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Tag: Asiwaju Bola Tinubu

  • Boko Haram’s evil won’t subdue us, says Tinubu

    Boko Haram’s evil won’t subdue us, says Tinubu

    National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu said yesterday that Nigeria will not be subdued by the evil of Boko Haram.

    He spoke on last Friday’s bombing at the Kano Central mosque.

    A statement released by his Media Office quoted him as saying: “During the last few days, Nigeria has suffered intense attacks and grave loss of lives due to the evil work of terrorist group, Boko Haram.

    “ Attacks against numerous locations in the northeast demonstrate how heinous and debased Boko Haram and those who sponsor it have become. So depraved, they have become heartless and filled with enmity against all that is good and proper. This was not the act of human beings. These attacks could only have come from the hands of those who do not know God or serve God. This is the act of godless people.

    “The hand of evil, deploying those who have given themselves over to wickedness, committed this terrible thing. No reason can be found for what was done except that BH has once again shown its lust for innocent blood and its disdain for life peacefully lived. Boko Haram killed people praying to God because the god of Boko Haram is Satan himself.

    “Boko Haram seeks to scare and intimidate Christians and Muslims alike through wanton destruction. They may attack us but never shall this evil force subdue us. Christian and Muslim must stand arm-in-arm to face down this terrorist onslaught.

    “Those of us who love peace, who love unity and who love Nigeria can never allow this vile group to achieve its objective – to turn us into a bloodied and divided nation. Nigeria can and will defeat this terrorist machine and those behind it. We have no other home. We have no other choice. I commiserate with the people of Kano and their Emir, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi. Also with the leaders and people of other locations that have come under attack, such as Bauchi, Borno and parts of Yobe.”

  • PVC: INEC colluding with Presidency to rig 2015 elections-Tinubu

    PVC: INEC colluding with Presidency to rig 2015 elections-Tinubu

    FORMER Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday, accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of colluding with the presidency to rig the forthcoming 2015 general elections.

    The national leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) who said this while briefing journalists at the party’s secretariat in Lagos affirmed that the collection of Permanent Voters Card (PVC) exercise in Lagos has failed.

    Tinubu who wondered why INEC could not get the process right in four years pointed out that the de- listing of voters in Lagos, hitches and seeming failures were deliberate to pave way for rigging of the election.

    The APC national leader flanked by the Chairman of APC, Lagos State, Otunba Henry Ajomale and other members of the party in Lagos, said, “This Permanent Voters Collection exercise has failed and it is not acceptable. We will consider it as a rigging exercise practised. INEC has colluded with the presidency, the opposing party to rig this election from the data to the end.”

    According to him, “If for four years you are unable to be ready with the permanent voters card for those who are already in record, and you are at this last minute, few months to the election you are still not ready with the voters cards in these 20 local government areas, you have not published the figures of those who were left out of the system as a result of one fault or the other, no disclosures to them.

    “You have not been able to rectify the anomalies, irregularities that might be involved. You have not been able by now to even start the exercise of those who are 18 years and above that should be captured and be given the right to vote.

    “And you will have 30 days minimum according to Electoral Act to display the comprehensive voters register. If you have four years for this exercise and four to five months to this election you are still giving excuses.”

    Tinubu who queried why INEC reduced the number of registered voters in Lagos to 4.8million challenged the electoral body to publish the names of those who took part in double registration, adding that INEC itself has no right to disqualify anybody on that basis since it is not the court of law.

    According to him, “INEC must publish names of close to two million voters excluded INEC is not the court of law. You cannot exclude Nigerians from exercising their franchise. You cannot automatically without the court of law disqualify them. If you fail to publish and give reason you are also violating their constitutional rights.”

    Tinubu who was visibly disturbed by what he described as shoddy handling of the PVC distribution exercise noted that “INEC told us initially that the exercise will cover 20 local governments in the state but 48 hours before exercise started INEC said they are ready for only 11 local governments.”

