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Tag: atiku

  • Atiku welcomes Ahmed, Tambuwal, others back to PDP

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has expressed delight over the return of Governors Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State and Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    While Ahmed defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP on Tuesday, Tambuwal announced his defection on Wednesday.

    The former Vice President congratulated the two governors, as well as the Deputy Governor of Kano State, Prof. Hafizu Abubakar and Nigeria’s Ambassador to South Africa, Alhaji Ahmed Ibeto, who also defected from the APC to the PDP about the same time.

    A statement issued on Wednesday by the Atiku media office said:  “When in December 2017, the Waziri Adamawa said the APC has to embrace the true tenets of democracy or lose its soul, he was greeted with hostility and his warnings were scorned.

    “At that time, Atiku Abubakar had warned that without justice, there could be no unity and without internal democracy there could be no internal cohesion.”

    The presidential aspirant urged true lovers of democracy to emancipate themselves from the faux democracy practiced in the APC and move over to the only party capable of entrenching genuine democracy in Nigeria and economic progress for Nigerians.

    He also called urged the Federal Government to respect the decisions of those now voting with their feet and ensure that they are not persecuted by security officials and law enforcement agencies.

     

     

     

    The PDP chieftain urged the powers that be to note that the party set up these agencies to fight crime and criminality and not to fight democracy and democrats.

     

  • PDP, Saraki, Dogara, Mark, Atiku condemn planned impeachment

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senate President Bukola Saraki, House Speaker Yakubu Dogara, former Senate President David Mark and PDP presidential aspirant Atiku Abubakar yesterday condemned Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom’s planned impeachment.

    Saraki and Dogara in a joint statement described as “a desecration of the legislative sanctity” the going situation in the Benue House of Assembly in which eight of the 30 members of the House of Assembly have commenced impeachment of the governor.

    Saraki and Dogara said that the 22 other members of the State House of Assembly who constituted more than two-thirds majority were kept away from the Assembly complex.

    “We have monitored closely the development in Benue State in which the impeached Speaker, Terkimbir Ikyange, led seven other members to serve impeachment notice on the Governor, Samuel Ortom, while the 22 other members who constitute more than two-third majority have been prevented from having access to the chamber. We believe this is illegality and does not conform to parliamentary procedure on impeachment.

    “We also note with surprise the role of the Police in this undemocratic event in which the minority is seeking to impeach a Governor against the position of the majority. We believe it is the sacred institution of the legislature that is being desecrated and rubbished in all these negative developments.

    “The situation in Benue State House of Assembly has grave implication for the nation’s democracy and it represents a throw-back to the period of dictatorship in our country. It also represents how the Nigeria Police are being misused to achieve political end. In a statement recently, the Presidency derisively referred to an era in the past where a minority number of legislators were used to impeach Governors who were unfriendly with the Federal Government. What we are seeing in Benue now is a return to that inglorious era.

    “We believe this unlawful and unconstitutional move to impeach Governor Samuel Ortom by a minority should be condemned by all lovers of democracy, at home and abroad. We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to call the police to order and prevent a breakdown of law and order. We also call on friends of Nigeria in the international community to lend their voice in condemning the perpetration of illegalities and actions that can subvert our democracy.”

    After an emergency meeting in Abuja, the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) condemned the impeachment move and also “the use of the EFCC and DSS to harass and intimidate officials of the Benue State Government”.

    According to the PDP, the unfolding drama in Benue State was meant to foment a crisis that could warrant the declaration of emergency rule in the state.

    The communique continued: “It is on record that the erstwhile Speaker had been impeached, suspended and restrained by a court of competent jurisdiction from parading himself as Speaker.

    “In spite of this, it is shocking that no fewer than 300 policemen were alleged to have escorted the impeached Speaker to the State House of Assembly to initiate a disgraceful and manifestly illegal process.

    “This misadventure is dead on arrival and again demonstrates the desperation of this failed APC Federal Government. PDP therefore urges its members, particularly in Benue State, to rise in defence of their rights and our hard earned democracy”.

    Atiku said: “Any attempt to disregard the rule of law and constitution in the impeachment of a governor is a recipe for anarchy and officially sanctioned lawlessness.”

    The former Vice President noted that whatever might be the short term political benefits of lawlessness, the long term dangers are by far greater than the perceived benefits.

