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  • Our members free to vie for National Assembly positions, says PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday said its members can the contest for leadership positions in the Ninth National Assembly.

    A statement by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, said that despite their minority status, opposition lawmakers have constitutional right to seek election into any of the presiding positions in any of the chambers.

    It stated that the positions of President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Deputy Senate President and Deputy Speaker are not the exclusive preserves of any political party, but a constitutional right of every elected lawmaker in both chambers.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has 65 senators-elect, the PDP has 42 and the Young Progressive Party (YPP) has one. In the lower chamber, the APC has 223, against PDP’s 190 and 10 seats shared among a number of fringe parties.

    The PDP described as unfair the posturing of APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole as if the presiding offices and committee chairmanship positions in the National Assembly were exclusive rights of the APC.

    The statement reads: “President Buhari and Oshiomhole should wake up to the fact that the National Assembly belongs to no political party but to all Nigerians, who exercise their control through their elected representatives.

    “For emphasis, Section 50 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is clear in providing that  ‘There shall be:- (a) a President and a Deputy President of the Senate, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves; and (b) a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves’

    “Section 92 (1) makes the same provision for the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of State House of Assembly.

    “The PDP, therefore, does not only have a constitutional say in the process of the emergence of the leadership of the Ninth National Assembly, but will, as a matter of constitutional right, field candidates into presiding offices of both chambers, if need be.”

    Also yesterday, members of the Senate Caucus of the PDP urged their APC counterparts to leave Senate President Bukola Saraki out of the schemes and plots to get his successor.

    REad also: Buhari: I look forward to effective relationship with Ninth National Assembly

    The PDP caucus said the APC senators should leave Saraki out of the jostle by senators-elect on the platform of the ruling party over who gets elected into the leadership of the Ninth Senate.

    In a statement by Senate Minority Leader, Mrs Biodun Olujimi and Chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Sen. Dino Melaye, the PDP caucus stated that it has observed closely as the contenders for the various Senate leadership posts in the APC sponsor various publications in the media to make it appear that Saraki is seeking to play a role in who occupy the various leadership posts in the next Senate.

    The caucus warned: “Such surreptitious attempts to drag Saraki into the issue that does not concern him would not augur well for the smooth take-off of the next Senate and could only create suspicion and ill-will among the incumbent Senators and the incoming ones.”

  • Buhari to senators-elect: avoid pitfalls of Eighth Senate

    ALL Progressives Congress (APC) senators-elect got a piece of presidential advice Monday night. President Muhammadu Buhari cautioned them to avoid the pitfall of the outgoing Senate.

    He spoke while hosting the in-coming members of the Red Chamber and some governors to a dinner at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The President regretted some wrong actions and decisions of the Eighth National Assembly.

    He, specifically, recalled the deliberate and persistent delay in passing the annual budget.

    Urging the in-coming Ninth National Assembly to be different, Buhari said doing things right would enable his administration achieve its target of transforming the nation.

    He said: “This is my fifth and last time of standing for an election. For that reason, I’ll like to leave something behind. And what (legacy) I want to leave cannot be successfully done without your support.

    “So, that is why I’m appealing for your support. What happened in the last Senate and so on is regrettable because I still feel it shouldn’t take seven months to pass a budget. You have a very, very serious job ahead of you.

    “What I’m appealing for is that any major decision you are going to take, please reflect more on the country than yourself as a person – what effect will it have on the country.’’

    Promising to work and partner with them after their inauguration on June 8 in promoting peace, stability and economic prosperity, the President thanked the governors and the senators-elect for their support and understanding.

    Speaking with State House reporters, APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole said the event was to unite the new and old senators and to establish a new relationship between the executive and the legislature.

    Oshiomhole said: “The system talks about the separation of powers between the executive and legislature and the two must handshake for things to happen.

    Read also: Buhari, APC chiefs endorse Lawan for Senate President

    “And when you have a President who is determined to drive changes, fundamental changes that will affect our habits, our lifestyle, review the economy, deal with the security situation, fight corruption as fiercely as he is trying to do, he will need a very supportive legislative arm of government.

    “And happily, the Nigerian people have given us the number in the legislative arm of government.

    “All we have agreed today is that we will use these numbers as a functioning whole to determine the leadership of the Senate in a way that we are not going to go to the floor of the Senate and allow the opposition dictate who becomes the Senate president.

    “Because we have a comfortable majority to drive that, what we have to do is to manage that majority.’’

