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  • Ondo poll: CPC candidate barred from tribunal venue

    Ondo poll: CPC candidate barred from tribunal venue

    Drama ensued at the venue of Ondo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on Tuesday as men of the State Security Service barred the governorship candidate of Congress for Progressive Change in the state last gubernatorial poll, Prince Soji Ehinlanwo, from entering the court room.

    Ehinlanwo, who led the state executives of the party to the tribunal sitting, was among the four petitioners challenging the victory of the Labour Party Candidate, Dr.Olusegun Mimiko.

    The CPC flagbearer arrived the court premises in time, but was prevented from entering the court room despite identifying himself as CPC governorship candidate who should show his appearance to members of the election panel before the commencement of proceedings.

    This development led to uproar between the SSS and supporters of CPC, who alleged that the security operatives had been selective in their screening, by giving undue advantage to the LP members.

    It took the intervention of some senior officials at the tribunal before Ehinlanwo and the party executives were allowed entry into the court room.

    Speaking with our correspondent shortly after the session, Ehinlanwo, who condemned the attitude of SSS, said he didn’t understand why the security operatives wanted to bar him from the tribunal sitting.

     

  • 2015: ACN, CPC, ANPP to adopt one manifesto

    2015: ACN, CPC, ANPP to adopt one manifesto

    Opposition parties –Action Congress of Nigeria (AC N), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) – are to run on the same manifesto to dislodge the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015.

    Leaders of the parties spoke yesterday at the presentation of a book, “2015 manifesto of Nigeria opposition politics”, written by Salihu Muhammed Lukman.

    Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the ACN, Mr. Audu Ogbeh, CPC National Chairman Prince Tony Momoh and ANPP National Chairman Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu spoke in the same vein at the ceremony.

    Ogbeh reminded the parties that planning a merger without a manifesto is like boarding an aircraft when the pilot has no flight plans.

    Ogbeh, who is the ACN contact committee chairman on the merger talks, noted that the opposition parties are negotiating to fuse not because they simply want offices but because they have an agenda that will bring about the general well-being of Nigerians.

    Ogbeh said: “And as we are forming a new alliance, I wish to say that the options before us are not many: rather merge, we’ll rather fuse or perch. Let not the ruling party celebrate its victory or capacity to govern.

    “Let there be fair competition. Let there be contest of ideas. Let us put our manifesto together, market them to the public , teach them to our villagers at the lowest level and say this is why we have come together. Not because we want office but because we have an agenda that will bring about the general well-being of the people.

    “If we are going to get there at all, we have to look at the issues of future elections. We have to change our focus. Wandering without a manifesto is like boarding an aircraft when the pilot has no flight plan.”

    Momoh backed Ogbeh. He said: “I am very happy about the opening remarks of the chairman. I accept all he has said…You must build your party’s promises on your manifesto. What we are doing today is replacing corruption, fraud and indiscipline.”

    Other dignitaries at the event are: Former Kano State Governor Ibrahim Shekarau, former Deputy Governor of Bauchi State Alhaji Garuba Gandi, who represented CPC leader Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, House of Representatives Minority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila, who represented ACN Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) Chairman Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu and ACN National Chairman Chief Bisi Akande, who was represented by Senator Shaibu Lawal.

    ACN presidential candidate in the last election Malam Nuhu Ribadu, Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola and Senator Bukar Abba-Ibrahim, among others were there.

    Gen. Buhari, according to his representative, has expressed his support for the merger of opposition parties.

    “What is left is for us is to finalise the merger process for us to succeed. What Nigerians are asking is that the opposition should merge as soon as possible,” Gen. Buhari was quoted as saying.

    Tinubu promised that they would make sacrifices for the progressive alliance to succeed, adding that all that the people require of them is the assurance to sacrifice and for the opposition parties to play their roles.

    He recalled that it took the cooperation of the opposition parties to elect Aminu Waziri Tambuwal as Speaker of the House of Representatives against the wish PDP.

    “The opposition parties can come together to elect the President of Nigeria,” Tinubu said.

