Mr Akin Osuntokun was the Director General of the Obi-Datti Presidential campaign Organisation in the 2023 elections. He had also served as a former Presidential Adviser and Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). He speaks with TAIWO ADISA on the journey of the President Bola Tinubu-led government so far, among other issues.

YOU played a prominent role in the last general election at the front of the Labour Party. Your party did swing some surprises but failed to win the title though you pulled it to the Supreme Court. Now that the APC government is in place, are there things you’ve seen your candidate would have done differently?

Oh, yes, of course. It is all about the utilization of a time between the time you were declared elected by INEC and the day you are sworn in as president. That gap is very critical and it requires to be maximized. You must have an optimal use of that time towards the next step you are going to take as elected president. The first is in terms of trying to prioritise what you are going to do as you are sworn in as president in terms of the policy. The most utilitarian step to undertake at that time and even up till now, is what you do with the oil subsidy scandal that has personified the economic problems of Nigeria, corruption from different perspectives. It poses a lot of challenges in the short term that you need to confront.

There is something you are looking at now that requires your immediate attention and decision on what to do. So, how you handle that gap allows you to present yourself for the commencement of your government, which is always critical. That is when you are sending the signals to the public that you need people to get the message that you are well prepared for the job; that you are serious, dynamic, and competent. For example, if you are announcing a policy of subsidy removal, you would have known what you are going to do. Even before you remove it, there are some steps you have to take before the removal. But on the contrary, we heard President Tinubu say that it was not in his speech. He was saying he had no plan in his inaugural speech and he said that something suddenly came upon him like a revelation flash, to say ‘subsidy is gone’. That is not how you govern a country. You don’t govern a country on revelation flash. The message the statement sent reflects poorly on him as the President. That is the most critical area that has been haunting his regime. He would have done the right things in those three months about preparing things instead of his fire brigade approach to governance. So, he had needlessly thrown Nigeria into crisis.

I am not disputing the necessity of removing the oil subsidy or floating the Naira, what I am saying is that he should be better prepared for it, otherwise, what you get is these problems here and there.

Members of the ruling party will say that you can’t be right criticising the president for removing the oil subsidy because all the presidential candidates promised to remove the oil subsidy. What do you say to that?

Nobody is criticizing them for removing subsidy. How you do it is the point. You should have a comprehensive idea of what you are going to do in the short, medium-term, and long term. For me, in the short term, what I thought he would do first was to set in motion almost immediately how we are going to make the effect not to be harsh on the large percentage of the people in the country, and the second is looking at how to contain the immediate fallout. I cannot doubt the inevitability of the policy.

A former governor, Isa Yuguda, once said publicly that he had a friend who told him he was tired of making money from subsidy and asked the government to stop it. And I wonder up till today what the president has done with that information. Secondly, how do you justify the retention of the principal figure, who is the GMD of the NNPC, within the oil subsidy crisis? It baffles me. Even his position is centred on what has become of this scandal. So, he has questions to answer and has not merited being appointed to that office because he did not just create a problem but the dimension of the problem was huge. I don’t know the power politics that retained him and does not make any sense to me. I cannot see how you reconcile the public interest with somebody who has paralysed the Nigerian economy.

Besides that, are there political steps that the government has taken, that you think your candidate would have taken differently?

Take the issue of state police for instance. If we are talking about state police, of course, that is a constitutional issue but that is inevitable. I think there was a time when all the governors proposed decentralising the federal police system. It is just that in Nigeria, we are fond of attending to problems when it is almost too late to manage and contain them. The dimension that the insecurity crisis has taken in Nigeria is that you cannot solve it in isolation. If you are not attending to other problems, you cannot just isolate the security crisis and leave the other areas unattended. This is what the political scientists will call a systemic crisis. That is why the solution to it is to overhaul the whole system and that is why some people are talking about constitutional amendment. You have to convey a sense of urgency in addressing the problems of Nigeria because people are panicking. On the security crisis, we have a short-term response. He has changed the security service personnel. Security also entails economic stability in the welfare of the citizens. Like the late Prof. Sam Aluko used to say: “The rich cannot sleep in the night because the poor are hungry.” A hungry man, who has not eaten for two days, has no vested interest in the stability of the country and he has an incentive to take to criminality, as a way of life, kidnapping, banditry, and so on. So, that is why we cannot isolate the security crisis. We can say that as much for all other aspects of the economy – agriculture for instance. If you cannot secure, the people, they cannot engage in agric. Agricultural activities have been drastically curtailed by banditry and other vices. That is why I keep on saying that it is difficult to isolate one of them. Even corruption is affecting the economic crisis. There is a scientific study that in every society, there is a positive correlation between the escalation of corruption and the escalation of crime. So, that is also there. All the low-class people see evidence of corruption all over the place. They see an employer whose son has four cars and living large and maybe he has 20. These are the things that provoke a negative reaction in people. The idea comes back to the constitutional review of the country.

