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Tag: National Working Committee

  • APC will not dissolve Kogi Excos

    APC will not dissolve Kogi Excos

    The National Working Committee of All Progressives Congress (APC) has assured leaders of the party in Kogi state that it has no plan to dissolve the state chapter of the party or any organ of the party in the state.

    Speaking with newsmen at the end of their meeting with the leadership of the party at the part national secretariat, leaders of the party in Kogi state led by Senator Alex Kadiri and Dino Melaye said they have received the assurance of the party that the dissolution of the state leadership was not part of three agenda of the meeting of the NWC.

    Speaking on behalf of the Kogi APC leaders, Senator Alex Kadiri said “We met with the national chairman and his team and we agreed “that the national working committee will not tamper with the APC in Kogi State. That is very very important to us. We got an affirmation from the Chairman that that is not in their agenda for their (NWC) meeting on Wednesday

    “The executive of the APC at all levels in Kogi State will not be dissolved because there is a procedure for the dissolution of the party executives at the State level even at the national level. 

    “We also disabuse our minds vis-a-vis the mind of the national chairman over the fact that people have accused some persons of moving funds from Kogi to Abuja. We do not have facts to give you on this. The chairman has assured us that his hands are clean on this matter and we believe him. 

    “That the Tony Momoh led reconciliation committee have actually submitted their report and the report will be considered by the national working committee at their meeting because APC members in the State are anxiously waiting for the outcome of that report. 

    “It is that report that has made the leaders of APC to be calm and not to do anything that will disrupt the party. And it is not our intention to destroy this party. But we have always said this that politics is a game of interest and relevance. If your interest is not being protected and people do not find you relevant, then there’s no point being there. 

    “And we are satisfied with the position of the national chairman that he will never do anything to frustrate the leaders of the APC in Kogi State. And I can assure you that on our part, all the serving senators in APC, personified by Dino Melaye,  all the former senators from Kogi State including Senator Ohiare, Abdul Abubakar and myself are all behind senator Dino Melaye in this fight. 

    “We believe that his fight is just, we believe that it is not right for APC to fold its hands and see the only APC Senator left in Kogi State to be taken out of the Senate chambers. We believe that we must fight to keep our senator in the national assembly. 

    “We also believe that the process of recall being orchestrated are all based on falsehood. Dead persons names are there, people who do not have PVC to vote were there and i hope you remember that total votes cast for all those who ran for senate for Kogi West in the last election came to about 133,000, but those who claim to have signed petition to withdraw Dino from the national Assembly are around 188,000. It is an exercise in futility. He has done us proud and we will stand by him.”

    Meanwhile, the party has, however, said it has not taken any decision as regards the chairman of the Kano state APC chapter, Alh. Umar Haruna Doguwa. 

    In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, the APC National Working Committee (NWC) said though it aware of the crisis rocking the state chapter but no decision has been taken. 

    “We wish to state that in respect of Kano, no such decision has been taken by the NWC. Although, we are aware of issues in the Kano State chapter, efforts to find lasting solutions to the problem are ongoing. In view of this, the statusquo is maintained until the ongoing process is completed. 

    “Party members, stakeholders, leaders and indeed the general public are advised to disregard the false reports.” 

  • Supreme Court Ruling: Umahi urges reconciliation, forgiveness

    Supreme Court Ruling: Umahi urges reconciliation, forgiveness

    The National Vice Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, South East Zone, Chief Austin Umahi also congratulated Senator Ahmed Makarfi over the Supreme Court judgment that affirmed him as the authentic National Chairman of the party.

    In a statement in Abakaliki, Umahi described Makarfi’s victory as remarkable but appealed to all members and supporters of the party in the South East zone to embrace the victory with maturity and in the spirit of true reconciliation.

    Umahi also commended the National Working Committee of the party for their doggedness and belief in the country’s judiciary as the last hope of the common man and called on Sheriff and other members of the party to unite with the Makarfi led leadership to regain the country and save it from imminent collapse.

