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Tag: Politicians

  • Some desperate politicians using Olakunrin's death to score cheap points – Tinubu

    Some desperate politicians using Olakunrin's death to score cheap points – Tinubu

    The All Progressives Congress National Leader, Sen. Bola Tinubu, on Sunday urged government and Nigerians to work together and take concrete steps to make sure that attacks by gunmen do not continue to occur against the innocent and the peaceful.
    Tinubu in a condolence letter to Pa. Reuben Fasoranti, the Afenifere Leader, over the death of his daughter, Mrs Funke Olakunrin, said that taking such steps would honour Funke’s life.
    Olakunrin was shot dead on Friday by gunmen at Ore Junction in Ondo State.
    “My heart aches with a profound sense of grief and loss over the tragic death of your daughter, the beloved Funke Olakunrin. Unfortunately, some people are eagerly trying to use this tragedy to advance their political agenda.
    “I sincerely regret such behaviour for it is wrong and out of place. It does not well fit the moment. This is a time for consolation and genuine condolence.
    “Everyone loves and supports you. I am sure that no effort will be spared in identifying the assailants and bringing them to full justice.
    “I have been assured by government and law enforcement authorities that the perpetrators of this terrible act will be apprehended and to face the brunt of the law for what they have committed. We have faith that justice will indeed be done.
    “But we must seek more than this. All of us who love you must also work together to honour Funke’s life by taking concrete steps to make sure such attacks do not continue to occur against the innocent and the peaceful,” he said.
    The APC leader described the late Funke as an amiable and good soul who did not mean any harm to anyone.
    “It is senseless and extremely painful that such a fine human being would be attacked by armed assailants while she was travelling with family members along Akure-Ore road.
    “Funke and I shared a happy and close relationship. We regularly exchanged ideas and advice to each other.
    “We could speak to each other freely and honestly because of mutual respect that described our relationship. These talks enriched me. I shall miss them.
    “I see myself as your son who respects and admires you deeply. It is from this wellspring of affection and emotion that I write this letter,” Tinubu said.
    “I too have lost a precious child. I have a sense of what you are going through. Words are insufficient to express my innermost sentiments at this moment.
    “All I can say is that my fervent prayer is for God to extend His divine hand in order to lend comfort to you and the Fasoranti and Olakunrin families that only He can provide.”
  • How politicians, party agents sabotaged 2019 polls – INEC chairman, IGP

    How politicians, party agents sabotaged 2019 polls – INEC chairman, IGP

    Politicians and their agents should carry the can for the malpractices and violence that characterised the 2019 general elections.

    This was the submission of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Mahmood Yakubu; Acting Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Adamu and Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Ayuba Wabba as well as other stakeholders.

    They spoke on Wednessay in Abuja at the Forum of Anti-corruption Situation Room organised by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA).

    In a keynote address, Prof Yakubu said vote buying and selling have become a source of great worry to the Commission, the people and the international community.

    The INEC chair, who was represented by the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, narrated how politicians and their agents devised various methods to compromise the electoral process.

    According to him, one of the methods employed by the politicians and their agents was to buy up Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) from voters in the political “safe haven” of their opponents ahead of an election.

    He also accused them of compromising security agents and some ad hoc staff of INEC who looked the other way while votes were being bought and sold.

    Yakubu said that some money bags bought over agents of other political parties who betrayed their own political parties for money.

    The INEC chair cited also situations where voters were made to surrender their PVCs to middlemen as a precondition for assessing government amenities and facilities.

    He said: “Politicians compromised traditional and religious leaders and community leaders by persuading them to persuade voters in their domain to vote in a particular way.

    “In some instances, they persuaded willing ad hoc staff to abandon the use of Smart Card Readers and provision of social amenities close to Election Day”.

    The INEC chief charged the various Election Petitions Tribunals to prosecute proven cases of electoral offences pending the establishment of a designated body for that purpose.

    Also speaking at the event, Acting IG Adamu said police personnel on election duty were constrained by the law which prevented them from bearing firearms around voting areas.

    The IG, who was represented by Assistant Inspector-General Peter Ogunyanwo, said the constraint made it impossible for officers on election duties to confront armed political thugs who attacked voters and disrupted voting.

    The IG observed that politicians lacked patriotism, nationalism and the fear of God in their conduct during elections.

    He lamented that politicians, who he described as beneficiaries of electoral malpractices, lacked the required will and patriotism to put in place the needed electoral reforms.

