APC Archives

July 6, 2023

APC lawyer to Atiku at PEPC: No need to whip a dead horse

APC, Atiku Abubakar, PDP, Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC)

The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday in Abuja, closed its case against the election petition of Alhaji Abubakar Atiku and the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) at the Presidential Election Petition Court, (PEPC) without calling any witness.

Counsel to the APC, Mr Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, told the court that there was no need ” whipping a dead horse” saying the evidence of President Bola Tinubu ‘s sole witness, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele was enough to do damage to the petitioners’ case.

“Having taken a sober reflection of the entire case, we have enough evidence and we are not calling any witness.

” We do not intend to whip a dead horse, we announce the closure of the case of the 3rd respondent, (the APC),” Fagbemi said.

Fagbemi took this position after he cross examined Bamidele who was Tinubu’s star and only witness. witness.

Bamidele who is also a lawyer, told the court that the 460,000 dollars forfeiture judgment tendered in evidence by the petitioners was not strong enough to warrant the nullification of Tinubu’s election.

According to the witness, the judgment of the US court on the forfeiture of 460,000 dollars had Tinubu’s name on it but not as a criminal proceeding but as civil proceeding.

The witness insisted that it was not a criminal forfeiture but a civil one.

Bamidele, who is the Senate Majority Leader held that Tinubu was not charged, arraigned, indicted or sentenced for any criminal offence by any court in the United States.

” As far as criminal indictment is concerned, Tinubu has a clean bill of health because he was never indicted and convicted by any court in the United States.”

The witness told the court that he had known President Tinubu for over 35 years adding that in all those years, he knew the president as a bonafide Nigerian citizen by birth.

While answering questions posed by counsel to the petitioners’, Mr Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, the witness said that Tinubu did not need to score 25 per cent of votes cast in Federal Capital Territory, (FCT) to be declared winner of the Feb. 25 presidential election.

He also said that the president did not need to win the election in his home state to be declared winner.

The witness insisted that Abuja was simply the federal capital city and had no special status attached to it.

He agreed with the petitioners’ counsel that President Tinubu scored 19.4 per cent of the total votes cast in FCT.

The witness who was led in evidence by counsel to Tinubu, Mr Wole Olanipekun, SAN, said a judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in a suit filed by Labour Party on the mode of collation of election results, held that INEC was at liberty to use any mode of collation it deemed fit.

The witness also told the court that he was licensed to practice at the New York Bar in the United States as well.

With the sole witness, Olanipekun also announced the closure of Tinubu’s defence against the petition filed by the PDP and Atiku.

The closing of the defence by Tinubu and the APC marks the end of one phase and takes the case filed by PDP and Atiku to its next phase which is the exchanging of final written addresses among parties and closing arguments.

The presiding judge of the five-member panel, Justice Haruna Tsammani gave the respondents, INEC, APC and Tinubu 10 days to file their final written addresses while the petitioners have seven days to respond and the respondents have another five days to reply on points of law.

Justice Tsammani said that the parties would be communicated on the date for the adoption of the final written addresses.

Atiku came second in the Feb. 25 presidential election, but he is urging the court to overturn Tinubu’s victory on account of electoral fraud and non-compliance with statutory provisions in the conduct of the election.

April 28, 2023

APC quells rumours about zoning of NASS leadership slots

APC, National Assembly

The All Progressives Congress (APC) said it has not alloted the leadership positions of the incoming 10th National Assembly (NASS) to geo-political zones as speculated in some quarters.

Mr Felix Morka, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, advising that such reports should be disregarded.

“The attention of the APC has been drawn to versions of zoning arrangements for the 10th National Assembly leadership positions in circulation in sections of social media.

“The information did not emanate from the party and should be disregarded. To be clear, the party has yet to zone positions of leadership of the 10th National Assembly,” he said.

The APC scribe however assured any decision made in that regard by the party would be duly communicated to the public via its official information channels.

On Thursday, the social media buzzed with a list said to have been issued by the APC on the zoning of National Assembly positions.

