I was very skeptical when the current leadership of Organized Labour in Nigeria objected to the decision of the Federal Government to withdraw fuel subsidy and hand over the pump price of petrol to the forces of demand and supply, also known as market forces. Labour, represented by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and their affiliates and privies in civil society, further threatened that they were opposed to the hike in electricity tariffs. They issued a statement in which they railed against neo-liberal policies, bad timing, and the insensitivity of government. They made heavy…
Author: meridianspy
Audu Ogbeh, former minister of agriculture, says the pressure of financial demands from Nigerians lead most political office holders to seek money through illegal means. Ogbeh stated this in an interview with The Punch, explaining that his salary and allowances then as a minister was N900,000 whereas he got financial request from his constituent well over N2 million. He added that it was such financial pressure that distracts political office holders from paying close attention to government policies. “When they bring out a policy, analyse it quickly and if you don’t know, get experts to tell you the consequences and…
The United States government has hailed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies in the country for their conduct at the recently concluded governorship election in Edo State. It also commended the Edo people as well as the two main party candidates in the polls, Governor Godwin Obaseki and Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu for encouraging peace during the election. This was made known in a Twitter post by US Mission In Nigeria on Wednesday. “Congratulations@inecnigeria and Nigerian security services on the Edo governorship election,” it wrote. “We commend the people of Edo State for exercising their franchise and recognize @GovernorObaseki & @PastorIzeIyamu for…
The pundits who had predicted the outcome and the nature of the Gubernatorial election in Edo State got it all wrong. The Edo 2020 election may well prove to be a turning point in the management of elections in Nigeria, and if not, there are certainly lessons to be learnt from it. It was in every sense a rude awakening for both the actors in the drama and the community of observers who witnessed and monitored the election. Pundits predicted that the election would end up as war, a do –or die affair and that there would be blood-letting in…
Godwin Obaseki, Edo State Governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the governorship election in the state is currently leading Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, his rival in the All Progressive Congress (APC) after collation of results of 14 Local Government Areas. Results from 14 local government areas announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission so far show that Obaseki polled a total of 254,169 while Ize-Iyamu had a total of 163,429 votes. With INEC’s announcement, the incumbent Governor is therefore leading his main opponent in the polls by 90,740 votes. More results from eight LGAs are expected to…
As at 7: am on Saturday, major streets in Benin, the capital city of Edo State, were calm and relatively peaceful as the governorship election is set to commence in the state. Visit by MERIDIAN SPY correspondent, revealed emerging situations in the city. As at the time of filling this report, INEC officials were yet to leave their Registration Area Centre (RAC) centres to polling units. A coupled of polling units visited in Oredo Local Government by MERIDIAN SPY correspondent, were seen scanty with no presence of INEC officials. Heavily armed military personnel were seen mounting roadblocks at strategic points…
Gunmen, in the early hours of Friday, reportedly abducted family members and two others in Barakallahu, a town in Kaduna metropolis, The Cable reports. Abdulsalam Haruna, a resident of the community, said the gunmen attacked his home and took away his wife and four children. He added that his neighbour’s two children were taken away during the attack. “The incident happened at about 1:30am (on Friday). They broke my gate and came into my compound. They broke the door to my house and ordered everybody to follow them. They went away with my wife and four of my children, two…
President Muhammadu Buhari has explained the reason his administration took the decision to halt the importation of food into Nigeria. Speaking at a virtual meeting with members of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) at the State House, in Abuja, on Tuesday, President Buhari said the decision was taken to save jobs and foreign exchange. He stressed that if his administration had not encourage the people to massively invest in agriculture, Nigeria would have been in trouble given the twin impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and the current flooding disaster. “For us to bounce back to productivity, especially in agriculture,…
Nothing puts greater timbre on the parlous state of security in the country than the denudation of the virtual hedges and moats around the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and the disarray of the phalanx of boots in the city. Abuja was once assumed to be impregnable and residents lived with a false sense of security. But the terrorist blitzes in the national’s capital in 2013 and 2014 jolted many out of the reverie. With the dawning of the Buhari administration, the bombing in the city petered out. The security forces also appeared to have nicked the insecurity in the north-east…
As an opposition political party the All Progressive Congress (APC) had claimed that fuel subsidy was a fraud perpetrated by the Peoples Democratic Party-led administration. Its presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) had promised to stop such fraudulent subsidy. He also promised to make the comatose refineries work and build new ones if elected by Nigerians. Being a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Nigerians believed the APC flag bearer as he spoke so authoritatively while flaunting his record of performance in the management of the petroleum industry in the 1970s. But as soon as the APC won the 2015 general…
There has been another massive fire outbreak in the Port of Beirut, Lebanon, month after an huge explosion rocked the Middle East country claiming over 200 people. Lebanese Army said the blaze which occurred on Thursday erupted at a warehouse storing oils and tyres in the port’s Duty Free area. A security source told Al Jazeera that the fire broke out in a storage area used by BCC Logistics. The source added that the fire was outside the “red zone” central to the blast investigation, in an area of the port that has since resumed operations. It is still unclear…
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has mocked Agboola Ajayi, his Deputy and rival in the governorship election contest in the state. In an interview with Arise TV on Monday, Governor Akeredolu described Ajayi who is the candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) as unfit to run for the office of the governor, wondering what he can offer the people of the state if elected. The Governor, however, hailed Eyitayo jegede of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), describing him as a worthy contender. “Eyitayo Jegede is my colleague; he is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria; he is worthy of…