Almost every Church goers are familiar with the story of the Biblical prodigal son. The chap, son to a very wealthy man had approached his father one day and demanded for his portion of the father’s wealth. The father, bewildered by the bizarre request by his son appealed to him not to tow the perilous path but the misguided son’s mind was made up. Having failed to make his son see reason, the father obliged him and gave him his portion. Feeling fulfilled, the prodigal son left his father’s small village for the big cities where, in no time, he…
Author: Editor-in-chief
If Nyesom Wike had read the character portrait of the Ijaw man as sketched by Dr. Percy Amoury Talbot, an early 20th century British historian and colonial administrator, he would most probably have thought twice before settling for Simnalaya Fubara as his third term placeholder. Wike was a two-term governor of Rivers State and today, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. In his highly authoritative 1926 book, Peoples of Southern Nigeria: a Sketch of their History, Ethnology, and Languages, with an Abstract of the 1921 Census, Talbot reserved an unflattering description for the no-nonsense Ijaw race. Hear him at page…
Presidential aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general election said on Saturday that they have all agreed to drop their ambition for the 2027 presidency to pave the way for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s second term bid. Accordingly, the presidential hopefuls have formed a forum known as Forum of 2023 APC Presidential Aspirants, which is billed to be inaugurated tomorrow, Monday, December 18, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. The forum disclosed this in a statement signed by its convener/acting chairman and former Zamfara State governor, Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima, and the youngest APC presidential aspirant…
The number of resignations in the Rivers State Executive Council has risen to nine after two more commissioners handed in their resignations following the depature of seven of their colleagues from Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s cabinet. The latest to resign are the Commissioner for Special Projects, Emeka Woke and the Commissioner for Environment, Austen Ben-Chioma. While Woke served as the Chief of Staff to former governor and current FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, Ben-Chioma served as Commissioner for Urban Development in the immediate past administration. Woke was also former Local Government Chairman of Emohua Local Government Area. His letter of resignation is…
The Hon Minister for Power and Accord Party candidate in the 2023 gubernatorial election for Oyo state had now returned to the APC. In a letter dated 6th of December, 2023, he notified the Executive committee of the Oyo APC of his intention to return to the fold and the manner with which he wanted to be received. I have read the said letter over and over and with due respect to the Hon Minister, I think he lacks quality advisers or perhaps, he has but have refused to take their counsel. The tone of the letter smacks of arrogance,…
Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Friday clarified that he was exhausted and diagnosed with malaria following reports that he collapsed at his 61st birthday colloquium held Thursday in Abuja. Akpabio was reported to have slumped after the event while seeing President Bola Tinubu off at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja and was rushed to the hospital. Addressing reporters on Friday at the Senate, Akpabio, who did not confirm whether he slumped or not, said he had malaria, worsened by stress. He said, “What eventually happened after the event was a show of humanity. I went home and I called…
Six of the 18 commissioners yesterday quit Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s Executive Council, complicating the political imbroglio in the state. Also yesterday, the 27 members of the House of Assembly, who on Monday defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), sat at the auditorium of the Assembly quarters. This is despite the demolition of the House of Assembly complex by the government and an ex-parte injunction granted by Justice Justice M.W. Danagogo. On Tuesday, relying on the injunction, four members of the House met, received and passed Governor Fubara’s 2024 Appropriation Bill. The governor signed…
Further deepening the crisis in Rivers State, PUNCH Online can report that four commissioners have so far resigned Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s cabinet. The state Commissioner for Social Welfare and Rehabilitation, Inime Chinwenwo-Aguma, and the Commissioner for Works, George-Kelly Alabo, are the latest among those who resigned in 24 hours. Chinwenwo-Aguma cited “personal and other personal commitments,” while Alabo said his resignation is anchored on his “conscience” as seen in the press releases obtained by PUNCH Online. This is coming after the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor, SAN, and the Commissioner for Special Duties, Emeka Woke,…
The Minister of Defence, Abubakar Badaru, has appealed to the National Assembly to increase his ministry’s budget for the 2024 fiscal year, saying the N1.57trn allocated to it was not enough to fight the insecurity in the country. The minister made the call on Wednesday when he appeared before a joint National Assembly Committee on Defence to defend the ministry’s 2024 budget proposal. Badaru said the rising cost of operations and the increase in the price of diesel and fuel necessitated the call for an increment of the ministry’s allocation. In the 2024 budget, the Ministry of Defence was allocated…
The caretaker committee chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Tony Okocha, has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s move to end the rift between the state governor, Simi Fubara and the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike has collapsed as crisis in the state has continued to fester. Recall that Tinubu recently held a meeting with Wike and Fubara at the presidential villa in Abuja, to broker peace between the two politicians in the state. But in the last four days, the crisis assumed a new dimension with the demolition of the state House of Assembly Complex and defection…