Politics

I’m ready to get dirty; no intimidation can stop me – Tinubu

Published

6 months ago

February 21, 2022

National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Bola Tinubu, says he is prepared to get dirty in pursuing his ambition to be Nigeria’s president in 2023.

Tinubu, who in January visited President Muhammadu Buhari to register his readiness to contest for the 2023 presidential poll, said no amount of intimidation could stop him from forging ahead.

He spoke in Ibadan Sunday during his visit to the Olubadan-elect, Chief Lekan Balogun, in his continuation of consultation with traditional rulers and seeking their support.

He said his visit to Oyo and Ibadan was borne out of his respect for the royal stool, and to seek their blessings, cooperation and prayers to lead the country in 2023.

Tinubu said, “No amount of intimidation can stop me. I am ready to get dirty. I am out to become President of Nigeria. We are at a crossroads.”

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Speaking earlier at the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo, he said, “I cannot embark on a project of such magnitude without seeking for prayers and cooperation of the traditional rulers.

“I am here to inform our fathers of my decision to run for the position of the President of this country in 2023. What I need from our highly revered traditional rulers are their prayers and cooperation.

“Today, by the special grace of God, in Yorubaland unlike before, we have the Vice-President, the Minister of Works, Interior and Sports but we still need more.”

Oba Adeyemi had in his response said all the ancestors of Yorubaland would work in his favour.

He, therefore, asked the 10 Oke-Ogun traditional rulers in attendance at the meeting whether they were in support of his decision, and their response was: “We are fully in support.”

At the Olubadan-elect’s residence, the monarch said, “We have known you and we know your antecedent. We know your antecedents as a progressive. You laid the foundation for today’s Lagos. You are the leading light of Nigeria. You contributed to making Nigeria what it is today.

“Without Yoruba, Nigeria will not be what it is today. Nigeria is badly divided. We are looking forward to a Yoruba president who will unite this country. We need a leader that will have a national focus and national acceptability. The road may be rough but by His grace, you will triumph.”

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Politics

2023: Bauchi govt, APC guber candidate Saddique clash over alleged plot to recruit 1,000 thugs

Published

8 hours ago

August 14, 2022

Trends Admin

Saddique Baba

The Bauchi State government has accused the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Saddique Baba, of allegedly planning to recruit political thugs for the 2023 gubernatorial elections.

The government based its allegations on an online publication (not The Nation) titled “Ex-Chief of Staff Sadique, ruling APC recruit ‘1000’ militants, political thugs’ saying it will resist any plan by the APC guber candidate to put the state into chaos.

In a statement made available to journalists in Bauchi, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the governor, Mukhtar Gidado, requested President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate Saddique over the alleged plan.

The statement party reads: “It should not be overstated that, the plan to foist an extra-constitutional and quasi-military organ on the state, for electoral advantage, can only lead to a total breakdown of law and order, with dire and unfathomable consequences for our dear country in general and Bauchi State in particular.

“However, against the backdrop of the deteriorating security situation in the country, any responsible government will be alarmed by this disclosure which, if true, portends a grave danger not only for Bauchi State but also the country at large.

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“We note, with concern, that the sudden escalation in violent crimes characterised by kidnappings, banditry, and other vices in certain parts of the state, seems to fall in place with the allegations contained in the Sahara Reporters story.”

But the camp of the former Chief of Air Staff fired back at the state government, describing the allegations as untrue and misleading.

A statement by the Chairman of the Media and Publicity Committee to the APC candidate, Ahmed Barau, said: “To put the records straight, the publication in question, which publishers credited their sources to an unnamed Colonel of the Nigerian Army, said it has a ‘security signal’ on the said recruitment exercise, without further presenting facts, but only quoted some anonymous ‘politicians’ who funded the publication.

“As law-abiding citizens, we did not hold the meeting in question until we officially sought for and obtained the approval of the Bauchi State Police Commissioner who was represented at the meeting by an Assistant Superintendent of Police.

“It is their decimal performance in office that prompted the entry of the retired Air Marshal Sadique Baba Abubakar into the gubernatorial race, and the voters are eager to give them their scorecards on the election day. We remain steadfast and committed to our mission of winning the coming election and enthroning good governance. Therefore, no amount of cheap blackmail will distract us.”

