The Nation Newspaper

Tag: vote

  • A vote for restructuring

    The concept of “Restructuring Nigeria” has become a glorified concept in the media as a result of several agitations by many Nigerians, who believe the hope for a better country is still realistic and can be attained through federalism.

    Many people, including journalists and political leaders, have made cases for restructuring and this has become a topical issue in the media. It is important to note that the debate on restructuring did not just arise naturally; it is because of the fundamental flaws of the 1999 Constitution, which recently led to institutional crisis.

    A writer, Emmanuel Ugwu, in his piece titled: Interrogating the restructuring of Nigeria, posited that the Boko Haram crisis, activities of Fulani herdsmen and those of Niger Delta militants were pointer to the fact that there is need for restructuring.

    This means that people want a return to the system of government we embraced immediately after independence. This choice is informed by the inadequacies of presidential system we are practising now. People want a weak centre, while more powers are given to regions. According to Dele Babalola (2013), Nigeria’s  federal  experience  began  in  1954  under  the  tutelage  of  the  British  colonial authority and the fundamental aim of federalism was to hold together the diverse groups that have been lumped together in the British-inspired contraption called Nigeria.

    The country is made of different ethnic nationalities, which earns the country an important position in the world. This diversity should have been our source of strength towards building a prosperous nation. But, reverse has been the case, because of the present realities.

    According to Adejumobi (1991), Nigeria, born in 1914, after the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates, was a by-product of a “fraudulent” social contract and not of a “negotiated will” of the every part.  In other words, Nigeria is a country formed through forceful amalgamation of its constituent parts without proper consultation about the willingness of these parts to federate by the colonial government.

    The sole rationale for the then colonial government’s action was the expediency of commercial interests and economic imperialism. This was corroborated by Lady Flora Shaw (1904) (later Mrs. Lugard)  who  coined  the name “Nigeria” when she said: “As  in  India,  so  is  in  Nigeria,  we  meant  to  trade,  but conquest was forced on us. Having conquered, we are obliged to administer and the hope that lies before us is to develop from small beginnings which have been made in Nigeria, such another great or prosperous dominion as our ancestors have created for us in India.”

    Adejumobi argued further that the merging of diverse people, with varying backgrounds and cultures created both horizontal polarization and primordial loyalties which invariably makes national integration difficult. More so, the colonial politics of divide and rule, and its strategy of regionalism (introduced in 1946 via the Richard’s Constitution), effectively laid the foundation for ethnic chauvinism, sectional political parties, and parochial-cum-disunited indigenous political elite.

    The colonial state also imposed a patrimonial system of administration (in the ideological guise of indirect rule) on the country, in order to enlist the dominant status group in the service of colonial rule, and to contain the political consequences of changes in class structure (Adejumobi, 1991).

    In which case, the political relations that existed were vertical in nature. It was one of domination, control and dependence, with subordinate clients jostling for the favour of their patrons. The whole governmental structure during this period was characterised by a military-like chain of  responsibility extending from the governor down to the village head (Oyediran, 1988).

    According to Adejumobi, it can be assumed that federalism is not the total way out of Nigeria’s problem. It may as well be viewed strictly from different angles that the periods of regionalism marked the most significant development of Nigeria. The central argument is that, the federal solution in Nigeria was necessitated by the desire to achieve ‘unity in diversity’ and this was made possible by the presence of certain socio-economic forces.

    Strictly following the path of the First National Conference held in 1950; it was placed on record that many representatives of the nation and communities subscribed to the concept of federalism. In justification to the subscription, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, one of the proponents of federalism was quoted in his book: Thought on Nigerian Constitution (pp 48-49) that: “From our study of the constitutional evolution of all the countries of the world, two things stand out quite clearly and prominently. First, in any country where there are divergences of language and of nationality – particularly of language – a unitary constitution is always a source of bitterness and hostility on the part of linguistic or national minority groups.”

    Awomolo further said: “Nigeria is not a nation. It is a mere geographical expression.” Inferences from the positions of many great personalities that argued against federalism, posited that Nigeria cannot be seen as one. It is only a big camouflage to see every tribe as one.

    There is a sharp disagreement between ethnic groups here. However, we have been successfully colonised to speak English. There is no gainsaying the fact that we have remained second citizens by adopting a foreign language as official language at the expense of our own indigenous languages.

