Ninth Assembly: APC Recommends Lawan For Senate Presidency

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday recommended the Senate Leader, Ahmad Lawan (APC, Yobe) for the position of Senate President in the ninth Assembly, Daily Trust reliably gathered.

The recommendation was made during a meeting last night at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

In attendance were President Muhammadu Buhari, 11 governors, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and senators-elect, of the ruling party.

Multiple sources at the meeting that lasted for about two hours, said Oshiomhole announced the recommendation in the presence of the three other contenders for the Senate Presidency namely Senator Ali Ndume (Borno), Senator Danjuma Goje (Gombe) and Senator Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa).

Senator Bello Mandiya (APC Katsina) last night confirmed that the party had recommended Senator Lawan.

Sources said that ranking senators have started lobbying for important positions in the Senate.

Senator Goje is said to be working to retain his position as chairman appropriation committee while Sen. Abdullahi Adamu is being considered to succeed Lawan as the Senate leader.

One of the Senators-elect who did not want to be mentioned also confirmed the story.

He said: “We were all shocked when he (Oshiomhole) told us that Lawan is the next Senate President. He did not allow us to speak before they directed that the National Anthem be recited,” he said.

Another lawmaker-elect, said when Oshiomhole mentioned Lawan as the next Senate President, president Buhari said he was in support of the party’s position.

Lawan, a ranking lawmaker was the preferred candidate of the APC in 2015, but Senator Bukola Saraki, with the massive support of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers, dribbled the party, to clinch the position.

There has been intense politicking between Senators-elect from North East and North Central geo-political zones over the Senate presidency position. The ninth assembly is expected to be inaugurated in June, this year.

The governors in attendance were those of Kebbi, Zamfara, Plateau, Jigawa, Kaduna, Lagos, Osun, Oyo, Borno, Yobe and Kogi states. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha was also in attendance.

Also in attendance, was the Anambra South Senator-elect, Ifeanyi Ubah, who is of the Young Peoples Party (YPP).

Around 9:pm, after Oshiomhole delivered his speech, journalists were excused from the venue of the meeting. The Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, asked the journalists to leave, saying “It’s time for family talk”.

Oshiomhole said the meeting was convened to map out strategy on how to come up with the leadership of the ninth Assembly. He said the APC so far has 65 senators-elect and 223 Reps-elect.

With majority at the both chambers, he said APC will produce all the presiding officers, the Senate president, deputy Senate president, Speaker and the deputy speaker.

He said unlike in the present parliament, the APC will produce chairmen of strategic committees in the ninth Assembly.

Oshiomhole said the APC lawmakers-elect were voted to give President Buhari the needed support for him to take radical reform for the development of the country.

“Nigerians voted for us to take charge of the executive and the legislature. This meeting is to discuss the leadership question in a win, win way. We do not need to do business with the opposition when we have the numbers,” he said.

Oshiomhole said out of the 16 senators who dumped the APC, only one, Dino Melaye was reelected, because “the chamber will be boring without an entertainer”.

He described Uba, the YPP Senator-elect who attended the meeting, “as a smart guy who want to belong to the people’s party.”

The meeting, our correspondent reports ended around 9:30pm.

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Evil Man Who Killed Taxify Driver And Stole His Vehicle Arrested In Lagos

Operatives of the Federal Special Anti-robbery Squad, FSARS at Adeniji Adele, Lagos Island, Lagos have arrested a fleeing robbery suspect who allegedly connived with an accomplice now at large to rob and kill a Taxify (Bolt) driver before absconding with the victim's Toyota Camry Car.

According to PM Express, the suspect, Ikechukwu Ozorumba, 29, and a native of Obolo Uku, Delta State but resident of 16, Yaro Street, Okokomaiko, a suburb of Lagos, allegedly conspired with his friend simply called Nkelechi, aka Sunshine to rob the driver, Ebenezer Olotu, a native of Akoko in Ondo State of his Toyota Camry Car with number plate, SMK 980 FM at Okokomaiko area of Lagos and allegedly kill him and drove the car to Imo State to look for a buyer for it.

