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Tag: atiku

  • 2019: South West votes will determine winner of presidential election – Adewale

    The Chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos, Otunba Segun Adewale has posited that South West region of the country will determine the winner of the 2019 Presidential election.
    Adewale made this known to newsmen on Christmas get together he organized for his business and political associates.
    Adewale said that the chances of the former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is very bright but must ensure that he work with people who truly wants him to emerge as the next President.
    He said for instance in Lagos, a lot of the people running and forming a circle around him from the State have not lifted a finger to add anything to Atiku’s electoral fortune or campaign, he stressed further that many of them lacks the political sagacity to use their influence to affect his electoral fortune but keeps on with habit of name dropping.
    It is not a news that Nigerians have rejected APC, their only hope is to rig the election recklessly, and our party must be ready to prevent it by looking for trusted and capable hands with committed party members who are ready to defend the votes even with their lives.
    PDP have always won convincingly in South West but our polling agents are too porous, the elections are rigged right from polling units to collation centers with  intimidation and forceful declaration of fake result or outright refusal or allowing PDP to even vote in some polling units.
    Adewale said if Atiku truly wants to win convincingly in South West, he must assemble young and smart “Hard Working Team” with proven electoral track record and not the regular old and tired brigades who won’t event step outside their doors on the election day.
    He said that the party must take a cue from the recently concluded Ekiti and Osun election, he posited that all hands must be on deck if indeed the party want a resounding victory in 2019.

    Read Also: 2019: PDP not an option, Says Oshiomhole

    Adewale said that Nigerians will vote for PDP massively, we must play our own role to secured Atiku Victory by looking for a minimum of 50 strong, vibrant and honest people from each ward throughout the South West to man our polling units.
    The PDP Chieftain said that it is obvious that some of the so called leaders from the region are running from pillar to post just to be named State Coordinators but cannot stake their personal finance to kick off campaign but waiting for the “Atiku’s Money”, the same set of people have their strong links and family members benefiting immensely from Buhari’s government, how do we expect such people to work with all their strength to ensure that Atiku emerge from the region?  Adewale asked.
    According to him, both Atiku and Buhari will share Northern votes, South East and South South are for PDP but South West is the battle ground and as such, credible people must be chosen to man all the States in the region.
    Adewale said that Lagos has over 5 million voters spread across the 20 local government and 37 LCDAs created by the State government, it’s a peculiar State that needs men who can navigate it despite the structure of the ruling APC.
    Adewale who said his media statement is an SOS to Atiku and concerned stakeholders at the party’s top hierarchy, to take note of the perculiarity of Lagos State and South West as a whole.

  • 2019: Buhari, Atiku camps clash in battle of integrity

    The gloves were off again yesterday. President Muhammadu Buhari’s and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s camps were locked in a bitter row over the key issue of credibility.

    The PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation called on President Buhari not to run in next year’s election over an alleged involvement of some people believed to be his relatives in the acquisition of shares in 9 Mobile and Keystone Bank.

    But the Buhari Media Organisation fired back, accusing the PDP flag bearer of being desperate to drag the President’s name in the mud.

    The war of words came on a day the National Chairman of the ruling APC, Adams Oshiomhole, wrote off the PDP as no alternative for Nigerians. He predicted that the opposition PDP will make a minimal impact in the 2019 general elections.

    Oshiomhole spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the State House in Abuja.

    It also came on a day the APC announced the commencement of its presidential campaign with tomorrow’s rally at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

    Atiku and his party said the President should opt out of the race on moral ground, alleging that members of his family acquired stakes in the telecom firm and two banks.

    The opposition party demanded an explanation for the source of the funds used for the investments.

    The PDP said that the President no longer has the moral standing to seek re-election until he has addressed the allegation.

    Its candidate had, in a statement on Wednesday, accused President Buhari of soiling his hands in the alleged acquisition of shares in 9 Mobile and Keystone Bank Plc.

    The PDP, through its campaign’s spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan, told the President to perish the thought of going ahead with his campaign without clearing his name.

    Stating that the issue borders on President Buhari’s integrity, Ologbondiyan urged the President not to bring his exaulted office into disrepute.

    He said: “This is not an issue for President Buhari’s aides to howl about in the media, it touches directly on his person, particularly his perception as a symbol of the talakawas. He must therefore address them on this issue.

