Ogun: Governor Abiodun assures of completing ‘abandoned road projects’

By

-

September 2, 2020

The Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun has assured the people of the State that his Administration would continue to ensure the prompt completion of projects that were left uncompleted by the immediate past administration, adding that the present Administration sees road infrastructure as the pillar of government.

Prince Dapo Abiodun, who made this known while speaking to newsmen shortly after rounding off an inspection tour of work done on the Panseke- Adigbe Road, said that it was important for his Administration to ensure that people coming to work in the State do that without having to go through the pain of bad and hazardous roads. He added that his Administration would continue to prioritise the issue of roads across the State.

“We see road infrastructure as an essential component of development. We have prioritised the issue of roads across the length and breadth of the State, and this is one of the roads we are doing.

“This Panseke-Adigbe Road was awarded by the previous administration but was not funded. When i came here when the bridge at Opako collapsed, I promised that this road would be completed. What we are doing here today and across the State is a fufillment of our promise,” he said.

Abiodun further explained that aside the Panseke-Adigbe Road project left uncompleted by the previous administration, the current Administration is currently working on Ijebu Ode-Epe Road; Oba Erinwole Road, Hospital Road in Sagamu; Elite and Lafenwa-Rounda roads. He added that his Administration is focusing on all the access roads that are State roads.

The Governor, who also disclosed that the major reason why his Administration is focusing on access roads that belong to the State was to use their completion to bring people in with ease, added that the total rebranding of the Abeokuta-Sagamu Road was to ensure that people coming into the State through the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway continue to enjoy a pleasurable ride down to the State Capital after the completion of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

“We have started the Sagamu-Abeokuta Road, and it will be pointless for the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to be completed and then investors enjoy a pleasurable ride all the way from Lagos, Ibadan or the East without any issue, then the journey between Interchange and Abeokuta becomes a nightmare. So we have started on that road. If not for the pandemic, we would have completed it,” he said.

Abiodun, who also explained that his Administration has enlisted another set of roads which are to be completed across the State, stated that the Administration is poised to ensure that people are able to move within, in and out the State with ease.

Earlier, the General Project Manager, CCECC, Ogun State, Sewell Zhao said that the plan was to finish the section between the NNPC and Kuto bridges as soon as possible, adding that the company hopes to finish the stretch of the road, putting in mind the financial support the present Administration has given them so far.

In their separate responses, residents and users of the Panseke road, Collins Anozie and Mrs Aremo Oluwatoyin commended the Administration of Prince Dapo Abiodun for bringing to a halt the suffering they have experienced on the road in the last one year, urging the Governor to continue the good work work he has started across the State.

Photos:

Inline1

AU Patners Novartis to Facilitate Affordable COVID-19-related Supplies to Africa

By

Tobiloba Kolawole

-

September 2, 2020

0

Novartis and the African Union (AU) through the Africa Medical Supplies Platform (AMSP) have announced a new collaboration to facilitate the supply of medicines from the Novartis Pandemic Response Portfolio to AU member-states and Caricom countries.

AMSP portal is an online marketplace that enables the supply of COVID-19-related critical medical equipment in Africa. It was developed under the leadership of the AU Special Envoy, Strive Masiyiwa, and powered by Janngo, on behalf of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

The platform was also developed in partnership with African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

The new collaboration would help alleviate supply and logistical constraints by ensuring efficient and rapid access to the pandemic portfolio medicines to African and Caricom governments.

AU comprises 55 member-states, representing all the countries on the African continent, while 15 Caricom countries are eligible for the pandemic portfolio.

“Our collaboration with AMSP is a continuation of our efforts at Novartis to combat COVID-19 across the world.

“Together, we are aiming to accelerate and expand access to affordable essential medicines in Africa to meet the very urgent patient needs across the continent as it continues battling this pandemic,” said Chief Executive Officer of Novartis, Vas Narasimhan.

AMSP was developed to ease the difficulties and open up the medical supplies market to Africa, and as part of the Partnership to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing (PACT) of Africa CDC.

