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Tag: PDP

  • APC: we’ve exceeded membership target

    APC: we’ve exceeded membership target

    •Party slams PDP for criticising registration

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) said yesterday it has exceeded its membership target because Nigerians see it as a mass movement rather than a mere political party.

    “This explains why we have extended the registration period by two days,” it said.

    The party accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of sponsoring the sabotage of its (APC’s) membership registration in several states.

    It noted that the ruling party’s rush to the media to condemn the registration showed it as a cog in the wheel of democracy.

    In a statement yesterday in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said since one of the ways to truncate democracy was by stifling popular participation, the PDP should be accused of working to truncate Nigeria’s democracy by its campaign of lies against the APC membership registration.

    The party explained that the registration was meant to give “many Nigerians a chance to be part of their country’s democracy.”

    It said the reason the PDP called a hurried media briefing to spew out lies on the registration was because the it saw the handwriting on the wall and became jittery.

    APC said: “The PDP is wrong about its claim that the APC is engaging in phantom registration. The party should know that while anyone can manufacture numbers, no one can manufacture human beings. Therefore, in the fullness of time, any party that gives a fake number of its membership will get its comeuppance.

    “The truth is that within the first three days of our registration, we had met and exceeded the target we set for ourselves. Nigerians have flocked to our party, which they have come to see more as a mass movement than just a political party. This explains why we have extended the registration by two days. The PDP is aware of the acceptability of the APC and has started quivering,” APC said.

    The party said instead of splitting hairs over the phenomenal APC registration, the PDP should launch its membership drive, to know what Nigerians think of it.

    “PDP officials should not just sit in their Abuja offices and make phantom allegations about some party engaging in phantom registration, they should go out there and see for themselves what is going on, and how Nigerians are streaming aboard the train of change that the APC has become,” it said.

    APC also advised the PDP to stop the sabotage of its membership registration by sponsoring attacks on officials and hijacking materials in Abia and Rivers; bribing some fifth columnists to sabotage the process in Delta, and burning “our secretariat in Gombe.”

    The party denied getting any assistance from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) or using any material obtained from the commission, “except, of course, if the public spaces we are using for the registration are now being seen by the PDP as INEC property.”

    APC added: “The PDP accused the APC of trying to truncate the country’s democracy simply because the party (APC) is giving Nigerians the opportunity to exercise their right to associate freely. It is now clear to discerning Nigerians that it is the PDP that is truncating our democracy by blocking popular participation and preventing Nigerians from exercising their rights.”

  • APC ‘ll unseat PDP in 2015, says Onu

    APC ‘ll unseat PDP in 2015, says Onu

    A former Chairman of the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, yesterday said the All Progressives Alliance (APC) will defeat the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 elections.

    He said the kidnap of registration officers of the APC in Ebonyi State by PDP thugs was disturbing.

    Onu spoke at the New Market Junction Polling Unit in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

    Then former governor said the attack proved that the PDP felt threatened that the APC would unseat it in the forthcoming elections.

    He said: “We are very disturbed. It shouldn’t be that way. This country belongs to all Nigerians. It doesn’t belong to only those in one political party; there are some people who are not even members of any political party. So, if APC is registering its members nobody should attack any of our members. If APC has not been a great party, a party that the ruling party feels threatened that it can remove them from power, you won’t see things like this.”

    Onu, a former Governor of Abia State urged Nigerians to support the APC which he noted is determined to turn around the good fortunes of the country and restore its credibility in the committee of nations.

    He expressed optimism on the chances of the party to unseat the PDP in next year’s general elections adding that the party’s strength lies not just in controlling the most populous states in the country but also in tremendous goodwill it enjoys from Nigerians who are yearning for positive change.

    “I appeal to all Nigerians to give the APC a chance, Nigerians want change and this change will come from APC. And we are promising Nigerians that once apc is in power, we are going to ensure that Nigeria will be different from what it is today, Nigerians will be happy and Nigerian will be respect in the committee of nations as it should be.

    “The strength of APC is not just in the 16 states that we are controlling, the strength of the APC is that Nigerians want change, things are not the way they should be and that is disturbing to many Nigerians. And they are looking for an alternative and the alternative is now available. APC is the only party that has demonstrated that they can put the interest of the nation first.

