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Tag: 2019 ELECTIONS

  • Remain indoors during presidential poll, IPOB orders members

    The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has urged its members and supporters of calls for realisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra to sit indoors on February 16 slated for presidential and National Assembly elections.

    According to the pro-Biafra group, February 16 has marked out as a day for Biafran Referendum in Biafra land.

    The Pro-Biafra group warned anybody who disobeys the order and come out on the February 16, would have him or herself to blame.

    Such person, it stated, would be treated as an enemy independent state of Biafra.

    In a statement by Comrade Emma Powerful, the Publicity Secretary of the group, IPOB stated that any person or persons who ventured out on that day would be seen as supporting the continued suffering, kidnapping, abduction, killing, massacre and total marginalisation of the Biafran people.

    The statement reads: ” Following the much expected date for Biafra referendum, which is now scheduled to hold its first run on 16th February 2019 alongside the Nigeria presidential election on same date, we the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) wish to categorically declare that anybody who did not stay indoors or happens to venture outside on the day of presidential election would be regarded as having voted against Biafra.

    “Such person or persons would be seen as supporting one Nigeria and responsible for the continued suffering, kidnapping, abduction, killing, massacre and total marginalization of our people.

    “February 16, 2019 is a rare and golden opportunity to make an everlasting impression on the world stage that we Biafrans are prepared to sacrifice everything sacrifice-able, including the position of the vice presidential, to prove to humanity that we value our freedom more than any earthly or material consideration.

    “Our quest for Biafra has gone beyond the point of no return. In order to live as free men under God in a new republic of Biafra, we must not only stay indoors on the 16th of February 2019, we must ensure that Biafra land is completely locked down.

    “Anybody or family found outside on Election Day will perpetually suffer the ignominy of being labelled a traitor; a burden that family will bear for eternity.

    “We are mindful that Nigeria is one giant fraudulent cave where ethnic nationalities are held down in bondage in an unworkable artificially created purgatory.

    Read Also: Police arrest IPOB members, rescue kidnapped lawyers

    “We are therefore cautioning every hungry Fulani slave across Biafra land and their new recruits who intend to come out on that day, to quickly retrace their steps, because IPOB will not take lightly any attempt by these shameless quislings to scuttle this hard fought battle to set the people free.

    IPOB added: “It doesn’t matter who you are or what position you think you occupy in society, once you support Nigeria, you become an enemy of the people.

    “Setting foot outside your door on February 16 for Nigeria election will be validating repeated refusal by Federal Government of Nigeria to cite any capital projects in Biafra land. You will be the reason why this Fulanised APC government had the temerity to bring Operation Python Dance to our land whereas Fulani herdsmen who are busy slaughtering innocent souls are given preferential treatment and army protection.

    “Stepping outside on the 16th of February will mean that Enugu-Onitsha Express way, Enugu-Igweocha Express way and Second Niger Bridge will never be built. You will be the reason why all seaports and airports in Biafra land will never function.

    “You will be the reason why high cut-off mark discriminates against our gifted children while northern kids make it to Unity Schools with little or no score at all.”

     

     

  • Retired Generals back Buhari for second term

    Retired military officers in the three armed forces comprising Army, Navy and Air Force, on Monday endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari for second term.

    The Presidential election is slated for February 16, 2019.

    The retired generals comprising 13 major generals, eight Air vice Marshals (AVM), two Rear Admirals, 12 Brigadier Generals, nine Air commodores, eight Commodores and 17 former military administrators gave the endorsement on Monday.

    Read Also: ACF applauds Buhari over oil drilling in North

    They were led by former military administrator of Lagos State, Brigadier General Buba Marwa (rtd).

    Also among the delegation are former President Goodluck Jonathan’s minister of Police Affairs, Navy Capt Caleb Olubolade, and former Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Jubril Ayinla.

    Details Later…

  • Buhari shifts Zamfara campaign rally

    *We’ll campaign for you, Marafa tells Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari has postponed his campaign rally earlier scheduled for Zamfara State on Sunday.

    The postponement of the rally is linked to the crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had also released the final list of candidates for the March 2 Governorship and State House of Assembly election without any name for APC Governorship candidate for Zamfara State.

    The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina confirmed the postponement.

    Speaking with State House correspondents on the latest development, Senator kabiru Marafa, said “I am not aware of the cancellation of the APC Zamfara rally; honestly because I was not told. As I said, I just submitted a proposal which I think will serve the interest of our party, the president and our people.