The Nation

Politics

Miyetti Allah rejects Obi, says ex-gov represents Biafra

Published

16 hours ago

August 14, 2022

Trends Admin

Peter Obi

The Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, also known as Miyetti Allah, has said it has instructed every Fulani in the country not to vote for the presidential standard bearer of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi.

According to the group, Obi is a ‘tribal bigot’ and represents ‘the Biafran interest’, which would not ‘favour the Fulani nation in Nigeria’.

The National Secretary-General of the Fulani socio-cultural group, Mr Saleh Ahassan, in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, noted that as far as Miyetti Allah was concerned, Obi was out of the options of persons to be voted for in the forthcoming elections.

“As far as we are concerned, we know those we cannot vote for. You see that they call Obi or OBIdient, any Fulani man who votes for him must be questioned because he may not be a true son of the soil.

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“Obi represents the Biafran interest. So, we know those we cannot vote for and those that cannot be president of Nigeria. He is a tribal bigot,” he stressed.

Alhassan also stated that when Obi was the governor of Anambra State, he “destroyed the businesses of northerners and chased plenty Hausa and Fulani people from entering Anambra”.

Reacting, the spokesperson for Peter Obi Support Network, Mr Jones Onwuasoanya, said Obi was a nationalist whose interest was only with Nigerians.

According to him, Obi believes in ‘One Nigeria’ and is irreversibly committed to the One Nigeria dream and to making Nigeria a successful nation.

Punch

Politics

Atiku/Wike peace talks run into fresh hitch

Published

16 hours ago

August 14, 2022

Trends Admin

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar

Adamawa gov: We’re making progress
Rivers gov’s camp: Nothing concrete yet

The latest emissary of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on moves to resolve their differences may have departed Port Harcourt empty handed, The Nation can now reveal.

Mr.Ahmadu Fintiri, governor of Atiku’s home state of Adamawa, arrived at the Rivers State capital on Thursday at the behest of the former vice president to pacify Wike.

Fintiri left Port Harcourt on Friday morning and told reporters in Yola,the Adamawa State capital yesterday that progress was being made in the reconciliation process.

“I’ve just returned from Rivers State where I met with my brother Governor Wike and I can assure you that we’ve started talking and very soon we’ll be crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s,” Fintiri said.

He added: “Politics is all about discussions, meetings, give and take; and I can assure you that the reconciliation process is going well and PDP will come out of it successfully.

“We are focused and the reconciliation is up and progressing. I am the chairman of the reconciliation committee between Atiku and Wike on Atiku’s side, and I can assure you that we will get over it very soon.”

He said he was in a good position to help resolve the disagreement between Atiku and Wike because “I am an embodiment of both men.”

He spoke of ‘encouraging signs’ from the Port Harcourt meeting but also conceded that the task was a difficult one.

Wike, according to him, has contributed enormously to the growth of the PDP and wondered whether the Rivers State governor would allow all his contribution to the party go down the drain if he failed to support Atiku for the 2023 polls or dump the PDP for APC .

“Who are his friends in the APC? Are you telling me those who are now romancing with Wike love him? “ he asked.

“I can assure you that with God, the party will put its house in order before the 2023 elections.

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“Even Wike knows he has been by far the biggest investor in the party. Can he now walk away from all of his investment?

“We recognise he loves his people and I can assure you that he will have a fair deal if it comes to that, just to put the crisis behind us.”

However, political sources told The Nation in Port Harcourt yesterday that Fintiri may have exaggerated the success of his mission to Rivers State.

One of the sources confirmed that Fintiri was indeed in Port Harcourt on Thursday and met behind closed doors with Wike.

The source said the meeting did not achieve much because while it was ongoing some anti-Wike forces in Atiku’s camp scripted a report that the governor had removed all PDP flags in the Government House.

Said the source:”Fintiri is Wike’s friend. Atiku sent him on Thursday to talk to the governor. They met behind closed doors. But you know that day something happened:the same anti-Wike forces in Atiku’s camp sponsored a post on social media that the governor ordered his CSO to pull down all PDP flags in Government House.

