The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) National Executive Committee has authorized the zoning of the position of national chairman to the north.
Last Monday, the opposition party’s zoning committee, chaired by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, made the recommendation public.
He did say, though, that no decision had been made on where the presidency would be zoned.
This sparked a fierce debate within the party, with some members objecting to chairmanship zoning.
After the chairmanship was rezoned to the north, a severe crack appeared.
PDP governors from the south, backed by Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, reportedly campaigned for the chairmanship to be rezoned to the north.
The move is intended to pave the way for a southern contender to emerge as the party’s presidential nominee.
The governors in the south are demanding that the country’s future president be from their region.
Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, told journalists after the NEC meeting on Thursday that the zoning of chairmanship to the north had been approved.
He further stated that all positions currently held by people from the South will be transferred to the North, and vice versa.
NEC also agreed to keep the October 30 convention date, according to Ologbondiyan.
Atiku Abubakar, a former Vice-President, has stated that the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) decisions on zoning and other issues will determine the party’s chances in 2023.
Atiku said the PDP has the right to determine its rules on how the party should be governed, while the people of Nigeria have the right to determine who governs them, during the opening session of the party’s 94th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held at the PDP National Secretariat on Thursday.
Atiku’s political friends have stated that he is considering a presidential run in 2023.
However, his party, the PDP, has allocated the chairmanship to the North, implying that the PDP’s presidential ticket will be allocated to the South.
Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s presidential candidate in the 2019 general election, stated that the country’s president’s origins have never been a problem.
The former Vice President said PDP governors and other members of the party had in 2003, asked him to contest for president on grounds because they did not want Obasanjo to win a second term, but he refused.
“The PDP has the right to determine its rules on how the party should be governed. The people of Nigeria also have the right to determine who govern them.”
“Where the president comes from has never been the problem of Nigeria. There is no such thing as a president from Southern Nigeria or a president from Northern Nigeria.
“There is only one president from Nigeria, for Nigeria, by Nigerians. Talking about inclusions, I would like to see a new National Working Committee (NWC) of our party, our great party that has sizable numbers of our youth and women.
“The decision of NEC today will either see PDP into the villa in 2023 or not. Since the inception, this party has faced serious challenges and have risen above sentiments to solve those challenges and moved forward.
“Now let me come to historical events, which I said I was going to cite. Those of us who served in the constitutional conference, which drafted the current constitution of Nigeria, sure, remember that after we finished the draft of that constitution, we all met as members of the constitutional conference and resolved to correct the injustice that was done to a particular part of this country.
“And we said in whichever party you found yourself, your presidential candidate must come from the southwest because Abiola had won election, not only did he win, he was killed.
“So we all agreed as members, and we went out of the constitutional conference, and we formed our parties, those of us formed PDP others formed ANPP, those who forms AD formed AD.
“At the end of the day, there were two alliances in two parties. PDP brought General Obasanjo, ANPP brought Olu Falae. This is to show you that Nigerians have a sense of fairness.
“More or less distinguished members of NEC in 2003, all the PDP governors and some members of the party met me at the villa and said, they were not going to support President Obasanjo for a second term, that I should run.
“I now referred them to the resolution of NEC, where NEC, decided that power should remain in the Southwest for eight years. How do you want me to go against the resolution of NEC and I turned it down, and we moved on. So this country has a sense of fairness. This country has a sense of justice, this country has a sense of fairness.
“Therefore, this thing that is in-built in our party, we should be able to use it, to embed it, to make sure today’s deliberation is in the best interest of our party, in the best interest of Nigeria, which will ultimately give us the victory that we asked for, to go back to the villa,” Atiku said.
…Says I Won’t, Because What I Did Was A Natural Thing
Tiwa Savage has announced that she is being blackmailed by someone who threatens to reveal her sex tape.
On a media tour to promote her new album “Water & Garri,” the mother of one made this disclosure.
Tiwa Savage has announced that she is being blackmailed by someone who threatens to reveal her sex tape.
On a media tour to promote her new album “Water & Garri,” the mother of one made this disclosure.
According to her; “Yesterday, I was leaving a radio station and I was in my car when my road manager sent me a message.
“She said I should check my phone. I checked it and there was a video, and I was just like, Wow!
“I asked him where he got it from and he said he received it about 20 minutes earlier.
“The video was sent to him and it is a tape of me and the person I am dating right now. The first thing I did after I got off the phone was that I sent it to my manager and asked what we should do.
“The person is asking for money now. The person I am dating is going crazy too. My manager asked how much the person is asking for.”
