₦airaland Forum

THE All Progressive Congress (APC) may loose another State Governor in its fold.

This is coming a day after the party lost the governor of Benue, Samuel Ortom, to the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP).

Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State may soon follow the footstep of Ortom.

Mr Ahmed is expected to leave the party alongside his predecessor and current Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

Both men are being investigated by the police for their alleged links to criminals who executed the fatal Offa robbery in April in the state. Both men have said they are being targeted by the police and the federal government based on political reasons.

Mr Saraki on Tuesday presided over the Senate where 14 senators defected from the APC. He was not among the defectors, but is expected to join soon.

Mr Ahmed’s hint at leaving the APC was provided in a press released by the state government.

Read the full statement below:

Following calls from various stakeholders in Kwara State, the state governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, has hinted that he might be quitting the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The governor insisted that the party has not met the expectations of the people of Kwara State.

Governor Ahmed made this known on Thursday at State Banquet Hall, Ilorin while reacting to the requests of various stakeholders in Kwara Central Senatorial District, prevailing on him and the Senate President, Bukola Saraki to immediately dump the APC.

The governor recalled how key stakeholders in the ruling APC in the state built the party in 2014 alongside other notable Nigerians with high expectations but were disappointed about the failure of the government at national level to address insecurity, economy and unemployment challenges confronting the nation.

According to the governor, “We formed APC together in 2014 with the hope to meet the needs and aspirations of the people in critical areas of our national life”.

He said the leadership of the APC had failed to intervene on critical issues affecting the party and its members, pointing out that injustice within the party is unbearable.

Governor Ahmed who thanked the people of the state for their support assured the stakeholders that he would consider their pleas and make public the new platform that would meet the aspirations of the people of the state.

He also promised that the administration would continue to run an all-inclusive process that would take care of all interests.

Various stakeholders who spoke at the Town Hall meeting called on the Governor take the state to another political party where their welfare would be guaranteed and expectations would be met.

In his remarks, the State President of Kwara State Artisans Group, Saad Alawaye, who commended Mr Ahmed for his numerous empowerment programmes to the informal sector promised continuous support in moving the state forward.

The State Chairman, Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Joshua Adekanye, who spoke on behalf of all the 16 local government chairmen, their vice chairmen and 193 councillors, expressed readiness to dump the All Progressives Congress in the interest of the people.

On their parts, the Youth leader, Mohammad Ali Baba, and the Women Leader, Rahmat Oganija, thanked the governor for his support to the youth and womenfolk in the state.

They however said they were not comfortable to remain in the APC, citing injustices against the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and called for immediate defection to a better and safer political party.

The meeting has in attendance artisans group, market men and women, motorcycle riders, youth groups among others.

BUKOLA Saraki, Senate President, has told the Nigeria Police that he will not honour its invitation to turn himself in for questioning on his alleged implication of Offa robbery attack.

Mr Saraki, instead told the police to send its personnel to his office to question him. He gave the response in a latter dated July 24 to the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris.

A robbery attack on multiple banks in April took place at Offa, Kwara State. Suspects arrested for the crime implicated the top legislator.

He was earlier invited to appear in person at the force headquarters in June. The approach was later withdrawn and he was told to tender his explanation in writing which he did.

The latest police summon which ordered him to turn himself in on Tuesday was issued late Monday.

There was, however, a siege by security operatives including police officers on Mr Saraki’s convoy on Tuesday morning as well as on the home of Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.

The siege is believed to be a ploy to prevent both presiding officers from reaching the Senate; and allow for their replacement by senators loyal to President Muhammadu Buhari.

When Saraki got hold of what was about to happen he outplayed the police into believing he was in his convoy whereas his was physical present at the National Assembly where he performed his conditional duty which saw Senators decamp to their preferred political parties. He did not honour the invitation.

The Nigerian police later on Tuesday frowned at Mr Saraki’s failure to appear as directed and threatened to make him face the consequence if he does not.

Mr Saraki’s response to the police letter of Monday has been published by Premium Times. In it indication emerged that was not going to honour the summon by the police. Saraki's response was clearly written after the Tuesday’s Senate sitting.

“You will recall that Mr. President had earlier directed as a courtesy to this office, that in the event of any request for further information from me, you should either send your personnel to my office or obtain a written response from me,” he told the police chief.

“I request you therefore, to please assign your personnel who need information on this matter, to meet me in my office, immediately after plenary today, or tomorrow or any other day at your convenience,” he wrote in the letter.

