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  • APC is unfair, says Wike

    APC is unfair, says Wike

    The Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Nyesom Wike, has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of being unfair to the people.

    He spoke yesterday at Wards 12 and 14 in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.

    Wike said: “Democracy is about service to the people. It is the use of God-given opportunity to improve the living condition of the people.

    “What we have in Rivers State is a dysfunctional administration which is premised on the oppression of the people and the illegal acquisition of the people’s resources.”

    He said he would fund the renovation of the home of an Ikwerre icon, Obi Wali.

    The Rivers State PDP governorship candidate said he would construct internal roads in Wards 12 and 14, build markets for the critical communities of the wards and develop basic amenities for the people.

    He charged the people to vote President Jonathan and all other PDP candidates for the people to benefit from the tenets of transformation agenda.

    The Rivers State PDP Governorship Candidate had meeting with traditional rulers of the wards visited, where he received traditional endorsements.

  • Why PDP ‘ll fail in Lagos, by APC chieftain

    Why PDP ‘ll fail in Lagos, by APC chieftain

    The Lagos State People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has been advised to work towards getting one or two seats in the House of Assembly instead of dissipating its energy and resources on the governorship election.

    All Progressives Congress chieftain Hon. Nicholas Ajayi, who gave this advice, said such a strategy would help the party to build structures in the state.

    The APC chieftain also urged the PDP to form a formidable and constructive opposition that would help the APC government deliver more services to the people.

    Ajayi said the people of Lagos State will vote massively for the APC, adding that the party will win with over 70 per cent of votes in the governorship election.

    “There’s no doubt about it. Lagos is an APC state; the people of Lagos believe in the APC and they are going to vote massively for the party. I am not excited about the victory, I am more concerned about what comes after the victory, how do we really accomplish our promises to the people because this is what we would be judged in 2019,” he said.

    Ajayi said there is no way the PDP would win the governorship, because the party does not even have a counselor or a local government chairman.

    He said: “The party does not have a member of the state House of Assembly, a member of the Federal House of Representatives and a senator. It does not have the required structures.

    “That I am good in character and indeed, do not have a place in electoral votes, there must be a platform. The reality is that there’s no PDP in Lagos State. The PDP exists only in time of elections; I advise them to strategise properly to become relevant. They are not relevant; they don’t exist.”

    Ajayi said the APC has set a very high standard, adding that at this point in time, there is no need to experiment. He said what is required is consolidation on the achievements that have been made so far.

    Ajayi said that the Babatunde Raji Fashola administration has set a very high standard that today many governors in the country, including the PDP governors, are emulating such standards.

    He added: “Before this time there was no index for measuring the performance of governors in the country, but today, governors are measured by the number of schools they build, roads, hospitals and other infrastructural and developmental facilities.

    “These are the things that the APC government has brought into the Nigerian polity as dividends of democracy. I doubt if a PDP government in Lagos State can deliver such because for a very long time they have not come into governance.”

    He said that the candidacy of Akinwunmi Ambode, the APC governorship candidate, has a lot of practical experience that would help take the state to the next level.

    According to Ajayi, the standard which the present administration has set is so high that it would be expected that the next governor would try to outdo and deliver the dividends of democracy and good governance better than what the predecessor had done. He added that Ambode is coming to consolidate what has been actualised by Governor Fashola

  • Hate speech: APC to file complaint against First Lady to ICC

    The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation (APCPCO) will on Monday file a formal complaint against First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, for allegedly calling on PDP supporters to “stone” anyone who come to the state asking for change.

    The letter of complaint signed by Rivers State Governor and Director General of APCPCO, Rotimi Amaechi, will be dispatched to the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Inspector General of the Nigeria Police (IG) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), among others.

    According to Governor Amaechi, “Change, as the entire country must know by now, is the slogan of the APC – the rallying cry of a political party that wishes to bring hope of greater and better things to come for Nigeria and Nigerians. By her statement, Mrs. Jonathan was clearly calling on PDP supporters in Calabar to attack supporters and campaigners of the APC in the state.”
    The APCPCO in a statement by its Director of Publicity Garba Shehu likened some of Mrs. Jonathan’s statements and conduct during this political campaign season, to those of Mrs Simone Gbagbo, wife of the former president of Cote D’Ivoire, Laurent Gbagbo, prior to that country’s 2010 election.

    ” Mrs. Jonathan does not occupy any formal office in the Nigerian government, as the position of First Lady is not recognized by the Nigerian constitution. But Mrs. Gbagbo’s case shows the ICC’s awareness of how someone beyond formal governmental and military hierarchies can be identified as responsible for serious international crimes.”

