Politics

Nigeria’s ruling party seizes party machinery from recalcitrant Senate President

The leadership of Nigeria’s ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC), has dissolved the Kwara State executive of the party, citing electoral malfeasance in the last ward, local and state congresses

Published

6 years ago

July 31, 2018

Africa News Watch

The country’s Senate President, Bukola Saraki, hails from the North-central State of Kwara and has had a running battle with APC, the party that brought him to power.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed had at the weekend reportedly asked party officials loyal to Senate President Bukola Saraki to resign their appointments and announced Bashir Bolarinwa as the new state chairman of the party.

Perhaps, acting out a written script, APC’s National Working Committee (NWC) led by its chairman, Adams Oshiomhole on Monday “reviewed the actions of some leaders of the party that emerged from the congresses who participated in an open rally calling on the Senate President to decamp to the PDP”.

The party said after a careful and exhaustive deliberation on this and other developments in the state chapter of the party that it
resolved “to dissolve all party organs from Ward, Local Government and State Executive of the Party in Kwara state; and to constitute caretaker committee at all levels of the party of the party organ at Ward, Local Government and State Executive Committees.

“That Hon. Bashir Bolarinwa shall and is hereby appointed as the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the State Executive Committee of APC in Kwara State”.

With the party structure clearly taken away from him, the development tactically calls out Senator Saraki to play his next card of further disrupting the party in order to create a stalemate or grab the structures by force.

Saraki has, in recent public appearances, given hint that he might dump APC for the major opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The Senate President’s next move, analysts believe, may quicken his departure for PDP.

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Politics

Burkina Faso releases 4 French spies after Moroccan intervention

Published

5 days ago

December 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In a diplomatic spat over their imprisonment, France and Morocco announced Thursday that four French nationals detained in Burkina Faso for a year had been freed after mediation from Morocco.

They were spies, according to a prior statement made by the director of France’s foreign intelligence organisation, the DGSE.

A request for comment was not answered by the DGSE or a representative of the French military, which is in charge of the agency.

Since December 2023, they have been held in Ouagadougou.

President Emmanuel Macron hailed King Mohammed of Morocco on Wednesday for his intervention, “which made possible the liberation of our four countrymen who had been held in Burkina Faso for a year,” according to a statement from the French administration.

King Mohammed and President Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso were also commended by Morocco’s foreign ministry, which stated that “this humanitarian act” was made possible by their positive bilateral ties.

In October, France made peace with Morocco, one of its former protectorates, after three years of hostilities between Paris and Rabat stoked by immigration concerns and the disputed Western Sahara region.

Morocco offers Burkina Faso and other military-ruled Sahel republics Atlantic trade.

However, France’s relations with former West and Central African colonies, such as Burkina Faso, remain difficult. In Ouagadougou, French troops and diplomats were ejected, the defence attache and ambassador were asked to depart, and certain French media were suspended.

The military junta that took control in 2022 in Burkina Faso has been criticized by international rights groups for cracking down on free expression and harassing dissidents to handle a security crisis precipitated by Al Qaeda and Islamic State extremists.

Politics

Ghana: President-elect Mahama appoints anti-corruption team

Published

6 days ago

December 19, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to a statement released by his transition team on Wednesday, Ghana’s President-elect, John Dramani Mahama, has designated an anti-corruption committee to investigate allegations of wrongdoing.

When he takes office next month, Mahama, the leading opposition candidate in the presidential election held on December 7 and who received almost 56% of the vote, has pledged to reclaim the proceeds of corruption and hold those responsible for it accountable.

In anticipation, an anti-graft squad has been established. The parliament’s Committee on Assurances, which has previously raised suspicions of governmental corruption, is chaired by MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah.

An investigative journalist, a private attorney, a former auditor general, and a former police officer with experience in high-profile robbery cases make up the other three members.

After looking into alleged financial irregularities that took place during the previous administration, Daniel Dumelovo, the former auditor general, was fired.

Recovering lost assets and fighting corruption were two of Mahama’s main campaign pledges.

“He intends to hit the ground running on these commitments,” the statement said.

Eight years after leaving office, former President Mahama is back to head the West African country. Despite not being personally contaminated, he faced criticism during his 2012–2016 administration due to claims of political corruption.