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NAF to establish base in Abia

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10 months ago

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The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, has expressed the readiness of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) to build a base in Abia.
Abubakar made this known on Friday when he paid courtesy visit to Gov. Alex Otti of Abia State in Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area.
He said that the decision to institute the presence of NAF in Abia was informed by the need to boost security in the state and South-East Geopolitical Zone.
Abubakar said that he was in Abia to engage in meaningful dialogue with the state government, exploring opportunities for partnership between NAF and Abia State.
He appealed to the state government for a parcel of land to facilitate the placement of necessary NAF’s facilities.
According to him, this will enable the Force’s presence to provide effective and decisive kinetic response to threats, enhance national security, as well as contributing to security in Abia and environs.
“I want to appreciate your foresight in requesting for the presence of the Nigerian Air Force in Abia.
“This will not only boost security of the entire state, but would provide invaluable support in emergency response, disaster management and community development initiatives of Abia.
“I hereby express the Nigerian Air Force’s willingness to take advantage of the opportunity to further extend its reach in the employment of airpower response in national security imperatives, especially with Abia and by extension, the South-East region,” he said.
Abubakar commended the governor for his visionary leadership style and judicious management of public resources, focused on  improving the living standards of the people of Abia.
He also commiserate with the government on the unfortunate incident which led to the loss of five soldiers at the Obikabia Junction in Aba.
Abubakar advocated for effective implementation of measures that would facilitate improvement of civil-military relations, for better socio-economic growth.
The Chief of the Air Staff assured that the Nigerian Air Force would partner with the government and other security agencies to enhance security in the state.
Responding, Gov. Otti described the approval for the establishment of an Air Force Base in Abia as a welcome development, and promised that the government would provide land for NAF to site its operations.
He said that a temporary site would be provided in Umuahia, to serve as its take off location; as well as operational vehicle; official residence and other logistics.
Otti expressed confidence that the  establishment of an Air Force Base in Abia would further complement the government’s efforts to enhance security of lives and property in the state.
According to him, the relative peace experienced in the state is an outcome of the efforts of the government and security agencies.
He said that security had remained a top priority and Abia Government would support the Nigerian Air Force to perform optimally in the state.
Otti described the visit as timely, especially with the Federal Government’s approval for the establishment of an Airstrip in the state.
He said that the government was commitment in partnering with the Federal Government to expand the airstrip to an airport. (NAN)
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National

JUST IN: Supreme Court sets aside judgment recognising Abure as LP’s National Chairman

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3 hours ago

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April 4, 2025

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The Supreme Court has set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja recognising Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP).

In a unanimous judgment on Friday, a five-member panel of the apex court held that the Court of Appeal lacked the jurisdiction to have pronounced Abure National Chairman of the LP having earlier found that the substance of the case was about the party’s leadership.

It held that issue of leadership was internal affair of a party over which courts lacked jurisdiction.

The court allowed the appeal filed by Senator Ester Nenadi Usman and one other and held that it was meritorious.

It proceeded to dismiss the cross-appeal filed by the Abure faction of the LP got being unmeritorious.

Details shortly…

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National

Hakeem Baba-Ahmed resigns as presidential political adviser

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4 hours ago

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April 4, 2025

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Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, special adviser on political matters to Vice-President Kashim Shettima, has resigned from his position, According to Daily Trust.

The newspaper quoted sources as saying that the former spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) resigned two weeks ago.

President Bola Tinubu appointed Baba-Ahmed as special adviser on political matters to Shettima in September 2023.

Baba-Ahmed is the elder sibling of Datti Baba-Ahmed, vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election.

Baba-Ahmed served as chief of staff to Bukola Saraki, former senate president, from 2017-2019.

CONFRONTATION WITH MATAWALLE OVER NEF

In April 2024, Bello Matawalle, minister of state for defence, described the NEF as a “political paperweight” after the group stated that the north made a mistake voting Tinubu in 2023.

In his reaction to Matawalle’s remarks, Baba-Ahmed said it would have served the Tinubu administration better if Matawalle had listed his achievements as minister — and the achievements of the other northern appointees — instead of attacking NEF.

“Scathing criticism of NEF by a junior minister of defence, Matawalle, is ill-advised. He could have done a better job for this admin if he identified contributions of especially northern ministers and other appointees like me to improving security and reducing poverty in the North,” Baba-Ahmed said.

In a riposte, the minister said any appointee must defend and promote the administration they work for.

“Dr. Baba-Ahmed’s relationship and affinity with Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF) is well-known,” Matawalle said.

“The fact now is that he is an appointee of the administration as Special Adviser and it is incumbent on him to work for the success of the government he is part of, protect and defend the government against unjust and vicious attacks from those who hide under ethnic and other primordial interests to heat up the polity for myopic reasons.

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“It is pertinent to state that every appointee of President Tinubu including Dr. Baba-Ahmed owes the government a copious duty to promote, elucidate and advance the good works and commendable efforts of the government across all sectors.”

He added that northern appointees must defend the government or take their exit.

Matawalle is a native of Zamfara while Baba-Ahmed hails from Kaduna.

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National

INEC: We are not partisan in failed recall of Natasha

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5 hours ago

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April 4, 2025

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has denied being partisan in handling the failed recall of the Senator representing Kogi Central, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of INEC, Rotimi Oyekanmi, who was on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, explained how the Commission handled the process.

“In the case of the Kogi Central District, we received a petition and a cover letter and of course what Nigerians were saying was that we were taking sides,” Oyekanmi said on the programme.

INEC logo and Senator Natasha Akpoti (Kogi-Central PDP)
INEC logo and Senator Natasha Akpoti (Kogi-Central PDP)

“But what happened was that in the covering letter, the representatives of the petitioners did not include their address as required in our regulations and guidelines and what we just did was to ask them to supply their address, it has nothing to do with the petition.

“And of course, there is nowhere in the law where INEC is asked to reject a petition just because the cover letter did not contain the address. So, there was no hanky-panky in what we did.”

Earlier on Thursday, INEC rejected the petition to recall Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, saying that it has not met the requirements.

The electoral commission said the petition to recall Senator Natasha did not meet constitutional requirements.

Senator Natasha was suspended for breaching Senate rules, prompting some of her constituents to initiate her recall. They claimed the move was to ensure their constituency did not lack representation following the suspension of the 45-year-old senator.

Asked whether there could be a repeat of the recall process, the INEC spokesperson said the law did not specify if the process could be repeated and how many times.

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“The law just talks about the threshold, the threshold meaning that if you want to recall, you must have, in addition to your petition, 50 per cent plus one signatures. The law did not specify how many times you can undertake that,” he said.

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