The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigerian news

  • ‘Why power generation is low’

    Though gas shortage is the main problem of electricity generation firms, experts say other challenges, such as the rising debts profile of the power firms, gas price and transmission bottlenecks, are also threatening the sector, writes AKINOLA AJIBADE

    THE power sector is in dire straits. With a population of close to 200 million people, experts say the country needs between 50,000 megawatts (mw) and 60,000 Mw of electricity to survive. Although the industry has an installed generation capacity of 12,962mw, it generates 7,562 mw, of which only 5,375mw is available for transmission. Generating companies (GenCos) do not have the incentive to increase their capacity, because the country’s capacity for transmission is limited to about 8,100mw.

    In all these, the country relies on two energy sources, gas-fired and hydro power plants for survival, while its off-grid electricity segment is still at the infancy stage. While the hydro power stations are not more than five, representing about 20 per cent of the country’s generation, the gas-fired or fossil fuel plants are 32, which represent 80 per cent of the power being generated in the country.

    The hydro power plants are Kainji (760mw), Jebba (576.8Mw), Shiroro (600mw), all in Niger State; Zungeru (700mw), Kadin Kowa hydro (480mw), and Mambila Power Plant in Taraba State which is under construction.

    On the other hand, the gas-fired plants are in Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Cross-River, Akwa Ibom,  Edo, Abia, and Rivers states, among  others. There are also Egbin (1,320mw), Sapele (1,020mw), Transcorp-Ugbelli (972mw), Afam 1-4 Power Station (977mw), Geregu 1 Power Station (414mw), Omotosho 1 Power Station (335Mw), Olorunsogo (335mw), Kwale Okpai (480mw), Afam V1 (642mw), Akwa-Ibom Power Station (500mw), AES Barge (270mw), Omoku (150mw) and Trans Amadi(136mw) and Rivers State Generator( 180mw).

    Others are Aba Power Plant (140mw), Geregu 11 (434mw), Sapele (450mw), Olorunsogo (675mw), Egbema (338mw), Calabar (561mw), Ihovbor (450mw) and Azura (450mw).

    Read Also: Clean power generation for Nigeria

    Worse still, is that the country is surviving on less than 5,000mw, a far cry from what South Africa is generating to meet the needs of its 56.7 million population.

    One issue, which has been canvassed by stakeholders, as the major hindrance to the growth of the power sector, is the shortage of gas and its cumulative effects on the production of electricity in the country.  Though the issue has been discussed at local and international fora, with a view to proffering solutions to it, the solution appears not in sight.

    According to close watchers of unfolding events in the sector, making gas available for production of electricity remains a challenge, because stakeholders, including the Federal Government, have not deemed it fit to address what they termed ‘specific problems’ in the sector.

    They said the problems are debts, rising cost of transporting gas to generation companies, where it is needed to produce electricity, poor storage facilities and difficulties in evacuating power to power distribution firms by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), among others.

    The Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) Executive Secretary, Dr. Joy Ogaji, said the growth of the electricity industry was endangered, because the debts owed generation companies were yet to be paid.

    She said the payment of debts owed generation firms is key to their growth, adding that the delay in paying the debts has untold effects in their businesses. According to her, power output would continue to be low for as long as the GenCos are still being owed in the industry.

    Dr. Ogaji said: “Where do you expect generation firms to recoup the money spent on procuring gas for production? She said neither the energy distribution firms nor the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET) Limited was making moves to offset the debts.

    “The power generation companies are  being owed over N1 trillion by DisCos and NBET. The energy distribution firms paid 16 per cent and 17 per cent of the debts in  June and July, this year. How can the GenCos survive under this environment? “

    NBET was set up by the Federal Government to administer and control energy pool. She said the debts were accumulated because the DisCos decided to take electricity on credit from the GenCos. She said the GenCos have enough gas to produce power at the moment.

    Energy, Dr. Ogaji said, is not a physical product  that can be displayed in the shop, arguing that operators, such as DisCos, should be able to pay for the electricity given to them by the power generation firms.

    Another problem, which the sector is facing, she said, has to do with energy transmission.The transmission capacity, she said, is limited and the development is hindering the ability of TCN to transmit enough electricity to DisCos.

    “What is the benefit of generating energy, which cannot be transmitted to DisCos  for onward supply to consumers? The problems in the sector vary from one section to another. The three arms – transmission, distribution and generation – have their own challenges. But it would be good if the money owed the power generation firms is paid to enable them stay in business.”

