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Shine your eyes, Atiku your best bet, ex-Ohanaeze spokesman in S’Africa tells Ndigbo
Again, Ndigbo have been advised to apply wisdom in making their choice of who to vote for as President in this months presidential election, because of the current realities on ground, which might leave them in the lurch once again if not properly handled.
Ben Benson Okoli, spokesperson of the Atiku-Okowa Campaign Council, in Anambra State, who made this suggestion, explained that this was not the time to indulge in sentiments, but to apply serious deep sense in handling the matter, given the Nigerian political realities, using the past to reflect on the present for future developments.
Okoli, a businessman based in South Africa, spoke at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, where he was received by friend and political associates in the Atiku campaigns.
“I’m here to join the growing number of voices calling for Ndigbo to allow more of logic than emotions, to guide the direction they must go, when they step out on February 25 to choose the successor of President Buhari, he told Whirlwindnew, en route Nigeria from Johannesburg.
“I’m here to join the rest of the team to further persuade our people not to yield to the argument that merely participating in the coming elections is all enough for the Igboman. To succumb to such arguments is not only to squander all we have sacrificed in the Nigeria project but to further diminish our relevance.
“I think and I believe that Atiku-Okowa ticket presents the easiest and fastest way to the Nigerian president of Igbo extraction. I’m persuaded by that trajectory of political thinking because I know it is impossible to go it alone. Ndigbo need a good ally outside the South East to realise that ambition, which is not there now and if Atiku becomes that ally in the future, they will be in the pole position to realise that goal. That is my thinking and that’s why I’m here, Okoli, a journalist and lawyer, also said.
Agreeing that the Nigerian President of Igbo extraction was long overdue, he was quick to disagree that it was a sufficient defence for what he called “a political suicide,” adding: “Yes, it is a good argument, but it is not good enough for the political suicide some of our people are proposing. The conspiracy to deny the Igboman the opportunity to rise beyond where he is, is deeply entrenched. It is only a strategic repositioning and strong partnerships, rather than emotions, that has the capacity to dismantle it and guarantee us complete freedom.”
Benson, the former spokesperson Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, in South Africa, he observed that it was the dismal failure of this APC government that awakened the new political consciousness that the Presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi leads, which would make it impossible for the APC candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to emerge as the President, adding that though the movement must be sustained, the mistake would be in seeing the movement as a once-off event, rather than a process.
“The new political consciousness awakened by the colossal failure of the APC government must be sustained, to the extent that it is viewed as a process, rather than a once-off event. Obi’s movement is incapable of winning a national election in 2023. As a result, I call on Ndigbo to vote for Waziri of Adamawa, Atiku Abubakar, who has over the years, demonstrated amply, his love for Ndigbo.
“He is better positioned to affect the structural changes that we yearn for. Some of them are required legislative enablements, which the PDP will have in excess. The kind of structural changes that the Igboman wants is the one that can only be effected by the president that has sufficient legislative support.”
Seriake Dickson, National Leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), on Wednesday showcased Peter Obi, its presidential candidate in the 2027 election, but gave a proviso – his importance would not be at the expense of the party.
A guest on Prime Time, a public affairs programme on ARISE NEWS Television, the former Governor of Bayelsa State, now Senator representing West at the National Assembly, maintained that the belief in some quarters that Obi’s entrance into the party was a favour was completely misplaced.
Instead, he argued that the opposite was the case, as it was the party that was doing its candidates a favour by giving them the opportunity to contest elective positions on its platform in the 2027 elections, a gesture that ought to be returned.
Hear him: “Don’t make it look like anyone is doing NDC a favour. No one is. Rather, the NDC and I and my colleagues are doing people a favour by granting our platform. If you are genuinely supporting Peter Obi and you are disparaging me, the leader, or the platform itself. That is nonsensical.”
Stressing that NDC had demonstrated confidence in Obi by adopting Obi as its sole presidential candidate and selecting a vice-presidential candidate without internal disputes, he said it was enough to earn its leadership the gratitude it deserved.
He added: “Nobody paid shishi. So, if a presidential candidate didn’t pay shishi to be made the sole presidential candidate and sole vice-presidential candidate, that same party cannot be the one saying that small people are underprivileged.
