Senator Shehu Sani has indicated his intention to dump the All Progressives Congress (APC) if the ongoing effort at resolving the crisis in Kaduna state chapter of the party fails.
The Senator, who asked President Muhammadu Buhari and former Lagos Governor, Bola Tinubu, who heads the reconciliation committee, to ensure that all warring factions are treated equally, made it clear: “after all, it is a free world.”
Shehu Sani, who represents Kaduna Central at the Senate, spoke today, Sunday in Abuja while addressing newsmen after meeting with Segun Oni, leader of the party’s fact-finding committee on crisis.
The Senator said that if the crises in Kaduna defied peaceful moves, members may have to take the next step, adding: “and as far as I am concerned, everyone has plan B; even for me, I have plan B, C and D.
“If anyone felt that this party belongs to him and doesn’t belong to me and that I am not needed in the party, there is no way I can continue to remain in the party.”
He said that he was summoned by Oni as his faction of the party could not meet with members of the committee when they visited Kaduna.
Senator Sani said that he is in support of any effort that would restore peace, unity and stability within the party in the state and the country even as he said that it is in the interest of the party not to defer its problems and crises, but to solve them.
“If one person is ready and the other person is not ready, certainly we are not going to make any headway. So, I very much identify myself with any effort that is aimed at bringing peace”, NAN quoted him as saying.
“Our position is this, if the governor of Kaduna state is for peace, we are for peace. If he’s for war, we are also for war and a bigger war.”
The lawmaker, however, said that it was the desire of everyone to come together and work to heal wounds, adding that it is critical to restore confidence and hope in the minds of millions of Nigerians that voted for the APC in 2015.
He complained that a situation where some people within the party were treated as outcasts would not augur well for it even as he said that it is wrong for some people to be categorized as pro-Buhari and others as anti-Buhari within the party.
He said that everyone who is in the APC is pro-Buhari, explaining that the difference is that while some are not sycophants, others are.
He advised President Buhari to personally intervene in the crisis in the party in Kaduna, saying that the president “is the glue that binds the members.
“I still see President Muhammadu Buhari as the glue of APC; if we don’t have Buhari in the APC, everyone will find his way to his home. So, as he remains the glue, he must also be up and doing in addressing these crises.
“As far as I am concerned, the success of this party in the upcoming elections is dependent on how it would be able to manage the crisis and solve the problems.
“The Segun Oni committee came to Kaduna and requested that we should all sheath our sword and bury our hatchet. For now, we only covered our hatchet with leaves.
“We have provided the facts and we are waiting for Tinubu to act on it; as far as I am concerned, I believe that Oni is working with Tinubu. There is no conflict of responsibilities.“
He advised the party’s leadership to avoid the symptoms of crisis that destroyed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). [myad]
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has asked Nigerians to hold members of the National Assembly responsible for the delay in implementing the 2018 budget. In a chat with newsmen in Lagos today, Sunday, Osinbajo said that the executive arm of the government has done its part and was waiting on the federal lawmakers for passage of the appropriation bill.
“We have a democracy that has, as you know, three arms. The two relevant arms for budget are the executive and legislature.
”If you recall when I was Acting President, I signed the 2017 budget and, at that time, I made the announcement with the full consensus of the National Assembly that, from 2018, we are going to have a budget that is going to apply in January and end in December the normal financial year.
”We agreed that we will submit our proposal in good time, and we did that first week of November.
”The President did so. We fulfilled that part of the agreement. The budget is with the National Assembly. There is very little we can do to control that. That’s the system that we have.”
Asked to comment on the seeming rift between the Executive arm of Government and the Legislature, Osinbajo replied: “Well, I’m not so sure that the tensions are unknown.”
“The democratic system anywhere as, for example, in the US where we borrow our bicameral legislature from, you find that despite the fact that the Republican Party controls major part of parliament, it still doesn’t mean that bills are necessary going to go through.
”So, one must assume that the responsibility of the National Assembly is to scrutinize what the executive is doing and not just to be a rubber stamp.
”But I also agree with you entirely that it’s important for us, for the sake of our country, our economy and for the sake of many young people who are relying on us to deliver.
”We ensured that we released our budget on time. I want to believe that the executive has done its part and we wait on the National Assembly.” [myad]
The National Youth League of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has bemoaned the reported defection of Professor Jerry Gana, Tunde Adediran, Alhaji Shehu Gabam and others from the PDP to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Zainab Al-Amin, the PDP youths said: “we the entire members of Peoples Democratic Party National Youth League (PDPNYL) received the news of alleged defection of some leaders of our great party including, Prof Jerry Gana, Prof Tunde Adeniran and Alhaji Shehu Gabam to Social Democratic Party (SDP) with great shock and sadness.