Already people are talking about the parliamentary system…

Yes, people are talking about the parliamentary system of government, but the system is not the most utilitarian of the steps that can be taken. It is the decentralization that is more important.

Decentralisation in what form?

Look, there are three spheres of powers in the constitution, which are exclusive, concurrent, and residual and those powers are shared by two tiers of government. Federalism does not envisage a third tier of government. So, we got that one wrong within those two tiers. Some are exclusive like Defence, Currency, etc to the Federal Government. We have those that are concurrent like Education, Agric, and the residual reverses to the second tier. So, what has happened is that there has been a steady redistribution of these powers since 1966 in favour of the Federal Government. Like the Police we are talking about, which used to be on a concurrent list but is now exclusive. What has happened is that, since 1666, there has been a distribution of these powers mostly because of military dictatorship with the military philosophy of top-down command system and over-emphasis on national unity and integration after the civil war. We are centralising power for one Nigeria. Unfortunately, it has not worked.

On the contrary, it has compounded the problems of Nigeria. The only constitution that Nigerians consciously and deliberately came together to establish is the Independence Constitution, which had four parties to its position, which were the British government; the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo; Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and Sir Ahmadu Bello. They personified the idea of regions and even the peculiarities of Nigeria. They sat on this for almost a year. Practically, your first instinct when you see a territory like Nigeria will be that these people should not be together. But if you must, federalism is indispensable. That is how federalism came to be. Not just ordinary federalism but federalism with substantial decentralisation of power where there were regions that had a semi-autonomous constitution. Of course, it has been in existence since 1954 to 1966. And that’s about the golden era of Nigeria’s development because that’s the constitution that best suits the people.

A group of soldiers then came up in January 1960 and threw it away and what they brought is unitarianism. They brought the abolition of regions and the merger of provinces which ensued since 1966. Don’t forget that there was never a time when Nigerians sat together and said they wanted a unitary system of government. It was the soldiers who brought the idea and imposed it on the people. So, you cannot say what an accident has brought is the best, because the coup was an accident. There is an element of illogicality in that. So, this is where we have found ourselves where Nigerians will have to be suffering the dysfunctions and the mess we are in today tells us all the stories we need to know why things are not working.

It seems that you are in for a return to the 1960 Independence Constitution. Instead of the National Assembly going around the constitution review and amendment of the 1999 constitution, are you truly advocating for a return to the 1963 constitution?

It was the independence constitution that became essentially the 1963 constitution when Nigeria became a Republic For how many times will the parliamentarians be going around the country? This is sheer unseriousness. Anybody interested in the constitution review of Nigeria today has enough documents at his disposal. There is one around the 2014 Constitutional Conference. That alone is sufficient basis. Then, what you then do is if you want to have a plebiscite. After that, you can go around the country, requesting people to vote for it or against it. They don’t need to start going around now to hear what the people have to say. It looks like a misuse of public resources.

Besides that, the issue of restructuring has also been vital to a lot of Nigerians. It has been on the front burner for a while but critics are also unrelenting. Now if you want to break it down to the critics who say they don’t understand restructuring, what will you say we are looking at?

You see, it is not that they don’t understand what they mean by restructuring but what they want to say is that they are opposed to their understanding of restructuring, which is they think that we want to redraw the physical structure of the country. That should not be at the primary stage at all. What you do with the existing structure of states has to be part of a constitutional process and it is not something that you toy with. But you see, I don’t know who started using that term, but what it means is the restructuring of power relations within the first and second tier of government. In those spheres of power, the redistribution is the restructuring of power relations, which can now extend to physical elements. It is part of the problems with how federalism came to Nigeria. Most federal states came about by the constituent states forming a federal government. In our case, the reverse was the case. The states we have were created by the federal government, especially in 1963 when the Middle Belt region was created. Between 1963 and now, all the additions that have got up to 36 states were done by the military government. Essentially, they restructured. But that did not restructure Nigeria. In the real sense, those who are clamouring for restructuring are clamouring for restoration. Those who took Nigeria from four regions to 36 states are those who restructured Nigeria into the problems we have today. That is the irony.

