All Progressives Congress (APC): APC calls endorsement of Jonathan as sole PDP cand...

All Progressives Congress (APC): APC calls endorsement of Jonathan as sole PDP cand...: The All Progressives Congress (APC) has strongly condemned the endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan as the sole candidate of the PD...

APC calls endorsement of Jonathan as sole PDP candidate mockery of democracy

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has strongly condemned the endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan as the sole candidate of the PDP for next year's presidential election, to the exclusion of all other candidates, calling the endorsement nothing but a mockery of democracy.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also said the endorsement has come at a great price to Nigerians, considering the obvious deals that were struck to make President Jonathan the sole PDP candidate.

It said the parody of democracy that the endorsement represents has exposed the shameless hypocrisy of the PDP, which is ever so eager to accuse other parties of lacking in internal democracy.

''Obviously, those fellows in the PDP have never heard of the saying that those who must come to equity must come with clean hands. PDP, where is your own internal democracy now that you have turned your party into a fiefdom controlled by one and only one person only?

''While endorsements are part and parcel of democracy, they are never done to the exclusion of other candidates. This is simply not democratic. When then candidate Barrack Obama was endorsed by his
party's bigwigs to contest the US Presidency, the party never excluded Hillary Clinton from its primaries. That's how it is done,'' APC said.

The party said the price being paid for Jonathan's endorsement by Nigeria is simply too heavy, considering that the PDP Governors who spearheaded the endorsement have now secured perpetual immunity from prosecution by anti-graft bodies, including the EFCC and the ICPC; the
automatic tickets for all first-term PDP Governors, whether or not they have performed, the automatic tickets for all PDP Governors running for the Senate, as well as the free ride back to the Upper Chamber for Senate President David Mark.

''It is now an Open Sesame for the PDP Governors, who have no prying anti-corruption agencies watching over their shoulders. They can now simply see the commonwealth as an extension of their deep pockets. The endorsement is also a vote of approval for the proceeds of corruption that have been powering the noisy and outrageous Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN),'' it said.

APC accused President Jonathan of desecrating the country's democracy because of his desperation for re-election, adding: ''It is a cruel irony that a man who has benefited, more than anyone else, from this democracy has been the one who has been doing everything possible to undermine it.''

The party said President Jonathan has also abandoned domestic issues while seeking international relevance, in a clear negation of the aphorism that charity begins at home.

''This President has basically abandoned governance. Unprecedented corruption is mounting, insecurity stalks the land and Nigerians grope in darkness as power generation has plummeted. This President has yet to tell Nigerians the full involvement of his government in the 9.3 million dollars that was illegally ferried to South Africa on a private jet. This President has yet to tell Nigerians why he has continued to hobnob with an alleged sponsor of Boko Haram, who is supposed to be under a probe by his Administration. Yet, he is eager to attend meetings with serious-minded leaders who have done well for their own people.

''Mr. President, it is only when you have achieved success domestically that you can parade yourself internationally. You cannot look good abroad if you look ugly at home,'' APC said.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed
National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)
Lagos, Sept. 24th 2014

All Progressives Congress (APC): APC warns against plan to postpone 2015 general el...

All Progressives Congress (APC): APC warns against plan to postpone 2015 general el...: The All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned those nursing the plan to postpone the 2015 general elections to perish the thought, s...

APC warns against plan to postpone 2015 general elections

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned those nursing the plan to postpone the 2015 general elections to perish the thought, saying Nigerians will not accept, under any guise whatsoever, any scheme by desperate elected officials to get tenure elongation by subterfuge

In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said those who are flying the kite of pushing forward the election ostensibly because the nation is at war are trying to imperil the nation's democracy.

''Election is the lifeblood of democracy, the mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates. It is the only way for the citizenry to renew and refresh the governing process so they can get the most benefits out of democracy. Therefore, anyone that tries to sabotage this mechanism is aiming a dagger straight at the heart of democracy,'' it said.

