TheNewsGuru

Tag: Presidential Candidate

  • Diaspora donations to Obi’s campaign lawful – Lawyer says

    Diaspora donations to Obi’s campaign lawful – Lawyer says

    A human rights lawyer, Festus Ogun, says donations by Nigerians in the diaspora for the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, are legal in Nigerian laws.

    He said such do not violate any law and are therefore acceptable.

    The lawyer who is the principal of Festus Ogun Legal, stated this in a press statement he made available to the press on Monday.

    According to him, those who hold otherwise rely largely on Section 225(3)(a)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as altered) and Section 85 of the Electoral Act, 2022.

    However, he said these provisions of law are generally inapplicable to this instant case, and those who rely on them to demand from INEC the disqualification of Mr. Peter Obi, which is itself laughable, are either mischievous or misconceived.

    The statement read, “Following the pledge of a Diaspora Support Group to crowdfund $150m for Peter Obi’s campaign, concerns are raised in some quarters over the legality and constitutionality of diaspora donations made in respect of Mr. Peter Obi’s Campaign.

    Also Read

    Im richer than Joe Biden, I cant steal your money; Peter Obi

    “In fact, some groups reportedly called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to ‘without delay’, disqualify Mr. Peter Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, from the 2023 Presidential race.

    “To be clear, donations made by concerned citizens and support groups (either in Nigeria or in the diaspora) to Peter Obi and his Campaign Team are not in violation of any living law in Nigeria.

    “Those who hold otherwise rely largely on Section 225(3)(a)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as altered) and Section 85 of the Electoral Act, 2022. With greatest respect, these provisions of law are generally inapplicable to this instant case, and those who rely on them to demand from INEC the disqualification of Mr. Peter Obi, which is itself laughable, are either mischievous or misconceived.

    “Section 225(3)(a)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as altered) provides that: ‘No political party shall hold or possess any funds or other assets outside Nigeria; or b. be entitled to retain any funds or assets remitted or sent to it from outside Nigeria’.”

    “A careful consideration of the sections of law reproduced above shows that the 1999 Constitution simply prohibits a POLITICAL PARTY from holding or possessing any funds or other assets outside Nigeria and from retaining any funds or assets remitted or sent to it from outside Nigeria. The Electoral Act, by virtue of Section 85, only complements the constitutional provision by prescribing punishment for its breach.” Ogun further explained.

    “Having cleared that, it is safe to say that donations made to Mr. Peter Obi or his Campaign Organization in furtherance of his Presidential Campaign cannot be said to be made to a Political Party as envisaged under 225(3)(a)(b) of the 1999 Constitution. Neither Mr. Peter Obi nor his campaign Organisation is a ‘political party’ and must not be mistaken or confused for Labour Party, a duly registered political party under the law. It would have been a different ball game entirely if the donations were made to Labour Party as a political party.

    “Donations made to political candidates or their campaign teams are not caught under 225(3)(a)(b) of the 1999 Constitution and Section 85 of the Electoral Act and are therefore not illegal and unconstitutional.”

    His statement is in reaction to a call by some groups for the Independent National Electoral Commission to disqualify Obi from the 2023 presidential race for allegedly seeking funds abroad, contrary to the Electoral Act.

  • 2023: IPOB rejects Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi

    2023: IPOB rejects Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi

    The Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB), has distanced itself from the Labour party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and the Igbo presidency, saying their agitation is clear from day one.

    IPOB reiterated that it’s neither interested in an Igbo President nor a Nigerian President of Southeast extraction.

    The group said its members are not part of Obi’s supporters because they are interested in Nigeria’s disintegration.

    This information was contained in a statement signed and released by IPOB spokesman Emma Powerful.

    Powerful, the spokesman of the separatist group, said Nigeria was irredeemable.

    Powerful’s statement reads in part: “The Igbo people rallying behind Peter Obi are not IPOB members because IPOB’s goal is the disintegration of the Nigerian enterprise irrespective of whether Peter Obi or anyone else from the Biafran geographic space is contesting in the Nigerian farce of an election.

