10082021

6— Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2021
:Vanguard News
:@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058
Insecurity: APC, PDP at daggers
drawn
By Omeiza Ajayi &
Dirisu Yakubu
THE ruling All Progressives
Congress, APC, has accused
the Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, of sponsoring strings of
violent attacks in some parts of
the country as part of its schemes
to discredit President
Muhammadu Buhari’s
administration.
Vowing that it was only a
matter of time before sponsors
of such attacks were exposed
and dealt with, APC recalled
how the PDP had been chased
out of power in 2015 on account
of the erstwhile ruling party’s
lacklustre performance on
security, saying the PDP was not
qualified to chastise Buhari’s
handling of security.
But PDP in a swift reaction,
asked APC to fulfill its promise
of securing the lives and property
of Nigerians, instead of looking
for scapegoats for its failures.
The APC, however, reassured
Nigerians that the security of the
nation was of the highest priority
to President Buhari’s
administration, adding that the
government was effectively
deploying resources to ensure
all Nigerians went about their
activities in peace and safety.
National Secretary of the APC
Caretaker Extraordinary
Convention Planning
Committee CECPC, Senator
John James Akpanudoedehe,
who stated this in Abuja
yesterday, noted that going by
the major role played and the
negligent handling of insecurity
by the Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, when it was in government,
the failed opposition party was
seriously unqualified to speak
on how the present government
was tackling insecurity and the
attendant rot the PDP left behind.
“The PDP apparently chooses
to forget how the same insecurity
it now desperately seeks to
politicise, metamorphosed and
festered under its watch which
ultimately led Nigerians to
overwhelmingly reject it in the
2015 elections through their
votes,” Akpanudoedehe added.
APC said Nigerians still
recalled how bad things got
under the PDP, to the extent that
Buhari before he was elected
President was attacked by
terrorists in Kaduna State.
The statement read: “The
country’s capital, Abuja became
the epicentre of Boko Haram
attacks with brazen bomb
attacks on the United Nations
building, the Police
Headquarters, recreation
centres, markets, motor parks
and Eagle Square where
foreign heads of governments
gathered to celebrate the
country’s independence,
among others.
“Lest we forget monies meant
to buy arms to fight insurgents
was stolen and diverted to
private pockets of PDP members
and their cronies while Boko
Haram seized Nigeria’s
territory and hoisted their flags.
“This is no longer the case
under the government of
President Buhari. Security funds
are no longer being pocketed
and no inch of Nigeria’s territory
is under the control of the now
decimated insurgents.
“Aside emerging security
incidents recorded in some parts
of the country which is equally
being tackled by our security
•Insecurity politically-motivated by PDP—APC •Vows to
expose sponsors •Nigerians tired of your lies, PDP
replies APC
services with great success, the
APC is not oblivious of the
politically-motivated security
incidents being sponsored to
discredit and destabilise this
government. These evil sponsors
and perpetrators will soon be
unravelled and made to face the
full weight of the law.
“In keeping with our election
promise to Nigerians, President
Buhari has shown uncommon
leadership, intent and capacity
to permanently end all security
incidents and criminalities in the
country.
“So, for the PDP to suggest the
country’s security situation is at
its worst when it was rejected by
the electorates in 2015 shows
that its leadership is out of touch
with the state of the nation,
particularly successes recorded
by this government in
safeguarding lives and
livelihoods of Nigerians.
“The record investments in the
procurement of military and
intelligence platforms, training
and retraining of service
personnel by the Buhari-led
administation have led to the
neutralisation of insurgents,
arrests of bandits and
kidnappers by our security
services.
“While the PDP labours to
politicise security incidents in
some parts of the country, the
truth is this government’s
promise of ending insecurity is
on course and would soon be
realised.
“On a daily basis, insurgents
are surrendering to our security
services, bandits and kidnappers
camps are being sacked, our
forests are being cleared of
criminal and other undesirable
elements. It is clearly no longer
business as usual for these
criminals as was the case in the
previous administration.
