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Tag: 2019

  • Military will not be involved in 2019 election – INEC boss

    Military will not be involved in 2019 election – INEC boss

    The Independent National Electoral Commission has said the military will not be involved in election duties in 2019.

    The INEC boss said this in an interview with a monthly magazine, The Interview.

    Yakubu said the police would be the lead agency while the military would ‘form the outer core.’

    He said, “The lead agency in election security is the Nigeria Police. But the Nigeria Police is also empowered where it deems it necessary a call on the support of other security agencies. So, we are operating on a concentric cycle sort of mechanism.

    “We have the inner core around the polling units, where you have unarmed policemen. You have the central ring where you have armed policemen that can be called in to assist in the polling units when the need arises.

    “And then you have the military in the outer cordon. I think that has been the mechanism that has worked. I have had no problem with that and will retain that. But the military will never be involved in election duty similar to what happened in elections before 2015.”

    Yakubu also said that the commission could not hold the continuous voter registration at the polling unit levels because it would cost N1.2bn per day, the total amount approved for the entire exercise.

    He regretted that N1.2bn was what was approved for INEC in the 2017 Budget for the entire exercise for a year.

    He explained that due to financial constraints, the commission decided to move the registration of voters to the local government level, which slowed down the process of registration and caused queues at the centres nationwide.

    Yakubu said, “At what level can we best register citizens? We said the polling units because these are the closest points to the voters. They are literally at the doorsteps of citizens. With 120,000 polling units nationwide and on the basis of the four officials we deploy to each registration centre, we came to the conclusion that we required 620, 000 ad hoc workers.

    “Can we engage 620, 000 ad hoc workers all year round? Assuming that each one of them is paid N1, 500 for transportation and feeding, that will cost the nation N1.2bn everyday in ad hoc workers’ allowances alone. By the time you add cost of the Direct Data Capture machines, your security, the generators and the fuelling and servicing of the generators, the consumables from ink to paper, the cost for the take-off of the exercise came to N131bn.”

    Yakubu said when the registration was brought to the local government level, many people complained about the pace of registration.

    Yakubu also attributed the rush at the registration centres partly to the rumour on the social media that INEC would soon suspend registration.

  • PDP totally destroyed, APC will win more states come 2019 – El-Rufai boasts

    Governor Nasir Ahmad E-Rufai of Kaduna on Wednesday said that the All Progressives Congress [APC] would win next general election because the party is a 21st-century miracle.

    Governor El-Rufai made the call today at the first public lecture of Al-hikmah University, Adewole, Ilorin titled “Governing justly: Perspectives from near and far with lessons for Nigeria”, held at the University’s auditorium.

    “We are a party that is just five years old. We are a miracle. We are truly a 21st-century miracle. A party that was formed a year to the election and ejected a party which had been for 16 years is a miracle. We will solve our problems and we will win the next elections even in more states. Because we are capable of solving our problem and the other party is so disorganized, misinformed.
    “If you look at the Nigerian political environment, the APC has no opposition, PDP is totally destroyed as a brand. We have no effective opposition. The opposition with APC is within APC. We have people that are unhappy, there are many unhappy people, some of them legitimately, there are some disgruntled people that are unhappy without basis, and we also have rascals and troublemakers who think politics is rascality and to each one there is a different solution.

    The Governor who is a member of the All Progressives Congress Restructuring Committee, stressed the need to use human capital development to grow the country, saying that the population of Nigeria should not be seen as a curse rather as an opportunity and blessings which government must invest on its sustainability to reduce unemployment and poverty rate.

    The Writer of Accidental Civil Servant who is the guest speaker charged governments at all levels to begin to explore the untapped potentials in all sectors of the economy to ensure accelerated growth in Nigeria.

    According to him, government must be guided by justice, adding that President Muhammad Buhari constantly emphasize on the need for governors and members of his cabinet to put social justice on their top agenda.

    Governor El-Rufai charged Nigerians to put their respective governments on their toes to deliver on the legitimate rights of citizens, especially in the area of solid qualitative education and Agriculture.

    In his welcome address, the Vice Chancellor of Al-hikmah University, Professor Taofeek Ibrahim, said the choice of the Kaduna State Governor to deliver the first public lecture of the institution was a consensus reached by both the staff and students looking at his track records in Nigeria’s politics.

