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Lobbyists Stranded As Tinubu Relocates From Bourdillon To ‘white House’
Politicians and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains who thronged the Bourdillon, Ikoyi, Lagos residence of President Bola Tinubu yesterday, to celebrate Eid-el-Kabir with him and continue their lobby for political appointments, were extremely disappointed.
Reason: The President has relocated to his recently refurbished ‘White House’ located on No. 4, Queens Drive in Ikoyi. Although some members of his family and personal aides attended to some party members and feted some Lagosians at Bourdillon, many politicians that attempted to see him at his Queens Drive residence were turned back by security agencies.
Sources said the President cancelled many appointments “to attend to some pressing national demands, and also needed more time to rest following his trip to France and the United Kingdom.”
People believed to be politicians in vehicles with tinted-glass were also turned back. Also, some clergymen dressed in cassock were not allowed to enter the palatial building, just as many reporters, including Television Continental (TVC) news crew were denied entrance.
The Guardian also sighted a man with a sick child on a wheelchair pleading with the security agencies to allow him to see the President. He left after several entreaties to security agents fell on deaf ears despite hours of staying at the ‘White House’ gate.
One of the guests, who was denied entrance, told The Guardian that he came from the mainland to present a gift to the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu.
He said: “The level of security here is expected. This is the residence of the President and it has to be heavily fortified. We don’t know who is who. I only came to drop a gift for the First Lady, but I wasn’t allowed. Maybe I will have to take it back.”
It was gathered in Lagos yesterday that members of the President’s kitchen cabinet were still debating on the percentage of professionals and politicians that will constitute the cabinet.
Sources said while the national secretariat of the ruling party is working to prune down a list of ministerial nominees from different states, special attention is said to be given to state chapters of APC with factions.
The source said: “There are plans to ensure that the appointment is used to bring together factions in some states and ensure peace in the party.”
Meanwhile, Vice President Kashim Shettima has assured that prompt attention would be given by the Tinubu administration towards addressing infrastructural deficits in the country.
Shettima gave the assurance yesterday, when he paid Sallah homage to the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Ibn Garbai El-Kanemi in Maiduguri. He specifically mentioned Gamboru Ngala, Dikwa as well as Damboa roads in Borno State among others, facing infrastructural challenges, which require government attention.
In his remarks, the governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Zulum, extolled the virtues of the Vice President as a man of the people, a grassroots politician, adding that it was the first visit of Shettima to the state.
Also in his welcome remarks, the Shehu of Borno, who spoke in Kanuri, praised the Vice President as a worthy son of Borno, stressing that the love the Vice President enjoyed reflected in the massive support they gave to him.
The Shehu solicited the support of the Tinubu administration to address the issue of bad roads and security challenges in the state and the country.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Anambra State Sector Command, has confirmed the death of a woman in an accident at Okpoko Market on the Asaba-Onitsha Road.
The Sector Commander, Mr Adeoye Irelewuyi, who confirmed the accident to journalists in Awka on Thursday, said that the woman was hit while she was crossing the road.
He said that the accident, which occurred on Wednesday, involved a commercial tow truck with registration number XA550BMA.
“Eyewitness report reaching us indicates that the truck was towing a vehicle in an uncontrollable speed along the axis.
“The vehicle that was being towed got detached from the tow truck.
“It hit and killed a female adult, who was said to be crossing the road, while the tow truck continued its movement.
“FRSC rescue team came to the scene and took the woman to Toronto Hospital, Onitsha, where she was confirmed dead and her body deposited at the hospital’s mortuary,” he said.
While sympathising with the family of the dead, the sector commander urged motorists, especially tow truck drivers, to exercise a high level of professionalism.
He also urged the drivers to always use standard equipment and avoid speeding.
The Chairman, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Lagos State Chapter, Mr Mojeed Iyiola, said the state government’s maize palliative to members of the association made a positive impact on the sector.
Iyiola said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.
“We received about 150,000 tons of maize in February from the Lagos State government as palliative to cushion the effect of high feed prices.
“The major benefit of the palliative is that it actually cushioned the cost of production for most poultry farmers in the state.
“The palliative was beneficial as it made the cost of some poultry produce, especially eggs to drop,” Iyiola said.
He noted that prior to the palliative, a crate of egg was sold between N3,500 and N3,700 at the farm gate, but after the palliative, it now sells between N3,200 and N3,400.
According to the PAN chair, retailers and middlemen who sell from N3,800 to N4,200 do that for their personal gain.
“We have urged our members to sell their eggs at reasonable prices following the receipt of the palliative from the government.
“We appreciate the Lagos State government for the palliative but we also urge the federal government to do likewise, to further reduce the cost of production in the sector.
“This will consequently lead to drop in the prices of all poultry produce across board,” he said.
He said the palliative was shared among financial members of the association at no extra cost.
“As an association we shared the grains equally across PAN’s eight zones in the state equally. We also mandated each zone not the sell even a grain of the maize.
“We, however, considered new poultry farmers who wanted to the join the association as beneficiaries of the palliative,” said Iyiola.
He noted that through the palliative, more poultry farmers were recruited into the association.
“The maize was shared only to poultry farmers and not feed millers, it is the major component of poultry feed formulation,” he said.
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