Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has decried the planned impeachment of Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, describing the development as “awkward political development.”
For a state facing security challenges like Benue, the introduction of lawlessness through an impeachment process could only complicate an already bad situation.
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) July 30, 2018
Atiku said that any attempt to disregard the rule of law and the Constitution of Nigeria in the impeachment of a governor was a recipe for anarchy.
He urged the police to remain politically neutral and avoid aiding lawlessness, adding that partisanship could professionally destroy their image.
Also, the former National Caretaker Chairman of the PDP and presidential hopeful, Ahmed Makarfi said he was “appalled that despite numerous judicial pronouncements, more than two third of a 30-member House of Assembly in Benue State would be denied access to, and in fact chased away from the house by the police while giving state cover to seven or so other members to sit and even attempt to impeach a democratically elected governor.”
Makarfi in a statement by his spokesman, Mukhtar Zubairu Sirajo, said Governor Ortom was being haunted for the simple reason that some quarters had been slighted by the governor’s decision to move from APC to PDP.
The senator said Nigerians and the APC should not forget in a hurry, that when the PDP held sway, it respected the rights of the people to freely decide what political platform(s) to identify with, “a stance that the APC more than any other party reaped bountifully from and the fruits of which included Governor Ortom himself, at that point.”
“It therefore smacks of hypocrisy and a brazen disrespect for fundamental human rights for the same party to now deny people the right defect from it for whatever reason(s),” the statement said.
Atiku Most Suitable For Presidency ?
The Coordinator of the National Youths Mobilisation (NYM), Hassan Waziri Chinade, has said that the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar’s presidency would help fix the huge socio-political and economic challenges currently enveloping the country, if elected in the 2019 presidential election.
He stated this at a rally organised by the youth of the six geopolitical zones of the country in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, to drum support for the former vice president.
In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday, Mr. Waziri-Chinade, who is aspiring to the House of Representatives, was quoting as saying that ‘’Nigeria is in an auto-pilot’’ with no one in charge.
“Atiku Abubakar has promised to reverse these negative trends by leading a government that will invest in its people because people constitute the wealth of any nation,” he said.
Even before President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Age Reduction Bill, known as the “Not-Too-Young-To-Run” bill, Chinade said he was not concerned about the bill, as he was busy touring the length and breadth of the Katagum Federal Constituency of Bauchi State.
He added, ‘’While welcoming the Age Reduction Act, why should I be bother about the bill, when I know that great men like Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule of blessed memory became a member of the Federal House of Representatives at 24 and became the Minister of Mines and Power under the government of Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, my own compatriot from Bauchi at age 29,” he said.
“Also take the person of Alhaji Shehu Shagari who entered politics at the age of 25, became a member of the House of Representatives in 1954 at the age of 29, while he was Secretary of the famous Northern People’s Congress and a parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa in the House of Representatives.
‘’At that considerably young age, Shagari held the position of several ministries including Commerce and Industry, Economic Development, Pensions, Finance etc. So why should I wait for the signing of the Age Reduction bill to achieve my political ambition”.
A Bauchi State born politician, Chinade, is not regretting his long wait to crack at a political contest, but was rather going through mentoring and learning curve under ‘’the aegis political mastermind, Atiku Abubakar who won the gubernatorial race to Adamawa government House in Yola’’, but was ‘’whisked’’ into the Vice Presidency by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999.
According to him, “I have learned the ropes and now ready to go after a sound tutelage from the master himself and that is why I am on the go and pushing hard to get into parliament even at my older age of 41”.
Hassan Chinade said that he would unleash the political lessons he learnt from his master by giving his opponents a run for their money.
He said his major task is to ensure that he wins the seat for Katagum people and also ensure that Atiku Abubakar becomes the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria next year.
Youths endorse Atiku for president
The National Youths Mobilization (NYM) has adopted former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as its candidate for the 2019 presidential election.
National coordinator of NYM, Hassan Waziri Chinade, said the decision to adopt Atiku followed a rally organized by the youth of the six geopolitical zones of the country in Yola, Adamawa State.
The youth comprised delegates from the South West, South South, North Central, North West, North East and South East.
“Nigeria is in an auto-pilot with no one in charge,” he claimed.
Chinade said, “Atiku Abubakar has promised to reverse these negative trends by leading a government that will invest in its people because people constitute the wealth of any nation,” he said.
2019: How I defeated Saraki, Kwankwaso in online presidential poll – Atiku
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has claimed that he defeated Senate President Bukola Saraki, former governor of Kano State, Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso in an online poll conducted by popular blogger, Japheth Omojuwa.
Atiku, who is seeking the ticket of the PDP ahead of the 2019 general elections said in a statement on Wednesday by his Media Office that the poll was conducted in the wake of mass defection of APC members to the PDP, including those eyeing the opposition’s presidential ticket.
“In the Twitter online poll, which ended on Tuesday, Atiku Abubakar polled 42 percent compared to Saraki’s 37 percent and Kwankwaso’s 15 percent with the other candidates settling for 6 per cent of the votes.
“The poll was conducted on the heels of the defections of a sizeable number of Senators and members of the House of Representatives from the ruling APC to the PDP ostensibly to gauge the popularity of the defectors with presidential ambition versus Atiku as far as the PDP ticket is concerned.
“Kwankwaso, who is known to have presidential aspiration decamped to the PDP on Tuesday along with several others. However, Saraki has not defected to the opposition party though there are indications that he will follow suit. Atiku had earlier in December of 2017 rejoined the PDP, a party he had helped found at inception in 1998.
“Voters were asked: ‘Who will emerge the PDP candidate for 2019?’ The choices were listed as Bukola Saraki, Atiku Abubakar, Rabiu Kwankwaso and Other (Reply with name).
“This is one in a series of polls in which Atiku has come out tops. In a massive online poll that attracted almost 30,000 votes, Atiku vanquished President Muhammadu Buhari and other likely PDP contenders – Governors Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo and Aminu Tambuwal of Gombe and Sokoto states respectively. The poll was conducted by Senator Ben Murray-Bruce.
“In answer to the question ‘If the 2019 Nigerian Presidential election were to hold today and the candidates are as below, who would you vote for?’, 44% said they would vote for Atiku Abubakar. This compares to 31% for President Buhari, 17% for Dankwambo and 8% for Tambuwal.
“This result is also consistent with a number of recent polls, including those done by well known supporters of President Buhari, who had following the third anniversary of the administration on May 29 initiated polls ostensibly to test the popularity of the incumbent President,” the statement by Atiku media team said.