    “It is a norm that he who comes to equity must come with clean hands. President Buhari and his family members have entangled themselves in corruption. Mr. President’s hands can no longer be said to be clean, until he proves otherwise.

    “The PPCO wants Nigerians and the whole world to note that President Buhari’s refusal to personally address this matter means consent.

    “We, therefore, dare President Buhari to put forth a denial on this disclosure by our candidate and we will spare no thoughts in furnishing the public with details of his corrupt activities within and outside Nigeria.”

    The PDP claimed to have “full details” of how the President’s relations “paved the way” for corrupt acquisition of shares in major companies.

    The party did not, however, name such relations of the President.

    But the APC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Isa-Onilu, brushed aside the PDP’s allegation, saying: “You may refer to my earlier statement on Atiku. He’s not saying anything new.”

    Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) Niyi Akinsiju told The Nation that “Atiku is desperate to cast President Buhari in his own ignoble image of a pervasive wheeler-dealer, acknowledged for diversion of public resources to personal use and an unrepentant facilitator of cronyism in governance.

    “We can’t possibly make an issue out of a virulent fiction, cooked in the imagination of a man who wished he had grown his profile both as public servant and political career in the ennobling tradition of honesty, integrity and transparency.

    “The simple truth is that President Buhari has an established image that cannot be maligned, as military governor, minister, head of state, chairman of the petroleum trust fund, the President had conducted himself in the most honourable manners in the offices he had held in public trust.

    “It is not now that he would join in the crass pursuit of acquisition which has become the past time of Nigerian elite like Atiku. The PDP presidential candidate should be informed that Etisalat is an international business concern and functions on the tenets of global best practices, no sale or acquisition of its shares can be done in secrecy.

    “Even a hundred thousand transactions on the holdings of the group would make headlines throughout the world; it is the requirement of financial reporting standards. The same with the allegation of owning shares in Keystone Bank; the CBN, like all financial regulatory institutions across the world, insists on transparency in the profile of ownership of banks within its jurisdiction.

    “Atiku and his Dubai gang should make another try with the grand lies that have become their preoccupation in the already failed pursuit of a presidential ambition that is premised inordinate predicates.”

    To the APC, there is no point bandying words with Atiku. They party said it was going ahead with its campaign as scheduled today.

    Isa-Onilu said the President would use the occasion to present the scorecard of the administration and its successes on its three cardinal objectives –  security, economy and, fight against corruption. Besides, he will outline his vision and programmes for Nigerians for the next four years.

    Isa-Onilu said: “The launch, which signals the commencement of the campaign rallies of our great party for next year’s general elections christened: “The Next Level”, will be attended by the President Buhari; Vice President Prof Osinbajo; Party chair Adams Oshiomhole, party stalwart Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, governors, members of the National Working Committee (NWC) and other prominent leaders of the party, members of the National Assembly and top government officials.”

     

  • Presidency to Atiku on Budget 2019: your criticism low on real solutions

    THE Presidency has declared that former Vice President and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar’s criticism of 2019 Budget proposal was high on rhetoric and low on real solutions.

    Abubakar had last weekend issued a statement in which he described President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2019 budget proposal as fundamentally flawed and failing to address current realities.

    But, a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said the “current realities” identified by Atiku were issues already highlighted in President Buhari’s budget speech and further amplified in the detailed presentation by Minister of Budget and National Planning Senator Udoma Udo Udoma.

    According to Adesina, Abubakar regrettably didn’t offer substantive and workable solution to the identified “realities”.

    He said: “Atiku describes the underlying assumptions of the budget as generous, wild and untenable, but does not propose alternative assumptions that would have been more appropriate.

    “He argues that the economy is yet to recover from the 2016/2017 recession. Unfortunately, he cannot create his own definition of an economic recession, which is a technical term with a universally applicable meaning. When an economy experiences two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth, it is said to be in recession and whenever it returns to positive GDP growth of whatever rate, it is said to have exited recession. It is doubtful if he understands the simple meaning of recession.

    “Atiku attributes the sustained accretion to foreign reserves to “increases in international prices of Brent Crude and foreign borrowing.

