Director Political Section Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Du Sheng, The Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Zhou Pingjian, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina and Deputy Director, Media State House, Mr Abiodun Oladunjiye during the presentation of Congratulatory letter of the Chinese President Xi Jinping on the Re-Election of President Buhari Friday at the State House Abuja. PHOTO; SUNDAY AGHAEZE. 1ST MARCH 2019.
President Muhammadu Buhari Friday received more congratulatory and goodwill messages from world leaders following his convincing victory in the February 23 presidential election.
The Nigerian President received separate telephone calls from UK Prime Minister Theresa May and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, congratulating him on his re-election and wishing the Nigerian people progress and prosperity.
President Buhari thanked the two leaders for their unflinching support to Nigeria and her people, pledging commitment to continue working with them to advance various areas of cooperation.
Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
March 1, 2019
President Paul Biya of Cameroon has felicitated with President Muhammadu Buhari on his re-election, wishing the Nigerian leader ‘‘every success’’ as he serves a new term.
In a congratulatory message, President Biya said: ‘‘On the occasion of your re-election to the Presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as declared by the Electoral Commission of your country, I am very pleased to extend to you my sincere and warm congratulations.’’
Recounting the excellent relations between the two countries, President Biya said, ‘‘I am already looking forward to working more closely with you to the continued promotion of the excellent relations of friendship and cooperation between Nigeria and Cameroon and to meeting together the major challenges of our two countries, especially those related to stability and security.’’
Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant to the President
(Media & Publicity)
March 2, 2019
Meanwhile , the Federal Government has described Buhari ’ s electoral victory as the triumph of ordinary Nigerians over the nation ’ s elite.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed , made the remarks in Abuja on Thursday when he received the management of his ministry, who came to congratulate him on the victory of the APC in last Saturday ’ s Presidential and National Assembly elections .
“Last weekend ’ s election is a direct contest between ordinary Nigerians and the elite, most of whom are rent seekers. Of course, the ordinary Nigerians have won!” he said.
Mohammed said the President ’ s victory was a confirmation of the fact that ordinary Nigerians appreciated the pro -people policies of the Buhari administration which , he said, was doing more with far less resources .
“Overall, this government is doing more with less and is restoring decency and integrity to governance.
Like the New York Times said, ‘ the re – election of President Buhari is a referendum on honesty ’ . There is no better way to put it , ” he stated .
While reeling out the policies that endeared President Buhari to the ordinary Nigerians, the minister said under the Social Investment Programme, the government feeds 9. 3 million schoolchildren every day and some 500 , 000 unemployed graduates were employed under N- Power , in addition to some 300 , 000 families , who he said were benefiting from the Conditional Cash Transfer .
On the APC ’ s victory in Kwara , the minister thanked the management of his ministry for appreciating his ‘ modest ’ effort in delivering Kwara State from the grip of a crippling hegemony.
“I must stress – and I have said this before – that the credit for the liberation of Kwara goes to the good people of the state who , despite efforts to compromise them, refused to sell their votes .
CopyRight Punch.
France , Russia , Saudi Arabia and other nations have congratulated Buhari on his re – election.
The Russian Ambassador to Nigeria, Alexey Shebarshin , the UK Minister of State for Africa, Harriett Baldwin, and the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, in separate congratulatory messages, expressed the hope Buhari’ s victory “will shape the destiny of this nation for the upcoming four years and beyond. ”
On its part , the French Ministry wrote, “France congratulates President Muhammadu Buhari on his re – election on February 23. It will continue to stand by Nigeria and to provide its full support for the implementation of the country ’ s priorities, especially economic diversification, job creation , counter -terrorism and the fight against corruption.”
Shebarshin wrote , “I am honoured to extend my congratulations to you personally, Mr President, and the people of Nigeria on the successful conduct of free, transparent and credible Presidential and National Assembly elections on February 23, 2019, that will shape the destiny of this nation for the upcoming four years and beyond . ”
The UK’ s minister stated , “I offer my congratulations to President Buhari on securing a second term as the Nigerian President. The UK is a long- standing friend and partner of Nigeria and the Nigerian people , and a stable and prosperous Nigeria benefits Africa and the world .”
