Muslim-Muslim ticket: No leader can Islamise Nigeria, says FFK – Newstrends
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Muslim-Muslim ticket: No leader can Islamise Nigeria, says FFK

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2 years ago

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  • Tinubu returned schools to missionaries, granted land to mega churches

Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, says he has “prayed about” the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and is sure that the country cannot be Islamised.

Indeed, he expressed confidence that those given the ticket currently to fly the flag of the APC in the 2023 presidential election  would defend the rights of the Christans.

Bola Tinubu, the APC presidential candidate, picked Kashim Shettima, the former governor of Borno, who is also a Muslim, as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election.

This has generated heavy criticisms from key stakeholders, particularly the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

Before joining the APC, Fani-Kayode, on several occasions, had accused the APC-led Federal Government of Islamisation and Fulanisation of the country.

Asked to comment on the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket in the light of his previous comments, the former minister said since he joined the ruling party, he had realised that the party had “completely changed”, adding that the claim of Fulanisation of the country had been thrown out of the window.

Fani-Kayode said it is not about the faith of the presidential candidates but their individual abilities.

He said, “We spoke about Fulanisation; that has been thrown out of the window now because power has been shifted to the South by the APC, the party we accused of that.

“Secondly, we spoke about Islamisation. Since I joined APC, I realised that, like I said earlier, things have completely changed; a situation whereby in this country today we have, no less than 20 Christian governors. The whole of the South-West has Christian governors, except for Osun State, which has now changed because we have a Christian governor who is coming in.

“A situation like that tells you clearly that the country cannot be Islamised and neither is our party APC interested in that. What is happening as far as I’m concerned is this: we have reformed and are moving forward.

“Same faith ticket was a challenge but we looked into it. I prayed about it, I consulted, I spoke to Kashim because all along my position has been – it all depends who the vice-president is.

“It is not about the faith. It is about the individual and if the individual is a Muslim that I can live with, I’m prepared to live with that. I spoke to this man and Tinubu.

“The candidate himself returned schools to the missionaries in Lagos something that had not been done before. The candidate gave land to so many of these mega churches in Lagos when he was governor and since that time they have been granted licences to build churches.

“Go to the North; the vice, that is Shettima himself, I met him for over three hours, we discussed. I looked into the man’s eyes and raised a number of pertinent questions which I needed to be satisfied with and I was satisfied with his answers.

“He has built more churches in Borno State than any other before him and since that time and he won the confidence of many Christians. So the issue of Islamisation no longer arises.”

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El-Rufai, Kwankwaso meeting reinforces northerners move against Tinubu – Report

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18 hours ago

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June 30, 2024

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Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

El-Rufai, Kwankwaso meeting reinforces northerners move against Tinubu – Report

While it wasn’t unusual to see El-Rufai and Kwankwaso together, preceding events, which had seen many northern political heavyweights turn the Daura home of former President Muhammadu Buhari into a sort of Mecca, have raised eyebrows among political observers.

It would be recalled that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, accompanied by former governors of Sokoto and Adamawa states, Senator Aminu Tambuwal and Jibrilla Bindow, paid a visit to Buhari, which was tagged a Sallah homage. Twenty-four hours after Atiku’s visit, El-Rufai also visited the former president, while a former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff, visited a few hours later.

Reacting to this, Senator Shehu Sani, who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the 8th National Assembly, criticised it as an attempt to revive Buhari’s political influence and mobilise support for the 2027 presidential election, cautioning against stirring Arewa sentiment without regard for the potential chaos it could cause.

Analysts believe that with both El-Rufai and Kwankwaso currently having grievances with the President Tinubu-led government, their meeting may be part of a strategic scheme to rally around a formidable candidate to unseat the president in 2027.

While President Tinubu has reportedly made overtures to woo Kwankwaso to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the former Kano governor’s political enmity with his successor and current national chairman of the party, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, is said to be among the obstacles.

It’s believed that Kwankwaso still harbours some misgivings towards President Tinubu over what those close to him called a betrayal of trust. After the 2023 presidential election, it was widely reported that Tinubu had offered Kwankwaso a ministerial position, but this did not materialise when the list was announced.

