Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has promised Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Presidential Candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) a running mate he can work with.
Gbajabiamila made the promise while responding to the remarks of Tinubu at an event to celebrate the speaker’s 60th birthday.
“You (Tinubu) said in your address that many years ago you consulted with younger brother on the issue of WAEC and that consultation bore fruits. I give you my own parting shot. It is that time again to consult with your younger brother. I will give you a running mate that you will enjoy working with. But this time the consultation I promise you will not be for free,” he said.
Earlier at the event which took place in Abuja on Sunday, Tinubu had paid glowing tribute to Gbajabiamila, describing him as a worthy individual.
Tinubu said he discovered Gbajabiamila as a potential politician even though the Speaker was reluctant at first.
“As a Minority Leader, he consults wide and he’s always there to see the thinking of opposition that we must bring a revolution to the House to be able to beat the PDP. And then, he will brainstorm for any length of time about political strategy.
“When he was challenged for the position of the speaker, I think after our merger he worked for me tirelessly; Femi is a workaholic. The problem of failure stared him at the face. He lost the election to become the Speaker.
“I was close to tears. Stamping my foot to the ground, I said we will win again. Femi keep up. Pick yourself up. I am very proud of you that you did, you didn’t give up. You did the opposition and the support job. You demonstrated what we learnt from textbooks and other authors.
“Femi with your determination, grit, you are a contributor to our democratic growth, thank you. You have character. You are a great mentor and you are doing a good job charting a path to success. You’ve done a good job and I say thank you, thank you.
“What you did during my primary is a story for another day. I’ve spent more time, too many times and people might be bored, they might be envious too, they might be jealous. I won landslide, I thank you.
“I could see his deputy (Wase) sitting down there too, you are a very good symbols of unity, dependability, and honesty, thank you. Thank you for both of you. You’ve not rocked the boat. I will need to learn from both of you, how you made the pair work because I’m still searching for my running mate,” Tinubu had said.
Ahead of the July 12 visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to Imo State, Governor Hope Uzodimma has issued a 10-day ultimatum to gunmen operating in the state to lay down their arms.
Uzodimma advised them to leave the forests in the state and surrender themselves and their arms to the traditional rulers for unconditional pardon.
Speaking to newsmen in Owerri, Uzodimma said the state would be hosting the annual Army Day Celebration from June 30 to July 6 and that no fewer than 10,000 military personnel drawn from the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Police, among others would be in attendance.
He said the president who is expected to declare open the Army Day celebration had also fixed July 12 and 13 as the period he would commission the Owerri-Orlu and Owerri-Okigwe roads as well as perform the flag-off of the construction of Owerri-Mbaise-Umuahia (from Fire Service) and the Orlu-Akokwa roads and the foundation laying ceremony of the Imo International Conference Centre in Owerri.
The governor said the state would take delivery of military equipment that would be used to clear the remnants of gunmen hiding in various bushes in the state.
He added, “The state is more determined now than before to clear all bandits and to achieve this, the expected equipment and additional recruitment of more Ebube-Agu personnel working in collaboration with the security agencies in the state will be used to clear all the waterways and ride the state of gunmen including crude-oil theft.
“All the waterways are under surveillance with the delivery of new Naval Equipment to the Naval Base in Oguta.”
Convener of the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, Professor Ango Abdullahi, has said the present crop of presidential candidates cannot fix Nigeria.
Though he gave what would pass for a fair assessment of the presidential candidates of Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi and that of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Abdullahi was emphatic about the presidential candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, saying they had nothing to offer.
He argued that they had been around the political climate for a long time without commensurate positives to show for it but noted, however, that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who contested the primaries in APC and a former banker, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, who also aspired for the ticket in the PDP would have made better President as technocrats.
To this end, Abdullahi, who was also former Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria, said he would not queue behind any of the candidates in terms of providing support.
Abdullahi said he would rather tell Nigerians to brace up for the trouble ahead of them, should any of the candidates become the next President.
The elderststesman bared his mind on major contemporary national issues via a phone chat with Vanguard weekend.
He said: “No, we still haven’t got the man who we think will fix Nigeria. What we have on ground is not good enough. How can you look at Tinubu and Atiku to say they are the ones who will fix this country?
”They have been on the ground for the last 25, 30 years and so on. What have they done? What are we looking for? I was the one who encouraged a technocrat to join this consensus. You probably had seen Mohammed Hayatu Deen in the group of people going around looking for a consensus arrangements in PDP. I was one of those who encouraged him. We haven’t got the materials on the ground unfortunately.
