The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC has announced the President of the Senate and APC Presidential Aspirant- Senator Ahmed Lawan as the consensus candidate of the Party.
It was gathered that Adamu announced this at the meeting of National Working Committee on Monday in Abuja.
Other Presidential aspirants which include Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Engr. David Umahi and others will be allowed to contest the primary election at the convention scheduled to hold tomorrow Tuesday, May 7, 2022 at the Eagle Square, Abuja.
Mainwhile, crisis has hit the All Progressives Congress, APC following the announcement of Senate President Ahmed Lawan as consensus presidential aspirant by the national chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu.
The NWC members, our correspondent was informed, insisted other aspirants must be given a level playing ground to compete.
Adamu’s adoption of Lawan as consensus candidate is against the position of 11 APC northern governors who endorsed that power must shift to the South after President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure.
Adamu told the National Working Committee that he arrived at the choice of Lawan after consultation with President Buhari.
To ensure Adamu does not cause problems for the party and throw the country into an avoidable political crisis, our correspondent learnt the northern governors are on their way to the Villa to meet with President Buhari to stop the National Chairman from executing his personal agenda in the name of the president.
The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) has paid a condolence visit to Ondo State to commiserate with the Governor, the state and the Catholic diocese of Ondo over the Sunday terror attack at St Francis Catholic Church, Owa-luwa Street, Owo.
Chairman of the NGF and Ekiti State Governor, Dr John Kayode Fayemi visited Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu,SAN, at the Government House, Alagbaka,Akure on Monday.
Governor Fayemi was accompanied by former Governor of Ogun State and serving Senator representing Ogun Central Senatorial District, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.
They were later led by Governor Akeredolu to the residence of the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Ondo, Bishop Jude Arogundade before moving to Owo to commiserate with the Olowo of Owo, Oba Gbadegesin Ogunoye in his palace.
Governor Fayemi, who described the ugly attack as least expected, stated that Owo has been a very peaceful environment.
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“It is a serious and unusual attack on the people who can’t go out and farm or workship God in peace. We are all shock.
“Just like the Governor said, these people shall not go unpunished. They will be hunted down and brought to book. But this can not save the lives that have been lost or save the wounded from discomfort.
“As leaders of the people, we will redouble our efforts. This is happening across the county and we are concerned. We know how troubled you will be. And we know that this is something that troubles our minds.
“For now, the government at the state and federal levels are working to bring the perpetrators to book. My colleagues in the Governors forum have asked me to donate N50 million to the Catholic Church to ameliorate the condition of the families of the victims. This is a crime against humanity.” Fayemi said.
The Bishop of Ondo Diocese, Bishop Jude Arogundade described the attack as evil.
He urged the Governors to ensure that those behind the killing and their sponsors are brought to book.
“I appreciate your coming and comment. How did we get here? Have we lost our mind and humanity? Even in war situation, nobody kills children and women. Nobody attacks the church.
“I am calling on you the leaders of the country, I think we need to talk and we need to be frank with each ourselves. This can not happen without the backing of some powerful people. Those behind this no matter how powerful they are, must be brought to book.
“How are we presenting ourselves as primitive. Ondo state doesn’t deserve this . Humanity doesn’t deserve this. This doesn’t present us well. People are laughing at us.” Bishop Arogundade said.
At the palace of Olowo of Owo, Fayemi commiserated with the people of Owo and the Olowo over the ugly incident.
“Our people are traumatized. The entire Governors asked me to deliver their condolences to you and the entire Owo. We are all still in shock.
“This is not an attack on owo or Ondo state. It is not attack on all of us. We must restore our pride. So that our people can feel safe again. We need to restore our country to sanity, to safety.” He said.
The Olowo of Owo, Oba Gbadegesin Ogunoye said the perpetrators of the ugly attack wanted to make a statement.
He said the federal government needs to be proactive, saying “Our forest here in owo, in Yoruba land have been invaded. Our farmers can’t go to farms again. Those in our forest illegally must be flushed out.”
Governor Akeredolu later led the visitors to the St Louis hospital in Owo, where some of the survivors are receiving medical attention.
The Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has debunked report that he was involved in accident while on his way to commiserate with accident victims in Ondo State.
Osinbajo made this know in a short statement made available via his official Twitter account as read in part:
“Thank you all for the calls and concern, I was not involved in an accident. On my way to the airport to travel to Ondo, we ran into an accident scene.
