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  • Ondo polls: Ganduje, governors beg aggrieved APC members

    Ondo polls: Ganduje, governors beg aggrieved APC members

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Umar Ganduje, along with governors elected under the party, has urged the aggrieved members in Ondo state to support Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa in the upcoming governorship election next month. 

    Among those aggrieved are the governorship aspirants who competed against Governor Aiyedatiwa in the APC primary. 

    While addressing party members, Ganduje emphasized that achieving victory at the polls is a collective responsibility for all party members. He encouraged everyone to unite in their efforts to secure success in the election.

    Ganduje said: “Our mission is to give you assurance that our party is solidly behind you, .that the party at the national level are behind you. We are here to give you hope, to encourage you, to make you feel that this election is a task that must be done.

    “We are so encouraged that there is unity in this party, especially when you invited all aspirants, there is no victor no vanquish in the primary. This is a win-win situation. This is a big achievement.

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    “I’m expecting 90 percent victory in this election. Make sure that you know those who are supposed to vote in your units.  You must be involved in a house-to-house campaign. We are strategizing, we must have 100 percent states of the South West, beginning from Ondo State.”

    Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Sanwolu who is the Coordinator of the party in the Southwest, called for unity among members.

    “The South West APC leaders meeting was successful, coming up today, we are truly happy, the main reason, it is because of you. To come here and thank you. All of you are critical to the election of November 16. The future is bright for Ondo State. We must agree. We can’t get any leadership support other than this. For me, it is to congratulate all of us.

    “I am happy for the turnout. If we come together, we will win. We are going to an election, we need everyone in this election that is why I brought everyone together, to come and appeal to you. More than 85 percent of the votes we must get,” Sanwolu urged.

    Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebamiji said the November 16th polls would be a deciding moment in the history of the state.

    He urged APC members not to allow the achievements of law Akeredolu to be reversed.

    “We have a duty to keep Ondo State in the progressive circle. Coming second is not an option. We must retain APC in power.”

    Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele urged the party to integrate all the aggrieved members to foster unity ahead of the forthcoming election.

    He said: “I want to say that the true heroes are the aspirants. I beg you in the name of God. This is actually the President’s election.  Make them (aggrieved aspirants) relevant, and integrate them. This reconciliation continues after the election because, the PDP doesn’t have a candidate, after the election, he (Agboola Ajayi) is still coming back.”

    One of the former aspirants, Chief Olusola Oke declared that all the 16 aspirants have agreed to work for Governor Aiyedatiwa to ensure that the opposition party does not take over the state.

    “All the 16 aspirants have resolved to settle and agree to work with the candidate of our party. We believe that we should not allow the state to slip into opposition.”

    Among those who attended the reconciliation meeting were Chief Olusola Oke, Isaac Kekemeke, Wale Akinterinwa, and Mrs Oladunni Odu.

  • Ekiti deputy governor empowers apc members

    Ekiti State Deputy Governor Bisi Egbeyemi has organised an empowerment programme for members of the All  Progressives Congress (APC) in Ado Ekiti Local Government.

    The deputy governor explained that the gesture was aimed at putting smiles on the faces of party faithful.  He said the scheme would be done in batches to capture every APC loyalist in Ado Ekiti.

    Sixty-five beneficiaries, including party leaders from each of the 13 wards were given N20,000 each. Egbeyemi said that the empowerment was to assist members in the areas of their businesses.

    Egbeyemi said he has been touching lives before he became deputy governor and that he would not stop doing it, even outside office.

    Noting out that all party members cannot be appointed into government, the deputy governor advised those lucky to be appointed to give back to party faithful and the society at large.

    He assured the people that Governor Kayode Fayemi was determined to banish poverty, by executing policies that will better their standard of living.

    Egbeyemi said the governor was passionate to breathe life into the economy at the grassroots, by empowering artisans, youths, women and owners of small and medium scale businesses.

    The state’s number two citizen called on members to invest in agriculture, especially banana plantation, noting that agriculture is now of the way out of poverty.

    The deputy governor urged women and unemployed graduates to key into the economic programmes and policies of the Fayemi-led administration to better their lot.

    Stressing out that all party members cannot be appointed into government, Egbeyemi advised those lucky to be appointed to give back to party faithful and the society at large.

