Politics

USAID: We may be poor but won’t beg anyone – Nigerian Minister

Published

2 months ago

February 15, 2025

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Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Ali Pate, has said that the country can cater for its citizens’ health.

This is despite the exit of the US Agency for International Development, USAID.

Ekwutosblog reported that Tech billionaire, Elon Musk, who leads President Donald Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, had moved to seize control of USAID, describing it as evil and a criminal organisation.

He also wrote several other posts about the agency, saying things like, “USAID was a viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America” and “USAID is evil.”

Just during the week, Scott Perry, a United States Congressman representing Pennsylvania, accused the agency of funding terrorist organizations like Boko Haram.

Perry disclosed this at the inaugural hearing of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency on Thursday.

Speaking during a session titled “The War on Waste: Stamping Out the Scourge of Improper Payments and Fraud,” Perry accused USAID of providing $136 million for building 120 schools in Pakistan.

Speaking in an interview with Channels Television on Friday, the Minister said the country may have no option but to survive with what it has, insisting Nigeria was never going to beg for help.

“We may be a poor country, but we are a capable country, and we are determined to own up to that responsibility.

“If others step in and support us, we appreciate it, but we are not begging for it, and we also will live within what we have,” he said.

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Politics

Your coalition has crumbled — Presidency mocks Atiku as more politicians join APC

Published

3 hours ago

April 25, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

Atiku Abubakar

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Presidential aide, Bayo Onanuga, has claimed that the political ambitions of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s have crumbled.

Onanuga believes Atiku’s proposed coalition is falling apart due to the defection of key allies to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

In a post on X, Onanuga criticized the coalition efforts being led by Atiku, which includes a former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, ex-SGF Babachir Lawal, and Labour Party’s vice presidential candidate, Yusuf Baba-Ahmed.

“Atiku’s political future looks bleak. The coalition that he, El Rufai, Babachir, and new member Baba-Ahmed are cobbling together has disintegrated.

“Potential allies, including former running mate Ifeanyi Okowa and defunct CPC members, are giving his leprous group a wide berth. Atiku is a loser again,” Onanuga stated.

Onanuga’s comments followed a similar post by fellow presidential aide Tunde Rahman, who noted that PDP’s internal crisis had deepened with the defection of former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and incumbent Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to the APC.

Rahman described the development as “the biggest shocker ever” for Atiku, whose 2023 presidential bid fell short.

Politics

Kenneth Okonkwo Predicts Regret for PDP Defectors, Says 2027 Election Will Be People vs APC

Published

6 hours ago

April 25, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

Kenneth Okonkwo (Andy)

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Nollywood veteran and political commentator, Kenneth Okonkwo, has expressed strong disapproval of the recent wave of defections from opposition parties to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), declaring that those making the move will come to regret it within a year.

Okonkwo’s remarks come in the wake of the high-profile defection of Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, his deputy Monday Onyeme, and former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, along with several commissioners and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders, who all officially joined the APC on Wednesday.

Reacting via a post on X, the actor-turned-politician did not hold back, accusing the defectors of abandoning their parties for selfish reasons—chiefly to evade anti-corruption scrutiny and secure personal benefits rather than serve the Nigerian people.

According to him, the ruling party’s alleged incompetence and corrupt practices will worsen economic conditions, increase hunger and suffering, and ultimately lead to widespread discontent among citizens.

“Mark my words,” Okonkwo wrote, “Before one year from now, these spineless, shameless, and corrupt members of the opposition parties who are running into the APC now to escape EFCC and for stomach infrastructure at the expense of the Nigerian economy and Nigerian people will regret their actions.”

He further asserted that the ruling APC’s misgovernance would be so glaring that the 2027 general election would no longer be a typical party contest but a showdown between the Nigerian people and the APC government.