News
Tinubu replaces 4 nominees on ministerial list
This is coming barely four days to the expiration of the 60-day provision for the President to submit names of ministerial nominees to the Senate for screening and confirmation.
“One of the sources disclosed that four names initially penciled down by the President in four states, have been withdrawn and replaced with new names,” according to a report by Vanguard.
Another source also disclosed that the final list was supposed to be submitted to the Senate last week but for the opposition against the immediate past governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, who is said to be the President’s preferred candidate to replace Senator Abdullahi Adamu as national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Ganduje, it was gathered, was initially considered for a ministerial slot but for the resignation of Senator Adamu, which was said to have propelled the President to nominate him as possible replacement for the former chairman, being from the North-West where Adamu hails from.
This is said to be generating crisis as some stalwarts of the APC have argued that the former governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Tanko Al-Makura, who is from the North-Central as the former chairman, was more “cool-headed than Ganduje.”
Senator Al-Makura was one of the leading aspirants for the position during the last APC convention but was prevailed upon by the former President, Muhammadu Buhari, to step down for Senator Adamu.
The former Nasarawa State governor at the time was accused of being Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s ally, who was then one of APC’s presidential aspirants.
But sources familiar with the intrigues playing out in the choice of the APC chairman, hinted that the opposition to Ganduje’s choice is responsible for the inability of the President to submit the ministerial list to the Senate last week.
Although it was speculated that the ministerial list was forwarded to the Red Chamber last week, a highly placed source while responding to Vanguard’s inquiries, said: “We are yet to get the final list of the ministerial nominees.
“If we have received it, the Clerk of the National Assembly would have read it out, there will be no need to keep the list if it is received.”
Another source told Vanguard that as of Friday, the President was still editing the list and will submit the final list this week.
The source said: “As of Friday, the list is with Baba but I don’t know of yesterday (Saturday). Every minute he is changing some names, up till Friday when he travelled, he still edited some names. But by this week, he will call the Presidential Liaison Officer to the Senate and give him the list.
“It’s this week that he will send the list and Senate will clear the nominees this week.”
President torn between Ganduje and Al-Makura
A lawmaker from the South-West, who spoke on the matter, said the president also confirmed that he was yet to send the list of his ministers for screening.
The senator also attributed it to the politics around the choice of the APC chairman.
The lawmaker said: “I learned the Senate President has been given the list and what is delaying it is the addition and subtraction to the list. Anything can happen at the last minute.
“Another thing causing the delay is the politics and intrigues concerning the possible choice of Dr Umaru Ganduje, as the national chairman of APC.
“Most of the party leaders don’t want Ganduje but a majority of them are rooting for former Nasarawa State governor, Tanko Al-Makura, to take over from Senator Abdullahi Adamu.
‘’They are also rooting for former Senate spokesman, Senator Ajibola Basiru, as Secretary of the party. Whereas Almakura is from Nasarawa as the ousted Adamu, Basiru is also from Osun State as the ousted Omisore.
‘’Most APC leaders are against Ganduje as national chairman given the alleged corruption charges levelled against him. They say it is not good for the image of the party.
“As you know, the Kano State government has brought up the matter and that is why most of the leaders are saying it is not good for the image of the party.
“They have gone to meet with Asiwaju that they don’t want Ganduje but the buck stops at his table.”
Businessman and founder of Jezco Oil and Jezco Group, Sir Joseph Ezeokafor, has reportedly been kidnapped in Awka, Anambra State, after he allegedly went alone to a mountain to pray.
Ezeokafor, who is also the father of Nigerian Instagram celebrity Jowizaza, was reportedly abducted last week at Ifite Awka, according to lawyer Chukwudi Iwuchukwu.
Iwuchukwu disclosed the alleged abduction in a Facebook post on Sunday, claiming that Ezeokafor had gone to the mountain alone for overnight prayers without his security details and police personnel who usually accompanied him.
He alleged that unidentified gunmen abducted the businessman during the prayer session and took him to an undisclosed location.
“Sir Joseph Ezeokafor, a Nigerian billionaire businessman, the founder of Jezco Oil and the Jezco Group, who is also the father of Nigerian Instagram celebrity Jowizaza, was reportedly kidnapped last week from a bush in Awka, in Anambra State,” Iwuchukwu wrote.
He added that Ezeokafor had gone to the mountain “alone to pray and seek the face of God without his security details and his policemen attached to him as it has been a normal practice for the billionaire businessman in the past.”
