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APC Crisis: Chieftains Press For Oshiomhole’s Resignation …Say He’ll Destroy Party
Former Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, has backed the call for the resignation of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
It would be recalled that the Deputy National Chairman of the APC (North), Lawal Shuaib, had last Tuesday, urged Oshiomhole to tender his resignation letter following the Supreme Court’s nullification of the party’s primaries in Zamfara State.
In a letter he had made public few days ago, Lawal said the APC national chairman has performed below expectation, and therefore, should resign.
However, Shittu said if Oshiomhole was allowed to remain, APC would go down when President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term was over.
Speaking with newsmen on the call for Oshiomole’s resignation, the former minister said, “I endorse it.”
He said, “The truth is with Oshiomhole this party would go down by the time President Muhammadu Buhari finishes his 2nd term.
“Oshiomhole is full of himself and he has an ego problem, and wants to dominate every environment, and democracy is not like that.
“I know that many of us who are conscionable members of the party who think of the future of this party, and the fact that this party should continue to be relevant even after President Muhammadu Buhari has left office, I would stand by this call. We are concerned and everything that we can do to force him out, we will do it”
Meanwhile, another leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has called for the National Chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole, to step aside in the interest of the party.
A chieftain of the APC in Rivers State, Kingsley Wali, who is the latest to make this call, said Oshiomhole was responsible for the predicament the party suffered in different parts of the country in the build-up to the just-concluded general elections.
Wali, who is a lawyer, said that APC as a party should take a collective decision to ease out Oshiomhole to avert further damage to its fortunes.
He stated that the APC national chairman has been running a one-man show which is not in tandem with the vision of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“I have been consistent with my view that Adams Oshiomhole was 95 per cent responsible for the problems APC had. You have a man who believes that whatever he says is final and then turned a political party to a labour union.
“For me, if Oshiomhole is a responsible person which I doubt because I can tell you for free, Zamfara may not be the end of the story. There are a lot of cases in court.
“The reasonable thing for APC as a party to do is to ask Oshiomhole to vacate his seat so that a new orientation can come in that will help the party move forward.
“If we insist on characterising the Next Level slogan of the APC, the attitude that Adams Oshiomhole exhibited cannot be in tandem with the present vision of Nigeria. The man was running a one-man show.
“In every decent political clime, once you lead a party and the party did not perform well you have to go. Let us not delude ourselves because we won the presidency, what about the governorship seats.
“What is in the public domain is that Adams Oshiomhole is hell-bent on making sure that Obaseki doesn’t come back, Yahaya Bello doesn’t come back, Akeredolu doesn’t come back, I don’t know his interest in Bayelsa State.
“In every democracy, the sitting President or the sitting governor is given a right of first refusal. It will interest you to know that the Deputy National Chairman of APC, Senator Lawal Shuaibu had in a letter requested that the National Chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole should resign for leading the party to failure in the 2019 elections.”
Also, the dust generated by the call by the Deputy National Chairman (North) of the All Progressives Congress APC, Senator Lawali Shuaibu asking the National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to resign is yet to settle.
This is because yesterday, national officers of the party who are not members of its National Working Committee NWC demanded an urgent interface with the NWC to discuss the matter. The officers are however members of the APC National Executive Committee NEC.
The party officials under the aegis of forum of Non-National Working Committee (Non-NWC) in a letter signed by their Chairman, Alhaji Nasiru Danu and the Secretary, Hon. Omolayo O. Akintola, said the meeting had become necessary to discuss emerging issues before they get out of hand.
There have been calls by some stakeholders of the party asking the NWC to convene a NEC meeting to resolve issues which arose from the conduct of the last general elections and also forge a common front ahead of the composition of the next cabinet by President Muhammadu Buhari.
However, in the leaked letter dated 29th May, 2019 and titled: “Demand for an urgent interface with NWC organ of our party-APC” and addressed to the National Chairman, the national officers said the meeting is “principally to address critical issues affecting our great party before such issues go out of hands which could be inimical to the general welfare of the party.”
The forum said it would have called for such meeting earlier, “but we considered the concluded 2019 general elections as determinant or our Party’s survival which had come and gone with successes and losses.
“This body rose from her today‘s (29-05-2019) emergency meeting shortly after the Presidential inauguration ceremony held at the Eagle Square, Abuja and concluded the following request be made.
The forum said it would have called for such meeting earlier, “but we considered the concluded 2019 general elections as determinant or our Party’s survival which had come and gone with successes and losses.
“This body rose from her today‘s (29-05-2019) emergency meeting shortly after the Presidential inauguration ceremony held at the Eagle Square, Abuja and concluded the following request be made.
“We hereby request for a meeting to be fixed from your end as soon as possible in order to meet with the urgency it demands.” The letter addressed to the National Chairman also copied the chairman of the APC Governors Forum, Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi state.
The Rivers State Investment Promotion Agency (RSIPA) has unveiled measures to enthrone ease of doing business and win back the confidence of the business community.
The Director-General of the Agency, Dr Chamberlain Peterside, unveiled the plans at the Breakout Session of RSIPA at the ongoing 18th Port Harcourt International Trade Fair, at the Obi Wali International Cultural Centre, in Port Harcourt.
Dr. Peterside said the agency was poised to free the state from accumulation of wrong narratives that branded it over the years as unsafe for business.
He, however, admitted that many things had gone wrong in the past where regulators joined to make the business environment difficult for investors.
He announced that the agency was rather focused on actions, solutions, and results as adopted in the mission statement of the Board.