The singer added that she has decided not to pay the blackmailer, because she did nothing wrong, it is something “Natural”
“I decided I was not going to pay the person because if I do, two months from now, three months down the line or even two years later, you are going to come back again.”
“Who knows, if I send the money, the person will probably release it. I am not going to let anyone blackmail me for doing something natural,” she said.
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Unitaid, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria applauded the World Health Organization’s (WHO) proposal for the RTS,S malaria vaccine to be used more widely in routine.
The advice was based on data collected over a two-year period by the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP) in Kenya, Ghana, and Malawi.
More than 2.3 million RTS,S doses had been provided throughout the three countries as of September 2021, more than two years after vaccinations began, and more than 800,000 children had received at least one dose of the vaccine.
Despite the COVID-19 epidemic, the RTS,S pilots achieved and maintained strong coverage levels.
The fact that severe malaria hospitalizations were decreased by 30% was largely recognized by caregivers and healthcare staff.
In Mali and Burkina Faso, nations with considerable seasonal fluctuation in malaria transmission, a clinical research led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine looked at the impact of seasonal malaria vaccine administration combined with seasonal malaria chemoprevention.
When the vaccination was combined with preventive antimalarials, severe malaria cases in children decreased by more than 70%, according to the findings.
“Today marks a historic achievement in our fight against malaria,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in a statement.
“Malaria still kills over 250,000 children every year.
“The vaccine is an important additional tool to help control this disease alongside other interventions, such as bed nets, and especially when delivered seasonally in combination with antimalarial medication.
“I applaud the countries and communities who participated in the trials and pilots to provide this critical new tool for African countries.”
Ministries of Health led the implementation of the vaccine, which was delivered through routine immunisation programmes, with WHO playing a coordinating role, working in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline, PATH and UNICEF.
Following its investment of around $700 million dollars in the development of RTS,S, GSK has donated up to 10 million doses for the pilot programme. Gavi, the Global Fund and Unitaid have together committed nearly $70 million dollars to fund the pilot.
It was designed to address several outstanding questions related to the public health use of the vaccine following the Phase three trial showing the efficacy of RTS,S.
“We welcome this new tool in the fight against malaria,” said Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund.
“In countries where the Global Fund invests, we have reduced malaria deaths by 45 per cent since 2002 with testing, treatment and prevention tools such as mosquito nets.
“In the vaccine pilots, the RTS,S vaccine was most effective when used together with these existing tools.’’
Dr Philippe Duneton, Executive Director of Unitaid, said significant additional resources would, however, be necessary to enable wide deployment of the vaccine alongside other innovations, and as part of a sustained and comprehensive response in the countries that need it the most.”
“Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, progress against malaria was stalling.
“This vaccine is a welcome new tool that, when used in combination with existing interventions like bed nets, has the potential to drive down malaria and extend protection to children across Africa.
“Pilot implementation has demonstrated how we can equitably reach children with this life-saving vaccine – now we need to ensure adequate and affordable supply to truly reignite the fight against malaria”, Duneton said.
In the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and across Nigeria, taboos and stigma have been cited as major barriers to marriage.
At a symposium on taboos and stigma titled “The Impact of Ethnic and Religious Biason Marriage and Mental Health in Nigeria,” Mrs. Jumai Ahmadu, President of the Helpline Foundation for the Needy, claimed this.
Ahmadu who was represented at the occasion by Onoja Godwin, Content Provider/Program Director of Helpline Foundation for the Needy, urged married couples to allow love, not culture and custom, guide their marriages.
According to her, “If different couples from different cultures are exhibiting the same culture in that marriage and if some parts of their cultures are not repressed, such marriages will have issues. Especially cultures that over bloat the right of the husband above that of the wife and there are gender role issues in the house, it can lead to divorce.
“Culture has a major role to place in the sustenance of marriage because it helps to point out morals and the dos and don’ts that should sustain marriages. But when it comes to personality differences, some cultures should be repressed for marriage to be effective.
“75 percent of divorce in marriages can be attributed to culture and tradition. To reduce the rate of divorce in marriages, the couples should know themselves and exhibit love. It is the utmost strength to sustain any marriages, not culture and tradition,” she stated.
Meanwhile, Ahmed Bolaji, Head of Afrodition Consults Limited said the conference focused on ethnic and religious bais of mental health, because as a lawyer when dealing with clients, revealed that the taboos and stigma that Nigerians grew up with is affecting their ways of life negatively.
He hinted that , “So we think that it is incumbent on us to help our people to think and feel differently and behave differently and all of this challenges faced by Nigerians can be better resolved”.
