The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Alliance for Democracy (AD)

  • Sanwo-Olu wins in AD candidate’s polling unit

    Lagos State All Progressive Congress Governorship (APC) Candidate Babajide Sanwo-Olu has won the polling unit of his Alliance for Democracy (AD) counterpart, Owolabi Salis, in Aturanse Estate, Phase 11, Gbadada, Lagos.

    The result was announced by the Presiding Officer of the unit, Mr. Rasak at about 6: 15 pm.

    He said Sanwo-Olu polled 102 to beat his closet rival, the governorship candidate of the People Democratic Party (PDP) Jimi Agbaje who clinched 60.

     Salis scored 13 while the candidate of All Democratic Party, (ADP) Rasheed Gbadamosi scored 6

    Also, APC won the House of Assembly, Kosofe Constituency seat at the polling unit with 102 votes to PDP’s 63, AD’s 8 and ADP’s 4.

    Salis said he would accept the overall results of the election if it was free and fair.

    He said the election generally had been adjudged to be peaceful in parts of Lagos, except in Mushin and Ogudu where he alleged ballot papers were missing.

    Salis said: “In my polling unit, there has not been incidence of ballot snatching and vote buying.

    “They are elites who have conducted themselves in a peaceful manner”.

    He added: “Though, I cannot talk about other places but on the field, information reaching me was that the election so far has been free and fair.

    “However, my concern is at the collation centres, if there are obvious cases of fraudulent practices, I will contest this election in court.”

    The gubernatorial candidate lamented the low turn of voters across the state, which he noted was not the best for the growth of democracy in Nigeria.

    He said that out of 777, 000 registered voters in Alimosho Area of Lagos, less than 11 per cent voted in the presidential and national assembly election.

  • AD Chairman urges Lagosians vote for Salis, others

    The Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Lagos State has called on the electorate to come out en masse and vote for its governorship candidate, Owolabi Salis and all other candidates in the March 9 Governorship and House of Assembly elections.

    The AD Chairman in Lagos, Mr Kolawole Ajayi told newsmen in Lagos during a road show organised by the party said it remains committed toward running a government that focuses on the welfare of the masses.

    According to him, the roadshow was to sensitise residents that the party would provide impactful governance that would uplift the generality of the masses.

    “the party especially with the calibre of its gubernatorial candidate, a knowledgeable and prominent attorney in the U.S. High Chief Owolabi Salis, had been re-positioned to take over governance of the state” he said.

    ” if Salis and other candidates churched out by the party for the various elective positions are voted into power, residents were assured of infrastructure development, progress, shelter, food security and a generally better standard of living”.

    “We are here to tell Lagosians that AD is still alive and kicking and that we are going into the next election to win and not to play.

    “So, this is the time for everyone to speak up by voting for AD, whose driving force is the welfare for all; no candidate is in the race to make wealth for himself, this is about taking the commonwealth to the people.

    “We expect to bring new development of dividends of democracy; as clearly stated in our party manifesto, we are purely a welfarist party. We encourage people to come out and vote massively for AD and stand to defend their vote,’’.

    Earlier in his words, the Ikeja chairman of the party, said that the party remains committed to the needs of the people.

    “we are going to concentrate on the needs of the people. Ikeja people’s needs are not met. Water supply is a serious challenge. People buy water in the state capital. Our schools are not too good. Parents need to be assisted with educational support materials”.

  • AD condemns destruction of posters, flags in Lagos

    The chairman of Alliance for Democracy (AD) Lagos State chapter Kola Ajayi has condemned the destruction of its party flags and obstruction of posters across Lagos describing it as a mockery of democracy.

    Speaking with reporters at the weekend at the party secretariat in Obanikoro, Lagos Ajayi said: “We have many registered political parties in Lagos of which Alliance for Democracy is one of them and we all have right to campaign during election to solicit for votes and support of the electorates, I wonder why AD is at the receiving end”.

    Ajayi asked why some of the opposition members decided to attack Alliance for Democracy by denying them of their rights.

    Read Also: Lagos Film Academy premieres ‘Choices’

    “This and many more are questions we are asking and we won’t stop asking until we get answers because it is our right,” he stated.

    He added: “It was our initiative to mount flags in strategic locations in Lagos to solicit for endorsement but to our surprise those flags was allegedly removed overnight by the ruling party and PDP, they proceeded to mount theirs. They also pasted their own posters on our own to obstruct them.”

