National News
APC gets first female presidential aspirant

APC gets first female presidential aspirant
The All Progressives Congress (APC) got its first female presidential aspirant on Thursday as Ms Uju Ohanenye bought the party’s Expression of Interest and Nomination forms in Abuja. Ohanenye told newsmen after picking the forms that male aspirants in the race would not succeed in intimidating her.
“My fear is that men will want to muscle me out, but I am standing firmly for the people I am here to protect.
“They will want to push me over, but I cannot be intimidated. I have been emboldened,’’ she said.
The reports gathered that the APC’s Presidential Nomination and Expression of Interest forms sell for N100 million.
Female aspirants, youths and persons with disability vying for any elective office on the platform of the party are to pay 50 per cent of the cost, however.
Ohanenye said, like the male presidential aspirants, she had what it would take to lead the country to the next phase of development.
She said she would withdraw from the race for any aspirant with the vision and desire to address growing poverty and insecurity in the country.
The aspirant stressed, however, that as a mother, she had the magic wand to do things better.
“It is so obvious and all of us know that it is time for a mother to come on board.
“As it is today, considering the state of insecurity in the country and other things, children need motherly care; we can understand that from their attitude.
“I have never been a politician, but because of what I have seen, I just felt I should come on board.
“The major solution I am bringing on board is to involve the commoners and the less privileged in the governance of the country,’’ she said.
Ohanenye, a legal practitioner, said there was the need to involve the common man in the governance of the country and to create job opportunities for the teaming unemployed youths.
She said Nigerian youths were very intelligent and should not be allowed to be engaged in anti-social activities.
“I am going to localise the construction of roads and many other things.
“I won’t copy the Westerners all through because they have their ways of constructing roads, which make the construction very expensive,’’ she said.
She explained that locals would be engaged in road construction to get them involved and to enable them to earn incomes to reduce unemployment and keep the people busy and out of mischief.
Ohanenye explained that she was not interested in contesting the governorship seat in her state because she didn’t want to be limited to a particular region or place.
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“I want to be out for all Nigerians, be you Christian, Muslim, male, female; I don’t care. I just want to be there to ensure that everybody feels good.
“Lack of love, selfishness and bias are the causes of insecurity; people no longer feel any sense of belonging or reason to live,’’ she observed.
She said she would support the speculated consensus option to pick the APC’s presidential candidate on the condition that the major reason for her joining the race was addressed.
“Those issues concerning the downtrodden must be addressed.
“I don’t really care if any other person other than I takes up the responsibility, but the person must be one who will look into solving the problems of Nigeria,’’ she said.
More than 10 aspirants have so far joined the APC presidential race. They are Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; the APC national leader, Bola Tinubu; the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; and former Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha.
Others are Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State; the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chris Ngige; the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajuba; Governor David Umuahi of Ebonyi State, Pastor Tunde Bakare and Senator Ken Nnamani.
Other aspirants are the Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi; and ex-Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun (APC-Ogun Central).
The APC special presidential primary convention is scheduled to be held from Monday, May 30 to Wednesday, June 1.
National News
VP Shettima Mourns Late Alhaji Aminu Dantata, Says Nigeria Has Lost An Irreplaceable Institution

VP Shettima Mourns Late Alhaji Aminu Dantata, Says Nigeria Has Lost An Irreplaceable Institution
By: Michael Mike
Vice President Kashim Shettima has expressed deep grief over the passing of prominent Nigerian businessman and philanthropist, Alhaji Aminu Alhassan Dantata, saying the nation has lost an irreplaceable institution.
The late Dantata, an uncle of Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, passed away at the age of 94 in Abu Dhabi in the early hours of Saturday in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to Mustapha Abdullahi Junaid, his Personal Private Secretary (PPS), who confirmed the death.
In a condolence message, Vice President Shettima praised the late businessman for his lifetime of service, describing him as “a living bridge that connected us to our past.
“We have not just lost a leader; we have lost an irreplaceable institution,” Senator Shettima said, describing Dantata as “one of the greatest titans in Nigeria’s philosophical history” whose departure marks the end of a vital chapter in the country’s economic and democratic evolution.
“In African tradition, when such an elderly person transitions, a vital chapter of our history departs with them. He was indeed among the great titans, a living bridge that connected us to our past,” VP Shettima added.
The Vice President extended heartfelt condolences to the Dantata family, expressing hopes that they would “find the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss,” even as he prayed that Almighty Allah would grant the deceased Jannatul Firdaus.
Born into the legendary Dantata family of Kano, Alhaji Aminu built on his father’s commercial legacy to become one of Nigeria’s most influential business figures. His empire spans construction, manufacturing, banking, agriculture, and the oil and gas sectors.
Beyond business, Dantata was renowned for his extensive philanthropic work, funding schools, mosques, health centres, and supporting widows and the underprivileged across Nigeria.
VP Shettima Mourns Late Alhaji Aminu Dantata, Says Nigeria Has Lost An Irreplaceable Institution
National News
Nigeria-EU Senior Officials Meet in Abuja to Prepare for Upcoming Nigeria – EU Ministerial Meeting