According to the list published, the South South region would fill the position of Senate Presidency, while the North Central would take the speakership of the House of Representatives.

Here is the fake list circulated:

𝐀𝐏𝐂 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐙𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

𝐙𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐒 𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐖𝐀𝐉𝐔 𝐁𝐎𝐋𝐀 𝐀𝐇𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐁𝐔 𝐀𝐃𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

NORTH CENTRAL
Party (APC) Chairman,
Speakership

NORTH EAST
Vice President,
House Majority Leader

NORTH WEST
Secretary To the Federal Government,
Deputy Senate President

SOUTH WEST
President,
Senate Majority Chief Whip

SOUTH EAST
Senate Majority Leader

SOUTH SOUTH
Senate President,
House Minority Chief Whip

April 11, 2023

APC tells tribunal: Peter Obi illegally sponsored by LP as candidate

APC, Labour Party, Peter Obi

The All Progressives Congress (APC), on Monday, prayed the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja to dismiss the petition filed by the Labour Party (LP) and its Presidential Candidate, Mr Peter Obi, against the emergence of Sen. Bola Tinubu as president-elect in the Feb. 25 election.

The APC, the 4th respondent, urged the PEPC to reject the petition in its notice of preliminary objection marked: CA/PEPC/03/2023 and filed at PEPC’s Secretariat, Monday night, by Thomas Ojo, a member of the party’s legal team led by Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, in Abuja.

The party asked the tribunal to dismiss the petition with substantial cost on the grounds that it lacked merit and was frivolous.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Obi, the 1st petitioner, and LP, the 2nd petitioner, had sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Tinubu, Sen. Kashim Shettima and APC as 1st to 4th respondents respectively.

The petitioners are seeking the nullification of the election victory of Tinubu and Shettima in the Feb 25 presidential poll.

NAN reports that while former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second with 6,984,520 votes in the election; Obi came third with 6,101,533 votes.
Abubakar and PDP are also challenging the outcome of the poll.

However, in the petition marked: CA/PEPC/03/2023 filed by Obi and LP’s lead counsel, Livy Ozoukwu, they contended that Tinubu “was not duly elected by majority of the lawful votes cast at the time of the election.”

The petitioners claimed there was rigging in 11 states, adding that they would demonstrate this in the declaration of results based on the uploaded results.

Obi and LP said INEC violated its own regulations when it announced the result despite the fact that at the time of the announcement, the totality of the polling unit results had yet to be fully scanned, uploaded and transmitted electronically as required by the Electoral Act.

Among other prayers, the petitioners urged the tribunal to “determine that, at the time of the presidential election held on February 25,, 2023, the 2nd and 3rd respondents (Tinubu and Shettima) were not qualified to contest the election.

“That it be determined that all the votes recorded for the 2nd respondent in the election are wasted votes, owing to the non-qualification of the 2nd and 3rd respondents.

“That it be determined that on the basis of the remaining votes (after discountenancing the votes credited to the 2nd respondent) the 1st petitioner (Obi) scored a majority of the lawful votes cast at the election and had not less than 25 per cent of the votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of the states of the federation and the FCT and satisfied the constitutional requirements to be declared the winner of the Feb. 25 presidential election.

“That it be determined that the 2nd respondent (Tinubu), having failed to score one-quarter of the votes cast at the presidential election in the FCT was not entitled to be declared and returned as the winner of the presidential election held on Feb. 25.””

Responding, the APC prayed the court to dismiss the suit on the ground that Obi, the 1st petitioner, lacked requisite locus standi to institute the petition because he was not a member of LP at least 30 days to the party’s presidential primary to be validly sponsored by the party.

It said: “The 1st petitioner (Obi) was a member of PDP until May 24, 2022.

“1st petitioner was screened as a presidential aspirant of the PDP in April 2022.

“1st petitioner participated and was cleared to contest the presidential election while being a member of the PDP.

“1st petitioner purportedly resigned his membership of PDP on May 24, 2022 to purportedly join the 2nd petitioner (Labour Party) on May 27, 2022.

