POLITICS
APC North-Central Forum Wants Speaker 10th House of Reps Zoned to Region
The North-Central All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum has called on the party’s leadership to consider zoning the position of the Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives to the region.
Convener of the forum, Mr Dominic Alancha, who made the call at a news conference yesterday in Abuja, stressed that the region deserved the position having worked for the party.
He congratulated Sen.
Bola Tinubu the President-elect at the February 25 presidential elections, saying his victory at the polls, showed that democracy was working in Nigeria and that the people’s preference prevailed against all odds.Alancha commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for conducting the election, saying it was the most free, fair, credible and transparent election held in the country since the return of democracy in 1999.
He commended the professionalism of the Nigerian Security Forces for their neutrality, adding that they conducted themselves as true professionals.
He thanked President Mohammadu Buhari for his unwavering commitment to leaving a legacy of transparent elections and his devotion to the Nigeria of our dreams, saying he was a true statesman and father of the nation.
The convener of the forum prayed God to bless Buhari for his selflessness and wished him continuous good health and divine guidance as he round up his tenure in office.
“We cannot thank our leaders in the North-Central enough for their guidance, determination, sacrifices and commitment to the party, they provided direction, mentorship, guidance and support to us.
“They stood against the torrents of attacks with uncommon bravery and determination when the dark forces of retrogression where resolute in eroding the people’s choice,” Alancha said.
He added that the moral and logistic support given to the forum by the party’s leaders in the North-Central, led to the outstanding performance of the region in the Feb. 25 presidential and National Assembly election.
Alancha said the region’s outstanding performance in the presidential election was a testament to the fact that the region remained the swing zone.
He added that the election results showed that any party that the zone flips to, was primed to always win election.
“It is on record that since the 2015, 2019 and now in 2023 respectively the North-Central has been flipping APC for victory. Indeed, our region has remained faithful to the ideals of the APC for good course.
“It will not be out of place if we as a region call on our great party, the APC to consider and zone the position of the Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives to the North-central,” he said.
He added that this was especially considering the outstanding performance of the region in the just concluded presidential and National Assembly election and for fairness and equity.
Alancha noted that electoral victory of Tinubu was indeed inspiring and exciting, adding that all hurdles on the way of the President-elect were dismantled by his choice by Nigerians.
“His victory though long foretold, is a reaffirmation that sacrifice, dedication, hard work and friendship across all fault lines has its own reward.
“Tinubu’s leadership style should become a reference point in our country before long. May God bless our leader with good health and the requisite vision to birth the dawn of a new and prosperous Nigeria,” Alancha said.
He congratulated all the party’s leaders and members across the country for Tinubu’s victory at the polls and prayed God to grant him grace, strength, vision and good health as he prepares to take leadership of the country.
He expressed optimism that Tinubu would steer the ship of state of the nation to a safe harbour.
He assured that the forum would continue to partner Tinubu in his drive to birth a new Nigeria, advising that he should to be magnanimous in victory to both Christians and Muslims as a father.
“Forge on with vision which has served you well in the course of your political engagements in the last three decades. This will open new vistas of collaboration for your administration in the coming days.
“We ask that you remember the enormous sacrifices that party members had to endure for your victory in our region the North- Central.
“As a sagacious leader, we have no fears about your ability to fetch the best hands for further assignments,” Alancha said. (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)