The Nation Newspaper

Tag: BUHARI

  • PDP asks INEC to disqualify Buhari

    The Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) to disqualify president Muhammadu Buhari for allegedly bringing in people from outside the country to influence the election in his favour.

    Chairman of PDP, Uche Secundus, made the call in Enugu during the PDP rally for election of the presidential candidate of the Party, Atiku Abubakar and other candidates of the party in the 2019 elections.

    He accused Buhari of planning to influence the election in his favour and called on INEC to disqualify Buhari over alleged plans to influence the election.

    Read Also: Buhari shifts Zamfara campaign rally

    He urged Enugu people to vote for a man (Atiku) that will not sleep on duty, adding that “PDP is Enugu and Enugu is PDP”

    In his speech, Atiku urged Ndigbo not to miss the opportunity of producing the vice president, adding that vice president is from the South East.

    He, therefore, called on them to vote for him, saying the PDP has never failed the people of the South East.

    Present at the rally were Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, Governor Ifeanyi Ugsuanyi, Jim Nwobodo, among others.

  • Buhari shifts Zamfara campaign rally

    *We’ll campaign for you, Marafa tells Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari has postponed his campaign rally earlier scheduled for Zamfara State on Sunday.

    The postponement of the rally is linked to the crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had also released the final list of candidates for the March 2 Governorship and State House of Assembly election without any name for APC Governorship candidate for Zamfara State.

    The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina confirmed the postponement.

    Speaking with State House correspondents on the latest development, Senator kabiru Marafa, said “I am not aware of the cancellation of the APC Zamfara rally; honestly because I was not told. As I said, I just submitted a proposal which I think will serve the interest of our party, the president and our people.

    “We don’t have candidates for now because of the political impasse that characterised Zamfara State in the last few months and the president is billed to be in Zamfara on Sunday, Feb. 3

    “Because of the rumple between disagreeing parties, we felt it is better Mr President suspends his visit to Zamfara. After all, we are there; we can campaign for him; he knows us; he knows our individual capacities; there is no point bringing all the factions under one umbrella, because once the president is there, if you like the president and you are with him, you will like to show your face.

    “However, we feel it is avoidable; but you cannot come to the president with just one single suggestion. So. I just put my opinion across; that if it is a must; maybe the party has fixed Feb. 3 for the visit, then we want to be excused because there is no way President Muhammad Buhari will go to Zamfara and my face is not seen and people will not ask questions and I think it is not fair just to be absent like that.

    “We are not doing what we are doing to impress anybody; we have already gotten all the necessary trust and belief from Mr President even if he is not there, we will do the right thing.

    “But if the party or the Presidential Campaign Council feel they must be in Zamfara on Sunday, we and our supporters want to be excused and we will conduct our own rally for the president on a different date and we will televise it live on NTA so that everybody can see; so let everybody show his support in Zamfara not to come together and then everybody will be claiming victory that I pulled this crowd; let everybody stand on his own.

    “The most important thing is that we all believe in Mr President and we all like him and we will support him and we want him to win; so let us work individually, and Feb. 16, we will all converge on the box and show what we can do but let the people of Nigeria see us individually.” he added

    On way forward, he said “The way forward like we proposed before the State High Court in Zamfara that heard complaints from the governor and his side. The governor went to court and said he conducted primary elections, we joined the case and said no, you didn’t conduct elections because you don’t have the right; the constitutional powers to do so; it is not the size of your office that determines what you can do; it is the constitutions that specifies your functions and responsibilities.

    Read Also: Buhari in Kano: I’ll continue to fulfil my promises

    “State governors cannot conduct elections, state party chapters cannot conduct elections, so nobody except the National Working Committee of the political party especially our own–that is specifically mentioned in the constitution.

    “So, only the political party can conduct primary elections. So, we felt that APC needed to be represented; the people of Zamfara State needed to be given choice and they say variety is the spice of life; the more the variety, the better for the people.

    “However, that variety should not just come because a political party feels they must be there, no. Justice must prevail; you cannot exclude some people and claim that APC should not be included, no.

