The Nation Newspaper

Tag: APC

  • Ekiti Assembly holds valedictory service for governor

    Ekiti Assembly holds valedictory service for governor

    Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has hailed the House of Assembly for supporting him  in the development of the state.

    Fayemi, who was honoured yesterday at a valedictory service by the Assembly, said the over 70 laws passed in the last four years  supported his programmes and policies.

    The event was witnessed by principal officers and members of the Assembly.

    Fayemi, who attributed his achievement to the manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC) which the Assembly upheld, said: “There is no other Assembly in the country that came anywhere close to the number of bills passed by the Ekiti Assembly in the last four years.

    “The vision of this administration was to eradicate poverty; my mission was to return the state to the path of glory, this has been largely achieved.

    “I want to assure you that I remain irrevocably committed to the democratic values our people have received in the last four years.”

    The Speaker, Dr Adewale Omirin, praised the governor for developing the state and leaving a legacy of honour, service and integrity.

    Omirin said Fayemi created a friendly relationship between the two arms of government, which culminated in the all-round rapid development of the state.

    He promised that the Assembly would ensure that the vision of the outgoing administration is transferred to successive administration.

    Speaking on behalf of the three senatorial districts, Gbenga Odebunmi (Central), Bunmi Oriniowo (North) and Yomi Daramola (South) said the governor emerged at a critical time in the state’s history and repositioned the once troubled state for excellence.

    Daramola said the impact made by the outgoing administration was indelible as there was no community which did not benefit from the various projects.

  • Buhari, Kwankwaso begin battle for APC presidential ticket

    Buhari, Kwankwaso begin battle for APC presidential ticket

    The bid for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket got on the fast lane at weekend, with Senator Bukola Saraki pulling out of the race.

    The former Kwara State Governor said he would back a candidate that is acceptable to all party members. “I don’t think our party can afford too much internal racour going into the election,” the former Kwara State Governor said.

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has announced his interest in the race.  Gen. Muhammadu Buhari is set to join the race on Wednesday at the Eagle Square in Abuja.

    Gen. Buhari was at the Lagos State House in Marina to seek Governor Babatunde Fashola’s support for his ambition.

    He was accompanied by ex-Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva, ex-Minister Nasir El-Rufai and former Speaker Bello Masari.

    The attempt to get Kano State Governor  Rabiu Kwankwaso to step down for Gen. Buhari has failed.

    Supporters of the governor said he will announce his candidacy on October 28.

    Stakeholders tried to prevail on the governor to step down since both of them are from the Northwest zone, which has the highest voter population.

    According to the APC nomination of candidates time table, presidential aspirants are expected  to have obtained an expression of interest forms by October 19.

    The sale of the forms will open from next Monday till November 6. The aspirants will be screened between November 10 and 12. The candidate will be elected at its national convention on December 2.

    President Goodluck Jonathan has already been endorsed as the consensus candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), although some members of the party are silently grumbling about the close of space for others.

    Gen. Buhari’s supporters said at the weekend that the former leader remained the only Nigerian politician who has the courage and capacity to fight corruption.

    National Secretary of the Buhari Support Group Ibrahim Daud said the Buhari Support Group, an umbrella body of about 49 voluntary youth organisations, have mobilised five million Nigerians to attend Gen. Buhari declaration of interest on Wednesday.

    According to him, Buhari is the only candidate who can defeat the PDP and stop corruption. “That is why the corrupt cabal that has held sway since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999 is bent on ensuring that Buhari does not emerge president.

    “They are only trying to protect their ill-gotten wealth to the detriment of the majority of Nigerians.  Hence they cook up all kinds of mendacities and campaigns of calumny to discredit Gen. Buhari and lower his estimation in the eyes of right-thinking members of the society.

    “At first, the antagonists of Nigeria’s national development concocted and fed Nigerians with the lie that Gen. Buhari was a religious bigot, who would convert Nigeria to an Islamic state if elected president.

    “Those that know the General intimately know that though he is a dedicated Muslim, he has no trace of religious or even ethnic bigotry. Gen. Buhari is one of the most munificent politicians of our time!

    “Now that the gambit of religion cannot work anymore, they are trying to use age as a criterion to discredit him. But it has come to public knowledge that all these tales being fabricated by his political opponents are only strategies employed to maintain their stranglehold on the people.

