The mayor of Banjul City Council (BCC), Rohey Malick Lowe, on Wednesday 5 July 2023 pointed out that there is no reason why women should not seize the opportunity and the advantages that exist, while forging ahead with their political agenda and not to pay attention to intimidation and hate speeches.

The Banjul mayor made this statement at the advocacy training workshop on Gender for women councilors organised by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.

Mayor Lowe besides noted that she thinks women need to be supported and encouraged to join politics. According to her, it is a widely held view that when women are in decision-making and political leadership positions, society stands to gain.

She also said that limited capacity on the part of the women hinders them from standing up for their rights.

“There is the lack of political will to ensure gender equality is respected at all levels of governance and in all sectors of the society. The Civil Society Organisations pay little focus on gender issues which to me, needs a lot more of attention as it is a global issue,” she stressed.

Lowe acknowledged that joining politics requires financial resources and women generally are unable to afford the huge financial demands – saying that mainly accounts for women’s non-engagement in politics.

Rohey also stated that the government of The Gambia has elaborated a National Gender Policy with the aim of achieving gender equity and women empowerment as an integral part of the national development process through enhancing participation of women and men, girls and boys for sustainable and equitable development and poverty reduction, which she believes is a laudable initiative.

However, she added that it would be interesting to know how far this policy has been implemented.

“One of the recommendations that can resolve this issue across board is to adopt a quota system. Senegal, our close neighbour is enjoying 47% of women’s representation at the local level. This is because they have adopted the list system whereby any list that any political party submits must have a 50 – 50 representation of both men and women. This has solved the gender leadership representation at local level. “This or a similar architecture may be a solution to getting more women in politics especially at the local government level,” she suggested.

Credit to: Thepoint.gm

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Kenyan Proverb (Kenya)

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President of the Senate Godswill Akpabio on Tuesday  formally announced the leadership of the Senate of the 10th  National Assembly.

According to the Senate President , the emergence of the new principal officers was arrived at after wide consultation and approval by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

To this end, Senator representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District, Bamidele Opeyemi  emerged Majority Leader of the 10th Senate.

lso, Senator representing Borno South Senatorial District, Ali Ndume was announced the Senate Chief Whip.

Senator representing Ebonyi South, David Umahi  emerged the Deputy Majority Leader of the Senate while  Senator Lola  Ashiru  representing Kwara North emerged the Deputy Majority Whip of the Senate.

In another development, Akpabio also announced principal officers from minority parties with Senator Mwadkwon Simon Davou , a PDP member representing Plateau North Senatorial district  emerged as  the Minority Leader

Also Senator Oyewumi Kamorudeen Olarere PDP  representing Osun West is now the new  Deputy Minority Leader

Other political parties from the opposition wing also also benefited from principal leadership with Senator Darlington Nwokeocha, a Labour Party member from  Abia Central emerged the Minority Whip while  Senator  Rufai Hanga of the New Nigeria People’s Party from Kano Central emerged the Deputy Minority Whip

The emergence of the Senate principal officers has up to an end various speculations in the media as the atmosphere in the chamber was calmed and the Senate later went into a closed session and later reconvened without any further announcement.

Credit to: Tribuneonlineng

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has closed its defence in the petition filed by the Labour Party after calling one witness at the Presidential Election Petitions Court.

At the resumed hearing of the petition filed by the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi on Tuesday, the electoral umpire called one Lawrence Bayode, a Director in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Department of the Commission.

READ ALSO: INEC To Prosecute 215 Electoral Offences Cases, Partners NBA

The witness admitted that some of the results were downloaded from INEC’s portal. He also insisted under cross-examination that the results of the February 25 presidential election released by the commission are authentic.

Lawyer to the Labour Party, Patrick Ikwueto disagreed, saying the results could not be authentic when they were largely unreadable.

INEC’s lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) also tendered some documents in evidence.

Under cross-examination, the witness said that even if blurred documents were downloaded from the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV), it would not affect the physical results as recorded in Forms EC8As which are not blurred.

According to Bayode, the images of Forms EC8A captured with BVAS and transmitted to IReV are not relevant for the collation of results.

He told the court that the glitch recorded during the presidential election did not affect the collation of the results.

For his part, the lawyer to President Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) said his clients would open their defence in the petition on Wednesday.

Credit to: channelNews

APA-Banjul (The Gambia) President Adama Barrow has with effect from July 1st redeployed senior government functionaries and appointed new ones.

Under the new arrangement, Mr. Hassan Jallow, Permanent Secretary at the Agriculture Ministry has been redeployed to the Office of The President (OP).

Mr. Abdoulie Jallow who was the permanent secretary at the Agriculture ministry has been sent to the Finance and Economic Affairs ministry as PS.

Ms. Roheyatou Kah, PS Ministry of Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters, is redeployed to the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources (MECCNAR).

She replaces PS Alhagie Nyangado who has been moved to the Fisheries Ministry.

In an appointment which comes into effect on 1st August, 2023, Mr. Buba Sanyang, PS for the Ministry of Lands, Regional Administration and Religious Affairs has been sent to the Ministry of Tourism and Culture.

