Peter Obi, the vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said President Muhammadu Buhari is not the one piloting the affairs of the nation.

The former Anambra governor made the claim in Lagos on Saturday while accessing the proposed 2019 budget present to the national assembly by the president.

“We need to know where we are going as a nation but with Buhari at the helms of affairs, we do not know where we are going. Buhari is not in charge of this government as he does not know or care what the poor people are going through,” Obi said.

Several stakeholders including the wife of the president, Aisha Buhari, has repeatedly claimed the president is not in charge of his government.

Mrs Buhari in her latest claim said two men which she refused to name were in control of her husband’s administration.

For the former governor, the economic blueprint of the current administration does not tackle the shortcomings of Nigerians.

He said should Buhari who seeks a second term in office be re-elected, the economy of the country will keep on bleeding to the worst.

“Nigeria will not survive if Buhari goes ahead with plans to tax poor Nigerians, in line with provisions of the proposed budget which is largely focused on debt servicing.

“Nigerians are currently the poorest people on earth, yet the Muhammadu Buhari administration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is still looking at taxing them the more.

“Take look at the budget presented by the President a few days ago and you will see that it does not give anyone hope instead, it tells us that we are still where we have always been.

“A quarter of the budget is meant to service debts, and that is about 60% of the budget while the President keeps telling Nigerians to tighten their belts because of the harsh times staring at us in the future.

“Does that give anyone confidence in this government? Not at all, I dare say. While presenting the budget, he said that the government is looking for ways to tax Nigerians the more. What are you taxing the poor people for?

“Does that give any one of us hope in this government? That means that if we keep them for the next four years, we are finished,” the former governor said.

He said if the PDP is given a chance to govern at the national level, the focus will be placed on reviving small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Obi said Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the opposition party if elected, intends to restore investor confidence and improve ease of doing business in the country to stimulate economic growth.

“We know the situation looks gloomy but we are not scared of going in to salvage the country. The situation with Nigeria is like an accident victim. The first thing to do in such a situation is to stop the bleeding first by applying first aid before the real treatment,” he said.

“Unless the right steps are taken to stop the bleeding, we will still be where we have been for years.

“It’s going to be difficult but we know where we are going and what we are going to do. To put the Nigerian economy back on a sound footing, we have to take a holistic look at SMEs because only then will you rescue the dwindling economy.

“We need to change the way we do things in this country if we ever hope to come out of this economic quagmire we have found ourselves in. We must change the way we do things in this country or we will continue to grope in the dark.”

Officials of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration are bent on getting their principal re-elected for a second term in office not minding whatever channel is used.

One of such channels is the claims by top officials of the administration that Buhari will handover to two geo-political zones if they vote en masse to return the president for a second term.

Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President; Boss Mustapha, Secretary to Government of the Federation; Babatunde Fashola, Power Minister and Chris Ngige, Labour Minister are some of Buhari’s men who have openly made the claim.

While Messrs Osinbajo and Fashola keep narrating repeatedly that the president will hand over power to the South West geo-political zone, Mustapha and Ngige on the other hand says the Nigerian leader will look the way of the South East on completion of his second term in office.

The promise POLITICS TIMES gathered is aimed at getting the two zones to vote en bloc for Buhari who is the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress, (APC).

It is also aimed at shattering the votes the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar, will gain from the areas having picked his running mate from the South East and promised the South West the restructuring the zone has been clamouring for.

“The 2019 general elections is our own. We are not looking at the 2019 but 2023,” Osinbajo said.

“If we get it in 2019, Yoruba will get it in 2023. Because if we don’t get it in 2019, we may not get it in 2023 and it may take a very long time to get it,” the number two citizen said on Saturday at the palace of Lamidi Adeyemi 111, the Alaafin of Oyo.

For Mustapha, the shortest route to producing a president of Igbo extraction is by supporting and voting for APC in 2019.

The Igbo are citizens of the South East and the region has not produced a president since the return to civilian rule in 1999.

While the South West gave their full support to Buhari in 2015, the South East went for the PDP, a repeat of that is likely to happen again given the fact that tribalism goes a long way in Nigerian politics.

“This man (Buhari) has only one term (four years) to do and go home, and an Igboman will replace him. But if you leave this shortest route and take a gamble, you are on your own,” Ngige said while addressing news men in Obosi, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

“If Igbo refuse to play their cards right in next year’s general elections, the South-West will take away the chance from them.

