British heavyweight Anthony Joshua says it would not be a “wise decision” for his son to follow in his footsteps and become a professional boxer.

The two-time former unified world heavyweight champion told BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs he would much prefer if his son, Joseph Joshua, known as JJ, became an accountant instead, though he added that he wanted him to carve out his own future.

He has previously said he did not envisage a boxing life for his “little JJ”, wanting his son to be the “best man that he can be” instead.

Speaking to Desert Island Discs, Joshua revealed that his views about his son’s future had not changed. He said he would tell JJ to “do the best you can do”, when advising him about what he wanted to be when he was older.

“If I was to choose (a career) for him, I would ask him to probably look at accountancy because I think it’s good to understand numbers,” he said.

Reflecting on his own career, Joshua mentioned how boxing helped him channel his energy during difficult times in his youth. He got into trouble with the police for fighting as a teenager and was homeless at 17. Boxing became a turning point for him when he entered the ring at 18.

Joshua’s career took off when he won gold at the London 2012 Olympics, and he turned professional a year later. His victory over Wladimir Klitschko in 2017 was a defining moment, cementing his status as a top heavyweight.

Joshua won all of his first 22 professional bouts, 21 of them inside the distance, to establish himself as the most renowned knockout artist of his generation.

But the low point in the boxer’s career came in 2022, when he failed to recapture the unified WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles from his nemesis, Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia.

As he tried to come to terms with the loss, Joshua at first denied it had a profound effect on him but at a post-fight press conference, Joshua was apologetic, choked back tears and held his head in his hands, saying the defeat tore him apart.

Speaking to Desert Island Discs, he said he went into a “dark room” for five days where he could not talk to anyone in order to heal from the inside mentally.

Vice President Kashim Shettima has lost his mother-in-law, Hajiya Maryam Abubakar Albishir.

She passed away in Kano on Sunday evening after a prolonged illness. 

She was aged 69. 

A statement issued on Monday by Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice President, stated that Hajiya Maryam, the mother of the Vice President’s wife, Hajiya Nana Shettima, will be laid to rest today afternoon in Kano, in accordance with Islamic traditions.

According to the statement, “The late Hajiya Maryam was known as an exemplary and kind-hearted mother in her community and also a devoted Muslim. She was respected for her wisdom, compassion, and dedication to charitable causes. Many remember her as a source of guidance and support, both within her family and in the wider community in Kano.

“The nation extends its condolences to Vice President Kashim Shettima, Hajiya Nana Shettima, and their family during this difficult time, while appreciating the life and legacy of the late Hajiya Maryam Albishir.”

Labour Party has reiterated its support for Peter Obi as its presidential candidate in the 2027 election, dismissing rumours of a potential replacement.

In a statement jointly signed yesterday by the Director-General of the Directorate on Mobilization and Integration, Marcel Ngogbehei; the Deputy Director of Media and Communications, Ambassador Aju Elumelu; and the Deputy Director of Strategic Engagement, Sheikh Rufai Al-Saddiq, the party denied reports of a rift and affirmed its commitment to Obi’s candidacy.

The directorate acknowledged efforts to reconcile aggrieved groups within the party but emphasized that no agreement had been reached to replace Obi.

It emphasized the party’s unity and cohesion behind Obi, who has been ratified as the presidential candidate for the 2027 election.

The directorate said: “The leadership and members of our great party recognize the importance of peaceful coexistence among brothers and acknowledge the fact that there’s a bigger target—liberating Nigeria from the shackles of greedy politicians and building a nation that protects the interests of its citizens.

“The party has decided to follow a peaceful approach to resolving internal misunderstandings. This effort within the Labour Party and its successes have elicited different reactions; we have also seen an attempt by the opposition to make a false spin for their own selfish interests, misinforming the general public with the aim of causing more crises in our party.

“For the record, this directorate was set up to facilitate reconciliation and help mobilize and integrate Labour Party stakeholders toward electoral victory for our presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in 2027.

“The party leadership recognizes the need for unity and cohesion within the party as a requirement for internal stability and improving the winning chances of H.E. Peter Obi in the upcoming 2027 elections.
“We have reached out through various channels to different stakeholders, and discussions are still ongoing on various fronts; we are also making great progress in this endeavor. To misconstrue this effort as being against our presidential candidate is unfortunate. 

