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  • APC Scandinavia tips Buhari to win

    APC Scandinavia tips Buhari to win

    The Co-ordinator of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Scandinavia Lawal Ayoola has described the party’s presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, as the best man to make Nigeria a better place for all.

    Ayoola argued in a statement made available to The Nation that Buhari is the best candidate to provide the change desired by Nigerians, because he is a man of integrity that can be trusted to deliver on his promises.

    He said other Nigerians in the Nordic countries of Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Iceland, like himself, left their businesses to join the bandwagon for change because of the credentials of the party standard bearer.

    On the effects of the postponed elections, Ayoola noted that it sent a wrong signal to the international community. “The postponement is a very dangerous step for our democracy because it sent a wrong signal to Nigerians in Diaspora and the international community general,” he observed.

    The coordinator said Nigerians in Diaspora are not comfortable with the attitude of the present administration and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because “they tend to do things for personal interest without considering the ripple effects in a larger perspective.”

    He added: “I think they are very myopic in their thinking and this is one of the reasons why Nigerians should say no to this present administration”

    According to the APC coordinator: ”The general perspective in the Scandinavia is that if anything goes wrong in Nigeria, it may affect almost the whole world. This is a general view of the superpowers since Nigeria is the most populous black nation in the world.

    “When things are normal in your country, many foreign countries will be willing to trade with you, but otherwise, like it is now, expatriates will keep moving to other countries with stable economic outlook.”

    In a separate statement, Balogun Kamorudeen, Interim Secretary, APC Scandinavia, Finland Chapter, noted that political interference with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is totally unacceptable.

    Kamorudeen said: “It runs contrary to the principle of making INEC an independent electoral umpire, which had in a seven-hours meeting with the Presidency and the National Council of State assured on its readiness for the February 14 and 28 general elections.

    “In actual fact, the INEC chairman stated in a press conference that they have made provisions for displaced electorates in the Northeast to exercise their civic duties, towards electing their candidate of choice.”

    He also said that many Nigerians, civil society groups, human right activists, as well as the U.S. Department of State frowned at this unfortunate coup-like postponement, stressing that countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria and Iraq conducted general election despite facing more violence than Nigeria.

    While lamenting the current situation of things in the country, especially the insecurity and the alarming rate of corrupt practices among public office holders, Ayoola said: “We live in the paradise on earth, but we are always sad when we remember our country.

  • APC dismisses claim on Tinubu/Osinbajo

    APC dismisses claim on Tinubu/Osinbajo

    •Says it’s outlandish

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday dismissed as sickening and outlandish the claim by the Jonathan Campaign Organisation that the APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, plans to become Vice President through the back door in the event of the party winning this month’s election.

    The APC said the claim was merely designed by the PDP to divert attention from “the runaway success of the APC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, at the Chatham House in London last Thursday.”

    The APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said in a statement in London that the PDP and the Jonathan Administration “still do not have any answer to what has now become an epochal moment that has separated the wheat from the chaff.”

    Buhari’s  globally-acclaimed outing, Mohammed said, “has presented Nigerians, and indeed the global community, with a choice between a bumbling, ineffective, incoherent, clueless, visionless and incompetent President and an assertive, knowledgeable, dignified, purposeful and principled President-in-waiting.

    ‘’Having failed to discredit that outing with a rented crowd, some of whom confessed to have been paid to carry placards they do not even understand, the PDP and the Jonathan Administration have now resorted to making nauseating claims that are totally untrue, absolutely incomprehensible and nothing but sheer bunkum.’’

    APC said the claim is “the latest in a series of desperate moves by the PDP and the Jonathan Administration since the emergence of Gen. Buhari as the APC presidential candidate, and the clearest indication yet that they have no answer to the unstoppable momentum of a man of history.

    ‘’They have thrown everything imaginable at Gen. Buhari, but he has continued to wax stronger and stronger: They said he was not qualified, that he was too old, then they fabricated a medical report of an illness of their own choice, sponsored death wish adverts against him and instituted a myriad of court cases to stop him.

    “After they failed to stop him, they went after the election itself, using the PVCs as a tool to launch a campaign for postponement and, when they realised that would not work, came up with the bogey of insecurity in the North-east to force a postponement of the election, hoping they can buy enough time to revive their electoral misfortune.

    ‘’With everything working against them, they engaged in a show of shame at The Chatham House that backfired badly, on the heels of their bare-faced lies that Gen. Buhari was hospitalised in London. The preposterous claim of a secret oath – reminiscent of what they do in their own party – by the apparently ailing spokesman of the Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani-Kayode, is their latest desperate act.’’

