The Nation Newspaper

Tag: KOGI

  • My plans to restore Kogi, by Audu

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu, has promised to accelerate the economic development if voted into office.

    Audu, who made the promised while receiving the indigenes living in the United States (US), said it was regrettable that the state was stagnant and required efforts to terminate the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government via the November 21 governorship election.

    The APC standard-bearer, who promised to ensure the development of the state, said Kogites in the diaspora would see a new state if they returned after six months of his administration.

    He said the previous governments failed to improve on his performance when he left the Lugard House in 2003.

    Ex-Governor Audu has just returned to the country after trips to the United Kingdom and the United States where he conferred with stakeholders and business communities on his blueprint to build a new state.

    He left the country after he picked a member of the House of Representatives, Abiodun Falake, as his running mate and inaugurated the Prince Abubakar Audu Campaign (PAAC) organisation in Lokoja, the capital.

    Speaking on his plan for the state, Audu said: “I will advance on the infrastructure and human developments that have been in ruin. Kogi was the fastest growing state when I was the governor, but the same story does not apply now.

    “Kogi is the poorest and most backward state in the country. So, it is sort of a great concern to all of us. We are very sad about it. This is why it is imperative for me to come back and take the state out of the woods.”

  • Kogi 2015: Salawu, Ozigi get support

    Two groups from the Kogi Central Senatorial District have endorsed Enesi Ozigi of the Progressive People Alliance (PPA) and Dr. Phillip Salawu of the Labour Party (LP) as their governorship candidates ahead of the November 21 poll.

    The groups, Citizen Change Entrepreneurs (CCE) and the Ebira Youth Congress (EYC), based their support on the need to actualise power shift in the state.

    The CCE said its support for Ozigi followed the inability of the Central and West senatorial districts to come up with a consensus candidate in their quest for power shift.

    The group, in a statement by Prince Abdulkareem Omolori Okene and Sani Abdul, president-general and secretary general, said: “It has become necessary to support an amiable, reliable, suitable, capable and dependable candidate in the person of Ozigi, who will actualise the dream of the founding fathers of the state through innovative programmes that will have impact on the lives of the people.

  • Re: Kogi 2015: Wada versus Audu

    SIR: Idowu Akinlotun’s back page in The Nation, Sunday, September 20, with the title Kogi 2015: Wada versus Audu refers. In it, the columnist merely attempted to stand logic on its head.

    For the avoidance of doubt, the people of Kogi, having tested Prince Abubakar Audu with his drawbacks and liabilities as confirmed by Akinlotan are waiting for November to prove that they have moved on with their lives in more positive ways; they wouldn’t want to go back to the dark days when salaries were owed workers and the state turned into a fiefdom.

    The writer confirmed that Kogi State owes only a month in salaries to its workers. By the way, Audu left the state with several months of unpaid salaries to workers for the incoming Ibrahim Idris administration to settle. On the issue of the bailout fund from the federal government, while it is true that the state only needs about N4.5billion of the bailout money, it needs the balance of N45.9billion for the payment of workers at the local government level and to teachers.

    For the record, the Audu administration didn’t pay pension and gratuity while in office. He actually described these categories of citizens as dead-woods. Part of the bailout money expected is for paying the backlog of gratuity even though Capt Idris Wada has cleared the outstanding of pension of workers from when the state was created. He has also paid gratuity of retired workers from 1991 till 2000.

    Contrary to the expectation of Mr Akinlotan, let it be stated that the November governorship election will neither be close nor its outcome uncertain. The PDP would win convincingly, because the state is a PDP state, and most especially because Audu is generally seen as arrogant and insufferable. Just last week he allegedly walked out visiting journalists who were in the state to cover the APC governorship primary for daring to eat on his dinning table! So nothing has changed about him.

    The Buhari victory in the Presidential elections in Kogi State was one of a kind and would not determine the next Kogi Governorship election. It is laughable to describe an administration that has built 58 roads and many others ongoing, completed the payment for Greater Lokoja water project, built 34 water schemes across the state, and is building a university teaching hospital, a world class diagnostic and imaging centre, educational and other institutions, as clueless. Even Prince Audu, at the ground breaking ceremony for Kogi House, and at the 40-day Fidau prayers for the Pa Ejiga Wada said of the incumbent governor:  “Wada has done what I couldn’t do in my term and amidst scarce resources; he is what the state needs at this time”.

    In 2011, Audu won only in Ofu in the nine local government areas of the East. Similarly, the Okun people were at the forefront in rejecting Prince Audu in 2003 and in subsequent elections he contested.

    The APC victory for President Buhari was anchored on his integrity and anti corruption posture. Can that be said of the APC Governorship candidate who still has charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of public funds involving N11billion over his head?

     

    • Abu Micheal,

    Lokoja, Kogi State

     

  • Our plan for Kogi, Bayelsa polls, by APC

    Our plan for Kogi, Bayelsa polls, by APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) is two years old. In this interview with TONY AKOWE, its National Organising Secretary, Senator Osita Izunaso, speaks on the journey so far and the proposed governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa States.

