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Tag: APC

  • APC wins Gwagwalada councillorship re-run election

    The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Abdulkarim Mohammed, has been declared the winner of the just concluded Gwagwalada Central Ward councillorship re-run election.

    Announcing the result, the INEC returning officer, Mr George Galayam, said Abdulkarim Mohammed polled 1, 686, against 1,588 to win the election that was earlier nullified by the election tribunal.

    Abdulkarim Mohammed of APC had 1,686 votes, while Ibrahim Anize of APGA had 1, 588 votes and Jibrin Yerima of PDP had 977 votes.

    The earlier election of Ibrahim Anize was nullified as a result of the cancellation result from four polling units by the FCT Area Council Election Petitions Appeal Tribunal.

    With this development, APC has six councillors and APGA has four in the legislative arm of the area council.

     

  • Appeal Court sacks APC Rep member in Katsina, orders fresh elections

    The Federal Court of Appeal sitting in Kaduna has nullified the election of member of the House of Representatives representing Mashi/Dutsi Federal Constituency of Katsina state, Hon. Mansir Aliyu Mashi of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The court which affirmed the judgement of the Election Petition Tribunal, which had earlier ruled on the matter, however ordered the third respondents in the appeal, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct fresh elections in 15 polling units where the elections were either marred with irregularities or did not hold.

    Election Petition Tribunal which sat in Katsina after the by-election had on the the 15th November nullified the election of Hon. Mansir Aliyu Mashi on the ground that election was marred with irregularities, ranging from ballot box snatching, failure of election to hold in some polling units among others and ordered fresh election in those polling units.

    Delivering the Appeal Court judgement on Friday, the Presiding Judge of Court of Appeal, Kaduna, Justice Umani Abba Aji said, the lower tribunal was right in its rulings, which nullified the election of the first appellant, Hon. Mansir Aliyu Mashi.

    Justice Abba Aji in the almost an hour judgement said, since, evidences and exhibits presented before the court have shown that, the elections in the said polling were marred with irregularities and the number of registered voters from the affected polling units if they were not disenfranchised can change the outcome of the election, the right thing to do is to have a fresh election in the polling units.

    Speaking shortly after the judgement, counsel to one of the respondents, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s candidate, Hon Nazif Bello Yusuf, Barrister Napoleon Idenala said, they were satisfied with the judgement.

    He said the court has once again reaffirmed that, impunity cannot be tolerated in the society.

    Also reacting to the case, Chairman of the PDP in Katsina State, which is one of the respondents in the appeal, Alhaji Salisu Yusuf Majigiri expressed satisfaction with the judgement and said his party was prepared to mobilise its supporters and win the election.

    He however said, all concerned authorities must wade in to ensure that the ruling part, APC does not violate the electoral laws like the previous election.

  • Council polls: We won fair, square across Delta state – PDP

    The Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) said it won the January 6, 2018 Delta state local government elections fair and square, and described issues raise by the All Progressives Congress (APC) as “utterly nonsensical rantings”.

    The PDP in a statement signed by the State Publicity Secretary, Ifeanyi Michael Osuoza, said, took the issues raised by the APC with a huge sense of amusement, while stressing that claims are spurious and unfounded.

    “We have read with a huge sense of amusement, the spurious, unfounded and even in some reports, utterly nonsensical rantings of some identified chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, APC over the January 6, 2018 Delta State Local Government elections.

    “To us, these comments are nothing more than the typical whining and bellyaching always expected from sore losers, as a diversionary ploy and smokescreen to cover up their obviously pathetic lack of preparation for the Delta Council polls.

    “We are extremely disappointed but not particularly surprised with the comments of Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, Delta APC leader and former governorship candidate, made from the cozy comforts and surrounding of his country home, who like an old broken record, replaying with annoying repetition, called for the cancellation of the Delta State Local Government election, on outdated and less edifying excuses and allegations, unbecoming of a politician of his status and arguably still nurturing experience,” the statement read.

    The statement further went to read thus:

    “Even more ridiculous were the excuses given by Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, the self acclaimed new Media Director of the APC who, not knowing who else to blame for his colossal failure in his constituency, accused a major GSM Service Provider of colluding with the PDP, by ‘deliberately jamming the network’ to prevent people from making calls, when they were supposed to be lining up for accreditation and voting. What a hogwash indeed.