Police also arrested alongside the suspect one Chima Chukwuemeka, 38, a palm oil farmer in Oguta, Imo  State for allegedly harboring  the robbery suspect in his farm to evade Police arrest.

Nemesis caught up with the robbery suspect when the family of the late driver petitioned the Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP in charge of FSARS, Lagos, Mr. Kola Kamaldeen that their breadwinner who worked as a Taxify (Bolt) driver in Lagos left home for work on 26 December, 2018 and had yet to return home since.

Following the report, Kamaldeen directed his crack team led by SP Olaniyi Festus to do everything to locate the missing driver.

A Police source alleged that after days of intelligence gathering in Lagos metropolis, the Police team following a tip off found the corpse of the late driver dumped at Jimoh Street, Okokomaiko, Ojo, Lagos.

The Police evacuated the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary.

The source further alleged that the Police team later tracked the robbery suspect through the phone number of the victim to Imo State where they arrested the oil farmer who led the Police to his farm in Oguta, where the suspect was arrested.

The suspect then led the Police to recover the stolen Car at a hideout in Imo State and they brought the two suspects and the recovered car to FSARS office in Lagos.

During investigation, the robbery suspect allegedly confessed to the crime and said he and his accomplice, Nkelechi now on the run did not intend to kill the driver, but just to rob him of his car and that the driver’s stubbornness led to his death.

In his alleged confessions to the Police, Ikechukwu allegedly stated: “On 26 December, 2018, we chartered the driver as passengers in Surulere area of Lagos and told him to take us to Okolomaiko area of Lagos.

“On our way, we ordered the driver to surrender his car keys to us, but he refused and started struggling with us. In the process, we strangled him to death and dump his body at Jimoh Street, Okokomaiko and drove the car straight to Imo State to look for a buyer.”

In his own narrations, Chukwuemeka allegedly stated that if he had known that Ikechukwu robbed a driver of his car and killed him, he would not have harbored him in his farm till the Police came from Lagos to arrest him over matter he knew nothing about.

A Police source said that the suspects would be charged to Court after completion of investigations.

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Bauchi Governor Congratulates PDP’s Bala Mohammed

Governor Abubakar extended his goodwill message to Senator Mohammed in a statement on Monday by his Special Adviser on Media and Strategy, Mr Ali Ali.

The statement was issued shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the winner of the election.

The former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) defeated the incumbent governor after polling a total of 515,113 votes ahead of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate who got 500,625 votes.

The governor said he was delighted to note that in spite of the intensity of the campaigns, the election took place without bloodshed.

He thanked the people of the state for their support and urged them to extend the same support to the incoming chief executive of the state.

Governor Abubakar also extended an invitation to the governor-elect to join him in working out the process of a smooth transition.

He, however, urged Senator Mohammed to caution his supporters to be law-abiding while celebrating his victory.

Congratulatory Message To Bauchi Governor-Elect Sen Bala Mohammed

Gov Abubakar wishes to congratulate Governor-elect of Bauchi state Senator  Bala Mohammed.

“I congratulate my brother, Sen Bala on this victory at the polls.

“I am delighted to note that in spite of the intensity of the campaigns in our dear state, a peaceful election took place without bloodshed.

“Let me, therefore, invite the Governor-elect to join me in working out the process of a smooth transition.

“I sincerely thank the entire people of Bauchi state for their support to my administration and urge them to extend the same to the incoming administration.

“I also urge governor-elect to caution his supporters to be law abiding while celebrating since the period of campaigns is now over.

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End Of The Road! Man Sentenced To Death For Killing Girlfriend

It was  reported that an Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure has sentenced one Chukwudi Onweniwe to death by hanging for killing his girlfriend, Nifemi Adeyeoye.

The convict was arrested by the men of the Ondo State Police Command after killing the deceased, who was a student of the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, in February 2017 at Ogbese in the Akure North Local Government Area of the state.

Before the killing, Onweniwe was said to have abducted the deceased and taken her to a farm near the community, where he raped her, after which he strangled her to death.

