PDP Reps’ Aspirants Dismiss Obasanjo’s Endorsement Of Obi

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Houses of Representatives Aspirants Forum has described endorsement of presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as a ruse and far from reality among Nigerians.

In a statement co-signed by the group’s national chairman, Hon. Danjuma Mohammed and national publicity secretary, Hon. Jibrin Keana, it urged the national leadership of PDP and supporters of Atiku Abubakar to focus on credible campaign messages to Nigerians and be vigilant on the conduct of the presidential election rather than dwelling on ruse endorsement.

The group described the PDP presidential candidate as a democrat who contributed to the development of democracy in Nigeria and boasted that Atiku will win the election convincingly.

Keana said the popularity of Atiku Abubakar is like that of late sage, Obafemi Awolowo who has not been elected as president, but popular as serving and former presidents due to his contributions to democracy in Nigeria.

He recalled how Atiku in collaboration with eminent Nigerians formed the PDP in which Obasanjo used the platform to contest for president in 1999.

Keana said, “The recent endorsement of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, by former President Olusegun Obasanjo is far from reality on ground and ruse.

“Considering facts and figures, Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of PDP will win convincingly the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria if INEC, the security agencies can ensure the conduct of a peaceful, free and fair presidential election unlike that of 2019 which was characterised by irregularities which frustrated the victory of our presidential candidate.”

Amazon To Sack 18,000 Workers Over ‘Uncertain Economy’

Amazon, an American multinational technology company, says it is planning to sack over 18,000 employees from its total workforce.

The figure, which is the largest number of layoffs in the company’s history, represents 1.2 per cent of its 1.5 million employees across the globe.

Chief executive officer of Amazon, Andy Jassy, announced the development in a public staff note on Thursday

He attributed the job cuts to the “uncertain economy” and the company’s rapid hiring over the last several years.

“As I shared back in November, as part of our annual planning process for 2023, leaders across the company have been working with their teams and looking at their workforce levels, investments they want to make in the future, and prioritising what matters most to customers and the long-term health of our businesses,” the Amazon CEO said.

“This year’s review has been more difficult given the uncertain economy and that we’ve hired rapidly over the last several years. In November, we communicated the hard decision to eliminate a number of positions across our devices and books businesses, and also announced a voluntary reduction offer for some employees in our people, experience, and technology (PXT) organisation.

“I also shared that we weren’t done with our annual planning process and that I expected there would be more role reductions in early 2023.

“Today, I wanted to share the outcome of these further reviews, which is the difficult decision to eliminate additional roles. Between the reductions we made in November and the ones we’re sharing today, we plan to eliminate just over 18,000 roles.”

Jassy said while the layoffs will be carried out across departments, it would majorly impact Amazon Stores and PXT organisations.

He added that all the affected employees will receive packages that also include external job placement support.

“S-team and I are deeply aware that these role eliminations are difficult for people, and we don’t take these decisions lightly or underestimate how much they might affect the lives of those who are impacted. We are working to support those who are affected and are providing packages that include a separation payment, transitional health insurance benefits, and external job placement support,” he explained.

According to Jassy, the announcement was not expected to be released this early but was done so after an Amazon teammate allegedly leaked the information.

“We typically wait to communicate about these outcomes until we can speak with the people who are directly impacted. However, because one of our teammates leaked this information externally, we decided it was better to share this news earlier so you can hear the details directly from me,” he said.

Jassy said the company will start informing affected staff from January 18.

In November last year, multiple outlets had reported that Amazon had planned to fire around 10,000 employees.

The company later confirmed the layoffs but it didn’t disclose how many employees would be affected.