    Perhaps, Nigeria is the Abiku which Prof Wole Soyinka talked about in his poem titled: Abiku. Because of the flawed federalism we practised, we have witnessed avoidable institutional and human crises, which pose threats to the continuous existence of this country. Except we restructure and renegotiate our unity, we would only be living in a jungle. We also need to restructure ourselves before restructuring the system. We make the system, not that the system makes us.

  • Insecurity vote

    Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu recently stoked the embers of a rankling national debate: he thumbed down ‘security vote’ that is widely known to be routinely drawn by officials in the Executive arm, and proposed its replacement with ‘contingency vote’ that would be duly appropriated and accounted for by beneficiaries. Security vote, as it presently operates, is neither appropriated nor accounted for; the cost line is opaquely funded from the public treasury and whimsically expended by officials concerned.

    Ekweremadu’s proposal, penultimate weekend, was part of a shopping list of reforms he canvassed when he delivered the 4th National Public Service Lecture of the University of Ibadan Alumni Association. Speaking on ‘Federalism and the Legal Framework for Combating Corruption in Nigeria,’ he reportedly decried the national minimum wage pegged at N18, 000, whereas state governors pocket as much as N2billion for security vote. Note: not much is known with exactitude by anyone but the beneficiaries as to the actual or average size of the security vote; but with Ekweremadu’s vantage office, it should be conceded that he is well positioned to make an educated guess.

    To boost the war against corruption, the Deputy Senate President advised a number measures, among them decentralisation of federal anti-graft agencies and establishment of counterpart agencies by states, state domestication of anti-graft and other auxiliary federal laws, enthronement of fiscal federalism, devolution of police and prison services, establishment of state social intervention / security schemes, and enlistment of active public participation in anti-graft efforts. A statement by Ekweremadu’s media aide quoted him saying: “When a man who earns N18, 000 cannot buy a bag of rice, how can such a person take care of his family? Does it make sense to him if you tell him not to find alternative means of catering to the needs of his family? Is it not also possible to abolish the security vote and replace it with contingency vote, so it can be appropriated and accounted for?”

    You could ask whether it was inadvertent or just self-interestedly convenient for the Senate principal to omit calling for abolition of so-called constituency projects by legislators, which though are appropriated in government’s financial plans, have been a cesspit of pork barreling and budget padding over time. But that shouldn’t take the edge from his observation that security vote is crass sleaze by another name.

    Ekweremadu is by no means on solo flight with his proposal about the security vote. Actually, there is perhaps no other feature of our public financials that an overwhelming majority of Nigerians would have discarded than this controversial cost line. Only last week, a Lagos-based lawyer, Adedokun Makinde, approached a Federal High Court, seeking an order stopping the disbursement of security vote as well as allowances for constituency projects from the public treasury to designated political office holders.

    According to reports, the lawyer wants the court to declare that payment and / or drawing of funds for security vote by the President, Vice President, Governors or Deputy Governors, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister and other officials from the Consolidated Revenue Fund is unconstitutional, illegal null and void. And he wants a declaration that payment of monies for constituency projects to legislators, either at the federal or state level, is illegal, unconstitutional, null and void. Besides the President and Vice President, Makinde joins the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Senate President, House of Representatives Speaker, all State Governors and Speakers of State Houses of Assembly, FCT Minister as well as the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) as other respondents in the suit that has ben slated for hearing on April 26 by the sitting judge.

    Again, because of the hood on the cost line’s operation, it is difficult to pinpoint with certainty officials in the Executive arm that are beneficiaries. A report in February 2016 by online site, SaharaReporters, cited unnamed sources in government as saying President Muhammadu Buhari had blocked out security vote from Federal expenditure. “Government sources confirmed that as soon as the Buhari administration took power, a clear indication was given of the new direction…Subsequently, the President directed that there would be no routine allocation of security vote to he or anyone else as had been the practice since 1983,” the site reported.

    But even if it is the case that the Presidency has scrapped security vote for its officials, there is little doubt that most state governors till date take from the public treasury for the vote.

