Ahead of the 2023 general election, the presidency in concert with the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are said to be considering a Christian from the Southern part of Nigeria as their presidential flagbearer, Dai­ly Independent has learnt.

However, the proposal has not gone down well with loyalists of Asi­waju Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State and national leader of the party, who are insisting that religion should not be a criterion in selecting the presidential candidate of the APC.

Daily Independent had few days ago reported that in a bid to en­sure cohesion within the party, the presidency has enlisted fact-finding group to carry out background checks on those seeking to become the party’s presidential flagbearer ahead of the 2023 elections.

Also, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe, National Secretary, APC CECPC, had said the party will come up with a consensus and agree­able presidential candidate that will fly its flag in 2023.

A reliable credible source in the party told Daily Inde­pendent that the general be­lief in APC at the moment is that in a bid to foster unity and togetherness in the party, the zoning between the North and South must be honoured.

He also said there are oth­ers who strongly believe that the issue of religion should also be considered, especially among Christians and Mus­lims, the two major religions in the country.

He said if President Bu­hari, a Northerner and Mus­lim, can settle for a Christian vice president from the South in 2015, then it is imperative that a Christian presidential candidate from the South will emerge in 2023 and that person will choose a Muslim running mate from the North.

“That position is very true. There is a strong belief in the APC now that the next pres­idential candidate must be from the South. We can’t af­ford to gamble with another Northerner after President Buhari has served for eight years. However, there are also others who are of the view that if the candidate must come from the South, the person must be a Christian".

“That is how it has always been since 1999. Obasanjo, a Christian, and Atiku Abu­bakar, a Muslim, ruled from 1999 to 2007. The late Umaru Yar’Adua, a Muslim from the Northern part of the country became president in 2007 and Goodluck Jonathan, a Chris­tian from the South was the vice president.

“When Yar’Adua died, Jonathan became president and he chose Namadi Sam­bo, a Muslim from the North, who was former governor of Kaduna as his vice. When President Buhari became APC presidential candidate in 2014, he almost settled for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a Muslim from the South, but even within the party, there was uproar against a Muslim-Muslim tick­et and he had to settle for Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, a Christian".

“I don’t think the situation will change in 2023. There are some people who are already grumbling that will another Muslim take over from Presi­dent Buhari in 2023 even if the ticket is zoned to the South? These are issues we are con­sidering and it is important it is given utmost attention because all indices matter in politics, especially for a country like Nigeria”.

However, Daily Indepen­dent gathered that the devel­opment is already causing ripples as loyalists of Tinubu have vowed to resist it, saying what the party stakeholders are canvassing is that the zoning agreement between the North and South should be respected, and not religion.

When contacted, Hon. Bo­sun Oladele, a former mem­ber of the House of Represen­tatives, who is the Secretary of the South-West Agenda for Asiwaju (SWAGA) 2023, a political group seeking sup­port for Tinubu’s emergence as president in 2023, said reli­gion should not be a criterion in determining who becomes the next president of Nigeria.

He said, “I think religion shouldn’t be criterion in se­lecting our presidential flag bearer. What we should con­sider is the ability to deliver. That should be the major criterion. If we are looking for a Christian, any pastor so-called should be the president.

“If we are talking about Muslim, any Imam should be the president. If we are talking about politics, it is a pity that we are trying to put the cart of religion before the horse of politics. So, religion shouldn’t be a criterion at all. Ability to deliver and provide good leadership is what we should consider.

“Nigeria is one of the most religious countries in the world but how far has our claim to being religious tak­en us? We close down ware­houses, shut down factories because of churches that are not promoting businesses, and because of beliefs that are not leading to developmental strides.

“In the same warehouses turned churches, we gather and start praying so that we can have jobs. Is that not an irony? So, if we keep empha­sising religion all the time, we will be sacrificing develop­mental politics. So, my take is that religion shouldn’t be a criterion.”

