Gov. Ayo Fayose says Muazu’s resignation is for the interest of the party as PDP is forming a virile opposition after the transition come may 29th.
Muazu’s said after much persuasions from party members, he resigned as the party chairman for the interest of the party in other for the party to forge ahead and become stronger
The All Progressives Congress on Sunday dismissed as mere fiction, a list of ministers being circulated by some online journalists.
According to the APC, the party has nothing to do with the said list and urged Nigerians to wait for the authentic one which would be made public through the appropriate channels.
This was contained in a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Abuja.
Mohammed said, “Nigerians should disregard these lists and await the authentic list which will be communicated through the appropriate channels at the right time.”
The APC also cautioned the media against using statements attributing actions to the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, without clarification.
The party urged the media to clarify with the authentic officials of the party and the Buhari Campaign Organisation any issue having to do with the actions of the President-elect, in order to avoid presenting falsehood as facts.
APC said, “The appeal becomes necessary following recent media reports on the actions which the President-elect will purportedly embark upon once he is sworn into office.
“Various people have been quoted in the media on what the President-elect will do or will not do once he assumes office.
“The truth is that these people do not speak for the President-elect, hence the need for the media to clarify such issues with the Chairman of the party, its National Publicity Secretary or the spokesman for the Buhari Campaign Organisation. These officials are always available to clarify issues.”
The party noted that the ongoing transition is a delicate period that fifth columnists could capitalise on to cause disaffection or overheat the polity, hence the need for all stakeholders to be extra-cautious and to put the national interest above all other interests.
Emir of Kano reveals that under Goodluck Jonathan’s rule more than half a billion dollars in oil revenues were disappearing every month in the unknown direction. Thus, up to $40 billion could have been diverted from treasure during five years of GEJ rule.
You can suspend a man, but you cannot suspend the truth, told the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, reacting to the results of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPS) audit conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
In his article in the Financial Times titled “Unanswered questions on Nigeria’s missing oil revenue billions” Emir of Kano reminded that he was fired by Goodluck Jonathan from the post of the head of Central Bank of Nigeria for exactly the same thing PricewaterhouseCoopers specialists did – questioning where around $ 20 billion in oil revenues have gone instead of the national treasury.
Emir Muhammad Sanusi II stated in his article that it raises serious questions that should be addressed to the outgoing government officials of highest level including Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke –and he also says Diezani Alison-Madueke doesn’t have anything to tell in defense. In case these officials are guilty of embezzlement they must be charged, insists Muhammad Sanusi II, claiming that “Nigerians did not vote for an amnesty for anyone”.
“Contrary to the claims of petroleum minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, the audit report doesn’t exonerate the NNPC“, claims Emir of Kano, “it [PwC audit report] establishes that the gap between the company’s oil revenues between January 2012 and July 2013 and cash remitted to the government for the same period was $18.5bn.”
Emir of Kano also revealed one of the embezzlement schemes which made it possible to divert several billion dollars in the unknown direction.
The so-called kerosene subsidy scam included $3.4 billion withheld by NNPC to pay for subsidies on kerosene to bring it to a price of 50 naira per litre. But common Nigerians have never seen any effect to that, having to pay up to 140 naira a litre, because this subsidy on kerosene simply didn’t exist in the 2012 and 2013 budgets.
The other way of diverting money from national treasure was through the NNPC’s subsidiary company, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company which paid only $ 100 million for oil assets worth at least $6.8bn.
“It was extracting crude worth billions of dollars but yielding very little revenue for the treasury”, told Emir of Kano, claiming also that “of the $18.5bn in revenues [for 19 months] that the state oil company [NNPC] did not send to the government, about $12.5bn appears by my calculations to have been diverted”. Thus, at least $0.65 billion were diverted monthly. Hence, it is easy to calculate that up to $40 billion could have been diverted during the outgoing president’s five-year term, if that trend was continuous throughout his rule.
Earlier Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has spoken exclusively to Al Jazeera following his sacking by Goodluck Jonathan.
“I’m not afraid [to be jailed]… the only way this country will change is if people stop being intimidated by the state,” he said.
Sanusi, who was suspended by the President Jonathan over allegations of misconduct, has rejected the claims against him, insisting he was removed for highlighting alleged widespread corruption in the oil and gas sector.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) governors forum might be heading for a show-down with the president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, as the retired general has rejected the governors’ and their newly elected counterparts’ plans to submit names of their preferred candidates, to be considered and possibly picked as ministers in the cabinet of the incoming administration.
