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Tag: APC

  • Breaking: Zamfara: Sober mood in APC, NWC in emergency meeting

    The National Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was in a sober mood on Friday as news filtered in about the Supreme Court judgment sacking all it’s elected representatives and handing over the seats to the Peoples Democratic Party.

    An emergency meeting of the National Working Committee presided over by the National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was summoned and lasted for about two hours without any statement from the party in the outcome.

    Read Also: Zamfara: INEC to announce decision on Monday

    An inaugural press conference by the new Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum and Kebbi state governor, Atiku Bagudu had to be called off as he led other governors on a sympathy visit to the Zamfara state governor, Abdulaziz Yari who was also affected by the judgement.

    Details shortly…

  • PDP stalwart, Moyosore Ogunlewe defects to APC in Kosofe

    It was fanfare of some sort yesterday in Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos, as Hon. Moyosore Ogunlewe aka Moyo, formally of the PDP defected to the APC.

    The official declaration, which took place at Ogudu Junior Grammar School, Ogudu GRA, Lagos, had thousands of APC party faithful and supporters of Ogunlewe within and outside the Kosofe environs in attendance.

    Ogunlewe was the PDP Candidate in the Kosofe Constituency 1 in the last House of Assembly elections, which his fiercest rival of the APC, Hon Ganiyu Babatunde Okanlawon, aka Okla, won.

    He also gave a fierce battle in 2015 elections.

    Arriving the venue with his horde of supporters, Ogunlewe, sporting a colourful APC Next Level shirt, said he was happy to be joining the winning party.

    The youthful Moyo thanked the leaders of the party for receiving him with open heart, and asked that they forgive him for whatever he might have done wrong in the past.

    Read also: Govt, PDP row over ‘threat to democracy’

    “The PDP was an opportunity for me to contest, but I’m home now,” he said.

    “I am defecting today officially with majority of my PDP EXCOs because majority of them were there because of their love for me. The grassroots are with me and that tells you that I’ll be adding value to the fold.

    A member of the Lagos State House of Assembly representing Kosofe Constituency II, Hon. Tunde Braimoh, said it is a good thing that the party is expanding.

    “In APC, there is no founder, there is no joiner; it’s a party of mass revolution; a party that is taking Nigeria to the next level. It is a great opportunity to have you join the APC fold,” Braimoh said.

    Chairman, APC Kosofe, Alhaji Kehinde Bello, said the Kosofe APC family is happy to have Moyo in the party of the progressives.

    Hon. Moyosore Ogunlewe is a lawyer and son of former PDP chieftain and Minister of Works.

  • Dickson’s attack on oil companies is political, says APC

    The Bayelsa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has described environmental campaign, ‘Rise for Bayelsa’, and verbal attacks launched against activities of international oil companies by Governor Seriake Dickson as politically motivated.

    The party in a press conference in Yenagoa, the state capital, on Thursday said the governor’s move was a dishonest political campaign targeted at key APC stalwarts in the state with environmental pollution as smokescreen.

    Dickson recently inaugurated the Bayelsa State Environmental Degradation Commission of Inquiry with a mandate to investigate sharp practices of oil multinationals that had caused environmental degradation in the state and the Niger Delta region.

    The governor named the Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu, as the Chairman of the Commission, whose members were dominated by global leaders and scholars.

    But the APC State Publicity Secretary, Mr. Doifie Buokoribo, dismissed the allegation as a move meant to mount pressure the oil companies, disengage APC members working as pipeline contractors in the state.

    Buokoribo warned the oil companies against descending into the political arena in the state by succumbing to the pressure from Dickson to sack the pipeline surveillance contractors.

    He said: “To the mind of the governor, the oil pipeline surveillance contracts awarded by the oil firms were key to the security threat in Bayelsa State. He specifically accused two chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who are oil pipeline surveillance contractors, of security breaches in the state.

    Read Also: EFCC arrests Kwara Assembly member-elect

    “We neither hold brief for the international oil corporations nor do we speak in the name of the surveillance contractors. As a party, we have a responsibility to protect our members from political persecution.

    “In point of fact, APC members are not the only people working as oil pipelines surveillance contractors in the state. Members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are also doing the same job across the state.

    “For example, Gabriel Jonah, younger brother to the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, has been an oil pipeline surveillance contractor for years. Yet, Dickson has made it his duty to focus only on APC members. He is using his offices to exert undue pressure on the oil companies to take the surveillance jobs away from our members. Clearly, this is a political project, and it will not stand.

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  • APC governorship ticket tears Sylva, Lokpobiri apart

    Former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva and the Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, have fallen apart, following their ambition to clinch the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the governorship election.

    Prior to the election timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Sylva and Lokpobiri had gone their separate ways as each worked individually to deliver results for the APC in the last general elections.

