…Advocates trust, transparency, skills transfer, sustainable partnerships

The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Abuja Investments Company Limited (AICL), Her Excellency, Ambassador Maureen Tamuno, has called for stronger partnerships between Africa and its diaspora to accelerate investment, facilitate skills transfer, create jobs and promote sustainable economic development across the continent.

Tamuno made the call on Thursday while delivering the keynote address at the seventh Diaspora Africa Conference, held at the Afreximbank Africa Trade Centre, Abuja, under the theme, “Homecoming: Bridging the Divide from Diaspora to Africa’s Future.”

She said homecoming should go beyond reconnecting with ancestral roots to building lasting relationships through productive investments, knowledge exchange, enterprise development and initiatives capable of improving livelihoods.

Drawing on her experience as Nigeria’s former High Commissioner to Jamaica, with concurrent accreditation to Haiti, Belize and the Dominican Republic, Tamuno stressed that diaspora engagement should extend beyond financial remittances to include professional expertise, international networks, entrepreneurship and technology transfer.

She identified trust, capital, skills, identity and policy as five critical bridges required to strengthen collaboration between Africans at home and abroad.

According to her, transparency, accountability and reliable institutions are essential to attracting diaspora investments. She urged governments to make investment information accessible, digitise public systems and ensure that transactions are transparent and independently verifiable.

“Patriotism should inspire an investment; it must never replace due diligence. Shared ancestry does not guarantee financial return,” she said, advocating structured investments backed by clear agreements, proper documentation and effective accountability mechanisms.

The AICL chief executive highlighted investment opportunities across the company’s portfolio, including real estate, markets, public infrastructure, transportation, entertainment and the creative economy. She invited diaspora entrepreneurs, investors and institutions to explore mutually beneficial partnerships with AICL to unlock opportunities within the Federal Capital Territory.

She also advocated a shift from the traditional emphasis on remittances for consumption towards structured investments that generate financial returns while delivering social and economic benefits.

Tamuno called for stronger collaboration in professional training, research, technology and enterprise development, noting that diaspora professionals could contribute through mentoring, knowledge exchange and partnerships without necessarily relocating permanently to Nigeria.

She further stressed the importance of including women, young people and persons with disabilities in investment opportunities, leadership, technical training and enterprise ownership, saying Africa’s development must provide inclusive opportunities for all.

To translate the conference’s resolutions into measurable outcomes, Tamuno proposed a Homecoming Partnership Compact to track progress over the next 12 months. The proposed framework would monitor partnerships established, enterprises supported, people trained and jobs sustained.

She said the success of diaspora engagement should be measured not by announcements and promises alone, but by functioning businesses, responsible investments and tangible improvements in people’s lives.

Tamuno urged Africans at home and abroad to embrace shared responsibility in building a prosperous continent, stressing that trust, mutual respect and sustained collaboration were essential to creating an Africa that future generations would be proud to call home.

“Let this seventh edition mark a movement from recognition to relationship, from relationship to responsibility, and from responsibility to results.We cannot undo the journeys that divided us. But we can choose the partnerships that shape our future.” she added.

The vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Rabiu Kwankwaso, has defended the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, following the “bogus statistics” allegation by Vice-President Kashim Shettima.

Shettima, while speaking during the inauguration of the APC’s presidential campaign council, said, “I respect Peter Obi. But he has gone beyond his mastery of philosophy to make a bogus claim about winning the 2023 presidential election without adducing a shred of evidence to buttress his assertion,” Shettima said on Wednesday.

He described Obi as “the master of bogus statistics and incoherent economic prescriptions”, juxtaposing the adoption of foreign policies without peculiarities with trying to fit a garment designed for a smaller body on a much larger physique.

But Kwankwaso has come out to defend Obi, saying although Obi, like everyone else, makes mistakes, Shettima was wrong to make the remark.

Kwankwaso spoke on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television, where he was asked to respond to the vice-president’s criticism of Obi’s statistics and economic proposals.