  • Ndume to consult colleagues over Senate president

    The “endorsement” of Senator Ahmed Lawan and House of Representatives Leader Femi Gbajabiamila by the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Senate President and House Speaker in the Ninth National Assembly may not have gone down well with every member.

    Senator Ali Ndume (Borno South), one of the senators eyeing Senate President, yesterday described the APC nod to Lawan as unconstitutional.

    He was reacting to reports that APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole announced the endorsement of Lawan and Gbajabiamila as the party’s candidates for the two exalted positions.

    According to him, he consulted widely and was given the go-ahead by party leaders to vie for the position.

    He insisted that the Constitution stipulates the procedure for the election of the Senate President.

    To him, the best thing for the party to do is to zone the slot of Senate President to a geo-political zone and allow the zone to make its choice.

    Ndume, who said he was not desperate for the position, plans to consult his colleagues on the way forward.

    Ndume said: “We were surprised on Monday when the national chairman of our party told us a decision had been taken to adopt Ahmad Lawan as candidate from the Northeast for the position of the President of the Senate.

    “The reason why I am shocked and I am sure that is the feeling of my colleagues, is that the constitutional provision for the emergence of the leadership of the Senate is clearly spelt out.

    “Section 51 (a) of the Constitution says that “there shall be a Senate President and Deputy Senate President who shall be elected by members of the House “.

    “Section 1 of the Constitution clearly states that ‘this Constitution is binding on all Nigerians and government agencies’.

    “It went further to say that any other law that contravenes the provision of the Constitution is null and void.

    “As a party that is supposed to be democratic and as a government that insists on allowing due process to prevail, this is strange. A candidate of APC normally emerges by one of three means, namely- consensus, indirect elections and direct primaries.”

    Ndume said he had tried his best and was “leaving this to God and those who elected me. I am going home to consult with elders who gathered themselves and asked me to contest. I will consult with them and then take a final decision.

    “The party has taken a decision.  I ultimately wait on the decision of Almighty God and my colleagues. That is what I will say for now.”

    Asked to explain what he meant by waiting for his colleagues to decide his fate, he said:  ”You should not be confused. The constitution is clear. It says the Senate shall elect its president and deputy.

    Read also: Buhari, APC chiefs endorse Lawan for Senate President

    “Like I said, my decision to contest for the position of the Senate President is not personal. Even my colleagues encouraged me to run. Not just the elected ones. They said I should vie for the position.  Even then, the party didn’t say it had elected Ahmad Lawan.  It only said it has nominated Lawan.”

    “I am not the one saying this. It is the decision of my colleagues.  I am one of those offering themselves to contest for the position.  I can’t even nominate myself.  Someone has to nominate and second me.

    “I can’t say that a candidate has been imposed on us. The decision is now left for my colleagues.”

    Ndume said: “I am not desperate.  I remain committed to the ideals and principles of President Muhammadu Buhari because he has been my mentor.  I don’t have a godfather, but I am a party loyalist.”

     

  • Lessons of 2019 elections

    The recent general elections underscored a collective progression to political stability and democratic consolidation. Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the importance of the exercise and implications for the polity.

    Public consciousness is growing. The electorate is waxing stronger in their capacity for wise choices during elections. Many observers contend that future polls may get better since blind voting may continue to give way.

    The recent general elections were an eye-opener. The presidential election lacked a predictive value in some states. While voters endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari in some states, they turned their back on the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors.

    The candidates were on the weighing scale on poll day. Many of them lost at their polling booths, units,wards and local governments.

    A veteran journalist, Bayo Onanuga, pointed out that the power of social media was over-exergerated during the electioneering. Those who dominated the social media campaigns got fewer votes.

    Also, the endorsement of candidates by ethnic organisations paled into futility. Many big wigs fell as they were rejected by local voters during the parliamentary and governorship elections.

    The poll revealed that President Buhari’s strength lay in the power and influence of local voters from his native North.

    For the first time in Nigeria’s electioneering history, 73 individuals vied for the country’s presidency. For the first time also, Nigerians had to vote not with their thumbs but with any finger; to prevent “ink spilling into the box meant for another party”, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    At the end of the day, just one winner was expected – even if the contest went into a run-off.

    On Wednesday, February 27, Chairman of INEC, Prof Yakubu Mahmood, declared President and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari, winner of the election, having fulfilled the legal requirement of winning not only the highest number of votes (15,191,847), but also at least 25 per cent of the votes in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states. Indeed, he scaled this hurdle in 34 states. The candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Nigeria’s Vice President from 1999 to 2007, Atiku Abubakar, came second with 11,262,978 votes.