    “The 2015 presidential election shall be a political turning point for Nigeria, as the citizenry have become increasingly aware of the antics of the corrupt ruling class and other detractors and saboteurs of the nation.

    “This time, the gambit of religion, age or any other primordial sentiment will not deter the people from voting for Buhari in 2015. Even though we agree with the idea of generational change in leadership, we believe that only a mature politician like Buhari will be able to wrest power from the PDP, before sanitising the polity.

    “Gen. Buhari is the only presidential aspirant that can make a full declaration of his assets before taking office. He will also declare his assets upon leaving office, to enable the people to make candid evaluations of his stewardship.

    “We should bear in mind that massive unemployment, terrorism/insurgency, disease prevalence are all linked vicariously to high-profile corruption and impunity by the ruling class.

    “For Nigeria to make meaningful and steady progress, a mechanism must be put in place to tackle corruption and indiscipline, and this mechanism can only be driven by an incorruptible leader like Gen. Buhari.

    “This is because we have watched corruption in public places escalate steadily over the last 16 years that the PDP has been in power. We must effect the necessary leadership change now, to move Nigeria and indeed Nigerians out of the doldrums.

    “We can say affirmatively that the epoch-making declaration of General Buhari will witness the unprecedented attendance of not less than five (5) million passionate supporters of the General.”

    One of Kwankwaso’s Campaign Coordinators, Chief Olisaemeka Akamukali, said Kwakwanso planned to declare his presidential ambition on October 23.

    He said after a nationwide consultation with party leaders and other political stakeholders regarding the presidential election, the governor had decided to throw his hat in the ring.

    He hinted that the governor slowed down his campaign due to pressure to yield ground to Gen. Buhari, stressing that rather than ask the governor to step down, it is the former Head of State who should make way for a younger candidate – in line with the need for generational shift.

    He said: “In as much as we agree that Buhari is a man of integrity but you will also agree with me that age is not on his side. He is 73, going to 74 years and Ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar is close to 70 years old. But Kwakwanso will be 58 by October 21.”

    He explained that it was wrong for anybody to regard the governor as a “dark horse” in the contest, adding that Kwakwanso had long years of experience in politics, beginning from 1991 when he emerged as the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

    He said: “Kwakwanso has long years of experience in politics. He has been a parliamentarian, a governor and two-time minister. When he contested the governorship election in Kano state and lost, he congratulated the winner and waited for eight years before staging a come-back.

    “The governor is a grassroots politician and one who tries to carry his followers along in his undertakings

    “Remember he was once a member of the Group of seven governors who protested the goings-on in his former party. I will not be surprised if many of them still in the PDP will want to support his aspiration to become president.”

    Akamukali added: “The issue of anointing candidates for elections has been rejected by the APC and that is why the party is insisting that there shall be transparent primaries. The fears of some of the aspirants may be due to the fact of their previous experience where they never face competitive primaries to emerge as party candidate.

    “That is why such people are pushing for consensus. The generality of the party is saying ‘no, let us do things differently from what the PDP are doing’. We must have a transparent primary.

    He maintained that the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, party’s national Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and Atiku were together in the SDP with the Kano State governor adding that Kwakwanso is still retaining the affinity he had with the political network.

  • Malabu: APC asks Jonathan to come clean on another monumental scandal

    Malabu: APC asks Jonathan to come clean on another monumental scandal

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to speak out and take action on the monumental Malabu oil scandal rocking his administration and putting Nigeria under the global searchlight as a corrupt nation.

    In a statement in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said President Jonathan must end his silence on the matter since half of the $1.1 billion paid to Malabu Oil and Gas for oil field OPL 245 by two oil majors was allegedly used to bribe Nigerian officials, who in turn used the proceeds to buy jets and armoured limousines.

    It said since the deal to pay Malabu the huge money was brokered and defended by the Jonathan administration, it stands to reason that officials of the same administration will know one or two things, and perhaps are part and parcel of the whole scandal.

    “The only way to know for sure is if there is an independent investigation of the allegation, which has been published by the international media after Italian prosecutors intensified their probe into the deal. This is where President Jonathan comes in. He must allow an unfettered probe of this scandal that has again put Nigeria in bad light. Whatever happens, however, the names of those who received the bribes will soon be known, thanks to the determination of the UK and Italy to show that no one, who violates their laws, will go scot-free.

