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Tag: senator

  • Senator dumps PDP, defects to APC

    A senator of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Joshua Lidani (Gombe South), has announced his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, formally made the announcement on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday.

    “Let me inform this Senate that very distinguished Senator Joshua Lidani representing Gombe South is defecting from the PDP to the APC. Congratulations,” he said.

    Although no reason was given for his defection, Mr Lidani is one of the many lawmakers who had defected from one party to another.

    Both the Senate and the House of Representatives had in the last one month witnessed several defections after dozens of members, mostly from the ruling APC, defected to other parties in August.

     

  • 2019: APC Senator under attacks for predicting Buhari's loss in Northeast

    A serving senator on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bukar Abba Ibrahim on Monday came under heavy attacks for predicting a loss for President Muhammadu Buhari and the party in the Northeast in next year’s elections.

    His comment does not reflect the reality on ground and he is not speaking for Yobe State and the North east, a member of the House of Representatives, Goni Bukar Lawan, said.

    But Senator Ibrahim denied the statements he reportedly made during the public presentation of his book as part of activities to mark his 70th birthday in Abuja at the weekend.

    A statement by his media aide Yusuf Ali, quoted Senator Ibrahim, a three-time Yobe State Goveror and three-time senator as saying: “The senator remains a progressive politician who does not encourage rigging and would never have made such a statement like ‘massive rigging will not save APC/Buhari, APC is worse than PDP etc’, after fighting so hard to save Nigeria from the PDP.”

    Rep. Lawan, chairman of the House Committee on Sports, told reporters after attending a meeting of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) in Lagos yesterday said:

    “I feel bad that I am constrained to react to the disturbing comment of one of our leaders in Yobe State, His Excellency, Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, who is probably still unhappy with the outcome of the APC primaries because he lost the APC senatorial ticket to outgoing Governor Ibrahim Gaidam. I also didn’t get a ticket like the Senator but we all must make sacrifice for the APC; after all, the party has given us chances to be at the National Assembly. Senator Ibrahim’s wife, who is a minister, is the only member of the Federal Executive Council that succeeded in getting the APC’s ticket to contest election in 2019.

    “All other ministers failed in their bids for tickets. I think the Senator is one of the major beneficiaries of the APC. We must know that other people also need opportunities to serve our people. Senator Ibrahim saying that APC will lose in Yobe and the northeast is a joke.

    “Any grassroots politician who is very conversant with political feelers in Yobe and neighboring Borno State can tell anyone that come 2019, the APC is coasting to overwhelming victory in these two states and insha’Allah, the whole of Northeast. The PDP is divided in both Borno and Yobe states while the APC is clearly the beautiful bride. So, how can anyone in all honesty raise doubts about the chances of APC in Yobe, Borno and the rest of the Northeast? “Our people are fully with President Muhammadu Buhari; no one can doubt this. Yobe and Borno are among the greatest beneficiaries of the APC because under the PDP, our major problem was the overwhelming attacks of Boko Haram.

    “The APC government of President Buhari is squarely fighting the Boko Haram. We are fully with our governors of Borno and Yobe and we are fully behind our governorship candidates Mala Mai Buni (Yobe) and Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum (Borno). We are behind all our national and state assembly candidates and by the grace of God, the APC will record resounding victory in the Northeast.

    “I think Senator Ibrahim needs to remember that he is an elder statesman and elders don’t just say anything in public.

    “Elders either speak wisely in public or they keep quiet” he said.

    The Statement by Senator Ibrahim reads: ”The distinguished Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim has reacted to newspapers reports published and making the rounds in the social media sites that he is a loyal APC party member, a chieftain and an elder statesman. President Muhammadu Buhari is his president, he supported him as he will continue to support Buhari 2019 and even beyond.

    ”He mean no harm or to disparage the party which he fought so hard to build with other progressives element in 2015 to save Nigeria from drift and the decadence of the PDP.

    ”Many have given it different interpretations as it suit them, some quoted him out of context for political reasons. What he said is a wake up call for his party to work harder towards the next general elections to win overwhelmingly.

    ”I want to make it categorically clear that Sen Bukar did not say and will never say, “Mass rigging will not save APC/Buhari, APC is worse than PDP, PMB should not expect Votes from N/East, 2019 Dicey for PMB in N/East, etc as it’s been circulated in the media”.

  • JUST IN: PDP loses only senator from Rivers to APC

    The Senator representing Rivers West, Osinakachukwu Ideozu, has defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.
     
    Majority Leader at the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, announced Osinakachukwu’s defection at plenary on Wednesday.
     
    Lawan, who was moving a motion for the adjournment of plenary till November 6, welcomed and congratulated him for joining the majority party.
     
    With this, the three senators from Rivers, a PDP-controlled state, are now members of the APC.
     
