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Obi At Chatham House, Promises To Dismantle “The Cabal”

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The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has said that his government will dismantle inefficiency in governance in Nigeria and declared that “there will be no sacred cows”.

Obi who was a guest of Chatham House, the famous British international Policy institute, said with him and Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed in charge of governance, they will dismantle inefficiency and eliminate transactional policies that breed corruption in government.

Obi, during the chat monitored in Abuja, took over 15 questions from the audience after presenting a paper on various sectors.

He said they will dismantle the structure of criminality which they have been using to hold the country.

“There will be no sacred cow,” Obi said of what will happen under the Obi-Datti administration.

The Labour Party Presidential candidate also said: “our objective is to dismantle these structures of criminality and enthrone competence, character, and capability so that talents and ideas can flourish.”

On how he intends to cope with possibly having a National Assembly that may be dominated by other parties, Obi said he went through such experience as Governor of Anambra state when none of the 30 members of the State of Assembly came from his political party, adding that what he needed to navigate such case is to do the right thing, avoid nepotism and transactional policies because even the parliamentarians desire good governance.

Responding to a question on the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and why he has not condemned them, Obi said that for him and many other reasonable Nigerians including Igbos, the Biafra war ended 53 years ago. But he is not oblivious of the agitators’ demands for justice.

According to him, “we are going to look into the issue of justice and marginalization in which some of them are hinging their grievances.

“We are going to apply the carrot and stick in dealing with the agitators. But in the end there can only be one government and we will be in charge.”

On how to attract investors to Nigeria which was asked by a former British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright, Obi likened what he intends to do to attract investors to bee and honey, he will create enabling environment where rule of law thrives and will avoid any transactional policies which breed corruption and weaken governance.

On how to navigate the so-called ‘big boys’ to be able to see through his beautiful policies if elected, the LP standard bearer said the challenge will be surmounted as there will be no sacred cow.

Nigerian Youths To Present Demands To Presidential Candidates

Meanwhile, ahead of the 2023 presidential election, the Nigerians Youth under the auspices of Youth Awake Now (YAN) said it will present a charter of demands to all the presidential candidates for them to work with and ensure that the youth benefits from the central government when a new president is elected.

YAN comprises Arewa youth leaders, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth leaders, Afeinifere youth leaders, UAW youth leaders, NYCN leaders, NANS youth leaders, NAPs leaders, NYC leaders, and NYP leaders.

Reading from a communiqué after their meeting, the spokesperson of the YAN, Barrister Pereotubo Roland, yesterday explained that the charter of demands from Nigerian youth will be presented to the aspirants after which a memorandum of agreement.

He said, “We, the Nigerian Youths believe strongly that our diversity is our pride and living in peace should be above all.

“We, therefore, express our commitment to work together to build a better Nigeria, amidst our various ethnoreligious, political, and cultural diversities.

“With this communique, we commit ourselves to foster intercultural dialogue and relations across all leaders regardless of the party in Nigeria and also call on Every Nigerian Youth to be enjoined to #YAN freely expressing their demands to their preferred candidate using the YAN platform as a common tool to drive Socio-Economic growth and sustainability for a better future.

“The content endorsed as well as that of the Nigerian Youths will be put together and a major Demand Charter from the Nigerian youth will be presented to the aspirants after which a memorandum of agreement will be executed with each of the presidential aspirants. Enough Enough! We are not going to continue to take this again.”

On his part, the Executive Chairman of the YAN, Festus Uchenna explained that no time is late saying that we have been making consultations across the country for the past six months.

BIG STORY

37-Year-Old American Nicholas Giroux Jailed For Life Over Murder Of Nigerian boxer Olugbemi

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A 37-year-old man, Nicholas Giroux, has been sentenced to life imprisonment plus an additional 20 years for killing Nigerian-American boxer, Isaiah Olugbemi, in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

According to the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office, Giroux received the sentence on Friday from Judge Richard Trunnell after pleading guilty to first-degree murder and use of a firearm in a violent crime. The prison terms will run consecutively.

Olugbemi, 27, a father and highly regarded amateur boxer, was shot several times by Giroux on June 17, 2024, along Meadowmist Way in Odenton. He later died from his injuries at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

Surveillance video revealed Giroux approaching Olugbemi, firing multiple rounds until he collapsed, and then discharging three more shots before fleeing. Police later recovered 9mm casings from the crime scene.

Investigators noted that Giroux had previously confronted Olugbemi and a neighbour at a cookout about two weeks earlier, where he displayed a firearm, though he did not fire it at that time.

Following the shooting, Giroux confessed during interrogation and directed authorities to the location of the gun he used.

Describing the murder, State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess called it “cruel and senseless,” stressing that the victim had a bright future in boxing.

“Mr. Olugbemi was a father and a rising star in amateur boxing. The callousness and lack of remorse on the part of this Defendant is really disturbing. He deserves this sentence. And to the family and friends of Mr. Olugbemi, I hope that today provides some sense of justice for this terrible ordeal,” Leitess said.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorney Carolynn Grammas, with homicide detectives from the Anne Arundel County Police Department leading the investigation.

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40-Year-Old US-Based Nigerian Daniel Chima Risks 20-Year Jail Term Over ‘$405,000 Romance Scam’

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Daniel Chima Inweregbu, a 40-year-old Nigerian, has pleaded guilty to multiple fraud charges in the United States, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

US prosecutors said Inweregbu conspired to commit mail and wire fraud, while also using a false identity to carry out a romance scam that ran from July 2017 to December 2018.

The scheme, which cost victims over $405,000, involved Inweregbu and his partners contacting Americans through email and messaging platforms. They pretended to be “Larry Pham,” built online romantic relationships, and then tricked victims into sending money to bank accounts they controlled.

Once received, the funds were laundered through intermediaries to conceal their source, ownership, and movement, the DOJ added.

According to court filings:

  • Count 1 carries up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.
  • Count 12 also carries up to 20 years in prison, with a fine of up to $500,000.
  • He must also pay a mandatory $100 special assessment fee for each count.

Sentencing has been fixed for December 4, 2025, before Judge Brown.

This is not Inweregbu’s first conviction. In December 2020, a Federal High Court in Lagos sentenced him to 18 months in prison (with an option of a ₦300,000 fine) for a similar romance scam. He was also ordered to refund $15,000 to the US Consulate.

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Most Trump Tariffs Are Illegal, US Court Rules

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A US appeals court has ruled that most of former President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs are unconstitutional.

Back in April, Trump announced global tariffs on all imports into the United States, including a 14% levy on Nigerian goods. Since then, he has alternated between rolling back some measures and intensifying others.

Trump had argued that the tariffs were legally justified under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which empowers the president to act against “unusual and extraordinary” threats.

But in a 7–4 ruling, the Washington appeals court disagreed, holding that Trump exceeded his authority. The judges noted that the IEEPA “neither mentions tariffs (or any of its synonyms) nor has procedural safeguards that contain clear limits on the president’s power to impose tariffs.”

However, the panel stopped short of cancelling the tariffs outright, leaving room for a potential appeal before the US Supreme Court.

Reacting on Truth Social, Trump insisted his tariffs remain intact:
“ALL TARIFFS ARE STILL IN EFFECT!”

“If these Tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the Country. It would make us financially weak, and we have to be strong,” he wrote.

The former president also expressed confidence that the Supreme Court would eventually uphold his tariff policies.

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