    However, the former Chief Executive officer, Nigerian Gas Company(NGC), Dr. Godswill Ihetu, said gas is not a problem. he the country is blessed with huge gas reserves to grow its economy.

    With  600 trillion of unproven gas reserves and over 187 trillion of proven gas reserves, he said the country has enough gas.

    Ihetu said: “If it is to meet the needs of the international and domestic market, the country has enough gas to do so. He said the Nigerian Liquefied and Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited was not established to meet domestic needs like providing gas to the power firms.”

    Ihetu, also a former managing director of NLNG, said the firm only provides Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to the country, not natural gas.

    “This explains why some International Oil Companies (IOC) that are operating in the country and their local counterparts are made to provide gas for the power generation firms in the country,” he said, adding that the sector has problems, such as pipeline vandalism, a development that has made it difficult to supply gas to thermal plants.

  • Lessons from El-Rufai

    Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has been in the news this week for putting his money where his mouth is.  On Monday, he enrolled his six year old son, Abubakar, in the Capital School Malali, a public school in the state in fulfilment of a promise he made in 2017.

    He had promised back then to enrol his son in a public school in 2019.  He also said other public officers would be required to do same.  He said it was part of his plans to refurbish public schools and restore them to the standard he enjoyed attending public school as a child.

    El-Rufai has won my respect on this one.  I buy his argument that if public servants enrol their wards in public schools, then they would be more committed to ensuring the schools are good enough for the public.  It should become a standard nationwide.

    Recently, during the graduation season in UK and U.S., the social media was awash with pictures of our public officers and their children graduating from ivy-league universities.  We all know that they opted for greener pastures for their wards because of the rot in our own education system.  Starved of adequate funds, many of our schools do not measure up in terms of quality and infrastructure with those that our public officers send their wards to – enabled largely by funding from our commonwealth.

    Our leaders need to demonstrate faith in our public institutions once again.  They need to patronise local public schools and hospitals.  If their wards have to stay in classrooms with leaky roofs and broken walls; if they have to using a darkened wall as chalk board in an era of white and smart boards; if they have to use pit latrines without water instead of functional WCs; if they have to stay home for weeks or months on end because teachers are on strike agitating for unpaid salaries, perhaps they would pay the education sector the attention it needs.

    We do not seem to know how much we really need to prioritise education in this country.  It is practically the only option we have.  Natural resources are not taking us very far.  Already, Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II has warned that we do not benefit from oil price hike because we end up paying it all to import refined products.  However, we have a huge youth population that can become our biggest asset if only our government would make investment in Human Capital Development a priority.

    Various international agencies, including the World Bank, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others have underscored the need for Nigeria and other countries lagging behind in development to make the right investment in the health and education of its people.

    Attending the 2018 Goalkeepers meeting in Johannesburg last December was an eye opener for me.  The 2018 Goalkeepers report warned that Nigeria and Congo would be home to about 40 per cent of the world’s poorest people by 2050.  We cannot sit easy and watch this prediction come true.  We need to fix our education system.  We should domesticate the quality our leaders are seeking abroad for their wards in this country.  Every school – even the ones on the highest hill or the remotest village – should be conducive to learning.  Every community should have a health facility that caters to the needs of all including young ones so they do not die of malnutrition or preventable diseases.  This can happen if we put our money where our mouth is.

    Government needs to cut spending in some areas – especially the huge emoluments of public officers – so it can allocate more resources to health and education.  Government needs to block loopholes used by corrupt officers and punish them while seeking creative ways to diversify our economy.  Nigerians need to learn to hold the government accountable.  Public office holders are in position for our sake, not theirs.  We have the right to ask what they are doing and demand change if they are not doing well.  I hope we start to exercise this right.

  • Sundry Misusages XXVIII: Of which. . . plus more

    Misusages are such that are often taken for granted, as though they do not matter. Yet, they matter. They matter because they can render your writing uneasy to read, digest, comprehend or use. In other words, misusages can impede your communication, which is why we cannot overemphasize the need for correct usage that we have described as the spirit, soul and life of any language. We therefore crave your indulgence to continue to highlight observed pitfalls in usage, such as examined and discussed below:

    Of which

    We posit that the use of this phrase in the sentence below is clumsy and very inelegant and that the message can be rendered more lucidly and fluently.

    The mediation committee of which the outcome is yet to be shared with the field office concluded work several months ago.

