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  • We ’ll ensure violence-free 2015 polls, says APC

    We ’ll ensure violence-free 2015 polls, says APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has assured Nigerians and the international community that it will ensure next year’s general election is violence-free.

    It said the rising apprehension about the polls among the populace was inimical to the conduct of a successful election.

    APC National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed made the pledge in a statement yesterday in Lagos.

    The statement, however, said the party’s efforts should be complemented by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government, which, the APC said, had a propensity for using the security agencies to harass and intimidate the opposition and the citizens.

    It added that the Federal Government should take necessary measures to ensure that the elections are free, fair and credible, stressing that “rigging and other acts of electoral malfeasance constitute the immediate trigger for anger and violence during and after elections.”

    The statement also reads: ‘’We have heard from Nigerians who are so afraid about possible violence during the election that they are even willing to relocate to other countries until after the elections. But, as the biggest opposition party in Nigeria and a major stakeholder in our nation’s democracy, we are assuring, on our part, that there will be no violence.

    ‘’Though our party has no history of violence, we have commenced a nationwide effort to sensitise our members and supporters to the need to eschew rancour and embrace non-violent methods, even in the face of the kind of provocations to which we were subjected during the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections, when our members were needlessly

    harassed, arrested and detained by partisan security agencies acting under orders from the Federal Government.

    ‘’If the Federal Government allows a level-playing field for all

    contestants, if the security agencies stop acting as the armed wing of the ruling PDP, if the electoral umpire will carry out its duties without fear, favour or bias and if citizens are allowed to exercise their franchise unmolested, the stage will be set for a non-violent, free, fair and credible polls. In other words, the government has a major role to play in making the forthcoming polls peaceful.

    ‘’On our part, in addition to other efforts aimed at ensuring a peaceful election, we pledge to accept the result of an election that is not only free, fair, credible and transparent, but one that is also seen to be so. We hope other parties will make a similar pledge.”

    The party said it demonstrated during its recent rancour-free and festive national convention in Lagos that elections should be a celebration of democracy, rather than a moment of fear, violence and threat to lives.

    It said far from mere rhetoric, it had taken practical steps, as far

    back as May 2014, to work with the PDP to ensure violence-free polls next year.

    ‘’Following up on a meeting of representatives of both parties in Washington, DC, United States, on April 7-8, 2014, under the auspices of the CSIS Nigeria Election Forum, at which it was agreed that a joint meeting of both parties be convened to discuss and agree on the crucial issue of a Code of Conduct for the campaigns and the elections, we wrote a letter to the PDP suggesting a bipartisan meeting to address the

    ‘’The PDP agreed to the proposal and suggested that it should be expanded to include the leadership of other political parties in the country. However, problem with logistics meant that the meeting did not hold.

    ‘’Even with the little time left for the election to hold, we strongly believe that a meeting of the leadership of the two political parties – the APC and the PDP – will send a powerful message to our compatriots and indeed the international community and douse the tension that is building up ahead of the election,’’ APC said.

  • APC candidate urges review of Fiscal Federalism

    APC candidate urges review of Fiscal Federalism

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) House of Representatives candidate for Ekiti Central Federal Constituency 1, Dr. Eniola Ajayi, has called  for a review of fiscal federalism.

    She said the review became necessary, owing to the reduction of allocations going to the states from the Federation Account, which, she said, has made it difficult for them to pay salaries and honour other commitments.

    Dr. Ajayi made the call at the weekend in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, at a news conference, where she unfolded her agenda for the people of Ado-Ekiti and Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Areas that make up her constituency.

    She expressed confidence of winning the election despite sharing the same federal constituency of origin with Governor Ayo Fayose, who belongs to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying “the power of the people is greater than the power in government”.

    Dr. Ajayi said the mood among the electorate right now favour the APC as a party that has better manifesto and programmes for the electorate than the PDP.

    The former Commissioner for Education also pledged to champion the review of the nation’s strategies for job creation and employment in a bid to reduce the security threat posed by a large army of unemployed youths.

    She said the weapon of lawmaking should be used to legally institutionalise  the percentage of women in the public sector.

    The APC candidate said if she is elected as a member of the Green Chamber of the National Assembly, she would effect plans to cut down cost of governance and curb corruption.

    She said it was called for introduction of social security plans for the aged and the vulnerable in the society.

