Concerned by the forthcoming Ondo state governorship election, a group of women have asked the major political parties participating in the exercise to consider fielding females as running mates. 

The demand was part of the agitation of the women at the inaugural meeting of the group held in Akure, the capital city, on Thursday. 

The Akure convergence of the women is coming after the primaries of the two major political parties – the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party. 

At the meeting tagged: “Agitation For Gender Balance And Inclusiveness”, they acknowledged that women have been nominated and elected as deputy governors in some states and queried why Ondo gives no such opportunity. 

In a communique read after the meeting by the group’s convener, Adebimpe Adebiyi, the women said their demand for a deputy governorship candidate will continue to persist until it is met. 

“The justifiable agitation and legitimate demand, particularly regarding the nomination of women as deputy governorship candidates from all participating political parties, will persist until it is met and complied with by all political parties in the state. 

“Using the unique Yoruba word ‘Odatiwa’ for inclusiveness while simultaneously confining women to the ‘other room’ is contradictory and unacceptable,” an excerpt of the communique read. 

It read further, “Despite the immeasurable contributions of women to the restoration of democracy and national growth and development, Nigerian women have been relegated and reduced to the back seats in both elective and appointed positions.

“Since 1999, when Nigeria transitioned from military rule to democratic governance, women have yet to occupy up to 15 percent of elective positions in a country where the voting population of women is equal to, if not more than, men.

“Not only has no woman been elected president, none has been elected vice president or governor in Nigeria in the 33 years of democratic rule. 

“The only woman who became governor of Anambra state, after the then governor Peter Obi was impeached, was Etiaba. However, her tenure lasted for only three months before she returned to being the deputy governor because the former governor, Obi, was reinstated.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had fixed the state governorship election for November 16. 

Temitope Ajayi, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Bola Tinubu, has refuted media reports claiming the shut down of the Lagos office of Microsoft’s Africa Development Centre.

While noting that the shutdown was an “incorrect media report,” Ajayi said the organisation was “re-aligning roles” within its business, while “few roles will certainly be impacted.”

He stated this on Thursday on X.com.

Tweeting as @TheTope_Ajayi, he also faulted the tweet made late Wednesday on the same subject by the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, labelling it a “naked dance.”

Obi had lamented the announcement on the shutdown, saying it “underscores the urgent need for comprehensive economic reforms in Nigeria.”

Obi’s tweet partly read, “The recent announcement of Microsoft Nigeria to its workers about shutting down its innovation centre in Lagos and cutting 200 jobs is deeply troubling. It underscores the urgent need for comprehensive economic reforms in Nigeria.

“This further highlights the challenges and broader issues plaguing the Nigerian economy. The closure of Microsoft’s innovation centre represents yet another significant setback for Nigeria’s aspirations to become a hub for technology and innovation in Africa.”

The former Anambra State Governor tweeted that the shutdown “raises serious concerns” about Nigeria’s “business environment for investors.”

Reacting to this, Ajayi noted, “The story that Microsoft is shutting down Nigeria office is not true. Africa Development Centre is just a department within Microsoft business in Nigeria. Contrary to incorrect media reports and Peter Obi’s naked dance, the Africa Development Centre is also not shutting down.

“Microsoft, like any other organisation, is only re-aligning roles within the business, and few roles will certainly be impacted. Affected staff, which are less than 30, will be asked to apply for new roles within Microsoft – a standard practice within the organisation.”

The presidential aide added that employees “who can’t find new roles in other departments or those who want to seek new opportunities outside the system will be asked to go. The situation at Microsoft is not anywhere near the impression of the ‘earthquake’ that Peter Obi sensationally described.”

Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan has once again, called out the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, over his comments on the recent decision of technology giants, Microsoft, to close down its African Development Centre located in Lagos.

The company had announced the decision to close down the office which would lead to a loss of over 500 jobs.

Though no reason has been advanced for the impending closure of the ADC, industry experts say it may not be unconnected with the unfavourable economic policies of the President Bola Tinubu administration which has seen businesses suffer, while many foreign conglomerates have been forced to close shop and leave the country.

While reacting to the news on his X handle on Wednesday, the former Anambra State governor blamed government policies for the closure of the ADC as well as other business concerns that have closed down and left the country.

“It also raises serious concerns about our business environment for investors. And this has become a stark reminder of the obstacles faced by both local and international businesses operating in Nigeria, including regulatory hurdles, and an uncertain business environment,” Obi had said in one of his posts.

