Presidency 2015: APC Leaders Move to Dissuade Buhari

Former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd)

•Tinubu accepts to stand down 

•PDP governors mulls APC option

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), an amalgam of four opposition parties, have raised a 12-man team to persuade former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), not to vie for the presidential ticket of the coalition party.

THISDAY gathered yesterday that the pressure on Buhari, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) national leader, one of the four parties in the coalition, not to run in the 2015 presidential race is to make the party more electable without  any hangover from previous elections.

The national leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), another constituent part of the APC, Senator Bola Tinubu, has also accepted not to seek the APC's ticket as a demonstration of his commitment to building a virile and credible platform that would be used to wrest power from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Buhari has been a serial presidential candidate since 2003 when he first took a shot at the presidency on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), which is also part of the APC.

Buhari, who ran on the CPC ticket in the 2011 presidential election, is believed to be rethinking the decision he made shortly after the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal challenging the declaration of President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP as winner of the election, not to run again.

Another trouble-shooting effort of promoters of the APC was undertaken yesterday in Abuja when Tinubu met with a faction of the CPC in order to resolve the crisis in the party (CPC) that could threaten the coalition party.

Tinubu, at the occasion, said APC leaders were ready to make any necessary sacrifice to ensure the attainment of their goal of giving Nigerians a credible alternative to the PDP.

It was learnt that having successfully floated the merger party last week, some stakeholders in the opposition coalition are worried that the next most daunting challenge facing the opposition movement will be how to pick a presidential candidate that will match whoever the PDP will be fielding in 2015.

A source said the parties' merger committees had been given the assignment to nominate persons to serve in sub committees to trash out issues relating to the constitution, manifesto and position sharing under the merger arrangement.

The committees are scheduled to reconvene tomorrow to commence work on harmonising their positions on the constitution and manifesto of APC.

The source told THISDAY that although all the parties had accepted in principle not to bring up the issue of candidates for the election until after the merger has taken effect, there are suggestions that it is better to appeal to Buhari and perhaps Tinubu not to vie for any office for now.

The source explained that if Buhari and Tinubu step aside, this will pave the way for the emergence of a younger candidate as the standard bearer of the party in the 2015 presidential election.

He added that for the party to dislodge the PDP in 2015, it must be able to form a broad-based coalition and institute proper internal democracy, adding that that way, the APC will then be attractive to several PDP governors who are ready to defect.
The source explained that doing so will also facilitate the emergence of a credible presidential candidate.

THISDAY checks revealed that no fewer than 19 PDP governors are ready to dump the party.
It was gathered that the governors are saying that they don't want to leave PDP before Jonathan leaves office so that he would not hound them the way he did to former Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Timipre Sylva.

Buhari had dismissed fears that his ambition to run again for presidency might hamper the consummation of negotiations among the APC’s constituent parties, stressing that the choice of a presidential candidate is that of the new party to make.

However, the source said the stakeholders were not convinced that the former head of state would not run again.
He explained that despite the fact that Buhari has repeatedly said he was not insisting on being the coalition party’s presidential candidate, party leaders felt it would be risky to take him on his promise; hence, the need for the lobby to extract a firm assurance from him not to run.
The source said: "Some elements within the coalition are concerned that the Buhari factor may make or mar the chances of APC if not properly handled.  Because of this, moves are being made to solicit the assistance of those who have considerable influence on the CPC leader to persuade him to agree to support another candidate in the interest of the merger."

According to the source, opinion are that even though Buhari commands a lot of followers in the North, especially among the masses, the power elite, who help to mould voters’ opinions in their respective domains, are not well disposed to his emergence as a president.
Another reason why the former head of state is being lobbied not to run again is the yearning by most of the leaders of the opposition coalition that the candidate for the 2015 must not be one with perceived ethnic or religious baggage.

Some notable figures being enlisted to persuade Buhari not to run again are his political allies and close associates, including retired military officers.

Speaking on the electoral threat posed by the APC in the coming elections, a member of the CPC merger committee said within a few days of the announcement of the new merger party, many politicians have started showing interest in embracing the party (APC).

He said most of the PDP governors in the North running their second term have signified their intention to move over to the APC.
"Most of the second term governors in the North have indicated interest in joining the APC because of their disenchantment with the manner the present PDP is being run. They are alleging that President Goodluck Jonathan is hijacking the running of the PDP so that he can be guaranteed of a second term come 2015.

