BRIBERY ALLEGATION: APC IN DIMINISHING RETURNS - PDP •REPS PROBE ALLEGATION

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Wednesday, dismissed as false alarm, the statement credited to the All Progressives Congress (APC) that federal lawmakers were being induced with millions of dollars to defect to PDP.
This was contained in a statement issued by the national publicity secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh and made available to newsmen in Abuja, on Wednesday.
The APC had, on Tuesday, accused the PDP of luring the members of the National Assembly with millions of dollars, ranging between $1 and $2 million to defect to the ruling party.
But in a reaction on Wednesday, the ruling party denied such transaction and urged all well-meaning Nigerians to ignore APC, saying that the party was at the stage of its diminishing returns.
It, therefore, called on the federal lawmakers to insist that APC withdraw the false statement immediately and tender an unreserved apology to the nation for making such an unfounded allegation.

DEFECTION: SOKOTO DISOWNS SEN MACCIDO

For refusing to defect to the All Progressives Congress(APC), Sokoto Central Senatorial District, has publicly disown Senator Ahmed Maccido, and accused him of working against the interest of his people and north.
The people who frowned that the senator was helped by them to have won the election, stated, the time has equally come for them to vote him out should he remain in the PDP contrary to the interest of his constituency.
Addressing journalists in Sokoto yesterday, Chairman Sokoto South local government, Alhaji Ya’u Danda, lamented that the senator was simply betraying his constituency and the North for pecuniary reasons.

BELGORE DEFECTS TO PDP WEDNESDAY

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State, Mr. Dele Belgore, has concluded plans to defect to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Daily Trust learnt yesterday.
Multiple sources in the PDP told our correspondent that Belgore, who was governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the 2011 election, has finally agreed to join the PDP fold and would declare “any moment from now”.
Belgore’s associate, Dr. Saad Omoiya confirmed the planned defection to our correspondent in a telephone chat, disclosing that Belgore “will arrive Ilorin on Wednesday to address his admirers on his movement to PDP”.
His defection would come few days after some aggrieved APC chieftains dumped the party for the PDP on Saturday at a rally organised by Senator Gbemisola Saraki, the younger sister of scion of Saraki dynasty, Senator Bukola Saraki who had led his supporters massively to the APC.

APC MOVES TO BUILD GRAND COALITION OF OLD, CURRENT GOVS

• PDP cries foul as opposition heads for Rivers on Monday
The All Progressives Congress is moving to build a mega coalition of former and serving state governors as a political bulwark in its quest to wrest power from the Peoples Democratic Party in 2015, THISDAY has learnt.
The party is said to be talking to all the governors from 1999, when one of the national leaders, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, was governor, to date in a bid to persuade them to join the coalition.
Those being invited include former governors Obong Victor Attah (Akwa Ibom), Lucky Igbinedion (Edo), and Donald Duke (Cross River).
Former governors Attahiru Bafarawa (Sokoto), George Akume (Benue), Abubakar Audu (Kogi) and Ahmed Sani Yerima (Zamfara) among others, are already in APC.
One of the old governors, who confirmed the move by APC, said even though he had not joined, he had been invited by the party and was giving it a thought.

PDP ACCUSES APC OF ‘POACHING’ G-7 GOVERNORS

Apparently rattled by the meeting between the leadership of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the G-7 governors in Sokoto on Tuesday, and those held yesterday in Kano, Yola and Dutse, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the APC of poaching the governors.
The G-7 are PDP governors in the Abubabar Baraje faction of the ruling party. The seven governors are Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); Musa Kwankwaso (Kano); Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto); Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Sule Lamido (Jigawa); and Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara).

POPULAR REVOLT MUST NOT RESULT IN CHANGE OF GOVT - ACN

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has voiced its objection to popular protest resulting in unconstitutional change of government. It also described the recent change of government in Egypt as a coup which was a blow to democracy. In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said regardless of the popularity of public protests, governments of the day must not be sacked unconstitutionally.

