Headline

FG Okays US, UK Plan to Place Visa Ban on Poll Riggers, Others

Published

5 years ago

January 25, 2019

Eric

The Federal Government has welcomed the statements from the United States and the United Kingdom demanding a credible and peaceful election in Nigeria and threatening punitive measures against those caught perpetrating election malpractices.

In a statement issued in Ilorin on Friday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the Federal Government was delighted that the statements came after it alerted the nation to the alleged machinations of some opposition elements who it claimed were working to scuttle the 2019 polls through widespread violence.

Recall that the United States and the United Kingdom had on Thursday announced repercussions, including visa restrictions, for election interference and election-related violence.

They threatened to restrict masterminds of violence during the forthcoming elections from visiting the US and UK.

In a joint statement in Abuja, the two nations said the upcoming elections was important not only for Nigeria, but for the African continent.

The United States Government said it did not support any specific candidate or party in Nigeria’s upcoming elections.

“The United States supports the Nigerian democratic process itself. We support a genuinely free, fair, transparent, and peaceful electoral process.

While welcoming the positions of the two counties, the minister said the Federal Government had equally alerted the nation that the tthere were some members of the opposition that he claimed were planning to scuttle the forthcoming elections.

Mohammed said in his statement on Friday, ”A few days ago, we alerted the nation to the plot by the opposition to orchestrate widespread violence in the country, using insurgents and criminal elements within and outside the country.

“Their plan is to scuttle the election and then push for an interim government, having realised they can’t win a free, fair, credible and peaceful election.

”The fact that those statements came after we issued our red alert, which is based on credible intelligence, shows that the international community is closely monitoring events ahead of the election.

“We urge them to keep a close tab on the desperate opposition, whose language, actions and undisguised threats are antithetical to the conduct of peaceful polls. ”

Mohammed said Nigerians and the international community should take seriously the assurance of a credible and violence-free election that he said had been consistently given by President Muhammadu Buhari, who he described as a tried-and-tested democrat and a globally-acclaimed man of integrity.

He said the All Progressives Congress-led Administration ” is very confident of victory in the forthcoming elections”, adding that a party that was not so desperate as to rig election while in opposition had no business rigging election or perpetrating violence now that it is in power and “is enjoying massive support from the citizenry.”

The minister called on the international community to keep a close eye on those who he said are spending more time on a dubious strategy to scuttle the polls than campaigning to win in a free, fair, transparent and peaceful election.

According to him, ”As their campaign flounders and their strategies collapse, they have resorted to seeking power by subterfuge.

“That’s why they are doing everything possible to discredit an election that has yet to be held by unleashing their attack dogs on Independent National Electoral Commission, the police and the entire electoral process.

”On our part, we have confidence in the electoral process and the institutions saddled with organizing and securing the election. That’s
why we have been busy campaigning vigorously across the country, attracting unprecedented, organic crowds everywhere we go.

”The party that has a history of rigging polls is well known to Nigerians. The party that has a history of using security forces to unleash violence in order to steal the people’s votes is well known to Nigerians.

“The party that organised an election that was later described as flawed by its own ‘winning’ presidential candidate is well known to Nigerians. That party is not the APC.”

Headline

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

3 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.

Headline

Akpabio Commits to Collaboration with Tinubu, Governor Umo Eno

Published

7 days 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. ”