    Egbeyemi charged APC members to sustain the peace and unity of the party in all parts of the state and to always project the good works of Governor Fayemi in their localities.

    Egbeyemi added that the emergence of the chairman and other executives of Ado Local Government and party executives at the council level would be open and transparent.

    The deputy governor urged members to be proactive in upholding the tenets of the APC, assuring them of more appointments in due course.

    Egbeyemi said there was the need to enforce discipline in the attendance of party meetings. He said the law must be allowed to take its place in the conduct of the affairs of the party.

    The Women Leader, Ado Ward 10, Mrs. Funmi Oni, and the Chairman Ado Ward 1, Mr. Kayode Oladimeji, who were beneficiaries of the programme, commended the deputy governor for the gesture, saying it would serve as a motivation for members.

    Party chieftains at the event include APC Deputy Chairman, Mr. Sola Eleshin; House of Representatives member representing Ekiti Central Federal Constituency 1, Mr. Olusola Fatoba; Commissioner for Special Duties and Integration, Alhaji Jinadu Ayodele; House of Assembly member representing Ado Constituency 1, Mr. Toyin Lucas; Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Tade Aluko; Director General, Bureau of Employment and Productivity, Mr. Lanre Ogunjobi; Director General, Bureau of Arts and Culture, Mr. Wale Ojo-Lanre, among others.

     

  • ‘Akeredolu should reconcile with aggrieved APC members’

    INDIGENES of Ondo State in the United Kingdom (UK), who are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), have urged Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu to reconcile with estranged members of the party ahead of 2020 governorship election.

    The indigenes, under the aegis of UK APC, Ondo State Chapter, hailed Akeredolu and APC supporters for the victory during the polls.

    A statement signed by its chairman Chief Dare Adeyeye, Secretary Olu Esho and Publicity Secretary Prince Fola Olagbegi, called for more commitments on the part of party members to facilitate the success of Akeredolu’s administration.

    It expressed the need for the governor and party executives to reconcile aggrieved members to guarantee a formidable party ahead of next year’s governorship election.

    According to the group, the fall-out of 2016 governorship and 2018 National Assembly/state primary election created a crack among party supporters, which must be mended now in the interest of the party.

    They were, however, delighted with the infrastructural growth across the state, especially road construction, rehabilitation of schools, establishment of new hospitals and agricultural revolution.

    The statement also urged new legislators to respect the party supremacy and align with the executive to diligently serve the people.

    It hailed President Muhammadu Buhari and APC National Leader Bola Tinubu for their courage and determination which gave the party success.

  • ‘PDP lied about APC members’ defection in Ondo’

    The Ondo State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday faulted the claim by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that it received about 10,000 of its members in Okitipupa Local Government Area.

    The APC described the claim as porous and cheap propaganda.

    A statement by its spokesman Alex Kalejaye said: “The APC in Ondo State wishes to place on records that a fraction of those who followed Chief Olusola Oke to the party early this year actually returned to where they always belong. They were less than 50.

    “The ruling party deeply appreciates the courage and the will of the bulk of the group for believing in the APC and resisting the indescribable efforts aimed at inducing them financially.

    “What happened in Okitipupa was a political jamboree by the Ondo State PDP; it was designed to justify the huge financial investment of its national leaders, who stormed Akure, the Ondo State capital, last Thursday, and led by Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State.

    “It was, therefore, necessary for the state chapter to rent some idle youths who have no electoral values to present a seemingly huge crowd for further patronage.”

    The statement stressed that Ondo APC was unperturbed by whit called the hollow and rootless antics that will expire in February.

    It assured the residents that the Oluwarotimi Akeredolu administration would execute the projects to uplift the state while the payment of workers’ salaries and wages would be sustained.

  • Buhari seeks genuine reconciliation of APC members

    President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC) all over the country to work for genuine reconciliation “for the benefit of our people and our nation.”

    President Buhari spoke on Wednesday night in Abuja when he received a group of APC members including Professor Hafiz Abubakar, a former Deputy Governor of Kano State who returned to the party after their departure to various platforms.

    In welcoming the party leaders back to the APC, President Buhari said the house was large enough to accommodate everyone and promised to speak to the leadership of the party and government in Kano to accommodate and work with the returnees.

