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Tag: APC

  • Democracy Day: You have nothing to celebrate, PDP blasts APC

    Opposition party, People’s Democratic Party, PDP, has lambasted the President Muhammadu Buhari led All Progressives Congress, APC, insisting it has nothing to celebrate after two years the party took over the mantle of leadership in the country.

    The National Publicity Secretary of the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led National Working Committee, Mr. Dayo Adeyeye, in a statement on Sunday claimed that the APC-led Government was marked by highhandedness, crass ineptitude and lack of tolerance for the opposition.

    He said the APC had endangered democratic foundation laid by the PDP which enabled the opposition to win elections.

    Adeyeye said that the activities of the ruling APC were suggestive of a bleak democratic outing for the country in the 2019 elections.

    He lamented that Nigerians had nothing to celebrate as the APC “has plunged the vast majority of the people into this two years of despondency, ambiguity, repressed and depressed condition.”

    He said, “Beginning with the issue of corruption in this discussion is critical in line with the APC/President Buhari’s ‘Change Agenda’ and ‘hype in corruption chase’ which has left sour taste given the dishonesty and charade that have characterised the actions of this government so far.

    “For the record, ‘corruption’ is endemic in our system since the military era and using it to whip up citizens’ sentiments is absurd while playing ignorant of honest achievements made by the PDP government to combat this alarming menace.

    “The question is what has the APC done to fight corruption? Nothing! Yes indeed nothing except noise, hounding, torturing, flouting of court orders and vilification of opposition leaders and members in and out of courts; incarcerations without proving anything; harassments, intimidation, indiscriminate arrests and detention of judges in order to cow them to desecrate the judiciary and deny the people justice; promote gestapo state and by extension, kill democracy.”

    He added that Nigerians and the international community had lost confidence in the Independent National Electoral Commission as the APC allegedly prevented it from performing its electoral responsibilities without interference.

    On the economy, Adeyeye said that President Buhari’s utterances during his visits to foreign nations scared away investors who had withdrawn their money from the country which had earlier attracted $20bn worth of investors in three years.

     

  • Democracy Day: APC govt has recorded commendable achievements

    Speaker Yakubu Dogara of the House of Representatives has scored the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration of President Muhammadu Buhari high as it marks its second year in office, saying many commendable achievements have been recorded within the period.

    The Speaker also congratulated President Buhari, acting President Yemi Osinbajo, state governors and the entire leadership and all Nigerians for the 18 years of democracy in the country and second anniversary of the administration.

    While restating the commitment of the government to bringing succour to the common man, he saluted all Nigerians for their resilience in the face of challenges they encounter daily and argued that there is no alternative to democracy.

    “We know that within the two years of this administration, the government has achieved a lot in the area of security. In transportation, we are talking about railways, in Agriculture and in diverse fields of our endeavours a lot has been achieved and a lot need to be done, but we are committed to bringing succour to the common man,” he said.

    “I further thank and appreciate our country men and women for the dedication, patience, hope and resilience that they have shown, that in spite of the biting economic recession, we have held on to our hope for a better nation and we have not given up.

    “So I want to congratulate all of us and implore us to continue to hope and pray for everyone in position of authority in this country and to assure us that we’ll surely get to our destination.”

    Dogara also noted that despite challenges, democracy remains the best form of government, adding that the government of the day is committed to strengthening institutions and fighting corruption.

    “Thank God we have a president who is determined and who has an uncompromising stance against corruption, and we are building strong institutions that will deal with the hydraheaded monster”, the speaker stated.

    Calling for unity among Nigerians across the country, he stressed that “Nigeria represents the best hope of a Black man and that hope cannot be realized in a factionalized state with no unity and with every one trying to fight for self determination.”

    He added, “If there’ll be any black nation that will fulfill the destiny of a black man, which is that of greatness, it’s going to come out of a unified Nigeria. I don’t think there’s anything each of these pockets will achieve that will be greater than what a unified Nigeria can achieve.”

    “I know there are challenges but these challenges are not peculiar to us. So many countries have had to face these kind of challenges in their developmental strides.”

  • Nigerians must reject Buhari, APC, PDP in 2019 – Sheikh Gumi

    Sheikh (Dr) Ahmad Abubakar Gumi has advised Nigerians to reject President Muhammadu Buhari, his party, All Progressives Congress, APC, and opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, insisting that the masses are suffering despite the promise of change by the president and his party.

