Writing in his X handle the Labour Party leader, Peter Obi has clarified his misrepresented interview report of Monday that he was against political coalition.

"I have observed that my honest interview yesterday was misquoted by many media outlets, creating a false narrative that misrepresents my position. Let me set the record straight:

"I am not against coalition, in truth, I am for it not for power grab but to position Nigeria for greatness.

I have not, and will never, advocate for any coalition or alliance that does not prioritize the welfare and progress of the ordinary Nigerian. Any discussion about governance must centre on what it means for the everyday Nigerian, how it will address critical issues such as access to quality healthcare, and education, and pulling people out of poverty.

"Too often in our nation’s history, individuals and groups have come together solely for the purpose of taking power for power's sake. Such endeavours, devoid of genuine purpose and vision, have only deepened our challenges, leaving the ordinary Nigerian to bear the brunt of bad governance. This is what I stand firmly against.

"Leadership must be about service, not self-interest. It must be about building a nation where opportunities abound for all, where justice and equity are non-negotiable, and where governance works for the people, not against them.

"As I have always maintained, the New Nigeria is possible. But it requires us to change the way we think about power. It is not about grabbing it; it is about using it responsibly to transform lives and secure a brighter future for generations to come.

Ibrahim Umar 

POMR SPOKESMAN 

Cemetery market Aba regarded as the most dreaded and hitherto safe haven for the largest cartel ring for the manufacture of fake wines and beverages in Africa has been short down again by NAFDAC in a decisive move to curb the circulation of fake and substandard wine and beverages in Nigeria.

The current action of NAFDAC is the most audacious since the history of the market with specific zones barricaded with iron welding and access gates locked till date. The operation carried out in conjunction with a large contingency of the military, DSS and Nigeria Police, in a rare display of inter-agency cooperation, was a follow up to a similar raid that was carried out in December 2023.

Some of the nefarious activities of the counterfeiters included the manufacturing of all kinds of adulterated products especially different kinds of wine from a wide variety of brands ranging from the following:

· Seaman Schnapps, Henessy, Four Cousins

· Carlo Rossi, Jenney, Chelsea London Dry Gin

· Schnapp Dry Gin, McDowells, Black Labels

· Gordons, Martell, Campari, Smirnoff ice

· Eva Non-Alcoholic Drink, Evra Non-Alcoholic Drink, Cartel and others.

As a consequence of the extensive operation, the agency raided over 240 shops turned factories where the harmful products were being produced and marketed. The shops turned factories are very filthy, using water from very unhygienic sources, harmful chemicals, saccharin, colouring, dirty recycled bottles and cloned packaging materials of other brands. The adulteration of alcoholic beverages by criminal elements in the country is done by mixing of cheaper sources of sugar and starch besides grapes or fruit, among other harmful chemicals unsuitable for human consumption.

Over 1500 cartons of the fake and substandard products were destroyed during the operation. The street value of the confiscated and destroyed fake products in 2023 is estimated at over seven hundred and fifty million naira only. (N750,000,000). The estimated value of products mopped up during the December 15, 2024, operation is five billion naira. The products being revalidated and mopped up include:

· Soft and carbonated drinks such as Fanta, Coca Cola

· Schweppes, Lacasera, Sprite, Hollandia Yoghurt

· Super Commando Energy Drink, Feyrouz and Amstel Malta.

Aside from drinks, notable fake home use beverages such as:

· Peak Sachet Milk, Cowbell Sachet Milk, Peak Chocolate Drink

· Miksi Sachet Milk, Cadbury Chocolate Drink and Ovaltine adulterated versions.

Prior to the evacuation of the products by NAFDAC, they were being produced in the market and neatly packaged and sold to unsuspecting consumers.

NAFDAC management appreciates the support from the Government of Abia state led by His Excellency Governor Alex Otti for his unwavering support for this project OPERATION CLEAN UP ABA. The Mayor of Aba south and the interim management committee of the market and other stakeholders have been working assiduously with NAFDAC on the project leading to another discovery of three major warehouses stockpiling expired HOLLANDIA YOGHURT for revalidation on the 22nd of January 2025.

NAFDAC wishes to assure the public of her determination to safeguard the health of the nation and enjoins the general public to report any suspected fake and substandard regulated product to the nearest NAFDAC office.

