2019: We will send APC packing from Lagos — ADP

The Action Democratic Party (ADP)on Sunday said it would dislodge the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos by winning the governorship election in 2019.

The Chairman of the party, Mr Adewale Bolaji said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

He said the party had mapped out the right strategy to ensure that the APC was sent packing in the state.

Bolaji said that the ADP had the people to win the state for the party, and was banking on the confidence reposed in it by residents to sack the APC.

“Our great party will defeat the APC government in Lagos in 2019, we are confident.

“We have the strategy, we have the people, we have the commitment to give the state the credible alternative leadership it deserves.

“We will not reveal much on how we are going to win the state .We will unleash it at the right time.

“Our party is focussed and resolute in our determination to rescue Lagos to deliver real democratic dividends to the people,” he said.

Bolaji said that the APC had not provided exemplary and impactful leadership to optimise the state’s potential.

He noted that it was high time the youths who had the greatest voting power were given leadership opportunities, instead of continually relying on peanuts in the name of empowerment.

“That is what we are going to do in Lagos. We will engage the youths and give them the opportunities to be governors, lawmakers and so on.

“Most of the present leaders in the country became leaders in their 30s and 40s.

“We believe it is the time for the youths to take active part in determining the future of the country,” he said.

Another chieftain of the party, Mr Babatunde Gbadamosi, said Lagos had the potential to be like Singapore in view of the huge economic potential.

Gbadamosi, an ADP governorship aspirant, said the state would to get to such level with the right leadership. - The Nation

Buhari vows to jail more looters

President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to jail more “thieves” who brought the country to economic woe.

President said this on Saturday at the Aso Villa in Abuja in an interview shortly after he returned to the country from his 10-day vacation in London.

“We are going to jail more of the thieves, you know, that brought the economic problem to the country. I think this is really expected of me and I will do it,” he said.

President Buhari also reacted to the defection of some leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, telling Nigerians to vote whoever they like.

He advised the defected members and other political leaders across the country to allow the people to perform their civic responsibility of electing whoever they want as their leader.

He said, “Let people choose what party they want to belong to, but let them make sure that they have empowered their constituencies by educating them (Voters Registration) and making sure that they’ve got their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and that they use their right as Nigerians to vote whoever they like.

“This is the beauty of democracy, this is what I am hoping to see,” the President added.

The President, who left the country for the United Kingdom on August 3, was received at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja by his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, and other top government officials.

They include: the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, and the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, among others.

Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, and the service chiefs were also on the ground to welcome the President. - Daily Post

Delta : Teenager commits suicide after being rebuked by parents for dating men

A 15-year-old girl, in the early hours of Sunday in Sapele, Delta State, allegedly committed suicide after she was thoroughly rebuked by her parents for having a boyfriend, although unconfirmed sources said the girl killed herself upon discovery that she was infected with virginal disease.

It was gathered that the victim, a JSS II student of one of the secondary schools in Sapele, died at a private clinic in the area after allegedly drinking a substance suspected to be insecticide, popularly known as “otapiapia”.

A neighbour to the bereaved, Mercy Ogho, who spoke to DAILY POST, said, “She claimed she was going to church and after sometime returned home, saying she was feeling dizzy and made into her room where she allegedly brought a container with the liquid Otapiapia she drank. Around 11.00am, we did hear her voice, we moved into the room, only to meet her on the floor lying lifeless. She was already dead with the container beside her.”

But her mother, Mrs Rose Michael, who spoke to our correspondent, said, “We rebuked our daughter for following different men, she started crying, and threatened to kill herself. We also observed she had infection, this was because of the way she was always complaining of itching private part. We found her dead inside her room with the container by her side. My daughter was very hard-working. I don’t know how the demon came over her. We are in pains.”

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, who confirmed the death of the victim, said, “it is rather unfortunate that the small girl was alleged to have been involved in illicit affairs. Investigation is ongoing while her corpse has been deposited at the Central Hospital Sapele for autopsy. The police also recovered missing container with a liquid, no arrest made yet, but we’ll get to the root of the matter.” - Daily Post

Sinators !!! Senator Adamu calls for audit of ‘messed up’ n’assembly finances

Abdullahi Adamu, senator representing Nassarawa west, says a forensic audit should be carried out on national assembly spending under the leadership of Senate President Bukola Saraki.

Adamu made his position known during a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday.

According to the lawmaker, the senate president’s refusal to vacate his seat after defecting from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is “suspicious” and should be investigated.