When the trial began in May 2017, the convict was arraigned before the court on four counts of action endangering life, kidnapping, rape and murder.

After examining all the facts of the case, the court held that on three of the counts, the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt except for the third count of rape, which the prosecution did not provide the evidence against the convict

While delivering his judgement, the trial judge, Justice Samuel Bola, said the autopsy that was conducted on the deceased showed the abnormal state of her neck and the fracture of her skull.

He added that the autopsy also indicated that the deceased had been attacked with an object with a blunt edge, which led to her death.

The judge found Onweniwe guilty as charged on three counts and sentenced him appropriately.

On the count of kidnapping, the court sentenced Onweniwe to life imprisonment, while on the count of strangulating to death, the convict was sentenced to death by hanging; and on murder, he was also sentenced to death by hanging.

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Plateau Governor Simon Lalong Re-Elected For A Second Term

The Returning Officer for the election, Professor Richard Kimbir, announced this on Sunday at the collation centre for the governorship election in Jos, the state capital.

According to him, the governor who is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was returned elected after polling the highest number of votes in the keenly contested poll.

Governor Lalong got a total of 595,582 votes ahead of his closest rival and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Jerry Useni, who polled 546,813 votes.

He was declared the winner two weeks after the governorship election held on March 9 in Plateau and 28 other states in the country.

The states where election did not hold are Edo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Bayelsa, Kogi, and Anambra.

While winners emerged in some states, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the governorship election in Plateau and five other states as inconclusive.

Professor Kimbir had explained that the declaration, was as a result of the margin of a lead of 44,929 between the APC and the PDP candidates, which was less than the 49,377 cancelled votes.

He added that this constrained him to return a winner but rather declare the poll inconclusive.

This led to the supplementary election which held in nine local government areas of the state on Saturday, March 23.

Governor Lalong defeated Mr Useni with a difference of 48,769 votes in the rerun poll.

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PDP's Aminu Tambuwal Re-elected as the governor of Sokoto State

Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal has won his second term bid to govern the state for another four years.

The Resident Electoral Officer, Prof. Sadiq Musa, declared Tambuwal, the People’s Democratic Party candidate,

winner after he polled a total score of 512,002 votes.

His closest rival Ahmad Aliyu of the All Progressives Congress garnered 511,661 votes.

Although Tambuwal lost in the collated result for 35 polling units in Kebbe LGA, he was able to edge his opponent, his former deputy, by retaining the lead, winning by just 341 votes.

Aliyu was Tambuwal’s deputy governor during his first term until late 2018.

The duo were in the APC until Tambuwal defected to the PDP.

In the substantial governorship election held March 9, the Independent National Electoral Commission declared the state poll inconclusive.

The election authorities said Tambuwal polled 489,558 votes, while Aliyu of the APC had 486,145 votes.

The margin of win was a small, 3,413 votes, compared to the votes expected from the cancellation in 136 polling units with 75,403 registered voters.

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Former PDP Reps member dumps party in Ogun, writes Secondus

An ex-member of the House of Representatives, Oladapo Salako, who represented Remo Federal Constituency of Ogun state twice at the National Assembly on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has left the party.

Salako said his decision to walk away from the PDP had to do with the alleged injustices meted to him during the Ogun East Senatorial District primary election.

In a resignation letter addressed to the national chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, the ex-lawmaker said despite the position of the Appeal Committee that he should be declared winner of the primary election; the party ignored same and instead, declared his co-contestant, Bola Kalejaiye, the party’s flag bearer winner.

Salako also said: “My first shock was the demand by the committee in charge of the primary election for the sum of N750, 000 as my share for the cost of the venue and logistics. By tradition, it has always been the responsibility of PDP to bear the cost of venue and other incidental expenses relating to primary election.”

He added that amid other electoral irregularities that allegedly characterised the Ogun PDP primaries, party officials sent to conduct the exercise skipped the accreditation of voters in the absence of INEC staff and DSS operatives.

Salako said he was left with no option but to quit the party he spent his resources and time to build because his request for the nullification of the primaries fell on deaf ears.

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