From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
The former governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie- Oyegun , yesterday in Kano confessed that one of the reasons behind the APC’s visit to the G7 Peoples Democratic Governors was to destabilize the ruling party and undermine their efforts at reconciling their internal dispute.
The former governor, who led a high powered delegation of his party to Kano to apologize to the former Governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau explained that: “When the party went round to talk to those we think may see our point of view; that was a strategic move. It is unfortunate that it rubbed off adversely on our original party leader, the heart and soul of the APC”
He added: “Why did they do it? Why did we do it? Based on sudden information, it was necessary to move quickly before other persons took over to see these governors. Why do we want to see them?- whether they join or not, I pray they join- but the key thing was to destabilize in very , very strong way, the PDP and make reconciliation very difficult, much more difficult within the PDP’
He further explained their action, saying, “Whether we like it or not, they are the government of the federation. They have tremendous resources at their disposal. And we are the ones trying to dislodge them and so every ammunition that we can have; we should quickly apply it and deploy it to save this nation”
The delegation that berthed in Kano State for the public apology included the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Masari, former Minister of Labour, Alhaji Musa Gwadabe and former Chairman of APP, Alhaji Yusuf Ali and the Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Abduliaziz Yari .
While apologizing to the former governor of Kano State, Chief Oyegun recalled that, “Immediately, it became known that there was anger in Kano against some of the event that was going on, three of us with one of the national leaders rushed….. – the Sarduana(Shekarau) happened to be in Abuja at that time-
We rushed to his house and we pleaded with him and he was very understanding. A leader that he is, he told us that it is not an issue of Governor Shekarau. No! He told us that he leads people and he would want the people to hear for themselves the kind of explanation that we gave to him. That is why we are here.
“ I want to give you every assurance. Let me assure you that under no circumstance would the national party take for granted , not to talk of deliberately undermining the APC in Kano and its leader.
“The party wants us to give you that assurance that under no circumstances, let me repeat that, that under no circumstance are we going to turn our back on the APC in Kano or its leadership.
“The reason is very obvious. One, Kano is important to us and critical to the APC. Secondly, anybody who turns its back on one of those who constructed the APC- and I want to tell you today that one of the major architects of the success of the APC negotiation is Governor Shekarau”
On the PDP, he stated that, “Let me go on and emphasize that the struggle to dislodge PDP must not be underplayed. It is a struggle for which all of us have to be ready to make sacrifices, painful sacrifices because the benefit of victory are tremendous, they are endless”
In his response, Mallam Ibrahim Ibrahim Shekarau welcomed the visitors and accepted their public apology, saying that they are one family and would continue to forge ahead. He said he was not against anybody joining APC.
Shekarau who was surrounded by virtually all the leaders of the ANPP wing of the APC stated that, “ No matter how smart you are or your politicking, there is no how you can dislodge the structures of ANPP, CPC and A.C.N that came together to form APC in Kano State. We have gone far and we are doing underground work and no devil can dislodge us”.
He added” Yes the mistake has been made and nobody is above mistake but not that I refused to follow them to Government House, Kano. Anywhere we want to go, we must have reason for going there and the reason must be known before going. APC’s door is open to all those who are willing to join and I’m not against anybody joining.”
The former governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie- Oyegun , yesterday in Kano confessed that one of the reasons behind the APC’s visit to the G7 Peoples Democratic Governors was to destabilize the ruling party and undermine their efforts at reconciling their internal dispute.
The former governor, who led a high powered delegation of his party to Kano to apologize to the former Governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau explained that: “When the party went round to talk to those we think may see our point of view; that was a strategic move. It is unfortunate that it rubbed off adversely on our original party leader, the heart and soul of the APC”
He added: “Why did they do it? Why did we do it? Based on sudden information, it was necessary to move quickly before other persons took over to see these governors. Why do we want to see them?- whether they join or not, I pray they join- but the key thing was to destabilize in very , very strong way, the PDP and make reconciliation very difficult, much more difficult within the PDP’
He further explained their action, saying, “Whether we like it or not, they are the government of the federation. They have tremendous resources at their disposal. And we are the ones trying to dislodge them and so every ammunition that we can have; we should quickly apply it and deploy it to save this nation”
The delegation that berthed in Kano State for the public apology included the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Masari, former Minister of Labour, Alhaji Musa Gwadabe and former Chairman of APP, Alhaji Yusuf Ali and the Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Abduliaziz Yari .
