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Tag: Adams Oshiomhole

  • Ambode eulogizes Ovia, Tinubu

    Apparently to douse the tension surrounding  the 2019 All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate in Lagos, the State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Monday acknowledged the political status of the party’s national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, at Zenith Bank’ chairman, Jim Ovia’s book launch.

    Ambode did this at the launch of the book titled ‘Africa Rise and Shine’, held at Victoria Island. It was chaired by Christopher Kolade, and attended by Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the party chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, Publisher of Vanguard newspaper, Sam Amuka, Oba of Lagos Akiolu and others

    Ambode noted that he wasn’t prepared to address the gathering since his political Godfather had spoken glowingly about the author.

    He asked: “Actually, I didn’t prepare to come and say anything here… And who am I to speak after the Jagaban had spoken?’

    Aside that, the governor also ensured that he stood beside Tinubu during the launch of the book to buttress his earlier stand that there wasn’t any rift between them.

    Ambode’s comment elicited a resounding applause from the audience.

    The governor, however, while eulogizing the author said “the truth is, there is no person that has actually gone through the profession of accountancy that would not have had anything to do with Uncle Jim, and that is the truth.

    “There is nobody that will read this kind of book and will not be inspired and I want to recommend it to everyone.

    “It is always very good when people who have been successful in their careers or profession decide to say something about how they really toiled to get to where they are.

    “Some people just think people get to be successful without knowing that they actually toiled to become successful and this kind of book inspires our younger ones to become more resourceful and then more inspiring,” Ambode said.

    Read Also: No rift between Tinubu and I, says Ambode

    Earlier, Osinbajo stressed that the Nigerian dream was captured by Ovia in his autobiography, detailing his journey to success and importance of leadership to development of any nation.

    He said: “The Nigerian dream is captured in this book because this is a man that started from nowhere and now worth $16 billion. The most of the wealthy men that Nigeria has didn’t come from wealthy home but humble background.

    “Though personnel achievements are known everywhere but what is rare about him was the will to build others without the least apprehension that they could surpass him in the business sector,” the vice president added.

    According to him, Ovia has used his own story and many others to describe the trajectory of a continent that has often appeared to be overcome by its challenges and contradiction.

    While stressing the importance of leadership, Osinbajo argued that every leader considers service to the public than the benefits that they gain from their action.

    “The course of service over self, indicates sacrificial leadership; neither a financial empire or a nation could be built successfully if the leadership cannot delay gratification or keep their hands off the capital of the common man.

    “Sacrifice of self is for the greater goal for all and has become the bedrock for great nations and men but sacrifice for self is the most pathetic hollow imagined, with the imagination of men and women who would have been great but perished.”

    Also speaking, Tinubu, while describing Ovia as Godfather of Nigerian Banking industry, stressed that he doesn’t portray himself as an hero that couldn’t be emulated “but one that his footpath could be followed to achieve greatness.”

    He said: “This title is fitting and proper because not because he was born into the sector but he properly acquired it. The book explained his journey to greatness despite the challenges he faced.

    “This is a man that believes in Nigeria and Africa. And that is why I want to thank you for writing this book to show others of what is necessary for the continent to grow. You have opened the door to success and your life teaches many wonderful lessons,” Tinubu added.

    Urging the next generation to read and emulate the doggedness of Ovia, the APC national leader stressed: “It is up to the next generation to work through that door in order to create a greater and prosperous Africa.”

    Reacting to the accolades showered on him, the author disclosed that his reason for the book title was to change the negative narration about Africa and document historic activities that occurred within the continent.

    According to him, the story told about Africa had previously been pathetic because we were often described as a dark continent characterized with coup and conflicts.

    “But today, the narrative has started changing. The record showed that the continent has embraced democracy. And that shows that the continent has started rising.”

    He noted that acceptance of democracy has positively affected the Gross Domestic Product, GDP of the continent and made the world take notice of the benefits abound in Africa.

  • APC registers 15.6million members – Oshiomhole

    The All Progressives Congress(APC) now has 15.6million members nationwide, according to party chairman Adams Oshiomhole.

    He disclosed this on Wednesday when he presented President Muhammadu Buhari with a new party membership card.

