The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, dismissed the reports as rumours, saying any changes to the list would be formally communicated by the party.

Morka spoke with TheCable on Tuesday while reacting to reports that the list had been withdrawn following concerns over the inclusion and omission of some individuals.

He said, “Rumours are not news. When people are carrying rumours, that is not news. There is fake news, and there is real news.”

Morka added that the party would officially announce any changes if necessary.

The APC had unveiled the campaign council on Saturday, with President Bola Tinubu as chairman, Vice-President Kashim Shettima and APC National Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, as vice-chairmen.

Former Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, was named Director-General, while Imo State Governor and Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, Hope Uzodimma, was appointed secretary.

The composition of the council has generated controversy, particularly over the inclusion of some serving government officials and individuals who have faced corruption allegations.

Among those listed are former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu; former Chairperson of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund board, Ngozi Olejeme; Nigeria Revenue Service Chairman, Zacch Adedeji; and Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu.

Reports had emerged that the party was considering a review of the list following complaints over some of the names and the omission of prominent members.

However, Morka said he could not speak on complaints from party members concerning those omitted from the council.

The development has also attracted criticism from opposition figures, with former New Nigeria Peoples Party presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, questioning the inclusion of senior government officials in the campaign structure.

Former Kogi West Senator, Dino Melaye, also threatened legal action over Adedeji’s inclusion in the council.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Christopher Musa and Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, who were named members of the council, described their appointments as a call to greater service.

They assured that their responsibilities in security operations and ongoing reforms would continue despite their roles in the campaign council.

Announcing the development on his verified X account on Thursday, Sanwo-Olu described the duo as a capable team prepared to sustain the progress recorded by his administration and drive further development across the state.

According to the governor, the selection of Hamzat and Sonayon-James reflects the APC’s commitment to continuity, competence, and inclusive leadership.

“The true test of sustainable governance is the ability to pass the baton to proven hands, guided by minds that see the future clearly,” Sanwo-Olu stated.

He added that the ticket embodies the strength, diversity, and future aspirations of Lagos State.

The governor praised Hamzat for his role in the administration, describing him as a dedicated public servant and dependable partner in governance.

“Dr. Obafemi Hamzat has proven himself to be a dedicated public servant, a dependable partner in governance, and a steadfast advocate for progress,” he said.

Sanwo-Olu also commended Sonayon-James, highlighting her experience in sustainability, grassroots development, and youth empowerment.

“Joining him as his running mate is Princess Damilola Sonayon-James, a respected leader, sustainability professional, and grassroots champion whose commitment to community development and youth empowerment reflects the aspirations of many Lagosians,” he said.

The governor expressed confidence that the pair possesses the experience, competence, and vision required to consolidate on the achievements of the current administration and move the state forward.

As political activities intensify ahead of the election, Sanwo-Olu called on party members, stakeholders, and residents to support the APC ticket.

“I invite party faithful, stakeholders, and all Lagosians to support this team as we continue our shared mission of building a Greater Lagos,” he said.

Hamzat emerged as the APC governorship candidate during the party’s primary election held on May 21 at the APC Secretariat in Ogba, Lagos. He secured 657,917 votes out of 657,974 accredited votes cast, while his challenger, Lanre Jim-Kamal, received one vote.

The election slated for 6 November 2021 has all the trappings of violence and disorderliness.

The Primate who was in the state to worship at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church Parish Igboezunu- Aguleri for a burial ceremony prayed for all Anglican faithful who are seeking various elective positions for a safe and successful landing.

Most especially Primate Ndukuba prayed for Governorship candidates  Andy Ubah of the All Progressives Congress (APC) a staunch member of Anglican Communion and  Professor Chukwuma Soludo the All Progressives Grand Alliance ( APGA) a Catholic and other governorship candidate in the state that God should answer their heart desires.

He prayed that Heaven should look upon his servants, Ubah and  Soludo, who had distinguished themselves in this nation as good stewards.

He said God had distinguished them excellently well in their past vocations and as they were looking for higher office ” May Heavenly Father, let the spirit of excellence continue to rest mightily upon them.”.

“Lord, grant them their heart desires . Holy God build your hedge around them in this time of electioneering campaign, give them favour before thee”.

“Heavenly Father I pray that that purpose you have for them shall come to pass in Jesus name.”

Speaking during a lecture of the Executive Management Course 14 in Abuja, Wike wondered why governors lament there is no money in their states yet seek a second term in office.

The governor noted that every state has its own advantage and disadvantage, comparing two American states – Houston and California.

The first, according to Wike, is blessed with oil but not as developed as the second which doesn’t have crude oil but is the biggest economy in the United States.

He believes that development can strive if the governor is able to use the advantage for the benefit of the state and its people.

