Nigerian Newspapers
Amaechi won’t drop NGF mandate, says Kwankwaso
Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso yesterday joined the bitter row over the Nigerian Governors Forum(NGF) leadership saying, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi will not surrender his mandate.
He also said the PDP leadership has refused to convene the party’s National Executive Committee to look into members’ complaints.
Kwankwaso, who spoke with a group of reporters at the Kano Governor’s Lodge in Abuja, said the G-19 voted for Amaechi after obtaining a commitment from him that he would not give up under any circumstance.
“This party belongs to all of us, it does not belong to the governors; it doesn’t belong to president or it doesn’t belong to the party chairman; it doesn’t belong to anybody.
“We have invested so much in this party, I don’t think any governor is thinking of leaving this party but if you are suspended, dismissed or expelled, of course there are no options.
“That is why we are saying, and I can assure you, all the governors who voted for Amaechi consider this suspension as suspension to all of us; not to Amaechi, not to Governor of Sokoto. We are even surprised it started from there. I think there are bigger fish than Amaechi and Governor of Sokoto. Many of us are disappointed that it started from there.
Kwankwaso went on: “On this issue, we entrusted Amaechi with only two tasks. One is campaign, talk to the opposition because it is Nigeria Governors’ Forum; it is not PDP Governors Forum. Talk to them because you are the candidate; talk to them, probably it may suit them to vote for you. The second option is, hang up to the contest; can you hold it? He said ‘yes’. “Now, I can tell you, Amaechi cannot withdraw without our approval. Anybody who is saying Amaechi should withdraw is wasting his time because that is not in the agreement between us and Amaechi. We gave only two tasks to Amaechi and he did well.
“The problem we have in the party now is that we don’t have anywhere to go and say our minds and that was why our founding fathers of this party say in the constitution that at least, every three months we should meet. These are the issues. We should communicate among ourselves and that is the only way but the time we start washing our linens outside, then it becomes a disaster.”
In his view, Amaechi’s election showed that the 16 governors backing Jang do not know the art of politics, contrary to their posturing, adding that the NGF crisis might lead to the emergence of two big parties.
Kwankwaso warned the PDP leadership against reckless recourse to suspension or dismissal of governors.
He said with the suspension of Amaechi and Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State (Wamakko suspension was lifted yesterday), all the PDP governors backing the Rivers State governor had been technically suspended by the party.
Kwankwaso said: “Let me say that we are Northerners and I think we should be consulted on what we need. Some people have decided that we should take chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum. That is not our choice; we know what we want from the politics of this country and even if that is what we want, we are not expecting anybody to choose for us. We should choose for ourselves. I think that point should be clarified.
“Along the line, some people suggested that PDP should have a leadership. Many people thought that there is a linkage between the NGF election and the appointment of the PDP Governors Forum and, of course, we had Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum and we met as the PDP Governors Forum immediately after the appointment of the chairman.
“Let me say that at that meeting, we made it clear that we were determined to ensure democracy in this country.
“If there is no democracy in the Governors Forum, I begin to wonder where we can have democracy in this country and many people don’t understand how angry many people are. Many people here in Abuja don’t understand how committed we are to ensure democracy in this country.
“So, we decided to stick to our gun – that many of us have got grandchildren now. I have two grandchildren in primary school now and no grandfather can go and choose a friend for his children. You only see your children’s friends and when you do, you ask: who is your father? They will tell you and he may be your enemy or friend. It is very difficult to tell your child that the father of your friend is my enemy. And it is better for a good father or grandfather to keep quiet because the more you tell them – that your grandfather or your father is their enemy – the more they stick to their friends because they would not understand what you mean by that.
Kwankwaso condemned interference in NGF affairs by some forces in Abuja, especially the PDP leadership.
He predicted that the NGF crisis may lead to emergence of two big parties in the country.
He said: “I want to say that those living in glass houses should not be throwing stones, especially when it comes to suspension, dismissal, impeachment, these are words that people should be cautious about.
“We want peace, we want stability and we want development in this country. All these things that are happening, I think you should not worry too much because in developed democracies around the world, in America, Germany, Britain, everywhere, developed world, you have two major parties.
“Nigeria, we have one party now and other small, small parties. Who knows, maybe we are having transition in this country of two parties and before we have two parties, some people must make mistakes, big, big mistakes.”
