| Source | Date | Title | Summary of Report | Subject/Category | Page No/Web link | ||
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| This Day Newspaper | 29th September 2022 | Obasanjo: 2023 Elections Will Make or Break Nigeria | Former President Olusegun Obasanjo warned that the 2023 general election could to make Nigeria a success story or cause its failure. Obasanjo cautioned religious leaders not to allow politicians without the fear of God to wreck Nigeria. Obasanjo spoke, yesterday when the new president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), His Eminence, Most Reverend Daniel T. Okoh, paid him a courtesy visit at his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta. In a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, the former president stated that the country’s religious leaders could make Nigerian politicians more responsible. According to the statement, Obasanjo told the CAN delegation, “If you stand on the truth, you stand for justice and equity, it is then the politicians will not be able to mess us around and I will say it with all sense of responsibility now, if we do not watch it, the politicians will wreck this country and we all regret it.“And where can we look for salvation, that is where you, religious leaders, have a significant role to play. I think it’s the mistake of the past (particularly in Christendom), that we say politics is not for the righteous. Now, if we take the righteous away from politics, and we leave politics to the unrighteous, the unrighteous will smear the righteous with the unrighteousness that they will carry into politics and will have no where to go"". ""And in the next election, if we do not watch it, it may make or break Nigeria. And I pray that it will make Nigeria.”Obasanjo, who commended the CAN president for his glowing remarks on him, said the Sultan of Sokoto had spoken about Okoh to him personally, “and I must say, I am impressed. With you and Sultan (who is already singing your praises); you can both make a turn-around. You can work together.” | Olusegun Obasanjo, Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN), OOPL | Page 34 | 14 | |
| This Day Newspaper | 29th September 2022 | Atiku Flags Off Campaign, Says We Have a Duty to Arrest the Drift | Presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, yesterday, said the leadership of the party had a responsibility to rescue and rebuild the country by arresting the current drift away from national values as the 2023 general election approached. Atiku spoke in Abuja as he commenced his presidential campaign with the launch of his memoirs packaged in three different books. He, however, enjoined Nigerians to keep hope alive, saying help is on the way. The event featured the inauguration of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council. In his own remarks, National Chairman of PDP, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, who was represented by Deputy National Chairman, Ambassador Iliya Umar Damagum, said the 2023 election presented another window of opportunities, not only for Nigerians but also for the party to take advantage of to rescue and restore the country. Delta State Governor and vice presidential candidate of PDP, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, assured party members that PDP would win elections in the six geo-political zones of the country. On his part, Chairman of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, and Akwa Ibom State Governor, Emmnauel Udom, urged Nigerians to ignore those he described as “doomsayers”, as winds could not move the rock, which he said was PDP. However, Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, and Chief Bode George were pointedly absent at the official opening of the PDP campaign. In his speech at the occasion, Atiku said as PDP members and citizens of Nigeria, “We have a duty to arrest the drift.” The former vice president stated, “What is our task that we are gathered here today to undertake? It is beyond merely coming together to inaugurate Presidential Campaign Council. No! “Our task today is to come together to rescue and rebuild our beloved country, Nigeria. That is the end goal. It is existential to us as a nation, and it is a task that history beckons upon us all to grasp with both hands and undertake with vigour and zeal. | Atiku Abubakar, Campaigns, PDP Campaign Flag off | Page 1 & 35 | 14 | |
| The Guardian Newspaper | 29th September 2022 | Court sacks Ahmad Lawan as APC senatorial candidate for Yobe North | A Federal High Court sitting in Damaturu, Yobe State capital, has declared Bashir Machina as the authentic senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Yobe North in the 2023 National Assembly elections. Justice Fadima Aminu, in a judgment, delivered, yesterday, directed Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept and publish the name of Machina as the candidate of the APC. Machina had won May 28, 2022, APC senatorial primary for Yobe North, the district represented by Senate President Ahmad Lawan. However, the party substituted his name with Lawan’s after the latter lost his presidential aspiration to Bola Tinubu during the APC national convention in Abuja. Machina, thereafter, approached the Federal High Court in Damaturu, seeking an order of the court to compel INEC to publish his name as the winner of the senatorial primary. He also prayed the court to direct the APC to send his name to the electoral commission as the winner of the shadow election. The judge, on taking submissions of parties, subsequently ordered APC to submit the name of Machina as the authentic candidate for Yobe North senatorial district. The court also affirmed the May 28 primary conducted by the party as valid and authentic. | Court Judgement, Bashir Machina, Ahmad Lawan, Yobe State | Page 3 | 14 | |
| The Guardian Newspaper | 29th September 2022 | Don’t hold rally at Lekki tollgate, court tells Labour Party, Obi supporters | Justice Daniel Osiagor of a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the Labour Party (LP) and its supporters not to hold a rally at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos. The party supporters had planned to hold it’s Forward Ever’ rally on October 1, 2022, at Lekki tollgate. The judge, while ruling on a motion for injunction filed by 10 plaintiffs, who are asking the court to, among others, restrain the LP, its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, his running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, its national chairman, Julius Abure and their loyalists from holding the rally at that location, also ordered the Inspector-General of Police and the Lagos State Police Commissioner to ensure compliance with the order. Justice Osiagor held that the rally can pass through the venue to access Falomo Bridge and other venues at which the participants plan to meet. Meanwhile, the court could not hear the preliminary objection filed by the defendants to stop the court from hearing the motion on the grounds that it lacked jurisdiction and that the matter cannot be entertained because all parties to the suit were not served. Instead, the judge adjourned the hearing of the substantive suit to November 4, 2022. In the suit, the plaintiffs stated that repeat or celebration of the “infamous” #EndSARS protest of 2020 under the political guise of “#Obidatti23 Forward Ever Rally” will cause a breakdown of peace and result in post-traumatic stress disorder for them and the public. | Lekki Toll Gate, LP, Rally, Lagos State, Court Suit, Peter Obi Supporters, Obidient | Page 5 | 14 | |
| Leadership Online | 29th September 2022 | Obaseki Denies Endorsing Peter Obi For Presidency | Governor Godwin Obaseki has denied his purported endorsement of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, saying it is absolutely false and malicious. Special adviser to the Edo State governor on media projects, Crusoe Osagie made the remarks in a statement yesterday. Mr Osagie said the story about governor Obaseki endorsing the Labour Party candidate was being peddled by detractors with ulterior motives, intent on misleading and misinforming members of the public for their selfish interest.“The news item in a section of the media, stating that Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has endorsed the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, is absolutely false and malicious. No statement to such effect originated from the governor. The story is being peddled by detractors with ulterior motives, intent on misleading and misinforming members of the public for their selfish interest,” Mr Osagie said in the statement. The governor’s aide said “Obaseki has from the onset of the electioneering cycle, been at the forefront of the campaign for our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), its candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa. | Governor Godwin Obaseki, Edo State, Endorsement, Peter Obi | https://bit.ly/3BTNslN | 14 | |
| Daily Trust Newspaper | 29th September 2022 | SDP Will Implement Better Life MKO Promised Nigerians — Presidential Candidate | Leaders of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) yesterday met in Lagos with a vow to go into the 2023 general elections as a united party. The leaders at the meeting declared that the crisis rocking the party had been resolved and that all cases in court have been withdrawn, assuring that they are going into the campaign as a united party. The party’s presidential candidate, Hon. Adewole Adebayo, said resolving the party’s crisis is essential to prepare it for the task ahead. He expressed the determination of the party to implement the better life Chief Moshood Abiola promised Nigerians in the 1993 presidential election which made Nigerians vote for him en masse. He urged the electorate to trust the party and vote for it, because it would deliver on its promises. On his part, Senator Ebenezer Ikeyina, a member of the board of trustees, said SDP should be the political party every reasonable Nigerian should be happy to associate with. He said the party has an obligation to deliver service to the people, and that its candidates are not seeking public office for personal gain. Also speaking, a former minister for Youth and Sports, Mr Solomon Dalung and Dr Olu Agunloye said the party chose to reconcile aggrieved members so that it can commence its campaign as a united party. | SDP, MKO Abiola, Campaigns, 2023 General Election | Page 33 | 14 | |
| The Cable | 29th September 2022 | Tinubu absent as Obi, Atiku, Kwankwaso sign peace accord for 2023 elections | Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was absent at the signing of the peace accord for the 2023 elections. The event, which was organised by the National Peace Committee, took place at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, on Thursday. Abdulsalami Abubakar, chairman of NPC, said the accord was to promote peaceful electioneering. Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour Party, (LP); Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Rabiu Kwankwaso, flagbearer of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP); and Omoyele Sowore, standard bearer of the African Action Congress (AAC), were present at the event. Kashim Shettima, the APC vice-presidential candidate, was at the event to represent Tinubu. | Peace Accord, LP, PDP, NNPP, AAC Presidential Candidates | https://bit.ly/3UNFL9r | 14 | |
| The Cable | 28th September 2022 | Atiku: Under APC, citizens are emigrating from Nigeria — but my children won’t leave | Atiku Abubakar, standard-bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says bad governance under the current administration is making Nigerians leave for other countries. Atiku said this at a meeting held with the stakeholders of the south-east PDP on Tuesday, in Enugu. While delivering his address, Atiku said he would prioritise human capital development and quality education to enable young people to compete in the modern economy. “In the government in which I served as Vice President, you saw Nigerians returning from abroad to invest in several opportunities in the country. Because I experienced it in my university. When I made sure I provide international standards, so many Nigerians from the United States and Europe came back not to Lagos or Abuja but to north east Yola. They came back. All what we need to do is to make sure we make our country attractive for them to return and they will return,” he said. “Under the APC, the trend has since reversed. People cannot wait to run away from Nigeria. All of you have relatives, children who are running away to United States, Canada. I have my own. I have refused anyone of them to go to abroad and reside because I don’t believe it. We have to stay in this country.” The former vice-president said he would ensure there is quality healthcare for the people. “We shall also provide good quality healthcare system that focuses on preventive care. We shall therefore make massive investment in this critical area. A well-educated and healthy workforce is critical for economy and wealth creation in today’s world,” he said. The campaigns for the 2023 polls begin officially today. | Atiku Abubakar, Migration | https://bit.ly/3xUKNXF | 13 | |
| Daily Post Online | 28th September 2022 | As Campaigns Kick Off Today: Atiku, Tinubu, Kwankwaso, Obi, 14 Others Battle For 84m Votes | As public campaigns for the presidential and National Assembly elections commence today, 18 candidates are set to battle for the largest share of the 84 million votes in the country. The candidates are former vice president Atiku Abubakar (PDP), former Lagos State governor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (APC), former Anambra State governor Peter Obi (LP), former governor of Kano State Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (NNPP) and 14 other contestants. The country’s registered voters stand at 84,004,084, according to the figure released in August by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). With the commencement of the campaigns, the 18 contenders have 147 days to move round the country to promote their candidatures. The electoral body has fixed the presidential and National Assembly elections for February 25, 2023. Daily Trust reports that the candidates, their supporters and political parties have lined up various activities for the commencement of the public campaign. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lined up a series of events to kick start its campaign. Atiku is expected to launch three books as part of his plans to sell himself to the Nigerian public. The APC Presidential Campaign Council has postponed the commencement of its campaign, earlier slated for today. Meanwhile, Labour Party has said it is still consulting stakeholders on the composition of its presidential campaign council. It said it would soon announce it as well as the presentation of the manifesto of its presidential candidate after rounding off consultations. The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) will kick off its campaign a week late as it is still strategising on how to commence its quest to win the 2023 elections. | Campaigns Begin, Kick off of campaigns, 2023 General Election | https://bit.ly/3SrAXFi | 13 | |
| Daily Post Online | 28th September 2022 | APC, PDP, Others Yet To Submit 2019 Election Expenses Reports – INEC | The Independent National Electoral Commission says the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and some other parties were yet to submit the reports of the expenses they incurred during the 2019 general elections. INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this yesterday in Lagos at the ongoing two-day media capacity building workshop on the commission’s progresses, innovations, preparations for the 2023 general elections and critical issues in the Electoral Act 2022. Yakubu, represented by Director, Election and Party Monitoring Department, Aminu Idris, said out of the 91 political parties that participated in the 2019 polls, about 34 submitted reports (both expenditures and incomes). The major political parties reportedly spent N4.6bn, N3.3bn on billboards, print media advertisements, electronic media advertisements, and coverage/grammies (musical performances) during the 2019 polls. According to the INEC official, in the list of the 34 political parties that submitted reports for the 2019 election, the major parties were not among them. Director-General, The Electoral Institute, Sa’ad Idris, said the commission was expected to train about 1.4m ad-hoc staff who would officiate at the 2023 general elections, comprising security officers. | INEC, 2019 Election Expenses Report | https://bit.ly/3rksbN3 | 13 | |
| The Guardian Online | 28th September 2022 | Court orders INEC to publish names of candidates in Edo governor’s faction | Federal High Court sitting in Benin, yesterday, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise and publish names of candidates produced by the Governor Godwin Obaseki faction of the Edo Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as standard bearers for the party in the coming 2023 elections. In the judgment, delivered by Justice S.M. Shuaibu, the court granted all reliefs sought by the plaintiff. The plaintiff include the party’s candidate for Edo South Senatorial District, Matthew Iduoriyekemwen; Sunny Aguebor for Oredo Federal Constituency, and the candidate for Akoko Edo Federal Constituency, Kabiru Adjoto, among others. Among other reliefs, the plaintiff sought an order of court mandating the fourth defendant, INEC, to publish the names of the plaintiff as the validly elected candidates of the Edo PDP for the 2023 general elections. The judge noted that based on past decisions by the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, the state chapter of a political party is not empowered by law to conduct party primaries and that only the National Working Committee (NWC) of a political party has the power to conduct party primaries. He said: “There is nothing before the honourable court to show that the primaries in which the 4th to 39th defendants participated was conducted by the National Working Committee of the PDP. Rather, their primaries were conducted by the Edo State chapter of the PDP.” The judge held: “In my view, the power of INEC, under Section 84 of the Electoral Act, is limited to the monitoring of party primary elections and does not extend to preparing or declaring results of that election. This remains the law. “In the light of the foregoing, the fourth defendant, INEC, cannot rely on results prepared by the first defendant, Edo PDP.” | Court Order, Edo Governor's Faction, Godwin Obaseki, INEC, PDP | https://bit.ly/3Ce7ybI | 13 | |
| Punch Online | 28th September 2022 | Court nullifies Ogun PDP primaries, factional candidates divided | A Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, on Tuesday, nullified all primaries conducted by the various factions of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state. The presiding judge, Justice O. O. Oguntoyibo, called for a rerun of the primaries within 14 days. The court declared that all the primaries conducted by the PDP in the state were not in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act. Justice Oguntoyinbo stopped the Independent National Electoral Commission from recognising Ladi Adebutu as the governorship candidate of the party in the state. The party on May 25 conducted the primary election which produced Adebutu as the governorship candidate. A former governorship aspirant, Jimi Lawal, had approached the court to challenge the delegates list used during the primary by the Sikirulahi Ogundele-led party executives at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in the state capital. Three members of Lawal’s group, Taiwo Idris, Kehinde Akala and Ayinde Monsuri, had dragged the party, Adebutu and INEC to court challenging the authenticity of the delegates lists used for the conduct of the primaries. The plaintiffs contended that those on the list used by the electoral panel for the primaries were not democratically elected at the ward, local government and state congresses, hence the panel “cannot unilaterally or arbitrarily impose” the list on the party. | Court Suit, Ogun State PDP Primaries, Ogun State PDP Factions, INEC | https://bit.ly/3Ehb3jl | 13 | |
| Punch Online | 28th September 2022 | Muslim-Muslim ticket: We’re talking with PDP, says Lawal | A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Babachir Lawal, and ex-Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, may be on their way out of the ruling All Progressives Congress. Lawal disclosed this in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH on Tuesday. Lawal and Dogara have been critical of the decision of the APC to settle for a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket in the 2023 elections and recently vowed to mobilise Northern Christians to reject the Tinubu/Shettima joint ticket. In a telephone interview with our correspondent, the ex-SGF said the agitation against the Muslim-Muslim ticket was nothing personal but a representation of the wish of a people who are part of the Nigerian nation “demanding for fair and equitable representation.” According to him, no decision has yet been made on whether or not to quit the ruling party. He added, however, that “what we are doing is for the sake of Nigeria. Of the 18 political parties in the country, we are talking to the Peoples Democratic Party, the Labour Party, and the New Nigeria Peoples Party. It is only the APC that has rejected us; the other 17 parties have not. So, those three are in the foreground of our discussion for now, but no decision has been taken.” Taking a swipe at the supporters of the Muslim-Muslim ticket, Lawal noted that the fact that MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe ran on the same-faith ticket in 1993 is not sufficient to replicate it in the Nigeria of today. | Muslim-muslim, Babachir Lawal, Yakubu Dogara | https://bit.ly/3BSS0bX | 13 | |
