The Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu has cautioned Nigerians not to take the country into the past socio economic rots even as he canvassed for votes to return President Muhammadu Buhari in the next week Saturday election.
The monarch, who decried the rot that past administrations left behind in the country, warned: “we should not go back to the past again.”
Oba Akiolu spoke yesterday when Present Muhammadu Buhari paid him Royal visit in his palace shortly before he held Presidential campaign rally in Lagos.
Oba Akiolu who spoke on behalf of the Lagos Traditional Council, described President Buhari as a man of his word.
“Now that you are here, In sha Allah, on February16, God will open the way for you. The best will happen to you.”
The traditional leader assured President Buhari that the body of traditional rulers in the state and across the country are solidly behind him because they appreciate his efforts as a highly respected person in Nigeria.
Oba Akiolu, who is the chairman of the Lagos State Traditional Council of Obas and Chiefs, thanked the President for his achievements since assuming office and urged Nigerians to continue to support him.
He said that he had a catalogue of requests, including mass transit and pressing issues on the Apapa ports, and that they have all been committed into writing.
Akiolu presented Buhari with a Quran as he prayed for him.
In his response, Buhari commended Akiolu’s appreciation of the efforts of his government.
“I appreciate all you have said and I assure you that I will continue to do my best.
“The promise we made through our party in 2015, our country needs to be secured and properly managed.
“If there is no security, we cannot do anything no matter your resources. We thank God our efforts have brought some fruits.”
He said that his government is working hard to end importation of rice and ensure self-dependence.
“We can feed ourselves and the money we save, we can put it in infrastructure; we are building the roads, we are building the rails and we are building power.
“But the failure of former administrations in spite of enormous revenue they got to develop infrastructure is amazing,” Buhari said.
He commended the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola for his hard work and efficiency by keeping contractors on their toes, adding that he has done creditably well.
Zamfara State governor, Abdul’Aziz Yari Abubakar, has vowed that if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) does not include the names of Zamfara APC candidates, there would be no elections in the state.
Yari made the vow during APC campaign rally in Talata Mafara town in Talata Mafara Local Government Area in continuation of his state-wide campaign tour for the February 16 and March 2 general elections in the state.
“There is no way elections will be conducted in Zamfara State without APC candidates despite Zamfara High Court verdict which confirmed that APC conducted primaries in the state,” he warned.
on February 16th, Nigeria will hold a general election. Four years ago, the country experienced its first democratic transfer of power to the opposition since 1999. The vote in a few days will be no less significant.
As president, I have tried to judiciously exercise the trust vested in me to combat the problems of corruption, insecurity and an inequitable economy. All are important. But amongst them, one stands above the others as both a cause and aggravator of the rest. It is, of course, corruption.
A policy programme that does not have fighting corruption at its core is destined to fail. The battle against graft must be the base on which we secure the country, build our economy, provide decent infrastructure and educate the next generation.
This is the challenge of our generation: the variable on which our success as a nation shall be determined. But the vested interests at play can make this fight difficult. By way of their looting, the corrupt have powerful resources at their disposal. And they will use them. For when you fight corruption, you can be sure it will fight back.
It even threatens to undermine February’s poll and – by extension – our democracy. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has raised concerns over laundered money being funnelled into vote buying. This is the problem of corruption writ large. It illustrates how it lurks in all and every crevice of public life, manipulating due process in pursuit of self-preservation and perpetuation; protecting personal political and economic interests at the expense of the common good.
Indeed, those who have criticised my administration’s anti-corruption drive are those who oppose its mission. And though their lawyers may craft expensive alibis, they cannot escape that which binds them together: a raft of documents and barely legal (some clearly illegal) mechanisms – whether that be the Panama Papers, US Congress reports, shell companies or offshore bank accounts.
Corruption corrodes the trust on which the idea of community is founded, because one rule for the few and another for everyone else is unacceptable to anyone working honestly.