    Professor Ibrahim disclosed that the Kaduna State Government initiated a scholarship programme for indegenes of the state to study different courses in the University, adding that the University would continue to strengthen the existing relationship with the state government

  • All registered voters will get PVCs before 2019 – INEC assures Nigerians

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday said eligible persons registered in ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) would get their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) before 2019 general elections.

    The Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made this known at an interactive session with newsmen in Abuja.

    “Those who registered in 2017, their PVCs will be ready in May; for those who registered in 2018 and those who intend to register will all get their PVCs before the 2019 general elections.

    “For now, we are giving priority attention to Ekiti and Osun governorship elections but all registered Nigerians will get their PVCs before the elections,” he said.

    Yakubu said that there were 1,446 centres across the country where the voter registration was ongoing, adding that 400 Direct Data Capture machines had been deployed to hasten the process.

    He said that the commission was committed to conducting free, fair and credible elections and improving the electoral process in the country.

    He urged the media to monitor the process of forthcoming governorship elections in Osun and Ekiti and report grey areas for immediate actions by the commission.

    The INEC helmsman said that the media should collaborate with the commission on the task of ensuring credible elections by exposing any form of irregularities.

    He said that discussions were ongoing with telecommunication providers to ascertain the availability of 4G and 3G networks in rural areas to support transmission of election results electronically from polling stations.

    He said that the order of the 2019 elections as announced by the commission remained until a new law on elections was enacted.

    Yakubu said the commission had completed all preparatory steps ahead the elections and that the election budget would be presented to the appropriate authorities before the end of the week.

    He disclosed that the committee constituted to investigate alleged registration of under-age persons in Kano would commence work on Wednesday.

    According to him, the commission knows that a credible election begins with a credible voter register and the commission is interested in knowing what exactly happened in Kano.

    The chairman assured that only credible voter register would be used to conduct elections in 2019.

    In separate contributions, journalists urged the commission to train and monitor the activities of its ad hoc personnel, saying that it was necessary to reduce chances of being compromised.

    They urged the electoral umpire to consider the transfer of rural polling units in the North-East to urban centres so as not to disenfranchise Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

  • Again, APC governors meet Buhari; pressure him to run in 2019

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday night met with state governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the conference hall of the Wife of the President, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The meeting was a follow-up to the Daura meeting which was held at the president’s private resident last Friday.

    Recall that the Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo, told journalists after a closed door meeting with Mr. Buhari in Daura, Katsina State, that their mission was merely to condole with the President over the loss of two members of his extended family.

    He dismissed media reports that their mission to Daura was aimed at convincing the President to seek re-election in the 2019 presidential election.

    The governor, however, stated that the governors would meet with the president soon to deliberate on the 2019 election.

    The governors who met with the president in Daura were the chairman of Governors’ Forum and Zamfara Governor, Abdulaziz Yari; Rochas Okorocha (Imo); Abubakar Muhammed (Bauchi); Kashim Shettima (Borno); Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo) and Malam Nasir El-Rufa’I of Kaduna State.

    Others are Gov. Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa, Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano); Godwin Obaseki of Edo; Yahaya Bello (Kogi); Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi); Abubakar Sani-Bello (Niger) and Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State, while the governors of Benue, Osun and Ogun were represented by their deputies.

    The governors of Yobe and Plateau were also represented at the meeting.

    It was gathered that the meeting of the president with the APC governors was meant to convince President Buhari on the need to seek re-election in 2019.

    The APC governors had earlier attended the meeting of the Council of State, presided over by Mr. Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

     

  • 2019: ‘I will run for President’ says Fela Durotoye as he joins party, ANN

    2019: ‘I will run for President’ says Fela Durotoye as he joins party, ANN

    Motivational speaker and leadership coach, Fela Durotoye, has declared his intention to run for president in the 2019 general elections on the platform of the Alliance for a New Nigeria (ANN).

    In a statement sent to members of the Fela Durotoye Leadership Network, he revealed that he’s joined the ANN to realise his ambition of transforming the country.

    According to him, the country has all the resources it needs to be a desirable place for anyone to inhabit, provided it gets the right leadership.

    His full statement read, “As you may already know, over the last 13 years, I have committed my life and resources to doing all I can to build a New Nigeria that would be the most desirable Nation to live in by December 31, 2025.

