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Voter card is your gun, Buhari tells Nigerians

•El-Rufai: I won’t demolish houses, if elected

Former Head of State and All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential aspirant Gen. Muhammadu Buhari yesterday told Nigerians to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVC), describing it as their “gun to sack incompetent leaders in 2015”.

Gen. Buhari spoke in Kaduna at a rally, where former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nasir el-Rufai formally declared his interest in the governorship seat.

He said: “Your card is your gun against incompetence in government and deception. We have suffered enough. You know what it takes to repair Nigeria, especially as regards infrastructure, security and employment. Let us get the infrastructure working; let’s get security materially, physically and morally.”

On el-Rufai, Gen. Buhari said Kaduna people would be doing themselves a great favour, if they elect the former minister as their governor.

He said: “I developed cold feet to come and present el-Rufai to you because of the sacrifices he wanted to make on my behalf, which I turned down. He insisted that I must contest and I told him that if I must contest he must also contest, because I believe he has the qualities required to make Kaduna State great again. These qualities are competence, integrity and courage.

“I have seen the way el-Rufai handled Abuja and we know he loves this country. He is endowed with the three qualities I have mentioned, so I assure you that if you vote for el-Rufai, you won’t be doing him a favour, but would be doing yourselves a favour. I am not being arrogant; I am just being honest.

“El-Rufai is the kind of person that will respect you if you respect yourself, and if you don’t respect yourself, he will help you go down the drain. I am here to ask for your support and understanding for el-Rufai and myself.”

El-Rufai promised not to demolish houses, if elected governor.

He said: “For those worrying about the demolitions that took place in Abuja, I assure you that Kaduna and Abuja are different in history, growth and priorities. We did what needed to be done in Abuja to make it a true national capital. In contrast, what Kaduna needs are better schools, health facilities and productive farms in an atmosphere of improved peace and security. That will be the focus of the APC, not the scaremongering of impending demolitions.

“We shall foster an environment of security of life and property by tackling the roots of intolerance and communal violence. We shall make a priority of transparent governance and improved service delivery by re-energising and empowering the public service. We shall rebuild and expand water supply, rural electrification and roads.

“Our government will invest in our people by improving capacity and delivery in health, education and social welfare. We shall energetically promote agriculture and food security, while implementing land reform as a basis for wealth creation and capital formation.

“The APC Kaduna Team will implement reforms that will create a transparent and responsible local government system that is properly funded, autonomous and technically-strengthened to be responsive and capable of delivering services at the grassroots. We are poised to take advantage of our state’s proximity to Abuja by developing new towns in locations neighbouring the FCT.

“We are at a crossroads of risks and opportunities in our nation and our state. The choice we make in 2015 will determine whether our nation succeeds or fails. We believe we can make Kaduna great again. I ask for your support so that we can make it happen together.”

November 4, 2014
APC Reps to Presidency: stop meddling in House affairs

All Progressives Congress (APC) members in the House of Representatives have warned the Presidency to stop meddling in its affairs following Speaker Aminu Tambuwal’s defection to the APC.

The APC representatives told reporters at the National Assembly yesterday that the reaction of the Presidency and the PDP was unknown to civilisation or any democratic setting.

The caucus said the Presidency, the PDP and the police should be reminded that the legislature is a separate but equal arm of government that is neither inferior nor subservient to the Executive.

Minority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila, who read a statement, said though the legislature was constitutionally empowered to regulate its own affair, legal steps had been taken to forestall any act of impunity that the Presidency might want to undertake on the issue in connivance with some PDP lawmakers.

Noting that any attempt to reconvene the House before the official date would be illegal, Gbajabiamila said: ”We ask rhetorically where was the police when the Speaker of the Ondo State Assembly just recently defected from the Labour Party to the PDP?”

He cited Section 42 of the constitution to back his argument in addition to the House Rules that also provide for how and when an adjourned House can be reconvened.

Section 42 of the constitution: ”A citizen of Nigeria of a particular community, ethnic group, … religion or political opinion shall not by reason only that he is such a person be subjected either expressly by or in the practical application of any law in force in Nigeria or any executive or administrative action of the government to disabilities or restrictions to which other citizens of other communities ethnic groups…or other political opinions are not made subject”.

“What makes the Speaker of Ondo Assembly different from Hon Tambuwal?; his political opinion? Let us make this abundantly clear: The legislature is a separate but equal arm of government. It is not inferior nor is it subservient to the Executive.

“Their powers are separated under the constitution and it can never be an extension or department of the Presidency or PDP. Just as the legislature cannot regulate the workings of the Presidency or determine for the President when he should call FEC meetings and we note that there was a time he did not for months, so also can the Presidency not determine for the House when to reconvene or meet.