    She promised to ensure that the people of the constituency benefit from the Constituency Project Scheme of the Federal Government.

  • APC to Fayose: you are callous

    APC to Fayose: you are callous

    •Pay Sept salary, says party

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has accused Governor Ayo Fayose of callousness.

    In a  statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the party described Fayose’s refusal to pay workers’ September salary as “wicked, callous and insensitive”.

    The APC spokesman said records would show the debt profile of the state during former Governor Kayode Fayemi’s administration, adding that the people’s experience during Christmas would show who was lying between the two leaders.

    The party said since federal allocations are paid in arrears, it was incumbent upon Fayose to pay September salary with September federal allocation that he collected in October after Fayemi had left.

    “It was Fayose as governor-elect who went to harass the banks that had overdraft arrangement with the Fayemi administration to stop granting such facilities even though it is the same facility Fayose is using to pay salaries.

    “We wish to remind Governor Fayose that even if it was Fayemi who did not pay September salary, government is a continuum and whoever assumes office inherits both assets and liabilities.

    “It is, therefore, a misnomer for the governor to declare in a heartless manner on state radio and television that Ekiti workers should forget September salary.”

    He explained that Fayose’s declaration had confirmed speculations and  fears that he had misapplied the September salary amounting to over N1. 5 billion.

    Olatunbosun added: “If he paid December salary with November allocation that he received in December, what stopped him from paying September salary with September allocation that he received in October?

    “Why skipping September salary only to pay October salary with September’s allocation?

    “What is he planning to do with the one month salary that is outstanding now and which allocation he had already collected?”

     

  • APC, PDP, SDP, Accord in war of words over Oyo

    APC, PDP, SDP, Accord in war of words over Oyo

    Major political parties in Oyo State have started a “war of words” over who wins the governorship election next year.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Accord and Social Democratic Party (SDP) yesterday explained reasons  their confidence of routing others in the February election.

    APC Chairman Akin Oke said the coast was clear for the “so-called jinx to be broken” (referring to inability of previous governors to win a second term).

    Oke hailed the emergence of four other candidates – Rashidi Ladoja (Accord), Adebayo Alao-Akala (Labour), Teslim Folarin (PDP) and Seyi Makinde (SDP).

    He described it as good for Oyo State and part of the beauty of democracy.

    Oke expressed confidence that the people would vote for continuity of the good works being done by Governor Abiola Ajimobi.

    He said other candidates are from the PDP, stressing that voters know their pedigree and cannot be deceived.

    The APC chairman said within the three and a half years that Oyo people have tasted the APC, they would not go back to the dark days again.

    Folarin’s spokesman Victor Oluwadamilare said the people desire a generational change of leaders into which Folarin fits.

    According to him, Ajimobi has tried his best, but his best is not good enough for the state. He said Ladoja, who he described as a fantastic man, is too old for the dynamics of governance and that Alao-Akala has offered his best, which was inadequate.

    Ladoja sees no candidate who can beat him in the election, based on his popularity and swollen number of Accord supporters.

    Accord’s spokesman Nureni Adeniran said: “The bulk of Ibadan votes will go to Ladoja. Ajimobi is the only strong contender in Ibadan but people are tired of him. Once Ajimobi is out, Ladoja is coming in. He clearly ranks number one. We are optimistic that Ladoja will coast to victory.”

    Makinde said he is the fresh blood which the people want, stressing that all other candidates have  shown what they can do, which has not improved the lot of the state.

  • Lagos 2015: APC, PDP battle for Senate

    Lagos 2015: APC, PDP battle for Senate

    Since 1999, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has not won any senatorial election in Lagos  State. Will the story be different in next year’s poll? Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the credentials of the flag bearers in the ruling and opposition parties and issues that will shape the contest.

    There is poster war in Lagos. Posters and bill-boards of parliamentary flag bearers adorn the metropolis and suburbs. It is the season of campaigns across the three districts. Who wins the senatorial elections in the Central, West and East districts?

    Lagos State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Publicity Secretary Ganiyu Taofik said: “2015 is a year of power shift in Lagos.” He added: “Society is dynamic. It is true that Lagosians have been voting for the AD, the AC and the ACN before. But, the situation will change next year. No political bloc can dominate the scene for too long. You will see the results of the senatorial election.”

