The Nation Newspaper

Tag: 2019 ELECTIONS

  • I won’t use government fund for campaign, Buhari vows

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday in Abuja reiterated his commitment to eliminate corruption in campaign financing in the country.

    He said that he will not authorise the use of any money from the treasury for his re-election campaign.

    Speaking at the close of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, President Buhari directed cabinet ministers to take advantage of technology to reach out to voters on the need to return the All Progressives Congress (APC) led administration in next month’s general elections.

    In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Garba Shehu, the President said “As political parties spread their ideologies and views to every nook and corner of the country, the issue of cash payment to voters and its corrupting influence in electioneering has once again become a topical issue.

    “Try and use text and multi-media messages to seek votes for the party and government.

    ‘‘There is no money from the treasury for use in the campaigns. I will not authorize that,” he said.

    President Buhari declared that the APC-led administration has a clear development agenda best suited to take Nigeria forward and sustain economic development.

    ‘‘This message needs to be taken to all Nigerians but we cannot use money from the treasury to share out to prospective voters.

    Read Also: Another Buhari’s minister resigns

    ‘‘Nigerians wants change and we alone can deliver that change. Our people can no longer be swayed by money politics,’’ he said.

    The President also used the occasion, which was a valedictory session for the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Hajiya Khadija Bukar Abba Ibrahim, to wish the minister success in her electoral contest.

    The Minister had signified her desire to leave the cabinet, in line with existing regulations, to run for a legislative seat in her native Yobe State.

     

  • Paste campaign posters on your project -APC tell Ikpeazu

    Abia State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday asked Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to remember to paste his posters only on his projects executed by his administration.

    Governor Ikpeazu had in some public functions 2017/18 while reeling out what he has been able to achieve within the three years of his administration in the state was quoted to have urged anyone gunning for elective position in the state, especially governorship position to paste his or her campaign poster(s) on project(s) he or she has done in the state for Abians to see.

    The APC who just came back from a tour of completed and ongoing projects by the incumbent administration in the state, irked by what they met on ground has asked Gov. Ikpeazu to fulfill his promise by directing his supporters to paste his posters on projects that he has been able to execute in the state under his administration.

    Comrade Benedict Godson, the Publicity Secretary of the party in a chat with journalists in Umuahia, the Abia State capital noted that the incumbent leadership in the state has resorted to media hype of incomplete, abandoned and substandard projects in the state.

    Godson who said that they were baffled with the realization that most of the projects the government is claiming to have executed were only done and completed on radio wondered why the Ikpeazu led government has embraced deceit than delivering dividend of democracy to the people of the state.

    The spokesman of the APC who further stated that most of the completed projects that the state government is claiming to have attracted or executed were awarded by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), said it was laughable that someone who knows he has nothing to offer to the people of the state would wake up and start making boastful claims that will ridicule his government before any discerning Abian.

    Godson who stated that APC is coming to change the narrative of PDP misgovernance in the state over the years, enjoined Abians to ensure that they voted out all the PDP candidates in the state come 2019, starting from February 16.

    “We are urging him to remain a gentleman and keep to his boast. The man campaigned in 2014-2015 and pasted his posters in many places, but in the euphoria of being a sitting governor he began to make reckless and boastful political comments about where people should paste posters during campaigns.

    “On several occasions, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu boasted and said that during campaigns, everyone should paste their posters on their works or projects, but we have being waiting for him to start such, but he can’t.

    Read Also: Sylva alleges smear campaign in Bayelsa against Presidency

    “He cannot start it because he has done absolutely nothing for four years! Where is he going to paste them? as a gentleman man, he has wholeheartedly accepted that he has done absolutely nothing in the state until recently when his errand boys decided to do otherwise.

    “What are his posters doing in the streets of Aba, a city he left to decay? We urged him to remain truthful to himself and not be deceived to go about pasting posters anyhow on roads that are death traps and that experimental flyover projects being executed by Civil Engineering students on their Industrial Training at Osisioma.

