Archive May 12, 2025

This Morning star reveals unusual way she’s been hit by mum’s advanced dementia

10 Years Younger star Nicky Hambleton-Jones opens up about how her mother’s advanced dementia pushed her to embrace life in her fifties, inspiring a bold new outlook, career comeback and a vow to chase adventure while she can.

Nicky Hambleton-Jones shares how her mother’s advanced dementia has pushed her to seek more adventures

This Morning stylist Nicky Hambleton-Jones has opened up about how her mother’s advanced dementia has changed her perspective on life – and how it has inspired her to live more boldly than ever before. The 54-year-old fashion expert, who recently returned to screens in the ITV show’s Drop A Decade segment, said witnessing her mum’s decline has given her a renewed sense of urgency to embrace new adventures.

“My mum has advanced dementia, which gives me that sense of urgency,” Nicky explained in an exclusive chat with OK!. “There’s nothing I won’t do any more. Before I’d be too scared, but now I’m like, ‘Let’s go river rafting, let’s go climb a mountain!’ I’m having more adventures than I’ve ever had.”

READ MORE: This super hydrating £28 body lotion has Molly-Mae raving its ‘one of the best’ she’s ever used

Rather than being daunted by midlife, Nicky said she’s choosing to see her fifties as a time to live more fully. “People dread the big 5-0, then you realise the world doesn’t freeze over. You still look the same, you still feel the same,” she said. “But you do realise life is short, so if there’s something you want to do, you’ve just got to get on with it.”

Nicky’s new mentality didn’t come easily. The former 10 Years Younger host said it took her time to rebuild her confidence after being unexpectedly dropped from the Channel 4 makeover series and replaced by Myleene Klass — an experience that she said made her feel like “a failure.”

“When that happened, it was a shock. Everything evaporated overnight and I felt like such a failure,” she tells us, “I fixated on people seeing me as a loser. It took a lot of time to reprogramme that and it doesn’t happen overnight.”

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Despite the setback, Nicky refused to let that moment define her. Determined to bounce back, she threw herself into rebuilding her career and confidence – a process that began, she says, with “Getting up every day, putting on my lipstick and dressing for the person I want to be.”

The South African mum-of-two – who shares Ben, 15, and Georgina, 12, with husband Rob – said her return to the spotlight was far from easy. “I was terrified. I didn’t sleep the night before and I was shaking the whole way through it,” she admitted of her comeback on This Morning. “But the other option was to do nothing, so I told myself to just do it.”

Nicky has channelled her journey into a new book, Bolder Not Older, which aims to empower people to embrace fashion and self-confidence at any age. She’s also open about dabbling in cosmetic tweaks like Botox, but insists her goal isn’t to look younger – just to look and feel her best. “I don’t want to look ‘done’,” she said. “I just want to look good for my age.”

Bolder Not Older: Dull To Dazzling In 12 Weeks by Nicky Hambleton-Jones (Synergy Publishing, £17.99) is out now. Follow @nickyhambletonjones.

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Molly-Mae hurt by ‘savage’ trolling as she’s left ‘devastated’ by comment

Molly-Mae Hague has candidly spoken out about the ‘savage’ online trolling she receives about her weight and appearance – something that leaves her ‘devastated’

Molly opened up about her body confidence issues in her new Amazon Prime Video docuseries

Everything Molly-Mae Hague does seems to garner huge attention these days. But one thing she has spoken out about rarely until now, is how vicious online trolling about her weight has affected her.

Trolls are one of the dark sides of fame – and something the 25-year-old discusses candidly in the latest episodes of her Amazon Prime Video docuseries. Molly, who sky-rocketed to fame on Love Island in 2019 alongside boxer Tommy Fury, with whom she shares daughter Bambi, two, reveals that trolling about her weight can be “savage” and leaves its mark.

Molly and Tommy
Molly and Tommy have rekindled their romance

As she attends a L’Oréal fashion event, Molly is seen telling make-up artist Val Garland, who is coaxing her to hit the catwalk, “I just couldn’t, these legs aren’t cut out for that – maybe next year.”

Later, when asked how confident she feels in her own skin, Molly admits she’s been on a “journey” after giving birth to Bambi. “I’ve got a lot of stretchmarks. My hips are a lot wider now. Every day, there’s pressure to look a certain way. What’s hard is I see a lot of comments online. When you see hundreds of people writing really negative things about you, my appearance, my weight – it can be a bit savage sometimes.”