| Vanguard Online | 28th September 2022 | Declare your assets, US-based Nigerian lawyer tasks Tinubu, Atiku, Obi | A US-based lawyer and publisher of news medium, Caracal Reports in New York and Nigeria, Amos Onakevgbagbe, has demanded the declaration of assets, release of health fitness certificates and academic certificates of candidates by the three major political parties contesting the presidential election in 2023. The affected candidates include flagbearers of All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar; and Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi. According to him, failure of the candidates to release the information to public domain will lead to legal action against them in a court of law. The US-based lawyer said Nigerian citizens had the fundamental right to know the assets, wellness and academic qualifications of whoever would pilot the affairs of the country from 2023. This, he maintained, would either encourage the citizens or discourage them to consider casting their votes for any of the candidates. He said: “Office of the president of Nigeria is a public office, so whoever will contest for this office must avail the citizens to know everything about him or her. The day you decide to contest for this office, you have made up your mind to be answerable to the citizens’ calls and requests, so you are not expected to hide anything from them. “It is on this note that I demand Tinubu, Atiku, and Obi to disclose their health fitness certificates, academic qualifications certificates and also declare their assets to the public, and failure to do this under one week will lead to a court action against them.” | Call for Assets Declaration, 2023 Presidential Election | https://bit.ly/3DV3Nt8 | 13 | |
| The Cable | 27th September 2022 | APC to expand campaign council, postpones commencement of activities | The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council has announced an adjustment in its timetable of activities. Coupled with the release of a 422-member list on September 24, the campaign council had announced that there would be a peace walk and prayers on Wednesday and a collection of letters of appointment by members of the campaign. In a statement released on Tuesday by Simon Lalong, the director-general of the Tinubu/Shettima presidential campaign council, the activities are to be shelved until a later time. The campaign DG cited the expansion of the campaign list as the reason for the adjustment of the timetable of the activities, adding that new dates will be announced. “Recall that we had earlier earmarked a peace walk and prayers for Wednesday, September 28, 2022, to officially kick off our campaigns for the 2023 Presidential Elections. We had also announced that the members of the Campaign Council report to the Campaign Headquarters on that day to collect their letters of appointment,” he said. “However, due to the expansion of the list to accommodate more stakeholders and interests within the APC family, we have decided to adjust the timetable of these activities in order to ensure everyone is on board before activities officially commence. Consequently, the activities earlier announced for the 28th of September will no longer hold. A new date and timetable of events will be announced soon.” | APC Postponement of Activities, Simon Lalong | https://bit.ly/3RvXKyt | 12 | |
| The Cable | 27th September 2022 | ‘Presidential candidates Afenifere backed in 2015, 2019 failed’ — Keyamo mocks Obi | Festus Keyamo, spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council, has mocked Peter Obi, standard bearer of the Labour Party (LP). Keyamo’s attack on Obi came a day after Ayo Adebanjo, leader of Afenifere, a Yoruba socio-cultural group, explained why his organisation is supporting Obi. “The south-west, as I have pointed out, has produced a president and currently sits as VP; the south-south has spent a total of 6 years in the presidency, but the Igbo people of the south-east have never tasted presidency in Nigeria, and now that the power is due back in the south, equity demands that it be ceded to the Igbo,” Adebanjo had said in a statement.“We cannot continue to demand that the Igbo people remain in Nigeria, while we at the same time continue to be brutally marginalize and exclude them from the power dynamics.” But in a tweet on Tuesday, Keyamo said the presidential candidates Afenifere backed in 2015 and 2019 failed at the polls. “Propelled by a long-held animosity against Tinubu, in 2015, the Pa Ayo Adebanjo Afenifere endorsed Jonathan for President – vanguardngr.com/2015/01/afenif…. In 2019, they endorsed Atiku – vanguardngr.com/2019/02/electi…. In both cases, they failed,” he tweeted. “Congrats, Peter Obi on this endorsement.” | Festus Keyamo, Peter Obi, Endorsement, Afenifere | https://bit.ly/3xQONsr | 12 | |
| Daily Post Online | 27th September 2022 | Atiku: I want Ayu as PDP chairman – Ortom opposes Wike | Benue Governor Samuel Ortom has seemingly pitched his tent with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over the controversy on Iyorchia Ayu’s stay as National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Ortom, a member of the Governor Nyesom Wike camp, has declared that he wants Ayu to remain as the party chairman. The governor has been siding with his Rivers counterpart since the party’s presidential primary in May, a development that has attracted criticisms from some quarters. The Jemgbagh Development Association, Abuja, recently accused him of working for the downfall of his fellow Benue man, Ayu. In a statement by Chief Press Secretary, Nathaniel Ikyur, Ortom stressed that he had confidence in Ayu’s ability to lead the PDP to victory in 2023. Ikyur recalled that the former Senate President was elected “as the national chairman of our great party even against all odds”.“The governor could not, therefore, turn around to work against him to be removed from office,” the statement reads. “Governor Ortom vouched for the integrity and capacity of Dr Iyorchia Ayu to lead and rebuild the PDP to victory and rescue Nigeria from the misrule of the APC maladministration. That is why Ayu was returned unopposed by the northern caucus of the party and got elected as the national chairman of the PDP at the party’s convention.” The CPS added that the association is masquerading as the voice of Jemgbagh to embark on campaign of calumny against Ortom, “who has worked selflessly for the people of Benue State.” | Iyorchia Ayu, Samuel Ortom, Benue State Governor, Nathaniel Ikyur, PDP Crisis | https://bit.ly/3dLJjbz | 12 | |
| Daily Post Online | 27th September 2022 | ‘You are unfit’ – Pat Utomi dares Tinubu to make medical test public | A chieftain of the Labour Party and political economist, Pat Utomi, has challenged the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, to go for a medical checkup and make the result public. He claimed that Tinubu is unfit. Prof Utomi threw the challenge on Monday while answering questions on Channels Television’s Politics Today, arguing that next year’s election is about the lives of Nigerians. He maintained that there were obvious signs to show that Tinubu is unfit for the post of a president. “Our country has suffered so much from having ailing leaders. That was why the Vice President stepped up. American Presidents go through medicals that are made public. Let him (Tinubu) go for medicals with Nigerian doctors up in the hospital and make it public. It is the life of millions of people that we are dealing with”, Utomi added. The renowned economist also noted that the ruling party, the APC, made a mistake by not fielding another candidate in the person of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, adding that he would have been a better candidate. “The Vice President (Yemi) would have been a fit person. You can see he (Tinubu) is ailing. Common, let’s not kill ourselves, let’s be honest”, he said. | Pat Utomi, Bola Tinubu, Medical Test, Interview | https://bit.ly/3rbBYoY | 12 | |
| Punch Online | 27th September 2022 | Stop using money to divide Christians, Tinubu warned | The ruling All Progressives Congress and its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, has been warned not against causing division among Christians with money. The warning was made in a statement issued by the Northern States Christian Elders Forum, signed by its chairman, Oyinehi Inalegwu, on Tuesday. “We warn APC to stop using monetary incentives to recruit and cause divisions amongst the Christians, especially in the North,” the statement partly read. It added, “NOSCEF is concerned that apart from the failure of the desire of the architects of the single faith ticket to cause serious divisions in the forthcoming elections, APC has resorted to clandestine ways of causing division in the body of Christ by recruiting hitherto unknown bodies in the Body of Christ to counter decisions taken by the umbrella body, CAN and its various organs. The group pointed out that in December 2021, Tinubu met with a group in Abuja and sold the Muslim-Muslim Ticket. “We warned that every patriotic Presidential aspirant should avoid the same faith ticket to avoid polarisation of the nation further along religious lines. Before the Commencement of the primaries, NOSCEF again warned presidential aspirants against the one faith ticket in a Nigeria begging for unity, inclusiveness, fairness, and justice. “Because there was a long term goal and a purpose to be accomplished, APC went ahead with the single faith venture, with the aim of riding on the wings of divisive religious politics to victory,” the statement said. The group expressed dismay over the show of shame the ruling party is involved in, following desperate efforts to attract public goodwill and acceptance by engaging strange Christian groups for endorsement purposes. | Northern States Christian Elders Forum, Oyinehi Inalegwu, Bola Tinubu, Money | https://bit.ly/3BV1SlQ | 12 | |
| Punch Online | 27th September 2022 | INEC warns Gombe politicians against reckless spending | The Independent National Electoral Commission has warned political parties and politicians in Gombe State against not exceeding the approved campaign finances. According to a statement issued on Tuesday by the INEC head of voter education and publicity, Nuhu Ibrahim, on behalf of the Administrative Secretary, the commission promised to track campaign funds using trained staff. Ibrahim said, “Furthermore, candidates are advised to strictly comply with the limits on election expenses contained in section 88 of the Electoral Act 2022 as the Commission will deploy its trained staff for campaign finance tracking activities.” While urging political actors about the need for peaceful co-existence, INEC also sought hate-free comments to entrench a rancor-free environment. INEC also called on electorates to collect their Permanent Voters Card, stressing that it remained the authentic visa to participating in elections. | INEC, Gombe State, Voter Education, Campaign Finances | https://bit.ly/3BV1SlQ | 12 | |
| Vanguard Online | 27th September 2022 | 2023: Consider age, mental, physical capacity, Northern elders, Catholics caution Nigerians | Northern Elders Forum, NEF, and Catholic Laity Council have asked Nigerians to consider the age and mental as well as physical capacity of presidential candidates in the 2023 elections before voting. While the northern elders said they would consider these factors to determine which presidential candidate to support, the Catholic Laity Council of Nigeria, CLCN, pleaded with Nigerians to avoid sentiments and consider the age and health status of candidates before voting. It also advised them to vote for the best candidates whose manifestos and economic blueprint could lead Nigeria out of her present quagmire. NEF said its option of a consensus presidential candidate was still open, insisting its preferred persons for the Presidency, after a rigorous but productive interrogation, would be one with strong mental and physical capacity to govern Nigeria and solve the pertinent security and economic challenges facing the country. | Northern Elders Forum, NEF, Catholic Laity Council of Nigeria, CLCN | https://bit.ly/3Cdjdrr | 12 | |
| This Day Live | 26th September 2022 | Politicians Afraid of my Candidacy, Edo Female Speaker Alleges | The first female Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Mrs. Elizabeth Ativie, has declared that many politicians in the state are jittery of her emergence as the candidate of the Labour Party (LP) for Orhionmwon/Uhunmwonde federal constituency, in view of her capacity to emerge victorious. Ativie, also a former Deputy Speaker of Edo Assembly, who recently resigned her membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the Labour Party (LP), stated this in Benin-city, the state capital, during an interactive session with journalists at the weekend.She said: “There are processes to be nominated and elected. I passed through all the processes in LP. I do not want to join issues with anybody or some hired persons and non-members of LP, who are protesting my candidacy. I was reliably informed that most of the protesters are members of other political parties, who are frightened by my candidacy. “I left APC, because it became cash and carry, as no woman emerged as House of Assembly, House of Representatives or senatorial candidate in Edo State. I must commend the leadership of LP, both at the state and national levels, because they are living within the tenets of their conviction, belief and objectives.” | First female Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Mrs. Elizabeth Ativie, LP, Orhionmwon/Uhunmwonde federal constituency | https://bit.ly/3r5WGX6 | 11 | |
| This Day Live | 26th September 2022 | Diri: PDP Will Emerge Stronger, Victorious Despite Crisis | Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, says he is optimistic that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would surmount its current challenges and emerge victorious at all levels in the 2023 general election. Diri stated this at an interdenominational church service organised by the state government to mark Nigeria’s 62nd independence and the 26th anniversary of the creation of Bayelsa State. Diri was represented by the deputy governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo. The governor described the post-convention crisis rocking PDP as “shaking of the water in the river that will not stop the boat from getting to its destination”. He said by the grace of God and the support of Nigerians, who had seen the difference between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and PDP, his party would reclaim power at the centre and in majority of the states. According to the governor, “What is happening in our party is just shaking of water. The water has not poured and will not pour. For the fact that there is a storm in the river does not mean the ship or the boat will not sail to its destination. “The most important question is, is there a competent captain and a functional radar? The PDP ship will definitely get to its destination. By God’s grace and the support of well-meaning people of our country, we are going to win convincingly.” Diri urged Nigerians to be determined and courageous in their bid to rescue the country from total collapse. He maintained that the country would become stronger, more united, and prosperous after the forthcoming elections. | Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri, PDP, 2023 General Election | https://bit.ly/3BIxw5P | 11 | |
| Punch online | 26th September 2022 | Muslim-Muslim ticket: Tinubu, Shettima frustrating reconciliation, says Lawal | A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has again spoken against the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the All Progressives Congress, stating that Christian politicians in Northern Nigeria would remain steadfast in their stand for justice, equity and fair play. According to him, any nation or political dispensation built on injustice would crumble because justice and equity settle all other disputes. Lawal, in a statement on Sunday titled, “Why we are doing what we are doing,” pleaded with Nigerians to understand the position of the Northern Christian politicians on the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the All Progressives Congress for the 2023 presidential election. He said neither the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, nor his running mate, Kashim Shettima and the political party has seen anything wrong in their choice of a same-faith ticket for the presidency in the coming election, to make peace with or assuage the feelings of northern Christian politicians. The statement read, “We have so far not taken the road to reconciliation because, in the first instance, neither the APC as a party nor its presidential candidate has bothered to seek us out for reconciliation even though early on, our doors were left open for such. “There are of course some ‘Christian’ turncoats and ‘Judases’ who, driven either by moral turpitude, poverty or greed, have hired themselves out as agents and spoilers of this noble Christian cause. To this group, I wish to recommend the study of the biographies of Judas Iscariot and Ahithophel in the Bible. Be careful to note how their lives ended. It seems that Tinubu/Shettima’s preferred approach is to attempt to counter our position through insults and sponsored fake Christian organisations to create the impression that there is a division within the Christendom on this matter.” He noted that the strategy has failed with them becoming the butt of jokes in church gatherings across the country. “This approach has also portrayed the duo as arrogant and pitiable people whilst also exposing them to the public as people with unimaginable deficiencies of noble character,” he added. | Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, Muslim-muslim ticket, Northern Christian Politicians | https://bit.ly/3RfD0L9 | 11 | |
| Nation Online | 26th September 2022 | CAN president to youths: don’t be politicians’ body shields | As election campaigns commence on Wednesday, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) President Daniel Okoh has urged Nigerians to avoid the use of arms against themselves. Okoh, at the 62nd Independence Day anniversary service in Abuja yesterday, said the electorate should be smart enough to use their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to elect right leaders and not spill blood. He specifically warned the youth against being “body shields” of politicians who do not have an interest in their future. Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo, who also spoke at the event, again assured Nigerians of a better tomorrow. Okoh said he believes that many electorate must have learnt some lessons from politicians who offered them inducements on election days only to disappear after their victories. He also charged the electorate to protect their PVCs in order to use them to vent their anger against politicians that are deceptive. | CAN President, Daniel Okoh, 2023 General Elections, PVC | https://bit.ly/3SzFXY0 | 11 | |
| Nation Online | 26th September 2022 | Why we won’t endorse Peter Obi, by Ohanaeze | Pan Igbo organisation Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has said that it is not its duty to endorse the Presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi. Rather, the organisation said its duty is to commend people who have seen the vision in demanding justice and equity by endorsing an Igbo for the seat. Speaking on Sunday with The Nation, the Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Alex Ogbonnia, said the duty of Ohanaeze Ndigbo ended when about 90 per cent of Igbos and majority of other Nigerians keyed into the Ohanaeze’s philosophy of having a President of Igbo extraction. “The president was major agenda of Ohanaeze led by Prof.George Obiozor and everybody keyed into that philosophy and it has now become an ideology (movement). So, when people are embracing an ideology all you have to do is commend them. It will be childish if we begin to endorse ourselves. ""Igbo President is Ohanaeze’s philosophy, it is our working plan and we are happy that philosophy has become an ideology and a movement that is embraced by all parts of Nigeria". | Pan Igbo organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, LP, Peter Obi | https://bit.ly/3R9jgIR | 11 | |
| Daily Post Online | 26th September 2022 | Osun guber: Tight security as tribunal begins sitting | There is heavy presence of security operatives at the Osun State High Court on Monday morning as the governorship election tribunal commences sitting. DAILY POST reports that Governor Gboyega Oyetola is challenging the result of the July 16 guber election as announced by the Independence National Electoral Commission (INEC). Meanwhile, Oyetola had requested to relocate the sitting of the Tribunal to Abuja due to security reasons. But the President of the Appeal Court had on Friday rejected the request, adding that security agencies in the State had assured the Court of their co-operation and support in enhancing the security of the Tribunal and its sittings. | Tribunal, Governor Gboyega Oyetola, Governorship Election, PDP, APC, INEC | https://bit.ly/3LH4VSZ | 11 | |