APC said the statement credited to Senate President David Mark, that ''there is no question of elections, it is not even on the table now. We are in a state of war,” reflects the thinking in government circles, even though the Senate President, having run into a wall of opposition over his unfortunate statement, has tried to step back from the comments.

''We in the APC saw this coming, and we have said it at several fora: That the Jonathan Administration has deliberately allowed the insurgency in the North-east, an opposition stronghold, to fester so he can cash in on it to get re-elected. Simply put, the Administration has been playing dirty politics with Boko Haram, at the expense of the lives and property of the citizenry and the well-being of the nation.

''However, the Administration is being too clever by half to think that Nigerians will reward it for its failure in its main reason for existence, which is the protection of the welfare and security of the citizens. There is just no way this government will be allowed to profit from its ineptness and its conspiracy to prolong an insurgency that should have ended a long time ago,'' the party said.

It said the statement by INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega, that the commission has started preparing for elections even in the North-east, represents a ray of hope, but warned the electoral body to remain steadfast and not to cave in to what will be massive pressure from the Jonathan Administration and its gong beaters to scuttle the 2015 elections.

APC said just like Jega has said, countries like Afghanistan and Iraq successfully held elections even though they are in a state of war, hence there is no reason why Nigeria cannot organize elections because of the insurgency in a part of the country.

''We know the Jonathan Administration is mortally afraid to face the electorate, having failed woefully to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people. We know many elected officials are also aware that they will be punished by the electorate because they have failed them (the electorate). It is therefore easy for them to queue behind any plot to ensure the 2015 general elections do not hold as planned, so they can get tenure extension.

''However, we have got news for these saboteurs: Nigerians have seen through their game and will not allow them to succeed in endangering our democracy. 2015 elections must hold as scheduled. This is not negotiable,'' the party warned.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed 

National Publicity Secretary,

All Progressives Congress (APC)

Lagos, Sept 21st 2014

All Progressives Congress (APC): President Jonathan, please come clean on the US$9....

All Progressives Congress (APC): President Jonathan, please come clean on the US$9....: The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to come clean on the circumstances surrounding the 9.3 milli...

President Jonathan, please come clean on the US$9.3m controversy - APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to come clean on the circumstances surrounding the 9.3 million US dollars that was impounded in South Africa, which has become the latest in a series of global ridicule to which the scandal-prone Jonathan Administration has subjected Nigeria and her people.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also called on the National Assembly to launch an urgent investigation into the issue, saying the silence of the peoples' representatives on the issue is deafening, unfathomable and unacceptable.

It said there is no doubt that the President is at the centre of the whole issue, considering the presidential treatment given to the plane and its cargo, since the plane departed from the Presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, away from the reach of the Nigerian Customs Service which could not therefore have cleared the plane and its passengers.

''It is absolutely urgent for President Jonathan to clear the air on this alleged off-the-shelf equipment or arms purchase, which runs against all known protocol for such purchases anywhere in the world. Military equipment and weapons are not bean cakes to be purchased by the road side. There are globally-acceptable protocols for such purchases by governments, otherwise what differentiates a government from an insurgent group that is shopping for arms?

''Is the Jonathan Administration not aware that the UN General Assembly on April 2nd 2013 adopted a landmark Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) precisely to regulate the international trade in conventional weapons by avoiding the kind of road-side purchase that the Nigerian government is said to have been involved in? Though the ATT has not come into effect, the fact that Nigeria is among the few countries to have signed and ratified the treaty shows that the country is concerned by unregulated arms trade,'' APC said.

The party said the resort to ''procedural error'' to explain away the whole issue cannot work, because Nigerian authorities cannot pretend not to be aware that currency brought into or taken from South Africa is monitored by law, and that anyone bringing into that country more than R25,000 in South African currency or U$10,000 or the equivalent thereof in foreign currency must declared such.

