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Tag: 2015 elections

  • Elections must hold in Adamawa, Borno, Yobe – PDP

    Elections must hold in Adamawa, Borno, Yobe – PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said the 2015 elections must hold in the insurgency ridden northeastern part of the country, despite the security challenges.
    Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, three of the six states in the zone have been under emergency rule for over 18 months.

    The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, while featuring on a live radio programme in Abuja on Wednesday, insisted that there was no reason why elections should not hold in the insurgency ravaged states.

    Metuh said: “After all, these states which are being controlled by the opposition, had successfully conducted council elections at the peak of insurgency, while bye-elections to state and National Assemblies were held during the period. So what are they saying?

    “If the governors in the affected states have been alive to their responsibilities as being done by the PDP controlled Federal Government, the situation would have been brought under control.

    “Rather, they are busy attacking the President and our party as being responsible for the insecurity and those elections will not hold in the affected states. Elections must hold and PDP will spring surprises.

    “That is a shallow and callous thinking from the opposition. How can the President be sponsoring crisis in a country he is presiding over. Even the President made it clear on several occasions that his presidential ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian. President Goodluck Jonathan is a refined gentleman who will never have such a sinister motive against anybody or his father land.

    “What is regrettable is that those leading members of the main opposition, the All Progressives Congress that are making unguarded utterances against the President and the PDP were former members of our party who got to where they are today on our platform before they defected. One of them even said that if APC did not win the 2015 presidential election, they will not go to court but will go and form a parallel government.

    “We have made our position known in our press statement of yesterday that enough is enough. The PDP will no longer tolerate such barbaric attacks again. If any one of them tries again, we will go out in full swing and expose such a character.”

    Metuh said the defection of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, was an issue that bordered on morality, integrity and constitutional matters for Nigerians to decide.

     

  • Buhari visits Bayelsa, asks voters to kick out PDP

    Buhari visits Bayelsa, asks voters to kick out PDP

    Large crowd of the All Progressive Congress (APC) supporters trooped out in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, on Wednesday, to receive a presidential aspirant of the party, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd).

    Party enthusiasts and other residents of the state crowded the secretariat of APC at Erepa Street in Yenagoa, to catch a glimpse of the former head of state whose slogan is “zero tolerance to corruption.”

    Buhari was in the state to address the delegates of the party for the APC’s forthcoming presidential primaries.

    The aspirant and his entourage were received by the state Chairman of APC, Mr. Tiwe Oruminighe and members of the state working committee.

    Addressing the delegates, Buhari lamented the deep-rooted corruption in Nigeria, blaming it on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    He said the PDP had brought nothing but untold hardship to Nigerians, adding that another four years of the PDP would further plunge the country into misery.

    He asked the people to compare 1999 when the PDP took over the reins of power with the present realities, observing that everything had gone from bad to worse.

    According to him Nigerians should either make a wise choice in the next election by voting the APC or remain in perpetual suffering.

    “If you want to know how much we have been suffering under the PDP since 1999, try and imagine what our condition was in 1999. We used to have Nigerian airways, we used to have Nigerian shipping lines, the roads were not too bad, even light itself was not too bad,” he said.

    He said under the watch of PDP, many industries had closed shops, leading to backwardness in industrialization.

    Buhari noted that the ruling party had shown total disrespect to democratic institutions and lack of political will to stop corruption.

    “What is wrong? What is wrong is massive corruption. If we don’t kill corruption in Nigeria, corruption will kill us,” he said, adding that corruption had made it impossible for the country to develop its potential.

    He recalled that under PDP many panels of inquiries were set up and people were indicted for corrupt practices in the petroleum and other sectors.

  • APC will end PDP monopoly of power – Atiku

    APC will end PDP monopoly of power – Atiku

    The former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on Wednesday said the All Progressive Congress is the only party standing in the way of dictatorship and one party system in the country.

    Atiku, a presidential aspirant of the APC stated this in Abakaliki during his campaign visit to Ebonyi State chapter of the party.

    He noted that all the presidential aspirants of the party have resolved to support whoever emerges from the party’s primaries.

    According to him APC is set to end PDP monopoly of power at the centre in 2015 by emerging victorious at the polls.

    He said: “I want to thank you for the warm reception accorded me. This is the only time in the nation’s political history that we have opportunity to make positive change in our lives and unborn generation because since 1999, we have been subjected to only one party. We did not have an alternative, as we did now.