    Oshiomhole told the president that the APC under his leadership, took advantage of modern technology to come up with a new membership data base, saying that the party currently has 15.6 million registered members.

    “Today to talk about the size of our party, the largest party in the world and in Africa, we need to have evidence that can be verified by a third party or by members.

    “We have taken advantage of technology to produce what I believed is the best or the first in Nigeria.

    “We now have as at last week when they started printing of membership register, about 15.6 million registered APC members across the country,” he said.

    Fact checking however showed that while APC may have registered 15.6m members, it is not the world’s largest. The Chinese Communist Party has 89million registered members, while India’s ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has a membership of 110 million as at 2015. In Africa, South Africa’s African National Congress had 769,000 members as at 2015. The PDP membership strength is unknown.

    The APC national chairman added that the party membership data base was designed to ensure that the membership status of anyone could easily be verified at the touch of a bottom.

    Oshiomhole further added that with the development, the party had credible and verifiable persons to conduct direct primaries on the basis of its membership register.

    However, he said the party would not in any way nullify or change the decisions of its National Executive Committee (NEC) at its sixth meeting, which allowed for indirect primaries, for logistics reasons

    He said the APC will strive to give practical expression to its decision as transparently as possible.

    This, he added, would ensure that the APC would not only be the largest, but the smartest, most democratic and most cohesive party in the country.

  • I didn’t start vote-buying in Nigeria – Jonathan

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday denied the claims that he started massive vote-buying in the country.

    The Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, was quoted to have said that the unfortunate trend of vote buying started under former President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

    A statement by Ikechukwu Eze, who is the Media Adviser to Jonathan, entitled “Oshiomhole: The burden of blame game and tumultuous leadership”, said that the allegations were false and misleading.

    He said ‘Our attention has been drawn to a media report in which the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Mr. Adams Oshiomhole was alleged to have claimed that Former President, Goodluck Jonathan, started vote buying in Nigeria.

    “While featuring on a Channels Television programme, Roadmap, Oshiomhole was quoted to have said the following: “President Jonathan started this massive vote buying in Nigeria and the Media must play back and do proper interview and proper investigation to discover the origin of vote buying.”

    “We really do not know the real reason for this misleading falsehood, at this point in time. However, we can only guess that Mr. Oshiomhole who is currently operating under tremendous stress in the bid to steady the already floundering ship of his administration as the new leader of his party, may have got himself entangled in a voyage of tactless desperation.

    “His recent flip flops where he praised Governor Samuel Ortom and Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso one day only to denounce them the very next day, is enough evidence of his fragile psychological state.

    “Not only is he content on squabbling with members of the opposition, we note the self-destructive tendencies of Oshiomhole who is locked in a feud with members of his own party including the minister of labour, Chris Ngige, and a host of APC Governors. It appears that Mr. Oshiomhole’s psychological strain may have reached boiling point.

    “On the vexatious issue of ‘vote-buying’, which has unfortunately found its way into our election lexicon, this is what we know: It is obvious that the shameful development in our democratic experience became very glaring during the 2016 gubernatorial elections in Edo State; an exercise that took place more than one year after President Jonathan had left office.

    Read Also: Jonathan hails Saraki’s leadership

    “It is therefore disingenuous for any politician or group to link the former President with the anomaly, no matter how they want to stretch the now-failing blame game.” he said

    He said that the issue of vote buying didn’t come up in the assessment of elections while Jonathan was in Office as President between 2010 and 2015.

    “Jonathan conducted many elections including the 2011 and 2015 general elections, and many off-season gubernatorial and parliamentary elections in some states like Anambra, Ekiti, Ondo and Edo; and not for once did the issue of vote buying come up.

    “It is instructive that in each case, the former President was given a clean bill, with both local and international observers commending him for having supervised a credible and transparent process.

    “One of those who gave the former President a clean bill of health, was Mr. Oshiomhole himself who on July 16, 2012 said: “What the Edo election has confirmed is that when the President and Commander-in-Chief puts the country first and he conducts himself as a statesman not just as a party leader, credible elections are possible.”

