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Tag: 2019

  • 2019:Delta APC tackles PDP

    The Delta State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to start preparing his handover note.

    The party said Deltans were fed up with the government.

    In a statement yesterday by its chairman, Jones Ode Erue , the party described Okowa as the worst governor in Delta State’s history.

    He also described the report that about 5000 APC members defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as fallacious and mischievously concocted by a drowning and confused Governor meant to mislead the reading public.

    Jones said: ” Okowa must be  living in a fool’s paradise to have said he can’t be intimidated by the APC when it is obvious, his days in Government House are numbered owing to his abysmal performance as governor.

    “Okowa is  acclaimed to be the road master when most roads in Asaba, the state capital and other parts of the state are in deplorable conditions, even the so called completed roads are purely substandard. Who is fooling who?”

  • 2019: Group rooting for president

    The coordinator and executive members of the Buhari Volunteer Movement (BVM), United Kingdom chapter, have pledged their support and sent a  congratulatory message  to the APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, for his drive in transforming the party.

    According to the coordinator, Chinedu Okoro ,while briefing news men ,pledged the group’s unending support for both the party and the president in the coming elections. Hon Chinedu Okoro used the opportunity to officially declare his intention to run for the Enugu State House of Assembly to represent the Uzo Uwani Local Government Area  of the state.

    Hon Okoro  also applauded Dr Ben Nwoye  for his leadership in the state in ensuring  massive involvement of youths in the diaspora as well as in the country to participate actively in politics at local ,state and federal levels as the future is dependent on their involvement.

    Hon Okoro seized the opportunity to call on all well-meaning Nigerians to support the APC in the coming elections by ensuring they have their PVCs to secure their votes.

  • 2019: We’ll get the government we deserve

    Struggle for power in Nigeria is a study in paradox. Awolowo who burnt the midnight candles to discover ‘the path to Nigeria’s freedom’, a path never taken, to our eternal damnation, an ill-equipped Obasanjo boasted he got on a platter of gold what Awo started struggling for while he, Obasanjo was a mere bare-footed school boy.  Zik, a foremost Nigerian nationalist who ‘eleczikfy’ the Nigerian press preaching liberation from colonial rule was sidelined when freedom came. The crown went to Tafawa Balewa of a fiercely anti-Fulani minority tribe from southern Bauchi, courtesy of Ahmadu Bello, who preferred the Northern Region premiership to Nigerian Prime Minister. MKO Abiola won a pan-Nigerian mandate; Babangida with Obasanjo’s support substituted his mandate with an illegal Interim National Government. Following his death in prison, Obasanjo was brought out of Abacha’s gulag to be crowned president. And while Obasanjo for eight years failed to acknowledge the immense contribution of Abiola to democracy, President Buhari, whose regime was toppled back in 1985 by Babangida coup bankrolled by Abiola, made justice denied him by Obasanjo, his kinsman possible.

    We must also add that Shehu Shagari wanted to be just a senator; Obasanjo admitted influencing his emergence as president after publicly stating the best candidate in the 1979 election didn’t have to win to spite Obafemi Awolowo, Shagari’s opponent. Obasanjo equally admitted aiding ailing Umaru Yar’Adua and an ill-prepared Goodluck Jonathan to power.

    As part of the paradox, the north had wanted a confederacy in 1953 but reluctantly accepted a federal arrangement they were allowed to control. The north sponsored the July 1966 coup to resist a unitary system instituted by Ironsi through decree 34 of 1966. Today as the greatest beneficiary of the current unitary system we fraudulently call federalism, they are opposed to a restructured workable federal arrangement in line with what we inherited from our founding fathers.

    And what can today be more paradoxical than Obasanjo and PDP who for 16 years destroyed the country through massive corruption, through ill-implemented self-serving privatization and monetization policies, now forming an alliance to stop Buhari’s second term for allegedly condoning corruption, among other reasons?

    Of course Buhari and his APC, many believe have not met the aspirations of Nigerians. Many feel betrayed that Buhari needed six months and over two years to constitute a cabinet and the boards of over 500 small governments that he needs to execute his party programme. They agonise over the president’s decision to surround himself with those who appear not to share his pan-Nigeria vision. It is equally no relief that due to the president’s error of omission, APC, the platform with which he secured his mandate for the greater part of the last three and half years,  displayed  instincts of factions with divergent tendencies interested only in power. The division in the party and the attendant crisis have overshadowed whatever efforts the president is making in tackling the party’s  eight-point cardinal programme viz  electricity generation, war against corruption, food security,   integrated transport network and free education, devolution of power, accelerated economic growth and affordable health care.