It said that in any case, those who are using ''procedural error'' as an alibi are being too clever by half. This is because if entering or leaving a country with undeclared $9.3 million is mere ''procedural error'', why was Sule Lamido's son convicted for not declaring a mere $50,000 dollars at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport?

APC said, however, that in the spirit of fairness, it has decided to give President Jonathan and the government he heads the opportunity to make urgently-needed clarifications by answering a number of questions relating to the $9.3 million scandal: Is the money indeed meant to purchase a helicopter as has been reported? To which arm of the government or security force does the money belong? Who appropriated it and for what purpose? Why was the money being ferried in cash by the same government that has been spending huge time and money to promote a cashless policy? Is the resort to cash to avoid a paper trail for the transaction, in which case it is illegal?

''Mr. President, we are aware that each arm of security has an account with the CBN for the purpose of arms purchase and such transactions are properly documented, so why was this not the case in this instance? 

'Mr. President, why did it take your government all of 10 days to admit its involvement in this scandal, considering that the embarrassing incident
happened since Sept. 5th and was not known until Sept. 15th? Does this saga not give credence to the widely held view that you are indeed benefitting from the the Boko Haram insurgency and that you have deliberately allowed it to escalate to this level?

''Mr. President, has this saga not confirmed the suspicion that your 2015 reelection bid has been factored into your handling of the Boko Haram insurgency? Has this saga not given more credence to revelations that the sponsors of Boko Haram are those closest to the President? Has this saga not finally confirmed that the President knows more than he is telling the nation about the sudden escalation of the Boko Haram insurgency, especially in the run up to the 2015 elections?

''Mr. President, has this saga not confirmed that powerful forces in your administration are all working in concert to use the Boko Haram insurgency to secure tenure extension for President Jonathan? Is not clear now why the Senate President infamously declared two days ago that election is not on the table since the country is in a state of war? Have we not been proven right in our declaration at the panel discussion in the British House of Commons on Sept. 8th 2014 that the Jonathan administration will attempt to cash in on the Boko Haram insurgency to postpone elections?''

The party said the answers to the questions raised would go a long way in showing Nigerians that their government is not clandestinely buying equipment and weapons to fuel the Boko Haram insurgency and then profit from its own act of perfidy.

It said while the President is compiling his answers to the posers, he should ask his spokespersons to stop adding insult to injury by saying the CIA, FBI, Mossad etc also travel abroad with undeclared cash, in clear violation of the laws of their destination countries, to buy arms.

''Mr President only gangsters and terrorists conduct their businesses in this manner. Therefore, please call your spokespersons to order, while you are preparing to come clean to Nigerians on this latest scandal,'' APC said.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed

National Publicity Secretary

All Progressives Congress (APC)

Abuja, Sept. 17th 2014

All Progressives Congress (APC): APC calls for dissolution of Osun Governorship Ele...

All Progressives Congress (APC): APC calls for dissolution of Osun Governorship Ele...: The All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for the immediate dissolution of the Osun Governorship Election Tribunal and the reco...

APC calls for dissolution of Osun Governorship Election Tribunal

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for the immediate dissolution of the Osun Governorship Election Tribunal and the reconstitution of a new one, in order to engender the confidence of the public in the work of the tribunal.

In a statement issued in Benin City, Edo State, on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the reported removal of the Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice I.M. Bako, on the basis of a petition written by some people, has tainted the Tribunal, hence the need to constitute a fresh one.

''According to the information at our disposal, the PDP used one of the candidates in the Aug. 9th gubernatorial election in the state to orchestrate the removal of the Tribunal Chairman, whom the party (PDP) considered not pliable enough for the achievement of its evil machination. Therefore, this removal is unacceptable to us, because it suggests that some dark forces are teleguiding the proceedings of the Tribunal - a development that is inimical to the fair delivery of justice.

''When we got this information about a week ago,  we did not lend it much credence, believing that the judiciary will not pander to the PDP or any party whatsoever in the execution of its Constitutional duties. But when we read the published report on Friday that the Chairman of the Tribunal has been removed, we were very worried.

