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Face-off: Bode George Should Shut Up Already, Leave PDP — Jimi Agbaje

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Things seem to be falling apart in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Lagos State.

Perhaps, this can be attributed to the party’s dismal performance in the last general elections.

The party seems not to have gotten over it and it has led to the blame game among leaders of the party.

The latest crisis rocking the Lagos PDP is between its candidate in the governorship election, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, and a former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Chief Olabode George.

The two are at each other’s throat over defection insinuations.

Bode George and Jimi Agbaje

Though, there have been insinuations making the round that Agbaje had perfected plans to dump the PDP, he has since refuted the claims.

While Agbaje accused George of insinuating his defection from the PDP, George described the former as failed governorship candidate.

Posts that Agbaje had joined APC have featured prominently on social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook in the past few days.

One of the posts sighted recently both on WhatsApp and Facebook read: “Lagos PDP finally emptied as Jimi Agbaje defects to APC”.

Mr. Felix Oboagwina, media aide to Agbaje, had denied reports that his principal had dumped the opposition party.

Agbaje, through the aide, also accused the leadership of the party in Lagos of alleged plans to “give the dog a bad name and chase it away from the party.”

Oboagwina said that social media posts that Agbaje had left the PDP to join the All Progressives Congress, APC, were untrue.

He said: “There is nothing like that, nothing like that at all. He is still in PDP; he has not defected.

“How can people say he has defected on social media? He is too big for that; he is in PDP.”

When asked if there were plans by his principal to dump the PDP for APC, he answered in the negative.

While lampooning the a former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP for insinuating that he has defected to the APC, Agbaje said: “People should please tell Bode George to shut up and leave PDP if he lacks any value to add to the party, instead of being a dog in the manger hampering the progress of the party in Lagos State.

“He should tell the world where he got the news being spreading round.

“These party leaders have 2023 in mind. The game-plan is simple: Give the dog a bad name and chase it away from the party. By 2023, this mudslinging will have scared off credible people from the party, which will leave the whole field to them to continue to operate.

“I am too big to sneak out of one party into another one. And the reality remains that I have not left PDP for any other party, least of all APC.”

Describing Agbaje’s outburst as shameful, Prince Uthman Shodipe, Special Adviser to George, said the PDP candidate has “bitten the hand that fed him.”

George boasted that he gave Agbaje his first break in politics and a platform to actualize his political ambition.

The statement reads: “We have read with disgust an absolute report of idiocy that emanated from one Mr. Jimi Agbaje, who was a failed gubernatorial candidate of the PDP in last general elections in Lagos State, against the leader of the party in the state, Chief Olabode George.

“For the record, it is a public knowledge that Chief Bode George gave Agbaje his break in politics; he gave him the PDP platform without knowing him and also empowered him. It is sad and shameful that Agbaje has bitten the hand that fed him.

“Whether he has gone to APC or wherever, it is none of our business. We don’t know where he concocted this malady about Bode George saying that he has gone to APC.

“Bode George lifted him up in 2015 without knowing him; he secured the party’s ticket but his heart is not with the PDP.

“Bode George is a man of dignity and repute, he is a father of figure for the PDP not only in Lagos and South-West, but also across the nation.”

Lagos PDP also mediated in the matter, but castigated Agbaje over his comments.

The state Chairman of the party, Dr. Dominic Adegbola, threw up a new perspective on how the party lost the 2019 governorship election in Lagos.

He also expressed shock over the Agbaje’s “abusive statement” on George.

Dominic said that Agbaje was never a party candidate for the election.

According to him, Agbaje was not prepared to win the election.

The party chair was also quick to note that their candidate was imposed on them.

He accused a serving governor from the South-South and a former governor from the South-West of imposing Agbaje on the party. Dominic said Agbaje sidelined the party structure. He said: “During the governorship primary, many of the party leaders didn’t want Jimi Agbaje because he only appeared at the party every four years, but with the interference from outside the state, he eventually emerged as the party candidate.”

“But I can sense it from Agbaje’s attitude before, during and after election that he was not prepared to win and the people of Lagos had deserted him.

“He is an unwillingly candidate, uninterested in winning, he did not carry any leader along and did not campaign, he only held town hall meetings which were not well attended. Even when we drew up campaign programmes, he refused to run with it.”

