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Tag: PDP clash

  • Police arrest Jibrin-Kofa over Kano APC, PDP clash

    The Police Command in Kano State says it has arrested a member representing Kiru/Bebeji Federal constituency, Abdulmumini Jibrin-Kofa over Thursday’s clash between supporters of PDP and APC.

    The Public Relations Officer of the Command, DSP Abdullahi Haruna confirmed the arrest of the lawmaker in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Kano on Friday.

    He said Jibrin-Kofa was arrested alongside some political leaders from the area in connection with the clash between supporters of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) at Kofa village in Bebeji local government area.

    He said Jibrin-Kofa was arrested alongside the political leader for questioning over the incident.

    No fewer than two persons lost their lives following the clash while 20 vehicles were burnt and 18 others vandalised.

    A reliable source told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the state police Commissioner, Mr Wakili Muhammad and the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone One; Mr Dan Bature arrested Jibrin-Kofa at Kofa village on Friday.

    The two top Police officers were in the village to assess the security situation in the area and the extent of destruction of facilities at the village.

    NAN reports that many people sustained various degrees of injuries during the clash in the village. (NAN)

  • APC, PDP clash over planned ‘trafficking’ of illicit funds

    The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) and the Atiku Media Office clashed yesterday over an allegation that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar was planning to bring into the country illicit funds.

    In a statement, the BMO alleged the former vice president Atiku Abubakar plans to flood the country with what it described as illicit funds in the run-up to the 2019 elections.

    Its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju, and Secretary, Cassidy Madueke, urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian Customs Service NCS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to watch out for illegal funds’ transfer across the borders.

    But Atiku’s Media Adviser Paul Ibe dismissed the allegation as “another infantile outburst that tells more about the accuser than the accused.”

    Ibe said the PDP standard bearer has no looted funds anywhere.

    In its statement, the BMO accused the former vice of being desperate to bring money stashed abroad into the country with a view to outspending the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    It reads: “We have it on good authority that the PDP and its Presidential candidate are making strenuous efforts to bring in public funds stashed abroad including those from recent sales of assets in Angola which were acquired with illicit funds.

    “We also know that the former vice president has made promissory transaction commitments on a number of strategic national assets including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and a percentage holding in the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) to a foreign syndicate.

    “All these are out of desperation and as a result of his inability to raise funds from governors elected on PDP platform, many of whom are themselves locked in stiff battles for their seats.”

    According to Akinsiju and Madueke, the decision to bring in funds by the PDP candidate followed stringent measures put in place by the CBN and EFCC to ensure sanity in the banking sector.

    It alleged that said top officials of the last PDP government used some third generation banks to funnel public funds to party officials in all states of the federation before the last election.

    The statement added: “It is clear to Atiku Abubakar and PDP elements that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has put in place a system that has made it difficult for the type of situation in 2015 where a former minister could warehouse $115,000,000 (One hundred and fifteen million dollars) which was then shared among party officials to influence electoral officials.

    “They also know that even the EFCC is very much on the alert at local airports as seen in the manner its operatives have twice in recent times intercepted undeclared sums of money running into millions of dollars.

    “So these opposition elements are now working out a more crooked way of bringing in money through the borders in order to circumvent the system before and during the February 2019 elections”.

    The group urged all relevant agencies to double their efforts to enforce provisions of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 (as amended).

    Reacting, Atiku’s spokesman said the former vice president has a reputation of blocking the transfer of illicit funds.

    Ibe said: “For the avoidance of doubt, history shows that rather than smuggle in looted cash, Waziri Atiku Abubakar has a record of preventing looted funds from being smuggled into Nigeria.

    In 1984, it was Atiku Abubakar, as head of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Command of the Nigerian Customs and Excise Department, that stopped the ADC of the then Military Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari, from smuggling in 53 suitcases of looted money into the country.

    “Young Nigerians and millennials, who may not be aware of this incident, will do well to Google it. Only the guilty are afraid.”

