Nigeria President, Bola Tinubu, has once again stood firm by his administration’s economic reforms.

The President insisted that some of the decisions he made on assumption of office in 2023 were not to hurt Nigerians but to sustain healthy growth for the country.

Tinubu, who took over from Muhammadu Buhari about two years ago, said this while playing host to a special envoy from the Amir of the State of Qatar, Dr Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi at the State House in Abuja on Friday.

According to the Nigerian leader, ongoing reforms to streamline the country’s tax system had made it easier for foreign investors to do business in the country.

The President said, “We are making efforts to reform our tax system. Going by the experiences of the past and the need to depart from old ways, our reforms have been hard.

“I made tough decisions so that we could grow. We are gradually seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.”

The President’s comments during the meeting were relayed in a statement by his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga.

“You can’t find a better partner than Nigeria. I always follow the global issues and your efforts. You have to do more in Nigeria to help fight poverty in the humanitarian area.

“You have done well in developing a knowledge-based economy in Qatar, but what about Nigeria?” He asked.

Tinubu believes that Nigeria’s partnership with the Arab giants could be improved by looking into food sovereignty and economic prosperity, indicating readiness of his country to build on the momentum generated by his state visit to Qatar in 2024.

The Eastern Updates

The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Kebbi State is making frantic and last-minute efforts to prevent the planned defection of three serving senators to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the senators: Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central), Yahaya Abubakar Abdullahi (Kebbi North) and Garba Maidoki (Kebbi South), are expected to formally declare their defection to the APC on Tuesday.

This follows a high-level meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Read Also: Defection Is The Greatest Political Sin Ever – Kwankwaso Laments

The lawmakers were led to the meeting on Friday by the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje and are reportedly set to defect alongside a large number of supporters, including serving and former PDP executives across all three senatorial districts in the state.

The move has rattled the state chapter of the PDP.

Our reporter gathered that on Friday night that the PDP State Chairman, Usman Bello-Suru summoned an emergency meeting of party stakeholders in a bid to halt the looming political exodus.

A source at the meeting disclosed that members weighed multiple strategies, including the possibility of obtaining a court injunction or making personal appeals to the lawmakers.

However, the consensus was to engage the senators directly and urge them to stay and strengthen the party at a critical time.

“Several options were explored, including legal steps, but it was agreed that the best approach would be to convince them to remain in the PDP and continue building what they’ve helped to establish over the years,” the source said.

However, efforts to reach the senators have proven difficult.

“Since the defection news broke, they have stopped picking calls from the party chairman,” the source added.

This crisis comes just weeks after the same PDP chairman, Usman Bello-Suru, issued a public statement dismissing rumours of defection within the party.

He said then, “In a swift reaction to the insinuations that some members of the PDP in the state are making arrangements to defect to the ruling party, I assure our members that PDP remains one indivisible entity that will continue to play an opposition role in the state.”

The unfolding events appear to contradict that reassurance, especially with a high-profile figure like Senator Aliero, a former two-term governor of Kebbi, ex-Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, and sitting senator, at the centre of the planned defection.

Aliero is no stranger to political cross-carpeting, having previously left and rejoined the PDP.

Some party members, however, remain stoic in the face of the crisis.

“If they decide to leave, life goes on,” a senior PDP chieftain told DAILY POST.

“PDP is like a military barracks, soldiers come, soldiers go, but the barracks remains,” he said.

Should the defections go ahead as expected, the APC’s numerical strength in the 10th Senate will rise to 68, while the PDP will be reduced to 30.

The Eastern Updates

A professor of Political Economy, Pat Utomi, has said that he would never seek any political office in Nigeria again.

Utomi made this statement on Friday in an interview on ‘Politics Today’, a programme on Channels Television.

The professor also said that he won’t accept any appointment or contract by any Nigerian government.

“Let me state clearly, I will not run for public office, I will not accept an appointment, contract by any government in Nigeria. My only concern is the well-being of the next generation.

“I have lived my life decently without government money or stealing anybody’s thing. I want to take that away from people who talk nonsense like, ‘Oh, he is looking for contract,” he stated.

In other news, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has granted three consecutive days to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to conclude the ten-year-old corruption charges it instituted against a former National Security Adviser Mohammed Sambo Dasuki.

The judge allocated 7, 8 and 9 July for the anti-graft agency to conclude the corruption case it started in 2015.

