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  • Lagos 2015: APC youth leaders plan 6 million-man march

    Lagos 2015: APC youth leaders plan 6 million-man march

    Ahead of the 2015 general elections, a group, All Progressives Congress (APC) Youth Leaders Forum, Lagos State, has concluded plans to stage a mega rally for the party.

    Speaking on behalf of the group, its chairman, Prince Francis Adebisi, said members of the group are prepared to ensure the overwhelming success of the party during next year’s general elections.

    He said: “The population of youths in Lagos State is about 10 million and to this end, we have concluded plans to stage a six million-man march to mobilise massive support for our great party’s victorious outing in 2015 elections.

    “The rally is to drum support for APC and to showcase many of the achievements of the current administration in the last seven years with a view to discountenancing falsehood being peddled by the opposition.”

    Speaking further on his group’s plan for the rally, Adebisi added: “The local government chairmen have a body called Conference 57, hence, we have also established this body comprising of all the youth leaders across the 20 local government areas and 37 local council development areas in order to work towards ensuring victory for our party in 2015.”

    “To this end, we want to express our unflinching loyalty to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and we will continue to hold him in high esteem, because of his immense leadership virtues.”

     

  • Tambuwal’s ‘coup’

    The self-styled ‘largest political party in Africa’ turns to usual lawlessness as Speaker dumps the Humpty Dumpty

    Until the defection, last Tuesday, of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), many people had regarded the defection, in August, of the former presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the 2011 presidential election, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, as the defection to beat. And that was quite understandable. ACN and other political parties that are unhappy with the state of affairs in the country have now teamed up to form the APC which is now trying to take over power from the ruling PDP.

    So, those who regard Ribadu’s defection to the PDP as the biggest such carpet-crossing have every right to hold that opinion. What on earth could have made a party’s presidential candidate abandon the ship only to want to run for governor on another party’s ticket? Well, much as Ribadu is now recuperating from his failure to get what he thought he was going to get in the PDP that probably necessitated his defection, the APC too, hopefully, must have learnt its lessons. What was Ribadu’s antecedent that qualified him to hoist such an exalted flag?

    However, now that Speaker Tambuwal has dumped the PDP, that has become the talk of the town and made Ribadu’s defection pale into insignificance. Tambuwal’s defection is the ‘mother of all defections’, at least so far. I said so far because no one can tell, the president himself might decide to jump ship before Noah’s Ark is full! ”

    My dear colleagues, pursuant to the extant provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and having regards to the developments in my home state of Sokoto, I wish to hereby formally notify you of my membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Let me register my profound appreciation to all of you, my colleagues, for the unflinching support you have continued to extend to me and the great sacrifice you are making in the pursuit of the overall national interest and the development of constitutional democracy …”. Tambuwal crowned it with a prayer that God should continue to guide his colleagues as they exercise the people’s mandate entrusted to them.

    With these words he adjourned sitting in the House to December 3. Although Tambuwal’s defection had been in the air for so long, why it still took some of the PDP representatives by surprise, to the extent that some of them reportedly wept after the Speaker’s announcement, is difficult to comprehend.

    Of course, everyone who is conversant with our political developments could have predicted how the Goodluck Jonathan administration would react to the issue that should be a battle of wits and guts. But trust the PDP and its government; they have already turned it to roforofo fight. Even as the Speaker was yet to return the gavel with which he hit the table to declare proceedings of the House of Representatives closed on Tuesday after dropping the bombshell, some of the PDP members had started calling for Tambuwal’s resignation from the party.

    Indeed, the ‘punishment’ has started. National Vice-Chairman of the party in the South-South, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, vowed to do everything within his powers to regain the speakership of the House from Tambuwal. “PDP is a very disciplined (disciplined?) party. If you come and steal in the PDP and use the PDP to elevate yourself and get into office, when the time comes, God will get you out like the issue of Tambuwal. You can see how God has exposed him”, he said. As if it is not common knowledge that the countless persons that God had truly exposed in the ruling party are the ones enjoying the fruits of the land!

    Expectedly, even if gratuitously, the Acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Suleiman Abba, has joined the fray by withdrawing Tambuwal’s security men. By so doing, the acting IGP assumed the role of the judiciary which he has absolutely no power to assume. Moreover, there are many cases pending in courts concerning the Section 68(1) (g) that he cited as the basis for his action. At any rate, at whose behest did the IGP take the action? And how does that become a pressing matter for his attention and action? If the police boss could promptly react to the crimes plaguing the country the way he reacted to Tambuwal’s defection, a purely political affair, the country would be a better place to live in. Again, not only did the courts say that there was not only division in the party but faction, which later merged with the APC. So, on what legal plank did the IGP stand to carry out his clearly partisan action?

