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He was supposed to
return from exile to pick a job as a senior aide of President Goodluck
Jonathan, but the decision of Nuhu Ribadu to seek the top job moves
closer to actuality when he emerged consensus presidential candidate of
the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) at the aprty’s national convention
held in Lagos on Friday.

Prior to the
convention, rumour was rife on the possible withdrawal of the other two
contestants vying for the party’s nomination, but this became real
during the programme as the duo of Attahiru Bafarawa and Saidu Malami
announced their withdrawal from the race.

Mr. Malami, whose
posters along with those of Mr. Ribadu were the only ones visible
outside the convention ground. But none of the teeming delegates within
the convention ground nor party supporters carried neither his nor
Bafawara’s posters and this had tongues waxing.

But all fears were
laid down as the three aspirants were called up to address the crowd
ahead of the election, with the former governor of Sokoto State the
first to announce his intention to withdraw.

Mr. Bafarawa, whose
party, the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP), was one of the parties who
merged with ACN, said he never joined with intention of becoming the
president but to “build a strong party”. He said he wanted to be part
of the group that will capture power in April 2011, hence his
withdrawal. Mr. Malami followed in a similar manner.

He declared his
wholesome support for the man the party has chosen and withdrew his
candidature, saying he has been “assured that the dream will not be
changed.” He thanked the leadership of the ACN for giving him the
honour to campaign for the presidency.

As demanded by the
2010 Electoral Act, the party leadership then moved a motion to use a
voice vote from the delegates to affirm the party’s presidential
candidate. This motion was seconded by Muiz Banire, the legal attorney
to the ACN and a resounding YES! enveloped the Onikan Stadium, venue of
the convention.

Mr. Ribadu, using
his campaign motto “a new Nigeria is possible”, called Nigerians to
recall that “in the cold moments of our national discord, during the
civil war, we came together to forge a new beginning; the same spirit
was evident when we mustered the will and sacrifice to defeat military
dictatorship and restore democracy. Anytime we come together, no force
negative and retrogressive as they come can defeat Nigeria. We can do
it again,” he said, urging for a vote to get the ruling party out of
power.

Kayode Fayemi, the
Ekiti State governor who was also the chairman of the screening
committee, stated that “we (the ACN) were lucky to have three eminent
Nigerians who presented to us in clarity the possibility of a new
Nigeria. The two aspirants that stood down demonstrated why our party’s
policy in holding elective office is not that of do or die. They
demonstrated that there are several ways in which we can all serve our
nation. ACN will from Monday start campaigning for the agenda of
renewal, due process, and transformation.

ACN’s government at
federal level will ensure that Nigeria becomes a country that refuses
to be a bunch of joke in the comity of nations.”

With the song
‘Stand up for the champion’ by Right Said Fred playing loudly, all the
contestants and governors of the ACN joined Mr. Ribadu on the stage.
Adams Oshiomole, the governor of Edo State, warned Nigerians on the
essence of voting in the coming polls saying that “this time, its
either we make it now, or we will never make it again.”

The Lagos State
governor, Raji Fashola, decided to take a jibe at the ruling party,
which he described as the Poverty Development Party.

“Governors in
Lagos, Edo and Ekiti have shown that great leaders can affect the lives
of their people in less than four years,” he said and called on people
to register and vote immensely to get the PDP out of power.

“Their 12 years of being the largest party in Africa has brought
larger darkness, hopelessness and poverty to Nigeria than ever seen in
the nation’s half a century history. The battle to remove the Poverty
Development Party starts today,” he said.

The swearing-in of
Emmanuel Uduaghan as the governor-elect in the January 6 re-run
election by the newly-appointed Delta State Chief Judge, Abiodun Smith
on Monday, January 10, at the cenotaph in Asaba, was a landmark event
for two reasons: one, it was the very first time in the history of the
state for a sitting governor to be sworn in twice within a four-year
tenure and secondly, it opens avenues to more maneuvering and scheming
by the gladiators who are desperate to wrestle power from the
incumbent.