“To set the record straight, Peter Obi remains our presidential candidate for 2027 as ratified, and all the party leadership are behind him and committed to his message of a new Nigeria.”

With this clarification, the Labour Party has put to rest speculations about Obi’s candidacy, reaffirming its faith in his leadership and vision for Nigeria.

Tinubu deserves commendation for emulating me — Obi

Meanwhile, Mr. Peter Obi, has said President Bola Tinubu deserved commendation for heeding his call on wealthy Nigerians to join him in sinking boreholes to provide access to water for the downtrodden.
Obi said this via a statement issued by the Peter Obi Media Reach, in Abuja, yesterday.

This was in response to the Presidential directive that 400 boreholes be constructed nationwide as part of a charity initiative to honour the memory of his late mother, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji.

Dr. Tanko Yunusa, who signed the statement, said: “The office of the Peter Obi Media Reach, POMR wishes to thank President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for harkening to the call of our principal, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, to wealthy Nigerians to join him in ensuring the provision of boreholes across the country for the oppressed in our midst.

“Obi embarked on the project after witnessing what many Nigerians go through trying to get basic needs such as drinking water.

“He had already installed some boreholes as a short time solution in some Northern states, including Nasarawa, Bauchi, Kano, Zaria, Kebbi, Suleja in Niger State and Sokoto, where the situation is acute.

“At the special anniversary of the death of his mother, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji in Abuja at the weekend, the President announced a nationwide project to construct 400 boreholes as a continuation of charity in the late mother’s memory.

“The POMR commends this spirit of charity from the President as it aligns with our principal’s desire to attend to the poor in our midst.

“POMR would like to advise that this new line of thinking from the President should be reflected in government projects which at the moment are not addressing the yearnings of the poor in our midst.

“It remains shameful that in a nation where millions have no access to clean drinking water, millions of children are out of school and have no access to decent healthcare with millions of youths out of jobs, yet the government is placing priority on bogus projects such as coastal highway, mansions, flyovers and buying of jets etc as a priority.

“The President’s new spirit of charity, if it continues, will help in pulling many Nigerians out of poverty if it’s diversified.”

Labour Party has reiterated its support for Peter Obi as its presidential candidate in the 2027 election, dismissing rumours of a potential replacement.

In a statement jointly signed yesterday by the Director-General of the Directorate on Mobilization and Integration, Marcel Ngogbehei; the Deputy Director of Media and Communications, Ambassador Aju Elumelu; and the Deputy Director of Strategic Engagement, Sheikh Rufai Al-Saddiq, the party denied reports of a rift and affirmed its commitment to Obi’s candidacy.

The directorate acknowledged efforts to reconcile aggrieved groups within the party but emphasized that no agreement had been reached to replace Obi.

It emphasized the party’s unity and cohesion behind Obi, who has been ratified as the presidential candidate for the 2027 election.

The directorate said: “The leadership and members of our great party recognize the importance of peaceful coexistence among brothers and acknowledge the fact that there’s a bigger target—liberating Nigeria from the shackles of greedy politicians and building a nation that protects the interests of its citizens.

“The party has decided to follow a peaceful approach to resolving internal misunderstandings. This effort within the Labour Party and its successes have elicited different reactions; we have also seen an attempt by the opposition to make a false spin for their own selfish interests, misinforming the general public with the aim of causing more crises in our party.

“For the record, this directorate was set up to facilitate reconciliation and help mobilize and integrate Labour Party stakeholders toward electoral victory for our presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in 2027.

“The party leadership recognizes the need for unity and cohesion within the party as a requirement for internal stability and improving the winning chances of H.E. Peter Obi in the upcoming 2027 elections.
“We have reached out through various channels to different stakeholders, and discussions are still ongoing on various fronts; we are also making great progress in this endeavor. To misconstrue this effort as being against our presidential candidate is unfortunate.

“To set the record straight, Peter Obi remains our presidential candidate for 2027 as ratified, and all the party leadership are behind him and committed to his message of a new Nigeria.”

With this clarification, the Labour Party has put to rest speculations about Obi’s candidacy, reaffirming its faith in his leadership and vision for Nigeria.

