750 APC women defect to PDP in Sokoto state

No fewer than 750 women from the All Progressives party from the 23 local governments in Sokoto State on Tuesday defected to the Peoples Democratic Party.

The decampees, led by Luba Dubai, an APC chieftain, were received by the state Chairman’s wife, Sa’adiya Milgoma, at the PDP women rally in Sokoto on Tuesday.

“The new entrants will be treated equally and fairly, and we should all work to ensure the success of the party at the forthcoming polls at all levels,’’ Ms. Milgoma said.


A former Minister of Women Affairs, Maryam Chiroma, appealed to Nigerians, especially women not to be deceived, saying `”the re-election of Jonathan will ensure the continuation of his transformation agenda.

Ms. Chiroma, who was also PDP’s former National Woman Leader, said, “the Nigerian women should use their majority population and voting power to re-elect Jonathan”.
In her remark, Sarah Jubril, the Special Adviser to President Jonathan on Ethics, said the president had treated the North-West fairly and deserved to be re-elected.

A member of the party’s Board of Trustees, Rabi Ibrahim, said “Jonathan is the first gender-friendly president Nigeria has ever had since independence”.
“Mrs Jonathan cares about the Nigerian woman and she is passionate about improving the lives of the Nigerian children and other vulnerable groups,’’ Ibrahim said.

The Special Assistant to Jonathan on Women Empowerment, Ramatu Bala, also urged the women to vote for Jonathan.

Ms. Bala, a former National President of National Council for Women Society, said Mr. Jonathan’s re-election would ensure the sustenance of peace, unity and national cohesion.

The wives of the Deputy Governor, PDP gubernatorial candidate and Woman Leader, Kulu Shagari, A’ishatu Wali and Kulu Rabah, promised that women would vote for the party’s candidates at all levels.

Source: NAN

Obasanjo publicly tearing his PDP membership card [Pix]

Oh dear! Obasanjo had his ward chairman tear his PDP membership card at a press conference in Abeokuta this morning where he also announced his exit from the party. He said he'll stay away from party politics and remain non-partisan. See more photos after the cut...

 Photo credit: Abiodun Onafuye/PM News

President Jonathan will beat Buhari in the North - PDP

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Graphic pics: Student's head cut open during clash between APC and PDP members in Ekiti state

A student of the Ekiti state University suffered severe cut on his head during a clash between the APC and the PDP in the state on Saturday January 24th. While the APC allege that the clash broke out after the National Vice-President, External, National Association of Nigerian Students, Tosin Ogunkuade was arrested by the state police for speaking during its presidential campaign, the state Governor in his defence said the people arrested were thugs of the APC who wanted to cause trouble in the state. The youngman with the cut is currently receiving medical attention. The pic is bad. See it after the cut...

Asari Dokubo vows to retaliate attack on GEJ's convoy in Katsina, dares Shekau

Ex-militant Niger Delta militant Asari-Dokubo has vowed to retaliate the attack carried out by some hoodlums on President Jonathan's convoy during his campaign rally in Katsina state yesterday Jan. 20th. At a press conference in Abuja today Asari-Dokubo said for every action, there will be an opposite and equal reaction. He called on the Igbos in the north to come home, saying failure to do so and they'll themselves to blame. He said Shekau is a man like himself and that he does not have the monopoly to kill or destroy

"There is an established pattern of pre and post-election violence in the north. In the 50s when late Awolowo was campaigning in the north, he went with helicopters and he was mocked. People said he was flying over the houses and peeping at their wives.

That has continued and everywhere in the country, people say leave them alone. We don’t want any trouble. But I think the game has changed. The rules of the game have changed. “For every action, there will be an opposite and equal reaction. I knew that the signing of the accord was useless and that the president subjected himself to sign such an accord… for me, it was out of place for a president and commander in chief of the armed forces of a country. But the president is a humble person. He does things that even marvel some of us and make us sometimes to be very angry. To be frank, I was very angry on that day they were signing it.

The president has sworn to protect the lives of every Nigerian. So, why would he after taking a constitutional oath subject himself to another oath? So what happened in Katsina is not a surprise. But don’t be surprised. We are putting the world on notice that they have started first. When we reply, let no body talk because we are going to reply. We did not sign any accord with them. They did not sign. They are talking about election violence now because they know that other people will respond. Before, they had the monopoly of violence, so nobody cared who died. Our lives were not valuable and they had all the latitude to wreck havoc and did what they liked. But the game has changed. Be bold enough to tell them that game has changed.