    “Just like the Halliburton and Siemens bribery scandals that were also exposed from abroad, this Malabu scandal has again damaged Nigeria’s standing in the comity of nations. While US, France, Italy and Germany have jailed officials and imposed fines on the foreign firms, which bribed Nigerian officials in the Halliburton and Siemens scandals, none of those who received the bribes here in Nigeria has been touched. The Malabu scandal must not go the same way,” APC said.

    The party said Nigeria has never had it as bad, in terms of runaway corruption that has cost the nation billions of dollars in money that would have gone into national development, as it is having under the Jonathan administration.

    “There is no better way to say this. The Jonathan administration is swimming in corruption and the President has allowed it to fester because his government is feeding fat on the proceeds of graft. He has even tried to use semantics to cover up the extent of sleaze, saying stealing is not corruption,” it said.

    APC said besides the Malabu, Halliburton and Siemens scandals, the Jonathan administration has done nothing to tell Nigerians what happened to the $20billion in diverted oil money; the multi-billion naira fuel subsidy fraud for which no person has been brought to justice; opaque crude swaps at the expense of encouraging domestic refinery; payment of billions of naira in kerosene subsidy without appropriation and the gargantuan police pension fraud.

    “Under your watch, Mr. President, there is massive looting of the commonwealth by the same people being paid by taxpayers to ensure a judicious utilisation of the scarce national resources. There is a growing culture of impunity because no one is punished for the looting. Now you have another chance to turn things around for the better.

    “The Malabu scandal provides such a chance. Those who collected millions of dollars in bribes in the illegal transaction must be identified and brought to justice. We must not allow foreign countries to be the ones exposing corrupt Nigerian officials. Our government must act like a responsible government by demonstrating it will not allow violation of its laws or encourage corruption,” the party said.

  • Ondo APC vows to resist Mimiko

    Ondo APC vows to resist Mimiko

    Ondo State All Progressives Congress (APC) at the weekend urged the state’s progressive-minded people to embrace the party for a positive change, vowing to resist any intimidation by Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

    Its Chairman, Isaac Kekemeke, in an interview with reporters on the defection of Mimiko to the People’s Democratic Party(PDP), said he had directed wards and local government executives to open membership registers for new members in the 203 wards.

    Besides, the former secretary to the state government(SSG) vowed that the party would resist attempts by the governor to scuttle and decimate the genuine yearnings of  the citizenry to realise their individual and collective aspiration on the APC’s broad-based platform.

    He condemned the alleged threat by Mimiko to declare vacant, the seats of elected members of the House of Assembly, who are set to join the APC vacant.

    Kekemeke said: “It is our position that just as the governor and his acolytes in the Assembly exercised their right of freedom of political association by defecting to the PDP, other legislators, who intend to join APC, also have the right to do so without limitation and intimidation.

    “We concede to the governor the right to freedom of the political association and he is therefore entitled to roam freely in the political environment. However, the people should not allow themselves to be fooled again.

    “There is nothing surprising about Mimiko’s defection, since it has become his trade mark in his political life. But what is surprising now is the equal zeal with which the governor is attempting to deceive the citizenry once again.”

    The party chairman noted that the move was an attempt to re-create himself in the PDP.

    He said: “We symphatise with the PDP in Ondo State which has expressed disenchantment with the political virus that has been foisted on it by its national leadership.

    “It has even come to our knowledge that Mimiko has put in place mechanism to entice, intimidate and subdue the citizenry in the LP and PDP, who have expressed their willingness to work with APC. But we will resist every attempt to intimidate the people,” Kekemeke said.

  • Osun APC to PDP: produce verdict nullifying legislators’ election

    Osun APC to PDP: produce verdict nullifying legislators’ election

    Osun State All Progressives Congress (APC) has challenged the state’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to produce a certified true copy (CTC) of the pronouncement of the Federal Court of Appeal, which sat in Akure last week and nullified the elections of federal and state legislators conducted by Rufus Akeju in 2011.

    The party said until the PDP can produce the CTC, Nigerians and Osun people should discountenance the party’s claim that the court had nullified the elections.