    “We have thousands of people from national down to the ward level who gave up their positions in the defunct parties that formed APC to ensure that it was achieved. We have majority because if you look at the number of registered voters, the states we are controlling are the most populous states in the country, so we are optimistic that with support of Nigerians and blessings of God we will control more states and also the federal government.”

     

    The APC chieftain called on INEC to hold all the elections on same day arguing that this will save cost and make it difficult to rig the elections.

    “The party is going to study the timetable, we would want elections that are free and fare, credible, peaceful and transparent and the party will issue its own position as far as the timetable is concerned at a later date. But the party believes that elections should hold on the same date because if INEC is saying they don’t have money then easiest way to reduce cost is to have all the elections on the same day”.

    “Also, if you are not interested on one election like house of assembly you may be interested in senate of governorship, so we will have more people come out and this will make it more difficult to rig election. If we can have free and fair election in Ghana, Senegal, Benin Republic, why can’t we have it in Nigeria and by God’s grace we will have it.”

    He berated the Federal Government for failing to honour the agreements it entered into ASUU.

    “There was a time in Nigeria our universities ranked among the best in the commonwealth. Then people used to come from other countries to receive treatment in our hospital but today what is the situation? If you are sick you have to go abroad to get treatment. Before it used to be Europe, now it’s India and even Egypt and South Africa’

    “Many of our students go abroad for studies not just because we may not have the subjects or disciplines they want to study but because the standard of our education is very low. Even the agreement that government reached with ASUU in 2009, ASUU had to go on strike for several months to force the FG to keep to the agreement, now we are hearing that the agreement that was reached that led them back to school, that the federal government is not complying’.

    “These are the problems that Nigerians are worried about, and that is the strength of APC’s demand for change, that things should be done properly, that no human being has two heads, if other countries are doing well, we also are endowed and should be doing well as well.

    “So, we are assuring our people that with effective competition in the political arena democracy will be nurtured and all the dividends of democracy will come because everybody in office will realize that if you don’t do well you will be removed and that will make us all as politicians to sit up and do our work as we should”.

     

  • ‘We won’t debate flawed budget’

    ‘We won’t debate flawed budget’

    The House of Representatives has been embroiled in a supremacy battle between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The two parties are making claims and counter-claims about numerical superiority. The Minority Leader and APC Caucus Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, spoke with VICTOR OLUWASEGUN and DELE ANOFI on the claims, the controversy over this year’s budget and other issues.

    Why do you think that the PDP is trying to use the courts to frustrate the APC in its bid to effect a change in the leadership of the House of Representatives?

    I don’t want to cast aspersions on what the court is doing. Apart from being a lawyer, I have to respect the judiciary. But, I just find it very strange that something that is settled in law; that you cannot interfere in operations of another arm of government; the court is not just interfering, but delaying the dispensation of justice. And you know it is said justice delayed is justice denied. The case has been adjourned again until February 14 and the PDP has been known for using the court system but in this instance, I want to give the judge and the court the benefit of doubt so we will continue to tarry.

    What were the issues discussed at the meeting of the APC leadership and governors that met with the lawmakers recently?

    There were a lot of issues on how to move the party forward. But, I do not have to expose them for the other side to counter what we decided. We had a good talk.

    It seems the APC is losing steam in the House because, in the last one week, more members have defected from the APC to the PDP?

    It was actually one or two members. But that is the time they wanted to defect and, like I said, it is the season of defection. Defections are not over yet.

    Which party controls the majority in the House? You reinstated recently that the number of APC lawmaker’s is between 172 and 174. What is the exact number?

    Yes, because the defections are ongoing- people defect today others tomorrow and all that. But I just want people to wait because I believe by the end of this month; all the defections should have been over either way. By the end of this month, we will be able to present the accurate number. It is a season of defection, so we just have to wait until such a time when everything would have been settled.

    The House spokesman has said that, even when the leadership is going to change, none of the presiding officers will be affected. Is this the position of APC and why is it so?

    The change of leadership involves just the parties, whereas changing of the presiding officers involves the whole parties and it also requires two third of the House to change the presiding officers. These are some of the reasons why we do not talk about changing the presiding officers. But more importantly, the presiding officers enjoy the compliment of the entire House across board. So, we do not have problem with that and we are only talking about conforming to our rules, which say that the majority shall produce the majority leadership and the minority shall produce the minority leadership.

