Senator Gbemisola Saraki, the eldest daughter of the late strongman
of Kwara politics, Dr Olusola Saraki, finally dumped the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC)
yesterday.
Gbemisola announced her decision to team up with APC in a statement she personally signed, copies of which was made available to newsmen in Ilorin yesterday.
She said: “After wide consultations, we found in APC a platform that mirrors the ideals of our political family, both in content and context, especially with under the leadership of General Muhammadu Buhari.
“We are assured in the promise of the APC for a new Nigeria. We are confident in the commitment of the President-elect to social justice, rule of law and economic posterity for all.
“I therefore call on all my supporters from across the state to take what we have started a notch further by going out to register with the All Progressive Congress Party, APC, and to work actively for a resounding success of the APC in the forthcoming polls.
“Given the choices and the times, I am convinced beyond doubt that Kwara will be better served by the APC-led government in the state.
The two- term former senator had, on the eve of the presidential election, directed her supporters to vote for the APC.
Her statement reads in part: “I come before you for a formal declaration of our move to the APC. This is not to underplay the reality that we had joined the APC a fortnight ago, just before the presidential and National Assembly elections, but I believe I owe you the obligation to formally announce this move to you out of a deep respect for your love and your support of the GRS Movement over the years.
“This decision is a product of wide consultations with members of the GRS Political Family that cut across all the 16 local government areas of the state on the one hand and the leadership of APC on the other. It was in furtherance of this that, on the eve of the presidential and National Assembly elections, I asked all my supporters to troop out en masse and vote for all the candidates of the APC.”
The former senator used the occasion to respond to those who wondered why she was taking this step.
“Several friends and associates have asked me why we moved and I have responded by telling them that the reasons are not farfetched; the reason is as important as who we are as political organization.
“Our ideology finds root in championing the cause of the grassroots, upholding equity and justice, and especially the vision for a meaningful and passionate leadership. We believe that a true leadership must be predicated on certain values that must be sacrosanct, which must also follow the sanctity of democratic ethos.”
She noted that she and her followers joined Kwara PDP for the main reason of re-engineering the processes of leadership through the party in order to mirror the true aspirations of Kwarans but that the party was hijacked by some persons.
“”Thus, instead of presenting pragmatic solutions and workable templates for developing Kwara, the party abandoned presenting alternative policies and went on meaninglessly attacking and castigating not only the opposition, but even those within the party, especially my very self for no other good reason other than the accident of my birth – a birth of which, by the way, I am very proud of.”
According to her, the last straw was the failure of the PDP to respect the place of women in politics and their collective struggle for equity and fair play in the country and especially in the state.
“Yet we have all had to endure the patronizing campaign adverts of the PDP’s self-proclaimed “generosity” towards women, the self-patting of its achievements of the number of women appointed into the president’s cabinet.”
True representation, she explained, starts at the grassroots and builds up, as such women want true representation at all levels, and especially into elected positions and not to have to lobby for positions on a platter.
“The APC has shown that it believes in ensuring that women are treated with respect and dignity and assisted to excel in the political arena as shown by the emergence of the Taraba State gubernatorial candidate,” she said.
“The choice was, therefore, clear, a bold step into the future that guarantees fairness, justice and hope. Thus, the move from the PDP into the APC was an easy decision for us considering our history with PDP and our vision for our future.”
April 11 Polls: APC tasks security agencies, INEC
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned the security agencies, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and all national institutions connected to Saturday’s governorship and House of Assembly elections against compromising their statutory roles under any circumstance.
The party urged the institutions to provide a level playing field for all parties to the elections.
In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the police, the DSS, the Civil Defence Corps, the military and INEC are national institutions and must not turn themselves to appendages of any political party.
It warned the institutions to strictly adhere to their constitutional roles, exhibit the highest level of professionalism and shun partisanship, in the spirit of fairness and in line with global best practices.
APC said the situation in which security agencies and INEC would collude with a political party to terrorize innocent citizens and brazenly manipulate elections, as was witnessed in the past in Ekiti
and Rivers State, among others, would no longer be tolerated.
‘’We do not seek any unfair advantage over any other party. We do not seek any favours from any organisation. All we demand is that national institutions that have any role to play in the forthcoming elections must carry out their duties fairly and professionally,’’ the party said.
It decried the ongoing killings, maiming, harassment and intimidation of APC members and supporters in Rivers State by the police, working in collaboration with the PDP, as well as the ignoble role played by some INEC officials in the massive rigging of the presidential and National Assembly elections in the state by the PDP on March 28.
‘’The forthcoming governorship and House of Assembly elections provide the first real test for our security agencies and INEC to depart from their old, unprofessional and highly partisan path and embrace professionalism and neutrality, because they will be the first elections to be held since Nigerians voted for change.