But as we have intensified our war on corruption, so we have found that corruption innovates to resist the law. This is not the sole domain of those Nigerians, but the international corruption industry: the unsavoury fellow-traveler of globalisation.
Once the enablers are let in – as they have been in the past – the greed of those they collude with grows. We have closed the door on them, but unfortunately there still remain individuals who are willing to open windows.
Concrete progress has been made, but there is still much to do. We have repatriated hundreds of millions of dollars stowed away in foreign banks. These funds have been transparently deployed on infrastructural projects and used to directly empower the poorest in society. More is still to come from our international partners in France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Yet the hundreds of billions sifted out of the country for the best part of this century promise more.
We have secured high profile convictions, but greater cases remain. Lawyers table endless objections to obstruct court proceedings, whilst their clients hope it lasts until a ‘friendly’ president is voted into office. We must continue to tighten the legal framework and ensure the authorities have the investigative powers at their disposal to secure sentences. Only then will we begin to neutralise the advantages the corrupt have.
More ghost workers must be removed from government payroll (almost $550 million has been saved from identifying phantom employees). More can be recovered through our whistle-blower policy ($370 million has been returned since its launch in 2016). More is still to come. But, together, we shall prevail over corruption.
A Yoruba proverb states that only the patient one can milk a lion. Likewise, victory over corruption is difficult, but not impossible. We must not flounder in our resolve. I know many Nigerians would like to see faster action. So do I. But so too must we follow due process and exercise restraint, ensuring allegation never takes the place of evidence. For that is not the Nigeria we should wish to build.
There is no doubt that this Administration has changed the way we tackle corruption. The choice before voters is this: Do we continue forward on this testing path against corruption? Or do revert to the past, resigned to the falsehood that it is just the-way-things-are-done? Or that it is just too difficult – too pervasive – to fix? I know which one I would choose. It is why I am asking Nigerians for another four years to serve them.
Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigerian wrote in from Abuja.
The contentious season beckons again; and expectedly, the atmosphere is sweltering more than ever before. The polity is heating up as political foes get at daggers drawn. With tempers fraying, verbal shots are flying left and right, characters are being smeared, names dragged in the mud as propaganda machineries are fine-tuned, firing from all cylinders. And for spiritual fortification, by now, nearly all herbalists and ritualists’ dens have suddenly turned Mecca of some sort.
Welcome to Nigeria, a land of grubby politics run by desperate political gladiators. A land where politics is a do or die affair where you either take it by hook or crook; and where winners take it all and losers lose it all.
Like a sour grape in the mouth, electioneering in Nigeria is sadly characterized with such ignoble incidences as killings, kidnappings, maimings, intimidations, harassments,dollarization and vote buying – all cast into one block of psychological mind frame – do or die syndrome. Money, compromise and desperation are the lubricants that turn the wheels of politics in Nigeria.
2019 election is no difference. As at the time of writing this piece, violence, and in some cases, killings have been recorded already in campaign rallies in states like Lagos, Kogi, Bayelsa, Oyo, Imo to mention but few. At least, not less than three state chairmen of political parties have been reported kidnapped and not less than twenty supporters of political parties reportedly killed with scores of others sustaining varying degree of injuries due to bullet wounds.
For instance, Abia state All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman was kidnapped alongside his secretary few hours before arrival of President Muhammadu Buhari to the presidential rally in the state. In a similar development, the APC chairman in Adamawa state was kidnapped ahead of governorship rally in the state. Those are the few cases reported in the media. There are several others that went underground unreported.
Since the return of democracy to Nigeria in 1999, there are more than 30 cases of politically motivated assassinations across the country. Many of such cases are unresolved up till date.