    According to him, measures prescribed by law to punish electoral offenders were not punitive enough to deter electoral offenders.

    He cited the provision of Section 308 of the Constitution, which confers immunity from prosecution on sitting governors and their deputies when they commit offences.

    The AIG made allusions to the Rivers and Kano states, where the sitting governor and deputy governor allegedly committed electoral infractions during the March 9 governorship election but who could not be prosecuted as a result of their constitutional immunity.

    “In some cases, the law prescribes a fine of N40 as punishment for people caught with unlawful possession of firearms and other dangerous weapons. So where do we go from here”, the IG said.

    The police chief also blamed greed and stupidity on the part of voters who sell their votes to desperate politicians, saying they end up going back to their squalid conditions afterwards.

    He called on civil society groups and human rights organisations to mobilise for other segments of the public to mount pressure on the National Assembly to ensure birth of electoral reforms that will prescribe stiffer penalties for electoral offenders.

    On his part, the Labour leader blamed vote buying and selling on pervasive poverty and in the land. According to him, most of the voters could not resist monetary offers for their votes by desperate politicians.

    He bemoaned a situation where some state governments pay civil servants, particularly teachers as little as N7000 monthly salary.

    Describing the electoral process in the country as work in progress, Wabba noted, having realised that votes now count, politicians have resorted to vote buying from impoverished electorate.

    The NLC noted that there is no way a compromised electoral process can produce transparent and competent leaders or good governance.

    The situation, he said, has made it impossible for the people to hold their leaders accountable and called for drastic electoral reforms to sanitise the process.

    Activist lawyer, Mr Femi Falana who chaired the event, canvased electronic voting as solution to electoral malpractice, saying the country was ripe enough for it.

    According to him, vote buying and ballot manipulation started in 2003 with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and that the situation has continued to escalate with every election circle.

    He blamed the Election Petitions Tribunals and the courts for condoning electoral practices where billions of naira were raised for the election of individuals against the provisions of the Electoral Act.

    “This is how our courts endorse electoral manipulation and criminality”. He called on the INEC and the civil society organisations to assist the police in ensuring the prosecution of electoral offenders.

    Falana said the current practice where cases of electoral offenders are left to state prosecutors to handle is subject to abuse by Attorneys General who withdraw such cases at will.

  • Beware! Politicians circulating fake dollars ahead of presidential, NASS polls, EFCC warns Nigerians

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Thursday, said that fake dollars were in circulation ahead of the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for Saturday.

    In a statement issued by the agency, EFCC stated that the warning followed intelligence gathered in the build-up to the elections.

    “The intelligence indicates that the Dollar notes have features of genuineness, but forensic analysis by the Commission reveals otherwise.

    “We, therefore, warn the BDC operators to be cautious in their transactions from now till the end of the elections,” said the statement signed by the Acting Chairman of the Commission, Ibrahim Magu.

  • Politicians have disappointed a lot of entertainers- Vector

    Nigerian rapper, Olanrewaju Ogunmefun a.k.a Vector has said politicians have disappointed a lot of entertainers.

    The ‘King Kong’ rapper made this known in a chat with Hip TV.

    In his words: “When you have done political campaigns such that politicians have disappointed you a lot of times you’ll figure out that maybe we all just need to do better,” he said.

    “Because some people are still giving them Lamba (money), many artistes turn their evergreen jams into political campaign songs.

    “They are old enough to know the consequences of such actions. Who am I to judge them.”

    Asked about the upsurge of piracy in the Nigerian entertainment industry, the 34-year-old rapper explained that politicians themselves alongside the government are not doing enough for the music industry.

    “The music industry is thriving by itself. Imagine if you didn’t have to deal with piracy. You’ll most likely not have artistes who are begging for money when they’re sick because their royalties would be in place,” he explained.

    “This is why a lot of my songs are way more digital and on different platforms like Apple, Spotify and others because that is where you’ll go and have access to the numbers. Nobody in Alaba (market) is trying to show me my real numbers.”

    TheNewsGuru recalls that Vector had slammed M.I Abaga over his 2017 song, ‘You Rappers Should Fix Up Your Lives’, where Abaga had complained that his colleagues were “underperforming”.

    In his reaction, Vector described MI Abaga’s assertion as a “super lie”.