It’s designed to integrate African and globally vetted medical suppliers to ensure cost-effectiveness and transparency in the procurement and distribution of the COVID-19-related supplies.

Speaking on the collaboration, Masiyiwa said: “Following the successful listing of test kits, personal protective equipment, and clinical management devices, the African Union Chairperson has expanded our mandate to include groundbreaking medicines to treat the COVID-19 patients in Africa.

“As a global pharmaceutical leader, Novartis is a strategic partner for AMSP to unlock access to the latest and best-performing medicines for Africans in an affordable way.”

There was a shortage of diagnostics, medical supplies and essential medical equipment such as personal protective equipment for healthcare workers, face masks, ventilators, and many others in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and its spread worldwide.

Many African governments had severe challenges with the procurement of essential supplies to support their response activities and face stiff competition with the more industrialised countries for the limited available supplies.

“As a continental body, we are working with several partners to ensure smooth and predictable access to essential medical supplies.

“We found that during the Ebola outbreak in 2014, many people died because of Ebola but not due to Ebola. This is because they did not have access to essential medicines needed for treatment.

“With AMSP, countries don’t have to search the market for supplies. The prices are negotiated and fixed to unlock the supply space,” said Director of Africa CDC, John Nkengasong.

Novartis Pandemic Response Portfolio from Sandoz, the generics and biosimilar division of Novartis, comprises 15 medicines: Amoxicillin, Ceftriaxone, Clarithromycin, Colchicine, Dexamethasone, Dobutamine, Fluconazole, Heparin, Levofloxacin, Loperamide, Pantoprazole, Prednisone, Prednisolone, Salbutamol, Vancomycin.

The portfolio was launched in July 2020 and sells medicines at zero-profit to governments, non-governmental organisations and other institutional customers in up to 79 eligible countries to address the urgent unmet needs of low-and lower-middle-income countries for medicines to be used for symptomatic treatment at various stages of the COVID-19.

Eligible countries must be included on the World Bank’s list of Low-Income Economies and Lower-Middle-Income Economies.

Idowu Sowunmi

Inline1

Fuel Price Hike: Your Action is Callous, PDP Tells Buhari, Rejects N151 Per Litre

By

Tobiloba Kolawole

-

September 2, 2020

0

PDP Ologbodiyan 111 — File photo of Spokesman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kola Ologbodiyan.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Wednesday vehemently rejected the fresh increase in the price of fuel to N151 per litre and electricity tariff to N66 per kwh by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government.

The opposition party described the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its government as callous, cruel and punishing.

The party demanded an immediate reversal of the prices to avert what it described as “a national crisis,” noting that “the increase will result in upsurge in costs of goods and services and worsen the biting hardship being faced by Nigerians, who are already impoverished and overburdened by APC-imposed high cost of living in the last five years.”

“Our party asserts that by increasing the price of fuel from the N87 per litre it sold under the PDP to an excruciating N151 while at the same time allowing the hike in electricity tariff from N30.23 per kwh to over N66, the APC has left no one in doubt that its agenda is to inflict pain and hardship on Nigerians to satisfy their selfish interests.

“The unjustifiable increase in the price of these essential supplies, coming barely a week after the APC brazenly posted a support for fuel price hike, while attempting to rationalise the excruciating hardship being suffered by Nigerians under the Buhari administration, has further confirmed that the APC is at the centre of the harsh policies of the Buhari Presidency.

“It is distressing that the APC administration increased the cost of essential commodities at the time the leadership of other countries are offering palliatives to their citizens to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is instructive to add that our nation is doomed under the APC watch.

“We know that the APC is an unfeeling party but it is indeed shocking that it could go to the extent of approving such a hike at this trying time, when many Nigerians are struggling to afford staple foods and other necessities of life.

“Our party challenges the APC and the Buhari administration to publish the parameters with which it arrived at the increase of fuel price to N151 per litre given that with the prevailing values in the international market, the appropriate price template for domestic pump price in Nigeria ought not to be above N100 per litre.

“Our party further challenges the APC-led Federal Government to publish details of its sleazy and over-bloated oil subsidy regime, including the involvement of APC interests in the claimed under-recovery for unnamed West African countries, running into trillions of naira, while Nigerians are made to bear the burden of high fuel costs.