“They will produce the next president after Buhari, because the zone has shown demonstrable commitment to Buhari’s cause.

“My good friend Babatunde Fashola has blown the whistle. What he said should be a warning signal to the Igbo, because you can’t stop the South-West from producing the next president of the country after supporting Buhari and the APC government.

“That is why I’m telling our people now to come out en masse in next year’s election and vote for Buhari, so that nothing will stop you from succeeding him in 2023,” the minister added.

He further described the vice-presidential slot given to the Igbo by the PDP as a “mere spare tyre that might be used for over six years”.

POLITICS TIMES predicts that given the support the APC and the president have enjoyed from the South West since 2013 when the ruling party was formed, the South East will likely not clinch the 2023 presidential ticket of party even if the people of the zone vote for en-masse for the Buhari in 2019.

Already, Bola Tinubu, national leader of the APC, is said to be warming up to take over from the president.

Since it was made known by Bukola Saraki, Senate President, the former Lagos State governor has not denied the allegation.

Bukola Saraki, Senate President, has predicted that Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s President, will not attended the presidential debate billed for to hold January 19.

Mr Saraki stated this at an event on Thursday while speaking to some Civil Society Organisations in Abuja.

Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is also scheduled to address the CSOs at the event.

“I am told that one has debated and you already know the answer to that debate. On the second one, I am very sure he is not going to debate. So how do you assess somebody who is not ready to tell you what he is going to do?” the top lawmaker queried.

Saraki said gone are the days where presidential candidates are not properly scrutinized before being elected.

“Those days are gone, my good people. The future of this country, a country that leads the continent that is not the example we want to set for this continent.

“The whole world is going in a direction, if you are seeking a position, you must come and tell people what you want to do, you must sit down and they will ask you questions and that is why we are here.

“Today is your day, we will sit down and take questions. I hope at the end of this exercise, you will stand up and say yes, this is the team that will secure Nigeria; this is the team that will unite Nigeria; this is the team that will fight the poverty in town and bring a bright future,” he said.

2019 BUDGET HOPELESS

Saraki also took a swipe at the 2019 budget presented to the National Assembly by the president.

He described the document as one that is hopeless with no clear direction.

“We all heard the 2019 budget. That is a budget that has no hope for anybody because when you look at the statistics and the figures, there is poverty. If you look at the figures based on revenues that are coming in, there is nothing left, so where is the future?” Saraki further queried.

“There must be an alternative and that is what we hope that by this evening, speaking to our candidate and vice presidential candidate, is not based on sentiments. We are not voting on sentiments we are voting on what is in it for you.

“How is your life going to be better? Which party offers you a better future because we see you as those who are patriotic and committed? It’s not about what you will get today. It is about this great country. A lot of you have been making sacrifices over the years,” he said.

Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s President, says he is prepared to give the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the opportunities they denied him during his days in the opposition.

Mr Buhari stated this when he played host to a delegation from the United States International Republican and National Democratic Institute at the presidential villa on Monday.

Since the return to democratic rule in 1999, the PDP had held sway until the party lost the 2015 presidential election to the All Progressive Congress (APC) which had the president as its then presidential candidate.

Mr Buhari who currently seeks a second term in office had contested severally for the highest office in the land and lost to the PDP.

“I am glad you are here to assess our pre-election preparations. It reminds me of the visit by the then secretary of state, John Kerry, before the 2015 polls,” the president said.

“We appreciate the concern of America for stability in developing countries.

“Having run for president three times, ending up at the supreme court all three times, before God and technology made a way for me the fourth time, I know what it is to be cheated at the polls.

“What they used to do was just to award votes, and tell anyone who was dissatisfied to go to court. But we won’t do that. I am prepared to give the opposition the opportunities I was not given in the past,” Buhari said.

While noting that his administration has done fairly well in security, economy and fighting corruption, the president said he has ordered security operatives to be apolitical and do their duties professionally as the nation goes to elect its leaders next year.

The recent clamour for non partisan of security operatives during elections has landed some critics of the government behind bars.

President Muhammadu Buhari has no moral right to seek a second term in office, former president, Goodluck Jonathan, has said.

Mr Jonathan stated this in reactions to blames heaped on him as the cause of the failures of the Buhari administration.

The former president lost re-election to the incumbent President in the 2015 presidential election.