    But, his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Comrade Joe Igbokwe, said that the PDP is day dreaming in Lagos. He said Lagosians who are calling for power shift at the centre will not endorse the PDP at the state level.

    “Lagosians and other Nigerians want President Jonathan and the PDP out in 2015. Do you think that these same people will now endorse a PDP senatorial candidate at the poll? The PDP is day dreaming in Lagos. They will fail again in 2015,” Igbokwe maintained.

    In the Central District, the PDP is roaring like a lion. Senator Oluremi Tinubu, former Lagos State First Lady and Founder of the New Era Foundation, is seeking re-election into the Senate on the platform of the APC. In 2011, she defeated her challenger, Mr. Animasahun, a retired civil servant. Next year, she will face a new challenger, Dr. Adegboyega Dosunmu, a failed PDP governorship candidate.

    In the West, House of Representatives member Hon. Adeola Olamilekan is the APC candidate. It will be an interesting battle between him and his 2011 challenger, Mr. Segun Adewale, an aggressive grassroots politician from Alimoso sub-zone, who is running on the platform of the PDP. In 2003, both politicians were members of the Alliance for Democracy (AD).

    The battle for the East senatorial seat is between the former Permanent Secretary, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, and a relatively unknown woman politician from Kosofe area, Mrs. Olabisi Owolabi Salis-Fakos, wife of the veteran PDP governorship aspirant, Owolabi Salis, a lawyer and financial expert.

    Since the Second Republic, Lagosians have always voted for senatorial candidates from progressives parties. Senators Sikiru Shitta-Bey, Ajayi Adeyiga, Durosinmi and Habib Fashinro were elected on the platform of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) led by the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo (SAN). In the Third Republic, the three senators-Bola Tinubu (West), Tony Adefuye (East) and Kofoworola Akerele-Bucknor (Central) were chieftains of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP). Tinubu, who had the highest number of votes nationwide, defeated Mrs. Kemi Nelson of the proscribed National Reoublicam Convention (NRC). Akerele-Bucknor defeated Chief Demola Seriki with a slim margin.

    In this dispensation, the PDP has make efforts, but without success. In 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011, its senatorial candidates lost their deposit at the polls. In 1999, Prince Adeseye Ogunlewe (East), Tokunbo Afikuyomi (Central) and Dr. Wahab Dosunmu (West) contested and won on the platform of the AD. Ahead of 2003 elections, Dosunmu and Ogunlewe dumped the AD for the PDP, citing the crisis in the party as the reason for jumping ship. They vied for the same position, but lost. Afikuyomi, who moved from the Central to the West, was re-elected. He was succeeded in the Central District by former Home Affairs Commissioner Musiliu Obanikoro, who ran in the AD. When the eminent politician, Chief Dapo Sarunmi, rejected the AD ticket in the East District, the Speaker of the House of Assembly. Hon. Olorunnimbe Mamora, filled the vacuum created by Ogunlewe’s defection.

    In 2007, Senator Muniru Muse (Central) became an Action Congress (AC) senator. The ticket was initially offered to Mr. Jimi Agbaje, who lost the governorship primaries to Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN). But, the Afenifere chieftain declined to contest for the Senate, saying that he was only interested in serving as governor. He emerged as the governorship candidate of the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA). He lost to Fashola. In the East, Mamora, who made much impact as a vocal senator, was re-elected. In the West, Tinubu, who was rounding off his second term as governor, stepped down from the senatorial race. Sources said that the coast was not clear. The Federal Government was bent on denying him the opportunity to return to the Upper Chamber. In the spirit of reconciliation, the slot was offered to an aggrieved governorship aspirant, Ganiyu Solomon, who became senator.

    Senator Solomon from Mushin had contested against Afikuyomi in 2003. He protested against the decision of Afikuyomi  to relocate to the West, saying that it was in bad faith. He was pacified with the House of Representatives ticket in Mushin, which had been won by Mrs. Kehinde Babalola-Adepoju.  In 2011, Solomon was re-elected. But, Mamora and Muse were succeeded by Ashafa and Mrs. Tinubu.

