POLITICS
Adamu Tasks APC Governors on Adherence to Party Manifesto
Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, the APC National Chairman has charged governors elected on the party’s platform to adhere to its manifesto.
He gave the charge on Wednesday in Abuja, when the party’s governors under the agies of Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) met with the National Working Committee (NWC).
“For us, anything that we will want to say to you is adherence to the manifesto as much as you can.
“We have a general framework for the governance of the country and you represent those who fly the party’s flag.
“It is expected that whatever you do, you will have in mind the manifesto that the party gave the country, as Chief Executive Officers of states, you must key into this manifesto.
“But there are peculiarities, there are priorities you must have set and you are bound to do as much as you can to meet the expectations of those who voted for us,”Adamu said.
He said the party and the country generally were in a very difficult moment, adding that the governors had visited at a very difficult period with regards to the lifting of the fuel subsidy.
Adamu said the period would be very challenging, particularly to the governors because they were where it matters most.
“From national politics, you are the shock absorbers in the various states of the federation, you live with the people, you wake up with them and you work with them.
“The expectation is that you could have a better appreciation of their pains as citizens of this country. So, a lot of expectations will be on you as governors of the Federating units of this great country,” Adamu said.
He assured that the party’s leadership would continue to give the governors the needed cooperation.
“If you have any problem, turn to us and we will give you the best advice as we can, but whatever we do with you, you are the one wearing the shoes and know where it pinches,” Adamu said.
Speaking to newsmen at the end of the meeting, Gov. Hope Uzordimma of Imo said the governors were committed to the party’s idea and manifesto and the Federal Government under it.
He noted that everything contained in the party’s manifesto during its campaigns were meant to be done and carried out.
On the removal of fuel subsidy as announced by President Bola Tinubu in his inauguration speech, all presidential candidates during the campaigns committed to remove fuel subsidy.
“The immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari before he left, made us to know that fuel subsidy is no longer sustainable.What we are talking about now is the implementation process,” he said.
He assured that the incumbent government of President Bola Tinubu was working out ways to implement the fuel subsidy removal to cushion the effect on the people.
“I have confidence in the ability of current president to navigate through the waters and take decisions that will be in the best interest of our people and the country as a nation.
On the leadership of the incoming 10th National Assembly, Uzodimma said Tinubu had not made proclamation for its leadership to be inaugurated.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Uzodimma had earlier emerged as the PGF chairman via consensus.
Some of the governors at the meeting were Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi, Abduallahi Sule of Nasarawa State, Mohammed Bago of Niger and Gov. Uba Sani of Kaduna State.
Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe, Nasir Idris of Kebbi and Gov. Dapo Abiodum of Ogun was also at the meeting among others(NAN)
POLITICS
INEC Staff Welfare Association Warns Members Against Manipulating Election Results
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)
POLITICS
Be Thankful APC Didn’t Probe Your Administrations, Okechukwu Tells PDP
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)POLITICS
LG Administration Central to Democracy in Nigeria -Nwoko
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)