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Tag: APC

  • 2015: PDP may lose Rivers to APC, says group

    2015: PDP may lose Rivers to APC, says group

    THE declaration by the chairman of the Rivers State chapter of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Felix Obuah, that zoning principle would not be upheld in choosing the party’s candidate for the up-coming governorship election has continued to receive knocks from members of the party in the state.

    A group, the ‘Coalition of Democrats’ ( CoD), yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, joined other political pressure groups in the state to campaign against the perceived plan by the PDP to impose a governorship candidate on the people.

    In a statement signed by its media Director and Publicity, Philip Gbaranwi, the group predicted victory for the state APC in the election if the PDP insists on doing away with zoning and rotational arrangement for the governorship seat.

    It will be recalled that Obua, after a meeting with members of his executive and party chairmen from the 23 local government areas of the state, had resolved to jettison zoning of electives offices, especially the governorship position of the state in the 2015 election. Analysts believed that the move was meant to pave way for the Supervisory Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, to succeed Governor Chibuike Amaechi next year.

    Wike and Amaechi are from the same Ikwerre ethnic nationality and of the south east senatorial district. Groups and individuals, especially from the agitating riverine and Ogoni extractions of the state, had earlier condemned the announcement, maintaining that it is wrong for another Ikwerre person to emerge governor after Amaechi.

    Meanwhile, Governor Amaechi and his All Progressive Congress (APC), members have been canvassing for either a riverine or Ogoni governorship candidate to allow for equity, justice and fair play in the multi-ethnic state. Earlier several groups and organizations had opposed the plan. A delegate at the just-concluded National Conference, Annkio Briggs, had said that the state would be forced to vote against the PDP if it did not present a riverine or Ogoni candidate in 2015.

  • Delta APC to give women, physicallychallenge persons free nomination forms

    Delta APC to give women, physicallychallenge persons free nomination forms

    THE executive body of the Delta State chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has promised to give women and physically-challenged members of the party aspiring for elective position free nomination forms.

    It also warned party leaders to avoid any attempt to impose candidates on the party, urging the leaders to employ the use of consensus to pick the party’s candidates for the 2015 general election, but warned that the aspirants should go for a free and fair primary election if the consensus option fails.

    The state chairman, Prophet Jones Ode Erue, who disclosed this while addressing members of the party in Ozoro, Isoko North Local Government Area of the state, said that the stakeholders’ meeting was conveyed to discuss the forthcoming local government billed to hold on October 25, 2014.

  • APC insists governor-elect must be prosecuted

    APC insists governor-elect must be prosecuted

    he All Progressives Congress (APC) has reiterated its earlier call for the arrest and prosecution of Ekiti Governor-elect Ayodele Fayose for leading a band of thugs to attack Justice Adeyeye on the premises of the State High Court on September 25th, warning that failure to act decisively now would spell danger for Judges and democracy.

    In a statement issued in London by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said security of Judges and the unfettered administration of justice transcend politics, hence no politician, no matter his status, must be allowed to go scot-free after attacking judges.

    It said any delay in taking action will see Fayose assume office, meaning he can no longer be arrested and prosecuted for what is an egregious contempt of court.

    APC said the attack on judges in Ekiti has also reinforced the call in some quarters, on the basis of constitutional provisions, to subject candidates seeking political offices to psychiatric tests.

    The party said those who are trivialising the issue and trying to play dirty politics with it should take a moment to think of what Fayose will do to the judges whom he led thugs to beat up, when he assumes office as governor.

    ‘’Now that the Chief Judge of Ekiti has confirmed, in a petition to the National Judicial Council (NJC), that Fayose was complicit in the attack, the NJC should treat the issue expeditiously by taking a decisive action that will make it very costly for anyone to ever attack a judge again. The need to act is urgent so that no judge gets killed simply because some powerful personality does not like his or her ruling.

    ‘’Had the relevant authorities acted with dispatch when another court in the same state was invaded by pro-Fayose thugs earlier the same week, the attack on Justice Adeyeye would have been averted,’’ it said.

    APC said no decent society will tolerate attack on judges, which is not just a threat to the administration of justice but also a clear and present danger to democracy itself.

    The party recalled that not even during the chaotic political crisis in the then Western Region, which earned it the tag “Wild Wild West”,  were judges beaten up like Fayose and his thugs did in Ekiti.

    ‘’Only in Idi Amin’s Uganda can one recall, in recent memory, that this kind of attack happened. In 1972, the Ugandan Chief Justice was murdered by Idi Amin’s agents, after the then President publicly criticised the Judge’s ruling. Later, the President of the country’s Industrial Courts was also killed while lawyers were routinely beaten up.