    “We don’t have candidates for now because of the political impasse that characterised Zamfara State in the last few months and the president is billed to be in Zamfara on Sunday, Feb. 3

    “Because of the rumple between disagreeing parties, we felt it is better Mr President suspends his visit to Zamfara. After all, we are there; we can campaign for him; he knows us; he knows our individual capacities; there is no point bringing all the factions under one umbrella, because once the president is there, if you like the president and you are with him, you will like to show your face.

    “However, we feel it is avoidable; but you cannot come to the president with just one single suggestion. So. I just put my opinion across; that if it is a must; maybe the party has fixed Feb. 3 for the visit, then we want to be excused because there is no way President Muhammad Buhari will go to Zamfara and my face is not seen and people will not ask questions and I think it is not fair just to be absent like that.

    “We are not doing what we are doing to impress anybody; we have already gotten all the necessary trust and belief from Mr President even if he is not there, we will do the right thing.

    “But if the party or the Presidential Campaign Council feel they must be in Zamfara on Sunday, we and our supporters want to be excused and we will conduct our own rally for the president on a different date and we will televise it live on NTA so that everybody can see; so let everybody show his support in Zamfara not to come together and then everybody will be claiming victory that I pulled this crowd; let everybody stand on his own.

    “The most important thing is that we all believe in Mr President and we all like him and we will support him and we want him to win; so let us work individually, and Feb. 16, we will all converge on the box and show what we can do but let the people of Nigeria see us individually.” he added

    On way forward, he said “The way forward like we proposed before the State High Court in Zamfara that heard complaints from the governor and his side. The governor went to court and said he conducted primary elections, we joined the case and said no, you didn’t conduct elections because you don’t have the right; the constitutional powers to do so; it is not the size of your office that determines what you can do; it is the constitutions that specifies your functions and responsibilities.

    Read Also: Buhari in Kano: I’ll continue to fulfil my promises

    “State governors cannot conduct elections, state party chapters cannot conduct elections, so nobody except the National Working Committee of the political party especially our own–that is specifically mentioned in the constitution.

    “So, only the political party can conduct primary elections. So, we felt that APC needed to be represented; the people of Zamfara State needed to be given choice and they say variety is the spice of life; the more the variety, the better for the people.

    “However, that variety should not just come because a political party feels they must be there, no. Justice must prevail; you cannot exclude some people and claim that APC should not be included, no.

    “We asked the court that APC could not conduct primaries in Zamfara not because they cannot or they failed to do so. The issue was that there was a subsisting court order; this crisis started from the congresses that were conducted in April last year; two factions emerged—Yari had his own party executives, I have my own party executives.

    “However, the NWC then cleared the governor’s side and recognised it and we went to court that the process was flawed; that we were disenfranchised and we will not agree.

    “The court looked at the complaints because primary elections were approaching that time; it gave an order that both Marafa and the other faction should stay away from anything that has to do with party executives at the local level; so what that means is–the NWC only sends a panel of maybe 7, 10, 14 people but we require 441 local staff to conduct the primaries across the 147 wards of the state.

    “The first attempt on Oct. 3, we agreed that since these factions will not participate, how do we get staff? So, we said let’s use the Nigerian Union of Teachers(NUT). So, NUT provided the staff but however as the process began and the government saw it was losing, they unleashed mayhem; there was violence.

    “The chairman cancelled the elections. On the 7th when they came back, the NUT compromised somehow; they were put under pressure because they are under the state government.

    “So, we could not agree on the local organising committee that is the local staff. This is actually what stopped APC from conducting primaries. We now asked the court, the reason why we could not do was because there was no local staff; now that primary elections are over in all the states of the federation, APC can bring in staff from anywhere to conduct the primary election; so we asked the court, mandate APC to conduct fresh primaries and ask INEC to collect the result.

    “This is what we did, but the governor and his side did not want that because they cannot face the people in any election. They know if there are primaries, they will lose; so they now prayed to the court that prayer should not be granted. And the judge in his own wisdom granted their own prayers and rejected that part of the prayer.

    “So, we are now before the appeal court to say that Appeal Court should reconsider the judgement and give APC new lease of life; allow APC to conduct primaries; just one day is okay. We conduct primaries and submit the result to INEC.” he said

    He also expressed the hope that the Appeal Court will do justice to the people of Zamfara and to the various aspirants that purchased the forms at a very high cost.