    “IPOB is a freedom fighting movement and has nothing whatsoever to do with or in Nigerian politics. So long as we in IPOB are concerned, Nigeria is irredeemable.”

    IPOB also reiterated its call for the release of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, and a referendum in the Southeast.

    The Indigenous People of Biafra is a nationalist separatist group in Nigeria that aims to restore the Republic of Biafra, a country that seceded from Nigeria before the Nigerian Civil War and later rejoined Nigeria after its defeat by the Nigerian military

  • [VIDEO] Woman grabs presidential candidate’s manhood during campaign

    [VIDEO] Woman grabs presidential candidate’s manhood during campaign

    Video of Roots party presidential candidate, Prof. George Wajackoyah, being sexually assaulted while campaigning has gone viral after being shared online.

    Local news platforms reported that this occurred while the Kenyan presidential candidate was mobbed by a crowd as he campaigned on the back of a truck.

    The controversial presidential candidate was selling his agenda before a woman in the crowd violently grabbed his private parts forcing him to react.

    The Roots party flagbearer jumped back, while his security detail also swung into action, forcing the woman to quickly withdraw her hand.

    “Usinishike hivyo (Don’t touch me like that),” Wajackoyah bitterly complained after the randy woman grabbed his private parts.

    The controversial politician however laughed off the sexual assault only seconds later after the attacker withdrew her hands from his privates.

    “Sasa huyu ananishika sehemu yangu ya nyeti (Now this one is grabbing my private parts),” Wajackoyah told the crowd amid laughter.

    Watch video:

  • Peter Obi embarks on study of “Comparable countries to Nigeria”, departs for Egypt

    Presidential candidate on the platform of Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, on Tuesday afternoon, departed for Egypt on a 3-day visit as part of his detailed study of comparable countries to Nigeria.

     

    Obi, who made this known in his Facebook post, said In Egypt, he is expected to understudy the Egyptian Power Sector, Education, Planning, Finance Sectors and others.

     

    The Labour Party Presidential candidate was seen in the company of youths as he board his flight.

    Peter

     

    His Facebook post reads: “I just departed for Egypt on a 3-day visit as part of my detailed study of comparable countries to Nigeria. In Egypt, I am expected to understudy, among others, the Egyptian Power Sector, Education, Planning and Finance Sectors”.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) recalls that Obi had expressed his confidence in over 100 million human structures which he would leverage to win the 2023 election in Nigeria.

    Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, via his Twitter handle, noted that his structure would be about human beings.

    He highlighted his structure to include 100 million Nigerians living in poverty, 35 million Nigerians living in hunger

    “Whenever I hear of NO STRUCTURE, my answer to it is simple; the 100 million Nigerians that live in poverty will be the structure,” he said.

    Peter

     

    Other categories Obi listed include the elderly, mothers, fathers, the old people, students and membersof the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

    In his words: “The 35 million Nigerians who don’t know where their next meal will come from will be the structure. The elderly, our mothers, fathers, and the old ones dying or being owed gratuity/pension will be the structure.”

    The LP flag bearer said, “ASUU; the lecturers that are being owed, and the students who are not in school will be the structure,” he added.

    “We’ll create the structure, and they’ll see what the structure is all about. The structure is about human beings. — PO,” he added.

  • Tinubu: Back Story and the Morning After – By Azu Ishiekwene

    By Azu Ishiekwene

    After the feisty, if not bitter, presidential primary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ended on Wednesday with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerging the party’s candidate for the next election, the overriding instinct is to throw the losers under the bus. You can hardly blame Tinubu’s camp.

    The man had a raw deal right up to the last minute. For seven years, he was literally an outsider in a party that he played a consequential role to build and a government that he helped to bring to power. And no one seemed to bother.

    As Tinubu said in a speech in Yoruba that landed him in hot water almost on the eve of the primary, in spite of investing his all to install Buhari’s government in 2015, he did not ask for water, garri, or fura – and things were so bad that even if he had asked, he would still not have been given.

