APC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES: POLITICAL EXPEDIENCE AND ELECTORAL VALUES (PART 3).

Chief Bisi Akande, after the merger became the Chairman of the APC Interim Management Committee (IMC). I attended his first Press Conference as Chairman, IMC and listening to him further earned more of my respect for him when he said that “a political party is like a cult and only those that are in tune with the objectives/direction of the leadership will get to the destination”. This has been in my memory till date and I am never going to forget that statement. Interpretation of the statement can be in different ways and with different meaning and understanding. But in politics, this is what some of us refer to as LOYALTY. Leaders do not joke with loyalty.

While the APC merger process was going on, Governor Rotimi  Amaechi was engaged in a political battle of his life with the Presidency and his former Party (PDP). He was therefore “caught between the devil and the deep blue sea”. The APC leadership saw an opportunity to pay solidarity visit to Governor Amaechi and cultivate his friendship, inviting him to join the APC. Eventually, Governor Amaechi, after wide consultations, decided to take the plunge into the “deep blue sea”. The general opinion then was that Rotimi Amaechi will be offered the APC Vice Presidential ticket to challenge President Goodluck Jonathan from the same South-South geo-political Zone and deliver substantial electoral votes from the Zone. At the time, the opinion was politically expedient and an accepted political calculation. But as political expedience and electoral values will later dictate, this political calculation became unattractive. The reason for this will be made clear shortly.

Later, the G5 (PDP Governors) including Governor Rotimi  Amaechi and their loyal followers and supporters, staged a walk out on their Party (PDP) and formed the new PDP (nPDP). They all subsequently decamped to the APC. The G5 Governors teamed up with the APC Governors and started agitation for the Presidential and VP Candidates to be picked from within the now APC Governor’s Forum under the Chairmanship of Governor Rochas Okorocha. Again political expedience came into play.

Prior to this period, there was an unwritten arrangement in the APC that the Presidential Candidate will be a candidate from the North. Will it be politically expedient to have Rotimi Amaechi, incumbent Chairman, Nigeria Governor’s Forum (NGF) and a PDP decampee to APC as the Party VP Candidate and another PDP Governor decampee from the North as the Presidential Candidate for the APC? Will the APC Governors (from the legacy Parties) accept this situation and be edged out of the Presidential ticket/candidacy? Your guess is as good as mine. And certainly, members of the legacy parties will hear nothing of such arrangement. In all these, the decampee Governors conveniently overlooked the fact that the two leadership of the APC (GMB and BAT) that conceptualize the idea of the merger and the unwritten agreement of a Northern Presidential candidacy were completely and conveniently left out of the Governors arrangement!!!

As the Governors scheming and horse trading were going on, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his group announced the formation of the PDM (another breakaway faction of the ruling party, PDP) The PDM was registered by INEC as a political party. Then, out of the blues, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar dumped the PDM and pitched his political tent with the APC. Atiku Abubakar announced to the world that he came into the APC assuring the leadership that he had no presidential ambition. But later events during the APC Congresses in the States revealed otherwise. Atiku Abubakar’s underhand and underground scheming became exposed. Again, will political expedience allow APC to hand the Presidential ticket to Atiku Abubakar, another PDP decampee. Atiku’s political sojourn has taken him from PDP to AC, back to PDP, then to PDM and now APC. Will it be politically expedient to trust Atiku Abubakar with the Presidential ticket of the APC?

APC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES: POLITICAL EXPEDIENCE AND ELECTORAL VALUES.( PART 11). BY

Prior to the merger of the legacy Parties to form the APC, I had neither come in close contact with Chief Bisi Akande nor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. When the idea of the merger, in the first instance between the ACN  and the CPC (both defunct) was introduced to the CPC members, some of us initially opposed the idea, against the background of the collapse of the coalition talks between both parties during the 2011 Presidential election. We believed that the leadership of the ACN sold out to the PDP and therefore betrayed the CPC. On the other hand, the ACN had their own side of the story and arguments as to the reasons for the collapse of the coalition talks. The rest is now history.

