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Tag: All Progressives Congress

  • Why Goodluck Jonathan will join APC

    Why Goodluck Jonathan will join APC

    There are indications that former President Goodluck Jonathan will only be joining the All Progressives Congress presidential race on the condition that he is endorsed by the President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Anything short of this would not be acceptable to Jonathan who served as deputy governor, governor, Vice-President and President on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party from 1999 and 2015.

    Recall that in February, some northern emirs had reached out to the former President, asking him to contest.
    Jonathan had also stayed away from activities of the PDP, including the last national convention.

    Former Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State had also stated that it was unlikely that Jonathan was still a member of the PDP as he was no longer involved in the party’s activities.

    On Thursday, however, posters of the ex-President flooded the national secretariat of the APC on Blantyre Street, Wuse 2.

    On Friday, youth and women groups demonstrated outside of Jonathan’s office in the Maitama area of Abuja.

    The demonstrators, who arrived in five large buses, held up placards some of which read, ‘Jonathan, Please Run’, ‘Jonathan, do the needful’, ‘Jonathan for 2023’, ‘Jonathan Declare Now’ and ‘Goodluck Please Come Back, We Love You’.

    A spokesman for the group, Mayor Samuel, who is also the Convener of the Youth Compatriots of Nigeria, said, “We were deceived and brainwashed by those who claimed they could do it in 2015.

    “Now, we know better, under Jonathan the minimum wage could buy one or two bags of rice. What do we have today? We are begging President Jonathan to forgive us, we have realised our mistakes; we want him back to complete what he started.”

    Jonathan subsequently invited the leaders of the protesters for a private meeting.

    After the brief meeting, the ex-President addressed the demonstrators outside, advising the youths to run for office instead, adding that the constitution had been amended as far back as 2018 in order to give the youths a chance to contest.

    The ex-President said he was not sure if he would run. He, however, asked them to ‘just watch out’.

    “Yes you are calling me to come and declare for the next election, I cannot tell if I’m declaring. The political process is ongoing just watch out.

    “The key role you must play is that Nigeria must get somebody that will carry young people along,” the former President added.

    However, a top source in the APC said that the former President was seeking an assurance that he would be handed the party’s presidential ticket.

    The APC chieftain, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “Jonathan has already been President before. So, the APC cannot offer him anything except the presidential ticket. Imagine him contesting against Osinbajo and Tinubu and losing? Wouldn’t that be disgraceful?

    “So, he has made his position clear. If he is to come to the APC, he must be given the assurance that he will be given the party’s ticket. That is his demand.”

    The source added that the former President may be sold as a “compromise candidate” amid the raging zoning debate in the country.

    “Jonathan is the only Nigerian alive that can promise to serve only one presidential term and abide by it because he is limited by the constitution.

    “If he serves one term, then power returns to the North. It is also not an easy decision but I can assure you that President Buhari will have no qualms with a Jonathan Presidency,” he added.

    Meanwhile, it was learnt that the APC National Working Committee would give special waivers to select aspirants based on the powers conferred on it by the National Executive Committee.

    Section 31.3 of the new APC constitution titled ‘waiver’, reads in part, “Subject to the approval of the National Executive Committee, the National Working Committee may, in special circumstances, grant a waiver to a person seeking a national party office, who is otherwise not qualified under this constitution if, in its opinion, such a waiver is in the best interest of the party.

    “Subject to the approval of the National Executive Committee, the National Working Committee may, in special circumstances, grant a waiver to a person seeking the office of President, Vice President, governor, deputy governor, senator, member of the House Representatives, who is otherwise not qualified under this constitution if, in its opinion, such a waiver is in the best interest of the party.”

    The Nigerian constitution and the Electoral Act state that anyone contesting a presidential election must be a member of a political party which will sponsor him as a candidate.

    However, both the constitution and the Electoral Act do not prohibit non-party members from participating in a primary.

    A member of the party’s NEC asserted that waivers would be on a case-by-case basis.

  • APC postpones till next week the sale of expression of interest and nomination forms for elective positions

    APC postpones till next week the sale of expression of interest and nomination forms for elective positions

    The All Progressives Congress, APC, has
    Postponed for next week the sale of expression of interest and nomination forms for elective positions.

     

    Recall that the party had fixed today for the the sale of the forms, but
    the inability of the contractor handling the printing of the forms to deliver on time called for its postponement.