    The APC lawmakers stopped the debate on the 2014 budget on the floor. Is this part of your compliance with the directive by the leadership to shut down the budget?

    Let me put it this way. The matter that we raised on the floor, you can call it filibustering; it was not really delay, but was done absolutely on legal grounds. We are ready to meet the PDP on the intellectual turf. The law is very clear on the matter that was raised. The Fiscal Responsibility Act, which we passed, is the most important financial instrument that guides our financial dealings. The budget, as it is, is inchoate. It says that you must attach the budget estimate of corporations listed in the Fiscal Responsibility Act and that has not been done. The summary is by no way an estimate. And, if you look at the rules of the House under Order 12 Rule 97; which says you shall attach the details and this has not been done. So, it’s time we started doing things properly. Some of the members argue that it has always been like that and the Chairman, Appropriation; John Enoh, actually brought this argument on the floor. And I was very surprised because, if something has been done before and it is later found out that it was not right do we perpetuate the illegality. I am sure we will not allow the PDP members to go away with it. This is a fundamental flaw of the budget and we are now saying we are not going to debate the budget. So, we are saying that you should take the budget back and return it properly to us. It is not properly before us and we cannot consider something in a vacuum; where the details of the NNPC, CBN and other 22 other corporations that are listed in the Fiscal Responsibility Act are not there. And, if we were not doing it right, the $10.8 billion that is missing point to the fact that we were not appraised with the details of that budget last year. So, we don’t want that to repeat itself. Yes, we have achieved what we set out to do as a party and it sends a very clear message.

    Last week, during the voting on the constitution amendment, you alleged that the Majority Leader, Hon. Mulikat Akande-Adeola, was voting by proxy (for the Deputy Speaker) and it was later taken as a joke. But we received a statement from you confirming that. What exactly happened? Did you see her voting by proxy?

    Yes, she was voting by proxy, which is not allowed by our rules. And that is why the first thing I said when I stood up was to set the foundation by asking the Speaker, if we are allowed by any law to vote for anybody. And the Speaker said no and I made my case that the majority leader was voting for the deputy speaker and I did not understand why she was doing that. If you realize the deputy speaker was sitting with the speaker, which it should not have been. He is entitled to vote, but somebody else was voting for him, indicating that she knew what she wanted to do. I said it casually, but for me, it carries a lot of implications. Immediately I said that she handed his (Ihedioha’s)card to him where he was sitting. But it is an unchartered territory; it’s new; we never envisage this. Ideally, in other parliaments, perhaps the matter should have been sent to the Ethics and Privileges Committee to look into it and come out with an appropriate report. But, I said it in a jocularly manner and it was corrected and I think that will not happened again.

    What is your take on the refusal of the Senate leadership to allow the 11 PDP senators to defect to the APC?

    Well, the Senate is an independent chamber. But, let me say that you cannot stop anyone from defecting. Politics and associating is part of the constitution. Chapter 4 of the constitution guarantees that and you can associate with anybody. A lot of noise is being made about reading a letter and I don’t know of any law that requires a letter for it to trigger defection. Defection is an end defection of defection and communication can be oral, written or even by conduct in some cases. So, it is wishful thinking for anyone to think that refusal to read a letter would stop defection.

    What is your reaction to the defection of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar from the PDP to the APC?

    Well, we’ve heard this coming from the people who do not wish well for the party. We’ve heard he would tear the party apart from the time that we were forming the party when they said it would work or it won’t work. Strange bed fellows, these are buzz words we hear all the time. Oh no, they would not be registered. Then, they brought fake APC to come and register. A lot of hurdles have been placed our way, people have said this would not work, but, we are where we are today, it worked beyond the imagination of those naysayers.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    So, we are not perturbed. Atiku coming into APC is a plus, it’s not a minus. He has his ambition, everybody has ambition but we will test their strength and find out who is the popular candidate on the field. He’s not coming to destroy the party, he has no such intention. He’s a good and perfect gentleman and we have rules and regulations that guide us as a political institution. I am of the opinion that APC is more than a party, it’s a movement. And one individual, man or woman cannot stop anybody from defecting from one party to the other.

     

    What does the defection portends for the party and the polity in general?