    Senator Mark said: “It is unconstitutional and devoid of any known legislative practices and procedures.

    “I will advise members of the Benue State House of Assembly to be guided by the constitution and legislative rules and procedures. They should not engage in any act that could undermine the established tenet of democracy.”

  • Plot to impeach Ortom awkward – Atiku

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the “awkward political development” in Benue State where eight lawmakers have served impeachment notice on Governor Samuel Ortom.

    In a statement issued on Monday by his media office, Atiku deplored a situation where the eight lawmakers were being aided and abetted by police to achieve a predetermined end.

    Reports indicated that eight of the 30 lawmakers in the state’s House of Assembly were on Monday aided by the police to illegally occupy the chamber where they served the impeachment notice on the governor.

    Reacting to the development, Atiku said he was greatly embarrassed by the unfolding political drama in Benue State.

    He condemned the “aberration and arbitrariness” in the plot to oust the governor, contrary to provisions of the country’s constitution.

    “Any attempt to disregard the rule of law and constitution in the impeachment of a governor is a recipe for anarchy and officially sanctioned lawlessness,” the statement said.

    Atiku regretted that for a state facing security challenges like Benue, the introduction of lawlessness in the impeachment process could only complicate an already bad situation.

    He urged the police to remain politically neutral and avoid aiding lawlessness, adding that partisanship could professionally destroy the image of the police.

    Atiku reminded the police authorities that their loyalty ought to be to the constitution and the rule of law.

    The former Vice President noted that whatever might be the short term political benefits of lawlessness, the long term dangers are by far greater than the perceived benefits.

    He warned that if unchecked, the political situation in Benue State could lead to a domino effect across the country, thereby jeopardising the nation’s democracy and endangering innocent lives and property of lawful citizens.

  • Atiku has no immigration issues, says ex- Jonathan’s aide

    Former Director of Strategy and Communications to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Jackson Ude, has berated the Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, over his comments on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s United States immigration status.

    Okechukwu, who challenged Atiku during the week to come clean on his US immigration status, said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant would not be able to address insecurity in the country if elected, as he is unable to go to the US.

    Ude, a staunch supporter of the former vice president, said it was a height of ignorance for Okechukwu to equate visiting the United State to good governance in the face of a collapsed economy, divided country and insecurity.

    The former presidential aide argued Atiku has no immigration status to prove to either Okechukwu or anyone as he is not an American, a permanent resident or seeking any immigration favours from the United States.

    According to him: “Atiku only applied for US visa like every other person and was denied and that does not confer on him any immigration status”.

    He argued US denial of an entry visa to Atiku has become a political tool to blackmail the former vice president, saying if the US government has criminal charges against him, he would have been extradited to face charges.

    Ude said what Nigerians should be more concerned about is who would pull the country out of the wood under President Buhari, saying Atiku has all it takes to be a better choice based on his records and tentacles across the country.

     

     

    “I live in the United State; I am a conversant with the immigration laws. I followed Atiku’s court case at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and I have the court records

    “Nowhere did it indicted Atiku for a crime, if it did, Atiku would have been facing the wrath of the law in the US

    “What Nigerians need now is a unifier and a competent leader whose actions and body language would not polarize the country, pitching tribes, ethnicity and religion against each other,” he stressed.

     

  • Atiku the acrobat

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar still wants to be president. He said   at a ceremony to re-launch his power project on July 21: “It is time to now re-embrace the party that has given us unity, prosperity and security in this country.” Abubakar was talking about the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).  “Now what the PDP is going to do is to restore our economy, to unite our country, to ensure we have security of lives and property, “he added.

    It was yet another spectacular somersault in a political career known for political acrobatics.  Abubakar, 71, Nigeria’s second in command from 1999 to 2007, keeps moving from party to party in a striking demonstration of rootlessness.  Here is a picture of his political mobility:  Peoples Democratic Party (1998 – 2006, 2009- 2013); Action Congress (2006-2009); All Progressives Congress (2013-2017); Peoples Democratic Party (2017-Present).

    There is no question that Abubakar’s ambition to be president drives his perpetual motion.  Being a political acrobat must come with its own difficulties.  These constant flips put him in a tough position. They don’t enhance his image. But he continues to indulge in spins.

