Politics
Buhari must not cost Tinubu this presidency – APC *I stand with our govs – Adamu
Nothing short of immediate reintroduction of the N500 and N1,000 notes into circulation, would assuage the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which said it was on all fours with its governors, who went to court to secure the order of the Supreme Court, a fortnight ago, barring the Federal Government from continuing with the February 10 deadline for the end of the said denominations as legal tender.
On Thursday, a day after the apex court, which last Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari, ordered the reintroduction of only the N200, which was also affected in the new monetary policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the exclusion of the two other notes.
At a meeting between state governors of the party, the National Working Committee (NWC) and APC Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, which held on Sunday in Abuja, the party also asked Buhari to urgently intervene and halt the current sufferings of the people.
The Supreme Court, had acted on the prayers of Nasir El-Rufai, Yahaya Bello and Bello Matawalle, Governors of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara, respectively, which claimed that the policy had led to severe scarcity of the cash in the society, which had brought a lot of hardship on the people.
Although the apex court gave an interim order for the Federal Government to maintain the status quo and allow Nigerians to continue to use the old Naira notes, its decision was completely disregarded by the government which has continued with its disruptive implementation.
In a brief interview at the end of the meeting, Adamu said: “I am sure you are quite aware of the fact that a meeting comprising of APC governors was held today and the leadership of the NWC of our great party was summoned for this afternoon and we had discussions and at the end of the discussions, we have resolved as follows and this resolution is without prejudice whatsoever to the case that is lying at the Supreme Court at this point in time. This has to do with the issue of currency redesign.
“We note very seriously that the programme and its implementation is causing tremendous difficulties to the people of Nigeria and to the national economy. That, we urge the Attorney General of the Federation and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to respect the Supreme Court order of interim injunction which is still subsisting. That the meeting is urging His Excellency, Mr President to intervene in resolving issues that are causing this great difficulties to the economy.”
Echoing the position, Atiku Bagudu, Governor of Kebbi State and Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), said: “We are on the same page. The APC Governors Forum, the NWC is one party. We are all together. The chairman said the governors and the party are one and the same and I am very proud about the conduct of our campaigns by our presidential candidate under the able leadership of our party led by Abdullahi Adamu and the DG of the Campaign Council and the governors alongside all our APC candidates across the country who have been doing a tremendous job of mobilizing Nigerians,” he added.
Meanwhile, seven governors of boycotted the meeting, which began at 2:35pm was convened to issues relating to the party’s state of preparedness for Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly Elections vis-a-vis the worsening scarcity of the Naira and lingering fuel shortages which have fuelled mass discontent across the country.
The governors absent, include Babagana Umara Zulum (Borno), Ben Ayade (Cross River), Dave Umahi (Ebonyi), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje (Kano), Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq (Kwara), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun) and Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), while Aminu Bello Masari (Katsina) and Hope Uzodinma (Imo) sent their deputies.
The governors, who attended the meeting were Simon Bako Lalong (Plateau), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger), Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna) and Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Mohammed Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe), Mai Mala Buni (Yobe), Bello Matawalle (Zamfara), Biodun Oyebanji (Ekiti), Babajide Sanwo-olu (Lagos), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi) and Mohammed Badaru (Jigawa).
Reports, say that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu presidential candidate of the party, stormed the party secretariat at about 5:15pm, to join in the meeting, after which Adamu expressed happiness at the response of the governors, saying: “I am happy with the response so far and it is my understanding that more of our members are still on their way coming. You will recall the recent developments that have necessitated the need for this invitation.
“We do not want to sit in judgment on anybody with regards to where we are today in the country as it affects our great party. I thought the best thing to do is to get all those who are holding forth in their respective positions and who were elected on the platform of the party to get together and have some interaction so that we can have a better understanding of what situation we are in. That is the essence of this invitation. And it is my pleasure to welcome you most sincerely to this interaction.”
A legal tussle is in the offing to determine the fate of the June 20 by-election to fill the vacancy in the Enugu North senatorial district at the National Assembly, following the decision of the Labour Party (LP) to challenge the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to exclude it from participating.
INEC had approved the participation of only three political parties for the exercise to fill the vacant seat left by Okey Ezea, who died last year, to the exclusion of scores of others including the LP under whose platform the former Senator won the seat in 2023.
Ken Asogwa, spokesman of the party, who gave the update on the next line of action, said LP had already approached the Federal High Court, Abuja, to challenge the decision on the ground of wrongful exclusion, saying that the party was deeply disturbed over INEC’s action, especially the reason it gave for it.
Asogwa, who conveyed the decision through a statement on Monday, wondered how its candidate would made to pay for the ineptitude of INEC itself, which failed to carry out its constitutional responsibility.
Stressing that the party complied with all statutory requirements and procedural guidelines, but was still denied access to upload the particulars of its candidate on INEC’s nomination portal, the statement, added: “Up until the close of the submission window on June 2, the party made several efforts, including formal protests and correspondences to the commission, seeking the resolution of the issue, but these efforts yielded no positive result
“The party fulfilled every legal and administrative obligation required under the Electoral Act and INEC’s extant regulations in the nomination of its candidate. Labour Party finds it difficult to understand the basis upon which it had been excluded from an election in which it had a legitimate and undeniable stake.