He said the pro-Jang governors became desperate about removing Amaechi and forced the NGF to postpone the election twice.
Kwankwaso explained how he nominated Jang as a strategy to show that some of the G-16 governors are novices in politics.
“Because we realised that they were very desperate and that even when we did the election and they were defeated they will not accept, we decided to deny them of their first choice, second choice and any choice at all. We gave them who will feel should be the minority leader of G-16.
“They refused to take us seriously that Ameachi should continue. They thought they could play games and, you see, when we left the place, they went and had a meeting and accepted our nomination and at the end of the day, they brought him to the general meeting of the Nigerian Governors Forum and at that Forum, we told them that Amaechi should continue as our chairman. They made all efforts to frustrate voting, saying that there should not be voting. We said: ‘Why should there not be voting? This is a democracy’.
“They were hell-bent in removing Amaechi and we were also determined to ensure that our friend, whoever, he is among the 36 governors, is the chairman of our Forum. That was how we brought all the ballot papers and the box (the one we are familiar with from INEC) and there was an election; 35 of us who were there voted, and it was counted 35. Only the governor of Yobe was absent. All of us were present. At the end of the day we counted 35 ballot papers and when they were separated, Amaechi had 19 and the other 16.”
Kwankwaso said he warned Governors Ibrahim Shema and Isa Yuguda that they could not win the NGF poll.
He added: “During the meeting of the PDP Governors Forum, we decided to call the Northern Governors Forum, we all sat down at the Governor’s Lodge.
“At that meeting, the issue of Shema came up and I told Shema that ‘look, my brother, I was terribly disappointed in you that you are my neighbour, my friend and you are my brother, you never came to tell me that you are contesting election and you are parading yourself, looking like somebody who was being sent to us.
“I told him clearly that I would never vote for him and I will never ask anybody to vote for him and I would make sure that he lost that election and I even told him to go and withdraw. Other governors supported me. Sule Lamido was there; he supported me. Isa Yuguda was there; the Governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako, supported. Those who supported me asked Shema to go and withdraw.
“ Unfortunately, some people took that opportunity to go and say that Shema did not have the North to support him. Later, Shema was dropped and they brought Isa Yuguda. Isa came to me and I told him that ‘look, I am still a villager and I behave in many ways as a villager and in my village, Kwankwaso in Kano, if a councillor goes to a family and says I am contesting to be a councillor and they accept it, when somebody comes in the afternoon, they will tell him that you are too late. I told him that you are late.
“Let me also correct the impression that many people thought that I did not really like Shema; it is not so. in that particular instance, we did not want Shema because we wanted to choose our own chairman.
“With Yuguda, they came through the same route and I advised him, ‘you must not do that; if you do that , you will fail’. When he insisted, of course, he was in my house, I did not want to go as hard as I did with Shema. I told him ‘we will see; let us see how it will go. “Now, you see on Friday, on the day of the election we went to the Chairman of Northern Governors Forum, it was all politics all through.
“Some people were determined to ensure that Ameachi did not win the election and we were determined to prove to them that nobody can shave our heads in our absence.
“A situation where our colleagues were going round Abuja, they were abusing us, telling us all sorts of things, I don’t think that is acceptable and that was why we proved to them that they were at the elementary level of politics.
“By the time we went to the Niger State Governor’s Lodge for the meeting of the Northern States Governors Forum, the question was: was anyone of them ready to step down for the other? Neither of them was ready to step down for the other.
“When the issue of electing somebody to replace the two(Shema and Yuguda) of them that was when the politics came in. It was very clear to the two of them and our position was very clear to all governors either in the North or in the South – that we were determined to elect the NGF chairman of our choice but everybody was playing games and politics and what we did in the Niger State Governor’s Lodge in selecting Jang as a consensus candidate was to show them that they know very little about politics.
“One, we decided to say they cannot get Shema as the chairman of the minority group of the G16. We also said you cannot even get your second choice (the Bauchi State governor elected) and our group decided, under my leadership, to give them Jang as their leader. I nominated Jang. I gave them Jang and I asked the Governor of Benue, Gabriel Suswam, to support me and many people supported me.”
On the withdrawal of Yuguda and Governor Gabriel Suswam from Northern States Governors Forum he said: “Maybe they are not Northerners, the interest of the North is bigger than the NGF. When people are angry, they should know what to say; they should not allow anger to lead them to say what may count against them tomorrow.”