“I call for a forensic audit of the finances of the parliament which has been thoroughly messed up under the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki,” he said.

“We did not know what Saraki’s agenda is. As we go through this tenure of his, the more we see things being unearthed.

“For him to refuse to move or leave the chair, there must be a reason for it.

“As the chairman of the national assembly, there is so much that he is doing that we want to take a look at.

“If he is clean let him move away and accept that there should be a forensic audit of the national assembly funds under his watch. Simple. Let him move so that we will see what he is sitting over.

“We have seen his unbridled ambition. We have seen now that even though the odds are so much against him, he went to a party that is now losing ground and that is now a minority in the national assembly.”

Adamu said Saraki should forfeit his “unbridled ambition” and “willingly” vacate his position as senate president, having “lost respect” of the majority in the national assembly. - TheCable

Air Force kill bandits, leader in Zamfara forests

The Nigerian Air Force says more bandits have been killed in their hideouts inside Zamfara state forests and therefore appealed to remnants of the bandits to surrender themselves and their weapons to the Government authority.

The spokesperson of the Air Force, Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, said in a statement that the attacks against the bandits were carried out after an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance platforms have established the presence of the bandits and their kingpin in the area.

The statement reads: ”  The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Air Task Force (ATF) for Operation DIRAN MIKIYA, on 15 and 18 August 2018, successfully degraded several identified hideouts of a notorious armed bandit kingpin.

“The attacks, which were executed in support of ground troops in Sector 2 of Operation SHARAN DAJI, were planned based on credible intelligence that the kingpin and his group of armed bandits were using an abandoned primary school in SHAMASHALE as well as some makeshift settlements in nearby RUGU Forest in the Eastern part of ZAMFARA State as bases for their operations.

” The attack at SHAMASHALE was conducted on 15 August 2018, following further confirmatory Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions that revealed the presence of several armed bandits in the area.

” Accordingly, the ATF dispatched 2 combat helicopters to attack the location. During the attack, some bandits carrying sophisticated high caliber weapons were seen trying to flee the area. Some were on motorcycles carrying AK-47 rifles and, rather than dropping their weapons and surrendering, attempted to shoot at the helicopters; hence they were neutralized.

” Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) conducted on 16 August 2018 confirmed that the kingpin’s main hideout had been severely degraded and human intelligence (HUMINT) sources later availed pictures of some of the slain bandits. Items recovered from the armed bandits include 2 General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMGs), 2 AK 47 rifles, 100 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and 2 mobile phones.

”  The adjoining settlement camps within RUGU Forest, which had earlier been confirmed by HUMINT sources to be inhabited by only bandits, were attacked on 18 August 2018. A ground attack aircraft and 2 combat helicopters struck the camps in successive waves; first targeting the shelters and then executing follow-on attacks to ensure the threat posed to the local villagers was adequately dealt with.

” The ATF will continue to dominate the area through armed reconnaissance and air interdiction missions to completely decimate the armed bandits in order to ensure a return to normalcy in Zamfara and other States in the North West.

” All persons involved in armed banditry in the area are therefore advised to renounce violence, surrender to security agencies and hand over their weapons.” - The Nation

Arewa youths blow hot, say they won’t allow South-West impose President on Nigeria like 2015

The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF, has stated that it will not allow a repeat of the political scenario that played out in 2015 where the North was purportedly turned into a mere observer in who represents the region in a presidential election.

AYCF said it has noticed that gradually, the country was being pushed back to the political scenario of 2015, in which the South-West region dominated decision-making efforts on who should be Nigeria’s president.

It noted that the North, out of modesty, merely allowed that “historic” imposition which has made the region’s first four years wasted years of poverty, hunger, unemployment, general underdevelopment and disturbing levels of stagnation.

AYCF, in a statement made available to DAILY POST on Sunday afternoon by its National President, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, said, “As a group of citizens from the North, who mince no words in speaking the truth every time, we are once again sounding a note of warning as follows:

“We will no longer tolerate the kind of imposition that brought the nation’s economy to knees and all we now get is empty propaganda instead of performance. This is an insult on the sensibilities of all Nigerians who struggled to drive away the military in order to pave way for democracy

“Even though the consensus is that power should reside within the North in 2019, we make bold to say no one should dare try to teleguide the region and its people this time around. Northerners have a right to their democratic aspirations and choice of a President and no one should try to usurp such constitutional power through the backdoor.