    He said the party will not cease to condemn their undemocratic acts and they will continue to demand for our rights.

    “Alliance for democracy should be left in peace to campaign during elections, it is our right and we will continue to demand for it, this is democracy and we refuse to surrender to intimidation and persecution,” he said.

    He stated the party had written to the Nigeria Police Force but it has not yielded positive result, stressing the AD is a law abiding party and we will continue to appeal to our members to toe the path of peace no matter the level of provocation.

  • AD advocates united Nigeria

    Lagos State Alliance for Democracy (AD) governorship candidate, Chief Owolabi Salis has called for the unity of the country.

    He said the country would gain from being united.

    Salis who spoke at an event in Lagos said Nigerians should look beyond geopolitical zone. The theme of the event: “Lagos: Creating a sense of belonging among the minority”, was organised by an association under the aegis of Akwa/Cross indigenes, Nigeria.

    Salis advised groups who might feel marginalised in the six geo-political zones, to remain focused, united and see the bigger picture in Nigeria.

    He said Nigeria as the most populous country in the world, stressing there was need to be together in the interest of black brothers distributed across the globe.

    According to him, Nigeria has matured in managing crises, adding there must be proportional accommodation of diverse interest in the polity.

    He said the presidential system of government as practiced in Nigeria does not seem to give a place for the minority.

    Salis, however, advocated a system called equity-based democracy.

    “We have to stay together because we are strong together and present the hope for black race.

    “For us to stay together in peace and love, we have to reform or restructure to create proportional opportunities for all diverse group within the country.

    “The system we currently practice does not give hope to the minorities even though they are stakeholders in Nigeria project.

    “If the minorities can form a solid block, which is unlikely, then balanced. We need system that will challenge it,” Salis said.

    He also enjoined the youth to preserve the unity of the country and shun political induced killings as well as monitisation of votes.

    The group representative, Mr Salis Udoh said minority communities existed in various tribes.

    “Although, the Federal Government has made effort in creating some bodies to protect the interest of these minorities like the Federal Character Commission, the National Human Rights Commission, where the minorities can lodge complaints.

    “However, praiseworthy and laudable these bodies seem to be, the funding of them and the genuine intention of the government are at best for psychological satisfaction as those bodies are underfunded.

    “The minority communities have been clamouring for the control and decentralisation of power as a measure to integrate them in the main stream of governance.”

    Udoh said a system of government that would bring about rotational presidency within the six geo-political zones would surely create a sense of belonging for the minority race.

    He said it would put confidence in the majority race, noting that all interests had been fully integrated in governance.

  • ‘Lagos will be better under AD’

    Lagos State Alliance for Democracy (AD) governorship candidate Owolabi Salis has said his administration will focus on grassroots development if voted in 2019.

    At a conference in Lagos, he said his mission was to rescue the state and reposition it for excellence.

    He added that AD would redistribute the commonwealth to bridge the gap between the poor and the reach, noting that the state had the resource to banish poverty.

    Read Also:‘6,609,115 Lagosians eligible to vote in 2019’

    The AD candidate said it was possible to address the developmental problems of the state without seeking foreign loans.

    According to him, this was the right time the commonwealth return to the people who had endured policies that affected them negatively in the state.

    He urged Lagosians to shun vote buying, stressing that the AD administration would provide youth employment, health facilities, good roads, affordable education etc.

    “Lagos has led many states in Nigeria in term of development. Africans look up to Lagos for good leadership which it has produced over time. The world is looking for leadership in Nigeria and Lagos is well positioned to provide it.

    “This can only be possible, when Lagos asserts itself by providing enabling ground to allow easy economic competition among the youths, provide adequate security through professionalism and improve on infrastructure.”

    He maintained that there must be a paradigm shift from the way Lagos was being governed, noting that AD cardinal objective was ensuring the people’s welfare.

    “The theme of what I am discussing is protecting the commonwealth of Lagos and stopping imposition and systematic slavery in Lagos.

    “I was elected the AD governorship candidate and perhaps you might be interested in knowing the background leading to the nomination. More than two years, I and about 14 individuals met on the issue.

    “At our meeting on the political situation in Lagos and Nigeria, we all echoed the complaint in all Lagosians’ minds that Lagos commonwealth must go back to the people,” he said.