    The Islamic scholar said this in his assessment of Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last two years.

    He noted that the general assessment of government’s performance was below the expectation of Nigerians, and urged Nigerians to reject both the APC and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) if they really desire a new lease of life.

    His words: “The problem is that no matter how good you are as a leader, you should have a team. If you put Maradona in a bad team, no one will pass the ball to him in order to score a goal. The APC government has failed for lack of a team”.

    “Every failure has reasons. When a patient dies in the hospital, there is usually a post mortem examination to determine the direct cause of death. We have symptoms but they may not be the cause of death.

    “The widespread suffering in the country is a symptom of an underlying disease afflicting the nation that needs to be tackled. But if the government has been listening all along, it could have alleviated the problem or it could have done more than it is doing.

    “I can imagine somebody who has nothing. How is he surviving? How is he paying his children’s school fees? How can he treat his children when they are sick? How can he feed? So, when you look at all these indices, you will know that it is a miracle that we are still existing.

    “So, if we want to do a post mortem on this government, you have to look far beyond the inception of the administration. Like I said, they inherited some of the defects and the solution would have been to manage Nigeria as a critically ill patient”.

    Gumi, a medical doctor, also stated that Nigeria is not united. He said the APC took over a divided country and that what political scientists needed to do at that time was to design a template without dividing Nigeria.

    “Now, there is too much hostility and bad blood in the country. All I know is that all Nigerians are one. What we need was someone to correct us”, he told New Telegraph.

    “This is the time to bring people together, the kind of leader that Nigeria needs at this critical time is the one that can pacify. Not one that will show that he is clean and the other person is dirty. No. He should show that we are all dirty, let us all come and clean ourselves.

    “So, the so-called clean party which has the broom, who is it trying to sweep? It is so antagonistic. It is so provocative that it has divided the country. If your house is also dirty, you cannot clean someone’s house. People thought that change is coming when it was not possible to effect that change.

    Gumi fumed that top officials were getting away with stealing and corruption and cited examples.

    “The allegations of corruption are already been made against the (suspended) Secretary to the Government of the Federation, of a government that is fighting corruption. And the government cannot do anything besides suspension.

    “The present administration came to rule Nigeria using the slogan of war against corruption and this is disrupting the unity of the country. The unity of the country is more important than the money that people stole; more important than the current underdevelopment that we are witnessing”.

    Asked the way out of Nigeria’s problems, Sheikh Gumi advised that before 2019, politics has to change completely and drastically.

    “No more APC or PDP”, he declared, adding that “once they continue, Nigeria’s problems will continue. What I am saying is that they should metamorphose, they should change. When you see a butterfly, there was a time when it was a larva.

    “The parties have to change; PDP has to change, APC has to change or it will break because it is an alloy which is not well moulded. We want these parties to change because of the future of our children.

    “The major defect of APC is that it is a party which was grown by the power of individuals; Buhari in the North and Tinubu in the South West. And there is danger in this kind of politics. Look at Mugabe now, he has suppressed and pinned down everybody in Zimbabwe and he has been winning elections in quote.

    “If we continue along this path, Nigeria will be like that. When we have somebody who feels that he is the Messiah, then we are in trouble because as I am speaking to you now, not everybody in the North can speak to you like this.”

  • We’ll hold national convention in Buhari’s absence – APC

    We’ll hold national convention in Buhari’s absence – APC

    The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, on Wednesday said it will hold the party’s inaugural bi-annual national convention despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s absence.

    The decision was reached by governors and the members of the party’s National Working Committee.

    In furtherance of this objective, the two bodies resolved to send a delegation to acting President Yemi Osinbajo to present him with suggested dates for him to pick from.

    This was part of the decisions taken at the end of a monthly meeting held between the governors and the John Odigie-Oyegun-led APC NWC.

    They noted that they were preparing to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari for him to pick a convenient date for the convention but that was not possible before he left for a medical trip abroad.

    Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, who addressed newsmen after the meeting said: “The issue of the National Convention was raised. Actually, it was part of the decisions we took at the last meeting. Unfortunately, like you realised, Mr. President is not here; he is the leader of the party.

    “What we did was that we now have an acting President. So, the team was supposed to meet with Mr President with a suggested date that is convenient so that he could decide on the convention.

