From Kingsley Wiseman (Yenegoa)

Bayelsa state governor, Senator Douye Diri has expressed his disagreement with the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, over the rumoured diversion of the ongoing Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.

Governor Diri explained that the South-South governors were unanimous in their support for the coastal road, adding that they were against its realignment with the East-West Road.
According to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, the governor stated this when he spoke during the 200th session of the state executive council in Government House, Yenagoa.
His words: “I read, like everyone else, that there would be a realignment and that the coastal road would be merged with the East-West Road, which I do not believe is the same project. That should be a South-South Road.
“I privately called the Minister of Works and said, ‘Honourable Minister, that is a no, no, no for us. These are two different projects.
“I agree with you that the East-West Road should be reconstructed. It is called the East-West Road, but its reconstruction should not take the place of the coastal road.
“While you reconstruct the East-West Road, the coastal road must continue because you have already won the hearts of all the coastal states.”
“I told him that, for me and my state, the coastal road must continue. He kept mentioning Mr President’s name, and I felt that he was the implementer and was the one who addressed the media. So, go back and tell Mr President that this is the position of the governors of the South-South, because I also speak as chairman of the South-South Governors’ Forum.”The governor  however slammed the former Cross River State governor, Donald Duke, over his remarks on the planned  diversion of the project on a television programme
Diri expressed shock that a son of the South-South could describe the project as not feasible because, according to him, Bayelsa was a swamp.
“When I watched the video and listened to everything he said about the coastal road, what actually made me respond was the example he gave using my state, Bayelsa. He said the coastal road was not feasible, and his reason was that even the state capital of Bayelsa is a swamp. According to him, for the coastal road to pass through Bayelsa, 100 to 200 bridges would have to be constructed.
“You pretend to be a presidential candidate of PRP. There is not even a councillor from PRP in Cross River. Not even in your own ward. Yet, you pretend to be a presidential candidate so that at the end of the day you can be rehabilitated.
“You can continue to be your national and international champion without a nucleus, without a base.
“I advise you to go back and settle the huge debts hanging over the heads of generations yet unborn, debts that you incurred and passed on to successive governments in your state.
“Do not use Bayelsa State as an example of a place where roads cannot be built. You were in office when Bakassi was ceded out of Nigeria. But because you were not a local champion, you did nothing about it,” he remarked

From Abu Hussain (Bauchi)

A mosque located at the Madina quarters in Bauchi has sacked it’s Imam, over his pro Bola Tinubu preachings ahead of the 2027 general elections

Imam Dahiru Abubakar reportedly lost his role, after his continuous pro presidentTinubu teachings at the mosque, despite repeated warnings

The imam was said to have been subtly campaigning for Tinubu’s reelection during preaching after every obligatory prayer.

The mosque management however, placed him on suspension after he repeated the act following the early morning prayer (Subhi) on Sunday.

“He would tell the congregation after prayer that Tinubu did not cause insecurity and he deserved to be reelected.

“A committee was set up after he did the same thing last weekend and he was subsequently removed,” a source said.

Confirming his sack, Imam Abubakar said he was removed for telling the people in his preaching that President Tinubu was not the problem because the hardship and insecurity were caused by “end times phenomenon.”

He said, “I have been preaching to the people to stop castigating President Tinubu for the insecurity and economic challenges. They prepared to vote for him and give him another mandate in 2027 to continue his mandate.

“My preaching centred on telling people to embrace fear of God and stop blaming leaders for the insecurity, particularly President Tinubu, because only God’s intervention can stop the challenges with the power of prayers, and that didn’t go down well with the committee of the mosque.

“My preaching priorities are fear of God and our day-to-day activities. I cited examples of what is happening, especially insecurity in African countries like Sudan, Chad, Mali and others facing crisis. I asked whether President Tinubu was responsible for their insecurity.”

But chairman of the mosque committee, Imam Abubakar Jibrin, said, “Our major challenge with him was not only his campaign for Tinubu but the way and manner he gathered many people in front of the mosque and sometimes entered the mosque purposely to discuss politics.

“The mosque committee sat down with him and cautioned him against turning the mosque to a political platform because of the Quranic verse which says the Mosque is solemnly for worship of Allah alone. We vehemently rejected the use of the mosque for political meetings. We have warned him not once or twice but many times, but he didn’t heed our pleas.

“Even though we believe that politics is the process of producing leaders in the country, there are laid down procedures, which are political parties, and the activities should take place in their political party offices and not in the mosque.“He should go and build his personal mosque, or politicians should go buy a mosque for him; that is not our business. Let me clarify that we, members of the committee of the mosque, are not against the candidate of any political party. Our prayer is to Allah to choose the best for the country, be it President Tinubu or any candidate among the presidential candidates that would become a blessing  to the country,” Jibrin added.

From Kingsley Wiseman (Yenegoa)

Bayelsa state governor, Senator Douye Diri has expressed his disagreement with the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, over the rumoured diversion of the ongoing Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.

Governor Diri explained that the South-South governors were unanimous in their support for the coastal road, adding that they were against its realignment with the East-West Road.
According to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, the governor stated this when he spoke during the 200th session of the state executive council in Government House, Yenagoa.
His words: “I read, like everyone else, that there would be a realignment and that the coastal road would be merged with the East-West Road, which I do not believe is the same project. That should be a South-South Road.
“I privately called the Minister of Works and said, ‘Honourable Minister, that is a no, no, no for us. These are two different projects.
“I agree with you that the East-West Road should be reconstructed. It is called the East-West Road, but its reconstruction should not take the place of the coastal road.
“While you reconstruct the East-West Road, the coastal road must continue because you have already won the hearts of all the coastal states.”
“I told him that, for me and my state, the coastal road must continue. He kept mentioning Mr President’s name, and I felt that he was the implementer and was the one who addressed the media. So, go back and tell Mr President that this is the position of the governors of the South-South, because I also speak as chairman of the South-South Governors’ Forum.”The governor  however slammed the former Cross River State governor, Donald Duke, over his remarks on the planned  diversion of the project on a television programme
Diri expressed shock that a son of the South-South could describe the project as not feasible because, according to him, Bayelsa was a swamp.
“When I watched the video and listened to everything he said about the coastal road, what actually made me respond was the example he gave using my state, Bayelsa. He said the coastal road was not feasible, and his reason was that even the state capital of Bayelsa is a swamp. According to him, for the coastal road to pass through Bayelsa, 100 to 200 bridges would have to be constructed.
“You pretend to be a presidential candidate of PRP. There is not even a councillor from PRP in Cross River. Not even in your own ward. Yet, you pretend to be a presidential candidate so that at the end of the day you can be rehabilitated.
“You can continue to be your national and international champion without a nucleus, without a base.
“I advise you to go back and settle the huge debts hanging over the heads of generations yet unborn, debts that you incurred and passed on to successive governments in your state.
“Do not use Bayelsa State as an example of a place where roads cannot be built. You were in office when Bakassi was ceded out of Nigeria. But because you were not a local champion, you did nothing about it,” he remarked