News
Labour Party: Group Canvass For Barr. Ken Imasuangbon as Edo Gubernatorial Candidate With Akpata as Deputy
Labour Party Forum for Justice, Equity and fairness has asked the Leadership of the Party to give the Edo state Gubernatorial ticket To Barr. Ken Imasuangbon And Let Olumide Akpata Run As His Deputy.
Dr. Ben Osage in a press statement for the group said this is in Furthermore to the News Report of the Vanguard of the 19th of May, 2024 with the caption, Edo 2024: Labour moves to reconcile Akpata, Imansuangbon.
He said The Labour Party Stakeholders under the aegis of the Labour Party Forum For Justice, Equity and Fairness hereby elect to put the records straight.
Part of the statement reads;
“It is certain that the Labour Party and the Teaming Obidients across Edo State know that the September 21, 2024 Edo State Governorship Election is ours to win. It is without an ounce of equivocation clear that our Dear Party the Labour Party believes in Equity, Justice and Fairness. And it is important to put before the world the position of the Labour Party Stakeholders on the event superintended by select members of the Party on the 23rd of February, 2024 that was called the Edo State Labour Party Governorship Primaries.”
“Whilst commending the Political Commissions of the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC and the Trade Union Congress TUC for efforts targeted at reconciling all interests, and reorganizing cum reshaping the Labour Party for effective participation in the democratic space, we must hasten to State that no reconciliation will be sustainable and far-reaching if the pillars on which the Party sustains is ignored or breached. Can there be genuine reconciliation where Justice, Equity and Fairness is thrown overboard?”
“The singular threat to the success of our Dear Party the Labour Party in the forthcoming Edo State Governorship Election is the fact that the largely mercantile erstwhile Labour Party leadership under Julius Abure torpedoed the values of Equity, Justice and Fairness by allowing a candidate from Edo South to emerge as the Labour Party candidate whereas the incumbent Governor of Edo State Godwin Obaseki is from Edo South. Also curious is the fact that in 24 years of the present democracy Edo South when Obaseki’s tenure expires in a few months would have been in power for 16 years, and Edo North for 8 years, it is therefore only Just, Fair and Equitable to have someone from Edo Central as the Governorship Candidate of our Dear Party.”
“The Two major Political Parties that we often vilify chose equity, justice and fairness over political correctness by ceding Power to Edo Central knowing that Inclusiveness ditto power rotation, power sharing and consensus building is necessary for development and progress. The PDP elected a Candidate from Edo Central because Equity, Justice and Fairness must count. For the APC, the very sagacious and popular Pastor Ize-Iyamu withdrew from the race so someone from Edo Central could be the APC candidate, and when Comrade Oshiomole and his Team thought otherwise by choosing a Candidate from Edo South, it took the intervention of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who upon his return from a foreign trip instructed a rerun because of the call for Justice, Equity and Fairness noting that Edo Central as it were must be given a chance to produce the next Governor of the State. Indeed both the PDP and the APC have candidates from Edo Central, why should our Dear Labour Party that prides in Justice, Equity and Fairness be different?”
“As though karma were lurking in the corners of our hypocrisy, the candidate so chosen through Abure’s subterfuge has huge legitimacy issues and the validity of the ticket is suspect. The choice of Deputy and the issues surrounding the replacement of the placeholder, as well as the fact that Barrister Olumide Akpata can no longer present a valid Deputy Governorship Candidate as stipulated by INEC Rules and Regulations having run out of time, even as he runs from pillar to post to validate a mortally defective ticket, we must state that the way out of the present logjam is for the Labour Party to ask Barrister Olumide Akpata to resign and serve as Deputy Governorship Candidate to Barrister Kenneth Imasuangbon who is from Edo Central.”
“Conversely the only window open to our Dear Party the Labour Party so we do not lose out completely and not have a valid Governorship Candidate in Edo State is the providential action ditto the case in Court instituted by Barr. Ken Imasuangbon challenging the validity of the Olumide Akpata Ticket on grounds of Law, and also raising serious issues regarding the propriety of the ticket knowing that it works against Justice, Equity and Fairness. Indeed had Barrister Ken Imasuangbon not gone to Court the fate of the Labour Party in the Edo Governorship Election would have been sealed as the Party will have no valid candidate knowing that Olumide Akpata does not have a valid Deputy Governorship Candidate.”