Mr. Samba Camara Mballow, PS, Office of The Vice President will on the 14th October 2023, be the new PS Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare.

Four other DPSs are affected by the rotation including Deputy Permanent Secretaries: Mr. Alhagie Taal, DPS of the Finance and Economic Affairs Ministry who is redeployed to the Tourism Ministry replacing DPS Mamady Dampha who is moved to the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment (MOTIE).

Mr. Hassan Gaye, DPS of MOTIE is the new DPS at the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy (MOCDE) while Mr. Ebrima Drammeh, DPS, Office of The President, is now Deputy Governor of the Lower River Region.

PR/APA

Credit to: apanews.net

Tinubu made the remark on Monday when he met the new National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu and the new service chiefs for the first time, since their appointment on June 19, 2023.

The NSA told State House Correspondents afterward that the President assured the service chiefs of his unwavering support during the meeting.

Ribadu, who said the service chiefs, on their part, pledged their loyalty to the President and Nigerians, also underlined their commitment to work tirelessly to secure the country.

Ribadu said, “We are here to thank Mr President for the opportunity he gave us to serve our country and to serve his own government. We also pledged our loyalty to him, to Nigeria and Nigerians.

“We believe that the choice he made is the right one, the correct one, and we know what he wants for this country. We are going to work tirelessly to ensure that we accomplish that objective of securing our country, establishing peace, stability and let’s get our lives back.”

The NSA, who is a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), said although the task ahead is a big one, it would be done.

“Where we are today, and you can see already, things are improving in our country. If you see, the record of crimes and activities of criminals are going down, it will continue to go down. We’ll secure this place,” he said.

“Nigerians have seen the quality of the people that are given the opportunity, they are probably some of the best we have and they are not going to fail you, they’ll certainly deliver.”

The Chief of Defence Staff, Maj. Gen. C.G Musa; the Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen T. A Lagbaja; the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral E. A Ogalla; and the Chief of Air Staff, AVM H.B Abubakar, were at the meeting.

The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun was also present at the security meeting.

Credit to: Channels News

Smiles lit his face as he took his seat among President Bola Tinubu’s disciples, associates and other statesmen.

It was a day of reunion. For the first time in four years, former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode was reunited with his leader. That was after the seeming parting of ways, following the 2014 governorship primary, which he lost to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

Although the reception was organised for the President by his successor, Ambode also received special attention.

It was at the Lagos State House, Marina, which hosted him as chief executive between 2015 and 2019.

Ambode made an unexpected public appearance. The former governor shook hands warmly with many dignitaries. They included his colleagues in the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), members of the National Assembly and other presidential aides.

Ambode appeared to be in high spirits. He hugged and patted other dignitaries on the back. Many were happy that the curtains have been drawn on four years of self-alienation and political seclusion.

Mr. Consolidator Ambode joined his successor, Mr. Sellable Sanwo-Olu, and his predecessor, Mr. Actualiser Babatunde Fashola, to present a special gift to Asiwaju Tinubu, their godfather, leader and benefactor.

The trio have served the state diligently. Under Tinubu’s tutelage. Fashola was Chief of Staff and Commissioner in the Cabinet Office when Sanwo-Olu was special adviser and Ambode was Accountant-General.

Sanwo-Olu also served under Fashola as commissioner and Ambode as Permanent Secretary.

Under Ambode, Sanwo-Olu was the Managing Director of Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC).

The trio earned their positions under Tinubu by dint of hardwork and loyalty. But Ambode is significant as the bridge that connected the past with the present in Lagos State.

The implication of his aloofness is that he cut himself off from the party and the political family that made him. Today, it is evident that a number of post-2019 actors have emerged in Lagos who neither knew nor bore any allegiance to Ambode.

President Tinubu who groomed past and emerging leaders in the Centre of Excellence knows their strengths and weaknesses. Thus, in the final analysis, his judgment which either led to the approval and disapproval of their bids for further service cannot be faulted.

Like Awo, Tinubu believes that if an opportunity to serve is temporarily lost or the platform requires one of its members to jettison personal agenda so that the collective interest could be upheld, accommodation would still be found for the affected individual within the larger interest of the party.

Beaming with smiles, the president was in a reflective mood at Marina, where he once called the shots between 1999 and 2007, as Sanwo-Olu, Ambode and Fashola paid tribute to him.

He said he was happy that his three children have done him proud. He ended his speech with acknowledgment of Ambode’s presence, saying: “Thank you Akin”.

The unifying event, the dinner for the president, trailed a semblance of reconciliation and peace mission to the Ikoyi residence of Ambode by Sanwo-Olu on his 60th birthday, June 14.

The two APC chieftains were locked in sober reflection. Sanwo-Olu displayed humility and maturity by storming Ikoyi to celebrate with Ambode, who in 2019 used unprintable words freely on him before and after the governorship primary.

Ambode, who expressed gratitude to the governor, was polite. He displayed understanding, and the visitor and host agreed that politics should not be the dividing wedge.

