Tag: Mark

SENATE President David Mark has urged Nigerians to turn to God for solutions to the nation’s security, political and economic problems. Mark was optimistic that God would heal the land “only if we turn to Him to salvage the myriads of crisis facing the nation. The Senate President, according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, spoke while addressing members of the Youth Prayer Network of Nigeria (YPNN) at the flag off of national prayers to heal the nation in his Apo, Abuja official residence.

Mark said: “What the country is passing through at the moment is a test of our faith.

“We must be steadfast in our prayers that God will save Nigeria. What we need now as a nation is sincerity of purpose. Sincerity on the part of everybody; the government and the people.”

Senate President David Mark said yesterday that his mission to the Green Chamber of the House of Representatives in the heat of the commotion in the National Assembly on Thursday was to ascertain the safety of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal.

He said he took the action after receiving reports that Reps were being teargassed.

Mark’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Senate President, Kola Ologbondiyan, says Speaker Tambuwal and Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger state have appealed to the President of the Senate to ‘forgive’ Hon. Abdul Malik Usman Cheche (PDP Niger) who allegedly assaulted him on the floor of the House on Thursday.

Ologbondiyan quoted Mark as saying that “I also went to confer with Mr. Speaker on the need to suspend plenary in both Chambers in order to restore sanity to an environment that had turned restive and becoming uncontrollable.

“My intention was to safeguard the sanctity of the hallowed Chamber and to guarantee the respect of the legislature.

“I consider the unwarranted and needless attack on my person by Hon. Abdulmalik Usman Cheche as a price and sacrifice for leadership. It is a sacrifice I am prepared to accept.

“I was physically stopped at the gate and blocked from accessing the National Assembly complex for about an hour. I was also tear gassed at the lobby of the White House as I made my return from the Green Chamber.

“In all these, I bear no ill feeling. Abdulmalik is my colleague. I have forgiven him. I believe we can continue to work together in the interest of peace and sustenance of democracy.

“Like I have repeatedly said, I will do anything necessary to keep the sanctity of the parliament as an institution and safeguard the respect of every legislator.

“I therefore urge all political actors to always remember that we must first have a nation before we can achieve our various individual ambitions.

“We must at all times restrain ourselves from actions that cannot add value to our hard earned democracy.

“We should remain guided by the rules no matter how strongly we perceive our positions to be the most appropriate.”

Senate President and Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Re-integration Committee of the Southwest David Mark has urged feuding parties in the Ondo State chapter to withdraw their cases from court.

He praised stakeholders for allowing a seamless reconciliation and integration in the party.

Mark urged the party members to work for the party’s victory in the 2015 elections.

The Senate President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement, said: “It is in unity that we can win the elections.

“We must therefore work together to ensure victory for President Goodluck Jonathan and our party in Ondo State.

“I, therefore, urge you all to withdraw the cases in court and allow this reconciliation to bring forth good governance and strength to our party in admiration of all the people of Ondo State.”

Governor Olusegun Mimiko assured stakeholders of his readiness to work with all members to deliver Ondo to the President in 2015.

At the meeting were Bode Olajumoke; Kingsley Kuku; Gbenga Elegbeleye; Ayo Akinyelure; Boluwaji Kunlere; Kolawole Ademujimi; Jimoh Ibrahim and Sola Ebisemiju, among others.

THE three Ogun State senators – Adegbenga Kaka (Ogun East), Akin Odunsi (Ogun West) and Gbenga Obadara (Ogun Central) – have formally submitted their letters of defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Kaka, who is the chairman of the state caucus at the National Assembly, told reporters in Abuja yesterday that three of them have delivered the letters to the leadership of the Senate through the Senate President, David Mark.

He noted that their action followed the “fractionalisation in the party (APC) in Ogun State, leading to the emergence of parallel executives from ward, local government area to state levels”.

The senator noted that “our protest, appeal and demand for justice from the national leadership of the party yielded no result; rather, the faction that flagrantly flouted the party’s guidelines was given recognition by the National Executive”.

He added that they did not subsequently partake in the National Convention, saying: “We rightly believe in the legal aphorism that ‘you cannot build something on nothing and expect it to stand’”.

Kaka said they were left with no option than to withdraw their membership from the APC, after due consultation with their constituents and declared for the SDP.

He said: “We gave a very long rope. We felt that we cannot be looking for peace when the other party is not interested in peace. Our supporters are getting restless and the deadline for submission of forms is closing. We cannot continue to wait endlessly”.

