The All Progressives Congress has become a thing of mockery in the media following the erection of a giant broom.
Fanny
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari and his party the All Progressives Congress have been mocked by a foreign journalist who took a swipe at the President over the Giant Broom’ monument constructed at the city gate in Abuja.
The female reporter identified as Fanny Facsor who works for DW News (German international channel, Deutsche Welle), visited the location of the giant broom, where she shaded the ruling party ahead of the election.
In her words, “This giant broom is made of metal and has always been the symbol of the APC party, Buhari’s party.” The symbol means nothing else than they are trying to sweep away corruption but that did not happen”.
The APC had said that the party is not responsible for the ‘Giant Broom’ monument mounted at the city gate.
APC publicity secretary, Mallam Lanre Isa-Onilu, said the ‘Giant Broom’ was erected by Nigerians who support the Buhari-led administration.
In reaction to the Peoples Democratic Party PDP’s condemnation of the structure, the APC spokesman told the opposition party to erect its own symbol.
A suspected thug and brother to a top politician in Delta state has been arrested with a pump action.
Security operatives have arrested the younger brother to a serving Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Member, Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Uviejorobor, representing Udu Constituency.
Information gathered revealed that the suspect allegedly tried to break into the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters, Asaba while armed late last night.
A pump action rifle was recovered from him.
The suspect is currently in police custody as investigation into the matter is underway.
Controversial Nigerian senator, Dino Melaye has said that he has escaped another assassination attempt on his life.
Dino Melaye has announced that he has managed to survive an assassination attempt on his life yet again. The controversial senator made the revelation on his Twitter page.
According to Melaye, the incident happened on 15th February.
Melaye revealed that some armed thugs clothed in camouflage fired at his convoy in the city of Lokoja. However, he manged to escape death by the help of God.
He wrote: "I thank the God of all Generations 4 surviving another assassination attempt yesterday. Hired thugs in camouflage fired at my Convoy in Lokoja.
"But yet again God proved Himself God. We shall not keep quiet, the Mal-administration and perfidy going on in Kogi and Nigeria must stop"
Some thugs imported from another state to Akwa Ibom to cone and vote for a candidate have been apprehended by security operatives.
It is the end of the road for some political thugs after being arrested by the police.
The thugs had stormed a community in Akwa Ibom state ahead of the 2019 election which was supposed to hold yesterday after they had been promised huge sums of money.
The men (about 7 in number) revealed that they were brought from Calabar, Cross River state by the Akwa Ibom state Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Monday Uko, the owner of Monty Suites in Uyo and Calabar.
The suspects who were arrested yesterday, claimed that they invited by the commissioner to “peacefully” monitor the election and notify him whenever they notice any corrupt practices such as bribing electorates.
They said they were going to a community for “peaceful” demonstration when they were approached by the youths who beat them up and dragged them to the police.
One of the suspects revealed that he was promised N15,000 for the exercise.
A Kenyan Governor who left her country and arrived Nigeria as election observer has express disappointment following the last minute postponement of the election.
Charity Ngilu
The Governor of Kitui in Kenya, Charity Ngilu among international observers for the Nigerian General Election left stranded after the exercise which was kick off on Saturday, February 16, was postponed has expressed deep dissatisaction with the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Ngilu who had arrived at a polling station was caught off guard by the last minute cancellation of the exercise by the electoral commission just five hours to opening of the polls at 6am.
The governor expressed shock at how the populous West African nation triviliased an important occasion as a presidential election.
“Ready at 6am for our observer mission but alas, the election was postponed at 2am. Five hours to opening of the polling stations. Really sad for Nigeria and democracy in Africa,” she lamented.
The electoral agency chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, said they reached the decision to postpone for the public good premised on free and fair polls.
Femi Fani-Kayode, the former minister of aviation has condemned the postponement of presidential and governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, on Saturday morning announced the shift of the 2019 presidential and governorship election by a week.
Mahmood attributed the postponement of all the scheduled elections to logistic and operational problems.
The decision by INEC to postpone the polls has been met with shock and scorn across the country.
Fani-Kayode, reacting to the development said President Muhammadu Buhari will still be unseated no matter how many times INEC postponed election.
The former minister on his Twitter page. Wrote; “Postpone the election as many times as you like, you are on your way out! And after you have been unseated you will be bundled to the International Criminal Court at the Hague to answer for mass murder, ethnic cleansing, genocide and crimes against humanity. Glory halellujah!”
dailypost
The Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP, has raised the alarm over an alleged plan by President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mahmood Yakubu.
CUPP also alleged that President Buhari wants to replace Yakubu with Amina Zakari as Acting Chairman under the guise of INEC inability to conduct the presidential and National Assembly elections today.
According to CUPP, Buhari wants to sack INEC Chairman for refusing to conduct staggered election today.
In a statement to DAILY POST on Saturday, by its National Spokesperson, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, CUPP said the Buhari-led APC sabotaged INEC distribution of materials and turned back to condemn the electoral umpire.
The political parties, however, warned that the move to sack INEC chairman will throw Nigeria into full electoral and constitutional crisis.
The statement reads:
“The Coalition of United Political Parties is alerting the world of plan and decision by President Muhammadu Buhari to announce the suspension of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, from office.
“The President has also pencilled down Amina Zakari for appointment as the Acting Chairman citing her experience as the oldest and most experienced National Commissioner of the Commission.
“The President is planning to use the excuse of inability to hold election today as a reason for the imminent suspension.
