Politics

2024 Poll: Edo-born Canadian Police officer, LP Guber Aspirant, Promises Security Dragnet

Published

5 months ago

December 14, 2023

An Edo-born Canadian Police officer and a Labour Party (LP) govenorship aspirant in the 2024 Edo State governoship election, Ogbemudia Bassey Osagie, has promised to build a security dragnet around the state with a view to attracting and creating an enabling environment for industries.

He said being an Edo son with experience of over 24 years in the Toronto police, he has what it takes to secure the state and make sure investors are attracted to invest in the state.

Osagie, who stated this in Benin on Thursday during a chat with Journalists, lamented that many Edo sons and daughters who have big companies in the US, Canada, UK, etc are willing to come to the state to invest but due to insecurity they are scared of coming.

The govenorship aspirant who noted that after many years of experience in a foreign land he decided to come to his state to bring to bear his wealth of experience, said: “I have had the privilege to serve the people of Toronto. That same ethical value, that accountability, that transparency, that mindset that you need to do something good for your people is what I have brought to Edo State.

“What I am going to do as Edo State governor, is to bring Toronto to Edo State so that we can start to see progress. Our people need change.

“Our major priority is security. Without security, there cannot be a success. There cannot be economic development unless you have an efficient and effective law enforcement agency to keep people in check. These are my vision for Edo State.

“All our people I consulted in the US, Canada and UK claim they cannot come and set up their factories because the state is not secured. We have many of our people who own big pharmaceutical companies and others, but they said they can’t come home because our state is not secured.

“So, as an international security expert, I will build a security dragnet around Edo State so that our people in diaspora will start coming home to invest. Trust me, I have served in the whitman security for years, but the white will not come and fix our security for us. We will fix it. We are going to persuade our people to come and invest.

“We will create the enabling environment for industries to flourish in Edo State. We have mineral resources, but we have no industries. What I am going to do is to build factories, industries, so that we can be able to produce instead of consumption,” he said.

While promising to build the youths of Edo by making sure they acquire modern technologies, the governoship aspirant also promised to give farmers soft loan so that there can be food security.

“We need to go back not only to secure our farmland but farming. We will give our farmers some fundings. There are a lot of young men who want to go into farming, we need to give them loan. That way, we will reduce food insecurity in Edo State and in Nigeria in general,” he added.

He also promised to fix all roads in the state and give 24 hours electricity.

He said: “During my tenure as governor God willing, there will be no federal road. Any road that my people drive belongs to us, and we will not leave it to collapse.”

He added: “No country can develop without electricity. You can’t have factory without electricity. What I am going to do as governor is to look into the power problem and solve it. We plan to provide 24 hours electricity to our people. It is not a rocket science. If the companies we have in Nigeria cannot do it, I will bring Canadian Hydro to look into our power structure and fix the electricity challenge.”

Politics

Atiku Hints On Supporting Obi For 2027 Presidential Race

Published

10 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has said that if in 2027, the party decides that it is the South-East’s turn and selects Peter Obi as its candidate, he will readily offer his support.

“I have said repeatedly and I even said it before the 2023 general elections that if the PDP decides to zone the presidential ticket to the South or South-East specifically, I won’t contest it. As long as it’s the decision of the party, I will abide by it. But I contested the 2023 presidential ticket because it was thrown open to all members of the party.

“If the party decides that it’s the turn of the South-East and Peter Obi is chosen, I won’t hesitate to support him,” Atiku declared in a recent interview with BBC Hausa Service.

He added that a merger between the PDP and Labour Party is possible.

Atiku added that members of the party would decide his fate in the 2027 general elections.

The former Vice President mentioned that his recent meeting with Obi might indicate a possible alliance leading up to the 2027 general elections.

Responding to questions about the meeting with Obi, Atiku said, “It’s just a normal friendly meeting that we often have, particularly among us in the opposition parties. Such meetings are healthy for Nigeria’s democracy and in the country’s interest.”

On whether this will bring about a merger, he said, “Yes, it’s very much possible. We can merge to achieve a common goal. So, it’s possible, and nothing can stop it if we wish to achieve that.”

The former Vice President, who denied that the choice of presidential candidate might frustrate the merger discussion, said, “That’s not true. That challenge will not arise. I can tell you that the choice of who will fly the flag of the party won’t be an issue.”

On why he’s still in active politics, Atiku said, “Yes, we can’t keep quiet and watch things go wrong. People are suffering and we are committed to making Nigeria a better place.

“It means you are not tired of politics of Nigeria? Not at all. I am still in active politics in Nigeria, at least, as long as God permits.

