, where the election results were collated.

Soludo, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), secured 422,664 votes to trounce his closest rival, the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s Nicholas Ukachukwu, who polled 99,445 votes.

Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) came third with 37,753 votes, while John Nwosu of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) scored 8,208 votes.

George Moghalu of the Labour Party (LP) and Jude Ezenwafor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored 10,576 votes and 1,401 votes, respectively.

Shortly after the results were announced, there was jubilation at the residence of the governor in Isoufia community, Aguata LGA.