    “From nation building projects like Mushin Makeover (which was recorded as the largest non-governmental urban renewal project in Africa’s history), to raising the standard of education in our schools and higher institutions through projects & initiatives, to helping our young people across our nation Deliver The Future to corporate transformation projects and most importantly championing the largest non-governmental Values Infusion project through the 10 lifestyle personal creed that we share together on this network that has now been endorsed and actively promoted by a multitude of Nigerians across all gender, tribe, social class or religious affirmation..

    “As I have stated severally on this platform and in public, I have come to the conclusion that good governance is critical for any nation to accomplish its full potential. In fact, without good governance every other good work carried out by its citizens would ultimately be like pouring water into a basket and is therefore not sustainable.

    “This is why it became important for us to set up the RUNNING FOR A NEW NIGERIA platform, where we galvanize a critical mass of people who would participate in the governance process either by VOTING or BEING VOTED FOR at the 2019 General Elections and beyond.

    “In line with our Values one of which is to “BE A ROLE MODEL WORTHY OF EMULATION”, I had to decide to get involved in the political arena rather than staying on the sidelines and only challenging others to go in.

    “It is my hope that as I step unto the political scene, many more of our brightest and best will arise to heed our nation’s clarion call to contest for elective offices, win the elections, and most importantly collectively deliver good governance to our nation.

    “Therefore, to be clear, I am aspiring to contest as a Presidential Candidate in the 2019 General Elections.”

    “A lot of people have asked me ‘FD, what party will you be running on? Is it APC or PDP?’

    “Whilst it is true that these parties may have formidable grassroots structures, I strongly doubt that these old parties with their old ideology (of God-Fatherism also known as Selectocracy, Rulership, Money Politricks etc) would be able to deliver to us a New Nigeria.

    “And so, over the last few months, I have researched into several political parties to determine if their ideologies, vision and values resonate with those we share together on this Network.

    “I am glad to announce that one party has resonated more with me than others in Ideology, principles & a truly democratic internal political process that is open to all to aspire & provides a level playing field for the best candidates to emerge at all levels for Legislative & Executive offices.

    “I believe it is safe to say that I have found my political home, which I truly believe would be a HOME FOR ALL NATION BUILDERS.

    “Today, 2pm, 22nd of February 2018, I would be formalizing my membership with the ALLIANCE FOR A NEW NIGERIA (ANN) and formally joining the party.

    “ANN is a party founded by Professionals & technocrats with great political insight and wisdom required to build a formidable nationwide grassroot movement within the next 12 months and beyond. The National Chairman is Dr. Jay Osi Samuels, a Medical Doctor and a Renowned Public Health Practitioner respected globally.

    “As I move further on this noble cause, I’d like you to pray with me for divine wisdom, grace, favor, courage, strength & discernment.

    “Secondly, it is my desire that you will, like I have done, decide to step in the political arena and go beyond just registering to vote but also becoming a member of a Political Party where you would have voting rights, ability to choose your own candidates amongst those aspiring for office and where your potential aspirations cannot be stifled by any god father.

    “I strongly believe that your involvement in the political arena either as a member or aspirant within a political party would strongly enhance our ability to deliver good governance for the New Nigeria.

    “As you thoroughly consider the various political parties, I’ll like to recommend for your favorable consideration the Alliance for a New Nigeria. I want you to join ANN not just because I asked you to, but only if the Party Ideology resonates with yours as it does with mine.

    “Lastly, as we together run for a New Nigeria, I would like us to create a buzz for this major milestone and spread the news by sharing the images from my page to all your social media handles, using the hashtag #RunningForANewNigeria & #DeliverTheFuture.

    “It’s 12 months the Presidential Election and we only have enough time to ACT QUICKLY, so let’s make each day count.

    “It’s time to choose our future over our past. IT IS OUR TIME… And together, we will deliver the future.

    “God Bless You. And May God Bless our Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

  • 24 Governors backing Buhari to run, fly in 2019 – Kogi Gov

    Kogi state Governor, Yahaya Bello has declared that 24 governors under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are supporting President Muhammadu Buhari to return to power in 2019

    He made the disclosure on Saturday in Lokoja, the state capital, at a grand rally to welcome People’s Democratic Party (PDP) members who defected to the APC.

    In attendance was APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, among many other party stalwarts.

    Bello said: “We urge Mr President to run and fly in 2019.

    “Twenty-four APC governors are ready to support you (Buhari) under the leadership of the National Chairman of the party, Mr John Oyegun.”

