Television Nigerian

Toby Prince with Agency reports

The Nigeria-U.S. Bi-National Commission (BNC) is scheduled to hold between Feb. 3, and Feb. 4, in Washington DC.

Mr Ferdinand Nwonye, Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ spokesperson, announced this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.

According to Nwonye, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, would lead the Nigerian delegation to the meeting with the theme: “Mutual Prosperity through Innovation and Ingenuity”.

“Deliberations at the session will focus on areas of mutual interest, including good governance and anti-corruption, trade and investment, development and food security and security and counter-terrorism efforts.

“The Ministry wishes to recall that the Nigeria-U.S. Bi-National Commission (BNC) was established in April 2010 in Washington DC as a platform for closer cooperation between both countries.

“The BNC has continued to serve as a veritable mechanism for sustained bilateral high level dialogue to   promote and coordinate diplomatic, economic, military, technical, cultural and social cooperation between Nigeria and the U.S.,” Nwonye stated.

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By Bukola Olasanmi

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says it is ready for merger to form a stronger force that will unseat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general elections.

The party said it could not rule out the possibility of merger as it was part of the strategies in a democratic process to clinch to power.

In the build-up to the 2019 general elections, PDP and over 50 other opposition parties under the umbrella of Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) were in alliance and not a merger.

PDP National Chairman Uche Secondus told newsmen that the party was strengthening its structures and perfecting its strategies to reclaim power in the next general elections, accusing the APC of failure in governance.

He explained that the merger arrangement would not include a name change for the party, stressing that the PDP was a mega opposition and not ready to change name ahead of the next general election.

Responding to a question on merger, Secondus said, “Why not, when the time comes, if there is need for people to pool their resources and pool their strengths together, it can happen. It is possible. Our focus is on making sure that our party is strong and viral and ready to win election.”

Secondus said PDP will engage the present government constructively ahead of the polls, adding that democratic values, ideals, principles and ethos allegedly compromised by the APC-led government would be restored when PDP regained power.

The PDP chairman alleged that the current insecurity, corruption, hunger, poor economy and poverty were “caused by the APC government”, stressing that the PDP would seize power in Edo State in the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

Secondus also said the various organs of the PDP were rebuilding the party to prepare it for the battle ahead, adding that no party stalwart would be shut out of the presidential race even if they were zoned out.

“Today we are more concerned with rebuilding our party. When the time comes for the nomination of a presidential candidate the party will come out with its position. You know the constitution allows everybody, whether you are from the North, whether you are from South to contest.

“No one is going to stop anyone from contesting even when it is zoned to a particular region. So every person still has a right to contest. If you are qualified and desire to run for the office of the president you are free to contest,” he said.

The PDP national chairman said the party was working assiduously to resolve issues among its members in the House of Representatives, adding that the National Executive Committee (NEC) has directed its members in the National Assembly to push for the actualisation of electoral reforms in the country.

“They are now in government for five years running so put that on their doorstep. And we believe that if we don’t at all do the needful and reform, we cannot move forward as a nation; we can’t,” Secondus said.

“The president refused to sign it, so why are you putting the blame on PDP? The 8th assembly amended the electoral laws so you don’t put that blame on the doorstep of the PDP. Put it squarely on the door of APC government,” he added.

By Bukola Olasanmi

The Chairman of the Editorial and Media board unit of the Winner’s Chapel International, Prof. Sherrif Folarin has debunked rumours and news reports that Bishop David Oyedepo was denied an entry visa to the United States on Thursday, January 30, 2020.

In a statement released and obtained by The Nigerian, the church stated that Bishop David Oyedepo renewed his visa, last year, without any initial denial or drama, or scene.

The statement which read in parts, stated “Bishop was not at the Embassy or Consulate Thursday or even anytime this year. Bishop has been in Canaanland all this week. The last time he applied for a visa, which was last year, he was issued without delay”.

“We wish to put it on record and categorically submit that this piece of information is not true. At no time was the Bishop denied visa, nor did he create a scene at the US consulate in Lagos.

“We have been in touch with the US Embassy and they are as surprised as we are about this fake news, which some media houses decided to spread.”

The church urged the populace to disregard the rumour and urged the Nigerian media to tow the line of due diligence before rushing to publish fake news.