    ‘’We do not want the buffoons who have found themselves in power in Ekiti and elsewhere in Nigeria to take us to those days of buffoonery, days of anarchy as witnessed in Uganda and elsewhere,’’ it said.

    APC also called on the Inspector-General of Police to sanction the policemen who stood idly by as thugs were attacking judges, lawyers, litigants and others, saying the police must always carry out their constitutional duties no matter which politician is flouting the law.

    The party urged the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to take the lead in ensuring that those behind the “senseless” attack on judges in Ekiti are made to face the full wrath of the law, irrespective of their status in the society.

  • 2015: The choice before APC

    As stated on this page last week, PDP has defined itself as a party that wants to hold on to the disproportionate share of our resources its members have cornered. Stealing government money, they have said is not corruption. Exploitation of our innermost fears, promoting ethnic and religious divisiveness to win election is acceptable. While most Nigerians feel a sense of shame that our Chibok girls are still marooned in the forest after four months, the party junkets around the nation celebrating decampees, followed by series of carnivals in some selected cities by TAN at the end of which it presented Jonathan as its star for 2015. They just don’t give a damn.

    Unfortunately, unlike PDP, even with the exit of Ali Modu Sheriff, Tom IKimi and Femi Fani-Kayode until recently the public face of APC which has pulled all the stops for the greater part of the year to be a carbon copy of PDP, the party has yet to clearly define itself. The public declaration of Atiku Abubakar who shares a PDP vision of power, a vision that has driven him from PDP to AC, back to PDP and now APC, for the party’s presidential ticket has only reinforced the impression that the two parties are the same side of a coin. And even for the core supporters of APC, it is not unlikely that for the fear of having their ears jarred by Atiku’s declaration, many might have not cared to listen to his familiar tone. And unfortunately for APC, while the electorates know what President Jonathan and his PDP represent, they cannot say the same of Atiku Abubakar whether clothed in the cloak of PDP or APC.

    It is equally depressing that preparation for Buhari’s declaration is in top gear with the party behaving as if there are no lessons to be learnt from our recent history. The problem is not just that the duo have  contested several times, labelled serial losers by PDP or that Buhari is over 70 in a world run by those in their thirties and forties. Or that nearer home, Zik, Ahmadu Bello, Awo, Bode Thomas, Rotimi Williams, Enahoro, Akintola, Fani-Kayode, Osuntokun, and Ikoku made their major contributions to our national development in their thirties and early forties; it is just that the duo are unelectable looking at our geo-political configuration.

    Buhari, unarguably is about the best Nigerian leader to face our nation’s daunting problems. He is the answer to PDP corruption, Jonathan indecision, society’s indiscipline and his party endless squabbling. Buhari has proved our problem is leadership and corruption. During his short stay as Head of state, our refineries worked. We earned foreign exchange selling refined petroleum. We did not import grain. Our problem became how to store what was locally produced. He rejected IMF-inspired SAP which was later accepted by Babangida. Buhari was vindicated as Babangida’s indiscretion and unpatriotic act led to the collapse of all our industries.

    But Babangida, David Mark and  Gusau, Buharis’ nemesis, along with other greedy politicians who wanted  Buhari out of the way to run the country in their own image along with their laboratory-incubated ‘new breed’ politicians have been in charge in the last 15 years. Now Jonathan with his exploitation of our fears and anxieties that have found expression in ethnic suspicion among our multi ethnic groups, mindless killings of innocent people in the middle belt states of the country by yet-to-be-identified so-called Fulani herdsmen, it is leaders like Buhari, a Fulani who is deeply committed to his Islamic religion no less than president Jonathan, an Ijaw is to his Christian fundamentalist beliefs, that suffer the collateral damage of the exploitation of our ethnic and religious differences. The forces against him today are as potent as they were in 1985, 2003, 2007 and 2011.

    Buhari shares a common fate with Awo. He was the most qualified Nigerian leader in terms of achievements, preparation and commitment to the poor in our nation at independence. But within two  years of independence, the parasitic political and economic elite across the land unjustly sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment, installed Akintola, a man who had been constitutionally removed by his party, without election, went ahead to rig the 1965 regional election in his favour while keeping Awo in Calabar prison.

    He was brought out of prison by Gowon to make useful contribution to the successful prosecution of the civil war caused by the greed of the political elites from the north and east. When in 1979, he wanted to bring his expertise to solve some of our nation’s problems, Obasanjo said the most competent man didn’t have to win. The erstwhile enemies, the parasitic political and economic elite from the east and the north who derailed the first republic once again went into a coalition which predictably collapsed over sharing of nation’s booty. In 1983, during Awo’s last attempt, the forces against him and by extension against Nigeria almost ensured he did not get a running mate from the north and east. Once again, it was the greed of NPN, an umbrella body for political and economic parasites that led to the collapse of the second republic which heralded Buhari as head of a military junta in 1985.

