Politics
Why We Are Pushing For Consensus – Saraki
Published
3 years agoon
By
Editor
Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Monday, said that the reason for pushing for having a consensus candidate among the presidential aspirants on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party was to reduce the rancour in the process of getting the party’s flagbearer.
Saraki stated this in Makurdi when he led two other presidential aspirants on the platform of the PDP and governors of Sokoto and Bauchi States, Aminu Tambuwal and Bala Mohammed respectively, to Benue State.
Saraki said that the team would be meeting the former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, later today (Monday) on the mission to find a consensus among the number of presidential aspirants.
READ ALSO: Wike: Group Demands Ortom’s Resignation As Chairman PDP Zoning Panel
The former Kwara State governor said that their visit to the state was to inform the governor, Samuel Ortom, who is a critical stakeholder, of their mission and purpose.
Saraki said: “I’m here today with two brothers, the governor of Sokoto State, Tambuwal and, of course, the governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, as part of the ongoing consultation of the three of us who have shown indication to aspire for presidency under our great party.
“On our own about a couple of weeks ago, we felt that, in the interest of our great party, we should be able to come together and find a consensus candidate among us.
“Our interest is very little compared to our country at this time, which is at a very defining moment. I believe only our party can rescue this country from where it is today and those of us who are aspiring are committed to ensure that we find somebody who will unite us, whom we will all support.
“That’s a better way to unite the party and reduce the rancour in the process. To do that, we must also carry along key stakeholders of the party, leaders like yourself, and that’s why we are here today.
“The seriousness comes from our total belief in the unity of our party. All of us are eminently qualified to lead this country; it’s about us ensuring that we put the country first and that is why we are here.”
Responding, Governor Ortom said that, in spite of his belief in a Southern presidency, “the decision of the party on where presidency should be zoned to takes pre-eminence.”
He appreciated the team for coming up with the consensus idea and submitted that it is high time Nigerians supported younger people.
READ ALSO: Why PDP Wants To Distort Buhari’s Achievements – Lai Mohammed
“Any person beyond 70 years should not be looking for presidency. These are people, today, we are in computer age and these three gentlemen you see here are computer literate and they have the capacity.
“We cannot continue to be in the analogue. How many of you were alive in 1930 or 1945? During the Second World War, how many of you were born that time? Even me, I was born in 1961. So, the world has changed, we are now in the digital world and we must computerise and digitise governance too,” Ortom said.
You may like
Reasons Behind Wike, Saraki’s Home Visit Revealed
Real Reason I Stopped Tinubu From Being Buhari’s Running Mate In 2015 – Bukola Saraki
2023: Saraki Promises Free Health Care Services, Restructure Nigeria
Saraki In Closed-door Meeting With Obasanjo In Ogun
My Grouse With Saraki, Tambuwal, Other Northern PDP Presidential Aspirants – Wike
Boko Haram: Saraki Replies BMO On Buhari ‘Impeachment Plot’ Over Tucano Jets
Politics
VIDEO: How Peter Obi Betrayed Me – Kenneth Okonkwo In New Interview
Published
8 hours agoon
June 14, 2025By
Editor
Veteran actor and ex-spokesperson of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Kenneth Okonkwo, has accused former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, of betrayal in the wake of internal party disputes.
In a viral interview with Symfoni which started trending on Saturday, Okonkwo, who officially exited the Labour Party in February 2025, revealed that Obi went against his advice and returned to support the embattled Julius Abure-led faction of the party, despite alleged warnings.
According to him, Obi was misled by LP executives who claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission had recognised them.
He said, “Any politician that knows what he’s doing cannot be betrayed by another. If there is anybody that betrayed the other, I can say it emphatically that Peter Obi betrayed me.
READ ALSO: Nigeria No Longer A Democracy, Peter Obi Laments
“The Julius Abure-led LP members lied to Obi that the Independent National Electoral Commission had accepted them and Obi surreptitiously went back to them but I told him: ‘Sir, you have made a public statement on integrity and even if INEC has accepted them, that is not a criterion for you to go back and start dealing with them because they have shown that they are not democratic. If you go back to them, they will destroy your political career and everything you have said about integrity will die.’”
He said that despite privately urging Obi not to align with a group he described as “undemocratic” and “agents of the government,” Okonkwo said Obi went ahead to publicly endorse them.
“I told Obi that these people had become agents in the hands of the government to destabilise him. What they did was absolutely illegal and unconstitutional, I told him that if he went back to them, I wouldn’t join him in doing so.
“Thereafter, I called all the people that were in the inner circle and told them the same thing about what Obi was trying to do. I told them he wanted to go back with the Abure people and if he did, I wouldn’t go back with him because I do not swallow back my words.
READ ALSO: Teen Who Stood In Front Of Peter Obi’s Convoy Freed After Months In Kirikiri
“And after saying all those things, within like 72 hours, Obi went back to Abure’s office to publicly endorse them and while he was there talking to them, one of the leaders in that executive sent me the video to mock me that the person I was fighting for against them has come to their office to endorse them.
“It was when INEC dissociated itself from Abure that Obi came out to start acting neutral but I told him he could not be neutral and something had to be done,” he added.
The Labour Party has been embroiled in a prolonged leadership crisis, with opposing factions laying claim to the party’s national structure.
The Abure-led faction has faced allegations of financial mismanagement and anti-democratic practices, which critics say contradict the party’s reformist image.
Okonkwo, a known loyalist of Obi’s political ideology, cited these irregularities as his reason for quitting the party earlier in the year.