    “But he conveniently forgets that under the immediate past federal administration, oil prices were at an all-time high with substantial growth in foreign borrowings, and yet foreign reserves nose-dived from a peak of $62 billion to as low as $24 billion.

    “His repeated reference to the price of Brent Crude throughout his statement may be indicative of his lack of knowledge that Nigeria’s Bonny Light Crude trades at a premium of at least $2 per barrel over the price of Brent; just as his reference to Nigeria’s OPEC quota may also suggest that he does not know that Condensates do not count in measuring compliance with the quota.”

    Adesina added: “The PDP presidential candidate faults the provision of N305 billion for NNPC’s cost under-recovery on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) but does not say exactly what he would do about PMS pricing.

    “If, however, we are to go by an earlier statement from his campaign organisation, which promised to reduce the price of petrol to N87, then we can expect a much higher subsidy provision from an Atiku government; because he is not going to perform magic to get the refineries working at peak capacity immediately.

    “He describes the 2019 budget as being very small, but does not offer any implementable options for improving domestic resource mobilisation, which is the only sustainable means to achieving larger budgets. It does seem that he does not understand or is just feigning ignorance about the critical role of revenue in budget preparation.

    “A careful look at Atiku’s statement would show that there is nothing original about his identified “realities”. These are areas President Buhari had already identified in his speech. For instance, the President recognised that the revenue performance of the Federal Government up till September 2018 has been less than spectacular.

    “Leaving aside for a moment the fact that there has been a remarkable increase in Federal Account receipts in the last three months, a look at the budget speech will show that the President specified a number of actions to tackle revenue weakness, including strengthening on-going efforts at tax collection, liquidation of recovered assets, immediate recovery of past due oil royalties charges and deployment of the National Trade Window to improve Customs collections.

    “His most laughable criticism perhaps was his claim that ‘there is little evidence to show that increased investment in agriculture has yielded positive results’. Even the worst adversary of the Buhari administration would acknowledge that significant progress has been made in the agriculture sector.”

    He said in Atiku’s often desperate attempt to rubbish the 2019 budget, he conflated foreign direct investment with capital inflows.

    He said it was obvious that Atiku’s statement on the budget was a poor attempt at playing to the gallery.

     

  • Marwa to Atiku, others: no vacancy in Villa till 2023

    IF the words of former Lagos State military administrator Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa are anything to go by, those jostling to unseat President Muhammadu Buhari would have to wait for four more years.

    Reason: there is no vacancy at the Presidential Villa till 2023, the former Nigeria’s High Commissioner to South Africa said yesterday.

    He said the President will be returned for a fresh four-year term on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) next February.

    Gen. Marwa made the declaration while fielding questions from reporters yesterday in Yola.

    Marwa, who is the Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee on Drugs, said he was confident that President Buhari would defeat other presidential candidates in the 2019 election.

    He said: “Buba Marwa Organisation is the first to organise rally in support of President Buhari in 2016, because Buhari have done very well in three areas of economy, security and fight against corruption.

    “He will return for the second time by the grace of God, and for that, I have no doubt all those vying for Aso Villa should wait till 2023.”

    On the recent security situation in the country, he said the Army and other security agencies had done well and need more support and encouragement from the general public.

    On illicit drugs, Marwa said his committee had made several contacts and efforts to control the importation, consumption and dealing in such drugs and the trafficker.

  • APC strikes Atiku for attack on Buhari’s anti-graft war

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar launched yesterday a blistering attack on President Muhammadu Buhari, advising him not to blame the “system” for what he called his failure to fight corruption.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate wrote to the President, commending him, “for admitting that he failed in fighting corruption.”

    But the All Progressives Congress  (APC) responded in an equally derisive tone,  smacking Atiku for not facing his campaign and exhibiting “signs of depression”.

    In a letter titled: “President Buhari, don’t blame the Nigerian system for your failure”, the former vice president faulted Buhari for blaming his “failure to tackle corruption head-on: on the system.

    The letter, dated, yesterday, reads: “My attention has been drawn to a statement by President Muhammadu Buhari on the occasion of a Christmas homage paid on him by members of the Federal Capital Territory Community in which he blamed his inability to fight corruption on the Nigerian system.

    “According to the President, his administration is slow in fighting corruption because the system is slow.

