Some governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have met with the party’s National Leader, Senator Bola Tinubu.
This comes as part of efforts to douse the crisis in the Edo State chapter of the party ahead of the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
The APC in Edo had been split since the disagreement arising from the absence of some lawmakers at the inauguration of the State House of Assembly, with a group loyal to the APC National Chairman, Mr Adams Oshiomhole, and the other led by the incumbent governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki.
In a bid to resolve the dispute between the two groups, the Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi State), led Governor Obaseki and six other governors to seek Tinubu’s intervention in the matter.
The governors who attended the meeting which held on Sunday in Lagos included Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Mohammed Abubakar (Jigawa), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), and Adeboyega Oyetola (Osun).
Channels Television gathered that as part of the steps towards resolving the dispute, the governors proposed that the APC lawmakers in Edo State who were not inaugurated alongside their colleagues be sworn in.
Meanwhile, another crisis may be brewing in the party following the disagreement over the mode of primary to be conducted to choose the party’s flagbearer for the governorship election.
While the National Working Committee of the party had approved the direct primary process, the camp loyal to the governor preferred the indirect primary.
The position of the latter was supported by the Chairmen of all the local government areas in Edo State.
The couple took the test after the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed that Tinubu’s security aide tested positive for COVID-19.
The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, and his wife, Senator Oluremi, have tested negative for coronavirus (COVID-19).
This was revealed in a statement from his media office on Monday and signed by the former governor’s media aide, Tunde Rahman.
Rahman explained that the couple took the test after the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said Tinubu’s security aide tested positive for the disease.
“Following the death of our well-respected and beloved Chief Security Officer, Alhaji Lateef Raheem, NCDC medics took the wise precaution of taking samples from his body for testing to actually determine the cause of death.
“Today (Monday), the test results are back. The samples tested positive for COVID-19,” the statement read.
It added, “As a precautionary measure taken soon after the death of Alhaji Raheem, His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, and all their aides took COVID-19 tests Saturday, April 25.
“The results of the tests were returned this (Monday) morning. Test results for both Asiwaju and Senator Tinubu were negative.”
Rahman, however, revealed that the test result of one of the aides was positive while the rest of the staff tested negative for COVID-19.
He noted that the infected aide has been isolated while the health officials have begun contact-tracing and conducting tests for the patient’s relatives and possible contacts.
Read the full statement below:
COVID-19 is a real and present threat. Those of us who discount it or claim it is a fabrication do a grave and dangerous disservice to the public well-being.
Likewise, those who stigmatise people who may have been stricken by the virus also do a disservice by casting blame on the innocent and discouraging people from taking the COVID test.
We cannot defeat this health menace through ignorance or by shaming one another.
We can only beat it through transparency, knowledge, and compassion. This, we have learned first-hand.
Following the death of our well-respected and beloved Chief Security Officer, Alhaji Lateef Raheem, NCDC medics took the wise precaution of taking samples from his body for testing to actually determine the cause of death.
Today, the test results are back. The samples tested positive for COVID-19.
As a precautionary measure taken soon after the death of Alhaji Raheem, His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, and all their aides took COVID-19 tests Saturday, April 25. The results of the tests were returned this morning.
Test results for both Asiwaju and Senator Tinubu were negative.
The results of one aide were positive. The rest of the staff was negative. The one staff member has been isolated in accordance with NCDC guidelines.
Further contact tracing and COVID-19 tests are being conducted by the NCDC with regard to the relatives and possible contacts of that staff member.
Asiwaju has stressed that openness and transparency must be observed if we are to defeat this disease.
There is no house immune to its entry. Contracting the virus should not bring social or moral stigma any more than contracting malaria or a common cold.
We cannot overcome this challenge by acting like it does not exist or by trying to conceal that someone may have it due to social shame.
The culture of denial is counterproductive and will do great harm in our current situation.
Asiwaju asks that you not be afraid to be tested if you have any symptoms or if you believe you may have come in contact with someone who has been infected.
We must do all we can to contain the spread of the virus and to well treat those of us who have been hit by it.
As you go about your day, we know you must find daily sustenance.
Yet, please continue to do all you can to maintain social distance and to take all other public health measures to protect yourself and others.
In this way, we all may contribute to halting the spread of this dangerous virus.
A file photo of APC National Leader, Mr Bola Tinubu.
The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Bola Tinubu, has called for the immediate suspension of Value Added Tax (VAT), and the reduction of tax in the country.
He made the call as part of measures the Federal Government can apply to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on citizens.
In a message on his 68th birthday, Tinubu said the government may have to take tougher measures to curb the spread of the disease such as imposing lockdowns in Nigeria, as done by most countries battling the scourge.
He believes the immediate suspension of VAT will help lower import costs and protect against shortages.
The former governor of Lagos State also advised the government to consider providing stipends for vulnerable Nigerians who would be most impacted by the health crisis.