As Nigerian workers join their counterparts all over the world in commemorating the 2021 world decent work day, the Nigeria Labour Congress has called for adequate social security covers for workers at all levels across the country. The President NLC Comrade Ayuba Wabba made the call in Abuja while leading a peaceful rally organized by labour as parts of its activities to mark this year’s world decent work day. The match started at about 8am from labour house and terminated at the Head of service where the labour leader alongside other workers carrying various placards with different inscriptions that best described their grievances, presented their demands to the Head of Service of the Federation.
Ayuba stated that there is an urgent need for political class to implement policies that will impact positively on the lower class of citizens in the country. He further attributed the present insecurity challenges bedeviling the nation to poverty and unemployment.
Comrade Ayuba Wabba noted that “Workers create wealth of the world, and therefore in Nigeria we create the wealth and if we create the wealth, it goes to say that workers must also be well taken care of. The challenge that is ravaging the world today. In fact, the effect is more felt by the workers, because as we speak, the purchasing power of workers have been reduced to nothing”.
“In other countries, senior citizens live with beauty and their dignity is recognised. They have houses for senior citizens. They are free medical care for senior citizens. They are housing for senior citizens, but in our own case, if you don’t have a family to take care of you, it’s between you and your God. That is not decent work” he added.
“All the workers must have social security cover that can take care of them when they are old, when they are aged and have no power, and that is why we will start every conversation with trying to defend our retirees”.
“The challenge that is ravaging the world today. In fact, the effect is more felt by the workers, because as we speak, the purchasing power of workers have been reduced to nothing. N30,000 cannot buy a bag of rice, and we know how cost of goods or services have gone up. In fact, the worst is that when you retire, you have to struggle to get your benefits”.
He further added that “Importantly, we are also to address the issue of precarious work in all sectors of our economy. Precarious work means that workers must work with dignity, workers must have Social Security. Workers must have adequate remuneration, and today, all of us are aware that civil servants are the least paid in Nigeria. When you compare to all other sectors. Yet, they are putting their best to service economy. These cannot continue and that is something that needs to be reviewed”.
“So, let me say nicely, that if the poor is allowed to be sleeping without having three meals per day. If the will be allowed to be sleeping with their eyes open, it then clearly means that the rich even if they have cumulated humungous wealth. He will also be a very good material for kidnapping. That is what is happening now” he noted.
In her response, the Head of Service Folasade Yemi-Esan, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare Office Dr Ngozi Onwudiwe, requested labour to present a written document of their demands and promised to fast track the implementation of all their demands.
It could be recalled that earlier this week, NLC held a round table discussion on decent work as parts of the activities to mark the 2021 world decent work day.
The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has slammed President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2022 budget, which was submitted to the National Assembly on Thursday.
The President presented the National Assembly with a budget of N16.39 trillion on Thursday.
The CUPP’s spokesman, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, said in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja stated that the budget is characterized by increased debt and borrowing, as well as vague and elephant projects to fund the 2023 election campaigns.
The CUPP expressed surprise, saying that the budget’s main highlight is that the government has tactfully admitted that it is overwhelmed by its failings and has no remedy in hand, and that the budget is just clothed with fresh loans and borrowings.
The statement read in parts; “It does not inspire any hope in Nigerians rather it sinks the country further into economic woes.
“Recurrent expenditures and capital expenses like purchase of cars, computers and accessories, and other unnecessary and white elephant projects are all the budget contains because the ruling party will use the budget to fund their 2023 election campaigns.
“A N16.39 Trillion budget contains Debt service of N3.61 Trillion, non-debt recurrent costs of N6.83 Trillion while there is only capital expenditure of N5.35 Trillion. New borrowings in the budget is totaling N5.01 Trillion with an extra N1.16 Trillion drawdowns on loans secured for specific projects. This is the highlight of the uninspiring speech of the President as it cannot add any productive value to the economy.
“Furthermore, a close look at the speech will show Nigerians that President Buhari has been perpetually funding the same set of projects without ever completing them. After borrowing over N33 Trillion, President Buhari is still declaring to Nigerians that he is borrowing to fund Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Abuja-Kano Expressway, East-West Road, 2nd Niger Bridge etc.
“Nigerians should please ask President Buhari; when will these projects which have been in the budgets since 2016 ever be completed?
“President was severally thanking the lawmakers for speedy approvals, but Nigerians will notice that there was never any appreciation for critical analysis by the National Assembly.