     

    At the close of work on Friday, the APC Directorate of Organisation was yet to take delivery of the forms.

     

    It was also gathered that the party was yet to fine-tune the guidelines for the sale of the forms and the primaries.

     

    The National Executive Committee (NEC) on Wednesday approved the sale of nomination forms to commence on Saturday, April 23.

     

    A source in the party who confirmed the development on condition of anonymity said the party was yet to fix a new date for the commencement of the sale of forms.

     

    The NWC is expected to determine the new date on Monday.

     

    The source said: “The postponement became necessary following the inability of the contractor to deliver the forms. As we speak now (Friday evening), the printer is yet to deliver the forms. “We hope the exercise will commence next week as the contractor is expected to deliver by the weekend.”

     

    The new leadership of the party has also sent all the six directors at the APC National Secretariat, Abuja on compulsory leave.

     

    Also affected by the directive is the head of the legal department of the party.

     

    The APC National Secretary, Otunba Iyiola Omisore, in an April 21, 2022 letter, directed the affected persons to hand over the affairs of their departments to the most senior person.

     

    The decision followed the recommendation of the Transition Committee set up by Senator Abdullahi Adamu-led NWC as part of the efforts to re-organise the APC National Secretariat.

     

    Adamu had dropped hint of the impending reorganisation when he received his certificate of returns from the Electoral Committee of the March 26 National Convention of the party.

     

    As the parties rev up arrangements for their primaries which must be concluded by June 3, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has asked them to submit their membership registers to enable it monitor the primaries at all levels.

     

    INEC directs parties to submit membership register 30 days before primaries.

     

    The electoral body directed all registered political parties to submit copies of their membership register to the commission in compliance with the new Electoral Act 2022, before their primary elections.

     

    Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, gave the directive at the second regular quarterly meeting of Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in Abuja on Thursday.

     

    Yakubu said that the new Electoral Act made it mandatory for political parties to submit their registered members to the commission 30 days before their primaries.

     

    Section 77 of the Electoral Act 2022, according to him, requires each party to maintain a membership register in hard and soft copy and to make such register available to the Commission not later than 30 days before the date fixed for primaries, congresses and conventions.

     

    “So far, only one political party has complied. It is a mandatory requirement of the law and all parties are required to comply,” he said.

     

    “Doing otherwise is like going into an election without the register of voters. There can be no credible primary or general election without a credible register of voters.”

     

    The INEC chairman also advised the RECs to thoroughly study the new Electoral Act, saying a credible election is anchored on the law.

     

    In his words: “As you are aware, the Electoral Act, together with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and our Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections, constitute the electoral legal framework for elections.

     

    “As election managers, it is incumbent upon us to familiarise ourselves with the legal framework.”

     

    On the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), particularly the creation of additional centres to devolve the exercise beyond INEC State and Local Government offices nationwide, Yakubu said that a total of 2,673 centres had been activated nationwide.

     

    He disclosed that in the last one week of the exercise, 405,587 eligible Nigerians had completed the registration at the various centres.

     

    This, according to him, represents about 31 per cent increase on the average figure of 125,000 weekly registrations since the exercise commenced in June 2021.

     

    Yakubu also said that while INEC expected a surge in new registrations as it approached its June 30 deadline, it was prepared for it.

  • 2023: Afenifere hits APC over high rate of nomination forms

    2023: Afenifere hits APC over high rate of nomination forms

    The Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has berated the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the exorbitant rate the party pegged nomination and expression of interest forms for all categories, claiming it will increase corruption in the country.

    The APC on Wednesday had announced the sum of N100 million for the sale of presidential nomination and expression of interest forms for presidential aspirants whilst Governorship candidates will purcahse theirs for 50 million.

    Reacting to the development on Wednesday, the Secretary-General of Afenifere, Mr. Sola Ebiseni, the high cost of forms is to scare away genuine Nigerians who can’t afford from trying to get the forms.

    According to him, the cost of the APC’s nomination form is only “responding to the shameful state of the economy under its government where the rate of inflation is intractable and cost of living unprecedentedly unbearable.”

    Ebiseni stated, “It is an insulting message to the pauperised Nigerians that they have no say in the governance of Nigeria or any part thereof. It is a direct affront to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and particularly the declaration in Section 14 (2) (b) that the participation of Nigerians in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.
    “How can the poor members of the party who are so blatantly discriminated against, on the basis of their situation in life, contrary to Section 42 of the constitution, participate in the governance of the country, particularly in a country where only a political party can field a candidate and no independent candidate allowed?