    “My immediate response to this is to commend President Buhari for admitting that he has failed in fighting corruption. The President has just corroborated Transparency International, whose latest Corruption Perception Index shows that Nigeria is more corrupt today than it was under the previous administration, having moved 12 places backwards in the CPI, from 136 in 2014 to 148 this year.”

    Atiku said his point of departure was in the President blaming his failure on the system.

    He said: “I disagree. The system has challenges, yes, but where there is political will, the system can make progress.”

    Recalling his tenure as vice president between 1999 and 2007, Atiku said: “We used that same system to speedily convict no less a personality than an Inspector-General of Police, and several others, including cabinet ministers and other high officials.

    “Mr. President, the problem with your anti-corruption war is not the system. You are the problem!

    “The system allows you to arrest, try and convict your former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), who was fingered in a major corruption case, but you chose to let him go scot free and you demonstrated your tolerance for his corruption by giving him a prominent role in your re-election campaign and recently welcoming him to the Presidential Villa with open arms.

    “The system allowed you to arrest, try and convict Abdulrasheed Maina, the biggest-ever alleged thief in our civil service history, who is suspected of looting the pensions of millions of aged Nigerians.

    “Yet, you chose not to go that route, preferring instead to recall him, reinstate and double promote him while giving him armed guards to move about.

    “The system allows you to probe the $25 billion NNPC contracts awarded without due process, but you chose to bury the matter under the carpet, hoping the Nigerian people will forget about that grand scale alleged looting exposed by a leaked memo from a member of your cabinet.

    “Finally, nothing in the system stops you from telling Nigerians who owns the billions found in an Ikoyi apartment.

    “Based on the above statement of facts, I will not allow you to make Nigeria the scapegoat for your failure. Your failure is personal, and not national.”

    Atiku faulted the President for allegedly branding Nigerian youths as lazy while defending a governor who was allegedly caught on camera receiving bribes.

    Atiku went on: “The system did not stop the EFCC from charging the opposition Governor of Akwa-Ibom, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, as a co-accused in the case involving the NBA Chairman, Mr Paul Usoro (SAN). Contrast this with the treatment meted out to Governor Umar Ganduje of the ruling All Progressive Congress.”

    APC’s National Publicity Secretary Lanre Issa-Onilu sparked Atiku for his letter . He urged the PDP presidential candidate to tell Nigerians why they should elect him rather than dissipate energy on the ruling party and its presidential candidate.

    Issa-Onilu said: “The PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is exhibiting early signs of depression, resulting from obvious frustration. Consequently, he is unable to focus on his campaign. Otherwise, he should tell Nigerians why a discredited person like him should be elected as president instead of raising puerile allegations daily.

    “President Buhari and APC, not his programmes for the country, appear to be his main campaign issues. Nigerians are desirous of a campaign that focuses on issues that matter to them.

    “For Atiku and his PDP co-travellers, the only interest is to grab power and continue where they stopped in their avarice. The APC administration is eager to showcase the impressive achievements we have recorded in the last three and half years. This is the campaign that matters to us and this is what Nigerians are interested in.

    “The trajectory is exciting as we see a brighter future shaping up. We won’t yield to the PDP’s shenanigans. The obvious strategy of the PDP is to truncate the country’s journey towards economic buoyancy and social stability. We will not play the PDP’s game. PDP is acting an anti-people’s script.

    “President Buhari remains unshaken by the desperate efforts being made by Atiku and the PDP to blackmail the APC government. Everyone who was involved in corrupt practices would be brought to justice.  PDP is not offering any alternative to the progressive course this government is pursuing.

    “It is actually apparent that the party is not contesting the 2019 elections to redeem itself, least of doing any good for the country, but simply to seize power to escape justice for the grevious crimes committed against the people of this country. Nigerians won’t be fooled by the rapacious PDP gang. Never!”

  • Atiku a product of faulty system, says Buhari campaign office

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) standard bearer Atiku Abubakar yesterday drew the ire of the President’s campaign spokesman Festus Keyamo (SAN) over his remarks on the Presidency’s handling of the nation’s affairs, especially the anti-corruption war.

    According to Keyamo, the former Vice President would not be walking a free man, lest vying for the presidency if not for the faulty system bequeathed to the Buhari administration in 2015.