And now, a source has claimed to new, “Molly-Mae is very successful but underneath it all, she’s just a very normal girl. It’s overwhelming being in the public eye sometimes, everything is under such scrutiny. She understands it’s the price you pay for a successful career in the spotlight but it does, of course, have an effect on her, the comments about her appearance hurt.”

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They added, “She’s been broken-hearted so her confidence took a knock, but her main focus is her daughter and family – not her weight.

“She’s a down-to-earth person and doesn’t try to hide who she is, but that means she knows people will comment on what they see as the good and the bad, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. It’s devastating when people write horrible things about her appearance. No one would sign up for that.”

Molly and Bambi
Molly opened up in her docuseries about the trolling she receives over her body

But Molly also knows how to look confident, even when she’s not feeling it, revealing on the show, “I can walk into a room and pretend that I am.” Admitting as she watched models on the catwalk that she didn’t have the confidence yet, she added that it’s something she’s “really going to work on”.

“A lot of these women walking the catwalk have had children, and they really owned their bodies. When is the cut-off point, where I can’t use the baby as an excuse any more, as to why [I’m]not in shape? I’ll use it forever!”

Body confidence is a lifelong journey, and one that Molly’s touched on before, particularly since welcoming Bambi. She revealed after having her that she was “struggling massively” with her body image – and last summer, confessed her worries about the warmer weather meaning it was “too hot” to cover up in baggy clothes.

Something else that has fans eternally intrigued about the multi-millionaire is Molly’s tumultuous relationship with Tommy – and in the show, she confirms that they’re not only back on but could even be gearing up for baby number two.

Admitting that things are looking “so much better” but predicting there’ll be “bumps” in the road, she says her ultimate hopes are unchanged.

Tommy and Bambi
Molly revealed in her docuseries that she is “willing to ride the wave” with Tommy

“The dream is still the same – that we will get to the place one day where we’ll all be happy in that house together – have more children hopefully, and just have a nice, happy life together. That’s all I ever wanted.”

Last Wednesday, Molly doubled down on her rekindled romance, sharing a sweet tribute to Tommy on Instagram as he celebrated his 26th birthday.

It’s fair to say, the pair rocked the world of showbiz when they announced their split last summer after five years together – but got tongues wagging after they shared a kiss on New Year ’s Eve, then went on a romantic trip for Valentine’s Day this year.

The news of their reunion follows months of speculation about the true nature of their relationship – and Molly’s intriguing admission in a YouTube video last month that she and Tommy were “figuring things out”, as she revealed she was spending time in both her own home and the new house where Tommy is living.

In one scene of the Prime Video docuseries, Molly’s sister Zoe admits she’s “hated” seeing her so sad, and that all she’s ever wanted for Molly is for her to be “treated right”. “I’ve been there through everything. The upset calls because he’s out in the middle of the night and you haven’t heard from him. He’s proved me wrong so far, but I think to be fair that at some point it’s going to happen again.”

Molly admits in the show that she and Zoe are having the “trickiest time ever” due to her relationship with Tommy.

Molly and Bambi
In a YouTube video last month that she and Tommy were “figuring things out”

The challenges ahead, from her own body insecurities to her relationship with Bambi’s dad, seem inevitable. But what Molly’s documentary also shows is her positivity for the future, and the love that remains between her and Tommy.

In one touching moment, as Molly videocalls him from a photoshoot in St Moritz, she asks if he wants to see the view. “I’m enjoying the view I have right now, actually,” he replies. “I want to see that face for eternity.”

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Tom Cruise reveals how he landed Rain Man role after chance encounter in London

Tom Cruise has opened up on how he landed his role in the Oscar-winning film Rain Man after a chance encounter inside a London takeaway with the film’s star Dustin Hoffman

(Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

Tom Cruise has shared the serendipitous tale of how he bagged his part in the Oscar-laden film Rain Man, thanks to a random run-in with co-star Dustin Hoffman at a London takeaway.

At BFI Southbank on Sunday, Cruise regaled interviewer Edith Bowman with the story of spotting Hoffman while grabbing a bite with his younger sister, Cass Capazorio.

The 62 year old told the audience: “She said, ‘You’ve got to go over and say you love him.'”

