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Tag: 2019

  • 80 Political parties seek registration ahead of 2019 – INEC

    80 Political parties seek registration ahead of 2019 – INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday said that 80 political parties submitted applications for registration ahead of the 2019 elections.

    INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made this known on Tuesday at the Fourth Situation Room Stakeholders Forum on Elections, organised by a coalition of Civil Society Organisations in Abuja.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that there are currently 67 political parties already registered.

    Yakubu, who was represented by Dr AdeKunle Ogunmola, a National Commissioner at INEC, said that the commission was also being asked to register independent candidates for the elections.

    “As it is today, 80 more groups are seeking registration as political parties.

    “We will continue to register them until the time scheduled by the Electoral Act for us to stop.

    “The issue of Independent candidacy is still there too.

    “Right now, we are thinking of how to design our ballot papers to take care of all the registered political parties.

    “So far, the hardest was the Anambra election, where 37 political parties fielded candidates,’’ the chairman said.

    Yakubu said the commission was determined to ensure that the 2019 elections were free, fair and credible.

    He added that INEC would give special attention to the voters’ register.

    Mr Abubakar Malami, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, said the electoral process in Nigeria remained deeply contentious and weak in spite of remarkable reforms in the system.

    Malami, who was also represented by Mrs Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagwu, Special Assistant to the President on Justice Reform, said the Federal Executive Council had set-up an implementation committee on the report of the electoral reform committee.

    He said that the committee, headed by the Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osibanjo, would develop a white paper on the report of the Sen. Ken Nnamani-led committee.

    He spoke on the need to finalise preparation for the 2019 general elections, with just about one year to go.

    Malami said the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was determined to improve on the gains made in previous elections and has taken several steps to strengthen the INEC.

    According to him, the government has ensured that INEC is able to operate as an independent and credible umpire.

    The convener of the Situation Room, Mr Clement Nwankwo, said the country had witnessed some improvement in the nation’s electoral process.

    Nwankwo said that the integrity of INEC had improved since 2011.

    “The hope is that looking towards 2019, it will improve further,’’ he said.

    The convener, however, said that there were challenges of money politics.

    “Looking ahead, we see that INEC has the determination, the integrity and the possibility to ensure that 2019 elections will be an improvement.

    “The electoral process is in the hands of INEC and every other person is supposed to facilitate INEC’s work, including security services, CSOs and political parties.’’

  • Buhari will get more votes in 2019 than 2015 – Okorocha

    Buhari will get more votes in 2019 than 2015 – Okorocha

    Imo governor, Rochas Okorocha has described President Muhammadu Buhari as a man of God who will save Nigeria.

    Okorocha said this in a statement issued on Sunday to congratulate Buhari on his 75th birthday.

    He said the vote the president would get in the 2019 election would be double of what he garnered in the 2015 election.

    “The governor described president Buhari as the man God had used to save the country from total collapse,” he said.

    “At the time Buhari became president, the nation was at the verge of being grounded unknown to some people and then thanked God for his grace upon the land, called Nigeria.

    “In 2019 the votes the president will get for his second tenure will be two times more than the votes he got in 2015 because most Nigerians have come to appreciate the necessity of his coming and what he is doing with the office.

    “In 2019 too, most of the political parties will not sponsor presidential candidates including some of the big parties to enable them support Buhari presidency, and to enable the President finish the good works he has begun and also lay a very solid foundation for those coming after him.”

  • 2019: NEC’s approved $1bn is for Buhari’s re-election – Fayose

    Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has alleged that the decision to withdraw $1bn from the Excess Crude Account to fight Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East region is a means by the All Progressives Congress-led federal government to fund President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election in 2019.

    The governor, in a statement on Friday by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said, “For posterity sake, I wish to place it on record that I was not among the governors, who approved the withdrawal of almost half of our savings in the Excess Crude Account, which belongs to the three tiers of government to fight an already defeated insurgency.”

    According to the governor, since they said they have defeated Boko Haram, what else do they need a whopping sum of $1bn (over N360bn) for; if not to fund the 2019 elections?

    He said, “The APC promised to wipe out Boko Haram within six months, now it is 31 months and what the APC government is wiping out is the economy of Nigeria and the means of livelihood of the people.”

  • 2019: Be careful, politicians desperate to destroy our integrity, CJN warns judges

    As the 2018 pre election year approaches, the Chief Justice of Nigeria( CJN ), Walter Onnoghen has warned judges to be careful of desperate politicians who will stop at nothing to destroy their (the judges) hard earned reputation and integrity just to get to public office.

    Onnoghen noted that as the nation moves closer to its electioneering season, politicians have become desperate and would do to anything to attain power.