  • IPMAN backs Buhari for 2019 elections

    The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria ( IPMAN ) on Friday threw their weight behind President Muhammadu Buhari in his re-election bid.

    The body adopted Buhari as its candidate during a courtesy visit of its National Executive Committee to the State House, Abuja.

    Speaking on behalf of the group, the National President, Chinedu Okoronkwo, thanked the President for his support to the industry.

    Noting that the country was faced with frequent problem of petroleum products supply before Buhari’s administration, he said that there is free flow of petroleum products under Buhari.

    He also said that the industry was enmeshed in deep corruption before Buhari’s administration, which is now a thing of the past.

    He said “We are solidly behind your reelection bid. In our meetings, we have adopted you as our candidate.”

    “Your success in the election will be a success for Nigeria,” he added.

    He also assured that there will be no fuel scarcity in the country throughout the period of the general elections.

    Stressing that the association is ready to continue to work with the Buhari administration to surmount remaining problems in the industry, he disclosed that the association is planning to set up refineries in the country.

    President Buhari thanked the group for adopting him as their candidate for the election.

  • APC to Atiku: Nigerians will never return to Egypt

    The All Progressives Congress ( APC ) on Thursday declared Nigerians will never return to the era of looting of national resources and wealth.

    In its reaction to Wednesday night’s televised town hall meeting, The Candidates, which featured the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar and his running mate Peter Obi the ruling party stated Nigerians know what is at stakes in the February 16 poll and will never return to Egypt.

    APC’s Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Oni-Issalu, in a statement titled whose interest does Atiku’s Presidency bid serve? faulted Atiku’s plan to grant looters amnesty, if elected.

    The party said: “It is disturbing that Atiku and his returning mate, Peter Obi, could boldly face the national, and indeed, global audience boasting the future of our country belongs to the looters.

    “As a matter of fact, Alhaji Atiku repeatedly told a bewildered nation that those who caused poverty, unemployment, poor infrastructure and misery for many Nigerians under his watch as the vice president would be left to enjoy our commonwealth as long as they turned in part of what they have stolen. This no doubt must have gladdened the hearts of all the enemies of our country.”

    Read Also: Atiku does not need Nigeria’s money, says wife

    The APC added: “In a barefaced manner, the PDP’s Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku promised to roll out the red carpet for people who have wickedly teamed up with him under PDP to ruin our country, in an environment such as ours, where many ordinary Nigerians, not being Atiku’s friends, are wallowing in prison for stealing their neighbours’ goats, phones, foods and such.

    “While Atiku tries to crowd the public space with falsehood on the ongoing fight against corruption and efforts to ensure credible 2019 general elections, the real issue remains Atiku’s inexplicable desperation to selloff remaining national economic assets to his friends and shadowy foreign concerns as Atiku did in the past and has severally and brazenly promised in his campaigns.

    ‘’Atiku’s bid to trade national assets as an incentive for the support of his friends and foreign investors must be resisted.

    ‘’For the All Progressives Congress, we would not get tired of reminding the PDP and Atiku that Nigerians will never return to Egypt.

    “The era of unbridled corruption and impunity is one mission the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government is determined to FIGHT and WIN under a free, fair, and credible electoral process, with the support of well-meaning Nigerians.”

  • Boko Haram major threat to polls, says CAN

    The resurgent activities of Boko Haram terrorists may pose a threat to the forthcoming 2019 general elections, the Christian Association of Nigeria ( CAN ) warned on Thursday.

    The CAN leadership urged the federal government to tackle the attacks before the polls.

    This was part of the resolutions at the first quarterly meeting of CAN in Abuja.

    The Christian body also pointed out efforts of the government in providing security is “not yielding the needed results as wanton killings have continued, especially in some States in the northern part of the country.”

    CAN urged Nigerians to pray for the peaceful conduct of the 2019 general elections.

    Read Also: Boko Haram: Elections’ll be restricted to 3 centres in Madagali

    A statement by Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, Special Assistant (Media & Communications) to the CAN President, Rev. Samson Ayokunle said: “Boko Haram appeared to have resurrected again, decimating communities in Borno and Yobe States in particular, not sparing soldiers.