“Feigning ignorance of the real reasons behind the shift, the President in his earlier statement today did not have just a word for the shameful and despicable actions of security forces and the central Bank staff who in obedience to Presidency directives deliberately sabotaged the distribution of sensitive materials in selected states.
“We are aware that his hurried return to Abuja today from his home state, Katsina is to sack the INEC boss. But this should be resisted by all well meaning Nigerians and the international community.
“The sin of the INEC Chairman is that he refused to conduct staggered elections that will allow the President and his men to manipulate the process.
“The Presidency had mounted pressure on the Commission to conduct election today in states where there were no issues and postpone only the states with materials distribution issues. The INEC Chairman insisted on conducting the election at the same time hence warranting the postponement of the entire election.
“We hereby warn President Buhari that the position of the INEC Chairman is independent, hence, he cannot be removed from office via suspension. The 1999 Constitution in Section 157(1) states that the Chairman and members of the Commission may only be removed by the President acting on an address supported by two-thirds majority of the Senate that the person be removed for inability to discharge the functions of the office (whether arising from infirmity of Mind or body or any other cause) or for misconduct
“We are aware that the government itself sabotaged INEC distribution of materials and he is turning around to suspend the Chairman of INEC illegally.
“We are warning that any attempt to sack or suspend the INEC Chairman will only lead to electoral and constitutional crisis. The nation is still grappling with the illegality and unconstitutionality of the removal of the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the President wants to go down this ignoble path again.
“If the President has ears, let him hear.”
dailypost
There are millions of people who are eligible to vote in the homestate of President Muhammadu Buhari which is his stronghold.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Resident Electoral Commissioner of Katsina State, Jibril Ibrahim Zarewa, said 3,187,988 Permanent Voters Card, PVCs were distributed in the state.
Zarewa said the 3,187,988 representing 98 per cent collection were out of the 3,230,000 registered voters in the state. The Commissioner also said that 63,939 PVCs were yet to be collected and would be taken to the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN for safe keeping.
His words: “In Katsina State, there are 3,230,000 registered voters out whom 3,187,988 representing 98 pcollected the Permanent Voters Card, PVC. The balance yet to be collected is 63,939 representing two per cent. We have housed it and kept it till after the elections.”
The abductors of the APC member were said to have called a friend of the victim and demanded a ransom of N30m before she could be freed.
Unidentified gunmen, have abducted an All Progressives Congress women leader in Delta State, identified simply as Margaret.
Margaret is said to be a staunch supporter of the member representing Delta Central Senatorial District in the Senate, Mr Ovie Omo-Agege.
It was learnt that Margaret, a politician and trader from Efurun in the Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State, was abducted on her way back from a campaign rally at Orogun, in the Ughelli North Local Government Area of the state.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the 50-year-old woman, who contested the councillorship of her local government recently, was in a vehicle belonging to the unnamed director-general of Omo-Agege’s campaign team with three other party faithful.
While the other three occupants of the vehicle escaped from the abductors, Margaret was said to have been unlucky and was whisked away to an unknown destination.
The abductors of the APC member were said to have called a friend of the victim and demanded a ransom of N30m before she could be freed.
Explaining the plight of the victim, her friend and an APC faithful, who gave his name only as Commander, told our correspondent that Margaret’s captors had called him many times regarding the ransom payment.
Commander, an ex-naval officer, who said the abductors demanded N30m ransom, said he initially did not know that the women leader had been abducted until he called her telephone on Tuesday.
He stated, “When I called her number, a man picked the call and I asked him to give the phone to the owner.
“But the man identified himself as a kidnapper. He told me that he would give me two minutes to speak with the captive for me to know that she had been abducted. I was taken aback when I heard him say that. Anyway, I still called the line to speak with Margaret. She told me that it was true that she had been kidnapped.
“After the two minutes, they collected the phone from her and started negotiating with me. They told me to go and bring N30m to secure her release or they would kill her the next day, being Wednesday. I started begging them not to kill her and that they should allow me to contact her people to let them know of the development.”
Commander said the abductors still called him to find out how far he had gone to raise the ransom.
He noted that when the abductors called him again on Thursday, he begged them to spare her and that he was making frantic efforts to reach Margaret’s family and the party hierarchy in the state to handle the matter.
Commander added, “I went to her house on Ogbon Street in Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area, but did not find anybody in the place. I also reached out to our party ward chairman, Desire Odjebibo, but he told me that Senator Ovie Omo-Agege was aware of the abduction.
“I went further to reach out to the senator himself; he told me that he was aware of the incident and was working to ensure that the woman is released.”
He appealed to the abductors to spare Margaret, describing her as a simple and easy-going woman incapable of hurting anybody.
Efforts to get the Delta State Police Command to react to the development were futile as several calls made to its spokesman, Andrew Aniamaka’s telephone were neither answered nor was a message sent to him responded to as of the time of filing this report.
He promised that the administration of the party's presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, would be youth-driven.
The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, has described Saturday as a date with destiny.
He therefore urged the youth to seize the opportunity of the elections to move Nigeria forward.
Saraki, who is the Director-General of the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation, spoke at a town hall meeting organised for Kwara Central youths in Ilorin, Kwara State, on Thursday.
He promised that the administration of the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, would be youth-driven.
He said, “Saturday is a date with destiny. You should not be intimidated by presence of security agents. They will be there to provide security and protection for you. With your support, we will win and cause a turnaround in our national life.
“In 2015, number of unemployment people was 10 million, and it’s now 23 million. The present administration does not understand how to cause change in people and economy.
“Don’t make a mistake of voting for those that do not understand the dynamics because wrong choice can spell doom for the country.”