APC Alleges PDP Has Set Aside $100 Million To Procure Judgement To Disqualify Buhari, It’s A Lie – PDP

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government of plotting to stop its presidential candidate in the February 14 election, General Muhammadu Buhari, by procuring judgment with the sum of $100 Million (about N10 Billion).
National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who said this when he addressed newsmen in Lagos said: “the rumour mill is spinning fast. Stories abound of a huge war chest of $100 million dollars being earmarked to grease the palm of any pliable Judge who can disqualify General Buhari and halt the electoral process. We do not know whether or not this allegation is true, but we do know that Nigerians do not want to return to ‘Egypt.’ We have been down this road before with disastrous consequences, and we do not want to tread that path again.
“With just a little over two weeks to next month’s general election, a rash of court cases has been instituted in an unrelenting effort to stop our presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. At the last count, at least four cases have been filed by those who are undoubtedly fronting for the PDP and the Presidency, and all are working towards the same goal: Stop Buhari, Scuttle next month’s elections. We expect more cases to be filed in pursuit of this ignominious objective.”
Lai Mohammed alleged that several efforts have been made to stop General Buhari using the courts, saying: “after manipulating some elements of the judiciary workers to embark on strike to stop the courts from hearing cases that could be detrimental to their presidential candidate, the same puppeteers again manipulated the elements to end the strike, so they can kick-start their last strategy. At least, four cases have been filed, all aimed at one and one objective only: Stop Gen. Buhari.
“Suffice it to say that this stop-Buhari-at-all-cost campaign is being pursued simultaneously with the push to postpone next month elections, ostensibly because of the low level of PVC distribution but in the real sense an implementation of the stated mindset of the Presidency never to hand over to General Buhari, and then of course set up an interim government
“It is in view of the multiplicity of court cases at this late hour that we have decided to alert Nigerians to the execrable plan of the PDP and the Presidency.
“We have also decided to appeal directly to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) to stoutly defend the independence and integrity of the judiciary at this critical moment, to avoid a repeat of what transpired in 1993 when unscrupulous elements constituted themselves into the infamous Association for Better Nigeria (ABN) that was used to annul the 1993 general elections, thus aborting the Third Republic and throwing the country into a deep and prolonged crisis.”
But, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), through its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, described the allegation as laughable.
“They should accept that they have lost the election. Nigerians have rejected APC. They have nothing to offer but lies, lies and lies. That’s the only thing we can say. They should surrender and quit the race,” Metuh said. [myad]








Rotational Presidency: Solution To Nigeria Political Crisis, By Hamzat Ajayi Omeiza
It is an infallible truth that the quest for the control of the central government has been the remote cause of the major political crisis in Nigeria since its emancipation from the shackles of British colonialism in 1960.
This has manifested in different ways such as: coups and countercoups, civil war, religious crisis, and in recent years, insurgency.
The faulty nature of the Nigerian Federalism which projects centralization rather than evolution of powers, over-centralization and concentration of resource control at the centre rather than state autonomy and over lucrativity of the federal government which contradicts the ideal federal principle has intensified the struggle for the control of the central government by the federating units.
The genesis of this faulty federal structure of the country and its resultant fierce struggle for leadership at the centre is traceable to the period of infiltration of the military into the Nigeria political scene. The military from January 15th 1966 to October 1st 1979 invaded the Nigerian political scene and returned in December 31st 1983 after a brief moment of democratic experimentation until the final return to civil rule in 1999.The military introduced a hierarchical command structure of the military into the leadership of the country which are hitherto constituted a serious problem bedeviling the Nigerian federalism with seemingly no solution in sight .Prior to the encroachment of the military into the Nigerian politics which made the federal government too lucrative and attractive to all, through the centralization of resource control, the
quest and struggle for the control of the federal government was minimal.
For instance, the premier of the old northern region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, repeatedly turned down the invitation to govern at the center. He chose rather to limit his leadership to the northern region. At this time, the regions enjoyed autonomy.
Having failed to adopt an ideal federalism as adopted by the United State of America, Nigeria in the quest to overcome its political crisis has no alternative than to adopt a rotational presidency among the existing six geo-political zones of the country. Rejecting this political arrangement on the ground of being undemocratic and contrary to the American democracy is not in the interest of Nigerians. This is because democracy ceases to be democratic when it fails to promote the interest of the masses and to ensure their peaceful co-existence.
Also, Nigerians must be conscious of their peculiarities of ethnic and religious diversities in the quest for democratization and should domesticate democracy in line with them rather than merely adopting American democracy.
Rotating the presidency among the exiting six geo-political zones of Nigeria will not only reduce the political tension in the country, it will also strengthen and consolidate the unity of the country. Rotational presidency if adopted in Nigeria, will not only reduce the fear of domination of the minor ethnic groups by the majors ones, it will eliminate the ceaseless needs for sovereign national conferences which have not only engendered the waste of national resources but has also failed to solve the problem bedeviling the nation. Indeed, the only way forward for the emancipation of Nigeria from the shackles of socio-religious and political crisis that have threatened the peace and unity of the country over the years is to adopt the principle of rotational presidency, as presidency remains the only common heritage of all Nigerians. [myad]