Politics
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) elders like Chief Bode George, should be blamed for the party’s failure to pay Ground Rent for 28 years, which is the reason for the revocation of the PDP’s national secretariat in Abuja, and not the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike.

Published
6 days agoon
By
Ekwutos Blog
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) elders like Chief Bode George, should be blamed for the party’s failure to pay Ground Rent for 28 years, which is the reason for the revocation of the PDP’s national secretariat in Abuja, and not the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike.
Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Public Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said in a statement in Abuja on Saturday, that it was funny that Chief Bode George, who was in the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) that failed to conclude purchase of the Wadata Plaza National Secretariat of the PDP, could come to national television to say “Wike has crossed the red line by revoking the PDP’s national secretariat in Abuja.”
Bode George, had said during an interview on a television station on Friday, that Wike’s action was an open declaration of war against the PDP.
Responding, Olayinka said it was painful that elders like Chief Bode George, could chose to play the ostrich on a matter so glaring as the revocation of 4,794 land titles for not paying Ground Rent for as much as 43 years.
He asked; “Why didn’t the PDP pay Ground Rent for 20 years on its Plot No. 243 national secretariat (under construction), which is the only property belonging to the party among the 4,794 revoked titles? How’s government’s enforcement of the consequences of land title owners’ refusal to pay Ground Rent declaration of war? Should the FCTA under Wike have treated PDP differently from the 4,794 owners of land titles that were revoked over failure to pay Ground Rent?”
While clarifying that the Wadata Plaza property being used as Secretariat by the PDP was not owned by the party, Olayinka said the property belonged to Senator Samaila Mamman Kurfi, who bought it from Wadata Enterprises Nigeria Limited.
“The PDP offered to buy the Wadata Plaza property in 2005, and when the Minister’s Consent was sought, the party was asked to pay N26.9 million. The money was never paid.
“The party wrote a letter to Malam Nasir El-Rufai, the FCT Minister then, to waive the payment, claiming that it lacked the financial capacity to pay, but he (El-Rufai) insisted the party must pay.
“El-Rufai, who insisted PDP must do the right thing by paying the necessary fees to the government was a member of the party then, and Chief Bode George, who was in the PDP NWC, did not go to national television to accuse him (El-Rufai) of declaring war against the party. And if the owner of did not pay ordinary N2.8 million as 28 years Ground Rent, who is to blame?
On the PDP national secretariat at Central Area, is it the fault of Wike that a mere N7.6 million, was owed as 20 years Ground Rent despite that over N21 billion was raised in 2014 for the completion of the building?”
While counseling Chief Bode George, to start functioning like an objective elder that he should be, the FCT Minister’s Spokesperson said “what should have been done was to seek information, rather than going on television to advertise hatred against a Minister who is simply doing his jobs without looking at people’s faces
.If Chief Bode George had sought necessary information and refrained himself from acting out of hatred for Wike, it would have been known to him that also affected by the revocation were government owned institutions like Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Borno State Government, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), National Universities Commission (NUC), Kaduna State Government, Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Federal Ministry of Environment, Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company, University of Calabar and Nigerian Postal Service and Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
“And like I asked earlier, if Chief Bode George were to be the FCT Minister, would he have treated PDP differently from the other 4,793 land title owners?”
On loyalty and commitment to the PDP, Olayinka said the results in Wike’s Rivers State and Chief Bode George’s Lagos State from 1998 till date are clear for everyone to see and used as yardstick.
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The telling sign Trump is walking back his public feud with Canada

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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.
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BREAKING: INEC Receives Petition to Recall Federal Lawmaker Martins Oke

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March 29, 2025By
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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.
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President Tinubu using state of emergency to intimidate governors – Amaechi

Published
2 hours agoon
March 29, 2025By
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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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