The statement further affirmed that Bishop Oyedepo is a good friend of the US government and has a very good relationship with US Embassy and Consulate in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, The Nigerian had earlier reported on the reaction of the United States’ embassy to the roving news via its official Twitter Handle, tagging such as ‘fake news’

By Toby Prince

Newly-elected senator representing Akwa Ibom North-West, Chris Ekpenyong, has described predecessor Godswill Akpabio as an accidental governor.

Ekpenyong defeated Akpabio in last Saturday’s senatorial rerun in Akwa Ibom to return to the National Assembly.

But the lawmaker, who was deputy governor to Obong Victor Attah said Mr Akpabio became governor in the first place owing to the porous electoral process.

“He went to the Court of Appeal, and on the 9th of November, Court of Appeal granted him a prayer he never sought for by asking that we should go for a rerun in his local government area which he inflicted mayhem on the people,” he said.

“When I was a deputy governor, he (Akpabio) was my commissioner. The fact that he became a governor was by accident because of our electoral process that is porous and thank God, I have come to meet the discussion on the Electoral Act amendment because I am going to contribute,” he said.

“If he was investing, go to Akwa Ibom, there is nothing. When you talk of uncommon, what is uncommon or because he is uncommon failure?”

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By Toby Prince

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has frowned at a statement credited to Femi Fani-Kayode, wherein the ex-Minister of Aviation alleged that the group betrayed the ‘Yoruba’ people with regards to southwest security outfit, Amotekun.

In response to Mr Fani-Kayode’s remarks, Director Ishaq Akintola revealed that MURIC had no business with Amotekun in the first place hence shouldn’t be dragged into the mix.

The Islamic scholar reminded the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) cheiftain that his father, Fani-Kayode (Snr),  “aided and abetted the subjugation of the Yoruba to Northern political hegemony”.

He, however, urged the ex-Minister to learn to use parliamentary language.

Read full speech below:

MY RESPONSE TO FANI-KAYODE ~ Prof. Ishaq Akintola {MURIC}

Sequel to Fani-Kayode’s attack on my person on social media, I sent out series of twitter messages this evening which I will like to share with my friends:

Fani-Kayode called Ishaq Akintola a traitor. ‘Traitor’ in what matter? That is terminological inexactitude. Somebody must betray in a matter over which you have all agreed before you can call him a traitor. What did we agree on? Who did we betray?

Did we ever agree together on Amotekun? Did you ever carry the Muslims along? How can we be traitors in a matter in which we were never taken into consideration? How can we be traitors in a matter over which we never sat down together to take a decision?

Did we Muslims sit down with the Afenifere or any group and agreed that we should form Amotekun? Can you shave our heads in our absence? Can you defecate for us? Must you eat for us when we are the ones who are hungry? Will that take our hunger away?

Can you drink water for us when we are the ones who are thirsty? Fani-Kayode must be reasonable at least for once. Femi Fani-Kayode has forgotten history. We pity him. Does he think the Yoruba have fallen victims of general amnesia?

He should not have been the one using the word ‘traitor’ in reference to any son of Oduduwa. Talk about kettle calling pot black. Well, now that he has asked for it, we will let him know that when a child rejects pounded yam in the evening, the elders will narrate stories to him.

We have a question for Femi Fani-Kayode: Who were the Yoruba politicians who betrayed the Yoruba? Chief Remi Ade Fani-Kayode or Chief Obafemi Awolowo? Again, who betrayed the Yoruba people and sold them to the North? What role did Fani-Kayode play in that tragedy? Remember?

If Fani-Kayode (Snr) aided and abetted the subjugation of the Yoruba to Northern political hegemony, how can Fani-Kayode (jnr) brazenly call Akintola a slave of the Fulani? Is this not a manifestation of addiction to lying and an incurable phobia for anything honourable?

Fani-Kayode claimed Hausa Muslims cannot pray behind a Yoruba Imam. Fact check: Hausas pray regularly behind a Yoruba Imam (Shaykh Ahmad Onilewura) at the National Mosque, Abuja. When will Fani-Kayode stop lying? Your divide et impera gimmick has failed.

We advise Fani-Kayode as a former minister to learn how to use parliamentary language, at least in public. Unrefined, uncouth and gutter vocabulary should be reserved for area boys. Or are we back in the days of Fani-Power? Those were days when anything goes in politics.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights (CALSER) has responded to the House of Representatives, describing the Nigerian military under President Muhammadu Buhari as “exceptional”, displaying unalloyed commitment and can’t be compromised for selfish politicians.

CALSER made this known at a press conference on Friday in Abuja to address the avalanche of calls for the sack of Service Chiefs.

