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Former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, on Monday, said he would contest for presidency on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2019.
Sule Lamido
Lamido made this known to newsmen in his village – Bamaina – in Birnin-kudu Local Government Area of the State.
He, however, said a party’s ticket was not given to anybody on the platter of gold, adding that a candidate must earn it.
“If my party finds me worthy of the party’s presidential ticket to serve Nigeria, I will thank God and oblige.
“Although there are issues in the party that we are all working to resolve, we hope to have success soon and come out united.
“As I’m talking to you now, we are working silently to resolve our differences and bring back to our fold those that left the party for APC”, he said.
The former governor held that the internal crisis in PDP was the reason for its defeat in 2015 general elections.
He said that the party had the capacity to rule the country again but the members must work hard to achieve that.
Lamido denied any rift between him and his successor, Gov. Muhammad Badaru of APC.
He stated that both of them had mutual respect for each other and he had no differences with him other than political ideologies. (NAN)
By Henry Umoru ABUJA —The prospects of a prolonged crisis in the Senate was, yesterday, in the offing following the decision by loyalists of Senate President Bukola Saraki to sink or swim with him in his continued trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT.
The affirmation of the Saraki loyalists is in the wake of agitations by some senators to give the Senate President a soft landing through a possible resignation from office in the interest of the legislative body.
Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki during his ongoing trail on false asset declaration at the code of conduct Tribunal in Abuja. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan
Senator Saraki is currently facing trial at the CCT following a 13-count charge levelled against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, bordering on alleged corruption and false declaration of assets.
The contrasting views were inevitably widening the chasm that preceded the Senate leadership election that saw the All Progressives Congress, APC senators divide between Senators Saraki and Ahmad Lawan.
Meanwhile, allies of the Senate President in their response to the increasing pressure on him to step down, yesterday, vowed to resist the pressures saying that Saraki would not resign from office.
The pro-Saraki senators met at the Asokoro residence of Senator Magartarkada Wammako, APC, Sokoto Central and Chairman, Senate Committee on Education.
At the end of the meeting, some of the senators believed the Senate President must continue in office, stressing that for whatever it was worth, they would continue to stand firmly behind Saraki and ensure that his Senate Presidency seat was protected.
Addressing journalists on behalf of the senators, Senator Ibrahim Rafiu, APC, Kwara South and Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, reiterated their earlier stance that Saraki’s trial was a ‘mere persecution’ and an attempt to tarnish his image in ways not experienced before.
He said: “We have since discovered that the trial of the Senate President is a mere attempt to blackmail him and make him look bad in the court of public opinion. No more, no less. A dispassionate analysis of the proceedings at the CCT, yesterday, has pointed to the fact that the APC-led executive is still embittered against Dr. Saraki over the manner of his election as Senate President.
“This is why we are standing for the Senate President and we will so do till the very end. We are doing this not for him but for the institution of the Senate that he eminently represents. We will never allow any arm of government to rubbish the cherished autonomy of the Senate.”
Commenting on the calls in some quarters that the Senate President should resign from his position, the senators insisted that the calls were borne out of ignorance and pure hatred, describing such calls as ‘wicked and unfounded.’
“For those calling for the impeachment of the Senate President, we urge them to avail themselves of the provisions of the law relating to such a sensitive step.
“As far as we are concerned, there is nothing like that on the table, and if anybody is trying to import that from outside of the Senate, God help them.
“All I know is that they will have to produce as many as a 100 senators to achieve that aim. As long as they don’t have the majority, the call is a tall dream that will remain a figment of the imagination of the groups and their sponsors,” the senators said.
Vanguard gathered, yesterday, that both the Senate Unity Forum, SUF and the Likemind Senators of the APC, may be returning to their battle moods ahead of another potential face off.
The SUF was a political pressure group formed to support Senator Ahmed Lawan, APC, Yobe North for the position of Senate President, while Likemind Senators was a pro-Saraki’s group.
According to a source, the senators are divided as to whether Senate President should step down or not.
While some of the senators are pushing for his resignation to save the image of the Senate which they see as already being rubbished before the public and the international community, others are of the view that he should remain till the end of the case.
By Henry Umoru, Charles Kumolu, Emman Ovuakporie, Johnbosco Agbakwuru & Joseph Erunke
ABUJA—The National Assembly leadership was last night set to meet President Muhammadu Buhari to stave off a constitutional logjam over the 2016 budget that has seen senators threatening to override the budget bill. The threat of veto override could be triggered from next Tuesday upon the lapse of the 30-day constitutional window given the President to sign the bill tomorrow.
President Muhammadu Buhari and Senate President Bukola Saraki
The vow in a closed-door session of the Senate came as senators across party ranks rose in uproar against the alleged actions of the chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje in mutilating the inputs of the Senate committees on the budget. Sources said that several senators demanded Goje’s resignation from the position.
Meanwhile, the Senate has dismissed the public outrage against its purchase of 36 exotic vehicles supposedly for committee work at the cost of N35.1 million each, saying that senators were of higher dignity than ministers and other officials of the executive who it claimed drive superior vehicles.
The vow by the senators to override the President’s apparent veto on the 2016 appropriation bill, they claimed, was in line with constitutional provisions requiring the President to sign the budget bill within 30 days of receiving it or have his veto overridden.
The prospect of the National Assembly overriding the veto was, however, a matter of contention yesterday.