NAFDAC: Safeguarding the Health of the Nation

Prof Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, FAS

The General Meeting of AFENIFERE held  on Tuesday 28th day of January 2025, at Isanya-Ogbo Ogun State at the residence of our Leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo deliberated on the state of the Nigerian nation, observed and Resolved as follows:

1.0        SECURITY:

1.01  Afenifere notes the terrible security position which worsened under the Buhari administration and remains unabated and calls  on President Tinubu as the Commander-in-chief to take bold, positive and ideological steps to ensure genuine protection of life and property all over the country.

1.02    Afenifere reiterates the position that Nigeria with its vast territory, population and as a federation cannot be effectively and meaningfully secured with a single command unitary police structure and thus the need for the restructuring to ensure immediate constitutional institutionalization of state police.

1.03     The steps  will prevent a situation the Governor of Oyopolice, even as the Chief Security Officer had to helplessly and lamentably  make an outcry on the infiltration of bandits into his state.

2.0     ON NNAMDI KANU 

2.01Afenifere notes that  from all circumstances, particularly since his abduction  in 2021 and rendition to Nigeria and since then subjected to controversial and conflicting legal proceedings in different courts by which his fair trial may no longer be guaranteed in the opinion of reasonable members of the public, it is clear that Nnamdi Kanu is indubitably a political detainee. In the interest of justice and  national reconciliation, Afenifere urged President Tinubu to release Nnamdi Kanu forthwith. There is no justifiable reason to continue to keep him in detention without trial.

3. APPOINTMENT

The General Meeting considered and approved the appointment of Barrister Dele Farotimi as the National Organising Secretary of the Afenifere.  

ATTENDANCE: In attendance at the Meeting presided over by the Deputy Leader, Oba Oladipo Olaitan are delegates from the 6 South West, Kogi and Kwara states and include former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Senator Kofoworola Bucknor Akerele, Chief Sola Ebiseni, Secretary General, Chief Akin Osuntokun, Professor Akin Onigbinde, Elder Tola Mobolurin, Dr. Gbola Adetuji, Olorogun Pop Ayo-Banjo.

Signed 

Oba Oladipo Olaitan 

Deputy Leader.

Prince Justice Faloye

National Publicity Secretary.

In a momentous legal triumph, Governor Aiyedatiwa and Deputy Governor Adelami have outmaneuvered Agboola Ajayi, the PDP candidate, with a ruling delivered today at the Court of Appeal in Akure. The court has decisively struck down and dismissed the appeal from Ajayi and the People's Democratic Party, thereby reinforcing Aiyedatiwa's authority in office.

Ajayi and the PDP contended that Dr. Adelami lacked the qualifications to run for election, even referencing a Bayelsa State precedent in their bid for disqualification.

This ruling stands as a watershed moment in our political saga, reaffirming the electoral mandate granted to Aiyedatiwa and Adelami. Their administration is laser-focused on delivering on its commitments to the citizenry, and the court's decision underscores the vital role of the judiciary in safeguarding electoral integrity.

In conclusion, I offer my sincere congratulations to the Governor and Deputy Governor. To the appellant, as a brother and friend, it’s high time to wake up and recognize the futility of this endless chase against an unimpeachable mandate conferred by the people of Ondo State. Let’s rally together and channel our energies toward the collective advancement of our state, for the will of the people is an inviolable covenant that must be honored.

Dr Kayode Ajulo, OON, SAN

DeepSeek has unveiled its latest AI model, Janus-Pro-7B, which it claims outperforms OpenAI’s DALL-E 3 and Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion 3 Medium in text-to-image generation tasks.

This announcement, made in a report titled “Janus-Pro: Unified Multimodal Understanding and Generation with Data and Model Scaling,” highlights the model’s advancements in multimodal understanding and generation capabilities.

Janus-Pro-7B’s performance has been validated across multiple benchmarks, showcasing its capabilities in both multimodal understanding and text-to-image generation.

On the GenEval leaderboard for text-to-image instruction-following tasks, Janus-Pro-7B achieved a score of 0.80, surpassing Janus (0.61), OpenAI’s DALL-E 3 (0.67), and Stable Diffusion 3 Medium (0.74).

“Janus-Pro-7B achieved a score of 79.2 on the multimodal understanding benchmark MMBench and 0.80 on the GenEval leaderboard, outperforming state-of-the-art unified multimodal models, including DALL-E 3 and Stable Diffusion 3 Medium,” DeepSeek stated.

The model scored 79.2 on the multimodal understanding benchmark MMBench, significantly outperforming competitors such as Janus (69.4), TokenFlow (68.9), and MetaMorph (75.2).