    He thanked the PDP members from the three senatorial districts of the state who decamped.

    Bello added that the APC was where they belonged in the first place and added “come and sin no more.”

    The governor further urged those still in PDP to “come back home”.

  • Jonathan backs NASS decision to reorder 2019 polls

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan has expressed his support on the National Assembly’s proposed decision to re-order the sequence of the 2019 elections.

    Jonathan said the new arrangement was in order and would go a long way in ensuring that more quality people are elected at all levels.

    Majority of the members of the two chambers of the National Assembly want election into the Senate and the House of Representatives to come first next year and the presidential election last.

    “Holding presidential election first will affect the quality of persons that will emerge in other polls because of the bandwagon effect,” Jonathan said yesterday when he granted audience to the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, and members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) at the Jonathan Foundation in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

    He said the decision of the Assembly will help in the election of quality persons into various positions.

    Jonathan made his feelings known

    A statement by the PDP National Chairman’s spokesman, Mr. Ike Abonyi, quoted the former President as advising the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) to abide by the decision of the National Assembly.

    Jonathan asked the APC to see the proposed order of elections “from national and patriotic interests since laws are not meant for persons in power at a particular time.”

    He said he is even looking forward to a time when presidential election in Nigeria will be conducted differently from the others.

    He was optimistic that the PDP will return to power in 2019, saying: “I believe that the PDP will return to power in 2019, if we continue to build confidence, especially as the ruling party has failed to meet up their promises and give hope to the people.

    “Propaganda may help you win election, but it can’t help you govern and that is what the APC has seen in the last 32 months.

    The PDP National Chairman, Prince Secondus, had earlier briefed the former President on the activities of the NWC since December when they were elected into office.

    Secondus said the new leadership is currently engaged in a number of activities aimed at rebranding and repositioning the party with a view to regaining power in 2019.

    He pleaded for Jonathan’s support and that of other leaders of the party.

    The PDP boss said the focus of the party is on youths and women, pointing out that the leadership will soon come up with a new programme on Generational Next.

    At a separate forum, the PDP National Chairman said that the party has no anointed candidate for any elective positions.

    Speaking at a special banquet hosted for the party leadership by Governor Henry Seriake Dickson in Yenagoa, Secondus said unlike other parties where leaders lord it over to the rest, the PDP derives its power direct from the people who really own the party.

    “In this party under my watch, there would be no preferred aspirant for any position, in the spirit of our rebranding to rebuild, reposition and regain power. We cannot afford not to present our best eleven in the contest, “ he said.

    Secondus also said the party remains open to all Nigerians because it belongs to them, not to any group or individual.

    He said the doors of the party remain open to members from all corners to come in because “all hands are needed to chase the APC out of our political life.

    “We welcome people returning to the party with open arms because the party belongs to them and we need all to be on board for the huge task of chasing away evil regime in our life.

    “We must unite to rescue this country from the APC who has come with vengeance against the people of Nigeria.”

    He said that given the damage done to Nigerians by the APC administration in the past 32 months, what awaits the party in 2019 would be a “Tsunami”.

    While commending the PDP governors for their exceptional performance in office, Secondus particularly singled out Governor Dickson for his innovations in office that had led to the transformation of the state in the last six years.

    Secondus revealed that the party was initiating a deliberate programme called Generational Next aimed at re-integrating the youths in the activities of the party with a view to transferring power.

  • [Photos] Our meeting with Buhari is not to discuss 2019 elections – APC govs

    Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress on Friday said their mission to Daura, Katsina State, was merely to condole with President Muhammadu Buhari over the loss of two members of his extended family.

    The Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum, Rochas Okorocha of Imo, stated this when he fielded questions from newsmen after a closed door meeting with President Buhari at his private resident in Daura, on Friday.

    He dismissed media reports that their mission to Daura was aimed at convincing the President to seek re-election in the 2019 presidential election.

    He said the governors also used the opportunity to commend the President for appointing Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as APC Chief Mediator.

    The President had, last week, appointed Tinubu to reconcile aggrieved members of the party.

    “We are yet to discuss that. That would be in next the meeting where we will discuss whether we want to support him to run or not.

    “But for now, we came on the issue of the death of his two relatives and to commend him for action taken on Tinubu as a conciliator,’’ Okorocha said.