| This Day Live | 26th September 2022 | 2023: Amended Electoral Act Best for Free, Fair Polls, Says Peller | A member of the House of Representatives for Iseyin/ Itesiwaju/Kajola/ Iwajowa Federal Constituency, Hon. Shina Peller, yesterday, said the 2023 general elections would be historical with the coming into force of the amended new Electoral Act, 2022. Peller said that Nigerians would experience the most peaceful election that would be free from rigging and electoral violence. Peller, who is contesting the Oyo North Senatorial district election under Accord Party, insisted that the amended electoral act is already promoting free and fair election devoid of violence, stating that it will help to reduce violence in 2023 contrary to what was experienced in previous elections. He added that it is very important for Nigerians to work together to give the country the best leadership in 2023. According to him, “the Electoral Act that we have now, that is the amended electoral act, is already promoting free and fair election devoid of violence because where you witness violence in election is when people want to carry or snatch ballot boxes and this time around, due to electronic transmission of results, it will be very difficult. “I believed that it will reduce violence and also people themselves should see that it is time for us to do things right this time around in 2023. We must look beyond ‘top to bottom,’ because ‘top to bottom’ in Nigeria is a disaster". | Electoral Act 2022, Hon. Shina Peller | https://bit.ly/3LMU2iG | 11 | |
| This Day Online | 23rd September 2022 | Tambuwal Now NGF Interim Chairman, Takes over Oct. 16 | Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and outgoing Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi, yesterday, at the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting, held in Aso Rock, Abuja, transferred power of the NGF to the Governor of Sokoto State, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal. Tambuwal has served as the vice chairman of the forum under Fayemi in the last four years. Fayemi, who was only a few weeks ago elected the President of the Forum of Regional and State Governments in Saidia in the state of Casablanca, Morrocco, attended the NEC virtually from New York City, where he was currently attending the United Nations General Assembly meeting. Tambuwal will be holding fort until May next year, when a proper election will be conducted among the governors.Before making the announcement, Fayemi acknowledged the result-driven output of the NEC and thanked his colleagues and other members of the council for their support, saying, “Yes, we may be occasionally troublesome, coming from the Forum of Governors, and we do test your patience, but you have never really expressed any frustration with all our truculent questions and the insistence that the federation must be a true federation.” In his response, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo said, the NGF chairman had taken the wind out of their sail, because he was “meant to, on behalf of the NEC, commend the Ekiti Governor and NGF Chairman’s informed and patriotic services to the council in the last four years and that was enhanced by your chairmanship of the NGF, admitting that the NGF has ensured that we move to a true federation, not just in words but in deeds as well.” | Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, John Kayode Fayemi, National Economic Council, NEC meeting, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal | https://bit.ly/3f27nqO | 10 | |
| This Day Online | 23rd September 2022 | Emmanuel: PDP Crisis Festering Because People Failed to Walk the Talk | Akwa Ibom State Governor and Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council, Udom Emmanuel, says the crisis in the party has festered because some people do not act in ways that agree with the things they say. Emmanuel, who stated this during an interactive session on national television, said the time had come for members to talk the talk and walk the walk. The governor believed the disagreements in the main opposition party were not insoluble. But he insisted that aggrieved members could not be ignored if the party wanted to win next year’s presidential election. Speaking during an interaction on national television, Emmanuel maintained that the PDP crisis was “not high mountains that are so difficult to climb”. He said the problem festered because some people could not keep their words. According to him, Wike and other “dissenting voices” within the party have the right to express their views, which would not be ignored, because “This is a family business.Emmanuel said, “Nyesom Wike is my brother, you all know that. “One thing I discovered about politics and life: people should try to do what they say they will do; that is the cause of some of the problems. If I say I will do B, if A happens, let me keep to that. If I say I will do B if C happens, let me also keep to that.” He explained, “It is not about mentioning people’s names; everybody has a right to express his views the way he wants. PDP is a family. I can assure you we will resolve it.” Emmanuel, who reiterated that Wike’s dissatisfaction would not be ignored, also explained why he was not part of the meeting called by the Rivers State governor and his associates to announce their withdrawal from the party’s campaigns. The Akwa Ibom State governor stated, “Don’t worry about that now. We sensationalise matters a whole lot. What we try to do is that we try to box individuals into our lifestyle, it cannot work like that. We are all adults. We know what is good for us; we know what is right for us. | Akwa Ibom State Governor and Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Presidential Campaign Council, Udom Emmanuel, PDP Crisis | https://bit.ly/3qZuu86 | 10 | |
| Punch Online | 23rd September 2022 | 2023 polls: Candidates to sign 2 peace accords, says National Peace C’ttee | Candidates participating in the 2023 presidential elections are to sign two peace accords before the election in February.The National Peace Committee, NPC, disclosed this yesterday at a meeting held in the residence of its Chairman and former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, retd, in Minna, Niger State. The committee, whic denounced any form of vote buying and fake news during the general elections, agreed that candidates and their spokespersons would sign two peace accords ahead of the elections. In a two page statement made available to newsmen at the end of the meeting General Abdulsalami Abubaka reminded all Nigerians that the 2023 general election must end in peace, without any rancour. | Peace Accord, 2023 presidential elections, National Peace Committee, NPC, Abdulsalami Abubakar | https://bit.ly/3LzdqQ1 | 10 | |
| Punch Online | 23rd September 2022 | INEC asks ADC to conduct national convention | The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has asked the Board of Trustees Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, Senator Patricia Akwashiki to conduct a convention to usher in a new National Working Committee of the party, VANGUARD has gathered. A source in INEC said the National Chairman of ADC, Chief Ralph Okey Nwosu was told to jettison the idea of a tenure extension, saying that his tenure and that of his NWC members have since expired in August. The source said, “The Independent National Electoral Commission has asked the former chairman to bury the idea of seeking tenure extension as his tenure as chairman expired on August 28 2022. Any action taken after the said date by the former chairman and NWC is null and void and won’t be recognized by the Independent National Electoral Commission. The Commission maintains that by the constitution of the African Democratic Congress the only authority recognized is the BOT Chairman Mrs. Patricia Akwashiki and the NEC of the party made up of the State Chairmen. “The Independent National Electoral Commission’s position is that the BOT Chairman must conduct a convention to usher in a new NWC.” | INEC, ADC, New National Working Committee, NWC | https://bit.ly/3SpXou2 | 10 | |
| Daily Post Online | 23rd September 2022 | 2023: Uncertainty in South-East as politicians come under gunmen attack | As electioneering campaigns get underway, there is increased apprehension that the political process may be disrupted in the South East zone of Nigeria. This is following the recent spate of insecurity in the zone, especially by persons who disguise themselves as unknown gunmen and separatists. Last two weeks, the peace of Anambra State was disrupted by an attack on the Senator representing Anambra South Senatorial zone, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah. Ubah was moving in his convoy, after attending a function, and was headed to Nnewi, his home town, when he was attacked at Nkwo Enugwu-Ukwu junction at about 7pm that Sunday. It would not be the first time a politician would be attacked in the State. In fact, in the entire South eastern zone, politicians have come under attack, with some losing their lives in the process, while others have been kidnapped and released after payment of ransom. Some of those who have fallen prey include: the governorship candidate of Labour Party in Anambra State, Mr Obiora Agbasimalo, who is still missing since after he was kidnapped close to the November 2021 governorship election in the State. Hon Chris Azubogu, who was a governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was also attacked before the election, and some vehicles in his convoy damaged. Dr Chime Akunyili, husband of the late former minister for information and Director General of NAFDAC, Prof Dora Akunyili was killed last year too, after he was mistaken to be a politician. In Imo State, former PDP chieftain and former presidential aide, Ahmed Gulak was also killed, while the homes of the State governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma and the Ohanaeze President General, Amb. George Obiozor have been attacked and burnt down. Despite several efforts by the State governments, the attacks have continued, and in Anambra too, a lawmaker, Hon Okey Okoye and his aide, Mr Cyril Chiegboka were kidnapped and beheaded. Former lawmakers have also been kidnapped, and one of them who was also living with disability was also beheaded. The insecurity especially in Anambra was so rife that the Anambra State 2021 governorship election which was held in November was almost truncated. Even though it held, some parts of the State were ruled out for campaigns because of violence. Other States, Ebonyi, Abia and Enugu have also had their fair share of the attacks. Not long ago, a Labour Party meeting in Enugu State was attacked by unknown gunmen in Awgu Local Government Area of the State. The fears are that if it continues, the 2023 general election may not hold in the South East, but some political analysts who spoke to DAILY POST were of varied opinions about the possibility of insecurity stalling elections in the zone. | South East, 2023 General Election, Gunmen Attack, Kidnappings, Insecurity | https://bit.ly/3C3WIoI | 10 | |
| Daily Post Online | 23rd September 2022 | Supreme Court strikes out suit seeking zoning of presidential ticket to South-East | The Supreme Court has struck out a suit instituted against the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to enforce the party’s zoning and rotatory policy ahead of the 2023 presidential election. The Court on Friday, in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Adamu Jauro, struck out the suit on the ground of lack of jurisdiction to entertain it. A Presidential aspirant of the PDP and former Deputy Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly, Hon Cosmos Ndukwe instituted the suit against his party, praying for an order to compel it to uphold the zoning and rotatory policy of the party. Specifically, the Presidential aspirant sought for order of the court to compel PDP to zone the nomination of its presidential candidate to the South East geo-political zone of the country. However, Justice Jauro held that the suit was not justiciable on the ground that the nomination of candidates for election is an internal affairs of political parties. Details later… | Court Suit, Supreme Court, Zoning | https://bit.ly/3xNR8V3 | 10 | |
| This Day Online | 23rd September 2022 | Kaigama to Nigerians: Elect Competent, God-fearing President in 2023 | The Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama has advised Nigerians not make the mistake of electing a mediocre as the next president of the country in the 2023 election. Rather, he said the electorate should eschew religious or ethnic sentiment and vote for a candidate that is, “genuinely patriotic, experienced, competent and sincerely God-fearing.” Kaigama’s advise came just as the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Archbishop Daniel Okoh said the church must begin to encourage persons with Christian values, right character, capacity and competence to participate in politics and take up public offices in the country in order to sanitise the system and guarantee good governance. Speaking on the negative impact of religious and ethnic politics pervading the country, Kaigama said: “We must begin to take self-serving considerations off the table when it comes to politics! Merit over mediocrity is the only approach that will save our country, that is, when we elect leaders who are genuinely patriotic, experienced, competent and sincerely God-fearing,” he said. Kaigama regretted that politics of bitterness, unhealthy personality clashes and manipulation had become deeply entrenched in the country, adding that inability to realise meaningful change in the socio-political and economic environment was as a result of the culture of corruption and very poor governance, coupled with untamed political, religious and ethnic sentiments. “To reverse this unfortunate trend, there is the need for a complete change in the way we do politics. If the primary purpose of politicking is to win elections, then the justifiable end is to govern well. | Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, 2023 General Election, Competence | https://bit.ly/3f2Ak60 | 10 | |
| Daily Trust Newspaper | 22nd September 2022 | Atiku To Wike’s Camp: Retrace Your Steps | There seems to be no end in sight to the ongoing crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, insisted that the National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu will not resign, appealing to the aggrieved members to retrace their steps. The camp of the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike after a crucial meeting held in Port Harcourt, reiterated their demand for the resignation of Ayu, saying the constitution of the Presidential Campaign Council without the resolution of the crisis translates to “putting the cart before the horse.” In his swift reaction, Atiku told Wike and members of his camp that it is time to move on. Expressing shock over the development, the former vice president urged the aggrieved chieftains to retrace their steps and join him in the efforts to rescue and rebuild the country. “Personally, I am quite surprised with this withdrawal because, as I have been informed by officials of our party, apart from the Rivers State chapter of the PDP, all the remaining states of the federation submitted names of people who they wanted included in the Presidential Campaign Council. “I have a plan to address these issues and I have, graciously, been given the ticket to lead our great party in next year’s presidential elections, with the singular mandate to come and lead the efforts to cure these ills. It is in this light that I have reached out to every single member of our great party to join me in the massive undertaking required to reset the ship of state and help rebuild our country. Atiku also said the resignation is the decision for Ayu to take, adding that “As a committed democrat and firm believer in the rule of law and democratic tenets, and our party being one set up, organised and regulated by law and our constitution, it is my absolute belief that everything that we do in our party must be done in accordance with, and conformity to, the law and our constitution. | Wike's Camp, Atiku Abubakar, PDP Crisis, PDP National Chairman, National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu | Page 4 | 9 | |
| Daily Trust Newspaper | 22nd September 2022 | Buhari At UNGA: I’m Leaving Legacy Of Credible Elections In Nigeria | President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said he would like to leave a legacy of free, fair, transparent and credible elections for Nigeria. He said this in his farewell speech to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, United States. Buhari told the 77th session that next year, there would be a new face speaking for Nigeria from the podium of the Assembly Hall. He said: ‘’We believe in the sanctity of constitutional term limits and we’ve steadfastly adhered to it in Nigeria. “We’ve seen the corrosive impact on values when leaders elsewhere seek to change the rules to stay on in power. ‘’Indeed, we’re now preparing for general elections in Nigeria next February. We’ve invested heavily to strengthen our framework for free and fair elections. As president, I’ve set the goal that one of the enduring legacies I’d like to leave is to entrench a process of free, fair and transparent and credible elections through which Nigerians elect leaders of their choice. The wheels of democracy turn slowly. It can demand compromises that dilute decisions. Sometimes, it bends too much to special interests that exercise influence, not always for the general good, in a manner disproportionate to their numbers.” | President Muhammadu Buhari, UNGA, 2023 General Election, Credible Elections, 77th UNGA | Page 6 | 9 | |
| This Day Newspaper | 22nd September 2022 | Gbajabiamila: Why Govt Won’t Fund Political Parties | The Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, yesterday, said it was no longer fashionable to expect the federal government to fund political parties at this critical period of Nigeria’s democratic advancement. In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Lanre Lasisi, he stated that using government’s money to run the parties was an indirect invitation for it to assume control of the political parties by dictating choices and policies that might be in conflict with the tenets of democracy. Gbajabiamila argued that the international best practice was for parties to be self-funded and that using government’s money would also lead to the proliferation of political parties. Gbajabiamila, who said this while receiving a delegation of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) at the National Assembly in Abuja, noted that people would simply abuse the process by registering hundreds of political parties in the hope of cashing out on free government money. “I am not sure how many countries fund their political parties; we will have to do research and to be sure that it’s international best practice. Government is an interested party, if it will be providing the funds, that will also mean they can compromise the system. There is also proliferation (of parties) that will become a problem if the government begins to fund the parties, since there will be free money,” he explained. Reacting to requests for fresh amendments to the Electoral Act 2022, the speaker said it was not advisable to do so a few months before the general election, because making new amendments to the law this period could disorganise election planning, create unnecessary tension in the polity and raise credibility questions. According to him, the safest route would be to further amend the Act after the elections if a need arose, or in the alternative, aggrieved persons could approach the judiciary to seek an interpretation of any contentious provisions. He, therefore, called for patience, urging parties to seize the opportunity of the upcoming polls to fully test the Act and determine the success of innovations such as electronic transmission of results, the deployment of the BIVAS, among others. | Speaker House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, IPAC, Funding Political Parties, Electoral Act 2022 | Page 43 | 9 | |
| This Day Newspaper | 22nd September 2022 | Shekarau Formally Announces Defection to PDP in Senate | The Senator representing Kano Central, Ibrahim Shekarau, officially defected on the floor of the Senate, yesterday, a month after he left the New Nigeria Peoples Party ( NNPP) for the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP). Shekarau, had on Monday, August 29, 2022, defected along with thousands of his supporters to PDP from NNPP on the grounds of alleged unfair treatment by the party led by Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, presidential candidate of the party. Announcing Shekarau’s defection through a letter, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, said the Kano Central Senator wished to officially inform his colleagues of the development. Shekarau, in the letter read by Lawan, said his defection and those of his supporters was to carry out their political aspirations in a party well disposed to them. After the announcement, PDP senators led by the minority leader, Philip Aduda, and the Minority Whip, Chukwuka Utazi (Enugu North), embraced Shakarau for defecting to their party. | Senator representing Kano Central, Ibrahim Shekarau, Defection, NNPP to PDP | Page 43 | 9 | |
