A presidential aspirant and national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, said without him, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), would not have become the president in 2015.
Tinubu spoke at the Presidential Lodge in Abeokuta, the state capital, while addressing the APC delegates ahead of the party’s primary.
The national leader was accompanied to Ogun by the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; his Kano State counterpart, Umar Ganduje, and former Borno State governor, Kasim Shettima.
“You have not heard this from me before. This is the first place I am saying this,” Tinubu who addressed the delegates in Yoruba said.
Speaking on Buhari’s emergence, he said “If not for me that led the war front, Buhari won’t have emerged. He contested first, second and third times, but lost. He even said on television that he won’t contest again.
“But I went to his home in Katsina, I told him you would contest and win, but you won’t joke with the matters of the Yoruba.
“Since he has emerged I have not been appointed minister. I didn’t get nor request a contract. This time, it’s Yoruba turn and in Yorubaland, it’s my turn.”
“since the time we started with the Action Congress, Action Congress of Nigeria, and now the All Progressives Congress, I wanted to contest for president that time.
He added “This is me telling you between me and God Almighty, Buhari called me to be his Vice President. He said because the first time he contested, he picked (Chuba) Okadigbo, flamboyant, Catholic, but Nigerians didn’t vote for him.
The second time, he picked another Igbo, (Edwin) Ume-Ezeoke, Nigerians didn’t vote for him. And he said that even if he went to bring the Pope to run as his deputy, Nigerians won’t vote for him, but he said, ‘You, Bola Tinubu, you have six governors, you have never lost an election before, come and be my deputy”‘.
“He knew all the calculations then favoured us, that is why he wanted me as his deputy, but I told him to let us build the party first. And when we finished building the party after we brought in people from the PDP, (Bukola) Saraki now saw that those from the PDP would not get anything if Buhari, a Muslim, became the president and I, also a Muslim, became his deputy. He won’t get the Senate president because the Senate president cannot also be a Muslim; that was how they started the campaign of calumny against me.
“And I told them that I have a candidate that is a Christian that I could nominate so that the party would not break. That was how I nominated Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. I surrendered my right to him (Osinbajo).
“I was asked to submit three names, Yemi Cardozo, Wale Edun, and Yemi Osinbajo, but I told them if I submit three names, they would play a game, they might make it four and pick the fourth one. I gave them one name and that was Osinbajo.”
Speaking on why he is the best choice among other aspirants in the South-West, he said, “It is my time, I’m educated, I’m experienced. I have been serving people for a long time. Bring me the presidency, it is my turn.”
Good Governance Ministry(GGM) has called INEC Commissioner in Anambra State to pay attention to the ongoing voters registration exercise in various registration centres . Chinedu Asuzu who made the call from Onitsha when he visited one of the registration centres . According to Comrade Asuzu , INEC Officers have turned the Registration centers to another business centers where all manner of tricks were deplored to extort money from people in the name of facilitating the registration process. Comrade Asuzu further confirmed that the number of people visiting INEC registration centers has increased since certain Political parties elected their flagbearers.
”No doubt , there is high hopes in next year’s general election. All the stakeholders including Governors and political parties should work with INEC to ensure that everybody is registered before the deadline” Asuzu concluded.
However ,Chima Christian reported that while the citizens are willing to perform their patriotic duty as has been evidenced by the crowds in various registration centres reveals INEC’s unpreparedness to cater to Anambra’s voter registration demands.
There are just 22 registration centres, 44 data capturing devices and about 176 INEC staff deployed on CVR exercise in the whole of Anambra State. For context, Anambra has 326 political wards, 5,720 polling units and a 2020 population estimate of 6.3 million.
At the average time of 6 minutes per completed registration, and the number of man-hours available till the conclusion of this exercise, there is already a limit as to the number of eligible Anambra voters INEC can successfully process their registration requests.
Comrade Chima confirmed that compromised INEC staff now allegedly collect bribes from citizens to fast track their registrations. The alternative might be to spend the whole day at the centre without a guarantee of successful registration. This is frustrating.
Chima calls on INEC to immediately deploy at least 326 data capturing devices in Anambra State. These devices are to be deployed to the various INEC local government offices according to the number of wards in those LGAs.
For instance, Nnewi North LGA which has ten wards must have at least ten registration points inside the approved centre to cater for the huge population that daily besiege that registration centre.