“Peter Obi, unfortunately, I don’t know him that much. He is a young man, he was the former governor of Anambra State and he is a businessman.
“He (Kwankwaso) is a good, young man. He started his politics with us and he is quite smart. No doubt about it. Of course, he had some of these debts that he acquired or he must have picked in other political formations and so on but clearly, he is one of the bright ones around. No doubt about that.
“I believe we have not had good array of politicians. With due respect to some of them that one saw contesting, I am not being selfish here by referring to certain people like Prof. Osinbajo. He is a quality material but the political system will not tolerate him.”
Asked if what Osinbajo did by running against his political godfather, Tinubu, was not tantamount to betrayal of loyalty and trust, Abdullahi said those were not what the country needed.
“What has it got to do with what Nigeria wants? Is he a slave to the former governor? I don’t understand this kind of analogy. Professor Osinbajo is a human being entirely on his own merit and his accomplishments are entirely his own and people should assess him as such. ”Those who needed his services asked for his services.
When he served as the attorney general of Lagos State, he was invited by the political system of Lagos State. This is the way I look at it and when he became vice president, I understand it is the president/party that identified him as qualified and competent enough to be the vice president in the current dispensation.
”Why shouldn’t he be because he served under XYZ. He should be identified as an individual for leadership in the country,” he said.
While asking Nigerians to prepare for the troubled days ahead should any of the candidates become president in 2023, Abdullahi said: “What I will tell Nigerians is that we are in trouble and the way out is for Nigerians to agree that Nigeria is in trouble and that the machineries that are on ground today, that are expected to find solution to the challenges facing Nigeria are not appropriate and we have to go back to the drawing board to see what we can do to save the Nigeria of the future.
“I believe the politicians have failed. My belief is that the political class has over the years failed to produce the kind of quality leadership we require to deal with the problems of Nigeria and which means that we should look for quality materials, not necessarily within the mainstream political parties, from outside and there have been a lot of discussions in Nigeria recently about technocrats.”
Abdulahi also decried the N100 million cost of presidential nomination forms by the APC before the primary elections.
He regretted that the country’s elders had either gone to sleep or joined the politicians, rather than working to rescue the country from imminent collapse.
“How can you pick a form for N100 million, for what? I mean this is a clear sign of irresponsible corruption because somebody whose total salary in four years, assuming he is president, his total legitimate salary in four years will be, I think, N34 million, even with the current salary that is being given to president.
”Why should you pick a form for N100 million and you are not even sure you are going to win the election. So, these are signs that the entire political system is corrupt and unless we go back to the drawing board and do the correct things that will make Nigerians participate in the process, there will never be a time we will have good candidates from the grassroots.
How can you say it is only one person from my local government who can represent me to elect the president? How?
“The elders have relaxed themselves in the crowd of irresponsible political class and they are just shouting like all the politicians are shouting during campaigns. There is no difference between the elders now and the politicians on ground as far as I am concerned.
”But what I thought the elders should do is to agree that this country needs real fixing and, therefore, we should sit down and seriously look at all the issues and objectively and honestly and truthfully agree that these issues facing Nigeria; not the issues facing northeast, northwest or north central or southeast, southwest or south-south, should be tackled head-on.”
The Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Engr Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji earlier today paid a condolence visit to a former President of the Senate of the Federal Republic, Distinguished Senator Adolphus Wabara over the death of his wife, Mrs Felicia Wabara.
The Speaker while condoling with Senator Wabara said he was shocked and deeply saddened by the demise of the Senator’s wife seeing that she had been a pillar of support to him throughout their union. He urged him to take solace in the fact that his wife made a great impact on humanity and lived an exemplary life worthy of emulation.
While praying for the repose of the soul of the deceased, the Speaker prayed God to grant the former Senate President and all those she left behind the fortitude to bear the painful loss.
Responding, Senator Wabara thanked the Speaker for coming to commiserate with them in their time of grief, and said that the Speaker has been reaching out to the family right from the day the tragic incident happened.
Senator Wabara then prayed for the success of the Speaker in all in his endeavours.
Rt Hon Emeka Stanley, former Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly was present during the visit.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has promised Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Presidential Candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) a running mate he can work with.
Gbajabiamila made the promise while responding to the remarks of Tinubu at an event to celebrate the speaker’s 60th birthday.
“You (Tinubu) said in your address that many years ago you consulted with your younger brother on the issue of WAEC and that consultation bore fruits. I give you my own parting shot. It is that time again to consult with your younger brother. I will give you a running mate that you will enjoy working with. But this time the consultation I promise you will not be for free,” he said.