    It is obvious the PDP would even take more misguided and desperate actions in the coming days and weeks. For now, it appears the police force is enough. At the appropriate time, other security forces – army, navy and air force – may be involved. When the ruling party fights, it does so with all its fury and might, forgetting that the era of brute force is gone forever. Ideas rule today’s world. The PDP should however be well guided by Nigeria’s political history, and particularly by what  happened in Burkina Faso, where soldiers joined demonstrators in protesting the plan by that country’s parliament to extend (now former) President Blaise Compaore’s nearly three-decade rule. It comes to a point when even security forces become embarrassed by the unholy use to which lawless governments put them, particularly when the parliament that should do the needful fail in that responsibility.

    Another thing that should be expected is that, rather than the ruling party lament that it had lost a big fish (that is obvious because the country’s Number Four Citizen cannot be anything but a big fish), the party would, in its arrogance and ignorance (or both) suddenly realise that the Speaker is nothing but a political Lilliputian; someone whose kernel was cracked for him by the party only for him to turn round to bite the finger that made him politically relevant. The PDP said that when it lost Bukola Saraki, the former governor of Kwara State. When Saraki was in the ruling party, he was an issue, but the moment he defected, he became an inconsequential politician; the same was said of Rotimi Amaechi, the Rivers State governor. So, no one should be surprised if the ruling party now says Tambuwal’s exit from the party is good riddance to bad rubbish. Indeed, Ojougboh suggested that much in his reaction to the issue.

    Another likely fallout of Tambuwal’s defection is that he would suddenly become a corrupt person; (sorry, the PDP would now suddenly realise he is corrupt). So, he is likely to be ferociously hounded by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), as if even if the allegation is true, he is the only corrupt person in the land; or, as if we do not see very corrupt persons around the corridors of power on a daily basis. As a matter of fact, the party would have forgotten while accusing Tambuwal of being corrupt that the president had said there is nothing like corruption in Nigeria and that what many of us call corruption is mere stealing! Tambuwal’s sins (if any) that would have been overlooked if he had not left the ruling party would suddenly be remembered and visited. The ruling party would now desperately start fishing for excuses to rubbish him. To them, it used to be unthinkable that anyone of substance could ever dump the PDP. No matter what we might say of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, he is one of the first big fishes to dump the Humpty Dumpty, even if he returned, only to quit again. But he made the point that there is nothing sacrosanct in or about the PDP. Tambuwal has revalidated that point, even if with bolder relief.

    From these reactions it is obvious the PDP and its government do not seem to appreciate the enormity of the damage they have done to this country in the last 15 years. Only people without conscience would still see the party as having something good to offer Nigerians. The party can only go more brutal and commit serial illegalities in its bid to rid Tambuwal of the speakership, further alienating itself in the process. The ideal thing to do, if indeed the ruling party is disciplined as Ojougboh wants us to believe, is to go to court to challenge Tambuwal’s defection rather than embark on self-help. If the PDP and its government are not comfortable seeking redress in the law court because of the slow pace at which justice travels in the country, they are partly to blame for that tragedy. They have had all the time in the world to reform the judiciary to make it more functional. Now that they see themselves as likely candidates or victims of that slow pace of justice, they resorted to self-help, thereby worsening their case. One may not know the party that would succeed the PDP; it is at least getting clear by the day that the ruling party has since lost whatever its allure was.

    Again, one thing no one can take away from the Speaker is that he has managed the affairs of the house well in his time. Even if the PDP now ‘exhumes’ some phantom sins against him, Nigerians would see through the shenanigans: why now? What the ruling party does not seem to realise is that more surprises could be in the offing. Given the government’s and PDP’s frenetic reactions to the incident so far, one may deduce that they both do not seem to appreciate the unfolding political drama in the country.  Suppose it turns out that Tambuwal’s defection was only the ‘champion’? Suppose ‘knockout’ is on the way?

  • ‘Why APC will win in 2015’

    ‘Why APC will win in 2015’

     Yinka Mafe, is an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain in Ogun State and a member of the State House of Assembly. In this interview with Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, he speaks about the fast approaching 2015 general elections and the chances of APC in Ogun State.