    Also speaking on the outcome of the meeting, Gov. Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa said they were in Daura to sympathise with the President on the involvement of his son, Yusuf, in a ghastly auto-accident and the death of his two relatives.

    He described the appointment of Tinubu as APC chief mediator as a wonderful initiative by the President.

    “After the condolences, we had some very intimate discussion that further bound our relationships and affinity together and I believe this is a continuation of our close association and support, loyalty and commitment to Mr. President’s cause and Nigeria’s cause,’’ Al-Makura said.

  • APC has failed, PDP will return to power in 2019 – Jonathan

    APC has failed, PDP will return to power in 2019 – Jonathan

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said the All Progressives Congress, APC, has failed in governance while expressing strong convictions that the Peoples Democratic Party will return to power come 2019.

    Jonathan spoke when he received the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prince Uche Secondus who led members of the National Working Committee, NWC, on a courtesy visit to the Headquarters of the Jonathan Foundation in Yenogoa, the Bayelsa state capital and was contained in a statement by Secondus’ spokesperson, Ike Abonyi.

    The former President also commended the newly elected Prince Secondus led NWC for drawing back confidence in the party, pointing out that those who left will soon return.

    According to the statement, Jonathan expressed optimism that members who left the party would return.

    He said, “I believe that PDP will return to power in 2019 if we continue to build confidence especially as the ruling party has failed to meet up their promises and give hope to the people.

    “Propaganda may help you win election but can’t help you govern and that is what APC has seen in the last 32 months.”

    Earlier, the PDP National Chairman, Prince Secondus had briefed the former President on the activities of the NWC since December when they were elected into office as he solicited for his support and that of other leaders of his status.

    Secondus said that the new leadership already engaged in a number of activities aimed at rebranding, and repositioning the party with a view to regaining power in 2019.

    The PDP boss said that the focus of the party is on youths and women, pointing out that the leadership will soon come up with a new program.

  • 2019: Little Doubt That Atiku is Ready, By Lami Ladan

    Permit me to add my petite voice to the euphoric voices already clamouring for Atiku Abubakar’s candidacy in the upcoming 2019 general election. And rightly so!

    A poorly-handled search for a presidential flag bearer by a discordance of characters over the years, has led the nation to an unfocused and unmitigated democratic debacle.

    Many Nigerians have ignored the essence of our failing egalitarianism. We must acknowledge that we are the instigators of our bad leadership, since we have accepted and allowed mediocrity to shine over merit – as if it is normal – and naturally, we are left with no one to be blamed but ‘we, the people’.

    We have been constantly reminded by the political hegemony that they know what our problems are and that they have the solutions, but they have never revealed how the solutions they proffer will fix the pervasive malady and incompetence of Nigeria’s leadership. It is in this vein that I have decided to help amplify the calls for the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to be given a chance.

    I make bold to say that each time he threw his hat into the political ring to contest for the highest political office in the land, he had done so fully prepared and armed with a manifesto detailing his policies, vis-a-vis the implementation strategies from experts coming together from different strata of our economic, security and social endeavours – need I say, he has the intellectual capacity to select persons who can execute these tasks – even to the admiration of his political opponents. Evidently, his philanthropic lifestyle, his chains of businesses across Nigeria with thousands of employees have lent credence to the purposeful leadership he is equipped to provide.

    One must also salute the boldness of those individuals and group of persons, who have shown maturity of political awareness as they speak up in support of Atiku Abubakar’s candidacy for the 2019 presidential election.

    Nigeria, due to its heterogeneous nature, is not a nation that can or should be governed by mere intentions and dreams. It must be governed with genuine and sound ideas in tune with the yearning and general aspirations of our middle class and the teeming youths.

    The myriad of problems facing the nation at the moment cannot be wished away by mere lamentation and teeth-gnashing.

    There’s need for concerted efforts by able-bodied and intellectually-gifted men and women of this nation led by a strong, dependable and reliable leadership to take us out of this self imposed journey into the doldrums, and Atiku Abubakar will do that. He has passed the test of leadership at all given times. Therefore, this is not a misplaced outburst.

    Atiku Abubakar, beyond the shadow of a doubt, has demonstrated the capacity and fitness to lead this nation especially, at a time like this that wisdom is required to amend the torn fabric of our dear country.

    Finally, we all know that discontent, distrust, insecurity, unemployment and fear are perfect recipe for disaster. We avert such doom with Atiku Abubakar at the helm.