    “Since APC was formed last year, Nigeria now has a chance to make positive change. If APC did not come, we could have gotten what is in other African countries, that is we would have ended up with dictators.

    “If we fought military rule, we can fight one-party system. Because of the sins of PDP, there is no place for them in coming elections, both in Ebonyi and other parts of the country.

    “Who ever wins the APC primaries, vote for APC. That is the beauty of democracy. No matter the number of candidates, only one person would emerge. All of us are operating in the party’s interest. This would bring about the change we are advocating, to lift the party. Please support the candidate, don’t vote for another party.

    “I am in Ebonyi to acquaint myself with the party’s problems in the state. So that if am opportuned by God’s and your grace, I will know how to solve the problems. Seeing is believing, not someone sitting down somewhere and urging for your votes and support.

    “I am here to tell you that your vote is your power,your road to prosperity and development. To change those who say they would govern us for the next 60 years. If you finish voting, don’t go, stay there and see that they are counted and recorded.”

     

  • 2015: Buhari submits presidential nomination form

    2015: Buhari submits presidential nomination form

    Former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), Monday submitted his presidential nomination form at the All Progressive Congress national secretariat in Abuja, saying it was unfortunate that insecurity has been allowed to prevail in the country.

    Buhari, who spoke with journalists after submitting his form to the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, said last week’s invasion of the National Assembly by some policemen is a rape of the nation’s constitution.

    He said, “It is a distressing situation where those who are supposed to protect the constitution are those who are undermining it. That place, the House of Representatives and the Senate are sacred places.

    “The law enforcement agencies shouldn’t go there, fire tear gas and harass them. As far as I am concerned, they are undermining the constitution. If they are undermining the constitution, who is going to correct things when they go bad? My position is that total insecurity in Nigeria is on the match. May God help us.”

    He told the party leaders that having collected the form and complied with the party’s demands, he was returning the form with hope that it will lead him to become the nation’s president come 2015.

    He said: “We have collected the form according to the due process we are pursuing. We have dutifully gone through the processes and have filled the form and attached the documents and the receipts of the demand we have to subject ourselves to if we want to be part of the exercise.

    “I believe that the forms have been filled. I thought that my form should not be submitted on the last day of submission, but to be among the first three. But I was told that it has to be submitted today.”

    Speaking after receiving the form, the APC chairman said that the submission of the form by the retired Army General is a sign that he was serious about the race, pointing out that “if you pick a form and you don’t return it, we are not sure yet whether you mean business.

    “But I am glad that the form is here and you are one of the aspirants that had confirmed his continuation in the presidential race. So, I greet you and wish you the very best.

    “I loved what you said when you came in that there were so many people that you could hardly find a place to pack your car. That is the sign of a vibrant party, a party that is growing and I want to assure you that half the crowd you saw are PDP members seeking registration to join us and seeking waver to pick our ticket for the various offices to be contested.

    “So, we are busy working and preparing the ground for our eventual take over.  I thank you for your forthrightness, simplicity and by God’s grace, one of you in the APC will be the President of this nation in the next few months.”

     

  • Amaechi is reckless – Presidency

    The Presidency on Thursday came down hard on the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, describing him as “reckless” and “a liability” to his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, at a briefing in Abuja on Thursday, accused Amaechi of “incitement, treason and gross rascality.”

    Okupe was reacting to a statement in Abuja by Amaechi on Wednesday, where the Governor warned that Nigerians would be mobilised for civil disobedience if the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rigged the 2015 general elections.

    “This statement is clearly a further evidence of Governor Amaechi’s penchant for lawlessness and anarchy in his unbridled pursuit for power. It is curious and unthinkable that a man who was himself a beneficiary of the court process would disdain the very platform through which he acquired the opportunity to make his reckless and provocative statement.

    “It is even more worrisome when one considers the fact that Governor Amaechi’s party, which is relatively new, came on board promising hope to Nigerians. With statements like this, it is clear that Amaechi is more of a liability to his party than asset and has the potential to bring his party to further opprobrium and disrepute.

    “For someone who aspires to become the Vice President of this country, his disdain for law and order is not only unfortunate but also patently dangerous and sends dark signals about the survival of our democracy.

    “Discerning Nigerians know that comments like this not only do not augur well for any democracy, but also portray Mr. Amaechi as a reckless, power hungry individual who lacks both the democratic temper and respect for constituted authority and institutions.