    Unlike previous elections, the PDP is mounting an aggressive campaign. It is a combination of media advertisement and do-to-door mobilisation. Its candidates have a deep purse, making it easy to oil their campaign machinery. APC member in Kosofe said: “This mobilisation of members is another empowerment for us, apart from the SURE-P.”. She described the candidates as competent Lagosians who can represent the three districts. But, Igbokwe said none of them can match the pedigree of the APC flag bearers. Another APC chieftain, mr. Tunde Temionu, said: “Political parties win elections because of their structures, power base and mass appeal. The PDP lack these three elements. There will be a clear battle now that we have two main parties.”

    Dosunmu is an administrator. He holds a doctorate degree in management. He worked in the civil service, rising to the position of the chief executive of one of the parastatals in the aviation sector. He became a politician in 2011, when he was drafted into the governorship race by the PDP leader, Commodore Olabode George (rtd). Lagosians did not take him seriously. He lost the poll to Fashola.

    In three and half years, Mrs. Tinubu has emerged as a tested and trusted politician, who can make and redeem her pledges to constituents. A former teacher, she came into the limelight as the first lady, when her husband assumed the reins as the governor. The New Era Foundation, which she founded gave succour to the needy and indigent students. It also engaged in a talent hunt. Its Spelling Bee competition threw up egg heads, who are now graduates of various disciplines across the federation.

    Senator Tinubu made a lot of promises to the Central District in 2011. In the view of the APC leader, Prince Oluyole Olusi, she has fulfilled the promises. “We have had many senators in the Lagos Central-Oba Musediku Adeniji-Adele, Senator Adeyiga Ajayi, Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, Senator Muniru Muse and Senator Oluremi Tinubu. But, none has performed like Senator Oluremi Tinubu,” he said.

    It is an understatement. Since 2011, Mrs. Tinubu has always rendered accounts at town hall meetings organised in every three months. The senator has also instituted a scholarship scheme for students. Indigent traders and widows have benefited from her empowerment schemes. Mrs. Tinubu has also attracted federal government projects to the Lagos State University, Ojo,  Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Ijanikin, and Michael Otedola College of Primary Education, Noforija-Epe.

    In the Senate, she is not a bench warmer. Apart from effectively participating in deliberations and passage of bills and resolutions, Mrs. Tinubu is also effective in the performance of oversight functions. He has proposed a bill on special status for Lagos, although it met with obstacles. Reflecting on her performance, former Yaba Council Chairman and House of Representatives aspirant Hon. Jide Jimoh, described Mrs. Tinubu as a special legislator who has a milk of human kindness. “She has served Lagos central with her whole heart. That was why stakeholders endorsed her for a second term,” he said.

    In the East, Mrs. Salis is intensifying her mobilisation in Kosofe, Ikorodu, Ibeju-Lekki and Epe. The APC has endorsed Ashafa for a second term in this district. The ruling party has a formidable structure in the area. But, many look forward to the contest in the West, where Olamilekan and Adewale will clash. Since Adewale joined the PDP, luck has not smiled on him. In 2011, he struggled to win the House of Representatives seat against Olamilekan. Between 2003 and 2011, Olamilekan was a member of the House of Assembly. He is a loyal party chieftain. This may have accounted for his meteoric political rise.

  • Osahon wins APC’s Ovia House of Reps primary

    The National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared Isaac Osahon Nosakhare the winner of the Ovia Federal Constituency primary held on December 7 at Iguobazuwa, Edo State.

    The aspirant scored the highest votes cast, according to the the presiding officer.

    A high-ranking member of APC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) told our reporter in confidence in Benin, the state capital, that following on the committee’s report, which was submitted to the party’s National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, and signed by the committee’s Chairman Abdullahi Saqid and Secretary Muktar Kaura, and from the video clip, the primary was about to be concluded when the process was disrupted by two people: Morrison Ogunrobo and Dennis Idahosa.

    The NEC gave Osahon the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC’s) form to fill.

    The NEC member, who quoted a section of the party’s guideline, said: “Notwithstanding, the provisions of the guideline or any other rules of the party, the decision of the NWC acting on behalf of the NEC shall and binding on all aspirants, officers and organs of the party in respect of the primary election to the National Assembly.”

    “Therefore, it is our submission that in the interest of justice and fair play Nosakhare Osahon is the winner of the Ovia Federal Constituency primary election held on December 7, 2014.”

    Saqid’s report says: “These same persons abducted our presiding officers to unknown destination. We can deduce the following statistics, number of accredited delegates is 662, number of valid votes cast is 654, number of invalid votes is 8, number of votes scored by Orobosa Omo-Ojo is 65, that of Nosakhare Osahon is 297.”

