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Tag: VON DG

  • PDP shopping for excuses for failure, says VON DG

    Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Director General of the Voice f Nigeria (VON) Osita Okechukwu,  has said that the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) should stop shopping for excuses they will tell Nigerians when they lose the 2019 election and concentrate on going about their campaign in a decent manner.

    Reacting to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) outrage over the appointment of Amina Zakari as chairperson of Election Collation Center, Okechukwu said the PDP should leave propaganda and concentrate more on what he described as real campaign.

    He said: “One is constrained to advice the PDP to leave propaganda, stop shopping for excuses and concentrate more on real campaign. For the truth of the matter is that the electoral machine , card reader is one of the greatest antidotes to rigging invention. There is no way Hajia Amina Zakari can manipulate the card reader process. How can she alter or stop the results from Enugu, Ekiti, Bayelsa or even Jigawa or any other State for that matter?

    “I laughed when I saw my friend Kola, spokesman of the PDP banging the table that Amina will manipulate the results. How? Is she going to be the Returning Officer? Is PDP agent going to sleep? Is there fear that he will be compromised by Amina?

    My understanding is that Amina’s role is more administrative than electoral result management, pure and simple.”

    Read also: Kings Cup: Musa excited to start 2019 with a bang for Al-Nassr

    Speaking on the none signing of the Electoral Act by President Muhammadu Buhari, Okechukwu retorted, “President Buhari is a fan and beneficiary of the card reader and was even the one who reminded the National Assembly of the omission of the card reader. The card reader process which starts with immeasurable accreditation mechanism has plugged up to 98% of the traditional method of rigging.

    “Please ask yourself why politicians resorted to Vote-Buying? Vote-Buying is now the main vice of our electoral process, not ballot box snatching or other rigging methods. Card reader technology has plugged big loopholes of election rigging.”

    On why he believes that the PDP will lose, he said, “the day His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar emerged in the primary, we celebrated it. We could have been more worried if Governor Tambuwal of Sokoto had won.

    ”Atiku’s baggage is heavy, integrity deficit huge and falls within the same age grade bracket in Igbo parlance with Mr President.” He didn’t present any major choice-wall to block Buhari. Even those who ordinarily don’t want Buhari cannot sincerely take Atiku as an alternative.

  • VON DG: only Igbo can deny themselves presidency in 2023

    THE Southeast heard yesterday what it should do to have a shot at the Presidency in 2023 – support the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain and Voice of Nigeria (VON) Director-General Osita Okechukwu said that only the Southeast people can deny the region of the presidency in 2023 if they vote against Buhari in the next year presidential election.

    He warned that the fruit of whatever they sow with their votes would be there for them to harvest in 2023, should they cast their ballot against Buhari.

    Okechuku, who was reacting to the statement  credited to the Ohanaeze Ndigbo to the effect that 2023 Igbo presidency quest is a plot to hoodwink the region, counselled the Igbo leadership to put its house in order and organise the region ahead of the 2023 presidency rather than agonise.

    He said: “May I once more appeal to the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to start organising for Nigeria’s president of Igbo extraction in 2023, instead of agonising. It is surreal for the truism is that equity, natural justice and good conscience is on our side.

    “All we need to do is for the Ohanaeze Ndigbo leadership to think out of the box, reflect deeply, and dust off ancient stereotypes and prejudices by voting for President Buhari.

    “The real politics is that voting Buhari will better galvanise and strengthen our alliance with the North, more than voting for Atiku Abubakar. Buhari has a vote bank of 10-12 million voters, mostly his core followership reflected in his bids in 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015 presidential elections.

    “Is it not disheartening for the National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze, Prince Uche Achi-Okpagha to agonise thus?”

    He quoted the Ohanaze as saying: “Note that neither President Buhari, nor any Northern political stalwart has made a pronouncement on the 2023 presidency, instead they have allowed some cabinet members of Yorubas extraction, including Osinbajo and Fashola, to dissipate energy to the effect that Southwest would have presidency in 2023. It is an orchestrated plot to hoodwink the people of the two regions in order to elicit their votes.”

    Okechukwu reminded his kinsmen of the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha’s statement that “the quickest and easiest means to the presidency for the Southeast is to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term”.

    He also reminded them that they “can short-circuit the period in terms of only having him there for another four years and whatever they do in 2019 will determine what will happen thereafter because politics is a game of numbers and it is like a cooperative society.”