    There was a time he described APC as “a party of change committed to the improvement of the lives of our people and to the continued existence and development of Nigeria as one indivisible country.”  Then he moved again.

    Abubakar’s acrobatics show that his political trajectory is not informed by any firm philosophy.  It is too easy and unconvincing merely to appeal to a self-righteous interest in working for thoroughgoing socio-political change and advancement, without any demonstration of a fundamental guiding principle. Talk is cheap!

    Perhaps Abubakar wasn’t joking when he said good things about PDP, but he sounded like a joker.  As a federal ruling party, PDP was not progressive and could even be said to have been anti-people. It is easier to give a party a pro-people name than to ensure that the party is pro-people.

    Abubakar’s moves and movements betray his chameleonic politics.  This unprincipled changeability darkens the integrity of his ambition.  As presidential aspirants focus on next year’s general election, there will be more acrobatic displays.  Abubakar should not be ruled out. The question is: For how long will this going and coming go on?  This going and coming cannot go on forever.

     

     

  • Wike, Atiku, Daniel hail lawmakers’ move

    RIVERS State Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and ex-Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel have hailed the defection of members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the National Assembly into the PDP

    Democracy is taking shape in Nigeria, says Wike

     

    Wike declared that the mass defections at the National Assembly indicate that democracy  is now taking shape in the country.

    The governor said the defections from the APC to the PDP showed the direction  the country is headed in 2019.

    He spoke yesterday during the celebration of 40 years of Legal Practice of Onueze Okocha (SAN) by Okpo Club of Nigeria (Association of Ikwerre Lawyers Worldwide) and the Inaugural Okpo Club Awards.

    He said: “Democracy is taking shape in Nigeria.  I hope you are aware that  the PDP has taken over the Senate.

    “We are like going  to take over at the House of Representatives.”

    Wike described the day as a happy day, saying Nigerians must continue to work towards a development-oriented government next year.

     

    Atiku: ruling party a

    sinking ship

     

    Atiku, who is a frontline presidential aspirant of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP),  remarked that the move was an indication that the ruling party “is a sinking ship”.

    The former vice president, who is a frontline presidential aspirant under the PDP, noted that the decampment from the APC further explains the lack of capacity of the ruling party to hold and manage a political party, and indeed a government.

    He called on the new entrants to see their decampment as a call to duty.

    “The decision of a significant number of members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives to leave the APC and decamp into the PDP clearly indicates that there is hope that the country can be rescued from the misrule of the APC government.

     

    PDP should be congratulated, says Daniel

     

    Daniel, who spoke with reporters in Lagos yesterday, said the season of politics was in the air again.

    Asked of his reaction to the defection of members to the party in the National Assembly, he said: “I think you should congratulate us”.

    Daniel, who said he was yet to get the full details, however, said the more the merrier for the party, which looked forward to regaining power at the centre in 2019.

    The former governor, who is also the Director General of the Abubakar Atiku Campaign Organisation, (AACO) in the PDP, said the former vice president remained well-placed to win the presidential ticket of the party.

  • Atiku deplores persecution of NASS leadership

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has deplored the siege on the homes of the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, early Tuesday morning.

    Describing the development as troubling and unsettling, Atiku said no democratic nation ought to treat the leadership of its parliament like common criminals in the course of a political disagreement.

    In a statement issued by his media office, the ex- Vice President recalled that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was the beneficiary of defection by Saraki and others in 2013 when they defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the party.

    The statement said: “I also remind them that their electoral victory, which they have so badly mismanaged today, would not have been possible without the Senate President.

    “Power is transient and is also a trust that should only be used for the good and advancement of the people one leads and not for the persecution of real and imagined political opponents.

    “I therefore call for the lifting of the sieges on the persons and homes of Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, by security forces.

    “I remind President Muhammadu Buhari of his public words of solidarity to Senator Saraki after his ordeal of malicious prosecution, which thankfully was brought to a halt by the Supreme Court and I urge him to live up to those words today and always.”

  • VON DG to Atiku, others: join Buhari to fight insecurity

    The Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON) and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has urged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and other Nigerians to join President Muhammadu Buhari to fight insecurity instead of comparing the dead with those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Addressing reporters in Enugu, Okechukwu decried the comment ascribed to Atiku, a presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), at Yola, the Adamawa State capital, on the spate of killings across the country.?