One thing that stood out in the political development of
Delta State in the last three years was electorate consciousness. This
much was demonstrated in the January 6 rerun when they came out in
large numbers to exercise voting rights devoid of sentiments and ethnic
bias. This was done to the extent of undermining cases of intimidation
and harassment by some political thugs who were reported to be on the
rampage in some polling centres while the election was going on across
the state. Despite well-advertised ethnic jingoism by some leaders with
outsized ideas of their own importance, the electorate showed a great
sense of maturity and civilized conduct which proved quite a number of
those who had anticipated violence, either during or after the
election, wrong. Of course, there is also a realization that the
electoral process is capable of effecting needed changes. This is more
crucial as the candidates gather their strength for another contest in
the general elections coming up in April.

The April polls

Some opposition
politicians, especially members of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP)
that came second in the re-run election, have expressed doubts on the
ability of INEC to conduct a fairer election in April. But there is a
conviction that the April election would guarantee another chance for
them to further express their aspirations on who will lead them in the
next four years. In other words, besides the free and fair prospect it
holds, many see the “One Man, One Vote” slogan and promises of a
credible process by President Goodluck Jonathan as sincere enough.

One positive expectation for the April election is the expected level playground it will create for contenders in the race.

“Since the new
voters registration being compiled by INEC is capable of taking care of
issues that borders on multiple registration and falsification of
figures in the number of people in a particular community, then there
is the likelihood that the result of the April polls would represent
the yearnings of the electorates,” an official of the DPA said.

Again, the issue of
creating awareness on the present political process through the various
enlightenment campaigns, especially in the media, has contributed
immensely to re-awakening political consciousness in the electorate and
this was clearly demonstrated in the massive turnout of people for the
election even with the protest over non-revalidation of the voters’
register by the opposition group.

Uduaghan’s hurdles

One major challenge
Mr Uduaghan had to contend with before the April polls was factional
crisis within his party. The trouble dates back to the 2007 party
primaries at Ogwashi-Uku in Aniocha South LGA as a result of the
supremacy tussle between two opposing power blocs in the state. A
former federal commissioner of information, Edwin Clark, led a faction
of the party against the incumbent governor, Uduaghan who leads the
other group. This lingering crisis, which has defied all reconciliation
efforts aimed at the reconciliation of factional groups, came to a head
during the party primaries held on Tuesday, January 11 — barely a day
after Mr Uduaghan’s inauguration. It was an event that further exposed
the disenchantment among party members in the state as it witnessed the
emergence of two governorship candidates of the ruling party.

While the Peter
Nwaoboshi-led state executive converged at the Cenotaph in Asaba to
pick the party’s flagbearer in the April election, the other faction
led by Godwin Ebomah found a home at Mid-West Inn, Enerhen, near Warri
to conduct its own parallel primaries. The result was that while the
Nwaoboshi camp returned Mr Uduaghan for the second tenure, Mr Ebomah’s
parallel body settled on Saliba Mukoro as its governorship candidate,
alongside other aspirants who emerged to contest the various elective
positions under the party platform.

Obviously
determined not to take chances with the opportunity avail him, Mr
Mukoro, who was coming into party politics for the first time, after
having served in the Nigerian Army for 16 years where he rose to the
rank of Major before the Gideon Orkah coup which he participated in
truncated his career, reassured his supporters of his commitment to
ensuring that the mandate giving to him as the party flag bearer was
secured till the end. He also promised to make a pronouncement on his
choice of a running mate as soon as the party’s national headquarters
in Abuja on his candidacy.

One of the critics
of Mr Uduaghan within the party, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
said the intra-party challenge might well be the most dangerous
obstacle to the governor’s second term bid.

