₦airaland Forum

I’m just here wondering how Bola Tinubu intend to win election with a Muslim Muslim ticket

If Bola Tinubu picks a Muslim Muslim ticket, the chances of him winning decreases, if he picks a Christian as his running mate, his chances of winning decrease even further because northerners won’t vote for a ticket without one of them on it. I don’t see APC to retaining power

It is NOT for the Northern Governors to singlehandedly ZONE or DETERMINE the Presidential candidate of our party. It is for the President, the Nat. Chairman, the NWC & the delegates to decide. A challenge to the authority of the Chairman & supremacy of the party is unacceptable.

slivertongue:
According to sources, they've pruned further to 3 aspirants - Osinbajo, Fayemi and Tinubu.
Only you!!

The Progressives northern govs. have first pruned the number of aspirants they are taking to PMB to 5 (Osinbajo, Fayemi, Tinubu, Amaechi & Umahi). They’ve pruned further to 3 (Osinbajo, Amaechi & Tinubu) so that PMB can make his pick - source #APCPresidentialPrimaries #Nigeria

Governors who are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have submitted the names of five presidential aspirants to President Muhammadu Buhari to select a consensus candidate from, Daily Trust reliably gathered this morning.

A reliable source told this paper that the governors submitted the names in the early hours of Tuesday.

The names, according to the source, included that of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti State), Rotimi Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation, and Governor Dave Umahi (Ebonyi State).

The governors had after meeting with the President said they will return to the villa after meeting with the party’s National Working Committee(NWC) and other stakeholders.

“They picked one from South-East, one from South-South and three from South-West geopolitical zones in line with their position that power should shift to the South,” he said.

He said the president is expected to pick from the list.

The presidential primary of the party holds today. The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan was named as the consensus candidate by the National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu. This was, however, punctured by the presidency.

Daily Trust will bring you live updates from Eagle Square, Abuja, venue of the convention.

The Islamic north is so powerful because they are the largest collection of Nigerians who have the same culture and values, having been forcefully converted to political Islam.

The south is very diverse and every subgroup has a distinct culture, language, and values.

Southerners aren't stupid or bad at politics. We just don't see ourselves as the same, because we're not.

Perhaps we need to forge a new super-culture based around progressive values in order to compete with the muslim north. Democracy, responsible capitalism, human rights, etc.

Some residents on Sunday, attacked Northerners in Ogwatoghose and Ikare areas of Ondo State in retaliation for an attack by gunmen on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owa-luwa Street, in the Owo Local Government Area of the state.

Members of the church were attacked by terrorists said to be of Northern extraction during the celebration of the Pentecost Sunday.

Many members of the congregation were shot dead by the terrorists. One of the videos of the incident obtained by SaharaReporters shows that many women and children were killed in the attack.

A chief in Owo town, where the incident occurred, said some residents retaliated by attacking some Hausa people (ethnic nationality from Northern Nigeria) in some areas of the town.

The chief described the attackers as miscreants and hapless individuals who only used the opportunity to loot.

He said, ”There is a place where the Hausas buy and sell aluminium and iron material. They were beaten and their goods were destroyed. It happened at Ogwatoghose (Owatowse) Street.

“Opportunities to loot were not ruled out. The same attack happened at the Ikare junction area as well. ”Some of the attackers are miscreants. To me, these are hapless people fending for themselves.”

MY OPINION: #OndoMassacre is POSSIBLY A DRUG WAR. Many similarities with Ozubulu, Anambra state August 6th 2017. Nobody was kidnapped. All priests are said to be safe. Congregation killed, Catholic Church. Ondo state is the HQ of marijuana cultivation. Stay safe!��
#OndoState

ABUJA – The late decision by Governors of All Progressives Congress APC to back a Southern candidate for president has delayed the long-awaited disclosure of President Mohammadu Buhari’s preferred candidate for 2023.

The identity of the preferred candidate of the President was to have been unveiled at the Aso Villa during the dinner held in honour of the presidential aspirants on Saturday but was put off at the last minute at the instance of Northern Governors who also wished the dollar rain that inspired delegates of the main opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

A source close to a top leader of the party disclosed that APC Governors from the north as part of their resolution to back a Southern candidate also assured the president that they would vote his preferred candidate for president if and when the name is given to them.

The source said the governors opposed the move of the president to disclose his preferred candidate preferring the usual horse-trading that accompanies primaries to run its full course.