    So awkward-sounding has the string of words of which the outcome made the construction that we need to find substitute phrases to make it more readable and intelligible. As the construction is, it is bound to halt the cadence of the reader, whereas we should keep him reading, not jerking in fits and starts. So, let us substitute with either whose outcome or the outcome of which. Here is what we mean:

    The mediation committee, whose outcome is yet to be shared with the field office, concluded work several months ago.

    OR

    The mediation committee, the outcome of which is yet to be shared with the field office, concluded work several months ago.

    Note, however, that some colleagues in broadcasting and even some top-drawer columnists have stuck to something close to the phrasing we have described as clumsy above. They seem comfortable with constructions like: “The mediation committee which outcome is yet to be shared with the field office concluded work several months ago” – even when that sounds as clumsy as they come.” You are likely to mind such usage if you write for the ears!

    On the one hand … on the other hand

    These are adverbial phrases of contrast used mostly correlatively. This is not the case in the following sentence where only one of them has been used wantonly.

    Democracy is about participation and representation. Participation is the extent to which individual members of society take part or get involved in the activities in their societies. Representation, on the other hand, refers to the process by which people get chosen to act in the interest of the community or sectors thereof.

    According to “Pop” Errors, “Here is a new epidemic among many academics – the frequent misuse of the twin idioms on the one hand and on the other hand or just one of them as featured in this example. Following the writer’s sequencing of thoughts on democracy, participation and representation, you are bound to ask what he is using the idiom on the other hand to contrast. The truth is, there is nothing to contrast. It is okay taking one concept after another the way he has done, but without introducing the redundancy and verbosity inflicted by the unnecessary idiom. You do not just throw in such expressions because you need to take a breath at that point or just because you want to transit from one sentence to another elegantly. Yes, such expressions are elegant transition tools, but only when they serve a purpose other than mere elegance. You do not use any of them as applied in the sentence, because it has no purpose. We would do well to note, therefore, that the twin idioms (on the one hand and on the other hand) are “used to introduce different points of view, ideas, etc, especially when they are opposites” (OALD). None of the concepts democracy, participation and representation is the opposite of another. Because we are also sticklers for elegant writing, we suggest, as follows, ways to conclude the writer’s train of thoughts in that introductory part of his paper:

    “For its part, representation refers to the process by which people get chosen to act in the interest of the community or sectors thereof

    OR

    “The related concept representation refers to the process by which people get chosen to act in the interest of the community or sectors thereof.”

    On trial

    In an increasingly litigious and criminal world where, at any time, thousands of people are being prosecuted in law courts, you would expect writers, particularly journalists, to use the phrase on trial correctly all the time. Not so in the following:

    Lawal and 11 others were under trial for stealing.

    Prepositions have forever hobbled many a writer. This explains the distortion of the expression on trial in this example. You are on trial, not under trial. When you are being tried in a court of law, you are said to be on trial. You could also be facing or standing trial. So, we correct the specimen error thus:

    Lawal and 11 others were on trial for stealing.

    Overall

    It is incredible how bizarre the mishandling of simple adverbs such as the above can get. Could it be that what you do not know, you don’t just know, no matter how simple. What to do? Understand them and master their correct usage, to avoid comical pitfalls as the following:

    In the overall, the election processes are continuing at the 20 polling stations.

    You must hasten to proclaim overall as the correct usage here, NOT in the overall! Correctly applied, overall is a sentence adverb, meaning, in the context, “generally; or everything considered” (OALD). So, accordingly, we say:

    Overall, the election processes are continuing at the 20 polling stations.

  • I’ll waive my constitutional immunity to clear my name – Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has declared his readiness to waive his constitutional immunity to “enable the most robust adjudication” of several baseless allegations, insinuation and falsehoods against his person and office.

    Prof. Osinbajo made the declaration in a tweet he personally authored on Wednesday afternoon.

    He said “In the past few days, a spate of reckless and malicious falsehoods have been peddled in the media against me by a group of malicious individuals.

    “The defamatory and misleading assertions invented by this clique had mostly been making the social media rounds anonymously.

    Read Also: Nobody must maltreat Osinbajo – Northern youths

    “I have today instructed the commencement of legal action against two individuals, one Timi Frank and another Katch Ononuju, who have put their names to these odious falsehoods.

    “I will waive my constitutional immunity to enable the most robust adjudication of these claims of libel and malicious falsehood.” he said

  • How we plan to create 100m jobs, by VP

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has explained how President Muhammadu Buhari plans to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty.

