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  • INEC’s suspension of Rivers’ APC :Party’s candidates will contest in Feb 16, March 2 polls, says chieftain

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has declared that no matter the odds, APC’s candidates in Rivers will surely participate in the February 16 and March 2 general elections.

    Eze, in an online statement yesterday, urged members of the APC in Rivers State not to lose hope over Thursday’s removal of party candidates’ names by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) .

    However, Accord Party’s governorship candidate in Rivers, Chief Dumo LuluBriggs,  hailed INEC for upholding due process and the rule of law, by not publishing names of APC’s candidates in the state. APC’s Eze said: “INEC has just stated that there is a big room for candidates of APC in Rivers State to be on the ballot on Febuary16 and March 2, 2019.

    According to Festus Okoye, if the judgments come very close to the elections, Rivers State polls will be moved a little bit forward, to accommodate other parties. So, why are we agitated over an issue we know that we have a good case?

    “The unfolding drama in Rivers State has exposed the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the lawmaker representing Rivers SouthEast  Senatorial District, Senator Magnus Abe, a governorship aspirant on APC’s platform, as working together to cause confusion in Rivers APC.

    “Wike’s and Abe’s fear of the pedigree of the leader of the APC in Rivers State and the South-South zone, Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister for Transportation, and the governorship candidate of the party in Rivers, Pastor Tonye Cole, has driven them to the extreme point of attempting to muzzle justice.

    “The target of the persistent attacks on the APC in Rivers State is not the party, but its leader (Amaechi). “All the judgments so far delivered against APC in Rivers State and its candidates are based on the faulty foundation.

    What is expected of our legal team is to prove that Justice Nwogu’s judgement was based on a fellow earlier threatened by one of the judges that he was not approved to represent the party in the matter.

    “Luckily, we have a ruling on representation coming up on Monday, January 21 at the Supreme Court, where all the lies and issues will be sorted out. Wike and Abe will be disgraced when our candidates not only participate in the elections, but formally retire them from active politics.”

    The chieftain of the main opposition party in Rivers also stated that the court cases were divinely designed to expose true enemies of democracy in Rivers state, who refused to learn from the miracle of October 25, 2007 in a landmark judgment of the Supreme Court which sacked Sir Celestine Omehia and pronounced Amaechi governor, with his subsequent inauguration on October 26, 2007.

    In another development, Accord Party’s Lulu-Briggs, through the Publicity Secretary, Dason Nemieboka, yesterday in Port Harcourt, congratulated the National Assembly candidates of the party for making the final list of candidates approved by INEC, to contest the February 16 Senatorial and House of Representatives’ elections.

    He assured Rivers people that Accord party would not disappoint them, if given the mandate to represent them in the National Assembly, while expressing optimism that INEC would soon publish his (LuluBriggs’) name as the authentic and recognised governorship candidate of Accord party for the March 2 poll. On January 7, the Federal High Court (FHC), Port Harcourt, presided over by Justice James Kolawole Omotoso, ordered INEC to remove names of APC’s candidates from the list of candidates for the polls.

    One of the suits at the FHC, Port Harcourt was filed by Senator Magnus Abe (Rivers Southeast) and 43 others, seeking the court to declare them candidates of the APC in 2019 general elections in Rivers state, and another filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), seeking the court to declare that the APC had no candidates for the elections.

    Read also: Atiku’s visit to U.S. an attempt to score cheap political point —APC UK

    Tonye Cole Campaign Organisation of the APC, through its spokesman, Ogbonna Nwuke, however, stated that it would not give up on the governorship matter.

    He said: “We are already in court challenging the judgment of Justice Chin wendu Nwogu of the Rivers State High Court, Port Harcourt.

    “Our position, after consultations with our lawyers, is that we shall challenge at the appellate court, the FHC’s order that INEC should remove the name of Pastor Tonye Cole from its list. Although, we were not favoured by the decision, our faith in the country’s judicial system remains unshaken. “We believe that we have sufficient grounds on which to appeal the decisions of the Federal High Court and the judgment of the  Rivers State High Court.

    It is clear from the judgments that Abe and his supporters have no locus. It is our hope that they will return and join us. It is by now obvious to all that the fight is between the APC and the PDP. No use can be achieved by their continued appearance in courts. “While we urge our supporters to remain calm, we wish to emphasise that we will not give up in our sincere fight to secure justice.’’

  • PDP’will be back in 2019 – PDP chieftain

  • My loyalty to APC sacrosanct – Chieftain

    As the All Progressives Congress APC holds its State House of Assembly party primaries on

    Thursday October 4, 2018, across the 18 local government councils in Edo State, chieftain

    of the party from Uhorhua Ward (4) in Esan South East Local Government Area of Edo State,

    Hon. Louis Imhandegbelo, has reiterated his commitment to the Governor Obaseki- led APC government in the state.