Addressing previous shortcomings

The Janus-Pro-7B model builds on the foundation laid by its predecessor, Janus, by addressing critical challenges in visual encoding and generation tasks. It incorporates 72 million high-quality synthetic images with real-world data to achieve enhanced image outputs.

• According to the report, earlier models, including Janus, struggled with the conflicting demands of multimodal understanding and generation. To resolve this, Janus-Pro introduces decoupled visual encoding, enabling it to excel in both tasks.

“Janus-Pro incorporates improvements across three dimensions: training strategies, data, and model size,” the report states, adding that the model demonstrates scalability with two configurations—1B and 7B parameters.

• The original Janus model, validated at the 1B parameter scale, faced limitations due to its relatively small model capacity and limited training data.
• These constraints led to suboptimal performance in short-prompt image generation and unstable text-to-image outputs. Janus-Pro-7B addresses these issues through enhanced training strategies, expanded datasets, and increased model capacity.

The report emphasizes that these upgrades not only improve the model’s text-to-image instruction-following performance but also enhance its stability and scalability, making it a strong contender in the AI-generated imagery space.

More insights

DeepSeek is a relatively new entrant to the AI industry, founded in 2023 by Chinese entrepreneur Liang Wenfeng. Despite being less than two years old, the company has already made a significant impact.

• In January 2024, it released its open-source models for download, where they quickly gained popularity, topping the iPhone app download charts and surpassing OpenAI’s ChatGPT app.
• DeepSeek’s latest reasoning model, R1, has drawn comparisons to top-tier AI products from OpenAI and Meta. The company claims its models are not only competitive in performance but also more efficient and cost-effective to develop.
• One of the standout claims from DeepSeek is the cost of training its models. The company stated that training one of its latest models cost $5.6 million, a figure far below the $100 million to $1 billion estimated by industry leaders for similar projects.

DeepSeek has also highlighted the efficiency of its development process, which reportedly does not rely on the most powerful AI accelerators.

[NaijaNews]

In an official announcement on Monday, JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, noted that the sale of application forms will commence on January 31, 2025, and will conclude on March 5, 2025.

For candidates seeking direct entry, the sale of application documents and e-PIN vending will start on March 10, 2025, and will end on April 7, 2025.

The Mock-UTME is set to take place on April 5, 2025, while the main UTME will occur from April 25, 2025, to May 5, 2025.

Candidates who choose to register for the UTME with a mock exam will be required to pay ₦8,200, whereas those opting for the UTME only will pay ₦7,200.

A detailed breakdown of the UTME/DE JAMB application fees includes ₦3,500 for the application fee, ₦1,000 for the reading text, ₦700 for the CBT Centre registration service charge, ₦1,500 for the CBT Centre UTME service charge, ₦1,500 for the CBT mock service charge, ₦500 for bank charges, and ₦1,500 for the CBT mock-UTME centre charge.

Additionally, the JAMB Registrar announced the introduction of a mock UTME specifically tailored for candidates under the age of 16. This initiative is not intended for admission purposes but aims to provide younger candidates with an opportunity to assess their capabilities prior to the examination.

To be eligible for admission into any tertiary institution in the country, candidates must be at least 16 years old on or before September 30, 2025.

However, Oloyede noted that exceptional candidates under the age of 15 may be considered for admission if they achieve a minimum score of 280 in the UTME and demonstrate outstanding performance in their Senior Secondary Certificate and post-UTME examinations.

[NaijaNews]

Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara has declared that he will not be drunk with power or allow the associated advantages and benefits that come with holding a lofty position in government to change him.

Rather, Fubara assured that he will remain committed to his vows made to the Rivers people when he got their mandate, to completely put things in place that will transform the state into becoming what they dreamt it to become.

Fubara stated this on Tuesday when some leaders, elders and critical stakeholders of the state visited him to celebrate his 50th birthday at the Government House in Port Harcourt.

The governor who explained that he had never subscribed to celebrating birthdays said seeing leaders of the state gathering to celebrate him pulled out tears of joy from his eyes.

“I want to say that I will still be the Fubara that you know; power will not change me. I will still make sure that what I hold dear in life remains, which is God and my respect for people. I will continue to maintain it.

“Power will come, power will go, but I will still remain the Fubara that you know. With your support, that Rivers State that we all yearn for, we will definitely, even if we don’t get it completely, we will put those things in place that will channel and drive us to that Rivers State, with your support,” Fubara said.

He added, “That is the only thing that I know I can assure you. I will not do anything, act in any manner that will bring disgrace to myself or to everyone of you that have decided and ready to sacrifice everything for us.