    He noted that the victory was a second chance given for the party to consolidate and put its house in order for the task of recovering its lost glory and further  urged other zonal leaders and stakeholders of the party to reconcile with any aggrieved members of the party.

    He said “today is remarkable in the history of democracy in Nigeria. The Supreme Court judgment affirmed Senator Ahmed Makarfi as the authentic National chairman of PDP. This victory is dedicated to the Almighty God”.

    “I passionately appeal to all PDP members and supporters in South East to embrace this victory with maturity and in the spirit of true reconciliation; forgive and forget whatever we individually or collectively did wrong.  God has decided to give us as a party a second chance and we cannot afford to jeopardize it as that will attract unpleasant consequences”.

    The National Vice Chairman promised to embark on serious membership drives for the party that would be rooted on true reconciliation for the purpose of rebuilding and rebranding the party in the South East.

     

  • We have done well – APC governors

    We have done well – APC governors

    Governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under the auspices of the Progressives Governors Forum and the National Working Committee of the party Wednesday rose from a meeting to give the APC government in the country a pass mark, saying “we have done well”

    Briefing newsmen at the meeting which was attended by about nine governors and six deputies, Plateau state governor, Simon Lalong said the problem facing the party will soon be a thing of the past, adding that the party now has reasons to smile.

    The APC has been facing serious financial crisis in recent times and has not been able to meet its obligation to its creditors.

    But Lalong said the meeting of the governors with the National Working Committee reviewed the situation in the party and resolved to take issue concerning the party more seriously henceforth.

    Lalong who was accompanied by the Niger stage governor, Sani Bello and the National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi said “the purpose of this meeting was to review our party activities and to talk about preparations for our second year anniversary.

    “The meeting took a total review of the activities so far and the performance of party in the various states where we have APC government and came to the conclusion that so far so good, we are doing very well.

    “That was essentially the purpose of this meeting. We also agreed that this meeting will be on a monthly basis. We started last month, today is another meeting and next month will be another meeting.

    “The issue of National Convention was raised and it was part of the decisions we took at the last meeting. Unfortunately, like you already know, the President is not around and he is the leader of the party.

    “So what we have done is that since we have an acting president, the team that was supposed to meet with the President with a suggested date convenient, the same team should meet with the Acting President.

    “We are going to organise a convention which is constitutional and the leader of the party must also be at the convention. The time we agreed to meet with the President, he had to travel out of the country and now, the Acting President is around. The first approach was to the President and now, we all agreed that if the President is not there, there is an acting president and so, we are going to meet with him to agree on a date for the convention.

    “During our last meeting, we had issues, but today, things have changed and people are smiling. The party is even smiling. So, those challenges have been taken over by events. That is why I told you that even if we were backward before, now, we are taking issues of our party seriously and we are meeting on monthly basis. So, issues like that are no longer issues in APC.

    “Part of the conclusion of the meeting was a report on the issues and disagreement in some states such as Bauchi and Kogi. The party report d that they have invited those people and those issues are almost resolved”.

    Addressing the meeting earlier, National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie Oyegun commended the governors for delivering on their promises to their people, saying most of the achievement of the governors was being down played.

    He expressed happiness that the party leadership and the governors are meeting regularly now, saying “I want to say that I am so happy that we have met twice and we are seeing the effects, very positive, very salutary effect are beginning to manifest in the party.

    “The numbers, with which we turned out alone, is an encouragement to members of the National Working Committee and I thank you for your commitment. Since we started meeting a lot of things are happening. I have invitations all over now to come for commissioning of projects.

    “I have a wonderful experience in Zamfara state where I had distinct privilege of commissioning very two magnificent water projects with facilities to reticulate, redistribute water to over 6,000 km of pipelines. I said I am especially happy because its effects on the lives of people are obvious.

    “It made me to see that our Governors are in fact, embarking on projects that touch the ordinary man and woman and made them feel that they have benefited from the APC government.

    “Already we decided that we are going to do these projects of showcasing in the various states. In fact, it is sad that we are full of issues at the central level which the social media has tended to concentrate on.