    An insider clue into what goes down as security vote was given by Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha in 2011, when he announced that he was cutting back his yearly allocation from N6.5billion to N2.5billion to mobilise funds for the free education programme he promised at his first term inauguration on May 29. The catch here is: it simply fell beyond his contemplation to give a clear account of what the amount being retained would be used for. In January 2016, the Imo governor also told journalists in Owerri that he had sacrificed up to N16billion from his security vote since 2011 for the development of the state.

    Former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso and his Ekiti State counterpart, Kayode Fayemi, were reported to have publicly renounced the cost line during their tenure. But not so – at least on public record – any other member of this power elite.

    A recent controversial application of the slush fund was by Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, who reportedly approved the disbursement of N260million security vote in the first week of his assuming office in January 2016. An investigative account in May by online site, PREMIUM TIMES, showed that the governor approved serial memoranda on “Request for Security Fund” totalling the amount at short intervals upon his inauguration. And the report also cited the governor’s spokesperson, Kingsley Fanwo, as confirming the spending but saying it was warranted to urgently tackle security lapses inherited by his principal.

    Another report by The PUNCH in July 2016 relayed state governments’ rebuff against calls for security vote to be scrapped. Among other spokespersons, Delta State Information Commissioner Patrick Ukah told the newspaper that the fund enabled the government to act proactively during crisis and to assist security agencies. “The fact that the economy at the moment is in a bad shape doesn’t mean we should live in a state of chaos. Nobody should advocate cancellation of security vote,” he was reported saying.

    Well, the advocacy that Ukah forbids is exactly what Ekweremadu has done, and he has many like-minds among Nigerians. Truth is, security vote in their Excellency’s hands makes the rest of us insecure. For one, with the primitive tendency towards violence and other ill practices by our political actors, you really can’t vouch for the causes to which the unaccounted fund is being applied. Then, the bogus drawdown from the common treasury is simply unhealthy for the public economy. While we await a break in Nigerian laws to stop its disbursement, citizens should perhaps begin to demand account for the vote’s application with the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA).

  • Wike did not vote

    Wike did not vote

    The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike did not cast his ballot in yesterday’s conclusive legislative election that took place in the state.
    This was because election had already been concluded in his ward in Rumuepirikom, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area (LGA) of the state during the March 19 rerun polls.
    Apart from the governor’s ward where voting did not take place it was also observed that the rerun election did not take place in many areas of Obio/Akpor LGA.
    For instance, in Elelenwo area, no election took place. It was the same for Eneka and Woji areas because voting had already been concluded in these places in the March rerun exercise.
    It was gathered from an Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) source that it is because the voting in the LGA had already been concluded in the March 19 rerun election and their representatives for state Assembly and House of Representatives have already been sworn into office except the senator for the people where the INEC reportedly locked the results earlier collated in its Strong Room.
    But for the yesterday’s polls, it was gathered that INEC would use the ‘doctrine of necessity’ and do supplementary collation in the LGA.
    However, there was low voters’ turnout at Unit 20, Ward 12 on Ikwerre Road in Obio/ Akpor LGA as at 11.38am despite the heavy presence of security personnel and INEC officials who were ready to conduct the election.
    But no voting was taking place probably because the people were scared of the presence of stern-looking security personnel in the area, which is said to be dominated by non- indigenes.
    But in Units 1 and 2 in Ward 11 in Rumuigbo area of Obio/Akpor LGA, voters turn out was impressive and everything was moving on peacefully.
    The same situation was noticed at Ward 7 in Rumuokoro area of Obio/Akpor LGA despite heavy presence of security personnel in this area but the voters were not scared.

  • As Rivers people vote again

    As Rivers people vote again

    In those days—those days of innocence —life began and ended with going to school in Agege and going on holidays in Epe and basking in the grand-motherly alms of Iya Alate. No worries at all. Worrying was beyond the purview of my office as a child. Eating fresh fish, savouring Ikokore, eja yoyo (yoyo fish) and all those Ijebu niceties must have created in me the impression that life was meant only for good things.

    It meant little that people were dying because my brain was not developed enough to grasp its essence. Other evils of the time were just too much for my childish brain to decipher.

    But the innocence disappeared with time. From secondary school days, it started being clear to me that life did not begin and end with schooling and holidaying.

    Journalism — which makes minding other people’s business my business — finally cleared my brain of any fog. It opened me to the reality of the world we live in: this wicked world where rat race has robbed many of their humanity.