“Consequently any political party that seeks to meddle in our internal affairs should perish the thought. Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, for the very first time in our recent history, ushered in an independent House and the House will remain independent.

“You are all too familiar with the relevant provisions of our House rules that provide for how and when an adjourned House can be reconvened. The President cannot do it, a political party cannot do it, the Deputy Speaker lacks the powers and indeed it is beyond the signatures of 120,150, 250 or 350 members.

“That power resides solely and exclusively with Mr Speaker. We had hoped that the PDP and the Executive would at least this one time be decorous in its conduct and respect the rule of law and the legislature but we were wrong.

“We would like to use this opportunity to appeal to our colleagues in the PDP not to embark on a futile exercise but to put country first and self second and do only that which is right as is our prayer every morning before sittings.

“We have taken pains to convey our position to major democracies and

parliaments as this morning (yesterday). The APC Caucus in the House filed a legal action, praying, amongst other things, for a declaration that the Hose cannot be reconvened without the Speakers consent.

“We have also taken pains to communicate our position and the attempt to truncate this democracy to other major democracies and parliaments as what affects one has the potential of affecting others.

“Now the issues are in court. Under our rules, they cannot be a subject for debate. We ask the Presidency and the PDP to leave the House well alone.”

House Committee on Finance, Abdulmumini Jibrin (APC, Kano) said the threat of impeaching the Speaker remained a threat that would not materialise.

According to him, any attempt to begin an impeachment process against Tambuwal would lead to a floodgate of impeachments.

He claimed that the House had facts about many public officers who would not escape the impeachment gale. “We need to be careful not to overheat the polity. And what I am referring to is this issue of impeachment being bandied around.

“We don’t want a situation where the hunter will become the hunted. Already, we the APC members of the House, we are fully prepared. We are waiting for a situation like this. And we have the capacity to deal with any situation in the House.

“If you go and put some few members somewhere illegally to impeach the speaker, you’ve laid a precedence in the National Assembly. And what that means is that a few members can also seat anywhere to impeach even a higher officer in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“We all need to be careful by allowing the sleeping dog to lie. Nigerians are watching. All the breach of the constitution that is going on, we are noting.

“All the impeachable offences that have been committed by a lot of public officers, we’ve taken records of them. In the next few days we are going to watch and see how events unfold. Whatever happens, we will respond accordingly.”

Jibrin was, however, evasive on when APC would begin the impeachment of the offending public officers, saying: “When we get to bridge of using such impeachable offenses, we will cross it.

“We are going to reconvene on the 3rd of December. It is written in all our articles. All the offences, we are putting everything together, and by the time we reconvene, the fireworks will start,” Jibrin said.

November 4, 2014
Court stops Fed Govt, PDP Reps from recalling House

APC caucus warns against meddling in House affairs

Those scheming for the House of Representatives to reconvene lost a major battle yesterday.

A Federal High Court in Abuja stopped members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Federal Government from forcibly reconvening the House, which last week adjourned till December 3.

Justice Ahmed Ramat Muhammed ruled that all parties to the suit should maintain the status quo until Friday.

The ruling came after members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the House filed a motion on notice, asking the court to stop the Federal Government, PDP and their agents from reconvening the House until December 3.

Members of the APC, led by House Minority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila, on Monday approached the court, seeking an injunction against their colleagues in the PDP and the Federal Government.

Justice Muhammed ruled that Speaker Aminu Tambuwal and the APC should serve the defendants with the motion on notice and ordered the defendants to show cause why all the reliefs being sought should not be granted.

Tambuwal alleged that the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), its Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu and three others were plotting to reconvene the House before December 3 to which it lawfully adjourned.

Tambuwal said the planned reconvening of the House’s sitting was part of the plot by his former party and its leadership to forcibly remove him from office as Speaker and member of the House.

He accused the PDP and Mu’azu of working with the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha to carry out the plot.

This is part of the deposition contained in an affidavit supporting a motion exparte filed by Tambuwal yesterday before the Federal High Court, Abuja, in addition to the suit he and the All Progressives Congress (APC), filed on Friday.

Respondents in the motion are the PDP, Mu’azu, House of Reps, Ihedioha, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the AGF.

“The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 7th defendants (PDP, Muazu, House of Reps, Deputy Speaker and the AGF) are planning to illegally and unconstitutionally reconvene the sitting of the 3rd defendant (House of Reps) before December 3, 2014, the date the sitting of the 3rd defendant was lawfully adjourned to, without following due process, for the sole purpose of discussing and perfecting the forceful removal of the 1st plaintiff before the case of the plaintiff is heard and determined,” Tambuwal said in the supporting affidavit deposed to on his behalf by one of his lawyers, Ejura Patience Ochimana.

