| Source | Date | Title | Summary of Report | Subject/Category | Page No./Weblink | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thisday Newspaper | 31st August 2023 | Wike: I’m Still in PDP, Now on National Duty in APC Govt | FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has said his inclusion as a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bayelsa Gubernatorial Campaign Council may be the handiwork of mischief-makers in the ruling party who were not satisfied with his appointment as minister. Wike, said this yesterday, during an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today,’ even though the APC National Chairman, Dr. Umar Abdullahi Ganduje, had refuted the advert which listed the former River State Governor as a member of Bayelsa gubernatorial campaign council. The minister however, insisted he was still a member of the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), although he is serving in ruling party as a minister. He said he was not formally consulted to serve on the APC Bayelsa gubernatorial council, wondering why his name was included when he was not a member of the ruling party. He also said his party, the PDP, neither consulted him before also listing him as a member of the gubernatorial council for Bayelsa state. | Nyesom Wike, APC, PDP, Bayelsa State | Front Page & page 10 | |
| The Guardian Newspaper | 31st August 2023 | Democracy in shambles: African govts risk financial ‘blockade’, FDI squeeze over rising coups | It is a tipping point for Africa as a contagion of political upheaval rattles markets, increases risk premiums and tips already debt-burdened governments to a historic fiscal drought, market trends have shown. This is as Gabon President, Ali Bongo, yesterday joined the list of ousted presidents in Africa after the military took over power in the Central African nation, making it the eighth since 2020. Bongo’s overthrow would end his family’s 56-year hold on power in the former French colony, following a controversial election in which he was declared winner for a third term. Whereas Niger’s upheaval is still fresh after the July 26 coup in the West African country, the wave of political instability, especially among former French colonies, will create shocking reactions and cause severe economic consequences that will affect Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow into the continent. Before yesterday’s incident in Gabon and Niger’s occurrence last month, Burkina Faso had two coups in 2020. In January 2022, Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba ousted President Roch Kabore over failure to contain violence by Islamist militants. However, on September 30, 2022, Captain Ibrahim Traore seized power from Damiba to become the country’s new leader. In Guinea, President Alpha Conde was overthrown in September 2021 by special forces leader, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, after the former altered the Constitution in 2020 to get around restrictions that would have prohibited him from running for a third term, which had led to severe unrest. In Chad, after President Idriss Deby was killed in combat while visiting forces engaged in fighting rebels in the north, the Chadian army seized control of the country in April 2021. The president’s son, General Mahamat Idriss Deby, was named interim president, which contravenes Chadian law, where the speaker of parliament should have become president. The unlawful transfer of power sparked rioting in N’Djamena, the country’s capital, which the military eventually put down. In Mali, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was overthrown in August 2020 by a gang of Malian colonels under the command of Assimi Goita. The coup came after anti-government demonstrations about worsening security, contentious elections for the legislature, and corruption charges. | Coup in Africa, Gabon, Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Chad, Niger, Mali | Page 6 | |
| Thisday Newspaper | 31st August 2023 | Shettima: North Requires Re-engineering, Re-strategizing to Hasten Development | The Vice President Kashim Shettima has flayed the low level of development in the northern part of the country saying much still needed to be done to fast track development in the area. Speaking yesterday while playing host to a Coalition of Northern States Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (CONSCCIMA) led by its President, Mallam Dalhatu Abubakar, in his office at the State House, Abuja, Shettima declared “we have to go back to the drawing board, re-assess the state of affairs in the North and come up with robust platforms of re-engineering our society.” According to him “it is imperative for the north to embark on the re-strategizing and re-engineering of the region in order to reposition it for accelerated development”. | Northern region, Kashim Shettima, Development, Chambers of Commerce | Page 12 | |
| Thisday Live | 31st August 2023 | Ondo PDP Raises Concern Ahead of 2024 LG Poll | The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Ondo State yesterday called on the State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) to clearly declare its position on the status of the newly created Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state. A statement by state Publicity Secretary of the party, Kennedy Peretei, asked the electoral body to state clearly if the local council election, which had been scheduled for February 2024 will hold in the new LCDAs and the existing 18 council areas. The party also urged ODIEC to clear the air on whether or not it’s sincere about the conduct of the elections instead of allowing our party candidates to waste their resources on a phantom LG polls. | Ondo State, LG Elections 2024, PDP, APC, Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) | https://shorturl.at/ixyUY | |
| Thisday Newspaper | 31st August 2023 | Tinubu on Gabon: In Talks with World Leaders to Address Spreading Autocracy | President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, officially reacted to the unconstitutional change of government in neighbouring Republic of Gabon, and said he was already in talks with other world leaders on how to respond to the spreading autocratic tendencies across the continent. Addressing newsmen on the development at State House, Abuja, presidential spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed that Tinubu expressed deep concern over the coup d’état in Gabon. Ngelale said Tinubu firmly believed power belonged to the African people, and not the barrel of a gun. The presidential spokesperson also disclosed that Tinubu, yesterday afternoon, had a “fruitful” telephone conversation with the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the coup in Gabon and last month’s unconstitutional change of government in Niger Republic. Soldiers, yesterday, staged a coup in Libreville, the Gabonese capital, and toppled the government of President Ali Bongo whose family has been in power for over 50 years cumulatively. | Bola Tinubu, Nigeria, ECOWAS, Gabon, Coup D'état, Ali Bongo | Page 10 | |