“2nd petitioner conducted its presidential primary on May 30, 2022 which purportedly produced 1st petitioner as its candidate, which time contravened Section 77(3) of the Electoral Act for him to contest the primary election as a member of the 2nd petitioner.”

The party argued that Obi was not a member of LP as at the time of his alleged sponsorship.

The APC argued that “by the mandatory provisions of Section 77 (1) (2) and (3) of the Electoral Act 2022, a political party shall maintain a register and shall make such register available to INEC not later than 30 days before the date fixed for the party primaries, congresses and convention.”

It stated further that all the PDP’s presidential candidates were screened on April 29, 2022, an exercise which Obi participated and cleared to contest while being a member of the party.

It argued that the petition was incompetent since Obi’s name could not have been in LP’s register made available to INEC as at the time he joined the party.

The APC equally argued that the petition was improperly constituted having failed to join Atiku Abubakar and PDP who were necessary parties to be affected by the reliefs sought

“By Paragraph 17 of the petition, the petitioners, on their own, stated that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar came second in the presidential election with 6,984,520 votes as against the petitioners who came third with 6,101,533 votes;

“At Paragraph 102 (iti) of the petition, the petitioners urged the tribunal to determine that 1st petitioner scored the majority of lawful votes without joining Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the petition.
“For the tribunal to grant prayer (iii) of the petitioners, the tribunal must have set aside the scores and election of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,

“Alhaji Atiku Abubakar must be heard before his votes can be discountenanced by the tribunal,” it said.

The party said the petition and the identified paragraphs were in breach of the mandatory provisions of Paragraph 4(1)(D) of the 1st Schedule to the Electoral Act, 2022.

According to APC, Paragraphs 60 — 77 of the petition are non-specific, vague and/or nebulous and thereby incompetent contrary Paragraph 4(1)(d) of the Ist Schedule to the Electoral Act, 2022;
It said that the allegations of non-compliance must be made distinctly and proved on polling unit basis but none was specified or provided in any of the paragraphs of the petition.

“Paragraphs 59-60 of the petition disclose no identity or particulars of scores and polling units supplied in 18,088 units mentioned therein,” it added.

The party, therefore, argued that the tribunal lacked the requisite jurisdiction to entertain pre-election complaints embedded in the petition as presently constituted, among other arguments
The APC urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition with substantial cost as same was devoid of any merit and founded on frivolity.

INEC chairman Yakubu, Tinubu and his wife Senator Remi Tinubu

April 10, 2023

APC counters 3 petitions against Tinubu, asks tribunal to dismiss them

APC, President-Elect Bola Tinubu, Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC)

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has prayed the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) in Abuja to dismiss petitions filed by three opposition parties challenging the victory of its presidential candidate, Sen. Bola Tinubu, in the Feb. 25 election.

The APC urged the tribunal to discountenance the petitions, in three separate responses filed at PEPC’s Secretariat, Sunday night, by Thomas Ojo, a member of the party’s legal team led by Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, in Abuja.

The three political parties; Action Alliance (AA), Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and Action People’s Party (APP) had, in separate petitions, challenged the emergence of Tinubu as president-elect.

AA, in the petition, sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), APC, Tinubu and Hamza Al-Mustapha, its factional presidential candidate and former CSO to late Gen. Sani Abacha.

APM, in its petition, joined INEC, APC, Tinubu, Kashim Shettima and Kabir Masari, who stood as vice-presidential placeholder during the primaries before he was substituted with Shettima.

But APP dragged Tinubu, APC and INEC to court as 1st to 3rd respondents respectively.

In the suits, marked CA/PEPC/01/2023, CA/PEPC/04/2023 and CA/PEPC/02/2023, AA and its presidential candidate, APM and APP are respectively challenging the outcome of the presidential election on the grounds of alleged substantial non-compliance with the electoral laws as well as the INEC guidelines.

