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  • I remain APC flag bearer in Niger east, says Senator-elect

    The Senator-elect for Niger East, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Musa has described news making round that the All Progressives Congress (APC) might have made a U-turn on his candidature as false.

    He said reports that the party has endorsed Senator David Umaru as the party’s flag bearer for the zone as false and an act of crass desperation.

    The report, he said, was a deliberate attempt to ignite crisis and set the state, especially Niger East senatorial district, on an avoidable and unnecessary political turmoil.

    The Senator-elect in a statement by a member of the Advisory Committee of Mohammed Sani Musa Campaign Council, Honorable Nma Kolo, said the publication titled: “Niger East: APC Makes U-turn, Backs David Umaru” was an impunity to upturn the collective will of the peace loving people of Niger East Senatorial district.

    “There is no iota of truth in the publication. It is another ploy to upturn the will of the people which was earlier declared at the party’s primary where the Senator-elect has emerged as the APC candidate and his overwhelming endorsement at the February 23 National Assembly election was a testament of the love his people have for him.

    “It will be foolhardy for Senator David Umaru to get what he lost at the party’s primary through the pages of newspapers.

    “Aside from the emergence of the Senator-elect as the flag bearer at the party through primary, the Federal High Court judgement also affirmed him as the bonafide APC candidate, a position that was further endorsed at a general election”.

    The statement further noted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had already recognised Mohammed Sani Musa as the Senatorial candidate before the elections.

    He added that the electoral body had in a letter dated 15th February, 2019 signed by Mrs. Rose Oriaram-Anthony, the Secretary of the Commission, directed the Niger state Resident Electoral Commissioner to remove Senator David Umaru as the Senatorial candidate of APC for Niger East Senatorial District.

    The letter, he added, instructed Umaru should be replaced with Musa in pursuant to a court order.

    Musa said: “Titled, “Forwarding of Commission’s Decision Pursuant to Order of Court in suit no FHC/ABJ/CS/140/2018 – Mohmmed Sani Musa V. APC& 2 Others”, the letter directed the REC to update the record and reflect it on the final list.

    “The truth of the matter is that Alhaji Mohammed Sani Musa, remain not only the APC candidate, he is also the Senator-elect for Niger East Senatorial District.”

    The Senator-elect called on his supporters to disregard any information contrary to the facts that have been on ground while urging perpetrators of such news to avoid means of igniting crisis in the state.

  • APC shows its strength with 65 elected senators

    SIXTY-FIVE of the 109 senatorial seats have been won by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The party looks set to dominate the Ninth Senate but it needs eight more slots to have a two-third majority when a New Senate opens in June.

    With the 65 seats, the APC will enjoy numerical strength and a simple majority in the Red Chamber.

    The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has clinched 39. The Young Progressive Party (YPP) won a senatorial seat in Anambra State.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the election inconclusive in three senatorial districts. As at the time of going to press last night, only one was yet to be declared by the electoral umpire.

    The 109 seats in the upper chamber of the National Assembly are made up of three senators from each of the 36 states. The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has a slot.

    The APC won 20 seats from the Northwest. The region has 21 slots from seven states. The PDP clinched the remaining sloth from Kaduna South.

    Of the 18 slots in the Southwest, 14 went to the APC. The PDP got three seats. The election in the Ondo South Senatorial District was declared inconclusive by the electoral umpire.

    In the Northeast, the APC clinched 14 slots. The PDP won four.

    The PDP won 15 seats in the Southsouth, leaving the remaining three for the APC. The APC won one  seat each in Bayelsa, Edo and Delta states.

    In the Southeast, the PDP won 10 seats. The APC took two. The Youth Progressive Party (YPP) won a seat in Anambra.   INEC, which declared election in one of the zones inclusive, has not released result in one district.

    In the Northcentral, the APC won 12 seats as against PDP’s five. The result from one district is yet to be declared.

     

  • Let’s unchain Benue from underdevelopment, APC tells voters

    The Benue State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the electorate to use their votes for the election of those concerned about the development of the state.

    The party hailed its leaders, officials, members and teeming supporters for trooping out last Saturday to cast their ballots in the presidential and National Assembly elections.

    In a statement yesterday in Makurdi, the state capital, by its Acting State Publicity Secretary, James Ornguga, APC said it was “impressed that resilient members and supporters came out in high spirits and voted genuinely with burgeoning enthusiasm while our opponents had resorted to primitive acts of rigging via massive thumb-printing without the use of Smart Card Readers and deliberate intimidation of our supporters across the state”.