Fahdiga:
First time I will agree with Wike. Secondus is only interested in enriching his pocket. I knew how he sabotaged the recent party primary election in Anambra state for his selfish reasons but we should wait for his tenure to expire so that he can go

A former Plateau Central Senator and deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ibrahim Nasiru Mantu, is dead.
Mantu died in the wee hours of Tuesday.

Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, elder statesman, has enjoined President Muhamma­du Buhari to treat Nigerians equally and refrain from giving preference to any particular group, tribe or religion at the detriment of others.

Speaking exclusively with Daily Independent in Abuja, Iwuanyanwu, who is the pub­lisher of Champion newspa­pers, urged President Buhari and other leaders in position of authority in the country to em­ulate former military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), who accommodated all Nigerians, irrespective of their tribe or religion in his govern­ment.

He said anyone who has been sworn in as president of the Fed­eral Republic of Nigeria must see the entire country as his constituency and treat everyone equally irrespective of whether they voted for him or not.

“Nigerians want the presi­dent to treat everybody equally, whether the person voted for him or not, or whether the per­son is in his political party or not. Once you are the president of Nigeria, you have sworn an oath to work for everybody and be the president of all.

“When Babangida was in power, if you go to his office, you will see every tribe in Nigeria rep­resented there. There is no group in Nigeria you won’t see working there. I am advising President Muhammadu Buhari and other leaders today to emulate Baban­gida. If you are a president, make sure that you bring federal char­acter to bear in the staff serving you. It gives confidence in other people when they come, they will see that you recognise and value their people”.

Speaking further, Iwuanyan­wu said people only focus on the president on the need to run an all-inclusive government while neglecting other political office holders.

“If you are the vice president, you also do the same. Many peo­ple talk of the president treating Nigerians equally well all the time. It is not only the president that should do that. If you are governor, minister or senator, treat Nigerians equally too. Don’t favour only your ethnic group and neglect others”.

Pouring encomiums on IBB who turned 80 today, Iwuanyan­wu said the former military ruler takes friendship seriously and has the gift of building rela­tionships with people across the country.

“Babangida made it a habit of building friendship everywhere. He takes friendship with people seriously and he will endear himself to you so much that you can’t afford but to appreciate him. I don’t think everybody can do some of the things he did.

“Like in my own case, when my father died. I was in the mortuary in Owerri. I told him casually that my father died but I didn’t expect that he will come. When I was at the mortuary, they told me that he was outside. There was heavy rainfall and it was beating him. I came out and I saw him. He followed me to the church, from the church, he went to my house. He spent the whole day with me and went back in the evening to Abuja. That is the way he treats all his friends".

“He married our daughter, Maryam, an Igbo girl. In our culture, when somebody mar­ries your daughter, he is your son-in-law. So, Babangida practically is the son of every Igbo person. As for me, the seven states of Igboland (Delta, Rivers and the five South-East states) gave me a title Aha eji ejemba Ndigbo (the name that opens all doors).

“That means every Igbo child is my son and every Igbo lady is my daughter. So, Babangida is my son by virtue of marrying my daughter and I feel proud that he has all these capacities.”

habsydiamond:
What do you expect These people dont see any relevance in u medical practitioners.. To them u are all quacks... Thats the major reason they prefer to go outside of the country to treat cough, headache.. They keep helping other countries instead of developing this nation.. If u working in Nigeria, most especially in public office don't always put ur mind on the salary.. Just see it as if it come fine if it did not no P.. Man must live... Cos if u put ur mind... Na serious problem oo which can lead to sickness

Prince Uche Secondus, National Chairman of the Peoples Democrat­ic Party (PDP), and other members of the National Working Committee (NWC) have voluntarily agreed not to seek reelection in the forthcom­ing national convention of the par­ty scheduled to hold in October, this year.

This was exclusively revealed to Daily Independent by Chief Ray­mond Dokpesi, a chieftain of the party and former national chair­manship aspirant, in Abuja at the weekend.