    “But more farcical are the allegations made by the APC chairman in Ughelli North, Olorogun Felix Ekure and the APC chairmanship candidate in Uvwie, Engr. Ufoma Okenini who claimed amongst other brazen falsehoods that, “the APC in Delta State and Ughelli North in particular decided to prepare for and participate in the election….We campaigned throughout the nooks and crannies of the entire LGA and our supporters were fully mobilized and ready for the election. We were determined to send a clear signal to the PDP that they have no place in Ughelli North…

    “Sadly, despite the apparent falsehood, they did not even campaign at all, except for some noisy social media propaganda, their ‘determination to send a clear signal to the PDP’, was to manifest in what we have now come to realize was the deliberate perpetration of arson, by burning down the DSIEC office in the LGA and destroying DSIEC properties, with the heinous intent to cripple the electoral process and deny the good people of Ughelli North from exercising their franchise as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and electing their Chairman and Councillors at the grassroots administrative level, when they realized that the PDP was set to sweep the stakes in Ughelli North, in a free and fair election.

    “We want to place on record as unequivocally stated by the undisputed leader of our Delta PDP, His Excellency, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, who stated categorically, that, “It is unfortunate that some persons were not ready for the elections and they resorted to violence. I personally led the campaign of the PDP round the 25 local government areas of the State, even to areas I did not visit when I was campaigning for the governorship position and after that, the campaign from Ward to Ward, house to house continued while other political parties were not involved in any campaign.

    “We also want to State emphatically that as a responsible political party, the PDP in Delta State is very satisfied with the process of the Local Government Election. Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) gave us the assurance that the election will be credible, free and fair and that was what happened in majority of the areas where the people insisted on exercising their franchise and free-will, by coming out to cast their votes.

    “The voting pattern adopted by DSIEC was such that once you are accredited, you cast your vote and you go for your business, unlike in the past when accreditation commenced at 8am and ended at 12 noon, before actual voting will start. With this process, accreditation and voting continued all day and everybody who was accredited voted, no matter how late it was, in all the polling units across the State.

    “We have no doubts whatsoever that this is one of the best organised elections by the DSIEC, taking into cognizance, the fact that the recently elected Board of the electoral umpire had to accommodate so much at such short notice. The election was transparent and people were happy to come out and vote without fear and with confidence that their votes will count.

    “Let us also use this medium to express our heartfelt sympathy and deep condolences to DSIEC over the death of their ad-hoc staff, who sadly slumped and passed away just as the process was about to commence in Onicha-Ugbo, Aniocha North LGA. May his gentle soul rest in peace and may God Almighty give his family the strength and fortitude to bear this irreplaceable loss.

    “We heartily congratulate all our victorious candidates and urge all Deltans to disregard the vituperations of the APC, even as we promise Deltans that the SMART Agenda of His Excellency, Senator, Dr. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa is still on course and will continue to deliver more dividends of democracy now, with the emergence of Local Government Administration in Delta State”.

     

  • Dead appointees: APC cowardly attempts to exonerate itself from Buhari’s incompetency – PDP

    Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has condemned the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress,APC, John Odigie-Oyegun, for absolving the ruling party of blame for the controversial appointments into the boards of federal agencies.

    The list released by the federal government was criticised for containing the names of six dead Nigerians and repeating the names of others.

    The APC national chairman while addressing journalists in Abuja on December 6, 2017, said the party was not involved in the final stages of the appointment.

    But in a statement by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbodiyan, on Monday, the PDP said Mr. Oyegun’s excuse confirmed the opposition party’s position that APC and the federal government are disorganised and ill-equipped to govern.

    It said Mr. Oyegun’s case was that of a leader who has no answer for the incompetence and misrule of his party.

    According to the opposition party, Mr. Oyegun’s reaction further exposed the confusion in the APC government and the reason all sectors of the nation’s economy are in allegedly a shambles under the APC government.

    “Is it not ridiculous, cowardly and a clear show of disorganization in the government for the APC National Chairman to try to exonerate his party from the failures and incompetence of a government which the party formed?

