₦airaland Forum

The All Progressives Congress, APC, Wednesday, described the statement by the Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu that he gave the party N5m during its membership registration in 2014 as a cheap blackmail.


Chairman of the party in Enugu State, Dr. Ben Nwoye, who addressed journalists at the APC secretariat, challenged the Senator to name the person he gave the money.

DAILY POST reports that Ekweremadu had on Sunday while addressing his constituents after they purchased PDP nomination form for him, disclosed that he gave the APC N5m when it was experiencing funding challenges.


However, Nwoye said the party received “with total dismay, the report that he gave N5m to facilitate APC membership registration. That is the biggest political blackmail of the century.”

He said “I was elected chairman of APC in April 2014; I have never as a chairman met with Ike Ekweremadu one on one other than meeting him in public place, in church, where we exchange pleasantries, and by 2014, Senator Ike Ekweremadu was and is still a member of the Peoples Democratic Party; so one wonders why a member of the PDP will be funding registration of members in APC.

“The report attributed to him indicated that he was doing so to help foster democracy; the unfortunate thing is that he never made mention of who he gave the money or where the money exchanged hands; instead he refers to an honourable minister, who at that time was a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Dr. Chris Ngige. As a democrat and a patriotic citizen, we respect the Deputy Senate President, he is a statesman, and he knows that his comments will be taken seriously and those comments if made are capable of destroying the democracy we all worked for.


“What still shocks me is that if Ike Ekweremadu has admitted funding the opposition, the PDP has refused to punish me, because that would be the height of anti-party; if he was in PDP and spending his money funding registration of members in an opposition party, which at the end of the day, by 2015, the opposition he helped to fund, took over power from his own party. Now one may now have to understand why he connived with some members of the National Assembly and emerged as the Deputy Senate President.

“Assuming, but without admitting that Senator Ike Ekweremadu somehow, somewhere, funded the registration of members of the great opposition party in 2014, it is awkward that he helped the APC to defeat his own party; but our record shows that it is a blackmail, it is falsehood that is geared towards causing disharmony and to undermine our great party, by suggesting that our party had no money to conduct its own registration. it could not be more farther from the truth. The registration done in 2014 and the one in 2017 was fully funded by progressives, those believed in the ability of the party to take over power; nobody solicited fund from Ekweremadu and he never made any overture to give fund.

“A high ranking member of the PDP finds it worthy to admit that he was funding opposition in Enugu State, if you take the story to be true, you ask why?

“We know what happened in 2015, either him or his arrogates sponsored candidates; he may have paid somebody N5m to help him procure a ticket, so that opposition will be oppressed, so that he will remain unchallenged.”

While describing it as “final desperate attempt to continue to hang on to power whether the people like it or not,” he added that “it will not work, the progressives have come together; APC has come to stay in Enugu State.

“Today we have Mr. Surveyor P.C Eze, Chief Gbazuagu Nweke Gbazuagu, Barr. Mrs. Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagu; these are all formidable forces who are prepared to take over from him; any of these persons is more than capable to win him whenever the votes are cast in 2019. So, this a final attempt to blackmail APC and cast a shadow of doubt on the opposition, which has been very strong and formidable in the past 3 years.”

Chatmine:
Now I see that we don't have youths in Nigeria. Some of you didn't read to understand and you just commented. If you read this write up very well you'll see that the future of Nigerian youths already been mortgaged by the new laws

Again, for the third time, President Muhammadu Buhari refused to sign the amended electoral bill into law on Monday.

According to his Senior Special Assistant on National assembly matters, Ita Enang, the latest refusal to sign the bill is due to some drafting issues that remain unaddressed, among other irregularities.

The President’s decision may signal another tug of war between the Executive and Legislature when the National assembly resumes from recess. However, a close look at the “old” act and the proposed “new” reveals that the amended version falls into three categories: THE GOOD, THE FILLERS and THE SUSPECT.

Here are the highlights of only the good and the suspect, as the fillers will add nothing to the vexed issue.

THE GOOD

There is an introduction of subsection (5) to Section 8 (containing four subsections in the old) of the act, which addresses the appointment of secretaries and other staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The proposed amendment seeks to penalise any INEC official who knowingly refuses to disclose his political affiliation before being employed by the commission. The penalty is a fine of N5million, an imprisonment of at least five years or both.