    Up till last week, not only did Tinubu seem to have been denied even the basic courtesies due his contribution, an influential block in the Presidency linked to the President’s cousin, Mamman Daura; and Buhari’s Private Secretary Sabiu Tunde Yusuf, was determined to block the party leader from even contesting after he had been cleared by the screening committee.

    When Tinubu mentioned his age during the screening, he was sneered at by a certain member of the committee with whom he had fallen out spectacularly. Even after he was shortlisted, the party chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, ambushed him outside.

    He told the press that Tinubu would be punished for his “I-made-Buhari-president” comment, and after plunging the knife, twisted it by announcing that the party had adopted the Senate President Ahmad Lawan as its consensus candidate.

    Twenty-four hours to the primary, Sabiu Tunde Yusuf was still frantically pushing the Lawan consensus candidacy, telling the executioners on his side to “insist on party supremacy or nothing.” They were all over the place till the last minute.

    But that plot, which collapsed almost as quickly as it was made, was actually Plan B. The original plan was to extract firm promises from the 23 aspirants that they would accept a consensus candidate, and then wangle former President Goodluck Jonathan through the back door on a freeload.

    Tinubu’s refusal to accept a consensus candidate thwarted this plan. It left Jonathan flitting from one country to the other on contrived visits and then finally hovering around the screening venue in the vain hope that he might get a much-sought-after guarantee, and be called in for coronation.

    Of course, that didn’t happen. The former president and the faction led by former APC interim Chairman, Mai Mala Buni, plotting his return slunk off as ignominiously as they had converged. Yet, in the layer after intricate layer of the plots to supplant Tinubu, the most potentially devasting to him and his camp was the one from inside.

    Till the last minute on Tuesday night when Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, and Senator Ibikunle Amosun, among five others stepped down for Tinubu, the South-East and South-West had the largest number of aspirants in a race which was the latter’s to lose. Even though the region has produced a president for eight years and a vice president for seven so far, Tinubu was without a doubt, the most formidable aspirant in the South and countrywide.

    What compounded the misery in Tinubu’s camp, however, was not just the number of aspirants in the South (19 in all), but also the fact that his main opponents in the South-West were a part of what used to be his political clan. Amosun, a latter-day part of this clan, and perennial Tinubu rival, was not exactly the problem. He was, if you like, a known foe, with not a few scars. Stepping down is good for him, but bad news for Governor Dapo Abiodun, whose second-term fate now hangs in the balance.

    The main headache for Tinubu’s camp were Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Fayemi; the former for his position in the government and star power, and the latter for his role as state governor and chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum.

    Fayemi managed, throughout, to keep an open channel with Tinubu (and interestingly with Osinbajo), while he was, at the same time, keenly mindful that his tenure as governor ends this year. His decision to step down was not much of a surprise to insiders. The elephant in the room, not just in Tinubu’s camp, but also among associates, and in the Presidential Villa, was what to do about Osinbajo’s ambition.

    Buhari, master of the politics of strategic ambivalence, gave the impression that he belonged to everyone and yet not belonging to anyone. Aso Rock emissaries to Tinubu returned with mixed messages, one of which was that Tinubu would only step down if Buhari told him to do so himself – a risk the President was unwilling to take.

    From then on, it was left to the leaders of the South-West to manage the mess. They tried. Before the Segun Osoba-led peace meetings, a former governor from the South-West and prominent minister in Buhari’s cabinet arranged two meetings between Tinubu and Osinbajo, which ended in a deadlock.

    Osoba’s peace efforts only managed to obtain promises of fair-play from the contenders, but failed (especially in the last meeting held before the primary), to extract a promise from Osinbajo to step down. The die was cast.

    The statement by the 10 Northern governors – a pregnancy inseminated by enlightened self-interest and opportunism – was a positively significant twist in the plot. Whatever the motivation, it strengthened Tinubu’s hand.

