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BREAKING: Buhari Backs Southern Candidate For President, As 10 APC Govs Ask Northern Aspirants To Withdraw From Race

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The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has backed the emergence of a southerner as a president in 2023.

He made this known at a dinner with All Progressives Congress presidential aspirants in Abuja.

PorscheClassy had earlier reported that Buhari met with the aspirants on Saturday in the Presidential Villa.

At a meeting with governors on Tuesday, Buhari had called for reciprocity in choosing his successor.

“In keeping with the established internal policies of the party and as we approach the convention in a few days, therefore, I wish to solicit the reciprocity and support of the governors and other stakeholders in picking my successor, who would fly the flag of our party for election into the office of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2023.

“I wish to assure you that the consultation process shall continue to ensure that all aspirants and stakeholders would be brought on board right through to the convention.

” This would also ensure that any anxiety occasioned by different factors are effectively brought under control and that our party emerges stronger,” Buhari said.

Apart from Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, other APC presidential aspirants are the Senate President Ahmad Lawan and former ministers Rotimi Amaechi, Ogbonnaya Onu, Godswill Akpabio, and Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba.

Serving governors who are also aspiring to be president are Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Dave Umahi (Ebonyi), and Ben Ayade (Cross River) .

Others are former Senate President Ken Nnamani, former House of Representatives Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, and serving senators Ibikunle Amosun, Ajayi Boroffice, and Rochas Okorocha.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s running mate in 2011, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Uju Ken-Ohanenye, Nicholas Felix, Ahmad Rufai Sani, Tein Jack-Rich, Ikeobasi Mokelu are also in the presidential race.

Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, also in May warned the All Progressives Congress against zoning the 2023 presidential slot to the northern part of the country, saying that would lead to a crisis.

According to him, it is the turn of the southern part of the country to produce the next president.

Akeredolu said the agreement reached when APC micro-zoned party’s offices during its National Convention must be adhered to.

The statement read, “Our party, the All Progressives Congress, has started the process which will eventually culminate in the presentation of elected political leaders, who must steer the affairs of the country for another term. We have been able to hold the party’s Convention successfully. New officers of the party have emerged in a process that is widely acknowledged as rancour-free. The level of understanding and maturity displayed by all and sundry has been commendable. Known adversaries have been forced to accept the emerging fact that our party is formidable and ready for the next general elections.

“The current socio-economic crises are surmountable. It is commendable that the Government is addressing these issues without drama. The Federal Government and leadership of our great party will come out stronger. We cannot, therefore, afford any internal bickering which holds the potential promise of causing distrust and militating against cohesion, harmony and the zeal to achieve set objectives.

“The current democratic dispensation is anchored on the unwritten convention driven by a principle of Equity. Political expediency dictates, more appealingly, that while adhering to the spirit and letters of the laws guiding conduct of elections and succession to political offices, we must do nothing which is capable of tilting the delicate balance against the established arrangement which guarantees peace and promotes trust.

“Our party just elected officers on the established principle of giving every part of the country an important stake in the political calculus. The focus has now shifted to the process which will culminate in the participation of our party in the general elections scheduled for next year. All lovers of peace and freedom must do everything to eschew tendencies which may predispose them to taking decisions which promote distrust and lead to a crisis, the end of which nobody may be able to predict.

“The leadership of the party ensured that the principle of rotational representation guided its decision at the just-concluded Convention. The party Chairmanship position has gone to the North. All other offices have been filled on this understanding. This is the time the leaders of the party must make a categorical statement, devoid of equivocation, on the pattern of succession.

“The party Executive Committee has fixed a fee for the purchase of the nomination form for the office. It is expected, fervently, that it will proceed to complete the process by limiting the propensities for disagreement to a region for possible micro-management. It is very expedient that we avoid self-inflicted crises before the general elections.

“It is the turn of the Southern part of the country to produce the next President. The party leadership should have no difficulty in making pronouncements on this very important issue, just as it has fixed various fees for the purchase of forms. This must be done without delay. The principle of Federal Character is enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, as amended. It will be disingenuous for anyone to argue against rotation at this period.

“We must not keep our party men and women guessing about the position of the leadership of the party. This is the time to weigh in and take control of the process. No statement must suggest, even remotely, that the party harbours certain sentiments which may predispose it to consider throwing the contest open. This is certainly not the time for equivocation.”

Meanwhile, All Progressives Congress Governors from the Northern part of the country have asked aspirants from the region to resign from the presidential race.

This is as they backed the transfer of power to the South.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the governors on Saturday night in Abuja.

Among the governors who signed a communique issued after the meeting are Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State; Abubakar Sani Bello, Niger; Abdullahi Sule, Nasarawa; Prof. Umara Zulum, Borno; Nasir El-Rufai, Kaduna; Muhammad Yahaya, Gombe; and Bello Matawalle, Zamfara State.

Others are Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State; Dr. Umar Ganduje, Kano; Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State and former Governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aliyu Wamakko.

A statement issued after the meeting read, “APC governors and political leaders from the northern states of Nigeria today met to review the political situation and to further support our Party in providing progressive leadership amidst our national challenges.

“During our discussions, we welcomed President Muhammadu Buhari’s invitation to governors and other stakeholders to contribute to the emergence of a strong presidential candidate for the APC.

“After careful deliberation, we wish to state our firm conviction that after eight years in office of President Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the APC for the 2023 elections should be one of our teeming members from the southern states of Nigeria.

“It is a question of honour for the APC, an obligation that is not in anyway affected by the decisions taken by another political party.

“We affirm that upholding this principle is in the interest of building a stronger, more united and more progressive country.