“This morning is a birthday morning. It is not a morning to discuss politics. It is a morning to say I am happy, I am 50 years, according to you. But the most important thing is, I am celebrating my Golden Jubilee. It means that I have joined the league of the old men from today.”

Fubara, on behalf of his wife, Lady Valerie and family, expressed gratitude to God for divine grace, and thanked all the leaders who made sacrifices to be in attendance so early to wish him well.

In his remark, a former Governor of the state, Sir Celestine Omehia thanked God for installing Governor Fubara who he noted to have become a deliverer of the State and its people from the hands of those he said were bent on destroying Rivers State.

Omehua said it is worthwhile to celebrate such a patient and meticulous leader, loved by all Nigerians on his 50th birthday because he has continued to prioritise the interest of the State and protect it.

The former governor recounted the strength of faith in God that Fubara has demonstrated as well as how he has enjoyed divine direction in governance.

He pledged the continued support of Rivers people to Governor Fubara towards ensuring the success of his administration.

In his speech, former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, said regardless of who a kingmaker is, as soon as the king is crowned, such person must give way to the king to perform his duties.

Secondus noted that the people of Rivers and indeed, Nigerians have come to admire and love the character of steel, fear and total trust in God that Governor Fubara has demonstrated by forging unity, and inclusivity which he said testified that his mandate is divine.

[Leadership]

The Sultanate Council of Sokoto has instructed the Muslim Ummah to observe the crescent of Sha’aban 1446 AH on Wednesday, corresponding to the 29th day of Rajab 1446 AH in the Islamic calendar.

Prof. Sambo Junaidu, the Waziri of Sokoto and Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Religious Affairs, conveyed the directive in a statement issued on Tuesday.

The statement said when the crescent moon is sighted, it should be reported to the nearest district or village heads for onward communication to the sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, for official confirmation.

“May Allah (SWT) help us in the discharge of this religious duty. Amen,” the statement added.

In Islam, the sighting of the new moon of Sha’aban is significant, as Sha’aban is the month preceding Ramadan, the holy month of fasting.

The declaration of the new moon marks the start of Sha’aban and aids Muslims in preparing for Ramadan.

[DailyTrust]

The immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has blasted the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, accusing the party of straying from its founding ideals and fostering poor leadership.

The ex-governor, while addressing a national conference in Abuja on strengthening democracy in Nigeria, labelled the state of governance and opposition in the country as a national emergency.

El-Rufai, who shared the report on his X handle on Tuesday, expressed concern over the absence of internal democracy and active party structures within the APC.

“I no longer recognise the APC. No party organ has met in two years—no caucus, no NEC, nothing. You don’t even know if it is a one-man show; it’s a zero-man show,” he said.

He condemned the quality of leadership emerging from political parties, blaming the situation on unqualified delegates.

“You cannot afford to have illiterates, semi-illiterates, and cunning people as your leaders. This is why we end up with the poor leadership we have today,” he added.

The former governor charged political parties to raise standards for candidates and delegates, stressing that the constitution’s minimum requirement of a secondary school certificate should not be enough for nominations.

He lamented that the APC’s founding goals of combating corruption, rebuilding the economy, and enhancing security have been abandoned.

Citing a poll that showed 75 percent of registered voters might abstain from the 2027 elections, El-Rufai warned of a potential crisis.

Reacting to El-Rufai’s post, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Public Communications and Media, Daniel Bwala, queried the former governor’s stance, asking if he would have held the same position had he remained in the government or cabinet.

“My Senior brother, if you were to be in the government and cabinet, would you have held and expressed the same position? History is replete with examples. It is a government you participated in its formation, that you now want to unseat. Haba Mallam,” Bwala wrote.

[DailyPost]

Government periodic appointments into boards of parastatals and other federal organisations to manage the affairs of over 500 small governments needed to implement its policies is critical to the survival of the democratization process.  Unfortunately this process has in recent years become a veritable source political party patronage often secured through intense politicking and lobbying by party members.

When Buhari’s list – with 209 board chairmen and 1,258 board members – came in December 2019 after over two years of haggling and indecision, he admitted not knowing over half of those on the list including a number of names of individuals long declared dead.

Last week, following almost two years of delay as a result of bargaining and horse trading by politicians, President Tinubu, according to Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, last Monday approved the appointment of board chairpersons for 42 federal organisations out of over 500 small governments the president needs to faithfully implement his party manifesto. We were also told the president directed the board chairpersons not to interfere with the management of the organisations, emphasising that their positions are non-executive.

