Singapore News Channel, Singapore News Network

President Muhammadu Buhari says corruption poses a big threat to the general election and the country’s democracy.

The president said this in a piece titled “Corruption Threatens Nigeria – And Its Election”.

Buhari said while his administration is devising ways to tackle corruption, the social vice “innovates to resist the law”.

He added that he shares the same desire with Nigerians who wish to see the speedy execution of projects and end results of his anti-corruption fight but that due process must be followed to ensure “allegation never takes the place of evidence”.

He urged Nigerians to re-elect him while promising to “continue forward on this testing path against corruption”.

“A Yoruba proverb states that only the patient one can milk a lion. Likewise, victory over corruption is difficult, but not impossible. We must not flounder in our resolve,” he said.

“I know many Nigerians would like to see faster action. So do I. But so too must we follow due process and exercise restraint, ensuring allegation never takes the place of evidence. For that is not the Nigeria we should wish to build.

“This is the challenge of our generation: the variable on which our success as a nation shall be determined. But the vested interests at play can make this fight difficult.

 By way of their looting, the corrupt have powerful resources at their disposal. And they will use them. For when you fight corruption, you can be sure it will fight back.

“There is no doubt that this Administration has changed the way we tackle corruption. The choice before voters is this: Do we continue forward on this testing path against corruption? Or do revert to the past, resigned to the falsehood that it is just the-way-things-are-done? Or that it is just too difficult – too pervasive – to fix? I know which one I would choose. It is why I am asking Nigerians for another four years to serve them.”

Read the full statement below

On February 16th, Nigeria will hold a general election. Four years ago, the country experienced its first democratic transfer of power to the opposition since 1999. The vote in a few days will be no less significant.

As president, I have tried to judiciously exercise the trust vested in me to combat the problems of corruption, insecurity and an inequitable economy. All are important. But amongst them, one stands above the others as both a cause and aggravator of the rest. It is, of course, corruption.

A policy programme that does not have fighting corruption at its core is destined to fail. The battle against graft must be the base on which we secure the country, build our economy, provide decent infrastructure and educate the next generation.

This is the challenge of our generation: the variable on which our success as a nation shall be determined. But the vested interests at play can make this fight difficult.

 By way of their looting, the corrupt have powerful resources at their disposal. And they will use them. For when you fight corruption, you can be sure it will fight back.

It even threatens to undermine February’s poll and – by extension – our democracy. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has raised concerns over laundered money being funnelled into vote buying. This is the problem of corruption writ large. It illustrates how it lurks in all and every crevice of public life, manipulating due process in pursuit of self-preservation and perpetuation; protecting personal political and economic interests at the expense of the common good.

Indeed, those who have criticised my administration’s anti-corruption drive are those who oppose its mission.

 And though their lawyers may craft expensive alibis, they cannot escape that which binds them together: a raft of documents and barely legal (some clearly illegal) mechanisms – whether that be the Panama Papers, US Congress reports, shell companies or offshore bank accounts.

Corruption corrodes the trust on which the idea of community is founded, because one rule for the few and another for everyone else is unacceptable to anyone working honestly.

But as we have intensified our war on corruption, so we have found that corruption innovates to resist the law.

 This is not the sole domain of those Nigerians, but the international corruption industry: the unsavoury fellow-traveler of globalisation .

Once the enablers are let in – as they have been in the past – the greed of those they collude with grows. We have closed the door on them, but
unfortunately there still remain individuals who are willing to open windows.

Concrete progress has been made, but there is still much to do. We have repatriated hundreds of millions of dollars stowed away in foreign banks.

 These funds have been transparently deployed on infrastructural projects and used to directly empower the poorest in society. More is still to come from our international partners in France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Yet the hundreds of billions sifted out of the country for the best part of this century promise more.

We have secured high profile convictions, but greater cases remain.

 Lawyers table endless objections to obstruct court proceedings, whilst their clients hope it lasts until a ‘friendly’ president is voted into office. We must continue to tighten the legal framework and ensure the authorities have the investigative powers at their disposal to secure sentences. Only then will we begin to neutralise the advantages the corrupt have.

More ghost workers must be removed from government payroll (almost $550 million has been saved from identifying phantom employees).

 More can be recovered through our whistle-blower policy ($370 million has been returned since its launch in 2016). More is still to come. But, together, we shall prevail over corruption.