In a press statement signed by President, Princess Ajibola, CALSER expressed utter disgust at the desperation of some self-serving politicians who have carried on with the campaign of calumny against the Service Chiefs in the country.

The Centre said it is shocked that the once hallowed National Assembly have been compromised to lead this despicable campaign.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights, however, stated that the military under President Buhari’s administration has shown an extreme level of commitment to preserving the territorial integrity of the country to the applaud of discerning Nigerians.

CALSER revealed that the call for the sack of Service Chiefs is part of the game plan by some politicians to hijack and politicize the military to their advantage, a norm in previous governments.

The Centre, therefore, expressed support for the Service Chiefs whose “capacity and competence is unwavering”, adding that recent upsurge in violence across the country is a coy by desperate politicians to rubbish their efforts.

Read full press statement below:

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights warmly welcomes you all to this press conference put together to address some of the issues that have been canvassed in the public space with regards to the calls for the sacking of Service Chiefs in the country.

The leadership of the Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights is alarmed at the desperation with which some self-serving politicians have carried on with the campaign of calumny against the Service Chiefs in the country, whose efforts in the fights against terrorism has been outstanding.

To think that the honorable members of the National Assembly have been so compromised to lead this despicable campaign leaves more to be imagined. The venom they spit indicates an unenviable attitude towards the socio-economic advancement of Nigeria because their actions and inactions are self-serving and not in the overall interest of the country.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights wishes to state that the Nigerian Military under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has indeed displayed an unalloyed commitment to preserving the territorial integrity of Nigeria to the applaud of discerning Nigerians.

They have kept vigil while we all slept. They have combed bushes and difficult to reach terrains in service to fatherland, and this is manifest in the numerous gains that have been recorded in the fight against terrorism and other militant groups in Nigeria.

This fact is not one that self-serving politicians would want to reckon with because it is against their overarching interest. As such, they must do all within their powers to cause a political crisis so their whims and caprices can be carried out without hindrance.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights also sees the call for the sack of Service Chiefs, as one that is part of the game plan by some politicians to hijack and politicize the Nigerian Military to their advantage, which was the norm before the advent of the Muhammadu Buhari led administration in 2015.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights wishes to state that the Service Chiefs in the country have indeed proved their mettle and commitment to the Nigerian cause and as such any attempt by the relevant authorities to bow to the pressure been mounted through covert means for the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to effect a change in the leadership of the Nigerian Military, would indeed be a big blow for lovers of democracy in Nigeria.

This is on the heels that if such happens, Nigeria might return to the brinks where our Military would be subjected to the whims and caprices of politicians and might be our undoing and the consequences would live with us for years to come.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights wishes to state that the security apparatus of the country is the exclusive preserve of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As such, allowing politicians whose paymasters are still aggrieved with the outcome of the 2019 general elections to effect a change in the leadership of the Armed Forces would spell doom for the successes that have been recorded by the current administration.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights is aware that the Military was just recently re-organized by President Muhammadu Buhari, who brought about discipline and professionalism back to the Military that translated to an efficient and professional fight force in the country.

This process is still ongoing, and any attempt to allow politicians to find their way back into the Military will be disastrous for our country, especially at a time that separatists are hanging around the corner to destabilize the nation.

We also wish to state that the resurgence of pockets of criminal activities across the country is the handiwork of self-serving politicians that are not happy with the gains made so far in the fight against terrorism and other militant groups in the country.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights wishes to inform members of the general public that as concerned stakeholders in the Nigerian cause and one conversant with the operations of the Nigerian Military, we state emphatically that the current Service Chiefs have given their total commitment towards addressing the insurgencies across the country.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights wishes to advise members of the National Assembly who have elected to allow themselves to be compromised by self-serving politicians in the destabilization plot against Nigeria to retrace their steps and come to the realization that the Nigerian cause is one that requires acts of patriotism.

The unity of Nigeria is sacrosanct, and this they must realize because this generation and indeed, the unborn generation of Nigerians have nowhere else to call home. As such, we must remain and salvage it together.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights passes a vote of confidence on the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for his unalloyed commitment towards putting Nigeria in proper stead for socio-economic development.

Our belief in the capacity and competence of the Service Chiefs is unwavering, and The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Right herby solicits the support of all Nigerians to join hands in defeating every form of insecurity in the land.

Nigeria shall indeed be great.

Thank you all for your time, and God Bless Nigeria.