“We, therefore, wish to strongly recommend to President Muhammadu Buhari that the search for a successor as the APC’s presidential candidate be limited to our compatriots from the southern states.

“We appeal to all aspirants from the northern states to withdraw in the national interest and allow only the aspirants from the south to proceed to the primaries.

“We are delighted by the decision of our esteemed colleague, His Excellency, Governor Abubakar Badaru to contribute to this patriotic quest by withdrawing his presidential aspiration.

“The APC has a duty to ensure that the 2023 elections offer a nation-building moment, reaffirming that a democratic pathway to power exists for all who value cooperation and build national platforms.

“This moment calls for the soberest and inclusive approach to selecting our party’s candidate, and we call on all APC leaders to fulfil their responsibility in this regard.”

BIG STORY

Nigeria’s Stability More Important Than Our Pockets — Shettima Tells Senators-Elect

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Nigeria’s Vice-President, Kashim Shettima, has charged senators-elect to “vote wisely” when the upper legislative chamber is inaugurated next week.

The senate will elect its presiding officers for the 10th assembly on Tuesday.

Speaking during the ninth senate’s valedictory session on Saturday, Shettima told the lawmakers that the stability of the country is greater than that of their pockets.

There have been allegations that some senate president hopefuls are using money to woo senators-elect to vote for them.

Although the All Progressives Congress (APC) has nominated Godswill Akpabio, a former minister of Niger Delta affairs, for the position of senate president, Abdulaziz Yari, a former governor of Zamfara, and Orji Uzor Kalu, chief whip, have insisted on vying for the position.

The vice-president said the country’s interest should inform who they elect as senate president and deputy.

“To my incoming colleagues, I will leave you with a parable, ‘the stability of this nation is superior to the stability of our pockets’. On Tuesday, let us vote wisely, let us vote for the Nigerian nation,” he said.

The number two citizen described his colleagues as “friends who have become an integral part of my history”.

“We have served shoulder to shoulder in the face of adversity and worked relentlessly for the betterment of our nation,” he said.

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BIG STORY

[VIDEO]: I Would Have Slapped Kwankwaso If I Met Him In Aso Rock — Ganduje

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Dr Umar Ganduje, the immediate past governor of Kano State, infuriated by the ongoing demolition by the governor of the State, Abba Kabiir Yusuf, on Friday, said he could have slapped his predecessor, Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, if he saw him in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Ganduje was the immediate past governor of Kano while Kwankwaso was the Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, in the February 25 election and the two have become like cat and dog in recent years.

Briefing State House correspondents after meeting behind closed doors with President Bola Tinubu, the visibly enraged Ganduje accused Kwankwaso of being behind the demolition of property in the state.

Fuming while speaking with state house journalists, Ganduje said if he had met Kwankwaso, at the Villa, he would have slapped him.

The former governor said he met with President Tinubu to brief him on the security situation in Kano State following the demolition exercise embarked upon by the administration of Governor Yusuf.

Fielding a question on whether he met Kwankwaso who is equally around in the Villa with the president, he said, “I know he is in the building but we have not met. Probably if we met, maybe I could have slapped him.”

Ganduje said the demolition exercise was done without carrying out any investigation or giving due notice in line with the provisions of the Land Use Act.

The former governor said he spoke at length on the issue while reporting the matter to the president and had petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba with video evidence of the looting and vandalisation that trailed the demolition.

Ganduje said he had briefed the president adequately on the demolition exercise that even affected the supporters of Kwankwaso whom he accused of ordering the action.

He said the governor who he described as a “stooge” of Kwankwaso was no longer happy because of the condemnation that greeted the move.

Asked to give figures to properties lost to the demolition exercise, he said some human rights organizations were working on the level of damage.

He, however, said one of the developers who was affected had sued the government demanding over N10billion.

He said the state government had said the demolition exercise was part of the fulfilment of his campaign promise to “restore” the urban development master plan of the city.

He had also insisted that the exercise was not a vendetta against the past administration of Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and that many more demolitions would follow.

Video Credit: Channels TV

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BIG STORY

Labour Party Rep-Elect Speaks After Meeting With Tinubu, Says “I Never Knew He’s So Intelligent”

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Amobi Ogah, a member-elect for the House of Representatives, claims to have been unaware of President Bola Tinubu’s “intelligent” nature.

Following a meeting between Tinubu and members-elect of the national assembly at the presidential residence on Thursday, Ogah, who would represent the Isuikwuato/Umunneochi federal constituency of Abia in the tenth legislature, spoke.

Ogah, who was elected on the Labour Party (LP) platform, claimed that Tinubu’s charisma demonstrates that he is prepared for the difficult job of governing the country.

“Today is my best day. Today, I’m so happy that I’m an elected member seeing my president talking. In fact, I’ve never known that this man is so intelligent,” he said.

“I never knew that this man is so prepared to serve this country. I saw the love, character, and charisma, the belief that Nigeria can be a better nation.”

Ogah said he is convinced that he should support the All Progressives Congress (APC) nominated candidates for the leadership of the House of Representatives.

“So I’m so glad that the meeting we had today is going to take us a little bit to a more stabilized house. Now, even without talking to us again, we have agreed that we are going towards the government’s decision,” he said.

The APC had nominated Tajudeen Abbas from Kaduna and Benjamin Kalu from Abia for the positions of speaker and deputy speaker of the 10th assembly.

“Not minding (that) I’m of Labour Party, as of now, the party is not the issue. We’re talking about building the nation. We are talking about the unity of the nation,” he said.

Peter Obi, who was the standard-bearer of the LP in the 2023 presidential election, lost to Tinubu of the APC.

Obi and the LP are currently challenging Tinubu’s victory at the presidential election tribunal.

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