Ekiti APC suspends two members allegedly over ties with pro-Tinubu group by Clement Afolab

In April, the Chairman of Ward 8, Ado Ekiti Local Government Area was suspended over a similar offence. Ekiti APC suspends two members allegedly over ties with pro-Tinubu group June 19, 2021 2 min read For the second time, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has suspended two leaders of the party, allegedly for hobnobbing with the South West Agenda for 2023 (SWAGA), a political platform campaigning for a national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, to be Nigeria’s president. Kayode Adetifa and Jide Oso, who were slammed with the suspension, are members of the party in Ward 9, Owaye quarters in Ayede Ekiti, Oye Local Government Area of the state. In April, the Chairman of Ward 8, Ado Ekiti Local Government Area, Clement Afolabi, was suspended over a similar offence. PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the larger number of the leadership of the party is averse to the activities of SWAGA, viewing it as contradicting the agreements of the party not to encourage groups that appear to be dividing the party. Like Mr Tinubu, the Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, is believed to be nursing the ambition to become president. The suspension of Messrs Adetifa and Oso was communicated in two separate letters signed by the ward Chairman, Abejide Sola; Women Leader, Bamisayo Abigeal; Youth Leader, Oladipo Adekunle; Secretary, Fayemi Apeke, and Treasurer, Oloruntoba Bosede. “We noted from your activities in the party in the recent past that you have been working against the unity of the party even to the extent of creating a parallel ward that you named ‘SWAGA’ within the ward,” the letters dated May 31, 2021, stated. “You sent in confirmation of your action through Mr. Jide Oso, a former ward chairman on 16th May, 2021 to the ward that you have created another venue for this purpose. “You as well was invited to the general Executive and leaders’ meeting on 20th May, 2021 to explain your action and you confirmed that the message of Mr Jide Oso was sent by you as his principal and that you would not stop your parallel meeting for any reason. “In view of the above reasons the general executive of the ward met 27th May, 2021 and decided to suspend you for running against the party (APC) Constitution till further notice.” The Ekiti APC Publicity Secretary, Ade Ajayi, however, denied that the suspension had anything to do with their association with SWAGA. He said the report from the ward indicated that the two were defying the party’s orders and dividing the party through their actions “They were not suspended because of SWAGA. But they have been dividing the party and all efforts to rein them in failed,” he said on Friday. “They were invited to defend themselves; they confirmed it and party supremacy had to come to play. Nobody is bigger than the party.” The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Babafemi Ojudu, had earlier reacted to the action of the party, saying the suspension of party members for their association with the group was draconian and devoid of the tenets of democracy. A former senator, Dayo Adeyeye, is a major leader of the SWAGA group and is backed by a retinue of former members of the National Assembly and top politicians in the South-west zone. His campaign across the country is to sell the candidature of Mr Tinubu, detailing the reasons why the former Lagos governor should run for president in 2023. While Mr Adeyeye has continued his campaign unhindered, his activities have been irksome to the party leadership in Ekiti State.

Court rejects EFCC’s request in ex-NNPC GMD Yakubu’s $9.8, £74,000 fraud trial By Eric Ikhilae

A Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to amend its charge in the $9.8 million, £74,000 fraud trial of a former Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu. Justice Ahmed Mohammed, in a ruling yesterday, held that granting the EFCC’s application would amount to varying a subsisting judgment given by the Court of Appeal, Abuja, on April 24, 2020. In the verdict, the court, among others, ordered Yakubu to enter defence in relation to counts three and four of the six counts originally contained in the charge on which he was arraigned. Justice Mohammed was emphatic that allowing the prosecution (the EFCC) to amend the charge was tantamount to disobeying the subsisting order by the Court of Appeal in its judgment of April 24, 2020. The EFCC claimed that its operatives, acting on a tip-off, raided Yakubu’s house on Chikun Road, Sabon Tasha area of Kaduna South Local Government Area of Kaduna State on February 3, 2017 and recovered the $9,772,800 and £74,000 cash kept in a fire-proof safe. The commission arraigned Yakubu on March 16, 2017, on a six-count charge bordering on money laundering offences. He was, among others, accused of failing to make full disclosure of assets, receiving cash without going through a financial institution, which borders on money laundering and intent to avoid a lawful transaction under the law, transported at various times to Kaduna, the aggregate sum of $9,772,800 and £74,000. The prosecution closed its case on October 17, 2018, after calling seven witnesses. The seventh prosecution witness, an operative of the EFCC, Suleiman Mohammed, spoke about how his team recovered the $9,772,000 and £74,000 cash in Yabubu’s house in Kaduna, which was later deposited in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in Kano. At the closure of the prosecution’s case, Yakubu made a no-case submission, which Justice Mohammed, in a ruling on May 16, 2019, partially upheld by striking out two of the six counts contained in the charge and ordered the ex-NNPC boss to enter defence over the remaining four counts. The judge held that the prosecution failed to prove counts five and six of the charge, which related to allegation of unlawful transportation of the money. “Even though I am tempted to discharge the defendant on counts one to four, I am, however, constrained to ask the defendant to explain how he came about the money recovered from his house. “Fortified with my position, the defendant is hereby ordered to enter his defence in respect of counts one to four,” Justice Mohammed said in the May 16, 2019 ruling. The defence prayed the court to refuse the prosecution’s application for an amendment of the charge and allow the defendant to continue with his defence, a prayer Justice Mohammed granted in his ruling yesterday. When the judge ended the ruling yesterday, the defence indicated its intention to proceed with its case. But the court adjourned till June 30, following a plea by the prosecution for an adjournment on the grounds that the lead prosecuting lawyer was not immediately available.

Hundreds of aggrieved Kwara APC members dump party, form Kwara ‘Third Force By Demola Akinyemi

Following years of irreconcilable crisis in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in kwara state, after “O to ge” victory,some aggrieved members of the party weekend dumped the party and teamed up to form a new political association described as the “Third Force” in changing political equation of the state. Recall that the faction of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq had been at loggerhead with that of the minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed,Minister of state for transportation Senator Gbemisola Saraki and other splinter groups, over the control of the party which saw Hon Bashir Bolarinwa replaced by Alh Sanmari Abdullahi as the chairman of the party. The aggrieved APC members, who included senatorial chairman, ward chairmen, local government chairmen, women leaders, youth leaders, as well as APC party stalwarts across all the 16 local government areas, among others, in IIorin indicted the national leadership of the party of supporting the political agenda of the governor. They also accused the state governor and his loyalists in the party of alleged disenfranchisement in the recent membership registration and revalidation exercise. Speaking on behalf of the decampees, the former state APC senatorial chairman for Kwara Central, Mallam Abdulfatai Abdulrahman, said that, “It is impossible to achieve the developmental goals we are aiming for KWARANS in the midst of chaotic situation we found ourselves in Kwara APC”, adding that their new party would be unveiled in due course. The people, who tore their APC membership cards and burnt the party symbol of brooms, said that the plot to allegedly marginalize them was all about 2023 political permutations. He said,”As you are all aware, Kwara APC has been enmeshed in one crisis or the other almost immediately after the party’s primary, stretching into the campaign period and lingering up to date. “The crisis has gotten to its peak with the recent concluded APC membership revalidation and registration exercise in the state that was flawed with deliberate policies and grand orchestration to deregister and disenfranchise selected members of the party. “The success of a political party is anchored on its popularity, intra party membership cohesion, integrity and sincere commitment to the service of the masses. All these are glaringly diminishing in Kwara APC as it is now. “A grand design that denied majority of party members the opportunity to register and revalidate their membership across the state is a 2023 permutation agenda. We can never cross our fingers and watch the game from the sideline. “The deliberate inaction to address the lingering crisis in Kwara APC has become obvious to all discerning minds that the agenda to deregister and refusal to revalidate thousands of members across the state was a grand plot that has the backing of the National Caretaker Committee of the party. “From the highlighted points above, we the over twenty thousand card- carrying members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) which includes Senatorial chairman Kwara Central, local government party chairmen, local government women leaders, youth leaders, ward chairmen, as well as APC party stalwarts across all the sixteen local government areas in the state hereby denounce APC and form a KWARA THIRD FORCE for the yearning and betterment of Kwarans at large “We are, therefore, calling on all well-meaning Kwarans to shun violence, unnecessary struggle and agitation on account of desperation to belong to a party that has thrown away a large chunk of its members”, he said. Mallam Abdulrahman also said that the new party would be unveiled in due course as soon as possible.