    APC Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Kunle Oyatomi, in a statement, said there was “no such declaration by any court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” adding that what the PDP has fed the public “is not only a misinformation, it is a blatant lie.”

    The APC stated as follows:

    “Before the 2011 election was held, the PDP went to the Federal High Court, Osogbo to stop Amb. Akeju, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, from supervising the said election on the allegation that the commissioner was allegedly a card-carrying member of the ACN (now APC) and a close associate of Senator  Bola Tinubu, APC National Leader.

    “The Osogbo Federal High Court granted the PDP an interlocutory injunction restraining Akeju  from supervising  the conduct of the election, but refused the prayer that INEC be restrained from conducting the election. However INEC immediately appealed and obtained a stay of execution of that ruling pending the determination of its appeal.

    “Curiously, while the appeal was pending, prior to the election, the PDP also went back to the same Osogbo Federal High Court. Against all known legal procedure to demand a stay of proceedings of the case it took to the High Court. So effectively, not only the INEC, but also the PDP stopped any further action on the substantive matter until the determination of the appeal in the Court of Appeal, Akure.

    “ The elections  held while the litigation was practically on hold.

    “After the elections (which the PDP lost woefully), they went to court –  not the Tribunal – to seek to nullify the election by bringing a fresh suit instead of the initial suit appealed against. The INEC promptly challenged the court jurisdiction to entertain the suit and the PDP on their own volition promptly withdrew the suit. “However, on the initial suit pending at the Federal High Court, which the PDP got an order for stay, ACN then applied to be  a joinder and the application was granted. But when other political parties sought similar joinder, the court rejected their application and they also immediately appealed that decision.

    “ So effectively, four different applications were before the courts – two in Osogbo and two at the Court of appeal, Akure. The appeal by INEC against the interlocutory injunction granted the PDP before proceedings were held up in Osogbo was the one determined on Friday in Akure.

    “ Our authentic information is that the court declared that the process of filing the appeal by INEC was defective, hence incompetent and was as a result struck out. “The Court of Appeal neither made pronouncement on the substantive suit, which is not before the Court of Appeal, but still pending in Osogbo, nor did it declare the elections  of 2011 ‘null and void’ (as the PDP is misleading Nigerians).

    “ As you read this, the PDP has a live case before the Federal High Court in Osogbo where it seeks the court to pronounce Amb. Akeju incompetent (because he is allegedly partisan) to conduct the 2011 election. That case has been put on hold by the PDP itself and until the party reopens the case, and get a pronouncement of ‘guilty as charged’, against Akeju, the Osun REC remains innocent. What Akure court did was to strike out a defective notice which can still be refiled.

    “The substantive case in which the PDP is seeking a court’s (not the Electoral Tribunal) pronouncement that the legislative elections of 2011 were allegedly null and void, has been withdrawn at the Federal High Court,  Osogbo. So, an Appeal Court cannot make a pronouncement on a matter that has not even  been heard or argued by the parties involved, at the High Court.

    “This completely exposes the stupidity of PDP’s claims that, by any warped implication, the Friday’s pronouncement by the Federal Court of Appeal in Akure has any direct or indirect bearing on the substantive case in Osogbo. The case is yet to be determined by the Federal High Court.”

    The APC therefore appealed to the public and the media “to be wary of information coming from the PDP and cross-check facts before arriving at conclusions or disseminating fallacies, which Osun PDP has become notorious of spreading.”

  • Lagos APC to PDP: you can’t say Fashola’s govt is bad democratic model

    Lagos APC to PDP: you can’t say Fashola’s govt is bad democratic model

    Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the allegation that Governor Raji Fashola-led government was a bad model of democratic governance as baseless and the biggest joke of the 21st century.

    The Lagos PDP, in a recent statement, accused Fashola-led administration of not showing signs that it was willing to conduct local governments’ election as the tenures of the office-holders end in October 29, 2014.

    But the APC, in a statement by its Director of  Publicity, Joe igbokwe, said: “Now, contrary to this bedtime stories of Lagos PDP, we want to make it clear that Lagos State government is prepared to conduct local government areas (LGA) elections as it has been doing in the past, when INEC concludes its delineation exercise in some states.

    “INEC is creating new wards and new polling units in some states, including Lagos and until it finalises that very important exercise, it may not be feasible to conduct LGA elections because we need to know the new wards and the new polling units before going to the polls”.