    The APCPCO pointed out that Mrs. Jonathan’s incontrovertible hate speech not only contravenes the laws of the land, but also goes completely against the Abuja Peace Accord jointly signed by the two presidential candidates, General Muhammadu Buhari and President Goodluck Jonathan – a gesture which is aimed at forestalling violence before, during and after the 2015 elections.
    “PDP supporters in the state who may not know better could easily yield themselves to the First Lady’s admonition and embark on a process of wanton stoning and other attacks against APC members,” Governor Amaechi said.
    The APCPCO also called on the Nigeria Police to put in place emergency measures to protect the life and property of APC members in Calabar and the entire Cross River State.

  • Fed Govt recent actions, election-propelled – APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the recent acts of governance by President Goodluck Jonathan as too little, too late and election-propelled to convince Nigerians to vote for him and his party in the forthcoming polls.

    ”Mr. President, you cannot undo, in six weeks, the glaring instances of cluelessness, incompetence and near total lack of governance that your administration has exhibited in the past six years, even if you move Aso Rock to the South-west or bribe every Nigerian with the proceeds of corruption,” the party said in a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

    ”Your Administration-sanctioned smear campaigns against APC leaders, your obscenity-laden meeting with youths, your offer of jobs to 167 out of over 40 million unemployed youths, and your temporary relocation to the South-west where you believe your naira and dollar rain will translate to votes are all belated and of no effect,” it said.

    APC said all the President’s latter-day efforts went up in smokes on Saturday when over one million Nigerians marched through the streets of Lagos in support of change, even as a hurriedly-organized, pretend march led by the President in Abuja failed to distract from the success of the Lagos march, as envisaged by the organizers.

    The party said its latest opinion poll on the forthcoming elections shows that Nigerians have already made up their minds regarding which party they will vote for, even before the six-week postponement of the elections, which was orchestrated to allow the sinking PDP and its candidates at all levels to recover from the dizzying effect of the daily blows being dealt on them by Nigerians.

     

    It said a President who was playing dirty politics while over 15,000 Nigerians were being murdered by the evil Boko Haram cannot now expect to reap from a sudden resurgence in the fight against the terrorists.

    ”Mr. President, you had all of six years to secure the lives and property of Nigerians, provide jobs, improve the economy, give Nigerians constant power supply and curb corruption, but you did none of those things.

    ”Under your watch, Mr. President, the economy has virtually collapsed with the US dollar now exchanging for over 220 Naira, the highest ever, millions of youths are roaming the streets even as your government fleeces them from time to time over phantom jobs, industries are collapsing in droves, Nigerians are more divided than ever, many states and even the FG can’t pay workers’ salaries and corruption is at an all-time high as the looting of the public treasury has become the order of the day while Nigerians have never felt so insecure.

    ”It is amazing, therefore, how you can even think that six weeks of unprecedented bribery of individuals, pretend governance, and cash-induced occult-like ‘prayer’ sessions, among others, will turn the tide in your favour. Nigerians are not fooled by your antics, Mr. President. Your efforts are too little, too late,” APC said.

     

  • Lagos stands still for APC

    Lagos stands still for APC

    TENS of thousands of supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) brought Lagos to a standstill yesterday, walking from Maryland to the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, to demonstrate their solid support for the party in the coming elections.

    Speaker after speaker at the carnival-like event, which climaxed at the stadium, said this month will go down as a milestone in the country’s political calendar because it would mark the freedom of Nigerians from the bad governance and impunity.

    The National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu said the march from Maryland to Surulere, a distance of about 9.2 kilometres, was a march for change, to herald the month of March.

    He said the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) postponed the election from February 14 to March 28, as if March 28, which he alluded to as the day of reckoning, would not come.

    Tinubu said the ruling party postponed the election because it was afraid of being voted out of power.

    He said: “I thank all of you for heeding the call to walk for your freedom; for agreeing to march for change. This is the month of March. On February 14, we would have elected a new president to govern us! But, they changed it to March, right? Today, we are in the month of March and we are marching for that change that we desire. We are marching for Buhari and Osinbajo; we are marching for common sense revolution!”

    Tinubu said Nigerians are fed up with the PDP, which has ruled the country for the last 16 years, but has nothing to show for it. He sang a song in Yoruba, alluding to the fact that Nigerians have persevered with the ruling party for a long time, but have no light to iron their clothes.

    Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State said Nigerians will send President Jonathan back to his Otuoke, Bayelsa State village, with their votes and that they will drive the PDP away at all levels during the general elections.