    The party is planning to celebrate its second anniversary. What is the party celebrating?

    The party was two years by the 31st of July this year because the APC was registered by INEC on July 31st 2013. Last year when we wanted to celebrate our one year anniversary, we got tied up with preparations towards registration of our members, conducting congresses for our members across the federations, holding the national convention as well as the party primaries for the 2015 general elections which we won by the grace of God. This is the second year and the party wants to roll out the drums to celebrate our second year of existence as a party. It is unprecedented that within two years of being registered as a party, we have won the general elections. It is unprecedented that within two years of being registered as a party, we have twenty two (22) governors elected on the platform of the party. It is also unprecedented that within two years of our registration, we are controlling the two chambers of the National Assembly. These are the things we considered as giant stride  and achievements that call for celebrating our great party on its second year as a political party. The event to celebrate our party at two will hold by the end of this month (August) here in Abuja and we are getting world class resource persons to speak to us on the role of a political party in emerging government as well as talk about our change mantra and what to do to effect the change. We shall hear talks on the change our party is championing, is it change of altitude or otherwise, these are the aspects we will be looking at. We have secured the date and the guest speakers are fine tuning ahead of it. I can say authoritatively that one of the guest speakers will be Professor Ibrahim Gambari, Nigeria’s former permanent representatives to the United Nations. We are also finalising the arrangements to get other speakers from outside the country. So, it is true the APC wants to celebrate its second year anniversary. But it will not be only celebration. We also want to use the avenue for internal soul search to let ourselves know that the task ahead is more than the one behind.

    The Kogi governorship elections is coming up in a couple of months. How is the APC preparing for the polls?

    In the APC, we pride ourselves with our interest in internal democracy. The first ingredient that gave us victory in the last general elections is the openness of our presidential primaries. It was transparent and open to the extent that even those that could not make it immediately congratulated the winner and they started working together. Before the Presidential primaries, some people were thinking that APC had already anointed someone amongst the aspirants. But at the end of the day, you found out that no one was anointed because it was transparently done and the candidate emerged. That is what happened in all our governorship primaries across the federation. As the National Organising Secretary of the party, I have seen primaries conducted by the leadership without any crisis. We have done party congresses across the federation without any crisis; we had our presidential primary without any crisis so I don’t envisage any crisis springing up after the governorship primaries in Kogi and Bayelsa states.

    If you have been monitoring our activities so far, you’ll observe that we have painstakingly carry on in a manner that both the aspirants and the party leadership in Kogi State will be comfortable with the process.  It is public knowledge that we’ve had screening where we gave equal opportunities to all the aspirants. The screening committee cleared all the twenty eight aspirants for the primaries and that is okay by us at the national level here. There are basic things they looked at and were satisfied that all of them are qualified. So, we can not stop anyone in the name of disqualification. In this country, we have seen cases where an incumbent governor was not even allowed to run for primaries of his party. That is not the style of APC.

    We have made the aspirants to sign an undertaking which is optional and all of them have signed the undertaking to abide by the process of the primaries. What this mean is that we have a responsibility as a party to ensure that the primaries are free and fair. The aspirants also have the responsibility to do the right thing to ensure that the primaries are hitch free. Once you conduct a free and fair election, the losers will not mind congratulating the winner. People get upset when the process is not free and transparent. If it is free and transparent, a loser will lose gallantly and a winner win gallantly. We have put adequate measures in place and I can assure you that there’ll be no backlash after the primaries so long as we do the right thing. The party is poised to do the right thing by publishing the list of the delegates. It is not a matter of giving the numbers of the delegates, but making them known to the world. APC will publish the list of the delegates for the primaries and anyone who has questions on who is or who is not suppose to be on the list will raise the issue before the primaries and the party will address such dispassionately.

    We have guidelines on who qualified to be a delegate and who is not. But, for the avoidance of doubt, we’ll go ahead to publish the list to ensure transparency. I don’t think we are expecting any post primary issues as it never happened during our presidential election primaries.

    If you observed, only a few of APC controlled states are in court over primary election conflict unlike our opponents. So. in a nutshell, what the APC believe in is her cardinal objective of giving room for internal democracy to reign. As long as you don’t guarantee the membership of your party, internal democracy can not succeed. Even now that we are governing party, if we produce a bad candidate, the tendency is that the populace might vote for him or her but will he or she provide the positive change APC stands for? So when we talk about change, it must start from within. We are going to conduct a good primary and I can assure you that there won’t be a major fallout.

    Is there any alliance between the party and the former first lady as far as the election in Bayelsa Is concerned?

    Don’t even go far, I’m not aware of what you are talking about. It is not everything that the media report that you will take to be the truth. She (Patience Jonathan) is not even a member of our party and she has not indicated interest to support any member of our party. If there are things like that, you can just say they are media speculations.