After the 2011 elections, the CPC had set up a National Peace and Reconciliation Committee under the Chairmanship of Alhaji Adamu Bulkachuwa, to look into the issues leading to the loss in States considered by the Party to be predominantly CPC States. I served as a member of this Committee. The Committee later was disbanded and Zonal Peace and Reconciliation Committees were then set up to take care of the six geo-political zones. I served as Chairman of the South-West Zone. The CPC, as a result of the reports of the Peace and Reconciliation Committees from the six geo-political Zones, thereafter set up a Renewal Committee headed by Malam Nasril el’Rufai to reposition the Party towards the 2015 general elections and revisit the Party Constitution, Manifesto etc.

The argument put forward by some of us members of the Renewal Committee against the merger with the ACN was the advantage of our numerical strength from the 2011 general elections (12million votes plus) within a short period of setting up the Party before the 2011 elections. The CPC was in second position overall, behind the PDP in the Presidential election. However, superior arguments prevailed that one opposition Party, mainly regional based and with no national spread, will not be able to defeat the ruling PDP in a general election. Most of all, our leader, General Muhammadu Buhari had accepted to team up with the ACN  leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu bringing a political synergy of the North-West and South-West voting strength together, as a formidable force against the PDP. The rest again, is now history. The birth and formation of the APC became a reality bringing into the merger the ANPP and a faction of APGA led by Owelle Rochas Okorocha.

The legacy Parties had to conduct Mid-Term Convention to get the mandate of party members to form the APC. The CPC Mid-Term Convention was in May 2013 under the Chairmanship of Dr. Hassan Muhammed Lawal. I was Chairman of the sub-committee on Protocol and Publicity. The Convention was highly successful judging from the mammoth crowd and the peaceful conduct at the Convention ground at Eagle Square. Chief Bisi Akande who was invited by the Party and was present at the Convention, we were told, remarked that, if winning elections is by followership, the Buhari factor and followership he witnessed on the convention ground, is evidence that General Muhammadu Buhari will be part of the winning team and ticket of the APC. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was unavoidably absent at the Convention as he was abroad at the time. Chief Bisi Akande relayed his observation to Asiwaju and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu requested for the DVD of the event. He (Asiwaju) was not disappointed with what he saw in the DVD.

Chief Bisi Akande we were told that before the CPC Mid-Term Convention, was not really an admirer of General Buhari because Chief Akande was one of the UPN Governors that was jailed during the military administration of General Buhari. Chief Akande had to put aside personal differences between himself and General Buhari for the success of the Party. Thereafter and at any subsequent Party functions and events, the two leaders became best of friends and are always seen happy together.  For this singular act of maturity of Chief Akande, he earned my respect. (continued).

APC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES: POLITICAL EXPEDIENCE AND ELECTORAL VALUES. (PART 1) BY EDDY OGUNBOR.

This is Not an attempt at writing a rejoinder to Dele Momodu’s articles captioned  “Why I am not a fan of PDP” and “Why I am a fan of APC”, but I will strongly recommend the       articles to Nigerians for political enlightenment and awareness in this dispensation. This will make Nigerian electorate focus on what is expected of them in our democracy and the option of choice to the electorates in the forthcoming elections.The two articles of Dele Momodu were posted on my timeline on facebook and can also be found posted on my blog – eddyogunbor.blogspot.com.

I am neither a card carrying member of the PDP nor a fan of PDP and therefore I am totally on the same page with Dele Momodu’s arguments and opinions contained thereof in his first article, “Why I am not a fan of PDP”.  However, I am a card carrying member of the APC and certainly a fan of the APC. I believe in the objectives, aims and manifesto of the party at rescuing Nigeria from the sordid state of decadence the country has found itself due to the inglorious governance of the PDP since 1999. Therefore, haven played active roles at the national level , leading to the formation of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), - one of the legacy parties – and in the merger process leading to the birth of APC, I consider it proper to throw light on some aspects raised in Dele Momodu’s  “Why I am a fan of APC”. The article touched on the need for the APC to get its acts together properly in picking the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates that can dislodge the ruling party in the 2015 Presidential election. Dele Momodu in his article suggested a pairing formula he considered potent enough to defeat PDP in 2015.This pairing formula he suggested is precisely the reason for this write up. I will address this in due course. But let me digress for a moment.