    In addition to Professor Hafiz, a staunch ally of Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso Kwankwaso who resigned as Governor Abdullahi Ganduje’s Deputy, the other returnees include a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Architect Aminu Dabo; the immediate past National Treasurer, Bala Mohammed Gwagwarwa; Security Adviser to Kwankwaso, General Danjuma Dambazau (rtd); Engineer Mu’azu Magaji, all of them staunch members of the Kwankwasiyya as well as Senator Isa Zarewa who left in protest against the last primaries.

    A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Garba Shehu, said that they were led to the President by the Governor of Jigawa State, Abubakar Badaru.

    Responding to the Presidential directive, Governor Ganduje welcomed the return of the party stalwarts and assured the President that he was ready to work with everyone to record yet another historic victory in the general elections.

     

  • Buhari seeks genuine reconciliation of APC members

    President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC) all over the country to work for genuine reconciliation “for the benefit of our people and our nation.”

    President Buhari spoke on Wednesday night in Abuja when he received a group of APC members including Professor Hafiz Abubakar, a former Deputy Governor of Kano State who returned to the party after their departure to various platforms.

    In welcoming the party leaders back to the APC, President Buhari said the house was large enough to accommodate everyone and promised to speak to the leadership of the party and government in Kano to accommodate and work with the returnees.

    In addition to Professor Hafiz, a staunch ally of Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso Kwankwaso who resigned as Governor Abdullahi Ganduje’s Deputy, the other returnees include a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Architect Aminu Dabo; the immediate past National Treasurer, Bala Mohammed Gwagwarwa; Security Adviser to Kwankwaso, General Danjuma Dambazau (rtd); Engineer Mu’azu Magaji, all of them staunch members of the Kwankwasiyya as well as Senator Isa Zarewa who left in protest against the last primaries.

    A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Garba Shehu, said that they were led to the President by the Governor of Jigawa State, Abubakar Badaru.

    Responding to the Presidential directive, Governor Ganduje welcomed the return of the party stalwarts and assured the President that he was ready to work with everyone to record yet another historic victory in the general elections.

  • APC members urged to work for party’s victory

    Members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Kwara State have been enjoined to redouble their efforts and ensure the success of the party in next year governorship election in the state.

    The State Secretary of Kwara APC, Lagos branch, Mrs Abiodun Florence, who offered the advice in a statement issued in Lagos, said that the victory of Honourable Raimi Olatunji Ajuloopin in the last bye-election in the lgbomina-Ekiti area was commendable and the beginning of victory for the people of Kwara State.

    She stated that next year general elections must be used to set Kwara free from oppression and a step towards the next level of development.

    In his remarks at the group weekly meeting in the ljesa area of ltire-lkate, the Group Chairman, Alhaji lookman Omuiyadun, said that “what is going on in Kwara today is a civil revolution for the betterment of the state and her citizens”.

    Alhaji Omuiyadun added that development of the state had been retarded by a single family because of selfish interest

    Also speaking at the meeting, the elder brother of the Minister for information and Culture, Alhaji  Ganiyu Mohammed, lamented the poor condition of public infrastructure in the state.

    According to him, Oro General Hospital has been reduced to an ordinary clinic, while all state roads are no longer motorable.

    Alhaji Mohammed called on Kwara indigenes in Lagos that registered at home with their Permanent Voter Cards to come home during the election period to cast their votes.

     

  • APC members free to seek legal redress, says Buhari

    President: we can’t deny people of their rights

    Aggrieved party members should be free to seek legal redress, President Muhammadu Buhari has said.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) recently barred members from taking the party to court.

    In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President said: “We can’t deliberately deny people of their rights. We agreed that party primaries should be conducted either through direct, indirect or consensus methods, and if anyone feels unjustly treated in the process, such a person can go to court.

    “The court should always be the last resort for the dissatisfied. For the party to outlaw the court process is not acceptable to me.”

    The APC, in a decision ascribed to the National Working Committee (NWC), had last week threatened to punish members who had sued the party to court.

    The statement said: “The Party intends to activate constitutional provisions to penalise such members as their action is capable of undermining the Party and hurting the Party’s interest.

