POLITICS
2023: APC Group Kicks against Muslim-Muslim Ticket as Youths Demand North-East VP
* INEC Says 2023 Elections’ll be the Best Coordinated in Nigeria
The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Stakeholders has called on leadership of the party to limit the search for the vice presidential candidate to northern Christians.
The Convener of the group, Mr.
Aliyu Audu, while addressing a press conference yesterday in Abuja, said the country is deeply divided within the fault lines of ethnicity and religion, saying the ruling party cannot afford to jettison these sensibilities in critical decision making.It noted that APC must be guided by the sense of these sensibilities in the selection of the vice presidential candidate of the party.
The group insisted that northern APC has in its fold capable individuals from the Christian faith with proven track records that can deliver just like anyone from the other faith.
It said their capability to deliver on the ideals of the party aside, they also have the capacity to win elections for the party.
It stated: “There have been arguments that vice presidential candidate which is primed to come from the north must be of the Christian faith, while some others have argued that for the APC to stand the chance of winning the 2023 presidential election, the vice must be a Christian, since the South has already produced a Muslim as the presidential candidate.
“APC National Stakeholders is deeply concerned about the raging controversy which has heated the polity in the last few days. Why we are conscious of the fact that religion should not be a determining factor in the our leadership selection process, the peculiar circumstance the nation found herself calls tor do reflection in the decisions we take, so long as they bother on our national lives
“Today, the country is deeply divided within our fault lines of ethnicity and religion and we cannot afford to jettison these sensibilities in critical decision making. This is why we think that the All Progressives Congress must be guided by the sense of these sensibilities in the selection of the Vice Presidential Candidate of the party.
“To do otherwise would be to further fuel what divides us and give room for mischief makers to take advantage of our differences. Nigeria is in dire need of good governance and this can come from either a Muslim leader or a Christian leader.
“But in the spirit of nationalism, justice and fairness which the northern governors demonstrated a few days ago, the leaders of the north on whose shoulders the emergence of the Vice Presidential candidate rests must also demonstrate this spirit by ensuring that the candidate comes from the Christian faith.”
APC Youths Ask Party to Pick Vice President from North East
The North-East APC Youth Stakeholders Forum has called on the All Progressives Congress (APC) to zone the vice presidential position to the region.
The Chairman of the group, Mr. Haruna Sardauna, made the call while addressing a press conference yesterday in Abuja.
The group noted that zoning the position to the North-east would neutralise the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, who is from the region.
It said, “Zoning the position of the Vice President to the North East will neutralize the PDP Presidential candidate and mobilize massive support from the region and other zones to ensure victory of Alhaji Ahmed Bola Tinubu.”
The group pointed out that whoever is picked from the region, whether Muslim or Christian would be supported.
It added that the North east region has consistently given block votes to the APC and supported candidates from the other region right from inception.
The group insisted that the North east should be considered, considering the sacrifices the region has made for the party.
INEC Optimistics 2023 Elections’ll be the Best Coordinated in Nigeria
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that it will deploy new technologies in making the 2023 elections the best coordinated in Nigeria.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kwara, Malam Garba Attahiru-Madami, stated this during the commemoration of 2022 Democracy Day, organised by Michael Imoudu Institute of Labour Studies in Ilorin yesterday.
He said that INEC will utilise the new technologies with the aim of improving electoral process in the country.
Attahiru-Madami said that Nigeria started using digital technology in the electoral process in 2011, adding that the commission introduced the automated fingerprint identification system to stop voters from registering more than once.
“The permanent voter card and smart card reader were introduced in the 2015 general elections. At the polling station, a voter’s identity is verified by matching his/her biometrics with the voter’s card,” he said.
He noted that the use of the technologies had improved the legitimacy of past the electoral process, adding that the commission has also improved on it and would ensure that all the identified irregularities were eliminated.
The REC enjoined all eligible citizens to get their PVCs, stressing that it was their power to make choice for good leadership in the country.
He, however, warned people against multiple registrations, adding that political parties must caution their members against contravening the law governing voter registration.
According to Attahiru-Madami, a fine of N1 million and/or imprisonment awaits any violator of the voter registration law.
Earlier in his address of welcome, Director-General of MINILS, Mr Isa Aremu, said that democracy day was worth celebrating, as it had brought about great development and enhanced human rights.
He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for moving the commemoration of democracy day to June 12 and for the posthumous award bestowed on the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola.
Aremu commended INEC for its roles in fostering democracy in the country, adding that so far 84 million Nigerians had been registered as voters.
He said that the institute would continue to assist in fostering and strengthening democracy in the country.
In his speech, Oba Abdulrahman Abioye, the Olukotun of Ikotun in Oyun Local Government Area of the state, enjoined Nigerians to have confidence in INEC and in the country’s democracy.
He also appealed to Nigerians to get registered in order to have the opportunity of electing leaders of their choice in 2023. (NAN)
The Abia Chapter of the INEC Staff Welfare Association (ISWA) has warned its members to uphold the integrity of the commission and guard against the culture of manipulating election results.
