₦airaland Forum

…Says Oshiomhole cannot be manipulated by anybody

…Says others wanted President Buhari dead


By Nwafor Sunday

“We made a gross mistake to have elected Chief John Odigie Oyegun, Chairman of All Progressives Congress, APC”.

The above statement was made by Lauretta Onochie, social media aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, while reacting to the recent defection and political revolution in All Progressives Congress, APC, on Friday.


In her article titled ‘CHANGE HAS COME TO APC. HIS NAME IS ADAMS OSHIOMHOLE’ Onochie explained that Oyegun was manipulated by members of nPDP to act in accordance with the rules and precincts of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

According to her, Oyegun adopted PDP’s system and abandoned APC’s change ideology, hither made him fail the party.

She equally went further to boast that nobody would manipulate the current chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, noting that those that tried and failed had no option than to defect to other parties.

Many things were revealed by her and one of them was an allegation that many people wanted President Muhammadu Buhari dead.

Read her full statement below:

CHANGE HAS COME TO APC. HIS NAME IS ADAMS OSHIOMHOLE.

I have looked forward to a time like this and I’m thankful that I’m here to see it emerging and under the leadership of Pres. Buhari too. I’m talking about a time when people will belong to political parties on ideological leanings and bases.

The practice has been that Nigerian politicians belong to political parties, based on how much money that can gain access to based on that association. Access to oil wells and national wealth in cash and solid minerals were on the table for sharing. So you find Conservatives, Progressives, Socialists, Liberals, etc., all muddled up in one messy party.

For some years, some of us yearned for a political party that would be progressive in name, in nature and in character. So when APC was formed, we had high hopes that it would be totally different from other parties. It was, at the beginning, for as long as Chief Bisi Akande was in charge. And then, we had a change of leadership and it became a nightmare.

Hand on chest, I was one of those who worked for the emergence of His Excellency, Chief Oyegun as the Chairman of APC. But it wasn’t long before I realised that we had made a gross error and a grave mistake. Chief Oyegun led our party on the template laid down by PDP.

It has to be understood that the only experience Nigerians have had in the recent times has been that of PDP. Their system was not ordinary people friendly. Ordinary party faithfuls had no part nor say in PDP affairs. PDP was and is still run by impunity. Only one person and at best, a few people, decide what needs to be done.

Consequently, the leadership of HE Chief Oyegun, copied verbatim, the PDP ways of doing things. It must be understood too, that the only example Chief Oyegun had of party leadership in recent times was PDP. But he was unwilling to adapt. He was not willing to be innovative or creative. At first he showed eagerness to do things differently but now we know, why he couldn’t lead change.

It turned out that the nPDP was a pebble in the blender that blended APC into a merger. The nPDP, being a pebble that sneaked into a blender that merged ACN, ANPP, CPR and half APGA, could not merge with the others as their character was still, PDP.

This nPDP hijacked Chief Oyegun and used him to transform our treasured APC into something many of us could not recognise. Nigerians began to look for, but could not see the difference between APC and PDP. Consequently, many of us either stood aloof and watched or began a background campaign to recover our party. I joined the later.

Impunity took over the national APC. Some members of the National Working Committee, complained bitterly that Chief Oyegun was acting alone, guided of course, by nPDP leaders in the party. Everything he did was to serve their interests. The NWC would decide on an issue. Behind them, Chief Oyegun would reverse their collective decisions. He ran the APC HQ as a private estate. Are you asking how I came about that conclusion? I am from Delta State. I’ll just hang it there!

And then it happened. His Excellency, Comrade Oshiomhole, a core progressive, emerged as the new leader of APC and all hell broke loose! Grumbling became louder. Threats erupted. There was jittery. There was panic. Those who were used to having their ways, sought to escape. They began to be comical.

They did not need anyone to tell them that the game was up. They scampered like frightened chicks at the appearance of a shadow of an eagle from the sky. They know they cannot manipulate our Comrade. They know he belongs to the people. Yes the people!

Many of us were delighted. As I said earlier, we wanted an APC that is different both in character and content from PDP. But the pebbles that refused to be merged, ensured APC remained bloated, overweight, inedible and indigestible. Many Nigerians voiced the glaring fact that APC looked like, talked like and acted like it’s older brother, PDP. But that was not APC. It was nPDP.

But the change is now happening. Not totally, because there are still remnants of the old order, who would want everything to continue at the APC HQ, as usual. We are watching them and we will not tolerate their impunity and corruption in our new NWC. We will speak up.

Looking like PDP was not funny. It was sad. Being obese is unhealthy by any standard. It’s time to lose weight. It’s time for members of all political parties in Nigeria to return to where they feel comfortable in terms of ideology. In APC, we expected defections of pebbles who could not blend with the rest of us. We are also expecting that those Nigerians who are stranded in other parties or who could not see the difference between APC and PDP, would soon see the difference and return to where they truly belong.

What is happening now, is great for the growth of party politics in Nigeria. When we are through, when one says he/she is APC or PDP, we will, straight away, know who they are and what they stand for. Parties will be driven by ideologies, not by personal interests or stomach infrastructure.

Over the past three years, President Buhari has managed to achieve developmental strides thought impossible, with minority support in the National Assembly. What is happening now, will strengthen that support. It will sift the chaff from the grains. Nigerians can now clearly identify those who represent corruption at the National Assembly.

Pres. Buhari has never been supported by the pebbles in the National Assembly. Bills for the progress of our nation he sent to them in 2016, January to be precise, are covered with layers of dust in a cupboard at the National Assembly.

They moaned that they were entitled to personal ownership of our national wealth, specfically, oil wells. Working with some APC leaders in the National Assembly was like pulling teeth or nailing jelly to the tree. They took over the executive role of writing the budget. It was one betrayal after another.

Pres. Buhari’s crime was being the one with the clean hands and the will to confront corruption, a deadly tumour that destroyed the tissues of our nation. He has refused to award oil wells to criminals in power who have never cared that oil-related deaths occur daily in the Niger Delta. But they are not the only opposition to our government, the people’s government.


The others wanted Pres. Buhari dead. He survived. Then they bought a campaign, urging him not to run for second term. They wrote letters. They urged Nigerians to take up arms against one another. Nigerians overruled them and urged him to run. They then went on a killing spree in an effort to demarket him. Stupidly, they blamed all the killings on Fulani herdsmen. In a nation of people obsessed with ethnicity, why would the Fulanis go on a killing spree to demarket one of their own? Their very best! All in vain.

As the Chairman of our great party has already said and rightfully too, we are truly, not losing sleep. It’s a moment many of us have looked forward to, just as we are looking forward to the swearing in of President Muhammadu Okechukwu Buhari in 2019.

Should they field Sen. Ahmed Makarfi, HE Atiku Abubakar, Dr. Bukola Saraki or their secret surprise blunt weapon, Gen T. Y. Danjuma, Nigerians will not readily drink from their CUPP OF CORRUPTION INC. Never again!

We are in a good place in our democratic journey. APC is going through renovation and refurbishment. We could not have had a better pair of hands than His Excellency, Comrade Adams Eric Aliyu Oshiomhole to supervise the work of recovering our great party, APC.

We must all join hands with our party leaders to fully recover our party. We are nearly there. We will show Nigerians that we are different. We ask Nigerians to be patient with us as we fight for the heart and soul of our party.

A! P! C! Change! Change has come to APC. His name Oshiomhole!

God bless Nigeria

Lauretta Onochie

@Laurestar

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/07/it-was-a-mistake-electing-oyegun-chairman-apc-lauretta-onochie/amp/

There is tension in Ekiti State as armed police officers have taken over the environs of the Ekiti State House of Assembly complex.

The police said on Thursday that they were only providing security for lawmakers and staff members of the assembly.

But the Speaker of the Assembly, Kolawole Oluwawole, has alleged that the move was borne out of the plan to seize the authority of the legislature to create mischief and destabilise the state.

The Assembly had shortly after the July 14 governorship election adjourned sitting until October, after condemning the outcome of the election.

However, three of the house members, who are of the All Progressives Congress, rejected the adjournment and called on the security agencies to provide them with security as they were prepared to continue their legislative duties.

Mr Oluwawole claimed in a statement on Thursday that the police “invaded” the assembly complex late Wednesday night on the orders of the Commissioner of Police, Bello Ahmed.

According to the speaker, the police commissioner had claimed that he received a letter from the Clerk of the House, Tola Esan, purportedly seeking security deployment in the premises of the House.

He said Mr Esan had written to the commissioner of police, dissociating himself from any letter and describing such letter as forged.

