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Tag: All Progressives Congress (APC)

  • IYC kicks as police post four commissioners to Bayelsa in two weeks 

    The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), Worldwide, has criticised the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, for posting four commissioners of police to Bayelsa State within two weeks.

    The Secretary-General of the IYC, Mr. Alfred Kemepado, said that it was suspicious curious for the Force Headquarters to post four commissioners of police to one state, within such a short period of time.

    He alleged that the action of the Force Headquarters alleged was a surreptitious plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to politicize the security architecture of the state using the police.

    He insisted that the aim was to cause  instability and destabilize Bayelsa and appealled to the police not to allow themselves to be used by politicians.

     

    Kemepado said the Commissioner of Police, Don Awunah, was removed after he had worked very hard in collaboration with sister security agencies to safeguard the state within a short period of his deployment to the state.

    He lamented the frequent change of guard in the leadership of the police in the state within two weeks following the redeployment of Awunah.

    He listed the police commissioners posted to Bayelsa in the last two weeks to include Joseph Mukan, Ahmed Bello, Ahmad Abdulrahman and Austin Iwar.

    He recalled that critical stakeholders had earlier warned against politicization of security in the interests of peace.

    Kemepado said that following the transfer of Awunah to the headquarters, Bayelsa had been left without a police commissioner.

    He said that the IYC’s investigations indicated that, no police commissioner had taken over from Don Awunah, almost two weeks after his redeployment from the state to Force Headquarters, Abuja.

    He said before any of the commissioners posted after Awunah could resume duties in Bayelsa, the police headquarters would issue a fresh directive changing the posting.

    “While it is the duty of the Force Headquarters to determine the posting of police officers to formations within and outside the country, we find it troubling that, four commissioners of police have been posted to Bayelsa State in the past two weeks.

    “We in the IYC, the umbrella body of all Ijaw youths across Nigeria are inclined to believe that, this frequent deployment of police commissioners to Bayelsa might be traceable to political desperation and tendency to cause instability in the state.

    “We wish to make it clear that, instability in Bayelsa, the only homogenous Ijaw State in Nigeria, could cause instability across the Niger Delta.

    “It is on this note that, we call on the Force Headquarters and the IGP to exercise restraint and resist the plot by desperate politicians to use police authorities to politicize the security in the state.”

    He warned that the IYC would mobilize against any attempt to cause instability to score cheap political goals in the state.

  • Stakeholders seek dissolution of Kwara APC executive

    Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara on Sunday called for the immediate dissolution of the state’s Party Executive Committee led by Alhaji Balogun Fulani and the conduct of fresh congresses.

    The stakeholders called for the dissolution  after a meeting held in Oro, the country home of the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

    Mohammed, who read out the resolutions said the stakeholders, agreed that the fresh congresses to be conducted at all levels would include all Kwara APC members and those who are just coming into the party

    The minister said that the stakeholders also resolved “that all those who got appointments by deceit, hiding under the facade of being party men and women, should immediately resign such appointments or be fired”.

    He said the resignations would enable the genuine members of APC to reap where they had sown.

    “We also resolved that the recent gale of defections has now put the APC in a position of true majority in the National Assembly, as those who remain are the ones who are truly committed to the ideals of our great Party

    “That all members and supporters of our great party restate their unflinching support for President Muhammadu Buhari and assure him of a harvest of votes from Kwara State in the 2019 General Elections.

    “That all members should remain calm because there is no cause for alarm,” he said.

    Mohammed  said he was in the state with the permission of the party’s national executive to hold the consultative meetings with the major stakeholders of APC in Kwara.

    He expressed appreciation “to hundreds of supporters who since the announcement of defections have encouraged us via text messages, telephone calls personal visits,  that there is no cause for alarm in Kwara”.

    The minister stressed that the defection notwithstanding, Kwara is solidly for APC and President Muhammadu Buhari.

    At the briefing were factional Chairman of APC, Moshood Bolarinwa, the Secretary, Ganiyu Saka and other key members of the party.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that before the consultative meetings, the minister addressed members and supporters of the party who came to receive him at the playground of Muslim Community Primary School, Oro.

