General
SERG Urges Nigerians to Ignore Igbo Elites Fuelling Anti-Obi Campaign
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Nigerians have been urged to ignore a “few inconsistent and selfish” Igbo elites fuelling the anti-Peter Obi campaign ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
This appeal was made by a prominent pan-Igbo socio-political pressure organisation, the South East Revival Group (SERG).
In a statement, the organisation said these persons were “on a wild goose chase if they believe that any of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidates are interested in uniting the country through fairness and equity as they have equally exhibited selfishness in their quest to emerge as flag bearers.”
SERG was reacting to the reports credited to some elites of South East extraction, which have been making anti-Peter Obi comments.
In a statement signed by its President and National Coordinator, Mr Willy Ezugwu, the group said there was no going back in the “total support for the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, across the country.”
It maintained that “the fact that individuals who are part of the country’s failed leadership are exposing themselves is a good development in the build-up to an emerging new Nigeria.”
Recall that some PDP and APC chieftains have been urging the South East to support their presidential candidates in exchange for their support for the emergence of a South Easterner as President after their tenure.
But SERG said, “We recall that in 2017, a chieftain of the APC, Arthur Eze, had called for support from the people of the South East for the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, stressing that it is only through President Buhari that the quest for Igbo presidency can be actualized.
“Arthur Eze, who is the founder and chairman of the oil exploration company, Atlas Oranto Petroleum, made the call in Abakaliki during Buhari’s visit to the state in 2017.
“At the end of the day, the Governor David Umahi he was positioning for President got disappointed when he didn’t get support from Mr President to emerge the presidential candidate of APC, despite dumping his party, the PDP, to join APC in anticipation that President Buhari will endorse him.
“The same game is on ahead of the 2023 presidential election, and this time, Anambra State Governor, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, is the bait they are using to deceive a few Igbo elites that a support for APC or PDP in the presidential election will ensure that a President of Nigeria of Igbo extraction will be made possible whenever the PDP or APC candidate may have finished his tenure.
“If the support of the likes of Arthur Eze and David Umahi for APC did not translate into support for an Igbo to emerge Presidential candidate of the APC in 2023, which is what is fair and just, it will be unthinkable to believe that the emergence of an Igbo as president will be possible as being promised over the years.
“Nigerians are fully aware that it is unjust, unfair and devoid of equity for another Northerner to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023. How can a Muslim northerner replace a Muslim northerner in 2023? Is it just? Is it fair? Is equity not lacking in that?
“Nigerians of good conscience know that PDP unjustly denied the Igbos the presidential ticket contrary to its zoning arrangement as enshrined in the party’s constitution.
“In the same vein, it is unfair and unjust to the South East for a Yoruba southerner to succeed President Buhari after Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, a Yoruba, completed an eight-year tenure as President and the Yoruba has a sitting Vice-President who would have completed his eight years in 2023.
“As for Senator Adolphus Wabara, who claimed that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar will hand over to an Igbo, how can that be when no South East man or woman was good enough for the position of a Vice-President in Atiku’s planned government in 2023?
“Is Senator Wabara telling us that an Atiku who desperately and deliberately usurped the turn of South East in his party and ensured the total desecration of the provision of the PDP constitution on zoning will now hand over to a South East person after his tenure?
“In 2019, Atiku Abubakar enjoyed the total support of the Igbos, but he paid the Igbos back by blocking every possibility of a South Easterner emerging presidential candidate or even a vice presidential candidate of the PDP. So, where is his professed love for Igbos?
“Therefore, we are happy that the 2023 presidential election has become a clear tool in the hand of God, and some individuals who hate Nigeria and love only themselves are being exposed on a daily basis.
“We’re equally happy that people of good conscience across the country, who are obviously in the majority, are rooting for justice and equity, which is what the presidential bid of Peter Obi represents.
“It is a quest for true unity, peace and prosperity of Nigeria as a country.
“Nigerians have seen that Peter Obi is competent, prepared and divinely favoured to win the 2023 presidential election, and they are set to actualise it.
“Peter Obi himself has on several occasions urged Nigerians to vote for him as a Nigerian, not because he is an Igbo man.
“That is a man who has a heart of a true leader and is ready to bring about a new Nigeria where peace and justice shall truly reign for the benefit of Nigerians from all works of life, irrespective of political party affiliation or religious beliefs.