    There are also concerned Nigerians who also believe the president has not risen to the challenges of modern government. By his opposition to restructuring, devolution of power, state policing etc., they say, is evidence of his lack of understanding of our national diversity and the reason why his approach to national divisive issues continues to fail to inspire confidence.

    But Obasanjo and PDP with his sabre-rattling Kola Ologbondiyan, its spokesman, are not prepared to allow Buhari to be haunted in the 2019 election by his personal inadequacies and his party’s failure to fulfill its electoral promises. Obasanjo, a master of political subterfuge, is fuelling intra party feuds within the APC while PDP spokesman deploys language of fear when not fabricating lies.

    Obasanjo who had on February 11, 2015, at the launch of his autobiography titled, My Watch, in Nairobi, Kenya said of Buhari “He is smart enough, he is educated enough. He’s experienced enough. Why shouldn’t I support him?” in January 23, wrote an open letter to Buhari, claiming his administration is “characterised by poverty, insecurity, poor economic management, nepotism, gross dereliction of duty and condonation of misdeed”. He followed up with the formation of a ‘Coalition for Nigeria Movement’ (CNM). The CBM has since been collapsed into the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the purpose of the 2019 election.

    But as part of the paradox, Obasanjo is not only not taking responsibility for his role as the father of PDP that has brought the nation to its knees in the last 16 years, he wants Nigerians to forget that he and Murtala Mohammed planted the seeds of today’s social dislocations back in 1975 with their destruction of the bureaucracy and the academia, two critical institutions without which a nation decays.

    It is also as if PDP wants to wish away its  baleful legacies which include wrecking of the aviation, pharmaceutical, textile industries through the importation of labour of other societies,  mad rush to build private universities with unexplained sources of fund after destroying the world class institutions they inherited, trading our refineries for fuel importation through which about 140 oil importers appointed by Ahmadu Alli, according to a house probe Stole N1.7 trillion; ill-implemented privatization programme through which they sold NITEL, a successful outfit that posted a profit of N53bn in 2002 to proxy company;   Daily Times with onshore and offshore assets including NSE House on Customs Street, for N1.2b; the entire Trade Fair Complex  for as low as N10bn; ALSCON, built with $3.2b dollars for $250m out of which only $130m was paid and, sharing 60 licensed Independent Power Producers (IPPs), among its members and sympathizers.

    The same PDP now says of Buhari: “Instead of fighting corruption, Buhari’s  administration is practically a felonious empire of corrupt individuals, certificate forgers, contract inflators, looters of treasuries and well-known liars, making it, ‘head to toe’, the biggest assemblage of plunderers in the history of our nation. Largely, due to the incompetence and corruption of the Buhari Presidency, our once robust economy has been wrecked, resulting in unbearable hardship, unemployment, hunger and starvation, strange sicknesses and untold depression with compatriots resorting to suicide missions and slavery as options”. PDP is “urging Nigerians not to despair especially as the 2019 general elections offer them the firm opportunity to vote out this inept administration and return a development-oriented and competent government on the platform of the repositioned and rebranded PDP.”

    Calling attention to the paradox of those who are now proclaiming themselves as our new redeemers is not a call for their rejection in 2019.  If frank and honest Buhari loses to slyness and deviousness, he should take solace in the fact that democracy, as Richard Geibis once observed shortly before the hand-over of Hong Kong by Great Britain to Mainland Chinese, is “the rule of the easily manipulated mob”.  A white supremacist mob recently elected a sly multi billionaire tax evader and women abuser, whose close aides claim does not know his left from his right, in America, the home of democracy. And finally as Alexis-Charles-de Tocqueville (1805-1859) a French political thinker put it in his ‘Democracy in America’, “in a democracy, the people get the government they deserve”.

  • 2019: Plan for consensus candidate unsettles PDP

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors have rejected what they see as a plot by some of their colleagues to impose a presidential candidate on the party.

    Instead, the governors have offered to meet with the 12 presidential aspirants this week on their commitment to free and fair primaries.

    The governors, who met in Abuja on Sunday, were said to have discovered that “one or two” of them had “ulterior agenda” to impose a candidate on the party.

    It was learnt that the governors also came up with the idea of a consensus candidate, but others claimed it was too early to decide that.

    The party, Board of Trustees (BoT) is canvasing consensus, saying the number of candidate is high.

    A governor, who spoke in confidence with our correspondent, said: “We had a stormy session because we have one or two among us without an open mind. They are working to the answer for one candidate.

    “We know these governors and in the fullness of time, we will expose them before they destroy our party and ruin its chances in 2019.

    “Most of us said anybody working with agenda contrary to free and fair process will be resisted. We said we will like a fair game because PDP must get it right this time around.