“Moreover, the APC and its government have failed to allow an open investigation into allegations of fuel price overcharge as well as the fraudulent subsidy regime through which over N14 trillion had allegedly been frittered by unscrupulous individuals in the APC.

“Our fear is that the APC is pushing Nigerians to the wall with its obnoxious and anti-people proclivities and we caution that nobody should misinterpret the peaceful and law-abiding nature of Nigerians as a sign of weakness.

“Our party therefore restates our call on the National Assembly to save the nation by calling the APC and its administration to order before they plunge our nation into chaos,” PDP alleged, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan.

Inline1

‘20,500 Nigerians Died of AIDS-related Causes in 2020 Not 51,000’

By

Tobiloba Kolawole

-

September 2, 2020

0

National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) has corrected itself, saying the number of people who died of AIDS-related causes in Nigeria within the first six months of year 2020 is 20,500, rather than the 51,000 it stated in a media interview.

NACA Director-General, Gambo Aliyu, had told a national newspaper in an interview published on August 30 that the number of deaths among the People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) might worsen if the disruption to HIV/AIDS treatment persists for another six months.

“For now, we can tentatively say as of June this year, an estimated number of 51,000 people had lost their lives.

“We fear that it is due to lack of access to medication and the disruption that COVID-19 brought.

“We are likely to experience more because a recent work we did, a rigorous module, shows that treatment disruption for another six months is likely to cause double of mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa,” he had said in the interview.

But, NACA spokesperson, Toyin Aderibigbe, admitted the error and offered needed correct information.

Aderibigbe said: “The 51,000 is actually ‘lost to follow up,’ meaning, those people that registered for HIV treatment but have not been coming for treatment for the past six months due to either death, relocation or because of COVID-19 lockdown or personal decision to stop the treatment, etc.

“The estimated number of deaths is 20,500 from January to June.

“The mistake is from a programmatic language, because ‘lost’ in Monitoring and Evaluation language means ‘lost to follow up’ and not necessarily lost to death.”

Idowu Sowunmi

Inline1

27-Man National Humanitarian Coordination Working Group Set to boost aid delivery

By

Tobiloba Kolawole

-

September 2, 2020

0

DSC_9573-696x464 — The Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq during the inauguration of the National Humanitarian Co-ordination Working Group NHCWG, on Tuesday 1st, 2020 in Abuja.

A 27-man National Humanitarian Co-ordination Technical Working Group (NHCTWG) has been inaugurated to provide technical support to the National Humanitarian Coordination Committee (NHCC) constituted by President Muhammadu Buhari to oversee all humanitarian actions in the country.

This was disclosed Wednesday by Special Adviser on Media to the Minister of Humanitarian Affair, Disaster Management and Social Development, Nneka Ikem Anibeze.

Anibeze noted that the Working Group which was inaugurated on Tuesday September 1, 2020 by the Minister of Humanitarian Affair, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, is expected to enhance coordination and seamless delivery of humanitarian aid to affected communities in the country.

READ ALSO:

Mining: Adegbite urges companies to operate within guidelines

According to Anibeze At the minister charged the members to ensure the implementation of all NHCC recommendations related to the operationalization of the CiSEC framework and guidelines and to propose a national vision for humanitarian action.

“It is important that you understand that your Committee will not only cater to the North East but will take into context, Nigeria as a whole.

“Your Terms of Reference also include proposal of policies that will enhance coordination and seamless delivery of humanitarian aid to affected communities in the country; Ensure that CiSEC guidelines and related action plans reflect adherence to humanitarian principles and best practices while engaging all parties in crisis response situations, taking cognisance of Nigeria’s national security interests”.

Hajiya Umar Farouq also emphasized the need to ensure that functional engagements between security and humanitarian actors remain consistent with the principles under the CiSEC framework and also promote advocacy on humanitarian access, protection and logistics issues as required.