    Okechukwu went on: “Whatever you bring as an investment when dividends are going to be shared, you will get proportionate with your investment and your investment in politics is what you bring to the table and I urge the Southeast to look at this matter seriously that every time we have a presidency in Nigeria, it is negotiated in several ways. Either negotiated by votes or what you bring to the table and you must negotiate from the position of strength.”

    Reminding them that the Southeast remained the only zone in the Southern Belt that has not presided over Nigeria from the Aso Villa since the rotation of the presidency between Northern and Southern Belts began in 1999, he said: “2023 is our turn, unless we wittingly or unwittingly throw it away.

    “Hence, it is my candid view that with such immeasurable equity, natural justice and good conscience on our side, 2023 president is Ndigbo’s turn; unless Ohanaeze continues to angonise instead of organising.

    “The present rotation convention, we mustn’t forget, was in the first place constructed to engender equity, peace and harmony of our dear nation. Let’s harvest it.

    “One therefore appeals to Ohanaeze leadership to place the core Igbo interest above partisanship and demagoguery; for the quickest and surest route to end the vexatious issue of marginalisation and create a sense of belonging is 2023 president of Igbo extraction.”

  • VON DG to Atiku, others: join Buhari to fight insecurity

    The Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON) and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has urged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and other Nigerians to join President Muhammadu Buhari to fight insecurity instead of comparing the dead with those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Addressing reporters in Enugu, Okechukwu decried the comment ascribed to Atiku, a presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), at Yola, the Adamawa State capital, on the spate of killings across the country.?

    The VON chief, who is an ardent supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari, dismissed the statistics of the former vice president, saying they were inaccurate.

    He said: “What is important is how to stop the killings. We need cooperation, prayers, information and assistance to the government.

    Otherwise, Wikipedia reported from credible sources the Iraqi death toll of over 500,000 persons since the United States of America (U.S.A) led its invasion in 2003, about 5,000 of who are U.S service men.”

    Okechukwu thanked Atiku for acknowledging the massive infrastructural development in the land under Buhari, but expressed doubts over his promise to tackle insecurity with his “questionable immigration status” in the U.S.A.

    He said: “I am outraged, like most Nigerians, over the spate of killings by herdsmen/farmers’ clashes, bandits, militias, Boko Haram and sundry. President Buhari, I must confess, is very sad over the killings. His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, the Turaki of Adamawa’s statistics is unnecessary and inaccurate, for one death is painful.

    “At any rate, his statistics can be best dubbed a campaign hype, if not fake news, when the real statistics is assembled. Iraqi casualty is over 500,000. The cardinal question, in all honesty, is: can Turaki stop the insecurity without the cooperation of international security agencies, especially that of the United States?”

    On the public perception that the President was not doing enough to stop the large scale killings, Okechukwu said: “I am on a good note that President Buhari is quietly deploying all means necessary to stop the insecurity in the land. Among them is deployment of Mission Critical Communications System by Motorola Solutions of Illinois, U.S.A, an equipment that will put critical information at the fingertips of all security agencies in Nigeria.

    “In fact, the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, and the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, one understands, are leading the pack. I don’t want to say more than this, for this is a security issue.”

     

  • 2019: Ndigbo will be one of the major beneficiaries of Buhari’s 2nd Term – VON DG

    The Director General of Voice of Nigeria, and member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Osita Okechukwu has reassured Ndigbo that they would be one of the major beneficiaries of President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2nd Term in office.

    Okechukwu gave this assurance yesterday  while fielding questions bordering on Buhari’s second term vis a vis restructuring of the country  from reporters at his hometown, Eke, Udi LGA, Enugu State.

    There is raging debate whether Ndigbo should support President Buhari’s second term bid or push for restructuring.

    He said: “Restructuring is not a one day event, but the golden opportunity of Buhari being the only northerner, going by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the zoning convention, with only four years that ends in 2023 is a matter of fact. Voting for any other northerner, means postponement of the golden opportunity which Mr President reelection offers Ndigbo.

    “Restructuring is already in the cards of our great party, the APC. Definitely some items will be restructured before 2019 general elections, going by Malam Nasir Elrufai’s committee recommendations.

    “Secondly, Ndigbo stand to benefit immensely from the Buhari’s massive critical infrastructure – Roads,Rails,Agriculture and Power (RRAP) projects, first of its Kind in Nigeria. As one of the hard working and entrepreneurial people in Nigeria, we stand no doubt to gain from the RRAP – 5,000 kilometers of federal roads, 5,000 kilometers of standard gauge rail lines, agrarian revolution and additional 5,000 megawatts of electricity, with completion cycle of 3-5 years.”

