News
Atiku’s Campaign Venue Revocation: We’re Not Surprised -PDP Campaign Council
… Atiku Not Holding Rally In Our Facility -UniPort
By Anayo Onukwugha, Port Harcourt
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Campaign Council in Rivers State, has said it was not surprised at the decision of the state government to revoke the earlier approval it gave for the use of the Adokiye Amesiamaka Stadium, Igwurita-Ali, Port Harcourt as venue for the party’s presidential campaign rally.
The state government had in a letter dated January 31, 2023 and addressed to the Director-General of the Campaign Council and Sokoto State Governor, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, announced the revocation of the approval.
The letter, which was signed by the Commissioner for Sports, Barrister Christopher Green, said the decision was based on a credible intelligence available to the state government.
But, speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt, spokesman of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council in Rivers State, Dr. Leloonu Nwibubasa, said the party has before made arrangements for it’s campaign rally in the state.
Nwibubasa said: “The clause that we can only access the approved venue for the campaign rally 48 hours before event was very ridiculous. We have had our plans and we are not taken by surprise.
“One good thing this had given to us and to Rivers people who are very much in high spirit to vote our presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is that it has risen our courage to vote for our presidential candidate. It won’t deter us from campaigning. The ultimate goal is to vote for Atiku Abubakar.”
Meanwhile, the University of Port Harcourt, has debunked reports on social media that the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, will use it’s facility for his campaign rally in Rivers State.
The university’s Public Relations Officer, Dr. Sammy Kpenu, in a statement made available to LEADERSHIP in Port Harcourt yesterday, said the management of the institution has not authorized any political campaign rally in it’s facility.
The statement reads in part: “The attention of the authorities of University of Port Harcourt has been drawn to an online report credited to one Mr Humble lion with the telephone number +234 7031061646 making the rounds on the social media that “ATIKU Presidential Campaign holds @UniPort.”
“The Management wishes to state as follows: That Management has not authorized any political campaign rally at the University.
“That the University is not a political ground for political campaigns and that it is not contemplating releasing its facility to the Atiku Campaign Council
“The public is, therefore, called upon to discountenance this deliberate falsehood aimed at tarnishing the towering reputation of the University as it is simply a figment of the imagination of the author.
“The Institution warns the originator of this falsehood to desist forthwith or face the wrath of the law. Meanwhile, this issue has been reported to law enforcement agencies for appropriate action.”
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it has intercepted 589 bags of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, worth N1,042,500,000 only in street value in a Lagos hotel.
It said the illicit drug, with a total weight of 417.3 kilograms, was seized during an operation in the 80-room hotel in Victoria Island, which it said was used as cover for distributing illicit substances.
It disclosed that no fewer than three were arrested in the course of the operation at the five-storey hotel building between Friday April 25 and Saturday April 26, 2025, while two other suspects were currently at large.
The NDLEA, in a statement by its Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, explained that the items suspected to be proceeds of illicit drug trade recovered from the hotel included a Toyota Prado Landcruiser SUV, Toyota Sienna, Volkswagen Delivery Van, Kia Ceranto, Grand Caravan Dodge, 74 new TV sets, 10 used TV sets, and 13 refrigerators, among others.
It further disclosed that the agency intercepted over two million pills of tramadol in Kano and Jigawa states.
The NDLEA explained that its operatives, acting on intelligence, on April 23 seized consignments of opioids being moved from Kano to the Niger Republic and Yobe State, through Jigawa.
It noted that the psychoactive substances were being moved in a Toyota Sienna vehicle at about 2:30 am along Kano- Ringim Road, Gumel town, when anti-narcotic officers on patrol intercepted them and arrested two suspects.
Recovered from the Sienna vehicle were 200,000 pills of 250mg of tramadol and 217,500 capsules of pregabalin.
“A swift follow up operation in Kano led to the arrest of the supplier at his residence located at Mil Tara, Layin Technical area of Kano, while additional 1,584,000 pills of 250mg of tramadol stacked inside a Nissan 18-seater bus and a room in his house were discovered and evacuated.
“This brings the total number of the recovered opioids to 2,001,500 pills,” the statement read in part.
