Connect with us

National News

APC gets first female presidential aspirant

Published

on

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.

READ ALSO: Zulum Dissolves Borno State Executive Council

“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.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

National News

UNILORIN Alumni Commences Tinubu on Appointment of Nandap, Omotowa, Aribisala

Published

on

UNILORIN Alumni Commences Tinubu on Appointment of Nandap, Omotowa, Aribisala

By: Michael Mike

The National Headquarters of University of Ilorin Alumni Association has lauded President Bola Tinubu for appointing three of its members into various leadership positions in the country.

Those appointed were Comptroller General of Immigration, Mrs Kemi Nandap,, whose tenure was elongated till December 2026, Non Executive Director of NNPC, representing North Central, Mr Babs Omotowa- and the Pioneer Vice Chancellor of Federal University of Technology and Environmental Sciences, Iyin-Ekiti, Prof. James A. Aribisala.

In a congratulatory message to the trio, the National President, Prof. AbdulRasaq Kilani, and the National Secretary, Dr Barakat Raji, said the Association received the news of the appointments with excitement.

The Alumni, who commended President Tinubu for selecting the best for their various positions, assured him that the three alumni would not disappoint him in attaining the goals set for them to achieve.

While felicitating with the appointed members on their well-deserved appointment, the Association charged them to always show the excellence in them in surpassing the targets set for them by Mr President.

The Association who extolled the pedigrees of the appointed members in their various fields, implored them to live up to the expectations of the slogan of the institutions “better by far” in all ramifications.

The Alumni then prayed for their successful tenure and tasked them not to hesitate to reach out to them whenever their services are needed in any capacity towards national development.

UNILORIN Alumni Commences Tinubu on Appointment of Nandap, Omotowa, Aribisala

Continue Reading

National News

President Tinubu reconstitute NNPC Board, remove Kyari Mele

Published

on

President Tinubu reconstitute NNPC Board, remove Kyari Mele

By: Our Reporter

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a sweeping reconstitution of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited board, removing the chairman, Chief Pius Akinyelure and the group chief executive officer, Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari.

In a statement signed by Bayo Onanuga,
Special Adviser to the President (Information & Strategy), President Tinubu removed all other board members appointed with Akinyelure and Kyari in November 2023.

The new 11-man board has Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the Group CEO and Ahmadu Musa Kida as non-executive chairman.

Adedapo Segun, who replaced Umaru Isa Ajiya as the chief financial officer last November, has been appointed to the new board by President Tinubu.

Six board members, non-executive directors, represent the country’s geopolitical zones. They are Bello Rabiu, North West, Yusuf Usman, North East, and Babs Omotowa, a former managing director of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas( NLNG), who represents North Central.

President Tinubu appointed Austin Avuru as a non-executive director from the South-South, David Ige as a Non-executive director from the South West, and Henry Obih as a non-executive director from the South East.

Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, will represent the ministry on the new board, while Aminu Said Ahmed will represent the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

All the appointments are effective today, April 2.

President Tinubu, invoking the powers granted under Section 59, subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, emphasised that the board’s restructuring is crucial for enhancing operational efficiency, restoring investor confidence, boosting local content, driving economic growth, and advancing gas commercialisation and diversification.

President Tinubu also handed out an immediate action plan to the new board: to conduct a strategic portfolio review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture Assets to ensure alignment with value maximisation objectives.

Since 2023, the Tinubu administration has implemented oil sector reforms to attract investment. Last year, NNPC reported $17 billion in new investments within the sector. The administration now envisions increasing the investment to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030.

The Tinubu administration targets raising oil production to two million barrels daily by 2027 and three million daily by 2030. Concurrently, the government wants gas production jacked to 8 billion cubic feet daily by 2027 and 10 billion cubic feet by 2030.

Furthermore, President Tinubu expects the new board to elevate NNPC’s share of crude oil refining output to 200,000 barrels by 2027 and reach 500,000 by 2030.

The new board chairman, Ahmadu Musa Kida, is from Borno State. He is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he received a degree in civil engineering in 1984. He also obtained a postgraduate diploma in petroleum engineering from the Institut Francaise du Petrol (IFP) in Paris

He started his career in the oil industry at Elf Petroleum Nigeria and later joined Total Exploration and Production as a trainee engineer in 1985.

Musa became Total Nigeria’s Deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services in 2015. Last year, he became an Independent Non-Executive Director at Pan Ocean-Newcross Group.

Apart from his oil industry career, Ahmadu Musa Kida is a former basketballer and the president of the Nigerian Basketball Federation(NBBF) board.

Ojulari, the new NNPC Limited Group CEO, hails from Kwara State. Until his new appointment, He was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company. His Renaissance recently led a consortium of indigenous energy firms in the landmark acquisition of the entire equity holding in the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), worth $2.4 billion.

Like Kida, Ojulari is also an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He worked for Elf Aquitaine as the first Nigerian process engineer to begin a stellar career in the oil sector. From Elf, he joined Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd in 1991 as an associate production technologist.

Apart from working in Nigeria, he worked in Europe and the Middle East in different capacities as a petroleum process and production engineer, strategic planner, field developer, and asset manager. In 2015, he became the managing director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO).

During his career, he was chairman and member of the board of trustees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigerian Council) and a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.

President Tinubu thanked the old board members for their dedicated service to NNPC Limited, particularly their efforts in rehabilitating the old Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, which enabled them to resume petroleum product production after prolonged shutdowns. He wished them well in their future endeavours.

President Tinubu reconstitute NNPC Board, remove Kyari Mele

Continue Reading

National News

Uromi Killing: NHRC Demands Protection for All Nigerians

Published

on

Uromi Killing: NHRC Demands Protection for All Nigerians

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has condemned the recent gruesome killing of 16 traveling hunters in Edo State, who were mistook for kidnappers.

The Executive Secretary of the Commission Dr. Tony Ojukwu expressed deep concern over the horrific incident, which highlights the dangers of mob justice and the urgent need for effective law enforcement and respect for human rights.

He said: “We commend Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, for his swift and decisive action in suspending the Commander of the Edo State Security Corps, CP Friday Ibadin (Rtd.), and banning all illegal vigilante groups operating in the state, but more need to be done.”

Ojukwu said the Commission wishes to use this opportunity to remind the government and the people of Nigeria that every individual has the right to life, as enshrined in Chapter 4 of the 1999 Constitution as amended as well as Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

He equally said the Commission emphasized that the freedom of movement, as guaranteed by the Constitution and Article 12 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, has been grossly violated in this dastardly incident.

Ojukwu said: “We at the Commission demand that all the perpetrators be fished out and brought to justice. We call on the government to take concrete steps to prevent such incidents in the future, there is no justification for jungle justice anywhere in the world.”

He emphasized that every Nigerian has the right to life, dignity, and freedom from violence, regardless of their ethnicity, religion, or occupation, assuring that the Commission will continue to advocate for the protection of human rights and the rule of law in Nigeria.

Ojukwu said: “We urge the Edo State Government to continue its investigation into the killings and ensure that all perpetrators face the full wrath of the law. On our part, we will continue to monitor the process of investigation to ensure that justice is served. This will serve as a deterrent to others.

“Promotion and protection of human rights is paramount to national development, let’s all imbibe the culture of respect for human rights and fundamental freedom to make Nigeria a better place.”

Uromi Killing: NHRC Demands Protection for All Nigerians

Continue Reading

Trending

Verified by MonsterInsights