| Punch Online | 22nd September 2022 | Northern Christians will mobilise against Muslim-Muslim ticket – Lawal | A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has said the introduction of the Muslim-Muslim ticket by the All Progressives Congress is a plan to further create divisions within the north. He said he and about 40 Christian leaders in the north are working to see that the ticket failed. Lawal spoke during an interview on Arise TV, monitored by our correspondent on Wednesday. He said, “The introduction of a Muslim-Muslim ticket by the APC or same-faith ticket is a wicked plan to further create divisions within the north. We try as leaders of societies to live as brothers and sisters but this demonic proposition just came out of the blues. “For all lovers of unity in this country, in the north in particular where we are most affected, this ticket must never succeed. We will make sure we defeat it in such a resounding manner that nobody in his right senses will ever think about it again at least in the near future for our political journey in Nigeria. So we are set on it and we are determined to kill it (Muslim-Muslim ticket). Our people are mobilised, and our people are ready for the election. “I and Dogara alone aren’t the only ones involved in this. Indeed, we are leaders of groups of about 40 leading Christian politicians in the north. We started work on this years back when we suspected that if a Muslim emerge from the south as the candidate for any of the political parties, there is a risk that what has happened will happen.So, while we plan that same-faith ticket of APC should fail, we also believe that we should align with one of the leading political parties that has the chance of winning. Our strategy is that we will not just waste our votes because we want to protest the same-faith ticket of APC, we will like to partner with another group that is more sensible of the Nigerian situation and realised that Nigeria needs harmony, unity and peace.” | Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, Muslim-Muslim ticket, APC, Northern Nigeria | https://bit.ly/3BAZal9 | 9 | |
| Punch Online | 22nd September 2022 | PDP calls emergency meeting over governors, others’ gang-up | The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday convened an emergency meeting following the withdrawal of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, his Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde, ex-Information Minister, Prof. Jerry Gana, and other prominent party chieftains from the party’s presidential campaign council. The Wike camp announced their plan not to participate in the campaign council which was scheduled for inauguration next Wednesday after a meeting at Wike’s private residence in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Wednesday morning. They hinged their decision on the failure of the party’s Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu to resign from office, insisting that the position must come to the South for balance, justice, and equity. Sequel to the development, the main opposition party went into a marathon meeting to deliberate on the impact of the withdrawal on the party’s plans. The party spokesman, Debo Ologunagba confirmed to The PUNCH on Wednesday that the party had been meeting since Wike’s camp announced their withdrawal from the campaign council, adding that the National Working Committee would announce their decision today (Thursday). | PDP Crisis, Wike's Camp, Emergency Meeting | https://bit.ly/3LO9vix | 9 | |
| Vanguard Online | 22nd September 2022 | Those calling for unilateral removal of Ayu not fair to Atiku – Dele Momodu | A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP chieftain, Dele Momodu has said the presidential candidate of the party, Abubakar Atiku cannot unilaterally remove the PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu. Momodu, a veteran journalist and publisher of Ovation Magazine, made this assertion on Thursday while speaking during an interview on Arise Television’s The Morning Show. His opinion comes on the heels of the long-running crisis rocking the main opposition’s party, involving Governor Nyesom Wike and his camp. The PDP chieftain said, “My own worry is that we seem to be putting so much pressure on Alhaji Atiku Abubakar like he can unilaterally remove the chairman of the party. Even If he (Atiku) should do that, a lot of us will feel vilified. He cannot do it (remove Ayu) and all he can do is speak with Dr. Ayu and we don’t know what is going on between all of them.” Momodu said those calling on Atiku to unilaterally remove the party’s embattled chairman were being unfair to the former vice president. “I know nobody will want to be seen in that light. Like anytime Governor Wike says you must go, you must go. It is a psychological thing as well for the party. It doesn’t work that way. Some of these things we have discussed privately with some of our party members and we believe that nobody should attempt to make our candidate look so weak or like someone that just can be pushed around. I mean, can I go to Governor Wike’s state and just tell him to go and sack the state’s party chairman? He doesn’t have the power to do so. It can’t happen. So, that is my position,” he said. | PDP Chieftain, Dele Momodu, PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, Atiku Abubakar | https://bit.ly/3DSuU7U | 9 | |
| Daily Trust Online | 21st September 2022 | Primaries: Despite Generating Billions, APC Faces Cash Crunch | Despite generating billions of naira from the sale of expression of interest and nomination forms during the recently concluded primaries, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is having difficulties footing its bills, credible party sources told Daily Trust. The sources said the party has not paid the allowances of members of the committee that conducted the primaries in states just as chairmanship aspirants are yet to get a refund of the N20m they paid for forms as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of the national convention of the party. It was also gathered that the party has not paid the August salary of its workers at the national secretariat. During its primaries between April and June, the ruling party raked in over N29bn from the sale of forms. The APC had pegged its presidential forms at N100m, governorship, N50m, senatorial, N20m, N10m for House of Representatives and N2m for state house of assembly aspirants The National Organising Secretary of the party, Sulaiman Argungu, had told newsmen in Abuja that 145 aspirants bought governorship forms, 351 obtained forms to contest senatorial primaries, 1,197 picked forms for the House of Representatives, while 28 presidential aspirants also obtained their forms. A source said part of the money generated was set aside for logistics while part of it was used for the hiring of venues mostly hotels for various screening exercises. He said part of it would be used for the 2023 campaigns. But some staff of the APC National Secretariat who spoke with our correspondent in confidence lamented that they did not know how the money was being spent as they were allegedly suffering under the Abdullahi Adamu-led National Working Committee (NWC). A chieftain of the party, Chief Jackson Lekan Ojo, however, said, “The party has not even paid the allowances of committee members sent to states to conduct primaries. So this requires a probe. The account of the party should be probed. Either monkey or snake must have swallowed the money.” Ojo said, “Where is the money? Why are the staff of the party dying of hunger? Why can’t the national secretariat of the party be maintained? Are they the ones to sponsor the 2023 elections?” The party is still in debt despite the humongous amount of money it generated from the sale of forms. Daily Trust correspondent reports that members of the APC appointed into committees to conduct primary elections for elective offices nationwide are still crying out over the non-payment of their allowances. Similarly, some ex-chairmanship aspirants who stepped down for the current National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu during the February Convention that produced him, said they were yet to be refunded their money spent on the expression of interest and nomination forms as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari. | Debts, APC, Cash Crunch, Chief Jackson Lekan Ojo, Owed salaries, Allegations | https://bit.ly/3S1QAmu | 8 | |
| Daily Trust Online | 21st September 2022 | 2023: Lawan’s Fate Hangs As Akpabio, Umahi, Others Make INEC Final List | The fate of Senate President Ahmad Lawan is hanging as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) left blank the space of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Yobe North senatorial district in the final list of candidates gunning for presidential and National Assembly elections published yesterday. The electoral body had slated September 20 for the publication of the final list of nominated candidates for presidential and National Assembly elections. Daily Trust reports that there have been controversies over the tickets of the APC for Yobe North and Akwa Ibom Northwest. The party leadership has been mounting pressure on Bashir Machina (Yobe North) and Udom Ekpoudom (Akwa Ibom Northwest) to step down for Lawan and the minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, respectively. But they both rejected the pleas, insisting that they won the primaries.In the final list seen by Daily Trust yesterday, Akpabio’s name was seen while no name was in the space left for APC. A Federal High court last week ordered INEC to include Akapabio’s name in the final list. Report from Ebonyi State showed that the governor of the state, David Umahi, who had a similar challenge with Lawan and Akpabio made the list. Daily Trust learnt that the governor’s name was earlier omitted in June owing to the controversy that trailed his emergence as the candidate of the APC for the election. | INEC, Final list of Candidates, Ahmad Lawan, Bashir Machina, Udom Ekoudom, Godswill Akpabio, David Umahi, Yobe North, Akwa Ibom North-west, Ebonyi State | https://bit.ly/3f6GjqG | 8 | |
| This Day Newspaper | 21st September 2022 | Jonathan: My 2015 Concession Call Collective Decision to Save Nigeria | Former President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, reminisced on his 2015 timeous concession telephone call to his then rival, Muhammadu Buhari, and said it was a “collective decision to save Nigeria”. Speaking at the Goodluck Jonathan 2022 Peace Conference themed, “Nation Building: The Role of Elections in a Multi-ethnic Context”, the former president, however, warned current political actors to tread with caution in the run-up to the 2023 general election, saying there first must be a country before their aspiration. Also speaking at the event, a former head of state, General Abdulsalami, charged politicians to put Nigeria first before their ambition, as there could not be democracy without the nation. In like manner, Secretary to the Government of Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, has identified the lack of ideological politics as the bane of political parties in the country, which are no more than special purpose vehicle. At the same time, former president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Mohammed Ibn Chambas, called on politicians to always reflect and be willing to concede defeat as Jonathan did in 2015, an action, believed to have salvaged the nation’s fledgling democracy. But on a different scale, the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, yesterday, called on political leaders across the country to step up and assuage the pains of Nigerians on many fronts due to poor governance and inefficiency or expect a surprise from the electorate in the forthcoming elections. Jonathan, who in his speech, described hate speech and propaganda as threat to democratic, reacted to comments that he saved Nigeria and bloodshed by telephoning now President Buhari to concede defeat, saying, it was a collective decision. “We saved the country collectively,” he said, noting that the era of ballot box snatching was over, because of the introduction of electronic voting as contained in the new electoral act. | Goodluck Jonathan, 2023 General Election, Nation Building, Boss Mustapha, General Abdulsalami, Mohammed Ibn Chambas, Godwin Obaseki | Page 1 & 10 | 8 | |
| This Day Newspaper | 21st September 2022 | Dogara: APC’s Muslim-Muslim Ticket Antithetical to Nation Building | Former speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has reiterated that the adoption of same faith presidential ticket by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), was antithetical to Nigeria’s quest for nation building. He spoke yesterday in Abuja at a summit tagged: “Meet the Church”, which was organised by the Nigerian National Christians Coalition (NNCC) with the theme: “The role of the Church in Nation Building”. The former speaker, therefore, called on Christians to resist the temptation to waste their votes in the 2023 general election as according to him, “Every Christian knows that our God does not tolerate waste. It is unchristian-like for the church to waste anything given to us from above as we own nothing except what is given to us from above.” He commended the church in today’s Nigeria for “shaking off the beast of complacency of the past into fire by speaking up and resisting measures adopted by some political platforms that will hamper nation building.” He argued that the APC ignored warnings by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Catholic Secretariate, ECWA church and many other church bodies and adopted the same faith ticket in a manner that negated the fundamentals of nation building, such as shared identity, values and vision saying, “the APC adopted a same faith ticket in a country that has never attained nationhood. He, however, maintained that in 2023, every Christian must cast their votes as talents given to them by God to trade with as seeds that must not be wasted. | Hon. Yakubu Dogara, APC Muslim-muslim Ticket, Vote | Page 35 | 8 | |
| The Guardian Newspaper | 21st September 2022 | Nigerians may shock political class, parties in 2023, Obaseki warns | Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has called on political leaders across the country to step up and mitigate the pains of Nigerians caused by poor governance and inefficiency or expect a surprise from the electorate in the forthcoming 2023 general elections. Obaseki, while speaking to journalists in Benin City, noted that Nigerians were fed up with the inefficiencies and failure of government officials and other representatives and would reject them at the polls if nothing was done to change the narrative. He said Nigerians were closely watching the political situation in the country and were ready to shock political parties with their new political orientation. He said: “I am sure we are all watching the development in the country very closely, particularly the evolving political development. It’s clear now that Nigerians are getting fed up with the government and those that represent them in government. We can see that in their reactions on social media and where their actions and emotions are headed. “For us as a government and representatives of our people, we would be hurting ourselves if we ignore the changes that are coming and believe that things are still the same. We will all be shocked as we are beginning to see. People are now beginning to realise that they need to demand more from people in government and those managing their resources and commonwealth; people will go out to vote their choice or interests.” He added: “No political party today can beat its chest and say they will win or have a clear victory in the next election in the country. | Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, 2023 General Election | Page 28 | 8 | |
| Punch Online | 21st September 2022 | 2023: Tinubu unfit for presidency, says Ezeife | The All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, is unfit to rule the country because of ill-health, the Igbo Elders Consultative Forum, has said. The organisation said that only people who were not well informed, or have lost sanity, would vote for Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State. The chairman of IECF and former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, stated these in a statement issued on Tuesday night from the United States, with about one week to the commencement of campaigns. But the Spokesperson of Tinubu Campaign Organization, Adebayo Onanuga, told The PUNCH that Ezeife was acting the script of the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi. According to him, Tinubu had been hale and hearty, fit and most qualified for Nigeria’s highest office. Ezeife was reacting to a recent report published by The PUNCH on Monday, September 12 that about two weeks after his visit to the vice presidential candidate of APC, Kashim Shettima, the Igbo Elders Consultative Forum which he chairs had been seriously divided. Although the official statement had claimed that it was a courtesy visit, sources said it had thrown the IECF into controversies as members who had been champions of the Igbo presidency and supported the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, remained divided. Ezeife in the statement titled, ‘Why I went to Shettima’, said he visited the former governor of Borno State to assist a businessman whose warehouse was bulldozed by the Borno State Government. He said that aside from Tinubu “being too old for the office of President of Nigeria”, the Muslim-Muslim ticket adopted by the former governor had knocked off his chances. | Igbo Elders Consultative Forum, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, APC Presidential Candidate, Bola Tinubu, Health | https://bit.ly/3LtGp7O | 8 | |
| Punch Online | 21st September 2022 | UPDATED: Wike’s group pulls out of Atiku’s campaign council | The crisis rocking the nation’s main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party deepened on Wednesday as Governor Nyesom Wike’s team reportedly pulled out of the campaign Council of the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. This came following a meeting early on Wednesday morning in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. Our correspondent gathered that members of the Rivers State Governor’s team vowed not to play any role in Atiku’s campaign ahead of the 2023 general elections. They insisted that the National Chairman of the PDP, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, must resign for them to rescind their decision. They said there was no going back on the call for Ayu’s resignation as the national chairman of the party. Present at the meeting were aggrieved party leaders party chieftains, including founding members of the party, governors, former ministers. They insisted that the position must come to the South for balance, justice, and equity in the party, hence they will not play any role in Atiku Abubakar’s campaign council. They also resolve that an acting Chairman from the South should lead the party on the national campaign, going into the elections. They made their position known in a resolution read by former deputy national chairman of the party, Chief Bode George, after a long meeting held at Governor Wike’s private residence, near Port Harcourt on Wednesday. They maintained that their position was not negotiable as the chairmanship of Ayu undermined the unity and constitution of the party. While accusing Ayu of compromising the May 28 and 29 presidential primaries of the party through his conduct, the members said the published presidential campaign council list was tantamount to putting the cat before the horse. George while reading the resolution said they were worried over the division in the PDP, saying the parry’s internal mechanism should brace up to the challenges. | Nyesom Wike's Team, Campaign Council, Atiku Abubakar, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, PDP Crisis | https://bit.ly/3LLbS5H | 8 | |
| Vanguard Online | 20th September 2022 | Why Tinubu’s not doing live interviews – Keyamo, Bamigbetan | Chief Spokesman of the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr. Festus Keyamo, has dismissed as fake news a report in which Tinubu said he was not doing live television interviews like his main opponents because he “is contesting for Nigerian President, not Media President.” Following the report, the social media was awash with comments that the APC presidential flag bearer was shying away from living interviews because of ill-health and incapacitation. Dismissing the report as fake news, Keyamo, in a chat with Vanguard said Tinubu was not shying away from live interviews, adding: “Campaigns have not started. The Nation will hear from him again and again and again.” Asked the same question, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan, who is the deputy director, public affairs of the campaign council, said live interview is the strategy of Tinubu’s opponents and the strategy could not be foisted or forced on Tinubu. He said, currently, “Tinubu is engaging in consultations. He is visiting and consulting many prominent Nigerians across the country"". Bamigbetan and Bulama said that the Tinubu Administration would continue with the achievements of the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration in the area of infrastructural development and economic management, adding: “What the current government has done has not been very well communicated. Rapid response system in power will be seen from May 29, 2023.” | Bola Tinubu, Festus Keyamo, Kehinde Bamigbetan, APC Deputy Director of Public Affairs of Campaign Council, Media Interviews, Live Interviews | https://bit.ly/3Bu5kn8 | 7 | |
| Vanguard Online | 20th September 2022 | Court nullifies APC governorship primary in Taraba | A Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo, Tuesday has nullified the governorship primary election that produced Emmanuel Bwacha as the candidate of the party in the 2023 election. An aggrieved aspirant, David Kente had dragged the party and its candidate to court over the recognition of Bwacha as candidate of the party. The presiding Judge, Justice Simon Amobeda in his ruling directed that a fresh governorship primary election be conducted within 14 days. The court also ordered Bwacha to stop parading himself as the governorship candidate of the APC. | Court Suit, PDP Governorship Candidate for Taraba State, Taraba State, Emmanuel Bwacha, David Kente, Fresh primary | https://bit.ly/3eSqIuu | 7 | |