Kwankwaso faulted the endorsement signatures being bandied about by the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Governor Godswill Akpabio.
He said: “I was really shocked when the Governor of Akwa Ibom brought a paper that was signed in April. Initially, I was laughing, but when I thought of it deeply, it was very disheartening for a governor, especially somebody who is supposed to be our leader, someone who is supposed to be the chairman of PDP Governors Forum. He brought an old paper. Even that paper; many of them who signed were calling us to say they called them to sign. They have 19. They thought they defeated us.
“What is important, I believe, in democracy is to appreciate the sanctity of ballot papers. I am the governor of Kano today by the grace of God. I got only 46 percent of the votes. The three major parties in Kano State (ANPP, ACN and CPC) shared 54 per cent. They went to court; they went everywhere. Now I am the governor.
“You see it is very disheartening that all our governors will sit down in a hall, get ballot papers, vote, count the votes and somebody will say an old paper that was signed was an evidence of voting.
“The chairman of PDP Governors Forum; they way he brought that paper; the way he spoke, I think he should learn to talk. When you see him, you tell him to be talking like the chairman of the PDP because I am beginning to be ashamed if our chairman is behaving like that.
“Like I said, we (Northern PDP governors) should decide on what we want. We are few in number; 15 governors. If there is anything, we should be given the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum.
“Now that we have chairman of the PDP Governors Forum just saying his own, I think he should better keep quiet.
Kwankwaso added: “Quote me, tell him that we can also Janglize the PDP Governors Forum; we can also form a separate PDP Governors Forum.”
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Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. A DisNaija.Com network.
Source: The Nation Newspaper
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This Day
Military, Police Ring Abuja to Forestall Boko Haram Attack
•Deploy more personnel as army chief vows to wipe out terror group
•Security beefed up at N’Assembly
Deji Elumoye and Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
Abuja, Nigeria’s seat of power, is under a massive security cordon following threats of attacks by insurgents and the increasing wave of banditry in the contiguous states of Kaduna, Kogi, Nasarawa and Niger States, THISDAY’s investigation has revealed.
There has been a wave of kidnappings in the outskirts of the federal capital, notably Pegi, Tuganmaje and Kuje among others, which the police have battled in recent times.
The security situation in and around the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was heightened by the pronouncement of the Niger State Governor, Mr. Sani Bello, that Boko Haram fighters who he said sacked 50 villages in the state and hoisted the terror group’s flag, were about two hours drive away from the FCT.
Security has also been beefed up at the National Assembly as operatives, yesterday, thoroughly screened every vehicle approaching the National Assembly complex in Abuja.
The deteriorating security situation nationwide prompted the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, to warn that the 2023 general election may not hold, demanding the declaration of a state of emergency as well as the convocation of a national conference.
However, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, yesterday restated the Nigerian Army’s determination to annihilate Boko Haram.
But the Governor of Katsina State, Hon. Bello Masari, cautioned against declaring a state of emergency, saying doing so isn’t the solution to combat the security challenges facing the country.
The security of the nation’s airports was also in focus yesterday as the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said there was no threat to them.
THISDAY’s investigations showed increased presence of troops, police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) personnel and intelligence operatives at the three strategic entrances to the city notably, Keffi, Zuba and Gwagwalada.
More checkpoints were also mounted around Gwagwalada and Keffi.
THISDAY also observed increased intelligence deployment at the entrance and the borders of FCT with contiguous states.
Beyond the borders, there were more deployments and police patrols inside the city and increased intelligence deployments as well.
Security sources told THISDAY: “There are deployments here and there but they are routine. Alertness is key to a secure environment.”
It was also learnt that security agencies were involved in frenzied meetings throughout yesterday.
The meetings, coordinated by the office of the Chief of Defence Staff under the new joint operational strategy of the armed forces, were aimed at coordinating a joint response to possible threats of attack to the FCT.
“I understand the security teams have been meeting for some days now and if you look around you, you will notice that there are increasing patrols and numbers of security personnel. The threats are not been taken lightly,” a source said.
National Assembly workers, lawmakers and visitors also had a harrowing experience accessing the legislative complex due to heightened security in the area.
Security operatives thoroughly screened every vehicle approaching the National Assembly complex in Abuja, impeding both human and vehicular traffic.
The Sergeant-at-arm of the National Assembly and other security agencies supervised the operations, leading to huge traffic build-up inside the complex.