    “Chief Oyegun’s comments amount to a vote of no confidence on the Presidency, but there is no way he can exonerate the APC, which he leads, from the failures of its own government.

    “The APC Chairman must therefore shed his penchant for excuses and address burning issues of misrule of the APC Government.

    “We challenge the APC National Chairman to address the issue of collapsing economy with its attendant eight million job losses and countless business closures, which have caused hardship on families across the country, all due to bad policies and incompetence of the APC Government.

    “Nigerians are still waiting for the APC National Chairman to address the issue of the biting fuel crisis also caused by the inept APC government.

    “What has Chief Oyegun to say about the now exposed corruption in the APC-led Federal Government, including sharp practices in hidden oil subsidy payouts, illegal lifting of crude worth trillions of naira to service APC interests and the unabated depletion of Nigeria’s foreign financial instruments by his party’s government?

    “Nigerians are still waiting for the APC National Chairman to address the issue of aloofness and insensitivity of the APC Federal Government to the incessant killings of Nigerians in many parts of country by marauders, in addition to exposed diversion of funds meant for the insurgency related matters by APC interests.

    “The nation is also waiting for the APC national chairman to come up with explanations on the failure of his government to fulfill its campaign promises and why the fight against corruption has been lopsided with APC members who were publicly indicted of corruption now openly enjoying government cover.”

    “Instead of facing these issues agitating the minds of Nigerians, the APC National Chairman is busy passing the buck while also attempting, just like the Presidency, to claim credit for projects initiated and executed by the PDP.”

    “Our advice to the APC therefore is that they should spare Nigerians their excuses. They should also spare us their lies and fake promises as the citizens will never allow themselves to be deceived again as was the case in 2015.”

  • 2019: ‘PDP will free Nigerians from the fraud called APC’ – Atiku

    Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has assured Nigerians that opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP remains the only true national political party that will free Nigerians from ‘the fraud called APC.’

    Recall that the former vice president was also a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress till late last year before decamping to the PDP.

    According to a statement signed by Jacob Onjewu, spokesperson of the Atiku Care Foundation, Mr. Abubakar who was speaking through the chairman of the foundation, Aliyu Ibn Abbas, said the PDP is the only party that can transform Nigeria and take its economy back to prosperity.

    He said this in Kaduna on Sunday when one of his supporters, Zainab Pindar, organised a reception for him at the Arewa House to welcome him back to the PDP.

    Mr. Abubakar further urged his supporters to spread the message of PDP’s good plans to the people at the grassroots.

    “PDP still remains the only national party in Nigeria. It is the hope of the common man to be free from the fraud called the APC,” Mr. Abbas said at the event.

    He praised Miss Pindar for committing her resources to funding the reception, adding that Nigeria needs such patriotic youth in good positions to contribute meaningful ideas that would move the country forward.

    Earlier in her remarks at the gathering, Miss Pindar vowed to do every thing within her capacity to project and campaign for the success of Mr. Abubakar and the PDP ahead of 2019.

    “We will use our time, resources, energy and contacts in ensuring the PDP and Wazirin Adamawa is successful in the 2019 election. #AtikuCareProject2019,” she said.

    The programme attracted dignitaries which include Ibrahim Wusono who is the PDP Secretary in Kaduna State, A.A Yaron Kirki, who represented former Governor of Kaduna State, Mukhtar Yero; Yusuf Dan Bala and the PDP chairman for Igabi Local Government Area of the state.

  • Dead appointees: We are not involved – Oyegun

    Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the National Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), has exonerated the party from the appointment of dead persons as chairmen and members of boards of government parastatals and agencies.

    Odigie-Oyegun told newsmen on Saturday in Abuja that the party’s leadership was not involved in the final compilation of the list.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, had in defence of the error, explained that President Muhammadu Buhari had requested for the submission of 50 names each by the state chapters of the APC in 2015.

    Some of the dead persons whose names appeared on the list recently released by the presidency included Sen. Francis Okpozo, who passed on at 81 in 2016; Donald Ugbaja, and Rev. Fr. Christopher Utov, among others.
    Reacting to the development, Odigie-Oyegun said that the embarrassment would have been avoided if the party was involved in the final compilation.

