Nigerian Newspapers
Okwu’s activities are illegal, says Umeh
How would you react to Maxi Okwu’s speech that APGA will not embraceOjukwu’s extremist approach?
For Maxi to come out and describe our great and respected leader as an extremist, it shows the level of destruction that he is planning for APGA. Ojukwu was never an extremist. Ojukwu was a man who stood very strongly for justice; a man who stood very strongly against injustice; a man who stood against the oppression of people, a man who stood for equity and fairness, a man who stood for the rule of law and a man who stood for democracy. It is an abomination for anybody, who claims to be standing on the platform of APGA, to describe Ojukwu’s virtues as extremist.
This is a blasphemy of the highest order. Those of us who worked with Ojukwu as our leader in APGA will not standby and watch a man who does not have any political vision to describe Ojukwu in such denigrating words. APGA is a political party that is committed to the vision which Ojukwu represented as enumerated above. APGA will continue in that direction without apology to anybody.
Do you support party members calling for sanction against him?
They should tender an immediate apology for this attack on Ojukwu. But for Ojukwu, Maxi probabbly wouldn’t have been alive today. He must apologise to the Igbos and announce publicly that he has nothing to do with APGA anymore. He has demonstrated that he is an enemy of APGA, an enemy of Igbo people, an enemy of the rule of law and an enemy of democracy in this country. For all these years, he has been wandering about, according to the traditional ruler of his community, Achi. He he has never achieved anything politically. Maxi Okwu was in Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Enugu State. When we registered APGA, he crossed over and had a short stint with APGA. When he was expelled alongside Chekwas Okorie, he joined the Green Party. From the Green Party, it metamorphosed to Citizens Popular Party (CPP). He was the National Chairman of the CPP from 2005 to 2013. Within this period, it never won a councillorship election anywhere in Nigeria. That is the man Governor Peter Obi has brought to kill APGA in Nigeria.
Others say apology is not enough. Is this your position too?
After the apology, the entire Ndigbo should sanction him. He should be ostracized for making such a statement against the Ezeigbo-Gburugburu. He deserves nothing short of that punishment for daring to denigrate our great leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.
Today, Maxi Okwu is parading himself as the National Chairman of APGA. How would you react to it?
We will never accept this. Looking at the short stint he had in the APGA, since he was mentioned in connection with theAPGA on February 16 till date, all the activities in the purported faction they are leading, all of them have been enmeshed in illegality. There is nothing they have done that is legal. They started with an illegal national caucus that has no constitutional power to elect or appoint the interim officials for APGA. That was where Maxi Okwu first emerged and he knew that it was wrong under the provisions of the APGA Constitution.
He participated in it and emerged as the interim national chairman. Knowing that his emergence was unconstitutional and unlawful, Maxi Okwu never wrote a letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission, describing himself as the interim national chairman of APGA. There was no correspondence between INEC and Maxi Okwu. There was no correspondence between INEC and Maxi Okwu between that period and today where he claimed to be anything. Instead, he created non-existent things in the name of APGA and on the pages of newspapers and finally deceived the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) into attending their illegal convention that was conducted by 1.00 a.m on April 8, 2013. On March 9, at Awka, they were purported to have held a meeting of state chairmen of APGA/National Executive Council meeting.
There is no such meeting under the APGA Constitution where you have the forum of chairmen/National Executive Council meeting. At least, for the communiqué they issued. Everything about that meeting was shrouded in secrecy. The names of people who attended that purported meeting was never published. Unlike us, we have been taking advertorials, publishing names of those that attended our meetings. They hid the list of people who attended that meeting from the Nigerian public. Instead, they continued to engage in propaganda that 36 state chairmen attended the meeting. I suspected foul play and wrote the INEC requesting for a certified true copy of the list of those who attended that meeting, including the notices they gave them, because they were always publishing them in the papers. All these things we requested from INEC, we were not obliged with the certified true copy of people who attended that meeting.
On Friday, April 5, it was announce that INEC has acceded to the request of Governor Obi’s faction to convene a convention of APGA on April 8, and they will be attending it.
INEC never said they will attend or monitor the convention until the 5th, which was Friday. That was when the meeting was allegedly held and they agreed to send monitors to that convention. Once I got that, I sent my personal assistant to INEC immediately to obtain the certified true copy of the people who issued that notice to INEC. And on that day, it was released to him. And when we went through that list, it was discovered that 29 people signed the notice of the congresses and convention to INEC, claiming to be state chairmen of APGA. On perusal of the names printed on that attendance sheet, 24 members out of 29 were never APGA chairmen anywhere in Nigeria, up till that moment. They were not known to us. Now, we have the certified true copy of state chairmen of APGA that attended APGA NEC meeting of December 1, 2010 monitored by INEC. INEC issued a certified true copy of those people that attended that meeting. In that certified true copy, those 24 names that are unknown to us, claimed to be chairmen, giving INEC notice of congresses, even though without capacity under APGA Constitution were not on that list. So, it is all a game of illegality. You recall that, last year, Sadiq Massala announced that he had 20 signatures of the NWC members that removed me as the chairman. On verification, INEC discovered that 11 signatures were forged for which the Inspector-General of Police has charged Massala to court for forgery. This is another forgery just to do what is not right. Now, we have requested again that INEC should give us the copies of the notice given to them for the venue of this convention and the time that convention will take place.
The Electoral Act requires you to give the notice that you will hold a meeting, state the venue of the meeting, and the time of the meeting. By the time the details come out, you will discover that they never informed INEC in writing that their convention will be taking place by 1.am on April 8. There is no political party that will give INEC the notice that they will start an event by 1 a.m INEC is a public institution and public institutions have hours prescribed under the Civil Service Rules, 8am to 4 p.m or 5 p.m as the case may be. You must start your activity within time and may be spill over late. You cannot start an activity by 1.am and then invite a public institution to be part of it on Sunday.
The Court of Appeal ruling was perfectly in order and what the Court of Appeal did was to stay the order made against me as a consequence of the declarative decisions. The court was wrong. It cannot do that. So, if you want to go and ask for a declaration from a court, you cannot ask the court that, following that, that this thing should be done. And the Court of Appeal was very emphatic on that. And again, the grounds for staying the decision of the Enugu State High Court was bothered on jurisdiction. The Court of Appeal said that consistently, from the trial court, I raised the issue of jurisdiction.
That the court has no jurisdiction. And in the Court of Appeal, the major grounds of my appeal bothered on jurisdiction. So, the Court of Appeal wouldn’t have allowed that judgment to continue to operate or for anybody to use it if the appeal is before me. If the Court of Appeal agrees that the trial Court has no jurisdiction, all these things they have done, they have done in vain.
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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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