"What is clear is that APC will demystify the PDP and expose the ineptitude of the party.  The 2015 elections will be fought on issues not on sentiments of religion and ethnicity.  APC is a centre of the left anchored on pro-people agenda whereas the PDP is relying on sentiments and therefore cares less on performance," he said.

However, Tinubu during the peace talks with the CPC faction led by Senator Rufai Hanga in Abuja, expressed the readiness of APC leaders to make necessary sacrifices in order to realise their goals.

He told reporters at the end of the talks that no matter the antics of their rivals, the coalition party leaders would do all they could to ensure that APC succeeds.

"I am a committed individual and we are with a committed group surrounded with people of vision, conviction and great commitment. It (APC) will succeed.  Our rivals will not want it to succeed; they will do everything to frustrate it. That is part of our political intrigue and environment particularly in Africa but we will work hard at it in the interest of this country and we are really truly committed to make sacrifices," he said.
The meeting with the CPC, which was aimed at stemming the internal crisis threatening the unity and common resolve of CPC to partake in the opposition coalition party, was summoned at the instance of Tinubu.

Tinubu, who drove into the Arewa Suite venue of the meeting in a white sport utility vehicle (SUV) at about 12.30 pm, met with Hanga and his group behind closed doors for several hours.

Commenting on the outcome of his intervention in the CPC crisis, Tinubu, who was accompanied by the head of the ACN merger committee, Chief Tom Ikimi, said discussions went well and that the meeting has been able to resolve the conflict and bring the CPC faction on board to be part of the merger.

"The meeting was fine, sweet and delicious. We are meeting in the interest of our various objectives.  I am working in the interest of Nigeria, particularly in the interest of APC,” he said.

Hanga also told reporters that his faction has accepted in principle to join APC but that he would have to consult with other members before sealing the deal.

On whether the group has also accepted to withdraw its court case against the CPC national leadership, Hanga, who spoke along with the Publicity Secretary of the group, Chief Dennis Aghanya, said they had agreed to do everything possible to help APC succeed.

ThisDay

Edo LG polls: PDP chieftain blasts Omede over comment on Oshiomhole

 

By SIMON EBEGBULEM
BENIN — FORMER Chairman of Esan North-East Local Government Area of Edo State and chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. John Yakubu, has faulted the comments credited to the state chairman of Labour Party, Elder Sam Omede, which cast doubt on the sincerity of Governor Adams Oshiomhole to conduct free and fair elections in the 18 local government areas of the state.
Omede had challenged the governor to assure the people of his sincerity to conduct free and fair elections, alleging that the demand by the state Board of Internal Revenue of tax clearance fee of N466,000 from councillorship aspirants and N750,000 from chairmanship aspirants, was a ploy by the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN-led government to scare away contestants from other parties in the state.
Yakubu, who also is a PDP chairmanship aspirant, told Vanguard, yesterday, that “it is still very premature for him to start doubting the governor. What we should all do is to prepare for the elections first and not to say whether it will be free and fair. If I know that the elections will not be free and fair, I don’t think I will have any business contesting.
“This is purely a local government election and only the people will decide. Some of the people complaining now may not be able to sponsor candidates, so I think it is unfair to begin now to doubt the sincerity of the governor, when the election is still two months away. I have not seen any reason now to doubt the governor because things are going on well for now. Let all the political parties prepare first for the elections and not complain unnecessarily .”
On the tax clearance issue, Mr. Yakubu, said: “Every responsible individual or politician should know that paying taxes as at when due is a civic responsibility. May be, they are collecting N466,000 because you did not pay as at when due, so no body can ask me to pay such an amount. As a matter of fact, if they are asking you to even pay that amount, they are being liberal because as a politician who knows that you will run for election, you should know that tax clearance is very important.”
Vanguard

Tinubu reunites CPC factions

by: Yusuf Alli and Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja 

The National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, yesterday said the merger of four political parties is in the interest of the nation and not any individual.

He also said that although there are moves to frustrate the merger by political rivals, there is no going back .

Tinubu, who spoke with reporters at Arewa Suites after a meeting with the Sen. Rufai Hanga faction of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) yesterday in Abuja , said all those involved in the merger were ready to make necessary sacrifices.

The meeting, The Nation gathered, was at the instance of the ACN leader, who met with his CPC counterpart, General Muhammadu Buhari, to seek his nod to reconcile the factions in CPC.