“They quickly approved the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, they quickly approved the 2021 supplementary budget, they quickly approved loans and all borrowings and also will quickly approve this budget. All these were without critical analysis on the impact of their approvals on the people they represent”, the statement further stated.
The CUPP, therefore , called on Nigerians to bear yet again another year of suffering but have hope that when the opposition takes over, Nigeria will get back on its feet.
The Federal Government has formed a seven-member technical committee to fine-tune adjustments to the new Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) for members of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations (AHPA).
Nurses, Pharmacists, Physiotherapists, Medical Laboratory Scientists, and Radiographers are covered by the CONHESS salary scale, which is a payment system used by the Nigerian federal government to pay health employees, with the exception of doctors.
The National Salaries Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC), Budget Office, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment (FML&E), Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSOF), and Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System are all represented on the Committee (IPPIS).
The government’s decision to form the Committee may have led both unions to postpone their strike, which was set to begin this week, pending the outcome of the team.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday, JOHESU’s National Chairman, Josiah Biobelemoye, stated that the union must give the government the benefit of the doubt in the implementation of CONHESS.
According to him; “JOHESU Leadership reviewed the totality of the meeting of October 6, 2021 at the instance of the Federal Government team comprising of National Salaries Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC), Budget Office, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment (FML&E), Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSOF), Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), which was graced by JOHESU/AHPA leadership.
“After a thorough evaluation of the meeting, JOHESU/AHPA resolved as follows: we applaud the decision of the meeting to guarantee the participation of all the five Trade Unions and AHPA at the sessions relating to matters pertaining to Adjustment of CONHESS, noting with strong emphasis that this guarantees the laudable spirit of participatory industrial democracy.
“We also welcome the constitution of a 7-man technical team at the meeting comprising two (2) Representatives of JOHESU, and one representative each of the National Salaries Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC), Budget Office, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment (FML&E), Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSOF), Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
“We call on the Technical team to fulfil its mandate of coming up with an acceptable sum dedicated to the utilisation of adjustment of CONHESS within a reasonable timeline. We approved the timeline of two (2) weeks in the first instance that was resolved by the committee at the October 6, 2021 meeting as a step in the right direction.
“Following these arrangement, leadership under the aegis of JOHESU/AHPA requested that the FMoH should conclude negotiations with JOHESU/AHPA on all other subject matters as epitomised in the demand list of JOHESU/AHPA to the Federal Government.
“We therefore appeal to our members to wait patiently for the outcome of the report of the Technical team on adjustment of CONHESS and other demands as this will realistically form the basis of the next line of action for JOHESU/AHPA in the days to come,” the statement further stated.
Faisal, the son of Abdulrasheed Maina, a former Chairman of the disbanded Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), was convicted by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja on all three counts charge against him by the Federal Government.
The ruling was issued by the court on Thursday as it was hearing the case of Faisal, who had jumped bail and fled the country.
Faisal was sentenced to 5 years in prison in count one and 14 years in count two, both of which began today.
Faisal was ordered by the court to return to the FG, where he was accused of laundering N58.1 million and the company was shut down.
The defendant was sentenced to five years in prison on count three.
The terms will run concurrently, according to the court.
Furthermore, Justice Abang directed the Federal Government to apprehend Faisal so that he can complete his sentence, and that if he is arrested outside of Nigeria, the Federal Government should legitimately repatriate him to face his sentence.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has extended its condolences to the Nigeria Employees Consultative Association (NECA) over the death of its Director-General, Dr Timothy Olawale.
FCTA Permanent Secretary, Mr Olusade Adesola, sent a condolence message to the association on Wednesday in Abuja, following Olawale’s tragic death.
Adesola, who characterized Olawale’s death as a national tragedy, said the news of the enormous loss came as an unpleasant shock to the FCTA.
The message read in bits; ” I wish to express heartfelt condolences of the FCT Administration over the death of Dr Timothy Olawale, who until his death on Oct. 1, was the Director-General of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA).
” The sad event occurred at a time we are consolidating efforts on providing the needed enabling environment for business owners and employers of labour, particularly in the FCT.
” News of the great loss has come to us as a rude shock and we consider it a national tragedy. “
Adesola , however, recalled that the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association under the dynamic leadership of the deceased was highly instrumental to the recently concluded Stakeholders Retreat, aimed at harmonising Internally Generated Revenue (lGR) and collection of taxes in the FCT.
This, according to him is with a view to enhancing the ease of doing business in Abuja, thereby promoting investment and employment generation.
” On behalf of the Management and Staff of the FCT Administration, I pray that the Almighty God rest the soul of Dr Timothy Olawale in peace and grant the family, associates and well-wishers the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.”