| Leadership Online | 20th September 2022 | CVR: INEC Denies Preventing 7m Nigerians From Registering | Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has debunked insinuations that it denied over seven million Nigerians the opportunity to complete their online pre-registration during the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) ahead of the 2023 general elections. The electoral body described the claims as false and misleading, saying those in that category were to to be blamed for not doing the needful at the right time. In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by INEC national commissioner and chairman, information and voter education committee, Barr Festus Okoye, he said Nigerians were given the opportunity to commence the registration online and then book an appointment at their convenience to complete the physical biometric capture at designated centres. He recalled that the commission had on 28th June, 2021, introduced the online pre-registration of voters. Okoye said, “It was a novel idea leveraging technology to ease the registration process. This was in addition to the walk-in option at physical centres, where Nigerians can commence and complete their registration simultaneously without going through the online pre-registration procedure.” In the interest of transparency, he said the Commission provided weekly statistical updates on the exercise. | INEC, CVR, Online pre-registration | https://bit.ly/3RcjIGB | 7 | |
| This Day Online | 20th September 2022 | Youth Group Lauds INEC’s Move to Clean up Voters Register | The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youths Movement has praised the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof, Mahmood Yakubu for his determination to invalidate every ineligible registrants during the clean-up of register with a comprehensive Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS). In a statement made available to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo youths Secretary, Nwada Amaka commended Yakubu for reviewing the nation’s voters register as part of efforts aimed at ensuring that only genuine voters take part in the coming elections. The statement read, “As an organisation of youths interested in the conduct of credible elections in this country, we commend the INEC chairman for the initiative which led to the discovery of fake registrations and the immediate cleaning in line with the law. We pass a vote of confidence on the INEC boss and ask him to continue his good work as history will be fair to him that he stood his ground when it matters. We salute INEC for their introduction of technological innovation into our electoral system. The confidence of Nigerians in the electoral process was rekindled with Prof. Mahmood determination to ensure that 2023 elections will be credible free and fair. We are also calling on him not to stop at the level of cleaning up the voters register alone. We urge him to ensure the prosecution of all those behind illegal and fake registration, no matter how highly placed.” | Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youths Movement, INEC, Clean up of Voters' Register | https://bit.ly/3BUeomE | 7 | |
| Punch Online | 20th September 2022 | Corruption ruining Nigeria, fuel subsidy organised crime – Obi | The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, has said that fiscal recklessness, inability to tackle insecurity and corruption have been primarily responsible for Nigeria’s failing economy. Obi also said that domestic problems, caused by leadership failure, have damaged the unity and cohesiveness of the country. The former Anambra State governor, while speaking at the Private Sector Economic Forum organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday, said the government that would succeed the Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari regime in 2023 would be confronted by an array of daunting challenges, both domestic and external. Obi, who said Nigeria was not bereft of transformative ideas from brilliant minds, noted that institutional weakness and lack of political will had led to poor outcomes that had affected the people. He regretted that Nigeria now had frightening levels of poverty, unemployment rate and out-of-school children. According to him, given our history, politics and governance challenges, moving Nigeria forward would require concerted efforts and a shift from coercive to consensus approach. “The government that will come in 2023 will be confronted by an array of daunting challenges, both domestic and external,” Obi said. The domestic ones have accumulated over the years, and because of leadership failure, have not been dealt with, and these have impacted heavily on our unity, social cohesion as well as the economic outcome. It has affected us negatively. “Our country today is bad news. We now have the concentration of the highest number of people living in poverty, the highest number of out of school children, and the highest rate of unemployment.” He said that leapfrogging Nigeria from oil dependence to industrial revolution, improving human capital development, and formulating good foreign policy must be brought to the front burner in order to revive the nation’s ailing economy. | Peter Obi, Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Fuel Subsidy, Corruption, Failing Economy | https://bit.ly/3DD9ls1 | 7 | |
| Punch Online | 20th September 2022 | APC plans to buy PVCs, Kano NNPP alleges | The New Nigeria Peoples Party in Kano State has allegedly uncovered plans by the ruling All Progressives Congress to reduce the number of people having Permanent Voter Cards in the state by luring and seizing the cards from their original owners with the purpose of disenfranchising the owners. This is just as the party noted that, for the very first time in the history of governance in Kano State, the incumbent has turned government affairs into a family affair, as, according to the NNPP, evidently seen in government policies and appointments. The party made these allegations in a communiqué issued at the end of a sensitisation workshop organised by the party for its governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives, state house of assemblies’ candidates and party executives held on September 15 in Kano. The communiqué said it was a pointer to the state government’s abandonment of its primary responsibilities of protecting lives and properties of the citizens by being myopic and driven by sentiments, emotions, vendetta, and self-enrichment. According to the communiqué jointly signed by the workshop chairman, Garba Diso, and secretary, Hamisu Ali, the workshop called for quick solutions to the threat of disenfranchisement and urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to, as a matter of urgency, publish and paste the names of all uncollected PVCs in order to create awareness for the rightful owners to claim them. | NNPP, PVC, Disenfranchisement, Kano State, APC | https://bit.ly/3Bw4JBc | 7 | |
| Punch Online | 20th September 2022 | Court dismisses PDP suit against Tinubu, Obi’s placeholders | A Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday dismissed a suit by the Peoples Democratic Party challenging the appointment of placeholders by the presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress and Labour Party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Peter Obi, respectively. Justice Donatus Okorowo in a judgment held that the suit was an abuse of the court process because issues raised by the plaintiff were unknown to the law. He held that the suit, prosecuted for the PDP by Gordy Uche (SAN), did not disclose any reasonable cause of action against the respondents; a development that robbed the court of the jurisdiction to hear the case. “When a court finds out that a suit is an abuse of the court process, the court has the right to dismiss it,” Okorowo said. The PDP had, by the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1016/2022 challenged the propriety of the nomination of placeholders by the presidential candidates of the APC and LP, claiming among others, that such procedure was unlawful.Also named with Tinubu, the APC, Obi and LP were Kabiru Masari (placeholder for the APC), Doyin Okupe (placeholder for LP), and the Independent National Electoral Commission. The PDP contended that the term ‘placeholder’ is unknown to the law in the country, adding that the Electoral Act, 2022 makes no provisions whatsoever for placeholder or temporary running mates. The party argued that acts of the second (the APC), third (Tinubu), fifth (Labour Party) and sixth (Obi) defendants in nominating and forwarding the names of the fourth (Masari) and seventh (Okupe) defendants as running mates for the 2023 presidential election is valid and subsisting and could not be overridden by the subsequent nomination of Kashim Shettima and Datti Baba-Ahmed. | Court Suit, PDP, APC, LP, Placeholders, Bola Tinubu, Peter Obi, Doyin Okupe, Kabiru Masari, Electoral Act 2022 | https://bit.ly/3LrYZgp | 7 | |
| This Day Newspaper | 16th September 2022 | INEC: No New Addition or Subtraction from Voters’ Register | The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday, maintained that, since the end of the continuous voter registration exercise, no fresh registrant was added or subtracted from the voters’ register. In a related development, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has tasked INEC and other agencies of government playing roles in the electoral process to ensure that the outcome of the 2023 general election was a true reflection of the desires of the people. However, INEC, reacting to the press conference addressed by the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) on the Register of Voters for the 2023 general election, said it recognized and respected the right of citizens, either as individuals or groups, to demand explanation from public agencies, including itself, and to hold them accountable. But the commission said it was always important that caution was exercised so that such interventions did not unwittingly sow doubts in the public mind, thereby diminishing public confidence and trust in the electoral process. In a statement by the INEC National Commissioner in charge of information and chairman of Voter education, Festus Okoye, INEC said, “It is important to reiterate that no new registrant, has yet been added to the Register of Voters for the 2023 General Election or will be included until these supplemental activities have been completed in line with the law. | INEC, Voter registration, Voters' register, CUPP, Festus Okoye | Page 47 | 6 | |
| This Day Newspaper | 16th September 2022 | PDP Releases Presidential Campaign Council Composition | The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has announced the composition of its Presidential Campaign Council, with the Akwa Ibom State governor, Udom Emmanuel, as the council’s chairman. In a document released yesterday, signed by National Organising Secretary of PDP, Bature Umar, the Bauchi State governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, was appointed vice chairman of the campaign council for the north, while the governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, was made the southern vice president. Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, who had been at the centre of the party’s crisis, was listed as a member of the council. Similarly, Wike’s ally, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, made the list as a member of the council. Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal was made Director General of the presidential campaign, while former governor of Cross River State, Liyel Imoke, was made Deputy Director General, Operations. Members of the council also include former National Secretary of PDP, Professor Adewale Oladipo, who was appointed Director-General, Operations, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, was nominated Deputy Director General, Technical and Systems, and former National Chairman of PDP, Okweaileze Nwodo, was appointed Deputy Director-General, Research. The presidential campaign council was divided into four categories of directorates, with Adewale in charge of Directorate of Administration, Directorate of Finance, and Directorate of Legal Affairs. Dokpesi was put in charge of Directorate of Technology, Directorate of Situation Room, Directorate of Election Management, and Directorate of Training. Imoke was assigned to take care of Operations, which was further divided into Directorate of Field Operations and Logistics, Directorate of Strategic Communications, Directorate of Security, and Directorate of Support Groups. Nwodo was mandated to oversee the Directorate of Research, Directorate of Intelligence and Strategy, Directorate of Monitoring and Evaluation, and Directorate of International Affairs. | PDP's Presidential Campaign Council, PDP, Udom Emmanuel | Page 5 | 6 | |
| The Guardian Newspaper | 16th September 2022 | Don’t allow politicians waste you in 2023, CAC advises youths | General Evangelist, Christ Apostolic Church in Nigeria and Overseas, Hezekiah Oladeji, yesterday, in Abuja, urged Nigerians, especially the youths to defray from being used in the 2023 general elections. Oladeji, who spoke at a press conference ahead of the church’s National Praise programme, said there must be an end to bloodshed and money politics, stressing that there is urgent need to improve voters’ education in the country. He said money would fail and give way to politicians, who have the technical and educational requirements needed to alleviate the suffering of the country. “Our people are getting deceived easily by money. That will not last. We must not mortgage our future in the coming elections because our challenges will only multiply if we fail to do it right,” Oladeji said. According to him, the true children of God cannot be cheated, adding that the youths must wake up to their rights. Oladeji said about 3,000 renowned gospel music stars, trumpeters and clerics would be praising God with the expectations of a better Nigeria. | Hezekiah Oladeji, 2023 General Election, Money Politics, Vote Buying | Page 7 | 6 | |
| The Guardian Newspaper | 16th September 2022 | George, Bucknor-Akerele insist Ayu must resign | Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode George has asked the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu to step down from his position to resolve the impasse occasioned by calls for his resignation. He said such move would save the party from a ‘clear and present danger’ that might thwart the window of opportunity afforded it to return to power next year. Addressing journalists and party faithful in Lagos, George said his call was predicated on the fact that it makes no political sense for the presidential candidate and the National Chairman to come from the same zone, if equity, fairness and justice, which had always been the pedestal for political decisions in the party, are considered. Also speaking at the event, former Lagos State deputy governor, Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele called on Ayu to resign as National Chairman, saying that remaining in office would be an insult to party members in the South. George said: “With two weeks to the commencement of campaign season that we believe will usher in a PDP government into Aso Rock in 2023, unfortunately, our party is at the precipice of a dangerous crisis, if pending critical issues are not urgently addressed. Party unity and inclusiveness of all members are ingredients to a viable strategy for our election victory. Now, we have a situation in which some elders are saying, it does not matter. Can we go into the election with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, from the same zone, leading our national campaign? I want our members to know that as one of the party fathers and as a former Deputy National Chairman, it is not in my character to belittle the interest of our party, but when issues arise that may dent progress of our party, one has to speak out.” While observing that some party leaders were directly or indirectly responsible for the present crisis because of their personal interests, the former Ondo State military administrator said he would not remain passive when the collective unity of the party is fragmented. | Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, Chief Bode George, Iyorchia Ayu, Calls for Resignation, PDP, PDP Crisis | Page 7 | 6 | |
| Daily Trust Newspaper | 16th September 2022 | Presidency: Tinubu, Atiku Kick As Obi Leads In Opinion Polls | The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Atiku Abubakar, have reacted to an opinion poll conducted by NOI, which indicated that the candidate of Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, would defeat them in the 2023 election. Tinubu, who spoke through the director, Media and Publicity of his presidential campaign council, Mr Bayo Onanuga, on Thursday, said he is unperturbed, describing the poll as unrealistic and fake. A poll conducted by Ngozi Okonjo Iweala (NOI Polls) and commissioned by the Atedo N. A. Peterside (ANAP) Foundation showed that Obi would win if the presidential election is held in 2023. The poll, conducted in September, pointed to a three-horse presidential race between Obi, Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar. But reacting, the Tinubu Campaign Council described the NOI poll as dubious, unrealistic and inconsistent, adding that the poll made “wild and incredible permutations” on the presidential election. “Our party is putting every necessary machinery in motion to win the federal elections with a margin that will be too wide to contest. “Our candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, recorded the highest votes of any senator across the country under the SDP in July 1992. He will do it on a nationwide scale on February 25, 2023. We are unperturbed by these dubious and unreliable statistics because our research shows that NOI polls have been off the mark at critical election periods in recent times,” the statement read in part. Similarly, the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who reacted through his spokesman, Paul IIbe, said he would defeat other candidates in the election. He said, “We know that the election will be conducted in February 2023, barring any changes, and the Nigerian voters will be the ones to determine the next president of the country. And we know too well who that president will be. “By his antecedents, by the response of Nigerians to the vision that he has laid out, his plan to rejig, to reformat, to restructure every aspect of our lives, socio-political and economic, we know who that person will be and, certainly, it will be Atiku Abubakar.” | NOI Polls, Peter Obi, Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, Opinion Polls | Page 25 | 6 | |
| Daily Trust Newspaper | 16th September 2022 | Why 2023 Elections Cannot Be Rigged — Falae, Yakasai | A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and founding National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Chief Olu Falae, and a former Liaison Officer to the late President Shehu Shagari, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, have said there would be no rigging in the 2023 general elections. The two elder statesmen said this at the formal commissioning of the new National Secretariat of the SDP on Thursday in Abuja. They urged politicians and parties to move to the grassroots and campaign and show the people what they would do to make the country better. | National Chairman of Social Democratic Party, SDP, Chief Olu Falae, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, 2023 General Election | Page 25 | 6 | |
| Punch Newspaper | 16th September 2022 | Court hears suit to stop Labour Party rally | Nine lawyers and one Wale Lawrence on Thursday asked a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos State to stop the Labour Party, its candidates and supporters from conducting a rally tagged ‘#Obidatti23 Forward Ever Rally’ on October 1, 2022, or any other date in Lagos State. The 10 plaintiffs specifically urged the court to restrain the LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi, his running mate, Yusuf Baba-Ahmed, one Julius Abure, and their loyalists from holding the rally until the hearing and determination of their motion on notice of September 12, 2022. The nine lawyers are Adedotun Ajulo, Salamatu Lewi, Hakeem Ijaduola, Ogunbona Akinpelu, Owolabi Oluwasegun, Mogbojuri Kayode, Wuyep Nadom, Dimimu Mabel and Kolawole Salami. The first to 10th defendants in the suit marked FHC/L/CS/1729/2022 are Obi, LP, Baba-Ahmed, Abure, the Inspector-General of Police, Commissioner of Police, Lagos State command, Director-General of the Department of State Services, Lekki Concession Company Limited, Attorney-General of Lagos State and the Governor of Lagos State. In their ex parte motion filed before Justice Daniel Osiagor through their counsel, Dada Awosika (SAN), they prayed the court for four reliefs. One of the reliefs read, “An order of interim injunction restraining the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants; their associates and loyalists from conducting the scheduled EndSARS rally tagged as the ‘#Obidatti23 Forward Ever Rally’ on October 1, 2022, or any other subsequent date, at the Lekki toll gate until the hearing and determination of the Motion-On-Notice dated September 12, 2022.” Justice Osiagor directed the plaintiffs to put all the defendants on notice. He adjourned the hearing of the substantive motion till September 23, 2022. The plaintiffs, by their originating summons filed on the 9 of September, 2022 listed 12 grounds upon which the judge should grant their reliefs. | Court Suit, Labour Party Rally, Labour Party, October 1, Lagos State | https://bit.ly/3BLf6T5 | 6 | |