    Your party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), is bent on displacing the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Aso Rock in 2015. What is your opinion on the looming political contest?

    Our mission in 2015 is to send the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) packing by 2015. As a progressive party, we are ready to face the PDP to send Jonathan packing. There is no doubting our readiness. We are prepared for the political battle ahead. The fear of APC is the beginning of wisdom for the ruling party today in Nigeria.

    Those saying our party will disintegrate soon should change their mind because nothing of such will happen. They said the primaries will cause problem but they will be surprised. By the grace of God, all our aspirants are ready to abide by the rules. They are ready to put the party first. And the people are ready for change. So, 2015 is for APC.

    But some people are of the opinion that President Goodluck Jonathan has done well enough to deserve a second term?

    I strongly believe APC will defeat PDP come February 2015. The performance of the PDP governments since 1999 has been very disappointing to Nigerians and they deserve and have demanded a change. Do you think Nigerians will go into an election to vote in a President that says corruption is not our problem in Nigeria?

    Jonathan said stealing public fund is not corruption.  This is the same President that swore to protect our lives but can’t crush Boko Haram. The world over, anytime the opposition party is strong enough to match the ruling party 50-50 ahead of an election, it always come out tops. I have no doubt that APC will overrun Goodluck and his gang in a free and fair election.

    But why do you think the people will prefer APC to the PDP that has been in power for so long?

    What have been the gains of all those years they’ve been in power? All over the place, we see destruction. They destroyed the Aviation sector and the Oil sector. Since they have been in power, there has been no electricity. When there is no electricity or power, what can you do? Even ordinary artisans cannot work without electricity. All the big companies have closed down because of lack of electricity, they would have to be buying diesel and diesel is very costly and we are producing this in Nigeria. Look around and we see violence: Boko Haram, kidnapping, killings etc. Yet, we say we have a government at the centre. These and many more are reasons why APC will dislodge Jonathan and his party in 2015.

    What are the chances of your party in Ogun, because PDP is warming up to take over?

    In 2011, the present members of PDP and LP in Ogun State were in PDP with only a sprinkling of them in PPN, yet the defunct ACN, a precursor to APC, trounced them. Without the executive power of government in its hands, the APC pummeled the combined forces of the opposition.

    Now, consider how much easier it will be with the superlative performance of the Amosun administration to send them to their electoral grave. Also, the current chaotic internal dynamics within the PDP would end up frustrating any effort at defeating the APC.

    But the PDP says the people are tired of the Amosun administration?

    Who is tired of good roads and good governance? Who is tired of good pipe-borne water? Who is tired of a lot of affordable houses? Who is tired of good schools? Who is tired of good economy in Lagos? Who is tired of all these good things? Tell me the people that are tired; the only people that are tired of our government are the PDP. They want the government to be as usual; that is where they see money. The way they are running the affairs of this country, it seems they want the end of this country.

    You have represented your constituency for nearly four years now. How would you say you have fared?

    As a representative of my people on the floor, I have in all modesty been a champion of the cause of the common man in general and a vocal voice for my constituency in particular. I have sponsored various bills and motions. I have supported others and contributed to the rebuilding mission legislatively. I have brought my experience as a local government legislator between 1999 and 2002 and my calling as a lawyer to bear in my daily duties at the House of Assembly.

    What has been the response from your constituents?

    My constituents have always responded well to all my programmes because most of them are agreed upon based on the popular needs of the people: From the free coaching classes since 2011 till date; the free ICT for any interested person in Sagamu; training and re-training of traditional birth attendants to make the mothers and child safe; the renovation and re-construction of health centres at Latawa community, Idado community, Odo-Kekere community, etc.

    There are also the building of a block of three and four classrooms at LA School Sabo Sagamu and St John’s Primary School Ogijo respectively. The construction of ultra modern town hall at Emuren; free general medical care to empowerment programme where hundreds of the less privileged were given motor bikes, deep freezers, generators, grinding machines, sewing machines, hair dryers, etc.

    So what is your next political aspiration?

    I am glad to have gotten the opportunity to serve. I have been given the chance to serve my people and I am very grateful to my people for this. Concerning my next political ambition, I will like to continue the good work I am doing in the Ogun State House of Assembly for another term. It is my desire and I am daily encouraged by my people to still represent them for another term. So, I have declared my re-election bid and I want to remain a lawmaker. I want another term to be able to further touch the lives of my people and contribute my quota to the development of Ogun State.