    Their disagreements were said to have sharply divided the APC chapter into three camps ahead of the November 2 poll, with a neutral camp led by a founding member of the party and governorship, Preye Aganaba.

    Sylva was angry that the minister was nursing a governorship ambition instead of supporting him to pick the ticket and complete his second term in office.

    But, a source, who spoke in confidence, said Sylva should be blamed for the internal crisis rocking the party, alleging that the former governor was running the party as his private estate.

    He said Sylva was nominating his supporters for the juicy positions in the party without considering the interests of other loyal members of the party.

    The source said: “Sylva is behaving as if he is the only one in the party. He wants to be an NDDC managing director. He wants to be a minister in the coming cabinet of President Muhammadu and he wants to be the governorship candidate of the APC. His thinking is that he can clinch an appointed position and resign to contest the governorship election.

    “Besides, Lokpobiri is eminently qualified to contest the governorship ticket of the party. I don’t see anything wrong with the ambition of the minister. People in Sylva’s camp are saying that the minister’s candidacy will not fly because he is from Ekeremor in the same senatorial district with the incumbent Governor, Seriake Dickson.

    “They have forgotten that zoning is not sacrosanct in the state. Former President Goodluck Jonathan from Ogbia, Bayelsa East was at the Presidency the same time Sylva from Brass in Bayelsa East was made the governor of the state.

    “Heavens did not fall. At this point in the state, APC needs a new face capable of challenging the PDP in the forthcoming election. Sylva bungled his chance in 2015 despite all the efforts of Lokpobiri to make him realise his second term ambition. So, he should allow the minster to to fly the flag of the party”.

    He, however, said that the national leadership of the party was monitoring the bad blood between the two party leaders and would take a decision for the best interest of APC in the state.

    It was further gathered that some close associates of Sylva were already considering Lokpobiri as the best option for APC at the election.

    A known loyalist of Sylva, who spoke in confidence, said he was in support of Lokpobiri, adding that it would be a Herculean task for Sylva to win election again in the state.

    But the camp of Sylva through its loyalists has continued to attack Lokpobiri for constituting himself a thorn in the flesh of Sylva describing the minister as an ungrateful politician.

    A member of Sylva’s camp, Gesiye Newman, suggested that the minister was making case for the governorship ticket as a bargaining for a fresh ministerial nomination.

    He said:  “While it is within his fundamental human right to aspire for the ticket of his party, it is my humble opinion that Lokpobiri should be gracious enough to reciprocate the magnanimity of Sylva, who threw a ministerial position at him on a platter of gold. He should consider the overall interest of the party and support Sylva’s bid to clinch the coveted seat of power in the state.

    “Lokpobiri has, in all honesty, enjoyed an unmerited goodwill from Sylva, who handed him a ministerial position shortly after dumping the PDP for the APC in 2015.

    “As it stands, the odds are not in favour of Lokpobiri, who even as a serving minister failed to deliver President Muhammadu Buhari, in both his polling unit, ward, local government and senatorial districts. His performance even during the 2015 governorship election was unimpressive, and these are facts.

    “Lokpobiri isn’t known to command any tangible followership within his party that could be leveraged on, if he throws his hat into the ring for the governorship ticket. The same can be said about him even at the state level. It would therefore be quite an onerous task to get his party’s adherents behind him, if he wants to push through with his aspiration”.

    “Another odd against Lokpobiri is the fact that he comes from the same senatorial district as the outgoing governor, Henry Dickson, who has ruled the state for about eight years. This factor would certainly work against his aspiration, as other senatorial districts would sure frown at Bayelsa West retaining the governorship seat of the state after its eight years spell”.

    Also, the Timipre Sylva Support Organization (TSSO) attacked a group of stakeholders, party elders and state executive committee, who reportedly met and endorsed Lokpobiri for the ticket.

    The Director of Media/Strategic Communications, TSSO, Wilfred Frank- Ogbotobo, said as major stakeholders, they were not aware of a meeting of the party members to endorse Lokpobiri.

    He said: “As major stakeholders, and interested parties, we wish to inform the State Executive Committee, APC members and the public that we are not aware of any such meeting held to endorse a candidate or nominee for ministerial appointment.

    The TimipreSylva Support Organization believes in one united APC in Bayelsa State, which must work in harmony, through a free and fair primary process, to produce an acceptable candidate to fly the party’s ticket and win the November 2 governorship election”.

  • APC expresses support for AbdulRazaq

    THE Kwara State All Progressives Congress (APC) has resolved to be united, peaceful, supportive and loyal to the Governor-elect AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

    The party also said it would make its position known on the next Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly.

    The party, in a communiqué at the end of the state executive committee meeting in Ilorin, the state capital, added that its decision on the subject matter of speakership “would be made known and communicated accordingly at the appropriate time.”