    The minister told the supporters, in their thousands, that the defection of the lawmakers in the National Assembly had exposed the faces of traitors in the party fold.

    “Today is a special day. God has answered our prayers by exposing our political traitors.

    “God has removed stones from our rice and sands in our cassava flakes,” Mohammed who addressed the rally in Yoruba language said.

    He assured that the defection would have no significant negative effect on the party, instead  it would offer an opportunity for its repositioning.

    “We are here today to assure that it is a new dispensation in Kwara APC politics. We are at home today to assure you that the party will be reorganised and repositioned.

    “By exposing the enemies and traitors in our fold, God has given us the opportunities that we have been looking for to reposition our party .

    “These are people who had never given us peace and progress.

    “Today, by the Grace of God and with your support, APC will wax stronger in Kwara. What is in the offing is a mega party,” he said.

    Mohammed said they were prepared to take the party structure back and give it back to the people.

    “The party belongs to you all. We therefore reassure you that God is with us and the people of Kwara are with us.

    “Since the day they decamped, you can see those who have come to our camp are more than those who left,” he said.

    The minister appealed to the members and party supporters to give new entrants a chance.

    He assured that the new dispensation would allow level playing ground devoid of candidates imposition and godfather syndrome.

  • Defection: Oshiomole’s emergence saved APC from collapse – Okorocha

    Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has called on stakeholders and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to support the National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomole as he stabilises  the party.

    The Imo governor in a statement signed by his Chief Press  Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, stated that Oshiomole’s emergence saved APC from implosion.

    He observed that the party would have totally collapsed if the former National Chairman of the party, Odigie Oyegun and the National Working Committee were allowed to pilot the affairs of the party for another one year as proposed with the tenure elongation.

    According to Okorocha, “with the scenarios that have played out within the fold of the APC, at the moment and in less than one month after the National Convention of the Party, it is obvious that the emergence of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as National Chairman has saved the party from an impending catastrophe”.

    “With the unfolding developments in the party, the story would have been very nauseating if there was no National Convention and if Adams Oshiomhole had not emerged as the National Chairman of the Party”.

    “It can also be argued that some of the proponents of tenure elongation were innocently doing so without having an overview of the entire disturbing picture behind the scheming for elongation of tenure. All these defections, as we all could see, were never planned in the past few weeks. The coming of Oshiomhole just forced the cat out of the bag.

    “With the events too, leaders of the party could now see the wisdom in jettisoning the clamour for tenure elongation for the John Oyegun led National Working Committee (SWC) members, and opting for a National Convention to elect new officers. In the circumstance, those who opposed the elongation stuff and insisted on convention should now be commended”.

    Okorocha was also quoted as saying  that, “one could easily imagine what would have been the case if the party had allowed the Oyegun-led SWC to continue and what would have happened at the party’s primaries especially that of Presidency.

    “What is happening in the party now could not have been planned and executed within these few weeks Oshiomhole took over as the National Chairman of the party. Rather, his coming only altered the plan of those who wanted to destroy APC to serve personal interests.

    “When the issue of elongation came up, we heard a lot of stories why some of those behind the undemocratic demand were persistent on that. That, there was an arrangement somewhere to shortchange President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential primary for 2019. And with events of the moment, that claim has got an alibi.

    Read also: 13 APC LG chairmen defect to PDP

    “In other words, Oshiomhole’s coming was timely. He came at the appropriate time. He is on it and will get it right. All we need to do is to support him. APC has come to stay as number one party in the Country and even in Africa. And whatever that is happening in the party now are indices of Party Politics and they have nothing to do with the fortunes of the party either now or in 2019.

    “In 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari will be re-elected by Nigerians. The Party will also have more governors and more legislators elected by the electorate because the records are available to show that we have done well in four years compared with the sixteen years spent by the other party.

    “Adams Oshiomhole has the political will and all it takes to make APC an institution that we shall all be proud of. We know his capacity and that was why we all supported him. He will drive us safely to our destination by the grace of God”.

  • Imo goes after kidnappers’ properties

    Before his arrest and parade by the police for the kidnap and murder of a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ikenna Nwosu lived a flamboyant life in his community in Mgbidi, Oru East Council Area of Imo State. To the unsuspecting neighbourhood, Nwosu and two of his accomplices, Eze Chukwu and Chidi Anyiam are successful businessmen who conduct their businesses outside the state.