    Not a few still wonder why Osinbajo refused to step down – a decision for which he would take a beating for a long, long time to come, especially in the South-West where preferment for a benefactor, particularly an older one, is often culturally an article of faith. How come he misread the writing on the wall?

    In hindsight, it seems a big opportunity missed, but Osinbajo believed he had a depth of support, especially among the young, increasingly politically active post-ENDSARS population from far and near, that he stood a good chance and was prepared.

    Fundamentally, he also believed that, by and by, Buhari’s lukewarm support would lift and shine through. Unlike Tinubu who threw the gauntlet when he lost his patience with Buhari’s cat-and-mouse game, it’s improbable that Osinbajo would have pressed ahead if he did not believe the president would “anoint” him. Alas, he was fatally mistaken!

    And herein lies the significant difference between the two aspirants: whereas Tinubu knew that the cabal knew his potential to damage the party in the event that the cabal chose to muscle him out, Osinbajo, with a significantly lower deterrent value, was relying almost 100 percent on Buhari’s benevolence.

    Also, whereas Tinubu has been one of the party’s major pillars with an extraordinary capacity to call in favours in spite of the seizures within his clan in recent times, Osinbajo’s camp overestimated the vice president’s great national charm especially in the treacherous waters of internal party politics, where quite often, the piper calls the tune. Nigeria’s delegate system – the equivalent of the US electoral college – is an anachronism in representative politics, all right; but the law, nonetheless.

    Tinubu’s camp deserves to enjoy and celebrate its victory. But as he also said during his acceptance speech on Wednesday, his emergence is not only a lesson for Osinbajo and 13 other aspirants who fought to the end; it cuts both ways.

    The temptation to revenge in the euphoria of victory can be quite strong. I imagine there would also be strident calls for mass executions of fallen rivals. But this can also be a teachable moment for the victor’s camp – a moment of healing and renewal.

    If the APC wants to retain power and keep the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at bay in next year’s presidential (or general) election, it must quickly prevent bad blood spreading.

    It cannot depend solely on Buhari, a president at peace with his lame-duck phase, to win the next election, however tempting that option might be. Buhari has shown that he has no dog in this fight, no interest. Tinubu must take responsibility to lead by healing.

    And while that process should start with all those who lost to him on Tuesday, and reach to other estranged members of his wider clan, he also needs to assuage the justifiable outrage among South-Easterners who feel that justice in Nigeria is a stranger to that zone.

     

    Ishiekwene is the Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP

  • Al-Mustapha emerges AA presidential candidate

    Dr Hamza Al-Mustapha of the Action Alliance (AA) has won the party’s presidential primary to clinch the party’s ticket for the 2023 general election.

    Al-Mustapha won the election with a total of 506 votes through an option-A voting process against its only opponent, Mr Samson Odupitam, who polled 216 votes.

    He was declared as the party’s presidential flag bearer at the AA Special National Convention/Presidential Primary Election held on Thursday in Abuja.

    Earlier, Sen. Tunde Anifowose and Amb. Felix Osakwe stepped down from the presidential race for Al-Mustapha, whom they described as most popular and powerful amongst other aspirants.

    A total of 972 delegates were to vote, however, 851 delegates were accredited and 721 votes were cast.

    The Chairman, AA presidential electoral committee, declared Al-Mustapha the winner of the election.

    He said that the exercise that led to his emergence as the party flag bearer was one worthy of emulation by other parties.

    “I congratulate those who contested and those who withdrew; this election exercise is an indicator that we are united and united we stand.

    “The process is over now but the experience is there not to divide us, but to bind us together; so let us work together to emerge more victorious come 2023,” he said.

    Responding, Al-Mustapha thanked the party’s National Electoral Committee for a transparent, free, fair, credible and peaceful conduct of the election.

    He also appreciated party delegates from across the 36 states of the federation including the FCT who defied the rainfall during the accreditation process.

    “From all indication, this was a very transparent exercise and I commend other aspirants for their efforts to ensure that the party remains united.

    “I also commend Mr Odupitan for contesting because if everybody withdrew, there won’t be victory as we have seen today.