    “When you juxtapose the above statement with Mr. Oshiomhole’s current statement, it becomes obvious that the APC Chairman is suffering from multiple personality syndrome and has a Jekyll and Hyde schizophrenia.

    “We would like to point out that the wave of commendation for Dr. Jonathan’s electoral conduct has continued, long after he had left office. In November 2017 a United Nations delegation led by Ambassador Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, and Chairman of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission (CNMC) commended former President Jonathan for the positive outcome of the electoral reforms he initiated during his tenure, and prayed that the institutions he built and the high standards he set in organizing credible and peaceful elections are maintained and sustained by his successors.” he added

    He said that it was instructive that Jonathan also received plaudits from the visiting UN team over his conduct of the same 2015 elections which “Oshiomhole had casually singled out for condemnation.”

    “This was how Ambassador Chambas verdict differed from Mr. Oshiomhole’s jaundiced assessment: “What we noticed in 2015 was that there was a display of maturity in the way the elections were handled. There was hardly any major incident between the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC). The problems were mostly internal to parties.”

    “It may be that Mr. Oshiomhole’s false accusations against Dr. Jonathan stem from his own guilty conscience arising from the unenviable behaviour he exhibited during the September 2016 gubernatorial election in his state, when his bid to anoint his successor pushed him into desperate measures and a win-at-all-cost mentality that introduced flagrant vote merchandising in our polity, thereby making Edo State the clear starting point of that cankerworm.

    “After observing the Edo 2016 gubernatorial election, the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) a coalition of over 400 civil society organizations spread across the country, said the following about the exercise: “The most frequent reported incidents (of electoral irregularities) are vote buying/voter bribery.” The trend was later to spread to Ondo, Anambra and Ekiti States governorship elections, all taking place after Jonathan had left office as President.

    “What also changed was that Oshiomhole’s emergence as the national chairman of APC and the burden of ‘delivering results to his party’, has pushed him into exporting and escalating this vote buying dexterity to other states, as recently witnessed in Ekiti governorship poll.

    “The fact is that inducement as a tool in the hands of politicians is an old malaise that no Nigerian can be proud of.

    “It is bad enough that this has been allowed to fester and morph into the ugly trend that is today called vote buying. Given this circumstance, you would expect a statesman of Oshiomhole’s standing to offer perspectives on how to solve this problem that is already making our country an object of scorn in the eyes of the international community.

    “That Oshiomhole only resorted to blame game rather than offer any useful suggestions to the election management bodies on how to solve this shameful problem, in the cited television interview, is a sad commentary on the quality and character of today’s political leaders.

    “A Government that continues to blame its predecessor rather than show its scorecard, less than one year to the end of its four-year tenure, is only giving the impression that it is already at its wit’s end.

    “We believe that it is high time Mr. Oshiomhole began to put a leash on his unhelpful, ill-conceived comments and tumultuous style of leadership, to enable him offer quality service to the party he currently leads.” he said

  • Taraba tired of absentee Governor, says Oshiomhole

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on Monday said that the people of Taraba State are tired of an absentee governor who govern the State in absentia.

    He said an APC Governor in the state will reside in the state and work for its people.

    Oshiomhole who spoke while inaugurating the harmonized state executive committee of the party in Taraba state accused the incumbent governor of spending more time outside the state than he spends with his people.

    The APC has been having a running battle with two factions, one loyal to the Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan and the Unity Group struggling for the control of the party.

    “Because what we have now is a governor that spends one day in Taraba and six days outside Taraba whether in Lagos, London or in other parts of the world. You can’t govern in absentia. I believe that our Party will make a difference,” Oshiomhole stated.

    He said: “The Party constitution allows the National Working Committee (NWC) to deal with situations when we have challenges including forging consensus or even appointing caretaker committees in order to ensure the smooth running of the Party across the country.

    Read Also: Oshiomhole: Saraki’s ambition almost destroyed APC

    “It is my hope and prayers that the APC in Taraba state under the Chairmanship of Hon. Ibrahim Tukur El-Sudi with the full support of stakeholders will work together with everybody in the Taraba APC to ensure that there is all-inclusive participation. That is the whole idea of the harmonised executive.

