POLITICS
Nigeria Needs a Unifier and Nation Builder—GYB
… Says Zoning is Unconstitutional
By Jude Opara, Abuja
Ahead of the 2023 general elections, a front line presidential aspirant and governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello has said that the type of person Nigeria needs at the moment is a leader who will not only unify the country but also has the capacity to build the nation.
Bello who spoke to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday through his Commissioner for Information and Communication, Kingsley Fanwo said he is the right man to lead the country today.
He also rubbished the call for zoning of the presidency, saying such would rob the country the opportunity of having some of the best hands stepping forward to contest for the highest office in the land.
“Until we challenge the status quo, that idiosyncratic page must be broken before you can be talking of progressing as a nation as a people. So it’s no more about rotation. The governor was born in North Central. He was born an Egbira man. He did not choose to be an Egbira, he did not choose to be a northerner. That should not determine criteria for hiring leaders. “We always bring these to politics. We don’t use it in other places. When you are sick and we are taking kings care hospitals, and they will say you need an operation.
You will not ask the administrative Secretary that the person who is going to treat me is it an Hausa man. You would want a competent medical doctor to attend to you. Whether it’s Egbira, whether it is Hausa, it doesn’t matter. What matters is if he is competent to attend to me? Now, the driver that will take you from here to Onitsha, what you are interested in is, is he a good driver. In politics, we use that sentiment, where is he or she coming from?
“In 2023, it is going to change. The zoning may be competence, capacity, patriotism, a unifier, a bridge builder. That is where we are zoning it to. Whether the person is a northerner, Southerner, Igbo, Hausa it does not matter anymore”, Fanwo said.
The Commissioner further noted that the country has not made appreciable progress because of the usual resort to ethnicity and religion.
“We are have being since 1960, are we better off? So that’s where we are going. And that’s what we have come out to challenge because it will take a courageous man like Yahaya Bello to challenge and defeat that monster before we can be talking about development. “So on rotation, we are ready for the battle ahead. It is going to be about capacity and competence”.
On the array of political bigwigs angling to clinch the APC presidential ticket, Fanwo said;
“We are not intimidated by their pedigree, profile experience and exposure and what they’ve done in the past. Now, when you compare that to what someone is doing at the moment, that I think they are the ones that should be intimidated right now. Because it is not about what you have achieved in the past. It’s going to be what you are doing now and what you can do for this nation from 2023. So the governor too has garnered some experience. He has been a chief executive of his state for the past six, seven years. And also, he has been able to see governance at that very close rates. So we are very confident that he’s going to do a great job for Nigeria.
“On the issue of consensus, our party is a party of rules! I’m very happy you are covering the party. And I’m very sure you avail yourself of the constitution of the party, especially as it affects the mode of selecting candidates for elections. You have all the options; consensus, direct and indirect primaries.
“If you say we are adopting consensus, it means that others have withdrawn. We will have to sign a document announcing our withdrawal from that context. That’s what our constitution says, I will follow a constitution. We cannot make rules and break them”. The Commissioner added that no matter the type of primary the party would settle for, Yahaya Bello will be there to seek for votes.
“Yahaya Bello will be there. If it is going to be on consensus, he is basically the youngest, and a serving governor who is performing wonders in unifying, securing and progressing his people, definitely the consensus will favour Yahaya Bello. So let’s let’s wait and watch. If it’s going to be a contest where we are going to look for votes we will be there. If it is consensus, it is still going to be GYB”.
On some of the things he intends to do as president, Fanwo said his principal will use the template he is using to develop Kogi state to bear at the national level.
“So it’s not about spending state resources. What we have is for building infrastructure. As you can see, the first flyover in the State is about 80%completed as we speak. A lot of township roads is going on in Lokoja. We’ve completed 56 kilometers from Anyigba to Idah and a lot of other infrastructure that we have either completed or they are ongoing. So these are the things that will take our resources”.
On the unity of the country, he said; “The second issue that may shape the campaign is the issue of unity. You know, unity is very crucial to our development as a nation and people. So we need a leadership that will define our national identity as a people. So that first will think Nigeria and act Nigeria. It is beyond the rhetoric. We’re not practicalise it. So we need unity. And we need a unifier. Yahaya Bello is a unifier”.
He added that the issue of progress will enhance security which will also bring a united and progressive nation.
A two-term member of Edo House of Assembly, Mr Ojezele Osesua, has dumped Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for All Progressives Congress (APC).
Osesua, representing Esan South-East Constituency, announced his defection on Monday in Benin at a news conference held at the APC state secretariat.
The development came less than two months after PDP lost the state to APC in the governorship election.