He said the clerk of the house also spoke with journalists on camera, stating categorically that he did not write any letter to the police seeking deployment of security officials and that the Assembly is on recess till October 8.


“The question we now wish to ask the commissioner of police is; who wrote the purported letter and where did he get it from?” queried Mr Oluwawole.

“Also, we wish to ask the commissioner of police the motives behind his hurried deployment of armed policemen to the House of Assembly complex without seeking clarification from the speaker.

“Again, after speaking with the clerk on phone and he told the CP expressly that no such letter was authored by him, why are the policemen still laying siege on the House of Assembly?”


Mr Oluwawole further noted that the House of Assembly is constitutionally backed to go on recess as seen in the National Assembly and other advanced democracies of the world, adding that no official function of the house could take place while on recess.

“As at today, the House of Assembly is on recess till October 8, 2018. Information at our disposal is to the effect that the Policemen are laying siege on the House of Assembly to provide cover for some

miscreants today to perpetrate evil and create chaos in the House of Assembly thus threatening our democracy and putting the lives of our innocent staff into danger,” he alleged.


“We are also aware of the sinister plot to break into the assembly complex before daybreak with the intention of making away with the mace.

“We therefore call the attention of well-meaning Nigerians to the fresh coup being plotted by some anti-democratic agents in the APC in collaboration with the Police in Ekiti State.

“As the Speaker of the House, herein the constitutional head of the institution, there is no threat in the House to warrant any deployment of policemen and the commissioner of police should therefore withdraw the illegal deployment of policemen to the premises of the house as such is unsolicited, unwarranted dangerous and ultra vires.

“Staff of the House of Assembly have also been directed to stay at home until further notice in view of the need to prevent injuries and loss of lives as the armed policemen can as usual be overzealous.”

But the Ekiti State Police Command has justified the deployment of armed police officers in the premises of Ekiti State House of Assembly, saying it did so to guarantee safety of the lawmakers and staff of the House.

The Police Public Relations Officer of the command, Caleb Ikechukwu, said in Ado Ekiti on Thursday, said there was nothing wrong with the deployment.

“Anytime you see the deployment of policemen, it is to ensure the safety and the security of that place and the people there,” he said.

According to Mr Ikechukwu, there was no need for people to be curious about the deployment of security officials whose duty was to secure lives and property.

“Anytime you see us doing deployment, it’s for a reason; it is to ensure safety of that place at a given time,” he noted.

“That means there must be information which we are working with. And that shows how proactive the Nigeria Police Force is.”

When asked to speak on the alleged letter written to seek the deployment, Mr Okechukwu said: “Are you now meddling into our internal affairs? Anybody that disclosed that information is disclosing a secret information and that person should be arrested and prosecuted.”

Tension in Ekiti: Police, Speaker disagree on deployment of officers to

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/ssouth-west/277910-tension-in-ekiti-police-speaker-disagree-on-deployment-of-officers-to-assembly-complex.html

A former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has revealed that he backed Bukola Saraki to become the President of the Senate in 2015.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s presidential aspirant, in a tweet on Wednesday, declared that he was one of those behind Saraki’s emergence.

Saraki emerged as the Senate President in 2015 against the will of the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Atiku has since decamped from the APC back to the opposition PDP.

There are also feelings that the Senate President may lead his supporters out of the APC soon as he announced the defecting of over 13 Senators to the PDP yesterday.

“On June 9, 2015, I supported Senator @bukolasaraki’s bid for the presidency of the Senate,” Atiku wrote on Wednesday.

“I did so in light of the emerging lack of transparency and tyranny within the APC leadership. Today’s events have justified my position.”

http://dailypost.ng/2018/07/25/apc-crisis-made-sure-saraki-became-senate-president-2015-atiku/

…Saraki, Dogara send advance team to PDP

Although, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) still maintain its majority position in the two chambers of the National Assembly, the gale of defection witnessed by the parliament yesterday may eventually alter the power equation.

According to sources, more lawmakers had plan to defect, in a planned mass cross-carpeting which was scheduled to begin on Thursday. But the fear of security harassment and arrest of presiding officers of the National Assembly forced the aggrieved members to announce their political affiliation.

This is also responsible for the abrupt adjournment of the two chambers till September.

It is expected that by the time the parliament reconvene in , more lawmakers who would lose party primaries to preference candidates of the various state governors are likely to join the list of defected lawmakers, as a way of political survival.

Nevertheless, the ruling APC still has an opportunity to woo more lawmakers from other minority parties into their fold. This is just as a possible reconciliation could attract those who defected to the ADC, particularly from Oyo state.


If this window of opportunity is effectively explored, and ruling APC takes advantage of these low hanging fruits, the party will retain its may position. But if the APC leadership further mismanage the already bad situation the party may eventually record a twist of fate and become a minority party to the PDP.

This however may not change the leadership structure in both the Senate and the House, as the presiding officers already have sympathy from lawmakers across the divides.

Irrespective of however the pendulum swings, it is just a question of time, the Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki , Speaker, Yakubu Dogara and Deputy Speaker, Yussuff Lasun Sulaimon will eventually join their advanced team in the PDP and leadership of the National Assembly will formally form an opposition to the current administration.

https://leadership.ng/2018/07/25/how-defection-ll-alter-political-equation-in-nass/

The lawmaker representing Oyo South District in the National Assembly, Senator Adesoji Akanbi has debunked reports that he was among those who on Tuesday resigned from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Akanbi made the clarification in a statement obtained by DAILY POST on Tuesday afternoon in the wake of defection of about fourteen Senators from the APC to the PDP in the Senate.

Akanbi, while reacting to the inclusion of his name in the list of defectors, declared that he was still a member of the ruling APC.

The Senator, in the statement, said he was surprised that his name was mentioned among the name of the defectors by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, during the day’s plenary.

He said, “It was to my great surprise to hear that my name was read among APC Senators defecting to PDP as announced on the floor of Senate Chamber by the Senate President.

“I remain an APC member and senator representing Oyo South Senatorial District Oyo State”.

He explained that he was reacting to the development to put the record straight.

“This is to put the record straight,” the lawmaker stated.

http://dailypost.ng/2018/07/24/oyo-senator-akanbi-faults-sarakis-defection-list-denies-dumping-apc/

Against the backdrop of police summons for Senate President Bukola Saraki, President Muhammadu Buhari has met with some senators led by Rabiu Kwankwaso in an apparent bid to convince them to remain in the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

The senators were sighted at the presidential villa, Abuja on Monday night along with Jigawa State governor, Abubakar Badaru.

Kwankwaso representing Kano State is also believed to be on the verge of leaving the APC having fallen out with his state governor and former protege, Umar Ganduje.

There had been reports that Saraki and Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, were to meet with the president and Vice President’s Yemi Osinbajo last Sunday over the same issue but the meeting did not materialize.

Saraki, who has hinted that he was considering his future in the APC, has again been summoned by the Inspector General of Police to appear at the office of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) in Abuja, the Federal Capital territory (FCT), over his alleged linkage to the wide-ranging robbery operation that resulted in the death of 33 people in Offa, Kwara State in April.

http://www.tribuneonlineng.com/156470/

Despite the spirited moves aimed at stalling the defection of Senate President Bukola Saraki and members of the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC) to the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) indications have emerged that the President of the Senate is set to launch his presidential aspiration for the 2019 race.

Sources in the polity said that since Saraki is of the view that the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has already been ceded to President Muhammadu Buhari, the next available sport is the coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) which will be fielding candidates on the ticket of the PDP.

It was confirmed that notwithstanding the offers that might be placed on the table by President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of the APC at a meeting to be held in the presidential Villa later on Sunday, the R-APC has concluded on the need for defection.



Sources said that by listening to the President and members of the APC, the R-APC leaders were only showing courtesy to the office of the President.

“We don’t want to be seen as greedy lots and that is why all the juicy offers cannot sway the defection plans,” said a leader of the R-APC who claimed not to be named.

A source further said that the R-APC was aware that the leaders of the APC would come after its members with carrot and stick and that the aggrieved members were prepared for the worst case scenario.
“We have taken the legal option early enough to preserve our members and we are taking steps to ensure all needed agreements are signed with a coalition of opposition parties. It is a meticulous plan to rescue Nigeria,” another R-APC leader said.

Sources said that Saraki was already perfecting the launch of his presidential bid with some whistle stop trips around different states of the federation since his victory at the Supreme Court.

It was also gathered that Saraki might have secured some international backing for his ambition, following his recent invitation to the United States Congress, where he was said to have held parliamentary talks as well as political discussions.