Congratulatory messages also came in from the Presidents of Zimbabwe, South Africa and Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya .
Also , Saudi Arabia King , Salman bin Abdulaziz Al – Saud , on Thursday congratulated Buhari on his re – election victory at Saturday ’ s presidential poll .
Buhari, according to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity , Mr Garba Shehu , also received a similar message from the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani,
While the Saudi king called Buhari on the telephone , the Qatari monarch sent a cable message to Buhari .
Copyright PUNCH .
Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), says President Muhammadu Buhari and his supporters are not worried about Atiku Abubakar’s plans to challenge the result of Saturday’s presidential election.
Buhari, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), polled 15,191,847 votes to defeat Atiku, the flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who had 11,262,978 votes.
Atiku has rejected the outcome of the election, describing it as the worst in Nigeria’s history.
However, Mustapha said there is nothing to worry about.
“We are not jittery at all because the process was open and transparent. It was a credible election and we will continue to savour the victory. In the process too, we will extend the hand of friendship for the purpose of nation building and reconciliation,” Boss, who is also from Adamawa state like Atiku, said.
“Our electoral act and the constitution have both provided a window for whoever is dissatisfied with the process of election to seek redress.
That is the path and we will encourage them to go along that path.”
The cable
The race for presidency of the 9th senate, to be inaugurated in June, has already started. The All Progressives Congress (APC) has secured 60 of the 95 seats announced so far, with the winners of the 14 remaining seats still being awaited.
The top contender for that position of senate president has to be Ahmad Lawan, senator representing Yobe north senatorial district.
He was believed to have been favoured for the position by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.
Lawan was re-elected by his constituents on Saturday and is one of the ranking APC senators.
Four years ago, the APC caucus in the senate was divided over the leadership of the national assembly.
In an attempt to broker peace between the two APC factions, the president had summoned an emergency meeting at the International Conference Centre (ICC). While Lawan and his supporters were there, Bukoal Saraki teamed up with the PDP to become the nation’s No. 3 citizen.
In the end, Lawan was compensated with the position of senate majority leader.
HE REMAINED LOYAL TO THE APC NONTHELESS
Despite his hopes getting shattered, Lawan stayed with the APC even when the party was hit with wave of defections. On one occasion, APC lost 14 senators with Saraki announcing his exit shortly after.
Amid the defection storm, Lawan remained there to lead his colleagues and defend the APC. He defended the president for not signing the electoral act amendment bill and opposed those who contemplated impeaching the president .
ONE OF THE LONGEST SERVING LEGISLATORS
Lawan has been a member of the national assembly since the return of democracy in 1999, together with David Mark and Nicholas Mutu.
He was first elected a member of the house of representatives in where he chaired the committees on education and agriculture at different times.
After eight years in the lower legislative chamber, Lawan took a shot at the senate in 2007 and was elected to represent Yobe north district, a position he has held ever since.
He is unarguably one of the most experienced APC lawmaker returning to the 9th senate, having been at the two chambers.
STRONG ACADEMIC RECORDS
The 60-year-old is a graduate of the University of Maiduguri where he read geography. He also has a postgraduate diploma in land survey, an MSc and PhD in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS), all from the University of Cranfield, United Kingdom.
TINUBU’S ADMIRATION FOR HIM
At a recent meeting of some APC leaders in Ibadan, Oyo state, Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the APC, spoke glowingly of Lawan. He defended the party’s choice of him as senate president in 2015, praising his continued loyalty to the party.
“Senator Lawan … you are a great example of a very consistent and intellectually resourceful leader that we have in this country,” he said.
“We saw in him, these leadership traits and the qualities we wanted in the Senate President. We know you are qualified and competent to be, that you would have led the most important arm of our government more effectively but the political prostitutes and their robbers and their collaborators denied you of it because of selfishness and selfish aggrandisement.