    The VON chief, who is an ardent supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari, dismissed the statistics of the former vice president, saying they were inaccurate.

    He said: “What is important is how to stop the killings. We need cooperation, prayers, information and assistance to the government.

    Otherwise, Wikipedia reported from credible sources the Iraqi death toll of over 500,000 persons since the United States of America (U.S.A) led its invasion in 2003, about 5,000 of who are U.S service men.”

    Okechukwu thanked Atiku for acknowledging the massive infrastructural development in the land under Buhari, but expressed doubts over his promise to tackle insecurity with his “questionable immigration status” in the U.S.A.

    He said: “I am outraged, like most Nigerians, over the spate of killings by herdsmen/farmers’ clashes, bandits, militias, Boko Haram and sundry. President Buhari, I must confess, is very sad over the killings. His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, the Turaki of Adamawa’s statistics is unnecessary and inaccurate, for one death is painful.

    “At any rate, his statistics can be best dubbed a campaign hype, if not fake news, when the real statistics is assembled. Iraqi casualty is over 500,000. The cardinal question, in all honesty, is: can Turaki stop the insecurity without the cooperation of international security agencies, especially that of the United States?”

    On the public perception that the President was not doing enough to stop the large scale killings, Okechukwu said: “I am on a good note that President Buhari is quietly deploying all means necessary to stop the insecurity in the land. Among them is deployment of Mission Critical Communications System by Motorola Solutions of Illinois, U.S.A, an equipment that will put critical information at the fingertips of all security agencies in Nigeria.

    “In fact, the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, and the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, one understands, are leading the pack. I don’t want to say more than this, for this is a security issue.”

     

  • ‘I’m back to reclaim what belongs to PDP’, Atiku vows as he launches presidential bid

    •Says party will give economy, unity, security new lease of life
    •Secondus: PDP’ll end cycle of bloodletting

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said yesterday that he is back in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to reclaim what belongs to the party.

    Atiku who was formally launching his bid for the party’s presidential ticket for next year’s election said the PDP would revamp the economy, re-unite the country and secure the lives and properties of Nigerians.

    The  former vice president delivered a 17-line speech in which he aimed barbs at the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and  appealed   to “all of you wherever you may be that it is time to now re-embrace the party that has given us unity, prosperity and security in this country.”

    He said the APC government has failed, “to unite Nigerians. Today we are more divided than in any time in the history of this country.”

    Economic growth, according to him has gone down to less than 2% from 7%, adding: “Today we are witnessing the most insecure situation in Nigeria ever since APC took over.

    “More people have died in Nigeria under the APC than in Iran and Afghanistan. Is that what you want?

    “Today we have the highest unemployment rate in this country. More than 10 million of our people have been made unemployed under the watch of the APC administration. Is that what you want?

    “Now what the PDP is going to do is to restore our economy, to unite our country, to ensure we have security of lives and property.

    “My fellow brothers and sisters of Adamawa State, it’s time we take back our state PDP! Power!”

    National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, was among party stalwarts at the Ribadu Square, Yola, Adamawa State to witness the declaration.

    He said at the event that a rebranded and repositioned PDP is clearly the party of choice determined and ready to rescue Nigeria from the hands of APC.

    “PDP is determined to end the circle of continued bloodletting in the country,” he said.

    “A sign of a drowning party, the APC administration is threatening everybody, the lives of Reformed-APC leaders are now in danger but we are not afraid, they can’t kill everybody.”

     

  • Atiku mourns ex-IGP Coomassie

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has described late Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie, as a disciplined and upright police chief whose tenure witnessed an outstanding time in the history of the Nigeria Police Force.

    Atiku, in a condolence message by his media aide, Mr Paul Ibe, said that he and the late Coomassie shared a special bond that he (Atiku) would personally miss.

    “Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie and I had a special bond of friendship. He shall be sorely missed,” Atiku said.

    According to him, Coomassie was a patriot and an exceptional police officer whose dream was always about making the Nigeria Police Force an effective and efficient police force.

    “My condolences go to his family and others in our cycle of friendships. I pray that God accepts his good deeds and forgive his shortcomings,” the former vice president said. (NAN)