There has been controver­sy over the fate of Secondus following the unsuccessful coup spearheaded by his erstwhile benefactor, Gover­nor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, to remove him from office and install a Caretaker Committee.

During the stakeholders’ meeting held last week to re­solve the imbroglio, the gov­ernors, party elders and oth­er stakeholders agreed that Secondus should be allowed to complete his tenure since he has just four months to go.

As part of the peace deal struck to resolve the crisis, it was also agreed that the con­vention which was earlier scheduled to hold in Decem­ber be brought forward to October.

The stakeholders were, however, silent on the fate of Secondus and other members of the NWC who may want to seek reelection for another term.

Speaking with Daily Inde­pendent, Dokpesi, who was present at the meeting where the crisis was resolved, said Secondus and other mem­bers of the NWC voluntarily agreed not to contest in the convention where a new na­tional chairman of the party who will lead the PDP to the 2023 general elections will be elected.

“Zoning must be done fairly and justly so that a new chairman will emerge. The members of the National Working Committee on their own have voluntarily agreed that they were not going to contest.

“And in which case, there was nothing to dispute about as long as they have agreed to step aside from the next con­vention on their own volition.

“Since they are out, then we can get more credible people to come in and con­test. And with the re-zoning that will take place and so on, I think that PDP is really getting itself organised and ready for that 2023 election”, he said.

Efforts made to reach Ike Abonyi, Media Adviser to Sec­ondus, proved abortive.
When contacted, a mem­ber of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), who asked not to be named said while it is true that Dokpesi attended the meeting, his statement that Secondus had agreed not to seek reelection was completely false.

He said Dokpesi is a close friend of Wike and both men are united in the unsuccess­ful plot to oust Secondus from office before his tenure ends.

“Yes, it is true that Dr. Dok­pesi attended the meeting. He sat not too far from me. But where did he get his own in­formation that Secondus has agreed not to seek reelection. Maybe you should ask him if Secondus personally told him that because the chair­man never agreed to that at the meeting.

“Let me give you the true picture of what transpired at the meeting. There was a rec­ommendation by the Gover­nors’ Forum to ban members of the current NWC from con­testing in the convention but the motion was killed at the meeting because many people agreed that it was unconstitu­tional to do so.

“Tanimu Turaki, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and for­mer presidential aspirant who was at the meeting quoted co­piously from the constitution especially section 47 (1) of the PDP constitution 2017 (as amended) which gives NWC members the right to occupy offices for a maximum of two terms of four years each.

“He also told those present that if they go ahead and ban Secondus and others from contesting, the party may enter into another round of litigation which may cause a crisis that is even bigger than the current one.

“So, the idea was dropped at the meeting and that was why the issue of whether Sec­ondus will seek reelection or not was not part of what was in the communiqué read by Governor Aminu Tambuw­al of Sokoto State who is the Chairman of the PDP Gover­nors’ Forum.

“So, we wonder where Dok­pesi got his own information but we are not surprised be­cause he is the man Friday of the Rivers governor who is the arrowhead of the Sec­ondus-must-go plot”.

Daily Independent also gathered from another credi­ble source that the convention scheduled for October may be shifted further.
According to him, the date was only fixed just to douse the tension in the party fol­lowing the attempt to sack Secondus from office.

He said the major task before the party now is the e-registration exercise which is ongoing in all 36 states of the federation and the FCT.

“The October date fixed for the convention is not likely. I think the date was just fixed to appease those agitating for Secondus removal. We are in mid-August and given the fact that the e-registration has just commenced, it is unlikely that the convention will hold in October. It may be shifted to late November or early De­cember”, he said.

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday said peace has finally returned to the party following the deal brokered by its elected governors and the Board of Trustees (BoT) in resolving the leadership crisis that has plagued it in the last few days.

Speaking with DAILY INDEPENDENT, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party’s National Publicity Secretary of the party also said peace has also returned to the National Working Committee (NWC) led by Prince Uche Secondus, the party’s national chairman as NWC members who had earlier resigned their position have promised to work together as a family in the interest of the party.

