News
Presidency: Amaechi in intense push for ADC ticket *Vows, Tinubu must go!
Chasing out President Bola Tinubu from the Presidential Villa in 2027 is a task that must be done, was the battle-cry from Rotimi Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation, as he landed in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Wednesday, to rally people into the agenda, in what is also interpreted as commencement of his push to pick the presidential ticket of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Amaechi, Governor of the state from 2007 to 2015, also took out time to explain the direction of the coalition of some key Nigerian political leaders, who intend to use the ADC to remove Tinubu from power, stating that one of the templates would be to hold a credible process of primaries, in which the best and strongest candidate would emerge.
Addressing a crowd of loyalists at the Port Harcourt International Airport on Wednesday, he called on the people and Nigerians at large to register with the ADC, which he said had come to challenge and replace the current administration that has inflicted “unprecedented hardship” on citizens.
His words: “If you are not tired of President Tinubu, I’m tired of President Tinubu. If you’re not hungry, I’m hungry. If the rich are spending ₦4 million monthly on electricity, only God knows how the poor are surviving. And the President says he doesn’t care. The ADC is here to care. Tinubu is indifference to the suffering of Nigerians. APD must be replaced in 2027. This coming is to reassure our supporters and Rivers people that there is a new party in town. Every Rivers man who loves this state and country should register with the ADC and help end the hunger.”
He told reporters that the leaders had agreed that whoever was thrown up by such a process, would enjoy the full support of other members for the presidential election, adding that opposition leaders were optimistic that the process leading to the emergence of the party’s flagbearer would be transparent, free, and fair.
“The moment anybody emerges from the primary, all of us will support; that’s the agreement. We insist on a free and fair, transparent primary,” adding that all the stakeholders in the coalition understood that the greater impetus of ending the hunger and hardship in the country, brought by the All Progressives Congress (APC), was far more important than individual ambitions.
Stressing on citizen participation in the 2027 election to chase out Tinubu and end his disastrous government, he decried the penchant for anti-democratic nature of elections in the state in the past, especially rigging of elections, stating that the tendency must stop.
Hear him: “Every Rivers man who thinks good of the state and country should move to register with the new party and ensure that we remove the current government and stop the hunger that everybody is suffering from.
“We are new members of the ADC, it’s the adopted party of the coalition. Most importantly, have your eyes on 2027 and to have your eyes on 2027, please go home and start registration.
“We will form a committee that will go from local government to local government, ward to ward to ascertain the number of people we have. Our (Rivers) state is notorious for writing results, and we must stop them from writing results. When they said that they have already written results, it discourages voters from coming out.
“We should encourage people to come out and vote for the removal of the current government or we will all die of hunger. Currently, Nigerians are complaining in President Tinubu’s first tenure; imagine what the second tenure will be like. Then, you’ll be dead and buried.”
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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