    How can the APC leadership ensure unity in the Kogi chapter?

    There won’t be any crisis. A political party is just like a church. You don’t stop anyone from coming in to worship. We can’t stop anyone from coming to join APC because we are even looking for more people to join the party. If there so many bigwigs in Bayelsa or any other states coming to join our party, what that means is that our party is doing well. If we are not doing well, those bigwigs will not join us. How do we manage their entrance into the party? That is why we have code of conducts and guidelines for primaries. If anybody who is coming in now is qualified to contest, you can’t stop them from contesting the primaries. It is the delegates that will decide who becomes the candidate of the party. If you look at the delegates electoral college and those who constitute the APC delegates, you will discover that they are more inclusive than the other political party. The other political party will do a special congress to elect three people per ward. In our case, virtually all executive members of our party are delegates. If you have a large number of delegates, the tendency is that people cannot buy them over because the number is large. People cannot camp them overnight. How do you even do that when you have over four thousand delegates? If you are qualified to run for an election, you can run. We cannot stop any new person coming into the party not to contest. It is the delegates that will determine their fates.

    Mind you, we are not doing a new delegate list. It is the other political party that does a special congress to elect an adhoc-delegates that will elect the candidate. The scenario in APC is different from that. Our own is to ensure that the existing executives from the wards to local and state governments levels constitute the list of the delegates. That is our guideline. It is them (delegates) that will know whether an aspirant has worked for the party or not. I wouldn’t want to stress this point. The bottom line is that everybody will be given a level playing ground to operate, whether you are a new entrant to the party or not, as long as you are qualified.

    There was an incident where your party members in Rivers State took their protest to INEC headquarters, Abuja over the refusal of the State Residence Electoral Commissioner to allow them access the electoral materials, is there anything the party at the national level is doing or it is going to do on this issue?

    We at the national level find it very reluctant to comment on issues before the Tribunal. Our people in Rivers, Imo, Akwa-Ibom and other states who are having issues at the tribunals have been advised on what to do legally and they are doing that right now. However, I must say that it is condemnable to see some of our members being teargassed by the police. Nigerians have condemned it and we also joined Nigerians to condemn such treatment. They went to INEC to make a specific request and not to demonstrate. So, why won’t they be admitted to state their mission and for INEC to answer them? We know that it is not everything you request from INEC that it will oblige you. Buy if the court gave an order that such should be done, why can’t they obey the court order? We will refrain from commenting on those sensitive issues because it has gone beyond our domain and is now a judicial matter and we will allow them to finish and if there are issues, we’ve advised our people on how to follow them legally. We pride ourselves as law abiding citizens of this country. Our party is first and foremost a believer in the rule of law and that is the only way the system can be sanitised and nothing beyond that.

    Is there any other thing the party is doing to get the women more involved in the affairs of the party, especially in elective positions?

    Anything that has to do with gender is somewhat of agitation. When you are agitating for something, you will surely become an Oliver Twist. If you get this, you’ll still agitate for another one. If you say our women are complaining, then I’ll say it is not true.cIf there is any party in Nigeria that is more women friendly, then I’ll say it is our party. No major political party in Nigeria has ever given a woman the governorship ticket, but the APC gave it’s governorship ticket to a woman in Taraba State. She would have emerged as a governor. Even at that, it is never too late because her case is still in court. What does that mean? It means APC as a party doesn’t do lip services to the issue of gender. If we do, we wouldn’t have given our governorship ticket to a woman. The same APC elected a woman as the chairman of our party in Adamawa State. Today, the same person is now an elected senator from the same state. During the interim administration of our party, a woman in Enugu State was also appointed as the chairman of the party in the state. Within the last two years when the APC was formed, we’ve had two women as chairmen of our party in the states. Has that happened anywhere before? Even our major opponent, have they produced a woman chairman before; have they produced woman governorship candidate before? Even in the appointment that we are doing, you wouldn’t say women are relegated. A woman is currently the Acting chairman of INEC, the most sensitive electoral body in the country. Mr President has not appointed his ministers and I believe when he does, women will be.

    We don’t joke with the issues of our women. The APC is the only party than takes the issue of her women seriously. It is public knowledge that we don’t charge money for nomination form from any of our women who wish to vie for elective positions and the Kogi primary is a clear example. One of the contestants is a woman and the party didn’t collect a dime from her to obtain the form. If a woman is qualified to contest for any elective position on the platform of this party, she’s free to do so.

  • Our plan for Kogi, Bayelsa polls, by APC

    Our plan for Kogi, Bayelsa polls, by APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) is two years old. In this interview with TONY AKOWE, its National Organising Secretary, Senator Osita Izunaso, speaks on the journey so far and the proposed governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa States.

    The party is planning to celebrate its second anniversary. What is the party celebrating?