    It added: “The party delights in the fact that despite the atrocious showing of the PDP, where our party agents were physically barred from accessing electoral materials and polling units, scoring zero votes for the APC, our supporters were keen on voting; the reason APC was able to lead in areas where genuine voting was done.

    “The party congratulates President Muhammadu Buhari, who clearly won Benue with a clear margin but was short-changed through mass rigging in Guma, Logo, Buruku, Gwer West and other local government areas.

    “Benue APC urges Mr. President to sustain the core mandate of his administration, which is anchored on economic development, security and aggressive fight against corruption.

    “We reiterate with full confidence that given a level-playing field, no political party can defeat APC in Benue State.

    “The party posits that it would study results of the shoddy electoral exercise of last Saturday and take appropriate actions as the process was marred by massive thumb-printing of ballot papers, deliberate refusal to use the Smart Card Reader and intimidation of APC supporters.

    “APC calls on members not to be demoralised nor deterred by glaring acts of injustice done to them in the just-concluded elections, with the full connivance and supervision of officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). We assure that the party would not risk a verisimilitude of that blatant rape, going forward.

    “We call on all our members and silent supporters, who are not interested in putting Benue State on the path of the opposition, to be superintended by an insincere regime to come out en masse and vote for APC governorship candidate, Mr Emmanuel Jime, and the House of Assembly candidates of our party, to end the misery of deliberate non-payment of salaries, pensions and gratuities, non-execution of projects, despite the accrual of over N400 billion to Benue State in less than four years, and the annoying media governance that Benue currently parades.

    “For the APC in Benue State, tough times do not last, but tough people do; this is the time to unshackle Benue from the manacles of docile leadership and deliberate underdevelopment.”

     

  • I’ll lift Lagos workers higher, Sanwo-Olu promises

    All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Thursday promised to make workers welfare his priority if elected.

    He spoke at a consultative meeting with civil servants at Alausa, the seat of power in Lagos.

    A tumultuous crowd of workers from all local government areas of the state converged on Adeyemi Bero Hall in Alausa to listen to the promises and programmes of the APC candidate.

    Workers’ welfare, Sanwo-Olu pledged, will be a priority of his administration if elected, promising that he would run a listening government to which every worker will have access.

    The governorship candidate, who was accompanied by his running mate, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, described the meeting as “a homecoming,” saying they were moved to tears, seeing the crowd of civil servants who welcomed them.

    Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat served as Commissioners in the state.

    He said: “We have developed our programmes to address the current challenges facing Lagos and also to set the template for the realisation of a Greater Lagos that will be the pride of the black race.

    “This is the message we have been telling 25 million Lagosians on the campaign trail.

    “To achieve these goals, we believe there is need for a knowledgeable public service that will drive these policies and programmes.

    “Our programmes will not be effectively implemented and our objectives achieved without the readiness of the public servants to work with us as the drivers of these policies and promises made to Lagosians.

    Read Also: Lagos artistes declare support for Buhari, Sanwo Olu

    “Most of our programmes will be technology-driven and we feel there is need to meet with you and prepare you ahead.”

    All the government offices, Sanwo-Olu assured, will be equipped with free Wi-Fi to promote seamless communications among government workers.

    He promised that his government would bring back international capacity building and training opportunities for workers but said the condition for selecting beneficiaries would be strictly be based on merit.

    Speaking on his plans to reposition the state economy, the APC candidate said his government would be investing in power to create a 24-hour economy, pledging improved security across the state to drive investment.

    For his government, Sanwo-Olu said implementation of the recently introduced minimum wage is non-negotiable, promising the workers’ salaries would not be delayed beyond 27th day of every month.

    He said: “I am using this opportunity to assure our hardworking civil servants that my government will fully implement the minimum wage.

    “You can trust me on this because I introduced the current minimum wage in the state when I was the commissioner.

    “I will run a listening government and every worker will have access to us.”

    The governorship candidate also promised not to abandon the projects started by the outgoing government, reassuring workers that his administration would improve on the achievements recorded by the current government.

    The Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, who led the workers to the event, described Sanwo-Olu’s programmes as “brilliant ideas”, pleading workers’ cooperation to achieve the goals.

