Nigeria’s former vice-president Atiku Abubakar will be facing Muhammadu Buhari in presidential polls slated for February 2019.

Atiku on Sunday clinched the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, ticket at a congress held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

He beat off competition from Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, Senate President Bukola Saraki and others. Atiku polled over 1,500 votes as against closest contender Tambuwal who got 693 votes.

The top five candidates were as follows: Atiku 1,532 votes, Tambuwal 693, Saraki 317, Kwankwaso: 158 and Ahmed Dankwambo 111.

“PDP, thank you for choosing me. This is a victory for all of us. The task to get Nigeria working again starts now,” said in a tweet shortly after he was declared winner.

Source: Africa News

Nigeria’s main opposition party will have its unity tested in the aftermath of this weekend’s primaries for the presidential flag-bearer, which is being contested by several political heavyweights in the party.

Both the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) will hold primary elections this weekend to select their nominees for presidential polls scheduled for February 2019.

While President Muhammadu Buhari is likely to be unanimously endorsed to contest a second term at the APC convention in Abuja, the opposition PDP which was in office from 1999 until 2015 has a tighter race in the southern city of Port Harcourt.

PDP’s candidates

The leading contenders in the race to be PDP presidential flag-bearer are former allies of Buhari, who fell out with his administration, and defected to the opposition.

But since then, Buhari’s party has seen a wave of defections in protest at his leadership style and a surge in PDP contenders that could give it momentum as the vote approaches.

Perennial presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, a 71-year-old former vice-president from the northeastern state of Adamawa, was the one of the first big names to throw his hat in the ring.

Then, after lawmakers crossed the floor in July, former Kano state governor Rabiu Kwankwaso emerged as a leading opposition candidate, promising he can secure the key northern state.

Sokoto state governor Aminu Tambuwal joined the PDP defectors and declared his candidacy to pry northern voters away from Buhari, who enjoys mass support across the north.

Finally, the ambitious Senate leader Bukola Saraki, a former Kwara state governor who is seen as the shepherd of the defectors, announced he would campaign for the top job.

The likely chosen candidate is expected to come from the Muslim-majotity North, following an unwritten rule in Nigeria that the presidency should alternate every two terms between a candidate from the north and south.

Unity beyond primaries?

Rising tensions and divisions have been reflected in hotly contested local party primaries, said Idayat Hassan, director of the Centre for Democracy and Development in Abuja.

“These primaries have been fractious,” she said. “It’s one of the most contentious in a long time.”

After the PDP officially chooses its presidential candidate, the party will select a running mate, who will likely come from the largely Christian south.

“What we’re waiting to see is if the (PDP) will be able to continue as one,” said Hassan. “Now they are putting up a united front — but will that continue?”

AFP

Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki has described Nigeria under the control of President Muhammadu Buhari as a divided nation, where citizens don’t have a sense of belonging. The 2019 presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said this in Abeokuta, Ogun State on Monday while meeting with PDP delegates in Ogun State.

Saraki who was accompanied by a leader of R-APC Kawu Baraje , ex-governor of Kogi state Idris Wada his Director -General of Abubakar Bukola Saraki Campaign Organisation , Muhammad Wakil and a Senator representing Kogi West , Senator Dino Melaye said Nigeria doesn’t need a sectional leader exemplified by the Buhari-led administration.

According to Saraki countries all over the world now vote healthy and capable leaders who can unite their nations. He urged Nigerians to follow suit by voting a visionary and energetic leader as her next president.

“Today in Nigeria, we are here at the crossroads. The country is divided and to unite the country, we need someone who will make everybody feel a sense of belonging. Today, there is no sense belonging in some parts of the country. “We need a president that rules and represents Nigeria. We want a president where everybody will say they belong here. Where there is no unity, there can never be progress. After unity, we can talk about development and progress. “A lot of our people are suffering because you cannot give what you don’t have. We need a visionary leader. It is time for us in Nigeria to have a visionary leader. We need a man that has the ability and that can perform. “Today, there is a new order over the world, we have seen it in Asia, America, and Europe. We are seeing people bringing in new, dynamic and energetic presidents and more importantly, digital presidents. “Out of the aspirants that have come out, I believe that my track records have shown that I have the ability and capacity to stand for what is right. When we talk about insecurity, it takes a courageous leader to say this is right and this is wrong, this is fair and this is unfair. “It is time we have a leader that will stand for justice, to do things the way it needs to be done. We should stop saying presidents can only come from one part of the country. We should start asking who is more capable, who is ready to carry the people along?” Saraki added.

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Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has submitted party nomination forms seeking as he officially kick starts a bid to secure a second and final term in charge of Africa’s most-populous nation.

Buhari was at the Abuja headquarters of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to file his nomination papers. The party has yet to slate a date for the contest to become flag-bearer even though Buhari is expected to be retained unopposed.

The septuagenarian in 2015 became the first opposition candidate in Nigerian history to defeat a current president. Buhari beat the then incumbent Goodluck Jonathan in his fourth shot at the presidency.