    APC said in as much as it has so far refrained from engaging Fani-Kayode in his game of character assassination, abuses and irresponsible name calling, it is “becoming seriously concerned that he may be caving in under pressure and reverting to his undignified past.”

    The PDP had said Tinubu had made the APC presidential running mate, Professor Yemi Osinbajo swear to an oath to step down for him on assumption of office.

    In a separate statement on the allegation, the Coordinator of  the Buhari/ Osinbajo Presidential campaign organisation in Osun State, Senator Oyetunde Husain, said it was an indication of PDP’s  envy and fear of the political capacity of Tinubu.

    Husain said the allegation also “reflects the level of desperation and the effect of it on the thinking faculty of the managers of President Jonathan and the PDP.”

    He added: “the PDP is a party that has long abandoned its primary assignment of governance; they were busy inflicting hardship on the people and neglecting their welfare, while Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and other, were busy strategising daily on how to rescue Nigeria from the fangs of corruption, ineptitude and cluelessness.”

  • Chatham House: Buhari’s performance proves APC readiness to rescue Nigeria

    Chatham House: Buhari’s performance proves APC readiness to rescue Nigeria

    Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, has hailed the performance of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari at the lecture delivered at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), which, he noted, has further reinforced the readiness of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to rescue Nigeria from its current state.

    He said Buhari’s articulate presentation of the development agenda of the APC has shown that the party is prepared for the rescue mission to salvage Nigeria from underdevelopment.

    In a statement by his Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, the governor said Buhari’s presentations on the scourge of corruption and terrorism aptly captures the slogan of change being propagated by the APC.

    He said, “Nigeria has on her laps at the moment the tragedy of a party that has no idea of how to take the country out of the woods; a party and its government at a loss on how to confront the horror of terrorism, which is unfortunately fuelled by the poverty its anti-people policies have also bred and the endemic corruption which has been elevated to the level of state policy.

    “There is no doubt that the Jonathan administration is too fickle-minded to surmount the many areas of urgent needs which our people are craving for. This is why the clamour for change has attained this all-time high in the history of our country.”

    Congratulating Buhari and the party for a robust presentation, Aregbesola said after the Chatham House talk, even Buhari’s worst critics must have come to terms and embraced the positive change ideas that he and the APC represent.

    “Nigerians and the international community by now understand the determination of Buhari, the fecundity of his ideas and the clarity of his vision to take Nigeria out of the present morass,” he added.

  • PDP queries APC’s ‘undue interest in Jega’s case’

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said yesterday that it was disturbed by what it called the “undue interest “ of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the alleged plot to sack the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, before the coming elections.

    The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, wondered in a statement why the APC has been so loud in its opposition to the Jega-must, go-campaign.

    Top members of the PDP including President Goodluck Jonathan’s political godfather, Chief Edwin Clark, and the President’s campaign organisation, have openly called for Jega’s sack, blaming him for the postponement of the elections from February to this month and the next.

    Metuh called APC’s insistence on Jega’s retention on the job until the expiration of his term as “curious” and “feverish fixation.”

    He accused the APC of fabricating stories about plot to remove Jega.

    He said:”Undoubtedly, the frenzy, hysteria and spate with which the APC has been inventing stories regarding Prof. Jega’s stay in office even when nothing suggests that such was on the table, raise a lot of issues.

    “We ask, is there any underlining issue or arrangement between APC and Prof. Jega which the opposition is hell-bent to protect, informing its anxiety and apprehension towards his stay in office?

    “While it is noted that the APC is a party of one week, one lie, we in the PDP look beneath the surfaces to the deeper issues propelling the lies. We therefore challenge the APC to come out clean and tell Nigerians the real reason behind their false alarms and uncontrolled nervousness regarding Prof. Jega ahead of the 2015 general elections.

    “Finally, we wish to remind the leadership of INEC that Nigerians are monitoring its activities and series of unfolding political events ahead of the elections, and will not accept anything less than the conduct of credible, free and fair general elections come March 28 and April 11, 2015”.

    The PDP is uncomfortable with Jega’s insistence on using the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and card readers during the elections, preferring instead the use of the Temporary Voter Cards (TVCs).

    The PDP is also believed to have, through proxies, instituted no fewer than 14 court cases seeking the removal of the INEC chair and a ban on the use of the PVCs and card readers.