    It added:  “If the new voter cards and the new voters register are yet to be seen, please tell us how you can conduct elections. Once these structures are put in place, LASIEC will move into action.

    “Some PDP-controlled states have not conducted local government elections in the last eight years, but we are not PDP. We do the right thing, we follow the rules and we get results. However, if these issues are not resolved before the October deadline, Lagos State government may appoint caretaker committees to replace the outgoing LGA Chairmen.”

    On the allegation that the government officials are provoking PDP members by removing and destroying PDP signs, the APC said it must “be known that Lagos State has a Signage Agency called LAASA and if Lagos PDP wants its services, they know what to do. Advert agencies in Lagos know that it is not business as usual as LAASA has cleared the mess in Lagos and set up new standards for Outdoor Advertising.

    “Lagos State government has not provoked anybody or any group, but sometimes decisions are taken in the overall interest of 25 million Lagosians. Rather it is Lagos PDP that has been provoking Lagos APC.

    “We saw the provocation when a junior Minister in the Ministry of Defence, Senator Obanikoro, went with armed soldiers to Ilubirin Housing Estate to harass contractors building homes for Lagosians. We see this provocation when one of our leader on the island, Alhaji Azeez Asake, was brutally murdered by PDP thugs after their rallies at TBS. We see these provocations on a daily basis at old toll gate Lagos where Lagos PDP is training thugs for 2015 elections in the name of SURE-P. PDP is on the wrong side of history in Nigeria and the same history will remain our witness.”

  • Saraki pulls out of APC presidential contest

    Saraki pulls out of APC presidential contest

    Former Kwara state governor and chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki has dropped his ambition to fly the party’s Presidential in the 2015 presidential election.
    Senator Saraki said he was suspending his presidential ambition in the interest of the country and the party.

    He said this was the time for all well meaning Nigerians to fall in line and become rank and file soldiers in the struggle to reclaim Nigeria.
    The Senator who announced his decision to suspend his presidential ambition on Sunday on his Twitter handle said that the issue of fixing Nigeria cannot be done by any individual effort.
    According to him, fixing Nigeria is an assignment that goes beyond the power of any individual or party and beyond individual’s ambition and zeal.

    “Fixing a nation like Nigeria with daunting challenges that have accumulated over the years, will take a combined effort. Due to this, I believe that as we move forward to the next elections, now is the time for every patriotic Nigerian, particularly those in the political terrain to base their ambitions and interest in the context of the country’s overall interest.”
    He said: “After months of wide but careful deliberations and consultations with my family, friends, political associates and supporters, today, I am announcing the suspension of my Presidential Bid in the interest of our country and party.
    “As it stands, I have been deeply humbled by the spark that my prospective candidacy has ignited among Nigerians across Nigeria and abroad. Young people, youth groups, and stakeholders from all geo-political zones have sought the change that they wish to see.
    “These young people by their overwhelming support have not only encouraged my candidacy, they have endorsed the change that they desperately crave. As complicated as the political outlook of 2015 currently seems, now is the time for well-meaning Nigerians from all works of life to fall-in-line and become rank-and-file soldiers in our struggle to reclaim our nation.
    “I have always maintained that I did not leave the ruling party for the opposition because of any personal interest. Anyone who understands Nigerian politics would know that it takes serious courage, rugged doggedness and self-sacrifice to do that.
    “Therefore, whether it is on the issue of the party or all other issues that I have been pushing in my position as a Senator of the Federal Republic, the primal purpose that drives me is the desire to see a better and more purposely governed Nigeria.”

  • You lied about court pronouncement, Osun APC tells PDP

    You lied about court pronouncement, Osun APC tells PDP

    THE All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has challenged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to produce a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the pronouncement of the Federal Court of Appeal in Akure that allegedly nullified the election of state and federal legislators in the state yesterday.

    The APC asked Nigerians to discountenance the claims that the elections of legislators conducted by Ambassador Rufus Akeju have been declared invalid until the PDP produces the CTC.

    The party, in a statement by its Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Barrister Kunle Oyatomi, said: “There’s no such declaration by any court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.’’

    It accused the PDP of feeding the public with misinformation and blatant lies.

