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Rigging: PDP Carpets AC
The rulling Peoples Democracatic Party (PDP) has condemned leaders of Action Congress (AC), including ex-vice President Atiku Abubakar for describing PDP as a ‘rigging machine’ in a recent event and instead accused the AC of ‘elevating the art of rigging to new heights’.
I n a statement issued Monday in Abuja and signed by the PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Rufai Ahmed –Alkali, the party described as ‘hypocritical’ the accusation that the PDP is a rigging machine and absolved itself of the accusation, wondering why some senior citizens would hide under the cloak of a political party to attempt to heat up the polity.
The statement , which copy was made available to The Tide Monday in Abuja, reads in part:
“The Peoples Democratic Party is once more constrained to bring to the notice of Nigerians the opportunistic antics devised by some politicians in their quest to remain relevant.
“The latest of such vain shouts in the wilderness came from a gathering in Lagos at the weekends called the “National Convention” of the Action Congress where speaker after speaker took turns to preach hypocritical sermons on the state of the nation.
“ It is a big irony to note that some of these later day democrats are persons with known track records of dictatorship and chronic intolerance to opposing views when they held sway in government.
“It is particularly curious for instance to hear former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who was in Government for 8 years limiting his assessment of Nigeria’s democracy to the last 2 to 1/2 years thus conveniently isolating himself and his tenure from scrutiny. This is yet another attempt at self-glorification and buck passing which Nigerians have come to know the opposition for.
“The unwarranted and foul mouthed condemnation of our Party by leaders of the AC especially the recurrent reference to the PDP as a “rigging machine” is hypocritical because available evidence have it that the AC has elevated the art of rigging to new heights.
“A ready example here is the blatant forgery of a Police report by the candidate of the AC in the last gubernatorial election in Osun State for which he is currently standing trial.
“It is also a known fact that most leading members of the AC are the architects and masterminds of the latest attempt to rig the call for the resignation of the president by falsely including names of credible Nigerians in their letter. It is disgraceful that virtually all those whose names were fraudulently included in this letter have publicly denounced the inclusion of their names for an unholy project without their knowledge or consent.
“Another glaring act of rigging and barefaced violation of the constitution is the insistence of the AC government in Lagos State on conducting sham elections in non-existent local government areas. This unconstitutional act makes nonsense of their lip service to adherence to the rule of law.
“Another issue that featured prominently at the rally is the agitation by the AC for a wholesale implementation of the Justice Uwais Electoral Reform Report. It is indeed an irony that the same people who vehemently opposed the setting up of the Electoral Reform Committee are those now attempting to privatise and claim ownership of the outcome as if they had an idea of how the decisions were arrived at.
“The Peoples Democratic Party wishes to state that the PDP-led Federal Government shall not be blackmailed or stampeded into short circuiting the process of electoral reforms. Like all other programmes of this Government, the electoral reform programme shall undergo due process and scale through all the legislative proceeding before it is finally adopted. We are in a democracy and therefore issues cannot be decreed into existence by fiat.
“At the risk of sounding repetitive and immodest, our democratic credentials are miles away from the AC and all the other parties in Nigeria. The mere fact that Nigerians from all walks of life actively contest in our primaries to fly our party’s flag in all elections go a long way in demonstrating again and again our acceptability. The same cannot be said of the AC where an arrogant cabal sits and anoint candidates for elections without recourse to due process. This was the case in the last sham and illegal local government elections in Lagos where bonafide members of the AC were shoved aside in preference for a hand picked few by the emperor of the party.
“Nigerians are getting tired of this baseless argument where a group of people constantly explain their failure to organise and attract people into their fold on the PDP.
“Nigerians are getting increasingly aware that the failure of the opposition is due to the lack of a principled and dedicated leadership who have no defined agenda for Nigeria.
“We are not opposed to individuals or groups coming together to form an alliance but we certainly do not accept blame for their impotence in making a mark in the Nigerian political space.”
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
News
RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.