While the AA claimed that its candidate, Solomon-David Okanigbuan, was excluded from the presidential poll, based on which the election should be voided, the APM is contending that Tinubu was not qualified to contest the election on the grounds of the alleged double nomination of his vice-presidential candidate.

It is also questioning Tinubu’s candidacy on the grounds of the substitution of the initial placeholder, Kabir Masari, with Shettima.

On its part, the APP claimed that Tinubu was, at the time of the election, not qualified to contest the poll by virtue of the provisions of Sections 131(c) and 142 of the Constitution and Section 35 of the Electoral Act 2022.

Responding, the APC faulted the claim by the AA that its presidential candidate was excluded from the election, arguing that its known candidate, Mr Al-Mustapha, participated in the election.

It stated that contrary to AA’s claim, Tinubu “was duly elected and returned as the President-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, having won the majority of lawful votes cast in the said election devoid of corrupt practices or vices and in substantial compliance with the provisions of Electoral Act 2022 (as amended).”

It argued that the ground on which the AA brought its petition “is not meritorious and facts in support of same are not availing to validate the petitioners’ claims and/or purported right to present the instant petition.”

The APC added that Okanigbuan (listed as the 2nd petitioner “is not the 1st petitioner’s (AA’s validly nominated and sponsored candidate to contest the presidential elections held on Feb. 25.

APC also argued that as against the AA’s claim, INEC (listed as the 1st respondent) did not unlawfully exclude Okanigbuan’s name because he was never the lawfully nominated and sponsored candidate of the petitioner, which did not submit his name to INEC as its candidate for the election.

It added that there is no evidence that the AA conducted a valid primary from which Okanigbuan emerged as a candidate, noting that Al-mustapha was the actual candidate of the AA, who was recognised by INEC.

The APC stated that Okanigbuan was not nominated and sponsored by the AA as its candidate to contest the presidential elections, adding that the party “was not and could not have been excluded from the election as it participated in the presidential election with the 4th respondent (Al-mustapha) as its candidate” who participated in the election and scored 14,542 votes.

In its notice of preliminary objection, the APC questioned the competence of the petition, noting that it was based solely on pre-election issues.

It said: “For an election petition to be competent, it must complain against the return and/or election of the winner of the disputed election.

“The instant petition is neither challenging and/or questioning the election of the 2nd and/or 3rd respondent (APC/Tinubu).

“The petition as presently constituted amounts to a pre-election matter of nomination and sponsorship of candidate(s).

“The crux of the petition being the nomination and sponsorship of the 1st petitioner’s candidate is statute barred, having not been commenced within the mandatory 14 days provided for under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999;

“Issues of nomination, sponsorship and exclusion of candidates for an election are issues that precede the conduct of an election and are pre-election matters that cannot be raised or canvased before an election tribunal.

“Facts in support of the petition speak to intra —party issues, pre-election disputes and administrative actions of INEC triable by Federal High Court under Section 285 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as altered by the 4th Alteration Act and outside the original jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal being a Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.”

Also in its reply, the APC prayed the tribunal to dismiss APM’s petition.

The party, in its preliminary objection equally filed on Sunday, argued that “the petitioner (APM) alone in the absence of its sponsored candidate cannot benefit and did not have any special interest in the election or return of the 3rd respondent (Tinubu) as the winner of the election.

The APC queried the legal capacity of the party to challenge the mode it adopted in nominating its candidate.

The APC argued that since the APM was not a member of the party, it did not know “how it becomes the petitioner’s business how it nominates its candidates.

“The petitioner does not fall under the category of persons that can challenge the internal working operation of the 2nd respondent (APC) regarding the nomination and sponsorship of the 2nd respondent’s candidates for the election.”

The APC equally faulted the competence of the petition by the APP, arguing that the grounds on which it was founded is not sustainable.

It described the petition as frivolous and an attempt to waste the court’s time.

NAN also reports that the presidential candidates of Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s counterpart, Atiku Abubakar, are also challenging the election.

Tinubu and Shettima, the vice president-elect, are, however, within time to respond to all the petitions.