The Progressives Governors Forum, as the governors are popularly called, visited Buhari four days ago in Abuja to pledge their unalloyed loyalty to the president-elect. Led by Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state, they also used the opportunity to table some of their demands to Buhari.
At the meeting, the governors requested to leave their list of possible ministers with Buhari, but their request was rebuffed by the president-elect who reminded them that the Constitution does not compel him to take a list of ministerial nominees from them.
The president-elect also refused to accept the request for a bailout for the states that have been unable to pay their workers salaries, with a source saying Buhari rejected the proposal. He told them that he was aware the federal government did not owe the states their allocations.
The source close to the discussion told the Nigerian Tribune that Buhari told the governors that those of them in their second terms do not have any excuse about the state of government finances, as they have all been collecting allocations from the Federal Government
source said: “The governors practically went out of the visit with their tails between their legs. The General first threw aside the request that he grant bailout to the states. He told them that the governors going for second term in office cannot complain about the state of the economy, having collected all their allocations to date from the Federal Government. He ruled out the possibility of bailout.
“The General was also very unequivocal when he was told that the governors want to submit a ministerial list to him. He clearly said he cannot go into that discussion. He insisted that the Constitution does not mandate him to collect such list from the governors and that the state chief executives should concentrate on sourcing good materials that would help them run the states adequately.”
The source quoted Buhari as saying that “I do not think we can discuss that issue of Ministerial list. The Constitution clearly does not mandate me to take a list from the governors. To me, the governors should concentrate on getting good hands to help them in discharging their duties in the states.”
Among those who visited Buhari were the Kwara state governor, AbdulFatah Ahmed, the Osun state governor, Rauf Aregbesola, his Borno State counterpart, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, the Kaduna state governor-elect, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the Sokoto state governor-elect and the current Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, the Nassarawa state governor, Alhaji Tanko Al-Makura and the Kano state governor-elect, Alhaji Usman Ganduje.
Meanwhile, the senator-elect and chairman of Silverbird Group, Ben Murray-Bruce, recently stated that Buhari will soon wish he had not won the presidential election if he does not take serious measures to improve Nigeria’s economy.
As the struggle for the speakership in the Senate and the House of Representatives intensifies, Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano state has warned the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to act fast before they get beaten at their own game by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
According to Governor Kwankwaso, the delay by the leadership of the APC to zone positions in the National Assembly leadership may work in favour of the PDP, Premium Times reports.
The two-term governor, who was also elected senator in the March 28 polls, said he had feelers that some APC lawmakers were already working for the PDP.
“If the APC and indeed the president-elect allow PDP to snatch victory at the National Assembly, then it will be an unusual scenario which they should pay for,” he said while addressing journalists on Sunday.
Kwankwaso also said he would continue to advise his successor and current deputy, Umar Ganduje, when the latter is sworn in as governor on May 29. He also said he has no fears about the opposition’s decision to challenge his election at the tribunal.
Last month, the governor advised the APC to make its position on zoning known in good time in order to avoid an unnecessary crisis.
“My advice to my party is that they should quickly do it. Those of us who witnessed what happened in 2011, I don’t believe that the party should waste any more time. Because the implication of delay is that the people in some zones will go round the country mobilising support for themselves and if the zoning decides to come late, they will be so strong in their campaign that they can disobey the party just as we saw during the Tambuwal case in 2011.
“Tambuwal went round; we gave him our words that we would support him and when the zoning came late, we had already committed ourselves and the party at the end of the day was humiliated because many of us didn’t want to change our position as we had already promised to support him. Things were not the same again in the PDP. I believe that the man who got the ticket got more appreciation from the opposition rather than those in the party who supported him. I don’t want us to repeat that mistake. I think it is high time we finished the zoning so that anybody can aspire to become whatever is being zoned to his place,” he said.
The APC won majority seats in both chambers of the National Assembly and is expected to produce the leadership of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, positions held by the current ruling PDP since 1999.
Before the March 28 National Assembly election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) enjoyed the majority status in the red chamber with 64 members while the APC had 41. Other parties, like the Labour Party, the Accord Party and the Social Democratic Party, shared the remaining five seats.
But following the declaration of the results, the APC will now have 64 senators, the PDP 45, and the Labour Party, one.
