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Oshiomhole Reveals What Will Happen If He Doesn’t Become APC Chairman

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Former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole has said whether or not he emerges the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he will continue to work hard to ensure that the party retains power.

Oshiomhole stated this while speaking with reporters after he was screened by the party’s committee on Monday.

The former Labour leader said the process leading to the emergence of a new Leadership was more important than the outcome.

“I am used to contestations and competition and I am a democrat. That was why I did not agree with those who said extend our tenure without election. I think democracy is problematic, but there is no better way to govern a people who are not children who should be spoon fed.

“In this business, it is not just what you do, not how it is done and who is involved in the doing. It is about participation. I am excited and the people are no strangers.

“At least, I know one and we have contested against each other before. He rigged me out, I pursued him and I won and retrieved the mandate from him. I went back to seek second term and I won. I defeated him even in his local government. I won 18 over 18, defeating him in his ward, his unit, his local government and Senatorial district.

“If I was able to defeat him as an ordinary union leader when they dismissed me that I was not a politician while he was already a senator and I was able to defeat him.

“Now as a man who has had the privilege to preside over the affairs of Nigeria Labour Congress nationwide, a two time Governor, if I have to compete with somebody who was governor for 18 months, I don’t have any problem.

“As for the others, let me say that in a boxing ring, heavy weights don’t engage feather weight. But serious speaking, I am happy that we are in a democracy and people are free to contest. Quite frankly, the process is much more important than the outcome. I am satisfied not because I will be chairman, but because my party is in power.

“My commitment is not just for me to be Chairman. As chairman or no chairman, I will continue to work hard to see that our party retain power at the Centre and also run power in many more states and produce many more senators, House of Representative members and more House of Assembly members so that we will have the strength we need to deepen the change and sustain the changes,” Oshiomhole said.

Speaking on the outcome of his screening, he added: “When you write an exam, you try to do your best, trusting that your examiners will find your answers will be good enough to give you a pass or even a distinction. That would only be at their discretion. I would say that I tried my best to speak to the issues which are basically how to move forward.

“Nobody should seek to lead if you don’t have a level of understanding of what the challenges because you can’t do prescriptions without diagnosis. Fortunately, I have been a founding member.

“I was one of the governors that participated in the merger meetings when we had to sit for the first time ac ACN governors, CPC Governor, ANPP governor and that of APGA to see how we can move forward.

“So, I understand the mission and the vision of the APC because we were the founding persons of the party. So, I know what our dream was and the gap between that dream and the current reality. I am also clear as to what we need to do differently so that dream is realized.”

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Trump Ally Implicated in Underage Sex Probe

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(FILES) US Representative from Florida Matt Gaetz speaks during the third day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17, 2024. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

A former US lawmaker who was Donald Trump’s first pick to run the Justice Department paid for sex numerous times, including with an underage girl, according to a congressional report released Monday.

Matt Gaetz also regularly used cocaine and ecstasy, and bought marijuana from his Capitol Hill office, according to the 37-page document, the culmination of a long-running probe by the House Ethics Committee.

“The committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” panel investigators wrote, according to reports.

Gaetz has repeatedly denied wrongdoing — pointing to the Justice Department’s decision not to bring charges against him in 2023 after a criminal probe — and the report came out despite him suing the committee to block its release.

Congressional investigators found that the 42-year-old broke multiple Florida laws on sexual misconduct, although they cleared him of federal sex trafficking violations.

The report listed payments by Gaetz totaling more than $90,000 to 12 women “likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use” between 2017 and 2020.

They focused on a 2018 trip to the Bahamas during which Gaetz is alleged to have had sex with four women and took the ecstasy.

The ex-congressman is an incendiary figure with few friends on Capitol Hill, but was a staunch Trump loyalist and a favorite of the president-elect’s ardent supporters.

He resigned from Congress in November after Trump nominated him for US attorney general.

– ‘High school’ victim –

The allegations had been openly discussed for years and Gaetz withdrew from consideration when it became clear he lacked sufficient backing from Republicans to win Senate confirmation.

Gaetz posted a series of tweets refuting some of the allegations in the report, including that he paid for sex.

“Giving funds to someone you are dating — that they didn’t ask for — and that isn’t ‘charged’ for sex is now prostitution?!?” he posted on X.

“There is a reason they did this to me in a Christmas Eve-Eve report and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses.”