If they slice our throat, we are going to slice your throat. They stoned the president, you will hear from us. That’s the answer. My concern is what happens after the election because we know they will do what they are known to do every time. But this time, they will cry. So all Igbo people who are there, if you don’t come back home and you want to continue to be there and something happens to you, there is nobody to be blamed. If you have a child who is a youth corper and you allow him to be there, you will not hold anybody responsible." He said

He maintained his position that in next month's election, saying President Jonathan will win

"There is no way Goodluck will not win the election. We will win them and we know they are preparing for violence in consonance with some foreign powers. When they do that, we will respond disproportionately. We will respond. That’s what we are going to do. If you hit me with a stick, I am going to hit you with iron. I am not speaking in riddles. I am speaking in plain language. My English may not be very good. I am speaking in my own street language. We are going respond disproportionately and we are unapologetic. The people who are in Katsina who did not hold their children should also know that I will not hold my children. I assure you, nothing will happen anywhere if they do not initiate violence. Did we ask them to stone the president yesterday? Do you want us to fold our arms so that they will kill him? Let them stop the violence. When they do, we will stop. A situation where Shekau will stand and say Niger Delta we are coming for you. Goodluck I am coming for you. You are a man and I am a man. We are going to look at each other eyeball to eyeball. You can shoot and I can shot. You can kill and I can kill. You can destroy and I can destroy. The question is not for me. It is for Buhari, el-Rufai, Shekau. They are the people you have to direct this question to. Go and ask Buhari why he allowed his people to stone the president and commander-in-chief in Katsina. There must be balance of terror. One person does not have the prerogative to kill, maim and destroy.” he said

 

 

Source: LindaIkeji

Niger state deputy gov decamps from PDP to APC

Niger state deputy governor, Ahmed Musa Ibeto has defected from the PDP to the APC. Mr Ibeto defected today January 19th and will be presented to APC followers during the party's presidential campaign in the state later today. According to sources, Mr Ibeto decided to defect from the party that brought him into government after the state Governor, Aliyu Babangida of the PDP failed to help him emerge as the Governorship candidate of PDP in next month's election.

Also, 200 political office holders of the PDP, including serving members of the National Assembly and State House of Assembly, former commissioners & local govt chairmen in the state also defected to APC.

Very graphic photos from the attack on PDP office in Zamfara

On Friday evening, some unknown thugs attacked the PDP campaign office of Zamfara Central Senatorial candidate, Alhaji Ibrahim Shehu, and burnt down the building. They also attacked PDP members they saw there. Thankfully they were only severely injured. No one died. The perpetrators are yet to be caught. Photos from the incident after the cut...

 

Source: LindaIkeji

Explosion Rocks Cross River PDP Secretariat Yesterday

An explosion rocked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secretariat in Cross River state yesterday.

The blast reportedly occurred along the Murtala Mohammed expressway at about 5.30am on Monday, November 24.



A resident, Joel Ogunlana told Punch:

“I heard a loud bang and everywhere started shaking. I thought the house was going to collapse.”

The state chairman of the party, John Okon also confirmed the incident

“I understand they threw in a bomb or dynamite or something. The police are there and the anti-bomb squad are on the way. We would not be able to use the secretariat for the ward congresses. We would be using the Presidential Lodge. All the electoral officers are collecting their materials and going to the field. The windows and other things inside the office were destroyed,” he said.

The Police Public Relations Officer for the state, Hogan Bassey has issued a statement regarding the attack. It reads:

“Early today, 24th November at about 0535 hours, hoodlums who were unable to penetrate the heavily fortified secretariat by officers and men of the Command threw an explosive device from behind the premises into the building. The explosion only shattered some louvers on the ground floor. No life was lost and nobody sustained injury.”

The area in which the explosion occurred is said to have been cordoned off by security agents.

Femi Fani-Kayode Dump APC For PDP says: "APC have a clear islamic agenda"

I declared for the APC in June last year in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State well before the party was registered by INEC.         I formally joined the party, amidst great fanfare, on 7th February, 2014 in my hometown, Ile-Ife and I registered my membership on that day. The registration was done outside the Ooni’s palace and it was done in the prescence of the media, numerous party leaders in the state, including Hon. Rotimi Makinde, who represents Ile-Ife at the Federal House of Representatives, and all the other key leaders of the APC in the state and Ife-Ife including Chief Akantioke and Alhaji Soko Adewoyin the former  Deputy Governor of Osun state.