“I can assure you that notwithstanding the outcome of the meetings being orchestrated by leaders of the APC and the juicy offers being placed on the table, the Senate President and a number of bigwigs in the R-APC have signed out of the ruling party. It is just a matter of days.

“For them, the issue is not really about personal gains but good governance that would propel Nigeria to greatness in the comity of nations,” the source said, adding that the APC has failed to show the desired leadership in the last three years.

http://www.tribuneonlineng.com/156285/

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has admonished Nigerians in Diaspora to stop depending on Social Media for news about the country.

The minister gave the admonition in Washington at a meeting with the Nigeria Ambassador to USA, Justice Sylvanus Nsofor and the Embassy’s members of staff.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the meeting is on the sideline of a High-Level Roundtable attended by the minister, organised by the Atlantic Council, an American think tank on international affairs.

Mohammed said that social media are, largely purveyors of fake news and misinformation, which could threaten the peace of a nation.

“Fake news and misinformation when mixed with hate speech threaten the peace, unity, security and corporate existence of Nigerians.

“Many people in the Diaspora depend a lot on Social media for news about Nigeria. However, 80 per cent of what you read on social media is fake.

“Please, we implore you to visit our website fgnnformation.iapp where you cab find information that is genuine about Nigeria,” he said.

Mohammed stressed that social media is aggravating the Nigeria situation creating the impression that the country is at war, ethnic and religious crises.

He noted that Nigeria is at peace, safe for investment and government is working very hard in its fight against corruption and to ensure security and the economy improve.

“When you go by social media, the impression you get is as if Nigeria is at war and as if Muslims are killing Christians and about ethnic war.


“However, hose disgruntled politicians have now tried to factor ethnicity and religion into the situation that we have in the country.

“Our challenges have nothing to do with religion or ethnicity,” he said.

Mohammed said the Farmer/Herders clashes was not new and the first case was reported in 1947 even before Independence.

He said the challenge is compounded by by population growth, climate change and in some cases, pure criminality.

“There were, however, a lot of misinformation on this. For instance, the two Rev. Father that were killed in Benue were not killed by Herdsmen but by militia,” he said

The minister said the government is deploying various mechanism to end the clashes.

“The government has taken the bull by the horn, deploying both military and police to curtail the crises.

“New Battallion are set up and new police formation. The military and Police have swung into action and the tempo has been going down.

On the economy front, Mohammed said the country is recovering very fast and all the indices is very positive.

“Foreign reserve has gone up from 23 billion dollar to about 47 billion dollar, we have gained 24 steps up in the world bank ranking on ease of doing business.

“Our stock exchange was ranked to be one of the six best in the world last year, return on investment is over 30 per cent.

“On Agriculture, our Anchor Borrowers Programme has been a huge success.

“In 2015, we had only five million rice farmers, today we have over 11 million rice farmers.

“In 2018, rice importation has drastically reduced, the government is working to give subsidy to farmers to bring down the cost of local rice,” he said .

Speaking on corruption, the minister said the country had made a lot of headway as confirmed by the recent conviction of high profile corrupt people.

The minister said some of the challenges being witnessed is because corruption is fighting back, but the government will not be deterred.

Mohammed said the most potent tools of fighting corruption is the Executive Order No 6, signed recently by the President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said: “The Order restricts dealings in assets suspected to be proceeds of corruption.

“It means is that when you are being investigated for corruption, you will not have access to the proceeds until the matter is completed.

“The important thing about this is that we do not want a situation whereby a person being investigated for corruption is using that same money to fight the government.

“We do not want situation where corrupt official on trial will transfer the money to other jurisdiction and when found guilty, we will nit find the money in the kitty.

“There is also the issue of security, we find out that a lot of the unrest is being financed by proceeds of crime,” he said.

He said those criticising the Order, were the guilty, who did not want to be caught.

Mohammed said contrary to the recent scathing report by Amnesty International, Nigeria did not have a policy of impunity or violation of human rights and the country abhors any human rights violation.

The Ambassador thanked the minister for the visit and called for more engagements of international think tanks to correct the wrong notions about Nigeria.(NAN)

http://thenationonlineng.net/stop-depending-on-social-media-for-news-about-nigeria-minister-tells-diaspora/

Goodluck Jonathan:

I am not surprised that Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala has been appointed into the board of Twitter. If anyone merits such an appointment, it is definitely a woman who helped her nation manage its finances most prudently and was instrumental to pulling many millions out of poverty. Ngozi, I am proud of you. You served Nigeria most meritoriously and I am more than certain that you would do the same at Twitter. Congratulations. GEJ.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1963491873701177&id=105479482835768&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1963491873701177%3Atl_objid.1963491873701177%3Athrowback_story_fbid.1963491873701177%3Apage_id.105479482835768%3Apage_insights.%7B%22105479482835768%22%3A%7B%22role%22%3A1%2C%22page_id%22%3A105479482835768%2C%22post_context%22%3A%7B%22story_fbid%22%3A1963491873701177%2C%22publish_time%22%3A1532040178%2C%22story_name%22%3A%22EntStatusCreationStory%22%2C%22object_fbtype%22%3A266%7D%2C%22actor_id%22%3A105479482835768%2C%22psn%22%3A%22EntStatusCreationStory%22%2C%22sl%22%3A4%2C%22dm%22%3A%7B%22isShare%22%3A0%2C%22originalPostOwnerID%22%3A0%7D%2C%22targets%22%3A%5B%7B%22page_id%22%3A105479482835768%2C%22actor_id%22%3A105479482835768%2C%22role%22%3A1%2C%22post_id%22%3A1963491873701177%2C%22share_id%22%3A0%7D%5D%7D%7D%3Athid.105479482835768%3A306061129499414%3A2%3A0%3A1533106799%3A-6816662303243739316&__tn__=%2AW-R

A former Military Administrator of Akwa Ibom State, Colonel Yakubu Bako, retd, has revealed what President Muhammadu Buhari will do if he loses the 2019 presidential election.

Col. Bako, who was in charge of Akwa Ibom from December 1993 to August 1996, told Sun that he had no fear that if Buhari loses the election, there might be trouble in Nigeria.

He, however, added that things would be calmer if Buhari hurriedly accepts defeat, adding that with his supporters, there might be trouble if he fails to do so


According to him, “Look Buhari, himself as a person, if he loses the election, he would pack and go back to Daura.

“Buhari as a person would not shed the blood of a chicken to win election. He would not want to shed the blood of an individual to win election. No!

“Like what happened in 2015, if 2019 comes out and he sees he didn’t win the elections and he says ‘yes I have accepted this result,’ there would not be trouble.


Yes, like we had in 2015. If Jonathan had not come out hurriedly to accept the results of the elections, there might have been trouble in some parts of Nigeria.

“My take, therefore, is that the same should apply in 2019. Whosoever loses in the elections should make haste to concede defeat like what we had in 2015.”

http://dailypost.ng/2018/07/19/2019-presidency-col-bako-reveals-buhari-will-loses-election/

Fresh crisis is brewing in the Ekiti state House of Assembly following the adjournment of legislative business to October by the majority Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members of the House.

The minority All Progressives Congress (APC) legislators described the long adjournment as illegal and not in the interest of the people of the state who elected them.

The APC Assembly members led by the Minority Leader, Chief Gboyega Aribisogan (Ikole Constituency 1), alleged that the long adjournment was masterminded by Governor Ayo Fayose in a bid to emasculate the legislative arm.


Other APC members of the Ekiti parliament are Mr. Sunday Akinniyi (Ikere Constituency 1) and Mr. Adeniran Alagbada (Ise/Orun Constituency).

Aribisogan, Akinnyi and Alagbada defected from the PDP at different times and joined the APC over internal crisis that rocked their former party.

The twenty-three PDP legislators led by Speaker Kola Oluwawole at a plenary on Tuesday adjourned sitting till October 8 in protest over the governorship election result and alleged harassment of Fayose and PDP members by security agencies.


Leader of Business, Mr. Tunji Akinyele, who moved the motion for the adjournment, said this became imperative due to the political harassment of members by security agents.

But Aribisogan said the APC Assembly members are ready for legislative business, calling on the Police and Department of State Services (DSS) to give the minority lawmakers security anytime they decide to perform their constitutional duties.

Aribisogan said: “That long adjournment was illegal and even the plenary held on Tuesday was illegal because it was Governor Fayose that directed the Speaker to hold that plenary without notice to all members.

“It is unfortunate that we still have this executive recklessness going on in Ekiti State. Maybe the Speaker has forgotten that we now have members of APC in the House because we were neither notified nor consulted.