Legislative staff, visitors and lawmakers were seen patiently waiting for their cars to be searched so that they could go ahead with the business of the day.
Some staff and visitors at some point got tired of waiting and were seen alighting from their cars to trek from the gate to the complex.
Meanwhile, the ONSA has said there is no threat to the nation’s airports.
A statement by the Head of Strategic Communication, Mr. Zachari Usman, said the reports of threats to the airports were an internal correspondence of security threat assessment misconstrued as security threat to the airports.
PDP Demands State of Emergency
In a related development, the PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, yesterday demanded the declaration of a state of emergency, warning that the 2023 general election might not hold if the federal government failed to tackle insecurity.
He called on the federal government to summon a national conference to address the spike in insecurity.
Secondus added that the national caucus of the party will meet today to discuss the state of the nation.
Addressing members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) in Abuja, Secondus said: “We are worried Abuja is not even safe. It is no longer politics. We got alert of plots to bomb and burn down our airports.
“We urge the federal government to declare a national state of emergency in security. There is the need to call a national conference to discuss the insecurity in the country.
“There may not be any election in 2023 in Nigeria due to insecurity. This government must listen to the people. The Buhari government should call a national confab to discuss security and state of the nation. It is no longer politics. This time we are not playing politics. Let’s keep politics aside and move the nation forward.”
He said the country had been grounded, regretting that there had been no matching response from the federal government.
Secondus said in the past, terrorism in the North was confined to the North-east, but with the report of Boko Haram occupying villages in Niger State, terrorism had spread to the North-central
“Herdsmen are also menacing in the West; gunmen causing havoc in the East; and the militants in the South; all killing, looting, raping, maiming and burning down homes. The situation is bad; Nigerians all over are living in fear,” he said.
The Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said the problem of Nigeria was outside of the PDP headquarters, while pledging the support of the Senate to the declaration of state of emergency in security.
Abaribe said he deliberately decided not to speak on the floor of the Senate but to allow the APC senators to speak so as to avoid being accused of giving a partisan colouration to the issue of insecurity.
He stated that only electoral reforms would give victory to the opposition party in the 2023 general election and ensure a democratic defeat of the APC-led federal government.
Also, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, commended the NEC and the PDP leadership for their collective efforts at resolving the House leadership crisis.
The NEC meeting adopted the position of Secondus, calling on the federal government to convoke a national conference to discuss the state of insecurity in the country, according to a communiqué read by the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan.
Army Chief Vows to Wipe Out Boko Haram
The army yesterday reiterated its commitment to wipe out Boko Haram.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, told reporters in Maiduguri, Borno State that Boko Haram had been defeated in many encounters and would continue to be defeated until it’s annihilated from Nigeria.
“We will take on Boko Haram decisively, and we are committed to the focus of the operations, which is the total annihilation of Boko Haram from Nigeria,” he said.
The COAS, who was visiting the headquarters of Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri for the fifth time since his appointment four months ago, said the visit was to boost the morale of the troops, reassure them and listen to any issues affecting them.
Earlier, the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj. Gen. Farouq Yahaya, lauded the visit, which he said had continued to boost the morale of the troops.
“We are honoured, we are grateful, we are encouraged by those visits. You provided us guidance, logistics and other things we required. We are most grateful for those visits,” Yahaya said.
State of Emergency Won’t Solve Security Challenges, Says Masari
Katsina State Governor, Hon. Aminu Masari, has, however, said declaration of a state of emergency won’t solve the security challenges facing the nation.
Masari, who spoke yesterday with journalists after meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari at the State House, Abuja stated that he was against the recent call by the House of Representatives for the declaration of a state of emergency in the security sector as it would not solve the problem.
According to him, declaring a state of emergency will not achieve the desired effect as the security structure and personnel to be used to execute the emergency are already overstretched in a bid to safeguard lives and property.
Sourced From: THISDAYLIVE
Tribune
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Tribune Online
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has recorded 62 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 165,110. The NCDC disclosed this on its official Twitter handle on Friday. “55 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria; Lagos-21, Yobe-19, Ogun-6, Akwa Ibom-3, Kaduna-2, Plateau-2, FCT-1, Rivers-1.” YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE COVID-19: Nigeria Recorded […]
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Tribune Online
Sourced From: Tribune Online
The Nation
UFC: Usman gets N584m after beating Masvidal
Kamaru Usman has raked in a mammoth £1.1million, about N584.2 million after his impressive knockout victory over Jorge Masvidal on Saturday night, Sportivation.com.ng reports.