While apologizing to the former governor of Kano State, Chief Oyegun recalled that, “Immediately, it became known that there was anger in Kano against some of the event that was going on, three of us with one of the national leaders rushed….. – the Sarduana(Shekarau) happened to be in Abuja at that time-
We rushed to his house and we pleaded with him and he was very understanding. A leader that he is, he told us that it is not an issue of Governor Shekarau. No! He told us that he leads people and he would want the people to hear for themselves the kind of explanation that we gave to him. That is why we are here.
“ I want to give you every assurance. Let me assure you that under no circumstance would the national party take for granted , not to talk of deliberately undermining the APC in Kano and its leader.
“The party wants us to give you that assurance that under no circumstances, let me repeat that, that under no circumstance are we going to turn our back on the APC in Kano or its leadership.
“The reason is very obvious. One, Kano is important to us and critical to the APC. Secondly, anybody who turns its back on one of those who constructed the APC- and I want to tell you today that one of the major architects of the success of the APC negotiation is Governor Shekarau”
On the PDP, he stated that, “Let me go on and emphasize that the struggle to dislodge PDP must not be underplayed. It is a struggle for which all of us have to be ready to make sacrifices, painful sacrifices because the benefit of victory are tremendous, they are endless”
In his response, Mallam Ibrahim Ibrahim Shekarau welcomed the visitors and accepted their public apology, saying that they are one family and would continue to forge ahead. He said he was not against anybody joining APC.
Shekarau who was surrounded by virtually all the leaders of the ANPP wing of the APC stated that, “ No matter how smart you are or your politicking, there is no how you can dislodge the structures of ANPP, CPC and A.C.N that came together to form APC in Kano State. We have gone far and we are doing underground work and no devil can dislodge us”.
He added” Yes the mistake has been made and nobody is above mistake but not that I refused to follow them to Government House, Kano. Anywhere we want to go, we must have reason for going there and the reason must be known before going. APC’s door is open to all those who are willing to join and I’m not against anybody joining.”
D –Day in Anambra: 23 candidates battle to succeed Obi
BY VINCENT UJUMADU, Awka
THE long awaited 2013 governorship election in Anambra will take place today in 4,608 polling units in 326 political wards in the 21 local government areas of the state. Twenty three governorship candidates are vying to be elected to succeed Governor Peter Obi whose tenure would end on March 17, 2014.
Altogether, 1,784,536 registered voters are expected to vote in the election. Figures released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, showed that 52 percent of the registered voters are between 18 and 35 years; 25 percent in the age bracket of 36-50 years, while those between the ages of 51-69 years constitute 18 percent. Voters above 70 years constitute five percent.
Also, female registered voters are 900,701, or about 50.5 percent, while their male counterpart account for 49.5 percent.
A
coalition of over 400 civil society groups under the umbrella of the
Transition Monitoring Group, TMG, has already deployed over 600 election
observers to all the 21 local government areas in the state to monitor
the election.
To ensure adequate security during the exercise, the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Abubakar has appointed the Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG, in charge of operations, Philemon Leha, a former commissioner of police in the state to take charge, with three other Commissioners of Police that would be posted to the three senatorial zones of the state, to assist him.
The three commis-sioners of police will also work with deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners of police, in addition to a large number of security operatives that would be assigned to all the polling units.
Abubakar warned during his interaction with INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega and candidates and chairmen of the various political parties in Awka on Wednesday that nobody would be allowed to use his police orderly or escort today, adding that any police personnel found flouting the order would be dismissed from the force.
“If anybody breaks the law, we shall break him. If you have no business with the election, please stay in your house. We beg the people of this state to allow peace to reign. Do not take anything like walking stick or umbrella while going to vote because they constitute dangerous weapons. There should also be no fishing anywhere in AnambraState as the Nigerian Navy will not allow anybody on the waters,” he further warned.