The Speaker also stated that the withdrawal of his security detail on October 30 by the IGP was upon the prompting of the 1st to 4th respondents (PDP, Mu’azu, House of Reps and Ihedioha).

He stated that despite the pendency of the suit he filed on Friday, the defendants were still bent on carrying through their threat to forcefully remove him from office as Speaker and as member of the House.

“The 1st and 2nd defendants (PDP and Mu’azu) have been threatening to use their contacts to ensure that the seat of the 1st plaintiff (Tambuwal) in the 3rd defendant (House of Reps) is declared vacant so that the 6th defendant (INEC) would organise a bye-election to fill it,” he said.

Tambuwal, who prayed the court to urgently grant the five orders of interim injunction contained in the motion ex-parte, argued that unless restrained, the defendant, who have in most cases exhibited their alleged disdain for the rule of law, will execute their threat of removing him from office.

November 4, 2014
Women urged to contest

The Zonal Women Leader (South-West) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mrs Kemi Nelson, has called on women members of the party to participate in the electoral process.

In a statement in Lagos, the APC chieftain said it was time for women to rise up and take their rightful position by contesting for elective offices.

She advised the women to take advantage of the party’s provision for them.

“Women should take advantage of their large population to vote for their own. We should stop being followers and mere supporters of men.

“I urge our women to continue to mobilise and encourage women to join the party. We want quality women who can compete favourably with the men and win.”

November 4, 2014
Lagos APC condemns closure of roads

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned the “needless and unnecessary imposition of hardship” on Lagosians when public official visit the state.
The party’s statement followed the “traumatic experiences of Lagosians on Friday” when Vice President Namadi Sambo visited the state to deliver a lecture at the Island Club.
In a statement in Lagos by its Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, the APC advised public officials visiting Lagos to be mindful of the dynamics of Lagos as the engine room of the Nigerian economy.
The statement reads: “We note that the penchant to lock down Lagos for a visiting public official has become so obsessive with the Presidency that Lagosians now dread the visiting of another official of the Presidency.
“It is well known that whenever the President, Vice President, their wives and other Federal Government officials visit Lagos even for personal reasons, the state is locked down for hours.
“Hapless citizens are always subjected to tortuous experiences on the roads. We wonder how this helps whatever missions these officials came to do in Lagos.
“We want to appeal to all to respect the dynamics of Lagos and the feelings of the people who desire very minimal interference in the conduct of their daily businesses. This is the reason Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) moves round the state often without sirens.
“We can imagine the hundreds of billions of Naira Nigerians lost last Friday as they sweated for hours on critical roads in the Central Business District just because all roads were closed for close to six hours.
“Lagosians cannot afford such needless interference in their lives as they struggle with the vicissitudes of a floundering economy.
“We appeal to visiting public officials to note that the dynamics of Lagos is the reason why it remains the last hope for a flailing Nigeria where Nigerians have been provided the enabling environment to work and make a living for themselves, their families and their dependant.
“Lagos is a private sector-driven economy and as such we urge all to respect that prerogative and strive to constitute less impediment to the conduct of their activities.
“We say enough of these needless obstructions to the lives of Lagosians and we wish that visiting public officers and politicians will see the need for this wish.”

November 4, 2014
Ajimobi distributes offer letters to teachers

The distribution of employment letters to thousands of newly recruited teachers from Itesiwaju, Iwajowa, Kajola and Iseyin local governments of Oyo State continued yesterday.

All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains, monarchs, stakeholders praised Governor Abiola Ajimobi for the gesture.

Ajimobi, who arrived in Iseyin at 1pm, received a triumphant entry, as thousands of students, party members, chieftains, workers trooped out to welcome him.

Speaking at the palace of Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba Adekunle Salau, the governor said the recruitment of 5,300 teachers by his administration was unprecedented in the state.

He said the exercise was part of government’s efforts to improve the standard of education and provide jobs for the youth.

The governor said over 31,000 teachers had been sent on training to improve their productivity; adding that 24,000 teachers had been promoted.

An APC chieftain from Itesiwaju Local Government, Niyi Adeagbo, said Ajimobi was a shining light, a beacon of hope that Nigeria could get it right with the right leadership.

“If he can do so much with very lean resources, it can be deduced that the problem of the nation is not about availability of resources, but misapplication and mismanagement.”

The monarch said: “You have done well. I pray that God will grant you your heart desire. Your dream and ambitions will come true.

“I also pray that these buses procured for your campaign will not be involved in any accident.”