    “So, anybody with ulterior agenda is deceiving himself. No PDP governor or governors can force a process on us. We want the party to put the best candidate forward.

    “Most of us believe that once the process is transparent and fair, those who may lose out will feel free to support whoever emerges as PDP candidate.”

    The governors will meet with the 12 presidential aspirants before the end of this week to, according to another governor, “reassure them of our commitment to equity, fairness and justice”.

    The source went on: “We also seek to appeal to the aspirants to play the game in a fair manner which will keep PDP intact. They should see themselves as members of the same family.

    “The governors will also like to hear suggestions from the aspirants on the forthcoming primaries because Nigerians are looking forward to us to get it right.

    “If at the end of the day the aspirants have a common ground, we will respect their mutual decision.”

    BoT Chairman Walid Jibrin, yesterday told our correspondent in an SMS message, that the committee would impress it on the aspirants the dangers inherent in having such a large number of them in the race.

    Describing the number of aspirants as unwieldy, Jibrin said there were fears that there could be disagreement among the contestants that could lead to major divisions after the primaries.

    The BoT chair, however said the committee would not compel any of the aspirants to withdraw from the race adding that “rather, they would be persuaded to put the interest of the party above their personal interests and ambitions”.

    Jibrin continued: “A committee has been set up to discuss with all the aspirants to come up with one of them as a consensus candidate. We have 12 of them in the race.

    “We have also advised the leadership of the party to regulate the processes and draw a code of conduct to guide the conduct and behaviour of the aspirants and officials to be engaged in the selection process.

    “Consequently, the BoT has forwarded its full recommendations to the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP for consideration.”

    Jibrin, whose tenure has been renewed for another five years, urged members of the BoT to always maintain their honour and integrity by remaining neutral in all the processes leading to the emergence of a candidate.

    In the race for the party’s presidential ticket are former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal; Gombe State Governor Ibrahim Dankwabo; Senate President Bukola Saraki; former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido; former Kaduna State Governor Ahmed Makarfi and a former Special Duties Minister Tanimu Turaki.

    Others are former Senate President David Mark; former Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso; former Sokoto State Governor Attahiru Bafarawa; former Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang; and Senator Baba Datti Ahmed.

    Of the aspirants, 11 have returned their nomination forms. Saraki was being expected to submit his as at 5pm yesterday.

    Going by the party’s guidelines, nominations for the presidential slot will close today (Tuesday).

    To Saraki, consensus “is not the issue”.

    He spoke yesterday at the party’s Abuja secretariat shortly after submitted his nomination papers.

    Saraki said: “I don’t think the consensus thing is the issue  before us because we are trying to ensure that there is internal democracy in the system and very credible primaries.

    “What is important is that at the end of the day, we have something that is rancour free. What I can tell you is that we are working together because we are still part of one family.

    “I believe at the end of the day, we will have a process that whoever emerges will be supported by all of us. So that there will be no need dividing ourselves.”

    Stating that the PDP is not Nigeria’s problem, as being projected by the ruling party, the aspirant promised to unite all sections of the county if elected president.

    He said: “What is important for us is the lives of millions of Nigerians who are going through such a tough time and who now believe that it is only through the PDP that that can happen.

    “We will play our own part in ensuring that we unite everybody. It has always been my antecedent to provide unity, to provide leadership in this kind of scenario.

    “I can assure you I will play my role in uniting all of us because we are part of one family.  Our problem is not in PDP but in the other party.

    “So we will stay united to carry out this exercise as a family affair and we will ensure that the party also will show that we will do something that is respected across the world so that that will give us the platform to go and deliver.”

    Deploring youth unemployment, Saraki said it was time for the youth to elect someone who has energy, youthfulness, capacity and knowledge to take the country to its desired level.

     

  • 2019: Buhari receives forms today

    President Muhammadu Buhari will today receive expression of interest and nomination forms for the 2019 elections.

    The Nation learnt yesterday that the forms would be delivered to him by 11:30am at the New Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Last week, it was reported that a group under the auspices of National Consolidation Ambassadors Network (NCAN), bought the forms for Buhari at N45million.

    The National Coordinator of the group, Sanusi Musa, in company of his members, said: “We are members of NCAN. Our resolve, since our formation over a year ago, is to ensure that President Buhari seeks another term as well as ensure that the president emerges victorious in the 2019 poll.

    “Our reason for embarking on this project is based on the recognition of the fact that the President has started laying a foundation for a better Nigeria and there is need to consolidate on the gains made.

    “It is for this reason we pride ourselves as Network of Consolidation Ambassadors. From September 2017 to April, NCAN was in the forefront of calling on President Buhari to seek re-election, to consolidate on the good work he has been doing, by building on the foundation he has laid for a prosperous Nigeria.