    Shekarau said of the book: “As the chairman of ANPP merger contact, it has given us a challenge.”

    Onu said the 2015 elections would be a battle between the conservatives and the progressives as people die of deprivation daily since the 14 years that the PDP has been in power.

    He said for the suffering Nigerian children to have the basic needs, the progressives must vote the conservatives out of power.

    “I want to say that all that Nigerians want is change and we deserve a change. We must do whatever is necessary to give Nigeria that change to earn respect by having the government that will look after the interest of all Nigerians.”

    He said his party turned a new leaf to become outright opposition since it pulled out of the Government of National Unity.

    Fayemi said people’s concern is how many times the ACN has changed its name, but he quickly added: “I am not a slave of a name.”

    He challenged the opposition parties to organise and stop agonizing, adding: “I know that my party is ready and what I heard from CPC, I know that they are ready.”

    Aregbesola advised the parties to find answers to the fears and yearnings of Nigerians. He urged opposition parties to craft their manifesto for a merged party in a manner that it will allay the fears of Nigerians.

    Tinubu recalled that it was the fierce resistance of the opposition parties that made the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to drop the adoption of electronic voting.

    According to him, the resistance was due to the fear of what he called the PDP’s manipulation.

    But he submitted that opposition parties would now push for the review of the law to allow the use of electronic voting in subsequent elections.

    His words: “The reason for opposition to electronics voting by ACN, ANPP and others at the time was because we were very wary of sophisticated rigging. We were very wary of advanced technological rigging.

    “We had seen what had happened in advanced democracy, like the US during the Al Gore and Bush era. More importantly, the issue of electronic voting at the time was being driven by the PDP members in the House. So, we felt, with PDP, the more you look, the less you see and they were driving so vehemently the issue of electronic voting. We knew there was an agenda somewhere. We had to organise our base and we opposed that issue to put that in the electoral law.”

    Ogbeh condemned President Goodluck Jonathan for celebrating free and fair election in Ghana whereas in Nigeria people cannot vote electronically.

  • CPC blasts Obasanjo over comments on Boko Haram

    CPC blasts Obasanjo over comments on Boko Haram

    The Congress for Progressive Change has blamed former president Olusegun Obasanjo over his comment on the Boko Haram sect.

    The National Publicity Secretary of CPC, Rotimi Fashakin, while reacting to the controversy generated by the ex-president’s comments on the Islamic sect, said Obasanjo disappointed Nigerians by choosing wrong people to succeed him.

    He said, “As Nigerians, we need to ask ourselves the leadership content of Gen. Obasanjo’s attributes that keep defying the law of succession as a fundamental imperative in Leadership. A good leader is measured by the quality of his successor!

    “In 1979, Gen. Obasanjo handed over power under disputable circumstances, to a civilian regime that proved to be a case study in administrative ineptitude. Little wonder, in about four years of its life, the corrective military regime that toppled it, listed a litany of woes besetting the nation under the perfunctory watch of the regime.

    “In like manner, Gen. Obasanjo handed over power, in 2007, to a sickly president that brought the socio-political milieu of the nation to a sickly state! The regime so born has now given birth to an irredeemably sick offspring. It is the Nigerian state that is worse off because her political and economic health is in shambolic state.

    “This brings us to some pertinent questions:

    • is it a deliberate personal policy by Gen. Obasanjo not to ensure a credible successor to himself?

    • would this suggest that there is a desire in him for the people to always make his regime a reference point vis-à-

    vis the succeeding regimes?

    • Would this not suggest a selfish desire not to care if Nigeria’s dream is imperilled so long there is a noxious

    messianic imagery of himself?

    • Is Gen. Obasanjo not the architect of the travails of the Nigerian State since 1979?

     

  • CPC asks court to dismiss PDP’s claim to Katsina senatorial seat

    The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and Senator Abubakar Yar’Adua (Katsina Central) have asked a Federal High Court, Abuja, to dismiss a suit by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Senator Ibrahim Ida.

