PoliticsAndMe

*Nigerians Are Unintentionally Enriching Amupitan’s Bank Accounts!*

_By Farooq Kperogi_

It looks like Nigerians tried to confirm whether the X account , later changed to after pro-APC posts appeared, belongs to INEC chairman Professor Joash Amupitan. They used X’s “forgot password” option.

When you do that, X requests a username, email, or phone number. People entered the email and phone listed in Amupitan’s public CV. After X found the account, it showed partial recovery details that matched the same email and phone.

To double check, they tested the phone number via Opay and GTBank transfers. The name that came up was “Joash Ojo Amupitan.” That’s institutional data tied to BVN-linked bank records, so it’s hard to dispute.

For more confirmation, they ran the number through Truecaller. It showed “Joash Ojo Amupitan (Prof).” Truecaller is crowdsourced, but when it matches CV details and bank-verified names, the overlap is tough to ignore.

Nigerians went further. They messaged the email tied to the account, which is in his CV and university profile, telling him to resign. That email has now reportedly been deactivated.

Once convinced the pro-Tinubu account was his, people started calling and texting the number until it was turned off.

Then the approach changed. They began sending ₦1 or ₦10 transfers to his Opay and GTB accounts, using the payment notes to demand his resignation.

So in an odd turn, public anger is boosting his bank balance. Picture millions sending tiny amounts just to make a point. His accounts grow daily. You could call it an accidental money-making tragedy.

At this stage, denying he owns the account is just embarrassing and chips away at whatever credibility Amupitan has left. It’s like claiming your hands are clean while they’re still in the cookie jar.

Since resigning over conflict of interest is rare in Nigeria, the reasonable move for Amupitan is honesty. He should admit he backed Tinubu as a private citizen and say he’s now dropped partisan leanings as INEC chairman.

It might not feel genuine, but it’s far better than trying to hide in plain sight and expecting no one to notice.

STATEHOUSE PRESS RELEASE

PRESIDENT TINUBU CONGRATULATES APC SPOKESMAN FELIX MORKA ON HIS BIRTHDAY

President Bola Tinubu congratulates Mr Felix Morka, national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on his birthday on April 12.

The President shares in the joys of the occasion with the National Executive Council (NEC), the National Working Committee (NWC), and all members of the party as Morka celebrates another year in good health.

President Tinubu acknowledges the pedigree of the APC spokesman, especially as a human rights advocate who worked extensively with civil society organisations before venturing into politics, bringing his vast experience in strategic communication to properly interpret and explain the party's manifesto.

The President states that Morka, who is also the chairman of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), has continued to build understanding between the governing party and citizens, contributing to the exponential growth in membership.

President Tinubu commends the national publicity secretary for the maturity and wisdom he brings to the position, and for ensuring effective internal and external communications.

The President prays for the well-being of the APC spokesman and his family.

VILLA INFOSTRATIC • https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaDv4bi3mFY1oxrgLl25 (FOLLOW)