“What else would you expect him to say?” Kwankwaso queried.

“You see, I always listen to him (Obi). Like all others, I take time to check the statistics. As far as I’m concerned, most of the figures he was reeling out were correct.

“And the only thing is, because as human beings, we are bound to make mistakes or slip of tongue, as they call it. But for him to come and make that statement, I don’t think he was correct.”

He praised Obi’s “proficiency” in development statistics, describing it as a positive for a presidential candidate.

“So I am happy that our presidential candidate is somebody who is conversant with the statistics not only in this country but all over the world, in Europe, in Asia, everywhere. And I think that is a good thing,” Kwankwaso added.

...as Ondo Support Groups Members Make Tinubu ‘s Campaign Council

The PBAT Continuity Project has congratulated members of support groups for the reelection of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed into the Presidential Campaign Council, PCC, ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Members of the various support groups , within the Ondo APC were appointed into the PCC, and were inaugurated at the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress, APC, on Wednesday October 14, 2026. They are expected to work for the success of President Bola Tinubu in next year’s election.

Among those appointed are Director General, PBAT Continuity Project, PCP, Pastor Femi Agagu, Director General of the, Grassroots Movement for Tinubu, GMT, Hon. Saka Yusuf-Ogunleye,
Director General of the, Asiwaju Mandate Group, AMG, Asiwaju Muyiwa Asagunla.

Among those picked for the PCC’s apex appointment are former Members of House of Representatives, namely; Hon. Mayowa Akinfolarin, Hon. Tayo Fawehinmi, Hon Abayomi Sheba
Other leaders of Support Groups appointed include former Commissioner for information, Hon. Yemi Olowolabi, Ondo State Representative on the board of the Nigeria Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Honourable Otito Atikase, former Commissioner for Commerce, Princess Tola Aworh, former Commissioner for Water Resources, Mrs Yetunde Adeyanju and former Member of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Hon. Abiodun Ogunbi.

Also on the list are, Member, Ondo State House of Assembly Service Commission, Hon. Idowu Adebusuyi, former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Akin Sowore, former member of Ondo State House of Assembly, Hon. Omotayo Abidakun, former Ondo State APC Organising Secretary, Hon. Charles Fagbounka, former Chairman, Okitipupa Local Government, Dr Morenike Alaka, former Senior Special Assistant to the Governor, on Political Affairs, Hon. Isiaka Elegberunibon, Hon. Nimbe Tawose, Hon. Bode Obanla and erudite lawyer, Yomi Akinfenwa.

In a statement, Agagu describes the inclusion of these eminent members as a recognition of loyalty, hard work and unwavering commitment to the APC as a party and the Renewed Hope Agenda of Tinubu as a national project.

Agagu expressed confidence in the ability of the party stalwarts to work vigorously with the other members of the Council across the country towards ensuring a landslide victory for President Tinubu especially in Ondo state.
Agagu praised the Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, BTO, for providing all necessary logistics for about 16 support groups in Ondo State. He assured the minister that his huge investments in the reelection of Tinubu would yield massive votes in the next year’s election.

Speaking on behalf of other members of the support groups, Hon. Mayowa Akinfolarin told journalists in Abuja “The appointment of these great APC chieftains into the President’s reelection campaign council is well-deserved and delightful because these are people who have stood firm, worked tirelessly at the grassroots and shown unflinching loyalty to Mr. President’s Renewed Hope Agenda..”

Reinforcing Akinfolarin’s statement, Agagu declared “I have no doubt in my mind that you would add value to the campaign team by coming up with great ideas targeted at further strengthening the council, given your wealth of experience, mobilization capacity and political prowess particularly at the grassroots”

The PCP Director-General charged the appointees to justify the confidence reposed in them by working assiduously to ensure victory for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The group also reaffirmed its total support for the President and the Campaign Council, pledging to continue its grassroots mobilization ahead of the 2027 presidential election.