    Ibe quoted what Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai said of the controversial suitcases, adding that Atiku had survived all the traps set for him because he had nothing to hide.

    He said: “Atiku Abubakar’s plane was searched, his accounts have been perused and his businesses have been thoroughly investigated with a fine tooth and nothing remotely corrupt or illegal has been found.

    “And while they are at it, we urge them to tell Nigerians those behind Etisalat and Keystone Bank and how they suddenly possessed such wealth overnight.”

    The Buhari campaign office had defended the President’s integrity and accused the opposition party of deliberately planning to drag the name of President Buhari in the mud.

  • Alleged corruption: APC, PDP clash over Oshiomhole

    A REPORT on the alleged grilling of All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole by the Department of State Services (DSS) has pitted the ruling party against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    APC’s National Publicity Secretary Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu said the party was unaware of Oshiomhole’s purported arrest and interrogation by the Department of State Services (DSS) on Sunday.

    He described the report as a rumour that could not be confirmed because Oshiomhole was out of town.

    But PDP spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan accused the Presidency of shielding the APC chair from investigation.

    The Cable, an online newspaper, had reported Oshiomhole’s alleged arrest and questioning by the DSS for an alleged corruption arising from the last APC primaries. It claimed the APC chair was held for nine hours.

    According to the report, the DSS allegedly gave Oshiomhole the option of resigning his position.

    The APC chairman was reported to have told his interrogators that President Muhammadu Buhari knew of all his actions and that he would only resign if the President loses confidence in him.

    Reacting to the development yesterday, Isa-Onilu said: “We do not have any information on this rumour. More so, the chairman is not around in the country to confirm or deny this. As soon as we have any relevant information, you’ll be updated.”

    On where Oshiomhole travelled to, he said:  “I do not have this information. I do know it’s a scheduled personal trip he could not make last week due to the November 2 deadline for the submission of candidates’ list.”

    The PDP described as reprehensible, revelations that President Buhari was shielding the APC national chairman from being investigated by security operatives.

    In a statement by Ologbondiyan, the PDP claimed to be privy to the pressure being mounted on the DSS by President Buhari to let Oshiomhole off the hook.

    The opposition party attributed the President’s alleged intervention to fears that the DSS investigation would unearth the complicity of the Presidency and other key APC members in the alleged scam.

    The PDP alleged that Oshiomhole was induced by some ministers and other APC sources in Adamawa, Rivers, Kano and Imo states to manipulate the 2019 electoral process.

    It said: “If the Buhari Presidency has nothing to hide; if it is not complicit in the alleged scam, it should allow the DSS and EFCC a free hand to investigate and prosecute his party’s factional chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, particularly now that all issues are laid bare before Nigerians.

    “As long as the DSS and the EFCC are not allowed to put Oshiomhole into the dock, the Buhari Presidency does not have the moral rectitude to speak on corruption.

    “This is especially as the involvement of the DSS shows that the corruption burden of the APC Chairman has already become a security risk to our nation.

    “Finally, the PDP cautions that in no circumstance should the Presidency escort Adams Oshiomhole out of the country, just like it did for the disgraced Buhari’s former Minister of Finance.”

  • APC, PDP clash as INEC fixes Sept 28 for Edo poll

    APC, PDP clash as INEC fixes Sept 28 for Edo poll

    Edo State will elect a new governor on September 28 after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday postponed the election by 18 days.

    On Wednesday, the Directorate of State Services (DSS) and the police advised the agency to shift the poll because of an untoward security situation.

    At a joint news conference, the security agencies said it would be impossible for the election to hold on schedule.

    The INEC, whose top officials, including Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, were already in Benin, the state capital, said it would meet and take a decision based on the advice.

    The initial position of the agency yesterday was to go ahead with the election.

    INEC National Commissioner in charge of voter education and publicity Prince Solomon Soyebi, said the agency was ready and would go ahead.