Most friends of mine, aware of my political leanings and opinions, have asked the question on several occasion on who I think the choice of the APC will be as the Presidential candidate. The reason they ask is for the fact that they are aware of my unabashed loyalty to and committed support for a particular individual and this individual being the reason for my venture into politics, in quest of a rescue team and mission for our dear country from the low depth of decadence we have found the country in recent time. My answer always has been,  “when we get to the bridge, we will cross it” and that the leadership has not come up with the modalities for picking the candidates. In truth, they (my friends) know my preferred choice of Presidential candidate for the APC and that I do not want to “let the cat out of the bag”. Now that we are almost at the “the bridge” and about to “cross it”, Dele Momodu’s article came out at the appropriate time for the “cat to be let out of my bag”. (continued).

Osun Election: APC says 500,000 unclaimed permanent voters cards cloned

Governor Rauf Aregbesola

Party alleges that the cards would be used for rigging.

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has issued a red alert on the August 9 gubernatorial election in Osun State.

The party alleged that about half a million Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, which were either unclaimed, not handed over to their authentic owners, or were obtained fraudulently, have been cloned by unscrupulous persons ahead of the election, with the sole purpose of rigging.

“These cloned cards, mostly in the hands of persons from states other than Osun, are to be used along with the authentic PVCs issued to the electorate in Osun State during the August 9 Osun governorship election,” the party said in a statement issued in Osogbo on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed.

“Already, we can confirm that the hundreds of thousands of people in possession of these cloned cards all over Nigeria, especially in the states neighbouring Osun, are being induced monetarily and instructed to super impose their photographs on the cloned PVCs.

”The game plan is for them to arrive early at the polling booths on Election Day, where conniving electoral officials will turn a blind eye to this fraud by not checking whether or not the names of these impersonators with cloned cards are on the voters register before going ahead to accredit them, to pave the way for them to use the cloned cards to vote at the expense of the genuine holders of the cards,” it said.

APC alleged that based on the dubious plan, unscrupulous security agents – both official and unofficial – would be at hand to brutalise, arrest, and detain any agent or voter who may want to challenge this illegality.

The party therefore called on INEC to ensure that only the voters’ registers used to issue out the PVCs to voters up till August 4 be used to conduct the August 9 election.

”We also demand that copies of these registers, which are already in possession of the local government electoral officers, be made available to all political parties at least 72 hours before the election. Anything short of using the registers that contained the names of the authentic voters will not be acceptable,” it warned.

APC thanked the people of Osun, clamouring for a free, fair and credible election, for reaching out to the party with useful information that would thwart any rigging plan and ensure the success of the polls.

The party urged the people of the state and APC members to be very vigilant ahead, during and after voting on Saturday, against the background of the alleged desperation to win at all costs by the PDP candidate, Iyiola Omisore.

The APC had accused Mr. Omisore and the PDP of conjuring an opinion poll purportedly by USAID showing he was leading every other candidate. The USAID later disowned the poll.

“Their desperation knows no bounds, hence they will do anything, no matter how illegal, to thwart the will of the people. But no power is bigger than people’s power, and no inducement is worth anyone’s conscience. The votes of the people of the state of Osun must not only be counted, but must count on Saturday,” it said.

TREACHEROUS: Whereabouts of Boko Haram “Butcher” Unknown! Nigeria Military Lost Him

By Yusuf Alli

Military source: we don’t have him

There was anxiety yesterday over the whereabouts of the suspected Boko Haram “chief butcher” Mohammed Zakari in police custody.

The suspect was arrested on July 15 after a counter-insurgency operation in Balmo forest in Bauchi State, which was rated as the major armoury of the sect.

The suspect had been undergoing interrogation in a police facility.

A source claimed that the suspect was in Bauchi; another said he had been transferred to a secret location in Jos.

It was gathered that the tension over the  suspect’s whereabouts was heightened by the fact that he had not been grilled by the military and other security agencies.

A top security source, who spoke in confidence with our correspondent, confirmed that there was disquiet over the fate of the suspect because the police did not state the extent of their investigation into his activities.

“No one can also explain who is keeping the suspect in the last two weeks. There are different claims on whether he is in Bauchi, Jos or Abuja,” the source said, adding: “It could also not be confirmed whether he is still alive or dead during encounters. The situation is creating fears in the states under emergency rule.

“Those from these states have been raising concerns on Zakari’s actual status.”

It was also learnt that there were issues about the lack of coordination between the police and  the military and security agencies.