    “But today, we all agreed that we have an acting President; the same process should start again through the acting President.”

    He further explained that the process which started with the President had to start all over with a team to be raised to meet with the acting President.

    According to him, the President, as the leader of the party, should attend but that in the present circumstance, the presence of the acting President would suffice.

    Lalong added that those at the meeting reviewed the party’s performance over the last two years and were satisfied with the level of progress so far made.

    On the crisis in some state chapters of the party, Lalong explained that steady progress was being made in resolving all the issues.

    He also said the issue regarding the funding of party’s activities was also receiving the required attention.

    Earlier, the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, in his welcome address said, “I want to say that I am so happy that we have met twice and we are seeing the effects; very positive, very salutary effects are beginning to manifest in the party.”

    He noted that the positive impact of the APC administration was being felt across the country, especially in APC-controlled states.

    Some of the governors who attended the meeting included Godwin Obaseki(Edo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa) , Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi). Others included Sani Bello (Niger), Aminu Masari (Katsina), and Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara).

    The deputy governors of Kwara, Kogi, Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Nasarawa and Imo were also present.

     

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that President Buhari traveled for medical check-up in London on Sunday, May 7, more than a month he came back into the country from a previous medical vacation.

  • JUST IN: Another Reps member, Adamu Kamale dumps PDP for APC

    JUST IN: Another Reps member, Adamu Kamale dumps PDP for APC

    Another member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Adamu Kamale, on Tuesday decamped to the All Progressives Congress, APC, on the floor of the House of Representatives.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Kamale is a lawmaker from Adamawa State.

    Prior to his defection, Kamale was the only PDP member of the House from Adamawa State.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that just last week , another PDP representative from Plateau State, Edward Pwajok, SAN, also decamped to the ruling APC on the floor of the House.

    Details shortly…

  • We’ll resist any attempt to overthrow Buhari – APC

    We’ll resist any attempt to overthrow Buhari – APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday, said any attempt to overthrow President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration will be resisted by Nigerians.

    National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, stated this while reacting to Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Burutai’s warning, that some politicians were approaching soldiers urging them (the soldiers) to stay clear of politics.

    While speaking with journalists in Ilorin, Abdullahi explained why the party initially hesitated to react.

    “We have hesitated to react so far because we think that the house belongs to us, so we wanted to wait for Nigerians to react and Nigerians have reacted.

    “If there was any such thing in the offing, I think it is clear to everyone that Nigerians will defend their own democracy,” he said.

  • Drama as another House of Reps member, Edward Pwajok dumps PDP for APC

    Drama as another House of Reps member, Edward Pwajok dumps PDP for APC

    Another House of Representatives member, Hon. Edward Pwajok, on Tuesday officially decamped from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

    In his defection letter read by the Speaker of the house, Mr Yakubu Dogara, during plenary, Pwajok said he was leaving the PDP due to the crisis in the party.

    According to him, there are many divisions in PDP, from national level between Sheriff and Makarfi factions to Plateau, between Badung and Sango factions.

    In a swift reaction, the Minority Leader of the House, Mr Leo Ogor (Delta-PDP), raised a point of order to fault Pwajok’s claim that the PDP was factionalised.

    He said that going by the Appeal Court’s judgment, Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff is the National Chairman of the PDP.

    Ogor, therefore, urged Pwajok to vacate his seat.

    “We are presently in court and you are aware that Sheriff is the chairman of the party.

    “I find it totally unacceptable and we demand that Pwajok vacates his seat,” he said.

    But, welcoming Pwajok to APC, the Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila (Lagos-APC), urged more PDP legislators to capitalise on the crisis within the party to cross over to the ruling party.

    In his remarks, Dogara said that the legality of Pwajok’s defection would be left for the court to decide.

    Plateau Governor, Mr Simon Lalong, who was at the chamber to witness the defection, later told newsmen that Pwajok’s defection would open the floodgate for other PDP legislators from the state to join APC.

    Lalong said that some other PDP legislators in the state were ready to move to the APC.

    Also speaking to newsmen, Pwajok said that he was ready for the PDP if the party approached the court over the matter.

    He said, “Section 68 (1) (d) of the 1999 Constitution is clear that where there are divisions in a party, a member can defect to another party.

