April 13, 2023

Tinubu makes TIME 100 list of Most Influential People in the world

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s president-elect was named in TIME 100 most influential people for 2023, sharing the honour with Joe Biden, president of the US and Anthony Albanese, prime minister of Australia.

Also listed in the category of leaders is the new Brazilian leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Time Magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world accords recognition to people “for changing the world, regardless of the consequences of their actions”, the Cable reports.

“Influence is hard to measure, and what we look for is people whose ideas, whose example, whose talent, whose discoveries transform the world we live in.

“Influence is less about the hard power of force than the soft power of ideas and example,” Richard Stengal, former editor of Times, was quoted to have said .

The list, released on Thursday, placed the individuals in five categories: Titans, pioneers, artists, leaders, and icons.

In a citation written by Astha Rajvanshi, Tinubu was described as a “longtime political power broker”, who had nearly two decades to prepare for the presidency.

Winning an election in Africa’s most populous country is no easy feat, Rajvanshi wrote in the online report.

But Nigeria’s newly elected President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has had nearly two decades to prepare. Called Jagaban, or “leader of the warriors,” by his supporters, the now 71-year-old ran in a presidential election for the first time this March. His campaign slogan, “It’s my turn,” was a nod to his role as a longtime political power broker. Tinubu helped restore the country’s democracy in 1999 after fighting military rule and then served two consecutive terms as governor of Lagos.

But Tinubu’s win with the ruling All Progressives Congress Party came in a fraught election and by a slim margin over Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi. It was the first time Nigerian voters contended with a third-party candidate, and many discontented young Nigerians yearning for change pinned their hopes on Obi. Marred by allegations of intimidation and vote rigging, the outcome of the ballot is being challenged in court.

Tinubu now faces a litany of crises in a fractured nation, including deep-rooted corruption, religious insurgencies, and shortages of cash, fuel, and power in a crumbling economy. But the President-elect seems aware of his inheritance: “[Nigeria] is one country and we must build it together,” he said in his acceptance speech.

April 13, 2023

No apology to Peter Obi from British government: Spokesman

The viral news that the British authorities have tendered an apology to Labour Party presidential Candidate Mr. Peter Obi is not true at all. It was apparently made up by his followers.

On Thursday, Obi’s campaign spokesman said Obi was yet to receive any letter of apology from the British government over his detention by immigration officials at Heathrow Airport in London.

Diran Onifade Head, Obi-Datti Media, said, “We have been receiving enquiries with regards to a so called apology, purportedly issued by the British Government or any of its agencies, to our Principal Mr Peter Obi, in respect of a routine Immigration engagement with him, as he arrived London, for a brief visit, last Friday, the 7th of April.

“We would like to state emphatically that we are not aware of any such apology, and have not issued any statement whatsoever, in that regard.

“While we continue to examine any dubious or political motive, on the part of the perpetrators of the identity theft, we have every confidence in the ability of the British authorities to resolve the matter, to conclusion,” Onifade said.

He said the former Anambra State Governor and the LP/PCC have since moved on from the incident and continue to be totally focused, on the legal processes before the Election Petition Tribunal.

April 13, 2023

Tinubu’s victory stunned foreign commentators – FG

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Economist, President-Elect Bola Tinubu

Many foreign commentators were stunned by the outcome of the 2023 Nigerian Presidential election because of their pre-poll wrong mindset, the Federal Government has said.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated this in London during his engagements with some international media organisations and Think Tanks.

The minister is in London to defend the legitimacy of the just concluded general elections and correct the imbalance in the skewed narratives which had pervaded the air regarding the polls.

The minister has so far engaged with three international media organisations, The Economist, The Guardian and African Confidential, as well as Think Tank, Royal African Society.

During his respective meetings with them, the minister said some of the commentators had the wrong mindset that the Labour Party and its Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, would win the election.

He said the wrong mindset was premised on the hyped activities of the Labour Party and their supporters on the social media, as well as the outcomes of various opinion polls which were unrepresentative of the situation in Nigeria.

“In the course of my interactions, particularly with the Economist, I referred them to an earlier article they wrote, in which they rated the Labour Party Presidential candidate as the front runner in the polls.

“I explained to them that there was no way a presidential candidate who has no political spread and a grassroots base could win an election in Nigeria.

“I also explained to them that many of them were ignorant of the constitutional requirements for a presidential candidate to win an election in Nigeria.

“For instance, not only that the candidate must have the plurality of votes, he must also have one-quarter of the total votes cast in at least 25 states of the federation.

The minister added: “When you look at the results, only the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress and the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, met these requirements.

“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, came short of these because he came second and had 25 per cent in 21 states.

“Obi came far behind with 25 per cent in 15 states.

“This means that Obi, who was wrongly adjudged as a front runner in the election, was virtually unknown and unpopular in 22 states,“ he said.

Mohammed reiterated his position that there was no pathway to victory for either Atiku or Obi in the poll because they did not meet the conditions to be declared president.

“For any party to ignore the North-East and the North-West Zones of Nigeria during a presidential election, it will be impossible for it to win.

“The election had thrown up a lot of surprises and it is precisely those surprises that made it credible and transparent, “he said.

On the issue of large turnout of youths for voter registration before the election, the minister explained that winning an election was beyond registration.

`What INEC did was to ensure the extension of voter registration exercise for about 18 months so that people will not be disenfranchised.

“However, it is one thing to register to vote and it is another thing to come out to vote on an election day.

“Those 24 million people that came out to vote during the polls were the authentic people that concluded the processes of election,” he said.

The minister said INEC should be praised for the introduction and the strict usage of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

He said BVAS was a technology that paved the way for check-and-balance and prevented fraud and other irregularities during the elections.

According to the minister, BVAS cut out fraudulent votes, ghost voters and multiple votes.

Mohammed said from the outcome of his engagements so far, the international community had come to the viewpoint that the 2023 elections were the fairest and most transparent in Nigeria history.

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Day: April 13, 2023

Tinubu makes TIME 100 list of Most Influential People in the world

No apology to Peter Obi from British government: Spokesman

Tinubu’s victory stunned foreign commentators – FG