    With Awo’s ‘adventure in power’ between 1962 and 1979, he had no business contesting the 1983 election. He ought to have sat back to tender the UPN which he was a major investor. Buhari today is faced with similar option. The reasons are obvious. For 2015, the greedy PDP northern political elite fearing Buhari presidency would drive them out of town, the middle belt, victims of recent mindless killing by yet-to-be-identified so-called Fulani herdsmen has been programmed to believe the fear of a Fulani man is the beginning of wisdom. The South-south and South-east, contractors and importers of sub-standard goods that enjoy government waivers, hiding under the banner of ethnicity and religion while sucking the blood of the dispossessed in their midst, have proclaimed Jonathan as the liberator of the Igbo and the long awaited Ijaw messiah. They have, without proof, declared Buhari, who secured no votes in the area in 2011, a ‘Boko Haram sponsor and leader of a ‘janjaweed party’. In the South-west, he is haunted by his role as a military dictator among the old and those below 30 who were never taught history at school have become captives of prosperity prophets, backers of Jonathan. How does those nudging Buhari on expect him to walk this ‘tight rope’ over a sea of greedy and selfish Ijaw and Igbo sharks with injured anti-Fulani predators impatiently waiting at the beach?

    What then are the options for APC if they are to avoid the mistake of the past? In a liberal democracy political parties are owned by oligarchs who have stakes in the survival of society. In the US, the Republican and the Democrats pursue the same objective. Social change is evolutionary. Buhari, Tinubu Audu Ogbe and other party oligarch should take control of their political party and set up a presidential committee to screen young men for the party’s presidential ticket. Buhari like Awo has nothing else to prove. He, like Awo has been vindicated in his life time by history. With his goodwill, any candidate he endorses and sells to the nation along with his fellow APC oligarchs will be acceptable to Nigerians who feel diminished by PDP’s clueless response to our domestic problems.

    Edward Kennedy from the records of his achievement as second longest serving American senator was the best president America never had because he was haunted by his July18 1969 Chappaquiddick bridge accident which led to the death of his female passenger trapped in his car when it plunged into a river. After his last encounter with Jimmy Carter, he moved on to mentor two great American Presidents, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama who have already earned their places in American history. If he along with his colleagues in APC succeeds in liberating Nigeria from PDP, he can then also sit back like the late Senator Edward Kennedy and say:

    “For all those whose cares have been our concern; The work goes on, the cause endures, and the hopes still lives;  And the dream shall never die”

  • ‘Ekiti APC ‘ll bounce back’

    ‘Ekiti APC ‘ll bounce back’

    Hon. Ranti Adebisi is the Chairman of the Ekiti State Local Government Service Commission. The All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial aspirant in Ekiti North District spoke with EMMANUEL OLADESU and  RAYMOND MORDI on his ambition, the transition in Ekiti and implications for the APC’s future.

    Why do you want to go to the Senate?

    Ekiti North Senatorial District comprises of 11 councils. It used to be five local governments, but with the creation of additional Local Council Development Areas, the number has increased to 11. Ekiti North Senatorial District also comprises of two federal constituencies-the Oye-Ikole Federal Constituency I and Moba-Ido/Osi-Ilejemeje Federal constituency II. Currently, the incumbent senator is from Ido/Osi Local Government and we have never had a senator from Ikole Local Government, which is where I come from. Ikole local Government is the largest the local governments in the senatorial district. The last senator from that area was in the 1950s, which was before I was born. Apart from the fact it is our turn to produce the next senator, I believe that I am a grassroots person and I have worked diligently well. I have been a progressive since I came into politics. I was once a governorship aspirant in the state; I contested for the governorship with the incumbent governor at the primary level.  The moment Dr. Kayode Fayemi was picked as the party’s candidate, other aspirants defected to other political parties. I was the only governorship aspirant that remained in the party, out of the 16 of us that contested.

    What  is the greatest problem facing the people of your constituency?

    It is lack of good representation. In spite of the various levels of representation, Tip O’Neill, former United States Speaker, said all politics are local. That is, you have to come down to the grassroots. What we have now, is what I would call an elitist representation that does not really work with the people. We have a senator in the Red Chamber that is very articulate, like an average Ekiti man. When you have a senator representing the people who only appears during the electioneering season, then, it is no longer representation.

    We are lacking a lot of federal presence in our senatorial district. I’m hoping that with my exposure, and with the level of interaction that I would be able to create at the national level, I would be able to bring federal presence.