    “We asked the court that APC could not conduct primaries in Zamfara not because they cannot or they failed to do so. The issue was that there was a subsisting court order; this crisis started from the congresses that were conducted in April last year; two factions emerged—Yari had his own party executives, I have my own party executives.

    “However, the NWC then cleared the governor’s side and recognised it and we went to court that the process was flawed; that we were disenfranchised and we will not agree.

    “The court looked at the complaints because primary elections were approaching that time; it gave an order that both Marafa and the other faction should stay away from anything that has to do with party executives at the local level; so what that means is–the NWC only sends a panel of maybe 7, 10, 14 people but we require 441 local staff to conduct the primaries across the 147 wards of the state.

    “The first attempt on Oct. 3, we agreed that since these factions will not participate, how do we get staff? So, we said let’s use the Nigerian Union of Teachers(NUT). So, NUT provided the staff but however as the process began and the government saw it was losing, they unleashed mayhem; there was violence.

    “The chairman cancelled the elections. On the 7th when they came back, the NUT compromised somehow; they were put under pressure because they are under the state government.

    “So, we could not agree on the local organising committee that is the local staff. This is actually what stopped APC from conducting primaries. We now asked the court, the reason why we could not do was because there was no local staff; now that primary elections are over in all the states of the federation, APC can bring in staff from anywhere to conduct the primary election; so we asked the court, mandate APC to conduct fresh primaries and ask INEC to collect the result.

    “This is what we did, but the governor and his side did not want that because they cannot face the people in any election. They know if there are primaries, they will lose; so they now prayed to the court that prayer should not be granted. And the judge in his own wisdom granted their own prayers and rejected that part of the prayer.

    “So, we are now before the appeal court to say that Appeal Court should reconsider the judgement and give APC new lease of life; allow APC to conduct primaries; just one day is okay. We conduct primaries and submit the result to INEC.” he said

    He also expressed the hope that the Appeal Court will do justice to the people of Zamfara and to the various aspirants that purchased the forms at a very high cost.

  • IPMAN backs Buhari for 2019 elections

    The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria ( IPMAN ) on Friday threw their weight behind President Muhammadu Buhari in his re-election bid.

    The body adopted Buhari as its candidate during a courtesy visit of its National Executive Committee to the State House, Abuja.

    Speaking on behalf of the group, the National President, Chinedu Okoronkwo, thanked the President for his support to the industry.

    Noting that the country was faced with frequent problem of petroleum products supply before Buhari’s administration, he said that there is free flow of petroleum products under Buhari.

    He also said that the industry was enmeshed in deep corruption before Buhari’s administration, which is now a thing of the past.

    He said “We are solidly behind your reelection bid. In our meetings, we have adopted you as our candidate.”

    “Your success in the election will be a success for Nigeria,” he added.

    He also assured that there will be no fuel scarcity in the country throughout the period of the general elections.

    Stressing that the association is ready to continue to work with the Buhari administration to surmount remaining problems in the industry, he disclosed that the association is planning to set up refineries in the country.

    President Buhari thanked the group for adopting him as their candidate for the election.

  • State of the Nation: Onnoghen suspension reinforces Buhari anti-corruption credentials – Eriye

    …Buhari won’t perform poorly in Southeast

    Political analyst and Sunday Editor of The Nation Newspapers, Festus Eriye, joined by Senior Correspondent Dare Odufowokan to discuss, Walter Onnoghen suspension, 2019 election, President Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar chances at the 2019 elections.

  • Buhari in Kano: I’ll continue to fulfil my promises

    THE Sani Abacha Stadium in the heart of the commercial nerve centre of the ancient city of Kano, Kano State, yesterday witnessed an unprecedented turnout of residents and supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Supporters of the party from the 44 Local Government Areas of the state converged on the stadium, as the campaign train of President Muhammadu Buahari berthed in the state ahead of the February 16 presidential poll.