So. People talking about restructuring today want restoration. If anybody chooses to confuse himself, let him do so. A lot of people keep saying they don’t even know what restructuring means. If you don’t know what it means, you can limit yourself to decentralization and devolution of power. If that is what you want, all is well and good. Either through mischief or ignorance you want to make restructuring contentious and controversial, then forget it, just support decentralisation and devolution of power.

At the same time, a lot of the proponents of restructuring have not been able to sell it. They fell into the trap of those who don’t want it. What restructuring means essentially is the amendment of the Nigerian constitution. You are restructuring what is in the constitution – redistributing the powers.

How can the parliamentary system help the Nigerian system?

Well, the first thing is it redresses the monetization of politics in Nigeria. The presidential system is too expensive in terms of what will be spent on election, and the president is directly elected under the presidential constitution whereas the Prime Minister is not elected. Then, as the leader of his party, he becomes the Prime Minister, the first among equals. Essentially, it redresses the over-centralization of powers that the presidential system is prone to. The Presidential system is prone to Unitarianism in a way the parliamentary system is not. What we need is decentralisation of power. The parliamentary system is good for those reasons but not so consequential to what we have now, but for me, it reduces corrupt tendencies in politics. You will see the president or the presidential candidates who will practically buy their way into office. People now talk about recouping campaign expenses. that’s a profane thing to say.  Right from the word go, banditry, and looting have been built into the process of election in Nigeria. When people spend so much money to get to positions they now steal to recoup what they have spent.

We got the parliamentary system of government directly from the British colonialists. That was the legacy they left behind and it is potentially workable. Nigerian, being a creation of the British itself, has evolved along that line. The presidential system of government came about as a result of the Civil War from 1966 to 1970, then of course the issue of military dictatorship. Emphasis now is on national unity to the detriment of any other idea. So, in Nigeria, national unity has been made the end rather than being the means to the end. Nigeria should be a means to attain prosperity for the greatest number of people.

Looking into the future of the Labour Party, do you see its candidate in the 2023 elections, Mr Peter Obi sustaining that kind of momentum he pulled in the 2023 general elections?

First, there is a negative reasoning, which is that the present government will be disastrous. He won’t do well. That would be a way of reasoning. If this government does well in terms of security, peace, and stability, the question then becomes if it isn’t broken, why fix it? So far, I can’t see that, because they say morning shows the day.  But in the absence of legitimacy of the government in place, of course, Obi and the Obidients can still go far and reenact the magic. Obidients are mostly the younger generation, and I hope they keep their fidelity with Mr Obi. It is growing. We have in Nigeria today, with regards to the ‘Obidients’ and Peter Obi, people who are talking and a party can derive from what we have now and it will forge a combination of people who believe in the same ideas and it has the potential to become one of the most authentic political organisations. There is a combination of people who try to share ideas about where they want to go. These are individually driven, a crop of individuals who know the way to go, it will not be like the one driven by those with corruptive tendencies. It could grow to become one of the authentic political parties and party of ideas at the end of the day because the coming together is of interest and defined by any ideology. It is not the other way round that see how leaders emerge.

READ ALSO: Hausa communities in Ibadan express commitment to orderliness at Sabo

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, Mr. Peter Obi, has threatened to dump the party ahead of the 2027 election season.
He, however, reaffirmed his membership of the party, explaining that he did not attend its National Convention because its national chairman, Julius Abure did not embark on wide consultation before the exercise.

This is coming as the Director General of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation in the 2023 elections, Akin Osuntokun yesterday said that the absence of Obi, members of the National Assembly and other strategic stakeholders of the party at the just concluded National Convention of the party at Nnewi in Anambra State was an indication of the non-acceptability of the convention.

The LP has been hit by crisis following the allegations of misappropriation of funds, tussle for leadership and calls for the resignation of the party’s chairman.
Last Wednesday, the LP conducted a controversial national convention in Anambra State, which re-elected Abure as its national chairman.
Obi and the only governor on the party’s platform, Alex Otti of Abia State did not attend the convention.
Speaking at a Spaces session on X (formerly Twitter) organised by Parallel Facts on Friday night, Obi said he is still a member of the LP, noting that he will never engage in anti-party activities.