''While our confidence in the judiciary remains unshaken, we believe this important arm of government must be shielded from political interference in the interest of justice, and in order for the citizenry not to lose confidence in it,'' it said.

APC said the PDP, which has been roundly rejected by the good people of Osun State, is desperately seeking to barge into the Government House in Osogbo through the back door.

In pursuant of its inordinate ambition, the party said the PDP had been engaging in irresponsible manipulation of facts since it lost the election last month.

''The most glaring has been the attempt by the PDP to deceive the public over the reason why INEC suspended two of its staffers over the Osun election. While these men were actually suspended for trying to rig the election in favour of the PDP, the PDP has put out a shameful lie that they were suspended for manipulating the election result from two local governments to favour the APC!

''This is most uncharitable and it shows the lack of integrity and character by those who are desperately seeking to rule over Osun State. One of the INEC officials in question is Segun Eshinlokun, the Electoral Officer of Obokun Local Government in Osun State who, along with one Ismalia Taofik, was caught with electoral materials before they were distributed by INEC.

''The second is the Electoral Officer for Osogbo Local Government, who is a card-carrying member of the PDP. It is instructive that these men were suspended following the petitions written by the APC in Osun State. How this was now twisted to make the public to believe that the men were suspended because they attempted to manipulate the election in favour of the APC is simply incredulous,'' it said.

APC said that in view of the clear desperation by the rejected candidate of the PDP in the Aug. 9th polls, all APC members and supporters in particular and the entire good people of Osun in general must remain vigilant in order to frustrate the undisguised attempt by the enemies of progress and anti-democratic forces to thwart the will of the people of the state, which they expressed on Aug. 9th despite all acts of intimidation and harassment.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed

National Publicity Secretary

All Progressives Congress (APC)

Benin City, Sept. 5th 2014

All Progressives Congress (APC): APC call on President Jonathan to Arrest Modu Sher...

All Progressives Congress (APC): APC call on President Jonathan to Arrest Modu Sher...: BOKO HARAM   Finally, the truth is out!  Being text of a Press Conference addressed by the National Chairman of the APC, Chief ...

APC call on President Jonathan to Arrest Modu Sherriff and Ihijerika

BOKO HARAM

 Finally, the truth is out!

 Being text of a Press Conference addressed by the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.

 Good afternoon Gentlemen of the press, and thank you for honouring my invitation to this press conference.

 Before I address you today, kindly permit me to play the full interview of Dr. Stephen Davis, the Australian negotiator who was appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan to help secure the release of the over 200 girls who were abducted by Boko Haram on April 15th.

 The interview was aired on Arise Television on Thursday Aug. 28th.

 INTERLUDE: PLAY VIDEO

 Thank you for your patience, gentlemen.

 The All Progressives Congress (APC) like many well-meaning Nigerians had resolved long ago that the issue of the Boko Haram insurgency should not be politicized. In view of this, the APC expressed its willingness and readiness to cooperate with the Federal Government in neutralizing the insurgency. Regrettably however, instead of accepting this offer of cooperation, the PDP-Federal Government has consistently pointed accusing fingers at our Party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the sponsor of Boko Haram. They have called us all sorts of derogatory names, but failed to provide any shred of evidence to support their claim.

 It has been very clear to us that the vehemence and persistence of this accusation, the deliberate distortion of statements made by our leaders to paint us as Boko Haram sponsors and the way the PDP-led Federal Government has gone to hire foreign PR firms, at a huge cost to taxpayers, as well as foreign and local hack writers to push this narrative, they were struggling hard to cover up something. We waited patiently knowing that the truth will one day surface.

 In a rare moment of truth, a top official of the Jonathan Administration, no less a personality than the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Andrew Owoye Azazi, situated the Boko Haram problem within the PDP. Shortly thereafter he was fired, and he later died in controversial circumstances. Still we waited.