    He added, “Rather than boycott the exercise, we tolerated the frustrations and appeal to our people to go ahead with the 11 local governments. We will protect our rights. We have appealed to our party members to be patient. If we have to hit the streets and complain to INEC, we will let them know. We are making our views known to logical minds. We will report this matter to national headquarters of our party of which I am a member.”

    He said the one day extension announced by the INEC is inadequate, stressing that the problem is beyond what the Resident Electoral Commission (REC) in Lagos State can cope with.

    Reading the position of the party, APC publicity secretary Lagos State, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, said, “INEC has failed in the ongoing distribution of Permanent Voter Card (PVC).”

    Also at the press conference were Prince Murphy Adetoro, Abiodun Faleke, Women leader Mrs. Kemi Nelson, Chief Mutiu Are, and State Treasurer Mrs. Olasunbo Ajose.

     

  • IGP has no right to withdraw Tambuwal’s security, says Tinubu

    IGP has no right to withdraw Tambuwal’s security, says Tinubu

    All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu queried yesterday the power of Inspector-General of Police Suleiman Abba to withdraw the security detail of House of Representatives’ Speaker Aminu Tambuwal .

    To him, the police chief’s withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security aides is illegal.

    Tinubu spoke when a group, the Africa’s Young Entrepreneurs, gave him a Honorary Achievement Award and made him its Chief Patron.

    Tinubu urged the House of Representatives members to obey the judgment on the House.

    “The lawmakers should not be law breakers. They make laws for the good of the country and for good governance. There is also separation of powers and the presidency must not intervene.

    “Here, it is the right of an individual that is involved and the president must not get involved,” Tinubu said.

    Tinubu said Abba lacks the constitutional authority to withdraw Tambuwal’s security aides.

    “Here again, we must interrogate carefully. As the Inspector-General, does he have the constitutional authority to even withdraw the police of the occupant of the Office of the Speaker? He has no such powers.

    “And that brings me to the IGP himself. There is a section of the Constitution that states that before an IGP is appointed or nominated, there is the Nigerian Police Council, which must convene to review the qualification and background of those who have been qualified and trained to do the job.

    “When was that conducted? Therefore, the IGP’s appointment, whether acting or not is unconstitutional. He has no right to issue that order. The act of the president is unconstitutional because we have no acting IGP right now according to the Constitution.

    “Nigerians should go check that section of the Constitution. The Nigerian Police Council held no meeting to determine his competence. He didn’t follow the dictates and the man is therefore issuing an illegal order.

    “Since we were told not to desecrate the office of the president, he must also not desecrate any part of the body of governance and other top holding officers.

    “The situation is not about Aminu Tambuwal but about the Office of the Speaker. Until he leaves that office according to the constitutional procedure, he cannot but act. So we should hold the president responsible because the bulk stops on his desk,” Tinubu said.

    On the possibility of a Muslim-Muslim ticket for the APC’s presidential candidate and his running mate for next year election, Tinubu said the issue should be about competence and not religion.

    “I don’t get religion involved in my politics and I can never be part of that. They are only expressing their opinion but the process is about capacity, competency, integrity, character, content, vision and ability of those individuals seeking the office to govern, because they will preside over everyone including the pagans and unbelievers and every believer.

    “We are not out there to look out for vicars, cardinal or chief imam, else that will be the subject of a different group. Their vision for the country is what counts and not their religion. Religion is personal when a public office is occupied and that is the way it should go.”

    Tinubu praised the group on the gesture, saying: “Initiatives such as yours must be encouraged because there are many unrewarded talents.”

    He urged the youth to focus on education as a means of empowerment.

    “Education is an important tool against poverty but it depends on how it is applied. The young ones should persist and believe in themselves. They should persevere and don’t be afraid to lean forward; only then will you be successful.

    “How many leaders give few minutes to advice, encourage and put effort to building other leaders? Because leadership is about building people and other leaders and not about acquiring steel, metal and skyscrapers.

    “If Africa must succeed and break away from the trend of the continent, the young ones must copy other honest countries guided by the rule of law.