  • How APC defeated Jonathan, others in 2015 – Oyegun

    How APC defeated Jonathan, others in 2015 – Oyegun

    The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), John Odigie-Oyegun, on Friday said that the party defeated former President Goodluck Jonathan and his party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, by selling messages of hope and true transformation to Nigerians.

    Oyegun said this in Abuja while delivering his opening remarks at a two-day External Communications Workshop for State Publicity Secretaries of the Party.

    According to the chairman, the efficiency with which the then APC spokesmen managed the communication systems of the party during the last general elections was what provided the impetus for the party to be the first political party in the history of Nigeria to unseat an incumbent President.

    He said: “As you are aware, our party is the first in the history of Nigeria to unseat a ruling party.

    “We achieved that feat because of what you did and because of the effectiveness of our communication system across the states.

    “We were able to sell the Change agenda to Nigerians, a message of hope and true transformation built on efficient management of government resources.”

    Oyegun further urged the party spokesmen not to relent in their efforts but continue to sell the programmes and vision of the party to Nigerians even with greater vigour.

    He stressed that there was need to convince the people to support the policies and programmes of the Federal Government led by President Muhammadu Buhari, and also to articulate the achievements of APC state governors APC so as to deepen the understanding of the people.

    “Now that we are no longer in the opposition but have formed the government at the federal level and in 24 states, there is more work to be done.

    “We need to sell our programmes and vision to our people even with greater vigour. We need to convince them to support the policies and programmes of the Federal Government led by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “We need to properly articulate the achievements of our respective state governments and sell the programmes of our Party to the people. We do not have to wait till the next election cycle to do this.

    “This is the time to prepare for the next election by constantly and effectively communicating the achievements and plans our state governments to the people,” Odigie-Oyegun said.

  • Lagos Council polls: We are watching, you won’t have your way, PDP replies Tinubu

    Lagos Council polls: We are watching, you won’t have your way, PDP replies Tinubu

    The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had said it won’t allow the All Progressives Congress, APC, and its national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to have its way in the forthcoming Lagos Council polls scheduled for July 22.

    Mr Taofik Gani, Publicity Secretary of the PDP in Lagos State, told newsmen in Lagos on Friday that the party, despite some internal problems, would put up a good show in the elections.

    He said that the electorate, and not the APC chieftain, would decide the outcome of the elections, and the PDP still had its following in the state.

    Gani said that the PDP would continue to insist on free and fair elections.

    “PDP is a party to reckon with in the state, we are watching them and we will not allow them (APC) to have their way,“ he said.

    Gani said that the Moshood-Salvador camp of the party was working for the unity of the party and would do everything within its powers to ensure members stayed as one.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Tinubu had on Wednesday while addressing a crowd of APC supporters at a stakeholders meeting said that the PDP would win nothing in the July 22 election, as APC would sweep the polls.

    He said that though the party lost some state and national legislative seats to the PDP in some constituencies in the 2015 elections, the APC was working to win back support in the affected councils.

    “We have asked our leaders in those local governments to examine what went wrong and work together to chart a new course to ensure APC win back those councils,” he had said.

    Meanwhile, the two factions of the PDP in Lagos are accusing each other of stalling efforts being made to present a united front ahead of the July 22 local government elections.

    The Chairman of a faction of the party in the State, Mr Segun Adewale (Aeroland), alleged that the Moshood Salvador faction of the party was not working for the success of the party in the forthcoming election.

    Adewale told newsmen on Friday in Lagos that the Salvador faction, aligned to the Ahmed Makarfi-led national PDP Caretaker Committee, had frustrated all reconciliatory efforts to present a strong showing of PDP at the polls.

    “I am the authentic chairman of the PDP in the state because the court has pronounced the Ali Modu Sheriff faction to which I belong as the authentic national leadership.

    “That is the status quo and I remain the state’s chairman except the apex court gives a contrary judgement.

    “Even with that, the council polls are coming and I have made reconciliatory efforts to the Salvador’s faction so that the council can do well at the poll,’’ he said.

    According to him, the Salvador faction has, however, kept on frustrating the efforts.

    Adewale, who contested the Alimosho Federal Constituency seat in 2011 and Lagos West Senatorial seat in 2015, losing to Sen. Olamilekan Solomon on both occasions, said his faction was, nonetheless, doing all its best for the PDP to do well at the polls.

    He urged the party’s supporters to remain steadfast, urging them to work relentless for the success of the party at the polls.