    The party was two years by the 31st of July this year because the APC was registered by INEC on July 31st 2013. Last year when we wanted to celebrate our one year anniversary, we got tied up with preparations towards registration of our members, conducting congresses for our members across the federations, holding the national convention as well as the party primaries for the 2015 general elections which we won by the grace of God. This is the second year and the party wants to roll out the drums to celebrate our second year of existence as a party. It is unprecedented that within two years of being registered as a party, we have won the general elections. It is unprecedented that within two years of being registered as a party, we have twenty two (22) governors elected on the platform of the party. It is also unprecedented that within two years of our registration, we are controlling the two chambers of the National Assembly. These are the things we considered as giant stride  and achievements that call for celebrating our great party on its second year as a political party. The event to celebrate our party at two will hold by the end of this month (August) here in Abuja and we are getting world class resource persons to speak to us on the role of a political party in emerging government as well as talk about our change mantra and what to do to effect the change. We shall hear talks on the change our party is championing, is it change of altitude or otherwise, these are the aspects we will be looking at. We have secured the date and the guest speakers are fine tuning ahead of it. I can say authoritatively that one of the guest speakers will be Professor Ibrahim Gambari, Nigeria’s former permanent representatives to the United Nations. We are also finalising the arrangements to get other speakers from outside the country. So, it is true the APC wants to celebrate its second year anniversary. But it will not be only celebration. We also want to use the avenue for internal soul search to let ourselves know that the task ahead is more than the one behind.

    The Kogi governorship elections is coming up in a couple of months. How is the APC preparing for the polls?

    In the APC, we pride ourselves with our interest in internal democracy. The first ingredient that gave us victory in the last general elections is the openness of our presidential primaries. It was transparent and open to the extent that even those that could not make it immediately congratulated the winner and they started working together. Before the Presidential primaries, some people were thinking that APC had already anointed someone amongst the aspirants. But at the end of the day, you found out that no one was anointed because it was transparently done and the candidate emerged. That is what happened in all our governorship primaries across the federation. As the National Organising Secretary of the party, I have seen primaries conducted by the leadership without any crisis. We have done party congresses across the federation without any crisis; we had our presidential primary without any crisis so I don’t envisage any crisis springing up after the governorship primaries in Kogi and Bayelsa states.

    If you have been monitoring our activities so far, you’ll observe that we have painstakingly carry on in a manner that both the aspirants and the party leadership in Kogi State will be comfortable with the process.  It is public knowledge that we’ve had screening where we gave equal opportunities to all the aspirants. The screening committee cleared all the twenty eight aspirants for the primaries and that is okay by us at the national level here. There are basic things they looked at and were satisfied that all of them are qualified. So, we can not stop anyone in the name of disqualification. In this country, we have seen cases where an incumbent governor was not even allowed to run for primaries of his party. That is not the style of APC.

    We have made the aspirants to sign an undertaking which is optional and all of them have signed the undertaking to abide by the process of the primaries. What this mean is that we have a responsibility as a party to ensure that the primaries are free and fair. The aspirants also have the responsibility to do the right thing to ensure that the primaries are hitch free. Once you conduct a free and fair election, the losers will not mind congratulating the winner. People get upset when the process is not free and transparent. If it is free and transparent, a loser will lose gallantly and a winner win gallantly. We have put adequate measures in place and I can assure you that there’ll be no backlash after the primaries so long as we do the right thing. The party is poised to do the right thing by publishing the list of the delegates. It is not a matter of giving the numbers of the delegates, but making them known to the world. APC will publish the list of the delegates for the primaries and anyone who has questions on who is or who is not suppose to be on the list will raise the issue before the primaries and the party will address such dispassionately.

    We have guidelines on who qualified to be a delegate and who is not. But, for the avoidance of doubt, we’ll go ahead to publish the list to ensure transparency. I don’t think we are expecting any post primary issues as it never happened during our presidential election primaries.

    If you observed, only a few of APC controlled states are in court over primary election conflict unlike our opponents. So. in a nutshell, what the APC believe in is her cardinal objective of giving room for internal democracy to reign. As long as you don’t guarantee the membership of your party, internal democracy can not succeed. Even now that we are governing party, if we produce a bad candidate, the tendency is that the populace might vote for him or her but will he or she provide the positive change APC stands for? So when we talk about change, it must start from within. We are going to conduct a good primary and I can assure you that there won’t be a major fallout.

    Is there any alliance between the party and the former first lady as far as the election in Bayelsa Is concerned?

    Don’t even go far, I’m not aware of what you are talking about. It is not everything that the media report that you will take to be the truth. She (Patience Jonathan) is not even a member of our party and she has not indicated interest to support any member of our party. If there are things like that, you can just say they are media speculations.

    How can the APC leadership ensure unity in the Kogi chapter?