He said the party is now repositioned to face the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and defeat it in the 2023 general elections.

“With today’s development, peace has returned to the PDP. Those who have grievances have also united as a family within the NWC. We are now on the same page, back together as one in the NWC. Nobody is talking about resignation again with this peace move”.

“The party is being re-invented to take up its challenges and defeat the APC in future elections,” he said.

The Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva has blamed the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the worsening economic situation in the country, saying his party, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was confronted with what it does not expect when it took over power in 2015.

Speaking on Channels Television programme ‘Politics Today’ monitored by DAILY INDEPENDENT, Sylva said the PDP government under former President Goodluck Jonathan handed over a broken economy to President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 but pretended as if all was well with the economy.

He added that President Buhari has achieved more than any government in the country despite the challenges of recession, falling oil price and COVID-19 pandemic which almost wiped off a year in the four-year term of the administration.

“If you really look around, you will agree with me that we have achieved a lot as a government. We have achieved much more than any government, I can say. Of course, we’ve had our problem. No government had gone through COVID that almost wiped out a whole year”.

“When we came in, we inherited an economy that was on one leg, then we got into recession, then, of course, oil price crashed. What we inherited was like broken china. Somebody broke the china and arranged it very well on the table as if it wasn’t broken”.
“So, you came into the room and you thought it was china on the table, you tried to pick it up and it just fell into pieces in your hands. Who broke it or was it already broken?”

“That was the kind of economy we inherited. We inherited an economy that was already broken, we tried to pick up the economy and it scattered in our hands”.

Sylva also expressed confidence that most of the projects that President Buhari couldn’t complete in his second term will be inherited by another APC government in 2023.

“It will be continued by any other government, but expectedly an APC government. You know I am a politician and I will tell you that most likely, it will be an APC government. Which other party is more popular than APC? We have 23 states and more governors are coming".

The feud between Governor Gboye­ga Oyetola of Osun State and his pre­decessor, Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior, took another ugly twist at the weekend as their supporters traded blames following the conduct of last Saturday’s All Progressives Congress (APC) ward congresses in the state.

Prior to the conduct of the congress, the minister and his proxies had openly boasted to take over the par­ty structure from the gover­nor and deny him a second term.

According to Daily Inde­pendent findings, they had claimed that Oyetola was re­versing the policies of Areg­besola and was also working to erase his legacies, despite the role the minister played in his election in 2018.

o demonstrate their read­iness for political war against Oyetola, they floated a group, The Osun Progressives (TOP), and announced Areg­besola; former Osun Speaker, Najim Salam; former Deputy Speaker of the House of Rep­resentatives, Yusuff Lasun, and former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and 2018 governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Moshood Adeo­ti, as Board of Trustees (BoT) members, with the former governor as the chairman of the BoT.

Speaking with Daily Inde­pendent, a party leader in the camp of the governor said Aregbesola has been visiting the state without recourse to the governor.

“While Aregbesola pub­licly announced his endorse­ment of TOP, Adeoti and Salam did not. But while Salam has been hobnobbing openly with TOP, Adeoti does not as he continues to shuttle between Oyetola and Aregbe­sola until last Saturday when he dumped TOP to openly identify with the majority in his Iwo Council, who are on the side of the governor.

“Unlike Salam and Adeo­ti, however, Lasun publicly dissociated himself from TOP and Aregbesola, just as he lampooned the interior minister for contemplating a political war with Oyetola, describing the former gover­nor as one who almost ruined his (Lasun) business.

“Despite not being able to rally critical stakeholders to his side, Aregbesola car­ried on with his plans. On three occasions, including a week before the congress, he visited the state without re­course to the governor, with his thugs willing and ready to unleash violence on the state, but Oyetola have continued to avoid any circumstance that will give his predecessor the slightest opportunity to carry out his agenda.

“Even last Saturday, his men came prepared for vi­olence, but Oyetola and his supporters avoided them, this, it was gathered was largely responsible for the peaceful conduct of last Sat­urday’s exercise without a single casualty being record­ed”, the party leader said.