    “The essential ingredient of the rule of law is democracy. You, the young ones are the ones to create the common sense revolution. People make laws and it affects all professionals of life. Thus, intellectual tenacity should be employed and Nigerians should not avoid the opportunity to interrogate and question what is happening in the environment.

    “As we study good leadership, we should also study bad leadership so we can conquer the menace quickly. I am not afraid to have slight bruises, what I don’t want is broken bone,” Tinubu said.

    The former Lagos State governor gave tips of how to be a successful entrepreneur, among which is time management.

    “Time is a precious asset to humanity. It is with time that we can create perseverance. Though no one can have enough time, we can manage it.

    “Doing business in Africa today is like fetching water from a dry well and I commend the effort of the Africa’s Young Entrepreneurs.  But you should navigate your way and network from an artificial entity. You must believe in yourself and not define failure. Rather, reject it because nothing comes easy.

    “Stay focused and learn from failure. Don’t give up but change the policies inimical to growth. Only then can brain drain be changed to brain gain.

    “Africans can compete anywhere, but the question is can our students be a reflection of our tomorrow today? If not, it might come back to haunt us.

    “Another aspect is how much of our materials have we exploited? Our resources are limited and we are the ones to develop it.

    “I advice this organisation to have a pressure group that will criticise the policies of government and ask them questions such as why education is falling and why the economy is yet to be domesticated.

    “You must network properly to create a common liberation to revolutionise this continent,” Tinubu said.

     

  • Tinubu: Nigeria ’ll overcome

    Tinubu: Nigeria ’ll overcome

    Former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday restated his hope of seeing the dawn of a virile nation.

    In a message to Muslims on the Eid-el-Fitri celebration, the frontline politician urged Nigerians not to lose hope of having a better nation, despite the current challenges in the land.

    He urged Nigerians to unite, adding that the country belongs to all to defend.

    The statement reads: “As we celebrate Eid-el-Fitri, I hereby congratulate all Muslims for enduring the rigours of fasting and hope the lessons of the last one month will forever remain in our hearts. The teachings of the Prophet (SAW) will not stand against us on the Day of Judgement. Amin.

    “We must not give up on Nigeria, particularly in the face of our current security and political challenges. We shall overcome, if we all remain steadfast in our patriotism and prayers. We must, at all times, imbibe the spirit of unity, no matter our religious or political affiliation or ethnic grouping. Nigeria belongs to us all and all must come together to defend our togetherness. Those who insist that they are more patriotic than other Nigerians, based on different political or religious affiliations, must desist. They do this country great harm by seeking to exploit our present circumstances to gain political space and advantage. At the end of it all, no one is greater than Nigeria, as we will guide our unity with a singularity of purpose and superiority of vision.

    “I call on all well-meaning Nigerians of all faiths to seek the face of God at this most trying of times. Insurgency is an unwanted and dangerous guest in our midst; we must be resolute and consistent in confronting it. We can only do this with a united front.

    “May Allah’s blessings and peace be upon us all.”

  • Nyako’s impeachment:Nigeria is descending into fascism, says Tinubu

    Nyako’s impeachment:Nigeria is descending into fascism, says Tinubu

    National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday  lashed out at President  Goodluck Jonathan for encouraging fascism in the polity.

    Reviewing the events culminating in this week’s  impeachment of  Alhaji Murtala Nyako as governor of Adamawa State by the State Assembly, Tinubu  said the development is a setback for Nigeria’s democracy.

    “Under the constitution, a governor can only be impeached for ‘gross misconduct.’ For the PDP, Nyako’s crime was not the false allegations contained in the articles of impeachment. To them, his gross misconduct was leaving the reactionary PDP to join the progressive APC. His misdeed was to exercise his constitutional right of freedom of association and political expression by leaving their corrupt assemblage and joining the party that just may represent the best hope of rescuing Nigeria from its present descent into authoritarian darkness,” he said in a statement in Lagos.