    There won’t be any crisis. A political party is just like a church. You don’t stop anyone from coming in to worship. We can’t stop anyone from coming to join APC because we are even looking for more people to join the party. If there so many bigwigs in Bayelsa or any other states coming to join our party, what that means is that our party is doing well. If we are not doing well, those bigwigs will not join us. How do we manage their entrance into the party? That is why we have code of conducts and guidelines for primaries. If anybody who is coming in now is qualified to contest, you can’t stop them from contesting the primaries. It is the delegates that will decide who becomes the candidate of the party. If you look at the delegates electoral college and those who constitute the APC delegates, you will discover that they are more inclusive than the other political party. The other political party will do a special congress to elect three people per ward. In our case, virtually all executive members of our party are delegates. If you have a large number of delegates, the tendency is that people cannot buy them over because the number is large. People cannot camp them overnight. How do you even do that when you have over four thousand delegates? If you are qualified to run for an election, you can run. We cannot stop any new person coming into the party not to contest. It is the delegates that will determine their fates.

    Mind you, we are not doing a new delegate list. It is the other political party that does a special congress to elect an adhoc-delegates that will elect the candidate. The scenario in APC is different from that. Our own is to ensure that the existing executives from the wards to local and state governments levels constitute the list of the delegates. That is our guideline. It is them (delegates) that will know whether an aspirant has worked for the party or not. I wouldn’t want to stress this point. The bottom line is that everybody will be given a level playing ground to operate, whether you are a new entrant to the party or not, as long as you are qualified.

    There was an incident where your party members in Rivers State took their protest to INEC headquarters, Abuja over the refusal of the State Residence Electoral Commissioner to allow them access the electoral materials, is there anything the party at the national level is doing or it is going to do on this issue?

    We at the national level find it very reluctant to comment on issues before the Tribunal. Our people in Rivers, Imo, Akwa-Ibom and other states who are having issues at the tribunals have been advised on what to do legally and they are doing that right now. However, I must say that it is condemnable to see some of our members being teargassed by the police. Nigerians have condemned it and we also joined Nigerians to condemn such treatment. They went to INEC to make a specific request and not to demonstrate. So, why won’t they be admitted to state their mission and for INEC to answer them? We know that it is not everything you request from INEC that it will oblige you. Buy if the court gave an order that such should be done, why can’t they obey the court order? We will refrain from commenting on those sensitive issues because it has gone beyond our domain and is now a judicial matter and we will allow them to finish and if there are issues, we’ve advised our people on how to follow them legally. We pride ourselves as law abiding citizens of this country. Our party is first and foremost a believer in the rule of law and that is the only way the system can be sanitised and nothing beyond that.

    Is there any other thing the party is doing to get the women more involved in the affairs of the party, especially in elective positions?

    Anything that has to do with gender is somewhat of agitation. When you are agitating for something, you will surely become an Oliver Twist. If you get this, you’ll still agitate for another one. If you say our women are complaining, then I’ll say it is not true.cIf there is any party in Nigeria that is more women friendly, then I’ll say it is our party. No major political party in Nigeria has ever given a woman the governorship ticket, but the APC gave it’s governorship ticket to a woman in Taraba State. She would have emerged as a governor. Even at that, it is never too late because her case is still in court. What does that mean? It means APC as a party doesn’t do lip services to the issue of gender. If we do, we wouldn’t have given our governorship ticket to a woman. The same APC elected a woman as the chairman of our party in Adamawa State. Today, the same person is now an elected senator from the same state. During the interim administration of our party, a woman in Enugu State was also appointed as the chairman of the party in the state. Within the last two years when the APC was formed, we’ve had two women as chairmen of our party in the states. Has that happened anywhere before? Even our major opponent, have they produced a woman chairman before; have they produced woman governorship candidate before? Even in the appointment that we are doing, you wouldn’t say women are relegated. A woman is currently the Acting chairman of INEC, the most sensitive electoral body in the country. Mr President has not appointed his ministers and I believe when he does, women will be.

    We don’t joke with the issues of our women. The APC is the only party than takes the issue of her women seriously. It is public knowledge that we don’t charge money for nomination form from any of our women who wish to vie for elective positions and the Kogi primary is a clear example. One of the contestants is a woman and the party didn’t collect a dime from her to obtain the form. If a woman is qualified to contest for any elective position on the platform of this party, she’s free to do so.

  • Kogi 2015: Group advocates peaceful, non-violent poll

    Ahead of the November 21 governorship election in Kogi State, a non-government organisation (NGO), Alliance for Credible Election (ACE), has advocated a peaceful, non-violent and credible poll.

    The Acting National Secretary of ACE – Nigeria, Ms. Mma Odi, who spoke at a one-day seminar on peaceful, non-violent and credible election, at Halims Hotels and Towers in Lokoja, said no development could take place in a violent atmosphere.

    She noted that election was not meant for people to die, stressing that “Nigeria belongs to all of us.”

    Ms. Odi said a peaceful, non-violent and credible election would attract development, adding that it would save resources, as there would be no need for a rerun.