Mr Saraki also expressed concern about his safety following Tuesday’s siege by security

Read the full letter below:

RE: LETTER OF INVITATION

I wish to acknowledge your letter, ref CR: 3000/IGPSEC/ABJ/VOL.,131/707, dated 23rd of July 2018.

For the record, I should mention that received your letter at8:30pm on Monday 23rd July, inviting me for the next day at 8am. The two lawyers whose advice I needed were in Calabar and Lagos and had to travel to Abuja today.

As you are aware, the Deputy President of the Senate was unable to leave his residence this morning to preside over the senate having being prevented from doing so by security agents. If he had been able to preside over the senate, I would have honoured your invitation. The absence of both presiding officers would have voided the sitting of the senate.

This would have been damaging to National interest, particularly in the light of very important legislative matters that needed to be addressed in view of the imminent recess of the National Assembly. These included consideration of the Electoral Bill, which was incidentally passed today.

You will recall that Mr. President had earlier directed as a courtesy to this office, that in the event of any request for further information from me, you should either send your personnel to my office or obtain a written response from me.

I need to place on record as well, that following the incident of being harassed and threatened at my residence by the police early this morning, I am deeply concerned over my physical security.

I request you therefore, to please assign your personnel who need information on this matter, to meet me in my office, immediately after plenary today, ortomorrow or any other day at your convenience.

Thank you.

RENO Omokri, former presidential aide of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, has told President Muhammadu Buhari that some of the Senators of the All Progressive Congress (APC), he met yesterday pledging loyalty were out to fool him.

President Buhari had met with the Senate Caucus of the APC at the presidential villa on Wednesday.

The Caucus said they came to pledge their loyal to the president and also informed him of what transpired at the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Lawmakers numbering 14 of them left the APC in a mass defection on Tuesday at the Senate. Their counterparts at the House of Representatives numbering about 36 of them followed suit. Most of them pitch tent with the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP).

They also assured the president that the members of the National Assembly who defected from the APC to other opposition parties are willing to return to the ruling party.



“Less than 24 hours into the defection, we had some discussions with some of our colleagues who defected and they have shown their willingness and interest and readiness to retrace their steps,” Mr Ahmed Lawan who led the delegation said.

The meeting between the president and the Legislators had in attendance 39 senators, the national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, and top government officials.

But reacting, the former presidential aide told the president not to be fooled by the loyalty and false hope the lawmakers gave him.



“Let me assure President @MBuhari that many of the Senators that met with him yesterday and pledged loyalty to him are only fooling him,” Mr Omokri said in a tweet on Thursday.

He said they at the opposition party were skilled individuals and not fools boasting that they will allow their remaining foot soldiers in the ruling party to destroy it within.

“We are strategists in the @OfficialPDPNig, not fools. Some of our loyalists will remain behind to destroy that useless contraption from within!” he added.

Mr Omokri ‘s claim seems to tally with those of the National Chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole, who described aggrieved members of the party as “mercenaries.”

THE Senate Majority Leader, Ahmed Lawan, says the members of the National Assembly who defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to other opposition parties are willing to return to the ruling party.

Mr Lawan who led APC senate caucus to a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja, stated this on Wednesday while addressing newsmen at the end of the gathering.

It had in attendance 39 senators, the national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, and top government officials.

Lawmakers numbering 14 of them left the APC in a mass defection on Tuesday at the Senate. Their counterparts at the House of Representatives numbering about 36 of them followed suit. Most of them pitch tent with the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP).

“Less than 24 hours into the defection, we had some discussions with some of our colleagues who defected and they have shown their willingness and interest and readiness to retrace their steps,” Mr Lawan said.

Mr Lawan’s claim seems to be true because one of the defecting senators, Lanre Tejuoso from Ogun State, was among those who met the president Wednesday night.

Mr Tejuoso on Thursday morning said he remains a member of the APC. He disclosed this in a Facebook post on his page.

Mr Lawan said the remaining senators are working with the leadership of APC to ensure that those who defected return to the party.

He said apart from APC senators, others from the opposition PDP have also indicated their interest to move to the ruling party.

On what was discussed with the President, Mr Lawan who spoke on behalf of the APC Senate Caucus, said they went to assure him of their loyalty.

They also said they also informed the president that the APC still has clear majority in both chambers of the National Assembly.