    He said the Federal Government’s policies and programmes aimed at promoting financial inclusion remain key to the actualisation of the plan.

    Prof. Osinbajo spoke in Abuja at the opening of the Annual Conference of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).

    In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, the Vice-President referred to the President’s June 12 speech where he stated that “we are working to lift Nigerians out of poverty and set them on the path to prosperity. We intend to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty over the next 10 years”.

    Read Also: AfCFTA’ll open new vistas to banking sector, says Osinbajo

    Osinbajo said: “Financial inclusion, of course, is the key to realising so much of what we expect as an economy and the President promised in his June 12 speech to lift 100 million people out of poverty in 10 years. That is the commitment of the government of Nigeria.

    “We started that journey with our collaboration with the Bank of Industry (BoI) to deliver the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) programme, better known as TraderMoni and MarketMoni by providing microcredit to almost two million petty traders.

    “The Bank of Industry has now brought this huge bottom of the pyramid into the formal financial system and that has been recognised worldwide. “Recently, the programme won the African Development Bank (AfDB) prize for financial inclusion because of the work that was done with TraderMoni. This is a huge task.

    “Going forward, we now need to embark on financial training for all of those who have been brought into the net. As you know, when they’re given N10,000 and they pay back, they are given N15,000, N20,000, and it goes all the way.

    “But at that point they’re given their Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs), they’re formally included in the financial system; they’re formally included as formal traders. So, we are able to give them financial training and all that.”

    He added: “…For very long, that bottom of the pyramid has been completely excluded and yet informal trade is a significant part of trading that is going on in our country.

    “So, there’s a real need out there and we must devise the methods by which those at the bottom of the pyramid can be uplifted. We must look at how we can even resource the entire value chain. What we find is that the petty trader, who just has a trade, is usually selling little bits and pieces from many of the manufacturers or fast-moving products. We found that just by giving them credit, we can resource the whole value chain all the way up.”

  • One dies as Police, cultists clash in Delta

    A yet- to -be identified man has reportedly died in a gun duel between policemen and suspected cultists at Express Junction in Udu council area of Delta state.

    The incident occurred on Tuesday evening.

    It was gathered that Policemen from Ovwian/Aladja Division had gone to the area to put an end to a clash among rival cult groups.

    However, a suspected cultists from one of the groups allegedly opened fire on the team of uniformed security men, leading to an exchange of bullets.

    Read Also: Police arraign lawyer for threatening to kill Kashamu

    It was learnt that one of the suspects was gunned down by the Police while others fled the scene.

    Delta Commissioner of Police, Mr Adeyinka Adeleke, confirmed the development.

    He said: “Cultists clashed with Police and one was shot dead. The person is a cultist.”

    Udu council boss, Hon. Jite Brown, had only last week announced the imposition of a dusk to dawn curfew due to the incessant criminal activities threatening the peace and security in parts of the local government area.

  • FEC okays N310b for roads projects

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved three memos and a total of N310 billion for roads projects.

    The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola briefed State House correspondents at the end of FEC meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa.

    He was with the Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajuba and the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Laolu Akande.

    According to him, FEC approved N79.82 billion for Ibadan-Ilesa-Ife road, N200.176 billion for roads linking second Niger Bridge to Asaba and Onitsha, and N29.654 billion for phase 2 of Kano-Katsina highway.

    He said “The ministry of works and housing presented three memoranda and they were approved by the council: construction of Ibadan -Ilesa-Ife Dual Carriage Way, they are connected to Oyo and Osun State at the cost of N79.829 billion.

    “Secondly, for the link-road that connects the second Niger Bridge to Asaba and Onitsha. The Asaba link-road was awarded to Julius Berger and the Onitsha link-road was awarded to RCC at the total cost of N200.176 billion.

    “So this completes essentially the access road that will link the Bridge in the short time. You might recall that these roads were under-designed when the bridge was awarded.

    “So it is this administration that completed the design and we now awarded them so that you can have a bring that has link-roads. This was awarded initially under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) and the bridge in 2010 administration.

    Read Also; Buhari consoles VON DG over wife’s loss

    “The third approval was for phase two of the Kano-Katsina High Way from the point known as Gidan-Mutum Daya all the way to where Katsina Steel Rolling Mill is. This is a 78KM stretch approved at the sum of N29.654 billion.