    “It’s obvious he has not done anything and we are pleading with him to caution his errand boys from disobeying his rule by pasting his posters on electric polls, peoples fences, church fences, school fences and other strategic places which he has nothing to do with.

    “They should respect him for it’s very wrong to do what ones master is against. If they want to do his wish in accordance with his boast, let them paste his posters at that funny Osisioma flyover and on abandoned road projects like the Port Harcourt Road, Immaculate Avenue, Osusu, Ngwa Road, Obohia, Aba-Road in Umuahia, Emelogu Bridge, Emelogu dumping site and so many other sorry sights in Aba, Umuahia and Ohafia.

    “Why are they pasting his posters at Asa Road and other motorable axis of Aba which he had no hands in making them the way they are? Are those places his project? He should keep to his words and let’s see if there is a single place especially in Aba that he can paste posters.”

  • INEC to recruit 24,000 ad hoc staff for general elections

    The Plateau office of the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ), is to recruit 24,000 ad hoc workers to handle the forthcoming general elections, according to the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Malam Halilu Pai.

    Pai told the News Agency of Nigeria, on Wednesday in Jos that a bulk of the workers would be serving NYSC members, while others would come from federal tertiary schools, ministries and departments.

    Those to be recruited, he said, would serve as Presiding Officers, Assistant Presiding Officers, Supervisory Presiding Officers, Collation Officers and Returning Officers.

    He said that the ad hoc staff would undergo rigorous training after which oaths would be administered on them to guide against compromise.

    Pai said that INEC had also engaged security personnel to check the background of applicants to ensure that people with links to politics and politicians were not engaged.

    He said that non-sensitive materials were already being received, with 232 cartons of ballot boxes brought to Jos on Tuesday.

    “We expect 464 cartons of ballot boxes; we have so far received half. The rest will arrive in Jos very soon,’’ he said.

    The official said that 17 7.5 KVA power generators had also been received and would be deployed to each of the 17 local governments in Plateau, while 207 5.5 KVA power generators had also been received for the Registration Area Centres.

    He said that contracts had been awarded for the repair of the “heavily dilapidated’’ INEC offices in Kanke and Mangu, while another contract had been awarded for the construction of a central collation centre at the INEC state headquarters in Jos.

    Pai said that trainings were already being organised for security personnel that would be involved in the election exercise, adding that emphasis was on effective crowd handling, integrity and impartiality.

    He said that INEC had met with stakeholders, including religious, traditional, community and youth leaders, to seek their cooperation toward free and credible polls, adding that their response had been “very impressive’’.

    “All the stakeholders appear ready to support us and offer maximum cooperation. Everyone appears keen and ready to play his or her own role to ensure a free and fair election,’’ he said.

    Read Also: NSCDC recovers N31.5m debts in Jigawa in 2018

    According to him, meetings with INEC permanent workers have also become more regular because of their crucial role toward the success of the elections scheduled to hold Feb. 16 and March 2.

    “We try to admonish the INEC staff against compromise. We have tried to motivate them and also let them know that those found to have compromised standards will face severe sanctions.

    “We have also tried to ensure that the workers are well cared for so that they will not be tempted by politicians,’’ he said.

    Pai, however, regretted that many Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs), had not been collected, saying that the distribution, which was hitherto limited to the 17 local government headquarters, would commence at the 207 wards from Jan. 16.

    “From our findings, 355,000 PVCs have not been collected. This is not good. We feel that such non-collection will lead to a very low turnout. That is why we are taking the cards to the wards,’’ he said.

    On the fate of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS), currently in various camps in Riyom and Barkin-Ladi, Pai said that a special arrangement had been designed to ensure that they were not left out.

    “We are moving to the IDPs camps to ensure that they all receive their PVCs. We have also established IDPs voting points. When they vote, we shall merge such votes with their mother polling units,’’ he explained.

    Pai said that INEC would soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Plateau chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), to ease the transportation of men and materials during the exercise.

    The INEC commissioner appealed to politicians to play the game by the rules of the electoral process to ensure a smooth, simple and credible exercise, and promised that INEC would be fair to all.

