Politics
Natasha faults INEC, says petition for recall should have been dismissed

Published
3 days agoon
By
Ekwutos Blog
The Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission for not outrightly rejecting the petition seeking her recall, describing the commission’s response as an indication of bias.
INEC, in a statement on Tuesday signed by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, confirmed receiving the petition, which reportedly contains signatures from more than half of the 474,554 registered voters in the senatorial district.
However, the electoral body noted that the petition failed to include essential details such as the contact addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of the petitioners, as required under the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.
In response, Akpoti-Uduaghan, through her lawyer, Victor Giwa, in a letter dated March 26, accused INEC of compromising its neutrality by offering guidance to the petitioners instead of declaring the petition incompetent due to its procedural flaws.
The letter partly reads, “Your position as disclosed in your press release on March 25, 2025, signed by Sam Olumekun shows that the Commission has taken sides and has become partial in favour of the Petitioners in this case.
“The Commission has observed that the Petitioners’ Petition did not meet the threshold of the requirement of a Petition to recall a member, having not contained the required contact addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses in their covering letter forwarding the Petition as contained in Clause 1(f) of INEC Regulation and Guideline. The proper thing and step to have been taken is to declare the Petition as “incompetent” and subsequently disregard same.”
The embattled lawmaker said the proper step INEC should have taken to show it was unbiased in the matter was to declare the petition defective, which would have brought an end to the process.
She added, “Lawfully, the Commission is supposed to have declared the Petition as incompetent for being patently defective for the reasons stated above but surprisingly, the Commission, instead of disregarding the Petition for failure to meet the requirements, opted to take the role of an adviser to the Petitioners and so advised the Petitioners that once they provide the needed information that is not contained in the Petition by meeting the requirements, it shall commence the verification of the signatures in each polling units.
“We posit that the Commission has by this press release shown partisanship and partiality in favour of the Petitioner and has compromised the process.
“The proper step to take by the Commission, if the Commission will maintain its integrity and impartiality, is to declare the Petition as incompetent and defective and notify the Petitioners accordingly. Therefore, putting an end to this process at this stage.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan also pointed out that the addresses provided in the petition were limited to Okene, Kogi State, suggesting that the alleged signatures did not represent the entire senatorial district.
“Secondly, the address disclosed and provided in the petition according to your press release was Okene Kogi State, meaning that the two hundred and fifty signatories as contained in the petition came only from Okene, Kogi state, which seems more probable, ” She said.
She insisted that INEC’s decision to allow the petitioners to correct their errors rather than disqualifying the petition outright was a breach of due process, urging the commission to “do the needful and rebuild the public trust that is fast declining.
We still believe that the Commission will act rightly”.
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Politics
The telling sign Trump is walking back his public feud with Canada

Published
15 hours agoon
March 29, 2025By
Ekwutos Blog
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President Donald Trump offered warm words against Canada‘s new prime minister even as the two sides continue to trade threats after Trump imposed new tariffs on auto imports.
Trump cited a ‘very good conversation’ with Canadian PM Mark Carney, who said Thursday that the ‘old relationship’ with the U.S. ‘is over.’
Trump on Friday morning wrote that the two men held an ‘extremely productive call’ and that ‘we agree on many things.’
That was a turnaround from many of his posts about former PM Justin Trudeau, who Trump frequently mocked as ‘governor’ amid his repeated public statements about making Canada the 51st state.
Trump didn’t even mention absorbing the U.S. northern neighbor when asked about the latest tariff spat Friday afternoon.
‘We had a very, very good talk,’ he said, citing his morning phone call with the prime minister.
‘He’s going through an election now, and we’ll see what happens. But we are – we have Liberation Day, as you know, on April 2,’ Trump said – using his phrase for the day he will impose ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on nations around the world.
‘And I’m not referring to Canada, but many countries have taken advantage of us, the likes of which nobody even thought was possible for many, many decades, for decades. And you know, that has to stop. We’re going to end up with a very good relationship with Canada and a lot of the other countries,’ Trump said.

‘We’re going to end up with a very good relationship with Canada and a lot of the other countries,’ Trump said, hours after a phone call with the new Canadian PM. He issued an order to slap a 25% tariff on auto imports Wednesday
Those comments appeared to carve out Canada from taking ‘advantage’ of the U.S. That, too, is a change from previous rhetoric. Last week, Trump said: ‘Here’s my problem with Canada … Canada was meant to be the 51st state … We don’t need their cars. We don’t need their lumber … We don’t need their energy. We don’t need anything.’
Trump on Thursday slapped 25 percent tariffs on car and light truck imports. That prompted statements from Carney to hit back with trade actions. Trump said the tariffs won’t go into effect until April 2, in theory providing an opportunity to roll them back.
Speaking on a trip to Greenland, a territory that Trump said the U.S. must have, Vice President J.D. Vance was asked about how Americans should respond amid the anticipated spike in auto prices. ‘We have to have it,’ Trump said.
Vance, a former Ohio senator, used the same language Trump used when he berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
‘They just don’t have the cards,’ Vance said.
‘That means we’re going to fight back even against some of our friends and their unfair economic practices,’ he said.
Separating auto ‘imports’ from domestic vehicles is challenging, with parts going in both directions across the borders between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico in a continental supply chain.
The U.S. automakers lobbied against the tariffs and secured a one-month pause from Trump before his announcement this week.
‘The Prime Minister informed the President that his government will implement retaliatory tariffs to protect Canadian workers and our economy, following the announcement of additional U.S. trade actions on April 2, 2025,’ Carney’s office said in a statement.
Carney’s Liberal Party has seen its fortunes improve amid the trade clashes with Trump. Canadian hockey fans have even booed during the National Anthem during hockey games.
Politics
BREAKING: INEC Receives Petition to Recall Federal Lawmaker Martins Oke

Published
16 hours agoon
March 29, 2025By
Ekwutos Blog
Voters in the Igbo-Etiti/Uzo-Uwani Federal Constituency of Enugu State have taken steps to recall their representative in the House of Representatives, Hon. Martins Oke.
Oke is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
A petition dated March 27, 2025, was submitted to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), formally requesting Oke’s removal. The petition, signed by Mr. Ugwuagbo Emmanuel Chizoba, Mr. Clinton Ogbonna, Mr. Sabinus Amah, and Mr. Stephen Okenwa, accused the lawmaker of non-performance as the key reason for the recall move.
This comes amid a similar process against Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
On Wednesday, INEC officially notified the suspended senator of her recall proceedings.
Politics
President Tinubu using state of emergency to intimidate governors – Amaechi

Published
16 hours agoon
March 29, 2025By
Ekwutos Blog
Former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has accused President Bola Tinubu of using the state of emergency to intimidate governors who may oppose him in the 2027 general election.
Amaechi, speaking with an international media outlet, alleged that the crisis in Rivers State is rooted in a dispute over the sharing of the state’s funds.
He questioned the legality of the state of emergency, suggesting that President Tinubu’s actions are unconstitutional.
He proposed two solutions to address the issue: that People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governors should challenge the suspension in court and that a national protest should be organized to stop what he termed an “illegal suspension.”
Amaechi said, “The fight between the former governor (Wike) and the current governor (Fubara) is about sharing money. The President (Tinubu) acted outside of the constitution.”
The former Minister of Transportation also claimed that President Tinubu and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory are the masterminds behind the political crisis in Rivers State.
Amaechi emphasized that, as the constitutional head of security, President Tinubu should not shift the blame to suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

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