POLITICS
My Victory is for all Nigerians Committed to a Greater Society –Tinubu
The President-elect, Sen. Bola Tinubu, has said that his victory at the Feb. 25 presidential election was a victory for all Nigerians committed to a greater society.
He said this on Wednesday in Abuja after receiving his certificate of return from Prof.
Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).The former two-term Lagos State governor assured that he would work round the clock to make Nigeria better for all.
“The road has been long, yet, we walked it, the battle has been hard fought, yet we won it.
“But more important, I realise that I am just a servant of a larger purpose,“ Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate at the Feb.
25, presidential election, said.He added that the certificate was more than a document confirming the positive outcome of an election.
According to him, it is a document that symbolises our collective democratic attainment and even loftier aspirations, representing the impending transfer of a most sacred duty and trust from one person to another.
“At its most sublime, this certificate also symbolises that each of you has the ability to achieve what others believe is impossible for you to achieve.
“I stand before you the president-elect, and yes, that is special, but, I am no different than anyone of you. If I can do this, you can do better, you must do better.
“Our destiny as a people and nation depends on our ability to shed the artificial restrictions of bias and prejudice, so that we live fully unto our democratic creed.
“That no one is innately superior or entitled to greater rights and opportunities than any other Nigerian,’’Tinubu said.
He expressed optimism that by dint of hard work, determination and unyielding belief in a noble endeavor, any individual could achieve the best of things.
The presidentpresident-elect added that by taking the certificate of return, he had assumed a sacred duty he would never ignore.
“To you the people, especially the youths, I will work day and night. I will work to the utmost of my ability to make Nigeria better.
“For this to be a victory at all, it cannot simply be a victory for one man or even one party. It must become a victory for all Nigerians who are committed to a greater society.
“I know many did not vote for me, and you are disappointed that your candidate is not where I now stand.
“I understand your hurt. To you, I extend the embrace and comfort of one family member to another,’’ he said.
Tinubu further said that the great project called Nigeria beckons to every single Nigerian, saying “it is bigger and more important than any partisan divide.”
The former two-term governor of Lagos State asked his supporters to continue to have faith in the mission that had been articulated.
He also asked those who didn’t support him not allow their disappointment keep them from realising the historic national progress that could be achieved by joining hands and hearts.
“In a phrase, I am asking you to work with me, as your president, I need you, more important, Nigeria needs you, my heart and my door are open to you.
“I ask you to come in so that we may begin the task of rebuilding our national home together, day by day, brick by brick.
“Where there is poverty, let us create prosperity and jobs, where there is hunger, let us feed the people, chasing hunger from their midst.
“Where there is now scarcity, let us rediscover abundance, where there is brutality, may we replace it with brotherhood, where violence stalks the land, may we establish peace.
“Where others have erected temples to hatred and bias, may we construct permanent monuments to compassion and abiding affection, “ he said (NAN)
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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