    Ida is seeking an order of the court to declare him as the winner of the election into the Senate.

    The Supreme Court, in its December 16, 2011 judgment, had sacked two senators and eight House of Representatives members in Katsina.

    The politicians contested on the platform of the CPC.

    They are: Senators Abdu Umar Yandoma and Ahmed Stores, as well as Representatives Musa Salisu, Aminu Ashiru, Murtala Isah, Muntari Dandutse, Umar K, Umar Dankawa, Tasiu Doguru and Mohammed Tukur.

    Justice Walter Onnoghen held that “the courts cannot still decide as between two or more contending parties which of them is the nominated candidate of a political party; that power still resides in the political parties to exercise”.

    Following the decision, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) issued new Certificates of Return to candidates the CPC, which it claimed it sponsored for the April 2011 general elections.

    They are: Sadiq Yar’Adua (Central Senatorial District) and Hadi Sirika (North Senatorial), Hon. Ahmed Kaita (Kankia/Ingawa Fed Constituency) and Hon. Salisu Salisco (Kaita/Jibiya).

    Others are Honourables; Sheik Umar Abubakar (Katsina), Salisu Daura (Daura/Maiaduwa/Sandamu), Isa Doro (Mani/Bindawa), Sani Mashi (Mashi/Dutsi), Abbas Machika (Kankara/Faskari/Sabuwa) and Dr. Mansur Funtua (Funtua/Dandume).

    Acting on this, the beneficiaries were sworn in by the National Assembly.

    Dissatisfied, Ida filed an originating summons wherein he asked the court to declare that he was the rightful candidate to step into the seat of Sadiq YarAdua.

    Since Ahmed Stores that lawfully participated in the election has been replaced, Ida is contending that the CPC had no lawful candidate for the election.

    In an originating summons filed by his lawyer, Chief Alex Izinyon, SAN, Ida is asking the court to declare that it was wrong for INEC to withdraw the certificate of return from Stores and issued it Yar’Adua.

    He also preayed the court to hold that Yar’Adua should not have been inaugurated as the senator representing the senatorial district.

    Relying on Sections 68 (1) and 75 (1) and (2) of the Electoral Act 2010, the plaintiff is asking the court to determine whether or not the INEC had any power to withdraw the certificates of return to issue new certificates of returns to another set of persons.

     

  • CPC condemns Jonathan’s ‘Xmas message

    CPC condemns Jonathan’s ‘Xmas message

    The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) yesterday condemned the Christmas message delivered by President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The party described the message as a “damp squib.”

    The CPC, which made its position known in a statement in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, accused the ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) of running a pauperisation policy.

    The statement said: “The Congress for Progressive Change heartily congratulates the Nigerian people for stoically wading through a very horrendous year, largely made so by the deliberate pauperisation policy of the PDP-led ruling Federal government.

    “A year that started with the crude and perilous 49 per cent increase of petrol pump price by a very cruel and insensitive regime, eventually unveiled the most bizarre incongruence in national life in the over five decades’ existence of the Nigerian State.

    “President Goodluck Jonathan, in his season’s message to Nigerians, said inter-alia: “No one should doubt that we have the political will and determination to deliver on our promise of positive changes in the living conditions of our people in the shortest possible time….. It is my hope and expectation that more of the efforts, actions and measures we are already undertaking in these areas will successfully come to fruition next years and make the results of the diligent project planning and execution being done under this administration more apparent to all Nigerians.”

    “It is doubtful if the President truly believes that Nigerians can trust him on this one, after many broken promises in the past one year and sheer unwillingness to assuage the cruelty unleashed on them by his administration’s lethargy and incompetence.

    “Indeed, this President and his forebears in the ruling behemoth have collectively mismanaged – in the last 13 years – the hopes of Nigerians and brought the nation into impecunious status through unprecedented corruption and profligacy.”

    The party picked holes in the huge funds being spent on fuel subsidy.

    It alleged that the subsidy regime has become a bleeding pipe through which scarce funds are siphoned into private pockets.

