Today's Headlines:Kwara Assembly Confirms 18 Commissioner-Nominees;Aregbesola Launches APC Caucus
Kwara Assembly Confirms 18 Commissioner-Nominees
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The Kwara State House of Assembly on Tuesday confirmed the nomination of 18 persons as Commissioners as sent to it by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
This confirmation was sequel to their screening and consideration at the assembly’s Committee of Whole during Tuesday’s plenary.
The move was in line with Section 182 Sub-Section 1 and 2 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The newly-confirmed Commissioner-nominees include Dr Amina Ahmed El-Imam (Offa), Folashade Opeyemi (Ekiti), Abdulqowiyu Olododo (Ilorin East), Olaitan Buraimah Abosede (Oyun), Senior Ibrahim Sulyman (Ilorin West) and Hawa Nuru (Ilorin West).
Others are Aliyu Kora Sabi (Baruten), Dr Segun Ogunshola (Ifelodun), Abdul-Azeez Kola (Asa), Abdullahi Batta (Kaiama), Saadah Maddibo-Kawu (Ilorin South) and Shehu Ndanusa (Edu).
The rest are Dr Mary Arinde (Oke-Ero), Bolanle Odukuju (Irepodun),
Toyosi Thomas, Usman Lade (Pategi), Damilola (Isin) and John Bello (Moro).
In the same vein, the House of Assembly also confirmed Jemilah Adamu Bake from the state’s Baruten Local Government Area as Commissioner, Kwara State Civil Service Commission.
The Speaker of the House, Mr Yakubu Salihu, directed the Clerk of the House, Alhaji Ahmed Abdul-Kareem, to communicate the notice of the confirmation of the nominees to the Governor.
NAN
Aregbesola Launches APC Caucus
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The immediate past Minister of Interior, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, on Tuesday launched a caucus called ‘Omoluabi Caucus’ within the fold of the All Progressives Congress in Osun state, and reassured of his commitment to the progressive ideals.
Speaking at the launch held in Ilesa, Osun State, which attracted members of the party across the state, the ex-Osun State governor, who explained that political parties are an amalgamation of different interests and tendencies, described Omoluabi Caucus as one of the many caucuses within APC in the state.
Aregbesola, who further said the Omoluabi Caucus was a ‘union of like-minds in the state’ stated further, “The Omoluabi Tendency is a caucus within the All Progressives Congress (APC); actually one of the caucuses in the state. We are not a faction. We are the genuine foundation members of the party and we have no intention of abandoning the ship of the party as it navigates the most turbulent waters.
“We are no sprinters, but long-distance runners and we will still be standing when all the fair weathers have gone.
“A political party is actually an agglomeration of interests and tendencies. Reading well from the United States where we borrowed the Presidential System, we can see that the Republican Party is made up of big businesses, nationalists, religious right and others.
“The Democratic Party, on the other hand, is composed of welfarists, labour unions, ethnic and sexual minorities and others. “They are together in the party because their interests are broadly similar and they believe the party is the right vehicle for them to realise their goals. Sometimes they compete and clash, but for the most part, they cooperate and form strong bonds to give their party victory in every election cycle. The party loses any time this bond is broken.”
According to him, the launch of the Omoluabi Caucus was to renew the path of the members in progressive politics, as inherited from Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and Chief Bola Ige, amongst other progressives, who epitomise the Omoluabi ethos, noting that the loss of the party in the state could be traced to the departure from the progressive ideals.
He, however, predicted that the party would bounce back to its winning ways, stressing that “What we have come to do here today is to renew our commitment to the path of progressive ideology and politics as inherited from our great past heroes, beginning from Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin, Chief Abraham Adesanya, Chief Bola Ige and others in the pantheon of progressive politics too numerous to mention.
“Emerging from the ashes of the near annihilation of our party in the governorship election of 2022 and the general election earlier this year, we should rise up and renew our strength and reclaim our place in the political firmament in Osun.”
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LP Will Win Imo Gov Poll–Obi
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The presidential candidate of the Labour Party for the February 25 presidential election, Peter Obi, has said that his party would win the November 11 governorship election in Imo State.
Speaking in Owerri, the state capital, on Tuesday at the flag-off of the campaigns for the party in the state, Obi said that LP is known for performance and excellence.
Using Abia State, which his party controls, as an example of good governance, Obi said that the people of Abia State now have hope and are witnessing good governance because a “first-class brain” who knows what he is doing is now the governor of the state.
AU Plans Fresh Sanctions–Abdulsalami
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The African Union has suspended the Republic of Niger from all its activities following last month’s military coup in the country.
In a communiqué issued on Tuesday, the union noted that its decision to suspend Niger followed the failure of the military junta to hand over power to the democratically elected President, Mohamed Bazoum.
“The AU decides, in line with the relevant AU instruments, in particular, the AU Constitutive Act, the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance, to immediately suspend the participation of the Republic of Niger in all activities of the AU and its organs and institutions until the effective restoration of constitutional order in the country.
“The AU, in this regard, calls upon all member states of the AU and the international community, including bilateral and multilateral partners at large, to reject this unconstitutional change of government and to refrain from any action likely to grant legitimacy to the illegal regime in Niger,” the communiqué read.
The turnout is a sequel to back-and-forth negotiations and threats from concerned stakeholders to see to the restoration of democracy in the Sahel state.
Meanwhile, a former Nigerian Military Head of State and envoy of the Economic Community of West African States for peaceful resolution in Niger, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, expressed hope on Tuesday that the meeting in Niger with the coup leaders was very fruitful and could lead to a positive result.
“Nobody wants to go to war,” he told reporters in Abuja after briefing Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on the mission.
Speaking with State House correspondents after the meeting with President Bola Tinubu, Abubakar noted that the visit to Niger was a fruitful one and channels for diplomacy have been opened.
While giving further details of his discussions with the President, the elder statesman said, “As you are aware, the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government have made me an envoy to the Niger Republic, and we were there over the weekend to see the military people and discuss finding a way out of the lacuna we find ourselves in. So that’s why I’m here this afternoon, together with the President of the ECOWAS Commission, to give a report back to Mr President on our discussions in Niger.
“I must say that our visit to Niger has been very fruitful and that it has opened an avenue to start talking, and hopefully we’ll get somewhere.”
Reacting to the Niger junta’s announcement that power will be handed over to a democratically elected government in three years, Abubakar said, “Well, like I said, we’ve started talking. They made their own points, and then I made my report to the Chairman of the ECOWAS Heads of State and President. He will now consult with his colleagues, and then the ding-dong starts, and we’ll hopefully get somewhere.
“Hopefully diplomacy will see the better of this. Nobody wants to go to war; it doesn’t pay anybody, but then again, our leaders have said if all fails, and I don’t think all will fail, we’ll get somewhere; we’ll get out of this mess.”
In its communiqué, the AU Peace and Security Council said on Tuesday that it had noted ECOWAS’s decision to activate a standby force and asked the AU Commission to assess the economic, social, and security implications of deploying such a force.
It also said it had asked the AU Commission to compile a list of members of the junta and their supporters for targeted sanctions and “the application of individual punitive measures.”
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