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  • Stop ‘arresting’ students, APC tells Fayose

    Stop ‘arresting’ students, APC tells Fayose

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has berated Governor Ayodele Fayose for the clampdown on the state leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) for speaking at the party’s presidential campaign at the weekend.

    A statement by APC State Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, said a students’ leader, Tosin Ogunkuade, spoke at the event.

    Olatubosun said Ogunkuade’s offence was that he highlighted the challenges facing students, saying the present effort by the government was not capable of redressing the hardship faced by the students in accessing quality education.

    The APC spokesman said: “He said to the applause of hundreds of students in attendance that Buhari presented a better hope for students in their educational pursuits.

    “Just 24 hours after,  thugs trailed Ogunkuade to Ikogosi-Ekiti where he and other students were attacked with deep machete cuts.

    “After these students were attacked at Ikogosi, they ran to Efon-Alaye Police Station to report the matter. To our surprise, the police detained them before they were transferred to Aramoko-Ekiti Police Station.

    “To our shock again, yesterday morning, one of their colleagues, Damilare Bewaji, who went to visit them at the Aramoko Police Station, was also detained by the police on the order of the governor.

    “Just this morning, the home of former Commissioner for Finance under ex-Governor Kayode Fayemi, Dapo Kolawole, escaped being razed.

    His offence was that he pasted APC flags and posters on his building.

    “It is curious that the students, who were the complainants, are being turned into the accused, as the police are being suborned to slam criminal charges against them.”

    Olatubosun added that the same spectre of violence was reported in Efon-Alaye, where APC leader Joseph Alake had his house vandalised by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) thugs.

    “The Divisional Police Officer was reportedly injured trying to rescue the man.”

    The APC spokesman urged the police to stop being partisan in the handling of political crisis in the state.

  • Ondo APC candidate alleges foul play

    Ondo APC candidate alleges foul play

    The lingering controversy over who represents the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ile Oluji-Oke Igbo/Odigbo Federal Constituency of Ondo State at the National Assembly may be settled in court.

    The acclaimed winner of the primaries, Festus Adefiranye, has taken the party to court for substituting  his name for an aspirant, who came second in the primaries.

    Adefiranye’s lawyer Festus Keyamo has sued the State Chairman, Isaac Kekemeke, Chief Returning Officer at the primaries Femi Johnson and Mrs Yejide Ogundipe, who the party allegedly substituted for the claimant.

    Although originating summons have not been served on the defendants because of the strike by judicial workers, but Adefiranye said he would give the party time to revert what he called “injustice” before courts resume.

    After the House of Representatives primaries on November 7, last year in which four aspirants contested, Adefiranye said he was “duly” declared winner by Johnson and party leaders at the exercise.

    He said: “But to my dismay, 10 days after the primaries, my name was substituted for Yejide Ogundipe, who came second.

    “The election was very transparent. It was witnessed by four officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and officers of the police, Department of Security Service (DSS) and Civil Defence.

    “After primaries, all the candidates testified it was free, fair and credible.

    “But I was surprised when the party leaders called me  and told me there was a petition against the concluded primaries.

    “ I was told to report to the APC state secretariat in Akure to respond to the petition.

    “When I got there, I discovered it was Yejide Ogundipe, who wrote the petition and she asked for a recount of the votes.”

    Adefiranye said neither he nor his agent was contacted when the recounting was to be done.

    His name was said to have substituted after deducting three votes from his score, ,which reduced his total votes to 188.

    When The Nation spoke to Johnson, he confirmed he was not at the recounting exercise, but said some votes, which had Adefiranye’s name misspelt and had initially been given to him, were rendered invalid by the appeal panel.

    Odundipe and Adefiranye saidthey were not consulted on the recounting.

    Akingba said Adefiranye won the primaries.

    Adefiranye accused Kekemeke of snatching his mandate.

    He said he would seek  redress in court, if his mandate was returned before INEC deadline.

    Kekemeke and Odundipe did not pick their calls at the time of this report.

  • APC candidate to develop constituency

    APC candidate to develop constituency

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) House of Assembly candidate for Isoko South 2 Constituency of Delta State in next month’s elections, Chief Ferguson Onwo, has said he will bring basic infrastructure to the constituency, if elected.

    At one of his “meet the people” visits to Erowha town in Isoko South Local Government Area, Onwo decried the poor condition of the people of the constituency.

    The APC candidate noted that the area was known to be the highest oil producing area in the state.

    Onwo promised to bring noticeable development to their door step within the four years of his tenure in the House.

    He told the people of Erowha that the road project, which had been abandoned by the present administration, would be started and completed within his four years in office.