A military source, who spoke last night, said: “Well, the police arrested the suspect they should be in the best position to account for his whereabouts.

“So far, we have not been involved in the quizzing of the suspect.”

Attempts to get official confirmation from the police last night did not yield results.

A text message to the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Frank Mba, was not replied as at 8pm.

Emotan

Emotan a patriotic woman who traded in foodstuffs at the very spot where her statue stands in the 15th century. At that period,{11th} Oba Uwaifiokun {1430AD-1440AD} usurped the throne of the Benin kingdom in place of his senior brother,Prince Ogun who was the heir apparent. Ogun in those times of travail. paid secret and nocturnal visits to Benin from his exile. On many occasions,this market woman called Emotan warmed Ogun of impending dangers and advised him iagainst interacting with some treacherous chiefs who may reveal his presence. On one occasion Emotan actually hide prince ogun from his adversary. Some Historians are of the view that Emotan was a market woman who took care of little children whilst their mothers were away buying and selling their wares in oba market they refer to her as the market woman who began the first "DAY-CARE CENTRE" in Benin City. When Prince Ogun eventually regained the throne and was subsequently crowned as the real Oba of Benin, he took the name {12th} Oba Ewuare the great {1440AD-1473AD}. He did not forget the pivotal role played by this simple market woman, Emotan who saved him from glaring dangers during his exile years. When Emotan died, Oba Ewuare ordered that the sacred Uruhe tree be planted at the very spot where Emotan used to display her goods in Oba market and decreed that thereafter, every person in Benin who is performing any ceremony of whatever must pay homage to Emotan.Thus to this day every citizen,including the Oba himself pays homage to Emotan. During the reign of {33rd} Oba Osemwende {1816AD-1848AD} the commemorative tree fell and he replanted another Uruhe tree on the same spot. In 1951, the British colonial administration officials injected the tree with poisonous chemicals and uprooted it. This action almost led to a violent mass reaction. After which the {37th} Oba Akenzua II {1933AD-1978AD} vehemently protested the destruction of the Emotan shrine. This had been there since the 15th century. Consequently, the colonialists acceded to the request for a replacement. A life-size statue was cast by Mr. J.A.Danfor in London from a clay Marquette modeled by Enomayo, professional brass caster from the Igun-Eronmwon. The new Emotan statue was unveiled amidst pomp and pageantry by the Oba Benin, Akenzua ll on March 20, 1954. Emotan a patriotic woman who traded in foodstuffs at the very spot where her statue stands in the 15th century. At that period,{11th} Oba Uwaifiokun {1430AD-1440AD} usurped the throne of the Benin kingdom in place of his senior brother,Prince Ogun who was the heir apparent. Ogun in those times of travail. paid secret and nocturnal visits to Benin from his exile. On many occasions,this market woman called Emotan warmed Ogun of impending dangers and advised him

iagainst interacting with some treacherous chiefs who may reveal his presence. On one occasion Emotan actually hide prince ogun from his adversary. Some Historians are of the view that Emotan was a market woman who took care of little children whilst their mothers were away buying and selling their wares in oba market they refer to her as the market woman who began the first "DAY-CARE CENTRE" in Benin City.

When Prince Ogun eventually regained the throne and was subsequently crowned as the real Oba of Benin, he took the name {12th} Oba Ewuare the great {1440AD-1473AD}. He did not forget the pivotal role played by this simple market woman, Emotan who saved him from glaring dangers during his exile years. When Emotan died, Oba Ewuare ordered that the sacred Uruhe tree be planted at the very spot where Emotan used to display her goods in Oba market and decreed that thereafter, every person in Benin who is performing any ceremony of whatever must pay homage to Emotan.Thus to this day every citizen,including the Oba himself pays homage to Emotan.

During the reign of {33rd} Oba Osemwende {1816AD-1848AD} the commemorative tree fell and he replanted another Uruhe tree on the same spot.

In 1951, the British colonial administration officials injected the tree with poisonous chemicals and uprooted it. This action almost led to a violent mass reaction. After which the {37th} Oba Akenzua II {1933AD-1978AD} vehemently protested the destruction of the Emotan shrine. This had been there since the 15th century. Consequently, the colonialists acceded to the request for a replacement. A life-size statue was cast by Mr. J.A.Danfor in London from a clay Marquette modeled by Enomayo, professional brass caster from the Igun-Eronmwon.
The new Emotan statue was unveiled amidst pomp and pageantry by the Oba Benin, Akenzua ll on March 20, 1954.