Asked whether they could still reconsider their step, Kaka said that only God could make them to change their minds.

The senator added: “We have waited for over two and half years to even have an interaction with the governor; the governor continued to avoid us. We have explored all channels to resolve the crisis without success. Maybe the leadership of the party thinks otherwise about us.

“The tendency for impunity and injustice led us to where we are today. A situation where three senators, seven House of Representatives members, the deputy governor, many members of the state House of Assembly and Chief Segun Osoba himself are considered to be nobody, who else will be somebody?”

On why they chose SDP, he said besides their ideological orientation, the SDP was the party Osoba used to become governor.

Senate President David Mark has expressed optimism that despite the growing anxiety and challenges ahead of next year’s general elections, Nigeria will come out stronger and more united.

Mark, who spoke when the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Nigeria, Michel Arrion, visited him in Abuja, added that government had improved and strengthened political institutions to withstand any storm, no matter the circumstances.

The Senate President was quoted in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, as saying: “Our political situation is steadily progressing. All Nigerians are now more conscious and indeed aware of elections and the processes.

“Both the government and the governed are now doing the right thing to guarantee a free, fair and credible election.

“Steadily, Nigerians have learnt how to play the game according to the rules. I have no doubt that the 2015 elections would be better than our previous elections. It would comply with international best practices.

“It is going to be exciting and the whole world would appreciate that Nigeria is on the right track democratically.”

He, however, appealed to international election observers to the polls to report facts about the exercise without sentiment or narrow perspective. His words: “Election observers should be able to go round in order to get the true position, rather than a situation where reports would be based on just a visit to one or two polling units.”

He pleaded with the EU to assist Nigeria to tackle security challenges, pointing out that terrorism was no longer an internal affairs  of a nation, but already assuming  international dimension.

The Senate President said the nation was doing her best, including negotiating with militants, to bring the matter to an end quickly.

Mark further assured his guest that government was doing all that was needed to create a conducive atmosphere that would attract local and foreign investors as part of moves to diversify the economy.

“Nigeria is now investors friendly. It is now investors’ destination,” he added.

The EU ambassador said the visit was necessitated by the need to interact with political leaders in Nigeria with a view to ascertaining the political situation ahead of next year’s polls.

Arrion assured that the EU was prepared to assist Nigeria in the processes  leading to the conduct of the elections.

He explained that it was already liaising with the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) for possible assistance and collaboration.

Senate President David Mark has said the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will ensure that Nigerians get credible elections next year, despite the various challenges confronting the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

The Senate president spoke yesterday in Jos, the Plateau State capital, when he led the distribution of empowerment items sponsored by Gyang Pwajok, the senator representing Plateau North, to his constituents.

Mark said: “Nigerians do not need to nurse any apprehension over 2015 elections. The ruling PDP will ensure credible elections at all levels. We are only pleading that politicians do not make their elections do-or-die affair. Nigerians should be assured of free, fair and credible elections in 2015.

“But in every game, there must be winners and losers. Those who lose should not make it a battlefront because there is always another opportunity to try again.”

Mark hailed Pwajok for contributing to the Senate and showing concerns for his constituents.

Pwajok said: “The constituency empowerment and development programme was organised to mark my two years in the Senate. These items are meant to economically empower women, youths and the less privileged in my constituency. My desire is for them to be financially independent and self-employed.”

Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang, who was represented by Deputy Governor Ambas Ignatius Longjan, praised Pwajok for giving Plateau State credible representation at the National Assembly.

The items distributed included grinding machines, sewing machines, tricycles, hair dressing kits, irrigation water pumps, vehicles and computer sets, among others, amounting to over N150 million.

Senate President David Mark has dismissed reports that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Integration Committee for the Southwest is plotting to impose a governorship candidate in Oyo State.

A group, under the auspices of Rescue Team 2015, alleged that the Mark-led committee planned to impose a candidate on the state.

Mark’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement in Abuja, quoted Mark to have said in his opening remarks at the Presidential Villa, where he met with Oyo PDP stakeholders that “we are not here to impose anybody or to choose a candidate for you.”

“You are to choose your candidate and ensure that PDP wins in Oyo State.  That is the agenda handed over to us.

 “The committee did not select the governorship aspirants who were invited for the meeting.  Rather, every stakeholder was invited.

“I didn’t call governorship aspirants to my house.  The meeting here (Banquet Hall) was open and all inclusive,” the Senate President said.

He urged stakeholders to work together and return the party to power in the interest of all.