    “Unfortunately, the two dominant parties are both guilty in this game of absurdity and conspiracy against the ordinary Nigerians in the access to their platforms for political participation.”

    He added, “For the PDP, it runs contrary to the objectives of their founding fathers led by the likes of Alex Ekwueme and Solomon Lar. The current price placed on participation is the very height of political insensitivity and an open invitation to thievery by anyone who could only corruptly meander himself to power.”

    He noted that the way forward for the country is to restructure saying that’s the possible way forward.

    “The country has been handed over to the nouveau rich, only the restructuring of its political architecture, liberalising access of the citizens to power, can stem the inevitable descent to oligarchy and anarchy,” he said.

  • Senator Marafa speaks out on his dumping APC, says it was not home to him

    Senator Marafa speaks out on his dumping APC, says it was not home to him

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State, Senator Kabiru Marafa has said he dumped the ruling party because it was not home to him.

     

    Talking reasons for his decision to dump the party for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Marafa asserted that the party treated him as an outcast and in manners unjust to him and his teeming supporters.

     

    Recall that former Governor of Zamfara State, Abdul Aziz Yari, Senator Kabiru Garba Mafara and their supporters dumped the APC and immediately switched allegiance to the PDP on Sunday.

     

    The former federal lawmaker went on to explain that even among his former party, some people fought to make sure they were frustrated with the party they suffered to build and nature.

     

    He said that the new National Chairman of the ruling party, Senator Abdulahi Adamu, would not do anything different from what the former Caretaker Chairman of the party, Mai Mala Buni, had done.

     

    “Politics is about winning elections and everything, so we cannot stay in a house that we are not needed,” Marafa said.

     

    “As far as I am concerned, I am a fulfilled person as far as this project APC is called. If there is anything left, I am waiting to see how the architect of this cruelty meted out to the people of Zamfara State, how they are going to fare in politics.

     

    “But for now, I am happy, I told them to their faces in Kaduna that they will never benefit out of the machinations they were doing at that time, that is Mai Mala and his co-travellers. And I’m happy that they have lost out and they have lost out disgracefully.

     

    “APC is not Islam, it is my religion that I can not leave for whatever reason, but a political party, I can leave and join anyone of my choice,” he said.

  • I’ll solve insecurity and economic problems in the country-Tinubu

    I’ll solve insecurity and economic problems in the country-Tinubu

    The National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) and presidential aspirant senator Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, yesterday in Lagos declared that Nigerians were tired of excuses and complains in the past years over the country’s numerous problems and challenges ranging from power supply, insecurity, banditry saying the country needs a very safe and serene environments.

    He added that solving these problems would be one of his priorities if elected president of Nigeria.

    Tinubu made this statement at a grand rally and gathering of youths under the aegis of Progressive Youth of South-West to declare their support for his presidential aspiration at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, in Onikan area of the state.

    youths from different states in the South-West region of , Ogun, Osun, Lagos Ekiti, Ondo and Oyo states converged on Lagos in their large numbers to drum up support for the aspiration of the former Lagos state Governor and the national leader of the APC

    In his address of the teeming youths, who he described as the brightest and brilliant, urged them to team up with him in his bid to change the story of Nigeria for the youths and tomorrow which they represent.

    He said: ‘’All you need is courage, determination and perseverance, if the YouTube alone has 2.9 billion people following it, including you all standing here, then Nigeria can excel, we can do it, you must develop the can do attitude, you must believe that this country is yours and you want to change the story. You must change the story of potential, the story of banditry and the story of tribalism.

    ‘’We as a nation can conveniently feed ourselves by being creative, visionary and committed, anybody who says we cannot, they can get out because it is voluntary. We cannot continue the lamentation of the past, we cannot continue with excuses of power failure, there is no nation that made rapid development without electricity, give us light and if we cannot be successful then you can abuse us, you cannot give us erratic light that is undependable and then blame us again that we are lazy.

    ‘’Nigeria it is about time, we have enough gas to fire up electricity and supply the rest of Europe and make money, long term from it. You know it. We don’t want to bore you with it, when I started we used to pick dead bodies on the streets, but today Lagos is one of the cleanest, most progressive states in the country.’’