    President Buhari, who arrived at the stadium at about 3.55pm, said he would continue to work relentlessly to make Nigeria a great and peaceful country if given a freh mandate to serve.

    Buhari, who was all smiles as party leaders took turns to address the crowd, said: “With the demonstration (massive turnout) witnessed here, I will tell you that I will continue to fulfill the promises I made to you in 2015, which bordered on security, corruption and economy.

    “We have promised Nigerians three major issues concerning our survival as a nation. They are  fight against corruption, security and economic revitalisation.

    “In these areas, I will like to boldly say that we have delivered our promises to the electorate, he said, adding: “If you like you can asked those that came from the Northeast since they use to come to Kano to do business, most them have since returned to their houses and we see that as a significant development.

    “I want to remind you that the promise I made to you Nigerians  to enhance security has been fulfilled and you can confirm this from the people of the Northeast, since you people have business relations and they will confirm to you that they have returned to their homes. This shows that we have achieved security as promised.

    “On the side of development, we have had two successful rainy seasons during which the government provided fertiliser at subsidised rates to farmers in the country, during which we had a bumper harvest.

    “We have banned the importation of rice to enhance local production because as a country we have the capacity to feed ourselves and that is a great achievement.

    “We want to assure you that we made a promise that we will never fail you. The truth of the matter is that I have been a governor, minister of Petroleum, I have been a Head of State and now a politician.

    “There is nothing I want to achieve beyond ensuring that our Nigeria becomes a peaceful and economically developing country. I therefore call on you on election day to vote for us and we assure you of victory and because of that we are going to the next level.”

    The President said a lot had been done to make Nigeria stand on its feet agriculturally. He said: “It is a thing of pride that today Nigeria is cultivating rice to feed itself locally. We have subsidised the price of fertiliser for our farmers who embarked on mass production of food to sustain growth and development throughout the country.”

    On the economy, Buhari said that the government, under his watch, had done a lot in blocking leakages and introducing the Single Treasury Account policy to put the resources in one basket.

    Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje told the crowd that Kano State remains President Buhari’s stronghold and that “Kano politics is about him and him alone”.

    The governor said the President had done a lot in the state, citing, the Lagos- Kaduna-Kano rail being constructed as an example.

    “When he came to Kano, we asked him to construct Kano -Kaduna-Suleja road. And, as you can see, work has since reached advanced stage,” Dr. Ganduje said

    He said that the state government will soon invite the President to inaugurate some projects.

    The governor called on the electorate to come out en masse and vote for President Buhari on February 16, to keep the promise of giving him five million votes.

    APC Presidential Campaign Council’s Director-General Rotimi Amechi carpeted the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential running mate Peter Obi for not being truthful during the television programme “The Candidate”.

    He said the former Anambra State governor fed Nigerians with lies by saying that they completed payment for the various railway projects embarked upon by past administrations.

    According to Amaechi, the Federal Government borrowed money for the completion of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

    The highpoint of the rally was the presentation of flags by the APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole to Ganduje as the governorship candidate. The senatorial and House of Representatives candidates also got the APC’s flags.

     

  • Buhari: The courage to act

    The die is cast; we have entered the final phase of the much awaited 2019 general election. It is a moment of decision for us the people of Nigeria. We must decide on those to lead us for the next four years and by implication, the part we will tow and the future of our dear country.

    It is a moment we have the appraise the current situations and the challenges we are likely to face in nearest future and on the bases of such appraisal, choose who among the candidates can provide the required leadership for the much desired quantum leap to greatness. The quest for the right candidates begs the question what is competency?

    What is the problem of Nigeria that we need a competent leader? Is our problem lack of financial resources? Is it lack of human capital? Is it lack of adequate policy formulation?  Is it lack of infrastructures; is it even corruption? A person cannot solve a problem he/she is aware of, that is why medical doctors have to diagnose an ailment before making prescription. The problems with Nigeria are not the questions listed above but rather the deficiency and porosity of our justice system.