    The APC pointed out that the PDP had challenged the competence of Akeju to conduct the elections but later stopped any further action on the substantive matter until the determination of the appeal in Akure.

    It said: “Our authentic in formation is that the court declared that the process of filing the appeal by INEC was defective, hence incompetent and was as a result struck out.

    “The Court of Appeal neither made pronouncements on the substantive suit which is not before the court of Appeal but still pending in Osogbo nor did it declare the elections  of 2011 ‘null and void’ as the PDP is misleading Nigerians.

    “What Akure Court did was to strike out a defective notice which can still be refiled. The substantive case in which the PDP is seeking a Court’s (not the Electoral Tribunal) pronouncement that the legislative elections  of 2011 were allegedly null and void, has been withdrawn at the Federal High Court Osogbo.

    “So an appeal court cannot make a pronouncement on a matter that has not even been heard or argued by the parties involved, at the High Court.”

     

  • Awaiting apc’s presidential ticket

    Awaiting apc’s presidential ticket

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was only being strategic and rational when it decided on Dr Goodluck Jonathan as its consensus candidate for the 2015 presidential election. For one, in our perverse political environment, an incumbent spurned by his own party could work for the opposition’s victory. Again, Jonathan has been tagged as clueless and underperforming by the opposition. If he is denied the PDP’s ticket through competitive primaries, that would only be a vindication of the critics’ low estimation of Jonathan’s performance. What moral justification will the PDP then have to seek support for another candidate on its platform?

    Furthermore, Jonathan may well be the best candidate that the PDP can offer. His administration has some achievements to its credit. There has in recent times been some improvement in electricity supply at least here in Lagos. The hitherto moribund Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) has been resuscitated to some degree. Despite the exaggerations of the Minister of Agriculture, Dr AkinwumiAdesina, there are important strides in the sector. But then, this exactly is the problem. If President Jonathan’s record in office is the best the PDP can offer Nigeria, the party deserves to be massively voted out of power at the centre next year.

    The country was generating approximately 4000 MW of electricity in 1999. Today, the power being generated is only slightly over 4000 MW. Yet, over $20 billion has been expended on the sector in the last 15 years. The rail system that the Jonathan administration crows so loudly of is still essentially primitive, archaic and a disgrace to a country of Nigeria’s stature and resources. Unemployment has attained stratospheric heights. Most strategic federal highways across the country are in catastrophic condition. The vast majority of Nigerians are worse off today than they were in 1999.

    That is why next year’s general elections will be the most critical electoral contest yet in the country’s political history. Despite the persistence of a large degree of political decay and rot in the country, there are impressive signs of democratic progress and consolidation. The party system has become more stable and balanced even if political actors continue to engage in acts of irresponsible vagrancy and ideological promiscuity. There has been a phenomenal growth in the political consciousness and sophistication of the people. The electoral system is systematically gaining greater autonomy from executive control and partisan influences. Recent decisive and landmark judicial decisions in Adamawa and Nassarawa states, for example, show that the judiciary as an arm of government is in reality steadily growing in stature and authority in spite of the passing, transient and ultimately futile aberration in Ekiti state.

    Against this background, everything is set for an epic battle next year for the country’s presidency with the real possibility of change being effected through the ballot box. All eyes are thus on the APC and the configuration of the presidential ticket it will present to confront President Goodluck Jonathan at the polls. One of the party’s leading aspirants, former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has an expansive political network and a stupendously deep pocket. Yet, the goodwill he enjoys in certain influential elite circles does not translate into massive grassroots support in any part of the country. Furthermore, despite his formidable media machinery, Atiku has not been able to dispel negative perceptions of the source of his wealth.

    Another notable aspirant is the Kano state governor, Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso. By several credible accounts, he has performed well and raised Kano to a higher pedestal of excellence. He is articulate and I am impressed by the fact that he has consistently published the minutes of the weekly executive council meetings including all contracts awarded since his inception in office. But then, a key determinant of the 2015 presidential election will be the ability of the parties to maximally mobilise the electorate to turn out to vote in their respective strongholds. In that case, Dr Kwankwaso may not be the greatest electoral asset that the APC has to mobilise the highest number of votes from the north.