His recent ordeal with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), involving an alleged N2.5 billion pension fraud and campaign finances, has further complicated their relationship.

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The situation is similar with El-Rufai, who many believe was dealt a more embarrassing blow after he was nominated by the president for a cabinet position, but a last-minute security report led to his non-clearance by the National Assembly. His loyalists believe the president might have orchestrated the “embarrassment” to diminish the former Kaduna governor’s political clout.

EL-Rufai’s recent ordeal with his anointed successor, Governor Uba Sani, which has seen the state Assembly indict him in an alleged N432 billion misappropriation of state funds during his tenure from 2015 to 2023, adds to his troubles.

Before his meeting with Kwankwaso on Thursday, El-Rufai had been in the news over 2027 speculations recently. His meeting with some political leaders across different parties in March had fuelled speculations about his future political plans. He had earlier met with the national chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Shehu Musa Gabam, and had another meeting at the Abuja residence of Senator Abubakar Gada, a chieftain of the SDP, and other party leaders.

Also present were Senator Teslim Folarin, the APC gubernatorial candidate for Oyo State in the 2023 general elections, and Senator Nazif Suleiman, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Bauchi State, as well as Alhaji Aminu DanAgundi, a political heavyweight and kingmaker in Kano State. The meeting at Senator Gada’s home came a few days after El-Rufai hosted a gathering at his Abuja residence, which included the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, Kashim Ibrahim-Imam (a chieftain of the APC), Shehu Musa Gabam, and others, for a Ramadan iftar (the breaking of fast).

Some analysts believe that with President Tinubu’s desire to consolidate power before 2027, some aggrieved politicians may be using these meetings to stir the hornet’s nest, while others suggest the president may be wary of taking them lightly, considering how similar meetings led to the formation of the APC in 2014, ending the PDP’s 16-year uninterrupted rule.

Those in the latter category believe that the moves by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to lead a charge for a coalition ahead of the 2027 polls may serve as a launch pad for a major political upset.

Kwankwaso’s meeting with El-Rufai, a rescue mission, says political ally

Meanwhile, Hashimu Dungurawa, the chairman of the NNPP in Kano State and a close ally of Kwankwaso, the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, said the recent meeting between El-Rufai and Kwankwaso was a brotherly reunion of two progressive politicians.

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Commenting on a possible political alliance between the two, Dungurawa said it was too early to tell but admitted that the two are progressive politicians on a rescue mission.

He said, “Their target is to rescue the Northwest, rescue the northern part, and, by extension, rescue Nigeria.”

He noted that it was evident from their performances in various offices that both leaders have the people at heart and have many things in common, including integrity and the experience to lead the country to El Dorado.

The visit to El-Rufai, he said, is a testimony that northern political leaders are together and will collaborate to rescue Nigeria.

Commenting on the probe of Kwankwaso over the NNPP’s campaign funds by the EFCC, Dungurawa said those who brought the matter to the anti-graft agency have been expelled from the NNPP.

He said they were being used by political opponents to distract Kwankwaso, who is determined to sanitise the system to make it work for the people.

The chairman said no amount of blackmail will frustrate Kwankwaso, whose rising political profile is causing fear among his opponents.

Efforts to get a comment from the media aide to El-Rufai, Muyiwa Adekeye, on the agenda of the meeting between his principal and Kwankwaso were not successful. Also, Kwankwaso’s media aide, Saifullahi Hassan, was also unavailable.

El-Rufai, Kwankwaso meeting reinforces northerners move against Tinubu – Report

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Many Ondo APC members dump party for PDP

Published

4 days ago

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June 27, 2024

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Many Ondo APC members dump party for PDP

On Wednesday, members of the ruling All Progressives Congress in Ondo State announced their defection to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The defectors, hailing from the state’s 208 wards across its 18 local government areas, declared their readiness to support the PDP candidate, Agboola Ajayi, in the November 16 governorship election.

Ajayi, a former deputy governor of the state, along with the PDP state leadership, welcomed the defectors at the Akure town hall in the state capital on Wednesday.

