Politics

Obasanjo not a moral guide, says Afenifere Renewal Group

Published

1 year ago

March 2, 2023

Olusegun Obasanjo

Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) and Yoruba Assembly yesterday urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ignore the call by former President Olusegun Obasanjo for the cancellation of last Saturday’s presidential election.

Both groups warned the erstwhile President against undue interference in the constitutional responsibilities of the electoral agency as an independent agency under the law.

They said there should be no room for annulment, no basis for interim government and no reason to incite the military against the democratic process.

In a statement, titled: We Must Not Tread This Path Again, ARG Chairman Olawale Oshun, who reacted to Obasanjo’s tirade on the presidential election, said the former President always presented himself as the only Nigerian patriot whose views must hold sway all the time.

He said: “Whether in his intervention in the 1993 presidential elections that yielded MKO Abiola and in this particular instance of the yet-to-be concluded 2023 elections, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo lacks the moral right to serve as a guiding beacon.”

Oshun, the Chief Whip of the House of Representatives in the Third Republic, described Obasanjo as a politically partisan Nigerian who cannot, at the same time, be pretending to be the father of the nation.

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He said: “We will be justified to impute motive and suggest that this 2023 attempt at wanting to render the elections inchoate as that of 1993 could just be that Gen. Obasanjo would want till his passing to remain the only Yoruba man to ever attain leadership of the country.”

Oshun recalled that Obasanjo’s hand was heavy in the institution of the failed 1993 Interim National Government (ING), a process that ultimately led to the restoration of the military, the coming of Gen. Sani Abacha regime and ultimately to the death of President-elect Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, Obasanjo’s townsman.

The statement reads: “We, speaking for Yoruba people, call for the completion of the 2023 electoral processes, starting with the already held national elections and ending with the state executive and legislative elections.

“If Gen. Obasanjo succeeded in intervening in the elections held under him, he should at least grant the present President the full prerogative of wishing to bequeath a free and fair election in our country. We pray he is able to do that to the end.

“We recognise, however, that more than ever before, Nigeria is at a crossroads and that whoever emerged of the candidates, has a great responsibility to set the ship of nationhood on the right path.

“We, as a people, call on the incoming government to set itself on the task of restoring unity of all the peoples of the country. This, however, has to be predicated on building a nation where all the diverse people are equitable members in the country. This can only be precipitated with a wholesome reform and Restructure of the Constitution of the country. We no longer can pretend that the 1999 Constitution can see or aid the peace, amity and development of the country. That Constitution cannot.

“For now, let the 2023 electoral processes be completed and any party or candidate can, as provided for in the Electoral Laws, seek justice in our courts. Whoever emerges, however, has great unifying tasks ahead, if Nigeria is to remain one.

“We also add that the military should completely steer clear of whatever temporary impasse that could occur as this is not unusual in all democracies. The military should also turn a deaf ear to any possible incitement, be it from retired Generals or their rank and file.

“The world has moved on and the Yoruba people will resist with other Nigerians, were any misguided intervention to take place in our polity.”

The Nation

Related Topics:Afenifere ARG Featured Renewal Group

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Politics

Senate in rowdy session as lawmakers quarrel over sitting arrangement

Published

2 days ago

April 30, 2024

Trends Admin

Senate in rowdy session as lawmakers quarrel over sitting arrangement

The Senate broke into a rowdy session on Tuesday after three senators engaged in a heated argument over arrangement of seats.

Danjuma Goje, senator representing Gombe Central, and Sahabi Yau, senator representing Zamfara North, expressed displeasure over the seats assigned to them.

They complained to Opeyemi Bamidele, the majority leader.

The Senate is currently using its refurbished chamber, two years after renovation began on it.

According to the standing rules of the upper legislative chamber, senators should sit in order of rank.

The Easter and Sallah recess was postponed to accommodate the completion of the renovation of both chambers of the national assembly.

However, while Senate President Godswill Akpabio read his welcome address, the heated argument among the three senators began.

It was learnt that Goje and Yau, sitting on the second row on the right side of the aisle, did not like the seats allocated to them by the senate committee on services.

Sunday Karimi, senator representing Kogi west, is chair of the senate services committee.

The four-term senators subsequently insisted that they should have been assigned seats on the front row on the extreme right — opposite the row of the majority leader and the deputy senate president.

After the argument, Kawu Sumaila, senator representing Kano South, called for a “point of order” which was ignored.

Thereafter, Bamidele moved a motion for a closed-session.

Politics

Ganduje drums support for Tinubu, says no vacancy in Aso Rock 2027

Published

2 days ago

April 30, 2024

Trends Admin

Ganduje drums support for Tinubu, says no vacancy in Aso Rock 2027

National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, says members of the opposition are trying to discredit the Bola Tinubu-led administration in their desperation for Aso Rock in 2027.
He however declares that there is no vacancy in Aso Rock in 2027.

Ganduje said the administration of President Tinubu had been contending with accumulation of many years of neglect, policy summersaults and other disjointed decisions by previous administrations.

The APC national chairman gave the position while addressing supporters and support groups at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja.

Ganduje urged the APC supporters and groups to be committed to the party so that it could continue to forge ahead.

He said the leadership of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and its chieftains were afraid, having been defeated in the last general election and already foreseeing another defeat.

Ganduje said the NNPP elements were now engaged in a propaganda campaign against the leadership of APC.

He said, “They are so afraid because we are consolidating. They are so afraid all over the country because we are receiving new entrants into our party. That is creating fears in their minds.

“They are already eyeing 2027, but at that time, there is no vacancy. Only our President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will, Insha Allah, continue as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Ganduje claimed the leadership of NNPP and its chieftains in Kano State were sponsoring protests and campaigning for his removal as APC national chairman.

Politics

Another PDP bigwig dumps party

Published

3 days ago

April 29, 2024

Trends Admin

Dr Cosmos Ndukwe

Another PDP bigwig dumps party

Dr Cosmos Ndukwe, one of the key opposition Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidates for 2023, has resigned from the party.

This is stated in a letter written by the former Deputy Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly to the Chairman of his Item C Ward in Bende Local Government Area, which was copied to the party’s State Chairman, Hon. Asiforo Okere, and the Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum.

The former Chief of Staff to the Governor and Commissioner for Works under ex-Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu claimed “personal reasons, current commitments, and aspirations” in his decision to leave the PDP.

He praised the party for providing him with the opportunity to enter the political spotlight and wished it success in the state.

The letter posted on his Facebook page on Monday morning read, “I hope this letter finds you well. It is with a heavy heart that I compose this correspondence to tender my resignation as a member and stakeholder in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Abia State, effective immediately.

“My decision to resign as a member within the party stems from personal reasons and reflections on my current commitments and aspirations.

“After careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that potting out of PDP is the best course of action for me at this time.

“I am immensely grateful for the opportunities that the PDP has afforded me during my tenure as a Councillor, Deputy Chairman Local Government, Chief of Staff to Executive Governor of Abia State, Deputy Speaker Abia 6th House of Assembly and Presidential Aspirant PDP 2023.