  • Edo South: Obahiagbon’s ambition upsets calculations

    Edo South: Obahiagbon’s ambition upsets calculations

     

     

     

    The battle to decide who represents people of Edo South Senatorial District at the National Assembly is gathering steam as more politicians declare interest in the seat.

    The contest promises to be interesting indeed. Although nearly all the major political parties are jostling to field candidates for the senatorial contest, pundits say the battle is mainly between the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    However, the entrance of present Chief of Staff to Edo State Governor, Hon. Patrick Obahiagbon (aka Ighodomighodo), into the race has sent tongues wagging as many observers of the politics of the state posit that his coming may redefine the entire contest from the primary elections to the general poll.

    Ending months of speculations about his political future, the former member of the Federal House of Representatives has thrown his hat into the ring saying he feels he still has a lot to offer the people of Edo South in the area of robust representation at the National Assembly.

    Given that the race is already a crowded one, the aspiration of Obahiagbon, who is famous for his eloquence and earth-moving vocabularies and who had represented the Oredo Federal Constituency between 2007 and 2011 on the platform of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), is seen by many as a move by the ruling party to ensure that it put its best foot forward in the looming political contest.

    The lawmaker, who was denied a return ticket on the platform of the PDP in 2011, decamped to the ruling APC and played a prominent role during the re-electioneering campaign of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole in 2012. He afterwards emerged as the Chief of Staff to the state governor upon the Comrade Governor’s re-election.

    Before his election into the lower chamber of the National Assembly, he was elected into the House of Assembly in 1999 under the PDP. He served for eight years as a state legislator.

    Perhaps as part of effort to ensure that he does not suffer the fate that befell him in 2011 that saw his losing to Hon. Razaq Bello-Osagie, The Nation learnt that Obahiagbon is currently reaching out to political and community leaders with a view to marketing himself to constituents.

    “With Obahiagbon in the race, the contest is bound to take a new shape. We all know he is not a politician to be shoved aside in any contest that is political. By the time you add his current position as a serving Chief of Staff to the governor, you will understand what we are talking about.

    Yes, a lot of people are in the race, even before him. But his aspiration can easily be used to guess the body language of some powerful forces within and outside his party.

    If that happens, then the entire race will immediately assume a new dimension,” a chieftain of the ruling party said on Friday.

    “Edo South Senatorial District requires someone like Obahiagbon with not just charisma, depth, huge local following but also national visibility to make impact. To stem the current drab sessions at the Abuja Chamber, he is the man we should send to the senate in 2015.

    You will recall that respected national figures like the Sultan of Sokoto, General Ibrahim Babangida and even Bishop Mathew Kukah are known to have openly begged Comrade Oshiomhole at one time or the other to release Obahiagbon to serve Edo and indeed the nation in Abuja come 2015. So, we are urging the governor to do that right away,” Hon Elias Oduware, APC youth leader in Uhunmwode Local Government Area of the state submitted.

    Senator Ehigie Uzamere currently occupies the senate seat in contention at the Green Chamber in Abuja. Uzamere, who was re-elected into the senate on the platform of the ruling APC in 2011 after he was denied a return ticket by his then party, the PDP, recently dumped the ruling party and staged a return to his former party, the PDP.

    Analysts say Edo South is APC stronghold in Edo State. If this turns out to be true, then pundits who have been giving victory to APC in the forthcoming senatorial battle would be right and Senator Uzamere, who is reported to be seeking a third term in the senate, may not be re-elected.

    Aside the current senator who had to switch political party platforms to get re-elected, no other person has been re-elected into the senate from the district since 1999. His predecessors – Senators Roland Owie and Daisy Danjuma – both served only a term each between 1999 to 2003 and 2003 to 2007 respectively.

    Aside Obahiagbon and the current senator, also in the race is the APC Minority Whip in the House of Representatives, Hon. Samson Osagie. He has been a lawmaker for 16 years.

    Osagie was a member of the Edo State House of Assembly between 1999 and 2003 before moving to the House of Representatives. He was elected thrice on the platform of the PDP. In 2011, he joined the ACN and was re-elected into the lower chamber of the National Assembly.