“My age doesn’t stop the young ones from testing their fate. Everybody, irrespective of age, is allowed to aspire to be anybody in the society, politically or otherwise.”

Regarding his 2027 Presidential ambition, the former Vice President said “That would depend on the decision of my party. I can’t make any categorical statement on that. It’s the duty of the party to decide on the way to go in the next election.

“Until that time comes. Let’s just wait and see how it will turn out.

“It must not be interpreted like that. I must not be eyeing elections to have meetings with political friends and associates. Currently, we are practising democracy in this country which we fought for with our blood.”

Last week, Obi held a private meeting with Atiku and some other PDP leaders in Abuja.

Obi also met separately with former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido and former Senate President Bukola Saraki, sparking speculation about a possible coalition for the 2027 general elections.

Obi was a PDP member until 2022, when he left to pursue his presidential ambitions with the Labour Party.

He finished third behind Atiku in the February 23 presidential election, which was won by Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress.

Atiku blamed Obi’s departure from the PDP for his loss to Tinubu.

Analysts argued that Atiku’s 6,984,520 votes combined with Obi’s 6,101,533 votes could have secured a win against Tinubu, who received 8,794,726 votes.

Monday’s meeting marked the first public interaction between Obi and Atiku since the election.

Social media and online platforms were flooded with viral photos of Obi’s meetings with the three PDP figures on Monday.

In 2019, Atiku and Obi ran together on the PDP ticket but were defeated by former President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC.

However, due to internal conflicts, Obi, who was Atiku’s running mate in 2019, left the PDP and ran as the Labour Party’s candidate in the 2023 presidential election.

Politics

JUST IN: Ex-PDP Deputy National Chair, Oyedokun Defects To APC

Published

2 days ago

May 16, 2024

Editor

A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun, has resigned his membership of the party and announced defection to the All Progressives Congress.

Oyedokun, a notable personality within the political circle in Osun State and beyond, said he decided to dump the PDP after consultation with his loyalists.

He said he would be joining APC, where his experience, efforts, and leadership roles would be valued and appreciated.

His resignation letter addressed to the National Chairman of the PDP through the ward, local government and state chairmen of the party obtained late Thursday further read, “As a functional member and leader of PDP (Ward 13, Jagun/ Osi-Bale Ode, Odo-Otin South Local Government, Osun State,) whose high electoral productivity and value have been credibly and positively acknowledged in my ward, across the local council, state and country-wide for the enhancement of the fortune of the PDP, I have the honour (though with pain) in announcing the renunciation of my membership of the party on principle, having observed that the ideals of we, founding members, had been sorely contaminated.

“In taking this step which is not even without due consultation with my teaming loyalists in the PDP, I have consequently decided to shift my allegiance to the All Progressives Congress (APC) where I believe my experience, efforts and leadership roles would be valued and appreciated.”

Oyedokun’s defection to the APC is coming at the time the aspirant he supported during the 2022 Osun governorship primary of PDP, Mr Dotun Babayemi is also moving to the national ruling party.

Osun APC said on Wednesday that Babayemi and his supporters would be dumping PDP and joining the party at a rally scheduled to be held in Osogbo on Friday.
PUNCH

Politics

Poll: APC Has No Sellable Candidate, Nothing To Campaign On – Edo Govt

Published

5 days ago

May 13, 2024

Editor

The Edo State Government claimed on Monday that the All Progressives Congress, APC, has no credible candidate for the September 21 governorship election.

This was an assertion made by the Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, at a press conference in Benin City.

Nehikhare also alleged that the party is using lies and propaganda as its campaign strategy.

According to him: “The only APC strategy for the governorship election is to resort to lies and propaganda. When a party takes lies and propaganda as an election strategy, it means it has nothing to offer the people. The party lacks people with character, capacity, and intellect.”

The commissioner who took journalists through a screened shot WhatsApp chat said: “What we have here is the official APC WhatsApp platform, their own people screenshot their discussion. One of them who has a conscience asks, is this the only thing we have?”

Nehikhare, who said APC is ashamed to campaign for its candidate, noted that, as of today, nobody had heard of what the party has for the state.

“All we heard is how they are going to help their paymaster, lies and propaganda that will not help the state,” he added.

He opined that lies and propaganda are not strategies the opposition party, like APC, can use to win the September 21 governorship election.

The commissioner, who warned against misinformation and fake news ahead of the governorship election, urged media practitioners to be neutral in matters concerning lies and propaganda.

He, however, noted that Governor Godwin Obaseki’s administration has a lot of achievements to market and sell its candidate for the election.