    “We hereby strongly advise such members to withdraw all court cases while approaching the appropriate party organs with a view to resolving any outstanding disputes. In addition to this, aggrieved members are urged to take full advantage of the reconciliation committees the party has put in place.

    “APC members should understand that as a progressive party that operates on the principle of change, it is not a matter of choice to keep to the rules.”

    President Buhari has advised members to work with the reconciliation committees empanelled for the six geo-political zones by the APC, and not a purported Presidential Committee on Reconciliation, stressing that the party is the only body authorised to constitute such committees.

  • APC members threatened in PDP states, says Oshiomhole

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has raised the alarm over threats to the lives of its members in states controlled by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole accused the police in those states of aiding such actions.

    Oshiomhole, who spoke with reporters at the end of a meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC), said six committees to visit the six geopolitical zones had been set up with a view to resolving some of the crisis in those states.

    Oshiomhole said the APC chairman in Enugu State narrowly escaped an assassination, his police orderly was hospitalised and one of the leaders of the party kidnapped in Rivers state was found dead, saying “this is very disturbing to us”.

    He accused the Akwa Ibom state police Commissioner of colluding with the governor to eject six members of the APC from the House of Assembly  against the rule of law.

    Oshiomhole said: “The other issue is a very disturbing issue from a couple of states where the PDP is using state instruments even though they are the loudest to talk about the police. They are using the police as they like to undermine the basic fundamental rights of members of the APC in their states.

    “A typical example is what happened today in Akwa Ibom state where the commissioner of police colluded with the governor to forcibly eject APC members from the House of Assembly.

    “The Commissioner went beyond his bound of duty to aid and abate what is clearly wrong. It is not the business of the police to assist political authority to impose their own biases with regard to the composition of the house.  We have a judicial as well as law and order and the police are to obey court order and not to go beyond that. We are also witnessing some very sad developments.

    “As we approach the election,  we should talk on issues and people should market themselves and tell us why we should vote them particularly when there are no new players on parade.

    “You said you will create 10 million jobs. You should tell us what happened when you were in government that textile factories closed down and we lost a number of industries.  These are the issues we want to engage and it will be an interesting season for the media.”

    Oshiomhole added: “We are even happy that given the size of our party, we have issues in a few places,  much of which have already been resolved. Compare that what is happening in a small party like the SDP who are in court over who is the appropriate Presidential candidate or compare that to PDP who have about two governorship candidates in some states. I believe we are still ahead in terms of internal peace.

    “We reviewed the recent elections and we are proud to say that since the NWC was elected in June,  we have not lost any major election.  We have done rerun elections twice in Katsina and  Bauchi and won. Even more outstanding for me and the APC is the humiliating defeat that Senator Bukola Saraki suffered in the hands of Kwara people who are determined to dismantle his failed attempt to install his own variance of a political culture in which he is the only constant decimal.

    “Consider that he is the proclaimed leader of PDP and he has had to lead election in another state, here is a native doctor who was unable to heal his own people. For us, that defeat in Kwara was very key, particularly through a candidate that was put in place not by anybody close to Saraki and he won.

    “I have said that society is held together by peace and progress in a democracy “jot only through the rule of law, but also through strong ethical commitments and strong nomadic values. Of course,  complete adherence to core values and principles of democracy preaches that majority rule.

    “So, we are not going to accept a Nigeria variance where a minority party presides over the affairs of the National Assembly whether represented by Saraki or Yakubu Dogara.  They just must vacate their seats because it is not right.

    “For me, this was simple an issue of principle and he went on to say that I have no moral right to talk about morality and that I should resign from politics.  What the people of Kwara have done is that they will not give him the opportunity of resigning.

    “They are going to politically bury him and he has seen the first warning signals. By February next year, Senator Saraki will be politically retired by the good people of Kwara state. He has mismanaged their political life, economy and society over the past years. We think this is something worth celebrating.”

  • ‘There’s need to reward loyal APC members’

    Jimoh Ibrahim is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State. In this interview with Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU and MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE, he explains why the party should compensate its loyal members.

    You appear to have quit politics…

    I have not quit politics. I have contested twice; the last one was for the House of Representatives to represent Ekiti Central Constituency 1. I did my possible best. I won the primary, which I contested against Opeyemi Bamidele and ever since, the party has not done anything for me, even after I was denied the ticket. At this junction, I had to go back to my business. Otherwise, how will I survive and take care of my family? That is why I decided to stay in Lagos. However, if the party is ready to give me any assignment I am available.

