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Tag: APC elders

  • Ekiti: Aspirant backs APC elders on consensus candidate

    Ekiti: Aspirant backs APC elders on consensus candidate

    Former Majority Leader of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Hon. Funminiyi Afuye, has thrown his weight behind the choice of Dr. Wole Oluyede as the All Progressives Congress (APC) preferred candidate from Ikere-Ekiti. Afuye condemned the opposition of two aspirants, Muyiwa Olumilua and Kola Alabi, to Oluyede’s selection, saying it was wrong for the duo to have agreed to the process at a private parley and come out to condemn it in the open.

    He hailed the role played by Ikere Development Forum (IDF) led by eminent lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), in narrowing down Ikere’s APC aspirants to one, arguing that the process was democratic and not an imposition. The five APC aspirants who participated in the process were Oluyede, Afuye, Olumilua, Alabi and Chief Sesan Fatoba. But Olumilua, son of a former governor, and Alabi have vowed to go ahead with their ambition and declared their readiness to participate in the state APC primary election.

    Olanipekun and other IDF members, in a bid to enhance Ikere’s chances of producing the next governor, called five APC aspirants from the town together at a meeting held in Lagos from February 11 to 12 and urged them to pick someone among themselves. When the aspirants could not agree among themselves who should be the town’s APC consensus candidate, they all agreed that the group should choose one of them and Oluyede, a medical practitioner and investor, emerged as the choice.

     

  • Ajimobi inaugurates APC Elders Council

    Ajimobi inaugurates APC Elders Council

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi yesterday inaugurated the All Progressives Congress (APC) Elders Council to foster peace and unity in the party.

    The inauguration of the elders, who were drawn from all the 33 local governments and the 35 local council development areas took place at Lafia Hotel, Ibadan.

    Ajimobi restated his commitment to good governance and the welfare of the citizens and residents which, according to him, is better guaranteed by the APC.

    He appealed to the elders to work with others at the grassroots to ensure that the goal of a stronger APC is achieved as desired.

  • Ondo 2016: APC elders deny screening Akoko aspirants

    Ondo 2016: APC elders deny screening Akoko aspirants

    The Akoko Elders’ Assembly (AEA) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by Chief Felix Aiyegbusi yesterday kicked against the emergence of another parallel group of Akoko elders based in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

    A statement signed by the AEA chairman, Chief Aiyegbusi, and the Coordinator, Chief S.A Idris, alleged that the parallel group has purportedly set up a committee to screen aspirants of Akoko extraction who are jostling for the governorship ticket of the party.

    “We want to state categorically that we in the Akoko Elders Assembly, duly constituted by the four local government executives of the party and consisting of eminent members of the state APC Elders Assembly and representatives of each local government executives, are not party to the arrangement.

    “We are aware of the clamour of Akoko people as often expressed by various fora and strata of the community, including cultural, social and traditional as well as non-political groups, to produce the next governor of the state because of its peculiar problems.

    “We as elders of a political party, clearly identify with this aspiration, but recognising our limitations, we do not intend to take over the duties and responsibilities which rightly belong to the party, as we are not authorised by the party to do same and are not asking to be so authorised to do so.”

    The Aiyegbusi-led AEA therefore disassociated itself from the planned screening of aspirants, stressing that they were making efforts to ensure that the wishes and aspirations of Akoko people materialised. It appealed to members of the public and party loyalists to disregard any attempt to link its group with the screening exercise that was being carried out by the illegal Akoko Elders forum.

  • Ondo APC elders spank Mimiko

    Ondo APC elders spank Mimiko

    The Ondo North Senatorial Elders Assembly, a group within the All Progressives Congress (APC), has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari “on his laudable achievements in the last 100 days in office”.

    The elders, in a communique after their meeting, decried Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s running of the state.

    The communiqué reads: “ The Assembly observed with dismay and utter disappointment, the state of infrastructural decay all over the state inspite of the huge amount of resources available to the state government

    “It is unacceptable for Ondo State workers and pensioners to be owed salaries and allowances for over three to six months in view of the bailout funds received by Ondo State from the Federal Government.

    “The Assembly noted the pronouncement of Governor Olusegun Mimiko on the conduct of Local Government elections and observed that ODIEC (Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission) is yet to come up with appropriate guidelines and formal pronouncements. The Assembly therefore viewed the governor’s announcement with reservations.

    “ODIEC is hereby urged to come up with necessary notifications and guidelines on the proposed local government elections in the state.

    “The Assembly notes the numerous number of governorship aspirants from the zone and resolved that whoever emerges from the senatorial district should be supported by all.”

