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Shettima gets nine APC governors’ support amid criticism of Muslim-Muslim ticket

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Nine governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday, after an hour-long closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at his private residence in Daura, Katsina State, declared their support for Senator Kashim Shettima as running mate to the party’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in the 2023 general election.

The governors, led by the chairman of Progressives Governors’ Forum, Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State, including their host, Aminu Masari (Katsina), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Abubakar Bello ( Niger), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), Hope Uzodinma (Imo), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Simon Lalong (Plateau) and Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), said they had come to pay Sallah homage to President Buhari.

They expressed confidence in the combination of both Tinubu and Shettima to ensure victory for the party at the presidential election.

Bagudu said: “We were pleasantly surprised when Asiwaju Tinubu announced in Daura on Sunday that Senator Shettima was the vice presidential candidate.

“We are very happy at the choice. The two will complement each other and will surely consolidate on the achievements of the President in the past seven years.”

Also speaking, the Imo governor, Uzodinma, said Shettima’s pick as Tinubu’s running mate was a collective decision by all the progressives governors and all the APC governors would work hard to ensure victory for the party next year. He boasted that APC governors would deliver 22 states for Tinubu.

Sources, however, disclosed to The Guardian that APC governors from the Northwest geopolitical zone have decried the choice of Shettima.

A former governor from one of the states, who is now a Senator, confided in The Guardian that incumbent governors from the zone are angry with Tinubu for despising their demand that one of them should be considered.

The Senator disclosed that during series of consultative meetings, the APC presidential candidate was given reasons why he should pick an incumbent, especially from Northwest, but he regretted that Tinubu shamed the governors after they worked for his emergence.

“The governors are very angry now and I do not know how this is going to affect our participation in the election next year. We all know the place of governors in the scheme of things in this country.

“During the consultative meetings that were held to ensure that everybody was on the same page, the governors pointed to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where one of them is the running mate. They said they needed that to be sure that they would have a stake in the next administration.

“When Tinubu indicated his desire to look towards Northeast for his running mate, our governors reminded him of how far they went to override President Buhari and ensure that he won the presidential primary. They argued that if he (Tinubu) wanted to go to Northeast for balance, he was invariably showing that the ticket should have gone to Southeast,” the Senator narrated.

He further stated: “Now that Shettima has been chosen, the governors are wondering what they would campaign for in the zone. They are now looking towards Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso and Atiku Abubakar to be relevant in the incoming dispensation.

“Things are going to be very challenging for us in the zone, because you have seen that the Labour Party has selected its presidential running mate from Northwest. We all thought that Tinubu would settle for el-Rufa’I or Abubakar Bagudu. He has disappointed everybody and this is a sign of the kind of administration he wants to run,” the source remarked.

The Senator disclosed that it was out of pain and indignation over the development that some governors did not accompany their colleagues to pay Sallah homage to President Buhari, whom they blame for being careless about his succession plan.
MEANWHILE, the Bishop of Anglican Communion, Diocese of Calabar, Rt. Rev. Nneoyi Egbe, has warned that Muslim/Muslim or Christian/Christian ticket should not be encouraged, adding that Nigeria’s secularity must be respected. He stated this, yesterday, during a media briefing at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, to mark the second session of the 11th Synod of the Diocese of Calabar scheduled for July 13 to 17.

For the popular priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, Fr. Oluoma Chinenye John, also known as Fada Oluoma, if the ruling party wins in 2023, Muslims would continue in power after Tinubu’s administration.

Oluoma expressed concerns that the move by APC would continue to trigger religious sentiments in the country. He, however, urged aggrieved citizens to vote for other political parties, stressing that other candidates were ready to change the status quo.

He said: “APC is just one party, we have other parties in Nigeria. One of the beauties of democracy is the availability of options. Crying over APC’s candidates in the midst of other candidates questions our readiness to change the status quo or our capacity to make and accept informed decisions.

“There’s only one major reason behind the Muslim-Muslim ticket by APC; electoral victory. Without a Muslim VP, the APC will lose significant votes from the North and probably lose the entire presidency. This is the fear and the reason for a Muslim VP. Don’t let anyone beguile you to make it a religious problem, if you do, you will keep losing the big picture.