He had on Tuesday received nomination forms which were bought for him by some benevolent Nigerians. He tasked the APC members to eschew complacency and do all it takes to retain power come February 2019.

“Today I put my name forward to my party, the All Progressives Congress, seeking nomination to contest the Presidential Elections next year. I assure party members and all Nigerians that, if nominated and if elected, I shall continue to serve you to the best of my ability.

“Let me today appeal to party members not to be complacent but to prepare, strategize and win in 2019 elections. We must not allow those who brought the country to its knees from 1999 to 2015 to come and take us back,” he wrote on Twitter.

Buhari was elected on a promise to defeat Boko Haram, resuscitate a slumping economy and fight corruption.

His scorecard remains mixed as security continues to be a headache especially against insurgent group Boko Haram. A mid-year spate of communal killings have also all but subsided.

A proportion of Nigerians still suffering from the repercussions of the 2015 economic recession remain disenchanted. His first term was also marked by a serious illness, not revealed to the general public, which forced him to spend months in London for treatment.

His opponents accuse him of having autocratic tendencies.

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Senate Leader Bukola Saraki who both defected from the APC to the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have declared interest to unseat Buhari.

Source: Africa News

Supporters of a former state governor in Nigeria have mocked incumbent Muhammadu Buhari stating that as old as he was, Buhari was unfit to govern Nigeria.

Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, a one-time governor of Kano State located in north-central Nigeria also leads Kwankwasiyya Movement – which has a trademark of followers wearing red caps and veils.

A former ally of Buhari, Kwankwaso, currently serving as senator, declared his intention to contest for the presidential slot of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), ahead of 2019 general elections.

The BBC Hausa service shared a video of Kwankwaso supporters busy with anti-Buhari chants in the streets of the capital Abuja. The supporters clad in red caps and veils are heard singing: “old man, he is incapable” – insinuating that Buhari had to leave office.

He was also one of the candidates who contested the APC primaries in 2015 but lost to Muhammadu Buhari who eventually beat the PDP candidate and then president Goodluck Jonathan.

With the PDP set to hand their presidential ticket to a Muslim northerner, Kwankwaso will likely come up against ex-veep Atiku Abubakar, Senate president Bukola Saraki (yet to declare his candidacy) and others.

Source: Africa News

Sixteen senators quit Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s ruling party on Tuesday and the country’s third most senior politician said he might follow suit, in a blow to the leader who seeks re-election next year.

Fourteen of the 16 lawmakers left the All Progressives Congress (APC) to join the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a letter read on the Senate floor stated. Another two senators later left the ruling party while parliament was in session.

Senate President Bukola Saraki, the No. 3 political leader in Africa’s biggest economy, told Reuters in an interview a few hours later that the chances of him also leaving the APC were “very, very high.”

In a statement, a Buhari spokesman said no harm would be done to the party by the departures and the APC had “done its utmost to stop the defections,” without providing details.

Buhari expressed “total willingness to work with all members of the National Assembly, irrespective of their political party, for the benefit of the nation,” the statement said.

The fissures threaten to split support for Buhari within powerful patronage networks and among voters ahead of the presidential poll scheduled for February 2019 that will decide who runs Africa’s top oil producer.

The defections, and the suggestion that there may be more to come, have taken place just weeks after a faction within the party said it no longer backed Buhari.

Fighting within the APC coalition, which united to unseat Buhari’s predecessor rather than because of ideological unity, has mounted for years in a struggle for power and influence between those loyal to the head of state and others who say they have been targeted in a witch-hunt by the presidency.

Divisions emerged publicly in the weeks following the APC’s conference in June where new party leaders were elected. Others saw their hopes of greater powers within the party dashed just months before the presidential and legislative elections.

Agenda

The PDP, which was in power from the start of civilian rule in 1999 until Buhari took office in 2015, said in a tweet that 32 lawmakers in the lower House of Representatives had also joined from the APC.

The defections may also make it harder for Buhari to enact his legislative agenda for the remainder of his first term.

Saraki, speaking to Reuters, said he was considering his next move. “I will spend the next few days consulting with my colleagues who have defected and also my other colleagues from my state and make my announcement very soon,” he said.

He ran unopposed for the post of Senate president, mainly with the support of the opposition even though he is an APC member. He was not his party’s preferred candidate and the manner of his elevation to the office in 2015 led to strains in his relationship with Buhari.

Since then he has been dogged by accusations of misconduct and investigations since becoming Senate president, though none has led to convictions.

Asked about the raft of defections, Saraki said: “I must commend them for their courage because it took a lot for them to be able to do that in the face of this level of intimidation and harassment.”

The Senate president and his supporters say he has been targeted by political opponents, most recently on Tuesday morning when he said his movements, and those of his deputy, were halted by police. Images of the alleged incident were circulated on social media.

Police denied taking that action.

“The force wishes to categorically state that there was no authorized deployment of police personnel to besiege the residence of the Senate president or his deputy as reported in the media,” a police spokesman said.