A Yoruba proverb states that only the patient one can milk a lion. Likewise, victory over corruption is difficult, but not impossible. We must not flounder in our resolve. I know many Nigerians would like to see faster action. So do I. But so too must we follow due process and exercise restraint, ensuring allegation never takes the place of evidence. For that is not the Nigeria we should wish to build.

There is no doubt that this Administration has changed the way we tackle corruption. The choice before voters is this: Do we continue forward on this testing path against corruption? Or do revert to the past, resigned to the falsehood that it is just the-way-things-are-done? Or that it is just too difficult – too pervasive – to fix? I know which one I would choose. It is why I am asking Nigerians for another four years to serve them.

The cable

President Muhammad Buhari has refused to make formal presentation of any APC candidates in Zamfara State at the presidential rally in Gusau, Zamfara State capital.

Speaking at the APC presidential rally at Trade Fair complex, Gusau, Buhari, expressed optimism that, APC would produce candidates for the state.

“We hope APC would field candidates in the forthcoming general election “, he added.

President Buhari however, recalled that, during his 2015 camping, he promised to tackle, insecurity, poverty and corruption.

According to him, security challenge has reduce drastically, especially, in the north east where Boko  Haram insurgents took control of many local government areas were liberated.

He reiterated that, his adminstration has focused attention on the agricultural development, through provision of adequate fertilizer to the farmers.

Buhari however, appealed to the people of the state to redouble their efforts in farming activities, with a view to provide abundant food to the nation.

In his speech, APC national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomole urged people to  vote for president Buhari in the forthcoming election to him continue with the good work.

He said APC is law abiding political party, therefore, would apply legal means in handling matters.

Governor Abdul-Aziz Yari thanked President Muhammad Buhari for the campaign to the state and promised to deliver the state to him.

President Muhammadu Buhari in Gusau, Zamfara State has charged traditional rulers do more in curbing banditry and kidnapping in their communities, saying that he felt disappointed that people close to some of them were found to have a hand in such criminality.

Speaking at a meeting with the royal fathers in the Government House on Sunday, as part of the ongoing campaigns, the President expressed the determination of his administration to defend the country from criminals and insurgents.

“We are determined to defend the nation and its people. We are disappointed with some of the things going on. You are responsible for the security of your neighbourhood. Being close to your people, you know them. You are still relevant. I am sorry this has extended to some of your families,” he said.

Referring to the deployment of a large number of security personnel to the state, President Buhari said that security is also the business of the traditional rulers, not that of the police and other security agencies alone.

“More security is not good news, but we must do something to secure our environment,” he noted.

The President commended the gallantry of the security agencies in battling kidnapping and banditry, saying “you know what we have achieved. You had one who styled himself as Buharin Daji, the Buhari of the forests, claiming to be in charge and not I at the centre. He is no more, and by my surviving him, you now know who is stronger.”

President Buhari said he was contesting this election as his fifth and the last, because as he noted, “a second term is what the constitution allows, and I will not abuse the constitution.”

He thanked the royal fathers for the support he enjoyed so far and appealed to them to back his re-election.

The Chairman of the council of traditional rulers and Emir of Anka, Alhaji Attahiru Ahmed and the Governor, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar, praised the efforts of the President in changing the unwanted security situation in the state.

According to the governor, “From the presence of an ammunition depot manned by just 30 men when you took office in 2015, Zamfara State today boasts of the presence of 4,700 combined security personnel who are assisted by 8,500 State Joint Task Force, SJTF members. We also have the 223 Battalion, the 607 Quick Response Battalion and the 1 Brigade in Gusau.”

The council of traditional rulers also endorsed President Buhari’s bid for a second term.

Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant to the President
(Media & Publicity)
February 10, 2019

In a move reminiscent of how the PDP hired Cambridge Analytica in 2015 to scare voters from voting for President Muhammadu Buhari, we understand the PDP is at it again a few days to the actual voting day. This time, sources within the heart of the operations of the PDP and security sources have informed us of plans already concluded by the PDP and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s campaign team to roll out a series of fake news designed again to scare voters from voting for President Muhammadu Buhari. These fake news would consist of doctored videos and audio clips and fake news reports from fake news sites.

