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Republicans Erupt Into Open Warfare Over Ukraine Aid Package Vote

Published

1 year ago

April 20, 2024

Republican divisions over military support for Ukraine were long simmering. Now, before Saturday’s extraordinary vote in Congress on a foreign aid package, they have erupted into open warfare – a conflict that the vote itself is unlikely to contain.

Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House of Representatives, triggered an all-out split in his own party’s ranks last week by finally agreeing, after months of stalling, to a floor vote on the $95bn foreign aid programme. Passed by the Senate in February, it contained about $60bn for Ukraine, $14bn for Israel, and a smaller amount for Taiwan and other Pacific allies.

Johnson’s decision to finally bring the package to a vote made a highly symbolic break with the GOP’s far right, the people who engineered his elevation to the speaker’s chair last October after toppling his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy. These Republican rightwingers – reflecting the affinity of their political idol, the former president Donald Trump, for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin – have grown openly hostile to Ukraine’s cause.

Speaking from the Capitol on Thursday, Johnson made no apologies for antagonising them, telling C-SPAN that providing aid to Ukraine was “critically important” and “the right thing” despite the potential power of his opponents to bring him down in yet another internal party coup.

“I really believe the intel and the briefings that we’ve gotten,” Johnson said. “I believe that Xi and Vladimir Putin and Iran really are an axis of evil. I think they are in coordination on this. I think that Vladimir Putin would continue to march through Europe.

“I am going to allow an opportunity for every single member of the House to vote their conscience and their will,” he said, adding: “I’m willing to take a personal risk for that, because we have to do the right thing. And history will judge us.”

The backlash was fierce. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the outspoken Georgia representative, immediately filed a resolution demanding Johnson’s removal, called the bill a “sham”.

“I don’t care if the speaker’s office becomes a revolving door,” Taylor Greene told Steve Bannon, Trump’s former adviser, on his War Room channel. “The days are over of the old Republican party that wants to fund foreign wars and murder people in foreign lands while they stab the American people in their face and refuse to protect Americans and fix our problems.”

Branded “Moscow Marjorie” by former Republican representative Ken Buck, who said she gets her talking points from the Kremlin, Taylor Greene went further by accusing Ukraine of waging “a war against Christianity”.

“The Ukrainian government is attacking Christians, the Ukrainian government is executing priests,” she said. “Russia is not doing that. They’re not attacking Christianity.” (In fact, according to figures from the Institute for Religious Freedom, a Ukrainian group, at least 630 religious sites had been damaged or looted in Russia’s invasion by December last year.)

Taylor Greene’s move to oust Johnson was supported by the Kentucky representative Thomas Massie, who also backed an ultimately successful attempt to remove a previous Republican speaker, John Boehner, nearly a decade ago.

Other Republican rightwingers are unhappy, too, though they have so far stopped short of moving to topple the speaker. That might be because Trump, the party’s presumptive nominee for president who is currently on trial on fraud charges relating to paying hush money to keep American voters from learning about his alleged affair with an adult film star, has backed Johnson.

So have all four Republican chairs of the key House committees – foreign affairs, intelligence, armed services and appropriations – a position driven by the sheer urgency of Ukraine’s predicament.

More than two years into the war, Ukraine has a catalogue of absolutely critical military requirements, including artillery shells, air defence missiles and deep-strike rockets.

Johnson has tried to dilute the internal opposition by unbundling the aid package into four separate bills, with each to be voted on individually – apparently in the hope that the chance to vote against the bits they dislike (such as Ukraine) while backing causes more palatable to them (such as Israel) will placate the implacable.

Although the Republicans’ house majority is now whittled down to two, Democrats – who mostly back funding Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion – have pledged to support Johnson’s bills. That could mean Ukraine would finally get the US assistance it has so fervently hoped for: roughly $60bn in assistance (much of which would be to replenish weapons stocks provided by the US), including $10bn to be given in the form of a loan, a concept Trump has apparently endorsed.

Predictably, Democrats are gloating. Jared Moskowitz, a Democratic representative from Florida, moved an amendment to the Ukraine bill calling for Taylor Greene’s office in the Cannon building to be renamed the Neville Chamberlain room – in homage to the pre-second world war British prime minister notorious for appeasing Hitler – and asking she be appointed “Vladimir Putin’s special envoy to the US”.

While Saturday’s vote may settle the Ukraine issue for now, Republican divisions will probably rumble on, according to Kyle Kondik of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

“The GOP split on Ukraine would remain, but the need for action (or inaction) in the short term would be solved,” he said.

“Johnson may be well-positioned to survive as speaker because Democrats may provide him some votes. But the GOP conference is so divided (and so small in its majority) that I’m sure something else will come along to cause more turbulence.”

The Guardian, UK

News

Okpebholo Warns Companies Against Fuelling Edo–Delta Boundary Dispute

Published

5 minutes ago

September 18, 2025

Editor

Edo State governor, Monday Okpebholo, has issued a stern warning to companies attempting to exploit the lingering boundary dispute between Edo and Delta states.

Okpebholo cautioned the companies to desist from encroaching on Edo territory while the matter remains before the National Boundary Commission (NBC), for adjudication and adjustment.

