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  • Crisis brews in Bayelsa APC

    Crisis brews in Bayelsa APC

    •Members accuse chairman of incompetence, arrogance

    •They are ingrates – Chairman

    Aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bayelsa State chapter have attacked their Chairman, Mr. Tiwe Orunimighe, accusing him of incompetence.

    The angry members under the aegis of the Third Force accused the chairman of highhandedness, autocracy, divisiveness and arrogance.

    They further alleged that the chairman was running the party like a sole administrator and accused him of spending N7.2m brought for the inauguration of state executive council without the approval of the exco members.

    The group led by Mr. Michael Oyanimighan, said the chairman unilaterally removed the name of the Central Senatorial Vice-Chairman, Mr. Joseph Fafi, from the list of inaugurated executive members.

    The group said Fafi was denied inauguration despite being a bonafide elected member of the executive council.

    The group said: “Tiwe Orunimighe is highhanded, autocratic and disrespectful. His actions have succeeded in dividing the APC family in Bayelsa State.

    “Also, the APC state chairman vehemently refused to swear in the party’s senatorial vice-chairman elect for Bayelsa Central, Mr. Joseph Fafi. In his stead, one Falla was sworn in.  This action is against the provisions of APC Constitution.

    “Article 21 (11) of the constitution specifically states that anybody that tampers with delegate list, election result, nomination of party officers will be expelled and prosecuted.”

    They also accused Orunimighe of closing the state’s secretariat, without considering members and staff of the party.

    “It is curious that Orunimighe locked up and took the keys of the state secretariat. Also, the N7.2m brought for inauguration of state executive council was spent without the approval of the Exco,” they alleged.

    They also criticised the leader of the party and former governor of the state, Chief Timipre Sylva.

    According to them Sylva has been leading the party from outside without making an attempt to visit the state.

    But Orunimighe described his critics as “ingrates and black legs of the APC.”

    He said: “Apart from former Governor Timipre Sylva that has given us money, I spent my own money for so many things. Where is the highhandedness coming from? All things done in that party are done according to national directives.”

    “They are miscreants who want to spoil a purposeful and alternative party for Bayelsans. We have suffered lack of purposeful leadership because of the Peoples Democratic Party monopoly.

    “Look at the so-called members, what are their political antecedents and integrity? They are politicians who think they will take the party to pay their rents and feed themselves.”

    Also in his reaction, the state Secretary of APC, Mr. Marlin Daniel, said the aggrieved members were renegades saying they were unhappy that they could not manipulate the APC leadership.

    He said: “Those people were those from the old opposition parties in the state. Before now, opposition parties in the state formed it to raise money to feed themselves.

    “But now, the APC is not like that. We are geared towards change. And anybody who feels it is like before; to use the APC platform to make money for their belly will be disappointed. The crops of people that are complaining were from those political parties that existed before. We cannot allow them to introduce the old system into the APC.

    “They sold their party and betrayed it for their pocket. We are saying no to that. That is why we are their enemies. The leadership of the APC is capable of pushing the party to victory.”

     

  • Jubilation in Ibadan

    Jubilation in Ibadan

    There was sudden eruption of jubilation in the city of Ibadan and its environs late yesterday evening when calls came in indicating that the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola was leading in the Saturday governorship poll in Osun State.

    Anxious residents were busy making phone calls as they monitor results.

    Many were also seen in groups discussing the development, while others openly shouted the slogan “Aregbe nio, APC ti wo le “.

    As at the time of filing this report , the APC candidate was said to be leading in 20 out of the 30 local governments in the state.

    A resident, Mr. Abimbola Okeowo was full of praises as he jubilated in company of some loyalists of APC at Mokola area of the city.

    Also at Molete, Ring Road, Alakia, Agbowo, and Apata areas of the city the atmosphere was the same as politicians celebrate over the result.

    Many APC loyalists at different parts of the city, it was learnt  have started celebrating the outcome of the results in night clubs, beer parlours and private homes, even though it has not been officially announced.

