Today's Headlines: 25% FCT Votes: Atiku, Obi’s Position Pedestrian –APC; Anger as Petrol Price Rises
25% Abuja votes: Atiku, Obi’s Position on FCT Pedestrian –APC
According to THE SUN, the All Progressives Congress, APC, has faulted the submission by Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Peter Obi of Labour Party, LP, that President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu ought not to have been declared winner of the February 25 election on account of not polling at least 25 per cent of valid votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory(FCT).
The ruling Party in its final written address, filed in response to the petitions by Atiku and Obi before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), dated July 14, 2023, described the position of the two presidential candidates in the 2023 general election as pedestrian and preposterous.
Lead counsel to the APC legal team, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) argued that Abuja voters have no veto power to singularly hang the outcome of the presidential election that is otherwise conclusive.
He asserted that FCT is not part of the constituent units of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it is not a State, but it is inhabited by all Nigerians with equal rights to vote outside the Territory.
Anger, Agony as Petrol Price Rises to N617
According to THE SUN newspaper, agony, anger and condemnation has greeted the increase in pump price of petrol which saw it jumping to over N600 per litre.
The national daily reports that the Labour Party (LP), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) have all condemned the increment in unequivocal terms.
Spokesperson of the NLC, Benson Upah, advised the government to retrace its steps on the development.
The Labour Party, LP, in its reaction said Nigerians do not deserve what they are getting from the government. Acting National Publicity Secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh, expressed fears that the latest adjustment was just the beginning of hard times for Nigerians under the President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.
The NUJ, in a statement by the National Secretary, Shuaibu Usman Leman, lamented that the development has led to a surge in the prices of food items and transportation across the nation.
Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Musa-Rafsanjani, in a statement, accused Government of being insensitive to the plight of Nigerians.
For Ibuchukwu Ezike, the Executive Director of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Nigerians must rise up in defiance to the plot by government to further make life difficult for them.
Kaduna-based Public Relations expert and public commentator on national issues, Malam Muhammad Garba, said President Tinubu has lost control of good governance he promised Nigerians right from day one.
Gunmen Attack Enugu Police Station, Cart Away Arms
VANGUARD newspaper reports that gunmen, in the early hours of yesterday, attacked Isi-Uzo Divisional police station in Ikem, Enugu State, and carted away arms and ammunition.
According to the national daily, the assailants stormed the unfenced police station at 2a.m., in a Toyota Sienna bus, shouting for the release of the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
3 Killed as Security tives, IPOB Clash in Delta
Three suspected members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, have been killed in a clash with security operatives at Obodogwugwu area of Okpanam community, Oshimili North Local Government Area, Delta State, VANGUARD newspaper reports.
The incident, occurred on Monday when the IPOB members stormed the area, shooting sporadically in an operation that lasted for several hours.
The State Police Public Relations Officer of the State Command, Mr. Bright Edafe said in a statement, “They came out and we heard they were shooting in the air, so we mobilized to the place led by the Divisional Police Officer.
“We were able to neutralize three of them and recovered one AK-47 riffle and one pump action.
“The operation started in the night but they came out in the morning and we went there immediately. The operation lasted for hours because they were running and we were going after them and neutralized three of them.”
PDP Stalwart, Idahosa, Faults Onaiyekan Over 2023 Elections
THE SUN reports that a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, Charles Idahosa, has faulted comments by the Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, that the 2023 election was the worst in Nigeria’s history.
Idahosa said the 2023 elections remained one of the best in the country with the kind of upsets it created and new colouration in the National Assembly where not less than eight political parties won seats.
He alleged that the claim by Onaiyekan was sponsored propaganda by opposition parties, especially the Labour Party, LP, in a last bid to influence the decision of the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC.
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