He proposed food security, lower interest rates, quantitative easing, and debt suspension, as other measures to ease the effect of COVID-19 on the Nigerian economy.
The APC leader asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to be prepared to enact extraordinary measures, should the financial sector exhibit any form of stress.
“The CBN should be prepared to give banks liberal access to its loan discount window to ensure adequate liquidity within the banking sector,” he said.
A United Front
Tinubu also requested that the Cash Reserve Requirement for banks should be revised downward while the apex bank should be willing to expand its balance sheet and improve liquidity by purchasing government bonds and other instruments held by banks and other institutions.
He called for unity and peaceful co-existence among the people, saying this was the only way to win the fight against coronavirus which has killed thousands of people across the world.
The former governor urged Nigerians, whether of APC or the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) affiliation or from the North or South to ignore their differences and join the efforts in curtailing the spread of the disease.
He said, “We have entered a sobering period. We face a challenge we cannot see but one that can find us all too easily. As individuals, this puts every one of us at a startling disadvantage. Each is rendered vulnerable by the reckless act of his neighbour.
“Each is made safer by the enlightened conduct of a stranger. The very nature of this assailant calls us toward greater unity and kindness. In the normal push of our daily affairs, we tend to focus on what divides us. We are either APC, PDP or another political affiliation.”
“One person is rich. Another is poor. There is the labourer then there is the boss. One person is of the North, another of the South, with both often acting as if the boundary between the two cannot be traversed.
“We are of different ethnic groups; these identities mean so much to us that we behave as if the affiliations are the very source of our humanity. In this, we tend to forget God.
“I, therefore, tender these humble comments in the hope they contribute to halting the spread and ill consequences of this dreadful sickness,” Tinubu added.
The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, has said that he would support a total lock down of the country over the coronavirus disease if the government decides to do so.
Tinubu said this on Tuesday while fielding questions from journalists after a brief meeting with the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the State House.
According to him, many countries have ordered a lock down over the rapid spread of the disease and if it has to come to that in Nigeria, he would be in support of it.
“We need to observe social distancing. It is a new culture that we have to abide with. I will support total lock down if the government decides to do that. I am in support of it. There should be a total lock down if the government observes that we are not complying,” he said.
National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has condemned the pipeline explosion in Abule-Ado area of Lagos, demanding that those who have hands in the incident should be punished.
In a statement on Sunday from his Media Office, signed by Tunde Rahman, Tinubu commiserated with families and relations of those who lost their lives in the unfortunate occurrence.
He said: I strongly condemn this incident. I commiserate with families and relations of those who died. I also sympathise with those who lost their valued property.
In their memories and in order to avert similar occurrence in future, the authorities must get to the root of this incident and curb the incessant pipeline explosion in the area.
All those who had a hand in this explosion, including those who acted in ways to put lives at risk and hard-earned possessions in jeopardy must be punished, no matter how highly placed they may be, he insisted.
Channels TV reported that the death toll from the incident has risen to at least 17, with about 25 people injured.
Buildings, cars and other properties owned by people in the area and environs were destroyed by the impact of the blast.
File: National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu, speaks to journalists.
National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu has said that the attack on National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, is based on 2023 ambitions of some party members.
Tinubu, who broke silence on the moves to oust Oshiomhole, in a statement on Sunday, stressed that those behind the move are suffering from a sickness he called “old Ambition-virus 2023”.
The APC national leader faulted the move, adding that it is recklessly undermining the party they claim to serve, and also, weaken the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
That sickness is old Ambition-virus 2023. This illness afflicts many in the political class along with their allies in the media. The carriers of this sickness are confused as to the very season our nation now finds itself.
They conflate things, which no sensible person would conflate. The primary symptom of their malady is the driving tendency to believe the events of 2023 will be decided before we even exit the year 2020.
He maintained that the plotters engaging in political manoeuvring is a major concern to note that they are prone to the 2023 virus.
Stressing further, Tinubu stated that Oshiomhole has been a tireless campaigner and mobiliser for the party and his contribution should not be undervalued.
The Chairman has been a tireless campaigner and mobilizer for the party. He has steered the party through difficult elections. His contributions should not be undervalued now that the bulk of elections are behind us. To do so would be an act of ingratitude.
It is no secret that the Chairman and Edo Governor Obaseki are in dispute. This is unfortunate. However, the party has moved through proper procedures within the proper organs of the party to hopefully resolve this spat.
The plotters launched their attack solely because they perceive the chairman as an obstacle to their 2023 ambitions. People went to court knowing full well the party constitution prohibits such action because these people had not yet exhausted all internal disciplinary procedures. We even had a national deputy secretary improperly call for a NEC meeting on the basis that he believed himself the acting national chairman.
Clearly, this man would not have summoned the temerity to make such a move had he not been instigated by powerful individuals who he thought would reward or, at least, protect him for committing the wrongful act, Tinubu said.