Chief among them are those of “the late Bola Ige, a former Attorney General of the Federation who was shot dead in his bedroom in Bodija, Ibadan on December 23, 2001”. “Similarly, Chief Aminasaoari Dikibo, PDP Deputy National Chairman was ambushed near Asaba in daylight and was murdered in October 22, 2004”. “The gruesome cold blood murder of Dr. Harry Marshal on March 05, 2003 is another”. “In February 2003, Ogbonnaya Uche, ANPP senatorial candidate for Orlu was killed in his home residence by unknown gunmen. Killers are yet to be found till date”. “In July 2006, Lagos PDP gubernatorial aspirant, Funsho Williams was killed at his Dolphin Estate home in Ikoyi. Dipo Dina, fell to the bullets of assassins On Monday, January 25, 2010 around Covenant University, Ota. The late Dina was defunct Action Congress (AC) gubernatorial candidate in 2007. Source: Daily Post Nov 15, 2018.
Journalists were not spared, Godwin Agbroko, Chairman, ThisDay Editorial Board was assassinated on December 22, 2006. Bayo Ohu of Guardian Newspapers was shot dead on a Sunday, September 20, 2009 by a gang of 5 men and a woman in his home in Egbeda, Lagos. Bayo Ohu was working on the certificate forgery story of former Customs Controller General, Abdullahi Dikko before his murder. Source: Daily Post Nov 15, 2018.
These cases represent only a microcosm of the plethora that replete the entire landscape of the country. As a matter of fact, if asked, almost every Nigerian have one personal experience or know one politician or the other who have experienced political intimidation, harassment or near-death situations in the hands of political opponents.
One of such many instances is that of Hon Adeyinka Alex Banso, a former member of Ondo state House of Assembly representing Akoko North-West constituency 1 between 2011 – 2015 on the platform of Labour Party.
Due to irreconcilable differences and crisis rocking the Labour Party at the time, Hon. Adeyinka defected to PDP in October, 2014 and got a return ticket to run 2015 election but lost in the general election.
No sooner he won election into the state house of assembly than his travails started from the opposition politicians and exacerbated when he joined the PDP. In many of his ordeals, Adeyinka had a fatal accident in Akure while returning from a campaign in Akoko on 16th February, 2012. While narrating his ordeal, Hon. Adeyinka said, “on discovering that some men suspected to be hired thugs of opposition party followed me with full speed, I sped off and ran into some big fabricated concrete blocks being used by the company constructing road along Oba Adesida road in Akure. The bike men trailing my vehicle disappeared when they discovered that I had an accident. I was hospitalized for months before I later recovered.
As if that was not enough, Adeyinka’s house in Ajowa Akoko was invaded by suspected ACN hired thugs, …when we were preparing for the 2012 gubernatorial re-election of Dr Mimiko in November that year. They did not meet me at home but met my gateman and beat him mercilessly. This happened after so many threats to my life. I reported to the police and some arrests were made but nothing happened thereafter”, Adeyinka lamented.
He continued, “When, I got PDP ticket in 2014, there was another attempt on my life on my way to Ajowa from Akure by suspected opposition party thugs from (APC). I got wind of the information that they had laid an ambush for me on Erusu/ Ibaram road, but before I got to the spot, I hard to turn back.
“This is aside regular assaults, harassment and incessant threats to my life. I receive several phone calls almost on a daily basis from people threatening to kill or kidnap me for reasons best known to them. As a result of these threats and due to the fear of being attacked as it happened before, I could no longer sleep in my house. I am presently confined to exile away from the comfort of home and family love.
“Now that we are approaching another general election in February 2019, and moreover that my party is now in the opposition, the ruling party saw me as a thorn in their flesh which they must eliminate.”
Hon. Adeyinka’s experience is one of many faced by grassroots politicians in Nigeria. This kind of experience does not only present Nigerian democracy in bad light to the international community, it portends danger to the survival of our fledgling democracy.
Recently, politicians have been criss-crossing the nooks and crannies of the country to woo electorates to their favour in the forth coming elections.
Unfortunately, these campaign efforts have nothing to do with issues. The quality of the debate is watery. It is rather full of hate speeches, more of personality attack than issue based. This situation is generating a scenario of panic in the society.