NAN reports that based on provisions of the law, a respondent has within 21 days to reply to a petition after a service. (NAN)

February 27, 2023

APC upstages LP in Benue: Results at a Glance

APC, Benue state result, Labour Party

The All Progressives Congress has surprised bookmakers by edging out Labour Party in Benue State.

According to results announced in the state, the APC’s Bola Tinubu won 310,468 votes.

Peter Obi of Labour Party came second with 308,372 votes, while Atiku Abubakar of PDP got
130,081.

The Collation Officer was Prof Faruk Adamu Kuta, Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology Minna.

Here are some of the results:

1. Tarka LGA

APC: 13,640
Labour Party: 2,038
PDP: 2,642

2. Buruku LGA

APC: 20,248
Labour Party: 13,466
PDP: 6,909

3. Ado LGA
APC: 2,271
Labour Party: 9,987
PDP: 1,107

4. Obi LGA
APC: 4,450
Labour Party: 7949
PDP: 4340

4.Katsina-Ala

APC: 18,632
LP: 7,876
PDP: 8,060

5.Oju LGA

APC: 8,412
LP: 13,192
PDP: 4,920

6.Logo LGA
APC: 8,121
LP: 13,836
PDP: 9,377

7.Agatu LGA

APC: 3,988
LP: 6,302
PDP: 4,221
NNPP: 80

8.Gboko LGA

APC: 35,149
LP: 18,615
PDP: 13,901
NNPP: 335

9.Kwande LGA, 15 RAs

APC: 23,027
LP: 11,945
PDP: 7,813
NNPP: 437

10.Otukpo LGA, 13 RAs

APC: 8,471
LP: 23,762
PDP: 6,760
NNPP: 332

Umar Madawaki of Labour Party, middle. Left, Tinubu and right Peter Obi

February 23, 2023

Breaking: Labour Party gov. candidate Madawaki dumps Peter Obi for Tinubu

APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Labour Party, Umar Madawaki

Governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Adamawa, Alhaji Umar Madawaki, on Thursday in Yola directed his supporters to vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the presidential election.

Madawaki told a news conference that he had adopted the APC’s presidential candidate, Sen. Bola Tinubu as the candidate of choice on Saturday

He said the LP had completely side-lined him and other party candidates in the build-up to the 2023 general elections.

“We have been deliberately disrespected by the party structure at the national and state levels.

“It is in light of this that we entered into discussions with the APC and after exhaustive negotiations, we have resolved to collapse our entire structure for the APC and particularly, for the presidential election.

“I therefore call on all my supporters to go to the polls on Saturday and overwhelmingly vote Sen. Bola Tinubu as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,’’ Madawaki told newsmen.

He added, however, that on March 11, voters should cast their votes for him as governor.

“My commitment is to run an administration that will embrace everyone regardless of ethnicity, location and religion.

“I will work committedly to build a state that is strong, rich and safe for everyone,’’ he stressed.

February 19, 2023

CBN, AGF must respect Supreme Court on recirculating N500 and N1000: APC says

APC, Naira swap

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on the Attorney General of the Federation and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to respect the Supreme Court interim injunction, ordering the recirculation of N500 and N1,000 notes.

Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, the APC National Chairman, said this was part of resolution reached at an emergency meeting between the party’s governors and members of its National Working Committee (NWC) on Sunday in Abuja.

Adamu, who spoke to newsmen at the end of the closed door meeting, said the meeting also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in resolving issues caused by the new Naira note re-design and the cashless economy policy.

The Supreme Court had in a ruling on 8 February granted an interim injunction that the CBN and the federal government should suspend the implementation of the Feb.10 deadline for the expiration of the legal tender status of the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes.

On 15 February the apex court affirmed the ruling.

This, it said, should be pending until the hearing and determination of a suit before it slated for Feb. 22.

In a surprise move President Buhari on 16 February, in a broadcast announced that only the old N200 note would remain valid until April 10. He said old N500 and N1000 notes had ceased to be legal tender.

