Today’s Headlines: N/W LP members abandon Peter Obi, endorse Tinubu, APC chairman meets 10 Govs

North-west Labour Party members abandon Peter Obi, endorse Tinubu

With a few days left to the general election, some members of the Labour Party (LP) in the north-west zone have endorsed Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra, is the standard bearer of the LP.

Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Bashir Ishaq, speaking on behalf of some LP candidates in the north-west, said they are ready to work for Tinubu’s victory using their structures in the zone.

Ishaq, who now leads the Game Changers For Asiwaju/Shettima, said they have all defected to the ruling party.

“As a coalition of LP gubernatorial, senatorial and house of representatives and house of assembly members from the north-west, chairmen and members of campaign council, members of the gubernatorial campaign council in Kano and the north-west and zonal state coordinators, we have decided as a group to unanimously endorse the candidature of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” he said.

“We have also resolved to leverage our existing political structures to work on the mobilisation and swinging of votes to ensure his emergence as the president of the federal republic of Nigeria in the 2023 presidential election.

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“We shall be known as the Game Changers for Asiwaju/Shettima 2023 and our slogan is ‘swinging votes’.

APC chairman meets 10 govs

The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu is meeting with 10 governors of the party.

Tbe meeting started around 2:35 pm at the National Working Committee (NWC) Hall of the party National Secretariat.

The meeting had in attendance governors of Plateau, Nasarawa, Niger, Kaduna and Kogi states.

Governors of Gombe, Yobe, Zamafara, Ekiti and Jigawa states with the Deputy Governors of Imo and Katsina were also present at the meeting.

Adamu led the deputy National Chairman (North) Senator Aba Kiyari; Deputy National Chairman (South) Chief Emma Enekwu and the National Secretary, Otunba Iyiola Omisore to the meeting.

According to him, the chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) and Kebbi Governor Atiku Bagudu had some flight delay. Adamu commended the governors for roles in the ongoing APC presidential campaign.

He said, “I am happy with the response so far and it is my understanding that more of our members are still on their way coming.

“You will recall the recent developments that have necessitated the need for this invitation.

“We do not want to sit in judgment or anybody regarding where we are today in the country as it affects our great party.

They didn’t swap your currency, they grabbed it!, By Femi Fani-Kayode

They say fortune favours the bold, death comes but once and the man dies in he that remains silent in the face of injustice.

I add the following: damned and accursed is he who fears the chains and dungeon in which he is kept or who lives in the trepidation and fear of his tormentors and persecutors.

Regardless of the dangers associated with speaking the truth in our country these days and despite the darkness and fear that have enveloped the land, I shall continue to speak the truth. IAa cannot be intimidated and I cannot be silenced.

As long as there is life in me, I shall speak truth, even from the bed of infirmity and despite the strong winds of torment, persecution and affliction. And what is that truth?

Let us be clear: What we are witnessing and what is unfolding in our country today comes from the pit of hell.

Worse still, it is much deeper and more profound in its sheer wickedness and malevolence than most people can possibly think of or appreciate.

You see, there was NEVER a currency swap. It was a currency GRAB and a classic 419.

18 Nigerian nurses charged to US court over fake certificates

No fewer than 18 nurses from Nigeria residents in Texas, the United States have been charged to court for obtaining educational credentials through fraudulent means.

The Texas Board of Nursing has filed formal charges against 23 nurses practicing in the US over certificates forgery.

In a statement on its website, the Board published names of the accused nurses of which not less than 18 are suspected to be of Nigerian descent.

According to the Texas Board of Nurses, all the suspects were caught in a grand fraudulent diploma/transcript scheme as revealed by an ongoing investigations.

The multi-state coordinated law enforcement action code-named ‘Operation Nightingale,’ involving the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), was inaugurated on January 25, 2023, to arrest individuals involved in a scheme to sell false and fraudulent nursing degree diplomas and transcripts.

PVC: 4.175 m voters disenfranchised in 10 states

NO fewer than 4,175,006 registered voters in 10 states will not vote in the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections.

Reason: They were not able to collect their Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, before the February 5 deadline to do so. ended on.

The INEC has insisted that voters without PVCs will not be allowed to vote.

Among the 10 states whose data on the number of PVCs collected and unclaimed were ready at the weekend, Lagos came tops with 928,951 unclaimed PVCs. Lagos is followed by Oyo, which has about 800,000 uncollected PVCs; Kano (468,314), and Ogun (412,086).

The rest are Osun (391,145); Niger (353,344); Ondo (303,955); Kwara (218,078); Plateau (184,744) and Cross River (114,389).

928,951 people won’t vote in Lagos — Agbaje, REC

In Lagos, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Olusegun Agbaje, said 6,708, 451 about 87/87 per cent of the 7,637,402 registered voters collected their PVCs in the state.

This leaves 928,951 about 12.16 per cent registrants who were unable to collect their PVCs.

Naira Scarcity: APC ‘directs’ FG/CBN to comply with S’ Court Order

The ruling All Progressives Congress APC has asked the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN to comply with the interim order of the Supreme Court which asked parties to maintain the status quo with regards to the Naira redesign policy of the apex bank.

This was the outcome of a meeting between state governors of the party, the National Working Committee NWC and APC Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, which held Sunday in Abuja.

The party also asked President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently intervene and halt the current sufferings of the people.

Governors Nasir El-Rufai, Yahaya Bello and Bello Matawalle had earlier taken the Federal Government to the Supreme Court seeking an injunction to suspend the Naira Swap policy of the CBN which has caused untold hardships to Nigerians.

Although the apex court gave an interim order for the federal government to maintain the status quo and allow Nigerians to continue to use the old Naira notes, its decision was completely disregarded by the government which has continued with its disruptive implementation.

“That, we urge the Attorney General of the Federation and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to respect the Supreme Court order of interim injunction which is still subsisting.