Niger dep gov, 200 others dump PDP

 Alhaji Ahmed Ibeto

Deputy Governor of Niger State, Alhaji Ahmed Ibeto and 200 0ther office holders in the state on Monday dumped the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and joined the opposition All Progressives Congress in Minna, the state capital.

Ibeto and the others joined the APC to welcome its presidential candidate, Maj.- Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), who was in the state for campaigns.

The deputy governor’s defection from the PDP coincided with the flag-off of the party’s campaign in Kotangora.

Announcing his defection to newsmen in Minna, Ibeto said, “I am on my way to welcome our party leader and presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari at Minna airport for his campaign rally in Niger State.”

He attributed the reason for his defection to injustice allegedly meted out to him and other contestants for the state PDP governorship ticket, describing as flawed the primaries, which he said was skewed to favour a particular candidate.

He said, “The electoral process that threw up Alhaji Umar Nasko as PDP governorship candidate was not in accordance with the PDP electoral law and the constitution.

“It is true we are defecting to APC because the primaries we conducted was not in accordance with the PDP constitution.

“Myself and other aggrieved PDP members decided to petition the national headquarters of the party on the outcome of the governorship primaries with a view to address the obvious injustice but we met a brick wall.

“We are expecting justice from the party’s national office but nothing was forthcoming hence we decided to join APC.”

Among those who defected along with Ibeto are serving members of the National Assembly , members of state House of Assembly , former commissioners and former local government chairmen

Name N750m bribe takers, PDP dares EFCC

 Chief Femi Fani-Kayode

The Director of Media and Publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has vowed to defend the corruption allegation against him.

Also, the national leadership of the PDP has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to be diligent in the party’s investigation of the allegation that some members of its National Working Committee collected a whopping N750m bribe from Mr. Ndudi Elumelu.

Elumelu, a PDP governorship aspirant in Delta State, had alleged that the money was collected from him with a promise that he would be given the party’s governorship ticket in the state.

But speaking on the matter, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Olisa Metuh, said the EFCC must be able to unravel those who collected the money.

He said, “If any member of this party participated in the issue, let the law takes its course. Let the EFCC charge those involved to court. We will not tolerate anyone who is corrupt. Monies were paid into an account at least with what I have read in some newspapers.

“That is a concrete evidence. Let the EFCC use that to trace how the money was disbursed. The law enforcement should act on this.”

Also, Fani-Kayode, while reacting to allegation made by a Lagos lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo, that the former minister was not qualified to be in the President Jonathan Goodluck’s campaign team because of the fraud case, said he was ready to prove his innocence in the graft suit.

Kayode is currently being prosecuted by the EFCC for alleged corruption while in office.

Keyamo, who is the prosecutor in the matter, said with Fani-Kayode’s appointment, President Jonathan had shown that he was not interested in fighting corruption.

He, therefore, asked Nigerians to reject Jonathan during the February 14 presidential election.

But in his reaction in Abuja on Monday, Fani-Kayode in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Sufuyan Ojeifo, said he was waiting for the next adjourned date of his trial to clear himself.

Ojeifo said, “They initially claimed that he (Fani-Kayode) stole N19.5bn of the Aviation Intervention Fund but this was thrown out by the courts for want of evidence.

“After that, in 2008, Keyamo filed a bogus 47-count money laundering on behalf of the Farida Waziri-led EFCC in which he claimed that Chief Fani-Kayode had laundered N200m.

“In 2014, he reduced it to a 40-count charge and reduced the amount that was allegedly laundered from N200m to N99m. Earlier this year, 38 of those 40 counts, which collectively represented N97m, were thrown out by the court for want of evidence.

“The remaining two counts, which represent N1m each, will be defended on February 23rd and 24th. Chief Fani-Kayode looks forward to that date because he is innocent and he has every confidence in God and the Nigerian judiciary.”

He said that what people like Keyamo failed to appreciate was that the days of prosecuting people on the pages of newspapers without any hard evidence and trying to intimidate innocent people with the EFCC were long over.

On the one month suspension slammed on the former National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur by the party, Metuh said that he was now free to participate in the PDP’s activities.

Fayose: I’ll work for Jonathan’s victory

 Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose

The Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has vowed to work to ensure the victory of President Goodluck Jonathan in the February 14 general elections.

