Tag: APC governors

Bauchi State Governor Mohammed Abubakar yesterday said All Progressives Congress (APC) governors’ meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari has nothing to do with the trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki.

He also said the APC governors raised a committee to look into the crisis and other problems confronting  the party.

Abubakar said in as much as the APC governors would look into party issues in the National Assembly, they will  not dabble in either any case in court or the crisis in the legislature.

Although he was silent on names, it was obvious that he was referring to the trial of the president of the Senate, Saraki, and others for forgery.

Abubakar, who made the submissions at an interactive session with reporters in Abuja, said the APC governors would not intervene in any criminal matter.

He said: “The APC is a party that has come to power and it has come to power from an opposition political party, and I must confess that we are experiencing teething problems in the APC because being in government is a new phenomenon for us.

“ I cannot say that things are going on smoothly and that is why yesterday we paid a visit to Mr. President and we expressed the need for governors to be called upon to delve into the problems of the party, with a view to reinvigorating the party so that it can continue performing the functions of a party in power, so we are trying to address this issue.”

Asked of  the extent to which the APC governors will intervene in the trial of some National Assembly leader, Abubakar said: “…I assure you we are not going to tamper with cases that are before courts or tribunals and we are not going to delve into the issue at the moment.

“We are only going to touch on the political issues pertaining to the National Assembly. As for what is before the court, those of us who are lawyers, we know that we cannot touch them and the issue is just coming up but it is not politics. As far as I am concerned, If any proof is found to the  allegations, these are criminal offences so there is no way any committee of governors can delve into that, I can assure you.

To address the problems in APC, Abubakar said the APC governors have raised a committee to look into it.

He added: “Mr. President has graciously allowed us yesterday and we have in fact formed a committee of the APC governors’ forum to address this and other issues bedeviling the ruling party.

“At the state level, there are problems, I must confess, particularly with our representatives at the centre. What I always say is the most beautiful form of government is constitutional democracy, especially where the constitution is written in Nigeria. Britain practises constitutional democracy but their own constitution is not written; in our case, our constitution is written and the beauty is that at every level of government, the functions and powers of every level of government have been stipulated in the constitution

“So, if we are going to abide by the functions and powers allocated to us in the constitution, there will not be any areas of friction. As I said,  the APC is new to governance; it has come from many years in opposition. To attaining the position of the ruling party, we are having teething problems.

“I call all these teething problems, and I assure you that we are addressing these problems; even the Bauchi State problems that are seen today in the pages of the newspapers are not insurmountable and even as I speak, there are moves to address these problems in the APC in Bauchi State.”

The governor refused to  say how much had been recovered from those who looted the state.

He said he would prefer to confirm the figures based on fact-sheet, which was not available.

He said: “The question on the recovery and how much, I always feel shy of sharing out figures that I am not certain of.

“All I can say is definitely that there will be revelations from the little I have seen. For example, I know of a situation of which in one day N1 billion was taken from one account of the government through several N10 million cheques, but I will not be able to put a figure on total recovery. As I said, the work of the committee is ongoing.”

The All Progressives Congress (APC) governors yesterday expressed concern about the crisis in the National Assembly.

Besides the alleged N40 billion padding of the budget by the House of Representatives leadership, Senate President Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, are facing forgery trial.

Saraki is also facing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the group’s meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the Chairman of APC Governors Forum, Rochas Okorochas, said the governors decided to look into the crisis.

According to him, the nation cannot develop without a strong and vibrant National Assembly.

He said: “We are concerned about the happenings in the National Assembly and we’ll look into the matter, because we need a strong, vibrant National Assembly.”

The governor said the group came to the Villa to reassure President Buhari that the APC governors were behind him in his fight against corruption and insurgency.

On the economy, he said: “There is a lot of improvement. You will recall that when oil was above $100, what the states are getting now is close to what they use to get when oil price was above $100.

“This means this government is doing a lot, we are not yet there but we are getting there. We appeal to Nigerians to be patient,” he said

He explained that the planned trip to Germany by some governors is not a jamboree.

“There is nothing like jamboree trip? We are going to Germany because we cannot do everything here without exchanging ideas…”

Governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under the auspices of the Progressives Governors Forum  plan to create about three million jobs annually.