INFERENCE: To enhance the non-partisanship status of the commission.

There is Section 38 in the old, which covers the failure of nomination by a party and mandates the commission to postpone the election dates for this reason. The amended version includes a new subsection (2) which makes postponement of election unnecessary once there is at least one valid nomination by a political party.

INTERFERENCE: This saves time and prevents the electoral processes from dragging unnecessarily.

We also have Section 44, which stipulates that INEC must ensure the ballot papers contain the symbols of the political parties. The amended version inserts of new subsections 3, 4, 5 which, in a nutshell, state that political parties must be invited to inspect their identities and show whether they approve or disapprove of their of how they are represented on the electoral materials after two days of invitation. And any party that fails to honour the invitation shall be deemed to have agreed with symbols of its party as presented.

INFERENCE: To forestall the usual litigation after elections where parties claim their parties’ logos, symbols or names are omitted, or misstated.

There is Section 49, which addresses the issues of ballot paper, confirmation of voters’ names. The amended version seeks the inclusion of Subsections 1 and 2, which recommend the use of card reader and other technological devices in elections.

INFERENCE: Simply to forestall irregularities and inconsistencies that often mark and mar our electoral results.

There is Aection 53, which addresses the question of over-voting and stipulates that the results of a polling unit where the number of votes cast exceeds that of registered voters should be declared null and void. The proposed amendment states that the results should be cancelled when the number of votes cast exceeds that of ACCREDITED voters.

INFERENCE: This reflects the current practice in Nigeria when accreditation precedes voting.

THE SUSPECT

Section 63(4) of the “old” electoral act addresses the issue of counting of votes and forms. This subsection says the presiding officer should count and announce the result at the polling units. The amended version to this subsection strikes out COUNT and simply states that the presiding officer should announce the result.

INFERENCE: This makes the process liable to manipulation.

Section 91 addresses the limitations on election expenses. The following is the list of maximum limit on election expenses that can be incurred by candidates, according to the old and the proposed:

Presidential election N1billion (Old)- N5billion (New)

Governorship election M200m (Old)- N1bn (New)

Senatorial Seat N40m (Old) -100m (New)

Federal House of Representatives N20m (Old) - N70m (New)

State Assembly N10m (Old) - N30m (New)

Chairmanship election N10m - N30m

Councillorship N1m (Old) - N5m (New)

Even 91(9) that prohibits any individual or entity from donating more than N1million has been amended to N10million.

INFERENCE: Is this a ploy to make our political space an exclusive preserve of the money-bags? Or to make the anomaly of vote buying a permanent feature of our elections?

And the most vexed and suspect is Section 25, which addresses the days of election. The proposed version tinkers with the sequence of elections. The elections will now be from the national assembly to the state assembly, then governorship and presidential, and not the other way round.

INFERENCE: The unofficial word out there is that the President would abandon the lawmakers if he contested first. But if his election was the last, he would dance to their tunes till the very end. Knowing how bills are typically driven by personal interests in this part of the world, it's hard not to think the lawmakers' minds are working this way, and even harder not to think Buhari will never sign!

Yomit71:
wetin be jawe, u don turn gay be that

modath:
Mido ehn

The Cross River State Police Command has arrested a couple for allegedly trafficking their two-year old first son to an agent in Port Harcourt in exchange for money.

The command’s Commissioner of Police, Mr Hafiz Inuwa, who presented the suspects to journalists on Tuesday in Calabar, said the couple was arrested on July 23 in Calabar after a report by the mother of the child, Mrs Magdalene Bassey.

Inuwa explained that the mother of the child reported that her husband, Mr Daniel Bassey, gave out the child to a trafficking agent for an undisclosed amount of money.

“On July 23 2018, one Mrs Magdalene Bassey reported at Efut Divisional Headquarters in Calabar that her husband, Mr Daniel Bassey, took their first son to an unknown person in Port Harcourt through one woman called `Mummy’.

“The police immediately swung into action and arrested the suspect. During interrogation, the suspect revealed that his wife was a party to the transaction.