    On the only water project, which is the only source of potable drinking water in the community, he told the Erowha people that it would be started immediately and be completed before the elections.

    He urged them to make sure they all go and collect their Permanent Voter Card (PVCs), which is the only thing that would give them the right to vote for him on the day of election, also charged them to avoid violence and rancour during the elections.

    Addressing the crowd that welcomed Onwo to the area, Chairman of the Ferguson Onwo Campaign Organisation and former member of the Federal House of Representatives, Hon Anthony Onomuefe Efekodha, noted that for over 30 years he visited Erowha community, it had not changed in terms of development.

    He called on the people of the constituency to go out in their large numbers to vote for Onwo who is a grassroots politician and has the pain of his people close to his heart.

  • ‘APC can’t defeat PDP in Bauchi’

    Bauchi State People Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate Hon. Auwal Jatau has said that the party will win next months’s elections.

    Also, the Chairman of the chapter, Ibrahim Yaro Yaro, urged the members to defend the legacies of the party. He said Bauchi will fare better under the PDP.

    The party chieftains spoke at the flag off the governorship campaigns in Bauchi, the state capital.

    Jatau charged party supporters to shun violence during and after elections, stressing that the contest is do-or-die affairs.

    He said: “Leadership comes from God. Any candidate that does not win his election should accept defeat in good faith because, in every contest, there must be a winner and a loser.

    “Politics should not be a-do-or die affair. So, once politicians understand that it is God that gives leadership to whom He pleases, our elections will be free from violence.”

    Yaro advised the people to collect their Permanent Voter’s Cards in their various local governments. He also urged them to vote for the PDP at the polls.

    He added: “The right of every voter is to exercise his franchise. It  is an inalienable right that cannot be taken away by any government or institution. Every eligible voter is entitled to vote, irrespective of whether he has a Permanent Voter’s Card or a Temporary Voters Card.

    “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) cannot be defeated in Bauchi State. But, my advice is that you should not sell your votes to anybody because of temporary gain.”

    The Chairman of the PDP Contact and Mobilisation Committee, Alhaji Sanusi Magaji, congratulated the candidates, urging them to work assisuously for victory at the polls.

    Other PDP leaders at the rally   included Senator Adamu Gumba, the former deputy governor, Abdulmalik Mahmud, Senator Abdul Ningi, PDP Women Leader Hajiya Bahita Mahmud, the Organising Secretary, Muhamadu Sarde, legilators, commissioners, special advisers and council chairmen.

    At the rally, Governor Isa Yuguda did not make a speech. The governorship candidate, Jatau’s speech, was short.

    An observer said:  “If they had come out to speak, they would have been stoned more than what you saw. So for the interest of peace the governor and our governorship candidate did not speak. But that does not mean that we will not win the elections”.

  • APC to Kwarans: Vote Jonathan out

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State has urged Nigerians to vote out President Goodluck Jonathan in next month general election.

    The party said Nigeria is “profusely bleeding” because the President has nothing more to offer in his present capacity.

    The APC in a statement signed by its spokesperson in the state, Alhaji Sulyman Buhari, described the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential rally in Ilorin as “celebration of failure.”

    The statement reads:

    “The presidential rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ilorin was a celebration of failure.

    “We had expected the presidential candidate of PDP, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to tell Kwarans why he deserves re-election and also offer solutions to the challenges of Nigeria, but surprisingly, President Jonathan chose to waste the ample opportunity of the rally on political commentary.

    “Kwarans should note that since President Goodluck Jonathan failed to tell them why he deserves re-election during his scantly-populated presidential rally in Ilorin, Kwarans have the responsibility to massively vote him out of office.

    “Anyone who carefully listened to Mr. President’s speech would mistake him for an inexperienced comedian who struggled in futility to impress his audience.

    “Despite the disbursement of millions in naira by President Jonathan’s foot-soldiers and Abuja politicians to induce Kwarans to attend the rally, the scantly populated rally shows that Kwara State is a no-go area for the PDP.

    “It is no longer news that President Jonathan is yet to fulfill any of the electoral promises he made to Kwarans in 2011. It is also apparent that Mr. President has no achievement whatsoever in the state and we do not expect him to lay claim to false assertions or take credit for non-existing projects.

    “However, rather than his political commentary, it would have been of interest to the people of Kwara State if Mr. President had used the avenue of his presidential rally to tell them when he will refund the over N4billion the Kwara State government used to execute and rehabilitate the Ilesha-Baruba-Chikanda international border road and federal road projects across the state.”

     

  • APC to PDP: enough of mudslinging

    APC to PDP: enough of mudslinging

    •Let’s dwell on issues, says party

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has challenged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to tell Nigerians how it plans to move from the alleged near zero governance of the past six years of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration to good and purposeful governance, instead of engaging in perpetual and tiring mudslinging.