During the event, Ajayi addressed the new members, highlighting the prevalent suffering, hunger, and anger in the state due to the alleged maladministration of the APC-led government. He promised that, if elected, he would offer a better alternative for the people of Ondo State, and urged the new members to collaborate with existing PDP members to secure a victory in the forthcoming election.

He said, “We are working very hard to regain the state and we need to be strategic about it in order to emerge victorious in the November 2024 election because the people of the state are looking up to us.

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“As new members, I assure you of all rights accrued to the rest of our members. We will ensure that you benefit from every opportunity regarding the welfare of members without sentiments.”

In his remark, the state Chairman of the PDP, Tola Alabere, said the umbrella of the PDP was wide enough to accommodate more new members, assuring the defectors of equal treatment and fairness.

Alabere said, “I am confident that his election will mark a rapid growth in the fortunes of the state and you are welcome to join this moving train as partners to reposition the state towards development.”

Speaking on behalf of the defectors, the former APC organising Secretary in Akure South LG, Akinwande Fayinminu, said they decided to leave the ruling party due to a lack of internal democracy.

“The APC lacks internal democracy, that is why they are factionalised, since they came to power they have not integrated many members of the party. They are operating the party like an occultic group. We can’t stay in such a party any longer,” Fayimimu stated.

Many Ondo APC members dump party for PDP

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Northern politicians wooing Buhari to unseat Tinubu, says Shehu Sani

Published

6 days ago

on

June 25, 2024

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Northern politicians wooing Buhari to unseat Tinubu, says Shehu Sani

 

Senator Shehu Sani has alleged that northern politicians are working hard to woo Muhammadu Buhari in a plot to remove President Bola Tinubu from office ahead of 2027 presidential election.

He said the recent visits by the politicians to ex-President Buhari are part of the calculated moves to unseat Tinubu in the 2027 general election.

Indeed, the ex-senator noted that the northern politicians were interested in resurrecting Buhari’s political charm and fanaticism to mobilise the gullible people in the North for a selfish reason.

Newstrends recalls that many top northern politicians have recently visited Buhari in his Daura home, Katsina State.

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Aminu Tambuwal, ex-governor of Sokoto, visited Buhari on June 22

About 24 hours after, Nasir el-Rufai, an ex-governor of Kaduna, also visited the former president.

In a statement on Monday, Sani said that though the visits were tagged as “Sallah homage,” they had a political undertone.

“The recent visits by some prominent northern politicians to Daura appear to be the usual Eid homage, but looking deeper and beyond the facade, it’s surreptitiously a new attempt to build a strong northern alliance using ex-President Buhari as a rallying point to challenge and evict President Tinubu’s government in 2027,” the statement read.

He also stated, “It’s a regrouping of Northern political forces for the next general election. A project that will eventually kiss the dust.

“They want to resurrect Buhari’s political charm and fanaticism and mobilise the gullible to another hollow and bewildering end.

“They want to stock up and light up the Arewa sentiment without considering the inferno it would eventually generate.”

Sani noted Buhari, a northerner who served as president for eight years, did not make a significant impact on the nation.

“They had power and wasted it. What do they want to do with it again?”

The former senator said, “A southerner is in power just for one year. It’s too early for the desperate and power-hungry northern elite to start plotting.

“The South never did that to Buhari. Their intended action has the capacity of ruining the democratic process and wrecking the fragile unity of the country when the south is awakened to this reality. Their obsession with power is condemnable.

“Opposition to Tinubu from the point of policies, promises and programs of his administration is a democratic right of any Nigerian.

“People have the right to speak and criticize the government. But attempts to whip up Northern sentiments to achieve their political ends is a dangerous political experiment and expedition at this material time.

“No serious southerner challenged Buhari for eight years. These power-drunk Northern politicians are dragging the region to a new political journey through a land mine.

“The Daura homage of the disgruntled and the obsessed will fail. Our people in the North should reject these faces and their plots.

“They have nothing to offer. From the abandoned Baro Port, Ajaokuta, Lake Chad basin refiling and Mambilla hydropower, they failed.”

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