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The deputy governor of Edo state, Philip Shuaibu, has withdrawn the suit he filed against Godwin Obaseki, governor of the state.

The suit filed at a federal high court in Abuja, the inspector-general of police, state security service, governor of Edo, speaker of Edo state house of assembly, and chief judge of Edo state, were listed as first to fifth defendants, respectively.

Shaibu had asked the court to restrain the governor, the speaker of the state assembly, and the chief judge, from “initiating impeachment proceedings or sanctioning any impeachment” against him.

A statement issued on Tuesday, September 5 by the deputy governor said fhat due to intervention from “well-meaning citizens of Edo”, he has instructed his solicitors to withdraw the suit.

“Arising from the series of meetings held with me and also with Mr. Governor by well-meaning Edolites and indeed Nigerians including party leaders, traditional rulers, and my archbishop, His Grace Most Rev’d Dr. Augustine Akubeze, the Archbishop of Benin Archdiocese on the issues that led to my going to court on the above-named suit,” the statement reads.

“And with due respect to these eminent personalities and leaders whose persuasions and persons I cannot ignore, I, Rt. Hon. comrade Philip Shaibu have authorized and instructed my solicitors to withdraw the suit forthwith.

“I wish to sincerely thank and appreciate these well-meaning Nigerians, party leaders, traditional rulers, and my archbishop, His Grace Most Rev. Dr. Augustine Akubeze for their kind words, advise and encouragement thus far in ensuring peace and unity in our dear state, Edo.

The former presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, has been expelled by the party under the leadership of Major Agbo, over his alleged anti-party activities and misappropriation of party campaign funds.

Kwankwaso’s expulsion was made public in a statement released in Abuja on Tuesday, September 5 by the NNPP factional National Publicity Secretary, Abdulsalam Abdulrasaq.

The development is coming barely three days after the factional leaders vowed to probe the former Kano governor and some of his loyalists over alleged misappropriation of over N1bn, generated from the sale of nomination forms.

Abdulrasaq said that the decision to expel Kwankwaso with immediate effect was taken after he failed to appear before the disciplinary panel to defend himself over the allegations of “gross anti-party activities and mismanagement of party campaign funds within five days.”

The spokesman, however, stressed that his expulsion was in accordance to the provisions of the party’s 2022 constitution as amended.

He said, “The NEC met in an emergency session on Friday, September 1, and resolved that following the refusal of Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to appear before the disciplinary committee, which sat on Thursday, August 31, after being duly invited in writing, he is hereby, expelled from NNPP with immediate effect.

“That the erstwhile presidential candidate, Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso will be reported to appropriate quarters to answer questions on financial impropriety relating to mismanagement of public funds.”

Responding, an ally of Kwankwaso and National Auditor of NNPP, Ladipo Johnson, frowned at the report, saying Agbo’s faction does not have the locus standi to dismiss the former governor.

“Expel who? These people are no longer our people. They are out of the party and cannot speak on behalf of the party. Let them form their own party or go to court. It is as simple as that. There are so many important things to worry about in this country.

“How can they expel Kwankwaso? Someone whose relationship with the National Working Committee is intact here at the national headquarters in Abuja? We will soon be having a press conference to address this matter,” he said.

Former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has stated that the port Harcourt refinery will not be operational by December.

Leading reporters recall that the minister of state for petroleum resources (oil),Heineken Lokpobiri recently said the Port Harcourt refinery will begin operations by December 2023.

Meanwhile, Obasanjo when speaking on the state of the refineries stated that the refineries will not work based on information gotten from shell when he was the president.

His words:

“Someone told me Tinubu said refineries would work by December. I told the person the refineries would not work. This is based on the information I received from Shell when I was president.

“They will not work as long as the government is keeping hold of them. When I was president, I invited Shell to a meeting. I told them I wanted to hand over the refineries for them for help us run. They bluntly told me they would not. I was shocked.

“I repeated the request and they stood their ground. When the meeting was over, I asked their big man (MD) to wait behind for a little chat. Then I asked him why they were so hesitant on not taking over the refineries.

“He said did I want to hear the truth? I said yes. He listed four reasons. One, he said Shell makes its money from upstream and that is where its interest lies. Two, he said they only do downstream or retail as a matter of service. Three, he said our refineries would be bad business for them, that globally, companies are going for bigger refineries because of the economics of refineries. Four, he said there is too much corruption in refineries.