  • Missing $20b oil money: APC accuses FG of suppressing audit report

    Missing $20b oil money: APC accuses FG of suppressing audit report

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday accused the PDP-led federal government of trying to suppress the audit report on the missing $20 billion oil money and declared that the deadline for the release of the report, which was set by the government itself, has come and gone.

    National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said in a statement in Ilorin that the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, herself had said, at the Financial Times Africa Summit 2014 in London in October, that the report would be ready in November 2014.

    The party quoted the minister as saying at the October 6, 2014 forum that: ”We engaged PwC (PriceWaterHouseCoopers) with the Auditor General of the Federation taking the lead. They asked for 16 weeks to complete the work; they have spent 11 or 12 weeks so far and they will be done in a couple of weeks.”

    The APC pointed out that the remaining four weeks for the conclusion of the report, as requested by the auditors, meant that it should have been ready by latest November 7th 2014.

    Its words: ”It is now over a month since the deadline for the release of the report expired, and the government has simply kept mum on the report, apparently in an effort to sweep the issue under the carpet, as it has done with all other reports of widespread corruption under the present dispensation.

    ”However, Nigerians will not allow this to happen. They will continue to demand that the audit report be made public, in the interest of transparency. We also believe that the Minister of Finance should strive to protect whatever is left of her international reputation by living up to her words that the issue will not be swept under the carpet. It is not only Nigerians but the entire international community who are interested in the outcome of the audit.

    ”If there is any reason why the report has not been released, the minister should immediately come out and tell Nigerians. Otherwise, she should release the report today so that Nigerians will know exactly how much of their oil funds is missing and those to be held responsible for the unprecedented heist,” the party said.

    APC would not believe suggestions that the federal government was deliberately sitting on the report because it (report) has heavily indicted it and some powerful personalities in the Jonathan administration.

    ”In announcing the forensic audit of the unaccounted for money, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said the president supported it and asked for it to be done. Now that it has been done, why has the report not been released, even if it implicates the government itself?” the party queried

    It said the urgent release of the report will also end the rumour that the missing money is the source of the huge slush funds being used for President Jonathan’s re-election, as well as the speculation that it was the same missing money that formed the source of the huge funds that were round-tripped to the Jonathan campaign fund during his recent fund raising.

    ”Overall, a government that went cap in hand to borrow $1 billion to better equip the military in its fight against Boko Haram should not hesitate to get to the root of $20 billion missing oil money. Had that money not indeed been missing as alleged, would the government have needed to borrow $1 billion to pep up the Boko Haram war?

    ”We are therefore joining the millions of Nigerians who have demanded the urgent release of the audit report. Failure to do so before the end of the year will leave Nigerians with no choice than to conclude that the FG is indeed hiding something about the missing $20 billion, a conclusion that will indeed be more than justified,” APC said.

  • PDP, APC and abusive election

    PDP, APC and abusive election

    “Never was ability so much below mediocrity so well rewarded, not, not even when Caligula’s horse was made a consul,” said John Randolph on Richard Rush in the early days of the United States Congress. He could very well have been talking about President Goodluck Jonathan. But since the All Progressives Congress (APC) has sworn not to focus on the person of Dr Jonathan, though his person could not be divorced from his modest accomplishments, we may be deprived of great invectives directed against the president. Indeed, insults have from time immemorial been an integral part of politics, and memorable putdowns have served to excite, engage and humour the electorate. As an influence on voting pattern, however, their utility is doubtful. Nonetheless, in 2015, Nigeria seems nostalgically to be returning to the virulent past, a past that never really left us.

    In more than four statements in the past three weeks, the APC has wisely decided its presidential campaign will centre on issues instead of abuse, on facts rather than fiction, and on perspectives rather than persons. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the other hand has cleverly impressed it on everyone, including party leaders and unwary voters, that its campaign will focus almost exclusively on vitriolic abuse. The reason is clear: on the exigent issues of the day, the PDP is at its wit’s end, unable to offer explanations for its failures and incapable of envisioning a glorious future. The ruling party will therefore do its damnedest to restrict the campaign to abuse and its focus to persons. If the APC is smart, it will recognise it is unlikely to match the PDP in abuse, and must therefore do its level best to stick to issues, where it will be able to prove with little or no effort how woefully the ruling party had performed, and how inept it had become in remedying the grave issues of the day and the mortal dangers of the near future.