    The others are Senators Andrew Uchendu (Rivers East) and Magnus Abe (Rivers South East).
     
     
     
     

  • Serving senator, ex-minister, 13 others dump PDP for APC in Ebonyi

    The senator representing Ebonyi South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Sonni Ogbuoji, and an ex-Minister of State for Power and Steel, Goddy Ogbaga and 13 others on Saturday defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

    The defectors announced their defection during a rally organised by the state chapter of the APC in honour of President Muhammadu Buhari and the party’s National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.

    Addressing the defectors and other party members at the rally held in Abakaliki, the state capital, Oshiomhole commended Ogbuoji and other defectors for what he described as their bold initiative to leave the PDP for the APC. He stated that the Federal Government was committed and focussed in tackling the numerous challenges confronting the country.

    He said, “We now have an elected senator, Chief Sonni Ogbuoji, who has decided that the PDP’s umbrella is shredded that it can no longer protect any one. He has now joined the progressives.

    “He has watched the determination of the APC-led Federal Government to flush out all crises inflicted on the country by the immediate past administration of the PDP.”

    Oshiomhole added that the Federal Government had embarked on execution of numerous projects in the South-East including the Onitsha/Enugu highway and the 2nd Niger Bridge among others.

    He also urged party supporters to obtain their Permanent Voter Cards, saying it was the weapon for the actualisation of total victory of the APC in the 2019 general elections.

    Earlier in his speech, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, noted that the people of Ebonyi State had resolved to align themselves with the APC and would vote for Buhari in 2019.

    He said, “If the elections are conducted today in Ebonyi State, the APC will clinch all the elective offices at the wards, local government and state levels.’’

    The minister urged South-East geopolitical zone comprising Abia, Imo, Ebonyi, Anambra and Enugu states to embrace the APC and be in the mainstream of the country’s politics.

    Some of the other defectors were a former Ebonyi State Attorney General, Augustine Nwankwegu and a former Secretary to the Ebonyi State Government, Prof. Bernard Odoh.

    Speakers at the event included ex-governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, the immediate past governor of Ebonyi State, Chief Martin Elechi and the APC National Vice-Chairman South-East zone, Chief Emma Eneukwu.

  • Thugs attack: Kaduna APC Senator escapes death

    Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi (APC Kaduna North) on Sunday escaped being killed by thugs during a political gathering of stakeholders and leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) he convened in Kaduna.

    Hunkuyi had convened the meeting to sensitize party supporters to resist an alleged plan to impose candidates on them during the APC Congresses scheduled from May 5.

    However, thugs stormed the venue of the meeting at ENDwell Hotel in the city center, brandishing all kind of weapons and throwing stones on the supporters chanting “Kaduna sai Uba Sani, Kaduna Sai El-Rufai in 2019”.

    In the process, five persons sustained injuries and are receiving treatment at Barau Dikko and Garkuwa hospitals in the metropolis, while many vehicles destroyed.

    Jame Obute, Media Aide to the Senator told NAN that “those who sustained various degrees of injuries were taken to Garkuwa Hospital and Barau Dikko specialists Hospital where they are receiving treatment.

    “Some vehicles’ windscreens including those belonging to the Chairman ATAR Communication and leader of APC Restoration group, Tijjani Ramalan, were broken by the thugs”.

    Meanwhile, Hunkuyi, who had visited the injured person in the two hospitals, condemned the attack. He accused the state government of masterminding the attack.

    According to him, the thugs may have been sponsored by those who are feeling jittery of his political acceptance in the state.

    He said the gathering was not a political campaign but meant to sensitize stakeholders and party supporters to resist the imposition of delegates through affirmation or selection during the party congresses in the state.

    Hunkuyi said he had been in politics for the last 30 years but had never had such an encounter. He said he had made a formal report to the Commissioner of Police.

    Contacted the Commissioner of Police, Austin Iwar, confirmed that Hunkuyi had lodged a complaint with the police on the attack.

    He, however, declined further comments.

     

  • EFCC grills two PDP senators over alleged N4bn contract scam

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detectives on Monday quizzed a serving senator elected on the plat of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; Peter Onyeluka Nwaoboshi over alleged unexecuted N4billion contracts and 20 accounts in six banks.

    The senator, who represents Delta North Senatorial District (PDP), is also under investigation for allegedly obtaining a N1.2billion loan from Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) to buy electrical equipment and diverting the facility to personal use.

    Three years after securing the loan for his firm, he has paid back just N150million.

    Another issue against the Senator was the alleged use of a firm, Golden Touch Construction Project Limited, to purchase a 12-storey building in Apapa Lagos belonging to Delta State Government at the cost of N805, 000,000.00.