    “It’s fine, you can call rappers wack, you can call them anything but I will stand by it any day any time, don’t wash your dirty linen in public,” Vector said during a Cool FM interview.

    “Nobody should come and say that is why South African rappers are killing Nigerian rappers. That is such a huge thing to say. That takes it to another level. That is a super lie.

    “Whoever is saying that knows that the South African environment… for example, I am there in SA and giving them bars, and the first thing I hear is where can I buy your music whereas the general public in Nigeria is where can I download your music.

    There is a different culture. They have pushed hip hop to a level where the acceptance is very general”, he said in an interview.

    “What are you doing to fix up other rappers’ lives to make that a culture as it is meant to be? Are you doing because you want relevance? Are you doing it because you want to make some noise?

    “No offence, I don’t know what the moves are but the only problem I have with that song is you can’t say that’s why this region is killing this region. I don’t think it should be said. I think it is very disrespectful on a very very next level.”

     

     

  • Politicians should stop joking with people’s lives-Wizkid

    Wizkid has joined the list of celebrities airing their views ahead of the forthcoming general elections .

    The singer has urged politicians to stop joking with people’s lives, adding that voters should not be influenced by people who have already collected money from politicians.

    He wrote on Snapchat:”Don’t let anybody wen don collect money influence ur vote to tell u who’s right or not! Use yot head! Vote wisely! I’m for whoever the people vote. Vote who you like…vote wisely. If u ’re old enough to get a PVC, u’re old enough to think! Don’t sell ur vote…uir vote can make a difference! Go out and vote!

     

    And Politicians wey Dey enter stop joking with peoples lives! U’re responsible for the lives of millions of people and ur decisions affects all. Help us make Naija a better place!!! Make una use una head! One Love!” he wrote.

    Nigerian comedian, Ali Baba weeks back also revealed that because of insufficient funds available, the political terrain has been quiet and lacklustre.

     

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BtyTz1tnEGK/

  • 2019 elections not do or die – Saraki cautions politicians

    …Says Senate has passed 257 bills

    President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on Wednesday warned against making the upcoming general elections “a do-or-die affair” even as he insisted that Nigerians must be allowed to exercise their right to choose who will represent them at all levels

    Saraki who made the declaration while welcoming his colleagues from the Christmas and New Year break, according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanni Onogu, in Abuja, said all efforts must be made to ensure that the elections are free, fair and credible.

    He stated that the 8th Senate having passed a record 257 as at the end of December 2018, must not be distracted but should rather remain focused in order to finish strong.

    Saraki said: “This is an epoch making Senate that had, by the end of 2018, passed an unprecedented 257 bills, many of which are groundbreaking enough to change the game to meet the needs of Nigerians, with the potential to radically transform their lives for the better.

    “Nigerians expect us to continue in this vein, and we owe it to ourselves to meet their expectations. The legacy of the 8th Senate will be written in the legislative footprints that we leave, and the foundation that we lay.

    “Therefore, we must ensure that we continue to address issues affecting Nigerians, and concerning which they seek our intervention. Issues such as Unemployment, lack of economic opportunities, insecurity and so on – these still require the attention of the National Assembly.

    “Every action that we can take to address these issues through the legislative function, we must take; everything that we can do, we must do. We must ensure that we conclude work on all outstanding bills and petitions; and bring successful conclusion to all issues and investigations brought to the attention of this Senate.

    “The 2019 Elections are just over a month away, and the expectations of Nigerians as the dates draw near, is that we continue to serve as the representatives they voted for. In our work in this chamber, we are expected to rise about the partisan paradigm.

    “We should address our minds to, and always channel our efforts to how we can move our country forward. Nigerians want to see leaders who will not succumb to the partisan instinct in lawmaking.

    “They want to see leaders who will bring new ideas to bear on the challenges confronting the country. These include: Out-of-school children figures; rebuilding the North East; securing the North West; increasing Girl Child education; as well as how we navigate our way in the economy for higher productivity,” he stated.

    On the forthcoming elections, the President of the Senate said: “Looking ahead to the General Elections, I wish all contestants and aspirants luck in the forthcoming elections, including those here among us.

    “I enjoin us all to bear in mind that it should be a contest of ideas. We should eschew ad hominem approaches to political discourse, and communicate our ideas in a civil manner.

    “The issue of PVCs remains a concern. I call on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to give urgent attention to the matter. Issue has similarly been raised about people buying PVCs; this should also be looked into.