    It is often hard to detach abuse from politics, especially because it constitutes an irresistible part of the dialectics of political campaign. But never in the history of Nigeria has any government proved so derelict of achievements as the President Goodluck Jonathan government, consequent upon which it seems unrepentantly set on avoiding campaigning on records. Indeed, it has already kick-started the campaign of abuse, and is pursuing it unabashedly and with all ferocity. In the past two weeks, two top officials of the PDP have dredged the sewers of abuse so openly it is unmistakable what their objectives are. National chairman of the PDP, Adamu Muazu, drew the first blood when, through his assistant, he described the APC candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, as idiosyncratically combative and anti-democratic, traits he concluded would be introduced into APC governance should the opposition party win the presidential election in 2015. It was scaremongering at its worst, but strictly speaking, since it was not libellous, Alhaji Muazu felt confident to make his opinion public.

    If Alhaji Muazu’s misplaced description of Gen Buhari as a warlord was not bad enough, the ruling party’s national secretary, Prof Adewale Oladipo, descended a notch lower by describing the APC presidential candidate as semiliterate, a reference to the fact that he has no university degree. Dr Jonathan on the other hand had a PhD, said the PDP official, irrespective of what he had done, or is capable of doing, with it. The 2015 presidential poll, Prof Oladipo gloated, “is going to be between darkness and light, it is going to be between a cosmopolitan, highly focused PhD holder and a semiliterate jackboot.” The problem with invectives is that they don’t have to bear any semblance to truth or reality. If not, there is hardly any Nigerian who does not know that Gen Buhari exudes gravitas as opposed to Dr Jonathan’s boyish simplicity, honesty as opposed to the president’s manifest and offensive untruths, forthrightness as opposed to the president’s prevarications, energy as opposed to the president’s lassitude, and cultured outlook as opposed to the president’s provocative provincialism.

    Even if we cavil at the PDP’s style of campaign, the party seems to have little or no alternative. There are no spectacular roads rebuilt on a significant scale to flaunt, and no rail network of high-speed trains to boast of. The PDP government has established more universities, but that is not what Nigeria needs, for the government is unable to maintain the existing ones. The hospitals are a little better than consulting clinics, and whole communities and long stretches of roads are unsafe. Kidnappers run riot, abducted schoolgirls are raped and killed, and schoolboys are massacred at will. The government has become so impotent that it seems there is no government in law and in fact.

    To avoid emphasis on these embarrassing facts, the PDP will focus attention on the persons of the APC leadership and candidates. If they are tired of focusing on Gen Buhari, and cannot focus on his running mate, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, they will seize some of the party’s national leaders, especially Bola Ahmed Tinubu, their favourite customer, to denigrate. In short, no matter what anyone says, and no matter what the APC does, the PDP will stubbornly remain glued to a campaign of calumny because of its tantalising opportunities. That is its lifeline; that is its last straw to clutch at. That is the engine of its presidential campaign; that in fact is the culmination of its 2015 campaign. It can do no other thing.

    The electorate will be left to judge in the final analysis who has run the most effective campaign between the PDP and APC, and which is the most persuasive, campaign of issues or campaign of abuse. The voters will be left to judge whether describing Gen Buhari as semiliterate resonates as powerfully as portraying the impotence of Dr Jonathan in rescuing the 219 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram; or whether labelling the general a warlord is not a compliment in the face of Dr Jonathan’s proven failure in taking the battle to the rampaging Boko Haram, a terror group that has caused so much catastrophe in the country and schism, disquiet and restiveness in the Nigerian military.

  • Leadership recruitment: APC needs to proceed cautiously

    Leadership recruitment: APC needs to proceed cautiously

    A few months back, many Nigerians, including this columnist and even All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders, probably never imagined that the main opposition party would rise to its present stature, let alone stand at the door of forming the next government. But here they are, a few weeks to the general elections, poised to assume the presidency, and riding on the crest of popular disaffection with the jaded and exhausted ruling party. In consequence, they must begin to face many obligations, some summoning them to extremely high dose of discipline, imaginativeness, organisation and character. How they respond to these obligations will determine how successful they become.