“She doesn’t usually do stuff like that and I don’t walk up to people and introduce myself, but she was so pushy.

“She said, ‘If you don’t, I’m going to.'”

“He had his hat on and was ordering takeout.

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“I stood next to him and said, ‘Excuse me, Mr Hoffman, I’m sorry…’ and he looked at me and said, ‘Cruise!'”

“That’s how I met him.

“As I was leaving, he said, ‘I want to make a movie with you,’ and I said, ‘That would be nice.’

“A year later he sent Rain Man to me.”

The 1988 film turned out to be one of Cruise’s defining dramatic performances, earning eight Academy Award nods and four wins, including best picture and best actor for Hoffman.

Tom Cruise towers over Dustin Hoffman and in a black and white image taken in 1989 in Leicester Square for the charity premiere of Rain Man
Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise in 1989 in Leicester Square for the charity premiere of Rain Man (PA)(Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

Cruise also reminisced about an early trip to Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, where he was chauffeured by a studio driver who had previously worked with British director Sir David Lean.

“I always ask drivers what movies they’ve worked on – and one said he drove David Lean during Lawrence of Arabia,” Cruise revealed.

“He started telling me stories and eventually took me to the parking place where he used to drop him off.”

Sir David is hailed as a titan of British cinema, with monumental classics like The Bridge On The River Kwai and Lawrence Of Arabia to his credit.

Cruise disclosed how he passed on the chance to immediately follow up the 1986 smash hit Top Gun with a sequel.

“The studio wanted me to make Top Gun immediately – they were talking about the sequels,” Cruise reminisced.

He noted, “I said no. As a young artist, I felt I wanted to develop my talent in different areas.”

Further elaborating on his artistic drive, Cruise shared, “I wanted to understand myself more and challenge myself more with different types of movies.”

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Today’s horoscope for May 12 as Libra will experience a burst of motivation to finish tasks

Today’s horoscope for May 12 sees one star sign will secretly find the day quite dreary, while another’s discussions may not bode well for close relationships

Find out what’s written in the stars with our astrologer Russell Grant(Image: Daily Record/GettyImages)

It’s Monday, May 12, and one star sign will experience a burst of motivation to finish tasks.

There are 12 zodiac signs – Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces – and the horoscopes for each can give you the lowdown on what your future holds, be it in work, your love life, your friends and family or more.

These daily forecasts have been compiled by astrologer Russell Grant, who has been reading star signs for over 50 years. From Aries through to Pisces, here’s what today could bring for your horoscope – and what you can do to be prepared.

Aries (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Finances are a source of conflict at home. Try to avoid the temptation of saying yes to a costly trip or holiday with friends. Your money is needed for more essential expenses. Your friendships are important to you but you don’t need to spend a lot to have a good time.

Taurus (Apr 21 – May 21)

You won’t want to admit it to friends and colleagues who seem to be enjoying themselves but you are finding the day to be quite dreary. Work feels tedious, the mood at home is rather flat and a loved one’s behaviour is annoying you. It’s hard to get into the right mood for a new team effort.

Gemini (May 22 – June 21)

Pay close attention at work or in a study environment. Someone is keeping secrets to prevent you from pursuing a role they have set their sights on. Keeping your stellar reputation will depend on how you act in a stressful situation. Stay calm.

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Cancer (June 22 – July 23)

Your recent achievements have done a lot to boost your charm and social appeal. After midday you might start feeling restless and in need of a change of routine or environment. No one is likely to object to you stepping away from a job that has taken up a lot of your time.

Leo (July 24 – Aug 23)

Gaining new qualifications will provide you with the credentials you need for a future promotion. Expanding your knowledge in various aspects of your field will impress those in high places. A senior colleague is watching you. They value and appreciate your adaptability.

Virgo (Aug 24 – Sept 23)

How can your supervisor or someone in a higher position recognise your efforts if they don’t know what you have been up to? Make sure a workmate isn’t taking credit for your contributions. Sharing your ideas and letting your creativity flow will feel liberating.

Libra (Sept 24 – Oct 23)

There are jobs waiting to be completed. Get on with these straight away. Overthinking will get you nowhere. Once you take that first step, you will experience a burst of motivation to finish the task once and for all. Evening hours will be fun with a touch of romance being a delightful bonus.