  • ‘APC will form next government in Delta’

    ‘APC will form next government in Delta’

    Chief Ede Dafinone, a renowned accountant, is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State. He spoke with Sunday Oguntola on the alleged marginalisation of the Urhobo nation and the chances of the party in the state. Excerpts: 

    WHAT informed the choice of Olorogun Otega Emerhor as the APC governorship candidate in Delta State?

    Olorogun O’tega Emerhor emerged as the governorship candidate of the APC in Delta State after a well-organised, free and fair primary. O’tega was the most qualified of all the candidates and the votes cast by delegates on the day reflected the overwhelming support he has within the APC family.

    Are you pleased with the place of the Urhobo ethnic group in the nation’s politics?

    I believe you are referring to the popular view held by many Urhobo that whilst the President is occupying his position as a Niger Deltan, the benefits to our zone appear to be centered very significantly on our Ijaw neighbours whilst other Niger Delta tribes, including the Urhobo, have been marginalised.

    In terms of appointments at the federal level, the Urhobo, as the fifth largest ethnic nationality, have clearly been short-changed. The good news is that the Niger Delta has been properly recognised as a political factor in the nation, Nigeria.

    How cordial is your relationship with Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru? Why do you choose to pitch your tent with Chief O’tega Emerhor instead of him in the governorship race?

     I have a very cordial relationship with Great Ogboru and indeed gave him very significant support in both the January and April elections of 2011.

     Ogboru has, however, contested unsuccessfully for the governorship in Delta State on four occasions and it is my view and that of my supporters that we should look for a candidate that can champion our cause to victory.

    O’tega Emerhor, with his track record of successes in the private sector, has the organisational capacity, humility, leadership experience and the support of well-meaning Urhobo to lead the APC to victory.

     The Urhobo nation appears divided now. Why is this so?

    The Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) is currently championing the cause of Urhobo unity under the passionate leadership of our acting President-General, Chief Joe Omene. Under the Uviamuge declaration, the UPU had taken a stand in 2013 that the Urhobo should produce the next governor of Delta State and to increase the chances of this victory, the  two main political parties, (APC and PDP), were informed of the need to produce Urhobo candidates should they want the support of the Urhobo people in the general elections.

    Since the PDP has produced a candidate from the Northern Senatorial District, then the UPU’s position under the Uviamuge Declaration, should be obvious. This is especially so where the Labour Party has distinguished itself in many states of the federation as a secondary platform for PDP politicians who have been unsuccessful in their primaries.

    In essence, a vote for the Labour Party is a vote for the PDP. It appears therefore that the objective of the Labour Party in Delta State remains to divide the votes of the Urhobo to allow the PDP to coast home despite the massive votes available to the Urhobo people.

    The UPU should take all steps to protect and preserve the destiny of the Urhobo nation as the game at hand unfolds.

    To what do you attribute the massive crowd that General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd) has been attracting in his campaign trains across the country?

    The Nigerian people are ready for change and General Muhammadu Buhari embodies all the qualities Nigerians see as essential to that change.

    Because of Buhari’s campaign headlines, the need to fight corruption at all levels, provide greater security to lives and property nationwide and to tackle the downward spiral of the Nigerian economy, his popularity will continue to grow as more Nigerians receive his message.

    Are you convinced INEC has the capacity to conduct credible elections?

    In 2011, INEC under Prof. Attahiru Jega was able to conduct the freest and fairest elections to date. They had four years to improve on that and the introduction of the PVC’s and the use of Automatic Card Readers are two key improvements that will result in an even better election in 2015.

    Do you think APC has what it takes to wrestle power from PDP in Delta?

    Yes, most definitely!  The APC in Delta State was formed out of the opposition parties in the state. The key opposition in 2011 was the Democratic People’s Party(DPP) and with the movement of key heavyweights like the late Senator Pius Ewherido, Chief Fidelis Tilije and many others (including myself) from DPP to APC, we are now the main opposition party in the state.

    The few people left behind that went on to form the Labour Party in Delta State are those with ultimate allegiance to the PDP.

    There is a need for the electorate to recognise that we need to consistently put our first eleven players on the field if we are to solve the complex problems of the economy, security, ethnicity and corruption amongst many others and APC presents the country with that opportunity.

  • Buhari at Chatham House: APC slams PDP, Presidency

    Buhari at Chatham House: APC slams PDP, Presidency

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday  condemned what it called   the needless resort to sheer hysteria by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  and the Jonathan administration over the  appearance of the APC’s presidential candidate, General  Muhammadu Buhari, at the Chatham House in London on Thursday.