“My security and medical teams assisted in removing the victims of the crash from the scene. They have been transported to the Airforce Base hospital”.
The ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Oyo State chapter, has told the deputy governor, Engr. Rauf Aderemi Olaniyan to resign immediately since he has willfully abandoned the political party and the votes that produced him as such on the party’s joint ticket.
The ruling party warned against any attempt by Olaniyan and his new party to steal Oyo people’s mandate through the backdoor after the last ruling party was utterly rejected at the 2019 governorship poll.
This statement follows the deputy governor’s dramatic defection from the ruling PDP to one of the opposition parties in the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Sunday.
The state Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Akeem Olatunji, in a press release on Monday morning, June 6, noted that the PDP leadership in the state, south west region, and national levels all intervened at different intervals to resolve whatever the situation fueling the suspected defection plan was to no avail.
Disappointed by comments credited to the deputy governor after officially announcing his defection from the PDP to the APC that even though he has left PDP, he still remains the deputy governor, the ruling party cautioned against what it called selfish motivation noting that such move amount to daylight robbery of the people’s mandate.
The party said Olaniyan should not pretend not to know what is right next to do after leaving the political platform that sponsored him and Makinde on the joint ticket if truly he has any atom of the Yoruba ‘omoluabi’ toga he always ascribed to himself.
“Oyo people did not vote for a PDP/APC joint ticket, they voted entirely for a PDP mandate”, the ruling party declared, adding that while section 40 of the constitution of Nigeria guarantees freedom of association of any person, the deputy governor ought to be enlightened by the same Constitution when it stipulated that the ticket upon which he (Olaniyan) contested the 2019 governorship election alongside Governor Seyi Makinde as a deputy was not an independent candidate ticket.
“It is only when you contest election as an independent candidate and win and then decides to move to any political party of your choice that you become the owner of the votes cast by the electorates, unfortunately for Olaniyan who wants to eat his cake and still have it.
The Oyo PDP, which is the rightful owner of the mandate will retrieve it back in no distant time using every available legal means if Olaniyan fails to humbly resign as a gentleman with his new move.
“Our position is simple and very clear on this matter and as a matter of legal implication, the votes in any election in Nigeria are to political parties, and not candidates,”. And it is on this note that the PDP as the ruling party in the state is advising the Deputy Governor, Rauf Olaniyan, not to be carried away by the lies and deceits told him by a political neophyte such as ‘Mr jagba’ and be bamboozled into self delusion of thinking he can be used a tool to steal Oyo people’s mandate through the backdoor.
“Failure to follow this advise and adhere strictly to it from the PDP which is the legitimate owner of every single vote casted by the electorates in the 2019 governorship election, the PDP shall not hesitate to immediately deploy every constitutional means to prevent this daylight robbery.
“We’re determined and resolved to retrieve the party’s mandate being withheld illegally and unlawfully by the deputy Governor, Engr Rauf Olaniyan because it belongs to the people of Oyo state who have handled same to the PDP.” Oyo PDP declared.
According to the ruling party’s statement, the defection of Olaniyan was not surprising because his frolicking and hobnobbing with the APC over time has made his eventual move an open secret which was widely reported in the news by the media.
It was only shameful and disappointing that Olaniyan had repeatedly looked straight into the live camera and told unbridled lies multiple times by openly denying the media reports which have proved to be true after all.
The ruling PDP in Oyo in its statement recalled how the incumbent Anambra state Governor, Professor Charles Soludo, went ahead to record a landslide victory at the poll despite the then Deputy Governor, some APGA members of the National Assembly and other appointees of the Obiano led APGA government defecting to APC which attest to the fact that no amount of blackmail, propaganda and hang-up can change people’s determination to support continuity of good governance.
According to Oyo PDP, Ondo and Kogi state deputy governors made same moves prior to elections in their respective states but the state governors went to record landslide victories at the guber polls, therefore, Teslim Folarin and his likes in the Oyo APC should stop bloating in self delusion following Olaniyan’s action stressing that Seyi Makinde who has earned the trust of the Oyo masses has proved the APC wrong with the unprecedented success and consistency with the achievements recorded in three years.
The party added that there is no vacancy in the Agodi Government House because the 2023 election is already a forgone issue as the people of Oyo state who are well satisfied with the people oriented policies of Makinde led PDP administration are ever ready to make a repeat statement with their votes more than 2019.
