President Buhari is right to seek international assistance to battle Boko Haram - APC

President Buhari is right to seek international assistance to battle Boko Haram - APC

 

 

Press statement from APC 

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for his shuttle diplomacy aimed at forging a stronger regional front against the Boko Haram insurgency, saying the President should be praised rather than pilloried for his efforts. ''Boko Haram, which started off as a Nigerian problem, has now assumed a regional dimension, affecting many countries in West Africa.

Therefore, any solution to the crisis, if it is to endure, must be regional in nature, with Nigeria taking the lead,'' the party said in a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

Besides, it said since terrorism has assumed a global dimension, no nation, not even the superpower United States, can fight the growing menace alone.

''This is why even in our days in opposition, we advocated a regional solution to the crisis,'' APC said.

The party said President Buhari's trip to Niger and Chad, two of the countries worst hit by the Boko Haram insurgency, showed that he understands the regional dimension that the insurgency has assumed,
and that for any effort by Nigeria to yield positive results, it must seek the cooperation of its neighbouring countries.

It urged the President not to relent in his efforts to forge a regional front against the terrorists, despite the misguided criticism emanating from certain quarters.

 

''It is baffling that some opposition politicians wanted Nigeria to go it alone against Boko Haram, even as the terrorist group has taken its battle beyond the shores of Nigeria, to such countries as Cameroon, Chad and Niger. It is common knowledge that the terrorists use these countries as launch pads for their attacks against Nigeria, and vice versa, and that they routinely engage in cross-boundary raids.

 

''It is common knowledge that Boko Haram's tentacles have spread as far as Mali, the home base of the Movement for the Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), a splinter group of the Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. It is no longer a secret that Boko Haram has now affiliated itself to the Islamic State, seeing itself as the West African chapter of the terror group. How then can Nigeria effectively deal with Boko Haram without seeking the assistance of other concerned countries?'' APC queried

 

The party reminded the critics of the President's trips to Chad and Niger that even the United States sought and has continued to seek a global coalition against Al-Qaida and Islamic State, despite the country's enormous military, economic and political powers.

 

APC said it was particularly delighted that President Buhari has continued to insist that the Nigerian Army is capable of leading the fight against Boko Haram, meaning that while there is nothing wrong in seeking the cooperation of Nigeria's neighbours, the country has no business hiring mercenaries to lead the battle.

 

''That vote of confidence in our military is the first step in the efforts of the Buhari Administration to restore the glory of the once-globally-acclaimed Nigerian military through morale boosting measures that will include arming and kitting the troops effectively and caring about their welfare so that they can more effectively tackle the terrorists,'' it said.

 

Alhaji Lai Mohammed
National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)

Another Suicide bomber attacks cow market in Maiduguri this evening

Another Suicide bomber attacks cow market in Maiduguri this evening

 

 

 

 

A suicide bomber attacked a popular market known as Cow Market in Maiduguri, Borno state this evening. Many people are feared dead. God save Nigeria!

Yakubu Dogara, objects to Gbajabiamila's emergence as speakership candidate in mock poll

Yakubu Dogara, objects to Gbajabiamila's emergence as speakership candidate in mock poll

 

 

 

An aggrieved APC member, Yakubu Dogara who is also a strong contender of the House of Reps speakership seat, has released a statement objecting to Hon Gbajabiamila's emergence as APC's mock poll House of Representative speakership candidate. His statement below ...

We in the 8th Assembly Consolidation Group of Hon. Yakubu Dogara wish to state our position on the event of today Saturday 6th June 2015 as follows: That we got invitation for a meeting summoned by the APC leadership That we went to the meeting with the expectation the party wanted to give us last word ahead of Tuesday’s inauguration of the House. However, we began to notice some moves in the hall where members supporting Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila started campaigning and soon we saw ballot papers being moved in the hall

 

The National Chairman of the party Chief John Oyegun informed us that they were going to conduct a mock, straw or primary election. The 8th Assembly Consolidation Group mandated Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin to speak on our behalf. First, we read out the statement issued by our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari on the election of National Assembly leadership when he said: “It doesn’t matter who the person is, where he or she comes from. There is due process for selection of leaders of National Assembly and I WILL NOT INTERFERE IN THAT PROCESS. Nigeria has indeed entered a new dispensation. My administration does not intend to repeat the same mistakes made by previous governments.” We then told Chief Oyegun that it is either he is disagreeing with the President, undermining his stance, or does not agree that the president is the leader of the party. Secondly, we informed the party that the remaining two aspirants in the race for the Speaker are of the APC since no PDP member is contesting for the position. 

We should therefore be allowed to sort it out among ourselves on Tuesday. Thirdly, if we were coming for election we ought to have been notified well ahead. We therefore view this as an ambush, manipulative and indicative of the fact that the party leadership came with a predetermined position which was skewed to favour Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila. Fourthly, we also informed the APC leadership that the process they were about doing was contrary to the provisions of the party’s constitution which did not prescribe that a primary election be conducted for the Speakership, contrary to the provisions of the House Standing Orders and above all, contrary to the provisions of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The next Speaker of the House should be allowed to be elected in tandem with the constitution. Consequently, we demanded that the process be delayed with atleast 24 hours to enable us to prepare and mobilise our members. After raising these objections, the national chairman Chief Oyegun did not respond to any of the points raised. Initially, the chairman agreed to halt the process but one hour later the National Vice Chairman North Senator Lawal Shuaibu came up and said the process must go on whether we like it or not. At this stage we had no option than to walkout of the hall and address the press. The election of the House Speaker is not an exclusivity of the APC but include all members from all political parties. Our position is that we are not a party to what they did and we maintain that the election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives cannot be conducted outside the chamber of the House and we are ready to participate in that process on Tuesday 9th June, 2015.

Pic of Prince George & little sister, Princess Charlotte

Pic of Prince George & little sister, Princess Charlotte

 

 

 

Here's the first official portrait of Princess Charlotte enjoying a cuddle from her older brother in an adorable picture taken by their mum at their Norfolk home. So cute!