DEEP CALLETH OUT TO THE DEEP...

By Bola Bolawole

Last week, I asked the question which life we would love to live – biblical Abraham’s or Lazarus’s – and it drew a lot of comments. I must admit that it isn’t everyone who can connect with last week’s piece, hence today’s title of the deep calling out to the deep, which is taken from Psalm 42, written by the Sons of Korah. As the deer pants after the streams of water, so does the average Nigerian today pants after essential commodities, foodstuffs especially, for sustenance. As the Sons of Korah looked up to God for help and deliverance, so do poverty-stricken Nigerians cry unto their government and religious leaders for reprieve and succour.

DEEPER LIFE CHURCH PASTOR, ELAIGWU ODOGBO, EMERGES NEW IDOMA MONARCH (OCHI' IDOMA)

* Gov Ortom Congratulates Him

By Uja Emmanuel (In Makurdi, Benue State)

The Idoma traditional council has selected a new paramount ruler for the Idoma nation. He is Dr Elaigwu Odogbo.

Defection To APC: CHEKWAS OKORIE HAILS GOV UMAHI

• Says 'He Has Taken The Bull By The Horn'
• Most Igbo APC Leaders Envious Of Umahi... PDP Chieftain

By Celestine Okafor (Publisher/Editor-in-Chief)

Amidst continous mixed reactions to the formal defection by the Ebonyi State Governor, Engr. Dave Umahi, from his long sojourn in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) last Wednesday, a frontline political leader in the South East zone and a national chieftain of the APC, Chief Chekwas Okorie, has commended the Ebonyi governor for making what he described as a "bold" political move.

Defection: APC MEMBERS THREATEN ACTION AGAINST BUHARI IF FANI KAYODE IS GIVEN ANY APPOINTMENT

By Nahum Sule (Taraba State Correspondent)

Following the public outrage which trailed the entry of controversial politician, Chief Femi Fani Kayode, into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) last week, members of the APC are already spoiling for a protest action against President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of the party should Fani Kayode be considered for an appointment in the APC administration.

Defection: DECLARE DOGARA'S SEAT VACANT, BAUCHI PDP CHIEFTAIN TELLS NASS

By Mahmoud Dogara (Bauchi Correspondent)

Following the defection by the former House of Representatives Speaker, Hon Yakubu Dogara, from the PDP to the APC last week, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bibi Dogo, has called on the Federal House of Representatives to declare the seat of Bogoro, Dass, Tafawa Balewa vacant.

DELE ALAKE APPOINTED TINUBU'S PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESMAN

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Dele Alake, a seasoned journalist and media adviser to the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential council, as his spokesperson.

Dele Alake, Bayo Onanuga: GUILTY AS CHARGED?

By Bolanle Bolawole

Celebrated and accomplished journalists and writers, lawyers of immense stature, and professionals of all hues are stripping themselves and dancing naked on the altar of political partisanship; even those who pretend at calling them to order are no less guilty of similar offences! In writing this, may I also not fall into the same miry clay! The stakes are high; the presidency of Nigeria is touted as the most powerful in the whole world and, perhaps, the least accountable both to the people in whose name it holds power and to reason and commonsense. “L’Etat, c’est moi” (“I am the State”) the apocryphal saying of France’s King Louis XIV, said on 13 April 1655 before the Parliament of Paris, is typical of whoever is the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Hence, the competition for power here is cut-throat. Just as Lawino, the character of Prof. Okot p’Bitek, graphically painted the picture in her “Songs of Lawino” in response to her husband, Ochol’s “Songs of Ochol”, only the barrel-chested, the brave, bold and audacious dare go to the political battle field where power is contested with all sorts of weapons brought to bear. Is that not why they say politics is a dirty game and that decent men and women should steer clear? The opportunity cost of such action is, however, grievous for, like Edmund Burke posits, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.

Delta 2023: EDWIN CLARKE FAULTS PDP ON GOVERNORSHIP ZONING

Elderstatesman and political Leader of the South South Zone, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clarke, has warned that it amount to a political error on the part of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State to approve the zoning of the governorship slot in the state at next caucus meeting of the party in Asaba, capital of Delta state.

DELTA APC SAYS DEFECTORS TO PDP ARE POLITICAL RETIREES, NOT SUPPORTERS OF SENATOR OVIE OMO-AGEGE

The Delta State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has debunked the false defection narrative in circulation that supporters of the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, defected to the PDP.

