President Muhammadu Buhari has warned that having won the battle of the last general elections, the All Progressives Congress (APC) now runs the risk of losing the “war” for party unity and internal cohesion.

Addressing members of the National Executive Committee of the APC, the President advised the party leaders to work hard to quickly resolve internal differences in the party and avoid disappointing Nigerians.

The President affirmed his belief in the supremacy of the APC’s Change Pact with Nigerians over the personal ambitions of its members, adding: “As human beings, we are not perfect, but let us do our best to eventually win this ‘war’ so that we can get on with the urgent task of delivering on our electoral promises to the nation.”

Tracing the history of the APC from pre-merger talks to electoral victory, the President called APC members to put their personal ambitions aside and resolve their current differences for the good of the party and the nation.

The APC Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun had earlier told the gathering that President Buhari opted to attend the NEC meeting at the APC Secretariat, rather than host the parley at the Banquet Hall of the State House because he wanted to raise the spirit of party members with his presence at the secretariat.

Chief Odigie-Oyegun added that the party had focused its change agenda around President Buhari’s person during the campaign “because of his reputation and integrity.

“Your charisma and cult-like following facilitated what can be called a landslide victory at the Presidential election,” he told the President. [myad]

Former military governor of Kaduna state, Colonel Abubakar Umar Dangiwa (rtd.) has said that owing to the current financial crisis in most of the ‘unviable’ states, it would be a case of insanity for anyone to still be talking of creation of more states in Nigeria.
Dangiwa posited: “it is evident that most of the states and local governments are unviable and should not have been created in the first place. One of the greatest disservice to the nation by some military regimes was the creation of these unviable, revenue guzzling administrative (maladministrative) structures. They have continued to serve as a drag to our national development. “But for its impracticability, one would recommend a constitutional abrogation of some of them. Goes to show that any plot to create more states and local governments is plain insanity.”
The fire-spitting former governor spoke in a statement today, against the background of what he called “the current desperate financial situation of most State governments or at least those of them that have declared insolvency.”
Dangiwa who now chair a None Governmental Organization (NGO) known as Movement for the Unity and Progress, cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari not to allow himself to be bamboozled by the confused state governors.
“I am sure President Buhari will not allow himself to be hoodwinked. He must maintain the separation of powers between the tiers of government and enforce budgetary discipline. In fact, he should discourage governors from making frivolous demands from the federal government. This will serve to discourage their frequent visits to Aso Rock.”
Dangiwa said that the current financial crisis which has led some states to become insolvent, having lost the capacity to meet their most basic fiscal responsibility of paying their workers’ salaries and contractual obligations, including the servicing of their jumbo bank loans is a nightmare long foretold, not only by the cassandras of this world.
“We had cause to warn about the reckless extravagance of those states which led them to a borrowing spree from commercial banks at very high rates of interest. In reaction to our alert, the state governors tried to defend their actions, claiming they were all deliberate plan to finance development projects needed to raise internally generated revenue; a way to cut dependence on oil money.
“No one was fooled, and as we expected, the chickens have finally come home to roost. Faced with this dire financial situation, they are running from pillar to post in search of rescue. They have so far approached the FGN with an ill thought out bail out plan, requiring president Buhari to give them cash or his government to guarantee for them more loans from commercial banks, having exhausted the Excess crude account and no bank is willing to advance anymore loans to them.
“They also want the FGN to instruct their creditors, the commercial banks, to allow them a moratorium period of twenty years without indicating a viable repayment plan within the period. Luckily the banks are privately owned and not subject to any governments dictates.”
The former administrator said it is not clear if state Governors ever gave thought to the political and even ethical implications of their demands on the Federal Government and asked: “doesn’t it ever occur to them that by always coming to the federal government cap in hand, they expose their own sordid impotence and give additional ammunition to those that question the wisdom of running our peculiar federation through so many states and local governments – all of which depend on the centre to survive?
“Are they aware that the public has gained the impression that states are run without fiscal discipline, especially where the egos and whims of the Governors are quite large?”
Dangiwa turned to president Buhari, who he said should ask some questions before he extends a helping hand to any cash-strapped governors, including how they got into the problem in the first place.
He wanted the President to get such governors treated of the diseases which he listed as extravagance, lavish lifestyle, prodigality, profligacy, squandamania as well as corruption.”
Dangiwa recalled that one of the reasons given by state governments for their current financial mess is the failure of the federal government to reimburse them for projects executed in their states on its behalf.
He insisted that for such claims to be valid, states with such claims should have developed written contractual agreements with with the federal government, even as he also insisted that the federal government has the structure and capacity to execute its projects and should not ask any state to perform its functions. [myad]

Coalition of Progressive Political Parties, COP3, the umbrella organisation for thirteen registered political parties in Nigeria, has condemned what it calls “the dangerous, irresponsible and inciting statement issued by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the appointment of Acting Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).”
The appointment early this week of one of INEC’s National Commissioners, Mrs. Amina Zakari, by President Muhammadu Buhari as Acting Chairman of the Commission has drawn opprobrium from Chief Olisa Metuh, the National Publicity Secretary of PDP.
In a statement issued in Abuja today and signed by the Chairman of the Coalition and National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), Mallam Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim, the COP3 decried what it described as “the dangerous precedent being set by a political party which tried to decide for the country who becomes the INEC Chairman” a function which, it said, is constitutionally reserved for the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the National Assembly.
In a reference to the statement made in Abuja on Wednesday by Chief Olisa Metuh, rejecting the appointment of Mrs. Amina Zakari, the Coalition warned that any interference by political parties in the appointment of INEC officials would be tantamount to politicising the process and the Commission itself, adding that this is capable of creating dangerous schism in the Commission and generating unnecessary tension in the country.
“INEC is an independent election management body which must be insulated from politics and irresponsible politicking. The power of and procedure for the appointment of the Chairman of INEC is a constitutional matter and not subject of bargaining by political parties, especially those who are yet to come to terms with the fact that Nigeria is on a very strong change trajectory. INEC is also a regulator of political parties. It is an anomaly for the parties which the Commission is supposed to regulate to dictate who becomes the Commission’s chairman. Obviously, for some parties, it is still midnight.
“Mrs. Zakari was not appointed to the Commission by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015. She was appointed as INEC National Commissioner by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2010 and by the time she was appointed Acting INEC Chairman, she had the distinction of being the most senior INEC National Commissioner in terms of time served. She is well educated and had served the Commission as Chairman of a number of its committees, including the sensitive Election and Political Party Monitoring Committee during President Jonathan’s administration. If she is good to be a National Commissioner of INEC and chairman of its Committees under President Jonathan, then she is good to be the Commission’s Acting Chairman at any other time.
“PDP is fully aware that this is not the first time a transition is taking place in INEC. As recent as 2010 when the tenure of former INEC Chairman Prof. Maurice Iwu expired, he handed over the Commission to INEC National Commissioner Philip Umeadi before late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua decided to appoint Commissioner Solomon Soyebi as Acting Chairman. The Coalition warned PDP and what it calls its “overzealous spokesman” to stay clear of INEC and desist from any design to create schism in the Commission in the name of opposition politics.
“Opposition politics must be responsible politics. After suffering for sixteen interrupted years under its institutional mismanagement, Nigerians deserve a respite from PDP’s meddlesomeness and brinkmanship” the statement said. “PDP’s acidic and divisive politics has been rejected by Nigerians in the last general election” the statement continued. “We advise that they try some modesty and learn from their past mistakes instead of trying to give Nigerians more of the same.” [myad]