    “I appreciate all party delegates, supporters, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who have all defied the rain to witness this event.

    “I promise that our votes cast today would not be in vain and I indulge us to please obtain a Permanent Voter Card (PVC) because that is the surest way to be victorious come 2023 general election,” he said.

    He urged supporters of the party not to relent in ensuring that the party became a force to be reckoned with against 2023.

    Odupitan congratulated Al-Mustapha but, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the election, adding that the process was not a level playing ground for him to have succeeded.

    “While I congratulate Al-Mustapha for winning the party’s ticket, I must say that I am a man of peace and I chose this path to contest and I can say I came, I saw, and I will conquer next time.

    “However, for future purpose, we must as a party work with all fairness in conducting our primary election and ensure that all aspirants have same level playing ground,” he said.

    Mr Kenneth Udeze, AA National Chairman, congratulated the presidential candidate and other aspirants for contesting and advised that the election was not to divide the party, but to bind it together.

    He called for synergy amongst all the other aspirants and the presidential flag bearer to  enable the party to win at the 2023 general elections.

    The event was witnessed by officials of the INEC, security agents and party faithful.

  • BREAKING: Kachikwu floors Moghalu, others to clinch ADC Presidential ticket

    BREAKING: Kachikwu floors Moghalu, others to clinch ADC Presidential ticket

    Mr Dumebi Kachikwu, the Founder of Roots Television, Nigeria, has clinched the African Democratic Congress (ADC), presidential ticket for the 2023 General Elections.

    Kachikwu secured 978 votes to beat his closest rivals, Kingsley Moghalu and Chukwuka Monye, who polled 589 and 339 votes, respectively.

    Retired Maj.- Gen. Ekundayo Opaleye, Chairman of the party’s National Convention Committee, announced the result on Thursday.

    The convention was held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun.

    A total of 10 aspirants participated in the primary, including five females, and a person with special needs, Dr Chike Okogwu, who stepped down after addressing the delegates.

    A total of 2,040 delegates from across the country were accredited by the convention committee to elect the party’s presidential candidate.

    Kachikwu in his acceptance speech, commended the party for organising quality primary election devoid of monetisation.

    He appreciated party members for electing him as presidential candidate, and assured them that he would continue to project the good image of the ADC, and woo voters ahead of the elections.

    The ADC National Chairman, Chief Ralph Nwosu, lamented that the two main political parties in the country had failed to provide good leadership for Nigerians over the years.

    Nwosu said that the ADC was on a rescue mission to save Nigeria, and planned to win 70 per cent of legislative seats at state and federal levels during the 2023 elections.

    “The ADC is ready to salvage Nigeria, and that is why we will be bringing in technocrats to take over the reins of power,” he said.

    The event was witnessed by INEC officials, security agents and party faithful.

  • 2023: Kwankwaso affirmed NNPP presidential candidate

    A former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso has been affirmed as the Presidential Candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) for the 2023 elections.

    Kwankwaso, who was a sole aspirant, emerged as the party’s flagbearer through a voice vote by delegates at the party’s National Convention held at the Velodrome of the “Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja on Wednesday.

    The former Defence Minister in his acceptance remarks appreciated all those who dropped their presidential aspirations for him and the delegates that elected him.

    Kwankwaso said that he would do whatever mattered to ensure the success of NNPP and its candidates for various elective positions in the 2023 general elections.

    “Our party is so lucky, having young men and women with integrity contesting various positions in 2023

    “While congratulating all of us, I want to urge Nigerians to vote for NNPP,

    He said that NNPP stood for peace, unity, stability and development of Nigeria.

    Kwankwaso urged the delegates and party members not to go back home and sleep but to keep convincing eligible voters across all ethic groups and religions to vote for NNPP in the 2023 general elections.

    Kwankwaso had earlier pledged that when elected, his administration would carry citizens along without favour on ethnicity or religion bias.

    He also promised that his administration would provide necessary infrastructure for the development of Nigeria.