With the closure of all Anambra borders from 5pm yesterday to 4 pm tomorrow, the rumoured influx of people suspected to be thugs from the neighbouring states appears to have been taken care of by security operatives. It was also gathered yesterday that security operatives have encircled all the suspected trouble makers who had earlier entered the state and lodging in various hotels in Awka and Onitsha.
As one police officer put it, “these people may have to remain in their hotel rooms throughout the period of this election because they will be fishing in troubled waters if they attempt to leave wherever they are staying now during the period of this election.
According to him, those who brought them into AnambraState may soon realize that they have wasted their resources because they won’t have any opportunity to do any dirty job.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Jega has also said the controversial polling units hitherto located in a thick forest in Oyi Local Government Area were relocated to Nteje also in Oyi, ahead of today’s election, stating that the highest number of the alleged multiple registration during the voters’ registration exercise took place at the forest polling units.
He said: “When we did the voters’ registration in January, we found four polling units located at Oyi. We had to move them to Nteje where people live.’’
Jega said though the final register for the election which was issued to the political parties had minor corrections, the final figure for today’s election would not in any way be flawed as the errors found on the voters register had been corrected.
He assured registered voters that their names would not miss in the register adding, “if you have a voters card and your name is not in the register, it means you are involved in double registration and you will be arrested.
THE long awaited 2013 governorship election in Anambra will take place today in 4,608 polling units in 326 political wards in the 21 local government areas of the state. Twenty three governorship candidates are vying to be elected to succeed Governor Peter Obi whose tenure would end on March 17, 2014.
Altogether, 1,784,536 registered voters are expected to vote in the election. Figures released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, showed that 52 percent of the registered voters are between 18 and 35 years; 25 percent in the age bracket of 36-50 years, while those between the ages of 51-69 years constitute 18 percent. Voters above 70 years constitute five percent.
Also, female registered voters are 900,701, or about 50.5 percent, while their male counterpart account for 49.5 percent.
Ngige,Obiano,Ubah and Nwoye
To ensure adequate security during the exercise, the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Abubakar has appointed the Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG, in charge of operations, Philemon Leha, a former commissioner of police in the state to take charge, with three other Commissioners of Police that would be posted to the three senatorial zones of the state, to assist him.
The three commis-sioners of police will also work with deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners of police, in addition to a large number of security operatives that would be assigned to all the polling units.
Abubakar warned during his interaction with INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega and candidates and chairmen of the various political parties in Awka on Wednesday that nobody would be allowed to use his police orderly or escort today, adding that any police personnel found flouting the order would be dismissed from the force.
“If anybody breaks the law, we shall break him. If you have no business with the election, please stay in your house. We beg the people of this state to allow peace to reign. Do not take anything like walking stick or umbrella while going to vote because they constitute dangerous weapons. There should also be no fishing anywhere in AnambraState as the Nigerian Navy will not allow anybody on the waters,” he further warned.
With the closure of all Anambra borders from 5pm yesterday to 4 pm tomorrow, the rumoured influx of people suspected to be thugs from the neighbouring states appears to have been taken care of by security operatives. It was also gathered yesterday that security operatives have encircled all the suspected trouble makers who had earlier entered the state and lodging in various hotels in Awka and Onitsha.
As one police officer put it, “these people may have to remain in their hotel rooms throughout the period of this election because they will be fishing in troubled waters if they attempt to leave wherever they are staying now during the period of this election.
According to him, those who brought them into AnambraState may soon realize that they have wasted their resources because they won’t have any opportunity to do any dirty job.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Jega has also said the controversial polling units hitherto located in a thick forest in Oyi Local Government Area were relocated to Nteje also in Oyi, ahead of today’s election, stating that the highest number of the alleged multiple registration during the voters’ registration exercise took place at the forest polling units.
He said: “When we did the voters’ registration in January, we found four polling units located at Oyi. We had to move them to Nteje where people live.’’
Jega said though the final register for the election which was issued to the political parties had minor corrections, the final figure for today’s election would not in any way be flawed as the errors found on the voters register had been corrected.
He assured registered voters that their names would not miss in the register adding, “if you have a voters card and your name is not in the register, it means you are involved in double registration and you will be arrested.
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