    He expressed gratitude to the political parties in Plateau for eschewing violence in the campaigns, noting that no “evil development’’ had been reported in the ongoing electioneering so far.

  • 2019: no minimum wage, no elections, NLC declares

    The Cross River Chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, ( NLC ) says it will not participate in the 2019 general elections if the federal and state governments fail to implement the N30,000 minimum wage.

    The state NLC Chairman, Mr John Ushie, made the declaration on Tuesday during a peaceful protest in Calabar to press home the workers’ demand for the implementation of the minimum wage.

    Ushie said that the current minimum wage of N18,000 had become obsolete since 2015, and accused the Federal Government of playing on the intelligence of workers’ by holding several fruitless meetings to avert strike.

    The chairman decried the long period the minimum the wage bill had been with the Presidency with no plans of transmitting it to the National Assembly for passage into law.

    “Labour will continue the struggle until we get victory. Victory does not come easy, it will require all our energy, and it will require us to put all.

    “The minimum wage is long overdue since 2015. Workers have run out of patience, so we are here to take our destinies in our hands.

    “We are here to protest because it is a national directive; we will do so until we get a commitment from government concerning the N30,000 minimum wage and when it will be enacted into law.

    “Secondly, we are here to send a message to President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately transmit the minimum wage bill to the National Assembly for passage, so that the money can get to Nigerian workers without further delay.

    “If the Federal Government and governors say no to minimum wage, we also say there is no vote for them; no election,’’ he said.

    He said that the rally will culminate into an indefinite strike if nothing was done quickly by the Federal Government.

    Also, Mr Boniface Isok, a national officer of the NLC, who said he was in Calabar to monitor the rally, maintained that workers would not participate in the 2019 general elections if the minimum wage was not implemented.

    Read Also: Buhari calls for respect for democracy in Gabon

    Isok said that the organised labour would not hesitate to embark on an indefinite strike if the Federal Government failed to transmit the bill to the National Assembly.

    “Anytime the Federal Government heard that we want to go on strike, they will fix a meeting with no reason for it. This time, we are not giving a notice for strike.

    “The Federal Government wants to hold the 2019 general elections without implementing the minimum wage because they know that once the election is held, that becomes the end of the minimum wage.

    “If the Federal Government does not sign the minimum wage bill into law, there will be no election. We are ready for them this time,’’ he said.

  • Sanwo-Olu to Muslim leaders: we’ll be fair to all

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) Lagos State Governorship Candidate Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Monday assured leaders of various Islamic organisations that his administration will be fair to them in policy formations if elected.

    Sanwo-Olu and his running mate Obafemi Hamzat had an interactive session with the Muslim Community of Lagos State (MCLS) at the Lagos Central Mosque, Idumota.

    According to the APC flagbearer, his administration will make regular consultations with the religious bodies and other stakeholders in the state before taking decision on issues affecting the state.

    Earlier, MCLS President Prof Tajudeen Gbadamosi spoke on areas where the Muslim Community felt slighted with the present administration.

    Among them is the appointment of Tutor-Generals in education districts.

    The government, Prof Gbadamosi said, should be fair in its appointment of Tutor-Generals for the state.

    “As it stands, there is no Muslim among the six Tutor-Generals in the state. The current situation is skewed to Muslim advantage and we hope the incoming administration would correct the imbalance,” he said.

    On freedom of religion and worship, the Muslims leader sought for a clear policy and enforcement of freedom of religion and worship.

    He said: “There should be no religious discrimination or harassment in our public schools. Religious devotions should respect all, and must be encouraged on school’s morning assembly. Morning assembly should be made equal days for Muslims and Christians. Officially, all schools must close at 12 noon on Friday to enable Muslim pupils and teachers attend Jumat service as this will help in religious moral building of the societies.

    “Hijab must be allowed for willing Muslims students and pupils. However, this must conform to the school standard and adopted school uniform, More importantly, as we are still waiting for the Supreme Court judgment, we appreciate the State Government decision to uphold the Appeal Court ruling on Hijab, but not yet implemented in schools as the Tutor-Generals refused to pass on the circular containing the implementation. The Hijab issue might be major criteria among others for supporting any political party seeking the Muslims votes.”