NON-INDIGENES DONATE CAMPAIGN SECRETARIAT, BUSES AS ARISE WITH RENEWED HOPE DEEPENS UNITY AND MOBILISATION
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‎The Arise with Renewed Hope Initiative on Thursday, April 9, extended its mobilisation drive to the non-indigene community in Akwa Ibom State, bringing together diverse ethnic groups resident in the state in what has been described as a defining moment of unity, inclusion, and political consolidation.
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‎The event, held at the Non-Indigene Secretariat, Ewet Housing Estate, Uyo, drew participants from across Nigeria’s ethnic nationalities who live and do business in the state, effectively positioning the non-indigene community as a symbolic “32nd Local Government Area” of Akwa Ibom.
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‎Driving the core message of the engagement, the President-General of the initiative, Engr. Uwem Okoko, reinforced the strategic importance of the non-indigene population in the political architecture of the state. He described them as a critical bloc whose contributions to economic growth and social stability cannot be overlooked.
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‎He further announced the inclusion of non-indigene representatives into the initiative’s structure across all previously toured local government areas, ensuring broader participation and inclusivity.
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‎He emphasised that the integration of non-indigenes into the movement reflects a deliberate effort to unify all residents under a common purpose of progress, peace, and political advancement in support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno.
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‎In his welcome remark, the Coordinator of Non-Indigenes in Akwa Ibom State, Amb. Sunday Usikhifo, expressed deep appreciation to the state government for fostering a peaceful and business-friendly environment that has enabled non-indigenes to thrive. He highlighted the importance of sustained peace and security as key drivers of economic activity and social harmony.
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‎As part of his commitment to the growth and institutional strength of the non-indigene community, Amb. Usikhifo announced the donation of a fully completed two-storey secretariat complex comprising 33 offices, aimed at providing a central administrative hub for the association.
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‎In addition, he donated three buses to support the operational activities of the group, formally handing them over to the President-General of the initiative.
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‎Setting the tone for the engagement, the International Coordinator, Sir Udo Kierian Akpan, underscored the significance of unity across ethnic and cultural lines, noting that the strength of Akwa Ibom lies in its diversity and collective commitment to peaceful coexistence and development.
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‎The highlight of the event was the formal inauguration of the Non-Indigene Association Executive Council, with Amb. Sunday Usikhifo as Coordinator, Mrs. Tope Balogun as Deputy Coordinator, and Alhaji Ibrahim Ilya as Secretary.
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‎Other members of the council include High Chief Dame Ngozi Igwe, Mr. Abdulateef Adebanjo, Mr. Philip Otuoma, Mr. Maxwell Ntul, Chief Ukachukwu Ogbonna, Rev. Seimiekumo Steve, Mr. Theophilus Ajakaiye, Mr. Emmanuel Ajah Ogbonna, Kosuk Monday, Mrs. Tari Adesoye, Comrade Chinagorom Asika, Jonathan Ifekwenne, Mamuda Tanko, Mrs. Gloria Afujue, Mr. Julius Ogungbemi, Chief Wisdom Kenechukwu, Asemota Osayi, Mr. Tabi Frederick, Mr. Sakiru Awoga, Mr. Manu Methodius Chukwuemeka, Mrs. Philo Baarong Binang, Alhaji Umaru Ali, Ichie Egbe Aleke, Pst. Macqueen Henunumwen, Mahmud Sali, Ejoke Okpura, and Gloria Michael, among others.
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‎Also inaugurated was the Non-Indigene Associations Advisory Council, chaired by Elder Ononode Obareki with members including Hon. Kaycee Chididali, Prof. Isaac Ayandele, Alhaji Kayode Oyekunle, Chief Adeeyo Adeboyega, Mr. Olalunde Napoleon Femi, Prince Adeboyega Isiak Adegboke, Mr. Olamide Ogunfunkehin, Chief Tejagbaye T. Brown, Madam Faith Usikhio, Engr. Robinson Usabor, Engr. Benedict Ikenga, Gen. Nico Sinate, Chief Ibor Eni, High Chief Sir Ezeoma Innocent Igwe, Mr. Taye Ishola, Mr. Philip Otuoma Otuh, Chief Chikwado Ubah, Alhaji Prince Ahmed, Alhaji Hassan Dankala, Bishop Daniel Muoto, Imam Bello Danladi, Archbishop Madu Daniel, Adamsu Alex, Akinyele Aderibigbe, Chief Okena Ohiamwen Destiny, Mr. Azim Hussain Zaman, Angela Michael, Olisa Nwogbo, and Ezuma Emmanuel, among others.
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‎Goodwill messages reflected the broad-based support and unity across ethnic divides, with contributions from Chief T. T. Brown representing the Niger Delta community; Alhaji Ibrahim Ilya representing the Arewa Hausa community; Prof. Isaac Ayodele representing the Yoruba (Oduduwa) community of South-West Nigeria; High Chief Dame Ngozi Igwe and Chief Ukachukwu Ogbonna representing the Igbo community of South-East Nigeria; Mr. Emmanuel Usikhifo; Emmanuel Owala, SA to the Governor on Creative Talent Development; Alhaji Umaru Ali; and Mr. Emmanuel Obgole.
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‎The event concluded with the commissioning and inspection of the newly donated secretariat complex and buses. Highpoints of the ceremony included the formal ribbon-cutting and vibrant cultural displays by representatives of the four major ethnic blocs Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, and Niger Delta showcasing unity in diversity and reinforcing the spirit of national integration within Akwa Ibom State.

Sen. Akpabio’s daughter announced as State Director of City Boy Movement

The National leadership of the City Boy Movement has appointed Miss Iniabasi Godswill Akpabio, daughter of the Senate President as its State Director in Akwa Ibom.