    In the same vein, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, another presidential aspirant, has made his mark as a dogged trade unionist, a brilliant labour economist, an articulate debater and a transformational governor of Edo state. But what would be the incentive for the average South-South voter to prefer him to Dr Jonathan who is from the zone and is already in power? In my view, Comrade Oshiomhole and the Rivers state governor, RotimiAmaechi, can at best help the APC to make a significant impact in a South-South zone that is undeniably Jonathan’s electoral stronghold.

    If capacity to galvanise massive voter turnout in his political base is a major consideration, then General MuhammaduBuhari is clearly the aspirant that can lead APC to victory. Even though he is no money bag, Buhari enjoys cult-like support among the masses of the north as demonstrated in the 2011 presidential election. What he lacked in 2011 was substantial support outside the north. The APC as a national platform helps to remedy that deficiency and makes him a formidable presidential contender.

    But more important than where Buhari comes from is who he is. His anti-corruption credentials are impeccable and incomparable. He is disciplined and ascetic and stands in sharp contrast to the monumental corruption and impunity that defines the Jonathan administration. A distinguished and tested general, he has the experience and will power to tackle the insecurity that currently paralyses the country. Another advantage of a Buhari presidency is that since he is now 74, he can be persuaded to be a one -term president like Mandela. Indeed, that should be a pre-condition for key stakeholders of the party to give him their support. Once Buhari has given his word, he can be trusted to keep it.

    If Buhari emerges as APC presidential candidate, who will be his best choice as running mate? Here the party has a rich pool of competent and electable persons to choose from. They include well known political figures like former governor of Lagos state and a key architect of the formation of APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, incumbent governors whose tenures would have ended by next year such as Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), Dr Kayode Fayemi, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, or even competent technocrats like former Lagos State Attorney General, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Mr Ben Akabueze, current commissioner of Economic Planning and Budget in Lagos state or Mr Dele Alake, former Lagos state commissioner for Information and Strategy. All the divisive religious and ethno-regional schemes of the Jonathan presidency will be of microscopic electoral consequence if APC offers Nigerians a ticket that stands for incorruptibility, competence and discipline. Given his appalling performance in office, Dr Jonathan is an eminently beatable incumbent but the ball is in APC’s court.

     

    ……Fayose and the Ekiti conundrum

    It is remarkable that while the Dr KayodeFayemi administration in Ekiti is winding down with grace and dignity showcasing an assortment of completed projects, Mr Ayo Fayose, the governor-elect, is preparing to assume office in the wake of a vicious, barbaric and unprecedented assault on the judiciary by his supporters. But what is playing out in Ekiti is in my view a conflict between elite and mass political cultures. The Ekiti elite, represented by the E-11 are clearly ill at ease with the earthy populism and unorthodox antics of Fayose. But these are what seem to have endeared him to the grassroots – okada riders, road transport union workers, market men and women and surprisingly even traditional rulers! This is exactly what happens when the elite abandon the duty of voting to the impressionable mob. For now, Fayose is the custodian of a popular mandate until the courts rule otherwise. Fayose is obviously set in his ways and does not seem to have learnt any lessons from the past. If so, the people of Ekiti should be left to face the consequences of their choice and make up their mind on what to do in four year’s time.

     

  • ‘PDP can’t match APC in Kano’

    ‘PDP can’t match APC in Kano’

    The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, represents Kiru/Bebeji Constituency, Kano State. He spoke with Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi on chance of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in next year’s elections and issues that will shape the polls .

    What is the chance of the APC in next year’s elections?

    The party was initially weak before the five governors moved in. They did their best to move the party forward. But, it was when 37 federal lawmakers switched loyalty to the APC that it became obvious that the party has moved up. Historically, when an opposition and an incumbent government are going shoulder-to-shoulder, the opposition always win that election. Several polls have been conducted, indicating that the APC has more support base. Nigerians are no longer behind the PDP. They want change. The reality is that, although we keep encouraging the APC to close ranks and resolve internal crises, there are bigger fundamental crises in the PDP.

    It is a blunder to adopt a man who has not said that he would contest.The PDP states are in crises. There is internal wrangling. I can assure you, most of those internal crises cannot be resolved. That is why we want the APC to position itself, move into the PDP territory and take advantage of some of these crises. They are obvious crises. The PDP is deceiving itself. It is a sinking ship and the APC will emerge victorious in the next election.