However, Omokri who had vowed to attack Obi at every opportunity, took to his X account on Thursday to lambast the LP chieftain for airing his personal views on the issue.

He said Obi lied and misrepresented the facts for his gullible followers, and urged the former presidential candidate to stop listening to mad men at Upper Iweka, a popular location in Onitsha, in reference to Obi’s confession during the 2023 campaign that he got a valuable advice from a mad man.

“Again, Peter Obi lied. The downsizing by Microsoft is not a result of unfavourable economic conditions in Nigeria or “challenges and broader issues plaguing the Nigerian economy”, as Mr. Obi Gbajuelistically asserted,” Omokri wrote.

READ ALSO:Omokri bombs Obi again, digs up old tweet of threat to non-indigene

“Rather, it is a company-wide decision affecting staff numbers in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

“However, in his rush to escalate every bad news about and against Nigeria, Peter Obi refused to research his claims. Hopefully, he will stop taking advice from madmen at Upper Iweka.

“For example, four months ago, Microsoft laid off 1,900 people in the U.S. Before that, they laid off 10,000 employees due to falling revenues.

“In addition to these 12,000 job layoffs in the U.S., Microsoft also laid off staff in multiple European countries, including the U.K., where the firm has 6000 staff and has laid off 6%, and Ireland, where 70 staff were laid off.

“In total, Microsoft has laid off 18,000 employees worldwide in the last one year. And just three days ago, they shut down multiple locations in America, Europe and Asia.

“Peter Obi is just a bitter loser using his opportunistic Onitsha market trader ‘sense’ to market any perceived bad news about Nigeria in a desperate but failing bid to revive his failed Presidential ambition.

“But Nigerians know that a man who could not even build one nursery school in eight years as Anambra Governor, talk more of primary, secondary or university, is unlikely to build Nigeria even if he mistakenly becomes President.

“If a woman has a miscarriage tomorrow, Obi will rush to social media and say, ‘Ehen, you see? I told you this government is bad!’ That is how desperate he has become.”

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Fresh opposition has trailed the imposition of cybersecurity levy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP in the 2023 Presidential election, Peter Obi who described the move as milking a dying economy.

He accused the president, Bola Tinubu of being interested in milking a dying economy instead of nurturing it to recovery and growth.

Obi accused the government of coming up with policies that not only impoverish the citizens but also make the country’s economic environment less competitive.

According to him, the imposition of a Cybersecurity Levy on Nigerians will further erode whatever is left of their remaining capital after the impact of the Naira devaluation and high inflation rate.

Obi made the accusation in a post on his X handle on Wednesday, questioning when the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) became a revenue collecting centre.

The former Anambra State governor said it was unthinkable to expect the suffering citizens of Nigeria to separately fund all activities of the government.

READ ALSO:Bank customers to now pay cybersecurity levy on transactions

He wrote “The introduction of yet another tax, in the form of Cybersecurity Levy, on Nigerians who are already suffering severe economic distress is further proof that the government is more interested in milking a dying economy instead of nurturing it to recovery and growth.

“This does not only amount to multiple taxation on banking transactions, which are already subject to various other taxes including stamp duties but negates the Government’s avowed commitment to reduce the number of taxes and streamline the tax system.

“The imposition of a Cybersecurity Levy on bank transactions is particularly sad given that the tax is on the trading capital of businesses and not on their profit hence will further erode whatever is left of their remaining capital, after the impact of the Naira devaluation and high inflation rate.

“It is inconceivable to expect the suffering citizens of Nigeria to separately fund all activities of the government. Policies such as this not only impoverish the citizens but make the country’s economic environment less competitive.

“At a time when the government should be reducing taxes to curb inflation, the government is instead introducing new taxes. And when did the office of the NSA become a revenue collecting centre?

“And why should that purely national security office receive returns on a specific tax as stated in the new cybersecurity law?”

By: Babajide Okeowo

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The Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections Peter Obi, has criticised President Tinubu’s administration for introducing a Cyber-Security Levy on Nigerians, which he deemed unreasonable given the country’s economic struggles.

Obi said the present government is more interested in milking a dying economy instead of nurturing it to recovery and growth.

The former Anambra State governor also criticized the Tinubu-led administration for enforcing policies that not only hurt the citizens financially but also undermined the country’s competitiveness in the economic environment.

Obi made this known in a statement shared on his X handle on Wednesday, wondering when the National Security Adviser became a revenue collecting centre.