To redeem the situation from degenerating into anarchy, partisan politics should be cast aside for now and more focus put into the problems we are facing because Nigeria is clearly a nation at war with itself. The path in which we are presently treading is a threat to the continued peace, unity and prosperity of a place we call our home.
Our leaders need to tread carefully and focus more on pressing matters facing the nation at hand irrespective of political parties, because events unfolding from Boko Haram insurgency, political violence, corruption, nepotism among others, are clear indicators of a failing state.
In order for these crises facing us as a country not to escalate into a civil war or the breakup of Nigeria, politics should not be a do or die affair. Rather, the growth and development of the country should be the main focus for our politicians.
Report reaching us at Greenbarge Reporters has said that no fewer than nine different vehicles belonging to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were burnt to ashes today when supporters of the party clashed with that of the main opposition, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at Dei Dei, outskirts of the city. It was learnt that in the ensuing confrontation, the APC campaign convoy which comprised the FCT Minister’s representative and his Chief of Staff, Bashir Mai-Borno, the APC Chairman in the FCT, Abdulmalik Usman, the DG FCT Campaign Council, Hon. Musa Yahaya Mohammed, candidates of the party to various offices in the forthcoming election as well as other supporters, was attacked while on its way to the palace of the SerkinJiwa. It was further gathered that APC convoy was pelted with rocks and other deadly missiles, while vehicles among the convoy were set ablaze with Molotov cocktail, otherwise known as petrol bombs. Other motorists were also not spared as their vehicles suffered serious damages. Information had it that no life was lost in the fracas as security personnel rose to save the situation from escalating. The suspected PDP supporters were said to mounted road block around the Timber Market axis of the Dei Dei road and prevented the APC convoy from proceeding to the palace of the Sarkin Jiwa. They were said to have taken advantage of a PDP rally which was also being held around the Dei Dei Timber Market, to unleash mayhem on the APC Campaign Convoy. The security detail attached to the office of the FCT Minister and others covering the event however responded by firing shots in the air to calm the situation. It was learnt that the convoy was attacked again around the same spot while it was returning from the palace and heading to the grand finale of the APC FCT Campaign at the Old Parade Ground. It was during this second confrontation that 9 vehicles were set ablaze. The security personnel were also quick to intervene this time firing several shots into the air to disperse the menacing attackers. Their intervention helped to create a brief window, which allowed the APC Campaign convoy to retreat and follow another route to safety. Nine vehicles that were not so fortunate were however set ablaze by the attackers. Others that made it to safety also had their windshields smashed. In the milee, other motorists which were not part of the convoy also had their windshields broken by flying objects which were hauled by the hoodlums from different directions. Billowing smokes from burning vehicles were seen high up in the sky during the melee which occurred in the afternoon and around the twilight of the day. Reacting to the incident, the Director General, FCT APC Campaign Council, Hon. Musa Yahaya Mohammed, described the attack as unfortunate, saying that intelligence information suggested that the attack was premeditated. “Based on the report I gathered from the security personnel, about nine of our vehicles were burned down. Some of the vehicles that escaped also had their windscreens smashed. Few individuals also sustained varying degrees of injuries. “I believe that it’s a good omen that it happened before the election. It’s a pointer to the fact that we should be security conscious and make a security arrangement during the elections and of course after the elections,” the DG said.