He said the allegations would be investigated.

Harassment accusations

Amid an increasingly febrile political backdrop, lawmakers in June issued a series of demands to Buhari including a call for an end to the “systematic harassment and humiliation by the executive of perceived political opponents.”

The president’s supporters have previously rejected the accusations leveled against the former military ruler.

“I am committed to listening to very legitimate grievances and engaging all those who are aggrieved that we can see through their grievances,” Adams Oshiomhole, the APC’s national chairman, told reporters in Abuja after Tuesday’s defections.

However, he said it was best for those motivated solely by personal interest to “return to where they belong.”

Buhari said in April that he would seek another term. His candidacy depends on party approval, though that is usually considered to be a formality for the incumbent.

Nigeria’s main opposition parties earlier this month agreed to form an alliance to field a joint candidate to contest the election.

Source: VOA

Nigeria’s ruling party has split after a faction declared that it no longer supports the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, threatening his hopes of a securing a second term in an election due early next year.

A group of politicians who were part of the All Progressives Congress (APC) told a news conference in Abuja late on Wednesday they had formed a new faction, led by former Buhari ally Buba Galadima and called Reformed-All Progressives Congress (R-APC).

“The APC has run a rudderless, inept and incompetent government that has failed to deliver good governance to the Nigerian people,” R-APC national chairman Galadima said.

He said the faction, described as the authentic voice of the APC, has representatives in all Nigeria’s local government wards and states.

Coalition politics

Rifts within the APC could split support for Buhari within powerful patronage networks and among voters ahead of an election expected to be held in February.

Buhari, a 75-year-old former military ruler, said in April that he would seek another term. His candidacy depends on party approval, though that is usually seen as a formality for the incumbent.

Nigeria’s political parties must select their candidates for the election between Aug. 18 and Oct. 7.

Nigeria is Africa’s top oil producer and richest economy. It plays a key role in the regional fight against Islamist militants.

Galadima, who was a prominent figure in Buhari’s former CPC party and a founding member of the APC, said the R-APC would “work with like-minded political parties and groups to offer Nigeria qualitative good governance in 2019”.

Fissures within the APC, a broad coalition formed to oust Buhari’s predecessor Goodluck Jonathan rather than pursue a political ideology, have come to the fore in recent months.

Atiku Abubakar, a former Nigerian vice president, has been the most high profile figure to leave the party. Abubakar told Reuters in May that he hopes to be the main opposition party’s presidential candidate.

The split comes just over a week after the APC held its convention during which party executives were appointed, including a new national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.

“For us, everybody is important, everybody matters. We want to run an inclusive party,” said Oshiomhole in an emailed statement on Thursday.

Antony Goldman, of Nigeria-focused PM Consulting, said Buhari had been able to defeat Jonathan in the 2015 election by drawing on sentiment among the former president’s opponents.

“There are various groups trying to do the same now, but they have yet to produce a candidate around whom that sentiment can coalesce and present a genuine challenge,” he said.

Source: Reuters

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, 75, has approved a law to reduce age limits to serve in political office, making it easier for younger candidates to run in next year’s election.

The Not-Too-Young-To-Run Bill says a 35-year-old can serve as president – the previous threshold was 40.

Anyone who is 25 or above can be state and federal representatives. Previously it was 30.

Youth groups had waged a strong campaign to reduce the age limit, saying it would encourage youth participation in politics.

Mr Buhari is running for a second term in elections due next year.

Source: BBC

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria has asked president Muhammadu Buhari to resign, in the wake of the killing of two priests and their parishioners in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

Buhari has also been summoned by the country’s legislators to discuss the security situation in Benue state. The lawmakers also passed a vote of no confidence in the country’s security chiefs on Wednesday.

The Catholic Bishops accuse the president of ignoring repeated calls to bring his attention to the skewed and ineffective security apparatus and strategy employed to contain clashes between the mainly Christian farmers and Muslim herdsmen.

‘‘Since the president who appoints the security chiefs has refused to call them to order, we can only conclude that they are acting out a script he approves of,’‘ the bishops said in their statement.

The statement goes ahead to say the president has lost the trust of the citizenry, since he has failed in his duty to keep the country safe.

‘‘Whether this failure is due to inability to perform or lack of political will, it is time for him to choose the path of honour and consider stepping aside to save the nation from total collapse.’‘

Buhari has been accused of leniency in this matter, with many pointing to the fact that he shares ethnicity with the Fulani semi – nomadic herdsmen. Both the herdsmen and the settled farmers have however carried out attacks that have left hundreds dead.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office in 2015 vowing to end the insurgency, warned citizens against playing into the hands of the agents of disunity, while condolingwith the victims of the latest attack.

The issue of securing Africa’s most populous country has become politically charged in the run-up to an election next year which Buhari said he wants to contest.

The Middle Belt region includes a number of swing states that could play a significant role in determining Buhari’s electoral prospects.

Source: Africa News