National Interest

Suspected terrorists are said to have blown up St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, the headquarters of Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State. Emerging reports suggest that many worshippers have died and several others have been left injured following the explosion at the church which is situated close to the palace of the Olowo of Owo As of the time of filing this report, the security operatives were yet to give a detailed statement regarding the development. However, Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has expressed deep sadness over what he calls an unprovoked attack and killing of innocent people of Owo, worshiping at the St Francis Catholic Church, Owa-luwa Street. In his reaction to the tragic event, Governor Akeredolu said the vile and satanic attack is a calculated assault on the peace-loving people of Owo Kingdom who have enjoyed relative peace over the years. “It is a black Sunday in Owo. Our hearts are heavy. Our peace and tranquility have b...

Eleven northern governors have backed a southern aspirant for the ruling All Progressives Congress. This led Jigawa State Governor, Abubakar Badaru, to withdraw from the presidential race, according to a statement from the governors on Saturday night. The governors who signed the statement include; Bello Masari, Katsina; Nasir El-Rufai, Kaduna; Atiku Bagudu, Kebbi; Simon Lalong, Plateau; Abdullahi Ganduje, Kano; Bello Matawalle, Zamfara; Inuwa Yahaya, Gombe; Babagana Zulum, Borno; Sani Bello, Niger; and Abdullahi Sule, Nasarawa. The statement reads, "We therefore wish to strongly recommend to President Muhammadu Buhari that the search for a successor as the APC's presidential candidate be limited to our compatriots from the southern states. "We appeal to all aspirants from the northern states to withdraw in the national interest and allow only the aspirants from the south to proceed to the primaries…" The announcement comes as President Muhammadu Buhari m...

President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the ruling All Progressives Congress presidential aspirants to pick a consensus candidate among themselves ahead of the party’s primary on June 6. Buhari stated this on Saturday evening in the meeting he had with the aspirants at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. NATIONAL INTEREST NEWS  earlier reported that 11 northern governors backed a southern aspirant for the ruling party. This led Jigawa Governor Badaru to withdraw from the presidential race, according to a statement from the governors on Saturday night. The governors who signed the statement include; Bello Masari, Katsina; Nasir El-Rufai, Kaduna; Atiku Bagudu, Kebbi; Simon Lalong, Plateau; Abdullahi Ganduje, Kano; Bello Matawalle, Zamfara; Inuwa Yahaya, Gombe; Babagana Zulum, Borno; Sani Bello, Niger; and Abdullahi Sule, Nasarawa. The announcement comes as President Muhammadu Buhari meets 13 aspirants cleared to contest the party’s primaries on June 6-8 in Abuja. NATIONAL INTEREST NE...

The closed door meeting of the South East aspirants of the All Progressives Congress to decide on a consensus candidate for the region ended abruptly on Friday following report that only 13 presidential hopefuls met the standard of the screening committee. Chairman of the screening committee, John Odigie-Oyegun, had submitted the much-awaited report of the exercise to the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, at the party secretariat. He, however, failed to reveal the names of the disqualified 10 aspirants, who didn’t make the list. This is even as he encouraged the leadership of the party to further trim the list drastically. The shocking report disrupted the meeting of the Igbo aspirants, which just like their South West counterpart, have been meeting to influence the APC into zoning the ticket to their region. In attendance were embattled former Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba; former Imo State Governor, Senator Rochas Okorocha; the only APC female in t...

Member representing the Langtang North Central in the Plateau State House of Assembly, Nanbol Daniel, has defected to the Labour Party after resigning his membership from the Peoples Democratic Party, the platform on which he was elected. Daniel told the  News Agency of Nigeria  on Saturday in Jos that he weighed all options available, consulted widely and decided to pitch his tent with Labour Party. The lawmaker had told newsmen on Thursday that he resigned his membership of the PDP because of “dirty politics.” Daniel said some influential persons from his constituency hijacked the party at the detriment of members. NAN  reports that Daniel contested the recent PDP House of Assembly primary and the contest ended in a tie. The re-run was scheduled to be held on Tuesday but the assemblyman opted out of the contest on grounds of dirty politics and unfounded propaganda. The lawmaker said he reported the situation to the party leadership in the state but all compl...

