Thisday Tell:

The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole; and some senators elected on the platform of the party led by the Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, on Wednesday met behind closed doors with President Muhamamdu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The meeting came amidst the gale of defections being witnessed in the party. Oshiomhole told State House correspondents at the end of the meeting that the right thing for the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, is to vacate his seat, having left the party. He said it was a matter of honour for Saraki to leave “the crown” in the family it belongs to. Oshiomhole said, “But whatever is the reason, we can decamp from party, but we can’t decamp from Nigeria. “The only thing is that there are other consequential issues that every man or woman of honour who had taken such decisions would be expected to follow through. “I mean, you should not collect a crown that belongs to a family and wear it on b...

"He loves his... political stuff." Facebook Twitter E CREDIT: SCREENGRAB During his speech at a rally in Florida on Tuesday, President Trump had a moment of radical honesty. “I have great children, and a couple of them — plus — are here tonight,” Trump said. “I have Eric Trump, who has been fantastic. He loves his… political stuff.” If it seemed like Trump caught himself before he said “political stuff,” that might be because it wasn’t so long ago that Eric Trump — who is supposedly independently running the Trump Organization — promised he’d have nothing to do with his father’s administration whatsoever. Eric  promised  to stay out of politics in April 2017, telling The Telegraph, “I stay out of politics and I stay out of the administration,” before offering a strategic observation about his father’s foreign policy motivations. He said in another  interview  that “I stay out of politics and I stay out of the administration.” ...

The Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha has insisted that the defection of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki from the All Progressives Congress (APC), will not affect President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election next year. Okorocha spoke on the sidelines of the swearing in of the new chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Imo state, Daniel Madueke Nwafor, at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja. He said: “They didn’t tell me when they joined the party and I don’t want to know when they are leaving. So, people are entitled to their opinion on how they see issues. “Political party is just like a vehicle with which you get to the appointed destination and if they found that they can no longer get what they want in APC and they want to get to other parties, good luck! “But the question you should ask me is that, how does that affect the party in 2019. I don’t see in anyway how it has affected the party negatively and the issue there is that President Muha...

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's Senate president said on Tuesday he was leaving the country's ruling party, a further blow to President Muhammadu Buhari months ahead of an election he plans to contest and just a week after a raft of defections. Saraki, the third most senior politician in Nigeria after Buhari and the vice president, is the most high-profile figure to leave the All Progressives Congress (APC). Last week, 16 lawmakers in the upper house of parliament left the APC, as did 32 others in the lower house. The loss of influential figures and divisions in the party threatens to split support for Buhari within powerful patronage networks and among voters ahead of the presidential election scheduled for February 2019. "I wish to inform Nigerians that, after extensive consultations, I have decided to take my leave of the All Progressives Congress (APC)," Saraki said on his Twitter feed. A spokesman for Buhari said the APC would comment later. All bu...

Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike has congratulated Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed for their courage to dump the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Saraki and Ahmed announced their decisions on Tuesday. Addressing journalists on Tuesday at the Government House Port Harcourt, Wike said the level of impunity under the APC Federal Government, surpassed what was obtainable during the military administration. “I salute the Senate President Bukola Saraki and Kwara State Governor for being bold to say that they will not be intimidated. I welcome them to the PDP which is being rebranded to take over the leadership of the country in 2019. “More governors and senior politicians will still defect in the coming days. This regime of intimidation and harassment emboldens us. It strengthens us to stand against tyranny and impunity. “It emboldens us to stand firm because of the interest of the peopl...

- Former President, Goodluck Jonathan has replied his critics who accused him of handing over a nation at the verge of collapse to his successor, President Muhammadu Buhari. - Jonathan recounted the achievements of his government to include, handing over a country that produced the richest man in Africa. - Jonathan said, “I took over a Nigeria that was the second largest economy in Africa with a GDP of $270.5 billion in 2009,  - I handed over a Nigeria that had grown to become the largest economy in Africa and the 24th largest economy in the World with a GDP of $574 billion. - I handed over dollar exchange rate of N187 per Dollar official rate in our banks, compared to their N360 now official rate for a Dollar -“I inherited a Nigeria in which the trains were not working, and handed over a Nigeria in which citizens can safely travel by trains again. - I also inherited a country where illiteracy rate particularly in the Northern part was alarming. - I handed over a co...

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State has rejected and  dismissed the purported dissolution of party executive  at the ward, local government and state levels by the national chairman, Adams Oshiomole. It said the action of the National Working Committee (NWC) was not only outrightly unlawful but also null and void. The position of the party was contained in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Sulyma Buhari. The State Executive Committee is perceived to be loyal to the President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki. Buhari said in the statement: “We confirm that there is no case of lacuna in the party leadership in Kwara State and there was no ground for the purported dissolution. Thus, the NWC erred in law. Furthermore, the purported dissolution is null and void. “We recall that for many weeks, party members worked assiduously and painstakingly to elect party leadership at the ward, local government and state levels in Kwara State. The par...