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Edo Community Apreciates COAS Over Peaceful Coexistence
The Idumwowina Community in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo has appreciated the Chief of Army Staff (COAS ), Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, for providing safety net for the indigenes, especially at the Yuletide.
The Odionwere (most elderly) of the community, Pa Daniel Osunde, made the commendation in a statement issued on Sunday in Benin.
He attributed the conspicuous presence of the military in the area as being responsible for the recent experiences of safety and security of lives and property in the community.
According to him, the activities of Operation Still Water 111 and the recent inauguration of the COAS sponsored Civil Military Cooperation Project, the “Pa Igbinomwanhia Uyigue Multi-Purpose Hall”, in the community are commendable and lofty projects.
The Odionwere, while appreciating the COAS and the son of the community, Maj-Gen. Sunday Igbinomwanhia, who attracted and executed the project, noted that the hall would be a veritable source of revenue generation to the community.
“We look forward to good-spirited people and NGOs interested in conducting skill acquisition training for the youths and the disadvantaged in the society to take advantage of the availability of the Multi-Purpose Hall to carry out skill acquisition training programmes for youths of the community in particular and the LGA in general.
“The hall will also help the government in addressing the unemployment problem and in curbing the security challenges experienced across the state and the country,” he said.
Pa Osunde further extolled the past contributions of the project executor, who is also the Force Commander, Operation Whirl Stroke, for the development of the community.
He particularly recalled, among others, his free medical outreach, renovation of primary school in the community, the provision of educational materials, including books, writing and teaching aids, to the pupils and the school authority, the provision of a lawn mower to the school and palliatives to the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lagbaja, had on Dec. 5, inaugurated a 200-capacity Multi-Purpose Hall, fitted with modern accessories as part of the Civil-Military Cooperation project of the Nigerian Army.
Lagbaja was represented by the Chief of Transformation and Innovation in the Nigerian Army, Maj-Gen. Zakari Abubakar.
He had said: “The commissioning of this special intervention civil-military cooperation project represents a significant achievement in the Nigerian Army’s efforts to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities of carrying out crucial activities towards the realisation of our non-kinetic drives.’’
Lagbaja had also extolled Maj-Gen. Igbinomwanhia, describing him as a gallant, responsible and forthright officer who had contributed his quota excellently to the success story of the Nigerian Army over the years.
While thanking the government and the good people of Edo for their support to the Nigerian Army, Lagbaja disclosed that the project was among the 220 COAS sponsored civil-military cooperation projects executed so far nationwide.
According to him, the projects are having a huge impact on the benefiting communities and are a testament to the commitment to building a safer and more prosperous Nigeria.
Former governor of Sokoto State and current Senator, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has reaffirmed his party’s commitment to reclaiming power in 2027.
Speaking on Monday at the launch of a Ramadan aid distribution programme, Tambuwal assured supporters that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would regain its “stolen mandate” in the next general elections.
The initiative, aimed at assisting fasting Muslims during Ramadan, will benefit 30,000 households across Sokoto State.
Tambuwal noted that this effort was in addition to food assistance programmes being carried out by PDP lawmakers at both state and federal levels.
“As you are aware, many people have lost their lives and are no longer with us. By His grace, we are here to witness another Ramadan and provide support to our people once again,” he said.
He expressed gratitude to party leaders and supporters for their commitment, stressing that the PDP remained united in Sokoto.
“We are one big, united family. We shall continue to work together towards reclaiming what has been taken away from us.
In the last elections, our mandate was forcefully stolen, but we are restrategising and reorganising. By the grace of Allah, we will reclaim it in 2027,” Tambuwal declared.
Sokoto State PDP chairman, Comrade Bello Goronyo, echoed similar sentiments, thanking party members for their loyalty.
He criticised the current government, attributing the economic hardships faced by Nigerians to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“We urge the people of Sokoto and Nigerians at large to free themselves from the misgovernance of the APC in 2027,” Goronyo stated.
The PDP’s Ramadan assistance programme includes the distribution of thousands of bags of rice and other essential grains to youth and women-led organisations across the state.