    APC spokesperson Alhaji Folaranmi Tajudeen, who read the communiqué, said that “party members and all interested stakeholders are enjoined to wait for the party’s decision and avoid further comments on the subject matter.”

    The communiqué reads: “Exco reiterates its resolve to take its full right of playing the necessary leadership roles on all matters and champion such actions and activities that guarantee the fulfilment of all party’s campaign promises and covenants with the people of Kwara.

    “For the purposes of unity, orderliness and clear direction, Exco resolves that party structures at all levels should henceforth provide the required leadership necessary for a party in government by ensuring the inclusion of all stakeholders, leaders, elders and elected officials in critical decision-making process through the constitution of local government caucus in line with the provisions of the party’s constitution, ditto for the state; inauguration of elders’ advisory committees at the local, senatorial and state levels, which draw legitimacy from the state Exco’s resolution to be convened at the instance of the chairman at each level.”

  • PDP to Police, APC: Leave Senator Adeleke alone

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged a fresh plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to use some elements in the Police to hound and incarcerate our its candidate in the 2018 Osun State governorship election, Senator Ademola Adeleke, in the bid to browbeat him to relinquish his mandate.

    The PDP claimed to have new information of how the APC, having seen that there is no way it can stop Senator Adeleke at the courts, now seeks to forcefully hound him into a police station where he will be incarcerated and put out of circulation before the determination of the matters in court.

    Adeleke and the PDP are challenging the victory of the APC candidate, Governor Gboyega Oyetola in court.

    A statement Sunday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said apart from executing the alleged script,  some elements in the police have no other reason for continuously hounding Senator Adeleke, as he is already in court for all the frivolous allegations preferred against him.

    The statement said, “If they truly want Senator Adeleke for any new issue connected with the charges for which he is already in court, it should present such before the court instead of resorting to bullying.

    “Nigerians will recall that the PDP had earlier alerted of threats to Senator Adeleke’s life. These threats have not only continued unabated but have heightened with this renewed hounding by these elements in the police, who are being used by the APC.

    “Our party cautions that Nigerians are not ready to accept any excuse from anybody should Senator Adeleke suddenly becomes a victim of accidental discharge, sudden disappearance or failed health. They know whom to hold responsible.

    “The APC should end this siege on Senator Adeleke and accept the fact that he has the mandate of the people of Osun state as their governor and no form of machination will subvert this reality.

    “The PDP, therefore, charges the Inspector General of Police, Adamu Mohammed to rein-in his men on issues related to Senator Adeleke’s determination to retrieve his governorship mandate, which was stolen by the APC”.

  • APC picks Wase as Deputy Speaker, says Jibrin

    The re-elected member of the House of Representatives from Wase, Plateau State, Alhaji Mohammed Idris Wase, may have been endorsed by his party, All Progressives Congress (APC) to become the next deputy speaker of the House, according to indications yesterday.

    Wase, who initially wanted to contest for the Speakership, recently dropped his ambition and agreed to work with the party’s choice for the office, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila (Surulere, Lagos).

    He had met with President Muhammadu Buhari in company of his State Governor, Mr. Simeon Lalong.

    Representative Abdulmumin Jibrin (Kano) who is the Director General (DG) of the Femi Gbajabiamila campaign council hinted on his Twitter handle yesterday that Gbajabiamila and Wase would run on a joint ticket.

    His words:  “MURUS!!! Mr Speaker and Mr Deputy Speaker 9th Assembly. If you are an APC member and against the two, you are on collision course with the party. 2015 is NOT 2019 in so many ways. We are assuring our 360 colleagues, Femi and Wase will run an all-inclusive House.”

    Only last week, the campaign organisations of Gbajabiamila and Wase collapsed into one after a meeting of their supporters at Transcorp Hotel, Abuja.

    Wase,55, was first elected into the House in 2011 and was re-elected in 2015 and this year.

  • Ogunlewe dumps PDP, joins APC

    A chieftain of the PDP, Sen. Adeseye Ogunlewe, said on Friday that he was set to dump the opposition party for the ruling APC.

    Ogunlewe, a former Minister of Works, confirmed the development in an interview with a political correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    He was reacting to the recent defection of his son, Moyosore from the PDP to the APC.

    Moyosore contested for a place in the Lagos State House of Assembly on the platform of the PDP but lost and soon after, announced his resignation from the PDP.

    He has been attending APC meetings in his area with other APC chieftains, including Bayo Osinowo, a member of the state assembly and senator-elect for the Lagos East Senatorial District.

    Ogunlewe told NAN that his lawyer son had indeed, defected to the APC and that he would be joining him within the next 30 days.

    He said his decision to dump the PDP was because the party was rudderless and that it had been perpetually enmeshed in crisis.

    Ogunlewe said he saw no future in the PDP and that nobody should expect a politician of his stature to stay in a house where some leaders were only after their selfish interests.

