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REVEALED: The N32bn ‘Final Straw’ That Led To The Ouster Of Adamu As APC Chair

Published

2 years ago

July 17, 2023

Editor

Abdullahi Adamu was asked to resign as the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Sunday after a prolonged cold war with President Bola Tinubu, TheCable understands.

The APC chairman was advised to throw in the towel by Hope Uzodinma, the governor of Imo state and chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF).

Iyiola Omisore, the APC national secretary, allegedly became incommunicado upon getting wind of the development.

Party sources told TheCable that Adamu and Omisore were to face a vote of no confidence by NWC members on Monday afternoon following which they would be sacked by the national executive committee (NEC), chaired by Tinubu, on Wednesday.

There has been a cold war between Tinubu and Adamu since the former governor of Nasarawa state was elected party chairman in March 2022.

But the “final straw”, according to insiders, was Adamu’s failure to account for the N32 billion raised by the party from the sale of forms for the 2023 general election.

“Only N7 billion is left in the account as we speak,” an NWC member told TheCable.

“Adamu and Omisore claimed the account has been audited, but we are not aware of when the auditors were appointed. How can NWC not be aware of the appointment? It is part of our responsibilities to appoint auditors.”

Sensing the move to remove him, Adamu had reportedly sought the support of the chairmen of the state chapters of the party but received a cold shoulder.

“By the APC constitution, the proceeds were supposed to be shared with the zonal, state and ward levels of the party, and they were not in the know. So there was no way they were going to support him,” another party insider told TheCable.

Before the N32 billion question became a bone of contention, Adamu’s exit appeared imminent.

While Tinubu supported Tanko Al Makura, also a former governor of Nasarawa state, for the position of national chairman, party leaders loyal to former President Muhammadu Buhari rooted for Adamu.

This was thought to be the first move to stop Tinubu from winning the party’s presidential ticket.

Ahead of the APC presidential primary in June 2022, Tinubu complained bitterly that he was being betrayed despite the fact that a gentleman’s agreement was sealed in 2015 for him to succeed Buhari.

His outburst, popularly known as “emi l’okan” (“it’s my turn”), enraged Adamu who threatened that the party would “discipline” him.

In the week of the primary, Adamu informed NWC members that Ahmad Lawan, then senate president, was Buhari’s preferred presidential candidate.

The move was met with protests and condemnation from some quarters, but he stood his ground.

Lawan, a latecomer to the race, lost the primary, coming last with 38 votes against Tinubu’s 371.

Tinubu would go on to lose the presidential election in Nasarawa state, where Adamu was governor from 1999 to 2007.

“It was inevitable that Adamu would bite the dust,” the NWC member told TheCable.

“When the 10th national assembly was about to be inaugurated, it was the APC leadership that was supposed to work behind the scene for the leadership election. Adamu and Omisore were aloof. In fact, it was a known fact that Adamu was supporting Abdulaziz Yari.

“As if that was not enough, when the committee positions were announced, Adamu openly dissociated himself from the list. He had it coming.”

TheCable understands that when the issue of the N32 billion was presented to Tinubu, he gave the go-ahead for the party to remove him “legally”.

Uzodinma approached Adamu on Sunday and asked him to do the “needful” but he was unable to reach Omisore.

TheCable

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White House Slams Trump’s Nobel Prize Snub

Published

1 day ago

October 10, 2025

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The White House lashed out at the Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday after it awarded the peace prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and overlooked US President Donald Trump.

“The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace,” White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung said on X.

“President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives. He has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will.”

Since returning to the White House for his second term in January, Trump had repeatedly insisted that he deserved the Nobel for his role in resolving numerous conflicts — a claim observers say is broadly exaggerated.

Trump restated his claim on the eve of the peace prize announcement, saying that his brokering of the first phase of a ceasefire in Gaza this week was the eighth war he had ended.

But he added on Thursday: “Whatever they do is fine. I know this: I didn’t do it for that, I did it because I’ve saved a lot of lives.”

Nobel Prize experts in Oslo had insisted in the run-up to Friday’s announcement that Trump had no chance, noting that his “America First” policies run counter to the ideals of the Peace Prize as laid out in Alfred Nobel’s 1895 will creating the award.