    “As God will have it, Mr. President acceded to the voice of reasoning and declared his intention to seek re-election in 2019. We believe in the leadership of President Buhari; we can count on him to consolidate the good work he has started for another four years.

    “It is for this reason that we have decided to pull our meagre resources together and buy the expression of interest and nomination forms for President Buhari, as he presents himself to party members; to be chosen as their candidate for the 2019 presidential election.

    “Our members, from villages, local governments and states have contributed to making this happen.

    “It is my singular honour and rare privilege to present to you a cheque of N45 million, as payment for the expression of interest and nomination forms for President Buhari.”

    Speaking in an interview at the weekend, Musa said they could not hand over the documents to the President immediately after purchase, as he was then outside the country.

    “President Buhari has just returned. So, we have not presented the forms to him. We are in the process of sending them,” he said.

  • 2019: Five PDP governors seeking deal with Buhari

    •Shekarau dumps PDP

    Desperate for a second term, five Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors are seeking a secret pact with President Muhammadu Buhari on the 2019 general elections.

    Specifically,  the deal is for the governors to support Buhari’s re-election in return for the Presidency’s backing in their bid to retain their seats.

    The governors, who could not be named for “strategic” reasons, have sent emissaries, including two All Progressives Congress (APC) governors, to the President on their proposal.

    One of the governors sent a message to the President in China through an APC governor, The Nation learnt yesterday.

    Also yesterday, former Kano State Governor Ibrahim Shekarau dumped the PDP.

    He is due to announce his defection to the APC after consultation with his supporters.

    Although one of the five PDP governors initiated the “deal”, the positive signals from the mediating APC governors and some top officials of the Presidency motivated four others to join.

    The “bleak prospect” of not being re-elected may have accounted for the desperation of the governors, according to sources in the Presidency.

    The five PDP governors are from the Southsouth and the Southeast. Two are from the Southsouth and three from the Southeast

    One of the sources said: “The five governors are lobbying APC leaders to help cut a deal with President Buhari by which the President will allow them to be re-elected in return for their support for Buhari to win the presidential election in those PDP states.

    “The arrowhead of the group (from the Southsouth) has been talking to two APC governors. He is pleading with the governors to present the request of the five PDP governors to the President ahead of a likely face-to-face meeting.”

    The arrowhead of the pact is said to have started mounting pressure on the two APC governors in Nigeria and has continued with the pressure during the ongoing visit of the President to China.

    The affected Southsouth governor had earlier failed in his attempt to defect to the APC in the face of total rejection of his move by APC leaders at the national level and at the state chapter, it was learnt.

    “The idea of lobbying for some horse trading with President Buhari was first brought up by the arrowhead, who broached it with senior officials of the Presidency last year when his relationship with PDP leaders and members in his state, including his godfather, became frosty,” a source said, pleading not to be named “so as not to jeopardise the negotiations”.

    Another source spoke of how Senator Godswill Akpabio’s defection and the inroad being made by the APC into the Southsouth has caused a political upset in the geopolitical zone.

    “With the defection of Senator Akpabio on August 8 to the APC and the obvious rise in the electoral fortunes of the party in the zone, the arrowhead was mandated by the group to secure an audience with President Buhari for them to present their plan.

    Said the source: “Should the meeting hold, the governors would be dangling before the Presidency the prospect of a win for President Buhari in the Southsouth and Southeast zones, the two regions that have been the strongholds of the PDP.”

  • 2019: Army pledges security for INEC

    The Army said yesterday that it would assist the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in ensuring security before, during and after the 2019 general election, especially in the Northeast.

    Director of Public Relations Brig.-Gen. Texas Chukwu said the assurance was given by the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 7 Division, Brig.-Gen. Abdumalik Biu, when the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Borno State, Mohammed Magaji, visited him.

    Chukwu said in a statement that the assurance was to enable the commission carry out its responsibility of conducting the elections peacefully.

    He said: “The GOC described INEC as a critical institution to democratic process in Nigeria and promised to provide security for INEC workers and materials in all voting areas in the hinterlands of the state, during the coming elections.”

    The statement quoted the GOC as saying that “the Nigerian Army will do all within its power to provide security for INEC officials and their materials during the election.”

     

  • 2019: Akintola and Oyo APC succession battle

    A legal luminary, Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN), is among the aspirants itching to succeed Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in next year’s election. He will face other 23 aspirants at the primary later in the month. Can the eminent lawyer overcome the hurdles and pick the ticket? Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the succession battle in the Pacesetter State.