Fayose said this in Emure Ekiti at the flag-off of the campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party’s House of Assembly and National Assembly candidates in Ekiti South senatorial district.

The governor, who spoke at the palace of Elemure of Emure Ekiti, Oba Emmanuel Adebayo, described Jonathan as a humble person, who never allowed the power of office to affect his attitude.

He said, “What I believe in my life is absolute loyalty and that is my own philosophy about politics. It is either I am for you or I am against you.

“President Goodluck Jonathan supported me when I was contesting and this is a payback time. We have to support him because it was God that brought him into power.

“Apart from the fact that President Jonathan has done his best for Nigeria, presidency is a very powerful position that needed a humble personality like Jonathan to superintend over. So Ekiti must stand up for Jonathan and I want to assure you, he will not forget you.”

Fayose appealed to all aggrieved PDP aspirants to forget their grievances and work together for the good of the party.

“When I was in opposition, I defeated an incumbent governor in all the 16 local government areas. I know it is going to be an easy ride now that we are in government. By the grace of God and the support of the people, I won’t lose any slot in the state House of Assembly and National Assembly elections,” he boasted.

 Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Larmorde

The Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Larmorde, has said that the commission and the United Kingdom’s Metropolitan Police are investigating some serving and former governors, ministers, heads of service of the federation, and federal lawmakers.

Lamorde said that the operatives of the EFCC and the Met Police were investigating the serving and former public office holders for money laundering and looting of public treasury.

The EFCC Chairman made the comment while playing host to the Metropolitan Police Special Crime and Operations Unit led by Detective Chief Inspector Jonathan Benton in Abuja, on Monday.

Lamorde refused to disclose the identities and the total number of the public office holders on the watch list of the commission and the Met Police on the premise that the investigation was jointly carried out by the EFCC and the UK Police.

He said the affected current and former public office holders would be arrested and their identities revealed after the commission must have concluded investigation into their cases.

He said, “You are also very much aware that the Metropolitan Police Proceeds of Corruption Unit is the unit that assisted us in the case of DSP Alamieyeseigha in the past, Joshua Dariye, and of course the big one that everybody is aware of, James Ibori, who is currently serving a jail term in the United Kingdom.

“In a few months’ time, there is also going to be a confiscation proceedings in respect of the assets of James Ibori in the United Kingdom which of course we have been working assiduously to make sure it will be successful.

“In respect of some of the new cases we have embarked upon, we are investigating some sitting state governors, some ministers that are serving, also ministers that have left office, some former heads of service of the federation and members of the National Assembly.

“We will never mention names, since it’s a joint investigation that we are doing, and you know unlike what we do here where some of our people here wants sensationalism, that’s not the way it works with them.

“The investigation has to be conducted properly first, it is when the matter is ready to go to court that publicities are given to individual cases; for the time being they are here, we are reviewing those investigations and when we are ready to go to court then names and these cases will be properly mentioned.”

Lamorde said that investigations into the cases against the public office holders would take some time to conclude just like the Ibori case which took up to six to seven years of investigation before he was arraigned in court.

Larmorde warned that any public office holder who got involved in the theft of public funds would not go free.

He said that the commission had put in place the machinery to track those stealing and taking such loot outside the country.

“…We cannot be in a hurry, the most important thing is that people should know that a lot is going on, and any person, either a man or woman, occupying public office, who decides to put her hand or his hand in government coffers to steal, would not have any hiding place.

“Whether you take the money outside this country or not, there is machinery in place to trace this money and also bring such individuals to justice,” Lamorde added

He commended the Met Police for complementing the efforts of the commission to discourage people from stealing public funds in the country.

Larmorde added that the UK had also ensured that assets bought with stolen money were returned to the Nigerian government.

He said some assets that had been confiscated by the UK would soon be returned to the country.

The leader of the Met Police Delegation, Benton, assured Nigerians of the readiness of the UK Police to support the EFCC as London remained one of the major destinations of people embarking on holidays and those who wanted to buy houses.

He said, “The International Financial Centre in London do play a part in the way money worked, the way money is flown and the way money is moved and where people like to buy houses and where they spent their holidays and some chose school.”