    Also at the event included the Chairman of the party in Lagos, Hon. Tunde Balogun, and the Director-General of the Sanwo-Olu campaign group, Mr. Tayo Ayinde, among others.
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  • APC legal team to Atiku: we’re prepared for you

    The legal team of the APC Presidential Campaign Council has told the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar it was fully prepared to defend the President’s victory in court.

    Rising from an emergency meeting in Abuja, the legal team asked the former Vice President and all those who are not at peace with outcome of the Presidential election to seek redress in court as that was the only constitutional thing to do.

    In a communiqué by the Deputy Director, Legal, of the Council, Prof Mamman Lawan Yusufari, the APC legal team condemned the acts of violence that occurred in some parts of the country during the elections.

    It congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari for winning the 2019 presidential election and thanked Nigerians for their overwhelming support.

    It commended the presidential candidates, political parties and their support groups for their general respect for the law in the campaign activities,

    The team also commended INEC for conducting the presidential and National Assembly elections in substantial compliance with the law and condemn the few cases of violence in some parts of the country and calls on the appropriate authorities to deal with the perpetrators in accordance with the law,

    “We calls on interested parties who are not satisfied with the results of the elections to challenge same by following due process of the law and affirms its readiness to defend the resounding victory of President Muhammadu Buhari with all the legal expertise at its disposal,” it stated.

  • Group wants Akeredolu sanctioned for anti-party activities

    The mandate Group of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo state wants the state leadership of the party sacked and the state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu sanctioned for working against the interest of the party in the just concluded Presidential and national Assembly elections.

    The group which has been complaining that Governor Akeredolu was working against the interest of the party said Governor Akeredolu and the state party chairman actually worked for the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar in the election, attributing the PDP victory in the state to the anti-party activities carried out by the governor.

    The APC Mandate Group two weeks ago raised an alarm and accused Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of working against the APC and the re-election of President Buhari.

    Addressing newsmen at the APC national secretariat, the group’s Publicity Secretary, Comrade Olugbenga Bojuwomi, said they have evidence that governor Akeredolu did not vote for President Muhammadu Buhari and all APC candidates in the Feb. 23 Presidential and National Assembly elections.

    They accused the governor of destroying the APC in the state by creating faction called Aketi group and using Ondo NURTW to actualise it and has divided the perfect circle of Ondo APC into segments and further disintegrated the party called in the state.

    “Even the logistics given to Governor Akeredolu from Abuja was used against all the APC Candidates, including President Buhari in Ondo-State.”

    He said it was unfortunate that the APC national leadership failed to listen to the group’s earlier alarm on the anti-party activities of some of the party’s stakeholders in the state. We have raised several allegations against Mr. Governor; the pockets of violence that were recorded in his home-town (Owo) on the election day against APC loyalists confirmed our allegations.

    “While voting, Governor Akeredolu was sighted voting for PDP Presidential Candidate and his Action Alliance (AA) National Assembly Candidates, that is why AA won in his unit and local government respectively. It is evidently clear that the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu and Ondo APC Chairman Ade Adetimehin have no regard for the APC leadership and the Presidency. The duo has fought President Buhari to a standstill in Ondo state, we hereby call for the immediate dissolution of Ondo APC Executive,” he said.

    According to him, the APC Ondo state executive has become Governor Akeredolu’s stooge since his inauguration, adding that appropriate sanctions should be meted on the state Governor and the party’s state chairman if the APC would still have the grasp of Ondo state which he said was presently a PDP State.

    He, however, noted that it was clear that a few APC stalwart were loyal to the APC and President Buhari in Ondo State, going by the trend of the election result.

    He added that it was obvious that Sen. Ajayi Boroffice was a strongman of Ondo politics, despite the huddles, rigors and threat from political stakeholders toward his re-election bid.

  • Nigerians voted in favour of integrity, says Oshiomhole

    National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has said that Saturday election was a referendum between a man of integrity and a man without integrity, saying Nigerians loudly voted in favour of integrity.

    Oshiomhole also asked President Muhammadu Buhari to order security agents to fish out all those involved, or those who sponsored killing of innocent Nigerians who came out to vote in last Saturday elections.

    Read Also: Buhari thanks Tinubu, Oshiomhole, other Nigerians for victory

    Addressing a news conference at the party Secretariat in Abuja, Oshiomhole said the PDP Presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar who signed a peace accord going into the election knowing that only person will emerge winner of the election, but prefer to stand truth on its head by adducing reasons while he think the elections were rigged.