“If truly President
Goodluck Jonathan is the political godson of E.K. Clark, a man seen as
the arrow-head of the parallel group in the state, then, there may
likely be a last minute U-turn in certain party decisions by the
national headquarters, especially now that the president had secured
the party ticket to contest the April general elections and no longer
needs to lobby or do the bidding of any governor to secure delegate
votes,” he said.

One of the high
points of the rerun election was the near upset by the candidate of the
Democratic Peoples Party (DPP), Great Ogboru and that raises fears as
to what would be the faith of the Uduaghan led PDP in the April polls.
This is more so as some notable members of the PDP are defecting to the
DPP to protest their failure at the last party primaries.

Lawrence Akpeti, a
DPP leader said that members of the party are going to reclaim what he
described as stolen mandate of the people by the PDP in the re-run
election.

“The governor
should know that he never won the election and his stay in Government
House, Asaba is going to be for a short time because DPP will kick him
out through the court,” he said. “The recent re-run election brought a
healthy competition between the political parties like the DPP that
came to compete with the PDP. It has brought awareness to politicians
and people in Delta State; for them to know that one party cannot
benefit alone. The votes that DPP had came from Deltans who believe in
justice.”

With barely three
months to April’s polls, Mr Uduaghan will need to work extra hard to
change reformulate the policies of his party and his government.

“He must do this by giving all the ethnic groups the right sense of
belonging in terms of developmental projects and empowerment schemes,”
the PDP leader said. “Perhaps this could help in building the needed
confidence and trust that could guarantee a landslide victory for him
in the general election.”

The Kwara State governorship candidate of the Allied Congress
Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Gbemi Rukayat Saraki, on Thursday, urged all indigenes
of the state to come out and participate in the voter registration exercise,
which kicks off tomorrow nationwide.

Ms. Saraki, a senator, advised the electorate to exercise their
fundamental right, saying the right to vote is sacred and sacrosanct.

“The survival of democracy and indeed our nation’s growth will
depend on each individual being able to express his/her voting rights without
intimidation or disenfranchisement,” she said, even as she told Kwara State
indigenes that the ACPN is the true symbol of peace, people and democracy.

Ms. Saraki, in a statement she issued in Ilorin, said the only
way the people of the state can receive the kind of development they have been
yearning for is to be proactive in the electoral process.

“The coming elections can only be successful if people
participate actively in it,” she said.

She warned that failure to register during the registration
exercise means that the people would have disenfranchised themselves and would
not be in a position to vote in credible people to drive the state’s
development.

Sensitisation drive

Ms. Saraki said her party, the ACPN, has started a mobilisation
drive to sensitise people on the need to participate in the exercise.

She noted that ACPN will take over the state in May, adding that
the party is ready to ensure that developmental projects are spread across the
state.

Promising that gender-based issues will equally be addressed
with vigour, Ms. Saraki said “women will not be relegated in the scheme of
things.”

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has called on officers
and men of the nation’s armed forces to take sides with democracy, saying their
support should be for the people and not the ruling class or a political party.

Mr Oshiomhole made the appeal yesterday at the launch of the
2011 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Emblem Appeal Fund in Benin City.

According to him, “the commitment of the Nigerian Armed Forces
must be to the Nigerian nation. And it is important as we are approaching the
next general elections that the Nigeria Armed Forces must stand on the side of
democracy.They must remind themselves that they are for the country and not for
the ruling party. If there is a conflict between the interest of the ruling
party and the interest of the Nigerian nation, the interest of the nation is
superior to that of any political party.

“When we stand by the people and defend the democracy, not
individuals,then the campaign of One man, one Vote will be thororughly carried
out even to into the military barracks.”

Divisive politicians

He berated the political class for its divisive tendencies which
tend to weaken the foundation of the nation, saying “whereas Nigerian Armed
Forces have continued to struggle to keep the country together, the evidence is
everywhere that the political class or a good section of the political class
often behave in a manner to weaken our national unity.” Mr Oshiomhole also
admonished Nigerians to ensure that their actions do not threaten the unity of
the country, adding that “Nigeria will never know peace for as long as there is
no justice.”

