Politics

Unfolding story: What we know about siege on home of Nigeria’s Senate President

A detachment of security operatives on Tuesday laid siege to the homes of President of the Nigerian Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu in Abuja

Published

6 years ago

July 24, 2018

Africa News Watch

A detachment of security operatives on Tuesday laid siege to the homes of President of the Nigerian Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu in Abuja.

There are very strong speculations that the move is intended to prevent the senior lawmakers from making it to the National Assembly today because of an alleged plan by many lawmakers to decamp en masse from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

SlamReportsAfrica had reported how the Chairman of the ruling party, Adams Oshiomhole, had made underground moves to persuade members of the breakaway faction, R-APC, not to carry out their threat. There had been strong indications that the initiative would meet a brick wall.

The planned cross carpeting, if allowed to take place, would render the APC a minority party, a fact attested to by the Peoples Democratic Party leader in the House of Representatives on Monday.

Saraki’s spokesperson, Yusuph Olaniyonu, confirming the siege to PREMIUM TIMES said:
“As I am talking to you, I cannot access the street. They have barricaded the road and I cannot say his whereabouts now.

“I hear they are doing the same thing at the Deputy Senate President’s house.”

Reacting to the developments, Kola Ologbondiyan, a spokesperson for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said Nigeria’s democracy was under assault.

“Democracy has been placed under a jackboot. We are now in a totalitarian government. You can not stop the National Assembly, which is a key element of a constitutional republic.

“We will resist this,” he said.

Saraki’s travails are legion. First, he has been accused of betraying the ruling party by conniving with the opposition PDP to install himself Senate President. He was also charged with falsifying his asset declaration papers, an allegation nullified by Nigeria’s Supreme Court.

The police are yet to provide reasons for the apparent siege. However, Saraki was summoned by the police and asked to report Tuesday at its office in the nation’s capital, Abuja, in connection to the Offa robbery incident in Kwara State for which the police said some suspects mentioned Saraki as a sponsor.

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Politics

Mauritius’ Prime Minister to double as Finance Minister

Published

1 day ago

November 23, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In an effort to maintain a tight eye on the economy, Mauritius’ Prime Minister, Navin Ramgoolam, who took office this month following a resounding election victory, said on Friday that he would retain the position of finance minister for himself.

“We are doing an audit of the economy to see to what extent the outgoing government has destroyed it,” Ramgoolam told reporters in the capital Port Louis after he presided over the swearing-in of other ministers.

Ten years after he stepped down as prime minister, the seasoned politician returned to the position when his Alliance du Changement (ADC) alliance won 60 of the 62 seats in the national legislature.

The 77-year-old Ramgoolam said earlier this week that he would be auditing governmental finances. Before this, he was prime minister from 1995 to 2000 and again from 2005 to 2014.

Ramgoolam started a campaign in 2006 to streamline taxes and reduce bureaucracy to diversify the $10 billion economy beyond exports of sugar, textiles, and tourism.

Since then, the 1.3 million-person nation, which positions itself as a bridge between Africa and Asia, has developed into a major offshore financial hub and has been rated by the World Bank as the easiest location to do business in Africa regularly.

Politics

Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

Published

2 days ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A day after dismissing Choguel Maiga for criticising the government, Mali’s governing junta named its spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, as Prime Minister on Thursday, according to state broadcaster, ORTM.

A source close to Choguel Maiga told Reuters that the ruling generals were incensed by Maiga’s remarks over the weekend denouncing the junta’s inability to hold elections within the 24-month timeframe given for the return to democracy.

After promising to hold elections in February, the military authorities, who took control in two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, have put off the poll indefinitely, citing technological difficulties.

Choguel Maiga’s firing coincides with indications of growing discontent and disarray among Mali politicians, even those who first supported the coup and collaborated with the junta.

As the wait for elections continues, Choguel Maiga, a civilian prime minister who was installed by the military junta in 2021, is the most recent to lose support.

He was cited on Saturday as claiming he learnt of the junta’s decision via the media and that there had been no discussion regarding the delay of the elections inside the cabinet.

“It’s all happening in total secrecy, without the prime minister’s knowledge,” Choguel Maiga told reporters.

Before then, he had frequently stood up for Mali’s junta against criticism from foreign friends and neighbours in West Africa who denounced its repeated election delays and military collaboration with Russian mercenaries.

As government spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, the new prime minister, has also made strong public remarks against France, the previous colonial master. One such speech was demanding French President Emmanuel Macron to stop his “neocolonial” and “condescending” behaviour.

Abdoulaye Maiga and Assimi Goita, the leaders of the junta, announced they had kept all of the important cabinet ministers in their portfolios in the new administration in a statement that was broadcast on state television ORTM.

The announcement said that Abdoulaye Maiga will remain minister of territory administration.