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Tag: aspirant

  • Senate Presidency: Aspirant woos PDP Senators-elect with projects

    An aspirant to the office of the President of the Senate in the 9th Assembly who is currently chairman of one of the committees saddled with budgetary process has allegedly made proposals of One hundred million naira (N100, 000, 000) worth of constituency projects to each of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senators -elect. The proposed projects are to be sited in their constituency, investigations have shown. Sources close to some of the newly elected legislators confirmed that these constituency projects are among   some of the mouth-watering inducements offered to the affected Senators-elect ahead of the inauguration of the 9th Assembly.

    A PDP Senator-elect confided in a ranking Senator that he was invited to submit his own constituency project worth N200, 000, OOO in spite of the fact that he is yet to be sworn-in. However, investigations revealed that not all the Senators-elect benefitted from the gesture as one All Progressive Congress (APC) Senator disclosed that he was not approached to submit any constituency project. “I am aware that some of my colleagues have been accorded this gesture but so far none of us in the APC has been approached” he stated.

    Asked why, he said it may not unconnected with their decision to solidly support Ahmed Lawan , the APC endorsed candidate to the office of President of the Senate. “We are going to give our leader block votes because he is the choice of the party. We are toing the party line this time around,’ he affirmed. Speaking on condition of anonymity another PDP Senator-elect who claimed to have benefitted from the provision of constituency project revealed that he would not be swayed by such gesture knowing that he will merely waste his vote and create bad blood in the process, since the APC which has a greater number of Senators has settled for Ahmed Lawan.

     

  • My plan for Ondo North, by aspirant

    Aspirants for various political offices except that of presidential and governorship positions are emerging on daily basis in Ondo State.

    However, one of the senatorial aspirants in the Northern District, Nat Adojutelegan, a lawyer, from Arigidi-Akoko has promised to attract government presence in the district if elected to represent his people in the Senate.

    Adojutelegan and his team have been canvassing for votes by visiting the APC-controlled local government areas and wards executives in Akoko area.

    Some of the stakeholders including Vice-Chairman of APC and Women Leader in Akoko North East Local Government Area, Saliu Olanrewaju and Idiat Adesina expressed their joy for Adojutelegan’s decision to serve his people in next year’s general elections.

    They described him as a grassroots politician who has the qualities and the experience needed to represent the interest of the people of Ondo North and the ruling APC.

    Some of his supporters in Akoko land such as Elder Amos Ogunleye from Akoko North West Local Government Area and Gabriel Fabunmi from Akoko South West Local Government Area said Adojutelegan has been supporting the party financially as well as helping the community.

    They pointed out that even though he lost the primary election in 2014, he didn’t leave the party, but continued to support it, saying such a man who is loyal will not disappoint the people of Ondo North Senatorial District when elected into the Senate.

    While addressing the APC stakeholders, Adojutelegan, who is a former aide to the Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, Prof. Claudius Daramola, solicited their votes in the coming primary election.

    He promised to prioritise the interest of the party, empowerment of women and lobbying of employment for the youth.

    Adojutelegan solicited support for the second term bid of President Muhammadu Buhari, even as he expressed his loyalty to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and the APC executive committee in the state under the leadership of Mr. Ade Adetimehin.

    He urged the party supporters to unite to enable the APC to win the 2019 general elections.

  • Aspirant urges Ogun APC members to insist on direct primary

    An All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has urged members to insist on their right to choose the party’s candidate for next year’s election through the direct primary.

    Abiodun, who hails from Iperu in Ogun East Senatorial District, urged party faithful to fight for their freedom, allow their votes to count and disallow the indirect primary from prevailing where they can have their say.

    The oil magnate spoke at the weekend during a tour of Abeokuta South, Imeko Afon and Yewa North local government areas with party members.

    He urged party members not to give up on their clamour for the direct primary as recommended by APC national leadership.

    Abiodun assured them that there is no going back until the will of the people prevails.

    The aspirant recalled that he supported Governor Ibikunle Amosun to realise his ambition, but wondered why the governor was unwilling to reciprocate the gesture.

    He said: “I was one of the people who went to plead for the incumbent governor to be allowed to govern the state in 2007, but we failed. After that election, we realise we didn’t do stomach infrastructure then. We tried again in 2011 with 11 House of Assembly members, which I personally financed.

    “I wonder where I’ve wronged the governor with my ambition, with all the support I gave him then; not that he gave me any post or my loyalty, which I never questioned him for.”

    The aspirant said the plan to elect the party’s flagbearers through the delegate system was an indirect admittance of failure on the part of the outgoing governor.