    “For a party that has made so much noise about its intentions to offer Nigerians a new deal, we wonder how the APC can be comfortable with a loose cannon like Governor Amaechi.

    “It is clear to any discerning mind that Mr. Amaechi’s indecorous outbursts and his obvious disregard and contempt for the rule of law, has defined him as unfit to hold any serious public office in this country let alone the Vice Presidency of Nigeria to which he aspires,” Okupe stated.

    The President’s aide maintained that the PDP had lost a number of elections in some states under President Goodluck Jonathan, without the President interfering with the pronouncement by the electoral body.

    According to him, the President had remained committed to electoral transparency in all elections conducted under his watch, adding that on several occasions, the Jonathan had gone ahead to congratulate winners in elections where his party lost.

    “It is therefore preposterous, evil and mischievous for Mr. Amaechi to suggest that there were plans by the Federal government to rig any elections in today’s Nigeria,” he added.

  • Jonathan using Boko Haram for hidden agenda – APC

    Jonathan using Boko Haram for hidden agenda – APC

    … Party holds ‘salvation rally’

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday held a salvation rally in Abuja and accused President Goodluck Jonathan of allegedly using Boko Haram insurgency for a hidden agenda to win 2015 presidential election.

    The party said there was no limit to the length the President had not gone in his obsession for re-election.

    It accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of working in concert with the Presidency to corrupt the system and disenfranchised voters in APC-controlled states.

    It queried why the recent collection of Permanent Voters Cards and continuous registration in 12 states of the federation was a fiasco.

    It asked the government and INEC to explain why the PVC exercise was muddled up in Lagos, Kano Rivers, Niger, Ogun, Katsina, Kaduna, Zamfara and all APC strongholds

    The APC said it was becoming obvious that President Jonathan might be unable to organize a free and fair election come February 2015.

    The party said the President was also planning to use the extension of the emergency rule as excuse not to conduct the 2015 poll in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States.

    It protested the inadequate funding of the Federation Account, saying it was a ploy to starve APC controlled states of funds.

    Besides the rally, APC chieftains defied old age and apparatchik of office to march around Abuja metropolis to draw the attention of the government and Nigerians to the insurgency in the North-East.

    The position of the APC was made known by the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun in an address at the commencement of a Salvation Rally at the Eagle’s Square in Abuja.

    He said the party has tabled four demands which the President must address immediately.

    He said the rally was a demonstration of the party’s lack of confidence in Jonathan’s administration.

    Oyegun said: “We are here today as a practical demonstration of our lack of confidence in the ability or willingness of President Goodluck Jonathan to organize a free and fair election come February 2015.

    “President Goodluck Jonathan is so desperate to win re-election that it will now appear that there is a secret understanding that our security forces should turn a blind eye to the Boko Haram Insurgency so that the insurgents can occupy as much territory as possible and make elections impossible in these areas, knowing fully well these are APC strongholds.

    “Otherwise, how does one explain that local hunters carrying Dane guns and amulets are capable of dislodging the dreaded Boko Haram sect while our once proud army, which has distinguished itself in and out of the country, has failed?

    We daily hear idle talks that the President needs to declare total war on Boko Haram.

    “Pray, what has the Jonathan government been doing since the moment the state of emergency was declared the very first time? Or is the President saying that he declared and renewed the state of emergency several times only to cage the civil populace so that the insurgents can have a free rein?”

  • 2015: Abuja group supports Jonathan’s re-election bid

    2015: Abuja group supports Jonathan’s re-election bid

    Indigenes of the Federal Capital Territory under the auspices of FCT Indigenes and Geo-political Leaders Forum for Goodluck 2015 have concluded plans to commence school to school campaign for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.

    Two ex- ministers of Information, Chief Edwin Clark and Prof. Jerry Gana, according to the group are in full support of President Jonathan’s re-election bid in 2015.

    The Convener of the group, Amb. Ayuba Ngbako, who made this known at a prayer session organized to ensure the success of President Jonathan second term ambition, said the people of FCT have decided to put everything together for the President to be re-elected.

    Ngbako, who also led a road-walk campaign through strategic streets of Abuja before the prayer session, said they had written a letter to Chief Clark to let their request known to President Jonathan, for him to be courageous and answer the calls of Nigerians for him to seek re-election.