    “We are in very interesting times, we have a governor in Taraba on the PDP platform who narrowly escaped with the position courtesy of the rigging machine of the PDP. From all that I hear from the ordinary people of Taraba, they can’t wait to have Governor Darius Ishaku out of the government house of Taraba.

    “We at the APC headquarters are absolutely committed to giving you all the moral, organisational and persuasive support that we can provide to organise, mobilise and ensure that the great people of Taraba state come out enmasse to vote for whoever will emerge as the governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives and House of Assembly candidate on the platform of our party, come February 2019.

    “Under the APC, the good people of Taraba state will witness sustainable development, peace, and security. They will have a resident governor. Because what we have now is a governor that spends one day in Taraba and six days outside Taraba whether in Lagos, London or in other parts of the world. You can’t govern in absentia. I believe that our Party will make a difference.

    “I am encouraged by the people I see who are working together on the platform of the APC in our shared determination to provide good governance to the people of Taraba state. Today’s meeting is the beginning of a collaborative effort to democratically takeover the governance of Taraba state.”

    The newly-inaugurated Taraba State Chairman, Hon. Ibrahim Tukur El-Sudi promised to unite all members and stakeholders in the Taraba state APC to deliver votes for the APC come 2019.

    “I want to assure that whatever stories anybody could have told you National Chairman about the disunity in Taraba is not true. I will unite everybody because every individual is important in Taraba state. I will carry everybody along so that we deliver Taraba to the APC come 2019,” El-Sudi said.

  • RTEAN vows to support Oshiomhole

    The Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria ( RTEAN ), has vowed to support the political strategies of National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

    It said Oshiomhole’s leadership style since he emerged National Chairman of the APC has created leeway for the ruling party in winning elections.

    National President of RTEAN, Alhaji Musa Sheu Isiwelle, who spoke when some APC supporters visited him in Bénin City said the victories recorded in Ekiti, Kaduna and Bauchi States were testimonies and pointer to how the APC will win next year’s general elections.

    Read Also; Direct Primary: ‘APC’s decision should go beyond individual interests’

    Alhaji Isiwelle noted that Oshiomhole’s activities have led to an unprecedented number of decampees from other political parties to the ruling party.

    According to him, “The defection of great personalities is a pointer to the fact that Comrade Oshiomhole is not only a National party Chairman of great value, but also a bridge builder and crowd puller.”

    The APC supporters led by Vice Chairman of Esan North East Local Government Area, Prince Saturday Iyoha urged Alhaji Isiwelle to continue in his good works of helping the needy and providing good leadership in the transport sector.

  • Oshiomhole to Shekarau: progressives like you are needed in APC

    It is now all over between ex Kano State governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau and the Peoples Democratic party (PDP).

    Shekarau yesterday hosted the   National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, and Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State in his Kano residence to wrap up talks on his switch to the APC.

    The former minister is said to be upset by his alleged ill-treatment by the PDP after what was perceived as too much concession to Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso following his recent defection from the APC.

    Oshiomohole described Shekarau as one of the progressives much needed in the party.

    He said: “For me, it is a rare opportunity to be in your home and reunite with you. I know from your lifestyle, your background, from what you did as the governor of Kano State, nobody can claim to be more progressive than you.

    “I am also fully aware that you are one of the founding fathers of the APC. You may not have expected the amount of efforts you invested in the formation of the All Progressive Congress which you did not enjoy.

    “I have always said that we should be going forward. This meeting has offered us the opportunity to reunite once again as progressives.

    “I have come to pay my respect to His Excellency (Shekarau). I have spoken to my brother, the executive governor of Kano State, on the need for all of us to work together for the development of Kano State and the development of our nation, Nigeria.

    “I want to believe that this is a happy reunion and we shall continue to play progressive politics for the good of the Nigerian people.”

    Governor Ganduje, who was part of the APC delegation, recalled his relationship with Shekarau and how Kwankwaso had treated him in the past.

    His words: “I and Malam Ibrahim Shekarau belong to the same constituency even though we were never in the same political party.