AFP

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Transgender Woman Jailed For Deceiving Man About Gender In UK

Published

1 day ago

October 10, 2025

Editor

A British court has sentenced a transgender woman, Ciara Watkin, to 21 months in prison for deceiving a man into sexual activity by falsely claiming to be a biological female.

According to a BBC report on Friday, the victim told Durham Crown Court he would not have consented to the sexual encounter had he known Watkin was biologically male.

The court heard that Watkin, 21, from Thornaby in Stockton-on-Tees, was found guilty of sexual assault after jurors rejected her claim that the man “would have realised” her gender identity.

Recorder Peter Makepeace KC said he was “certain” the victim “fully believed from start to finish” that Watkin was a woman due to her “lies and deception.”

Watkin, who was born male and had used the name Ciara since childhood, had not undergone any medical transition or surgery, the BBC reported.

Both Watkin and the victim were 18 when they met on Snapchat, where she used a female cartoon character as her profile picture. They later met in person, leading to sexual contact. Prosecutor Paul Reid told the court that Watkin even claimed to be menstruating to stop the man from touching her below the waist.

When Watkin later confessed to being biologically male, the man said he was “physically sick” and immediately reported the matter to the police.

“He said he was shocked and upset about being deceived, adding that he felt ashamed, embarrassed, and had been ridiculed online due to Watkin’s actions and deception,” the report stated.

The victim, who described himself as heterosexual, told the court he felt “part of his masculinity was taken away.”

Defence counsel Victoria Lamballe argued that Watkin’s actions were not “predatory or sadistic” but stemmed from “shame and a deep sense of discomfort” with her own body.

She said Watkin, who has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, identified as female from primary school and had endured years of bullying.

“It is hardly surprising that Watkin built up a façade and presented almost as a caricature of herself to mask the inner turmoil she feels at having been born into the wrong body,” Lamballe said, adding that Watkin “simply wanted to be loved.”

However, Recorder Makepeace ruled that the victim was “totally deceived,” saying Watkin had lied to “get away” with her deception and was aware the man would not have consented if he knew her biological sex.

The judge also criticised Watkin’s attitude during the trial, describing her as “flippant, disinterested, and bored,” showing “not a shred of remorse.”

He said, “At the heart of this case was your frustration at wanting sexual experiences with heterosexual males, which, by definition, you needed to deceive to achieve.”

Watkin will serve her sentence in a male prison, where authorities said protective measures would be taken to ensure her safety. She will also remain on the sex offenders register for 10 years and has been issued a lifetime restraining order preventing contact with the victim.

Detective Constable Martin Scotson of Cleveland Police said Watkin “purposely concealed her sex in order for the sexual activity to take place,” adding that he hoped the conviction would allow the victim to “move forward with his life.”

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Burkina Rejects US Deportees, Calls Trump’s Proposal Indecent

Published

1 day ago

October 10, 2025

Editor

Captain-Ibrahim-Traore
Burkina Faso, ruled by a junta hostile to the West, has refused to take in people kicked out of the United States, in a snub to one of President Donald Trump’s signature migration policies.

Since Trump’s return to the White House, his administration has made deporting people to third countries — often to nations they have no connection to — part of a sweeping immigration crackdown.

In Africa, Eswatini, Ghana, Rwanda and South Sudan have all accepted people expelled from the United States in recent months. But late on Thursday, Burkina Faso’s foreign affairs minister said the west African country had refused Washington’s overtures.

“Naturally, this proposal, which we considered indecent at the time, runs completely contrary to the principle of dignity,” Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore said on national television.

Hours earlier, the US embassy in the capital Ouagadougou announced the suspension of regular services for most visas for people living in Burkina Faso.
Instead, Burkinabe citizens will now have their services handled in Lome, the capital of neighbouring Togo.

“Is this a way to put pressure on us? Is this blackmail? Whatever it is… Burkina Faso is a place of dignity, a destination, not a place of expulsion,” Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore said.

Burkina Faso’s leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, styles himself as an anti-imperialist Pan-African strongman.

Since seizing power in a coup in September 2022, he has shunned former colonial master France and the wider West, forging closer ties with Russia instead.