The Abia Chairman of the association, Mr Collins Eze, gave the advice at the group’s general meeting and end-of-year party in Umuahia.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of the ceremony, Eze said that the staff members were adequately aware of their enormous responsibility and should ensure free, fair and credible elections.
He said: “We have also told our colleagues that anywhere they find themselves they should make sure that they do the needful by ensuring transparency in the conduct of elections.
“We have always told them not to allow anybody to induce them with money to manipulate election results.
“I’m happy that they have been building the capacity of our colleagues on election processes.
“So, in the coming years, we won’t have any problem in ensuring free, fair and peaceful elections.”
He said that the end-of-year party was special as it afforded them the opportunity “to wine and dine together as well as thank God for sustaining them in 2024”.
Eze said that his leadership had introduced various means of assisting members in dire financial needs by providing platforms to solicit suppory for them.
He expressed gratitude to members for their support and cooperation, describing them as the “secret behind the success of this administration”.
He said that 34 of at least 350 staff members of the commission in the state retired from service in 2024.
According to him, the development has placed a huge financial burden on the association, in terms of their welfare and entitlement as members.
Report says that each member received a carton of tomato paste as Christmas gift from the association. (NAN)
A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be thankful to God that its 16-year administration was not probed by the successive APC-led governments.Okechukwu stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, while reacting to a statement by PDP congratulating Ghanaians for the conduct of free, fair and transparent general elections.
Report says that PDP had, in a statement, said that the verdict of the people of Ghana in the presidential election was a signal to the APC that its days were numbered. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, had said in the statement that the power of the people in Nigeria, just like in Ghana, would ‘surely prevail and end the APC’s oppressive rule’.This, he said, would “return Nigeria to the path of good governance, security, political stability and economic prosperity on the platform of the PDP in 2027.”However, in his reactions to Ologunagba’s statement, Okechukwu said that the PDP clan should thank God that former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Tinubu, out of sheer statesmanship, had refused to probe ‘the 16 locus years of PDP administrations’.Okechukwu, a former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), described the 16 years of PDP administrations as ones full of squandering and lack of plan.He said that Nigeria had yet to recover from the humongous culture of impunity and trust deficit planted by PDP on the Nigerian soil.Okechukwu said corruption was among the culture of impunity, saying it governed the privatisation of Nigeria’s electricity value chain, a key element in the country’s industrialisation drive.“Another is the blatant rigging of the 2007 general elections which the foremost beneficiary, President Umaru Yar’Adua, out of good conscience and noble magnanimity, publicly acknowledged the malfeasance which characterised his victory,” he said.Okechukwu also mentioned what he called conscienceless sale of the legislative and ministerial quarters, the annual rentage of which, he said, was bleeding the country’s treasury.“Another one is the neglect of $23 billion Greenfield Refinery, which could have saved over $70 billion expended on importation of refined petroleum products and which simulated the economic hardship of today,” he said.On why, for nine years, the APC administration could not fix those challenges, he recalled the efforts made by the Buhari administration to reopen talks on the Greenfield Refinery which, according to him, the Chinese regrettably rebuffed.The former VON director-general said that Nigerians were not in a hurry to forget the deliberate breach of the rotational convention of president from the north to the south.He said that the country could not also forget the utter disregard for Section 7 of the PDP’s constitution which expressly mandated zoning.Okechukwu advised the PDP not to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians by assuming that citizens would easily forget how they were put in the harms way.He said that PDP should thank God that Buhari and Tinubu did not want to probe them, adding “that’s why Nigerians cannot decipher the difference between the two political parties.” (NAN)
Sen. Ned Nwoko (PDP-Delta) says that Local Government Administration is central to democracy in Nigeria as it ensures grassroots governance and service delivery at the local level.This is contained in a statement signed by Dr Michael Nwoko, the Chief of Staff to the lawmaker in Abuja on Monday.Nwoko said this on the occasion of the presentation of an award “Icon of Hope” to him by the Association of Local Government Vice Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGOVC).
He was represented by his Chief of Staff. He said that the importance of local government administration in the country could not be overemphasised, as it was the bedrock of democracy.According to him, local governments in Nigeria play key roles in the country’s democracy by promoting participatory democracy, providing services, and representing citizens.“Local Governments help determine local needs and how to meet them. They also act as a link between the centre, state, and local people.“They are created to decentralise power and bring the government closer to the people. They perform both mandatory and concurrent functions.“It is in view of this that I took it upon myself to enhance the viability of local governments through the Paris and London club loan refunds,”he said.Dr Folashade Olabanji-Oba, ALGOVC National Chairman, while presenting the award at its 7th Annual National Conference, said the award was in recognition of the lawmaker’s significant contributions to strengthening local government administration.She highlighted Nwoko’s critical role in ensuring the Paris and London Club loan refunds, a financial breakthrough she said enhanced the capacity of local governments nationwide.(NAN)
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