Tinubu deserves commendation for emulating me — Obi

Meanwhile, Mr. Peter Obi, has said President Bola Tinubu deserved commendation for heeding his call on wealthy Nigerians to join him in sinking boreholes to provide access to water for the downtrodden.
Obi said this via a statement issued by the Peter Obi Media Reach, in Abuja, yesterday.

This was in response to the Presidential directive that 400 boreholes be constructed nationwide as part of a charity initiative to honour the memory of his late mother, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji.

Dr. Tanko Yunusa, who signed the statement, said: “The office of the Peter Obi Media Reach, POMR wishes to thank President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for harkening to the call of our principal, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, to wealthy Nigerians to join him in ensuring the provision of boreholes across the country for the oppressed in our midst.

“Obi embarked on the project after witnessing what many Nigerians go through trying to get basic needs such as drinking water.

“He had already installed some boreholes as a short time solution in some Northern states, including Nasarawa, Bauchi, Kano, Zaria, Kebbi, Suleja in Niger State and Sokoto, where the situation is acute.

“At the special anniversary of the death of his mother, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji in Abuja at the weekend, the President announced a nationwide project to construct 400 boreholes as a continuation of charity in the late mother’s memory.

“The POMR commends this spirit of charity from the President as it aligns with our principal’s desire to attend to the poor in our midst.

“POMR would like to advise that this new line of thinking from the President should be reflected in government projects which at the moment are not addressing the yearnings of the poor in our midst.

“It remains shameful that in a nation where millions have no access to clean drinking water, millions of children are out of school and have no access to decent healthcare with millions of youths out of jobs, yet the government is placing priority on bogus projects such as coastal highway, mansions, flyovers and buying of jets etc as a priority.

“The President’s new spirit of charity, if it continues, will help in pulling many Nigerians out of poverty if it’s diversified.”

Says first commercial transaction added $5m foreign reserves

President commends ministry’s major milestone in administration’s drive to diversify economy

Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, has presented to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu the latest gold bars sourced from artisanal and small gold miners and refined by an agency of the Ministry,  Solid Minerals Development Fund, to meet the London Bullion Market Association Good Delivery Standard.

At the presentation at the State House Abuja, Alake praised President Tinubu for supporting reforms in the solid minerals sector, assuring that the National Gold Purchase programme will increase the country’s reserve and boost the naira’s value.

Alake said the refined gold would be sold to the Central Bank of Nigeria to bolster foreign reserves.

He said the presentation marked the first commercial transaction under the National Gold Purchase Program (NGPP), the centralised offtake scheme supported by a decentralised aggregation and production network of artisanal and small-scale miners and cooperatives.

“The successful completion of the first commercial transaction clearly demonstrates the  National Gold Purchase Program’s effectiveness. It has increased the nation’s foreign  reserves assets and shown that using the Nigerian Naira to purchase a liquid asset traded  in United States Dollars, such as gold, is a viable strategy. This transaction has also  underscored the potential of the National Gold Purchase Program to enhance fiscal and  monetary stability,” the minister said.

Alake said the first commercial transaction had delivered +US$5 million increase in Nigerian’s foreign reserves assets, 70+ kilograms of gold refined to the London Bullion Market Good Delivery Standard and successful aggregation of locally mined gold thereby injecting about NGN6 billion into the rural economy.

Receiving and displaying a symbolic bar, President Tinubu commended the Ministry for achieving a major milestone in the administration’s drive to diversify the economy.

“This is another concrete step towards the diversification process under the Renewed Hope Agenda” the President said.

Executive Secretary of the Solid Minerals Development Fund, Fatimah Shinkafi, in her presentation said the London Bullion Market Good Delivery Standard was the globally recognised stringent and trusted standard that enables the global trade in gold and silver bars.

“Only gold and silver bars that meet our Good Delivery standards are acceptable in the settlement of a Loco London contract – where the bullion traded is physically held in London,” she said.

Shinkafi said through the efforts of the National Gold Purchase Program under the Ministry of Solid  Minerals Development, Nigeria had joined a select group of countries bolstering their gold  reserves by purchasing gold in local currency to foster economic confidence, enhance  currency stability, and create a more attractive environment for foreign investment.

 dislodge local guards protecting Sanusi

The police have reportedly stormed the emir’s palace in Kano state and displaced the local guards protecting Muhammadu Sanusi, the recently reinstated emir.

