POLITICS
APC Decries Post Election Violence in Kogi
By Jude Opara, Abuja
All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for caution following the recent post election crisis in Kogi State.
The crisis has led to accusations and counter-accusations between APC and the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Addressing the media on Thursday, National Publicity Secretary (NPS) of the party, Felix Morka said instead of throwing the state into a needless spate of violence, those aggrieved with the outcome of the election should seek legal redress in court.
Morka, who was accompanied to the briefing by the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Duro Meseko also appealed to the aggrieved politicians to understand that the people of Kogi State deserve to live in peace.
He took a swipe at the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dino Melaye and the SDP Murtala Ajaka for their comments which he said were incendiary, provocative and capable of setting the state on fire.
Morka said, “We are concerned about the post-election events and how Kogi has been bedevilled by violence. You can’t set Kogi on fire because you lost an election. Dino Melaye has refused to challenge the result in court”.
According to the APC, the alleged call by Melaye on the opposition parties to boycott the next round of elections is a personal wish which he is entitled to.
He said, “Melaye did not even have the confidence vote for himself in the election. Dino should know that participating and boycotting election is a democratic right. He should choose wisely. But he cannot stop our democratic train from heading to its destination.
“Let me also say a few things about my former colleague and SDP candidate, Murtala Ajaka, who also refused to challenge the election.
“But in a sudden U-turn, he seemed to have changed his mind. Are we happy that we lost in Bayelsa election?
“No, we are not. But we have not resorted to any form of underhand or undemocratic efforts to try to gain back what we lost in Bayelsa and the state has continued to live in relative peace.
“We are concerned that as we speak, the SDP and the PDP have engaged in incendiary statements aimed at causing unrest in Kogi State and put the totality of that blame on our party.
“We reject this as a political party. In Delta, our candidate Senator Ovie Omo-Agege was not announced winner but he has challenged the result in court.
“The APC has enormous respect for the judiciary and the role it plays in democracy. We will leave law enforcement agents to investigate.”
On the recent attack and burning of the residence of the Kogi Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Morka said the attack was unnecessary adding that the party has charged the security agencies to investigate and fish out the perpetrators.
“We have condemned the recent attack on INEC REC and the secretary and we are happy the police are looking into the case.
“We will also implore them as we did after last week National Working Committee (NWC) meeting to properly investigate the attacks and douse tension in Kogi,” Morka stated.
Answering a question on the position of APC on the scenario where pre-filled result sheets were in circulation even before accreditation and voting, the spokesman said, “There is no flawless election anywhere in the world.
“We also called on opposition parties in Kogi to chase their cases in court and allow the police to do their job. You cannot win by intimidating the judiciary and court justices.”
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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