    There is a vivid distinction between “I cannot steal and I will not steal”. Every human being created by God has the capability to steal/loot which is human nature and this explains why there is corruption in all countries of the world but the difference between other countries and ours is that while other nations are able to bring looters to justice, we are unable to bring looters to justice or bring justice to looters because our justice system is porous. Consequently therefore, looting becomes not just pervasive but a norm rather than aberration, thus our roads will not be tarred, and hospital will have no drugs, our universities never get funds for research etc yet these items will be budgeted for. Your guess is as good as mine where these monies will go to.

    In the last presidential debate, I heard a candidate say she will bring the best brains to formulate policies for Nigeria. The thought in my mind as a response to her assertion was that if you bring world experts to formulate policies for Nigeria, the policies will be implemented in Nigeria by Nigerians and in the process monumental leakages will occur thus making the policies ineffective and in the absence of a good justice system nothing will happen to those responsible for these leakages.

    At this point, one begins to wonder why our justice system is not working.  In the wake of the trial and subsequent suspension of Justice Walter Onnoghen from the office of Chief Justice of Nigeria, critics of the Buhari administration had argued that the president was aloof from his government by not being aware of the plans to try the CJN; unfortunately these critics missed the essence of this act. That the president was not aware of the plans to try the CJN implies that President Buhari has given the institutions of justice the freedom and independence to do their work.

    A free and independent justice system is the fundamental for economic and infrastructural development of any nation. To underscore this point, I will draw parallels from four countries namely United States, Israel, Brazil and South Korea.

    In 1973, Spiro Agnew who was vice president to Richard Nixon was compelled to resign from office or be impeached for shady deals involving tax evasion, extortion, bribery and kickbacks from contractors when he was Mayor of Baltimore County and Governor of the State of Maryland. This happened because the American institutions of justice are independent and working, so much so that a sitting president is currently being investigated. If it was in Nigeria, we will all shout haba, this is witch hunting.

    In Israel, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was imprisoned for 18 months for financial impropriety when he was a Mayor of Jerusalem and Minister of Trade. This happens because Israeli institutions of justice are independent and working

    In Brazil President Dilma Rousseff was removed from office because of corruption and ditto for former South Korea President Park Geun-hye who in addition to being impeached was sentenced to 24 years imprisonment. In these cases, the institutions of justice are independent and working so much so that if a person steals, the justice system will eventually catch up with him/her. Can these happen in present day Nigeria? The answer is a big NO. It is very disheartening that the chief interpreter of the law, the custodian of the law, the repository and the depository of the law is not only accused of corruption and breaking the law but has admitted to have committed the act. What then is the fate of justice in such a scheme of things and hope for the common man?

    The crucible of leadership states that everyone is tested by life, but only a few can extract strength and wisdom from their most trying experiences, they are the ones we call leaders. The suspension of the CJN is not only a very courageous act but also an act of leadership by President Buhari. The late American Senator John McCain defined courage not as the absence of fear, but the capacity to act in spite of fear. Most people in Buhari’s shoes would have been afraid to act because the elections are days away. They would have been afraid to act because the opposition parties will capitalize on it; they would have been afraid to act because ethnicity and religion would have been brought to bear on it; they would have been afraid to act because some lawyers who specialized in the defence of corrupt people would write articles and appear on TV to castigate the government and some civil societies would have reasons to appear on the street.

    In spite of these potential sources of fear, President Buhari demonstrated courage by acting the way he did. In the words of Sam Omatseye “is there a time for justice and a time for injustice?’ The first thing non-lawyers like us learnt about law was ‘justice delayed is justice denied’. If a CJN had died a week or days before the election, would such election be postponed? So why the hue and cry about the timing of the suspension of the CJN?