    For me, it is good. Politics is a numbers game whether it is developed or advanced democracy or developing democracy. You cannot wish away Atiku Abubakar in Nigerian politics. People argue that he is a spent force but he is one extra person and he brings a lot to the table. We are happy to have him. One less person in PDP is one more person in APC and whatever way you look at it, he is going to bring in a lot of people.

    The police in Rivers have banned political rallies. The APC’s registration exercise is ongoing. Don’t you think it will affect the party?

    Police placing embargo on political rallies does not affect registration. It is a constitutional right to register; to associate with people. How do you associate with people? You register. So, the police can’t stop that they have no power to do that.

     

  • Party urges security agencies to protect officials

    Party urges security agencies to protect officials

    •Publicity Secretary alleges disruption by PDP thugs

    •PDP: allegation untrue

    The Abia State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged security agencies to provide security for its members during the registration.

    Its Publicity Secretary, Benedict Godson, spoke at the weekend in Umuahia during a media briefing.

    He said suspected thugs of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had been disrupting the exercise in the state.

    Godson alleged that the PDP used thugs to disrupt the registration in parts of the state last Saturday.

    The publicity secretary warned that APC would not tolerate intimidation from any party.

    He said APC registration officers in Obohia-Ndoki, Ukwa East Local Government Area, were attacked and chased out of the venue at the Town Hall.

    According to him, the party’s registration materials were taken away by the suspected PDP thugs.

    Godson said the incident forced the officials to relocate to a private home.

    The publicity secretary said similar incidents were recorded at Amukwa, Umuafor and Umuelendu wards in Obingwa Local Government Area, where the party officers were dispossessed of registration materials.

    He added that two registration officers were arrested and detained at Umuobiakwam police station but released after the party’s intervention.

    Godson said similar incidents occurred in Aba South and Isialangwa South local government areas.

    The publicity secretary alleged that the exercise was also disrupted at the Old Umuahia in Umuahia South Local Government Area, where two men arrived the venue in a bus with the inscription “National Youth Programme.”

    According to him, a registration officer, Mr Onuoha Nnamdi, escaped when one of the assailants shot at him.

    Godson said there was no registration in Ohuhu Ward in Umuahia North Local Government Area because thugs did not allow the exercise to take place.

    The publicity secretary said suspected PDP thugs took away registration materials, forcing the officials to use exercise books.

    He described the alleged use of some “compromised” security operatives and thugs to intimidate the party officials and frustrate the registration in Abia as undemocratic.

    The Abia APC added that the incident had been reported to the police and security agencies.

    He said the party wanted to forestall further molestation of its members and a possible breakdown of law and order.

    Police spokesman Geoffrey Ogbonnaya, an assistant superintendent, said he was not aware of the alleged attacks because the command had not received any such report.

    Ogbonnaya said the report might have been made at the divisional police stations.

    PDP Chairman Sen. Emma Nwaka denied the APC allegation.

     

     

     

    He said the opposition was merely attracting attention.

    Nwaka said: “APC is not a threat to the PDP in the state and will never be. So, why should we lose sleep over its registration?”

  • Why I joined PDP, by Shekarau

    Why I joined PDP, by Shekarau

    •We wish you well, says APC

    The scramble to take advantage of the defection of prominent members from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) has continued to gain momentum among displaced politicians.

    The latest in the attention-chasing adventure occurred yesterday, with former Kano State Governor Ibrahim Shekarau declaring for the PDP at the Yar ‘Adua Centre, Abuja.

    Shekarau, who formally announced his decision to join the ruling party, described the APC as a party without a structure.

    Maintaining that the opposition could not be seen or touched, because it had lost its soul, the former Kano governor said he was leaving the APC because the party has become a political fraud.

    In a swift reaction, the APC’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said he could only wish Shekarau well in his new marriage to the PDP.

    In a telephone chat with one of our correspondent yesterday, Mohammed simply said: “We wish Shakarau well in his new marriage.”

    Challenging the leadership of the APC to produce the party’s constitution and manifesto, Shekarau boasted that no intimidation, blackmail, or character assassination would change his vision.

    Said he: “Because some people wanted to pocket the party and that was why the constitution of the party had yet to see the light of the day.

