General
PDP Not Big Enough for me to Achieve my Dreams—Uduaghan
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
On Tuesday, August 28, 2018, the immediate past governor of Delta State, Mr Emmanuel Uduaghan, formally announced his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Mr Uduaghan, a founding member of the PDP and Delta South Senate aspirant in 2019, confirmed his defection at a meeting of the APC national caucus held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Tuesday.
The meeting was attended by leaders of the party including national officers, state governors, former state governors, ministers and National Assembly members.
Speaking on reasons for his defection, Mr Uduaghan, in a statement entitled ‘Moving On To The Bigger Playing Field’ and sent to this newspaper by his spokesperson, said with his desire to attract development and bring a permanent solution to the Niger Delta crisis, propelled him to leave the PDP.
According to him, the APC is the only platform he can achieve his aims for the region judging from its progressiveness and the leadership style of the president, Muhammadu Buhari.
Read Mr Uduaghan’s full statement below:
The toughest challenge for any leader in the Niger Delta since 1997 has been the issue of Peace and Security. For over 12 years, I was deeply involved in the management of the issues of the region, first as Secretary to State Government, SSG, and then as Governor of Delta State for 8 years.
Strategically, we had ENGAGEMENT as our major tool. This involved government officials, with me in the forefront (sometimes personally going into the creeks without security at nocturnal hours), community leaders, traditional rulers, religious leaders, our youths, retired military officers, activists, etc. Of course, ensuring that Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, was active was also part of the engagement process.
Encouraging Interests, Activities
Since the inception of the current All Progressives Congress, APC, administration at the federal level, there has been an encouraging interest and activities by President Muhammadu Buhari to bring a permanent solution to the Niger Delta crisis. This has pointed in a direction that is at once progressive and developmental.
Topmost in these activities are the ENGAGEMENT PROCESSES. Rather than using the military to harass our people, the Buhari administration has embarked on various engagement processes that have led to agreements and brought hope to the people of the Niger Delta.
In the last years, Mr President has personally engaged several regional leaders and youths. Senior officials of his administration also engaged many Niger Delta leaders and youths. Very significant is that Mr. President mandated the Vice President Prof Yemi Osibajo SAN, to visit virtually all the oil producing states, engaging various stakeholders. This is unprecedented in the history of the region. Such engagement processes have brought some measure of peace in the Niger Delta. Things can only get better.
Beyond the engagement processes, however, the Buhari administration has embarked on some infrastructural and human capital development activities in the region. In Delta State, the opening of a Maritime University; the setting up of a steering committee for the EPZ (GAS CITY), the plan for a deep sea port, the dredging of the Escravos-Warri River; the opening of the railway line to Delta Steel Company, the soon to be flagged off, by Mr. President, the Omadino-Escravos Road that will pass through many riverine communities; the various road construction works by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the various TCN projects across the State are some of the positive activities in the region.
There are also various human capital development programmes especially the school feeding and the “social security net” that is making 5,000 Naira available to the poor, the continuation of the YouWin programme, the various SME programmes, and several other projects across the region have brought hope to the people.
Indeed, once Mr President was able to set his priorities pursuant to creating an environment for peace in the region, it became incumbent on every well-meaning Niger Deltan and Nigerian to assist the process of building an economically prosperous nation.
In this era of partisan politics, it is necessary for the people of the Niger Delta, and Delta State in particular, to identify more with the Federal Government led by the APC. By so doing, we can push some of the agreements between our leaders and the Federal Government through, and also engage the government to do more. Politics is about interests.
The Niger Delta is a major area of interest for me, because I staked my life going into the creeks severally without security and sometimes coming back at night negotiating peace. I will, therefore, give the strongest support to any President that shows commitment in the affairs of the Niger Delta.
I call on, and enjoin, other well-meaning leaders in the region, who have very useful contributions to make, to come on board and join hands in helping this Federal Government to pursue a robust development agenda that would uplift our people. Whatever milestone that appears not to have been achieved yet is not for lack of efforts. Joining hands with and supporting the process will lead to a faster delivery on expectations.
It is in the pursuit of this noble objective that I’m offering myself to help drive a process that would give the lives of our people in the Niger Delta more meaning. President Muhammadu Buhari needs people who will join hands with him to uplift our people. From my political experience, you have to be well represented and actively so at the “board room” when decisions are being taken. Delta State must be well represented. Niger Delta must be well represented.
It is noteworthy to state that some organisations have been deeply involved in efforts to develop the Niger Delta and can always be relied on to collaborate with our President. It is also noteworthy to add that some previous administrations made significant efforts to develop the region. The current administration made such a significant impact in spite of the fact that apart from Edo State, President Buhari did not score the required 25% in the entire Niger Delta in the election that brought him into government in 2015. This speak volumes of his genuineness to uplift the Niger Delta. Such an administration should be encouraged by the people of the Niger Delta. We can never be sure of the genuiness of another person who becomes the President.
I have, therefore, after series of consultations and prayers, taken the decision to leave the PDP and join the APC. In doing this, I want to thank the numerous leaders, supporters and interest groups that have been urging me to remain in PDP. I am happy that after explaining some of the deeper issues to you, some of you that are politicians have agreed to join the APC in the near future. So I am going into APC as “John the Baptist” to the numerous Deltans that are coming in, soon – very soon.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Director-General of the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership (NCSP), Mr Joseph Tegbe, is currently visiting China to bolster China-Nigeria relations and foster economic and sustainable development between both countries.