“It is our candid opinion that the least expected of people that have had so much gains from the party is to join hands with the indefatigable leadership of our great party led by Prince Uche Secondus and his team of National Working Committee to rebuild the party for greatness, reposition it and Regain every lost ground.
“While we mourn the exit of the aforementioned leaders from the party, it is our candid belief that the PDP National Youth League will not be broken.
“The PDPNYL shall continue to reach out to and galvanize young Nigerians into our great party to ensure maximum support of the youths ahead of 2019 election.
“The PDPNYL shall always liaise with the office of the National Youth Leader, National Publicity Secretary, National Women Leader, National Secretary, National Chairman and every other relevant organs at all levels to achieve this aim.
“Though we believe that the PDP is the only party that can resoundingly defeat the ruling All Progressive Congress in 2019 and beyond, we wish the aforementioned leaders well in their new found party.” [myad]
A serving Senator, representing Kogi State Central Senatorial area, Ahmed Ogembe, yesterday, attacked by suspected political thugs, even as many of his supporters sustained various degrees of injuries in the fracas.
Information reaching us indicated that Senator Ogembe of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), was set to provide empowerment to 1,000 women from different parts of his senatorial zone, in a popular hotel in Okene, headquarters of Okene local government area when the incidence occurred.
It was gathered that the suspected political thugs allegedly invaded the venue with dangerous weapons at about 8am, destroyed the venue and injured several women, who had gone for the programme.
It was further learnt that shortly after the invasion, the state government allegedly issued a statement proscribing all activities in Kogi Central because of security challenges.
However, despite the attack, Senator Ogembe still held the empowerment programme at the same venue, telling thousands of his supporters and the beneficiaries that he believed the governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, had no hand in the attack.
He stressed that it was sad that some people wanted to impress the governor and that was why they took the law into their hands.
He advised those behind the attack to desist from it and find another means of assisting the governor rather than creating problem for him.
He also disclosed that the issue has been reported to appropriate authority for investigation. [myad]
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has said that he will formally declare his 2019 presidential ambition on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform in two weeks.
Atiku, who holds the traditional title of Waziri of Adamawa, disclosed this today, Saturday in Abuja, at the formal launch of the Street to Street Support Initiative (SSSI) for Atiku 2019 and the inauguration of national, zonal and states officers of the organization, led by National President and Head of Administration, Wabara Emeka Gerald.
He was represented at the event by the National Chairman of Atiku Cares Foundation and Director Youth of Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organization (AACO), Aliyu Bin Abbas.
According to him, the former vice president was overwhelmed by the support and love shown him across the country, especially in his bid for the presidency.
“He nearly shed tears when he (Atiku) asked me to reschedule another engagement to represent him here as he was overwhelmed by the massive support given to him by Nigerians especially the youths in his 35-year experience of being a politician.
“He has suffered a lot from the hand of politicians but is consoled by the increasing support by Nigerians. In two weeks’ time by Gods’ Grace he will formally open his campaign office in Abuja on the platform of the PDP.
“His message is that it is high time for Nigerians to vote out those in government due to their failure of helping the country out of its predicament and only resort to propaganda; and use and dump tactics,” he said.
On his part, the Chairman of the Intellectual Think Tank for Atiku, Theophilus Ohoba lamented the failed promises of change by APC administration
Some of the inaugurated national leaders were National President and Head of Administration Wabara Emeka Gerald, national director contact and mobilization John Dunu, national secretary Lilian Uju Dizo, national women leader Hajia Zainab Mohammed and national publicity secretary Rev Emmanuel Oyelowo among others.
Gerald, after the inauguration, said Atiku is known for his non-tribalism move to lead Nigerians to the promise land in his administration if he emerged President. [myad]
Four-time Olympic gold medalist, Serena Williams has, again won, the 2017 Sportsman of the year across the world, for the fifth time running.
She was named by the Laureus World Sports Awards at a ceremony in Monaco. Her 11 nominations for the international honor is also a record.
In addition to her dominant play in the Grand Slams, Serena Williams has competed in four Olympics since 2000, missing only the 2004 Games.
She has one gold medal in singles, won in 2012 in London, and three gold medals in doubles (2000, 2008, 2012).
Entering the 2016 Olympics, she and her sister, Venus Williams were undefeated in Olympic doubles at 15-0 and were the winning doubles team in Olympic history.
The Chief Medical Director of DNA Centre in Lagos, Dr. Abiodun Salami, has cautioned men to be wary of children presented to them by their wives as their own.