“I don’t think the meeting achieved its desired results and that was why the governor spoke out on Friday. Fintiri left the state on Friday morning. So, everyday people behind Atiku are widening the crack and these people are very close to Atiku.”

The source said it was the same complaint the governor made to Atiku when both of them met recently in the Abuja home of a former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana.

“But I believe that soon they will find common ground to resolve their differences. Atiku should do more in calling his attack dogs to order,”` he said.

Another source said: “The crisis is not unusual in any party. But I have the confidence that it would be resolved and the party members will move on in peace. It is not a matter of Atiku paying a visit to Wike.

“This is a matter of the ability of the elders of the party and leaders of the party to do the right thing. If the party could survive the Sheriff’s era, it can resolve any issue that comes.

“I believe that the governor and the other leaders of the party especially the presidential candidate will be able to find a common ground and many party members believe that too. Both aggrieved parties have good intentions for the survival of the PDP.”

Yet another source drew attention to the statement made by Wike about Atiku on Friday during the inauguration of the Rivers State House of Assembly Quarters.

According to the source, the tone of the governor on that day did not suggest in any way that both camps had made up.

Among other things, Wike said: “I have kept quiet and busy delivering dividends of democracy for my party to win election; people are busy plotting how they will win election, but others are busy trying to see how they will lose election.

“If they lose election nobody should call my name. I have told the candidate, you will lose this election and you will win this election because of people around you. Anybody who knows me knows that if I was going to court, I would have gone to court within two weeks after the primaries because it is a pre-election matter and after two weeks you can’t go to the court.

“The legal adviser of the party called me and I told him you know there is mischief going on; you know me very well if I am going to court it is not those kind of lawyers I would have used and I don’t even know the lawyers. I want to tell the candidate (Atiku) that it is his group that are doing all these things. Let the world hear.

“They are the ones plotting all these things thinking that they would spoil my name. You cannot. The other day they said I removed all PDP flags in Government House. We are supposed to be talking about how you will win election, not about these people. They are not doing him any favour, rather they are trying to make him not to win election.But if that is what they want, I wish them good luck.

“But after my commissioning of projects nobody should say Wike has started. When I start, I have been on my own, they are looking for my trouble. Allow peace to reign. If you say your mother will not sleep, you too you will not sleep at the appropriate time.

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“I told Atiku the other day, all these governors you think are good with you what happened in 2019? Nobody wants to say the truth. Today instead of plotting how to win an election, they are talking about Wike. Wike is not important, why are you worried? Allow Wike to rest.”

Asked last month in a television interview to confirm claims by Atiku that he had reached out to him, Wike said: “When people tell lies, it is most unfortunate. Some senators called me and said Atiku Abubakar said he sent Saraki to me. That is unfair. It is not correct.

“I was in Spain, Bukola came to me and said ‘my brother how do we settle this problem?’. I asked, ‘were you sent by Atiku Abubakar’?, he said no. I said okay, ‘what do you want me to do? Look at the issues’. He said he didn’t know this and that. He said the matter was serious”.

He recalled that prior to the primaries, Atiku visited him in Port Harcourt to solicit his support, and wondered whether Atiku no longer knew the road to his house after winning the ticket.

Wike said: “Abubakar has never reached out to me.Forget about sending scavengers.Some of them will call my friends and say tell your guy to support us. It has reduced to that level. Some of them, I don’t know, would call me and be begging me not to leave the party. Who is talking about leaving the party?

“Atiku Abubakar came to my house and asked me to support him. So he doesn’t know my house again? Now, people I don’t even know are calling me to support him. They are trivialising issues. No way. I will not accept that. Atiku Abubakar cannot say he has sent somebody to me. Let one person say he was sent to me by Atiku Abubakar.

“Every day I read on newspaper you sent a committee to come and see me. I love this party and I have remained committed and I have been able to build this party. I am not one of those who are running around the presidential candidate. They are all scavengers looking for how they will survive.”

Atiku and Wike’s disagreement stemmed from the former vice president’s choice of Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate in preference to the Rivers State governor.

The Nation