November 4, 2014
Tambuwal meets APC Caucus

Speaker of House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal is set to meet with lawmakers from the All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus in Lagos today against the background of alleged plans by the members of the PDP caucus to reconvene the House tomorrow.

Tambuwal’s meeting with the APC caucus members is meant to strategise on how to prevent the leadership of the House from falling into the wrong hands.

While it was learnt that the PDP leadership would be holding a meeting to put finishing touches to its takeover plans, a source, said the PDP caucus is yet to transmit a letter of intent to reconvene the House as proposed at their last meeting.

However, a sources close to the Speaker said what transpired in Kaduna when his car was searched by soldiers while on the way to an event was an inkling of what was to come.

Speaking on the removal of the Speaker’s security detail, he quoted Tambuwal as saying he has “nothing to fear as a Nigerian and public servant.” Tambuwal was said to have travelled to Lagos without security escort, according to a source.

November 3, 2014
APC urges probe of Fed Govt, Boko Haram ceasefire deal

All Progressives Congress (APC) has canvassed the need for an independent probe of the circumstances surrounding the alleged “fake ceasefire deal” announced by the Federal Government on October 17.

The party’s call came after the sect’s leadership’s labelled the man with whom the deal was negotiated as an impostor.

APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement in Lagos yesterday, said Nigerians would like to know how the President Goodluck Jonathan’s Administration “got swindled by an impostor, who the major players were and what the government plans to do to address what has now become a monumental national and international embarrassment.”

The party said the president owed the citizens an explanation on “an unprecedented global faux pas”, adding that “engaging in cheap damage control by insisting on the genuineness of the deal will only amount to taking Nigerians for a ride’’.

APC said the saddest part of the deal was that it gave false hopes to the parents of the 218 school girls, who remain in Boko Haram’s captivity, that their children’s release was imminent, especially as the government even announced a specific date for the release of the girls.

The party added: ‘’Now, the parents and indeed all Nigerians have been victimised for the umpteenth time by the same government that has failed in its main reason for existence – the security and welfare of the citizenry.’’

It also recalled its earlier warning to the administration not to use the girls as pawns on its political chess board.

The APC wondered “whether the government sought to buy time and gain political mileage by knowingly negotiating with a man, who has no authority to do so on behalf of the Boko Haram, as claimed by the sect’s leadership, in which case the government will be guilty of political fraud”.

It also queried whether the government was not competent enough to know who to negotiate with, saying the development reinforced “the perception” of the government “as being blatantly incompetent”.

The statement also reads: ‘’The ceasefire deal with Boko Haram was announced at the highest level of the military and supported by the political authority on October 17. Now that it has been described as a fluke, there is every indication that the Jonathan Administration was swindled by someone masquerading as a Boko Haram negotiator, while the administration itself went ahead to fool Nigerians as well as the international community. Whatever happens, the sole responsibility falls on the administration.

‘’Following the gleeful announcement of the deal and despite the doubts surrounding it, our party deliberately refrained from commenting on it and even wished it was real so that our long-suffering people can get some respite from the devilish terror group that has dispatched thousands into their early graves, maimed even many more and ruined the economic and social life of a large chunk of the society.

‘’When Boko Haram continued to carry out deadly attacks and annex territories, despite the so-called ceasefire, we waited for the government to tell Nigerians what was happening, but there was no convincing explanation. When the date announced for the release of the girls passed, we waited for the government to tell Nigerians what the problem was, but all we got from the easily excitable and trifling presidential spokesmen was platitude

‘’Now that the deal is said to be a fluke and everything points to that, the Jonathan administration must be contrite enough to own up to its gaffe, if indeed it is one, or its contrived deceit, and also face the possible consequences from a stupefied citizenry. It cannot and must not just be another forgotten instance in a series of gaffes by a serial bumbling government’’.

November 3, 2014
APC leaders condemn militarisation of elections

•Nigeria should prepare for 2015, says Aregbesola
•Tambuwal faults IG

all Progressives Congress (APC) leaders have condemned the militarisation of elections in the country.

They spoke yesterday at a victory colloquium, organised by The Gazelle News, for Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola at the Eko Hotel, Victoria Island.

The party’s National Legal Adviser, Muiz Banire, in a paper titled: “Osun Election: A Pathway to Nigeria’s Democratic Growth”, said the government does not have the constitutional power to use soldiers during elections.

He said the militarisation of Osun State few days to the election, in the name of providing security, was the misuse of power by the government.

Banire said: “The machinery of federalism had been wiped out as the only thing the Federal Government did not do was declare a state of emergency in Osun.