Two of such fake news in the series have already been released through their proxies and nameless individuals. The first is an audio clip of a supposed “nurse” of President Muhammadu Buhari telling voters that the President is sick and cannot govern for another four years. We understand that a Nigerian girl whose real name is Sandra and who used a fake British accent did the said recording somewhere in Maitama in a house belonging to a PDP chieftain. Security operatives are already on her trail.

The second fake news released is on the purported death of Leah Sharibu. This is a lie from the pit of hell as the Federal Government’s effort to set her free has reached an advanced stage.

The other fake news lined up for the next few days by the PDP and Atiku’s handlers would consist of similar doctored audios, videos and fake news with no link to credible news sites.

Our advice to the leadership of the PDP is that Nigeria must not burn because of their selfish ambition. Enough damage was done from these kinds of narratives they pushed out in 2015 from which we have not fully recovered till date.

The election will come and go and Nigeria will remain one united, indivisible entity. We are shocked that the panic mode of the PDP has gone into overdrive, prompting them to push out such reckless fake news.

We wish to advise the leadership of the PDP that in order to reduce this type of panic and desperation on their part in 2023 (that is, if they survive as a party), they must find something meaningful to do outside government patronage after they lose the 2019 election. This type of attitude is borne out of hanging around, idle and waiting endlessly for election cycles to try to get back to power to plunder our national resources. The bad news for them is that from feelers we are having on the ground, Nigerians are not yet prepared to forgive them for their 16 years of misrule, mismanagement and outright stealing of our national resources.

Nigerians should therefore be on the alert regarding these series of fake news in the next few days.

Thank you.

FESTUS KEYAMO, SAN, FCIArb (UK)
Director, Strategic Communications,
APC Presidential Campaign Council
(Official Spokesperson).

Wife of the President Aisha Buhari, has officially received into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) about 145 Aggrieved Atiku Support Groups even as they declared to ensure victory for President Muhammadu Bubari in this week election.

Addressing the new converts Sunday in Abuja, the wife of the president, who was represented by the Chairman, central working committee of the Women and Youth campaign organisation, Buba Marwa, urged the support groups to sell the candidacy of president Buhari from door to do and also ensure that all the members get their PVCs to vote.

“We welcome you as part of the supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari with open hands. This is like a train leaving it station and you are able to catch that train before it goes. You people have taken the right decision and not a moment sooner. You have come onboard at the right time as your votes of your various organisations will count.

“You have agreed to support a person who is in impeccable in character, impeccable in leadership, impeccable in honesty, impeccable in patriotism and impeccable in compassion to Nigerians. This is one leader that is fighting corruption and he has said do as I do and not do as I say.

“So, speaking on behalf of the chairperson of the Women and Youth Presidential campaign team, Her Excellency Wife of the President Aisha Buhari, we are grateful to you all, we acknowledged this show of support.

“She (Aisha Buhari) specifically said I should pass the message that from here, we will integrate you into organisations that are relevant to your various state, Local governments, Wards and Units and you will go out there to campaign frim door to door taken full advantage of what you know of the government and performance of President Buhari.”

While giving reason on why they dumped Atiku Abubakar and the PDP to support the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari, Bello said: “It is instructive to assert or pontificate that the fight against corruption that has been identified as major problem of previous government are being well fought under President Mohammadu Buhari with global acknowledgement.

“We are glad to appreciate the good work of Mr. President and today, the roads are working, the rails are back on track, the agricultural sector which is the instrument of diversification is on course and the farmers can now smile to the banks, the social intervention policy i.e the N-Power Programme, the School Feeding Programme and the Trader Money Programme are well implemented with due diligence coupled with uncountable infrastructural development that are scattered across the country, especially in the power sector.

“Therefore, we cannot afford to stand akimbo and aloof in the political space to allow rascals, hooligans and economic thieves who are professionally hollow, delinquent in leadership panache, nomadic in character and content to hold sway in the governance of Nigeria once again.”

Bello added that their despondency against PDP was borne out of “Atiku Abubakar disdainful treatment on support groups, which snow-ball into neglect, nepotic deployment, use and dump style coupled with lack of direction and reward management system made worse by the infusion and infiltration of people with questionable characters into his campaign train, whom were once upon a time responsible for the rape on Nigeria state and were also found culpable for the culture of gross impunity and social recklessness in the society.”