”The governors do not want what happened last time when delegates came for the party’s elective Congress to repeat itself. Most of the Stakeholders left angry because the party did not give room for a contest.

“What is going to happen is that the Aspirants would be allowed to reach out to the delegates with the dollars as it happened during the PDP Convention, yet the governors will tell them where to cast their votes. Whoever the president nominates will emerge. I can assure of that”, the source.

By stepping back on the APC ticket, the source said the northern Governors have spared Aspirants from that zone needless expenses which must now be borne by the remaining Southern Aspirants.

Yemi Osinbajo’s Presidential Campaign Council (PYO) has told APC national delegates that the Vice President has not stepped down from the race to become the President of the country come 2023.

Reports in the media had claimed that Southwest aspirants met yesterday in Abuja to deliberate on presenting a consensus candidate for the region.

However, a statement sent to Vanguard, signed by Richard Akinola, Chairman, PYO Media Council told delegates of the ruling APC that news that Osinbajo has stepped is fake news.

He said, ‘The PYO Presidential Campaign Council welcomes distinguished delegates from across the country to Abuja for our presidential primaries.

“As you settle down in Abuja, we implore you to kindly disregard various fake news making the rounds that Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has stepped down.”

“The purveyors of this fake news are afraid of the huge political support base of Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.”

“Please note that no such action is being contemplated. Prof. Yemi Osinbajo is the leading aspirant, as attested to by the report of the party’s screening committee. He is ready for the primaries and very sure of his victory.”

Apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has again urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to ignore an opportunity for a national healing process.

DAILY POST reports that with Atiku Abubakar already with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, ticket, all eyes are now on the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Earlier in the week, Buhari had pleaded with the governors on the APC platform to enable him choose his successor.

In a statement made available to journalists on Thursday, the Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, he urged President Buhari to choose peace, unity, and harmony above all other primordial considerations.

Isiguzoro said the choice of an Igbo from South-East or Ikwerre in Rivers State remained the best vaccine to heal and unify Nigeria, “as another northern Presidency in 2023 will put Nigeria on flames.”

He maintained that Buhari’s hopeful consideration of a Southern aspirant of Igbo stock as APC Presidential candidate “will reset Nigeria’s potentials and bestow on Mr. President the hero of Nigeria’s Democracy.”

“All statesmen and patriots must seek to forge cohesion and brotherliness above actions that will put Nigeria on dangerous routes,.

“A nation suffering acute hypertension and insecurity must prioritize tension-dousing options such as Igbo Presidency.

“The retention of power in the north in 2023 will be a recipe for political maladies, including migraines and perhaps epilepsy. It’s patently disingenuous, even foolhardy, to abandon the principle of rotation of power in a Nigeria that has not outgrown the quota system and Federal Character,” the Ohanaeze scribe said.

He said the Igbo nation would forever “remain indebted to President Muhammad Buhari, the builder of the second Niger Bridge if he endorses a southerner from Igbo stock to douse the rising secessionist campaign of Biafra, as nothing is more important than unifying the country with an Igbo as Buhari’s successor.

“Ohaneze Ndigbo and the entire Igbo nation, having made the quest for the Igbo presidency a political priority and mindful of existing political realities, urges President Buhari to support the candidacy of any Igbo from the seven Igbo speaking States, including Ikwere in Rivers State.

“Some Igbo aspirants have some resemblances of Zik of Africa with national acceptance to defeat Atiku in 2023, popular amongst them, is the Igbo from South/South that led Buhari’s campaigns for two consecutive victories in 2015 and 2019, the other was the National Chairman of the defunct ANPP and assisted in APC’s formation, another is the performing South-East Governor in the race and the last but not the least is a serving Senator and a former Governor whose faction of APGA boosted the formation of the APC.

“These Igbo aspirants fit flawlessly into the shoes of the Great Zik of Africa, they remain the best options for Nigeria’s stability and in unifying the country,
We are looking forward to President Buhari’s ability to heal Nigeria’s unity with any of these choices.”

He bemoaned the rising influence of money in party politics, stating that such a situation “breeds corruption and wastefulness.

“Our nation needs peaceful and credible elections to yield a genuine leadership anchored on bonafide representation, transparency, and accountability.

“At the helm, the country needs a young, energetic, experienced leader who can engender hope, promote national unity, enforce security and create widespread prosperity.

“The unity of Nigeria can no longer be taken for granted. It must be nurtured with fairness, equity, and social grievances,” he further stated.