    Continuing, Tinubu said: “Perhaps, Governor Nyako’s greatest sin is his temerity to speak truth to power albeit in a courageous way. On two different occasions, he gave an unvarnished insight into the Boko Haram menace and the insecurity engulfing Northern Nigeria.

    “At the Institute of Peace in Washington DC, this year when he visited with other Northern governors, he placed the blame for the Boko Haran insurgency on the Jonathan presidency. He then followed this up with a detailed letter to the forum of the Northern governors, in which he accused the Jonathan-led government of genocide against the North.

    “This rattled and unsettled the government. Repeated attempts to have Gov. Nyako withdraw his letter and apologize to the President failed. From the moment he wrote that letter, he became a marked man. The government savaged the governor through the media.

    “This kangaroo impeachment is government’s way of punishing Nyako. The plan is to use the contents of the letter he wrote to the Northern Governors as a basis to try him for treasonable felony and eventually sentence him to life imprisonment. Nyako’s frank, if rough-edged, letter concerning the security situation apparently infuriated the monarch of Aso Villa who has become so arrogant as to believe no opposition against him is justified, thus he has the liberty to impose his brand of injustice to crush those who oppose him.

    “Before our eyes and under Jonathan’s watch, Nigeria gradually descends into fascism. We must all act now before it consumes us al” Tinubu said.

    The former Lagos State governor also deplored  the President’s handling of the abduction of the Chibok girls by Boko Haram, especially his refusal to see the parents of the girls until  the recent visit to Nigeria of the Pakistani pupil activist, Malala.

  • Tinubu, Lagos APC, O’odua group condemn police attack

    Tinubu, Lagos APC, O’odua group condemn police attack

    •IGP urged to sanction perpetrators 

    THE National Leader of the All progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the Lagos State chapter of the party have condemned in the strongest terms, the attack by the police on Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi and the party members during a peaceful procession and campaign in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, last Sunday.

    The Lagos APC chapter specifically called on the Inspector General of Police Mohammed Abubakar to “quickly bring the perpetrators of that heinous crime against the constitution and Ekiti people to immediate justice.”

    It also demand the “immediate arrest and trial of the particular police officer from Bayelsa State who was commissioned to lead this provocative attack and we call for an open enquiry to ensure that all those behind this act of treason are brought to justice.”

    In a similar development, a pan-Yoruba group, O’odua Nationalist Coalition (ONAC), yesterday said the attack on the governor and APC members was a plot to eliminate him and a conscious assault on the hierarchy of the Yoruba leadership.

    The coalition, in the statement by its Head of Public Affairs, Chief Aliu Okunola, condemned the killing of Mr. Taiwo Akinola during the APC rally.

    Tinubu, in a statement by his Media Office, noted that the unprovoked attack on innocent citizens simply because they belong to another party was the height of political intolerance and heightens the doubts most Nigerians have about the ability of the Federal Government to guarantee free and fair elections in Ekiti, Osun states and in 2015.

    The APC leader observed that the open boasts and direct threats by the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to “capture” or win Ekiti back at all costs was beginning to manifest.

    “The impunity of the police officers in Ekiti and glaring partisanship is clearly endorsed by the power that be. We, in this instance, will demand for justice and enforcement of our fundamental human rights. I am fully with Governor Kayode Fayemi and the people of Ekiti State in confronting this rising tyranny and defeating barbaric tendencies,” Tinubu said.

    He joined many well-meaning Nigerians who demand and want peace in putting the international community on notice that the Federal Government is too desperate to be trusted to protect the fundamental rights of Nigerians and to conduct free and fair elections.

    “Nigerians are confronted with a government that sanctions impunity while laying false claims to being democratic.

    “What was the crime of APC members and their supporters in Ekiti that they were teargassed, shot at and killed? Is sweeping the streets and singing party songs in a peaceful procession now a crime in Jonathan’s country? If you are sure you have people to vote for you, while resort to violence means?

