Politics

Tinubu’s Campaign Council Holds Closed-door Meeting

Published

3 years ago

October 4, 2022

Members of the newly constituted All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council will on Tuesday hold an emergency closed-door meeting in Abuja.

The development is coming five days after the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, failed to kick off its nationwide electioneering campaign in line with the directive of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Tinubu’s camp also called off Wednesday’s proposed solidarity march that was scheduled to commence from the PCC office on Herbert Macaulay Way in Central Business District to the Unity Fountain in Maitama.

A source told The PUNCH that members of the campaign team are planning to meet with Tinubu in one of its campaign office in Abuja.

He said, “We have been told that we will be having a meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) but it is not something we are hoping to divulge to the media now.

“But I cannot confirm Tinubu will be there because I really don’t know if he is back in the country from his trip to London,”

On the essence of the meeting, the source disclosed that it has to do with a number of issues ranging from the fresh list of over 2,000 appointees for the presidential campaign council, the postponed inauguration and ‘workable’ strategies to kick start the campaign after Tinubu’s approval.

When contacted, the PCC Director of Media and Communication was hesitant about commenting on Tuesday’s meeting but confirmed that the former Lagos State governor is expected to arrive this week.

“He is arriving this week. I don’t have any update for you on the presidential campaign inauguration,” he stated.

But Spokesperson for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo, confirmed the meeting.

He said, “Yes, but I don’t know whether it is with the candidate or not but I am aware the PCC is having a meeting”.

Keyamo did not, however, mention the venue of the meeting.

Tinubu had on Friday unveiled a 422-man committee comprising political heavyweights and other notable members to pilot the various sub-committees of the campaign council to drive its strategy for electoral victory in the 2023 presidential poll.

The list of members released by the Presidential Campaign Council Secretary, James Faleke, in Abuja, followed series of postponements and conjectures about those who would be saddled with the task of leading the ruling party’s bid to retain power at the federal level.

The campaign council chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari has Tinubu and the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, as co-deputy chairmen.

Also on the PCC are APC governors, ministers, lawmakers, ambassadors as well as serving and past public office holders.

Zonal and state coordinators, advisers, campaign patrons, directors, deputy directors and secretaries of directorates were also named.

The sub-committees include media and publicity; support group coordination; national youth mobilisation; parliamentarian; trade and economic; agriculturists/commodities; campaign planning; civil societies; Diaspora directorate; election planning and monitoring; finance; fund raising; and humanitarian/social.

Others are ICT/data management; intelligence and security; labour; logistics and support service; medicals; policy research and strategy; protocol and events, and others.

Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, retained his position as the director-general and Adams Oshiomhole as the deputy director-general (Operations), while Bayo Onanuga is the Director of Media and Publicity.

Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State and Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum was appointed the vice-chairman and state coordinator, while ex-Akwa Ibom State governor, Godwill Akpabio, is the vice-chairman, South-South.

A former female APC presidential aspirant, Uju Kennedy, is the council’s vice-chairman, South-East.

Governor Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa State is the regional coordinator and chairman for North, while his Ebonyi State counterpart, David Umahi, was appointed the regional coordinator for the South-East and Ebonyi State.

Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River was also appointed the regional director in charge of the South-South and his state.

Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, is the zonal coordinator for the South-West and his state, while his Niger State counterpart, Abubakar Bello, will coordinate the North-Central and his state.

Also on the list are Governor Muhammed Yahaya, who is the zonal coordinator for the North-East and Gombe State, and Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, who emerged as the zonal coordinator for the North-West and the state.

No fewer than 24 actors were also enlisted in the performing arts directorate and they include notable Nollywood stars such as Zack Orji, Jide Kosoko, Saheed Balogun, Foluke Daramola, Nuhu Abdullahi, Bimbo Akintola and Fatiha Balogun, among others.

PUNCH

Politics

Trump’s Threat: You’re Responsible For Nigeria’s Rising Insecurity – ADC Slams Tinubu

Published

9 hours ago

November 3, 2025

Editor

The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has blasted President Bola Tinubu, blaming him for the escalating insecurity in Nigeria and the tagging of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern by US President Donald Trump.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, on Monday, the ADC said the action by Trump again highlights the urgency and scale of Nigeria’s security collapse.

The party said that the US President’s designation underlines the global expectation that governments must protect the lives of citizens living within their borders.