    Senator Gbenga Ashafa, who represents Lagos East at the Senate, said it is obvious that the ruling party has been trying to intimidate the electorate not to vote for the candidates of their choice.

    “Will you be intimidated? Are you ready to vote APC?” he asked those at the rally.

    The Lagos State governorship candidate of the party, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, said the APC has proved a point by undertaking the event dubbed the one million-man march.

    He said: “We said we would do a one million-man march and we did it. Beyond those of us that marched on the streets, others are glued to their television sets, watching this event. Nothing will stop our destiny; we do everything possible, spiritually and otherwise, to make the desired change possible.”

    Members of the APC across the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) participated in the march. Political office holders and candidates in the forthcoming general elections and their supporters also took part in the march. Besides, thousands of residents lined up the street, along Ikorodu Road, to cheer them.

  • Jonathan’s comment on Chibok girls callous, morbid, says APC

    Jonathan’s comment on Chibok girls callous, morbid, says APC

    THE All Progressives Congress (APC) is appalled by President Goodluck Jonathan’s recent statement that the Chibok girls are still alive because Boko Haram would have displayed their bodies if they had been killed.

    The party says the president’s comment is   callous, morbid and insensitive.

    In a statement yesterday in Lagos, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the party found the comment “deeply offensive to human sensibilities rather than providing hope and succour for the traumatised parents of the girls.”

    A key role of presidents everywhere in times of tribulations and tragedies, the APC pointed out “is to offer hope and be the Consoler-in-Chief, not to make statements that will deepen the suffering and sorrow of victims.”

    The party said: “one would have expected a president to speak on the basis of actionable intelligence, not some twisted, melancholic and offensive logic,”  adding that the president’s statement played on the fears of the parents of the girls and indeed of all Nigerians concerning the fate of the girls, “who have now been held in captivity for over 300 days, with an impotent government unable to rescue them.”

    It said all that the parents of the girls as well as all concerned people around the world want to know is what the Jonathan Administration is doing to bring the girls home safely and as soon as possible, not a depressing statement about their bodies being displayed via a video by Shekau if they had been killed.

    APC said President Jonathan should borrow a leaf from his Chadian counterpart, who came across as being very presidential in his comments on Shekau, in which he said: ‘’It is in Abubakar Shekau’s interest to surrender, we know where he is. If he refuses to give himself up, he will suffer the same fate as his comrades.’’

    It said the Chadian President’s statement  also contradicted the earlier claim by the Nigerian authorities that Shekau had been killed at least twice, the last of which was backed up with a ‘pictorial evidence’.

    The APC said: ‘’The Shekau that President Deby was referring to is the same Shekau that the Jonathan-led Administration claimed to have killed at least twice, and the same Shekau the same Administration is now seeking to capture alive.

    ‘’Mr. President (Jonathan), how many Shekaus do you want to kill or capture? Or is there a Shekau that is known only to your Administration?’’ APC queried.

  • ‘How South West will assess Jonathan’

    THE All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State says the people of the Southwest will assess President Goodluck Jonathan strictly by what he has done for them in his last six years in the saddle and not what he is now promising ahead of this month’s election.

    “That experience is the most painfully degrading that the Yoruba nation has ever had in the last half century. President Jonathan cannot therefore expect to be rewarded for this crime against the Yoruba people,” the party said yesterday in a statement in Osogbo.

    The APC Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi accused President Jonathan of sheer neglect of the geo-political zone.

    This, according to him, amounted to “sordid ingratitude and contempt for a people who did the most to help him become President.”

    He added: “All his ýpromises to the Yoruba people are empty and deceitful. Our people, not only know it, they feel it and they will act appropriately on. March 28, 2015.”

  • APC gives Nigerians a good option –Ashamu

    APC gives Nigerians a good option –Ashamu

    In this exclusive interview, Tony Ashamu, the Chief Executive Officer of Olive Group, who contested the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial ticket for Oyo Central, explains to the Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, the importance of the emergence of a strong opposition to Nigeria’s polity, pointing out that the envisaged change in Nigeria is very needful at the legislative arms. Excerpts

    You are a major player in the Nigerian business sector, what are you doing in politics?

    Yes, I can call myself a technologist and an entrepreneur but it is my passion for Nigeria that made me to come back to the country to set up a couple of businesses and to add value to what is already going on. Also, I am a part of the political discourse primarily because I want to ensure that we get good representation at the right places and that we make the right policies for the country Nigeria.

    As an active player, as one of the most visible All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial aspirants in Oyo State before the primaries, how would you assess the current political situation few weeks to the actual elections?

