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Rivers: PDP, Clark Fault Tinubu’s Peace Deal, APC Slams Opposition

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2 years ago

December 20, 2023

The Peoples Democratic Party and an elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, on Tuesday faulted President Bola Tinubu’s peace deal between the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesome Wike.

Tinubu brokered a truce between the FCT minister and his political godson at a meeting in Abuja on Monday night.

The meeting was attended by the President, Wike, Fubara, and his deputy, Mrs Ngozi Odu; a former governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili; and other stakeholders.

Reacting to PDP’s statement, the All Progressives Congress said the opposition party lacked shame for faulting the peace deal.

At the meeting, Wike and Fubara signed an eight-point agreement to end the political crisis in the state.

The crisis Fubara and his predecessor came to the fore on October 29 when a section of the state House of Assembly was gutted by fire after the lawmakers began moves to impeach the governor.

Events in the state assumed another dimension on December 11 when 27 out of 32 members of the state House of Assembly defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the APC. The defectors are Wike’s loyalists.

The Assembly was subsequently factionalised with a group led by a pro-Wike Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, and another by Edison Ehie, loyal to Fubara.

The House of Assembly complex in the state was pulled down on December 13 by the state government, which insisted that the building was not good for human habitation.

Tinubu intervened in the crisis on Monday night by brokering a peace deal.

Among others, it was agreed that the governor should withdraw court cases concerning the crisis and that he should represent the 2024 budget to the Amaewhule-led Assembly which was recognised as the Speaker.

It was also agreed that the defectors should return to the Assembly and that the nine commissioners who resigned should be reappointed by the governor.

But the Convener of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, Chief Edwin Clark, faulted the meeting convened by Tinubu to address tension between Fubara and Wike.

At a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, Clark condemned the agreement, describing it as appalling and unacceptable to the people.

The elder statesman also alleged that Fubara had been “ambushed and intimidated” into signing the agreement, adding that Tinubu’s intervention was a desecration of the constitution.

“It is obvious that Governor Siminialayi Fubara was ambushed and intimidated into submission. President Tinubu should know that with all the powers he possesses, he cannot override the Constitution.

“From all that transpired at the meeting, the laws of the land have not been obeyed. President Tinubu simply sat over a meeting where the constitution, which is the fulcrum of his office as President and which he swore to uphold and abide by, was truncated and desecrated.

“The eight resolutions reached, are the most unconstitutional, absurd, and obnoxious resolutions at settling feuding parties that I have ever witnessed in my life. As a matter of fact, some media captured it very well when they described it as directives,” he said.

Clark also alleged that the resolutions showed that Tinubu was trying to compensate Wike for winning the presidential election in Rivers for the APC, adding that people “will resist such draconian, arbitrary and unconstitutional action by Mr President and his customer, Nyesom Wike”.

“We will go to court to challenge this so-called one-sided and oppressive action of Mr. President”, he added.

Also, on Tuesday, the PDP National Working Committee rejected the intervention of the President and told the defectors that they could only return to the Assembly through fresh elections.

Addressing a press conference after the PDP emergency NWC meeting on Tuesday, the party’s acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, advised the lawmakers, who defected to APC not to be deceived by anybody giving assurances in Abuja that they could return to the House of Assembly without fresh elections.

Damagum said there was no respite for the defectors, who by virtue of Section 109 (1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, vacated their seats because of defection from the PDP.

Quoting Section 109(1)(g), he states, “A member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if: being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected:

“Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored; or

“(h) the Speaker of the House of Assembly receives a certificate under the hand of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission stating that the provisions of section 110 of this Constitution have been complied with in respect of the recall of the member.”

The PDP chairman insisted that having vacated their seats, the only option available for the lawmakers, if they wished to return was to seek fresh nomination and re-election on the platform of any political party of their choice.

He said the factional Speaker, Edison, had officially declared the seats of the defectors vacant in line with Section 109 (1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

“Our party therefore counsels the former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly not to be deceived by anybody giving them the false hope and impracticable assurances in Abuja that they can return to the Rivers State House of Assembly without a fresh election or that the Independent National Electoral Commission can be stopped from conducting fresh election into the 25 Rivers State constituencies where vacancies have occurred because of their defection,” he added.

He said INEC should, in line with Section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Section 84 (15) of the Electoral Act, 2022, fix a date for the conduct of a fresh election into the 25 state constituencies in the state.

APC slams PDP

But APC knocked the opposition PDP, saying it (PDP) had no business calling for a fresh election to replace the defectors.

In a telephone interview with The PUNCH correspondents, the APC National Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, said, “The PDP has no business in the affairs of these 27 members of Rivers House of Assembly. Already, the lawmakers said they are not members of the PDP because they have left the party. And once you leave the party, the organs of the political platform have no business with you. They cannot dictate to them what to do with their own political lives.