    “This resurgence of insecurity in the Northeast portends danger for the forthcoming general elections if efforts at curtailing it are not increased. Many voters might be disenfranchised from voting.

    “The Association commends President Muhammadu Buhari for the continuous reassurance that all will be done by the government to make the forthcoming general elections free, fair and credible.

    “We at the same time implore Mr. President to make sure that all these promises are transformed into reality through concrete efforts that would prevent violence and other electoral malpractices.

    “The Association calls on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Police and other security agents not to make themselves available to be used for rigging or any form of electoral malpractice by the politicians.

    “No voter or election observer must be intimidated or harassed throughout the period of the election.

    “We equally urge politicians to run away from vote buying while the electorates should not allow anybody to buy their votes. If you sell your vote, you sell your future.”

    The body added: “We reaffirm our support for all efforts of government geared towards stamping out corruption from our country.

    “We, however, caution that efforts geared towards stamping out corruption from Nigeria must follow due process of the law while the independence of each arm of government for peace and harmony in the society must be well maintained.

    “Wisdom and caution should be applied by those in government and other Nigerians in all that we do so that our actions and speeches might not set our nation on fire at this crucial period of election.”

  • Atiku does not need Nigeria’s money, says wife

    Wife of former Vice President, Titi Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday told women her husband is not interested in cornering the nation’s wealth but out to serve the masses.

    She disclosed that with Atiku’s choice to back restructuring, Nigeria will be repositioned adding that Atiku would assist the country with his wealth where necessary.

    Titi Abubakar spoke during a rally in Abuja at the old parade ground area 10, alongside Poeples Democratic Party (PDP) governor’s wife, Former PDP senators, ministers and other party faithful.

    She went further that women should shun violence in the forthcoming elections and vote for their choice without fear or favour.

    Titi Abubakar vowed to ensure the welfare of women, youths and children in the scheme of things when her husband is elected president.

    Her words: “Atiku must rule. Atiku must get Nigeria working again. You know that Atiku is a job creator and he is going to engage most of the unemployed people.

    Read Also: Osun tribunal: ‘INEC is allowed to rectify errors in result sheets’

    “You know that Atiku is for restructuring. It is for your good. The Federal Government is too powerful that is why we must decentralise.

    “Nigerian women are suffering. Atiku will give the women micro credit so that you can do your businesses.

    “Don’t allow anybody to come and be giving you N10, 000. Do not destroy your children future. N10, 000 cannot carry you through 4 years and 8 years.

    “The PVC they are collecting from you is a bad omen because on the day of voting you need your PVC.

    “My women, I am telling you, collect their money and refuse to vote them. Vote the person of your choice. That money they are bringing to you is your money and your entitlement. Don’t give them your PVC. If you give them you have sold your children’s future.”

    She went on: “Atiku is an educationist, he has businesses, he has done it before as Vice President and he is going to do it again as President. He was the head of the economic when he was with former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    “Atiku does not want Nigerians money, he has made money. You know he has so many children.

    “All the children are not working in government offices except for one, who is a medical doctor and she is the commissioner in Adamawa State.

    “She has told his father that he is not APC or PDP. She said she wants to work for her people, she wants to save lives and that is what she has been doing.”

  • Election: Police identify flash points, mobilise anti-bomb experts

    …To receive more equipment next week

    As the general elections draw closer, the police on Thursday said they have identified emerging threats and had mobilised Explosives Ordinance Disposal (EOD) personnel to marked areas for necessary action.

    This is just as the service also said it would take delivery of more equipment next week that would further enhance the performance of the anti-bomb experts across the country.

    These disclosures were made by the Commissioner of Police in charge of EOD, Kayode Egbetokun at the department’s first quarterly conference with senior officers and base commanders held in Lagos.

    Themed “emerging threat and strategic coverage of the 2019 election,” Egbetokun said the conference provided an opportunity to review the department’s performance in previous elections as well as brainstorm on how to achieve greater success in the coming elections.

    He said: “We know how important the role of the EOD is in an election. We have looked at what we have to do viz-a-viz our capacity and capability. We know our strength and we have taken care of our weaknesses. We know the external opportunities available to us and we know the threats we are facing.

    “Where we have identified gaps we are closing them. We have put out strategy in place for this election. We have been doing it before and have been succeeding. We are at the conference to put finishing touches to our plan. We will discharge our duties creditably well.

