Politics
Be vigilant, don’t allow them rig, steal our votes, Tinubu tells APC members
For Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), eternal vigilance to ensure that the votes cast in favour of the party are protected during elections, is as important as all the efforts the party would be making to win the elections.
For this reason, every energy must also be channeled to that direction, the former Governor of Lagos State, stressed on Monday at a Train-the-Trainer session, in Abuja, while expressing deep gratitude to the members’ efforts in committing to work for the party’s victory in all elections.
Hear him: “The party’s success rests on your commitment to the assignment given to you. The work you are doing is essential to our victory, we cannot win without your contributions. Victory rests on you all as much as it rests on our party’s candidates themselves. And when I say this, I include myself in that statement, this is how important I see your work.
“I know there will be challenges and our opponents will lay traps in hopes that you fail, you must stand firm and remain vigilant. Tens of millions of people believe in our great party, they have put their trust in us, and will cast their ballots for us in each and every election at the national and state levels. We must ensure the trust of the people is not betrayed by ensuring that every vote in our favour counts, is counted and recorded. We must protect every vote.”
Stating himself, all the 28 governorship, 109 senatorial, 360 House of Representatives, 988 state assembly candidates, were investing their trust in the team, he said the party’s leadership was relying on the members to make sure that those who opposed it and its candidates and its progressive ways did not skew the election, urging them to match the diligence and hard work of the party’s candidates as the elections drew closer to ensure that the hard and long campaigning was not in vain.
Hear him: “We must firmly continue the work so bravely started, we must protect the people and their collective prosperity from venality of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other parties like it. Thus, you stand as the frontline guardians of democracy and good governance as well as of our party. You are all crucial to this election and the work you do will determine the path our nation takes. I seek to govern our dear country because I am well prepared to lead the nation to its best destiny.”
He reminded the group that he had good and excellent policies and plans better than those of his opponents and the tenacity to see them through, adding that he was determined to renew the hope of Nigerians, adding that the first step must be that the will of the people prevailed.
“So please, I urge you, be vigilant in your upcoming roles and responsibilities so that the people’s sovereign will might prevail, be alert and maintain a keen eye for detail. Protect our votes, do not leave your duty posts, whether that be the polling units or the collation centre, be present, be on guard and beware of all unscrupulous elements.”
There is no valid order stripping Abdullahi Ganduje of his position of National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), known to the party and therefore, he will continue his duties as prescribed, the National Working Committee (NWC), has insisted, debunking that he is no longer a member of the party by the orders of the courts.
Felix Morka, spokesman of the party, who made this declaration on Wednesday, on Arise Television, maintained that neither Ganduje himself nor the party, was served with the orders, said to have been obtained against the party boss by his ward in Kano State, where he served as a two-term governor between 2015 and 2023.
Insisting that Ganduje’s position remained intact, explained that the ruling party would disregard the said court order affirming Ganduje’s suspension as APC national chairman and only honour the recent Kano Federal High Court ruling ordering a stay of the order.
The declaration is coming on a day Justice AM Liman of the Federal High Court, Abuja overturned the said suspension of Ganduje by his ward executives in Dawakin Tofa Local Government area of Kano State.
The party boss, had obtained the ruling through another ex-parte motion in which he sought to enforce his fundamental right to a fair hearing, in a suit, in which he also joined the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), Department of State Services (DSS ), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and nine other individuals.
Morka told his hosts: “The order issued by the first court was very disturbing, for some reasons. First, the plaintiffs who purportedly filed that action are not recognised members of our party and therefore shouldn’t have the locus standi to invoke the authority of the court to make any such order.
“Secondly, every lawyer in this country is aware that from the Supreme Court up to the NJC, there is this cautiousness that judges don’t make orders that are far-reaching in effect on an ex parte motion or application”
Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), did his best to resolve the crisis in the party, but his suggestions for lasting peace was ignored by the National Chairman, Julius Abure.
This much was revealed by Yinusa Tanko, Chief Spokesman for the Obi-Datti Campaign Organisation, who made the revelation, said that the current crisis rocking the party, could have been prevented if the leadership had taken the advice of the former Governor of Anambra State.
A guest on The Morning Brief, a breakfast programme on Channels television, on Monday, the former campaign spokesman, said: “His Excellency, Peter Obi, has made a concerted effort in trying to intervene at any point we have this particular issue and trying to improve.
“When the issue of the national convention came up, he (Obi) suggested to the national chairman that because we are bigger now, we need to have a wider consultation: meet with responsible and interested people such as the TUC and NLC, stakeholders, the Obidient group – young generation people who are interested in seeing Nigeria work – meet with leaders who have different ideas that can midwife us into a greater height.
“All of these were the suggestions that he (Obi) made, and not only did he make those suggestions, he practicalised them because he met with the members of the National Assembly. He (Obi) met with the leadership of the party recently in Asaba trying to give them ideas on how he thinks certain things could be done and you could improve our situation but of course, you know how politics is, sometimes, people may be trying to encourage people, but they do something different.
“You can only take a horse to the river, but you cannot force it to drink water. So that’s exactly what Peter Obi has done. He has done so greatly to see if we can find a solution to some of the problems we find ourselves.”
Tanko, who argued that Abure had the right to contest the national chairmanship position again, it was only proper that the right things are done by opening the door for more people to be part of the process, noted however that the party boss went outside an initial agreement to have an all-inclusive national convention which ought to start from the ward, local government and state levels before the national level.
He said that the convention held in Nnewi Anambra State that returned Abure as the party’s leader did not conform with that agreement and therefore was not acceptable to everyone within the party.
Asked if the crisis in the party could be a problem for Obi in the next election, Tanko said Obi is a brand of his own and that he and other people would always move with him wherever he went to.
At the convention of the Labour Party held on March 27 in Nnewi, Abure was re-elected as the National Chairman for a second term by a unanimous affirmation of delegates despite strong opposition by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had also said none of its officials monitored the convention while the party’s Board of Trustees insisted that Abure’s tenure had expired.
Before the controversial convention, the NLC called for Abure’s resignation as party chairman and the immediate constitution of a caretaker transition committee to organise a legitimate and all-inclusive national convention for the party.
“There can never be peace in APC, judging by the way they run the party. The foundation is faulty. There can never be peace until the day the party will explode. The way they are running the party is wrong. There will not be peace in a party with a chairman nobody voted for.”
These were the words of Yekini Nabena, Deputy National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as he weighed in on the situation at the ruling party since the coming of Abdullahi Gaduje, former Governor of Kano State as the National Chairman.
Nabena, who argued in a statement that he personally signed that peace would continue to elude the ruling party as due to Ganduje’s clueless leadership, warned that its implosion was inevitable unless the situation was remedied.
His words: “He didn’t buy any nomination form to contest for the position but was appointed. And because he is appointed by Mr President, he acts as if every other person does not matter.
“It is even worse when the chairman sees the position as compensation for not being the Vice President. It becomes more painful when he, like his predecessors, enters Aso Villa and imposes decisions on members as what the President said just because others don’t have access to the Villa. So, they adopt name-dropping.
“The party exploding is just a matter of time because when was the last time they called for NEC meeting based on constitutional provision? Most of the members of the NWC are just appointed and they don’t know what the party stands for. We lost Bayelsa because the party chairman does not even know what it takes to win an election having lost his election in Kano.
“We have seen the crisis in Edo state that led to re-conducting the primary before the candidate could emerge. Ondo state is building up and nobody knows what will be the outcome. The party cannot do the right thing because nobody is checkmating anybody.”
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