Lamorde also spoke on the state of the ongoing cases against some former governors in the country.

He complained about the criminal justice system that created room for lawyers to embark on deliberate measures to delay cases involving influential politicians.

The EFCC boss stated, “Abubakar Audu was charged to court in 2006; we started in Lokoja, we went to Supreme Court three times with him, for everything they will put an application that they don’t like the judge,. the judge is biased, but if you say no, then go to the Court of Appeal, then Supreme Court, we are now at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

“In the case of Saminu Turaki, we had to obtain a bench warrant. Currently he is a wanted person because he has refused to show up for trial. We started here in Abuja, they contested jurisdiction; the trial was taken to Dutse. In the case of Jolly Nyame, we are still at the High Court in Abuja with him, and he is still contesting.

“In the case of Joshua Dariye, we have been in court and he has been a senator. The man in Ekiti, we were in court with him and he is now elected governor of Ekiti State again.

“I think we have to look at the criminal justice system in this country, it is not a question of arrest of the individuals; we have arrested people, we have charged them to court, 2006 to date is how many years? And yet we are still at the preliminary level because these people can afford good lawyers that will continue to prolong the trial.

“Please, continue to monitor the trial in court, because if journalists are there, a judge will think twice before granting some applications, he will think that people are watching me, and my decisions will be reported.

“It is time for all of us as a country to look at the criminal justice system so we can address some of these shortcomings and deal with them.”

I don’t have PVC, Sultan tells Jonathan

 Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, on Monday told President Goodluck Jonathan that he might not vote during the next month’s general elections because he had yet to collect his Permanent Voter Card.

Jonathan, who was in the Sokoto State in continuation of the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential campaign, visited the religious leader to seek his blessing.

The Sultan said it was imperative for the Federal Government to do everything within its powers to ensure that no eligible voter was disenfranchised.

He said, “Let us respect people’s wishes; let’s not try to disenfranchise anybody.

“We have had issues of the Permanent Voter Cards and I want to tell you that even myself, I don’t have a PVC, so it means I will not vote on February 14.

“So, we have to look for a way out, it is for your government to now look for what to do, how to ensure that all the cards get to the voters before the voting day or in the alternative, find a way out because for any problem there is a solution.

“We believe you will find a solution as regard this very serious hitch facing us because millions of Nigerians seem to be heading towards disenfranchisement and they won’t be able to vote. I have heard comments from the INEC Chairman, (Prof. Attahiru Jega), but we are still waiting for our cards to come.”

The religious leader expressed concerns that campaigns ahead of the general elections were taking religious colouration instead of being issue-based.

He urged all candidates to embrace peace and also caution their supporters against violence.

The religious leader urged the government to work hard to end insecurity in parts of the country.

He added, “As the leader of the Muslims in this country, I will not fail to intimate the President and his government with the problems Muslims face in this country, that is our own area of attention as Muslim leaders.

“We care about how we live as a people and we are very worried about how we are living now as a people and God Almighty who placed leadership of the country on your shoulders, we feel we must always alert you on how we have been living.

“I will say never a time in this country’s history that we face very serious challenges like what are facing now.

“The whole politicking had been turned into either religion or ethnic matters and this should not be so because we see what happens across the world.

“We are worried because religion had been brought into it, we made it very clear in 2011, there is no way religion should be part of the election campaigns or even the election itself.

“As you have seen here, I think there are more Muslims in this room than Christians and coming here now to come for prayers for success of your campaigns goes to show that as the leader of the Muslims, I have no choice than to pray for you.”

The Sultan advised the President on the need to tackle insecurity and unemployment.

“On insecurity issues facing us in all parts of country, we have heard campaign promises left, right and centre but we want to hear from our political leaders, how do you intend to resolve the security issues? 

How do you intend to tackle unemployment? How do you intend to tackle the rot in education?

“These are issues that should concern the various political leaders instead of mudslinging, calling each other names and whatever.

“We are very worried what we see in newspapers, watch on television and hear comments from our people, brothers and friends.

“Politics of this country have now been turned into a war, families are being divided, friends have become enemies just because of seeking for political office,” he lamented.

He wished the Jonathan’s campaign team well in its endeavours as he prayed for peaceful and fair elections.