It was gathered that the mediation became necessary after a letter from the Senator Rufai Hanga-led group, which notified the merging team of the party’s case that is still pending in court.

The Rufai Hanga faction also told the merger leaders that it is the authentic group, which is in possession of the CPC certificate of registration.

CPC, ANPP, ACN and APGA merged last Thursday to form the APC after a long merger talk.

But Rufai Hanga’s faction, which has a pending case in court, posed a threat to the merger.

Tinubu decided to resolve the leadership crisis in CPC to prevent rival political parties from capitalising on it to scuttle the merger.

The former Governor of Lagos State succeeded in prevailing on Hanga’s faction to bury the hatchet.

Tinubu told reporters that there is no cause for alarm on the merger.

He said: “The meeting was a very good one; sweet. We met in the interest of our various objectives. To me, I am working in the interest of Nigeria and APC. I am a committed individual; we are in a committed group, surrounded by people of vision and great commitment. It will succeed; our rivals do everything to scuttle us.

“But as committed people, we are ready to make sacrifices. Leadership is about carrying people along and resolving conflicts with the right people that are motivated to do those things that are necessary for the progress of a nation. These are the things that we have achieved here today at this meeting.”

Asked if the merger will succeed, Tinubu said he was very optimistic that it will.

He added: “It will succeed. Our rivals will not want it to succeed, they do everything; that is part of the political intrigues and environment particularly in Africa, but we’ll work hard at it in the interest of this country.”

Hanga said his faction was committed to the merger and would do everything to ensure its success in the interest of the country.

He said:” We are determined to have a change; we have discussed and we will have to consult our people in order to forge ahead. We understand that we have to do it for Nigerians.

“We are part of the APC. We are in court challenging the status of the CPC leadership, but with this merger, there would not be anything like CPC leadership or that of any other party that belongs to the merger.

“I am not after clinging to the position of chairman; what we want is to declare them as illegal, but with the proposed merger and our meeting today with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a new leadership that can take us to the Promised Land is coming up.

“We are ready to do anything that will make the merger possible. For Nigeria , for the masses and the downtrodden, we are ready to withdraw the case and release the certificate of registration to make the merger possible.

“For Nigerians, for the masses, for the downtrodden and for what we are suffering now, I am ready to do anything.”

TheNation

APC meets tomorrow over sharing formula

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru & GABRIEL EWEPU
ABUJA—ALL Progressives Congress, APC, Merger Committee will meet tomorrow to consider allocation of offices among various political parties that merged to become the mega party.
At the meeting to be held in Abuja, the committee will also produce the party’s logo, as well as draft the constitution and its manifesto.
The Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA and the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, had last week announced merger to form the APC.
The merger committee was given about six weeks to consider the merger agreement, design the logo of the new party, draft the constitution and the manifesto of the party.
A source close to the committee told Vanguard that the individual political parties were asked to submit names of their members that will make the committees to be constituted as well as the national officers.
According to the source, the parties that made up the merger will file candidates to contest the Abuja Municipal Area Council elections expected to hold later this month if the proposal to INEC for the registration of the merger name was not ratified before the election.
The APGA controversy
Commenting on the controversy in APGA, he said that there was no problem with the party as according to him Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State and the National Executive Committee of the party endorsed the merger.
He said: ‘Anybody who feels he does not agree with them is in the minority. A party is a voluntary association, it therefore means that when the majority has decided you have to key in, if you don’t want to key in, you leave the party, it is not compulsory that you must remain a member of a party.”
The source alleged that the seeming problem in APGA was caused by Governor Peter Obi whom he accused of being a stooge to President Goodluck Jonathan, adding that Governor Obi was in the minority in the party.
“The majority members of APGA and the National Executive Committee have endorsed the merger and that was why they were represented when we announced the new name of our party. Those against the merger are the PDP people in APGA.”
Suit against Momoh to be withdrawn
In a related development, the faction of Congress for Progressive Change, CPC,  led by Senator Rufai Hanga, has indicated its readiness to withdraw its suit against the Prince Tony Momoh’s leadership of the party and fuse with the newly-formed All Progressive Congress, APC.
As a prelude to mending fences with the leadership of the party, the Sen. Hanga group met for about two hours yesterday, with the leader of the AC N and chieftain of APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in Abuja to sort out issues of common interest to both parties.
Sen. Tinubu met with the Hanga faction of CPC to broker peace between them and the CPC leadership on the platform of sacrificing for the mega party.
According to Hanga, he was ready to make any sacrifice to ensure the success of the  merger of the opposition parties in order to move the political process forward.
He said as a first step, they were ready to withdraw the suit the faction filed against the leadership as soon as possible because they were also part of the merger.
He said the current leadership of CPC would cease to exist as soon as the mega  party takes off.
Vanguard also gathered that he had met earlier with the leader of CPC, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari over the misunderstanding within the party, on how to resolve it and move the merger talks forward.
Vanguard gathered that Tinubu had earlier met with the leader of CPC, Gen MuhammaduBuhari over the misunderstanding within the party during which they suggested ways and means of resolving them.
The Hanga-led faction had challenged, in court, the legality of the election that brought the leadership of the party, led by its Chairman, Prince Tony Momoh.
He has been parading himself as the defacto chairman of the party, having been given recognition by the  Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Vanguard

