Nigerian Eye

PDP blasts Buhari as President insists party wasted Nigeria’s resources

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President Muhammadu Buhari again on Thursday berated the Peoples Democratic Party, saying that in 16 years, the party squandered Nigeria’s wealth irresponsibly and in an unprecedented manner. 
 
The President noted that the party still owed Nigerians explanations on why its successive governments accumulated such wasteful expenditure. 
 
Ahead of Saturday’s (tomorrow) governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections, the President called for an end to violence during polls. 
 
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Buhari spoke in Abuja during his meeting with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress. 
 
The delegation from the two unions was led by the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, on a visit to the Presidential Villa to congratulate Buhari over his re-election. 
 
Buhari maintained that he had not seen any long-lasting infrastructure bequeathed to the nation by the PDP, adding that the welfare of workers also took the back-seat. 
 
The President claimed that the poor state of the finances he met on assumption of office in 2015 was part of the reason his administration had to keep explaining that it would be a challenge to pay a new minimum wage of N30,000. 
 
Buhari spoke in detail on his grouse with the PDP and why the party must explain to Nigerians the expenditure it incurred in those 16 years. 
 
Buhari said, “During your negotiation with the Minister of Labour (Dr Chris Ngige), and when he briefed us in council on N30,000 minimum wage. I gave an analogy of a mad woman, who went to fetch firewood but then she realised it was too heavy for her to carry. Instead of reducing it, she added more. 
 
“I said, we are struggling to survive as a nation. You (workers) knew what this country was earning between 2009 and 2015, you knew the state of infrastructure when we came in; God gave them (the PDP) 16 years of unprecedented earnings. 
 
“Multiply 2.1 million by $100 by 16 years. I don’t think the PDP has been able to successfully explain to Nigerians what they did with that money. Because some of the roads, especially the main ones, from here to Onitsha, to Port Harcourt (were not done) since Petroleum Trust Fund days, let alone construction of new ones. 
 
“They earned money from petroleum in 16 years. You know the railway was virtually gone and power; I asked where is the power? They spent $16bn on power and Nigerians are asking, where is the power? It was unprecedented, irresponsible expenditure. 
 
“Most of you are unanswerable to Nigerians, I appealed to you through our mutual friend, the minister of labour, to tell you where we found the country, where we are, and what we have been able to do with the resources available to us. 
 
“Oil production from 2.1 million barrels per day went down to half a million. The militants were unleashed on this administration, and yet as confirmed by your leader, we had to ensure that pensioners were paid their entitlements. So really, there was terrible management of this country in the last 16 years and we are just trying to make (it) up.” 
 
Seeking the support of the organised labour, the President added, “We cannot succeed without your cooperation. I appreciate the pressure you are under from your respective constituencies, most especially if you have to submit yourself for elections, you have to prove to your members that you are with them rather than with the government and we understand.” 
 
On the role the unions played during electioneering, the President said he was impressed with the manner they encouraged Nigerians to participate by voting during the presidential and National Assembly polls. 
 
He called on all Nigerians to ensure that tomorrow’s elections turned out to be violence-free. 
 
The President added, “On behalf of all Nigerians who benefited from your kind support, I want to say thank you. As a result of what you did, many citizens were able to travel and vote. I am also aware that many of your members were very active in voter education and promotion of peaceful elections in your various communities. Thankfully, the presidential elections were conducted peacefully in most parts of the country. 
 
“As we go to the polls this weekend, my prayer is that we also conduct elections in a non-violent manner.” 
 
Stop lamenting, face your work, PDP replies President 
 
But in its reaction, the PDP said Nigerians should ask the President to sit up and face the job he begged Nigerians to do instead of lamenting on the things that had been consigned into the dustbin of history. 
 
It said it was disheartening that instead of facing state matters and paying attention to solving economic and other problems facing the country, President Buhari had devoted more time at “lamenting and degrading the governments that laid the foundation” upon which his (Buhari’s) government was building. 
 
The National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, who spoke with one of our correspondents, also said, “I think by now after almost four years in office and as a former minister of petroleum and current minister in charge of the same ministry, the President ought to know that he was not correct when he said a barrel of crude oil was sold for $100 for 16 years. 
 
“That is wrong statistics. The President, if in doubt, should ask for facts instead of dishing out propaganda. The records are there. 
 
“Instead and having studied what was on the ground, he started working by assembling a first-class team that travelled round the whole world and restored the lost glory of the country. 
 
“If the President was elected to come and make a positive change, when would he do that when all what he does is to lament wrongly about what he met when he assumed office?”

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President Muhammadu Buhari again on Thursday berated the Peoples Democratic Party, saying that in 16 years, the party squandered Nigeria’s...

APC, APM supporters clash in Ogun, one dead, many injured

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One person died on Thursday, while scores were injured as supporters of the All Progressives Congress and the Allied People’s Movement clashed in the Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State . 
 
NE gathered that the APC had organised a rally in Ifo ahead of the March 9 governorship election in the state. 
 
The rally, however, turned bloody when supporters of the Allied People’s Movement reportedly hit one of the supporters of the APC with their vehicle and killed him. 
 
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The development, according to an eye witness, triggered violence as supporters of both parties engaged in a free-for-all which led to scores from both sides sustaining various degrees of injury. 
 
It was also gathered that the deceased, identified as Thompson Eleka, was a member of the APC in Ifo. 
 
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the police had arrested 10 suspects in connection with the crisis.