However, the rules of the National Assembly do not make party affiliation a pre-condition for seeking leadership position. Over one month after securing the majority seats, however, the APC is yet to agree on which zones of the country would produce what positions in the National Assembly.
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, and the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) on Sunday said he will not resign despite the threat of some members to form a faction of the party.
Muazu, who spoke through Mr. Tony Amadi, his Special Adviser on Media, in an interview with Punch, said that he would not resign despite the threat of some members to form a faction of the party.
The national chairman said that the PDP would be buried if he should resign.
In a swift reaction to his statement, Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, said, “The PDP cannot break under any circumstance. Secondly, Mu’azu as chairman or not, cannot and will not break the PDP. Mu’azu is not a force enough to break PDP.”
“How can a man who cannot win his ward, local government and state say the PDP will be buried if he resigns?” he asked.
But Mu’azu insisted that he would not resign. He said:“The only reason Mu’azu doesn’t want to resign is because if he does, those who want the PDP buried will succeed.”
Mu’azu’s adviser said the national chairman was not the problem of PDP, adding that what should be the priority of genuine party leaders should be how to rebuild it.
Mu’azu asked, “Why are these people trying to create problems for themselves and the outgoing President? The President has said let us sheathe our swords; that is why we have not said anything for the past one week and we obeyed the President. He is our leader; why are they doing this?”
Rumours are rife that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors have concluded plans to dump the party over the refusal of the National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, to throw in the towel amidst protests from the state chief executives.
However there were reports of a possible break-up of the party in the nearest future as the governors seem to have had a enough and are willing to form a new party.
The former ruling party has been faced with a crisis following the outcome from the 2015 general elections, with many senior members of the party blaming him for the loss, and demanding his resignation.
The national chairman has repeatedly fired back at his critics insisting he would not resign despite the pressure being mounted on him to do so.
The president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, said he would kill corruption before it kills Nigeria after his inauguration on May 29, 2015. He also urged state governors and other public officials to follow his example.
Mr. Buhari made this statement during a courtesy visit of members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Akwa Ibom Chapter, in Abuja on Thursday.
According to him, the nation’s problems were not ethnic or religious, but corruption. He said tackling corruption is third on his agenda, after insecurity and unemployment.
“We have to get the issue of the economy right to make sure the jobs are made available and we should try to kill corruption before corruption kills Nigeria.
“Let us practice what we preach as well, whoever wins as a governor too has a lot of work to do because corruption is fast becoming a culture and to try to caution people is not an easy task but it must be done,” he said.
During the meeting, Buhari encouraged Umana Umana, the Akwa Ibom State APC gubernatorial candidate that lost to Udom Emmanuel of the PDP, by citing his three political struggles in court.
“I have appealed three times and arrived at the Supreme Court not because I believe the system had changed but this time around, in your own case, you were still denied even with the use of PVCs and the card readers,” he advised.
READ MORE: http://www.naij.com/434911-buhari-places-corruption-third-in-his-to-do-list.html
Rilwan Akiolu, the Oba of Lagos, is in the news again, this time threatening to name those who worked against the success of Muhammadu Buhari, the president-elect.
Oba Rilwan Akiolu
According to Channels TV, the traditional ruler, who has been recently under fire over his anti-Igbo comments, made another threat as he spoke at the occasion to mark 2,900 days of the Babatunde Fashola administration.
“A lot of things have been happening now. Some people have been telling Buhari all sorts of things. Awujale and I have decided to meet Buhari because Lagos and South West states must benefit from the Buhari administration.
“People, who are now telling Buhari all sorts of things, are sycophants. They did not want Buhari to emerge winner in the election. These people know themselves. When it gets to a stage, I will name them one after the other. I am not afraid of human beings.”
The same people, he contended, have started pitting the duo of Tinubu and Buhari against each other the same way they set the former against Fashola, This Day adds.
Governor Fashola for his part apologized to those who might have been hurt as a result of his decisions.
“To those that I might have offended, I apologise. For 2,900 days, I was called to make decisions every hour. I made decisions through treating millions of files on issues affecting residents of Lagos. I took those decisions in the best interest of the state. The decisions were taken based on the fact as presented to me.
“I could not have got all the decisions right. It is impossible. To those that we have not reached, please bear with us, the work will never finish. I am sure that our new governor will continue from where I stopped. This is the time to prepare for the change of baton. With the support of the residents of Lagos, your taxes, understanding and perseverance, honest criticism and prayers we may not have come this far.”
