Politics

Atiku, Obi, Tinubu Take Presidential Campaign ‘Fight’ To U.S

Published

2 years ago

October 2, 2022

Editor

The three leading presidential candidates in the 25th February 2023 Nigerian presidential election, Messrs Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu, on Saturday, took their campaign ‘fight’ to Nigerians in the United States.

The Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the support groups for Abubakar, Obi and Tinubu converged on New York at the Nigeria Independence Day Parade and Carnival to canvass votes for their candidates.

Abubakar is the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while Obi is that of the Labour Party (LP) and Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The support groups for the leading presidential candidates joined the Nigeria Independence Day Parade and Carnival in a float, with DJs and supporters dancing to the candidates’ campaign lyrics.

They later regrouped at the Dag Hammarksjold Park where they continued singing and dancing to attract Nigerians to their candidates.

Speaking with NAN, the Coordinator of Save Nigeria Group for Obi/Datti, Mr Stephen Osemwegie, said Nigerians in the diaspora wanted a Nigeria that works for everyone, bemoaning the economic situation in the country.

“When people call us from home, the calls are no longer ‘how are you’. The calls are ‘please help me, save me’. So we in the diaspora are trying to get involved and being engaged,” he said.

“We found Obi to be a competent leader with integrity. He does say ‘go and verify’ and we verified his claims and they are largely true.

“Except maybe he may miss one number or the other but if you go through his antecedents, he is really a good man.

“And in Nigeria, we don’t have this type of people coming out very often. So we see this as a one in a lifetime opportunity.

“That’s why we came out in full force to let people know that this ‘Obidient’ movement is not just a Nigeria thing,” he said.

He also said that many Nigerians in the diaspora would vote adding, “because I will be in Nigeria for the election, I’m that determined. Many of us are going to buy our tickets”.

“One of the things Save for Nigeria Group is doing is to ask Nigerians, ‘instead of going for Christmas, go in January or February and vote.

“We are also asking people to support grassroot movements in Nigeria. Support them through your finances if you can. Also call your family members that call you for money.

“Ask them, ‘do you have your PVC’? ‘No PVC, no dollars. That’s what we are doing,” Osemwegie said.

The Chairman of the PDP in the United States, Pastor Joe Olobor, said he was rooting for Atiku because he was the most experienced and prepared among the frontrunners for the election.

Olobor said: “Nigerians in the diaspora are actually influencers and that is why it is very important that we sell our candidate to them to be able to galvanise and utilise their influence over the many people they have in Nigeria.

“We in the diaspora especially in the United States send a lot of money to Nigeria to take care of our people back home. And we will not continue to do that if we have a good government to actually do the right thing.

“Of all the three candidates, Atiku is the most prepared candidate, the most experienced and the greatest unifier, both South and North. That’s what we are selling,” he said.

Also speaking with NAN, the Coordinator of the Tinubu Support Group, Mr Lukman Ajasa, said Tinubu was the best among the presidential candidates because he had antecedents.

Ajasa said particularly, Tinubu would be able to address the security situation in the country, stabilise the economy and provide welfare for the citizens.

“My candidate is an accountable politician. He has fixed Lagos States and we can all see what Lagos is now.

“If you compare him to what the other candidates have done, they have not even done a quarter of what he (Tinubu) has done. I believe Tinubu is the best president for the country.” Ajasa said.

He, however, warned politicians against taking the Nigerian electorates for granted, saying the people can now fight back through their votes.

“The candidate need to open their ears and listen to what the people want. The electorates have heard enough and are ready to fight back.

“So as a politician, you must listen to the electorates and what they want. You must tell them how you want to fix the grassroots, particularly, the local governments.

“Fix the local governments and you have fixed Nigeria,” he said.

NAN reports that no fewer than 20 Nigerian Associations, groups and religious bodies joined the parade and carnival, including the UN Staff Recreation Council, Association of Nigerian Physicians, Akwa Ibom State Association and Christ Apostolic Church first in the Americas.
NAN.

Politics

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

Published

13 hours 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.

Politics

Defection: Edo Govt, Ex-PDP BoT Member, Idahosa In Verbal War

Published

15 hours ago

May 13, 2024

Editor

Edo State government and a former member of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Board of Trustees, Charles Idahosa, on Monday traded words over the latter defection to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Recall that Idahosa resigned
formally resigned who had last month resigned from PDP, rejoined the APC on Monday in Benin City.