Earlier,the Edo State Chairman of the Nigerian Legion, Johnbull
Awanbor a retired colonel, commended the governor for the developmental strides
in the State. He appealed to the state head to consider members of the legion
for opportunities to serve the state.

The emblem launch was attended by the Commander of the 4
Brigade,

Benin City, Abel Umahi; Commandant, 81 Air Maritime Group, Air Commander J.
Atiku; representative of the Police Commissioner, top government functionaries,
among others.

The governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)
in Ogun State, Gboyega Isiaka yesterday said his group’s main objective is to
focus on winning at the general elections scheduled for April, 2011 rather than
spend time on the factional rivalry in the party.

Mr Isiaka was elected by a faction of the party loyal to the
state Governor, Gbenga Daniel while the second faction, backed by former
President Olusegun Obasanjo picked Olatunji Olurin as its candidate.

But Mr Isiaka said his nomination was a challenge for him to lead
the party to victory at the general election, just as he extends his
appreciation to God and party leaders who gave him their support to emerge as
the flagbearer of the party in the general elections.

“I am extremely honoured to have been nominated as the gubernatorial
candidate of our great party, the PDP and would like to express my deepest
respect for party leaders and other aspirants that keenly contested the
elections with me,’ Mr Isiaka said.

Brought together

He said he will ensure that all aggrieved groups within the party
are brought together, just as he emphasised that he will need the cooperation
of all to take the party to greater height.

“You all have my admiration and I also seek your advice and
immense support in the task of moving Ogun State forward,” he said.

Mr Isiaka said “the current administration has made giant strides
and, in consolidating such achievements, we will work harder, be more
innovative and confront the challenges that face us by quickly facilitating the
four pillars of greatness which is our programme for the socio-economic and
human development of Ogun State.

“In leading Ogun State to greatness, our business in office will
be predicated on these four pillars which are the rapid growth our economy
through building an entrepreneurial state, provision of quality social
services, strengthening people and the society and energizing our government
and polity,” he said.

A civil society group, the Socio-Economic Rights and
Accountability Project (SERAP), has petitioned the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights, Navi Pillay, to facilitate the holding of a special session of
the UN Human Rights Council to address the deteriorating human rights situation
in Jos, Plateau State.

In the petition, dated 13 January 2011 and signed by counsel to
SERAP, Femi Falana, the group executive director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, said that,
“the holding of a special session on Jos would contribute to a speedy end to
the human rights crisis and violence, and to peace and greater respect for
human rights of the citizens in the area.”

Furthermore, it said the Council cannot be silent when innocent
civilians are caught up in violence, such as the one going on in Jos.

“The holding of a special session on Jos will be consistent with
the practice of the Human Rights Council regarding its previous special
sessions on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Lebanon; Darfur; Myanmar; the
Democratic Republic of the Congo; the Global Food Crisis and the Global
Economic and Financial Crises,” the group said.

“Nigeria is a member of the Human Rights Council, and has
ratified several UN human rights treaties, including the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights; and the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights.”

Failure of due diligence

The group also said that it believes that it is the failure of
the Nigerian government to exercise due diligence that have resulted in the
violations of human rights of citizens in Jos.

“Due diligence obligation requires the Nigerian government to
undertake measures to prevent abuses by state and non-state actors where
possible, investigate violations that occur, prosecute the perpetrators as
appropriate, and provide redress for victims,” it said.

“The government of Nigeria has international legal obligations
to respect the right to life; the right to security of the person; the right to
freedom of residence; including not to be forcibly displaced; the right to
property; the right to adequate housing; the right to adequate food and the
right to water; and freedom from cruel and inhuman treatment. All of these
internationally recognised human rights have been repeatedly violated in Jos on
a widespread scale,” the group added.

The SERAP said the government has promised to bring perpetrators
to justice but, like similar promises made in the past, these promises will
count for nothing.