    As a lawyer, he knows his onions. Vocal, versatile and hardworking, Niyi Akintola (SAN), can be described as a genius. He is bold, brave and courageous. His legal advocacy has been deployed to the sustenance of the democratic order. But, after many years of successful practice, the legal luminary is now changing his gear. “I want to be governor of Oyo State and I know what it takes to be governor,” he said.

    Akintola has been in politics for long. In the Third Republic, he was elected as the deputy speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly. He had to resign from the position when he failed to bow to the shenanigans of the Ibadan strongman, the late Chief Lamidi Adedibu. At the beginning of this dispensation, he worked actively with his leader, the late Chief Bola Ige. When the former Oyo State governor was writing the constitutions of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the defunct All Peoples Party (APP) and the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Akintola was beside him.

    Although he had an opportunity to seek for elective positions, he never did so. Instead, he embraced the role of assisting victims of electoral fraud to recover their stolen mandate. The legal fireworks took him to tribunals in Ekiti, Osun, Ogun, Ondo and Edo states.

    Nineteen years after the restoration of civil rule, he is throwing his hat in the ring. “Governor Abiola Ajimobi has performed well in the last seven and half years. There is the need for a government of continuity. If elected as governor on the platform of the APC, I will build on his achievements,” Akintola added.

    Akintola is a household name in Oyo State and Nigeria. At home, he is not treated as a foreigner. The lawyer is a community man. Little did he guess that he would be vying for a public office when he ploughed back to Ido, his cradle. Apart from participating in many community projects, he has personally sponsored some social programmes which have impacted on the community and Ibadan city state.

    Many believe that Ajimobi has actually recorded many achievements. But, his greatest achievement will be his ability to hand over to a government of continuity on May 29, next year. Will the lot fall on Akintola to continue from where the governor will stop?

    No fewer than 24 APC chieftains are in the race to succeed the governor. The contenders are from the three senatorial districts.

    Apart from Akintola, the contenders include former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala, Soji Adejumo, professor of animal physiology and former chairman, Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Adebayo Adelabu, former deputy governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Ayo Karim, engineer and Chief Executive Officer of Costain West Africa Plc, Joseph Tegbe, a senior partner with KPMG Professional Services, Dr Olusola Ayandele, Director of Integrated Energy Distribution And Marketing Limited, Dr. Azeez Adeduntan, Commissioner for Health, Soji Eniade,  former Head of Service, Abimbola Adekambi, Commissioner for Finance, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari from Oyo North District, and Alhaji Adebayo Shittu, Minister of Communications.

    Others are Akeem Agbaje, Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association  (NBA), Oyo State, Dr. Babalola Owolabi, former Commissioner for Health, Isaac Omodewu, Commissioner for Land, Housing and Survey, Temitope Olatoye, who represents Lagelu/Akinyele Constituency in the House of Representatives, Alhaji Kehinde Olaosebikan, journalist and former chairman of Oluyole Local Government Area, Otunba Moses Alake Adeyemo, deputy governor, Senator Soji Akanbi from Oyo South District, Dada Awoleye, member of the House of Representative from Ibadan North Constituency, Debo Adesina, a journalist, Zacheaus Adelabu, former Commissioner for Finance, and Prof. Adeolu Aknde, a political scientist.

    There are rumblings in the party hierarchy over who succeeds Ajimobi. The succession battle may be taking its toll on the State Executive Council. There is growing suspicion and mistrust among commissioners and special advisers. Succession has become a divisive issue. Six members of the cabinet are in the race. They are Deputy Governor Adeyemo, Eniade, Omodewu, Adeduntan, Special Adviser on Political Matters, Morounkola Thomas, Commissioner for Finance, and Adekanmbi. The governor has not anointed a candidate. So far, he has been silent on the succession struggle. His only intervention is limited to the admonition to the people of Oke Ogun to put their house in order and endorse an aspirant. The sub-zone is pushing for zoning, although zoning is not in the APC constitution.

    Until recently, eyes were on two aspirants, who were believed to be the governor’s choice: Adelabu and Chief Adeniyi Akintola, (SAN) The latter has since lost out following a careless talk attributed to him which filtered to the ears of Governor Ajimobi. Adelabu is said to be close to Ajimobi. His associates were boasting that he could get the ticket on account of close ties. But, sources close to the governor confided that the anticipated pay back time for cordial friendship may not come.

    Since the governor may not be looking in the direction of Adedibu, some people came up with the permutation of a titanic contest between Akintola and Tegbe, another Ibadan indigene, who is believed to be Ajimobi’s business partner.  Observers have said that Tegbe will defend the governor’s legacies and cover his tracks.