    Although as a partisan politician, I have preference for my party, the APC, I will first speak as a Nigerian and perhaps speak also as a partisan politician. So, speaking as a Nigerian, I believe there is nothing called democracy if it is just one political party. Here, it has always been the PDP. So, regardless of who the opposition is, it pays the constituents better. It’s like in business, if you have only one station selling petroleum products in the whole of the country, there is no competition. The owner can wake up one morning and say he is increasing the pump price to one million naira per litre. There is little anybody can do about it. But if you have an alternative, it is better. So, I think the emergence of an opposition party is a beautiful thing. Look at all the established democracies like America, the opposition is always strong. So, I think we need a two-party system in Nigeria at different levels. It does not have to be just the presidency. If the presidency is one party and the legislative arm is another party, it creates checks and balances and there is no maligning of one structure, which is what has been happening. The arrogance of a party to feel that Nigerians have no alternative must stop.

    As an APC steward, I want to say that I am very impressed in the contributions of my party within the past few months. At least a year or two years ago, only few, if any, could imagine that there would be a very strong opposition to PDP today like this. This is all about strategy. I am looking beyond ethnicity, I am looking beyond party lines; I am saying that before now, we knew that PDP was just the only party that we had, every other thing was just a joke. My point now is that APC being the alternative may not be the best, but it gives Nigerians a good option, which is why I am excited that we represent the progressive arm of the Nigerian political discourse. PDP is the elephant; the elephant is tired. They are powerful but tired. They are power drunk. They already have power and so do not want any change. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t even want PDP to die. I want them to make us contrite. Even if APC wins the presidential election, I will prefer a situation where PDP would be able to come and say, look, you guys are slacking on these issues; so let us do this, let’s do that.  Again, I don’t believe in the president coming in and just appointing all APC members as ministers and so on. No. They must be the best brains and you must lead the country, not just lead one party or one state or one region. The president must lead the country as a Nigerian.

    As a major player in Oyo State politics, how would you describe the effect of the emergence of the two strong political parties to the politics of Oyo State, taking into consideration the power rivalry in the state PDP and the myth that no one is ever reelected governor in the state?

    I am of the strong belief that the myth that Oyo people do not elect anybody for a second term is about to change. This is because someone has finally come to the arena to show them what was not possible. It’s no joke; it’s no folktale. Go to Ibadan and see the transformation that has happened there. I am saying today that this governor has performed. It is the same in Lagos State. I am therefore saying this with so much conviction that PDP or any other party today saying that want to take over Lagos is a joke. It is a joke because people are seeing a system that is working. This is the cradle stone of a system that is working. See what is going on in Eco Atlantic. So now you want to change such a system when you have not shown them an alternative. Yes, go to Ibadan, go to Oyo State; people or critics can talk about stomach infrastructure; they can say that money is no longer shared like before, but you are seeing infrastructure, you are seeing your area turned into something better and that is what really matters.

    But are you not worried that this same issue about stomach infrastructure cost APC the governorship seat of Ekiti State?

    Stomach infrastructure is a phrase that is here to stay in Nigeria but to say that Fayemi was not a good governor is a lie. But we have heard about the tape; I have listened to the tape on what happened in Ekiti. Let’s assume that Ekiti election was free and fair; the people got what they deserved. If what they want is a governor that can give them ten, ten Kobo, so that they can come back tomorrow and not someone that can plan for 10 years, 20 years from now and invest on their kids, you will agree they got what they deserve. But if the Ekiti situation is a reference point, how come they were not able to replicate it in Osun State?

    You participated in the campaigns before the primaries, how would you assess the campaign rhythm for this 2015 election?

    My dream was never to become a politician. I am a businessman and an employer of labour. Before now, politics in Nigeria actually made me sick. But looking at involvement of people like me and looking at what is in the best interest of Nigerians, I can see that we need more entrepreneurs; we need more people that can create employment.

    Going back to what I feel about the campaign rhythm, especially when it comes to Oyo State; while going from house to house, we learnt that a lot of people didn’t want to be involved. So, what excites me about our campaign is that we were able to get these people involved; people that had lost hope. One of our key mantras was that we were going to create 10,000 jobs in four years as a senator and we had the plans to achieve that with the numbers to match. This involvement of intellectuals, they see it as a ray of hope in Nigerian politics. So, I am saying that we need more educated Nigerians and people are yearning for it. You see, if you send someone that barely has primary school education to the House or the Senate, or someone that has hardly done anything in his life except having the right friends and connection, what will such an individual do to better the lots of the people that are suffering? So, I think people want more incursions of sensible intellectuals that can change the course of this nation and that is the yearning that I see and that it what gives me hope that what Nigerians want is possible.