Senator Shehu Sani has downplayed ex-governor Nasir El-Rufai’s defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying the move won’t impact the ruling party’s fortune in the coming elections billed for 2027.
El-Rufai, the immediate past governor of Kaduna State on Monday left the APC, a party he was a founding member, and pitched his tent with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in a move pundits believe will change the political texture of the country.
But Sani, who is also from Kaduna like El-Rufai, believes the former Minister of the FCT holds no political relevance.
“Well, first of all, for those of us from Kaduna State, it [his defection] is a good riddance because he stands as a liability to the party in the state,” the former Kaduna Central senator said on Monday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today, citing the APC’s losses under El-Rufai.
“I can back this with facts. In 2015, APC had two senators. By 2023, all the senatorial zones were taken over by PDP. Out of the 14 House of Representatives seats in Kaduna State, by the time he left [office as governor], almost nine of the seats were won by PDP, two by the Labour Party, and then three by APC. With him as a governor, the APC also lost the presidential election in Kaduna State.”
El-Rufai had cited the party’s departure from progressive ideals as his reason for defection.
“At this point in my political journey, I have come to the conclusion that I must seek another political platform for the pursuit of the progressive values I cherish,” the former governor said.
The former FCT minister was a founding member of the ruling party. He was instrumental to APC’s victory in the 2015, 2019, and 2023 presidential elections. His relationship with the party, however, soured after he was not screened for a ministerial role.
But Sani, who recently returned to the APC, accused El-Rufai of destabilizing the party and believes his defection offers an opportunity for the APC to rebuild and come out stronger.
“So, you can see that by the time he left, already the party was an unpopular platform in the state. So his exit now is an opportunity,” the APC chieftain said.
“For the governor and party leaders of the state to embrace the people of the state and to reconfigure and reset the party towards the next election.”
Oby Ezekwesili, former minister of education, has urged Senate President Godswill Akpabio to step aside until an investigation into Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s claims against him is concluded.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, senator representing Kogi central, had accused the senate president of sexually harassing her.
The allegation followed a heated argument between Akpabio and Akpoti-Uduaghan over seating arrangement.
Subsequently, the senate referred Akpoti-Uduaghan to the committee on ethics, privileges, and public petitions for disciplinary review.
The senator was thereafter suspended for six months.
In a statement on Monday, Ezekwesili demanded that Barau Jibrin, deputy senate president, should preside over a session tasked with conducting a swift and independent investigation into Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition.
The former minister said the senate should reverse the suspension of the senator and retract all punitive measures imposed on her.
“The senate president steps aside, and the deputy senate president immediately convenes a session that rescinds the unconstitutional and illegal suspension of senator Akpoti-Uduaghan and reverses all punitive measures imposed on her so she resumes her duties as a duly elected senator representing her Kogi central constituency and gets the fair hearing due her within senate processes,” Ezekwesili wrote on X.
“Resolve and announce that a prompt independent investigation into the resubmitted petition by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan is imperative and swiftly request ICPC to designate the Independent Investigation consistent with the ICPC Act which designates sexual harassment as one of the corrupt practices it can investigate and prosecute.”
Ezekwesili urged the senate to restructure its ethics committee in response to the allegation, harping on the need to appoint an independent investigator to thoroughly examine the matter.
“Reconstitute the senate ethics and privileges committee under a new chairperson with the mandate to commence a public hearing on the resubmitted petition on sexual harassment by the senate president Akpabio,” she said.
“The committee receives informed recommendations from the Independent Investigation by ICPC-appointed investigator and appearances/oral and written testimonies and evidences from the two parties to the matter — Senators Akpoti-Uduaghan and Akpabio respectively.”
She advised that the findings of the committee should be referred to the attorney-general of the federation for action.
“The senate in plenary receives the report findings and recommendations of the ethics committee, debates and refers the matter to the attorney general as may be appropriate,” she added.
“The senate and HoR partner with women in Nigeria groups and other relevant stakeholders like NBA and Nigeria police to launch a comprehensive diagnostic review of laws, regulations, policies and procedures that prevent SGBV and protect the rights of women in public and private spaces, identify existing barriers and gaps, develop and implement specific action plan on a fast track timeline.”