Niger Delta Group Cautions Purported APC Ex-Agitators Against Blackmailing Buhari, PAP

The Niger Delta Agitators for Good Governance has cautioned a group which called itself Coalition of APC Youth Leaders and Beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme against blackmailing the President and the leadership of the Amnesty Office for selfish motives.

The National Coordinator of the Group, Chief Moses Bebenimibo said in a statement on Thursday that the Niger Delta agitators who embraced amnesty are not divided along party lines.

He cautioned against using the platform of agitators to blackmail authorities with intent to score needless political goals and targeted pecuniary benefits.

He described statement credited to the amorphous group as a brazen and unconscionable attempt to cause avoidable division in the rank of Niger Delta people involved in the agitation for fairness in resource allocation and good governance in the country.

Bebenimibo said that true agitators who are motivated by patriotism and the genuine interest of the Niger Delta would not draw a line between APC Niger Deltans and PDP Niger Deltans.

He also called on the Federal Government to discountenance the call by some ‘merchants of mischief’ to sack the Amnesty Boss for allegedly engaging non APC members in the office.

He said that the crude sentiments expressed by the group of self styled Coalition òf APC ex-agitators, which called on the Federal Government to make APC membership as a condition for engagement in the Amnesty Office, is condemnable and indeed a recipe for division and avoidable unrest.

Bebenimibo commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the appointment of an Ijaw son as the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

The activist who also thanked the National Security Adviser, Major Gen Babagana Monguno, for recommending Col Dikio, urged the President to give him the free hand to take the requisite steps to reposition the PAP.

According to him, the culture of impunity and diversion of the objectives of the PAP would continue unless Dikio embarks on tough, deliberate and decisive steps to enthrone sanity in the agency.

Bebenimibo advised the Amnesty Boss to be focused and strong to be able to ward off the traditional blackmail responsible largely for the sorry story of impunity, waste, corruption in the Amnesty Offuce.

He advised ex agitators and stakeholders to exhibit maturity and patience with the new Amnesty Boss as he embarks in the calculated steps to reposition the office to make it effectively responsive to the beneficiaries, the region and the country.

 

Evah Tells President Buhari To Ignore Mischief Makers Attempting To Politicize Amnesty Office

........Commends President for Appointing a Competent Ijaw son to oversee Programme

Foremost Ijaw activist and Coordinator,  Ijaw Monitoring Group, Comrade Joseph Evah, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to discountenance   calls by mischief makers to politicize the Presidential Amnesty Office.

Evah a former National Publicity Secretary òf the Ijaw National Congress  stressed that any society that is keen on making progress would give priority attention to available first class brains with superlative record of performance and competence to occupy sensitive offices in the interest of the society.

He stated that President Buhari retained the services of the Governor òf Central Bank, Mr Godwin Emefiele, and backed Dr Akinwunmi Adesina for the leadership òf the Africa Development Bank, and recently Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, for the position of the Director General òf the World Trade Organization even though they served under former President Goodluck Jonathan, in appreciation of the pertinence òf engaging first class brains for national development irrespective of party affiliation.

 He also called on the Interim Administrator of the PAP to take a cue from President Buhari by making it a policy to go for first class brains with proven capacity to do the job in the interest of the region and Nigeria.

The former Publicity Secretary òf the Ijaw National Congress said that those who call for the engagement of only APC members do not mean well for the region and the country.

He commended President Muhammadu Buhari, for the appointment of Col Milland Dikio, (retd), as the Interim Administrator òf the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

The prominent activist also thanked the National Security Adviser, Maj Gen Babagana Monguno, for recommending Col Dikio to the President for the sensitive Amnesty job.

Comrade Evah advised the President to ignore those he described as mischief makers and political jobbers who are desperately struggling to taint the image of the new Amnesty boss with unacceptable political sentiments inimical to peace in the region.

He said that it was a good development the President and the NSA who appointed Col Dikio are aware of the systemic rot in the Amnesty Office and the web of corruption existing between operatives of the office and some persons outside the office over the years.

Evah noted that the President was right to have appointed Dikio, a disciplined retired military officer, reputed for his integrity and high level of competence and attention for details.

He urged the President and the Office òf the NSA to give free hand to the new Amnesty Boss to select his team of competent and trusted Nigerians with the right contact to assist him in wresting the office from the talons òf greed and corruption.

He explained that a reformer no matter how gifted, dedicated and strong will not be able to achieve much if he does have the freedom to do the right thing.

The IMG President therefore urged the President to ensure that Dikio is allowed to engage the services of all competent Ijaw sons, Niger Deltans and Nigerians to fit into appropriate roles irrespective of political leanings in the Amnesty Office.

He also called on Col Dikio be focused and be prepared to take the tough decision in the mission to rewrite the story of rot in the Amnesty Office in the interest of peace and stability in the Niger Delta.

He said, “I must commend President Muhammadu Buhari and the NSA, Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno for appointing Col Milland Dikio, a Niger Delta don, as the Head of the Amnesty Office.

“While I will urge the President and the Office of the NSA which oversees the Amnesty Office to give him the freehand to change the sad story of Office, I advise Col Dikio to be wary of political jobbers and their mischievous antics.

“The Amnesty Office is not a party office; it is a Federal Government office where any competent Niger Delta person whose services are needed should work.