    Nwosu, the ringleader of the notorious kidnap gang, is so well known in the community for his magnanimity that churches scramble to have him in their midst. Such is his penchant for extravagant spending that he earned the appellation ‘Ezego’, meaning cash man.

    The three were celebrated in their villages by their people as illustrious sons who brought succour to them with their wealth. Little did they know that behind that façade of magnanimity, may lie a heart seething with unimaginable evil.

    Residents of Mgbidi probably started to review their impressions of the trio when in broad daylight government officials and heavily armed security men stormed the community and promptly demolished a hotel and five other buildings belonging to the suspected kidnappers.

    The story of Nwosu and his alleged gang members is not different from that of many youths who flaunt their questionable wealth and worm their ways into the hearts of gullible villagers including traditional rulers and clergymen who reward them with chieftaincy titles and other honours.

     

    The menace of kidnapping

    By 2011, Imo State had an unenviable record of the kidnappers’ haven which forced investors and fun seekers away from the state. But the state government, apparently disturbed by the brazen manner people were kidnapped and sometimes murdered, swung into action and adopted stringent measures to curb the menace.

    The prevalence of kidnapping is higher in Ohaji-Egbema, Oguta, Oru East, Oru West and Ngor-Okpala council areas.

    According to police records, nearly all the major kidnap cases have been planned and executed from criminal hideouts located in aforementioned councils.

    A police source attributed the high rate of kidnapping and other criminal activities in the area to the difficult terrain.

    “Ohaji-Egbema, for instance, is surrounded by thick and impregnable forests, and criminal elements, especially kidnappers, take advantage of this, keeping their victims in the forests”.

    The source added further that, “In most of the communities, the villagers aid and abet kidnapping by hiding information about kidnap suspects from security agents and also help them in keeping the victims until the ransom is paid”.

    Within the last two years over 30 people have been reportedly kidnapped and either rescued or released after ransoms were paid. A few victims were murdered by the abductors, while a sizeable number of the suspected kidnappers were also arrested within the time under review.

     

    Efforts to curb the menace

    One of the major steps taken was to have the House of Assembly enact a law that empowers the government to demolish properties of established kidnappers or any other property used for the purpose of holding kidnap victims. Since the introduction of the demolition law, no fewer than 16 houses of confirmed kidnappers have been demolished by the state government.

    According to a government official who didn’t want his name mentioned for obvious security reasons, “the idea of demolishing properties linked to suspected kidnappers is to ensure that nobody benefits from the proceeds of crime and more importantly to ensure that the suspected kidnappers are exposed and shamed before their kinsmen; this we hope will serve as a deterrent to others”.

    The government source added further that, “our people value good name and will do everything to protect that, so if a kidnapper is arrested and his house is demolished, it will bring stigma on the name of the family and nobody wants that. This fact will force parents to be proactive in ensuring that they monitor the activities of their children, instead of gloating over their wealth without ascertaining the source”.

    The government also in the bid to flush out kidnappers and other criminal elements from the villages, entered into collaboration with traditional rulers and created what was called the Black Book, which contains the names of suspected criminals in all the villages and their locations.

    This was subsequently handed over to the security agents who acted on the credible intelligence and rid the communities of undesirable elements, even though there were fears that the Black Book may be turned into a tool of blackmail and witch hunt.

    Another remarkable measure taken by the state government to check kidnapping and other heinous crimes is the prohibition of sales and consumption of illicit drugs in the state, including smoking of Indian hemp, cocaine, tramadol and other dangerous narcotics.

    Consequently, a Taskforce on Illicit Drugs was inaugurated and headed by a female Lawyer, Ijeoma Igboanusi with a mandate to fish out and prosecute drug peddlers and users, as well as to demolish any house where drugs are sold.

    The taskforce is also mandated to rehabilitate drug users who are yet to graduate into full blown criminal activity.

    While inaugurating the taskforce, the Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, assured, saying, “we will fund this taskforce very well to be sure they lack nothing in the course of executing their job. We shall convert the Cultural Centre in Orlu as a rehabilitation Centre and the one in Okigwe shall be called the Drug Rehabilitation Centre”.