    The statement added: “With N2.67 trillion and N1.05 trillion said to have been spent on fuel subsidy in 2011 and 2012 respectively, this administration has unwittingly created a bleeding pipe – in which the scarce resources of state are siphoned into private pockets of cronies and acolytes of the regime.

    “The conundrum that this administration has brought the Nation is that: any increase in world crude oil price would not translate into the prosperity of the Nigeria and her citizens. The administration of the fuel subsidy, under the regime, has become a phenomenon in legendary opacity and monstrous corrupt tendencies.”

    Regarding insecurity in the country, the party accused the Jonathan administration of lack of capacity to address it.

    The statement said: “On security, the administration has demonstrated lack of capacity in tackling the myriad of insecurity issues that have assailed the nation in the outgoing year. After each deadly bomb blast- with attendant fatalities- it had become a regular template of presidential response to listen to assurances of investigation and security cover for all under the nation space. This is why, as a party, we believe President’s season’s message is a damp squib.

    “An Administration that continually carries on with nauseous impunity, whilst the people’s rights to good living are continually being trampled upon, cannot be trusted.

    “An Administration, that is incapable of prioritizing the nation’s need as against the avaricious comfort of its Principals and minions, cannot be trusted. An Administration that, through its character and body language continually plays up the ethno-religious fault lines of the Nation’s geo-politics cannot be trusted.

    “An Administration, that continually deals in deliberate mendacity and employs obscurantist policy as its philosophy, cannot be trusted.

    “As a party, we know too well about the extemporaneous foundation of this regime. It was more interested in seizing political power rather than the adequate planning for effectual governance.

    “We have equally noted that the same national existential conditions, that brought untold anguish and increased the squalid environments of the nation in the last one year, have not changed.

    “It is easily discernible, therefore, that the President’s speech was meant to fulfill a hollow ritual and not the communication based on perspicacious planning for a better future. On our part, we wish the Nigerian people Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year.”

  • CPC to PDP: we don’t support violence

    CPC to PDP: we don’t support violence

    The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) has faulted the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) for calling it a violent party.

    The party alleged that the PDP is rather a nest of killers. The CPC, which replied the ruling party in a statement in Abuja through its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, raised six posers for PDP to answer.

    The statement read: “The CPC noted the disparaging commentary of Chief Olisa Metuh, the National Publicity Secretary of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) wherein he characterized the CPC as a party that “believes in violence and religious politics.” As a party, we have come to understand the PDP, as a party peopled by egregiously violent ones, which earned it the sobriquet: ‘nest of killers.’

    “We know that the image makers of the PDP have penchant for conjectures, insinuations and unsupportable assertions. We, in the CPC, would prefer to confront this latest impudence by the PDP image launderer with verifiable facts.

    “The CPC, as a party, under the leadership of unquestionably disciplined Nigerians, has never been involved in acts capable of injuring the fragility of the social-political equilibrium in Nigeria . Our national leader, General Muhammadu Buhari(GMB), was rigged out of national elections three times and in these times, he ventilated his aversion to the anomalies in the Law Courts!

    “The PDP leadership, having mismanaged Nigerians’ expectations for good governance in the last 13 years, now feels comfortable throwing tantrums in very despicable manner. We are very certain that the Nigerian people, being the best judges, are capable of seeing through all the carefully woven obfuscation. On our part, we remain unfazed and would continue to pursue the agenda of peace and ethno-religious harmony of the Nigerian people. God bless Nigeria”.

    The six posers raised by the CPC for the PDP to respond to or controvert are: “Fact one: On 29th November, 1999, a PDP-led Federal Government- less than one year in office- ordered the violent invasion of Odi, a predominantly Ijaw community in Bayelsa State. It is note-worthy to state that this community was not in any secessionist plot against the Nigerian state. After the dust of the invasion cleared, the Human Rights Watch concluded that “the soldiers must certainly have killed tens of unarmed civilians and that figures of several hundred dead are entirely plausible.”