The party chairman also berated Agbaje’s outburst against George, saying, “I am shocked to read such a statement from Agbaje but not very surprised because we are not expecting much from him.” (Vanguard)

BIG STORY

Federal Government Approves N24.2bn For Free Broadband In 20 Airports, 43 Schools

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The federal executive council (FEC) has approved the sum of N24.20 billion for the provision of broadband infrastructure in airports, higher institutions, and markets across Nigeria.

Speaking with state house correspondents on Wednesday, Isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy, said the airports were drawn from the six geo-political zones.

“In these two memos, certain intervention projects are going to be implemented by the federal government of Nigeria through the Nigerian Communications Commission of providing Internet in 20 selected airports in Nigeria and higher institutions of learning and also some markets to support micro small and medium enterprises,” Pantami said.

“In each geopolitical zone, you have around three airports. In the south-west, we have Lagos and Ondo. For the south-east, we have Anambra and Enugu.

“For the south-south, we have Port Harcourt and Akwa Ibom. For the north-central we have Abuja and Ilorin. In the north-west, we have Kano, Sokoto and Kebbi. For the north-east we have Yola, Maiduguri and Gombe.”

The minister said 43 institutions will benefit from the project.

In 2022, the council approved N17.4 billion for a related project across higher-learning universities, micro, small and medium enterprises across the country.

“So, this one is the second phase of the project. And in the first memo approved today, we have 20 airports, both domestic and international,” the minister added.

“And in addition, we also have 43 institutions of learning. So in total, 63 institutions are going to benefit and the price for this is N18.95bn.

“The second memo is for the provision of broadband to selected markets. Six markets are going to benefit from this and the price is N5.25 billion.”

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BIG STORY

EFCC Arraigns Former ABU Vice Chancellor, Bursar Over ‘N1bn Fraud’

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The Kaduna zonal command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Ibrahim Garba, former vice-chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), for alleged N1 billion fraud.

Garba was arraigned on Wednesday alongside Ibrahim Usman, ex-bursar of the institution, at the federal high court sitting in Kaduna on a nine-count charge bordering on money laundering.

The EFCC said the duo allegedly diverted the monies meant for the renovation of the popular Kongo Conference Hotel, Zaria from different accounts of the institution.

But during the court session, the pair pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them.

Following their pleas, Jamil Musa, the prosecuting counsel, prayed the court to remand them at the Kaduna correctional centre and fix a date for the commencement of the trial.

However, M.S Aatu, and Bello I. Jahun, counsels to the defendants, urged the court to admit their clients to bail.

In his ruling, R.M Aikawa, the presiding judge, granted bail to the defendants in the sum of N5 million each with one surety each in like sum.

The judge also ruled that the sureties must not be below grade level 15 in the civil service.

He further ordered the defendants to deposit their international passports with the registry of the court.

The court also asked the defendants to report to the EFCC on the first Monday of every month until when told otherwise.

Aikawa thereafter adjourned the case till June 20 and 21 respectively for a hearing.

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BIG STORY

US Increases Student, Work Visa Fees By 15%

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The United States has announced a hike in fees for certain nonimmigrant visa applications (NIV).

In a statement on Wednesday, the US department of state said the hike in the affected NIV fees was implemented after a review of the country’s costs of providing these services.

The hike also affects the border crossing card (BCC) for Mexican citizens aged 15 and over.

The department of state is committed to facilitating legitimate travel to the United States for both immigrant and nonimmigrant travelers.

“These increases were published in the federal register on March 28, 2023, and will be effective on May 30, 2023,” the statement reads.

“The fee for visitor visas for business or tourism (B1/B2s and BCCs), and other non-petition based NIVs such as student and exchange visitor visas, will increase from $160 to $185. The fee for certain petition-based nonimmigrant visas for temporary workers (H, L, O, P, Q, and R categories) will increase from $190 to $205. The fee for a treaty trader, treaty investor, and treaty applicants in a specialty occupation (E category) will increase from $205 to $315.

“NIV fees are set based on the actual cost of providing NIV services and are determined after conducting a study of the cost of these services. The department uses an activity-based costing (ABC) methodology to calculate, annually, the cost of providing consular services, including visa services.

“The fees for most non-petition based NIVs were last updated in 2012, and certain other NIV fees were last updated in 2014.”

Other consular fees are not affected by this rule, including the waiver of the two-year residency required fee for certain exchange visitors, the statement added.

The US department of state said the work and tourism visas are essential to President Biden’s foreign policy and have a critical impact on the country’s economy.

Fee information can be found on the bureau of consular affairs website, travel.state.gov, and on the websites of US embassies and consulates.

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