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Tag: Yabagi Sani

  • ADP suspends party chairman over alleged diversion of N200m

    Crisis of confidence is rocking the leadership of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) over alleged diversion of over N200 million, among other allegations.

    Consequently, the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) has suspended the national chairman, Mr. Yabagi Sani for allegedly diverting the funds into personal use.

    But Sani has dismissed the suspension order, claiming that the constitution of the party did not empower them NWC members to suspend him.

    The suspension order, signed by seven members of the NWC and dated April 26, 2019, listed 12 “illegal acts” against the party chairman. The party chiefs announced Alhaji Najeem Awodele as Acting National Chairman for the time being.

    A copy of the suspension order, obtained by our correspondent on Monday, stated that the N200 million allegedly misappropriated and diverted by Sani was the money realised from payments for Nomination and Expression of Interest forms by aspirants and candidates in the 2019 general elections.

    Sani was also accused of forging the signature of the National Secretary, Dr James Okoroma with which he presented a fake resolution to Polaris Bank and other banks for the removal of the National Treasurer, Chief Iboro Ige-Edaba as signatory to the party’s bank accounts.

    The party chair was also accused of constant physical attacks on ADP national officers and refusal to pay their remunerations for two years.

    The NWC members also alleged that Sani doctored the party’s constitution and criminal insertion of strange clauses meant to perpetuate himself in office as National Leader, Life Leader, Presidential Candidate, National Chairman and the only signatory to the party’s bank accounts.

    Also listed against Sani was the alleged use of his personal staff to run the affairs of the party against the provisions of the ADP constitution and non-disclosure of monetary donations to the party by some prominent Nigerians.

    “In view of the above and the need to reposition the party, a change in the leadership of the ADP has become inevitable. The NWC has decided to suspend Mr. Yabagi Yusuf Sani in order to enable him respond to all the allegations against him and to clear his name”, the document stated.

    Read Also: ADP to Alao-Akala: don’t rejoin APC

    The NWC members that signed the suspension order are Dr. James Okoroma (National Secretary); Chief Iboro Ige-Edaba (National Treasurer); Esther Oche (National Special Duties Secretary); Mr Obadiah Bichi (National Legal Adviser); Mr. Tope Salami (National Financial Secretary); Prince Edobor Oghosa (National Youth); and Dr. Chris Nzekwu (National Leader, PLWD).

    “Accordingly, former Agriculture Minister and Deputy National Chairman (South) of the ADP, Alhaji Najeem Awodele has been appointed Acting National Chairman by the NWC pending the conduct of congress,” the document added.

    In a swift reaction however, Sani, in a WhatsApp message to our correspondent on Monday, declared that he remained the National Chairman of the ADP.

    According to the party chairman who also doubled as the candidate of the ADP in the 2019 presidential election, the NWC members that suspended him, had themselves been suspended a long time ago.

    Sani said, “Let me make it clear that the purported suspension is self-defeating, dead on arrival and completely invalid. The so called NWC members are either former or suspended ADP National officers who are no longer members of the ADP NWC.

    “For instance Dr. James Okoroma knows he is no longer ADP National Secretary by the resolution of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of ADP which has since several months ago been duly communicated to INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission)

    “Mr. Obadiah Bichi who is purported to be the National Legal Adviser has since withdrawn his membership of ADP. By the ADP Constitution, the NWC cannot suspend the National Chairman.

    “In any event, none of the signatories to the purported resolution suspending the National Chairman is a member of ADP NWC. I therefore state categorically that I remain the National Chairman of the ADP”.

    Sani however, declined comments on the allegations of diverting N200 million, forgery of party documents and high handedness in the running of party affairs.

    “I will not want to comment about the false and damaging allegations made against my person, including misappropriation, forgery and high handedness in the running of the party; as those matters have already been submitted to a court of competent jurisdiction,” the party chair stated.

  • Presidential candidate decries bad leadership

    The presidential candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Yabagi Sani, has criticised the leaders in Rivers State, describing them as “not fit for the position”.

    Sani, who spoke at his presidential campaign rally in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, regretted the spate of bad leaders the state has produced.

    He presented the party’s governorship candidate, Victor Fingesi, as a credible alternative.

    Sani said: “I am in Rivers State to fulfil the promise which God made that He will not allow His people to suffer in the midst of plenty. Rivers State is blessed, the only missing link between it and greatness is leadership.

    “And God told me to come here today to raise the hand of your governor, Chief Victor Fingesi.”

    He promised the people quality education and empowerment, saying this was the reason for the choice of book as the party’s logo.

    “Our Logo is very instructive, fundamental and with lots of message, one of which is hope. Where there is education, there is hope for greatness. We believe in education, that is why we chose a book as our party symbol.

    “The best legacy you can leave for your children is education, that is why our party has come to establish a permanent foundation for the growth of Nigeria as a great country, that is respected world over…”

    Sani hailed the Supreme Court ruling on the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates, saying it would pave way for ADP as the credible alternative.