Adaobi Nwaubani: In Nigeria, you’re either somebody or nobody

inShare

by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani

The average Nigerian’s best hope for dignified treatment is to acquire the right props. Flashy cars. Praise singers. Elite group membership. British or American accent. Armed escort. These ensure that you will get efficient service at banks and hospitals. If the props prove insufficient, a properly bellowed “Do you know who I am?” could very well do the trick.

In America, all men are believed to be created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. But Nigerians are brought up to believe that our society consists of higher and lesser beings. Some are born to own and enjoy, while others are born to toil and endure.
The earliest indoctrination many of us have to this mind-set happens at home. Throughout my childhood, “househelps” – usually teenagers from poor families – came to live with my family, sometimes up to three or four of them at a time. In exchange for scrubbing, laundering, cooking, baby-sitting and everything else that brawn could accomplish, either they were sent to school, or their parents were sent regular cash.
My father detested it when our househelps sang. Each time a new one arrived, my siblings and I spent the first few evenings as emissaries from the living room, where our family watched TV after dinner, to the kitchen, where the househelps washed dishes or waited to be summoned.
“My daddy said I should tell you to stop singing.”
Immediately, they would shush. Often, they forgot and started again – if not that same evening, on a subsequent one. Finally, my father would lose his imperial cool, stomp over to the kitchen and stand by the door.
“Stop singing!” he would command.
That usually settled the matter.
I honestly cannot blame my father. Although they hailed from different villages across the land, their melodies were always the same: The most lugubrious tunes in the most piercing tones, which made you think of death.
Melancholic singing was not the only trait they had in common. They all gave off a feral scent, which never failed to tell the tale each time they abandoned the wooden stools set aside for them and relaxed on our sofas while we were out. They all displayed a bottomless hunger that could never be satisfied, no matter how much you heaped on their plates or what quantity of our leftovers they cleaned out.
And they all suffered from endless tribulations, in which they always wanted to get you involved.
The roof of their family house got blown off by a rainstorm. Their mother just had her 11th baby and the doctor had seized mum and newborn, pending payment of the hospital bill. Their brother, an apprentice trader in Aba, was wrongfully accused of stealing from his boss and needed to be bailed out. A farmland tussle had left their father lying half-dead in hospital, riddled with machete wounds. Their mother’s auntie, a renowned witch, had cursed their sister so that she could no longer hear or speak. They were pregnant but the carpenter responsible was claiming he had never met them before … Always one calamity after the other.
Househelps were widely believed to be scoundrels and carriers of disease. The first thing to do when a new one arrived was drag him off to the laboratory for blood tests, the results of which would determine whether he should be allowed into your haven. The last thing to do when one was leaving was to search him for stolen items. In one memorable incident, the help in my friend’s house, knowing that her luggage would be searched, donned all the children’s underwear she had stolen. And she nearly got away with it. But just as she stepped out the door, my friend’s mother noticed that the girl’s hips had broadened beyond what food could afflict on the human anatomy in such little time, and insisted that she raise her skirt.
Every family we knew had similar stories about their domestic staff. With time, we children learned to think of them as figures depressed by the hand of nature below the level of the human species, as if they had been created only as a useful backdrop against which we were to shine.
Not much has changed since I was a child. My friend’s daughter, who attends one of those schools where all the students are children of either well-off Nigerians or well-paid expatriates, recently captured this attitude while summarizing the plot of my novel to her mother. “Three people died,” the 11-year-old said, “but one of them was a poor man.”
It reminded me of the conversation in Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” when Huck tries to explain a delay in a journey:
“It warn’t the grounding – that didn’t keep us back but a little. We blowed out a cylinder-head.”
“Good gracious! anybody hurt?”
“No’m. Killed a nigger.”
“Well, it’s lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt.”
BIGOTS and racists exist in America, without a doubt, but America today is a more civilized place than Nigeria. Not because of its infrastructure or schools or welfare system. But because the principle of equality was laid out way back in its Declaration of Independence. The Nigerian Constitution states, in Section 17(2)(a), that “every citizen shall have equality of rights, obligations and opportunities before the law.” However, this provision is in a portion of the document that contains “objectives” of the Nigerian state. It is not enforceable; it certainly isn’t reality.
The average Nigerian’s best hope for dignified treatment is to acquire the right props. Flashy cars. Praise singers. Elite group membership. British or American accent. Armed escort. These ensure that you will get efficient service at banks and hospitals. If the props prove insufficient, a properly bellowed “Do you know who I am?” could very well do the trick.
This somebody-nobody mind-set is at the root of corruption and underdevelopment: ingenuity that could be invested in moving society forward is instead expended on individuals’ rising just one rung higher, and immediately claiming their license to disparage and abuse those below. Even when one househelp is made supervisor over the rest, he ends up being more callous than the owners of the house.
Some years ago, I made a decision to start treating domestic workers as “somebodys.”  I said “please” and “thank you” and “if you don’t mind.” I smiled for no reason. But I was only confusing them; they knew how society worked. They knew that somebodys gave orders and kicked them around. Anyone who related to them as an equal was no longer deserving of respect. Thus, the vicious cycle of oppression goes on and on.
Nigeria is one of Africa’s largest economies; it produces around two million barrels of crude oil per day. And yet, in 2010, 61 percent of Nigerians were living in “absolute poverty” – able to afford only the bare essentials of shelter, food and clothing. In one state in northern Nigeria, where extremist groups like Boko Haram originate, poverty levels that year were as high as 86.4 percent.
Economic growth will continue to bypass the majority, the gap between rich and poor will continue to widen, so long as we see ourselves as divided between somebodys and nobodys. Only when that changes will the househelps sing more cheerful tunes.
YNaija.com