“I urge him to make the Ijaw nation proud by doing the right things in accordance with expectations no matter what happens.  We are watching.” He said

Group Tells DCP Kolo Yusuf To Remain Focus

The Integrity Youth Alliance has called on Nigerians to ignore the video on BBC Africa Eye been re-circulated accusing one DCP Kolo Yusuf of murder of one Hassan Alfa in 2014.

In a press release on Wednesday, 21^st October, 2020 signed by the National Coordinator of the Alliance, Kelvin Adegbenga reitraited that for the fact that the Courts said Hassan died as a result of the beating he received in police detention doesn’t mean DCP Kolo Yusuf torture him.

"From our investigation, DCP Kolo Yusuf is a gentle officer with outstanding records of arresting many high profile criminals, kidnappers and armed robbers across Nigeria. He ensured that members of his team were well trained in modern techniques of handling crimes. Adegbenga said.

He reiterated that his clean records are in the Nigeria media and many honours has comes his ways due to nipping in the bud activities of criminals especially along Abuja-Kaduna Road; Niger; Kogi, Rivers and Katsina State just to mention a few.

"To set the record straight, DCP Kolo has never head SARS office at the national headquarters in Abuja as documented by BBC Africa Eye. We advise those re-circulating the biased video to stop it as BBC did not hear the other side of the story which is unprofessional of any media credible organisation.

We called on DCP Kolo Yusuf not to be distracted but remained focus in bursting the activities of criminals, kidnappers and fraudsters across the country as we know that he will face criticism from criminals elements, the statement concluded.

It will be recalled that BBC Africa Eye did an unprofessional report on the death of Hassan Alfa who died in 2014 in Kano State.

Ondo Guber Election; Election Observer Coalition Hail INEC For A Credible Election

 

The coalition of INEC accredited Observer Groups for the Ondo Governorship Election has commended INEC for conducting a transparent, free, fair and credible.

In a joint press release on Sunday, 11^th October 2020 signed by the Coalition’s Convener, Dr. Nwambu Gabriel of Centre for Credible Leadership & Citizens Awareness and Coalition Secretary, Amb. Manukwem Chinyere of Centre for Positive Change & Civic Responsibility, they encouraged the PDP and the ZLP candidates to exhibit the spirit of sportsmanship by congratulating the winner and APC candidate as politics is not a do or die affair and again shun the idea of challenging his victory in tribunal or any court of law.

Excerpt is the full text of the press release:

“All over the world, it is necessary to ensure that elections comply with International Best Practice and Globally Accepted Standard in line with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as Amended, the Electoral Act of 2010 as Amended and the INEC regulations and guide lines. Hence, the essence of accrediting reputable Civil Society Organizations to observe any election is to assess the degree of compliance of the electoral management body (INEC), the Political Parties as well as their supporters, the law enforcement agencies to the relevant electoral laws as provided by the constitution, Federal Republic of Nigeria and the rule of engagement. This essentially is to serve as a parameter for measurement and a term of reference for improvement in future elections. Thus, election observation increases the level of credibility of a well ordered process of power transition in any defined democratic state of the world.

Consequently, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as an electoral body saddled with the constitutional responsibility of conducting credible elections across Nigeria, after a thorough scrutiny accredited 53 reputable Civil Society/Non Governmental Organizations to serve as domestic and 6 International Organizations to serve as foreign election observers for the Ondo State Governorship Election held on the 10th of October, 2020.

OBSERVATIONS.

We hereby state our observations as follows:

1. That the Ondo State Governorship Election scheduled by INEC for 10th of October, 2020 actually held across the 3009 polling units of Ondo state.

2. That the election commenced in good time contrary to our observation in Edo state where election commenced relatively late due to the delays in the distribution of election materials.

3. That we observed pockets of violence in Oke Ijebi Ward 4, unit 11, Ijomu Junction area, very close to St. Stephen’s Anglican Primary School Ijomu. But the swift response of the Nigerian police who intervened and took full control of the area restored public confidence on the electorates who were determined to exercise their franchise.

4. The introduction of the Zee Park by INEC has increased the credibility and transparency of the process of election since results from the unit level (Form EC8A) is uploaded for all Nigerians to see. Thus, it becomes difficult to alter, change or mutilate results as previously observed.

5. The Card Reader performed optimally. However, we observed some cases of malfunctioned Card Readers but the backup and support serviced as provided by INEC were quick to restore normalcy by providing alternative machines.

6. The issue of vote buying continues to resurface and has remained malignant in our electoral system. This largely could be attributed to the myopic understanding (Psych) of the average electorate, poverty, etc. In Ondo state, all the participating political parties are equally guilty. It boils down to the case of which party bought more than the other. This reoccurring decimal requires our collective effort as Nigerians the right the wrong.

7. That the increase number of the brail ballot guard increased the participation of the visually impaired voter. This is significant in the Ondo state Governorship election.

From the ongoing, it becomes evident that the Ondo state Governorship election which held on the 10th of October, 2020 complied significantly with the provisions of the relevant electoral laws of Nigeria.

We, as INEC Accredited Observer Organizations hereby state categorically clear that this election was transparent, free, fair and credible.

By this medium we would like to encourage the PDP and the ZLP candidates to exhibit the spirit of sportsmanship by congratulating the winner and APC candidate as politics is not a do or die affair and again shun the idea of challenging his victory in tribunal or any court of law. Every election should not end in the tribunal. They should therefore emulate Prince Ize Iyamu of Edo state.