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NANS debunks shutdown protest rumours

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7 months ago

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The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has debunked the planned protest rumours to shut down the country, calling on security agencies to apprehend instigators.

The President of the Senate, NANS Headquarters, Babatunde Akinteye, debunked the rumours in a statement issued in Ibadan on Wednesday.

Akinteye said the leadership of NANS was aware of rumours and misinformation circulating across various platforms, suggesting that NANS was planning a massive shutdown of the nation’s major cities.

“We wish to categorically state that NANS has not announced or endorsed any such protest.

“These reports are entirely baseless and do not reflect the position or intentions of our organisation.

“As the umbrella body representing the interests of Nigerian students, we have always been committed to peaceful advocacy and constructive engagement with relevant stakeholders.

“We understand the critical importance of maintaining peace and stability in our nation, especially during these challenging times.

“Any action that could lead to civil unrest or the disruption of public order is not, and will never be supported by NANS,” Akinteye said.

He, therefore, called on the public, media and all stakeholders to disregard the false reports.

According to him, the individuals or groups behind the rumours are faceless entities, who seek to exploit the name of NANS for their malicious purposes.

“Their aim is clear: to destabilise the country and create unnecessary tension among citizens. We categorically disassociate ourselves from any such plans or intentions.

“We, hereby, call on the security agencies to launch a thorough investigation into the origin of this misinformation.

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“Those responsible for spreading these falsehoods must be identified and held accountable.

“The use of the NANS name to propagate such dangerous and unfounded claims is not only a threat to national security but also a grave disservice to the millions of students, who genuinely seek positive change through legitimate means,” he said.

Akinteye called for a collective effort to ensure that the integrity of the nation’s democratic processes and the rule of law were upheld at all times.

“NANS remains steadfast in its mission to advocate for the rights and welfare of Nigerian students.

“We will continue to pursue this mission through peaceful, lawful, and constructive channels. Let it be known that NANS stands firmly for peace, progress, and the unity of our nation.

“We appreciate the ongoing support of Nigerian students and the public, and we encourage everyone to remain vigilant and not to fall prey to those who seek to manipulate and mislead for their selfish gains,” he said. (NAN

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National

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

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4 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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Hakeem Baba-Ahmed resigns as presidential political adviser

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5 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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INEC: We are not partisan in failed recall of Natasha

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6 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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