    The former minister said that issues arising from the governorship elections exposed the fact that some people were only after money and not the progress of the PDP in Lagos State.

    ”Yes, I am set to leave. My son is already there and he is expecting me to join him. I am leaving in the next 30 days.

    ”You see, for now, there is no chairman in PDP. We don’t have leaders and you don’t expect me to stay in a party that is not stable and with people that lack focus.

    ”Look at what happened in the last elections. The supposed chairman of the PDP in the state asked members to vote for the opposition for whatever reason.

    “Is that a party? Should I remain with people like these?

    ”What these people care about is only their selfish interests and not the interest of the party. I am giving the party 30 days’ notice, after which I will leave.

    ”I am tired of a party running into one problem or the other and I tell you, these people can never change.”

    The former minister said that he was also joining APC because he was convinced that the party would zone the presidency to the South West in 2023, apart from being a better organised party.

    Ogunlewe said he would not want to be left out of any arrangement to give the region the presidency in 2023.

    He said he would be leaving the PDP with his teeming supporters, promising to add value to the APC.

    NAN

  • Be more committed: Ondo APC urges workers

    The All Progressives Congress, (APC) in Ondo State has urged public servants in the state to be more committed to their duties for greater development.

    The party commended the State chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) for promoting harmonious working relationship between the government and its members.

    A statement by its spokesman, Alex Kalejaye said the party regarded the State workforce as the pillar on which implementation of government policies rest.

    It therefore called for more sincerity and further commitment on the part of the workers to ensure the public derived maximum benefits from such policies.

    Read Also: Abe: I remain committed to APC

    The party assured that the APC would never shy away from supporting quality welfare package for the workers, believing that no government can succeed without the effective cooperation of its workforce.

    According to the statement “It is for this reason that Ondo State Government is among the first few states to announce its willingness to consider implementation of the new minimum wage.

    “We congratulate the State NLC on its recent election, and emergence of a new dynamic team, under Comrade Sunday Adeleye, to pilot the affairs of the chapter.

  • APC suspends Oni over alleged anti-party activities

    THE All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ifaki Ward II, Ekiti State has suspended former Governor Segun Oni for alleged involvement in anti-party activities.

    The party, which did not mention the alleged anti-party activities, gave the suspension order in a letter dated yesterday. It was addressed to the former APC Deputy Chairman (South).

    The letter was signed by the ward chairman, Shina Akinloye, and the secretary, Ogunyemi Taiwo, as well as 24 other executive members in the ward.

    APC executive members in Ido /Osi Local Government Area also signed the suspension letter through their Assistant Financial Secretary A. Suleiman and the Assistant Organising Secretary Olanrewaju Olamope.

    Oni was earlier summoned to defend himself over allegations levelled by some party members within seven days, which lapsed yesterday.

    The summon was contained in a letter dated April 24, which was signed by the Ward chairman and Ward Secretary.

    The letter of invitation was received on Oni’s behalf by one Segun Adetunji on April 25.

    But, in the suspension letter, the party said it took the action over Oni’s failure to appear before the ward executive to clear the allegations.

    The letter reads: “Subject to Article 21 Subsections I, II and X of the APC Constitution 2014 as amended, we undersigned executive members of the APC hereby suspend you indefinitely from our great party, based on your refusal to honour our invitation for investigation and fact-finding into the allegation of anti-party activities levelled against your person by the members of our party.

    “We are by the copy of this letter informing both the local government and state working committee of the party for necessary information and action.”

    In his reaction, the former governor said he was yet to be notified on his suspension.

    “I am not sure. There is a structure in the party. There is a way things are done in the party.

    “The constitution of the party is clear on cases of suspension. It clearly sites circumstances and outlines procedures to be taken to warrant and effect a suspension.

    “If any suspension exists, I need to be notified. And if such circumstances do not exist nor procedures taken in line with the party’s extant laws, then a suspension invariably does not exist,” he said.

    On his failure to heed the invitation of Ifaki APC Ward as conveyed in a letter dated April 24, the former governor queried the pedigree of people behind the said invitation.

    “Who are they? I am not a nobody in the party. So, I cannot be expected to honour such a faceless invitation.

    “Who are they? What is their pedigree? If a group of rascals signed a letter, how can they expect me to give any thought to such? Let those who wrote the letter show face and level allegations,” Oni said.

    The Ifaki born politician had challenged Fayemi’s victory at the May 12, 2018 governorship primary in which he came second after he had initially congratulated the winner.

    The ex-governor, in his suit, claimed that Fayemi was not eligible to stand as the APC flag bearer because he did not resign from office as Minister of Mines and Steel Development 30 days before the shadow election.

    But, the Supreme Court, in its judgment, finally dismissed Oni’s suit for lack of merit. It said Fayemi didn’t breach the law by resigning after the primary.