IMPEACHMENT: NASARAWA SPEAKER, 5 OTHER LAWMAKERS FACE RECALL FROM CONSTITUENTS

 by Hir Joseph, Lafia

Six of the 20 members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) including the speaker of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly (NSHA), Musa Ahmed Mohammed (PDP, Nasarawa-Central), who signed the impeachment notice against Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura are facing recall from their constituency over allegations that they did not consult with the constituents to commence the process of removing the governor.

The other five members are: the deputy speaker Elisha Agwadu (PDP, Obi II), Mohammed Baba Ibaku (PDP, Udege/Loko), Abdulkarim Usman (PDP, Wamba), Francis Orogu (PDP, Keana), and Mohammed Sidi Bako (PDP, Obi I).

In two of the constituencies, namely Nasarawa-Central, and Udege/Loko where the speaker, and Ibaku are representing, respectively, the recall process has clocked two weeks and has reached the level of collecting signatures from constituents. But the other constituencies are merely beginning the exercise, apparently inspired by the two constituencies which pioneered the recall plot.

In Nasarawa-Central, the constituents have already set up a central committee headed by the chairman of Nasarawa Local Government Area, Tijjani Ahmed, who is coordinating the recall process with three sub-committees headed by a former LG chairman, Barrister Mohammed Sani Bawa for Nasarawa-Central sub-committee, and the state commissioner of Agriculture, Danladi Madaki heading the sub-committee for Udege, while Alhaji Ibrahim Gambo and Nuhu Abubakar, a former councilor, are heading the sub-committee for Loko axis.

The council chairman, Tijjani Ahmed, who disclosed the detailed process of recall in the two constituencies in his area, told Daily Trust, yesterday , that there are also Seven sub-committees for the Seven wards of Nasarawa-Central, as there are 44 sub-committees set up to coordinate signatories in the 44 polling units of the constituency.

He also said the two-week old process has seen the setting up of Eight sun-committees for the Eight wards of Udege/Loko, as well as 89 sub-committees for the 89 polling units in the area.

“We are on course, and signatures have started coming in from constituents against the two lawmakers representing the two constituencies of Nasarawa LG,” Ahmed said.

The state commissioner of Agriculture, Madaki told Daily Trust that constituents are “falling on each other to append their signatures against Ibaku,” just as Sani Bawa said the process first saw signatures pouring in from Angwan Dalatu polling unit where the speaker voted in 2011.

But Ibaku, who confirmed he is aware of the process initiated to commence his recall, said in a swift reaction that he is not bothered when the minority APC chieftains of his area made the moves. “I was voted by 43,500 PDP members of my constituency in 2011. My opponent polled only 13,000. If the 43,500 people who elected me say they want me out; I will be bothered. If disgruntled APC members in their microscopic minority are initiating a recall against me, I will be sleeping and waiting for 90 days our people to go a referendum to decide who is more popular in Udege/Loko,” Ibaku said.

The speaker’s spokesman, Tanko Ibrahim told Daily Trust on the telephone that “frankly speaking, I have no comments.”

When asked for his reaction, Francis Orogu confirmed the moves against him, but insisted that the process is not one to give him sleepless nights. “I have 100 percent support from my constituents to go ahead with the impeachment against the governor. I consulted my people, and they gave me the go ahead. Today, they are promising an automatic ticket because I did them proud by appending my signature to the impeachment notice because this government has come to introduce misery in their lives and those of their children,” Orogu said.

This is just as Lanze Kassim Ujah, a legislative aide to Honourable Usman of Wamba said he is aware there are plans by the minority APC members in his area to recall his boss, but added that “my boss consulted his constituents and got their approval. He is still in touch with his constituents if not for the threats on the lives of lawmakers by sponsored APC agents. The provisions of the constitution are clear on the role of my boss, and he applied them to the latter.”

The deputy speaker, Elisha said he got the mandate of a majority PDP constituent to represent the area in the state assembly, just as he insisted that he had the approval of the electorate to sign the impeachment notice against the governor.

Sidi Bako could not be reached at press time.