What next after the Marina unification? Since 2019, Ambode has shunned party activities. It was a curious adjustment mechanism to the pain of second term ticket loss. Yet, he never announced that he had quit politics.

The former governor never showed up at the Governance Advisory Council (GAC) meeting, although he is a member. He also distanced himself from activities that culminated in the last general election.

Ambode was named as a member of APC contact committee after he left office. The impact of the panel was insignificant. He also seemed to have severed cord with past APC governors and other influential leaders.

Yesterday’s event, according to observers, marked Ambode’s reintegration into the ruling party, Lagos politics and public life.

Will the former governor finally put the past behind him and face the future with hope, confidence and optimism?

credit to: Nigerian Tribune

Opposition candidate and former military junta leader, Julius Madaa Bio, was sworn in as Sierra Leone’s new president late on Wednesday, just hours after the elections commission announced his victory in a tight run-off poll.

He now faces the difficult task of rebuilding the impoverished West African nation’s economy that was dragged
down by the world’s deadliest Ebola epidemic and a global slump in commodity prices.

Representing the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), Mr. Bio won 51.81 per cent of votes cast in the March 31 poll,
according to results announced by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) on Wednesday.

He defeated former foreign affairs minister and ruling All People’s Congress (APC) candidate Samura Kamara,
who had held a slight lead based on partial results earlier in the day but in the end garnered 48.19 per cent.

Dressed in traditional white robes, Mr. Bio was sworn in just before midnight at a hotel in the capital Freetown,
raising in the air the Bible upon which he swore the oath of office to the cheers of supporters.

“This is the dawn of a new era. The people of this great nation have voted to take a new direction,” he
said in a speech following the short ceremony in which he made an appeal for national unity.

“We have only one country, Sierra Leone, and we are all one people.”

Mr. Bio, who briefly ruled Sierra Leone as head of a military junta in 1996, replaces outgoing President Ernest Koroma,
who could not seek re-election due to term limits.

The largely peaceful election process has come as a relief for the country of seven million people, who in the
1990s endured a brutal civil war fueled by the diamond trade and notorious for its drug-addled child
soldiers and punitive amputations.

SLPP supporters packed into the NEC headquarters on Wednesday, and following the announcement of the election
results party officials urged Mr. Bio’s backers to remain calm.

“Celebrate responsibly. Do not disturb your neighbour. Victory for all men, not victory for some.

“Everyone in, no one out,” the party’s campaign manager, Ali Kabba, said.

Opposition supporters, confident of victory, sang and danced in the streets of Freetown on Wednesday evening hours
before Mr. Bio was officially declared the winner.

“I feel happy about the results. I am here because my president Julius Maada Bio has won the election in this
country,” said Adolfus Kargbo, among a group of SLPP supporters chanting Maada Bio’s name.

(Reuters/NAN)

Sierra Leone’s election commission has declared incumbent Julius Maada Bio the winner of the country’s tense presidential election, following a process disputed by the main opposition party.

Chief Electoral Commissioner Mohamed Kenewui Konneh said on Tuesday that Bio was re-elected with 56.17 percent of Saturday’s vote. His top challenger Samura Kamara, of the All People’s Congress (APC), came second with 41.16 percent.

“By the powers invested in me… I hereby certify that Bio Julius Maada… [is] duly elected president,” Konneh said.

The announcement comes after supporters of both parties had claimed to have won in recent days, with Kamara saying that he was on an “irreversible path to an overwhelming victory”. He also alleged that security forces had opened fire on Sunday on a celebration at his party’s headquarters, though police denied having fired live bullets.

Vote tallying had already been disputed by the APC, which condemned in a statement on Monday an alleged lack of inclusiveness, transparency and responsibility by the electoral commission.

The party pointed to the lack of information about which polling stations or districts the ballots were coming from.

It had said it “will not accept these fake and cooked up results”.

In a follow-up statement, it alleged “over-voting” in some areas and said the party “continues to reject” the “fabricated results” and “reaffirms our victory”.

European Union observers said, at a press conference on Monday, that a lack of transparency and communication by the electoral authority had led to mistrust in the electoral process.

The monitors said they witnessed violence at seven polling stations during voting hours and at three others during the closing and counting stages.

The June 24 vote was the fifth since the end of Sierra Leone’s civil war in 2002 and was held amid high unemployment and inflation, as well as growing violent rhetoric.

Bio, a former coup leader in the 1990s, has championed education and women’s rights in his first civilian term that was, however, mired by growing frustration over economic hardship.

Rising prices spurred unusually violent protests last year, and the APC had been banking on the enduring cost-of-living crisis to win votes.

According to the World Bank, the economic downturn has stalled hopes of recovery in Sierra Leone, where widespread underemployment persists and more than half of the population lives in poverty.

Bio has faced increasing criticism because of debilitating economic conditions that Kamara pledged to improve.

Nearly 60 percent of Sierra Leone’s population of more than seven million are facing poverty, with youth unemployment being one of the highest in West Africa.

Credit to Aljazeera