    Reacting, Gani described the allegations by Adewale as falsehood.

    Gani said the Salvador group was the first to initiate a peace process ahead of the polls but that the Adewale group shunned all efforts and boycotted meetings arranged by Salvador.

    “If there is any faction frustrating the peace process, it is the Adewale group. We were the first faction to initiate a peace process and we arranged meetings at Protea Hotel to ensure we do well at the polls but the other group boycotted.

    “While we were doing that, the Appeal Court pronounced the Sherrif Group to which Adewale belongs as the national leadership of the party, and this made the issue more problematic.

    “The other group started seeing themselves as the faction with legitimacy and leverage at the party in the state; they started dictating to everybody even when the matter is at the Supreme Court.

    “They invaded the secretariat with some people and forced people out. They did not have respect for us and the elders of the party and are scuttling efforts for the party to be one,’’ he said,

    He, however, said the only way forward for the party to come together and put up a strong showing at the council polls was for both parties to recognize and respect each other to achieve a common goal.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) has fixed July 22 for the poll and July 29 for runoff.

     

     

    NAN

  • Lagos council polls: PDP won’t win a single ward – Tinubu

    …says

    APC will clear all 57 LGs

    Lagosians happy with ‘Ambode’s impressive performance’

    The National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Wednesday said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would not record any win in the forthcoming council polls in Lagos State.

    Tinubu, a former governor of the state, said this while addressing hundreds of party faithful at the Lagos State APC Stakeholders’ meeting at the party secretariat at Acme Road, Ikeja.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the stakeholders’ forum was held in preparation for the July 22 council polls.

    Tinubu regretted the loss of some national and state legislative seats to the PDP in the 2015 general elections.

    “2015 election was the greatest battle of our time. In the last election, we lost more than three LGAs to our opponents, which is very unusual.

    “We have asked our leaders in those local governments to examine what went wrong and work together to chart a new course to ensure the APC wins back those councils.

    “PDP cannot have any share in these council elections,” Tinubu said.

    The national leader commended party faithful for their support to Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode’s administration, saying that the governor had not disappointed the party and the people.

    “We are grateful to you the people for your great support during the 2015 election. We have continued to hold Lagos in spite of strong opposition.

    “Governor Ambode has not let us down; he is doing a fantastic job in an environment where we have the economic challenges. He is doing it and he is doing very very well.

    “He has a very good team. He is doing a great job and we are very proud of that,” he said.

    Tinubu urged party leaders at the grassroots to shun bribery and favouritism, adding that quality leadership and merit should be upheld.

    “Our leaders should be fair to the people at the grassroots; we cannot please all, but we can satisfy the majority. This politics is give and take, compromise.’’

    According to him, the party will not use any of the current sole administrators in the forthcoming council poll.

    “To appease some people, we asked the government to allow the Executive Secretaries to take over after the tenure of last council chairmen expired, instead of civil servants.

    “That was why executive secretaries were chosen to pave way for politicians.

    “When the term expired, we used sole administrators, but before we used them, we warned them that `when the elective position comes, you are not entitled to contest’.

    “We agreed that time, we cannot change it overnight; executive secretaries, however can contest.”

    Tinubu, however, said 19 former council chairmen, except for one of them who is late, who only served single terms, would be given another chance in the coming elections.

    He urged the party leaders to give consideration to youths and women in the sharing of positions.

    The party leader also urged Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State to increase security presence in Surulere area of the state to check violence.

    According to him, his attention was drawn to some violence in the area, which gave cause for concern.

    ”I urge the people of Surulere to be patient and peaceful. We will all benefit from the party,” he said.

    Also speaking, Ambode urged all stakeholders to work together to ensure APC victory in all the 57 councils.

    Ambode said: “We are meeting on a very happy note. I am able to look back and say that that confidence you reposed in me to defeat the PDP candidate was not in vain.

    “This coming local government election is all in your hands. My call to all members of our great party is to ensure that all the 57 councils are won by APC. We have begun a journey to make Lagos and Nigeria progressive’’.

    Earlier in his opening remark, Mr Henry Ajomale, the Chairman, Lagos APC, said that the forum was organised to allow party faithful to interact with the leaders of the party.

    Ajomale said that meeting was aimed at moving the party forward ahead of the forthcoming council polls.

     

     

    NAN