“Successive governments have failed to implement the country’s
international legal obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill the human
rights of the people of Jos by persistently failing to deter and prevent
recurring outbreaks of violence, and by failing to effectively investigate and
prosecute suspected perpetrators,” the group said.

The group also asked the Nigerian government to ensure a more
secure environment for Nigerians, including those in Jos.

“Ask the Nigerian government to provide restitution,
compensation or both, as warranted, for damages resulting from the serious
violations of the human rights highlighted above,” SERAP said in the letter.

Some national delegates to the PDP presidential primary have

applauded the level of arrangement and orderliness witnessed at the Eagle

Square venue of the event.

The delegates are Senate president, David Mark; Dimeji Bankole,

Speaker, House of Representatives; Ike Ekweremadu, deputy Senate President; and

the duo of Atiku Abubakar and Sarah Jibril, both PDP presidential aspirants.

In an interview, Mr. Mark said the national primary was very

colourful and orderly, saying it was an opportunity to showcase to the world

the biggest party in Africa.

The Senate president said at the end of the primary, only one

winner would emerge from the three presidential aspirants, urging the losers to

join forces and ensure victory for the party at the April general elections.

Mr. Mark said it was important for the losers to accept defeat

in good faith and minimise going to court that might slow down the process of

consolidating the democratic principles in the country.

Speaking in the same vein, Mr. Bankole said he was deeply

impressed by the improvement recorded in the conduct and arrangement of the

2011 presidential primary.

The Speaker, who wished the aspirants well, advised the

delegates to ensure that the voting process went on smoothly without any form

of rancour.

Job well done

The deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, eulogised the

organising committee for a job well done, especially in the orderly nature of

the convention and the security arrangement.

Mr. Abubakar said in an interview that the orderly manner of

the delegates was impressive and encouraging, and urged them to keep it up. He

said his experience, capacity and vision would see him through the election

process.

While commending the organisers for a job well done, Mrs.

Jibril, the only female PDP presidential aspirant, called on all women to

repeat the gesture in Liberia, where the women ensured the victory of Mrs.

Ellen Sirleaf, as the first African female president.

“We women have paid our dues; we should help one another as

wives, mothers and sisters. We should allow our conscience and fear of God to

guide our actions,” she added.

More than 5,000 delegates graced the 2011 PDP national special convention.

The Senate majority leader, Teslim Folarin, and three other
persons docked for the alleged killing of Lateef Salako (aka Eleweomo),
factional leader of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), were
on Thursday discharged by an Ibadan Chief Magistrates Court.

Their discharge was sequel to an application from the state’s
police headquarters seeking to withdraw charges earlier preferred against the
accused persons.

Messrs Folarin, Ramoni Jayeoba, Bankole Olaide Raji, and Raimi
Ismaila were, on Tuesday, January 4, arraigned before an Ibadan Chief
Magistrate’s Court on a two count charge of felony (conspiracy to murder) and
murder of Mr. Salako, who was killed on December 30, 2010 at a People’s
Democratic Party’s (PDP) congress of the Ona-Ara local government council.

The accused persons were due for appearance before the court
today (Friday) to witness the session fixed for the mention of their matter.

But, the police prosecutor, Matthew Ojeh, yesterday applied for
an abridgement of the adjournment to an earlier date to allow him move an application
requiring urgency.

In the motion on notice, supported by a 7-paragraph affidavit
deposed to personally by Baba Adisa Bolanta, Oyo State Commissioner of Police,
the police prosecutor asked the court to shift the adjournment date to an
earlier one to allow him move his urgent application.

While granting the application, the presiding magistrate,
Fatimat Badrudeen, said since Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), lead counsel to the
accused persons, did not object it, the abridgement was therefore fixed for
yesterday, which was the only date earlier than the original date fixed.

She also ordered that the accused persons be brought to the
court for the movement of the urgent application.