“We want to make it vary clear that the era of imposition of anyone on the North is gone. We are watching, very closely, the turn of events on Nigeria’s democratic space at the moment and won’t take any form of manipulation by people who know little or nothing about the kind of leadership the people of the North want.

“We cannot fathom why people outside the North should turn our region into their political experiment field, choosing a candidate who would take orders from them and abandon his own people’s wishes and aspirations.

“This is primitive, unacceptable and a smear on well-known democratic principles of a modern, independent nation that we have been in over 50 years.

“The earlier this shameful manipulation of our hopes in democracy is stopped, the better for our relationship with our neighbours. On no account should anyone take the North for granted again, especially on the matter of 2019 presidency. We are no fools and the world has come a long way from the era of political obscurantism and harmful patronage.

“We also find it disheartening that the Northwest is now slowly going into the hands of toxic political class, whose political madness has now reached alarming levels. How else can anyone, in his right senses, explain the emergence of Nine(9) presidential candidates all from one geopolitical zone? What has gone wrong with the North’s sense of decency in politics?

“Imagine the exemplary style of the Northeast, which has just two candidates! Isn’t that a lesson for the scattered and uncoordinated Northwest? If this mess is not tackled, the next generation of Northern political leaders will never forgive us for being so callous and reckless politics. And we won’t fold our arms and watch this happen.

“We also declare that our plans are already in top gear, to use all constitutional means to protect the integrity of the North by stopping those political merchants from elsewhere who are turning our region into their experimental guinea pig. We have overlooked this political subjugation in 2015, to give democracy a chance and also not to jeopardise the alliance between the North and its neighbours. But now that there are deliberate efforts by some political merchants to repeat the same ridiculous manipulation, we are telling them that it’s no longer possible.

“There are so many ways of promoting the deepening of democracy in Nigeria, but open and shameless manipulation is not one of them. We hope this message would serve as a final warning to those plotting for the imposition of their lackeys as presidents for selfish political gains. We have heard enough of this insult on the North just because some self-centred political marauders are being driven by the hunger for absolute power. Enough is enough.” - Daily post

Why Buhari must urgently sign new electoral bill - Falana

Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to “urgently” sign the new electoral act amendment bill into law.

He said the bill should be signed now to avoid altering the arrangements for 2019 elections, in accordance to the ECOWAS protocol on democracy and good governance act.

The national assembly had first amended the electoral act but it was rejected by Buhari due to “provisions inconsistent with the 1999 constitution”.

The lawmakers then expunged the said provisions and passed a new bill, which has been transmitted to Buhari for assent.

Falana said the new bill should be promptly signed into law in view of the fact that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that the 2019 elections will commence in February 2019.

He said: “In making this call the attention of the president ought to be drawn to article 2 (1) of the Economic Community of West African States Protocol A/SP1/12/01 on Democracy and Good Governance which provides that: ‘No substantial modification shall be made to the electoral laws in the last six (6) months before the elections, except with the consent of majority of political actors’.”

He cited an example with the case of Congress of Democracy and Progress v Republic of Burkina Faso where the Ecowas Court ruled that “all the member states of the ECOWAS are bound by the provisions of the protocol on democracy and good governance”.

“Since the modification made to the 2010 Electoral Act is substantia, the bill cannot be passed in less than six months to the 2019 general election,” Falana added.

“Since Nigeria is legally obliged to comply with the said Protocol, President Buhari who is the current chairman of the ECOWAS should ensure that the Electoral Bill 2018 is assented to without any further delay.” - TheCable

NUJ condemns demolition of Ayefele’s Fresh FM station

The Oyo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) on Sunday condemned the demolition of  Yinka Ayefele’s  Music House which houses his  Fresh FM 105.9  radio station.

A statement jointly signed by the council’s  Chairman, Mr Adewunmi Faniran,  and the Secretary, Mr Bola Ogunlayi, said it was highly disturbed that the building was demolished when the matter was before a  court of competent jurisdiction.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the building belonging to the popular musician was demolished at about  4.30 am on Sunday by the state government for allegedly contravening its town planning laws.

The council expressed concern about the fate of the journalists and other media workers in the establishment as well as the loss suffered by the owner of the broadcast outfit.

“As the fourth estate of the realm  and believer  in the rule of law, the Oyo State NUJ expects  that the court would have been left to take a definite decision on the issue of demolition before it was carried out,” it said.

The council called on the state government to ensure that “ it comes to the aid of Fresh FM which has been a pride of Ibadan in particular and Oyo State.’’

It urged the government to relocate the station to another site and ensure the smooth take-off of its operations.