“That is why we have resolved that we are not going on recess. We are open for our normal legislative business from Mondays to Fridays and we are calling on security agencies so that we can perform our constitutional duties without let or hindrance.

“We are not on recess and we are calling on Ekiti people who have one business or the other in the Assembly to come and meet us.

“They (PDP legislators) are listening to the advice of one man who, perhaps has ordered the Speaker to suspend legislative activities.”

When asked whether three APC members can form a quorum to perform legislative duties, Aribisigan replied: “On our own, we are not on recess; it is only when you are going for plenary that you need a quorum but we can sit at parliamentary, committee and constituency
meetings.”

Akinniyi said: “It was an act of arrogance to have proceeded on an illegal long adjournment. It is against the rule of the House because there are two parties in the House.

“It appears the Speaker is living in a fool’s paradise without giving notice to all members of the Assembly. We APC members of Ekiti State House of Assembly are alive to our responsibilities to legislate for the good of our people and perform other oversight functions.

“For somebody to listen to the instruction of a governor who is in the forest to be controlling the Assembly. What they have done is highly illegal and we have resolved that the legislative business will continue.

“We have duly informed security agencies that we (APC House members) are ready to continue with our constitutional functions so that anytime we are there, they will give us security.

“The minority members will resume office anytime we want because we are not on recess and no individual, no matter how powerful, can stop us from performing our lawful duties.”

http://dailypost.ng/2018/07/18/crisis-brews-ekiti-assembly-apc-lawmakers-reject-long-adjournment/

President Muhammadu Buhari has requested the National Assembly to approve the sum of N228,854,008,215 from the 2018 budget to fund the 2019 general election and other critical projects in the country.

Buhari specifically told NASS to approve the N228.9 billion from N578, 319, 951.904 billion total projects sum inserted in the budget.

This is contained in a presidential memo dated July 11, 2018 read by Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Tuesday.

If approved, the request titled: “Request for virement and supplementary 2018 budget” would cut deep into the controversial constituency projects funding for 2018.

The President said the aggregate cost of the 2019 elections is N242, 445,322,600.00

From the funds, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is expected to receive N189.207 billion while the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) will get N4.2 billion.

The Department of State Services (DSS) will receive N12.213 billion while the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) will get N3.573 billion.

The Nigeria Police Force is expected to get N30.541 billion while Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) will receive N2.628 billion.

The letter reads in part: “As you are aware, the 2019 general election is scheduled to be conducted early in 2019. To ensure that adequate arrangements are made for free and fair elections, it has become necessary to appropriate funds to enable the relevant agencies to commence preparations.

“INEC and security agencies have accordingly recently submitted their requests. These have been subjected to the usual budget evaluation. The aggregate cost of the elections is estimated at N242, 445,322,600.”

http://thenationonlineng.net/buhari-wants-nass-to-approve-n228-9bn-for-2019-elections-others/

Shehu Sani, senator representing Kaduna central senatorial district zone and Suleiman Hunkuyi, his counterpart in Kaduna north senatorial district, have left the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Tom Maiyashi, chairman of the Akida faction and Ja’afaru Abas Ibrahim, legal adviser of the Restoration Group, announced the decision of the two groups to leave the APC at a joint press conference on Friday in Kaduna.

Sani and Hunkuyi belonged to the Akida” and “Restoration Group” factions of the APC.

The two senators have been engaged in a prolonged rivalry with Nasir el-Rufai, governor of the state.

Maiyashi, who spoke for the groups, said the decision to leave the APC was taken after wide and extensive consultations with stakeholders.

“This joint press conference is the culmination of extensive reviews and consultations over the state of the All Progressives, Congress (APC) in Kadun State as well as in the nation,” he said.

“As you will appreciate, groups such as ours that had been on the frontline of the efforts to keep our party along the lines of survival, accountability and integrity, will be diligent in ensuring that whatever steps we take, are consistent with our high sense of responsibility.

“We are satisfied that the positions we have arrived at are in the best interests of our members and the on going-efforts to create options and strategies that will rid our nation of undeserved and avoidable challenges.

“Members of our two groups have decided to leave the APC because it is incapable of accommodating and responding to well-meaning dissent, criticism and demands for inclusiveness and internal democracy.”

The two groups advised their teeming members to formalise their withdrawal from the APC.

Although the two groups did not disclose where they will pitch their tent, Maiyashi however, said discussions were going on whether with political parties that share their values and principles.

“We want to commend the resilience and commitment of our members in the face of institutionalised exclusion, marginalisation and abuse. We urge them all to keep faith” Maiyashi said.

https://www.thecable.ng/just-two-kaduna-senators-dump-apc/

More photos

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday distributed sensitive materials to all 16 local government areas in Ekiti state ahead of the governorship election.

The materials were moved from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) branch in Ado Ekiti under supervision by security personnel.

The governorship election is slated for Saturday.

Below are photos from the distribution.

THE Labour Party on Wednesday disowned the purported coalition led by the People Democratic Party (PDP), and the Reformed-All Progressive Congress (R-APC).

Addressing a press conference at the Labour House, Abuja, the party distanced itself from the coalition of political parties which recently announced their coming together in a merger targeted at ousting the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) in 2019

According to the National Chairman of the party, Dr Mike Omotosho the leadership of Labour Party has not been consulted, neither has there been any formal meeting or agreement between the party and any other political party in Nigeria in this respect.

To this end, he called on all Nigerians to disregard all allusions to the inclusion of the Labour Party and those of the NLC & TUC, as members of any coalition.

He said: “We wish to unequivocally state that the Labour Party is not part of any coalition. The leadership of the party has not been consulted, neither has there been any formal meeting or agreement between our Party and any other political party in Nigeria in this respect.

“The Labour Party is not only a political party but a political movement, guided by its ethics, values, principles and social ideology, where all actions are taken in consideration of due process.

“If there was any need for the party to join any coalition, the consent and the approval of the National Working Committee (NWC) and the National Executive Council (NEC) would have been sought before such a huge organ decision is taken.

“It is an undisputable fact that the Nigeria Labour Congress and its allies, the TUC and the civil society, are the owners of the party. Such a vital decision to join a coalition cannot be effected without the approvals of their respective governmental organs. As it stands now, neither the NWC, NEC, nor NLC is aware or privy to this crocket coalition engagement.”

According to Omotosho, the commitment of the Labour Party to “this unholy alliance is, therefore, the fiery imaginations and fictions of a few recalcitrant members and borne out of their hurriedness to mortgage the party for their selfish political end.

“We hereby disassociate our great party, the Labour Party, from such a clandestine gathering, calculated to further throw the political atmosphere of Nigeria into more heinous confusion.”

He pointed out that as the nation prepare for the upcoming elections, the Labour Party is consulting with party stakeholders, mobilizing its members and preparing their candidates for elective offices.

He further explained that while the party is not averse to partnering with other like-minded group and parties seeking to help transform the nation, it is at the moment more concerned about challenging the current administration to deliver more on their promises.

He said the Party is committing to challenge the ruling APC to deliver more for the Nigerian workers, most of whom still struggle to make a living from their wages and salaries.

He said, “the vision and mission of this coalition are not yet clear to Labour Party, we therefore at this moment cannot subject the party to an alliance whose objectives and goals is currently not understood.”

http://www.tribuneonlineng.com/154689/

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari was in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital on Tuesday to attend a grand rally organised by the All Progressives Congress (APC) for their candidate in Saturday’s governorship election in the state, Dr Kayode Fayemi, and charged the people of the state to reject Governor Ayodele Fayose’s “stomach infrastructure”.

President Buhari had led other leaders of the party, including its new national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole; its national leader, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu; 11 governors and a deputy governor; ministers and a host of other leaders of the party to the rally which was well attended by party supporters and loyalists.

At the rally, incumbent Senator representing Ekiti Central district, Mrs Fatimat Raji Rasaki formally announced her defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC, as well as the current member representing Ekiti Central Federal constituency II (Ekiti West/Ijero/Efon federal constituency), Mr Olamide Oni.



The suspended chief whip of the state’s House of Assembly, Mr Sunday Akinniyi; his colleague from Ise/Orun constituency, Mr Ebenezer Adeniran Alagbada and a former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Owoseni Ajayi, were also formally received into the APC by Oshiomhole after they had recently dumped the PDP.


The president, who said Ekiti people were dear to him, listed the achievements of his administration in Ekiti State, said the federal government had been executing various projects worth about N760 million in the state, and stated that “we will never play politics with the lives of Ekiti people despite the political affiliation of the government.”