READ ALSO:

BUA, Axens Sign Agreement for 200,000bpd Refinery Project in Akwa Ibom

In his acceptance speech, the Chairman of The Working Group Grema Ali. who is also the Permanent Secretary overseeing the Ministry, thanked the Minister for the privilege to serve in the group.

“Thank you for finding us worthy of working in this technical group and for the confidence reposed in us. By the grace of God, we shall not disappoint you”.

The TWG is made up of critical stakeholders comprising of Commissioners in charge of Humanitarian issues in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe; heads of NEMA, NEDC and NCFRMI; representatives of Operations of the Armed Forces, the European Union Commision, United States Agency for International Development and United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Inline1

Sanwo-Olu, FAAN Parley Ahead of Sept 5 International Flights’ Resumption

By

Tobiloba Kolawole

-

September 2, 2020

0

Ahead of the September 5 re-opening of airspace for international flights, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Tuesday met with the management team of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

Discussions at the meeting focused partly on actionable steps being put in place at Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) by the federal and state governments to give travellers comfort and better experience when the facility is re-opened for air traffic.

L-R: Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Clifford Omozehian; Director, Finance & Accounts, FAAN, Mrs. Nike Abodemi; Managing Director/CE, FAAN, Capt. Rabiu Hamisu Yadudu; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, during a courtesy visit to the Governor by FAAN management, at Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja, on Tuesday, September 1, 2020

FAAN team, led by its Managing Director, Rabiu Yadudu, harped on the need for state government’s interventions to ensure seamless operations at Lagos airport, which contributes 70 per cent of FAAN’s total revenue.

READ ALSO:

Again, FG Increases Petrol Price to N151

Yadudu used the opportunity to thank the state government for the construction of the airport road from Oshodi, noting that the intervention had strengthened the partnership between Lagos State Government and FAAN.

The managing director, however, pleaded with Sanwo-Olu to intervene in ensuring smooth safety compliance and provision of services as the airport prepared to re-open for commercial activities.

Other requests made by FAAN included: provision of BRT buses to commute passengers from car park to departure and arrival halls, expansion of strategic airport roads, and halting of encroachment on the airport land around Ajao Estate and Shasha, among others.

Responding, Sanwo-Olu said his administration has been working round the clock with the Federal Government to put in place safety protocols at the airport and drive compliance. The effort, he said, would be followed by a joint assessment of the airport facility with FAAN and other agencies.

The governor used the occasion to explain the development activities embarked on by the state government to ensure travellers have better experience, while passing through the airport, disclosing that the state had already started the construction of a world-class bus terminal close to the airport.

The bus terminal, Sanwo-Olu said, would serve as holding station for international passengers who would not be driving into the airport. He added that the bus station would be complemented with rail infrastructure to shuttle air passengers from the metropolis departure terminals.

According to him, “An airport is a gateway that defines the nation, because it is the first facility to be seen by international travellers. Murtala Mohammed International Airport is an important asset, not only to the Federal Government but also to Lagos State.

“The strategic use of this airport should necessitate that need for us to fully harness the asset and make it a bubbling destination for tourists and businessmen coming into the country.

“As a state government, we are taking complementary efforts to ensure the airport promotes business and is safe for travellers. We have started the construction of a massive bus terminal along the airport road, which will be complemented with a rail project.

“The rail project is part of the Red Line Rail project which will start from Ebute Metta and pass through Oshodi. The right-of-way of this project has been determined and we are hoping the project will start before the end of the year.”

Sanwo-Olu charged FAAN management on remodelling of the airport’s facilities to become a hub of business and tourism. He said some of the facilities installed in the airport at inception were due for modernisation and upgrading.

READ ALSO:

Mining: Adegbite urges companies to operate within guidelines

The governor particularly made a case for the provision of fast free internet connectivity within lounges at the airport, noting that the era of passengers sitting for long without internet access has passed.

He said the functionality of the airport must be fully explored, urging the management to invest in facilities that would drive more passenger traffic to the airport.

“Travellers across the world are looking for destinations where things they enjoy in their comfort zones are provided. When we provide services and infrastructure that will drive traffic to our airport, not only will it triple the revenue generated for the government, it will also improve the status of the airport within the continent,” he said.