Since he left office, Jonathan, his administration and his party – Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has severally been blamed for the woes encountered by the current administration.

The latest blame thrown to the former president is the insinuation from Garba Shehu, the spokesman of Buhari, that Jonathan was responsible for his principal’s inability to form a cabinet, six months after assuming power.

Buhari had spent six months scrutinizing those he want as ministers. At the time, he had said the need to restructure the Federal Government ministries and to effect his party’s mantra of change in government processes and operations accounted for his delay in appointing ministers.

But Shehu added a new twist to it on Monday when he featured in a Sunrise Daily programme on Channels Television.

Frank Shuaibu, special adviser on public communications to Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the PDP who also featured on the programme, had listed Buhari’s delay in appointing his cabinet as one of the factors that plunged the economy into a recession.

“The claims made by my dear friend here that President Muhammadu Buhari spent 166 days without forming a cabinet, that absolutely is untrue,” Shehu said while in defence of his principal.

“It took him time to form a cabinet because the outgoing administration in 2015 did not cooperate with the transition committee,” he added.

Responding in a statement issued on his behalf by Ikechukwu Eze, his spokesman, Jonathan wondered why a government seeking reelection would be looking for a scapegoat.

The former president who absolved himself of any blame said Buhari ought not to seek re-election because he has failed in piloting the affairs of the country.

“As strange as that particular assertion may sound, it still beggars belief that a spokesman of a President who is seeking re-election would still be looking for a scapegoat for the administration’s failure, at a time he should be showcasing his scorecard. That amounts to merely clutching at straws,” Mr Eze said.

“One thing is as clear as daylight: The Jonathan administration has absolutely nothing to do with the failure of this government to appoint ministers early enough to inspire confidence in investors because it is obvious that handover notes from a predecessor does not contain the list of ministers for the incoming administration.

“However, that is even making light of Garba Shehu’s unending embarrassing gaffe. It is expected that a man who has been around the corridors of power for that long, beginning from when he served as a media adviser under President Obasanjo for years, should understand Government’s basic functions and procedures. Handover notes, being transitioning documents, are usually received by an incoming President from his predecessor at the time of change of government.

“It is not a document that guides a President to appoint his ministers. Under normal circumstances, a newly inaugurated President needs the support of his ministers, who would handle different departments of Government, to study and understand his handover notes for effective performance of his initial duties.

“Those who think like Shehu that a Government would not function properly if it does not receive handover notes in time, should be reminded that there is no law establishing the process. It is simply a matter of convenience for an outgoing President to develop handover notes to guide his successor understand key issues and hit the ground running.

“In his own case, former president Jonathan magnanimously set up a transition team that produced the handover document which President Buhari received ahead of his inauguration.

“Anyone who uses handover notes to justify a President’s indiscretion of not appointing ministers until after spending six months in power, is either being mischievous or does not really understand governance processes.

“It is the duty of every responsible administration to seek to make better the situation it met on ground, anything less than that is a prove of incompetence for which a failed administration has no moral justification to ask for a fresh mandate.

“While members of the current administration continue to blame President Jonathan for their failure to deliver on their mandate, they should be reminded that there are many African success stories that proved that a progress-minded administration has no business focusing only on the past,” the statement partly read.

Udoma Udoma, Budget and Planning Minister, has denied blaming the National Assembly for delaying the presentation of the 2019 budget.

Mr Udoma was quoted by several news medium as blaming the legislature for delays in presenting the budget approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) last week.

The blame led to reactions from members of the House of Representatives who threatened to boycott the presentation of the budget if the minister refused to tender an apology to the National Assembly.

Dismissing the report, Udoma said his comments were misconstrued.

“Going by the headlines in some news media today in respect of the presentation of the 2019 Budget to the National Assembly, it is obvious that some of the reporters misconstrued the response of the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, when he was asked when the budget would be submitted to the Legislature,” the minister said in a statement signed by Akpandem James, his media aide.

“The Minister simply said that as is the procedure when the budget is ready, the Executive liaises with the National Assembly for a date which the Budget will be laid before the joint session of the Assembly; and that the process is on already.

“The Minister at no time throughout the interaction with the media blamed the National Assembly for the delay in the presentation, nor gave the impression that there was any issue between the two arms of government over the 2019 budget,” James added.

Some members of the House of Representative on Thursday threatened to boycott the 2019 budget presentation scheduled to hold next week Wednesday.