    “Fact two: The same PDP-led administration, under the leadership of the progenitor of the PDP, between October 22 and 24, 2001, ensured that some communities in Benue State were violently and crudely invaded, which led to the deaths of no fewer than 300 people. The affected communities were Zaki-Biam, Tse Adoor, Gbeji, Vaase, Anyiin, Iorjaa, Jootar, Sankera and Kyado. Though the Federal Government agreed to a N41 Billion compensation for this act of unmitigated violence, we believe that the indiscretion that led to these extra-judicial killings could have been avoided.

    “Fact Three: In the eight-year rule of the same regime (1999-2007), the Nigerian polity virtually became a Sanguinary with the unresolved wicked assassinations that characterized everyday living. More bewildering was the fact that a serving Attorney General and Minister of Justice, the late Chief Ajibola Ige, was murdered in his home – in the full glare of his security details- with the origin of the murderous violence yet to be unraveled!

    “Fact Four: In October 2009, a chieftain of PDP, Chief Bode George, was convicted by a Court of competent jurisdiction for 63-count charge bordering on financial violence on the Nigerian state and sentenced to two-year jail term. After his prison sentence, the PDP apparatchiks, in a bizarre show of ethical violence on the Nigerian people, rolled out the drums and trumpets to welcome him back home.

    “It is on record that, rather than putting this man through a structured party discipline for his misdemeanor, the PDP has continued to throw him up as its champion in obscenity and indecency!

    “Fact five: On 19th February, 2011, Chief Olisa Metuh, as National Vice-Chairman (South-East) of the PDP, invaded British Nigerian Academy, Prince and Princess Estate, Abuja (the former school of his son, Derrick) and assaulted the Vice Principal, Mr. Kola Pele, a 67-year old man, for seizing a phone that Derrick had, against school rules, given to other students to use.

    “A gestapo-style invasion of the school by Chief Metuh saw him holding Mr. Pele by the throat for the effrontery in seizing his son’s phone. The PDP, being a shelter for violently unstable minds, went on to appoint Chief Metuh as its National Publicity Secretary!

    “Fact Six – Aside the violent crater the PDP dug to the nation’s resources in prosecuting its 2011 presidential electioneering campaigns, there were also tales of tears and blood. From Kaduna to Port-Harcourt (where gates were shut against people’s will and 25 people were killed), the campaigns were trailed with violent tales all over.

    “Fact Seven- In the history of the Nigerian nation, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had always maintained its apolitical status. In the run to the 2011 Presidential election, Pastor Ayodele Joseph Oritsejafor, the President of CAN, presented to the Nigerian Christians the PDP candidate, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, as the ‘anointed of the LORD’ in a manner that offended the non-partisanship of the religious body.

    “The subsequent call for the arrest of the CPC candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB), by Pastor Oritsejafor for unsubstantiated allegations of sponsoring the post-election violence in the North, further lends credence to the fact that, through the instrumentality of PDP’s coercive politics, CAN (under Pastor Oritsejafor) is the religious arm of the PDP!

    “Would that explain why Mr. President attended a ceremony (on Saturday, November 10, 2012) where Pastor Oritsejafor was presented with several-billion-naira worth air plane?”, the CPC querried.

     

  • Council warns against sell of sub-standard goods in Kano

     

    The Chairman, Consumer Protection Council in Kano State, Alhaji Nuhu Bello, has warned supermarket owners against selling of sub-standard goods to consumers.

    Bello gave the warning at a stakeholders meeting held in his office in Kano on Saturday.

    According to him, the supermarket owners have key role to play in stopping the sale of smuggled, expired and sub-standard goods to the citizenry.

    “We want to inform you that we are set to visit any supermarket at any given time to inspect your goods.

    “We will not hesitate in taking action against anyone found selling sub-standard goods,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the CPC chief as saying on the issue.

    He said that the council had so far uncovered several items that were either pirated or smuggled into the state.

     

     

  • CPC petitions tribunal on Mimiko’s victory

    CPC petitions tribunal on Mimiko’s victory

    The candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the October 20 governorship election in Ondo State, Prince Olusoji Ehinlanwo, and his running mate, Mrs. Damilola Oluyemi, have filed a petition at the Election Petition Tribunal.