    “The reason why I said we are from the same constituency is that Malam Ibrahim Shekarau is a bureaucrat and I am a bureaucrat. When I was Commissioner for Works, Housing and Transport, some 20 years ago, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau was Permanent Secretary.

    “When we came in 1999, myself as Deputy Governor, the former Governor of Kano State, Kwankwaso, was the governor and Malam Ibrahim Shekarau was permanent secretary in the Cabinet Office.

    “I could recall that because of a statement by sycophants of former Governor Kwankwaso, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau was given a query. He came to my house at 7 am to tell me that he was given a query. I said go and make a photocopy of that query. He made a photocopy and brought it to me.

    “I met with Governor Kwankwaso and asked him what is happening? The Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office said he was given a query. What is the problem?

    “He (Kwankwaso) said he learnt Malam Shekarau was holding meetings with some Ulamas in order to contest election.

    “I said, ‘What is wrong in holding meetings with Ulamas? Even myself, through my Ganduje Foundation, I hold meetings with Ulamas. What is the problem? Please withdraw that query.’

    “But the Governor refused to withdraw the query, and he had the right to do that.

    “What later happened was that Malam Shekarau was posted out to the Ministry of Education. I called the Commissioner of Education at that time and said Malam Ibrahim Shekarau has been posted to your ministry. I asked him to discuss with Malam Shekarau what type of job he would want to do in the Ministry of Education.

    “Then the Honourable Commissioner asked Malam Shekarau what he would want to be, and Malam Shekarau said he wanted to be a classroom teacher, and Malam Ibrahim Shekarau was posted out as a classroom teacher.

    “As God would have it, in less than two months, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau became the Governor of Kano State. He defeated the incumbent governor. He defeated Kwankwaso and myself. He sent us out of Government House.

    “One important thing is that Malam Ibrahim Shekarau and myself have always been good associates. We have always been good friends. In fact, we are like minds; and for him to be in APC, I am the happiest person in this state today.

    “Before, a friend, a brother in different political party, now our dreams have come true; now we are together in the same political party.

    “We understand ourselves. We believe in the same ideology. We believe in commitment—the development of our people, the development of our state.

    “I think there is no better time to have a brother, to come together and serve the people of Kano State.

    “I tell you today that all other things would be sorted out between Malam Ibrahim Shekarau and myself; between Malam Ibrahim Shekarau and our government; between the followers of Malam Ibrahim Shekarau and our government, everything will be sorted out peacefully.

    “So, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, we welcome you to this very important party, the APC. You are one of the founding fathers of APC. The hyena that drove you out of APC is the same hyena that drove you out of PDP. We are happy that you will soon make your pronouncement. Let us come together and fight that lion.”

    Malam Shekarau who said his position for membership of APC would be made known in a few hours, said: “I am happy today for you (Oshiomhole) and His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Kano State, to pay me this special visit. I feel highly honoured; I feel highly respected.

    “I am not totally surprised because the National Chairman has been a long-standing friend, a long-standing colleague and a long-standing comrade.

    “I am not surprised also when he emerged the chairman of the APC. I want to assure you that those of us here in Kano are aware of all that has been happening because history is repeating itself.

    “All along, I have been beating my chest with pride that anybody writing the history of APC and the name of Ibrahim Shekarau is not there, that history is incomplete. I had the singular honour of being the chief midwife of APC.

    “For me and Governor Ganduje, regardless of any political party we find ourselves, our mission is always one—sincerity of purpose to move Kano and Nigeria forward. Our consultations are in full gear, in the next couple of hours, we will make it known to the world our stand as far as membership of APC is concerned.”

    Other dignitaries in the APC delegation were Senator Kabiru Gaya (Kano South), Senator Barau Jubrin (Kano North), Speaker of Kano State House of Assembly, Kabiru Alhassan Rurum; Chief Whip of Kano State House of Assembly, Bappa Babba Dan Agundi; Senator Mohammed Bello; Senior Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly Matters, Abdulraman Kawu Sumaila; Private Secretary to Ganduje, Ibrahim Kankorofi; members of Kano State executive council, among others.

    A grand rally has been scheduled for today in Kano to formally receive Shekarau.

     

  • 200 APC members defect to PDP in Edo

    About 200 members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have defected to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party at Ogbonna in Estako Central local government area.