    The result of the June 21 governorship election shocked many Nigerians. Are you not afraid of a bandwagon effect in next year’s elections?

    There is nothing like bandwagon effect in Ekiti right now. Yes, the result was very shocking, but I’m on ground. That is one of the reasons why we’re asking for a level-playing field for all aspirants to come out, if they are sure of themselves. For me, my popularity cuts across political parties. I’m a household name in Ekiti State. When it comes to what happened on June 21, many people are thinking it was against our party, the APC. But, it is not necessarily so. Governor Kayode Fayemi has performed creditably well, in terms of infrastructural development. We were hearing all these new coinages such as stomach infrastructure. It’s an insult to Ekiti people and those of us in the APC believe that we still have a firm grip of the political terrain in that state and we are not afraid of contesting. There is nothing like bandwagon effect in Ekiti politics. The politics in Ekiti now is the politics of personality. Ayodele Fayose won the election not because he belonged to the PDP. He supposedly won the election because he could identify with the grassroots. Many people have been questioning why our governor conceded the election. We are actually working on our party congress right now. You will be surprised to see the overwhelming enthusiasm from our members. You may be forced to ask, is this a party that just lost an election? But, I would tell you that we never believed we lost an election. We lost the election on technical grounds, which we are going to unravel in the next few weeks.

    How would APC members, including  those holding offices, work harmoniously with a governor who is from another party?

    We are all stakeholders in Ekiti project. Our political system is evolving. Gradually, we would start maturing in our democratic process. For instance, the office that I hold presently, the chairman, Ekiti Local Government Service Commission, has tenure. That means I’m not going with the governor on October 16. Don’t forget, we have a majority in the House of Assembly, which has 25 APC members to one PDP member. So, it might be an opportunity for us to test the constitution. For those of us in the various commissions in Ekiti State, whose tenure has not expired, I believe we can work with the incoming administration because what matters is Ekiti; we are all stakeholders. We would have to work with each other, whether we like it or not.

    What is the assurance that some members of the House of Assembly would not defect to the PDP?

    Well, I will give them the benefit of doubt. It is true, even when there is no crisis; people are defecting on daily basis in Nigeria. It is part of the teething problems we are having in our democratic process. Gradually, things would start changing, but the various parties in the country need to start working on ideological principles. That way, we would begin to see the difference between the APC and the PDP, and the progressives and the conservatives. The way things are now, you will see many progressives in the PDP and many conservative elements in the APC. Very soon, water would find its level.

    What have you done to deserve the position of a senator?

    Well, in my senatorial district, even beyond my senatorial district, I have done so much, working with the grassroots, helping the jobless people and assisting those people who have problem paying their tuition fees. I’m a software engineer by profession. I have trained many people in the areas of developing software programmes. With my performance in the local government system, I have made a mark. When I came on board, the whole system was in shambles. My workers see me as the man who has come to revive the system. I pride myself as the only chairman since the creation of Ekiti State that has always been in his office every day. Most of the previous chairmen were coming on part-time basis, even though they were full-time chairmen. Within 15 months, I have been able to clear the backlog of promotion arrears for 10 years. I conducted promotion examinations that people refused to participate in before I came in. Now, when I call for promotion examinations, my workers are happy. Do you know what I did to accomplish that? Before I set the promotion examination, I usually give them what I would call a seminar, prepare materials for them. The essence of the examination is not to fail them. It is test their ability to understand what is going on, the changes that are taking place within the system. Today, we have conducted more than three promotion exams within a span of 15 months, to clear the backlog. You know, Ekiti is a civil service state. We have also been able to clear the backlog of people waiting for advancement; you know when go for further studies, they expect to be elevated after their studies. We had serious crisis with the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), but today we have cordial relationship with them because of my intervention. Even with the meagre resources available to us, I introduced in-house trainings; on a monthly basis, we conduct two trainings. We have sent some of them on overseas training, which is something that has not happened before. So, we have built the confidence of the workers; people now come to work. We have eradicated ghost workers in the local government system in the state. Currently, what we are working on after the creation of the new LCDAs is the deployment of staff. Within two/three weeks of their creation, we have been able to deploy staff to the new councils. This is because we want it to stay because it is the yearnings and aspirations of Ekiti people. We have equally reached out to the communities, to make sure that these councils survive because the local government system is the closest to the people. We have made sure that the communities have taken ownership of these councils, by donating buildings, materials and money, so that they can augment whatever resources the government has for the take-off of these councils. These are some of the things that I have been able to do that has given me the confidence that I can give a good representation to my people and my party at the national level.