    His critics urge him to seek an executive office haven been a lawmaker for 16 years. But, Osagie says he is well equipped to proceed to the senate in 2015. He says only a credible and tested person is fit for the job. The Speaker, according to his associates, is very keen about getting the nod of his party to represent the district in the senate and is working seriously towards this.

    “He sees himself as the candidate to beat and is not thinking of jettisoning this ambition come what may,” an aide told The Nation.

    But pundits say with the entrance of Obahiagbon into the race, the permutation in the Speaker’s camp would have to change.

    “Given the closeness of the two and the fact that they are both trusted allies of the governor, there are no way the calculations will not be altered. These two people cannot engage themselves in blind politicking. Even the governor will not allow that to happen,” a chieftain of the party said.

    In the PDP, apart from Senator Uzamere, other political heavyweights gunning for the ticket include Hon.Victor Edos Ebomoyi, currently the Chairman of the Governing Council, Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti. He served Governor Lucky Igbinedion as chief of staff. He was also a commissioner before becoming the chairman of Oredo Local Government Area. Viewed by his supporters as loyal to the party, they believe he would be rewarded for his loyalty by the party.

    Hon. West Idahosa and Matthew Urhoghide are other aspirants on the platform of the PDP. Both are believed by their supporters to have what it takes to get the ticket of their party.

    While Urhoghide, who is the Publicity Secretary of the PDP, joined the PDP ahead of the last general elections after he felt cheated at the ACN primaries won by Senator Uzamere, Idahosa, a three-term federal lawmaker, was among APC members that defected to the PDP after the APC congresses.

    Observers say it will be a keen competition among those that have remained loyal to the party and those that left the party and defected back alongside Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.

  • APC warns as PDP plots secret move to reconvene House

    APC warns as PDP plots secret move to reconvene House

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned the Federal Government to desist from compounding illegality by inducing members of the House of Representatives to sign a paper seeking to reconvene the House ahead of the December 3 adjourned date.

    ‘’We have heard from the grapevine that the FG is inducing legislators with a view to reconvening the House, but this will amount to piling illegality upon illegality since only a resolution by all principal officers of the House can reconvene the house,’’ the party said in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

    ‘’We cannot put anything beyond a government that will unlawfully withdraw the security details of the country’s number four citizen, who has not been removed as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, simply because he defected from the ruling party to the opposition.

    “For as long as he remains Speaker, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal is entitled to all the statutory perks of his office,’’ it said.

    APC accused the Administration of President Goodluck Jonathan of ruling by vindictiveness, rather than in accordance with the rule of law.

    The party said despotism, arbitrariness and impunity are the watch words of the Jonathan administration, hence it has desecrated most national institutions, including the judiciary, and has now put the legislature in its cross hair.

    ‘’The legislature is one of the last standing institutions after the onslaught of the ravaging Jonathan administration, which has nothing but contempt for the concept of the separation of powers, the rule of law and perception of the country by the international community.

    ‘’For this government, it is power for the sake of power, not for the achievement of anything ennobling. That is why the police and SSS details of a man who remains the country’s number four can be removed without consideration to what the law says.

    “That is why public funds will be used to induce lawmakers to sign for the reconvening of the House when it is clear that only the principal officers, and not even the Speaker alone, can reconvene the House before the adjourned date,’’ it said.

    APC said it would not be surprised if “the lawless, vindictive and predictable Jonathan administration” would even prevent the Speaker from accessing his residential quarters, offices and even the planes in the official fleet for carrying out his official assignments.

    ‘’This President has said publicly that he does not give a damn. This administration has shown clearly that it does not believe in the rule of law. Therefore, it does not matter to the President or his administration what the civilised world thinks of the country, as long as he can have his way, using all sorts of dirty tactics including unbridled corruption that is the hallmark of the administration.

    ‘’We are therefore calling on all concerned citizens to condemn what is happening in our country today before one desperate power monger brings the country crashing down on all of us.

    “This is because even if the Jonathan administration is voted out of office next year, it will take a long time to reverse the harm that is being done to national institutions, which have become punitive tools in the hands of an increasingly despotic leader,’’ the party said

  • APC chieftain submits nomination forms, calls for patriotism

    APC chieftain submits nomination forms, calls for patriotism

    A prominent member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a House of Representatives aspirant, Hon. Morufudeen Adeola Adefolabi, has submitted his Expression of Interest and Nomination forms.