He explained that the projects include a federal secretariat, roads in Ikere-Ekiti; repair of failed sections of Ifaki – Ikole – Omuo road; the failed sections of Ifaki – Ido road and the asphalt overlay of roads in the Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE).

President Buhari, while charging the people to vote for Dr Kayode Fayemi on Saturday said: “Don’t allow yourself to be insulted by stomach infrastructure. Ekiti has grown beyond that. Your future and the future of your children are in your hands. Vote for APC and build your state beyond stomach infrastructure. Don’t waste your vote. Vote for APC, vote for Dr Kayode Fayemi.”

Buhari said his coming to Ekiti was not just to campaign but to make clear why the people should vote APC, saying his administration had not only carried out projects in the state but had also provided employment for the people.

In his speech, national chairman of APC Adams Oshiomhole, charged the people of Ekiti to reckon with their suffering allegedly in the hands of the PDP as they cast their votes on Saturday.

He said “We are here to remind you of where you are, where you coming from and where you could be tomorrow. Fayose has brought a vicious cycle of poverty in the state and you must reject this.

“I stand as a guarantor that when Fayemi comes in, he will start by paying arrears of salaries owed by Fayose. Pensioners need to be assured too. I will come myself to help you collect it if he fails to fulfil this promise.”

The national leader of the party. Senator Bola Tinubu, charged the people to support the APC, saying it was not easy to rebuild and it that it takes time to rebuild.


“They had caused us pain, but APC is a painkiller. This election is not about Fayemi but it’s about your future. If it was about him, he would have remained in Abuja because he was not sacked. Vote for APC to protect your future and the future of your children.”

While charging the people to vote for him on Saturday, Dr Fayemi said it was time for the people to prove which is the most popular in the state, saying no fewer than 15 candidates of other political parties had pledged their support to the APC for the election.

Fayemi said the election would be “free, fair, credible, authentic, genuine,” and added that he was running on his track record of performance in his first term in office.

Fayemi said “I’m running on my track record. There is no single community in Ekiti that was not touched by our government. If we didn’t build your palace, we repaired your roads, if we didn’t reconstruct your schools, we built your culverts.”

He charged to people to turn out en masse to vote for APC in Saturday’s election and promised that he was seeking their votes “to reclaim our land and restore our values in Ekiti.”

http://www.tribuneonlineng.com/154572/

By Dirisu Yakubu

ABUJA-The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), African Democratic Congress (ADC), the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC) and 36 other political parties are set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in a grand alliance ahead of the 2019 general elections.

The sole agenda is to produce a Presidential candidate capable of winning the election and enthrone a new government in 2019.


The parties in the grand alliance include National Conscience Party (NCP), National Unity Party (NUP), Action Alliance (AA), Better Nigeria Progressive Party (BNPP) amongst others.

Dignitaries at the event currently ongoing at the Yar’ Adua Centre, Abuja include PDP national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, R-APC national chairman, Buba Galadima to mention but a few.

Details later…

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/07/2019-pdp-adc-r-apc-36-other-parties-sign-alliance-mou/

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor and Omeiza Ajayi

The All Progressives Congress, APC has rebuffed the rebellion of the Buba Galadima led Reformed All Progressives Congress, RAPC with a four point charge criminal charge against the leaders of the group.

The National Legal Adviser of the APC, Mr. Babatunde Ogala in a statement made available to Vanguard at the weekend also denounced the formation of the group as grievous to law saying that its emergence was likened to a coup.

Asserting that the convention was properly organised against the claim of the RAPC, Ogala said that the convention was the culmination of a series of congresses even as he affirmed that the Galadima group did not follow such route.

He also said the APC national convention was validated by Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC officials.

He thus laid a four count charge of impersonation, fraudulent misrepresentation, conduct likely to breach the peace and Breach of Trademark and Infringement of Copy Right.

He said:

“Mr. Galadima in his Press Release copiously referred to himself as the substantive Chairman of R-APC a variant of APC whilst he knows full well that there is indeed no such political party in Nigeria. Also, he also suggests that he is the substantive Chairman of APC even though he knows that Com. Adams Oshiomole is indeed the party Chairman and Mr. Galadima never contested for Chairmanship at the just concluded convention of the APC. In the circumstance, Mr. Galadima has committed the offence of impersonation as defined and punishable under Section 484 of the Criminal Code and the authorities will be requested to do their work in bringing him to account.

“To the extent that Mr. Galadima continues to perpetuate a falsehood knowing such falsehood of him forming a Political Party overnight and being Chairman either of same party or APC indeed to be untrue yet persists for the purpose of gaining either pecuniary or other benefits, he is guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation. In Ikechukwu Ikpa vs. The State (2018) 4 NWLR Part 1069 Page 175 – 240, the Supreme Court defines Fraudulent Misrepresentation to mean;

“Without a doubt, the declaration of Mr. Galadima if left unchecked is capable of leading to the public nuisance and a breach of peace across Country. Our loyal members are already agitated by the incendiary action of this group which runs counter to the beliefs, principles and creed of the APC.

“As Nigerians are aware, the coinage APC is both a mark and a copy right capable of being protected under the common law principles of passing off as well as under the extant provisions of the Copyright’s Act. Nigerians can only imagine what it would be like if we were to wake up one morning to a bank claiming to the Reformed First Bank Plc or a Construction company claiming to be the Reformed Julius Berger Plc formed by a group of its directors allegedly because they disagree with certain decisions taken at the board meeting! This will be viewed as a blatant assault on the brand for which both civil and criminal recourse can be sought.“

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/07/apc-lays-four-count-criminal-charge-against-r-apc/

President Muhammadu Buhari says only evil-minded people will accuse him of condoning killings being carried out by suspected herdsmen.

Addressing a Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) delegation from the 19 northern states at the presidential villa in Abuja on Thursday, Buhari said no right thinking individual will think that having secured substantial votes from the areas affected by the crisis, he will turn around to harm the same people.

Buhari also said those accusing his administration of doing nothing to stop the killings are being unfair.

He reiterated that killings did not start with his administration but he was doing everything to end it.

“When some (people), for clearly political purposes, attempt to suggest that this government is doing nothing about the killings, and that I, being Fulani, must be encouraging these satanic acts, it seems to me that there is no limit to the evil in the minds of these men,” he said.

“Otherwise, how can anyone in their right minds suggest that I, as an elected President even with substantial votes in the affected areas, will for any reason do harm by an act of omission to those same people?

“Secondly, the problems in all these areas, as you all know, are historical. There is no administration that has not had to contend with killings in these same areas over the years.

“Indeed, in 2001, you may recall that after thousands were killed in Plateau State, a state of emergency was declared and a governor was replaced by an administrator.

“To suggest that our administration is doing nothing is terribly unfair. We must not forget that the same Plateau state which has been crisis-ridden for years has in the past three years been celebrated for its peacefulness. The governor’s hard work for peace and the presence of the military’s Operation Safe Haven must have had some impact.”

Buhari told his guests that his administration had deployed extra special forces from the military in the troubled zone.

He also told the Christian leaders that the military and police had many suspects across the various flash-points in the region and several prosecutions were ongoing.

“The recent killings in Benue, Zamfara and lately Plateau are wicked, condemnable and completely unacceptable acts. We, Nigerians, are religious people and no religion or culture accepts the killing of people for any reason whatsoever,” he said.

“This is why we must all rise as one to condemn these vile and wicked acts to ensure that all the culprits are brought to justice.

“We owe it to the memory of those who lost their lives in the violence in Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba, Zamfara and elsewhere since 1999 to bring the conflicts to a decisive end. I assure you that we will do this.

“Let me make it clear that even a single life lost in any part of the country is one too many. I came to office vowing to ensure the protection of lives and property, and I remain committed to this despite the challenges we have experienced.

“I, therefore, seek your support as clerics and religious leaders to join hands with this administration and give us your full support. As you all know, deploying law enforcement agencies is fully our responsibility as a government while creating the platform and mechanisms for dialogue is a collective effort.

“The military and police have arrested hundreds of suspects across the various flash-points in the region and several prosecutions are going on. In a number of cases, we have seen convictions.

“Nigerians are right when they say they want to see more convictions and I would like to appeal to the judiciary to help us fast-track these cases.”

He said the stakeholders included the media in whose hands he said lies the power to “frame, shape the perspectives and narratives which influence the thinking of millions of people within and outside Nigeria.”

“Finally, let us collectively shame those who are stoking the fires of ethnic and religious conflicts for their short-term political gains,” he said.