    You are not the only one who lost election. Others who suffered the same fate are still in the party. Why is your case different?  

    My case is different in the sense that I am not a professional politician and I have my business in Lagos, which I cannot abandon. I can’t leave that and move to Ekiti to stay there doing nothing. If I stay there with my entire supporters around me, how will I take care of them? Where do I get the money to take care of them? The best thing is for me to go back to my business and leave politics temporarily. When the time comes, if offered a position to serve, I will relocate to Ekiti. I thank God, the kind of business that I do can be easily monitored from anywhere I find myself in any part of the whole world. If I don’t have anything to do in Ekiti, I cannot leave here and go to that place.

    Is that why you deserted the party?

    I have not deserted the party; maybe you are not getting me right. Politics is in my blood and it runs in my vein. I have contested  twice; the party is not being fair to me. Let me take you down memory lane; I contested in 2007, when the party was at its lowest ebb. I risked my life to face the PDP, which was in government at the time and we were able to do a lot of things. I was the first to use megaphone attached to a bus to campaign in Ekiti and we moved round the five local governments that make up my district. I registered my presence in all the local governments. Shortly before the primary, one unscrupulous element wrote a petition against me; he said I was involved in money laundering. To God be the glory, the EFCC investigated it and I was taken to court. But, when it got to a stage, the EFCC was nowhere to be found. That was how it went and I went back to my business. The second incident was that my people from my local government called. They said we have an APC government in place and that the coast was clear for me to contest again. I abandoned my business, to answer the call of my people and they gave me the go-ahead. The primary was held, but at the end of the day, I was told that the Senate ticket had been given to Senator Babafemi Ojudu and the one for the House of Representatives to Opeyemi Bamidele. Since then, the party has not even called me to hear by own part of the story, not to talk of compensating me.

    What manner of appointment are you looking for?

    The party should know what I want. They know the number of supporters I have; I need to take care of them. When you have people around you in politics, they must be taken care of. As at now, I have lot of people that I am paying their school fees; some of them on permanent salaries. These are people who do not have any other means to survive. You can only continue to do that, when the means of doing that is made available.

    But, you have not been a member of the APC…

    I am a member of the APC and let me tell you that it started in 2005. As at that time, when I joined politics, what we had was AD, which metamorphosed to AC and later, to ACN, which was one of the legacy parties that formed the APC. If I was a member of the ACN, that automatically makes me a member of the APC.

    You are canvassing politics of gains and not politics of contribution…

    What do you mean by that? I have paid my dues and you can go to Ekiti to find out. I know where I met the party; when I came in things were falling apart. Myself and a few other people spent our hard-earned money to revive the party. I still have that record and I can boast of that record anywhere. So, if you are talking of contribution, I have paid my dues. It is now left for the party to compensate me, to make me believe that I belong to the fold.

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    Since you are not in Ekiti now, don’t you think your supporters have deserted you?

    They cannot desert me; they are always loyal to me. What I have done for them, no other leader can do that for them. I wine and dine with my supporters; you can go to Ekiti and ask them. We live together and do everything together and I share all their problems. No other leader in Ekiti can do what I do for these people. When I am going out, I go out with all my supporters. I can rightly say that I am a force to reckon with within my people.

    Have you made efforts to complain to the party leaders?

    I have been making moves to see Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on the matter. I want to say all the moves that I have been making were blocked by certain people. And each time I tell them I want to see him, they will tell me he is not available. There was a time I was in Bourdillon from morning till evening waiting to see him. I wanted someone to connect me with him, since we have not met formally. That is why I am still where I am today.

    What will be your contribution to the new government in Ekiti?

    Fortunately for me, I know the governor very well. We went to the same higher institution; I know his capacity and what he can do. He knows my own capacity too. If I should take you on memory lane, there was a time he made me the chairman of a company he wanted us to resuscitate. And I told him, if he wanted to do that, all that was needed was to get the necessary support. I told him when that was done, the company would be one of the best. I now want to use my experience over the years in moving Ekiti forward.