    Atiku has vowed to legally challenge the results because of alleged irregularities; even as local and international observers have affirmed the overall credibility of the elections despite pockets of violence in a few states and, in the words of the European Union Elections Observation Mission (EU EOM), some “operational shortcomings”.

    Without any iota of doubt, this is his right. There is, however, a growing consensus that he should rather concede defeat, for the common good.

    What Nigeria needs now is an intensification of its economic diversification, scaling of its infrastructural drive and fortification of its territories against insurgency.

    Even as several Western media may have concluded that President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election is as a result of his honesty, integrity, there are evidences that Nigerians believe that there is need for at least four more years for the administration to finish the projects being undertaken across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. As experience has shown, a new government often means abandonment of projects. To the credit of the Buhari Administration, it has been completing many projects abandoned for many years by previous successive governments. And, even so, with much less resources.

    Prior to the elections, while urging Nigerians to make a “sensible choice” of retaining President Buhari, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola, had said: “Fundamentals of the economy are heading in the right direction. What we need to do is to consolidate on that.”

    Indeed, according to the latest report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), issued a few days to the presidential election, before it was postponed for a week, many of the economic indices showed positive performances. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at about 2.38 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018. The growth in real terms (year-on-year) rose from about 1.81 per cent in the previous quarter of the year. Good performance, though, economists warned that more needed to be done to stem unemployment. One good reason why there must be consolidation.

    Read also: Buhari, APC chiefs endorse Lawan for Senate President

    In sectors such as agriculture, which recorded annual GDP growth of about 14.27 per cent, higher than 11.29 per cent recorded in 2017.

    The sector contributed about 23.08 per cent to nominal GDP in Q4 of 2018, as against 21.93 per cent in the corresponding period in 2017.

    Nigeria’s drive to be self-sufficient in the production of rice is being relentlessly pursued. Indeed, according to the Africa Rice Center, Africa’s foremost research organisation on rice, with its production of 4 million tonnes a year, Nigeria now ranks the highest producer of rice in Africa.

    Manufacturing recorded 10.11 per cent in the last quarter of 2018, as against 8.53 in the corresponding period in 2017 and third quarter performance of 2018.

    Manufacturing PMI, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which had, for many months, recorded expansions rose, to an all-time high of 61.10 in December 2018, although it fell to 57.1 in February 2019.

    In his 2019 State of the Union address President of the United States of America, Mr Donald Trump admonished opposing parties to  rejection “the politics of revenge, resistance, and retribution” and embrace “the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise, and the common good.”

    For all contestants to various elective offices in Nigeria’s political season, this should be the mantra.

    The last words should go to President Muhammadu Buhari: “The new Administration will intensify its efforts in Security, Restructuring the Economy and Fighting Corruption. We have laid down the foundation and we are committed to seeing matters to the end. We will strive to strengthen our unity and in-clusiveness so that no section or group will feel left behind or left out.”

     

  • Ignore Yeeh’s rantings, Cole tells Rivers’ people

    Rivers State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Tonye Cole has urged the people to ignore the vituperations of deputy governorship candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Akpo Yeeh, who resigned on Monday and joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Cole, through the spokesman of his campaign organisation, Ogbonna Nwuke, said Yeeh’s view was skewed by the money he got from Governor Nyesom Wike.

    He said: “It is pertinent to note that neither the APC nor the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has interfered with the internal organisation of the AAC. We know that Yeeh, whose appetite for sudden wealth has overtaken reason, is not the author of the script that he read in his Port Harcourt residence on Monday.

    “We sympathise with Yeeh, a self-avowed young politician, whose hunt for a meal ticket has led him to mortgage his conscience for a mess of porridge. It is laughable that the crafted statement delivered claims that the Minister of Transportation insisted he would appoint 90 per cent of the commissioners, 23 local government chairmen, in an undated resignation address served to the public.

    “We are not shocked by the lies that Yeeh served the public to put food on his table. “Wike and other PDP leaders are determined to steal the people’s mandate through bribery of officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other institutions. Institutions that Wike and other PDP leaders have been unable to bribe – Army, Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and the APC – are understandably at the apex of their criticisms.

    “It is obvious that what is critical at this time is the quest to deliver unto Rivers people, a government that is transparent, accountable, responsible, focused and committed to their welfare.