    It was learnt that a response from the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) showed that the Senator “did not declare all the companies and banks account he has interest in despite being operational prior to the time he made the declaration.”

    The EFCC closed in on the Senator following a petition from Delta State.

    A top source in EFCC said: “The Senator is in our custody to respond to allegations against him. So far, he has been with a team of detectives handling the multiple cases concerning him before this commission.

    “It is too early to say whether the EFCC will detain him. He has many questions to answer.”

    A brief by the EFCC on the Senator indicated that Nwaoboshi secured theN1.2billion loan, under the Local Industrial Growth Scheme, when he was sitting on the Board of Directors of NEXIM Bank.

    Although Nwaoboshi excused himself on the day the NEXIM board approved the facility for his company, the anti-graft agency said the deal smacked of internal abuse.”

    The document reads in part: “The EFCC is probing how the Senator allegedly diverted part of a N1.2billion facility granted to him in 2014 by NEXIM Bank under the Local Industrial Growth Scheme.

    “The loan, which was approved for the senator when he was a member of the bank’s board of directors, was meant for the purchase of equipment and electrical materials but the senator allegedly diverted part of the funds to acquire properties in Lagos.

    “Criminal diversion is a serious offence and NEXIM may have to report him to the Central Bank of Nigeria. As a director of the bank, the circumstance of the award of the loan is one that raises fundamental conflict of interest and corporate governance issues.”

    A petitioner also claimed that the Senator allegedly owned ‘Bilderberg Enterprises Ltd’ which was awarded a contract by the Direct Labour Agency, Delta State to supply construction equipment in the sum of N1,580,000,000.00.

    But instead of supplying according to the specifications, the Senator was alleged to have supplied used equipment contrary to the Bill of Quantity which specified new ones.

    Also Bilderberg Enterprises Limited (previously known as Bilderberg Enterprises Nigeria Ltd) was alleged to have secured contracts from Nine (9) Local Government Areas in Delta worth over N2billion when the said company was yet to be registered under the Company and Allied Matters Act.

    The same Senator’s firm was alleged to have secured another contract to supply N474, 936,000 machinery like Bulldozers, Pail loaders and Tipper Lorries by the Delta State Waste Management Board.

    The EFCC however found out that the equipment were used items contrary to contract specifications.

    About five firms had been traced to the Senator including Bilderberg Enterprises Ltd, Suiming Electricals Limited, Golden Touch Construction Project Limited, Jupes Global Nigeria, and District Construction Trumile Service.

    On the question of accounts, the Senator’s personal and companies’ banks accounts were linked to the Bank Verification Number (BVN) 22300559079 which has more than 20 bank accounts domiciled in six different banks.

    But one Ogom Augustine Nwaoboshi is the sole signatory to the accounts.

    A one foreign account identified with the Senator was also located by the EFCC’s investigation team

    The account is designated as No 4004241 with HSBC Bank in Marbile Arch London, United Kingdom.

    Meanwhile, ex-Plateau State Governor David Jang was also on Monday quizzed for over seven and a half hours over alleged diversion of N2billion Small and Medium Scale Enterprises funds facility advanced to the state by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) during his tenure.

    Another source added: “The SME cash was released to Plateau State a month before the expiration of Jang’s tenure in 2015. We asked him about the whereabouts of the funds. He is expected to provide the list of beneficiaries.

    “But our detectives have retrieved all documents relating to the facility. We are probing clues on how the money was diverted.

    “We are likely to take on Jang again this week because he owes the people of the state a duty to account for the N2billion.”

  • Saraki appoints Ex-Senator as Special Adviser

    President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has approved the appointment of Sen. Abubakar Danladi Abubakar as his Special Adviser on Special Duties.

    According to a statement by the Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, to the President of the Senate, the appointment takes immediate effect.

    Abubakar, according to the statement has served in the 8th Senate representing Taraba North where he served as chairman of Committee on NEPAD and member of other committees.

    The 53 year-old former lawmaker also served as Deputy Governor before his election into the Senate in 2015.

     

  • BREAKING: Senator Mustapha Bukar is dead

    BREAKING: Senator Mustapha Bukar is dead

    Senator representing President Muhammadu Buhari’s hometown Katsina North (Daura Zone), Mustapha Bukar is dead.

    Family sources said Bukar died on Wednesday morning after a brief illness.

    Kanta Bukar, the younger brother of the deceased, confirmed the death. He stated that the senator died in the early hours of Wednesday at the Nizamiyya hospital, Abuja.

    He said the deceased was survived by two wives and 12 children, including Dr Ibrahim Bukar of the Nigeria Communication Commission.

    The deceased would be buried in Daura later in the day.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Bukar’s death is coming barely a week after the death of a reps member representing Lokoja/Kogi/Koton Karfe, Umar Buba Jibril.

