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Tag: APC

  • Bipi denies involvement

    Rivers State House of Assembly member representing Ogu/Bolo, Evans Bipi, has denied involvement in last Tuesday’s attack on the All Progressives Congress (APC) rally in Okrika.

    Bipi, who was accused by APC governorship candidate, Dakuku Peterside, of leading the attackers, threatened to sue Peterside and Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

    In a statement yesterday, the lawmaker said contrary to the allegation against him, he was in Bayelsa State mourning some women loyal to First Lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan, in a road accident.

    Bipi said: “I was not in Okrika on Tuesday. Okrika is not even my constituency. I represent Ogu/Bolo in the Rivers State House of Assembly.

    “How can anybody imagine that I or the First Lady could resort to violence? I respect Dakuku Peterside; I respect members of the other political parties, because we all have equal stakes in the state.

    “But I will not allow my reputation or that of the First Lady to be tarnished, just because somebody is soliciting votes.

    “I have instructed my team of lawyers to handle this matter and Peterside has to prove his claim that he saw me leading a team of angry youths to attack his rally. That is the only way we can prove our innocence or culpability.

    “The statement credited to Peterside, with Governor Rotimi Amaechi, accusing me of leading gunmen to attack their rally in Okrika, is most unfortunate. Above all, it is the height of irresponsibility on their part and the APC.”

  • APC in clear majority in House of Reps

    THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost six members in the House of Representatives yesterday as the lawmakers resumed from break.

    The members defected on the floor during plenary to four other parties.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party (LP) gained two members each while the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Accord Party gained one member apiece.

    The members, who defected are: Robinson Uwak (PDP, Akwa Ibom) moved to APC; Mohammed Ibrahim (PDP, Jigawa) moved to APC; Tobias Okwurio Chukwuemeka (PDP, Ebonyi) moved to Labour Party (LP); Peter Ali (PDP, Ebonyi) also moved to LP.

    Akpan Umoh (PDP, Akwa-Ibom) defected to Accord; and Chineyen Eke (PDP, Abia) defected to APGA.

    The defection gives the APC a clear majority in the House.

    The strength of the APC in the House is now 181 members, with that of the PDP reducing to 156 – six members down from its former number.

    Other parties in the House now have 23 members. These are SDP (10), Labour (five), APGA (four), PDM (two), and Accord (two).

    However, a move by the Deputy Minority Leader Suleiman Kawu under the Order of Privilege to effect some immediate change of leadership in the House was halted by the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal.

    Kawu said the leadership of the House was meant for the majority party, adding that since the APC was now in clear majority in the House, there was need to change the leadership structure accordingly.

    But, Tambuwal reminded Kawu that there was an existing court case halting such a move.

    “Your Order of Privilege is hereby noted, but I remind you also that this matter is before a court of law. I hereby advise that we tread cautiously,” Tambuwal said.

  • LP governorship running mate defects to APC

    The governorship running mate in the Labour Party (LP) in Benue State, Comrade David Ngbede, was among the 2,000 politicians, including those from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who yesterday defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) at rallies in Agatu, Apa and Ohimini local governments.

    Speaking in Ugbokpo, Comrade Ngbede and former chairman of Apa and Agatu local governments, Mr. Ameh Udo, said they took the decision to be part of the change movement sweeping across the country.