“It is both disturbing and deeply concerning that the head of Elections and Party Monitoring (EPM) in Enugu State reportedly justified his refusal to transmit the report of the Labour Party’s primary election on the ground that he was out of town on the day the exercise was conducted.
“This excuse is untenable and raises serious questions about the discharge of official responsibilities. Labour Party cannot be made to suffer the consequences of an official’s absence, negligence, incompetence or dereliction of duty.
“Electoral processes and the constitutional rights of political parties cannot be subjected to the convenience or personal circumstances of individual officers. If the officer was unavailable, it is incumbent upon him or INEC in Enugu to ensure that appropriate arrangements were made for the monitoring and reporting of the exercise.
“INEC should not be penalising a political party that duly complied with all statutory requirements. The Electoral Act only requires political parties to duly notify INEC of their primaries. The party complied fully with this statutory requirement. The legality and validity of the exercise cannot be vitiated by INEC’s absence, as neither the Electoral Act nor the commission’s regulation made its physical presence a mandatory condition for the conduct of a party primary election.”
Expressing confidence in Joash Amupitan, INEC Chairman to do the right thing, he however called on the commission investigate the actions taken by its staff members in Enugu and take decisive action against anyone found culpable.
His words: “Electoral institutions derive their legitimacy from public trust and every effort must be made to protect the integrity of the electoral process. It would amount to a grave injustice for Labour Party to be denied the opportunity of presenting a candidate in an election convened to fill a vacancy created by the death of one of its serving senators.
“Such an outcome would not only undermine the rights of the party and its supporters but it tends to diminish the democratic choices available to the people of Enugu North senatorial district in the coming by-election.
“As the party places its confidence in the impartiality and wisdom of the Nigerian judiciary, it urges all its members and supporters in Enugu North and across the country to remain calm while the matter is being determined by the courts.”
A conciliatory Atiku Abubakar, in magnanimity with victory, extended the olive branch to Rotimi Amaechi and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, the pair he defeated on Wednesday night to clinch the ticket of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for next year’s presidential election.
He appealed to both men never to abandon the party ahead of the election, scheduled for January 2027, but to close ranks to ensure victory for both party, Nigeria as a country and the people currently under the bondage of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Extending the olive branch shortly after being handed the party flag, officially declaring him as the candidate, he said: “I therefore appeal to all those who feel aggrieved to come back to our party and close ranks with the rest of us. In particular, I invite Chief Rotimi Anechi and Alhaji Muhammad Hayatu-Deen to join me in this fight to save our democracy and our country.
“As I said previously, there are no winners and no losers. Our people look up to us for leadership and I am ready to lead,” he said.
He added that he would work with other aspirants and stakeholders to build the party ahead of the general election.
“I shall work with you all to continue to build our party. I will campaign with you and if Nigeria’s leaders demand it, govern with you to build a country that works for all of us.”
The appeal is coming hours after both Amaechi, former Governor of Rivers State and former Minister of Transportation and Hayatu-Deen, former Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), rejected the result, even before it was announced, citing what they described as manipulation of the voting process, with Hayatu-Deen saying he would not attend the announcement of the result.
Regardless, Atiku, Nigeria’s former Vice President between 1999 and 2007, said he truly humbled and excited to lead the party into the next elections, adding that he was particularly excited by the party’s demonstration of internal democracy despite the position of naysayers.
Hear him: “I must state at this juncture that this is not the time to celebrate. No one was defeated because we are one party and we all need to recognise the fierce urgency of the moment.
“Therefore, we have to unite, as we pledged before this process, to work to pull our country and our people out of the destructive grip of a corrupt, incompetent and polarising APC government.
“I thank the primary elections Committee for organising peaceful, free, fair and transparent primaries. I thank the various leadership organs of our party, the various stakeholders, and volunteers for their hard work and dedication and all our party members and supporters for their efforts, patience and conduct during the process.
“With the primaries behind us, the real hard work is about to begin. We have to prepare to campaign hard to win the next general elections in order to begin the difficult process of rescuing our country and its long-suffering people from this government.”
“I will not be attending the announcement of the ADC Presidential Election Results today. I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed, and will therefore be taking advice on my next steps.”
These were the exact words of Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, one of the presidential aspirants of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), with which he cast a slur on the ongoing presidential primaries of the party, hinging his position on reports of fraud trailing the exercise.
Hayatu-Deen, a second timer in the search for the nation’s number one job, ran against Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Vice President and Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation.
In a statement on his assessment of the exercise which began on Monday, the renowned economist Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), used his X platform to convey his dissatisfaction with the process.
The ADC which said the collation for the exercise would take place in Abuja had urged aspirants, party leaders, delegates, and members to conduct themselves peacefully and uphold party unity.
Bolaji Abdullahi, its spokesman, who described the exercise as a defining moment for both the ADC and Nigerians seeking a credible political alternative, maintained that it remained committed to internal democracy and a transparent leadership selection process.
“The ADC remains proud to stand today as the only truly democratic party in Nigeria because it is the only political party whose choice of presidential candidate is determined through open primaries,” he said adding that the conduct of aspirants and party members during the exercise would reflect the leadership culture the ADC seeks to promote.
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