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the nation’s economy is back on track as his government’s economic policies are making the desired impact, evidenced by steady growth in the economy in the last three years. Speaking at a town hall meeting with the Business community in Lagos, President Buhari said he had kept his promise to boost the economy, through blocking leakages in government finances, increasing capital expenditure and inflows, and implementing the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), among others. ‘‘I firmly believe that our economic policies are beginning to make the desired impact. Economic growth has resumed and is continuing to improve. ‘‘Growth was higher in 2017 than in 2016, data even from external sources shows that it will be higher in 2018 than in 2017. I am confident that as we stay the course, it will be better still at the end of 2019. ‘‘Inflation is coming down steadily, there is stability in the exchange rate and foreign exchange is readily available for genuine business. Foreign reserves are adequate and growing; capital inflows have increased and the trade balance is positive. ‘‘We are paying off debts that were not even publicly acknowledged before now, including those owed to States, the electricity sector, oil marketers, exporters, backlog of salaries of workers and pensioners, amongst others.” The President who met with representatives of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Nigeria Association of Small and Medium Enterprises shortly before attending the APC presidential campaign rally in Lagos, said he is a strong believer in the importance of investing in infrastructure to promote development. ‘‘I am happy that the results of the priority we have placed on this sector are beginning to show. ‘‘Our commitment is reflected in the resources that we are providing for infrastructure. In 2016 and 2017, capital expenditure was up to N2.7 trillion while over N800m has been released under the current budget. ‘‘This has been complemented by the inception of the $650 million Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund which will focus initially on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the Second Niger Bridge, the Abuja-Kano expressway and the Mambilla hydropower plant.” The President also highlighted completed and ongoing projects in the transport and aviation sector, expressing delight that the rail projects are generating excitement across the country because it would help local businesses to grow. ‘‘The Abuja-Kaduna railway is up and running. The Itakpe-Warri line is being test-run before going commercial. The completed portion of the Abuja light rail project is facilitating movement to the airport. ‘‘The Lagos-Ibadan railway is nearing completion with people already taking test rides on the completed portions. We are determined to work at the same pace on the Coastal Railway Line and the line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri. ‘‘We completed the repairs to the runway in Abuja in record time, and just a few weeks ago, I commissioned the Baro Inland Port. All these achievements will help Nigerian businesses to grow.” On future plans to sustain the positive economic outlook, the President said the Federal Government would raise more revenue to boost the economic fundamentals and increase the level and quality of government services in support of the private sector. ‘‘I recently inaugurated a Technical Advisory Committee to identify new sources of revenue in this regard. This is also to ensure that Government at all levels have the resources to pay the new national wage, which we are indeed committed to paying. ‘‘Our economic fundamentals are strong and, in the next four years by the grace of God, we are determined to stay the course in terms of partnerships with the private sector; support to the real sector; helping small businesses, providing infrastructure and an enabling business environment.” The President told members of the private sector that his administration has also stimulated growth in the economy by adopting and implementing new strategies to deal with the security situation in the country and tackle rampant corruption. ‘‘When this Government came into office, our three priorities were to increase the level of security across the country, tackle rampant corruption and improve the economy. These three factors are interconnected. ‘‘Without peace and stability, there will never be economic growth and development.” The administration’s view on improving the economy, the President said, focused on a bottom to top approach. ‘‘We focused on developing the rural economy which we hope will result in growth that is inclusive. Boko Haram and the militants in the Niger Delta started their aggressive operations during the years of high oil prices and GDP growth. ‘‘These young and misguided youths did not benefit from the various statistics and indicators of prosperity we were celebrating in the past decade. No wonder they were recruited to cause violence and mayhem in their localities. ‘‘These three priorities, if addressed, will completely transform Nigeria to a diversified, inclusive and competitive economy. But this is not an overnight transition. We are not only transforming systems and processes, but we are also changing hearts and minds. ‘‘We have recaptured and held lost territories. Yes, we still have pockets of insurgency, but our sovereign integrity is intact,’’ he said.
President Buhari Commissiones cancer center in Lagos
President Muhammadu Buhari has given hope to cancer patients and would-patients in Nigeria with a promise to establish more centres across the country for the treatment of the ailment. The President, who inaugurated the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) advanced Cancer treatment centre in Lagos, vowed to ensure that facilities for the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of cancer are available to many more Nigerians. At the inauguration ceremony of the state-of-the-art Centre in LUTH, Idi Araba, President Buhari announced that the model will be replicated across the country to bring quality, first-class healthcare services to cancer patients in Nigeria. ‘‘We are aware that up to 40% of funds spent by Nigerians on medical tourism is attributable to patients seeking treatment for cancer. Despite having an increasing number of citizens suffering from cancer, we until now, had only two working radiotherapy machines in the country. ‘‘Working through the NSIA and LUTH we utilized a PPP model that unlocked investment capital to directly address this issue. We will replicate this model across the country to bring quality, first-class healthcare services to as many Nigerians as we can. ‘‘Indeed, over the coming months, under our leadership, the NSIA will commission two Modern Medical Diagnostic Centres to be co-located in the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano State and the Federal Medical Centre Umuahia, Abia State, respectively, bringing additional investment to Nigeria’s healthcare sector,’’ he said.