     

  • Falae, an advocate of unity – Alasoadura

    As the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation(SGF), Chief Oluyemi Falae clocked 80 years on Saturday in Akure, the Ondo state capital, the lawmaker representing Ondo Central District, Chief Tayo Alasoadura has described the Olu of Ilu-Abo as a leader who has the interest of Nigeria at heart.

    Alasoadura charged Chief Falae, to remain committed to the vision of nation building through community service involvement, and mentoring of  new set of leaders for the community and the country at large.

    In his congratulatory message through his Media Aide, Dayo Joseph described Falae as an epitome of peace and unity in the country.

    The chairman, Senate committee on petroleum resources(upstream) recalled numerous achievements recorded by Chief Falae during the Fourth Republic as Presidential Candidate and recently as National Chairman of Social Democratic Party (SDP).

    Read Also: Falae: Why I visited Obasanjo

    The lawmaker prayed God to grant him sound health in order to do more for the nation most especially at this challenging period.

    He said “Your modesty, humility and political sagacity contributed in no small measure to the successes recorded by your party in 1993 and  Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 1999 Presidential election. You are, indeed, an advocate of togetherness devoid of ethnic or religion sentiment.

    Alasoadura prayed God to grant the former Minister of Finance and worthy son of Ondo State, long life and prosperity.

    The Iju-Akure North born politician said the enviable heights attained by the former SGF would spur many youths in Akure to struggle further to reach higher level in their various endeavours.

  • Osun debate: Oyetola, others promise education, health revolution 

    Plans to revolutionize education, health and other sectors were laid bare by candidates of some of the political parties participating in the Osun State governorship election in the final debate Thursday.

    The debate, which was organized by the TVC in conjunction with some civil society groups, was held at the WOCDIF Centre, Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

    The participants are Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Olugbenga Akintola of Alliance for Democracy (AD), Babatunde Loye of Labour Party (LP), Mercy Ayodele of Reformation Party of Nigeria (RPN) and Oluseyi Fabiyi of KOWA party.

    Candidates of the remaining four major parties – Social Democratic Party (SDP), African Democratic Party (ADP), People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC) were absent.

    The organizers said they all promised to attend but failed to show up.

    On education, Oyetola said the Rauf Aregbesola administration has done well in education but that he would focus more on the technological aspect of education, give scholarships, train and retrain teachers and also sustain the free meal for students.

    Akintola promised to promote functional literacy and numeracy skills, improve funding for education and improve welfare of teachers.

    The other candidates also promised to train and retrain teachers and pay salaries regularly.

    On health, the APC candidate promised to embrace the National Health Insurance Scheme for workers, upgrade facilities of primary health centres, equip them with drugs and motivate medical workers.

    Other candidates also promised to motivate health workers, build mega hospitals whose services will be paid for as well as embrace health insurance.

    On job creation, Oyetola pledged to sustain the Osun State Youths Employment Scheme dubbed OYES, create five new farm settlements and give incentives to youths to go into agriculture. He further promised to look at exploring the value chain in agriculture that includes processing, transportation and storage, among others.

    Fabiyi promised to build technology village in the three senatorial zones to harness the skills of artisans for development.

    For Loye, the way to succeed in job creation in times like this is to encourage youths to go into technology related businesses.

     

  • Ekiti 2018: 25 political parties adopt Fayemi

    The governorship bid of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has received a boost as he has been adopted by twenty five political parties.

    Citing what they called Fayemi’s “superlative and sparkling credentials” and life-changing policies and projects during his first tenure, the parties pledged to work for his victory at the Saturday poll.

    The parties also praised President Muhammadu Buhari for reducing corruption in the Nigerian society, saying this will help in stabilizing the country economically within the next few years.

    Read Also:Ekiti 2018: Why I want to rule Ekiti again – Fayemi

    Addressing reporters on Wednesday, KOWA Party State Chairman and spokesman of the group, Pastor Ade Ogunkolade, said the decision was arrived at “in the interest of Ekiti

    Some of the parties include Action Alliance (AA), Alliance for Democracy (AD), African Democratic Congress (ADC), National Conscience Party (NCP), All Progressives Congress (APC), Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD), National Action Congress (NAC), among others.

    Ogunkolade said Fayemi was the first governor to introduce free education up to the secondary level in the state unlike now when kindergartens were being mandated to pay taxes even in private schools.