Jonathan told the Sultan that his administration was committed to transforming the country.

Aboderin leads 1,000 Accord members to APC

 Deji Aboderin

The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Abiola Ajimobi on Social Mobilisation, Deji Aboderin, on Monday led more than 1000 members of the Accord Party to the All Progressives Congress in Ibadan South East council area.

Aboderin was an aspirant in Accord seeking a ticket to contest for a seat in the House of Representatives in the coming elections but he defected to the APC, citing personal reasons.

While saluting the bold step taken by Aboderin and his leadership qualities, Chief Kayode Arowolo said that the young politician was accepted with open hands into the party because of his feat while in Accord.

He said, “One of our children, Deji, is bringing close to 2000 members to the APC from Accord. It’s a timely development which strengthens our great party ahead of the coming election. We shall accept these new members into our party with gladness of heart.

“We consider them as fortunate people who have taken the right step at the right time. There is no difference between old and new members because we shall all enjoy the dividends of democracy. Aboderin is young but endowed with a mature attitude and leadership qualities.

“He may be young in politics but he is fast becoming popular among the people. As you can see, only someone loved by the people can command this kind of crowd. There are many advantages in his coming because what he is doing are things that will sustain the party and keep the people together.”

A former Accord leader in ward nine, Ibadan South-East, Bolarinwa Obisesan, who spoke on behalf of the defectors, said they decided to stick with Aboderin because of his progressive-style of politics.

He said, “When we were in Accord, Aboderin did well in terms contribution to the growth of the party from ward one to 12. We were shocked when he was not given the ticket to contest for a position in the House of Representatives. We are satisfied with his quality as a politician; that is why we are moving to the APC with him.”

Yes, this President is a failure

 Azuka Onwuka

What has President Goodluck Jonathan achieved in the four years and 11 months of his administration since February 9, 2010 when he became the Acting President? Let him show us one thing he has achieved.

For example, I just came back from the South-East through the Sagamu-Benin Expressway. This was a road that was as smooth and beautiful as the German autobahn all through the eight years of President Olusegun Obasanjo and the two and half years of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. The Ore portion of this road was such a delight then that people spent just two minutes there instead of two days. When Yar’Adua became president in 2007, that portion of the expressway was so beautiful that his Minister of Transport, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, visited it but did not weep. Rather, she sang the Halleluya Chorus in ecstasy because of the beauty of the road. But Jonathan came in and destroyed that road and all other roads.

When I passed through Ore this Christmas/New Year season, I was surprised at the havoc Jonathan had done to that road through the SURE-P programme. It took me six days to travel from Lagos to Onitsha and five and half days on my return trip! Last year, Jonathan inaugurated the destruction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, with Julius Berger handling the Lagos to Sagamu part and RCC handling the Sagamu to Ibadan part. When I visited Ibadan/Osogbo two months ago, I noticed that some portions of the road had already been destroyed. If the companies keep to the four-year destruction plan, by 2017, that road would have been fully destroyed. The Apapa-Oshodi Expressway that used to be loved by drivers of heavy-duty trucks because of its smoothness has now been destroyed by Jonathan. He has done the same thing to other wonderful roads in other parts of the country. What a man!

Before 2010, farmers were being begged to collect as many bags of fertiliser as they liked. There was no iota of bribery and racketeering in fertiliser distribution. If you were passing by a bus stop, you would be begged to collect as many bags as you wanted. Consequently, Nigerian farmers produced so much food that Nigeria was able to feed itself and the entire Africa. But since Jonathan took over, fertiliser has become as scarce as elephant tusk. Bribery has taken over the distribution. We have not produced even a bag of rice since he came in.

Who says that Jonathan is not a failure? When he came in, our aviation industry was the best in the world. Aeroplanes were not dropping from the Nigerian skies: EAS Airlines (May 4, 2002); Bellview Airlines (October 22, 2005), Sosoliso Airlines (December 10, 2005), ADC Airlines (October 29, 2006). Our airports were world class. In fact, the air conditioning system worked so well that the airport lounges were freezing to the point that snow formed inside them! Under Jonathan’s tenure, contracts were awarded to simultaneously destroy all the airports. In addition, Nigeria did not attain the prestigious Category 1 Certification in aviation.

