NUPENG writes Sanwo-Olu, threatens to withdraw services over harassment
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) Workers, the Lagos branch, has written to Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos State, over the constant harassment of its members by some unidentified persons operating as “tax collectors”.
In their letter dated October 28, 2022, the union said that it was pressed to bring to the attention of the governor for quick resolution, the activities of some criminal elements who constitute a menace along the Eleko Ibeju and Lekki Free Trade Zone as community youths parading themselves under the name of Indigenous Unity Forum.
NUPENG claimed that the group had been harassing and extorting money from their members who plied these roads and that they had threatened to seize the trucks of their members who did not comply with their directives to pay these dues.
The association has threatened to suspend its activities in Lagos State if the extortion of its members by this group is not stopped.
Obi kicks off campaign in Nasarawa
Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, will kick off his presidential campaign on Saturday (today) in Nasarawa State ahead of the 2023 general election.
Doyin Okupe, the Director General of the National Campaign Council, revealed this in a statement released on Friday.
Okupe promised that the Obi/Datti campaign train would not only be resounding but would send a strong signal to other parties about their party strength ahead of the 2023 general election.
According to him, the “Obidient” movement is very strong and all-embracing, especially since the emergency of Obi and Datti as the party representatives in the upcoming presidential poll in 2023.
About the Obidient movement, Okupe said that the movement “is total and all-embracing and has announced their entry into the political space since June when Peter Obi and Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmad emerged as the presidential and vice presidential candidates of the LP.”
Read also: Doyin Salami, Yuguda, Onyeali-Ikpe, Chike-Obi for CIBN awards Saturday
2023: ECOWAS Mission meets Lagos PDP governorship candidate
The ECOWAS Fact-Finding Mission for Nigerian Elections says the 2023 general elections remain important to the African continent and beyond, hence the need for stakeholders to play active roles to achieve democratic expectations.
The mission’s head, Kwadu Afari-gyan, a former Chairman of Ghana’s Electoral Commission, made this remark on Friday during a courtesy visit to Dr Abdul-Azeez Adediran alias Jandon, the Lagos state PDP Governorship Candidate, and his campaign team at the Liberty House in Ikeja.
According to NAN, Afari-Gyan said that the need for free, fair, and credible elections brought the mission to Nigeria to see how the process had been going and how to overcome the challenges identified.
He said that the mission of the delegation was to talk with INEC, security agencies and other stakeholders and see how to promote a credible election come 2023.
The mission also promised to carry out this widespread consultation with other groups across the country.
“These elections are going to be very important not only for Nigeria but for all of us in Africa and even beyond Africa. We dare not fail. To fail, it is going to spell doom far beyond Nigeria. That is how critical these our elections are.
“For us, we want free, fair and credible elections but the word ‘free’ and ‘fair’ carry important contents- It must be free to do certain things and elections must be free from certain things.
“What should be fair, and who should be fair? We must think about all these,” Afari-gyan said.
Intruder beat Pelosi’s husband with hammer in their home
Nancy Pelosi’s husband was viciously attacked by an intruder with a hammer on Friday at the couple’s San Francisco home.
The Associated Press reported that the intruder, who was searching for the House Speaker, screamed: “Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?” and when he couldn’t find the speaker, he used a hammer to attack her husband.
Police were called to the home to check on Paul Pelosi at about 2:30 a.m. when they discovered the 82-year-old and the suspect, 42-year-old David Depape, both grabbing onto the hammer, said Police Chief William Scott. The intruder yanked it from Pelosi and began beating him before being subdued and arrested by officers.
The speaker was in Washington, where she had been scheduled to appear with Vice President Kamala Harris at a fundraising event Saturday night for the LGBTQ group Human Rights Campaign, 11 days before congressional elections that have been filled with harsh, sometimes violent rhetoric. Pelosi canceled her appearance.
The intruder’s shouts in Pelosi’s California home were an unsettling echo of the chants during the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol when rioters trying to stop Joe Biden’s election searched menacingly through the halls for the speaker. Police said a motive for Friday’s intrusion was still being determined, but three people with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that Depape targeted Pelosi’s home.
GM pauses advertising on Twitter after Elon Musk takeover
General Motors(GM) released a statement on Friday saying that it has decided to put a pause on its advertising on the Twitter platform following Elon Musk’s takeover.
GM, which sees Tesla CEO Elon Musk as a rival in the same automobile industry, said that it is making the change while it evaluates “Twitter’s new direction.” It said it will still utilise the platform to interact with customers but will not pay for advertising.
This is according to CNN.
“We are engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership. As is normal course of business with a significant change in a media platform, we have temporarily paused our paid advertising,” the company said in an emailed statement.