According to Premium Times, the hunters who served as local guards left the palace as soon as the police officers took over the security of the building.

This was said to be a move aimed at securing the main palace for the relocation of Aminu Bayero, the deposed 15th Emir of Kano, following a court order that faulted his dethronement.

On Thursday, a federal high court in Kano nullified all actions of the state government repealing the Emirates Council Law of 2019.

In his ruling, Muhammad Liman, the presiding judge, said the defendants were aware of an interim order previously granted by the court but ignored it and implemented the law.

BACKGROUND

On May 23, the Kano house of assembly passed the amended bill, which Abba Yusuf, the governor, signed into law.

The law repealed the 2019 version, which divided the Kano emirate into five jurisdictions and was relied upon to dethrone Muhammadu Sanusi as emir in 2020. 

On the same day the law was repealed, Sanusi was reinstated as Emir of Kano by kingmakers and the governor.

Aggrieved, Aminu Babba Dan Agundi and Sarkin Dawaki Babba of the Kano emirate approached the court to restrain the respondents from enforcing, implementing, and operationalising the law that reinstated Sanusi.

On May 23, Liman ordered the defendants to “suspend” and “not give effect to the Kano State Emirate Council (Repeal) Law, 2024, as they affect all offices and institutions of the Emirate Council created according to the provisions of the Kano State Emirate Council Law, 2019”.

The Kano police command had also said it would not comply with the directive of the state government on the eviction of Bayero from the Nassarawa palace which he moved into after he was replaced by Sanusi, the new emir, who moved into the main palace in Kano.

Since then, Bayero, who is said to have the backing of some federal government officials, has been under the protection of a retinue of soldiers and police officers at the Nassarawa palace.

Ese Brume produced a sensational performance to win the gold medal in the long jump event of the 2024 African Athletics Championship in Cameroon on Sunday.

She has now won the gold medal in the event four times while maintaining her unbeaten run in Africa for eight years.

It was not a smooth sailing run from Brume, who recovered from a slow start to overtake Burkina Faso’s Marthe Koala, who led with 6.72m after five attempts.

Brume showed her tenacity and immense quality to finish first in the race with 6.73m to win the gold medal.

Another Nigerian long jumper, Prestina Ochonogor finished fourth with 6.28m.

Temitope Adeshina won the silver medal in the high jump final event after losing to Rose Yeboah of Ghana.

Team Nigeria has now won a total of seven medals in the African Athletics Championship with three gold medal two silver and one bronze.

Orji Kalu, senator representing Abia north, says President Bola Tinubu has done well in certain areas of the economy.

He added that the president needs to do more in other areas because citizens are starving.

Speaking with Channels Television, Kalu said the country needs fiscal policies that would lead to the production of more food.

“I’m sure the president has done well in some areas and he also needs to improve in many other areas. I’m a very practical person, I fear nobody and I support the truth,” he said.

“President Tinubu has done so well in some areas, and in some other areas of feeding our people, people are hungry so I cannot say.

“He has done well in economic policy, monetary policy. Very good.

“But in fiscal policies we haven’t grown more food. I want us to grow more food.”

The former governor said the proposed N62,000 minimum wage would not address the ongoing inflation.

“I’m a proponent that local governments should be getting their money fully,” he added.

“I also believe that N62,000 cannot do anything. N90,000… and why I’m proposing N90,000 is very simple. We have not increased the minimum wage in five years.

“I’m a practical person. The civil servants need good treatment.”

Ways and means advances by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari amounted to N7.5 trillion as at December 2022, according to official documents seen by TheCable.

This is significantly lower than the N30 trillion reported by the senate joint committee on banking, finance, national planning, agriculture and appropriation which led to the setting up of a probe panel headed by Isah Jibrin (Kogi east).

Ways and means is a loan facility through which the CBN finances the federal government’s budget shortfalls.

The CBN law limits advances under ways and means to 5 percent of the previous year’s revenue, but this has been observed mostly in the breach over the years.

