Politics
JUST IN: Atiku Is North’s Candidate, Says ACF Chieftain
Published
1 year agoon
By
EditorA chieftain of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Muhammad Yakubu, has said that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, is the endorsed candidate of the north for Saturday’s presidential election.
The PUNCH reports that the ACF through its Secretary-General, Murtala Aliyu, had, in a statement on Sunday, urged northerners and Nigerians to vote the candidate of their choice in the Saturday election.
The ACF had urged Northern voters to look out for a presidential candidate with clear and objective party manifestos and the character and track records of the candidates.
However, while addressing a press conference at the 11A Sokoto road Secretariat of the ACF in Kaduna on Monday, Yakubu, who is the National Assistant Auditor of the Forum, said from recent statements by notable northern elders such as Alhaji Zango Daura, Prof. Ango Abdullahi among others, the region had settled for Atiku for the poll.
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The ACF chieftain, who is also the Convener, Atiku/Okowa Patriots, said the region was supporting Atiku not because he was a northerner but because he had the capacity and experience to take the country to the promised land.
He said, “The ACF came to be as a result of certain happenings in the country. The emergence of the ACF is to protect the northern interest and so far, so good, as we head to the polls in a couple of days, our elders, leaders in the likes of Alhaji Sani Zango Daura (the Danmasanin Daura), Prof. Ango Abdullahi, have given us a direction. Atiku is the candidate of the north and that is the direction we are going to follow.
“And that’s the candidate majority of northerners are going to vote for. So, this is one of the reasons that I called for the press conference and if there are other issues you guys want clarification, I am ready to give you answers. I am also the National Convener of Atiku/Okowa Patriots.”
Fielding questions on the reports yesterday by the ACF secretary-general that the Forum backed rotational presidency, Yakubu said, “It’s not true. That’s why I am holding this press conference. At no time did the ACF met to have taken that kind of decision. That kind of decision can either come from the National Executive Council or the National Working Committee. So, since none of these bodies had met, how would that kind of decision emerge. Either the press is misrepresenting the secretary-general or some […] people had concocted some stories.”
On whether the ACF is in support of his position, he said, “Of course, the ACF is established to protect the interest of the north and where is Atiku from? And let me give you a background story. If you have been following the ACF history, you will discover that at each point in time that the county is at crossroads, the ACF and the north usually come to stabilise the country.
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“The north supported Obasanjo and he won; the north supported former President Goodluck Jonathan and Jonathan won. Each time the north supports anybody, not because that person is from the north. The north usually considers capacity and competence and integrity. These are the factors the north used to consider.
“The north is supporting Atiku not because Atiku is from the north. No, it’s because at this point in time, among the candidates we have now, it’s Atiku that has the capacity, the competence and the integrity and the reach out across the country.”
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Politics
Poll: APC Has No Sellable Candidate, Nothing To Campaign On – Edo Govt
Published
15 mins agoon
May 13, 2024By
EditorThe 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.
READ ALSO: Edo Poll: Reason Ex-Speaker Resigns From PDP Revealed
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.
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“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
2 hours agoon
May 13, 2024By
EditorEdo 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”.
READ ALSO: Edo Guber: Ex-PDP BoT Member Joins APC, Says ‘I Regret Supporting Obaseki
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.”
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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.
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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
6 hours agoon
May 13, 2024By
EditorA 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.
Poll: APC Has No Sellable Candidate, Nothing To Campaign On – Edo Govt
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