Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, has urged the people of the South-East to make bold political decisions and adopt a different approach if they hope to secure greater benefits from the Federal Government.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

He called on the region to abandon its reliance on opposition politics and embrace dialogue and negotiations with President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Uzodimma made the appeal on Friday while addressing South-East stakeholders at a high-level meeting held at the Imo State Government House in Owerri.

The governor said the region must move beyond repeatedly expressing concerns about political marginalisation and instead build stronger relationships with other parts of the country to advance its interests.

He stressed that Nigeria’s collective interests were greater than those of any individual or region, adding that the South-East needed to cooperate with the Federal Government to achieve its objectives.

Speaking at the meeting, Uzodimma said: “We need results, we must change our style, we must agree on how to sit down with the man in power and negotiate our interest. We must forget about local competitions. We as Igbo people must take bold decisions.”

He further stated that South-East governors could not independently achieve the region’s political aspirations without the cooperation and participation of other stakeholders.

“The South-East governors are merely servants, power and sovereignty belongs to the people. We cannot work alone. We must work with stakeholders. The politics of opposition should not continue to be in place,” he said.

Uzodimma also compared the region’s political engagement with that of other geopolitical zones, observing that leaders from the South-South, Middle Belt and North-East had held meetings with President Tinubu to present their interests.

He expressed concern that while other regions were engaging the Federal Government through discussions, the South-East continued to focus on complaints of marginalisation.

The governor consequently urged regional stakeholders to develop a comprehensive document outlining the South-East’s needs, supported by relevant facts and figures, for submission to President Tinubu.

According to him, the document would serve as a foundation for discussions and negotiations with the President on issues affecting the region.

The names of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, remain on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) portal despite reports that the commission had removed them following a court ruling on the African Democratic Congress (ADC) leadership crisis.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

INEC clarified that it had yet to take any decision on the matter because it had not received an official copy of the Federal High Court judgement delivered in Abuja on Thursday.

Atiku is the ADC’s presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections, while Amaechi is his running mate.

The commission’s National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, provided the clarification during an interview with Daily Trust on Friday.

He was responding to reports circulating on social media claiming that INEC had implemented the court ruling by removing the names of Atiku and Amaechi from its portal.

Haruna questioned the origin of the reports, maintaining that the commission had not received the judgement.

“I don’t know where that statement came from. Somebody just forwarded it to me. We haven’t received the judgement yet,” he said.

He explained that obtaining a Certified True Copy (CTC) of a court judgement could take some time, noting that INEC could not be expected to act on a ruling that had not been officially delivered to it.

“Usually, it takes about a week for you to get a CTC of the tribunal,” Haruna added.

The INEC commissioner further disclosed that the commission had not held any meeting to deliberate on the judgement, stressing that its eventual position would be determined by the established judicial process.

A check of INEC’s portal by journalists on Friday also showed that Atiku and Amaechi’s names were still listed, contradicting claims that they had been removed.

The clarification followed Thursday’s ruling by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which removed the David Mark-led leadership of the ADC.

The court also nullified decisions taken by the disputed leadership, including the process that produced Atiku as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 elections.

The judgement followed a suit instituted by Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former ADC Deputy National Chairman, North-East, who challenged the emergence of the Mark-led leadership.

Justice Lifu held that the process through which the leadership emerged failed to comply with the requirements for democratic elections under the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act.

Consequently, the court invalidated actions taken by the leadership, including the nomination of candidates submitted to INEC for the 2027 elections.

However, the ADC has rejected the ruling, describing it as legally indefensible and indicating its intention to challenge the decision at a higher court.

Nigerian disc jockey Florence Otedola, popularly known as DJ Cuppy, has explained her decision to move away from her trademark pink appearance.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

The entertainer, who became widely recognised for her pink hair, outfits and accessories, said she no longer wants her identity to be restricted to a single colour.

Cuppy made this known during an interview with GQ Poland, where she reflected on the role pink played in shaping her public image over the years.

The DJ explained that although pink had been a significant part of her identity for several years, her decision to embrace other colours was a reflection of personal growth rather than a rejection of the values associated with her signature style.

Speaking during the interview, she said: “I was known for the colour pink, and it was my identity for so many years, and a lot of people are asking what happened to the pink.

“I want people to understand that actually growth is something that will always come, and I don’t think I should be boxed into a colour.

“Pink for me meant power, vibrancy, expression, unapologeticness, positionality, and that’s still me, but I’m able to express it through other colours as well.

“When I think about my style, I think about a woman in a male-dominated industry. Maybe also when I first started 17 years ago, a young girl who was using pink to represent her femininity and stay in the room.

“Now that I’ve been through a lot of doors and kicked down some windows, I feel like I can represent my femininity through any colour.”