National News
APC chieftain urges party to adopt consensus to avoid dollar rain,

APC chieftain urges party to adopt consensus to avoid dollar rain,
A founding member of the All Progressives Congress and Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu, on Sunday, urged the governing APC to adopt the consensus route in electing its presidential candidate in its forthcoming primary election.
This, he said, would prevent what he described as the “dollar rain” allegedly witnessed at Saturday’s presidential primary of the Peoples Democratic Party and save the naira from further depreciation.
“…if that could happen in a party with about 731 (767) delegates, imagine what will happen if the APC with about 2,322 delegates is allowed to indulge in Dollar Rain,” he stated.
According to him, Atiku Abubakar’s “opportunistic victory” will have little or no impact on the APC’s election of a presidential candidate from the South-East.
Okechukwu made these known in a statement he signed on Sunday titled ‘Mr President, save Naira from obscene Dollar-monetised presidential primaries, Okechukwu pleads.’
The reports gathered that, ahead of the primaries of the governing party and the main opposition, aspirants engaged in a frantic dollar buy-out nationwide, leading to the further depreciation of the naira.
Citing the withdrawal speech of one of the PDP presidential aspirants, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, who said the primaries have been “obscenely monetised,” Okechukwu said the consensus route would ensure that the forthcoming APC presidential primary does not follow the PDP’s highest-bidder dollar rain.
In his speech before withdrawing from the PDP primary, the former banker, Hayatu-Deen, said, “it is, therefore, based on personal principles and with great humility that I have decided to withdraw from this contest, which has been obscenely monetised.”
According to Okechukwu: “Albeit, our sister opposition political party has every constitutional right to elect whoever they want as their flagbearer; the dollar rain is worrisome as noted by Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, who dubbed it obscenely monetised presidential primary.
“If the naira is already bleeding because of dollar rain on 731 (767) delegates; please, better imagine the degree of depreciation of the naira if another blitz of dollar rain is allowed to be splashed on 2,322 delegates.
He, therefore, called on the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to consider the consensus option in the APC presidential primary.
He explained, “All the three (modes of primary) are democratic and are in our law books. Please, is it not paradoxical that the governors and ex-governors who oppose consensus had adopted the same consensus and even outright imposition to select their successors?
“To me, they have lost the moral high ground to oppose Mr President from adopting such a legal mode of primary election. One’s appeal is that a politically correct aspirant should be consensually presented.”
The party chieftain, who congratulated the newly elected PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, dismissed insinuations that with Atiku at the helm, the APC would not adhere to the rotation convention of electing a presidential candidate of the Igbo extraction or a southerner.
“Methinks His Excellency Atiku Abubakar’s opportunistic victory will have little or no impact on (the) APC’s election of a presidential candidate from among Ndigbo aspirants or by extension the southern belt aspirants. I don’t think Mr President I know even going by consensus will deny the south their turn.
“Most importantly, one, northern voters are sophisticated, having voted for Chiefs MKO Abiola and Olusegun Obasanjo, with all indicators they will vote southerner this time around so as to shame the PDP for breaching the rotation convention in their constitution.
“Second, there are a number of northern voters who are patriots, who believe sincerely in the ancient doctrine of equity, natural justice and the imperative of unity of our dear country. Going south is the best solution to smoothen the polarisation in the land.
“Thirdly, the dormant Igbo voters in Kano, Lagos and other towns plus core non-Igbo APC voters will be woken up to trounce Waziri Adamawa at the polls,” he said.
National News
JAJI LAUDS SANWO-OLU, GBAJABIAMILA

JAJI LAUDS SANWO-OLU, GBAJABIAMILA
· CALLS EX-SPEAKER BRIDGE BUILDER, REDEEMER OF THE MASSES
By: Our Reporter
Lagos politician, Oladipo Jaji, on Saturday described the Chief of Staff to the President, Rt Hon Femi Gbajabiamila as the champion of the people’s cause and bridge between all divides.
‘’Rt. Hon Femi Gbajabiamila is kind, upright, conscientious and deeply religious’’
He also described the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu as a resourceful and persistent organizer.
Jaji in a statement in Surulere commended the former Speaker of the House of Representatives for his brilliant dramatization of politics as the medium of empowerment, development, education and leadership.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain applauded Sanwo Olu for handling development issues in Lagos State with general skill and efficiency.
The gender conscious governor was also praised for sustaining peace, developing a new moral climate and executing several projects across the state.
Jaji praised Gbajabiamila for carrying the load of the president’s office with calm, deepening grassroots democracy, giving a greater sense of security to the people, empowering the youths and enriching their knowledge to enable them garner necessary experiences for higher challenges.
‘’Rt. Hon Femi Gbajabiamila unlocked new energies in the good people of Surulere. He also rekindled hope in other parts of Lagos State’’.
The dashing leader was applauded for standing up for the people, encouraging the women and stimulating the imagination of politicians in Lagos to new visions of things to be done.
Particularly, Jaji hailed Gbajabiamila for his deep sincerity, intellectual ability and dedication to public service.
The statement highlighted qualities of poise and endurance, integrity and honesty of purpose, loyalty and ardor.
It also emphasized Gbajabiamila’s largeness of vision and inexhaustible energy.
‘’I wish His Excellency, Governor Babatunde Sanwo-Olu and Rt Hon Femi Gbajabiamila robust health, much joy and unlimited strength’’ the statement added.
JAJI LAUDS SANWO-OLU, GBAJABIAMILA
National News
At Launch Of Ethiopia’s GLI, VP Shettima Urges Practical Action Against Climate Change