The governors, who spoke at a meeting with international development partners yesterday, said although their work is not political, they should aid states to enable them achieve their objectives.

They also seek the support of the international development partners in health care delivery, urban renewal and housing, poverty, security, sports and culture, among others.

They said the move to deliver on their manifestos was based on the conviction that the party’s electoral value depended on how well it kept faith with the commitments made to Nigerians.

The governors recommended a special technical team in each state, headed by senior special assistants to monitor and track implementation of those promises.

Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong, who presented the position of the governors, urged the development partners to be mindful of the fact that “the state of the economy is also a reflection of  the total of the economies of the states”.

He added: “We know that we must do more to impact meaningfully on our people and this could not be more tasking at a time of declining growth. But we believe that you have a rich intellectual and resource base that can enable us weather the prevailing storm.

“We recognise that the PGF is a partisan organisation, we are not asking you to project such partisan alignments beyond your regular programmes and support initiatives towards the benefit of Nigerians.”

All Progressives Congress (APC) governors yesterday called on the party’s senators and House of Representatives members to stick with the positions of the party in picking their leaders.

There has been tension in the Senate over the remaining key leadership positions after the controversial June 9 elections.

The party is backing Senator Ahmad Lawan (North-East) for Senate Leader, Senator George Akume (North-Central) for Deputy Majority Leader, Senator Olusola Adeyeye (South-West), Chief Whip and Senator Abu Ibrahim (North-West), Deputy Chief Whip.

But members of the Like Minds, the group supporting Senator Bukola Saraki, are opposed to the party’s position.

Sixteen of the 22 APC governors attended a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on the issue, among others, at the State House, Abuja between Tuesday night and early yesterday.

Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, they insisted on the supremacy of the party’s position.

Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole said: “Basically, what we are saying is that the senators should adopt the position of the party. We were all elected on the platform of the party. We are not just a collection of individuals. We are a political party and when the party has spoken, we must listen.

“Otherwise, if it was a game of individuals, like golf, then individuals can go their ways. I think it is very clear at this point that the party has the responsibility to keep the system going.

“So we as progressive governors, we have listened to the President and we have discussed extensively and we are clear that the party’s position should be supported by the senators. This is the way it should be and we should start on a note of working closely.”

Oshiomhole added: “We as governors, we listen to the party and we expect our senators to also listen to the party.

“We are going to call them and tell them this is it and explain our reasons. We can’t continue to allow individuals to…it is about party supremacy.”

APC Governors’ Forum Chairman Rochas Okorocha said: “We are worried by what is happening at the National Assembly. We felt we should rub minds with Mr. President and also to commend him on the steps he has taken so far to address the issue of the economy of the nation, which is literally in shambles.

According to him, the meeting with the President was more reassuring and showed that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

He said: “But with all these achievements we are making, progress we are making, we are worried by the pockets of disagreements going on at the National Assembly and we have resolved that we came from a party and our party’s views should be respected.

“And so we feel that there is room for us to invite our senators and look more into the matter and see how we can all make peace.

“We believe that our party, which we all came from, that everyone should respect our party and for that reason we have decided that we are going to invite our senators and rub minds with them.

“We are saying that there shouldn’t be a winner-takes-all, that we should carry everybody along, and accommodate others as suggested by the party.” He stated

The APC states not represented at the meeting are Lagos, Zamfara, Ogun, Sokoto, Yobe and Bauchi.

The elections are due on Saturday and the presence of the party that has won the presidency and majority seats in the National Assembly in the Southeast is worrisome to some discerning leaders of the geo-political zone. One of them – Chief Ralph Obioha – in this article, entitled: “Let us vote for APC on April 11”, is urging his kinsmen to be on the positive side of history.

My apologies to Igbo are predicated on the reality of check that majority Igbo leaders misled our people and the blame should not be visited on the generality of Igbo. What happened on March 28 was a complete leadership failure and a complete analysis will be disclosed after the April 11 governorship and Houses of Assembly elections. But suffice it to be noted that the unique experiences the Igbo have been subjected to in Nigeria have a lot to do with their mindset to secure safety in the majority.