It should be recalled that speaking in the course of the launch of his book, after the governorship election, Akiolu insisted that Jimi Agbaje (PDP) would “never be the governor”. He noted, however, that Akinwunmi Ambode (APC) would perform “very well” adding:
“I told many people that Bola Tinubu planted the seed, Fashola came and watered the seed and it started germinating in geometrical progressions. We have just started.”
READ MORE: http://www.naij.com/434974-akiolu-threatens-to-name-buharis-enemies.html
The national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, has sneaked out of the country to the United Kingdom in order to stave off efforts by PDP governors to remove him from office.
Though President Goodluck Jonathan is said to be aware of Mu’azu’s trip to the UK, sources told The Herald that Mu’azu sneaked out of the country on Saturday to relieve himself from the pressure developing within his party.
Some party members, however, believe Mu’azu’s decision to leave the country at the peak of the crisis confronting his leadership was meant to frustrate the plot to remove him from office.
Mu’azu Heads To The UK As Governors Push For His Exit
A member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP revealed that other key members would soon begin to disappear from Abuja as part of a strategic plan to frustrate those bent on effecting their removal from office
He said the plot to remove Mu’Azu and also sack the NWC will not see the light of the day when no key official of the party is around to answer accusations being leveled against them.
There has been pressure on the PDP by some top members of the party to convene the NWC meeting of the PDP, to decide the fate of the party.
Some members of the PDP including state governors had been angling for the removal of Mu’azu, because of what they describe as his failure to lead the party to victory during the recent presidential election.
Mu’azu had fired back at his critics insisting he would not resign despite the pressure being mounted on him to do so.
Meanwhile, a former PDP governorship candidate in Imo state, Senator IfeanyiAraraume, has accused the party of having no respect for democracy in Nigeria.
Despite that fact that the victorious All Progressive Congress (APC) has openly told political gladiators intending to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to remain in their party, APC has reportedly sent party chiefs, senators as emissaries after Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma- Egba.
APC Goes After Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma- Egba
Daily Sun on Sunday reported that Ndoma- Egba, is under heavy pressure from the country’s former opposition party to defect from the beaten PDP to the APC.
Ndoma- Egba, who is a third-term senator, is currently representing Cross River Central Senatorial District in the Seventh Senate.
It was last month reported that the supporters of the senator dumped the ruling PDP for the APC, hoping that the senator who enjoys a cult-like followership would follow suit.
The senate leader in reaction to the move last month restated his support for the PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan before the March 28 presidential election that the PDP lost to the APC.
Meanwhile, Daily Sun correspondent at the weekend revealed that top chieftains of the APC were mounting a lot of pressure on the senate leader to dump the PDP.
It was gathered that some of Ndoma- Egba’s former colleagues, especially from the South- West, North-West and the North-Central regions, have being asked by the APC “to work on him.”
Just two weeks ago, a former colleague of the senate leader in the Fifth Senate, who was a vital instrument to Buhari’s victory reportedly met with Ndoma- Egba in Abuja, with other serving senators prevailing on the senate leader to defect to APC.
But, it was further gathered that the senate leader refused to yield to their demands following a revelation from one of the senators, who did not want to be named.
“The senate leader did not give us any firm commitment on his next move. He only said as a loyal party man and considering his status, both in the party and in the Senate chamber, he cannot just take any decision without consulting widely,” the senator said.
Ndoma-Egba, who was reminded that his supporters and other members of his political family in Cross River State have defected to the APC said, “I have to consult. I just cannot take any decision without consultations.”
When this reporter contacted the Senate leader on his mobile phone on Sunday, Ndoma-Egba neither denied nor ascertains APC’s alleged request.
“Thank you for this call. I have nothing to say right now,” Ndoma-Egba was quoted to have said on phone.
The call for the defection of the senate leader might not be unconnected with his recent comment about the disastrous outing of the PDP in the just concluded 2015 general elections.
Senator Victor Ndoma Egba recently revealed that the PDP is paying a very high prize for acts of impunity, mental laziness and the inability of the leadership of the party to think.
Meanwhile, following the victory recorded by the APC in the March 28 and 29 elections, the party did not only secure a new president elect but also obtained a majority status in the 109 membership Senate.
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