    To some Ibadan indigenes, Akintola is not a push over. He has so many factors working in his favour. As one of the Ibadan and Oyo State leading lights, he is known to the social gatekeepers, including traditional rulers;  the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi,  the Soun of Ogbomosho, Oba Jimoh Oyewumi, the Aseyin of Iseyin and the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji. These monarchs are from the three senatorial districts.

    The political capital accruable from Ibadan could be enormous. Ibadan controls 54 per cent of the voting population in the state. Akintola’s aspiration has received the blessings of the influential umbrella body in the ancient city, the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes.

    Akintola is a political war horse of sorts and not a latter day opportunistic progressives. His legal career is interwoven with the history of the Fourth Republic. Many have showered encomiums on him for deploying his legal service to the cause of the progressivism. In those anxious and uncertain years when the defunct Action Congress (AC) was robbed of electoral victory by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Akintola rendered invaluable legal services that led to the recovery of stolen mandates.He was the lead counsel in the case instituted by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who challenged the victory of PDP candidate, Professor Oserheim Osunbor in Edo state.

    Akintola was involved in historic electoral cases involving Ajimobi and Alao Akala in Oyo State, and Dr Kayode Fayemi and Segun Oni in Ekiti state. He was also the lead counsel in the titanic case between Chief Rauf Aregbesola and Brig-Gen Olagunsoye Oyinlola in Osun State.

    When Senator Rasheed Ladoja was impeached as Oyo State governor and Alao-Akala became the ‘governor,’ Akintola handled the case up to the Supreme Court without collecting legal fees, to the surprise of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes.  His sagacity, candour, resilience, fidelity and selfless contributions endeared him to Southwest leaders, including Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande and Ajimobi, who now holds the ace on who becomes his successor.

    Akintola is feared and respected by the Oyo PDP as a great and principled fighter. Thus, the party believes that the rejection of his candidature by the APC family will be a blessing in disguise to the likely PDP candidate, Seyi Makinde, an engineer.

    But, is the zoning agitation not a threat to his ambition? What is the assurance that Ajimobi will prefer him as successor? Many also believe that the lawyer is too independent-minded and cannot be controlled by any party leader.

    Akintola said zoning will not be a factor. He said he enjoyed cordial relations with the governor. He said Oyo State is made of historically and culturally linked towns and villages. The said the bond of kindred exists up to now. He delved into history, emerging with evidence of many prominent Ibadan indigenes who came from many surrounding Oyo, Oke-Ogun, Osun, Egba, Ijesa and even Ekiti towns. He noted that a former Ibadan monarch, Baale Idi Iwo Balogun, came from Iwo, the Alayandes came from Oyo, Ladoja came from Iseyin, Olunloyos have links with Owu and a former Timi of Ede, Oba Laoye, a pharmacist, even wanted to be Mogaji in Ibadan in the past. In his view, Oyos are Oyos, whether they are from Ibadan, Oke-Ogun and Oyo, the territory of Alaafin. Besides, he pointed out that zoning is not in the APC constitution.

     Akintola was born in Ibadan on January 21, 1960. He attended I.D.C. Primary School Seni Village, via Omi, Adio Ogunsami Primary School, Ogunsami and Ebenezer African Church Primary School Salvation Army Road, Ibadan. He later attended Nigeria Army School of Education, Ilorin, Ogun State Polytechnic, Abeokuta, the University of Ibadan and the Nigerian Law School, Lagos.

    The lawyer holds a Master’s degree in Political Science. He taught briefly at Mac-Job Grammar School, Abeokuta between 1979-8. In 1984 the late Chief Toye Ogunyemi, his adopted father and mentor, assisted him in getting him a scholarship to go to the Law School, Lagos through an Ibadan Social Club, the Lagelu Sixteen under the leadership of Alhaji Tunji Bello. On his graduation day, he could not afford N4.00 to pay for his photograph. He could not even afford the Wig and Gown for practice. Yet, he became a SAN at 41.

    Akintola is conscious of his past. He is always willing to plough back to society through numerous philanthropic gestures.mOn his 50th birthday in 2010, he awarded scholarships to 50 indigent students of higher institutions. He singlehandedly built a cottage hospital for Omi-Adio, Ibadan and donated same to the Nigerian Baptist Convention.

    In the legal profession, he is a star. He is a member of Benchers, a director of Nigerian-reinsurance PLC, adjunct lecturer, Department of Political Science, UI, member of the NBS Disciplinary Committee, Fellow of the London Court of International Arbitration, former Vice Chairman of NBA, Ibadan Branch, Fellow of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Nigeria and UK, and members of Africa Bar Association and International Bar Association.

