Politics

2023: Tinubu, Obi, Others Unveil Agenda For Nigerian Women, Atiku Absent

Published

3 years ago

October 25, 2022

Editor

The presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, has said if any candidate comes to them with promises, “let us ask him what has he done before.”

Obi spoke on Tuesday at the Voice of Women (VOW) 2022 Conference and Awards organised by Women Radio 91.7FM supported by MacArthur Foundation in Abuja.

He said when he was Anambra governor, women’s issue was given priority.

He said his chief of staff, commissioner for finance, and commissioner of local government affairs, among others, were women.

“And I can say that they were far more productive than men.

“For me, women are critical if we want to get Nigeria moves forward.

“We have to take the 50 per cent of the population we are neglecting today serious.

“I will be committed and I said this is my past and you can go and check.

“It is not about I will fight corruption but check the last place I left.

“The last place I left, I left N150 million dollars in the coffers,” he said.

He said like Bangladesh, women and youth should be given a percentage in all electoral positions which must be spelt out in the law.

Obi said as the country prepares for the next election, Nigerians must go beyond the consideration of yesterday and chart a new way forward.

“Don’t vote for me because I am from the South East, or I am an Igbo man, etc.

“It should be based on the character of the person; his competence and commitment to change things,” he said.

Also speaking, Sen. Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), said women’s matters will be prioritised if elected the president in the 2023 general election

Tinubu, who was represented by the APC vice presidential candidate, Kashim Shettima, said “the ultimate assessment of any society is the way you treat women.”

According to him, if you educate a man, you educate an individual but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation.

“It is easy to talk, but can we walk the talk. This is a big question to all,” he said.

Shettima said though 2023 poll is not a form of Olympic game, one’s track record is an important factor in the election.

“Asiwaju was the first governor to appoint a woman as deputy governor in the country,” he said.

Besides, he said Tinubu supported a lot of women to be lawmakers both at the state and national levels, including appointing them into key offices.

Shettima also said that when he was Borno governor, a number of women were appointed as commissioners.

“Asiwaju government will be a government that will be friendly to our women.

“Equity and fairness to women will be a top priority of Asiwaju government,” he said.

He said the government would be committed to social inclusion and political empowerment of women.

Shettima, who assured that education for women would be a priority, said domestic violence against women and all forms of abuse would be fought by the government.

“Asiwaju is competent and he has a track record of excellence and achievement,” he said.

The presidential candidate of Action Alliance (AA), retired Maj. Hamza Al-Mustapha, said to be a president is not about qualifications but the knowledge and skill one possesses.

“We want our women to be reformed,” he said

He said a new bill to ensure more women’s participation in governance should be passed into law.

He said he would enter a legal agreement with women to be committed to their course.

“In Action Alliance, we will enter into a legal agreement and everything we say, we will do.

“We have been deceived for years and there is no time for that anymore.

“Let every candidate you are going to vote for tell you how is he going to ensure this,” he said

Al-Mustapha said that if a candidate is elected as president and fails to fulfil the promises he made, this would afford Nigerians to sue him and his government.

Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, the Executive Director, of Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), said the women were ready to hold all the presidential candidates accountable for their promises.

“We need your full attention about what Nigerian women want.

“We are tired of things heard and not seen. It becomes very important to re-strategise.

“We will not take from any government who will not respect women. We are standing here today to tell you what Nigerians women want,” she said.

Akiyode-Afolabi, however, lamented over the low rate of women vying for political offices across the states in the forthcoming general elections.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that other presidential candidates at the event include Ado-Ibrahim Abdulmalik of Young Progressives Party; Dumebi Kachikwu of African Democratic Congress and Adebayo Adewole of the Social Democratic Party.

NAN reports that the 6th edition of the VOW Conference hosted presidential candidates to speak on their plans and commitments to Nigerian women.

However, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, was conspicuously absent at the occasion and was not represented either
VANGUARD/NAN

Politics

Amaechi: I Will Resign As FCT Minister If… Wike

Published

7 hours ago

July 4, 2025

Editor

Federal Capital Territory FCT minister, Nyesom Wike has begged President Bola Tinubu to release the report of the forensic audit on the Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC, which he said indicted the former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.

Wike vowed to resign if the report is released and its contents do not indict Amaechi.

Speaking on ‘Politics Today’ on Channels Television monitored on Friday in Abuja, Wike who was responding to allegations by Amaechi that he was corrupt, said Amaechi’s wife received N4 billion monthly from the NDDC to train Niger Delta women.

He said, unlike Amaechi, he does not come from a poor background, hence his sophisticated taste.