    Hon. Adefolabi, who represented the Ifako/Ijaiye/Ojokoro Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011, was accompanied to submit the forms at the party secretariat in Ogba, Lagos by his supporters who all expressed confidence that the ex-lawmaker would be elected as a member of the House in 2015.

    In an interview immediately after the submission, the APC chieftain said: “I am in the race to bring about a change in my constituency. And this change would manifest as the improvement in the living standards of my people, development of my constituency, robust representation, creation  of wealth and existence of other good things of life for all the residents of my constituency.

    “I gave effective representation in many capacities before. I was a councillor, council executive secretary, local government chairman and the House of Representatives member. I performed with excellence in those offices. The records are there, and my constituents are aware of my great accomplishments. With modesty, I can say that I have a reputation for excellent representation.”

    His supporters, namely, Mr. Ayo Alaba-Ogunsanwo, Hon. David Olaniyi, Hon. Musibau Adeniyi and Mrs Mojisola Lawal spoke of Hon. Adefolabi in glowing terms.

    Mr. Alaba -Ogunsanwo said: “Hon. Adefolabi is our man. He represented us well before. And it is our belief that he is going again to the House to give us good representation. He brought many projects to his constituency,  and these are facilities we still enjoy till now. We believe in him. He will not disappoint us.”

    Hon. Olaniyi said: “As I speak, I am expressing the minds of the people of the Ifako/Ijaiye/Ojokoro Federal Constituency. Hon. Adefolabi is a man of the people. He listens. He is accessible and God-fearing. He loves all, both the rich and the poor. This is the kind of person we want as a representative in our constituency. He is ready to sacrifice his comfort for people.”

    Hon. Adeniyi said: “The elders are in support of Hon. Adefolabi. The youths are for him. All our women are solidly behind him. We all support him because of what he has done for his people before. He will do it again. We repose much confidence in him”.

    Mrs Lawal said: “I am a widow. My husband died many years ago. Hon. Adefolabi has been taking care of my children financially since then. As he helps me, he treats others in my shoes similarly. All widows and widowers are in his support. All women will vote for him. He is a good-natured person.”

    Earlier, Hon Adefolabi called on Nigerian leaders to be patriotic in all their activities because, according to him, “this is a catalyst for development.”

  • Restore Speaker’s security, says APC

    Restore Speaker’s security, says APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday called on President Goodluck Jonathan to show better understanding of democracy by immediately restoring the security detail the Inspector General of Police unlawfully withdrew from the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

    In a statement in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party described the withdrawal of the Speaker’s security detail  as  a usurpation of the role of the Judiciary by the Inspector General of Police, especially bearing in mind that the question of the interpretation of Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution on which the Inspector General of Police anchored his illegal act is currently before the courts for resolution.

    The party said for the avoidance of doubt, the position including the manner a person becomes the Speaker, is to be found in the Constitution, and no constitutional provision or legislation says membership of the ruling or dominant party  in the House is a pre-requisite. Furthermore as the number four citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the security detail and apparatus attached to the person of the Speaker is not based on his lineage, person and or political leaning. It is on account of the position and the protection required for that position and in Nigeria’s best interest.

    “This unfortunate use and deployment of Nigeria’s security forces in a partisan and political way portends danger and further weakens important institutions of governance and jeopardises national security. Under President Jonathan, we now have a Police Force that is monitoring and making conclusions with respect to party membership, qualification, of an otherwise elected official. This is unheard of in any decent democracy.

    “It is unfortunate, the party noted that President Jonathan who  had been a successive long term and unique beneficiary of our democracy and Constitution is now demonstrating  the greatest disregard for the laws that govern and guide us as a people. President Jonathan who is the only individual who benefited from the same Constitution to become a Governor from a Deputy Governor without an election and from a Vice President to President in similar legal circumstances now desecrates the same Constitution.

    “The All Progressives Congress rejects this challenge to democracy and modern society. We reject President Jonathan’s illegality and call for respect and compliance with the law. We reject this meddling in the affairs of the Legislature, especially given the resolution of President Jonathan and his close advisers yesterday at their meeting to ask the Deputy Speaker, Mr Emeka Ihedioha, to unlawfully reconvene the House before the adjourned date.

    “May we remind President Goodluck Jonathan that under the House Rules only a resolution by all principal officers of the House and not even the Speaker of the House can reconvene the House before the adjourned date not to talk of the deputy speaker.