Latest-News APC, APM supporters clash in Ogun, one dead, many injured

One person died on Thursday, while scores were injured as supporters of the All Progressives Congress and the Allied People’s Movement cla...

#NigeriaDecides: 29 states to elect governors on Saturday

07:19 Unknown 0

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 Twenty-nine state governors will be elected in Saturday's polls as campaigns for officially ended on Thursday. 
 
According to the timetable released by INEC, the campaigns which started on December 1, 2018, would have ended on February 28 but for the postponement of the election from March 2 to March 9. 
 
Seven states whose governors have yet to serve out their terms will not take part in the exercise. 
 
The states are Anambra, Bayelsa, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, Edo and Kogi. 
 
But elections into the various seats in state Houses of Assembly will hold in the 36 states of the federation. 
 
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In all, 1,158 governorship candidates will contest the governorship positions in the 29 states, while 14, 643 candidates will contest 991 posts in the various state Houses of Assembly. 
 
Although almost all registered political parties are taking part in the elections at the state level, the contest is a straight fight between the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party. 
 
The states to look out for, however, include Ogun where the state governor, Ibikunle Amosun of the APC, is supporting the governorship candidate of the Allied People’s Movement, Adekunle Akinlade. 
 
Akinlade will be slugging it out with the APC governorship candidate, Dapo Abiodun. 
 
The PDP is in crisis in the state. While INEC recognises Buruji Kashamu as the party’s candidate based on court order, the national leadership of the party is backing Ladi Adebutu. 
 
Similar scenario is playing out in Imo State where Governor Rochas Okorocha, though of the APC, is supporting the governorship candidate of Action Alliance, Uche Nwosu. 
 
It is a straight contest among Nwosu; the candidate of the APC, Hope Uzodinma; and that of the PDP, Emeka Ihedioha. 
 
Although the APC in the state had adopted the governorship candidate of Africa Action Congress, Awara Biokpomabo, for the election, it is yet to be seen if that can pose any serious challenge to Wike. 
 
In Lagos State, the APC candidate, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; and PDP’s Jimi Agbaje, are the leading contestants. 
 
In Oyo State, APC’s candidate, Adebayo Adelabu, has Seyi Makinde of the PDP as his main challenger.

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No certificate of return for candidates declared winner under duress – INEC

07:19 Unknown 0

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The Independent National Electoral Commission has said it will not issue Certificates of Return to candidates in places where its officials are held hostage or forced to declare winners under duress in the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections on Saturday (tomorrow). 
 
The commission also threatened to record zero vote and cancel the results of polling units where its personnel deliberately failed to deploy the Smart Card Readers. 
 
The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this on Thursday during the meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security held at the commission’s Conference Room in Abuja. 
 
Yakubu said, “The commission is concerned that many of our materials, including ballot boxes, voting cubicles, voter registers and Smart Card Readers were lost to acts of hooliganism and thuggery in the elections held two weeks ago. Most worrisome is the attack on electoral officials. 
 
“Some of our staff were abducted and taken hostage in an attempt to disrupt elections or influence the outcome. In fact, some of the supplementary elections were caused by such acts of thuggery. 
 
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“I am confident that working together with the security agencies, we will consolidate the largely peaceful conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly elections while also taking decisive steps to deal with the minority of violators’ intent on disrupting the conduct of peaceful elections. 
 
“However, the commission will not tolerate the act of holding our officials hostage and forcing them to declare winners under duress. Where such occurs, the commission will not reward bad behaviour by issuing them Certificates of Return. 
 
“We have once again reconfigured the Smart Card Readers for the elections on Saturday. The use of the card readers is mandatory and there will be no exemption to their deployment for accreditation of voters. 
 
“Under our regulations and guidelines, there are clear penalties for the deliberate failure to deploy them on the part of our members of staff. Where such happens with the connivance of communities, the result of election in the polling unit(s) will be cancelled and zero vote will be recorded.” 
 
According to him, governorship election would be conducted in 29 states, state assembly poll will elect 991 members of Houses of Assembly in all the states of the Federation, six Chairmen as well as 62 councillors for the Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory. 
 
The INEC chairman said that in addition to elections into 1,082 constituencies nationwide, the commission would conduct supplementary elections in 14 states of the federation covering seven Senatorial Districts and 24 federal constituencies. 
 
The supplementary elections, he said, were necessitated by electoral fraud, violence and thuggery perpetrated by political thugs and politicians in the February 23 elections. 
 
The INEC chairman also stated that materials for the polls on Saturday had been delivered to all states and the FCT. 
 
With this arrangement, Yakubu said the commission was confident that all polling units would open at 8am nationwide. 
 
INEC also hinted that Cs of R for governors and deputy-governors-elect, members of state Houses of Assembly-elect and chairmen and councillors for the FCT “shall be presented in each state of the federation by the Supervising National Commissioners and the Resident Electoral Commissioners on a date to be announced next week. 
 
For Senatorial Districts and Federal Constituencies in which winners have already emerged, Yakubu said the commission would issue their Certificates of return next week. 
 
He said, “On behalf of the commission, I extend our deepest condolence to the families of those who lost their lives, including personnel of the security agencies. We are glad that the police have made several arrests and investigation is ongoing. 
 
“I wish to assure Nigerians that the commission will work closely with the police to ensure the diligent prosecution of all violators of our electoral laws. Citizens are asking for effective but non-intrusive protection before, during and immediately after the elections in which their rights are respected and their choices safeguarded.”