    At the occasion, he lamented that, “the society is finished. One of the decisions we have taken is that once we discover a place they are selling the drug, we must bring down the house, no matter who owns the house. Once the landlord cannot control what people do in his house, that place must come down. If marijuana smoking stops, kidnapping, armed robbery will stop. Our traditional rulers know them and they are afraid of them in the villages. So they have become too powerful. And we must as a matter of urgency, address this issue of illicit drugs”.

    Speaking on the activities of the Taskforce, the Commander noted that, “we have been working very hard to ensure that our youths keep away from drugs like Indian hemp, cocaine, tramadol and others and this in turn has led to a drastic reduction in criminal activities across the state because drugs addiction is the bedrock of all criminal activities”.

    Meanwhile the state police command, noted that it has been able to drastically reduce the rate of kidnapping and armed robbery in the state by stirring  the awareness of the members of the society through community policing initiated by the Police high command.

    The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Andrew Enwerem, a Superintendent of Police, stated further that, “through the Police strategy, members of the public have become aware that they have a role to play in the fight against kidnapping and other heinous crimes. We have been receiving credible intelligence from members of the public about those who are involved in kidnapping. So presently in Imo state Police Command, we are witnessing a downward trend in cases of kidnapping”.

    Enwerem noted that the slow pace of prosecution of criminal cases by the judiciary has posed a major challenge to the fight against kidnapping and armed robbery, “if you go to Owerri prisons you will discover that majority of the kidnap and armed robbery cases charged to court are only awaiting trial for some over two to three years and this constitute over 70 percent of the inmates are awaiting trial, there is need for quick dispensation of justice. This was what led to the escape of Vampire after two years of awaiting trial.”

  • 2019: Kaduna Deputy Governor dumps El-Rufai’s second term bid

    Kaduna State Deputy Governor, Arch. Barnabas Bala Bantex on Thursday declared his intention to contest for the Senate in Southern senatorial zone.

    By his declaration, Bantex has dropped his position as Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s running mate in the 2019 governorship race, which his principal had since declared for.

    The Deputy Governor said his decision was taken to give his people quality representation and address national issues affecting them.

    Bantex, who intends to contest on All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket, said he took the difficult decision due to what his people have gone through in the area of insecurity in the last 10 years and the inability of their leaders to rise against it, when it could have easily been done, coupled with the need to give good leadership that would drag the zone from quagmire into greatness and progression.

    Read Also:Many killed in robbery attack on Kaduna-Abuja highway

    Reading a speech titled ‘Southern Politics is Bridge-Building, not a Pity Party’, the Deputy Governor said, “with utmost confidence in the fair mindedness, the results accomplished, and the work being done by the APC government of Kaduna state, under the leadership of Malam Nasir el-Rufai, I have decided to offer myself as the APC candidate for the Kaduna South Senatorial District in the forthcoming 2019 election.

    “I will continue to serve as Deputy Governor of Kaduna state while pursuing this aspiration. As Deputy Governor, I have had several opportunities to witness this commitment to equity, and I regret that some of the elected representation from my zone has not matched this broad-mindedness and constructive approach, in the interest of our people in Zone 3.

    “I have therefore come to the conclusion that it is worth leaving the office of Deputy Governor to put these issues on the ballot, to encourage more mature and sober political discourse in the area, in order to deliver the desirable quality of representation for our people, and attract the maximum dividend of democracy.

    “This has been a very difficult decision for me in view of the uncommon  goodwill and brotherly relationship that I currently enjoy with Malam Nasir el-Rufai who has elevated the relationship between Governor and Deputy Governor to a level of mutual respect, engagement and involvement that is unparalleled in our democracy.”

    Speaking on the achievements of the current el-Rufai administration that gave him hope of being elected, Bala, who was first elected chairman of APC in Kaduna state, said, “i have had the great pleasure to work with a team that has achieved a lot in human capital development, making health and education more accessible to ordinary people, building infrastructure and vigorously promoting equality of opportunity.”

    He said the government has been able to resist blackmail by those seeking political patronage and forces accustomed to benefitting from deliberate stoking of ethno-religious fires, to achieve electronic voting, implementing TSA, remaking public service, recruiting qualified teachers, equipping primary health centres, building township roads and creating jobs in the public and private sectors.