The broadcast had been heavily criticised and condemned by lawyers and many of the 21 governors of the APC.

Many expressed outrage that the President could openly defy the apex court in a democracy.

After the emergency meeting of the party leadership and governors on Sunday, the chairman announced the resolution reached as follows:

“Without prejudice or whatsoever to the case that is lying at the Supreme Court at this point in time, that has to do with the issue of currency re-design.

“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 (CBN) to respect the Supreme Court order of interim injunction which is still subsisting.

“That the meeting is urging his Excellency, President Buhari, to intervene in resolving issues that are causing this great difficulties to the economy,” Adamu said.

He added that contrary to speculations, the party’s leadership and governors elected on its platform under the agies of Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) were on the same page on this matter.

Also speaking, Gov. Abubakar Badaru of Kebbi and Chairman PGF, expressed satisfaction on the party’s ongoing presidential campaign across the country.

Badaru said he was very proud about the conduct of party’s members and its presidential candidate, Sen. Bola Tinubu, adding that the governors and the party’s leadership are working in unity to achieve electoral victory.

“The Director-General of the campaign and indeed, governors and the party’s candidates across the country have been doing a tremendous job of mobilising the Nigerian populace.

“And we are very impressed with the support of the majority of Nigerians,” he said.

Governors of Kaduna, Kogi, Jigawa, Yobe, Zamfara, Plateau, Ekiti, Niger, Kebbi, Gombe, Lagos and Nasarawa States as well as the deputy governors of Imo and Katsina States were present at the meeting.

Tinubu also attended the meeting at the Blantyre Street head office of the party in Abuja..

The meeting lasted for about three hours.

February 10, 2023

I don’t see victory for PDP— Fashola

APC, Babatunde Raji Fashola, PDP

The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, said he does not see victory for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming presidential elections.

Fashola, the Director, Election Planning and Monitoring of APC Presidential Campaign Council, made the remark at the formal launching of Eko O Ni Baje 10,000 Foot Soldiers for Tinubu/Shettima and Sanwo-Olu/Hamzat on Thursday in Lagos.

He said that the main opposition party has been so much divided to record electoral victory either in the state or at the centre in the Feb. 25 and March 11 elections.

He said that if PDP failed to beat the APC in 2019 elections when it was united with the current presidential candidates of NNPP and Labour Party in the party, it would be impossible for the party to beat APC in forthcoming elections.

“When they (PDP) were together, they were not enough to challenge us. They are now broken into three, how can the sum total of what was not enough then be enough now that they have broken it into three parts.

“Politics is about numbers but it is also about mathematics. It is a game of addition and multiplication. It is not a game of division and subtraction.

“From 2019, this umbrella party that used to be one has now been divided into three. That party has divisions and subtractions, I don’t see a way to victory (for PDP).

“Tell them that the arithmetics does not add up. We must go out and use our strength now. We have the largest number of registered voters, it must count.

Fashola urged the the canvassers to move out and tell voters some of the reasons to allow APC to continue.

According to him, the PDP ruled for 16 years without commencing work on many of the roads connecting Lagos State with other states but the APC administration is working on all of them.

Listing such expressways to include Ikorodu-Sagamu, Lagos -Ibadan, Lagos-Badagry, Lagos-Abeokuta, Fashola urged the canvassers to explain to the people to be patient for APC to finish roads.

Fashola commended Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu for continuing projects he inherited and starting new ones to position the state for the next wave technical development to make Lagos the smartest city in the region.

Stressing the need for experience to lead a state like Lagos, Fashola said that some of those contesting the seat were not ready because they lacked experience.

Fashola, a former governor of Lagos State and the Chief Host of the event, urged the party agents to be conversant with the usage of BVAS and monitor its readings to prevent manipulation of figures.

He urged the party canvassers to educate educate voters on the right way to vote to avoid void votes on election days.

“It is not about whether we will beat them (PDP), it is about how convincingly we will beat them,” he said.

He urged the canvassers and party agents to keep their eyes open, saying, “our tool is our PVCS and our path to victory are our votes.”

