The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) has said that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the party’s 2023 presidential candidate is currently in Abuja not in the United States as speculated.
Mr Bayo Onanuga, APC PCC Director of Media and Publicity said this after a photo of Tinubu surfaced on the Internet, showing the former Lagos State Governor sitting right beside U.S. President Joe Biden.
In a statement, Mr Onanuga described the picture making the rounds that Tinubu was in the U.S. with President Biden as fake, saying it should be disregarded while pointing fingers at supporters of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi.
Onanuga said although America was listed among Tinubu’s destinations, according to an unofficial report that was widely shared, he could confirm that the APC presidential candidate was in Abuja all through Tuesday.
He added that Tinubu was in Abuja on Monday as well, and had no need to surreptitiously leave Nigeria as some other presidential candidates did.
He said the APC presidential candidate would be travelling to Bayelsa for a rally on Thursday, according to the party’s campaign programme.
The statement reads: “A viral photograph showing Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and U.S. President Joe Biden in talks at the White House is the latest in the series of misinformation being dished out by the political opposition.
“We cannot just fathom the purpose of the mischief and the falsehood, which emanated from the rabid followers of Peter Obi.
“The apparently photo-shopped image surfaced Tuesday night, on the heels of news that Asiwaju will embark on a foreign trip this weekend.
“Although America was listed among his destinations, according to an unofficial report that was widely shared, we can confirm that the APC presidential candidate was in Abuja all through Tuesday.
“He was in Abuja on Monday as well, and has no need to surreptitiously leave Nigeria, like some candidates do.
“Tinubu will be travelling to Bayelsa for a rally on Thursday, according to the party’s campaign programme.
“He is not scheduled to travel outside the country until the weekend for speaking engagements. His first port of call will be Chatham House in London, where he will speak on his Action Plan for Nigeria”.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has denied the alleged plans by its candidate for the 2023 presidential election, Bola Tinubu to relocate the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from Abuja to Lagos State.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Mr Bayo Onanuga, the Director, Media and Publicity, APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) to have said the former Lagos State Governor has no plans like that, contrary to speculations.
“The APC PCC hereby alerts Nigerians about the latest insidious campaign in some parts of the country against our candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
“After exhausting their arsenal of calumnies and character assassination against Tinubu, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and their surrogate Labour Party have begun a multi-pronged desperate campaign of falsehoods.
“In one of the falsehoods being circulated, especially in the North-West of the country.Tinubu is said to harbour plans to relocate the FCT from Abuja to Lagos on succeeding President Buhari from May 29, 2023.
“This misinformation campaign, according to field reports, is being given some traction by some elders on the payroll of the PDP,“ a statement by Mr Onanuga reads.
Onanuga said the APC was shocked that some people could contrive such lies in the name of politics, with the intention to confuse the party`s burgeoning support base in that part of the country.
He said that Tinubu has not contemplated such plan and would not do anything that was so ultra-unconstitutional.
“The same purveyors of falsehood have also been distorting the commercialisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited by the President Buhari-led APC government,” he said.
He said the truth was that Buhari had not privatised NNPC as planned by the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
He added that Buhari had instead, made the company a commercial entity, owned by all the tiers of government in line with the Petroleum Industry Act.
“In due course, the company will be in a position to declare and share dividends to all its owners, the way Aramco of Saudi Arabia and Petrobas of Brazil do.
“As the destined successor of President Buhari, Asiwaju Tinubu will continue the policy of the Buhari administration. Unlike Atiku, Tinubu has no plan to sell NNPC to his friends or cronies,’’ Onanuga said.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council says with the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the latest bid by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to become Nigeria’s president in 2023 has hit the rocks.
Mr Bayo Onanuga, Director, Media and Publicity of the council said this in a statement on Friday in Abuja.
He said by the development, Atiku deserved to be pitied as his yet another bid for the country’s presidency was slipping away.
“This is unraveling before our very eyes even before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) blows the whistle for electioneering campaign, his party, the PDP is in disarray.
“The signs are just too ominous for the Waziri, especially with the report by the Economic Intelligence Unit predicting another trashing for him in the forthcoming polls,” Onanuga said.
This, he said, was after Atiku’s party’s code for power rotation between the North and South was violated and after he grabbed the PDP presidential ticket without a modicum of sensibilities about national ethos.