Justice Lifu’s decision came when the trial was started afresh in his court, and counsel for EFCC, Oladipupo Okpeseyi, and A. A. Usman for Dasuki argued over the admissibility or otherwise of a subpoena issued on 24 May 2018 to the Department of State Service, DSS, to present in court certain items found on Dasuki’s properties.

Dasuki’s counsel initiated legal arguments when he challenged the status of the subpoena because it was issued to the DSS as an entity not recognised by the law of the country.

The EFCC lawyer, however, countered the objection, insisting that DSS was a creation of statute and that there had been no confusion in the identity of the organisation.

The Eastern Updates

Leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement and Presidential Candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has strongly condemned politicians who defect to rival parties after benefiting from the support of the electorate, describing such acts as the “greatest political sin” in a democratic system.

Kwankwaso made the remarks on Friday in Kano while receiving a wave of defectors from Takai Local Government Area of Kano South into the NNPP at his residence along Miller Road. The development comes on the heels of a string of high-profile defections from the NNPP to the All Progressives Congress (APC), including Senator Abdurrahman Kawu Sumaila and Hon. Kabiru Alhassan Rurum, member representing Rano, Kibiya and Bunkure federal constituency.

Read Also: Planned Defection: Tinubu Hosts Three PDP Senators

Reflecting on previous elections, Kwankwaso said each political contest had served as a learning curve for the movement. He particularly emphasized the lessons learned during the 2019 and 2023 general elections, asserting that the group had grown wiser and more resilient.

The NNPP chieftain further described the Kwankwasiyya ideology as a people-oriented movement, driven not by monetary inducements but by a passion for uplifting the common man.

“This movement is for the people. It is not about money. Some people collected spaghetti and N2,000 to elect someone. But in Kano, the poor stood firm. If it had been left to those selling their votes, the NNPP wouldn’t have won,” he stated.

Kwankwaso criticized defectors who, after winning elections through popular support, switched allegiance to political rivals. He said such actions represent the height of political betrayal.

“This is the highest form of betrayal in a democratic setting. When vulnerable people vote for you and you turn around to join their oppressors, it is a political sin of the highest order,” he said.

The former Minister of Defence warned that any politician who undermines the Kwankwasiyya movement does so at their peril, describing the group as a “solid wall” that cannot be easily shaken.

“Fighting the Kwankwasiyya movement is a grave mistake. One may not understand until he engages in that fight—and then he’ll realize how tough it is,” he said.

Kwankwaso urged his supporters to remain steadfast and continue mobilizing grassroots support across communities. He reaffirmed the unity of the movement and its commitment to promoting social justice and the welfare of the underprivileged.

“Whether you got an appointment or not, whether you got a contract or not, we are all in this for the right reasons. The poor now understand everything, and that is our strength,” he added.

He congratulated the new members for joining the NNPP and expressed optimism that the party would continue to expand its influence.

The Eastern Updates

The Northern Governors Forum, NGF, has called on the National Assembly to institute a legislation for the creation of state police to boost security across the country.

Director General Press and, Media Affairs to Yobe State Governor, Mamman Mohammed, in a press release noted that the call was contained in a communique at the end of Forum’s meeting on Saturday which was read by its Chairman, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya.

Read AIso: I Won’t Quit PDP – Adeleke Assures Osun Stakeholders

“The Forum resolved to support the creation of state police and called on the National Assembly to expedite action on the enactment of the legal framework for its take off” Gov. Yahaya said.

The Forum also resolved to boost inter state border surveillance to effectively combat insurgency, banditry and other crimes.

It also appreciated the Federal government in addressing security challenges and infrastructural deficits in Nigeria.

The Forum also expressed its determination for enhanced synergy with the Nigeria Governors Forum in combating the security challenges.

The meeting was attended by the 19 Northern Governors and state Chairmen of the traditional rulers.

In other news, Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke has reassured Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, stakeholders in the state that he has no plans to leave the party.

In a statement issued by the governor’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed on Thursday, the governor was said to have held a stakeholders meeting at the Government House Banquet Hall on Wednesday evening, where former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola also addressed the gathering online.

At the meeting which was chaired by Osun party Chairman, Sunday Bisi, the governor declared the news of his imminent defection to the APC as fake news.

The Eastern Updates