It was, however, a stormy and dramatic session when the accused
persons were brought from the prison and the court was reconvening. The Senate
leader, who looked ruffled, was brought into the court’s premises in an
ambulance bus around 12.50 pm.

When the case was called and appearances were sought, H.L. Sule,
the state’s director of public prosecution, rose to announce his appearance.
That attracted a vehement rebuff from Mr. Akintola, who insisted that he was
not known to the matter and lacked the right to be heard by the court.

“I am opposed to Mr. Sule’s appearance. He is the DPP. He was
not the one that preferred a charge against the accused persons and he is not
the Commissioner of Police who gave indication of withdrawal of the case. The
police lawyer, who is the prosecutor, is here and he has withdrawn from the
case. It was upon his application that your worship abridged the case to today.
He even filed affidavit of urgency before you to expedite the discharge of the
accused persons. So, there is no other person apart from the Commissioner of
Police that has the charge before you. This case was stood down for the accused
person to be produced in court and here they are,” he said.

Case discharged

It took the intervention of the magistrate, who urged the
learned silk to allow her know why he was in the court.

But as soon as Mr. Sule announced that he was for the
prosecution, Mr. Ojeh interrupted him and told the court that he was the one
for the prosecution.

Though she agreed with the DPP that he has the right to
prosecute anybody anywhere within the state, Mrs. Budrudeen denied him that
right yesterday, arguing that two agencies cannot prosecute the same case at
the same time.

According to her, the police and the DPP should have agreed
before coming to the court and that since the case in question had earlier been
brought to the court by the police, the police prosecutor would be allowed to
carry on.

Having settled that, Mr. Ojeh, on behalf of the Commissioner of
Police, formally moved the application for withdrawal of the charges against
the accused persons to allow “further interrogation on the case.”

Again, Mr. Akintola did not oppose to the application, but
prayed the court to strike out the case and discharge and acquit the accused
persons.

Delivering her ruling on the application, the magistrate said,
“the complainant is hereby allowed to withdraw the charge against the accused
persons and others at large. The charge is hereby struck out.”

She also noted that since the court is a temple of justice, it
would not want to be a clog in the wheel of fairness and justice, adding that
since the premise of the police was to allow it further its investigation on
the killing, the application should be allowed.

Her pronouncement lightened the court hall as Mr. Folarin’s
supporters burst into shouts of victory.

After a few minutes when the noise subsided, Mr. Akintola still
asked the court to give an order to release the accused persons, since the
order to remand them in prison earlier came from the same court.

The court also obliged him, but the accused persons could not
leave the court premises until some hours later due to efforts to perfect
papers of their discharge.

Political maneuvers

News of Mr. Folarin’s release had crept into Ibadan, the Oyo
State capital late Wednesday, and steadily spread through to the morning of
yesterday. Thousands of his supporters were at the Agodi Prison yesterday,
thinking that he would be released earlier.

Despite the theory of further investigation the police fed the
court, NEXT gathered that the release was not unconnected with the developments
at the PDP presidential primaries going on in Abuja.

Sources said members of the National Assembly, who were part of
the delegates to vote at the primaries, had given President Goodluck Jonathan
the condition that if they must participate at the exercise, the Senate leader
must be present there.

They reportedly insisted that they would not be part of the show
if the leader of the Senate is still being incarcerated in Ibadan. Sensing
their seriousness and the consequences on his chances at the programme, the
president, according to the source, ordered the InspectorGeneral of Police
(IGP), Hafiz Abubarkar Ringim, to order his release. That, it was learned,
culminated to the release yesterday.

Mr. Folarin left the court yesterday for the police headquarters
for a meeting with Mr. Bolanta, probably on the restoration of his security
aides withdrawn few hours after the killing of Eleweomo, and it was also learnt
that he was flown to Abuja last night to participate at the primaries.

An Oyo State High Court had, on Wednesday, fixed Monday for
ruling on the bail application argued on their behalf.

