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10th NASS Election: Yari Laments Betrayal

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Major contender for the 10th Assembly Senate President seat, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, has said that he felt betrayed by the outcome of the 10th Assembly leadership election result.

The senators during the inauguration of the 10th Assembly voted for the presiding officers where Senator Godswill Akpabio emerged as Senate President having polled 63 votes leaving his rival, Yari with 46 votes.

Although the National Working Committee of the All Progressive Party had anointed both Akpabio and Jibrin Barau for Senate President and Deputy Senate President respectively, Yari had kicked against the party’s choice and contested against the party’s choice at all costs.

Having shunned all pleas by the party and boasted of having the backing of 70 percent of the senators, Yari contested against Akpabio and lost the bid to clinch the seat of the Senate President.

Reacting to his defeat at a media brief, Yari said he felt betrayed over the outcome of the election.

Senator Yari, a former governor of Zamfara state said, “I can say there was a betrayal because as we were taking stock at 3 am on Tuesday before the election, we took stock of over 76 people in our team.

“We took into cognisance that there could be a fall out of about 15 and we had agreed that if that happens, we would comfortably still have about 61 people.

“But what we got was the reverse and yes, I felt betrayed over that outcome.”

Senator Yari, however, stated that he was ready to work with the Senate President to work serve Nigerians and build the institution of the National Assembly.

He said, “Life is a circle and as a Muslim, God had decided who would be the president of the Senate for the 10th Assembly and I have no reason not to accept what God has decided.

“I gave the Senate president, the assurance that we are going to work together as a team to protect the institution that we have.

“Also, I have a discussion with my team; I told them for the task ahead of us, we have to support the leadership so that Nigeria can grow better.”

Meanwhile, the Niger East senator, Sani Musa, has denied voting for Yari in the recently concluded National Assembly election.

A list showing how senators voted which was seen by our correspondent and had now gone viral revealed that Senator Musa voted for the former Zamfara governor.

The Niger East senator who was one of the aggrieved senators had also indicated interest in the position of the Deputy Senate President, backed down his ambition and released a statement on Monday night stating that he had aligned with the party’s choice.

Debunking the credibility of the list, Musa said, “It is very important to arrest the attention of the public on the widely circulated document containing the voting choices of Senators and the candidate they voted for.

“After carefully reviewing and scrutinizing the document, it is important that the purveyors (authors) of this fake news tell the public how 64 votes were recorded for Senator Godswill Akpabio as against the 63 votes he scored. And how Senator Abdulazeez Yari scored 45 votes in the document as against the real votes he scored of 46??

“Review and scrutiny of the document show clearly that the author(s) are on a futile attempt of sowing the seed of discord between APC NWC, Presidency, the current President of the Senate and some Senators.”

Musa noted, “We categorically state here that the list is fake, how did the manufacturer of that list know how Senators voted? The motive of that list is best known to the author as he thinks according to his or her perception of thinking and we call on the general public to ignore it.

“Senator Sani Musa voted in line with Mr. President’s aspiration. The election has come and passed, and the 109 Senators have subscribed to unite as one Senate to work for the peace, unity, and progress of the nation.”

“The public need to be extra careful with this kind of blackmail usually spread on social media and other important media platforms,” the Niger East senator added.

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British-Nigerian, 14, Killed in Knife Attack in UK

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UK police named a 14-year-old boy killed in a sword attack in London this week as Daniel Anjorin, as officers released more details about how the violent rampage unfolded.

Anjorin, a British-Nigerian pupil attended Bancroft’s private school in Woodford Green – also attended by Nottingham attack victim Grace O’Malley-Kumar.

He died on Tuesday morning as he walked to school in Hainault, in the east of Britain’s capital, when he was attacked by a man wielding what appeared to be a Samurai-type sword.

Police tasered and arrested the suspect, a 36-year-old man who remains in custody on suspicion of murder. He has not been named and was not previously known to police.

The independent school attended by Anjorin said in a statement Wednesday that they had been left in “profound shock and sorrow” at the pupil’s death.

“He was a true scholar, demonstrating commendable dedication to his academic pursuits. His positive nature and gentle character will leave a lasting impact on us,” Bancroft’s, in Woodford Green, near Hainault, said.

London’s Metropolitan Police force said Tuesday’s horror unfolded just before 7:00 am (0600 GMT) when the accused crashed a van into a house fence, hitting a 33-year-old man before stabbing him in the neck.

A 35-year-old man was then attacked inside a nearby property, causing lacerations to his arm, before Anjorin was killed.

Police arrived on the scene 12 minutes after the first emergency call and attempted to neutralise the suspect with incapacitant spray and a Taser gun but these had little effect.

The suspect seriously injured two police officers, both of whom required surgery on Tuesday and remain in hospital.

One, a woman, suffered severe injuries to her arm and nearly lost a hand, the Met said.

The man fled again as terrified witnesses took cover in houses before police used a Taser to overpower him, detaining him 22 minutes after the initial call.

Police have said the attack was not terror-related.

It came amid a rise in stabbings in the United Kingdom and shortly before voters decide whether to re-elect London mayor Sadiq Khan for a record third term in local elections Thursday.

Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has criticised the opposition Labour Party’s Khan for his record on crime.

Anjorin’s death is the second recent tragedy to hit Bancroft’s, after a former pupil, Grace O’Malley-Kumar, was killed in Nottingham last year as she tried to save her friend from a knife attacker.

Valdo Calocane was sentenced to indefinite detention in a psychiatric hospital for stabbing to death 19-year-old O’Malley-Kumar, fellow student Barnaby Webber and 65-year-old school caretaker Ian Coates.