The President emphasized the need for maintenance of the equipment, saying: “Our goal today is not simply to celebrate and applaud the culmination of months of hard work to achieve this objective. Neither is it solely to revel in the successful completion of the most modern and best-equipped Cancer treatment centre in West Africa. ‘‘Indeed we are proud, but we recognize that this modest effort to address the gaps in our tertiary healthcare system alone is insufficient to address all the challenges faced by the sector. ‘‘Today, we showcase what feats we can accomplish when we are together, unrelenting in our effort to deliver a common objective. ‘‘No one ever prays to be diagnosed with Cancer, but if they are, what we have made possible here today is the hope that a true chance of survival and good quality of life becomes part of the story of many Nigerian patients with cancer.” The President promised that his administration, which has introduced programmes to alleviate common diseases, including the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund targeted at ensuring access to primary healthcare for all Nigerians, will continue to push hard to raise awareness about cancer, educate the people and facilitate early diagnosis. He noted that this objective was part of his solemn commitment to Nigerians four years ago to improve the quality of health care in the country. The President, who performed the ceremony after attending the APC presidential campaign rally at the Teslim Balogun Stadium Surulere, Lagos, said his administration had focused on greater investment in the sector and worked hard to ensure increased access to safe, high-quality healthcare. ‘‘We promised to effect policies that would remove debilitating constraints on the sector and create sustainable structures to strengthen our healthcare institutions. ‘‘Today, we are gathered here to acknowledge the modest but laudable strides we are making in fulfilling that promise. We recognize that progress in the health sector is handicapped by several bottlenecks. ‘‘Accordingly, we have worked and we will continue to work to ensure that systems are introduced to bridge these gaps,’’ he said. The President told the audience at LUTH that the Federal Government has created an enabling environment for institutions such as the NSIA to help fund high impact projects on time and on budget, thereby delivering immense value for our people. ‘‘In the case of the Cancer Centre, we can measure this value in currency, but we prefer to measure the value in terms of its social impact, the number of lives of Nigerians that will be saved and positively affected as well as the impact of capacity building for our people.” In his remarks at the inauguration ceremony, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NSIA, Mr. Uche Orji said the Centre is expected to raise the bar in the quality and standard of cancer treatment in Nigeria with outcomes that would be consistent with the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. ‘‘In addition, this Centre will demonstrate the economic potential of healthcare investments in Nigeria and catalyse increased private sector participation,” he said. Also speaking, Professor Chris Bode, Chief Medical Director, LUTH, noted that the Centre is world-class and no Nigerian cancer patient needs to travel abroad again to receive treatment easily obtainable at home. ‘‘We, therefore, want to assure Your Excellency that we shall give what it takes to run this Centre as a pride to all Nigerians. NSIAs investment is not only safe but will yield ample dividend to encourage other deep pocket investors to open up the health sector as a veritable investors’ haven, ’’ he said. Also speaking, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole described the Centre as the single largest investment in cancer treatment in the country by any administration since independence. Prof. Adewole added that the facility can cater for 100 patients daily and provide training for over eighty healthcare professionals, among many others.
President Muhammadu Buhari has handed over those who looted Nigeria’s treasury in the past government to God for appropriate devine punishment.
He said that for the damage they had done this country, “only God can give them punishment.”