    He said apart from declaring free education for pupils, that Fayemi also created avenues for employments of youths, such as the State Peace Corps, Volunteer Corps, Social Security scheme, among other policies that affected the lives of the masses positively.

    He said: “After careful studies of all these achievements, the CNPP decided to give him all the necessary supports and strongly advise Ekiti people to come out on Saturday ad vote massively for Dr Fayemi to return Ekiti to the golden age of abundance.

    “Ekiti people must not be deceived into another era of anarchy, tyranny oppression, indebtedness and deception”.

    The CNPP condemned Governor Fayose for allegedly incurring a staggering sum of N117 billion as debt as revealed by the Debt Management Office (DMO) without nothing to show for it as achievements.

    “We appeal to the federal government to deploy more policemen to the State to prevent any rigging by the PDP-led government in the state.”

    CNPP appealed to Ekiti electorate to cooperate with security agencies to make the coming election a success.

  • EKITI 2018: Agboola emerges AD Candidate

    The Alliance for Democracy (AD) on Tuesday conducted its governorship primary with Mr. Ben Agboola emerging as the flag bearer.

    Three other aspirants: Mr. Akin Fasogba, Mr. Victor Osekita and Pastor Babatunde Omotoso, stepped down for Agboola at the primary held D’Bliss-Tit Hotel, Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

    The AD shadow poll was observed by the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    In his acceptance speech, Agboola promised to diversify the state’s economy through investment in integrated agriculture.

    He described AD as the most consistent party since the nation’s return to democratic rule in 1999 saying: “This is the party of leaders in Yoruba. What is today known as Egbe Afenifere.”

    Agboola said: “When you look at the history of political parties in Nigeria since 1999, you will discover that AD stands out. We have been consistent and the time Nigeria probably enjoyed enjoyed true dividends of democracy.”

    Speaking further, Agboola said the health care sector would revitalized to meet the current challenges. He also promised to use community policing to tackle security challenges.

    He added: “Research has shown that most mortality occur during surgical operation. So our plan is to introduce Information Communication and Technology (ICT) into Health Sector.”

    “We are coming at a time when the expectation was high. It is not by might or power but about strategy. Community policing is the solution to the current security challenge in Nigeria.

    “It is only when we allow our people in the grassroots to take charge of their security that we can tackle all these menace.”

  • 2019: Opposition parties in Lagos form alliance to challenge APC

    Fourteen opposition parties in Lagos State have formed an alliance to challenge the All Progressives Congress ( APC ) in the 2019 elections.

    The Chairman of Alliance for Democracy ( AD ) in the state, Mr Kola Ajayi, made the disclosure on Saturday in an interview with the newsmen in Lagos.

    He said that the “Star Alliance “was recently formed with the objective of providing what he called a credible alternative to the APC.

    Ajayi, the Chairman of the alliance, listed some of the parties in the coalition as AD, MEGA, Action Alliance and New Nigeria People’s Party.

    According to him, the others include People’s Progressive Party ( PPP ), People’s Redemption Party ( PRP ), Democratic Alternative and Accord.

    Ajayi said that the People’s Party of Nigeria, People ‘s Alliance for National Development and Liberty, People’s Democratic Movement and Legacy Party of Nigeria were also part of the alliance.

    He claimed that APC had yet to meet the aspirations of Lagos residents, hence, the need for a credible alternative.

    “We formed this coalition to provide a credible platform on which to deliver good governance to the real people at the grassroots.

    “We think Lagos residents deserve better and we should come together and give them the kind of government they want,’’ he said.

    He urged the residents to embrace the coalition which, he said, was formed for the masses.

    The coalition chairman said that the parties in the alliance had been meeting regularly on the strategy to employ to win Lagos in 2019.

    Read Also: APC announces new dates for congresses

    He said that the coalition would soon reach out to residents especially those at the grassroots on its development agenda.

    The state Chairman of NNPP, Malam Shakirudeen Olofin, also told the newsmen that the alliance was formed to give residents a `better deal’.

    He said that the coalition was the `Lagos Third Force’ with the intention to bring real governance to the state.

    Also confirming the alliance, the state Chairman of MEGA Party, Mr Oladele Idowu, said that the coalition was formed to deliver `real’ change to the state in the interest of residents.

    Lagos State Chairman of Action Alliance, Mr Shola Omojola, also told the newsmen that the opposition parties were discussing strongly in the alliance to give the state residents a better deal.

    NAN