In the wake of recent developments in Anambra, government must take all necessary precautions to ensure that INEC staff on CVR duty in Anambra and prospective Anambra voters who are now clustered in various registration centres are offered all necessary protection.
The coming general elections hold so much promise for Nigerians. Even as we encourage more and more eligible citizens to plan to vote for their preferred candidates, we invite every critical stakeholder to play their part to make the process seamless.
Government of Anambra State has declared a state of emergency on traffic hold-ups across the State.
The Commissioner for Information, Sir Paul Nwosu stated this during the post-Anambra State Executive Council briefing held at the Government House, Awka.
Commissioner Nwosu stressed that the new road traffic management measures introduced was to ensure that Ndi Anambra do not spend more than twenty minutes in traffic.
The Commissioner who said that Anambra Traffic Management Agency was directed to deploy their officers in twenty most difficult areas in the state, pointed out that to aid effectiveness, Governor Soludo directed that ATMA should be trained by LASTMA, FRSC and Army, as well as recruit more people into the Agency, for increased capacity and efficiency.
Commissioner Nwosu noted that the State Fire Service will be restructured to become more responsive and effective, emphasizing that it will be decentralised and brought closer to the people, revealing that the era of using phone calls have been phased out, while the Anambra State emergency fire response application has been activated.
While stating that it was also approved that all the traffic lights will be serviced, he added that the Commissioner for Local government was directed to identify areas in the communities that can be used as bus stops.
According to the Commissioner, among other issues discussed at the meeting were adoption of the name; Anambra State Executive Council as against Executive Council, adoption of a policy to introduce urban agriculture to increase food production in Anambra State where every household deploy spaces in their domain to plant agricultural produce, transition from inorganic farming to regenerative agriculture to improve quality of agricultural products.
Other items discussed include the ongoing rehabilitation work on Anambra roads, revision of laws setting up government parastatals and agencies by the State Attorney General, approval for annual procurement of one million palm seedlings, five hundred coconut seedlings as a way of trying to relive the old M.I Okpara days when palm oil was the mainstay.
Prof Chukwuma Soludo has given all transporters operating in Anambra State a one month ultimatum to do Biometrics Registration. In a statement released to the public and signed by Sylvia -Tochukwu Ngige-Deputy Director/Head, Taxpayer Education and Enlightenment, Keke and Buses were directed to do Biometrics Registration. The full statement reads ” The Anambra State Internal Revenue Service AiRS, wishes to inform all Stakeholders and Operations on Transportation in Anambra State comprising of Buses including Shuttle Buses, Try-Cycle otherwise known as Keke, Trucks including Mini-Trucks, Tippers, Lorries, Taxis, Market Chairman, etc. that there will be Biometrics Enumeration and Registration excersice in Anambra State commencing from Thursdays, June 2, 2022.
The biometrics enumeration and exercise will take place at Designated ports to be communicated through the union exceutives accordingly. All the Stakeholders on Transportation are by this announcement mandated to comply within four weeks from June 2, 2022. Failure to comply attracts impoundment.
This exercise is in line with Governor Charles Soludo’s vision to nip the recent security challenges of the State in the bud”
Former chairman of Onitsha Main Market in Anambra State, Hon. Nnamdi Unobuagha, has given kudos to Governor Charles Soludo for his noble plans for various markets in the state.
Unobuagha said that recent dissolution of leadership of various markets in the state, and subsequent setting up of caretaker executives are commendable.
He said that such measures will turn around the fortunes of markets in Anambra, and subsequently reposition them for maximum productivity, and also restore sanity that will usher in rapid transformation.
Speaking during a public function in Nkpor, Idemili North council area of the state, the former market leader expressed worry how former executives turned their various markets into conduit pipes to enrich themselves.
He claimed that the sacked executives of various markets indulge in illicit conducts like construction of illegal shops, collection of revenues illegally; as well as engaging in all manner of practices, thereby, defrauding the state government.
He also claimed that some zonal executives, especially that of Onitsha Main Market, collude with market leaders to defraud government.
He urged Soludo to extend such exercise to all other markets, lines and zones, as necessary; so that the state will not continue to lose funds that should accrue to it.
