Day: March 28, 2023

The Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, received, this Tuesday, a written message from his Zimbabwean counterpart, Emmerson Mnangagwa, within the framework of strengthening bilateral cooperation.

The message was conveyed by Patrick Chinamasa, special envoy of the President of Zimbabwe, who at the end of the audience said that it was the intention of both governments to keep working for the unity and development of Southern Africa.

Patrick Chinamasa, who highlighted the importance of friendship and cooperation ties, recalled that Angola and Zimbabwe maintain deep and fruitful ties from a political, diplomatic and commercial point of view.

Located in Southern Africa, like Angola, the Republic of Zimbabwe is a country placed in the south area of the continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers.

Zimbabwe is bordered to the north by Zambia, to the north and east by Mozambique, to the south by South Africa and to the west by Botswana.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

Sen. Dayo Adeyeye, the National Coordinator of South West Agenda for Asiwaju (SWAGA), says lovers of democracy in the country will oppose constitution of any interim government ahead of the May 29 presidential inauguration.

The former senator and minister of state for works stated this in Abuja on Tuesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

NAN reports that SWAGA was one of the foremost support groups which campaigned for the election of Sen. Bola Tinubu, the President-elect.

Adeyeye cautioned those calling for an interim government as a way of placating the grievances of certain politicians following the outcome of the February 25 Presidential Election.

He said such calls were geared towards possible anarchy, thereby calling on all stakeholders in the nation’s democratic journey to resist the move, especially prophesies by some fake pastors.

He said that in every election there must be a winner and loser, and that Nigerian politicians must develop the spirit of sportsmanship in their electoral contests rather than threatening national peace and unity at every opportunity.

“I am not saying the elections are perfect, but from the point of view of INEC and point of view of any objective Nigerian, these elections are very good and transparent, making it the best ever to be conducted since 1999.

“I want to appeal to all Nigerians to disregard the noise making of these people who want to create anarchy and that Nigerians should begin to reason and desist from fake prophecies.

“I saw a video and I think this is what is propelling the so-called “Obidients”. A fake pastor was saying that yes, Tinubu will be declared winner but he would not be sworn in. And an interim government would be formed and the government will give it to Peter Obi.

“And I Dayo Adeyeye will be a citizen of this country and allow that to happen? It is not going to happen. We will join forces with others to oppose it.”

He further cautioned that those nursing such an ambition were capable of destroying the country and tear it apart.

“You want to destroy the country, you want to tear it apart and say bye bye to Nigeria? Some of us who are patriotic citizens of this country will not allow that to happen.

“Would I have voted my candidate and he emerged and he was declared and you will now say no, you are looking for an interim government? On what ground are you looking for that?

“What will be the legitimacy of that interim government? Who voted the interim government and who constitutes the interim government? On what mandate will the interim government be constituted and who and who will be members? These are the big questions to ask.

“Millions of Nigerians have exercised their civil rights and a winner has emerged. Well, you may not like the person. That’s the beauty of democracy.

‘i want to say that interim government will never happen again in this country. Some of us who fought for NADECO will not allow it. In the case of June 12, 1993, the results were not even declared.

“But in this case, the results have been declared, we have a President-elect. May 29 is around the corner and a new president would be sworn in.

“Anything short of that means you are asking for Nigeria to come to an end. Therefore, those calling for an interim government should go and bury the thought. It will never happen.

“Elections are over now and I have been waiting for the past four weeks for any of the opposition political parties to come out with their own version of results apart from what INEC uploaded, nobody has come up with anything other than shouting that they’ve been rigged.

“That’s the proof of rigging. Yes, you can say from our agents these are the numbers of votes given to us by our agents and these are the figures uploaded by INEC. We’ve not seen such claim by anyone yet.

“Instead, they’ve been spreading hatred, trying to create anarchy and cast aspersions on the integrity of the INEC.

“They have been creating impressions not only within the country but in the international community that the election was anything but free, fair and transparent, without any proof, without any evidence and any alternative results they can present anywhere,” he said.

Adeyeye further said that, ” now they have gone to court, good let them go and prove their cases in court. But for you to be demonstrating everyday and going to foreign embassies in Nigeria that your elections were rigged; I will never agree with that.”

He, therefore praised the INEC and in particular thanked its chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu for giving Nigerians an election which according to him, has further engendered the unity of the country.

“This is the type of election that brings unity to the country.

“A candidate from southwest was able to win in Jigawa, Zamfara and Sokoto. This is in spite of the fact that it was a Muslim) Muslim ticket. We buried religious and tribal sentiments.

” A candidate from southeast was able to win in Lagos and Plateau, while Atiku was able to win in Osun. I think this should be able to bring Nigerians closer and unify us rather than threatening our togetherness,” he said.(NAN)

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Federal Government, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), on Tuesday evacuated 151 stranded Nigerians from Benghazi, Libya as the government resumed its voluntary evacuation in Libya.

Amb. Kabiru Musa, Charge D’affiares en titre of the Nigerian Mission in Libya, made this known in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.

According to Musa, the evacuees who included 71 females, 54 males, 14 children and 13 infants are expected to arrive at the Murtala Mohammed Airport Lagos at 8 p.m.

Musa said that in 2022, the IOM, Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Nigerian Mission in Libya, successfully repatriated almost 4,000 Nigerians who were irregular migrants in the country.

He said that the March 28 voluntary evacuation was the first in the year with several other exercises to follow in the coming days and weeks.

“Under the IOM’s voluntary repatriation exercise, we successfully evacuated 151 stranded Nigerians from the city of Benghazi to Lagos, Nigeria at 16:00 hours local time aboard chartered flight no. UZ189.

“The flight is expected to arrive the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos at 20:00 hours Nigerian time the same day.

“There are several Nigerians living illegally in this country who have been subjected to very inhumane treatment, and the Federal Government, through the Mission here, has continued to intervene with local authorities to stop this.

“The voluntary repatriation offers an opportunity for those who want to return to Nigeria to do so safely and reunite with their families.

“There are always officials of relevant government agencies on ground to receive them and ensure their resettlement and reintegration back to society,” Musa said.

Musa said that more Nigerians would be evacuated from Tripoli on Wednesday, with another exercise to be carried out on April 3 from Misrata, Libya. (NAN)

Source: News Agency of Nigeria