“The duo are now in police custody to unravel the cause of this inhuman action and possible prosecution,” he said.

The father of the child told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that said he gave out the child as collateral for N180,000 to help him pay his house rent.

“I did it based on the debt of N21,000 I collected from a friend to pay my house rent.

“There is no work in this rainy season and I am jobless. A guy from my area informed me that he knows a woman who lends money to people.

“That my friend told me that I can give out the child as collateral to get the money without necessarily selling him.

“The woman gave me N180,000 immediately after she received the child.

“After that, my mother-in-law came and asked me of the child and I lied to her that I took the baby to my brother for holiday,” he said.

The commissioner also presented 37 suspected armed robbers, 20 suspected cultists, eight suspects for unlawful possession of firearms and five suspects for murder, among others.

He assured his audience that the command would continue to work in collaboration with other security agencies and residents of the state with a view to safeguarding lives and property.(NAN)

SENATOR representing Delta Central senatorial district, Ovie Omo-Agege, has vowed that himself and other progressive senators on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, would ensure that Senate President and senator representing Kwara central, Dr. Bukola Saraki is sacked from office and “chased away” from the senate.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Omo-agege-saraki.png
Saraki and Omo Agege

Senator Omo-Agege also accused Dr. Saraki of allegedly plotting to impeach President Muhammad Buhari adding that “as long as him and other APC senators are in the Senate, any attempts to impeach Buhari, would not succeed.”

He made the disclosure at Sapele, Delta State during the climax of his consultative visit to leaders, elders, ward and local council executives of the APC in Delta central on his reelection bid ahead of the 2019 general elections. The lawmaker who also used the opportunity to present his scorecard to members of his constituents, said: “As we speak, we have driven him out of the APC and we would also sack him as Senate President and chase him away from the senate.

At the end of everything, he would know that it is me that is behind it. “He (Saraki) does not like President Buhari. He and his friends have been praying for the death of Mr. President and when they didn’t succeed, they plotted to impeach him and we have refused that. As long as we are in the senate, I want to assure that it would not happen.”

In his remark, Delta state APC chairman, Jones Erue who was a guest at the event assured aspirants of the party of a level playing field and expressed confidence that the APC would produce the next governor of the state come 2019.

Two terms governorship aspirant under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ), Sunday Babalola and supporters on Tuesday announced their defection to the All Progressives Congress in Kwara state.

Babalola, an engineer, said he cannot be in the same political party with Senate President Bukola Saraki.

Addressing reporters in Ilorin, the state capital, Babalola said “I have defected with over 20,000 supporters who belong to several groups across Kwara State. I am involved in partisan politics because I believe that politics is about service to the people.

“With the defection of Saraki and many of his loyalists, who have led the state and its people into penury, poverty, anguish, hunger, oppression and retrogression, from APC to the PDP, which he laboured very hard to destroy as a result of his inordinate ambition, it is very clear that I have to move with all my supporters to a political party that is more focused on people development.

“I find it very difficult to be in the same political party with them major actor or principal, who many people, including I, believe hasmplunged Kwara state into abysmal condition. As a past aspirant and an electorate, I have decided to pitch my tent with the All Progressives Congress.”

Said he: “Our dear state, as it is now, needs urgent liberation from the over 45 years of deceit, oppression and primordial politics of ‘stomach infrastructure’ so that the people can be delivered from a people that has held them hostage and put them in the shackles of poverty and underdevelopment for so long.

“I believe that government plays significant role in advancing the well-being of the citizens, through the provision of infrastructure and amenities, human capital development and by engendering an environment that is conducive for business growth and expansion.


“The improper management of state resources by the ruling elite, especially the oligarchy of Senator Bukola Saraki, who ruled the state for eight years and still pilots the affairs of the state, through cronies, has to be brought to an end. The level of poverty and infrastructure decay in spite of the volume of the revenues that had accrued to the State over the years, both from the federation allocations and internally generated revenue, is what every well-meaning person should rise up and fight against.

“I will continue to offer my services and resources for the emancipation of my people and for societal development. I do not believe that the return of Saraki and his loyalists to the PDP, after his several actions and utterances, intended to debase, strangulate, ridicule and public opprobrium, that the party would be able to offer anything good for Kwara indigenes and residents.