Women told congressional investigators they were paid for sex at parties and other events by Gaetz and his friend Joel Greenberg, a former tax collector in Florida who was jailed for 11 years.

One encounter allegedly involved a 17-year-old girl, who told the committee she had sex with Gaetz twice at a July 2017 party.

“Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex. At the time, she had just completed her junior year of high school,” the report says.

All the women who testified said the sexual encounters with Gaetz were consensual. Gaetz denied having sex with a minor in written responses to the committee.

 

 

 

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Red Sea Tragedy: US Pilots Shot Down in ‘Friendly Fire’ Mishap

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A handout picture released by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) on February 15, 2024, shows a shipment the US military said is of Iranian weapons destined for Yemen’s Huthi rebels which its navy seized from a vessel in the Arabian Sea on January 28. (Photo by US Central Command (CENTCOM) / AFP)

Two US Navy pilots were shot down over the Red Sea early Sunday in “an apparent case of friendly fire,” the US military said.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels said later on Sunday they had “targeted” the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman a day earlier in an operation that led to “shooting down an F-18 aircraft” and thwarting “American-British aggression” against Yemen.

United States Central Command said late on Saturday that both US pilots were recovered alive but “initial assessments indicate that one of the crew members sustained minor injuries”.

This incident, “was not the result of hostile fire, and a full investigation is underway,” CENTCOM said.

The potentially disastrous mistake underscores the dangers of a mission the United States has been involved in for more than a year to counter Yemen’s Huthi rebels.

The Huthis have repeatedly targeted merchant vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, waterways vital to global trade.

CENTCOM said the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg “mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18” fighter aircraft, which Navy pilots had flown off the USS Harry S Truman.

On Saturday the United States said it struck targets including a missile storage facility in Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sanaa, hours after a Huthi rebel missile wounded people in Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv.

US forces also shot down multiple Huthi attack drones and an anti-ship cruise missile over the Red Sea, CENTCOM said.

“The operation involved US Air Force and US Navy assets, including F/A-18s,” CENTCOM said.

The Huthis say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel and Hamas have been at war since October 7, 2023.

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Death Toll Rises to 22 in Anambra Stampede, As Police Begin Investigation

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The death toll from a tragic stampede in Anambra State has risen to 22, local authorities confirmed on Sunday.

The Anambra State Police Command, through its spokesman Superintendent Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed that the police have commenced an investigation into the incident. Ikenga also stated that several injured victims are receiving medical treatment.

“The Commissioner of Police, Nnaghe Obono Itam, visited the hospital where the victims of the tragic stampede that occurred on December 21, 2024, in Okija, Ihiala Local Government Area, are receiving treatment,” Ikenga said. “Regrettably, 22 people lost their lives. The CP commiserates with the families and friends of the deceased and wishes the injured a quick recovery.”

The stampede occurred on Saturday during a rice distribution event at Amaranta Stadium in Okija. The event, organized by the Obijackson Foundation, was intended to provide relief to residents.

A Pattern of Tragedy

The Anambra incident follows a series of similar tragedies across the country. Earlier in December, a stampede at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Maitama, Abuja, claimed 10 lives. A few days prior, a children’s funfair in Ibadan, Oyo State, ended in disaster, with 35 children losing their lives and six others critically injured.

The string of incidents has raised serious concerns about crowd management during large-scale events in Nigeria. Prominent figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, have called for urgent reforms.

“It is with a heavy heart and deep sorrow that I receive yet again the heartbreaking news of lives lost in tragic stampedes, this time in Okija, Anambra, and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory,” Atiku wrote on his X handle late Saturday. “It is imperative that those entrusted with the organization of such large-scale events take the utmost care in crowd management, prioritizing the safety and well-being of all participants.”

Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, lamented the incidents as a reflection of the rising desperation caused by hunger in Nigeria.

“I am deeply saddened and distressed by the tragic loss of lives in desperate searches for food,” Obi wrote on X. “While I will not cast blame, I appreciate the organizers of these events for their kind gestures. However, these tragedies reflect the systemic failures that plague our society.”

A Call for Reform

The recent stampedes underscore the urgent need for better planning and safety protocols at public events. Experts and stakeholders are calling on authorities and event organizers to adopt stringent crowd management strategies to prevent future tragedies.

Meanwhile, families of the victims continue to mourn their loss, as the nation grapples with the deepening economic challenges that have driven many to desperation.

 

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