    “Political campaigns should be a celebration of democracy not war. Why are we promoting with the barrel of the gun and giving democracy tainted with the blood of the innocent to our people? This is not the liberty we seek or the democracy we need. What happened in Ekiti is criminal. It is unacceptable. It is a direct assault on the rights and freedom of an elected governor and his people. It must not be allowed to stand,” the party leader declared.

    Tinubu said APC believes in the contest of ideas, how to create jobs, provide security, ensure health infrastructure development and provide life more abundant for millions of our people.

    “APC is not about the promotion and perpetration of violence but about ideas and peaceful competition in an atmosphere that is free and fair. Our adversaries must be mindful also that nobody has the monopoly of violence. Peaceful and civilised approach to issues trumps violence. This government must rescue millions of Nigerians from their poverty rather than intimidate them with the police,” he said.

    Also condemning the provocative violence and mayhem on Fayemi, Senator Babafemi Ojudu and members of the APC in Ekiti State, the Lagos State APC chapter decried the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, for attempting “to justify this clear case of brigandage by the police on the members of the APC.”

    It warned that the party would resist every attempt by desperate politicians to force themselves on Nigerians in 2015.

    In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, the party sees the attack “as the height of provocation by a failed party that sees the police as its hatchet dogs in their desperate efforts to stay in power.”

    It warned that Nigerians would not sit idly by and watch the police and the PDP continue intimidating innocent Nigerians in a bid “to continue stealing the electoral mandates of Nigerians for the purpose of continuing the ruination that has crumbled the country in fifteen years of perilous PDP government of the country.”

    The statement also reads: “Nigerians remember that sometime ago, a National Leader of the APC has rightly said that the PDP is in alliance with the police and INEC and that unholy alliance has accounted why these institutions see themselves as malleable instruments in the inordinate desire of a failed party like the PDP to continue clinging on to power. We see the action of the police as the height of provocation not only to the institution of the governor but the entire constitution, democracy, rule of law and indeed by the entire Ekiti State and its peace loving people.

    “The haste with which the hare-brained PDP Publicity Secretary rushed to approve this brigandage and direct affront on the constitution of the land proves to all that the police was employed by the PDP to unleash violence on an Executive Governor of a state.

    “We are in no doubt that this ranks as the way the PDP wants to employ to retain power when it had completely ran down the country and made the country an object of ridicule before the international community.

    “We see the unprovoked attack on Governor Fayemi, Senator Ojudu and members of the APC in Ekiti, coming days after the military was employed to attack some newspapers in broad daylight, as another act of gangsterism which had served the PDP well in manipulating the electoral system to its unfair benefits, even as such wholesome manipulation has left Nigeria wrecked, destroyed and prostrate.”

  • Tinubu: explore all options to rescue girls

    Tinubu: explore all options to rescue girls

    A National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, asked the Federal Government yesterday to explore all options to rescue the abducted 276 girls.

    He said the girls must be brought back alive in the interest of all, adding that foreign intervention in the search for the girls is a welcome development.

    Tinubu, who spoke with reporters in Abuja at the end of the National Executive Committee meeting of the APC, said foreign intervention would help, if it is well utilised to enhance the capacity of our armed forces.

    He said: “We want them alive. It is a national tragedy and we have said that several times.

    “All options must be examined to bring them quickly alive out of the trauma. It is a national tragedy.”

    The former Lagos State Governor faulted the extension of emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.

    He said: “I don’t know what it has fetched us, how effective it has been. What we want is security for this nation in a transparent manner to protect lives and property of all citizens.

    “Whether martial law, emergency; what has it produced till date? We have had a second round of emergency. Is it ceremonial? What have we achieved with previous declaration of the state of emergency? We just want it in the gazette but the result justifies the means.

    “It is not the state of emergency; it is the action, commitment, and effort to achieve the goal. First the unity; every member of the Armed Forces is involved. So what is an emergency about? I have not really been able to dissect and understand how this emergency has effectively delivered the goals. It has not.”