However, at the end of the ward congress, the ward ex­ecutives, who were loyalists of the governor were elected through consensus method amid protests by the minis­ter’s loyalists.
Speaking on the outcome of the congress, a former House of Representatives member, who spoke on con­dition of anonymity, said, “In the end of the 332 wards in the state, Aregbesola’s men were only visible in five wards where they conducted a parallel congress. One of the wards is that of Salam, the former Speaker of Osun House.

“In all, the congress was orderly and peaceful. The members of the Osun State National Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Ward Congress have applauded the peaceful con­duct of the exercise in the entire state.

“The delegates also ex­tolled members of the ruling party for their high level of compliance towards ensur­ing smooth, free, fair, credi­ble and acceptable congress across the 332 wards in the state.”

This is even as the APC loyalists and supporters who participated in the process across wards in the state expressed satisfaction at the adoption of consen­sus mode by the party lead­ership.

While fielding questions from journalists during the tour of the committee to Irag­biji, the governor lauded the members of the party for turning out in large num­bers to elect new officers of the party at wards level.

Oyetola also extolled the peaceful conduct of the ex­ercise across the 332 wards in the state.
However, Aregbesola’s loyalists have rejected the congress, saying they were excluded as the governor allegedly hijacked the mate­rials. They also alleged the party refused to carry them along in the exercise.

Najeem Salam, former Osun Speaker and Aregbes­ola’s loyalist who was at ward 4, Ejigbo, alleged that the ex­ecutives were imposed, not elected.

“We have a political crisis in the state. The national does not set up the ward congress committee. The government in power has been cajoling people, harassing party mem­bers that are not in support of what they are doing within the party.

“Unfortunately, those that came to the state for sales of form are incommunicado. We only saw it online that they came for stakeholders meetings, people like me were not involved and some other eminent personalities within the party. We are not also involved to talk to them and address the issue on con­sensus.

“How would you know the stakeholders? Why would people that want to go to an election against another par­ty in 2022 be afraid of the elec­tion within the party?

“With what the present administration is doing with the issue of ward congress, it seems they are not ready for the election in 2022.”

Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege on Friday insisted it is impossible for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or any other party to sue to disqualify the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023.

Omo-Agege’s assertion is coming against the backdrop of a row over whether Yobe Governor Mai Mala Buni is competent in law to nominate candidates for elections as chairman of the Caretaker/Extra-Ordinary Convention Committee (CCECPC) of the APC.

The Deputy Senate, in his second statement in the issue, urged those canvassing the ward congresses of the APC be postponed in view of the ruling of the Supreme Court on a suit between Eyitayo Jegede v. Rotimi Akeredolu to “eschew mischievous behaviours and deliberate attempts at misinterpreting and misrepresenting the law to satisfy an egocentric agenda.”

The statement titled: “Why there is nothing stopping the APC Ward Congresses scheduled for Saturday, 31st July, 2021” reads:
“A few while ago, I issued a statement expressing my legal opinion on the purport of the decision of the Supreme Court in-respect of Eyitayo Jegede’s appeal against the election of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and the misinterpretation of the said judgment from certain quarters, vis-a-vis the purport of section 183 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), as it affects the A.P.C Congresses scheduled for Saturday.

“I have however, taken time to critically digest and juxtapose the divergent views on the issue and came to realise that the mischief-makers propagating confusion aimed at misleading our party into a state of disarray, did not study the petition filed by Jegede at the lower Court.

“It is worthy to note, that a decision of court is only an authority for what it decides and nothing more. This was clearly stated by the Supreme Court in the case of SKYE BANK & ANOR V. AKINPELU (2010) LPELR-3073 (SC), Pp. 48-49, paras. E-B, as follows:

“It must be borne in mind always, that each case must be considered on its own particular or peculiar facts or circumstances. No one case is identical with the other or another. They may be similar, but never identical”.