Delta Programme Implementation: NASENI, DELTA-2 PARTNERS, SIGNS $21.7 MILLION PROJECTS AGREEMENT

• * Signs MoU For Establishment Of Coal-based Fertilizers

By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief)

The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) has signed an agreement worth $21.7 million with eleven firms in Nigeria as beneficiaries for take-off of the Delta-2 Projects, being the outcome of the bilateral collaboration between the federal government of Nigeria and the Czech Republic.

Democracy Day: I WILL ENSURE A FREE, FAIR, TRANSPARENT ELECTIONS IN 2023.....BUHARI

• * Criticizes Gen. Babangida For Annulling June 12, 1993 Presidential Election
• Ondo Gov, Rotimi Akeredolu, Cancels Democracy Day Celebration Over Owo Church Killings

With less than a year to the end of his eight-year tenure, President Muhammadu Buhari has promised Nigerians that his administration will conduct a free, fair and transparent general election in the country in 2023.

Democracy Dividend, Other Parameters: SOKOTO APC RATES GOV AHMED ALIYU

By Ankeli Emmanuel (In Sokoto State)

The Sokoto State Chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has rated governor Ahmed Aliyu high in both character, knowledge and delivery of dividends of democracy to the entire state within just seven months of existence.

DEPOSED EMIR OF KANO, LAMIDO SANUSI, PROCEEDS TO OXFORD UNIVERSITY

* Says Count Me Out of 2023 Presidency

By Joy Osayame (Politics Correspondent)

Former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and dethroned Emir of Kano, Mallam Lamido Muhammed Sanusi, hinted at the weekend that he will be proceeding to the Oxford University in the United Kingdom in October as a visiting fellow at the institution’s Department of African Studies. Sanusi also said that he will not be available for the 2023 presidential race as being rumored, saying he has no interest in politics, including running for political office.

DEPUTY SPEAKER, KALU, RALLIES SUPPORT FOR TINUBU IN CHURCH, ASSURES CHRISTIANS OF INCLUSIVITY

By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-chief)

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, has assured the Church of a place in the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led government, saying Christians are part and parcel of the new administration in the country.

DESPERATE TINUBU RALLIES FORMER IGBO GOVS

By Steve Osuji

The president and his party are obviously in a frenzy. The next election in 2027 seems like a last battle for them. The passcode in the country today which gives them away is 'support Tinubu.' It's as if the president is an invalid on crutches needing support. No official speech ends without a word for President Tinubu; every government activity dovetails into a subtle campaign for reelection of President Bola Tinubu. The desperation, or shall we say, trepidation, by the ruling party over the 2027 general elections is so intense one wonders if anything else is attended to by this government.

Diezani, Sadiya And Betta: INTERROGATING WHY BEAUTIFUL WOMEN SEEM WORSE TREASURY LOOTERS

By Steve Osuji

THE BEAUTIFUL THIEVES:

Should we make a law urgently that our beautiful women should never be allowed near the national till? Has anyone else noticed the seeming emerging trend of our women public officials outdoing the men in making a mess of our national treasury? The womenfolk seem to take no prisoners when they have opportunity to attack and they show exceptional impunity and the iron balls of hardened pyrates. In May 2014, this column (then appearing in The Nation newspaper), had described Diezani Alison-Madueke as “the beautiful thief”). Diezani was minister in charge of Petroleum under President Goodluck Jonathan.

Disputed Poll: PETER OBI STORMS COURT, AS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION TRIBUNAL BEGINS SITTING THIS MONDAY

The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal Abuja, this Monday morning, began a pre-hearing in the petitions challenging the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.

DIVIDENDS OF DEMOCRACY TO NIGER PEOPLE MORE IMPORTANT THAN MY CHOICE OF MOSLEM AS GUBER RUNNING MATE.....Bago, APC Candidate

By Princess Simon (Bureau Chief North Central, in Minna)

The All Progressive Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Niger state, Hon. Umar Mohammad Bago, has said that the choice of Moslem as his running mate shouldn’t be an issue, but that people should be rest assured that if he emerges Governor next year, the living conditions of Nigerlites will improve.

DO CAMPAIGNS HAVE TO BE BLOODY TO WIN?

By Azu Ishiekwene

If this were a compulsory exam question, a number of politicians would simply answer: it depends. On what? On what is at stake. What the opponent does and how. And, of course, how far the resources of the one at the receiving end can go to exact revenge, sometimes in spite of the rules.

DOES IT MATTER WHO TINUBU REALLY IS?

By Ikeddy Isiguzo

In a manner of speaking we do not know who Bola Ahmed Tinubu is. He feels no discomfort about his variegated identity. His commitment to a life that showcases him as an exemplary embodiment of averseness to clarity is only a wonder to the rest of us. Everything about him is sipped in debates, doubts, and ridiculousities peculiar to Tinubu.