‘’All eyes will be watching the national institutions to see if they are ready to embrace the change that has come, in spite of them, or they will like to persist in their old, unedifying ways,’’ APC said.
Jonathan warns against intimidation of Nigerians
* Says FG won’t tolerate any form of crisis
President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday condemned what he described as an attempt by politicians and individuals to intimidate Nigerians, instigate public disorder and disaffection ahead of the governorship and state assembly polls.
Although he did not mention any particular person, the president’s warning is coming barely two days after the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, threatened misery and death on Igbo people in Lagos State if they do not vote for his anointed governorship candidate and APC flag bearer in Lagos, Mr Akinwumi Ambode, in next Saturday’s election.
Jonathan who spoke through his special adviser on media and publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, warned that the federal government would not “condone any attempt to instigate a crisis in any part of the country in furtherance of personal political ambitions.
“As the nation prepares for Saturday’s governorship and State Assembly elections, President Goodluck Jonathan calls on all Nigerians to remain peaceful, united and law-abiding”, Abati said at a press briefing.
According to him, Jonathan also condemned “the undue harassment of public officials serving under his administration” and urged all affected persons to continue to perform their lawful duties without fear.
The president, according to his spokesman, assured all Nigerians that his administration remained fully committed to national progress and the entrenchment of the best values of democracy for the good of all Nigerians.
The statement read in part: “The president condemns the very unseemly attempt by some politicians, groups and individuals to intimidate others, heat up the polity and cause public disorder and disaffection in the aftermath of the presidential and National Assembly elections.
“President Jonathan is especially concerned about the negative triumphalism that has been put on display by certain elements since March 31, which flies in the face of his personal commitment to post-election peace, unity and national stability.
“The president calls on all those, who through their actions and utterances, have been promoting divisiveness, sectionalism and ethnic hatred in the country following the outcome of the March 28 elections to cease and desist from actions that detract from the true spirit and culture of democracy envisioned by patriotic men and women of goodwill in Nigeria”.
Abati further explained that President Jonathan considers the present time the ideal time “for the healing of political wounds in the overriding interest of national unity, stability and progress, not a time for ethnic jingoism and the settling of scores.”
The president also urged Nigerians to go out en masse once again on April 11 to vote for candidates of their choice in the state-level elections, but they should do so peacefully without threats, intimidation or violence from any quarters.
IGP orders massive deployment in Rivers, Enugu, others
Ahead of Saturday’s governorship and state assembly elections, the inspector-general of police Suleiman Abba has warned trouble makers to steer clear of voting centres or face the law.
Abba made this known yesterday during a high-powered conference with command commissioners of police where he disclosed that 124 electoral offenders were arrested during the March 28 presidential and National Assembly elections.
The police boss, who revealed that massive deployment of officers had been made to crisis states, including Rivers and Enugu states, disclosed that three persons were arrested in connection with the bomb blast that rocked Enugu during the election. He said most of the arrested suspects were already being prosecuted while others were being investigated.
“First of all, I must commend our officers and men for their performance in the last election. They exhibited high sense of professionalism, impartiality, and non-partisanship to a great level. We are here to encourage them to do more so that they don’t rubbish what they had already achieved.
“We are re-strategizing on the crime prevention and control, and that is why we are deploying more officers to states like Rivers and other volatile ones. Our coming together here today will proffer solutions to these problems and we will ensure that they don’t crop up in the coming election,” he said.
IGP Abba, however, lamented that despite the fact that the police and other security agencies did their best to protect INEC personnel and materials and other important places, as well as the citizens, there were still incidents that tested their preparedness.
Abba warned all security details attached to political office holders to desist from accompanying their principals to polling booths and collation centres during the election, noting that only police personnel specifically assigned for election duties must be seen within and around the election designated places.
… Oba of Lagos didn’t threaten Igbos – IGP
IGP Suleiman Abba fielded questions on the reported threat of Ndigbo in Lagos State by the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, saying that the royal father did not threaten Igbos resident in Lagos State.
According to him, the royal father denied the allegations.
“On the issue of Oba of Lagos making a statement about who the electorate should vote for in the governorship election, I must tell you I saw it in the media and I tried all my best to verify whether that statement was made and, so far, what I have been able to gather is the fact that the Oba himself denied it, and if the Oba denied it, who am I to say that he did make it. “However, if for any reason that becomes a subject of further efforts to confirm if he did it or not, we will do it,” he said.
The IGP, who also spoke on the fire outbreak which wiped out the family of the Kano State Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Alhaji Minkaila Abdullahi, ruled out sabotage.
According to him, preliminary investigations revealed that it was a fire incident but that if subsequent investigations, especially medical reports, state otherwise, then the police would tell the Nigerians.