    “We cannot shift the election on the basis of security report. We have weighed all the parameters and consequences of postponing the election. This Commission will not mortgage its independence for the sustenance of democracy.

    “We have made 99 percent preparation for the elections and we have also weighed the political atmosphere,” Soyebi said.

    But he later made a U-turn to announce a new date after a long deliberation. Reporters were kept for a long time after the agency called a news conference to break the news of the shift.

    Sources said the delay in announcing the new date was to avert a clash with the coronation of the Crown Prince of Benin Kingdom, Ambassador Eheneden Erediauwa, as the Oba. The ceremony is slated for September 26.

    Soyebi said the commission’s earlier insistent on holding the election on Saturday was because there was no official communication from security agencies.

    He said the commission only received official communication from security agencies at about 6pm yesterday, drawing attention to the need to postpone the election in view of threats of terrorist activities in Edo and other states.

    He said: “The communication indicates that deployment of security personnel country wide to secure lives and property would over stretch their capacity to at the same time provide adequate security for the election.

    “The commission notes the request of the security agencies and considering the security implications of proceeding with the election, the safety of eligible voters, electoral officials, including ad hoc staff and other stakeholders, has decided to reschedule the Edo governorship election to Wednesday, 28 September.”

    Governor Adams Oshiomhole welcomed the decision although he would have favoured a week’s postponement. He cautioned against a new date clashing with the Oba’s coronation.

    The governor nevertheless said the All Progressives Congress (APC) would win because he claimed the PDP is not popular in the state.

    Speaking on a television programme, Oshiomhole said  the APC  defeated the PDP in 16 local governments in the last election.

    He said his party was ready for the election and that Edo is not a war zone.

    His added: “We will win the election. The PDP has no credibility in this state.”

    But the PDP declared the shift as illegal and a coup against the people.

    In a statement yesterday by its spokesman, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, the Makarfi-led PDP said the date should be kept sacrosanct, stressing that there were no tangible reasons to tamper with the election.

    The statement said: “The call for the postponement of the election by top hierarchy of the security agencies predicated on alleged security threat was a less than ingenious attempt to buy time for the APC which is clearly heading for a major electoral catastrophe on Saturday.

    “It is shameful and indeed a major constitutional breach for the security agencies to act in concert with the APC to truncate an election that had been planned for months.

    “Nigerians were not deceived by the obvious concoctions of the security agencies whose performances during elections have been less than average since the advent of the Buhari Administration.

    “Indeed they have become instruments in the hands of the ruling party to harass, intimidate and punish opponents”.

    The PDP called on the President and the National Assembly to conduct a non partisan and holistic review and investigation of the national security apparatus to save the nation’s fledgling democracy.

    “The postponement of the election by INEC is illegal, unconstitutional and a breach of the peoples’ trust in the commission and the security agencies.

    “It is a coup against the people of Edo State in particular and Nigerians in general. Since the APC assumed power, virtually all elections conducted by INEC have either been inconclusive or truncated.

    “Saturday’s election in Edo State must be an exemption. We will not accept anything less than free, fair and transparent election conducted and concluded the same day.

    “INEC must rise to the occasion to restore the confidence of Nigerians in its operations. Edo is a test case. With the way INEC is performing, how are we sure that it would be able to handle the 2019 national elections.

    In another statement by its publicity secretary, Chri Nehikiare, Edo State PDP accused INEC and the state government of orchestrating the shift.

    ‘’For us, the move by INEC to put off the election is shocking and unacceptable.

    ‘’We are taken aback by the rash security advice a day after the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, was present at the final campaign rally of the APC in Benin City, which was concluded without any security hitch.’’

    The party said INEC recently conducted a hitch-free senatorial bye-election in Borno State, a state which had remained a hotbed of terrorism and insurgency, yet the security agencies saw no reason to advise against the conduct of the election.

    ‘’We are therefore convinced that this phantom security advice is orchestrated in connivance with the APC in the face of imminent defeat in the governorship election,’’ the PDP added.

