POLITICS
Time has Come for APC to Restructure– Patrick Obahiagbon
….Says Oshiomhole left Debt of 340m for Buni
By Jude OPARA, Abuja
Stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been urges to brace up for the restructuring of the party in a way that will reposition it ahead of the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
A former member of the House of Representatives, Hon.
Obahiagbon who also passed a vote of confidence on the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Conversation Planning Committee (CECPC) led by Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe state said all party faithful should rise to the demand of developing and building the party.
He also revealed that the former National Working Committee headed by the former Edo state governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole left a debit burden of N340 million naira which was cleared by the Buni led CECPC.
“When the CECPC came on board, there was an inherited liability of unpaid legal fees to the tune of Three Hundred and Forty Million Naira (N340,000,000.00) leading to occasional garnishing of the party account. The CECPC subsequently invited all the legal firms who were involved in the matters and negotiated and brought down the fees to One Hundred and Seventy Nine Million Naira (N179,000,000.00) which is now fully paid.
“I am also aware of and will wish to inform you all, that when the CECPC came on board, the building currently housing the party national secretariat was on a lease. The previous NEC of the Party had approved the purchase of the property at the cost of Two Billion, Five Hundred Million Naira (N2,500,000,000) out of which, initial payment of One Hundred and Fifteen Million Naira (N115,000,000) was made. I am glad to proudly inform you that the CECPC has concluded payment of the outstanding balance and has taken over the ownership of the building and has approved the naming of the secretariat “BUHARI HOUSE” in honor of the meritorious service of Mr. President to both the party and the country.”
According to him, the CECPC has done so well since it was inaugurated to hold the party with humongous achievements within a short space of time.
“The members of the committee have served with great passion and commitment over the last year as they administer the affairs of the party. It is a fact too plain to be contested that the CECPC has recorded humongous achievements within a short space of time.
“As you will all recall, the NEC and the party leadership in it’s sapient disposition or if you like, in it’s wisdom, appointed the CECPC with a view inter alia, to further strengthen the party, ensure it’s continued popularity with Nigerian’s and also to maintain it’s hold on power at the center and across the state’s of the federation.
“The CECPC headed by His Excellency, Hon Mai Mala Buni, and trusted with the leadership of the party was saddled with specific responsibilities that are individually and collectively critical to the growth, development, and continued national relevance of the party.”
The former lawmaker who represented the Eredo Federal Constituency of Edo state equally listed some of the achievements of the Buni led CECPC to include; The planning and conduct of a nationwide APC Membership Registration/Revalidation Exercise,Reconciliation of all the lingering disputes amongst members within the party, Conduct of Congresses at the Ward, LGA, and State Levels, which is currently ongoing as well as theConstitutional Amendment for the party.
He also noted that the unpredented record of over 40 million members from the just conducted nationwide membership registration exercise as one other sterling achievement of the Caretaker Committee.
“At the conclusion of the exercise, the membership population of our great party rose to a little above 40 million; a figure well above the projected targets. May I pontificate, that the supra feat is unheard of in the history of political party management not only in our country but the entire continent of Africa.”
Obahiagbon also said the gale of defections from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other opposition parties into the APC is another feat of the CECPC as piloted by Buni.
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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