The ruling will not be necessary anymore as the charges against the accused
persons have been withdrawn and the accused persons are no more in custody.

Nuhu Ribadu, one of the contenders for the presidential ticket
of the ACN at the party convention tomorrow has received a critical endorsement
from party members from Adamawa State, as over 1035 delegates affirmed their
endorsement of the Adamawa born politician.

The endorsement, which came the way of Mr Ribadu ahead of the
ACN convention holding in Lagos today ,was sealed at a special convention of
the party which was held at the conference hall of Silver Hotels, Yola, with Mr
Ribadu in attendance.

“This gathering is specifically called to enable us rally
support for our son,” a national leader of the party, Boss Mustapha said.

The motion for the adoption of Mr Ribadu was moved by Sander
Lamurde, a position which was adopted by all the delegates following secondment
by Suleiman Bagirei.

“We must be the first to make our voices known that we are in
support of our son, Nuhu ribadu. All 1035 delegates from Adamawa State, the
home state of Mr Ribadu are bound to cast their votes for the aspirant in party
convention holding in Lagos as direct outcome of this special convention,” Mr
Mustapha said.

Mr Ribadu, retired Assistant Inspector General of police and
former head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission acknowledged that
last year presented some of the most unimaginable challenges for him.

Accepting the endorsement, he said, “I am greatful to God, I am
humbled by your support. When I reflect back to last year, especially those
periods of my travails, and I now consider where God has brought me to today. I
cannot but give thanks to God. It is a thing of joy, since I started this
journey. I have seen the hand of God,” Mr Ribadu said.

Spreading party philosophy

The aspirant, who said he has known nothing else other than
service, noted that a few selfish individuals have spoilt the country. But said
he wants to assure Nigerians that his party will thread the path of justice and
ensure the equitable distribution of the country’s wealth.

Mr. Mustapha, the deputy national chairman of the party, said
the mass defection of members of the People’s Democratic Party to the ACN is a
proof that the party has engulfed the nation’s political fabric.

Meanwhile, Markus Gundiri has emerged the ACN governorship
candidate for Adamawa State. Announcing the results of the primaries at the
party secretariat, Baba Dala said Mr Gundiri polled a total of 28,600 of the
delegates’ votes to beat other aspirants by a simple majority.

Former Nigerian ambassador to South Africa, Buba Marwa was
yesterday presented with the certificate of return as the governorship
candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) for Adamawa State.

Mr Marwa, declared winner of the primary elections, polled
23,401 votes to defeat the other aspirants, Mohammadu Jibrilla and Suleiman
Abdullahi who polled 3,904 and 5,505 of the votes cast respectively.

Balami Ayuba, chairman of the CPC panel who monitored the
elections in the state, presented Marwa with the certificate of return.

Mr Marwa said it was a “great risk” staking his personality for
a contest which he entered alone, with neither a structure nor any of his
political supporters.

However, Bappa Waziri, the state chairman of the party
attributed Mr Marwa’s victory to members of the party whom he said knew what
they wanted.

Haste in accepting Marwa

Meanwhile a coalition of youth groups within the CPC have
expressed their dissatisfaction with the haste with which Mr Marwa entered the
party and picked the party’s nomination.

The group, through its spokesperson, Tasiu Mohammed at a press
briefing at the NUJ secretariat in Yola, said they were against the “hasty
manner” Mr Marwa was adopted by the state leadership of the party to contest
the governorship primaries.

“We condemn the party exco for bringing a candidate from the
opposition party two days to the primary elections without availing us of the
candidates manifesto,” they said. The group also alleged the “non-conformity of
the party exco to the guidelines and procedures set for aspirants seeking
nominations under the party platform, that all duly completed nomination forms
for governorship aspirants are to be submitted at least one week before the
congress for the election of such a candidate.

“This kind of people, when elected to power, will go back to their
respective parties where they came from. We are calling on the national
executive of this great party, CPC to look at this matter and find a lasting
solution to this problem.”