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Botched Ekiti APC Primaries: Disband Al-Makura Committee, Cancel Votes Cast – Aspirants

Published

6 years ago

May 7, 2018

Eric

No fewer than 27 of the 33 aspirants that participated in the marred governorship primaries of the All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State have called for disbandment of the organising committee led by Nasarawa State Governor, Tanko Al-Makura.

They also called for the cancellation of the votes cast by four local governments before the exercise was disrupted on Saturday.

The decision was reached by the aspirants after an emergency meeting on Sunday in Ado Ekiti.

Notable aspirants present at Sunday’s emergency meeting include a former governor, and chieftain of the APC, Segun Oni; former Speaker, Femi Bamisile; Presidential Adviser on Political Matters, Babafemi Ojudu; former senators Ayo Arise and Gbenga Aluko; Mojisola Yaya-Kolade, Bimbo Daramola, among others.

However, Opeyemi Bamidele and the Minister of Mines and Steel, Kayode Fayemi were not at the meeting.

The aspirants were obviously opposed to Mr Fayemi, as they had insinuated that the alleged manipulations and compromises were done to his advantage.

Mr Fayemi, who preceded incumbent Ayo Fayose as governor of the state, appeared to be the leading aspirant in the disrupted governorship primaries on Saturday at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium, Ado Ekiti.

He has insisted he was on the lead and that the results of the already held four local governments must remain.

The aggrieved aspirants alleged that the committee was openly biased and incompetent in the handling of the election.

They said the violence which occurred resulted from the shoddy way the committee handled the primaries.

The aspirants, in a communiqué issued and read by one of the aspirant, Yaya-Kolade, lamented the unfortunate incident that led to the protest and subsequent disruption of the primary.

They alleged that members of the primary committee compromised the integrity of the poll and that had invalidated its outcome.

The said they noticed lopsidedness and bias conduct on the part of the committee members, and urged the national leadership of the party to take further measures to ensure a rerun was credible.

“We want the committee to be disbanded completely and our National Working Committee should set up a new committee to conduct another primary that will meet international standard,” the communique stated.

“Even many of those in the panel were friends to a particular candidate and this we thought could vitiate the outcome of the election.

“We are determined to win Ekiti but the right thing must be done for a candidate that will command the respect of everybody to emerge.”

The aspirants also recommended an enclosed arena for the repeat of the election to forestall the interference of nature such as rainfall as witnessed in Saturday’s election.

“Apart from that, no aspirant should have more than an agent , because many of those who gained entry under the guise of being agents to some aspirants were used to perpetrate evil,” they said.

Also, the state chairman of the party, Jide Awe, called for the annulment of the poll,.

“There is no way you can conduct a primary without allowing State Executive Council to have a say,” he said.

“The aspirants were not happy. There are lots of lessons to learn as a party. One of the cardinal principles of a free and fair election is for the electorate not to have a doubt. When a system is doubted in an election it becomes invalid.

“When a system is disrupted, it becomes invalid. An invalid primary can’t produce a valid candidate. We want to have a credible election so that the electorate will be able to vote for us at the main election.

“With what happened we believe sincerely the committee is culpable and the security agencies are compromised. So the thugs that disrupted the election some people allowed them in.”

Mr Fayemi, a leading aspirant for the APC ticket, was accused of compromising the process.

He in turn accused the aggrieved aspirants of causing the violence that ended the voting exercise on Saturday because of their desperation to win.

Whoever emerges as APC candidate is expected to be the main opposition to the eventual candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party which is set to hold its primary on Tuesday.

Premium Times

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Breaking: Wike Plans to Attend Thursday’s PDP NEC Meeting

Published

1 day ago

April 17, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, may have concluded plans to attend the much advertised National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), billed to hold on Thursday, in Abuja.

Impeccable source, who is in the know, told The Boss that the minister, whose membership of the PDP is yet to be revoked even as he frolicks with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and serving in the President Bola Tinubu government as a minister.

The Source told The Boss that Wike’s impending presence at the NECeeting on Thursday is not unconnected with plans, already hatched with some governors, to weaken the opposition PDP.