    They are challenging the declaration of Governor Olusegun Mimiko as the winner of the election.

    The Labour Party (LP); the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Akin Orebiyi and the State Returning Officer (SRO) are joined as respondents.

    The petitioners said the result was unacceptable because the election was allegedly marred by irregularities.

    They urged the tribunal to nullify the election.

    CPC said: “As we indicated throughout the governorship campaign, we are committed to the promotion of democratic ideals in our dear state and beyond.

    “In our quest to make Ondo a reference point in good governance, we will remain focused and undaunted. We believe that by the grace of God, our state will surmount the current setback through the strong collective will of our people to ensure that truth, justice and fair play triumph.

    “We urge our people to remain steadfast in this struggle, as it is not just a fight to liberate our state from an unpopular government, but also a struggle to guarantee a brighter future for our children.”

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had earlier petitioned the tribunal, alleging that the election was marred by irregularities.

    So far, five parties, including the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Accord and the People for Democratic Change (PDC), are challenging the election result at the tribunal.

  • CPC rejects Buhari’s nomination by Boko Haram

    CPC rejects Buhari’s nomination by Boko Haram

    MORE dust is being raised over fundamentalist sect Boko Haram’s talks offer to end insurgency and killings.

    The nomination of Gen. Mohammed Buhari, among others, to moderate the sect’s talks, was yesterday rejected by his party, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

    The Anglican Church of Nigeria, also yesterday, joined Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) President Ayo Oritsejafor to fault the talks proposal.

    To Primate Nicholas Okoh, it is all a journey to nowhere. It will not be effective, he said.

    In President Goodluck Jonathan’s view, which was expressed also yesterday, the Boko Haram sect and its sponsors are primitive.

    Dr. Jonathan, who spoke in Dutse, Jigawa State, noted that taking people’s lives, especially innocent ones, through terrorism is itself primitive; hence, perpetrators and sponsors of the sect are uncivilised.

    He urged Nigerians to totally condemn terrorism, killings by the group are unjustifiable. Besides, the President said, Nigerians should assist the authorities to check the trend which he described as inimical to development.

    The President praised the people of Jigawa State for maintaining peace, despite the violence within the Northeast geo-political zone.

    Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu cautioned the government against talking with a “faceless group”.

    Aliyu, who is Chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF), spoke in Minna, the state capital, when he received ‘’The Road map for Peace Unity and Development of Northern Nigeria’’, prepared by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF).

    Aliyu said: “We should know who we are talking to; we should not allow 419 people to hijack the process.

    ‘’We should confirm who we are dealing with; we should talk to them but we should talk only to genuine people.”

    The CPC advised Gen. Buhari to reject his nomination by the Boko Haram sect as a mediator in proposed negotiations.

    National Chairman Tony Momoh gave the advice in Abuja in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). Gen. Buhari contested the 2011 election on the party’s ticket.

    “There is no need for any other person to attend a meeting between the Federal Government and Boko Haram for whatever grievances they say they have.

    “We in the CPC do not see where Buhari comes in; we are concerned by the way the name of Gen. Buhari is being dragged into this affair,” Momoh said, adding:

    “Another thing is that nobody reached out to Gen. Buhari to say they have been nominated or is being nominated along with others, to mediate or be witnesses to discussion between Boko Haram and the Federal Government.”

    Momoh said Buhari had not told anybody or the party that he was interested in the nomination. Besides, he said the CPC would not associate with issues that involved criminality.

    He said what was important was for the government to maintain “true democracy” by providing adequate security and welfare to the citizens.

    “We believe in one country, which must remain together and move together in the direction of peace, justice and fair play,” Momoh said.

    According to him, the abuse of the democratic system is the result of some challenges confronting the country.

    “Any abuse of this democracy is unjust,” he said, adding:

    “We have chosen a two-legged approach: democracy and social justice; and we want to achieve social justice by using a system of government called democracy.