    The former Special Assistant to Governor Obaseki on Political Matters stated this while speaking with newsmen in Benin. He called on APC party loyalists to disregard comments emanating from some party members across the state over his recent resignation as special assistant to Governor Obaseki, adding that his resignation does not mean that he has decamped from the party adding that he remains a card carrying member of APC.

    “I want to say that my loyalty still remains with the APC in the state. I have nothing against our governor. I will continue to support his giant step in ensuring the successful delivery of democratic dividends to the good people of Uhordua in Esan South East of Edo State. I also want to use this medium to tell my APC supporters in Uhordua Ward 4 that I have not defected from the party as being speculated. I was never suspended by the party as alleged in a letter signed by Chief  Andrew Ebalunode of the same ward; I only resigned my appointment as aide to Governor Obaseki.”

    “Again, it is important to say that ten members of the ward cannot suspend anybody from our great party according to the constitution of the party. For me and members of my foundation, we would continue to support our great party, especially now that elections are around the corner. “

  • Breaking: Gunmen assassinate Imo APC Chieftain

    Gunmen suspected to be hired assassins on Friday morning  killed an All Progressives Congress (APC) Local Government Chairman, Mr. Sunny Ejeagwu.

    The victim was the APC Chairman for Ideato North Council Area of the state.

    Read Also: Troops, police repel Boko Haram attack in Borno

    He was among the Local Government Chairmen elected in the fresh Congress conducted in the State.

     

    Details later….

  • Tenure elongation not in APC’s interest, says chieftain

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Dr. Wale Ahmed, yesterday warned that the proposed tenure elongation for the National Executive Committee (NEC) and the National Working Committee (NWC) has divided the party.

    Ahmed, who is a plaintiff in the tenure elongation case against the party, said unless the proposal is cancelled, it will lead to disaster, adding that it may lead to disaster.

    He hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for his objection to the illegal tenure extension, stressing that he has laid a good example of leadership.

    He described the president as a courageous and forthright leader who will never endorse the violation of the 1999 Constitution and the APC constitution by the party leadership.

    Ahmed, a former House of Assembly member and commissioner in Lagos State, recalled that party members were taken aback by the decision to illegally extend the tenure of the National Executive Committee (NEC) and the National Working Committee (NWC) on February 27.

    The aggrieved chieftain said the decision rattled many chieftains who protested the move to exclude them from the intra-party leadership elections which the congresses and the national convention can only guarantee in accordance with the laid down extant laws.

    Ahmed applauded President Buhari, who he described as a performing leader, adding that he also has interest in serving the party as a willing compatriot and ally in the business of good governance.

    He said the president has not failed the nation, judging by his achievements in revatalising the critical sectors of the economy in the last three years.

    Ahmed said the onus is on the NEC and NWC to heed the advice of President Buhari by putting in motion the machinery for the conduct of the congresses at the wards, local governments and states, and the national convention at the national level.

    He said: “I congratulate Mr. president for being unequivocal, courageous and forthright in addressing the issue of tenure elongation. How can a party known as the All Progressives Congress (APC) refuse to hold congresses? The decision makes a lie of the very existence of our party.”

    The former legislator said the party leadership may escalate the controversy and crisis over the tenure extension, if it refused to quickly retrace its steps and release the timetable for the congresses and the national convention.

    He added: “One extra day for the executive committee by whatever nomenclature to truncate the procedures for congresses and convention, either through the setting up of a an acting or caretaker committee, will not stand. There is simply no ground for it, both in the party constitution and the 1999 Constitution.

    “The APC of all parties should not even be seen to be taking any illegal step, in whatever guise, at circumventing the constitution and jeopardizing internal democracy.”

    Ahmed who was silent on whether he will withdraw the case against the party, said he looked forward to the correction of the mistake already made by the NEC on February 27 by heeding the directive of the president.

    He said: “I am waiting to see how the NEC will handle the controversy after the intervention of the president, and what argument it would canvass against the constitution on the contentious issues raised by the president, who has issued a fatherly directive as the leader of the party.”

  • APC chieftain Rigachikun returns to PDP

    •‘It’s over for APC’

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Kaduna State, Yaro Makama Rigachikun, has defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Rigachikun was a former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before defecting to the APC in 2014.

    He was received back into the PDP at a ceremony attended by top party leaders, including interim National Chairman Senator Ahmed Makarfi and the Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jibrin.

    Rigachikun said he made a mistake by joining the APC in 2014. According to him, APC has failed Nigerians and so the time has come to “change the change”.

    “The APC has brought much suffering to Nigerians. In Kaduna State, the teachers are crying, local government workers are suffering and traditional institutions are ridiculed.