    National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said in a statement in London that  the PDP and the Jonathan administration were  “so stunned and stung by Gen. Buhari’s well-accepted presentation,” adding that  they “could have saved themselves from further disgrace by simply keeping quiet, instead of exposing their inanities.”

    ”For the spokesmen of the PDP and the Jonathan Campaign Organization to have rushed to the press to denounce what was a patriotic presentation by a high-regarded Nigerian is not only absurd but a new low, even for those who have lost every sense of propriety in their public actions and pronouncements,” APC stressed, pointing out that  “the  level of paranoia of the PDP and the Jonathan administration was so high, even before the General’s presentation, that they went to hire some poor folks to protest at the Chatham House over an issue they knew nothing about.”

    The party said it was just as well that the rent-a-crowd show boomeranged on the PDP/Jonathan administration, when those among the scanty protesters who were interviewed said they did not even know why they had come there, with some of them hiding behind their placards.

    ”The fact that the Jonathan administration wasted public funds in hiring people to protest against Gen. Buhari’s appearance is another indication of how the commonwealth has been consistently frittered away under the  clueless and incompetent Jonathan administration.”

    The APC wondered  who appropriated the funds that were “wasted on the uninformed and disinterested band of protesters.”

    It also described as the worst case of double standard for  spokesmen of the PDP and the Jonathan administration to question the basis for Gen. Buhari’s appearance at the Chatham House, when the same platform was used a few weeks back by the administration, which sent National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki there to push for the postponement of the 2015 general elections.

    It said: “So it is OK for Dasuki to speak at the Chatham House, one of the most important platforms for any statesman, but forbidden for the APC presidential candidate to use the same platform? The needless vituperations of the PDP and the Jonathan megaphones against our candidate is precisely the reason the sinking ruling party and the  failed administration it sired have become the butt of jokes around the world.

    ”Instead of apologising for seeking to pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians by saying that General Buhari went to London for medical treatment, these band of poor propagandists persisted in dancing naked in the public square. What a pity?”

    The APC hailed General Buhari for  his  “well-crafted, well-delivered and patriotic presentation, and his deft handling of the subsequent question-and-answer session at such a big-league platform as the Chatham House,” saying  that despite the barrage of personal attacks and death wishes by the PDP and its agents, the General’s stock has continued to rise both within and outside Nigeria.

  • APC fears arrest of leaders ahead of polls

    APC fears arrest of leaders ahead of polls

    Top members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are being targeted by the Presidency  and the PDP in a planned  security clampdown ahead of the forthcoming elections,it was gathered yesterday.

    Slated to effect the clampdown is the Department of State Security (DSS),party sources said.

    The aim is to  scuttle or rig the elections in favour of the ruling party.

    Under the alleged plan, the DSS is said to have  “directed its state commands to compile and submit a list of stake holders  and key communicators of the opposition party in all the local government areas across the country.

    “The state commands were also directed to identify polling units and wards that are dominated by the opposition party’s supporters,especially in the units they scored above 60 per cent during the 2011 general elections.

    “Three thousand and eight officers and men of the DSS have been shortlisted to undergo intensive training in shooting and weapon handling in preparation for the operation.”

    The source also said warrants of arrest may have been procured in respect of those to be taken into custody ,and detention facilities  prepared for them.

    It was gathered that security agencies have been directed to  start digging deep into the past records and activities of  those for arrest with a view to “uncovering  their negative antecedents that could be used against them.”

    In the event that the planned arrests trigger mass protests in places like Lagos,Ibadan,Port Harcourt,Kano and Kaduna,these could be used as an excuse to  postpone elections in the affected places,the source said.

  • Fayose’s attack on Buhari hypocritical – APC

    Fayose’s attack on Buhari hypocritical – APC

    The Ekiti State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, of having an ulterior motive in his unrelenting attacks on the party’s presidential flag bearer, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

    The party in a reaction to Fayose’s claim that he has nothing personal against Buhari said the governor is being haunted by his alleged past misdeeds and a fear of being made to face the wrath of the law in the event of an APC victory at the March 28 presidential contest.

    To the Ekiti APC, Fayose is being driven by self-preservation and not national interest as he is making Nigerians to believe, pointing out that a Buhari Presidency would not tolerate impunity and lawlessness in which the Ekiti helmsman allegedly thrive.

    The party in a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, said “Fayose is fighting the battle of his life contrary to the general mood of the nation.”

    It advised Fayose to concentrate his energy on how to ensure victory for his party’s candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, instead of lecturing the APC on why it should not field Buhari as its candidate for the March 28 presidential poll.