    He said: “Let me remind us that our salvation remains in our hands; so in the approaching frenzied political activities leading to the 2019 general elections, let us continue to watch the company we keep, the people we open our doors to lest we unwittingly open ourselves to ridicule and embarrassment as the politicians will do anything not necessarily legal, to have their way including destroying our hard earned reputation and integrity.

    “I therefore say to all of us, be strong, courageous, fair but firm. Stick to the constitutional provisions, the law and doctrine of precedents (stare – decisis) and you cannot go wrong.

    “Even when you are wrongly accused, as we very much are, be patient and remain assured that ‘truth crushed to the earth shall rise again the eternal years of God are hers.

    Onnoghen spoke in Abuja Thursday during the opening session of the Annual Justices of the Court of Appeal Conference.

    The CJN, who was silent on their names, said 14 new Justices have formally been appointed for the Court of Appeal.

    Onnoghen preached against corruption on the bench and urged judge to respect the decisions of the higher courts.

    He said: “As you may be aware, the National Judicial Council at it’s just concluded meeting, approved the elevation of 14 Judges to the Court of Appeal to fill in vacancies that had existed hitherto in the Court.

    “This will certainly help to reduce the work load for the Justices of the court, as well as help in your preparations as we approach election year in our country.

    “Your level of preparation, coupled with the determination of Mr. President, Mohammadu Buhari, GCFR to bequeath to Nigeria a legacy of credible election process, will guarantee the peace and stability we all desire.

    “The fight against corruption must be holistic. Consequently, we must address those issues that tend to distract the Judicial Officer, as well as removing from our midst, undesirable persons of questionable character.

    “It is my firm believes that if we identify and remove them at the lower courts, the appellate courts would have men of integrity, which in turn elicits confidence in the litigants who come before you.

    “I urge you to change your attitude towards your obligation to stare decisis. The benefits are far-reaching and far out-weigh the few and feeble disadvantages.

    “On Judicial precedents as it relates to election and pre-election matters, I want to remind us that the Supreme Court has decided in a number of cases that the principles of Judicial review such as Mandamus, Certiorari, Prohibition etc do not apply because election and election related matters, such as pre-election causes are suis generis.

    “There is an emerging trend whereby a party in a pre-election or election matter, after exhausting his remedies sometimes up to the Supreme Court still pursues a parallel cause of action under the guise of judicial review hoping that one of such parallel actions may succeed, thereby making the court to contradict itself resulting in great embarrassment to the system.

    “Much injustice is thereby created particularly in matters that may not get to the Supreme Court for correction.

    “Where, however, the matter gets to the Supreme Court and the right thing is done, much injustice would have been occasioned by not following the principles of stare decisis.

    “I am saying these because soon the tempo of political activities will pick up and some lawyers will stop at nothing in their effort to outsmart the Bench; so be very very careful and as I have always said, be on top of your game by mastering the principles of laws and facts relevant to the case or issues involved in the dispute so as not to allow legal practitioners to mislead you to the embarrassment of the Judiciary.

    “Always be consistent by following the principles of stare decisis and the law. If you stick to this simple piece of advice, you will not go wrong in your determinations/decisions,” Onnoghen said.

    The President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, who also confirmed the appointment of new Justices for her court, said those appointed were solely on merit.

    She said: “I would also like to seize this opportunity to straighten the fact on the ongoing process of elevation of Judges to the Court of Appeal.

    “It is strictly based on merit with particular preference for Judges who have distinguished themselves by the quality of their judgements in the lower courts and to fill in vacancies created by the death, retirement or elevation to the Supreme Court of our former justices.”

    Bulkachuwa, who spoke about the many innovations to be introduced into the court’s operations in the New Year, urged Justices of the court to shun corruption.

    She said: “Sometimes back, the Judiciary came under heavy attacks on allegation of corrupt practices.

    “As judicial officers, it is not enough to simply talk about corrupt practices but one must believe in the fight against corruption and we must work at it together.

    “I therefore, urge us all to eschew corruption and uphold best practices that will rekindle and bring back trust to the judicial arm of government.

    “Let’s not ask how corruption can be tackled; our main focus should be on what we can do as individuals, or collectively as a body to address this plague,” Bulkachuwa said.

  • Tinubu denies purported plans to replace Osinbajo as Buhari’s running mate in 2019

    A national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Ahmed Tinubu, has said there is no truth in the speculation that he may emerge as President Muhammadu Buhari’s running mate for the 2019 presidential election.

    Tinubu described as a “classic case of utterly and irredeemably-fake news,” the report in a national daily that he was being mooted as Buhari’s running mate in 2019 to boost the APC’s chances in the South-West.

    According to a statement by his Media Officer, Tunde Rahman, the APC chieftain said it was speculated in the said report that Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, a pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, might withdraw from politics in 2019 and return to full church work.

    Tinubu, however, described the report as false, insisting that he and Nigerians “have absolute confidence and are exceedingly proud of the excellent job that Professor Osinbajo is doing as the Vice-President of Nigeria.”