“Under this government, the
military and other security
services have been reprofessionalised
and reequipped
to meet the growing
exigencies of security in the
country.
Nigerians tired of
your lies, PDP
replies APC
Meanwhile, PDP has urged
APC to stop “covering lies with
lies,” and address the security
challenges facing the nation.
The main opposition party
stated this in a reaction to claims
by the APC that the PDP was
unduly politicizing the
insecurity situation in the
country.
In a telephone conversation
with our correspondent, Deputy
National Publicity Secretary of
the party, Diran Odeyemi,
tasked leaders of the APC to
deliver on their campaign
promises instead of looking for
who to scapegoat for “their
manifest failure.”
He said: “It was in the papers
recently that over 3,000 people
were killed in the past three
months. Was it the PDP that
published that story? Has the
story been disputed?
“Nigerians no longer take
these people seriously because
they know next to nothing about
the use of the power they were
given by the people. No amount
of lies will keep them in office
beyond 2023.”
VISIT: Kaduna State Deputy Governor, Dr. Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe
(middle), newly promoted AIG and outgoing Kaduna State
Commissioner of Police, UM Muri (right) and the new Commissioner
of Police, Kaduna State Command, Mudashiru Abdullahi, during a
farewell and familiarisation visit to Government House, Kaduna.
Photo: Olu Ajayi.
PDP flags off e-registration with
pilot scheme in 7 states
By Dirisu Yakubu
A BUJA—Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP,
yesterday, commenced the
electronic registration and
revalidation of its members in
seven states.
The states include Anambra,
Osun, Ekiti, Edo, Adamawa and
Sokoto in the first scheme.
Speaking while launching the
scheme in Abuja, yesterday,
national chairman of the party,
Prince Uche Secondus, stated
that the “country must at this
point in time migrate from
analogue to digital.
“Data is the key to
development, data is the key to
proper planning and data is the
way a country would be able to
attract development from the
global community.
“We as a party cannot do
otherwise; we are operating in
social media space, so PDP
cannot do without data.”
Secondus explained that by
offering online registration, the
party was providing Nigerians
with a transparent platform to
exercise democratic potentials.
He said: “The project will
deepen the process of
membership registration and
also deepen the process of
democracy in attracting
development
“Usually in the analogue time,
they had to bring the register and
if they don’t like your face, you
will not be a member, some
people will take the register
away. All that has been
eliminated.”
On his part, chairman of the
Board of Trustee of the party,
Senator Walid Jibrin, said e-
registration was a
demonstration by PDP that it
was getting ready for the 2023
general elections, assuring that
the crisis rocking the party
would soon be a thing of the past.
“We have spent so many
sleepless nights in ensuring that
we resolved the crisis within our
party in order to make PDP great
again and also take advantage
of the failures of the APC,” he
stated.
On his part, the National
Publicity Secretary, Mr.Kola
Ologbondiyan, revealed that
when the logo of the party was
put online during the test
running period, in less than 24
hours, over one million
Nigerian indicated interest to
join the party.
Similarly, National
Organizing Secretary, Col.
Austin Akobundu, retd, said
intensified sensitization had
commenced in order to create
awareness on the e-registration
programme down to the
grassroots level.
NNPC promotes, redeploys
senior mgt staff
TO strengthen and reposition
the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation,
NNPC, towards attaining
global excellence and
profitability, the management
of the corporation has
announced the promotion and
redeployment of some staff to
fill key vacant positions.
Speaking on the
Development, Group
Managing Director of the
corporation, Mallam Mele
Kyari, said the new
appointments would enable the
corporation live up to the
expectations of Nigerians and
achieve its vision of becoming
a world-class energy company
of choice.
In a statement released by the
corporation’s Group General
Manager, Group Public Affairs
Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru,
yesterday, Mr. Billy Okoye has
been appointed the new Group
Executive Director, Ventures
and Business Development,
while Mrs. Aisha Ahmadu-
Katagum has been promoted
to the position of Group
Executive Director, Corporate
Services.