    The defectors were led by a former Chairman of the APC in the locality, Dr. Peter Itabor Amarekhamhe.

    Dr. Itabor said they left the APC because several promises of the party were not fulfilled.

    Itabor stated that youths and women in the area have not benefitted from any of the empowerment packages of the federal government.

    Read Also: Edo APC dismisses non-performance allegation

    He promised to work for the victory of the PDP in the locality.

    State Chairman of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih, who received the defectors said the PDP would defeat Comrade Adams Oshiomhole in Edo North in next year’s general election.

    Chief Orbih said the defectors were disappointed with the harsh economic conditions and insecurity in the country.

    Orbih promised to provide a level playing field for the defectors.

     

  • Oshiomhole: Saraki’s ambition almost destroyed APC

    Says ‘I have been vindicated by his presidential bid’

     

    National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has said that he has been vindicated about his comments that Senate President left the Party because of his personal ambition and not because he had the interest of the nation at heart.

    He said that Saraki’s personal ambition almost destroyed the APC, pointing out that it was a good thing that the Senate President has moved on.

    Oshiomhole who met with APC leaders from Kwara State said the the declaration of the senate President to contest the presidential ticket on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party has vindicated him and charged APC members in Kwara State to jettison their personal ambitions and work towards ending the reign of Saraki in Kwara politics.

    Chief Press Secretary to Oshiomhole, Simon Ebegbulem quote the APC Chairman as saying “when I was saying that all these defections is not about APC but the personal ambition of these people, they took hired writers to say I was being too hard. But Saraki’s declaration has vindicated me.

    “Thank God he has moved on because his inordinate ambition was almost destroying our party but he has failed. These are not principled politicians but bread and butter politicians who can go extra miles to pursue their selfish ambition and never think about the well-being of Nigerians.

    “As things stands today, APC remains the darling of the Nigeria people. Because PDP was the vomit of yesterday, our people will not chew it back today, not under three and half years. People have not forgotten and people will never forget. In fact what a senior palace chief in Nigeria said, he said this generation of Nigerians will not forgive the PDP in a hurry. Even to say you want to forgive you must do reparation.

    “The damage they did to our economy, the damage they did to our electoral process, even the culture of rigging was institutionalized by them. They introduced do or die politics. They are the ones buying weapons for young people to go into thuggery while their own children are schooling abroad. They introduced all these vices”.

    He said that reclaiming Kwara state from the grip of Saraki is a task that must be done, and asked APC leaders to ensure they conclude the election of executives from the wards to the state this weekend.

    Read Also: Oshiomhole inaugurates Cross River APC committee

    He said “the last time I spoke with the Minister he told me we have accomplished 80 or 85 per cent, that for me is not good enough because we don’t have more time. So this week we must achieve hundred per cent by whatever means. If you can’t do it, we have to help you get it done.

    “The two Deputy National chairmen working with the National Organizing Secretary and the North central Vice Chairman constitute a committee to complete whatever is left. It will not exceed Sunday this week.

    “I also want to appeal very strongly, that at this hour, we don’t want a situation where because of what is happening in Kwara, people who ordinarily will be quite happy to be a strong pillar of support, everybody want to be a governor, everybody want to be a Senator or in the House of Reps.

    “Our party is a party of change and we want to discourage people from putting their personal interest over and above the interest of the people of Kwara state. I am able to say under the leadership of the Minister, he has repeatedly said it that his interest is not for him to contest for the governorship of Kwara state or any elective office. I don’t think it can be more selfless than that.

    “I am very impressed with the enthusiasm of the people of Kwara state. They are experiencing a new dawn, a new sense of freedom and a sense of ownership of the APC where we are trying to do bottom up rather than top down.

    “Where we have politics of inclusion, no god father, everybody matters. Now I superintend over the liquidation of god fathers in Edo state, now I will not be here and allow and support the emergence of a new god father.

    “When we vanquished the god fathers we created a level playing field for equal opportunity to participate and that is what I think we have achieved so far and we need to take full advantage of that to do what need to be done for us to get on with the job of organizing, mobilizing.