The statement read, “The introduction of yet another tax, in the form of Cybersecurity Levy, on Nigerians who are already suffering severe economic distress is further proof that the government is more interested in milking a dying economy instead of nurturing it to recovery and growth.

“This does not only amount to multiple taxation on banking transactions, which are already subject to various other taxes including stamp duties but negates the Government’s avowed commitment to reduce the number of taxes and streamline the tax system.

“The imposition of a Cybersecurity Levy on bank transactions is particularly sad given that the tax is on the trading capital of businesses and not on their profit hence will further erode whatever is left of their remaining capital, after the impact of the Naira devaluation and high inflation rate.

“At a time when the government should be reducing taxes to curb inflation, the government is instead introducing new taxes. And when did the office of the NSA become a revenue-collecting centre? And why should that purely national security office receive returns on a specific tax as stated in the new cybersecurity law?.”

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Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, has strongly condemned the Federal Government’s introduction of the Cybersecurity Levy, calling it a move that will further cripple the economy and impoverish citizens.

In a statement released on May 8, Obi criticized the government for prioritizing revenue generation over economic recovery and growth. He argued that policies like the Cybersecurity Levy will make Nigeria’s economic environment less competitive and exacerbate the suffering of its citizens.

GWG.ng reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had announced on May 6 that banks will start charging a 0.5% cybersecurity levy on certain customer transactions, effective in two weeks. The revenue generated will be remitted to the National Cybersecurity Fund (NCF), which will be administered by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

Obi expressed dismay that the ONSA has now become a revenue collection center, highlighting the government’s misplaced priorities. He emphasized that the Cybersecurity Levy will only serve to further burden Nigerians and undermine the country’s economic prospects.

See his post below ;

The introduction of yet another tax, in the form of Cybersecurity Levy, on Nigerians who are already suffering severe economic distress is further proof that the government is more interested in milking a dying economy instead of nurturing it to recovery and growth.

— Peter Obi (@PeterObi) May 8, 2024

At a time when the government should be reducing taxes to curb inflation, the government is instead introducing new taxes. And when did the office of the NSA become a revenue collecting centre?

— Peter Obi (@PeterObi) May 8, 2024

The former presidential candidate’s statement echoes the concerns of many Nigerians who have expressed outrage over the introduction of the Cybersecurity Levy, fearing its impact on their already strained finances. As the government faces mounting criticism, it remains to be seen how it will address the concerns of its citizens and steer the economy towards recovery and growth.

GWG.ng reports that the stance of Mr Peter Obi on the cybersecurity levy is one that many Nigerians under the burden of the harsh economic conditions are bound to identify with. However, whether the opposition leader is furthering his political aspirations with this is another matter that is yet to be determined.
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Former spokesman for the Atiku Abubakar Campaign Council in the 2023 presidential election, Daniel Bwala, has joined those attacking the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, for criticising the recently introduced cybersecurity levy.

Bwala, a former Adamawa State senator who has been hobnobbing with President Bola Tinubu in recent times, took to his X account on Wednesday to allege that the former Anambra State governor “is full of misinformation and has no idea what to share.”

Obi had in a series of tweets earlier in the day, accused the Tinubu government of imposing more hardship on Nigerians with the new levy.

“The introduction of yet another tax, in the form of Cybersecurity Levy, on Nigerians who are already suffering severe economic distress is further proof that the government is more interested in milking a dying economy instead of nurturing it to recovery and growth,” Obi had said.

“This does not only amount to multiple taxation on banking transactions, which are already subject to various other taxes including stamp duties but negates the Government’s avowed commitment to reduce the number of taxes and streamline the tax system,” he added.

READ ALSO: NLC rejects CBN’s cybersecurity levy

But Bwala who had also suggested that Nigerians needed to adjust to the current harsh economic realities in the country as all Tinubu’s policies would yield fruits in the near future, said Obi’s governance record shows only rhetoric, falsehood and misinformation.

While responding to a post made by Obi where he spoke about his speech at a joint session of students at two Universities in the United Kingdom, Cambridge University and Anglia Ruskin University, Bwala claimed Obi had no idea to share, alleging he misled churches during the last general elections.

“But you know you don’t have any idea to share now. Your governance record shows only rhetoric, falsehood and misinformation. Nothing excites you more than causing division, hatred and bigotry,” Bwala wrote.

“Even the churches you misled during the elections and after you lost the election you abandoned have now known who you are, have abandoned you and have moved on. Do you want me to count them?”