    “The school feeding programme is in comatose, in fact, nothing is working, so we must change the change,” Rigachikun said.

    Hundreds of defecting members burnt their brooms, the APC symbol.

    The chieftain, who defected with hundreds of his followers, said it was over for the APC in Kaduna.

    He condemned the sacking of teachers and local government workers, alleging that Governor Nasir El-Rufai is implementing anti-people programmes.

    Rigachikun told El-Rufai to start packing from the Government House, as the people will vote him out in 2019.

  • APC chieftain calls for more democratic inclusion

    APC chieftain calls for more democratic inclusion

    A chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State, Prof. Richard King, has called for the strengthening of democratic institutions to give Nigerians more opportunities to participate in the democratic process.

    Speaking with The Nation in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, King said Nigeria will only get it right when she allows true democracy to prevail and “citizens are guaranteed a sacrosanct role in her leadership recruitment process.” He said democratic institutions are weak and frustrating because citizens are denied participatory role and the system continues to pander to the interest of a few.

    King added: “When the entire process is non-inclusive and operates at the detriment of the collective interest or general good, for so long will the governing class be aligned to the selfish ambitions of political godfathers; and never to the people’s good.”

    King said the people must be allowed to participate meaningfully in the elective process. His words: “The most critical link in the governance chain lies in peoples’ right to choose their representatives.”

    King, who is a Professor of Fisheries and Aquaculture, flayed the role of the state independent electoral commissions in conducting local government elections, saying it amounts to a travesty and mockery of democracy, “because only the ruling party in each state wins in such contest”.

    He said: “It is a mockery of democracy for state independent electoral commissions to continue organising such embarrassing roll-calls all in the name of conducting local government elections.”

    The professor of fisheries and aquaculture said popular participation in the leadership selection process, particularly at the grassroots level, is the panacea to arresting the leadership deficit currently bedeviling the nation’s development. He added the country has the potentials for tremendous growth, if human and natural resources are harnessed and utilized optimally.

    He said residents should leverage on the local government elections scheduled for December 2, 2017 in Akwa Ibom State, to help in deepening the country’s democratic process.

  • 2019: No alternative to APC, says chieftain

    2019: No alternative to APC, says chieftain

    Nigerians have no option than to return the All Progressives Congress (APC) to power in 2019, the Deputy National Chairman (North) of the party, Senator Lawal Shuaibu, has stated.

    He said Nigerians will massively vote for the party again based on the achievements of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

    Shuaibu spoke when he received the Deputy Director of the Research Office, International Department of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC) Dong Weihua at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja.

    Weihua led a Chinese delegation on a working visit to the APC.

    He said the party has restored the confidence of Nigerians in governance through diligent implementation of its campaign promises.

    He said before the coming of the Buhari government, impunity was the order of the day while corruption was an accepted norm.

    The APC chieftain said: “I make bold to say that there is no other option before Nigerians other than the APC.

    “We inflicted a very big injury on the former ruling party in 2015. During the campaigns, we realised our own method benefitted us because our manner of campaign was devoid of any hate speech.

    “Theirs was full of hate speech and Nigerians clearly saw the difference.

    “After we took over as a government, we brought out to the open for Nigerians to see the amount of damage done to the economy to every fabric of the Nigerian society.

    “Impunity became a culture. Corruption was an accepted norm. That was how we found this country. We promised Nigerians that we will fix the economy, ensure security of lives and property and fight corruption no matter who is involved.”

    He maintained despite the rot APC met on ground, the current administration has quickly delivered on its electoral promises.

    “The eyes of Nigerians are open. They know who is sincere about things. Nigerians know which party to choose when elections come in 2019.

    “So I can assure you we are very confident in 2019 for a re-election,” Shuaibu added.

  • Killing of PDP chieftain sparks protest in Delta community

    Killing of PDP chieftain sparks protest in Delta community

    •We’ve arrested three suspects -Police

    Protest rocked Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State last Friday, following the killing of a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party, Mr Felix Okugbeni, by unidentified gunmen.

    Until his death, Okugbeni was the chairman of the party in Ward 4, Ughwagba community in Okpe Local Government Area.

    It was learnt that Okugbeni was shot dead on his way home shortly after he and other party chieftains held a meeting with a politician in the state.

    Sources said that the politician was riding in his tricycle (keke Marwa) with a lady, identified as Gloria, when the gunmen shot him.

    It was gathered that the tricycle was riddled with bullets while the lady also suffered gunshot wounds and she is now receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital.

    “The ward chairman was shot severally in the abdomen and chest by the gunmen until they were sure that he was dead before they fled the scene. The lady riding with him was also shot, but she did not die and is now being treated in a private hospital in an unknown location,” an impeccable source told our reporter.