Until their new appointments,
Mr. Okoye and Mrs. Ahmadu-
Katagum were Group General
Managers, Crude Oil
By Emmanuel
Elebeke
THREE weeks after it
cautioned media houses to
desist from giving details of
insurgents and bandit activities,
National Broadcasting
Commission, NBC, has denied
giving such directives.
In a letter signed by Director-
General of the commission,
Balarabe Ilelah, NBC noted
that the contents of its letter were
not intended and by no means
capable of being interpreted as
a sweeping gag on broadcast
stations and journalists in the
country.
In the letter, entitled
“Newspaper Reviews and
Current Affairs Programmes: A
Need For Caution’, signed by
the Director, Broadcast
Monitoring, Francisca Aiyetan,
on behalf of the new Director-
General of the commission,
Balarabe Ilelah, the
commission insisted that it did
not meant to gag the broadcast
2023 Presidency not about
age, region only — CAN
By Luminous
Jannamike
CHRISTIAN Association
of Nigeria, CAN, said,
yesterday, that the struggle of
who becomes Nigeria’s next
president should not be about
age or region only.
It said Nigerians must rise to
reject any politician with
parochial interests as the race
for the nation’s top job gathered
momentum, ahead of the 2023
general elections.
In a statement by its Vice
Chairman (Northern region),
Reverend Joseph Hayab,
entitled, ‘Nigeria’s next
president not about age or
region,’ the apex Christian body
urged citizens to support for the
position any good and
Marketing Division (COMD)
and Supply Chain
Management Division in the
Corporation, respectively.
Adeyemi Adetunji, formerly
Chief Operating Officer,
Business and Ventures
Development, is now the Group
Executive Director,
Downstream, while Mr.
Mohammed Abdulkabir
Ahmed, formerly Chief
Operating Officer, Corporate
Services, has also been made the
Group Executive Director, Gas
and Power.
Other Chief Operating Officer
positions in the corporation
have now been redesignated as
Group Executive Directors,
GEDs, in alignment with the
rules of Company & Allied
Matters Act, CAMA,
preparatory to the new status of
the Corporation as a Limited
Liability Company, post-
Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
The repositioning also saw the
disengagement of Yusuf
Usman, formerly Chief
Operating Officer, Gas and
Power.
The new appointments
include that of Mr. Garba Deen
Muhammad, who will take
over from Dr. Kennie Obateru
as the Group General Manager,
Group Public Affairs Division of
the borporation.
NBC denies asking media
houses to stop reporting details
of terrorists, bandits’ attacks
stations by any means.
The letter read: “Headlines of
most newspapers on a daily
basis are replete with security
topics. While bringing
information on security to the
doorsteps of Nigerians is a
necessity, there is a need for
caution as too many details may
have an adverse implication on
the efforts of our security officials
who are duty-bound to deal with
the insurgency.
“The commission, therefore,
enjoins broadcasters to
collaborate with the
government in dealing with the
security challenges by not
glamourising the nefarious
activities of insurgents, terrorists,
kidnappers, bandits etc advising
guests and/or analysts on
programmes not to polarise the
citizenry with divisive rhetoric,
in driving home their point.
“Not giving details of either
the security issues or victims of
these security challenges so as
not to jeopardise the efforts of
the Nigerian soldiers and other
security agents."
detribalise Nigerian who could
fight insecurity, stop corruption,
and make the country to move
forward
He said: “Nigerians today,
simply need a leader that can
deliver the goods, unite the
nation and take us out of our
economic woes and iInsecurity
challenges.
“Those coming out to talk
about the age and region of our
next president are only out to
start an agenda that will further
divide us and put Nigeria in a
more difficult situation.
“Our Association, therefore,
wishes to warn the nation
against these unhealthy moves
and also to appeal to Nigerians
not to allow these short-sighted
and selfish considerations to
becloud our reasoning."