    APC’s National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement yesterday in Lagos, said the party believes that elections should be about issues that would be beneficial to the electorate, “not about throwing everything, but the kitchen sink at a particular candidate, simply because of his soaring acceptability.”

    The party added that it was, therefore, “time for the PDP to end the muckraking and tell Nigerians how it plans to tackle the worsening insecurity in the land, the collapsing national currency, with the United States (U.S.) dollar now exchanging for N215, massive unemployment, especially among the youth, decayed infrastructure and the unprecedented corruption under President Jonathan’s watch.”

    It said the essence of the sustained campaign of calumny against Gen. Muhammadu Buhari by the PDP was to distract the APC from telling Nigerians how it plans to effect the much-needed change from zero to purposeful governance, and also to sweep under the carpet the glaring failures of the Jonathan administration.

    ‘’In both instances, the PDP has failed, as Nigerians have refused to be swayed by all the scandal mongering by the PDP, while the APC has remained focused in selling its game-changing manifesto to the citizenry,’’ APC said.

    The party said the PDP and the president should tell Nigerians what happened to the $20 billion missing oil funds, amid concerns that the money could have vanished into the ruling party’s slush funds for electioneering campaign.

    The statement also reads: ‘’Nigerians are also asking: Mr. President, where are the Chibok girls who were abducted nine months ago, and whom you promised to reunite with their families? What happened to the stage-managed truce with Boko Haram and why has no one been punished for deceiving Nigerians?  Mr. President, where is the report of the forensic audit you ordered into the missing $20b oil funds? It is now two months since the deadline set by your finance minister for the release of that audit report. Will the report go the way of others before it?

    “Mr. President, why are our soldiers being sent to battle Boko Haram without the necessary equipment, even though trillions of Naira has been budgeted for the security and defence sector under your watch? Why are soldiers having to buy even their uniforms and the wounded among them financing their medical treatment, as some soldiers said in a CNN interview?

    “Mr. President, why have you castrated the anti-corruption agencies, rendering them comatose and unable to tackle the runaway corruption under your watch? What signals are you sending to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), for example, when you picked as your campaign spokesman the same man who is facing corruption charges? Is that a way of telling the EFCC to let the notorious suspect off the hook?

    “Mr. President, you vowed that those involved in the N2.6 trillion fuel subsidy scam would never go unpunished, but many months later, none has been punished and it is back to business as usual. When will you consider stealing of public funds a serious act of corruption, sir?

    ‘’Mr. President, you said while campaigning for the 2011 elections that ‘four years is enough for anyone to make significant improvement, and if I can’t improve on power within this period, it means I cannot do anything’. Why should Nigerians trust you to deliver on your promises this time around, now that the power situation has gone from bad to worse under your watch?

    “Mr. President, instead of creating jobs for the teeming unemployed youth of Nigeria, your administration has been fleecing and sending them to their early graves, as it happened during the fraudulent Immigration recruitment exercise in March 2014, when many innocent youths got death instead of jobs. When will you move from creating phantom jobs to real jobs?

    “These are the issues that are bothering Nigerians and these are the issues they want answers to, instead of engaging in an unprecedented personality-focused campaign,” the party said.

    APC said the truth was that the PDP and the president did not have any answers to the serious issues raised above.

    Hence, they have decided to engage in a multi-pronged approach of mudslinging, campaign for election postponement and the instigation of violence to scuttle next month’s general elections, among others.

  • APC to sue NCC for closing fund-raising platform

    APC to sue NCC for closing fund-raising platform

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has vowed to challenge the decision of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to shut down its fund-raising platform in court.

    Director of Fund-Raising of the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation and Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, who said this yesterday evening at the directorate’s meeting, said the party has no choice than to seek legal redress.

    Fashola described the NCC’s action as a clear breach of constitutional provisions, describing it as a double standard on the part of the commission, which allowed President Goodluck Jonathan to raise fund, using the same platform in 2010.

    The governor said the directive from the commission closing the platform was contained in a letter dated January 19 by officials of the NCC.

    According to him, those who signed the letter included the Director of Consumer Affairs, Maryam Bayi, and the Head of Legal and Regulatory Services, Yinka Akinloye, acting on behalf of the NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Dr. Eugene Juwah.

    He argued that in 2010, approval was given to the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organisation to raise funds using such a platform, wondering why the APC is being denied the same right in 2015.

    “We have advised our lawyers to go to court. They are preparing the papers now. In 2010, approval was given to the Jonathan/Sambo campaign to raise fund (using such a platform).The rule seems to have changed in 2015.”