According to the statement, another shipment of 46 wraps of cocaine weighing 547 grams hidden in body cream bound for the Middle East country, was intercepted at a courier firm in Lagos on April 23.
It said the seizure came barely a week after NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) uncovered 20 parcels of cocaine concealed inside religious books bound for Saudi Arabia at a logistics company in Lagos.
It also said another consignment intercepted the same day included 1.8kg pentazocine injection and 60 grams bromazepam tablets heading for Canada.
Babafemi, in the statement, further disclosed that three Ghanaian ladies were on arrested on April 20 at the Gbaji checkpoint, at the Seme border area of Badagry, Lagos, by NDLEA operatives while attempting to smuggle 4.8kilograms of Ghana Loud, a strong strain of cannabis into Nigeria.
“While commending the officers and men of DOGI, Lagos, Kano, Jigawa, Edo and Seme commands of the agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.) equally praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for ensuring a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts,” he added.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has cautioned Nigerians against the excessive desire for money.
The agency issued the advice in a terse post on its X handle on Sunday.
“Love money too much, and Ponzi schemes will love you …..as their next target….be guided, the Eagle loves you all,” the post read.
This is coming amid ongoing investigation into the alleged fraud perpetrated by a digital investment platform, CryptoBank Exchange (CBEX).
CBEX had reportedly crashed on April 14, leading to the loss of billions of naira belonging to Nigerian investors.
Several videos online had shown some Nigerians raising the alarm over the loss of their funds to the scheme.
The EFCC had on Friday declared eight persons wanted over their alleged involvement in a fraudulent scheme linked to the online trading platform.
The move came on the heels of the Federal High Court in Abuja granting the EFCC’s request to arrest and detain persons found promoting the CBEX scheme.
Justice Emeka Nwite, issued the order following submissions by the counsel for the EFCC, Fadila Yusuf, seeking the court’s approval to detain the promoters pending the conclusion of investigations into the alleged offences and their possible prosecution.
The EFCC stated that during the investigation, it found that ST Technologies, while registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission, was not authorised by the Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct investment activities.
Furthermore, it said the defendants had vacated their last known addresses in Lagos and Ogun States.
The EFCC had argued that a warrant of arrest was necessary to place the defendants on a red watch list to facilitate their capture and ensure they face charges.
The commission said its investigation had also established a prima facie case of an investment scam and that granting the application was in the interest of justice.
During an interview on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, The Morning Brief, on April 16, the EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, advised Nigerians against investing in a business without considering the legal framework that regulates it.
Oyewale said, “We know that for every business concern, you declare your profit either quarterly, annually or bi-annually, but if somebody says, ‘Bring your money; I’m going to give you a return in 30 days,’ you know that is not realistic; it’s just not pragmatic.
“Or if somebody says, ‘If you bring your money, we’re going to give you a 100% return on investment,’ that is not possible”.
Jesutega Onokpasa, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says President Bola Tinubu has “failed woefully” based on the performance of his administration.
Speaking in an interview with Arise Television on Sunday, Onokpasa warned that Tinubu may end up being a one-term president if he did not improve in his performance.
Onokpasa also wondered why Sheriff Oborevwori, governor of Delta, who he referred to as his cousin, defected to the APC.
The APC chieftain said the governor’s defection to the ruling party does not add any value to the APC or the state.
Onokpasa added that the ruling party should not focus on the defection of opposition politicians into its fold but on good governance.
He said the defections of opposition leaders to the APC negate the principles of democracy.
“It is not a question of people defecting to our party. It is a question of are we ruling well? In that sense, we failed woefully,” he said.
“President Bola Tinubu has failed woefully to rule well, provide food for Nigerians, and give succour in these hard times.
“Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, who recently defected to our party, is actually my cousin. I don’t have the slightest idea why he defected to our party. He did not inform me. I wish him well.
“I don’t think it has value to him, our party, or Delta state.
“The whole idea of packing people into our party—that is not democracy. The interesting thing is that you must always have opposition because people must disagree. The idea of a one-party state is simply unattainable.
“There must be disagreement. Even in our party, we disagree.
“I can tell you for free that at the rate we are going, all these things (defections) won’t help us in 2027. If we are not careful, Bola Tinubu will end up as a one-term president. Quote me anywhere.”