  • APC in clear majority in House of Reps

    THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost six members in the House of Representatives yesterday as the lawmakers resumed from break. The members defected on the floor during plenary to four other parties. The All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party (LP) gained two members each while the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Accord Party gained one member apiece. The members, who defected are: Robinson Uwak (PDP, Akwa Ibom) moved to APC; Mohammed Ibrahim (PDP, Jigawa) moved to APC; Tobias Okwurio Chukwuemeka (PDP, Ebonyi) moved to Labour Party (LP); Peter Ali (PDP, Ebonyi) also moved to LP. Akpan Umoh (PDP, Akwa-Ibom) defected to Accord; and Chineyen Eke (PDP, Abia) defected to APGA. The defection gives the APC a clear majority in the House. The strength of the APC in the House is now 181 members, with that of the PDP reducing to 156 – six members down from its former number. Other parties in the House now have 23 members. These are SDP (10), Labour (five), APGA (four), PDM (two), and Accord (two). However, a move by the Deputy Minority Leader Suleiman Kawu under the Order of Privilege to effect some immediate change of leadership in the House was halted by the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal. Kawu said the leadership of the House was meant for the majority party, adding that since the APC was now in clear majority in the House, there was need to change the leadership structure accordingly. But, Tambuwal reminded Kawu that there was an existing court case halting such a move. “Your Order of Privilege is hereby noted, but I remind you also that this matter is before a court of law. I hereby advise that we tread cautiously,” Tambuwal said.

  • Huge crowds receive Buhari in Maiduguri

    •Shehu seeks action against Boko Haram

    Thousands of residents poured onto the streets of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, yesterday to receive Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate accompanied by his running mate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, was in the city, which houses almost one million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from parts of the state under the control of Boko Haram, to launch his campaign for the March 28 presidential poll.

    The crowd was so huge and affectionate that the APC team, which also included National Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Campaign Director-General Governor Chibuike Amaechi, Mr. Audu Ogbe, Senator Lawal Sha’aibu, Alhaji Umar Faruk Aliyu, Senator Hadi Sirika, APC National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni,  Gen. Lawan Dambazau  and Hadiza Bala Usman, could not speak at the rally.

    At the palace of the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Garbai Ibn Umar El- Kanemi, the traditional ruler urged Gen. Buhari to bring an end to the Boko Haram insurgency, if elected.

    The Shehu said the destroyed communities by Boko Haram in the Northeast should be built to give a new lease of life to the victims of insurgents and their families.

    He said the federal projects that have been abandoned, such as the Biu Dam Water Project, the Lake Chad Basin oil exploration and the connection of Borno State to the National Power grid should be revived.

    He advised the presidential candidate to ensure violence-free campaigns and elections.

    Gen. Buhari assured the Shehu of his unflinching support and assistance in returning the state to peace and the resuscitation of the federal projects and establishments.

    He pledged to tackle insecurity and improve on agricultural production, revive the oil industry and create job opportunities for unemployed youths, who have graduated and cannot find jobs, if elected.

    “I was here in 1975 as governor of the defunct North-East State. I’m happy that I received a befitting welcome.  If elected, I will focus on tackling the persistent insecurity affecting Northeast. The damage has been done, but if the APC government is elected, all towns under Boko Haram control will be liberated and rebuilt. It is unfortunate that commercial activities were paralysed.

    “In the past, hundreds of trailers loaded with goods took off from Maiduguri to various neighbouring countries, but now the reverse is the situation. Boko Haram’s ideology contradicts Islamic principle. Islam does not allow senseless killings of innocent people. It is unfortunate that innocent persons are being killed in mosques, churches and their houses.  God willing, if the APC is elected, we will restore confidence in governance and stamp out corruption,” Buhari said.

    At the Ramat Square, venue of the grand rally, the crowd overwhelmed security operatives and brought the rally to an abrupt end.

    It took the convoy of the candidate more than an hour from the Maiduguri International Airport to arrive at the Ramat Square.

    The APC candidate had to abort all efforts at addressing the crowd, who kept shouting “Sai Buhari”.

    Thousands of party supporters, mostly youths, lined major roads as early as 7a.m. to catch a glimpse of the APC standard-bearer.

    Vehicles were forced to move at snail’s speed after Buhari arrived at the state capital, as supporters occupied the roads in celebration.

    The equipment of a television station transmitting the event live were vandalised.

    One of the crew members said: “Our transmission wires were cut. We lost some of our equipment, but I thank God that we came out of that place in one piece.”

    In an attempt to control the surging crowd of supporters, the military resorted to brutality, beating up supporters attempting to invade the VIP stand.

    In a show of anger, some supporters threw  footwears at security operatives.