    Chief Tom Ikimi has left your party. Also, some have predicted that the APC will have crisis at its presidential primaries…

    I think people should be fair. The party is very strong. It has lost individuals. For instance, if it were Edo State that pulled out of the APC, then, you should be worried. So, if one person from Edo State, who has followers leave, it may be worrisome.

    How should the party conduct its presidential primaries?

    We need to be honest with ourselves and that has been the challenge confronting the North  over the years.  I like Gen Buhari. I respect him so much. If you go to Kano today, if you see all my bill boards, all my posters, Buhari is there. I won my election without knowing Buhari. I am putting him on my bill board. When I won my election, I didn’t know him.I have never met him. Buhari is akim to integrity. Buhari has a kind of messiahic image. But, the truth of the matter is that we want this integrity of Buhari to be protected. In 2011, Gen. Buhari came out and announced to the country that he will not contest in any future election, specifically presidential election.

    To be very honest, he has a lot of junior brothers-Sam Nda Isaiah, Fashola, Rotimi Amaechi, Adams Oshiomole, Tambuwal and, of course, Kwankwanso. So he has a lot of them; even Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti. These are young people who are all his junior brothers and very competent Nigerians that can take up that responsibility. So I think what Buhari supporters should be doing now is to try to get Buhari to support one of these younger brothers.

    You are indirectly campaigning for your governor…

    Everything I have said is not a campaign for my governor. All the candidates have the national spread. Are you saying Oshiomole, Tambuwal or Fashola do not have the national spread? If you take the governor of Kano State, Kwakwaso, he was in the civil service for 17 years. He is a former member of the House of Representatives,  former Deputy Speaker, Minister of Defence, twice governor of Kano. So, all of them have national spread and acceptability to be supported to achieve their ambition.

     Is Tambuwal a member of the APC?

    Well, it is a wish. My own personal wish that he should come to the APC. He is not a member of the APC, but we have always wanted him to come to the APC. The PDP is still going round to lure the governors back to the PDP.  My inclusion of Tambuwal is in good faith I am trying to send a clear message that the APC is interested in him. It is not a hidden thing. If the PDP wants to keep him, they should step up their game. But, I can assure you that we will do all we can to take in Tambuwal.

    Atiku Abubakar has declared his presidential ambition. What is your view?

    Of course, Atiku is a member of the APC and he has the right to contest. Atiku never said he was not going to contest again.

    The PDP is campaigning in disguise while the APC is just criticising the style of the ruling party…

    I don’t think we will encourage illegality. What the APC always stands for is the rule of law and I want them to play by the rules. We are not going to resort to an illegal method. I think the PDP should listen to the voice of wisdom and stop the illegality.  In all places where they did the TAN rallies, when they leave, the APC comes in and sweeps away everything. So the APC is rooted in the grassroots. We are planning and doing our homework. We are confident. We will play by the electoral laws. By the time we start the campaigns, you will see the fire works of the APC.

    The PDP is determined to influence the House to declare vacant the seats of 37 PDP lawmakers, who defected to the APC. Are you all not worried?

    We took a decision that we felt was  in the interest of the country and I think the journey has been good. We feel more at home now in the APC . The problems and the challenges in the PDP are still there, although the new chairman has tried to close some gaps. I think the only challenge that we have and we are still trying to manage is the challenge of proper integration. When we wanted to leave the PDP, the leaders of the opposition party followed us from house to house, room to room to talk to us, plead with us to come into their fold. I want to state very clearly that we shouldn’t be taken for granted. For instance, if you look at our APC delegation from Kano or the population of Kano, even if you are going through the delegate system,  ww have the population in Kano; I mean those of us who are followers of Kwankwaso. Let me tell you, the PDP is very smart. The PDP has not stopped going after the governors and members to try to get them back into the PDP and it tells you how smart they are. On daily basis, they are still making gestures to the five governors. So, it would be very dangerous for any body to take us for granted in the APC. Although in the APC, nobody has promised us ticket, we are not threatened. We are warming up for primaries. But, you can see the threats coming out from the PDP as they intimidate their members, pushing them from one corner to another. But, we thank God for where we are. Everybody is pleased and at peace with one another.

    I know that the Speaker came under tremendous pressure from above to get our seats declared vacant. The PDP was factionalised. That was why we left the party. There is a court judgment  now from  Kwara.