The All Progressives Congress’ presidential screening committee has disqualified 10 aspirants from its primaries scheduled for next week. Chairman of the Committee, John Oyegun, revealed this on Friday. According to Mr Oyegun, only 13 out of the 23 aspirants screened were cleared by the committee. However when asked about the identity of the disqualified aspirants, Mr Oyegun declined to disclose the names. Mr Oyegun added that contrary to rumours making the rounds, it didn’t screen former president Goodluck Jonathan. The committee held the screening exercise between Monday and Tuesday this week. Cleared aspirants are expected to contest the presidential primary at a scheduled special convention in Abuja between June 6 and 8.

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) National Chairman, Senator Victor Umeh, has dumped the party after failing to secure a ticket to go to Senate for the Anambra Central senatorial District in 2023. Umeh on Thursday joined the Labour Party (LP), in Awka, the Anambra State capital where he picked expression of interest and nomination form for the Anambra Central Senatorial District as primaries of the party were still going on. The former APGA boss, if nominated by the party, would be contesting against Senator Uche Ekwunife of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dozie Nwankwo of his former party, APGA and Chief Kodilichukwu Okelekwe of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023. Senator Umeh is second top politician in Anambra State, particularly from Anaocha Local Government Area of the state, to join LP after the former governor of the State, Peter Obi, joined the party last week. Obi had resigned his membership from the PDP on May 24. Obi, who was the 2019 ru...

An ally of Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State, Hon. Vincent Dike has dumped the ruling All Progressives Congress. Dike, who is the National Coordinator of Umahi’s Fans International, said he left the party as a consequence of intimidation and imposition of aspirants by the powers that be in the state. A source, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said the former coordinator of Edda North Development Centre in the Afikpo South Local Government Area of the state, was allegedly asked to drop his ambition to contest for the Afikpo South-East state constituency in the 2023 general election. This had pitched him against the party, the source added. The source further said Dike had joined the Labour Party and would pursue his aspiration in the party. In his resignation letter dated May 23, 2022, and addressed to his Ward Chairman, Dike said, “I am, with utmost respect and appreciation, do hereby wish to inform you that after due consultation with my ward me...

Since last week when the news broke on the defection of former Anambra State governor, Mr Peter Obi from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the Labour Party, LP, there has been growing support for the former bank chairman, with a lot of support across social media platforms. First was that in Anambra State where Obi pulled out of the PDP, after a glaring plan to frustrate his effort to clinch the party’s ticket for the presidential election, many members of the party also dumped the party, including its bigwig politicians, its aspirants and very many supporters, all running to the Labour Party, for the simple reason that Obi has moved on. Upon the news of Obi’s resignation, what one can describe as mass resignation hit the party, with Mr Valentine Ozigbo, PDP’s governorship candidate in the November 2021 governorship election in Anambra, who is running for Senate, withdrawing from the race, but failing to announce his resignation from the party. Apart from Ozigbo’s withd...

The Nigerian Army has said two members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its militant wing, Eastern Security Network (ESN) were injured by an explosive device they had planted on the road. Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu on Thursday said IPOB/ESN members had buried explosive devices along different routes in the troubled South-East region. This, he said, was done to harm Nigerian troops He said while trying to escape an attack by Nigerian troops, the devices exploded and wounded some of the IPOB members. IPOB is a secessionist group led by Nnamdi Kanu, who is currently under detention while standing trial for alleged terrorism and other related offences. The group seeks the breakaway of the South-East region, and possibly the South-South which is to be known as the Biafra Republic. According to the army spokesman, the incident occurred on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, along Eke Ututu–Orsu Road in Orsu Local Government Area of Imo. Nwachuk...

The Prelate of the Methodist Church in Nigeria, His Eminence Samuel Kanu-Uche has revealed that the Church paid a ransom of N100 million to secure freedom for him and two other priests following their abduction on Sunday afternoon. He made this known Tuesday at a news conference in Lagos during which he narrated the ordeal they passed through in the hands of their abductors, who according to him, were eight in number. The governor of Abia State, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, had in a press release signed by his chief press secretary, Onyebuchi Ememenka gave the impression that no ransom was paid before the clerics were freed on Monday. He attributed the release of “the eminent men of God within 24 hours of their abduction to the grace of God, the fervent prayers of the Christian Community and the well coordinated response from security agencies in Abia State”. But while the Prelate acknowledged the hands of God in protecting them and safeguarding their lives as they passed through tor...