    How does one begin to explain a situation where men with blood in their veins will storm a home in Rivers State and kill the father, the mother and a son? They were not done: they cut off the father’s head and went away with it. In another instance, they clubbed a fellow human being to a state of coma and set him ablaze. There have been instances where they had no time for such time wasting and they simply just pumped hot lead into their victims, thus ending dreams and shattering hopes.

    When I see man’s cruelty to man such as these, I long for those days when life began and ended with schooling and being cuddled by Iya Alate.

    The other day in dear Rivers State, some 25 people were killed one after the other. Some of them were lucky to have their heads still intact; some were not that lucky. The heartless men who killed them severed their heads and went away with them. To renew their money-making rituals? To show evidence of job well done to their patrons? Questions upon questions have dominated my mind since then and I long for those days when life began and ended with schooling and holidaying in my dear Epe Alaro.

    Were these blood-thirsty men not cowards, I would have sought them out and interviewed them. I would have asked them if they have children. I would have asked them if they have blood flowing in their veins. I would have asked them if they were born of women. I would have asked them if they have conscience— that open wound which can only be healed by the truth. I would not have forgotten to ask them if they are paid for the nasty services they are rendering.

    I certainly would not have forgotten to seek some vital clarifications: Were their victims rival cultists who fell to superior power? Or were the victims taken out because of their political leanings in order to scare others from following their path? I would have confirmed from them if it is true that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is appropriating all dead bodies in Rivers State just for cheap political mileage.

    But here I am with no one to answer my questions and I long for those days when life began and ended with schooling in Agege and holidaying in Epe in the grand-motherly alms of Iya Alate.

    I have further worries and questions, which will help reduce my longing for those days of innocence when I cared less. I will share those worries and ask those questions hoping that in this social media age someone will hide under anonymity and provide me all I need.

    Is life really worth all these killings? We are killing ourselves because of tomorrow forgetting that tomorrow is not ours. Tomorrow belongs to God. It is today that is somehow ours.

    Death can take us away before tomorrow, which we are trying to secure by beheading fellow human beings. We can be taken away through auto crashes. We can be taken away by cardiac arrest. We can be taken away through heart failure. We can be taken away by simply missing a step and not living to tell the story. Why then are we cruel to ourselves because of tomorrow when all we are supposed to do is to treat today well so that our tomorrow can be better?

    The killings in Rivers have made me wonder what happens in the hereafter. Where do killers go when they die? If I judge by my understanding of the Bible, the answer is simple: hell. What happens to them there? Are they flogged regularly? Do they meet one-on-one with their victims? Questions and questions and questions and I long for those days when life began and ended with schooling in Agege and holidaying in Epe in the grand-motherly alms of Iya Alate.

    The killings in Omoku have brought back the memory of the Adubes. On April 3, last year, men without brains stormed their home in Omoku and killed Christopher Adube and three of his children. They also killed the family driver and a family friend who was in the home when they came, dressed like soldiers, that evening. The bullets they pumped into 15-year-old Paul Adube’s leg have ensured he is wheel-chair bound. The hot lead they released unto Ogechi Adube’s legs have also seen rods inserted into her bones and because of this, she cannot fold her legs. You can imagine the pains of walking around with legs that feel like wood or stone.

    Of the 12 children Adube had with his two wives, three were killed with him; two were left practically crippled and the others now live with shattered dreams. They are not sure of where the next meal will come from. Their father’s sin, I am made to understand, was his affiliation with the APC. His children’s sin was being born by him. The evil men applied the Law of Moses forgetting that the coming of our lord Jesus Christ marked the end of that law, which encouraged taking out the father’s sin on the son or daughter.

    The report of the Rivers Commission of Inquiry headed by the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, said a monthly average of 19 killings occurred in the state between November 2014 and April 2015.

    The Commission noted that of the 97 allegations of killings it received, 94 of them occurred between November 15, 2014, and April 11, last year.

    This report, Odinkalu said, reaffirms that no state or country should allow a repeat of such violence in the name of politics. It also shows how and why Rivers State and Nigeria must end impunity for political violence.

    He added: “The evidence suggests a significant incidence of internal displacement resulted from political violence in many parts of Rivers State.