After registering we proceeded to pay a courtesy call on my traditional ruler, the Ooni of Ife, and from there I went to spend a few days with Governor Rauf Aregbesola who, together with Governor Kayode Fayemi, I am close to and I consider to be friends. I have stated these facts and set the record straight due to the fact that Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the spokesman of the APC, had the effrontery to say in an interview with Premium Times magazine earlier today, that I was never a member of the APC and that I never joined them formally.

He also went further to say that had if I had been a member of the APC the party would have sanctioned me for expressing my opposition to the idea of a Muslim/Muslim ticket.

The truth is that Mohammed is not only a liar but he is also a coward. If he wanted to know the truth he and those that sent him to issue the statement could have called me and asked me. He ought to have done his homework before speaking out. I was not only a member of the APC but I was also a leader of that  party and a foundational member. Yet once I joined I began to see things as they really were.  I have never been and will never be part of a cult and the fact that people like Mohammed and those he represents within the APC are not comfortable with any form of admonition or criticism from senior party members like me speaks volumes. I have nothing but the fondest thoughts and memories for the majority of APC leaders including all the governors and most of the Presidential aspirants but today I have an important announcement to make. I wish to inform the general public that as at today, 2nd June 2014, I have left the APC and gone back to the PDP. I wish the APC well in all their endeavours, but as at today, we have parted ways forever and my spirit has left them.

My reasons for leaving the party are because I consider nation-building as being far more important than party politics, party affiliation or party formations. I am a devout and committed Christian and I cannot remain in a party where a handful of people that have sympathies for Boko Haram and that have a clear Islamic agenda are playing a leading role. This is made all the more untenable when some of those people are working hard silently and behind the scenes to impose a Muslim/Muslim ticket on the party for the Presidential elections next year.

I believe that religion ought to play no part in politics but a situation where members of the Christian faith are not treated as equals and where all the substantive positions of the National Executive of the party are made up of almost exclusively Muslims is unacceptable to me.

In fairness to the members of the party there are many leaders within it’s ranks who share my views and who are also opposed to the religious agenda that the few have but I am not prepared to stay and fight from within because the very presence of any closet Haramites on the same political platform as me is something that I find utterly repugnant.

I have raised these issues privately with virtually every key party leader including most of the governors but nothing has changed. I cannot be in a party in which the spokesman, Lai Mohammed, only last year said that it was wrong and ”unconstitutional” for the Federal Government to proscribe Boko Haram. This is the same Boko Haram that has killed no less than 15,000 Nigerians in the last three years. I cannot be in a party where the leading Presidential candidate, only last year said that Boko Haram ought not to be killed but ought to be treated like the Niger Delta militants, granted amnesty without any conditions, pampered and paid and who said, in 2011, that Muslims should only vote for people who will protect their faith. I cannot be in a party where a number of leading people question the secularity of the state and yet those people are not called to order by the so-called party leaders and where such people seem to hold sway. I cannot be in a party which appears to have politicised the whole of the Chibok issue and who are not sincere in trying to get the girls back. I cannot be in a party where a few of it’s leaders are more interested in playing politics with the whole Chibok issue and hurling bricks at our military for not doing a better job. I cannot be in a party in which the role of one of it’s governors is not clear on the Chibok issue: this is a governor that has not been able to explain to the world why he insisted that the girls should do their exams in that school and remain in Chibok for the night even though WAEC and the Federal Government had warned them about the dangers of doing so.

I cannot be in a party in which dissent and a differing opinion with others on fundamental issues is seen as an offence and something to be frowned upon or to be queried or expelled for. I have been in politics for the last 24 years of my life and all along I have taken monumental risks and been guided by my principles. I have also exhibited that I have the courage of my convictions and more often than not I have dared to say what many others are thinking but dare not to say.

It is clear to me that such sentiments are not appreciated in the APC under it’s present leadership and consequently I have chosen to move on. I believe that every religion and every ethnic nationality in this country ought to be treated with the greatest respect even within the context of a political party. I believe that we are all equal before God regardless of our religious differences.

A situation whereby, as a Christian, I am made to feel that I am a second class citizen in any association or political party which I am part of and for which I have taken risks  for is unacceptable to me. In order for any political party to move our country forward you need the input, support and confidence of the adherents of ALL religious faiths and not just that of the Muslims.

This is something that some in the APC do not seem to appreciate.  As a christian I feel deeply offended by some of the rhetoric and behaviour of some of the APC leaders and I cannot be expected to remain silent in the face of such expressions. These are the main reasons why I have left the APC. I wish them well in all their endeavours and like I said earlier many of their key leaders and governors remain my personal friends and will continue to do so even after this.

Thanks and may God guide and bless Nigeria.

Fani-Kayode is a former Minister of Aviation.