    Going into memory lane as to the records of votes scored by the PDP in previous election, he said the APC scored less than in the 2019 election than it did in 2015, describing Atiku as a poor student of statistical data.

    Details shortly…

  • Abdulrazaq to repeal law granting pensions to ex-governors, deputies

    Governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Thursday promised to repeal the law granting pensions to former governors and their deputies.

    This according to him would free up resources for the masses if elected into office.

    He urged the people to vote for him and all the APC candidates for the House of Assembly in the March 9 elections in Kwara.

    “We need to change some terrible laws. We’ll repeal that obnoxious pension law when we get to office,” AbdulRazaq said during his campaign stop at Omu Aran in Kwara South and again in Pategi in Kwara
    North.

    “It’s a privilege to become a governor of a state. It is dubious for anyone to become governor and then earn a pension more than people who served the state for their entire lives. We can’t take that anymore. But we need enough lawmakers to push through the repeal of the offensive law.”

    The Kwara state pension law for former governors and their deputies has continued to raise eyebrows, with the masses and civil servants often decrying it as unjust and a rip off to the state.

    Speaking at the rally, AbdulRazaq also said his administration will invest in security, local economy and youth empowerment in a bid to stamp out thuggery and bring government closer to the grassroots.

    “We need to work seriously. We need to revamp the economy of Kwara State. We need to bring jobs to our people. We need to address security issues. Instead of funding police, they arm thugs. We will help the police by offering assistance they need to secure our communities,” he added.

    He also vowed to join the efforts to grant full autonomy to the local government areas, insisting that is the only way to grow the local economy and halt the unhealthy exodus of people to the cities.

    AbdulRazaq is on a fresh round of campaign tours of all the senatorial districts of the state, beginning with the Kwara South on Tuesday and Wednesday and Pategi in the northern axis of the state.

  • APC candidate rejects Ikpoba-Okha/Egor results

    Candidate of the All Progressives Congress ( APC ) for Ikpoba-Okha/Egor Federal Constituency, Hon Ehiozuwa Agbonnayima, has rejected the results of the February 23 National Assembly elections.

    Hon Agbonnayima is the incumbent lawmaker representing the constituency.

    In the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Jude Ise-Idehen, won the election with 53,618 while Agbonayinma got 44,323.

    Speaking to newsmen in Benin City yesterday, Agbonnayima said reports from APC agents and independent observers from various Wards in the constituency established flagrant violations of the provision of the Electoral Act.

    Agbonnayima fingered Electoral Officers in the constituency of conniving with leaders of the People’s Democratic Party to rig the election.

    He said many persons were already confessing the roles they played to rig the elections.

    His words, “I won the election and I will not allow anybody deprived my people the right to quality representation.

    “We have it on good authority that in several Wards Collation Centres, the results were not collated and announced at the Units, Wards and local government collating centre which he said was contrary to Section 27 of the Electoral Act as amended.

    “In various Wards of Egor and Ikpoba-Okha, the Supervisory Presiding Officers (SPOs) and the Electoral Officers disappeared with unsigned result only to appear after long hours with the results still unsigned which negate the result announced.

    “There were cases of malpractices, manipulation of results by INEC staff and intimidation by some security agents.

    “It is clear from reports that majority of INEC officials were compromised. O hereby reject the result announced by INEC and will be challenging the result in court.”

  • APC gets two Reps, one senator in Bayelsa

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) won two House of Representatives and one Senate seat in Bayelsa State.

    APC candidate for Brass-Nembe Federal Constituency Isreal Sunny-Goli scored 41,150 votes to defeat Marie Ebikake of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 19,279 votes.

    In Southern Ijaw, Preye Oseke (APC) won with 56,804 votes to defeat PDP’s candidate and Speaker of the House of Assembly, Kombowei Benson, who scored 34,104 votes.

    APC candidate for the East Senatorial District Degi Wagara scored 43,303 to defeat the PDP candidate who polled 32,363 votes.

    The PDP, however won the remaining Senate and House of Representative seats.

    Agbedi Fredrick (PDP) polled 48,076 to win Ekeremor-Sagbama Federal Constituency. In Yenagoa-Kolokuma, Stephen Azaiki scored 51,639 while Fred Obua scored 12,048 votes to win Ogbia Federal Constituency,

    In Bayelsa East, Ewrudjakpor Lawrence scored 49,912 votes and Douye Diri got 83,978 to win Bayelsa Central.