    “Let me take this opportunity to reiterate the need for INEC to bring relevant stakeholders together for a dialogue on a way forward to tackle these issues, ahead of the elections.

    “Everything must be done and every sacrifice must be made to ensure free and fair 2019 Elections. INEC is encouraged to engage the parties and be transparent in its decision making. It is important that the people are assured of the Commission’s resolve and commitment to credible elections.

    “To all Nigerians, I say this: we must have a country after the elections. We all still have to live among ourselves when the polls have closed and the elections are over. The rhetoric leading up to the elections must therefore be mindful of the need for moderation, decorum and respect.

    “To those of us who are contesting, let us remember that our biggest offer is to serve. Ultimately, the Nigerian people have a right to choose who will represent them at all levels. It is not a do or die affair. I encourage all to participate in the coming polls and I wish Nigerians a safe 2019 Election,” he said.

     

  • Elections: Don’t set Nigeria on fire, CAN warns politicians

    The President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Samson Ayokunle, has advised politicians to avoid utterances and actions, which are capable of disturbing the nation’s peace.

    Ayokunle gave the advice at the 2nd General Assembly of the Inter-faith Dialogue Forum for Peace, with the theme, ‘‘General Elections and National Security: The Role of Inter-faith Communities’’ in Abuja on Wednesday.

    ‘‘I also want to appeal to politicians not to set the nation on fire because of their personal ambition at the expense of national interest.

    ‘‘People who don’t have any work outside politics should not be voted into power.

    ‘‘I want to urge those in government and all politicians to calm down, to avoid breakdown of law and order because of elections.

    ‘‘Enough is enough on the destruction of our country. Thuggery and any format of electoral violence should be discouraged by all politicians,’’ he said.

    He also enjoined politicians not to be desperate to acquire power because leadership was a burden.

    The CAN leader said that politicians must respect the rule of law, to enhance peace in the country.

    He, however, urged the electorate to vote for people who had something to offer for the advancement of the country.

    Ayokunle, therefore, charged the law enforcement agencies to help in building the nation’s democracy by ensuring free, fair and credible elections during the forthcoming general elections.

    “Don’t help in installing bad leaders during elections and don’t use your uniforms to do a dirty job by intimidating or preventing voters to discharge their civic responsibilities.

    “We don’t want to see or hear such incidences again if we don’t want to mortgage the future of our children.

    “We should not play politics with the security of Nigerians,’’ he said.

    He also admonished religious leaders to continue to pray for the country, preach peace and avoid making divisive comments that could disrupt the nation’s peaceful co-existence.

    ‘‘I want to urge faith communities to continue to pray for Nigeria because the relative peace we are enjoying in this country is because of our constant prayers.’’

    The co-Chairman, Interfaith Dialogue Forum for Peace, Rev. Sunday Onuoha, advised the Federal and state governments to redirect their efforts towards building stronger institutions that would be beneficial to all citizens.

    ‘‘All institutions, both government and non-government, should be open to dialogue and not close their minds to other opinions or see other opinions as threat, as no one has the monopoly of knowledge,’’ he said.

    He urged those who presented themselves for elective positions to be willing to accept the outcome of the elections.

     

  • ‘Politicians stockpiling arms ahead of general elections’

    The Director-General of National Taskforce on Small Arms, Light and Chemical Weapons, Dr Emmanuel Okereke, on Tuesday, alleged that some politicians had been stockpiling ammunition ahead of general elections.

    Okereke, who made the allegation in Abuja at a news conference, said the stockpiling of ammunition by desperate politicians was due to the porous nature of the nation’s borders and the non-existence of a specific agency or commission to tackle the menace.

    He said, “Due to the lack of a legally established specific body or commission as obtainable in 14 out of the 16 countries in the West African sub-region, all manner of ammunition have been illegally brought into the country ahead of the elections by high-class political players.

    “For Nigeria to effectively tackle the menace of proliferation of ammunition in the country with its attendant crimes, a National Commission for the Prohibition of Illegal Importation of Small Arms, Ammunition and Light Weapons and other related matters, must be established as already done by other West African countries except Nigeria and Gambia.”

    The Commission, he added, was recommended for all West African countries through a resolution passed to that effect by the Economic Community of West Africa States in December 2017.

    “Unfortunately, while 14 out of the 16 member sub-regional body have complied, Nigeria and Gambia have yet to do the needful in that direction,” he added.