    Tinubu urged the teeming youths to ensure they get their Permanent Voters Cards ready and vote ready for him and other progressives in forthcoming 2023 general elections in the country.

  • Tinubu plans on tackling unstable power supply, banditry, others if elected as 2023 President

    Tinubu plans on tackling unstable power supply, banditry, others if elected as 2023 President

    All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential aspirant, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has told youths in Lagos that with him at the helm of Nigeria’s affairs, challenges such as unstable power supply, banditry, ethnic bigotry would be eliminated.

     

    Seeking the support of Nigerian youths in his bid for the presidency, Tinubu, on Saturday, said he can change the story of the country for the better.

     

    In his words: “You must change the story of potential, the story of banditry, you must change the story of tribalism.

     

    “If YouTube alone has 2.9 billion people following it, including you all standing here, then Nigeria can excel.

     

    “We can do it. You must develop the ‘can do’ attitude. You must believe that this country is yours and you want to change the story,

     

    “Anybody who says we cannot, they can get out, because it is voluntary. We cannot continue the lamentation of the past.

     

    “We cannot continue with excuses of power failure. No nation can make rapid development without electricity.

     

    “Nigeria, it is about time. We have enough gas to fire up electricity and supply the rest of Europe and make money.

     

    “You know it. We don’t want to bore you with it. When I started, we used to pick dead bodies on the streets. But today, Lagos is one of the cleanest, most progressive states in the country.”

     

    Thousands of youths from the six Southwest states (Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and Oyo states) stormed the Mobolaji Johnson Stadium, Onikan, Lagos for a rally endorsing Tinubu’s aspiration.

     

    He told them to revalidate their permanent voter cards to enable them to vote in the 2023 elections.

     

    Tinubu described the youths as the brightest and urged them to team up with him in his bid to change the story of Nigeria for the youths and tomorrow which they represent.

     

    “We as a nation can conveniently feed ourselves by being creative, visionary and committed,” he said.

     

    Also addressing the rally organised by the Progressive Youth of South-West, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said the youth would continue to be critical stakeholders in Nigeria’s socio-political development.

     

    He hailed the rally organisers and the attendees for the event, which he hoped would herald a new dawn in the 2023 polls.

     

    One of the speakers, Dr. Muritala Seriki, said Tinubu’s achievements in Lagos State during his tenure as governor bore eloquence to his ingenuity, hard work and commitment.

     

    A former Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Bayo Onanuga, also pledged his support for the presidential ambition of the APC national leader.

     

    Onanuga reaffirmed his support while responding to claims that he had switched camps ahead of the 2023 election.

     

    He said he had known Tinubu for a long time and was part of his governorship campaign in 1998.

     

    Onanuga wrote: “My attention has been drawn to some lies being circulated about me as having jumped the Bola Ahmed Tinubu train and being against his presidential ambition.

     

    “The faceless writer, I guess a hatchet hand, wrote: ‘Almost all members of the Tinubu original power/intellectual base and allies when he was governor are not in support of his presidential ambition. Aregbesola, Afikuyomi, Ojudu, Onanuga, Alake, Fasola, etc. Most of them may work for PYO.

     

    “Let me correct this misrepresentation straightforwardly: the statement is far from the truth as far as I am concerned.

     

    “I am fully in support of Bola Tinubu. I am not in PYO’s camp and will not be in his camp if Tinubu is running.

     

    “People who know me will attest to the fact that I am ever loyal to my friends, loyal to a political cause. I have been on the political left since 1978 when I joined Awolowo’s UPN as a UNILAG student.

     

    “I am not a renegade. And I can vouch for Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi and Dele Alake as well.

     

    “The author of the rumour was merely writing conjectures on an issue that is unpredictable, a party’s primary election, where an outsider will only labour in vain in making permutations.

     

    “As far as I am concerned, and let me say it loud and clear, I am in support of Bola Tinubu’s ambition. I am not against him. He is my first choice, the second choice and the third choice for the exalted seat.

     

    “Nigeria is in need of a visionary, a deep thinker, a man with the Midas touch, who can take our country on a journey of prosperity. This country has suffered enough and really needs a new leader who can breathe fresh air in it and change the way things are done.

     

    “Nigeria needs a man of ideas, who will not just talk his way, but really get things done.

     

    “I have no doubt that Bola Tinubu is capable of this, which is why I support his campaign to lead Nigeria.

