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Former Senate President, Ahmed Lawan Told to Bury 2027 Yobe Gubernatorial Ambition
Former Senate President, Ahmed Lawan Told to Bury 2027 Yobe Gubernatorial Ambition
By: Michael Mike
The immediate past Senate President, Dr. Ahmed Lawan has been told to bury any ambition of becoming the governor of Yobe State in 2027.
A group of youth under the auspices of Vanguard for Better Governance in Yobe State 2027 said it is not the turn of Lawan’s senatorial district to present the next governor of the state.
The group in the statement said: “Against the backdrop of the call by phantom groups such as ‘The Coalition of Yobe East Progressive Youths’ led by one Dr Yarma Goni, begging the Senator of Yobe East Senatorial District and immediate past Senate President, published in many news platforms locally and internationally for Senator (Dr) Ahmed Lawan to heed the call of duty and offer himself as a candidate for Yobe Governor in 2027.
“We, the Yobe in the youth of Yobe State see this as a mischievous attempt of the Dr Yarima Goni’s political jobbers to sell a kite that would never fly in our dear state, Yobe.”
They added that: “While one may not be too sure of the news report, it believed to be a clandestine and surreptitious move at the instance of the distinguished Senator Lawan; but the senator does not need a soothsayer nor an Imam to enlighten him that the Governorship of Yobe in 2027 is a Yobe South affair.
“Yobe Zone B, having lost the only governor from the zone in 2009, the late distinguished Senator Mamman Ali, could not complete Governor Mamman Ali’s first term owing to his untimely death. Two governors from other zones have ruled Yobe State, leaving Zone B in a somewhat perpetual waiting game!
“The very mention of Yobe East person as the Governor of Yobe State in 2027 smacks brazen injustice, and lopsidedness as evidenced in the various federal employment slots allegedly coveted with the use of fake degrees, diplomas and certificates from degree mills traced to Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana and other fictitious places to fix Yobe East people at top places and positions at the federal level.
“The same goes for federal projects “cornered from above” to the zone via the instrumentality of top politicians from the zone in Abuja. A case in point is the painful approval of a Federal University of Medical Sciences for the Gashua zone or Yobe East and a federal conventional university already operating in the area.
“The jaundiced socio-political distribution of federal and state projects in Yobe State has seen the trio of state university in Damaturu, two federal universities at Gashua Area, Airport in Damaturu and other key projects, yet nothing for Yobe Zone B reputed for having a large enlightened population and historical relevance.
“Politicians who have served the federal legislature for more than two decades are hardly rewarded with the governorship of their states; as a few of them have done daylight robbery of political mandates of their kith and kin even when they never contested party primaries for a failed quest for white elephant national pole office of Mr President of Nigeria with an evidential failure.
“The planned strangulation of the Governorship of Yobe in 2027 from Yobe Zone B would sow deep seeds of state discord if allowed. For God’s sake, Yobe East’s top politicians should look elsewhere and allow Yobe Zone B to breathe. Yobe East should rather hibernate from the self-inflicted wounds of rivalling President Bola Tinubu when northern governors had endorsed a southern candidate for the 2023 presidential elections.”
The group further said: “The quest for Yobe East Governorship of Yobe State would be akin to the same strategy of their kith and kith who sought to succeed former President Muhammadu Buhari after a northern presidency of eight years with another strange eight years of northern presidency meant for southern Nigeria. If it had happened; Nigeria would have been torn into shreds of Banana Republics.
“The coalition of Yobe East politicians appears as recent students of Nigerian history. Posterity has recorded in its annals that some of their kith and kin at key federal tiers of government misled the immediate past President Buhari into a regime of uncommon loan burden, ill-fated currency change regime prosecuted in grand corruption; in addition to the sleaze of the century in the oil and gas industry at the behest and heavy cooperation resulting in the current travails of Nigerians and the current government.
“We are forced, therefore, to assume the affliction of dementia or hallucination on the part of the ‘Coalition of Yobe East Progressive Youths’ to dream Yobe Governorship in 2027 for their zone and clan’s man as this amounts to standing common sense on its very head which shall not stand!”
Former Senate President, Ahmed Lawan Told to Bury 2027 Yobe Gubernatorial Ambition
Army and security forces conduct massive clearance operations in Gombe
By: Zagazola Makama
Troops of the Nigerian Army, alongside police, NSCDC, DSS, local vigilantes, and hunters, have conducted massive clearance operations across suspected bandit hideouts in Gombe State.