    The Muslim, Prof Gbadamosi said, requests for the implementation of bill passed by the 7th Lagos State House of Assembly on establishment of Islamic Court of Law.

    “We want a window for Islamic conduct of marriages, divorce and inheritance cases in courts. Marriages conducted by Islamic centre and Muslim organisations be recognised and the creation of a registry to handle and register marriage conducted under Islamic Law,” he said.

    He lamented that lop-sidedness of the recently held Code Lagos.

    He said: “During the last Code Lagos training, we noticed that Lagos State government approved 32 churches and only two Mosques as CodelagosOut-of-School in Lagos. The information on the application to register and approve training centres was only made to the general public after the government had approved the church centres. Since this is a capacity development programme, any government coming in must create adequate opportunity to the capacity of Muslim youths in Lagos.”

    Read Also: Fayose, Olujimi fight over Atiku’s campaign council

    Prof Gbadamosi also lamented the high rate of moral decadence and juvenile delinquency in the state.

    This, he said, is due to government insincerity and neglect in the area of support for ideal way of life.

    “The government should ensure that skill acquisition for women and youth is of great concern to discourage immoralities and laziness when they have nothing doing. The government should have a policy on dress code in all higher institutions since nakedness is the bedrock of immoralities. Concerted effort should be made to eradicate drug abuse among youths. Lottery promo and bet games should be discouraged as it encourages laziness. Appointment of sizeable number of women and youth to some enviable position to serves as inspiration to coming generation. Reintroduction of literary debating society into schools not only in English Language but in all Languages (Arabic, French and local languages) will go a long way in curb immoralities among the youth,” he said.

    Sanwo-Olu thanked the Muslim Community for thoughtful ideals in moving the state forward.

    According to him, some of the things said are part of what “we are expecting from the people. You have done the right thing by presenting those issues to us. There is nothing like governance with the people. We will look into all issues raised and addressed them.

    “We’ll be fair and transparent to Lagosians. You are an important stakeholder. We’ll not take you for granted,” he said.

  • APC frowns at destruction of campaign office in Abia

    The Abia State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress ( APC ) has cautioned the ruling party in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against causing political anarchy in the state ahead of the forthcoming elections.

    Abia APC stated this while reacting to the recent destruction of billboards of its candidate for Isiala Ngwa North and Isiala South Federal Constituency, Lady Blessing Uwaoma Nwokonneya and others across the state including burning of the campaign office Mascot Uzor-Kalu; APC candidate for Aba North and South federal constituency by hoodlums allegedly recruited for such job by the PDP in the state.

    APC warned that it is dangerous to turn Abia into a war zone as elections approach.

    Speaking to journalists in Aba, Abia APC Publicity Secretary; Comrade Benedict Godson said it was unfortunate that PDP in order to clamp down on opposition parties in the state has resorted to wanton mutilation and destruction of campaign billboards candidates of APC and other parties across the three senatorial districts of the state.

    Godson went further to say that the destruction of billboards and burning of its candidate’s office is a sign that the PDP is jittery over the relevance that the party has gained in the state.

    He said that his party is not weak to confront the PDP and retaliate on such matters, but stressed that turning Abia into a war zone is not ideal for kind of democracy his party under the Buhari led administration believes and preaches.

    Godson urged the police and other sister security agencies to deal decisively with touts recruited to carry out such acts and apprehend their sponsors to avoid retaliation from those offended who may think the law is silent on evil.

    He said that the arrest and prosecution of those involved in the act of trying to create violent atmosphere in a peaceful Abia through destruction other persons campaign billboards will go a long way in consoling those offended that no one is above the law.

    In his words, “The PDP is really trying to throw Abia into serious violence. We are cautioning them to stop these provocative acts to avoid throwing our peaceful state into avoidable violence as elections draw closer.

    “Destroying posters and billboards belonging to opposition parties is not part of democracy. It’s a sign of frustration and frustrated people don’t play free and fair games.