WHY I ATTENDED THE MEETING – Shehu Sani

Meanwhile, the senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, who is one of the aggrieved senators yet to defect, said he attended the meeting in his capacity as a member of the APC caucus of the Senate.

“My presence here does not mean that my issues have been solved 100 per cent. But I am of the belief that we have a leader in the party who is doing everything possible to see that the problems that we have are solved,” he said.

Mr Sani he revolted from joining his colleagues who decamped because he found it necessary to do so.

“Revolt at times is most necessary. In fact, APC is a reflection of a revolt, it revolted against a system of iniquity, injustice, and today it is in power.

“So, I am here because I believe in the leadership of the party, I believe also in the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari and I am also of the believe that there is no issue that we cannot solve as human beings, as men of conscience and conviction,” he said.

SENATOR Dino Melaye (Kogi West) has been abducted and his whereabout is currently unknown.

This is coming barely two days after Mr Melaye dumped the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP).

The Kogi lawmaker’s abduction was made known by his colleague, Senator Benedict Murray-Bruce, who represents Bayelsa East at the Senate.

Mr Murray-Bruce, made this known after been notified of the development by Moses Melaye, the brother of the abducted lawmaker.



The Kogi lawmaker was said to be abducted while on his way to his native state to attend his court case.



“I have just been informed by Moses Melaye, @dino_melaye’s brother, that Dino has been abducted by unknown persons in a Toyota Sienna that blocked their car and overpowered them on their way to Kogi to answer to Dino’s court case. Lets be on the watch out. Will keep you updated,” the lawmaker tweeted on Thursday.

This was how the downfall of PDP started.

GOVERNOR Samuel Ortom of Benue says he is no longer a member of the ruling All Progressive Congress, (APC).

Mr Ortom who said at the moment he does not have a political party noted that he was oust from the APC.

The governor stated this on Monday while swearing in a newly appointed Special Adviser on Local Government and Cheftaincy Affairs, Jerome Torshimbe, at the banquet hall of the Government House in Makurdi, the state capital.

“As for party, I’ve been given the red card and I’m now outside the pitch. So, if I have been given the red card and I’m standing outside, that means I’m a free man,” said Ortom.

“I don’t know what will happen next but I’m waiting. If others approach me, then I will tell the Benue people that I’m joining another football club,” he said.

He therefore urged the people to to remain united and not allow party or ethnicity divide them stressing that God who helped him to win in 2015 is well able to see him through in the coming general elections.

“Let party or ethnicity not divide us. I’m a child of destiny and it’s only a God that will decide what I will be. These challenges that we see today, we shall see them no more. All that we are required to do is not to begin to be wayward in our conduct but to move to the righteous side of God. Once we do that, things will work out for our good.”

Earlier, Mr Torshimbe thanked the Governor for finding him worthy to serve in his government promising to do his best in ensuring good governance at the third tier of government as well as the traditional institution in the state.

THE Nigerian Army has denied report that soldiers in its fold were missing in an alleged ambush by Boko Haram terrorists.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) had reported that at least 23 soldiers are yet to be accounted for after the insurgents ambushed a military convoy at Boboshe village in Bama local government area of Borno state.

The news medium said 5 officers, 18 soldiers and 8 trucks were missing after the attack which occurred early on Saturday.

Tendering its own account of what transpired, the Director Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Texas Chukwu, in a statement on Monday said the report is “untrue and misleading.”

“The Nigerian Army wishes to state categorically that the report is not only untrue but misleading as the said report is blown out of proportion by the media,” the military spokesman said.

“Contrary to the report, the Nigerian Army wishes to put the record straight on the issue and assure members of the public particularly residents of the North East to disregard the report as their safety is guaranteed.

“There was an attempted attack on troops at Kwakwa and Chingori communities in Bama area of Borno State by suspected Boko Haram Terrorists as a result of difficult terrain where our vehicles bugged down.

“The terrorists also attempted to cart away troops operational vehicles but were successfully repelled by our gallant troops with the support of the Nigerian Air Force.

“About 22 members of Boko Haram terrorists were neutralised while several others escaped with gunshot wounds. Efforts are being intensified by the troops to get the fleeing members of the Boko Haram terrorists,” he said.

Mr Chukwu, however, added that one officer and a soldier sustained injuries during the attack and they are currently receiving medical attention at the military medical facility.

He urged members of the public to disregard the report of the missing soldiers and go about their legitimate businesses as the “Nigerian Army is on top of the situation.”