If the three Nigerian major ethnic groups, the Igbo and Hausa/Fulani have always known what they wanted out of Nigeria. The former, a unitary system where citizens of their landlocked country are free to thrive in other people’s land and, the latter, a feudal system where no one questions their entitlement to power. The Yoruba is the only group that canvassed for a federal arrangement to, in the words of Bode Thomas, ‘‘prevent the country from being ruled by a one-eyed king”. They took the battle to the 1957 London Independence Constitutional Conference where Awo insisted “Nigeria cannot be regarded as free if any part of Nigeria is under bondage”. The other two groups cared less if the country was ruled by one-eyed king or a blind man. To them, politics, as Otto Von Bismarck (1862-1890) said, ‘is the art of the possible’ where idealism gives way to pragmatism.

The voting pattern during last Sunday PDP presidential primary validates this. The Igbos after months of threat in the event that the presidential ticket of PDP, a party they faithfully served for 21 years was not ceded to the southeast, ended up voting massively (95%) for Atiku Abubakar. Despite calls for justice and fairness, the dominant view among the northern Fulani hegemonic power is that democracy is about group interest and therefore had no problem rallying round Atiku Abubakar.

With his emergence, it is hoped, the battle cry by Yoruba promoters of Igbo presidency – Pa Adebanjo, the chief campaigner, Obasanjo, the whistle-blower on Buhai’s perceived “Fulanisation and Islamisation agenda, and Bode George and other anti-Tinubu elements threatening to commit suicide if one of their own becomes APC flag bearer, as APC convention comes up next week end will be: “physician heal thyself’.

Atiku and Tinubu are undoubtedly illustrious Nigerians. The former, a northern Cameroon-born Fulani who enjoys all the privileges membership of the Fulani caste confers, moved from school into a waiting rewarding job in the Customs, retiring into a money-spinning business as a government contractor. When he joined politics, his only challenge was making a choice between being a governor of Adamawa and Nigeria’s vice president. As VP, he presided over PDP privatisation programme described by the National Assembly probe as dashing away of our national patrimony with Nigerian total investment of over $100b sold at less than $1.5b.

His running judicial battle in the United States, Obasanjo’s verdict on his character, his Intels’ 17 years collection of NPA revenue in dollars at 30% discount have never threatened his four years periodic presidential contest since 1993 just as it counted for little during his last Sunday adoption by his Fulani compatriots.

The latter, on the other hand is a Nigerian of Yoruba descent who struggled through his village, Lagos to Chicago where he did odd jobs to earn a degree in accounting, returning home into a lucrative job in an American oil company. He has no link with the federal government either as a worker or a contractor. But for the love of his country and passion for democracy, he deployed personal resources to fund NADECO and sold houses to fund underground media that joined it (NADECO) to humiliate the military out of politics.

Pitched against a vindictive President Obasanjo that illegally withheld Lagos State federal allocations, he creatively increased Lagos Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from N600m to about N15b with 15% to the private company that handled the project. Those who ate the difference between the two figures joined others Tinubu had outsmarted in business and politics to whip up public sentiments alleging immoral and unconstitutional breach. They might be right. But a self-assured elected sovereign is allowed to breach the constitution in the overall interest of the people.

A vindictive Obasanjo humiliated the Afenifere elders, spitefully destroyed their AD political platform along their legacies from first republic leaving the old West, a haven of school dropouts and area boys. It was the lot of Tinubu to restore the honour of his fathers by building and nurturing a new political party.

He hired over 50 British expert card-readers at huge cost for a judicial battle that led to the successful retrieval of stolen mandates in Edo, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun, an endeavour that earned him the commendation of Pa Adebanjo, his estranged political father, who publicly praised him for liberating the southwest from the stranglehold of Obasanjo.

He spare-headed the formation of APC, repackaged Buhari after three earlier heroic failures into a winning candidate in 2015 and 2019 and took the mainstream Yoruba political tendency into the centre for the first time in the nation’s history. That he was outwitted by those who serve other tendencies in Buhari’s government was not due to lack of political versatility and brinkmanship. It has been part of political hazards for all those the Fulani hegemonic power perceives as threat. [lAhmadu Bello, according to Trevor Clark, made it clear he was opposed to any southerner wielding executive power and went further to assert they would prevent the south from ruling themselves.