The President, who spoke when he received about 1,000 local and Diaspora support groups for his second term bid, at the presidential villa, Abuja yesterday, Friday, said: “all those who were involved in large scale abuse of trust, only God can give them punishment but those we can touch, we will get them prosecuted. We have said their property that have been confiscated should be sold and the money put into the treasury which we will use.” President Buhari’s recalled how he met with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (Mr Godwin Emefiele) on assumption of office in 2015 and was informed that there was no money left in the treasury, saying: “I have said this for the umpteenth time and I have challenged them to prove me wrong, but in the 16 years the PDP ruled, Nigeria was getting 2.1 million times 100 (2.1 million barrels by $100 per barrel) every day, every week, but when we came on board, the price fell to between $37-$38 and hung around $40-$50.”
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu
The National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu has said that the party’s legal department is looking into the judgment of the Supreme Court which nullified the party’s primaries in Rivers State.
Reacting to the judgment which was delivered today, Friday, the APC spokesman said: “it is not the kind of judgment we looked forward to, based on the facts that we are aware of.
“The only option before us now is to review this judgment and see what other means that is legal. We think we deserve to field candidates in Rivers state. We know we did the right thing. We had our primaries even though there are issues around it.”
Mallam Lanre wondered why the APC is the only party that is being subjected to this kind of scrutiny from the electoral body, adding that it is the same APC that PDP has continued to raise flags as being the party that wants to rig election and is supposed to be working in cahoots with INEC.
“If this is the way to work in cahoots with INEC, we need to ask further questions. We know what we did in Rivers compared to what PDP did in many of the thirty-six states.
“PDP shouldn’t field candidates in many states if the same parameters applied by the electoral body are applied to the PDP.
“Our legal department will review the outcome of this as unpalatable as it is and we will be able to say categorically the next step we might be taking and come out with it in due course.”
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has hailed the judgment of the Supreme Court nullifying primary elections of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers state.
With the judgment, the APC chapter in River State will not be fielding candidates in the forthcoming general elections.
In a statement today, Friday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party described the apex court’s judgment as victory for democracy and the rule of law.
“The party commends the apex court for its courage in delivering the landmark judgment, which has saved the nation from a serious constitutional crisis that could have marred the 2019 general elections and detract from our overall electoral system.
“The judgment of the Supreme Court serves as a huge lesson to politicians and political parties, to eschew impunity and always conduct their affairs in a manner that is in tandem with the provision of the law.
“The courage displayed by the Supreme Court in delivering the judgment at this critical time in our national life has also restored the confidence of Nigerians in the institution of the Judiciary and our democratic order.
“The PDP however urges its teeming members across the country to continue to work hard in consolidating on the already established victory of our great party in all elections, beginning with next Saturday’s presidential election.”
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Zamfara State governor, Abdul’Aziz Yari Abubakar, has vowed that if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) does not include the names of Zamfara APC candidates, there would be no elections in the state.
The contentious season beckons again; and expectedly, the atmosphere is sweltering more than ever before. The polity is heating up as political foes get at daggers drawn. With tempers fraying, verbal shots are flying left and right, characters are being smeared, names dragged in the mud as propaganda machineries are fine-tuned, firing from all cylinders. And for spiritual fortification, by now, nearly all herbalists and ritualists’ dens have suddenly turned Mecca of some sort.
Report reaching us at Greenbarge Reporters has said that no fewer than nine different vehicles belonging to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were burnt to ashes today when supporters of the party clashed with that of the main opposition, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at Dei Dei, outskirts of the city.
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the nation’s economy is back on track as his government’s economic policies are making the desired impact, evidenced by steady growth in the economy in the last three years.
President Muhammadu Buhari has handed over those who looted Nigeria’s treasury in the past government to God for appropriate devine punishment.
Corruption Threatens Nigeria And Its Elections, By Muhammadu Buhari
on February 16th, Nigeria will hold a general election. Four years ago, the country experienced its first democratic transfer of power to the opposition since 1999. The vote in a few days will be no less significant.