    “The soul of the APC is lost. It cannot be touched or seen. APC constitution is a political fraud. There is no management at any level of APC. This is the issue we raised and this is what we challenged.

    “I did all I could do to salvage the APC with no results. I refused to keep quiet in the face of the shenanigan going on in the APC.

    “We cannot see ourselves belonging to a platform where we have been made to pocket others.

    “After six months, no structure was found anywhere; we cannot belong to such, where caricature of management is found. We challenge the leadership of APC to tell us why the constitution and manifesto of the party is not found on the streets of Nigeria.

    “There is nowhere in the constitution of the APC that said X and Y are the leaders of the party.

    “Politics is not only about contesting and winning elections nor is it about getting public offices alone, but a platform to get the people to participate in nation building.

    “As we are stepping into PDP, the party has made some amendments and has looked inward. We are solidly behind the leadership of the party.

    “We will contribute meaningfully to the development of the country.”

    Shekarau said his decision to join the PDP was reached with his supporters .

    Also speaking on the occasion, former Sokoto State Governor Attahiru Bafarawa said he and Shekarau were in the PDP to rebuild the ruling party.

  • Ex-Speaker’s brother wins PDP ticket

    Ex-Speaker’s brother wins PDP ticket

    Younger brother of the late Taraba Speaker Daniel Tsokwa yesterday clinched the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) House of Assembly ticket.

    He will fly the party’s banner at the Assembly by-election holding on February 22.

    In a keen but rancour-free primary in Takum Local Government Area, Tsokwa polled 72 votes to defeat his rival, Yakubu S. Yakubu, who scored 71.

    A hundred and forty-four delegates voted but of the total votes cast, one vote was invalidated because the delegate (voter) wrote only abbreviation (Y.S.Y).

    Tsokwa was sponsored by Acting Governor Garba Umar while Yakubu was fielded by loyalists of Governor Danbaba Suntai.

    The PDP primary by-election yesterday proved a point that Umar was indeed in control of the ruling party’s machinery in the state.

    The House of Assembly seat (Takum I constituency) became vacant, following the death of Speaker Haruna Tsokwa, last year.

     

  • Maku’s unguarded outburst

    Maku’s unguarded outburst

    SIR: Information management is about creating understanding in a society and between various interests. The responsibility of a minister of information should be to market aggregate values of a country to the audience that should include those within the country and outside. It becomes tragic and bizarre when the instrument of communication falls into the hand of those who see it as opportunity to disparage a section of the country.

    Every reasonable Nigerian should condemn the recent outburst of the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku. It is evident that the minister is becoming irascible in his attempt to cover up iniquities or disappointment of the PDP-led government. His tirade against governors Wamakko and Kwankwaso of Sokoto and Kano states respectively failed to address the burning issues confronting the nation today. Indeed, being a northerner, Maku is fully aware of the weight of his ranting and no amount of apology can attenuate a deliberate insult on a people.

    In describing the exit of the five governors from PDP to APC Labaran Maku said “they are like the Fulani nomads, they move from one party to another without shame.”

    One wonders how the Fulani stock in PDP would feel about a government that stoops so low to insensitively unleash inappropriate charade against their culture. In case the minister does not know, there is virtue in migration for legitimate business. It is exploration of new frontiers which helps in human evolution. A static people creates a dull, odious, nauseating and erratic environment where nothing moves – it nurtures a stock of irredeemable revelry that continually snores in hang-over while their house is on fire.

    The two governors that Maku singled out for vilification were very fundamental to PDP fortunes in 2011 general elections by their delivery of strategic votes that ensured the party’s victory. The recent change in the leadership of the party has justified the stance of the patriotic governors that had all along been drumming the necessity for that change in PDP in the interest of the country. It is unfortunate that the patriotic stance was described as “over-size ego” by Maku in a very strange context.

    PDP instigated its present fate, and now that there is strong opposition in APC, the party is at the brink of disintegration. It will be worse for it when APC takes over the mantle of leadership after 2015 general elections. People can be fooled for some time, but definitely not all the time. It is time for change and the train is meandering through every nook and cranny of this country to connect the masses that shall sweep off the debris scattered all over the political landscape of this country by PDP.

    APC is the party of the masses. It is a party that transcends every parochial sentiment. It is a party that provides platform for all those oppressed by the dictatorship of PDP. The fortunes of the party increase with every crass remark by likes of Labaran Maku.