| The Nation Online | 15th September 2022 | Akeredolu, Adebayo head teams for Tinubu | What happened to the Southwest during the defunct Second and Third Republics when the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the late business mogul, Moshood Abiola, must not repeat itself next year, the All Progressives Congress (APC) said yesterday. The party, through its National Vice Chairman (Southwest), Chief Isaacs Kekemeke, took a bold step yesterday by setting up reconciliation committees and high-powered contact team. The role of the team, under the chairmanship of Ondo State Governor Olurotimi Akeredolu, the APC said, is to present its presidential standard bearer and other candidates in next year’s election to eminent personalities in the region for support. According to the APC leader, the six other committees would reconcile all aggrieved party members in the region ahead of the elections. Kekemeke dropped the hint while briefing reporters after its meeting at the Oyo State APC chapter secretariat in Ibadan. He explained that the decision was taken to ensure Tinubu’s victory and inauguration as the next president, pointing out that Southwest will not lose another opportunity to produce the president after the bitter experience of the late Obafemi Awolowo and Moshood Abiola. The party leader said: “We are have resolved to change the narrative. What happened to Awolowo and Abiola must not happen again. It is a lifetime opportunity to produce the next president and we won’t let it slip by. Some say we sound sentimental. Why not, if the best candidate is from your zone, if he is the most experienced and he is a man with antecedent? It is not all just because he is from here but because he is the best. We urge all Southwest indigenes to rally behind Tinubu and ensure that he is elected the next president.” According to Kekemeke, the Akeredolu-led special committee will engage eminent citizens who are essentially APC leaders and others that wield influence in their communities and states. He also named Industry, Trade and Investment Minister Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo and Chief Pius Akinyelure as chairman and co-chairman of a Zonal Advisory Committee. Members of the committee, including Prince Tajudeen Olusi, Pastor Bankole Oluwajana, Chief Henry Ajomale, and the zonal secretary Wunmi Bewaji, who will serve as secretary, have a mandate to work with party’s National Working Committee (NWC) for the success of the APC. | Olurotimi Akeredolu, APC, Adeniyi Adebayo, Reconciliation committees, Contact team | https://bit.ly/3QLjV38 | 5 | |
| The Nation Online | 15th September 2022 | Makinde leads Southwest PDP on Ayu-must-go call | The post-presidential primary crisis that has hit the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is not over. Yesterday, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde insisted that the national chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, should resign. He stressed that the candidate and chairman cannot come from the same bloc region. The governor said Southwest PDP stakeholders believe that Ayu’s resignation should be the baseline for restructuring and unification. Makinde said if the controversy triggered by the distribution of positions is not resolved before next year’s polls, Southwest will continue to nurture the fear of exclusion. Urging the opposition party to correct its pre-election mistakes, Makinde said: “If we want to unify Nigeria, we must unify PDP first. If we want a government of national unity, it must reflect in the PDP. If we want to restructure Nigeria, we must restructure PDP first. “Our presidential candidate is from the Northeast. Our national chairman is from Northcentral. The Director-General of the Atiku Campaign Organisation, Aminu Tambuwal, is from the Northwest. So, the PDP national chairman should step down.” But, the presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who met with Southwest PDP leaders and candidates in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, said if Ayu must resign, his exit must follow due process. | Seyi Makinde, PDP Crisis, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, PDP National Chairman | https://bit.ly/3UacwgL | 5 | |
| Daily Trust Online | 15th September 2022 | Runoff Imminent In 2023 Presidential Poll – Senator Hunkuyi | The governorship candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in Kaduna State, Senator Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi, has said with the way things are unfolding, it might be difficult to have a clear presidential winner in accordance with the electoral guidelines on the first ballot. In his opinion, no political party should be underrated as a surprise could spring up in the 2023 general elections. Speaking with selected media organisations in Kaduna, yesterday, Hunkuyi expressed the belief that now that the presidential candidates are being given religious and ethnic colouration, any of the presidential candidates securing 25 per cent in 25 states might be a herculean task in the first ballot. “It does not appear any party today in Nigeria, including NNPP may make it in the first election. There might have to be a runoff. Because the law requires some scores from the total votes cast, in a required minimum number of states apart from simple majority scored"". ""I feel no one party, no one candidate may be able to make it and that is why the laws of elections permit for a re-run. So, for anyone to say, because NNPP may not make it, which party then may make it? Am talking from the background of the politics in Nigeria today. You see, PDP and APC as the biggest of them all, but try to plot the graph, and when you do it, try to do it dispassionately. We have 36 states and to win the election, you need 25 per cent of the votes in a minimum of 25 states. So, go ahead and count,” he said. | NNPP Governorship candidate, New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Senator Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi, 2023 Presidential Election, Runoff | https://bit.ly/3dfa1cp | 5 | |
| Daily Trust Online | 15th September 2022 | Foreigners’ Names Flooded INEC’s Delisted Voters’ Register – Opposition Parties | The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) yesterday said it had uncovered plots by some politicians to truncate next year’s general elections by compromising the devices being used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The coalition specifically said a quick check on the website of INEC revealed that foreign names have flooded the register in thousands, adding that delisting those names as it has already been done by the electoral umpire was not enough, and that those responsible should be dealt with. Addressing journalists in Abuja, the spokesman of CUPP, Ikenga Ugochinyere, warned that leaving those responsible for BVAS’ compromise by releasing its passcodes during the just-concluded Continuous Voters Registration process may dent the image of the commission. Daily Trust reports that opposition parties represented at the briefing included PDP, Action Alliance, APGA, APP and three others. | Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP, Alleged foreign names on Voters' Register, INEC, Ikenga Ugochinyere | https://bit.ly/3SaDfbj | 5 | |
| Punch Online | 15th September 2022 | Tribunal: Oyetola resorting to media trial, PDP alleges | The Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has accused the All Progressives Congress and Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of resorting to media trial regarding their petition against the victory of Senator Ademola Adeleke in the July 16 governorship poll. A statement by the Osun PDP Director of Media and Publicity, Oladele ‘Bamiji, obtained in Osogbo on Wednesday, said APC, within one week, declared the state as unsafe to actualise its plan of moving the sitting of the tribunal against Adeleke’s victory to Abuja. The party also alleged APC of sponsoring falsified election analysis by paid agents masquerading as election observers. The statement read in part, “Media trial is an insult to the judiciary that has demonstrated readiness to discharge its responsibilities without fear or favour. We, therefore, charge Osun people to be on guard and be prepared to resist any plot by the APC to make a mess of our democracy with its incessant culture of stealing mandate. For us, as a law-abiding party, we reiterate our respect for the judiciary and have faith in it pushing back any devilish attempt to deny the people their rights to decide who leads them.” When contacted for reaction, Special Adviser to Osun APC chairman on Media, Kola Olabisi, said PDP was no longer comfortable since its antics had been exposed. “Where is the media trial that the absolutely confused PDP is accusing the Osun APC of? The APC is a product of the rules of law of which no amount of provocation from any political irritant would make it resort to self-help. It will profit the Osun State PDP better if its handlers can learn how not to dissipate their energy on frivolous daily composition writings in order to whip up sentiment to shield their pyrrhic victory in the July 16, 2022 governorship election,” Olabisi said. | Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, APC, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, Senator Ademola Adeleke | https://bit.ly/3BkDJVb | 5 | |
| Punch Online | 15th September 2022 | Electoral offenders’ sponsors must be arrested, prosecuted – INEC | The Independent National Electoral Commission has stated its resolve to go after those who sponsor electoral offenders in the country. The INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this in his opening remarks at a retreat on the Ekiti and Osun off-cycle governorship elections in Lagos on Wednesday. Yakubu said the step became necessary because those who snatch ballot boxes or falsify election results are unlikely to be candidates in such elections. He said if the sponsors were not arrested, electoral malpractices will continue, this is as he listed some of the possible challenges of the 2023 general elections to include voter population, number of polling units, security considerations and election personnel. The INEC boss also said the commission will consult with the Abdulsalami Abubakar-led National Peace Committee ahead of the commencement of campaigns by political parties, noting that the enormity of the elections requires extensive consultations with all stakeholders. While saying that the arrest of sponsors of electoral offenders will help address vote buying, ballot snatching and manipulation of election results, Yakubu also made a case for the establishment of an electoral offences commission and tribunal, as the commission cannot arrest or prosecute offenders. He said, “Vote buying is a violation of the Electoral Act. It is against the laws of this country. We will continue to do what we can through voter education to discourage vote buying. “We must get the actual sponsors. The person who snatches the ballot papers at the polling units, the person who falsifies election results, and the person who buys votes at the polling units is unlikely to be a candidate in the elections. If these sponsors are not arrested, the issues will continue and the best antidote is the establishment of the Electoral Offences Commission and Tribunal.” | INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, Vote buying, Electoral Offences Commission and Tribunal | https://bit.ly/3debKP2 | 5 | |
| Daily Trust Online | 15th September 2022 | Vote For Those Who Attempted But Did Not Solve Your Problems – El-Rufai | The Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has said that the sustained military offensive against terrorists and enemies of the state will secure Kaduna. El-rufai, who spoke at the 4th edition of the Kaduna Book and Art Festival, applauded the efforts of security agencies in tackling crime and criminality in the state. He asked citizens to vote for leaders that will address their problems saying, “Vote for those who attempted to address your problems even if they did not solve them compared to those that created them.” He said, “We regret that because of the train incident, the Abuja-Kaduna train is still not available, but in the last six weeks, there has been improved offensive operation against these criminals and we are confident if it is sustained, by the time you come back for KABAFEST 5, you can drive singly with your car to Kaduna without any security or take the train.” He added, “What should matter is common humanity, such that everyone who chose to live, work and pay tax as citizens of Kaduna because the future of Kaduna is in the hands of young people, especially the women and we are determined to give them the opportunities to excel.” | Malam Nasir El-Rufai, Vote | https://bit.ly/3RO8wkj | 5 | |
| Daily Trust Newspaper | 14th September 2022 | Atiku Pledges N7tr Economic Stimulus Fund In First 100days In Office | The Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) presidential flagbearer, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has said that he will create an Economic Stimulus Fund with an initial investment capacity of approximately US$10 billion (N7 trillion at N700/$) to prioritize support to MSMEs across all the economic sectors within the first 100 days in office if given the mandate to lead the country come 2023. Atiku said this yesterday while presenting his economic blueprint for Nigeria at the private sector economic forum on the 2023 presidential election organized by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). He also said he will undertake far-reaching fiscal restructuring to improve liquidity as well as the management of our fiscal resources. The former vice president promised to take five bold steps including undertaking an immediate review of government spending with a view to eliminating all leakages arising from subsidy payments; stop all fiscal support to ailing state-owned enterprises; improve spending efficiency by gradual reduction of government recurrent expenditures; undertake a review of government procurement processes to ensure value-for-money as well as eliminate all leakages and focus on non-debt financing by promoting a private sector led infrastructure development fund for the financing and delivery of key infrastructure projects. “We will stop all fiscal support to ailing state-owned enterprises. As with subsidy payments, by holding unto these underperforming enterprises, Nigeria is sacrificing investments in critical areas, including education, health, water, sanitation, and rural infrastructure. We will take steps to improve spending efficiency by gradual reduction of govemment recurrent expenditures. Over the medium term, recurrent expenditures should not exceed 45% of the budget and then we will undertake a review of government procurement processes to ensure value-for-money and eliminate all leakages as well as focus on non-debt financing by promoting a private sector led infrastructure development fund for the financing and delivery of key infrastructure projects". | PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, Economic Stimulus Fund | Page 20 | 4 | |
| Daily Trust Newspaper | 14th September 2022 | Yoruba Group Slams Afenifere For Dumping Tinubu For Obi | A foremost Yoruba group, the Yoruba Welfare Group (YWG) yesterday attacked the Pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, for dumping a Yoruba man to endorse another candidate for the 2023 election. The group, led by Comrade Abdulhakeem Alawuje, its president, said it was disturbed by the action of Afenifere in urging its members to support another candidate. Daily Trust reports that Afenifere had endorsed the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, while supporting a power shift to the South East on the basis of “equity, fairness and justice”, according to Afenifere leader, Pa. Ayo Adebanjo. But the YWG, a socio-cultural organisation for the Yoruba, home and abroad, insisted that “Afenifere is neither serving nor protecting the interests and rights of the Yoruba” by asking its members to dump the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is a Yoruba man. The statement, signed by its spokesman, Abduljalil Adeogun, said, “We want to sound it loud and clear that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is neither a tribal bigot nor a Yoruba presidential aspirant but a Yoruba nominee for Nigeria’s president in 2023.” | Yoruba Welfare Group, YWG, 2023 Election, Peter Obi, Comrade Abdulhakeem Alawuje, Bola Tinubu | Page 25 | 4 | |
| The Guardian Newspaper | 14th September 2022 | ADC’s participation in 2023 polls doubtful as INEC rejects caretaker committee | Unless a major rapprochement happens within the fold of African Democratic Congress (ADC), its participation in the February 25, 2023 presidential ballot has become doubtful. The party has been enmeshed in leadership squabbles, which culminated in the purported setting up of a national caretaker committee. But reprieve came the way of the national chairman, Ralphs Nwosu, when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) refused to recognise the Senator Patricia Naomi Akwashiki-led caretaker committee. The ADC presidential candidate, Dumebi Kachikwu, had cited his authority as the standard-bearer and leader of the party, named a former deputy national chairman, Akwashiki, as the chairman of the caretaker committee. Akwashiki had, therefore, through a letter dated September 6, 2022, with reference number: ADC/NH/INEC/0993311, pleaded with INEC to recognise the change of leadership of ADC as well as the relocation of the party’s headquarters. However, checks by The Guardian revealed that INEC turned down the requests on account of breach of due process and flouting of laid down rules, as well as absence of the chairman and secretary’s signatures.In a letter from the office of INEC secretary, Mrs. Rose Onaran Anthony, dated September 8, 2022, which was addressed to Akwashiki through her counsel, Benga Benga and Co, the commission said it would not accept the caretaker committee. According to the reply, with reference number: INEC/DEPM/ADC/271/1/31, the electoral umpire drew her attention “to the fact that the submission was not signed by the chairman and national secretary of the party contrary to the provision of Article 1.13 of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Political Party Operation 2018.” Part of the correspondence reads: “We have received series of complaints from you, and after going through all, we have come to the knowledge of the facts. That the proper thing required of you is to follow the outcome of an organised NEC meeting of your party. “While hoping these issues are noted for compliance, please accept the assurances of the Commission’s warm regards.” The electoral umpire’s position, therefore, puts paid to the wrangling within ADC. Although INEC’s rejection of the caretaker committee affirms the party’s leadership under its current national chairman, Nwosu and Secretary, Said Baba Abdullahi, it is left to be seen whether the party would go ahead to field a presidential candidate. | INEC, ADC, African Democratic Congress, 2023 General Election, ADC Caretake Committee | Page 4 | 4 | |
| The Guardian Newspaper | 14th September 2022 | Kenya’s Ruto sworn in as Osinbajo lauds democracy in Africa | William Ruto has been sworn in as Kenya’s president at a ceremony in the capital, Nairobi, following his narrow election victory, last month. Ruto hailed it as “a moment like no other,” adding that a “village boy” had become president. Rival, Raila Odinga, did not attend, saying he had “serious concerns” about his opponent’s victory. Ruto won the election with 50.5 per cent of the vote, to Odinga’s 48.8 per cent. Odinga has alleged the result was rigged, but the Supreme Court ruled the election was free and fair. Ruto, the former deputy president, was handed a copy of Kenya’s constitution and a sword to represent the transfer of power from President Uhuru Kenyatta. With his hand on a Bible, the 55-year-old swore to preserve and protect the constitution. “Standing here, today, is testimony that there is God in heaven. I want to thank God because a village boy has become the president of Kenya,” Ruto said, referring to the fact that he grew up in rural Kenya. He also had conciliatory words for Odinga and all his opponents. “Their supporters will be my constituents. I will work with all Kenyans, irrespective of who they voted for,” Ruto said. VICE President Yemi Osinbajo described the inauguration as a celebration of democracy and democratic institutions in Africa. Osinbajo made the remarks while speaking to journalists shortly after the swearing-in ceremony at the Moi International Sports Stadium in Nairobi. He said: “It is a celebration of democracy, and the reasons are obvious. The institutions held up – the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, the equivalent of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission, and the judiciary; they held up and ensured that not only were processes properly followed but also that justice was done.” According to Osinbajo, “whenever we talk about the celebration of democracy, we are really talking about the celebration of our institutions, the institutions that undergird democracy and the rule of law. “I think what we have seen here in Kenya and the swearing-in of Dr. William Ruto is really evidence of robust institutions doing what they ought to do. | William Ruto, Yemi Osinbajo, Kenya's President | Page 3 | 4 | |