    And would you say the texture of the current campaigns of the major candidates and parties; the messages in the campaign advertorials and the focus reflect your ideal campaign in an age like ours?

    It is not because they are not issue based. What we are seeing are more of character assassinations. Unfortunately our people are used to this. But this is the point; finally, we have over 70 million Nigerians registered to vote. It is a major progress and this is what I am saying. Before now, democracy was a joke to most people because they believe that the result has already been decided. I think this is the first time we are going to have a real election because of what INEC has done. So, I want to give Professor Attahiru Jega some kudos because with this biometric system, where you must thumb print before you use your PVC, people now believe that your vote now counts. It changes everything; it gives people the power to bring on board the kind of people they want.

    Unfortunately, in our campaigns all we see remain character assassination. I still hear people talk from left to right that I will do this; I will do that, with no numbers to it; no plan on how to achieve it. It’s just a dream. So, what we see in papers or on television are unfortunate. Who cares if a president will die in two days? Can you guarantee if you will live to see tomorrow? So, why is anybody making this a front burner and spending so much money to confuse Nigerians? What are your plans for Nigeria; how will your presidency or governorship better the lots of the people of Nigeria? These should be the focus of our campaigns.

    You are a very successful businessman, who can easily vie for other offices, why did you choose to go to the senate. You talk about change; do you think the senate is where you and the type of change you envisage should begin? Why did you choose the senate?

    For change to happen in a democracy, you need the House of Representatives and the Senate, the legislature to pass bills into laws. But when people talk about problems in Nigeria, they only point to President Goodluck Jonathan at the presidency; they hardly talk about the legislature. Is the problem really the presidency or there is what is called separation of powers. There is the executive, the legislature and the judiciary which must checkmate each other. Yes, the president who exercises the executive power can veto but everything emanates from the legislature. Lawmakers are supposed to be forward thinkers of Nigeria. So, the legislature is more important than the presidency when it comes to effective change. To me, the legislature is the right place to represent the interest of the grassroots. That is where we need more enabled and intelligent Nigerians to be part of.

    Considering the known powerful forces that backed you, you were considered a front runner for Oyo Central Senatorial ticket but you suddenly opted out at the last minute. What happened, are you not hurt considering the huge resources you expended in the campaigns before the primaries?

    We are not prostitutes. I am in APC because of my ideological beliefs not necessarily because of getting tickets. Of course I had offers from different corners; come and take our ticket and run for the senatorial seat, but that will not show our good faith of building our party and our state. Look at Lagos State, all the people that contested for APC governorship ticket, including Hamsat, who came second and did wonderfully well, are still in APC. They believe in the party ideology. So, I believe that if you believe in the ideology of your party, you will remain no matter the current situation. As to whether I am not hurt because of the resources I expended, no, I am not hurt, I am not bitter because I believe politics is not a one day thing.

  • Nigerians in Canada support Buhari

    Nigerians resident in Canada have thrown their weight behind the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari, and his running mate, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo.

    The Comrade Ellas Abone- led Toronto chapter of the APC said what the country needed at this moment was change.

    Abone, who hails from Anambra State, said: “APC has emerged to reshape the future of the country, its political landscape and the future generation and to act in the best interest of our nation.

    “The true test of the Nigerian ideal is whether we are able to recongnise our failings and then rise together to meet the challenges of our time.”

    The secretary of the chapter, Yemi Adegbite, said Nigeria was in need of people with impeccable and trustworthy characters who could redeem the image of the country from the “bottom less pit.”

    He said the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had led the country astray, adding that the pair of Buhari and Osibanjo had come to salvage it.

    “We do not need another four years of corruption and directionless leadership of the present augmentation. The Diaspora will do everything within their reach in making sure that PDP and its visionless and clueless government is uprooted.”

  • 2015: ‘How South West will assess Jonathan’

    The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the people of the South West will assess President Goodluck Jonathan strictly on his performance in the last six years and not on the basis of his new promises ahead of the next presidential election.

    In a statement issued in Osogbo, the state capital, the party’s Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, accused the president for allegedly neglecting the zone and its people in the provision of dividends of democracy.

    This act, according to Osun APC, amounted to “sordid ingratitude and contempt for a people who did the most to help him become President.”

    The party added, “If in the last six years, President Goodluck Jonathan has down-graded the Yoruba from the first three positions to below the 15th in Nigeria either in political or civil service structure, and in particular, in Nigeria’s rating of expertise and valued contributions to the country’s development, then he does not deserve, and will not get the Yoruba votes this time around. All his promises to the Yoruba people are empty and deceitful; our people not only know it, they feel it and they will act appropriately on March 28, 2015.”