    “Our government will ensure that adequate roads are provided, ensure that trains are working.

    “We are going to improve the aviation industry to make it more effective and affordable so that many people as possible can travel either by road by water or by air in this country,” he said.

    He urged all party members and supporters to register and get their Permanent Voter Cards before the suspension of registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by June 30, to enable them vote in 2023 general elections.

    “Don’t just say that you are supporting NNPP without getting your PVC, go and register with INEC.

    “Ensure that your family members, your friends and everyone around you register and vote,” Kwankwaso said.

    Also at the venue, the former Governor of Kano State, Ibrahim Shekarau, described the convention as a moment of change for Nigeria.

    “This is a moment of change for our youths and women. Change for our economy and change for the nation.

    “Nigeria is a potentially great nation. What we need is a purposeful and committed leadership.

    “We need a leadership that will give sense of belonging to every citizen and entire ethnics of the country,” Shekarau said.

  • 2023: Adebayo emerges SDP presidential candidate

    Prince Adewole Adebayo has emerged as the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate for the 2023 presidential election.

    Adebayo scored 1,526 votes at the party’s National Convention on Wednesday in Abuja to emerge as the party standard bearer, defeating the only co-contestant, Khadija Lamidi who polled 83 votes.

    The Convention Returning Officer, Dr Umar Ardo put the total votes cast at 1,653; valid votes at 1,609, while invalid votes were 44.

    In his acceptance speech, 54-year-old Adebayo, a lawyer and founder of KAFTAN Television said that with his emergence it was the turn of the Nigerian masses to take over power in 2023.

    He said that it was the turn of the citizens without food, those who graduated without work or hindered from graduating because of strike to enjoy the dividends of democracy.

    Adebayo pledged that the SDP would give the ruling party All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) a ‘good fight’ in the 2023 general elections.

    “We will campaign to every household, every polling unit, every ward, every local government, every state, every zone and the entire country.

    “We will come out and show to Nigerians that food, water, electricity, housing, education and medical care are not prayer points,” Adebayo said.

    He urged Nigerians to join the SDP, register with INEC to vote, open their minds, tell others about SDP and vote out bad leaders in 2023.

    The presidential candidate thanked the other aspirants who contested the position with him, including those that withdrew along the way.

    He thanked the SDP delegates for not going for money bags politicians or those who want to perpetually remain in power, but voted for a fresh person.

    He said that the SDP had demonstrated that a party could conduct credible convention and that politicians could subdue their personal interest for the national interest.

    The SDP National Chairman, Alhaji Shehu Gabam, encouraged those who participated in the election to be part of the campaign, saying it was a joint project.

    He said that the party would change the face and character of governance in Nigeria, if given a chance to rule in 2023.

    Gabam said that the party considered it expedient to present itself to Nigerians as a veritable alternative, advocating a new initiative in the administration of the country.

    He said that it was time for the country to get it right in 2023 general elections.

  • APC chair, Adamu reveals who’ll determine party’s presidential candidate

    APC chair, Adamu reveals who’ll determine party’s presidential candidate

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Abdullahi Adamu has revealed that only God would determine the party’s presidential candidate for the upcoming 2023 general election.

    Adamu spoke during an interview with Voice of America, Hausa Service.

    He noted that the party leadership will follow laid-down guidelines in deciding the party’s presidential candidate from the 28 presidential aspirants.

    Adamu said: “You can’t stop our party stalwarts from contesting elections or aspiring for the presidency. It is their right and we are happy for them.

    “There is nothing wrong for anybody aspiring for the exalted seat of the presidency.

    “It is God that decides who gets what. Once God makes up his mind and says this is who He wants, that is what we are praying for. We have 28 aspirants for the presidential ticket and everybody knows that all of them cannot get the ticket.

    “If it’s God’s wish, they all can even be president of the country one after the other. Ours is to ensure justice in the choice of who emerges as the candidate of the party. That does not mean we are perfect. But we pray we do the right thing.”