‘Ganging up against North won’t give you president in 2023’ – Newstrends
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‘Ganging up against North won’t give you president in 2023’

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3 years ago

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The Senator representing Kano Central, Ibrahim Shekarau, has told Southern governors to stop using threats and gang up against the North in the quest for the 2023 presidency.

The federal lawmaker, who was a former governor of Kano State, noted that the issue of where the next president should emerge is a matter of party affair that should be sorted out by the political parties.

Shekarau said President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor should come from the Southern part of the country to give a sense of belonging.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain spoke on a Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily Programme monitored yesterday in Abuja.

The 17 Southern governors have met twice this year and demanded power shift to the region while the 19 Northern Governors also met last week, opposing such move and noting that the candidate with the highest votes will emerge as President in the next general elections.

He said: “As far as the party I belong is concerned, the APC, my proposal is that now that President Buhari is from the northern part of the country and (after) he has done his eight years, let’s beam the searchlight to the southern part of Nigeria, not because we don’t have competent people in the north…that does not mean you are throwing away the issue of competence, credibility and so on.

“While I agree we should go for the best and therefore throw it open, regardless of which part of the country, but we must also be mindful of the aspect of the sense of belonging. We must be mindful of perception, to give some sense of belonging to every part of Nigeria.

“Where I disagree with the Southern Governors is coming together to gang up to say it must be our turn. I think this is purely a party affair. We must not do this at the point of threat, that it must be me, it must be he, we need to come together. This is more of a political party issue.

“My point of disagreement with the gang up groups like the Southern Governors is coming to gang up to say it must be our time, this is wrong, it is purely (a) party issue and the political parties should go into the boardrooms and sort this issue out themselves.

“Today, the Southern Governors gang up, tomorrow, another group would gang up and say it must be us.

The former governor urged the Southern Governors to be careful with their pronouncement which could amount to instigating the general public.

“Governors are very prominent people in the scheme of things, they are leaders, so, they must be careful coming together to make some pronouncement that would amount to instigating the general public to take a stand and see it as a regional fight,” Shekarau added.

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PDP bigwigs plot Gov Adeleke’s removal, dump party for APC (Photos of massive crowd)

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42 mins ago

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May 18, 2024

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PDP bigwigs plot Gov Adeleke’s removal, dump party for APC (Photos of massive crowd)

Thousands of members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun state, including prominent leaders like former national deputy chairman Shuiab Oyedokun and gubernatorial aspirant Prince Dotun Babayemi, have crossed over to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The defectors were formally welcomed into the APC fold at the party’s Secretariat by national leaders, including Minister of Marine and Blue Economy Adegboyega Oyetola and National Secretary Senator Ajibola Basiru, among others.

Expressing his thoughts during the event, Oyetola emphasized the APC’s track record of governance success, stating, “APC has done so well. People are starting to see that when it comes to governance, the progressive knows how to.”

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He highlighted the significance of veteran PDP member Baba Shuiab’s defection to the APC, signaling the diminishing influence of the PDP in Osun state. Oyetola expressed confidence in the APC’s prospects for victory in the 2026 elections, citing growing support and the influx of political heavyweights into the party.

Echoing Oyetola’s sentiments, Senator Basiru called for the seamless integration of the new APC members into the party’s structure without discrimination. He noted, “Baba Shuiab and Prince Dotun Babayemi were members of the APC in the past, they’ve seen things, they’ve seen the difference between progressive and conservative, and they are back into the Party.”

In his address to supporters, Babayemi highlighted the end of good governance in Osun state following Oyetola’s departure as Governor but expressed optimism that with his presence in the APC, the party would reclaim power in 2026.

Governor Ademola Adeleke of PDP is the person in power in Osun after defeating the APC under Oyetola in 2022. Adeleke is serving his first term and is most likely going to run for second term. However, APC is issuing a subtle threat to Adeleke that they would sack him in the next election.