“If APC wins 2023 presidency, Nigeria will be democratically handing over power from one Muslim to another. This means that religious sentiments can be thumped in our quest for a better nation. That also means that kindred sentiments like tribe and region can also be thumped,” he said.

IN the same vein, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, has said the decision by APC to present a Muslim-Muslim ticket was a teamwork based on calculation of what would work for the party.

In a statement he personally signed on Monday, Kukah said the decision by Tinubu to pick Shettima as his running mate should not be a thing to worry about, while those angered by the development should support other candidates they feel are better.

The statement reads: “This is what you call team selection and everybody will choose depending on what they think will give them a fair chance. So, people will take responsibility for the choices they have made. For me, it is not something to lose sleep over.

“If people feel unhappy with the kind of choices that have been made, that is why we are democrats, you can’t force it. We outsiders cannot force a choice of any candidate. It is now left for you to look at the choices that have been made. And there is no guarantee that all Christians will vote for Christians and all Muslims will vote for Muslims.”

THE Council of Church Leaders and Ministers in Nigeria has said that the APC Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket is trampling on the religious rights of Nigerians. Addressing a press conference in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital yesterday, the Council expressed disappointment in the choice.

The Chairman, Church Leaders and Ministers Fellowship of Nigeria, Pastor Abel Aiyedogbon, speaking at a press conference to herald their 26th yearly conference, said: “Our political leaders are not sensitive to the feelings of citizens because the behaviour of the political class most of the time evidently shows that personal ambition and interest are the overriding goal and not patriotism.

“How will anybody think about fielding candidates of the same religion for the first and the second place when the Constitution of the country recognises secularity?

“One will not be wrong to say that trampling on the religious rights of Nigerian is manifest in the idea of the Muslim-Muslim ticket, which some people are now championing. It should be noted that people maligned and presented as inconsequential are not likely to forget. The suggestion of a Muslim-Muslim ticket is all about impunity and a callous lack of consideration for others.”

FORMER Federal Commissioner for Information and South-South leader, Chief Edwim Clark, has lampooned the nomination of Shettima. According to Clark, the convener, Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), with the action of Tinubu in appointing a Muslim to run with him, even as a Muslim, in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country, he feels threatened for Nigeria as a country.

In a statement in Abuja, the elder statesman, who is the leader of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) lamented that with a very sharp division in the country, Tinubu’s action and that of the APC would further worsen the situation.

He said: “I feel threatened for our beloved country because of the way things are going. Nigeria is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation, with Christianity and Islam as the major religions, even though Nigeria is a secular state.

“In compliance with Constitutional provisions of inclusiveness, the number one and number two positions in the country, viz, President and Vice President, have always been occupied by practitioners of the two major religions, to ensure balancing.

“It will be recalled that Tinubu could not be chosen in 2015 as VP to President Buhari because he is a Muslim. What has changed? One quality of a good leader is consistency. A good leader must act in the same way at all times, to all people. He must not display double standard.”

FORMER governor of Anambra State, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, has described the APC pairing as provocative and insulting in a secular country like Nigeria.

Ezeife, in a chat with newsmen, said Nigeria has two strong religions, Christianity and Islam, and wondered why anyone would consider fielding a Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket in the 2023 general elections.

“There was a time MKO Abiola and Kingibe, two Muslims, ran and won the election but that time had gone. We didn’t have the kind of religious intolerance that we have now, then.

“Yes, it happened in the past and that past had a different tone. We shouldn’t use it as precedence. This present time is pregnant with hatred, with all kinds of men exhibiting hatred for man and religion.

“If I were to meet Bola Tinubu tomorrow, I will tell him to change and have a Muslim-Christian ticket. It is just like saying, you Christians can go to hell. It looks like an insult, provocative to field Muslim-Muslim ticket or Christian-Christian ticket,” he said.

THE youth wing of apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide (OYC), in its reaction, has said that it is looming danger ahead.

OYC, in a statement signed by the National President, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, said the choice of Shettima was against the law of natural justice. He said the level of killings and violence targeted at Christians under the present administration was unprecedented and expressed concern that the Christian community would become a totally endangered specie under a Muslim-Muslim presidency.

