The national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has urged former Nigerian leaders, Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida to keep off politics and instead enrol in the retirees club.
In a reaction to the open commentaries on President Muhammadu Buhari’s leadership, Tinubu advised the former presidents to enjoy their pensions by joining the retirees’ club.
“I don’t address those shadows. We should let our former presidents join retirees’ club and take pensions but they can participate in our politics if they are interested.
“It is a free world but this freedom is not served a la-carte but they should allow us to move our country forward. It is a challenge to every Nigerian.”
Tinubu spoke to media men in Abuja after he and Chief Bisi Akande met Buhari to express their condolences on the president’s loss of two relations.
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Tinubu said the APC is determined to prosecute 2019 general elections in a most transparent and democratic manner.
He also expressed his commitment towards ensuring electoral victory for all APC candidates in the election.
He commended Buhari for appointing him to lead the consultation, reconciliation and confidence building efforts toward improving cohesion within the APC.
“I belong to this party. My commitment is to this party. We have a better chance and we are strongly determined to prosecute election in a most transparent and democratic manner and we will win.
“Well, l feel greatly honoured with the mutual confidence that the president has reposed in me which is a very strong political challenge.
“We have started in earnest. He has given me free hand to put cohesion, confidence and trust in the party.
“Democracy is about conflict resolution process. You can’t do it without resolving conflicts. We can’t build it without understanding the conflicts and sources where we are coming from.
“But we want to leave the country with a legacy. It’s not about Mr. President. That is what he’s telling the country,” he said.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
