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Following Tinubu’s Outburst, Oyegun Claps Back

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Oyegun

Following Tinubu’s Outburst, Oyegun Claps Back:

The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun is clapping back, following an allegation by the party’s National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, that he has breached the party’s good pledges by manipulating the September 3, 2016 Ondo State governorship primaries, which produced Chief Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) as the party’s candidate.

Speaking in Benin yesterday, Oyegun said:

“Asiwaju is a well respected leader of our party so, I cannot be seen speaking evil against him. I have to consult properly with other leaders of the party before we make any definite statement. Again, you know we have a crucial election here in Edo which is my priority right now.

“We don’t want to lose focus and I know Asiwaju also want us to win because we all have worked hard for this. So, maybe after the election, if there is need, I will speak; if there is no need, I will relax. But, all I can say now is that most of the things said in the papers about me are not true. I have always believed in internal democracy, that the credibility of primaries must be taken seriously.

“I believe that if primaries of parties are not credible, it may derail any democracy so, I don’t play with these things at all. Everybody knows me and I don’t joke with my credibility and I have tried to maintain it. Like I said, Asiwaju is our leader and we all hold him in high esteem, so, I will never join issues with him.

“But may be after Edo elections, after we must have emerged victorious, we may speak on some of the issues raised. So, there is no problem at all. Edo is the focus for now and as you know this is my state so it is a very serious election for us. So, I want to be allowed to remain focus then after the election, we can speak”.

In reaction to Tinubu’s outbust, Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on anti-corruption, Prof Itse Sagay (SAN), yesterday said:

“The way I feel about it is that it is a matter that the highest officers of the party should handle. It is not something to be made public. It should not be for the consumption of the public. They should make it a totally in-house matter. They should try and resolve it quietly.”

“The people involved are very mature men and they know the struggle it took to establish the party. I do not think they would do anything that would jeopardize the continued existence of a party that is actually in power. So, it should just be an in-house thing”.

Also reacting, Lagos APC Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, said:

“When you practice impunity, injustice, denying people their rights to pick a candidate of their choice, it is a problem. This is what the PDP did and you know where it left the party today.

“I was one of the seven-man committee that screened the 24 governorship aspirants in the APC primary election in Ondo State and we did not disqualify anyone of them. We wanted a transparent process because that is what the APC is known for but it did not happen. We had better go back and correct the situation because if we do the same thing the PDP did, we would go down the same way”.

APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Timi Frank, in reaction said:

“If Oyegun knows that what Ahmed Bola Tinubu has said is not true, I’m challenging him to immediately call for an emergency NEC meeting for us to sit face to face and tell ourselves where we are getting it wrong because if we cannot resolve this crisis now, we cannot resolve it again.

“None of the resolutions we reached at during the last NEC meeting was implemented. I am giving Oyegun 14 days to convene an emergency NEC meeting and if he fails, we will mobilize protesters that will ground the secretariat,”.

Meanwhile, in less than 24 hours after Tinubu squealed against what he called the high handedness of the  NWC led by Oyegun, his anointed candidate in the controversial primary, Olusegun Abraham and certain aggrieved aspirants, who lost the ticket to Akeredolu are smarting to dump the ruling party for an alternative platform.

Following the rejection of recommendations of the three-member Election Appeal Committee chaired by Mrs. Helen Bendega, which called for cancellation of the poll that produced Akeredolu and the submission of his name to INEC by the national chairman, the trio of Olusola Oke, Olusegun Abraham and Senator Ajayi Borrofice, have struck a deal with Tinubu to move into an alternative platform ahead of the November election.

A party source revealed that in the deal in which Tinubu is the alleged mastermind, the former PDP governorship candidate, Oke, who enjoyed the backing of Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola in the controversial primary, would emerge as the candidate of the Action Alliance (AA)  while Abraham would be his running mate.

The source further revealed that Senator Borrofice would be compensated with a return ticket to the Senate in 2019 general elections. The AA candidate for the November election, Orokoto who is an ally of Oke, had been taken into confidence in the unfolding power game.

Recall that the APC’s NWC had overruled Mrs. Helen Bendega-led appeal panel report which recommended the cancellation of the primary that produced Akeredolu and sought for a fresh primary.

The panel premised its decision on the alleged irregularities in the list of delegates at the exercise chaired by Jigawa State Governor Badaru Abubakar.
But the Oyegun-led NWC in throwing away the panel report said it “was fundamentally and fatally flawed.”

The party leadership said that the appeal committee contradicted itself when it admitted that the primary election committee substantially complied with the rules guiding the process but still proceeded to recommend the nullification of the primary election.
It further frowned at the failure of the appeal committee to invite the National Secretariat to either authenticate or reject the source of the disputed delegates list as the custodian. It also expressed consternation that the appeal committee, did not invite the chairman or members of the Ondo State Governorship Primary Election Committee to clarify the allegation of manipulation on the accreditation process.

The party said the committee rather relied on unsubstantiated evidence to recommend the nullification of the primary. The NWC equally observed a serious contradiction in the appeal committee’s report in respect of the number of the accredited delegates.
“Whereas the primary election committee’s report indicated that 2,774 delegates were accredited, the appeal committee’s report erroneously recorded it as those who voted in the election, thereby creating a false impression of over voting in the exercise.”