 They distorted and misrepresented the statements made by our leader, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, to try to convince the world that he was indeed the main sponsor of Boko Haram. They continued to echo the same slander about Gen. Buhari that was started by Presidential Spokesman Reuben Abati in 2011, and for which he and his cohorts eventually begged to settle out of court and to apologize to the General. Still we waited.

When their attempt to link Gen. Buhari with Boko Haram failed, as his popularity among ordinary Nigerians continued to soar, he was suddenly attacked by suicide bombers. Those who planned the attack believed this as the final solution to what they perceived as the threat he represents to the realization of their ambition. By the grace of God, he survived. We do not claim to know those who attacked him, but we do know those who provided the atmosphere for that attack to take place. Still we waited.

 When the government declared a state of emergency in three worst-hit states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe in 2013, thousands of troops were deployed to the three states. But the unusual happened. The number of attacks simply skyrocketed. It is common knowledge that in any territory that has been placed under a state of emergency, the military takes charge of security, erecting checkpoints as part of efforts to keep a tab on security. Such was the situation in Borno in April 2014, when over 200 girls were abducted and driven away in many trucks. Soldiers posted to a nearby checkpoint were said to have withdrawn shortly before the attack. Who ordered their withdrawal? Some of the trucks in which the girls were being carted away broke down, yet no one challenged them. Despite this bizarre occurrence, they refused to accept responsibility and continued to cast aspersion on our Party, the APC, as the sponsor of Boko Haram. Still we waited.

 Boko Haram routinely enriched their arsenal with tanks, Armoured Personnel Carriers, guns, trucks and other military equipment which they seized from the Army. From the videos they release from time to time, one could see Boko Haram insurgents driving around unchallenged in convoys of up to 60 vehicles made-up of tanks and other military vehicles they seized from our military, in a territory that is under a state of emergency. What is happening? No one could fathom it. Still we waited.

 A man known to all as the kingpin of Boko Haram, a man who helped to arm them so he could win elections and decimate his opponents, was moving around with the best security ever. He is a known ally of the President and he is not known to be under any immunity. Yet he was never arrested or even questioned. Still we waited.

 In line with a Yoruba adage that says when a drum starts sounding too hard, it is about to burst, the PDP and the Presidency ratcheted up their attacks on our party, labelling us as Boko Haram sponsors. They hired a foreign firm, Levick, for US$1.2 million in taxpayers' money, as well as a number of out-of-luck hack writers and pseudo analysts, one of them from Russia, to help push the narrative. Still we waited.

 Then their drum exploded!

 Dr. Stephen Davis, a man hired by the President Jonathan-led Federal Government to negotiate with Boko Haram for the release of the Chibok girls decided to speak out, believing the best way to tackle the insurgency is to expose the sponsors. And who are they? On international television last Thursday, and as you have just seen and heard, he named former Borno Governor Ali Modu Sheriff and a former Army Chief, Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, as the sponsors of Boko Haram.

Prodded by Sahara Reporters in a subsequent interview on whether Gen. Buhari and Malam Nasir el-Rufai were sponsors, he said the Boko Haram commanders who gave him the names of their sponsors did not mention their names. The die is cast. The truth is finally out! Boko Haram sponsors have been exposed. They are within the ruling PDP. They are friends of President Jonathan. He cannot pretend not to know who they are and what they have done and are still doing. His myriad of intelligence agencies, including the DSS and the DMI, cannot pretend they do not have any information on these men.

 It is true that Ali Modu Sheriff was, until recently, a member of our Party. But the Party always suspected that he was a mole, planted to hijack or at best weaken the new Party for the PDP. He is not new to that role. He helped to decimate his former party, the ANPP, to an extent that the number of states under its control fell from seven in 2003 to three by the time he left as Governor.