    “That road is a 152KM road linking Kano and Katsina road from Kano. It was a single length Highway until it was awarded in 2013 by the previous administration in phase 1.

    “So we inherited it and we have continued to execute it. The award was to then expand the road into a dual carriage highway way. That means we are constructing the existing one and building another new one. It was awarded for the first 70KM plus for the phase 1 we we have now done is to complete the award to the same contractor so that there is a uniformity of construction.” he said

    Nwajuba disclosed that contracts amounting to N1.833 billion were approved for his ministry under Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND).

    The first, he said, is N915 million for construction of Faculty of Environment at the University of Abuja.

    He said the second contract is N918 million for construction of Faculty of Education in the same university.

    “The memorandum approved was in respect TETFUND intervention programme in respect of University of Abuja. A key component of that was the award of contract at the sum of N915 million for the construction of the faculty of environment.

    “Another was also approved for he sum of N918 million for the award to build the faculty of education. Those are the two components arising from the special intervention programme that was awarded then in 2017. So we have to act to give effect to them so that they can proceed the delivery.”

  • Police exonerate reps member of rape allegation

    The Imo State Police Command on exonerated a member of the House of Representatives representing Ohaji/Egbema Oguta and Oru West Federal Constituency, Hon. Uju Kingsley Chima of the rape allegation levelled against him by one Mrs. Nkeiruka Cynthia Kamalu.

    The Command dismissed Kamalu’s allegations against Hon. Uju as false and baseless.

    It stated this in a statement signed by Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Orlando Ikeokwu, which was obtained by The Nation.

    The statement reads: “The attention of the command has been drawn to the news making the rounds in some media, dailies and other social platform in which one Nkeiruka Cynthia Kamalu claimed that she was raped by one Hon. Uju Kingsley Chima and as such claimed she was unlawfully arrested, tortured and detained.

    “The command wish to state that on 6/5/2019 the command received a report of a case of advanced fee fraud, conspiracy, child trafficking, forgery and threat to life against one Nkeiru Cynthia Kamalu ‘f’ 40 years of Plot 4, Ademola Close By Ire-Akari Estate, Ago, Lagos State.

    Read Also; ‘Lawmaker raped me, promised to give me N20m if my husband divorced me’

    “The command arrested two suspects namely -(1) Nkeiruka Cynthia Kamalu ’f’ and (ii) Emeka Muoneka ’m’. Both of the suspects made confessional statements as to the offence committed. For the purpose of clarity, the said Nkeiruka Cynthia Kamalu ’f’ called Hon. Kingsley Uju Chima claiming to be pregnant for him and as such blackmailed him into sending her various sums of money. She later claimed to have given birth to twins and one died of which she sent him picture of a baby boy.

    However, in the course of the investigation, the following were discovered.

    “That she was never in Canada as she claimed.

    “That she forged Canadian visa which she snapped and sent to Hon. Kingsley Uju Chima to trick him into sending money.

    “That Emeka Muoneka ‘m’ took her to Nnewi in Anambra State where she bought a three-day old baby boy at the sum of N1,800,000.

    “That she installed a software in her phone in which she used to call Hon. Kingsley Uju Chia, to ensure that a foreign number appears whenever she calls.

    “That both Nkeiruka Cynthia Kamalu and Emeka Muoneka led operatives to Nnewi, Anambra State where they bought a three-day old baby, for the purpose of deceiving Hon. Kingsley Uju Chima and blackmail him into sending money to her.

    In view of the above findings, the command said she was charged to court for the offence, adding that there was no time she was victimized, torturer detained.

    Read Also: One dies as Police, cultists clash in Delta

    The command therefore urged members of the public to discharge the allegations as “they are false and baseless.”

    On September 11, 2019, Kamalu, a businesswoman, filed a fundamental rights suit marked FHC/L/CS/1458/19 alleging “intimidation, mounting surveillance and or illegal oral invitation threat of life and annihilation of property,” against the lawmaker.

    She alleged that she was raped by Chima, on August 9, 2015, while she was married to a United States-based doctor.

    “I lodged the case first at New Owerri Police Station wherein he influenced it and I wrote a Petition to the Inspector-General of Police, Force State Quarters, Abuja. The petition was assigned to Zone 9 Police Command, Umuahia, Abia State.