    “By this time next week, we would have taken delivery of additional equipment to boost our operational capacity.

    I cannot disclose our strategy to the public but be assured that we have mobilised additional personnel and will cover the entire country. The threat index available to us has already put us ahead of the criminals.”

    According to the police chief, the EOD department had made steady and sustainable progress in the discharge of its primary duties of detection, identification, evcaution, neutralisation, demolition of discovered UXOs and disposal of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

    “We have conducted IEDs awareness training within and outside the law enforcement communities across the country. The aggregate of our efforts has been to keep criminal use of explosives and other nuclear and radioactive materials at significantly low rate.

    To his men, he said there was no excuse for failure in their assigned roles in the coming elections, reminding them that Nigerians looked up to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Police for a pleasant experience in this election.

    Read Also: Police kill suspected robber in Enugu

    “We know the importance of this role in the attainment of a hitch-free election and there will be no excuse for failure. We must and will deliver on our security mandate in this election.

    “Our goal is to play our role creditably and ensure that the election is hitch-free. We must nip in the bud any plot capable of undermining peaceful conduct of this election. You must always adopt proactive approach that will put you ahead in all your tasks and be prepared for swift response to any emergency in your areas of operation,” he said.

    Egbetokun also charged them to embrace collaboration with personnel from sister agencies that may be deployed along with them during the exercise, adding that their election duties must be within the dictate of the Electoral Act.

    “You must galvanize your men and mobilise all resources towards attainment of peaceful and credible outcome in this election. As the clock of the 2019 election ticks down, my expectation of you is to perform these election security duties professionally to the admiration of the people and use this opportunity to further enhance the reputation of the police EOD and the Nigeria Police in general,” said Egbetokun.

  • Boko Haram: Elections’ll be restricted to 3 centres in Madagali

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is to restrict voting to only three centres in Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State in the coming general elections.

    The state INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Kassim Gaidam, who disclosed this, said the decision was informed by security advice, but that election will hold at all polling centres in neighbouring Michika LGA and the rest of the state.

    Election did not hold in both Madagali and Michika LGAs in 2015 due to the violent activities of Boko Haram which had seized both LGAs earlier in 2014, and even after the LGAs were liberated in January 2015, the effects and fear of Boko Haram remained dominant up to the period of the 2015 elections and fleeing residents were availed opportunity to vote at special centres in the state capital, Yola.

    Gaidam spoke at a ‘Prevention of Election Violence and Education for Inclusion in Nigeria (PEV-EDI) programme, a programme of the European Union Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) at internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps in Malkohi and Fufore, through the state INEC Head of Public Affairs, Mrs Rifkatu Dukku who later specified, in a telephone interview Thursday, that voting in Madagali LGA would be restricted to Gulak Central Primary School, GSS Madagali and GSS Shuwa.

    Read Also: Air Force strikes Boko Haram in Borno

    “Right now what we have for IDP voting in Adamawa State is only in the Madagali LGA. Voting in the whole of Madagali is going to take place in Gulak Central Primary School; GSS Madagali and Shuwa. These are the only approved centres for the council,” she said.

    At the IDPs camp in Malkohi, in Yola South LGA, and in Fufore, headquarters of the Fufore LGA, the European Centre for Electoral Support had taken to the IDPs the campaign for electoral participation, in line with the goal of PEVI-EDI, which is to “increase marginalised groups’ participation in, and contribution to, electoral process through violence prevention and mitigation, voter education and inclusion, thereby supporting the successful conduct of the electoral process.”

    The ECES Senior Electoral Advisor, Dominique Werts and Inclusivity Advisor/ECES PEV-EDI Representative in Nigeria, Cathy Latiwa, both enjoined the IDPs to use their voting power in the scheduled general elections to elect the people who would give them the benefits they desire.

  • APC to Atiku/Obi: You told Nigerians bare faced lies

    The APC Presidential Campaign Council said on Thursday that the PDP Presidential, Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Peter Obi were engaged in what it described as bare face lies and dishonest claims when they appeared on a national television programme, “The Candidate” on Wednesday night.

    Spokesman of the Campaign, Barrister Festus Keyamo said in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja that simple fact checks revealed that several claims by the PDP candidate and his running mate were nothing but a tissue of lies.