    The incident, The Nation learnt ignited protests  in the community, which according to sources, is battling with a lingering leadership tussle in a local youth association.

    Several houses were razed by a mob as residents fled the community for fear of being attacked or killed.

    Another source said:’’ Okugbeni, after the visit of the politician, left the community on his tricycle and it was on his return home to his house in company of a lady that he was shot by suspected gunmen on his arrival, while the lady sustained bullet wounds.

    “What l cannot confirm now is whether the attack was as a result of the visit of the politician or because of the lingering youth leadership tussle that has been on over time, but it coincided with the visit of the politician to the ward; that is why it has left tongues wagging on possible political undertone.

    “There has been issue of youth leadership tussle in Ughwagba community, where some highly placed persons were trying to impose someone suspected to be a cultist on the community. The move was opposed by the deceased, who insisted that Ughwagba is a peaceful community and they cannot allow a cultist to take the leadership of the youth  but whether that was what led to this killing is what I cannot say.

    “We also believe that there are some highly placed persons in the community that we feel might be behind the incident and we are calling on the police to do a thorough investigation, so that the culprits and those still on the run are brought to book.

    “What sparked the destruction and burning of houses by angry mobs was when the rumour filtered into town that the ward chairman had been killed, and probably the community youths suspected some persons who may have committed the crime.”

    It was however gathered that the Orerokpe Police Division arrested some suspects in connection with the incident.

    Police sources said the suspects were later transferred to the State’s Police Command headquarters, Asaba while manhunt has been launched for other suspects on the run.

    Meanwhile, members of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, led by Chief Dick Gberevbie and Mr. Adolor Gberevbie, have paid a condolence visit to the bereaved family of the slain politician.

    Confirming the incident, the spokesman of Delta State Police Command, Andrew Aniamaka, said some suspects have been arrested, adding that the case is being investigated by the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Asaba.

  • Ogun 2019: No anointed candidate in APC, says chieftain

    Ogun 2019: No anointed candidate in APC, says chieftain

    A chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Ogun state, Otunba Babatunde Onakoya, has said that it was too early for any member to align with governorship aspirants without a recourse to the party’s directive.

    He said the party has not anointed any aspirant as its governorship candidate for the 2019 election.

    Otunba Onakoya stated this at Eid-el-Fitr party he hosted on Saturday in Ijebu Ode for party stalwarts in the nine local government areas that make up Ogun East Senatorial District.

    The party chieftain who is from Ogun East  said such move can jeopardise the chance of APC in 2019 if there were no unity and understanding among party members in the state.

    Those at the party included party members, traditional rulers, council of chiefs and the Chairman of Leguru Local Council Development Area of Odogbolu Local Government in Ijebu, Hon. Ololade Onakoya

    The APC chieftain lamented that matter has caused the disunity and anti-party activities within the party.

    Otunba Onakoya, who was the Chairman of Mobilization Team for Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s Campaign Organisation condemned observed political alignment and realignment  unfolding among members of APC  in Ogun East Senatorial District.

    He expressed worry about high level of anti party activities and unapproved political meetings with some governorship candidates.

    The APC chieftain said: “Nobody can hijack party structure in the state without knowledge of the governor and our leaders in the party. Therefore all members should relax and be hopeful for the best in 2019.

    “I am very sorry for those that have claimed to be controlling our party by the feather and noise of the market. This is not the time to antagonise one another, but to be united so that the party can win the 2019 elections”.

    “We must not allow our actions and inactions, unnecessary alignment and realignment to truncate APC chance in 2019. Therefore, we must listen to the voices of our leaders and must not go against them. Let us wait for our governor and party leaders to decide who to follow and don’t let us jump the gun.

    “Governor Amosun is a man who has what we call common touch, symbol of hope and achiever in the struggle against all forms of oppressions and a father to all those who suffer injustice. We believe in his sterling leadership and know that he will get us the best candidate when the time comes”, he stated.

    Responding on behalf of APC members in Leguru LCDA, Princess Victoria Adejoke described Otunba Onakoya as chief mobilizer, who always put smile on the faces of his people.

    She noted that since he became the Mobilisation Chairman for Governor Amosun second term in office, he never misled nor  sold out to the opposition during struggle of 2015 Governorship Election.

    “It is not an exaggeration neither is it an oversimplified opinion that Otunba Babatunde Onakoya is the most loyal and faithful follower of Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State. The party was in comatose situation in Ogun East, it is only Otunba Onakoya that uplift the lamp for people to see while the motive is to support the incumbent Governor Ibikunle Amosun on his second term in office.

    “If Otunba Onakoya is to be placed on the same scale with other party faithful in other regions of the State, he may still  outshine others in terms of loyalty to his master, Governor Ibikunle Amosun, not even a tape rule can measure his loyalty”, she added.