The federal lawmakers made the threat after the speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, read a letter from President Muhammadu Buhari, notifying the chamber of his intention to present the next year’s budget to the National Assembly.

The legislators made reference to a statement credited to Udoma Udoma, the minister of budget and planning as reason for their threat.

Mr Udoma was reported to have blamed the National Assembly for frustrating the efforts of the executive from presenting the proposed budget to the legislature.

“As you already know, the budget is ready. We are liaising with the national assembly because they are to give us a date. If they say today, we will go. The budget is ready,” the minister was quoted as saying at the end of the federal executive council (FEC) meeting in Abuja.

The remarks of Udoma angered the federal lawmakers who then threatened to boycott the presentation of the budget which must be presented to the two chambers of the National Assembly.

Chika Adamu (APC Niger) while reacting said the minister lied on national television and must tender an apology if the chamber must attend the presentation.

Another lawmaker, Mark Gbillah (PDP Benue) supporting Adamu’s remark said “it is a statement he (Udoma) made categorically.”

“He lied against this honourable house on national television. I want to join my colleagues to request a formal apology on TV, else we will refuse to attend that budget session with Mr President,” Gbillah said.

Mike Adeniyi (PDP Ondo) also supported the claim, noting that “the executive arm has always portrayed the parliament in bad light.”

“The minister must come and apologise. If not, the president will come to meet an empty house,” he added.

In defence of the minister, Femi Gbajabiamila (APC Lagos) accused his colleagues of peddling lies against the minister.

“The minister called me this morning; he was alarmed and upset and shocked. He said he was just reading something in the papers ascribed to him and that he never said such a thing and he is writing a rejoinder as we spoke,” the House leader said

“So I think we should tarry a while because you are accusing someone of lying. Let us not turn this house into a partisan house,” he added.

Immediately, Muhammad Soba (Kaduna) accused Gbajabiamila of “sycophancy”.

“We have seen how sycophancy has been taken to the next level. That is the APC government for you,” Soba said.

Intervening, Dogara pleaded with his colleagues to exercise patience “to see if he (Udoma) will truly issue a rejoinder.”

“But if we don’t see that (a rejoinder), then we have an issue because we will not allow this institution to be blackmailed. If nothing is done, we will take a concrete action on it,” he said.

President Muhammadu Buhari will on Wednesday next week present the proposed 2019 budget to the National Assembly.

Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House of Representative, made this known on Thursday at the floor of the lower chamber.

The speaker said this was contained in a letter sent to the legislative arm of government by Mr Buhari.

“May I crave the kind indulgence of the House of Representatives to grant me the slot of 11 hours on Wednesday, 19th December, 2018 to formally present the 2019 appropriation bill in a joint session and lay before the NASS the 2019 budget proposal,” the president said.

As at press time, the issue is being deliberated upon at the green chamber.

chicoMX:


You're a fool!
for saying Reno is spot on, you're the greater fool! Ewu

RENO Omokri, an ex-presidential aide has said if the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, must arrest those with questionable source of income, President Muhammadu Buhari’s son must first be arrested.

Omokri stated this while reacting to the recent clamp down on internet fraudsters popularly known as Yahoo Boys.

The EFCC which recently began moves to subdue those living large with no known source of income has so far launched it operation in Lagos and Abuja.

While those in Lagos were picked up from night clubs, their Abuja counterpart, according to the EFCC, were arrested in one of their hideouts.

Yusuf Buhari is President Buhari’s son which the ex-presidential aide is urging the anti-graft agency to arrest on account that he has no known source of income.

“If the EFCC wants to arrest young men living large without an identifiable source of income, then they should start Yusuf Buhari,” Omokri said on Monday.

“Yusuf does not have a job. He has not done NYSC. His father had to borrow to buy nomination forms.

“Where did he get the millions for BMW power bike?” he queried via his twitter handle.

The president’s son was involved in a motorbike accident in Abuja on December 26, 2017 breaking his limb and sustaining an injury on his head in the crash which happened in Gwarimpa, Abuja.

After the crash, he underwent surgery at a hospital in the nation’s capital and remained there until January 12 before being discharged and flown abroad for further medical attention.

He was reported by a national daily to have bought two power bikes at a whopping sum of $157,000 from Germany. Yusuf was said to have secretly acquired them without the knowledge of his father.