    There was stampede in and outside the Ramat   Square. There was heavy shelling of RPG in front of the square, as a measure to control the crowd. Two people were taken out, gasping for breath.

  • Osinbajo: APC govt will reduce duty on imported vehicles

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has promised   to cut tariff and duty on imported vehicles, if it wins the March 28 presidential election.

    Its vice-presidential candidate, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, at a town hall meeting with political stakeholders in Ondo, Ondo State, said: “We do not agree that there should be high tariff on imported cars whether new or old because Nigeria is not producing cars for now.

    “What we will do first is to fix power and encourage local production of cars. But before then, we will reduce the high tariff that Nigerians are paying to import vehicles into the country.”

    Osinbajo said Nigerians should not find it difficult to buy cars, promising that the APC government would ensure that tariff were reduced to make cars affordable.

    The Goodluck Jonathan administration  began implementation of the new tariff on imported vehicles last year.

    The policy pegs the age limit for private vehicles at 10 years and commercial, 15.

    Under the new regime, importers, who hitherto paid 20 per cent duty on used vehicles, now pay 35 per cent duty and additional 35 per cent levy on new vehicles. The tariff is an offshoot of the automotive policy.

    Under the policy, Customs will collect additional 35 per cent levy, totalling 70 per cent tariff from April.

    Vehicle dealers and importers in Lagos are lamenting that the policy is hurting their businesses and have hiked prices by about 300 per cent.

    The policy, they argued, could propel jobs’ cut. Chief Osita Chukwu, National Coordinator of Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders Importers and Exporters Coalition (SNIFFIEC), said the policy is anti-masses and should be resisted.

    “We cannot accept the 70 per cent tariff hike. It’s going to kill the masses. How many people will be able to buy used vehicles? How many people can afford new ones as well? We reject this. We are going to shut the ports if the government doesn’t rescind its decision on this matter. By the time over three million importers, exporters and other stakeholders withdraw their services from the ports, you can imagine the implication.”

    Osinbajo fingered lack of gas supply for the power problem.

    He promised that plants would be sited in neighbourhoods where power is needed and gas supplied to them using trucks and related means besides pipelines.

    According to him, the model is in use in Lagos State where such plants supply power to designated neighborhoods.

  • Osinbajo: APC govt will reduce duty on imported vehicles

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has promised to cut tariff and duty on imported vehicles, if it wins the March 28 presidential election.

    Its vice-presidential candidate, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, at a town hall meeting with political stakeholders in Ondo, Ondo State, said: “We do not agree that there should be high tariff on imported cars whether new or old because Nigeria is not producing cars for now.

    “What we will do first is to fix power and encourage local production of cars. But before then, we will reduce the high tariff that Nigerians are paying to import vehicles into the country.”

    Osinbajo said Nigerians should not find it difficult to buy cars, promising that the APC government would ensure that tariff were reduced to make cars affordable.

    The Goodluck Jonathan administration  began implementation of the new tariff on imported vehicles last year.

    The policy pegs the age limit for private vehicles at 10 years and commercial, 15.

    Under the new regime, importers, who hitherto paid 20 per cent duty on used vehicles, now pay 35 per cent duty and additional 35 per cent levy on new vehicles. The tariff is an offshoot of the automotive policy.

    Under the policy, Customs will collect additional 35 per cent levy, totalling 70 per cent tariff from April.

    Vehicle dealers and importers in Lagos are lamenting that the policy is hurting their businesses and have hiked prices by about 300 per cent.

    The policy, they argued, could propel jobs’ cut. Chief Osita Chukwu, National Coordinator of Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders Importers and Exporters Coalition (SNIFFIEC), said the policy is anti-masses and should be resisted.

    “We cannot accept the 70 per cent tariff hike. It’s going to kill the masses. How many people will be able to buy used vehicles? How many people can afford new ones as well? We reject this. We are going to shut the ports if the government doesn’t rescind its decision on this matter. By the time over three million importers, exporters and other stakeholders withdraw their services from the ports, you can imagine the implication.”

    Osinbajo fingered lack of gas supply for the power problem.