NAN also reports that the lawmaker was received by members of the State Working Committee (SWC) of the party headed by Jarrett Tenebe.
Osesua said that he decided to dump the opposition party over what he called”irreconcilable crisis.”
He said that his defection was like paying back a debt he owed the ruling when he left the party in 2020, after it had sponsored him to win election in 2019.
“In 2019, I was elected into the assembly on the platform of APC. Due to some challenges, I left the party and joined PDP after one year.
“Though I was elected on the PDP platform in 2023, I have been indebted to APC. It is that debt I have come to pay with my defection,” he said.
On his part, the APC chairman commended the legislator for joining the party.
Tenebe described Osesua as a ‘focused, election-winning’ member, adding: “It’s not APC’s fault that PDP has issues.
“You will recall that during the election campaigns, I said our doors were open and the doors are still open,” he said. (NAN)
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of politicising the recent stampedes in Abuja, Anambra, and Ibadan, where several lives were tragically lost.
In a statement issued on Monday in Abuja, the APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr Felix Morka, condemned the PDP’s actions, calling them “grossly indecent, insensitive, and despicable.
”Morka criticised the opposition party for using the national grief over the stampedes to launch a political attack on the APC-led administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Morka stated, “At a time of national grief over the stampedes that resulted in the deaths of citizens, the PDP seized the moment to engage in callous political chicanery.
“Rather than genuinely commiserate with the victims and their families, the PDP chose to politicise the tragedy, blaming the incidents on the APC government.”
He emphasised that the tragedies had united Nigerians in mourning and reflection, with a collective focus on how the incidents might have been avoided through better planning and organisation.
“Our thoughts and prayers remain with the victims and their families,” Morka added.
Morka also rebuked the PDP for exploiting the stampedes to attack the APC, particularly since the current administration was committed to addressing the challenges inherited from nearly two decades of PDP rule.
He reminded the PDP of the 2014 Nigerian Immigration Service recruitment stampede, which occurred under its administration, where many job seekers lost their lives.
“The PDP’s allegations only serve to remind us of its sordid record of maladministration and incompetence,” Morka said.
He noted that the party’s suggestion that President Tinubu’s administration was not committed to the welfare of Nigerians was “mischievous and out of touch with reality.”
He pointed to the current administration’s efforts to invest in alternative energy sources and the introduction of the Credit Corps scheme and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
Morka also highlighted salary reviews for workers and increased allowances for corps members as part of the government’s commitment to improving the welfare of Nigerians.
Morka further highlighted the government’s commitment to provide free and subsidised transportation during the holiday period, approving grants for farmers and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and other humanitarian initiatives.
He asserted that this administration is “the most people-centric in our history.”
He also dismissed the PDP’s claim that the APC’s policies had damaged the economy.
“For years, successive PDP governments operated a phantom economy riddled with distortions and corruption, deceiving Nigerians into believing the economy was thriving.”
Morka commended President Tinubu for suspending his scheduled activities to honour the victims and expressed condolences to the families affected by the tragedies.
He wished a speedy recovery to those injured in the incidents.(NAN)
By Mike Odiakose, Abuja
Journalists covering the Senate have honoured Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin, with award on highest number of private member Bills sponsorship.
Records on Private Member Bills sponsorship among serving Senators in the 10th National Assembly , obtained from Rules and Business office , indicated that Senator Barau tops with 21 bills within the last 18 months.
One of the 21 private member bills sponsored by Senator Barau was the NorthWest Development Commission Bill which is now an Act of Parliament legalising the creation of North West Development Commission (NWDC) after assented to, by President Bola Tinubu.
Barau in his response to the honour, said it would make him to do more for his constituents in Kano North Senatorial District and Nigerians generally.
”Your recognition of my legislative inputs in the Senate within the last 18 months, particularly on series of development – driven bills sponsored so far, is something that will energize and propel me further to do more.
“Once you are given an award, it’s a kind of telling you to go and do more. To whom much is given, much is expected.
”This to me also is considered as your contribution to making sure that the legislature remains vibrant.
”Once you identify those who are doing well and you honour them through awards of this nature, that will create some kind of competition and will propel others to do more so that they can be recognized at some other time in the future.
”We can’t perform here in the best manner possible, without your contribution to what we are doing. And you are contributing in a very robust way to what we do here, making us as partners in progress for the good of Nigeria and Nigerians .
”So our relationship with you is sine qua non to our success. We can never succeed without you because without you reporting what happens here , Nigerians can’t know what we are doing,“ he said .
Earlier, the Chairman of the Corps, James Itodo, told the DSP that the honour is strictly on performance as contained in the records and not for any other thing.
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