    Keyamo  said Atiku’s diatribe against President Buhari amounted to nothing “but a disgusting grandstanding and an attempt to mock the system.”

    He said in a statement: “Our attention has been drawn to a statement credited to the presidential candidate of PDP, Alhaji Abubakar, disputing the assertion by President Buhari that the system in Nigeria allows corruption to thrive because the system is slow in tackling corruption.

    “Alhaji Abubakar further blamed President Buhari for perceived failure in addressing some instances of ‘corrupt practices’ under his watch.

    “Let us remind him that he is one of the greatest beneficiaries of the failed system in tackling corruption that was in place before President Buhari took over in 2015.

    “We know he is aware of this, hence his latest diatribe against President Buhari amounts to nothing but disgusting grandstanding and an attempt to mock the system.

    “If the system in Nigeria was indeed working, Alhaji Abubakar would not have acquired substantial shares in INTELS in clear conflict of his duties as a Customs officer whilst in office. Those shares would have belonged to the Nigerian people by now.

    “If the system in Nigeria was indeed working, Abubakar would not have run a monopolistic company called INTELS all these years, ripping off the Nigerian people and the Nigerian state before President Buhari came and broke that monopoly.

    “If the system was working, he would have been prosecuted and jailed for various acts of corruption and abuse of office after he left office as vice president, some of which are:

    (a) For himself and his boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo, granting themselves licenses to build universities as president and vice president whilst in office in clear breach of the Code of Conduct for public officers. Those universities would have been probed, seized and transferred to the Nigeria state and the Nigerian people by now.

    (b) Laundering slush funds to the United States of America using phony companies, part of which was used to fund his present American University in Adamawa State through which he is also extorting Nigerians through exorbitant fees. It is public knowledge that this indictment is contained in a U.S. Congressional Report that has led to the prosecution and conviction of his accomplices in the U.S., such as William Jefferson and Siemens. They were convicted under a system that works, whilst he has been walking free in Nigeria and even aspiring to the highest office in the land. It is also public knowledge that his ban from entering the United States was as a result of these indictments.

    (c) His indictment and recommendation for prosecution by the report of the EFCC over the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) scandal whilst he was vice president.

    “We have also read with keen interest the case filed against Alhaji Atiku Abubakar by some public spirited Nigerians alleging that he never paid his personal income taxes as when due, yet he wants to ‘get Nigeria working again’.

    “In this regard, we are also challenging Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to publicly display his personal income Tax receipts for the three years preceding 2018 to show that he did not just run to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in 2018 to pay his backlog of Personal Income Taxes.

    “For the information of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, President Buhari’s gallant efforts in tackling corruption head-on, has led to the conviction of the President’s own party men and ex-governors who served under PDP and for acts they committed whilst in PDP. Seven hundred and three persons and institutions have been convicted by the EFCC under the watch of President Buhari since 2015. The biggest recoveries of stolen public funds in the history of Nigeria are being carried out by President Buhari. These recoveries were made from principally his party men who now wish to lead Nigeria with him. Some of these recoveries/seizures/forfeitures (interim and final) are:

    (a) 407 mansions since 2015; (b) N794 billion, over $261 million 1.1 million Pounds sterling, 8.1 million Euros; (c) 259 automobiles; (d) a fully functional hospital, – St. Solomon Health Care Centre at 24, Adeniyi Jones Street, Ikeja, Lagos e.t.c.

    “There are so many other instances too numerous to mention. These are a world apart from the few instances of the reluctant fight against corruption that Abubakar claimed happened under his watch as vice president.

    “During his time, there was a competition for corruption between himself, his boss and public officers.

    “We also urge the PDP to stop making wild, unsubstantiated allegations of corruption without a modicum of proof. We have no time to respond to any allegation by the PDP without the backing of some kind of document or proof.

    “When we see some scintilla of proof, we shall respond appropriately. And that is how we have treated the recent allegation of acquisition of shares in Etisalat and Keystone Bank by some supposed ‘family members’ of the President. No name was mentioned and no document was shown.

    “Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s latest adventure in trying to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in matters of integrity with President Muhammadu Buhari is a political suicide mission from which we thought his handlers would have tried to steer him away.