“This country belongs equally to Christians and Muslims and even those who claim ignorance of God.”

https://www.thecable.ng/buhari-evil-minded-people-say-im-condoning-killings/amp?__twitter_impression=true

Igbo leaders in APC shun Okorocha’s rally

By Chinonso Alozie

OWERRI—PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari yesterday, said the political future of Igbo in Nigeria depends on his re-election in 2019.

Buhari stated this at the Southeast mega rally at Dan Anyiam Stadium in Imo State, organized by Governor Rochas Okorocha.

This is as notable Igbo leaders in APC in the South East region shunned Okorocha’s rally.

Former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu; serving ministers from the zone; serving senators from the zone; former senators, House of Representatives members from the zone were absent.

Also, the state Deputy Governor, Eze Madumere, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, former speakers of the State House of Assembly, former commissioners under Okorocha and over 150 APC leaders in the state shunned the rally.

Buhari was represented by the Secretary to the Federal Government of the Federation, SGF, Boss Mustapha.

He said: “The people of the South East are part of Nigeria and they have the right to make claim where the need arises and we will all support them.

“The Igbo are not good starters. But whenever they start, they can catch it. Let me say this, 2019 is an election that will make or mar the chances of Igbo in Nigeria. I want Igbo to make a paradigm shift.

“We have to know that the position of the presidency is negotiable. You can argue it from the point of strength and not from the point of weakness. 2019 will determine the future of this country. Let me say this, there are 18 Christians and 18 Muslims in Buhari’s cabinet. Even the Vice President is a Christian. I see a whole lot of people coming out to be president. Let me tell them Nigeria is not a Banana republic.”

In his remark, the national chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole, said: “In politics, what you see is what you believe. I am impressed with the crowd that I have seen here. It is a sign that the Igbo people love Buhari.

“We are tired of PDP deceiving the people. What they could not do in 16 years, they want us to do it in 3 years. How many times did they invite the Igbo to the ground- breaking ceremony of the second Niger Bridge?

“Many have spoken on the enormous projects of the Federal Government in this part of the country, but it is not yet over. More are cooking.”

Speaking also, the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha said: “Let me start by saying that Igbo people love Buhari and the president should know that Igbo people love him.

“I am happy for our new brand National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole. I describe him as the silencer of PDP. Adams Oshiomhole is a hope of APC and we look up to him to give us the best.

“We are one in South East. We are celebrating the leadership of President Buhari. People have argued that we made a mistake.It is just that in 2015, Igbo did not believe in Buhari but in 2018, Igbo now believe in Buhari.”

Also speaking at the rally, former governor of Bornu State, Modu Sherriff, said: “Okorocha is the man of the people. There is no part of this country Okorocha has not received a title. I am very happy with what I have seen today. It means that Okorocha is in charge. We believe that in 2019, the Igbo will give Buhari five million votes.”

Former governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, said: “From the South South part of the country, we will give Buhari 80 per cent of our votes.”

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/07/igbo-political-future-rests-re-election-buhari/

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, has appealed to aggrieved members of the party to be patient with his leadership, in an apparent response to the emergence on Wednesday of a rebel faction, Reformed APC (R-APC).

The APC spokesperson, Bolaji Abdullahi, also said the party would review the claims and actions of the R-APC and reply accordingly.

The APC national chairman spoke to journalists after receiving the report of the party’s just concluded National Convention Appeal Panel Committee’s report on Wednesday.

Buba Galadima, who is the National Chairman of the Reformed APC, announced its formation at a news conference in Abuja on Wednesday.

“My appeal to all those who are aggrieved is to be patient,” Mr Oshiomhole said.


“The assurance is that under my leadership, we will make honest mistakes and once our attention is drawn, we will find courage to make up for our mistake.

“Some people say how can people eat their words? For me, I will eat my words if it is nutritious enough and if that is what I have to do to have peace in the family.”

He expressed appreciation to members of the party for his election and for entrusting with him, the responsibility to pilot the party’s affairs at this time.

He acknowledged that he knew of the party’s challenges before accepting the task, saying that it was a huge opportunity for him and other newly elected executives of the party to make a difference.

This, Mr Oshiomhole said, was not only for the party, but for the country generally.

“So, I appeal to people to realise that a blind man can redeem his eyes if he applies the correct medication, but you can’t force it to open overnight,” he said.

He added that forcing the eyes to open overnight, would create more problems and damage the eye the more.

The APC national chairman maintained that he would do everything possible to sustain confidence and trust, adding that everybody was important in the party.

He also said everybody in the party matters, adding that he would run an inclusive party.

“I pray for wisdom and courage and I believe that we have it and we will deploy it for peace within the APC family, Mr Oshiomhole said.

Mr Oshiomhole’s emergence as APC national chairman at the recently held national convention was one of the issues raised by the “Reformed APC” as being improper.

The faction alleged that Mr Oshiomhole and 17 other delegates were elected without the input of delegates at the convention.

“It is therefore unquestionably clear that the 18 officers of APC that was “Elected” through this process could not have been duly elected,” Mr Galadima said in his press statement.

In his reaction to the “Reformed APC” and its allegations, the APC spokesperson, Bolaji Abudullahi, said the party leadership would need to get the full details of what happened.

“We have report of a group of who have purportedly described themselves as a faction of our party. We will be able to give our reaction as soon as we get the full details and have the opportunity to review it,” he said.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/275051-apc-crisis-oshiomhole-bolaji-abdullahi-speak-on-r-apc.html

No few than 200 foreigners were arrested by the Nigeria Immigration Service, Kogi State Command in Lokoja on Wednesday.

The foreigners, believed to be from Niger Republic, said they were heading to Ekiti State.

Their movement may not be unconnected to the Governorship election coming up next week Saturday.


As at the time of filing this reports, officers of the Nigeria Immigration Service are still trying to extract more information from them.

Details shortly…

http://dailypost.ng/2018/07/04/breaking-immigration-nab-truckload-nigerien-mercenaries-heading-ekiti-photos/amp/

An All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator, Ali Ndume, has claimed that you may not leave the Wuse Market in Abuja alive if you criticize President Muhammadu Buhari there.

In an interview with NAN, Ndume insisted that Buhari enjoyed goodwill among many Nigerians.

“If you go to Wuse Market and start criticising this government, I don’t think you will come back alive.

“For instance, Charly Boy, convener of ‘Our Mumu Don Do’ carried his agitation too far. He went to Wuse Market and the masses chased him away,” the lawmaker said.

Ndume also said the APC was doing all within its power to fix the country.

“The APC has problems like every other party and particularly because it is a combination of many parties that came together to wrestle power from PDP,” he said.

“I am not using that as an excuse, but the people criticising APC are the people that destroyed Nigeria, abused and vandalised Nigeria for 16 years.

“When the previous government came into power, yes, there was armed robbery problem but it was minimal.

“There was no kidnapping, Boko Haram and no farmers-herders clash. Even, communal clashes then were not frequent.

“Buhari said he will address three things – insecurity, infrastructural decay and corruption. While we will not say we have gotten there yet, we are working hard.

“Some of the challenges faced by this government are pure criminality and we should not politicise the issue by associating it with the APC.”

http://dailypost.ng/2018/07/03/criticize-buhari-wuse-market-will-not-come-alive-senator-ndume/

Ahead of the July 14 gubernatorial election of Ekiti State, the flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kayode Fayemi, on Tuesday met with President Muhammadu Buhari.

The close-door meeting took place inside the president's office at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Fayemi, who recently quit Buhari's cabinet as Minister of Mines and Steel Development, refused to address State House reporters on his mission to the Villa.

The APC candidate's meeting with Buhari came a day after Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose had alleged plots to rig the election in favour of Fayemi.

The governor, in a statement he signed, listed INEC National Commissioner, Mrs. Amina Zakari; two Deputy Directors (ICT Dept), Mr. Paschal Uwaenwe and Mr. Abdulrazaq Agboola Yusuf as well as Director (Procurement Dept), Mr. Kenneth Ukeagu as the arrowheads of alleged rigging plot.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/amplite/ekiti-guber-poll-fayemi-meets-buhari-259219.html?

THE controversial Electoral Act Amendment Bill has been transmitted to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent, it was learnt yesterday.

This is coming ahead of the 2019 general elections.

The amendments were passed by the two chambers last month after Buhari refused assent to the one earlier passed.

Findings showed that the transmission of the clean copy of the Bill was done on Monday, June 25.

It was also gathered that the controversial areas of the Bill, including reordering of the sequence of elections, were cleaned out of the Bill to enable the President to sign it.