    “It is pretty obvious that the party was not involved in the final stages of the compilation of that list.

    “Yes, we sent names at the initial stage and I am talking of a period of two years ago, we demanded for every state to make 50 nominations which were sent to the committee in charge of the list for the purpose.

    “They completed the initial exercise but since then, a lot has happened.

    “People have changed parties, people had died, we have three new governors that were not there when the list was compiled,’’ he said.

    This, the chairman said, was enough reason for the party’s leadership to look at the final outcome of the exercise.
    “But we are not fortunate to participate on that final stage otherwise such would not have occurred.
    “It is my sincere hope that we will be fully involved in the review that has to now take place and any other exercise, moving forward from this date,’’ Odigie-Oyegun said.
    He added that considering the fact that this year would be build-up to the 2019 general election, the party would hit ground running.

    “I will resume on Monday and we are going to hit ground running, we all know that this year is obviously going to be an active year for elections,’’ he said.

    He assured Nigerians that the President Buhari-led APC Federal Government was making concrete efforts to make the country self-sufficient in all areas.

    The chairman maintained that the government was aware of the challenges Nigerians were going through, assuring that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

  • Delta state election: Gov. Okowa expresses satisfaction, as APC rejects polls

    Delta state election: Gov. Okowa expresses satisfaction, as APC rejects polls

    Delta state Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the local government council election in the state even as All Progressives Congress (APC) has expressly rejected the polls.

    Governor Okowa who spoke today at Ward 3, Owa-Alero, Ika North-East local government area of the State shortly after casting his vote at Polling Unit 3, asserted, “I am satisfied with the process.”

    “DSIEC (Delta State Independent Electoral Commission) has given assurance that the election will be credible, free and fair and so far, you can see that people have come out to cast their votes,” the Governor said, observing that the electoral process adopted by DSIEC which entails simultaneous accreditation and voting process reduced the crowding of polling boots.

    On the situation report generally across the state, the Governor disclosed that at Ndokwa East local government area, soldiers stopped electoral officers from moving materials, a situation which he said, was addressed.

    The governor noted he received reports that at Ughelli North, suspected members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) were said to have set DSIEC office ablaze.

    The APC in Ughelli South rejected the local government election accusing DSIEC of providing fake election materials.

    “It is unfortunate that some persons were not ready for the elections and they resorted to violence.

    “I personally led the campaign of the PDP round the 25 local government areas of the state, even to areas I did not visit when I was campaigning for the governorship position and after that, the campaign from Ward to Ward, house to house continued while other political parties were not involved in any campaign,” Okowa said, reiterating, “I can assure you that generally, from information available to me, the state is calm and voting is in progress in the state.”

     

  • Your insensitivity to peoples’ plights caused killings in Benue, Rivers, others – PDP tells Buhari, APC

    The National leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of being insensitive to the security of lives and properties in the country.

    This was disclosed in a statement issued on Thursday by the party spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan.

    The party described the massacre of defenseless Nigerians in the three states as extremely wicked.

    The opposition party further lamented what it termed the insensitivity of the APC Presidency, which it said, reacted to the ugly incidents only after the PDP and well-meaning Nigerians called them to task.

    The PDP also called on the Presidency to do some soul-searching with regards to its silence and loud indifference whenever citizens fall under such horrifying attacks.

    “What a way to start the New Year? The sheer insensitivity of the APC Government has continued to cause our nation a lot of pain and sorrow.

    “Is it not only a careless and inept leadership like the APC government that will ignore the danger signs in any part of the country and leave its citizens defenseless, just to be massacred by marauders?

    “If the APC Federal Government had effectively acted upon the danger signs and had provided adequate security in flash points across the country, particularly in Benue state, north central and Southern Kaduna area, this massacre of Nigerians, who were already impoverished by the APC’s misrule, could have been prevented.

    “Is it not a tragic trajectory of governance that while the APC Presidency was busy basking in its orchestrated New Year self-praise and empty promises, bandits were having a field day mowing down citizens in cold blood?

    “Is it not also an irony that when the government was prompted to react to the spate of killings, all its officials could do was to respond in manners most indifferent, nearly unconcerned and almost without compassion?