Awo, the first victim, was slammed with treasonable felony charges. The proofs according to Justice Sowemimo and Basil Adedipe, the Director of Public Prosecution were: the entry in Awo’s diary that he dreamt he was prime minister and that two or three of his members had visited Ghana. Others include procurement of powerful torchlight to be used by Chief Awolowo and others like Dr Chike Obi, Dr Maja, Jakande, Onabanjo, Adebanjo , Ikoku,etc after they might have plunged Lagos to darkness by switching off the electricity grid at ECN Ijora, to capture the prime minister, Ikeja airport and the Royal Naval Base in Apapa after which Awo would walk to NBC Ikoyi to broadcast to the nation that he had assumed power as new PM.

Next was MKO Abiola, who after investing heavily in ordinary northerners was rewarded in 1993 with a landslide victory including in his main opponent’s (Tofa) Kano base. One of the reasons, Babangida claimed he annulled the most credible election in the nation’s history was that Abiola was not acceptable to the northern establishment.

Tinubu’s taste of deceit of ‘Buhari’s loyal gatekeepers’ first came when Buhari who according to Akande, offered him the VP slot before Tinubu helped him to defeat Atiku at the primary, reneged on his promise attributing his change of heart to opposition to Muslim/Muslim ticket by some of his supporters. Scheming to cut Tinubu wings by those who pretend to know what the president wants started as soon as Buhari won the 2015 election.

Today’s antiTinubu elements in the presidency know Jonathan cannot defeat Atiku and will be disqualified in the unlikely event he wins; that Yoruba will not vote anyone associated with treachery or someone who sheepishly followed the president around for seven years, unable to help as he mismanages our crisis of nation building and that none of the pretenders have the structure to face Atiku in nationwide presidential election. The strategy is that, end or tail, the north wins.

Since we all swim in the same political murky waters, it is time Yoruba leaders stopped pretending a part can be holier the whole.

And if democracy is about group interest, it will be unpatriotic for Yoruba leaders who pursued the interest of Atiku in 2019, that of Igbo in 2022, and others privy to perceived Buhai’s “Fulanisation and Islamisation” agenda not to support Tinubu who they all know is better equipped to tackle Nigerian problems.

The delegates of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) representing the South-East have turned down an invitation from APC chieftain and presidential hopeful Bola Tinubu.

The delegates noted that their region had been sidelined in Mr Tinubu’s nationwide tour and as such, ignored an invitation summoning them to Abuja on Saturday.

“We have asked him what disdain he has for our region that makes it impossible for him to visit us,” an APC delegate who received the invitation disclosed to Peoples Gazette. “We won’t be going to him in Abuja because he isolated our region during his nationwide tour.”

Another source added that Mr Tinubu remained determined to pull APC into primaries where he could deploy his vast resources to clinch the ruling party’s presidential ticket.

Both sources requested anonymity to avoid any backlash for disclosing internal party discussions.

In a bid to secure delegates ahead of the APC presidential primaries, Mr Tinubu has made multiple visits across the country, touching base with his supporters in Kano, Adamawa, Delta, Ondo, and Kwara.

The disdain from the South-East delegates came as delegates in Kaduna withdrew their support for Mr Tinubu to favour another presidential aspirant Rotimi Amaechi.

Nobody betrayed Ahmed Bola Tinubu, he’s just not qualified.

Amember of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Sagir Mai Iyali has asked the party’s presidential screening committee to disqualify one of the aspirants, Bola Ahmed Tinubu over alleged certificate forgery.

The petition dated May 17, 2022, was submitted on Monday, May 30, and its receipt was acknowledged by one Emmanuel Akpan.

Tinubu’s academic qualifications have been a subject of controversy for over a decade.

He had indicated he graduated from the University of Chicago in his INEC form 001 filled when he contested the Lagos State governorship poll in 1999.

The former governor also claimed in the affidavit he attached to the INEC form that he lost his university degree certificate while he was in exile between 1994 and 1998.

Human rights lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), had also questioned Tinubu’s credentials and sued the Nigeria Police Force for failing to investigate him.

The Supreme Court in its judgment on May 10, 2002, ruled that Tinubu could not be prosecuted by the police for alleged certificate forgery.

The apex court also ruled that the Inspector-General of Police could not be compelled by Gani to investigate Tinubu for alleged certificate forgery as he enjoyed immunity at the time.

In a petition sent to John Odigie Oyegun, chairman of the presidential screening committee of the APC, Iyali said Tinubu never graduated from the University of Chicago. He added that the former governor lied about his age and state of origin.

The APC member further asked that the former Lagos governor shouldn’t be allowed to participate in the June 7 primary of the party.