Blueprint.

The Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri has predicted President Mohammadu Buhari’s victory in the South-South states in the February 16 presidential election.

Lokpobiri who is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State, said Buhari would also win majority of the votes from the state.

According to him, the voters are in the rural communities, and they have been neglected by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)-led government in the state but taken care of by the APC-led Federal government.

Lokpobiri who has been criss-crossing the states to commission solar-powered water projects of the Federal government and campaigning for all APC candidates in Bayelsa West senatorial district insisted that Bayelsans craved for a free, fair and credible elections to be allowed to make their choice.

He assured Bayelsans that there would be enough security on ground to ensure Bayelsans were not intimidated and harassed before, during and after voting.

“The chances of the APC in the South- South and in Bayelsa State are very bright. President Mohammadu Buhari would win landslide in the South- South. Do you see any state government project in all the places visited? The Bayelsa State government has neglected these people and it is the Federal government projects that they have. So President Buhari is also going to win in Bayelsa State.

“Bayelsans should not be afraid to come out and vote. In the last election, my house was under siege with shooting and that was why the Joint Task Force is stationed in Ekeremor till today. Bayelsans should be free to come out to vote. There would be enough security to ensure that Bayelsans vote and their votes would count.”

A female presidential candidate on the platform of National Action Council (NAC), Dr Rabia Hassan Cengiz, has stepped down and thrown her weight behind President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of next week’s presidential election.

Cingiz is the second candidate to quit the presidential race after former Minister of Education, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, of Allied Congress Party Nigeria (ACPN), chickened out.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, she said her decision was based on her belief that President Buhari had done well and therefore was worthy of a re-election.

She, however, called on Nigerians to overwhelmingly vote for the APC candidate to enable him entrench the dividends of democracy.

Her words “after due consultations with party members and critical stakeholders, I am pleased to inform you that NAC has decided to support the candidature of President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC.

“All NAC members are enjoined to vote for him on February 16.

She further maintained that Emeka Ezeugo popularly known as Rev King does not belong to NAC, neither is he a card-carrying member of the party even as his presidential posters flood the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

“Ezeuko Emeka, aka Reverend King is an imposter and those parading him as a presidential candidate of NAC are purely mischief-makers.

“All NAC members and well-wishers must disregard and distance themselves from this impostor and his partners in crime now that their evil game of deceit and mischief has been uncovered,” she said.

The Sun

He said it was important for Nigerians to entrust President Buhari with another four years in office to continue in the trajectory of growth, warning that the return of the opposition party would do nothing but alter the progress made by the Federal Government so far.

“If you remember, the first two years of this administration we were in recession caused by the PDP, but in the last two years, we have stabilized, we have created the groundwork for growth and that is where APC is different from the PDP. They will tell you that they want to make Nigeria work again, but ask them who destroyed Nigeria in the first place?

 “Therefore, this election is about moving the economy forward and for this to be possible, we need to continue on the foundation that we have already made in the last four years.

APC remains one party, we remain one nation and one family,” the Governor said. Buhari, who made his entrance into the venue of the rally at about 2:45pm to a tumultuous welcome by the teeming crowd and party faithful, assured that Lagos as commercial capital of Nigeria would continue to receive greater attention in terms of infrastructural renewal and all round economic growth.

 Speaking earlier at a session with members of the Organised Private Sector held at Lagos House, Marina, President Buhari said it was gratifying to note that the economic policies of his administration were already making the desired impact as evidenced by steady growth in the economy in the last three years.

He said the APC government had kept the promise to boost the economy through blocking leakages in government finances, increasing capital expenditure and inflows, and implementing the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), among others.

“I firmly believe that our economic policies are beginning to make the desired impact. Economic growth has resumed and is continuing to improve. Growth was higher in 2017 than in 2016, data even from external sources shows that it was also higher in 2018 than in 2017.

I am confident that as we stay the course, it will be better still at the end of 2019. ALSO READ: Atiku, PDP kick as FG blocks Abuja venue for campaign “Inflation is coming down steadily, there is stability in the exchange rate and foreign exchange is readily available for genuine business. Foreign reserves are adequate and growing; capital inflows have increased and the trade balance is positive.