A competent source said the Bill was forwarded to the President for assent to beat the six months’ deadline required to conclude the amendment of the Electoral Act before the election.

If signed into law by Buhari, the Bill will be known as Electoral Act 2018 (as amended.)

The provisions of the Bill will serve as guidelines for the conduct of the 2019 general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

A major provision of the Bill is the recognition of the card reader for elections.

The President had three months ago rejected the earlier Bill forwarded to him for assent.

The President had in vetoing the Bill sent to him in February, this year, cited three reasons for his refusal to endorse the Bill.

The new sequence of elections included in the Bill in section 25(1) which listed National Assembly election first, followed by governorship and House of Assembly Election while Presidential Election was placed last in order of elections did not go down well with the President.

Buhari, in his rejection, said the inserted section in the Electoral Act violated the provisions of Section 72 of the 1999 Constitution, which empowers the INEC to fix dates of elections and see to its conduct in all ramifications.

Chairman, Senate Committee on INEC Senator Suleiman Nazif (Bauchi North), who presented the report of his committee on the Bill, told his colleagues that the Bill was re-introduced following Buhari’s decision to withhold assent due to the following observations:


“That the amendment to the sequence of the elections in Section 25 of the principal Act may infringe on the constitutionally guaranteed discretion of INEC to organise, undertake and supervise all elections in Section 15 (a) of the Third Schedule of the Constitution;

“That the amendment to Section 138 of the Principal Act to delete 2 crucial grounds upon which an election may be challenged by candidates unduly limits the rights of candidates in elections to a free and fair electoral review process.

“That the amendment to Section 152 (3)- (5) of the Principal Act may raise constitutional issues over the competence of the National Assembly to legislate over local government elections.”

In line with the observations, Nazif explained that his committee resolved to:

delete Sections 25 and 152 (3)-(5) in the proposed Bill based on the President’s observations; retain Section 138 (c) and (d) as contained in the Principal Act; further amend Section 49 by including a new subsection (3), which provides that ” Where a Smart Card Reader deployed for accreditation of voters fails to function in any unit and a new card reader is not deployed, the election in that unit shall be cancelled and another election shall be scheduled within 24 hours”; and amend Section 140 to include a new subsection (c), which states that “Where the election is postponed due to omission of a political party’s name or logo, the commission’s officer responsible for such printing of party names or logos commits an offence and is liable to a fine of Two Million Naira (N2,000,000) or imprisonment for two years or both”.

Nazif added that although INEC had submitted its observations for consideration, the committee unanimously agreed to deliberate on the commission’s remarks in any subsequent amendment as the Senate and the House had already harmonised positions on the Bill.

http://thenationonlineng.net/buhari-gets-electoral-act-amendment-bill-for-assent/

Sunday Salami, a 31-year-old furniture maker, will spend the next half a century languishing in Kirikiri Prisons, Lagos, for defiling a 14-year-old Junior Secondary School 1 student.

Justice Sybil Nwaka of an Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court sentenced Salami after convicting him of defilement contrary to Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.

Sentencing Salami, the judge pointed out the gravity of the offence of defilement and that the Lagos State Government was using all its resources to fight the menace.

“This is an offence in which the accused person has been accordingly convicted and carries with it a sentence of life imprisonment without an option of fine.

“Learned counsel asked the court to temper justice with mercy, my hands are tied.

“The case of the defendant is a very serious offence that should not be treated with kids gloves and a defendant who is convicted should be put away as our minors especially our young girls are at risk.

“The Lagos State Government is not relenting in fighting this menace and we should all join the government in the fight.

“I hereby sentence the defendant to 50 years in prison,” Justice Nwaka said.

According to Mr Babajide Boye, the Chief State Counsel, Salami committed the offence on May 9, 2017 at Ibrahimo Street, Bariga, Lagos.

“The complainant is also a hair dressing apprentice and at 2.00 p.m. after the close of work, she was on her way home when the defendant accosted her, dragged her to an empty shop and forcefully had sexual intercourse with her.

“She informed her mother of the defilement and the incident was reported at the Bariga Police Station,” he said.

NAN reports that during the trial, three witnesses: a medical doctor, the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) and the complainant, testified for the prosecution while Salami testified in his defence.

Salami while testifying denied knowing the complainant as well as defiling her.

The complainant in her evidence, however, “positively” identified Salami in her evidence as someone she knew in her neighbourhood.

The court held that the findings of a medical report presented by the prosecution were consistent with the complainant’s accounts of vaginal penetration.

Earlier, Mr Worer Obuagbaka, Salami’s counsel in his allocutus, asked the court to temper justice with mercy.

“He is a first-time offender, a furniture maker by profession and he is sorry for what he did especially as he has spent two years in incarceration.

“We urge the court to give him a second chance, he is still in the prime of his youth at 31 years and we are pleading with the court not to impose the maximum sentence.

“He can still be useful to the society and he has become a born again Christian, he fasts daily and that is why he is very lean,” Obuagbaka said. (NAN)

http://thenationonlineng.net/man-31-bags-50-years-imprisonment-for-defiling-jss1-student/

The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, has attributed insecurity and killings in the country to corrupt politicians.


He said the politicians involved were those who no longer had access loot public treasury.

Mr Shehu, who stated this on Monday in Abuja while speaking with journalists, said such politicians were bent on taking the shine out of the Buhari-led administration.

“The competition for power has become fiercer because the stakes are very high,” he said.

According to Mr Shehu, Mr Buhari is being attacked especially because he has unleashed on the country, a war against corruption.

This, he said, had never been so in the country as access to public treasury for looting had been blocked to some persons.


The aide, however, said that the president was lucky because he had a judiciary which was transforming itself and was on the same page with him in fighting corruption.

“As I speak to you now, two former state governors are in jail; a lot of people thought that this war against corruption is a joke and that the back-and-forth that had characterised this over time, will continue.

“One of the two cases was determined after 11 years of back-and-forth between lawyers and Judges, kicking the ball from this court to that court.


“A lot of these harsh attacks against the president are coming from people who had become used to life style they cannot sustain.

“On record, there were people in this country, because they are influential, they had permanent suite in major hotels in Abuja where they leave lavishly at public expense.

“And, when they are leaving, they are accompanied with bags of Ghana-Must-Go,” he said.

Mr Shehu added that the president had blocked access to national resources for lazy people, politicians, especially those who were fighting back, because they were not happy.


He said that the Buhari-led federal government was building infrastructure across the country.

According to him, there is no state in the country where a minimum of two federal roads are not being newly constructed or reconstructed.

“We have more electricity that cannot be consumed, 2,000 megawatts of electricity that nobody is taking.

“By the year ending, we are going to hit 10,000 megawatts from the 2,600 that we inherited,” he said, adding that government’s problem was how to sell and distribute electricity to those who needed it.


The president’s aide noted that those criticising Mr Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) would not give up as 2019 elections drew closer.

“They will continue to fight the president, but the happiness we have is that ordinary low-level Nigerians understand the huge conspiracy.

“Nigerians are with the president, the elite are going to places – America and the United Kingdom – and they are clicking in posh homes in Abuja, Lagos and some major cities in the country.

“They are trying to thwart the goodwill of the president towards the people.

“But, this economy is being re-built; more foreign investment is coming, more infrastructure is being given to Nigerians and even the security infrastructure which had suffered neglect over the years is being given priority,” he said.

Mr Shehu added that if those attacking the president had done what they ought to have done by equipping and training the military, things would have been different.

He maintained that no government in the past was doing as much for the military and the police as the current administration.

He said the Federal Government was putting in place infrastructure in the prisons and the EFCC that people may think that it was lavishing much money on the institutions.

Mr Shehu also said that the government was putting in place world-class infrastructure for Nigerians, and the government understood that its detractors wanted to take away attention from it.

He reaffirmed that the government would continue to stay on the message and on course, no matter the distraction.

He expressed optimism that the APC would not only win the presidency in 2019, but would win more states, especially in the South-East.

(NAN)

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/274722-buharis-aide-blames-insecurity-killings-on-politicians.html

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said he is prepared to go to the United States if the country’s diplomatic authorities approve his application for visa.


Mr Abubakar, vice president from 1999-2007, has not been able to travel to the U.S. since he left office.

“If America says come today, I will board the flight and go there soonest,” Mr Abubakar told political columnist Dele Momodu. Mr Momodu has been interviewing potential presidential candidates in 2019 elections, and he spoke with Mr Abubakar earlier this week as part of the series.