Unobuagha also warned Soludo, and the Commissioner for Trade, Obinna Ngonadi, to be wary of traders lobbying government officials in various ministries so that they will be made caretaker executives. He said such people have the intention to tamper with government revenue.
He commended the new caretaker executive of Onitsha Main Market led by Chief Innocent Ezeora, and urged them to live above board by shunning shoddy practices.
While congratulating His Excellency Mr. Peter Obi, for picking the Labour Party Presidential ticket, one would seize the same opportunity to share some insights on how the man could win the 2023 Presidential election. It will be a very tough contest and Peter Obi is coming into the fray as an underdog who has all the trappings of a dark horse.
By the way, a dark horse is a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might, and Peter Obi is just typical. The way the nation’s politics is structured, it is a grand elite game and concentric circles of conspiracy.
But the big question: is Peter Obi real or a fluke? The only way to prove that Peter Obi and his millions of supporters are real and mean business is by them going the whole hug and possibly winning the 2023, which will be difficult but not impossible. The conditions to make it happen are fairly in place. It is just about seizing the moment and making the beckoning history.
Here are a few tips of what Peter Obi supporters need to do: the first step is registering and collecting the PVC. Unless over 70% of his supporters possess their PVCs and vote, their support will ultimately prove ineffectual and an empty noise.
Knocking on every door in Nigeria with localized and customized messages, possessing the PVC and voting are just the first steps. The next steps are even more crucial. Rigging is a permanent feature of Nigeria’s election and the APC and the PDP are masters of the game. Many of their leaders are its byproducts but there is something about the new Electoral Act that offers a leeway to checkmate them and that is electronic transfer of results (where possible).
The master riggers will try to force INEC officials to rely more on manual collations of results. Once Obi’s supporters allow this, figures will be manufactured. But if his supporters understand the game, they will start now to mobilize themselves to develop their databases in over 8,812 wards and over 120,001 polling units in the country. Knowing themselves based on wards and polling units will be an anchorage. That way, they will be there for one another, and there for Peter Obi, and vote and ensure that their votes are counted and more important, the exact figures transmitted.
With the aid of smart phones they can snap the copies made available at the polling units and send them to Obi’s coordinators.
It is also important to note that what happens on election days that affect the fortunes of candidates seriously is the buying off of party representatives. It is expected that most party representatives for the Labour Party in 2023 will be Obi’s supporters. But if they receive a few thousands of naira to throw Peter Obi’s presidential aspiration under the bus, the journey may well end there. But they can resist it.
They also have to keep raising money to fund their own operations on Election Day. Obi may not be able to reach the over 8,812 wards and over 120,001 polling units. Not that enough money will not be provided; but Party officials will keep pilfering the money to the extent that what will get to the wards and polling units for the actual work, especially on election day, may be less than trickles.
Yes, Obi can be elected but it is not in his hands alone. His supporters have more to do if their man will carry the day in the likely hostile election, an election that means a battle of supremacy between the political elites and Nigerian masses with Peter Obi as arrowhead.
Luckily, the man has the requisite cognate experience, having served as a two-term governor of Anambra state, presidential adviser and chairman of a major federal parastatal. Obi therefore is not a neophyte and understands this game fairly well. The man is set to become a disruption, reminiscent of the coming of Emmanuel Macron of France to power.
He has run a presidential campaign. In 2019, he was vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party he just dumped to take up a less fancied platform for obvious reasons. PDP’s ticket predictably and, as always, went up to the highest bidders and better conspirators. Peter Obi saw it clearly and had two options. To bid like the rest and bid to outbid them all or bail to save his honour and keep fidelity with his principles for which the masses love and now cluster around him.
Many believe that Peter Obi does not have that kind of money to purchase delegates. Yet, arguably, Peter Obi is richer than these men, whose sources of funds are all traceable to the government, being either present or past government officials. Yes, Peter Obi was governor but was already a billionaire before then and refused to take any allowances or payments while serving as Adviser to the President of Nigeria and chairman of a Federal Parastatal.
This means that while his rivals were ready to throw around money acquired while in government positions, Peter Obi would have to throw in his hard earned money to purchase delegates.