According to Onanuga, Atiku is now faced with the karma of his inordinate ambition, adding that the PDP has imploded in a battle of attrition, the result of which is predictable.
He said that the ongoing fratricidal war where a faction of the party led by Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers, was engaging Atiku in a fight to finish, has undermined any momentum he had hoped to build.
This, Onanuga said, was with further loss of confidence in the PDP by its own members who could not find any redeeming feature in the fast disappearing party.
“It is crystal clear that Atiku’s latest bid for Nigeria’s top job has hit the rocks, a pillar of Atiku’s campaign is the claim of being a unifier and nationalist.
“That bogus claim has now been discredited, even within his party, as the disaffected members cry for justice and inclusivity.
“Instead of the perennially running and perennially failing candidate to offer them some sop, he has rebuffed them, pleading that he could not grant their request for justice.
“Surely a man who cannot resolve a genuine dispute among his party members, who cannot forge an entente among them, cannot be expected to unify our country,”Onanuga said.
He added that instead of being a unifier, Atiku has became a divider-in-chief.
He said his campaign on this score, was heading for a still birth, just as some of his programmes had been found to be nothing new.
This, he said, was especially as they were already being implemented by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration.
He said the former Vice-President created the crisis for himself, by pushing the fallacy that only a Northern candidate could win the presidency for his party.
Onanuga said that this was in spite of the open record that Nigerians of Southern extraction, when they network with their Northern compatriots could also win the election.
“Former leaders, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr Goodluck Jonathan demonstrated this in 1999, 2003 and 2011.
“As a campaign, we can only pity former Vice-President Atiku for the self-inflicted injury he invited unto himself.
“Atiku brought this unto himself and we dare say he can kiss his ill-fated presidential bid goodbye,” Onanuga said.
The Tinubu Campaign Organisation (TCO) has cautioned supporters of the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, to stop spreading falsehood capable of misinforming Nigerians.
Mr Bayo Onanuga, Director, Media and Communications, Tinubu Campaign Organisation made the call in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, adding that such falsehood and disinformation would not win elections.
Onanuga, who also asked Obi to caution his supporters urged them to allow the 2023 election circle be about issues that would advance the growth, progress and stability of the country.
Onanuga admonished Obi to get his supporters to desist from spreading lies, malice and denigrating other presidential candidates, especially Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate.
He expressed optimism that Nigeria would be better and the electoral process enriched if the 2023 presidential campaigns are about issues of good governance aimed at lifting millions of Nigerians out of poverty.
He added that the 2023 electioneering campaigns should not be dominated by ”the ravings of guttersnipes”, who do not wish the country well.
Onanuga noted that the TCO saw the need to appeal to Obi to caution his supporters after investigating the origin of a recent fake report in circulation.
He said the report had claimed that the Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo, wrote a letter to Tinubu, APC presidential candidate, asking him to support Peter Obi and take care of his health.
He said the Ghana president via his official Twitter account had vehemently debunked the fake news as a product of deliberate mischief with the intent to deceive the public.
“I have written no such letter to the APC leader, and it will not occur to me to do so.Ghana and Nigeria boast of decades of cordial, strong and brotherly relations,
“And I am not going to be the one to interfere in the internal affairs and politics of Nigeria,” Onanuga quoted the Ghana president as saying via his Twitter account.
He added that the TCO had found out that the fake letter from Akufo-Addo was first published on June 22 by a rogue platform, whose url is worlsnews.space (sic) and site identity was World of News.
Onanuga said a content analysis of the site clearly showed that it was a Biafra news platform.
According to him, the fake news was reposted on Facebook by Peter Obi Support Group, same day, showing that Biafra campaigners and Peter Obi supporters are the same.
“Both the Facebook account and the website are replete with fake stories about Bola Tinubu, including a fake story credited to former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State.
“Alleging that Tinubu demanded N50 billion monthly payment from him.
“The spuriousness of the statement is in the evidence that Lagos did not begin to clock N50 billion revenue until after Ambode left office.
“Tinubu could not have demanded N50 billion monthly payment from Ambode when the state government didn’t make such in a month throughout the tenure of Ambode,” Onanuga said.