    “A violent-free election will allow participation by all, and a credible poll will serve as a social mobiliser and drum support for the government.”

    A representative of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Head of Voter Education Unit (Lokoja), Mr. Daniel Kure, urged stakeholders to support INEC to ensure a violent-free, peaceful and credible poll.

    He hailed ACE for organising the seminar “at this crucial time preceding the election”, noting: “This will assist INEC and stakeholders.”

     

     

  • Cassava: World Bank boosts mechanised farming in Kogi

    Cassava: World Bank boosts mechanised farming in Kogi

    The World Bank under FADAMA III Additional Financing has moved in to assist cassava farmers in Kogi State in the areas of land clearing and preparation, which  have been the major challenges facing cassava farmers.

    Disclosing this at an interactive session in Lokoja, the Kogi State FADAMA Project Coordinator, Paul Ogunmola,  informed that Kogi State as the largest producer of cassava in Nigeria, has been selected for participation in the FADAMA III AF due to “prompt payment of counterpart fund, government willingness to buy into FADAM projects, as well as general cooperation of beneficiaries.”

    Under the arrangement, FADAMA III AF in conjunction with the State Government, provide tractors and allied equipment for the clearing, preparation  and ridging of farm lands that will be used for planting of Cassava. About 5, 000 hectares of land will be covered under the ongoing project that will end in 2017.

    Selected service providers are already assisting farmers in various areas on a 50-50 cost sharing ratio. The project has not only boosted mechanized farming, It has also provided improved cassava cuttings whose yields are several times higher than those the farmers were used to. For example, the Coordinator informed that over 30, 000 metric tons was harvested from one hectare of land early last month at Oghale, Kogi State. This was against the ten to twelve metric tons farmers were  harvesting from one hectare in the past.

    He further stated that the project has introduced the “novelty” of looking for off-takers: Before there used to be a glut, but now under the FADAMA III AF, before the farmers even produce, we go out of our way to source for would be off-takers. This has endeared the project to farmers who were initially skeptical because of past negative experience arising from post-harvest waste.”

  • Kogi poll: APC candidate names campaign council

    Kogi State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the November 21 election, Prince Abubakar Audu, has said the party will defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Comrade Isa Daniel, from Dekina Local Government Area, has been named the director-general of Audu’s campaign council.

    Alhaji Ibrahim Isah Atodo (aka YISAB) was appointed the youth coordinator.

    Other members of the council include former PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) member, Hajia Halimat Alfa, Alhaji Linco Ocheje and past and serving senators as well as House of Representatives and House of Assembly members.

    At the inauguration of the campaign council at the weekend in Lokoja, the state capital, Audu said PDP was dead in the state.

    The former governor noted that the party’s funeral rites would be performed on the day of the governorship poll.

    He urged APC loyalists and supporters to return to their wards and polling units and ensure the party’s clear victory in the election.

    Audu said APC was poised for victory.

    The former governor hailed APC leadership for conducting free, fair, credible and transparent primary.

    He described the primary as the best ever organised by any party in the country.

    Audu praised his co-aspirants for the courage and maturity they displayed during the primary.

    The APC candidate said the primary was a family contest, adding that there was no victor and no vanquished.

    He assured that if given the mandate, he would restore the state’s lost glory.

    Audu pledged that Kogi under an APC government would witness accelerated development.

    APC Chairman Haddy Ametuo congratulated Audu on his victory.

    He urged him to carry everybody along.

  • Wada, Echocho, Amoto battle for Kogi PDP ticket

    Wada, Echocho, Amoto battle for Kogi PDP ticket

    Kogi State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is set for governorship primaries in Lokoja, the state capital. Governor Idris Wada is a major aspirant. Alhaji Isah Echocho and Mr. Moses Amoto are also in the race. Whoever becomes the flag bearer will face the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, former Governor Abubakar Audu, at the poll on November 21. Correspondent JAMES AZANIA writes on the importance of the shadow poll for the ruling party. 

    The stage is set for the Kogi State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primaries. No fewer than 717 delegates will converge on Lokoja, the state capital, for the exercise. The delegates are from 239 wards. The shadow poll is very critical to the survival of the ruling party. If the exercise is successful, the party will go for the November 21 election as a united fold. If it is trailed by post-primary crisis, it may lose its grip on the state on poll day.

    Since 2003, the PDP has been in control of Kogi State. But, during the last presidential and National Assembly electuions, the party’s fortune was on the decline. Many thought that the PDP has lost its popularity. However, it bounced back during the House of Assembly elections.

    Three chieftains are battling for the ticket. They are Governor Idris Wada, Alhaji Isah Echocho and Mr. Moses Amoto.

    Opinion is divided on the chance of Governor Idris Wada at the primary election. According to party chieftains, the governor may not defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, former Governor Abubakar Audu, during the election. Thus, according to a source, efforts are being made to swing the votes towards the direction of Echocho.