    “The Commission of Inquiry also received evidence which strongly suggested that sexual violence was part of the arsenal of political violence in some areas.

    “We met some of their survivors. There were children orphaned. The youngest we met was 9 months old when his father was killed in his presence. He was still breastfeeding.

    “We met young widows of political violence, as well as grand-mothers who had to bury their grand-sons killed in violence. Their stories deserve to be told and heard. They deserve justice as well as political leaders and security agencies that will protect their best interests.”

    The justice Odinkalu spoke about has not been served, just as political leaders and security agencies are still scampering for answers on how to protect the people. Those who suffer for this failure are the people. And going by recent media reports, over 30 people have been killed this year alone.

    For the APC, the recent killings are because of tomorrow’s re-run polls ordered by the Court of Appeal into the House of Assembly and National Assembly. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the APC is at its propaganda best again. And I long to get one of the killers to clear the air on why they are killing and beheading people. And in the absence of an answer, I long for those days when life began and ended with schooling in Agege and holidaying in Epe in the grand-motherly alms of Iya Alate; those days of innocence when my brain lacked the capacity to understand this evil of gargantuan proportion.

    My final take: Tomorrow is not worth killing and beheading people for. Tomorrow does not belong to us. Let’s not appropriate to ourselves what belongs to He who when he says yes nobody can say no. Only when we understand this simple fact will we appreciate that we may not live to see the tomorrow that we are killing to secure.

    • This article was first published in March under the title “Because of tomorrow”. It is reproduced because of tomorrow’s Rivers rerun as a food for thought to all players in the political space of this dear state.

  • Abraham to electorate: vote according to your conscience

    Ondo State All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain Olusegun Ab raham yesterday urged the people to vote according to their conscience on Saturday.

    He acknowledged the division and lack of reconciliation in the opposition party, lamenting that the post-primary crisis was not properly resolved by the party leadership.

    Abraham, an aspirant during the controversial shadow poll, told reporters in Lagos that reconciliation was not contemplated by the party, despite the protests that trailed the shadow poll.

    Urging the people to exercise their franchise, he said: “With the situation on ground, I have made up my mind to vote according to my conscience.

    “I will urge the people to vote according to their conscience.

    “I will urge my supporters to vote according to their conscience. And remember that you are responsible to God. So, you must vote according to your conscience.”

    Abraham said the post-primary crisis had changed the perception of the people who thought that the APC was the solution to their problems.

    He added: “Since the crisis of the primary election, the morale of the people has gone down.

    “You cannot see the enthusiasm or expectation that a new government is coming. The people are confused. They are demoralised, irrespective of what some people are saying.

    “We need to stress that fact. We don’t know who will  deliver the state from its bad economic situation.

    “We pray the state will have an opportunity to elect  good leadership that will resolve its economic problems and transform the state. We need transformation in Ondo State.”

    Abraham refrained from commenting on the rumour that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu had directed  aggrieved aspirants to support the candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Olusola Oke.

    He said: “ I have heard so much about the rumour. But, what I will say is that I am not Tinubu’s spokesman.

    “So, if anybody wants any information about that, he should try to see his press secretary. He will enlighten you on the issue.”

    Abraham revisited the controversial primary that has polarised the state chapter, saying that the problem was compounded by the lack of genuine reconciliation.

    He said: “It was not contemplated. It was completely ignored. It was as if all they have done was a fait accompli. They have contempt for the people. Before the primary, the party was in good shape. The party was up and doing. Series of meetings were held with the aspirants.

    “President Muhammadu Buhari convened a meeting with us. There was another meeting between the aspirants and the National Executive Committee (NEC). The SGF addressed us and asked us to maintain calm.

    “After the primary, when the crisis erupted, it was expected that the party will call the aspirants together, especially the four or five aggrieved contestants. The party did not do that.

    “We expected that the President would intervene. It was not forthcoming. It was like they had done what they wanted to do and so, the process of reconciliation was ignored.

    “When they insisted on their position, the people had made up their minds. Well, we have to thank the governor of Kebbi State. He is a gentlemen.

    “One or two others intervened, but in a clandestine way. They believed that they had taken their own decision and it was left for you to team up with them. That is the spirit with which they have viewed it.

    “That’s why they have not been able to make any move about reconciliation.