OUTGOING governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has said he is not afraid of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC).

During his first term, Mr Fayose was removed on allegations that he looted funds meant for poultry farming in 2006. He was being prosecuted for that scandal and other similar cases of infractions which EFCC linked to him while in office at the time.

Mr Fayose, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is slated to hand over power to Kayode Fayemi, who flipped Ekiti State to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Saturday’s governorship election, on October 16.

Mr Fayemi defeated Kolapo Olusola-Eleka, Mr Fayose’s deputy and PDP’s candidate, to reclaim the only South-west state held by PDP.

Hours after the winner of the election was announced, the EFCC in a tweet told the governor that the immunity that has been shielding him from probe has expired and his prosecution on the alleged poultry scam case would soon begin.

When criticised for the statement, which was taken down a few hours later, the agency, however, clarified later that the matter was never dormant, saying prosecution only stopped because Mr Fayose became a governor.

Reacting, Lere Olayinka, Fayose’s spokesman said his principal was not afraid of the anti-graft agency.

Mr Olayinka said there was no way the EFCC would be able to pin anything on his principal, whom he said would be willing to turn himself in after leaving office.

“He is not afraid of anything. What are they going to do to him. Is EFCC the court of law?” Olayinka was quoted by Premium Times to have said on Sunday.

“Since 2015 that they started talking about Sambo Dasuki, how many Nigerians have they convicted?

“That was how they lied that the governor had a property on Gana Street in Maitama and nothing came out of it.

“The governor will hand over when the day comes in October and if it is necessary that he should go to the EFCC for questioning after leaving office, he will go and meet them,” he reportedly said.

jaimefrench:
#Bro u are using a nice theme on your site, which is "Newspaper".

I used the same on www.enibest.com.ng. Can you see that there is a gap in term of the look (design) between yours and Enibest? I am not saying that Enibest look is the best but u can imitate the design and make ur site look great.

# Single post layout doesn't look great in my opinion.

# Your ads are not well placed on the site. Do well to fix them.

# YOUR RANKING IS AS FOLLOW


(the last digit is ur position, note that it is not 100% accurate though)

pdp primary election 10 $ 0.00 18
who is dangote father 10 $ 0.00 37
chief abiola 10 $ 0.00 40
kawu baraje 10 $ 0.00 57
new cbn governor 10 $ 0.00 57
nnaemeka achebe 10 $ 0.00 57
titi abubakar 70 $ 0.00 57
what happened on june 12 in nigeria 90 $ 0.00 57
frame me 210 $ 1.13 62
what happened in nigeria on june 12 70 $ 0.00 63
mloot 10 $ 0.00 69
sani loyal 10 $ 0.00 69
civilian jtf in maiduguri 20 $ 0.00 72
age limit for senate 210 $ 0.00 73
deltagroups 40 $ 0.00 73
mace reaction 10 $ 0.00 77
splinter faction 10 $ 0.00 77
dino melaye dancing 90 $ 0.00 81
owerri nigeria news 10 $ 0.00 81
what happened on june 12 1993 10 $ 0.00 81
senators age requirement 40 $ 0.00 83
june 12 in nigeria 50 $ 0.00 86
taraba governor 30 $ 0.00 96
i am not in a hurry 10 $ 0.00 98

# SEEMS U ARE NOT ACTIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND U ARE NOT USING NEWSLETTER

please check ur traffic source here: http://prntscr.com/k6bc1p

# You are receiving few traffic from Search engine.
Here are some tips for u:

1. Make your site SEO-friendly to make sure its indexed by search engines. Keep your website structure simple, clean and coherent for crawlers to index and rank pages.

2. Think about the keywords you’d like to rank for and use them throughout your site, including content, titles and META tags.

3. To choose the right keywords, simply put yourself in your target user’s shoes and think of what you’d type if you were looking for your product.

SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS

1 Choose your social networks carefully.
2 Facebook and Twitter are very popular networks but if you can look for alternatives that might be more relevant to your content (e.g. LinkedIn might be more effective for professional services).
3 If you don’t have your own social pages you can still make sure your site content is shared across social networks by adding social buttons on your site.
4 Work hard and be patient: unless you’re a celebrity, it will take time for your social networks to grow. Make sure you invest time and effort keeping it up to date with exciting news and content.

***********
*****************
Here is my own website: www.albblog.com

You can chat me up on whatsapp on 08133049669 if the need arises. (just click on the number if you are reading the post on your phone or tab)

CHECK AND SEE FOR YOURSELF SOME SITES I HAVE DESIGNED IN THE PAST.

