Hon. Mbonu Chidiebere Blog

By Dapo Akinrefon The Forum of Nigerian Leaders and Elders has picked holes in the outcome  of  the  February 23 presidential election, insisting that President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory is illegitimate. While it reviewed major developments leading to the election, the management of the electoral process, the conduct and announced outcome of the election, the Forum said the poll was fraught with irregularities. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) immediately fired back, saying the Forum’s position was irrelevant after Nigerians had spoken at the polls. The Forum had, in the run-up to the general elections, endorsed the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, “on account of his understanding of the critical needs of the country at this time”. In a communiqué issued at the end of a summit in Abuja on February 4, three weeks before the presidential and National Assembly elections, and read by the spokesman for Afe...

More than 50 people are missing after a leaking oil pipeline exploded and caused a stampede in southern Nigeria, a local official said Saturday. The blast early Friday caused massive oil spillage in the Nembe kingdom in Bayelsa state, the Nembe Chiefs Council spokesman, Chief Nengi James-Eriworio, told The Associated Press. The Nembe trunk line is operated by the Port Harcourt-based Aiteo Group and carries crude to the Bonny export terminal. Aiteo had yet to comment on the explosion. It was not immediately clear if the pipeline had been shut down. “If they turn off the oil well from the station, the pressure inside the pipeline would reduce, causing the flame to burn out,” one person is heard in the background explaining. The Niger Delta is highly polluted. Nigerian oil companies usually assert that the majority of oil spills are caused by sabotage, theft and illegal refining. Deadly accidents caused by leaking pipelines are alarmingly common. In January, an overturned ...

Igbo Patriotic Forum (IPF) has congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on his victory in the last Saturday presidential and national assembly poll. Describing the President’s re-election as an opportunity for Nigerians to witness more infrastructural development across the country. While acknowledging the achievements of the federal government thus far, spokesman of IPF, Mazi Anthony Anyim, called on other Nigeria leaders to join hands with President Buhari in advancing the cause of Nigeria. He urged the leadership of the APC to zone the position of Senate Presidency to the South East, adding that Ndigbo had been marginalized by previous administrations. In a statement issued on Friday, the IPF called on Igbo sons and daughters to support the President Buhari-led government, stressing that the future of Nigeria is bright under the current administration. He said, “with the results of the February 23, 2019 presidential and national a...

Honourable Chijioke Okonkwo who is one of the strong PDP field players in Idemili North and South of Anambra state celebrates his birthday in a style.

Independent National Electoral Commission has declared Anambra South Senatorial election inconclusive over threat to the life of the returning officer. The Returning Officer for the senatorial election, Prof Meshach Umenweke, in a letter written and addressed yesterday to the Anambra Resident Electoral Commissioner, said the election that gave Ifeanyi Ubah the candidate of the Young Progressives Party, YPP, a controversial victory was now declared inconclusive. Umenweke is of the Department of Public and Private Law, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Anambra State. The returning officer claimed that he was forced to declare businessman, Ubah the winner to save his life. Copies of the letter made available to journalists in Awka yesterday, read in part, “That there were skirmishes within the compound of the Nnewi North Local Government Area (headquarters) where the results were being collated between the police and some thugs who sought to gain entrance to the area of collation...

The Biafra Nations Youth League, BNYL has called on Igbos in Lagos State to wage war against Yoruba leaders over violence during the presidential elections in the state. The Biafra group condemning the attacks against Igbos in Lagos, called on leaders to calm the situation in Lagos to avoid war in the state.National Leader of BNYL . The group further urged the Igbo population in Lagos to wage a fight back on the APC supporters of Yorubas if they refused to calm violence in the state. The statement read in part: “I think it is foolish of Southerners to fight and die for two northern brothers; the Western Leaders should calm the situation in if they don’t want war in Lagos. “Igbos and other tribes from the east should wage a fight back if the attacks continue. “No tribe can push the Igbo away from areas they have occupy and developed.”

Some political parties has called for total cancellation of the 2019 presidential elections over irregularities and electoral malpractices. The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has rejected the results of the Saturday’s presidential election currently being collated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Ugochinyere said, “The country did not erupt in wild jubilations, rather citizens are seen gathering in small clusters discussing in low tunes knowing that Nigeria is now perfectly on the path to disintegration and absence of growth and development. “We hereby, on behalf of the people of Nigeria reject the results of the elections and the purported victory of President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC and also declare the purported mandate which the President lays claim to as a stolen and illegitimate and which ought to be returned to the rightful owner. “In the glare of the whole world, the government killed its own citizens, cancelled results partic...