    It was also gathered that many people, especially party members within city have started sending congratulatory messages to friends and well wishers as the results of the election filtered in.

  • Adeleke escapes assassination

    Adeleke escapes assassination

    The first executive governor Osun State and a chieftain of the All

    Progressive Congress (APC), Senator Isiaka Adeleke yesterday narrowly escaped assassins’ bullet when hooded hoodlums in army and police uniform and ambushed his vehicle at Ede around 1am and shot at his vehicle repeatedly.

    Adeleke said that he was saved by security men who engaged the hoodlums suspected to be PDP agents in an exchange of fire.

    He confirmed the development to The Nation at Sagba Abogunde, in Ede, his home town shortly after his accreditation for yesterday’s governorship election.

    He said:”At about 1am or thereabout, we noticed some people who wore mask with police uniform, military uniform and SSS uniform in a Hilux van marked Road Safety and another van with no number plate.

    “They started banging on the door. I saw one of the guys that was pointing from the van and I recognized him to be PDP youth leader. You know I was one of them.”

    The former governor said that for close to 40 minutes there was cross fire between his security men and the hoodlums and he escaped in the confusion.

    He said it was obvious that the assassins were after his life and wanted to use the federal might to overpower him but God saved him.

    He said, “The federal government cannot claim to be ignorant of all these because those that were arrested called me and told me they were detained at NYSC camp where the soldiers were camped. Some of them were tortured,” he said.

    “Some are still there; they are yet to be released. I happened to be lucky, some others are not. The Attorney-General was picked up, the commissioner for Agriculture was picked up, Senator Bayo Salami was picked up, Lai Mohammed was picked up. He was released later. What for, nobody knows.”

    He said he remains un-cowed by the development.

    “It is those that know they are going to lose election that will want to intimidate the other party. From our own side, we know we are going to win massively. That is why we are not doing anything untoward.  If votes will count, I know that 70 to 80 percent of voters will vote for APC. They should let the votes count. And vote will count if ballots are counted at the voting centers, result announced publicly and overall result is declared as recorded.  We hope nothing untoward will happen to the results.”

  • 250 APC members arrested, Mohammed

    250 APC members arrested, Mohammed

    •Alleges state-sponsored terror

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) said yesterday that no fewer than 250 of its leaders and supporters had been arrested by security operatives before and during the governorship election there.

    The party dubbed the development state sponsored political terror and demanded an immediate halt to it.

    ‘’At this point, APC is constrained to alert Nigerians and the international community that what is going on now in Osun State Nigeria is not an election but a coup against democracy,’’ the party said in a statement issued in Osogbo by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

    ‘’This is definitely not an ordinary election. It is the total hijack of the process and direct violation of the rights of the people. Osun State has been turned into a theater of war. An ongoing state-sponsored political terror against the Osun people and the entire people of Nigerians has been unleashed by an elected President against his own people, against his own country, in an unprecedented act of political desperation.

    ‘’As at 11 am this morning (yesterday), over 250 APC members and leaders have been arrested all over the state by the security task force. The DSS alone has over 50 APC members in their custody. On the contrary, no single PDP member has been arrested so far. This is barbaric and constitutes an infringement on the constitutionally-guaranteed rights of those who have been arrested,’’ it said.

    APC said the magnitude of arrests, the viciousness of the operation and the widespread intimidation of APC members have confirmed the party’s fears, which were expressed in several press statements ahead of the election.

    The party said President Jonathan, in “an unparalleled desecration of national institutions, has simply turned the men and women in uniform against the people, as the entire security outfits now owe their allegiance to the President, rather than to the nation, and are at his beck and call.”

    It said even as the election progresses, police officers from other neighboring states are being shipped into Osun to intimidate the state’s voters.

    ‘’PDP is not relenting in its plan to unleash terror and provoke violence after the accreditation of voters in order to prevent APC members from voting. Tear gas and gun shots will be released sporadically to scare voters from voting and create confusion at the poling units, so the agents of the PDP can substitute ballot papers and boxes,’’ APC said.