“Those who have been accused to have held the state in the jugular, tried to suffocate and strangle it cannot metamorphose to be saviours and liberators of the state, their bombastic claims and promises notwithstanding.”

Bolustical:
Is PDP no longer an Igbo party?

Are there no capable Igbo politicians that will slug it out with these northerners?

Or are they destined to perpetually play second fiddle to these Fulanis they so much hate?

thesicilian:
There's only one Ronaldo and his name is Cristiano. One day he's going to buy up Barcelona and sell off Messi to China.

rozayx5:
If your brother was messi
Would you advice him to leave barca?

He is seen as a legend there
They changed airport plans cause of him
He is a god in the catalonian province
He is on 200m naira weekly wage
Barca helped him when he had nothing
Barca gave him a chance
They appreciate him
He has made world wide recognition there
Name a team bigger than barca he should go to
#useurhead
#recievsense

“We have sacrificed everything for PDP. Loyalty to party must mean something," Dankwambo stated.

Ibrahim Dankwambo, Governor of Gombe State, has called on his political family to reward those who have “sacrificed everything”.

According to Dankwambo, who is a presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), “loyalty to the party must mean something”.

Dankwambo stated this after a “consultation tour” to the South-East, where he met party leaders, stakeholders and delegates.

A tweet via his handle on Saturday, read: “We have sacrificed everything for PDP. Loyalty to party must mean something.”

legitnow:
I am a southerner and fully in support of him.

Go to Linda Ikeji page now, no day passes without Atiku news.

It is only on nairaland that mods and admin paid by APC hides his topics.

diebuhari1:
Yorubas doing hatchet jobs for thier Fulani masters as usual.
Shameful

Number of scams and scandals in my administration will skyrocket and will defy explanation or description. Moral failure, financial chicanery, blatant injustice, lawlessness, will become deeper and dirtier. There will be exponential mass poverty, squalor, suffering, oppression, political assassination, suppression of justice and press freedom will be on the rise.

Today, I'm hereby announcing my candidacy for President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The 2019 presidential election will either save Nigeria or speed up its democratic self-destruction. My declaration today is a threshold moment in our politics opening the door for anyone to run or at least think about it, who might not have before.

Our history shows Nigerian presidency is for the unintelligent, the unprepared, the corrupt, for looters, thieves, and despicable politicians. Nigerian voters believe being qualified for the presidency is not a qualification which is why people like me is running. Our history also shows you can attain the presidency if you are dumb, clueless, crude, corrupt, and of course if you’re a criminal. Visionary candidates with moral probity, intellectual capacity, and capability don't win elections in our political climate.

On the contrary, imbeciles, potty-mouthed, corrupt candidates, without saying anything coherent or even intelligible are favored to win. Because democracy is the only really amusing form of government, that is why is possible for a person like me to run and even win. This is agreeably accurate description of where we find ourselves today. It suggests why a thief, a shameless con artist with no moral value is much preferred for the presidency. I don't have the morals. I don't have the integrity. I don't have the honesty. I don't have the intelligence. But I have 180 million dumb Nigerians who will vote for me and elect me as the next president of Nigeria in 2019.

Sadly, Nigeria is a failed state. But when I become president, I'll revive it. I'll make it better and stronger. Our country is in serious trouble. We need armed robbers, thieves, kidnappers, political assassins, and other criminals to bring back Nigeria, hence I’m the most qualified for the job.

I'm the most successful criminal ever to run for the presidency by far. I know I'll win. I would win. Hands down. I would win. I'm the foundation this traumatized and troubled, lawless, disorderly, chaotic, corrupted, and crisis ridden nation needs at this particular time.

My eight years as Kwara State Governor witnessed unprecedented corruption and more importantly, the pulverization of Kwara people. My tenure as Senate President was marked by forgery, scandals, fraud, looting, corruption. Lest you forget, I was also responsible for the liquidation of two or three banks with millions of depositors money unrecovered.

