Ogun APC took ADC candidates to court – Otegbeye

By Musa Baba Adamu

The governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Biyi Otegbeye, has revealed why he and other candidates of the party were dragged to court by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Otegbeye was reacting to Monday’s appeal court judgment, which set aside the order of an Abeokuta Federal High Court that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, should delist all ADC candidates in Ogun.

The APC had gone to court saying Otegbeye and others did not emerge through a credible primary in accordance with the new Electoral Act.

Addressing newsmen on Tuesday, Otegbeye said the APC filed 26 pre-election cases against the ADC and its candidates.

This, he said, was because the party did not want to be on the ballot with a formidable opponent.

“To our consternation, 21 lawsuits were filed against us by the APC, apparently to preclude us from contesting the March 11th, 2023 elections,” he said.

Otegbeye maintained: “The ruling APC have run out of ideas and they needed justification to demand the people’s mandate for a second term; hence, the desperate effort, at taxpayers’ expense, to take us out of the ballot.

“Unfortunately, they have failed and must now test their much-diminished popularity and integrity at the polls.”

Otegbeye regretted the blatant attempts to reverse the gains of democratic evolution in the country through dubious schemes calculated at eliminating electoral competition.

He noted that any attempt to grab the people’s mandate by running away from legitimate competition is a mockery of democracy.

The ADC, he declared, is ready to take over Ogun from APC in 2023, counting on the support of former governor Ibikunle Amosun and the people of Ogun State.

According to him, ADC is the party to beat in the forthcoming election.

The Delta South senatorial candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Commodore Omatseye Nesiama (Rtd) yesterday told traders in Igbudu market, Warri, that he does not have a godfather and financier bankrolling his political ambition.

Nesiama made the remark during his consultative visit to the Igbudu Market Traders Association (IMTA).

The NNPP candidate promised to be accountable to the traders and people of Delta South Senatorial District if voted into office as the next senator.

He said “I don’t have a godfather. I don’t have a financier. I have no structure. Nobody anointed me for the game but God Almighty did,” he said, assuring the people that “I will not be accountable to any godfather but to the people who will believe in my message.”

He appealed to the traders to give him their support and cast their votes for him in the forthcoming elections.

Kwara declares Wednesday work-free day for PVC collection

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

Governor Abdulrahaman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State has declared Wednesday, a work-free day to enable civil servants to get their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which will ensure their participation in the upcoming general elections.

This was announced in a statement in Ilorin on Tuesday by the Kwara State Head of Service, Susan Modupe Oluwole.

“All those that are yet to get their voter cards are admonished to immediately do so before the expiration of the collection date,” she stated. INEC said there will be no further extension of the date for the collection exercise.

Shehu Abubakar, Maiduguri

The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in Borno State has complained of the persistent destruction of its campaign structures and attacks on its candidates in the state, allegedly by the governing All Progressives Congress (APC).

“The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) Borno state chapter finds it highly imperative to draw the attention of the good people of Borno to the dangerous political trends capable of plunging our dear state into wanton violence and disruption of the emergent fragile peace that we have collectively fought for,” the party complained in a statement signed

I’ll return Kano to trade and

hub if electedObi assures electorate

By Musa Baba Adamu

The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi and his campaign train arrived at the North’s commercial nerve center, Kano on Sunday, where he assured the people that Kano will regain its old enviable status in trade and industry.

Obi told the jubilant crowd in the ancient city that he drove round Kano before coming to address them and he found all the industries in the City shutdown, promising that if elected in February, he and Datti will restore them.

He said that the trading status of Kano will return and will remain the center of cash, adding “Before, if you want cash, you come to Kano, but what you see today is poverty everywhere. Datti and I will restore the old glory of Kano.

“We will secure and unite Nigeria where people will be proud to say I am a Nigerian. We will kill the sentiments of tribes and religions which they have been using to deceive us.”

The former Anambra Governor told the people amidst shouts of ‘Sai Obi’ that under the Presidency of he and Datti, there will be one Nigeria where the people will be free to move and do their business unmolested.

Obi said that they will be able to do what they are preaching because they have done it in public and private sectors and succeeded, referring to his record in Anambra state where he was governor for eight years and no kobo was missing.

“Datti and I will not allow wastages. We will do exactly what we are saying”, Obi stressed.

He told the people that this election is going to be about character you can trust not people who will come to talk about religion and tribe which they have been using to deceive us.