Nigerian Newspapers
APC foundation is wrong, combination faulty, ideologies undefined –Okupe
Dr. Doyin Okupe, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, in this interview with Obiora Ifoh, delves into the gains of registration of All Progressives Congress (APC), the real reasons why the Rivers State crisis has persisted and the possibility of President Goodluck Jonathan contesting the 2015 presidential election. Excerpts:
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has at last been registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission. Is the Presidency not jittery because a credible opposition has come on board?
The registration of APC is perhaps the most powerful, the most eloquent testimony of the openness, transparency, honesty and political liberalism of President Goodluck Jonathan. This would not have happened under many African presidents, especially when it is obvious to those who care to study the situation properly that there were obvious hurdles and obstacles to that registration, which could have been exploited, amplified and used by people of lesser integrity to frustrate the APC.
This is a testimony that contrary to what you said, we have no fear whatsoever about APC registration, we are not in any way anxious. These are people that were beaten individually before and collectively, we will defeat them randomly. But we are glad that at least now instead of fighting three or four parties, we can concentrate on one and get it done. I can assure you that there is nobody in the Villa that is worried. For us, it is a good thing, a great development. I don’t know whether the opposition is credible enough, I cannot attest to that, but at least you know, what we have is that we’ve political parties that have been inept previously, that have been extremely weakened and of no serious political importance before now and have come together under one umbrella with an attempt to challenge the status quo . We will see how far they can go.
With the registration of APC, do you think Nigeria is gradually drifting into two party system?
No, I don’t think Nigeria is drifting towards two party system. More and more development will happen; people are more enlightened and as I said before, I don’t think APC will last for a long time because the foundation is wrong, the combination faulty and the ideologies are not clearly defined. The competition will almost choke them when the time really comes, so, we do not really take this as a very serious opposition. There will still be other parties, other tendency, I don’t think we are at that stage of two parties or even moving close to two party system.
The President has been meeting with some governors because of the crisis in the party, there are some of the governors who before now have threatened to leave the party, they are meeting with the President; do you think they are likely going to change their minds?
It is becoming obvious to dissidents within the PDP that there is nowhere else to go, that is why you hear everybody saying we are not leaving the PDP. There is nowhere else to go. So, it is better to fight and fight inside; it is better to present your case and let it be sorted inside. What you are seeing is clear cut announcements by those who are, I don’t want to call them dissidents, but those who are not very happy with the way situations in the party. They are telling the world, people who care to listen that yes our party may have its problems, faults, inadequacies, but there is no alternative than to be inside. There are more than enough reasons for people to leave, but you don’t leave a winning platform; it is politically suicidal. You hear something like 20 or 40 governors will join us, these are empty boasts and things that do not hold water. None of these governors as you can see for yourself is prepared to move. What they are trying to do is to move around and ensure that they are heard and at least maybe some of their demands are met, but nobody is going anywhere, because PDP is still the real party to beat.
Shortly after the meeting with the four governors, we expected they would have sheathe their swords, but we read in the papers that they have gone to Sokoto State to see ex-President Shehu Shagari. Does that mean the interaction with the President did not yield the desired fruit?
You must understand that these governors have their own agenda; they have already set this agenda long before now. They are just using the Rivers State scenario as an excuse. Whatever the agenda is, they know and God knows, but this continued move and perambulation show that there are things they are not telling us. It does not really matter, it is a free country, you can move around, consult around and do whatever you want, provided you stay within the law. What you are seeing is politics, like the President said, this is 2015 live.
If I can deduce something from what you have stated: you are saying the governors have a hidden agenda that is probably not known to the President?
I did not say that, but they have their own agenda. It is not what they are telling the Nigerian public. They are telling us that the real motivating factor is Rivers State and people keep talking about crisis in Rivers. How do you define crisis? There is no unrest in Rivers State, nobody is burning any house in the state; commuters, traders and businessmen are going about their businesses in the state, the governor is junketing abroad or rather having a good time. All these talk is just in the imagination of those who want to stoke the fire that does not exist. There is no problem in Rivers State, I have said it and I am saying it again. Amaechi has a problem with some members of the House of Assembly. Within the Assembly in the state, there are divisions and it is not strange, not unusual; over 18 Speakers have been removed in this our young democracy and nothing happened. I told you this is 2015 live. Everything you hear about Rivers State, about governors moving all over the place has nothing to do with that state. Rivers State is a political camouflage, you can quote me. The real thing is intense politicking by people with very serious interest in the polity or who have agenda they want to make sure manifests by hook or by crook. They are going all over the country, trying to mobilise support for what they want to do. Someone said that they tried to intimidate the President not to run because it is obvious they are insisting that there will be no open ticket for the President. If the PDP is a very serious party, which I believe it is, if the President decides to run, why should the party pick somebody else? The only advantage it will have is that it has an incumbent President who will not be telling Nigerians, vote for me I will do this, he will be telling Nigerians vote for me I have done this.
All these people talking about no automatic ticket are saying what is politically unwise, impracticable and they cannot come to pass. I want to tell you that if President Jonathan, in fact, I heard Ango Abdullahi saying the North will win 2015 and the South will never do anything. Abdullahi is day dreaming, what he is dreaming about will never, never come to pass. President Jonathan has not decided and has not told anybody that he wants to run, that is the truth. If he decides to run, nobody can beat him, it’s not possible. The calculations, the odds, national supports performance index are all in his favour.
About the PDP special convention, there is a court injunction stopping it, did it come up in the meeting of the committee?
Yes, it came up. In fact, that is the first thing that the Chairman briefed us; he said that people are working tirelessly to get the thing vacated. I was told that those who went to court have addressed the press that they are no longer interested, they are withdrawing their case. So, the injunction is not an issue anymore. The convention is on course.
2015 is around the corner and Nigerians are worried that the President has not yet declared his interest either to run or not?
If I have any worry, it is that by God’s grace, what we promised the Nigerian people that we would achieve, we will be attain 75 per cent of it by December next year. I think these are the President’s worries. Election and electioneering should not be on for three years; that can only be done in a place where there is so much joblessness and irresponsibility. Six months is enough for all the processes of electioneering, between primaries, conducting election, winning, losing and going to tribunal. This is not the time to campaign, those who are doing so have nothing to do, they are professional and political jobbers, not serious-minded and they have nothing serious to hold.
About two months ago, you told us that the President was working on the complaint by the people from the South-West concerning marginalization; you said very soon that will come up, but up till now nothing has been done?
What you should know is that government does not work that way, there is already work that is going on underground, I am aware. This issue is uppermost in the mind of the President and the Presidency. Every effort is being put in place to ensure that as much as possible, it will be possible to really 100 per cent correct the imbalance because in any case, two years have gone. What we need to do is to ensure, give people hope and confidence that whatever that had happened was inadvertent, it was not intentional and will not be sustained. I am telling you that it is going on, government is slow and steady; while you are balancing something, you don’t want to dis-balance the other side.
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Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. A DisNaija.Com network.
Source: National Mirror Newspaper
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•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 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
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
The government said that no worker should stay back beyond 6:00 p.m. within premises of buildings undergoing construction.
The post Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings appeared first on Premium Times Nigeria.
Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Military, Police Ring Abuja to Forestall Boko Haram Attack
UFC: Usman gets N584m after beating Masvidal
Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings
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