Some have argued that since that is the nature of Nigeria’s politics, Obi needed to play along and become presidential flag bearer or, at least, a vice. But walking away from such an Augean stable was what a man of principle ought to do and that was exactly what Peter Obi did. If he had descended into the arena of the PDP obscenely monetized primary (to borrow the words of Hayatu-Deen, one of the PDP aspirants who withdrew from the race hours to the show of shame), would have tarred Peter Obi with the same corruption brush.
Obi proved that he is indeed the ‘poster boy’ of the kind of change Nigeria needs at the moment – Nigeria desperately needs to move into a paradigm that would switch the nation from consumption and production, and return power to the Nigerian people. At the moment, what is going on is nothing but a grand elite conspiracy and coronation of corruption. The Nigerian masses have been deceived and kept divided with religion and other primordial sentiments and it is time to say no.
The divide-and-rule politics has left the country merely a geographical expression with the masses incapacitated and unable to build a nation. Like former President Olusegun Obasanjo recently observed, Nigeria is still a country, and not yet a nation. Peter Obi could be that bridge with which Nigerians can cross into nationhood, and build a nation that will work for all, regardless of creed and tongue.
This essential aspect of Peter Obi makes him symbolic of a new beginning, which is why the Nigerian masses mill around him and never seeing him as an Igbo, Christian, or through any such tainted prism, but simply as a sincere astute and concerned Nigerian they can trust to bring succor and change (not chain as we now have) that will restore the nation.
This is quite uncommon and that is the making of a political movement. Yes, Peter Obi is now a movement and the much talked about 3rd Force. This is self-evidently seen in his twitter handle surging past 1m followers 2 days after he courageously left the PDP and the portal of the Labour Party where he ported crashing severally for exceeding its bandwidth as Nigerian masses struggle to register in the Party just to be with Peter Obi.
Before Obi and PDP parted ways for good, there were scores of groups sprouting all around the country as Peter Obi Support Groups. They were so many and unique in many respects. When detractors derided them as internet warriors who live in the labyrinths of the social media and faceless, the supporters organized a one-million-man march for Peter Obi, raising their own funds to organize rallies across the lengths and breaths of Nigeria. While many support groups of other aspirants are going to their principals to collect money to run their shows for political optics, supporters of Peter Obi have launched several crowd-funding platforms to raise money for Peter Obi. By doing so, they have become critical stakeholders of the President Peter Obi Project.
• Dr. Law Mefor is a Senior Fellow of The Abuja School of Social and Political Thought; Tel.: +234- 905 642 4375 E-mail: drlawmefor@gmail.com; follow me on twitter:@DrLawMefor.
Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Mr Lawal Abubakar, has assured residents and Caritas University community that ‘there is no cause for alarm’ over suspected natural gas-induced fire near the institution.
Abubakar gave the assurance following the outbreak of fire suspected to have been caused by under earth natural gas encountered during the drilling of a water borehole at Caritas University, Amorji-Nike, Enugu, on May 22.
This is contained in a statement issued by the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Daniel Ndukwe, on Tuesday in Enugu.
The commissioner said that frantic efforts were being made by relevant authorities to put out the fire.
He said: “The location of the fire incident, which does not seem to pose any obvious threat to human life and property, has been cordoned-off and secured to avoid any untoward incident.
“This is pending when the fire will be completely quenched by the already contacted authorities with relevant expertise, including the Federal and Enugu State Fire Services, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and others within the petroleum and natural gas industry.”
The commissioner, however, assured the residents of the state that further development would be duly communicated to the general public.
The federal high court sitting at Abuja today, May 31, granted an order to the factional national chairman of Labour party, Comr Calistus Okafor to serve the faction of Mr Peter Obi the processes of the court by a substituted means.
The order for a substituted service on Julius Abure who was said to be evading the services of the court was granted by Justice Ekwo.
The order was made for a “substituted service on the originating summons, interlocutory injunction on all other processes in this suit on the 1st to 3rd, 6th to 12th and 14th defendants by pasting the said processes on their political party’s office, which is the 5th defendant’s office, located at No 2, Oke Agbe street, Off Ladoke Akintola Boulevard, Garki II, Abuja.”
The court said, “service to be effected within 7 days of this order”, and subsequently adjourned to June 30th for further mention.
We had reported of this pending suit over the leadership tussle in Labour party between Comr Calistus Okafor and Julius Abure. This matter has been pending in the court since 2021.