    Asked about foreign assistance to rescue the abducted girls, Tinubu said: “It is welcomed. It is very good if we utilise it effectively to enhance the capacity of our Armed  Forces, to equally learn new things and improve the security around our various institutions, including particularly the schools. That is about the limit of it.

    “ We will have to do things and develop things ourselves transparently. Is there any element of corruption going on  and a waste in the amount and resources dedicated to this? ”

    On why some APC chieftains left the session earlier, Tinubu said: “This is democracy. Some might have other assignments. So you should probably ask them various questions where and why they have to go.”

    Pressed by a correspondent to explain if there was any problem or challenge at the session, he quipped: “Which problem? You are speculating. Are you an agent of problems? Are you promoting one?”

    On the party’s National Convention, Tinubu said: “I am not in a position to say anything on that.”

  • Omisore’s ranting on Osun REC

    SIR: It was Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler’s propagandist-in-chief who made the infamous statement that “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it”.

    It is this same infamous path that Iyiola Omisore, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP) in the August 9, election, has been threading, with his repeated call for the removal of Ambassador Rufus Akeju, Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner.

    He has been making this inane call since 2012 and has heightened it since he emerged the flag bearer of his party. The allegation is actually a two-in-one. The first is that Akeju is biased because, according to Omisore, he had a relationship with APC leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. The second is that a court had ordered the removal of Akeju, which INEC refused to carry out, thus retaining him in flagrant disregard for the court.

    The unsaid implication of this allegation is that Akeju is an APC mole in Osun ready to do the bidding of the party with INEC’s tacit approval.

    Omisore in his characteristic recklessness threatened solemnly at his party secretariat in Osogbo that he would never allow Akeju to conduct the coming governorship election. How he would stop the election is still not known. He might as well have it in mind to violently disrupt the election and I hope the security agencies have taken note of this threat to the election and should call him for questioning. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. He could also have meant that he would crash Abuja’s power on INEC to have Akeju thrown away from Osogbo. Whatever is in the dark recesses of his mind, he did not mean well.

    However, the truth of the matter is that there is no subsisting court order on Akeju. PDP had gone to court and obtained an injunction against INEC for the conduct of the 2011 elections. Strangely, the same PDP went back to court ask for ‘stay of execution’. The judge, Babs Kuewumi, was alarmed, and told them pointedly that normally, it is the defendant whom judgement was awarded against, that seeks ‘stay of execution’ and not the plaintiff who won the relief he sought from the court. He then granted PDP the ‘stay of execution’.

    It is therefore the height of mendacity for Omisore to turn around to allege that INEC is disobeying court order. I ask again, which order?

    When the PDP at the meeting of political parties with INEC chairman in Osogbo asked for the removal of Akeju, Prof Attahiru Jega told them that they should bring credible evidence of Akeju’s bias or any allegation they might have against him. They have not done this; instead, they have continued on this Goebbelian path of repeating a lie so often with the false hope that people will believe it.

    Interestingly, the defeated Osun PDP candidates in the 2011 elections did not challenge their defeats. Even Omisore who was roundly thrashed and humiliated by his opponent, Senator Babajide Omoworare, even in his ward, did not challenge the result at the tribunal or the regular courts. Only Honourable Wole Oke went to the tribunal and the appeal court and came back empty-handed.

    Osun PDP did not boycott the elections conducted by Akeju and no election conducted by him has been upturned by any election petition tribunal, appeal court or the Supreme Court. What then is the basis of the vilification of this man by Omisore and his gang? Is he looking for the fall guy for his inexorable defeat in the coming election, as always?

    • Femi Igbayilola,

    Osogbo, Osun State

  • Lagos APC slams PDP for seeking Tinubu’s arrest

    Lagos APC slams PDP for seeking Tinubu’s arrest

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State has described the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) call for the arrest of APC National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as “ridiculous”.

    The PDP called for Tinubu’s arrest following his call for the roasting of those who would rig the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states. APC said the PDP’s effort to defend the manipulation of elections showed that it was not about to change “in its criminal ways, which has destroyed the country through the array of horrible leaders that have been unleashed on Nigeria these past 15 years”.