“We are guided by the painful reality that what is really at stake on this issue are the thousands of human lives that have been lost to insecurity in Nigeria, irrespective of their tribe, religion, or region.

“The statement by President Trump reminds us of the greater global concern about the sanctity of human life, and the cardinal responsibility of national governments to protect the lives of people who live within their borders.

“The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians,” he stated.

Beyond the security failures, the ADC decried Nigeria’s weakened international standing, linking it to what it called the administration’s diplomatic negligence.

It questioned the continued absence of ambassadors in key countries more than two years into the government’s term, asking: “How can a government that has been boasting of unprecedented revenue success continue to give lack of funds as an excuse for not appointing ambassadors?”

“Under President Tinubu, Nigeria has declined both as a continental and a regional leader.”

Politics

How Obama Plotted My 2015 Election Defeat – Jonathan

Published

10 hours ago

November 3, 2025

Editor

Former President Goodluck Jonathan, has alleged that ex-US President, Barack Obama, plotted his defeat in 2015.

Jonathan made this allegation in his new book, ‘My Transition Hours’ due to launch on Tuesday.

He said Obama displayed an unusual level of bias during the 2015 elections, describing him as overbearing and ‘condescending’ in his message to Nigerians ahead of the 2015 general election.

According to Jonathan, “On March 23, 2015, President Obama himself took the unusual step of releasing a video message directly to Nigerians all but telling them how to vote.”

Giving the details in the book, Jonathan said, “In that video, Obama urged Nigerians to open the ‘next chapter’ by their votes.

“Those who understood subliminal language deciphered that he was prodding the electorate to vote for the opposition to form a new government.”

According to Premium Times, which obtained a copy of the book hours before its unveiling in Abuja on Tuesday, Jonathan had kept the book secret in order to avoid excerpts of it being published ahead of its formal launch.

Recall that Jonathan lost the 2015 elections to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, marking the first time an incumbent president would lose reelection.

He assumed office in 2010 following the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua, getting his own mandate of four years at the 2011 presidential election.

“The message was so condescending, it was as if Nigerians did not know what to do and needed an Obama to direct them,” Jonathan said of the video message.

He lampooned Obama, who was American president from 2009 until 2017, for saying all Nigerians must be able to cast their votes without intimidation or fear, but was reluctant to allow the Nigerian security forces drive Boko Haram insurgents away from the Nigerian territories they had been occupying in order to free Nigerian citizens there ahead of elections.

Jonathan also took a harsh aim at former US Secretary of State, John Kerry, saying the diplomat was nonchalant in his attitude towards his government, despite all efforts to make him understand that the decision to postpone election was in the overall interest of Nigeria.

“How can the U.S. Secretary of State know what is more important for Nigeria than Nigeria’s own government? How could they have expected us to conduct elections when Boko Haram controlled part of the North East and were killing and maiming Nigerians?

“Not even the assurance of the sanctity of May 29, 2015 handover date could calm them down. In Nigeria, the Constitution is very clear: No President can extend his tenure by one day,” Jonathan said.

Politics

Protest Rocks PDP National Secretariat As Wike-led Faction Takes Over

Published

16 hours ago

November 3, 2025

Editor

A protest erupted on Monday at the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party, Wadata Plaza in Abuja, as supporters of the factional acting National Chairman of the party, Mohammed Abdulrahman, stormed the premises.

The group, chanting solidarity songs, demanded that the National Working Committee, led by Umar Damagum, vacate the headquarters immediately.

Abdulrahman was named the acting national chairman of the party last week as the leadership crisis threatening the soul of the party worsened with the suspension of the party’s National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, and the Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade, for a period of one month.

In a dramatic twist, the faction loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, had converged at a separate venue in Abuja and announced the suspension of the Damagum-led NWC.

The protesters, who accused the Damagum-led leadership of mismanaging party affairs, vowed to reclaim control of the secretariat for the Abdulrahman-led faction.

Security operatives have been deployed to the area to prevent a breakdown of law and order as both factions struggle for control of the party’s edifice.

However, the faction of the party’s NWC led by Abdulrahman has taken control of the party’s National Chairman’s office.

Speaking to journalists at the office, Abdulrahman promised to unite and reposition the party in preparation for the next general election.

He also assured members of his commitment to work diligently for the party’s progress.

“We are ready to work in the interest of our dear party,” he said.