     

  • APC elders to Buhari: Slash your security votes, allowances

    APC elders to Buhari: Slash your security votes, allowances

    The Elders Forum of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari and all the 36 state governors to slash their security votes and other allowances to reduce the cost of governance in the country.

    It advocated a lean cabinet and minimal appointment of officials for the new government to have a clean break from the past.

    The body equally advised the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to set machinery in motion to reduce the allowances and salaries of political office holders.

    The APC Elders Publicity Secretary, Dr. Bayo Orire, said the body applauded the decision of Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State and Governor Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi State to reduce their salaries by 50 per cent, but urged them and other state chief executives to reduce their security votes and other allowances.

    Orire added that Ekiti APC Elders Forum is concerned with the failure of many states in the federation to pay salaries of civil servants, urging them to devise means to clear arrears owed workers.

    He described the security votes and other allowances of political office holders as “obnoxious, unsustainable, scandalous and unsustainable” in the face of present economic realities.

    Orire contended that the overheads used to service the executive and legislative arms at the federal level are too high hence the need to review them downwards to allow Buhari to deliver on his electoral promises.

    The APC elders’ spokesman urged Buhari to diversify the economy by focusing more on agriculture, solid minerals, tourism and establishment of cottage industries to make the nation less reliant on oil as major source of income.

     

     

  • APC elders to Buhari: Tackle corruption, insecurity, others

    APC elders to Buhari: Tackle corruption, insecurity, others

    The Elders Forum of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has tasked the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari , to tackle corruption, insecurity and epileptic power supply.

    The Publicity Secretary of the Forum, Dr. Bayo Orire, also urged the incoming President to ensure adherence to the rule of law, discipline and entrenching transparency in governance.

    In a chat with The Nation in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday, Orire noted that if Buhari can win the war against indiscipline and corruption, everything will come to normal within one or two years.

    Expressing regrets about the prevailing darkness in the country occasioned by the drop in power generation, Orire attributed the problem to long years of corruption in the power sector.

    He said Buhari has the capacity to rescue Nigeria from the brink of collapse it has been pushed to by the outgoing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government.

    Orire said: “Nigeria has all things in abundance, what we lack is discipline and conformity to the rule of law. If Buhari can win the war against indiscipline, everything will come to normal within one or two years.

    “Every facet of our life is ridden with corrupt practices, we have all it takes to be as developed as any developed country in the world, after dealing a deadly blow to corruption, insecurity will just fizzle out like smoke and people will be patriotic.

    “The only problem stalling power generation is corruption, we have money, men, water, wind, sun, gas and other natural resources that can generate power. We have all it takes to generate any amount of megawatts in a year.

    “We have access to loans to pursue any generation and distribution of power, we can buy technology, we can import technology. Nigerians are generating power in developed countries of the world but corruption is our bane.”

    Orire explained that Ekiti APC elders are not happy with the perpetual shutdown of the House of Assembly after the judiciary in the state was also shut down.

    He explained that the Assembly crisis was contrived and intended to put the state legislature in the pocket of the executive.

     

     

  • Impeachment: No escape route for Fayose – APC elders

    Impeachment: No escape route for Fayose – APC elders

    The Elders’ Forum in the Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has declared that there is no escape route for the state Governor Ayo Fayose in the impeachment process initiated by 19 members of the state House of Assembly.

    The body said Fayose has serially breached the Constitution, desecrated the esteemed office he occupies and should be ready to face the consequences of his actions.

    The Publicity Secretary of Ekiti APC Elders Forum, Dr. Bayo Orire, who made the group’s position known on Tuesday, also warned the military and the police against being used to hinder the lawmakers from carrying out their constitutional functions.

    Condemning the military for turning back the 19 APC lawmakers from entering Ado-Ekiti, the state capital on Tuesday, Orire said the party’s elder body was concerned about an alleged open partisanship of officers and men of the Nigerian Army on the matter.

    He also said the police and the Army should not be watching helplessly for hoodlums to seize the whole state and interfere with the constitutional duties of the Assembly members.

    Dr. Orire explained that the lawmakers should not be blamed for signing and forwarding an impeachment notice against Fayose, saying a responsible House of Assembly was not expected to look the other way when the chief executive was overstepping his bounds.

    He said Fayose has violated the oath he swore to defend the Constitution and not do anything to infringe on the rule of law, urging the people of the state not to see the action of the lawmakers as an attack on the governor but to save the state from impunity and sliding into an “irredeemable dictatorship.”

    The APC elders’ spokesman maintained that whatever constitutional action taken by the 19 lawmakers remain legitimate, legal and binding since they have met and surpassed the two-third majority needed to remove an erring governor.

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