    He also stated that before the ECOWAS’s resolution, a bill for the establishment of such a commission had long been sponsored by the national task force.

    He said, “The bill, as it is currently in the 8th Senate, has passed second reading in the House of Representatives but not yet at the Senate having earlier failed to scale through the required legislative processes in the 6th and 7th National Assembly.”

    He said the commission, when established, would not be a burden on the finances of the country but rather a revenue earner.

    He called on the Senate to fast-track action on the bill for the commission to be in place as soon as possible.

     

  • 2019: Reject car gifts from politicians, APGA tells traditional rulers

    The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Ogbaru Local Government Area, Anambra, has called on the traditional rulers in the area to reject car gifts from politicians.

    Mr Arinze Awogu, Campaign Coordinator of the party in the council, made the call while addressing a political group, Ogbaru 16-OVA-16 Facilitators, in his Atani office on Saturday.

    Awogu condemned the alleged attempt by some politicians in the area to bribe traditional rulers with car gifts instead of giving account of their stewardships or their manifestoes.

    He said that gifts from elected public officers could not be unconnected with the resources meant for the development of the area.

    He warned that accepting such gifts would leave the traditional institution open to disrepute and ridicule.

    “A political party here has started vote-buying, this has been raised to a crescendo with the attempt to bamboozle the traditional rulers with car gifts.

    “The attempt by a candidate to hoodwink the revered traditional rulers in the area into joining the list of fingered beneficiaries of the diverted funds meant for constituency projects in the constituency is most despicable.

    “The source of such gifts cannot be removed from the commonwealth of the constituency, it cannot be said to be clean because it is part of the funds meant to be used in executing projects that are for public good.

    “The public odium of being closely associated with proceeds of diverted public funds is indelible, it is our view as a party that the traditional rulers should roundly reject the Trojan Horse,” he said.

    Awogu lauded Movement for Outright Discontinuation of the Exploitation and Annihilation of Ogbaru People (MODEAOP), a rights group working to ensure that every public officer in Ogbaru is held accountable.

    He promised to support the group activities towards ensuring that the people of Ogbaru get the best from their elected political representatives.

    “MODEAOP has initiated a process to expose the conduit pipes through which funds meant for Ogbaru constituency projects in the last four years have been managed.

    Chief Emmanuel Emezina, Coordinator of Ogbaru 16-OVA-16, said the people were tired of poor representation and were working assiduously to deliver all APGA candidates in the February elections.

    Emezina said that the group would embark on aggressive issue-based campaign for its candidates.

     

  • 2019: We don’t need your assistance on logistics, INEC tells politicians

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday warned politicians and political parties in Bayelsa State against volunteering any logistical support to the commission.

    INEC insisted that it had made adequate arrangements for the forthcoming general elections and would not accept any help from politicians.

    Speaking in Yenagoa, the state capital, the Bayelsa Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Cyril Omorogbe, also warned politicians, party supporters and political parties against violence.

    He said the commission would not tolerate hijack of electoral materials, logistics intervention and sponsoring of political thugs to frustrate the electoral process.

    Omorogbe said INEC would deal with miscreants, hoodlums, political thugs and their sponsors.

    “INEC is ready to drag any desperate politician through the mud if found wanting”, he said adding that the commission was prepared for free and fair elections.

    On the commission’s logistics preparedness, he noted that arrangements had been made with different transport companies and more plans were still ongoing insisting that politicians must keep off from all the arrangements.

    He said: “We don’t expect any politician to lay hands, render assistance or interfere with issues of logistics. Anyone caught handling materials that they are not expected to handle will be arrested. Their jobs are not to handle our materials”.

    Speaking on the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), the REC said the commission distributed 108,520 out of the 295,318 received from the National Secretariat.

    He, however, said that 186,798 about 40 per cent of the PVCs were uncollected in the state.

    He promised to achieve 90 per cent distribution of PVCs with the new ward-to-ward strategy put in place by the commission.

    Omorogbe said the commission had also commenced training of ad-hoc employees for the elections.

    Also speaking, the Administrative Secretary, INEC, Mr. Lebari Sampson Nduh, assured the people of the state of the commission’s commitment to conduct a free, fair, credible and transparent elections in the state.

    He called on the residents to own the process and resist every form of intimidation and rigging.

    He warned against youths being used as political thugs in formenting violence in the state and warned hoodlums to stay away from the process.