     

    • Mohammed S. Umar

    Sokoto Liberal Democrats Media Foundation (SOLID)

    Sokoto

     

  • Atiku to PDP: own up to nation’s sorry state

    Atiku to PDP: own up to nation’s sorry state

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to take responsibility for the sorry state of the nation.

    He urged the party to face the reality of the nation’s situation instead of resorting to name-calling and childish response to the crisis of confidence bedevilling its fold.

    In a statement by his media office yesterday in Abuja, the former vice president urged the PDP to get off its high horse and stop searching for scapegoats among members of the opposition.

    Atiku noted that it was inappropriate for the leadership of his former party (PDP) to describe him as an “ingrate”.

    He reminded the PDP leadership that as a former vice president and a conscientious member of the founders of the party, he deserved respect and decent language from the party’s leaders.

    The former vice president accused PDP leadership of treating his case with selective memory.

    “The personal insults in the PDP statement succeeded in doing just one thing, which is to depict its managers as childish, petulant and, above all else, incompetent.

    “It confirms the notion, on the part of many, that they don’t have what it takes to live up to their ‘sacred’ mandate. They have lost their way, and their refusal to recognise the error of their ways has prompted the shepherds to – reluctantly – move on, for the nation’s sake, to build a better future for the country’s teeming population,” the Atiku said.

    The former vice president recalled that the new guard in the PDP kept a low profile when he (Atiku), along with other champions of democracy, like the late Gen. Shehu Yar’Adua, the late Moshood Abiola, the late Kudirat Abiola, the late Sunday Afolabi and other members of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), including Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, fought in the frontline to remove the military from power.

    He said: “Since almost all of us – the founding members of the PDP – have been hounded out of the party, because we allegedly have one aspiration or the other, people who supported military rule or did not even know what was going on, are now the masters of the PDP, and they present themselves as the custodians of the nation’s future.

    “But I challenge anyone of them to show their contributions, except looting the Nigerian treasury.

    “If I and other patriots working in tandem with the National Assembly did not work together to retain term limits in the constitution, none of those holding power today would not have been there – from local, state or federal governments.

    “Those who wrap themselves in the PDP banner should at least recognise and respect those of us who made today’s debates possible.”

     

  • How INEC can conduct fair polls, by Wamakko

    How INEC can conduct fair polls, by Wamakko

    Sokoto State Governor Aliyu Wamakko suggested yesterday two options to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for a free, fair and transparent election in 2015.

    First, he said, the agency should conduct the elections in a day. The second option is to conduct the presidential election last.

    He said doing so would ensure the transparency of the agency as an independent electoral umpire.

    Wamakko spoke when the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, visited him at the Government House, Sokoto.

    He said: “It is the only option that would ensure transparent elections in the country.

    “If that will not be possible, let the elections be conducted in this order – the House of Assembly, governorship, National Assembly and the Presidential election,” he said.

    Wamakko, who dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC), said it was only by doing so that there will be free, fair and credible elections to usher in leaders who will ensure the well being of Nigerians.

    He noted that no amount of intimidation would deter nor frustrate the progressives.

    The governor explained that the progressives would mobilise its supporters to desist from violence and thuggery, so that there would be free and fair elections.

    “The state government would continue to partner the United States government to improve on the well being of the people in the areas of education, water supply and agriculture, among others,” he said.

    Entwistle urged Nigerians to shun violence, in order to have free, fair and credible elections to ensure good governance.

    “Free and fair elections would ensure good democratic governance, for peace, progress and political growth of the country”, he pointed out.

    According to Entwistle, “the time has come for Nigerian politicians to shun political violence, as a means of ensuring transparent elections.