  • ADP pulls out coalition against Buhari

    …Says we don’t want to honour with those who destroyed Nigeria

    The Action Democratic Party (ADP) has joined the growing list of political parties that have pulled out of the PDP led coalition of political parties ganging up to wrest power from President Muhammadu Buhari led APC government in 2019, saying it does not want to parley with those who destroyed the country in the first place.

    The ADP said it was never part of the arrangement In the first place as it was not in a hurry to hobnob with those who mismanaged Nigeria for sixteen years and now regrouping in an un-strategic haste to resume unprecedented loot of the nation’s treasury, the Alliance for New Nigeria said they will not be part of any alliance that will take “the country back to Egypt “.

    National Chairman of the Action Democratic Party, Engr. Yabagi Sani said at a news conference that the party was the third force that Nigerians have been waiting for to take over power from both the PDP and the APC and provide the credible alternative to end killings, hunger and executive lawlessness.

    He said: “You will recall that on the 9th July, 2018, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in conjunction with about 34 other Political Parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to field a common Presidential Candidate for the 2019 general elections. The Parties are also to collaborate in several other areas to ensure that the APC-led Federal Government is defeated in the impending elections.

    “Let me say here for the avoidance of doubt that we are not part of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP). ADP is the third force that will provide the Credible Alternative Nigerians passionately yearn for to end hunger, wanton killings and executive lawlessness.

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    “At our inception in June 2017, we proclaimed to Nigerians that ADP is a child of necessity that will deepen democracy and good governance to establish the credible political platform that will rescue the country from the imminent collapse of the political space.

    “We also promised that ADP will introduce a corruption free leadership selection process that will create a new leadership class with commitment, focus and force of will to rebuild the Country after the damage done by PDP and APC.

    “We vowed that we would provide an All-inclusive Governance Model that would mobilize and unite all Nigerians to build a new nation.

    “It is incontrovertible that the PDP and APC are two sides of the same coin. For sixteen years, PDP ruled this country with impunity and without regard to the universally accepted norms of democracy. Stealing, misappropriation and all forms of corruption became parts of the state policy.

    “ADP is not prepared to jettison its values and constitutional provisions like the use of direct primaries as against the often used corrupt delegate system by the other parties in the Coalition.

    “ADP is also not in a hurry to hobnob with those who mismanaged Nigeria for sixteen years and now regrouping in an un-strategic haste to resume unprecedented loot of the nation’s treasury.

    “It is important to know that those who pushed Nigeria to the precipice are the drivers of the Coalition and have nothing new to offer. To collaborate with them, is to sleep with strange bedfellows.

    “The ADP is not averse to any political Coalition that can bring about a positive overhaul of the Nigerian system. But this shall be done with true patriots who are not a part of the Nigerian problem.

    “In the desire to acquire power, we shall not compromise the basic principles and ideology that informed our birth which includes All-inclusiveness, Democratic Empowerment of the Youth/Women and Party Supremacy.

    “We find it extremely difficult to compromise our principles and align with ‘ANYTHING BUT BUHARI.’ Let it be known that for us, it is not negotiable that Buhari must go. He has failed and those who love him should tell him that his time is up.

    “At ADP, we believe the time has come for a generational shift in leadership and not putting old wines in new bottles, which are what the PDP led coalition represents.

    “It is instructive to remember that it was a similar ragtag coalition that brought the rudderless APC to power in 2015, so Nigerians must wake up and resist another deceit by the same desperate and corrupt politicians.

    “We are committed to the birth of a new Nigeria that offers hope to all. We shall pursue policies that will ensure transformation in Health, Education, Infrastructure, Security, Employment etc. What Nigeria needs is a new direction championed by true patriots. ADP is determined to drive this process.

    “We shall be calling on like-minded Patriotic, God fearing and credible Nigerians who are determined to join the ADP led coalition to rebuild Nigeria and make our nation the pride of Africa, fulfilling its God given potentials, purpose, and promise of happiness.”

  • Atiku not financing our party – ADP boss

    Atiku not financing our party – ADP boss

    Yabagi Sani is the national Chairman of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), one of the political parties registered last year by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). In this interview with Tony Akowe, he spoke on the clamor for President Muhammadu Buhari to seek another term in 2019, the chances of his new party in the next general election and some other issues. 

    THE country will be going to the next presidential and general election soon and your party is one the newest party on the block. This will be your first major election. How prepared is ADP?

    Before 2015, PDP failed woefully because they took people for granted and are still taking people for granted. APC came like a flash in the pan to grab the opportunity. Nigerians have learnt their lesson and they are now looking for real, purposeful, well organised political platform that will respond to the needs of the people of this country and ensure good governance as well as security. You cannot have good governance in a democratic dispensation unless you have disciplined political parties which is what ADP is. If you look at the constitution of the ADP, you will discover that we took into consideration the experience we have had so far.