    They already recognise the huge task of formulating a party ideology out of their variegated backgrounds and disparate worldviews, but this is a task, among many other tasks, they seem to have postponed to sometime in the future. But there is one responsibility they can neither ignore nor postpone: the task of fine-tuning their leadership recruitment processes. This is what will define them and help them chart a responsible and successful path into the future. So far, they have approached the matter rather desultorily and offhandedly, an approach that has cost them a lot in terms of prestige and credibility.

    An example is the rather carefree way they welcomed Femi Fani-Kayode, Ali Modu-Sheriff and Dino Melaye into their fold. Mr Melaye is still with them, and is continuing to play a somewhat prominent role in the party. Mr Fani-Kayode was barely two weeks with them, after defecting spectacularly from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), when he began to rub elbows with APC leaders and accompany them to high-profile meetings. Mr Fani-Kayode is doubtless eloquent and aggressively eager to defend and advance the interest of his friends; but he is also famously eccentric, polemical, abusive, unreliable and almost wholly without leadership character.

    It will be recalled that he insinuated himself into the confidence of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, reviling and denigrating him until he got a job with that government, and then kept quiet. It required little effort, after a while, for him to reject his PDP friends and praise his way into the APC, where it seemed a man of his combative talent and piquant disposition was needed to serve as a battering ram against the PDP. In the end, it also required very little effort for him to pick a quarrel with the APC leaders, whom he accused of sectarian insensitivity, abuse them thoroughly and denounce them as unprepared for national leadership. Mr Fani-Kayode is now back to his vomit.

    Like Mr Fani-Kayode, Mr Melaye is cantankerous, intrepid, willing to risk everything, and a gifted rabble-rouser. He was swiftly welcomed into the APC fold, where he also began to rub elbows with party leaders, offering to lead many of their escapades designed to irritate, frustrate and suffocate the PDP and its leaders. He is a stump maverick and soapbox virtuoso; but he is also a quintessential eccentric who is just a hair’s breadth away from accomplished thuggishness. He campaigns for probity and character, but at bottom those virtues mean nothing to him, going by his behaviour during the last APC primaries in his home state of Kogi. Because of him, a full revolt is underway against the APC in Kogi West.

    Reflecting its problematic leadership recruitment style and policy, the APC has faced serious leadership challenges, and has barely managed to suppress the rage of its Young Turks, virtually all of them a part of the party’s leadership at state and national levels. The party must urgently mature. It must fine-tune its party ideology, establish parameters for recruiting young politicians and defectors into its leadership cadre, and define rigidly the qualifications and character such leaders must possess. If the party is to minimise discontent and run a tight-knit organisation, it must ensure that defectors and other party faithful are no longer automatically inducted into leadership cadre simply because they possess oratorical gifts, eagerness to fight the enemy, and loyalty, much of it skin deep.

  • ‘Why APC will win Lagos in 2015’

    ‘Why APC will win Lagos in 2015’

    THE All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Ikorodu Federal Constituency in Lagos State, Barrister Jimi Benson has said that his party is poised to sweep all elective positions in the state during the 2015 general elections.

    The youthful politician, who scored a whooping s630 votes to defeat three other aspirants during the APC primary election, said the victory of his party in Lagos State is assured by the performance of the current Babatunde Raji Fashola-led administration in the state.

    Benson who has moved out swiftly after winning his party’s primaries for his constituency to mobilize the support of his people for the APC told The Nation that he’s going into the National Assembly to promote the interest of the people of the old Ikorodu division with everything at his disposal.

    According to Benson, the APC will benefit from the goodwill of its leaders in Lagos state like former Governor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Fasola amongst others.

    “God has used the likes of Asiwaju Tinubu and Governor Fasola to bring meaningful development to our dear state. The people of the state are living witnesses to the great efforts of our leaders towards making life better for the people.

    These and other goodwill is what will win the state for APC. Apart from that, take a good look at the candidates the party is presenting and you will agree with me that APC is the party to beat in this election. The fact remains that APC is the party of the people in Lagos State,” he said.

    The APC candidate observed that the socio-economic and infrastructural situation in his constituency requires immediate attention and as such, he intends to hit the ground running once elected. “There would be no time to waste once I’m elected. Ikorodu needs urgent attention. As a man who is very conversant with happenings among my people, I am aware of the enormous task ahead of me and I am ready for the job,” he said.