The governor promised further engagements with the Aviation Minister on ways to resolve other issues around Lagos airport.

Idowu Sowunmi

Inline1

[Update]: Again, FG Increases Depot Price of Petrol to N151, Marketers to sell at N162

By

Tobiloba Kolawole

-

September 2, 2020

0

The President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government Wednesday increased the depot price of Premium Motor Spirit popularly known as petrol to N151.56 per litre.

This is expected to lead to an increase in the pump price of petrol nationwide.

This was disclosed by the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

PPMC, in a statement by D. O. Abalaka, said the pump price of petrol has increased to N151.56 per litre and effected accordingly.

According to him, “Please be informed that a new product price adjustment has been effected on our payment platform.

“To this end, the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) is now one hundred and fifty-one naira, fifty-six kobo (N151.56k) per litre.

“This takes effect from September 2, 2020.”

The company directed all operators to abide accordingly.

READ ALSO:

Sanwo-Olu, FAAN Parley Ahead of Sept 5 International Flights’ Resumption

PPMC, in a statement by D. O. Abalaka, said the pump price of petrol has increased to N151.56 per litre and effected accordingly.

According to him, “Please be informed that a new product price adjustment has been effected on our payment platform.

“To this end, the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) is now one hundred and fifty-one naira, fifty-six kobo (N151.56k) per litre.

“This takes effect from September 2, 2020.”

The company directed all operators to abide accordingly.

Meanwhile, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has directed its members in the Southwest region of the country to begin sales of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly referred to as petrol at N162 per litre.

The southwest Zonal Chairman of IPMAN, Alhaji ‘Dele Tajudeen in a telephone chat with journalists in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital, said his members would be left with no other option than to dispense the product at a price of N162.

Tajudeen said, the directive followed the increase in the deport loading price of the product by the federal government, which placed a new price regime of the product at N151. 56k.

He explained that since the federal government has decided and puts the price of the product at N151. 56k, IPMAN has no option than to sell at N162 to be able to meet up with the overhead cost.

Idowu Sowunmi

Inline1

Mining: Adegbite urges companies to operate within guidelines

By

Tobiloba Kolawole

-

September 2, 2020

2

Companies in Nigeria’s mining sector including other operators in the Minerals and Metals Sector have been urged to operate within the operational guidelines in the nation’s Mining Act.

READ ALSO:

Zamfara Gov in Aso Rock, Presents Specimens of Gold and Other Precious Natural Minerals to Buhari

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite made the call in Abuja when he played host to the Governor of Taraba state, Darius Ishaku.

While he commended Governor Ishaku for his determination to improve the economic status of Taraba through mining and making efforts to visit the Ministry to seek clarification on development in the sector to “Know exactly what Taraba State is doing right or wrong in mineral exploration”, the Minister assured that States would be carried along in the efforts geared towards sanitizing the sector to make it viable for investment.

Adegbite noted that Taraba State is richly endowed with abundant mineral resources especially Gemstone which is a veritable source of revenue generation, but said that mining of the minerals by mining companies must follow laid down procedures including obtaining operational mining licenses as well as payment of royalties to Federal Government.

In his remark earlier, the Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku said the purpose of his visit was for Taraba State to be carried along by the Federal Government in its plan on mineral exploration and mining.

READ ALSO:

BUA, Axens Sign Agreement for 200,000bpd Refinery Project in Akwa Ibom

He said they were a lot of illegal miners operating in the state and has come to the ministry to seek ways utilizing opportunities that would place the state in the right path to benefit maximally from mining of mineral resources in the Taraba.

Photos:

Inline1

BUA, Axens Sign Agreement for 200,000bpd Refinery Project in Akwa Ibom

By

Tobiloba Kolawole

-

September 2, 2020

0

A leading Nigerian conglomerate with focus on manufacturing, infrastructure and agriculture, BUA Group, has ventured into oil and gas sector and signed a deal with France’s largest hydrocarbons group, Axens, to refine 200,000 barrels per day of crude oil in Nigeria.