  • Jonathan, Tukur and a government of Jezebels

    I must commend President Goodluck Jonathan for removing Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as National Chairman of the PDP and finally dumping him. It really is good riddance to bad rubbish because that man was a disaster to his party. PDP itself is bad enough but to have a self-conceited and vainglorious ancient dinosaur who is completely fixed in his ways, who believes that anyone and everyone below the age of 60 is still a ‘’young’’ man or woman and who sees the world from the prism and mindset of a 1960’s Viet Nam war veteran that is still suffering from post-war traumatic syndrome was a disaster waiting to happen. This was a man that drove goodwill away from his party in the same way that shelltox drives away mosquitoes from a bedroom. As long as Tukur was in charge the continued demise of the PDP was guaranteed. He was not only a scourge to the ruling party but he was also a beautiful, eager and willing undertaker to it’s long lost glory and a tremendous source of comfort and joy to those of us in the opposition APC. We shall miss him sorely and I must confess that he did a great job for us whilst he lasted. May he enjoy his forced and long-overdue retirement from public office and partisan politics and may he live long enough to see the PDP defeated and an APC President sworn in 2015.

    I also commend the President for removing and reshuffling a large number of his key commanders in the military a couple of weeks ago and then retiring no less than three of his four Service Chiefs just the other day (16th January 2014) and appointing new ones. This was the right and proper thing to do after the precious lives of no less than 7000 innocent Nigerian citizens were cut short by Boko Haram in the war against terror in the last three years. It was also the expedient and responsible thing to do given the fact that no less than 200 of our gallant soldiers were killed in one battle alone against Boko Haram (and later buried in mass graves) just a few months ago simply because they ran out of bullets and after a whole army barracks was burnt down to the ground and the family members of military personnel were slaughtered, again by Boko Haram, just a few weeks ago. Something had to give and heads had to role simply because we were not making any headway in the war against terror and instead we were suffering heavy casualties and embarrassing losses.

    Yet despite the fact that both

    moves

    were commendable they will

    change nothing because they are both too little and too late. The PDP will continue to sink because it is a political party that has lost it’s bearing and it’s soul and it has mortgaged it’s conscience. It has also lost the source and strength of it’s inspiration and moral authority in the distinguished person of President Olusegun Obasanjo who really was the glue that bound the party together and kept it going against all odds. Though Obasanjo remains in the PDP he has also wisely opted out of participating in it’s affairs. This is a manifestation of his disgust with the President and the former National Chairman and he has now become the official ‘’navigator’’ of the newly emerging power in the field of Nigerian politics which is known as the APC. Frankly speaking the PDP has become a party that is beyond redemption and the removal of Tukur cannot change that. I say this because no sensible person will go back to a stinking carcass simply because the head of the dead animal has been cut off and thrown away. A carcass remains a carcass whether you cut off it’s head, legs or any other part of it’s body or not. Whichever way, it remains as dead as a dodo and it only awaits a formal burial. The truth is that the vultures are already feeding fat on the rotting and decaying cadavar of the PDP and whether anyone likes to hear it or not the truth is that that party can never be whole again. As I said 8 months ago it is a party that has been rejected by God and whose leaders are suffering God’s judgement for their unjust, gluttonous, wicked, foul and evil ways.

    In the same way I have to say that no matter how commendable and honourable in intention the recent changes in our military High Command may be they will achieve nothing either and, in practical terms, they will serve absolutely no purpose. This is because the morale of the army is very low due to the massive losses that they have recorded in the war against Boko Haram and because they have a Commander in Chief who does not care about their welfare, does not ‘’give a damn’’ about their fortunes and does not have the guts to lead and inspire them with strength and courage. Worst still he has refused to arm and equip them properly or give them a free hand to fight and prosecute the war against terror with the ruthless precision and decisive resolve that is required. They say that if an army of sheep is led by a lion it will win every battle. In the same vein they also say that if an army of lions is led by a sheep it cannot win any battle. The latter is the case in Nigeria. In our military we have an army of lions who are well-trained, professional, strong, courageous, ready to go and capable of doing anything that is required of them as long as they are properly-led, well-armed, well-equipped, well-motivated, well-supplied, adequately encouraged, thoroughly inspired and well-supported. However that same army of noble and courageous lions is led by a sheep who, by his own words, has told the world that he is not a lion, he is not a warrior, he is not a fighter and that he is not a king. If anyone has any doubts about that permit me to refer you to my essay titled ‘’A President Without Balls’’ and the two updated versions of the same essay titled ‘’The Gutless Eunuch and Spirit of the Jagaban’’ and ‘’The Gutless Eunuch and the Lion King’’ respectively. They can all be found on my website-www.femifanikayode.org or you can just google them. To have such a man as Commander-in-Chief actually encourages and tempts the enemy to attack us because weakness and a reluctance to lock horns and engage and to be strong, forceful and decisive when provoked or attacked always attracts aggression. As long as such a weak and uninspiring man remains the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces please be ready for more casualties and more losses regardless of how lion-like, courageous or professional our soldiers may be.