    Recall also that another senator representing Bauchi South, Ali Wakili, died On March 17 at the age 58 after a brief illness.

    A civil engineer by training, Bukar was born in Daura on December 31, 1954.

    He was a member of Institute of Civil Engineers, Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria, Nigerian Society of Engineers, American Waterwork Association.

    Bukar was also the President, Nigerian Water Supply Association, He was Chairman African Water resources and Member Nigeria Institute of Management.

    He was at one time a Director of Special Duties on Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Development in the Ministry of Agriculture.

    A native of Daura, Bukar later ventured into politics and contested for Katsina North Senatorial District and won.

    Bukar was recently in the news when he sponsored the training of 400 unemployed youths in his Senatorial District on yoghourt making and poultry production for self-reliance and economic sustainability.

  • Drama as senator accuses colleague of planning to impeach Saraki, Ekweremadu, others

    There was mild drama at plenary on Thursday as a senator representing Ebonyi Central (PDP), Obinna Ogba accuses his colleague, Abdullahi Adamu, who was recently removed as chairman of the Northern Senators Forum, of planning to impeach the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu and other principal officers.

    Ogba on Thursday tendered “evidences” he claimed were phone conversations between Adamu and some other people on alleged plans to remove Saraki and other members of the Senate leadership.

    Coming under Order 43 of the Senate standing order, Ogba urged the Senate to investigate the matter.

    “I rise this morning to bring to the notice of the Senate that there is a plan by some people in this Senate, maybe under the leadership of my distinguished colleague, particularly Senator Abdullahi Adamu. Mr. President, you remember in January, distinguished Senator Misau made a comment here that there was a plan to remove the Senate President and in fact the leadership.

    “Now, I have reliable information that some people are already planning to destabilise the Senate, including the Senate leadership by organising demonstration of which money is already exchanging hands. I believe that all of us are all leaders in this in this country and everybody who sees something that will destabilise the country or the Senate or even the democracy should avoid it. As we are here, if there is any going on, you have the opportunity to raise, not to go outside the chambers to start planning civil resistance; market women to come for demonstration against the leadership of the Senate.

    “Mr. President, I want this Senate to investigate this matter properly, I have evidence to show what I’m saying. There is a telephone conversation going on which any other person can also print it out, between senator Abdullahi Adamu and some other people.

    “When senator Misau raised it in January we didn’t take it as anything, I am saying this, we must stand up to look into this.”

    Mr. Ogba, after his presentation, proceeded to tender what he called ‘documentary evidences’ against Mr. Adamu.

    The Senate resolved to refer the matter to the committee on petitions to report back in two weeks.

    Ike Ekweremadu, who presided, pleaded with anyone planning to destabilise the country to desist from doing so.

    “The difference between military, autocratic regime and any other oppressive regime is the parliament. Once we remove the parliament, there is going to be problem. In whatever we do, we must continue to preserve the sanctity of the parliament. I want to appeal again that anyone planning to destabilise this country is not doing us any good,” he said.

    Recall that in January, while speaking on the appointment of the Director General of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency, Ahmed Abubakar, Isa Misau, Bauchi-APC accused a minister of leading a plot to remove the Senate President.

    “When we were on holiday, so many people were going behind that they should try and remove the senate president. And it was a minister that was spearheading that thing. What is the reason, they said that the senate president would leave APC that they should create problems for him (Saraki). What kind of country is this? Everything is about religion, about tribe,” he said

  • Okorocha joins Imo West senatorial race

    Okorocha joins Imo West senatorial race

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha yesterday declared his intention to contest for the Imo West senatorial seat in 2019.

    The governor said his participation would brighten the chances of President Muhammadu Buhari and other candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) .

    Okorocha, who spoke at the Government House in Owerri, at the inauguration of members of the Imo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ISOPADEC), endorsed his deputy, Eze Madumere, for Imo East seat, and restated his earlier endorsement of his chief of staff and son in-law, Uche Nwosu, as his successor.
    He said: ”If Uche Nwosu will be home for governor, I will tell the deputy governor to go to the Senate. I told you earlier that my interest is the Presidency but since President Buhari will be contesting in 2019, I decided to put my ambition on hold until he completes his tenure.

    “But I have decided to run for the Imo West Senatorial zone because if I don’t, bad people will take the position. If my name appears on the ballot paper as contesting for the Senate, it will boost APC’s chances in the state. And many from my zone have said they will not contest if I am interested.“

    Madumere has dismissed the reported impeachment plot against him by the House of Assembly.

    The deputy governor insisted that he remains “an integral part of the government” and described the impeachment plot as “a mere fallacy”.

    He said: “I was not in the state when the said impeachment plot was raised. I see it as mere rumour…”