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Babangida Supports Saraki’s Presidential Bid

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Babangida Supports Saraki's Presidential Bid

Former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida has expressed support for ex-Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki’s bid to succeed President Muhamadu Buhari in 2023.

General Babangida was responding to a request from a delegation of the Abubakar Bukola Saraki, (ABS) National Campaign Advocacy Council led by its Chairman, Prof Hagher Iorwuese and Director- General, Chief Osaro Onaiwu who were at the Minna Hill top residence of the former military strongman to seek support for Saraki.

Babangida who did not hide his admiration for Saraki did not mince words, but equate Saraki to a Self Propelled(SP) artillery gun, an abbreviation for Senate President, whose credentials and personality speak for him.

According to him, many aspirants have come and will come to seek his support. “But a young man of his( Saraki) status who knows the country well should lead the country for maximum results.

I’m glad to have found people who have defined who a true Nigerian leader should be. This definition was lacking. I’m happy you have identified someone who can do the job. The narrative has to change. I know your client very well. I am part of him. His father was very close to me.

READ ALSO: Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) In The Eye Of History

“You have zeroed in on a good candidate. I call him SP. In the artillery we have a self-propelled gun called SP with strategic responsibility and functions. That is who he is”.

Babangida, popularly referred to as IBB, commended Saraki’s patriotic efforts as President of the 8th Senate saying,” It was Saraki’s efforts that saved the nation from imminent crisis that ensued. Remember if he was not able to nip the crisis, only God knows what would have happened. It was his intelligence at play that saved the nation. He is the best for Nigeria.

“But a lot of work must be done to convince colleagues and Nigerians to this. You have identified the right person for the leadership of this country. We need a leader that can utilise our rich diversities to our advantage. We have abused our diversity and are not able to use it well to our advantage. I believe that the young Saraki has the capacity to bring back this glory to our nation. He has my prayers, he has my absolute support.”

The leader of the large delegation, Prof Hagher had asked for IBB’s blessings and support for Saraki, who is within the youthful age canvassed by IBB himself for the leadership of Nigeria.

READ ALSO: Why I Annulled Presidential June 12 Election – Babangida

Hagher said : ” Your Excellency Sir, we are here to present to you your son, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki. The country has not fared well under the present system and if nothing is done, the situation will be worse. We remember how you provided concrete leadership for this country. We recall with great sense of pride your intelligence, how you were able to assemble the best brains, to build strategic network of contacts, connections and lasting relationships which are still standing strong today. You don’t forget your friends neither do you forget your relationships built over the years.

“Your son Saraki has your DNA and is following these beautiful footsteps of yours. He has all that it takes to provide the kind of leadership you bestowed on this country.

“He is intelligent, cosmopolitan, patriotic, determined, energetic and strategic to do the job”.

Making a case for the North Central zone, Hagher added that while the South West, South South and North West have produced presidents for Nigeria, and the North East and South East have produced vice- presidents, the North Central, full of capable and competent human resources is yet to express its leadership potential for the country. We respectfully aver that the North should produce the next President, the North Central.

READ ALSO: I’ve Found Buhari’s Successor – Babangida

In the delegation were former Governor Shaaba Lafiagi from Kwara State, former Senators Solomon Ewuga, Suleiman Adokwe, former national and state assembly members and critical stakeholders across the country.

 

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BREAKING: Obi Speaks On Joining Tinubu’s Unity Government

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VIDEO: What Peter Obi Said In Port Harcourt About Other Presidential Candidates
Peter Obi

Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has given insight into what his position will be if he is invited to join Bola Tinubu’s Government of National Unity.

Tinubu, the president-elect and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been taken to court by Obi over the outcome of the February 25 election.

The camp of the APC candidate had hinted that the former Lagos Governor would form an all-inclusive government to carry all his opponents along in his government.

While featuring on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday, Obi was asked what he would do if he was called upon to be a member of Tinubu’s Government of National Unity.

In his response, Obi said he was still challenging the process of the election and the declaration.

According to him, the process of the election should be put right first before anyone could talk of the Government of National Unity.

“The first thing I want to see is that the process is right. The process through which you achieve anything is far more fundamental than what you do thereafter. Let us go back first, I am challenging the process and the declaration.

“Until we get it right, then we can talk about a government of national unity. Otherwise, we would go and sit down and say that those who stopped a train and kidnapped people can call us to discuss peace when they have people in captivity. Until things are done rightly, we will be encouraging what we don’t need to encourage,” he said.

When he was asked whether or not he would accept the outcome if it is not in his favour, Obi said he would be shocked if the court upholds Tinubu’s election.

His words: “Issues about the election will be sorted out in court. I will be shocked if this country goes on with that situation. It will then stand that it is a corporate criminalised country. We can’t allow it. We need to start unbundling this criminality.

“When people were talking about structure, it is this fraud and criminality that we witnessed that they were talking about, and we want to unbundle it for the sake of our children.”

The former Anambra State governor said he believes the judiciary would do the right thing.

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LP Chieftain Flays Return Of 1999 PDP as Ibori, Henchmen Seek Political Relevance In Delta APC

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BREAKING: FG Returned £4.2m Ibori Loot To Delta Govt – Accountant General
James Ibori

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State is gradually taking on the colouration of 1999 PDP with all of former Governor James Ibori’s ‘boys’ now leaving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in droves and finding a new home in APC to swell its ranks ahead of the guber elections on Saturday, March 18, 2023, according to a chieftain of Labour Party (LP), Chief Delly Ajufo.