Earlier at the event which took place in Abuja on Sunday, Tinubu had paid glowing tribute to Gbajabiamila, describing him as a worthy individual.
Tinubu said he discovered Gbajabiamila as a potential politician even though the Speaker was reluctant at first.
“As a Minority Leader, he consults wide and he’s always there to see the thinking of opposition that we must bring a revolution to the House to be able to beat the PDP. And then, he will brainstorm for any length of time about political strategy.
“When he was challenged for the position of the speaker, I think after our merger he worked for me tirelessly; Femi is a workaholic. The problem of failure stared him at the face. He lost the election to become the Speaker.
“I was close to tears. Stamping my foot to the ground, I said we will win again. Femi keep up. Pick yourself up. I am very proud of you that you did, you didn’t give up. You did the opposition and the support job. You demonstrated what we learnt from textbooks and other authors.
“Femi with your determination, grit, you are a contributor to our democratic growth, thank you. You have character. You are a great mentor and you are doing a good job charting a path to success. You’ve done a good job and I say thank you, thank you.
“What you did during my primary is a story for another day. I’ve spent more time, too many times and people might be bored, they might be envious too, they might be jealous. I won a landslide, I thank you.
“I could see his deputy (Wase) sitting down there too, you are a very good symbol of unity, dependability, and honesty, thank you. Thank you for both of you. You’ve not rocked the boat. I will need to learn from both of you, how you made the pair work because I’m still searching for my running mate,” Tinubu had said.
Anambra state governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo has said those dreaming to win the 2023 general elections under new parties are jokers.
He specifically said those who joined the Labour Party (LP) like its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, will just labour in vain in 2023.
The Governor said a party without a councillor has nothing to offer.
He spoke at the weekend with APGA members at the Governor’s Lodge in Amawbia, Awka South Local Government Area.
He made reference to the recent defections from APGA to the Labour Party(LP), adding, that APGA remained the most formidable party in the State.
Some notable politicians in the State, including the former National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, left the party to LP to realize his senatorial ambition, after alleging that leaders of the party ganged up against him to make sure he did not pick the
Soludo said: “It is sad that the people that left had to leave, why would one leave a party he had laboured to build? It is not good to labour in vain.
“However, they are not contesting elections. The election in Anambra is between APGA and other political parties. APGA remains the third in Nigeria as the country inches closer to the 2023 general elections.
“Elections are not done on WhatsApp or the Internet. You have to be on ground. APGA is on ground here and everywhere. How can a party that does not have a councillor want to compete with us?
“We are strong and we are growing stronger, stand a real chance in Abia, we will compete in all places vigorously.
“We shall campaign when it starts, and by the time we enter January next year, we will know those that are still contesting.
“Our victory will be resounding this time, but we will not take anything for granted, Anambra people will see.”
The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB has told President Muhammadu Buhari to stop giving untenable excuses concerning the continuous detention of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
The group was reacting to a statement credited to Buhari at the just-concluded Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali Rwanda, alleging that Buhari was lying to world leaders.
Buhari was said to be reacting to a question put across to him by the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
In a statement on Sunday, the IPOB Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, said the development in Kigali, meant that world leaders were aware of the pranks of Buhari and his government on the issue of Kanu.
Powerful insisted that Kanu did not jump bail as being propagated by Buhari, but only ran for his dear life.
He said, “The United Kingdom Prime Minister specifically asked Buhari why Kanu is still in detention but instead of responding to the question frontally, Buhari chose to play to the gallery.
“Is it that he was not aware that his military personnel invaded Kanu’s Afaraukwu country home on September 14, 2017, or that he deliberately decided to be mischievous?
“The video evidence of the military invasion of his house which claimed no fewer than 30 lives, only confirmed that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu did what was needful for the moment.”
“It is evident that world leaders enjoy making Buhari advertise his ignorance of obvious realities. The world is watching and looking for what is still keeping Kanu in the Department of State Security Service’s custody, but Buhari and his security agencies won’t admit the truth.
“We are aware that he has been under intense pressure to explain the role of his government over the illegal abduction and extraordinary rendition from Kenya to Nigeria of a British citizen.”
The secessionist group further pointed out that the commonwealth meeting in Rwanda exposed Buhari and his government as he was looking for an opportunity to “lie” against Kanu.
It added that the president chose to lie to the international community and commonwealth heads of government in Kigali that Kanu jumped bail.
The statement read in part, “The world should hold Buhari accountable for whatever that may happen to Kanu.