    “All hands must be on deck’’ to tackle corruption,” he said.

    The Archbishop, Metropolitan Primate Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, the Most Revd Okoh, described the Boko Haram sect as a “faceless mafia.”

    Speaking at the Second Edition of the Divine Commonwealth Conference in Abuja, Rev. Okoh said the “Christian faith is something which must be defended.

    “Every Christian is a defender of this faith . Every Christian of every generation must defend it. It is the duty of every generation to pass it on uncorrupted and unperverted,” he said, adding:

    “There is scarcely a common understanding of how to begin to approach the advance of violent Islam- some canvass fire-for-fire approach; others believe that good Christians must continue praying and even try to preach to the Muslims to change them; meanwhile, the killing and Muslim advance continue unchecked. In between the two extremes are those who believe in dialogue and seminars. Unfortunately, Boko Haram is a faceless mafia, which makes this proposition merely academic, and non-effectual.”

    According to the Archbishop, Boko Haram has stated that it wants to weed Christianity out of Northern Nigeria .

    While Executing its mission, the sect, said Okoh, has been bombing, shooting, slaughtering and maiming Christians.

    He added that due to the violence, many Christians have become intimidated and relocated to other places.

    He lamented that “Our dioceses in Maiduguri, Damaturu, Kano, Bauchi, Yola, Zaria, Jos, among other are, now drastically depopulated.”

     

    The onslaught against the Christian faith, said Okoh, transcends Nigeria as violent religious extremists, such as the ones in Nigeria, are now spreading to other African countries as Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

    He recalled that in Dare es Salaam, Tanzania, seven churches were burnt by Muslims on the excuse that a boy urinated near a mosque.

    According to Rev. Okoh, Kenya and Uganda churches have at various times been attacked by the extremist al-Shabaab Islamic group, very active in East Africa.

    The Archbishop also noted that Kenya is executing a full military campaign against this sect.

    Rev. Okoh said: “The situation in the Sudan is complex and complicated. The Islam of Sudan is a fundamentalist brand, and there is a high traffic between that country, Nigeria, Kenya and other neighbouring countries. In addition to all this, there is the fluid situation in Egypt under the Muslim brotherhood as well as the boiling situation in Libya.

    “Again, Nigeria is exposed. Apart from all this, the Twareg rebels in North Mali have added to the threatening situation against Christianity. They have formed a group, Movement for Jihad in West Africa, which openly threatened Nigeria, should it send troops to intervene in the Mali situation in Mali.”

     

  • CPC urges Buhari to reject Boko Haram’s mediator role

    The Congress for Progressive Change has advised former head of state, Muhammadu Buhari, to reject his nomination by the Boko Haram sect as a mediator in negotiations with the Federal Government.

    The National Chairman of the party, Prince Tony Momoh, gave the advice on Tuesday in Abuja in a chat with the News Agency of Nigeria.

    “There is no need for any other person to attend a meeting between the Federal Government and Boko Haram for whatever grievances they say they have.

    “We in the CPC do not see where Buhari comes in; we are concerned by the way the name of Gen. Buhari is being dragged into this affair.

    “Another thing is that nobody reached out to Gen. Buhari to say he has been nominated or is being nominated along with others, to mediate or be witnesses to discussion between Boko Haram and the Federal Government,” he said.

    Momoh said that Buhari had not told anybody or the party that he was interested in the nomination.

    The national chairman maintained that the CPC would not associate with issues that involved criminality.

    He said that it was important for the government to maintain “true democracy” by providing adequate security and welfare to the citizens.

    “We believe in one country which must remain together and move together in the direction of peace, justice and fair play,” Momoh said.

    According to him, the abuse of the democratic system is the result of some challenges confronting the country.

    “Any abuse of this democracy is unjust.

    “We have chosen a two-legged approach: democracy and social justice, and we want to achieve social justice by using a system of government called democracy, “he said.

    He told NAN that for the nation to witness true democracy, “all hands must be on deck” to tackle corruption in the country.