According to him, Tinubu, Sanwo-Olu and other APC candidates are resting on the people as the wall, hence the people must not let them down.

In his remarks, Sanwo-Olu, who commended the party leaders for support, stressed the need for all to work together to deliver highest number of votes for Tinubu and other candidates in the state.

The governor said that Tinubu remained the most suitable for the country, having done a lot for the state, the country and democracy.

“When we work together, we can achieve a lot together. The bottom line is that we want to reach every nook and cranny of the state.

“Our target, the five million votes will come out, we will deliver it. It is the number that we want to display.

“Nobody has any credential that is close to Tinubu’s. Given his experience, Nigeria will be better off for it. This is what we deserve and what the county needs at this point in time.

“We are going to deliver the largest number for our Presidential Candidate. Go all out and do all you need to do to canvass,” the governor said.

On the tough economic situation, Sanwo-Olu said that he had given order for 50 per cent reduction in transport fares in government-controlled buses and provided food packages for people as reliefs.

Also, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, said that Tinubu and Sanwo-Olu did not have any comparison with other presidential and governorship candidates because the duo understood the terrain with excellent track records.

Hazmat urged the canvassers to move to “wake up those who are sleeping because this election is not about sentiment, it is about fact. The difference is clear. Open your eyes. We should not go back to PDP.”

Dr Muiz Banire, the Guest Lecturer and former APC National Legal Adviser, noted that elections had become sophisticated in Nigeria.

He said that APC canvassers must be knowledgeable, educated and respectable to convince voters.

According to him, with the use of Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS), party canvassers must avoid over-voting.

Speaking, Mr Kayode Eleshin, the Director General, Eko Oni Baje 10, 000 Foot Soldiers, said that Nigerians must exercise their voting right in the forthcoming elections in favour of APC candidates, hence the launching of the group.

Several APC leaders at the event took turns to address the crowd.

They include Mr Mudashiru Obasa, the Speaker Lagos State House of Assembly, Dr Olorunimbe Mamora, the Minister of Science and Technology, Princess Adejoke Orelope Adefulire, former Deputy Governor, Sen. Gbenga Ashafa, several party chieftains and executive council members.

February 5, 2023

Nextier, Labour Party and farcical poll result [Details]

APC, Labour Party, Nextier Poll, PDP

PRESS STATEMENT

NEXTIER, PETER OBI AND THE FARCICAL ELECTION POLL RESULT

We are constrained as a matter of public record to react to another farcical Presidential Election Poll result released by an organisation that calls itself Nextier, a public policy advisory firm that overnight turned itself into a Nigerian Gallup Poll or Ipsos.

We are reacting for the sake of unsuspecting Nigerians, so that they are not misled by the Patrick Okigbo-led organisation, which appears to have the agenda to create confusion and chaos in our country.

For a start, Nigerians should know that promoters of Nextier are members of Mr. Peter Obi’s Presidential Campaign Council and active campaigners for the Labour Party Presidential Candidate.

Any poll conducted by such intensely partisan and prejudicially tainted organisation should be taken with a pinch of salt.

This is apart from the fact that the sample size of the so-called poll and methodology employed cannot stand any integrity test.

It is quite ludicrous that Nextier Poll that projects a clean sweep of the South East Region at over 90% of registered votes also put Peter Obi ahead of APC Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the six South West States including Lagos.

Assuming without absolutely conceding that Peter Obi will enjoy home advantage in his part of the country, we then wonder why the pollsters at Nextier, if they have any modicum of respect for the intellect of Nigerians, thought the factors that will propel landslide victory for Obi in South east will not work for the APC candidate in his own South West base.

Nextier Pollsters also put Labour Party ahead of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party Candidate in his home state of Adamawa.

How more ridiculous can Nextier Pollsters get?

Nextier Pollsters called the entire South South Region for Labour Party at between 60% in Akwa-Ibom, the base of Chairman of PDP presidential campaign council.

