Politics

Nigeria: Another serving governor, Kayode Fayemi, joins race for ruling party presidential ticket. All comers affair?

Published

2 years ago

May 4, 2022

Another contender in Nigeria’s ruling party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) has announced its intention to contest Nigeria’s presidency in the 2023 elections. This time, it is the governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

Fayemi made the announcement to run for the coveted office while responding to questions during his public declaration on Wednesday.

The event was attended by many dignitaries including a former Governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun; former Senate President, Ameh Ebute; former Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Prof. Modupe Adelabu; and many traditional rulers.

Nigeria is due for another general election in 2023 when President Muhammadu Buhari, who has been in office since 2015 will be completing his second term of four years.

The governor said that he decided to join the race after consultations with political associates, traditional rulers, and APC critical stakeholders.

“However, after careful consideration of where we are as a nation and the many perspectives which are emerging about the challenges, old and new, which we must gird our loins to tackle and transcend.

“I am convinced that my entry into the race to bear the standard of the APC will offer our members and Nigerians the opportunity to examine competing visions for national rebirth in the best interest of our country. Fayemi remarked.

With President Buhari being from the north of Nigeria, and with the appointment of Abdullahi Adamu as the National Chairman of the party also from Northern Nigeria, the APC seems to be tilting towards having a candidate from the Southern part of the country in the next Presidential Elections.

About 13 aspirants have so far joined the APC presidential race. Only one of the aspirants is from the North of Nigeria, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State. Perhaps confirming the argument for the Southern candidate.

However, Southern Nigeria is also divided politically. Politicians from South-East Nigeria like Senator Rochas Okorocha, the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige; Minister of State for Education, Mr. Chukwuemeka Nwajuba; and Governor David Umuahi of Ebonyi State all believed that the slot should be reserved for the region.

Other candidates from South-south like Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole. and the latest on the list Godswill Akpabio also hold claims.

There are also interests from the South-west. The ones that have declared are Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Nigeria’s ruling party, the APC has received lots of condemnation for pegging the price for the Nomination Form for the presidency at ₦100 million.

Related Topics:2023 elections Featured Nigeria

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Politics

Nigerian Air Force adds 34 Italian planes, helicopters

Published

5 hours ago

October 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s air force is acquiring 24 Italian-made M-346 attack jets and ten AW-109 Trekker helicopters as part of a fleet renewal strategy, a spokesperson said on Monday.

Air Force spokesperson, Olusola Akinboyewa, said in a statement that a team led by Nigeria’s Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar met with executives from Italy’s Leonardo S.p.A, the manufacturer, in Rome who confirmed the first three M-346 aircraft were expected to be delivered by early 2025, with subsequent deliveries running until mid-2026.

The Trekker helicopters are expected by early 2026, Akinboyewa said.

“The M-346 and Trekker acquisitions are key steps towards fleet renewal,” Abubakar was cited as saying, emphasizing the need for a maintenance hub in Nigeria to provide long-term support, particularly for the M-346 fleet.

Nigeria, which has been fighting a 15-year Islamist insurgency against Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the northeast, as well as attacks by armed bandits in the northwest, has increased military spending in recent years.

Nigeria received two “Huey” helicopters in June to go with the two Trekkers it had previously purchased and the twelve American-built A-29 Super Tucano light attack jets it had been given in 2021 to combat rebels.

Wing Loong II drones manufactured in China are still awaiting delivery.

Politics

Cameroon prohibits discussing 91-year-old President Biya’s health

Published

3 days ago

October 12, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In response to growing suspicion that 91-year-old President Paul Biya was ill, Cameroon has banned any talk regarding Biya’s health, according to a letter released by the interior ministry.

The reports that the president had been unwell were brushed off as “pure fantasy” by the administration, which released comments earlier this week stating that he was in good condition and on a private visit to Geneva.

Paul Atanga Nji, the interior minister, stated that talking about the president’s health was a matter of national security in a letter to regional governors dated October 9.

“Therefore, it is strictly forbidden to have any discussion about the president’s condition in the media going forward.” The whole weight of the law would be applied to offenders, Nji stated.

He gave the governors orders to form teams to keep an eye on social media and private media broadcasts.

If Biya passed away or was too sick to hold office, the oil- and cocoa-producing nation of Cameroon—which has only had two presidents since gaining independence from France and Britain in the early 1960s—would probably be faced with a difficult succession situation.

The National Communication Council, Cameroon’s media regulator, could not be reached for comment at this time. Many criticised the action as an example of state censorship.

“The president is elected by Cameroonians and it’s just normal that they worry about his whereabouts,” said Hycenth Chia, a Yaounde-based journalist and talk show host on privately owned television Canal2 International.

“We see liberal discussions on the health of Joe Biden and other world leaders, but here it is a taboo,” he told Reuters.

Committee to Protect Journalists, an advocacy group for press freedom, expressed its deep concern.

“Trying to hide behind national security on such a major issue of national importance is outrageous,” said Angela Quintal, head of the CPJ’s Africa Program.

Since early September, when Biya attended a China-Africa summit in Beijing, she has not been sighted in public. His absence at a summit in France last weekend, which was scheduled, fuelled even more public speculation about his health.

President Biya is one of several long-serving African leaders, including Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, who has been in office since 1982, and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame is also gradually evolving into the group.