Ideal Royal School www.iros.com.ng (Do well to check the footer of each site to confirm my credit).
Eni Best (Agri and business blog) www.enibest.com.ng

***********
*****************
*************************

OUTGOING governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has allegedly finalised plans to escape from the country.

This move was reportedly uncovered by the State Security Service (SSS) popularly known as Department of State Service.

Mr Fayose who has been fronting his deputy, Kolapo Olusola for continuity in the just concluded governorship election, saw his rival, Kayode Fayemi emerged victorious.

Less that 24 hours after the result was read by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told the governor, who is a fierce critics of President Muhammadu Buhari, that they were coming for him.

A ticketomatic which led to the discovery has been published by a news portal – journalist101.com.



On perusal, it discovered that the flight ticket was booked on Sunday. HEADLINE is yet to independently verify this claim and which carrier issued the ticket.



The news portal is reporting that Fayose’s escape route is Cotonou in Benin Republic and he is heading to Paris.

He is allegedly expected to leave the country today.

Telephone calls placed to Fayose’s chief press secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, for comments on this story rang unanswered. An email sent to him was not also responded to as at press time.

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been told that no state in the country will vote for it again.

This is coming from Presidency based on the outcome of the recently concluded governorship election in Ekiti.

In the election which held on Saturday, the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Kayode Fayemi, emerged victorious. His close challenger, Olusola Eleka, of the PDP came second.

Mr Eleka, the incumbent deputy governor of the state had the blessing of the outing governor, Ayodele Fayose, to contest the election.

In a statement on Sunday, President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, told the PDP to forget about Nigeria.

He said the result of the Ekiti election shows opposition party has been damaged beyond repair.

“The result of the election has proved that PDP is irreparably broken and dismantled. They have nothing to offer to the country and its people. The message from Ekiti is that no state in Nigeria will vote PDP. Never again,” Shehu said.

He also said APC’s victory at the poll is a clear indication of President Buhari coasting to victory in next year’s general election.

The presidential spokesman also attributed the party’s victory to Adams Oshiomhole, National Chairman of the APC among others.

“This win is equally a huge boost to the APC and its new leadership under Chairman Adams Oshiomole, who got their first baptism of fire in Ekiti. It is, importantly, a big boost to the second term ambition of President Muhammadu Buhari,” he said.

“The All Progressives Congress (APC) win in Ekiti means that the Party has control over 25 out of the 36 states of the Federation. The party thus becomes the only one in power in the six states of the South-West geopolitical zone.

“Besides reinforcing the APC’s position as the only standing pole in the political landscape, it is a credit to the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, against whom all manner of ethnic and religious opposition is being mounted by former President Obasanjo and some of the Asiwaju’s sworn enemies in the sub-region.

“With this, the political landscape of the South-West has been transformed. APC’s regional strength has been strengthened and the Asiwaju will be respected even better. Without losing patience and decorum, the Asiwaju has proved that rivals must reconcile and come to terms or lose everything,” Shehu added.

Lalasticlala

THE All Progressive Congress (APC) has emerged victorious in governor Ayodele Fayose’s local government.

The governorship election which voting has ended in most polling unit has seen the collation of result at the headquarters of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) situated in Igede.

The election though widely peace has been marred with irregularities ranging from ballot snatching, assaultation, financial inducement among others

The battle is a straight tussle between the state’s ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC).

While the incumbent deputy governor, Professor Kolapo Olusola is the flag bearer of the PDP, former minister of Mines and Steel, Kayode Fayemi, emerged that of APC.

Even though the governor who is from Irepodun-Ifelodun Local Government Area won in his pulling unit and ward, the votes his party got from other polling centers in the LGA were not enough to coast him to victory in his domain.

The local government has 11 polling centers.

Premium Times reports that Mr Fayemi of the APC polled 13,869 votes in the local government of the outgoing governor Fayose. The PDP’s Olusola had 11,456 votes.

A total of 66,162 electorates are registered in the local government while 27,306 were accredited.

Of the 27,211 votes cast, 25,849 were valid while 1362 were rejected.

Only party agents of APC and PDP present at the centre signed the result.

OUTGOING governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has warned his party agents to make sure ballot boxes in their various polling units are not carted away by political thugs.

Two parties are the major contenders in the gubernatorial election. The PDP is the ruling party while APC is the opposition.