“Yes, we have on good authority that FCT minister, Wike is planning to attend the NEC meeting tomorrow all in a bid to weaken the fabrics of the PDP, and pave the way for the continuation of the Tinubu administration come 2027, and by extension, relapse Nigeria to a full blown one party state.

“From every indication, Wike and his co-travellers, are bent on unleashing the same crisis ravaging the third force, Labour Party, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Nigerian National People’s Party (NNPP) on the PDP for the APC to remain the only political party in the country, and ensure that Tinubu has no challenger, come 2027,” the Source said.

It would be recalled that Wike has boasted over and again that there’s no opposition against Tinubu’s re-emergence in 2027, and that they have made sure of that. He has been compensated with the Ministerial job after he withdrew support for his party, and supported the APC and Tinubu to emerge as national government.

The Source further revealed that in the attempt to actualize the intended one party state, a lot of funding is ongoing to ensure that concerned stakeholders are ‘settled’ handsomely.

Wike, prior, during and after the 2023 general elections, has been floating in between the two major political parties; the APC and the PDP. While he claim to still be a member of the PDP, he is functioning as a minister in an APC government, mocking the inability of his party to discipline him.

Political stakeholders have concluded that the outcome of Thursday’s PDP NEC meeting will determine the path Nigeria’s political trajectory will take, and that it may portend the end of multi-party system and political democracy if Wike succeeds in his plan.

Headline

Bribery, Corruption: APC Suspends National Chairman, Ganduje

Published

4 days ago

April 15, 2024

Eric

The All Progressives Congress ward in Ganduje, Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, has suspended the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

The party ward legal adviser, Halliru Gwanzo, announced the suspension while addressing newsmen in Kano State on Monday.

Gwanzo cited allegations of bribery against Ganduje levelled by the Kano State Government as the reason for the suspension.

“We decided to suspend Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje from the party due to the seriousness of the allegations against him,” Gwanzo said.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact the Chief Press Secretary to the APC National Chairman, Mr Edwin Olufo, failed as his mobile phone was unreachable.

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Akpabio Commits to Collaboration with Tinubu, Governor Umo Eno

Published

1 week ago

April 12, 2024

Admin

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has stated his commitment to working closely with Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Governor Umo Eno to ensure the delivery of democratic benefits to the people of Akwa Ibom State.

Akpabio stated this in his country home, Ukana, Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, while briefing his constituents on the journey so far as their representative in the red chamber.

He assured the people of Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District of his commitment to their welfare in appreciation of their total support for him, President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in last year’s election.

The Highpoint of the constituency briefing was the distribution of over 10,000 bags of rice and other essentials for his constituents from the wards, to the local governments.

A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, quoted Akpabio as saying, “I am here once again, to thank you for standing by me, our President and the party, before, during and even after last year’s elections. I have come to say thank you and also bring Renewed Hope to you all.

“As the President is doing his own, the Senate President is also doing his bit and being complemented by the state governor, Akwa Ibom would be the better for it. We have finished elections and politics, we are now into governance. The governor of the state must touch you, because he is the governor of all the people in the state irrespective of political affiliation.

” As I am touching you now from the political angle, I will also touch the state without any political party affiliation. Most of the projects we are putting in place would be used by people resident in the state. Relax, things are getting better.”

The former Governor of the state, assured his constituents that his current position as the Senate President would be used for the development of the state in collaboration with the President and the Akwa Ibom State Governor.

Hear him: This Senate President is not the one that would be fighting the state government. I will collaborate with , I will collaborate with , to make the state better for us all. We cannot be out of government for a long time. You have to go to a government that carries you along”

Akpabio promised to work for his constituents and Nigeria with all his strength, noting that, “as the President of the Senate, I am for the Southern region and the entire country. I may not come here regularly to tell you what I have been doing for you, but you will be feeling the impact on way or the other. Our unemployed youths would be gainfully employed. I will construct a mini stadium in all the local governments in the district, for our youths to develop their sporting potentials. ”