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Former presidential candidate Peter Obi has criticized the Federal Government’s introduction of a 0.5% cybersecurity levy on electronic transactions, calling it “another form of tax on the suffering masses.” Obi’s statement comes after the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) rejected the planned levy, describing it as “another burden on Nigerians.”

In a social media post, Obi argued that the levy will further erode the trading capital of businesses and worsen the economic distress of Nigerians. He questioned the government’s decision to introduce new taxes instead of reducing them to curb inflation. Obi also expressed surprise at the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) becoming a revenue-collecting center.

The cybersecurity levy, introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has sparked widespread criticism from Nigerians and civil society organizations. The NLC has called for its reversal, citing its impact on workers’ disposable income and purchasing power. The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has also threatened a nationwide shutdown if the levy is not cancelled.

The government’s decision to impose additional taxes on already struggling Nigerians has raised concerns about its economic policies and priorities.

As the criticism grows, it remains to be seen how the government will respond to the backlash.

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, is under scrutiny for allegedly deceiving the public through his supporters known as ‘Obidients’ with old images depicting Lagos schools requiring dire renovations, according to a recent investigation by Fact-Checkers.

A supporter of the opposition leader recently shared photos he alleged showed the current state of a public school in Lagos.

However, AFP Fact Checkers found that the claim was misleading as the photos were taken in 2017 and 2019 respectively.

The school mentioned in the claim as posted by Peter Obi’s supporter simply identified as Ejikeme on X.com has since been renovated by the state government.

Moreover, one of the images used in the misleading post depicts an unrelated building.

“Eric Moore Junior High School, Surulere,” reads the caption of an X post that has gathered more than 1,400 shares and comments since it was published on April 26, 2024.

The post features four pictures: the two in the top row show students wearing brown checked shirts over plain brown shorts, grouped into two classes in a dilapidated outbuilding.

In the photo on the bottom left, students with the same uniforms sit on the floor holding notebooks.

The fourth image shows children wearing grey and white uniforms in a roofed class with a bare floor.

Comments below the post suggest many people believed the claim.

“So pained to see that this school hasn’t changed,” wrote one user, while another called the images “an eyesore”.

The pictures were posted by a Nigerian-based account called “Ejikeme”.

The user, according to an AFP Fact Checker, regularly shares content in support of the Igbo ethnic group as well as Obi.

Ejikeme’s handle also features posts with other images of run-down schools in Lagos in response to the #TinubuLagosSchoolSeries trending topic.

The hashtag began trending last month after opposition politician, Reno Omokri, accused Obi of not building any schools when he was the governor of Anambra State.

He promised to gift $10,000 to anyone who could prove otherwise.

Omokri insisted that Tinubu, who beat Obi in the elections, was a better candidate.

In response, Obi’s supporters began sharing posts highlighting the decaying public infrastructure in Lagos, where Tinubu was a governor between 1999 and 2007.

However, the claim about the images depicting the state of Eric Moore Junior High School is misleading.

Using a reverse image search, AFP Fact Check found that the first three pictures were taken from a 2017 article by Nigerian news site The Guardian.

Published on May 17, 2017, the report explained that students of Eric Moore Junior High School in Surelere —a Lagos suburb — lacked basic amenities (archived here).

Two years later, former Lagos Health Commissioner Akin Abayomi attended an inauguration ceremony at the school after four blocks of classrooms and the toilets were renovated.

The Lagos State Ministry of Health released images of the school’s new structures in a thread on X in 2021.

An AFP journalist took geo-tagged pictures of Eric Moore on May 2, 2024, showing blue roofs and two-tone walls matching the health ministry photographs.

A satellite image of the school compound shows the same blue roofs, as well as a basketball court and solar panels on an adjacent building.

These features correspond with another photograph taken by AFP on May 2, 2024.

Meanwhile, photos on Google Maps from 2023 also show the renovated school, although the solar panels were not installed at the time.

A reverse image search on the fourth image revealed a local news report published on May 26, 2019, about the status of the facilities at Ojota Junior Secondary School in Lagos.

 

Investigative journalist, David Hundeyin has taken to Twitter to share a photo of him posing with Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of Labour Party in the 2023 election.

 

Taking to his Twitter page, he acknowledge Obi as a man he deeply respects.

 

Sharing the photo, he wrote:

 

“A man I have a deep amount of respect for.”

A man I have a deep amount of respect for. pic.twitter.com/oBUQwjY3PK

— David Hundeyin (@DavidHundeyin) May 7, 2024