“But instead of fleeing, you remained constant and consistent, seeing this institution as a place for truly lawmaking that we the people and you have remained consistent and constant ever since on a progressive stand. Thank you.”
LAWAN GETTING SET?
Shortly after he won reelection bid, the senator the APC is not only confident of producing the next senate president but that such senate leadership will mend the broken ties between the legislature and the executive.
“This time, it will not be the kind of National Assembly that will betray the trust of Nigerians; the national assembly will support Mr President to meet the needs of Nigerians,” he had said.
“The time for unnecessary bickering and opposition has come to an end; we cannot afford to waste more time on unnecessary politics and denying the people of Nigeria the much needed development. The national assembly will support and cooperate with the president to effectively serve the interest of Nigerians.”
Sounds like he already has his plans all figured out and just waiting for the big moment.
Apart from Lawan, there are other ranking senators who could become senate president if the position is zoned to the north-east or north-central.
ABDULLAHI ADAMU
Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa state who will be serving his third time in the senate, is a possible candidate for the job. The senator was once accused of plotting the removal of Saraki but he later denied this, describing Saraki as his son. He represents Nasarawa west senatorial district.
ALI NDUME
Ndume who represents Borno south senatorial district is also another possible contender. He is also returning to the upper legislative chamber for a third term. He was made the senate leader along the line but was later removed in January 2007.
DANJUMA GOJE
A two-time governor of Gombe state, Goje has been representing Gombe central in the senate since 2011. He is arguably one of the most vocal lawmakers in the senate and is in the mentions as possibly the next senate president. He currently chairs the senate committee on appropriation.
The cable
A former Head of State, Abdulasalami Abubakar, has announced the outcome of a meeting between the National Peace Committee and President Muhammadu Buhari which held on Friday.
After the meeting, Mr Abubakar said they visited the president in order to intimate him of the grievances raised by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.
Mr Buhari defeated Mr Abubakar in the presidential election held last Saturday.
However, Mr Abubakar, a former vice president, rejected the outcome of the election and threatened to seek legal redress.
The Abdulsalami-led peace committee met with the PDP candidate on Thursday at his residence in Abuja.
Speaking with State House correspondents after meeting the president Friday, the former Head of State said the election result “has raised a lot of dust and people feel aggrieved”.
“Yesterday l met the PDP Presidential candidate and his party in order to ensure that this peace committee ensure that really, our concern is about Nigeria,” he said.
“And in order to listen to their grievances and what they think has gone wrong, we are here today to see his Excellency, the President in order to relay the fears and concerns of the PDP and Mr President listened to us and has taken note of what we have told him.”
He also called on Nigerians to work for peaceful co-existence in the country.
“We are not talking about self-interest, we are talking about the interest of the country. I keep saying, whenever there is violence, we are not going to see violence in Ikoyi, in the Villa and you will not find violence in the various government houses in this country. It is always the poor that get to kill themselves and so on.
“So, please, yes, as much as we have grievances, l am glad that the PDP say they are going to court to challenge the process, l think this is the right way to go about it, and l hope and pray that we will maintain this,” he said.
‘No preconditions’
Contrary to reports, Mr Abubakar said the former vice president did not give conditions but grievances when they met him Thursday.
“Atiku presented his grievances and his observations, he did not present any conditions. He gave his complaints, which we have come to present and discuss with Mr President to see what can be done,” he said.
Premium times
A director in the campaign council of the All Progressives Congress, Nuhu Ribadu, has said the president, Muhammadu Buhari, allowed for free contest without interfering with the work of security agencies.
Mr Buhari was declared winner, on Wednesday, of the keenly contested presidential election, which took place on Monday.
The main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), alleged rigging and manipulation of the process, though some observer groups have said the polls were credible.
Speaking at a reception to thank members of his Field Operations directorate, Mr Ribadu said Mr Buhari did not allow the use of state apparatus to influence the outcome of the elections.
“We will continue to be happy for the next four years because we have done something that is good for our country; we have re-elected a good man. Buhari is a good man. He is genuine. He is a fair gentleman. He is honest.