I won’t cede power to those who can’t win election in their domain — Buhari By Ibrahim Wuyo

Says those calling for restructuring are afraid of partisan politics President Muhammadu Buhari has reiterated that he would not cede power to any politician who cannot win election in his domain. He spoke on Saturday as a Special Guest of Honour during the Launch of Kudirat Abiola Sabon Gari, Zaria Peace Foundation which took place at Ahmadu Bello University Hotels, Zaria,Kaduna state. Buhari who said there was nothing Nigerians needed now than Peace, said the country would be better if Nigerians remain united as a Sovereign nation than fragmented entities. Also Read: COVID-19: African economies won’t revive until vaccination deficiency addressed — AfDB According to him,those agitating for separation of Country were ignorant of war and it’s consequences. Represented by the Executive Secretary, Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Alhaji Mohammed Bello Shehu ,the President explained further that for peace to reign in any society, people must be involved actively . “And again those who are discussing restructuring, my question is that what are you going restructure? If you ask many Nigerians what are they going to restructure, you will find out that they have nothing to talk about. Ssome of them have not even studied the 1999 constitution. The 1999 constitution is almost 70 to 80 percent 1979 constitution. “ “it is okay to demand for restructuring ,renewal of constitution, but what is most important now is how can Nigeria state make local government functional, how can Nigeria states make judiciary independent? Rather we ask Nigerians to focus on putting pressure on National Assembly members to make sure that that autonomy as enshrined in our constitution is respected and implemented.” “So if that were to be done, some of these issues like insecurity, you will find a situation where local government chairmen in collaboration with traditional rulers will form a chain of communication to figure out what is really happening.So these are the things I expect those calling for agitation to do. And I said also that majority of those calling for restructuring are people that are so afraid to go into partisan politics. And even if they were to go into partisan politics they will not win. “ “There is no government in the world that will cede their authority to the people that are not elected. You are telling us to resolve a system and call for an obscure conference to come and discuss how we can move forward as a nation, that can never be done and no country will agree to that.” “So those who are doing that should go back and meet their representatives in the House of Assmebly and ask for whatever amendment of constitution. Due process should be followed” “The other issue is that those who are calling for restructuring and confrence .on what they call ethnic nationality, If you go to Southern Kaduna, Taraba, who is to represent them? We have different combination of ethnicity in many states. Even Kano and Kaduna Igbo have properties. The same goes with Yorubas. There are Fulani in Port Harcourt .So those calling for whether seperation or restructuring, some of them I will say they are very naive or even mischievously dangerous. Those agitating for restructuring are ignorant of war and its consequences.Because Nigeria is a dominant force in west africa.” My appeal to each and everyone here is to try and educate their children. We are better as a nation, there is no way we can be separated, separation of the Country would not help matters,” he said. Governor Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai who was represented on the occasion by the state Commissioner for education, Dr. Shehu Usman Mohammed ,said Nigeria had grown beyond separation. While urging Nigerians to tolerate to live together,the Governor said those calling for separation should come back to their senses because Nigerians are now in every part of the Country. The Guest lecturer, Professor Mohammed Tukur spoke on the way out to end crisis among divergent citizens of the Country. “In as much as we want peace to reign amongst us ,we must tolerate one another and respect our various norms and values. Tukur said mutual understanding and inter tribal marriage would also play significant roles in the promotion of peace amongst citizens,adding that there must be a policy to revamp the economy and review the nation’s security structure.