“No state is poor in this country, it is this over-dependence on the Federal Government,” Wike said. “At the end of every month, they send their Accountant-General/Commissioner of Finance for FAAC.”

“Any state that tells you we are poor and they deceive you by saying their state is poor. I keep on telling them ‘if your state is poor, why do you want to be governor? Your state is poor; you want to run the second term.”

He, therefore, charged governors to make good use of the opportunities at their disposal and stop relying solely on the Federal Government for survival.

On the issue of the Value Added Tax, the governor criticised the Federal Government for collecting VATs from states, insisting that “I looked at it and saw that what the Federal Government was collecting is not their own.”

Governors Too Powerful

When he came into office in 2015, Governor Wike recalled that he inherited Rivers State as one that was financially depleted and very close to bankruptcy.

This, to him, is because workers in the state were owed their monthly salaries; pensioners were not paid as well as contractors, describing the situation as being problematic.

Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), explained that what he met on the ground became worse for him because his predecessor, Rotimi Amaechi (of the All Progressives Congress) did not leave a handover note to ease governance.

According to him, institutions should be made strong so that whether a governor is leaving the office or not, governance would not fail as it is a continuum.

He added, “Nigeria is one funny country how a democratically elected governor in the history of Nigeria will take a padlock and lock the court for two years. For two years, the courts were shut down in Rivers State and you know the implication of the courts being shut down.

“We, the governors are too powerful. The President is too powerful. If the governors were not too powerful, how can a governor think of a whole arm of government, the judiciary, and shut it for two years?

“Tell me what will be the fate of those who have problems with their contracts, how do they go for determination of who is wrong or right?” he questioned.

ChannelsTV

Usman Bugaje was appointed as the coordinator of the RNP. Speaking at the unveiling, former Kwara Governor, Abdulfatai lamented the state of the nation.

He stated that the high level of nepotism and lack of inclusiveness have given rise to agitations by different ethnic groups.

He recalled that in 2015, Nigerians embraced change, adding that today, “that change appears to be what we didn’t expect, as insecurity has taken over the nation.”

He said, “It is based on this that we decided to set up this Rescue Nigeria Project. We want to salvage this country and see how we can fix the mess. We want to set a template and key criteria leaders must have before they can attain any political position.

“Despite the great opportunities of the past, Nigeria has failed to live up to the dreams of its founding fathers and the hopes of successive generations of its citizens.

“Perhaps, at no other time have these failings become more apparent than in the past decade or so.”

On his part, Tunde Adeniran stated that the nation is currently experiencing a disaster, hence the need to rescue her.

He said: “You only rescue when there is disaster and when you fail to rescue during disaster, it is more dangerous.

“We have a disaster in our hands and we need to rescue the country. We need to look back and see how we get here. We know where Nigeria was before now. We know the task is not going to be easy, but we have to determine how to rescue the nation.”

The RNP national coordinator, Usman Bugaje, in his opening remark, slammed the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government.

Bugaje said, “when you reduce the problems of this country to what they are, ultimately, it all comes to leadership.

“We have been unable to exit the leadership conundrum precisely because the leadership recruitment mechanism in our political parties is so flawed that, except for accidents, they are incapable of producing competent leaders with the requisite knowledge, discipline and commitment to make a difference. We are living with, or better still, groaning under the consequences of this folly.

“What this means is that any attempt to rescue this country from its troubles must first rescue it from the current leadership recruitment mechanism that seems to leverage on money and connection or ethnic sentiments and no premium on knowledge or competence.”

Recently, some notable politicians defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and met with the president at Aso Rock for pictures before announcing the switch.

Obi’s reaction came about based on the latest defection of Femi Fani-Kayode who, last week, announced his crossover to the ruling party as pictures of himself meeting with the president went viral.

The Ex governor said this in a chat with Arise TV on Monday, condemned the trend while adding that the act “is sending the wrong signal that you can be anything and be elevated into something”.

He pointed out that the president should instead take pictures “at the funeral of our falling soldiers, police, or their family” or with “young people who are doing innovative things in the tech industry”.

“Let me tell you what I found worrisome about the defection of today. What I found worrisome is people, weekly and daily, being led to go and take photoshoots with the president, I’m worried about it. I want to see the president taking pictures at the funeral of our falling soldiers, police, or their family,” the former vice-presidential candidate said.

“I want to see him taking pictures with young people who are doing innovative things in the tech industry. I want to see him taking pictures with people who are making a lot of impact; not pictures with those of us — I’m generalising politicians — who are heartless, valueless. It is very worrisome. Those pictures are not helping our country. The perception is sending the wrong signal that you can be anything and be elevated into something. That’s why the country is collapsing.”