ACN WARNS ABATI AGAINST USING ‘FOUL’ LANGUAGE

The Action Congress of Nigeria on Thursday warned the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Dr. Reuben Abati, not to use foul language on critics of the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

The ACN said such “crude verbal attacks” might boomerang on the Presidency if left unchecked.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said there was a difference between a vicious verbal attack and a robust response to critics of the administration.

PROSCRIBING BOKO HARAM, ANSARU WRONG, SAYS ACN

Action Congress of Ni-geria, ACN, has said that the recent proscription order against Boko Haram and Ansaru, desirable as it may be in tackling the terrorist organisations, violates the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by stifling the press and tampering with the fundamental human rights of Nigerians.

A statement in Ila-Orangun, yesterday, by ACN’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the order also makes it easy for an increasingly intolerant government to clamp down on the opposition, which its sees more as an irritant .

DON’T IMPOSE TINUBU’S WIFE ON LAGOSIANS, ACN TOLD

A group, Concerned Lagosians, has urged the National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to refrain from imposing his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu as governor of Lagos State in the 2015 election.

The group in a statement on Wednesday said rumours are rife that there is a sinister plan by the leadership of the ACN to field Oluremi as the governor of the state without recourse to the tenets of party primaries.

It said for a successful transition devoid of rancour to be achieved, the leadership of the ACN and other interest groups should pursue fair play and justice in dealing with other candidates of the party.

“It is time we say no to imposition of candidates against the wishes of the majority. In every position, all candidates should be allowed to contest. Imposition of candidates has brought backwardness to our country because we have had bad representatives that were imposed on the people through the selection of candidates by the ACN without recourse to party primaries.

ACN BEHIND INSURGENCY, SAYS PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC) has said that the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) was behind the insurgency threatening the peace of the country. In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisah Metuh, the PDP based its declaration on the opposition party’s condemnation of President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration of state of emergency in Adamwa, Borno and Yobe states on Tuesday.

The ACN has faulted the process as it submitted that the Federal Government did not seek the endorsement of the National Assembly as stipulated in the amended 1999 Constitution. But Metuh in the statement disclosed that the opposition party was against emergency rule as he claimed the “ACN and its cohorts in the opposition are behind insurgents and therefore, must subvert every measure taken by government to tackle escalating insurgency.”

EMERGENCY RULE, COUNTERPRODUCTIVE – ACN

…Asks National Assembly to reject it

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has described the declaration of a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States by President Goodluck Jonathan as lacking in original thinking, and therefore asked the National Assembly to reject it.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said if the use of force was capable of ending the Boko Haram crisis, it would have ended a long time ago.

It said while the President was right in expressing outrage over the mindless killings and wanton destruction by the insurgents, he was wrong in proposing more of the same measures that have failed to yield results.

DON’T DECLARE EMERGENCY RULE IN TROUBLED STATES, ACN, CPC WARN

Opposition parties – Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) – warned yesterday the Federal Government against the declaration of a state of emergency in the violence-ridden states of Borno, Yobe and Nasarawa.

The parties made their position known in statements by their spokesmen – Alhaji Lai Mohammed (ACN) and Mr. Rotimi Fasakin (CPC).

“If the imposition of emergency rule on the most affected states is the only viable option left for President Goodluck Jonathan to tackle the crisis, then he should step down,” Mohammed said.

NEW AVIATION POLICY LENDS CREDENCE TO JONATHAN ADMINISTRATION’S GROWING DESPOTISM – ACN

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has described as another hallmark of emerging despotism some of the provisions of the Jonathan Administration’s recently-unveiled aviation policy, especially the one that says owners of private jets can only carry members of their families aboard such planes.

”Aviation is global, yet nowhere in the world has this kind of policy been put in place, and it is simply impracticable,” the party said in a statement issued in Lagos on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

”Whoever is still in doubt about the transmogrification of the Jonathan Administration should have a second thought.

JONATHAN’S ADMINISTRATION STEADILY DESCENDING INTO DESPOTISM, ACN WARNS

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has raised the alarm that the Jonathan Administration is steadily descending into despotism with a brazen assault on the freedom of expression and the press, the use of national institutions against perceived enemies and a growing inclination to denigrate opposition leaders.

