The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Buhari’s campaign

  • Buhari thanks Ekiti Obas for supporting Fayemi

    • Promises more FG projects

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday expressed gratitude to Ekiti Obas for their support which led to the election of Governor Kayode Fayemi during the July 14, 2018 election.

    The President, who recalled he enlisted support of the Obas for the governor during his meeting with them few days to the election, said he was happy they are still supporting the current administration in the state.

    He said he was convinced that Governor Fayemi would perform creditably as Governor, having put up a stellar performance as Minister in his cabinet. He added that he is impressed by the Governor’s record of performance so far.

    President Buhari, who cited the national railway line that was re-designed to ensure it passes through Ekiti State and the dualiasation of Ado-Ekiti- Akure road as some of the federal government projects in Ekiti State, said the state would benefit more in the next four years if voted in again as President.

    “I am here again to ask for your support which I usually get from you”, the President told the obas, who were led to the meeting by the chairman of the state council of traditional rulers, HRM, Oba Michael Oluwole Ademolaju.

    In his welcome address, Governor Kayode Fayemi said the APC-led government has a record of putting the people first. This, according to him is the experience of the people of Ekiti, who he said had started enjoying the dividends of good governance in the past three months.

    Dr Fayemi said regular payment of workers salaries and pensions was being given priority attention by his government in line with the President Buhari’s belief that workers should not be denied their wages under any circumstance.

    Fayemi who said the Ekiti people fully embraced the change agenda said the party is busy working to ensure that it post 90 per cent of the votes for President Buhari in the February 16 election.

    Governor Fayemi who also congratulated President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo over the latter’s escape from the helicopter crash attributed the Vice President’s escape to the fact that God has a purpose for his life.

    The spokesperson for the traditional rulers and Ajero of Ijero-Ekiti, HRM Oba Adebayo Adewole, thanked the President for his developmental strides in Ekiti State including connecting the state to the national railway project, adding, however, that the state would be expecting more in the next four years.

    Specifically, the Oba Adewole urged President Buhari to appoint an Ekiti son or daughter to fill the state quota as minister in the federal cabinet.

    Present at the meeting were the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo (SAN); Governors of Ogun, Oyo, Osun and Ondo states.

    Others include the state deputy Governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi; deputy national chairman of the party and former Governor of Ekiti State, Otunba Niyi Adebayo; former Deputy Governor, Osun state, Otunba Iyiola Omisore.

  • ‘Buhari’s campaign will be successful in Akwa Ibom’

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State has restated its readiness for the kick-off of the Southsouth campaign for President Muhammadu Buhari at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on Friday.

    The party said yesterday it was prepared to host the President after the Senior Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang, Managing Director, Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone Authority, Umana Umana, and party stalwarts got official nod to use the 30,000-capacity stadium.

    Umana, who chairs the Central Planning Committee for Buhari 2019 Presidential Campaign kick-off, told a news conference that everything was ready for the event.

    According to him, the party would use the rally to tell Nigerians that Buhari should be re-elected in 2019.

    He said: “It is going to be a national APC event. We are expecting to host Mr. President, the Vice President, national chairman of our party, national leaders, members of the National Working Committee, APC governors, ministers and party faithful.

    “Indeed, this rally will provide the foundation for the take-off of our presidential campaigns, and we will be expecting the 30,000-capacity Godswill Akpabio International Stadium to be filled. From the feedback we are getting, we know that the stadium will be filled to capacity. The people are excited and enthusiastic, and they are waiting to receive the President.

    “We are not surprised because the people have felt the impact of the work of Mr. President. We have reviewed Mr. President’s scorecard as it affects Akwa Ibom, and that is why our members are excited. Even non-APC members are enthusiastic about receiving the President and to thank him ahead of the election.

    “So, attendance at this rally would be a way of telling Mr. President that we appreciate what he has done for us in terms of the key strategic appointments, which he has given to sons and daughters of Akwa Ibom State, and clearly this is unprecedented.