Located in Akwa Ibom State, South-south Nigeria, the project is expected to see Axens license key refinery technologies to BUA Group. This was contained in a contract that was signed between both parties in France on Tuesday.

Chairman of BUA Group, Abdulsamad Rabiu, signed on behalf of his company, while the Chief Executive Officer of Axens, Jean Sentenac, did same at a ceremony presided over by France’s Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness, Franck Riester.

READ ALSO:

Mining: Adegbite urges companies to operate within guidelines

Speaking after signing the contract, Rabiu described the project as a very viable one given the economics of fuel importation in Nigeria.

“Nigeria imports 90 per cent of its petroleum products. We spend 35 per cent of our foreign exchange on importing petroleum products.

“President Emmanuel Macron has given special determination and support to this project,” Rabiu told The Africa Report.

BUA Group chairman expressed belief in the project’s sustainability, noting that the investment would pay off in the long run, as new fuel standards continue to evolve along with the climate crisis.

According to him, “It is in the DNA of BUA Group; look at our cement plants, the most sustainable in Nigeria, same with our sugar plants. This is the hard part, we cannot get this wrong. It is like in an aeroplane, you always look at who built the engine, it is the most important thing.”

Rabiu said there’s space for another project, despite the growing international glut of refinery projects, the tapering of transport fuel use globally and the strong local competition.

His projection was based on the high rate of fuel consumption in Nigeria, saying the country today consumes about 500,000 to 550,000 barrels a day of petrol and partly because of demand in the region.

He said: “We will have the marine infrastructure for easy export, and the external market for polypropylene (the other major product from the refinery) is very strong.”

Rabiu has been serving as the Chairman of the Macron-initiated Franco-Nigerian Investors’ Club.

Also speaking, Sentenac described the technologies that Axens would be licencing as a chance to breathe easier in Nigeria, with the plant having the ability to refine biofuels.

Sentenac said: “We are the world leader in the Euro 5 fuel standard; this has already reduced car pollution in Europe by a factor of 5 or 6, and it also allows Nigeria to start using the latest generation of fuel efficient engines, the first step towards fighting global warming.”

He added that his company, which makes systems to convert oil and biomass to cleaner fuels, would provide technology for the greenfield project designed to produce Euro-V fuels and polypropylene targeted at domestic and regional markets.

In his remarks, Riester said the deal would be “one of the things that will help build up the necessary intrapersonal relationships” between industrial players in the two countries, part of a wider French strategy of greater engagement in Anglophone Africa.”

The new refinery is expected to be operational in 2024. The refinery would be built using an undisclosed mix of debt and equity, with several development and commercial banks in negotiations with BUA Group.

The new project is expected to directly compete with Nigeria’s other large refinery project, piloted by Dangote Group, which would be operational by 2021.

Axens beat the US company, Honeywell UOP, which got through to the final round, according to sources close to the bid.

The bidding process was managed by energy consultants, KBR, which would also be handling subsequent rounds for the engineering and construction phase, currently underway.

Idowu Sowunmi

Inline1

Uzodimma in Aso Rock, Speaks on 2023 General Elections

By

Tobiloba Kolawole

-

September 2, 2020

0

Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, Tuesday met with President Muhammadu Buhari and seized the opportunity to intimate him on how his administration is working to better the lot of all Imolites.

The governor also informed the President of his administration’s readiness to ensure a free and fair election in Okigwe Senatorial zone bye-election coming up in October 2020.

Speaking with State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa in Abuja after after a closed-door meeting with Buhari, Uzodinma said the emergence of presidential candidates for 2023 general elections should not be on a tribal basis.

He said: “We are practising partisan democracy, not tribal democracy. So, the emergence of presidential candidates will come on a party-by-party basis, not tribe-by-tribe basis.”

Uzodimma dismissed the emergence of presidential candidates along tribal or ethnic lines, but argued that leadership of each political party has the sole responsibility to determine that.

According to him, “If there are some other internal factors that will form part of the considerations for parties taking decisions, of course, that will be entirely the job of the leadership of those political parties and I think that is the right thing to do.”

Idowu Sowunmi

Inline1