He added that the pirate website, which the Facebook account feeds on, also parades malicious fake news and headlines without supporting stories.
“The big surprise in all of these is that all the headlines have no supporting stories, and clicking them may bring virus to your computer.
“We have come to a point where it becomes imperative to tell Obi to show leadership.
“He should disavow his supporters who are employing fake news and disinformation as deliberate tools to deceive and poison the minds of unsuspecting Nigerians,” Onanuga stressed.
The Tinubu Campaign Organisation (TCO) has said that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 2023 presidential candidate is not prepared for the job.
Mr Bayo Onanuga, TCO Director, Media and Communications, said this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja while reacting to comments made by Atiku in a television interview.
“We have watched Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s interview on a national television and were extremely shocked by the many lies and ignorance displayed by the PDP presidential candidate.
“In the interview, Atiku exposed himself as a man who is not prepared for the job he is applying for and a man who cannot be entrusted with our commonwealth.
“He was flippant in his response to important questions about his record of service and how he made money while serving in Customs.
“He muddled up facts and exhibited befudling absence of mind during the interview,” Onanuga said.
He said It was most shocking that Atiku in the interview, admitted that he cheated the system for decades and engaged in gross misconduct as a government worker.
Onanuga said as a customs officer at the Idi-Iroko border, Atiku revealed that he ran a commercial taxi service, claiming there was no law stopping public officers from doing business in Nigeria.
“He punched harder, claiming there is no conflict of interest in doing so, but we found this to be untrue.
“Every officer in the civil service is expected to comply with a code of conduct and service rules.
“The rules bar civil and public servants from engaging in private business while in government employment to the detriment of the service he is employed to render to the public.
“The 1999 Constitution further codifies this in part one, fifth schedule section of 2 (b),” Onanuga said.
He explained that the section said a public officer shall not, except where he is not employed on full-time basis, engage or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession or trade.
The TSO DG noted that the rule, however, allowed a public officer to engage in farming activities.
He therefore wondered which rule or law Atiku was relying upon for his gross misconduct as a public officer.
“It is our considered view that Atiku gamed the system all through his career in public service, culminating in his founding of the Intel Logistics along with Late Shehu Yar’Adua and some Italians.
This, he said, was even while he was still in the employment of the Nigeria Customs Service.
He added that Atiku while trying to impress his audience with his supposed knowledge of international affairs, ended up embarrassing himself with false data he cited from Egypt.
Onanuga said the TCO found Atiku’s claim that Egypt had two million police officers on the streets to be untrue.
This, he said, was especially as various sources put the number at about 500,000 for a population of 104 million and not 80 million as Atiku claimed.
He said the PDP presidential candidate also displayed poor knowledge of key sectors of the country’s economy.
Onanuga added that it was surprising that Atiku does not know the contribution of oil and gas industry to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“He claimed the sector represents 20 per cent of our national GDP whereas it is below 10 per cent.
“And it is still falling, owing to the growth of non-oil sector under the current President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress(APC) administration.
“Our conclusion is that Atiku is ill-prepared to be president of Nigeria, if he could bungle a television interview that was planned well ahead of the day and time.
“We expected the PDP presidential candidate to be well informed on any issue before coming on national television to expose himself to avoidable ridicule,” Onanuga said.
He added that it was unfortunate that while criticising APC’s 2023 Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket, Atiku didn’t see seeking to be president on PDP’s ticket after eight years of a president from his part of the country as politics of exclusion.
According to him, Atiku during the interview, provided several contradictory answers, adding that in one breath, he said power rotation is not in the Constitution.
“In another breath, he said the PDP has never micro zoned any position, then he admitted that the party has always rotated power between the North and South.
Atiku’s justification as to why he became PDP’s presidential candidate, instead of a southerner is a perfect example in ellipsis,” Onanuga said.
Frontline presidential aspirant Asiwaju Bola Tinubu last night appeared before the John Odigie-Oyegun-led All Progressives Congress (APC) screening panel, explaining why he is qualified to fly the flag of the party as its presidential candidate.
He answered questions bordering “on his upbringing, educational and professional background”, his campaign spokesman Mr. Bayo Onanuga said.
Onanuga, in a statement, said: “He confidently told the panel why he is qualified to fly the flag of APC as its presidential candidate.