An inalienable logic when their leaders did not calculate properly that the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) meant that the majority had shifted to the new party.

Some experienced Igbo leaders including Chief Enechi Onyia, a Senior Advocate of Nigerian (SAN), Chief Onwuka Ukwa, Chief Dozie Ikedife and a host of us, observed the dangerous path the Igbo were treading and the depth some of the Igbo leaders were determined to mislead our people. We came together to advise our people to vote for Gen Muhammadu Buhari. We may not have succeeded in winning any of the states in the Southeast for Buhari and it is with pain and not shame that we failed but at least we stopped the outlandish excessive allocation of votes borne out of our loud sanitisation of our people that President Goodluck Jonathan failed the Igbos, Chief Ralph Obioha in the Daily Sun publication of March 26, gave five reasons why Igbo should vote for Gen. Buhari. All that is now history. I urge my fellow Igbo leaders to join me to direct Igbo voters to massively vote for the APC on April 11 for the following reasons.

•The Igbo nation cannot and should not jeopardise its destiny and viability on the flimsy reason of “we are PDP” and as such we shall continue to vote the PDP. It will be absurd to swim and sink with a party. The stark is that the party – PDP –  did not reward Igbo adequately for the support, votes and investments the Igbo continue to make to the party. The Igbo should ask the plain question of what the party and by extension the outgoing administration did for the Southeast.

•The Igbo nation cannot gamble with positioning themselves into the Nigeria political equation as things stand now. With no senator-elect on the platform of the majority party – APC – in the Senate, it is obvious that the Senate President shall elude us. The thought of this is painful but our next move can at least show that mistakes made are not repeated.

•The Igbo nation must factor itself into the mainstream of today’s Nigeria and this time with new leaders who henceforth should be accountable. The accountability referred to here is to render selfless service and project the sterling qualities Igbo have earned over time namely: hard work, honesty and unflinching loyality.

•The Igbo nation must reject the buccaneers foisted on us as emergency leaders whose god is money and possess no qualities of leadership and are ready to mislead the Igbo people into political suicide only to turn around and rush to the APC to seek political appointments without shame or remorse.

•The Igbo nation must wear a new thinking cap and indeed think out of the box and do the obvious and the sensible by ensuring a massive and strategic movement to the APC by their votes on April 11 both as an atonement and good faith gesture to demonstrate a change of mind and attitude.

I have received numerous and uncountable texts, calls and visits from concerned Igbo enquiring what we shall do now. Frankly speaking I do not know but what repeatedly strikes me is the call for Igbo to think now with their heads and do the correct political action – vote APC on Saturday.

I should start with Imo State. If for nothing else, we Imonites should admire our Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, for his outstanding vision to allign with the APC and Gen Buhari. Every right-thinking Imo voter should cast his/her vote for Governor Okorocha and APC on Saturday. For those holding some reservations about Governor Okorocha, this is not the time for that as the Igbo adage says:  “A man should not be catching rats whilst his house is on fire”. Imo people should be proud of Governor Okorocha and vote massively for him to retain the governorship and vote in his House of Assembly members to strengthen his hand. The Imo State leaders and stakeholders will be shocked of this stand that I have adopted as many are aware that the governor and I are at daggers drawn. This my new position should help them to reconsider the entire precautious position in which the Igbos and Imonites have found themselves and that should help them reconsider their respective positions stand down their personal interests and pursue collective interest.

I am calling on the former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzo Kalu to rise to the occasion and intervene in Abia State and “manufacture” a new coalition to support the APC governorship candidate to increase the Igbos participation in the new emerging leadership in Nigeria. Governor  Okorcha cannot do it alone as the Igbos are wont to realise that one man cannot accomplish much. This move can be accomplished if the Igbo can immediately weigh the enormity of what awaits them in Nigeria where they have little or no representation. If there is one man who can change the Abia situation, that one man is Dr. Orji Uzo Kalu but Abia people have many “one man” just to name a few, Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu, Chief Onwuka Ukwa, the Wabaras, Senator Uche Chukwumeije, Prof. Uma Eleazu, Senator Nkechi Nworgu  and Chief Victoria Akanwa. The political giants should answer the call on Igbo to rescue our people from being shut out of the Nigeria equation. After all, Dr. Ogbonnya Onu, a steadfast leader of the APC is a worthy representative of our people and his hand should be strengthened to effectively work for our people.