    According to him, a government that is really in touch with the people would not be afraid of putting its fate in the hands of the electorate.

    Abiodun promised to return the party to the people if he is elected the APC candidate in 2019.

    “I promise to return the party to the people because the party belongs to the people and not an individual or a family that some people feel they should control,” he said.

    Abiodun also urged party faithful to use the current continuous membership registration via the internet to get more members for APC.

  • APC primaries: Aspirant seeks reward for loyal members

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, Kolawole Akinlayo, has urged the party’s leadership to ensure that loyal members are rewarded as the party prepares for its primaries to elect candidates for next year’s elections.

    He said the interest of the party would be well served if loyal members become candidates for the national and state assemblies to prevent the type of defections that recently hit the party.

    The APC chieftain, who is an aspirant for Ekiti North Federal Constituency II, said the Federal Government needs loyal party members in the two chambers of the National Assembly for the party to implement its programmes for the good of the country.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Aspirant seeks more support for APC

    An aspirant for Okitipupa/Irele Federal Constituency of Ondo State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Akintoye Albert, has urged Nigerians to continue to support the party.

    He said it is the only national party that can turn around the nation’s fortunes.

    Albert, who was in the House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015, addressed reporters at Igbotako-Osooro in Okitipupa Local Government Area during his tour of the 23 wards of his constituency.

    The former chairman of Irele Local Government Area said: “For the country to move forward, we need continuity in government and APC is the party to do so. That is why I decided to join the race, following the call by my people to do so, having seen what I did for them within that period I was there.

    “It is not because I was in the House before that made me wanting to go back but for my people who want me to continue the good job I did for them while there.”

    Albert recalled that during while in House of Representatives, he initiated over N80 billion road projects that are ongoing – from Ajagba-Akotogbo-Iyansan-Iju-Osun through the Ohia Bridge linking Edo State.

    The aspirant also said he started empowerment of youths and the elderly, scholarships for indigent students, electrification and solar system projects at Ode-Aye and other areas, as well as the construction of the police post at Igbotako, among other constituency projects in the area.

    The former lawmaker promised to surpass his earlier achievements if voted to the National Assembly next year.

  • I will develop Benue, says aspirant

    Former Benue State Commissioner for Land and Survey and governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), John Tondo, has said that, if elected,he would concentrate on  infrastructural development the state,  using the blueprint of former Governors Aper Aku and Gabriel Suswam.

    He said Benue had suffered in terms of infrastructural development and if voted into office, he would construct roads to connect rural communities and enhance the security and well-being of the people.

    Tondo who spoke with reporters in Makurdi maintained that most of the governors failed in office as a result of  their inability to recognise what others have clearly  done as achievements to build upon.

    He said: “This Benue is our own and it is our collective responsibility to see that we have that Benue of our dream. If you look at the blueprint right from the time of Aper Aku to Gabriel Suswam, you can transform Benue without necessarily you going to produce another new blueprint. This is because you can not develop a state at once but you develop it in a significant way to a point that  someone can continue from where you stopped”.

     

  • Aspirant backs APC’s direct primary

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Chief Lanre Razak, has endorsed the party’s direct primary for picking its candidates ahead of next year’s elections.

    According to him, a direct primary is similar to the Option A4 (open ballot) adopted by the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) in conducting its primary that produced the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (M. K. O) Abiola as is presidential candidate in 1993.

    “If strictly implemented, a direct primary will produce popular and credible candidates with massive grassroots support,” Razak said in his Epe country home at the weekend.

    He urged voters not to allow “desperate politicians” to entice them with material and financial gifts so that the election will produce transparent leaders in the 2019 polls.

    Razak said losers in the primary would accept defeat and work for APC’s success in the elections since the candidates were not imposed on members.

    The APC chieftain also urged the politicians to fulfil its promises to the electorate, adding: “It is an unforgiveable sin for anybody to raise other people’s hope and dash it. Promising people and not fulfilling it is dashing their hope because they believed you when you were making the promise.”

    Razak, an aspirant for the Lagos East senatorial district’s seat, implored the media to educate the electorate on the repercussions of vote-buying and the need to reject politicians who practise it.

    He said: “My appeal is that nobody should sell his or her conscience to the highest bidder or succumb to any form of material or financial inducement because those offering voters money are political traders who will spend N10 and later divert millions of naira of public funds to their private pockets under the excuse that they have paid the people off through vote-buying and must, therefore, recoup their investment.”