“He cited his success as governor of Lagos State, his raising the internal revenue generation of the state from a paltry N600 million monthly, which has now grown to N51billion today.
“He also cited his invitation to Enron to begin the first state-backed power generation in Nigeria and how Nigeria will need to take the power transmission lines as a highway.
“Tinubu in his answers demonstrated vast knowledge in economic management and a perfect understanding of Nigeria’s political economy.
“The screening committee expressed satisfaction with Tinubu’s knowledge of the economy and sociopolitical issues that are affecting the country.”
Bola Tinubu with the Odigie-Oyegun panel
Eleven other aspirants, including former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Ameachi, Jigawa State Governor Abubakar Badaru, Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi, Dr. Tunde Bakare and the only female aspirant Uju Ken-Ohanenye also faced the panel.
The rest are Former Minister of State, Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajuiba; Senator Ajayi Boroffice, Felix Nicholas, former Senate President Ken Nnamani, Senator Ibikunle Amosu and Senator Sani Yarima Ahmed.
Twenty-eight forms were sold, but only 23 aspirants are listed for screening. Eleven, including Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Senate President Ahamad Lawan, will be screened today.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan being touted as a likely candidate on the APC platform is finally out of the equation. He is not listed to be screened. The party’s convention will hold on Monday at the Eagles Square in Abuja.
Before the commencement of the screening at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, members of the screening panel were inaugurated by party chair Abdullahi Adamu behind closed doors.
Tinubu was accompanied to the venue by Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
He arrived at about 5:50 pm to a large crowd of supporters led by James Abiodun Faleke, former Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir Lawal and chieftains of Tinubu Support Groups.
Amaechi, who came on the heels of Tinubu, headed straight for the elevator brushing aside all reporters at the hotel lobby.
A source in the screening panel said Tinubu was ushered into Suite 312 venue at about 8:20 pm. He left after less than an hour with the panel.
Amaechi was the last to be screened last night.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that Tinubu did not speak with reporters as he headed straight for his vehicle after the screening.
However, Mrs Ken-Ohanenye spoke to reporters after her screening and the General Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Lagos, Pastor Tunde Bakare, spoke before he faced the panel.
Aspirants for today’s screening
For screening today are Vice President Osinbajo, Lawan, former Speaker Oladimeji Bankole, Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, former Minister of Niger Delta Development, Senator Godswill Akpabio, Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, Tein Jack-Rich, former Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Ogbonnaya Onu, Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade and former Minister of Information, Ikeobasi Mokelu.
Though slated for screening today, the fate of Senator Rochas Okorocha, who is in Economic and Financial Crimes Commission custody, is unknown.
The former governor will have a date in court today over allegations of misappropriating N2.9 billion. He has also filed a N1billion suit against the commission to challenge his arrest.
Missing on the screening list of aspirants that purchased the nomination forms apart from Jonathan are the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwunmi Adesina; Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria Godwin Emifiele; Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige and Minister of State, Petroleum, Timipre Sylva.
Meanwhile, Mrs Ken-Ohanenye said she was prepared to step down if the party asked her to do so.
She would insist on the adoption of her economic blueprints.
She said: “I will never see it (stepping down) as a problem to my party because I am going to respect them.
“I am going to do whatever it takes to promote my party and make them relax so that they can make a better decision.
“So, if they decide to ask me to step down, I will not have a choice but to step down. So long as they can carry my blueprints onboard I will respect my party.”
On her screening experience, Ken-Ohanenye commended the panel, recalling that she was relaxed in responding to questions and the conversation with the panel was very frank and straight.
“Let me tell you, there was so much fun. The reception was out of this world. I didn’t want to leave. I was chatting with them explaining myself and what I will do if I am elected the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“And why a woman is needed in things that we do. And I was able to tell them that in my own house I have four children and for that, I have four geopolitical zones. Because every child is different. I am already used to managing things like this.”
According to Bakare, he would be willing to step down if the party mulls a consensus candidate.
He said: “The party supremacy is the utmost essence. You cannot force your way through a party’s structure. The party has the final say. And when we get to that bridge, we will know how to cross it.
“The screening exercise is to check who is guilty and who is not. And it depends on the people who are doing the screening. By God’s grace, we have complied with everything demanded. We have supplied every information.”
