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Defections fever: Adamu, APC senators meet

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The National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, Adamu Abdullahi, on Wednesday, met with the party’s senators in the national assembly.

Adamu arrived at the National Assembly complex some minutes past 2 pm and moved to the office of the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, for a brief meeting before the general meeting.

Earlier, Lawan while reading the letter signed by the Senate Deputy Majority leader, Ajayi Borofice, had announced that the meeting will take place by 2 pm at the premises.

The number of APC senators has dropped to 62 after consistent defection from the party’s lawmakers especially those who were unable to secure return tickets to the chamber.

Two senators from Bauchi and Imo States had during the plenary resigned their membership of the All Progressives Congress and Peoples Democratic Party respectively.

The lawmakers are Senator Dauda Jika representing Bauchi Central and elected on the platform of the APC; and Senator Ezenwa Francis Onyewuchi representing Imo East Senatorial District, who was elected on the platform of the PDP.

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Both Senators in separate letters addressed to Lawan, conveyed their decision to resign their membership of the APC and PDP, to join the Labour Party and New Nigeria Peoples Party respectively.

The APC lawmaker, Dauda Jika, in his letter said, “I hereby wish to notify you of my defection from the All Progressives Congress to the New Nigeria Peoples Party whose ideals are in line with my political aspirations.”

Onyewuchi, on his part, said, “I wish to inform Mr. President and a distinguished Senators of my defection from the Peoples Democratic Party to the Labour Party.

“This is after due consultation with my family, constituents and supporters. This will enable me to participate fully in the movement for a new Nigeria.”

Wednesday’s defection brings the number of APC Senators to 66, with members of the minority parties standing at 43.

The minority parties in the Senate are presently five in number as at Wednesday, June 22nd, 2022.

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They are the PDP, Young People’s Party, All Progressives Grand Alliance, New Nigeria Peoples Party, and Labour Party.

Briefing journalist after the closed-door meeting, Adamu said that the party was worried about the wave of the defection among the APC senators.

While expressing concerns, Adamu noted that though it (defection) was a usual occurrence during election period, it was normal for the party and its leaders to worry over the loss of any member.

He said, “The meeting with the senators was most fruitful. The issue of defection is an unfortunate development when it happens but this is a season where there is all sort of behaviours in the political space and ours is not an exception.

“In every election year, this kind of thing gives cause for stakeholders to sneeze and Nigeria is not an exception so is the APC, not an exception. I don’t care about what is happening in other parties, my focus is on the APC. But we all know that the occurrence is not only happening in the APC, it’s happening across other political parties too. And because we are the ruling party, our problems are exaggerated before the public.”

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Adamu said he doesn’t know if the problem of defection would persist in the party but he has met with his colleagues at the National Assembly and he believes the issue is surmountable.

He added, “There is no responsible leader that would not be worried when he loses one member not to talk of two. At the moment we are faced with the stark reality of our problems. I have committed my colleagues at the National Assembly to face the problem squarely and see the problem as solvable.

“We are in politics, I don’t know what would happen tomorrow, nobody does.”

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UK local election: Boris Johnson turned away from polling station after forgetting valid ID

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Former prime minister of the UK, Boris Johnson, was turned away from his local polling station after forgetting to bring the required photo identity.

 

Johnson had joined locals in South Oxfordshire on Thursday to vote in the police and crime commissioner election.

Polling officials however told him he would not be allowed to vote without providing his identity.

There are 22 acceptable forms of ID in the UK including passports, driving licences, blue badges, and certain local travel cards.

 

As prime minister in 2022, Johnson introduced the Elections Act which requires photo ID — a development that sparked intense criticisms from Britons.

Last year, the Electoral Commission warned that the new law could exclude hundreds of thousands of people, including minorities and those with disabilities.

A spokesperson for Johnson confirmed he had forgotten the photo ID, but that he was able to cast his ballot after he returned with a valid ID.

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“Mr Johnson voted Conservative,” Sky News quoted the spokesperson as saying.

Downing Street said it would “look into” changing the controversial rules which require photo ID in order to vote, so that ID cards of veterans can be added to the list of valid identification.

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Governors can pay N615k minimum wage if they get priorities right – NLC

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President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, says state governors can afford to pay the proposed N615,000 minimum wage if they get their priorities right.

Ajaero spoke on Thursday during an interview with Channels Television.

 

Recently, organised labour announced that the new minimum wage should be pegged at N615,000.

The proposal came amid ongoing minimum wage negotiations between federal and state governments on one hand, and organised labour on the other.

 

In 2019, the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari pegged the national minimum wage at N30,000.

After the new minimum wage was announced at the time, it took some states forever to implement the increment.

 

Asked during the interview if organised labour’s proposal of N615,000 is realistic, Ajaero said the amount is the “most realistic” given the galloping inflation in the country.

 

The NLC president said organised labour considered factors like transportation, housing, and feeding before arriving at the sum.

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“If you are talking about being realistic, the N615,000 demand is the most realistic. Being realistic is not about slave wage,” Ajaero said.

 

“However, N30,000 is big money if inflation is brought down, and at a single digit.

“Look at the indices that create inflation. If you check them, you can talk about being realistic. All other factors in the country are going high and wages remain constant.”

 

Asked if states can afford the N615,000 proposal, the NLC president averred that it is not about ability to pay but the priorities of states.

“I think we need to understand the issues of ability to pay and not getting the priority right,” he added.

 

“Most of the states that have shown willingness to pay the current minimum wage are not among those getting the highest revenue.

“During the time of Muhammadu Buhari, some states were declared not having enough money to pay and he released funds for them to pay.

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“Those states still refused to pay. It is not the question of either the quantum of money that they have or not, it is what they decide to do with such money.

 

“If they get their priorities right, then a lot can happen.”

 

Organised labour has also threatened to embark on a strike if a new minimum wage is not announced before May 31, 2024.

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15-yr-old Kwara public school student scores 362 in UTME

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A student of a public secondary school, Government Secondary School, Omu Aran, Kwara State, Olukayode Victor Olusola, scored 362 marks in this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, to be among the contenders for the highest scorers in the examination.

Though the Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, Prof. Isaq Oloyede, organisers of the exam, had said the Board would not announce the highest scorer to avoid last year’s experience of confusing claims, Olukayode’s score is celebratory, as it is among the highest in recent years.

He scored 95 marks each in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry and 77 in English Language.

 

His exploit is coming against the backdrop of the poor performance of candidates in the exam in which 1.4 million scored less than 200 marks out of 400. The exam was taken by over 1.8 million candidates

Also, Olukayode’s excellent performance is coming at a time when confidence is greatly eroding in what public schools have to offer and some private schools are boasting of being the most expensive in the country.

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Olukayode was born in 2009 and hopes to study Electrical Electronic at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State.

 

His mother, Beatrice Tosin, while giving all the honour to God, also praised the studious and hard working nature of her child.

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