  • One dies in APC, PDP clash in Ilesa

    One dies in APC, PDP clash in Ilesa

    One person was killed yesterday in a fracas  between the supporters of the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State.

    It was gathered that members of the two political parties resorted to violence   when a group of the PDP members reportedly embarked on destruction of Aregbesola’s bill boards as they were conducting a door-to-door campaign in the area.

    The hoodlums were allegedly led by a former local government chairman.

    The political thugs, who were said to have begun the destruction of the bill boards around 8.00 am, allegedly attacked a supporter of the APC simply identified as Tolu in his residence around the Irojo area of the town.

    It was gathered that one of the hoodlums allegedly fired a gun into the air to scare the people, but a bullet was said to have mistakenly hit Tolu in the chest, and he died on the spot.

    Immediately after discovering that Tolu had been hit by the bullet and died, the hoodlums were said to have left the vicinity and escaped through the Osun Ankara Road and Express Road before the arrival of the policemen from Ayeso Police Station.

    The deceased’s relation, who preferred not to be named, said Tolu was not a politician, but he had at a time publicly declared his support for Aregbesola.

    The Osun State Police Command’s spokesperson, Mrs. Folasade Odoro, confirmed there was a clash in Ilesa. She said the police had commenced an investigation into the matter.

    The APC in the state has condemned the incident, describing it as an open introduction of violence into the politics of the state.

    The party’s Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Barr. Kunle Oyatomi, said the PDP had been “boasting publicly to use every means, including ‘federal might’ that can only be authorized by the presidency to attempt to remove the APC from power in the state.”

    Meanwhile, the APC said:  “The PDP has begun the process of virtually destroying Nigeria, starting from Osun. Once again, we want the presidency to think twice before plunging into this dangerous enterprise because it will significantly destabilise Nigeria, and more importantly truncate democracy.

    “With the introduction of the Joint Task Force into Osun, the Federal Government is putting Osun State on a war footing. Let the Nigerians who love this country prevail on the presidency that this is not a war that the Federal Government can win. It is supposed to be an election in a state that has the reputation of being one of the most peaceful in the country.

    “The necessity for this irrational deployment of the JTF does not exist in Osun, except for the rabid and unbridled ambition of the PDP to capture Nigeria, even if it costs lives.”

  • Party supporter killed in APC, PDP clash

    Party supporter killed in APC, PDP clash

    A COMMERCIAL motorcyclist was yesterday killed in a clash in Ado-Ekiti,the Ekiti State capital.

    Both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  claimed he was their supporter.

    Eye-witnesses’ accounts indicated that trouble started at about 8a.m. when some APC members trooped out to the city centre with brooms to conduct a “cleaning”  following Saturday’s PDP rally for its candidate in the June 21 governorship election, Ayo Fayose.

    The APC members were said to have been stopped midway by a combined team of security agents who were said to be keeping vigil in the state capital.

    The party members, who allegedly resisted the directive to halt the cleaning, were later dispersed with tear gas by mobile policemen led by a senior officer.

    The APC accused the police of supporting the PDP.

    Scores of party members were in jured in the incident.

    They were conveyed to hospitals.

    Senator Babafemi Ojudu (Ekiti Central), Oyetunde Ojo of the House of Representatives and APC Chairman, Chief Jide Awe, were also attacked during the incident.

    Ojudu said: “We were holding a peaceful rally and before we knew what was happening, policemen started throwing tear gas. They attacked us; they beat me up and destroyed our vehicles. Four of our buses have been damaged by them. They even killed one of our members. We will not accept this. We are going to resist it. How can you, for God sake, tear gas our governor and you say you are protecting us?”

    Soon after the cessation of hostilities, Governor Kayode Fayemi appeared on the scene, a move which immediately attracted firing of another round of tear gas canisters by policemen.

    An apparently angry Fayemi came down from a black Sports Utility Vehicle marked ‘Governor,’ asking the police officers who approached him why the “Mopol shot and killed the victim,” who was an APC member.