    But, another source said that the governor is firmly on ground in the party.Wada’s loyalists swept all the party offices during the recent congresses. This has made  his opponents to return to the drawing board.

    The governor’s opponents have described him as a political neophyte. But, they also behave as neophyte during the congress by failing to mobilise their supporters for a show down with the governor during the controversial congresses.

     

    Echocho:

    Many believe that Echocho has a date with history at the shadow poll. He was an aspirant in 2011. But, he was defeated by former Governor Ibrahim Idris. The primary generated controversy. Echocho went to court. But, he failed to dethrone Idris as a candidate.

    A party source said Echocho enjoys the support of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC). In fact, following complaints by him, the delegates ward congress was cancelled. Last week, protesters stormed the PDP Secretariat to denounce the behaviour of the congress committee. The protesters carried placards. Some of read: ‘We want a credible congress,’ ‘No result sheet at venue,’ ‘Release our hijack material.’

    The Public Relation Officer of the Echocho Campaign Organisation, Adamu Ahmadu, who led other protesters, said the conduct of the ward congress was not only shrouded in secrecy, but it was also marred by malpractices.

    “Materials were not seen at the polling venue. People were doing nothing. We are going to write a petition to this effect and we hope the national body will hear our plea.”

    The Chairman of the Ward Congress, Hon. Leo Ogor, who pleaded with the protesters not to destroy the party’s property, promised to investigate their allegations.

    He said: “We will take the complaint to the appropriate authority. We will also verify it with the returning officers on the field. We are still waiting for the result of the congress. But,  we will attend to the grievances.”

    Echocho won the January 9, 2011 primaries. But, according to party sources, he was not the choice of Idris, who has anointed Wada as his successor.

    For four years, the post-election litigation lingered in the court, until the Supreme Court decided the case in Wada’s favour. However, the bitter rivalry has persisted because there was no reconciliation between Wada and Echocho.

    Echocho has a formidable structure. He also has the backing of many party chieftains. His supporters include Senator Smart Adeyemi and billionaire businessman Chief Jide Omokore.  Those supporting him believe that he was short-changed in 2011.

    However, some factors may work against him. Die-hard PDP supporters have accused him of inconsistency, saying that he hobnobbed with the opposition. Also, after 2011, he returned to his shell. Thus, some people believe that he is battling with a waning popularity. In fact, it was speculated that Echocho would defect to the APC in September last year. many of his associates left the PDP for the party, shortly before the general elections. But, he stayed back, to the consternation of his supporters. A party source said that Echocho refused to defect because it was clear that Prince Audu will emerge as the APC candidate.

     

    Wada:

     Wada has the advantage of incumbency power. Besides,  his predecessor, Idris, is mobilising support for him. The former governor, who has an axe to grind with Echocho, has led other major stakeholders to endorse the governor for a second term. But, a source hinted that Idris may be playing the Ostrich, because he also has grudges against Wada.

    Major supporters of the governor include Senator Tunde Ogheha, Chief Abiodun Ojo and Chief Olusola Akomode. They have influence over many delegates in the Kogi West Senatorial District. Furthermore, they are supporting Wada in the spirit  of power shift. “They are supporting Wada on the basis that he has only four more years, after which they will push for power shift to other zones,” said a source.

    Observers are of the view that the Echocho camp may not be able to withstand Captain Wada during the primary.  Already, there is a propaganda against Echocho. Critics have labelled him as an enemy within.

    “How can a politician who has the plan to contest election abandon the party for almost four years and come thereafter to seek election on the platform of the same party he had abandoned?  If the national body of the PDP make a mistake of manoeuvring the ticket for Jubrin Isah Echocho, then, the party will end up creating advantage for the opposition to take over the state,” said a party chieftain.

    A PDP chieftain, Alhaji Sadiq Momoh Obari, said the governor will win at the primary. He said Wada’s prudent management of resources, particularly the payment of workers’ salaries, despite the dwindling financial allocation, will swing the pendulum of victory to his direction.

    He added: “Despite the paucity of funds, the state under Wada has embarked on some legacy projects, including the Korea Partnership Centre for Vocational Training, the University Teaching Hospital Anyigba, the 500 housing units in Ganaja village and the Diagnostic and Imaging Centre in Lokoja”.

    According to him, Wada deserves a second term to enable him consolidate on his achievements. However, he called for a free and fair primary to prevent crisis.

    His words: “What we need now is free, fair and transparent primaries. Any attempt by the national body to be biased will spell doom for the party. Kogi State is the only PDP state standing in the North Central of the country, if the party wants to hold on to it, there must be sincerity and a level playing ground for the contestants. We all witnessed the APC primaries in Kogi where the conduct cannot be questioned in all ramifications.”

     

    Amoto:

     The third aspirant, Amoto, is not a political giant. Little is known about his antecedent. He is an Ebira-born businessman. In the past, he has expressed interest in the position. But,  he never went beyond purchasing the nomination form. After that, he disappered from the scene.