    According to her, the police persuaded her to settle with the lawmaker and soon after, they resumed an incestuous relationship

    Mrs Kamalu claimed that afterwards, the lawmaker offered to pay her N20 million if she was divorced by her husband, Mr Gabriel Igbibi. Her husband subsequently left her and her new resumed relationship also failed, she said.

    She further alleged that the lawmaker caused her to be arrested in Lagos on 27th day of May, 2019 by SARS and that she was tortured and detained for seven days, after which she was arraigned on a fictitious N40 million theft charge.

  • Man ‘caught’ selling marijuana at NDLEA office

    A Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday remanded a man, Ayobiojo Hammed, who was allegedly caught peddling marijuana at the Lagos Command of the National Drug Laws Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

    Justice Sule Hassan kept Hammed, of 7, Moshalashi Street, Empire, Surulere, Lagos, in prison custody, following his plea of guilty to a one-count charge of unlawfully distributing 630 grammes of the narcotic drug.

    He adjourned till October 11 for review of the facts of the case and sentencing.

    Earlier, NDLEA prosecutor Fingere Dinneys alleged that Hammed was arrested on March 26, 2019, while distributing 630 grammes of the substance to some construction workers on the NDLEA’s premises, No. 4, Shaw Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

    Read Also: NDLEA intercepts 238kg of cannabis in Edo

    The court heard that the defendant’s offence infringed Section 20(1)(a) of the NDLEA Act, 2004 and was punishable under Section 20(2)(a) of the same Act.

    Following Hammed’s plea, his counsel, C. W. Ezeonyeziaku, who stood in for Mrs. Susan Agu, did not oppose the prosecution’s remand application.

    The charge against the defendant marked FHC/L/198c/19, reads: “That you Ayobiojo Hammed, Male, Adult, of 7, Moshalashi Street, Empire Surulere, Lagos on or about 26th March, 2019, at 4, Shaw Road, Ikoyi, Lagos without lawful authority distributed 630 grammes of Cannabis Sativa otherwise known as Marijuana, a narcotic drug similar to Cocaine, LSD and Heroin and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 20(1)(a) and punishable under Section 20(2)(a) of the NDLEA Act 2004”.

  • Kogi gov poll: PDP will struggle to get 25 percent votes – Adeyemi

    The Director-General of the Governorship Campaign Committee of the All Progressives Congress in Kogi State, Sen. Smart Adeyemi has declared the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) will struggle to secure 25 per cent votes in the November poll.

    He said PDP has no candidate yet since its governorship primaries is still being disputed in court.

    He also said more than 15,000 defectors from PDP and other parties will be received by the APC in Kogi State in the next few days.

    Adeyemi, who gave insights into the preparation for the poll, said even if PDP’s candidate, Engr. Musa Wada survives the court hurdles against him, he cannot defeat the incumbent Governor Yahaya Bello of the APC.

    Adeyemi said: “PDP cannot defeat APC in the forthcoming governorship poll in Kogi State. The main opposition party in the state will strive to secure 25 per cent of the votes.

    “In any case, PDP has no candidate because about 35 leaders of PDP are in court to seek the nullification of the results of their party’s governorship primaries. Even ex-Governor Ibrahim Idris who should be the backbone of the party’s campaign has rejected any offer from the party.

    “PDP is in disarray in Kogi State, it is too weak to win the governorship poll. But we are interested in PDP resolving its dispute to enable Governor Yahaya Bello to win in a free and fair poll.

    Read Also; Kogi NPC Chairman resigns

    “APC wants a candidate to compete with at the poll. We are fully on ground, it will be difficult for PDP to defeat APC candidate, Governor Yahaya Bello.

    Adeyemi said although more than 15,000 defectors from PDP and other parties will defect to APC in the next few days, the party will not make any commitment to anybody.

    “As the election is fast approaching, APC is receiving more defectors on daily basis. We are not going to make personal commitment to any defector. We will not promise anyone slots of being a commissioner or Special Adviser or other personal gains.

    “We will accept people to join our party on the basis of vision, needs and aspirations of the masses. We want those who are committed to the ideals of the APC.”

    Meanwhile, the APC has appointed three Deputy Directors-General for its campaign committee.

    They are Hon. Haruna Isa(Kogi West District); Hon. Abubakar S. Adagu Danguruma(Kogi Central District); and Hon. Idoko Musa Haruna(Kogi East District).

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed Kogi governorship poll for November 16.

    Although 22 candidates are jostling for the governorship seat the battle appears to be between APC candidate and his opponent in PDP.