    Given Nigeria’s peculiar situation, courage becomes a competency that our leader must possess in abundant supply; such display of courage must not be superficial but rather an enduring characteristic of a person’s personality. We need courage to take hard decisions on the reformation of our justice system. Luckily, we have a vice president who is versatile in law. We are blessed with people like the Prof Itse Sagays, the Olisa Agbakobas, the Femi Falanas, the Festus Keyamos, the Sulaiman Abdusalam, the Arakpo Mudiaga-Odge et el who can brain storm to give our country a fair, just, transparent and independent justice system that will not be monetised, where cases will be judged on merit and culprit brought to justice and a justice system that will facilitate the rapid development of the Federal Republic of Nigeria through the judicious implementation of budgets at all tiers of government and a justice system that will take us beyond the next level. Unless and until we reform our justice system, we would remain the laughing stock of the world and progress with the speed of a snail. Only a man of courage can do this and Buhari stands distinctive in this regard.

     

    • Olise writes from Lagos.

  • Onnoghen: Appeal Court ruling vindicates Buhari, says APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that the decision of the Court of Appeal to okay the trial of suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, by the Code of Conduct Tribunal has vindicated his suspension from office by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu said in a statement on Thursday that the Appeal Court has further advertised true credentials of the President through its ruling.

    Recall that when the President, acting on the directive of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) announced the suspension of Onnoghen, some opposition parties wrongly alleged an illegal action by the President and viewed the CCT as lacking jurisdiction.

    But the Court of Appeal had in a unanimous decision read by Justice Abdul Aboki dismissed the request brought by Onnoghen asking for a stay of proceedings in his asset declaration trial at the CCT ostensibly clearing any doubt about the competence of the CCT and the procedure that led to the suspension.

    Onilu said: “The APC had in the wake of the suspension insisted that the rule of law be upheld and allowed to thrive while Justice Onnoghen submits himself to the law.

    “The Appeal court ruling has further advertised the credentials of President Buhari as an unrepentant believer in the rule of law, due process and justice. Contrary to claims by the opposition and a section of the Nigerian Bar Association that the suspended CJN is a victim of persecution and that the law is not being followed in his arraignment.

    Read Also: Onnoghen: Court activities resume in Osun

    “The Appeal Court has now confirmed that Onnoghen’s trial at the CCT is indeed within the confines of the law. His suspension is therefore not prejudiced as being painted in some quarters since it was based on an order lawfully issued by the CCT.

    “The suspended CJN had adjudicated on many cases where he ruled that only the CCT is exclusively empowered to entertain cases on asset declaration. It may be tempting for a weak and self-serving leader to ignore these legal precedents, but not President Buhari. He is ever truthful, fearless, fair and just and a stickler to rules.
    “The APC is calling on the opposition to subject their criticisms to constitutional tests before polluting the public space with remarks, largely a product of political experience capable of bringing an incorruptible President to opprobrium. Issues of law cannot thrive where emotions and sentiment are the driving force.“

  • Photos: Mammoth crowd as Buhari campaigns in Kano

    President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived Kano in continuation of his re-election campaigns across the country.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Buhari landed at exactly 12: 55 pm at the 303 Nigerian Air Force Flying Training School Base, Kano State.‎

    Read Also: Video: Buhari arrives Kano to flag off campaign

    He was received by Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, Gov. Akinwumi Ambode of Lagos State, Minister of Aviation and Director General, APC Presidential Campaign Council, Rotimi Amaechi‎.

    Others are; Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Danbazau, Minister of State Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, Accountant General of the Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Idris.

    Others include Kano Business Mogul, Alhaji Aminu Dantata, Governors of Zinder and Maradi in Niger Republic and members of State and National Assembly.‎

     

     

    ‎The president is expected to address a gathering of party supporters at the Sani Abacha Stadium at Kofar-Mata in Kano State, to seek support for his re-election in the February 16, presidential election.

     

     

    Thousands of APC supporters singing solidarity songs and displaying various party insignia had thronged the streets of Kano State since morning to welcome President Buhari to the ancient city.

  • Video: Buhari arrives Kano to flag off campaign

    President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived the Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano state on Thursday with top members of the All Progressives Congress Party (APC).

  • Video: Buhari leaves for Kano

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday departs Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja for Kano, to attend APC Presidential campaign rally at the Sani Abacha Stadium.