    The victim’s name could not be ascertained as at press time .

    The governor told the mobile policemen that he could no longer understand the neutrality of the state police. But they looked on without offering a reply.

    The arrival of Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr. Felix Uyanna, to the scene gave the MOPOL chief the boldness to threaten to arrest the governor.

    Fayemi then lamented to the CP, saying: “Whose interest are you protecting? CP, I cannot believe this. If I leave here, who will protect these people? They will come back and attack them again. I said you beat Government House policemen. One of your people arrested them. They (referring to the MOPOL) even took the rifle of one of my policemen from him.”

    The governor asked the Commissioner of Police if policemen were to protect the people or harm them.

    The mobile police chief, who had ordered some of his officers to dislodge the governor’s security aides, told the CP: “Who? I mean what governor? Who is governor when the VP is in town? I don’t know any governor. I have order from above. That is all”.

    Hoodlums believed to be sympathetic to the PDP were seen attacking APC members in the presence of the police. They also vandalised about four branded buses belonging to APC.

    The police commissioner, who was short of words, simply urged the governor to leave the scene. He promised that efforts would be made to restore peace.

    The Commissioner for Integration and Civic Orientation, Mr. Funminiyi Afuye, was also brutalised and dragged on the floor for trying to challenge the police officers for killing the APC member.

    He was allegedly slapped before being dragged into a  waiting van and driven away. Afuye’s whereabouts remained unknown at the time of going to press.

    The governor later addressed APC members, saying the alleged killing “is a rehearsal of what the PDP and the police intend doing during the June 21 governorship election”.

    Fayemi urged the party supporters to continue to be law-abiding, saying no harm could touch them. He  added  that the electorate would not allow anybody to return the state “to slavery and the era of terror”.

    Meanwhile, Awe, who briefed the journalists on what he called  “police brutality”, accused the police of compromise.

    He called for immediate transfer of the Police Commissioner and Mopol Commander, Selekere, noting the two had been compromised. He added: “We no longer have confidence in them”.

    Awe said: “We were just holding a peaceful procession at about 8a.m

    this morning as part of our sensitisation programmes, the Mopol Commander  molibised his men and came with two Armoured Personnel Carriers bought with Ekiti money and accosted us at Ijigbo.

    “He asked us to stop, we tried to plead with him, but he insisted that he was acting on the order of President Goodluck Jonathan that no rally should hold in Ekiti.

    “They started  firing teargas canisters and shot straight at our people and one of our members was killed in the process. Even a serving Commissioner, Mr. Funminiyi Afuye was arrested and detained. The Caretaker Chairman of Ado Local Government , Tope Olanipekun, sustained injuries and many others.

    But contrary to claims by the APC, Ekiti State PDP Chairman, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, said it was the APC members, who were on parade in the town, that “provoked the violence by attacking an Okada rider who was carrying a passenger that wore a T-shirt with Ayo Fayose inscription”.

    Though his claim could not be verified, Ogundipe said immediately the commercial motorcyclist passenger was killed, his killers removed the Ayo Fayose T-shirt on him and replaced same with the vest of the APC to suggest it was one of their members that was killed by PDP.

    Also, the police commissioner, in a statement, denied the killing, saying the victim was attacked by members of APC and PDP, who clashed during the rally.

    Uyanna said: “The APC was holding a rally today in Ado Ekiti with intention to sweep off the footprints of the PDP without the permission of the police.

    “They had an encounter with the PDP rival political party members at Ijigbo roundabout where dangerous weapons like axes, cudgels, machetes and other weapons were freely used. A yet to be identified man was inflicted with multiple injuries on the head and was rushed to the hospital on the order of the police Commissioner.

    “The CP and the Director of SSS, Mr. Samuel Tamuno had to mobilise to the point. We heard that the governor wanted to visit the scene and we advised him against that which he did not heed. So, the police should not be held liable for this.”