APC convention: Governors, power blocs intensify lobby for party structure by John Alechenu

Power blocs within the ruling All Progressives Congress have intensified their lobby for a better grip of the party’s structure ahead of the 2023 general elections, Saturday PUNCH has learnt. It was gathered in Abuja, on Friday, that governors and other interest groups within the party had started reaching out to one another ahead of the final approval being expected from the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), for the national convention. An intense lobby for an acceptable zoning formula by the various power blocs especially among the party’s governors is in top gear. A member of the APC National Caucus, who spoke in confidence to Saturday PUNCH for fear of retribution, said, “Although we are yet to agree on a specific date for the convention because we have to deal with congress first, we must tell ourselves the truth; we cannot hold the national convention earlier than September if we are to do a good job. He further said, “The reality on the ground is, we are yet to complete the data capture of the raw data we collected from the states during the just concluded membership registration/ revalidation. “We need to capture the data at the National Headquarters in order to produce a credible register needed for not just our congresses, but also for the convention. “Some states are yet to submit their reports as we speak. The data capturing is ongoing here in Abuja.” In response to a question on the comment made by the President to the effect that he was expecting a report from the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/ Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee by the end of June, the party chieftain described it as the normal procedure. He said, “The committee will present its report to the President; if he is satisfied with their recommendations, the report is then presented to the caucus and the National Executive Committee for ratification before the congresses leading to the convention are held. “If he is not convinced, he has two options. One, ask the committee to review the schedule of activities or ask another committee to do it.” The party’s governors under the aegis of Progressives Governors Forum met on Wednesday to review a tentative timetable for the congresses as prepared by Governor Buni. This was confirmed by the Chairman of the PGF, Abubakar Bagudu, who spoke to reporters after an emergency meeting of the forum in Abuja on Wednesday. Bagudu said, “There is a proposal before Mr. President and once he approves it, the National Caretaker Committee will announce the date. “We considered the timetable and we have made some inputs particularly to comply with the Electoral Law and the party’s constitution. Remember, we, governors, are just one organ of the party.” A time table which was released by the Buni panel last week, but later withdrawn, indicated that ward congresses would begin on July 10th, while local government congresses would follow on August 6, 2021. State congresses were scheduled for September 3 and zonal congresses for 30th September, 2021. In response, members of the defunct Congress for Progressives Change, one of the three legacy parties which formed the APC, have started reaching out to other members to consider a former CPC member for the position of National Chairman. Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, who is the lead voice in the advocacy, had recently said, “When you advise that the party should be fair to the CPC in choosing the next APC National Chairman, you now start the campaign. I think we have gone beyond advice now. “So, I’m campaigning; I have done the consultation at different levels of the party; I have been in contact with all the major stakeholders of the APC and we strongly believe that what we are asking for is fair. “What we are asking for is not too much for the party to do; what we are asking for will actually keep the party together and that is what we have been saying. I have gone beyond just making a plea. I have gone to the stage of making consultations.” However, the spokesperson of Concerned APC Members, a pressure group within the party, Abdullahi Dauda, said, “The CPC bloc cannot claim it is marginalised. “With all due respect, our President was a member of the CPC; if you look at it that way, the CPC took the highest prize in the APC. “What is wrong with having somebody from Action Congress of Nigeria or All Nigerian Peoples Congress bloc? What we should be doing now is to rebuild our party.” PUNCH.