Wike said, “First of all, Amaechi’s wife was not an industrialist. She has never been, and that is why I call on Mr President to release the forensic audit of NDDC.

“Amaechi’s wife company, every month, got N4 billion to train Niger Delta women. That is N48 billion in one year alone, and the forensic audit report is there. Who killed it? It was Malami, then the Attorney General.

“That is one of the people who is now talking. Mr President should help Nigerians. You see, this is what I have always said. Mr President should help Nigerians. Please, release the forensic audit of the NDDC.

“I have said, let Mr President please do us a favour to release that document. Former Attorney General, Malami, killed that document to protect those who were concerned.

“I am not just saying what I am saying, let them release the document. If what I am saying is not in the document, I will resign at the Minister of the FCT. I said I will resign.

“I don’t worship office. What I am saying, let them release the forensic audit of the NDDC. I didn’t say the forensic audit was right, but I said, release the report of the forensic audit.

“That is how the wife became an industrialist – N4 billion every month to train Niger Delta women”, he stated.

Wike challenged the academic qualifications of Amaechi, describing them as less than average, and also faulted Amaechi’s claim that a Senator gave him (Amaechi) a Rolls-Royce but that he does not use it.

According to the FCT minister, the vehicle was given to Amaechi by a contractor who was executing about -0 percent of the projects in Rivers state. In contrast, the former Transport Minister was the governor.

Politics

Coalition: Abure-led LP Gives Obi 48 Hours To Leave Party

Published

2 days ago

July 3, 2025

Editor

The Abure-led faction of the Labour Party has given the presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, a 48 hours ultimatum to leave the party haven formally joined the coalition party.

This was contained in a statement signed by the faction’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, in Abuja, on Thursday.

He explained that the Labour Party under Abure’s leadership remains vehemently opposed to joining the coalition while dismissing members of the coalition as “power mongers whose only interest was self and not the people.”

The party warned Nigerians that the often mouthed ‘new Nigeria is Possible’ is a ruse and cannot be achieved with the assemblage of old, recycled, desperate and frustrated politicians in the coalition.

Ifoh said the party is aware that all those who mismanaged Nigeria over the years are the ones that gathered themselves in the coalition while noting that desperate politicians can’t birth new Nigeria.

He said, “We are aware of several nocturnal meetings between Peter Obi and some of our members, lobbying them to join him in his new party. We’re also aware that a number of them has refused to defect with him.

“Labour Party has consistently said it is not part of the coalition and therefore, any of our members who is part of the coalition is given within 48 hours to formally resign his membership of the party.

“Labour Party is not available for people with dual agenda, people with deceptive persona. The party will not avail itself to individuals who have one leg in one Party and another leg elsewhere.

“People who in the morning they will claim to be in the Labour Party and in the evening they are in coalition.

“Nearly 70 per cent of the Nigerian population are youths who are tired of the old order, tired of gerontocrats deciding their fate. The new Nigeria that the youths are dreaming of, is not what can be realized from what we are seeing in the coalition.

“These people are opportunistic politicians who are only interested in relaunching themselves into circle of power, people who are desperate to continue holding on to power.

“The new Nigeria of our dream can only be realised through the Labour Party, and the party is willing to lead Nigerians along that trajectory.

“I therefore urge all members of the party to remain loyal and keep the party structure intact ahead of future elections.”

Politics

Only A Formidable Coalition Can Salvage Nigeria, Says Peter Obi

Published

2 days ago

July 3, 2025

Editor

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has given his full support for the coalition of opposition parties aimed at ending President Bola Tinubu’s rule in 2027.

He explained that it was a fact that no single group can change Nigeria alone, hence the need for people to come together to pursue the goal.

The former Amambra State Governor said this in a post on his verified X handle, on Thursday.

He said this just as the Julia Abure-led faction of the Labour Party has given him 48 hours within which to formally resign from the party or risk expulsion.

Obi in his post wrote, “Yesterday, the coalition members formally adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 Nigeria General Elections with Distinguished Senator David Mark serving as the National Chairman and H.E. Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola serving as the National Secretary.

“Our commitment is to sacrifice and work together towards the 2027 General Elections, ensuring that Nigeria gets a competent, capable, and compassionate leadership that will prioritise the nation’s future by putting the welfare of Nigerians first.

REAS ALSO: Peter Obi Speaks As Port Harcourt Refinery Begins Production

“This decision was not made lightly. It comes from deep reflection on where we are as a country and what must be done to move forward.

“No one group can change Nigeria alone. To dismantle the structures that keep our people in poverty and insecurity, we must build bridges, not walls even when those bridges are uneasy. A New Nigeria is Possible. -PO.”