Tinubu Admonishes Party Leaders To safeguard Primaries

There may be no going back on transparent and democratic primaries for the choice of governorship candidates by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo and Ondo states, it was learnt yesterday.

At a meeting with nine APC governors, National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu said democratic primary as a core element of internal democracy should not be jettisoned.

A source at the meeting held at the State House, Marina, Lagos, said Tinubu,  a former governor of Lagos, emphasised the importance of primary to democracy, admonishing party leaders to safeguard it in the preparation for the choice of standard bearers.

The Progressives Governors’s Forum, led by Kebbi State Governor Atiku Bagudu, unfolded plans last week to mount pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari to support their push for right of first refusal to two of their colleagues, Ondo State Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) and   Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki, for the governorship.

The polls will hold in Edo in September and Ondo in October. No fewer than 10 chieftains are competing for the ticket in Ondo APC with Akeredolu, who is seeking a second term.

In Edo, other contenders have stepped down for Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, who is challenging Obaseki at the shadow poll. The Edo governor is also seeking re-election.

Last week, National Working Committee (NWC) announced that direct primary will be adopted for the Edo APC shadow poll.

At yesterday’s two-hour parley, the following nine governors were in attendance.

The Nation

Oshiomhole insists on direct primary in Edo

National Chairman of All Progressives Congress(APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has insisted on direct primary to pick Edo Governorship candidate on June 22.

He stated this after a meeting with members of the National Working Committee (NWC) and Governors elected under on the platform of the party.The Chairman disclosed this after the meeting, which lasted for over three hours at the National Secretariat in Abuja.

The Nation

Buhari Pushes COVID 19 Battle To States

THE Federal Government has pushed the battle to contain Coronavirus to states and communities, Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on the pandemic, Mr. Boss Mustapha, said on Sunday.

According to him, the Federal Government will henceforth only provide supervision and coordination.

Mustapha, the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), spoke on Sunday at the State House after members of the PTF briefed President Muhammadu Buhari and discussed their recommendations on the next phase of the battle.

With him at the briefing were Minister of Health Dr. Osagie Ehanire; National Coordinator of the PTF Dr. Sani Aliyu; Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Dr. Chikwe Ihekwaezu, and Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola.

Mustapha said: “The ownership of the next stage will be the responsibility of the states  because we have gone into community transmission.

Tha Nation

Ekiti State Governor Relaxes Lockdown

EKITI State Governor Kayode Fayemi has relaxed the state’s lockdown to allow residents to pursue their businesses from Mondays through Fridays from 6am to 8pm.

Fayemi, who stated this in a broadcast yesterday evening, added that public officers on Grade Level 8 and above are to resume for duty. Those on Grade Level 7 and below are to remain at home till further notice.

The governor stated that the new directives take effect from today, adding that consultations are underway to reopen religious worship centres, schools and big markets in the state.

The Coronavirus Is Disappearing In Italy

The coronavirus is disappearing in Italy, with some Italian doctors suggesting the virus is losing its potency.

Alberto Zangrillo, who heads Milan's San Raffaele Hospital in the badly hit northern region of Lombardy, told Italian TV on Sunday that "in reality, the virus clinically no longer exists in Italy," Reuters reported.

"The swabs that were performed over the last 10 days showed a viral load in quantitative terms that was absolutely infinitesimal compared to the ones carried out a month or two months ago," Zangrillo added.

Zangrillo urged Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's government to continue lifting lockdown measures, saying that warnings of a second wave of the virus were creating unnecessary fear in Italy.

"We've got to get back to being a normal country," he said. "Someone has to take responsibility for terrorizing the country."

Matteo Bassetti, the head of San Martino Hospital's infectious-diseases clinic in Genoa, in northwestern Italy, agreed with Zangrillo that the coronavirus was not as lethal as it used to be.

"The strength the virus had two months ago is not the same strength it has today," Bassetti told an Italian news agency, adding that "it is clear that today the COVID-19 disease is different."

Yahoonews/Reuters

Trump Calls Governors Weak For Failing To Dominate

Following a weekend in which protests over the death of George Floyd raged in virtually every major American city, President Trump on Monday told U.S. governors they were “weak” for not being more aggressive in enforcing laws against the demonstrations.

“You have to dominate. If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time,” Trump said during a video teleconference with governors, law enforcement and national security officials, audio of which was obtained by CBS News.

“They’re going to run over you,” the president said. “You’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate.”

“You’ve got to arrest people,” he continued. “You have to track people. You have to put them in jail for 10 years and you’ll never see this stuff again."

Trump’s comments came after a weekend of unrest over the death of Floyd, a black man who died after being pinned to the ground by a white Minneapolis police officer one week ago. In cities across the country, protesters broke curfews, set fires and looted stores, and police responded with shows of force, lobbing flash bangs, spraying tear gas and firing rubber bullets.

In Washington, D.C., Sunday, fires burned as demonstrators clashed with law enforcement for the third straight evening outside the White House. On Friday night, Secret Service agents rushed Trump to a White House bunker designed for use in emergencies like terrorist attacks as hundreds of protesters fought with police about 100 yards from the executive mansion.

Federal Government Lifts Ban On Religious Gatherings

The Federal Government on Monday lifted the ban on religious gatherings across the country.

This was disclosed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman of Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, at the daily media briefing in Abuja.The PTF submitted its recommendations and the PRESIDENT has approved the following for implementation over the next four weeks spanning 2nd – 29th June, 2020, subject to review-

Cautious advance into the Second Phase of the national response to COVID-19; application of science and data to guide the targeting of areas of on-going high transmission of COVID-19 in the country;

“Mobilisation of all resources at State and Local Government levels to create public awareness on COVID 19 and improve compliance with non-pharmaceutical interventions within communities; sustenance of key non-pharmaceutical interventions that would apply nationwide and include: ban of gatherings of more than 20 people outside of a workplace;

“Relaxation of restriction on places of Worship based on guidelines issued by the PTF and protocols agreed by state governments.”

Details shortly…

The Nation