    Abraham added: “ For me, it is very simple. You must follow the process of reconciliation.  If you follow it, there will be no problem. There will be no fight. There is nothing you gain by fighting.

    “If we are united, it will be easy for us to win the battle. But, if we are in disunity, the battle will not be easy for us to win.

    “We must have a process of reconciliation, which we will call genuine reconciliation.

    “This Ondo experience is a test for the party. This is the mechanism that is lost in the APC.

    “As a loyal member, I have suggested that we need  reconciliation mechanism in the APC.

    “I have faith in genuine reconciliation. In any case, genuine reconciliation must be based on truth and justice, not on fallacy,  deceit,  stealing or power ego.

    “If you want reconciliation, you must be humble. We must come to the table with clean hands. We must correct the wrongs.

    “These are the elements of reconciliation. It is the same in the country.”

  • Stop demanding and receiving money for votes – Orisalade

    Stop demanding and receiving money for votes – Orisalade

    The immediate past Deputy Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Honourable Adetunji Orisalade had admonished Nigerian voters to stop demanding and receiving money or any form of gratification and inducement before voting during elections.
    According to the former legislator, the unwholesome practice corrupts the electoral system and allows for the election of misfits, who eventually abandons the electorates and caters for their own private and family needs.
    ” Once an aspirant or candidate settles would-be voters upon demand, he or she naturally feels no further obligation towards them and goes about as if he or she had taken care of all that concerns them,” Orisalade noted.
    He advised voters to vote for people they know too well and who could solve the problems besetting them and their communities and not for unknown money bags.
    He urged President Muhammadu Buhari to fund and reorganise the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to take the battle against Corruption to the remotest part of the country whilst at the same time re – orientate Nigerians on Federal Government Policies and it’s implementation so far.
    The legal luminary pleaded for the understanding by Nigerians on the happenings of the moment and assured that President Buhari would surely put live up to the expectations of the people.

  • ‘Enforce prisoners’ right to vote’

    The National Assembly (NA) has been asked to prevail on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) to comply with the December 16, 2014 judgment which upheld the right of prisoners to vote.

    The request is contained in a letter by a group, Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE-Nigeria), to the Chairman, Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Suleiman Kyari.

    The group, in a September 28, 2016 letter, signed by the Executive Director, Sylvester Uhaa, wants the Senate Committee to use its oversight powers and influence to prevail on INEC and the NPS to register inmates for the forth-coming state elections and the 2019 general elections.

    A Federal High Court in Benin, Edo State, had in its judgment in the case by Victor Omonuwe and four others, in suit No: FHC/B/CS/12/2014, upheld prison inmates’ right to vote and directed relevant government agencies to take steps to ensure prisoners enjoyed such right.

    CURE-Nigeria said it had written to the Interior Minister, Abdulrahman Dambazau; Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN), and INEC Chairman Prof Mahmood Yakubu on the issue, but without success.

    “Our organisation has written twice to INEC and the NPS on 27/July, 2015 and 11/July, 2016, requesting both agencies to comply with the judgement, but we are not aware of anything that has been done in this regard.

    “We are particularly concerned that close to two years after this judgement was delivered; prison inmates, including those in Edo State are not allowed to vote as people of Edo State go to the polls  to elect their governor.

    “Consequently, we write to request the Committee to use its oversight powers and influence to prevail on INEC and the NPS to register inmates in the forth-coming state elections and in the general elections in 2019.

    “CURE-Nigeria looks forward to working with the Committee towards achieving this goal, while assuring you of our esteemed regards,” the group said.

  • Vote for Abraham, Akintelure, Akinola urge delegates

    The former deputy governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the last governorship poll, Dr Paul Akintelure, and Akinyinka Akinola have urged delegates to vote for Dr. Olusegun Abraham.

    Abrahama, a businessman from the North Senatorial District, has been endorsed by many top leaders of the party.

    The strong backing for Abraham has generated a lot of ripples among the aspirants, culminating in the purported removal of the chairman of the party, Chief Isaac Kekemeke.

    But, the national leadership has have settled the rift.

    At a joint meeting that lasted for hours at Segun Abraham’s house in Akure, Akintelure, who was the running mate Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, reiterated his belief in the ability of Abraham to deliver the state from ruin.