”The Jonathan Administration is anchored on a Transformation Agenda. But the only transformation that we can see is the one from a democratically-elected President to an Emperor, a despot,” the party said in a statement in Lagos on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

ACN BLASTS FG FOR $40M INTERNET SURVEILLANCE CONTRACT

Action Congress of Nigeria has accused the President Goodluck Jonathan administration of launching an assault on the civil rights of Nigerians.

The party stated this while reacting to a report that the Federal Government had awarded a $40m Internet surveillance contract.

According to an online newspaper,Premium Times, the contract will allow the government to monitor the Internet communication of privacy of citizens, especially journalists and those considered to be opponents of the administration.

An Israeli firm reportedly won the contract.

The ACN, in a statement in Lagos on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said since  the contract was reported, the government had yet to deny it.

It said because the government had yet to deny the report several days after its publication, it was safe to submit that it was true.

ACN FUSES INTO APC AT CONVENTION IN LAGOS

• Why PDP must go, by Buhari, Akande, Onu, Momoh, others

MOVES to forge a formidable mega party in the country Thursday received a boost, as the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) at its national convention in Lagos okayed its fusion into the Alliance for Progressive Change (APC).

Also at the convention, former Head of State and presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in 2011, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the party’s National Chairman, Prince Tony Momoh; the ACN National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande; his All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) counterpart, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu and former Lagos State Governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu; echoed the need to vote out what they called the ‘visionless ruling PDP’ in 2015.

ACN, PRESIDENCY CLASH OVER JONATHAN’S LAGOS VISIT TODAY

President Goodluck Jonathan’s scheduled visit to Lagos today has sparked  a war of words between the Action Congress of Nigeria and the Presidency.

Jonathan is expected to arrive  in Lagos on Thursday (today) en route  to Ibafo in Ogun State where he will  inaugurate WEMPCO’s  Cold Roll Steel Plant.

But  the ACN  said on Wednesday that  the visit  was primarily aimed at  scuttling  its national convention today  at the Onikan Stadium, Lagos.  The  Presidency however described the allegation as baseless and another in the series of “wolf crying” that has become the ACN trait.

ACN ACCUSES FG OF PROMOTING POLICIES THAT WILL PLUNGE NATION INTO CRISIS

The Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, has accused the Federal Government of promoting policies that will plunge the country into crises and as well shuttle election in 2015.

The party also in a press conference addressed by the Nation Publicity Secretary said the the oil pipeline protection contract is a smokescreen.

Below is the text of the Press Conference addressed by the National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Lagos on Sunday, April 7th 2013)

We are compelled to once again raise the alarm about some disturbing developments in the polity. To be sure, this is not the first time we are raising concerns about what seems a deliberate ploy in certain quarters to plunge Nigeria into a deep crisis, by instigating widespread violence and insecurity and engaging in scaremongering tactics

ACN WARNS BOKO HARAM, OTHERS TO STAY AWAY FROM LAGOS

The Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has warned Boko Haram and any other purveyor of violence to steer clear of Lagos or get crushed by the will of the peace loving people of Lagos. The party said it is issuing this warning in the light of recent security uncovering of a hideout, where militant groups were stockpiling arms and planning a possible attack on Lagos.

In a release in Lagos signed by the Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the ACN, Joe Igbokwe, the party said Lagos as Nigeria’s last refuge from the security crisis ravaging the nation, had the full capacity to defend itself from unprovoked attack from any criminal group. It therefore warned perpetrators of violence to stay off Lagos or be ready to face the wrath and firepower of Lagos State. “We were rudely awakened by the recent discovery of a hideout in Ijora, being used by terrorists and criminal elements as a pad for a possible assault on Lagos.

FIRST LADY: PRESIDENCY HAS LOST CREDIBILITY – ACN

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has congratulated First Lady Patience Jonathan for her miraculous return from the dead, while slamming the presidency for losing whatever is left of its credibility over its handling of the First Lady’s illness saga.

In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the revelation by the First Lady on the extent of her illness, especially the fact that she passed out for seven days before she said God miraculously brought her back to life, cannot but elicit joy among Nigerians, irrespective of their political leanings.