Much as we have no reason to doubt the capacity and the integrity of most of those currently appointed by President Tinubu, what the nation has often experienced after government’s four year periodic ritual especially since 1999, has been an assemblage of deadwood and failed politicians who just wanted to continue to be relevant by continuous’ sucking of government and its resources.

The president appeared determined to change the narrative this time around. Without prejudice to his party’s periodic ritual of politicking and lobbying, he seemed to have deliberately gone out of his way for those he believes could add value to his administration.

For instance Professor Bolaji Akinyemi is our nation’s ‘Sun’. A resourceful intellectual, an outstanding diplomat who played a key role as our external affairs minister to end Chad, Libyan and Mali, Burkina Faso wars, Professor Akinyemi was the brain behind the highly successful Technical Aids Corps Scheme, the concept of the Concert of Medium Powers to mediate within the international system. He was a member of the Uwais panel and deputy chairman of Jonathan’s constitutional conference. He was on the side of Nigeria during the NADECO confrontation with Sani Abacha when the likes of Tom Ikimi and Babagana Kingibe sold their conscience by trading Nigeria for a pot of porridge. To bring him on board, the president had to present Akinyemi as Lagos State candidate as against his Osun State where warring politicians like Rauf  Aregbesola and Gboyega Oyetola  had destroyed the APC over their ego battle for its soul before trading it for PDP, a fact confirmed by Governor Adeleke. 

Of course, the president’s deliberate efforts did not preclude the emergence on the list of some other self-proclaiming patriots including the likes of Abdullahi Ganduje.  In fact it will not be out place to assume that Ganduje, a man with history of endless political wars, mischiefs and intrigues and for whom there is never a dull moment, nominated himself as chairman of the Governing Board of Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). This becomes a force majeure when it reached the president’s table. In any case, when it comes to party patronage, the buck stops at the desk of the national Chairman of APC.

The only charitable conclusion is that Ganduje outwitted the president.

After all, Ganduje from 1984-1994 occupied various positions within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja. In 1994 he was Kano State Commissioner for Works. From there he in 2007 moved on to become the Executive Secretary of the Lake Chad Basin Commission in Ndjamena. Although a full time job, workaholic Ganduje could not resist combining the job with that of the chairmanship of the Governing Council of Federal Polytechnic Ado Ekiti. A workhorse, he was so dedicated that for his board meetings in Ado-Ekiti, he would first fly from Ndjamena to Kano and from Kano to Abuja from where the vehicle sent from Ado-Ekiti would ferry him down to Ado Ekiti for a board meeting which may not take off until 7pm.

At close to 77, Ganduje, the national chairman of APC and the recently appointed chairman of the Governing Council of FAAN, has pledged to continue his selfless service to the nation.

I wish to align myself with Ganduje. With his past record of service to the nation, I have no reason to doubt his competence and ability to do more than one thing at a time. And contrary to his envious detractors from his native Kano, I cannot see any contradiction between presiding over the affairs of the FAAN and meeting the demands of his office as chairman of APC which involve strategies for recruitment of party membership, retaining those so recruitment  and periodic fundraising and internal party governance. For even his political foes, the outstanding performance of his party in Edo and Ondo in recent times was evidence enough Ganduje was on top of his games.

But for those who hate Ganduje with a passion, I think it is the case of a prophet without honour in his own country. His detractors seem to come more from his own Kano State, where he and his good friend Rabiu Kwankwaso have been consumed by politics of ‘deposition and imposition’ of Emirs, demolition and reallocation of supporters’ physical properties in Kano in the last eight years. Since the duo did not tell us the source of their bitterness and endless war, outsiders think it must have been over the control over Kano resources, a common weakness among our greedy and selfish political elite. Many also consider Ganduje and his warring rivals’ political failures for their inability to exploit their past relationship in the age of innocence before their exposure to great wealth to liberate the people of Kano from pangs of sorrow and pains of hunger

There was recently a trending picture of Ganduje and Kwankwaso moving around on a Vespa motorcycle on the streets on Kano in the early seventies; many thought that was a relationship both could have exploited to change the fortune of Kano.

Lagos State Security Trust Fund which changed the face and character of Lagos was first launched in 2007.  Many outside Kano believe that if beyond primitive accumulation, the duo came together to exploit their past friendship to launch Kano Almajiri fund, such could have in three years cleaned up Kano.

Meanwhile, all hail Abdullahi Ganduje, the nemesis of political foes, un-fearing Emirs and political benefactors who, at close to 77 has continued to ride against the tide.