This way of financing government deficits usually results in macroeconomic instability, leading to inflation and high exchange rates because of the excess liquidity injected into the economy.

THE BREAKDOWN

Documents seen by TheCable show that as at December 19, 2022, the total outstanding overdraft to the federal government in its “treasury subtreasury account” at the CBN was N22,719,703,774,306.90.

This was made up of N7,531,819,048,929.66 as ways and means, N13,725,408,432,557.50 as total costs of transactions on federal government securities in the capital market, and N4,618,829,652,047.41 as interest charges on the overdraft facility.

The loans were not reflected as part of the debt stock of the federal government until December 2022 when the Buhari administration officially requested the national assembly to do so.

TheCable understands that there were only three requests for ways and means by Buhari throughout his tenure, even though the facility was disbursed more than thrice — some automated because of the sovereign risk on securities.

The biggest amount — nearly N2 trillion — was disbursed in 2020 during the COVID-19 outbreak when government revenues fell as a result of the lockdown. The federal government got loans from the CBN for intervention programmes during the pandemic.

The next biggest amount was in 2022 when N1,473,618,756,185.62 was advanced to the federal government. It was the same year Russia invaded Ukraine, leading to a spike in food prices globally.

In 2019 — the year Buhari was elected for a second term in office — N1.4 trillion was provided to the federal government via ways and means.

One of the biggest beneficiaries of the overdraft was the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET), which got N1.3 trillion under the “payment assurance facility” to keep the Nigerian electricity supply industry (NESI) “liquid”.

Two private power generation companies — Azura Power West Africa and Accugas Limited — got steady payments from the federal government under the controversial “take or pay” arrangement.

Azura gets $30 million monthly while Accugas receives $10 million, also monthly.

Nigeria’s credit rating is at risk if there is a failure to meet up with the payment obligations to Azura and Accugas in two of the most curious cases of sovereign guarantee hanging on the nation’s neck.

The Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) also got huge funds from the overdraft.

SENATE PROBE IN LIMBO

Olayemi Cardoso, who succeeded Emefiele as CBN governor, said in February 2024, that the bank would no longer grant ways and means advances to the government “until all outstanding debts are refunded”.

This was after the senate approved the securitisation of an outstanding debit balance of N7.3 trillion ways and means in the first six months of the Bola Tinubu administration.

On March 11, 2024, Senate President Godswill Akpabio inaugurated a 17-member ad hoc committee of the red chamber to probe the “N30 trillion Ways and Means” secured under Buhari and report in “six weeks”.

The deadline is now past by nine weeks and the panel is yet to submit its report.

TheCable has contacted Jibrin for an update on the probe but he is yet to respond.

At its inauguration, Akpabio charged the committee to be confidential and “keep investigations away from the prying eyes of journalists”.

A collaborative effort involving the Nigerian Embassy in Dakar and a Senegalese NGO has led to the rescue of 24 Nigerian girls from s*xual exploitation in the Tamaccounda and Kedougou regions of Senegal.

The collaborative effort successfully freed the girls from their exploitative situation.

The acting Ambassador of the Nigerian Embassy in Dakar, Salihu Abubakar, revealed the details to the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday.

According to him, the victims, mostly girls and women aged between 11 and 24, but predominantly underage girls, were trafficked to Senegal through Cotonou, Benin Republic, via the Mali-Senegal border for s*xual exploitation.

"These girls and many more are being trafficked to Senegal through Cotonou, Benin Republic via Mali to the Senegal border for prostitution," Abubakar explained.

Preliminary investigations indicate that the majority of the girls and women were school dropouts from Edo and Delta states, with a few others from Imo, Abia, and two from Plateau. Abubakar confirmed that out of the 24 girls and women, 22 had been repatriated weeks earlier, while the remaining two returned safely to Nigeria on Saturday.

The health status of the victims and details regarding the duration of their exploitation remain undisclosed. However, the diplomat emphasised that the successful repatriation highlights the strong international cooperation between the embassy and the NGO, "Free the Slaves" (La Lumiere in French), in combating human trafficking.

"Our main goal and number one priority is to discourage the trafficking of our Nigerian girls to any part of the world for prostitution under any guise," Abubakar said.