Dr. Abiodun Salami, who is a forensic geneticist, said that 30 per cent of fathers are unknowingly nurturing and investing in children who are not biologically theirs, adding that 50 per cent of all paternity tests carried out in his laboratory came out negative and mostly affected were first born children.
“Several surveys have shown that approximately three men in 10 are living under the deception that they are the fathers of another man’s children and with advances in genetic testing, they are more likely than ever to find out the shocking truth. Half of the paternity disputes and tests we carried out in two years showed that the fathers were not biologically related to their children especially when the dispute arose on paternity of first born children.
“We have seen cases of paternity disputes where even the two men claiming paternity to a child are excluded as the biological fathers from test results leaving the mother to look elsewhere for the child’s biological father. I have witnessed shocking cases where men discover that three or four children out of five they had were not fathered by them.”
Dr. Salami, in an interview, attributed the increase in paternity disputes and deceptions to infidelity, adultery and increase in sexual recklessness among Nigerian couples.
“This percentage is increasing because of sexual recklessness. Recent trends in sexual health especially in Nigeria suggest that unprotected sex and multiple partners’ relationships are a common occurrence. Another issue is poor family planning among women. Most first born pregnancies are still unplanned.
“I have seen and discussed with women who for one reason or other decide in their own wisdom to give another man’s child to their husbands without the husband’s knowledge.
“As a geneticist, I deal on a daily basis with the fall-out of adultery and other manifestations of selfish behaviour of spouses to their partners. Reproductive deception is morally similar to rape.”
He said that naturally, when a case of paternity dispute arises in a family, relatives, husbands are quick to accuse the woman. It is assumed that a mother should be able to accurately disclose who the biological father of her child is.
Dr. Salami noted that only a DNA test could be used to confirm who fathered a child even as he said that more babies are increasingly being switched without their mothers’ knowledge by nurses, birth attendants and health workers in hospitals.
According to him, baby switches are happening at a disturbing rate in Nigerian hospitals, attributing these mix-ups to avoidable errors or malfeasance.
Dr. Salami condemned the use of corresponding ID bracelets between mothers and their babies, the most prevalent method in Nigerian hospitals ,which he said, often lead to mix-ups since such bracelets could fall off babies’ ankles or wrists and lead to nurses misreading infants to mothers’ bracelet information.
Apart from the ID mix-ups, he said bed mix-ups by health workers often happen especially in general wards especially after babies have been removed for bathing or treatment.
Dr. Salami, sharing an experience said, “I witnessed a case where a friend gave birth to a child and I went to visit, only for the father who was present at the delivery of the baby to come back to the hospital in the evening to say, to the surprise of everyone present that the baby the hospital presented was not his baby because his baby was born with dreadlocks just like him.
“He had to escort the doctors to identify his baby inside one of the cribs. This happened right inside one of the biggest and well known hospitals in Ikeja, Lagos.
“In the light of some of these shortcomings, we encourage maternal DNA testing because if we exclude her, we have established a case of infidelity against her, whereas her baby was switched at the hospital.”
He also urged mothers who doubt or suspect that their babies have been switched to voice their concerns as such cases could be investigated and documented for future references.
“Many people get home and look at a child and wonder if they brought home the right baby. In some reported cases, mothers have voiced their concerns while at the hospital, but did not get the chance to find out the truth until years later through DNA tests.
“To an ordinary person, this may look rare or even sound strange as most cases of babies switched at birth are either undocumented or unknown.”
However, as beneficial as paternity DNA testing is, the importance of the DNA testing is still unpopular and often times regarded as irrelevant in Nigeria.
Dr. Salami said that most Nigerians often use physical resemblance to fathers as a test of paternity.
“Unfortunately, Nigerians still use physical attributes to determine the paternity of a child. We have seen numerous cases where a child resembles a father, but accurate DNA test results show that such child and father are not related.
“Determination of paternity using physical attributes has led to a situation where illegitimate children have caused untold hardships to families,” he explained.
Shedding more light on the importance of the test as a means of identification, a haematologist with the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, who pleaded an anonymity because he is not the hospital’s official spokesperson, called on government to provide DNA testing and banking (storing) facilities.
He said with these facilities, families could still make DNA verification after parties involved are dead.
Olowoshelu said a sample of the deceased tissues that had been stored could be used and if no biological samples from the alleged father are available, grand parentage testing could be a viable option.
“If one or both paternal grandparents are unavailable for testing, other family relationship tests–such as genetic reconstructions and siblings’ tests, using the deceased brothers or sisters may be performed to indirectly determine a child’s paternity,” he said.