“We are paying off debts that were not even publicly acknowledged before now, including those owed to States, the electricity sector, oil marketers, exporters, backlog of salaries of workers and pensioners, amongst others,’’ he said. Among the organizations which made presentations to the President at the session were Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), and Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME).

Aside Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Governors of Oyo (Abiola Ajimobi), Kebbi (Atiku Bagudu), Kano (Abdullahi Ganduje), Osun (Gboyega Oyetola), Ekiti (Kayode Fayemi) and Ministers, the session was also attended by many captains of industry including Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, Oba Otudeko, Jim Ovia, Bismarck Rewane, Chief (Mrs) Nike Akande, among others.

 The rally was well attended by the who’s who in the APC including the Governors of Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo, Edo, Kano, Kebbi, National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Mr. Babatunde Fashola, other serving and past Ministers, party chieftains, among many others.

  …Says President Has Set Nigeria On Path Of Growth …As Lagos Gov, 8 State Govs, Others Grace APC Presidential Mega Rally

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Saturday assured President Muhammadu Buhari that residents in Lagos would troop out enmasse on February 16 and deliver the State to him and other National Assembly candidates of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

Governor Ambode, who spoke at the APC Presidential Mega Rally, held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere, Lagos, said the President in the last three and half years fully supported the infrastructural growth in the State and would do more if given another mandate of four years.

 According to him, the February 16 election was not about tribe or religion, but strictly about job creation, infrastructural development and economic growth, saying that President Buhari has shown total commitment to making life comfortable for residents.

“In and outside of the stadium, you can see the crowd that has turned out here and we are very grateful that Lagos has been signed, sealed and delivered to APC already. The message is very clear.

 “We appreciate Mr. President for his support to our State in the last three and half years. The achievements that we have recorded in Lagos were possible because of his support. This election is not about tribe or religion, it’s about infrastructure, jobs and the economy and the right path to go is to go to the APC.

“if you see what we are going in Lagos already, you will see that the Airport road is not for the Yorubas or the Igbos or the Hausas, its about making life comfortable for Nigerians and that is why Mr. President has continually supported all our projects by even refunding some of the funds we used for capital projects so that we can complete more projects,”
Governor Ambode said.

Foremost Buharist, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu stood down the entire Abuja City yesterday with the first and biggest “Road Show” ever in support of President Muhammadu Buhari/ Osibajo re-election bid.

The “Road Show” was single-handedly organized and financed by Dr. RamatuTijjani Aliyu, the National Women leader of the newly inaugurated Presidential Support Committee (PSC).
 The “Road Show” which began from the Unity Fountain in Maitama at about 8.00 a.m in the morning took party faithful and loyalists through Kubwa – Zuba- Giri- Gwagwalada – Lugbe.

The sound of tumultuous joy, dance and shouts of “Say Baba” rented the air of Abuja throughout the road show. This thunderous “Road Show” which was attended by over three million APC women, youth, party supporters and loyalists across the 36 States of the Federation and Abuja; send jitters through the spines of the opposition parties in FCT Abuja; that come February 2019, President Buhari/Osibajo would be re-elected for a second term in office.

The procession had a stop-over at the City Gate specifically in Games Village to encourage Nigerians to vote for President Buhari/Osibajo in next week general elections. It then proceeded to Area One through Central Business District and a second stop over in President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign office before finally moving the train back to Unity Fountain where participants were entertained with foods and drinks.

The organizer of the “Road Show” Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, used the opportunity to call on all Nigerians to come out enmass to vote in the coming general elections for President Buhari/Osibajo re- election. According to the Amazon of Nigerian politics, Hajia Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, “This road show is to create more awareness on the importance of re-electing President Buhari and his Vice, Professor Yemi Osibajo into office in the coming elections”.

This team of gentlemen are what the nation needs now to solidify their achievements in the first term, she said”
The “Road Show” had sourvenirs, and several branded T-Shirts which were   worn by participants in the greatest walk ever in the soil of Abuja city and its environs. These calibres of Nigerians, young, old, men and women from all walks of life danced to the tunes of different mobile musicians of different Nigeria languages that were blared from the mighty speakers mounted on the vehicles.

The “Road Show” was however successful due to the support of security agencies such as Road Safety Corps, VIO, Civil Defence and the Police who escorted the large retinue of convoys and walkers throughout the campaign.