The governor’s stance follows a recent reports of encroachment on Edo territory by the Delta State Government and companies allegedly attempting to establish operations on disputed lands.

Okpehbolo, accompanied by the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), Zone 5, Salman-Dogo Garba, and other top security officials, spoke when he paid a fact-finding visit to the disputed areas.

The disputed territory lies between Urhonigbe Community in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State, and Umutu community in Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State.

Represented by his deputy, Hon. Dennis Idahosa, Okpebholo, while addressing residents of Urhonigbe community, assured them of his administration’s commitment to safeguarding their interests, but urged restraint.

He further urged the affected communities to remain peaceful and law-abiding, stressing that the dispute was being handled at the highest level of national authority.

“We are here at the boundary to see the disputed area and the actual demarcation. We are appealing to the Federal Government and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ensure that the NBC steps in and expedites action so that this dispute is resolved once and for all.

“This River Ethiope is a natural boundary. We don’t want any crisis in the South-South or between Edo and Delta states. We are brothers, having once been Bendel State before Delta was created. We want peace, and we want the right thing done quickly.”

“Please don’t take laws into your hands. As a government, we will protect the territorial integrity of Edo State. But we must maintain peace and harmony with our neighbors while this matter is before the NBC,” he pleaded.

Okpebholo emphasised that while his administration was committed to defending Edo territorial claims, it would do so with fairness, peace, and respect for due process.

“Our ultimate goal is to ensure justice, preserve harmony, and protect the integrity of our people and our State,” he affirmed.

In his remarks, AIG Salman-Dogo Garba urged restraint, describing both Edo and Delta as inseparable partners in peace and development despite the dispute.

“I appeal to the communities, Edo and Delta are still brothers despite this land dispute. Be peaceful, avoid violence, don’t take up arms over this matter as it is already before the NBC,” he advised.

News

Release Nnamdi Kanu For Medical Treatment, Ohanaeze President Begs FG

Published

50 minutes ago

September 18, 2025

Editor

The President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Senator John Azuta-Mbata, has called on the Federal Government to release the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, to enable him to seek proper medical attention.

This is as Azuta-Mbata called on Igbos across the country to ensure they register in the ongoing voters’ registration exercise and obtain their voter cards.

Azuta-Mbata said this in a short video message of himself speaking, which he sent to The PUNCH on Thursday.

Kanu’s detention has remained one of Nigeria’s most contentious political and security issues in recent years. Kanu, who was first arrested in 2015 on charges bordering on treasonable felony, jumped bail in 2017 and fled the country.

He was rearrested in Kenya in June 2021 in a controversial operation by Nigerian security operatives and has since been held in the custody of the Department of State Services.

He also urged the government to explore a political solution in handling the issue of the detained IPOB leader, saying the apex government does not have any advantage in the continuous detention of the IPOB leader.

Azuta-Mbata stated, “I’m calling upon Ndigbo-nine (Igbos in general) wherever you are in Nigeria to quickly go and take advantage of the voter registration exercise that is going on right now. Go and get your cards as quickly as possible.

“Secondly, I would like to call upon the federal government of Nigeria to quickly release Nnamdi Kanu. The Government has no serious advantage in keeping him. It is important that the government ensures his safety and his welfare, and that the Government must allow him to go and get medical treatment as quickly as possible.

“The Government must adopt a political solution to this situation. I do not believe that the Government has any serious advantage in keeping him any further.”

News

FG Makes History Compulsory Subject In Primary, Secondary Schools

Published

16 hours ago

September 17, 2025

Editor

The Federal Government has announced the reintroduction of Nigerian History as a compulsory subject from primary to senior secondary school, 16 years after it was removed from the curriculum in 2009, under the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration.

The Federal Ministry of Education announced this in a statement posted on its X handle on Wednesday.

It said the reintroduction aimed at strengthening national identity, unity, and patriotism among diverse citizens.

“For the first time in decades, Nigerian pupils will study History continuously from Primary 1 to JSS3, while SSS1–3 students will take the new Civic and Heritage Studies, integrating History with Civic Education.

“Primary 1–6: Pupils will learn about Nigeria’s origins, heroes, rulers, culture, politics, economy, religions, colonial rule, and post-independence governance.

“JSS1–3: Students will study civilisations, empires, trade, European contacts, amalgamation, independence, democracy, and civic values,” the statement read.

The Ministry said the Honourable Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Alausa, CON, together with the Honourable Minister of State for Education, Professor Suwaiba Sai’d Ahmad, expressed profound gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for championing the reform.

“They emphasised that History is not merely a record of the past, but a vital foundation for shaping responsible and patriotic citizens.”

According to the Ministers, the reform is a priceless gift to the nation, reconnecting children with their roots while inspiring pride, unity, and commitment to national development.

The Ministry has released the revised curriculum and will retrain teachers, provide resources, and strengthen monitoring.

The former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua-led government in 2009 removed history from Nigeria’s basic education curriculum.

Then, it was justified that students were avoiding it with the claim that there were few jobs for history graduates, and that there was dearth of history teachers.

In 2022, the Ministry of Education under former Minister Adamu Adamu inaugurated the reintroduction of the subject.

The Ministry also trained history teachers at the basic education level in Abuja.

However, history has always remained optional in the few schools that offer it.