    “They started these their evil acts sometime last year and have continued with it in this New Year by destroying billboards of Lady Blessing Uwoma Nwokonneya our House of Representatives candidate for Isiala Ngwa North and South Constituency.

    “The PDP is frustrated that the people have rejected them. Their failure to work for Abians is beginning to hunt them down. Their bank of lies is empty as they have run short of lies to tell our people. They now see anyone from APC as their problem which is very ridiculous.

    “If they know they have candidates that are marketable let them openly come out and paste their own posters and billboards instead of destroying ours. How can they hold a state ransom for many years and believe it will continue and people will accept them?

    “We have the capacity to match them in anything, but if we create violence that may likely cost lives of fellow Abians, whom are we coming to govern or lead after the elections? These violent acts cannot stop us from beating them black and blue at the polls.”

    Speaking further, Godson said: “On several occasions, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu have boasted and said that during campaigns, everyone should paste their posters on their works or projects, but we have been waiting for him to start such, but he can’t.

    “He cannot start it because he has done absolutely nothing for four years! Where is he going to paste them? as a gentleman man, he has wholeheartedly accepted that he has done absolutely nothing in the state until recently when his errand boys decided to do otherwise.

    “What are his posters doing in the streets of Aba, a city he left to decay? We urged him to remain truthful to himself and not be deceived to go about pasting posters anyhow on roads that are death traps and that experimental flyover projects being executed by Civil Engineering students on their Industrial Training at Osisioma.

    “It’s obvious he has not done anything and we are pleading with him to caution his errand boys from disobeying his rule by pasting his posters on electric polls, peoples fences, church fences, school fences and other strategic places. They should respect him for it’s very wrong to do what ones master is against.”

    Speaking on the fire incident at his campaign office, Mascot Kalu, Aba North and South federal constituency candidate of APC said

    My campaign office at No. 19b Park road Aba after being vandalized, the hoodlums as fire to the building, but luckily we have some good neighbours, numbering over twenty who came out enmass to quench the fire.

    “Our party and Nigerian flags at the campaign office were all destroyed. We had some posters of the President that we are about to start posting which was also burnt. Luckily, the building was saved by the neighbours.

    Read Also: Police arrest six for alleged robbery in Lagos

    “We are running an election. No individual blood is worth the fight of the election that we are fighting. I will not spill any blood to win.

    “But again, I believe that their desperate act shows that we are doing something that is right. We are getting them jittery. They are afraid of us and we will conquer at the end of the day.

    “Nobody should be afraid. We are equal to the task, we are equal to the task and we are not shaking by all these actions. My convoy was going to buy fuel and it was also attacked on its way. This election will be won free and fair at the grounds of the election. There is nothing that they will do that will deter us.

    “We have reported the matter to the police and other security agencies. They should do their investigation and do the proper arrest and prosecution of persons that they found wanted.”

  • ‘Fake news may affect 2019 elections’

    A British technology entrepreneur of Nigerian descent, Joel Popoola, has said fake news on social media may negatively impact the general elections.

    Popoola, creator of a democracy app, Rate Your Leader, in a statement, said the app is a global online platform that helps politicians to engage voters in their constituencies in an abuse-proof way.

    The entrepreneur noted that the unwillingness of social media giants to crack down on fake news has adverse effects on users.

    He said with more than 40 million Nigerians using Facebook, the fake news phenomenon could affect the presidential election.

    Popoola said: “Around the world, from President Donald Trump’s supporters in America to Jeune Gillets in France, to Brexit’s supporters in the United Kingdom, people are feeling more and more out of touch with politics; and it is only a matter of time until something similar reaches Nigeria.

    “One in three Nigerians uses Facebook; and technology offers the opportunity to connect politicians and people like never before. That dichotomy is driven by social media giants being unwilling, unable or both, to effectively crack down on trolls and bots.

    “Democracy is now digital, which means social media companies have a responsibility to provide a safe space for both politicians and our democracy and they are evidently failing on both fronts.”