    He said, “There is no empirical or logical basis for this mischievously speculative story. Is it even conceivable, as the story recklessly insinuates, that Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo would be considering returning to full church work rather than run with his boss, President Buhari, for a second term if the latter so decides without as much as discussing such a sensitive issue with his party and with Asiwaju Tinubu?

    “In any case, is this story not entirely unwarranted and indefensible as the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket has an electoral mandate of four years out of which it has spent only over two and a half years?

    “This is clearly an attempt to distract the APC Federal Government from the yeoman’s job it has been doing in rescuing the country from the deep rooted socio-economic, political, security and moral mess inherited from the PDP’s 16 years misrule of Nigeria, instigate crisis within the party, stoke dangerous embers of religious disaffection within the party and the country generally and stem the remarkable progress being made in the reinvention and revitalisation of Nigeria.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, Asiwaju Tinubu has absolute confidence and faith in both President Buhari and Vice-President Osinbajo, who have been working hard harmoniously in offering inspirational leadership to Nigeria at a most critical period in her history.

    “The haemorrhaging of the national economy through the wanton and unprecedented corruption that obtained before the advent of the APC Federal Government has been staunched.

    “There is greater sanity, accountability and transparency in the management of the country’s finances. The Boko Haram insurgency has been substantially contained. We should not allow ourselves to be derailed from the job we are effectively undertaking in fulfilling our campaign promises anchored on the tripod of containing insecurity, taming the scourge of corruption and resuscitating the economy.”

  • World Bank to cease financing upstream oil and gas by 2019

    The World Bank said on Tuesday it would no longer finance upstream oil and gas projects after 2019, apart from certain gas projects in the poorest countries in exceptional circumstances.

    “As a global multilateral development institution, the World Bank Group is continuing to transform its own operations in recognition of a rapidly changing world,” the bank said in a statement.

    “The World Bank Group will no longer finance upstream oil and gas, after 2019,” it added.

     

    (Reuters/NAN0)

  • 2019: No Northerner alive can beat Buhari at polls in the North – Presidency

    Lauretta Onochie, Special Assistant on New Media to President Muhammadu Buhari, has reacted to the outcome of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, National Convention in Abuja.

    The elective convention which produced a South-South member, Uche Secondus as the National Chairman of PDP, was held on Saturday in Abuja.

    She also declared that no Northerner alive can defeat Buhari in 2019.

    She wrote: “I agree. There is no Northerner alive who can beat President Buhari at the polls in the North.

    “In terms of what PDP did yesterday, 2019 election is done and dusted – Daniel Bwalla on ChannelsTV.”

    Recall that Uche Secondus was declared National Chairman of the former ruling party after polling over 2000 votes at the party’s convention in Abuja.

  • Atiku will take us to Aso Rock in 2019 – Makarfi

    The chairman of the National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ahmed Makarfi has urged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to help the ruling party with a winning strategy to return to Aso Rock in 2019.

    Makarfi who made the remarks while receiving Atiku during at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.yesterday alleged that there were people bent on destroying the party.

    He said he was grateful that the party had been winning in courts against those who “are hell-bent on destabilising this party and holding this party down.”

    Makarfi, who was flanked by other members of the caretaker committee, said, “(We went through) guerrilla warfare, artillery attacks, bombardment, but we weathered the storm. And the story will be a positive one at the end of the day.

    “Your Excellency, you have opened the floodgates and we expect many more high profile returnees and new entrants into the PDP.

    “So, PDP must be prepared for this, and be ready to reconcile and reiterate in such a way and manner that everybody will be treated and given a level playing field to pursue their personal aspiration. That is what the PDP must stand for if it has to survive.”

    He denied that the party had a secret deal with Atiku before he agreed to return to the party.

    While saying that he returned in good time, Makarfi called on Atiku to continue to contribute to “this reinvention, remodelling of our party so that come 2019, we can reclaim what we can claim is ours.”

    He asked Atiku to help the party develop a winning strategy that would enable it to win the presidential election in 2019.

    Makarfi reasoned that Atiku’s defection to the PDP before the national convention slated for Saturday in Abuja was an indication that he was ready to contribute to the success of the party.

    He added, “We will continue to consult you. You will also help us reinvent the vehicle that will take us to Aso Rock in 2019.

    “We are not just targeting Aso Rock, we are targeting the federal legislature, the states, both the executive and the legislature. We are targeting the local governments.

    “We want to sweep elections all across the country. As a united party, we have the capacity and we have the ability to do so.”

    Atiku expressed his gratitude to the leadership of the party for granting him the opportunity to visit the party despite the tight schedule of its leaders.

    He said, “What I have come to do today is to come and show my face. Many people have read in the media that I have returned home; this is home.