Obi said he ignored the convention because the LP leadership under Abure failed to do wide consultations with key stakeholders of the party before embarking on the said convention.
He emphasised the need for the right thing to be done to salvage the party, adding that he is more passionate about building a new Nigeria than building a new Labour Party.

Speaking on the crisis rocking the party, the former Anambra State governor said the focus should be on building a new Nigeria.
He also called for the structuring of the ‘Obidient movement’.
 “I am still a member of the Labour Party and I don’t and will never engage in anti-party activities,” Obi said.
“We will do whatever is possible. As we go along, we will see what happens. Let us remain focused on building a new Nigeria.
“We want the party to work and pursue what we set out to do and that is to change the country. We should not lose that focus and face minor issues that will distract us.

“We promised to build Nigeria, we did not promise to build a new Labour Party.
“It is the standard practice around the world where movements form themselves into blocs and are part of the political process.”
Obi explained that his primary focus, which committed members of the Obidient Movement have bought into, is all about making Nigeria work for all citizens; as such, he refuses to be distracted.
According to him, the contrived crisis in the Labour Party was part of a distractive strategy, which neither he nor his supporters were willing to fall for.
Obi said: “Our engagement is about Nigeria; they are trying to change our focus. What we want to do is not about Labour Party; it is about what the Obidients want to do about Nigeria.

 “We are thinking about water, we are thinking about power, we are thinking about employment, thinking about security. That should be our focus.
“The other matter we will deal with. We were somewhere; we didn’t start with Labour.
“I’m a Christian. Jesus said, when you go into a city, try to change them, live with them, fast with them. In the end, if you can’t, come out and even wash the sand that is on your shoes.

“He didn’t say go there and die with them. I tell you, I’m making spirited efforts to change them (LP), but I’m not going to die with them.
“That will not stop what we set out to do. We will try to change them (LP), if we can’t, we will leave them; we will not die with them.”
Using the opportunity to defend the criticisms of his frequent visits to mosques and churches, Obi said visiting worship centres and handing out donations at places he visits has always been his way of life long before he joined politics, noting that he is not campaigning.
“I am not campaigning. I have been doing things like this before I got into politics. It is bad that politics in Nigeria is transactional,” Obi said.
He also called state governors across the country to emulate Abia State where Governor Otti on March 22, signed a bill repealing the law that allowed former governors and their deputies to collect pensions.

Obi commended Otti and called on other state governors to emulate him.
“I have argued against humongous pensions for ex-governors. As governor, I did so too. My reason is simple — people are being owed all over the country, and are being paid as little as N4,000 and N5,000 as pensions,” he said.
“When I left Anambra State, they brought the pension law to me authorising a house for me in Awka, Abuja, or Lagos, similar vehicles as the serving governor to be changed every two or three years plus security, cooks, house helps, which I turned down.
 “I rejected that law and till today, Anambra has not bought me a sachet of water. The way the country is today, I urge every state to emulate Abia State,” Obi added.

Absence of Obi, Others Rob Convention of Legitimacy, Osuntokun Insists

Meanwhile, the Director General of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation in the 2023 elections, Osuntokun has said that the absence of Obi, members of the National Assembly and other strategic stakeholders of the party at the just concluded National Convention of the party was an indication of the non-acceptability of the convention.

Osuntokun also described the national convention as a kangaroo convention.
Speaking on ARISE NEWS Channel yesterday, he also described as a Greek gift, the award of the 2027 presidential ticket of the party to Obi.
He said the Abure-led party was not in a position to promise anybody any ticket as due processes were not followed, stressing that the processes to win the presidential ticket are well laid out through the convocation of a presidential convention with elected delegates.

“Does it mean that the purported chairman does not know the process to be followed for the election of a presidential candidate?” Osuntokun queried, adding “This is one of the problems we are complaining of.”
He said Abure’s ambition to sit tight in office as the national chairman of the party is part of the problems of the Nigerian leaders, who would not leave the office when the ovation is loudest.

He explained that soon the stakeholders will hold an authentic convention that will produce the national executive members of the party.
Osuntokun said without Obi and the Obidient Movement, there would be nothing left of the party.

The President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, has urged Nigerian leaders to govern with wisdom and fairness, adding that the Easter season was not only one occasion for celebration, but presented a call to action.