  • How Fayose led thugs to attack courts, by Ekiti CJ

    How Fayose led thugs to attack courts, by Ekiti CJ

    Judge writes CJN, police chief

    PDP, APC trade words

    For the first time, the Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, has spoken on how thugs molested judges in the state.

    He identified thugs loyal to the Governor-elect, Mr. Ayo Fayose, as those who perpetrated the assault on judges.

    He alleged that Fayose specifically led an army of thugs who attacked the High Court on September 25.

    He also expressed regrets that policemen and security agents  watched helplessly as judges were beaten up by the thugs.

    He said he had no choice than to close the court in the light of the “prevailing lawlessness” in the state.

    Justice Daramola, who is scheduled to appear before the National Judicial Council (NJC) tomorrow, said the errant thugs beat judges and workers “black and blue”.

    Fayose has denied that his supporters beat up Justice John Adeyeye. He described the allegation as not only unfounded, but spurious.

    He said: “I am not aware that a judge was beaten up. In fact, this is strange to me.

    “This is reckless and strange to me. I visited the election petition tribunal as a party to the case and I was the only one that was allowed passage by security men. To the best of my knowledge, the three judges handling the tribunal case sat.

    “How can I order the people to beat up a judge that has nothing to do with me? At what point was this judge beaten? Was he a member of the tribunal? Because I went to the tribunal and not the regular court.”

    The Chief Judge chronicled the travails of the judges in two letters to the Commissioner of Police in Ekiti State, Mr. Taiwo Lakanu, and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mariam Alooma Mukhtar.

    The letters gave rare insights into the mayhem in Ekiti which forced Governor Kayode Fayemi to declare a 12-hour curfew.

    The CJ’s letter to the Commissioner of Police, dated September 26, 2014, reads in part: “ I write the letter to appraise you formally, the sad events of this week at the premises of the High Court of Ekiti State even though I have earlier before now stated this verbally through frantic and distress phone calls.

    “May I therefore chronicle the said sad event as hereunder stated please:

    “On Monday 22nd of September while I was attending the Supreme Court Special Sitting in Abuja, I was called on phone that thugs loyal to Mr. Ayodele Fayose have invaded the headquarters of the Judiciary of Ekiti State where Hon. Justice I.O. Ogunyemi was to deliver a ruling on the matter instituted against him.

    “The thugs beat workers black and blue while the presiding Judge and lawyers had to run for dear lives. They smashed windows and furniture.

    “Meanwhile, the policemen and other law enforcement agents deployed within and without the premises in large numbers were looking on completely uninterested and unconcerned while these thugs were on prowl beating and maiming workers and court users.

    “The thugs went on searching for the Judge who ran into hiding. It took your personal intervention when you were duly informed on phone to rush to the scene of the mayhem within the court premises to rescue the said Judge and took him out into safety.”

    The Chief Judge insisted that the attacks on judges were pre-planned by the said hoodlums, 13 of which the police alleged it had arrested.

    The letter further said: “The above in the main was just the beginning of what would appear to be a pre-planned long siege and onslaughts on the Court and its personnel. The political hoodlums showed again in large numbers on Tuesday 23rd and Wednesday 24th of September, 2014 on the spurious ground that they came to listen to the ruling which they did not allow the presiding Judge in Court No. 6 to deliver on Monday 22nd day of September, 2014. No such ruling was slated for hearing since the thugs invaded the premises of the court on Monday before.

    “Now on Thursday the 25th day of September, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, the Governor-elect again led thousands of people and thugs into the premises of the High Court beating and maiming the staff.

    “The thugs invaded my court where I was to deliver a judgment in a land matter, tore the Record Books, beat the court officials and vandalized the furniture in Court No. 1

    “The political thugs descended on Hon. Justice J. A. Adeyeye the presiding Judge in Court No. 3 beat and dragged him on the ground. The Judge’s suit was also torn into shreds. I could not gain entrance into the premises of the court and had to hurriedly turn back on being alerted that I was the prime target of the hooligans.”

    The Chief Judge narrated how policemen and security agents refused to come to the rescue of the assaulted judges, court workers and users.

    The letter added: “It is needless to reiterate here that while the mayhem and attack on judges, staff and property of the Court was in progress, scores of policemen and State Security Service (SSS) operatives posted to protect lives and property within the Court premises looked on and watched without taking any step to save the situation. All entreaties to officers and men of Ekiti State Command to protect the Court as an important institution of State yielded no positive response.

    “I should put it on record here again that it took your personal intervention to rush to the Court premises to rescue Members of the Election Tribunal who started sitting within the Court premises on this particular day and escorted them out of the premises into safety when your men and officers would not lift a finger  to help us.