    “But alas! They have decided to test the waters. Locally and internationally, President Muhammadu Buhari stands several miles away from Abubakar in matters of integrity. When the President used all his life in public office building a reputation and a name, Abubakar used all his life in public office to build mansions and acquire personal wealth. Now Judgment Day has come when the credentials needed by the Nigerian people for the highest office are not the buildings and wealth but the simple quality of integrity. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar cannot eat his cake and have it.”

  • Buhari group flays Atiku for lacking economic knowledge

    THE Buhari Media Organisation (BMO)  yesterday took a swipe at of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, over his comment on the 2019 budget proposal, saying his comments have proven that his knowledge of economic principles is questionable.

    The former vice president had given six reasons why he believed that the 2019 budget won’t work and concluded that Nigeria had not exited recession.

    BMO Chairman Niyi Akinsuju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke said in a statement that the comment personally signed by Atiku was most uncharitable and unbecoming of a man seeking to lead the country.

    “How could a man described as one with economic know-how say a country whose Gross Domestic Product (GDP) stood at 1.81 % in the third quarter of 2018 compared to 1.17 % the previous year had not exited recession?

    “Even his statement that indicated that there was a 1.5% growth in the second quarter of 2018 is a clear pointer to a sure and steady growth backed by a non-oil GDP growth of 2.01% in the same quarter as a result of the current administration’s faithful implementation of its Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

    “In addition we have had three budget cycles since 2015 that have spurred massive infrastructural growth with 1,531 kilometres of roads constructed and 1,008 kilometres rehabilitated across the country as well as massive railway construction, yet the PDP presidential candidate wants Nigerians to believe that the 2019 budget proposal and the previous ones were bad.

    “We make bold to say that contrary to Atiku’s position, the budget will build on the sure and steady progress the country has witnessed in so many facets of life and attain the 2019 projection of 3.01% growth.

    It  urged Nigerians to disregard the PDP Presidential candidate’s stance on the 2019 budget as part of the tissue of lies the party has been dishing out in recent times to discredit President Buhari and his administration.

    The BMO also asked the PDP and its presidential campaign spokesperson, Buba Galadima, to have a clear understanding of the laws guiding campaign funding before making public statement on contribution to President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign.

    The organisation lampooned Galadima for displaying ignorance and expressing frustration over the donation of about N1.2 billion by farmers to the campaign.

    Galadima called for Buhari’s disqualification for receiving such huge donation towards his campaign, saying such donations contravenes the provision of the Electoral Act.

    But, the BMO said Galadima is uninformed about the tenets of the Electoral Act, which is why he is finding fault with N100 individual donation of members of an association to the President’s campaign.

    “The association of farmers and fertiliser producers are not corporate entities and neither are they registered corporations, and certainly not captured in the Electoral Act. So for Galadima, a supposedly educated person and politician to ask for disqualification of president Buhari on the basis of their donation, is engagement in petty talks,” the group said.

  • Atiku admits not speaking to soldier’s wife

    PEOPLE’S Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has admitted not speaking with the widow of Lt.-Col. Ibrahim Sakaba, who was killed by Boko Haram insurgents at Metele in November.

    Abubakar stated this in a statement issued by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, yesterday in Abuja to retract his earlier Christmas message where he said he spoke with Mrs. Sakaba.

    The former vice president who apologised for the “erroneous communication” about his telephone conversation with Mrs. Sakaba, explained that efforts were made for him to speak with her but were unsuccessful.

    He, however, said he spoke with the younger sister of the deceased, Maryam and expressed his condolence.

    “Following the death of Lt.-Col. Ibrahim Sakaba during the Boko Haram insurgents’ attack on 157 Taskforce Battalion in Metele, Abubakar’s staff has made efforts to get the contact of his widow to enable the former Vice President express his condolences over the loss of the fallen hero.

    “Over the weekend, Atiku Abubakar was availed with phone numbers of Mrs. Sakaba and Maryam, younger sister of the late soldier, in the alternative.

    “On Sunday, the former Vice President tried albeit unsuccessfully to contact Mrs. Sakaba but was able to eventually speak with Maryam, younger sister of the gallant soldier during which he expressed his deepest condolences to the family.

    “However, this communication was erroneously communicated. The error is regretted.

