News
Ahmad Lawan screened by APC panel, states agenda if elected President
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan on Tuesday took his turn to be screened by the All Progressives Congress(APC) screening panel on Presidential aspirants.
Lawan who stormed the Transcorp Hilton Hotels, venue of the screening with dozens of Senators, friends and political associates was formally received and ushered into the screening room by the Chairman of the Panel, former Governor of Edo State, Chief John Oyegun.
The screening was conducted behind closed doors but Lawan told newsmen thereafter what transpired between him at the panel and his agenda for Nigeria if he finally got the Presidency job.
In response to a question, Lawan said: “The screening was very successful. I was asked very fundamental questions about what our party stands for, about what I believe I can bring to the Presidency of Nigeria.
“And of course, our party stands for progress, our party stands for national stability. And what we have done in the last seven years as an administration, we have recorded so much successes across the country but we also have some challenges that we have to deal with.
“As someone who is aspiring to be candidate for APC and by the Grace of God, the President of Nigeria in 2023, I have gone through the Mills. I have worked before I came to the National Assembly in 1999.
“In 1999, I came to the National Assembly and I am still in the National Assembly, having served eight years in the House of Representatives.
“I chaired two very important, strategic and critical committees of Agriculture and Education in the House and served as chairman Public Account Committee for eight years in the Senate, served as the Chairman of Defence Committee in the Senate, served as Senate Leader in the Senate and serving as the Presiding officer, the President of the Senate today.
“I have worked very closely with Mr President, President Muhammadu Buhari in my capacity as Senate Leader. In my capacity as President of the Senate.
“I know the issues of development. I know where we have recorded so much successes. I know where we need to rework, retool and re-kit our systems and strategies and operations.
“By the Grace of God, if I’m given the opportunity, Nigeria will experience improved education, improved security, improved economy.
“I want to reform the educational sector because I want to see an education sector that serve the sons and daughters of nobody so that we are able to take away from the street the 15million or so children out of school because I believe this has a link with not only education but security as well as economy.
“So I want to see a situation where I come out as the aspirant, become the candidate and of course go ahead to beat the PDP and other political parties to win the Presidency for APC and for Nigerians.
Responding to another question, Lawan said he had no problem with the issue of having a consensus candidate for APC.
“We are sons and daughters of the same father, the same mother, those of us in APC. All of us who took the form to run for the highest office of the presidency believe in the ideals and ideology and philosophy of our party.
“Therefore, we are one and the same. So I will support anybody who the party and the President think can do better for us. I have no problem with that. But I want to also believe that at the end of the day, that day will be mine,” Lawan said.
Operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS), have arrested two principal suspects involved in the killing of 16 Nigerians of Northern extraction in Uromi, Esan North East Local Government last week.
The suspects were arrested by operatives of the DSS in Uromi, following credible intelligence. Operatives of various security agencies are hunting for other key suspects involved in the unfortunate incidents
Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, had on Monday in Kano State, during a condolence visit, revealed that 14 suspects had already been arrested in connection with the killing.
Governor Okpebholo who visited the State to condole with the Government and families of the victims, had vowed that justice will be served and those involved in the killing will be brought to justice.
Governor Okpebholo had also assured families of the victims that adequate compensations will be paid.
In the latest development, the two principal suspects arrested by officials of the DSS, have been transferred to Abuja, the nation’s capital, for further interrogation and prosecution by the relevant authorities.
A Nigerian televangelist, Timothy Omotoso has been acquitted of rape after spending eight years in prison in South Africa.
Trouble started when the televangelist was accused of raping young women from his South African church, an accusation he denied when he was arrested eight years ago.
His trial was aired live I South Africa and gained interest across the country, but insisted that he was not guiltynof 32-count charges against him.
In 2018, one witness told the court she had been raped by the pastor – who ran a church in the city of Port Elizabeth – when she was 14 years old.
The presiding judge on Wednesday 1st April, 2025 delivered judgement, saying Pastor Timothy Omotoso has not bèn found guilty over this case because prosecutors had mishandled the case.
South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) shared a similar assessment, saying that “former prosecutors in the case acted improperly and the accused were not sufficiently cross-examined by the state”.
The NPA said it will now “consider its legal options”.
For his part, Mr Omotoso told the media he thanked God for the verdict.
His co-accused, Lusanda Sulani and Zikiswa Sitho, were also found not guilty.
Mr Omotoso was dramatically arrested at an airport in 2017 as he sought to leave the country.
His trial was the first prominent rape case to be broadcast live in a country where sexual violence is rampant.
The hearings attracted huge interest, and raised difficult questions about victims’ rights, impartiality and whether justice is best served by having television cameras in courtrooms.
Following Wednesday’s verdict, Mr Omotoso will be deported to Nigeria, South African media outlet News24 reported.
The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared that it has been vindicated by recent revelations from the state’s former Head of Service, Dr. George Nwaeke.
The Rivers APC Chairman, Chief Tony Okocha, stated this in a statement he personally signed and made available to journalists on Wednesday.
The former Head of Service, who recently resigned had alleged that the suspended Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, was directly responsible for the political crisis in the state and the bombing of the State House of Assembly.
In response, the Rivers State APC asserted that Nwaeke’s testimony aligns with the party’s long-held position, as frequently stated by Chief Okocha, that the suspended governor was the architect of the state’s political crisis, including masterminding the October 29, 2023, bombing of the State House of Assembly.
Chief Okocha further emphasized that Nwaeke’s account, given his high-ranking position in the state, cannot be dismissed as mere speculation.
He said attempts to discredit the former Head of Service will not deter him from exposing the alleged corruption and misconduct that the APC has repeatedly highlighted.
“What is most interesting to the APC in Rivers State as a responsible political party is that Dr. George Nwaeke’s revelations and testimonies of how suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his squad bombed the Rivers State House of Assembly is an eye witness account.
“Again , it has clearly vindicated the APC in Rivers State as the only visible and viable opposition political party in the State, and has cemented the love for the party in the heart of well meaning Rivers people as the voice of the voiceless, and the hope for a better Rivers State.
“The revelations made by the former Head of Service in Rivers State has further positioned her as a political party with high level of integrity, and the hope of Rivers people for a viable alternative to produce the Governor of Rivers State in 2027.
“The verbal attacks staged against the resigned Head of Service will not deter him from exposing the corruption within Sim Fubara’s administration, which we have consistently highlighted as the opposition party. On this matter, the APC shall function as watchdogs”, the party stated.
Chief Tony Okocha expressed confidence that security agencies would thoroughly investigate the matter.
“The APC in Rivers State strongly believes that the relevant security agencies will be professional enough to get to the root of the matter and make their findings public”, he said.
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