Scorpio (Oct 24 – Nov 22)

The day begins with a fairly organised feel to it but then things may start to fall apart. Take any suggestions regarding a repair project, seriously. You value the support of your loved ones and the guidance they provide, but a little extra hands-on assistance would be more helpful.

Sagittarius (Nov 23 – Dec 21)

How can mistakes be rectified if a colleague refuses to share important information? You wish some people could be more open and honest about what is going on so everyone can talk about what went wrong and how it might be fixed.

Capricorn (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

It will be your practical suggestions and organisational skills that lead to you making a significant achievement. Your working life brings rewards while your personal life is stressful. The frustration has to do with the amount of time you are spending away from someone who had expected to see more of you.

Aquarius (Jan 21 – Feb 19)

A workmate’s annoying habits are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. You know you can’t expect them to change but you need to find a way to accept their behaviour to keep a positive work environment. Volunteering for some in-house training will be a good way to enhance your skills.

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Pisces (Feb 20 – Mar 20)

A heartfelt discussion will result in an agreement that may not bode well for your close relationships. By early afternoon, you will have a better idea on how to explain things to your family. A senior colleague will be surprisingly supportive. You didn’t think they could be so understanding.

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‘Who suffered the most?’: Fear and fatigue in Kashmir after ceasefire

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir — On Saturday morning at Fateh Kadal, a densely packed neighbourhood on the sloping embankment of the Jhelum river in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir’s largest city, 62-year-old Hajira wrapped a cotton scarf with a brown paisley design around her shoulders.

With her face muscles tense and sweat beading across her upper lip, she sat on the cement floor of a government-run grains store.

“Can you make it quick?” she called to the person manning the store.

Hajira comes to the store every month to submit her biometric details, as required by the government to secure the release of her monthly quota of subsidised grains, which her family of four depends on.

But this time was different. The past few days have been unprecedented for residents of Indian-administered Kashmir. Drones hovered overhead, airports were shut down, explosions rang out, people were killed in cross-border fire and the region prepared for the possibility of an all-out war.

“He made me stand in the queue,” she said, flinching from knee pain, referring to the store operator. “But there’s uncertainty around. I just want my share of rice so I can quickly return. A war is coming.”

Then, on Saturday evening, Hajira breathed a sigh of relief. United States President Donald Trump announced that he had succeeded in mediating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

“I thank Allah for this,” Hajira said, smiling sheepishly. “Perhaps he understood that I didn’t have the means to endure the financial hardship that a war-like situation would have caused.”

On Sunday morning, Trump went a step further, saying in a post on his Truth Social platform that would try to work with India and Pakistan to resolve their longstanding dispute over Kashmir, a region both countries partly control, but where they each claim the part the other administers.

Political analyst Zafar Choudhary, based in the city of Jammu in southern Indian-administered Kashmir, told Al Jazeera that New Delhi would not be happy about Trump’s statement. India has long argued that Pakistan-sponsored “terrorism” is the primary reason for tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

However, “Trump’s offer underlines the fact that Kashmir remains central to India-Pakistan confrontations”, Choudhary said.

And for Kashmiris, the hope stemming from the fragile pause in fighting between India and Pakistan, and Trump’s offer to mediate talks on Kashmir, is tempered by scepticism borne from a decades-long, desperate wait for peace.

A Kashmiri family watches as projectiles fly over the sky in Indian-administered Kashmir, Saturday, May 10, 2025 [Rafiq Maqbool/AP Photo]

‘Never been more frightened’

Hundreds of thousands of Kashmiris stood in the direct line of fire between India and Pakistan in recent days.

As the neighbouring nations launched missiles and drones at each other, communities in Indian-administered Kashmir near the de-facto border with Pakistan also witnessed cross-border shelling on a scale unseen in decades, triggering an exodus of people towards safer locations.

The shadow of conflict has stalked their lives for nearly four decades, since an armed rebellion first erupted against the Indian government in the late 1980s. Then, in 2019, the government scrapped Indian-administered Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status amid a huge security crackdown – thousands of people were imprisoned.

On April 22, a brutal attack by gunmen on tourists at Pahalgam left 26 civilians dead, shattering the normalcy critics had accused India of projecting in the disputed region.

Since then, in addition to a diplomatic tit-for-tat and missile exchanges with Pakistan, the Indian government has intensified its crackdown on Indian-administered Kashmir.