The archbishop also urged all leaders, at every level, to heed the lessons of Easter and to govern with wisdom, fairness, and a genuine commitment to the common good.

This was contained in the CAN President’s Easter message, on Saturday, where he also urged Christians to embody the virtues of love and the lessons of Easter.

“In the midst of our daily challenges and triumphs, Easter stands as a timeless reminder of hope, renewal, and redemption. It is a season that calls us to reflect on the ultimate sacrifice made for humanity and the triumph of light over darkness.

“The lessons of Easter hold particular relevance for Nigerian society today. In a time marked by uncertainty, we are called to embody the virtues of love for one another.

“Just as Christ’s resurrection brought new life and hope to the world, so too can we, as a nation, rise above our differences and difficulties; and work towards a brighter future,” part of the message read.

Emulate love – Atiku

Former Vice President of Nigeria and the Peoples Democratic Party presidential flag bearer in the last general elections, Atiku Abubakar, has called on Nigerians to emulate the virtues of love and sacrifice which characterised the life of Jesus Christ.

In a message released by his Media Office in Abuja to mark the Easter celebration, the Waziri Adamawa described those two qualities as essential to the unity that Nigeria so desperately needs at this time when vested and provincial interests threaten to tear our nation apart.

The Waziri Adamawa also encouraged Nigeria’s leaders to use the opportunity of the Christian celebration of Easter to reflect on their stewardship to the people and the nation.

Obaseki greets Christians

The Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, has urged Christians to reflect on the lessons of the Easter celebration, charging them not to lose hope amid the economic headwinds.

In his Easter message on Saturday, the governor wrote, “I heartily felicitate with our Christian faithful as we commemorate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Easter is a time for reflection, love, sacrifice, renewal and hope.  I urge that we use this opportunity to ponder on the lessons and purpose of the celebration and renew our resolve towards achieving a more progressive and prosperous Nigeria.”

Adeleke donates rice

Meanwhile, Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has restated his commitment to physical and stomach infrastructure as his government commences the distribution of rice for the celebration of both Easter and Eid-el-Fitr.

This was disclosed on Saturday in a statement by his spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed; a copy of which was sighted by Sunday PUNCH.

The distribution which started in the last 24 hours is billed to cover all major pressure groups in the state.

Already, the Christian Association of Nigeria has got the allocated bags of rice through its state leadership while the Muslim community has yet to get theirs, Sunday PUNCH reliably gathered.

Mbah preaches peace

Also, Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has charged the people of the state to emulate the virtues of self-sacrifice and love as exemplified by Christ as they celebrate Easter.

Mbah also urged them to hold fast to their faith amid the present socio-economic challenges, adding that they would eventually become a thing of the past.

He stated this on Saturday in his Easter message to the people of Enugu State and the nation in general.

‘Nigeria is redeemable’

Meanwhile, the Bayelsa State governor, Douye Diri, has expressed optimism that Nigeria will emerge stronger from the current economic and security challenges.

He stated this while felicitating people of the state, Nigerians, and particularly Christians on the Easter celebrations during his remarks at the Easter Cantata service held at the King of Glory Chapel, Government House, Yenagoa, on Friday.

This was conveyed in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Daniel Alabrah, on Saturday.

“I implore you to renew hope in the advancement of the state and the country at large. The situation of Nigeria is redeemable and the signs are beginning to manifest”, the governor said.

PDP advocates love

The Peoples Democratic Party has urged Nigerians to embrace the spirit of Easter by demonstrating love and pursuing national renewal, drawing inspiration from the sacrificial virtues exemplified by the life of Jesus Christ.

PDP, in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, to mark Easter, on Saturday encouraged Nigerians not to let the current hardships, insecurity, and uncertainties diminish their faith and hope for a brighter future.

It stated, “Indeed, the coming of Easter, the celebration of the triumph of life over death serves as divine reassurance of the saving grace of God in the gift of Salvation to mankind and His willingness to bring succour in any adverse situation.

“Our Party urges Nigerians to reinforce the bond of unity and love by sharing with and supporting one another as this is the only way the nation can survive this perilous time.”

Obi greets Christians

The 2023 presidential candidate for the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has urged Nigerians not to relent in their labour for a better Nigeria and to use the Easter celebration to seek divine intervention for the country.