    “All the good works that our governors are doing tend to be downplayed. I thank you Zamfara. On Saturday, I am going to Kaduna state. I was to be in Kano state tomorrow (Thursday) but I can’t. So, I am sending the deputy national chairman north to Kano.

    “So, we are very glad at this development and very soon, the public will see that it isn’t just the rate of Naira that is the issue but in fact, progress is being made in all our states, 24 of them all over the country.”

    Governors present include Simon Lalong of Plateau, Sani Bello of Niger, Mohammed Abubabar of Bauchi, Godwin Obaseki of Edo, Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina, Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa, Samuel Orton of Benue and Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi and Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara state.

    Six deputy governors of Kwara, Kogi, Lagos, Ogun, Osun and Nasarawa States also attended the meeting.

     

     

  • It’s not compulsory for Buhari to preside over FEC meeting – APC governors

    It’s not compulsory for Buhari to preside over FEC meeting – APC governors

    Governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under the auspices of the Progressives Governors Forum rose from a meeting with members of the National Working Committee of the party Thursday night to say that it was not compulsory for President Muhammadu Buhari to preside over the Federal Executive Council meeting.

    The governors also resolved to conduct a fund raising exercise at a yet to be announced date to ensure that the activities of the national secretariat and other organs of the party that has suffered due to lack of funds function properly.

    Addressing newsmen after the meeting, Kaduna state governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai said the governors and the leadership of the party were not worried about the inability of the President to preside over the FEC meeting for the third time in a roll.

    The Kaduna governor said at 74, it was a normal thing for the President to have health challenge, pointing out that while the absence of the President from the meeting may not be unconnected with his health situation, they were “not worried about the development, it is not compulsory for the President to preside over every Federal Executive Council (FEC) that is why our constitution makes available the place of the Vice President.

    “Mr. President is 74 years old; at that age it is possible to have one ailment or the other, even I at 57 take medications for one ailment or the other. Our prayers is that the president gets better.

    “But the reason he has a Vice President is because of a time like this. It may not be as a reason of sickness that he didn’t attend FEC. He may have had other pressing issues to attend to. I have not had to chair every state Executive Council in Kaduna state because the deputy governor is there, if I have other issues of greater priority to attend to.

    “We are not worried yet or have any reason to be worried but I call on every Nigerian to join all of us to pray for the improve health of the President. It has improved in the last few weeks since he came back and we will continue to pray for his improve health.”

    On the decisions arrived at during the meeting, he said “The most important decision is that henceforth we will hold a meeting here at the National secretariat once every month.

    “This is with a view to increase the interaction, foster relations between the National and state branches of the party as well as work towards strengthening the party. We also took certain resolutions and the first is that the Progressives governors have committed to work acidulously at strengthening and rebuilding the party and ensuring reconciliation and unification of the party at all levels.

    “We have committed to providing the NWC all the support that they need. We will also engage in fund raising from our donors and sympathizers of the APC  to ensure that the National headquarters of the party and indeed all organs of the party have the wherewithal to continue with the difficult work they have been doing within the party.

    “The joint meeting between the NWC and the governors also resolved to that at our next meeting, we are going to look at the arrangements for the midterm convention and put in place the resources needed to ensure that the convention hold as required by our party.

    “The governors reinstate their loyalty to Mr. President, the Vice President and all the leaders of our party. We enjoin Nigerians to continue to pray for the improved health of the President.

    “We are proud as a party and as governors that the state governments under the APC have recorded progress in the last few months and the increasing performance of the federal government at the National level. The governors will continue to advance the course of good governance, fighting corruption, improving security in our country.”

    Four governors of the party, namely Akinwumi Ambode of Lagos, Rauf Aregbesola of Osun, Godwin Obaseki of Edo state and Jibrilla Bindo of Adamawa were absent at the meeting.

     

  • ‘Why I am contesting for Publicity Secretary of PDP’

    ‘Why I am contesting for Publicity Secretary of PDP’

    My name is Prince Deji Adeyanju and I have been a member of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) for several years. I am a firm believer in its principles and ideals. I also believe that PDP is the only truly national party in Nigeria and is, therefore, best placed to deliver successful achievement of the collective ideals and aspirations of the Nigerian people.