Speaking during his formal presentation to the APC in Benin City, he noted that he left the party four years ago due to internal crisis.

Idahosa added that he dumped the PDP because of what he described as the “damning deeds of the Obaseki-led administration in the last four years”.

He took a swipe at Obaseki for saying that PDP would win the forthcoming September governorship election with 80 per cent of votes.

“I thank God, four years later we all are wiser now. Like the Secretary said, I was a founding member of ACD, ACN and APC. The damage we did four years ago, the APC never remained the same.

“But I am glad we are back to the family. I was nominated to the Board of the Railway when I was in the APC. When I moved to the PDP, I wrote to resign my membership but it was rejected and showed my wide acceptance.

“At 71, I am not here to contest position with anybody, I am here to work. I want to urge APC to keep their eyes on the ball. It is not over until it is over.”

While lambasting Governor Obaseki for his comment that those leaving PDP have been given money, he noted that his greatest regret was not allowing the governor to resign after his first four years in office.

“When he came to beg me like a weather beaten chicken, how much did he give to me? Anytime he goes religious gathering he would say those leaving PDP have been given money.

“He came to me three times in my house to say he wants to resign, that he was tired of being governor but I appealed to him, telling him it was not about him but Benin interest.”

But in a swift reaction, the state Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare alleged that Idahosa was never a PDP member.

Nehikhare noted that Idahosa was also never a BOT member of the party, because the party in the state rejected his nomination.

He alleged that it was as a result of the rejection that he found his way back to APC.

“I heard that he claimed to be a member of BOT of PDP but I want to challenge him to tell us when he was sworn in as a member of PDP BOT. He was not a fit and proper person. Even though he was nominated he was shunned by the party.

“It was this that drove him back to APC which he never left in the first place. He was holding on to the board appointment which was offered him while in APC prior to 2020 governorship election.

“He has reached the end of his political career. He has nothing to offer any political party or any group he joins because he believes in bread and butter politics,” Nehikhare said.

Politics

Edo Guber: Ex-PDP BoT Member Joins APC, Says ‘I Regret Supporting Obaseki

Published

19 hours ago

May 13, 2024

Editor

A former member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, Charles Idahosa on Monday defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying he regretted supporting Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki four-year ago.

Idahosa said his greatest regret is stopping Governor Godwin Obaseki from resigning in 2020 after he was frustrated out of the APC in his bid to seek reelection on the party’s platform.

Speaking to newsmen shortly after his declaration for the APC at his residence in Benin City, with leaders of the APC in attendance, Idahosa said his return to the APC is homecoming.

The former Information Commissioner in Edo State said in 2020, the governor had cried to him over the ill -treatment meted on him by his predecessor and National chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole and was considering resigning.

Idahosa noted that Obaseki was at the verge of giving up to allow the APC to pick another governorship candidate, but he (Idahosa) encouraged him to keep hope alive and he personally fought the battle for the governor to win his reelection .

Idahosa, however, lamented that Obaseki utterances during the inauguration of the PDP Campaign Council for the 2024 election was heartless and uncomplimentary when he accused the defectors from PDP as having received huge sums of money before their defection.

The former BoT member of the PDP, while urging the Edo APC leadership to work in synergy ahead of the governorship election, said that the greatest misfortune to befall the APC is for Godwin Obaseki to install a successor.

Idahosa who pledged his support for the governorship candidate of the APC, Senator Monday Okphebholo, said street survival instinct not doctoral degrees (PhD) or big grammar is needed as a criteria for the next governor that will succeed Obaseki.

He urged Edo people and the APC to put the damning deeds of the Obaseki-led government of 4 years ago in the past and unite to stop the governor and the PDP governorship candidate from taking over the governance of the state in the September 21st governorship election.

He said, “Four years later, we are all wiser. I am back to the APC, which is my family. It is homecoming for me and I am very comfortable. At 71 , I am not going to be a threat to anybody. I am joing the APC to work. Nobody should be afraid or scared that Charles Idahosa is joining the APC because I won’t be contesting any position. “

Earlier, the APC state secretary, Lawrence Okah, while receiving Idahosa into the party, said the former member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Charles Idahosa is a man of honour and a foundation member of the APC.