    Asked how sure he is that Buhari will back an Igbo candidate to succeed him, Okechukwu posited: “It is not only about Buhari’s backing; albeit more about paradigm shift of voting pattern of Ndigbo, in 2019, which signposts realignment of political forces. Let’s the truth be told, my people since 1999 had religiously been voting for PDP, without commensurate result, common sense dictates paradigm shift in our voting pattern.

    “Buhari in 2003, and 2007 had Igbo sons as running mates – Rt. Hons. Chuba Okadigbo and Edwin Umezoke of blessed memory. Yet we failed to vote for him. To align with the mainstream, we should vote for him now. He subscribes to equity and justice and cannot jeopardise the chances of credible Igbo candidate who has the common sense to appeal to our brothers and sisters in other regions, especially the South West and South South.”

    Although President Buhari recently asked All Progressives Congress (APC) governors to give him more time to decide whether to seek re-election, Okechukwu said it is imperative that President Muhammadu Buhari should seek for second tenure, so as to complete the ongoing critical infrastructure foundation that he initiated in the country.

    “Don’t forget that the over $30 billion soft loans driving the critical infrastructure – Eurobond, China-Eximbank, ADB, JICA, US Eximbank etc, were predicated on the integrity quotient of Mr President. Trust is the key to Creditors.”

    Citing the accelerated pace of work on federal roads across the country , especially the 2nd Niger Bridge, Buhari’s plan to lay gas pipeline which will connect commercial towns in the east and the Eastern Corridor Railway, as carrots in the kitty. Okechukwu noted that in view of the above scenario, that it will be suicidal if the people of the South-East will vote for those who share money and miss the infrastructure revolution.”

    He urged the people of the South-East to use their tongue and count their teeth and decide whether to support Buhari who will take them to the next level or go back to Egypt, where they suffered for 16 years under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which not only neglected infrastructure in the South-East but never considered an Igbo man worthy to become president or vice president.

    Reiterating that Ndigbo must think strategically in 2019, Okechukwu urged Ndigbo to vote for Buhari in 2019 and then, harvest Igbo presidency in 2023.

    He warned that if Ndigbo decides to vote for another candidate from the North in 2019, then, the dream of Nigeria president of Igbo extraction in 2023 would be prolonged sine dire.

  • VON DG, Kwara group, party chieftain hail Tinubu’s choice to lead APC reconciliation

    VON DG, Kwara group, party chieftain hail Tinubu’s choice to lead APC reconciliation

    Voice of Nigeria (VON) Director-General Mr. Osita Okechukwu has hailed Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s appointment as chairman of the party’s reconciliation committee.

    A group, Harmony Progressive Forum (HPF), and APC chieftain Timi Frank also lauded the establishment of the committee.

    Okechukwu told reporters in Enugu at the sideline of a meeting of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Anchor Borrowers, Rice Agricultural Programme that the appointment of  Tinubu by President Muhammadu Buhari to head the committee was timely and a milestone.

    He maintained that only a person of Tinubu’s calibre could reconcile the intra-party feuds in APC, noting that Tinubu provided the critical supplement for APC’s victory in 2015.

    “It is a milestone. I salute Mr. President for appointing our national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to head such a crucial committee. It is timely and a welcome development. He was one of the core architects of the merger, which gave birth to the APC and has the Midas touch to stitch the torn parts. Let’s be honest, there are intra-disputes, which need a man of Asiwaju’s calibere to fix.”

    Asked  to name such crisis, Okechukwu said: “It is not crisis per se, but intra-feuds, which normally occur in every human association. Some of them are ego-based, some are ancient grudges and some are frictions, which could be traced to the fact that APC is a polygamous household with many mothers and one father.”

    On whether he was aware of the insinuations in the media that Tinubu’s invitation is being resisted by his  supporters, who felt that the he was sidelined, he said: “I don’t want to comment on speculation, all I know is that our brothers in the Southwest appreciate the critical foundation President Muhammadu Buhari is laying nationwide in infrastructural development. And our national leader is aware that what is paramount is to save Nigeria from those who for 16 years of unprecedented oil boom, squandered our commonwealth.

    VON DG expressed optimism that Tinubu would mend fences with APC National Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun.