“Peter Obi represents the true Nigerian spirit, not the selfishness of the leaders who have kept the country in captivity over the years for personal benefits.”
By Dipo Olowookere
The president of the senate, Mr Ahmad Lawan, has been affirmed as the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Yobe North Senatorial District.
At a ruling delivered on Monday, February 6, 2023, the Supreme Court nullified the candidacy of Mr Bashir Machina.
Mr Machina and Mr Lawan had been at loggerhead over the party’s ticket for the slot.
The Senate President had contested the APC presidential primary along with the eventual winner of the exercise, Mr Bola Tinubu, and was said to have pushed forward Mr Machina as a placeholder.
However, after he lost in his bid to become the presidential candidate of the party, he turned to Mr Machina, who refused to back down, stressing that it was his turn to represent the senatorial district at the National Assembly and that the Senate President never participated in the party’s primary.
The number three citizen of the country had earlier accepted his fate, but his party took the matter up until today’s judgement, which has restored his hopes of remaining in the upper chamber of the parliament.
Justice Centus Nweze, in the lead judgement, faulted the approach of Mr Machina in commencing the suit at the Federal High Court Damaturu division by way of originating summons and without oral evidence to prove allegations of fraud.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A support group of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) known as the APC Mandate Defenders (AMD) has denied claims that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, was working against the presidential candidate of the party, Mr Bola Tinubu.
In a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of APC Mandate Defenders, Mr Ifeanyi Emeka, the organisation said Mr Mustapha supports the candidacy of the former Governor of Lagos.
He stated that the allegations made against the SGF by another support group of the ruling party, Concerned APC Stakeholders (CAS), were false, describing Mr Mustapha as a well-respected party leader who has great respect and close relationship with Mr Tinubu right from when he was the Deputy National Chairman of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) for Northern Region and would not engage in any real or imaginary plot to sabotage the electoral chances of the APC and its candidate.
According to him, the SGF is preoccupied with the task of meeting the demands of the transitional period, which mostly rests on his office as a frontline secretariat for the presidency as the administration gradually winds down and does not have the time to work against Mr Tinubu.
AMD asked CAS to tell Nigerians how following due process in board appointments for federal government agencies amounts to sabotaging the electoral chances of the party and its candidate in the forthcoming presidential election.
Recall that the SGF had advised Nigerians to be wary of scammers who use his name and office to dupe people while promising them non-existing government appointments.
“Therefore, we urge Nigerians and party members across the federation to ignore the allegation against Boss Mustapha as he cannot be forced into providing appointments to people by threats of blackmails as such responsibility rests squarely on the desk of Mr President and Commander-in-Chief.
“Associating such frustration with the campaigns of the presidential candidate of our great party, Senator Bola Tinubu, by CAS is a diversionary tactic against the overall interest of our party and Nigeria as a nation,” a part of the statement said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
There are reports of a violent protest in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, over the scarcity of old and new Naira notes, Business Post has gathered.
It was learned that residents of the ancient city are venting their anger over the hardship caused by the policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the federal government.
The central bank redesigned the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes and asked citizens to return their old banknotes because they would cease to be legal tender.
However, since the introduction of the new currency notes in circulation on December 15, 2022, many Nigerians have not been able to withdraw their money from banks, fuelling anger in the land.
On Friday afternoon, some residents of Ibadan, especially in Iwo Road, took to the streets to express their frustration at the development, which is coming at a time consumers have to queue for petrol.
They had bonfires on the road and disrupted business activities in some areas of the city.
Recall that today, the Governor of Oyo State, Mr Seyi Makinde, announced the suspension of his campaign activities over the scarcity of Naira and fuel.
Also on Friday, the Governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) met with President Muhammadu Buhari to appeal to him to change his mind on the Naira swap policy because of the effect on the people and the 2023 general elections starting later this month.
The President had earlier been asked not to show up in Kano State because of fears of a violent protest over the development. After the deadline was moved forward, the Governor of the state, Mr Abdullahi Ganduje, said he was safe to visit the ancient city.
However, during his visit to Kano, there were reports of a demonstration, with a chopped stoned by some residents of the state and convoys attacked by angry protesters.
The government claimed the protest was not directed at President Buhari, while the opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said otherwise.
Pingback: SERG Urges Nigerians To Ignore Igbo Elites Fuelling Anti-Obi Campaign - Goodnewsnigeria