Governor Fayose who belongs to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gave the warning on Saturday while moving out to cast his vote in the ongoing governorship election in the State.

He was reacting to cases of ballot snatching which marred the exercise. Apart from ballot snatching, asaaultation and financial inducement were also recorded in the ongoing election.

On his way out, the governor received a phone call inundating him of the snatching ballot snatching going on.

Reacting, he gave out orders that the party agents should protect their votes even if their throats were slitted.

“Even if they are going to cut your neck, let them cut the neck. So long as the ballot boxes are there”, he told a party agent on the phone.

Receiving another phone call, he said: “I don’t want to hear stories. Vote and protect your votes.

“Don’t come back to Ado-Ekiti without protecting. Whosoever’s ballot boxes they are carting away should better remain in his community”.

Residents turned out in large numbers across the state to vote in a new candidate who will govern them for the next four years.

Voters including the elderly, pregnant women, nursing mothers, youths among others were seen at the polls to exercise their rights to vote.

FORMER President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has forgiven the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for “bad conduct and mistreatment” meted out to him.

This is sequel to an apology tender to the former president by the PDP on Saturday. The party had in March apologised to Nigerians for its misgovernance pleading for a second chance.

The opposition party’s national chairman, Uche Secondus, led a 21-member delegation of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) on a courtesy call on Mr Obasanjo, when the apology was tendered.

This is according Obasanjo’s media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, who made this known in a statement.

Mr Akinyemi said other issues raised by Mr Secondus were the situation in the country, the progress of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on grand alliance of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP).

He said the PDP national chairman also appealed with Mr Obasanjo to continue to proffer solutions to the nation’s socio-economic and political problems.

Mr Akinyemi said that Mr Obasanjo granted forgiveness to the party in line with biblical injunction.

He said the former president urged them to pay attention to issues that were needed to restore PDP as a party of good image, discipline, commitment, leadership and moral principles.

On CUPP being championed by PDP, he said Mr Obasanjo advised that the coalition should remain an alliance as being projected and not a merger.

“The MoU for grand alliance is what it says, a grand alliance. It is neither a merger nor absorption of any political party by any political party.

“It is clear for the parties which agreed to be members of the alliance to work together to achieve one important common objective at the national level for the election of 2019.

“Where it is appropriate and necessary, members may also form alliance and co-operation at the state level.

“The individuality and independence of each political party must be observed and respected by all parties concerned.

“It is also desirable that in the process of implementing the MoU to achieve the set objective, solidarity and focus on the objective must be maintained.

“Each member political party must be cautious of fake news, rumours, blackmail, and seeds of discord that may be sown among them from external quarters,” Mr Akinyemi quoted Mr Obasanjo as saying.

He said the former president at the meeting reiterated that he had quit partisan politics, but would continue to make himself available to guide any party that so desired.

Mr Akinyemi, however, maintained that he would prioritise his service to the African Democratic Congress.

Mr Secondus, who spoke with journalists shortly after the meeting, said the chieftains of the party were in Abeokuta to consult with Mr Obasanjo ahead of the 2019 general elections.

A party agent belonging to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has stated why the All Progressive Congress (APC) is winning at his polling unit in the ongoing governorship election in Ekiti State.

The two parties are the two major contenders in the gubernatorial election. The PDP is the ruling party while APC is the opposition.

Named Adetunji Ojo, the PDP agent said the APC was winning because of the financial strength of the party and there is nothing he could do about it.

Although Mr Ojo admitted that the two partied induced voters, he said the PDP paid N3,000 with the APC sharing N5,000.

A video evidence of the financial inducement at the polling until has been trending online.

In the video, an agent of the APC named Bello Dauda, was caught sharing N5,000 to voters.

The incident took place at Polling Unit 012, Igbemo Ward of Irepodun-Ifelodun Local Government Area.

Mr Ojo had who confronted Mr Dauda on what was going on was quoted by Premium Times to have said that some who collected money from opposition party voted for the ruling party.

“There is nothing we can do,” Mr Ojo said, “We have left them with their destiny. That they (APC) win this PU does not mean they will the election.

“Because PDP’s tip is 3000, and it was shared yesterday; while APC’s is 5000 that is why you see what is happening.

“In fact, some of those who collected APC money voted PDP so it is not an issue. It is a matter of who is smart.” he added.

Meanwhile, another PDP agent has narrated how she was assaulted by APC thugs with security officials watching.