    Read also: Rivers PDP, AAC row over alleged N3b offer

    “We state unequivocally that political parties enjoy the right to enter into coalition with any party of their choice, to form a government of state or national unity, which will deliver dividends of democracy and serve the people’s interest.

    “In desperation, Wike, PDP and its leadership are taking their frustration on the Minister of Transportation. Actual power belongs to the people of Rivers State. All that the Minister has is one vote; those other votes which have threatened the power base of Wike and making him restless have been cast by the people who have grown tired of a rascal administration and a NEW vision that is skewed…”

  • Nigerians watching Kwara, say Buhari/Osinbajo groups

    Groups, supporters and loyalists of the All Progressives Congress in Kwara State (APC) have celebrated the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari, his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo and Governor-elect AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq at the just concluded elections.

    Leading the celebration was the Buhari/Osinbajo Continuity Agenda (BOCA) in conjunction with other support groups at the national level.

    Speaking during the event, the state Coordinator of BOCA, Hajia Hafsat Bimpe Byll, said the whole country is watching the governor-elect “to see what he will achieve, having won the elections”.

    Hajia Byll: “For Kwarans, the victory is very symbolic in the history of the state politics, as no party has ever recorded a landslide victory across all the three senatorial zones. This is indeed a revolution by the people that  led to the great victory.

    “We hereby implore all Kwarans to give maximum support to the incoming administration to move the state to greater heights so that the struggle for freedom and victory would not be in vain. “

    Read also: Rivers PDP, AAC row over alleged N3b offer

    The coordinator hailed the re-election of President Buhari and Prof. Osinbajo at the polls, adding this achievement has made them game-changers in the history of the country’s politics.

    “For the first time, Nigeria conducted elections without acrimony. The president and his vice not only won, the election was also free and fair to which the international community testified. This achievement is an eye opener for all Nigerians to know that it is possible to have elections without unnecessary expenses by government and individuals.

    “Let it be on record that the success of APC in Kwara State and across the country can be ascribed to the milestone achievements of the Buhari administration in the various sectors.”

  • 9th NASS: Christian association tells APC, Buhari to balance appointments

    Christian Youths Alliance of Nigeria (CYAN) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to be conscious of the need to balance the appointments across religious divides to avoid marginalization.

    The group noted that with the trend of development and arrangement of the ruling party, there is possibility  of having Muslims as the President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Chief Justice of Nigeria.

    Already we have the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the president who are Muslims and if the body language of the APC Chairman Adams Oshiomole and other stakeholders is anything to go by, there is possibility of having  Senator Ahmed Lawan another  muslim  as Senate President and Dr. Femi Gbajabiamila, Muslim, as the Speaker of the House of Representative

    In a press statement signed by the Coordinator, Jude Adetunji and Secretary, Hassan Blessing, the group maintained that Nigeria is a secular state with people from different religion backgrounds and should be properly represented in the scheme of things.

    Read also: ‘I’ll not accept appointment from Buhari’

    “Though credibility is important, but there are other Christians who are equally credible and capable of running the affairs of the National Assembly and other key position in the government”.

    “Marginalizing other religions should be guided against by the president who claims to belong to everybody”.

    “This call is not against any religion but to sensitize Nigerians on the need to support balanced appointment and equal treatment.

    While congratulating President Buhari on his re-election, the group urges the President and his team to stem the tide of killing of innocent Nigerians in some states and ensure adequate safety of lives and properties of everybody in the country.

    They however urge Christian leaders not to relent in their advocacy for peace and progress of the nation.

     

  • 25 elected Kebbi lawmakers receive certificates of return from INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has presented Certificates of Return to the 25 newly-elected House of Assembly members in the concluded general elections in Kebbi State.

    The certificates were presented by the state Resident Electoral Commission (REC), Alhaji Muhammad Mahamud, in Birinin Kebbi on Tuesday.

    Mahamud urged elected lawmakers to provide dividends of democracy to the electorate in the state.

    Red also: ‘Wike never offered AAC’s guber candidate N3b to drop ambition’

    The members Alhaji Isa Rukubalo representing Yauri constituency and Alhaji Samaila Bui representing Arewa constituency, who spoke on behalf of the others, promised to provide dividend of democracy for their constituencies.

    Rukubalo noted that the victory would provide opportunity to consolidate on the social economic development of Kebbi State.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) won all the 25 constituencies in the state. (NAN)

  • ‘Wike never offered AAC’s guber candidate N3b to drop ambition’

    The Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Emma Okah, on Tuesday, stated that Governor Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) never offered the governorship candidate of African Action Congress (AAC), Biokpomabo Awara, N3 billion or any sum to drop his governorship ambition.