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Adebogun Commends Tinubu over Rehabilitation of Ikorodu-Imota-Itoikin-Epe Road

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Renowned educationist, and Proprietor/Chief Executive Officer, Caleb Group of Schools, Dr. Oladega Adebogun, has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for speedy and comprehensive rehabilitation of the Ikorodu-Imota-Itoikin-Epe Road, which formerly ranked as one of the worst in Nigeria, and had been albatross to past administrations.

A statement signed by the Director, Public Relations, Caleb University, Imota, Mr. Abimbola Olulesi, and made available to this medium, noted that Adebogun gave his commendation during an interactive session with the media, affirming that President Tinubu, by his singular action, has renewed the hope of residents, motorists and commuters, who had lost hope that the road will ever be repaired, considering its total deplorable state.

He recollected that the Ikorodu-Imota-Itoikin-Epe road, before the rehabilitation, ranked among the worst roads not just in Lagos State but across the country.

“The road usually gets abandoned during the rainy season, and had posed a recurring nightmare to motorists and commuters along the Ikorodu through Imota to Itoikin axis, and as far as Epe. It was a particularly harrowing experience for road users during vacation and festive periods,” Adebogun said.

The Proprietor joyfully noted that it was a huge sigh of relief for residents when the rehabilitation was completed in March this year, reducing Ikorodu to Epe travel time from about two hours to less than thirty minutes.

He added that the rehabilitation of the road is a positive pointer and attestation to the fact that many more development projects promised by the people-oriented, focused and egalitarian government of President Tinubu would be completed and delivered.

Adebogun also commended the Honourable Minister of Works, His Excellency, Dr. Dave Umahi, the Executive Governor of Lagos State, His Excellency Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Senator representing Lagos East Senatorial District, Senator Adetokunbo Abiru for the various roles they played in the actualization of the rehabilitation of Ikorodu-Imota road.

He recalled that Governor Sanwo-Olu had personally visited to access the deplorable condition of the road early this year while Senator Abiru had moved a motion in 2021 on the floor of the Nigerian Senate on, “The Urgent Need for the Rehabilitation of the the Ikorodu-Sagamu and Ikorodu-Itoikin-Epe Roads to further bridge the Infrastructure Gap and Enhance Economic Growth in Nigeria”.

Senator Abiru also has to his credit many laudable achievements which earned him the appellation of “Doing Good Senator” such as: The Senator Abiru Innovation Lab(SAIL), which is “the first of its kind innovation hub” in Lagos East Senatorial District which he set up for young people and entrepreneurs; N300 Million Naira Constituency Intervention Revolving Loan, Health facilities and construction of blocks of classrooms he facilitated across the district, provision of grant to 1,250 market women, award of bursary to 600 higher institution students and monthly support for over 2500 vulnerable constituents. Others include provision of many transformers across Lagos East Senatorial District, building of Epe Sports Complex as well as sponsorship of many legislation and motions of national significance.

Adebogun also remarked that, in less than one year of assuming office, President Tinubu had performed beyond expectation and deserves the goodwill and support of all Nigerians to actualise all aspects of the Renewed Hope Agenda.

He further paid tributes to President Tinubu for the promise announced by the Honourable Minister of Works, Dr. Dave Umahi, that the dualization of the Ikorodu-Imota-Itoikin-Epe Road would commence in earnest as the second phase of the road repair project.

He therefore appealed to all well-meaning Nigerians to put aside mundane differences and join hands with the government for the full realization of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

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No Such Deals Exist, Maersk Debunks $600m Investment Agreement with Nigeria

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A report from Lloyd’s List has debunked the statement of the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government that Maersk has concluded and signed an agreement for a $600 million into the port sector.

The paper’s report reads:

A $600m investment into Nigeria’s port sector from Maersk, announced personally by the West African state’s president Bola Tinubu on Sunday, appears to be less solid than the government initially claimed.

Despite a presidential statement from Tinubu detailing how he had secured the purported investment during a World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh over the weekend, Maersk officials have confirmed that no such agreement is in place and no deals have been signed.

The Nigerian government statement detailed how A.P Moller-Maersk chairman Robert Maersk Uggla had discussed the investment with president Tinubu on the sidelines of a meeting discussing energy development and growth. The statement even included a direct quote attributed to Uggla saying: “We believe in Nigeria, and we will invest $600 million in existing facilities and make the ports accommodating for bigger ships”.

But according to Maersk, that deal does not exist.

Company officials said while Uggla did meet the president, no such deal had been signed.

“Maersk has been present in Nigeria for 35 years and, as a global provider of logistics services, we remain committed to develop opportunities for growth to people, the port sector and businesses locally,” the company said in a statement to Lloyd’s List.

“Therefore, it is natural to have an ongoing dialogue with the administration. However, we are not able to comment on any investment talks.”

Maersk is due to report first-quarter results on Thursday, meaning that management are in a regulatory quiet period limiting what they can say publicly about the company’s activities.

Nigeria has promised to revamp its ports, including in the commercial capital Lagos, to ease congestion.

Tinubu’s statement explained that his government would support the modernisation and automation of its ports to improve trade, reduce corruption and boost efficiency. He claimed that the purported Maersk investment would “complement the administration’s ongoing $1bn investment in seaport reconstruction across the eastern and western seaports of Nigeria”.

“A bet on Nigeria is a winning bet. It is also a bet that rewards beyond what is obtainable elsewhere,” he said. “We need to encourage more opportunities for revenue expansion and minimise trans-shipments from larger ships to smaller ships.”

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