    He said, “We are happy that he has come out to declare his intention to contest and we the FCT indigenes and residents have more programmes to support his election, for him to be re-elected the second time. We are not only going to support him, we are also going to work for him, we have lined up activities that we are going to do to ensure his success during the election, activities like school to school campaign.

    “We are also going to organize Goodluck centre for young leaders and other things. We are doing all these, because, we believe that he will work more for the FCT people and Nigerians in the next four years. He put in place the National Conference which has come out to be the best for the FCT people.”

     

  • Bayelsa stakeholders gang up against government’s aspirants

    About 5,000 stakeholders from the Bayelsa West Senatorial District have united against aspirants allegedly anointed by the state government to emerge as candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 elections.

    The stakeholders who converged in Yenagoa on Tuesday under the aegis of the Bayelsa West Democratic Assembly (BWDA) said they would no longer allow the government to impose candidates on the district in the forthcoming elections.

    Rising from their meeting, the stakeholders said the senatorial seat of the district was not for any unpopular candidate foisted on them by the government.

    They asked the government to allow them choose their leaders in the spirits of democracy and effective representation.

    The stakeholders also endorsed the aspiration of the Coordinating Secretary, South-South Peoples Assembly (SSPA), Dr. Ayakeme Whiskey, saying he is the best among all the senatorial aspirants from the district.

    The Chairman, BWDA, Mr. Victor Augustine, observed that the district had suffered untold hardship because of serial imposition of candidates on them by the government.

    While noting that government exists to serve the interest of the people, he wondered why few people in power were fond of deciding the fate of the masses in elections.

    “We came together as a result of this particular issue of imposition of candidates. The district had long been suffering because of government’s imposition of candidates on the people and these are candidates who cannot perform.

    “We have taken a stand to say that enough is enough over this issue of government imposing non-performing candidates on us,” he said.

     

  • 2015: Aspirants sue PDP over primaries

    Two governorship aspirants in Akwa Ibom State have sued the Peoples Democratic Party and its National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, over alleged threat to exclude them from the party’s primary elections in the state.

    In the suit filed before the Federal High Court, Abuja, Umanah Okon Umanah and Lady Roberta Nyong want the court to set aside the party’s congress held in the state on November 1 from which they were excluded.

    The plaintiffs, who also listed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as defendant, stated that they were shocked when the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, said the governorship position in the state has been zoned to Eket Senatorial District.

    They said in a supporting affidavit that they were embarassed by the act of the PDP and its chairman and therefore urged INEC not to recognize the exercise, which seeks to disenfranchise legitimate participants in the electoral process.

    The plaintiffs urged the court to declare that they or any other aspirant to the office of the Governor of Akwa -bom State on the platform of the PDP cannot be excluded from contesting the forthcoming primary elections of the party or placed at any disadvantage on account of the Senatorial district, local government area or ethnicity.

    They are also seeking an order restraining the party from preventing them from participating in the state’s governorship primary.

  • Buhari to Nigerians: Shun apathy, collect your voter cards

    Buhari to Nigerians: Shun apathy, collect your voter cards

    Former head of state, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), has urged eligible voters not to allow apathy to stop them from collecting their permanent voter cards as the 2015 general election draws closer.

    Buhari made the appeal on Wednesday in Katsina during mobilisation tour to urge his supporters to collect and register for the new permanent voter cards being issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

    “I hereby appeal to all Nigerians, especially my supporters to register and collect their voter cards.

    “I want the youths that have attained the age of 18 years to strive hard and register so that they can vote in 2015.

    “I don’t want you to allow apathy and disenchantment arising from what happened in the past to prevent or discourage you from exercising your rights,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the All Progressives Congress presidential hopeful as saying during the tour.

    He called on the APC youths’ wing to rise up from their slumber and protect their votes in 2015.

    Buhari said the party was determined to prevent any form of political manipulation, especially rigging in 2015.

    “I advised all Nigerians to shine their eyes and prevent any form of political mischiefs by the opposition.

    “The APC is the party to beat in 2015 and that the party that will not take chances during the elections.

    “We are going to come out en mass and ready to defend our votes in all the nooks and crannies of the nations,” he said

    The former head of state advised the people of Katsina State and the nation in general to unite and change the present administration.

    He said the present government in the country had failed due to its inability to provide adequate security of lives and property.