    “Mr. Chairman, I want to congratulate you for a wonderful work which you have been doing to redeem the image of this party, to return it, rebrand it and return it to its original form.

    “I want to assure you of my support and cooperation at all times; to make sure that these objectives are achieved by you and subsequently by your successors.

    “We should remember that those of us, who founded this party, founded it on the principles of democracy, good governance, unity of this country and the prosperity of its people.

    “Over the years, like any or every human organisation, it has faced its challenges but I want to pay tribute to those who have stayed steadfast through thick and thin to see us through to this point.

    “Now that we have learnt our lessons, I hope that we will be guided by the lessons we have learnt.”

    Atiku added, “And that is to make sure that we build an all-inclusive party, where every part of this country will have a sense of belonging and sense of participation.

    “To achieve all these, there must be sacrifices, understanding and compromises in the process of achieving that. And that is what I speak to members to imbibe.

    “But as you know, one thing that I will never compromise is the internal democratic process in a given political party. And I hope we all must have learnt our lesson.

    “I therefore want to pledge to you, Mr. Chairman and members of the National Working Committee that my returning home is to help continue with the work you have started, reforming, re-branding this very party which is the only party in this country.

    “Let me pay tribute to the past leadership of this great party wherever they may be and to call upon them to please return home as I have done.

    “It is only by their returning home that we will build a stronger, more united party that can, again, return to government and continue to deliver the dividends of democracy.”

    Atiku told the cheery crowd that the PDP government remained the best in the history of the country since 1999.

    The ex-VP argued that it would be difficult for any government to achieve 50 per cent of what the PDP achieved.

    “I can bet you, the records we have achieved so far in governance, no government has yet even done 50 per cent of what we have achieved in government, not to talk of equalling our performance in government,” he added.

    Apart from other members of the caretaker committee, some members of the party, especially those who attended the convention planning committee meetings, were also around to receive Atiku.

    They included a former Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu; a former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Duben Onyia; a former Minister of Police Affairs, Maina Waziri, and Senator Ben Murray-Bruce.

  • Saraki to reveal 2019 ambition next year

    Saraki to reveal 2019 ambition next year

    Senate President Bukola Saraki has disclosed that he will come forward with his political plan for 2019 in two months.

    He said there was enough time to talk about 2019, adding that the topics for discussion now should be how to develop the country.

    Speaking on the Osasu Show, Saraki said: “You are like the tenth person who has asked me, so there is a queue. I promised the first person that when it is time to talk about 2019, I would answer the questions.

    “Anytime next year from February, you can ask us about what are my intentions in 2019 or whether I want to come back to the senate.

    “You want to talk about development and how we are going to get the country going, yes. We have a long time to talk about 2019.”

  • 2019: I will defeat Buhari this time…he has wasted his massive goodwill – Atiku

    • I left APC because it has become Buhari’s property – Atiku

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is confident he will defeat President Muhammadu Buhari come 2019 presidential election in Nigeria.

    Atiku who made the observation in an interview he had with Dele Momodu said it would be easy for his to defeat Buhari this time because he [Buhari]has wasted his massive goodwill

    His words, “I will definitely beat him this time. He has wasted a lot of his massive goodwill. A lot of people are disgruntled but keeping quiet and lying low. Our youths are suffering terribly and now they are being sold into slavery. Everyone knows my track record of inviting and attracting a good team and giving them the opportunity to work professionally. Nigerians are tired of leaders who cannot think big and work big. Dele, I will be ready from day one…”

    “No, definitely not. Buhari is free to contest and I’m free to contest. And Nigerians will make their choice.

    “After Buhari won the election, he was no longer interested in the Party that made him President. Every activity stopped and not even the Party Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, could take any decision. I called Chief Oyegun a few times to tell him our Party was dying slowly but he told me he would not do anything unless he got clearance from the President.

    “At a stage, I gathered about 18 prominent members and began to meet in the hope that we can re-energise Party activities, but some people lied to the President that I wanted to use the forum to launch my Presidential campaign. That forum became simply dead on arrival. No BOT, no NEC meetings, as stipulated in our Constitution. The Party became a one-man property. Everyone grumbles behind the President’s back but they are too timid to raise a voice against the illegalities being perpetuated. I should be bold enough to know what I want, and can do so at my age, so I decided to leave…”

    When asked about his chances of getting the PDP ticket, the former Vice Presidfent said “He told me why he should get it: “Nothing is absolutely certain in this life, but PDP needs a candidate with the brightest chance and that can only come from someone who has major experience, exposure, knowledge about running an economy, who is a Nationalist and not a sectionalist and whose brand cannot be intimidated in anyway by that of the current President. If PDP picks a weak candidate, then the Party is doomed. Some of those whose names are being touted and bandied about have not grown beyond their immediate domains.”