POLITICS
2023: Consider Women as Runningmates Aisha Buhari Tells Presidential Aspirants
Ahead of the forthcoming 2023 general elections, the Nigerian First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has urged political parties to always consider women as running mates to candidates contesting elections into various positions in the country.
Mrs. Buhari spoke Saturday night when she played host to presidential aspirants from various political parties to a Ramadan (Iftar) breakfast at the State House, Abuja.
The Iftar was organized by the First Lady to provide opportunity for the aspirants to share love and happiness with one another in the spirit of Ramadan and in a quest for nation building.She said fair-play for women in politics was to ensure their greater participation in elective positions.
“In fact, it is high time women are adopted as running mates at all levels considering their voting strength and active involvement in political processes. “As we approach the 2023 election with greater hope, I am confident that Nigeria will continue to grow from strength to strength on the pedestal of our democratic tenets” she said.She enjoined the presidential hopefuls to remain focused on issues that strengthen the nation`s unity, brotherhood and national cohesion. However, the first lady reminded her guests that, the 2015 election was a watershed in the history of Nigeria as the former President Goodluck Jonathan willingly conceded defeat.
“It was neither contested in the court of law, nor in the court of public opinion. “Therefore, the greatest end-of-tenure gift that fellow Nigerians can give to the first family is another free and globally acknowledged fair election come 2023’,’ she appealed. She urged all the aspirants to ensure tolerance, fair-play and avoid violent tendencies by building bridges where necessary, especially during electioneering campaigns.
On his part, the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo who was represented by a former governor of Edo state, Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor, urged all aspirants to play politics without bitterness. Osinbajo said the event offered Nigerians from different faiths and background the opportunity to reunite with one another to foster unity.
“It is an opportunity for aspirants from various political parties to meet one another and the lesson we should learn from here is to practice politics without bitterness as we move closer to election year. “We should try to imbibe the spirit of oneness because at the end of the only one person is going to emerge winner of the Presidential election next year. “So, it is not going to be do-or-die affairs, we should learn to practice politics without bitterness, ’’ he said.
One of the APC aspirants and former governor of Lagos State, Sen. Bola Tinubu, expressed gratitude to the First Lady for bringing the diverse groups of Nigerians to share love and unity. Tinubu, however, prayed for brotherliness, peace, unity and prosperity of Nigeria.
In his contribution, Ebonyi state governor, Dave Umahi expressed appreciation to the First Lady for bringing the presidential aspirants together to foster unity and nation cohesion.
Umahi said; “I must also thank you because this should be about our nation, about our patriotism, we should always place our nation above our individual interests. “As we have aspired to lead this nation, I think that Nigerians should be able to evaluate, it is not going to be promises, it is going to be ticking the box. “The opportunity given to us as leaders, what did we do with it, so, this kind of gathering is highly encouraged because it is going to douse a lot of tensions,’’ he said.
Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State and PDP presidential aspirant said the gathering was historic going by the calibre of people in attendance. Mohammed promised to play the game with humility and mutual respect. “I promise to do the politicking with the interest of Nigeria in my mind, respect for one another irrespective of our party differences, ’’ he said.
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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