Ajufo described the development as “a gathering of vultures to consume the soul of Delta State,” noting that Ibori, who has suffered a pariah status under Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s 8-year administration, now has a chance to reclaim his “godfather or grand commander” position over his godson, guber candidate of APC and Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.

According to him, Ibori looks to resume his godfather position as Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Lagos State, a position that slipped out of his hands since his stint in the UK prison.

Ajufo said Deltans needed to be wary of Senator Omo-Agege’s governorship bid, and see it as a backdoor for Ibori to re-take control of the management of the state’s resources in a manner likely to be worse than the 1999 – 2007 era when he was governor. He warned that Deltans could not have forgotten how Ibori raped the fortunes of the state in his eight-year administration by corruptly enriching himself and his cronies (including Sen. Omo-Agege) that earned him a UK prison sentence. He described the APC as PDP-2 trying to upstage Okowa’s PDP-1 from power, saying Deltans should reward both of them with electoral defeat since both parties have run the country (APC – 8 years) and Delta State (PDP – 24 years) badly.

He argued that none of them deserves to occupy the seat of power in Asaba come May 29, 2023.

The Labour Party chieftain also said the gathering of Ibori’s political family under APC is dark and ominous for the state, and urged the electorate to reject both ‘PDAPC’ at the polls on Saturday, and vote for Labour Party (LP) as the only political breath of fresh air that Delta people need now.

“We must sever our links with the people from both parties that have collectively ruined the fortunes of this oil-rich state by running it aground since 1999,” he noted.

Ajulo added that Ibori trying to reclaim his faded godfather position, using APC as his new launch pad was tantamount to vultures gathering to feast on the carcass of a dying animal, a situation that Deltans should not wait to see but to halt it in its tracks outright.

“This is a gathering of vultures and it does not augur well for our beloved Delta State,” said Ajufo.

“Ibori wants to use the APC backdoor to reclaim his faded godfather status since all his allies are dumping PDP in droves and moving over to APC. The signs are not good for Deltans who have been pauperised for so many years in spite of the huge oil wealth that comes to the state monthly. I urge Deltans to see through the evil that’s about to befall them if they elect Ovie Omo-Agege. Of course, PDP is dead, going by February 25, 2023 election. There is no need to bother about it. Deltans will bury whatever remains of it in the guber elections.

“The nightmare we must all now resist is APC taking over. Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege was SSG and Commissioner under Ibori’s eight-year reign of wasted resources in Delta from 1999 – 2007. A vote for Omo-Agege is a vote for the return of Ibori into Delta’s mainstream, with his baggage of corruption and mismanagement of state resources. Delta is tired of another Tinubu returning to pillage the coffers of the state for his selfish interests. We cannot afford to ‘carry last’ on this matter.”

The chief urged Deltans to do for Labour Party what they did on February 25 when they massively voted for Labour Party and Peter Obi, saying they should do the same for the party’s governorship candidate, Deacon Ken Pela and all House of Assembly candidates. He called on all women to look the way of Labour Party’s candidate, Dcn Ken Pela for the governorship election, adding, “We also call on women to rally their own fellow woman, an educationist and erudite scholar, Prof. Nwabogo-Umukoro, to represent and champion women’s causes in government at the highest decision-making level.”

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Fayose Quits PDP, Reveals How Ayu Led Atiku To Golgotha

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PDP Crisis To Get Messier - Fayose

A former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, has disclosed how the national chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party ( PDP) Iyorchia Ayu led the presidential candidate of the party Atiku Abubakar to what he called Golgotha.

Fayose spoke while announcing his resignation from the main opposition party, PDP.

Fayose announced his resignation from the PDP yesterday while appearing as a guest on a programme on ARISE News. Fayose served as Governor of Ekiti State from 2003 to 2007 and 2011 to 2015 on PDP’s ticket.

However, his decision to quit the party appears to be connected with perceived irreconcilable differences in the PDP, which according to him, has fractured the party.

He said: “Let me say this, from today(yesterday) I stay off PDP. In party politics there are certain facts you must be able to speak. I am 62 and I can’t, at this age, begin lying. When something is wrong with your family, confess.”

The former governor, who claimed to have fought for the interest of the party over the years, blamed the loss of the PDP in the presidential election on the leadership of the party.

According to him, PDP was already fractured before the election, with so many aggrieved aspirants whom were allegedly swindled by the leadership of the party on one hand and the inability of the presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar to reach an agreement with the G-5 governors.

Fayose traced the problem of the PDP to the North-west zonal congress which he said was rigged against Rabiu Kwankwaso in favour of Aminu Tambuwal that led to the latter leaving theparty.

“I warned Atiku that the problem will consume PDP. I told him there was danger ahead,” he said, adding that the G-5 governors demanded that Atiku make a official announcement to run for only one term and hand over to any member in the south but “Ayu was leading Atiku to Golgotha.”

Fayose warned Labour Party’s candidate and second runner up in the presidential polls, Peter Obi to “run away from the PDP” as the current ovation for the opposition has nothing to do with the PDP.

According to him, if the PDP had believed in Obi, they should have given him the party’s ticket.

He saluted Obi’s courage for being able to defeat the likes of Tinubu in Lagos, describing him as “A phenomenon” and “the man of the moment”, stressing that Obi’s victory in Lagos has proved that things are no longer the same.

He argued that for Obi to win in Lagos shows the process was so transparent and as such the outcome of the election should be accepted by all.

Fayose attributed the credibility of the polls to the use of the BVAS which, according to him, is responsible for a realistic number of voters compared to the past when over a million votes were churned out from some states in the Northern part of the country.

He, however, faulted some of the protesters, calling for the cancellation of the polls, describing them as paid agents of the PDP.

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