These are the stories you should be monitoring today:
A Chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and immediate past National Secretary of its Caretaker Committee, Senator Ben Obi has dismissed as unnecessary the tussle for the Vice Presidential slot of the party, saying that the position had been zoned to the South-East.
Obi, disclosed this in a telephone chat with Vanguard on Tuesday, explaining that zoning the VP slot to the South-East was one of the recommendations of the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu-led committee which was handed a nine-point term of reference, the sum of which was to find out what went wrong and to chart a trajectory for the restoration of the fortunes of the party, which he said has been adopted by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).
“After the 2015 election, the party set up the Ekweremadu Committee. The Committee recommended that the party should zone the presidency to the North and the vice presidency to the South-East. The National Working Committee (NWC) endorsed the recommendations of the committee,” Obi said.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Tuesday met with members of the Pan Yoruba Socio-cultural group, Afenifere behind closed-doors in Abeokuta, Ogun, over the 2019 polls.
Spokesman of the group, Yinka Odumakin, who addressed newsmen after the meeting, said the meeting, was meant to harmonise the position of the Yorubas in Nigeria concerning the 2019 general elections, adding that the group would soon adopt its preferred presidential candidate. He however stressed that “the most important thing to the Afenifere group is the issue of restructuring,”
“The pendulum is swinging and we will let you know where it finally settles,” he said.
“As a fact from Bishop Kukah, even Jesus Christ understood the economy and if you have a leader who does not understand economics, then you cannot have a leader that will satisfy the need of the people, the physical and the material needs of the people,” he said.
The People’s Democratic Party in Sokoto,on Tuesday, dismissed speculations that Governor Aminu Tambuwal has replaced the its flag bearer in the 2019 governorship election, Mannir Dan-Iya.
Chairman of the the party, Ibrahim Milogoma, who spoke to newsmen in Sokoto, said the rumour was unfounded as Dan-Iiya remains the party’s 2019 governorship candidate, noting however that there was still time to substitute candidate according to the law.
The Federal Government says it will begin the final verification and payment of entitlements to former workers of the defunct Nigeria Airways, on Monday, October 15.
Media Adviser on Media to the Finance Minister, Paul Abechi, who disclosed this in a statement released on Tuesday, said the payment will last one week simultaneously across Lagos, Kano and Enugu states.
And stories from around the world:
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Tuesday that in the absence of any explanation by Hong Kong for its refusal to grant a visa to a senior UK journalist he could only conclude it was politically motivated. (Reuters)
Pakistan’s navy is no longer part of the counterpiracy Combined Task Force (CTF) that operates in the western Indian Ocean.
The decision to leave the task force was taken after the US-led operation refused to pay for fuel for the patrolling warships as part of a previous agreement, two highly-placed military officials told Al Jazeera on the condition of anonymity.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen vowed on Wednesday to enhance national security, warning her government will not submit to Chinese suppression as Beijing ramps up pressure to assert sovereignty over the island. (Reuters)
Google on Tuesday appealed the biggest ever anti-trust fine by the EU, which imposed a 4.34 billion euro ($5 billion) penalty on the US tech giant for illegally abusing the dominance of its operating system for mobile devices. (AFP)
Powerful Hurricane Michael is set to make landfall in Florida later on Wednesday, forcing mass evacuations in the southern US state. (BBC)
Temidayo Taiwo-Sidiq is a Journalist, Political Analyst and Satirist with major interest in Nigerian Politics, Governance and Sports.
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