The party, therefore, stressed that the issue of fresh primaries did not arise since the NWC had already rejected the appeal committee’s report in view of the stated flaws and upheld the election.
It further explained that the election was even time barred, saying by the timetable released by INEC, all governorship primary and issues relating to it ended on September 19, 2016.

Source: DS

read Tinubu’s 25 Paragraph Allegations against Oyegun Here – Oyegun Has Breached APC’s Good Pledges – Tinubu

Politics

I cannot support Peter Obi again, says Doyin Okupe

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Doyin Okupe, former director-general of the Labour Party (LP) presidential campaign in 2023, says he “cannot support” Peter Obi again.

Okupe spoke on Monday during an interview with Seun Okinbaloye on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

He was reacting to a viral clip of Obi commenting on how the country’s economic situation offers little succour to people in the south-west despite President Bola Tinubu being from the zone.

“Let us talk about what is happening today. Rice is about N100,000. We are not even sure where we are going to be. ‘It’s our turn’, ‘he is a Yoruba man’ — ask the people in Ogun, here is there any place you people buy bread cheaper?” Obi said in the viral clip.

The video generated mixed reactions on social media, with some supporting Obi’s comments while others criticised him.

Adding his voice to the criticism, Okupe described the former LP presidential candidate’s remark as an “insult” to people in the south-west.

He said Obi’s statement publicly brought down south-west people even though “eminent Yoruba people” supported him during his presidential bid in 2023.

“When Obi made that statement, it insulted us. I am a Yoruba man; I left everything and followed Obi.

“For the first time, Obasanjo left his circle of influence and deviated to support Obi,” Okupe said.

“I do not regret supporting Peter Obi. But now I cannot do it again. The reason why I did it was because we agreed that a southern president must emerge.

“I was approached that if a southern president must emerge, which zone must it come to? I said the south-east.

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Politics

APC wins ALL 18 seats in Cross River LG elections

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The All Progressives Congress (APC) has won all 18 chairmanship positions in the Cross River LG elections held on Saturday.

Ekong Boco, chairman of the Cross River State Electoral Commission (CRSEC) and the election’s returning officer, announced the results on Sunday at the commission’s headquarters in Calabar.

The APC won in Abi, Odukpani, Bakassi, Akpabuyo, Ogoja, Akamkpa, Bekwarra, Etung, Biase, Boki, Calabar Municipality, Obubra, Yakurr, Yala, Obanliku, Obudu, Ikom, and Calabar south LGAs.

The chairman of CRSEC issued certificates of return to the elected chairpersons.

Bassey Otu, the governor of Cross River, commended the winners, describing the elections as peaceful.

The governor expressed optimism that the new LG leaders would align with the state’s “people-first” agenda.

“We have a well-defined vision for the state, and we believe the new leadership at the local government level would understand that they must align with the state government’s agenda and exhibit unwavering dedication to realising good governance,” he said.

Nine opposition parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), participated in the elections but did not field candidates across all 196 local council wards in the state’s 18 LGAs.

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Politics

‘There is no longer a place for her’ — Onanuga says Betta Edu won’t be returning to Tinubu’s cabinet

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Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, says Betta Edu has now left the federal cabinet for good.

Edu was minister of humanitarian affairs.

Onanuga spoke on Sunday during an interview with Channels Television.

On January 8, Tinubu suspended Edu after a memo surfaced wherein she asked Oluwatoyin Madein, accountant-general of the federation, to transfer N585 million to a private account.

The president also asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the financial transactions of the humanitarian ministry.

After she was suspended, the former minister was grilled at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja.

Subsequently, the president suspended all programmes administered by the National Social Investment Programmes Agency (NSIPA) for six weeks, as part of the probe into alleged malfeasance in the management of the agency and its activities.

In April, the EFCC said it recovered N30 billion following investigation into the ministry’s activities, adding that 50 bank accounts were under probe.

There were appeals from certain quarters for the president to reconsider and recall Edu.

Although Edu vanished from public glare, she sent a condolence message to victims of the Jos building collapse in July using the ministry’s letterhead.

Last Wednesday, the president named Nentawe Yilwatda as Edu’s replacement during a cabinet reshuffle.

‘SHE’S GONE’

Onanuga was asked if Edu remains a minister since she was only suspended by the president.

The presidential aide said Edu is no longer a minister and that her portfolio has been handed to someone else.

“Betta Edu is gone. She was suspended in January, and this is October. She is gone. Her position has been taken over by somebody else… that is the man from Plateau state (Yilwatda),” he said.

“As far as this government is concerned, there is no longer a place for her in that cabinet.”

Asked about the outcome of the investigation on Edu, Onanuga said the EFCC is yet to make the details public.

“The EFCC has not shared whatever they have, but if you go by what the president has done, it shows that maybe the EFCC has submitted something that actually justifies that suspension,” he added.

“If we follow what the president has done, it means EFCC has revealed something that has formed the basis of the president’s action.”

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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