Combating poverty, providing healthcare, creating jobs, providing quality education, ensuring safety and security of our people are not of importance to me. Because in the Nigerian politics, the rich and the privileged have their own priorities and different socioeconomic and political agendas. As 2019 looms large, we as a nation have come to this: a choice between murderers and kidnappers, a choice between criminals and cowards, a choice between fools and idiots, a choice between armed robbers and robber barons. I'm happy to observe that images of relief and joy have been uploaded into your collective psyche as I announced my candidacy today.

Here's how my presidency will be defined:

Nigeria's political Armageddon stares us in the face with great trepidation. The time capsule of life for Nigerians will be between intensely bitter taste and disgust. Nigerians will be pushed further to the nadir of main indices of quality of life. Corruption will escalate and make life more miserable and unbearable for our people. The frenzy for corruption will assume a more demonic crave. The 180 million dumb Nigerians who will vote me into office will continue to be kept in the dark, uneducated, uninformed, hopeless and helpless.

Nigerians will continue to live in abject poverty, hunger, and disease. Greed, filth, and viciousness will continue to be the norm. Ruined cities and towns will compete for a place in the refuse dunghill. Social decay will reign like we have never experienced before.

The ruling class will expand and extend plundering, looting, wickedness and terrorism, while the poor will live in penury and sedated with crumbs, fears, propaganda and lies and will remain too docile to rebel or revolt. Ethnic acrimonious rancor, violence, hatred, division, and subversion of democracy and justice with bloodletting politics will provide the minefield for thugs and hooligans like Dino Melaye and other detestable pimps of Nigerian politics.

Corruption of the ruling class will crush the working class. All power and economic privilege will reside and remain with the oppressive ruling class, their cronies, friends, and families. I cannot remind you too often that the leopard doesn't change it's colors. I have not changed a bit. With greater frequency and audacity, my presidency will foster moral and political debauchery, corruption, and confusion. My presidency will take misgovernance and incompetence to dizzying levels of raw candor with revolutionary zeal. My presidency will be paralyzed with conflicts and crisis. It will have problem with futility – no good will come from a right decision. As usual, the presidency will look out for its own - the rich.

Nigerians will be imprisoned by fear and preoccupied with survival. My administration will exhibit bizarre antics and unrestrained behavior. We'll see endless parade of swindlers, con men and con women, crooks, and charlatans, the country ever witnessed. Nigerians will become butlers to wait on every command of the hapless president.

Number of scams and scandals in my administration will skyrocket and will defy explanation or description. Moral failure, financial chicanery, blatant injustice, lawlessness, will become deeper and dirtier. There will be exponential mass poverty, squalor, suffering, oppression, political assassination, suppression of justice and press freedom will be on the rise.

Sick Nigerians will be treated as criminals while thieves in government will continue to be ferried to foreign hospitals for treatment. Nigeria will be a country of decay and squeezed morals buried under tremendous pressure of shame and greed. And much more. Well, we cannot prepare for a future we cannot project or predict. As your president, you will not be able to predict the future of Nigeria. In my administration, Nigeria will be thrown into a national funeral which no one will attend.

This is a call for action. The time is now. Let's come together as a nation, and as a people. Let's join hands together in this historic journey into the unknown. Let's make Nigeria three separate, hostile, and unequal nation: Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo. Let’s roll our sleeves and get to work!

God bless Nigeria!

HungerBAD:
Interesting.

I can see the Christian upbringing reflecting in the way you are dressed here, complete with the gown you are wearing,covering all your body.

Truth is, there are women that are destined to be afternoon dates in hotels only,as the men have to go back home to their wives in the night.

Seu.n, Mynd4.4,Dinbang and other bachelors here. This "Christian" actress is single and needs a husband. Please do the needful.

Shelumiel:
Al-jazeera has an online webpage(...or have you forgotten ?) . Kindly display the source of your info so it will no longer be tagged fake .

Shelumiel:
Fake news as usual . Next !

BiafranDel:
Sweet milf. Sweet bbw. As i see the picture, to fvck the woman just dey hungry me.

vanbonattel:
Buharri once said Abacha was not corrupt, and I ask, who stashed the trillions of Naira stolen from Nigeria into the Swiss banks? Must be the lifeless one