“I thanked him for his honesty. I knew we had a big problem in our hands. I had virtually give up hope on the refineries when God did a miracle. Alike Dangote and Femi Otedola approached me and said they would be interested in buying two of the four refineries.

“They said they would buy 51 percent stake in Port Harcourt and Kaduna. I was over the moon. I said, finally, this burden would be taken off the neck of the government. They offered $761 million and paid in two instalments. Unfortunately, Umaru (President Yar’Adua) cancelled the sale and returned the refineries to NNPC. Today, we are still where we were.

The national leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress has turned down the last-minute reconciliatory meeting convened by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, to avert the two-day warning strike already declared by the labour organisation.

Listing reasons why it would mobilize its members for the nationwide shutdown, the NLC accused the police of laying siege at the national headquarters of the National Union of Road Transport Workers.

The Labour Congress also alleged exploitation of the rights of workers in Imo state; interference in trade union matters by the Abia State government and proposed demolition by the new minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, among others.

Leadingreporters observed that only the leadership of the Trade Union Congress, led by its President, Festus Osifo, showed up for the meeting slated for 3 p.m. but which started at exactly 5:32 p.m.

This paper had also reported that on Friday, the NLC in a communique jointly signed by its national president, Joe Ajaero and Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja, said it decided to embark on a two-day warning strike following what was described as the failure of the Tinubu-led Federal Government to dialogue and engage stakeholders within the organised labour on efforts to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal on Premium Motor Spirit, popular known as petrol, on the “poor masses”.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has insisted that there is no going back on the planned two-day warning strike over the failure of the federal government to address the challenges caused by the removal of fuel subsidy.

The State NLC Chairman, Comrade Gabriel Amari, disclosed this during an interview with DAILY POSt on Monday.

The labour union is accusing the federal government of abandoning the negotiations and failing to implement some of the resolutions from previous meetings with the government.

On August 2, organised labour protested what it described as the anti-people policies of the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

Amari said Nigerian workers have been facing untold hardship since the fuel subsidy removal by the federal government.

The labour leader averred that all offices, including institutions, will be shut down and the nation’s economy will be crippled due to the federal government’s failure to listen to the cries of the masses.

He admonished workers in the state to adhere strictly to labour directive as they remain committed to fighting for the rights of Nigerian workers.

“Workers in Kogi State are fully ready for tomorrow’s warning strike as directed by our national secretariat. There is no going back until the federal government do the needful concerning fuel subsidy removal.

Ahead of his proposed trip to India to attend the G-20 summit, President Bola Tinubu has met briefly with his service chiefs for a briefing regarding their operations.

The meeting, which is a routine activity at the Presidential Villa, had in attendance the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Taoreed Lagbaja, his Navy counterpart, Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar.

The meeting held behind closed doors at Aso Rock fills the President in on the general security situation in the country, including a review of areas where service chiefs need to double up efforts to close gaps.

Tinubu would later in the day proceed to New Delhi, India to attend the G-20 Leaders Summit.

The father of a corps member kidnapped in Zamfara State, has accused security agencies and the National Youth Service Corps of showing no concern towards the situation.

Emmanuel Etteh’s daughter was one of eight graduates abducted while en route from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State to their NYSC orientation camp.

Leading reporters recalls that gunmen abducted eight members of the NYSC on a highway in Zamfara on Saturday, August 19. The corps members were travelling inside an AKTC bus from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, to Sokoto State, en route to Zamfara State, to take part in the mandatory national service.

In a live appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, Etteh described the over two-week-long ordeal as devastating, given the lack of communication on the part of the authorities.

He said, “It is very devastating because, as a parent, I am very disappointed by the government. No one has been talking about or asking questions since this incident happened.

“Security agencies are not caring, NYSC leadership shows no concern, and everyone behaves as if nothing happened.

“Every activity is going on, and I keep on asking, ‘Is this a type of government we want for our country? Is this the type of security we can feel safer with?’ NYSC invited these children out of their homes to Sokoto.”

The concerned father expressed his disappointment with the Director General of NYSC, stating that he had hoped for a higher level of commitment from the organization. The father argued that the NYSC had not met the expected standards.

Etteh added that nobody cared to reach out to the parents or discuss the situation.