Vanguard gathered that the closed-door meeting which lasted for one hour, thirty minutes, presided over by Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu was characterized by uproar as senators shouted on one another following some irreconcilable differences.
A source at the meeting disclosed that there was a very sharp disagreement between members of the Appropriations Committee who complained that the committee chairman, Senator Goje, APC, Gombe Central, hijacked the entire budget process and outsourced it to his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Abdulmumin Jibrin.
According to the source, some angry Senators were said to have accused the President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki of appointing Goje as chairman of Appropriation simply because he was a loyalist of his and a number of other senators also called for his removal from the position.
“We have decided to go and beg President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the budget into law and after which every other correction and amendment will be done,” a source present at the session said.
“We have resolved that time is ticking and if he fails to sign it within the stipulated thirty days in line with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria it will be assumed that the President has withheld his assent and the National Assembly will have no other option than to override him, thereby furthering the conflict between the Executive and the Legislature.”
The 2016 Appropriation Bill was forwarded to the President on March 23, 2016.
Following the closed-door session, Senator Ekweremadu summed up the proceedings thus: “The Senate in a closed session deliberated on issues relating to the 2016 Appropriation Bill and the way forward for the quick resolution of all the matters related to the early implementation of the budget in the best interest of our nation.”
Vanguard learnt last night that the National Assembly delegation is expected to counsel the President on what is constitutionally expected of him in the face of the crisis. The leadership, it was gathered, would ask the President to sign the budget as passed and send an amendment bill immediately to address the issues of concern to the Presidency.
Yesterday, Chief Emeka Ngige, SAN proffered his counsel on the issue. Speaking with Vanguard in a telephone interview, he said:
“The budget issue summarily calls for give and take. It calls for collaboration between the National Assembly and the executive. If there are injections by the joint committee of the NASS into the budget, the NASS can retrieve the budget from the President and remove the injections and resend to the President for assent.”
Meanwhile, Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume who amplified on issues in the legislative body following the closed-door session said that President Buhari has not returned the approved 2016 budget to the Senate but agreed that the grey areas had been communicated to the National Assembly.
He said, “We have seen the President already on the budget, in fact meeting the President by the Senate leadership is not a big deal. It is not true that the budget had been sent back to the National Assembly. I am also not aware that there is any communication from the President on the issue.
“What I know is that areas of concern to the Presidency are now with us here. We are talking with the Presidency to resolve all the issues.”
But when asked to speak on the call for the removal of Senator Goje as Chairman, Appropriations Committee, Senator Ndume denied the claims.
On the outcry on the Senate’s decision to purchase N35.1 million vehicles for its members supposedly for committee work even after collecting car loans from the public treasury less than a year ago, Senator Ndume said:
“A minister who is appointed, not elected, drives a convoy of four cars. Permanent Secretaries, Directors, Commissioners, House of Assembly members, and Council chairmen all drive official vehicles. Are you all saying federal lawmakers should not have official vehicles? As a senator I can ride in any means of transportation including Keke NAPEP, if it will take me to my destination.”
House spokesman, Abdulrazaq Namdas also confirmed that the House had received the President’s communication on his concerns on the budget as passed by the National Assembly.
He, however, declined to reveal the grey areas listed by the President, as he avoided questions on whether the Calabar-Lagos rail line project was included in the letter.
Lending credence to rumours that both the Senate and the House of Representatives had not yet agreed on how best to go about the controversies surrounding the budget, Namdas confirmed that both chambers would meet within the week.
‘’We need to reach a consensus with the Senate and harmonize our position. The joint team will then meet with the President this week and we hope after the meeting, the budget will be signed,’’ Namdas said.
He said the House wanted the rule of law to take its course in the trial of Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
“On the trial of Senate President, we believe in the rule of law and every Nigerian remains innocent until proven guilty,’’ said Namdas, who is chairman, House Committee on Media and Publicity.
The National Assembly had on Wednesday, March 23, 2016 passed the 2016 Appropriation Bill submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari in December last year.
The budget passed was N17,002,641,773 billion naira lower than the figure of N6,060,677,358,277 trillion naira presented by President Buhari to the National Assembly, just as the 2016 fiscal document, contained the estimates of revenue and expenditure of the federation for the 2016 fiscal year in the aggregate sum of six trillion naira.
Few days ago there was choas in uniport causing the death of some lives.
Soldiers went into the school at night flogging and punishing students who dint have anywhere to go from the school
THE police are trying to cover up their trails so as to h or still maintain the clean sheet. If you are are pare of this boy o a relation, please come an get ur son
Students of UNIPORT on Monday the 11th of April embarked on the mass protest to show express thier concern about the increase in their tuition fee and also the statement "NO school FEES NO exams".
The protest which commenced at about 5:30am on monday lasted till the evening of that same day, incurin the lives o , student the president of MANAGEMENT SCIENCE UNIPORT and leaving others injured.
IT was noted that the police oipened fire on the students when the protest wa getting a liltle bit outof hand which they knew wasn't right. As an eye witness and a student of UNIPORT I noted the whole issues,
It isn't safe anymore in UNIPORT as th school management sent a message to every student to pack their baggages and leave the school before 6pm that day. I was so lucky I left what happened that night is in my next post
This is a Media/entertainment blog.
It Reviews news across amlost all sectors and coountry, both Business,Tech,Politics....
And also gives updates on the social life around us, in various fields such as entertainment, fashion, celebrity...