“The UK Prime Minister specifically asked Buhari why the Biafra leader was still in detention, but in his response, Buhari lied and associated Kanu with ‘jumping bail’ as if he is ignorant of his deploying the military code-name ‘operation python dance II’ which he, as the Commander in Chief of the Nigerian Armed forces, instructed to invade the palace, village and Afaraukwu Ibeku Kingdom (community) Umuahia province (Abia State) which only mission was to kill Kanu and any living thing found in his compound.
“Buhari, who openly stated that Kanu should defend his matter in the court, that he is not interfering with the judicial process is now making statements intended to intimidate the judge who is handling the case.
“The world leaders are watching Buhari and his court with keen interest and want to know why Kanu, an extraordinary renditioned victim is still unlawfully detained in DSS custody.”
Political Awareness Group (PAG) has advised Nigerians who do not have Permanent Voters Card (PVC) not to complain of bad governance after the 2023 elections.
Chairman of the group, Barrister Abdulwaheed Olowonjaye, made this declaration while speaking during a stakeholders’ conference organised by PAG in Ibadan on Sunday.
The conference was attended by the Aare Musulumi of Yoruba land, Edo and Delta states, Alhaji Daud Akinola Makanjuola, who was represented by Alhaji Kazeem Eleta, Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Oyo State, Barrister Mutiu Agboke, APC senatorial candidate in Oyo Central District, Dr. Yunus Aknitunde and other personalities.
Olowonjaye, while speaking at the conference which has the theme “2023 general elections: Nigeria Muslims decide”, explained that the motive of the conference was to awaken the consciousness of Nigerians Muslims to get their PVCs.
He said that anyone who could not get his or her PVC before the 2023 elections should not complain of bad governance after the winners have emerged.
He said that the PVC is the only power Nigerians have to change the country for good.
Olowonjaye, while speaking further, enjoined the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the registration deadline so as to allow those who have not register for their PVCs to do so.
He advised those who will emerge as winners of the various elections in 2023 to deliver good governance.
He said, “We are here today as we can see that Nigerians are preparing for 2023 elections. We want to awaken the consciousness of the Muslims. They should get their PVCs and vote for the right candidates.
“We are technocrats and professionals. We want to know how Muslims are preparing for the elections. They should not complain of bad governance if they cannot get their PVCs.
“This is the time to till the land, this is the time to sow the seeds. They should not complain. This is the time to prepare. If we want good governance, this is the time to sow the seeds. They should get their PVCs and vote during the elections.
“I enjoin INEC to extend registration to allow all eligible voters to register. For there to be hitch-free elections, ASUU strike should be addressed now.
“Dear Candidates, Allah is the owner of throne; shun shirk. When you win deliver good governance. Democracy is a game of number.”
Former member of the House of Representatives, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has ruled out speculations that the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria’s Peoples Party, NNPP, Rabiu Kwankwaso will be a running mate to his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi.
Jibrin stated this on Sunday during an interview on Channels Television amid reports that the Kwankwaso is in talks with Obi over a planned merger.
He explained that Kwankwaso, who according to him is one of the most popular politicians in the northern part of the country, would garner at least 70% of total votes, stressing that Obi can only poll 30%.
According to him, Kwankwaso is more experienced than Obi and cannot deputize the Labour Party candidate.
He said, “Very clearly, Kwankwaso will not be a running mate to Peter Obi. By every standard, Kwankwaso should be the presidential candidate due to his numerous experiences”.
“At the end of the day, when you look at contribution in terms of votes, it will be a ratio of about 70 to 30%. We are looking at bringing 70% of votes from the North”.
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said he is still searching for his running mate ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
He disclosed this while speaking at an event held to mark the 60th birthday celebration of the Speaker of the House of Representative, Femi Gbajambiamila in Abuja on Sunday.
Tinubu, while commending the unity between the Speaker and his deputy, Idris Wase, said politicians need to learn how the duo have maintained a stable relationship since they started their reign.
“You are a very good symbol of unity and honesty.
“Thank you for both of you; you have not rocked the boat and we need to learn from both of you how you made the pair work because I’m still searching for my running mate”.
Tinubu’s assertion is coming after the APC submitted the name of Kabiru Masari to the Independent National Electoral Commission as a running mate to the former Lagos state Governor.
However, there have been a massive outcry against a Muslim-Muslim ticket which some major stakeholders believe is the only way the APC can secure a victory in the 2023 Presidential election.
Earlier, Tinubu praised Gbajabiamila for the role he played in his emergence as the presidential flag bearer of the APC.
The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to the safety of students and the continuity of education nationwide following the reopening of all 47...