The appointment was confirmed in a terse statement on the Movement’s verified X handle on Thursday, and forms part of efforts to expand the Movement’s grassroots presence and strengthen youth-focused programmes across the South-South region.

According to the statement, the Movement in the state is set for unprecedented impact under the leadership of Iniabasi Akpabio.

The statement reads: “Introducing the Akwa Ibom State Director of the City Boy Movement. Iniabasi Godswill Akpabio. With her at the helm in Akwa Ibom, the movement is set for unprecedented impact.”

(C) TheMail Newspaper

INEC, David Mark, and Coming Abachaian Coronation

By Farooq Kperogi

With INEC's overtly partisan, intentionally illegal, and possibly remote-controlled withdrawal of recognition for the David Mark-led ADC, Nigeria has officially reverted to full-on Abacha-era suffocation of even the wispiest pretense to competitive electoral politics.

Lawyers have said that the judgment of the appeal court, which INEC invoked as a convenient crutch to carry out a predetermined action, said the status quo should be maintained. In other words, the judgment says David Mark should remain the chairman of the ADC until the merit of the appeal has been determined.

However, it appears that INEC is in the know of what the final judgment will be and decided to jump the gun. Yet the INEC chairman is a professor of law and a SAN! He can't even pretend to be neutral.

It seems obvious that the ADC faction INEC will ultimately recognize, as I predicted in my column of two weeks ago, will be the faction that will merely be an extension of the APC, much like the PDP now is. They will either present dummy candidates or adopt Tinubu as their candidate, which is a distinction without a difference.

It is obvious that Tinubu wants a coronation, not a competitive election, in 2027. He is scared to death about a real electoral contest. We all know why.

Well, according to public records, it cost around ₦300–₦355 billion to conduct the 2023 presidential election. It is projected that it will cost almost ₦870 billion to conduct the 2027 election.

Why should Nigeria spend close to a trillion naira on a preset, make-believe, Abachaian coronation exercise? Let’s kuku cancel democracy and make Tinubu the supreme leader. At least we would save a trillion naira.

APC Primaries: As Governor Umo Eno Insists On Agreements

By: Mmek-Abasi Akpabio

Governor Umo Eno has spoken well by saying even ahead of the primaries that he will keep to agreements he had with certain people. However, so far, he has not disclosed the nature of those agreements and when he entered into them. Yet, given the nature of politics, as soon as he said that, many have started to speculate that the Governor was perhaps referring to the assurances that he had given to all the incumbent State House of Assembly and National Assembly members who had accepted to follow him to decamp from the PDP to the APC.

If that is true, the Governor will have to take a second look at such a commitment and begin to see how he can tinker with it for a few reasons. Firstly, much as he will like to honour such commitments, he will also have to factor in the interest of 'original' APC members especially the ones with viable ambitions who had laboured to sustain the Party to the point of his arrival. Secondly, not all incumbents are performers for all of them to deserve such a wholesale return to office. Thirdly, there are specific constituencies with peculiarities such as clear cases of marginalization and therefore, the need for zoning. And fourthly, very importantly, the need to reduce rancour ( of course, in politics, that can't be avoided completely), but, it can be significantly minimized with dexterous balancing and accommodation of the various interests.

As the Executive Governor, beyond the elective offices, when he wins the election, he will still have so much in the tray of patrionage to dispense and compensate many interests on his 'IOU' list. He should therefore, not allow himself to be railroaded into a fixation with obnoxious agreements that might possibly return to haunt him either in the election or his legacy by being seen as a rabidly divisive leader. He belongs to all.

Whether we like it or not, no matter the pile of advantages that he may have as an incumbent on a federal government party platform, a contest will always remain a contest with some in-built elements of uncertainty. It is always not over until it is over. Governor Eno must therefore, begin to run away from the triumphalists amongst his base who may be telling him right now that he has already won the coming election. The late Arthur Nzeribe used to say "in politics one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day." He (the Governor)is a well- regarded Clergyman. Agreed politics is not Sunday School, but there are irreducible minimum level of subjugation of justice and fair play I believe he will not go below.

I support Governor Umo Eno's return in 2027, not because he doesn't have his weaknesses, but for the sake of stability and continuity. When the issue of his defection was a subject of debate in both the traditional and the new media before the d-day, I literally daily and perhaps, almost solitarily, mounted a defence for him on this platform, urging him not to waste a second in moving over to the APC because of his coming re-election project, whatever that amounted to.