“We understand that Bola Ahmed Tinubu who has since procured his Expression of Interest and Nomination forms and has submitted same to the party has certain issues that clearly amount to a similar disqualification scenario.

"From the information contained in prior submission to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), particularly in 1999, Mr Tinubu Presented a false claim, on oath, of his attendance at University of Chicago from 1972-1976. It is clear now that these claims are false. Not only was this filed in the INEC form with a declaration on oath on December 20th, 1999, but it was also contained in an affidavit of loss sworn to before the High Court of Lagos, Ikeja Registry, December 29th 1998.

"The latter claim that seeks to transpose history is untenable. Mr Tinubu has to show proof he attended University of Chicago or he must stand disqualified as the opposition is in possession of these same documents.

“Over the years, the identity of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been shrouded in secrecy. In fact, no one can claim to know the identity of the man.

“Similarly, the age of Tinubu is not known to anyone. Though, it’s not contention that he is above the statutory age of 35-years, it’s equally important that his exact age is known,” the petition read.

There is already a complex certificate problem for Jagaban of Borgu, it is NOW going to be complicated because the guys/lawyers who arranged the cover up (Professor Yemi Osinbajo and co) in 1999-2007 are now his opponents! #WeCantContinueLikeThis.

@OfficialAPCNg aspirant, Bola Tinubu deposed to an affidavit in 1998/99 that it will take him 4 months+ to process his lost certificates, it is now 2022, it is still affidavits and court judgements in place of real certificates! #LikeBuhariLikeTinubu #WeCantContinueLikeThis

Former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, and Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, on Monday, met with the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Adamu.

The duo held a closed-door meeting for three hours with Adamu at the party’s secretariat in Abuja.

Although Uzodimma disclosed after the marathon meeting ended that he came to see his ‘friend’ for a tete-a-tete, many believed the meeting was to probably make a case for the embattled former deputy speaker.

The development was coming hours after Enugu State Chairman of the APC, Ugochukwu Agballah, rejected pleas by Ekweremadu to pick the governorship ticket of the party.

Agballah had described the lawmaker’s demand as “evil and repugnant.”

The APC chairman further warned that the party would not give Ekweremadu the governorship ticket because he was not from Enugu East District, where the party had zoned its governorship ticket.

All Progressives Congress has picked its first substantive national chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun as the chairman of the 7-man panel to screen its presidential aspirants ahead of the party’s convention.

With Oyegun as the Screening Panel Chairman, there is palpable fear among the aspirants who are concerned about the possible fate that awaits them.

Oyegun was affirmed as APC chairman June 2014 to lead the party into the General election. Under Oyegun, the General Muhammadu Buhari in December 2014 won the party primary which took place at Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos to emerge the Presidential candidate of APC. Oyegun led his party to defeat a sitting President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 election.

APC ran into crisis under Oyegun with the Governorship election in Ondo State in 2016 when the National Working Committee upheld the election of Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu as the candidate of APC. The crisis that emanated from the Ondo guber caused internal crisis that eventually led to the sack of Oyegun’s NWC. He was succeeded by Adams Oshiomhole as the party’s Chairman in 2018.

Westernpost gathered that some of the party chieftains who are worried about Oyegun leading the screening panel accused him of anti-party activities by actively supporting Governor Godwin Obaseki to defeat Pastor Ize Iyamu in last Edo State Governorship election. There is also the fear that ths choice of Oyegun was influenced by former Chairman of the party’s National Caretaker Committee and Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni who is said to still exert a lot of influence in the affairs of the party.

“Our former National Chairman, Oyegun has been picked to head the screening Committee. He has the stature to do the job being a former Governor and retired Federal Permanent Secretary. There is fear and anxiety among the aspirants and the various camps because Chief Oyegun has become a controversial and polarising figure in the party.

“He was among those who plotted against removal of Adams Oshiomhole and sack of immediate past NWC. He supported Obaseki in an election where APC had a Governorship candidate in Edo State. The issue has become if Chief Oyegun will be impartial.

“While those who are against him being the chairman of the Screening Committee raised valid points the party also expects him to do a good and thorough job without bias,” said a source close to the leadership of APC.

BREAKING NEWS: Aishatu Dahiru Binani wins Adamawa APC Governorship primaries, defeats former Governor Bindow, Nuhu Ribadu, Namdas. Wow

Peter Obi supporters commenting “Aboki” to every northerner that goes against him proves our point, these people don’t knw politics and thinks twitter NG is all PO needs to win elections. NNPP will be dead in the north if kwankwaso picks him as his running mate.