Yinka Ayefele reacted after Oyo govt demolished his N800m Music House

Popular Juju musician, Mr Yinka Ayefela has reacted to the demolition of his Music House building by the Oyo State government.

However, the State government on Sunday morning demolished the structure reportedly worth about 800 million Naira.

Ayefele while reacting, insisted that the construction of the Music House followed due process.

He also approached an Oyo state High Court on the condition that the government does not have any right to demolish his property.
Ayefele’s counsel, Mr Olayinka Bolanle, sought an order of the court restraining the state government from demolishing the property pending the determination of the suit.

Justice I. Yerima ordered the claimant to ensure service of the court process on the respondent and adjourned the case till Monday for the hearing of the exparte motion.

Reacting to the incident, Ayefele shared a picture of the destroyed property on his Instagram page.

He wrote, “Oyo state government did at last..My pains my sweat.So help me God.”

Brexit: First 'no-deal' technical notices to be published on Thursday, says Downing Street

The government is to begin publishing its Brexit technical notices, setting out the consequences of crashing out of the EU without a deal, on Thursday, the prime minister’s office has said.

The first of the explanatory documents are expected from the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) within days and are designed to inform citizens and businesses how to cope with a no-deal scenario.

All 84 of the notices are due to be published before the end of September. Some are thought to be broad in scope, covering issues like financial services, company law and climate change, while others will focus on specific problems including travelling abroad with pets.

Two days before first publication, Brexit secretary Dominic Raab will travel to Brussels in a bid to pick up the pace of talks with the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier, Theresa May’s office added on Saturday.

“On the agenda will be resolving the few remaining withdrawal issues related to the UK leaving the EU and pressing ahead with discussions on the future relationship,” Downing Street said of Tuesday's planned summit.

Mr Raab is also due to give a speech outlining how the government plans to mitigate the potential risks of leaving the EU without a deal and ensure continuity and stability.

It comes amid The Independent‘s campaign for a Final Say on any Brexit deal. More than 660,000 people have signed our petition, and The Independent has joined forces with the People’s Vote campaign for a mass march through central London later this year.

Almost half of the technical notices have been drawn up by either the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs or the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Chris Grayling’s Department for Transport and the Treasury have also played prominent roles.

Planning is being coordinated by DExEU.

A spokesperson said on Friday, when leaked reports of the documents emerged: “Individual departments are preparing specific technical notices to help citizens, businesses and consumers to prepare for March 2019 in the unlikely event of a no-deal scenario.

“This is part of our preparatory work that has been underway for the past two years.

“These will be published in August and September and will be available on gov.uk in a centralised location that is easy for people to access and use.”

The papers are expected to employ measured language to avoid criticism – aired previously by Brexiteer MPs – that the government is “weaponising” the idea of no-deal Brexit.

A report in the Sunday Telegraph claimed that Britain would recognise some EU regulations in the event Ms May cannot negotiate a deal to prevent national paralysis.

The paper reported the technical notices will set out how government will take a “flexible” approach to make sure key European products were still available in the UK after March 2019.

For instance, the medicines regulator would “take steps to keep market access for importers”, the report cited the notices as saying.

Earlier in the summer the government admitted it planned to stockpile blood and medicines in case no-deal Brexit came to pass.

Health secretary Matt Hancock said he had met with industry leaders to discuss building up the NHS’ reserves of vaccinations and other supplies, while Mr Raab also confirmed preparations were underway to stockpile food. - The independent / Reuters

World Humanitarian Day: Over 500,000 persons displaced by killer-herdsmen – Gov. Ortom tells UN, others

The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has called on the United Nation, UN, and other international bodies and civil society organisations to remember the over 500, 000 Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs in the state.

He made the call as the state joins the rest of the world in commemoration of this year’s Humanitarian Day.
Ortom said the theme of the 2018 World Humanitarian Day which is ‘Not a Target’ was significant and expresses sadness that the people of his state have become targets of armed herdsmen attacks in gross violation of global conventions on the right to life and human dignity.

The Governor lamented that the humanitarian crisis occasioned by armed herdmen attacks in the last eight months have overstretched the lean resources of the state.
Governor Ortom recounts that hundreds of lives have been lost, homes, schools, churches and health centres were destroyed with over 180,000 people in eight Internally Displaced Persons, IDP camps and over 500,000 displaced people are either living with relatives or in uncompleted buildings across several local government areas.
He explained further that out of the number of those in the camps, 80,000 were children forced out of school with over 2,000 pregnant women and 2,766 nursing mothers.