Zagazola report that the operations, began on March 10 in Billiri Local Government Area.
Security forces combed multiple towns and villages, including Kalmai, Sabon Layi, Kulkul, Ayaba, Lakurum, Bassa, Baka, Papawure, Amtawalam, Kwiba, Sansani, Lawishi Daji, and Gada Uku.
The exercise was later extended on March 11 to Pero-Chonge in Shongom LGA covering Filiya, Gwandum, Majidadi, Yelwa, Katagun, Dangeza, Daga, Kwele, Lalinling, Dwaja, and Gundale.
At about 8:30 a.m., security operatives moved to Pindiga Division in Akko LGA, conducting clearance patrols in Garin Galadima, Gagarabami, Badara, Lambo, Tundu, Kaltanga, Gizimawa, and Kolmani axis.
While no arrests were reported, police said the joint operations are ongoing to ensure security and deter bandit activities. The Command added that the overall situation in the state remains calm.
Authorities reassured residents that continued vigilance and collaboration among security agencies remain a priority in maintaining peace and stability in Gombe State.
Army and security forces conduct massive clearance operations in Gombe
ISWAP scamper in disarray as NAF, ground troops repel attack on Banki in Bama LGA
By: Zagazola Makama
Fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) reportedly fled in disarray on Friday after troops of Operation Hadin Kai, supported by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), successfully repelled an attempted attack on a military base in Banki, Bama Local Government Area of Borno.
Security sources told Zagazola Makama that the insurgents launched the attack in the early hours of Friday, advancing in large numbers in an attempt to overrun the military formation.
The sources said the troops immediately engaged the terrorists in a fierce gun battle, effectively resisting the assault and preventing the insurgents from breaching the base.
According to the sources, while the exchange of fire was ongoing, the Nigerian Air Force scrambled an aircraft to provide aerial support to the ground troops.
“On sighting the approaching aircraft, the terrorists took to their heels and were seen scampering in disarray into nearby bushes to escape the superior firepower of the troops and the air component,” one of the sources said.
The sources added that the attempted attack was successfully foiled, forcing the insurgents to abandon the operation.
There were no immediate reports of casualties as security forces have commenced assessment and clearance operations in the area.
Banki, a border town near Cameroon in Bama LGA, remains one of the key frontline locations in the ongoing counter-insurgency campaign in Borno.
ISWAP scamper in disarray as NAF, ground troops repel attack on Banki in Bama LGA
Freight forwarders protest arbitrary shipping charges at Apapa ports
By: Zagazola Makama
The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has raised concerns over what it described as arbitrary and unilateral increases in shipping charges by some shipping companies at the Apapa ports in Lagos.
The grievances were contained in a letter addressed to the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council, Park Lane, Apapa, and copied to the Commissioner of Police, Ports Authority Police (Western Command), Apapa.
The letter, titled “Administrative Overreach: The Non-Consensual and Arbitrary Increase of Shipping Charges in Breach of Established Procedure and Protocol,” was received at about 2:30 p.m. on March 12.
Following the complaint, the Commissioner of Police, Ports Authority Police Western Command, Apapa, convened a meeting with the leadership of NAGAFF to discuss the issue.
Those in attendance included Mr Bert Okeke, Secretary and representative of the NAGAFF Chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Tanko; Mr Uche Nwabude, Operational Head; and Chief Raf Nwoye, Technical Director at the association’s headquarters, alongside eight other members.
During the meeting, the NAGAFF leaders expressed dissatisfaction over the alleged immediate and unilateral upward review of shipping charges by some companies without prior notification to freight forwarders and other service users.
They described the development as a breach of established procedures guiding port operations and trade facilitation.
In her response, the Commissioner of Police, Ports Authority Police Western Command, commended the association for following due process by engaging relevant stakeholders and bringing the matter to the attention of authorities.
She urged the union leaders to remain law-abiding and advised them to notify the police and obtain approval before embarking on any picketing or protest actions.
The police chief also encouraged the association to suspend any planned industrial action pending efforts by the Nigerian Shippers Council to mediate and resolve the dispute.
She further called for sustained synergy, collaboration and consolidation between the police and stakeholders in the maritime sector to ensure smooth trade facilitation at the ports.
The meeting ended at about 3:25 p.m.
Freight forwarders protest arbitrary shipping charges at Apapa ports
Army and security forces conduct massive clearance operations in Gombe
ISWAP scamper in disarray as NAF, ground troops repel attack on Banki in Bama LGA
Freight forwarders protest arbitrary shipping charges at Apapa ports
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