    He said is aspiration aimed at ensuring equitable development of his zone to ensure that the people enjoy improved commensurate dividends of democracy better than before.

    “It is my firm intention to run on the record of the el-Rufai government in promoting development across the state. I am fully prepared to challenge anyone that represents the failures of the past in delivering the best for our people.  I am convinced that it is time for our people to firmly reject the poorest senatorial representation Zone 3 has had since 1999.

    “By God’s grace, and with the support of the people, I have been privileged to serve as a Member of the House of Representatives on the platform of the Action Congress. I understood that such an office imposed on me a duty of responsible representation, and this obligation led me to seek and maintain good relations with the State Governor at the time, Namadi Sambo despite his being of the PDP.”

  • PDP alleges plot to impeach Fayose

    The leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged plots by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to impeach Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State.

    A statement on Thursday by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, cautioned the sponsors of the alleged plot to desist or attract “dire consequences”.

    The PDP further alleged that the impeachment plot was being arranged in connivance with the Police, warning the development was a recipe for crisis in the state.

    Read Also:Kashamu blames Fayose’s ‘arrogance’ for PDP’s defeat

    The statement said, “The PDP is aware that the plot is a desperate bid by the APC to rush into the Ekiti Government House to remove and tamper with documents and evidence confirming the rigging of the July 14 governorship election, ahead of the sitting of the election tribunal.

    “Having realised that there is no way their daylight robbery at the poll can stand in the court, the APC is now employing all desperate means to subvert the course of Justice.

    “This explains why a detachment of the Police can be hurriedly deployed to besiege the Ekiti State Assembly Complex last night without a formal request by the Speaker, the Clerk or the Sergeant-at-Arms, who is the chief security officer of the complex.

    “The PDP states that any resort to underhand measures to impeach Fayose, without the constitutionally required 2/3 of the members of the House, particularly at this time, when the lawmakers are currently on their annual recess, will surely be resisted by our members”

    Accusing the APC of plotting crisis all over the nation and resorting to the use of harassment, intimidation and brute force against the people and democratic institutions, the PDP warned that the development portends grave danger for the nation.

    “Now that the political and parliamentary establishment of the Ekiti House of Assembly has loudly declared that they do not require the services of the detachment of policemen, PDP charges the APC to immediately withdraw their armed agents from the premises of the House of Assembly.

    “Finally, the PDP urges the judiciary to be firm in standing by the truth on the Ekiti election and not be cowed or intimidated by the threats and pressure coming from the APC.

    “Nigerians know the truth regarding the rigging of the Ekiti guber election by the APC and are now looking up to the judiciary for justice in the matter”, the statement added.

  • Former APC Senators, Reps to work for Buhari – Presidency

    The last may not have been heard about the Tuesday’s defection of 13 Senators and 37 House of Representatives members from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC).

    The Presidency Thursday said that it has received the commitment of the defectors to work for the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari during the 2019 election.

    Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Affairs, Senator Ita Enang, made the stunning clarification at a press briefing in Abuja.

    Enang noted that most of the defectors expressed intention to work for and with President Buhari to ensure his re-election in 2019.

    Read Also:Buhari: defection a seasonal occurrence

    He said that the defectors came to the conclusion to work for Buhari’s re-election because they were convinced that their problems were domestic and internal to the political structure of their respective states which had nothing to do with President Buhari.

    Asked to name defectors who gave the assurance to work for Buhari in 2019 Enang parried the question.

    He simply said, “It will be improper and breach of confidentiality for me and for the persons to be named but I have had discussions with them. Most of them are coming back and most of them are defecting to political parties that are not challenging the APC.”

    Asked whether Senate President, Bukola Saraki was invited to the meeting President Buhari held with APC senators at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday, Enang said that the senators were led by Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan.

    The presidential aide said that National Assembly members should bear in mind important pending issues even as they go on vacation.

    Enang said, “These senators by virtue of their procedure have not yet fully and effectually deflected but have expressed intention to defect by the procedure.

    As a political party interacting with the leadership of the APC and other parties there is a lot of room left “for conciliation and reconciliation.