  • Amaechi: 2019 fight between rich, poor in Kwara

    Director General Buhari/Osibajo Campaign Organisation Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi on Friday revealed that the 2019 elections in Kwara and by extension Nigeria are between the rich and the poor.

    Amaechi added that the rich and thieves have ganged-up against the All Progressives Congress (APC) -led administration.

    Amaechi, who is the Transportation Minister, said this in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital at the inauguration of APC ward canvassers ahead of 2019 general elections in the state.

    He said: “We are gathered here today to peacefully take over power from the rich and hand over to the poor. That is what APC stands for. We join the poor to say we must take power from the rich. We join the poor to say ‘enough is enough.’

    “The elite and the thieves have ganged-up against APC. But they don’t have the power because they don’t have the number. The number is with the poor and the poor must rise to vote on that day. Take

    “This election is between the rich and the poor. Now the poor have realized that they are tired. If at the end of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government we had $58 billion, where is the money now? How much did state governments collect? How much did the Federal Government collect? What did they do with the money?

    “When I was a student at the University of Port Harcourt I predicted that one day the poor will rise. It will get to a point when the poor will begin to eat big men. What you are seeing in Kwara is a modern Tunisia. It was a poor man that started the Arab Spring in Tunisia. Today Kwara is leading the revolution to change Nigeria. Power must
    return to the poor. One problem we all have is that even we the poor are being deceived by them.

    “Big men are in all the parties o! The difference between other parties and ours is that the big men in our party are all progressives. Other parties don’t care, they want to even collect what the poor is eating from them.”

    Earlier, Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed said the gathering was a demonstration of the people’s resolve to rescue the state from “those who have held it by the jugular, those who have pauperized our people, the pathologically-dishonest ones who govern by deceit.”

    Read Also: FG to assist erosion, flood-prone communities

    Alhaji Mohammed, who is the leader of APC in the state added that: “We are inaugurating an army of well recruited, tested and trusted canvassers, who will go from house to house in each of the 1,872 polling units to tell our people why they must vote for President Muhammadu Buhari and all the candidates of APC right here in Kwara State in the 2019 general elections.

    “Gathered here today are 1,872 canvassers representing the 18,720 canvassers. That is one canvasser per each polling unit across the 193 wards in Kwara State. We are also inaugurating today 193 ward co-ordinators, 193 ward secretaries, 193 ward women leaders and 193 ward youth leaders.

    “These canvassers will be our victory army, the army that will dismantle the gargantuan edifice of corruption and mis-governance that has held our dear state down for too long. This unprecedented move is our most potent weapon against the enemies of the state and the oppressors of the people.” He urged the APC candidates in the state not to entertain any fear against the backdrop of the recent Kwara state High Court judgement recognizing the dissolved Balogun-Fulani-led executives of APC.

    Said he: “Please permit me to use this forum to assure all candidates elected on the platform of our great party: our governorship, NationalAssembly and House of Assembly candidates that the recent court judgment in respect of the state executive council of the party has not affected the validity of their candidature. They remain the authentic candidates of our great party and should go about their campaigns without any fear of being disqualified.

    “While we have gone ahead to appeal this judgment, our candidates should not be distracted by the antics of the desperate opposition in Kwara State. I have read the judgement. The suit was not properly constituted. None of the candidates was joined as a party and therefore the judgement cannot be binding on any of them. It is an elementary principle of law that a judgment cannot be binding on a person who was not a party to the suit, just as a person who is not a party to a suit cannot benefit from the judgement. Do not panic. Do
    not be distracted.”

    The minister also used the forum to reel out once again the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s achievements in the last three and half years.

    “President Muhammadu Buhari has delivered on his promise to revamp the economy, secure our country and fight corruption. This has made the work of our canvassers much easier because they know exactly what to tell the people.

    “No government in the history of Nigeria has achieved this feat. Even our detractors acknowledge this, though the lust for power often beclouds their sense of judgement.”

  • Emmanuel: 2019 elections will mark the end of godfatherism

    Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel has said his victory in the March 3 governorship election will mark the end of ‘godfatherism’ in the state.