    “I write this letter to formally inform you that your officers and men posted to guard and protect the integrity of the Court and its personnel in the face of looming danger within the premises of the High Court of Ekiti State have failed us and left us at the mercy of political hoodlums.

    “In the premises of the prevailing lawlessness in and around the court premises, I have no other alternative than to direct a closure of the court until the safety of Judges, Magistrates and Staff of Ekiti State Judiciary can be guaranteed by the law enforcement agents. Please accept the assurances of my kindest regards.”

    In forwarding a similar letter to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mariam Alooma Mukhtar, the Ekiti Chief Judge on September 27, 2014 said: “Further to my letter dated 25th day of September 2014, I hereby forward to your Lordship my letter to the Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State Command the situation report on events of the preceding week at the premises of the High Court of Ekiti State. With kindest regards to your Lordship.”

    ThePeoples Democratic Party (PDP)yesterday accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of planning to influence the Judiciary, subvert the will of the people and stop the inauguration of Ekiti State Governor- elect Ayo Fayose on October 16.

    But the APC denied being interested in stopping Fayose. It accused the PDP of impunity, saying it should allow the judiciary to operate unfettered.

    In a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the PDP called for a full investigation into the activities of some officers of the Ekiti State judiciary involved in the crisis.

    The statement described what it termed as “underground plot” to stop Fayose’s inauguration as a “slap in the face of the people of the state, assault on democracy and an attempt to rape the judiciary”.

    The statement said: “In the past two weeks, we have witnessed series of lies, propaganda, threats and blackmail by the APC in their desperate bid to truncate the wish of the people. This desperate party has gone notches up in this awkward quest for power by inciting violence and outlandishly calling for the arrest of the state governor-elect.

    “After losing roundly in an election widely acclaimed as one of the most credible in our recent history as a nation, the APC in its desperation for power has shamelessly designed a heinous plot to compromise certain judicial officers in order to stop the inauguration of Mr. Ayo Fayose as the democratically elected governor of Ekiti State.

    “We have here in our hands an attempt to re-enact the design where the same APC leaders under the defunct ACN sabotaged and truncated the popular mandate given to the PDP in the 2011 governorship election by the people of Osun and Ekiti states through the verdicts of certain judicial officers.

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun asked the PDP to leave the court to determine whether or not the Governor-elect of Ekiti State is qualified to contest election into the office.

    He said the APC was not out to stop Fayose from being inaugurated and warned PDP against rushing to judgment.

    Odigie-Oyegun, who spoke exclusively with our correspondent last night, said the attacks on judges in Ekiti State amounted to abomination.

    He said: “We don’t want to stop the inauguration of Fayose . It is absolute rubbish because everybody knows the sequence of events in Ekiti State.

    “Since there are issues about Fayose’s qualification before the court, let us not rush to judgment, let us leave it to the Judiciary to decide. We are ready for the legal course up to the Supreme Court.”

    Odigie-Oyegun said the APC was not behind the mayhem unleashed on judges in Ekiti State.

    He added: “We profit nothing by disturbing the court process. We know who stands to benefit by obstructing the course of justice.

    “It is a terrible trend to desecrate the temple of Justice. What happened in Ekiti amounted to abomination. It is just unfortunate that thugs were mobilised to beat up judges. Nigerians should ask: Who is afraid of the court? Who is afraid of justice?

    “We are waiting for what the Judiciary will do to defend their own honour.”

    The APC National Chairman warned PDP against recourse to impunity in a democracy.

    He said: “They (the PDP) should stop this excessive arbitrariness. Their impunity is now getting to an unacceptable limit.”

     

  • We must not whitewash leadership failure, says Tinubu

    We must not whitewash leadership failure, says Tinubu

    All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said Nigerians should not celebrate 54 years of independence because the country has not “flourished as it should”.

    He said rather than merriment, it is a time to reflect on what could have been.

    In an independence anniversary statement by his media office, Tinubu said it would be dangerous to “whitewash” the challenges.

    “We are burdened by too many resolvable challenges that remain unresolved. This is not a time for fake cheers and elation at the present state of things just because the calendar has touched this day.

    “We need to use this hour soberly by taking stock of the obstacles mounting before us and of the hard direction in which we seem to be heading.

    “I fear this direction, if further taken, will lead us not home but to an appointment with failure and national destitution,” he said.

    According to Tinubu, the country ought to advance, year by year, toward greater democracy instead of rushing “into the pit of arbitrary, imperious rule that smacks of despotism.”

    “If we whitewash the reality of our existence by lying that all is well just because this is Independence Day, then we ignore the troubling signals at our collective peril,” he said.

