POLITICS
Edo Guber: Concerns as APC Urge 29 Aspirants Reach a Consensus on APC Ticket
By Jude Opara, Abuja
As political parties prepare for primary elections to select candidates for the September 21 governorship election in Edo state, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has in a surprise move urged the 29 aspirants jostling for the party’s ticket for the Denis Osadebey Government House to reach a consensus.
The Deputy National Publicity Secretary (NPS), Duro Meseko at a press conference on Tuesday at the National Secretariat of the party said the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party met with the Edo stakeholders on the need for the aspirants to talk to themselves to avoid a situation that may lead to unnecessary litigations after the primary.
However, it was observed that the APC NWC has halted the sale of expression of interest and nomination form so as to dialogue with the aspirants as so far only the former Minister of State for Budget and National Planning under the last administration of President Mohammadu Buhari, Jeddy Agba, been the only aspirant to have bought his the expression of interest and nomination form.
Meseko, who was accompanied by the Edo State Publicity Secretary of the party, Peter Uwadie Igbinigie, said that the NWC on Monday night, summoned all the 29 aspirants, as well as some Edo state APC stakeholders, following concerns over the rising number so as to agree on a common interest of the party to reduce the number ahead of the party’s primary election.
He also disclosed that the party has settled for a direct primary method to give all party members the opportunity to be part of the selection process, adding that the meeting which was also attended by other stakeholders of the APC in Edo state agreed on so many other measures that would reduce the cases of litigations by aggrieved aspirants after the primary election.
“As preparations towards a hitch-free Governorship Primary Election in Edo State intensifies, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) held a consultative meeting with stakeholders of the Party from the state on Monday, 15th January, 2024 and resolved as follows:
“That after due consultations with Edo State APC stakeholders, the NWC has approved Direct Primaries as the mode of election to be used to produce the Governorship candidate of the Party for the state.
“In view of the large numbers of aspirants jostling for the Party’s ticket in Edo State, the NWC urged the stakeholders to unite in trimming the number of aspirants.”
Meseko further explained that; “NWC urged all the Governorship aspirants to exhibit Party discipline and patriotism by shunning the attitude of running to the Courts at every opportunity instead of exploring internal dispute resolution mechanisms, especially after Party Primaries.
“It was resolved that for the smooth running of the Party, all members should ensure strict compliance with their financial obligations to the Party, in line with the Party’s Constitution.
“The NWC also resolved that for want of time, the E-registration exercise of the Party for fresh members be conducted after the Primaries in order not to derail the smooth conduct of the Primaries.
“The stakeholders were urged by the NWC to promote unity within the ranks of the Party in order to go into the election as one family bound by progressive ideals and fully geared to reclaim the Party’s mandate in Edo State.”
He however assured that the NWC would conduct a free, credible and acceptable primary election that would be devoid of all the crisis that caused the APC victory at the last governorship election in Edo state.
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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