“As concerned Stakeholders of the Party we plead with organized Labour and the Obidients to prevail on Barrister Olumide Akpata to stepdown/resign and run as the Deputy Governorship Candidate of our Dear Party, with Barrister Ken Imasuangbon as the Governorship Candidate, this is the way to prevent our Dear Labour Party from losing out completely because Barr. Olumide Akpata is not a valid candidate known to the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC. Anything other than this clear pathway to victory will amount to the Labour Party surreptitiously working for the PDP or the APC because without a valid ticket our struggle will pan for nothing.”
“We are committed to seeing that everything humanly and legitimately possible is done to ensure that the Labour Party wins Edo State come September 21, 2024, and the very bright path to tread is to support a Ken Imasuangbon/Olumide Akpata Ticket. We pray this happens.” He said.
The Association of Senior Civil Servants in Nigeria has accused the leadership of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) of alleged favoritism and unjust placement of pool officers over the commission workers.
They said that if not addressed urgently, these problems may undermine the morale of dedicated NAHCON staff and hinder the commission’s efficiency in fulfilling its mandate.
The union revealed this in a letter titled, “Urgent concerns regarding the placement of pool officers and administrative lapses”, dated March 3, 2025, and addressed to the NAHCON executive council and board members.
This is the first time in the history of the commission and Hajj industry in the country that staff are officially groaning over alleged misconduct and irregularities by the commission’s leadership.
The letter obtained by this newspaper was signed by the union’s executive officers in NAHCON.
The workers’ petition came weeks after the media reported the chairman’s leadership deficiencies and alleged nepotism, and how he is being influenced by some inexperienced family members including his biological brother Surajo, who is one of the chairman’s special assistants.
Mr Surajo is accused of misleading the chairman —who is reported to have a gross deficiency in reading and writing in the English Language — to minute on official memos, a development irking the commission staff members, state pilgrims boards and tour operators.
The chairman also reportedly appointed his biological son Aliyu as his assistant.
There is also the case of Abdulmalik Diggi, the chairman’s nephew, who was brought by the chairman as SA and deployed to the department of account as a deputy director. The DD is being accused of circumventing financial regulations – in cahoots with some aides of the chairman— to approve funds without due process
Findings by this newspaper have shown that another challenge facing the commission is how one state in the Northeast cornered all the critical leadership positions in NAHCON.
Borno state currently corners most of the juicy positions in the commission — in glaring disregard to federal character principles, an insider said.
Five critical positions are all occupied by Borno state indigenes namely — the secretary to the commission, the Director of Admin and Human Resources, the Deputy Director of Audit, the Director of Protocol, the Deputy Director of Procurement, and a Board member representing Northeast.
The workers also raised the cases of civil servants who retired from their parent organizations but only to be posted to NAHCON.
Another alleged impunity is the case of Mr Usman Mamza, from Borno State, who served as legal adviser in NAHCON after he retired from the Federal Ministry of Justice in April 2024. The Director of Admin, who hails from the same state as Mamza is allegedly blocking the investigation of the case.
The commission’s Director of Protocol Bulama is reportedly still at NAHCON even though he has reached retirement age.
Insiders said there are plans to recall a staff identified as Tawfiq Tayo Akinwale, who contested the governorship election in Oyo State under the Labour Party (LP) in 2023.
Mr Akinwale contested the elections and lost while still staff at NAHCON in violation of the Electoral Act 2022 and the Public Service Rules. The Zikirullah Kunle Hassan-led leadership had to sack him after mounting pressure from the commission workers.
It was learned that a former minister from the Southwest had given a note to the incumbent NAHCON leadership to facilitate his return to the commission.
Also, many staff members of the commission, this newspaper reliably gathered, are grumbling over the alleged overbearing influence of some DSS personnel attached to the chairman. One of the DSS details, Ibrahim Abubakar, was accused of abandoning his protective detail role and dabbling into the operational and administrative affairs of the commission. An insider said the DSS detail, allegedly in cahoots with some of his colleagues outside, is deeply interfering in the administrative activities of the commission.
“There have been several administrative lapses, particularly with regards to the actions of the Chairman/CEO’s Special Assistant (SA) who has been involved in matters of payment and approvals without adhering to proper protocols,” the union said in its petition.
The union also lamented the case of a special assistant to NAHCON Chairman and CEO, Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman, “who has been involved in matters of payment and approvals without adhering to proper protocols.”
One of his SA’s scandals was detected, and the cabal allegedly destroyed the evidence— by shredding the official documents. Some staff members who spoke to this newspaper have called on EFCC to probe this case diligently.