The former PDP chieftain was introduced to President Muhammadu Buhari as the newest member of the ruling party on Thursday during a visit to the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

He was led to the meeting with the President by the APC National Caretaker Committee Chairman and Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, as well as Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State.

The Secretary to the Government of Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, was also present at the meeting to introduce Fani-Kayode.

Shortly after meeting with President Buhari, the new APC member had a session with State House correspondents where he claimed responsibility for the defection of three PDP governors who joined the ruling party – Governor Matawalle, as well as Governor David Umahi (Ebonyi) and Governor Ben Ayade (Cross River).

Fani-Kayode, a former spokesman for the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, said he was instrumental in the events that led to the defection of the three governors.

He told State House correspondents that he had been a founding member of the APC and simply returned to the ruling party for the unity of the country.

The former minister revealed that he was equally wooing three more governors in the main opposition party to join the ruling party.

He listed them to include Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, and Governor Ifeanyi Uguanyi of Enugu State.

He said whatever opinion anyone may have about his credibility, as a result of his constant change of parties, was up to them.

“I think he needs to withdraw that statement, he’s my good friend but, it was an insult on my person and the other governors,” Umahi said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday.

“The man did not know when I moved, but incidentally he visited me and we discussed, and he said he was coming to join me with the other governors to declare.

“How will somebody in the PDP be instrumental to my moving?,” Umahi asked.

“A whole Governor of the state and then, not even a small governor, an experienced Governor.

“So, he has to withdraw the statement, he was never part of any discussion of my movement”.

Governor Umahi defected to the APC in November 2020.

During Thursday’s interview, he explained that one of the reasons was to move the southeast to the center of administration.

“I moved to close the gap between the center and the southeast, which our forefathers fought for, like Nnamdi Azikwe.

“So, for somebody to come and say that a whole chairman of the southeast governor’s forum, he was instrumental to that, it’s a bitter insult to my person and with all due respect, he has to withdraw the statement.

“He remains my friend and a good one for that matter, but he played no role in my movement and I’m sure he didn’t play no role in the movement of the rest of us,” Governor Umahi stressed.

The comments come on the same day that Mr Femi Fani-Kayode officially defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC.

The former PDP chieftain was introduced to President Muhammadu Buhari as the newest member of the ruling party during a visit to the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

He was led to the meeting with the President by the APC National Caretaker Committee Chairman and Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, as well as Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State.

National Secretary, APCECPC, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe made the disclosure in a terse statement on Monday.

The statement further disclosed that sale of forms will begin on Wednesday, September 15, 2021, ahead of the exercise.

It was however silent on modalities and guidelines for the exercise.

Checks by Nigerian Tribune revealed that the party had since concluded conduct of ward and local government Congresses.

Further investigation revealed that there has been no pronouncements on the composition of local government congress Appeal Panels, despite the crises that trailed the exercise in few states where factions conducted parallel congresses.

Speaking with newsmen last week, Senator John Akpanudoedehe however maintained that the National Secretariat of the party would not accord recognition to parallel congresses as there was no provision for such in the party Constitution and guidelines for the exercise.

He said: ” As far as APC is concerned, we are very structured. We put up a committee and the committee has gone out to conduct the congresses. The next step will be an appeal and anyone with issues will go to the appeal and if you are not satisfied with the appeal the caretaker committee will handle it. That is our structure.

“You know that the supervising institution of a political party is INEC. We will write to INEC and by the rule of the land we are to give them 21 days notice and you will also write to INEC stating names of people who are going to those congresses, the venue you will conduct the congresses, you will also announce locally stating the time of the congress and we would inform the security agencies for protection and guide.

“If you move away from the organisation stipulated by INEC we will describe it the way anybody will describe it.

“This is the headquarters of APC and you now go and set up something outside here is no more APC. I’m just hearing from you that there was a parallel congress; I didn’t know.”

Source; Nigerian Tribune

The Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KADSIECOM) on Friday, declared the September 4 local government elections in some local government areas in the state inconclusive.

The local governments are Jaba, Kauru Jema’a, Kachia, Soba LGAs

Local Government elections were held in 19 local governments areas of Kaduna State. Four other local government areas were postponed

Chairman of KADSIECOM, Dr. Saratu Binta Dikko-Audu disclosed this at a press briefing in Kaduna on Friday

She said those results are inconclusive because elections could not be held in some wards.

In the case of Jaba LGA however, she said that the tribunal would be left to determine the matter because two conflicting results were announced.

She said one result in Jaba was announced in favour of APC, while another was announced in favour of PDP.

On those that have been confirmed winners, she listed Kauru where APC scored 27,691 while PDP scored 21,800.

Kaduna LG polls: Returning Officers allegedly abscond with Ward result sheet in Jaba LG.