We know for sure that Ali Modu Sheriff was planted in the APC to help decimate our party. We confronted him openly during the merger negotiation but he denied vigorously. His surrogate for the post of the Chairman of the APC, Chief Tom Ikimi together with whom they planned to hijack the Party for the Presidency was firmly rejected. Realizing they have failed, they fled our party and returned to where they came from, and were duly embraced by their controllers.

President Jonathan cannot pretend not to know the alleged role that Ali Modu Sheriff has played in the establishment and growth of Boko Haram, yet he never allowed the man to even be questioned by any of the security agencies under his control. All through his time with our Party, every time they accused us of sponsoring Boko Haram, on the basis of his presence, we challenged them if they had evidence to arrest any of our members who is suspected to be a sponsor, they never did. They dared not, because Sheriff was their agent. Even if he had remained in the APC after we democratically encouraged him to go, they would still not have arrested him.

Recall, gentlemen, that immediately Sheriff went back to the PDP, the Maiduguri Airport that had been closed to even the pilgrims from the state on grounds of security, was re-opened specially for him. What more evidence does anyone need that Sheriff was and remains President Jonathan's Man Friday?

Our Stand

The truth is finally out. We have been vindicated. We have no hand in the Boko Haram insurgency. The raison d'etre of our party is the well-being and security of Nigerians

The sponsors of Boko Haram are within the PDP and the Presidency. They are known friends of President Jonathan. He knows them and they know him.

The man who exposed these Boko Haram sponsors is a Jonathan-appointed Negotiator. He has no axe to grind, neither does he have any motive to shield the APC or portray the PDP/Presidency in bad light. In fact, if he had any sympathy at all, it is for the man who hired him, President Jonathan.

We have said it all along. Boko Haram was politicized purely for one reason, and one reason only: To be used as a trump card for President Jonathan to win another term. For that strategy to work, the APC, which they see as the only stumbling block to the PDP's victory in 2015, must be maligned and labeled. Gullible, duplicitous and self-serving politicians like Femi Fani-Kayode swallowed the bait, hook, line and sinker, and started parroting the glaring lies. PDP spokesman Olisa Metuh, an obvious pawn on the chess board, followed suit, labelling a party that comprises Nigerians of all ethnic and religious hue a Janjaweed and Islamic party. Now he is stewing in his own juice.

In the process of this dangerous politics, the Nigerian military which was globally acclaimed for its impressive showings at various peacekeeping missions around the world, simply suffered collateral damage. Apparently, fifth columnists in the military has sold the force out, first by denying it of the necessary fighting tools and then weakening it to such an extent that even the little it had was being taken away daily by insurgents. When the patriotic Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno tried to raise the issue of the poorly-equipped troops and their low morale, he was roundly pilloried. Now the world knows why!

Now that the cat has been let out of the bag and the real sponsors of Boko Haram have been exposed, we hope President Jonathan will summon the courage to do the right thing: Hand over the identified Boko Haram sponsors to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigation and prosecution.

There is no doubt that Boko Haram has committed crimes against humanity in its scorched-earth campaign against unharmed citizens, and the most appropriate body to investigate and try the sect's sponsors is the ICC.

According to Article 17 of the Rome Statute that set up the ICC, and to which Nigeria is signatory, the ICC is a court of last resort, expected to exercise its jurisdiction only if states themselves are unwilling or unable genuinely to investigate and prosecute international crimes.

In view of the fact that the alleged Boko Haram sponsors are either members of the ruling party or friends of the President, it is clear that the PDP-led Federal Government is unwilling and unable to try them, hence our call.

Nigerians can rest assured that the APC will not allow this issue to be swept under the carpet.

Now that it is clear that the PDP is behind Boko Haram for the sole purpose of winning next year’s Presidential Election, Nigerians must prevail on the PDP and the Presidency to urgently end this insurgency and the daily killing and maiming of innocent Nigerians!

The President must remember that he is the Commander-in-Chief! The buck stops on his desk. He must now do all it takes to stop the growing mess in our nation’s North-East.

Nigerians expect no less!

 

Abuja

Sept. 2^nd 2014