“If they have decided to leave the party, it is their choice. It is not for the PDP to now tell them what to do with their own political trajectory. The PDP should bury its head in shame and lick its wounds. This is because people are gradually losing faith in them and no longer see them as the emancipators they claimed to be.”

When asked if the Rivers State governor would not be pressured into pulling out of the truce reached on Monday night, the APC spokesman dismissed the notion, saying the relevant parties involved in the agreement took the decision in the interest of the people.

“This is a meeting that took place between people who are holding the highest responsibilities in their domains. Tinubu as President and Commander-in-Chief of the country has spoken with the interest of the country at heart.

“Fubara has also spoken in his capacity as the Governor and the chief security officer of Rivers State. It would be unfair for anybody to read their intentions negatively. They won’t speak with the intention of deceiving the country or going against the oath of office they took. I am sure they took the decision in the interest of the people who voted them into power,” he stated.

Also, the Presidency has explained that Tinubu’s intervention in the crisis is not political.

It argued that Tinubu did so in his capacity as Nigeria’s leader and “father of the nation”.

“The motive of the President is clearly, in this case, not a political one. He is the father of the nation; he is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; he is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces,” the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, said when he appeared on TVC Monday night.

Ngelale, who argued that the President only wanted to ensure stability in the country, said, “It is the primary responsibility of his to ensure that there is peace and stability and security in all parts of the country.

“If he sees any sign that peace is breaking down in any part of the country, this is a President that will take action.”

He said citizens should expect a hands-on conflict resolution approach in the Tinubu years.

“Nigerians are going to see that the difference between what we have seen from this President as against previous presidents of the past 24 years is that when something is wrong—whether it involves a political party or not in any part of the country—as the father of the nation, he is going to call everybody to the table and he is going to get everybody to a common resolution in the interest of the Nigerian people,” Ngelale added.

He further explained that “the resolution of the Rivers crisis is one that results from a series of interventions that he (Tinubu) has made over the course of the last few months on this issue.

“Mr. President was fully ready and equipped to take a very hard action if this resolution had not been reached.”

He described the resolutions from Monday’s meeting as products of compromise from all parties to bring relief to the people of Rivers.

“There was a compromise involved. All sides of the political divide within that state have had to compromise to ensure that there is a fair resolution,” said the Presidential aide.

Related Topics:APC Clark Fubara PDP Rivers

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Mexican President Pledges Tougher Sexual‑harassment Laws After Being Groped

Published

2 days ago

November 6, 2025

Editor

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday unveiled proposals to boost reporting and prosecution of sexual abuse after she herself was groped in the street in an attack that caused outrage.

Mexico’s first woman president, 63, was assaulted on Tuesday by a drunken man while walking through the streets of the capital.

The assault made global headlines and focused attention on the dangers and harassment suffered by many women in the Latin American country.

Sheinbaum has pressed charges against her attacker for sexual harassment, a charge that in Mexico City covers lewd behaviour and groping.

She has also ordered a review of the widely diverging laws on sexual harassment and abuse across Mexico’s 32 states.

Sexual harassment in public spaces is so prevalent in Mexico that in the last decade, the authorities have created women-only spaces on the metro.

Other cities with similar arrangements include Mumbai and Rio.

“May what happened serve so that women do not feel alone in situations of harassment or abuse… and for this to happen, there must be institutions and a government that supports them,” Sheinbaum told her regular morning press conference.

The UN says around 70 per cent of Mexican girls and women aged 15 and over will experience at least one incident of sexual harassment in their lives.

Sheinbaum said that 45 per cent had experienced sexual “abuse.”

The man who assaulted her put one arm around her shoulder while she was greeting supporters, and with his other hand touched her hip and chest while attempting to kiss her neck.

A member of Sheinbaum’s security detail pulled him away.

Citlalli Hernandez, Secretary for Women, said more than 25,000 complaints of sexual harassment have been filed so far this year.

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US Lawmakers Urge Sanctions On Miyetti Allah, Others Over Alleged Religious Violations

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2 days ago

November 6, 2025

Editor

The United States House of Representatives has urged the Departments of State and Treasury to impose targeted sanctions on individuals and organisations, including Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria and Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, over alleged violations of religious freedom in Nigeria.

This was contained in a resolution introduced before the House on Tuesday and cited by The PUNCH from the US Congress website on Wednesday.

Recall that Trump, in a post on Truth over the weekend, declared Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” and threatened to take military action if the country did not stem the alleged killings of Christians.

Filed as H. Res. 860 in the 119th Congress, the resolution, submitted by Rep. Christopher Smith with Rep. Paul Huizenga as a co-sponsor, commends President Donald Trump for redesignating Nigeria as a CPC.

The sponsors decried the alleged worsening persecution of Christians and other religious minorities.