    He promised that plants would be sited in neighbourhoods where power is needed and gas supplied to them using trucks and related means besides pipelines.

    According to him, the model is in use in Lagos State where such plants supply power to designated neighborhoods.

  • APC accuses PDP of secret push to instal interim govt

    APC accuses PDP of secret push to instal interim govt

    PDP disowns anti-polls leaflets

    Is an interim government on the cards?

    Yes, the All Progressives Congress (APC) said yesterday.

    It alleged that the Federal Government and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had started a clandestine campaign, lobbying emirs and other opinion leaders to accept an Interim Government from May 29 —the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration’s terminal date.

    Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation Mohammed Adoke has said an interim government was not being considered because it is not in the Constitution.

    The APC claimed that the PDP was scheming against elections because of the fear of defeat.

    The PDP, APC alleged, is behind the distribution of leaflets in Gombe, the Gombe State capital, at the weekend, warning people against voting in the elections.

    In a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the APC said:

    ‘’It is an open secret that their emissary is touring the North, meeting with Emirs and others to push for an interim government. It has also been revealed how they plan to use the National Assembly to seek tenure elongation. Never before has a sitting government been this desperate to avoid elections. This election phobia by a sitting government is a first in contemporary history.’’

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday accused President Goodluck Jonathan of being behind the shift of elections, saying the President wants to go the way of former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, who shifted elections many times until he felt he was in a position to win. When the election was eventually held, Gbagbo lost, but he refused to handover until he was disgraced out of power.

    The elections were rescheduled from February 14 and 28 to March 28 and April 11.

    The APC insisted yesterday that the PDP is “mortally afraid” of the general elections, “sponsoring the circulation of leaflets urging the people of Gombe to stay away from polling booths on election days or they will be in trouble”.

    The APC said “even the attack on Gombe on Saturday was suspect, wondering how Boko Haram insurgents will drive on the highway from Maiduguri to Gombe in a convoy of many vehicles without being spotted or stopped at the myriad of military checkpoints dotting the area”.

    It described as “curious that the Boko Haram terrorists, who have never mentioned the elections in their regular videos on YouTube, have suddenly started campaigning against the conduct of elections”.

    The party also noted that the local government elections in Yobe, one of the hotbeds of the Boko Haram insurgency, went without any incident in 2013, indicating that there has not been a systematic campaign by the insurgents to attack voters.

    ‘’Part of the strategy of the PDP and the Jonathan Administration is to depopulate perceived opposition strongholds through all sorts of dangerous measures, and this scaremongering, supposedly by Boko Haram, fits into that strategy. They are also the unseen hands behind the advertisement by faceless groups, urging Muslims to vote for Muslim candidates. It is in line with their exploitation of religious and ethnic fault lines to divide Nigerians,’’ the party said.

    The APC said the alarm raised by Mike Omeri, the Coordinator of the National Information Centre, that some female suicide bombers may strike at polling units during the elections, also fits into the PDP/Jonathan Administration’s opposition stronghold depopulation strategy.

    ‘’It is now very clear to Nigerians that the PDP-led Federal Government does not want the forthcoming elections to hold, because it is guaranteed a shellacking. First the government sponsored a campaign to postpone the elections because of low PVC distribution. When they realised the number of PVCs collected was growing and that their argument might no longer be tenable, they suddenly used security as an alibi, abandoning their earlier push for the election shift on the basis of low PVC distribution.

    ‘’After they succeeded in forcing the postponement, they launched another campaign for the PVCs and the Card Readers to be jettisoned in favour of TVCs, because that will allow them to rig, if indeed the elections proceed in spite of them. Those campaigning against the use of PVCs and Card Readers have forgotten that Ghana successfully used the same technology in its last elections, and that it is not rocket science,’’ the party said.

    The party urged President Goodluck Jonathan not to plunge Nigeria into a crisis or give the country the Gbagbo treatment, all in pursuit of personal interest at the expense of national interest.