He has three operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS) attached to him as security details and reportedly struck a deal with the operatives to always allow him sneak out in the night for racing. It was in one of the process that he had the accident.

AYODELE Fayose, incumbent governor of Ekiti State has told President Muhammadu Buhari what he should do rather than congratulate Kayode Fayemi on his emergence as the flag bearer of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the July 14 gubernatorial race in the state.

BUKOLA Saraki, president of the 8th Senate says over nine hundred and forty (940) people lost their lives since the year began.

Saraki stated this on Thursday through his aide on International Relations, Bamikole Omisore.

Mr Omisore who released a list containing dates and numbers of people killed in parts of the country insisted that the spate of killings was the reason the upper legislative chamber summoned the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris to appear before it.

Idris had on three occasions refused to honour the invitations of the Senate to appear before the lawmakers. His defiance angered the red chamber who declared him unfit to hold public office.

Reacting to the declaration, the police boss said he was being blackmailed threatening to challenge the decision of the Senate in court.

Omisore releasing the compiled list said the killings were those from January 1, 2018 to April 30, 2018.

“This is the details of the killings in the country from Jan 1 to April 30 2018.

“THIS IS WHAT THE SENATE WANTS THE IGP TO COME BEFORE IT TO ADDRESS, but he is too big to tell Nigerians what he is doing about it,” he posted on WhatsApp.

Below is the list as released by him.

TIMELINE ON KILLINGS SINCE JAN 1

· January 1 – 73 killed in Logo and Guma LGAs in Benue
· January 1 – 2 killed in Awe LGA, Nasarawa
· January 1 – 25 Killed in Keana LGA, Nasarawa
· January 3 – 3 killed in Markurdi, Benue State
· January 4 – 6 killed in Wukari in Taraba
· January 4 – 1 killed in Gassol LGA, Taraba
· January 5 – 4 Killed in Lau LGA, Taraba
· January 5 – 15 killed in Tse Akombo, Tse Vii and Tse Agule vilages in Benue
· January 6 – 55 killed in Lau LGA in Taraba State
· January 8 – 3 killed in Sardauna LGA, Taraba
· January 8 – Two policemen killed in Logo, Benue State
· January 13 – 10 killed in Birnin Gwari LGA, Kaduna
· January 13 – 1 killed in Makurdi LGA, Benue
· January 14 – 1 killed in Bassa LGA, Plateau
· January 14 – 1 killed in Ibi LGA, Taraba
· January 16 – 5 killed in Madagali LGA, Adamawa
· January 16 – 5 killed in Guma, Logo and Okpokwu LGAs Benue
· January 18 – 11 killed in Madagali LGA, Adamawa
· January 21 – 1 killed in Barkin Ladi LGA, Plateau
· January 21 – 6 killed in Juman LGA, Adamawa
· January 23 – 9 killed in Ardo Kola, Adamawa
· January 24 – 4 killed in Kaiama, Kwara
· January 25 – 15 killed in Bassa LGA, Plateau
· January 26 – 3 killed in Bassa LGA, Plateau
· January 26 – 2 killed in Ukum, Benue
· January 29 – 1 killed in Guma, Benue
· January 31 – 1 killed in Jema’a LGA, Kaduna
· January 31 –9 killed in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna
· February 1 – 4 killed in Gassol, Taraba
· February 2 –10 killed in Song, Adamawa
· February 5 – 2 killed in Guma, Benue
· February 6 – 8 killed in Obi, Nasarawa
· February 8 – 6 killed in Shellen, Adamawa
· February 10 – 2 killed in Benue
· February 10 – 3 killed in Bassa, Plateau
· February 11 – 4 killed in Jema’a, Kaduna
· February 12 – 2 killed in Guma, Benue
· February 26 – 12 killed in Kajuru, Kaduna
· February 27 – 20 killed in Demsa, Adamawa
· March 1 – 15 killed in Saradauna, Taraba
· March 4 – 20 killed in Saradauna, Taraba
· March 5 – 25 killed in Okpokwu, Benue
· March 7 – 2 killed in Takum, Taraba
· March 8 – 11 killed in Bassa, Plateau
· March 9 – 9 killed in Bokkos, Plateau
· March 12 – 26 killed in Bassa, Plateau
· March 13 – 7 killed in Guma, Benue
· March 13 – 1 killed in Lokoja, Kogi
· March 14 – 32 killed in Daima/Omala, Kogi
· March 14 – 6 killed in Bassa, Plateau
· March 15 – 5 killed in Takum, Taraba
· March 19 –10 killed in Omala, Kogi
· March 20 – 11 killed in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna
· March 22 – 3 killed in Jos South, Plateau
· March 24 – 5 killed in Makurdi, Benue
· March 30 – 6 killed in Jema’a, Kaduna
· April 4 – 6 killed in Chikun, Kaduna
· April 4 – 4 killed in Takum, Taraba
· April 4 – 10 killed in Gwer West, Benue
· April 5 – 5 killed in Dobga, Taraba
· April 5 – 30 killed in Gwer West, Benue
· April 5 – 50 killed in Offa, Kwara*
· April 7 – 4 killed in Bali, Taraba
· April 7 – 2 killed in Agatu, Benue
· April 8 – 5 killed in Birkin Ladi, Plateau State
· April 8 – 5 murdered in Obi, Nasarawa
· April 8 – 4 killed in Keana, Nasarawa
· April 9 – 1 killed in Guma, Benue
· April 10 – 10 murdered in Benue
· April 10 – 51 killed in Wukari, Taraba
· April 12 – 2 killed in Markudi, Benue
· April 12 – 2 murdered in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna
· April 13 – 5 killed in Bassa, Kogi
· April 14 – 4 killed in Logo, Benue
· April 14 – 78 murdered in Obi, Nasarawa
· April 17 – 1 killed in Logo, Benue
· April 18 – 4 killed in Bassa, Plateau
· April 19 – 1 killed in Kutigi, Niger
· April 19 – 1 killed in Gwer West, Benue
· April 20 – 31 killed in Guma, Benue
· April 25 – 19 killed in Gwer East, Benue
· April 25 – 38 killed in Guma, Benue
· April 25 – 7 killed in Awe, Nassarawa
· April 28 – 14 killed in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna
· April 29 – 5 killed in Gwer West, Benue.
*Offa killings were from multiple armed robberies on banks in the town.

