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Factions Emerged in the Senate Over Reno’s Ambassadorial Appointment

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<p><&excl;-- BEGIN THEIA POST SLIDER --><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"kPUghzPc" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa<&sol;p><div class&equals;"p6QjhoYU" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>Mounting tension within the Nigerian Senate has followed the nomination of former presidential aide and social media commentator Reno Omokri as an ambassadorial nominee&period; His inclusion among the 32 names forwarded for confirmation has triggered immediate factional battles&comma; even leading to the shutdown of the lawmakers&&num;8217&semi; official WhatsApp group&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The controversy stems primarily from Omokri’s past as a vocal critic of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu&period; Opponents within the Senate have specifically cited a previous remark in which Omokri labelled the President a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;drug baron&comma;” arguing that such history renders him unfit for a diplomatic role&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to multiple parliamentary sources who spoke to SaharaReporters&comma; Senate President Godswill Akpabio was instrumental in forwarding Omokri’s nomination&comma; reportedly as a reward for political support&period;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"1hrKWNi8" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;" &NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"6550225277"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>However&comma; in an unexpected twist&comma; the same sources indicate that Akpabio is now mobilizing his loyalists to oppose the nominee he initially championed&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The senate president had nominated Omokri as a reward for the hatchet job he did for him&comma;” one source disclosed&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;However&comma; Akpabio is rallying some of his clique to screen Omokri out on the claim that he once attacked Tinubu and called him a drug baron&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Another source revealed that Senator Osita Ngwu of Enugu West has taken a lead role in mobilising resistance against Omokri&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Ngwu has allegedly been reaching out to colleagues&comma; urging them to reject the nominee on grounds of impropriety&comma; arguing that anyone who made such serious allegations against a sitting President cannot credibly represent Nigeria on the global stage&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Senator Osita Ngwu&comma; representing Enugu West Senatorial District&comma; is reported to be rallying senators to reject Omokri with sources revealing that Ngwu has been attacking colleagues against the move&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad1" id&equals;"quads-ad1" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Senator Osita Ngwu&comma; representing Enugu West Senatorial District&comma; is reported to be rallying senators to reject Omokri&comma;” an insider noted&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Ngwu has been attacking colleagues against the move&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The disagreements reportedly spiralled into a larger internal crisis when a Senate WhatsApp group&comma; used for routine communication among lawmakers&comma; was abruptly locked after arguments over Omokri’s nomination intensified&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Senator Ngwu&comma; said to be one of the administrators of the group&comma; allegedly disabled responses to prevent further confrontations&period; This angered several senators who insisted they had been silenced&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan&comma; a vocal figure in the Senate&comma; through her social media page&comma; confronted Senator Ngwu over the group shutdown and demanded that he reopen the platform and restore comments that had been deleted during the altercation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Dear Senator Osita Ngwu of Enugu Enugu West Senatorial District&comma; you will open responses in the Senators WhatsApp forum and repost my deleted comments&comma;” she posted&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Else I’ll bring the discussion to the public domain&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Ngwu insisted anyone who had called the president a drug baron cannot represent the president and country&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He said&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Someone who called the President of Nigeria a drug baron and who has not retracted the statement should not represent Nigeria and Nigerians in the international and diplomatic society&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;It’s about the office of the President not about an individual&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Meanwhile&comma; bring it up&&num;8230&semi;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>His defiance further inflamed tension among senators already divided over the nomination&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Despite the uproar&comma; the Senate is expected to begin screening the ambassadorial nominees on Tuesday&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Nigerian Tracker News learnt that the former presidential aide to Goodluck Jonathan&comma; Omokri&comma; once swore never to accept any appointment or work with President Bola Tinubu&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Reno made the remarks during an appearance on the Mic On podcast&comma; hosted by journalist Seun Okinbaloye&comma; where Omokri was asked directly if he would accept an offer from Tinubu&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;It will never happen&comma;” he said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Pressed further on whether any scenario could make him reconsider&comma; he added&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Oh my gosh&comma; I don&&num;8217&semi;t want to betray privilege&period; Somebody from Bola Tinubu&&num;8217&semi;s camp has already reached out to me&comma; and I told the person that&comma; look&comma; it cannot happen&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I can&&num;8217&semi;t do it&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s just against my principles&period; Some people can do that&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s not in my DNA&period; I can&&num;8217&semi;t do it&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;It&&num;8217&semi;s never going to happen&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Omokri said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Reno Omokri&comma; a prominent social commentator&comma; was among the most vocal critics of Bola Tinubu in the lead-up to the 2023 presidential election&period; He publicly contested Tinubu&&num;8217&semi;s record&comma; qualifications&comma; and personal integrity&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>However&comma; Omokri&&num;8217&semi;s stance shifted notably following his independent verification that Tinubu did indeed attend Chicago State University&period; This confirmation prompted a discernible softening of his previous criticism&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><&excl;-- END THEIA POST SLIDER -->&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad3" id&equals;"quads-ad3" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"autorelaxed" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1004305389"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad5" id&equals;"quads-ad5" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;

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