Earlier, Dr. Salami stated that poor DNA profiling and documentation due to lack of facilities and personnel had made this procedure a luxury to many Nigerians. He noted that such stored samples could help solve legal and financial disputes.
“Nigerians must take DNA testing and profiling and banking seriously. There are different reasons to establish paternity including the need to lay claims to a financial support.
“Government must provide DNA testing facilities such that we can have reference DNA for individuals should their remains need to be identified especially for those in high-risk employment such as the military, police, pilots, air hostesses and even those that fly the Nigerian airspace on regular basis.
“We can bank their DNA as a reference in cases of future paternity tests should some parties contest or make claims on inheritances that are not theirs,” he said.
The Olowu of Owu Kingdom, Oba Adegboyega Dosunmu has made it clear to the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, that Owu people are not under the control of his kingdom.
The Olowu, who reacted to the recent media comment attributed to the office of Alake, where he was quoted as opposing the desire for Owu Traditional Council to have the Olowu as the Paramount Ruler, Oba Adegboyega Dosunmu said that Owu People are independent ethnic group different from the Egbas; and as a result, they are not under the control of the Alake or any other Egba Oba.
In a statement today, Saturday, by Oganla of Owu Kingdom, Alhaji Saheed Akinmade, the Olowu said: “our attention has been drawn to a publication captioned “Stop lobbying Government, Alake cautions Olowu”, with the rider, “Says we can’t have two paramount rulers in Egbaland.
“Since neither the publication nor its contents have been denied or refuted by Alake of Egbaland, our conclusion is that the publication was a true reproduction of Chief Lawal’s statement.
“Since the statement contains erroneous and misguided views that must be corrected immediately, we have decided to issue this counter statement.”
He noted that the Owu people also have the right to continue with the appeal to the State Government, to have Owu Traditional Council and Olowu as the Paramount Ruler because it is legitimate right.
“There are two Paramount ruler in Ogun East Senatorial District, the Awujale for Ijebu and the Akarigbo for Remo.
“Meanwhile, Ogun central is larger than Ogun East and therefore deserves another paramount ruler, more so, the Olowu domain also extends to some parts of Ogun west,” he added.
A close aide of Alake, Baapitan of Egbaland, Chief Adebola Lawal had earlier spoken on behalf of the the Alake of Egba land where he said that the existence of two paramount rulers in the ancient city of Abeokuta, Ogun state was not possible.
Chief Lawal had said: “Owu is not different from Egba. If the people of Owu feel they are not Egba, why not pack their loads and leave this place? Why is Owu different from Egba? Are they not on Egba land?” [myad]
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres has announced the evacuation of all humanitarian personnel and the temporary suspension of all humanitarian deliveries in Rann town, in Borno State.
“All humanitarian personnel have been evacuated from Rann, and all humanitarian deliveries in the area have been temporarily suspended.”
The evacuation of all the humanitarian workers followed attacks on Thursday, by Boko Haram insurgents, which left three aid workers dead and many other injured.
The UN called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to apprehend and prosecute those who carried out the attack on Rann town even as it condemned the killing of three aid workers in Rann by suspected Boko Haram insurgents.
The UN chief recalled that attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure violated international humanitarian law.
“Those responsible for these and other atrocities in Nigeria must be apprehended and prosecuted,” the UN scribe said.
The Secretary-General called on all the parties to ensure at all times the protection of all civilians.
According to the UN, at least one other aid worker remains critically injured and another three are still missing while eight members of the Nigerian national security forces were also killed.
The UN chief said: “at the time of the attack, over 40 humanitarian workers were in Rann.” [myad]
Saudi Arabian government has come out with a rule to impose a compulsory levy equivalent of N163,000 on all Nigerian pilgrims, who regularly visit the Holy land to perform Hajj and or Umrah.
The levy, which was announced by the Saudi Arabian Hajj Ministry and it became fully effective during the 2017 Hajj exercise, is aside from the introduction of a five per cent Value Added Tax on all services, exclude food items and medical drugs.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Barrister Mukhtar Abdullahi Muhammad made these known in Sokoto today, Saturday, at a sensitization campaign organized by the Commission for prospective pilgrims and officials of the Pilgrims Welfare Agencies (PWA), from Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States.
He said that the pilgrims are to pay SR2,000, an equivalent to N163,000, which was exclusive of the substantive fare for the 2018 Hajj that is yet to be announced by the federal government.
The NACON boss, who was represented by the National Commissioner in Charge of Operations, Alhaji Abdullahi Sale, said that the campaign was organized to intimate the nation’s prospective pilgrims. [myad]
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