    In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, APC said: “From its childish reaction to Asiwaju’s warning, it is apparent that the PDP, as a professional vote robber, is getting paranoid that any action against election riggers is an action against it. It is apparent that by this impudent way to offer safe ground for election riggers, Lagos PDP and, indeed, the entire PDP, is planning to continue stealing election mandates and employ same to wreck the country the same way it had been doing in the past 15 years, but we warn that those days are over.

    “We are not surprised that it is the PDP that has come in defense of election rigging because we know its history and its name has become synonymous with fraud, not only in elections, but in every facet of life. “That what calls itself a state chapter of a party that has been ruling the country for the past 15 years can come out and make such endorsement of election rigging, as the call for Asiwaju’s arrest for warning against election rigging portends, shows that Nigerians have not witnessed the last of the PDP’s bizarre electoral frauds, which is the foundation upon which the PDP rests. We warn Nigerians to be on their guards as the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections approach and as the critical 2015 elections draw nearer.”

    “Nigerians do not have to look far to know the tragedy that electoral fraud, which the PDP is stoically defending, has done to the country. The pallid and prostrate country we have today with wrecked infrastructure, gargantuan corruption, endless mass slaughtering of citizens, governmental incompetence and embarrassing cluelessness, general state of insecurity, poverty, fear, hopelessness, despair, hunger, unemployment and disillusionment are all products of electoral fraud, the type Asiwaju is warning against and the type the jokers in Lagos PDP are striving so hard to defend because they have no life outside the stealing mandates of other Nigerians for ulterior purposes.

    “We join our voices with the inimitable Asiwaju to warn those who think Nigerians will continue to tolerate their wholesome rigging of elections to either jettison that criminal intent or face the people’s wrath.

    “If PDP has no intent to rig, it should join this crusade to ensure that Nigeria has a credible leadership selection process, so that it can recover from the 15 years of the locust.”

  • Remain faithful, Tinubu urges party members

    Remain faithful, Tinubu urges party members

    •Lagos elects Ajomale as chairman

    NATIONAL Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has urged party faithful to remain loyal and build the party in its effort to form the government at the centre in 2015.

    Addressing delegates at the party congress held on Saturday in Lagos, where a 35-member executive led by Otunba Dele Ajomale was elected to pilot the affairs of the party, Tinubu urged members to always live above narrow interests.

    The APC leader, who was represented by a chieftain of the party, Chief Demola Seriki, explained that those who have laboured to build the party will not work in vain.

    He said, “Let me begin with the fact that without your commitment, constant support and prayers, we will not be where we are today. Today, I must recognise the sacrifices that have been made by you all, the understanding and above all your working together to ensure the success of the democratic process. I equally urge you to do more.

    “I want you to ensure that the entire process of putting in place the party structure is completed and must be completed today in a transparent and democratic manner.”

    He added that Lagos State has been a pacesetter at entrenching democratic norms and called on the newly elected executive to be transparent by promoting the ideas behind the formation of the APC.

    “Lagos State has always taken the lead as a pacesetter and must retain the position of being the world model for democracy. Democracy can never be done without hitches, without cumbersomeness, it is never always a smooth sail. But I am glad to note that we all rose above primordial interests to put the party first.

    “For those who have emerged as executives from the wards to state levels, I urge you to work with all members; it is all about the party and not the individuals. Those that did not emerge, either through compromise or through election must note that party harmonisation is paramount. I urge you all to work together.”

    The APC Lagos State chairman, Ajomale, said the executive will work towards the victory of the party in 2015, noting that the congress was very transparent as it gave better opportunity to women and youth in the newly constituted executive.

    He said, “Consensus is acceptable in democracy; APC in Lagos State is going to be more vibrant than before, we have more competent hands now. We have more women now who are the pillars of our party. We have the youths who are the pillars of our party more than before. We have 30 per cent women, 30 percent youth and the elders are 40 percent.”