Aminu Dahiru Ahmad, the Senior Special Assistant to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, on Visual Communication and Events, has stated that his principal loves and respects his domestic staff.

Recall that a viral video of Ganduje’s police orderly tying the lace of his shoes circulated on social media on Monday which sparked reactions on social media.

Speaking with Daily Trust, Ahmad said the video was circulated by opposition politicians to tarnish the image of Ganduje.

According to him, the former Kano State Governor treats his staff with dignity and respect. He urged the public to disregard negative interpretations given to the video.

His words: “The short video is just an evidence of how cordial the relationship between Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and his aides is. This is a man who always has smile on his face.

“All his aides and domestic workers feel at home near His Excellency. The public can vet for Ganduje’s friendliness and respect for those working under him.

“Those who know His Excellency can tell you that he is one of the most decent political leaders in Nigeria. I have worked with him for almost ten years. He treats me as his biological son. This is a man who doesn’t believe in sycophancy or ego-massaging.

“The video is being circulated by mischief makers who want introduce the public to a new controversy to achieve a political point. The public should outrightly disregard the claim.

“But surely this will not diminish Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s popularity. He had served the people of Kano State very well and now he is serving his country.

“The opposition is not happy that His Excellency has injected exceptional vitality into the APC. The party is gathering momentum, especially with the Governor of Delta, Sheriff Oborevwori and Atiku’s running mate in the 2023 presidential election, Ifeanyi Okowa’s defection to the APC.”

Socio-cultural organization, Middle Belt Forum (MBF), has faulted Nigeria’s democracy and the capacity of the nation’s National Assembly.

Naija News reports that MBF’s National Publicity Secretary, Isuwa Dogo, said electoral malpractice, corrupt judicial system and poor representation from the legislature showed the nation’s democracy is yet to work.

In an interview with Daily Independent, Dogo noted that the nation’s electoral system, including internal party politics, has robbed citizens of the right to elect their leaders.

“I’m not sure if we’re practising democracy in Nigeria. There’s hardly anything that’s not influenced in one form or the other, directly or indirectly. All elections, right from the councillorship at the local government to the presidency.

“In one form or the other, some­body, somewhere, a party, a group, an individual, a tribe, a religious organisation, and people with different interests will try to influ­ence it. You’ll also discover that if it’s democracy, it wouldn’t be that almost every single election ends up in the court.

“At no point has the court re­versed some of them or most of the very important ones, like the governorship, the senatorial, and the presidency. No matter how manipulated it might have been, the court will still say the person was duly elected.

“So, it’s either the court is being induced criminally to give their verdict, or they just don’t want to waste their time to do the right thing.

“Another aspect is that from the primaries, people spend so much money to buy off the delegates.

“They’re voting for people who are the highest bidders. So right from the very councillorship to the highest level, the presidency,” Dogo said.

The Middle Belt Forum Spokesman decried the mass defection of politicians to the All Progressives Congress (APC). This, he said, could be to protect themselves from trial for corrupt practices, citing statement of former Chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole.

Dogo stressed that politicians who defect to other parties should be made to lose their offices. He said the law has to be reviewed to address the wave of defections.

“Like this gale of defections, when Ad­ams Oshiomhole was APC na­tional chairman, would say if you come to APC, your sins are forgiven. That is to say, no matter how corrupt you are, if you go to the APC, there’s nobody that will touch you.

“But the most interesting aspect should have been that if you defect, you lose your position. Because you contested on the plat­form of the party. But that is not the case now,” he stated.

He further lambasted the National Assembly for failing to be true representatives of the citizens.

“I think the National Assem­bly doesn’t even exist any longer. Because the whole beauty of the National Assembly is to represent the people.

“Do they represent the people? Tell me one single bill they have sponsored in the advent of this very government.

“When it comes to political issues, there’s really no judiciary. You know, why? Because it’s the executive that elects the judiciary,” he noted.

Dogo added that Nigeria’s de­mocracy needs urgent help if it must survive, including ensuring that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is independent and officials are not appointed by the president.

As part of efforts to reform its immigration system, the United Kingdom could soon restrict visa applications from nationalities whose citizens are most likely to overstay their approved stays.

First reported by the Times, the Home Office listed the affected countries as Pakistan, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka.

The report noted that nationals from these countries overstay their visas and later seek asylum.

Successful asylum requests allow the applicants to permanently remain in the country.

As a consequence, the Home Office said they may face tougher restrictions when applying to work or study in the UK.

“Our upcoming Immigration White Paper will set out a comprehensive plan to restore order to our broken immigration system,” a Home Office spokesperson said.

“To tackle abuse by foreign nationals who arrive on work and study visas and go on to claim asylum, we are building intelligence on the profile of these individuals to identify them earlier and faster.

“We keep the visa system under constant review and where we detect trends, which may undermine our immigration rules, we will not hesitate to take action.

“Under our plan for change, our upcoming Immigration White Paper will set out a comprehensive plan to restore order to our broken immigration system.”

Full details of the government’s plans are due to be published in the said paper later in May.

TOUGHER VISA RESTRICTIONS FOR NIGERIANS IN RECENT TIMES

Nigerians have been significantly affected by the UK’s immigration reform plans over the past two years, especially in the areas of student visas, work permits, and visa approvals.

Following tighter rules on dependents and post-study work opportunities introduced by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, international student applications to the UK have dropped drastically.

Many Nigerians have now turned to the US as a choice destination — but even that option has now proven unsustainable.

US President Donald Trump has also increased tighter restrictions, warning that even students with valid visas could be deported if the US believes they do not serve her best interest.

A 2024 report showed how Nigerian visa rejection rates to the UK rose from about 1 in 31 applications in late 2022 to 1 in 8 by late 2023.

This resulted in a 63 percent decrease in visas issued to Nigerians compared to the previous year.

The financial burden of non-refundable fees combined with higher rejection rates have intensified pressure on Nigerian applicants.

Last year, TheCable reported how the British government earned over N40 billion processing visas for Nigerian nationals between June 2023 to the same month in 2024.

African economists and development experts have urged nationals of developing nations not to seek greener pastures abroad but to stay back and contribute to the development of their countries.

The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, banished Favour Kanu, wife of Prince Fineboy Kanu, the younger brother of Nnamdi Kanu for streaming the proceedings of the court live on her Facebook page.

Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is being prosecuted by the Federal Government for alleged terrorism.

Justice James Omotosho, who gave the order, after Mrs Kanu admitted engaging in the act and apologised to the court, held that she would have been charged for contempt of court.

Although Kanu’s lawyer, Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN, also apologised on her behalf, Justice Omotosho insisted that Mrs Kanu would be barred from three proceedings.

The judge expressed surprise that despite that Mrs Kanu’s phone was confiscated on the last adjourned date when she was caught recording him, she still went ahead to post the video online.

“I want to hear from her. Were you not the one that I took your phone?

“I did not give order to forfeit that phone. I don’t know if she might be a wife to my brother (Nnamdi Kanu),” the judge said.

The judge, who cautioned against any act that could cause delay in the trial, assured all parties in the case that justice would be served. (NAN)