Nigeria-EU Senior Officials Meet in Abuja to Prepare for Upcoming Nigeria – EU Ministerial Meeting
By: Michael Mike
The Senior Officials Meeting between Nigeria and the European Union (EU) will be held on Tuesday 1st and Wednesday 2nd July 2025 in Abuja to prepare for the upcoming Nigeria – EU Ministerial Meeting and to explore areas of cooperation.
A statement on Saturday by the Press Officer, EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Modestus Chukwulaka, read: “The Delegation of European Union to Nigeria and ECOWAS wishes to inform that the Senior Officials Meeting between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the European Union (EU) will be held on Tuesday 1st and Wednesday 2nd July 2025 in Abuja.
“The agenda of the very important meeting is to prepare for the upcoming Nigeria – EU Ministerial Meeting and to explore areas of cooperation.”
According to the statement, the Senior Officials Meeting will be co-chaired by the Regions, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria, Ambassador Janet Olisa, Director, and the Deputy Managing Director for Africa Department, European External Action Service, European Union, Mr Mathieu Briens.
The statement revealed that the agenda of the meeting is expected to entail wide-ranging discussions that would focus on various aspects of the Nigeria – EU partnership, such as: Cooperation on multilateral and regional issues; Peace, Security and Governance; Humanitarian situation; Trade and Investment; Human Development: Health, Education, Social Protection; Science, technology, innovation and digital transition; Migration; Energy, climate change and green economy transition among others.
Nigeria and the European Union share a deep, long-standing partnership inspired by mutual values and interests as well as support for multilateralism and rule-based international order, the statement said.
Nigeria-EU Senior Officials Meet in Abuja to Prepare for Upcoming Nigeria – EU Ministerial Meeting
National News
Farida Waziri Tasks Benue Leaders to Unite, Act and Save Their People

Farida Waziri Tasks Benue Leaders to Unite, Act and Save Their People
…. Donates relief materials to displaced persons in Yelwata, IDP camp
By: Michael Mike
Former Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri has charged former governors, legislators, traditional rulers and other stakeholders in Benue state to set aside rivalry, unite and act with urgency to save their people from incessant attacks and killings.
Waziri, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police and Principal Partner, Brookfield Chambers Abuja stated this on Saturday 28th June 2025 while donating relief materials to victims of the recent gunmen attacks in Yelwata community and displaced persons at the internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Makurdi, the Benue state capital.
Some of the items donated under the banner of Women, Youth, Children and Crime Organisation (WYCCO), a non-governmental organization founded by her, include: bags of rice, sugar, tubers of yam and other household items.

She said: “This is no time for division. It is no time for political squabbling or ego-driven manoeuvring. Among us are men and women who have led this state — former governors, legislators, traditional rulers — individuals with influence and authority. The time has come to set aside our differences and stand united, for the sake of the ordinary Benue man, woman, and child.
“That is why I stand here today to make this urgent and heartfelt appeal to our leaders: cast aside rivalry, unite, and act. Act with urgency. Act with purpose. Because what we face now increasingly resembles a deliberate, coordinated effort to erase our people and our heritage.
“We must take heed of the words of Sir Winston Churchill, who once said:
‘Our difficulties and dangers will not be removed by closing our eyes to them.’
Another of Churchill’s warnings is just as relevant to our present predicament:
‘If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed… you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival.”
Waziri, while stating that her call was a build up to the earlier proposal by President Bola Tinubu during his recent visit Beforehand Benue, noted that meetings alone would not solve the problem, urging that: “But let us be sincere: peace will not come from meetings alone. To end the cycle of violence, we must confront its roots. Before the Yelwata massacre, communities in Gwer West, Apa, and Guma had already endured weeks of killings, kidnappings, and raids. These horrors did not emerge in a vacuum; they are symptoms of deeper issues.
“We must therefore confront the real causes — ethnic and religious tensions, unchecked banditry, and the rise of cultism as well as the abuse of illicit drugs. These forces must be tackled, along with the herder-farmer conflict, with honesty and courage. We cannot afford to keep going in circles. And there is no room for blame games. Our leaders — and indeed, all of us — must be pragmatic. So today, let us commit, as one people, to healing our wounds, reclaiming our land, and ensuring that never again will a child in Benue grow up in a camp instead of a home”
She said the development in Benue must be of “concern to all sons and daughters of Benue regardless of whether we live within its borders or far away in the diaspora to find out the root cause of these attacks with a view to proferring solutions that will bring an end to these barbaric acts”
Farida Waziri Tasks Benue Leaders to Unite, Act and Save Their People
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