Iwuchukwu further alleged that the businessman was taken away by unknown gunmen while praying. “In the course of the fervent prayers and his vulnerability, he was picked up by unknown gunmen who took him away to an unknown location.”
The reported abduction has reportedly triggered concern and mourning in Ekwulobia, the community where Ezeokafor hails from.
Iwuchukwu described Ezeokafor as the richest man from the community and said the reported incident had affected preparations for the community’s annual New Yam Festival.
According to him, the community has reportedly postponed the festival, an unusual decision which he attributed to the circumstances surrounding the businessman’s alleged abduction. “The community where he comes from, Ekwulobia, has been thrown into confusion and mourning ever since the news of the abduction broke in the community.”
He said the community considered it inappropriate to proceed with its annual celebration while the family of the businessman was dealing with the reported abduction.
The circumstances surrounding Ezeokafor’s reported abduction, including his current whereabouts and the identity of those allegedly responsible, remain unclear based on the information available in the statement.
The report has also generated concern over the safety of residents and visitors in parts of Anambra State, particularly amid continued concerns over criminal activity and abductions in the South-East.
No official statement from the Anambra State Government, the police or Ezeokafor’s family was contained in the account alleging the abduction.
The businessman’s family and community are expected to continue efforts to secure his safe release.
The Anambra state police command has yet to comment on the abduction of the businessman.
Ahead the 2027 Presidential election, the leadership of the Igbo Community Association (ICA) the umbrella socio-cultural organization in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) strongly refutes and rejects the recent statements made by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, Minister of Works David Umahi, and Senate Deputy Chief Whip Onyekachi Nwebonyi claiming that the South-East electorate is fully united behind President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.
President General of the Igbo ethnic body, Nze Engr. Ikenna Ellis-Ezenekwe stated in a press Statement on Monday emphatically stated that the three of them are neither spokespersons of Igbos in the FCT. He added that, “these three are merely being sent out to talk for Tinubu against the interest of Igbos. The South-East considers the Tinubu administration as a failed administration and for this reason will not vote Tinubu.”
The ICA President noted for the avoidance of doubt, that it wishes to set the record straight for the public and the political establishment that the mandate to speak for the Igbo People neither lie in the hand of Governor Hope Uzodimma, Minister David Umahi, nor Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi who under Tinubu arrogate to themselves as the spokespersons for the Igbo ethnic group.
Nze Ikenna Ellis-Ezenekwe, further agued that elected political appointees and ruling-party actors do not hold a mandate to declare a political consensus on behalf of millions of Igbo citizens.
The statement reads further, “These endorsements represent the personal political preservation strategies of a few office holders seeking to retain favor with the presidency. They do not reflect the true political stance, socio-economic realities, or grassroots sentiment of the South-East region.
“The grassroots population across the South-East considers the current federal administration to have failed on key economic and administrative metrics.
“The assertion that President Tinubu will sweep all five South-East states in 2027 is completely detached from the prevailing conditions on the ground.”
Meanwhile, The Igbo Community Association (ICA) FCT urges public officials from the South-East to focus on their constitutional duties, governance, and the immediate economic needs of their constituents, rather than attempting to trade away the political sovereignty of the Igbo electorate for personal leverage.
The Anambra State Government has demolished over 200 makeshift shops and structures blocking road setbacks in Ozubulu and Nnewi.
During the demolition exercise carried out by the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, some of the traders pleaded with the government to provide them with alternative places to relocate their businesses, as many complained of their inability to afford the high cost of rent in the major markets.
At the Ugwuoye Market axis in Ozubulu, Ekwusigo Local Government Area, about 100 shanties attached to the wall of the popular Joint Hospital were demolished amid panic among the occupants.
About 100 makeshift and illegal shops were also demolished at Traffic Light Nnewi, in line with the Operation Zero Shanties introduced by the Governor Chukwuma Soludo-led administration.
A two-storey building built on top of a drainage channel was also pulled down around the Nkwor Nnewi Triangle.
The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr Chijioke Ojukwu, said the exercise was part of the government’s effort to evolve a prosperous, liveable homeland that everyone will be proud of.
Mr Ojukwu said the government received several complaints from some members of the public over the defacing of the Joint Hospital axis by illegal structures and shanties.
He confirmed that the occupants were issued proper notification at different times and warned that the state will no longer tolerate the situation where government directives are not adhered to, especially as regards physical planning.
Mr Ojukwu noted that the ministry was serious about urban regeneration and restoring sanity to the major cities across the state.
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