    The aspirant attributed most of the nation’s socio-economic woes to bad leadership, saying those seeking public offices to render selfless service to the people will not be involved in vote-buying.

  • Ikeja Federal Constituency deserves better, says aspirant

    A FORMER permanent secretary in the Lagos State Civil Service, Mr. Adeyinka Jeje, has declared his intention to vie for the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to represent Ikeja Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives next year.

    Jeje, who made the declaration at a news conference in Lagos at the weekend, said it is about time the constituency injected a fresh blood, fresh ideas and energy into the House of Representatives, to augment derivable benefits from new initiatives.

    He said the incumbent lawmaker representing the constituency is distracted and has not been paying attention to his duties for some time.

    His words: “I must confess that Ikeja Federal Constituency is not getting the best it deserves, in terms of updating the communities on developments in the House, consulting the constituency on issues of national importance and lack of meaningful interaction with the constituents. This can be understood in view of the political commitment of the incumbent in Kogi State, which had led to divided loyalty. It is therefore better to excuse him to attend to his political foray in Kogi State.”

    The aspirant thanked the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and other stakeholders in Lagos APC for declaring recently that the chapter would adopt direct primary, to give room for every member to participate in choosing the party’s flag bearers for different elective positions and to provide a level-playing ground for all aspirants.

    Jeje promised to provide good and vibrant representation to his constituents, through regular consultations with them and to utilise his experience in government to attract projects that will be beneficial to people.

    He pledged to initiate community-based programmes to unify the three areas that make up the constituency, such as inter-schools sporting competitions, regular ward/local government interactive sessions and a vibrant constituency office to interface with constituents and thereby address their welfare needs.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Ikeja Federal Constituency deserves better, says aspirant

    A FORMER permanent secretary in the Lagos State Civil Service, Mr. Adeyinka Jeje, has declared his intention to vie for the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to represent Ikeja Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives next year.

    Jeje, who made the declaration at a news conference in Lagos at the weekend, said it is about time the constituency injected a fresh blood, fresh ideas and energy into the House of Representatives, to augment derivable benefits from new initiatives.

    He said the incumbent lawmaker representing the constituency is distracted and has not been paying attention to his duties for some time.

    His words: “I must confess that Ikeja Federal Constituency is not getting the best it deserves, in terms of updating the communities on developments in the House, consulting the constituency on issues of national importance and lack of meaningful interaction with the constituents. This can be understood in view of the political commitment of the incumbent in Kogi State, which had led to divided loyalty. It is therefore better to excuse him to attend to his political foray in Kogi State.”

    The aspirant thanked the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and other stakeholders in Lagos APC for declaring recently that the chapter would adopt direct primary, to give room for every member to participate in choosing the party’s flag bearers for different elective positions and to provide a level-playing ground for all aspirants.

    Jeje promised to provide good and vibrant representation to his constituents, through regular consultations with them and to utilise his experience in government to attract projects that will be beneficial to people.

    He pledged to initiate community-based programmes to unify the three areas that make up the constituency, such as inter-schools sporting competitions, regular ward/local government interactive sessions and a vibrant constituency office to interface with constituents and thereby address their welfare needs.

    The aspiring lawmaker decried the sour relations between the executive and the legislative arms of government, saying this was because the party was not fully assertive at the outset.

    He said party loyalty is not negotiable and that, once the party takes a position on an issue, every lawmaker elected on its platform was duty-bound to defend that position.

    Jeje said hopefully the 9th National Assembly would be more focused and assertive, particularly if committed members are given the chance to fly the party’s flag in next year’s general elections.

  • Aspirant empowers 200 widows

    No fewer than 200 widows have been empowered by an aspiring member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Oladele Fasuyi.

    Fasuyi gave the widows cash and food items at the event held at the Ofako Ijaiye Mini Stadium.

    According to him, the gesture was to help the less privileged to make a living.

    He said it was necessary to reach out to the needy, adding: “I am concerned about their plight. The widows and the senior citizens should not be neglected. Focus is also placed on the young ones to enable them dream and believe in Nigeria again. It is believed that if young ones are meaningfully engaged, they will be at their best for the good of the society. I want the youths to change the mindset that nothing works, they should know that they can secure jobs and live a good life. The youths will be engaged to become information technology (IT) experts, and have a sustained means of livelihood.”

    Fasuyi urged widows not to give up on themselves, but to see a future in the country.

    “Our youths should also stay focused. Nigerians are not lazy, but they must move in the right direction. Many Nigerians do not have voter’s card; we all must get the Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) and be interested in the political affairs in our country,” he said.