    What I am saying is that towards 2019, we want to make sure that as much as possible, we attract the youth in their numbers as well as women to take up leadership positions. In the real sense of it, if you look at the constitution of the party, we have 25 percent for the youth, 25 percent for the women from the ward to the state level. At the national level, we made it 40/60 percent. So, going forward, even the administration that will emerge from that arrangement will be peopled by women and youth. We believe in party supremacy which means that everybody is accountable to the party to the extent that even when you win election as a governor, president or chairman of a council, we will have to sit with you to go through the list of your appointees.

    How would you react to the declaration by a Minister that President Muhammadu Buhari will contest in 2019?

    Arrogance, especially considering the fact that they have taken us for granted. Otherwise, with the performance of this government,they will not have the audacity to come out again and say the President should run again. I want to ask you, what is it that this government has added to us in terms of performance and achievements that has impacted positively on the lives of Nigerians? In fact, if anything, we have rather retrogressed. The GDP was growing at the rate of 2 percent or there about before the coming of this government and you know that our GDP has the potentials to grow faster than that of America because we have a lot of potentials. We have a very young population unlike what we have in Europe and America with older populations. So the potentials of this country is very huge, and for a government to drag us to where we are today in terms of economic development is something that is unfortunate. Look at the security aspect. They told us that they are fighting boko haram and that they have been decimated. But the fact of the matter is that the issues are even much compounded now than they were before. You now have kidnappers all over the place, armed robbery is rampant, you have people committing suicide on their own. Look at the herdsmen issue. Look at what is happening, the amount of killings that is been carried out by these people when we have a President who is the grand patron of this so called organisation. For us to have this kind of wanton killings at the time when someone who has a formal relationship with this people is in office is something that you wonder, why is it happening?

    Legally speaking, the President has a right to seek another term in office. Are you suggesting that he should just serve one term?

    Believe me. Buhari should be in his ranch drinking fura de nunu at the age he is. This man is old and old age has no cure. We have able people in this country. People who are capable and can boost the spirit of Nigerians. So, we shouldn’t be caged. We shouldn’t be retarded by deliberate agreement. I am not saying that the president doesn’t have the constitutional right to contest, but we also heard from some people that he said he was going to do only one term. Constitutionally, he has the right to contest, but morally it is wrong. That is the point I am making. It is morally wrong for President Buhari to contest again. He should be an elder statesman like Mandela and others who realised that what they needed to do was to reset the agenda of the country and put it on the part to greatness. You don’t have to come and say I must rule. Anytime someone is insisting on ruling, that person has nothing to offer. It is just the office and the title that comes with that office that the person wants. If  it is for the service; two years or four years is more than enough. Moreover he was a head of state before; or are they going to call you something different from a head of state or president if you go for a second term? When you know time isn’t on your side and your health isn’t that sound, you should have people you can mentor and prepare to take over from you. It is only in a country like this that people will come out with an abysmal performance and yet people want him to continue in office. I think it is really ridiculous, but he has the right to contest while Nigerians also have the right to reject him.

    Will the ADP field a Presidential candidate?

    Certainly, we have someone much better than Buhari that Nigerians will be excited to have. It will be a decent surprise to Nigerians because you and I know in this country, we are blessed. You look at the natural endowment, you look at the resources we have, you look at the human capital, Nigerians are intelligent. If you give us the chance, even outside this country it is either we are number one or we are number two. We shouldn’t have the kind if leadership we are having. Nigeria has no business with what it is going through in terms of economic development. So, what we are saying is that ADP is going to surprise Nigerians and ensure that we assume our full potentials by giving this country what it requires in terms of leadership. Go to the industries, the trend today is that people are going away from the establishment because of the failure of the establishment which is so apparent under this man. So we are coming with a surprise and I am sure Nigerians and the whole world will be happy that we are getting it right for the first time in Nigeria. If you are doing the same thing the same way, you can’t get a different result. So we are going to give Nigerians something different so that we will have a different result that will put us were we belong and ought to be. This country is always looked up to for leadership especially on the African continent and all over the world. Like I said before, Nigeria is a big country in terms of economic potentials, social potential and political possibilities. The country has no business being where we are right now. Believe me, it is an aberration that we are where we are now. But it is also a lesson that we shouldn’t take things for granted, we should not accept people for what they tell us, but should rather make effort to engage them based on what they say.

    Are you considering teaming up with other parties ahead of 2019?

    Yes. But what we should look forward to is some kind of coalition and not merger like what you have in the APC. Some people raise certain parties not necessarily for the same reason. They have different objectives and if you now say you are going into a merger, you may find yourself in a very difficult arrangement that may be counterproductive. 67 political parties are not too much because the constitution says you can have as many as you can.

    There are those who believe that the ADP was registered by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.

    If Atiku was sponsoring this party, you would have seen one of his loyalist here. But have you seen such person here? Or someone who has worked with him before? No. It is Nigerians that are financing this party because that is how it should be. We want a party that is owned by Nigerians and not by some money bags that will dictate what happens and yet don’t have anything to offer. I am not berating anybody, but look at all those that are offering themselves for the presidency. What have they done for this country? We are looking for people that can think out of the box. ADP as a political party is not tied to any money bag. Like I said, we are looking for people who can look at the situation and be creative enough to bring solutions that were not there before.