12092018 - APC PRIMARIES: Gov kick against conditions for consensus candidate

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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 —41
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TRADER MONI—Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (2nd right); accompanied by Governor of Cross
River State, Prof. Ben Ayade (right), during the inauguration of Trader Moni Programme at Watt Market
in Calabar, Cross River State, yesterday.
APC Govs kick against conditions
for consensus candidature
Continues from Page 5
have gone shopping for
pliable “consensus”
candidates. Party
sources said the move by
a few of the governors,
especially in the North-
West and North-East,
was another tricky
method of imposing
candidates.
“When they say
consensus, we know
what they mean. We have
been in the system for
long, and it was very
easy for us to see through
them. What some of them
are calling consensus is
intimidation by another
name. They intimidate
others out of the race in
order to pave the way for
their preferred
candidates, and then
they label it a consensus.
NAIRAWATCH
What manner of
consensus do you do
with less than half of the
aspirants and other
stakeholders in
attendance? The new
APC leadership will not
accept such imposition
through the back door,”
a top party source told
Vanguard.
Party moves to
halt imposition
As a way of halting
imposition of candidates,
the national leadership
of the party has outlined
conditions to be met by
its state chapters before
adopting consensus as
an option in its
forthcoming congresses
and primary elections.
The party in a
Naira appreciates to
N363.07/$ in I&E window
By Elizabeth Adegbesan
THE Naira, yesterday, appreciated to N363.07
per dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E)
window even as the volume of dollars traded dropped
by 62 percent.
Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative
exchange rate for the window dropped to N363.07
per dollar yesterday from N363.11 per dollar on
Monday, indicating four kobo appreciation of the
naira.
The volume of dollars traded on the window
yesterday declined by 62 percent to $220.61 million
from $586.83 million on Monday.
statement by its acting
National Publicity
Secretary, Yekini
Nabena, said though
consensus remained a
constitutional option, it
could only be a last resort
where only one person
has purchased the
nomination and
expression of interest
forms.
The statement read:
“The attention of the All
Progressives Congress,
APC, has been drawn to
announcements of
consensus candidates for
elective positions in
some states.
“It is, therefore,
pertinent to make some
clarifications to
enlighten party faithful
on the procedure for
nominating candidates.
“While consensus is
provided for by the
party’s constitution, the
option is conditional.
Consensus does not
foreclose direct or
indirect primaries for all
elective positions as
contained in the
resolution of the 6th
meeting of the party’s
National Executive
Committee, NEC.
“Again, consensus will
apply when no other
aspirant signifies interest
(i.e., through the
purchase of nomination
forms) for the position in
question.”
Subtle threat
However, in what
looked like a subtle
threat to the party, some
of the governors were
said to have recently
complained of lack of
funds to prosecute direct
primaries, saying the
party might have to look
for alternative sources of
funding the direct
primaries.
Vanguard, however,
learned that the party
was unperturbed by the
subtle threats, as it
would deploy a chunk of
the money generated
from the sale of
nomination and
expression of interest
forms for that purpose.
Why
nomination fees
are high
Oshiomhole, yesterday,
opened up on the
reasons for what had
been decried as the high
nomination fees to be
paid by aspirants. The
presidential nomination
forms were set at N45
million, governorship at
N22.5 million and
senatorial forms at N7
million.
Receiving a delegation
of the Rice Farmers
Association of Nigeria,
who came with a cheque
of N56.8 million to
support Buhari,
Oshiomhole said the fees
were set to generate
funds to enable the party
conduct direct primaries.
While observing the
generosity of the rice
farmers, he said
President Buhari
observed that the fees
were high but noted that
the President was
mollified after he
explained to him the
reason.
“Our President
protested that the fee we
are charging for our
Presidential form was
too high, that it is
beyond his income. We
said well, there were real
causes we intend to
incur in conducting
transparent primaries
across the country and
we have to pay for it. But
I told him that sir, you
have many admirers who
will contribute the
money,” Oshiomhole
said.
Receiving the cheque
of N56.8 million,
Comrade Oshiomhole
observed that the
Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, and its
presidential aspirants
were jittery ahead of the
2019 general election,
given the support for
Buhari by 12.2million
rice farmers across the
country who are
registered voters.
The rice farmers were
led on the visit by the
governor of Kebbi State,
Abubakar Atiku Bagudu,
who is the grand patron
of the association and its
National President,
Aminu Goronyo.
Goronyo explained that
their contribution was in
appreciation of the over
N100 billion loan
facilities President
Buhari’s administration
provided for the farmers.
Governor Bagudu who
commended the efforts
made so far by the
present government to
encourage rice farming
in Nigeria, said the
efforts had yielded fruit,
turning many of the
farmers
millionaires.
Oshiomhole
mocks PDP
into
Speaking at the event,
Comrade Oshiomhole
mocked the PDP, saying
the party is jealous of the
support being enjoyed
by President Buhari
across the country.
He said: “Our
opponents are jittery.
When some faceless
people contributed
money for one of the
aspirants of PDP, he
looked at them and said
I have enough to buy all
of you; he cried a little
bit just for effect.
“Not a word was
spoken in the media
about the morality or the
legality or illegality of it.
I thought the media
would ask what the
morality of those who
have nothing giving to
the rich is. When our
own President, who does
not have, and some
people decided to raise
money to buy his form,
suddenly it became an
issue that why should
people buy nomination
forms for aspirants?
“But let me say that we
need Nigerians who are
committed to policy
stability and who believe
in a candidate to raise
funds not only for the
form but the mass
mobilization.
We need
money for direct
primaries
— Oshiomhole
"In the case of our
President, he will even
need more money
because our party’s
decision is that we have
to organize direct
primaries and we need
money. But I am glad it
is the confidence
Nigerians have in the
leadership of our
President that different
groups are contributing
money for his
campaign.”
Oshiomhole, who
alleged how the PDP-led
administration gave
Nigerians poisonous
rice, narrated: “One of
the scandals that we had
had to deal with when I
was governor, was when
I had the honour to
preside over a meeting
of the governors and the
former Customs
Comptroller-General
was lamenting to us how
people they granted
waiver to import rice
exceeded the quota they
were given and imported
more rice into the
country, and he claimed
that they defrauded the
Federal Government
about N22 billion in
waivers.
‘’We saw PDP ministers
lamenting that the rice in
our markets were expired
products and I asked,
who elected them to
lament? They allowed
this expired rice into the
country; they proceeded
to grant them waivers,
they exceeded the
waivers they were
given.
‘’Even former President
Jonathan lamented they
must recover the excess
money from those
farmers.”