    While I recognise that the party is by no means perfect, I am aware that over the years it has deepened democracy in the country and has contributed immensely to the growth and development of Nigeria as a whole.

    Following the defeat PDP suffered in the last general elections, and the zoning of the office of the National Publicity Secretary (NPS) to the North Central Region of the country, I have decided to contest for the office and a place on the National Working Committee of the party.

    I believe I possess the skills, ability and the personality to make an outstanding contribution to the task of improving the image of the party. It is for this reason that I solicit the support of all members of the party as I work to actualise this ambition.

    In return for your support, I pledge to give my best in the day to day activities of the office. I pledge to ensure that the image of the party, the protection and polishing of which is the objective of the Directorate of Publicity, will be significantly better at the end of my tenure than the way I met it. I pledge to execute my duties with exemplary discipline and dedication to duty.

    In return for your support, I pledge to bring a new way of doing things to the Publicity Secretariat of the party. I pledge to lead a revolution that will not only strengthen the faith that members and supporters have in the party, but which will also convince millions of Nigerians that as a party PDP has their best interests at heart and is the most viable vehicle with which to deliver on our collective dreams & aspirations.

    This way, together with the leadership of the party, I believe that we can make this party great again.

  • PDP cancels ward congresses in three states

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC) has cancelled Saturday’s ward congresses in three states.

    A statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja by the party’s National Organising Secretary, Abubakar Mustapha, listed the states as Adamawa, Lagos and Osun.

    The statement also said that new congress committees in the affected state had been reconstituted accordingly after the dissolution of the previous ones.

    “Congresses will continue in these states from Friday May 6, 2016,” the statement added.

     

  • How PDP spent N11b forms proceeds, by Secondus

    How PDP spent N11b forms proceeds, by Secondus

    The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday gave account of how the controversial N12 billion generated by the party during the last general elections was spent.

    The money was the proceeds from sale of nomination and expression of interest forms from various elective office seekers across the federation.

    At a briefing in Abuja, the party’s Acting National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, said the actual amount was not N12 billion but a little over N11b.

    According to him, “10 percent of the money went to the state chapters, five percent to the zonal chapters and another five percent to local government chapters of the party.

    “Another 15 percent was expended on assignments by various party functionaries and the rest was used to fund our campaigns. We raised money and we used the money for elections. We don’t need to go into details”.

    Protesting workers at the party secretariat have been at war with the Secondus-led National Working Committee (NWC) following the alleged embezzlement of the money, which they said was partly responsible for the poor outing of the PDP in the general election.

    The NWC had threatened to sack half of the workers and reduce their pay by 50 per cent, a development that further infuriated the aggrieved workers.

    Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, who led the PDP Senate caucus to the briefing, explained why the party must reduce the secretariat workers.

    Akpabio said: “We can no longer run to the Villa for cash so we don’t have the wherewithal to maintain that large number of secretariat workers.

    “The workers should understand that they are in a master-servant relationship in which you cannot force an unwilling master to keep a recalcitrant servant. We are definitely going to downsize”.

    Akpabio and Secondus complained about what they described as “harassment and intimidation” of the party’s ex-governors and former ministers who served under the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

    According to them, the Department of State Security (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were singling out ex PDP public office holders for investigation.

    They urged the anti grant and security agencies to prove that only ex-PDP public office holders were corrupt and that those that were elected under the All Progressives Congress (APC) were saints.

    “We have been reading in the papers about corrupt practices in Rivers and Lagos State under the control of the APC. But the EFCC has not deemed it fit to invite the immediate past governors of these states,” Secondus said.

    The party leaders also complained about what they termed the arrest and intimidation of electoral officials in Rivers, Akwa Inom and Abia states by the DSS, saying the trend was limited to states under the control of the PDP.

    They cautioned the Federal Government against selective application of the law, saying the process must be seen to be holistic.