A National Leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu has threatened to dump his party.

Tinubu, a founding father of the APC played a vital role in the emergence of the now ruling party in 2013.

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari is still better his predecessors, former governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, has said.

Mr Oshiomhole stated this when he officially made his aspiration to become the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), known in Abuja on Thursday.

He is expected to be the main challenger to the incumbent chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, if the latter decides to seek re-election.

Both men are from Edo State and are former governors of the state.

A meeting by APC state chairpersons and leaders in the South-south ended in acrimony due to the ambition of both men.

Mr Oshiomhole, however, enjoys the support of President Muhammadu Buhari. He is also believed to enjoy the support of a leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu; thus putting him in good stead to emerge the national chairman.

The former labour leader opined that President Buhari is not a ‘thief’ and this alone makes him much better than his predecessors.

“I want to assure Nigerians that I believe with a new leadership of the APC and with our president, whom I believe is ever determined, no matter what anybody wants to say, there will be time to engage in all of those contestations as we approach 2019 electioneering campaign and those who wish to contest on various party platforms come to the open, we will know the players, we will know their coach, we will be able to engage.

“Until then, so that I don’t change headlines, there is only one thing I want to say here and now, that the worst critic of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, will agree that the president is not a thief. President Buhari is not a thief. That, for me, is the starting point and we will challenge others,” said Oshiomhole.

Earlier, he said the reason for his intention is to reposition, re-organise and make the All Progressives Congress (APC) a “digital party.”

“I believe that with the zeal to work with the executive and legislative arms of government, we will engender renewed public confidence and support for our party and government at all levels,” he said.

Oshiomhole assured that the principle of separation of powers will be upheld under his watch as chairman but warned that he will not be a toy, at the disposal of anybody, and stressed that there will no longer be graveyard silence on issues concerning the party.

“As I present myself for the position of the national chairman of our great party, it is pertinent to reflect on what constitutes the APC. The APC is a progressive party which represents the collective will of all the members of the party in all the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“It is my hope that if, and when elected as national chairman of the party, we will reposition and re-organise the party based on its philosophy of social democracy, which basically means people-oriented, membership driven and mass-based political organisation. To be able to translate these into concrete action that is visible and verifiable.

“Under our leadership, we will naturally have to do a couple of things differently, in the day to day management of the party, while interfacing with all those elected on the platform of the party at all levels.”