    “Regrettably the priority of President Goodluck Jonathan on the  night that Mubi, a town with a population of about  two million people in Adamawa State,  fell to the Boko Haram insurgents was how to illegally remove the Rt Hon Aminu Tambuwal as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.”

  • ‘APC is unprepared for governance’

    ‘APC is unprepared for governance’

    The Peoples Democartic Party (PDP) has said the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) is not qualified to govern Nigeria.

    In a statement by its Publicity Secretary Olisa Metuh, the PDP said yesterday’s amendment of the APC’s constitution in Abuja depicts the level of its unpreparedness.

    The statement reads: “The amendment of the constitution of the APC in what the party termed special national convention just few months into the life of the same document is a direct consequence of lack of direction and unpreparedness and an attempt to redeem a jaundiced’ party law.

    “The development has confirmed the APC as a disorganised political party, lacking the ability to effectively administer itself and we wonder how it can govern a nation as complex as Nigeria.”

    The PDP said “Nigerians have noted that the PDP remains the only steady and stable platform for the growth and progress of democracy in our dear country”.

  • ‘Abia APC chiefs won’t defect to other parties’

    ‘Abia APC chiefs won’t defect to other parties’

    Is it true that some leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State are defecting to other parties to be relevant?

    No, said Rt. Hon Stanley Ohajuruka, a former Speaker in the state House of Assembly, and a chieftain of the APC. In fact, he added, APC chiefs in the state do not need to leave the party in order to be in reckoning.

    Such rumours were rife in the state last week but the ex-Speaker has waved them away.

    Ohajuruka who spoke with our reporter in Aba, the commercial nerve of the state, said, “I am not aware of any move by anyone in APC to defect from the party to any other party, but if somebody is moving, where will the person be going to? You want to go to another party where you will go and stay on the queue or what?

    “I am not aware of any such move, unless it is being arranged for tomorrow. Though people are free to make their personal decisions, I don’t think there is any action like that by any of the APC chieftains or party members.

    “The problem which APC like every other party is having is internal and at the moment as I am speaking with you, it is being resolved amicably among the warring members at the national level.”

    Ohajuruka who intends to contest for the Abia Central Senatorial District under APC said, “I don’t belong to any faction as a person. My own duty is to encourage or promote understanding and peace amongst all the members of the party and whoever gets what, everybody should support the person so that we can form a formidable opposition to the ruling party because the absence of unity will bring about discord among us which will be to the advantage of the ruling party.

    “That is why we are encouraging our members to come so that we can work together. We (APC) members should shun hatred and put rancour aside to fight for a common goal”.

    He added “We don’t have one political party in Abia State like the ruling party will always boast. Every state has its dynamics and the dynamics of Abia State politics will soon play out itself very well, I can assure you.

    “Nobody should rule out any party. Every political party has its own internal problems, but the most important thing is to how to resolve it. I am assuring my supporters and the party’s supporters across the state that APC will live up to its expectations.

    “It is not even easy in the political parties where they are decamping to, if the rumours were anything to go by. Who are they going to pitch their tents with? Are they going to dislodge people or contest for a position or be a delegate there (defected party)? I will urge every APC supporter wherever that they might be to hold on to the APC ideologies and disregard such insinuations.

    “I am assuring them that everybody will be carried along as soon as things were harmonized and we hit the ground running. APC is the political party that will provide for Abians the true dividends of democracy which they truly deserve.”

     

  • APC adopts ammended Constitution

    The All Progressive Congress (APC) has ratified nine amendments to the party’s  constitution.
    The motion for the amendment was moved by the Deputy National Chairman, North of the party Senator Lawal Shuaibu from Kaura Namoda local government area of Zamfara state and seconded by Hon. Abike Dabiri Erewa from Ikorodu Federal Constituency of Lagos state.
    The National Legal Adviser of the Party, Dr. Muiz Banire read out the sections of the constitution being  amended to include article 13(2iv), article 30(I), 15(a), 9.5, article 8,  13(2a), 13.3(ii), 9.4c, 9.5(xx), 5.3(v) and 13.4.
    Section 31 of the constitution which states that the Board of Trustees shall be the final authority as to the interpretation of any aspect of this constitution and its ruling shall be final is to be deleted from the constitution.
    Delegates from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory attended the convention which had only one item on the agenda which was to amend the party constitution.
    After moving the motion for the amend and its second meant, The National Organising Secretary of the party, Chief  Osita Izunaso called for a voice vote to adopt the amendment.