    Tinubu said the 16 years of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rule have been a period of diminishing return, adding that the longer the party remains in power, the less benefit the people derive.

    “Nigeria now needs a ‘common sense revolution’, a revolution that calls forth a return to decency, probity, transparency of process and fairness in outcome.

    “This is done not by subterfuge, divide and rule and turning Nigeria into a field of discord or a street of broken institutions. It is accomplished by honouring the principles of democratic good governance and economic justice.

    “It is done by persuading the people they are better off as one instead of better off tearing at each other’s throats,” he said.

    Blaming the country’s woes on leadership, Tinubu said for the most of the 54 years and for all of the past 15, honest men have been given scant opportunity to lead Nigeria.

    He said President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration only has a “vision” for personal enrichment.

    “The vaunted Transformation Agenda is but an elaborate name for old-fashion pocket stuffing. They do not have a national blueprint or vision.

    “They do have a blueprint and vision for excessive self enrichment. Their equation is simple. You work, they feast. You toil, they grow fat. You seek a decent wage; they pilfer the collective treasury to enjoy a king’s ransom,” the APC National Leader said.

    Nigeria, Tinubu believes, is saddled with a “reprobate leadership”, while decrying what he called incessant attempts to stigmatise and physically intimidate a peaceful political opposition.

    He bemoaned the militarisation of elections, which he said are features of “a perverse democracy run at gun-point”, coupled with “brazen assaults on the judiciary.”

    “Fifty-four years is enough to have built upon a solid foundation. If we had embraced a few lessons from India and other countries in similar situations like ours, we would be far advanced from where we are,” Tinubu said.

    According to him, there is, however, a ray of hope considering the difference being made in Lagos and other progressive states.

    He said those states kept faith with the nation’s founding fathers’ best practices and policies. Asiwaju Tinubu urged Nigerians to work for a progressive change.

    He added: “Governance is about trust. And this government is not even trusted by itself. This is why it does nothing except feed itself. This is not the road for a better Nigeria.

    “We must proceed from this 54th anniversary to embark on a common sense revolution that brings about a progressive change for the benefit of most of our country men and women, our youth and the vulnerable among us.

    “I speak here of a Common Sense revolution that promotes the well-being and improves the lot of the average person, regardless of his or her ethnic, religious or regional affiliation.

    “In this way, Nigeria will not only be unified in national purpose, it will also have recovered its better path. That will be an Independence Day we can and should celebrate. Until then, we strive to keep from falling further.

    “We dare not remain lost forever. I am positive that help is on the way. Nigerians should be prepared for a change. We must rescue Nigeria from those set to cause it irreparable harm.

    “The change I talk about is the only route to our deliverance from 16 years of the PDP locusts. Nigeria is ours to keep and its democracy is ours to save.”

  • Ekiti APC alleges plan to arrest leaders

    Ekiti APC alleges plan to arrest leaders

    EKITI State All Progressives Congress (APC) has alleged plan by the  police to arrest its leaders on trumped-up charge of being the masterminds of the state’s current political logjam.

    The APC, in a statement by its newly elected Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, said the plan was as a result of an unholy alliance between the police and the state’s Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) designed to blame the ruling party’s leaders for the “ongoing political dark cloud.”

    The party said: “The attempt by Ayo Fayose to avoid his past deeds from catching up with him led to his intimidation of the judiciary. We recall that PDP’s calling out of thugs against the judiciary led to the harassment of judges at the Ekiti High Court on two occasions just within one week, and we recall the further breakdown of law and order after the unfortunate and gruesome murder of Chief Omolafe Aderiye.

    “In all of these, APC was the innocent victim. Despite the undue provocation by those who felt that the arm of the law was becoming too long and must be cut to size, APC chose the path of honour by remaining calm and unprovoked. Yet the PDP goons continued to look for ways to rope us in and paint us black. Our properties have been destroyed, yet our faith is strong and will remain unshaken.

    “History is forever fresh about which of the two parties is the bloodletting one. History is forever fresh about which candidate or political gladiator is the troubler of our Israel. There is no one in doubt about the person who holds the key that unlocks the wild doors of the roughnecks, who always unleash mayhem on the state.”

    Olatubosun said the APC was aware of clandestine meeting between some police officers and some PDP goons on September 28 at a hotel, Ado Ekiti, where a list of its leaders to be arrested on trumped-up charges was drawn.

    The statement claimed that the names of those to be arrested included the Chairman of APC, High Chief Jide Awe; Chief of Staff Yemi Adaramodu; Sola Omonijo; Deji Adesokan; Dele Owoju; Richard Apolola; Niyi Adedipe; Rotimi Olambiwonninu and among others

    The party recalled that when it raised the same alarm in June during the election, the security operatives failed to act and eventually launched their offensives against its leaders who committed no offence.

