Tag: endorse
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2019: Smaller parties soliciting money to endorse popular presidential candidates – Oshiomhole
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on Wednesday knocked smaller parties for soliciting money to endorse presidential candidates of their bigger counterparts.
He accused them of bastardising the Supreme Court judgement which states the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should register as many political parties as possible.
Oshiomhole stated many of the existing political parties have been busy making brisk business from the so- called bigger parties, demanding money to endorse presidential candidates instead of producing their own.
Speaking when a delegation of the National Democratic Institute and the International Republic Institute visited the APC headquarters in Abuja, Oshiomhole also lashed out at civil society groups.
He alleged many of them are being sponsored by political parties as election observers.
He recalled as Edo governor, some of the civil society groups solicited for money from him to write favorable reports.
He said many political parties, which he described as democratic merchants, have approached him demanding for money to endorse the candidacy of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The former Labour leader lamented the entire political process is being turned into a platform for trading.
He said: “I can tell you how many requests I have from these so called political parties that if you pay me this we will announce that we are supporting your presidential candidate.
“So people have formed political parties as platform for trading. We must be careful so that in the name of freedom, we do not create democratic merchants, creating more confusion, generating more heat.”
The APC helmsman added: “I was President of NLC for eight years and we were not foreign funded but were and still remain membership driven, membership based and membership controlled.
“So, I am at home with using the tools that are legitimate in a democratic process namely persuasion, convincing people and putting your message across and communicating vertically and horizontally so that the people can decide why they should choose this person rather than that person.
“That is the gift that I have and as chairman of this party. That is what we are trying to do.”
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South East leaders endorse Atiku/Obi ticket
Igbo leaders from the five South East states, under the auspices of Mkpoko Igbo, have endorsed the joint presidential ticket of Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi for 2019 general elections.
They lamented the precarious situation the Igbo have found themselves in the country, in the face of their obvious exclusion from the centre in recent years, and, therefore, said the survival of Ndigbo in Nigeria depends on the actualisation of the Atiku/Obi presidency.
The summit, which held yesterday, at Nike Lake Resort Hotel, Enugu, with the theme: “Ndigbo 2019 and beyond,” and chaired by elder statesman, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, was attended by the cream of Igbo society, led by President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo.
Other prominent participants were the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, Senator Ben Obi, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, Senator Chris Anyanwu, Chief Achike Udenwa, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, Prof. Anya O. Anya, Chief Emeka Ugwu-Oji, Amb. Frank Ogbuewu, Amb. Lawrence Nwuruku, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Prof. A.B.C. Nwosu, Prof. Uche Azikwe, Amb. George Obiozor and former Ohanaeze president general, Chief Gary Igariwey.
A communiqué read by Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, stated that their vote for Atiku/Obi presidency was based on the restructuring agenda the duo have put on the table, which the four geopolitical zones of the country has already agreed on.
“The summit deliberated on the state of Ndigbo in Nigeria, today, espec ially after years of exclusion from the centre. This country has never been so divided, as it is today. We Igbo have always yearned for a level-playing field with justice, equity and fairness.
“It was acknowledged that this nomination puts Ndigbo back in the centre of governance. It is, therefore, important that Ndigbo should rally behind the Atiku/Obi ticket.”
In his address at the meeting, Prof Ben Nwabueze begged Ndigbo to ensure the victory of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in next year’s presidential election.
He said: “This is my last wish before I join my ancestors.
“We want Nigeria to be united, but we have to survive first. Our campaigns and agitations are for our survival. The Atiku/Obi ticket is for the survival of Ndigbo. It is our determination to ensure its success by mobilising the entire Igbo to vote for them; and with their success, you would have done me the greatest honour.
“At my age, there is nothing any longer that I should pursue except the good of my people in Nigeria, and this is the path to it. Please do me the honour of that ticket before I answer my final call, and I will be happy. When you leave here, go back to your villages and communities and say to them that Ndigbo must survive in Nigeria, and the only way to ensure their survival is to deliver the Atiku/Obi ticket in 2019. I assure you I will rest in peace in my grave when this is done because it would have liberated Ndigbo.”
Nwabueze, however, noted that he would not rest until a sense of belonging was achieved for Ndigbo and prayed the leaders to continue to work in unity.
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Minimum wage: Stop tongue lashing Buhari, he never endorsed N30,000 – Presidency
The Presidency on Thursday warned those critising President Muhammadu Buhari for allegedly reneging on his promise of paying N30,000 as the new national minimum wage.
The presidency insisted that reports of endorsement of the N30,000 recommended by the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Committee were not correct.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, made the clarification in a statement made available to journalists.