    “Atiku Abubakar, however, reaffirms his deepest condolences to the Sakaba family, which sacrifices, like those of their brave son, keeps us safe.”

  • Atiku’ll eliminate multiple taxation, others, says PDP campaign

    THE People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Organisation (PPCO) has said that its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has perfected a blueprint that will eliminate multiple taxation, slash income taxes, as well as commodity tax rates and increase government funding to small and medium enterprises in key sectors of the economy.

    According to the opposition party, this will mark a clear difference between Atiku Abubakar and President Muhamamdu Buhari, who, the PDP said, is planning to increase the suffering of Nigerians by imposing more taxes on them in the coming year.

    In a statement yesterday by the campaign spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said Atiku is personally worried over the current huge tax burden and hidden levies on businesses, common commodities and services imposed by the present administration.

    It added that such policies by the Buhari administration has led to the prevalent economic strangulation, high costs and untold hardship being faced by Nigerians.

    The statement said: “A detailed check on the tax regime under President Buhari’s administration shows that apart from huge capital gain taxes, which is crippling businesses and scaring away investors to other countries, Nigerians are also bearing the huge burden of hidden taxes on everyday consumer goods and services.”

    The PDP Campaign, however, urged Nigerians not to despair as its candidate has articulated a framework that would streamline tax administration and ensure transparency in remittance and spending as well as support private businesses to thrive.

    “Part of the framework in Atiku Abubakar’s policy document shows a plan “towards achieving the lowest corporate income tax rate in Africa, in order to make Nigeria one of the most attractive destinations for foreign direct investment.

    “This is in addition to a plan to achieve lower transaction costs (including lowering the capital gain tax) to attract investment and boost activities in the capital market, as well as ensuring that the granting of qualification for tax incentives is in accordance with pre-determined, uniform and clear criteria,” the statement added.

    PDP has also alleged plans by the Federal Government to arrest members of the National Assembly that booed President Muhammadu Buhari during the presentation of the 2019 budget proposal.

    Members of federal legislature had on Wednesday, split into two groups, with one group mainly made of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) hailing President Buhari. Another group of PDP legislators booed and heckled the President.

    Addressing reporters in Abuja yesterday, a spokesman for the PPCO, Alhaji Buba Galadima, accused the Presidency of having directed security agencies to start compiling names of lawmakers, who booed the President for the purpose of arresting them.

    Galadima said there were several instances across the globe where parliamentarians booed and even pelted presidents and prime ministers at similar functions.

    He warned that the Presidency would be breaching the rules of democracy by arresting the legislators.

    According to him, the lawmakers enjoy parliamentary privileges covering their actions and so cannot be arrested or prosecuted for actions that took place on the floor of their hallowed chambers.

  • Igbo youths to Buhari, Atiku: don’t rely on politicians for support in S’East

    THE leadership of ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council (OYC) Worldwide, and other Igbo youth groups have advised President Muhammadu Buhari and Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Alhaji  Atiku Abubakar, not to rely on the promises of South East politicians to get the support of Ndigbo in the forthcoming  election.

    In a communiqué issued after a meeting with the coalition of Biafra agitators and coalition of Igbo groups on the  2019 presidential election,  the OYC president, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said: “The joint session of OYC, Biafra agitators and other  groups namely; Southeast Women Professionals, World Igbo Youth Council and Igbo Youth Movement, unequivocally want to state that both frontline presidential candidates of PDP Atiku Abubakar and  President Buhari may  get less than 10 per cent  of Igbo votes because of total neglect and  deceit from the political elites who are giving false hope and wrong impression that they are in charge, but they will be disappointed about the outcome.

    They have taken the youths, women and Biafra agitators for granted and it will spell doom for them in the forthcoming election. “We have monitored the deceitful politicians and understand  that they want to engage in vote buying to subvert the wishes of the people of the southeast ahead of the 2019 presidential election. We are aware of the moves by those politicians to deceive the people. What their principals should know is that , the so called politicians are no longer on the ground regarding Southeast politics. “The joint session agreed that Atiku Abubakar should clearly come out and reach agreement of one term with Igbo  leaders who have the confidence of the coalition before 31st December or he should forget Igbo votes. President Buhari should as a matter of urgency also reach out to Igbo leaders that he will handover to an Igbo man in 2023.”