“Of particular importance is the fact that the Petition in Ondo State did not challenge the legality or competence of the APC Caretaker/Extra-Ordinary Convention Committee, but rather challenged the letter dated 27th July, 2020 forwarding the name of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and his running mate to INEC as the candidates of the APC, on the ground that Mai Buni ought not to have signed the letter, him being the Executive Governor of Yobe State. At the risk of prolix, but for the purpose of emphasis, I shall reproduce some of the portions of the petition as may be relevant to the issue at hand.

The Federal Government has been urged to have a rethink and consider the implementation of the recommendations of the 2014 national conference in order to tackle inse­curity and other myriads of challenges confronting the nation at the moment.

Three delegates to the con­ference, who spoke in sepa­rate interviews with Daily Independent, also believe that the report of the confer­ence, which was convened by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014 will go a long way to reducing the disunity and sectional agitations in the country as well as save Nige­ria from disintegration.

Those who spoke with Daily Independent are Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Afenifere na­tional leader; Comrade Joe Okei-Odumakin, president, Women Arise, and Senator Anthony Adefuye, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

While handing over the report to President Buhari in 2015, Jonathan who said he couldn’t implement the report due to shortness of time, had said the document if imple­mented will help smoothen grey areas in the polity.

However, in an interview he granted in 2016, President Buhari said the conference report is for the archives and has refused to implement it since then.

It would also be recalled that before now, the current Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gam­bari, had at several fora called on President Buhari to imple­ment the report of the confer­ence. He has, however, been silent on the issue since his appointment over a year ago.

Speaking on the signifi­cance of the 2014 conference, Adebanjo said if President Buhari is sincere about find­ing solution to the killings in the country, then he should consider the report, which, according to him, is the pan­acea to the myriads of prob­lems confronting the nation.

He argued that a return to the 1960 constitution and con­sideration of the recommen­dations of the 2014 national conference would help in the desired restructuring of the country and its return to fed­eralism.

Adebanjo, who said that the report was a by-product of the articulated delibera­tions of the 492 delegates to the conference, added that the composition of the con­ference was a true reflection of the country’s structure.
He said rather than con­sign the report to the archives as President Buhari has done, he can remove certain aspects he is not comfortable with and add certain things he feels will be better for the country rath­er than dumping the report in its entirety.

“We discussed restruc­turing at the 2014 national conference and we consid­ered all laws that were in existence in Nigeria. There were 600 resolutions and we agreed to return to status quo. The only challenge is that President Muhammadu Buhari put aside the recommendations.

“If he (Buhari) is serious about addressing insecuri­ty in the country, he has no choice than to implement the report. If he is serious that this country must not break under his rule, then he should implement the report”, Ade­banjo said.

Also speaking, Okei-Odu­makin, who was a delegate to the conference alongside her late husband, Yinka Odu­makin, said the refusal of the Federal Government to imple­ment the recommendations has been a major setback to the country.

She said, “The refusal of the Nigerian government to implement the recommen­dations of the 2014 national conference has been a major setback, in the quest for solu­tions to the myriad of our na­tional challenges.

“Today, we live in a country that has become dangerous­ly polarised along religious and ethnic divides, which were some of the key areas, where the conference made far-reaching recommenda­tions, towards its solution.

“The question of true federalism remained unan­swered despite all the prom­ises of the president and his political party before being elected in 2015. Any serious government committed to finding solution to many of Nigeria’s problem, majorly created by the refusal to restructure the country, must consider the recommenda­tions of the national confer­ence, which in my opinion, has the capacity to address some of these challenges, to a reasonable extent”.

Echoing their views, Ade­fuye said the report of the 2014 confab, if considered, will solve most of the problems in the country today.
“If the present National Assembly can access the conference report and dia­logue on it, it will solve most of Nigeria’s problem. If you look at that conference, most decisions were unanimous"
“I am not saying every­thing that is within there should be implemented. But I am very sure that 99 percent of the things there, if implemented will make Nigeria a better place to be”, he said.