A year after the leadership of the opposition Labour Party was separated with the incumbent National Chairman, Julius Abure and the Deputy National Chairman of the party (South), Lamidi Apapa laying claim to the mantle of leadership, both camps have agreed to sheath their swords and work together.

Loyalists from both camps were torn apart in April 2023 following a court judgment restraining Abure and three others from parading themselves as national officers of the party. 

But Abure fought back fiercely to retain his seat with the help of the parent body, Nigeria Labour Congress, under the leadership of its National President, Joe Ajaero.

The embattled LP chairman, however, fell out of favour with the NLC following a contentious national convention held in Anambra that returned him and all his loyal members of the National Working Committee to office three months ago.

Despite a series of picketing at LP secretariats nationwide and other threats by the unionists amid calls for an expansive and inclusive convention that should start from the grassroots, Abure did not budge.

The action subsequently compelled the NLC Political Commission to void the new leadership and set up a transition committee, saddled with the task of engaging stakeholders of the party and conducting a fresh convention in 90 days.

A source at the LP national secretariat, who preferred anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, explained that Abure felt the urgent need to close rank with the Lamidi Apapa’s faction following the open revolt and media war from its Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi as well as the pressure from the NLC.

“It is the only logical way for him to have a united front against the threat of the NLC in particular. I believe you already know Abure has a long history with Lamidi Apapa and Abayomi Arabambi before now,” the source explained.

When The PUNCH contacted the Apapa’s camp, the factional spokesman, Abayomi Arabambi, confirmed the development.

Arabambi told our reporter that they had no problem with Abure from the outset because they knew he was being influenced and misled by some leading officers of the NLC.

He said, “We are together to stop all those political hawks from taking over our party. We thought they (NLC) were fighting for a just cause. But it is very obvious they only want to take over our party and we are not going to accept that. We in the Lamidi Apapa group are not lawbreakers like those who supported Abure in disobeying the court order. I have said this several times on air.

“It was because of this threat that Abure extended an olive branch for all of us to bond together. It was obvious that these people were not only with him to fight us but to take over the control of the party. So we cannot be outside and allow some people to take over our party. That was why Abure asked us to come together in the party’s interest.

“We are here to fight those people who want to use the Labour Party to foment trouble and destabilize the country. That is what we are against. Nobody is contesting or running for any election now. We know the next race is in 2027. Why should we now be seeking ways to bring the nation down? We are averse to that.”

He added, “I also want you to know that there is nothing like Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign here anymore. It has been dissolved. Everybody has reverted to former governorship and presidential candidate. We don’t want disinformation at the Labour Party.

“Again, you recall that there was a crisis in APC and the PDP. Yet, the warring parties came together and resolved it. So what stopped us from resolving ours? When you are fighting, there is no permanent enemy. It is all about permanent interest.”

Efforts to get Abure to react to the report were unsuccessful.

But the National Publicity Secretary of LP, Obiora Ifoh, also confirmed the reunion, saying there was nothing out of place for Abure to extend olive branches to aggrieved members of the party.

He said, “Labour Party is united. We do not have a division in the sense that as a party that came out of the election hugely successful with a lot of results to show, several people would want to have a stake in the Labour Party. The implication is that a lot of stone-throwing and interest will begin to manifest. But the Labour Party has a constitution and it has a rule completely spelt out.

“Anybody that tries to go out of it will get his hand burnt because the law will not support what you are doing just as the NLC is doing. Besides, we have never seen the Lamidi Apapa people as having their camp because there’s only one camp. That is the one led by Julius Abure.

“Of course, they have the right to be aggrieved and take positions that are not aligned with the interest of the party. But as soon as they discovered it was not the right way, I think they took the better decision to begin to retrace their steps. That is what we have seen.”

He stated further, “Many people who were involved in anti-party activities in the past are beginning to discover that the laws are not on their side. The best thing is to retrace their steps and return to the fold.

“So many other persons have indicated interest in returning to the party. LP does not have any problem with that. Our doors are wide open. If you are out in the cold and you need shelter in the Labour Party, we will bring you back and shelter you.

“The distinguished gentleman you just mentioned (Arabambi) is still our member. He has also recognised Julius Abure as the only national chairman. The party is coming together and I can tell you that the party is a lot more united now than ever.”