Watch video below:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1933867577651925202https://twitter.com/i/status/1933867577651925202
Politics
Amaechi Slams Tinubu’s Policies In Fresh Outburst
Published
2 days agoon
June 12, 2025By
Editor
Former Minister of Transportation and two-time governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, has asked the coalition opposition to kick President Bola Tinubu out of office if Nigeria is to escape its deepening economic crisis.
In a no-holds-barred interview with the BBC, Amaechi, a founding member and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, lamented the country’s deteriorating condition and signalled his willingness to help forge a new opposition coalition to rescue the nation.
“People are dying. People are starving. I myself am feeling the effects of hunger,” he said, painting a grim picture of life under the current administration.
Amaechi’s statement comes in the wake of the APC’s recent endorsement of Tinubu as its sole presidential candidate for 2027, a move Amaechi openly questioned.
READ ALSO: I Don’t Want To Join Issues With Children, Amaechi Hits Back At Wike
While reiterating his loyalty to the party, he warned that fidelity to a political platform should never come at the cost of national conscience.
“If the government is failing the country, you don’t just go along because you’re in the same party. You know that’s not right,” he stated emphatically.
Though he stopped short of confirming a 2027 presidential bid, the former minister said the option remained on the table.
“Certainly, I believe I can make a meaningful contribution,” he added, hinting that his political journey may not yet be over.
READ ALSO: Democracy Day: Gov. Mohammed Advocates Unity, Good Governance
He spoke of widespread poverty, spiralling food insecurity, and daily tragedies that now dot the national landscape.
Reflecting on his years as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Amaechi lamented that the number of out-of-school children then pegged at 10 million, had since ballooned.
The economic hardship, he said, had also deepened insecurity.
“The Boko Haram insurgency is not just a religious crisis. Many of those involved are driven by desperation and hunger,” he asserted, linking terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping to a broader socioeconomic collapse.
Amaechi’s declaration added momentum to an emerging political realignment.
Talks were already underway among key opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, as they explored the possibility of a unified front against Tinubu in 2027.
Even ex-Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State and once a key Tinubu ally had signalled interest in backing an opposition alliance.
But as opposition forces stir, the ruling party continues to absorb defectors, prompting fears of Nigeria drifting toward a one-party state, a scenario Amaechi warned could undermine democracy and silence dissent.
“We’re thinking that if we come together and win the election, the country will certainly witness change,” he said, suggesting an urgent need for a credible alternative.

A student of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka’s with the overall best graduating CGPA of 4.98, Chizoba Ejiofor, has secured a fully funded Commonwealth scholarship.
Education advocate and tech entrepreneur Alex Onyia, who made this known on social media on Thursday, said he had taken responsibility for supporting Ejiofor after the university failed to award him the promised N50,000 prize for academic excellence.
“I have a good news. A very good news. You remember Chizoba Ejiofor, who graduated as UNN overall best graduating student with CGPA of 4.98, that UNN refused to fulfill the N50k price promised to him?
READ ALSO: Crisis Brews In UNN As Court Restrains Varsity From Conducting Convocation Election
“I took him up as a full responsibility. We started working tirelessly together since last year to secure a fully funded scholarship, and today we have the good news,” Onyia wrote.
Onyia revealed that Ejiofor was awarded a fully funded Commonwealth scholarship, valued at over £33,000. The package includes tuition, flight tickets, and monthly stipends.
“This is fully funded scholarship from Commonwealth. Over 33 thousand pounds in scholarship, flight tickets and monthly stipends inclusive. No one can describe how happy and fulfilled I am today,” he added.
- Netanyahu Says Israel’s Strikes On Iran Have ‘Clear Support’ Of Trump
- US Lawmaker Shot Dead, Another Wounded In Targeted Attack
- Diplomat, Wife Injured In Iran Strikes On Tel Aviv
- Tension Heightens As UK Moves Warplanes To Middle East Amid Iran, Israel’s Heated Crisis
- US-Iran Nuclear Talks In Oman Cancelled
- Okpebholo Launches 1bn Interest-free Loan For Edo Traders
- Open Letter To The Speaker, Parliament Of The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide
- Outrage As Port Harcourt Realtor Strips Female Birthday Celebrants Naked At Nightclub
- Reps To Quiz Edun, Cardoso Over Non-compliance With Fiscal Responsibility Act
- Again, NiMet Predicts Three-day Thunderstorms, Rain From Saturday
About Us
Trending
- Metro3 days ago
JUST IN: Drama As Oshiomhole Shuts Down Lagos Airport’s Zulu Terminal After Missing Flight To Abuja [VIDEO]
- Metro3 days ago
Air Peace Lambasts Oshiomhole For Unruly Conduct, Assaulting Staff, Barricading Terminal Entrance At Lagos Airpor
- Politics4 days ago
JUST IN: Seek True Peace To Avoid Impeachment, Rivers APC Tells Fubara
- News3 days ago
Okomu Community Commends 4 Brigade For Sustenance Of Peace, Wants FOB Established In The Area
- News3 days ago
OPINION: The Elephant Must Beware Of The Red Carpet
- Metro3 days ago
Natasha: Appeal Court Strikes Out Akpabio’s Motions, Imposes N100,000 Fine
- News2 days ago
FULL LIST: Tinubu Confers National Honours On Kudirat Abiola, Soyinka, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Others
- News2 days ago
After Knocks, Presidency Apologises For Wrongly Naming Fasoranti, Madunagu In Posthumous Honours List
- Headline3 days ago
19-year-old Nigerian Artiste Beaten To Death In Ghana
- News3 days ago
Roche Diagnostics Launches Operations in Nigeria, Reinforces Commitment to Expanding Access to Quality Healthcare