The Nigerian Nightmare has been handsomely rewarded for his stunning performance and he was the best-paid fighter on the card which was witnessed by 15, 000 fans in Florida.
According to Daily Mail, Usman earned £538,000 to show up, £459,000 pay-per-view bonus, a £43,000 sponsorship bonus and a well deserved £35,000 Performance of the Night bonus.
Jorge Masvidal also earned £358,000 to show, £186,000 in pay-per-view money and a £28,000 sponsorship bonus.
This is the biggest payday of Usman’s career so far and the Welterweight champion also benefited from the fact that Masvidal is also a top draw for the fans.
Kamaru Usman is a Nigerian-American professional mixed martial artist, former freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler.
Sourced From: Latest Nigeria News, Nigerian Newspapers, Politics
Vanguard
Attacks on S’East: We must explore all options of negotiation — Stakeholders urge Igbo
By Olasunkanmi Akoni
The people of the South East region have been urged to explore the power of negotiation and mutual settlement in the face of ongoing killings and security challenges in the zone because the east can not afford another war at present.
Stakeholders from the South-East geo-political zone made the remark on Thursday, at the unveiling of the book, “Igbo, 50 years after Biafra,” written by Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Drainage Services, Joe Igbokwe, held at Ikeja G.R.A.
Speaking at the unveiling of the book, the chairman of the occasion, Mr. Cutis Adigba,
urged the people of the South-East to learn to build bridges across the country, so that they can realise their ambition of producing the next president of Nigeria.
Adigba urged leaders from the zone to discourage the move and agitation by some youths in the South East to go to war and secede out of Nigeria.
Also read: Banditry: Disregard viral video, Niger State gov’t urges residents
He said that Igbo have always found it difficult to rule Nigeria because they refused to build bridges across the six geo-political zones that made up Nigeria.
While describing the agitation as uncalled for, Adigba noted that after two decades that Nigeria returned to civil rule, the Igbo has predominantly identified with only one political party.
He maintained that remaining in one party can not advance the cause of the people of South East and cannot make them realise their objective of producing an Igbo man as president.
He maintained that the publisher of the book, Igbokwe played politics outside his state, so that the Igbo race can be integrated with one another race.
Adigba said the failure of the Igbo to reintegrate with other ethnic nationalities politically was responsible for the retrogression of the race in Nigerian politics.
Igbokwe, also addressing guests on the occasion, maintained that the Igbo are not advancing politically because they refused to be integrated into National politics, lamenting that, despite their success in business, they are not successful in playing politics at the national level.
Corroborating Dimgba, Igbokwe noted that there was the need for the Igbo people to stand up and build bridges so that their objective of producing the next president of Nigeria could be realised.
According to him: “I have decided to raise my voice, I hope my people will hear me while trying to quell the effect of the war, our people are spoiling for another war, mayhem is being unleashed in Igbo land, and there is palpable fear.
“Those who could speak have lost their voice, mindful of the consequences of their actions, I am calling on all Igbo leaders to speak up because all actions carry consequences, consequences of the silence will be too dastardly to sustain.
“Those silently supporting the wild wind should be careful or else they hand over to their children,” he said.
Igbokwe urged those spoiling for war to jettison their plan and embrace dialogue, urging them to learn from the South West region that despite the challenges faced after the annulment of the June 12, 1993, election, they did not go to war, and the region had the opportunity of producing two of her sons for presidential position in 1999.
“You have to build bridges to become president of Nigeria, but it is unfortunate the Igbo are burning bridges.”
Speaking at the event, Chief Uche Dimgba who is the coordinator of Igbo in All Progressives Congress, APC in Lagos, described Igbokwe as “a Frank, fearless and reliable leader, who based his views on issues and stand by his opinions, and we the Igbo have confidence in him and believe he can lead us aright.”
“He is a leader we Igbo believe in and we will follow him. If he can serve all the governors produced in Lagos State since 1999, he is a better man to follow because he possesses all the experience that can be of benefit to Igbo both at home and in the diaspora.”
The post Attacks on S’East: We must explore all options of negotiation — Stakeholders urge Igbo appeared first on Vanguard News.
Sourced From: Vanguard News