Republican fund-raiser defects to Clinton camp

A prominent Republican activist and fundraiser says she will back Democrat Hillary Clinton for president and give money to her campaign to stop her party’s nominee Donald Trump, repudiating him as a dangerous demagogue.

“I will vote for Hillary, I will talk to my Republican friends about helping her, and I will donate to her campaign and try to raise money for her,” Meg Whitman told The New York Times Tuesday.

The billionaire Whitman is CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and used to be chief executive of eBay. Whitman funded her own, ultimately failed campaign to be elected governor of California in 2010.

Whitman told the Times that Trump is a “dishonest demagogue” and that electing him to the White House would lead the United States “on a very dangerous journey.”

Whitman said she stood by remarks earlier this year in which she compared Trump to Hitler and Mussolini, and said dictators often come to power by democratic means.

She also disclosed that Clinton had reached out to her about a month ago in a telephone call.“Time and again history has shown that when demagogues have gotten power or come close to getting power, it usually does not end well,” Whitman said.

Whitman said she is even willing to campaign for the former secretary of state.

Whitman will donate an amount in the “mid-six figures” to the Clinton campaign, the Times said, quoting an aide to her.

Whitman was a top fundraiser for Mitt Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign and chaired New Jersey governor Chris Christie’s finance team this year until he pulled out of the race.

When Christie endorsed Trump, Whitman accused the governor of an “astonishing display of political opportunism, the Times said.

President Buhari on the Economic Management Team

Ambode emerges best performing Governor

Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode

The Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, is leading other Governors in the poll organised by the African Leadership Magazine to determine Nigeria’s top performing Governor.

The poll, tagged: “Good Governance Polls for Nigeria’s Top Performing Governor,” started two weeks ago with Governor Ambode maintaining the lead.

So far, he has scored 36.1 per cent of the total vote casts.

The Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, is trailing Governor Ambode with 25 per cent of the total votes cast.

The poll, according to its organisers, was designed by the group as part of its strategic engagement tool to monitor performance and gauge the mood of the electorate in Nigeria in line with its objective of providing credible information and support to leaders in Nigeria and Africa at large.

The Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, is in the third place with 8.8 per cent, while Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, is in the fourth position with 7.9 per cent of the total vote casts.An overwhelming 35 per cent popularity rating for Governor Ambode, among other governors, clearly shows his popularity as he continues to deliver good governance, promoting infrastructural development and people-centred policies that better the lives of the people of Lagos.

The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, sits in the fifth position with 5 per cent, while as at press time, voting is still ongoing and is expected to close in the next four days.

RERUN: APC wins Imo north senetorial, 2 state constituencies in Imo

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Mr Ben Uwajumogu of the All Progressive Congress (APC) winner of Imo North Senatorial District rerun election held on July 28.

Uwajumogu scored 56,076 votes to defeat Mr Athan Achonu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 43, 815 votes.

Prof. Arinze Agbogu, the INEC Returning Officer for Imo North Senatorial District, who announced the result in the early hours of Friday, said the outcome was a summation of scores of July 23 and that of July 28 exercise.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalled that Uwajumogu, had scored 48,921 on July 23, while Achonu, of the PDP, scored 40, 142 votes which made INEC to declare the rerun inconclusive.

Similarly, INEC declared Mr Nkenna Nzeruo of the APC winner of Oru East State Constituency, while Mr Collins Chiji also of APC was declared winner for Isiala Mbano State Constituency.Agbogu said that available data before him showed that Uwajumogu had majority of lawful votes cast, and therefore returned elected for the Imo North Senatorial District.

The two state constituencies’ elections were equally declared inconclusive due to reported cases of violence that marred the exercise in some communities in the two areas on July 23.

Uwajumogu told journalists in Owerri that he was highly elated over the victory, adding “my gratitude goes more to Gov. Rochas Okorocha whose structure helped me to win this senatorial election’’

Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton by 13 ponits -Photo

According to a new poll, Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton by 13 points among independent voters.

AfDB Partners With Abia State Govt.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has started the process of initializing the implementation of critical infrastructure developmental projects in Abia State with an inspection visit to some of the deplorable roads at Aba the commercial hub of the state.

The bank’s representative, Mwila Katabula, during a visit to the Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, at the Executive Chambers of Government House, Umuahia, expressed their readiness to partner with the state in areas as stipulated by the government.

The aim is to upgrade and rehabilitate some collapsed roads amongst others so as to empower the people and thereby boosting and enhancing economic development of the state.

At the Obohia Road, the need to de-congest the city centre and issue of water challenge was at the front burner.

But at Ngwa Road Market, the road infrastructure had totally collapsed, as flood had entered most of the shops. The traders had to sweep the water out; a situation they hoped would end soon.

The partnership would allow the state assess a grant-aid of 200 million dollars to rebuild infrastructure but only when all the adequate facility as penned down by the bank are put in place.

It was the second visit of the team of Africa Development Bank to Abia State, after the last visit in 2014, this time to continue with the discussion in areas of work implementation.