POLITICS
APC: Commending Matawalle’s Peace Initiative in Zamfara
By Yusuf Idris Gusau
There was apparent sigh of relief within the rank of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) following the decision of the former governor Abdulaziz Yari to embrace peace and work for the party’s success in 2023.
Pictures of Governor Bello Mohammed Matawalle and former governor Yari both in smiles and shaking hands at the party national headquarters in Abuja, which went viral on social media were balms that soothed a lot of hearts across the state and beyond.
Before the national headquarters incident, pictures of the two leaders also in smiles appeared a night earlier with the national chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu sandwiched between them.
At the national headquarters event, an accord was signed and understanding reached, signalling a new phase and order in the state chapter of the party that the good time has returned.
To the average Zamfara citizen who have been bearing the broth of the lingering crisis that had dodged the party and the state, the last week event was a happy ending to a seeming horror and tragic movie that had rolled on for many years.
To Governor Matawalle, it is a long tortuous journey in the reconciliation effort he has been working tirelessly to bring about the party’s unity he desperately sought and midwived over the years.
Despite efforts by the anti-peace elements within and outside the party to frustrate the efforts, Matawalle had continued undaunted, believing rightly, that there will always be light at the end of the tunnel. The last week’s incident is therefore a testimony to the resolve and commitment of a leader who will walk through a razing inferno or on thorns in order to bring succour to his people and peace to his domain.
And the Yari catch is a significant achievement in the ongoing efforts to bring feuding members together for many reasons. The former governor is a political colossus in his own right and a founding member of the APC, who command a lot of influence and boasts of an army of loyalists as well as followers across the state.
Matawalle has never once doubted Yari’s political standing in the state and has continued to accord him respect despite the misunderstanding that existed between them. In the face of the raging discontents over who controls the party’s structure in the state following Matawalle’s defection to APC, the two leaders had ensured that the mutual respect between them remained intact. They never disparaged each other nor do anything that will undermine the long standing relationship they had cultivated and enjoyed over the years.
The former governor, to his credit, has continued to accord the much needed repsect to the party national leadership and has never one day pubilicly attacked them verbally as some stakeholders were noted for. That’s possibly why it was easier to woo the former governor over and is the reason why Yari was able to hold his head high while exchanged pleasantries with party leaders across the negotiation table at the national headquarters last week.
Another reason why Yari’s decision is also significant is that it is coming at a critical period when the opposition PDP was hoping and salivating over a big catch that would have increased its fortune ahead of 2023. The party in the state through its chairman, Col. Bala Mande (retired) had announced on April 17 that the former governor along with Senator Kabiru Garba Marafa had “dumped” APC for its party.
Col. Bala Mande said they had sat down and finalised the issue of the defection of Yari and Marafa and they had reached an agreement to work for the development of the Party.
“We have all agreed to work for the development of the party and the PDP in the state has welcome them to its fold. We will ensure justice and fairness to all members even after we have won elections in 2023.”
“The date for their grand reception to our party will be announced later but we are going to implement all the agreements reached during the stakeholders meeting,” Mande was quoted to have said.
But as it turned out, Mande’s aspiration and that of his party, have become a pipedream, a hallucination which the former Milan would have woken up the next day to dread and agonise over. And in the coming days, the impact of his missteps in attempting to harvest where he and his party did not sow, will be more felt when the reconciliation efforts by Matawalle and other stakeholders begins to cause implosion in the opposition party.
With Yari back to the fold and working with Matawalle, there is bound to be mass exodus from the opposition to the APC. The situation in the opposition party will further worsen with the deal to get Senator Kabir Marafa back to the fold already sealed.
It was wishful thinking for the PDP to attempt to woo Yari and Marafa to it’s platform. It may be rejoicing that Marafa was absent when the deal with Yari was struck but the Senator was abreast of the development and in tune with the reality that PDP can never be a viable alternative platform to APC. In an interview he granted to journalists shortly after the Abuja meeting, Marafa did acknowledged that he was aware of the development and fully committed to the peace efforts. What more assurances do the opposition party requires when the fact of the matter came from the horses mouth.
On the whole, the recent event showed that the APC is on course to sustaining its hold on the state’s politics in 2023 through a reawakening that the party’s conflict resolution mechanism is working and can be deployed appropriatly to achieving set goals. It has been duly applied in Gombe, Lagos even as the party is currently working its magic in Kano, Kwara, Osun, Ondo and other states where discontents existed.
For the Zamfara peace efforts, the national chairman, Abdullahi Admau and the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) members deserved commendation for their leadership role in bringing feuding members to the roundtable.