    “I believe all of us, the APC leadership, we are anxious to come to Kwara state, to interface with the great people of Kwara state, beyond llorin to other major cities in Kwara.

    “Let them know and carry the message of change and use the broom to sweep away the past, including the thorn umbrella.  The task of sweeping away the past and rebuilding a new Kwara is a task that must be done.

    “That should give you the energy, the incentive and the appropriate spirit to work together so that victory will be ours, not for our own good but for the good of the great people of Kwara state who have been oppressed for such a long long time. Like they say they can be many days for the thief one day for the owner”.

  • APC primaries: Edo aspirant seeks direct primaries

    As aspirant of the All Progressive Congress, APC for the Estako Federal Constituency seat, Comrade Julius Abuda, has expressed confidence of clinching the party’s ticket if direct primaries are used.

    Comrade Abuda vowed to quit politics if his opponents get up to 30% of the votes.

    Abuda said National Chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has assured them that no aspirant would be given automatic ticket or imposed on the people.

    Abuda who dismissed rumors that some aspirants have been given automatic ticket said Oshiomhole laid the issue to rest at a meeting with stakeholders in Edo North Senatorial district.

    He said he was not intimidated by the power of incumbency being touted by his opponent.

    Abudah urged the Edo APC to ensure that people with politicial clout get the ticket for the party to win the general elections.

    His words, “We have people who have served two terms at the national assembly. What really matters most in giving ticket is to know your political weight. It is not all politicians that have that political clout to be given ticket.

    Read Also: APC decides on primary today

    “Some of these politicians have lost touch with their constituencies. What I understand was that they wanted to lobby for return tickets. Last Tuesday, we held a meeting with Comrade Oshiomhole at his Iyamho home.

    “I was in attendance and in his speech he said because of the crisis at the national assembly he will only discuss about Senator Alimikhena but for the house representatives and state house of assemblies, the people will decide who to fly the party’s flag and he was very clear on that.

    “He told us it is better we choose our candidates through direct primaries. Oshiomhole is a man of his words. I have been his fan over the years.”

     

  • APC Presidential candidate may emerge September 19

    Party accuses INEC of leaking official correspondences

    Barely any last minute changes, the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will be known on 19th September after the presidential primary to elect the candidate either through direct or indirect primary.

    But the APC is accusing the Independent National Electoral Commission of leaking it’s official correspondence to the media, pointing out that the dates on the letter to INEC were not tentative as they will have to be approved by the party NEC first.

    In a letter to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission dated 17th August and received at the commission on the same day, National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole informed the commission that the governorship primaries of the party will be conducted on Monday, 24th September.

    Similarly, the primaries to elect candidates for the House of Representatives will hold September 19, while the primaries for the Senatorial and state Assembly will hold on the 20th and 29th September respectively.

    Oshiomhole said “this serves as a forma, notification pursuant to the provisions of section 85 of the Electoral Acts 2010 as amended.Kindly arrange for your officials to monitor the exercise accordingly”.

    Acting National Publicity Secretary of the party, Yekini Nabena said in a statement that INEC should look into its internal handling of official correspondence and out a stop to the leakages.

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    Nabena said the National Executive Committee of the party need to approve the time table for it became authentic and asked Nigerians and the Media to wait for an official announcement from the party as the leaked dates are subject to changes if necessary.

    Nabena said “our attention has been drawn to a leaked letter the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole wrote to the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu informing the Commission of the schedule of the Congresses and Primaries to elect Party candidates for the 2019 General Elections.

    “These leaks of our sensitive and confidential correspondence to INEC is becoming commonplace and totally unacceptable. We strongly request that INEC looks into its internal handling of official correspondence and put a stop to these leaks.

    “While the leaked formal notification to INEC has been done by the APC pursuant to the provisions of Section 85 of the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended), we advise the general public particularly the media to wait for an official announcement from the Party as the leaked dates are subject to changes, if necessary.”

    It was learnt that the party is planning to hold its NEC meeting on Wednesday, 29th August to approve the party Programme for the 2019 general elections, including whether to use direct or indirect primaries for the selection of it’s candidates as well as fresh membership registration.