“Whenever these agents and merchants of death shot into the air, the determined people of Osun hailed the bullet rains with the slogan of ‘APC’ or Aregbesola for second term.’’

The APC chieftain said Aregbesola won the election because he was popular. He said on the eve of the election, there was total clampdown on APC leaders, who were arrested and detained without justification.

He urged the party leadership to field popular candidates in the 2015 elections, saying it was the only way to checkmate rigging.

The moderator, Kawu Baraje, said the PDP was relying on the military to rig the 2015 elections. He urged Nigerians to resist the Federal Government’s impunity.

The APC chieftain added that the PDP was a sinking ship and it was bent on truncating democracy in Nigeria through unconstitutional acts.

Baraje, who represented former President Olusegun Obasanjo as the chairman, said: “The resolution of the people to defend their mandate became a serious challenge to the PDP. Soldiers are being illegally engaged by the government.

“If they were deployed to Sambisa forest to search for the Chibok girls at the appropriate time, I am very sure they would have been reunited with their parents.”

The Special Guest of Honour, Aminu Tambuwal, said he was been vindicated in view of what was happening in the PDP.

He said the reign of impunity in the party was legendary, noting that when Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko and the Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly defected to the PDP, they were not victimised.

Tambuwal said Nigeria needed a good leader, one who believes in peace, progress and development of the country and the welfare of the people.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives said he was miffed by the pronouncement of the Acting Inspector General of Police, that he (Tambuwal) should vacate his office having left the PDP for APC.

He said: “This country belongs to all of us. We must come together to ensure that we get the right leadership in 2015.

“The IGP did not say Ondo Speaker should vacate his seat. Why is he now making such pronouncement in my own case?

“Is it a case of different laws for different people? Anyway, I have gone to court, so I rest my case.

“I thank Nigerians who stood by me in the face of this impunity. It is our right to decide who we want to relate with and there is nobody who can dictate to me who I should relate with.”

Aregbesola said the situation in Burkina Faso was a signal to Nigerians to gird their loins and prepare for the general elections.

The governor called on the people of Burkina Faso not to allow military rule after the exit of President Blaise Compaore.

Aregbesola urged the Burkinabes to carry the revolution that ousted Compaore to its logical conclusion by forming a national government to conduct election soon.

He said: “We should gird our loins and prepare for any eventualities that may accompany the 2015 general elections.

“I say this because the trend has shown that the election will not come as easy as we may want to think as it is clear that PDP will want to use force to retain power.

“The PDP is not a party that is not unbeatable. For if we beat PDP in Osun, it means we can beat it anywhere and we must beat it everywhere.”

Former Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja branch, Chairman Monday Ubani said the Osun election had provided a template for future elections.

“In Osun State, stomach infrastructure was also used as a campaign strategy. The people collected whatever item that was offered them, but came out to vote for their choice.”

At the ceremony were former Vice President Atiku Abubakar (represented by former Lagos State Commissioner for Youths and Sports Adeniji Adele); former Osun State Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola; Lagos State Deputy Governor Mrs. Adejoke Orelope -Adefulire.

Others are Osun State House of Assembly Speaker Najeem Salam; House of Representatives Minority Speaker Hakeem Gbajabiamila; APC National Publicity Secretary Lai Muhammed and others

November 3, 2014
Discontinue your petition, APC tells Omisore

The All Progressives Congress has urged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the last August 9 governorship election, Iyiola Omisore, to “honourably discontinue his impossible mission to remove Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola from office”.

A statement by its spokesperson, Kunle Oyatomi, said: “Omisore’s exercise will be as futile as that of his party’s wasted effort to annul the 2011 elections in which all the PDP’s candidates lost their bid to be elected into the state and National Assembly.

“From what the public has seen and heard so far Omisore and the PDP are relying purely on falsehood and not fact. But we are happy that their lies are falling apart like a pack of cards.

“The Appeal Court, three weeks ago, struck out the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC’s) appeal due to what it termed “defective filing” of the notice.

“Omisore and the PDP attempted to turn the ruling to a “judgment”, sacking all the state lawmakers in Osun and Abuja.

“But when it became clear that the PDP couldn’t win on this falsehood, it had the case withdrawn from the Federal High Court in Osogbo last Friday.

“This lie was so blatant and embarrassing that even some responsible members of the PDP within and outside Osun felt sad and ashamed that so much falsehood was being associated with their party.

“Same with another lie that the Tribunal had ordered a recount of votes for which the tribunal chairman denied and warned the party to allow them do their job.

“This inability to learn from history is what has made the PDP and Omisore to replicate futile mission all over again, and that anything founded on falsehood will fail.”

November 3, 2014