    “When you look at appointments that are based on the discretion of Mr. President; for example the appointment of the senior special assistant to Mr. President on National Assembly Matters, and I also sit by the special grace of God as the managing director of the Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone Authority, the minister of Budget and National Planning. I can go on and on. In all, we have up to about 60 federal appointments”.

  • APC gets nod to use Akpabio Stadium for Buhari’s campaign

    A DAY after it turned down a request by the local chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the use Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, the State government has reversed itself.

    It approved the use of the 30,000-capacity facility for the opposition party yesterday.

    The approval came barely hours after the APC rejected Uyo Township Stadium as alternative for the kick-off of President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign in the Southsouth on Friday.

    The APC insisted on the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium as venue for the kick-off of its presidential campaign.

    The government  turned down the party’s request to use the  stadium for the commencement of Buhari’s campaign, scheduled for December 28.

    APC state chairman Iniobong Okopido had applied to the government for the use of the facility for the campaign launch, but the state, through the Youths & Sports Commissioner, Monday Uko, turned the application down and instead offered the small capacity Uyo Township Stadium.

    According to Uko, the stadium managers, Messrs. Julius Berger, now on vacation in Germany, had locked the stadium and would resume on January 7, 2019.

    Besides, the commissioner explained that the decision became necessary to safeguard the pitch for the state team, Akwa United to play their home games as the National Professional Football League (NPFL) kicks-off on January 13.

    But the APC rejected the commissioners’ explanation yesterday.

    Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang told a news conference that the reasons given by the government were untenable.

    Senator Enang, who doubles as the Director-General of Nsima Ekere Governorship Campaign Council, counselled the government against over-stretching it’s diplomacy in its continued plea for the use of facility.

    Enang said: “We will continue to use diplomacy for the request, but if the diplomacy fails, we will still use the stadium. When higher immunity meets the state immunity, it would succumb. We will not allow Udom to blackmail Akwa Ibom.”

    He said the government’s action was pre-meditated and political, recalling that “the governorship primary that Udom was declared the winner in 2014, was done in that same stadium”.

    Accusing the government of double standard, Enang said that the senator representing Akwa Ibom Northeast, Bassey Albert, did his empowerment and constituency briefing at the same stadium.

    He said: “Udom should know that it was his predecessor Godswill Akpabio that built the stadium with funds allocated to the state by the Federal Government led by President Buhari and denying Akwa Ibom people the use of that facility is a collective insult on the people of the state.”

    He explained that the choice of Akwa Ibom for the Southsouth campaign launch became necessary following widespread acceptability of the APC in the state and in the region.

    However, the government acceded to the opposition party’s request last night.

    In a statement issued by Youth and Sports Commissioner Monday Ebong Uko, the government gave conditional approval for the stadium to be used for the presidential campaign rally.

    The approval came barely few hours after the senior special adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang threatened that the APC may force its way into the 30,000-capacity stadium should the government refused to reconsider its request.

  • Why Dickson allowed Buhari’s campaign, by PDP chiefs

    Some stalwarts of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State are criticising Governor Seriake Dickson for allowing All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, to hold his rally at the only stadium in the state.

    Buhari, last Thursday, held his rally at the Samson Siasia Stadium in Yenagoa, the state capital. The event witnessed a large turnout of supporters for the APC candidate.

    But it was learnt that some PDP stalwarts were unhappy that the governor allowed Gen. Buhari access to the stadium.

    Before the rally, the PDP chieftains allegedly mounted pressure on some government officials to make Dickson turn down APC’s request to use the stadium.

    Dickson was said to have refused to do their bidding, insisting on political tolerance and peaceful co-existence.

    A top-ranking official of the state government confirmed the development.

    He said the governor would not stop any other political party from using the state’s facility for campaign.

    The official, a commissioner, said Dickson exhibited politics of maturity, being an advocate of political and religious tolerance.

    He stressed that the ripples in some quarters that Dickson allowed Gen. Buhari to campaign at the stadium were misplaced.

    The official said the state facilities belonged to Bayelsa people, irrespective of their political leanings.