    However there is hope. If Good

    luck Jonathan wants his for

    tunes and the fortunes of his party to change and if he wants peace to return to our shores he simply has to take the following nine steps.

    1. He has to resign as President forthwith and undertake to stay out of Nigerian politics for the next 10 years.

    2. If he cannot step down, he must give a public undertaking to the Nigerian people that he will not run for re-election in 2015 and he should not change his mind at the last minute.

    3. He must apologise to Nigerians for the mess he has created of the economy and ask forgiveness for his manipulative ways and the gross incompetence and ineptitude that he has displayed while running the affairs of this country over the last three years.

    4. He must write a letter of condolence and pay a token fee of compensation as restitution to the families of every single one of the 7,000 innocent Nigerians that have been killed by Boko Haram in the last three years.

    5. He must take off the kid gloves, stop interfering and give the military the green light to use all necessary means to prosecute the war against Boko Haram and he must win that war.

    6. He must remove one Esho Jinadu who is better known as Mr. Buruju Kashamu (a rather strange name that does not have it’s origins in Yorubaland but instead sounds like a low quality brand of Indian tea) as the leader of the PDP in the Southwest and honour the demand of the American Courts and the ruling of the Nigerian Federal High Court and Court of Appeal by extraditing him to the United States of America to answer serious charges of drug smuggling in that country forthwith.

    7. He must direct his Ijaw supremacist kinsmen to desist from threatening the lives of other Nigerians that oppose his government and who keep threatening brimstone and fire and the dismemberment of Nigeria if he is not allowed to come back in 2015,

    8. He must direct Chief E.K. Clark, his new-found political father and mentor, to stop insulting the Yoruba people and desist from attacking our leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on his behalf.

    9. He must give a public undertaking that the other four Presidents that run this country with him and that act as his ‘’co-Presidents’’ will also step down with him forthwith or, if he insists on staying till 2015, give an undertaking that he will fire them with immediate effect and bar them from playing any role whatsover in the running of the affairs of our country from now on.

    Those four co-Presidents are, in order of seniority, 1. Dame Patience Jonathan (our amiable First Lady)

    2. Allison Dizeani Madueke (the Minister of Petroleum Resources)

    3. Stella Oduah (Minister of Aviation) and

    4. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Minister of Finance and the Co-ordinating Minister).

    President Goodluck Jonathan, even though he is the public face of the small cabal of co-Presidents that presently rules Nigeria and even though he is the one that was given a lawful mandate from the Nigerian people in 2011 to lead our country, comes a distant fifth in the pecking order. He is co-President No. 5.

    Yet it is not too late. If our Presi

    dent can find the courage to take

    these steps, peace will return to Nigeria immediately and our people will once again have hope. The problem that we have in our country today is not an ageing former Party National Chairman called Bamanga Tukur who had lost touch with reality, who never knew how to play the game and who did not know when to call it quits. And neither was it a set of tired and exhausted army commanders and Service Chiefs who did their best but who received no real and tangible support or encouragement from their Commander-in-Chief in the field of battle. The problem that we have is the President himself- a President who prides himself on his own weakness and incompetence . A President who is as confused and as clueless as the comic character, called Chancey Gardner in the celebrated 1970’s Peter Seller’s Hollywood blockbuster titled: Being There.

    A President who does not understand the meaning of the word ‘’class’’ or ‘’honesty’’ and who breaks his own word consistently. A President who has abdicated his responsibilities, destroyed his own political party, divided his own country, alienated his own friends, humiliated his own mentor, abandoned his own people, brought ridicule to his own faith, cowers before his own officials, betrays his own governors, scorns the international community and breaks his solemn oath to protect and defend the Nigerian people. A President who does not even have the nerve or the guts to call to order any of the numerous Jezebels that control him. He is the problem we have in our country today and until he resigns, is impeached or is voted out of power nothing will change and Nigeria will continue to go from bad to worse. That is what you get when you vote for a man who never wore shoes to school. May God deliver our country.

     

    •Chief Fani-Kayode is former Aviation Minister