He added that those who have engaged in the moves believe they are clever and understand the political intrigue. He maintained that it is not yet time for 2023 politics to take centre stage in 2020.
This is the time for governance. It is not the moment to bring the politics of 2023 into 2020. In due course, 2023 shall come. Nothing can prevent it. However, that time is not today. If we are earnest, the present offers sufficient work and challenges for us without trying to add to it by rushing the future.
Tinubu called on all party members to dedicate energies to help President Buhari surmount the challenges facing the country and leave the 2023 frenzy and commit themselves to the harder yet more rewarding task of improving progressive governance, whether within the party or at the local, state or federal levels.
President Muhammadu Buhari with APC national leader, Bola Tinubu, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on January 7, 2020.
The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu, has advised Nigerians to worry less about who will succeed the President.
Instead, he said the task of nation-building and moving the country forward should take priority over the search for a successor for President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Tinubu made the remarks while briefing State House correspondents on Tuesday, shortly after meeting with the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
According to Bakare, a key responsibility that history bestows on the President is “to institutionalise systems of accurate succession that will build and sustain the Nigeria that is desired”.
The President’s media adviser, Femi Adesina, who was on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday noted that although his principal has an interest in who would succeed him, he would not handpick a successor.
APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu, addressing reporters at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on January 7, 2020.
The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Bola Tinubu, has dismissed the claims that President Muhammadu Buhari would be seeking a third term in office.
He recalled that the President had vehemently opposed the third term agenda of one of his predecessors some years ago.
Tinubu, who visited President Buhari on Tuesday, stated this while addressing State House correspondents in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
“I was in the struggle for democracy,” said the former Lagos State governor.
He added, “I was in opposition to a third term agenda of a former leader of this country, with Muhammadu Buhari, Mr President; I know he will never.”
The APC chieftain, however, urged Nigerians to believe in the President whom he said would never have any thought of seeking re-election as President in the 2023 general elections.
He stressed that President Buhari would not be interested in extending his tenure in office after 2023, even if it was offered to him.
Tinubu said, “He (Buhari) has the courage and the character to refuse such a temptation, even if offered to him. I believe in him and I believe Nigerians should believe in him.”
Tinubu’s reaction is the latest among many others over allegations that the President was nursing a third term agenda.
Addressing a meeting of the APC National Executive Council (NEC) in November 2019, President Buhari dismissed the claims.
He told party leaders at the gathering in Abuja that he could afford to be reckless because he had no plans to remain in power after the 2023 general elections.
In its reaction, the Peoples Democratic Party said “the issue of third term is a dead-end” and asked the President to end all attempts to bring the issue of running for another term in 2023 to public discourse.
It, however, advised the President to address the issue of violence during elections in the country.
Afe Babalola University (ABUAD) on Monday conferred honourary degrees on top individuals including the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar; the Obi of Onitsha Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe; and the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu.
The dignitaries were honoured during the seventh convocation ceremony of the institution in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital.
Sultan of Sokoto and Obi of Onitsha were decorated as Doctor of Letters while Tinubu was decorated as Doctor of Public Administration.
During the reading of his citation, the Sultan of Sokoto is described as a serial honourary awardee who has received honourary degrees in over 10 universities. He is also the current chancellor of the University of Ibadan.
Tinubu was honoured by the institution for his political acumen and for being a true believer in federalism.
The honourary awardees were subsequently inducted into the alumni association of ABUAD.
National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has described the killing of Mrs Funke Olakunrin as sad and unacceptable.
He said this when he led a delegation on a condolence visit to the Akure residence of Pa Reuben Fasoranti on the death of his daughter.
Tinubu who spoke to journalists after the visit advised that the incident should unite the Yoruba race and not be allowed to divide the people.
“The incident that affected one member of our family, Mrs Olakunrin is seriously sad and unacceptable, but nobody can return her life, she has answered the call, be it Christian or Muslim, we all accepted that it is certain we are going to die one day, we don’t know which date.
“But we must not use this incident to divide ourselves, we must use it as a cure to the security problem.”
National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has appealed to elderly Nigerians to avoid ‘inflammatory statements’ that could undermine peaceful co-existence among the nation’s diverse communities.
A statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, Garba Shehu, quoted Tinubu who spoke after an Iftar dinner meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, urged Nigerians to rally round the Federal Government to solve the challenges and stabilise the polity, owing to the enormous challenges facing the nation.
“The President worked hard and will continue to do so to ensure peace and stability in the country, which are important for the economy to make progress. These are the key pegs of his agenda. Let us all come together to support him.”
The APC National Leader commended President Buhari for the recognition of June 12th as the nation’s Democracy Day.
Others present at the meeting include; Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar and Emir of Kazaure, Dr. Najib Hussaini Adamu, Nigerian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Justice Isa Dodo, Malam Mamman Daura, Isma’ila Isa, Mr Wale Tinubu and Mr Hakeem P. Fahm, the Commissioner of Science and Technology, Lagos State.