    “Oyegun belongs to his motherhood of APC and did his utmost best in the circumstance he found himself.

    “My happiness is that Asiwaju as a veteran stands on a good stead to reconcile the feuding parties and different tendencies, more so, when Mr. President has mandated him to select his team” he said.

    HPF, which is a coalition of ex-Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) local government chairmen of the Kwara State All Progressives Congress (APC), cautioned the Tinubu-led committee to be wary of individuals that might be out to derail its activities for personal and selfish reasons.

    Addressing reporters yesterday in Ilorin, HPF Chairman Alhaji Musa Umar said: “We appreciate the setting up of a reconciliation committee to settle amicably identified rifts among members of APC in the country. The choice of Tinubu as the team leader is highly commendable in view of his track record of managing political issues.

    “The outcome of the committee’s assignment should, therefore, be guided only by its objectives and verifiable submissions and not allow sentiments and primordial issues to becloud their work. Kwara must change for better and the time to act is now.”

    Frank, in a statement in Abuja yesterday, called for support for the Tinubu-led reconciliation committee.

    He said the committee has a very big task ahead of it and cannot perform any magic as it was almost too late to reconcile members.

    Saying the committee should have been set up about one year ago, Frank, who is one of the aggrieved APC members, said nobody took him serious when he raised an alarm that all was not well with the party.

    He added that if the Tinubu-led committee was set up earlier, many members of the party who left would not.

  • VON DG hails Emir of Katsina, APC praises Northern Govs

    Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON) Osita Okechukwu has commended the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmuminu Kabir for his uncommon patriotism in the face of unfortunate crisis being simulated by fringe groups and politicians whose objective is personal and imimical to our collective existence.

    The Emir, had, while addressing leaders of the Igbo community and other Nigerians residing in Katsina said, “Nigeria will continue to remain one and that am ready to sacrifice my last drop of blood to ensure peace and protection of all Nigerians residing in the state. I am ready to protect Igbos with my last blood.”

    Okechukwu said: “I salute the Emir of Katsina and all those patriots in both south and north, who preach peace and recognise the truism that the hardship and misery in the land today is temporary and cannot truncate our corporate existence. For history tells us that many decades after the American civil war frictions between north and south more serious than as we currently have dominated discussions. America is strong and united today, ours cannot be different.”

    “We cannot fall victim to minority and fringe groups in the south east who call for secession and their ilk in the north who gave the quit notice. Civil war is not a panacea to the misery and hardship in the land, which is temporary and transient, given the infrastructural renewal going on in our dear country.” Okechukwu quipped.

    On the rumour that some unscrupulous politicians are fanning the embers of Igbos Must Return, and indeed raising money for that, Okechukwu in a rage said, “I don’t respond to rumour, but if there is any truth in that, it becomes the business of the security agency to track them down.”

    Similarly, South- East chapter of the All progressive Congress (APC), has condemned in its entirety, the recent three months quit notice given to Igbos residing in parts of Northern Nigeria by the Coalition of Arewa Youths.

    It described it as “a joke taken too far”, just as it applauded governors of the Northern region for condemning the statement.

    A press statement by the zonal chairman of the party, Chief Emma Enukwu, said: “The attention of the leadership of All Progressives Congress (APC) in South East has been drawn to recent outbursts by some youths in Northern Nigeria under the name “Coalition of Arewa Youths” urging the Igbos to vacate their habitats in the North on, or before 1st October 2017.

    “In our opinion, this call is a joke taken too far, it is an ill wind that blows no good to anyone. And we hereby, call on all well-meaning Nigerians to rise and condemn this and other outbursts by some people from other sections of this great country, Nigeria.”ý

    The statement which was released by the Zonal publicity secretary, Hon. Hycienth Ngwu stressed said:  “It is high time we all stood in one accord to put a stop to the growing hate speeches and bickering going on now in our dear country from all quarters.

    The party said, “Let us love all and hate none, as love is the panacea to peaceful co-existence, economic and social growth. We have faith in the ability of the APC led Federal Government to safeguard lives and property of all Nigerians living within Nigeria.

    “Consequently, we urge all Igbos living in any part of Nigeria to go about their normal businesses without fear, but in loving disposition toward their neighbor and environment.

    “We hereby thank the Governors of the Northern States of Nigeria for their quick condemnation of this act by the Coalition of Arewa Youths. We particularly, thank the Governor of Sokoto State, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal for his love to the Igbos in this trying period.”