I insist, let him sit down, isolate himself from the hawks and the triumphalists in his base and engage his conscience as a Pastor as he will be deciding on who and who will get the tickets of the Party in different constituencies for the various electoral offices. I repeat, performances and deliveries by the incumbents are not uniform, therefore, there should be no uniform consideration for return. And will it be fair to just casually shove aside everyone who had toiled in the former APC before his arrival with his entourage? To every rule, there are almost always exceptions. Let our Governor, a Pastor and father of the State, not in the name of keeping to agreements which, agreed, is a form of justice, in turn deny justice to the Party members that he and his crowd had gone to meet in the Party. They are equally Akwa Ibom sons and daughters with equal stake in the State. He must, therefore, lead the Party to explore all kinds of possibilities to accommodate different interests within the fundamentals of justice and balance.

Happy birthday Great one

BREAKING: Ex-NEXIM Bank MD, Robert Orya, sentenced to 490 years in prison over ₦2.4bn fraud

BREAKING: Ex-NEXIM Bank MD, Robert Orya, sentenced to 490 years in prison over ₦2.4bn fraud A former Managing Director of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Robert Orya, has been handed a cumulative jail term of 490 years over a ₦2.4 billion fraud.

https://www.arise.tv/assam-assam-cross-river-akwa-ibom-oil-wells-dispute-rooted-in-revenue-allocation-not-boundary-ambiguity/?fbclid=IwVERTSAPqi5FleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR5dx5FGHRkso86CGQodB2DvHCFrfcA_hNiUs4AAT8KAv5Y3g8Tsteo4WVRoYw_aem__IfhOSrfj6vVl6xzGJHL_g&sfnsn=scwspmo

Assam Assam: Cross River-Akwa Ibom Oil Wells Dispute Rooted In Revenue Allocation, Not Boundary Ambiguity Former ambassador Assam Assam says Cross River-Akwa Ibom disagreement centres on allocation of 218 new oil wells, not unresolved state boundaries.

*NEWS UPDATE*

*Akwa Ibom Reaffirms No Maritime Boundary With Cross River at RMAFC Hearing*

The Akwa Ibom State Government has reaffirmed that the State has no maritime boundary with Cross River State, stressing that the matter was conclusively settled by the Supreme Court.

The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Uko Udom, SAN, made the clarification on Thursday, January 29, 2026, during the hearing of the Inter-Agency Technical Committee (IATC) on Disputed/New Oil Wells, convened by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) in Abuja.

Udom recalled the Supreme Court’s July 10, 2o12 judgment, which followed the ICJ ruling of October 10,2002 , on the Nigeria–Cameroon boundary and effectively extinguished Cross River State’s estuarine sector. He noted that the apex court again reaffirmed this position in its July 10, 2012 judgment, holding that Cross River State is not a littoral state and therefore has no offshore entitlement.

In his remarks, Chief Assam Assam, SAN, stated that all issues relating to existing or new offshore oil wells fall squarely within the bona fide maritime territory of Akwa Ibom State, adding that the matters had long been duly settled by the courts.

Also speaking, Paul Usoro, SAN, cautioned against inflammatory statements and unfounded claims, stressing the need for due process. He insisted that all parties must be properly served with full details of the issues to be presented, to ensure full understanding and informed responses.

Udom further noted that despite Akwa Ibom’s posture of restraint and peace, including engagements with elder statesmen and stakeholders, such overtures were rebuffed, leading to renewed attempts to reopen settled matters concerning oil wells within the 200-metre isobath.

The hearing was adjourned to a later date to allow all parties to be formally served with the relevant documents and details of the proceedings ahead of full consideration.

Representing Akwa Ibom State at the meeting were:
Paul Usoro, SAN; Assam Assam, SAN; Uko Udom, SAN , Solomon Umoh , SAN , Uwemedimo Nwoko, SAN; Emmanuel Enoidem, SAN, former Attorney-General of Akwa Ibom State; Mr. Ekpenyong Ntekim, Commissioner for Finance; Emem Bob, Commissioner for Information; Dr. Aniekan Umanah, immediate past Surveyor-General of Akwa Ibom State; Mrs. Emem Isang, Honourable Member representing Ikot Ekpene Federal Constituency; Dr. Patrick Umoh, among others.

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