Mr Abubakar’s comment came less than two weeks after the former vice president debunked media reports he would be travelling to the U.S. based on an invitation from a U.S.-based African development think-tank. The debunked claims raised eyebrows because Mr Atiku’s apparent difficulty in entering the worlds most-powerful country has been of public knowledge for years.


Critics of Mr Abubakar, who is now seen amongst favourites for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential ticket, have accused him of being restricted from entering the U.S. on allegations of corruption.

Top amongst the allegations against Mr Abubakar was about the broadband contract scandal involving Nigerian and American officials in the mid-2000s. Mr Abubakar was said to have received kickbacks for his role in helping an American firm, iGate, secure the contract to expand broadband in Nigeria.

Williams Jefferson, an American politician who was a member of the U.S. Congress at the time, was convicted for his role in the contract fraud. Mr Jefferson was said to be an associate of Mr Abubakar, and it was reported that the infamous $100 cash that was found in Mr Jefferson’s refrigerator was intended as parts of the bribes to be paid out to Mr Abubakar.


Mr Abubakar strongly denied ties to the fraud. He has never been convicted of any crime, and it remained unclear whether U.S. law enforcement authorities actually have incriminating dossiers to link him with sharp practices, either while in office or out of office.

Mr Jefferson was convicted on 11 out of 16 counts of criminal charges filed against him in 2009 and sentenced to jail shortly thereafter. Prosecutors could not find Mr Jefferson guilty of allegations of bribing foreign officials, which meant that there was no evidence to link Mr Abubakar to the $100,000 bribe.

Still, critics and political opponents of Mr Abubakar continue to accuse him of playing a role in the crime that sent Mr Jefferson to jail. They are also relying on the findings by the U.S. Senate, which investigated the matter and found in 2010 that Mr Abubakar had a case to answer.


Mr Abubakar said Nigerian youth are being hoodwinked by the antics of his detractors, but acknowledged their boldness in challenging him over the U.S. visa baggage and other politically-toxic issues around his ambition.

“The youth have every right to ask and be answered convincingly,” Mr Abubakar said. “The youth of today are confident and bold. No leader can treat them as nobody.”

“But in my case, they have been lied to about Atiku and fed with a lot of propaganda,” he added.

Mr Abubakar said he applied for visa at the U.S. Embassy but was not granted, repeating a claim he made when he sat down with Mr Momodu in a previous interview last December.

“I applied to America for visa which was not granted. A man who is afraid of being arrested won’t go near the American Embassy, it is simple logic,” Mr Abubakar said. The U.S. Embassy in Abuja often declines comments about the controversy as a matter of policy.

Mr Atiku again played down his failure to visit the U.S. as inconsequential to his presidential ambition, saying the Nigerian Constitution does not require ability to travel to the U.S. for a Nigerian to be eligible for office.

“If America says come today, I will board the flight and go there soonest. Perhaps, America was fed with lies about me. It is normal in politics. The Indian and Kenyan leaders could not visit America at a time. America is not like Nigeria where we convict people on the pages of newspapers,” Mr Atiku said.

While Mr Abubakar has not been about to travel to the U.S., he managed to sell off his multi-million dollar home there, PREMIUM TIMES found in March. The top politician, however, denied that the sale had anything to do with any sharp practices or his politics, saying the property was sold because it was no longer serving any purpose for his family.

Mr Abubakar also addressed claims that he is seen as corrupt by many, an issue that analysts expects would feature prominently in the campaign should he get the PDP ticket.

“I have thrown the challenge repeatedly that anyone who has any corrupt charges against me should come forward…” he said. “I never stole government money. Do you think President Obasanjo would not have exposed me if there was any such act of stealing?”

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/274454-im-ready-to-go-to-america-atiku.html

THE Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to unconditionally unfreeze the accounts of Senator Abdulaziz Nyako and a company linked to him without further delay.

Nengiofori Jumbo, Senator Abdulaziz Nyako and Blue Opal Nigeria Ltd (Applicants) had, in June 2015, dragged the anti-graft agency to court over the freezing of their accounts and sealing of the Hillview Estate, Abuja, owned by the Senator.

Abdulaziz is the son of former governor of Adamawa State, Admiral Murtala Nyako (rtd), and presently the Senator representing Adamawa Southern Senatorial District in the National Assembly.

Delivering judgement on Thursday, in an originating summons marked FHC/ABJ/CS/524/15, Justice Babatunde Quadri held that the action of the EFCC (respondent) amounted to gross violation of the fundamental rights of the applicants.

Consequently, the court declared that the sealing and forfeiture of the applicant’s property (Hillview Estate) in Abuja by the EFCC was, “unlawful and oppressive”.

The court held that the action of the Federal Government agency violated the applicant’s fundamental rights as guaranteed under Sections 36, 43 and 44 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

In the judgement which was cited by Nigeria Tribune on Friday, the court held that “The application has merit, same as hereby granted but with following indications, that is, only reliefs 1, 2, and 3 are expressly granted in-toto while reliefs 4,5 and 6 are refused.

“But the commission is hereby ordered to unfreeze the account of the applicants, unconditionally and forthwith.

“The commission, having sealed up the premises of the applicants since July 2014 should un-seal it forthwith or better still open up the Hillview Estate immediately” Justice Quadri ordered and noted that the case is such, “where the issue of impertinent abuse of court process and issue estoppel are successfully raised and in my humble view, the order of Justice Evoh Chukwu (of blessed memory) was given per incurriam due to suppression and misrepresentation by the commission.

“Based on these two issues, which I have found raised successfully in favour of the applicants herein, the interim order of late Justice Chukwu is hereby set aside and based on abuse of court processes and same issue already dealt with to finality by Justice Gabriel Kolawole (now Justice of the Court of Appeal)”.

Out of the six reliefs sought by the applicant, the court granted the following: “A declaration that the forceful sealing and forfeiture of the applicant’s property (Hillview Estate) at plot 3049 Mbape District Abuja without cause or any court order is illegal, wrongful, unlawful, oppressive, unconstitutional as it violates the applicant’s fundamental rights as guaranteed under sections 36, 43 and 44 of the constitution.

“A declaration that the forceful seizure of the original certificate of occupancy of the applicants’ property by the respondent since 23rd of July 2014 without cause or any court order is illegal, wrongful, unlawful, oppressive, unconstitutional as it violates the applicant’s fundamental rights as guaranteed under sections 36, 43 and 44 of the constitution.


The court also granted prayer three which was for an order compelling the respondents to immediately release and return the original certificate of occupancy of the applicant’s property to him.

However, the court refused to award the cost of N10 billion demanded by the applicants as general and exemplary damages for the wrongful sealing and forfeiture of the applicants’ property.

Also, Justice Quadri did not grant relief no. 5, which sought for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the respondent and its agents from taking any untoward action against the applicants.

http://www.tribuneonlineng.com/152838/

Okechukwu Enelamah, Minister of Trade and Investment, says the country will become poorer if Nigerians keep having children.

The Minister said this on Wednesday while reacting to the Brookings Report that rated Nigeria as the country with the most poor people in the world.

“So, I think we should roll up our sleeves as a people and do the work because, if we don’t do it, our people continue to bear children obviously, they would get poorer," he said.

"He also faulted the data for the global poverty report recently released, insisting it was collected during the period of economic recession.

SaharaReporters had earlier reported that Brookings Institution published a report that put Nigeria ahead of India on the world poverty index.

Mr. Enelamah said: “I think, first, we need to understand when we get these reports that there are reports that are lagging in indicators, which means, people are reporting on history.

"So, when you get reports from Brooking Institution or all sorts of people, you need to look at the context. Somebody may have written a report when we were in a recession. Remember that if you are in a recession, what it means is that even though your population is growing, people don’t stop procreating... which means that in theory depending on how they run those numbers, you will be going the other way. There is absolutely no question that there is an urgency to create employment in Nigeria.

“What I can tell you, with certainty based on one’s background in business and economics, is that if we complete the things on infrastructure and you implement these reports we are doing, that is what I mean by a leading indicator, poverty will go down. There is no magic to it. But you have to do it first, you have put in the infrastructure, you have to implement the economic programme which is what will create the opportunities, they don’t drop from the sky.”

He urged the people to focus more on work so as to assist the government to improve the standard of living in the country.

“I don’t think we should kill ourselves that poverty is something just happen," he said. "I think it comes out of the urgent need we have as a country which is why we are focusing as a government to make sure that we create the enabling environment, the infrastructure that is required to create opportunities for our people and I believe that will happen in the process of time.”

http://saharareporters.com/2018/06/28/nigeria-will-keep-getting-poorer-if-we-keep-bearing-children-says-trade-minister-enelamah