What about health? In 2014, the World Health Organsiation did not certify Nigeria free of the guinea worm disease. In 2014, it did not declare us Ebola-free. Bill Gates did not tweet in December 2014 – “One of my favourite stories of 2014: In just one year, Nigeria went from 50 polio cases to six”. Maternal mortality did not drop from 545/100,000 to 350/100,000 in four years under Jonathan.

The one that pained me most about this Jonathan was the automotive policy. Before him, Nigeria was the number one exporter of cars. Cars were even being produced in the backyard of every Nigerian house. But since he came up with the new auto policy, auto companies have been running away from our country.

What about electoral reforms? This President has destroyed our exceptional electoral system that was planted by former president Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999. In 2003, Obasanjo gave us one of the best elections. Peter Obi was not rigged out in Anambra. In 2007, while we were still jubilating about the magic of 2003, Obasanjo blessed us with the 2007 electoral miracle. All local and international observers endorsed the elections as the best in world history. Candidates did not protest. Chibuike Amaechi’s candidacy in Rivers State did not have any “K-leg”. Olusegun Mimiko was not rigged out in Ondo. In Edo, Osun and Ekiti governorship candidates of the opposition party were not rigged out.

The 2007 presidential election was so good that Yar’Adua, who benefitted from the electoral artistry, praised the election to high heavens. Even the United States and the European countries flew in to beg Obasanjo and Prof Maurice Iwu of INEC to teach them how to organise exceptional elections. Nigerians felt tall.

But when Jonathan supervised the 2011 elections, he gave us the worst ever. The Peoples Democratic Party bigwigs like Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala, Speaker Dimeji Bankole, Obasanjo’s daughter, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, won by a landslide. The PDP won all the 36 states.

Just last month, some ministers appointed by Jonathan resigned to contest governorship primaries in their states. This same Jonathan influenced the primaries and made them governorship candidates of the PDP in all the states for the February 2015 elections: Mr Musuliu Obanikoro (Lagos), Mr Labaran Maku (Nasarawa); Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu (Ebonyi), Mr Emeka Worgu (Abia), Dr Samuel Ortom (Benue), and Elder Godsday Orubebe (Delta). If it was Obasanjo, Senator Bola Tinubu, Maj. Gen Muhammadu Buhari or Amaechi – who hate interfering in states – they would not influence the primaries for their associates to win. But this Jonathan is just too overbearing! Haba!

Before now, other past presidents supported local production which resulted in Nigeria producing every single product it needed. Then, we were even exporting cement to the US and Europe. All the cement used for construction was bought from Nigeria. Immediately he came in, for the first time in history, we began to import cement. From 30 years ago to five years ago, we were exporting rice to Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the rest of the world. Our cocoa production was the highest in the world. Palm oil flowed like River Niger everywhere in the nation. Cotton was like saw dust. Groundnut pyramids filled every part of the North and even the South. Agriculture boomed. Other presidents supported agriculture massively. But today Jonathan has completely destroyed agriculture! This President needs to be whipped.

What about the railway system? Before Jonathan came in, other presidents had so much supported the railway system that we had the best rail system in the world. Rail lines and modern trains traversed every state and local government area. But since he came in, he had given instructions that the rail tracks across the nation be excavated and that the rail system be killed forthwith. What a leader!

This is a man who hates equity. He noticed that all states had federal institutions of higher learning. He went to nine states and closed down their federal universities: six in the North and three in the South. These states are Nasarawa, Taraba, Katsina, Jigawa, Gombe, Kogi, Bayelsa, Ekiti and Ebonyi. How can these states ever forgive this unjust man?

Which one should I talk about and which one should I leave? This Jonathan has not done anything. He met a land flowing with milk and honey, a land where the infrastructure was the envy of even the US, a land that had the best economy in the world, a land with the best democratic ideals, a land of justice and fairness, but what did he do? He just destroyed everything and added no value.

Let’s shave his head with a bottle shard, tie him to a pole at the Eagle Square and put an inscription over his head which reads: “Behold the father of failure!” After that, we then grab the guys at Oxford Dictionaries by the neck and force them to change the meaning of the word “failure.”

Campaigns shouldn’t be about dead leaders –Buhari

 Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)

PRESIDENTIAL candidate of the All Progressives Congress for the February 14 election, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has said that campaigns should focus on national   issues and not on his state of health and dead Nigerian leaders.