They cited a catalogue of findings and reports that informed the measure, including media accounts and NGO data alleging large-scale attacks on civilians, destruction of places of worship, and a pattern of impunity.

The resolution reads in parts, “For over a decade, Islamic terror organisations have carried out mass murder, rape, kidnappings, and other atrocities targeting mostly Nigerian Christians and non-Fulani moderate Muslim populations, resulting in mass displacement and destruction of places of worship

“Prominent Christian and Muslim leaders have been kidnapped or assassinated, including priests, pastors, and imams who advocate for religious tolerance;

“Religious leaders, such as Father Remigius Iyhula and Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, who testified on March 12, 2025, at a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the persecution and targeted killings of Christians in the Diocese of Makurdi, have faced intimidation, threats, and harassment from both extremist groups and government authorities.”

Supporters of the measure argued that the CPC redesignation would strengthen diplomatic leverage to press Nigeria for accountability and protection of religious minorities.

“The designation of Nigeria as a CPC will enhance diplomatic efforts to encourage the Nigerian government to take necessary actions to protect religious minorities and uphold fundamental human rights,” they said.

They therefore moved that “President Donald Trump acted appropriately and decisively to redesignate Nigeria as a CPC and hold the Nigerian government accountable for its complicity in religious persecution by radical Islamists, such as Boko Haram and Fulani terrorists.”

They further recommended conditioning US foreign assistance on demonstrable steps by Nigeria to prevent persecution, prosecute alleged perpetrators, and care for displaced populations.

“The State Department should provide immediate humanitarian assistance directly to faith-based groups to support internally displaced people in Nigeria’s middle belt states.

“The United States, through the Department of State and Department of Treasury, should impose targeted sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes under the Global Magnitsky framework and other restrictive measures, on individuals and entities responsible for severe violations of religious freedom in Nigeria, including sanctions against Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, and should place Fulani-Ethnic Militias operating in Benue and Plateau States on the Entities of Particular Concern List under the International Religious Freedom Act,” the resolution read.

The resolution also asked the US to justify the purposes and amounts of recent security and development assistance to Nigeria and to tie future support to improved human-rights outcomes.

The resolution was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Judiciary Committee for further consideration.

If it advances out of committee, the resolution would mark a clear congressional signal backing Trump’s CPC decision and could open the door to further legislative or executive actions.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government had said the United States’ designation of Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” over alleged violations of religious freedom is based on a wrong perception of the country’s security challenges.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated this on Wednesday in Abuja while addressing journalists.

Idris said the US position stemmed from “misrepresentation and misinformation” about Nigeria’s internal security situation.

According to him, terrorism and violent crimes in Nigeria do not target any particular religious group.

“Nigeria faces long-standing security challenges that have impacted Christians and Muslims alike.

“Any narrative suggesting that the Nigerian state is failing to take action against religious attacks is based on misinformation or faulty data,” Idris said.

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Nancy Pelosi, First Female Speaker Of US House, Announces Retirement

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2 days ago

November 6, 2025

Editor

Nancy Pelosi, a towering figure in US politics and the first woman to serve as speaker of the House of Representatives, announced on Thursday that she will step down at the next election.

“I will not be seeking reelection to Congress,” said the 85-year-old Democrat who has been one of President Donald Trump’s fiercest opponents.

In a video targeted at her hometown constituents in San Francisco, Pelosi said that she would serve her final year “with a grateful heart.”

Pelosi — whose term ends in January 2027 — was the first woman to lead a major political party in the US Congress.

Despite entering political office later in life, she quickly rose through the ranks to become a darling of liberal West Coast politics and, eventually, one of the most powerful women in US history.

She is in her 19th term and has represented her San Francisco-area district for 38 years. But her fame centers especially on her renowned skills at the national level, leading her party for two decades.

As House speaker for eight years, she was second in line to the presidency, after the vice president, including during Trump’s chaotic first term.

She was revered for her ability to corral her often fractious caucus through difficult votes, including Barack Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act and Joe Biden’s infrastructure programs.

Republicans painted her as the driving force behind a liberal elite that had turned its back on American values and was undermining the social fabric.

Trump especially made her a target, repeatedly insulting her as “crazy Nancy.” Pelosi never shrank from direct confrontations with the Republican leader, including demonstratively ripping up a copy of his State of the Union speech on live television.

Rumors of her departure had been swirling for weeks on Capitol Hill, but she deflected questions over her political future, insisting that she was focused on a redistricting reform initiative in California that passed on Tuesday.

“I say to my colleagues in the House all the time, no matter what title they have bestowed upon me — speaker, leader, whip — there has been no greater honor for me than to stand on the House floor and say, I speak for the people of San Francisco,” Pelosi said.

“I have truly loved serving as your voice,” she said. “As we go forward, my message to the city I love is this: San Francisco, know your power.”