At Launch Of Ethiopia’s GLI, VP Shettima Urges Practical Action Against Climate Change
** Says Nigeria, Ethiopia have the largest stake in Africa’s future by keeping continent green
By: Our Reporter
Vice President Kashim Shettima has called on nations of the world to be decisive about combating climate change, saying it is a danger that must be arrested with practical actions.
According to him, while the global threat is not one that can be resolved in a conference room, it requires each country to respond to the peculiarities of the ecological burdens confronting them.
The Nigerian Vice President, who stated this on Friday during the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative (GLI), in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, said he was delighted to share in the joy of Ethiopia’s resolve to confront the threat posed by climate change “with clarity, courage, and conviction.”
The Ethiopian Green Legacy Programme, which is designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change, targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
Senator Shettima, who is in the East African country for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Dr. Abiy Ahmed Ali, implored nations to enhance their climate plans by doubling their adaptation and mitigation efforts.
He said, “We have long accepted that climate change is not a problem to be solved in a conference room; it is a danger we must arrest with practical actions, with each nation rising to the occasion by responding to the peculiarities of the ecological burdens they face.
“Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative is one such response. It is an inspiring blueprint to reimagine the future. The promise of GLI is the dream of every nation. It is a lesson in vision, in purpose, and in audacity. For those of us who have followed this programme, the numbers are staggering, but the impact is even more compelling.
“To plant 20 billion seedlings within four years, to establish over 20,000 nurseries, and to create hundreds of thousands of green jobs is to show that the future is something we must plant, nurture, and build.”
VP Shettima noted that he was not in Ethiopia to only share in the country’s joy and exchange ideas but to also convey what he described as the deep and abiding solidarity of his boss, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the people of Nigeria.
Applauding those who made the Green Legacy Initiative a reality, he assured Ethiopia of Nigeria’s unflinching support, adding that both countries have the largest stake in Africa’s future.
“Ethiopia and Nigeria are the two most populous countries in Africa. This distinction is not just statistical; it is existential. It means we have the largest stake in Africa’s future. It means that more of our people are exposed to the peril of climate change, and it also means that we face the highest cost of inaction.
“This is why we are not mere spectators in this fight. We are partners. We are participants. And we are prepared to play our part to keep Africa green,” the Vice President pledged, just as he said it is the promise Nigeria and other nations have been making at the Conferences of the Parties (COP) every year.
“It is the pledge we renewed at the last COP in Azerbaijan. And today, we gather not only to stand by this promise but to celebrate the path Ethiopia has illuminated for the world,” he added.
Senator Shettima thanked the government and people of Ethiopia for the warmth and generosity extended to him and other members of the Nigerian delegation.
He said they felt at home, “not just because of the hospitality shown to them, but because the launch of the Green Legacy Programme resonates with the aspirations “to leave behind a planet fit for the dreams of generations to come.
In his address at the event, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called on African countries to make the Green Legacy a culture, adding that Ethiopia was proud of Nigeria and its bold move to embrace the green initiative.
The Prime Minister called for partnership across African countries, stating that it was time to place less emphasis on foreign aid and begin to focus more on indigenous and home-grown domestic ideas and visions.
“This year’s Green Legacy is to rise by planting, and it is in consonance with our plan to shock the world with our Green Legacy vision. We never received any aid when we set out to achieve our 20 billion tree planting initiative.
“We thank Nigeria for supporting and accepting this initiative. With its population and growing economy, we are sure that the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as exemplified by the esteemed presence of Vice President Kashim Shettima, will go a long way in raising the awareness and collaborative effort needed amongst African countries,” the Prime Minister said.
He further expressed optimism that with Ethiopia’s hosting of the forthcoming United Nations summit on Climate Change, the stage is set for all hands to be on deck to achieve one of Ethiopia’s biggest green revolution plans.
Earlier in the day, Vice President Shettima was guided through Ethiopia’s Unity Park, Science Museum, and the Adwa Victory Memorial Museum, which showcase Ethiopia’s historic and transformative trajectory.
At Launch Of Ethiopia’s GLI, VP Shettima Urges Practical Action Against Climate Change
National News
VP Shettima Arrives For Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme Launch

VP Shettima Arrives For Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme Launch
By: Our Reporter
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived at the venue for the official launch of Ethiopia’s flagship Green Legacy Programme in Addis Ababa.
The project is part of Nigeria’s commitment to regional and continental collaboration on climate action and aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which prioritizes environmental sustainability, food security, and green economic growth.
VP Shettima is in the company of the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed.
The Vice President, who is on an official state visit to Ethiopia, will participate in the launch ceremony of the environmental initiative aimed at combating deforestation and mitigating climate change effects.
The Green Legacy Programme targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period to enhance biodiversity and address environmental challenges across Ethiopia.
This initiative aligns with Nigeria’s existing endeavours in afforestation and reforestation, such as the Great Green Wall project, which focuses on restoring damaged environments, combating desertification, and fostering climate resilience throughout the Sahel region.
VP Shettima Arrives For Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme Launch
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