FCTA to build 1,500 houses at Centenary Village

by Nasir Imam

The FCT Administration (FCTA) said it has already earmarked plots of land to build 1,500 houses at the Abuja Centenary Village to upscale its social housing scheme.

The FCT Minster, Senator Bala Mohammed, stated this while receiving the Polish Deputy Marshal, Region of Wielkopolska, Poland, Mr. Leszek Wojtasiak, who led a business delegation to his office on Friday.

The Minister also said that the houses, which will be built to commemorate the 100 years of the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorate of Nigeria by the British colonialists, will reduce the housing need of the residents of the Federal Capital Territory.

Senator Mohammed stated that his Administration has unbundled the land administration of the Federal Capital Territory, which has been opened for full participation by organized private sector, consortiums as well as foreign investors.

According to him, the unbundling of land has culminated to the Abuja Land Swap Model initiative, where about 13 investors are already partnering with the FCT Administration to open up about 10 new districts by providing infrastructure and recouping their investment from the sales of such land.

Speaking earlier, Polish Deputy Marshal Region of Wielkopolska, Poland, Mr. Leszek Wojtasiak, appreciated the warm reception accorded him and his business delegation.

Mr. Wojtasiak noted that Abuja is a beautiful city, which is as a result of its planning as well as its management; adding that they were impressed with its lovely infrastructural development, particularly the road network.

He said they were in Nigeria, especially in Abuja to rub minds and find areas of collaboration and partnership.

DailyTrust

Business registration cost reduced to N15,000

The Federal Government has approved the downward review of the cost of Business Registration at the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) from N50, 000 to N15, 000 ($100).
The new rate is designed to make Nigeria highly competitive in line with international best practices.
The Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, who stated this, said the review was at the instance of NIPC and also in line with the desire of the government to improve the country’s competitiveness rating on doing business.
In a statement, the Deputy Director, Press, Joel Attah, said it was an attempt at lowering the cost of doing business in Nigeria. This is expected to substantially enhance the country’s National Competitiveness as a Foreign Direct Investment Destination (FDI), he stated.
“In the light of this development, both new and existing investors are enjoined to take advantage of this gesture to ensure that they are dully registered with the Commission. Failure to do so would be a violation of the law, Attah,” added.
NaijaCenter