    Okah, who doubles as the Director of Information and Communications of PDP Campaign Council in Rivers, alleged that AAC’s standard-bearer had mastered the art of telling lies, since the All Progressives Congress (APC) adopted his party in the state.

    The 40-year-old Awara, an engineer, who hails from Kula-Kalabari in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers, while addressing reporters in Abuja, disclosed that he earlier turned down N3 billion that Wike offered him “some days ago,” through the governor’s associates, but he maintained that his running mate, Akpo Yeeh, 67, an Ogoni, resigned on Monday and defected to PDP, after he collected Wike’s N200 million bribe.

    Rivers information commissioner said: “The allegation is childish and ridiculous. Does he know the weight of N3 billion? Where will the governor get such money to give anybody as bribe to win an election that he has already won? What did Awara do or will do that will make the governor offer him such money? Is it for the lies he tells or the election he contested and failed? Even though lying is part of the APC, Awara is running faster than his masters in learning the art of falsehood.

    “Awara stands before history to elect between darkness and light and whichever course he chooses will have political implication for the rest of his life. Awara is advised to toe the line of honour mapped by his deputy, Elder Akpo Bomba Yeeh, and free himself from the yoke of standing before history to answer questions which his inordinate ambition has inflicted on the state.

    Read also: Ignore vituperations of defecting Yeeh in Rivers – Tonye Cole

    “How will Awara explain to God and men of goodwill that he does not care about those that died during the governorship and House of Assembly elections; robbing Rivers people their right to choose the governor they like and indeed, the huge economic toll the state has to bear as a result of his recklessness in wanting to serve the wrong master at the wrong time and at all costs?”

    Okah also assured AAC’s governorship candidate that unless he responds in full to the weighty issues raised during Monday’s news conference by his defecting running mate, a huge burden would contiue to hover over his (Awara’s) head.

  • Group to APC: give NASS leaders to all zones

    The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been urged to be guided by fairness and justice in the zoning of leadership positions in the 9th National Assembly.

    Justice Advocacy Group said fairness on the path of the party leadership would ensure each geopolitical zone is rewarded in accordance with its contribution to the just concluded general elections.

    The advocacy group also argued the consideration of all regions would eliminate a repeat of the situation that led to the relegation of party supremacy to the background by certain lawmakers that contributed largely to a frosty relationship between the executive and the 8th National Assembly.

    In a statement on Tuesday by its coordinator, Akintunde Lawal, the group noted such nationalistic stand on fairness and equity in the distribution of resources is strongly supported by the nation’s constitution as well as APC’s constitution.

    The statement reads: “Now that APC has won the elections, the critical issues should be how the APC will deliver to the electorates the dividends of democracy.

    “So what the party leaders need to do is to allocate key offices to respect geopolitical sensitivity and standing among geopolitical zones.

    “We should guide against the crisis that characterized the 8th assembly.

    “The in-coming legislature cannot afford any unnecessary feisty political relationship with the executive and to forestall this, the APC leadership must do what is right.

    “There must be justice and fairness as enshrined in the constitution of the party and Nigerian constitution.

    “As it is now, the North West has the President while the South West has the Vice President and the National Leader of the APC leaving four zones bare.

    “So it is incumbent on the party to reflect political balancing in considering the leadership of the 9th Assembly”.

    Saying that all the zones must be considered on the basis of equity as enshrined in the APC constitution, the group noted that such decision would also be in support of the Constitution.

    It added: “In the just concluded Presidential election the North West APC comprising seven states produced 5, 995, 651 representing 72.45 percent  of the votes cast; North East comprising six states produced 3,238,783 votes representing 74.36 percent; North Central comprising six dates produced 2,465,599 votes representing 54.92 percent; South West comprising six states produced 2,036,450 votes representing 53.41 percent; South East comprising five states produced 403, 968 votes representing 19.26 percent and South South comprising six states produced 1,051,396 votes representing 32.01 percent.

    “If APC goes to election of principal officers in the National Assembly) with a divided house, it will be detrimental not only to the party but the 9th Assembly.

    “It must be noted that a divided APC will be very vulnerable and the opposition parties can spring surprises during the elections yet again suggesting that the APC would not have allowed experience to be the best teacher.

    “President Buhari and the leadership of the party will do well to consider the implications of a repeat of the scenario of the last four years.”