The workers are miffed that at a time the commission’s chairman is busy trying to deploy the majority of the staff to the office of the Head of Service of the Federation for posting over alleged redundancy, he is at the same time appointing personal aides and deploying them to many critical departments.
Insiders told this newspaper that the chairman has already penciled down the names of 70 staff to be sent to the head of service for posting.
The union’s executives were reportedly summoned by a member of the NAHCON board representing the NIA. They were accused of “blowing up the cover of the NIA officer in NAHCON” in their petition.
However, the workers argued that the presence of NIA in the commission is illegal because it has no statutory role to play. They also said, after all, they didn’t mention the name of the affected “officer” in their petition. The workers also raised the membership of the security agency on the NAHCON board.
“This is new to us. The NAHCON Act doesn’t make provision for membership of the security agency on its board. This is another flagrant violation of the commission law,” a senior staff who spoke to our reporter anonymously said.
Another development that drew the ire of the commission’s workers is the plans by Professor Usman-led leadership to spend N640 million to sponsor 50 staff to “travel to Saudi Arabia for Umrah monitoring.”
Many of the staff described this as a jamboree, particularly at a time when the commission is always cup at hand begging for operational funds from the government.
Part of the union’s letter reads: “It has come to our notice that pool officers recently posted to NAHCON have been placed in critical leadership positions ahead of seasoned NAHCON staff, who have dedicated years of service to the Hajj industry.
“A recent instance is the replacement of the Head of Policy and Research, a NAHCON staff, with an officer from the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), despite the absence of a vacancy.
To address this anomaly, the union has urged the executive council and board members to immediately withdraw all pool officers in major divisions.
The union said, “Pool officers who have been placed in strategic positions ahead of NAHCON staff should be withdrawn to ensure fairness and recognition of institutional experience.
The union also said, “Pool officers should also not be allowed to participate in the pre-hajj visit or the 2025 hajj operations at the expense of NAHCON staff.”
Veteran federal civil servants said populating the commission with seconded staff would degrade the institutional memory of the Hajj organization. “NAHCON staff should be trained to rise from bottom to top, to preserve the institutional memory of the commission. But when you adopt a revolving door policy — where staff are deployed and redeployed after some years – the founding father’s idea of establishing the Hajj commission is defeated,” one of the founding fathers of NAHCON told this newspaper.
Other staff members who spoke anonymously for fear of a backlash expressed concern over the ongoing face-off between the NAHCON chairman and his board members and commissioners. “This is unprecedented and it dampens the morale of the workforce,” one of them said. The officials said the earlier the commission gets a competent and experienced person to bring back the staff confidence, the better.
The chairman, it was impeccably gathered, is allowing all these problems to fester, including watching his aides threatening the commission staff, because of his alleged closed relationship with the office of the Head of Service of the Federation and the Vice President’s office.
Some commission officials have called for the sacking of the chairman and the board, saying, “It is glaring that the Vice President can’t properly supervise the commission as expected because his office has been compromised.”
They urged EFCC to investigate the commission leadership over the alleged financial recklessness and indiscipline.
The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate the conditional cash transfer programme of the Federal Government.
Honourable Abass Adigun who moved the motion reminded the House that in order to ensure effective and efficient delivery of the programme in August 2024, nominees for the programme were informed that they will be paid the sum of N50,000 each for three months.
However, some nominees received payment months after information was completed and submitted to the portal, while other nominees have not, and the National Cash Transfer Office has not responded to the payment of other nominees to date.
President Bola Tinubu suspended the scheme – initiated by his predecessor Muhammadu Buhari and administered by the National Social Investment Programme – in January owing to alleged corruption in programme.
But in February, the Federal Government said it was restarting the scheme and is targeting an extra 12 million households that could qualify for these direct payments.
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested Sirajo Jaja, the Accountant General of Bauchi State for alleged N70 billion fraud.
He was arrested in Abuja on Wednesday, March 19, 2025 alongside Aliyu Abubakar of Jasfad Resources Enterprise, an unlicensed bureau de change (BDC) operator and Sunusi Ibrahim Sambo, a Point of Sale (PoS) operator.
They were arrested in connection with investigations of money laundering, diversion of public funds and missapropriation to the tune of N70 billion.
The Commission is investigating the Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, regarding the matter.
The EFCC said investigations showed that cash withdrawal of N59billion had been made through various bank accounts opened and operated by the Accountant General on behalf of the state government.
The money was allegedly moved to Abubakar and Sambo, who in turn made cash payments to party agents and associates of the governor.
The BDC operator, Abubakar, earlier jumped bail and has now been rearrested.