Gbemisola announced her decision to team up with APC in a statement she personally signed, copies of which was made available to newsmen in Ilorin yesterday.
She said: “After wide consultations, we found in APC a platform that mirrors the ideals of our political family, both in content and context, especially with under the leadership of General Muhammadu Buhari.
“We are assured in the promise of the APC for a new Nigeria. We are confident in the commitment of the President-elect to social justice, rule of law and economic posterity for all.
“I therefore call on all my supporters from across the state to take what we have started a notch further by going out to register with the All Progressive Congress Party, APC, and to work actively for a resounding success of the APC in the forthcoming polls.
“Given the choices and the times, I am convinced beyond doubt that Kwara will be better served by the APC-led government in the state.
The two- term former senator had, on the eve of the presidential election, directed her supporters to vote for the APC.
Her statement reads in part: “I come before you for a formal declaration of our move to the APC. This is not to underplay the reality that we had joined the APC a fortnight ago, just before the presidential and National Assembly elections, but I believe I owe you the obligation to formally announce this move to you out of a deep respect for your love and your support of the GRS Movement over the years.
“This decision is a product of wide consultations with members of the GRS Political Family that cut across all the 16 local government areas of the state on the one hand and the leadership of APC on the other. It was in furtherance of this that, on the eve of the presidential and National Assembly elections, I asked all my supporters to troop out en masse and vote for all the candidates of the APC.”
The former senator used the occasion to respond to those who wondered why she was taking this step.
“Several friends and associates have asked me why we moved and I have responded by telling them that the reasons are not farfetched; the reason is as important as who we are as political organization.
“Our ideology finds root in championing the cause of the grassroots, upholding equity and justice, and especially the vision for a meaningful and passionate leadership. We believe that a true leadership must be predicated on certain values that must be sacrosanct, which must also follow the sanctity of democratic ethos.”
She noted that she and her followers joined Kwara PDP for the main reason of re-engineering the processes of leadership through the party in order to mirror the true aspirations of Kwarans but that the party was hijacked by some persons.
“”Thus, instead of presenting pragmatic solutions and workable templates for developing Kwara, the party abandoned presenting alternative policies and went on meaninglessly attacking and castigating not only the opposition, but even those within the party, especially my very self for no other good reason other than the accident of my birth – a birth of which, by the way, I am very proud of.”
According to her, the last straw was the failure of the PDP to respect the place of women in politics and their collective struggle for equity and fair play in the country and especially in the state.
“Yet we have all had to endure the patronizing campaign adverts of the PDP’s self-proclaimed “generosity” towards women, the self-patting of its achievements of the number of women appointed into the president’s cabinet.”
True representation, she explained, starts at the grassroots and builds up, as such women want true representation at all levels, and especially into elected positions and not to have to lobby for positions on a platter.
“The APC has shown that it believes in ensuring that women are treated with respect and dignity and assisted to excel in the political arena as shown by the emergence of the Taraba State gubernatorial candidate,” she said.
“The choice was, therefore, clear, a bold step into the future that guarantees fairness, justice and hope. Thus, the move from the PDP into the APC was an easy decision for us considering our history with PDP and our vision for our future.”
April 11 Polls: APC tasks security agencies, INEC
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned the security agencies, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and all national institutions connected to Saturday’s governorship and House of Assembly elections against compromising their statutory roles under any circumstance.
The party urged the institutions to provide a level playing field for all parties to the elections.
In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the police, the DSS, the Civil Defence Corps, the military and INEC are national institutions and must not turn themselves to appendages of any political party.
It warned the institutions to strictly adhere to their constitutional roles, exhibit the highest level of professionalism and shun partisanship, in the spirit of fairness and in line with global best practices.
APC said the situation in which security agencies and INEC would collude with a political party to terrorize innocent citizens and brazenly manipulate elections, as was witnessed in the past in Ekiti
and Rivers State, among others, would no longer be tolerated.
‘’We do not seek any unfair advantage over any other party. We do not seek any favours from any organisation. All we demand is that national institutions that have any role to play in the forthcoming elections must carry out their duties fairly and professionally,’’ the party said.
It decried the ongoing killings, maiming, harassment and intimidation of APC members and supporters in Rivers State by the police, working in collaboration with the PDP, as well as the ignoble role played by some INEC officials in the massive rigging of the presidential and National Assembly elections in the state by the PDP on March 28.
‘’The forthcoming governorship and House of Assembly elections provide the first real test for our security agencies and INEC to depart from their old, unprofessional and highly partisan path and embrace professionalism and neutrality, because they will be the first elections to be held since Nigerians voted for change.