    Akintola was a member of the Presidential Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution. He was counsel to the Federal Government on the Judicial Commission of Inquiry appointed to probe NIGERDOCK N81 billion fraud.

  • Why riverine person ‘ll succeed Wike in 2019, by PDP gov aspirant

    Governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, Soalabo West, has stated that a riverine person will succeed Governor Nyesom Wike on May 29 next year, in order to make the Niger Delta state great again.

    West, an energy and maritime lawyer from the Kalabari (riverine) part of Rivers state, stressed that he was not bothered about last week’s declaration by Wike of PDP, who is from the upland part of the state, to seek reelection in 2019.

    The governorship aspirant, yesterday in an interactive session with reporters in Port Harcourt, expressed optimism of emerging victorious at the primary election of the PDP.

    He said: “The argument in 2015 was that Rivers was a PDP state and the people of the state needed to wrest the leadership of the state from the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party which the then incumbent governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, defected to in 2013.

    “Governorship aspirants from the riverine ethnic nationalities were asked in 2015 to work with Wike, not because the upland/riverine dichotomy was not there, but essentially because of imperatives of the time, especially that Rivers State should go to the PDP and that the state should be properly mobilised to deliver majority votes to the then President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election.”

    West also stated that his governorship aspiration was propelled by the desire to bring to the fore vision, youthful vigour, a pragmatic and dynamic approach to the development of Rivers State, devoid of political bickering and sectarian exclusiveness that were currently being institutionalised.

    The PDP governorship aspirant pleaded with the youths and other stakeholders to do away with violence and thuggery, in order to have peaceful, free, fair and credible primaries and general elections.

     

     

  • 2019: Saraki declares for Presidency

    Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki on Thursday declared his intention to run for the Presidency on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 election.

    He made the declaration in Abuja at a dialogue with youths and young aspirants.

    “I have deliberately chosen the opportunity of being here with you, my Number One constituency who I see as the future of our great country, to make my intention known. I believe the Nigerian youth are critical to rebuilding and growing the economy, and restoring our national pride,” Saraki stated.

    Full text of the declaration speech below:

    1. Let me say, once again, how wonderful it is to see so many talented and purposeful young people at this first edition of the Public Dialogue Series with Political Parties on Youth Candidacy and Party Primaries. Looking at you, I see future leaders who present themselves as capable and worthy to take on the mantle of leadership in this country, and this gladdens my heart.

    2. From my interactions with many of you, and with your contemporaries across the country, I can see that we are blessed with a determined generation that stands ready to join with us to power a Nigerian renaissance. The quality of people I see here today affirms my belief that, indeed, you are Not Too Young To Run.

    3. I deeply appreciate this opportunity to share some of my ideas about where we are as a nation, as well as the challenges before us as we approach the great decider that is the 2019 General Elections.

    4. It is widely acknowledged that ours is a relatively ‘young’ country bursting with tremendous energy, ability and potential. More than 70 per cent of our population is under the age of 40.  You are indeed the future of this country. Ordinarily, such a young population would be the envy of many Western countries that are faced with ageing populations, but the dire state of our affairs tarnishes the youthful advantage that we have.

    5. Up and down our country today, Nigerians are crying out for succour. Many of our children are hungry. Many people are dying of avoidable or otherwise treatable diseases. Many have fallen below basic living standards, and are now among the 87 million that sealed Nigeria’s position as the country with the highest number of people in extreme poverty. Our young people lack opportunities. The necessary education facilities and system to equip them for the future simply do not exist. We are not creating the jobs needed to usefully engage them in order to grow our economy. And too often, the youth feel shut out, prevented from having any say in the direction of this nation.

    6. The harsh conditions of extreme poverty faced by the people, fuels the state of insecurity all over the country. Hunger, lack of education and lack of opportunities push many Nigerians into criminal activities including terrorism. Many of our communities are paralysed with fear – due to incessant communal crises, kidnappings and other social ills, as well as the threat of terrorism. We are failing abysmally to tackle the problems of today and to prepare for the future.

    7. Our economy is broken and is in need of urgent revival in order for Nigeria to grow. GDP growth rate has declined. Diversification remains an illusion. Unemployment is at an all-time high. Businesses are shutting down. Jobs are being lost in record numbers, and the capital needed to jumpstart our economy is going elsewhere.

    8. Nigeria is perhaps more divided now than ever before. We are increasingly divided along regional, religious and ethnic lines. Nigerians are also divided by class, a festering gulf between the ‘Haves’ and the ‘Have-Nots’. The fault lines of this nation are widening to an alarming degree. We must do something fast, and we must be brave about it.