     

    Uncertainty:

     But, will the primary hold today? There is nothing on ground to suggest that the exercise will hold. As at 2 pm yesterday, delegates have not been sited in the capital. The accreditation of reporters has not been done. Observers have not arrived. The PDP Publicity Secretary, Mr. Bode Ogunmola, asked reporters to check back at the secretariat, indicating that further directive was still being awaited.

  • ‘I ’ll add value to Kogi’

    ‘I ’ll add value to Kogi’

    Kogi State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant Alhaji Jibrin Isah Echocho speaks with MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE on his ambition and other partisan issues.

    How prepared are you to clinch the Kogi State governorship in the event that you emerge the standard bearer of the PDP?

    I have stated previously that I am in this race to win and considering the fact that the will to win is worthless without the will to prepare, I can tell you without hesitation that I am prepared. I strongly believe that the best preparation for success is to be more strategic and that is what I have been doing since 2011 when I first signified my intent to vie for the governorship of Kogi State. I realised very early in the race that a winning strategy that is based on issues and the realities on ground is essential for a successful campaign. I thereafter constituted a very vibrant team that understood that whoever will emerge as the flag bearer of the PDP must be one who can demonstrate to the party that he can easily win the governorship for the party. This understanding and the simple message of ours which has resonated with the leadership; and likewise supporters will see us through at the primaries because at the end of the day it is the interest of the party, not the interest of a few that matters. This is especially important because as it stands, Kogi is the last man standing in the North Central.

    But you are contesting against an incumbent governor…

    Well, the incumbent governor is a friend and a brother. He is someone I have tremendous respect for and a fine gentleman that respect the views and aspiration of others. I want to believe that my aspiration didn’t just come out of the woods. There was a history, and a history that every well-meaning kogities and friends of Kogi State understands and respects, including the incumbent governor. And mind you times have changed.

    The issue of power shift is another burning issue. What is your take on that?

    I strongly believe that everybody regardless of ethnic or religious coloration has an inalienable right to aspire for anything including power shift. And Kogi state can’t be an exception. The call for power shift is legitimate and it must be respected. But who am I to say no to the legitimate agitation of my brothers and sisters from the West and Central? I believe when the time is right it will come to fruition.

    Why do you want to govern the state?

    I am in the race because I strongly believe that I can add more value to governance in Kogi State at this particular time in our history than anyone else. Governor Wada has done well in my estimation, but I believe more can be done and a lot still needs to be done to actualise the Kogi of our dream. We need a new spirit of self-assurance, hope and optimism. We urgently need a revitalised economy that is diversified and less dependent on the monthly allocation.  There Is need for new vigour. I believe it’s time for new ideas to accelerate the process of diversification because time is running out. Oil prices are already falling due to the development of shale oil technology that has opened up new sources of energy supplies. We need a new security arrangement to secure our society and provide the enabling environment for the growth of the private sector especially the small and medium scale enterprises. We need to restore people’s faith in governance by running a more open, accountable and ethical government; and strengthen institutions of government such the civil service and local government administration.

    In 2011, what really happened?

    2011 was a fantastic year for our party because we won the elections. In my opinion, what happened was simply a breakdown in communication and nothing more. And all the parties involved have moved on to the glory of God and we are one strong, happy and an indivisible family.

    In some quarters, it’s believed that former Governor Ibrahim Idris was responsible for your being denied the ticket of the party.

    That isn’t correct. There was a breakdown in communication along the line. There was nothing personal or untoward about what happened. Things happen and our ability to move on stands us out of the crowd.

    What’s your relationship with the former governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Idris?

    A very cordial relationship I have with him.

    It’s a said in some quarters that since you are in-laws with the candidate of the APC candidate, Prince Abubakar Audu, he might be the one sponsoring your candidature. What do you have to say?

    This isn’t a question but rather an insult in my estimation. How can the candidate of the APC sponsor or influence me? Let me clear the air on this. For the fact that my daughter is married to his son does not mean that we agree politically or share same political ideology. I also believe that our kids have their lives to live and we parents shouldn’t interfere unnecessarily. They saw themselves; they liked themselves and decided they want to be husband and wife. So you expect me to say no because the husband is the son of Prince Abubakar Audu?   That would have been quite unfair. It’s their life and they have a right to freedom of choices. But to say because my daughter is married to Audu’s son and therefore he is behind my candidature is an insult. There is no such thing and there won’t be any such thing.

    Do you think you still have that state-wide acceptance that you had in 2011?

    Without trying to sound immodest, I think that acceptance is still there, that is if it hasn’t tripled because four years is a long period.

    If you fail to get the party nomination, what should your supporters expect?

    I am a loyal party man. My conduct since 2011 suffices as an example. My ambition is not premised on personal reasons. It’s not about me, but about the state. I am in the race to add value, to serve humanity and to bring to fruition a new Kogi. So if I don’t get the party nomination, God forbid, the world won’t come to an end.