‘’All eyes will be watching the national institutions to see if they are ready to embrace the change that has come, in spite of them, or they will like to persist in their old, unedifying ways,’’ APC said.
Jonathan warns against intimidation of Nigerians
* Says FG won’t tolerate any form of crisis
President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday condemned what he described as an attempt by politicians and individuals to intimidate Nigerians, instigate public disorder and disaffection ahead of the governorship and state assembly polls.
Although he did not mention any particular person, the president’s warning is coming barely two days after the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, threatened misery and death on Igbo people in Lagos State if they do not vote for his anointed governorship candidate and APC flag bearer in Lagos, Mr Akinwumi Ambode, in next Saturday’s election.
Jonathan who spoke through his special adviser on media and publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, warned that the federal government would not “condone any attempt to instigate a crisis in any part of the country in furtherance of personal political ambitions.
“As the nation prepares for Saturday’s governorship and State Assembly elections, President Goodluck Jonathan calls on all Nigerians to remain peaceful, united and law-abiding”, Abati said at a press briefing.
According to him, Jonathan also condemned “the undue harassment of public officials serving under his administration” and urged all affected persons to continue to perform their lawful duties without fear.
The president, according to his spokesman, assured all Nigerians that his administration remained fully committed to national progress and the entrenchment of the best values of democracy for the good of all Nigerians.
The statement read in part: “The president condemns the very unseemly attempt by some politicians, groups and individuals to intimidate others, heat up the polity and cause public disorder and disaffection in the aftermath of the presidential and National Assembly elections.
“President Jonathan is especially concerned about the negative triumphalism that has been put on display by certain elements since March 31, which flies in the face of his personal commitment to post-election peace, unity and national stability.
“The president calls on all those, who through their actions and utterances, have been promoting divisiveness, sectionalism and ethnic hatred in the country following the outcome of the March 28 elections to cease and desist from actions that detract from the true spirit and culture of democracy envisioned by patriotic men and women of goodwill in Nigeria”.
Abati further explained that President Jonathan considers the present time the ideal time “for the healing of political wounds in the overriding interest of national unity, stability and progress, not a time for ethnic jingoism and the settling of scores.”
The president also urged Nigerians to go out en masse once again on April 11 to vote for candidates of their choice in the state-level elections, but they should do so peacefully without threats, intimidation or violence from any quarters.
IGP orders massive deployment in Rivers, Enugu, others
Ahead of Saturday’s governorship and state assembly elections, the inspector-general of police Suleiman Abba has warned trouble makers to steer clear of voting centres or face the law.
Abba made this known yesterday during a high-powered conference with command commissioners of police where he disclosed that 124 electoral offenders were arrested during the March 28 presidential and National Assembly elections.
The police boss, who revealed that massive deployment of officers had been made to crisis states, including Rivers and Enugu states, disclosed that three persons were arrested in connection with the bomb blast that rocked Enugu during the election. He said most of the arrested suspects were already being prosecuted while others were being investigated.
“First of all, I must commend our officers and men for their performance in the last election. They exhibited high sense of professionalism, impartiality, and non-partisanship to a great level. We are here to encourage them to do more so that they don’t rubbish what they had already achieved.
“We are re-strategizing on the crime prevention and control, and that is why we are deploying more officers to states like Rivers and other volatile ones. Our coming together here today will proffer solutions to these problems and we will ensure that they don’t crop up in the coming election,” he said.
IGP Abba, however, lamented that despite the fact that the police and other security agencies did their best to protect INEC personnel and materials and other important places, as well as the citizens, there were still incidents that tested their preparedness.
Abba warned all security details attached to political office holders to desist from accompanying their principals to polling booths and collation centres during the election, noting that only police personnel specifically assigned for election duties must be seen within and around the election designated places.
… Oba of Lagos didn’t threaten Igbos – IGP
IGP Suleiman Abba fielded questions on the reported threat of Ndigbo in Lagos State by the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, saying that the royal father did not threaten Igbos resident in Lagos State.
According to him, the royal father denied the allegations.
“On the issue of Oba of Lagos making a statement about who the electorate should vote for in the governorship election, I must tell you I saw it in the media and I tried all my best to verify whether that statement was made and, so far, what I have been able to gather is the fact that the Oba himself denied it, and if the Oba denied it, who am I to say that he did make it. “However, if for any reason that becomes a subject of further efforts to confirm if he did it or not, we will do it,” he said.
The IGP, who also spoke on the fire outbreak which wiped out the family of the Kano State Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Alhaji Minkaila Abdullahi, ruled out sabotage.
According to him, preliminary investigations revealed that it was a fire incident but that if subsequent investigations, especially medical reports, state otherwise, then the police would tell the Nigerians.
No comments:
Post a Comment