    Again all the grievances expressed by the Distinguished Senators and Honourable members non is attributed or directed to  President Muhammadu Buhari nor his actions or any action or commission or omission  of the President or the Federal Government.

    “In my interaction pre and post expression of intent to defect by the Distinguished Senators and members,  all the dramatis personae, the Distinguished Senators and Honourable members expressed their solidarity and support for Mr. President and  expressed categorically that their grievances and consequent actions are not directed against President Buhari nor his reelection in 2019 but domestic actors in their constituencies political fields such as the governors, state party leaders or frustration over zoning or indeed calculations for a return ticket or platform  for 2019 elections.

    “Indeed a great number of them have indicated that even if they pursue their bid on different platforms, they will still campaign for President Buhari in 2019 on the platform of the APC.

    “What have been done by the Distinguished Senators and Honourable members are group notice to switch camp.  It is inchoate and lives windows, doors and rooms for further consultations and resolutions because our party, the APC minds and cares for all members in or out of office.

    “Like the Holy Bible enjoins, if you loss one sheep out of hundred, preserve 99 and go and search for the lost one sheep.

    “ I believe that all if you saw perhaps this morning that at the interactive between the distinguished Senators of APC and M. President which lasted till the early hours of this morning, some of the Distinguished Senators who expressed defection to other parties or intended defection have returned to the fold of the APC.

    They were with Mr. President and those who were not there, because the notice was short some of them could not return and most of them will still be joining further interaction within the weekend with the leadership of the party.

    “There has been a lot of return and a lot of calm on the family of the APC.

    “The executive, president and ministers will keep working with the legislature with respect due their offices and person and keep working with them as legislators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who make laws for the executive to execute irrespective of their individual political decisions while leaving all options open for conciliation.

    We will be praying the legislature, the leadership, membership to consider that there are many matters of very urgent nature which are pending before the legislature and unless considered, the functioning of certain institutions of the government will be hampered. If you recall a lot of the funding for the 2018 budget was budgeted to come from some external sources.

    The request for approval to raise funds from these external sources is before the legislature and unless considered it may hamper the level of implementation.

    Again, before the legislature proceeded on vacation, Mr. President also laid before them the request for virement, this also will be affected.

    Mr. President had earlier on laid the request for the application of some security funds for the purchase of Tucano jets to fight insurgency that is still pending.

    There is also the budget which is pending. You remember the president laid before the National Assembly some times in November last year the 2018 budget. It was the budget of the Federal Government and the budget of the government-owned corporations, what has been passed in 2018 is the budget of the Federal Government and the budget of the Federal Government corporations has not yet been passed.

    “You know that these budgets also include provisions for employment, provisions for capital spending which will affect the run of the economy, functioning and a lot other economy unless the legislature considers this, the executive is very law abiding and will not do a thing which the law requires the legislature to do, to approve first before it is done unless it is done. We will be praying the legislature to consider the emergency implications of this and decide to come out of this and consider this within the period of the vacation.

    “We accept that some exigencies may have caused the abridgment of the time within which they were to proceed on vacation.

    “We will be working with them to ensure that we have few of these considered and passed within a time that it will still be reasonable to attain the purpose of the economy.

    “All of them have said that they do not have a problem with the president.

    “These persons have expressed intention to work for and with President Buhari; all these are domestic and internal to the political structure of the respective states and has to do with the 2019 electoral calculations.

    “Some of them are questions that have to do with zoning. The president said that he is aware of the issues that they have. The questions that have arisen in this matter are party matters domestic to the different states. The national office of the party is handling the issues.”

  • Three kidnapped Rivers APC stalwarts regain freedom

    …PPRO says security agencies mounted pressure on kidnappers

     

    The three stalwarts of the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC): John Enebeli, Austin Enebeli and Afam Onyia, who were kidnapped last weekend on the Elele-Omoku Road in the state, have regained their freedom.

    The kidnap victims were released Wednesday morning, but the detail of how they regained their freedom was sketchy Wednesday evening, as Rivers police spokesman, Nnamdi Omoni, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), only confirmed their release, indicating that he had to reach out to get the detail.