PDP bigwigs plot Gov Adeleke’s removal, dump party for APC (Photos of massive crowd)

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Only my party can stop me from contesting 2027 presidential election – Atiku

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2 hours ago

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May 18, 2024

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former Vice President Atiku Abubakar

Only my party can stop me from contesting 2027 presidential election – Atiku

Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has hinted that an alliance of major political parties and influential politicians is in the work ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Atiku, who was the presidential candidate for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections, disclosed that his recent meeting with the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, is a sign of positive things to come.

He stated that meeting could be a launchpad for the possible alliance in the build-up to the 2027 general elections.

Within Nigeria had reported that Atiku Abubakar met with the candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election Peter Obi, former Senate President Bukola Saraki, and former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido in separate visits earlier last week.

He said their meeting bode well for democratic governance in Nigeria while implying a possible alliance between the opposition parties. He also  debunked assertions that they couldn’t produce a consensus candidate.

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He also said he would happily back a presidential candidate of South East extraction if the PDP zone its presidential ticket to the region.

Peter Obi is from the South East and, with the speculation of his imminent return to the PDP following his meeting with Atiku and other bigwig of the party rife, he is likely to clinch the ticket should the party decides to narrow down its look for a presidential candidate to the south east.

Speaking further on consensus candidate, Atiku stated that should the PDP members unanimously agree on zoning PDP’s presidential candidate to South East, he will abide by it.

“I’ve made it clear since last elections that if our party members had a consensus that southeast should produce the candidate, we would all agree. And if our parties also had a similar agreement, then so be it,’’ Atiku said.

Last week, Paul Ibe, media adviser to Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, says Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), frustrated and sabotaged plans by the PDP to zone its presidential ticket to the south east for the 2023 election.

He said the move effectively led to Peter Obi’s exit from the party.

The media adviser said that Atiku was willing to let go his presidential aspiration on the condition that the presidency was micro-zoned to the southeast region where Obi hails from.

Only my party can stop me from contesting 2027 presidential election – Atiku

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Six political parties plot against APC, meet in Kaduna

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1 day ago

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May 17, 2024

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Six political parties plot against APC, meet in Kaduna

Six political parties converged in Kaduna State on Thursday in preparation to dislodge the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The summit, with the theme, ‘Solid political party structure critical to the sustainability of the democratic process,’ was convened by the African Democratic Congress.

In attendance were the New Nigeria People’s Party, the People’s Redemption Party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, the Social Democratic Party, the KOWA Party, as well as the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), and the Coalition of United Political Parties.

Lawal Nalado, chairman of the summit, decried what he described as “unbearable hardship” faced by Nigerians across the country, saying that the gathering was all about discussing the nation’s barrage of problems and ways to move forward.

He refuted insinuations in some quarters that the summit was convened to form a merger or a coalition amongst parties.

He added that the opposition parties needed to mobilize voters at the grassroots by way of reaching out to the downtrodden with political enlightenment messages, capable of changing their mindset that politics should not be about money, religion or ethnicity but voting for the right candidates to uplift the social and economic status of the society.

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The National Chairman of PRP, Falalu Bello, while speaking, stressed the need for effective mobilisation of the electorates by opposition parties, stressing that fielding credible candidates was not enough to win elections but mass mobilization.

Represented by Prof. Sule Muhammad, Bello listed inadequate resources, lack of internal democracy, decayed transparency, and interference by the ruling party among others as problems bedevilling opposition parties in the country.

Also, Ahmed Tujjani, the chairman of ADC and IPAC Kaduna State, opined that the summit was aimed to chart a course to address socio-economic and political parties’ problems with the motive of proffering realistic solutions.

According to him, “This is not a gathering for a merger or forming a coalition ahead of 2027 but rather a summit to discuss our common problems and suggest solutions of addressing them.

“We will call you again by tomorrow to read out our communique which will be a summary and possibly a mini-working document of solving our problems ahead of 2027.”

Six political parties plot against APC, meet in Kaduna

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