    “Indeed, the PDP aligns with Nigerians that the APC and the Presidency should have a serious soul searching on their clear indifference towards the persistent killings and maiming of citizens by bandits who constantly invade communities, slaughter the people and walk away with blood of our compatriots in their hands”.

    The party urged the government to show commitment by ensuring that the perpetrators of these killings were brought to book and made to face the full wrath of the law.

    It also urged the military and other security agencies to leave no stone unturned in the fishing out the perpetrators.

    “Nigeria belongs to all of us; every citizen has a right to life and no man should take the life of another for any reason or under any guise whatsoever,” the statement added.

  • I’ll stop APC, PDP from winning elections in 2019 – Ezekwesili

    As the 2019 election year draws closer, a former minister for education, Oby Ezekwesili, has said she will work assiduously to ensure that candidates seeking public office on the platform of the two major political parties in Nigeria – the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP do not win.

    Ezekwesili, who also doubles as a co-leader of the #BringBackOurGirls movement, tweeted on Thursday that the essence of her new agenda was to “disrupt and end the political and governance stagnation and retrogression that our cyclical low equilibrium political Russian roulette has cost our country and people.

    “Enough is enough,” she said, through her Twitter handle @obyezeks.

    “My political agenda is simple. I shall actively campaign against APC and PDP in the 2019 elections except in rare cases where they field new minds with a strong record of public interest.

    “I shall actively campaign for the best candidates of all other parties in the elections.

    “My individual effort to campaign against APC and PDP in the 2019 elections may not amount to much, but it is at least a definite expression of my personal conviction.

    “My conviction is that it is time to end the tyranny of rulership of a wicked minority political elite class,” she wrote.

    Mrs. Ezekwesili’s position is a reflection of the general discontentment among Nigerians against the country’s political leadership.

    Nigeria, with its main earnings coming from oil, is Africa’s biggest economy. Yet most of its population still live in abject poverty.

    The historic defeat of the ruling PDP in the 2015 elections ended the party’s 16 years of political dominance and gave the people hope of a new beginning.

    But President Muhammadu Buhari and his party – the APC – have been severely criticised as being incapable of tackling the nation’s many challenges, including the killings perpetrated around the country by different groups other than Boko Haram.

    Mrs. Ezekwesili, in her one of tweets, described the APC and the PDP as “twin brothers”.

    “This for me is the #YearOfTheOfficeOfTheCitizen when all citizens lift their red card.

    “Whether many other citizens feel the way one feels about our political status quo does not matter. Standing up for what I believe is what one was raised to epitomize.

    “It is sickening to watch the repetition of a similar pattern of bad behavior by our political class,” she said.

  • 2019: PDP’s threat to take over Lagos, empty, laughable – APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday described the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as “a dead party, not capable of capturing Lagos in 2019.”

    The Assistant Publicity Secretary of the APC in the state, Mr Abiodun Salami made the remark in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.

    Salami was reacting to an assertion by the Publicity Secretary of PDP in the state, Mr Taofik Gani, that the opposition party would win Lagos State in 2019.

    Gani had said that 2019 would be the beginning of the end of APC administration in the state as the party was sure of dislodging the ruling party.

    He had claimed that Lagosians were tired of the “non-performance of APC government “and were eagerly waiting to vote PDP.

    “We will shock the APC in 2019. Take my words. We already have a lot of novel ideas to wrestle governance from them.

    “For now, we will keep our strategies sealed. When the game starts, we will unleash them.

    “Ambode has failed in purposeful governance. The only thing we see is propaganda. Lagosians desire a change, and that change is PDP,” Gani had said.

    But Salami described his comments as laughable, saying PDP had been completely decimated and have no capacity to make any impact in the governorship election, let alone winning.

    He dismissed the assertion as “empty boast”, saying Lagosians knew the difference between light and retrogression and would continue to vote the APC.

    “The assertion made by the PDP that it would win the state in 2019 is a huge joke. In fact it is laughable.

    “How do they want to achieve that? The party has been deserted and left for dead by Lagosians.

    “A party where virtually all their bigwigs, such as Obanikoro and others had deserted because they have seen the light and are now in the fold of APC.”