HOWEVER, President of the Senate and the Northeast caucus of the APC in the National Assembly have described the emergence of Shettima as the vice presidential candidate as an excellent choice. In a statement Lawan personally signed, on Monday, he said the former two-term governor of Borno State entered public service with impeccable credentials, which he has burnished by demonstrating great competence, integrity and courage in all the positions that he has held.

“On behalf of myself and the Northeast caucus of our great party, I congratulate Shettima on his nomination as the running mate to our presidential candidate. Tinubu and our party have made an excellent choice in Senator Shettima.”

ALSO, a group, Northern Progressive Christian Alliance (NPCA), has thrown its weight behind the APC Muslim-Muslim pairing. The group challenged people with evidence of Shetima’s link with Boko Haram to present their evidence.

The group said the decision to back Shettima was on the ground of competence, performance and love for Christians during his days as Borno governor. “It is high time Nigerians rose above ethnic or religious sentiments in the consideration of choice of leaders at all levels of governance,” it stressed.

The group, which disclosed this in a statement signed by the Chairman and Secretary, Reverend Moses Bwala Bitrus and Pastor Nicolas Abimaje respectively, said the election of a president and his running mate as well as other political positions shouldn’t be measured on basis of tribe, religion and regional interests, but on who can work and tackle the plethora of problems facing Nigeria.

Reacting to an allegation that Shettima was sponsoring Boko Haram, it stated: “We challenge those behind the allegations to provide evidence with an assurance that our group will mobilise Nigerians to reject him outright and if there is none, they should stop the campaign of calumny.”

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Appeal Court Sacks Kwankwaso Reinstate Datti in Kano

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The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Monday sacked Musa Ilyasu Kwankwaso of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and reinstated Yusuf Umar Datti of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the Kura/Madobi/Garun Malam Federal Constituency Election.

It was reported that the three-panel led by Justice Tunde Oyebamiji Awotoye allowed an Appeal by Yusuf Datti and averred that the tribunal was wrong to have counted the date of the Appellant’s resignation on the date of his party’s primary election and that Section 77 of the Electoral Act was misapplied.

The appellate court stated that no court has jurisdiction on the issue of membership of the part.

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Hon. Debo Badru Appointed As Member Of Committee On Guideline For Repositioning of APC In Osun state

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Debo Badru

Debo Badru Appointed As Member Of The Committee On The Guideline For Repositioning of APC In Osun state

The Executive Council of the Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has named Hon. Debo Badru as part of the 11-member committee on the Guideline for the Repositioning of the All Progressives Congress(APC) in Osun State.

Hon Debo Badru, former Special Adviser to ex-Governor Gboyega Oyetola on Intergovernmental Political Affairs who is from Iwo Local Government of Osun State is a respected community leader who holds a Diploma from Nigerian Air Force Technical Training School, Kaduna, and served as an Air Force Officer between 1983 and 1990 after which he ventured into politics.

Going forward, the guideline committee which was unveiled on the 16th of October, 2023 also has the Rt. Hon. Timothy Owoeye, the immediate-past Speaker of the state House of Assembly, as its Chairman while the Secretary is Hon Sunday Akere, former state Commissioner for Information.

Other members of the committee are Dr Oyebade Olowogboyega, the immediate-past State Head of Service; Hon Funmi Olaseinde, former member of the state House of Assembly; Dr. Adeniji Adekunle, former Chairman, Ife-Central Local Government Council Area of the state.

Also on the list as members are Hon Hakeem Atanda; Hon Rasaq Adeosun, former Special Adviser to ex-Governor Gboyega Oyetola on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs; Hon(Mrs) Ayo Omidiran, former member, House of Representatives who represented Irewole/Isokan/Aiyedaade Federal Constituency; Hon Femi Kujembola, the state Treasurer of the party and one-time Chairman of Atakumosa-East Local Government Council Area of the state and Comrade Kehinde Ayantunji, former Senior Special Adviser (SSA) to former Governor Oyetola on Youths and Students’ Affairs.