Governor Ortom appreciates humanitarian groups such as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, civil society organisations and the media for their interventions in bringing succour to the IDPs.
He also commends the Nigerian military for the ongoing Operation Whirl Stroke in which some soldiers have been casualties.
Governor Ortom reassures Benue people that his administration will not relent in its bid to see the end of armed herdsmen attacks aimed at conquering and occupying the Benue Valley. - Daily Post

Tambuwal loses 252 aides to APC

In what appears like a political earthquake,  252 Special advisers and Special assistants appointed by Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto state have resigned  their appointments.

And they have returned to the All Progressives Congress, instead of working under a PDP government.

Alhaji Ibrahim Haske, a special adviser to the renegade governor and  spokesman for all the aides, announced this  at a news conference  in Sokoto on Sunday.

He said their decision followed  Gov. Tambuwal’s defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“Our appointment is based on the position that APC is the political party governing the state and now that the government belongs to PDP, we have no option other than to resign.

“We are bonafide members of APC and our position has always remained same; we therefore resign voluntarily from the PDP government ,” Haske said.

Haske, who was a former Sokoto South Local Government Chairman, further explained the decision was based on their desire to support APC to deliver on its mandate  after the  2019 general elections.

Alhaji Abdullahi Sokoto, also a special adviser to Tambuwal,  restated the  former aides’  commitment and dedication toward ensuring the success of APC across the state.

“We will continue to remain in our party APC and as such we sacrifice our political appointments to clarify people’s doubt and show our stand on party supremacy.”

He restated the group’s loyalty and support to the policies and programme of the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of APC.

In his reaction, the APC Chairman in the state, Alhaji Sadiq Achida, commended the former aides  to  Gov. Tambuwal for their demonstration of  loyalty to the party.

He said, “the sacrifice of the Special advisers is highly recommended and will surely be rewarded by the people and APC in future.”

Defection: Why I rejected Saraki and his father – Ex-PDP Chairman, Suleiman

The founding chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Kwara State, Pa Kunle Suleiman, has revealed that he once told Olusola Saraki, father of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki that they will never be in the same political party.

The politician, who left the party recently following the defection of Saraki to the PDP, told Punch that he did so because he could not be in the same political party with Saraki because of their own political ideology.

According to him, Saraki merely stepped into his father’s shoes and inherited the existing structure but does not know how to manage it, saying light and darkness cannot exist together.

He said, “I am not only a founding father of the PDP in Kwara State, I am one of the founding fathers of the PDP at the national level, having started from G-18 to G-36 until it transformed to the PDP.

“Therefore in Kwara State, I nurtured the PDP from the scratch. It is painful that I had to leave the house I laboured hard to build.

“I really need to do so with pains because I cannot stay in the same political party with Bukola Saraki. At the beginning, when we had three parties including the PDP, and the Alliance for Democracy.

“I deliberately went to the PDP in order to avoid being in the same party with that dynasty when late Baba Olusola Saraki was alive.

“We (Olusola and I) had a very good working relationship, we talked and so on but I told him (Olusola Saraki) that we cannot be in the same party because their own politics is not ideology-based, and it is not geared towards the improvement of the lives of the masses, therefore we cannot co-habit in the same party; that is why I went to the PDP.

“After the old man died, his son stepped into his shoes. Because he was not a politician, he merely stepped into the shoes of his late father and inherited the existing structure but he does not know how to manage it.

“He reduces everybody to the level of a servant. Politics is not a master-servant relationship. Those of us who have something to offer can never play that type of politics.

“So basically, we are just different politically. Our thoughts are not the same; our ideas are not the same. We think of the masses, Bukola thinks of what he will acquire.

“Bukola does not think of the people, he thinks about himself; all others are mere instruments for him to achieve his objectives, expand his political empire and political image.

“If you look at what is happening, why did he leave the PDP for the APC in 2014? It was not because former President Goodluck Jonathan was not performing; it was because he felt that he had not had enough recognition.

“Under President Muhammadu Buhari, his defection is not based on differences of ideology, and it is not that the masses are suffering and the government should have initiated and implemented better policies; it is about him. That’s why we cannot be together.

“He described the PDP as the worst party that existed and he left, moved everybody including the structures to the APC, later he formed New Peoples Democratic Party.

“Now he has formed the Reformed-APC and he has gone back to the PDP. Light and darkness can never dwell together. We are light and that is why we left the PDP.” - Daily Post