| This Day Newspaper | 14th September 2022 | Assassination Plot: Labour Party Wants Keyamo Placed on Terror Watch List | The leadership of Labour Party yesterday called on law enforcement agencies to place the spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress’ Presidential Campaign Council and the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr. Festus Keyamo, on security watch list. The party disclosed this in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Arabambi. The opposition party’s demand was a response to Keyamo’s allegation that the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, was planning to fake an assassination attempt and hire some supporters dressed in the APC caps and T-shirts to attack his party offices. But in a swift response to the call for him to be placed on watchlist, Kayamo also called on security agencies to place Obi on watch list. Fuming over Keyamo’s outburst yesterday, Arabambi described the minister’s action as, “treasonable conduct” that warranted him being placed on the terror watch list by security agencies in the country. The statement partly reads, “President Muhammadu Buhari must now as a matter of urgency direct the service chiefs to place Festus Keyamo and other APC presidential campaign members and supporters on a security watch list as they are now a threat to democracy ahead of the 2023 general elections. “I call on the Inspector General of Police to urgently commence a comprehensive investigation into Mr Festus Keyamo’s unlawful and treasonable activities. His conducts are likely to cause breach of peace and anarchy in our country if this ugly trend is not nipped in the bud and Keyamo be made to face possible prosecution in the court of law”, he said. Reacting to the Labour Party’s allegations and call for him to be placed on watch-list and investigated , Keyamo also called on the security agencies to place Obi and some of his, “demented supporters on the terror watch list” for circulating an incendiary video with a fake message by one of his supporters called Powell Glad Legbe (on his Facebook page) calling on Yorubas not to vote for Peter Obi. “Mr. Peter Obi then wrongly and wickedly attributed that quote to an amorphous ‘Tinubu group’. Up till now he has not withdrawn his accusation nor has he apologised to our candidate Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It is obvious Mr. Peter Obi wants to cause religious and tribal crises in the country and for this I call on the security agencies to place Mr. Peter Obi on security watch or invite him for thorough investigation,” he alleged. If necessary, I am prepared to be invited too as a witness to prove my case against him”, he declared. | Festus Keyamo, Peter Obi, Bola Tinubu, Assassination Plot, Watch List | Page 12 | 4 | |
| This Day Newspaper | 14th September 2022 | Okotie: Fringe Parties Can’t Win Presidential Election in Nigeria | Restructuring advocate, Rev Chris Okotie, has said fringe parties can’t win the presidential election in Nigeria, because of the way the system was structured. The Reverend insisted that unless Nigeria was restructured to make political participation all-inclusive, fringe parties won’t be able to win the all-important presidential election, even if they had the best candidate. On the chances of the Labour Party’s Peter Obi, who was viewed as the third force behind the APC and the PDP, Okotie said the fact that only the bigger parties had ruled the country since the return to democracy in 1999 showed clearly how powerful they were. “Only the PDP and the APC have the national spread and network required to win the Presidency. No small party has such capacity. Until the political system is restructured to shift the emphasis away from parties to the people, the dominant parties would continue to hold sway,” Okotie said. On why he set up FRESH after running for president on the Justice Party, and the NDP, Okotie said, it was a deliberate effort to promote his agenda for a paradigm shift, adding that, he knew he would never be able to defeat the two dominant parties in a presidential election. He explained why he didn’t join either the APC or the PDP, “If I join any of these parties, I would become part of the problem. Most of the big men go to these parties, because all they want is power for personal aggrandizement.” Asked if he ever considered the option of relocating abroad, because of the complex problems facing the nation, Okotie said he would not leave Nigeria. “I don’t want anyone to take from me the land that God gave to me,” he said, adding that he would continue to promote restructuring and its interim government component, ruling out the option of giving up. I am already successful in my area of calling. I don’t need to run away. A time will come, when people will depend on what I have said in this restructuring campaign, “Okotie explained.” | Reverend Chris Okotie, Restructuring, Fringe Parties, Presidential Election in Nigeria | Page 42 | 4 | |
| Punch Newspaper | 14th September 2022 | VP slot: Okowa most qualified, Ayu tells critics | The Vice-Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party and Governor of Delta State, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, is the most qualified to be the running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the party’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, stated on Tuesday. According to him, the PDP looked around and found out that Okowa was the one best suited to assist Atiku in delivering good dividends to Nigerians. Ayu stated this during a summit organised by the Northern Christian Youth Assembly with the theme, ‘Unifying Nigeria: The role of Northern Christian youths and women,’ in Abuja. He said Okowa was selected based on merit and because of his humility. He said, “We looked around and we thought we have to give not just a vice president that will assist him (Atiku), but we also did our homework to select a young man who is highly educated, very humble, and who has done very well as a governor in his home state. “Okowa is the most qualified running mate. It is on his merit that he was selected by the party as the vice presidential candidate for Atiku Abubakar. I think Nigeria will be very lucky to have two such people who are committed to development who are detribalised, who believe in uniting this country.’’ Ayu’s explanation came on the heels of a crisis in the rank and file of the PDP with Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, accusing the party leadership over alleged faulty structure. The crisis ensued after Atiku defeated Wike in the presidential primary of the party. Though a panel recommended Wike as Atiku’s running mate, the presidential candidate instead picked Okowa as his running mate, to the displeasure of the Rivers governor and his supporters. | Ifeanyi Okowa, PDP VP Candidate, Iyorchia Ayu, PDP's National Chairman | https://bit.ly/3BCdF9E | 4 | |
| Premium Times Online | 14th September 2022 | 2023: War of words as Gombe govt demolishes PDP governorship candidate’s campaign office | The governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State, Muhammad Barde, has accused the state government of masterminding attacks on his campaign office. This is as the spokesperson to the governor, Ismail Misili, said Mr Barde was only trying to create a problem out of nothing to score cheap political points. In a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Barde said the frontage of his party office was destroyed by “agents” of the government. He said the Gombe State Urban Development Agency led by one Captain Bilal violated a court order stopping the agency from demolishing his campaign office after the frontage of the office was destroyed by officials of the agency. “Our attention is drawn to the increased attacks by the Gombe state government to our campaign office and other apparatus of our party by agents purportedly sent by the state government. The first was done by an agency of the government, Gombe state Urban Development Agency under the directive of one Capt. Bilal, after violating the court order issued on the eighteenth of march, the agency thus went ahead to demolish the front row of the campaign office,” Mr Barde alleged in the statement. In a court order seen by PREMIUM TIMES, dated 18 March, the Gombe High Court 11 issued an interim injunction restraining the defendants from demolishing the office. Gombe State Government, the attorney-general of the state, and Gombe Urban Planning and Development Agency were the defendants. The Incorporated Trustees of Gombe Good Leadership Association, an organisation affiliated with the PDP candidate, was named as the plaintiff. Mr Barde further accused the Gombe Urban Planning and Development Agency of bias for not demolishing the campaign buildings of the incumbent governor and candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Inuwa Yahaya. “Asides from the attacks on our offices we have noticed with dismay the way and manner these agents avoided the state governor campaign offices and objects showing a motive that is divisive and partisan.” However, Mr Misili told PREMIUM TIMES that the “issue started long before Mr Barde became the PDP candidate.” He said the land where the campaign building is situated was originally allotted by the state’s urban planning authority for the erection of a billboard and not to build a campaign office as the place is directly facing the Presidential Lodge. “This is where the president or any important guest is kept, how then do you expect a political party to be allowed to open an office there? Even if it’s the ruling party, APC, the governor would not allow that,” Mr Misili said. Commenting on the court order stopping the demolition, Mr Misili said the order was not served to the State Government or the Gombe Urban Planning and Development Authority. The National Headquarters of the People’s Democratic Party has reacted to the demolition of the campaign office, calling it cowardly and provocative. The party’s spokesperson, Debo Ologunagba, in a statement asked the state government to rebuild the destroyed building. | Gombe State, Gombe Government, PDP's Campaign Office in Gombe, Muhammad Barde, Ismail Misili | https://bit.ly/3eNTOLM | 4 | |
| The Guardian | 8th September 2022 | Adeleke decries Oyetola’s last minute recruitment of workers | The transition committee set up by the Osun State Governor-elect, Senator Ademola Adeleke, yesterday, described the last-minute recruitment embarked upon by the Governor Adegboyega Oyetola-led administration as a deliberate plot to expand payroll and financially cripple the incoming government. In a statement signed by Chairman, Media Sub-Committee of Ademola Adeleke Transition Committee, Olawale Rasheed, Stated that the governor-elect condemned the worker’s recruitment, adding that the action was a disguise to complicate the state’s economy. The State Government had on Monday announced that Oyetola approved recruitment of fresh 1,500 teachers. This followed the initial recruitment of 1,000 teachers earlier in the year. The State’s Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Funke Egbemode, in a statement, said the new approval would further bridge the teacher/pupil ratio, adding that “the new approval brings the total number of teachers recruited by Oyetola’s administration to 2,500. The committee noted that in the last two months, the Oyetola administration had illegally employed thousands of personnel without consideration for the state’s capacity to pay and without any workforce planning, leading to governance driven by vendetta and desire to run the state aground. “As a freshly-electedGgovernor, Senator Ademola Adeleke has a well studied plan to fill the manpower gap within the educational sector and other areas of needs without further complicating the already troubled workforce and over-bloated remuneration space. The plan to illegally recruit the teachers and OYES personnel is another evil agenda to disrupt the incoming governor’s agenda to normalise Osun finances and restore dignity of labour. This move is neither altruistic nor a patriotic rendering of service,” the statement said. | Ademola Adeleke, Adegboyega Oyetola, Osun State | https://bit.ly/3cUw6g6 | 3 | |
| The Guardian | 8th September 2022 | Enugu APGA guber candidate meets Nsukka professionals, decries trust deficit in governance | Mr. Frank Nweke (Jnr), at the weekend, decried the lack of trust in government and expressed disappointment with the failure of the state government to inspire the citizenry in different aspects of governance. The former Information and Communication Minister, who spoke during a consultative meeting with members of Nsukka Professionals Association (NPA), at the Best Western Hotel, Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos, noted that non-industrialisation has kept Enugu as a civil service state. The governorship hopeful noted that rather than develop, the state has steadily slipped into retrogression in many fronts, notably in infrastructure, education, service delivery, security and others while the level of corruption has escalated rather than abate. Making references to developmental feats of a one-time South East regional leader, late Dr. Michael Okpara, the former minister expressed dismay that none of the recent and current leaders of the state has been able to replicate the same level of developmental efforts like Okpara. The APGA candidate explained that his decision to run for governor was prompted by the urge to bring back lost glory of the state in many ways, ranging from qualitative education for the youths, road infrastructure, attraction of investors, provision of safe and secure environment, agriculture, industrialisation and many other things. Nweke noted that he would leverage on his national and international exposure as a former minister and other global standard competencies on his side to create the much needed investment opportunities and employment for citizens of the state as a way of reducing crime. | All Progressives Greand Alliance, Frank Nweke Jnr, Enugu State Governorship election 2022, Nsukka Professional Association | https://bit.ly/3U4atuG | 3 | |
| The Guardian | 8th September 2022 | Awolowo-Dosunmu denies speaking with any journalist on Tinubu, Shettima ticket | The Executive Director of Obafemi Awolowo Foundation and Chairman, African Newspapers of Nigeria Plc., Dr. Olatokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu, has asked Nigerians to ignore the fake news being circulated in her name on the Bola Tinubu/Kashim Shettima presidential ticket. The report, being circulated online by some news platforms and on social media, falsely quoted Awolowo-Dosunmu as warning Nigerians of a plot to get rid of Tinubu in favour of Shettima if they win the polls. Awolowo-Dosunmu, who described the report as false, mischievous and wicked, said that she had not spoken with any journalist in recent time on any matter whatsoever, including the 2023 presidential election and the candidates thereof. “I am not in partisan politics and I have not been in partisan politics for decades. I have neither endorsed nor condemned any candidate or party. I have no intention to do so. I refuse to be dragged into a matter I know nothing about. I advise whoever is behind this wicked lie to make better use of their time for the progress and development of our country, Nigeria,” she said. She, however, urged Nigerians and the entire world to assist the country, in every way they could, as we navigate through these trying times and to ignore all confusionists and purveyors of patent falsehood. | Olatokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu, Bola Tinubu, Kashim Shettima, Fake News | https://bit.ly/3D8R6KE | 3 | |
| The Guardian | 8th September 2022 | ADC crisis gets messier as 2015 presidential candidate emerges new BoT chair | The last is yet to be heard of the crisis rocking the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as its presidential candidate for the 2015 general elections, Dr. Mani Ibrahim Ahmed, has been reportedly appointed new Board of Trustees (BOT) chairman. The decision, which flowed from resolution of the National Working Committee (NWC) and critical stakeholders’ meeting, yesterday, in Abuja, followed the suspension of former National Vice Chairman (North East) of the party, Alhaji Ibrahim Manzo. National Chairman, Chief Ralphs Nwosu, in a statement, also said NEC suspended 17 state chairmen for anti-party activities, denigrating conduct and utterances in contravention of Article 15 of the party constitution. The affected chairmen include: Kingsley Temitope Oggah (Kogi); Kennedy Odion (Edo); Auwal Abba Barde (Gombe); Leader Sampson (Rivers); Johnny Tovie Derek (Bayelsa) and Elias Adikwu (Benue). Others are: Ilesanmi Omolayo Joel (Ekiti); Kabiru Hussaini (Jigawa); Patrick Ambut (Kaduna); Emmanuel Dibia (Delta); Clement Ehigiator (FCT); Alhaji Musa Hassan (Niger); Alaka Godwin William (Nasarawa); Samuel Gyang (Plateau); Bala Suffiayanu (Kebbi); Bello Isiyaku (Sokoto) and Muhammed Khala Jidda (Borno). Stating that their replacements would be announced in due course, Nwosu explained that former Abia State chairman of the party, Don Norman, had been expelled. THIS is even as Nwosu stressed that the suspension slammed on the party’s presidential candidate for 2023 polls, Dumebi Kachikwu, has not been lifted. He regretted that although Kachikwu emerged from a free and fair presidential primary, the presidential candidate “has done nothing to show that he is actually prepared to contest the February 25, 2023 election." | Action Democratic Congress, Ralph Nwosu, Dumebi Kachikwu, 2023 General elections | https://bit.ly/3Qr1fpd | 3 | |
| The Guardian | 8th September 2022 | My purported sack, plot to sell APC, says Bilal | The embattled Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa State, Ibrahim Bilal, has accused some of the aggrieved members of his executive of planning to sell the party to Governor Ahmadu Fintiri in 2023. Bilal, in a statement yesterday in Yola, alleged that some of his executive members had concluded arrangements with the governor to create confusion in APC for the governor’s benefit. Bilal said “this fight is not for Bilal alone; we must unite to save our party from fifth columnists, whose alternative plan is to sow confusion within the party, after having sold the party and their conscience to Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, with a promissory note they hope to cash after 2023 elections.” Bilal, who vowed to sue Sahara Reporters, accused the author of the story – of him joining the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – of fabricating malicious lies and blackmailing him to justify his pay. “Without stating the obvious, Sahara Reporters, which has been reportedly hired, as a proxy for their disinformation campaign, terribly got it wrong. I cannot, at this stage in my political life, have contemplated resigning my position as Adamawa APC chairman. That said, they would soon hear from my lawyers, if within seven days they don’t retract their fallacious and mendacious report, alleging my fictitious defection to the PDP,” he said. | All Progressives Congress, Adamawa State, Ibrahim Bilal | https://bit.ly/3QrBp4q | 3 | |
| The Guardian | 8th September 2022 | 2023 Oyo Guber: Forces threatening to scuttle Folarin’s ambition | Seven months away from the March 11, 2023 governorship election in Oyo State, some stakeholders in the major opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC), are still finding it difficult to reckon with the fact that Senator Teslim Kolawole Folarin is their gubernatorial candidate. Senator Folarin emerged as Oyo APC gubernatorial candidate in the party’s controversial primary in October last year following the crisis ridden ward, local government and state congresses. The Progressives group, made up of mostly members of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), claimed that the minority conservatives who joined from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) manipulated the congresses. Folarin leads the later group, along with former governor of Oyo State, the late Adebayo Alao-Akala. The duo were accused of using their resources and collaboration with the APC national headquarters in Abuja, to hijack the party’s structure in Oyo. Some of the aggrieved stakeholders led by the party’s candidate for the 2019 governorship election and former Deputy Governor of Central Bank, Adebayo Adelabu, left APC in anger to join Accord Party, where he (Adelabu) is now the governorship flag bearer. But others who stayed back in the party did so with the rumoured intention to play divided loyalty among Accord, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and APC. Some of those who are yet to come out of shock over Folarin’s candidature are; wife of former governor of Oyo, Florence Ajimobi, immediate past state chairman of the party, Chief Akin Oke, one of the governorship aspirants, Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN), Mr. Joseph Tegbe and host of others. Tegbe on his part had also defected to take a senatorial ticket under the platform of the ruling PDP. The party set up a reconciliation committee headed by former Senator Femi Lanlehin, which had submitted its report to the Southwest Zonal Executive of APC-led by Mr. Isaac Kekemeke but has not yielded result yet. Recently, some Chief Akintola’s loyalists defected to PDP, but the legal expert absolved himself, saying, his loyalists who left APC did so on their own volition and not on his directives. | All Progressives Congress, Teslim Folarin, Oyo State | https://bit.ly/3B3qNDj | 3 | |