It would be recalled that the state leader of the party, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Oyetola, inaugurated the APC repositioning committee in the state sometime ago.

The APC Repositioning Committee under the chairmanship of Prof Adewole submitted the report of the committee with fanfare in Osogbo recently with a pledge by Alhaji Oyetola and the state chairman of the party, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, to implement the recommendations to the letter.

The terms of reference of the guideline committee are:

1) Collation of actionable recommendations from the report of the Repositioning Committee;

2) Development of the framework for implementing the recommendations of the Repositioning Committee’s report;

3) This Committee will liaise with the party organ at the state level in order to kickstart implementation.

4) The Committee should provide a final report in two weeks.

 

e-SIGNED:

 

Sooko TAJUDEEN LAWAL,

Chairman,
Osun State APC.

 

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PBAT’s Reforms and Nigerian Youths by Amb. Habeeb Whyte Esq.,MBA

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Habeeb Whyte

PBAT’S REFORMS AND NIGERIAN YOUTHS

I remain Habeeb Whyte and I still harbour the responsibility. I believe life placed on me to suggest a path deserving a collective action from Nigerian youths towards the faith of our father’s land and in determining our own future.
I have grown to know that everything that irritates us as Nigerian youths about someone can lead us to understanding the person more. Just like Adlous Hoxley puts it, ‘there are things known and there are things unknown and in between are door of perception’. What we are, is what we have been as youths. What we would be is what we do now. I am aware that wisdom comes from knowing that what others say about you is not your reality. It is their reality. One has not only an ability to perceive the world but an ability to alter one’s perception of it.Simply, one can change things by the manner in which one looks at them. Reality is only a reflection of our own intentions, biases, knacks and desires.

I have always looked with a different lens because I have kept my views informed not by parochial considerations or personal gains but by the solemn embrace of the fate of my realities as a Nigerian Youth. As a person, I have thoroughly taken caution on the realities of the general elections that ushered in President Bola Ahmad Tinubu. I have always known that only weak minds stay at the middle of the road in trying periods like this. I rather I appreciate that I have to painstakingly learn with the willingness to unlearn and relearn the politics of this country. More so, I was not born until the crisis had started. I do not want to join the bandwagon of commentators that make opinions on issues they know close to nothing about. I think this should be the wisest path for anybody that was only a child through the 90’s and beyond. The generational paradigm as it affects our choice of governance differs. Our reasoning often time is shapedby what our parents, teachers and elderly ones told us and not by what we participated in as major players.

We have only participated in the Occupy Nigeria campaign, Not Too Young to Run campaign and the most pronounced is the End Sars campaign. I made bold to say that I partook in all the major phases of this campaign. I made my voice seen and felt by demanding for good governance and importantly, youth involvement in governance. I know that at a point. I am aware that in the past, no place was reserved for members of the youth constituency during policy formulations. We were weathered with policies that seem not to be too friendly to our growth but now the story has changed. There was a progressive call that was obeyed by the people in power. Allahu Akbar!!!

Having fought for what was right, we became enemies to our progression by allowing the fate of governance ushered in by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his political opponents to take the spaces where the world is judging us from. Our attitude across our social media platforms on our leaders is not worthy at all. We are distracted while these persons are living their lives – Their dreams. We are allowing men make mockery of our intelligence by sheepishly dragging us into the fate of their own dark hour. Are they better of Mr. President? We should better be concerned on how to help Mr. President achieve his goals. It should interest us that we have a listening leader and someone who prioritizes our constituency before any other constituency. The deliberate reason why some of us supported President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was because we saw him as that leader that would pave the way for the youths to become real stakeholders in governance.Every time Mr. President speaks to us a Nation, he continually emphasizes our importance. He gives us score cards but we are not really interested in assessing same with good critics. He kept on appointing and giving us key responsibilities at sectors that we would not have imagined any one from our constituency at earliest time like this to be in such position. I am aware that Mr. President is not only fulfilling his election promises but he is carrying the youths along towards achieving a sustainable future for this Nation. There is a steady engagement and participation of young people in the development process. A country we prayed for!