The partisan pollsters gave Bayelsa 62.9% to Labour and also claimed Labour would win Delta 65.9 %, home of PDP Vice Presidential Candidate.

The jesters in Nextier also claimed Obi would win Rivers by by 77.8%, Edo 76.9% and Cross Rivers 63.2%.

It did not matter to them that in these states, Labour Party has no serving councillor in any ward.

The summary of Nextier’s so-called face-to-face nationwide poll is that Peter is the preferred candidate of 37% of Nigerians with a conclusion that the Presidential election will go into a run-off.

We make bold to say this is wishful thinking without any basis in fact and reality.

It is important to alert Nigerians and international community that the Pollsters at Nextier are working for the Labour Party and their poll results are all cooked up, far away from reality.

We suspect that their first and second fallacious poll results are pretext to cause political crisis and riots in Nigeria after the February 25. They may be preparing ground for violent protest by Obi supporters who will allege rigging when their candidate is roundly defeated at the election, in which he is not likely to even come a distant 3rd.

We want to state categorically that Peter Obi is not a major contender in the coming presidential election in Nigeria and no fantasy and fairytale poll can change the material facts.

We want to put it on record that Nextier Poll is useless for three reasons:

First, the sample of 3,000 is too insignificant in an election with over 93 million registered voters and admits greater margins of error than claimed.

Second, the distribution of the sample neither reflects voter demographics nor variations in voters turnout across states.

Third, the main objective of Nextier Poll is to report a predetermined conclusion so that when Labour Party loses by wide margin, its supporters can embark on another violent protests, similar to the destructive #ENDSARS riots of 2020.

Bayo Onanuga
Director, Media and Publicity
APC Presidential Campaign Council
February 5, 2023

January 5, 2023

PDP campaign collapses

APC, Festus Keyamo, Labour Party, PDP

The recent endorsement of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, by former president Olusegun Obasanjo and Edwin Clark has cleared the path for APC victory in the forthcoming elections.

Festus Keyamo (SAN) and spokesman of the Tinubu-Shettima Presidential campaign said that the various endorsements only spell doom for the People’s Democratic party as the various components that gave the party second position votes in the 2019 elections are pulling out.

Keyamo, who is also the Minister of State for Labour and Employment gave these projections on Tuesday when he appeared on Channels Tv Politics Today.

He said, “I think we can say confidently today that the PDP campaign has collapsed. The PDP as a party has also collapsed. The various components of the party in 2019 are the ones pulling out of that coalition. Nothing has affected APC.

“If you look at 2019, every single component of that coalition they formed both inside and outside the party against the APC has virtually collapsed. The PANDEF endorsed Atiku 2019, Edwin Clark is a member of the PANDEF, Ohaneze, Afenifere and Middle belt forum also endorsed Atiku in 2019.

“What is going on now is that the PDP has been turned into shreds, internally by the G5 and we hear that there is a G1 governor and also the sympathizers of the party in 2019, the party has imploded from within.”

The spokesperson who is currently on vacation in the United States added that the endorsement of Peter Obi is a piece of exciting news for the ruling party.

“The various factors we have now that have upset the political terrain are Peter obi and Kwankwaso. They were the components of the PDP in 2019. Those are the two factors that have upset the political terrain.

“We can confidently say the wheels of PDP have fallen off internally. I don’t take the view of what some of my colleagues are doing by condemning Obasanjo. I am excited by the endorsement of Obasanjo against Atiku and Peter Obi.

“The endorsement of Obasanjo is not against APC but against Atiku because he supported him in 2019. If you heard what Nyesom Wike said it is a tragedy that your former boss who should give you a pass mark has decided to endorse somebody else. In other words, Obasanjo endorsing Atiku in 2019 was because of Peter Obi.

“Right now, Obasanjo has followed Peter Obi out of PDP to the Labour Party, same for Edwin Clark. What is this effect on APC is that it made the path to our victory clearer? It is now obvious to us that we are coasting to victory,” he concluded.

Reported by Punch

Keyamo on PDP

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Tag: APC