“Our task is no mean feat. We are dealing with the perception risk that over several years branded the state as unsafe. We are also faced with the challenges of dealing with the lack of cohesion amongst MDAs, policy inconsistencies, multiple taxation, incessant harassment by miscreants, red tape and delays in obtaining operating permits, high cost of operations and opaque public sector,” he said.
“It is about listening to the investors in the field and ensuring that MDAs are carried along, hence the imperative for the setting up of our One-Stop-Center”, he added.
In his remarks, the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Warisenibo Joe Johnson, who represented the state governor, said the Fubara administration was ready to listen to the business community to see ways of reducing impediments to investments.
He listed the stages of actions being undertaken by the governor as outlined in his 37-page blue print to revive the economy of Rivers State.
The Mayor of Housing, My-ACE China, who was presented at the event as a star investor and promoter of Rivers State reputation, said for the plans of the investment promotion agency to materialize, an enabling law should replace the Executive Order that established the Rivers State Investment Promotion Agency.
He said this would insulate the agency from political instability and remove fear in the minds of investors about its sustainability.
According to him, protection precedes promotion and Local Direct Investment (LDIs) is what attracts and promotes Foreign Direct Investment (FDIs).
“It is the rat at home that reveals to the one in the bush that there is fish in the kitchen”, he added.
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?The Mayor of Housing who is also the CEO of the Alesa Highlands Sustainable Green Smart City said that Port Harcourt is like a business empire under lock and key because it is not protecting its own and also not promoting its own enough for investors to come in.
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?In the area of land documentation and inventory, China urged Rivers State Government to borrow a leaf from Abuja and adopt the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in dealing with land and property registration and documentation for ease of doing business.
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?He said Lagos understood the power of business information, adding “this creates the impression that if you are not doing it in Lagos, you are not doing it in Africa.
“We need to shout louder than Lagos, because we need more investments than Lagos and the structural integrity of Abuja. When you marry both, Rivers State would be wonderful and become green with investments,” he said.
In her speech, the President of Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), Dr. Chinyere Nwoga, called on the state government to look into the menace of parked trucks now turning Trans-Amadi into a risk zone.
She outlined the activities of the PHCCIMA and invited investors and businesses to the Port Harcourt economic hub, saying peace has returned.
The Director, Investors Relations of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC), Mrs Lovina Kayode, urged Rivers State to make haste and catch up on Ease of Doing Business, saying the Council has come to help businesses in the state.
Mrs Kayode, who represented the Executive Secretary/CEO of NIPC, Aisha Rimi, commended the Mayor of Housing and his counterpart, Mr. Oliver Biedima of Rainbow Heritage Group, for their decision to invest in Rivers State, saying it is a proof that Rivers State is safe for investors and their investments.
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In his remarks, Oliver Biedemi of Rainbow Heritage Group urged government to give the private investors chance to develop the economy, saying ordinarily government does not have the funds to develop the economy.
Happy Birthday Chief Barr. Nyesom Ezenwo Wike CON
Honourable Minister Federal Capital Territory
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We’ll Drive Tinubu’s Vision in Rivers With Vigour – Fubara …Inaugurates Dualized Ahoada/Omoku Road ….Debunks Rift With RSHA
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has stated that he will lead Rivers people to galvanize support for President Bola Tinubu to drive the vision and objectives of the Renewed Hope Agenda in the State with vigour.
The governor, who joined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), on Tuesday, explained that his decision to join the APC was not for personal interest but for the overall benefit of Rivers State.
Fubara disclosed these while inaugurating the extension of the dualized Ahoada/ Omoku Express road in Ahoada East and Ogba Egbema Ndoni Local Government Areas of Rivers State.
He commended the contracting firm, Julius Berger, for timely delivery of the project, saying the project is a campaign promise fulfilled which will bring economic benefits to the people and tackle issues of insecurity associated with the route.
He said his administration has remained focused in delivering democratic dividends in the state despite facing glaring challenges.
The governor thanked the people of Ahoada East and Ogba Egbema Ndoni Local Government Areas for their continuous support, and urged his supporters to remain steadfast and also support President Tinubu who he said, has demonstrated love to Rivers State as a father.
Fubara denied having rift with the Rivers State House of Assembly, stating that his meeting with the lawmakers was stalled as a result of delay in the agreed meeting to be convened by former Governor Nyesom Wike and other stakeholders for him to meet with the state lawmakers.
“I have made every effort to meet with the Assembly members, but it is not within my leadership to initiate the meeting process.
“The arrangement was for my leader, Wike, and the elders led by Anabraba to call for a meeting with the the lawmakers.
“I’m a gentleman and principled. I can’t go behind to call them when we’ve already agreed. Whoever that tell them that I don’t want to meet with them, or I rejected proposal meant for them isn’t saying the truth,” Fubara said.
The Permanent Secretary of the Rivers State Ministry Works, Mr Austin Ezekiel-Hart, who gave the project description, said the delivery of the project was a fulfillment of long time dream by the people of Ahoada East and Ogba Egbema Ndoni Local Government Areas.
He said the road was previously a single lane and has now been dualised to 14.6 meters wide, complete with solar-powered streetlights with drainages.
He said the road significantly would reduce travel time between Ahoada and Omoku while improving economic activity in the region.
In his welcome address, Chairman of Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area, Hon. Chuku Shedrack Ogbogu, described the road as a symbol of unity, oneness, and development, thanking the governor for fulfilling his campaign promises.
On his part, the Managing Director of Julius Berger, Engr. Peer Lusbash, said the project was awarded to his company in 2023 with a completion period of 18 months which was achieved in best quality.
He added that Julius Berger enjoyed a good support from the Fubara administration, and assured to complete all ongoing projects being handled by Julius Berger on specification, especially the Ring Road project which is a legacy project.
