Aggrieved govs talking to us —Labour Party

The Labour Party National Chairman, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, has said some aggrieved governors from other political parties are planning to defect to the LP.

Nwanyanwu, who said the LP had become a beautiful bride among politicians, also confirmed that he had some fruitful discussions with former Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel on his plan to join the party.

He spoke with our correspondent in Abuja on Friday.

Nwanyanwu received Daniel and a few of his aides at the LP secretariat in Abuja.

Though Nwanyanwu would not disclose the details of the meeting with Daniel, sources said the plan by the former governor to defect to the party started last December 22 when he held a closed door meeting with the LP boss in Lagos.

Daniel, who ruled Ogun State as a Peoples Democratic Party governor for eight years, promoted the Peoples Party of Nigeria during the 2011 governorship election in the state.

He led the campaign team of the PPN’s governorship candidate, Alhaji Gboyega Isiaka, in the run-off to the election in which the Action Congress of Nigeria candidate, Ibikunle Amosun, won.

Isiaka from Ogun West Senatorial District among other supporters of the former governor have reportedly joined the LP in the state.

At the meeting with Nwanyanwu, Daniel was said to have negotiated the ceding of the governorship ticket of the party to his camp.

But speaking with our correspondent, the LP chairman said his party remained the only progressive political party in the country.

He said, “In our party, we provide a level-playing field for everybody. We will always be transparent in what we do.

“When Governor Olusegun Mimiko was going to run for a second term, we did not impose him on the electorate. He went through primary to become our candidate.

“In the forthcoming governorship election in Anambra State, we will not impose any candidate on the people. All aspirants will go through primary.

“But in some other political parties, their leaders have started endorsing people for elections that are still far away. Yet, these parties claim to be progressive. Is that progressive or imposition? These parties are fake progressives.

“I can tell you that we have so many people, including governors who are talking to us and our doors are open to them.”

Meanwhile, no fewer than 500 PDP members in Ijero Local Government of Ekiti State have defected to the ACN.

The state Deputy Governor, Modupe Adelabu, who alongside other ACN leaders received the defectors in Ijero on Saturday, assured them of equal rights and privileges in the party.

She noted particularly that the defectors were attracted to the ACN because of the good work of the Governor Kayode Fayemi administration in the state.

Adelabu, who urged older members of the party to receive the new members with love, noted that treating them, as outsiders would be detrimental to the image of the party.

‘Politicians’ greed, fraud hinder devt’

The lawmaker representing Kwara South Senatorial District,  Senator Simeon Ajibola, has urged politicians to stop campaign of calumny so as to advance the nation’s democracy.
Also, a judge of  Sharia Court of Appeal in Ilorin, Justice Salihu Mohammed, has identified greed and embezzlement by some politicians as the cause of poverty and lack of development in the country.
Ajibola spoke in Isapa, Ekiti Local Government on Sunday while disbursing of N1.25m to some beneficiaries in the senatorial district.
Mohammed said poverty affecting many Nigerians was man-made.
He spoke in Ilorin on Sunday at the 2013 Ramadan lecture organised by Ridwanullahi Islamic Society of Nigeria.
He said some politicians had impoverished the masses by diverted the nation’s resources for personal use.
He appealed to leaders in the country to shun corruption and illicit accumulation of wealth.

Igbo presidency can only be actualized under APC –Okorocha

Imo State Governor,  Rochas Okorocha has stated  that the agitation for a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction could only  be realized on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC).
Okorocha, who was speaking during the inauguration of the APC South-East Ward Mobilizers and Supporters Club at the Ahiajoku Convention Centre, Owerri in Imo State, at  the weekend, maintained that the Igbo were well accommodated in the new platform compared to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), which he accused of relegating the zone to the background.
He said: “ I am highly elated that our people are responding to this clarion call that had to do with our collective destiny and aspiration. It is a clear fact that Ndigbo  have been relegated to sixth position in the political equation of our nation not minding the fact that we formed one of the tripods upon which the nation stands.”
The governor said  a situation where the Igbo  is not  the president, vice president, senate president, speaker of the House of Representatives and chairman of the ruling party, gave credence to the fact that they had been relegated to the background by the PDP.
“But my assurance today is that our tears would be wiped away in APC as we have no doubt started well and will definitely finish on a very good note in this new party. Let me state categorically that Igbo presidency, which appeared impossible in PDP would be actualized under the platform of APC. Therefore, I make bold to say that APC is truly an Igbo party and should be embraced by the entire Igbo,” he said.
The governor added that APC had beyond being a political party, metamorphosed into a rallying point for the Igbo, thereby rekindling hope for the much canvassed Igbo unity and possible actualization of the common agenda of the people.
Governor Okorocha further posited that with successful inauguration of the Ward Mobilizers and Supporters Club of APC, the party was prepared to demonstrate its winning strategy  in the November 6 Anambra governorship election.
He hinted  of his plan to hold  crucial talk with Senators  Chris Ngige and  Annie Okonkwo, the party’s frontline aspirants, in a bid to ensure smooth and peaceful emergence of the party’s governorship candidate ahead of the polls.
Speaking earlier, the Coordinator of the APC South-East Ward Mobilizers, Chula Nwauwa, explained that the mobilizers were people carefully chosen with the enormous capacity to entrench the party at the grassroots and move on the same pace with Governor  Rochas Okorocha, who incidentally is the chief mobilizer of the party in the South-East.
According to Hon. Nwauwa, the mobilizers are deeply responsible for converting members of other political parties into the fold of APC towards strengthening its hold at the grassroots to wrestle power from the rival PDP.
Also in  his goodwill message, the National  vice chairman of APC South East, Dr. Nyerere Anyim, urged Igbos to embrace the party and work for its victory in the forthcoming general elections.

Boko Haram, world’s 2nd most violent terror group –Oritsejafor, CAN boss

 

Relying on a document, Boko Haram is the second most violent terrorist group in the world, says Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, president, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
Pastor Oritsejafor said Boko Haram is trailing the Taliban, who he said is world’s leading terrorist group.
The CAN boss told some journalists at the weekend that it was based on this background of the Islamist sect that he was always raising his voice to tell the world about the magnitude of the killings which members have carried out in the country, particularly Christians in churches.
He disclosed that the Nigerian -American Christian Association has been formed outside the shores of the country to promote unity of Christians in Diaspora in a bid to discourage terror attack against believers. He said, “they are becoming very formidable in America today. They are doing a great job, they are holding up our hands and they are speaking as we speak and they are following events very closely in this country”.
He expressed disappointment with the Federal Government for even considering amnesty for Boko Haram at the detriment of victims of the deadly attacks, stressing that it was a pity that the country is having a group who is killing innocent people and boasting about it because they are assured of amnesty.
“I read a document when I was in the United States of America (USA) that Boko Haram is the second most violent terrorist group in the world.
“According to the document, it is only the Talibans that are ahead of Boko Haram in the number of people they have killed in the whole world. That is to tell you the level of destruction of lives and property that these people have indulged themselves in. As I always say, we are ever ready to partner our Muslim brothers. We love them, we wish them well, but we will continue to tell the truth because the Bible says you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. If we work on the basis of truth, we can work together well and build a great nation that we will all be proud of.
“We are beginning to understand that the church must also have a global agenda, not an agenda to take over the world or violently kill people, not at all, but   to preach the gospel as we are instructed in the Bible and protect ourselves from a very dangerous satanic invasion that is coming from the pit of hell,” Oritsejafor said.