| The Guardian | 8th September 2022 | Imumolen restates vision for people-oriented presidency | Following his birthday celebration on Monday, the presidential candidate of the Accord party, Professor Christopher Imumolen, has restated his vision for Nigeria. An elated Imumolen, who spoke to the media through a conference call from Abuja, expressed his joy and gratitude to Nigerians and other global fans for their raw expression of love through their various goodwill messages and prayers, stressing that these will become a great tonic and catalyst for his quest for the Nigerian presidency and to become president for the good of all. Imumolen promised to proceed in the struggle for the soul of Nigeria with greater confidence and unflinching trust in the people, knowing that with the support of the masses, victory is sure, stating that the voice of the people is the voice of God. He therefore stated that his greatest motivation, strength and passion emanate from faith in God, belief in public alliance and an unmitigated desire to heal the wounds of Nigeria through a people-oriented and developmental democracy for all. “I am one of the present presidential gladiators due to my belief that leadership should grow rather than diminish, build rather than deplore, create rather than destroy, make rather than mar, progress rather than retrogress,” he said. “While not particularly blaming any particular person for the sorry state of our state, I am strongly unhappy that consciously, we refused to pursue the establishment of a system that would have become an unshakable democratic culture that revolves on the pivots of good governance, accountability, equitable resource allocation, statesmanship, patriotism values, and unbreakable national integration. On this ideology and resolve to sacrificially volunteer as a young patriot for the fight against the enemies of our fledgling democracy I am going about this mission, and I look up to none other than God and the good people of Nigeria for my victory,” Imumolen submitted. On the state of the nation, he called on all well-meaning citizens to see 2023 as a swim or sink point for Nigeria, stressing that it is not a time for hypothetical meandering, but rather a time to shun ethnicity, religion, and all socio political alliances to face the significant task of taking Nigeria back from all that pose as her enemies. | Accord Party, Christopher Imumolen, 2023 Presidential election | https://bit.ly/3AZmvg6 | 3 | |
| The Guardian | 8th September 2022 | NEC meeting: Decision day in PDP over Ayu, Atiku, Wike feud | All eyes are trained on today’s crucial National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where the party’s crises would either be laid to rest or the cracks further widened to weaken it ahead of the 2023 general elections. Matters in the party got heated yesterday, when some members of the National Working Committee (NWC) protested against the continued leadership of Iyorchia Ayu as national chairman. The regular meeting of the NWC was held in preparation for today’s expanded NEC meeting. A source at the meeting revealed that some members, particularly, from the Southern part of the country, protested against the manner Ayu is leading the party, especially during the present crisis. Discussion on the way out of the party’s crisis, however, suffered setback following the abrupt end of the meeting after the aggrieved members staged a walkout. Ayu, on hearing the introductory remarks against his style of leadership, was said to have quickly excused himself from the meeting. Following his movement out of the meeting, other NWC members, particularly from the South, immediately staged a walkout, led by the party’s deputy national chairman (South), Taofeek Arapaja. It was also gathered that NWC members had blamed Ayu for escalating the party crisis with his provocative actions and comments. Thereafter, a group of 15 NWC members met in the residence of a prominent member last night in Abuja and resolved to pass a no confidence vote on Ayu. But the national publicity secretary of PDP, Debo Ologunagba, said yesterday that issues around Ayu’s removal never occurred at the meeting. He said throughout the time he was at the meeting, no motion was moved or passed on the national chairman. According to Ologunagba, issues discussed at yesterday’s NWC meeting included reconciliation, organogram of the party’s campaign council and the party’s situation in Osun State. | Peoples Democratic Party, National Working Committee, Iyorchia Ayu | https://bit.ly/3eCcZaY | 3 | |
| The Guardian | 8th September 2022 | Tinubu denies plot to sack Adamu, sideline party from campaign council | Presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday, stormed the party’s national secretariat, known as Buhari House, in Abuja, for the first time since his emergence as the party’s flag-bearer three months ago, on June 8, for a roundtable. The roundtable, which was earlier slated for 10:00a.m. did not commence until five hours later, where he said, there was no iota of truth in media reports that he wants the national chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu, removed ahead of the 2023 elections. He was accompanied by his running mate, Kashim Shettima, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila and other party chieftains, and was received by Adamu and other members of the National Working Committee (NWC). The parley, it was gathered, was to brainstorm on strategies to be deployed for the electioneering campaign, which begins September 28, among other issues. Speaking before the meeting went into a closed-door session, Tinubu said there was no rift between him and the national chairman, who they have come a long way and worked together, adding that issues on campaign council will be discussed at the meeting. According to him, it is rarity to see big masquerades dance in a cage instead of the market square. Tinubu, who admitted reading his alleged cold war with Adamu in the newspapers, claimed that it was a rumour manufactured to suit a particular purpose. | Bola Tinubu, Abdullahi Adamu, APC Presidential Campaign Council | https://bit.ly/3RFFtze | 3 | |
| The Guardian | 8th September 2022 | PDP BoT chairman steps down | The chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party, Walid Jibrin, has resigned from his position. He disclosed this at the 97th BoT meeting of the party on Thursday in Abuja. He said the decision was made to ensure the party’s presidential candidate emerged victorious in the 2023 elections. Jibrin said he was sure if he would be considered for a bigger position if Atiku Abubakar wins. He said, “I took this decision based on what I said in the past. I said that all we want to make sure of is that Atiku Abubakar becomes the President by all means, and that is why I sincerely decided to step down from the BoT. I discussed this with the candidate and he agreed with me. I am sure if the party wins, I will be given a bigger position.” | Walid Jibrin, Board of Trustees, Peoples Democratic Party | https://bit.ly/3BohoHv | 3 | |
| This Day Live | 5th September 2022 | Tinubu: We Need Not Worry About PDP, We’re Not Equals | Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, at the weekend, told members of his party that they needed not to worry about the posturing of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), because they were not equals in the first place and by all standards. Tinubu, who spoke at the unveiling of the Tinubu/Shettima door-to-door campaign group in Abuja, however, wondered how and why the PDP was still in existence, despite its alleged failure as a government that was in power for sixteen years. Tinubu, who exuded so much confidence, described the PDP as a party that lacked direction, urged members of his party not to be bothered about the opposition. “We are not just the ones to hurl abuses and insults at our rivals’ party. We don’t need it. We are smarter; we are brilliant; we are courageous; we are not like them. They (PDP) got there and turned it to an incubator. I wonder why they still exist as a party. These are people still fighting for leadership of their party, looking for the direction of the compass. We are not equal at all; we are smarter. We know the road; let them follow. We don’t need to worry about PDP — poverty development party. Today, let’s lower the temperature. It’s not the time to campaign yet. They will hear a lot from us", he added. | 2023 General Elecions, Bola Tinubu, All Progressives Congress, Peoples Democratic Party | https://bit.ly/3RxLTjA | 2 | |
| This Day Live | 5th September 2022 | PDP fires back, asks APC candidate to address name, age, education | "The PDP has told the APC presidential candidate to stop grandstanding and first address allegations bordering on his multiple name changes, alleged disparity in his age and educational qualifications. According to the spokesman of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba “From Bola Tinubu’s incoherent discourse, he appears to be battling with issues of ethical challenges and ineligibility to contest election on account of inconsistencies in his educational qualifications, name, ancestry, age, corruption allegations among myriads of issues.” The PDP said, Nigerians were appalled by yet another attempt by Bola Tinubu, to divert attention from the main issues of the failures of the APC government by making derogatory remarks on the PDP. PDP said unlike the APC that was dead, the PDP was not only alive and existing as acknowledged by Tinubu in his statement, but also strong, united and focused on its mission to rescue, rebuild and redirect the nation from the misrule of the APC. “It is rather shameful that the APC Presidential Candidate alluded to the nation’s railway system, which was revitalised by the PDP administration but painfully surrendered to terrorists and bandits by the APC government." | 2023 Presidential Elecion, Atiku Abubakar, Debo Ologunagba, Peoples Democratic Party, Bola Tinubu, All Progressives Congress | https://bit.ly/3RxLTjA | 2 | |
| This Day Live | 5th September 2022 | Atiku: September Heralds Dawn of Nigeria’s Freedom from APC Stranglehold | "Ahead of the official commencement of the 2023 general election campaign by political parties this month, the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has said September brings Nigerians good tidings of the beginning of the march to freedom from the throttlehold of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Atiku declared this in a statement yesterday. In Abuja, at the inauguration of the Atiku-Okowa Vanguard Nigeria, Atiku reaffirmed his commitment to 40 per cent women and youth involvement in his cabinet, if elected president next year. The former vice president also announced the decentralisation of his campaign structure, saying it is the only way to win the presidential election. In a statement, yesterday, Atiku said, “For many Nigerians, this year’s September is a month that comes with a great deal of joy and great expectations. After enduring many years of the ruling APC practically kneeling on our neck, September heralds the commencement of our freedom from the APC’s stranglehold. “The time has finally come for Nigerians to take part in the process of salvaging this great country and making it a beautiful land of opportunities and prosperity – once again.” | 2023 Presidential Elecion, Atiku Abubakar, Dino Melaye, Campaigns, Youth, Women | https://bit.ly/3CZCZHM | 2 | |
| This Day Live | 5th September 2022 | Atiku, Tinubu, Obi, Wike’s Jamboree in London, Paris, Dubai | "A strange and disturbing development in Nigeria’s politics is the penchant for frequent foreign trips by presidential candidates of major political parties ahead of the general elections. Worried by these wasteful trips, the Nigerian Academy of International Affairs, a body of former foreign affairs ministers and retired diplomats, had recently condemned Atiku, Tinubu, Obi and serving governors, among others, for holding political meetings in London, Paris and Dubai. In a statement by its President and former Minister of External Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, the academy described the recent political meetings held by some presidential candidates in London, Paris and Dubai as ill-advised and unwitting jamboree of shame. Akinyemi, who issued the statement on behalf of 17 other former foreign affairs ministers and retired diplomats, lamented that some horse-trading, which dominated their so-called talks on bringing “enduring hope to Nigeria,” centred on counting their chickens before the eggs are hatched. He said the ill-advised and unwitting jamboree of shame displayed by the leading political leaders in London, Paris and Dubai “has demonstrated once more that the Nigerian environment created and polluted by them is not conducive to their vainglorious self-importance and unearned esteem. “Consequently, and because of their Neo-colonial mentality which blinded them from seeing and appreciating the goodwill and resilience of Nigerians, they preferred savoury Western atmosphere”. Rather than finding solutions to diverse challenges confronting the country, Akinyemi lamented that deliberations at the meetings focused on dividing and allocating the national cake to themselves even before the cake is baked, as regards allocation of principal offices of the National Assembly, ministerial posts, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and others. | Nigerian Academy of International Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Foreign Trip | https://bit.ly/3ep6GHY | 2 | |
| Daily Trust | 5th September 2022 | Machina Denies Withdrawing For Lawan, Quitting APC | "Winner of the Yobe North Senatorial ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bashir Sheriff Machina has denied withdrawing for Senate President, Ahmed Lawan or resigning his membership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Lawan had lost the party’s presidential race while Machina had already contested and won the senatorial primary in Yobe North, the zone Lawan is representing at the National Assembly. This had generated heated debate as Machina had refused to step down for Lawan, who returned to take the party’s senatorial ticket for Yobe North, leading to litigation. In a letter dated September 4, 2022, and addressed to the APC national chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, Machina purportedly announced his withdrawal from the APC and senatorial race. But reacting, Machina said, “It is brought to my notice that some unscrupulous elements have forged my withdrawal letter out of mischief and blackmail. I want to state unequivocally that the purported letter was forged. I did not at any time withdraw or resigned from my party." | Yobe North Senatorial Election, All Progressives Congress, Bashir Machina, Ahmed Lawan | https://bit.ly/3KNv6XC | 2 | |
| Nigerian Tribune | 1st September 2022 | 2023 Election: CSOs Kick Against Buhari’s Nominees As INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners | Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) operating in Nigeria, on Wednesday, kicked against President Muhammadu Buhari’s nominees as Resident Electoral Commissioners of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). According to the Situation Room, the three nominees: Professor Mohammed Lawal Bashir, Dr Ugochi Pauline Onyeka and Dr Queen Elizabeth Agu, respectively have questionable credentials regarding their ability to be non-partisan. The Coalition which comprises over 70 CSOs under the aegis of Situation Room, expressed the concerns via a statement on the ‘Nomination of persons with political affiliations for confirmation as INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners’, jointly signed by Convener and the two Co-Conveners of Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, Ene Obi; Asma’u Joda and James Ugochukwu. | Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, INEC REC Nominees, Nigerian Senate | Page 30 | 1 | |
| Nigerian Tribune | 1st September 2022 | Hoodlums Pelt Kwankwaso With Missiles In Kogi | The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People's Party (NNNP), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, was on Wednesday pelted with stones during a visit to Kogi State. Kwankwaso was in Lokoja, the State capital to commission the party’s secretariat and his campaign office located besides Dave Mercy Pharmacy, along Government House road. The NNPP presidential flag bearer, who arrived in a motorcade with his supporters, was shouted down by some hoodlums and efforts to pacify them didn’t go down well, as they hauled sachets of water and stones at him. On getting to a popular hotel where he was billed to address his supporters, hoodlums in their numbers invaded the venue and hauled stones and objects at him. It took the intervention of his security details to disperse the hoodlums and bring the situation under control. Kwankwaso had earlier visited Ogbonicha, the country home of late Prince Abubarkar Audu, where similar treatment was meted out to the NNNP presidential candidate. | Rabiu Musa Kwankwoso, NNPP, Kogi State | https://bit.ly/3cB44pJ | 1 | |
| Nigerian Tribune | 1st September 2022 | Wike, Others Were Children When We Started PDP ― Ayu | The national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Iyorchia Ayu, has taken a swipe at Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike and others calling for his resignation, saying they were children when the party was formed in 1999. He said this in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hausa service on Wednesday, adding that he has no plan to resign as the chairman of the party. According to him, “When we started the PDP, all those ones were children, they were not there. We will not allow one person to become a spoiler. This is our country. So, all that is expected of us is to fix the country and provide security and dividends of democracy when we take over power in 2023. “All that he is doing does not affect me because I know I am fixing the party, I am doing my work diligently, I have not committed any offence, I have not stolen any money, so there is no reason for my resignation.” | Iyorchia Ayu, PDP, Nyesom Wike | https://bit.ly/3BezfAZ | 1 | |
| This Day Live | 1st September 2022 | Petition: Oni Files Contempt Suit against Ekiti INEC REC | The Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate in the Ekiti State June 18 election, Segun Oni, has filed a contempt suit against the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Dr. Adeniran Tela, for allegedly flouting tribunal’s order. Oni said the suit was filed against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) REC, for allegedly violating the order of the Election Petitions Tribunal, availing him unfettered access to election materials used in the conduct of the just concluded election.Addressing journalists in Ado Ekiti yesterday on behalf of the legal team, Owoseeni Ajayi said they took the action to challenge Tela’s directive to Oni to approach INEC office in Abuja, rather than Ado -Ekiti, to get election materials to prosecute his case. Ajayi said it was a flagrant abridgment of the law for the REC to have given such instruction, saying documents were issued and election materials inspected in Ado Ekiti branch of INEC, in all the previous election petition cases that had been held in the state. | Ekiti State Election Petition, Olusegun Oni, SDP, INEC, Adeniran Tela | https://bit.ly/3TzeAyr | 1 | |
| This Day Live | 1st September 2022 | PDP Guber Candidate Asks AbdulRazaq to Talk with Kwarans on Live Chat | Gubernatorial Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Kwara State, Alhaji Abdullahi Shuaibu Yaman has challenged the State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazak to talk with Kwarans in live Radio and Television chat rather than making spurious allegations in guided chat aired in some local radio stations in the state. Governor AbdulRazaq had last weekend met with several young people and some online publishers where he took them through the journey so far and the focus of his administration to develop the State. But, a statement issued in Ilorin yesterday by the PDP governorship candidate signed by his special adviser on media and strategy, Alhaji Wahab Oba, said “the presentation of Governor AbdulRaham to his so-called “online publishers” is full of theories, hypotheses and rhetorics rather than verifiable facts”. According to the statement “Three years down the line, Governor AbdulRaham is still repeating the same empty promises he made to Kwarans during his electioneering campaign”. | Kwara State Governorship election 2023, Abdullahi Shuaibu Yaman, Abdulrahman Abdulrasak | https://bit.ly/3q13ip0 | 1 | |
| This Day Live | 1st September 2022 | Lulu-Briggs Urges Politicians to Shun Politics of Hate | The governorship candidate of Accord Party (AP) in Rivers State, Dumo Lulu-Briggs, has advised politicians from various political parties to shun activities or languages that could cause crisis or generate hatred in the minds of the people of the state. Reacting on the recent declaration of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to political parties and candidates against the use of abusive, intemperate and slanderous innuendoes in political campaigns, Lulu-Briggs said political parties should embrace issue-based campaigns and not engage in hate speech. He stressed that the current temperament in the political space was destroying the camaraderie that once existed in politics, noting that political parties should shun campaigns of calumny and hate in line with Section 92 of the Electoral Act, 2022. The business mogul said: “I have always spoken about the level of hate in our politics. The camaraderie we use to enjoy in our politics is all gone, especially here in Rivers State, that two brothers from the same family cannot sit together in a meeting if they are in different political parties. | Dumo Lulu-Briggs, Accord Party, Rivers State, Issue-based Campaign | https://bit.ly/3RlpxSA | 1 |