Very suspect: Why Lai Mohammed’s grammar is not wrong : by Akeem Lasisi

As part of his defence of the ban on Twitter operations in Nigeria, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, a couple of days ago said the social media giant’s mission in Nigeria was very, very suspect. The statement has generated some heat, not in terms of the message it is meant to convey, but in terms of its grammatical status. Simply put, many people believe that Mohammed committed a grammatical blunder. So happy are some of them that they have been circulating it to mock him. Indeed, it has become another raw material for folks who manufacture or reinforce jokes with the likes of ‘There are many mineral resources like Coke and Fanta’, ‘My oga at the top’ ‘There is God o’ and ‘Aye le o, ibosi o.’ The fact, however, is that saying something is suspect does not constitute a blunder. Truly (not truely) speaking, it sounds odd. So odd does it ring that you would think it is an error. That is why one of the comedians who took on the minister tries to correct him by asking, ‘You mean very suspicious?’ No matter how odd the phrase sounds, however, it is a standard one because ‘something is suspicious’ and ‘something is suspect’ are both correct. Of course, apart from having to bear in mind that language is not music that should always sound melodious, there are several ear-jolting expressions like ‘is suspect’. It is the same English that, for instance, says ‘You have to go there now’ that also accepts ‘It is time you went there’ or ‘It is high time you went there’, when the action has yet to take place. It also features ‘Akin and Ade are here’ in one context but insists on ‘Akin as well as Ade is here’ in another. And I hope you remember this too: He goes there regularly. (Correct) I pray he go there tomorrow. (Correct. Not ‘I pray he goes there tomorrow’, because you are now in the court of the subjunctive mood! Back to ‘very, very suspect’. The word, ‘suspect’, is usually a noun or a verb. When it is a noun, it can refer to a person who is alleged to have done something negative, as in committing a crime. When it is a verb, it can, among other usages, express our belief or suspicion about the person concerning the crime: Evans is a suspect in the abduction case. (A noun) The police suspect he is a kidnapper. (A verb) The term can, however, also be used as an adjective, which is what Lai Mohammed has done in the controversial statement. When you say someone’s action or disposition is suspect, it means you believe it harbours another intention beyond what the person says. It could mean that you think it portends a hidden agenda. And, as Cambridge Dictionary puts it, ‘suspect’ as an adjective means not able to be trusted, possibly false or dangerous. Here is an example by the dictionary: I can’t understand why my reasons seem suspect to a number of people. Explaining more, Cambridge Dictionary says if something is suspect, it seems likely to be dishonest, dangerous, criminal etc.: The Financial Services Authority is cracking down on banks and brokers that have failed to report suspect deals by clients. Bomb disposal experts destroyed a suspect package found at the airport. In the examples, the adjectives mostly come before the words they describe, meaning that they are qualifying them (the nouns). But they can also come after such, thus modifying them. Consider this pair too: The agency is monitoring the suspect deals. The agency is monitoring deals that are suspect. There is, therefore, no grammatical error in the minister’s statement. The only thing someone can quarrel about is whether or not Twitter has a hidden agenda as the minister claims, but that is beyond the high court of our grammar class. So, one basic lesson in the Lai Mohammed’s example — I should add — is that when you come across an ‘odd’ or ‘strange’ expression, exercise patience before you say, ‘Ibon’ or dub it a blunder. It may not be. Maybe it is an opportunity for you to learn a new usage. PUNCH.

APC governors pass vote of confidence in party’s interim leadership amid speculation of tenure extension By Samson Adenekan

The APC governors say the CECPC has succeeded in attracting serving and former political office holders to the party. Governors elected under the umbrella of All Progressives Congress (APC) have endorsed the leadership of the party’s national caretaker committee amidst speculation of tenure extension. The Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), under the chairmanship of Governor Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State, at a meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, passed a vote of confidence in Mala Buni-led interim leadership of the party to continue its role in the APC. The governors said the “vote of confidence is imperative to encourage the leadership of the party to continue its strides in piloting her to its next level.” “It would be recalled that the CECPC of the party under the leadership of Governor Buni was put in place to strengthen the ruling party in the face of some challenges. “The Yobe State Governor and his CECPC Committee members have succeeded in attracting serving and former Governors, Senators, House of Representatives members as well as other notable opposition figures to the party. They have also helped in stabilizing the All Progressives Congress and midwife a successful membership drive to make the party the biggest in Africa,” the governors said. The governors’ endorsement of the party’s leadership comes amidst the speculation of a possible tenure extension for the Buni-led committee. Mr Buni, who also doubles as Yobe governor, was appointed to lead a 13-member committee in June 2020 after the controversial dismissal of Adams Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee (NWC) to end the turbulent crisis rocking the party and set a new tune for its members across the country. Aside from being tasked to reconcile aggrieved members, the APC NEC also mandated the CECPC to organise the party’s national convention where they will select it next crop of leaders in six month time which elapsed in December 2020. The tenure of the committee was extended by another six months due to membership registration and revalidation exercise among other underlying reasons which party leaders assured members would have been concluded by June 2021 for the national convention and congresses to hold as proposed. While the party has not announced the date for the convention in June, sources informed PREMIUM TIMES of another possible tenure extension to set things in motion for a PGF favoured candidate to assume the chairmanship position. Though Mr Buni has denied eying the APC chairmanship after his interim tenure, there are speculations that the party’s governors are rooting for him to retain the seat after his one year interim tenure. This newspaper also gathered that some delegates have been notified and paid ahead of the event.