    Read Also:Defections from APC good riddance, says Oshiomhole

    Omoni added that the Rivers police command and other security agencies mounted pressure on the kidnappers and regularly combed the Elele/Omoku forest, before the APC stalwarts were released, without payment of ransom.

    Rivers Publicity Secretary of the APC, Chief Chris Finebone, said: “We profoundly thank God Almighty for the safe release of John Enebeli, Austin Enebeli and Afam Onyia by their kidnappers.

    “The three gentlemen were kidnapped on the Elele–Omoku Road last weekend. This (yesterday) morning, they regained their freedom and are undergoing medicals, after their traumatic experience.

    “We thank our leader and Hon. Minister for Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the Rivers State APC Chairman, Hon. Ojukaye Flag-Amachree, other leaders of Rivers APC and security agencies for their timely intervention in various capacities that facilitated the safe release of the three gentlemen.”

    It will be recalled that in spite of the efforts of security agencies, criminals are still kidnapping innocent persons in Rivers state and collecting huge ransom, before the victims will be released from their dens in the thick forest, after being tortured and humiliated, if the demanded ransom is not quickly paid.

     

  • Defection: Senator receives ADC flag

    The Senator representing Adamawa Central, Abdul Aziz Murtala Nyako, Wednesday received the African Democratic Congress (ADC) flag and banner as a symbol of the admission of the lawmaker into the party.

    Senator Nyako was one of the 14 senators who defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to ADC on Tuesday.

    National Chairman of the ADC, Chief Raphael Nwosu, who presented the symbol of the party to Nyako described yesterday as a special day for the party.

    Nwosu said that it was instructive that Nyako, unlike most Nigerians, left a party in power to join a party in the making.

    The senator’s defection to ADC, he said, was indicative of a politician who has service to humanity in mind.

    Insisting that “destiny beckons on Nyako” the party chairman noted that it was obvious that Nyako would go places “not only in Adamawa but also in the country.”

    He said, “Nyako has distinguished himself. He has become a catalyst for transformation of the country. From him we are going to paint the National Assembly ADC. Nyako is the kind of Nigerian ADC is looking for because our party is for the youths, women and for everybody. We are making history today as we hand over our flag and banner to him to fly all over the National Assembly and beyond.”

    Nyako said that he was elated for the honour the party did to him.

    He promised to fly the ADC flag to greater height.

    The senator who said he appreciated the fact that there were high expectations, noted that God will make everything possible for him.

    He said, “I am from Adamawa State which is very complex. In Adamawa, we have 87 ethnic groups. There about 300 ethnic groups in Nigeria. If we have 87 ethnic groups in our state, that means we have a quarter of the ethnic groups in the country.

    “There are lack of empowerment programmes in the state to enable the youths to empower themselves. Anywhere you plant poverty, what you reap is hunger. Once you have hunger what follows are clashes and conflicts. Our people are extremely poor and hungry and they are killing themselves. Everywhere you go in Adamawa; there is one problem or the other.”

    On why he left the APC, Nyako said that they tried in vain to convince the APC leadership to appreciate the grave injustice done party members in the name of party congress in the state.

    He said that ward congress was conducted in only one ward in the state while the picture was painted that ward congresses were conducted in all the wards.

    He said that they were determined to salvage the situation.

  • Defection: We still retain majority seats in Senate- Lawan

    The Senate caucus of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has insisted that it still retains majority seats in the upper legislative chamber despite the defection on Tuesday of 14 of its members to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Briefing journalists after an emergency meeting held shortly after the plenary session, the senators said the defection did not in any relegate them to minority status in the Senate.

    Read Also:Defections from APC good riddance – Oshiomhole

    Senate Majority Leader, Ahmed Lawan who spoke on behalf of his colleagues said the APC still has 52 members, while the PDP has 50.

    Senator Joshua Dariye who is presently serving a 14-year jail term was counted among the 52 senators of the APC.

    The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has three; the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has two. There are two vacant seats occasioned by the death of two senators from Bauchi and Katsina.

    Lawan said the APC would win back the two vacant seats occupied by Senator Ali Wakili (Bauchi) and Mustapha Bukar (Katsina) until their death recently.

    This, according to him, would raise the membership strength of the party to 54.