Also, Governor Matawalle also deserved a pat on the back for showing that internal crisis is resolvable if leaders jettisoned personal consideration for collective party interest. As a unifier who believed in peaceful coexistence, his decision to run an all-inclusive government should be emoluated by others. As things stand today, all those who served as civilian governors from Sen. Ahmad Sani Yarima to Alhaji Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi to Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar and now Bello Mohammed Matawalle are together with all former deputy governors, Alhaji Muntari Anka and Mallam Ibrahim Wakkala.
Similarly, all past Speakers of the state House of Assembly…., former and serving senators, serving and former members of the House of Representatives and state House of Assembly except for very few or those that are deceased and all their teeming supporters have now fully returned under one roof of the APC. This is indeed commendable.
Also, stakeholders like Yari equally needed to be eulogise for towing the path of honour and showing courage by embracing peace efforts aimed at uniting the party and directing it on the path of development and growth. Zamfara APC is on the match towards 2023.
Gusau is the Zamfara state APC Publicity Secretary.
Vice-President Kashim Shettima has implored voters in Ondo State to re-elect Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa and his deputy, Dr Olayide Adelami, in Saturday’s governorship election in the state.
Shettima made the call on Wednesday while addressing the crowd at the MKO Abiola Democracy Park, Akure, for the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship campaign.
The Vice-President assured that the duo would bring hope, prosperity, and unity.
He added that they would ensure that the sun continued to shine brighter in the sunshine state.
Shettima told the electorate to ensure their votes collectively become their voice, conviction and message to those underestimating APC’s strength and will in the state.
“Aiyedatiwa is not merely campaigning to hold onto a position — he is campaigning to bring hope, prosperity, and unity to every corner of Ondo State.
” I am confident he is the leader who can turn these ambitions into realities. This election is more than a choice between two candidates.
” It is a choice between progress and stagnation; unity and division. It is a chance to stand with a party that has consistently delivered and with a leader who truly understands the heartbeat of Ondo.
“So, as you go to the polls, remember what we stand for. Remember what you deserve: a governor with the experience, the compassion, and the strength to keep pushing Ondo toward greatness.
“Let’s secure Ondo’s future together. Let us vote APC, and re-elect Aiyedatiwa,” he said.
Extending President Bola Tinubu’s goodwill to the people of the state, Shettima said the President was in support of Aiyedatiwa.
According to him, President Tinubu is confident that the governor’s re-election will sustain the commitment of APC to the people’s well-being.
“Today, I bring you the goodwill of President Tinubu, who would have loved to be here today, but he is with us in spirit, and he has fully endorsed the Aiyedatiwa-Adelami ticket as the torchbearers of prosperity for the state,” he said.
Shettima urged the people of Ondo to look beyond distractions and instead at the integrity and stability, the APC has brought to the state.
“Look at the work we’ve done to strengthen our economy; even if the gains may not always be immediately visible. Consider the real, practical solutions APC offers to make the sun shine brighter in Ondo State,” he added.
He described Aiyedatiwa and his deputy as men of exceptional courage and leaders tested by challenges that would have deterred many.
Shettima noted that the governor had shown remarkable resilience in building a formidable force for the APC in the state.
“From overcoming politically motivated attacks to uniting our great party, he has proven himself not just a survivor but a leader who stands strong for the good people of the sunshine state,” he said.
Earlier, Aiyedatiwa urged the people to vote for APC, saying that his predecessor, late Rotimi Akeredolu, would be happy seeing all APC winning the election.
Aiyedatiwa recalled that Akeredolu once told him that he, Aiyedatiwa, would succeed him, adding that the late governor would be glad to see this happen come Saturday.
He said that the electorate would attest to the level of development in the state, pledging that by the time he returned, he would do his best.
The National Chairman of APC, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, also expressed confidence that Aiyedatiwa would win the Saturday, Nov. 16 gubernatorial election.
According to him, a vote for Aiyedatiwa is a vote for unity, peace and development. (NAN)
By Laide Akinboade, Abuja
Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, has warned Afenifere Chieftain, Dr Femi Okurounmu, to avoid getting involved in matters capable of ridiculing his status as an elder statesman, especially matters on which he would not speak objectively for obvious reasons.
Olayinka stated this while reacting to Dr Okurounmu’s statement, accusing President Bola Tinubu of being laid-back on the ongoing crisis in Rivers State, asked “what exactly Dr Okurounmu expected President Tinubu to have done?”
Olayinka said it was strange that Dr Okurounmu, a former Senator could opt to be playing ostrich to the avalanche of disobedience to court judgements by the Governor of Rivers State, Sim Fubara, and the danger such affront on the judiciary posed to democracy and peace in the country.
“One is however not too amazed because he (Okurounmu) holds the record of being the first Senator to be suspended by his colleagues out of the seven Senators that have been suspended since 1999 till date,” Olayinka said.