    The party also alerted the people of Osun and indeed all Nigerians to the use of fake Youth Corpers to perpetrate massive rigging in the election, adding that the fake Youth Corpers, who were procured by a minister hijacked the accreditation of voters in many polling units.

    According to the APC, NYSC members who had already been cleared and paid for the election were turned back in favour of the fake corps members in Ede South and Ede North allegedly procured by the minister.

    It accused INEC of connivance in the illegality.

    It listed its members who were arrested as including:

    – Alhaji Tijani Oladosu (aka TILAD), Quadri Owonikoko (a.k.a Integrity). Arrested about midnight, their whereabouts are still unknown

    – Lai Mohammed, Sunday Dare, and Afolabi Salisu. They were picked up before mid-night Friday by nine gun-toting masked DSS operatives and driven to the DSS headquarters in Osogbo. Harassed and deeply traumatized, they were finally released by DSS Saturday morning

    –  Over 40 voters, all APC members, arrested in Erin Osun while queueing for accreditation.

    – Alhaji Raimi Shitu, Vice Executive Secretary, Odo-Otin LG, arrested midnight

    – Chairman of O’SCHOOL in Osun and Chieftain of APC, Alhaji Lai Oyeduntan’s house invaded in Osogbo

    – APC stalwart and Octogenarian lawyer, Pa J.O Fakayode, being detained in Ora Igbomina after being picked up by security agents from Oke Ila

    – All APC agents in Osu, Atakumosa West, arrested by soldiers

    – All APC coordinators in Ifedayo LGA arrested.

    -ASP Venture Onos, Second in Command, Police Command, Osun while on election duty, arrested for warning soldiers against the maltreatment of APC members.

    – Chief Abiola Ogundokun, PDP chieftain in Iwo, is leading a detachment of DSS agents to arrest APC leaders and key members.

    – All over Osun state, APC members are being chased and harassed by PDP thugs aided by security agents.

     

  • Ondo APC, INEC disagree on Voter Register in Ondo

    Ondo APC, INEC disagree on Voter Register in Ondo

    The Ondo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disagreed over the distribution of Permanent Voters Card (PVC) in the state.

    At a workshop held in Akure, the Ondo State capital, chieftains of the APC argued against the distribution of PVC based on the 2011 Ondo State voter register, which they alleged was compromised in the run-up to the 2012 governorship election in the state.

    The State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Akin Orebiyi, told stakeholders that the PVCs based on the 2011 voters register would be available for distribution as from August 15 to 17.

    But a lawyer, Mr. Charles Titiloye, who represented the APC at the meeting, queried the legality of the PVCs that would be issued for distribution to voters by INEC based on the revised 2012 voter register, which the Court of Appeal in its judgment on July 1, 2013 said contained 100,725 illegally injected voters.

    He added that organising future elections using a compromised voter register is to lay the foundation for further electoral fraud in the State.

    The lawyer opined that though the Appeal Court had argued that the illegal injection of fake voters was not substantial enough to upturn the 2012 governorship election in the State, but ,however ,added that INEC owed it a duty to the people to compile a fresh voter register rather than confer legitimacy on 100,725 voters that would be acceptable to all political parties.

    He said, “What Ondo State need is a fresh voter register and not an update of a compromised and contaminated voters register.”

     

  • Atiku condemns arrests, clampdown on APC members

    Atiku condemns arrests, clampdown on APC members

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday decried the clampdown on APC leaders and supporters in Osun State.

    The APC leader called for neutrality and professionalism of security agents monitoring the election.

    Atiku in a statement by his media office said reports from the state suggested random chase down and arrest of APC leaders and members across the state by soldiers and officials of the Department of State Security (DSS).

    He said that the use of the military for the purpose of election is “an anathema to the very spirit of electioneering politics, because the rules of engagement of the military violates the principles of fundamental human rights which gives the people the power of franchise.”

    He therefore called on the relevant authorities behind the deployment of troops for the governorship election in Osun State to give instructions to the soldiers and state security agents on the imperative of limited and minimal engagement associated with the nature of their assignment, as the mood of terror being reported to have been created in the state is capable of distorting the expected free and fair outcome of the election.

  • APC sets up boundary committee to monitor Osun poll

    APC sets up boundary committee to monitor Osun poll

    The Ondo Central Senatorial District of the All Progressives Congress(APC) yesterday set up a committee to monitor local government areas sharing boundaries with Osun and Ondo Central to checkmate cross-border activities of election riggers before and during tomorrow’s poll in Osun State.

    Members of the committee include the Central Senatorial District Publicity Secretary, Titiloye Charles and Chairmen of APC in Ifedore, Ondo West, Ondo East and Ile Oluji Oke-Igbo Local Government.

    The committee, in a statement, urged members of the public in boundary towns between Ondo and Osun states who noticed strange any suspicious movement or act that could undermine the election to call the following hotlines: 08033738237, 080174160170.

    The party appealed to all its members in the said boundary communities spanning owena to Oke-Igbo/Ondo West to prevent the use of any of the boundary towns to manipulate or influence Osun polls.

    It also inaugurated the Central Executive Committee with Titiloye as its Publicity Secretary.

    The Party Vice Chairman, Gboyega Ademola, said the choice of the activist as the new spokesman was necessitated by the need to reposition the party towards effective mobilisation of supporters for the 2015 general elections.

    Other Committee members are Mrs Lola Fagbemi (treasurer), Festus Fadayomi (Secretary) and Alhaji Sulaiman Jimoh (Strategic Committee Secretary).

  • Scores injured as APC, PDP supporters clash in Imo

    Scores injured as APC, PDP supporters clash in Imo

    SCORES of people were injured yesterday, as supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) clashed at the burial ceremony of the father of the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission, Hon John Kennedy Opara, at Nguru in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State. The supporters of the two parties, who stormed the venue of the burial ceremony with dance troops, engaged each other in a free for all, which left no fewer than 25 youths severely wounded. According to an eyewitness, trouble started when PDP supporters accused the APC supporters of sponsoring Boko Haram and inventing the Ebola Virus. The supporters, made up of mainly youths, defied the presence of armed security men and descended on one another with dangerous weapons, including machete and broken bottles. It took the intervention of soldiers and mobile policemen who fired canisters of tear gas into the air to disperse the fighting party supporters. Governor Rochas Okorocha, who was shocked by the incident, said, “when I entered, I saw former Governor Ikedi Ohakim, he came to me and we embraced, and he said to me ‘peace be unto you’, and I replied ‘peace be unto you too’. He is my brother and we know when to unite as leaders and when to separate along party lines.” President Goodluck Jonathan, who was represented by Bayelsa State Governor, Sariake Dickson, at the event, called on clergymen to continue to pray for the unity of the country. He also called on political leaders to be united against terrorism and other security challenges bedeviling the country. Prominent Nigerians who graced the occasion include Governors Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State; Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State; Theodore Orji of Abia State; Jonah Jang of Plateau State; Sariake Dicksont of Bayelsa State and Willie Obiano of Anambra State. Others were Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha, former Governor Ikedi Ohakim and former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi among other dignitaries.

  • Rivers…Between Riverine and Rivers Southeast

    Rivers…Between Riverine and Rivers Southeast

    As we approach the 2015 general elections in Nigeria, Rivers State is on the spot for a lot of reasons. One, it has enormous voting strength capable of tilting the balance in favour of any political party in Nigeria; two, it has a popular incumbent who understands the levels of power and grassroots mobilisation; three, it is a multi-ethnic society with different ethnic groups on collision course on whose turn it is to produce the governor; four, the state has enormous human financial resources; and five, the state has wider implications for the larger Nigeria.

    However, the governorship elections can be narrowed down to a two way battle between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The APC bench is sparse for good reasons though very formidable.  It is sparse because Governor Rotimi Amaechi has control of the party machinery.

    The PDP has a full house of persons considered to be light weights, most of who may have jumped into the race without thinking through it, something politicians calls battle of second eleven.  One unique thing about the PDP candidates, however, is that all are claiming to have been endorsed by President Goodluck Jonathan or the First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan.

    Before Amaechi defected to the APC, Magnus Abe, a senator and Dakuku Peterside, a member of the House of Representatives, were considered clear favourites for the governorship ticket of the PDP.  The permutation is that their Senatorial District, Rivers Southeast is the only one yet to produce a governor.  When Amaechi moved, the duo moved with him leaving the field open for those considered second 11.  Abe and Peterside, tested grassroots mobilisers, were formidable foes to any opponent.  Abe’s greatest advantage is that he is a media personality and is blessed with the gift of articulation.  Peterside is considered humble, God-fearing, deft and a mobiliser.  He comes from the riverine part of the Rivers South east Senatorial District.  Riverine Ijaws have been at the fore front of agitation for governorship of Rivers State, the upland would by next year have had it for sixteen years at a stretch.

    So, if the pendulum of zoning goes to Southeast Senatorial District, the race for the APC ticket is between Dakuku and Abe. On the other, if it is decided that no upland person should give the APC ticket a shot, then the riverine takes the ticket and Dakuku is the clear favourite. He is the only major contender who is riverine and is also from the Rivers Southeast Senatorial District.

    For the PDP, it has two big hurdles to face: one is the ability to choose a candidate acceptable to most of the stakeholders from the crowd; and two, what to do with Nyesom Wike, who is Ikwerre like Amaechi.

    At the last count, PDP has about 18 aspirants.  Some of them are Alabo Paworiso Samuel Horsfall, Dumo Lulu Briggs, Nimi Walson-Jack, Reynolds Dagogo-Jack, Engr. Emma Princewill, Major Lancelot Ayanya, Prince Uche Secondus, Senator George Sekibo, Ateke Tom, Prince Tonye Princewill, Prof. Don Baridam, Senator Lee Maeba, Faafaa Dan Princewill, Hon. Ibinabo Michael West and Nyesom Wike amongst many others.

    Of the 18 aspirants, more than eleven are from the riverine part of the state considered the natural geo-political zone to produce the next governor. Two are Ogonis, another part of the upland though in Rivers Southeast Senatorial District agitating to produce governor in 2015.

    The real issue in PDP is who has the will of Jonathan.  It is clear to all that Wike is carrying the anointing of the First Lady.  The second real issue is the fact that Wike has a stranglehold of the party structure in Rivers State to the exclusion of all other aspirants.  There is no doubt that if things continue the way they are now, Wike can start celebrating his emergence as PDP standard bearer in 2015.  How the emergence of Wike will translate to votes in the general elections is a different issue. The APC needs to just pick the right candidate from the area that has not had it since 1999, the race is won and lost. It is sure the party to beat. PDP is only struggling.

     

    •Comrade Kiobel, a public commentator, writes from Port Harcourt

  • Osun election: APC uncovers PDP’s alleged rigging plans

    Osun election: APC uncovers PDP’s alleged rigging plans

    Ahead of Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state has uncovered a ‘secret’ document on how the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) allegedly intends to rig the election.
    The National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Oyegun in a statement on Thursday said the document, marked boldly as ‘CONFIDENTIAL’, a copy of which is now in the possession of APC, Osun, contains the program of the PDP to rig the election and the projected results from the rigging exercise.
    The full text of the statement reads as follows:

    “De-register 47,000 by deleting their names from the Register. This is certainly to disenfranchise them on Saturday.

    “Programmed ballot paper designed. By this, the import is that the voting becomes distorted in favour of the PDP through a chemical process.

    “Programmed thumbprint. This is being done with a view of accounting for the lacunae created between those disenfranchised and those that failed to turn up for voting.

    “Impression on the ballot papers

    “Vanishing ink on the programmed ballot paper.

    “These two processes are part of the grandplan to manipulate the process through scientific rigging.

    “Polling units 1195

    Ward 155

    406,116.

    In preparation to harvest the brazen electoral heist being planned by the PDP, the document also outlines the pre-alloted scores for all the 30 Local Government Areas as follows-
    S/N
    LGA
    PDP PROJECTED VOTES
    1
    ATAKUNMOSA EAST
    10,000
    2
    ATAKUNMOSA WEST
    10,000
    3
    AYEDAADE
    15,000
    4
    AYEDIRE
    10,000
    5
    BOLUWADURO
    5,000
    6
    BORIPE
    10,000
    7
    EDE NORTH
    10,130
    8
    EDE SOUTH
    10,000
    9
    EGBEDORE
    10,000
    10
    10

    EJIGBO
    15,000
    11
    IFE CENTRAL
    35,000
    12
    IFEDAYO
    7,000
    13
    IFE EAST
    33,018
    14
    IFELODUN
    15,000
    15
    IFE NORTH
    20,000
    16
    IFE SOUTH
    20,000
    17
    ILA
    10,000
    18
    ILESA EAST
    10,000
    19
    ILESA WEST
    10,340
    20
    IREPODUN
    10,007
    21
    IREWOLE
    20,105
    22
    ISOKAN
    10,000
    23
    IWO
    15,000
    24
    OBOKUN
    10,203
    25
    ODO-OTIN
    10,107
    26
    OLA-OLUWA
    5,070
    27
    OLORUNDA
    15,000
    28
    ORIADE
    10,000
    29
    OROLU
    7,936
    30
    OSOGBO
    28,000

    TOTAL
    409,916

    The document further contains a meticulous outline of plans to rig the election Polling Unit by Polling Unit using pre-programmed ballot papers already designed, and thumb printed with vanishing ink in favor of PDP. The document further contains the plan to deploy specified numbers of impression ballot papers and vanishing ink in 1,195 polling units across 155 wards in all Local Government Areas in Osun. This, by their machination is expected to award the PDP a whooping 406,916 votes even before voting commences!

    This elaborate and audacious plan is to be carried out in connivance with key INEC officials from the National headquarters, and those deployed from other states with staunch backing of all security agencies deployed for the election, with particularly mobilized personnel, former militants and masked thugs impersonating security officials under a combined team code named ‘Election Task Force’ directly under the instructions of Mr. Musiliu Obanikoro (Minister of State for Defence) and Jelili Adesiyan (Minister of Police Affairs), Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode and Mr. Chris Uba mandated to intimidate and harass APC party chieftains, agents and sympathizers who are uncompromising or refuse their offer of filthy lucre.

    Evidently, PDP’s repeated boasts that it would capture Osun is predicated on this grand plan. This cannot be regarded as an empty boast considering the chronicle of recent PDP ‘abracadabras’ in Delta Senatorial, Anambra governorship and Ekiti governorship elections. All these points to the fact that PDP’s devilish plans to destroy our nascent democracy would stop at nothing to achieve its aim.

    We hereby put all stakeholders on red-alert. We call on Prof. Jega to ensure that his name does not go down in infamy as some others have. We also call on the new IGP, Mr. Abba and other security agents to show to Nigerians that they are truly professional and men and women of honor. We appeal to all Nigerians and particularly the Osun electorates to be extra vigilant and ensure that, their will is not subverted by this on-rushing brigade of evil. On our part, we shall put all machinery in place to safeguard the mandate of our teeming supporters as we shall resist all forms of intimidation or devilish manipulation of the voting process,

    According to our source, in the unlikely event that the above fails, violence must be unleashed on the people so as to forestall the announcement of the winner. In furtherance of this, Chris Ubah has been allocated fifty soldiers to terrorise , intimidate and maim the Osun voters. Additionally, to compliment this act of brigandage, three hundred thugs are camped by Omisore at Ballam Hotel, Bolonduro and are with unclaimed voters card.