Lagos is a major interest both to the Igbo settlers and the owners of the land. Conventional wisdom dictates that Igbo should do the bidding of their hosts who have an APC National Leader Senator Bola Tinubu, who must not be embarrassed. Besides, it is in Igbo’s core and vital interest to massively vote for the APC governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi. Ambode. The Igbo, as already stated are hardworking and deeply- determined people, who want to excel in their personal and professional vocations. Politics is, to tell the truth, not in their DNA and so they can easily be misled by their “leaders”. Once they are alerted an issues, trust them to do the right thing. It must be noted that when the election of March 28 is clinically dissected, it will expose the fraud played to obtain the figures posted in the election. It is inconceivable to admit that Senator Chris Ngige will be defeated in Anambra State. The location where the manufactured result was cooked-up will one day be revealed. One mistake for the Igbo nation is enough but two mistakes will definitely spell doom. In the remaining few days, Igbo should all become canvassers for massive votes for the APC to ensure our place in the New Nigeria. I strongly believe that if the Igbos massively vote in Imo, Abia and Lagos for the APC, President-elect  Muhammadu Buhari will create a situation to properly situate the Igbo.

All Progressives Congress (APC) governors demanded yesterday an emergency meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan over the cash crisis that is crippling the states.

Besides, the governors said at a meeting in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, that they had not endorsed any aspirant as their presidential candidate.

They supported the emergence of “a consensus candidate or any other candidate in so far as it is in tandem with the party’s internal democracy”.

The meeting was attended by Governors Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe), Chibuike Amaechi (Rivers) and Rochas Okorocha (Imo).

The governors were worried that allocation from the Federal purse keeps crashing, even as the central government says the country is not broke. Many states, they said, may not be able to pay their workers.

“On consensus, our forum is in full support of  consensus as one of the ways to produce our presidential candidate or any candidate in the party for as long as it is done with regards to respect for internal democracy. There will be no imposition of candidate in our party”, the chairman of the forum  Owelle Okorocha, said, reading the communiqué.

He went on: “Our forum has not adopted any  candidate, neither has our Governors’ Forum adopted any candidate, but we  shall encourage consensus and dialogue within the leadership  of the party  and aspirants to see how we come up with a candidate but where that is not possible, like true progressives, we shall have free and fair primaries from the APC.”

On the dwindling revenue allocation from the federation account, Owelle Okorocha described the situation as “awful”, adding that many of the states might not be able to pay salaries.

Said he: “We looked at the dwindling resources of the state coming from FAAC on our monthly allocation, which has made it imperative that most states may not afford to pay salaries as a result of the dwindling resources.

“This has become a  very serious concern to  us as governors and we felt that issues that affect the lives of our people must never be politicised. We refuse to accept that this nation is broke. I thank God that the Federal Government is not broke, that if the nation is not broke, what is due to states as revenue should be paid to the states. This idea of cutting down what should go to states does not in any way promote democracy and democratic dividends and so we as progressive governors do call on the Federal Government to look into the issue of dwindling resources or convince us as to why the states should not get what is due to them.

“We do not know why our colleagues in the PDP are not talking of this matter. If they are not talking, it is either they are not affected or somehow they are getting something from the back door, which we do not know.

“But if that is not the reason, I think the Presidency or the Federal Government should act quickly on the present ugly situation which this terrible condition of dwindling revenue has caused us by making sure that the states get what is due to them at least to pay the basic salaries of the workers.

We also deliberated on the need to continue to pray for Nigeria for the successful 2015 election, which every Nigerian is looking forward to.”

On the 2015 general elections, Okorocha said: “We must disappoint those who believe that Nigeria can never have free, fair and credible election by making sure that 2015 shall come to pass and Nigeria will raise its head high among the comity of nations and be one of the countries that have conducted free and fair elections.

“It is our firm belief that our party will provide for Nigeria the long-awaited purposeful, visionary leadership, come 2015. So we the APC governors are in full support  of the activity of our party and assure Nigerians that we shall provide them a credible presidential candidate that will steer the affairs of this nation in 2015.”