Dr Okurounmu had accused the FCT Minister of being the architect and mastermind of the Rivers crisis, saying, “even if Governor Sim Fubara is his godson, Wike should be told that he cannot be his surrogate as a sitting governor with full powers.”
Responding, Olayinka asked when Wike told Dr Okurounmu that he wanted Governor Fubara to be his surrogate, and not function as the Governor of Rivers State, adding that “He (Okurounmu, as an elder should be honest enough to stand before the mirror and ask himself the roles he played in Fubara becoming governor.”
He said: “In Yorubaland, when two children are fighting, what the elders do is to sit them down and listen to their sides of the conflict. Elders don’t just sit in their bedrooms and apportion blame as done by Baba Femi Okurounmu.
“Was it Wike that went to the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex and set it on fire so as to prevent duly elected lawmakers from carrying out their duties?
“Was it Wike that has been illegally using three members out of the 32-member State House of Assembly to carry out legislative business in Rivers State, including passing the State Budget as well as screening and confirming commissioners, when the constitution says that budget can only be passed by two-third of the Assembly members?
“Hasn’t Governor Fubara been ignoring judgements of the courts concerning his regime of lawlessness in Rivers State? When the Court of Appeal in Abuja on October 10, 2024, affirmed a lower court’s decision nullifying the Rivers State’s 2024 budget signed into law and being operated by Governor Fubara, did the governor obey the judgement?
“And is it not shocking that Dr Okurounmu had chosen to ignore the danger Governor Fubara’s deliberate affronts on the rule of law pose to democracy and peace in Nigeria?”
On Dr Okurounmu’s accusation that President Tinubu was being laid-back on the Rivers State crisis, Olayinka asked; “What exactly does Baba Femi Okurounmu expect the President to have done? Overrule the various judicial pronouncements and join Governor Fubara in his reign of lawlessness?
POLITICS
$35 million Atlantic Refinery project: Ex-Reps member commend Tinubu, EFCC over diligent prosecution
From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa
Former Member of the Federal House of Representatives, Hon. Israel Sunny Goli has commended President Bola Tinubu and the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) over the recent investigations and prosecution of graft cases and fight against corruption.
Hon. Israel Sunny Goli, who represented the Brass/Nembe Federal Constituency in the House of Representative, also commended the EFCC for the thorough investigation into the $35 million fraud concerning the 2,000 barrels per day (BPD) Atlantic Refinery project in Okpoama, Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
Hon. Israel Sunny Goli, in a commendation letter addressed to the Chairman of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, said the arrest of Mr.
Akintoye Adeoye Akindele, Managing Director of Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited, and Eng. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, former Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB), and others who are key figures in the alleged fraud, has instilled hope among our people and bolstered confidence in the EFCC under your leadership.According to him, “It is heart-warming to observe that public confidence in the agency under your leadership has grown significantly, as you have steered a new course of transparency, focus, and zeal in the operations of the foremost anti-graft agency.”
“While the arrest of the aforementioned individuals is a positive development, I respectfully request the investigation of the
board chairman of the NCDMB and its members for their potential complicity in approving the award of the contract to an entity with no known track record for the construction of a 2,000 BPD Modular Refinery in Okpoama, Brass Local Government Area.”
“The lack of response or support from either the board chairman or its members since I raised the petition on this matter raises significant concerns about their potential complicity in the fraudulent act. To fully understand their involvement, I recommend an immediate arrest and investigation of Timipre Sylva, being the board chairman and other members of the board.”
“Nothing would be more gratifying to the people of Brass Local Government Area than to see everyone involved in the perpetration of this $35 million fraud brought to justice, with every stolen dime refunded so that the project can be executed for the benefit of all.”
Hon. Sunny-Goli, who is also a traditional ruler from Two Brass with the title Kemmer V; Amadabo of Kemmer-Ama, extended his gratitude to President Bola Tinubu for the unwavering stance against corruption,”I would like to extend my gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his unwavering stance against corruption. This firm position has expedited the investigation and arrest of those involved in grand larceny while holding public trust, particularly in this case.”
“Such a resolute approach by the President serves as a deterrent to other public office holders.It is disheartening that, despite the government’s good intentions towards its citizens, those entrusted with implementing policies for the benefit of the people are choosing to corruptly enrich themselves at the expense of the populace.”
Recall that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested former Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Timber Kesiye Wabote, in connection with an alleged $35 million fraud involving the Brass Project.
It was gathered that the arrest is related to a failed refinery project for which $35 million was allocated.
Wabote’s arrest followed the detention of Akintoye Adeoye Akindele, Managing Director of Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited, who is facing allegations of misappropriation, money laundering, and diversion of $35 million in public funds.
Wabote is currently held at the EFCC’s facility in Abuja.
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