    Keyamo said Nigerians should take note of “Alhaji Atiku Abubakar defined Corruption as “the use of your privileged position to either enrich yourself or enrich your relatives or even your friends”, adding that “when this is juxtaposed with his earlier statement in Lagos, that he will enrich his friends if he becomes President, we can safely conclude that he will be fully in the business of corruption if he becomes President.

    “Atiku/Obi made it clear to Nigerians that conflict of interests as a public servant should be the norm as, during their tenures, they found absolutely nothing wrong then and today, with investing public funds in enterprises they own or their families own. For instance, Kadaria ran Peter Obi into a ditch when she asked him if his family was not enriched as a result of using public funds for his family business ‘NEXT’.

    “Their claim on experience in running anything public or private cannot stand any act of scrutiny. The Presidential candidate, who is easily a major contributor to our huge unemployment problem today as a result of his corrupt privatisation programme, counts this failure as a huge experience and wants to repeat same if elected.

    “Their proposed Agriculture Programme which they claim to have put together to lift majority of the people out of poverty is a version of what is already being implemented by the present government under the Anchors Borrowers Programme and the Government Enterprises and Empowerment Programmes.

    “After watching Atiku/Obi on that programme, it has become clear to all Nigerians that our public institutions and commonwealth would be in grave danger if left in the hands of these dodgy and questionable characters who have no morals and no scruples about using and misusing public funds for private gains.”

    Keyamo listed some of the lies he claimed were told by the PDP candidate and his running mate to include:

    *Lie Number 1: Alhaji Atiku Abubakar claimed that at handover in May 2019, our GDP growth rate was 6%. Fact Checked Truth: It is a well-documented fact that at handover, the GDP growth rate was 2.35%. The economy was on a free fall as the GDP growth rate had dropped for three consecutive quarters.

    *Lie Number 2: Alhaji Atiku Abubakar claims recession was caused by the APC Government. Fact Checked Truth: With a consistent and rapid drop of our GDP, their Coordinating Minister of the Economy at that time, Okonjo Iweala, former Central Bank Governor Prof. Charles Soludo and the Central Bank Governor at the time, now Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, warned the PDP Government and Nigerians that we were headed for a recession.

    *Lie Number 3: Alhaji Atiku Abubakar claimed that security challenges were restricted to the North East during their time. Truth: Nigerians will recall that the Boko Haram activities had spread all over the North East, North West and North Central. For instance, UN Headquarters, Police Headquarters, a Bus stop in Nyanya, a prominent Plaza in Wuse II were all bombed during the era of the last government in Abuja. A church or Mosque was bombed every week in 2013/2014. The herders-farmers’ clashes were the deadliest in 2014, claiming over 1,300 lives in a short period across the North. Boko Haram occupied over 17 Local Government Areas and hoisted their flags, effectively establishing a caliphate in the North East. All these happened before the coming of this administration.

    *Lie Number 4: Peter Obi claimed that out-of-school children grew to 13.5 million under this administration. Truth: The figure of 13.2 million out-of-school children was a 2015 survey by UNICEF. An alarm was raised by several global bodies then because the figure had grown from 10.5 million in 2010 to 13.2 million in 2015, despite record earnings of the Government at that time. In other words, Peter Obi’s claim is self-indicting.

    *Lie Number 5: That Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as a Customs officer, said there was nothing wrong at that time with setting up a company that had dealings in the Ports that were under customs supervision.
    Truth: The Code of Conduct for Public Officers was first enshrined in the 1979 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Atiku Abubakar co-founded the company, as a serving customs officer, three years after the 1979 constitution came into operation. According to Section 1 of the 5th Schedule to the 1979 Constitution, a public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities. By establishing a company involved in Port-related business at a time when he was an officer in the Nigeria Customs Service charge with managing the Ports, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar definitely put himself in a position where his personal (business) interest conflicted with his duties as a public officer.

    *Lie Number 6: Peter Obi claims Nigeria has record poverty now. Truth: Despite high oil revenue, according to the World Bank, extreme poverty under PDP grew to 112 million in 2013 through 2014, compared to 86 million today. India pulled their citizens out of poverty for over two decades by using the same methods Nigeria is now using today.

    He said further that “In summary one would have thought that in the course of the programme, ‘The Candidates’, Atiku/Obi would have modified the lies they told earlier in their campaigns and make it consistent with reality as most of them were already fact-checked by independent bodies and proven to be lies. Alas, they have continued on the same path, believing that ‘If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed”.