    He, however, told the gathering that the fund-raising platform, which included the sale of scratch cards and donations into the designated First Bank Plc, was still valid.

    The governor said although the platform was established when Buhari was seeking for the party’s nomination as flagbearer, it is still  running and supporters can still donate.

  • APC to Fayose: explain how you spent N2b ecological fund

    APC to Fayose: explain how you spent N2b ecological fund

    •I won’t reply deaf people, says governor

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has urged Governor Ayo Fayose to explain how he spent the N2 billion paid into the state’s coffers on December 30 by the Federal Government.

    The party, in a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, claimed that N10 billion was released to five states, including Ekiti.

    The APC said the governor collected the money, including that refunded for  federal projects embarked upon by his predecessor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

    Olatunbosun said: “We want to challenge Fayose to tell Ekiti people how he spent the N2billion Ekiti Ecological Fund he collected on December 30, last year.

    “On that day, N10 billion was released to five states, among which are Bauchi and Ekiti states, which collected N2 billion each.

    “Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda has told the people the projects to be executed with the money. Instead of our governor to do the same, he jetted off to Dubai for days without any indication that he went  there officially on behalf of Ekiti people.

    “It was later Ekiti people learnt about his lavish lifestyle in the bustling economic hub of the Middle East.

    “Governor Fayose denied ever collecting refund of the money ex-Governor Fayemi spent on federal projects in the state.

    “Four days after Fayose made this denial on state television, the Minister of State for Works, Dayo Adeyeye, said publicly at President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign rally in Ado-Ekiti that the Federal Government had refunded money spent on the federal projects executed by the state, including Ado-Ifaki and Ado-Akure roads.”

    Olatubosun said the APC later learnt that Adeyeye was scolded for making that public disclosure.

    “Why are they crucifying Adeyeye for saying the truth? Even though we don’t want to believe that our governor was part of ‘January rush’ acquisition of prime property in Dubai, his unofficial journey to Dubai after collecting the money raises our fears that Ekiti State might have run into trouble again.”

    Olatubosun said it was wicked and insensitive to continue to owe workers their salary after collecting September allocation and other refunds running into billions.

    “The governor cannot tell the workers that he won’t pay September salary because he was not governor in September. Why did he not reject September allocation because he was not governor in September?”

    Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Communications and New Media Lere  Olayinka said it was not true that N2billion was paid by the Federal Government to Ekiti State in December.

    He added: “In this ICT age, all that is needed to be done on issues like this is to search the Internet because the Federal Government won’t release ecological to five states without the media reporting it.

    “The truth is Ekiti State government has not received any special fund from the Federal Government and it is important that the APC lying machine should begin to manufacture another lie.”

  • ‘APC didn’t offer governorship ticket to Ladoja’

    ‘APC didn’t offer governorship ticket to Ladoja’

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday refuted claims by the Oyo State Accord Party (AP) governorship candidate Senator Rashidi Ladoja that the party offered him its governorship slot.

    The National Vice Chairman (Southwest), Chief Pius Akinyelure, said the party never considered Ladoja, stressing that the thought was a figment of his “hyper-active imagination”.

    He said Ladoja may have confused an invitation to him to join the party as an elder with an imaginary offer aptly nurtured by his pre-conceived preference for the governorship ticket, which he may have coveted during preliminary interaction between him and the Southwest APC leadership.

    Akinyelure said there was no way the APC would have by-passed the performing Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, who had  indicated his interest in a second term, and offered the ticket to Ladoja.

    He added: “It is politically normal for a party like the APC, which is always interested in enlarging its coast, to invite more people to join its fold. Ladoja, being a former governor and senator, was invited to join the APC so that he can become one of the elders of the APC. There was never a time the governorship ticket was offered to him.

    “Governor Ajimobi has performed excellently. The party and the people  are proud of his achievements. There was no way the party would have given the ticket to Ladoja when the governor, who has performed creditably in his first term, had indicated interest in re-election. Therefore, it is not true that Ladoja was offered the ticket as claimed by him.”

  • Ondo APC releases itinerary

    Ondo APC releases itinerary

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State has rolled out its itinerary for campaigns in local governments, wards and towns.

    A statement by the Secretary, Media Committee, Charles Titiloye, said the campaign rallies would start on Wednesday, covering the 18 local government areas, including towns, villages and hamlet.

    It said all party candidates, officials and campaign committee members would be part of the train.

    Titiloye praised party supporters and residents for trooping out during the APC presidential rally in Akure on Saturday.

    He said the massive turnout  demonstrated their support for the party presidential candidate, Gen Muhammadu Buhari and his running mate, Prof Yemi Osinbajo.