    The APC said Fayose is being haunted by the latest revelation of fraud dogging his victory at the June 21, 2014 governorship election in the state and the case of N1.3 billion Ekiti Poultry Project scam which is still pending before a Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti.

    The statement reads: “PDP said it would rule for 60 years and fortunately it is presenting a ‘youthful’ President Jonathan as its candidate.

    “Fayose should have concentrated his energy and resources on promoting ‘youthful’ President Jonathan to enable his party win instead of sweating over APC presenting an old man as its candidate.

    “PDP has an agenda to kill all institutions of government as it is currently doing and make corruption a creed. Never in the history of this country have we recorded cases of frauds and scandals as we have today in Nigeria.”

  • APC accuses PDP of forming war committee

    APC accuses PDP of forming war committee

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of war mongering.

    It alleged that the opposition party recently held a meeting and constituted a ’21 member war council of people who are professionals in the act of war, ahead of the elections.

    Addressing reporters yesterday in Ilorin, the state capital, APC Chairman, Alhaji Ishola Balogun-Fulani, said: “I wish to bring to your notice, the war mongering statement being perpetrated by the state leadership of the PDP.”

    He added that at the meeting, PDP declared that it was at war with the state.

    Said he: “As a prelude to this development, the state recently witnessed an unprecedented level of violence led by the PDP members, as reported in Ilorin West Local Government. Most of the local government chapters of the APC are witnessing harassments and assaults by  PDP thugs. Complaints have been made to the police.

    “This is very alarming. As a law-abiding party, the APC decided it is very fit to bring these ugly incidents to the attention of the public. What is more alarming is the war mongering statements from the party. It appears to us that PDP has a foreknowledge of this violence and perhaps a hidden agenda.

    “As a party, we are committed to democratic changes and peaceful elections. Therefore, APC is not training or funding any group or raising any committee of warfare in the state.”

    Balogun-Fulani noted that some APC members “have been marked for possible arrest and others to unleash terror attack upon, before and during the elections, as claimed by Oke-Ero, Ekito and Ilorin East local government branches of our party.”

    Reacting to the allegations, the PDP governorship running mate, Alhaji Yinka Aluko, said: “We all know sincerely that APC members are propagandists and they can decide to give different names to a particular thing. For us, people are planning strategies, particularly to win elections.

    “You welcome various suggestions and ideas.

    “If you say you want to set up a war committee, what it means is a campaign committee. I am sure when people mention it, the use of war was jettisoned that this is not war as war of guns and bows. But we are talking of strategies that we can use to campaign. PDP consists of men and people of proven integrity and honour. We are not violent. You will know sincerely that in that last few weeks, we have had this attack.”

  • APC accuses PDP of forming war committee

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of war mongering.

    It alleged that the opposition party recently held a meeting and constituted a ’21 member war council of people who are professionals in the act of war, ahead of the elections.

    Addressing reporters yesterday in Ilorin, the state capital, APC Chairman, Alhaji Ishola Balogun-Fulani, said: “I wish to bring to your notice, the war mongering statement being perpetrated by the state leadership of the PDP.”

    He added that at the meeting, PDP declared that it was at war with the state.

    Said he: “As a prelude to this development, the state recently witnessed an unprecedented level of violence led by the PDP members, as reported in Ilorin West Local Government. Most of the local government chapters of the APC are witnessing harassments and assaults by  PDP thugs. Complaints have been made to the police.

    “This is very alarming. As a law-abiding party, the APC decided it is very fit to bring these ugly incidents to the attention of the public. What is more alarming is the war mongering statements from the party. It appears to us that PDP has a foreknowledge of this violence and perhaps a hidden agenda.

    “As a party, we are committed to democratic changes and peaceful elections. Therefore, APC is not training or funding any group or raising any committee of warfare in the state.”

    Balogun-Fulani noted that some APC members “have been marked for possible arrest and others to unleash terror attack upon, before and during the elections, as claimed by Oke-Ero, Ekito and Ilorin East local government branches of our party.”

    Reacting to the allegations, the PDP governorship running mate, Alhaji Yinka Aluko, said: “We all know sincerely that APC members are propagandists and they can decide to give different names to a particular thing. For us, people are planning strategies, particularly to win elections.

    “You welcome various suggestions and ideas.

    “If you say you want to set up a war committee, what it means is a campaign committee. I am sure when people mention it, the use of war was jettisoned that this is not war as war of guns and bows. But we are talking of strategies that we can use to campaign. PDP consists of men and people of proven integrity and honour. We are not violent. You will know sincerely that in that last few weeks, we have had this attack.”