Buhari’s advice came a day after some members of the Peoples Democratic Party raised doubts about his health status and after an advert by Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose warned Nigerians against voting for a 72-year-old man.

In the said advert, Fayose claimed that since three ex-leaders from the North-West had died in office, it would not be wise for Nigerians to vote for Buhari “because we are tired of state burials.”

Buhari, in a message on his official Twitter handle said, “How can his (President Goodluck Jonathan) campaign be talking about ex-dead leaders, jogging around the stadium and outright lies about health?”

Also, the Buhari Support Group Centre on Monday   condemned what it described as an orchestrated campaign of calumny and character assassination directed   at the APC candidate.

It specifically expressed displeasure with the Fayose’s advert, saying it was not decent.

“In line with the Abuja Accord signed by Gen. Buhari and President Jonathan, the advert in question is to say the least, in bad taste.

“Is it to say that our opponents have a death wish for our candidate? Political campaign should stick to issues and be decent,” the BSGC Director of Publicity,   Chidia Maduekwe, said   in a telephone interview with The PUNCH on Monday.

The Buhari Support Organisation, meanwhile, said it had started a sensitisation campaign to ensure full compliance with the no-violence accord signed by presidential candidates in the February 2015 general elections.

Several groups, under the aegis of BSO, urged politicians to adhere strictly to the letter and intent of the accord.

State coordinators of the various groups said this at a media briefing in Abuja on Monday.

Addressing state coordinators of the groups, in Abuja, on Monday, the Chief of Staff to Buhari, Col. Hameed Ali (retd.) said Nigerians had had enough of election related violence since 1956.

He said all hands must be on deck to stop reoccurrence.

“We must change the way the world sees us and this 2015 election offers the rare opportunity to showcase our desired new direction,” Ali said.

Also, a former acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, said the advert by Fayose was against the non-violence accord signed by all presidential candidates.

In a statement on Monday, Baraje, a chieftain of the APC, said the Fayose advert allegedly wished for the death of Buhari, who was military head of state between 1984 and 1985.

Baraje, a chieftain of the APC said that the advert credited to Fayose was capable of causing anarchy in the country.

He said, “One would have expected that at the second coming of Fayose as governor he would be more careful and have outgrown his alleged carelessness and irresponsible motor park attitude which is not expected of a governor.

“It is regrettable that barely a week after all political parties, the Independent National Electoral Commission and other stakeholders met to agree on conducting an issues-based and non-violent campaign, a senior member of PDP, who is meant to be the leader of an entire state, could stoop so low to wish death on anyone, not to talk of a presidential candidate.

“The failure of President Jonathan and the leadership of the PDP to distance itself from such comments and call Mr. Fayose to order is a direct indication that they are in support of Mr. Fayose making a mockery of the dead and trying to play God as only Allah is the one that knows the time of the passing of any individual.”

Meanwhile, Buhari, in continuation of his campaign on Monday, told the electorate to defend their votes in the February elections and give no room for any manipulation.

“Do not leave the polling units until the result is declared,” Buhari, who spoke in Minna, Niger State, said.

According to him, anything that may jeopardise the result of the election should not be allowed to take place.

“Where ever you are, defend your votes during the February elections,” he stressed.

The APC presidential candidate also assured the people of the state that he would provide enough electricity to enable businessmen and women to carry out their businesses in a well- dignified manner.

He said if voted he would improve the agricultural sector in Niger State, given the status of the state as one of the food baskets of the nation.

Speaking at the rally, APC National Leader and former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, said President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration had been characterised by lies, saying that was why the country could not move forward.

“Six years ago, he promised us that he we will step down and will not re-contest, but today the reverse is the case, putting the country into economic mess,” Tinubu said.

He urged the electorate to get their voter cards ready for the elections, saying the cards would bring development to the nation.

At the rally were chieftains of the APC nationwide, including the APC presidential running mate, Prof. Yemi Osinbanjo; Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi; and a former governor of Kwara State, Bukola Saraki.

 

The deputy governor of Niger State, Ahmed Musa Ibeto, who defected from the PDP to the APC on Monday, was also at the rally.