Politics

APC Crisis Worsens As Sen Marafa Slams Gov Buni, Says He Didn’t Go To School

Published

3 years ago

November 14, 2021

Editor

The crisis rocking the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, assumed a curious twist on Sunday following the declaration by a chieftain of the party from Zamfara state, Senator Kabiru Marafa that the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee CECPC is an illegal contraption, unknown to law.

At a media parley, Sunday in Abuja, Marafa who represented Zamfara Central in the Senate for eight years, said Gov. Buni cannot operate as a governor and also superintend the party.

Marafa said; “Mai Mala Buni’s CECPC is an illegal committee. It cannot conduct anything. Whatever it does is a nullity and it cannot stand in this country. We are going to challenge him on that in court and I don’t care what anyone will say. Buni looked for my trouble and I will give him ten times of that.

“The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is very clear that you cannot hold an executive position and hold party position at the same time. Our APC constitution is also very clear in Article 2 which is the supremacy of the constitution.

“In Section 17(4), it says no officer of the party shall hold any executive position in government concurrently with the party position. He is an Executive Governor.

“He cannot be the Chairman of APC and if he can, let the courts tell us. I am going to court, I am going to challenge that.

“And whatever he did from the time he was appointed to this time will be questioned. We have one APC.

“Remove this man so that he doesn’t bring everybody down. I am on a salvage mission.

“Article 20 of the same constitution says all party posts prescribed by this constitution shall be filled by democratically conducted elections at respective national convention or congress subject where possible to consensus…

“Who elected Buni and his committee? At which convention or congress? Are we throwing away this constitution?

“Then the judgment of the Supreme Court on the Ondo election is a clear indication of where APC is headed but because some people who have never gone to school but who God has elevated to certain positions, have forgotten how they got to the positions.

“For God sake and with all sense of modesty, I and Gov. el-Rufai of Kaduna state almost single-handedly with the help of some people made Buni the National Secretary of the party some years ago.

“We will force him to resign and I am sure the President will also do that”, he added.

Senator Marafa also declared last Saturday’s purported Congress of the party in Zamfara state as an exercise in futility saying it was dead on arrival.

According to him, the law requires the party to give a 21-day notice to the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC for the conduct of such Congresses.

Marafa recalled how the CECPC had earlier appointed one Ahaji Ibrahim Kabir Masari as Chairman of the State Congress committee for Zamfara.

He said; “Another letter was issued on the 5th of November. It was addressed to the same Alhaji Kabir Masari and it reads ‘suspension of ward congresses’.

“By that letter, that committee was suspended, the congresses entirely were suspended and it said the action was for further consultations to engender a seamless exercise. This was a welcome development because there were problems on ground.

“This was on the 5th November. Then, just on Friday, some of our friends called us to tell them that there would be congresses in Zamfara.

“They said they saw a letter addressed to the INEC chairman intimating him of congresses in Zamfara for the 12th.

“Less than 24 hours. We said that was not possible but we sent our people to INEC and verify, and they (INEC) said that they are in receipt of a letter and the letter said notice for the conduct of state congresses.

“This confirms to us that the Mai Mala-led APC, as it is today, is on a mission to destroy APC but we don’t care, they have a right to destroy APC but in Zamfara we have interested parties and it is our state and we are not ready to destroy our own house and anybody desirous of doing so, we have a right to say no.

“Now, notice is very key. Section 85 of the Electoral Act made it mandatory. It says INEC must be given a notice of 21 days. This is the provision of the Electoral Act. The law supersedes the APC guidelines. The Electoral Act comes second to the Nigerian constitution.

“I don’t know where Mai Mala got this thing but I’m not surprised because he didn’t go to school. I googled everywhere, I didn’t see the primary or secondary school he went to.

“They are operating the party as if they are operating an ‘Amalanke’ (local toy truck). What they are doing is wasting the party’s resources and the people’s time.

“This cannot hold anywhere in the world but we only joined them to show them that look, ‘you don’t have a monopoly of madness.’ This 24 hours notice, cannot stand in any court of law.

“We participated just to tell everyone that madness is not an exclusive preserve of some people.

“The essence of this briefing is to tell Nigerians why there is a faction again in Zamfara. Let everyone know that this faction came about because of the way and manner APC national is trying to suppress us in Zamfara state.

“We want to tell Mai Mala, Zamfara is not Yobe state. In an interview I granted recently, I sent a direct warning to him, he should learn to leave the sleeping dog lie. They didn’t heed that warning.

“Now APC looked for our trouble, we did not look for APC trouble. We did everything possible to accommodate our new visitor (Gov. Matawalle) but APC at all the points frustrated us.

“It appears APC national headquarters is at loggerheads with rules and procedures. They want to prove at every point that they are lawbreakers and uneducated.

“Like I said, we cannot see the schools they attended. Look at what happened in the state Congresses.

“Two different committees were sent to Sokoto, Kano and I think Osun. We have participated in the congresses, after this I am going straight to court.

“I told Buni to let sleeping dogs lie but he felt it was an empty threat. He has pressed us to the wall.

“We are going to fight back, whatever the consequences will be and we want the president to be aware of the illegalities that Buni is perpetrating”.

(VANGUARD)

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Politics

Atiku Hints On Supporting Obi For 2027 Presidential Race

Published

8 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.