It has demolished the homes of rebels accused of links to the Pahalgam attack, raided other homes across the region and detained approximately 2,800 people, 90 of whom have been booked under the Public Safety Act, a draconian preventive detention law. The police also summoned many journalists and detained at least one for “promoting secessionist ideology”.

By Sunday, while a sense of jubilation swept through the region over the ceasefire, many people were still cautious, doubtful even, about whether the truce brokered by Trump would hold.

Just hours after both countries declared a cessation of hostilities, loud explosions rang out in major urban centres across Indian-administered Kashmir as a swarm of kamikaze drones from Pakistan raced across the airspace.

Many residents raced to the terraces of their apartments and homes to capture videos of the drones being brought down by India’s defence systems, a trail of bright red dots arcing across the night sky before exploding in midair.

As part of the emergency protocols, the authorities turned off the electricity supply. Fearing that the debris from drones would fall on them, residents ran for safety. The surge of drones through the night skies also touched off sirens, triggering a sense of dread.

“I don’t think I have ever been more frightened before,” said Hasnain Shabir, a 24-year-old business graduate from Srinagar. “The streets have been robbed of all their life. If the prelude to war looks like this, I don’t know what war will look like.”

A group of Kashmiri villager women wait for transportation as they leave following overnight shelling from Pakistan at Gingal village in Uri district, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
A group of Kashmiri women wait for transportation to leave the area after overnight shelling from Pakistan at Gingal village in the Uri district, Indian-administered Kashmir, Friday, May 9, 2025 [Dar Yasin/AP Photo]

A fragile ceasefire

Hours after the ceasefire was announced on Saturday, India accused Pakistan of violating the truce by shelling border regions. Residents across major towns in Kashmir were on their toes, once again, after drones reappeared in the skies.

One of the worst-affected places in Kashmir these days is Uri, a picturesque town of pear orchards and walnut groves close to India’s contested border with Pakistan.

The village is surrounded by majestic mountains through which the Jhelum river flows. It is the final frontier on the Indian-administered side before the hills pave the way to Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Parts of Uri saw intense shelling, forcing the residents to leave their homes and look for safety. On May 8, officials told Al Jazeera that a woman, Nargis Bashir, was killed in her car as she and her family tried to flee the border region, like thousands of others, after flying shrapnel tore through the vehicle. Three of her family members were wounded.

Muhammad Naseer Khan, 60, a former army serviceman, was huddling in his room when Pakistani artillery fire hit a nearby military post, with metal shrapnel shards blasting through the walls of his house. “The blast has damaged one side of my home,” Khan said, wearing a traditional blue shirt and a tweed coat.

“I don’t know if this place is even liveable,” he said, his bright blue eyes betraying a sense of fear.

Despite the ceasefire, his two daughters and many others in his family who had left for a relative’s house, away from the disputed border, are sceptical about returning. “My children are refusing to return. They have no guarantee that guns won’t roar again,” he said.

Suleman Sheikh, a 28-year-old resident in Uri, recalled his childhood years when his grandfather would talk about the Bofors artillery gun stationed inside a military garrison in the nearby village of Mohra.

“He told us that the last time this gun had roared was in 1999, when India and Pakistan clashed on the icy peaks of Kargil. It is a conventional belief here that if this gun roared again, things are going to get too bad,” he said.

That’s what happened at 2am on May 8. As the Bofors gun in Mohra prepared to fire ammunition across the mountains into Pakistan, Sheikh felt the ground shaking beneath him. An hour and a half later, a shell fired from the other side hit an Indian paramilitary installation nearby, making a long hissing noise before striking with a thud.

Hours after Sheikh spoke to Al Jazeera for this report, another shell landed on his home. The rooms and the portico of his house collapsed, according to a video he shared with Al Jazeera.

He had refused to leave his home despite his family’s pleas to join them. “I was here to protect our livestock,” Sheikh said. “I didn’t want to leave them alone.”

Unlike the rest of the Kashmir Valley, where apple cultivation brings millions of dollars in income for the region, Uri is relatively poor. Villagers mostly work odd jobs for the Indian Army, which maintains large garrisons there, or farm walnuts and pears. Livestock rearing has turned into a popular vocation for many in the town.