    ‘’The plot that landed Ivory Coast under Laurent Gbagbo in hot water, and for which Gbagbo is currently cooling his heels in a holding cell at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, was not as elaborate as that being pushed by the PDP and the Jonathan Administration. That is why we are urging them to tread softly and save Nigeria from crisis.

    ‘’We know Nigerians have seen through the games being played by the PDP and the Jonathan Administration. Nigerians and the entire world know those who are behind the election postponement, the myriad of court cases seeking to disqualify our presidential candidate, the ongoing efforts to depopulate opposition strongholds, the devilish advertisements seeking to use ethnicity and religion to divide Nigerians, the campaign to jettison the PVCs and Card Readers in favour of TVCs as well as the tenure elongation and interim government options.

    ‘’That is why we are calling on all lovers of democracy to be vigilant in the run-up to the rescheduled polls, and for them to insist that nothing but the holding of the elections will be acceptable to Nigerians,’’ it said.

  • Prosecute Igbemo violence suspects, says Ekiti APC

    Prosecute Igbemo violence suspects, says Ekiti APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has urged the police to prosecute the suspected thugs, who allegedly unleashed terror on Igbemo-Ekiti community last Thursday.

    APC’s Publicity Secretary Taiwo Olatubosun, in a statement, said after APC members complained at the Igbemo police post and later at Iworoko Police Station, the victims were later re-invited to the Police Headquarters in Ado-Ekiti where they were arrested.

    He said the perpetrators of the violence rushed to the Police Headquarters to  complain that they were signage officials, who were prevented from carrying out their lawful duties.

    His words: “Our members were attacked and their houses destroyed. The attackers fired gunshots at them from Thursday night till early Friday morning. The abducted Igbemo citizens were dumped at the Special Anti- Robbery Squad detention cell since the wee hours of the morning and were only temporarily released Friday evening.

    “The thugs suspected to be working for Fayose were the first to rush to the State Headquarters to lodge a false complaint against them that they were on signage duty when Igbemo people attacked them.

    “One of the thugs who did most of the shooting with a pump action gun was seen in pictures with a bandage feigning head injury.

    “The victims who were released were rearrested on Saturday on the orders of the commissioner of police who said their houses should be searched because there was a complaint of gunrunning against them. We wonder the connection between signage officials and the petition against perceived opponents for gun running.

    “The people who languished in detention are the same people whose property and houses were vandalised and who were traumatised in the all-night shooting while the thugs who attacked them have turned the complainants and moving about freely. This is double jeopardy and injustice.”

  • Prosecute Igbemo violence suspects, says Ekiti APC

    Prosecute Igbemo violence suspects, says Ekiti APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has urged the police to prosecute the suspected thugs, who allegedly unleashed terror on Igbemo-Ekiti community last Thursday.

    APC’s Publicity Secretary Taiwo Olatubosun, in a statement, said after APC members complained at the Igbemo police post and later at Iworoko Police Station, the victims were later re-invited to the Police Headquarters in Ado-Ekiti where they were arrested.

    He said the perpetrators of the violence rushed to the Police Headquarters to  complain that they were signage officials, who were prevented from carrying out their lawful duties.

    His words: “Our members were attacked and their houses destroyed. The attackers fired gunshots at them from Thursday night till early Friday morning. The abducted Igbemo citizens were dumped at the Special Anti- Robbery Squad detention cell since the wee hours of the morning and were only temporarily released Friday evening.

    “The thugs suspected to be working for Fayose were the first to rush to the State Headquarters to lodge a false complaint against them that they were on signage duty when Igbemo people attacked them.

    “One of the thugs who did most of the shooting with a pump action gun was seen in pictures with a bandage feigning head injury.

    “The victims who were released were rearrested on Saturday on the orders of the commissioner of police who said their houses should be searched because there was a complaint of gunrunning against them. We wonder the connection between signage officials and the petition against perceived opponents for gun running.

    “The people who languished in detention are the same people whose property and houses were vandalised and who were traumatised in the all-night shooting while the thugs who attacked them have turned the complainants and moving about freely. This is double jeopardy and injustice.”