I used to live in fear when discussions that bother on handing over of power to youths is concerned. This is because, I could picture the future as it would unfold should that happen. Why? Because, we Nigerian youths were not prepared for the role and we fail to recognize the fact that there has been deliberate effort to incapacitate us. This is what I mean whenever I talk about bastardization of our youths. Now, we are beginning to have a fair share of our lack of preparedness. What ideas are our representatives across board bringing onboard? Are we still bothered on who won or loss election? Are we still bent on why President Tinubu should not have won the elections while our various State Governors are getting palliatives from Federal Government and we are not seeing the effect in most States. I wish the type of energy deployed to bringing down the person of Mr. President could be extended to demanding for good governance from our Governors. Demanding accountability especially on the proceed of subsidy is concerned would have been true patriotism than the former. We are not even bothered that local governments are been buried in governance by most Governors in Nigeria. Are we not worried about the debt profile of some States and yet there is no evidence of development.  The States that most of us we inherit as Governors, Senators, House of Representative members, House of Assembly members etc. as far as governance is concerned in years to come. What do we tend to make up as leaders of our generation; when our kids start asking questions, what type of answers are we planning to give them. Is it that we would be comfortable telling them that when we had a President with unprecedented electoral results and tribunal verdict, we were busy playing cards of his opponents. Would it not interest you to tell your kids you were part of those that speak and do good for the sake of the Country and not because you are Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo. You were a Nigerian before you identify as a Hausa, Yoruba or Igbo. This is us – that have forgotten so soon that most of our Governors are yet to publish the judgements of their respective tribunal of enquiries on the End Sars saga. It is just ridiculous that we are have been soaked into another narrative that would not add any legal value to our corporate existence. Whether bitter or sweet, Mr. President is here to stay.

PRESIDENT TINUBU APPOINTS NEW EFCC CHAIRMAN AND SECRETARY OF THE COMMISSION

We must accept this reality and not be caught in a web of a divided society. We must give our total support to the social governance policy trust fund of Mr. President. He has tagged it the ‘Renewed Hope’ – we already have a developmental plan as opposed the several documents of plans and agenda intentioned on sentiments and prepared without national interests. We are beginning to see the light that we would be handed a working country with national development agenda under implementation, and enjoy the supervision of patriotic elders whose only consideration is national interest. The fact is this, we have a President that has placed upon himself the responsibility to provide the reference point of discipline, patriotism, humility, and adequate sense of self by extending his limits beyond the average standard that is acceptable to his generation. Mr. President has succeeded in employing his political authority to stimulate hope and pride in the corporate purpose of this Nation. We must not be used as detractors to the birth of a New Nigeria. Interestingly, youths of India, Singapore, Brazil, China and Indonesia compete with the world’s best in Information Technology, Agriculture, Entertainment, Alternative energy, Medicine etc.  Of course, those building our bridges and roads are their own youths. The expatriate doctors in our best hospitals are their youths. Those designing and building the phones we use are their youths. Now, our own youths are already leading spaces more due to the deliberate intervention of Mr. President’s faith in our abilities.

I could remember that one of the assurances of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the Southwest APC Youths rally was that Mr. President would give opportunities to youths to flourish in their areas of activities, the Governor said young people would be part of the major drivers of the Tinubu presidency. This is never in doubt again. Mr. President in less than six months of Presidency has the highest number of youths in key and strategic positions in Government. The amazing part is that, Mr. President is not stopping. I would always wish for a productive mindset like that of our President. He is a thorough blend of the mosaictraits – he would lead the path to the New Nigeria. The path he kicks started from his very first appointment in office. It is unprecedented. If he is not the Messiah; he is the Moses.

Thanks.

Amb. Habeeb Whyte Esq., MBA.

(WHYTE is a Lawyer, Author, Advocate of Youth Involvement in Good Governance, United Nations Award winner, Regional Africa International Arbitration Award winner, Coca cola/The Nation Campuslife Award winner, Quill Promasidor runner up for Best Future Writer in Nigeria, Royal Ambassador for the Royal Court of Ife Kingdom, Ecowas Youth Ambassador, Cordinator – BAT Lawyers Ogun State and Secretary – Cityboy Movement Ogun State).

Email: whyte287@gmail.com

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