The DG, with the Nigerian delegation, on Monday was at the headquarters of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of the People’s Republic of China where the NDRC Deputy Chairman received them, Mr. Zhao Chenxin, and other top officials, as well as the Nigerian diplomatic community and the Chinese Business Community.
Mr Tegbe is expected to cement strategic agreements in line with President Tinubu’s vision, with China for national growth and in vital sectors of the economy such as agriculture, to boost food security, alternative energy for developing renewable energy sources, healthcare, mining for harnessing Nigeria’s mineral resources to drive economic growth, education to strengthen Nigeria institutions and promote cultural exchange.
Other areas include technology, to foster innovation and advancement, and the support initiative of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The visit of the NCSP ‘s DG underscores the federal government’s commitment to establishing strong bilateral relations and supporting Nigeria’s economic diversification plans, infrastructure development, technology transfer, and job creation to foster mutually beneficial collaboration between the two nations.
Through this initiative, Nigeria can leverage its resources and human capital to develop key industries, bolster infrastructure, and enhance youth capacity through skills acquisition programmes.
On Monday, the DG NCSP and his team visited the CCECC Head Office, had dinner with the CHEC, and will on Tuesday, visit the Governor of the Central Development Bank, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the China Export, Import Bank, as well as the China Development Bank. They also met with Power China Representatives.
They will on Wednesday, visit the Chief Harbour, the CHEC, CNCEC, and the CCECC Chairman, before moving to the CSCS Haishen Medical on Thursday, the CCECC, the China Building Materials, amongst others.
They will on Monday, 20th January, visit the Consulate General/Trade Mission Office, the Yang Shang Deep Sea Port, and Danghai Bridge (Sea).
The team is also expected at Huawei, before going to the CEC/ Long UAV, for a meeting with Diana Chen on Saturday, before returning to Nigeria.
This initiative comes on the heels of President Bola Tinubu’s official visit to China before the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), where he had talks with China’s President Xi Jinping on improved economic cooperation, with the latter pledging 360 Billion Yuan, (about $51 billion), financing to African nations in the next three years, and support for 30 infrastructure projects to boost connectivity across the continent.
Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Nigeria to reinforce the growing partnership between China and Africa, especially Nigeria, with discussions on strengthening economic ties, enhancing security cooperation and mutual developmental goals.
As Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, seeks to become a net exporter to China in the next five years, the consolidated partnership is aimed at playing a crucial role in achieving this goal.
The country also remains China’s major partner on the continent for trade and technology investments.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, said power generation in the country increased by about 30 per cent in 2024, but missed crucial targets in the review year.
Mr Adelabu made the disclosure during his ministry’s 2025 budget defence before the Senate Committee on Power at the National Assembly complex on Monday.
He said that when he assumed the leadership of the ministry in 2023, he met an average of 4,100 megawatts of power generation.
“I can tell you authoritatively that by the end of 2024, we had a peak generation of 5,528 megawatts of power from 4,100 megawatts that we met on ground and the reason for this is not far-fetched. We added a new hydroelectric power dam, Zungeru, with 700 megawatts.
“There was also a tremendous increase in the generation lines by other existing generation companies,” he said.
The Minister said that the target for power generation was 6,000 megawatts, adding, however, that due to the challenges experienced toward the end of 2024 in terms of grid collapses, the ministry missed the target by a minimal margin.
He further said that apart from energy access expansion, the sector had plans to stabilise the grid and other transmission infrastructure.
“I’m happy to also inform you that out of the eight collapses of the national grid that we experienced during 2024, five were full collapses, while three were partial collapses.
“Out of the five full collapses, three were actually due to generation problems. So, as against the 12 collapse that were publicised, it was just about eight collapses.
“We have been trying very hard to ensure that we manage the grid that was inherited.
“Unfortunately, it is still very old. It is dilapidated. And we are just managing it until we are able to fix it permanently.
“This is the focus of the Presidential Power Initiative, to ensure that the entire grid is revamped so that we won’t be having all this vandalism.
“So these are the summaries of our activities. And we are proud to say that we almost met all our targets for 2024.
“Our hope is that 2025 will be a better year for us, and we will be able to address all the existing issues in the sector,” he said.
By Dipo Olowookere
The governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has refuted claims that he was involved in the removal of Mr Mudashiru Obasa as the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly.
Mr Obasa was impeached on Monday after being on the seat since 2015 by 32 of the 40-member state parliament for alleged gross misconduct.
The action was carried out while the Speaker was away in the United States, with Mrs Mojisola Meranda elected as his replacement, becoming the first female to occupy the position.
It happened a few weeks after Mr Obasa said during the presentation of the 2025 budget by Mr Sanwo-Olu that he was qualified to be the governor of the state and even better than those who have occupied the position.
This statement by the former Speaker was seen as an affront on the previous governors of the state, including President Bola Tinubu, who governed Lagos between 1999 and 2007.
It has been speculated that Mr Obasa kept Governor Sanwo-Olu waiting for long during the budget presentation last month. It was claimed that this action infuriated the governor and leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Yesterday, members of the parliament in Lagos said they had had enough of Mr Obasa, moving to remove him from office.
As this happened, there were claims that Mr Sanwo-Olu instigated members of the Lagos State House of Assembly to impeach the former Speaker.
But the governor, through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Gboyega Akosile, distanced himself from the impeachment, emphasising that it was purely a decision of the legislative arm of government.
“This is a legislative matter, and the Assembly handled it as they saw fit. The governor has no involvement,” Mr Akosile, who once served as the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) of Mr Sanwo-Olu, said in an interview, noting that his principal does not interfere in the other arms of government.
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