Comr Okafor approached the court for this order of substituted service after the court was convinced that Abure has been hiding from being served the court processes.
Comr Calistus Okafor who is laying claim to the Chairmanship of the Labour party was the deputy national chairman of the party under the late National chairman, Abdulkadir Abdusalam who died in year 2020.
Mr Julius Abure who was the then acting National secretary of the party announced himself as the national chairman without recourse to the provisions of the party’s constitution which stated that the deputy national chairman shall act and or replace the chairman in the course of death or resignation.
It was this action of Abure that led to the leadership crisis. Okafor is asking the court to protect him against the forceful takeover of the party by Abure.
Unfortunately, this litigation will affect the presidential ambition of Mr Peter Obi who has identified with the faction of Mr Julius Abure except urgent steps are taken to resolve the leadership crisis.
Below is the court order for substituted service on defendants.
There is pandemonium as gunmen invaded schools in Onitsha and some parts of the Idemili area of Anambra State, chasing students out of the classrooms.
The gunmen were said to also invade markets and public places to chase people away.
It was gathered that the gunmen claimed that people should go home saying today is “Biafra Day”.
Every May 30 is set aside yearly to celebrate Biafra Day but this year’s edition coincided with the Monday sit-at-home which was observed yesterday.
The hoodlums were said to insist that today must be observed as sit-at-home to mark the annual Biafra Day because yesterday was the normal Monday sit-at-home day and not Biafra Day.
Already, there were fears among the people earlier in the day about whether to go out or not and some of the people who stepped out have started returning to their various houses, The PUNCH gathered.
It was also gathered that there are heavy shootings between security agencies and the gunmen in the Idemili area.
The police spokesman in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, did not take his calls for confirmation as students have returned home.
The Abuja division of the Federal High Court has released former Imo state governor and presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Rochas Okorocha on bail pending his trial in alleged money laundering charge.
The court however ordered that he should be remanded in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) pending the time he meets with the conditions attached to his bail.
Eeually admitted to bail by Justice Inyang Ekwo is his co-accused, Anyim Nyerere who were all sighted in a 17-count money laundering charge.
While Okorocha granted bail in the sum of N500m and one surety in the likesum, Nyerere is to continue on the administrative bail granted him by EFCC.
The Court ordered that Okorocha’s surety must have a property in Abuja not below N500m and the original title documents of the property must be deposited with the court registrar.
It further ordered that the original title document must be taken to Abuja Geographical Information System(AGIS) for verification.
Thereafter, the registrar will swear to an affidavit on the report of his findings.
In addition, Senator Okorocha’s traveling documents must be deposited with the court registrar and that he must not travel out of the country without the permission of the court.
That Nigerian Immigration Service(NIS), must be alerted in writing by the Court registrar that the Passport of the former governor is in the custody of the court and should not be allowed to travel out of the country with an order of court.
Justice Ekwo held that although bail is at the discretion of the court, however that circumstances and conduct of the first defendant (Okorocha) will not make the court to admit him to customary bail conditions.
In the case of the 2nd defendant, the court observed that since he did not tamper or jumped his administrative bail given to him by the EFCC, he should remain on same.
Justice Ekwo finally ordered that Okorocha should remain in the custody of the EFCC until the bail conditions are met.
Meanwhile the court has adjourned trial to November 6,7,8,9,10 and 11.
Okorocha who was arraigned on Monday pleaded not guilty to the 17-count charge preferred against him and six others by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The ex-governor, who is currently the Senator representing Imo West, had initially declared his intention to contest for presidency in the 2023 general elections.
He was however arrested by operatives of the agency, few hours before his political party, the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, screened its presidential candidates.
His arrest was predicated on his alleged refusal by the former governor to make himself available for trial, as the prosecution agency accused him of deliberately evading service of the charge on him.
Senator Okorocha who took his plea before Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court, was arraigned alongside a chieftain of the All Progressive, APC, Anyim Nyerere Chinenye, and five companies- Naphtali International Limited, Perfect Finish Multi Projects Limited, Consolid Projects Consulting Limited, Pramif International Limited, and Legend World Concepts Limited.
The anti-graft agency had in the charge, alleged that the defendants sequentially siphoned funds from the Imo State Government House account and Imo State Joint Local Government Project account, and diverted same into accounts of private firms.