The party however, said it will not dignify Senator Teslim Folarin who it described as a political orphan in the state with a response to his hasty remarks following Olaniyan’s defection to his faction of the APC stressing that Oloye Teslim Kolawole Folarin was merely trying to cash in on a seemingly trending topical issue in the state in order to gain political relevance and should focus more on his desolated party than further exposing his overbearing desperation to become governor by all means.
Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu,SAN, has directed all public buildings, facilities and official residences to fly the Nigerian flag at half -mast for seven days in honour of the victims of the Owo terror attack on Sunday.
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Governor Akeredolu said the attack on innocent worshipers at St Francis Catholic Church, Owa-luwa Street,Owo was a deliberate and calculated assault on the people of the state.
The Governor said:”Those who unleashed this unprovoked terror attack on our people have tested our collective resolves. We will not be deterred in responding appropriately to this dastardly act.
“In honour of the victims of this unfortunate attack, i hereby direct that all flags be flown at half-mast for seven days, starting from today, Monday, June 6, to Sunday, June 12, 2022. It is a collective loss to the people of our dear state.”
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has called for blood donation following the attack on a church in Owo, Ondo State, as it also asked the governments and security agencies to do better in the protection of lives and properties.
This call was contained in a statement issued by the NMA President Dr Uche Ojinmah late Sunday, hours after attackers killed scores of persons and injured many others at the St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, the headquarters of Owo Local Government Area.
“The NMA hereby calls for quick intervention by our Governments and security agencies to protect the lives and properties of Nigerians in every part of this nation,” Ojinmah said in the statement.
“The Nigerian Medical Association commiserates with the Government and good people of Ondo State over the loss of lives and prays for the quick recovery of those injured.
“We appeal to Nigerians in the affected area of Ondo State to kindly go to the hospitals where the injured are being treated to donate blood to save lives.”
He also called on doctors in the state and environs to mobilise themselves to take part in the treatment of those injured following the incident.
While lamenting the rising levels of insecurity in Nigeria, the NMA said the government must go beyond rhetorics and secure the country.
“The recurrent shedding of innocent blood in our dear country has been going on for far too long and it is the position of the Nigerian Medical Association that explanations, condemnations, and reassurances are no longer comforting,” it said.
“The NMA hereby calls for quick intervention by our Governments and security agencies to protect the lives and properties of Nigerians in every part of this nation.”
“NMA also calls for the release in good health of those abducted,” the NMA added as the body con
Ahead of the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential primary election, the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo has debunked rumour that he has stepped down for another aspirant.
His campaign council made the clarification on his behalf via a statement issued by its Chairman, Richard Akinnola II.
According to the statement, the purveyors of the fake news are “afraid of the huge political support base of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.”
The statement said Osinbajo is not contemplating stepping down for anybody, stressing that the VP is ready for the primary election and he is very sure of victory.
The council also welcomed all delegates who are coming into the nation’s capital for the APC primary election scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.
The statement reads partly, “welcomes our distinguished delegates from across the country to Abuja for our presidential primaries.
“As you settle down in Abuja, we implore you to kindly disregard various fake news making the rounds that Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has stepped down”.
Governor Oluwarotimi of Ondo State has said those carrying out attacks such as the one on St Francis Xavier Catholic Church in the state, are foreigners from Mali trained in Libya.
While describing the attack as vile and satanic, Akeredolu promised that the [erpetraors would be arrested soon.
Gunmen had on Sunday morning attacked the church and opened fire on worshippers with many killed.
The Governor, who has departed Abuja for the state, urged residents to keep calm and not take the laws into their hands.
“What happened here is too tragic. It is the most tragic event. What is happening in America is a child’s play to what has happened here.
“To say the least, it is condemnable. I’m grieved. Let me let you know that we have a duty to protect you.
“Security services also lost about two men. The attack was sudden. How they carried out the attack and entered the church cannot be explained.
“No one thought that such incident could happen in Ondo State not to talk of People.
“Let us not retaliate because we will apprehend them. Don’t take laws into your hands. I want to express my condolences to the families of the victims.
“Security agencies in the state must take all steps necessary because this must not repeat itself.
“On our own part, we must be vigilant. We take responsibility for what has happened.
“Most of those that are carrying out this attacks are foreigners from Mali who were trained in Libya,” he said.