    According to Emmanuel, the era where people play God in the state was over as the people were determined to stop one man from deciding their destiny

    The governor, who spoke yesterday during the 2019 Solemn Assembly at Ibom Hall Ground in Uyo, called on the people to see the next two months as an important one, as they would make critical decision on who will govern them.

    The service, with the theme: “You are God, You alone”, was drawn from II Kings 19:19.

    He said: “Fellow Akwa Ibomites, this is a critical year, a year you will make consequential decisions; a year that will determine if you will continue to live in peace and prosperity, or return to the dark and scary years of kidnapping, violence, politically-motivated killings, the era when men played God and you were too scared to lift your voices or raise your hands to complain without being murdered or kidnapped.

    “This year is a critical year, an election year that will determine if the Akwa Ibom story will continue to be written glowingly or a return to the ugly and dark chapters when state resources were used to build monuments of little consequence to your lives, when applause meant more to them than a careful application of the enormous resources available to secure the future of our children. This is the stark choice you have to make.

    “I, therefore, urge you not to give in to lies of certain individuals who, when they had the opportunity to establish industries, did nothing but to erect white-elephant projects and monuments. The same people who had promised you 31 industries in 31 councils but could not establish a sachet water factory are back together, promising you heaven on earth. Do not believe them!

    The governor reminded the people that in 2015, he promised them industrialisation, stressing that he has done that by establishing 15 viable industries. He reminded the people that it is only God who would determine the course of development in the state, adding that even in the election proper, it is God alone who would guarantee free and fair election in February and April.

    He added: “In the next one and half months, my dear people, we will go to the polls to elect our leaders, and as the theme of this event says, it is God alone who will determine who governs us; it is He alone who will determine the course of our growth and development, it is He alone who will guarantee us a violence-free elections; it is He alone who will shame the plans and machinations of mere mortals.”

    The governor urged the people to reject the plans of the “enemies” of the state when they come with their blackmail.

    “I came here to serve you as your servant-leader, to feel your pulse, your anxieties and to work hard to solve our problems based on the resources we have been availed,” he added.

  • 2019 elections not do- or- die, says Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday declared that the forthcoming elections will not be do- or- die affair.

    In his 2019 New Year message to Nigerians, Buhari said citizens desire peace, security, posterity, inclusiveness and infrastructural development.

    He stressed the dawn of a New Year was a time to look forward, consider new prospects, unfold plans, and prepare for landmark dates and events.

    The President also maintained Nigeria was making steady progress in its national life and is moving from a country of potentials to a country of actualization.

    He said: “It is my utmost pleasure to rejoice with all Nigerians as we enter the year 2019, which will be a very significant one for our country.

    “We Nigerians are a religious people and we believe that God reigns and rules in the affairs of men.

    “A time like this offers precious opportunity for thanksgiving, stock taking and reflection on goals and targets set for the receding year, and how much was accomplished. The ones not done can then be rolled over into a New Year.

    On the forthcoming general elections, the President said: As I welcome you into 2019, I also reiterate my many promises and declarations that the general elections will be free, fair and credible.

    “Elections need not be do- or- die affair and we should not approach that eventuality in a democracy with trepidation and mortal fear.

    “Happily, a large number of presidential candidates have committed to peace, and peace we shall have.

    “Those who continue to trumpet falsehood and negativity are on their own, fighting a losing battle.

    “The greater number of Nigerians are trusting and believing that we shall deliver on our promises for a level playing field at the polls, and that is what we shall do.”

    Commending the support and collaboration of Nigerians in previous years, he said he looked forward to same in 2019 and beyond.

    “We are motivated by nothing other than service to motherland, and service without selfishness or personal interest.

    “I can assure you all that we are making steady and sustainable progress in all areas of national life.

    “Those who are unbiased can see and appreciate the progress the country has made since 2015.

    “We are moving from potentials to actualization, and it’s a task to be accomplished by us all; man, woman, young, old, military, civilian, all Nigerians.

    “Please come along, as we journey to the land of our dreams. Happy 2019.”