“He will protect our resources, he will. He will not allow bad people to cheat us and steal from our own commonwealth. He will not! And that is what we want in a leader. He will not go and sale Nigeria. He will not sale whatever that we have. He will not sit with anybody to plot evil or do bad thing. He will not.
“I saw it at a very close range, even up to this election. There was never a day or a minute that Buhari sat down and told us, as his own campaign council, to go and do a bad thing. Never! He refused to allow even the traditional way of politicians taking advantage of what they have. He refused. He refused to talk to the law enforcement agencies.
“He refused to interfere with INEC. He said let us go and meet the people, lets sell our own product, lets tell Nigerians what we have, and if they want to buy, let them take it. It is not about money, or intimidation, we would give Nigerians free opportunity and chance to decide and they decided,” he said.
Mr Ribadu thanked the over 600,000 canvassers who worked at polling uints across the country to canvas for votes for the president. He assured them that their work will be rewarded.
“Ladies and gentlemen let us be very, very proud of ourselves.
We did something that money cannot buy. We did it honestly and only God can testify to that. We didn’t invite people to even come and look at it, no. The best human being is one that will do good thing without necessarily waiting for people to take note.
“Honestly, be proud of yourselves, genuinely! And you will see the reward of it; it will come. No good work can go unrewarded, one way or the other, it will come. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow in the morning, but certainly it is going to come.”
Mr Ribadu said it was impressive that people got down to work and bonded very well into a team to deliver on the directorate’s mandate even though there was no money to share as it was the case with political campaigns.
He also urged the canvassers to work towards ensuring success of the party in the upcoming governorship and state assembly elections.
“The election are not over yet. We still have one important election waiting for us. We just got one, presidential and National Assembly. We have another one coming, in a matter of ten days now or less, the gubernatorial and state assemblies. It is a very important election for the party. I want to appeal to all of us, let us take it equally very important. We have already done a wonderful job and we are capable of doing that again.
“The work we are doing is a continuation of supporting President Muhammadu Buhari because he would need a party that has majority of states in Nigeria. He would need more governors so that he can carry on with his work and implement the policies of our party.
“The governors would also require our own state assembly members. Governance is about a team work. I therefore appeal to us, let us go back and continue with this work. It is not yet time to rest until it is over,” he explained.
Some members of the directorate who spoke at the meeting thanked Mr Ribadu for his leadership which, they said, held the team together even as they faced elections with challenges such as finances.
Premiun Times
The Ohaneze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural group, on Thursday congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari on his victory in the Presidential Election of February 23.
Mr Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared re-elected by INEC on Wednesday, having polled 15,191,847 votes, winning in 19 states.
He defeated 72 other candidates, including Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 11,255,978 votes and won 17 states and the FCT, to occupy the second position.
The Secretary General of the group, Uche Okwukwu, gave the congratulatory message while briefing journalists in Enugu.
“The Ohaneze Ndigbo heartily rejoices and congratulates President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, on his well-deserved victory at the Presidential polls on February 23.
“His victory as exposed by the majority of votes cast has clearly shown that the President has been on the right course in the last four years.
“Ndigbo are deeply happy that Mr President secured more votes in Igbo land than he got in 2015.
“We urge all Nigerians and the international community to accept the verdict as the election was adjudged free, credible, transparent and peaceful.
“Ohaneze is calling on all not to heat up the polity through unguarded utterances and actions,’’ he said.
Mr Okwukwu added that the leadership of the group would be meeting with President Buhari next week to present to him official congratulatory message on his well-deserved victory at the poll.
He, however, said that the group would use the occasion to present to Mr Buhari the charter of their demands for infrastructure uplift of the entire Igbo speaking areas of the country.
“Part of our demands will be the completion of ongoing infrastructure works such as the 2nd Niger Bridge, modern railway, completion of ongoing Enugu-Onitsha and Enugu-Port Harcourt roads, fixing of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport among others,’’ he said.
NAN reports that Ohaneze members are drawn from seven states, which include; Abia, Anambra, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo and Rivers States.
Premium Times
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