    9. We must ensure the security of lives in Nigeria. As things stand now, no one is safe in this country. No one feels truly safe. We must restore the sanctity of the rule of law and strengthen democratic institutions in order to build a just, fair and equitable society for all. We must rebuild the trust of our people in government. We need a new generation of leaders that are competent, with the capability to rise to the challenges of the 21st century. We must pull this country back together and rebuild, block by block, with dedication and commitment.

    10. You will agree with me that this is an urgent task that requires the concerted efforts of each and every one of us. If we look around today, what do we see? What is the condition of our citizens? Where are we as a nation? How are we perceived locally and internationally? Why are we not making the expected progress? Why are we not growing? There is no time to waste. The time is now, to come together to stimulate growth in Nigeria, especially in the national economy.

    11. The choice we face in the forthcoming election is either to keep things as they are, or make a radical departure from the old ways. To find a better way of doing things or keep repeating the mistakes of the past. To fix the problems or keep compounding them.

    12. It is with all these in mind, and taking account of the challenges that I have outlined, that I have decided to answer the call of teeming youth who have asked me to run for President. Accordingly, I hereby announce my intention to run for the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the coming General Elections in 2019 on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). I do so with the firm conviction that I have what it takes to secure inclusive growth for Nigeria and Nigerians.

    13. My Plan for Nigeria has inclusion in all aspects of the country’s affairs as a central pillar. Every citizen has the inalienable right to feel a sense of belonging, no matter their background or creed, or what part of the country they come from. No matter who you voted for or what your convictions are, government must work for you.

    14. Your generation does not deserve to live in the poverty capital of the world. It is no longer an issue of how we got here, but how do we get out of this situation? I promise you that I will lead the fight and employ every God-given resource available to us in turning things around. I am determined to grow Nigeria out of poverty. We will stimulate the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as one of the ways of energising the economy and to create wealth for our people, especially the youth.

    15. I want to see the youth play major roles at all levels, not only in government but also in the private sector and indeed in every area of Nigerian life. This will be a government driven by youthful energy, innovation and a pioneering entrepreneurial spirit. Nigerian youth will be given all the opportunities to realise their potential to the full within a national framework that guarantees inclusiveness.  For youth who have ideas and capacity, we will make sure that there is funding for their ventures; and we shall build on the Made in Nigeria legislation as part of our job creation drive.

    16. My plan is to secure Nigeria by redesigning our national security architecture, while adequately equipping our security agencies to fulfil their primary role of protecting lives and property.

    17. I will address our infrastructural deficit through aggressive financing initiatives including mutually beneficial PPP arrangements, regular floating of bonds and other financial instruments, which will ensure stable, adequate and reliable funding to see to the completion of core projects especially road, rail and power.

    18. My plan is to protect all Nigerians and defend their constitutional rights and freedoms. I will stand for and uphold at all times the principle of the rule of law, which is the bedrock of democratic governance.

    19. Ours will not be a selective fight against corruption. The emphasis will be on strengthening institutions, with a particular focus on deterrence. We cannot afford to compromise our institutions with proxy wars against perceived political opponents. We see the fight against corruption as crucial to Nigeria’s economic development.

    20. I offer leadership driven by empathy. Where leaders are responsive to the citizens. Where they know that government cares. We will not be indifferent or turn a blind eye to the real concerns of our people. Every single Nigerian life matters.

    21. For me, the leadership we deserve is one that will be a source of pride to all Nigerians, one that will be respected and admired in Africa and around the world. It should be a leadership that can hold its own and stand tall anywhere in the world. That is the type of leadership I offer.

    22. As a former two-term Governor and currently President of the Senate by the grace of God, I believe I possess a unique blend of executive and legislative experience to push for and implement reforms that will deliver real improvements in the daily lives of our people. I know what it takes to create jobs and grow the economy. I can make the tough decisions when it matters. I will spearhead a new agenda that can transform the lives of ordinary Nigerians in real terms.

    23. Believe me when I say that it will not be business as usual. This will be a dynamic government of action that will pursue the growth of Nigeria with doggedness, determination and conviction. I will lead a result-driven administration. We shall set targets with clear timelines to ensure that anticipated deliverables are met. You can benchmark us and hold us accountable. In short, I assure you that I will deliver on all promises. What I envision is a new chapter in governance in this country. We will be driven by what is best for Nigerians.

    25. I have deliberately chosen the opportunity of being here with you, my Number One constituency who I see as the future of our great country, to make my intention known. I believe the Nigerian youth are critical to rebuilding and growing the economy, and restoring our national pride.

    26. I therefore ask you and all well-meaning Nigerians to join hands with me in this noble cause.

    My brothers, My sisters, Let’s Grow Nigeria Together.

    God bless you all.
    God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, CON.