He said what Buhari committed himself to was a new minimum wage only after the report of the committee has been reviewed by the executive and legislative processes of government and an appropriate bill presented to him for assent.
The presidential spokesman said through the period the committee submitted its report to Buhari, “the President never mentioned any figure. What he committed himself to was a new minimum wage, and only after the report of the committee has been reviewed by the executive and legislative processes of government and an appropriate bill presented to him for assent.
“Until the proposed minimum wage has gone through the whole gamut of law-making, President Buhari, who is a stickler for due process, will not be caught in this unnecessary web of controversy, which amounts to putting the cart before the horse and hair-splitting.
“As for those who have latched onto the concocted controversy to play cheap politics, we appeal to them to remember that elections are not won through loquaciousness, and trying to demean the President at every drop of a hat.
“But then, it is not surprising, as they have nothing else to sell to Nigerians, if they don’t ride on the name of the President. Stiff judgment awaits them at the polls.”
While saying the Presidency is concerned over what he described as the recurring reports, Adesina insisted that the reports are contrary to what transpired on when the committee presented its report to the President.
He said while acknowledging the concerns raised by government on affordability and Labour’s focus on meaningful increase, Buhari stated clearly in his speech, that, “In a way, both arguments are valid. I want to assure you all that we will immediately put in place the necessary machinery that will close out these open areas.
“Our plan is to transmit an Executive Bill to the National Assembly for passage within the shortest possible time.
“I am fully committed to having a new National Minimum Wage Act in the very near future.
“As the Executive arm commences its review of your submission, we will continue to engage you all in closing any open areas presented in this report.
“I, therefore, would like to ask for your patience and understanding in the coming weeks.”
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Presidency backtracks, says Buhari did not endorse N30,000 minimum wage
The Presidency on Tuesday said reports that President Muhammadu Buhari endorsed the N30,000 new minimum wage was misleading.
It insisted that the president’s remarks when he received the report of the Tripartite Committee on the Review of National Minimum Wage was misinterpreted by the media.
Recall that Buhari on Tuesday in Abuja received the highly anticipated report from the committee’s chairman, Amal Pepple.
A presidential source, who preferred not to be named, said the president did not endorse N30,000 as proposed by the committee as reported by some sections of the media.
He, however, stated that President Buhari had expressed his commitment to ensuring the implementation of a new National Minimum Wage.
“But the president’s speech at the event was immediately made available to the media and nowhere indicated that the president endorsed N30,000 Minimum wage.
“It is not the duty of the president only to endorse a new national minimum wage. The process involves the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the National Economic Council (NEC) and the National Assembly.
“It is imperative for us to always avoid misinterpreting a written speech,’’ he added.
Recall that President Buhari had pledged that the Federal Government would soon transmit an Executive bill (on National Minimum Wage) to the National Assembly for passage within the shortest possible time.
He said: “Our plan is to transmit the Executive bill to the National Assembly for its passage within the shortest possible time.
“I am fully committed to having a new National Minimum Wage Act in the very near future.’’
Buhari also expressed delight that the committee successfully completed its assignment in a peaceful and non-controversial manner.
“Let me use this opportunity to recognise the leadership of the organised labour and private sector as well as representatives of State and Federal Governments for all your hard work.
“The fact that we are here today, is a notable achievement.
“As the Executive Arm commences its review of your submission, we will continue to engage you all in closing any open areas presented in this report.
“I, therefore, would like to ask for your patience and understanding in the coming weeks.”
The President, however, enjoined the leadership of the labour unions as well as the Nigerian workers to avoid being used as political weapons.
“May I therefore, employ workers and their leaders not to allow themselves to be used as political weapons,’’ he said.
In her remarks, Ms Pepple explained that the recommendation made by the committee was predicated on the high cost of living, occasioned by the exchange rate as well as the rising inflation rate in the country.
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2019: 27 Imo lawmakers endorse Okorocha’s son-in-law for governor
Legislators of the Imo State Assembly have endorsed Governor Rochas Okorocha’s son-inlaw, Chief Uche Nwosu, for the governorship of Imo State ahead the 2019 general election.
This was disclosed yesterday by Hon. Henry Uzoma Ezediaro member representing Oguta state constituency in the Assembly and House committee chairman on Petroleum, ISOPADEC and NDDC. Briefing newsmen Saturday in Owerri, the Imo State capital, Ezediaro said that following consultations and meetings by the state legislators, they have resolved that election of Nwosu as the state governor in 2019 would ensure the continuation of the programmes of the current administration.
Ezediaro said, “Without Uche Nwosu as governor in 2019‚ most of the on going projects and laudable programmes of the Okorocha administration in the state would be abandoned by any person who has not been part and parcel of the current administration.