“I could have run. There’s no one more qualified than me. There’s no one more qualified than me to run for presidential candidate. None. There is no crisis within the NDC. Peter Obi is a cherished member of our party. On our own, we have made him a presidential candidate. Sole presidential candidate. And that counts for something. We are working well together. There’s no crisis.”
Invoking its zero tolerance on issues of security breaches, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), has clamped down on aircraft and crew of the privately operated jet that landed on a roadway in the Ogwashi-Uku area near Asaba, Delta state.
Even with regulatory body for airline operations in Nigeria informed that no casualties were recorded in the incident, it still went for its sanctions in line with its sworn position of maintaining maximum safety at every point.
In a statement on Wednesday, Michael Achimugu, its spokesman said preliminary reports indicated that the aircraft conducted a missed approach while attempting to land at Asaba airport at about 7:43am.
Achimugu: Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, said: “Reports received from personnel at the scene indicate that all occupants safely exited the aircraft and were transported to Asaba by road,” Achimugu said. The aircraft had four (4) crew members on board. At this time, no injuries to passengers or crew have been reported.
“Preliminary information available to the authority indicated that the aircraft later departed the location and returned to Lagos without obtaining the required regulatory approval. Air traffic control was informed only after the aircraft had become airborne.”
Stressing that the action constitutes a violation of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs) and is currently under investigation by the authority, he said the NCAA immediately grounded the aircraft upon its arrival in Lagos pending the outcome of investigations.
He added: “The flight crew have been placed under regulatory review while the NCAA conducts further inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the occurrence and the subsequent unauthorised departure of the aircraft.
“The NCAA has formally notified the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) of the occurrence and is coordinating with relevant aviation stakeholders, including the operator and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency to establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident.”
Stating that the NCAA immediately suspended the operator’s permit for non-commercial flight (PNCF), he added that the authority would review all operational, airworthiness, maintenance and flight-related records as part of its statutory responsibilities and take further enforcement action in accordance with applicable aviation regulations.
Achimugu said the NCAA remains committed to maintaining the highest standards of aviation safety, security, and regulatory compliance within the Nigerian aviation sector.
Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), on Wednesday, swore to the integrity of the process that led to his picking the party’s ticket, saying it remained untainted and consistent with the wills of the members.
Against the backdrop of the insistence of Babachir Lawal, former Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), that he stole the ticket by corrupting the process, Atiku, Vice President between 1999 and 2007, pooh-poohed the claim.
Before the former SGF Rotimi Amaechi, former Governor of Rivers State and Minister of Transportation as well as Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, former Chairman of Nigeria Economic Summit Group, both candidates in the contest for the ADC ticket, had rejected the process as flawed, even before the outcome.
Lawal, who had earlier announced his resignation from the ADC a fortnight ago and made sundry allegations of gaming the system against Atiku, had doubled down on Monday, while appearing on Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, claiming he personally monitored the exercise and had evidence that the primary was rigged.
Hear him: “Don’t forget I was the National Vice Chairman (North-East). I was in the field during the exercise, so I have evidence. Atiku’s people are the ones trying to deny what they did. We are all human beings. We know what they did. I knew the primary was rigged at the point it was being done and the results declared.”
Regardless that neither Amaechi nor Hayatu-Deen had recanted their original position Atiku, insisted that nothing was amiss, adding that his opponents actually won in the areas of their individual popularity and stronghold.
Conveying his position through Phrank Shaibu, his spokesman, who appeared as a guest on Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, the former VP said: “Anybody who claims rigging or irregularity in the last election should check the places and locations they won. Where are the states that Rotimi Amaechi won? If you check the figures and the margins he got there, you will know that those are his strongholds. It was not a fraudulent process.
Maintaining that the burden of proving any fraud rested on the former SGF Shaibu, Shaibu depicted his boss as the most popular among the contestants, arguing that the outcome of the event should not be surprising to anybody.
He said of the ex-SGF: “Babachir reminds me of a baby who is yanked off her mother’s breast while suckling. It is like a deprived suckling; definitely the baby will throw tantrums. He admitted on your show that his preferred candidate was Hayatu-Deen. He worked for him.”
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