    He said the realignment was a fallout of the swift intervention of the National Executive Council of the party to resolve the seemingly intractable crisis in the party among the contending forces to douse the tension and buoy the party’s strength to win the poll.

    Akintelure, who hails from Okitipupa, Ondo South Senatorial District, said every staunch member of the party must make sacrifice for the APC to emerge victorious in the election.

    He said: “This is a sacrifice every reliable member of the party must make for us to win this election. We must be cohesive and formidable enough to confront the PDP. No reasonable politician and opposition party will go into a poll with a polarized house, this is illogical and it doesn’t appeal to commonsense.

    “Aside from that, Mr Abraham is a man of impeccable character. He has remained steadfast in the progressive fold since 1999, when the Alliance for Democracy was formed. And in 2012, he stepped down for ACN Candidate, Rotimi Akeredolu, so the time has come for him to reap the fruit of his labour.

    “Abraham served in the government of the late Chief Adebayo Adefarati. He understands the terrain and Ondo Economic strength and weaknesses, so I have no doubt that he has the capacity to rejuvenate Ondo’s economy and make it the economic hub in southwest Nigeria unlike what we are witnessing now under Governor Mimiko”, he said.

    Also, Akinola, from Ondo town, Ondo Central Senatorial district, said he took the action in the spirit of sportsmanship and reconciliation in APC and to further exhibit his avowed commitment to the course of the party.

  • Why Edo should vote Obaseki, by monarch

    Why Edo should vote Obaseki, by monarch

    Traditional ruler of Udo community, His Royal Highness, Patrick Igbinidu, the Iyase N’ Udo has warned his subjects to wait for the wrath of the ancestors if they vote against candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Godwin Obaseki.

    The Udo monarch said the plan by the APC to develop the state will  be realised under Obaseki.

    He spoke yesterday when the APC ward campaign train visited his domain in Ovia South West local government area.

    HRH Igbinudu said they have sent Obaseki on an errand and they have prayed God to grant him success to do what he has promised to do.

    He said:  “All the nooks and crannies of Udo should be told that it is Obaseki that we will vote for as the next governor after Oshiomhole.

    “You all have seen it, this is who the Udo people should support, who said he won’t vote for him, he should wait for the ancestors. The entire Udo kingdom should vote for him and anyone who gives his votes to another person is on his own”. The Udo monarch charged.

    Obaseki on his part thanked the monarch for the support and promised that attention would be given to the community to improve the standard of living in the area.

    He said he would utilize the resources of the community to the benefit of the people who he noted will be empowered and strengthened to be self dependent.

     

  • Adeniran urges delegates to vote for credible candidates

    Adeniran urges delegates to vote for credible candidates

    As members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) converge on Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Wednesday to elect a new national executive, a chairmanship aspirant and former Minister of Education, Prof.  Tunde Adeniran, has urged delegates to the convention to consider his unblemished record of public service and unbroken years of worthy service to the party in making their decision about who occupies the exalted seat of the National Chairman of the party.

    He said the PDP requires a leader who has no personal baggage at this point in time to be able to function effectively in opposition and upstage the ruling party in the various elections leading to the 2019 general poll.

    The former Ambassador to Germany, who is a founding member of the PDP, said: “Our party has gone through various crises since the 2015 general election. For us to be able to challenge the party-in-power, we must have a leadership that will not be bogged down and distracted by issues unrelated to the party, which will not enable us put the government on its toes and win converts to our party.”

    In a statement by his media aide, Yemi Akinbode, Adeniran reiterated his determination to work towards forging unity among the various groups within the party, promising to utilise his requisite qualification to achieve a united front, given the mutual respect he enjoyed across the membership of the party, including its current and past leaders.

    The chairmanship aspirant called on delegates to choose wisely and put their trust in the most credible aspirants. He said: “We‘re set again to make history and posterity will judge whatever we do today. I believe in democratic ideals where equal opportunity is given to everyone at all times. I therefore enjoin our delegates to shun any act that can put the unity of our party in jeopardy. We should vote for the most credible person and reject any consensus candidate.”

    Prof Adeniran who has received the endorsement of several party leaders across the six geo-political zones said that he was determined to tackle the major malaise with the party, which he identified as lack of internal democracy, disorientation and the ugly image acquired as a result of commission and omission on the part of the leadership.