     

    “I have known him since 1992. I was part of his governorship campaign in 1998 before others were invited to his government after we won the election in January 1999.

     

    “I was close to his government for eight years and I bore witness to the innovations he brought into governance, the overhauling of the system that he carried out, some of which other states and the Federal Government had copied.

     

    “I have no iota of doubt that he will replicate the same at the centre, and even do more, if given the opportunity. These are the reasons I support his campaign. And Nigerians will hear more about my involvement in the next few days.”

  • Defection: Court vacation stalls judgment in suit seeking Dogara’s sack

    Defection: Court vacation stalls judgment in suit seeking Dogara’s sack

    The Federal High Court (FHC)’s vacation has stalled the judgment in a suit seeking the declaration of the seat of Rep Yakubu Dogara vacant on account of his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Newsmen had, on March 23, reported that the judgment, in two separate suits filed against Dogara, was fixed for today, Monday, by Justice Donatus Okorowo of an Abuja division of FHC.

    The first suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/883/30 and filed by Incorporated Trustees of United Global Resources for Peace Organisation Vs. Rep Yakubu Dogara and five others was on number one on the cause list.
    However, the second suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1060/20 filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Vs. Rep Yakubu Dogara and four others, was on number five in today’s cause list.

    When newsmen visited Court 6 where Justice Okorowo presides, the courtroom was empty with court registrar and other workers doing their daily activities.
    Newsmen was, however, told that the judgments could not be delivered since FHC had began their Easter Vacation. The court began the vacation on April 8 and will end April 25.

    “My lord is waiting of the Chief Judge of the court will give a fiat for the judgments to be delivered during this vacation.
    “But as it is now, no date has been fixed and parties will be communicated as soon as another date is fixed,” one of the court workers told newsmen.

    Newsmen reports that the PDP and the group had asked the court to remove the former Speaker, House of Representatives, Dogara, as member representing Dass, Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro Federal Constituency of Bauchi State, over his defection to APC.
    While the PDP is the plaintiff, Dogara, the speaker of the House of Representatives, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the APC are 1st to 4th defendants respectively in the second suit.

    Dogara had, on July 24, 2020, defected from the PDP to the APC when he submitted a resignation letter to the chairman of the Bogoro ‘C’ Ward in the state.

    The plaintiff, through their counsel, Jubrin Jubrin, said by virtue of Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution, Dogara by defecting from the party that sponsored him to the ninth National Assembly before the expiration of his tenure, ought to vacate the seat as he was no longer qualified to partake in the activities of the lower house.

    Newsmen reports that Justice Inyang Ekwo, a sister judge, had, on March 8, sacked Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi and his deputy, Kelechi Igwe, alongside other lawmakers who dumped the PDP for APC, describing their action as unlawful.

    Justice Taiwo Taiwo, another judge in the Abuja division, had also, on March 21,, ordered the 20 lawmakers from Cross River to vacate their seats following their defection from the PDP to APC.
    The lawmakers comprises two House of Representatives members and 18 state’s House of Assembly members.

  • APC National Chairman orders immediate withdrawal from court all cases appealed by Buni’s committee

    APC National Chairman orders immediate withdrawal from court all cases appealed by Buni’s committee

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, has directed that all cases appealed by Buni’s committee be immediately withdrawn from court, following his concern about finances of the party.

     

    Sequel to Adamu’s concern about the party’s finance, his predecessor and Caretaker Chairman, Governor Mai Mala Buni, had given standing instructions to lawyers representing the APC to appeal court judgments challenging the conduct of congresses supervised by the caretaker committee.

     

    One of the appealed judgments was that of the Federal High Court recognising the Akwa Ibom State faction of the APC led by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, over that of the erstwhile Secretary, Senator John Akpanudoedehe.

     

    However, in a letter signed by the Head, Legal Services of the APC, which was addressed to Adeniyi Akintola (SAN) & Company dated April 6, 2022, it was stated that the new chairman had directed that all cases appealed by Buni’s committee be immediately withdrawn from court.

     

    The letter titled, ‘Notice of Withdrawal of Instruction’, relates to a case marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1635/2021 between Stephen Ntukekpo and three others vs. the APC and three others.

     

    It read in part, “I have the instruction of the national legal adviser to convey the decision of the leadership of the party to obey the judgment in respect of the above captioned suit having been served with the same.