    The statement added: “We are here saying again that the people listed have been put on the watch list and once they are arrested, the PDP would start raising allegations against them.

    “We are, therefore, calling on the police authorities to check the excesses of their men. It is the utmost interest of the APC leadership that no sinner should go unpunished and, specifically, that the dramatist personae in the activities leading to the present political logjam be brought to book.

    “We are now putting the police on notice that the attempt by the PDP and its cohorts to divert the attention of the security agencies away from the real culprits has the hands of some of its officers who have been dining with the devil.

    “We thus call on all the security agencies, like the police and DSS not to be dragged into the murky past of the PDP, especially, that of Dr. Peter Ayodele Fayose.”

    The APC said it remains unyielding in its stance against injustice in the land.

    “As a party of strong democratic tenets, we have fought and won several battles against injustice in the past in line with the rule of law. The invasion and attack on the temple of justice with the breakdown of law and order by the PDP led by Fayose has shown that he is either hiding or afraid of his past.”

  • Illegal campaign: APC slams INEC for acting too late

    Illegal campaign: APC slams INEC for acting too late

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has slammed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for “acting too little, too late” in issuing a warning on illegal public political broadcast and campaign.

    It said INEC’s belated action was suspicious.

    In a statement in London, United Kingdom, yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party said INEC’s action, coming after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and President Goodluck Jonathan have been campaigning, can only be to the disadvantage of other candidates and parties.

    ‘’Is it a ploy by INEC to give undue advantage to the PDP and its adopted sole presidential candidate, President Jonathan, in next year’s elections?’’

    APC wondered where INEC was when the so-called Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) was organising “noisy rallies” across the country, attended by government officials and designed to benefit the President and his party.

    The party also expressed shock that INEC has been slumbering since the so-called Protectors of Nigeria’s Posterity has been running TV adverts solely for Jonathan’s benefit.

    ‘’When did INEC become aware that these actions are illegal, considering that Section 221 of the 1999 Constitution, which INEC quoted in its warning letter, says ‘no association, other than a political party, shall canvas for votes for any candidate at any election or contribute to the funds of any political party or to the election expenses of any political candidate at an election’.

    “What TAN has been doing all along is to canvas for votes for Jonathan, in a clear violation of the constitution as well as the Electoral Act, which bans political campaigns until 90 days before election.

    ‘’Our party, joined by well-meaning Nigerians, had publicly alerted INEC to these campaigns and the fact that those behind them are breaking the law, but INEC merely responded with some unbelievable sophistry.

    “Now that those illegal campaigns have run for several months, INEC suddenly awoke from its slumber to issue a warning on illegal campaign.

    ‘’This is unbecoming of an election umpire that expects to be taken seriously, an umpire that is expected not only to be fair but to be seen as such, and one that knows its onions. This caution by INEC is coming too little, too late,’’ APC said.

  • APC hails Ohanaeze for not endorsing Jonathan

    The Southeast chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has hailed the Ohanaeze Ndigbo for avoiding the adoption of President Goodluck Jonathan as the Igbo candidate during the regional organisation’s celebration on Monday in Awka, the Anambra State capital.

    The party noted that the group’s action was commendable, despite the pressure by those it called Ndigbo-chop-sand band of politicians.

    Ohanaeze Ndigbo, at the Igbo Day celebration, shelved the adoption of President Jonathan as Igbo’s sole candidate.

    A statement by the APC Southeast spokesman, Osita Okechukwu, said: “For this noble act, we salute Ohanaeze Ndigbo leadership for abiding by the old African maxim that it is very dangerous to put all our eggs in one basket, a mistake which the late Amb. Ralph Uwechie’s regime made in 2011.

    “The Southeast APC is of the candid view that it is high time Ndigbo thought out of the box, embarked on an introspection and did a soul search before supporting again the same President who has failed to honour the promises he made to Ndigbo.

    “It is glaring that most federal roads in Igbo land are death traps, thus halting economic activities; the Second Niger Bridge may be dead on arrival, as Julius Berger has not been able to source the fund for its execution.

    “We must remember that the Ndigbo-chop-sand band of politicians are like she-goats who only care about their immediate family.

    “For example, is it not a paradox that Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyawu, one of the Chop-Sand-Band leaders was honoured yesterday (Monday) by President Jonathan with CFR, regardless of the fact that he abandoned Onuimo Silo, an agricultural project meant to preserve the grains of poor peasant farmers in Imo State?

    “In sum, we commend Chief Gary Enwo-Igariwey and his leadership for their uncommon patriotism and commitment to ideals of democracy.”