He said that the country had continued to stagger under the spate of insecurity, soaring hunger and poverty, ballooning debts, galloping inflation, and mindless corruption that had pervaded every part of the country’s national life.

Obi said this in this goodwill message posted on his official X account to commemorate the Easter celebration on Saturday.

Ogun tightens security

The Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alamutu, has ordered for a round-the-clock surveillance of public spaces during and after the Easter celebration.

This was disclosed in a statement by the spokesperson of the state police command, SP Omolola Odutola, and made available to journalists on Saturday.

He directed the area commanders, Divisional Police Officers, and Tactical Commanders to guard their area of jurisdiction against crime and criminality as the celebration of Easter peaks.

S’Kaduna christian leaders

The Chairman of the Southern Kaduna Christian Leaders Association, Apostle Emmanuel Kure, has appealed for a helping hand to the less privileged during the Easter period celebration.

Kure who made the call on Saturday in his Easter message personally signed and made available to newsmen in Kaduna, congratulating Christians for successfully witnessing the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Catholic archbishop of Lagos

The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Dr Alfred Martins, has called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on the food sector to tackle the ordeal of hunger, deprivation, and the high cost of living currently experienced by Nigerians.

These were disclosed in a statement obtained on Saturday from the church’s Director of Social Communications, Anthony Godonu; a copy of which was sent to one of our correspondents.

Martins said this while commemorating the Easter celebration on Saturday, where he preached for love, unity, and selfless services the Easter celebration had brought.

He urged that Nigerians should make deliberate efforts to tolerate one another as a peaceful co-existence had become more essential in the country.

• Additional reports by RAPHAEL EDE, DANIELS IGONI, AYOOLA OLASUPO, DELE OGUNYEMI, BANKOLE TAIWO, ISRAEL BULUS and DANIEL AYANTOYE

….As Shehu Sani describes Tinubu’s 31- member Presidential Economic Council without Air Peace’s Allen Onyema as made up of Cement Gurus, Rice Kingpins and Spaghetti Moguls

By Chibuike Nwabuko

Abuja (Sundiata Post) – Presidential candidate of Labour Party in the February 25, 2023 general election, Peter Obi has commended the Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, and his entire team at Air Peace Ltd for commencement of direct flight from Lagos to London.

This is coming as Senator Shehu Sani has described President Bola Tinubu’s 31-member Presidential Economic Council without Air Peace’s Allen Onyema as made up of Cement Gurus, Rice Kingpins and Spaghetti Moguls.

Peter Obi who gave the commendation when he took to his X account on Saturday, said “he joins other well-meaning Nigerians in congratulating the Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, and his entire team at Air Peace Ltd, as they commence their direct flights to London, United Kingdom.

“Their inaugural flight from Lagos to Gatwick Airport in London is scheduled for midnight, 12:10 am on 30th March 2024, just a few hours from now. This feat, as achieved by Air Peace, not only, arguably, offers unbeatable fares to Nigerian travelers, but also helps us save the much-needed foreign exchange in the country. This will further create jobs for our people and contribute immensely to our economic growth.’

The former Anambrs governor therefore saluted Onyema’s resilience and courage in actualizing this dream while appreciating all those who contributed to the success of this project.

According to Obi, More Nigerian businesses will grow to compete favorably on the global stage with the right leadership and government support. This is part of our commitment to the New Nigeria which is becoming ever POssible, Obi added.

Impressed by the feat achieved by Allen Onyema and dissatified his exclusion from Tinubu’s economic team, Comrade Shehu throug X account said: “Imagine a 31 member Presidential Economic Council without Air Peace’s Allen Onyema; Only Cement Gurus, Rice Kingpins and Spaghetti Moguls said.

Sundiata Post recalls that Air Peace, on Saturday, commenced its Lagos-London flight services.

The commencement of the service came a month after it announced plans to begin direct flight operations to London on March 30 during a prelaunch forum organised by the airline in February.

In November, Air Peace’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Allen Onyema, announced that the airline had successfully obtained the Foreign Carrier Operator Permit and Third Country Operator Permit.

This means it is qualified to operate flights to Europe and the United Kingdom.

The development was disclosed on the Air Peace X handle on Saturday.

The airline wrote, “London service has commenced and we’re delighted to have achieved yet another feat in our drive to continually provide peaceful connectivity across cities.

“A big thank you to everyone who contributed to the success of this launch.”

Present at the inaugural flight to London is the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo; and Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anita, among others.