Former Niger State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Jonathan Vatsa, has declared that no amount of harassment, intimidation or blackmail will force him to abandon his opposition to the Muslim-Muslim ticket.

He also commended Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, for reportedly choosing a Christian as his running mate ahead of the 2027 governorship election.

Vatsa, an APC chieftain, said Governor Sani’s reported decision to pick a Christian from the Southern Kaduna Senatorial District as his deputy reflected political maturity, fairness and religious sensitivity.

Speaking to journalists in Minna, the former APC Publicity Secretary in Niger State said the governor had distinguished himself from his predecessor, Nasir El-Rufai, by embracing what he described as a “faith-balanced” ticket.

According to him, the decision would promote peaceful coexistence, strengthen political inclusion and reassure Christians in Kaduna State of their place in governance.

“I want to commend Governor Uba Sani for this singular gesture towards the Christian community in Kaduna State.

He has distinguished himself from those who profess love for Christians publicly but sideline them when it comes to appointments and elective offices,” Vatsa said.

He urged Christians in Kaduna State to rally behind Governor Sani, insisting that the governor deserved their support for what he described as an inclusive approach to leadership.

Vatsa, however, reiterated his opposition to the Muslim-Muslim tickets adopted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago, describing the arrangement as politically insensitive and unacceptable.

“I stand by my earlier condemnation of the same-faith ticket at the federal level and in Niger State. These decisions are politically insensitive and unacceptable,” he stressed.

Vatsa insisted that no amount of harassment, intimidation or blackmail would make him change his position, stressing that speaking against any form of marginalisation was a moral obligation.

“Even if you don’t like the messenger, you should take the message. You don’t go to church to sing choruses and dance with Christians and when it comes to appointments or elective offices, you marginalise them,” he said.

Vatsa maintained that he would continue to speak out regardless of threats, adding that as a pioneer member of the APC who sacrificed for the party ahead of the 2015 elections, nobody could intimidate him.

“Anything anybody thinks he has acquired to harass and intimidate others is temporary because when the time comes, we shall all leave with empty hands,” he further added.

A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has appealed to the people of Rivers State not to repeat the mistake of 2015 during the 2027 elections.

Eze, in a statement on Tuesday, said the political and developmental challenges currently confronting the state are the direct consequences of the decision taken during the 2015 governorship election by ignoring the passionate appeal of then Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, who urged the people to reject Nyesom Wike at the polls.

He said Amaechi had warned that the choice before Rivers people in 2015 was between light and darkness as he presented then APC governorship candidate, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, as a visionary leader with the competence, character, and capacity to sustain developmental strides recorded between 2007 and 2015.

“Unfortunately, through the influence of powerful political forces at the centre and circumstances that remain part of our political history, Rivers State ended up on a path that has brought over eleven years of stagnation, division, insecurity, institutional decline, and the dismantling of many of the visionary programmes that once made Rivers State a model of development in Nigeria,” he noted.

Speaking on the 2027 governorship election, Eze condemned in strong terms what he described as Wike’s repeated boast of determining who becomes the next Governor of Rivers State.

“No individual, regardless of his political influence, owns Rivers State. The era of political godfatherism must come to an end. Any attempt by anyone to impose a governor on Rivers people is not only undemocratic but a direct assault on the sovereignty of the electorate. Rivers people must reject such a devilish agenda with every democratic means available to them,” he declared.

Eze recalled that since the return to democratic rule in 1999, the governorship of Rivers State has largely remained within the upland axis through the administrations of Peter Odili, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, and Nyesom Wike, who together governed the state for 24 years.

He therefore described attempts to perpetuate power within the same political circle as unjust, divisive, and contrary to the principles of equity, fairness, and inclusion that have sustained peace in the State.

According to him, Rivers State now has a historic opportunity to restore justice and rebuild public confidence through the ADC, which he described as a credible political platform.

Eze expressed confidence in the leadership qualities of Dr. Gabriel Pidomson – governorship candidate of the ADC, describing him as adequately prepared to provide purposeful leadership for Rivers State.

He further observed that Pidomson’s emergence carries profound historical significance because he comes from the Ogoni axis, one of the major ethnic groups in Rivers State that has never produced a Governor, Deputy Governor, Chief Judge, or Speaker of the State House of Assembly.

According to Eze, supporting such a candidacy would not only promote equity but also deepen unity and strengthen the bonds of peaceful coexistence across the State.

Eze therefore appealed to Rivers people not to repeat what he described as the costly mistake of 2015.

He said, “The people now know better. They have experienced the consequences of placing personal ambition above the collective interest of the State. The 2027 election presents another opportunity to restore hope, rebuild institutions, and return Rivers State to the path of progress.”

President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has charged the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to stop dreaming that he won the 2023 presidential election because he lost the poll.

Onanuga said Obi should stop living in denial and delusion because he came a distant third.

He was reacting to Obi’s latest interview on Channels television where he claimed to have won the 2023 presidential election but was rigged out.

In a statement he signed, Onanuga described the interview as a “PR” disaster for the former Anambra State governor.

Reacting to the interview, Onanuga said: “Two issues caught my attention while I watched him. First, when his interviewer, Seun Okinbaloye, questioned him about his political nomadism, he tried to make the question a non-issue, saying, with a smirk on his face, that he has not done anything different from what President Bola Tinubu has done in his political odyssey.

“No, Mr Obi. Tinubu has not been jumping from one ideologically different party to another. Since he joined party politics in 1991/92, Tinubu has stayed the progressive path all the way. He started with the Social Democratic Party and won an election to the Senate on the party’s platform, polling the highest vote ever by any candidate in the country.

“The second issue is that Seun gave you a golden opportunity to redeem yourself in respect of the outcome of the 2023 election. You lost, Peter. You didn’t win that election.

“You did well in the election, no doubt- a politician with no structure in the states, except the noisy followers on X, Instagram and Facebook. But I was utterly surprised that more than three years after the Supreme Court threw away your petition, you are still in denial of the loss, and you still nurse the delusion that you won the election, echoing the sentiment of your gullible followers on the streets. Mr Obi, it is time you accepted the stark reality of the loss. Stop dreaming of a victory that you never had.”