“We have seen the firsthand experience of what war feels like. It is good that the ceasefire has taken place. But I don’t know if it will hold or not,” Sheikh said, his face downcast. “I pray that it does.”

People walk at a open market, day after the ceasefire between Indian and Pakistan in Srinagar, in Indian controlled Kashmir, Sunday, May 11, 2025.(AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
People walk at a open market, a day after the ceasefire between India and Pakistan in Srinagar, in Indian-administered Kashmir, Sunday, May 11, 2025 [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]

‘How long must this continue?’

Back in Srinagar, residents are slowly returning to the rhythm of their daily lives. Schools and colleges continue to remain closed, and people are avoiding unnecessary travel.

The scenes of racing drone fleets in the skies and the accompanying blasts are seared into public memory. “Only in the evening will we come to know whether this ceasefire has held on,” said Muskaan Wani, a student of medicine at Government Medical College, Srinagar, said on Sunday.

It did, overnight, but the tension over whether it will last remains.

Political experts attribute the general scepticism about the ceasefire to the unresolved political issues in the region  – a point that was echoed in Trump’s statement on Sunday, in which he referred to a possible “solution concerning Kashmir”.

“The problem to begin with is the political alienation [of Kashmiris],” said Noor Ahmad Baba, a former professor and head of the political science department at the University of Kashmir.

“People in Kashmir feel humiliated for what has happened to them in the last few years, and there haven’t been any significant efforts to win them over. When there’s humiliation, there is suspicion.”

Others in Indian-administered Kashmir expressed their anger at both countries for ruining their lives.

“I doubt that our feelings as Kashmiris even matter,” said Furqan, a software engineer in Srinagar who only gave his first name. “Two nuclear powers fought, caused damage and casualties at the borders, gave their respective nations a spectacle to watch, their goals were achieved, and then they stopped the war.

“But the question is, who suffered the most? It’s us. For the world, we are nothing but collateral damage.”

Furqan said his friends were sceptical about the ceasefire when the two countries resumed shelling on the evening of May 10.

“We all already were like, ‘It is not gonna last,’” he said, “And then we heard the explosions again.”

Muneeb Mehraj, a 26-year-old resident of Srinagar who studies management in the northern Indian state of Punjab, echoed Furqan.

“For others, the war may be over. A ceasefire has been declared. But once again, it’s Kashmiris who have paid the price – lives lost, homes destroyed, peace shattered,” he said. “How long must this cycle continue?”

Saraki To Chair PDP Reconciliation Committee Ahead Of NEC Meeting

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has set up a committee headed by a former Senate president, Bukola Saraki, to reconcile aggrieved members ahead of its National Executive Committee meeting.

This was disclosed at the end of a meeting held at the Abuja lodge of the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum and Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, on Sunday night.

The meeting also had the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, in attendance. He, however, did not speak to journalists.

Some of the governors present at the meeting included Ademola Adeleke (Osun), Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), and Peter Mbah (Enugu).

Others were former governors of Cross River, Liyel Imoke, Achike Udenwa of Imo, Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Osun, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, and Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa

The PDP Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagun, a former Caretaker Committee Chairman, Ahmed Markafi, and some other members of the party’s National Working Committee also attended the meeting.

Briefing journalists, the Bauchi governor said the meeting was convened ahead of the party’s scheduled NEC, which has been slated for the end of May.

According to him, the invitation of the former governors was done to tap from their experiences, so they could resolve some of the internal challenges and prepare the ground for a rancour-free NEC meeting and a national convention later in the year.

Asked about the recent defection of PDP members, the Bauchi state governor said the development would rather make them stronger.

He, however, disclosed that the party was strategising to ensure that some of the states where the party had governors were reclaimed.

There have been concerns over the defection of the Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, and his cabinet to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The opposition party has been battling internal crises since the 2023 general elections.

The situation worsened with the conflict between a former governor of Rivers State and his successor, Sim Fubara.

Several attempts by the party’s leadership, including the National Working Committee, Board of Trustees, National Executive Committee, and the PDP Governors’ Forum, to mediate have not resolved the crisis.

On April 23, Oborevwori, a former governor of Delta, Ifeanyi Okowa, and other officials from the state joined the APC.

At the National Assembly, three Kebbi lawmakers, Senators Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central), Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North), and Garba Maidoki (Kebbi South), joined the ruling party after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu.