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Tag: APC

  • Atiku: our structure of govt needs to be reworked

    Atiku: our structure of govt needs to be reworked

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has said the need to rework the federal arrangement should be a major focus of delegates at the National Conference.

    In a speech delivered at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, the ex-Vice President said the federal structure arrogated many functions and resources to the government at the centre, thus killing the spirit of innovation and enterprise among the people – which was a critical component in building a self-sustaining economy.

    Acknowledging his initial stance in opposing the constitution of the conference, Atiku said delegates should make the best of the opportunity.

    “I want to assume that a new and improved Nigeria is the goal and I believe any opportunity for people to talk is better than to fight,” he said.

    According to him, “the conference should focus on designing a political and governmental system, which empowers local authorities and gives them autonomy to address peculiar local issues, and enhances accountability, while contributing to the general good of the country.”

    Atiku said the envisaged robust federal system would reduce the tension built into the nation’s over-centralised system.

    He noted that the federal structure, which he termed unitary federalism – was a creation by and for the military governments of the past.

    “As more power was concentrated in the centre, the Federal Government appropriated more resources and expanded its responsibilities.

    All these were done in the name of promoting national unity. The process was easy, as the unified command structure of the military ensured little opposition.

    “Therefore, fixing Nigeria, to me, will require reversing decades of over-centralisation of power and over-concentration of resources at the centre,” Atiku said.

    The former Vice President observed that whereas the purpose of the unified federal structure was to foster national unity, “the notion that over-centralisation and an excessively powerful centre is equivalent to national unity is false and has made our unity more fragile and our government more unstable.”

    He advocated the renegotiation of “our union to make it stronger by granting greater autonomy, power and resources for states and local authorities”, which will “unleash our people’s creative energies and spur more development.”

    Atiku debunked insinuations that the top-heavy federal arrangement, as is being operated, is working to the favour of a section of the country.

     

     

  • ‘Jonathan should go in 2015’

    ‘Jonathan should go in 2015’

    Presidential candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention Alhaji Bashir Othman Tofa is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He spoke with Kolade Adeyemi on the Jonathan Administration, national Security and 2015 general elections.

    Are you an active member of the All Pro-gressives Congress (APC)?

    I am active in the sense that I am a member of the party, but not an executive member. Because of my age and experience, I am comfortable to play the role of an elder statesman.

    What is your appraisal of the political situation?

    The political situation requires serious prayers, not just the political situation, but the country itself, so that we can have direction to enable us scale the hurdles that are ahead of us, so as to be able to do what is right for the country and for the people and emerge successful. The bottom line is that we have numerous problems and we need to seriously think about these problems and find ways to overcome them and do the right thing for the country. So, I think that is the situation for now.

    What is the way out of the problems

    Well, you see, the purpose of government is three-fold. one is to harness the resources of the country in the best and most efficient way and to use these resources to foster development, peace and security of the people of the country and to ensure that the rule of law prevails. These are the cardinal duties of any responsible government, while it has three tiers, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary and each of the tiers has their roles in the government. So, when we say government, it doesn’t just mean the Presidency. They are tied together. It involves the legislature, the judiciary and the executive. Government, as we are aware, secures the resources of the country, either through taxation or through the exploration of mineral resources or other engagements that it has to embark on. However, making the laws is the responsibility of the National Assembly and ensuring that the laws are complied with is the duty of the judiciary. so, government is the unity of the three tiers. In that respect, we have a government and each tier of government plays its role. We have to make progress and all stakeholders have to play their roles in the best way possible.

    As an elder statesman, what are your recommendations on the way forward?

    Well, the way forward from my perception is for us to first of all ensure that we have a credible election in 2015 and to accept the outcome of the election, as long as we unanimously agree that it is credible. Whoever that will win the election needs to be supported. each of the political parties to the 2015 elections should field credible candidates, who would at the close of the day do this country proud. We must avoid corrupt people and those who are not transparent or decent. This category of candidates must be avoided and the electorate must also elect the right candidates. Once, we have the right candidates in place, we can begin to steer the ship of state in the right direction. so, that is the most important thing. Unless we do that, we will never have the kind of government we are yearning for; government that will be corrupt-free, government that will regard each and every Nigerian as equal citizens and give him or her the opportunity to do whatever he or she would do to advance their lives in accordance with the laws of the land, as well as to advance the lives of their communities in the country in general. Once, we can have that, and we have done away with corruption, we can thumb our chest and say that we are on the right track to real development that this country deserves.

    As the 2015 general elections draw near, do you subscribe to the emergence of a consensus candidate?

    Well, it depends on the party and what the party’s constitution says? consensus candidature is always good but it has to be a genuine consensus. but, if it cannot be a consensus to a minority group, that kind of consensus will never be successful or see the light of the day because it will definitely create factions within the party and, once we have factions within the party that feels strongly that it has been wronged, the success in the forthcoming elections would be questionable. So, it will be genuine, if it is just, then, we have consensus, but the next line says where that kind of consensus cannot be achieved in primary elections, where people cannot agree on a particular candidate, whereby the vast majority of those stakeholders cannot agree on a particular aspirant, then, there must be primaries. That has always been the condition. In the APC, that is the condition. Consensus is preferred but, justice would be better done, if primaries are conducted.

    Are you satisfied with President Goodluck Jonathan’s style of leadership?

    Nobody is satisfied with President Goodluck Jonathan’s style of leadership because it’s not even a style. I cannot define his style of leadership, in terms of the appropriate definition of leadership. He is absent from leadership. He has knowingly or unknowingly abandoned that part of his elected role to some elements, who will never help him. He has people around him, who misadvise him and are doing the wrong thing and he doesn’t seem to have control over them. For example, look at all these ministers that have done wrong, it has taken him so long to decide what to do with them. In some other countries, who know what they are doing, even the President does not need to act because the minister knows what to do, it’s just to resign. As long as you have done something which has been exposed, which is against the public interest, that minister on his own knows that he does not need to be told but just resign. But in Nigeria, that never happens. They stay put and the President allows them to continue. Look at what happened with the Minister of Internal Affairs, Abba Moro, and look at what is also happening now with the recruitment exercise in the Immigration. It seems that the President is supporting them; they say he is a friend of this and a friend of that, who is so strategic. all these show that either the President is not aware or is absent of his responsibilities or that he is irrelevant. That is the impression that the President gives to so many people, not only in Nigeria, but even abroad.

    Now that the President has set up the National Conference, are you confident that the outcome will take Nigeria to another level of development?

    It will not take Nigeria to anywhere, it will be discussions, they will discuss and earn their N4 million per month and will write their report, which would be jettisoned, just as other reports. As I was telling some body in an interview what you would have done, which would even be much better was just to appoint some 50 wise men and women into a committee, retrieve all the previous reports and conferences that have been held. Let the wise men review and consolidate them into one single report and hand it over to the National Assembly. That would have been a better thing to do, so that the National Assembly that have the responsibility to amend the constitution and make other laws will look at these consolidated or synchronised report and take action.

    This conference has no legal authority to do anything. Nobody elected them. they are only nominated people. some of them are very good people but they have no authority as the only authority they have is from the President but not from people like you and me. Once they talk, the talk is compiled in paper. Then, we have lost N7 billion in binding the report would lying somewhere where nobody will remember it. I heard that a former governor is suggesting that we should be given more time to do this work, that two more years should be extended, so that the tenure of the President and all the governors and the legislature should be extended by two years. But, this is even a criminal suggestion. It is criminal to suggest that the constitutional provision should be suspended. by who, by what kind of law, by what kind of fiat would you suggest that a constitutional provision, which says that the President has only a four-year term?

    This is a criminal act that he was suggesting that the country should undertake, which can’t happen. You cannot alter the constitution to achieve that purpose. So, right from the beginning, some people are flying a kite, showing that they are a hidden agenda to all these. If we not careful, these can cause seriousness problem, even to the democracy. People would not just accept some people to do whatever they like to do with this country. This country is big and it been existing together within 100 years and some people are attempting to destroy it. This cannot be acceptable. So, anybody who is trying to introduce some sabotage amendment or action would be resisted.

    The insurgency in some parts of the North has been threatening the corporate existence and unity of the country. What do you think is the solution?

    As I earlier told you, the purpose of the government is to ensure the security of lives and property of its citizens and the incumbent government is not performing that role. So, this is a very serious issue. It’s not just insurgency as every section of this country has it’s peculiar problem. In the North, there is this problem of insurgency. In some places, it’s the problem of kidnapping, while in some other places, it’s the problem of highway robbery and in some other places, it’s the problem of resources. In some places, it is the problem of restlessness. There is no single part of the country that is grappling with one problem or the other. Every section of the country has its own peculiar problem and we have to act as Nigerians and not look at other peoples problem, but look at our problems collectively and say look we have all these problems here and there, how do we resolve them.

    Whatever happens to the Northeast happens to the entire country and whatever happens to the Southeast happens to us here. so, we have to see ourselves as Nigerians. We should not insist that this is the problem of the North East or this is the problem of the South East but say that these are the problems that Nigeria have. Once we consider that is our collective problem, then we can collectively find sit down and see the best way to solve them but as long as we insist that a particular problem is some other people’s problem and not ours, then the problems cannot be amicably resolved. If you say that it is Armed Forces that would resolve the problem, these Armed Forces are not from space, they are Nigerians. So, how can you tell a military commander, who is from the South East, knowing that he would probably be killed in order to solve his problem. So, these problems are our problems wherever they occur and we have to see them as such because that is what makes us Nigerians, not just Easterners or South Easterners or North Westerners and so on.

     

    As INEC prepares for the 2015 general elections, what is your advice for the conduct of a successful election? And do you have confidence in INEC?

    I have confidence in the Chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega but he can only perform his duties if he is given the right equipment and resources to do it. If he is denied or given the resources late, then he cannot do the job. Also, if people are trying to sabotage him because they do not want him to do the right thing here and there, then we cannot have it. So it’s not just INEC alone, it is the government and the people that have to cooperate and support INEC to conduct the right and acceptable election but if we fail to support INEC and if the government fails to support them, then how can they perform their function. Nobody can perform his functions satisfactorily, no matter his good intentions and experience if he is not given the right tools and support to perform their role. So, we should not be having the impression that INEC cannot perform the job. Let’s give what they require and see whether they cannot perform its role or not.

    What do you feel about recent political tour engaged by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan?

    Well, you see, this is a very grey area in my opinion, especially for politicians. You see, politics is a daily thing. It depends on how you define a campaign rally, or a meeting, or a gathering of politicians and so on; because you can meet in a room with everybody there and you talk. Then who knows whether that can be defined as a campaign or rally or whether it has to be in the open or not. So some people have to define what it is—even when people gather, even if it is in the open, whether it is just a gathering because you are present or it is campaign rally. I think people have to analyze what he said and what is done in the places to determine whether it is really a campaign rally or not. It is not for me to really determine because I do not know what exactly happened. All I know is that he been addressing some people to be welcomed into his party; now if the occasion is just for that, then that is a campaign rally, then if it is another occasion and this just happen, it is a minor aspect of the gathering; then, of course, it is subject to interpretation.

    People who know the law and who can separate between what the president does in a public should be in the best position to analyze what he says. You know he is the president, wherever he goes, people go, wherever he is stands, people gather. So, whatever he will say will be political. So, it depends on those who can really analyze the situation, the speech and the type of gathering and where it is—you know, to pick points and conclude whether this is a campaign rally or whether it is not. I cannot be sure to tell you that I know the definition of whether this is a campaign rally or not.

     

  • ‘Emergence of Fayose as PDP Candidate, good tidings’

    The ‘Political’ mechanism that prompted Mr Ayodele Fayose as a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ekiti State will give a clear cut victory to Governor Kayode Fayemi.

    A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and member Aregbesola Campaign Team, Prince Solagbade Amodeni who spoke to reporters in Akure, Ondo State Capital Tuesday noted that Ekiti people are too sophiticated to align with the former governor who was impeached because of alleged graft.

    Amodeni observed that nobody would want to mortgage peace for violence, noting that the emergence of Fayose as PDP flag bearer was launched with the pulling down of Fayemi’s billboards and burning of PDP secretariat in Ado-Ekiti.

    The former Commissioner said though the development looked ordinary,but people that are deep thinker should note that they are signs of war drums which no sane person would ever wish Ekiti citizenry.

    Amodeni said, “The era of deceiving electorate with buying of roasted plantain(Booli)beside the road and eaten in local cafetaria which are mere deceits have gone, no serious governor would have time for that primordial things.

    “The PDP strategy of distributing physical cash and kerosine in Osun and Ekiti states would fail woefully because yorubas know who wants to rule or enslave them.

    “Where were these kerosine in 2013 and years before,the same thing with those who are planning to distribute cash on eve of the election day,where were they keeping the money before”

    He said the Labour Party (LP) Candidate in Ekiti State,Opeyemi Bamidele had history of betrayals right from his University days.

    According to him;”If Opeyemi can betray a personality like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu who actually made him,what is left? but virtually all Ekitis are historians in their various careers, they would never want to do anything with such people”

    He hailed Fayemi for his unprecented achievements inspite of the lean resources from statutory allocation and Internally Generated Revenue(IGR).

    Amodeni listed good road network, social welfare scheme, huge infrastructures, renovation of schools,distribution of laptops of students among others as some of the laudable projects of Fayemi,urging parents in Osun, Ekiti and Kogi states to warn their children against being recruited as thugs for the June 21 election.

    While appreciating the positive remarks passed on Governor Rauf Aregbesola by a PDP Chieftain, Ebenezer Babatope over his laudable performances in Osun state, the APC chieftain faulted the claim that performance will not win election.

    Amodeni, gave a poser to PDP that the masses particularly APC supporters would resist any act of rigging in both Osun and Ekiti state as it happened in 2003.

  • Court orders defecting lawmakers not to join move to alter leadership

    Court orders defecting lawmakers not to join move to alter leadership

    Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday granted an order of perpetual injunction, restraining the 41 former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers in the House of Representatives, who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), from either initiating or participating in an effort to alter the leadership of the House.

    This is one of the four reliefs granted by Justice Adeniyi Ademola in his judgment in a suit by the PDP against the House of Representatives, its principal officers and the defecting legislators.

    The party sought primarily to frustrate the alleged move by the defecting lawmakers to initiate changes in the leadership of the House.

    Justice Ademola restrained “the 12th to the 53rd defendants (the defecting lawmakers), their agents, privies and servants from taking any step or further steps, or sitting, starting or doing anything to alter or remove or change the leadership of the 1st defendant.”

    He also granted an order of perpetual injunction, restraining the defecting legislators from “altering or participating in the altering or changing the leadership of the 1st defendant”.

    The judge declared that in view of the provision of Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution and the case marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/621/2013, filed by the defecting lawmakers (which was decided by Justice Ahmed Mohammed last Friday and in which they admitted defecting) they “cannot lawfully vote and contribute to any motion for the removal or change of any of the principal officers” of the House.

    He also declared that the defecting lawmakers, who are plaintiffs in the earlier suit decided by Justice Mohammed, “are not competent to sponsor, contribute or vote on any motion calling for the removal or change in the leadership of the House or the removal of any principal officer of the House, or removal of any of the principal officers of the 1st defendant”.

    The judge held that in view of the mandatory provision of Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution, they (the defecting legislators) can participate in any proceedings to remove the House’s principal officers.

    He also held that in view of the provision of Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution, they (the defecting lawmakers) cannot lawfully alter the composition or constitution of the House’s leadership.

    Section 68(1) provides: “A member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if ; (g) being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a party, he becomes a member of another party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected; Provided that his membership of the latter party is not as a result of a division in the party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored.”

    Justice Ademola, after analysing evidences before the court, observed that there were undisputed facts that the defecting lawmakers were sponsored by the PDP; that the period of their membership had not expired, but that the contention among parties was whether there was a division in the party as contemplated in the provision of Section 68(1)(g).

    Relying on the definition of “division” in the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (8th edition of the International Student edition), the judge held that from the evidence before him, including the October 2013 judgment by Justice Evoh Chukwu of the same court, there was no division in the PDP to have allowed the lawmakers to retain their seats.

    “The court finds, as an undisputed fact, that the period for which the 12 to the 53 respondents were sponsored by the plaintiff has not expired in the 1st defendant (House of Reps). And as earlier stated, there is no division in the plaintiff, and they, that is, the 12th to the 53rd respondents, have defected to another party – the APC.

    “And as such, they either vacate their seats or resign honourably and relinquish their constituents’ mandates. They have no basis, morally and legally, in staying in the 1st defendant (House of Reps) a day longer,” the judge noted.

    He, however, did not order any of the lawmakers to yield their seats, as that was not part of the four relief sought by the plaintiff.

    Before deciding the substantive suit, the judge dismissed the preliminary objections by the defendants. He held that the suit was well instituted; that it was justiciable; that it was not an abuse of court process; that the plaintiff possessed the locus standi to institute the action and that the originating summons filed by the plaintiff was competent.

    Reacting to the judgment, the plaintiff’s lawyer, Yunus Ustaz (SAN) claimed that by the court’s orders, the affected lawmakers ought to vacate their seats. He argued that they were no longer qualified to sit in the House any more.

    He praised the judge for what he described as “an analytical and well considered judgment.”

    Lead defence lawyer, Mahmoud Magaji (SAN), said the court’s orders did not affect the continued participation of the defecting lawmakers in the business of the House. He said his clients have authorised him to appeal the judgment.

    “The court is not a Father Christmas. It does not give what you did not ask for. They did not ask the court to order my clients to vacate their seats. So, the court has not done that. We are going to test this decision in the higher courts. We are filling our appeal any moment soon,” Magaji said.

  • APC Reps to appeal judgment

    •Court turned law on its head, says Gbajabiamila

    The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the House of Representatives is to challenge yesterday’s ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

    Justice Ademola Adeniyi granted an order of perpetual injunction restraining 42 former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in the House who defected to the APC, from either initiating or participating in an effort to alter the leadership of the House.

    The judge faulted the defection of the lawmakers, hinging his position on the premise that there was no division in the PDP.

    “An order of perpetual injunction is, hereby, ordered, restraining them from altering or attempting to change the leadership of the House of Reps,” he ruled.

    The lawmakers condemned the judgment saying it is unacceptable.

    Reacting to the judgment, Minority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila, in a statement signed by his Personal Research Assistant, Wasiu Olanrewaju-Smart, described the ruling as “a strange judgment that turned law on its head”.

    He said: “The judgment is strange and will be appealed. No person can be compelled by law to stay in an association against his or her wishes.”

    Gbajabiamila also said the judgment is an affront to the right of association of the lawmakers, adding: “It negates a fundamental right of association of every citizen that is inalienable. Section 68 of the constitution has been turned on its head and the error of the court is manifest.”

    “Section 68 was never argued in court by any of the parties. The judge gave an opinion he was never asked to give and an argument that was never canvassed before him,” he said.

     

  • The ‘common man’ finds his voice

    The ‘common man’ finds his voice

    The sixth Bola Tinubu Colloquium, which took place in Lagos at the weekend to mark the 62nd birthday of the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, provided an opportunity for ordinary Nigerians to articulate some of the country’s daunting challenges and how to get the country out of its present socio-econoic doldrums. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI reports.

    The plight of citizens living in the midst of the insurgency that most Nigerians read about on the pages of the newspaper is pathetic. Take the case of this man, for instance. One fateful evening, members of the Boko Haram insurgency group came to the home of a lecturer at the University of Maiduguri in their numbers to assassinate him. But, fortunately for him, he was not at home. Realising that they were bent on killing him, the lecturer, simply identified as Mallam Aji, fled from his home and took refuge elsewhere in the city, leaving his wife to take care of things. But when the group visited a second time and did not find the man at home, they concluded that the wife was shielding him. They killed her. “Now, I am saddled with the responsibility of caring for our children. I have to play the role of a father and a mother,” he told the audience at the Sixth Bola Tinubu Colloquium in Lagos last Saturday.

    People in Aji’s category live in fear on a daily basis.

    A different set of problems confront Alhaji Nasiru Bala Daudawa, who holds a first degree in agricultural economics and a masters in international relations and diplomacy. At the colloquium, he catalogued the woes of farmers in Katsina State, particularly and the nation in general. He said the fertilizer distribution programme of the federal government was not working effectively as Nigerians are made to believe and that despite the fact that agriculture employs about 70 per cent of the population, “we still have challenges due to policies that are lopsided,”

    His words: “We are faced with fertilizer adulteration and the amount of fertilizer we receive is always inadequate. They only send two bags and we have to buy the rest in the open market, where it is often mixed with sand and a 40 kilogrammes (kg) bag of the product is passed off as a 50 kg bag.” Besides, Daudawa said farmers have challenges accessing loans and that they lack access to the 167 million or so consumers in the country due to storage and transportation problems.

    He added that his community in Faskari Local Government Area is equally faced with the challenges of cattle rustling. He said farmers in the entire North-west geo-political zone have to cope daily with armed criminals coming to steal their cattle and that if something is not done about this, Nigeria may have another Boko Haram on its hands.

    Ali and Daudawa are two of the ordinary Nigerians who spoke at the 2014 Bola Tinubu Colloquium, bringing home to the audience the realities of the challenges of survival confronting Nigerians from various walks of life. The annual Bola Tinubu Colloquium was an idea conceived by close friends and associates of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former governor of Lagos State. It was conceived as a platform for discourse on the salient issues of national importance. It takes place annually on March 29, to mark the birthday of a man who has been very outspoken about the downward slide of the country in many respects. Unlike the previous years, when prominent personalities were the lead discussants, the 2014 edition, which took place under the theme, “The Summit of the Common Man”, featured ordinary Nigerians.

    Others who spoke include Ron Mgbatogu, a 68-year-old retiree and veteran broadcaster from Anambra State. He unloaded his frustration about the plight of pensioners. After working for almost 40 years in the public and private sectors, Mgbatogu is entitled to retirement benefits, but he does not get it when it is due. There are delays in payment due to bureaucratic bottlenecks. Most times, he travels risky and long distances to the pension office, only to realise that there is no money for him.

    Said Mgbatogu: “How can government take my taxes for 40 years, yet it feels no obligation for me. If there were no religious organisations, folks like me would remain endangered species. I am a homeless man, totally homeless. I have a roof over my head, but I have no place to call a home.”

    The veteran broadcaster’s plight highlights the challenges facing retirees in a country where there is no social security.

    Elizabeth Unah, a 48-year-old widow from Ebonyi State, spoke about how widows are left to cater for their children, without support from any quarters, the moment their breadwinner is no more. Mrs. Unah, who lost her husband in a fire in 2009, feeds her six children and foots the bil for their education , because her husband left nothing behind for the family.

    Chief Eric Dooh, a 45-year old fisherman and native of Goi community in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, lost his source of livelihood, following crude oil pollution, which poisoned the water and killed the fishes. Like other members of the Niger Delta community, Dooh and his family have no access to clean water to drink. The irony is that the government has turned a deaf ear to the plight of people living in oil-producing areas of the Niger Delta, which remains the goose that lays the golden egg that sustains the Nigerian economy.

    Also included in the group of common Nigerians who mounted the podium to vent their frustration on the system that is depriving them of the opportunities to fully realise their potentials in life are Emmanuel Ekpemeze, a 23-year blind student, and Soprinye Victor, a 25-year old unemployed graduate. Miss Victor, a 2010 graduate Niger Delta University, perhaps embodies the disappointment of 47.8 million actively searching for jobs, but unable to find a place of productive engagement. She had so much expectation of being gainfully employed after her youth service. But so far, the efforts of the Chemical Engineering graduate to secure a job have proved abortive. Her attempt to equally start a business has not been successful.

    “I am standing here not because I am a Bayelsan. But I am speaking on behalf of the youths of this country,” she said, adding that the country has all it takes to be rich under various circumstances. Unemployment, particularly among the youth, is perhaps the biggest problem in Nigeria today. It is said that 20.3 million Nigerians between the ages of 15 and 35 are unemployed and that 54 per cent of Nigerians between the ages of 15 and 60 are actively looking for a job, but cannot find one.

    Indeed, as emphasised at the colloquium last Saturday, the challenges facing the common man in Nigeria are varied, but they all point to one thing: the failure of government to address issues pertainining to the security and welfare of ordinary Nigerians.

    It was also an evening of frank discourse. For instance, the proverbial question that is being asked in Nigeria for a long time, “Who is a common man?” re-echoed at the sixth Bola Tinubu Colloquium last Saturday. The Attorney-General of Lagos, Ade Ipaye, who anchored the programme, said the common man is usually defined as “that undistinguished commoner, lacking rank, distinction or special attribute.” But he added that “when we look at it closely, it is the ordinary Nigerians, uncommon in their respective ways”. Mgbatogu, the veteran broadcaster, was enthused that finally somebody has hit the nail on the head about his situation. “It took the 62nd birthday of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to situate me as a common man. I thank you very much for that sir,” he noted jocularly.

    However, it was when Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State mounted the podium that he elevated the discourse about the common man to a higher level. Fashola said the so-called common man is the biggest stakeholder in Nigeria because he pays his taxes diligently. Indeed, he said the common man, as the biggest investor in the country, has the right to determine the way the country should be run through his vote. But the governor lamented that it is ironical that the common man has not yet recognized that he or she is the biggest investor in the country. Fashola noted that the story of the common man that was told at the gathering suggested that the top job in the country would be a difficult one for that person that emerges as President in 2015. He inferred that the ruling party at the centre was playing politics with religion. He challenged Nigerians to ponder over the problems confronting them wisely and decide who he wants to give the top job.

    Speaking in the same vein, the celebrant advised Nigerians to use their votes to determine the fate of the country beyond 2015. Earlier, Governor Fashola had informed the audience that Tinubu came from the rank of the common man. His words: “The leader we are celebrating today comes from a humble background. He used to live in a flat somewhere in Aguda, Surulere, Lagos, which got flooded and at a different time he was a disc jokey. That is perhaps why he has always identified with the common man and fights for the common man.” Similarly, the chairman of the Sixth Bola Tinubu Colloquium, the Most Reverend (Dr.) Ephrain Adebola Ademowo, described Tinubu is a consummate politician, a master strategist, defender of the oppressed, detribalized Nigerian, a libertarian par excellence and a rare gift to humanity.

    The first Bola Tinubu Colloquium was held on March 29, 2009. The theme, ‘Every Vote Must Count’, was inspired by the country’s preparation for the 2011 general elections, against the backdrop of lessons learnt from the conduct and outcomes of the 2007 elections. The discussants were Professor Yemi Osibajo, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN); Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN; Chief Niyi Akintola, SAN; Chief Charles Edosonwan, SAN; Mr. Kola Awodein, SAN; and Mr. Tunji Bello. The lead discussant, Mr. David Kangah of the Ghana Electoral Commission submitted that Nigeria must strive to inculcate a culture of democratic practice in its people, as well as safeguard the electoral process with adequate legal and institutional framework with proper checks and balances that would prevent manipulation by ruling parties. A major outcome of the first colloquium was the inauguration of the Coalition of Democrats foe Electoral Reform (CODER).

    The theme of the second colloquium was ‘This House Must Stand! Pulling Nigeria from the Brink’’ and the lead discussant was renowned economist and innovator, Dr. Hernando de Soto. He spoke on extra legality as it affects world economies and human rights. Other discussants at the occasion include Mrs. Maryam Uwais, MFR; Mr. Femi Falana, SAN; Mr. Babatunde Ahonsi and Ms Ijeoma Nwogwugwu.

    The third colloquium addressed the pertinent question, ‘Nigeria: Why isn’t it Working?’ The fourth one, which took place under theme, ‘Looking Back, Thinking Ahead’, was in response to the need to review the successes and failures of the Asiwaju administration and its successor towards articulating the lessons learnt in drafting a direction for the future. The fifth colloquium, on the other hand, sought to create a platform for broad-based political movement for true national transformation. A major part of the strategy for achieving this, was to bring some new and younger voices to the table, to interrogate and propose ways by which the political space can be more inclusive, especially how the increasingly cynical youth can become involved in the national movement to save Nigeria.

  • Group pledges support for APC, Amosun

    A group, ‘The Ark Group’, has been set up in Ogun State to drum support for the second term ambition of Governor Ibikunle Amosun.

    The group, which consists of professionals from diverse fields, also promised to support the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the 2015 general elections.

    In a statement in Ijebu-Ode, its co-ordinator, Mr. Gbolade Oduwole, promised to mobilise financial support for the party, ahead of the polls. He also said that members of the group will be actively involved in voter’s mobilisation and other sensitisation programmes.

    At its inaugural meeting in Ijebu Ode last week, the group reviewed the activities of the political parties. It expressed satisfaction with the on-going infrastructural renewal programme of the Amosun Administration.

    Oduwole said: “Our view is that our state has never had it so good when compared with the eight years of the PDP-led administration.

    “We seize this opportunity to warn our people not to allow themselves to be fooled by the reactionaries gathering in other parties.

    “The APC has proven that it has what it takes to take our people to a higher level of development that all patriotic citizens envision for our state”.

  • Court orders 37 PDP Reps to resign seats

    Court orders 37 PDP Reps to resign seats

    The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered 37 former members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to resign their seats at the House of Representatives for defecting to the All Progressives Congress, (APC).

    Delivering judgment, Justice Adeniyi Ademola held that the defected lawmakers no longer had any business, morally and legally, to stay in the House of Reps.

    He said they should honourably resign from their seats as members of the House of Representative , having moved to another political party, while their tenure had yet to expire.

    “Having perused the arguments of counsel and the constitutional provisions, it is clear and unambiguous that the defendants were sponsored by the PDP and won the election on its platform.

    “It is also the court’s opinion that their tenure has not expired and there is no division in the PDP.

    “The defendants are, therefore, not competent to vote or contribute to any proceedings in the House of Representatives.

    “An order of perpetual injunction is, hereby, ordered, restraining them from altering or attempting to change the leadership of the House of Reps,’’ Ademola said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the PDP had on Jan. 7 instituted a suit seeking to restrain the House of Representatives from altering the composition of its leadership.

    The party had commenced the action following the defection of 37 lawmakers, who won election on its platform, to the opposition APC.

    Mr Yunus Usman (SAN), PDP’s counsel had, while arguing his originating summons, faulted the cross-carpeting of the lawmakers, saying that the legislators did so during the dependency of a judgment.

    He argued that by virtue of the Oct. 2013 judgment of Justice Evoh Chukwu, which said there was no division in PDP, the matter had been laid to rest.

    Usman had further submitted that by virtue of the provision of Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Nigerian constitution, as amended, the  lawmakers ought to have vacated their seats immediately.

    Mr Mamoud Magaji (SAN), counsel to the defendants, had in his submission, argued that it was wrong for the PDP to have sought to restrain its former members from House activities for defecting.

    Other defence counsel, Mr Niyi Akintola, SAN, Mr Sebastian Hon, SAN, Mr James Ocholi,SAN, Mr Abiodun Owonikoko,SAN, and Jibril Okutepa,SAN, had prayed the court to dismiss the suit.

  • 2015: ‘APC will form government at the centre’

    Chief Uzoma Ezediaro aspired to represent Ohaji/Egbema/Ugwuta Federal Constituency at the National Assembly in 2011 under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but has since defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview, he revealed why he dumped the PDP for the APC and why the APC stands a good chance to sweep the polls in 2015. Excerpts:-

    Why don’t you leave politics and concentrate on your businesses, like many other successful businessmen and women who have vowed not to enter into politics?

    I am in politics because I know I have a lot to offer to my people any day, any time. I want to contribute my quota towards the development of my family, kindred, village, community, local government, state and my good country, Nigeria.

    Do you have to be a politician to impact on your people?

    I have a foundation that has positively touched the lives of my people and will still positively continue to touch lives. Before I joined politics, I was deeply involved in community development efforts, especially as they relate to women and children’s health. My forte had been business, service to God and humanity and community development. But I see politics as the vehicle through which I will massively advance the many selfless services I am deeply and seriously involved in.

    I used to be a chieftain of the PDP in Ohaji Egbema Ugwuta. I aspired to represent my constituency at the National Assembly under the platform of the PDP in 2011. But today, I have joined the progressives. APC is a political party made for all the progressives in this country. Don’t you see the name? All Progressives Congress. Those who think they are progressives have gathered together to move the country forward, so I cannot stay behind. I most join the moving train and as far as Nigerian politics is concerned today, the APC is the moving train with only the progressives inside. As a progressive, I must be where my fellow progressives are. It is not only myself. Every progressive in Nigeria wants to be with fellow progressives. Can’t you see what is happening in Nigerian politics at the moment? Do you think it is easy for a governor under a ruling party at the centre to dump the party for another political party that is not a ruling party? You are aware yourself how many PDP governors defected to the APC. Those PDP governors are the progressives and there is no how they will not stay where their fellow progressives are. Do you know how many members of the House of Representatives and senators that are progressives that have dumped their parties and joined their fellow progressives in the APC? Even my governor dumped the party under which he became the governor of Imo State and joined his fellow progressives in the APC. I am talking of APGA. APGA is not the party of the progressives and the moment he (Okorocha) realised that, he dumped them for the APC. Go round the states in this country and see the performance of all the APC governors, then compare it with the performance of other political parties’ governors. If we can tell ourselves the truth, you know they are not comparable. A progressive is a progressive any day, any time. Even the Bible said it that the righteous cannot dwell in the midst of the unrighteous. APC people are the righteous, other parties know who they are.

    But some Ndigbo are criticising Okorocha for leaving APGA for the APC. They said APGA is the party of Ndigbo and the APC is the party of the Yoruba and Hausa people. What can you say about that?

    The people making these claims are not progressives and they do not understand what politics is. When you said some people are saying APGA is the party of the Igbos and the APC party of the Yorubas and Hausas, I laugh. I am laughing because those people don’t know what they are talking about.  If APGA is the party of the Igbos, why is it not controlling all the states that make up the Igbo nation? Why is it that out of the five South-East zone, for example, they are only managing to control one? What those people are saying is not true because if it is true, all the Igbo states would have been under APGA? I want to tell you that had it been that there was a free and fair election in Anambra State, APGA would have lost woefully. So, how is APGA Igbo party? When they said the then Alliance for Democracy (AD) was a Yourba party, that was understandable because all the states that made up Yoruba states were under AD then. So, all I am saying is people should know what is on ground before they talk. Many strong members of the PDP today are the Igbos, why didn’t they join APGA? APC is not a Yoruba or Hausa party. It is a national party made up of only all the progressives in Nigeria. So, anybody criticising Governor Okorocha for joining his fellow progressives in the APC is an enemy of Ndigbo and should be seen as such because it is only in the APC that a good Nigerian president of Igbo extraction would be achieved.

  • ’APC to give women voice’

    ’APC to give women voice’

    The leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Women’s Forum in the Southeast, Mrs. Tina Ekwueme Adike, has assured party women the APC will give them a voice.

    She said APC was a better alternative to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Mrs. Adike said the emergence of the APC was the beginning of a new era.

    “A new dawn has come for Nigerians with the formation of the APC,” the woman added.

    Speaking in Umuahia at a sensitisation visit to the state, the woman leader said PDP had denied Ndigbo a voice.

    She said the era of women being relegated to the background was over.

    Mrs. Adike urged members to stop accusing the Abia woman leader, Mrs. Helen Ojukwu, of ‘cornering’ everything, saying no APC leader got money to run the party.

    She said she wanted to sensitise Abia women and their counterparts in the Southeast to see how far they had gone in data base collection.

    Mrs. Adike enjoined them to be active.

    Mrs. Ojukwu sought financial assistance to run the forum, “since we don’t have a sitting governor.”

    The Chairman of APC in Abia State, Chief Donatus Nwankpa, said there was no division in the state chapter of the forum.