     

    “Our instruction on the above matter was terminated at the Federal High Court. Consequently, the party is not interested in pursuing the appeal in respect of the above matter.

     

    “I have further instructions of the national legal adviser to request that you withdraw all the processes filed on behalf of the party and H.E. Mai Mala Buni, the erstwhile national chairman of the CECPC, at the Court of Appeal.”

     

    It was gathered that the APC had begun withdrawing all the cases from the Court of Appeal.

     

    On Thursday, the APC lawyer, Adeniyi Akintola, informed the court that the party would be withdrawing its appeal, effectively recognising Akpabio’s faction over that of Akpanudoedehe.

     

    The court presided over by Justice Haruna Tsamani alongside Justice Ugochukwu Ogakwu and Justice Bature Gafai said that was the right thing to do since the APC had withdrawn from the case.

     

    Counsel for the plaintiffs, Chief Umeh Kalu, SAN, and counsel for the Independent National Electoral Commission, Umar Farouk, SAN, did not oppose the withdrawal.

     

    However, the court ordered that the status quo be maintained until the determination of the motions for jurisdiction and stay of execution, which comes up on May 17.

     

    Top sources in the APC said Adamu’s new approach could destabilise the party.

     

    An APC chieftain, who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “The best thing for Senator Adamu to have done was to allow the cases to run their course. There are over 200 cases in court at the moment. He should have let them continue.

     

    “What the new national chairman is doing now is to reverse Buni’s actions and those who feel slighted will be forced to leave the party,” a source said.

     

  • Tinubu donates N50m to victims of Kaduna train attack

    Tinubu donates N50m to victims of Kaduna train attack

    An All progressives Congress, APC, Presidential aspirant, Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday, visited Kaduna State over the recent spate of bandits’ attacks and donated N50 million to the victims.

     

    Tinubu, who met with the state Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, commiserated with the state government and people of the state over the recent train attack by bandits.

     

    He was accompanied by former Governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima.

     

    The former Lagos State governor was received by El-Rufai and Senators Uba Sani and Suleiman Abdu-Kwri at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House.

     

    Others on Tinubu’s entourage include the former speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and Senator Abu Ibrahim.

     

    Tinubu described the train attack as a national disaster.

     

    He said everybody should be concerned about the attacks going on in Kaduna state which have claimed hundreds of lives and properties in recent times.

     

    He added that killings by bandits are no longer acceptable and must stop.

     

    The Presidential aspirant urged El-Rufai not to be deterred by the unfortunate incidents but to continue delivering good governance.

  • Former Deputy Speaker- House of Representatives, Yusuf quits APC

    Former Deputy Speaker- House of Representatives, Yusuf quits APC

    Just as the National Convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC), gets set to kick-off, a former Deputy Speaker- House of Representatives, Lasun Yusuf, on Friday morning tendered his resignation from the ruling party.

     

    He submitted his resignation letter at the APC Secretariat, Ogo Oluwo Osogbo.

    Yusuf was a former gubernatorial aspirant of APC in 2018.

     

    He also aspired to be the gubernatorial candidate of the party in the party’s recently concluded primary election where he came in a distant third position behind Moshood Adeoti and the eventual winner and Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola.

    He submitted his resignation letter this morning at the APC Secretariat, Ogo Oluwo Osogbo.

     

    Yusuf represented the Irepodun/Olurunda/Osogbo/Orolu Federal Constituency of Osun State.

     

    The former Deputy Speaker is a grassroots politician widely known in Osun State and he is fondly called The Homeboy due to his grassroots qualities.

     

    He was once a youth leader in the Unity Party of Nigeria UPN.

     

    Yusuf was also the state public relations officer PRO of the Alliance for Democracy before and during Chief Bisi Akande’s administration.

     

    With his undiluted loyalty and the unquantifiable role played in the Alliance of Democracy AD and his doggedness in the political cycle in the state the governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola appointed him chairman of Osun State Capital Territory Development Authority OSCTDA in 2004 / 2005, a body established by law with a mandate to facilitate the urban growth of Osogbo and neighbouring towns.

     

    In 2011, he ran for a legislative seat in the [7th National Assembly] as the representative of the Irepodun/Olurunda/Osogbo/Orolu Federal Constituency.

     

    He won on the platform of [Action Congress of Nigeria], which joined the [All Progressives Congress] with other parties in the run-up to the 2015 general elections in Nigeria.