POLITICS
APC Inaugurates State Chairmen Ahead of National Convention
. Kano, Sokoto Chair, Absent
By Jude Opara, Abuja
The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday inaugurated its state Chairmen ahead of the scheduled National Convention of the party slated to take place on February 26.
The inauguration which appeared controversial following the emergence of different factions most state chapters of the party was conducted at the National Secretariat of the party amidst heavy security.
Apparently, envisaging that some of the aggrieved members could foment trouble, the party carefully streamlined entry and exit in and out of its premises.
In fact getting access into the premises was not a guarantee as the Congress Hall of the Secretariat where the even actually took place was cordoned off.Interestingly, there were many people from different states protesting at the fringes of the street due to the heavy security presence which prevented them from getting close to the party Secretariat.
Some of them were calling for the postponment of the National Convention, while others were demanding for the immediate resignation of the CECPC led by Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe state.
After several hours of suspense, the inauguration eventually began about 5pm with only a few journalists allowed inside.
Meanwhile, Kano and Sokoto States were not inaugurated. This may not be unconnected with the internal crisis rocking the two chapters of the party in the two states.
The inauguration was also unique as soon after the Secretary of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Sen. John Akpanudoedehe entered, the national anthem was played.
After which Akpanudoedehe simply said; ” I was asked to come and give you your Certificates of Return”, and he proceeded to read out the names of the Chairmen in order of their states.
Earlier in the day, security operatives in their hundreds had sealed up the National Secretariat of the party located at Blantyre street, Wuse, Abuja.
Both staff, journalists, visitors and even vehicular movements were barred from accessing the street.
Shortly after the national anthem was played to signal the end of the event, the Chairman of Chairmen, Alhaji Bukar Dalori in a statement he distributed to newsmen thanked the party faithful across the country for electing them.
Dalori also promised onbehalf of his colleagues to work assiduously for the success of the party in the 2023 general elections.
The state Chairmen inaugurated include;
Dr. Kingsley Ononogbu (Abia), Alh Ibrahim Bilal (Adamawa), Mr Augustine Enefiok Ekanem (Akwa Ibom), Hon Basil Ejike (Anambra), Alh Babayo Aliyu Misau (Bauchi), Dr. Dennis Otiotio (Bayelsa), Mr Augustine Agada (Benue), Hon. Ali Bukar Dalori (Borno), and Mr. Alphonsus Orgar Eba Esq. (Cross River).
Others are Elder Omeni Sabotie (Delta), Hon. Stanley Okoro Emegha (Ebonyi), retired Col David Imuse (Edo), Barr. Omotosho Paul Ayodele (Ekiti), Chief Ogochukwu Agballah (Enugu), Mr Nitte K Amangal (Gombe), Dr Macdonald Ebere (Imo), Hon. Aminu Sani Gumel (Jigawa), Air Cdre Emmanuel Jekada (Rtd) (Kaduna), Alh. Muhammed Sani (Katsina), Alh. Abubakar Muhammed Kana (Kebbi) and Hon. Abdullahi Bello (Kogi).
Others include Prince Sunday Adeniran Fagbemi (Kwara), Hon. Cornelius Ojelabi (Lagos), Mr John D Mamman (Nasarawa), Hon. Haliru Zakari Jikantoro (Niger), Chief Yemi Sanusi (Ogun), Engr Ade Adetimehin (Ondo), Prince Adegboyega Famodun (Osun), Hon Isaac Omodewu (Oyo), Hon Rufus Bature (Plateau), Chief Emeka Bekee (Rivers). Hon Ibrahim Tukur El-Sudi (Taraba), Alh Muhammed A. Gadaka (Yobe), Alh. Tukur Umar Danfulani (Zamfara) and Alh. Abdulmalik Usman (FCT).
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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